Immune cells and preterm labour:do invariant NKT cells hold the key?

We have developed our original made-to-measure (M2M) algorithm, PRIMAL, with the aim of modelling the Galactic disc from upcoming Gaia data. From a Milky Way like N-body disc galaxy simulation, we have created mock Gaia data using M0III stars as tracers, taking into account extinction and the expected Gaia errors. In PRIMAL, observables calculated from the N-body model are compared with the target stars, at the position of the target stars. Using PRIMAL, the masses of the N-body model particles are changed to reproduce the target mock data, and the gravitational potential is automatically adjusted by the changing mass of the model particles. We have also adopted a new resampling scheme for the model particles to keep the mass resolution of the N-body model relatively constant. We have applied PRIMAL to this mock Gaia data and we show that PRIMAL can recover the structure and kinematics of a Milky Way like barred spiral disc, along with the apparent bar structure and pattern speed of the bar despite the galactic extinction and the observational errors

Aspects of Quantum Gravity in Cosmology

We review some aspects of quantum gravity in the context of cosmology. In particular, we focus on models with a phenomenology accessible to current and near-future observations, as the early Universe might be our only chance to peep through the quantum gravity realm.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. Invited review for Modern Physics Letter A. Version 2: minor typos corrected, few references adde

Critical thermodynamics of the two-dimensional +/-J Ising spin glass

We compute the exact partition function of 2d Ising spin glasses with binary couplings. In these systems, the ground state is highly degenerate and is separated from the first excited state by a gap of size 4J. Nevertheless, we find that the low temperature specific heat density scales as exp(-2J/T), corresponding to an ``effective'' gap of size 2J; in addition, an associated cross-over length scale grows as exp(J/T). We justify these scalings via the degeneracy of the low-lying excitations and by the way low energy domain walls proliferate in this model

Exploiting exciton-exciton interactions in semiconductor quantum dots for quantum-information processing

We propose an all-optical implementation of quantum-information processing in semiconductor quantum dots, where electron-hole excitations (excitons) serve as the computational degrees of freedom (qubits). We show that the strong dot confinement leads to an overall enhancement of Coulomb correlations and to a strong renormalization of the excitonic states, which can be exploited for performing conditional and unconditional qubit operations.Comment: 5 pages revtex, 2 encapsulated postscript figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communication

Catalyst-Free Hydrogen Synthesis from Liquid Ethanol: An ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Study

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Chemical Society via the DOI in this record.The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b01037.Hydrogen is the simplest, oldest, and most widespread molecule in nature. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the hydrogen industrial production stems from steam reforming of methane performed at high temperatures or pressures. Albeit other chemical routes to the hydrogen synthesis, involving, for example, water electrolysis and novel photocatalysts, have recently been explored, no catalyst-free reaction pathways have been identified, seriously limiting the large-scale deployment of hydrogen. On the basis of state-of-the-art ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, here, we present a study revealing a novel synthesis route to hydrogen from neat liquid ethanol, which has been achieved at room temperature and in the absence of any catalyst, upon electric field exposure. This result paves the way to the unprecedented catalyst-free experimental synthesis of hydrogen from liquid ethanol by exploiting a commonly employed field emitter tip apparatus

Efisiensi Produksi Kakao Fermentasi Pada Perkebunan Rakyat Di Bali Dengan Pendekatan Stochastic Frontier

Kabupaten Tabanan adalah sentra produksi kakao di Bali yang sebagian besar adalah perkebunan rakyat dengan produktivitas kakaoyang dihasilkan semakin rendah. Daerah ini juga pernah menerapkan proses fermentasi biji kakao dengan harapan dapat meningkatkanpendapatannya, tetapi teknologi tersebut mulai ditinggalkan oleh petani. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: (1) menganalisis faktorfaktoryang mempengaruhi produksi biji kakao di Bali, (2) menganalisis efisiensi produksi biji kakao yang dihasilkan petani di Balidengan menerapkan teknologi fermentasi, dan (3) menganalisis pendapatan USAhatani kakao dengan menerapkan teknologi fermentasipada perkebunan rakyat di Bali. Jenis data yang dikumpulkan adalah data primer yang diperoleh dengan metode survei menggunakankuesioner. Responden dalam kajian ini sebanyak 100 orang petani kakao yang terbagi menjadi 40 orang petani kakao yang tidakmelakukan fermentasi dan 60 orang yang melakukan fermentasi. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis dengan pendekatan stochastic frontiermenggunakan alat analisis front 4.1. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa faktor yang berpengaruh positif terhadap peningkatanproduksi kakao adalah tenaga kerja, pestisida dan luas lahan, sedangkan faktor yang berpengaruh negatif adalah umur tanaman.Produksi kakao di tingkat perkebunan rakyat telah efisien dilakukan, tetapi proses pengolahan biji kakao dengan teknologi fermentasimemiliki tingkat efisiensi yang lebih kecil dibandingkan tidak difermentasi. Tingkat pendapatan USAhatani kakao per hektar per tahundengan menerapkan teknologi fermentasi Rp. 5.014.877,44 lebih besar dibandingkan tidak menerapkan teknologi fermentasi, yaituRp. 4.654.809,24. Penerapan teknologi fermentasi pada proses pengolahan biji kakao dapat meningkatkan pendapatan petani.Kata Kunci: Kakao, efisiensi produksi, stochastic frontier, teknologi fermentasiTabanan District is a cocoa production center in Bali by which the crops are mostly grown in small-scale and low in productivity as well. In this areafarmers had implemented fermentation process of cocoa beans to increase their income, although the technology was left. The objectives of this studywere: (1) to analyze the factors affecting the production of cocoa beans in Bali, and (2) to analyze efficiency of cocoa production by farmers in Bali,and (3) to analyze cocoa farm income for the farmers having implemented the fermentation technology. A questionnaire survey was conducted for 100cocoa farmers consisting of 60 farmers having implemented the fermentation technology and 40 farmers did not. Front 4.1 analysis was employed inorder to estimate the stochastic frontier production. The results showed that factors like labor, pesticides and land area had positive correlation inincreasing of cocoa production. In contrast, plant age had the negative correlation. In general small-scale cocoa farmers were efficient. In addition,the farmers who implemented the fermentation technology seemed to be less efficient compared to farmers who did not implement the technology.However, the farmers who implemented the fermentation technology seemed to have higher income of Rp. 5.014.877,44 being high compared tothose who did not implement the technology of Rp 4.654.809,24. The implementation of fermentation technology in cocoa beans could increasefarmers' income