763 research outputs found
The Space Object Ontology
Achieving space domain awareness requires the
identification, characterization, and tracking of space objects.
Storing and leveraging associated space object data for purposes
such as hostile threat assessment, object identification, and
collision prediction and avoidance present further challenges.
Space objects are characterized according to a variety of
parameters including their identifiers, design specifications,
components, subsystems, capabilities, vulnerabilities, origins,
missions, orbital elements, patterns of life, processes, operational
statuses, and associated persons, organizations, or nations. The
Space Object Ontology provides a consensus-based realist
framework for formulating such characterizations in a
computable fashion. Space object data are aligned with classes
and relations in the Space Object Ontology and stored in a
dynamically updated Resource Description Framework triple
store, which can be queried to support space domain awareness
and the needs of spacecraft operators. This paper presents the
core of the Space Object Ontology, discusses its advantages over
other approaches to space object classification, and demonstrates
its ability to combine diverse sets of data from multiple sources
within an expandable framework. Finally, we show how the
ontology provides benefits for enhancing and maintaining longterm
space domain awareness
Fundamental quantum limits in ellipsometry
We establish the ultimate limits that quantum theory imposes on the accuracy attainable in optical ellipsometry. We show that the standard quantum limit, as usual reached when the incident light is in a coherent state, can be surpassed with the use of appropriate squeezed states and, for tailored beams, even pushed to the ultimate Heisenberg limit
Fundamental quantum limits in ellipsometry
We establish the ultimate limits that quantum theory imposes on the accuracy
attainable in optical ellipsometry. We show that the standard quantum limit, as
usual reached when the incident light is in a coherent state, can be surpassed
with the use of appropriate squeezed states and, for tailored beams, even
pushed to the ultimate Heisenberg limit.Comment: To be published in Optics Letter
Pitx2 is an upstream activator of extraocular myogenesis and survival
AbstractThe transcription factors required to initiate myogenesis in branchial arch- and somite-derived muscles are known, but the comparable upstream factors required during extraocular muscle development have not been identified. We show Pax7 is dispensable for extraocular muscle formation, whereas Pitx2 is cell-autonomously required to prevent apoptosis of the extraocular muscle primordia. The survival requirement for Pitx2 is stage-dependent and ends following stable activation of genes for the muscle regulatory factors (e.g. Myf5, MyoD), which is reduced in the absence of Pitx2. Further, PITX2 binds and activates transcription of the Myf5 and MyoD promoters, indicating these genes are direct targets. Collectively, these data demonstrate that PITX2 is required at several steps in the development of extraocular muscles, acting first as an anti-apoptotic factor in pre-myogenic mesoderm, and subsequently to activate the myogenic program in these cells. Thus, Pitx2 is the first demonstrated upstream activator of myogenesis in the extraocular muscles
MyoD induces myogenic differentiation through cooperation of its NH2- and COOH-terminal regions
MyoD and Myf5 are basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that play key but redundant roles in specifying myogenic progenitors during embryogenesis. However, there are functional differences between the two transcription factors that impact myoblast proliferation and differentiation. Target gene activation could be one such difference. We have used microarray and polymerase chain reaction approaches to measure the induction of muscle gene expression by MyoD and Myf5 in an in vitro model. In proliferating cells, MyoD and Myf5 function very similarly to activate the expression of likely growth phase target genes such as L-myc, m-cadherin, Mcpt8, Runx1, Spp1, Six1, IGFBP5, and Chrnβ1. MyoD, however, is strikingly more effective than Myf5 at inducing differentiation-phase target genes. This distinction between MyoD and Myf5 results from a novel and unanticipated cooperation between the MyoD NH2- and COOH-terminal regions. Together, these results support the notion that Myf5 functions toward myoblast proliferation, whereas MyoD prepares myoblasts for efficient differentiation
Nanodiamonds carrying quantum emitters with almost lifetime-limited linewidths
Nanodiamonds (NDs) hosting optically active defects are an important
technical material for applications in quantum sensing, biological imaging, and
quantum optics. The negatively charged silicon vacancy (SiV) defect is known to
fluoresce in molecular sized NDs (1 to 6 nm) and its spectral properties depend
on the quality of the surrounding host lattice. This defect is therefore a good
probe to investigate the material properties of small NDs. Here we report
unprecedented narrow optical transitions for SiV colour centers hosted in
nanodiamonds produced using a novel high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT)
technique. The SiV zero-phonon lines were measured to have an inhomogeneous
distribution of 1.05 nm at 5 K across a sample of numerous NDs. Individual
spectral lines as narrow as 354 MHz were measured for SiV centres in
nanodiamonds smaller than 200 nm, which is four times narrower than the best
SiV line previously reported for nanodiamonds. Correcting for apparent spectral
diffusion yielded a homogeneous linewith of about 200 MHz, which is close to
the width limit imposed by the radiative lifetime. These results demonstrate
that the direct HPHT synthesis technique is capable of producing nanodiamonds
with high crystal lattice quality, which are therefore a valuable technical
material
Modeling Slope Instability as Shear Rupture Propagation in a Saturated Porous Medium
When a region of intense shear in a slope is much thinner than other relevant geometric lengths, this shear failure may be approximated as localized slip, as in faulting, with strength determined by frictional properties of the sediment and effective stress normal to the failure surface. Peak and residual frictional strengths of submarine sediments indicate critical slope angles well above those of most submarine slopes—in contradiction to abundant failures. Because deformation of sediments is governed by effective stress, processes affecting pore pressures are a means of strength reduction. However, common methods of exami ning slope stability neglect dynamically variable pore pressure during failure. We examine elastic-plastic models of the capped Drucker-Prager type and derive approximate equations governing pore pressure about a slip surface when the adjacent material may deform plastically. In the process we identify an elastic-plastic hydraulic diffusivity with an evolving permeability and plastic storage term analogous to the elastic term of traditional poroelasticity. We also examine their application to a dynamically propagating subsurface rupture and find indications of downslope directivity.Earth and Planetary SciencesEngineering and Applied Science
A note on entropic uncertainty relations of position and momentum
We consider two entropic uncertainty relations of position and momentum
recently discussed in literature. By a suitable rescaling of one of them, we
obtain a smooth interpolation of both for high-resolution and low-resolution
measurements respectively. Because our interpolation has never been mentioned
in literature before, we propose it as a candidate for an improved entropic
uncertainty relation of position and momentum. Up to now, the author has
neither been able to falsify nor prove the new inequality. In our opinion it is
a challenge to do either one.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, 2 references adde
Imaging high-dimensional spatial entanglement with a camera
The light produced by parametric down-conversion shows strong spatial
entanglement that leads to violations of EPR criteria for separability.
Historically, such studies have been performed by scanning a single-element,
single-photon detector across a detection plane. Here we show that modern
electron-multiplying charge-coupled device cameras can measure correlations in
both position and momentum across a multi-pixel field of view. This capability
allows us to observe entanglement of around 2,500 spatial states and
demonstrate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type correlations by more than two orders
of magnitude. More generally, our work shows that cameras can lead to important
new capabilities in quantum optics and quantum information science.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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