Enhanced antiviral function of magnesium chloride-modified Heparin on a broad spectrum of viruses

Previous studies reported on the broad-spectrum antiviral function of heparin. Here we investigated the antiviral function of magnesium-modified heparin and found that modified heparin displayed a significantly enhanced antiviral function against human adenovirus (HAdV) in immortalized and primary cells. Nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed a conformational change of heparin when complexed with magnesium. To broadly explore this discovery, we tested the antiviral function of modified heparin against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and found that the replication of HSV-1 was even further decreased compared to aciclovir. Moreover, we investigated the antiviral effect against the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and measured a 55-fold decreased viral load in the supernatant of infected cells associated with a 38-fold decrease in virus growth. The advantage of our modified heparin is an increased antiviral effect compared to regular heparin

Observation of geometric phases in quantum erasers

We introduce a simple experiment involving a double-slit interferometer by which one can learn basic concepts of quantum interference such as which-path marking, quantum erasers, and geometric phases. Each of them exhibits seemingly mysterious phenomena in quantum physics. In our experiment, we use the double-slit interference of visible light with the polarization as an internal state to demonstrate the disappearance of fringes by which-path marking, recovery of interference using quantum erasers, and the rapid shifting of the fringe pattern induced by the geometric phase. We also present a simple theoretical analysis of an interferometer with an internal state.Comment: 7 pages, 14 figure

Coherent and Squeezed States: Introductory Review of Basic Notions, Properties, and Generalizations

A short review of the main properties of coherent and squeezed states is given in introductory form. The efforts are addressed to clarify concepts and notions, including some passages of the history of science, with the aim of facilitating the subject for nonspecialists. In this sense, the present work is intended to be complementary to other papers of the same nature and subject in current circulation.Comment: 50 pages, misprints corrected, some new references included. To appear in "Integrability, Supersymmetry and Coherent States. A Volume in Honor of Professor Veronique Hussin