3,660 research outputs found
An overview of large wind turbine tests by electric utilities
A summary of recent plants and experiences on current large wind turbine (WT) tests being conducted by electric utilities is provided. The test programs discussed do not include federal research and development (R&D) programs, many of which are also being conducted in conjunction with electric utilities. The information presented is being assembled in a project, funded by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the objective of which is to provide electric utilities with timely summaries of test performance on key large wind turbines. A summary of key tests, test instrumentation, and recent results and plans is given. During the past year, many of the utility test programs initiated have encountered test difficulties that required specific WT design changes. However, test results to date continue to indicate that long-term machine performance and cost-effectiveness are achievable
How many electrons are needed to flip a local spin?
Considering the spin of a local magnetic atom as a quantum mechanical
operator, we illustrate the dynamics of a local spin interacting with a
ballistic electron represented by a wave packet. This approach improves the
semi-classical approximation and provides a complete quantum mechanical
understanding for spin transfer phenomena. Sending spin-polarized electrons
towards a local magnetic atom one after another, we estimate the minimum number
of electrons needed to flip a local spin.Comment: 3 figure
Neutrophil elastase, an acid-independent serine protease, facilitates reovirus uncoating and infection in U937 promonocyte cells
BACKGROUND: Mammalian reoviruses naturally infect their hosts through the enteric and respiratory tracts. During enteric infections, proteolysis of the reovirus outer capsid protein σ3 is mediated by pancreatic serine proteases. In contrast, the proteases critical for reovirus replication in the lung are unknown. Neutrophil elastase (NE) is an acid-independent, inflammatory serine protease predominantly expressed by neutrophils. In addition to its normal role in microbial defense, aberrant expression of NE has been implicated in the pathology of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Because reovirus replication in rodent lungs causes ARDS-like symptoms and induces an infiltration of neutrophils, we investigated the capacity of NE to promote reovirus virion uncoating. RESULTS: The human promonocyte cell line U937 expresses NE. Treatment of U937 cells with the broad-spectrum cysteine-protease inhibitor E64 [trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane] and with agents that increase vesicular pH did not inhibit reovirus replication. Even when these inhibitors were used in combination, reovirus replicated to significant yields, indicating that an acid-independent non-cysteine protease was capable of mediating reovirus uncoating in U937 cell cultures. To identify the protease(s) responsible, U937 cells were treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an agent that induces cellular differentiation and results in decreased expression of acid-independent serine proteases, including NE and cathepsin (Cat) G. In the presence of E64, reovirus did not replicate efficiently in PMA-treated cells. To directly assess the role of NE in reovirus infection of U937 cells, we examined viral growth in the presence of N-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val chloromethylketone, a NE-specific inhibitor. Reovirus replication in the presence of E64 was significantly reduced by treatment of cells with the NE inhibitor. Incubation of virions with purified NE resulted in the generation of infectious subviron particles that did not require additional intracellular proteolysis. CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal that NE can facilitate reovirus infection. The fact that it does so in the presence of agents that raise vesicular pH supports a model in which the requirement for acidic pH during infection reflects the conditions required for optimal protease activity. The capacity of reovirus to exploit NE may impact viral replication in the lung and other tissues during natural infections
Theory of valley-orbit coupling in a Si/SiGe quantum dot
Electron states are studied for quantum dots in a strained Si quantum well,
taking into account both valley and orbital physics. Realistic geometries are
considered, including circular and elliptical dot shapes, parallel and
perpendicular magnetic fields, and (most importantly for valley coupling) the
small local tilt of the quantum well interface away from the crystallographic
axes. In absence of a tilt, valley splitting occurs only between pairs of
states with the same orbital quantum numbers. However, tilting is ubiquitous in
conventional silicon heterostructures, leading to valley-orbit coupling. In
this context, "valley splitting" is no longer a well defined concept, and the
quantity of merit for qubit applications becomes the ground state gap. For
typical dots used as qubits, a rich energy spectrum emerges, as a function of
magnetic field, tilt angle, and orbital quantum number. Numerical and
analytical solutions are obtained for the ground state gap and for the mixing
fraction between the ground and excited states. This mixing can lead to valley
scattering, decoherence, and leakage for Si spin qubits.Comment: 18 pages, including 4 figure
Simple proof of equivalence between adiabatic quantum computation and the circuit model
We prove the equivalence between adiabatic quantum computation and quantum
computation in the circuit model. An explicit adiabatic computation procedure
is given that generates a ground state from which the answer can be extracted.
The amount of time needed is evaluated by computing the gap. We show that the
procedure is computationally efficient.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. v2: improved gap estimates and added some more
detail
Sequential bilateral central retinal vein occlusions in a cystic fibrosis patient with hyperhomocysteinemia and hypergamma-globulinemia
PURPOSE: To report a case of sequential bilateral central retinal vein occlusions in a cystic fibrosis patient with hyperhomocysteinemia and hypergamma-globulinemia over 6 years of follow up. METHODS: Observational case report of one patient. RESULTS: A 31 year-old male with a history of cystic fibrosis presented with a central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in his left eye, followed by a CRVO in his right eye 4 years later. His medical workup was significant for elevated levels of homocysteine and gamma-globulins, which coincided with initiation of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) proceeding his second CRVO. CONCLUSIONS: We describe a case of sequential bilateral central retinal vein occlusions in a cystic fibrosis patient with hyperhomocysteinemia and hypergamma-globulinemia over 6 years of follow up and discuss the important role of these risk factors in retinal venous occlusive disease
Atomic quantum superposition state generation via optical probing
We analyze the performance of a protocol to prepare an atomic ensemble in a
superposition of two macroscopically distinguishable states. The protocol
relies on conditional measurements performed on a light field, which interacts
with the atoms inside an optical cavity prior to detection, and we investigate
cavity enhanced probing with continuous beams of both coherent and squeezed
light. The stochastic master equations used in the analysis are expressed in
terms of the Hamiltonian of the probed system and the interaction between the
probed system and the probe field and are thus quite generally applicable.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Anomalous diffusion in quantum Brownian motion with colored noise
Anomalous diffusion is discussed in the context of quantum Brownian motion
with colored noise. It is shown that earlier results follow simply and directly
from the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The limits on the long-time
dependence of anomalous diffusion are shown to be a consequence of the second
law of thermodynamics. The special case of an electron interacting with the
radiation field is discussed in detail. We apply our results to wave-packet
spreading
Bragg Scattering as a Probe of Atomic Wavefunctions and Quantum Phase Transitions in Optical Lattices
We have observed Bragg scattering of photons from quantum degenerate
Rb atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice. Bragg scattered light
directly probes the microscopic crystal structure and atomic wavefunction whose
position and momentum width is Heisenberg-limited. The spatial coherence of the
wavefunction leads to revivals in the Bragg scattered light due to the atomic
Talbot effect. The decay of revivals across the superfluid to Mott insulator
transition indicates the loss of superfluid coherence.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
- …