2,071 research outputs found
Nonclassical correlations in damped quantum solitons
Using cumulant expansion in Gaussian approximation, the internal quantum
statistics of damped soliton-like pulses in Kerr media are studied numerically,
considering both narrow and finite bandwidth spectral pulse components. It is
shown that the sub-Poissonian statistics can be enhanced, under certain
circumstances, by absorption, which damps out some destructive interferences.
Further, it is shown that both the photon-number correlation and the
correlation of the photon-number variance between different pulse components
can be highly nonclassical even for an absorbing fiber. Optimum frequency
windows are determined in order to realize strong nonclassical behavior, which
offers novel possibilities of using solitons in optical fibers as a source of
nonclassically correlated light beams.Comment: 15 pages, 11 PS figures (color
Gamma and pulsed electron radiolysis studies of CyMe4BTBP and CyMe4BTPhen: Identification of radiolysis products and effects on the hydrometallurgical separation of trivalent actinides and lanthanides
The radiolytic stability of the highly selective ligands CyMe4BTBP and CyMe4BTPhen against ionizing gamma radiation was studied in 1-octanol solution. CyMe4BTBP and CyMe4BTPhen are important extractants for a potential treatment of used nuclear fuel. They were studied under identical experimental conditions to directly compare the effects of gamma and pulsed electron radiolysis on the ligands and systematically study the influence of structural changes in the ligand backbone. Distribution ratios of Am3+, Cm3+ and Eu3+, the residual concentration of CyMe4BTBP and CyMe4BTPhen in solution, and the formation of radiolysis products were studied as a function of absorbed gamma dose and presence of an acidic aqueous phase during irradiation. Quantitative and semi-quantitative analyses were used to elucidate the radiolysis mechanism for both ligands. Addition products of alpha-hydroxyoctyl radicals formed through radiolysis of the 1-octanol diluent to the ligand molecules were identified as the predominant radiolysis products. These addition products also extract trivalent metal ions, as distribution ratios remained high although the parent molecule concentrations decreased. Therefore, the utilization time of a solvent using these extractants under the harsh conditions of used nuclear fuel treatment could be considerably longer than expected. Understanding the radiolysis mechanism is crucial for designing more radiation resistant extractants
Cumulant expansion for studying damped quantum solitons
The quantum statistics of damped optical solitons is studied using
cumulant-expansion techniques. The effect of absorption is described in terms
of ordinary Markovian relaxation theory, by coupling the optical field to a
continuum of reservoir modes. After introduction of local bosonic field
operators and spatial discretization pseudo-Fokker-Planck equations for
multidimensional s-parameterized phase-space functions are derived. These
partial differential equations are equivalent to an infinite set of ordinary
differential equations for the cumulants of the phase-space functions.
Introducing an appropriate truncation condition, the resulting finite set of
cumulant evolution equations can be solved numerically. Solutions are presented
in Gaussian approximation and the quantum noise is calculated, with special
emphasis on squeezing and the recently measured spectral photon-number
correlations [Spaelter et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 786 (1998)].Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, revtex, psfig, multicols, published in
Phys.Rev.
Three-dimensional quantization of the electromagnetic field in dispersive and absorbing inhomogeneous dielectrics
A quantization scheme for the phenomenological Maxwell theory of the full
electromagnetic field in an inhomogeneous three-dimensional, dispersive and
absorbing dielectric medium is developed. The classical Maxwell equations with
spatially varying and Kramers-Kronig consistent permittivity are regarded as
operator-valued field equations, introducing additional current- and
charge-density operator fields in order to take into account the noise
associated with the dissipation in the medium. It is shown that the equal-time
commutation relations between the fundamental electromagnetic fields
and and the potentials and in the Coulomb gauge
can be expressed in terms of the Green tensor of the classical problem. From
the Green tensors for bulk material and an inhomogeneous medium consisting of
two bulk dielectrics with a common planar interface it is explicitly proven
that the well-known equal-time commutation relations of QED are preserved
Yucatan Throughflow - Cruise No. M94, March 12 – March 26, 2013, Balboa (Panama) – Kingston (Jamaica)
Phase locking the spin precession in a storage ring
This letter reports the successful use of feedback from a spin polarization
measurement to the revolution frequency of a 0.97 GeV/ bunched and polarized
deuteron beam in the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) storage ring in order to control
both the precession rate ( kHz) and the phase of the horizontal
polarization component. Real time synchronization with a radio frequency (rf)
solenoid made possible the rotation of the polarization out of the horizontal
plane, yielding a demonstration of the feedback method to manipulate the
polarization. In particular, the rotation rate shows a sinusoidal function of
the horizontal polarization phase (relative to the rf solenoid), which was
controlled to within a one standard deviation range of rad. The
minimum possible adjustment was 3.7 mHz out of a revolution frequency of 753
kHz, which changes the precession rate by 26 mrad/s. Such a capability meets a
requirement for the use of storage rings to look for an intrinsic electric
dipole moment of charged particles
Wolbachia and DNA barcoding insects: patterns, potential and problems
Wolbachia is a genus of bacterial endosymbionts that impacts the breeding systems of their hosts. Wolbachia can confuse the patterns of mitochondrial variation, including DNA barcodes, because it influences the pathways through which mitochondria are inherited. We examined the extent to which these endosymbionts are detected in routine DNA barcoding, assessed their impact upon the insect sequence divergence and identification accuracy, and considered the variation present in Wolbachia COI. Using both standard PCR assays (Wolbachia surface coding protein – wsp), and bacterial COI fragments we found evidence of Wolbachia in insect total genomic extracts created for DNA barcoding library construction. When >2 million insect COI trace files were examined on the Barcode of Life Datasystem (BOLD) Wolbachia COI was present in 0.16% of the cases. It is possible to generate Wolbachia COI using standard insect primers; however, that amplicon was never confused with the COI of the host. Wolbachia alleles recovered were predominantly Supergroup A and were broadly distributed geographically and phylogenetically. We conclude that the presence of the Wolbachia DNA in total genomic extracts made from insects is unlikely to compromise the accuracy of the DNA barcode library; in fact, the ability to query this DNA library (the database and the extracts) for endosymbionts is one of the ancillary benefits of such a large scale endeavor – for which we provide several examples. It is our conclusion that regular assays for Wolbachia presence and type can, and should, be adopted by large scale insect barcoding initiatives. While COI is one of the five multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) genes used for categorizing Wolbachia, there is limited overlap with the eukaryotic DNA barcode region
a randomized, open, multicenter phase III trial of lenalidomide/dexamethasone versus lenalidomide/dexamethasone plus subsequent autologous stem cell transplantation and lenalidomide maintenance in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma
Background Despite novel therapeutic agents, most multiple myeloma (MM)
patients eventually relapse. Two large phase III trials have shown
significantly improved response rates (RR) of lenalidomide/dexamethasone
compared with placebo/dexamethasone in relapsed MM (RMM) patients. These
results have led to the approval of lenalidomide for RMM patients and
lenalidomide/dexamethasone has since become a widely accepted second-line
treatment. Furthermore, in RMM patients consolidation with high-dose
chemotherapy plus autologous stem cell transplantation has been shown to
significantly increase progression free survival (PFS) as compared to
cyclophosphamide in a phase III trial. The randomized prospective ReLApsE
trial is designed to evaluate PFS after lenalidomide/dexamethasone induction,
high-dose chemotherapy consolidation plus autologous stem cell transplantation
and lenalidomide maintenance compared with the well-established
lenalidomide/dexamethasone regimen in RMM patients. Methods/Design ReLApsE is
a randomized, open, multicenter phase III trial in a planned study population
of 282 RMM patients. All patients receive three lenalidomide/dexamethasone
cycles and - in absence of available stem cells from earlier harvesting -
undergo peripheral blood stem cell mobilization and harvesting. Subsequently,
patients in arm A continue on consecutive lenalidomide/dexamethasone cycles,
patients in arm B undergo high dose chemotherapy plus autologous stem cell
transplantation followed by lenalidomide maintenance until discontinuation
criteria are met. Therapeutic response is evaluated after the 3rd (arm A + B)
and the 5th lenalidomide/dexamethasone cycle (arm A) or 2 months after
autologous stem cell transplantation (arm B) and every 3 months thereafter
(arm A + B). After finishing the study treatment, patients are followed up for
survival and subsequent myeloma therapies. The expected trial duration is 6.25
years from first patient in to last patient out. The primary endpoint is PFS,
secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS), RR, time to best response
and the influence of early versus late salvage high dose chemotherapy plus
autologous stem cell transplantation on OS. Discussion This phase III trial is
designed to evaluate whether high dose chemotherapy plus autologous stem cell
transplantation and lenalidomide maintenance after lenalidomide/dexamethasone
induction improves PFS compared with the well-established continued
lenalidomide/dexamethasone regimen in RMM patients. Trial registration:
ISRCTN16345835 (date of registration 2010-08-24)
Hypercalcemia after transplant nephrectomy in a hemodialysis patient: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Hypercalcemia is a complication often seen in chronic hemodialysis patients. A rare cause of this condition is sarcoidosis. Its highly variable clinical presentation is challenging. Especially in patients suffering chronic kidney graft failure the nonspecific constitutional symptoms of sarcoidosis like fever, weight loss, arthralgia and fatigue may be easily misleading.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 51 year old male developed hypercalcemia, arthralgia and B-symptoms after explantation of his kidney graft because of suspected acute rejection. The removed kidney showed vasculopathy and tubulointerstitial nephritis, which had not been overt in the biopsy taken half a year earlier. Despite explantation and withdrawal of the immunosuppression the patient's general condition deteriorated progressively. A rapid rise in serum calcium finally provoked us to check for sarcoidosis. CT scans of the lungs, broncho-alveolar-lavage and further lab tests confirmed the diagnosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This case demonstrates that withdrawal of immunosuppressive drugs sometimes unmasks sarcoidosis. It should be considered as differential diagnosis even in hemodialysis patients, in whom other reasons for hypercalcemia are much more common.</p
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