3,496 research outputs found
Retrieval of phase memory in two independent atomic ensembles by Raman process
In spontaneous Raman process in atomic cell at high gain, both the Stokes
field and the accompanying collective atomic excitation (atomic spin wave) are
coherent. We find that, due to the spontaneous nature of the process, the
phases of the Stokes field and the atomic spin wave change randomly from one
realization to another but are anti-correlated. The phases of the atomic
ensembles are read out via another Raman process at a later time, thus
realizing phase memory in atoms. The observation of phase correlation between
the Stokes field and the collective atomic excitations is an important step
towards macroscopic EPR-type entanglement of continuous variables between light
and atoms
Matter-wave bistability in coupled atom-molecule quantum gases
We study the matter-wave bistability in coupled atom-molecule quantum gases,
in which heteronuclear molecules are created via an interspecies Feshbach
resonance involving either two-species Bose or two-species Fermi atoms at zero
temperature. We show that the resonant two-channel Bose model is equivalent to
the nondegenerate parametric down-conversion in quantum optics, while the
corresponding Fermi model can be mapped to a quantum optics model that
describes a single-mode laser field interacting with an ensemble of
inhomogeneously broadened two-level atoms. Using these analogy and the fact
that both models are subject to the Kerr nonlinearity due to the two-body
s-wave collisions, we show that under proper conditions, the population in the
molecular state in both models can be made to change with the Feshbach detuning
in a bistable fashion.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Inhomogeneous magnetism in La-doped CaMnO3. (I) Nanometric-scale spin clusters and long-range spin canting
Neutron measurements on Ca{1-x}La{x}MnO3 (0.00 <= x <= 0.20) reveal the
development of a liquid-like spatial distribution of magnetic droplets of
average size ~10 Angstroms, the concentration of which is proportional to x
(one cluster per ~60 doped electrons). In addition, a long-range ordered
ferromagnetic component is observed for ~0.05 < x < ~0.14. This component is
perpendicularly coupled to the simple G-type antiferromagnetic (G-AFM)
structure of the undoped compound, which is a signature of a G-AFM + FM
spin-canted state. The possible relationship between cluster formation and the
stabilization of a long-range spin-canting for intermediate doping is
discussed.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review
Conditional müller cell ablation causes independent neuronal and vascular pathologies in a novel transgenic model
Müller cells are the major glia of the retina that serve numerous functions essential to retinal homeostasis, yet the contribution of Müller glial dysfunction to retinal diseases remains largely unknown. We have developed a transgenic model using a portion of the regulatory region of the retinaldehyde binding protein 1 gene for conditional Müller cell ablation and the consequences of primary Müller cell dysfunction have been studied in adult mice. We found that selective ablation of Müller cells led to photoreceptor apoptosis, vascular telangiectasis, blood-retinal barrier breakdown and, later, intraretinal neovascularization. These changes were accompanied by impaired retinal function and an imbalance between vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and pigment epithelium-derived factor. Intravitreal injection of ciliary neurotrophic factor inhibited photoreceptor injury but had no effect on the vasculopathy. Conversely, inhibition of VEGF-A activity attenuated vascular leak but did not protect photoreceptors. Our findings show that Müller glial deficiency may be an important upstream cause of retinal neuronal and vascular pathologies in retinal diseases. Combined neuropro-tective and anti-angiogenic therapies may be required to treat Müller cell deficiency in retinal diseases and in other parts of the CNS associated with glial dysfunction
Ion-implantation induced nano distortion layer and its influence on nonlinear optical properties of ZnO single crystals
Second harmonic generation (SHG) and X-ray diffraction rocking curves of high-quality ZnO single crystals implanted by different ions (He, Cu, and Zn) were investigated. Interestingly, it was found that both He- and Zn-implanted samples show a convinced increment in SHG efficiency while the Cu-implanted one does not. X-ray diffraction rocking curves of the samples show satellite structures, and the simulations firmly reveal the formation of quasi-interfaces inside He- and Zn-implanted crystals. These quasi-interfaces lead to SHG improvement in the two samples. Polarization dependence of SHG of the samples on the excitation light also evidences this conclusion. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio
p63 Expression Defines a Lethal Subset of Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancers
<div><h3>Background</h3><p>p63 is a member of the p53 family that has been implicated in maintenance of epithelial stem cell compartments. Previous studies demonstrated that p63 is downregulated in muscle-invasive bladder cancers, but the relationship between p63 expression and survival is not clear.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>We used real-time PCR to characterize p63 expression and several genes implicated in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human bladder cancer cell lines (n = 15) and primary tumors (n = 101). We correlated tumor marker expression with stage, disease-specific (DSS), and overall survival (OS). Expression of E-cadherin and p63 correlated directly with one another and inversely with expression of the mesenchymal markers Zeb-1, Zeb-2, and vimentin. Non-muscle-invasive (Ta and T1) bladder cancers uniformly expressed high levels of E-cadherin and p63 and low levels of the mesenchymal markers. Interestingly, a subset of muscle-invasive (T2–T4) tumors maintained high levels of E-cadherin and p63 expression. As expected, there was a strongly significant correlation between EMT marker expression and muscle invasion (p<0.0001). However, OS was shorter in patients with muscle-invasive tumors that retained p63 (p = 0.007).</p> <h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3><p>Our data confirm that molecular markers of EMT are elevated in muscle-invasive bladder cancers, but interestingly, retention of the “epithelial” marker p63 in muscle-invasive tumors is associated with a worse outcome.</p> </div
- …