3,319 research outputs found
Investigating student interpretations of the differences between classical and quantum computers: Are quantum computers just analog classical computers?
Significant attention in the PER community has been paid to student cognition
and reasoning processes in undergraduate quantum mechanics. Until recently,
however, these same topics have remained largely unexplored in the context of
emerging interdisciplinary quantum information science (QIS) courses. We
conducted exploratory interviews with 22 students in an upper-division quantum
computing course at a large R1 university crosslisted in physics and computer
science, as well as 6 graduate students in a similar graduate-level QIS course
offered in physics. We classify and analyze students' responses to a pair of
questions regarding the fundamental differences between classical and quantum
computers. We specifically note two key themes of importance to educators: (1)
when reasoning about computational power, students often struggled to
distinguish between the relative effects of exponential and linear scaling,
resulting in students frequently focusing on distinctions that are arguably
better understood as analog-digital than classical-quantum, and (2) introducing
the thought experiment of analog classical computers was a powerful tool for
helping students develop a more expertlike perspective on the differences
between classical and quantum computers.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of the 2022 Physics Education Research
Conference, Grand Rapids, MI, US 7/13-7/14/2
Introductory quantum information science coursework at US institutions: Content coverage
Despite rapid growth of quantum information science and engineering
(QIS/QISE) workforce development initiatives, perceived lack of agreement among
faculty on core content has made prior research-based curriculum and assessment
development initiatives difficult to scale. To identify areas if consensus on
content coverage, we report findings from a survey of N=63 instructors teaching
introductory QISE courses at US institutions of higher learning. We identify a
subset of content items common across a large fraction (>=80%) of introductory
QISE courses that are potentially amenable to research-based curriculum
development, with an emphasis on foundational skills in mathematics, physics,
and engineering. As a further guide for curriculum development, we also examine
differences in content coverage by level (undergraduate/graduate) and
discipline. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of our findings for
the development of a research-based QISE assessment at the postsecondary level.Comment: Submitted to EPJ Quantum Technology, special section on quantum
educatio
Heating of the solar wind with electron and proton effects
We examine the effects of including effects of both protons and electrons on the heating of the fast solar wind through two different approaches. In the ïŹrst approach, we incorporate the electron temperature in an MHD turbulence transport model for the solar wind. In the second approach, we adopt more empirically based methods by analyzing the measured proton and electron temperatures to calculate the heat deposition rates. Overall, we conclude that incorporating separate proton and electron temperatures and heat conduction effects provides an improved and more complete model of the heating of the solar wind
[18F]ZCDD083: a PFKFB3-targeted PET tracer for atherosclerotic plaque imaging
Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. Funding We thank the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITNEuropean Joint Doctorate MOGLYNET (grant agreement No. 675527).Peer reviewedPostprin
Two New Candidate Planets in Eccentric Orbits
Doppler measurements of two G-type main-sequence stars, HD210277 and
HD168443, reveal Keplerian variations that imply the presence of companions
with masses (M sin i) of 1.28 and 5.04 M_Jup and orbital periods of 437 d and
58 d, respectively. The orbits have large eccentricities of e=0.45 and e=0.54,
respectively. All 9 known extrasolar planet candidates with a=0.2-2.5 AU have
orbital eccentricities greater than 0.1, higher than that of Jupiter (e=0.05).
Eccentric orbits may result from gravitational perturbations imposed by other
orbiting planets or stars, by passing stars in the dense star-forming cluster,
or by the protoplanetary disk. Based on published studies and our near-IR
adaptive optics images, HD210277 appears to be a single star. However, HD168443
exhibits a long-term velocity trend consistent with a close stellar companion,
as yet undetected directly.Comment: AASTeX, 31 pages including 10 Postscript figures, to appear in the
Astrophysical Journal (July 1999
A Memetic Analysis of a Phrase by Beethoven: Calvinian Perspectives on Similarity and Lexicon-Abstraction
This article discusses some general issues arising from the study of similarity in music, both human-conducted and computer-aided, and then progresses to a consideration of similarity relationships between patterns in a phrase by Beethoven, from the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A flat major op. 110 (1821), and various potential memetic precursors. This analysis is followed by a consideration of how the kinds of similarity identified in the Beethoven phrase might be understood in psychological/conceptual and then neurobiological terms, the latter by means of William Calvinâs Hexagonal Cloning Theory. This theory offers a mechanism for the operation of David Copeâs concept of the lexicon, conceived here as a museme allele-class. I conclude by attempting to correlate and map the various spaces within which memetic replication occurs
Decellularization reduces the immune response to aortic valve allografts in the rat
ObjectivesCryopreserved valve allografts used in congenital cardiac surgery are associated with a significant cellular and humoral immune response. This might be reduced by removal of antigenic cellular elements (decellularization). The aim of this study was to determine the immunologic effect of decellularization in a rat allograft valve model.MethodsBrown Norway and Lewis rat aortic valves were decellularized with a series of hypotonic and hypertonic buffers, protease inhibitors, gentle detergents (Triton X-100), and phosphate-buffered saline. Valves were implanted into Lewis rats in syngeneic and allogeneic combinations. Cellular (CD3 and CD8) infiltrates were assessed with morphometric analysis, and the humoral response was assessed with flow cytometry.ResultsMorphometric analysis identified a significant reduction in CD3+ cell infiltrates (cells per square millimeter of leaflet tissue) in decellularized allografts compared with that seen in nondecellularized allografts at 1 (79 ± 29 vs 3310 ± 223, P < .001), 2 (26 ± 11 vs 109 ± 20, P = .004), and 4 weeks (283 ± 122 vs 984 ± 145, P < .001). Anti-CD8 staining confirmed the majority of infiltrates were cytotoxic T cells. Flow cytometric mean channel fluorescence intensity identified a negative shift (abrogated antibody formation) for decellularized allografts compared with nondecellularized allografts at 2 (19 ± 1 vs 27 ± 3, P = .033), 4 (35 ± 2 vs 133 ± 29, P = .001), and 16 weeks (28 ± 2 vs 166 ± 54, P = .017).ConclusionsDecellularization significantly reduces the cellular and humoral immune response to allograft tissue. This could prolong the durability of valve allografts and might prevent immunologic sensitization of allograft recipients
Sec61 channel subunit Sbh1/Sec61ÎČ promotes ER translocation of proteins with suboptimal targeting sequences and is fine-tuned by phosphorylation
The highly conserved endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein
translocation channel contains one nonessential subunit,
Sec61ÎČ/Sbh1, whose function is poorly understood so far. Its
intrinsically unstructured cytosolic domain makes transient
contact with ER-targeting sequences in the cytosolic channel
vestibule and contains multiple phosphorylation sites suggesting a potential for regulating ER protein import. In a microscopic screen, we show that 12% of a GFP-tagged secretory
protein library depends on Sbh1 for translocation into the ER.
Sbh1-dependent proteins had targeting sequences with less
pronounced hydrophobicity and often no charge bias or an
inverse charge bias which reduces their insertion efficiency into
the Sec61 channel. We determined that mutating two N-terminal, proline-flanked phosphorylation sites in the Sbh1
cytosolic domain to alanine phenocopied the temperaturesensitivity of a yeast strain lacking SBH1 and its ortholog
SBH2. The phosphorylation site mutations reduced translocation into the ER of a subset of Sbh1-dependent proteins,
including enzymes whose concentration in the ER lumen is
critical for ER proteostasis. In addition, we found that ER
import of these proteins depended on the activity of the
phospho-S/Tâspecific proline isomerase Ess1 (PIN1 in mammals). We conclude that Sbh1 promotes ER translocation of
substrates with suboptimal targeting sequences and that its
activity can be regulated by a conformational change induced
by N-terminal phosphorylation
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