25 research outputs found
Polarized Dirac fermions in de Sitter spacetime
The tetrad gauge invariant theory of the free Dirac field in two special
moving charts of the de Sitter spacetime is investigated pointing out the
operators that commute with the Dirac one. These are the generators of the
symmetry transformations corresponding to isometries that give rise to
conserved quantities according to the Noether theorem. With their help the
plane wave spinor solutions of the Dirac equation with given momentum and
helicity are derived and the final form of the quantum Dirac field is
established. It is shown that the canonical quantization leads to a correct
physical interpretation of the massive or massless fermion quantum fields.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX w AMS sym
High Magnetic Field ESR in the Haldane Spin Chains NENP and NINO
We present electron spin resonance experiments in the one-dimensional
antiferromagnetic S=1 spin chains NENP and NINO in pulsed magnetic fields up to
50T. The measured field dependence of the quantum energy gap for B||b is
analyzed using the exact diagonalization method and the density matrix
renormalization group method (DMRG). A staggered anisotropy term (-1)^i d(S_i^x
S_i^z + S_i^z S_i^x) was considered for the first time in addition to a
staggered field term (-1)^i S_i^x B_st. We show that the spin dynamics in high
magnetic fields strongly depends on the orthorhombic anisotropy E.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 4 figure
A switchable controlled-NOT gate in a spin-chain NMR quantum computer
A method of switching a controlled-NOT gate in a solid-stae NMR quantum
computer is presented. Qubits of I=1/2 nuclear spins are placed periodically
along a quantum spin chain (1-D antiferromagnet) having a singlet ground state
with a finite spin gap to the lowest excited state caused by some quantum
effect. Irradiation of a microwave tuned to the spin gap energy excites a
packet of triplet magnons at a specific part of the chain where control and
target qubits are involved. The packet switches on the Suhl-Nakamura
interaction between the qubits, which serves as a controlled NOT gate. The
qubit initialization is achieved by a qubit initializer consisting of
semiconducting sheets attached to the spin chain, where spin polarizations
created by the optical pumping method in the semiconductors are transferred to
the spin chain. The scheme allows us to separate the initialization process
from the computation, so that one can optimize the computation part without
being restricted by the initialization scheme, which provides us with a wide
selection of materials for a quantum computer.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Hematological and histopathological evaluation of wildlife green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with and without fibropapilloma from the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil
SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination
BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript
Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease
One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials
Relaxation dynamics in the high-frequency crystal-field spectroscopy of PrNi₅ point contacts
High-frequency point-contact (PC) spectroscopy is used to investigate the relaxation processes kinetics in the intermetallic rare-earth compound PrNi₅. A difference is observed in the spectral response between the conventional low-frequency PC data and the response signal to microwave and farinfrared radiation of PrNi₅-Cu point contacts. This difference is connected with the f-shell electronic levels (CEF levels) and phonon temporal dynamics. The phonon reabsorption contribution to the spectra above the Debye energy decreases for microwave and far-infrared frequencies. However, the crystal-field contribution to the spectra at 4.2 meV is enhanced for high frequencies reflecting the relaxation processes specific for these Fermi-statistics electron excitations. The characteristic frequency for CEF-level relaxation is evaluated as ~200 GHz
Measuring social and spatial relations in an office move
In this paper, we outline an investigation of the impact of an office move on the social relationships of staff and students in a university research department. Combining the techniques of Social Network Analysis to assess for changes in social relations and Space Syntax Analysis for measuring the spatial changes, we identify key changes in the social relations that can be defined by spatiality. A decline in the social connections taking place and a change in the structure of the social network, accompanied by significant changes in spatial connectivity suggests that the office locations are influencing the underlying complex social processes