72 research outputs found
First fabrication of full 3D-detectors at SINTEF
International audienceA knowledge of the mechanical properties of bacterial biofilms is required to more fully understand the processes of biofilm formation such as initial adhesion or detachment. The main contribution of this article is to demonstrate the use of homogenization techniques to compute mechanical parameters of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms. For this purpose, homogenization techniques are used to analyze freeze substitution electron micrographs of the biofilm cross-sections. The concept of a representative volume element and the study about his representativeness allows us to determine the optimal size in order to analyze these biofilm images. Results demonstrate significant heterogeneities with respect to stiffness and these can be explained by varying cell density distribution throughout the bacterial biofilms. These stiffness variations lead to different mechanical properties along the height of the biofilm. Moreover, a numerical shear stress test shows the impact of these heterogeneities on the detachment process. Several modes of detachment are highlighted according to the local strain energy in the different parts of the biofilm. Knowing where, and how, a biofilm may detach will allow better prediction of accumulation and biomass detachment
Non-Acidic Free Fatty Acid Receptor 4 Agonists with Antidiabetic Activity
The free fatty acid receptor 4 (FFA4 or GPR120) has appeared as an interesting potential target for the treatment of metabolic disorders. At present, most FFA4 ligands are carboxylic acids that are assumed to mimic the endogenous long-chain fatty acid agonists. Here, we report preliminary structure-activity relationship studies of a previously disclosed nonacidic sulfonamide FFA4 agonist. Mutagenesis studies indicate that the compounds are orthosteric agonists despite the absence of a carboxylate function. The preferred compounds showed full agonist activity on FFA4 and complete selectivity over FFA1, although a significant fraction of these noncarboxylic acids also showed partial antagonistic activity on FFA1. Studies in normal and diet-induced obese (DIO) mice with the preferred compound 34 showed improved glucose tolerance after oral dosing in an oral glucose tolerance test. Chronic dosing of 34 in DIO mice resulted in significantly increased insulin sensitivity and a moderate but significant reduction in bodyweight, effects that were also present in mice lacking FFA1 but absent in mice lacking FFA4
Collaboration opportunities in advanced housing renovation
AbstractIn theory, there is huge potential for reducing the energy consumed by existing single-family houses by thoroughly renovating them. For the successful market development of highly energy-efficient integrated renovations, supply chain collaboration is very important, while at the same time customer demand for integrated renovations has to be stimulated. A research and networking methodology was developed within the framework of the One Stop Shop project to identify and develop collaboration opportunities for advanced housing renovation in Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Norway. The research identified key supply-side needs through interviews and questionnaires, and analysed important elements for the development of a web-based portal that can connect supply and demand. The project further developed ideas and methods for collaboration and business model generation between different players on the renovation market. These different research results contributed to defining new business opportunities related to process innovation to unburden the homeowner and to achieve less fragmented renovation processes
Do the repulsive and attractive pair forces play separate roles for the physics of liquids?
Abstract According to standard liquid-state theory repulsive and attractive pair forces play distinct roles for the physics of liquids. This paradigm is put into perspective here by demonstrating a continuous series of pair potentials that have virtually the same structure and dynamics, although only some of them have attractive forces of significance. Our findings reflect the fact that the motion of a given particle is determined by the total force on it, whereas the quantity usually discussed in liquid-state theory is the individual pair force
Blood plasma clinical-chemical parameters as biomarker endpoints for organohalogen contaminant exposure in Norwegian raptor nestlings
Synthesis of 13 (R)-Hyd roxy-7Z,10Z,13R,14E,16Z,19Z Docosapentaenoic Acid (13R-HDPA) and Its Biosynthetic Conversion to the 13-Series Resolvins
Specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators are biosynthesized during the resolution phase of acute inflammation from n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Recently, the isolation and identification of the four novel mediators denoted 13-series resolvins, namely, RvT1 (1), RvT2 (2), RvT3 (3) and RvT4 (4), were reported, which showed potent bioactions characteristic for specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators. Herein, based on results from LC/MS-MS metabololipidomics and the stereoselective synthesis of 13(R)-hydroxy-7Z,10Z,13R,14E,16Z,19Z docosapentaenoic acid (13R-HDPA, 5), we provide direct evidence that the four novel mediators 1â4 are all biosynthesized from the pivotal intermediate 5. The UV and LC/MS-MS results from synthetic 13R-HDPA (5) matched those from endogenously and biosynthetically produced material obtained from in vivo infectious exudates, endothelial cells, and human recombinant COX-2 enzyme. Stereochemically pure 5 was obtained with the use of a chiral pool starting material that installed the configuration at the C-13 atom as R. Two stereoselective Z-Wittig reactions and two Z-selective reductions of internal alkynes afforded the geometrically pure alkene moieties in 5. Incubation of 5 with isolated human neutrophils gave all four RvTs. The results presented herein provide new knowledge on the biosynthetic pathways and the enzymatic origin of RvTs 1â4
Is there a negative impact of winter on mental distress and sleeping problems in the subarctic: The Tromsø Study
Measurement-induced entanglement and teleportation on a noisy quantum processor
Measurement has a special role in quantum theory: by collapsing the
wavefunction it can enable phenomena such as teleportation and thereby alter
the "arrow of time" that constrains unitary evolution. When integrated in
many-body dynamics, measurements can lead to emergent patterns of quantum
information in space-time that go beyond established paradigms for
characterizing phases, either in or out of equilibrium. On present-day NISQ
processors, the experimental realization of this physics is challenging due to
noise, hardware limitations, and the stochastic nature of quantum measurement.
Here we address each of these experimental challenges and investigate
measurement-induced quantum information phases on up to 70 superconducting
qubits. By leveraging the interchangeability of space and time, we use a
duality mapping, to avoid mid-circuit measurement and access different
manifestations of the underlying phases -- from entanglement scaling to
measurement-induced teleportation -- in a unified way. We obtain finite-size
signatures of a phase transition with a decoding protocol that correlates the
experimental measurement record with classical simulation data. The phases
display sharply different sensitivity to noise, which we exploit to turn an
inherent hardware limitation into a useful diagnostic. Our work demonstrates an
approach to realize measurement-induced physics at scales that are at the
limits of current NISQ processors
Non-Abelian braiding of graph vertices in a superconducting processor
Indistinguishability of particles is a fundamental principle of quantum
mechanics. For all elementary and quasiparticles observed to date - including
fermions, bosons, and Abelian anyons - this principle guarantees that the
braiding of identical particles leaves the system unchanged. However, in two
spatial dimensions, an intriguing possibility exists: braiding of non-Abelian
anyons causes rotations in a space of topologically degenerate wavefunctions.
Hence, it can change the observables of the system without violating the
principle of indistinguishability. Despite the well developed mathematical
description of non-Abelian anyons and numerous theoretical proposals, the
experimental observation of their exchange statistics has remained elusive for
decades. Controllable many-body quantum states generated on quantum processors
offer another path for exploring these fundamental phenomena. While efforts on
conventional solid-state platforms typically involve Hamiltonian dynamics of
quasi-particles, superconducting quantum processors allow for directly
manipulating the many-body wavefunction via unitary gates. Building on
predictions that stabilizer codes can host projective non-Abelian Ising anyons,
we implement a generalized stabilizer code and unitary protocol to create and
braid them. This allows us to experimentally verify the fusion rules of the
anyons and braid them to realize their statistics. We then study the prospect
of employing the anyons for quantum computation and utilize braiding to create
an entangled state of anyons encoding three logical qubits. Our work provides
new insights about non-Abelian braiding and - through the future inclusion of
error correction to achieve topological protection - could open a path toward
fault-tolerant quantum computing
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