34,226 research outputs found
Phenomenological Analysis of and Elastic Scattering Data in the Impact Parameter Space
We use an almost model-independent analytical parameterization for and
elastic scattering data to analyze the eikonal, profile, and
inelastic overlap functions in the impact parameter space. Error propagation in
the fit parameters allows estimations of uncertainty regions, improving the
geometrical description of the hadron-hadron interaction. Several predictions
are shown and, in particular, the prediction for inelastic overlap
function at TeV shows the saturation of the Froissart-Martin
bound at LHC energies.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figure
Transcriptional factor PU.1 regulates decidual C1q expression in early pregnancy in human
"Copyright: © 2015 Madhukaran, Kishore, Jamil, Teo, Choolani and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms."C1q is the first recognition subcomponent of the complement classical pathway, which in addition to being synthesized in the liver, is also expressed by macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Trophoblast invasion during early placentation results in accumulation of debris that triggers the complement system. Hence, both early and late components of the classical pathway are widely distributed in the placenta and decidua. In addition, C1q has recently been shown to significantly contribute to feto-maternal tolerance, trophoblast migration, and spiral artery remodeling, although the exact mechanism remains unknown. Pregnancy in mice, genetically deficient in C1q, mirrors symptoms similar to that of human preeclampsia. Thus, regulated complement activation has been proposed as an essential requirement for normal successful pregnancy. Little is known about the molecular pathways that regulate C1q expression in pregnancy. PU.1, an Ets-family transcription factor, is required for the development of hematopoietic myeloid lineage immune cells, and its expression is tissue-specific. Recently, PU.1 has been shown to regulate C1q gene expression in DCs and macrophages. Here, we have examined if PU.1 transcription factor regulates decidual C1q expression. We used immune-histochemical analysis, PCR, and immunostaining to localize and study the gene expression of PU.1 transcription factor in early human decidua. PU.1 was highly expressed at gene and protein level in early human decidual cells including trophoblast and stromal cells. Surprisingly, nuclear as well as cytoplasmic PU.1 expression was observed. Decidual cells with predominantly nuclear PU.1 expression had higher C1q expression. It is likely that nuclear and cytoplasmic PU.1 localization has a role to play in early pregnancy via regulating C1q expression in the decidua during implantation
Consistent Estimation of Mixed Memberships with Successive Projections
This paper considers the parameter estimation problem in Mixed Membership
Stochastic Block Model (MMSB), which is a quite general instance of random
graph model allowing for overlapping community structure. We present the new
algorithm successive projection overlapping clustering (SPOC) which combines
the ideas of spectral clustering and geometric approach for separable
non-negative matrix factorization. The proposed algorithm is provably
consistent under MMSB with general conditions on the parameters of the model.
SPOC is also shown to perform well experimentally in comparison to other
algorithms
Laser induced magnetization switching in films with perpendicular anisotropy: a comparison between measurements and a multi-macrospin model
Thermally-assisted ultra-fast magnetization reversal in a DC magnetic field
for magnetic multilayer thin films with perpendicular anisotropy has been
investigated in the time domain using femtosecond laser heating. The experiment
is set-up as an optically pumped stroboscopic Time Resolved Magneto-Optical
Kerr Effect magnetometer. It is observed that a modest laser fluence of about
0.3 mJ/square-cm induces switching of the magnetization in an applied field
much less than the DC coercivity (0.8 T) on the sub-nanosecond time-scale. This
switching was thermally-assisted by the energy from the femtosecond pump-pulse.
The experimental results are compared with a model based on the Landau
Lifschitz Bloch equation. The comparison supports a description of the reversal
process as an ultra-fast demagnetization and partial recovery followed by
slower thermally activated switching due to the spin system remaining at an
elevated temperature after the heating pulse.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, to be submitted to PR
Energetics of hydrogen impurities in aluminum and their effect on mechanical properties
The effects of hydrogen impurities in the bulk and on the surface of aluminum
are theoretically investigated. Within the framework of density functional
theory, we have obtained the dependence on H concentration of the stacking
fault energy, the cleavage energy, the Al/H surface energy and the Al/H/Al
interface formation energy. The results indicate a strong dependence of the
slip energy barrier in the direction the cleavage energy in the
[111] direction and the Al/H/Al interface formation energy, on H concentration
and on tension. The dependence of the Al/H surface energy on H coverage is less
pronounced, while the optimal H coverage is monolayer. The
calculated activation energy for diffusion between high symmetry sites in the
bulk and on the surface is practically the same, 0.167 eV. From these results,
we draw conclusions about the possible effect of H impurities on mechanical
properties, and in particular on their role in embrittlement of Al.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
Modified Bennett-Brassard 1984 Quantum Key Distribution With Two-way Classical Communications
The quantum key distribution protocol without public announcement of bases is
equipped with a two-way classical communication symmetric entanglement
purification protocol. This modified key distribution protocol is
unconditionally secure and has a higher tolerable error rate of 20%, which is
higher than previous scheme without public announcement of bases.Comment: 5 pages. To appear in Physical Review
Fast shuttling of a trapped ion in the presence of noise
We theoretically investigate the motional excitation of a single ion caused
by spring-constant and position uctuations of a harmonic trap during trap
shuttling processes. A detailed study of the sensitivity on noise for several
transport protocols and noise spectra is provided. The effect of slow
spring-constant drifts is also analyzed. Trap trajectories that minimize the
excitation are designed combining invariant-based inverse engineering,
perturbation theory, and optimal control
Temperature dependence of single-particle properties in nuclear matter
The single-nucleon potential in hot nuclear matter is investigated in the
framework of the Brueckner theory by adopting the realistic Argonne V18 or
Nijmegen 93 two-body nucleon-nucleon interaction supplemented by a microscopic
three-body force. The rearrangement contribution to the single-particle
potential induced by the ground state correlations is calculated in terms of
the hole-line expansion of the mass operator and provides a significant
repulsive contribution in the low-momentum region around and below the Fermi
surface. Increasing temperature leads to a reduction of the effect, while
increasing density makes it become stronger. The three-body force suppresses
somewhat the ground state correlations due to its strong short-range repulsion,
increasing with density. Inclusion of the three-body force contribution results
in a quite different temperature dependence of the single-particle potential at
high enough densities as compared to that adopting the pure two-body force. The
effects of three-body force and ground state correlations on the nucleon
effective mass are also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Finite-temperature time-dependent variation with multiple Davydov states
The Dirac-Frenkel time-dependent variational approach with Davydov Ans\"atze
is a sophisticated, yet efficient technique to obtain an acuurate solution to
many-body Schr\"odinger equations for energy and charge transfer dy- namics in
molecular aggregates and light-harvesting complexes. We extend this variational
approach to finite temperatures dynamics of the spin-boson model by adopting a
Monte Carlo importance sampling method. In or- der to demonstrate the
applicability of this approach, we compare real-time quantum dynamics of the
spin-boson model calculated with that from numerically exact iterative
quasiadiabatic propagator path integral (QUAPI) technique. The comparison shows
that our variational approach with the single Davydov Ans\"atze is in excellent
agreement with the QUAPI method at high temperatures, while the two differ at
low temperatures. Accuracy in dynamics calculations employing a multitude of
Davydov trial states is found to improve substantially over the single Davydov
Ansatz, especially at low temperatures. At a moderate computational cost, our
variational approach with the multiple Davydov Ansatz is shown to provide
accurate spin-boson dynamics over a wide range of temperatures and bath
spectral densities.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
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