1,112 research outputs found
Predicting Neutron Production from Cosmic-ray Muons
Fast neutrons from cosmic-ray muons are an important background to
underground low energy experiments. The estimate of such background is often
hampered by the difficulty of measuring and calculating neutron production with
sufficient accuracy. Indeed substantial disagreement exists between the
different analytical calculations performed so far, while data reported by
different experiments is not always consistent. We discuss a new unified
approach to estimate the neutron yield, the energy spectrum, the multiplicity
and the angular distribution from cosmic muons using the Monte Carlo simulation
package FLUKA and show that it gives a good description of most of the existing
measurements once the appropriate corrections have been applied.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
A New Approach to Background Subtraction in Low-Energy Neutrino Experiments
We discuss a new method to extract neutrino signals in low energy
experiments. In this scheme the symmetric nature of most backgrounds allows for
direct cancellation from data. The application of this technique to the Palo
Verde reactor neutrino oscillation experiment allowed us to reduce the
measurement errors on the anti-neutrino flux from % to %. We
expect this method to substantially improve the data quality in future low
background experiments such as KamLAND and LENS.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Signatures of the slow solar wind streams from active regions in the inner corona
Some of local sources of the slow solar wind can be associated with
spectroscopically detected plasma outflows at edges of active regions
accompanied with specific signatures in the inner corona. The EUV telescopes
(e.g. SPIRIT/CORONAS-F, TESIS/CORONAS-Photon and SWAP/PROBA2) sometimes
observed extended ray-like structures seen at the limb above active regions in
1MK iron emission lines and described as "coronal rays". To verify the
relationship between coronal rays and plasma outflows, we analyze an isolated
active region (AR) adjacent to small coronal hole (CH) observed by different
EUV instruments in the end of July - beginning of August 2009. On August 1 EIS
revealed in the AR two compact outflows with the Doppler velocities V =10-30
km/s accompanied with fan loops diverging from their regions. At the limb the
ARCH interface region produced coronal rays observed by EUVI/STEREO-A on July
31 as well as by TESIS on August 7. The rays were co-aligned with open magnetic
field lines expanded to the streamer stalks. Using the DEM analysis, it was
found that the fan loops diverged from the outflow regions had the dominant
temperature of ~1 MK, which is similar to that of the outgoing plasma streams.
Parameters of the solar wind measured by STEREO-B, ACE, WIND, STEREO-A were
conformed with identification of the ARCH as a source region at the
Wang-Sheeley-Arge map of derived coronal holes for CR 2086. The results of the
study support the suggestion that coronal rays can represent signatures of
outflows from ARs propagating in the inner corona along open field lines into
the heliosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physics; 31 Pages; 13 Figure
Conditions for the freezing phenomena of geometric measure of quantum discord for arbitrary two-qubit X states under non-dissipative dephasing noises
We study the dynamics of geometric measure of quantum discord (GMQD) under
the influences of two local phase damping noises. Consider the two qubits
initially in arbitrary X-states, we find the necessary and sufficient
conditions for which GMQD is unaffected for a finite period. It is further
shown that such results also hold for the non-Markovian dephasing process.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Pair Phase Fluctuations and the Pseudogap
The single-particle density of states and the tunneling conductance are
studied for a two-dimensional BCS-like Hamiltonian with a d_{x^2-y^2}-gap and
phase fluctuations. The latter are treated by a classical Monte Carlo
simulation of an XY model. Comparison of our results with recent scanning
tunneling spectra of Bi-based high-T_c cuprates supports the idea that the
pseudogap behavior observed in these experiments can be understood as arising
from phase fluctuations of a d_{x^2-y^2} pairing gap whose amplitude forms on
an energy scale set by T_c^{MF} well above the actual superconducting
transition.Comment: 5 pages, 6 eps-figure
Dynamics of multipartite quantum correlations under decoherence
Quantum discord is an optimal resource for the quantification of classical
and non-classical correlations as compared to other related measures. Geometric
measure of quantum discord is another measure of quantum correlations.
Recently, the geometric quantum discord for multipartite states has been
introduced by Jianwei Xu [arxiv:quant/ph.1205.0330]. Motivated from the recent
study [Ann. Phys. 327 (2012) 851] for the bipartite systems, I have
investigated global quantum discord (QD) and geometric quantum discord (GQD)
under the influence of external environments for different multipartite states.
Werner-GHZ type three-qubit and six-qubit states are considered in inertial and
non-inertial settings. The dynamics of QD and GQD is investigated under
amplitude damping, phase damping, depolarizing and flipping channels. It is
seen that the quantum discord vanishes for p>0.75 in case of three-qubit GHZ
states and for p>0.5 for six qubit GHZ states. This implies that multipartite
states are more fragile to decoherence for higher values of N. Surprisingly, a
rapid sudden death of discord occurs in case of phase flip channel. However,
for bit flip channel, no sudden death happens for the six-qubit states. On the
other hand, depolarizing channel heavily influences the QD and GQD as compared
to the amplitude damping channel. It means that the depolarizing channel has
the most destructive influence on the discords for multipartite states. From
the perspective of accelerated observers, it is seen that effect of environment
on QD and GQD is much stronger than that of the acceleration of non-inertial
frames. The degradation of QD and GQD happens due to Unruh effect. Furthermore,
QD exhibits more robustness than GQD when the multipartite systems are exposed
to environment.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 4 table
Quantum discord evolution of three-qubit states under noisy channels
We investigated the dissipative dynamics of quantum discord for correlated
qubits under Markovian environments.
The basic idea in the present scheme is that quantum discord is more general,
and possibly more robust and fundamental, than entanglement. We provide three
initially correlated qubits in pure Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) or W
state and analyse the time evolution of the quantum discord under various
dissipative channels such as:
Pauli channels , , and , as well as
depolarising channels. Surprisingly, we find that under the action of Pauli
channel , the quantum discord of GHZ state is not affected by
decoherence. For the remaining dissipative channels, the W state is more robust
than the GHZ state against decoherence. Moreover, we compare the dynamics of
entanglement with that of the quantum discord under the conditions in which
disentanglement occurs and show that quantum discord is more robust than
entanglement except for phase flip coupling of the three qubits system to the
environment.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ
An E. coli-produced single-chain variable fragment (scFv) targeting hepatitis B virus surface protein potently inhibited virion secretion
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelopes as well as empty subviral particles carry in their lipid membranes the small (S), middle (M), and large (L) surface proteins, collectively known as hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Due to their common S domain all three proteins share a surface-exposed hydrophilic antigenic loop (AGL) with a complex disulfide bridge-dependent structure. The AGL is critical for HBV infectivity and virion secretion, and thus represents a major target for neutralizing antibodies. Previously, a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting a conformational epitope in the AGL, IgG12, exhibited 1000-fold higher neutralizing activity than hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG). Here we designed a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) homolog of IgG12, G12-scFv, which could be efficiently produced in soluble form in the cytoplasm of E. coli SHuffle cells. Independent in vitro assays verified specific binding of G12-scFv to a conformational S epitope shared with IgG12. Despite 20-fold lower affinity, G12-scFv but not an irrelevant scFv potently neutralized HBV infection of susceptible hepatoma cells (IC50=1.8nM). Strikingly, low concentrations of G12-scFv blocked virion secretion from HBV producing cells (IC50=1.25nM) without disturbing intracellular viral replication, whereas extracellular HBsAg was reduced only at >100-fold higher though still nontoxic concentration. The inhibitory effects correlated with S binding specificity and presumably also G12-scFv internalization into cells. Together these data suggest G12-scFv as a highly specific yet easily accessible novel tool for basic, diagnostic, and possibly future therapeutic applications
Updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing conventional excisional haemorrhoidectomy with LigaSure for haemorrhoids
Background:\ud
To compare the surgical outcome of haemorrhoidectomy performed using LigaSure bipolar diathermy with conventional haemorrhoidectomy.\ud
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Methods:\ud
Only randomized and alternate allocated studies were included from the major electronic databases using the search terms "ligasure" and "haemorrhoids" Duration of operation, blood loss during operation, postoperative pain score, wound healing, in-hospital stay, time to return to normal activities and complications were assessed.\ud
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Results:\ud
The 11 trials contained a total of 1,046 patients; the largest study was based on 273 patients and two earlier studies were based on 34 patients. No significant gender mismatch between the groups was reported in any of the studies. The patients’ ages were similar between groups in the studies, as was disease severity. All 11 studies reported a shorter duration of the operation when using LigaSure compared to the conventional technique (p<0.001). The postoperative pain score (p=0.001) and blood loss during operation (p=0.001) were significantly reduced. After LigaSure haemorrhoidectomy wound healing (p=0.004) and the return to normal activities (p=0.001) were significantly faster than after conventional haemorrhoidectomy. However, the overall incidence of complications reported was not significantly different (p=0.056).\ud
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Conclusions:\ud
LigaSure is an effective instrument for haemorrhoidectomy which results in less blood loss, quicker wound healing and earlier return to work.\u
Combining inhomogeneous magnetization transfer and multipoint Dixon acquisition: potential utility and evaluation
Purpose The recently introduced inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) method has predominantly been applied for imaging the central nervous system. Future applications of ihMT, such as in peripheral nerves and muscles, will involve imaging in the vicinity of adipose tissues. This work aims to systematically investigate the partial volume effect of fat on the ihMT signal and to propose an efficient fat-separation method that does not interfere with ihMT measurements.Methods First, the influence of fat on ihMT signal was studied using simulations. Next, the ihMT sequence was combined with a multi-echo Dixon acquisition for fat separation. The sequence was tested in 9 healthy volunteers using a 3T human scanner. The ihMT ratio (ihMTR) values were calculated in regions of interest in the brain and the spinal cord using standard acquisition (no fat saturation), water-only, in-phase, and out-of-phase reconstructions. The values obtained were compared with a standard fat suppression method, spectral presaturation with inversion recovery.Results Simulations showed variations in the ihMTR values in the presence of fat, depending on the TEs used. The IhMTR values in the brain and spinal cord derived from the water-only ihMT multi-echo Dixon images were in good agreement with values from the unsuppressed sequence. The ihMT-spectral presaturation with inversion recovery combination resulted in 24%-35% lower ihMTR values compared with the standard non-fat-suppressed acquisition.Conclusion The presence of fat within a voxel affects the ihMTR calculations. The IhMT multi-echo Dixon method does not compromise the observable ihMT effect and can potentially be used to remove fat influence in ihMT.Neuro Imaging Researc
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