279 research outputs found
An exact equilibrium reduced density matrix formulation I: The influence of noise, disorder, and temperature on localization in excitonic systems
An exact method to compute the entire equilibrium reduced density matrix for
systems characterized by a system-bath Hamiltonian is presented. The approach
is based upon a stochastic unraveling of the influence functional that appears
in the imaginary time path integral formalism of quantum statistical mechanics.
This method is then applied to study the effects of thermal noise, static
disorder, and temperature on the coherence length in excitonic systems. As
representative examples of biased and unbiased systems, attention is focused on
the well-characterized light harvesting complexes of FMO and LH2, respectively.
Due to the bias, FMO is completely localized in the site basis at low
temperatures, whereas LH2 is completely delocalized. In the latter, the
presence of static disorder leads to a plateau in the coherence length at low
temperature that becomes increasingly pronounced with increasing strength of
the disorder. The introduction of noise, however, precludes this effect. In
biased systems, it is shown that the environment may increase the coherence
length, but only decrease that of unbiased systems. Finally it is emphasized
that for typical values of the environmental parameters in light harvesting
systems, the system and bath are entangled at equilibrium in the single
excitation manifold. That is, the density matrix cannot be described as a
product state as is often assumed, even at room temperature. The reduced
density matrix of LH2 is shown to be in precise agreement with the steady state
limit of previous exact quantum dynamics calculations.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Transmittance and reflectance measurements at terahertz frequencies on a superconducting BaFe_{1.84}Co_{0.16}As_2 ultrathin film: an analysis of the optical gaps in the Co-doped BaFe_2As_2 pnictide
Here we report an optical investigation in the terahertz region of a 40 nm
ultrathin BaFeCoAs superconducting film with
superconducting transition temperature T = 17.5 K. A detailed analysis of
the combined reflectance and transmittance measurements showed that the optical
properties of the superconducting system can be described in terms of a
two-band, two-gap model. The zero temperature value of the large gap
, which seems to follow a BCS-like behavior, results to be
(0) = 17 cm. For the small gap, for which (0) = 8
cm, the temperature dependence cannot be clearly established. These gap
values and those reported in the literature for the BaFeCoAs
system by using infrared spectroscopy, when put together as a function of
T, show a tendency to cluster along two main curves, providing a unified
perspective of the measured optical gaps. Below a temperature around 20 K, the
gap-sizes as a function of T seem to have a BCS-like linear behavior, but
with different slopes. Above this temperature, both gaps show different
supra-linear behaviors
Effects of tunnelling and asymmetry for system-bath models of electron transfer
We apply the newly derived nonadiabatic golden-rule instanton theory to
asymmetric models describing electron-transfer in solution. The models go
beyond the usual spin-boson description and have anharmonic free-energy
surfaces with different values for the reactant and product reorganization
energies. The instanton method gives an excellent description of the behaviour
of the rate constant with respect to asymmetry for the whole range studied. We
derive a general formula for an asymmetric version of Marcus theory based on
the classical limit of the instanton and find that this gives significant
corrections to the standard Marcus theory. A scheme is given to compute this
rate based only on equilibrium simulations. We also compare the rate constants
obtained by the instanton method with its classical limit to study the effect
of tunnelling and other quantum nuclear effects. These quantum effects can
increase the rate constant by orders of magnitude.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Draft Nuclear Genome Sequence of the Liquid Hydrocarbon-Accumulating Green Microalga Botryococcus braunii Race B (Showa).
Botryococcus braunii has long been known as a prodigious producer of liquid hydrocarbon oils that can be converted into combustion engine fuels. This draft genome for the B race of B. braunii will allow researchers to unravel important hydrocarbon biosynthetic pathways and identify possible regulatory networks controlling this unusual metabolism
Skin Lesion Analyser: An Efficient Seven-Way Multi-Class Skin Cancer Classification Using MobileNet
Skin cancer, a major form of cancer, is a critical public health problem with
123,000 newly diagnosed melanoma cases and between 2 and 3 million non-melanoma
cases worldwide each year. The leading cause of skin cancer is high exposure of
skin cells to UV radiation, which can damage the DNA inside skin cells leading
to uncontrolled growth of skin cells. Skin cancer is primarily diagnosed
visually employing clinical screening, a biopsy, dermoscopic analysis, and
histopathological examination. It has been demonstrated that the dermoscopic
analysis in the hands of inexperienced dermatologists may cause a reduction in
diagnostic accuracy. Early detection and screening of skin cancer have the
potential to reduce mortality and morbidity. Previous studies have shown Deep
Learning ability to perform better than human experts in several visual
recognition tasks. In this paper, we propose an efficient seven-way automated
multi-class skin cancer classification system having performance comparable
with expert dermatologists. We used a pretrained MobileNet model to train over
HAM10000 dataset using transfer learning. The model classifies skin lesion
image with a categorical accuracy of 83.1 percent, top2 accuracy of 91.36
percent and top3 accuracy of 95.34 percent. The weighted average of precision,
recall, and f1-score were found to be 0.89, 0.83, and 0.83 respectively. The
model has been deployed as a web application for public use at
(https://saketchaturvedi.github.io). This fast, expansible method holds the
potential for substantial clinical impact, including broadening the scope of
primary care practice and augmenting clinical decision-making for dermatology
specialists.Comment: This is a pre-copyedited version of a contribution published in
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Hassanien A., Bhatnagar R.,
Darwish A. (eds) published by Chaturvedi S.S., Gupta K., Prasad P.S. The
definitive authentication version is available online via
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3383-9_1
Spectroscopy, MOST Photometry, and Interferometry of MWC 314: Is it an LBV or an interacting binary?
MWC 314 is a bright candidate luminous blue variable that resides in a fairly
close binary system, with an orbital period of 60.7530.003 d. We observed
MWC 314 with a combination of optical spectroscopy, broad-band ground- and
space-based photometry, as well as with long baseline, near-infrared
interferometry. We have revised the single-lined spectroscopic orbit and
explored the photometric variability. The orbital light curve displays two
minima each orbit that can be partially explained in terms of the tidal
distortion of the primary that occurs around the time of periastron. The
emission lines in the system are often double-peaked and stationary in their
kinematics, indicative of a circumbinary disc. We find that the stellar wind or
circumbinary disc is partially resolved in the K\prime-band with the longest
baselines of the CHARA Array. From this analysis, we provide a simple,
qualitative model in an attempt to explain the observations. From the
assumption of Roche Lobe overflow and tidal synchronisation at periastron, we
estimate the component masses to be M1 M and M2
M, which indicates a mass of the LBV that is extremely low. In addition
to the orbital modulation, we discovered two pulsational modes with the MOST
satellite. These modes are easily supported by a low-mass hydrogen-poor star,
but cannot be easily supported by a star with the parameters of an LBV. The
combination of these results provides evidence that the primary star was likely
never a normal LBV, but rather is the product of binary interactions. As such,
this system presents opportunities for studying mass-transfer and binary
evolution with many observational techniques.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables, 2 appendices with 7 additional tables
and 2 additional figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Synergistic tumor suppression by combined inhibition of telomerase and CDKN1A
Tumor suppressor p53 plays an important role in mediating growth inhibition upon telomere dysfunction. Here, we show that loss of the p53 target gene cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A, also known as p21WAF1/CIP1) increases apoptosis induction following telomerase inhibition in a variety of cancer cell lines and mouse xenografts. This effect is highly specific to p21, as loss of other checkpoint proteins and CDK inhibitors did not affect apoptosis. In telomerase, inhibited cell loss of p21 leads to E2F1- and p53-mediated transcriptional activation of p53-upregulated modulator of apoptosis, resulting in increased apoptosis. Combined genetic or pharmacological inhibition of telomerase and p21 synergistically suppresses tumor growth. Furthermore, we demonstrate that simultaneous inhibition of telomerase and p21 also suppresses growth of tumors containing mutant p53 following pharmacological restoration of p53 activity. Collectively, our results establish that inactivation of p21 leads to increased apoptosis upon telomerase inhibition and thus identify a genetic vulnerability that can be exploited to treat many human cancers containing either wild-type or mutant p53
Support and Assessment for Fall Emergency Referrals (SAFER 1) trial protocol. Computerised on-scene decision support for emergency ambulance staff to assess and plan care for older people who have fallen: evaluation of costs and benefits using a pragmatic cluster randomised trial
Background: Many emergency ambulance calls are for older people who have fallen. As half of them are left at home, a community-based response may often be more appropriate than hospital attendance. The SAFER 1 trial will assess the costs and benefits of a new healthcare technology - hand-held computers with computerised clinical decision support (CCDS) software - to help paramedics decide who needs hospital attendance, and who can be safely left at home with referral to community falls services.
Methods/Design: Pragmatic cluster randomised trial with a qualitative component. We shall allocate 72 paramedics ('clusters') at random between receiving the intervention and a control group delivering care as usual, of whom we expect 60 to complete the trial.
Patients are eligible if they are aged 65 or older, live in the study area but not in residential care, and are attended by a study paramedic following an emergency call for a fall. Seven to 10 days after the index fall we shall offer patients the opportunity to opt out of further follow up. Continuing participants will receive questionnaires after one and 6 months, and we shall monitor their routine clinical data for 6 months. We shall interview 20 of these patients in depth. We shall conduct focus groups or semi-structured interviews with paramedics and other stakeholders.
The primary outcome is the interval to the first subsequent reported fall (or death). We shall analyse this and other measures of outcome, process and cost by 'intention to treat'. We shall analyse qualitative data thematically.
Discussion: Since the SAFER 1 trial received funding in August 2006, implementation has come to terms with ambulance service reorganisation and a new national electronic patient record in England. In response to these hurdles the research team has adapted the research design, including aspects of the intervention, to meet the needs of the ambulance services.
In conclusion this complex emergency care trial will provide rigorous evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of CCDS for paramedics in the care of older people who have fallen
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