Purity as a witness for initial system-environment correlations in open-system dynamics

We study the dynamics of a two-level atom interacting with a Lorentzian structured reservoir considering initial system-environment correlations. It is shown that under strong system-reservoir coupling the dynamics of purity can determine whether there are initial correlations between system and environment. Moreover, we investigate the interaction of two two-level atoms with the same reservoir. In this case, we show that besides determining if there are initial system-environment correlations, the dynamics of the purity of the atomic system allows the identification of the distinct correlated initial states. In addition, the dynamics of quantum and classical correlations is analyzed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Enterococcus sp. isolated from swine carcasses at the pre-chill stage

The prevalence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria has been increasingly monitored in animals in order to prevent the spread of these strains through the food supply chain. Particularly, the emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae has been investigated worldwide. In the current study, the frequency of antimicrobial resistance of generic Escherichia coli and Enterococcus isolated from wine carcasses sampled at the pre-chill stage was assessed

Generation of decoherence-free displaced squeezed states of radiation fields and a squeezed reservoir for atoms in cavity QED

We present a way to engineer an effective anti-Jaynes-Cumming and a Jaynes-Cumming interaction between an atomic system and a single cavity mode and show how to employ it in reservoir engineering processes. To construct the effective Hamiltonian, we analyse considered the interaction of an atomic system in a \{Lambda} configuration, driven by classical fields, with a single cavity mode. With this interaction, we firstly show how to generate a decoherence-free displaced squeezed state for the cavity field. In our scheme, an atomic beam works as a reservoir for the radiation field trapped inside the cavity, as employed recently by S. Pielawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 240401 (2007)] to generate an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled radiation state in high-Q resonators. In our scheme, all the atoms have to be prepared in the ground state and, as in the cited article, neither atomic detection nor precise interaction times between the atoms and the cavity mode are required. From this same interaction, we can also generate an ideal squeezed reservoir for atomic systems. For this purpose we have to assume, besides the engineered atom-field interaction, a strong decay of the cavity field (i.e., the cavity decay must be much stronger than the effective atom-field coupling). With this scheme, some interesting effects in the dynamics of an atom in a squeezed reservoir could be tested

Parâmetros microbiológicos de carcaças suínas amostradas na etapa de pré-resfriamento.

Projeto/Plano de Ação: 11.11.11.111

A synthetic biology approach to engineering living photovoltaics

The ability to electronically interface living cells with electron accepting scaffolds is crucial for the development of next-generation biophotovoltaic technologies. Although recent studies have focused on engineering synthetic interfaces that can maximize electronic communication between the cell and scaffold, the efficiency of such devices is limited by the low conductivity of the cell membrane. This review provides a materials science perspective on applying a complementary, synthetic biology approach to engineering membrane–electrode interfaces. It focuses on the technical challenges behind the introduction of foreign extracellular electron transfer pathways in bacterial host cells and past and future efforts to engineer photosynthetic organisms with artificial electron-export capabilities for biophotovoltaic applications. The article highlights advances in engineering protein-based, electron-exporting conduits in a model host organism, E. coli, before reviewing state-of-the-art biophotovoltaic technologies that use both unmodified and bioengineered photosynthetic bacteria with improved electron transport. A thermodynamic analysis is used to propose an energetically feasible pathway for extracellular electron transport in engineered cyanobacteria and identify metabolic bottlenecks amenable to protein engineering techniques. Based on this analysis, an engineered photosynthetic organism expressing a foreign, protein-based electron conduit yields a maximum theoretical solar conversion efficiency of 6–10% without accounting for additional bioengineering optimizations for light-harvesting

Detection of salmonella heidelberg resistant to colistin in the intestinal content of pigs at slaughter.

Abstract : Salmonella Heidelberg has increasingly been reported as cause of human salmonellosis worldwide. In Brazil, S. Heidelberg has been reported in poultry but it is infrequently isolated from pigs. Here, we describe the isolation of S. Heidelberg resistant to colistin from slaughter pigs. Five pigs and their carcasses belonging to a same slaughter batch in ten consecutive days were sampled for fragment of intestine in the ileocecal region and sponges rubbed on the carcass surface (400 cm2 ) before chilling. Salmonella detection was performed according to the ISO 6579:2002. Intestinal content was also subjected to Salmonella enumeration by a miniaturized Most Probable Number (MPN) protocol. Salmonella isolates were characterized by antimicrobial resistance by the disk diffusion test, the minimum inhibitory concentration to colistin determination and to gene mcr-1 investigation by PCR. Salmonella was isolated from the intestinal content of 64% (32/50) of the pigs, in amounts that varied from 2.7 to >1,400 MPN/g. Salmonella Heidelberg was the most frequent serovar identified in the intestinal content samples (20/50; 40%), and this serovar was present in eight of the ten pig batches sampled. At the prechill, Salmonella was isolated from 8% of carcasses, and S. Heidelberg was not detected. Salmonella Heidelberg strains were resistant against ampicillin (n=9), tetracycline (n=8), sulfonamide (n=8) and gentamicin (n=5). Nine multi-drug resistant strains were detected; among them four strains were positive for the gene mcr-1. In these strains the MIC value was 8 µg.mL-1 , while in the strains without the mcr-1 gene it ranged from 2 µg.mL-1 to 4 µg.mL-1 . Therefore, humans in contact with carrier pigs or their environment may be exposed to S. Heidelberg, including strains harboring the gene mcr-1.SafePork 2017

Algebraic characterization of X-states in quantum information

A class of two-qubit states called X-states are increasingly being used to discuss entanglement and other quantum correlations in the field of quantum information. Maximally entangled Bell states and "Werner" states are subsets of them. Apart from being so named because their density matrix looks like the letter X, there is not as yet any characterization of them. The su(2) X su(2) X u(1) subalgebra of the full su(4) algebra of two qubits is pointed out as the underlying invariance of this class of states. X-states are a seven-parameter family associated with this subalgebra of seven operators. This recognition provides a route to preparing such states and also a convenient algebraic procedure for analytically calculating their properties. At the same time, it points to other groups of seven-parameter states that, while not at first sight appearing similar, are also invariant under the same subalgebra. And it opens the way to analyzing invariant states of other subalgebras in bipartite systems.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Geometric measure of quantum discord and the geometry of a class of two-qubit states

We investigate the geometric picture of the level surfaces of quantum entanglement and geometric measure of quantum discord (GMQD) of a class of X-states, respectively. This pictorial approach provides us a direct understanding of the structure of entanglement and GMQD. The dynamic evolution of GMQD under two typical kinds of quantum decoherence channels is also investigated. It is shown that there exists a class of initial states for which the GMQD is not destroyed by decoherence in a finite time interval. Furthermore, we establish a factorization law between the initial and final GMQD, which allows us to infer the evolution of entanglement under the influences of the environment.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, comments are welcom