SU(4) Fermi Liquid State and Spin Filtering in a Double Quantum Dot System

We study a symmetrical double quantum dot (DD) system with strong capacitive inter-dot coupling using renormalization group methods. The dots are attached to separate leads, and there can be a weak tunneling between them. In the regime where there is a single electron on the DD the low-energy behavior is characterized by an SU(4)-symmetric Fermi liquid theory with entangled spin and charge Kondo correlations and a phase shift $\pi/4$. Application of an external magnetic field gives rise to a large magneto-conductance and a crossover to a purely charge Kondo state in the charge sector with SU(2) symmetry. In a four lead setup we find perfectly spin polarized transmission.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, ReVTe

Neural and Cognitive Signatures of Guilt Predict Hypocritical Blame

A common form of moral hypocrisy occurs when people blame others for moral violations that they themselves commit. It is assumed that hypocritical blamers act in this manner to falsely signal that they hold moral standards that they do not really accept. We tested this assumption by investigating the neurocognitive processes of hypocritical blamers during moral decision-making. Participants (62 adult UK residents; 27 males) underwent functional MRI scanning while deciding whether to profit by inflicting pain on others and then judged the blameworthiness of others’ identical decisions. Observers (188 adult U.S. residents; 125 males) judged participants who blamed others for making the same harmful choice to be hypocritical, immoral, and untrustworthy. However, analyzing hypocritical blamers’ behaviors and neural responses shows that hypocritical blame was positively correlated with conflicted feelings, neural responses to moral standards, and guilt-related neural responses. These findings demonstrate that hypocritical blamers may hold the moral standards that they apply to others.<br/

PrPSc spreading patterns in the brain of sheep linked to different prion types

Scrapie in sheep and goats has been known for more than 250 years and belongs nowadays to the so-called prion diseases that also include e.g. bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. According to the prion hypothesis, the pathological isoform (PrPSc) of the cellular prion protein (PrPc) comprises the essential, if not exclusive, component of the transmissible agent. Currently, two types of scrapie disease are known - classical and atypical/Nor98 scrapie. In the present study we examine 24 cases of classical and 25 cases of atypical/Nor98 scrapie with the sensitive PET blot method and validate the results with conventional immunohistochemistry. The sequential detection of PrPSc aggregates in the CNS of classical scrapie sheep implies that after neuroinvasion a spread from spinal cord and obex to the cerebellum, diencephalon and frontal cortex via the rostral brainstem takes place. We categorize the spread of PrPSc into four stages: the CNS entry stage, the brainstem stage, the cruciate sulcus stage and finally the basal ganglia stage. Such a sequential development of PrPSc was not detectable upon analysis of the present atypical/Nor98 scrapie cases. PrPSc distribution in one case of atypical/Nor98 scrapie in a presumably early disease phase suggests that the spread of PrPSc aggregates starts in the di- or telencephalon. In addition to the spontaneous generation of PrPSc, an uptake of the infectious agent into the brain, that bypasses the brainstem and starts its accumulation in the thalamus, needs to be taken into consideration for atypical/Nor98 scrapie

Ноосферная проблематика в философии Тейяра де Шардена

Современная экологическая ситуация остается одной их актуальных. Она требует всестороннего, комплексного анализа, в том числе и философского осмысления. В XX в. сформировались несколько концептуальных представлений, получивших название "ноосферных". Одним из теоретиков ноосферной концепции был Тейяр де Шарден. Исследование его подхода дает основание избежать ошибок и сформировать научное последовательное представление во взаимоотношениях между Природой и Обществом

A rice class-XIV kinesin enters the nucleus in response to cold

Higher plants possess a large number of kinesins, but lack the minus-end directed dynein motors. However, the kinesin class XIV has strongly expanded, and minus-end directed motors from this class may have taken over functions of cytoplasmic dyneins. In this study, we address the functional aspects of a novel rice homologue of the Arabidopsis class-XIV kinesins ATK1 and ATK5. Since a loss-of-function rice mutant of this kinesin is not viable, the function was studied in tobacco BY-2 as heterologous system. OsDLK-GFP stably expressed in BY-2 cells decorates cortical microtubules, but also can shift into the nucleus of interphase cells. Because of this peculiar localisation, we coined the name Dual Localisation Kinesin (DLK). The nuclear import of this protein is strongly and reversibly promoted in response to cold. During mitosis, OsDLK is repartitioned between spindle and phragmoplast. Motility assays in vitro using show that OsDLK can convey mutual sliding of microtubules and moves at a velocity comparable to other class-XIV kinesins. When tobacco cells overexpressing OsDLK are synchronised, they exhibit a delayed entry into metaphase, while the later phases of mitosis are accelerated. The data are discussed in relation to additional functions of this kinesin type, beyond their transport along microtubules

Mg2+ -free ATP regulates the processivity of native cytoplasmic dynein

Cytoplasmic dynein, a microtubule?based motor protein, is responsible for many cellular functions ranging from cargo transport to cell division. The various functions are carried out by a single isoform of cytoplasmic dynein, thus requiring different forms of motor regulation. A possible pathway to regulate motor function was revealed in optical trap experiments. Switching motor function from single steps to processive runs could be achieved by changing Mg2+ and ATP concentrations. Here, we confirm by single molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy that a native cytoplasmic dynein dimer is able to switch to processive runs of more than 680 consecutive steps or 5.5 ?m. We also identified the ratio of Mg2+?free ATP to Mg.ATP as the regulating factor and propose a model for dynein processive stepping

Interference in interacting quantum dots with spin

We study spectral and transport properties of interacting quantum dots with spin. Two particular model systems are investigated: Lateral multilevel and two parallel quantum dots. In both cases different paths through the system can give rise to interference. We demonstrate that this strengthens the multilevel Kondo effect for which a simple two-stage mechanism is proposed. In parallel dots we show under which conditions the peak of an interference-induced orbital Kondo effect can be split.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Training Schrödinger’s cat: quantum optimal control

It is control that turns scientific knowledge into useful technology: in physics and engineering itprovides a systematic way for driving a dynamical system from a given initial state into a desired targetstate with minimized expenditure of energy and resources. As one of the cornerstones for enabling quantumtechnologies, optimal quantum control keeps evolving and expanding into areas as diverse as quantumenhancedsensing, manipulation of single spins, photons, or atoms, optical spectroscopy, photochemistry,magnetic resonance (spectroscopy as well as medical imaging), quantum information processing and quantumsimulation. In this communication, state-of-the-art quantum control techniques are reviewed and putinto perspective by a consortium of experts in optimal control theory and applications to spectroscopy,imaging, as well as quantum dynamics of closed and open systems. We address key challenges and sketcha roadmap for future developments