341 research outputs found
Nuclear spin qubits in a trapped-ion quantum computer
Physical systems must fulfill a number of conditions to qualify as useful
quantum bits (qubits) for quantum information processing, including ease of
manipulation, long decoherence times, and high fidelity readout operations.
Since these conditions are hard to satisfy with a single system, it may be
necessary to combine different degrees of freedom. Here we discuss a possible
system, based on electronic and nuclear spin degrees of freedom in trapped
ions. The nuclear spin yields long decoherence times, while the electronic
spin, in a magnetic field gradient, provides efficient manipulation, and the
optical transitions of the ions assure a selective and efficient initialization
and readout.Comment: 7 page
Efficient and perfect state transfer in quantum chains
We present a communication protocol for chains of permanently coupled qubits
which achieves perfect quantum state transfer and which is efficient with
respect to the number chains employed in the scheme. The system consists of
uncoupled identical quantum chains. Local control (gates, measurements) is only
allowed at the sending/receiving end of the chains. Under a quite general
hypothesis on the interaction Hamiltonian of the qubits a theorem is proved
which shows that the receiver is able to asymptotically recover the messages by
repetitive monitoring of his qubits.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; new material adde
Deeply sequenced metagenome and metatranscriptome of a biogas-producing microbial community from an agricultural production-scale biogas plant
Bremges A, Maus I, Belmann P, et al. Deeply sequenced metagenome and metatranscriptome of a biogas-producing microbial community from an agricultural production-scale biogas plant. GigaScience. 2015;4(1): 33.Background
The production of biogas takes place under anaerobic conditions and involves microbial decomposition of organic matter. Most of the participating microbes are still unknown and non-cultivable. Accordingly, shotgun metagenome sequencing currently is the method of choice to obtain insights into community composition and the genetic repertoire.
Findings
Here, we report on the deeply sequenced metagenome and metatranscriptome of a complex biogas-producing microbial community from an agricultural production-scale biogas plant. We assembled the metagenome and, as an example application, show that we reconstructed most genes involved in the methane metabolism, a key pathway involving methanogenesis performed by methanogenic Archaea. This result indicates that there is sufficient sequencing coverage for most downstream analyses.
Conclusions
Sequenced at least one order of magnitude deeper than previous studies, our metagenome data will enable new insights into community composition and the genetic potential of important community members. Moreover, mapping of transcripts to reconstructed genome sequences will enable the identification of active metabolic pathways in target organisms
FLOWERING REPRESSOR AAA(+) ATPase 1 is a novel regulator of perennial flowering in Arabis alpina
Arabis alpina is a polycarpic perennial, in which PERPETUAL FLOWERING1 (PEP1) regulates flowering and perennial traits in a vernalization-dependent manner. Mutagenesis screens of the pep1 mutant established the role of other flowering time regulators in PEP1-parallel pathways. Here we characterized three allelic enhancers of pep1 (eop002, 085 and 091) which flower early. We mapped the causal mutations and complemented mutants with the identified gene. Using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR and reporter lines, we determined the protein spatiotemporal expression patterns and localization within the cell. We also characterized its role in Arabidopsis thaliana using CRISPR and in A. alpina by introgressing mutant alleles into a wild-type background. These mutants carried lesions in an AAA(+) ATPase of unknown function, FLOWERING REPRESSOR AAA(+) ATPase 1 (AaFRAT1). AaFRAT1 was detected in the vasculature of young leaf primordia and the rib zone of flowering shoot apical meristems. At the subcellular level, AaFRAT1 was localized at the interphase between the endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisomes. Introgression lines carrying Aafrat1 alleles required less vernalization to flower and reduced number of vegetative axillary branches. By contrast, A. thaliana CRISPR lines showed weak flowering phenotypes. AaFRAT1 contributes to flowering time regulation and the perennial growth habit of A. alpina
SWITCH 1/DYAD is a WINGS APART-LIKE antagonist that maintains sister chromatid cohesion in meiosis
During cell division, Soronin antagonises WAPL to prevent premature loss of sister chromatid cohesion. Here the authors show that, despite a lack of sequence similarity, the Arabidopsis SWI1 protein functions as a novel Soronin-like WAPL antagonist, suggesting convergent evolution with animals
New Results for the Correlation Functions of the Ising Model and the Transverse Ising Chain
In this paper we show how an infinite system of coupled Toda-type nonlinear
differential equations derived by one of us can be used efficiently to
calculate the time-dependent pair-correlations in the Ising chain in a
transverse field. The results are seen to match extremely well long large-time
asymptotic expansions newly derived here. For our initial conditions we use new
long asymptotic expansions for the equal-time pair correlation functions of the
transverse Ising chain, extending an old result of T.T. Wu for the 2d Ising
model. Using this one can also study the equal-time wavevector-dependent
correlation function of the quantum chain, a.k.a. the q-dependent diagonal
susceptibility in the 2d Ising model, in great detail with very little
computational effort.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 31 pages, 8 figures (16 eps files). vs2: Two references
added and minor changes of style. vs3: Corrections made and reference adde
Diurnal variation of steroid hormones and their reference intervals using mass spectrometric analysis
Diurnal variation of steroid hormones and their reference intervals using mass spectrometric analysis
Objective: Accurate measurement of steroid hormones remains challenging. Mass spectrometry affords a reliable means for quantitating steroid profiles accurately. Our objective was to establish and define (1) the extent of diurnal fluctuations in steroid concentrations that potentially necessitate strict adherence to time of sample acquisition and (2) time-dependent steroid reference intervals.
Design: Nine steroid markers were examined in couplets in males and females.
Methods: Using isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS/MS) analysis, we developed a multi-steroid profile requiring only a minimal volume of serum (0.1 mL). Couplet (AM and PM) measurements of steroid hormones for 120 healthy females (F) and 62 healthy males (M) were obtained. Patients were recruited from several participating centers.
Results: The following diurnal values were noted to be significantly different in both females and males: cortisone, cortisol, corticosterone, 11 deoxycortisol (11 DOC), androstenedione, 17a-hydroxyprogesterone (17 OHP) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Testosterone was only found to have significant diurnal variance in males. Progesterone showed no significant difference in AM and PM values for either groups and thus may provide an internal control.
Conclusions: When diagnosing endocrine disorders, it is imperative to acknowledge the 24-h diurnal variation of the biochemical steroid markers. We highlight the importance of standardization of collection times and appropriate implementation of reference intervals.
Precis: We identify diurnal fluctuations in steroid concentrations with time of day and emphasize the importance of adhering to firm time of sample acquisition
The value of the cerebrospinal fluid tap test for predicting shunt effectiveness in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus
Long-Time Tails and Anomalous Slowing Down in the Relaxation of Spatially Inhomogeneous Excitations in Quantum Spin Chains
Exact analytic calculations in spin-1/2 XY chains, show the presence of
long-time tails in the asymptotic dynamics of spatially inhomogeneous
excitations. The decay of inhomogeneities, for , is given in the
form of a power law where the relaxation time
and the exponent depend on the wave vector ,
characterizing the spatial modulation of the initial excitation. We consider
several variants of the XY model (dimerized, with staggered magnetic field,
with bond alternation, and with isotropic and uniform interactions), that are
grouped into two families, whether the energy spectrum has a gap or not. Once
the initial condition is given, the non-equilibrium problem for the
magnetization is solved in closed form, without any other assumption. The
long-time behavior for can be obtained systematically in a form
of an asymptotic series through the stationary phase method. We found that
gapped models show critical behavior with respect to , in the sense that
there exist critical values , where the relaxation time
diverges and the exponent changes discontinuously. At those points, a
slowing down of the relaxation process is induced, similarly to phenomena
occurring near phase transitions. Long-lived excitations are identified as
incommensurate spin density waves that emerge in systems undergoing the Peierls
transition. In contrast, gapless models do not present the above anomalies as a
function of the wave vector .Comment: 25 pages, 2 postscript figures. Manuscript submitted to Physical
Review
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