10,841 research outputs found
Dark Periods in Rabi Oscillations of Superconducting Phase Qubit Coupled to a Microscopic Two-Level System
We proposed a scheme to demonstrate macroscopic quantum jumps in a
superconducting phase qubit coupled to a microscopic two-level system in the
Josephson tunnel junction. Irradiated with suitable microwaves, the Rabi
oscillations of the qubit exhibit signatures of quantum jumps: a random
telegraph signal with long intervals of intense macroscopic quantum tunneling
events (bright periods) interrupted by the complete absence of tunneling events
(dark periods). An analytical model was developed to describe the width of the
dark periods quantitatively. The numerical simulations indicate that our
analytical model captured underlying physics of the system. Besides calibrating
the quality of the microscopic two-level system, our results have significance
in quantum information process since dark periods in Rabi oscillations are also
responsible for errors in quantum computing with superconducting qubits.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
A Simple Iterative Algorithm for Parsimonious Binary Kernel Fisher Discrimination
By applying recent results in optimization theory variously known as optimization transfer or majorize/minimize algorithms, an algorithm for binary, kernel, Fisher discriminant analysis is introduced that makes use of a non-smooth penalty on the coefficients to provide a parsimonious solution. The problem is converted into a smooth optimization that can be solved iteratively with no greater overhead than iteratively re-weighted least-squares. The result is simple, easily programmed and is shown to perform, in terms of both accuracy and parsimony, as well as or better than a number of leading machine learning algorithms on two well-studied and substantial benchmarks
A stress-induced cellular aging model with postnatal neural stem cells
Aging refers to the physical and functional decline of the tissues over time that often leads to age-related degenerative diseases. Accumulating evidence implicates that the senescence of neural stem cells (NSCs) is of paramount importance to the aging of central neural system (CNS). However, exploration of the underlying molecular mechanisms has been hindered by the lack of proper aging models to allow the mechanistic examination within a reasonable time window. In the present study, we have utilized a hydroxyurea (HU) treatment protocol and effectively induced postnatal subventricle NSCs to undergo cellular senescence as determined by augmented senescence-associated-β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining, decreased proliferation and differentiation capacity, increased G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and diminished apoptosis. These phenotypic changes were accompanied by a significant increase in p16, p21 and p53 expression, as well as a decreased expression of key proteins in various DNA repair pathways such as xrcc2, xrcc3 and ku70. Further proteomic analysis suggests that multiple pathways are involved in the HU-induced NSC senescence, including genes related to DNA damage and repair, mitochondrial dysfunction and the increase of ROS level. Intriguingly, compensatory mechanisms may have also been initiated to interfere with apoptotic signaling pathways and to minimize the cell death by downregulating Bcl2-associated X protein (BAX) expression. Taken together, we have successfully established a cellular model that will be of broad utilities to the molecular exploration of NSC senescence and aging
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T cell–derived inducible nitric oxide synthase switches off TH17 cell differentiation
RORγt is necessary for the generation of TH17 cells but the molecular mechanisms for the regulation of TH17 cells are still not fully understood. We show that activation of CD4+ T cells results in the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). iNOS-deficient mice displayed enhanced TH17 cell differentiation but without major effects on either TH1 or TH2 cell lineages, whereas endothelial NOS (eNOS) or neuronal NOS (nNOS) mutant mice showed comparable TH17 cell differentiation compared with wild-type control mice. The addition of N6-(1-iminoethyl)-l-lysine dihydrochloride (L-NIL), the iNOS inhibitor, significantly enhanced TH17 cell differentiation, and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), the NO donor, dose-dependently reduced the percentage of IL-17–producing CD4+ T cells. NO mediates nitration of tyrosine residues in RORγt, leading to the suppression of RORγt-induced IL-17 promoter activation, indicating that NO regulates IL-17 expression at the transcriptional level. Finally, studies of an experimental model of colitis showed that iNOS deficiency results in more severe inflammation with an enhanced TH17 phenotype. These results suggest that NO derived from iNOS in activated T cells plays a negative role in the regulation of TH17 cell differentiation and highlight the importance of intrinsic programs for the control of TH17 immune responses
Fabrication of Porous Anodic Alumina with Ultrasmall Nanopores
Anodization of Al foil under low voltages of 1–10 V was conducted to obtain porous anodic aluminas (PAAs) with ultrasmall nanopores. Regular nanopore arrays with pore diameter 6–10 nm were realized in four different electrolytes under 0–30°C according to the AFM, FESEM, TEM images and current evolution curves. It is found that the pore diameter and interpore distance, as well as the barrier layer thickness, are not sensitive to the applied potentials and electrolytes, which is totally different from the rules of general PAA fabrication. The brand-new formation mechanism has been revealed by the AFM study on the samples anodized for very short durations of 2–60 s. It is discovered for the first time that the regular nanoparticles come into being under 1–10 V at the beginning of the anodization and then serve as a template layer dominating the formation of ultrasmall nanopores. Under higher potentials from 10 to 40 V, the surface nanoparticles will be less and less and nanopores transform into general PAAs
Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay
The decay channel
is studied using a sample of events collected
by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is
observed in the invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit
with an -wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of
and a
narrow width that is at the 90% confidence level.
These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width
values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics
Identifying the structure of Zn-N-2 active sites and structural activation
Identification of active sites is one of the main obstacles to rational design of catalysts for diverse applications. Fundamental insight into the identification of the structure of active sites and structural contributions for catalytic performance are still lacking. Recently, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and density functional theory (DFT) provide important tools to disclose the electronic, geometric and catalytic natures of active sites. Herein, we demonstrate the structural identification of Zn-N-2 active sites with both experimental/theoretical X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra. Further DFT calculations reveal that the oxygen species activation on Zn-N-2 active sites is significantly enhanced, which can accelerate the reduction of oxygen with high selectivity, according well with the experimental results. This work highlights the identification and investigation of Zn-N-2 active sites, providing a regular principle to obtain deep insight into the nature of catalysts for various catalytic applications
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