Vibrational pair cat states

Published versio

Psycholinguistic norms for more than 300 lexical signs in German Sign Language (DGS)

Sign language offers a unique perspective on the human faculty of language by illustrating that linguistic abilities are not bound to speech and writing. In studies of spoken and written language processing, lexical variables such as, for example, age of acquisition have been found to play an important role, but such information is not as yet available for German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS). Here, we present a set of norms for frequency, age of acquisition, and iconicity for more than 300 lexical DGS signs, derived from subjective ratings by 32 deaf signers. We also provide additional norms for iconicity and transparency for the same set of signs derived from ratings by 30 hearing non-signers. In addition to empirical norming data, the dataset includes machine-readable information about a sign’s correspondence in German and English, as well as annotations of lexico-semantic and phonological properties: one-handed vs. two-handed, place of articulation, most likely lexical class, animacy, verb type, (potential) homonymy, and potential dialectal variation. Finally, we include information about sign onset and offset for all stimulus clips from automated motion-tracking data. All norms, stimulus clips, data, as well as code used for analysis are made available through the Open Science Framework in the hope that they may prove to be useful to other researchers: https://osf.io/mz8j4

Partitioning and modularity of graphs with arbitrary degree distribution

We solve the graph bi-partitioning problem in dense graphs with arbitrary degree distribution using the replica method. We find the cut-size to scale universally with . In contrast, earlier results studying the problem in graphs with a Poissonian degree distribution had found a scaling with ^1/2 [Fu and Anderson, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 19, 1986]. The new results also generalize to the problem of q-partitioning. They can be used to find the expected modularity Q [Newman and Grivan, Phys. Rev. E, 69, 2004] of random graphs and allow for the assessment of statistical significance of the output of community detection algorithms.Comment: Revised version including new plots and improved discussion of some mathematical detail

Exciton-LO-phonon dynamics in InAs/GaAs quantum dots: Effects of zone-edge phonon damping

The dynamics of an exciton-LO-phonon system after an ultrafast optical excitation in an InAs/GaAs quantum dot is studied theoretically. Influence of anharmonic phonon damping and its interplay with the phonon dispersion is analyzed. The signatures of the zone-edge decay process in the absorption spectrum and time evolution are highlighted, providing a possible way of experimental investigation on phonon anharmonicity effects.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Electron shot noise beyond the second moment

The form of electron counting statistics of the tunneling current noise in a generic many-body interacting electron system is obtained. The third correlator of current fluctuations (the skewness of the charge counting distribution) has a universal relation with the current I and the quasiparticle charge q. This relation C_3 = q^2 I holds in a wide bias voltage range, both at large and small eV/kT, thereby representing an advantage compared to the Schottky formula. We consider the possibility of using the counting statistics for detecting quasiparticle charge at high temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Stewart-Treves syndrome: MR imaging of a postmastectomy upper-limb chronic lymphedema with angiosarcoma

The rare occurrence of angiosarcoma in postmastectomy upper-limb lymphedema with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is discussed. Unfamiliarity with this aggressive vascular tumor and its harmless appearance often leads to delayed diagnosis. Angiosarcoma complicating chronic lymphedema may be low in signal intensity on T2-weighting and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) imaging reflecting the densely cellular, fibrous stroma, and sparsely vascularized tumor histology. Additional administration of intravenous contrast medium revealed significant enhancement of the tumorous lesions. Awareness of angiosarcoma and its MR imaging appearance in patients with chronic lymphedema may be a key to early diagnosis or allow at least inclusion in the differential diagnosi

Crystal structure of a ring-cleaving cyclohexane-1,2-dione hydrolase, a novel member of the thiamine diphosphate enzyme family

The thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) dependent flavoenzyme cyclohexane-1,2-dione hydrolase (CDH) (EC 3.7.1.11) catalyses a key step of a novel anaerobic degradation pathway for alicyclic alcohols by converting cyclohexane-1,2-dione (CDO) to 6-oxohexanoate and further to adipate using NAD(+) as electron acceptor. To gain insights into the molecular basis of these reactions CDH from denitrifying anaerobe Azoarcus sp. strain 22Lin was structurally characterized at 1.26 Å resolution. Notably, the active site funnel is rearranged in an unprecedented manner providing the structural basis for the specific binding and cleavage of an alicyclic compound. Crucial features include a decreased and displaced funnel entrance, a semi-circularly shaped loop segment preceding the C-terminal arm and the attachment of the C-terminal arm to other subunits of the CDH tetramer. Its structural scaffold and the ThDP activation is related to that observed for other members of the ThDP enzyme family. The selective binding of the competitive inhibitor 2-methyl-2,4-pentane-diol (MPD) to the open funnel of CDH reveals an asymmetry of the two active sites found also in the dimer of several other ThDP dependent enzymes. The substrate binding site is characterized by polar and non-polar moieties reflected in the structures of MPD and CDO and by three prominent histidine residues (His28, His31 and His76) that most probably play a crucial role in substrate activation. The NAD(+) dependent oxidation of 6-oxohexanoate remains enigmatic as the redox-active cofactor FAD seems not to participate in catalysis, and no obvious NAD(+) binding site is found. Based on the structural data both reactions are discussed