Nonclassicality of pure two-qutrit entangled states

We report an exhaustive numerical analysis of violations of local realism by two qutrits in all possible pure entangled states. In Bell type experiments we allow any pairs of local unitary U(3) transformations to define the measurement bases. Surprisingly, Schmidt rank-2 states, resembling pairs of maximally entangled qubits, lead to the most noise-robust violations of local realism. The phenomenon seems to be even more pronounced for four and five dimensional systems, for which we tested a few interesting examples.Comment: 6 pages, journal versio

Ferrule-top nanoindenter: An optomechanical fiber sensor for nanoindentation

Ferrule-top probes are self-aligned all-optical devices obtained by fabricating a cantilever on the top of a ferruled optical fiber. This approach has been proven to provide a new platform for the realization of small footprint atomic force microscopes (AFMs) that adapt well to utilization outside specialized laboratories [D. Chavan, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 123702 (2010)10.1063/1.3516044; D. Chavan, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 046107 (2011)10.1063/1.3579496]. In this paper we now show that ferrule-top cantilevers can be also used to develop nanoindenters. Our instrument combines the sensitivity of commercial AFM-based indentation with the ease-of-use of more macroscopic instrumented indenters available today on the market. Furthermore, the all-optical design allows smooth operations also in liquids, where other devices are much more limited and often provide data that are difficult to interpret. This study may pave the way to the implementation of a new generation user-friendly nanoindenters for the measurement of the stiffness of samples in material sciences and medical research. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Quantum interferometry with three-dimensional geometry

Quantum interferometry uses quantum resources to improve phase estimation with respect to classical methods. Here we propose and theoretically investigate a new quantum interferometric scheme based on three-dimensional waveguide devices. These can be implemented by femtosecond laser waveguide writing, recently adopted for quantum applications. In particular, multiarm interferometers include "tritter" and "quarter" as basic elements, corresponding to the generalization of a beam splitter to a 3- and 4-port splitter, respectively. By injecting Fock states in the input ports of such interferometers, fringe patterns characterized by nonclassical visibilities are expected. This enables outperforming the quantum Fisher information obtained with classical fields in phase estimation. We also discuss the possibility of achieving the simultaneous estimation of more than one optical phase. This approach is expected to open new perspectives to quantum enhanced sensing and metrology performed in integrated photonic.Comment: 7 pages (+4 Supplementary Information), 5 figure

Comparison of Chlorine-36 Exchange With K2ReCl6 and Cs2 ReOCl5

K2ReCl6 (IV), after precipitation from solutions of HCl36 with nitron, contained no significant radioactivity. Cs2ReOCl5 (V), insoluble in HCl, after suspension in methanol containing HCl36 and filtration was radioactive. An x-ray diffraction determination of the Cs2ReOCl6 unit cell parameters and a microscopic estimation of the surface of the samples made possible the calculation of 83% exchange of the surface chlorine atoms. Results agree with the generalization that octohedral complexes with no vacant d orbitals are inert, whereas those with at least one vacant d orbital are labile. Cs2ReOCl5 is a yellow-brown crystalline solid, insoluble in dilute HCI. X-ray diffraction determination gave hexagonal unit cell parameters of a =7.04A0 and C=10.9A

Plasma Homeostasis and Cloacal Urine Composition in Crocodylus porosus Caught Along a Salinity Gradient

Juveniles of the Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, maintain both osmotic pressure and plasma electrolyte homeostasis along a salinity gradient from fresh water to the sea. In fresh water (FW) the cloacal urine is a clear solution rich in ammonium and bicarbonate and containing small amounts of white precipitated solids with high concentrations of calcium and magnesium. In salt water (SW) the cloacal urine has a much higher proportion of solids, cream rather than white in colour, which are the major route for excretion of potassium in addition to calcium and magnesium. Neither liquid nor solid fractions of the cloacal urine represent a major route for excretion of sodium chloride. The solids are urates and uric acid, and their production probably constitutes an important strategy for water conservation by C. porosus in SW. These data, coupled with natural history observations and the recent identification of lingual salt glands, contribute to the conclusion that C. porosus is able to live and breed in either fresh or salt water and may be as euryhaline as any reptile

The Effects of Sensitization and Habituation in Durable Goods Markets

We develop a model to study the impact of changes in price sensitivity on the firm as it introduces multiple generations of a durable product where unit costs are a convex function of quality. We incorporate the psychological processes of sensitization and habituation into a model of discretionary purchasing of replacement products motivated by past experience. When price sensitivity decreases with each purchase (sensitization), the myopic firm offers a higher quality product at a much higher price with each generation. When price sensitivity increases with each purchase (habituation), the myopic firm engages in price skimming. When sensitization is followed by habituation, the myopic firm eventually provides higher quality than the market is willing to pay for, leading to a steep drop-off in sales and profits. The actions of the forward-looking firm depend on the discount rate. A firm with a low discount rate builds its customer base before offering a higher quality and higher priced product. In contrast, a firm with a high discount rate quickly increases price and quality following the same path to falling profits of the myopic firm. These results provide insight into the firm and consumer behaviors underlying the phenomenon of 'performance oversupply' identified in the innovation literature

Consumer Complaints and Company Market Value

Consumer complaints affect company market value and common sense suggests that a negative impact is expected. However, do complaints always negatively impact company market value? We hypothesize in this study that complaints may have a non-linear effect on market value. Positive (e.g. avoiding high costs to solve complaints) and negative (e.g. speedy and intense diffusion) tradeoffs may occur given the level of complaints. To test our non-linear hypothesis, a panel data was collected from cell phone service providers from 2005 to 2013. The results supported our tradeoff rationale. Low levels of complaints allow for companies to increase market value, while high levels of complaints cause increasing harm to market value. The sample, model and period considered in this study, indicates a level of 0.49 complaints per thousand consumers as the threshold for a shift in tradeoffs. The effects on market value become increasingly negative when trying to make reductions to move below this level, due to negative tradeoffs

Investigating the involvement of different hippocampal cell populations in the molecular changes associated with vulnerability and resilience to stress-induced anhedonia: focus on redox balance mediators

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by low mood, anhedonia and other debilitating behavioural, cognitive and emotional symptoms. Over the past decades, preclinical and clinical studies have shown that a maladaptive stress response is strongly associated with the onset of MDD, with a consequent deregulation of several molecular systems. It is noteworthy that the effects of stress are highly variable, with most exposed individuals being resilient and able to cope positively with the adverse situation, and a smaller percentage being susceptible and developing psychopathology. The molecular mechanisms underlying resilience and susceptibility are still elusive and their characterization is crucial to identify new targets for a more effective therapeutic strategy. In this context, using the well-known Chronic Mild Stress (CMS) animal model of depression, our group has previously reported that stress-induced vulnerability to anhedonia is associated with increased levels of pro-inflammatory and oxidative stress mediators in the brain. Since both glial and neuronal cells are known to be either actively involved in these processes or severely affected by their dysregulation, the aim of the present study was to investigate the potential involvement of different cell populations in the vulnerability or resilience to the anhedonic-like phenotype induced by 2 weeks of CMS. Specifically, by using the sucrose consumption test (SCT) we differentiated between vulnerable and resilient animals, while immunofluorescence staining was used to assess the co-localisation of astrocytic (GFAP) and microglial (IBA-1) markers with HO-1, an antioxidant mediator, in ventral (VH) and dorsal (DH) hippocampal slices. Our results showed that the CMS paradigm affected both glial cell density and HO-1 expression, with most of the changes occurring within the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Specifically, we observed increased astrocyte numbers in the DH and VH of both stress-vulnerable and resilient groups, suggesting that astrocytic reactivity reflects a general stress response. Conversely, we found increased microglial numbers only in the VH of vulnerable rats, whereas resilient rats showed either unchanged (VH) or decreased (DH) IBA1-positive cell numbers, suggesting that microglial activation appears to be related to stress vulnerability and pointing to the VH as a potential hub for this process. Furthermore, we observed that the HO-1 signal was only partially attributable to glial cells, as neuron-like cells appeared to be mainly responsible for its expression. In conclusion, although further studies are required, our data provide novel information on the cell populations involved in development of stress-induced vulnerability or resilience to anhedonia

Deletion of genes encoding PU.1 and Spi-B in B cells impairs differentiation and induces pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The E26 transformation-specific (Ets) transcription factor PU.1 is required to generate lymphoid progenitor cells from hematopoietic stem cells, but it is not required to generate B cells from committed B-cell lineage progenitors.We hypothesized that PU.1 function in B-cell differentiation is complemented by the related Ets transcription factor Spi-B. To test this hypothesis, mice were generated lacking both PU.1 and Spi-B in the B-cell lineage. Unlike mice lacking PU.1 or Spi-B, mice deficient in both PU.1 and Spi-B in the B-cell lineage had reduced frequencies of B cells as well as impaired B-cell differentiation. Strikingly, all PU.1 and Spi-B-deficient mice developed pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia before 30 weeks of age. Pre-B cells accumulated in the thymus resulting in massive thymic enlargement and dyspnea. These findings demonstrate that PU.1 and Spi-B are essential transcriptional regulators of B-cell differentiation as well as novel tumor suppressors in the B-cell lineage. © 2011 by The American Society of Hematology