Quantum phase transitions (QPTs) are usually associated with many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit when their ground states show abrupt changes at zero temperature with variation of a ...parameter in the Hamiltonian. Recently it has been realized that a QPT can also occur in a system composed of only a two-level atom and a single-mode bosonic field, described by the quantum Rabi model (QRM). Here we report an experimental demonstration of a QPT in the QRM using a
Yb
ion in a Paul trap. We measure the spin-up state population and the average phonon number of the ion as two order parameters and observe clear evidence of the phase transition via adiabatic tuning of the coupling between the ion and its spatial motion. An experimental probe of the phase transition in a fundamental quantum optics model without imposing the thermodynamic limit opens up a window for controlled study of QPTs and quantum critical phenomena.
Thermoelectrics interconvert heat to electricity and are of great interest in waste heat recovery, solid-state cooling and so on. The efficiency of thermoelectric materials depends directly on the ...average ZT (dimensionless figure of merit) over a certain temperature range, which historically has been challenging to increase. Here we report that 2.5% K-doped PbTe0.7S0.3 achieves a ZT of >2 for a very wide temperature range from 673 to 923 K and has a record high average ZT of 1.56 (corresponding to a theoretical energy conversion efficiency of ~20.7% at the temperature gradient from 300 to 900 K). The PbTe0.7S0.3 composition shows spinodal decomposition with large PbTe-rich and PbS-rich regions where each region exhibits dissimilar types of nanostructures. Such high average ZT is obtained by synergistically optimized electrical- and thermal-transport properties via carrier concentration tuning, band structure engineering and hierarchical architecturing, and highlights a realistic prospect of wide applications of thermoelectrics.
The deformation responses of NiCoCrFe high-entropy alloy (HEA) under quasi-static (1 × 10−4-1 × 10−1/s) and dynamic (1,000–6,000/s) tension were investigated. A good combination of high strength and ...ductility is obtained under dynamic tension. The yield strength and true ultimate tensile strength is increased from 217 to 830 MPa at 1 × 10−4/s to 440 MPa and more than 1,000 MPa at 6,000/s, respectively. In addition, the engineering fracture strains maintain 60%–85% over a wide range of strain rates. The enhancements of strength and ductility originate from (1) the significant strain-rate sensitivity (SRS) mainly due to the presence of short-range orders/clusters (SROs/SRCs) as well as phonon drag effect of dislocations, and (2) the extraordinary work-hardening capacity due to dynamically formed nanoscale twins upon high strain-rate tension. The temperature and strain-rate dependence of the yield strength of the alloy are well modeled based on the thermally activated mechanism. Additionally, considering nanoscale twin boundaries as local sites for nucleating and accommodating dislocations, the dislocation density evolution model is modified and subsequently introduced into Taylor hardening model to accurately capture the hardening behavior of the current NiCoCrFe HEA. Hence, the distinguished work-hardening capacity under dynamic tension can be mainly ascribed to the low dislocation recovery rate and remarkable twin-induced dislocation generation.
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•NiCoCrFe HEA possesses simultaneous enhancement of strength and ductility at high strain rates (greater than 1,000/s).•Strong strain rate sensitivity originates from short-range orders/clusters and phonon drag effect of dislocation.•Extraordinary strain hardening mainly stems from the dynamically formed nanoscale twins.•A strain rate-dependent model was established to bridge the gap between microstructure and mechanical properties.•Design idea of new alloys serving under cryogenic temperatures and dynamic impacts was given.
A large amount of observations have constrained cosmological parameters and the initial density fluctuation spectrum to a very high accuracy. However, cosmological parameters change with time and the ...power index of the power spectrum dramatically varies with mass scale in the so-called concordance Delta *LCDM cosmology. Thus, any successful model for its structural evolution should work well simultaneously for various cosmological models and different power spectra. We use a large set of high-resolution N-body simulations of a variety of structure formation models (scale-free, standard CDM, open CDM, and Delta *LCDM) to study the mass accretion histories, the mass and redshift dependence of concentrations, and the concentration evolution histories of dark matter halos. We find that there is significant disagreement between the much-used empirical models in the literature and our simulations. Based on our simulation results, we find that the mass accretion rate of a halo is tightly correlated with a simple function of its mass, the redshift, parameters of the cosmology, and of the initial density fluctuation spectrum, which correctly disentangles the effects of all these factors and halo environments. We also find that the concentration of a halo is strongly correlated with the universe age when its progenitor on the mass accretion history first reaches 4% of its current mass. According to these correlations, we develop new empirical models for both the mass accretion histories and the concentration evolution histories of dark matter halos, and the latter can also be used to predict the mass and redshift dependence of halo concentrations. These models are accurate and universal: the same set of model parameters works well for different cosmological models and for halos of different masses at different redshifts, and in the Delta *LCDM case the model predictions match the simulation results very well even though halo mass is traced to about 0.0005 times the final mass, when cosmological parameters and the power index of the initial density fluctuation spectrum have changed dramatically. Our model predictions also match the PINOCCHIO mass accretion histories very well, which are much independent of our numerical simulations and our definitions of halo merger trees. These models are also simple and easy to implement, making them very useful in modeling the growth and structure of dark matter halos. We provide appendices describing the step-by-step implementation of our models. A calculator which allows one to interactively generate data for any given cosmological model is provided on the Web, together with a user-friendly code to make the relevant calculations and some tables listing the expected concentration as a function of halo mass and redshift in several popular cosmological models. We explain why Delta *LCDM and open CDM halos on nearly all mass scales show two distinct phases in their mass growth histories. We discuss implications of the universal relations we find in connection to the formation of dark matter halos in the cosmic density field.
Background
Altered visceral sensation is common in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and nerve growth factor (NGF) participates in visceral pain development. Sodium butyrate (NaB) could induce colonic ...hypersensitivity via peripheral up‐regulation of NGF in animals. Enteric glial cells (EGCs) appear to be an important source of NGF. Whether butyrate could induce visceral hypersensitivity via increased EGC‐derived NGF is still unknown.
Methods
CRL‐2690 cells were used for transcriptome analyses after butyrate treatment. Rats received butyrate enemas to induce colonic hypersensitivity. Colorectal distention test was performed to assess visceral sensitivity. Immunofluorescence studies were used to evaluate the co‐expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and NGF or growth associated protein 43 in animal model. NGF expression in rat colon was also investigated. In vitro, CRL‐2690 cells were stimulated with NaB or trichostatin A (TSA). NGF or GFAP expression was also examined.
Key Results
Transcriptome analyses showed that butyrate induced marked changes of genes expression related to neurotrophic signaling pathways. NaB‐treated rats showed increased visceral sensitivity. An improved NGF expression level was observed in NaB‐treated rats. Meanwhile, a 2.1‐fold increase in co‐expression of GFAP and NGF was also determined in rats received NaB enemas. In cultured cells, both NaB and TSA treatment could cause obvious NGF expression. Thus, butyrate might regulate EGC function via histone deacetylase inhibition.
Conclusions & Inferences
Butyrate‐EGC interplay may play a pivotal role in regulation of NGF expression and the development of colonic hypersensitivity in IBS‐like animal model.
Our study illustrated that butyrate promoted the secretion of NGF from enteric glial cells (EGCs) and contributed to visceral hypersensitivity in rats. The results clarified the potential unignorable source of NGF from EGC and highlighted the important role of EGC in pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The discovery of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has dramatically altered our understanding of cancer. Here, we describe a comprehensive analysis of lncRNA alterations at transcriptional, genomic, and ...epigenetic levels in 5,037 human tumor specimens across 13 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Our results suggest that the expression and dysregulation of lncRNAs are highly cancer type specific compared with protein-coding genes. Using the integrative data generated by this analysis, we present a clinically guided small interfering RNA screening strategy and a co-expression analysis approach to identify cancer driver lncRNAs and predict their functions. This provides a resource for investigating lncRNAs in cancer and lays the groundwork for the development of new diagnostics and treatments.
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•lncRNA dysregulation was characterized in 5,037 tumor samples across 13 cancer types•lncRNAs are altered in cancers at transcriptional, genomic, and epigenetic levels•The expression and dysregulation of lncRNAs are strikingly cancer-type specific•This study provides a resource to systematically identify cancer driver lncRNAs
Yan et al. analyze long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) alterations at transcriptional, genomic, and epigenetic levels across multiple cancer types from TCGA datasets and cancer cell lines. They also present a screening strategy and “co-expression” approach using the integrative data to identify cancer driver lncRNAs.
Paclitaxel (PTX) is an effective drug against diseases such as lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer. However, multidrug resistance limits the clinical applications of this drug. Tetrahedral ...DNA nanostructures (TDNs) offer great promise as a drug delivery candidate. In our study, we prepared TDNs that were subsequently loaded with PTX (PTX/TDNs). The cytotoxicity of PTX/TDNs and PTX alone on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells (A549) and the PTX-resistant cell line (A549/T) was determined using a cell count kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. PTX/TDNs exerted strong lethality on both cell lines. Moreover, drug resistance was overcome. Furthermore, the mechanisms used by PTX/TDNs to overcome drug resistance were studied. The expression of mdr 1 gene and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in A549/T was found to be downregulated, thus indicating that TDNs serve as a P-gp inhibitor. We also showed that PTX/TDNs killed cancer cells via apoptosis. Thus, PTX/TDNs have great potential for use as a nanodelivery system for the treatment of PTX-resistant NSCLC.
Roughly one quarter of active upper limb prosthetic technology is rejected by the user, and user surveys have identified key areas requiring improvement: function, comfort, cost, durability, and ...appearance. Here we present the first systematic, clinical assessment of a novel prosthetic hand, the SoftHand Pro (SHP), in participants with transradial amputation and age-matched, limb-intact participants. The SHP is a robust and functional prosthetic hand that minimizes cost and weight using an underactuated design with a single motor. Participants with limb loss were evaluated on functional clinical measures before and after a 6-8 hour training period with the SHP as well as with their own prosthesis; limb-intact participants were tested only before and after SHP training. Participants with limb loss also evaluated their own prosthesis and the SHP (following training) using subjective questionnaires. Both objective and subjective results were positive and illuminated the strengths and weaknesses of the SHP. In particular, results pre-training show the SHP is easy to use, and significant improvement in the Activities Measure for Upper Limb Amputees in both groups following a 6-8 hour training highlights the ease of learning the unique features of the SHP (median improvement: 4.71 and 3.26 and p = 0.009 and 0.036 for limb loss and limb-intact groups, respectively). Further, we found no difference in performance compared to participant's own commercial devices in several clinical measures and found performance surpassing these devices on two functional tasks, buttoning a shirt and using a cell phone, suggesting a functional prosthetic design. Finally, improvements are needed in the SHP design and/or training in light of poor results in small object manipulation. Taken together, these results show the promise of the SHP, a flexible and adaptive prosthetic hand, and pave a path forward to ensuring higher functionality in future.
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