314 research outputs found
New opportunities for photon storage and detection: an exploration of a high-efficiency optical quantum memory and the quantum capabilities of the human eye
No full textThe field of quantum information has grown in recent years, due to tremendous technological advancements toward quantum networking and quantum computation. Nevertheless, there is still a great need for creative research that explores possibilities for new capabilities. Particularly, we look towards quantum optics research to develop new ways of manipulating and detecting photons.
Here, we discuss our efforts toward developing two separate quantum optics experiments that can provide great insight into the development of quantum devices. We begin by discussing our work to investigate the lower threshold of human vision and the eye's potential as a single-photon detector, using a custom-built single-photon source, and a novel two-alternative forced-choice experimental design. Our preliminary findings show promising data that support previous results found from a similar experiment using a somewhat different approach.
We then discuss our second project, where we have developed a robust reconfigurable optical delay line quantum memory that compares favorably with competing methods. Our memory is capable of photon storage with an unprecedentedly high time-bandwidth product, high free-space transmission over the range of 10 s, and high fidelity. These attributes, plus the memory's capability for multi-mode storage, make this system a strong candidate for a critical component in the large-scale heterogeneous quantum networks we hope to see developed in the next ten years.Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2020-10-02 without embargo termsThe student, Michelle Victora, accepted the attached license on 2020-07-10 at 16:38.The student, Michelle Victora, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2020-07-10 at 16:57.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2020-07-13 at 15:02.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #15573 on 2020-10-02 at 15:13:03Made available in DSpace on 2020-10-07T20:59:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3
VICTORA-DISSERTATION-2020.pdf: 4342632 bytes, checksum: 849ec55fa11d07c48fbeae26a544f413 (MD5)
LICENSE.txt: 4213 bytes, checksum: 3c65e0de6a1710c2fe572ab8c5c10df6 (MD5)
PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4559 bytes, checksum: 828376175b2869f985208e3519598205 (MD5)
Previous issue date: 2020-07-1
„Bo królom był równy…” Sprowadzenie szczątków Juliusza Słowackiego w 1927 roku jako dramat społeczny Victora Turnera
No full textNiniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest jednemu z największych widowisk społeczno-politycznych II Rzeczypospolitej – sprowadzeniu prochów Juliusza Słowackiego do Polski oraz powtórnego pogrzebu poety w czerwcu 1927 r. Punktem wyjścia analizy owego wydarzenia stanowi klasyczna kategoria rytuału przejścia (le rite de passage) Arnolda van Gennepa, z której wyrasta teoria czteroaktowego dramatu społecznego Victora Turnera, w ramach której rozpatrywane jest owe widowisko. Oprócz tła historycznego (kolejnych prób sprowadzenia prochów J. Słowackiego do Polski na przestrzeni dekad przełomu XIX i XX w.), w artykule wskazane zostały zasadnicze cele jakie przyświecały decydentom politycznym połowy lat 20. XX w., podjęcia się owego przedsięwzięcia, jego rolę dla rodzącego się, po maju 1926 r., nowego systemu politycznego, w Polsce oraz jego szczególne znaczenie dla obozu sanacji oraz samego Józefa Piłsudskiego. Oprócz przebiegu ostatniej podróży autora Kordiana, w tekście poddane analizie zostały poszczególne elementy składowe widowiska, przede wszystkim zaś jego scenografia oraz jej znaczenie.This article is devoted to one of the largest socio-political spectacles of the Second Polish Republic – bringing the ashes of Juliusz Słowacki to Poland and the re-burial of the poet in June of 1927. The starting point for the analysis of this event is the classical category the rite of passage of Arnold van Gennep, from which the theory of four-act social drama by Victor Turner emerges, in which the spectacle is considered. In addition to the historical background (subsequent attempts to bring the ashes of J. Słowacki to Poland over the decades of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), the article indicates the main goals that guided political decision-makers in the mid-1920s wanted to achieve by this event, its role for a new political system in Poland (after May 1926) and its special significance for the Sanation and for Józef Piłsudski himself. In addition to the course of the last journey of Kordian’s author, the text analyzed various elements of the spectacle, and above all, its scenography and its meaning
„Moment elegijny” Victora Hugo
No full textThis article attempts to define the place of elegiac modality in the literary output of Victor Hugo. The starting point for the discussion and at the same time appropriate interpretative tool is the definition of elegy derived from the writings of German theoreticians of Romanticism: Friedrich Schiller and Friedrich Schlegel. The thing is question is the elegiac attitude based on exposing of what is ideal and lost at the same time. The above, indeed, constitutes an answer to the questions of the experience of crisis so inherent to Romanticism. Analyses of the early poetical volumes written by the author show a particular evolution of Hugo’s conception of poetry. Politically committed The Odes, being anti-elegiac by assumption, are discussed, as well as purely poetical Eastern poems overtly promoting limitless freedom which characterizes the creative imagination. The interpretation of individual poems from these volumes proves, however, that one can discern a certain elegiac tone in them, though the tone is never dominant. The volume that distinctively enhances the elegy (thus far discredited by Hugo and from then on permanently occurring in his works) turns out to be Autumn Leaves — a collection of poems of contemplative, melancholic, visionary and self-reflective character. </p
Efficient genome engineering of Toxoplasma gondii using CRISPR/Cas9
No full textThis work was supported in part by NIH grant 1DP5OD017892 to S.LToxoplasma gondii is a parasite of humans and animals, and a model for other apicomplexans including Plasmodium spp., the causative agents of malaria. Despite many advances, manipulating the T. gondii genome remains labor intensive, and is often restricted to lab-adapted strains or lines carrying mutations that enable selection. Here, we use the RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease to efficiently generate knockouts without selection, and to introduce point mutations and epitope tags into the T. gondii genome. These methods will streamline the functional analysis of parasite genes and enable high-throughput engineering of their genomes.Peer reviewe
The “Vredenburg manuscript” and its book-covers
No full textThe so-called 'Vredenburg manuscript' which is preserved in the Victora & Albert Museum includes the painted folios of a late 11th-c. manuscript thought to be lost. The recent 'rediscovery' of an old issue of 'Ostasiatische Zeitschrift' has allowed to revise the information: the illustrated book-covers and the unillustrated folios were analysed or mentioned by Sentaro Sawamura in his paper. Recent information from Japan told the author that this material would be preserved in the Kyoto University where Sentaro Sawamura was professor
Disadvantages of having an adolescent mother
No full textWe recently reported associations between maternal age at childbirth and outcomes in the off spring, using data from fi ve birth cohorts (COHORTS collaboration) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), in The Lancet Global Health. Young maternal age (<19 years) was associated with lower offspring birthweight, gestational age, childhood nutritional status (weight-for-age and height-for-age at 2 years), and attained schooling, and higher adult glucose concentration, compared with off spring of mothers aged 20–24 years. These associations were independent of maternal socioeconomic status, height, and parity
Koncepcja „nieuświadomionego Boga” — rozważania po Holocauście Victora Frankla
No full text IDEA OF „THE UNCONSCIOUS GOD” — AFTER THE HOLOCAUST CONSIDER OF VICTOR FRANKLThe article presents an idea of „the unconscious God” of V. Frankl 1905–1997, a psychoana­lyst and afounder of so called „third Vienesse school”. Frankl, a prisoner of Auschwitz no. 119104 and Dachau, analyzes a modern World as a doctor psychiatrist and a philosopher. The author shows how experience of concentration camps 1942–1945 influences his moral philosophy. In his, avictim of the Holocaust, opinion, modern society is endlessly in crisis, which appears to begin in modern Europe. Frankl, in a book „The Unconscious God”, gives an option to modern human and also discusses on the one hand apessimistic vision of „death of God” in Auschwitz M. Buber, H. Jonas, and on the other optimistic vision of neopsychoanalysis E. Fromm. IDEA OF „THE UNCONSCIOUS GOD” — AFTER THE HOLOCAUST CONSIDER OF VICTOR FRANKLThe article presents an idea of „the unconscious God” of V. Frankl 1905–1997, a psychoana­lyst and afounder of so called „third Vienesse school”. Frankl, a prisoner of Auschwitz no. 119104 and Dachau, analyzes a modern World as a doctor psychiatrist and a philosopher. The author shows how experience of concentration camps 1942–1945 influences his moral philosophy. In his, avictim of the Holocaust, opinion, modern society is endlessly in crisis, which appears to begin in modern Europe. Frankl, in a book „The Unconscious God”, gives an option to modern human and also discusses on the one hand a pessimistic vision of „death of God” in Auschwitz M. Buber, H. Jonas, and on the other optimistic vision of neopsychoanalysis E. Fromm
Equity and efficiency in the geographic allocation of public health resources in Mozambique
No full textEquitable and efficient health financing is crucial to improve health care provision, still inequitable in many low- and middle-income countries. The allocation of financial resources across geographic areas is important to increase the capacity to effectively provide services and their availability to the neediest population. However, how resources are transformed into service and finally reach the intended beneficiaries, depends on local health care management, on the supply-side, and on constraints to service use, on the demand-side. Equity and efficiency in the geographic allocation of public expenditure in Mozambique, and their determinants, are explored in this thesis.
First, inequities in the distribution of public health expenditure, assessed using a method based on Benefit Incidence Analysis, diminished over time due to improved resource allocation. However, inequities in health care use remain and limit the benefit from public health expenditure for the poor and neediest population. The difference between horizontal and vertical equity, assessed for each source of public health expenditure by raking individuals according to their economic wealth or to their need for health care, reveals initial discrepancies in government and donor expenditure targets and the potential trade-offs between equity objectives.
Second, inefficiencies in health care provision, assessed using Stochastic Frontier Analysis, exist at district level. Efficiency could be increased both in health administrations, where financial resources are managed to guarantee the availability of material resources, such as staff and equipment, and in health facilities, where those are used to deliver health care services. Heterogeneity in efficiency across districts depends on geographic, demographic, administrative and health system characteristics.
Third, results from an econometric model of demand for health care revealed that proximity to health facilities increases the probability of seeking care and that the availability of adequate staff and equipment can encourage service use by those who live near a health facility. Demand side constraints, mostly economic, prevent use even when services are available.
Results suggest that resource allocation policies are insufficient on their own to improve the distribution of public health expenditure. Extending health facility coverage and tackling demand-side barriers are needed to increase service use among and mitigate potential equity efficiency and horizontal-vertical equity trade-offs. Increasing the efficiency of district health administrations and health facilities can contribute to increase service use among those who live close to a health facility
Growth patterns in early childhood and final attained stature: data from five birth cohorts from low-and-middle-income countries.
No full textGrowth failure is cumulative, and short stature is associated with multiple indices of reduced human capital. Few studies have been able to address in a single analysis both consideration of the timing of growth failure and comparison across populations. We analyzed data from birth cohorts in Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa (n = 4,659). We used data on length at birth (available for three of the five cohorts), 12 mo, 24 mo, and mid-childhood to construct cohort- and sex- specific conditional length measures. We modeled adult height as a function of conditional length in childhood. The five cohorts experienced varying degrees of growth failure. As adults, the Brazil sample was 0.35 ± 0.89 standard deviations (SD) below the World Health Organization reference, while adult Guatemalans were 1.91 ± 0.87 SD below the reference. All five cohorts experienced a nadir in height for age Z-score at 24 mo. Birth length (in the three cohorts with this variable), and conditional length at 12 mo (in all five cohorts) were the most strongly associated with adult height. Growth in the periods 12-24 mo and 24 mo to mid-childhood showed inconsistent patterns across tertiles of adult height. Despite variation in the magnitude of cumulative growth failure across cohorts, the five cohorts show highly consistent age-specific associations with adult stature. Growth failure prior to age 12 mo was most strongly associated with adult stature. These consistencies speak to the importance of interventions to address intrauterine growth failure and growth failure in the first 12 mo of life
- …
