Quantum-enhanced interferometry with large heralded photon-number states.

Quantum phenomena such as entanglement can improve fundamental limits on the sensitivity of a measurement probe. In optical interferometry, a probe consisting of N entangled photons provides up to a N enhancement in phase sensitivity compared to a classical probe of the same energy. Here, we employ high-gain parametric down-conversion sources and photon-number-resolving detectors to perform interferometry with heralded quantum probes of sizes up to N = 8 (i.e. measuring up to 16-photon coincidences). Our probes are created by injecting heralded photon-number states into an interferometer, and in principle provide quantum-enhanced phase sensitivity even in the presence of significant optical loss. Our work paves the way towards quantum-enhanced interferometry using large entangled photonic states.

A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour.

There are few demonstrated examples of phase transitions that may be driven directly by terahertz frequency electric fields, and those that are known require field strengths exceeding 1 MV cm-1. Here we report a non-equilibrium phase transition driven by a weak (≪1 V cm-1), continuous-wave terahertz electric field. The system consists of room temperature caesium vapour under continuous optical excitation to a high-lying Rydberg state, which is resonantly coupled to a nearby level by the terahertz electric field. We use a simple model to understand the underlying physical behaviour, and we demonstrate two protocols to exploit the phase transition as a narrowband terahertz detector: the first with a fast (20 µs) non-linear response to nano-Watts of incident radiation, and the second with a linearised response and effective noise equivalent power ≤1 pW Hz-1/2. The work opens the door to a class of terahertz devices controlled with low-field intensities and operating in a room temperature environment.

Nonequilibrium phase transition in a dilute Rydberg ensemble.

We demonstrate a nonequilibrium phase transition in a dilute thermal atomic gas. The phase transition, between states of low and high Rydberg occupancy, is induced by resonant dipole-dipole interactions between Rydberg atoms. The gas can be considered as dilute as the atoms are separated by distances much greater than the wavelength of the optical transitions used to excite them. In the frequency domain, we observe a mean-field shift of the Rydberg state which results in intrinsic optical bistability above a critical Rydberg number density. In the time domain, we observe critical slowing down where the recovery time to system perturbations diverges with critical exponent α=-0.53±0.10. The atomic emission spectrum of the phase with high Rydberg occupancy provides evidence for a superradiant cascade.

Efficacy of two formulations of albendazole against liver flukes in cattle.

Albendazole (10 mg/kg of body weight) was administered as a drench suspension or as a feed additive to 24 cattle with naturally acquired infections of Fasciola hepatica and Fascioloides magna. Cattle were euthanatized 16 to 30 days after treatment, and the number of viable flukes was counted. Viable F hepatica and F magna were decreased by 91.4% and 70.6% for drench administration and by 82.9% and 71.9% for the feed additive treatment, respectively. There was no significant difference between the efficacy of the 2 formulations in decreasing viable fluke numbers, compared with untreated controls.

Effect of milbemycin oxime against Ancylostoma caninum in dogs with naturally acquired infection.

Twenty-six mixed-breed (14 males, 12 females) dogs were used in a double-blind study to evaluate the effect of milbemycin oxime against naturally acquired infection with Ancylostoma caninum. Dogs were ranked and paired, on the basis of number of hookworm eggs/g of feces, and treatment was randomly assigned. Each dog was given either the study drug or placebo (1 tablet/11.4 kg [0.5 mg/kg] of body weight). Eggs per gram of feces enumeration was done on days 3 and 7 after treatment, and dogs were euthanatized on day 7. On day 3, 5 of the 13 dogs in the milbemycin-treated group had hookworm eggs in the feces (results of the McMaster test). In these dogs, mean number of eggs per gram of feces had decreased markedly (from 5,289 to 452) and, by day 7, was 114. At necropsy, 16 A caninum adults were recovered from 2 of the milbemycin-treated dogs. On day 3, 12 of the 13 dogs in the placebo-treated group had hookworm eggs in the feces. Mean number of eggs per gram of feces in these dogs decreased slightly (from 5,243 to 2,646), but did not decrease further by day 7. A mean number of 54.4 A caninum adults was recovered from 12 of the 13 placebo-treated dogs at necropsy. Milbemycin oxime had 97.8% efficacy against A caninum. Results also indicated that milbemycin oxime may be effective against Trichuris vulpis, but not against Dipylidium caninum.

Efficacy of nitroscanate against naturally acquired infection with Ancylostoma caninum, Dipylidium caninum, and Trichuris vulpis in dogs.

Eighteen dogs with naturally acquired helminth infections were used to evaluate the efficacy of nitroscanate against Ancylostoma caninum, Dipylidium caninum, and Trichuris vulpis. Approximately 15 minutes before treatment, the dogs were given 100 to 200 g of canned dog food. Ten dogs were treated with nitroscanate (50 mg/kg of body weight, PO), and 8 dogs were given placebo tablets PO. The dogs were euthanatized and necropsied 10 days after treatment and helminths were recovered from the small intestine and cecum. On the basis of the number of worms recovered from treated dogs vs the number recovered from control dogs, we determined the efficacy of nitroscanate to be 99.6% against A caninum, 99.8% against D caninum, and 0% against T vulpis.

Indirect monitoring of carbon-13 metabolism with NMR: analysis of perfusate with a closed-loop flow system.

NMR studies of living cells and of perfused organs almost invariably require a major effort in the design of either the probe or the support system. For enriched 13C studies of metabolism, it is sometimes possible to use a simpler approach, one amenable to use in narrow-bore high-resolution NMR spectrometers. Since some of the metabolic changes are reflected by changes in the chemical composition of the media, it may be necessary to provide only for NMR measurements of the perfusate. A simple apparatus is described which allows NMR measurement of the perfusate. A commercially available concentric NMR tube, modified to incorporate flow, is inserted in the flow loop and placed in the spectrometer. An example is given of the metabolism of 13C-enriched glucose to lactate by chick embryo fibroblasts grown in a hollow fiber bundle assembly.

[Selective inhibition of the fluorescence of benzo(a)pyrene and a mutagenic diol-epoxide derivative in living cells by liposoluble iodinated hydrocarbons]. / Inhibition sélective dans des cellules vivantes de la fluorescence du benzo(a)pyrène et d'un dérivé epoxyde-diol mutagène par des hydrocarbures iodès liposolubles.

It is shown that in living cells, some liposoluble collisional quenchers like n-iodo hexane and iodo benzene can be used to selectively quench the benzo(a)pyrene fluorescence, leving the diol-epoxide benzo(a)pyrene metabolite emission. The preferential solubilities of these compounds, fluorophors and quenchers, explain the results and the fluorophor location.

Spectra of cells in flow cytometry using a vidicon detector.

A TV type vidicon detector was interfaced to a flow cytometer (FCM) to obtain spectra of fluorophores in cells during flow. The normal operations of the FCM are undisturbed. A spectrograph spreads 320 nm of the fluorophore fluorescence emission across the 500 channels of the detector. Spectra of fluorescamine (a surface labeling agent) and of propidium iodide (a nuclear stain) were obtained from Balb 3T3 cells, and the chlorophyll and phycobilin peaks were resolved from flowing blue-green algae in the FCM. Under typical flow conditions, operation of the vidicon in the continuous mode gives for these fluorophores a S/N of several hundred to one in approximately 3 sec. The vidicon was also gated to obtain spectra of single cells and of cells in selected portions of the cell cycle. For example, the spectrum of fluorescamine was obtained from cells in the G1 phase of the growth cycle by using as a gate trigger the FCM discriminator output derived from the propidium iodide signal.