Identification of a novel series of alkylitaconic acids in wood cultures of Ceriporiopsis subvermispora by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

A novel series of long-chain unsaturated dicarboxylic acids consisting of a long aliphatic chain attached to the C-3 position of itaconic acid has been identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry during in vitro decay of eucalypt wood by the white-rot basidiomycete Ceriporiopsis subvermispora. The major compounds were identified as tetradecyl-, 7-hexadecenyl- and hexadecylitaconic acids by their mass fragmentation patterns. Other members of the same compound series, identified as dodecanyl-, tridecanyl-, tetradecenyl-, pentadecanyl-, octadecenyl- and octadecanylitaconic acids, were present in very minor amounts or traces. Whereas hexadecenylitaconic acid has already been reported in cultures of C. subvermispora, to our knowledge this is the first report of the presence of the other alkylitaconic acids in fungal cultures. These new alkylitaconic-type metabolites may constitute a source for peroxidizable lipids involved in lignin degradation during wood decay by C. subvermispora and other white-rot basidiomycetes.     

Zeno effect for quantum computation and control

It is well known that the quantum Zeno effect can protect specific quantum states from decoherence by using projective measurements. Here we combine the theory of weak measurements with stabilizer quantum error correction and detection codes. We derive rigorous performance bounds which demonstrate that the Zeno effect can be used to protect appropriately encoded arbitrary states to arbitrary accuracy while at the same time allowing for universal quantum computation or quantum control.     

Order Parameter of a Nanometre-Scale S-Wave Superconducting Grain in Quantum Tunnelling Process： Frequency Space Analysis

A nano-scale s-wave superconducting grain, coupled to a normal metallic contact through a tunnelling junction, is placed in an external magnetic field. We suppose that effect of this quantum tunnelling on the Fourier transform of the order parameter is in the form of a small additive correction to the BCS order parameter. At the first order approximation in terms of this correction term and by using an instanton method, the related Green functions （in frequency space） are obtained. By establishing a self-consistent configuration an analytic formula for the order parameter is also found. We also show that a departure from superconductivity can be captured by this formula. This change of state is indeed a manifestation of a quantum transition induced by quantum fluctuations. In this sense, this is an advantage of our simple method which, like other more elaborate methods, can detect a quantum transition in the state of the grain.     

Quenching of giant hysteresis effects in La(1-z)Y(z)Hx switchable mirrors

Hydrogen atoms adsorbed on TiO2(110)-(1x1) surfaces have been characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) combined with electron stimulated desorption (ESD) technique. Certain amounts of H atoms are unexpectedly found on the TiO2 surfaces annealed at 900 K. Two forms of adsorption were discriminated in STM images from the different sensitivity to ESD and tentatively assigned to hydroxyl-type (O-H) and hydride-type (Ti-H) species.