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In this work, we propose to investigate the information behavior of quantum systems through accelerated detectors quadratically coupled with a massless scalar field. In addition, we made detailed comparisons with the case of linear coupling. The perturbative method was used to evolve the density matrix that describes the interaction of the detector-field system during a finite time. The systems studied were: accelerated single-qubit, quantum interferometric circuit, and the which-path distinguishability circuit. The results on the probability transition rates show that quadratic coupling amplifies the Unruh effect. This is due to the modification of the interaction structure, allowing the simultaneous absorption of multiple quanta. Our findings showed that the information is degraded more quickly in the case of quadratic coupling, when compared to the linear case. Furthermore, this change is mainly given by the coupling constant and by an additional factor that arises in the case of quadratic coupling. Therefore, these results indicate that the nature of the coupling between the detector and the field plays a fundamental role in the behavior of quantum information in high acceleration regimes.

A bstract In this work, we investigate the velocity effects on information degradation due to the Unruh effect in accelerated quantum systems (with finite interaction time). We consider a detector moving along a spatial trajectory within a two-dimensional plane, this trajectory is composed of uniform acceleration along one direction, combined with a constant four-velocity component in the plane orthogonal to the acceleration. The quantum systems studied were: accelerated single-qubit, quantum interferometric circuit, and which-path distinguishability circuit. Thus, for non-relativistic velocity regime, we obtained analytical expressions such as transition rates, quantum coherence, visibility, distinguishability, and the complementarity relation. On the other hand, for the ultra-relativistic velocity regime, we saw that the Unruh effect is suppressed and therefore the detector does not respond in this case. Our findings revealed that velocity effects imply mitigation of information degradation, this interesting behaviors happen because of the composite effect of both velocity and acceleration. The results obtained show that the addition of the non-relativistic, transverse and constant motion of an accelerated detector can play a protective role in quantumness in systems at high accelerations, although the effects are very small.

Most previous studies on relativistic quantum information have primarily focused on the vacuum state | 0 ⟩ and the first excited state | 1 ⟩ in two-mode entangled systems. In this work, we go beyond these limitations by considering arbitrary q -th excited states | q ⟩ , aiming to investigate their role in preserving quantum resources. We analyze the influence of the Hawking effect on multipartite quantum states in the Schwarzschild spacetime, with particular attention to quantum entanglement and coherence. Our results show that, under the influence of the Hawking effect, increasing the excitation number q leads to a reduction in quantum entanglement and mutual information, while enhancing quantum coherence. This indicates that the Hawking effect on excited multipartite states tends to degrade quantum correlations but simultaneously protects quantum coherence in curved spacetime. Therefore, when implementing quantum information protocols in gravitational settings, reducing the excitation number q is favorable for maintaining entanglement, whereas increasing q may be advantageous for tasks that rely on quantum coherence in relativistic quantum information processing.

We apply estimation theory to a system formed by two interacting trapped ions. By using the Fisher matrix formalism, we introduce a simple scheme for estimation of the temperature of the longitudinal vibrational modes of the ions. We use the ions interaction to effectively infer the temperature of the individual ions, by optimising the interaction time evolution and by measuring only over one of the ions. We also investigate the effect of a non-thermal reservoir over the inference approach. The non-classicality of one of the ions vibrational modes, introduced due to a squeezed thermal reservoir, does not directly affect the inference of the individual temperatures, although allowing the modes to be entangled. To check actual experimental conditions, we analyze the temperature inference under heating due to surface-electrode noise.

A bstract We investigated the influence of the massive scalar field on the information degradation concerning the Unruh-DeWitt (UDW) detectors. In this conjecture, we adopted a system with a finite and large interaction time. To accomplish our purpose, one examines the quantum coherence of a uniformly accelerated qubit and the probability of finding the detector in the ground state. In this framework, we consider a quantum interferometric circuit to obtain the probability, visibility, and coherence. Naturally, these measurements provide us with wave-like information. Besides, one modifies the circuit to describe the path distinguishability and the particle-like information. These results are promising, as they allow us to understand the influence of the Unruh effect on the wave-particle duality. Thus, our findings announce that the increase in the scalar field mass induces a decrease in information degradation. Finally, we noted that the information concerning the Unruh effect remains preserved when m ≥ Ω. Therefore, the detector cannot absorb particles with mass equal to or greater than its energy gap. These results indicate that the scalar field mass is a protective factor against information degradation for systems under high acceleration conditions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the carcass and meat characteristics of eight muscles from bulls with distinct growth paths. A total of 40 Alentejana male calves were allocated to two distinct feeding regimes. In the continuous growth (CG) system, the animals were fed concentrates plus hay and were slaughtered at 18 months of age. On the other hand, in the discontinuous growth (DG) system, the animals were fed hay until 15 months of age; the cattle were then fed the same diet provided to the CG group from 15 to 24 months of age. The DG reduced hot carcass weight, fatness and dressing %, but the proportions of fat, bone and muscle tissues in the leg were not affected. In contrast, there was a positive impact of compensatory growth on supraspinatus, triceps brachii, semitendinosus, biceps femoris muscle tenderness, overcoming the negative effects of age at slaughter. The reasons for such improvement in meat tenderness were not related to intra-muscular fat content or myofibrillar protein degradation values. An association between tenderness and muscle collagen properties was not established. The results indicate that the compensatory growth has a muscle-dependent effect.

Hypothermia induced at the onset of ischemia is a potent experimental cardioprotective strategy for myocardial infarction. The aim of our study was to determine whether the beneficial effects of hypothermia may be due to decreasing mitochondria-mediated mechanisms of damage that contribute to the pathophysiology of ischemia/reperfusion injury. New Zealand male rabbits were submitted to 30 min of myocardial ischemia with hypothermia (32 °C) induced by total liquid ventilation (TLV). Hypothermia was applied during ischemia alone (TLV group), during ischemia and reperfusion (TLV-IR group) and normothermia (Control group). In all the cases, ischemia was performed by surgical ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery and was followed by 3 h of reperfusion before assessment of infarct size. In a parallel study, male C57BL6/J mice underwent 30 min myocardial ischemia followed by reperfusion under either normothermia (37 °C) or conventionally induced hypothermia (32 °C). In both the models, the levels of the citric acid cycle intermediate succinate, mitochondrial complex I activity were assessed at various times. The benefit of hypothermia during ischemia on infarct size was compared to inhibition of succinate accumulation and oxidation by the complex II inhibitor malonate, applied as the pro-drug dimethyl malonate under either normothermic or hypothermic conditions. Hypothermia during ischemia was cardioprotective, even when followed by normothermic reperfusion. Hypothermia during ischemia only, or during both, ischemia and reperfusion, significantly reduced infarct size (2.8 ± 0.6%, 24.2 ± 3.0% and 49.6 ± 2.6% of the area at risk, for TLV-IR, TLV and Control groups, respectively). The significant reduction of infarct size by hypothermia was neither associated with a decrease in ischemic myocardial succinate accumulation, nor with a change in its rate of oxidation at reperfusion. Similarly, dimethyl malonate infusion and hypothermia during ischemia additively reduced infarct size (4.8 ± 2.2% of risk zone) as compared to either strategy alone. Hypothermic cardioprotection is neither dependent on the inhibition of succinate accumulation during ischemia, nor of its rapid oxidation at reperfusion. The additive effect of hypothermia and dimethyl malonate on infarct size shows that they are protective by distinct mechanisms and also suggests that combining these different therapeutic approaches could further protect against ischemia/reperfusion injury during acute myocardial infarction.

This study investigated the effects of genotype and diet on meat fat composition and palatability obtained from Alentejana (AL) and Barrosã (BA) breeds. Herein, 20 males from each breed allocated at 11 months of age were fed ad libitum a low-forage diet or a high-forage diet and slaughtered at 18 months of age. Trained sensory panel analysis found that the longissimus lumborum (Ll) muscle from BA had higher tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability scores than the AL breed. The highest scores for those attributes were observed in the BA breed fed the high-forage diet. Regarding the semitendinosus (St) muscle, breed was a source of variation of tenderness scores. In contrast to the Ll muscle, the highest tenderness scores for the St muscle were observed in the AL breed. The intramuscular fat (IMF) content was positively correlated with tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability in Ll muscle and negatively correlated with flavour in the St muscle. The levels of 14:0 and 16:0, 16:1c9, 18:1c9 and 18:1c11 were positively correlated to juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability in the Ll muscle. These correlations were not observed in the St muscle, which may be related to its low IMF content. Nonetheless, negative correlations were observed for the St muscle between flavour and 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0 FA contents. The IMF varied widely in the Ll but not in the St muscle. The latter had higher levels of 16:1c9 and trans fatty acids (∑TFA) in the BA than in the AL breed. Regarding the Ll muscle, the BA had higher amounts of 14:0, 16:0, 16:1c9, 18:0, 18:1c9, 18:1c11, saturated fatty acids (∑SFA), cis monounsaturated fatty acids (∑cis MUFA), ∑TFA and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (∑n-3 PUFA) than the AL breed. The diet exerted an influence on the IMF content and on the levels of 14:0, 16:0, 16:1c9, 18:0, 18:1c9, 18:1c11, ∑SFA, ∑cis MUFA and ∑TFA in both Ll and St muscles. Moreover, the levels of ∑n-3 PUFA in the Ll muscle and 18:2n-6, 20:4n-6, ∑n-6 PUFA and ∑PUFA in the St muscle were influenced by diet. The results obtained in this study, with two Portuguese breeds, confirm that genetic background plays a major role in the determination of meat eating quality.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

The production of pork with high amounts of intramuscular fat (IMF) without an increase in subcutaneous fat is highly desirable for the pig industry and consumers. Herein, we question the impact of dietary protein reduction (18% v. 13%) on fat deposition in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle using genetically diverse pigs for body fatness (lean v. fat). A clear effect of genotype was observed on plasma insulin (P=0.004) and leptin (P<0.001), as well as on backfat thickness (P<0.001), with the fat pigs having higher values. Accordingly, IMF was higher in the fat pigs, when compared with their lean counterparts (P=0.003), which was supported by enlarged adipocytes (P<0.001). The area of lipid droplets within the LL fibres (P=0.039) and extramyocellular lipids number (P=0.017) were increased in pigs fed reduced protein diets, regardless of genotype, which is consistent with higher levels of plasma triacylglycerols (P=0.002). The gene-expression pattern of lipogenic factors in the SAT was distinct from the LL muscle. In the SAT, PPARG expression was similar among genotypes (P>0.05), whereas in the LL muscle it was higher in the lean pigs (P=0.023), especially when fed on low protein diet (P=0.057). The CEBPA and FABP4 mRNA levels were increased in the SAT of fat pigs (P<0.001), without changes in the LL muscle (P>0.05). The influence of diet on FABP4 expression in the SAT was dependent on pig’s genetic background (P=0.005). In conclusion, fat deposition was clearly influenced by genotype and, to a lesser extent, by dietary protein level, the SAT being more sensitive than the LL muscle. One can speculate that the pathways involved in lipid metabolism are downregulated in intramuscular adipocytes when compared with SAT fat cells. This result might be a direct consequence of the relatively low proportion of adipocytes found in the LL muscle.