Delft University of Technology

About: Delft University of Technology is a education organization based out in Delft, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Catalysis. The organization has 37681 authors who have published 94404 publications receiving 2741710 citations. The organization is also known as: TU-Delft & Technische Hogeschool Delft.

Reducing the peak-to-average power ratio of OFDM

Abstract: The distribution of the peak-to-average power (PAP) ratio of an OFDM signal is derived, showing that large PAP ratios only occur very infrequently. Because of this, PAP reducing techniques which distort the signal can be quite effective, since only a small fraction of the OFDM signal has to be distorted. One example of such a technique is peak windowing. It is shown that peak windowing can achieve PAP ratios around 4 dB for an arbitrary number of subcarriers, at the cost of a slight increase in the BER and out-of-band radiation. Simulations with realistic power amplifier models show that a backoff of about 5 dB is required to get an out-of-band radiation level of 30 dB below the in-band spectral density.

Electrochemical Synthesis of Some Archetypical Zn2+, Cu2+, and Al3+ Metal Organic Frameworks

Abstract: Several archetypical metal organic frameworks (MOFs), namely, HKUST-1, ZIF-8, MIL-100(Al), MIL-53(Al), and NH2-MIL-53(Al), were synthesized via anodic dissolution in an electrochemical cell. The influence of different reaction parameters such as solvent, electrolyte, voltage–current density, and temperature on the synthesis yield and textural properties of the MOFs obtained was investigated. The characterization of the samples involved X-ray diffraction, gas adsorption, atomic force microscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. In the present article, we demonstrate that electrochemical synthesis is a robust method offering additional degrees of freedom in the synthesis of these porous materials. The main advantages are the shorter synthesis time, the milder conditions, the facile synthesis of MOF nanoparticles, the morphology tuning and the high Faraday efficiencies. The synthesized MIL-53 and NH2-MIL-53 samples exhibit suppressed framework fle...

Matrix Sum-of-Squares Relaxations for Robust Semi-Definite Programs

Abstract: We consider robust semi-definite programs which depend polynomially or rationally on some uncertain parameter that is only known to be contained in a set with a polynomial matrix inequality description. On the basis of matrix sum-of-squares decompositions, we suggest a systematic procedure to construct a family of linear matrix inequality relaxations for computing upper bounds on the optimal value of the corresponding robust counterpart. With a novel matrix-version of Putinar's sum-of-squares representation for positive polynomials on compact semi-algebraic sets, we prove asymptotic exactness of the relaxation family under a suitable constraint qualification. If the uncertainty region is a compact polytope, we provide a new duality proof for the validity of Putinar's constraint qualification with an a priori degree bound on the polynomial certificates. Finally, we point out the consequences of our results for constructing relaxations based on the so-called full-block S-procedure, which allows to apply recently developed tests in order to computationally verify the exactness of possibly small-sized relaxations.

ESX-1-mediated translocation to the cytosol controls virulence of mycobacteria

Abstract: Mycobacterium species, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, are among the most potent human bacterial pathogens. The discovery of cytosolic mycobacteria challenged the paradigm that these pathogens exclusively localize within the phagosome of host cells. As yet the biological relevance of mycobacterial translocation to the cytosol remained unclear. In this current study we used electron microscopy techniques to establish a clear link between translocation and mycobacterial virulence. Pathogenic, patient-derived mycobacteria species were found to translocate to the cytosol, while non-pathogenic species did not. We were further able to link cytosolic translocation with pathogenicity by introducing the ESX-1 (type VII) secretion system into the non-virulent, exclusively phagolysosomal Mycobacterium bovis BCG. Furthermore, we show that translocation is dependent on the C-terminus of the early-secreted antigen ESAT-6. The C-terminal truncation of ESAT-6 was shown to result in attenuation in mice, again linking translocation to virulence. Together, these data demonstrate the molecular mechanism facilitating translocation of mycobacteria. The ability to translocate from the phagolysosome to the cytosol is with this study proven to be biologically significant as it determines mycobacterial virulence.

Universal control and error correction in multi-qubit spin registers in diamond

Abstract: Quantum registers of nuclear spins coupled to electron spins of individual solid-state defects are a promising platform for quantum information processing1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Pioneering experiments selected defects with favourably located nuclear spins with particularly strong hyperfine couplings4,5,6,7,8,9,10. To progress towards large-scale applications, larger and deterministically available nuclear registers are highly desirable. Here, we realize universal control over multi-qubit spin registers by harnessing abundant weakly coupled nuclear spins. We use the electron spin of a nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond to selectively initialize, control and read out carbon-13 spins in the surrounding spin bath and construct high-fidelity single- and two-qubit gates. We exploit these new capabilities to implement a three-qubit quantum-error-correction protocol14,15,16,17 and demonstrate the robustness of the encoded state against applied errors. These results transform weakly coupled nuclear spins from a source of decoherence into a reliable resource, paving the way towards extended quantum networks and surface-code quantum computing based on multi-qubit nodes11,18,19. The electron spin of a nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond can be used to initialize, control and read the surrounding nuclear spins.