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Trapped ions for quantum information processing have been an area of intense study due to the extraordinarily high fidelity operations that have been reported experimentally. Specifically, barium trapped ions have been shown to have exceptional state-preparation and measurement fidelities. The 133Ba+ (I = 1/2) isotope in particular is a promising candidate for large-scale quantum computing experiments. However, a major pitfall with this isotope is that it is radioactive and is thus generally used in microgram quantities to satisfy safety regulations. We describe a new method for creating microgram barium chloride (BaCl2) ablation targets for use in trapped ion experiments and compare our procedure to previous methods. We outline two recipes for the fabrication of ablation targets that increase the production of neutral atoms for isotope-selective loading of barium ions. We show that heat-treatment of the ablation targets greatly increases the consistency at which neutral atoms can be produced, and we characterize the uniformity of these targets using trap-independent techniques such as energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and neutral fluorescence collection. Our comparison between fabrication techniques and the demonstration of consistent neutral fluorescence paves a path toward reliable loading of 133Ba+ in surface traps and opens opportunities for scalable quantum computing with this isotope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides made from hydrolysis of pumpkin seed meal with neutral protease is one of the important ways to utilization pumpkin seed meal. In order to find the optimum craft of ACE inhibitory peptides made from pumpkin seed meal by protease, taking ACE inhibitory rate as the response value, protease content, the effects of substrate content, and hydrolysis time on ACE inhibitory activity of the hydrolysates were analyzed with response surface methodology for optimization of the preparation technology, The results showed that the three factors affecting activity of ACE inhibitory peptides significantly (P<0.001). The optimized parameters for preparation of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides were temperature at 45°C and pH value of 7.0, the protease content 4.8%, substrate content of 4.0 g/100mL, and hydrolysis time of 320 min. With the optimal parameters, the ACE inhibiting percentage theoretically could be up to 80%. The validation test showed that the actual ACE inhibiting percentage was 80.56%±0.23%, which was closer to 80%. It suggested that the established prediction model is reliable. The results here proposed the viable and reliable optimization parameters for preparation of ACE inhibitory peptides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the effects of different pretreatments on enzymatic saccharification of Miscanthus sinensis and improve reducing sugar yield in the enzymolysis process. [Method] M. sinensis was pretreated with 60Co γ-ray irradiation and alkaline hydrogen peroxide, to analyze their effects on reducing sugar yield of enzymatic hydrolysis. [Result] After pretreatment with 400 kGy 60Co γ-ray irradiation, reducing sugar yield in the enzymolysis process of M. sinensis was 76.24 mg/g; after synergic pretreatment with 400 kGy 60Co γ-ray irradiation and alkaline hydrogen peroxide, reducing sugar yield in the enzymolysis process of M. sinensis was 505.08 mg/g, which was improved by 5.6 times compared to that in pretreatment with 400 kGy 60Co γ-ray irradiation. Based on process optimization, the optimal hydrolysis conditions were obtained: pretreatment temperature 30°C, NaOH concentration 1.2%, hydrogen peroxide concentration 2%, pretreatment time 6 h. [Conclusion] Synergic pretreatment with 60Co γ-ray irradiation and alkaline hydrogen peroxide could significantly improve reducing sugar yield in the enzymolysis process of M. sinensis, which provided a new theoretical basis for preparing fuel ethanol with M. sinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]