Quantum error correction is required to compensate for the fragility of the state of a quantum computer. We report the first experimental implementations of quantum error correction and confirm the expected state stabilization. In NMR computing, however, a net improvement in the signal-to-noise would require very high polarization. The experiment implemented the 3-bit code for phase errors in liquid state state NMR.Comment: 5 pages, three figure

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) experiments transfer polarization from electron spins to nuclear spins with microwave irradiation of the electron spins for enhanced sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Design and testing of a spectrometer for magic angle spinning (MAS) DNP experiments at 263 GHz microwave frequency, 400 MHz 1H frequency is described. Microwaves are generated by a novel continuous-wave gyrotron, transmitted to the NMR probe via a transmission line, and irradiated on a 3.2 mm rotor for MAS DNP experiments. DNP signal enhancements of up to 80 have been measured at 95 K on urea and proline in water–glycerol with the biradical polarizing agent TOTAPOL. We characterize the experimental parameters affecting the DNP efficiency: the magnetic field dependence, temperature dependence and polarization build-up times, microwave power dependence, sample heating effects, and spinning frequency dependence of the DNP signal enhancement. Stable system operation, including DNP performance, is also demonstrated over a 36 h period.

The 62 kDa FG repeat domain of the nucleoporin Nsp1p forms a hydrogel-based, sieve-like permeability barrier that excludes inert macromolecules but allows rapid entry of nuclear transport receptors (NTRs). We found that the N-terminal part of this domain, which is characterized by Asn-rich inter-FG spacers, forms a tough hydrogel. The C-terminal part comprises charged inter-FG spacers, shows low gelation propensity on its own, but binds the Nterminal part and passivates the FG hydrogel against nonselective interactions. It was previously shown that a hydrophobic collapse involving Phe residues is required for FG hydrogel formation. Using solid-state NMR spectroscopy, we now identified two additional types of intragel interactions, namely, transient hydrophobic interactions between Phe and methyl side chains as well as intermolecular β-sheets between the Asn-rich spacer regions. The latter appear to be the kinetically most stable structures within the FG hydrogel. They are also a central feature of neuronal inclusions formed by Asn/Gln-rich amyloid and prion proteins. The cohesive properties of FG repeats and the Asn/Gln-rich domain from the yeast prion Sup35p appear indeed so similar to each other that these two modules interact in trans. Our data, therefore, suggest a fully unexpected cellular function of such interchain β-structures in maintaining the permeability barrier of nuclear pores. They provide an explanation for how contacts between FG repeats might gain the kinetic stability to suppress passive fluxes through nuclear pores and yet allow rapid NTR passage.Beta-sheet | nuclear pore complex | Nup | Prion | solid-state NMR N uclear pore complexes (NPCs) control all nucleocytoplasmic exchange (1-4). Their permeability barrier allows free passage of small molecules but suppresses the flux of macromolecules larger than 30 kDa and thereby prevents an uncontrolled intermixing of nuclear and cytoplasmic contents. However, the permeability barrier also permits a rapid passage of even large cargoes, provided these are bound to appropriate nuclear transport receptors (NTRs) (2-5). NTRs thereby supply nuclei with proteins and the cytoplasm with ribosomes and other nuclear products.FG repeat domains are essential building blocks of NPCs (6). They are considered to be natively unfolded and contain up to 50 repeat units, in which a characteristic hydrophobic patch, typically with the sequence FG, FxFG, or GLFG, is surrounded by more hydrophilic spacer sequences (7-9). These hydrophobic patches transiently bind NTRs during facilitated NPC passage (10-15).Recent evidence suggests that the permeability barrier is a hydrogel derived from FG repeat domains (FG hydrogel) (13,(15)(16)(17)(18). FG hydrogels have been predicted by the selective phase model (15,16,19) and indeed have been reconstituted from the FG/FxFG domain of the yeast nucleoporin Nsp1p (13,16) or the GLFG domains from Nup49p and Nup57p (17). All these gels showed permeability properties very similar to those of NPCs themselves: they allowed an up to 20,000...

A new nitroxide-based biradical having a long electron spin-lattice relaxation time (T(1e)) has been developed as an exogenous polarization source for DNP solid-state NMR experiments. The performance of this new biradical is demonstrated on hybrid silica-based mesostructured materials impregnated with 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane radical containing solutions, as well as in frozen bulk solutions, yielding DNP enhancement factors (ε) of over 100 at a magnetic field of 9.4 T and sample temperatures of ~100 K. The effects of radical concentration on the DNP enhancement factors and on the overall sensitivity enhancements (Σ(†)) are reported. The relatively high DNP efficiency of the biradical is attributed to an increased T(1e), which enables more effective saturation of the electron resonance. This new biradical is shown to outperform the polarizing agents used so far in DNP surface-enhanced NMR spectroscopy of materials, yielding a 113-fold increase in overall sensitivity for silicon-29 CPMAS spectra as compared to conventional NMR experiments at room temperature. This results in a reduction in experimental times by a factor >12,700, making the acquisition of (13)C and (15)N one- and two-dimensional NMR spectra at natural isotopic abundance rapid (hours). It has been used here to monitor a series of chemical reactions carried out on the surface functionalities of a hybrid organic-silica material.

We report magic angle spinning, dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) experiments at magnetic fields of 9.4 T, 14.1 T, and 18.8 T using the narrow line polarizing agents 1,3-bisdiphenylene-2-phenylallyl (BDPA) dispersed in polystyrene, and sulfonated-BDPA (SA-BDPA) and trityl OX063 in glassy glycerol/water matrices. The 1 H DNP enhancement field profiles of the BDPA radicals exhibit a significant DNP Overhauser effect (OE) as well as a solid effect (SE) despite the fact that these samples are insulating solids. In contrast, trityl exhibits only a SE enhancement. Data suggest that the appearance of the OE is due to rather strong electron-nuclear hyperfine couplings present in BDPA and SA-BDPA, which are absent in trityl and perdeuterated BDPA (d 21 -BDPA). In addition, and in contrast to other DNP mechanisms such as the solid effect or cross effect, the experimental data suggest that the OE in non-conducting solids scales favorably with magnetic field, increasing in magnitude in going from 5 T, to 9.4 T, to 14.1 T, and to 18.8 T. Simulations using a model two spin system consisting of an electron hyperfine coupled to a 1 H reproduce the essential features of the field profiles and indicate that the OE in these samples originates from the zero and double quantum cross relaxation induced by fluctuating hyperfine interactions between the intramolecular delocalized unpaired electrons and their neighboring nuclei, and that the size of these hyperfine couplings is crucial to the magnitude of the enhancements. Microwave power dependent studies show that the OE saturates at considerably lower power levels than the solid effect in the same samples. Our results provide new insights into the mechanism of the Overhauser effect, and also provide a new approach to perform DNP experiments in chemical, biophysical, and physical systems at high magnetic fields. INTRODUCTIONThe last decade has witnessed a renaissance in the use of high frequency dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) to enhance sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. In particular, the development of gyrotron and other high frequency microwave sources permits DNP to be performed at magnetic fields used in contemporary NMR experiments (5-20 T). 1-8 To date these experiments, which have focused mostly on insulating solids formed from glassy, frozen solutions of proteins and other nonconducting materials, have relied primarily on narrow line monoradicals and the solid effect (SE) 1, 9-11 or nitroxide biradicals and the cross effect (CE) [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] to mediate the polarization process. These approaches have resulted in large signal enhancements and have enabled many experiments that would otherwise be impossible. [19][20][21][22][23] by Overhauser 25 and confirmed by Carver and Slichter, 26 has not been identified or utilized during the course of this renaissance. Although the possibility of an OE in insulator was discussed by Abragam, 27 the conventional wisdom is that Overhauser DNP is important only in systems with mobile electrons ...