A machine learning approach to drawing phase diagrams of topological lasing modes

Identifying phases and analyzing the stability of dynamic states are ubiquitous and important problems which appear in various physical systems. Nonetheless, drawing a phase diagram in high-dimensional and large parameter spaces has remained challenging. Here, we propose a data-driven method to derive the phase diagram of lasing modes in topological insulator lasers. The classification is based on the temporal behaviour of the topological modes obtained via numerical integration of the rate equation. A semi-supervised learning method is used and an adaptive library is constructed in order to distinguish the different topological modes present in the generated parameter space. The proposed method successfully distinguishes the different topological phases in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) lattice with saturable gain.This demonstrates the possibility of classifying the topological phases without needing for expert knowledge of the system and may give valuable insight into the fundamental physics of topological insulator lasers via reverse engineering.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figure

Multimodal brain imaging reveals structural differences in Alzheimer's disease polygenic risk carriers: A study in healthy young adults

Background Recent genome-wide association studies have identified genetic loci that jointly make a considerable contribution to risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Because neuropathological features of AD can be present several decades before disease onset, we investigated whether effects of polygenic risk are detectable by neuroimaging in young adults. We hypothesized that higher polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for AD would be associated with reduced volume of the hippocampus and other limbic and paralimbic areas. We further hypothesized that AD PRSs would affect the microstructure of fiber tracts connecting the hippocampus with other brain areas. Methods We analyzed the association between AD PRSs and brain imaging parameters using T1-weighted structural (n = 272) and diffusion-weighted scans (n = 197). Results We found a significant association between AD PRSs and left hippocampal volume, with higher risk associated with lower left hippocampal volume (p = .001). This effect remained when the APOE gene was excluded (p = .031), suggesting that the relationship between hippocampal volume and AD is the result of multiple genetic factors and not exclusively variability in the APOE gene. The diffusion tensor imaging analysis revealed that fractional anisotropy of the right cingulum was inversely correlated with AD PRSs (p = .009). We thus show that polygenic effects of AD risk variants on brain structure can already be detected in young adults. Conclusions This finding paves the way for further investigation of the effects of AD risk variants and may become useful for efforts to combine genotypic and phenotypic data for risk prediction and to enrich future prevention trials of AD

Fluorine effect on As diffusion in Ge

The enhanced diffusion of donor atoms, via a vacancy (V)-mechanism, severely affects the realization of ultrahigh doped regions in miniaturized germanium (Ge) based devices. In this work, we report a study about the effect of fluorine (F) on the diffusion of arsenic (As) in Ge and give insights on the physical mechanisms involved. With these aims we employed experiments in Ge co-implanted with F and As and density functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that the implantation of F enriches the Ge matrix in V, causing an enhanced diffusion of As within the layer amorphized by F and As implantation and subsequently regrown by solid phase epitaxy. Next to the end-of-range damaged region F forms complexes with Ge interstitials, that act as sinks for V and induce an abrupt suppression of As diffusion. The interaction of Ge interstitials with fluorine interstitials is confirmed by theoretical calculations. Finally, we prove that a possible F-As chemical interaction does not play any significant role on dopant diffusion. These results can be applied to realize abrupt ultra-shallow n-type doped regions in future generation of Ge-based devices

How does tillage intensity affect soil organic carbon? A systematic review protocol

Background Soils contain the greatest terrestrial carbon (C) pool on the planet. Since approximately 12% of soil C is held in cultivated soils, management of these agricultural areas has a huge potential to affect global carbon cycling; acting sometimes as a sink but also as a source. Tillage is one of the most important agricultural practices for soil management and has been traditionally undertaken to mechanically prepare soils for seeding and minimize effects of weeds. It has been associated with many negative impacts on soil quality, most notably a reduction in soil organic carbon (SOC), although still a matter of considerable debate, depending on factors such as depth of measurement, soil type, and tillage method. No tillage or reduced intensity tillage are frequently proposed mitigation measures for preservation of SOC and improvement of soil quality, for example for reducing erosion. Whilst several reviews have demonstrated benefits to C conservation of no till agriculture over intensive tillage, the general picture for reduced tillage intensity is unclear. This systematic review proposes to synthesise an extensive body of evidence, previously identified through a systematic map. Methods This systematic review is based on studies concerning tillage collated in a recently completed systematic map on the impact of agricultural management on SOC restricted to the warm temperate climate zone (i.e. boreo-temperate). These 311 studies were identified and selected systematically according to CEE guidelines. An update of the original search will be undertaken to identify newly published academic and grey literature in the time since the original search was performed in September 2013. Studies will be critically appraised for their internal and external validity, followed by full data extraction (meta-data describing study settings and quantitative study results). Where possible, studies will be included in meta-analyses examining the effect of tillage reduction (‘moderate' (i.e. shallow) and no tillage relative to ‘intensive' tillage methods such as mouldboard ploughing, where soil is turned over throughout the soil profile). The implications of the findings will be discussed in terms of policy, practice and research along with a discussion of the nature of the evidence base

Which agricultural management interventions are most influential on soil organic carbon (using time series data)?

Background Loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) from agricultural land is identified as one of the major threats to soils, as it influences both fertility and the production of ecosystem services from agriculture. Losses of SOC across regions are often determined by monitoring in different land use systems. Results from agricultural field experiments can reveal increasing SOC stocks after implementation of specific management practices compared to a control, though in time series experiments the relative rate of change is often negative and implying an overall loss. Long-term agricultural field experiments are indispensable for quantifying absolute changes in SOC stocks under different management regimes. Since SOC responses are seldom linear over time, time series data from these experiments are particularly valuable. Methods This systematic review is based on studies reporting time series data collated in a recently completed systematic map on the topic restricted to the warm temperate climate zone and the snow climate zone. These 53 studies were identified and selected systematically according to CEE guidelines. An update of the original search for studies will be repeated using Web of Science and Google Scholar to include newly published academic and grey literature in the time since the original search was performed in September 2013. Studies will be subject to critical appraisal of the internal and external validity, followed by full data extraction (meta-data describing study settings and quantitative study results). Where possible, studies will be included in a quantitative synthesis using time series meta-analytical approaches. The implications of the meta-analytical findings will be discussed in terms of policy, practice and research along with a discussion of the nature of the evidence base

Innovation across cultures: Connecting leadership, identification, and creative behavior in organizations

Innovation is considered essential for today's organizations to survive and thrive. Researchers have also stressed the importance of leadership as a driver of followers' innovative work behavior (FIB). Yet, despite a large amount of research, three areas remain understudied: (a) The relative importance of different forms of leadership for FIB; (b) the mechanisms through which leadership impacts FIB; and (c) the degree to which relationships between leadership and FIB are generalizable across cultures. To address these lacunae, we propose an integrated model connecting four types of positive leadership behaviors, two types of identification (as mediating variables), and FIB. We tested our model in a global data set comprising responses of N = 7,225 participants from 23 countries, grouped into nine cultural clusters. Our results indicate that perceived LMX quality was the strongest relative predictor of FIB. Furthermore, the relationships between both perceived LMX quality and identity leadership with FIB were mediated by social identification. The indirect effect of LMX on FIB via social identification was stable across clusters, whereas the indirect effects of the other forms of leadership on FIB via social identification were stronger in countries high versus low on collectivism. Power distance did not influence the relations

Regulation of lin-4 miRNA expression, organismal growth and development by a conserved RNA binding protein in C. elegans

AbstractTranscription and multiple processing steps are required to produce specific 22 nucleotide microRNAs (miRNAs) that can regulate the expression of target genes. In C. elegans, mature lin-4 miRNA accumulates at the end of the first larval stage to repress its direct targets lin-14 and lin-28, allowing the progression of several somatic cell types to later larval fates. In this study, we characterized the expression of endogenous lin-4 and found that temporally regulated independent transcripts, but not constitutive lin-4 containing RNAs derived from an overlapping gene, are processed to mature lin-4 miRNA. Through an RNAi screen, we identified a conserved RNA binding protein gene rbm-28 (R05H10.2), homologous to the human RBM28 and yeast Nop4p proteins, that is important for lin-4 expression in C. elegans. We also demonstrate that rbm-28 genetically interacts with the lin-4 developmental timing pathway and uncover a previously unrecognized role for lin-14 and lin-28 in coordinating organismal growth

Two-photon excitation with finite pulses unlocks pure dephasing-induced degradation of entangled photons emitted by quantum dots

Semiconductor quantum dots have emerged as an especially promising platform for the generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs. However, it was demonstrated recently that the two-photon excitation scheme employed in state-of-the-art experiments limits the achievable degree of entanglement by introducing which-path information. In this work, the combined impact of two-photon excitation and longitudinal acoustic phonons on photon pairs emitted by strongly-confining quantum dots is investigated. It is found that phonons further reduce the achievable degree of entanglement even in the limit of vanishing temperature due to phonon-induced pure dephasing and phonon-assisted one-photon processes, which increase the reexcitation probability. In addition, the degree of entanglement, as measured by the concurrence, decreases with rising temperature and/or pulse duration, even if the excitonic fine-structure splitting is absent and when higher electronic states are out of reach. Furthermore, in the case of finite fine-structure splittings, phonons enlarge the discrepancy in concurrence for different laser polarizations.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure