Public and Private Property Rights: Regulatory and Physical Takings and the Public Trust Doctrine

In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, the Supreme Court held that, when a regulation has deprived a landowner of all economically beneficial use, a threshold issue in determining whether compensation is due is whether the landowner’s rights of ownership are confined by the limitations on the use of land which “inhere in the title itself.” For land that may fall within the public trust doctrine, Lucas’s threshold determination has significant consequences. Because the public trust doctrine is a “background principle,” buyers and sellers of real property may not be able to claim full title, and should be cognizant of the potential application of the doctrine to their land. Further, state and local regulatory bodies should strategically employ the public trust doctrine in environmental protection regulation. Finally, the public trust doctrine’s role in a takings analysis suggests that property rights are perhaps more communal than generally acknowledged, and reveals that it may make sense to evaluate property rights from a community-based perspective

Genotoxicity of nitroso compounds and sodium dichromate in a model combining organ cultures of human nasal epithelia and the comet assay

Genotoxic effects of xenobiotics are a possible step in tumor initiation in the mucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract. Using the comet assay, detecting genotoxicity in human tissue has been restricted to single incubations in vitro, but in vivo most xenobiotics harm their target in a repetitive or chronic manner. Therefore, we propose a model, which provides repetitive incubations in human upper aerodigestive tract mucosa cultures. Samples of human inferior nasal turbinate mucosa (n = 25) were cultured according to a modified version of a technique originally described by Steinsvag. On day 1 fresh samples and on days 7, 9 and 11 organ cultures were incubated with N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), sodium dichromate (Na2Cr2O7) and N'-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine(MNNG). Mucosa samples and organ cultures, respectively, underwent a modified comet assay on days 1, 7 and 11. Genotoxicity could be shown for NDEA, Na2Cr2O7 and MNNG on days 1, 7 and 11. Duration of tissue culture and repetitive incubations did not significantly influence the results for NDEA. Nevertheless, Na2Cr2O7 and MNNG caused higher genotoxic effects on cultures subjected to the comet assay on day 11. This model may help to assess genotoxic hazards posed by environ mental pollutants that have a cumulative character in repetitive or chronic exposure in vivo. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

High density NV sensing surface created via He^(+) ion implantation of (12)^C diamond

We present a promising method for creating high-density ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy centers with narrow spin-resonances for high-sensitivity magnetic imaging. Practically, narrow spin-resonance linewidths substantially reduce the optical and RF power requirements for ensemble-based sensing. The method combines isotope purified diamond growth, in situ nitrogen doping, and helium ion implantation to realize a 100 nm-thick sensing surface. The obtained 10^(17) cm^(-3) nitrogen-vacancy density is only a factor of 10 less than the highest densities reported to date, with an observed spin resonance linewidth over 10 times more narrow. The 200 kHz linewidth is most likely limited by dipolar broadening indicating even further reduction of the linewidth is desirable and possible.Comment: 5 pages including references. 3 figure

Australia and New Zealand applied linguistics (ANZAL): Taking stock

This paper reviews some emerging trends in applied linguistics in both Australia and New Zealand. It sketches the current scene of (selected) postgraduate applied linguistics programs in higher education and considers how various university programs define applied linguistics through the classes (titles) they have postgraduate students complete to be awarded a degree. Evidence of program requirements and topics reveal not only what applied linguistics generally entails, but offers insights into how applied linguistics is defined and practiced. Additionally, some of the salient research topics (titles) being published in the journals from the two countries' applied linguistics associations are sketched

Probing Noise in Flux Qubits via Macroscopic Resonant Tunneling

Macroscopic resonant tunneling between the two lowest lying states of a bistable RF-SQUID is used to characterize noise in a flux qubit. Measurements of the incoherent decay rate as a function of flux bias revealed a Gaussian shaped profile that is not peaked at the resonance point, but is shifted to a bias at which the initial well is higher than the target well. The r.m.s. amplitude of the noise, which is proportional to the decoherence rate 1/T_2^*, was observed to be weakly dependent on temperature below 70 mK. Analysis of these results indicates that the dominant source of low frequency (1/f) flux noise in this device is a quantum mechanical environment in thermal equilibrium.Comment: 4 pages 4 figure

Conduction channels of superconducting quantum point contacts

Atomic quantum point contacts accommodate a small number of conduction channels. Their number N and transmission coefficients {T_n} can be determined by analyzing the subgap structure due to multiple Andreev reflections in the current-voltage (IV) characteristics in the superconducting state. With the help of mechanically controllable break-junctions we have produced Al contacts consisting of a small number of atoms. In the smallest stable contacts, usually three channels contribute to the transport. We show here that the channel ensemble {T_n} of few atom contacts remains unchanged up to temperatures and magnetic fields approaching the critical temperature and the critical field, respectively, giving experimental evidence for the prediction that the conduction channels are the same in the normal and in the superconducting state.Comment: 8 pages, 5 .eps figures. To be published in Physica B 22

Observation of Andreev Reflection Enhanced Shot Noise

We have experimentally investigated the quasiparticle shot noise in NbN/MgO/NbN superconductor - insulator - superconductor tunnel junctions. The observed shot noise is significantly larger than theoretically expected. We attribute this to the occurrence of multiple Andreev reflection processes in pinholes present in the MgO barrier. This mechanism causes the current to flow in large charge quanta (Andreev clusters), with a voltage dependent average value of m = 1+ 2 Delta/eV times the electron charge. Because of this charge enhancement effect, the shot noise is increased by the factor m.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures include

Universal distribution of transparencies in highly conductive Nb/AlOx_x/Nb junctions

We report the observation of the universal distribution of transparencies, predicted by Schep and Bauer [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 78}, 3015 (1997)] for dirty sharp interfaces, in uniform Nb/AlO$_x$/Nb junctions with high specific conductance ($10^8$ Ohm$^{-1}$cm$^{-2}$). Experiments used the BCS density of states in superconducting niobium for transparency distribution probing. Experimental results for both the dc $I-V$ curves at magnetic-field-suppressed supercurrent and the Josephson critical current in zero magnetic field coincide remarkably well with calculations based on the multimode theory of multiple Andreev reflections and the Schep-Bauer distribution.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, references adde

Mesoscopic proximity effect in double barrier Superconductor/Normal Metal junctions

We report transport measurements down to T=60mK of SININ and SNIN structures in the diffusive limit. We fabricated Al-AlOx/Cu/AlOx/Cu (SININ) and Al/Cu/AlOx/Cu (SNIN) vertical junctions. For the first time, a zero bias anomaly was observed in a metallic SININ structure. We attribute this peak of conductance to coherent multi-reflections of electrons between the two tunnel barriers. This conductance maximum is quantitatively fitted by the relevant theory of mesoscopic SININ structures. When the barrier at the SN interface is removed (SNIN structure), we observe a peak of conductance at finite voltage accompagnied by an excess of sub-gap conductance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, editorially approved for publication in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Com