Microwave amplification with nanomechanical resonators

Sensitive measurement of electrical signals is at the heart of modern science and technology. According to quantum mechanics, any detector or amplifier is required to add a certain amount of noise to the signal, equaling at best the energy of quantum fluctuations. The quantum limit of added noise has nearly been reached with superconducting devices which take advantage of nonlinearities in Josephson junctions. Here, we introduce a new paradigm of amplification of microwave signals with the help of a mechanical oscillator. By relying on the radiation pressure force on a nanomechanical resonator, we provide an experimental demonstration and an analytical description of how the injection of microwaves induces coherent stimulated emission and signal amplification. This scheme, based on two linear oscillators, has the advantage of being conceptually and practically simpler than the Josephson junction devices, and, at the same time, has a high potential to reach quantum limited operation. With a measured signal amplification of 25 decibels and the addition of 20 quanta of noise, we anticipate near quantum-limited mechanical microwave amplification is feasible in various applications involving integrated electrical circuits.Comment: Main text + supplementary information. 14 pages, 3 figures (main text), 18 pages, 6 figures (supplementary information

The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model: Group Summary Report

CONTENTS: 1. Synopsis, 2. The MSSM Spectrum, 3. The Physical Parameters, 4. Higgs Boson Production and Decays, 5. SUSY Particle Production and Decays, 6. Experimental Bounds on SUSY Particle Masses, 7. References.Comment: 121 pages, latex + epsfig, graphicx, axodraw, Report of the MSSM working group for the Workshop "GDR-Supersym\'etrie",France. Rep. PM/98-4

Increasing condom use in heterosexual men: development of a theory-based interactive digital intervention

Increasing condom use to prevent sexually transmitted infections is a key public health goal. Interventions are more likely to be effective if they are theory- and evidence-based. The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) provides a framework for intervention development. To provide an example of how the BCW was used to develop an intervention to increase condom use in heterosexual men (the MenSS website), the steps of the BCW intervention development process were followed, incorporating evidence from the research literature and views of experts and the target population. Capability (e.g. knowledge) and motivation (e.g. beliefs about pleasure) were identified as important targets of the intervention. We devised ways to address each intervention target, including selecting interactive features and behaviour change techniques. The BCW provides a useful framework for integrating sources of evidence to inform intervention content and deciding which influences on behaviour to target

Cluster-randomized trial of a web-assisted tobacco quality improvement intervention of subsequent patient tobacco product use: A national dental PBRN study

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Brief clinician delivered advice helps in tobacco cessation efforts. This study assessed the impact of our intervention on instances of advice given to dental patients during visits on tobacco use quit rates 6 months after the intervention. METHODS: The intervention was cluster randomized trial at the dental practice level. Intervention dental practices were provided a longitudinal technology-assisted intervention, oralcancerprevention.org that included a series of interactive educational cases and motivational email cues to remind dental provides to complete guideline-concordant brief behavioral counseling at the point of care. In all dental practices, exit cards were given to the first 100 consecutive patients, in which tobacco users provided contact information for a six month follow-up telephone survey. RESULTS: A total of 564 tobacco using dental patients completed a six month follow-up survey. Among intervention patients, 55% reported receiving advice to quit tobacco, and 39% of control practice patients reported receiving advice to quit tobacco (p \u3c 0.01). Six-month tobacco use quit rates were not significantly between the Intervention (9%) and Control (13%) groups, (p = 0.088). CONCLUSION: Although we increased rates of cessation advice delivered in dental practices, this study shows no evidence that brief advice by dentist\u27s increases long-term abstinence in smokers.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00627185

Electron quantum metamaterials in van der Waals heterostructures

In recent decades, scientists have developed the means to engineer synthetic periodic arrays with feature sizes below the wavelength of light. When such features are appropriately structured, electromagnetic radiation can be manipulated in unusual ways, resulting in optical metamaterials whose function is directly controlled through nanoscale structure. Nature, too, has adopted such techniques -- for example in the unique coloring of butterfly wings -- to manipulate photons as they propagate through nanoscale periodic assemblies. In this Perspective, we highlight the intriguing potential of designer sub-electron wavelength (as well as wavelength-scale) structuring of electronic matter, which affords a new range of synthetic quantum metamaterials with unconventional responses. Driven by experimental developments in stacking atomically layered heterostructures -- e.g., mechanical pick-up/transfer assembly -- atomic scale registrations and structures can be readily tuned over distances smaller than characteristic electronic length-scales (such as electron wavelength, screening length, and electron mean free path). Yet electronic metamaterials promise far richer categories of behavior than those found in conventional optical metamaterial technologies. This is because unlike photons that scarcely interact with each other, electrons in subwavelength structured metamaterials are charged, and strongly interact. As a result, an enormous variety of emergent phenomena can be expected, and radically new classes of interacting quantum metamaterials designed

Phagocytic ability of neutrophils and monocytes in neonates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infections by a variety of pathogens are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality during perinatal period. The susceptibility of neonates to bacterial infections has been attributed to immaturity of innate immunity. It is considered that one of the impaired mechanisms is the phagocytic function of neutrophils and monocytes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the phagocytic ability of neonates at birth.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The phagocytic ability of neutrophils and monocytes of 42 neonates was determined using the Phagotest flow cytometry method, that assesses the intake of <it>E. Coli </it>by phagocytes, in cord blood and in peripheral blood 3 days after birth. Fifteen healthy adults were included in the study as controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The phagocytic ability of neutrophils in the cord blood of neonates was significantly reduced compared to adults. The 3^rdpostnatal day the reduction of phagocytic ability of neutrophils was no longer significant compared to adults. The phagocytic ability of monocytes did not show any difference from that of adults either at birth or the 3^rdpostnatal day.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings indicate that the intake of <it>E. Coli </it>by phagocytes is impaired at birth in both preterm and full term neonates compared to adults. This defect is transient, with the phagocytic ability in neonates reaching that of the adults 3 days after birth.</p

Credibility and adjustment: gold standards versus currency boards

It is often maintained that currency boards (CBs) and gold standards (GSs) are alike in that they are stringent monetary rules, the two basic features of which are high credibility of monetary authorities and the existence of automatic adjustment (non discretionary) mechanism. This article includes a comparative analysis of these two types of regimes both from the perspective of the sources and mechanisms of generating confidence and credibility, and the elements of operation of the automatic adjustment mechanism. Confidence under the GS is endogenously driven, whereas it is exogenously determined under the CB. CB is a much more asymmetric regime than GS (the adjustment is much to the detriment of peripheral countries) although asymmetry is a typical feature of any monetary regime. The lack of credibility is typical for peripheral countries and cannot be overcome completely even by “hard” monetary regimes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40078/3/wp692.pd

Current challenges in software solutions for mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics

This work was in part supported by the PRIME-XS project, grant agreement number 262067, funded by the European Union seventh Framework Programme; The Netherlands Proteomics Centre, embedded in The Netherlands Genomics Initiative; The Netherlands Bioinformatics Centre; and the Centre for Biomedical Genetics (to S.C., B.B. and A.J.R.H); by NIH grants NCRR RR001614 and RR019934 (to the UCSF Mass Spectrometry Facility, director: A.L. Burlingame, P.B.); and by grants from the MRC, CR-UK, BBSRC and Barts and the London Charity (to P.C.

Histological and immunohistochemical features of the spleen in persistent polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis closely mimic splenic B-cell lymphoma

Persistent polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (PPBL) is rare and intriguing hematological disorder predominantly reported in young to middle- aged smoking women. It is characterized by persistent moderate polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis with circulating hallmark binucleated lymphocytes and elevated polyclonal serum IgM. Most patients have benign clinical course on long-term follow-up. Some pathologic features of PPBL may resemble malignant lymphoma, including morphology as well as frequent cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities. Significant symptomatic splenomegaly requiring splenectomy is very unusual for this disorder; therefore there is a lack of descriptions of the morphologic features of the spleen in the literature. We present here one of the first detailed descriptions of the morphologic and immunohistochemical features of the spleen from a young female with PPBL who developed massive splenomegaly during 6-year follow up. Splenectomy was performed for symptomatic relief and suspicion of malignant process. The morphological and immunohistochemical features of the spleen closely mimicked involvement by B-cell lymphoma, however there was no monotypic surface light chain restriction seen by flow cytometry and no clonal rearrangement of IgH gene was detected by molecular analysis. Evaluating a splenectomy sample in cases like this may present a diagnostic challenge to pathologists. Therefore, correlation with B cell clonality studies (by flow cytometry and molecular analysis), clinical findings and peripheral blood morphology searching for characteristic binucleated lymphocytes is essential to avoid misdiagnosing this benign process as B-cell lymphoma. We also present here a literature review on pathogenesis of PPBL