Intellectual Property And Academia

Accompanying the exponential growth in the technology sector in the last decade has been the development and implementation of new policies and protocols regarding intellectual property by many academic institutions.  Characteristically, considerable debate has accompanied the process.  The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between technological progress and the development of university policies and protocols pertaining to intellectual property.   Initially, a set of commonly accepted definitions for "Intellectual Property" (IP) is established.  This is accomplished by drawing from federal laws and statutes, the American Association of University Professors guidelines for IP policy content and wording, and several current university policies.  As these definitions are developed, it becomes apparent that one must next broach the issue of where software and other new forms of technology-related materials fit into current classifications.  This paper includes an overview of current approaches to IP agreements among research-level universities in the United States, and a brief coverage of historical precedents.  Special attention is given to recent changes in policies which seem to have been caused by technological advances, and several outside opinions and recommendations for modifications due to technology are presented.  The question of whether or not any changes in IP policy are warranted becomes central, and some care is taken to analyze the consequences of various proposals for modification (or lack thereof), concluding with some recommendations on the topic

Semileptonic decays in the limit of a heavy daughter quark

The rate of the semileptonic decay b to c l v is calculated with order alphas^2 accuracy, as an expansion around the limit of equal masses of the b and c quarks. Recent results obtained around the limit of the c-quark much lighter than b are confirmed. Details of the new expansion method are described.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Memristive Ising Circuits

The Ising model is of prime importance in the field of statistical mechanics. Here we show that Ising-type interactions can be realized in periodically-driven circuits of stochastic binary resistors with memory. A key feature of our realization is the simultaneous co-existence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions between two neighboring spins -- an extraordinary property not available in nature. We demonstrate that the statistics of circuit states may perfectly match the ones found in the Ising model with ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic interactions, and, importantly, the corresponding Ising model parameters can be extracted from the probabilities of circuit states. Using this finding, the Ising Hamiltonian is re-constructed in several model cases, and it is shown that different types of interaction can be realized in circuits of stochastic memristors

Semi-Leptonic b-decay at Intermediate Recoil

We compute the O(\alpha_s^2) corrections to the differential rate of the semileptonic decay b -> clv at the "intermediate recoil" point, where the c-quark mass and the invariant mass of the leptons are equal. The calculation is based on an expansion around two opposite limits of the quark masses m_{b,c}: m_c ~ m_b and m_c << m_b. The former case was previously studied; we correct and extend that result. The latter case is new. The smooth matching of both expansions provides a check of both. We clarify the discrepancy between the recent determinations of the full NNLO QCD correction to the semileptonic b -> c rate, and its earlier estimate.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Replaced figures, small format and typo corrections, added appendix and reference

The Impact of Energy on Projects

It’s no surprise that success in project-based organizations is driven by how well project teams perform. The quality of performance depends not only on the demands of the project but on the team makeup and dynamics. In fact, those human factors can have a much greater impact on results than the challenges of complexity and scope. Collaboration, communication, leadership, and effective knowledge sharing are vital to success, and the “spirit” of teams matters at least as much as their technical skill

Single photons on demand from 3D photonic band-gap structures

We describe a practical implementation of a (semi-deterministic) photon gun based on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage pumping and the strong enhancement of the photonic density of states in a photonic band-gap material. We show that this device allows {\em deterministic} and {\em unidirectional} production of single photons with a high repetition rate of the order of 100kHz. We also discuss specific 3D photonic microstructure architectures in which our model can be realized and the feasibility of implementing such a device using ${Er}^{3+}$ ions that produce single photons at the telecommunication wavelength of $1.55 \mu$m.Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figure

Psychiatry and molecular genetics: a paradigm shift.

The late 20th century is witnessing an explosion of biomedical knowledge in the discipline of molecular genetics. In this regard many medical specialties will be transformed in terms of diagnosis and treatment. The technology and the recent clinical research in psychiatry is one of these

Atom trapping and guiding with a subwavelength-diameter optical fiber

We suggest using an evanescent wave around a thin fiber to trap atoms. We show that the gradient force of a red-detuned evanescent-wave field in the fundamental mode of a silica fiber can balance the centrifugal force when the fiber diameter is about two times smaller than the wavelength of the light and the component of the angular momentum of the atoms along the fiber axis is in an appropriate range. As an example, the system should be realizable for Cesium atoms at a temperature of less than 0.29 mK using a silica fiber with a radius of 0.2 $\mu$m and a 1.3-$\mu$m-wavelength light with a power of about 27 mW.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure