Quantum Coherence Oscillations in Antiferromagnetic Chains

Macroscopic quantum coherence oscillations in mesoscopic antiferromagnets may appear when the anisotropy potential creates a barrier between the antiferromagnetic states with opposite orientations of the Neel vector. This phenomenon is studied for the physical situation of the nuclear spin system of eight Xe atoms arranged on a magnetic surface along a chain. The oscillation period is calculated as a function of the chain constant. The environmental decoherence effects at finite temperature are accounted assuming a dipole coupling between the spin chain and the fluctuating magnetic field of the surface. The numerical calculations indicate that the oscillations are damped by a rate $\sim (N-1)/ \tau$, where $N$ is the number of spins and $\tau$ is the relaxation time of a single spin.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, two postscript figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Information Processing Speed, Working Memory, Attention, and Social Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. Cognitive impairment occurs in 40–65% of patients and could drastically affect their quality of life. Deficits could involve general cognition (e.g., attention and working memory) as well as social cognition. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is a novel brain stimulation technique that has been assessed in the context of several neuropsychiatric symptoms, including those described in the context of MS. However, very rare trials have assessed tDCS effects on general cognition in MS, and none has tackled social cognition. The aim of this work was to assess tDCS effects on general and social cognition in MS. Eleven right-handed patients with MS received two blocks (bifrontal tDCS and sham, 2 mA, 20 min, anode/cathode over left/right prefrontal cortex) of 5 daily stimulations separated by a 3-week washout interval. Working memory and attention were, respectively, measured using N-Back Test (0-Back, 1-Back, and 2-Back) and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) at the first and fifth day of each block and 1 week later. Social cognition was evaluated using Faux Pas Test and Eyes Test at baseline and 1 week after each block. Interestingly, accuracy of 1-Back test improved following sham but not active bifrontal tDCS. Therefore, active bifrontal tDCS could have impaired working memory via cathodal stimulation of the right prefrontal cortex. No significant tDCS effects were observed on social cognitive measures and SDMT. Admitting the small sample size and the learning (practice) effect that might arise from the repetitive administration of each task, the current results should be considered as preliminary and further investigations in larger patient samples are needed to gain a closer understanding of tDCS effects on cognition in MS

Recognition of architectural and electrical symbols by COSFIRE filters with inhibition

The automatic recognition of symbols can be used to automatically convert scanned drawings into digital representations compatible with computer aided design software. We propose a novel approach to automatically recognize architectural and electrical symbols. The proposed method extends the existing trainable COSFIRE approach by adding an inhibition mechanism that is inspired by shape-selective TEO neurons in visual cortex. A COSFIRE filter with inhibition takes as input excitatory and inhibitory responses from line and edge detectors. The type (excitatory or inhibitory) and the spatial arrangement of low level features are determined in an automatic configuration step that analyzes two types of prototype pattern called positive and negative. Excitatory features are extracted from a positive pattern and inhibitory features are extracted from one or more negative patterns. In our experiments we use four subsets of images with different noise levels from the Graphics Recognition data set (GREC 2011) and demonstrate that the inhibition mechanism that we introduce improves the effectiveness of recognition substantially

Nanoantennas for visible and infrared radiation

Nanoantennas for visible and infrared radiation can strongly enhance the interaction of light with nanoscale matter by their ability to efficiently link propagating and spatially localized optical fields. This ability unlocks an enormous potential for applications ranging from nanoscale optical microscopy and spectroscopy over solar energy conversion, integrated optical nanocircuitry, opto-electronics and density-ofstates engineering to ultra-sensing as well as enhancement of optical nonlinearities. Here we review the current understanding of optical antennas based on the background of both well-developed radiowave antenna engineering and the emerging field of plasmonics. In particular, we address the plasmonic behavior that emerges due to the very high optical frequencies involved and the limitations in the choice of antenna materials and geometrical parameters imposed by nanofabrication. Finally, we give a brief account of the current status of the field and the major established and emerging lines of investigation in this vivid area of research.Comment: Review article with 76 pages, 21 figure