Coherent Cancellation of Backaction Noise in optomechanical Force Measurements

Optomechanical detectors have reached the standard quantum limit in position and force sensing where measurement backaction noise starts to be the limiting factor for the sensitivity. A strategy to circumvent measurement backaction, and surpass the standard quantum limit, has been suggested by M. Tsang and C. Caves in Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 123601 (2010). We provide a detailed analysis of this method and assess its benefits, requirements, and limitations. We conclude that a proof-of-principle demonstration based on a micro-optomechanical system is demanding, but possible. However, for parameters relevant to gravitational wave detectors the requirements for backaction evasion appear to be prohibitive.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Utilizing weak pump depletion to stabilize squeezed vacuum states

We propose and demonstrate a pump-phase locking technique that makes use of weak pump depletion (WPD) - an unavoidable effect that is usually neglected - in a sub-threshold optical parametric oscillator (OPO). We show that the phase difference between seed and pump beam is imprinted on both light fields by the non-linear interaction in the crystal and can be read out without disturbing the squeezed output. Our new locking technique allows for the first experimental realization of a pump-phase lock by reading out the pre-existing phase information in the pump field. There is no degradation of the detected squeezed states required to implement this scheme.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Early Gold Ornaments of Southeast Asia: Production, Trade, and Consumption

In the last decade a variety of gold ornaments have come to light through excavations and the illegal looting of Iron Age and early historical sites in Southeast Asia. Although these gold objects are personal ornaments testifying to an innovative local craft tradition that was partly inspired by foreign technologies and styles, their role in the interregional and long-distance exchange network of the early Southeast Asian communities has been rarely considered. This study of early gold ornaments brings together important gold discoveries on sites in Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and southern China, and discusses similarities in production, consumption, and exchange. It further attempts to offer some new insights into sociopolitical and economic changes on a regional scale, and hopes to contribute to a longue-durée examination of trading connections across Asia. It is proposed that the first arrival of gold ornaments was closely related to the blossoming of trade activities on the terrestrial and maritime silk routes, and the political, religious, and artistic ideas that reached Southeast Asia from far-away regions such as the Greco-Buddhist and Hindu-Buddhist regions. Furthermore it is argued that gold ornaments were prestige goods and an essential part of dressing strategies through which changing elite identities were expressed

Bargmann representations for deformed harmonic oscillators

Generalizing the case of the usual harmonic oscillator, we look for Bargmann representations corresponding to deformed harmonic oscillators. Deformed harmonic oscillator algebras are generated by four operators $a, a^\dagger, N$ and the unity 1 such as $[a,N] = a, [a^\dagger,N] = -a^\dagger$, $a^\dagger a = \psi(N)$ and $aa^\dagger =\psi(N+1)$. We discuss the conditions of existence of a scalar product expressed with a true integral on the space spanned by the eigenstates of $a$ (or $a^\dagger$). We give various examples, in particular we consider functions $\psi$ that are linear combinations of $q^N$, $q^{-N}$ and unity and that correspond to q-oscillators with Fock-representations or with non-Fock-representations.Comment: 23 pages, Late

The use of equine chondrogenic‐induced mesenchymal stem cells as a treatment for osteoarthritis : a randomised, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled proof‐of‐concept study

Background: There is a need to improve therapies for osteoarthritis in horses. Objectives To assess the efficacy of equine allogeneic chondrogenic-induced mesenchymal stem cells combined with equine allogeneic plasma as a novel therapy for osteoarthritis in horses. Study design: Randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled experiment. Methods: In 12 healthy horses, osteoarthritis was induced in the metacarpophalangeal joint using an osteochondral fragment-groove model. Five weeks after surgery, horses were randomly assigned to either an intra-articular injection with chondrogenic-induced mesenchymal stem cells + equine allogeneic plasma (= intervention) or with 0.9% saline solution (= control). From surgery until the study end, horses underwent a weekly joint and lameness assessment. Synovial fluid was collected for cytology and biomarker analysis before surgery and at Weeks 5, 5 + 1d, 7, 9 and 11. At Week 11, horses were subjected to euthanasia, and the metacarpophalangeal joints were evaluated macroscopically and histologically. Results: No serious adverse events or suspected adverse drug reactions occurred during the study. A significant improvement in visual and objective lameness was seen with the intervention compared with the control. Synovial fluid displayed a significantly higher viscosity and a significantly lower glycosaminoglycan concentration in the intervention group. Other biomarkers or cytology parameters were not significantly different between the treatment groups. Significantly less wear lines and synovial hyperaemia were present in the intervention group. The amount of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, collagen type II and glycosaminoglycans were significantly higher in the articular cartilage of the intervention group. Main limitations: This study assessed the short-term effect of the intervention on a limited number of horses, using an osteoarthritis model. This study also included multiple statistical tests, increasing the risk of type 1 error. Conclusions: Equine allogeneic chondrogenic-induced mesenchymal stem cells combined with equine allogeneic plasma may be a promising treatment for osteoarthritis in horses

Amplification and overexpression of the ID4 gene at 6p22.3 in bladder cancer

BACKGROUND: Amplifications at 6p22.3 are prevalent in advanced stage bladder cancer (TCC). Previous studies have identified SOX4, CDKAL, and E2F3 as targets of this amplification and therefore potential oncogenes, but the more telomeric DEK gene too has been reported as overexpressed and amplified. We have therefore investigated whether the intermediate region harboring the oncogene candidate ID4 is also part of the amplicon. RESULTS: Expression of E2F3, DEK, and ID4 was investigated by real-time RT-PCR in 28 TCC compared to 6 normal bladder tissues and in 15 TCC cell lines compared to cultured normal urothelial cells. Expression of E2F3 as well as DEK increased on average in tumor vs. normal tissues (3-fold and 2.5-fold, resp.), but only the increase for E2F3 was statistically significant (p = 0.039). ID4 overexpression was observed in selected specimens. Each of the three genes was overexpressed in several cell lines, up to 150-fold (ID4), 30-fold (E2F3), and 9-fold (DEK), but these increases were not correlated to each other. Instead, moderate (DEK) to excellent (ID4) correlations were observed with copy number increases of microsatellites near each gene. Microsatellite copy number increases were highly heterogeneous across the investigated several Mb region revealing at least three subregions of amplification. CONCLUSION: Extending previous reports, our data indicate that the 6p22.3 amplicon in TCC is highly heterogeneous and targets several genes in a variable fashion. Among these, expression of E2F3 and DEK appear to be generally increased in TCC, with additional increases caused by amplifications. In contrast, over-expression of ID4, which is normally predominantly expressed in testes and brain, appears to depend more strictly on gene amplification. Accordingly, the effect of amplifications at 6p22.3 in bladder cancer is expected to be non-uniform, thereby contributing to the highly variable biological and clinical behavior of advanced stage tumors. ID4 is a potential oncogene in a small subset of bladder cancers

Quantum teleportation in space and frequency using entangled pairs of photons from a frequency comb

Using entangled pairs of photons from a frequency comb and wide-band frequency-resolved homodyne detection, we propose a sequential quantum teleportation protocol for continuous variables that teleports an unknown state in space and frequency. A subthreshold optical parametric oscillator (OPO) produces a comb of entangled pairs of photons separated by the free spectral range of the OPO cavity. Wide-band frequency-resolved homodyne detection enables direct access to the sum and difference of quadratures between different teeth in the comb. Such measurements are Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen nullifiers, and can be used as the basis for teleportation protocols. Our protocol for space-and-frequency teleportation effectively links arbitrary frequency channels for frequency-division multiplexing, which has applications in universal quantum computation and large-capacity quantum communication. © 2014 American Physical Society

Staphylococcus aureus und seine Genotypen als Mastitiserreger der Milchkuh – eine Übersicht

INTRODUCTION In the last decade the knowledge on Staphylococcus aureus as the etiologic agent of chronic mastitis in dairy cattle has increased. Molecular biology and increasingly whole genome sequencing provide an advanced technology far beyond the classical, phenotypic bacteriology. Staphylococcus aureus has different characteristics, thus clinical and epidemiological properties are massively dependent on the genotypes. In Switzerland, Staphylococcus aureus genotype B (GTB) is a common genotype that causes infectious mastitis. Often, half and more cows of the herd are infected. Conversely, genotype C (GTC) and some of the other Staphylococcus aureus genotypes are classified less problematic because they affect individual cows and only one mammary gland quarter. Since Staphylococcus aureus GTB causes herd problems, the associated costs are high in the dairy industry. This applies in particular in the alpine region, because GTB-positive and -negative cows are not separated during milking and the infectious pathogen can spread rapidly. The pathogen is transferred by contaminated milking liners. Staphylococcus aureus GTB is highly associated with the mammary gland. In contrast, the skin and the udder are identified as the reservoir for Staphylococcus aureus GTC and the other genotypes. Staphylococcus aureus GTC is a classic infectious pathogen in wounds and occasionally in mammary glands.Im letzten Jahrzehnt konnte viel neues Wissen zu Sta-phylococcus aureus als Mastitiserreger der Milchkuh erar-beitet werden. Dies hat vor allem damit zu tun, dass mit der Molekularbiologie und zunehmend auch mit der Vollgenomsequenzierung und der Bioinformatik völlig neue Analyseverfahren zur Verfügung stehen, die weit über diejenigen der klassischen, phänotypischen Bakte-riologie hinausgehen. Staphylococcus aureus ist nicht mehr ein Bakterium mit den immer gleichen Eigen-schaften, vielmehr hängen die klinischen und epidemio-logischen Eigenschaften massiv von den Genotypen von Staphylococcus aureus ab. In der Schweiz ist Staphylococcus aureus Genotyp B (GTB) der einzige Genotyp, der bei der Kuh ansteckende Mastitiden verursacht. Dabei sind oft die Hälfte und mehr Kühe eines Betriebes infiziert. Dagegen verursachen Genotyp C (GTC) und alle an-dern Genotypen in der Schweiz ausschliesslich Einzelviertelerkrankungen bei einzelnen Kühen. Da Staphylococcus aureus GTB Herdenprobleme verursacht, sind die damit verbundenen Kosten in der Milchwirt-schaft hoch. Dies trifft vor allem auf diejenigen Regio-nen der Schweiz zu, wo die Kühe gealpt werden, denn die Alpung selbst stellt das grösste Infektionsrisiko dar: hier kann sich der sehr ansteckende Erreger rasch aus-breiten, weil die GTB-positiven und -negativen Kühe beim Melken durchmischt werden. Dabei wird der Er-reger dann durch die kontaminierten Zitzengummis auf andere Kühe übertragen. Staphylococcus aureus GTB ist hochgradig euterassoziert. GTC und die übrigen Geno-typen dagegen kolonisieren hauptsächlich die Haut und verursachen gelegentlich auch Mastitiden. Daneben ist Staphylococcus aureus GTC ein klassischer Wunderreger

Zbtb20 modulates the sequential generation of neuronal layers in developing cortex

BACKGROUND: During corticogenesis, genetic programs encoded in progenitor cells at different developmental stages and inherited in postmitotic neurons specify distinct layer and area identities. Transcription factor Zbtb20 has been shown to play a role for hippocampal development but whether it is implicated in mammalian neocortical morphogenesis remains unknown. RESULTS: Here, we report that during embyogenesis transcription factor Zbtb20 has a dynamic spatio-temporal expression pattern in mitotic cortical progenitors through which it modulates the sequential generation of cortical neuronal layer identities. Zbtb20 knock out mice exhibited enhanced populations of early born L6-L4 neuronal subtypes and a dramatic reduction of the late born L3/L2 neurons. This defect was due to a temporal misbalance in the production of earlier versus later born neurons, leading to a progressive diminishing of the progenitor pool for the generation of L3-L2 neurons. Zbtb20 implements these temporal effects in part by binding to promoter of the orphan nuclear receptor CoupTF1/Nr2f1. In addition to its effects exerted in cortical progenitors, the postmitotic expression of Zbtb20 in L3/L2 neurons starting at birth may contribute to their proper differentiation and migration. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal Zbtb20 as a novel temporal regulator for the generation of layer-specific neuronal identities

An oil pipeline design problem

Copyright @ 2003 INFORMSWe consider a given set of offshore platforms and onshore wells producing known (or estimated) amounts of oil to be connected to a port. Connections may take place directly between platforms, well sites, and the port, or may go through connection points at given locations. The configuration of the network and sizes of pipes used must be chosen to minimize construction costs. This problem is expressed as a mixed-integer program, and solved both heuristically by Tabu Search and Variable Neighborhood Search methods and exactly by a branch-and-bound method. Two new types of valid inequalities are introduced. Tests are made with data from the South Gabon oil field and randomly generated problems.The work of the first author was supported by NSERC grant #OGP205041. The work of the second author was supported by FCAR (Fonds pour la Formation des Chercheurs et l’Aide à la Recherche) grant #95-ER-1048, and NSERC grant #GP0105574