High-temperature terahertz optical diode effect without magnetic order in polar FeZnMo3_3O8_8

We present a terahertz spectroscopic study of polar ferrimagnet FeZnMo$_3$O$_8$. Our main finding is a giant high-temperature optical diode effect, or nonreciprocal directional dichroism, where the transmitted light intensity in one direction is over 100 times lower than intensity transmitted in the opposite direction. The effect takes place in the paramagnetic phase with no long-range magnetic order in the crystal, which contrasts sharply with all existing reports of the terahertz optical diode effect in other magnetoelectric materials, where the long-range magnetic ordering is a necessary prerequisite. In \fzmo, the effect occurs resonantly with a strong magnetic dipole active transition centered at 1.27 THz and assigned as electron spin resonance between the eigenstates of the single-ion anisotropy Hamiltonian. We propose that the optical diode effect in paramagnetic FeZnMo$_3$O$_8$ is driven by signle-ion terms in magnetoelectric free energy

Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT3 (PIAS3) Is Down-Regulated in Eutopic Endometrium of Women with Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a major cause of chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Activation of STAT3 appears central to the inflammatory phenotype of eutopic endometrium in women with endometriosis. However, the molecular mechanism by which this occurs remains unknown. Our objective is to determine how STAT3 activity is regulated in endometriosis. Protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 (PIAS3) is a negative regulator of STAT3 activity. We examined the levels of PIAS3 in endometrium from women with and without endometriosis using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Levels of PIAS3 are significantly lower, in contrast with phosphorylation of STAT3, in women with endometriosis compared to women without endometriosis. Furthermore, induction of endometriosis in the baboon showed a significant reduction of PIAS3 expression during the progression of the disease. Interferon-γ (INFγ) reduces PIAS3 protein levels and increases phospho-STAT3 levels through CXCL10 in endometrial cells, Ishikawa, and 12Z cells. These results suggest that attenuation of PIAS3 causes aberrant activation of STAT3 in endometriosis, leading to inflammatory changes that may impair fertility or cause pain

Trajectories and Keyframes for Kinesthetic Teaching: A Human-Robot Interaction Perspective

Presented at the 7th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, March 5-8, 2012, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.Kinesthetic teaching is an approach to providing demonstrations to a robot in Learning from Demonstration whereby a human physically guides a robot to perform a skill. In the common usage of kinesthetic teaching, the robot's trajectory during a demonstration is recorded from start to end. In this paper we consider an alternative, keyframe demonstrations, in which the human provides a sparse set of consecutive keyframes that can be connected to perform the skill. We present a user-study (n = 34) comparing the two approaches and highlighting their complementary nature. The study also tests and shows the potential benefits of iterative and adaptive versions of keyframe demonstrations. Finally, we introduce a hybrid method that combines trajectories and keyframes in a single demonstratio

Room-temperature InGaAs nanowire array band-edge lasers on patterned silicon-on-insulator platforms

Integration of ultracompact light sources on silicon platforms is regarded as a crucial requirement for various nanophotonic applications. In this work, InGaAs/InP core/shell nanowire array photonic crystal lasers are demon- strated on silicon-on-insulator substrates by selective-area epitaxy. 9 9 square-lattice nanowires forming photonic crystal cavities with a footprint of only 3.0 3.0 μm 2 , and a high Q factor of 23 000 are achieved by forming these nanowires on two-dimensional silicon gratings. Room-temperature lasing is observed from a fundamental band-edge mode at 1290 nm, which is the O-band of the telecommunication wavelength. Optimized growth templates and effective in-situ passivation of InGaAs nanowires enable the nanowire array to lase at a low threshold of 200 μJcm 2 , without any signature of heating or degradation above the threshold. These results represent a meaningful step toward ultracompact and monolithic III–V lasers on silicon photonic platform

III-V nanowire array telecom lasers on (001) silicon-on-insulator photonic platforms

III–V nanowires have recently gained attention as a promising approach to enable monolithic integration of ultracompact lasers on silicon. However, III–V nanowires typically grow only along ⟨111⟩ directions, and thus, it is challenging to integrate nanowire lasers on standard silicon photonic platforms that utilize (001) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Here, we propose III–V nanowire lasers on (001) silicon photonic platforms, which are enabled by forming one-dimensional nanowire arrays on (111) sidewalls. The one-dimensional photonic crystal laser cavity has a high Q factor >70 000 with a small footprint of ∼7.2 × 1.0 μm2, and the lasing wavelengths can be tuned to cover the entire telecom bands by adjusting the nanowire geometry. These nanowire lasers can be coupled to SOI waveguides with a coupling efficiency > 40% while maintaining a sufficiently high Q factor ∼18 000, which will be beneficial for low-threshold and energy-efficient operations. Therefore, the proposed nanowire lasers could be a stepping stone for ultracompact lasers compatible with standard silicon photonic platforms

Monolithic InGaAs nanowire array lasers on silicon-on-insulator operating at room temperature

Chip-scale integrated light sources are a crucial component in a broad range of photonics applications. III–V semiconductor nanowire emitters have gained attention as a fascinating approach due to their superior material properties, extremely compact size, and capability to grow directly on lattice-mismatched silicon substrates. Although there have been remarkable advances in nanowire-based emitters, their practical applications are still in the early stages due to the difficulties in integrating nanowire emitters with photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate for the first time optically pumped III–V nanowire array lasers monolithically integrated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. Selective-area growth of InGaAs/InGaP core/shell nanowires on an SOI substrate enables the nanowire array to form a photonic crystal nanobeam cavity with superior optical and structural properties, resulting in the laser to operate at room temperature. We also show that the nanowire array lasers are effectively coupled with SOI waveguides by employing nanoepitaxy on a prepatterned SOI platform. These results represent a new platform for ultracompact and energy-efficient optical links and unambiguously point the way toward practical and functional nanowire lasers

Endometrial BCL6 Overexpression in Eutopic Endometrium of Women With Endometriosis

The objective of this study was to examine B-cell CLL/lymphoma 6 (BCL6) expression in human eutopic endometrium across the menstrual cycle in women with and without endometriosis and to establish a cutoff for future studies. This design was a series of case-control studies in tertiary University teaching hospitals. We examined BCL6 expression by messenger RNA and immunohistochemically in prospectively collected samples in both the proliferative (P) and the secretory phases. BCL6 is minimally increased in the mid-secretory phase of the menstrual cycle compared to the P phase in normal patients. BCL6 protein expression was significantly higher in the secretory phase of patients with endometriosis (n = 29) versus fertile controls without endometriosis at laparoscopy (n = 20; P < .0001). Normal fertile controls (n = 28) recruited for endometrial biopsy also had low levels of secretory phase BCL6 expression compared to women with unexplained infertility (UI; n = 119). A receiving-operator characteristic analysis of these data revealed an area under the curve of 94% (95% confidence interval 85%-100%; P < .0001) with an HSCORE cutoff of 1.4 to differentiate cases with and without endometriosis. Using this cutoff value, BCL6 was positive in 88% of cases with UI. Laparoscopic examination of a subset of 65 patients confirmed abnormalities in 98% of cases; 61 (93.8%) were found to have endometriosis, 3 (4.6%) with hydrosalpinx, and 1 (1.5%) with a normal pelvis. These data suggest that BCL6 is a promising candidate as a single diagnostic biomarker for detection of endometriosis in women with otherwise UI and may be associated with endometrial dysfunction, including progesterone resistanc

The Synergistic Effect of Conditional Pten Loss and Oncogenic K-ras Mutation on Endometrial Cancer Development Occurs via Decreased Progesterone Receptor Action

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological cancer. Estrogen-dependent endometrioid carcinoma is the most common type of endometrial cancer, and alterations in the expression of PTEN and K-ras have been associated with this disease. To study the roles of Pten and K-ras in endometrial cancer, we generated Pten ablation and oncogenic K-ras mutation in progesterone receptor positive cells (PRcre/+Ptenf/f K-rasG12D). Double mutant mice dramatically accelerated the development of endometrial cancer compared to a single mutation of either gene. Histological analysis showed that all of the 1-month old double mutant female mice developed endometrial cancer with myometrial invasion. The expression of PR was downregulated in double mutant mice compared to a single mutation of either gene which resulted in decreased suppression of estrogen signaling. Therefore, these results suggest a synergistic effect of dysregulation of the Pten and K-ras signaling pathways during endometrial tumorigenesis