Mixed-mode impedance and reflection coefficient of two-port devices

From the point of view of mixed-mode scattering parameters, Smm, a two-port device can be excited using different driving conditions. Each condition leads to a particular set of input reflection and input impedance coefficient definitions that should be carefully applied depending on the type of excitation and symmetry of the two-port device. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explain the general analytic procedure for the evaluation of such reflection and impedance coefficients in terms of mixed-mode scattering parameters. Moreover, the driving of a two-port device as a one-port device is explained as a particular case of a two-port mixed-mode excitation using a given set of mixed-mode loads. The theory is applied to the evaluation of the quality factor, Q, of symmetrical and non- symmetrical inductors.Ministerio de Innovación y Ciencia TEC2010-14825/MIC, TEC2010-21484Junta de Andalucía TIC-253

V-Shape Liquid Crystal-Based Retromodulator Air to Ground Optical Communications

This paper describes the use of a 2D liquid crystal retro-modulator as a free space, wireless, optical link. The retro-modulator is made up of a retro-reflecting cornercube onto which 2 cascaded V-shape smectics liquid crystal modulators are mounted. The communication link differs with respect to more conventional optical links in not using amplitude (nor frequency) modulation, but instead state-of-polarisation (SOP) modulation known as Polarisation Shift Keying (PolSK). PolSK has the advantage over amplitude modulation, that it is less sensitive to changes in the visibility of the atmosphere, and increases inherently the bandwidth of the link. The implementation of PolSK both in liquid crystal based and in retro-modulated communication are novelties

The Ultraviolet Behavior of N=8 Supergravity at Four Loops

We describe the construction of the complete four-loop four-particle amplitude of N=8 supergravity. The amplitude is ultraviolet finite, not only in four dimensions, but in five dimensions as well. The observed extra cancellations provide additional non-trivial evidence that N=8 supergravity in four dimensions may be ultraviolet finite to all orders of perturbation theory.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. v2 contains minor corrections, including flipping sign of eq. (1). Complete results, including mathematica readable form, presented in the directory aux/ included in the source of this manuscript. As certain computer operating systems (e.g. Windows) preclude the naming of directories "aux" we also host this data at: http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~jjmc/auxiliaryData.tg

K^0-\bar{K}^0 mixing in the Standard Model from Nf=2+1+1 Twisted Mass Lattice QCD

We present preliminary results at {\beta} = 1.95 (a = 0.077 fm) on the first unquenched N_f=2+1+1 lattice computation of the B_K parameter which controls the neutral kaon oscillations in the Standard Model. Using N_f=2+1+1 maximally twisted sea quarks and Osterwalder-Seiler valence quarks we achieve O(a) improvement and a continuum-like renormalization pattern for the four-fermion operator. Our results are extrapolated/interpolated to the physical light/strange quark mass but not yet to the continuum limit. The computation of the relevant renormalization constants is performed non perturbatively in the RI'-MOM scheme using dedicated simulations with N_f=4 degenerate sea quark flavours produced by the ETM collaboration. We get B_K^{RGI} (a = 0.077) = 0.747(18), which when compared to our previous unquenched N_f=2 determination and most of the existing results, suggests a rather weak B_K^{RGI} dependence on the number of dynamical flavours. We are at the moment analysing lattice data at two additional {\beta} values which will allow us to perform an extrapolation to the continuum limit.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, Proceedings of Lattice 2011, XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, Californi

Detection of the Ammonium Ion in Space

We report on the detection of a narrow feature at 262816.73 MHz towards Orion and the cold prestellar core B1-bS, that we attribute to the 1(0)-0(0) line of the deuterated Ammonium ion, NH3D+. The observations were performed with the IRAM 30m radio telescope. The carrier has to be a light molecular species as it is the only feature detected over 3.6 GHz of bandwidth. The hyperfine structure is not resolved indicating a very low value for the electric quadrupolar coupling constant of Nitrogen which is expected for NH3D+ as the electric field over the N nucleus is practically zero. Moreover, the feature is right at the predicted frequency for the 1(0)-0(0) transition of the Ammonium ion, 262817(6) MHz (3sigma), using rotational constants derived from new infrared data obtained in our laboratory in Madrid. The estimated column density is 1.1(0.2)e12 cm-2. Assuming a deuterium enhancement similar to that of NH2D, we derive N(NH4+) sim 2.6e13 cm-2, i.e., an abundance for Ammonium of a few 1e(-11).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters 04 June 201

Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) acnes clavicular infection.

Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) acnes13, 16 is a slow growing, gram-positive bacteria that is naturally found in higher concentrations as skin flora on the chest and back, as well as in other areas with greater numbers of hair follicles.25, 37 Most of the reported cases of C. acnes shoulder girdle infection follow arthroplasty surgery,18, 20, 26, 27, 32, 35 which then often requires debridement, administration of intravenous antibiotics, and surgical revision of the implanted device.12, 15, 21, 28-30 In a recent study, 56% of 193 shoulder revisions had a positive culture, 70% of which grew C. acnes.30 Despite the relatively common presumed association of C. acnes humeral osteomyelitis with prosthetic infection, infection of the scapula or clavicle secondary to C. acnes is rare.4, 23, 36 Osteomyelitis of the clavicle involving any organism is also an uncommon event that can arise spontaneously via presumed hematogenous spread, or secondary to open fractures or internal fixation.6, 33 The most commonly found organism in clavicular osteomyelitis is Staphylococcus aureus.9 We here report two cases of clavicular infection secondary to C. acnes that were not associated with implants

The ALMA Frontier Fields Survey - IV. Lensing-corrected 1.1 mm number counts in Abell 2744, MACSJ0416.1-2403 and MACSJ1149.5+2223

[abridged] Characterizing the number counts of faint, dusty star-forming galaxies is currently a challenge even for deep, high-resolution observations in the FIR-to-mm regime. They are predicted to account for approximately half of the total extragalactic background light at those wavelengths. Searching for dusty star-forming galaxies behind massive galaxy clusters benefits from strong lensing, enhancing their measured emission while increasing spatial resolution. Derived number counts depend, however, on mass reconstruction models that properly constrain these clusters. We estimate the 1.1 mm number counts along the line of sight of three galaxy clusters, i.e. Abell 2744, MACSJ0416.1-2403 and MACSJ1149.5+2223, which are part of the ALMA Frontier Fields Survey. We perform detailed simulations to correct these counts for lensing effects. We use several publicly available lensing models for the galaxy clusters to derive the intrinsic flux densities of our sources. We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the number counts for a detailed treatment of the uncertainties in the magnifications and adopted source redshifts. We find an overall agreement among the number counts derived for the different lens models, despite their systematic variations regarding source magnifications and effective areas. Our number counts span ~2.5 dex in demagnified flux density, from several mJy down to tens of uJy. Our number counts are consistent with recent estimates from deep ALMA observations at a 3$\sigma$ level. Below $\approx$ 0.1 mJy, however, our cumulative counts are lower by $\approx$ 1 dex, suggesting a flattening in the number counts. In our deepest ALMA mosaic, we estimate number counts for intrinsic flux densities $\approx$ 4 times fainter than the rms level. This highlights the potential of probing the sub-10 uJy population in larger samples of galaxy cluster fields with deeper ALMA observations.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in A&