Osteoid osteoma near the intervertebral foramen may induce radiculopathy through tumorous inflammation

Osteoid osteoma of the spine is a relatively rare bone-forming tumor. Pain that is worse at night and relieved by aspirin and muscle contracture are the most characteristic symptoms of spinal osteoid osteoma. Although radicular pain occasionally occurs in spinal osteoid osteoma, spinal cord and nerve root compression is absent in most cases. Although radicular pain appears to be associated with tumorous inflammation, there have been no presentations of histological findings of inflammation around the nerve root. We present here two rare cases of spinal osteoid osteoma causing radiculopathy and the first histological evidence of tumorous inflammation as a cause of radiculopathy in osteoid osteoma near the intervertebral foramen

Straining graphene using thin film shrinkage methods.

types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is an open access article that is freely available in ORE or from the publisher's web site. Please cite the published version.Theoretical works suggest the possibility and usefulness of strain engineering of graphene by predicting remarkable properties, such as Dirac cone merging, bandgap opening and pseudo magnetic field generation. However, most of these predictions have not yet been confirmed because it is experimentally difficult to control the magnitude and type (e.g., uniaxial, biaxial, and so forth) of strain in graphene devices. Here we report two novel methods to apply strain without bending the substrate. We employ thin films of evaporated metal and organic insulator deposited on graphene, which shrink after electron beam irradiation or heat application. These methods make it possible to apply both biaxial strain and in-plane isotropic compressive strain in a well-controlled manner. Raman spectroscopy measurements show a clear splitting of the degenerate states of the G-band in the case of biaxial strain, and G-band blue shift without splitting in the case of in-plane isotropic compressive strain. In the case of biaxial strain application, we find out the ratio of the strain component perpendicular to the stretching direction is at least three times larger than what was previously observed, indicating that shrinkage of the metal or organic insulator deposited on graphene induces both tensile and compressive strain in this atomically thin material. Our studies present for the first time a viable way to apply strain to graphene without the need to bend the substrate.GCOE for Phys. Sci. FrontierProject for Developing Innovation Systems, MEXT, JapanGrant-in-Aid for Young Scientists AMEXT KAKENHI “Science of Atomic Layers”JST Strategic International Cooperative Programs (DFG-JST and EPSRC-JST

Quantum manipulation of two-electron spin states in metastable double quantum dots

We studied experimentally the dynamics of the exchange interaction between two antiparallel electron spins in a so-called metastable double quantum dot where coupling to the electron reservoirs can be ignored. We demonstrate that the level of control of such a double dot is higher than in conventional double dots. In particular, it allows to couple coherently two electron spins in an efficient manner following a scheme initially proposed by Loss and DiVincenzo. The present study demonstrates that metastable quantum dots are a possible route to increase the number of coherently coupled quantum dots.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Dropped head syndrome due to myogenic atrophy --- a case report of surgical treatment

We report a case of a 69-year-old man with dropped head syndrome associated with isolated neck extensor myopathy (INEM). Over a period of 2 years, he exhibited progressive inability to lift his chin off his chest, resulting in the dropped head position that impaired his activities of daily living. He had a disturbed gait with severe imbalance of spinal alignment. Computed tomography revealed osseous contracture of cervical vertebral bodies in flexed position. Anterior combined posterior reconstruction surgery yielded a successful outcome in his activities of daily living, including his walking balance of spinal alignment. Pathologic study confirmed myogenic atrophy in the cervical extensor muscles. We suggest that consideration for surgical management should be given to dropped head syndrome especially due to INEM

Injection of a single electron from static to moving quantum dots

We study the injection mechanism of a single electron from a static quantum dot into a moving quantum dot created in a long depleted channel with surface acoustic waves (SAWs). We demonstrate that such a process is characterized by an activation law with a threshold that depends on the SAW amplitude and the dot-channel potential gradient. By increasing sufficiently the SAW modulation amplitude, we can reach a regime where the transfer is unitary and potentially adiabatic. This study points at the relevant regime to use moving dots in quantum information protocols.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure