A chip-scale integrated cavity-electro-optomechanics platform

We present an integrated optomechanical and electromechanical nanocavity, in which a common mechanical degree of freedom is coupled to an ultrahigh-Q photonic crystal defect cavity and an electrical circuit. The sys- tem allows for wide-range, fast electrical tuning of the optical nanocavity resonances, and for electrical control of optical radiation pressure back-action effects such as mechanical amplification (phonon lasing), cooling, and stiffening. These sort of integrated devices offer a new means to efficiently interconvert weak microwave and optical signals, and are expected to pave the way for a new class of micro-sensors utilizing optomechanical back-action for thermal noise reduction and low-noise optical read-out.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Jugular venous reflux and brain parenchyma volumes in elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: To determine whether or not jugular venous reflux (JVR) is associated with structural brain parenchyma changes in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: 16 AD patients (mean (SD): 81.9 (5.8) years), 33 MCI patients (mean (SD): 81.4 (6.1) years) and 18 healthy elderly controls (mean (SD): 81.5 (3.4) years) underwent duplex ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging scans to quantify structural brain parenchyma changes. Normalized whole brain (WB), gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes were collected, together with CSF volume. RESULTS: JVR was strongly associated with increased normalized WB (p = 0.014) and GM (p = 0.002) volumes across all three subject groups. There was a trend towards increased WB and GM volumes, which was accompanied by decreased CSF volume, in the JVR-positive subjects in both the MCI and AD groups. When the MCI and AD subjects were aggregated together significant increases were observed in both normalized WB (p = 0.009) and GM (p = 0.003) volumes for the JVR-positive group. No corresponding increases were observed for the JVR-positive subjects in the control group. Through receiver operating characteristic analysis of the brain volumetric data it was possible to discriminate between the JVR-positive and negative AD subjects with reasonable accuracy (sensitivity = 71.4%; specificity = 88.9%; p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: JVR is associated with intracranial structural changes in MCI and AD patients, which result in increased WB and GM volumes. The neuropathology of this unexpected and counterintuitive finding requires further investigation, but may suggest that JVR retrogradely transmits venous hypertension into the brain and leads to brain tissues swelling due to vasogenic edema

Room temperature coherent control of coupled single spins in solid

Coherent coupling between single quantum objects is at the heart of modern quantum physics. When coupling is strong enough to prevail over decoherence, it can be used for the engineering of correlated quantum states. Especially for solid-state systems, control of quantum correlations has attracted widespread attention because of applications in quantum computing. Such coherent coupling has been demonstrated in a variety of systems at low temperature1, 2. Of all quantum systems, spins are potentially the most important, because they offer very long phase memories, sometimes even at room temperature. Although precise control of spins is well established in conventional magnetic resonance3, 4, existing techniques usually do not allow the readout of single spins because of limited sensitivity. In this paper, we explore dipolar magnetic coupling between two single defects in diamond (nitrogen-vacancy and nitrogen) using optical readout of the single nitrogen-vacancy spin states. Long phase memory combined with a defect separation of a few lattice spacings allow us to explore the strong magnetic coupling regime. As the two-defect system was well-isolated from other defects, the long phase memory times of the single spins was not diminished, despite the fact that dipolar interactions are usually seen as undesirable sources of decoherence. A coherent superposition of spin pair quantum states was achieved. The dipolar coupling was used to transfer spin polarisation from a nitrogen-vacancy centre spin to a nitrogen spin, with optical pumping of a nitrogen-vacancy centre leading to efficient initialisation. At the level anticrossing efficient nuclear spin polarisation was achieved. Our results demonstrate an important step towards controlled spin coupling and multi-particle entanglement in the solid state

Smoke and Political Mirrors: Policing Marijuana in Washington State

At present, 16 states have enacted laws to legalize marijuana (ProCon.org, 2011). One of the early states to do so was Washington. There is a conflict between federal and law state concerning the possession and distribution of marijuana. In addition, large scale marijuana dispensaries have evolved that may exceed state law standards and are certainly illegal according to the federal government. The present study examines how this plays out in the state of Washington and the problems associated with enforcement of marijuana laws

Predatory Journals in the Criminal Justices Sciences: Getting our Cite on the Target

The advent of Open-Access publishing has opened the door to predatory journals. While many Open-Access publishers are trustworthy, not all of them are guided by legitimate or altruistic motives. When publishers become beholden to authors, rather than readers, the incentive and motivation to uphold and preserve integrity in research and scholarship is eroded. All disciplines would benefit from institutional and peer reviews of open-access journals listed as potentially, possibly, or probably predatory, and from a list of institutionally sanctioned acceptable-journals, prior to submitting their work for publication. At present, these protections do not seem to exist. Criminology/Criminal Justice researchers are being solicited by, and are published in predatory journals, which hold little scholarly value or credibility, resulting in serious negative ramifications for tenure and promotion. This exploratory study utilizes two surveys to assess knowledge and perceptions of predatory journals among criminal justice and criminology authors who have published in a predatory journal, and ACJS and ASC members

Gastroliths associated with an Aristonectes specimen (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae), López de Bertodano Formation (upper Maastrichtian) Seymour Island (Is. Marambio), Antarctic Peninsula

The occurrence of a large gastrolith set associated with a specimen referred to Aristonectes sp. is reported here for the first time. The specimen MLP 89-III-3-1 comes from Seymour Island (Is. Marambio), Antarctic Peninsula, López de Bertodano Formation (upper Maastrichtian). The gastrolith cluster is composed of 793 elements (534 in their presumed original state and about 259 that are broken). The gastroliths are described using sedimentological indices. The mean major axis of the gastroliths is 21 mm, the mean Maximum Projection Sphericity is 0.71 and the standard deviation is 0.11. According to Krumbein?s classification, 43.3% are spheroidal (equant), 14.9% are cylindrical (prolate), 34.7% are discoidal and 7.1% are bladed (laminar). Following Powers? roundness categories, 10.1% are very rounded, 29.2% are rounded and 60.7% are subrounded. The mean Maximum Projection Sphericity value indicates a fluvial origin for the gastroliths. Petrographically, the gastroliths comprise rhyolitic volcanites (56.2%), quartz vein material (27.8%), subarkose arenites (14.5%) and laminated, radiolarian-rich mudstones and tuffs (1.5%). The potential geological sources are several formations from the Antarctic Peninsula, such as the Upper Jurassic Antarctic Peninsula Volcanic Group (rhyolitic volcanites), the Permian-Triassic Trinity Peninsula Group (subarkose arenites), and the KimmeridgianeBerriasian Ameghino Formation (radiolarian-rich mudstones and tuffs). All these formations crop out within about 100 km of the locality where the specimen was collected. We also discuss how gastroliths were ingested, concluding that the ingestion was not done individually. Finally, this record of gastroliths provides evidence against the hypothesis of their use for buoyancy controlFil: O'gorman, Jose Patricio. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnológico La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Olivero, Eduardo Bernardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Santillana, Sergio. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Everhart, Michael J.. Fort Hays State University. Sternberg Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnológico La Plata; Argentin