Frontotemporal Dementia Linked to Chromosome 3 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) represents a crippling new neurodegenerative disease for scientific investigation. Marked by characteristic frontal and temporal lobar cortical atrophy, FTD results in the progressive deterioration of social and behavioral capabilities. FTD exhibits an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, and is the second most common form of presenile dementia behind Alzheimer\u27s disease. One subtype of the neuropathy, designated as frontotemporal dementia linked to chromosome 3 (FTD3), has been traced to a single truncating mutation in the human protein CHMP2B. Fortunately, S. cerevisiae ortholog Vps2 shares conserved function with CHMP2B, and functions analogously as a constituent of the ESCRTmediated endocytic pathway, necessary for protein trafficking and degradation within the cell. In order to investigate the mechanism and genetics behind FTD3 pathology, a corresponding mutation has been created in yeast, and a variety of assays examining its function have been conducted. This projects details the mutation’s potential effects on autophagy, as well as the critical polymerization of ESCRT-III component Snf7. Ultimately, this exposition suggests that autophagy is not affected by the FTD3 mutation. Additionally, heterozygous expression of mutated Vps2 does not appear to cause aberrant Snf7 polymerization, while haploid expression does seem to affect the process. Finally, proposed future experiments should continue to help resolve the mechanism behind frontotemporal dementia linked to chromosome 3

Accessing nanomechanical resonators via a fast microwave circuit

The measurement of micron-sized mechanical resonators by electrical techniques is difficult, because of the combination of a high frequency and a small mechanical displacement which together suppress the electromechanical coupling. The only electromagnetic technique proven up to the range of several hundred MHz requires the usage of heavy magnetic fields and cryogenic conditions. Here we show how, without the need of either of them, to fully electrically detect the vibrations of conductive nanomechanical resonators up to the microwave regime. We use the electrically actuated vibrations to modulate an LC tank circuit which blocks the stray capacitance, and detect the created sideband voltage by a microwave analyzer. We show the novel technique up to mechanical frequencies of 200 MHz. Finally, we estimate how one could approach the quantum limit of mechanical systems

Strong gate coupling of high-Q nanomechanical resonators

The detection of mechanical vibrations near the quantum limit is a formidable challenge since the displacement becomes vanishingly small when the number of phonon quanta tends towards zero. An interesting setup for on-chip nanomechanical resonators is that of coupling them to electrical microwave cavities for detection and manipulation. Here we show how to achieve a large cavity coupling energy of up to (2 \pi) 1 MHz/nm for metallic beam resonators at tens of MHz. We used focused ion beam (FIB) cutting to produce uniform slits down to 10 nm, separating patterned resonators from their gate electrodes, in suspended aluminum films. We measured the thermomechanical vibrations down to a temperature of 25 mK, and we obtained a low number of about twenty phonons at the equilibrium bath temperature. The mechanical properties of Al were excellent after FIB cutting and we recorded a quality factor of Q ~ 3 x 10^5 for a 67 MHz resonator at a temperature of 25 mK. Between 0.2K and 2K we find that the dissipation is linearly proportional to the temperature.Comment: 6 page

Slot-mode-coupled optomechanical crystals

We present a design methodology and analysis of a cavity optomechanical system in which a localized GHz frequency mechanical mode of a nanobeam resonator is evanescently coupled to a high quality factor (Q>10^6) optical mode of a separate nanobeam optical cavity. Using separate nanobeams provides flexibility, enabling the independent design and optimization of the optics and mechanics of the system. In addition, the small gap (approx. 25 nm) between the two resonators gives rise to a slot mode effect that enables a large zero-point optomechanical coupling strength to be achieved, with g/2pi > 300 kHz in a Si3N4 system at 980 nm and g/2pi approx. 900 kHz in a Si system at 1550 nm. The fact that large coupling strengths to GHz mechanical oscillators can be achieved in SiN is important, as this material has a broad optical transparency window, which allows operation throughout the visible and near-infrared. As an application of this platform, we consider wide-band optical frequency conversion between 1300 nm and 980 nm, using two optical nanobeam cavities coupled on either side to the breathing mode of a mechanical nanobeam resonator

Microwave amplification with nanomechanical resonators

Sensitive measurement of electrical signals is at the heart of modern science and technology. According to quantum mechanics, any detector or amplifier is required to add a certain amount of noise to the signal, equaling at best the energy of quantum fluctuations. The quantum limit of added noise has nearly been reached with superconducting devices which take advantage of nonlinearities in Josephson junctions. Here, we introduce a new paradigm of amplification of microwave signals with the help of a mechanical oscillator. By relying on the radiation pressure force on a nanomechanical resonator, we provide an experimental demonstration and an analytical description of how the injection of microwaves induces coherent stimulated emission and signal amplification. This scheme, based on two linear oscillators, has the advantage of being conceptually and practically simpler than the Josephson junction devices, and, at the same time, has a high potential to reach quantum limited operation. With a measured signal amplification of 25 decibels and the addition of 20 quanta of noise, we anticipate near quantum-limited mechanical microwave amplification is feasible in various applications involving integrated electrical circuits.Comment: Main text + supplementary information. 14 pages, 3 figures (main text), 18 pages, 6 figures (supplementary information

Uusasiakashankinta ja markkinointiviestinnän keinot : tapaus: Vuojoen kartanon kokouspalvelut

Tällä opinnäytetyöllä oli kaksi tavoitetta. Ensimmäinen tavoite oli löytää Satakunnan alueelta sijaitsevia potentiaalisia uusia asiakasyrityksiä tilaajayritykselle, Vuojoen kartanolle. Toisena tavoitteena uusasiakashankinnan jälkeen, oli miettiä millä markkinointiviestinnän keinoilla kartoitetuille potentiaalisille yrityksille voidaan markkinoida Vuojoen kartanon tarjoamia kokous-, koulutus- ja seminaaripalveluita. Tarkoituksena oli lisätä tilaajayrityksen tunnettavuutta alueella sekä lisätä tilaajayrityksen tietoa alueella sijaitsevista potentiaalisista asiakasyrityksistä ja saada uusia asiakkaita. Opinnäytetyön teoriataustassa käsiteltiin uusasiakashankintaa markkinoinnissa käytettävän segmentointiteorian pohjalta. Tutkimuksen teoriatausta koostui myös kokouspalveluja, markkinoinnin kilpailukeinoja ja markkinointiviestintää tukevasta teoriasta. Opinnäytetyön teoriaosuus jakautui kahteen osaan. Alussa käsiteltiin teoriapohjalta kokouspalveluita, uusasiakashankintaa yritysmarkkinoilla ja segmentoinnin vaiheita. Tutkimuksen lopussa seurasi markkinoinnin kilpailukeinoja ja markkinointiviestintää tukeva teoriaosuus. Tutkimuksen toiminnallinen osa käsittelee uusien asiakasyritysten löytämistä käytännössä. Opinnäytetyö oli laadullista eli kvalitatiivista tutkimusta ja käytin tutkimusmenetelmänä aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä Sisällönanalyysin kohteina olivat internetistä valitut tietyt tietokannat, joista haettiin tietoa uusista potentiaalisista asiakasyrityksistä tiettyjen hakukriteerien avulla. Löydetyistä potentiaalisista yrityksistä keräsin asiakastietorekisterin, joka sisälsi yrityksen nimen, sijaintikunnan, yrityksen osoitetiedot, puhelinnumeron ja sähköpostiosoitteen. Tutkimustulokseksi saatiin 195 potentiaalista uutta asiakasyritystä. Nämä potentiaaliset yritykset jaoin kuuteen eri segmenttiin. Seuraava vaihe oli alkaa miettiä, millä kilpailukeinolla tilaajayritys voi lähestyä näitä segmentoituja asiakasryhmiä ja ennen kaikkea, millä markkinointiviestinnän keinoilla ne tavoitettaisiin. Opinnäytetyön yhteenvedossa kerroin mitkä valitsemani markkinointiviestinnän keinot toimivat kun lähestytään näitä potentiaalisia kohderyhmiä tarkoituksena myydä kokous-, koulutus- ja seminaaripalveluita ja lisätä tilaaja yrityksen tunnettavuutta näiden uusien kohderyhmien keskuudessa.This thesis had two aims. The first aim of the research was to find new potential companies located in the Satakunta area, which could become customers for the Vuojen kartano. The second aim was to introduce marketing communication means which could be used in order to get these new potential companies to use Vuojoen Kartano's meeting, training and seminar services. The main objects were to increase the recognizability of the Vuojoen kartano in the Satakunta area and also to acquire new customers and to introduce potential new companies in the Satakunta area to the Vuojoen kartano. There are two main theoretical parts in the thesis. The first theoretical part of the the-sis is based on the segmentation process which supports the customer acquisition conducted in the research. Other theoretical parts deals the concept of meeting services, business to business marketing, marketing competition and marketing communications means. The practical part of the research was to find new potential companies. The thesis was contacted as qualitative research and it was done by using the content analysis. The target of the content analysis was chosen Internet databases, in where the information was gathered about the potential new companies by using certain search criteria. About the chosen new potential customers I made customer information register which included the company name, where it was based, address information and personal contact information of a certain worker in the company. As a research results I got 195 potential new companies from the chosen Internet database. These potential companies I dived in six different segments. In the second part of thesis I introduced the marketing competitions means which are used in marketing. In the final part of the thesis I introduced the marketing communication means which could be used reach sales and recognizability in the chosen segments

Stamp transferred suspended graphene mechanical resonators for radio-frequency electrical readout

We present a simple micromanipulation technique to transfer suspended graphene flakes onto any substrate and to assemble them with small localized gates into mechanical resonators. The mechanical motion of the graphene is detected using an electrical, radio-frequency (RF) reflection readout scheme where the time-varying graphene capacitor reflects a RF carrier at f=5-6 GHz producing modulation sidebands at f +/- fm. A mechanical resonance frequency up to fm=178 MHz is demonstrated. We find both hardening/softening Duffing effects on different samples, and obtain a critical amplitude of ~40 pm for the onset of nonlinearity in graphene mechanical resonators. Measurements of the quality factor of the mechanical resonance as a function of DC bias voltage Vdc indicate that dissipation due to motion-induced displacement currents in graphene electrode is important at high frequencies and large Vdc

Multimode circuit optomechanics near the quantum limit

The coupling of distinct systems underlies nearly all physical phenomena and their applications. A basic instance is that of interacting harmonic oscillators, which gives rise to, for example, the phonon eigenmodes in a crystal lattice. Particularly important are the interactions in hybrid quantum systems consisting of different kinds of degrees of freedom. These assemblies can combine the benefits of each in future quantum technologies. Here, we investigate a hybrid optomechanical system having three degrees of freedom, consisting of a microwave cavity and two micromechanical beams with closely spaced frequencies around 32 MHz and no direct interaction. We record the first evidence of tripartite optomechanical mixing, implying that the eigenmodes are combinations of one photonic and two phononic modes. We identify an asymmetric dark mode having a long lifetime. Simultaneously, we operate the nearly macroscopic mechanical modes close to the motional quantum ground state, down to 1.8 thermal quanta, achieved by back-action cooling. These results constitute an important advance towards engineering entangled motional states.Comment: 6+7 page