Observation of Interaction of Spin and Intrinsic Orbital Angular Momentum of Light

Interaction of spin and intrinsic orbital angular momentum of light is observed, as evidenced by length-dependent rotations of both spatial patterns and optical polarization in a cylindrically-symmetric isotropic optical fiber. Such rotations occur in straight few-mode fiber when superpositions of two modes with parallel and anti-parallel orientation of spin and intrinsic orbital angular momentum (IOAM=$2\hslash$) are excited, resulting from a degeneracy splitting of the propagation constants of the modes.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, and a detailed supplement. Version 3 corrects a typo and adds the journal referenc

Virtual images and billiards

Students in introductory physics courses struggle to understand virtual image formation by a plane mirror and the proper construction of ray diagrams. This difficulty, if not sufficiently addressed, results in further problems throughout the study of geometric optics. Specifically, students fail to apply proper graphical representation of light rays during investigations of the formation of real images by converging lenses and concave mirrors. We present a guided-inquiry activity based on the research-verified Physics by Inquiry text that incorporates a small and inexpensive billiards table, with billiard balls acting as "light". In this way, we approach the abstract concept of virtual images by relation to the concrete concept of physical reflection.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physics Educatio

Principles of Query Visualization

Query Visualization (QV) is the problem of transforming a given query into a graphical representation that helps humans understand its meaning. This task is notably different from designing a Visual Query Language (VQL) that helps a user compose a query. This article discusses the principles of relational query visualization and its potential for simplifying user interactions with relational data.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, preprint for IEEE Data Engineering Bulleti

SmartState: A Protocol-driven Human Interface

Since the inception of human research studies, researchers must often interact with participants on a set schedule to collect data. Researchers manually perform many interactions, leading to considerable time and financial expenses. Usually, user-provided data collection consists of surveys administered via telephone or email. These methods are tedious for the survey administrators, which could cause fatigue and potentially lead to collection mistakes. This project leverages recent advancements in automatic speech recognition, speech-to-text, natural language understanding (NLU), and finite-state machines to automate research protocols. This generalized application is fully customizable and irrespective of any research study. New research protocols can be quickly created based on these parameters once envisioned. Thus, we present SmartState, a fully-customizable, state-driven protocol manager combined with supporting AI components to autonomously manage user data and intelligently determine users' intentions through chat and end-device interactions.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Transcriptome Analyses of Tumor-Adjacent Somatic Tissues Reveal Genes Co-Expressed with Transposable Elements

Background: Despite the long-held assumption that transposons are normally only expressed in the germ-line, recent evidence shows that transcripts of transposable element (TE) sequences are frequently found in the somatic cells. However, the extent of variation in TE transcript levels across different tissues and different individuals are unknown, and the co-expression between TEs and host gene mRNAs have not been examined. Results: Here we report the variation in TE derived transcript levels across tissues and between individuals observed in the non-tumorous tissues collected for The Cancer Genome Atlas. We found core TE co-expression modules consisting mainly of transposons, showing correlated expression across broad classes of TEs. Despite this co-expression within tissues, there are individual TE loci that exhibit tissue-specific expression patterns, when compared across tissues. The core TE modules were negatively correlated with other gene modules that consisted of immune response genes in interferon signaling. KRAB Zinc Finger Proteins (KZFPs) were over-represented gene members of the TE modules, showing positive correlation across multiple tissues. But we did not find overlap between TE-KZFP pairs that are co-expressed and TE-KZFP pairs that are bound in published ChIP-seq studies. Conclusions: We find unexpected variation in TE derived transcripts, within and across non-tumorous tissues. We describe a broad view of the RNA state for non-tumorous tissues exhibiting higher level of TE transcripts. Tissues with higher level of TE transcripts have a broad range of TEs co-expressed, with high expression of a large number of KZFPs, and lower RNA levels of immune genes

LibApps LTI: Integrating LibApps into Blackboard using the Springshare LibApps LTI Tools

This article discusses how librarians on the Dacus Library Online Instruction Task Force at Winthrop University collaborated with the campus online learning office to integrate Springshare LibApps directly into the Blackboard Learning Management system through Springshare’s LTI Tools. We share first impressions, implementation, and best practices for consideration, along with challenges and development opportunities

Hysteresis in mesoscopic superconducting disks: the Bean-Livingston barrier

The magnetization behavior of mesoscopic superconducting disks can show hysteretic behavior which we explain by using the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory and properly taking into account the de-magnetization effects due to geometrical form factors. In large disks the Bean-Livingston surface barrier is responsible for the hysteresis. While in small disks a volume barrier is responsible for this hysteresis. It is shown that although the sample magnetization is diamagnetic (negative), the measured magnetization can be positive at certain fields as observed experimentally, which is a consequence of the de-magnetization effects and the experimental set up.Comment: Latex file, 4 ps file