Atoms and Bytes: Distance Education and Community Colleges

SUNY Broome Community College considers expanding its distance education offerings to meet growing interest from both students and instructors on campus. However, current institutional infrastructure cannot adequately support such an expansion. How can SUNY Broome boost its distance education efforts on campus, and eventually establish a virtual academy?https://orb.binghamton.edu/mpa_capstone/1023/thumbnail.jp

Mach-Zehnder Interferometry in a Strongly Driven Superconducting Qubit

We demonstrate Mach-Zehnder-type interferometry in a superconducting flux qubit. The qubit is a tunable artificial atom, whose ground and excited states exhibit an avoided crossing. Strongly driving the qubit with harmonic excitation sweeps it through the avoided crossing two times per period. As the induced Landau-Zener transitions act as coherent beamsplitters, the accumulated phase between transitions, which varies with microwave amplitude, results in quantum interference fringes for n=1...20 photon transitions. The generalization of optical Mach-Zehnder interferometry, performed in qubit phase space, provides an alternative means to manipulate and characterize the qubit in the strongly-driven regime.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

On Collaboration in Distributed Parameter Estimation with Resource Constraints

We study sensor/agent data collection and collaboration policies for parameter estimation, accounting for resource constraints and correlation between observations collected by distinct sensors/agents. Specifically, we consider a group of sensors/agents each samples from different variables of a multivariate Gaussian distribution and has different estimation objectives, and we formulate a sensor/agent's data collection and collaboration policy design problem as a Fisher information maximization (or Cramer-Rao bound minimization) problem. When the knowledge of correlation between variables is available, we analytically identify two particular scenarios: (1) where the knowledge of the correlation between samples cannot be leveraged for collaborative estimation purposes and (2) where the optimal data collection policy involves investing scarce resources to collaboratively sample and transfer information that is not of immediate interest and whose statistics are already known, with the sole goal of increasing the confidence on the estimate of the parameter of interest. When the knowledge of certain correlation is unavailable but collaboration may still be worthwhile, we propose novel ways to apply multi-armed bandit algorithms to learn the optimal data collection and collaboration policy in our distributed parameter estimation problem and demonstrate that the proposed algorithms, DOUBLE-F, DOUBLE-Z, UCB-F, UCB-Z, are effective through simulations

Multi-area unit commitment via sequential method and a DC power flow network model.

The sequential bidding unit commitment method employs an iterative procedure. Each iteration consists of two phases--the sequential commitment phase and the price adjustment phase. The principle of the sequential bidding unit commitment method is applicable to multi-area systems. However, in a multi-area application, the evaluation of the hourly useful-spinning-capacity contribution is much more complex than that required in a single-area application. This evaluation together with the multi-area reserve constrained generation dispatch and the estimation of multi-area hourly prices, required in the price adjustment phase, are key tasks associated with this proposed multi-area extension.Based on the proposed multi-area sequential bidding unit commitment method, a multi-area unit commitment software is implemented and applied to an interconnected four-area system in the southwest part of U.S.A.In a deregulated energy industry with transmission open access, a multi-area unit commitment model is needed to simulate the competitive markets in the interconnected energy grid.This dissertation research extends the single-area sequential bidding thermal unit commitment method to multi-area systems. In lieu of the commonly used linear flow network representation, the proposed extension employs a more accurate DC power flow model to represent the inter-area transmission network

Monophasic Action Potential Duration During Programmed Electrical Stimulation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73599/1/j.1540-8159.1991.tb04156.x.pd

Implementation of a fee-based service model to university-affiliated researchers at the University of Alberta

Background: There is growing demand for specialized services in academic libraries, including supporting systematic reviews and measuring research impact. Study Purpose: The John W. Scott Health Sciences Library implemented a fee-based pilot project for the Faculty of Nursing for one year to test a fee-based model for specialized services, to evaluate its sustainability and scalability for the longer term, and to assess the feasibility of extending this service model to other health sciences faculties. Case Presentation: The authors describe the development and delivery of the fee-based service model. Through a team-based approach, we successfully provided specialized services including mediated literature searching, research support, and research impact analyses to the Faculty of Nursing. Discussion: Despite some challenges in developing and implementing the fee-based service model, our pilot project demonstrated demand for fee-based specialized services in the health sciences and suggests potential for this unique service model to continue and expand

Carboxy-terminal Determinants of Conductance in Inward-rectifier K Channels

Previous studies suggested that the cytoplasmic COOH-terminal portions of inward rectifier K channels could contribute significant resistance barriers to ion flow. To explore this question further, we exchanged portions of the COOH termini of ROMK2 (Kir1.1b) and IRK1 (Kir2.1) and measured the resulting single-channel conductances. Replacing the entire COOH terminus of ROMK2 with that of IRK1 decreased the chord conductance at Vm = −100 mV from 34 to 21 pS. The slope conductance measured between −60 and −140 mV was also reduced from 43 to 31 pS. Analysis of chimeric channels suggested that a region between residues 232 and 275 of ROMK2 contributes to this effect. Within this region, the point mutant ROMK2 N240R, in which a single amino acid was exchanged for the corresponding residue of IRK1, reduced the slope conductance to 30 pS and the chord conductance to 22 pS, mimicking the effects of replacing the entire COOH terminus. This mutant had gating and rectification properties indistinguishable from those of the wild-type, suggesting that the structure of the protein was not grossly altered. The N240R mutation did not affect block of the channel by Ba2+, suggesting that the selectivity filter was not strongly affected by the mutation, nor did it change the sensitivity to intracellular pH. To test whether the decrease in conductance was independent of the selectivity filter we made the same mutation in the background of mutations in the pore region of the channel that increased single-channel conductance. The effects were similar to those predicted for two independent resistors arranged in series. The mutation increased conductance ratio for Tl+:K+, accounting for previous observations that the COOH terminus contributed to ion selectivity. Mapping the location onto the crystal structure of the cytoplasmic parts of GIRK1 indicated that position 240 lines the inner wall of this pore and affects the net charge on this surface. This provides a possible structural basis for the observed changes in conductance, and suggests that this element of the channel protein forms a rate-limiting barrier for K+ transport

Potential of Novel EPO Derivatives in Limb Ischemia

Erythropoietin (EPO) has tissue-protective properties, but it increases the risk of thromboembolism by raising the haemoglobin concentration. New generation of EPO derivatives is tissue protective without the haematopoietic side effects. Preclinical studies have demonstrated their effectiveness and safety. This paper summarizes the development in EPO derivatives with emphasis on their potential use in critical limb ischaemia