Quadrature decomposition of optical fields using two orthogonal phase sensitive amplifiers

We propose a new technique to optically process coherent signals by simultaneously extracting their two (I and Q) quadrature components into two orthogonal polarizations at the same frequency. Two possible implementations are demonstrated

Efficient binary phase quantizer based on phase sensitive four wave mixing

We experimentally demonstrate an efficient binary phase quantizer operating at low pump powers. Phase-sensitive operation is obtained by polarization mixing the phase-locked signal/idler pair in a degenerate dual-pump vector parametric amplifier

Novel polarization-assisted phase sensitive optical signal processor requiring low nonlinear phase shifts

We demonstrate a new scheme to achieve binary step-like phase response and high phase-sensitive extinction ratio at low powers. Phase-sensitive operation is achieved by polarization filtering phase-locked signal/idler in a degenerate dual-pump vector parametric amplifier

Signal regeneration techniques for advanced modulation formats

We review recent results on all-optical regeneration of phase encoded signals based on phase sensitive amplification achieved by avoiding phase-to-amplitude conversion in order to facilitate the regeneration of amplitude/phase encoded (QAM) signals

Validation of a new instrument to guide and support insanity evaluations: the defendant’s insanity assessment support scale (DIASS)

The insanity defense represents one of the most controversial and debated evaluations performed by forensic psychiatrists and psychologists. Despite the variation among different jurisdictions, in Western countries, the legal standards for insanity often rely on the presence of cognitive and/or volitional impairment of the defendant at the time of the crime. We developed the defendant’s insanity assessment support scale (DIASS) based on a wide view of competent decision-making, which reflects core issues relevant to legal insanity in many jurisdictions. To assess the characteristics of the DIASS we asked 40 forensic experts (16% women; years of experience = 20.6 ± 12.9) to evaluate 10 real-life derived forensic cases with the DIASS; cases included defendants’ psychiatric symptom severity, evaluated through the 24-itemBrief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Exploratory factor analysis by principal axis factoring was conducted, which disclosed a two-factor solution explaining 57.6% of the total variance. The DIASS showed a good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86), and substantial inter-rater reliability (Cohen’s kappa = 0.72). The capacities analyzed through the DIASS were mainly affected by mania/excitement and psychotic dimensions in nonresponsible and with substantially diminished responsibility defendants, while by hostility and negative symptoms in responsible defendants. The DIASS proved to be an effective psychometric tool to guide and structure insanity defense evaluations, in order to improve their consistency and reliability

Investigation into the role of pump to signal power ratio in FWM-based phase preserving amplitude regeneration

We carry out a detailed experimental characterization of a four-wave mixing based amplitude limiter in highly nonlinear fiber based on the Bessel-like power transfer characteristics and highlight trade-offs for phase preserving capabilities

Ultrafast Optical Control of the Electronic Properties of ZrTe5ZrTe_5

We report on the temperature dependence of the $ZrTe_5$ electronic properties, studied at equilibrium and out of equilibrium, by means of time and angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results unveil the dependence of the electronic band structure across the Fermi energy on the sample temperature. This finding is regarded as the dominant mechanism responsible for the anomalous resistivity observed at T* $\sim$ 160 K along with the change of the charge carrier character from holelike to electronlike. Having addressed these long-lasting questions, we prove the possibility to control, at the ultrashort time scale, both the binding energy and the quasiparticle lifetime of the valence band. These experimental evidences pave the way for optically controlling the thermoelectric and magnetoelectric transport properties of $ZrTe_5$

Effects of Housing Social Context on Emotional Behaviour and Physiological Responses in Female Mice

In laboratory breeding procedures, mice are usually housed in single-sex unfamiliar groups since weaning,  while individual housing is widely employed in many experimental settings. While there is a considerable  amount of evidence on the behavioural and physiological effects of various social contexts in male mice  and rats, few data are available on female mice. We examined short-term modulation of social context in the  housing environment on exploratory and emotional behaviours in response to novelty (i.e., free-exploratory  open field) and on physiology (i.e. organs and body weight, and basal corticosterone level) of female CD1  mice, taking into account the estrous phase as an additional variable. Living alone or grouped with siblings  or with unfamiliar females for a short period (7 days) did not affect any physiological indexes of stress in  female house mice and had marginal effects on emotional behaviour. When challenged with a free choice  between a novel environment and their home cage, female mice housed with siblings did not differ on any  behavioural parameter from females housed with same-aged unfamiliar mice, while individually housed  females showed higher propensity to enter the novel arena but no differences in activity or in anxiety as  compared to grouped mice. Information about sex specifics under standard housing conditions as well as in  response to common laboratory procedures could be important for the understanding of sex differences in  vulnerability to psychiatric disorders and response to drug treatment.

Combinatorial mixtures of multiparameter distributions, with an application to microarray data

The term \u2018combinatorial mixtures\u2019 refers to a flexible class of models for inference on mixture distributions [4] whose components have multidimensional parameters. The idea behind it is to allow each element of component-specific parameter vectors to be shared by a subset of other components. We develop Bayesian inference and computational approaches for this class of distributions. We define a structure for a general prior distribution where a positive probability is put on every possible combination of sharing patterns, whence the name combinatorial mixtures. This partial sharing allows for generality and flexibility in comparison with traditional approaches to mixture modeling, while still allowing to assign significant mass to models that are more parsimonious than the general mixture case in which no sharing takes place. This also unifies the inference on component-specific parameters with that on the number of components. We illustrate our combinatorial mixtures in an application based on the normal model. We introduce normal mixture models for univariate and bivariate data, which are amenable to Markov Chain Monte Carlo computing. In the light of combinatorial mixtures, we assume a decomposition of the variance-covariance matrix proposed by Barnard et al. (2000) [1], which separates out standard deviations and correlations, and thus allows to model those parameters separately. This development was originally motivated by applications in molecular biology, where one deals with continuous measures, such as RNA levels, or protein levels, that vary across unknown biological subtypes. In some cases, subtypes are characterized by an increase in the level of the marker measured, while in others they are characterized by variability in otherwise tightly controlled processes, or by the presence of otherwise weak correlations. Also, several mechanisms can coexist. It may also allow to model an interesting phenomenon observed in microarray analysis when two variables have the same mean and variance but opposite correlations in diseased and normal samples [2]. We use data on molecular classification of lung cancer from the web-based information supporting the published manuscript Garber et al. (2001) [3]