Charge-Noise Insensitive Chiral Photonic Interface for Waveguide Circuit QED.

A chiral photonic interface is a quantum system that has different probabilities for emitting photons to the left and right. An on-chip compatible chiral interface is attractive for both fundamental studies of light-matter interactions and applications to quantum information processing. We propose such a chiral interface based on superconducting circuits, which has wide bandwidth, rich tunability, and high tolerance to fabrication variations. The proposed interface consists of a core that uses Cooper-pair boxes (CPBs) to break time-reversal symmetry, and two superconducting transmons that connect the core to a waveguide in the manner reminiscent of a "giant atom." The transmons form a state decoupled from the core, akin to dark states of atomic physics, rendering the whole interface insensitive to the CPB charge noise. The proposed interface can be extended to realize a broadband fully passive on-chip circulator for microwave photons.

Plasmon-enhanced scattering and charge transfer in few-layer graphene interacting with buried printed 2D-pattern of silver nanoparticles.

Hybrid structures combing silver nanoparticles and few-layer graphene have been synthetized by combining low-energy ion beam synthesis and stencil techniques. A single plane of metallic nanoparticles plays the role of an embedded plasmonic enhancer located in dedicated areas at a controlled nanometer distance from deposited graphene layers. Optical imaging, reflectance and Raman scattering mapping are used to measure the enhancement of electronic and vibrational properties of these layers. In particular electronic Raman scattering is shown as notably efficient to analyze the optical transfer of charge carriers between the systems and the presence of intrinsic and extrinsic defects.

Vibrational density of states and thermodynamics at the nanoscale: the 3D-2D transition in gold nanostructures.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is generally and widely used to enhance the vibrational fingerprint of molecules located at the vicinity of noble metal nanoparticles. In this work, SERS is originally used to enhance the own vibrational density of states (VDOS) of nude and isolated gold nanoparticles. This offers the opportunity of analyzing finite size effects on the lattice dynamics which remains unattainable with conventional techniques based on neutron or x-ray inelastic scattering. By reducing the size down to few nanometers, the role of surface atoms versus volume atoms become dominant, and the "text-book" 3D-2D transition on the dynamical behavior is experimentally emphasized. "Anomalies" that have been predicted by a large panel of simulations at the atomic scale, are really observed, like the enhancement of the VDOS at low frequencies or the occurrence of localized modes at frequencies beyond the cut-off in bulk. Consequences on the thermodynamic properties at the nanoscale, like the reduction of the Debye temperature or the excess of the specific heat, have been evaluated. Finally the high sensitivity of reminiscent bulk-like phonons on the arrangements at the atomic scale is used to access the morphology and internal disorder of the nanoparticles.

Prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment in Southeastern Spain: the Ariadna study.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), cognitive impairment, no dementia (CIND) and dementia in a general elderly population and to examine the associated socio-demographic factors. METHODS: The Ariadna study is a population-based cross-sectional study of cognitive function involving 1074 individuals aged 65-96 years from the Murcia Region of southeastern Spain. Prevalence, adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: The overall prevalence was 8.7% (95% CI 7.1-10.5) for aMCI, 14.5% (95% CI 12.4-16.8) for CIND and 5.5% (95% CI 4.3-7.1) for dementia. Dementia was associated with age (OR 1.13 95% CI 1.09-1.18 for a 1-year increase in age). Illiterate subjects were more likely to present aMCI (OR 2.59; 95% CI 1.09-6.14) and dementia (OR 4.09; 95% CI 1.28-13.08) than subjects with secondary or higher education. Rural area residents (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.07-4.24) and women (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.06-2.22) were more likely to have CIND. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dementia was low, despite a high prevalence of aMCI and CIND. Dementia was strongly associated with age and education. CIND was associated with living in a rural area and with female sex, while aMCI was associated with illiteracy.

The synthesis of single layers of Ag nanocrystals by ultra-low-energy ion implantation for large-scale plasmonic structures.

Single layers of silver (Ag) nanoparticles embedded in silica (SiO2) have been fabricated by ultra-low-energy ion implantation. The distance between the Ag particles and the free SiO2 surface is controlled with nanometer precision. Raman scattering and reflectivity measurements strongly correlate to transmission electron microscopy analyses, allowing the use of these non-invasive techniques to monitor structural and dynamical properties. These results open up new opportunities to manipulate electromagnetic near-field interactions on wafer-scale plasmonic devices.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy performance for detection of dementia, Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment in a community-based survey.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate (1)H-labelled magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in patients with a low Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score identified during a dementia community-based survey. METHODS: A population sample of 1,500 individuals (>64 years old) was randomly selected. Two hundred and fifteen individuals (MMSE < or =24) were sorted into clinical groups: dementia, Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), normal. Up to 56 of these individuals attended the MRS appointment. Two single-voxel sequences (TR 1,500, TE 35/144 ms) were carried out in the posterior cingulate gyrus of each individual, and the ratios N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr), choline (Cho)/Cr, myo-inositol (mI)/Cr, NAA/mI and NAA/Cho were compared statistically. The ability of MRS to distinguish clinical groups was assessed by receiver-operating characteristics analysis. Cognition effects on metabolite ratios were estimated, with gender and cognition as categorical variables and age as a continuous covariate. RESULTS: NAA/Cr and NAA/Cho ratios were lower in dementia or Alzheimer's disease than in MCI and normal groups. The NAA/Cr ratio at TE 35 ms performed best when distinguishing dementia or Alzheimer's disease from non-demented subjects (cut-off point 1.40). MRS could not distinguish between MCI patients and normal subjects. Dementia was an independent predictor of metabolite values. CONCLUSION: In a population sample, conventional MRS still proved to be a useful tool for dementia discrimination, but it is potentially far less useful as a surrogate marker for MCI.

[An alpha 1-antitrypsin aerosol in the treatment of cystic fibrosis]. / Aerosol de alfa-1-antitripsina en el tratamiento de la fibrosis quística.

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (a-1AT) is a natural inhibitor of the elastase that is released physiologically by neutrophils in the lung. As a result of the increased neutrophil degranulation secondary to chronic epithelial inflammation in cystic fibrosis patients with chronic infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there are larger amounts of elastase in airway secretions. This results in the a-1AT concentration being insufficient to inhibit the destructive proteolytic degradation, culminating in a chronic epithelial burden and a worsening of the cystic fibrosis pulmonary disease. In this preliminary study, we have evaluated the results obtained from the sputum of 4 cystic fibrosis patients treated with a-1AT (Prolastina, Bayer) in aerosol. The levels of a-1AT, neutrophil elastase, antineutrophil elastase activity, IgG, albumin and clinical parameters were measured. The concentration of sputum a-1AT was increased when compared to the same patient after 8 days with treatment (we compared means with Student's t-test and p < 0.05 was considered significant). We did the same with the impairment of neutrophil elastase, although we found no significant results. Nevertheless, antineutrophil elastase activity increased (p < 0.05). These results encourage us to continue the same treatment for a longer period of time to prevent pulmonary disease in CF subjects.

[External drainage during surgery for biliary lithiasis. Our present attitude (author's transl)]. / Le drainage externe dans la chirurgie de la lithiase biliaire. Notre attitude actuelle.

External biliary drainage, the "routine" manner of terminating surgery on the common bile duct, should now become almost obsolete as new methods for operation and exploration during surgery are perfected. A review of cases receiving biliary surgery over a period of 20 years showed that external biliary drainage was conducted in only 4 p. cent of operations on the common bile duct (excluding biliodigestive anastomoses). External biliary drainage should be employed only after due reflection : trans-cystic drainage, the "minor" form, will be indicated less and less as investigational methods during operation develop, while Kehr's drain, the "major" form, will occupy a limited but necessary place in certain cases, primarily in angiocholitis.

["Oddipathies" (author's transl)]. / Les "oddipathies".

The modern anatomy has notably increased the knowledge of details, in biliary surgery, mainly about the sphincter of Oddi, thanks to the use of an adequate radio diagnosis set in the operating room. The term of Odditis is too widely used. It must be replaced by Oddipathies, each disease being defined by its nature and its precise location. Medical and surgical therapy will be adapted to this millimetric scale.