APPLIED PHYSICS: Stamping Out Polymer Lasers

STAMPing out Inflammation

Mounting evidence suggests that inflammatory signaling pathways are central players in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In this issue, Wellen et al. (2007) identify STAMP2 as a factor that integrates inflammatory and nutritional signals with metabolism.

Applied Physics

A portable modular gas sensor for measuring the 13 C/ 12 C isotopic ratio in CO 2 with a precision of 0.8%o(±1σ) was developed for volcanic gas emission studies. This sensor employed a difference frequency generation (DFG)-based spectroscopic source operating at 4.35 µm (∼ 2300 cm −1) in combination with a dual-chamber gas absorption cell. Direct absorption spectroscopy using this specially des...

Device Physics of Intersubband Lasers

Polymer Based Micro-Billiard Lasers: A Test-Bed in Nonlinear Physics and Applications

The generic “billiard problem” is a paradigm of nonlinear mathematical physics, which connects to deep issues in quantum and wave physics all the way to quantum or wave chaos. It can be implemented in mechanics, optics or electromagnetism, either within classical or quantum mechanics, depending on experimental configurations and on the billiard length-scale. The elusive borders between wave and...

Patterns for Renaming and Stamping Out Object-Oriented Models

Modern system engineering is supported by a families of modelling languages; each member of a specific family addresses a different aspect of the application domain. Constructing families of modelling languages is facilitated by the use of packages and templates. Packages are containers of modelling elements. Packages may be specialised and merged. Renamings may be applied to packages. Template...