2,204 research outputs found

    Current status and future application of electrically controlled micro/nanorobots in biomedicine

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    Using micro/nanorobots (MNRs) for targeted therapy within the human body is an emerging research direction in biomedical science. These nanoscale to microscale miniature robots possess specificity and precision that are lacking in most traditional treatment modalities. Currently, research on electrically controlled micro/nanorobots is still in its early stages, with researchers primarily focusing on the fabrication and manipulation of these robots to meet complex clinical demands. This review aims to compare the fabrication, powering, and locomotion of various electrically controlled micro/nanorobots, and explore their advantages, disadvantages, and potential applications

    High Temperature QCD Calculations Using Gradient Flow On An Anisotropic Lattice

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    Understanding the evolution of the universe from its earliest conguration to its present state requiresan understanding of strongly coupled systems such as QCD. Many interesting components of QCDsuch as connement and chiral-symmetry breaking can only be understood using rst principlesnon-perturbative methods such as lattice eld theory. The energy-momentum tensor is key withinQCD thermodynamics, containing information on the equation of state and transport properties suchas specic heat and viscosity. Dening the energy-momentum tensor on the lattice is challenging,however it has been made obtainable recently by using a tool known generally as gradient flow.This has been used in order to compute thermodynamic quantities on the lattice, however due tothe isotropy of the involved lattices, obtaining ne temperature sampling can be dicult. Thiswork implements the gradient flow method for obtaining thermodynamic quantities from the energy momentum tensor, by using an anisotropic lattice, which as far as the author is aware is the firstexample of such, and thus provides the novelty of this work. Another application is to compute thetopological susceptibility, which is important for axion cosmology, and related to both the strong CPproblem and dark matter, again for the rst time using an anisotropic lattice for Nf = 2 + 1 QCD

    A First Course in Causal Inference

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    I developed the lecture notes based on my ``Causal Inference'' course at the University of California Berkeley over the past seven years. Since half of the students were undergraduates, my lecture notes only require basic knowledge of probability theory, statistical inference, and linear and logistic regressions

    Towards Cloud Agnostic Quantum-Classical Hybrid Computing

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    Quantum classical hybrid computing is a paradigm which describes systems of classical and quantum computers that enable running quantum algorithms and hybrid algorithms consisting of classical and quantum parts in a programmable interface. Such quantum classical hybrid systems are provided by popular cloud computing providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud and IBM, to name a few. Using these services, researchers can access either real quantum computers or high-performance quantum simulators without owning the expensive hardware. However, each service comes a different set of available features, capabilities and, for example, supported set of basic quantum gates. Thus it is important to understand the differences between each service's provided capabilities when choosing a suitable cloud provider to run a quantum circuit. Managing cloud-provisioned infrastructure is an issue that should also be solved. One possible solution to such issue is to deterministically manage the cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) methodology. The methodology enables declarative and deterministic approach to manage and provision cloud infrastructure via human-readable definition files. Abstraction is one additional benefit of using IaC, which means IaC definitions can be designed to be independent of cloud service providers, or cloud-agnostic. The purpose of this thesis is to designs an Infrastructure-as-code definition in Terraform language to manage cloud infrastructure from AWS and Azure. The definition is designed to enable an easy switch between such services. The thesis also explores and compares 2 above mentioned cloud providers. In particular, the thesis focuses on each provider's capabilities and efficiency of designing and running different quantum circuits

    Spatial frequency domain imaging towards improved detection of gastrointestinal cancers

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    Early detection and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers has been shown to drastically improve patients survival rates. However, wide population based screening for gastrointestinal cancers is not feasible due to its high cost, risk of potential complications, and time consuming nature. This thesis forms the proposal for the development of a cost-effective, minimally invasive device to return quantitative tissue information for gastrointestinal cancer detection in-vivo using spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI). SFDI is a non-invasive imaging technique which can return close to real time maps of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients by projecting a 2D sinusoidal pattern onto a sample of interest. First a low-cost, conventional bench top system was constructed to characterise tissue mimicking phantoms. Phantoms were fabricated with specific absorption and reduced scattering coefficients, mimicking the variation in optical properties typically seen in healthy, cancerous, and pre-cancerous oesophageal tissue. The system shows accurate retrieval of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of 19% and 11% error respectively. However, this bench top system consists of a bulky projector and is therefore not feasible for in-vivo imaging. For SFDI systems to be feasible for in-vivo imaging, they are required to be miniaturised. Many conditions must be considered when doing this such as various illumination conditions, lighting conditions and system geometries. Therefore to aid in the miniaturisation of the bench top system, an SFDI system was simulated in the open-source ray tracing software Blender, where the capability to simulate these conditions is possible. A material of tunable absorption and scattering properties was characterised such that the specific absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of the material were known. The simulated system shows capability in detecting optical properties of typical gastrointestinal conditions in an up-close, planar geometry, as well in a non-planar geometry of a tube simulating a lumen. Optical property imaging in the non-planar, tubular geometry was done with the use of a novel illumination pattern, developed for this work. Finally, using the knowledge gained from the simulation model, the bench top system was miniaturised to a 3 mm diameter prototype. The novel use of a fiber array producing the necessary interfering fringe patterns replaced the bulky projector. The system showed capability to image phantoms simulating typical gastrointestinal conditions at two wavelengths (515 and 660 nm), measuring absorption and reduced scattering coefficients with 15% and 6% accuracy in comparison to the bench top system for the fabricated phantoms. It is proposed that this system may be used for cost-effective, minimally invasive, quantitative imaging of the gastrointestinal tract in-vivo, providing enhanced contrast for difficult to detect cancers

    Prognostic research:Methodological aspects and applications in acute care

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    Analysis of the clustering algorithm of the micro strip detector in the FOOT experiment

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    Hadrontherapy is a medical treatment which employs high energy beams of charged particles to treat deep tumours in the body. The particular depth-dose profile is characterized by the release of the dose almost near the path end of the particle: the Bragg peak. This minimize the damage to surrounding healthy tissue. However, nuclear interactions can occur between the particle beam and the human body generating beam fragments releasing dose beyond the Bragg peak and target fragments which release dose in healthy tissue. The lack of experimental cross section data is a problem in order to study the effects of these interactions. These effects are a important also for radioprotection in space: long-term space missions are going to be planned in next years and risks on space radiation exposure for astronauts and electronics need to be studied. To fill these gaps in data, the FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment was proposed with the aim of measure double differential cross sections both in angle and kinetic energy with an uncertainty lower than 5\%. In order to do that, it is composed by different sub detectors to detect, track and identify charged fragments produced in charged particle beam collisions with different targets. In this thesis, one of the subdetector of FOOT is analyzed: the Micro Strip Detector (MSD). In particular, an analysis of the clustering algorithm is made to reduce the signal loss between readout strips: a first part dedicated to software changes and a second part focused on the application of the eta correction. The analysis is performed with data from GSI 2021 campaign of 16O at 400 MeV/u and from CNAO 2022 campaign of 12C at 200-300 MeV/u

    Musiktheorie als interdisziplinäres Fach: 8. Kongress der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie Graz 2008

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    Im Oktober 2008 fand an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz (KUG) der 8. Kongress der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie (GMTH) zum Thema »Musiktheorie als interdisziplinäres Fach« statt. Die hier vorgelegten gesammelten Beiträge akzentuieren Musiktheorie als multiperspektivische wissenschaftliche Disziplin in den Spannungsfeldern Theorie/Praxis, Kunst/Wissenschaft und Historik/Systematik. Die sechs Kapitel ergründen dabei die Grenzbereiche zur Musikgeschichte, Musikästhetik, zur Praxis musikalischer Interpretation, zur kompositorischen Praxis im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert, zur Ethnomusikologie sowie zur Systematischen Musikwissenschaft. Insgesamt 45 Aufsätze, davon 28 in deutscher, 17 in englischer Sprache, sowie die Dokumentation einer Podiumsdiskussion zeichnen in ihrer Gesamtheit einen höchst lebendigen und gegenwartsbezogenen Diskurs, der eine einzigartige Standortbestimmung des Fachs Musiktheorie bietet.The 8th congress of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie (GMTH) took place in October 2008 at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts Graz (KUG) on the topic »Music Theory and Interdisciplinarity«. The collected contributions characterize music theory as a multi-faceted scholarly discipline at the intersection of theory/practice, art/science and history/system. The six chapters explore commonalties with music history, music aesthetics, musical performance, compositional practice in twentieth- and twenty-first-century music, ethnomusicology and systematic musicology. A total of 45 essays (28 in German, 17 in English) and the documentation of a panel discussion form a vital discourse informed by contemporaneous issues of research in a broad number of fields, providing a unique overview of music theory today. A comprehensive English summary appears at the beginning of all contributions

    Coming to your senses: exploring the role of touch in physical and digitally immersive consumption experiences

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    This dissertation consists of two empirical papers in which I examine the Need for Touch (NFT)in two settings where the ability to touch is disrupted, exploring the role of touch and other senses in physical and metaverse consumption experiences. In the first paper, I investigate the pandemic\u27s influence on consumer shopping behaviors, focusing on the coping mechanisms for reduced tactile interactions. The research uses an exploratory, inductive sequential design to chronicle shopping experiences through longitudinal interviews and autodriving. The findings reveal two primary themes: Shopping as a Reprieve and Fear of Shopping. This research underscores the intricate connection between grieving and the sensory deprivation of touch in traumatic events like COVID-19. In the second paper, I adopt a mixed-method approach that combines short-form interviews and a 2x2 between-subjects design experiment to test whether the physical touch of a featured product before a virtual encounter affects brand attitudes, examining the moderating role of the NFT. A multiple linear regression analysis shows a significant interaction between the physical touch condition and the NFT on brand attitudes. Individuals with high-NFT reported lower brand attitudes, while low-NFT participants express enhanced positivity towards the brand. This paper contributes insights into the interplay between tactile experiences and the NFT on the formation of attitudes toward brands encountered in digitally immersive environments
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