The Pioneer anomaly: the measure of a topological phase defect of light in cosmology

It is shown that a wave vector representing a light pulse in an adiabatically evolving expanding space should develop, after a round trip (back and forth to the emitter) a geometric phase for helicity states at a given fixed position coordinate of this expanding space.In a section of the Hopf fibration of the Poincare sphere that identifies a projection to the physically allowed states, the evolution defines a parallel transported state that can be joined continuously with the initial state by means of the associated Berry-Pancharatnam connection. The connection allows to compute an anomaly in the frequency for the vector modes in terms of the scale factor of the space-time background being identical to the reported Pioneer Anomaly.Comment: 10 pages, some minor notation changes have been made. Some additional remarks were writte

A Comparison of the Observation of Movement Method and Electromyography Method of Determining Motor Threshold in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Clinicians are using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a noninvasive tool to treat depression; however, standards for determining the motor threshold (MT), which often determines the final location of the TMS coil and the intensity of simulation for the depression treatment, are not clear. This study compared the observation of movement (OM) method and electromyography (EMG) method of determining motor threshold in a group of experienced TMS administrators and nurses with no previous MT knowledge. We hypothesized that between methods and groups the MT estimates would vary by ≤ 5% of stimulator output and the ideal motor scalp location between methods would vary by ≤ 1 cm. TMS administrators determined the MT twice with each MT method on one subject in a randomly assigned order. The subject and administrators were blind to TMS machine output. After determining the ideal motor scalp location, each TMS administrator then used the 5 cm rule to locate the optimal prefrontal treatment site. The scalp position over the anatomical hand knob and the EEG F3 position were located for comparison. There was no significant difference in the motor threshold estimates between the OM and EMG MT methods (t(14)=0.659, p=0.521). The mean EMG and OM MT estimates were (61.8% (sd=7.25) and 63.1% (sd=9.05). There was no effect for the interaction between estimation method and experience level (F(1,13)=0.036, p=0.851) on MT estimates. The mean distance between the MT sites and the hand knob was 21.25 (sd=8.98), while the mean distance between the treatment sites and F3 was 36.16 (sd=12.15). The wide range of MT estimates and motor scalp locations reveals several problems with the MT procedure for the OM and EMG methods. The standard EMG or OM methods along with the 5 cm rule may position the coil posterior and medial to the intended treatment location. This study shows that nurses with minimal MT training can determine the MT and localize the treatment site as effectively as experienced TMS operators. Information obtained from this study can be used to establish MT protocols and to institute training programs that test each participant\u27s ability to master the TMS procedure

After death, or, The destiny of the soul

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdigitalresources/1135/thumbnail.jp

Quantum entangling power of adiabatically connected hamiltonians

The space of quantum Hamiltonians has a natural partition in classes of operators that can be adiabatically deformed into each other. We consider parametric families of Hamiltonians acting on a bi-partite quantum state-space. When the different Hamiltonians in the family fall in the same adiabatic class one can manipulate entanglement by moving through energy eigenstates corresponding to different value of the control parameters. We introduce an associated notion of adiabatic entangling power. This novel measure is analyzed for general $d\times d$ quantum systems and specific two-qubits examples are studiedComment: 5 pages, LaTeX, 2 eps figures included. Several non minor changes made (thanks referee) Version to appear in the PR

Early Enteral Feeding in Preterm Infants: A Narrative Review of the Nutritional, Metabolic, and Developmental Benefits

Enteral feeding is the preferred method of nutrient provision for preterm infants. Though parenteral nutrition remains an alternative to provide critical nutrition after preterm delivery, the literature suggests that enteral feeding still confers significant nutritional and non-nutritional benefits. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative review is to summarize health and clinical benefits of early enteral feeding within the first month of life in preterm infants. Likewise, this review also proposes methods to improve enteral delivery in clinical care, including a proposal for decision-making of initiation and advancement of enteral feeding. An extensive literature review assessed enteral studies in preterm infants with subsequent outcomes. The findings support the early initiation and advancement of enteral feeding impact preterm infant health by enhancing micronutrient delivery, promoting intestinal development and maturation, stimulating microbiome development, reducing inflammation, and enhancing brain growth and neurodevelopment. Clinicians must consider these short- and long-term implications when caring for preterm infants

Nutrition Support Practices for Infants Born \u3c750 Grams or \u3c25 Weeks Gestation: A Call for More Research

With advances in medical care and efforts to care for continually smaller and younger preterm infants, the gestational age of viability has decreased, including as young as 21 or 22 weeks of gestation [...]

Singularity of Berry Connections Inhibits the Accuracy of Adiabatic Approximation

Adiabatic approximation for quantum evolution is investigated quantitatively with addressing its dependence on the Berry connections. We find that, in the adiabatic limit, the adiabatic fidelity may uniformly converge to unit or diverge manifesting the breakdown of adiabatic approximation, depending on the type of the singularity of the Berry connections as the functions of slowly-varying parameter $R$. When the Berry connections have a singularity of $1/R^\sigma$ type with $\sigma < 1$, the adiabatic fidelity converges to unit in a power-law; whereas when the singularity index $\sigma$ is larger than one, adiabatic approximation breaks down. Two-level models are used to substantiate our theory.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Feasibility and Application of Early Enteral Feeding Initiation in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants

Background: Extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants (\u3c 1000g) have specialized nutritional needs to promote best outcomes, so identifying optimal nutrition therapies is critical. Previous studies indicate that late initiation of enteral feeds (\u3e3 days) is associated with increased inflammation and adverse neonatal outcomes. Delayed breastfeeding after the first hour of life in term infants has also been associated with increased mortality. In consideration of these factors and the heterogeneity that exists between enteral feeding initiation in an ELBW population, there is a lack of studies examining the hour of life in which enteral feeds are initiated in ELBW infants. This study evaluates the feasibility of early initiation of enteral feeds in ELBW infants and describes the impact on time to reach full enteral feeds. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted including ELBW infants born from June 2016 to July 2019 in a level III NICU. Infants with congenital or genetic anomalies or who transferred or deceased prior to 30 days of life were excluded. Feeding categories were defined as early (\u3c 12 hours of life), moderate (12-24 hours), or late (\u3e24 hours). The number of days to reach full enteral feeds was also analyzed, as defined by receiving a volume \u3e 145 mL/kg/day of human milk 24 kcal/oz feedings using human milk fortifier and a protein modular. Results: 44 ELBW infants were included. The median time of enteral feeding initiation was 12.4 hours of life (min 4.1 hours, max 178.4 hours). Enteral feeds were started in the early category for 19 infants (43%), moderate for 19 infants (43%), and late for 6 infants (14%). The median time to reach full enteral feeds was 9.5 days of life within the cohort. The median time to reach full enteral feeds was 9 days for infants in the early category, 10 days for moderate, and 14 days for the late category. Conclusions: These results indicate the feasibility of initiating enteral feeds within the first 12 hours of life in the ELBW infant population. Earlier start of enteral feedings—even by hours of life—results in a reduction in the number of days to reach full enteral feeds. These results may be considered in the development of feeding protocols and early enteral nutrition initiation in the ELBW infant population. More studies are needed to assess the impact of early initiation of enteral feeds on neonatal outcomes like growth and morbidities.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/chri_forum/1060/thumbnail.jp

Vortex Formation by Interference of Multiple Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensates

We report observations of vortex formation as a result of merging together multiple $^{87}$Rb Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in a confining potential. In this experiment, a trapping potential is partitioned into three sections by a barrier, enabling the simultaneous formation of three independent, uncorrelated condensates. The three condensates then merge together into one BEC, either by removal of the barrier, or during the final stages of evaporative cooling if the barrier energy is low enough; both processes can naturally produce vortices within the trapped BEC. We interpret the vortex formation mechanism as originating in interference between the initially independent condensates, with indeterminate relative phases between the three initial condensates and the condensate merging rate playing critical roles in the probability of observing vortices in the final, single BEC.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure