756 research outputs found
Time trends in survival and readmission following coronary artery bypass grafting in Scotland, 1981-96: retrospective observational study
Improvements in coronary revascularisation techniques and an increase in the use of percutaneous interventions1 have led to a rise in the number of coronary artery bypass grafting operations in older patients with more severe cardiac disease and worse comorbidity and who have previously undergone revascularisation procedures. 2 3 Advances in surgical and anaesthetic techniques have prevented a worsening risk profile from being translated into an increase in perioperative deaths. 2 3 The aim of our study was to examine time trends in major outcomes up to two years after coronary artery bypass grafting
An approximate solution of the MHD Falkner-Skan flow by Hermite functions pseudospectral method
Based on a new approximation method, namely pseudospectral method, a solution
for the three order nonlinear ordinary differential laminar boundary layer
Falkner-Skan equation has been obtained on the semi-infinite domain. The
proposed approach is equipped by the orthogonal Hermite functions that have
perfect properties to achieve this goal. This method solves the problem on the
semi-infinite domain without truncating it to a finite domain and transforming
domain of the problem to a finite domain. In addition, this method reduces
solution of the problem to solution of a system of algebraic equations. We also
present the comparison of this work with numerical results and show that the
present method is applicable.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures; Published online in the journal of
"Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation
An approximation algorithm for the solution of the nonlinear Lane-Emden type equations arising in astrophysics using Hermite functions collocation method
In this paper we propose a collocation method for solving some well-known
classes of Lane-Emden type equations which are nonlinear ordinary differential
equations on the semi-infinite domain. They are categorized as singular initial
value problems. The proposed approach is based on a Hermite function
collocation (HFC) method. To illustrate the reliability of the method, some
special cases of the equations are solved as test examples. The new method
reduces the solution of a problem to the solution of a system of algebraic
equations. Hermite functions have prefect properties that make them useful to
achieve this goal. We compare the present work with some well-known results and
show that the new method is efficient and applicable.Comment: 34 pages, 13 figures, Published in "Computer Physics Communications
Quantifying Quantum Correlations in Fermionic Systems using Witness Operators
We present a method to quantify quantum correlations in arbitrary systems of
indistinguishable fermions using witness operators. The method associates the
problem of finding the optimal entan- glement witness of a state with a class
of problems known as semidefinite programs (SDPs), which can be solved
efficiently with arbitrary accuracy. Based on these optimal witnesses, we
introduce a measure of quantum correlations which has an interpretation
analogous to the Generalized Robust- ness of entanglement. We also extend the
notion of quantum discord to the case of indistinguishable fermions, and
propose a geometric quantifier, which is compared to our entanglement measure.
Our numerical results show a remarkable equivalence between the proposed
Generalized Robustness and the Schliemann concurrence, which are equal for pure
states. For mixed states, the Schliemann con- currence presents itself as an
upper bound for the Generalized Robustness. The quantum discord is also found
to be an upper bound for the entanglement.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Quantum Information
Processin
Tragedy revisited
“Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.” So argued ecologist Garrett Hardin in “The Tragedy of the Commons” in the 13 December 1968 issue of Science (1). Hardin questioned society's ability to manage shared resources and avoid an environmentally and socially calamitous free-for-all. In the 50 years since, the essay has influenced discussions ranging from climate change (see page 1217) to evolution, from infectious disease to the internet, and has reached far beyond academic literature—but not without criticism. Considerable work, notably by Nobelist Elinor Ostrom (2), has challenged Hardin, particularly his emphasis on property rights and government regulatory leviathans as solutions. Instead, research has documented contexts, cases, and principles that reflect the ability of groups to collectively govern common resources. To mark this anniversary and celebrate the richness of research and practice around commons and cooperation, Science invited experts to share some contemporary views on such tragedies and how to avert them. —Brad Wibl
Operation of an optoelectronic crossbar switch containing a terabit-per-second free-space optical interconnect
The experimental operation of a terabit-per-second scale optoelectronic connection to a silicon very-large-scale-integrated circuit is described. A demonstrator system, in the form of an optoelectronic crossbar switch, has been constructed as a technology test bed. The assembly and testing of the components making up the system, including a flip-chipped InGaAs-GaAs optical interface chip, are reported. Using optical inputs to the electronic switching chip, single-channel routing of data through the system at the design rate of 250 Mb/s (without internal fan-out) was achieved. With 4000 optical inputs, this corresponds to a potential aggregate data input of a terabit per second into the single 14.6 /spl times/ 15.6 mm CMOS chip. In addition 50-Mb/s data rates were switched utilizing the full internal optical fan-out included in the system to complete the required connectivity. This simultaneous input of data across the chip corresponds to an aggregate data input of 0.2 Tb/s. The experimental system also utilized optical distribution of clock signals across the CMOS chip
Size-fractionated labile trace elements in the Northwest Pacific and Southern Oceans
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 126 (2011): 108-113, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2011.04.004.Photosynthesis by marine phytoplankton requires bioavailable forms of several trace elements that are found in extremely low concentrations in the open ocean. We have compared the concentration, lability and size distribution (< 1 nm and < 10 nm) of a suite
of trace elements that are thought to be limiting to primary productivity as well as a toxic element (Pb) in two High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) regions using a new dynamic speciation technique, Diffusive Gradients in Thin-film (DGT). The labile species trapped within the DGT probes have a size that is smaller or similar than the pore size of algal cell walls and thus present a proxy for bioavailable species.
Total Dissolvable trace element concentrations (TD concentration) varied between 0.05 nM (Co) and 4.0 nM (Ni) at K2 (Northwest Pacific Ocean) and between 0.026 nM (Co) and 4.7 nM (Ni) in the Southern Ocean. The smallest size fractionated labile concentrations (< 1 nm) observed at Southern Ocean sampling stations ranged between 0.002 nM (Co) and 2.1 nM (Ni). Moreover, large differences in bioavailable fractions (ratio of labile to TD concentration) were observed between the trace elements. In the Northwest Pacific Ocean Fe, Cu and Mn had lower labile fractions (between 10 and 44%) than Co, Cd, Ni and Pb (between 80 and 100%). In the Southern Ocean a similar trend was observed, and in addition: (1) Co, Cd, Ni and Pb have lower labile fractions in the Southern Ocean than in the Northwest Pacific and (2) the ratios of <1nm to dissolvable element concentrations at some Southern Ocean stations were very low and varied between 4 and16 %.This research was supported by Federal Science Policy Office, Brussels, through contracts EV/03/7A, SD/CA/03A, the Research Foundation Flanders through grant G.0021.04 and Vrije Universiteit Brussel via grant GOA 22, as well as for K2, the VERTIGO program funding primarily by the US National Science Foundation programs in Chemical and Biological Oceanograph
Flaxino dark matter and stau decay
If the spontaneous breaking of Peccei-Quinn symmetry comes from soft
supersymmetry breaking, the fermionic partners of the symmetry-breaking fields
have mass of order the gravitino mass, and are called flatinos. The lightest
flatino, called here the flaxino, is a CDM candidate if it is the lightest
supersymmetric particle. We here explore flaxino dark matter assuming that the
lightest ordinary supersymmetric particle is the stau, with gravity-mediated
supersymmetry breaking. The decay of the stau to the flaxino is fast enough not
to spoil the standard predictions of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, and its track
and decay can be seen in future colliders.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, to appear in JHE
Many body physics from a quantum information perspective
The quantum information approach to many body physics has been very
successful in giving new insight and novel numerical methods. In these lecture
notes we take a vertical view of the subject, starting from general concepts
and at each step delving into applications or consequences of a particular
topic. We first review some general quantum information concepts like
entanglement and entanglement measures, which leads us to entanglement area
laws. We then continue with one of the most famous examples of area-law abiding
states: matrix product states, and tensor product states in general. Of these,
we choose one example (classical superposition states) to introduce recent
developments on a novel quantum many body approach: quantum kinetic Ising
models. We conclude with a brief outlook of the field.Comment: Lectures from the Les Houches School on "Modern theories of
correlated electron systems". Improved version new references adde
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