1,281 research outputs found
Yang-Mills Instantons with Lorentz Violation
An analysis is performed of instanton configurations in pure Euclidean
Yang-Mills theory containing small Lorentz-violating perturbations that
maintain gauge invariance. Conventional topological arguments are used to show
that the general classification of instanton solutions involving the
topological charge is the same as in the standard case. Explicit solutions are
constructed for general gauge invariant corrections to the action that are
quadratic in the curvature. The value of the action is found to be unperturbed
to lowest order in the Lorentz-violating parameters.Comment: 16 page
Developing Clinical Faculty Understanding of Interprofessional Education: An Inter-institutional, Interprofessional Approach
Introduction: The call for increasing interprofessional education requires institutional support for educators in the clinical environment. Innovative ideas, such as partnering with multiple universities and programs to facilitate an interprofessional workshop, have the opportunity to reach a broader group of clinical educators. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude of healthcare professionals towards interprofessional learning, familiarity with concepts of interprofessional teaching, and interprofessional practice, and to examine the influence of an interprofessional faculty development workshop on participant familiarity with concepts of interprofessional teaching and learning. Methods: The occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant programs from two universities collaborated to implement an all-day inter-institutional, interprofessional clinical faculty development workshop. Community clinical educators who participated in the event were surveyed pre- and post-workshop to examine their attitude, readiness, and knowledge of interprofessional learning and teaching. Using the revised version of the Readiness of Interprofessional Learning Scale, the following subscales were measured and analyzed: 1) Teamwork and Collaboration, 2) Negative Professional Identity, 3) Positive Professional Identity, and 4) Roles and Responsibilities. Results: Forty-three participants representing six different healthcare professions completed pre- and post-course surveys. Forty-four percent reported participating in interprofessional education. Overall, the attendees reported the value of the workshop as a 4.6 on a 5.0 point Likert scale, with 5.0 being the highest rating. Self-reported familiarity of the fundamental concepts of interprofessional teaching, interprofessional practice, and interprofessional education improved up to 32% following participation in the workshop. The highest increase in familiarity was in the area of knowledge of interprofessional practice and education. Participants reported high levels of agreement about the value of teamwork, collaboration, and positive professional identity. Conclusion: Integrating the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice into educational programs and clinical practice can facilitate improved understanding of professional roles and improved collaborative practice
The geometry of thermodynamic control
A deeper understanding of nonequilibrium phenomena is needed to reveal the
principles governing natural and synthetic molecular machines. Recent work has
shown that when a thermodynamic system is driven from equilibrium then, in the
linear response regime, the space of controllable parameters has a Riemannian
geometry induced by a generalized friction tensor. We exploit this geometric
insight to construct closed-form expressions for minimal-dissipation protocols
for a particle diffusing in a one dimensional harmonic potential, where the
spring constant, inverse temperature, and trap location are adjusted
simultaneously. These optimal protocols are geodesics on the Riemannian
manifold, and reveal that this simple model has a surprisingly rich geometry.
We test these optimal protocols via a numerical implementation of the
Fokker-Planck equation and demonstrate that the friction tensor arises
naturally from a first order expansion in temporal derivatives of the control
parameters, without appealing directly to linear response theory
High-fidelity single-shot readout for a spin qubit via an enhanced latching mechanism
The readout of semiconductor spin qubits based on spin blockade is fast but
suffers from a small charge signal. Previous work suggested large benefits from
additional charge mapping processes, however uncertainties remain about the
underlying mechanisms and achievable fidelity. In this work, we study the
single-shot fidelity and limiting mechanisms for two variations of an enhanced
latching readout. We achieve average single-shot readout fidelities > 99.3% and
> 99.86% for the conventional and enhanced readout respectively, the latter
being the highest to date for spin blockade. The signal amplitude is enhanced
to a full one-electron signal while preserving the readout speed. Furthermore,
layout constraints are relaxed because the charge sensor signal is no longer
dependent on being aligned with the conventional (2, 0) - (1, 1) charge dipole.
Silicon donor-quantum-dot qubits are used for this study, for which the dipole
insensitivity substantially relaxes donor placement requirements. One of the
readout variations also benefits from a parametric lifetime enhancement by
replacing the spin-relaxation process with a charge-metastable one. This
provides opportunities to further increase the fidelity. The relaxation
mechanisms in the different regimes are investigated. This work demonstrates a
readout that is fast, has one-electron signal and results in higher fidelity.
It further predicts that going beyond 99.9% fidelity in a few microseconds of
measurement time is within reach.Comment: Supplementary information is included with the pape
Intramolecular and intermolecular contributions to the barriers for rotation of methyl groups in crystalline solids: Electronic structure calculations and solid state NMR relaxation measurements
The rotation barriers for 10 different methyl groups in five methyl-substituted phenanthrenes and three methyl-substituted naphthalenes were determined by ab initio electronic structure calculations, both for the isolated molecules and for the central molecules in clusters containing 8–13 molecules. These clusters were constructed computationally using the carbon positions obtained from the crystal structures of the eight compounds and the hydrogen positions obtained from electronic structure calculations. The calculated methyl rotation barriers in the clusters (Eclust) range from 0.6 to 3.4 kcal/mol. Solid-state 1H NMR spin–lattice relaxation rate measurements on the polycrystalline solids gave experimental activation energies (ENMR) for methyl rotation in the range from 0.4 to 3.2 kcal/mol. The energy differences Eclust – ENMR for each of the ten methyl groups range from −0.2 kcal/mol to +0.7 kcal/mol, with a mean value of +0.2 kcal/mol and a standard deviation of 0.3 kcal/mol. The differences between each of the computed barriers in the clusters (Eclust) and the corresponding computed barriers in the isolated molecules (Eisol) provide an estimate of the intermolecular contributions to the rotation barriers in the clusters. The values of Eclust – Eisol range from 0.0 to 1.0 kcal/mol
Intramolecular and intermolecular contributions to the barriers for rotation of methyl groups in crystalline solids: Electronic structure calculations and solid state NMR relaxation measurements
The rotation barriers for 10 different methyl groups in five methyl-substituted phenanthrenes and three methyl-substituted naphthalenes were determined by ab initio electronic structure calculations, both for the isolated molecules and for the central molecules in clusters containing 8–13 molecules. These clusters were constructed computationally using the carbon positions obtained from the crystal structures of the eight compounds and the hydrogen positions obtained from electronic structure calculations. The calculated methyl rotation barriers in the clusters (Eclust) range from 0.6 to 3.4 kcal/mol. Solid-state 1H NMR spin–lattice relaxation rate measurements on the polycrystalline solids gave experimental activation energies (ENMR) for methyl rotation in the range from 0.4 to 3.2 kcal/mol. The energy differences Eclust – ENMR for each of the ten methyl groups range from −0.2 kcal/mol to +0.7 kcal/mol, with a mean value of +0.2 kcal/mol and a standard deviation of 0.3 kcal/mol. The differences between each of the computed barriers in the clusters (Eclust) and the corresponding computed barriers in the isolated molecules (Eisol) provide an estimate of the intermolecular contributions to the rotation barriers in the clusters. The values of Eclust – Eisol range from 0.0 to 1.0 kcal/mol
Perceived agency mediates the link between the narcissistic subtypes and self-esteem
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism share some core features (e.g., entitlement, self-absorption) but differ in other important ways (e.g., self-esteem). To reconcile these differing characteristics, we predicted that differences in perceived agency mediate the association between narcissistic subtypes and differences in selfesteem. One hundred college students completed self-report measures of grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, explicit global self-esteem, and perceived agency. As predicted, grandiose narcissism was positively associated with agency and self-esteem, whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with agency and self-esteem. Perceived agency also mediated the associations between each narcissistic subtype and selfesteem. Furthermore, a partial correlation showed that when controlling for agency, the previously null correlation between measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism became significantly positive. These findings indicate that agency serves as a primary differentiator between the narcissistic subtypes
Spinors, Inflation, and Non-Singular Cyclic Cosmologies
We consider toy cosmological models in which a classical, homogeneous, spinor
field provides a dominant or sub-dominant contribution to the energy-momentum
tensor of a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe. We find that, if such a
field were to exist, appropriate choices of the spinor self-interaction would
generate a rich variety of behaviors, quite different from their widely studied
scalar field counterparts. We first discuss solutions that incorporate a stage
of cosmic inflation and estimate the primordial spectrum of density
perturbations seeded during such a stage. Inflation driven by a spinor field
turns out to be unappealing as it leads to a blue spectrum of perturbations and
requires considerable fine-tuning of parameters. We next find that, for simple,
quartic spinor self-interactions, non-singular cyclic cosmologies exist with
reasonable parameter choices. These solutions might eventually be incorporated
into a successful past- and future-eternal cosmological model free of
singularities. In an Appendix, we discuss the classical treatment of spinors
and argue that certain quantum systems might be approximated in terms of such
fields.Comment: 12 two-column pages, 3 figures; uses RevTeX
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