Quantum Monte Carlo Simulation of the 3D Ising Transition on the Fuzzy Sphere

We present a numerical quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method for simulating the 3D phase transition on the recently proposed fuzzy sphere [Phys. Rev. X 13, 021009 (2023)]. By introducing an additional $SU(2)$ layer degree of freedom, we reformulate the model into a form suitable for sign-problem-free QMC simulation. From the finite-size-scaling, we show that this QMC-friendly model undergoes a quantum phase transition belonging to the 3D Ising universality class, and at the critical point we compute the scaling dimensions from the state-operator correspondence, which largely agrees with the prediction from the conformal field theory. These results pave the way to construct sign-problem-free models for QMC simulations on the fuzzy sphere, which could advance the future study on more sophisticated criticalities.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Uncovering conformal symmetry in the 3D3D Ising transition: State-operator correspondence from a fuzzy sphere regularization

The $3D$ Ising transition, the most celebrated and unsolved critical phenomenon in nature, has long been conjectured to have emergent conformal symmetry, similar to the case of the $2D$ Ising transition. Yet, the emergence of conformal invariance in the $3D$ Ising transition has rarely been explored directly, mainly due to unavoidable mathematical or conceptual obstructions. Here, we design an innovative way to study the quantum version of the $3D$ Ising phase transition on spherical geometry, using the ``fuzzy (non-commutative) sphere" regularization. We accurately calculate and analyze the energy spectra at the transition, and explicitly demonstrate the state-operator correspondence (i.e. radial quantization), a fingerprint of conformal field theory. In particular, we have identified 13 parity-even primary operators within a high accuracy and 2 parity-odd operators that were not known before. Our result directly elucidates the emergent conformal symmetry of the $3D$ Ising transition, a conjecture made by Polyakov half a century ago. More importantly, our approach opens a new avenue for studying $3D$ CFTs by making use of the state-operator correspondence and spherical geometry.Comment: typos corrected, more clarifications adde

Artificial Intelligence and Medical Trainees - Valuable Tool or Learning Impediment?

Background ● Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted clinical documentation tools are becoming increasingly available across outpatient clinical settings ● Voice to text recognition programs collect audio from patient-provider interactions and use AI to automatically generate notes documenting the encounter ● These notes can then be made available in the electronic health record within minutes ● Though these tools are available to attending physicians, there has been no research on attitudes regarding when such tools should be made available to medical trainees, such as medical students and residents ● We surveyed US medical students, residents, and attending physicians regarding when such tools should be introduced to learners, if at all, and concerns around such tools Study Design ● Cross-sectional survey ● Setting: Single institution in the Pacific region ● Study population: Medical students, resident physicians, fellows, and attending physicians (179 respondents) ● Study timeline: Survey available 5/9/24-6/10/24 ● Data collection: ○ Administered 15 question RedCap survey ○ Assessed respondents demographic and professional characteristics, including gender, highest level of training, percent of time spent in outpatient practice, time spent on patient interactions, and time spent on clinical documentation ● Study outcomes: ○ Relationship between respondents’ demographic and professional characteristics and what level of training they felt that AI-assisted clinical documentation tools should be available to trainees, should enter the medical record, and specific concerns with regard to their use (not meeting documentation milestones, detriment to patient-provider experience, accuracy, bias, violation of patient privacy, detriment to forming differential diagnoses, detriment to forming plans, and concerns about using personal devices) ● Statistical analysis: ○ Chi-squared analysis to determine association between demographic/professional characteristics and outcomes with significance level set at p < 0.05 ○ Cramer’s values calculated to determine strength of association ○ Descriptive characterisation of respondents Results 40% of female attending physicians believed that AI tools should not be available to trainees at all, compared to 25% of attending physicians overall and 17% of respondents in general Female respondents were far more likely to agree with the statement “I am concerned about AI-assisted clinical documentation violating patient privacy” and far less likely to agree with running the software on a personal device Summary ● Attending physicians, particularly female attending physicians, felt that AI assisted clinical documentation tools should be introduced to trainees later on and were more likely to believe that trainees should not be able to generate notes using such tools ● Female respondents were far more likely to have concerns about these tools adversely affecting trainees in achieving clinical documentation milestones and were far more likely to have concerns about privacy and use of personal devices surrounding these tools ● Respondents who spent more time with patients (P = 0.01, Cramer’s value = 0.19) and more time writing notes (P = 0.03, Cramer’s value = 0.20) were less likely to believe that that AI-assisted clinical documentation tools should be available to trainees Limitations ● Single institution survey ● Responses restricted to provided survey options ● Data not collected on experience with ambient clinical documentation tools within cohort Discussion ● Previous research has shown that physicians and medical students have positive attitudes and a willingness to learn about AI tools in healthcare ● However, our data suggests that attending physicians and female respondents in general have more concerns about privacy with regard to AI for clinical documentation tools and favor later introduction of such tools to trainees ● While trainees are amenable to learning about AI tools, faculty may recommended delaying the introduction of these tools to residency or later ● More research is needed to better understand why female physicians are more concerned about privacy with regard to AI tools and how these tools should be introduced to medical trainees ● Next steps: conducting interviews with respondents for more nuanced recommendations/understanding of concerns References AlZaabi A, AlMaskari S, AalAbdulsalam A. Are physicians and medical students ready for artificial intelligence applications in healthcare? DIGITAL HEALTH. 2023;9. doi:10.1177/20552076231152167 Giavina-Bianchi M, Amaro Jr E, Machado BS, Medical Expectations of Physicians on AI Solutions in Daily Practice: Cross-Sectional Survey Study, JMIRx Med 2024;5:e50803, doi: 10.2196/50803 Waheed MA, Liu L, Perceptions of Family Physicians About Applying AI in Primary Health Care: Case Study From a Premier Health Care Organization, JMIR AI 2024;3:e40781, doi: 10.2196/4078

The source control effect of personal protection equipment and physical barrier on short-range airborne transmission

In order to control the spread of Covid-19, authorities provide various prevention guidelines and recommendations for health workers and the public. Personal protection equipment (PPE) and physical barrier are the most widely applied prevention measures in practice due to their affordability and ease of implementation. This study aims to investigate the effect of PPE and physical barriers on mitigating the short-range airborne transmission between two people in a ventilated environment. Four types of PPE (surgical mask, two types of face shield, and mouth visor), and two different sizes of the physical barrier were tested in a controlled environment with two life-size breathing thermal manikins. The PPE was worn by the source manikin to test the efficiency of source control. The measurement results revealed that the principles of PPE on preventing short-range droplet and airborne transmission are different. Instead of filtering the fine droplet nuclei, they mainly redirect the virus-laden exhalation jet and avoid the exhaled flow entering the target's inhalation region. Physical barriers can block the spreading of droplet nuclei and create a good micro environment at short distances between persons. However, special attention should be paid to arranging the physical barrier and operating the ventilation system to avoid the stagnant zone where the contaminant accumulates

The size inherited age effect on radiocarbon dates of alluvial deposits: redating charcoal fragments in a sand-bed stream, Macdonald River, NSW, Australia

Radiocarbon dates on charred plant remains are often used to define the chronology of archives such as lake cores and fluvial sequences. However, charcoal is often older than its depositional context because old-wood can be burnt and a range of transport and storage stages exist between the woodland and stream or lake bed ("inherited age"). In 1978, Blong and Gillespie dated four size fractions of charcoal found floating or saltating in the Macdonald River, Australia. They found larger fragments gave younger age estimates, raising the possibility that taphonomic modifications could help identify the youngest fragments. In 1978 each date required 1000s charcoal fragments. This study returns to a sample from the Macdonald River to date individual charcoal fragments and finds the inherited age may be more than 1700 years (mode 250 years) older than the collection date. Taphonomic factors, e.g., size, shape or fungal infestation cannot identify the youngest fragments. Only two fragments on short-lived materials correctly estimated the date of collection. In SE Australia, this study suggests that wood charcoal will overestimate the age of deposition, taphonomic modifications cannot be used to identify which are youngest, and multiple short-lived materials are required to accurately estimate the deposition age

Application of semiochemical releasers and intercropping to control aphid and related virus in east China

Peer reviewe

Suppressor of K+ transport growth defect 1 (SKD1) interactswith RING-type ubiquitin ligase and sucrose non-fermenting1-related protein kinase (SnRK1) in the halophyte ice plant

SKD1 (suppressor of K+ transport growth defect 1) is an AAA-type ATPase that functions as a molecular motor. It was previously shown that SKD1 accumulates in epidermal bladder cells of the halophyte Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. SKD1 knock-down Arabidopsis mutants showed an imbalanced Na+/K+ ratio under salt stress. Two enzymes involved in protein post-translational modifications that physically interacted with McSKD1 were identified. McCPN1 (copine 1), a RING-type ubiquitin ligase, has an N-terminal myristoylation site that links to the plasma membrane, a central copine domain that interacts with McSKD1, and a C-terminal RING domain that catalyses protein ubiquitination. In vitro ubiquitination assay demonstrated that McCPN1 was capable of mediating ubiquitination of McSKD1. McSnRK1 (sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase) is a Ser/Thr protein kinase that contains an N-terminal STKc catalytic domain to phosphorylate McSKD1, and C-terminal UBA and KA1 domains to interact with McSKD1. The transcript and protein levels of McSnRK1 increased as NaCl concentrations increased. The formation of an SKD1–SnRK1–CPN1 ternary complex was demonstrated by yeast three-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation. It was found that McSKD1 preferentially interacts with McSnRK1 in the cytosol, and salt induced the re-distribution of McSKD1 and McSnRK1 towards the plasma membrane via the microtubule cytoskeleton and subsequently interacted with RING-type E3 McCPN1. The potential effects of ubiquitination and phosphorylation on McSKD1, such as changes in the ATPase activity and cellular localization, and how they relate to the functions of SKD1 in the maintenance of Na+/K+ homeostasis under salt stress, are discussed

Proceedings of the Working Group Session on Fertility Preservation for Individuals with Gender and Sex Diversity

Children and adolescents with gender and sex diversity include (1) gender-nonconforming and transgender individuals for whom gender identity or expression are incongruent with birth-assigned sex (heretofore, transgender) and (2) individuals who have differences in sex development (DSD). Although these are largely disparate groups, there is overlap in the medical expertise necessary to care for individuals with both gender and sex diversity. In addition, both groups face potential infertility or sterility as a result of desired medical and surgical therapies. The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (Lurie Children's) gender and sex development program (GSDP) provides specialized multidisciplinary care for both transgender and DSD patients. In response to patient concerns that recommended medical treatments have the potential to affect fertility, the Lurie Children's GSDP team partnered with experts from the Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern University to expand fertility preservation options to gender and sex diverse youth. This article summarizes the results of a meeting of experts across this field at the annual Oncofertility Consortium conference with thoughts on next steps toward a unified protocol for this patient group.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140296/1/trgh.2016.0008.pd

Small morphology variations effects on plasmonic nanoparticle dimer hotspots

Plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) dimer structures, forming highly intense areas of field enhancement called hotspots, have been the focus of extensive investigations due to their phenomenal light manipulating abilities. However, the actual morphology of the NP hotspot is usually distinct from the ideal nanosphere dimer model. In this study, we demonstrate numerically that small morphology variations in the presence of nanobridge, nanocrevice, nanofacet or nanoroughness, can have a major impact on the plasmonic properties of the whole system. The resonance wavelength and magnitude of the near-field enhancement are found to acutely depend on the interparticle gap geometry. The hotspot may become degenerated or regenerated. We also observe that the hybridized modes excited under longitudinal polarizations, including the bonding dipole plasmon (BDP) and charge transfer plasmon (CTP) modes, can be assigned to the bonding longitudinal antenna plasmon (LAP) modes for all gap geometries. These results provide means to understand and justify the ongoing poor reproducibility of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates, stressing the importance of precision plasmonics

Magnetic Vortex States in Toroidal Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Combining Micromagnetics with Tomography

Iron oxide nanorings have great promise for biomedical applications because of their magnetic vortex state, which endows them with a low remanent magnetization while retaining a large saturation magnetization. Here we use micromagnetic simulations to predict the exact shapes that can sustain magnetic vortices, using a toroidal model geometry with variable diameter, ring thickness, and ring eccentricity. Our model phase diagram is then compared with simulations of experimental geometries obtained by electron tomography. High axial eccentricity and low ring thickness are found to be key factors for forming vortex states and avoiding net-magnetized metastable states. We also find that while defects from a perfect toroidal geometry increase the stray field associated with the vortex state, they can also make the vortex state more energetically accessible. These results constitute an important step toward optimizing the magnetic behavior of toroidal iron oxide nanoparticles