109 research outputs found
Giant Josephson current through a single bound state in a superconducting tunnel junction
We study the microscopic structure of the Josephson current in a single-mode
tunnel junction with a wide quasiclassical tunnel barrier. In such a junction
each Andreev bound state carries a current of magnitude proportional to the
{\em amplitude} of the normal electron transmission through the junction.
Tremendous enhancement of the bound state current is caused by the resonance
coupling of superconducting bound states at both superconductor-insulator
interfaces of the junction. The possibility of experimental observation of the
single bound state current is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, [aps,preprint]{revtex
Current and Spin-Torque in Double Tunnel Barrier Ferromagnet - Superconductor - Ferromagnet Systems
We calculate the current and the spin-torque in small symmetric double tunnel
barrier ferromagnet - superconductor - ferromagnet (F-S-F) systems.
Spin-accumulation on the superconductor governs the transport properties when
the spin-flip relaxation time is longer than the transport dwell time. In the
elastic transport regime, it is demonstrated that the relative change in the
current (spin-torque) for F-S-F systems equals the relative change in the
current (spin-torque) for F-N-F systems upon changing the relative
magnetization direction of the two ferromagnets. This differs from the results
in the inelastic transport regime where spin-accumulation suppresses the
superconducting gap and dramatically changes the magnetoresistance [S.
Takahashi, H. Imamura, and S. Maekawa, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3911 (1999)]. The
experimental relevance of the elastic and inelastic transport regimes,
respectively, as well as the reasons for the change in the transport properties
are discussed.Comment: 7 page
Spin-Imbalance and Magnetoresistance in Ferromagnet/Superconductor/Ferromagnet Double Tunnel Junctions
We theoretically study the spin-dependent transport in a ferromagnet/super-
conductor/ferromagnet double tunnel junction. The tunneling current in the
antiferromagnetic alignment of the magnetizations gives rise to a spin
imbalance in the superconductor. The resulting nonequilibrium spin density
strongly suppresses the superconductivity with increase of bias voltage and
destroys it at a critical voltage Vc. The results provide a new method not only
for measuring the spin polarization of ferromagnets but also for controlling
superconductivity and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) by applying the bias
voltage.Comment: 4pages, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
Corneal Pachymetry by AS-OCT after Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Corneal thickness (pachymetry) maps can be used to monitor restoration of
corneal endothelial function, for example after Descemet's membrane endothelial
keratoplasty (DMEK). Automated delineation of the corneal interfaces in
anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) can be challenging for
corneas that are irregularly shaped due to pathology, or as a consequence of
surgery, leading to incorrect thickness measurements. In this research, deep
learning is used to automatically delineate the corneal interfaces and measure
corneal thickness with high accuracy in post-DMEK AS-OCT B-scans. Three
different deep learning strategies were developed based on 960 B-scans from 50
patients. On an independent test set of 320 B-scans, corneal thickness could be
measured with an error of 13.98 to 15.50 micrometer for the central 9 mm range,
which is less than 3% of the average corneal thickness. The accurate thickness
measurements were used to construct detailed pachymetry maps. Moreover,
follow-up scans could be registered based on anatomical landmarks to obtain
differential pachymetry maps. These maps may enable a more comprehensive
understanding of the restoration of the endothelial function after DMEK, where
thickness often varies throughout different regions of the cornea, and
subsequently contribute to a standardized postoperative regime.Comment: Fixed typo in abstract: The development set consists of 960 B-scans
from 50 patients (instead of 68). The B-scans from the other 18 patients were
used for testing onl
Self-consistent scattering description of transport in normal-superconductor structures
We present a scattering description of transport in several
normal-superconductor structures. We show that the related requirements of
self-consistency and current conservation introduce qualitative changes in the
transport behavior when the current in the superconductor is not negligible.
The energy thresholds for quasiparticle propagation in the superconductor are
sensitive to the existence of condensate flow (). This dependence is
responsible for a rich variety of transport regimes, including a voltage range
in which only Andreev transmission is possible at the interfaces, and a state
of gapless superconductivity which may survive up to high voltages if
temperature is low. The two main effects of current conservation are a shift
towards lower voltages of the first peak in the differential conductance and an
enhancement of current caused by the greater availability of charge
transmitting scattering channels.Comment: 31 pages, 10 PS figures, Latex file, psfig.sty file is added. To
appear in Phys. Rev. B (Jan 97
First-principles study of nucleation, growth, and interface structure of Fe/GaAs
We use density-functional theory to describe the initial stages of Fe film
growth on GaAs(001), focusing on the interplay between chemistry and magnetism
at the interface. Four features appear to be generic: (1) At submonolayer
coverages, a strong chemical interaction between Fe and substrate atoms leads
to substitutional adsorption and intermixing. (2) For films of several
monolayers and more, atomically abrupt interfaces are energetically favored.
(3) For Fe films over a range of thicknesses, both Ga- and As-adlayers
dramatically reduce the formation energies of the films, suggesting a
surfactant-like action. (4) During the first few monolayers of growth, Ga or As
atoms are likely to be liberated from the interface and diffuse to the Fe film
surface. Magnetism plays an important auxiliary role for these processes, even
in the dilute limit of atomic adsorption. Most of the films exhibit
ferromagnetic order even at half-monolayer coverage, while certain
adlayer-capped films show a slight preference for antiferromagnetic order.Comment: 11 two-column pages, 12 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Direct Classification of Type 2 Diabetes From Retinal Fundus Images in a Population-based Sample From The Maastricht Study
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a chronic metabolic disorder that can lead to
blindness and cardiovascular disease. Information about early stage T2D might
be present in retinal fundus images, but to what extent these images can be
used for a screening setting is still unknown. In this study, deep neural
networks were employed to differentiate between fundus images from individuals
with and without T2D. We investigated three methods to achieve high
classification performance, measured by the area under the receiver operating
curve (ROC-AUC). A multi-target learning approach to simultaneously output
retinal biomarkers as well as T2D works best (AUC = 0.746 [0.001]).
Furthermore, the classification performance can be improved when images with
high prediction uncertainty are referred to a specialist. We also show that the
combination of images of the left and right eye per individual can further
improve the classification performance (AUC = 0.758 [0.003]), using a
simple averaging approach. The results are promising, suggesting the
feasibility of screening for T2D from retinal fundus images.Comment: to be published in the proceeding of SPIE - Medical Imaging 2020, 6
pages, 1 figur
Deep Learning for Detection and Localization of B-Lines in Lung Ultrasound
Lung ultrasound (LUS) is an important imaging modality used by emergency
physicians to assess pulmonary congestion at the patient bedside. B-line
artifacts in LUS videos are key findings associated with pulmonary congestion.
Not only can the interpretation of LUS be challenging for novice operators, but
visual quantification of B-lines remains subject to observer variability. In
this work, we investigate the strengths and weaknesses of multiple deep
learning approaches for automated B-line detection and localization in LUS
videos. We curate and publish, BEDLUS, a new ultrasound dataset comprising
1,419 videos from 113 patients with a total of 15,755 expert-annotated B-lines.
Based on this dataset, we present a benchmark of established deep learning
methods applied to the task of B-line detection. To pave the way for
interpretable quantification of B-lines, we propose a novel "single-point"
approach to B-line localization using only the point of origin. Our results
show that (a) the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranges
from 0.864 to 0.955 for the benchmarked detection methods, (b) within this
range, the best performance is achieved by models that leverage multiple
successive frames as input, and (c) the proposed single-point approach for
B-line localization reaches an F1-score of 0.65, performing on par with the
inter-observer agreement. The dataset and developed methods can facilitate
further biomedical research on automated interpretation of lung ultrasound with
the potential to expand the clinical utility.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
A novel widespread cryptic species and phylogeographic patterns within several giant clam species (Cardiidae: Tridacna) from the Indo-Pacific Ocean
Giant clams (genus Tridacna) are iconic coral reef animals of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, easily recognizable by their massive shells and vibrantly colored mantle tissue. Most Tridacna species are listed by CITES and the IUCN Redlist, as their populations have been extensively harvested and depleted in many regions. Here, we survey Tridacna crocea and Tridacna maxima from the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans for mitochondrial (COI and 16S) and nuclear (ITS) sequence variation and consolidate these data with previous published results using phylogenetic analyses. We find deep intraspecific differentiation within both T. crocea and T. maxima. In T. crocea we describe a previously undocumented phylogeographic division to the east of Cenderawasih Bay (northwest New Guinea), whereas for T. maxima the previously described, distinctive lineage of Cenderawasih Bay can be seen to also typify western Pacific populations. Furthermore, we find an undescribed, monophyletic group that is evolutionarily distinct from named Tridacna species at both mitochondrial and nuclear loci. This cryptic taxon is geographically widespread with a range extent that minimally includes much of the central Indo-Pacific region. Our results reinforce the emerging paradigm that cryptic species are common among marine invertebrates, even for conspicuous and culturally significant taxa. Additionally, our results add to identified locations of genetic differentiation across the central Indo-Pacific and highlight how phylogeographic patterns may differ even between closely related and co-distributed species
A medical device-grade T1 and ECV phantom for global T1 mapping quality assurance - the T Mapping and ECV Standardization in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (T1MES) program
T mapping and extracellular volume (ECV) have the potential to guide patient care and serve as surrogate end-points in clinical trials, but measurements differ between cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) scanners and pulse sequences. To help deliver T mapping to global clinical care, we developed a phantom-based quality assurance (QA) system for verification of measurement stability over time at individual sites, with further aims of generalization of results across sites, vendor systems, software versions and imaging sequences. We thus created T1MES: The T1 Mapping and ECV Standardization Program.
A design collaboration consisting of a specialist MRI small-medium enterprise, clinicians, physicists and national metrology institutes was formed. A phantom was designed covering clinically relevant ranges of T and T in blood and myocardium, pre and post-contrast, for 1.5 T and 3 T. Reproducible mass manufacture was established. The device received regulatory clearance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Conformité Européene (CE) marking.
The T1MES phantom is an agarose gel-based phantom using nickel chloride as the paramagnetic relaxation modifier. It was reproducibly specified and mass-produced with a rigorously repeatable process. Each phantom contains nine differently-doped agarose gel tubes embedded in a gel/beads matrix. Phantoms were free of air bubbles and susceptibility artifacts at both field strengths and T maps were free from off-resonance artifacts. The incorporation of high-density polyethylene beads in the main gel fill was effective at flattening the field. T and T values measured in T1MES showed coefficients of variation of 1 % or less between repeat scans indicating good short-term reproducibility. Temperature dependency experiments confirmed that over the range 15-30 °C the short-T tubes were more stable with temperature than the long-T tubes. A batch of 69 phantoms was mass-produced with random sampling of ten of these showing coefficients of variations for T of 0.64 ± 0.45 % and 0.49 ± 0.34 % at 1.5 T and 3 T respectively.
The T1MES program has developed a T mapping phantom to CE/FDA manufacturing standards. An initial 69 phantoms with a multi-vendor user manual are now being scanned fortnightly in centers worldwide. Future results will explore T mapping sequences, platform performance, stability and the potential for standardization.This project has been funded by a European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI part of the ESC) Imaging Research Grant, a UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Center (BRC) Cardiometabolic Research Grant at University College London (UCL, #BRC/ 199/JM/101320), and a Barts Charity Research Grant (#1107/2356/MRC0140). G.C. is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Rare Diseases Translational Research Collaboration (NIHR RD-TRC) and by the NIHR UCL Hospitals Biomedical Research Center. J.C.M. is directly and indirectly supported by the UCL Hospitals NIHR BRC and Biomedical Research Unit at Barts Hospital respectively. This work was in part supported by an NIHR BRC award to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit support at Royal Brompton Hospital London UK
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