A nearly closed ballistic billiard with random boundary transmission

A variety of mesoscopic systems can be represented as a billiard with a random coupling to the exterior at the boundary. Examples include quantum dots with multiple leads, quantum corrals with different kinds of atoms forming the boundary, and optical cavities with random surface refractive index. The specific example we study is a circular (integrable) billiard with no internal impurities weakly coupled to the exterior by a large number of leads with one channel open in each lead. We construct a supersymmetric nonlinear $\sigma$-model by averaging over the random coupling strengths between bound states and channels. The resulting theory can be used to evaluate the statistical properties of any physically measurable quantity in a billiard. As an illustration, we present results for the local density of states.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

The Hox Gene egl-5 Acts as a Terminal Selector for VD13 Development via Wnt Signaling

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Nervous systems are comprised of diverse cell types that differ functionally and morphologically. During development, extrinsic signals, e.g., growth factors, can activate intrinsic programs, usually orchestrated by networks of transcription factors. Within that network, transcription factors that drive the specification of features specific to a limited number of cells are often referred to as terminal selectors. While we still have an incomplete view of how individual neurons within organisms become specified, reporters limited to a subset of neurons in a nervous system can facilitate the discovery of cell specification programs. We have identified a fluorescent reporter that labels VD13, the most posterior of the 19 inhibitory GABA (γ-amino butyric acid)-ergic motorneurons, and two additional neurons, LUAL and LUAR. Loss of function in multiple Wnt signaling genes resulted in an incompletely penetrant loss of the marker, selectively in VD13, but not the LUAs, even though other aspects of GABAergic specification in VD13 were normal. The posterior Hox gene, egl-5, was necessary for expression of our marker in VD13, and ectopic expression of egl-5 in more anterior GABAergic neurons induced expression of the marker. These results suggest egl-5 is a terminal selector of VD13, subsequent to GABAergic specification

Scalar and vector Keldysh models in the time domain

The exactly solvable Keldysh model of disordered electron system in a random scattering field with extremely long correlation length is converted to the time-dependent model with extremely long relaxation. The dynamical problem is solved for the ensemble of two-level systems (TLS) with fluctuating well depths having the discrete Z_2 symmetry. It is shown also that the symmetric TLS with fluctuating barrier transparency may be described in terms of the planar Keldysh model with dime-dependent random planar rotations in xy plane having continuous SO(2) symmetry. The case of simultaneous fluctuations of the well depth and barrier transparency is subject to non-abelian algebra. Application of this model to description of dynamic fluctuations in quantum dots and optical lattices is discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 5 eps figures. Extended version of the paper to be published in JETP Lett 89 (2009

Ground-state energy and spin in disordered quantum dots

We investigate the ground-state energy and spin of disordered quantum dots using spin-density-functional theory. Fluctuations of addition energies (Coulomb-blockade peak spacings) do not scale with average addition energy but remain proportional to level spacing. With increasing interaction strength, the even-odd alternation of addition energies disappears, and the probability of non-minimal spin increases, but never exceeds 50%. Within a two-orbital model, we show that the off-diagonal Coulomb matrix elements help stabilize a ground state of minimal spin.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Pre-hospital emergency nurse specialist's experiences in caring for patients with non-specific chief complaints in the ambulance - A qualitative interview study

Background: Pre-hospital emergency nurse (PEN) specialists are faced with patients presenting with non-specific chief complaints (NSC) to the emergency medical service (EMS) on a daily basis. These patients are often elderly and one in three has a serious condition and their acuity is not recognized. Objective: The aim of the current study was to explore PEN specialists' experiences in caring for patients presenting with non-specific chief complaints. Design: A qualitative study design with eleven individual interviews of PENs, between 2018 and 2020. Qualitative content analysis was used. Results: The analyses generated three categories including subcategories. The categories were "Unexplained suffering". "Systematic approach and experience enhances medical safety". "Organizational processes can be optimized". The relation between the categories compiled as 'In-depth systematic assessment is perceived to reduce suffering and increases patient safety. Conclusion: The PENs experiences in caring for patients presenting with non-specific chief complaints show that an in-depth systematic assessment may lead to a meaningful caring encounter which enables the identification of the cause of the chief complaint. Experience and a systematic approach were considered as essential to enhance medical safety. This could be strengthened through feedback on the nurse's care provided by care managers and employers. To optimize organizational processes, the development of the opportunity to convey the patient to different levels of care can be an important component.Peer reviewe

Geographic access to high capability severe acute respiratory failure centers in the United States

Objective: Optimal care of adults with severe acute respiratory failure requires specific resources and expertise. We sought to measure geographic access to these centers in the United States. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of geographic access to high capability severe acute respiratory failure centers in the United States. We defined high capability centers using two criteria: (1) provision of adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), based on either 2008-2013 Extracorporeal Life Support Organization reporting or provision of ECMO to 2010 Medicare beneficiaries; or (2) high annual hospital mechanical ventilation volume, based 2010 Medicare claims. Setting: Nonfederal acute care hospitals in the United States. Measurements and Main Results: We defined geographic access as the percentage of the state, region and national population with either direct or hospital-transferred access within one or two hours by air or ground transport. Of 4,822 acute care hospitals, 148 hospitals met our ECMO criteria and 447 hospitals met our mechanical ventilation criteria. Geographic access varied substantially across states and regions in the United States, depending on center criteria. Without interhospital transfer, an estimated 58.5% of the national adult population had geographic access to hospitals performing ECMO and 79.0% had geographic access to hospitals performing a high annual volume of mechanical ventilation. With interhospital transfer and under ideal circumstances, an estimated 96.4% of the national adult population had geographic access to hospitals performing ECMO and 98.6% had geographic access to hospitals performing a high annual volume of mechanical ventilation. However, this degree of geographic access required substantial interhospital transfer of patients, including up to two hours by air. Conclusions: Geographic access to high capability severe acute respiratory failure centers varies widely across states and regions in the United States. Adequate referral center access in the case of disasters and pandemics will depend highly on local and regional care coordination across political boundaries. © 2014 Wallace et al

Spin and Charge Correlations in Quantum Dots: An Exact Solution

The inclusion of charging and spin-exchange interactions within the Universal Hamiltonian description of quantum dots is challenging as it leads to a non-Abelian action. Here we present an {\it exact} analytical solution of the probem, in particular, in the vicinity of the Stoner instabilty point. We calculate several observables, including the tunneling density of states (TDOS) and the spin susceptibility. Near the instability point the TDOS exhibits a non-monotonous behavior as function of the tunneling energy, even at temperatures higher than the exchange energy. Our approach is generalizable to a broad set of observables, including the a.c. susceptibility and the absorption spectrum for anisotropic spin interaction. Our results could be tested in nearly ferromagnetic materials.Comment: JETPL class, 6 pages, 2 figure

Interactions and Disorder in Quantum Dots: Instabilities and Phase Transitions

Using a fermionic renormalization group approach we analyse a model where the electrons diffusing on a quantum dot interact via Fermi-liquid interactions. Describing the single-particle states by Random Matrix Theory, we find that interactions can induce phase transitions (or crossovers for finite systems) to regimes where fluctuations and collective effects dominate at low energies. Implications for experiments and numerical work on quantum dots are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; version to appear in Phys Rev Letter

Spin and interaction effects in quantum dots: a Hartree-Fock-Koopmans approach

We use a Hartree-Fock-Koopmans approach to study spin and interaction effects in a diffusive or chaotic quantum dot. In particular, we derive the statistics of the spacings between successive Coulomb-blockade peaks. We include fluctuations of the matrix elements of the two-body screened interaction, surface-charge potential, and confining potential to leading order in the inverse Thouless conductance. The calculated peak-spacing distribution is compared with experimental results.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps figures, revise

An efficient Fredholm method for calculation of highly excited states of billiards

A numerically efficient Fredholm formulation of the billiard problem is presented. The standard solution in the framework of the boundary integral method in terms of a search for roots of a secular determinant is reviewed first. We next reformulate the singularity condition in terms of a flow in the space of an auxiliary one-parameter family of eigenproblems and argue that the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are analytic functions within a certain domain. Based on this analytic behavior we present a numerical algorithm to compute a range of billiard eigenvalues and associated eigenvectors by only two diagonalizations.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; included systematic study of accuracy with 2 new figures, movie to Fig. 4, http://www.quantumchaos.de/Media/0703030media.av