212 research outputs found

    Crossover from adiabatic to sudden interaction quenches in the Hubbard model: Prethermalization and nonequilibrium dynamics

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    The recent experimental implementation of condensed matter models in optical lattices has motivated research on their nonequilibrium behavior. Predictions on the dynamics of superconductors following a sudden quench of the pairing interaction have been made based on the effective BCS Hamiltonian; however, their experimental verification requires the preparation of a suitable excited state of the Hubbard model along a twofold constraint: (i) a sufficiently nonadiabatic ramping scheme is essential to excite the nonequilibrium dynamics, and (ii) overheating beyond the critical temperature of superconductivity must be avoided. For commonly discussed interaction ramps there is no clear separation of the corresponding energy scales. Here we show that the matching of both conditions is simplified by the intrinsic relaxation behavior of ultracold fermionic systems: For the particular example of a linear ramp we examine the transient regime of prethermalization [M. Moeckel and S. Kehrein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 175702 (2008)] under the crossover from sudden to adiabatic switching using Keldysh perturbation theory. A real-time analysis of the momentum distribution exhibits a temporal separation of an early energy relaxation and its later thermalization by scattering events. For long but finite ramping times this separation can be large. In the prethermalization regime the momentum distribution resembles a zero temperature Fermi liquid as the energy inserted by the ramp remains located in high energy modes. Thus ultracold fermions prove robust to heating which simplifies the observation of nonequilibrium BCS dynamics in optical lattices.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures Second version with small modifications in section

    The role of the emergency department in the management of acute heart failure: an international perspective on education and research

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    Emergency departments are a major entry point for the initial management of acute heart failure (AHF) patients throughout the world. The initial diagnosis, management and disposition - the decision to admit or discharge - of AHF patients in the emergency department has significant downstream implications. Misdiagnosis, under or overtreatment, or inappropriate admission may place patients at increased risk for adverse events, and add costs to the healthcare system. Despite the critical importance of initial management, data are sparse regarding the impact of early AHF treatment delivered in the emergency department compared to inpatient or chronic heart failure management. Unfortunately, outcomes remain poor, with nearly a third of patients dying or re-hospitalised within 3 months post-discharge. In the absence of robust research evidence, consensus is an important source of guidance for AHF care. Thus, we convened an international group of practising emergency physicians, cardiologists and advanced practice nurses with the following goals to improve outcomes for AHF patients who present to the emergency department or other acute care setting through: (a) a better understanding of the pathophysiology, presentation and management of the initial phase of AHF care; (b) improving initial management by addressing knowledge gaps between best practices and current practice through education and research; and (c) to establish a framework for future emergency department-based international education and research

    Efecto de la lluvia en el momento de la cosecha (lavado) sobre características físicas, químicas y reológicas del grano de trigo Triticum aestivum L.

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    p.1-6Se simularon lluvias artificiales de magnitud creciente en un lote de trigo en condiciones de ser cosechado mecánicamente (humedad menor al 11,2 por ciento). Estas lluvias disminuyeron el Peso Hectolítrico y la densidad del grano, encontrándose una correlación curvilínea altamente significativa (r igual a -0,986 y r igual a -0,981, respectivamente) entre los dos parámetros y la magnitud de las lluvias. Se ideó una escala visual que se encontró estrechamente correlacionada con ambos (r igual a 0,88 y r igual a -0,83 en igual orden) posibilitando su uso como estimador rápido del lavado en experimentos en el futuro. Otros parámetros del grano no fueron afectados como tampoco lo fue la calidad industrial

    Influencia del tamaño de la semilla de trigo y sus reservas proteicas : II- el rendimiento de grano del cultivo subsecuente

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    p.17-24Para probar que se pueden obtener aumentos de rendimiento utilizando semillas grandes, se seleccionaron lotes del cv. Cooperación Cabildo que provenían de una red de fertilización y presentaban un rango de entre 18 y 40 g las mil semillas, y entre 9 y 18 por ciento de proteína. Con ellas se sembraron tres ensayos en dos años. El rendimiento se correlacionó positivamente con el peso de mil granos y negativamente con el porcentaje de proteína. No se obtuvo correlación del rendimiento con el peso seco de las plántulas ni con el porcentaje de emergencia. Ese mayor rendimiento se debió al incremento del número de espigas por m2

    Early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.

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    The diagnostic evaluation of acute chest pain has been augmented in recent years by advances in the sensitivity and precision of cardiac troponin assays, new biomarkers, improvements in imaging modalities, and release of new clinical decision algorithms. This progress has enabled physicians to diagnose or rule-out acute myocardial infarction earlier after the initial patient presentation, usually in emergency department settings, which may facilitate prompt initiation of evidence-based treatments, investigation of alternative diagnoses for chest pain, or discharge, and permit better utilization of healthcare resources. A non-trivial proportion of patients fall in an indeterminate category according to rule-out algorithms, and minimal evidence-based guidance exists for the optimal evaluation, monitoring, and treatment of these patients. The Cardiovascular Round Table of the ESC proposes approaches for the optimal application of early strategies in clinical practice to improve patient care following the review of recent advances in the early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. The following specific 'indeterminate' patient categories were considered: (i) patients with symptoms and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin 99th percentile but without dynamic change; and (iv) patients with symptoms and high-sensitivity troponin >99th percentile and dynamic change but without coronary plaque rupture/erosion/dissection. Definitive evidence is currently lacking to manage these patients whose early diagnosis is 'indeterminate' and these areas of uncertainty should be assigned a high priority for research

    Dynamics of a Quantum Phase Transition and Relaxation to a Steady State

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    We review recent theoretical work on two closely related issues: excitation of an isolated quantum condensed matter system driven adiabatically across a continuous quantum phase transition or a gapless phase, and apparent relaxation of an excited system after a sudden quench of a parameter in its Hamiltonian. Accordingly the review is divided into two parts. The first part revolves around a quantum version of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism including also phenomena that go beyond this simple paradigm. What they have in common is that excitation of a gapless many-body system scales with a power of the driving rate. The second part attempts a systematic presentation of recent results and conjectures on apparent relaxation of a pure state of an isolated quantum many-body system after its excitation by a sudden quench. This research is motivated in part by recent experimental developments in the physics of ultracold atoms with potential applications in the adiabatic quantum state preparation and quantum computation.Comment: 117 pages; review accepted in Advances in Physic

    Use of procalcitonin for the diagnosis of pneumonia in patients presenting with a chief complaint of dyspnoea: results from the BACH (Biomarkers in Acute Heart Failure) trial

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    Biomarkers have proven their ability in the evaluation of cardiopulmonary diseases.We investigated the utility of concentrations of the biomarker procalcitonin (PCT) alone and with clinical variables for the diagnosis of pneumonia in patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with a chief complaint of shortness of breath. The BACH trial was a prospective, international, study of 1641 patients presenting to EDs with dyspnoea. Blood samples were analysed for PCT and other biomarkers. Relevant clinical data were also captured. Patient outcomes were assessed at 90 days. The diagnosis of pneumonia was made using strictly validated guidelines. A model using PCT was more accurate [area under the curve (AUC) 72.3%] than any other individual clinical variable for the diagnosis of pneumonia in all patients, in those with obstructive lung disease, and in those with acute heart failure (AHF). Combining physician estimates of the probability of pneumonia with PCT values increased the accuracy to .86% for the diagnosis of pneumonia in all patients. Patients with a diagnosis of AHF and an elevated PCT concentration (.0.21 ng/mL) had a worse outcome if not treated with antibiotics (P ¼ 0.046), while patients with low PCT values (,0.05 ng/mL) had a better outcome if they did not receive antibiotic therapy (P ¼ 0.049). Procalcitonin may aid in the diagnosis of pneumonia, particularly in cases with high diagnostic uncertainty. Importantly, PCT may aid in the decision to administer antibiotic therapy to patients presenting with AHF in which clinical uncertainty exists regarding a superimposed bacterial infection

    Photonic spectral density of coupled microwave cavities

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    We study a pair of anharmonic microwave cavities that is connected by an optical fiber. The photonic spectral density characterizes the evolution of the coupled cavities after the system has been prepared in a Fock or N00N state. We evaluate the photonic spectral density within the recursive projection method and find that the anharmonicity has no substantial effect on the spectral properties. In all cases the photonic spectral density has a Gaussian envelope for large photon numbers.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

    Erythrocyte Transketolase Activity, Markers of Cardiac Dysfunction and the Diagnosis of Infantile Beriberi

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    Infantile beriberi, or clinical thiamin (vitamin B1) deficiency in infants, is a forgotten disease in Asia, where ∼100 years ago it was a major public health problem. Children aged ∼2–3 months present in cardiac failure but usually rapidly improve if given thiamin injections. It remains relatively common in Vientiane, Lao PDR (Laos) probably because of prolonged intra- and post-partum maternal food avoidance behaviours. There has been very little recent research on the best diagnostic techniques. We conducted a case control study of 47 infants with beriberi and age-matched afebrile and febrile controls in Vientiane. The conventional measures of thiamin deficiency, basal and activated erythrocyte transketolase activities (ETK) and activation (α) coefficients, were assayed along with three markers of cardiac dysfunction - plasma brain natriuretic peptide, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and troponin T. Basal ETK was a better biochemical marker of infantile beriberi than the activation coefficient. Raised plasma troponin T may be a useful indicator of infantile beriberi in babies at risk and in the absence of other evident causes
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