Culturo-Scientific Storytelling

In this article, we reflect on the functions of outreach in developing the modern scientific mind, and discuss its essential importance in the modern society of rapid technological development. We embed our approach to outreach in culturo-scientific thinking. This is constituted by embracing disciplinary thinking (in particular creativity) whilst appreciating the epistemology of science as an evolving dialogue of ideas, with numerous alternative perspectives and uncertain futures to be managed. Structuring scientific knowledge as an assemblage of interacting and evolving discipline-cultures, we conceive of a culturo-scientific storytelling to bring about positive transformations for the public in these thinking skills and ground our approach in quantum science and technologies (QST). This field has the potential to generate significant changes for the life of every citizen, and so a skills-oriented approach to its education, both formal and non-formal, is essential. Finally, we present examples of such storytelling in the case of QST, the classification and evaluation of which correspond to future work in which this narrative approach is studied in action

Comparison of four-times-a-day and twice-a-day dosing regimens in subjects requiring 1200 μg or less of budesonide to control mild to moderate asthma

AbstractThe aim of this study was to compare the efficacy, compliance and side-effects of budesonide administered twice daily (b.d.) and four times a day (q.d.) with a Turbuhaler® device in asthmatic subjects requiring ≤ 1200 μg daily. The randomized, parallel group study design included a 2-week baseline period followed by a 6–12-month treatment period. Subjects were assessed at regular intervals in hospital through FEV1, PC20 methacholine, adrenal function and throat swabs. They were asked to record their symptoms and PEF values morning and evening at home. An asthmatic flare-up, which was the main outcome resulting in a patient's termination of the study, was defined beforehand as (a) 25% or greater diurnal variability in PEF for 2 consecutive days, and/or (b) nocturnal awakenings due to asthma symptoms 2 days or more in the same week and/or (c) an increase (doubling or more) in the need for inhaled bronchodilator 2 days in the same week.Fifty-eight adult asthmatic subjects (20 males and 38 females) entered the study, one-half being randomly assigned to the b.d. regimen and one-half to the q.d. regimen. Fourteen subjects were on 400 μg, 15 subjects on 800 μg and 29 subjects on 1200 μg of budesonide daily. Seventeen flare-ups were recorded in the b.d. regimen group as opposed to 11 in the q.d. regimen (P=0·05), significant differences being found in the 800 and 1200 μg groups (a total of 13 flare-ups in the b.d. group and eight flare-ups in the q.d. group for the two doses, P=0·01). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis yielded similar results. There was no significant difference in FEV1, PC20 or cortisol levels during the study on either regimen. Throat symptoms and growth of Candida albicans were more common in the q.d. group. Compliance assessed by the number of times the Turbuhaler® device was actuated was significantly better in the b.d. group (95%) as compared with the q.d. group (83%). To conclude, administering inhaled budesonide with a Turbuhaler® device on a q.d. basis results in fewer flare-ups in spite of less satisfactory compliance and more common, local side-effects than on a b.d. regimen at daily doses of 800 and 1200 μg

Particle statistics and lossy dynamics of ultracold atoms in optical lattices

Experimental control over ultracold quantum gases has made it possible to investigate low-dimensional systems of both bosonic and fermionic atoms. In closed one-dimensional systems there are many similarities in the dynamics of local quantities for spinless fermions and strongly interacting "hard-core" bosons, which on a lattice can be formalized via a Jordan-Wigner transformation. In this study, we analyze the similarities and differences for spinless fermions and hard-core bosons on a lattice in the presence of particle loss. The removal of a single fermion causes differences in local quantities compared with the bosonic case because of the different particle exchange symmetry in the two cases. We identify deterministic and probabilistic signatures of these dynamics in terms of local particle density, which could be measured in ongoing experiments with quantum gas microscopes

Gas-phase Absorptions of C60+: A New Comparison with Astronomical Measurements

Campbell et al. recently revised, by a few tenths of an Å, the wavelengths for their low-temperature laboratory measurements of fullerene C60+ bands. This accounts for the perturbation caused by the He atom to the C60+-He spectrum. Here, we demonstrate that the revised laboratory wavelengths improve coincidence with the 9632, 9577, 9428, 9365, and 9348 diffuse interstellar bands detected towards the stars HD 46711, HD 169454, and HD 183143