Comparison of the mass preconditioned HMC and the DD-HMC algorithm for two-flavour QCD

Mass preconditioned HMC and DD-HMC are among the most popular algorithms to simulate Wilson fermions. We present a comparison of the performance of the two algorithms for realistic quark masses and lattice sizes. In particular, we use the locally deflated solver of the DD-HMC environment also for the mass preconditioned simulations.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Presented at the XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2010), June 14-19 2010, Villasimius, Ital

Strange quark mass and Lambda parameter by the ALPHA collaboration

We determine f_K for lattice QCD in the two flavor approximation with non-perturbatively improved Wilson fermions. The result is used to set the scale for dimensionful quantities in CLS/ALPHA simulations. To control its dependence on the light quark mass, two different strategies for the chiral extrapolation are applied. Combining f_K and the bare strange quark mass with non-perturbative renormalization factors and step scaling functions computed in the Schroedinger Functional, we determine the RGI strange quark mass and the Lambda parameter in units of f_K.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; talk given at LATTICE 2011, XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 11-16 2011, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, Californi

Digital Twins for Internal Transport Systems: Use Cases, Functions, and System Architecture

Internal transport systems are an essential part of intralogistics in production and distribution facilities. These are characterized by a variety of technologies as well as a multitude of interactions with other processes, such as warehouse, picking, and production processes. Therefore, resource planning and control of these systems is complex, especially for discontinuous conveyors. In this task, users can be supported by Digital Twins for decision-making, as they are suitable for investigating both future system states and possible actions. However, relevant use cases that are generally applicable across sectors as well as a generic system architecture for Digital Twins for resource planning and process control of in-plant transport systems have not yet been sufficiently investigated. In this paper, use cases are presented, relevant functions defined, and, finally, a generic functional and a logical reference architecture described. This is conducted with the design science in information systems research method together with a Systems Engineering approach. The use cases are determined at industrial partners of the research project TwInTraSys, which explores Digital Twins for the planning and control of internal transport systems. They are generalized and, thus, also applicable to other production and distribution facilities in different sectors. Further, the reference architecture can provide a basis for the successful implementation of the Digital Twin

Digital Twins for Internal Transport Systems: Use Cases, Functions, and System Architecture

Internal transport systems are an essential part of intralogistics in production and distribution facilities. These are characterized by a variety of technologies as well as a multitude of interactions with other processes, such as warehouse, picking, and production processes. Therefore, resource planning and control of these systems is complex, especially for discontinuous conveyors. In this task, users can be supported by Digital Twins for decision-making, as they are suitable for investigating both future system states and possible actions. However, relevant use cases that are generally applicable across sectors as well as a generic system architecture for Digital Twins for resource planning and process control of in-plant transport systems have not yet been sufficiently investigated. In this paper, use cases are presented, relevant functions defined, and, finally, a generic functional and a logical reference architecture described. This is conducted with the design science in information systems research method together with a Systems Engineering approach. The use cases are determined at industrial partners of the research project TwInTraSys, which explores Digital Twins for the planning and control of internal transport systems. They are generalized and, thus, also applicable to other production and distribution facilities in different sectors. Further, the reference architecture can provide a basis for the successful implementation of the Digital Twin

All-Electrical Oxygen Doping in Perovskite Oxides

Complex oxides are at the heart of modern functional material developments. In particular, the perovskite ABO3 structure is seen in compounds used in oxide solar cells, resistive memories, fuel cell catalysts, superconducting tapes, quantum bits and programmable magnets, making it one of the most studied material families. One important advantage of these systems is that their properties may be controlled in situ to change between various electronic states, usually by means of thermal or electric conditioning. In this thesis, the modulation of the properties of some perovskite oxides is demonstrated using simple electrical controls. The model material employed to this end is YBa2 Cu3 O7−δ (YBCO) but results in ferroic manganites indicate that the behavior might be general to the material family. We have unambiguously demonstrated that oxygen vacancies located in the CuO chains in YBCO can be displaced several µm scale distances through a biased diffusive process known as selective electromigration. The rearrangement of these oxygen chains and the change in relative concentration δ, leads to a related shift in hole carriers in the CuO2 planes. The final outcome is the possibility of tuning the numerous electronic phases displayed by this compound, all via electric actuation. The methodologies discussed, based on current driven oxygen diffusion in planar films, offer the advantage of easy fabrication and control comparable to common gated sample designs that require multi- step patterning. Reflectivity changes as a consequence of changing levels of oxygenation in the material are used to map the evolution of the phenomenon in real time and to validate a phenomenological finite element method (FEM) model, providing adequate descriptions of the effect as it occurs in these practically useful materials. The understanding generated in this manner allows for reversible resistance switching and tuning of superconducting critical temperature Tc , as demonstrated in YBCO

Simulation-based analysis of abstraction degrees in the context of Digital Twins for intralogistics transport systems

Current challenges in the planning and control of internal logistics systems are based on permanent changes in the requirements on the system, e.g., due to fluctuating order numbers or changes in their structure. For the representation and planning of in-house logistics processes, digital twins offer the possibility to verify different operational decisions such as predictive workforce scheduling. In this context, the quality of the results and their in-time presentation plays a decisive role. However, both target criteria are influenced by the detail-level of the digital representation. Based on a case study, this paper investigates the influence of the level of detail on the simulation runtime and result divergence to provide an evaluation for detail levels in the modelling of intralogistic transport systems

Transient shivering during Wada test provides insight into human thermoregulation

Some patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsy undergoing the Wada test experience transient shivering. The purpose of this study was to investigate various clinical and radiographic characteristics of these individuals to delineate underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon.A systematic review of prospectively collected information on patients undergoing the Wada test was performed. All demographic, clinical, and radiographic information was obtained and reviewed by the appropriate expert in the field; statistical analysis was performed to determine the predictors of transient shivering.A total of 120 consecutive carotid artery injections in 59 patients were included in the study. Shivering was observed in 46% of the patients, and it was not significantly affected by gender, age, location of epileptogenic zone, brain lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), side of the first injection, duration of the hemiparesis, or excess slow wave activity on electroencephalography (EEG). However, shivering was more likely to follow sodium amobarbital injection if there was no filling of the posterior circulation on cerebral angiogram.Transient shivering during the Wada test is common. A transient but selective functional lesion of the anterior hypothalamus produced by the effects of sodium amobarbital may result in disinhibition of the posterior hypothalamus and other brainstem thermoregulatory centers, thereby inducing transient shivering.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78595/1/j.1528-1167.2009.02398.x.pd

Tunable domino effect of thermomagnetic instabilities in superconducting films with multiply-connected topological structures

peer reviewedAbstract Topology is a crucial ingredient for understanding the physical properties of superconductors. Magnetic field crowds to adopt the form of topologically-protected quantum flux lines which can lose this property when moving at high velocities. These extreme conditions can be realized when superconductors undergo a thermomagnetic instability for which the sample topology come also into play. In this work, utilizing the magneto-optical imaging technique, we experimentally study magnetic flux avalanches in superconducting films with multiply-connected geometries, including single and double rings. We observe a domino effect in which avalanches triggered at the outer ring, stimulate avalanches at the inner ring thus impairing the expected magnetic shielding resulting from the outer ring and gap. We implement numerical simulations in order to gain more insight into the underlying physical mechanism and demonstrate that such event is not caused by the heat conduction, but mainly attributed to the local current distribution variation near the preceding flux avalanche in the outer ring, which in turn has a ripple effect on the local magnetic field profile in the gap. Furthermore, we find that the domino effect of thermomagnetic instabilities can be switched on/off by the environmental temperature and the gap width between the concentric rings. These findings provide new insights on the thermomagnetic instability in superconducting devices with complex topological structures, such as the superconductor–insulator–superconductor multilayer structures of superconducting radio-frequency cavities

The Pediatric Choroidal and Ciliary Body Melanoma Study A Survey by the European Ophthalmic Oncology Group

Purpose: To collect comprehensive data on choroidal and ciliary body melanoma (CCBM) in children and to validate hypotheses regarding pediatric CCBM: children younger than 18 years, males, and those without ciliary body involvement (CBI) have more favorable survival prognosis than young adults 18 to 24 years of age, females, and those with CBI. Design: Retrospective, multicenter observational study. Participants: Two hundred ninety-nine patients from 24 ocular oncology centers, of whom 114 were children (median age, 15.1 years; range, 2.7-17.9 years) and 185 were young adults. Methods: Data were entered through a secure website and were reviewed centrally. Survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression. Main Outcome Measures: Proportion of females, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, cell type, and melanoma-related mortality. Results: Cumulative frequency of having CCBM diagnosed increased steadily by 0.8% per year of age between 5 and 10 years of age and, after a 6-year transition period, by 8.8% per year from age 17 years onward. Of children and young adults, 57% and 63% were female, respectively, which exceeded the expected 51% among young adults. Cell type, known for 35% of tumors, and TNM stage (I in 22% and 21%, II in 49% and 52%, III in 30% and 28%, respectively) were comparable for children and young adults. Melanoma-related survival was 97% and 90% at 5 years and 92% and 80% at 10 years for children compared with young adults, respectively (P = 0.013). Males tended to have a more favorable survival than females among children (100% vs. 85% at 10 years; P = 0.058). Increasing TNM stage was associated with poorer survival (stages I, II, and III: 100% vs. 86% vs. 76%, respectively; P = 0.0011). By multivariate analysis, being a young adult (adjusted hazard rate [HR], 2.57), a higher TNM stage (HR, 2.88 and 8.38 for stages II and III, respectively), and female gender (HR, 2.38) independently predicted less favorable survival. Ciliary body involvement and cell type were not associated with survival. Conclusions: This study confirms that children with CCBM have a more favorable survival than young adults 18 to 25 years of age, adjusting for TNM stage and gender. The association between gender and survival varies between age groups. (C) 2016 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.Peer reviewe