1,036 research outputs found
Aging, jamming, and the limits of stability of amorphous solids
Apart from not having crystallized, supercooled liquids can be considered as
being properly equilibrated and thus can be described by a few thermodynamic
control variables. In contrast, glasses and other amorphous solids can be
arbitrarily far away from equilibrium and require a description of the history
of the conditions under which they formed. In this paper we describe how the
locality of interactions intrinsic to finite-dimensional systems affects the
stability of amorphous solids far off equilibrium. Our analysis encompasses
both structural glasses formed by cooling and colloidal assemblies formed by
compression. A diagram outlining regions of marginal stability can be adduced
which bears some resemblance to the quasi-equilibrium replica meanfield theory
phase diagram of hard sphere glasses in high dimensions but is distinct from
that construct in that the diagram describes not true phase transitions but
kinetic transitions that depend on the preparation protocol. The diagram
exhibits two distinct sectors. One sector corresponds to amorphous states with
relatively open structures, the other to high density, more closely-packed
ones. The former transform rapidly owing to there being motions with no free
energy barriers; these motions are string-like locally. In the dense region,
amorphous systems age via compact activated reconfigurations. The two regimes
correspond, in equilibrium, to the collisional or uniform liquid and the so
called landscape regime, respectively. These are separated by a spinodal line
of dynamical crossovers. Owing to the rigidity of the surrounding matrix in the
landscape, high-density part of the diagram, a sufficiently rapid pressure
quench adds compressive energy which also leads to an instability toward
string-like motions with near vanishing barriers. (SEE REST OF ABSTRACT IN THE
ARTICLE.)Comment: submitted to J Phys Chem
Multifocal Aggressive Squamous Cell Carcinomas Induced by Prolonged Voriconazole Therapy: A Case Report
Voriconazole is a treatment for severe fungal infections. Prolonged voriconazole therapy may induce skin reactions, with 1% of severe photosensitivity accidents. Recently the imputability of voriconazole in skin carcinogenesis has been suggested. This report concerns a 55-year-old man suffering from pulmonary aspergillosis who presented a phototoxic reaction a few months after introduction of voriconazole, followed by multiple squamous cell carcinomas of sun-exposed skin areas. After voriconazole discontinuation, no new carcinoma was observed. The detection of EBV and HPV in skin lesions was negative. Exploration of gene mutations involved in skin carcinogenesis showed two variants of the MICR gene. The occurrence of multiple, recurrent, aggressive squamous cell carcinomas is rare with voriconazole, but its imputability is strongly suggested. A plausible hypothesis is that several factors including voriconazole uptake, immunosuppression, and genetic background could explain the phenotype of fast-developing skin carcinomas. Voriconazole therapy should be accompanied by stringent photoprotection and skin monitoring
Optical linewidth of a low density Fermi-Dirac gas
We study propagation of light in a Fermi-Dirac gas at zero temperature. We
analytically obtain the leading density correction to the optical linewidth.
This correction is a direct consequence of the quantum statistical correlations
of atomic positions that modify the optical interactions between the atoms at
small interatomic separations. The gas exhibits a dramatic line narrowing
already at very low densities.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Pumping two dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates with Raman light scattering
We propose an optical method for increasing the number of atoms in a pair of
dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates. The method uses laser-driven Raman
transitions which scatter atoms between the condensate and non-condensate atom
fractions. For a range of condensate phase differences there is destructive
quantum interference of the amplitudes for scattering atoms out of the
condensates. Because the total atom scattering rate into the condensates is
unaffected the condensates grow. This mechanism is analogous to that
responsible for optical lasing without inversion. Growth using macroscopic
quantum interference may find application as a pump for an atom laser.Comment: 4 pages, no figure
Optical response of superfluid state in dilute atomic Fermi-Dirac gases
We theoretically study the propagation of light in a Fermi-Dirac gas in the
presence of a superfluid state. BCS pairing between atoms in different
hyperfine levels may significantly increase the optical linewidth and line
shift of a quantum degenerate Fermi-Dirac gas and introduce a local-field
correction that, under certain conditions, dramatically dominates over the
Lorentz-Lorenz shift. These optical properties could possibly unambiguously
sign the presence of the superfluid state and determine the value of the BCS
order parameter.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Quantum field theory of cooperative atom response: Low light intensity
We study the interactions of a possibly dense and/or quantum degenerate gas
with driving light. Both the atoms and the electromagnetic fields are
represented by quantum fields throughout the analysis. We introduce a field
theory version of Markov and Born approximations for the interactions of light
with matter, and devise a procedure whereby certain types of products of atom
and light fields may be put to a desired, essentially normal, order. In the
limit of low light intensity we find a hierarchy of equations of motion for
correlation functions that contain one excited-atom field and one, two, three,
etc., ground state atom fields. It is conjectured that the entire linear
hierarchy may be solved by solving numerically the classical equations for the
coupled system of electromagnetic fields and charged harmonic oscillators. We
discuss the emergence of resonant dipole-dipole interactions and collective
linewidths, and delineate the limits of validity of the column density approach
in terms of non-cooperative atoms by presenting a mathematical example in which
this approach is exact.Comment: 35 pages, RevTe
Cost-effectiveness of stepwise provisional versus systematic dual stenting strategies in patients with distal bifurcation left main stem lesions: Economic analysis of the EBC MAIN trial
\ua9 2024 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.Background In patients with distal bifurcation left main stem lesions requiring intervention, the European Bifurcation Club Left Main Coronary Stent Study trial found a non-significant difference in major adverse cardiac events (MACEs, composite of all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularisation) favouring the stepwise provisional strategy, compared with the systematic dual stenting. Aims To estimate the 1-year cost-effectiveness of stepwise provisional versus systematic dual stenting strategies. Methods Costs in France and the UK, and MACE were calculated in both groups to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Uncertainty was explored by probabilistic bootstrapping. The analysis was conducted from the perspective of the healthcare provider with a time horizon of 1 year. Results The cost difference between the two groups was €-755 (€5700 in the stepwise provisional group and €6455 in the systematic dual stenting group, p value<0.01) in France and €-647 (€6728 and €7375, respectively, p value=0.08) in the UK. The point estimates for the ICERs found that stepwise provisional strategy was cost saving and improved outcomes with a probabilistic sensitivity analysis confirming dominance with an 80% probability. Conclusion The stepwise provisional strategy at 1 year is dominant compared with the systematic dual stenting strategy on both economic and clinical outcomes
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