Energetically stable singular vortex cores in an atomic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate

We analyze the structure and stability of singular singly quantized vortices in a rotating spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate. We show that the singular vortex can be energetically stable in both the ferromagnetic and polar phases despite the existence of a lower-energy nonsingular coreless vortex in the ferromagnetic phase. The spin-1 system exhibits energetic hierarchy of length scales resulting from different interaction strengths and we find that the vortex cores deform to a larger size determined by the characteristic length scale of the spin-dependent interaction. We show that in the ferromagnetic phase the resulting stable core structure, despite apparent complexity, can be identified as a single polar core with everywhere nonvanishing axially symmetric density profile. In the polar phase, the energetically favored core deformation leads to a splitting of a singly quantized vortex into a pair of half-quantum vortices that preserves the topology of the vortex outside the extended core region, but breaks the axial symmetry of the core. The resulting half-quantum vortices exhibit nonvanishing ferromagnetic cores.<br/

Two-photon excitation fluorometry in detection of infectious diseases

Because of the heavily overlapping symptoms, pathogen-specific diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases is difficult based on clinical symptoms alone. Therefore, patients are often treated empirically. More efficient treatment and management of infectious diseases would require rapid point-of-care compatible in vitro diagnostic methods. However, current point-of-care methods are unsatisfactory in performance and in cost structure. The lack of pointof- care methods results in unnecessary use of antibiotics, suboptimal use of virus-specific drugs, and compromised patient care. In this thesis, the applicability of a two-photon excitation fluorometry is evaluated as a tool for rapid detection of infectious diseases. New separation-free immunoassay methodologies were developed and validated for the following application areas: general inflammation markers, pathogen-specific antibodies, pathogen-specific antigens, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In addition, dry-reagent methodology and nanoparticulate tracers are introduced in context to the technique. The results show that the new assay technique is a versatile tool for rapid detection of infectious diseases in many different application areas. One particularly attractive area is rapid multianalyte testing of respiratory infections, where the technique was shown to allow simple assay protocols and comparable performance to the state-of-the-art laboratory methods. If implemented in clinical diagnostic use, the new methods could improve diagnostic testing routines, especially in rapid testing of respiratory tract infections.Siirretty Doriast

Topological interface engineering and defect crossing in ultracold atomic gases

We propose an experimentally feasible scheme for topological interface engineering and show how it can be used for studies of dynamics of topologically nontrivial interfaces and perforation of defects and textures across such interfaces. The method makes use of the internal spin structure of the atoms together with locally applied control of interaction strengths to create many-particle states with highly complex topological properties. In particular, we consider a constructed coherent interface between topologically distinct phases of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Petrography, geochemistry, and geochronology of the Sc-enriched Kiviniemi ferrodiorite intrusion, eastern Finland

The Kiviniemi mafic intrusion, near the eastern margin of the Paleoproterozoic Central Finland Granitoid Complex, is both spatially and temporally associated with post-kinematic Fe-Ti-P-enriched Svecofennian orogenic mafic magmatism. The main rock types in this small (~ 15 ha) intrusion are garnet-bearing fayalite ferrodiorite, leucoferrodiorite, ferromonzodiorite, and pyroxene diorite. The garnet-bearing fayalite ferrodiorite and leucoferrodiorite contain 50-281 ppm Sc, 275-5600 ppm Zr, and 58-189 ppm Y (n = 42), delineating a mineralized deposit some 2.5 ha in extent. Overall, these rocks show an evolved (iron-enriched) tholeiitic character; low values of Ni (<20-40 ppm), Cr (<20 ppm), and Cu (<20-80 ppm); and high contents of Zn (213-700 ppm). The rock-forming minerals in the ferrodioritic rocks are (ferro)hedenbergite, plagioclase (~ An(40)), ferropargasite and ferroedenite, almandine garnet, and fayalite (Fo(1-4)). Accessory minerals include zircon, ilmenite, fluorapatite, biotite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, potassium feldspar, grunerite, and clinoferrosilite. Some relict cumulate textures have been preserved, but primary magmatic features have largely been overprinted by strong recrystallization and corona formation. The main carriers of Sc are amphibole, clinopyroxene, and apatite. The remarkably strong enrichment of Sc in ferromagnesian silicates and apatite, rather than in specific Sc-minerals, implies magmatic enrichment. Post-kinematic mafic intrusions in central Finland constitute a bimodal association with co-existing granitoid counterparts. The Kiviniemi mafic intrusion is associated with a coarse megacrystic granite and the two rock type display mingled contacts, indicative of contemporaneity of the two magmas. This conclusion is in accord with the coincident U-Pb zircon ages for the ferrodiorite, at 1857 +/- 2 Ma (multigrain ID-TIMS) and the megacrystic granite, at 1860 +/- 7 Ma (single-crystal LA-MC-ICP-MS). The initial epsilon Nd value of the ferrodiorite and the granite are + 0.1 and - 2.5, respectively. These Nd isotope compositions probably reflect a chondritic mantle source for the ferrodiorite and suggest incorporation of some Archaean crustal material into the granite in the course of magmatic evolution. The resource estimation calculated for Kiviniemi intrusion by using 40 g/t Sc cut off value is 13.4 Mt of rock with an average grade of 162.7 g/t scandium, 1726 g/t zirconium, and 81 g/t yttrium.Peer reviewe

External Validation of the Early Prediction of Functional Outcome After Stroke Prediction Model for Independent Gait at 3 Months After Stroke

INTRODUCTION: The Early Prediction of Functional Outcome after Stroke (EPOS) model for independent gait is a tool to predict between days 2 and 9 poststroke whether patients will regain independent gait 6 months after stroke. External validation of the model is important to determine its clinical applicability and generalizability by testing its performance in an independent cohort. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a temporal and geographical external validation of the EPOS prediction model for independent gait after stroke but with the endpoint being 3 months instead of the original 6 months poststroke. METHODS: Two prospective longitudinal cohort studies consisting of patients with first-ever stroke admitted to a Swiss hospital stroke unit. Sitting balance and strength of the paretic leg were tested at days 1 and 8 post-stroke in Cohort I and at days 3 and 9 in Cohort II. Independent gait was assessed 3 months after symptom onset. The performance of the model in terms of discrimination (area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve; AUC), classification, and calibration was assessed. RESULTS: In Cohort I [N = 39, median age: 74 years, 33% women, median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) 9], the AUC (95% confidence interval (CI)] was 0.675 (0.510, 0.841) on day 1 and 0.921 (0.811, 1.000) on day 8. For Cohort II (N = 78, median age: 69 years, 37% women, median NIHSS 8), this was 0.801 (0.684, 0.918) on day 3 and 0.846 (0.741, 0.951) on day 9. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: External validation of the EPOS prediction model for independent gait 3 months after stroke resulted in an acceptable performance from day 3 onward in mild-to-moderately affected patients with first-ever stroke without severe prestroke disability. The impact of applying this model in clinical practice should be investigated within this subgroup of patients with stroke. To improve the generalizability of patients with recurrent stroke and those with more severe, neurological comorbidities, the performance of the EPOS model within these patients should be determined across different geographical areas

Morphological Character of Local Irrigated Rice on Farmer Field in North Sulawesi

Local rice is a potential germplasm as a source of genes that control important properties in rice plants. The research aimed to characterize the morphological character of local rice cultivars of North Sulawesi. The research was conducted from January to June 2015 in North Sulawesi. The method used was the descriptive qualitative method. Exploration was done by collecting samples of local rice cultivars in North Sulawesi. Each cultivar was characterized its morphological characters according to the Characterization and Evaluation Guidelines of Rice Germplasm. The local rice found in North Sulawesi were 10 varieties, namely Pulo Sawah, Superwin, CK, Serwo, Pilihan, Sako, Sito Merah, Sito Putih, TB, and Serayu. There were similarities of the characters from all local rice varieties of North Sulawesi, such as culm (culm strength and culm habit), leaf character (basal leaf sheath color, leaf blade color, collar color, and auricle color), and flower character (panicle exsertion and panicle attitude of branches). The character of grain morphology was very diverse for all local rice varieties of North Sulawesi

Internal structure and stability of vortices in a dipolar spinor Bose-Einstein condensate

We demonstrate how dipolar interactions can have pronounced effects on the structure of vortices in atomic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates and illustrate generic physical principles that apply across dipolar spinor systems. We then find and analyze the cores of singular vortices with non-Abelian charges in the point-group symmetry of a spin-3 52Cr condensate. Using a simpler model system, we analyze the underlying dipolar physics and show how a characteristic length scale arising from the magnetic dipolar coupling interacts with the hierarchy of healing lengths of the s-wave scattering and leads to simple criteria for the core structure: When the interactions both energetically favor the ground-state spin condition, such as in the spin-1 ferromagnetic phase, the size of singular vortices is restricted to the shorter spin-dependent healing length (s-wave or dipolar). Conversely, when the interactions compete (e.g., in the spin-1 polar phase), we find that the core of a singular vortex is enlarged by increasing dipolar coupling. We further demonstrate how the spin alignment arising from the interaction anisotropy is manifest in the appearance of a ground-state spin-vortex line that is oriented perpendicularly to the condensate axis of rotation, as well as in potentially observable internal core spin textures. We also explain how it leads to an interaction-dependent angular momentum in nonsingular vortices as a result of competition with rotation-induced spin ordering. When the anisotropy is modified by a strong magnetic field, we show how it gives rise to a symmetry-breaking deformation of a vortex core into a spin-domain wall

External validation and extension of the Early Prediction of Functional Outcome after Stroke (EPOS) prediction model for upper limb outcome 3 months after stroke

OBJECTIVE: The 'Early Prediction of Functional Outcome after Stroke' (EPOS) model was developed to predict the presence of at least some upper limb capacity (Action Research Am Test [ARAT] ≥10/57) at 6 months based on assessments on days 2, 5 and 9 after stroke. External validation of the model is the next step towards clinical implementation. The objective here is to externally validate the EPOS model for upper limb outcome 3 months poststroke in Switzerland and extend the model using an ARAT cut-off at 32 points. METHODS: Data from two prospective longitudinal cohort studies including first-ever stroke patients admitted to a Swiss stroke center were analyzed. The presence of finger extension and shoulder abduction was measured on days 1 and 8 poststroke in Cohort 1, and on days 3 and 9 in Cohort 2. Upper limb capacity was measured 3 months poststroke. Discrimination (area under the curve; AUC) and calibration obtained with the model were determined. RESULTS: In Cohort 1 (N = 39, median age 74 years), the AUC on day 1 was 0.78 (95%CI 0.61, 0.95) and 0.96 (95%CI 0.90, 1.00) on day 8, using the model of day 5. In Cohort 2 (N = 85, median age 69 years), the AUC was 0.96 (95%CI 0.93, 0.99) on day 3 and 0.89 (95% CI 0.80, 0.98) on day 9. Applying a 32-point ARAT cut-off resulted in an AUC ranging from 0.82 (95%CI 0.68, 0.95; Cohort 1, day 1) to 0.95 (95%CI 0.87, 1.00; Cohort 1, day 8). CONCLUSIONS: The EPOS model was successfully validated in first-ever stroke patients with mild-to-moderate neurological impairments, who were independent before their stroke. Now, its impact on clinical practice should be investigated in this population. Testing the model's performance in severe (recurrent) strokes and stratification of patients using the ARAT 32-point cut-off is required to enhance the model's generalizability and potential clinical impact