Macroscopic magnetic guide for cold atoms

We demonstrate a macroscopic magnetic guide for cold atoms with suppressed longitudinal field curvature which is highly desired for atom interferometry. The guide is based on macroscopic copper tape coils in a copropagating currents geometry, where the atoms are located between the coils few cm away from each surface. The symmetric geometry provides a much lower magnetic field curvature per fixed length that promises longer coherence time for atom interferometers. A double-tape design of each coil allows a smooth translation of guided atoms without addition of an external bias field. The guide is also immune from the current and thermal noise by virtue of the turns averaging and a large working distance, respectively. We present the experimental results of guide application to atom interferometry

Demonstration of a moving guide based atom interferometer for rotation sensing

We demonstrate area-enclosing atom interferometry based on a moving guide. Light pulses along the free propagation direction of a magnetic guide are applied to split and recombine the confined atomic matter-wave, while the atoms are translated back and forth along a second direction in 50 ms. The interferometer is estimated to resolve ten times the earth rotation rate per interferometry cycle. We demonstrate a ``folded figure 8'' interfering configuration for creating a compact, large-area atom gyroscope with multiple-turn interfering paths.Comment: Minor revisio

Hearing the Child\u27s Voice: Their Lived Experience in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Background: More than 200,000 children are admitted annually to Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) in the US. Research has shown young children can provide insight into their hospitalization experiences; child reports rather than parental reports are critical to understanding the child’s experience. Information relating to children’s perceptions while still in the PICU is scarce. Aims: The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate school age children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of PICU while in the PICU; changes in perceptions after transfer to the General Care Unit (GCU); differences in perceptions of school age children/adolescents and those with more invasive procedures. Methods: Interviews were conducted in PICU within 24-48 hours of admission and 24-48 hours after transfer to GCU. Data on demographics, clinical care and number/types of procedures were obtained. Results: Participants were 7 school age children, 13 adolescents; 10 Hispanic; 13 males. Five overarching themes: Coping Strategies, Environmental Factors, Stressors, Procedures/Medications, and Information. Children emphasized the importance of peer support and visitation; adolescents relied strongly on social media and texting. Parent visits sometimes were more stressful than peer visits. Video games, TV, visitors, and eating were diversional activities. In the PICU, they wanted windows to see outside and interesting things to see on the ceiling above them. Children expressed anticipatory fear of shots and procedures, frustration with lab work, and overwhelming PICU equipment. Number of child responses was higher in PICU (927) than GCU (593); the largest difference was in Environmental Factors. Variations between school age children and adolescents were primarily in Coping Strategies, especially in social support. Number of GCU procedures were the same (8 children) or greater (2 children) than PICU procedures. Discussion: Admission to PICU is a very stressful event. Perceptions from children while still in PICU found information not previously found in the literature. Longitudinal studies to identify children’s perceptions regarding PICU hospitalization and post-discharge outcomes are needed

The Effect of Electrode Placement on Cochlear Implant Function and Outcomes

Cochlear implants have been an effective treatment for restoring profound sensorineural hearing loss to those who do not benefit from traditional hearing aids. Advances in surgical technique and electrode design allow for preservation of residual hearing. This allows cochlear implant candidacy criteria to expand to those with good low frequency hearing and severe high frequency hearing loss above 1000 Hz with poor speech discrimination. With a less traumatic surgical approach, low frequency hearing can be preserved resulting in combined low frequency auditory perception and mid- to high-frequency electric perception resulting in electro-acoustic stimulation (EAS). Despite the improvements in cochlear implantation, outcomes continue to vary significantly from one user to another. The variance in performance may potentially be due to the placement of the electrode within in the cochlea. This study focused on performance of patients compared to insertion depth, age, pitch perception and electrophysiologic measures. Patients with residual hearing were included and outcome measures were measured via speech perception tests. Radiographic imaging confirmed insertion depth, and the change in pure tone average was compared to this depth. Hearing preservation was further accomplished with two patients who presented with residual mid and high frequency hearing. Custom atraumatic electrodes were inserted, and hearing was preserved across all frequencies. These cases allowed for electric and acoustic pitch matching experiments to be conducted in the same ear providing information on where in the cochlear the implant is actually stimulating. Several pairs along the cochlea were run between electric and acoustic pitches at varying rates of stimulation. Place to pitch mismatch varied depending on the area within the cochlea. Lastly, objective measures were used in attempt to determine the variance in outcomes. Two main contributing factors govern implant performance, 1) the ability of the processor to effectively deliver the electrical signal to the ear, and 2) the patient's ability to process the information. Peripheral mechanisms were analyzed with the electric compound action potential and its amplitude growth function. The slope of the amplitude growth function was measured at the corresponding electrodes and compared to speech discrimination scores. Steeper slopes correlated with increased word understanding abilities. For further insight into the health of the cochlea, age effects were compared to hearing preservation. The pure tone averages were calculated before and after surgery. Pure tone averages following surgery elevated with increased age suggesting that the elderly may be at more risk for loss of residual hearing as compared to the general population

A Functional Ecological Comparison of three Sponge Species from the Lower Florida Keys

The shallow, tidal flats off the islands of the lower Florida Keys represent a harsh environment for sessile marine invertebrates. This habitat is home to three taxonomically distinct sponge species that share similar rope morphologies: Cliona varians forma varians, Ircinia variabilis, and Neopetrosia subtriangularis. Despite sharing a habitat, these three species differ in their symbiont regime, with C. varians hosting dinoflagellate photosymbionts, and I. variabilis and N. subtriangularis hosting cyanobacterial photosymbionts. We conducted experiments to measure other ecological differences between these species. The sponges were all assayed for pumping rates using dye-video analysis and tissue samples were taken to compare the composition and functional genes of their microbiomes. The results indicated that N. subtriangularis had a significantly higher pumping rate than the other species. The microbiomes of the species varied, and the microbiome functional gene screening provided evidence that C. varians forma varians hosts nitrogen fixing bacteria, that I. variabilis hosts methane metabolizing bacteria, and that N. subtriangularis hosts nitric oxide reducing bacteria. More work is currently underway to examine the metabolism of these sponges, giving us insight into the unique ecology of this harsh habitat

Our Basic Course and Communication Skills Training: The Time for Innovation is Now (Yes, Even in a Pandemic)

Our basic communication courses have always been important for our students. COVID-19 presents us with many challenges as well as opportunities for innovation and reflection. We can now heed the call offered by Joyce et al. in 2019 to match the skills most in demand with those we teach and infuse intentionality and value throughout our courses. As we pivot to online education and digital communication, how can we craft the basic course to provide effective communication skills training in engaging, empowering and impactful ways