Signatures of macroscopic quantum coherence in ultracold dilute Fermi gases

We propose a double-well configuration for optical trapping of ultracold two-species Fermi-Bose atomic mixtures. Two signatures of macroscopic quantum coherence attributable to a superfluid phase transition for the Fermi gas are analyzed. The first signature is based upon tunneling of Fermi pairs when the power of the deconfining laser beam is significantly reduced. The second relies on the observation of interference fringes in a regime where the fermions are trapped in two sharply separated minima of the potential. Both signatures rely on small decoherence times for the Fermi samples, which should be possible by reaching low temperatures using a Bose gas as a refrigerator, and a bichromatic optical dipole trap for confinement, with optimal heat-capacity matching between the two species

The Effect of Patient Weight and Provider Training and Experience on Dosing of Rocuronium

Introduction. Maintenance dosing of neuromuscular blocking agents is complex and varies with patient, procedure, and clinical situation. With this in mind, we sought to identify factors impacting the maintenance dosing of neuromuscular blockers as a step toward identifying best practice with respect to minimizing residual neuromuscular blockade. Methods. Cases utilizing rocuronium from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2014, at the sponsoring institution were analyzed. Using a mixed model to account for repeated measures, patients were analyzed by dose and weight category as defined by the World Health Organization (eight categories ranging from very severely underweight to very severely obese) as well as by the administering provider’s level of experience. Results. The study included 12,671 patients with a mean age of 49.7 (SD 16.7). Increasing weight category and higher levels of provider experience were associated with higher doses for rocuronium. There were no differences in initial dose or in frequency of maintenance dosing by weight category after controlling for case length. Discussion. The two dosing patterns identified, higher doses for overweight patients and higher doses administered by experienced providers, are modifiable factors that could enhance patient safety

Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Spin-Charge Separated Superconductor

A model for spin-charge separated superconductivity in two dimensions is introduced where the phases of the spinon and holon order parameters couple gauge-invariantly to a statistical gauge-field representing chiral spin-fluctuations. The model is analyzed in the continuum limit and in the low-temperature limit. In both cases we find that physical electronic phase correlations show a superconducting-normal phase transition of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type, while statistical gauge-field excitations are found to be strictly gapless. The normal-to-superconductor phase boundary for this model is also obtained as a function of carrier density, where we find that its shape compares favorably with that of the experimentally observed phase diagram for the oxide superconductors.Comment: 35 pages, TeX, CSLA-P-93-

Clinical Case of Huge Congenital Hypertrophy of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium Labeled as Choroidal Melanoma

A case of a 48-year-old woman who was referred to an Ocular Oncology Unit with a suspected choroidal melanoma diagnosis in her left eye, which final diagnosis was a congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE). No evidence of other ocular or general condition findings has been reported. Diagnostic, as well as the risks of malignancy, are discussed. We highlight the importance of performing an appropriate differential diagnosis of a large pigmented lesion detected on routine ocular examination due to the implications for the patient

Chained graphs and some applications

This paper introduces the notions of chained and semi-chained graphs. The chain of a graph, when existent, refines the notion of bipartivity and conveys important structural information. Also the notion of a center vertex vc is introduced. It is a vertex, whose sum of p powers of distances to all other vertices in the graph is minimal, where the distance between a pair of vertices { vc, v} is measured by the minimal number of edges that have to be traversed to go from vc to v. This concept extends the definition of closeness centrality. Applications in which the center node is important include information transmission and city planning. Algorithms for the identification of approximate central nodes are provided and computed examples are presented