Statistical mechanical description of liquid systems in electric field

We formulate the statistical mechanical description of liquid systems for both polarizable and polar systems in an electric field in the $\mathbf{E}$-ensemble, which is the pendant to the thermodynamic description in terms of the free energy at constant potential. The contribution of the electric field to the configurational integral $\tilde{Q}_{N}(\mathbf{E})$ in the $\mathbf{E}$-ensemble is given in an exact form as a factor in the integrand of $\tilde{Q}_{N}(\mathbf{E})$. We calculate the contribution of the electric field to the Ornstein-Zernike formula for the scattering function in the $\mathbf{E}$-ensemble. As an application we determine the field induced shift of the critical temperature for polarizable and polar liquids, and show that the shift is upward for polarizable liquids and downward for polar liquids.Comment: 6 page

Breaking Tradition: One Special Educator\u27s Journey Towards a Meaning-Based Instructional Program

This article describes what one special educator has tried in teaching reading and found it to be successful for students with learning disabilities. It gives some helpful tips about making reading more meaningful by using authentic literature, addressing the higher order thinking skills, and letting go of time a barrier

New Variables for Classical and Quantum Gravity in all Dimensions II. Lagrangian Analysis

We rederive the results of our companion paper, for matching spacetime and internal signature, by applying in detail the Dirac algorithm to the Palatini action. While the constraint set of the Palatini action contains second class constraints, by an appeal to the method of gauge unfixing, we map the second class system to an equivalent first class system which turns out to be identical to the first class constraint system obtained via the extension of the ADM phase space performed in our companion paper. Central to our analysis is again the appropriate treatment of the simplicity constraint. Remarkably, the simplicity constraint invariant extension of the Hamiltonian constraint, that is a necessary step in the gauge unfixing procedure, involves a correction term which is precisely the one found in the companion paper and which makes sure that the Hamiltonian constraint derived from the Palatini Lagrangian coincides with the ADM Hamiltonian constraint when Gauss and simplicity constraints are satisfied. We therefore have rederived our new connection formulation of General Relativity from an independent starting point, thus confirming the consistency of this framework.Comment: 42 pages. v2: Journal version. Some nonessential sign errors in section 2 corrected. Minor clarification

Towards Loop Quantum Supergravity (LQSG) II. p-Form Sector

In our companion paper, we focussed on the quantisation of the Rarita-Schwinger sector of Supergravity theories in various dimensions by using an extension of Loop Quantum Gravity to all spacetime dimensions. In this paper, we extend this analysis by considering the quantisation of additional bosonic fields necessary to obtain a complete SUSY multiplet next to graviton and gravitino in various dimensions. As a generic example, we study concretely the quantisation of the 3-index photon of 11d SUGRA, but our methods easily extend to more general p-form fields. Due to the presence of a Chern-Simons term for the 3-index photon, which is due to local SUSY, the theory is self-interacting and its quantisation far from straightforward. Nevertheless, we show that a reduced phase space quantisation with respect to the 3-index photon Gauss constraint is possible. Specifically, the Weyl algebra of observables, which deviates from the usual CCR Weyl algebras by an interesting twist contribution proportional to the level of the Chern-Simons theory, admits a background independent state of the Narnhofer-Thirring type.Comment: 12 pages. v2: Journal version. Minor clarifications and correction

Interfaces in Diblocks: A Study of Miktoarm Star Copolymers

We study AB$_n$ miktoarm star block copolymers in the strong segregation limit, focussing on the role that the AB interface plays in determining the phase behavior. We develop an extension of the kinked-path approach which allows us to explore the energetic dependence on interfacial shape. We consider a one-parameter family of interfaces to study the columnar to lamellar transition in asymmetric stars. We compare with recent experimental results. We discuss the stability of the A15 lattice of sphere-like micelles in the context of interfacial energy minimization. We corroborate our theory by implementing a numerically exact self-consistent field theory to probe the phase diagram and the shape of the AB interface.Comment: 12 pages, 11 included figure

COVID-19 in pregnancy—characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women admitted to hospital because of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Nordic countries

cited By 0Introduction Population-based studies about the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) in pregnancy are few and have limited generalizability to the Nordic population and healthcare systems. Material and methods This study examines pregnant women with COVID-19 in the five Nordic countries. Pregnant women were included if they were admitted to hospital between 1 March and 30 June 2020 and had a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test Results In the study areas, 214 pregnant women with a positive test were admitted to hospital, of which 56 women required hospital care due to COVID-19. The risk of admission due to COVID-19 was 0.4/1000 deliveries in Denmark, Finland and Norway, and 3.8/1000 deliveries in the Swedish regions. Women hospitalized because of COVID-19 were more frequently obese (p < 0.001) and had a migrant background (p < 0.001) compared with the total population of women who delivered in 2018. Twelve women (21.4%) needed intensive care. Among the 56 women admitted due to COVID-19, 48 women delivered 51 infants. Preterm delivery (n = 12, 25%, p < 0.001) and cesarean delivery (n = 21, 43.8%, p < 0.001) were more frequent in women with COVID-19 compared with women who delivered in 2018. No maternal deaths, stillbirths or neonatal deaths were reported. Conclusions The risk of admission due to COVID-19 disease in pregnancy was low in the Nordic countries. A fifth of the women required intensive care and we observed higher rates of preterm and cesarean deliveries. National public health policies appear to have had an impact on the risk of admission due to severe COVID-19 disease in pregnancy. Nordic collaboration is important in collecting robust data and assessing rare outcomes.Peer reviewe

Spectroscopy of geo-neutrinos from 2056 days of Borexino data

We report an improved geo-neutrino measurement with Borexino from 2056 days of data taking. The present exposure is $(5.5\pm0.3)\times10^{31}$ proton$\times$yr. Assuming a chondritic Th/U mass ratio of 3.9, we obtain $23.7 ^{+6.5}_{-5.7} (stat) ^{+0.9}_{-0.6} (sys)$ geo-neutrino events. The null observation of geo-neutrinos with Borexino alone has a probability of $3.6 \times 10^{-9}$ (5.9$\sigma$). A geo-neutrino signal from the mantle is obtained at 98\% C.L. The radiogenic heat production for U and Th from the present best-fit result is restricted to the range 23-36 TW, taking into account the uncertainty on the distribution of heat producing elements inside the Earth.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Measurement of neutrino flux from the primary proton--proton fusion process in the Sun with Borexino detector

Neutrino produced in a chain of nuclear reactions in the Sun starting from the fusion of two protons, for the first time has been detected in a real-time detector in spectrometric mode. The unique properties of the Borexino detector provided an oppurtunity to disentangle pp-neutrino spectrum from the background components. A comparison of the total neutrino flux from the Sun with Solar luminosity in photons provides a test of the stability of the Sun on the 10$^{5}$ years time scale, and sets a strong limit on the power production in the unknown energy sources in the Sun of no more than 4\% of the total energy production at 90\% C.L.Comment: 15 pages, 2 tables, 3 figure