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Domain structure of bulk ferromagnetic crystals in applied fields near saturation

We investigate the ground state of a uniaxial ferromagnetic plate with perpendicular easy axis and subject to an applied magnetic field normal to the plate. Our interest is the asymptotic behavior of the energy in macroscopically large samples near the saturation field. We establish the scaling of the critical value of the applied field strength below saturation at which the ground state changes from the uniform to a branched domain magnetization pattern and the leading order scaling behavior of the minimal energy. Furthermore, we derive a reduced sharp-interface energy giving the precise asymptotic behavior of the minimal energy in macroscopically large plates under a physically reasonable assumption of small deviations of the magnetization from the easy axis away from domain walls. On the basis of the reduced energy, and by a formal asymptotic analysis near the transition, we derive the precise asymptotic values of the critical field strength at which non-trivial minimizers (either local or global) emerge. The non-trivial minimal energy scaling is achieved by magnetization patterns consisting of long slender needle-like domains of magnetization opposing the applied fieldComment: 38 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Nonlin. Sci

Multi-domain quantitative recovery following Radical Cystectomy for patients within the iROC (Robot Assisted Radical Cystectomy with intracorporeal urinary diversion versus Open Radical Cystectomy) Randomised Controlled Trial: The first 30 patients

Many patients develop complications after radical cystectomy (RC) [1]. Reductions in morbidity have occurred through centralisation and technical improvements [2], and perhaps through robot-assisted RC (RARC). Whilst RARC is gaining popularity, there are concerns about oncological safety [3] and extracorporeal reconstruction [4], and randomised controlled trials (RCTs) find little difference [5]. We are conducting a prospective RCT comparing open RC and RARC with mandated intracorporeal reconstruction (Robot-assisted Radical Cystectomy with intracorporeal urinary diversion versus Open Radical Cystectomy [iROC] trial) [6]

Robot-assisted Radical Cystectomy Versus Open Radical Cystectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Perioperative, Oncological, and Quality of Life Outcomes Using Randomized Controlled Trials

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association of Urology. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Context: Differences in recovery, oncological, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes between open radical cystectomy (ORC) and robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) for patients with bladder cancer are unclear.  Objective: This review aims to compare these outcomes within randomized trials of ORC and RARC in this context. The primary outcome was the rate of 90-d perioperative events. The secondary outcomes included operative, pathological, survival, and health-related QoL (HRQoL) measures.  Evidence acquisition: Systematic literature searches of MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and clinicaltrials.gov were performed up to May 31, 2022.  Evidence synthesis: Eight trials, reporting 1024 participants, were included. RARC was associated with a shorter hospital length of stay (LOS; mean difference [MD] 0.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.03–0.39, p = 0.02) than and similar complication rates to ORC. ORC was associated with higher thromboembolic events (odds ratio [OR] 1.84, 95% CI 1.02–3.31, p = 0.04). ORC was associated with more blood loss (MD 322 ml, 95% CI 193–450, p < 0.001) and transfusions (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.65–3.36, p < 0.001), but shorter operative time (MD 76 min, 95% CI 39–112, p < 0.001) than RARC. No differences in lymph node yield (MD 1.07, 95% CI –1.73 to 3.86, p = 0.5) or positive surgical margin rates (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.54–1.67, p = 0.9) were present. RARC was associated with better physical functioning or well-being (standardized MD 0.47, 95% CI 0.29–0.65, p < 0.001) and role functioning (MD 8.8, 95% CI 2.4–15.1, p = 0.007), but no improvement in overall HRQoL. No differences in progression-free survival or overall survival were seen. Limitations may include a lack of generalization given trial patients.  Conclusions: RARC offers various perioperative benefits over ORC. It may be more suitable in patients wishing to avoid blood transfusion, those wanting a shorter LOS, or those at a high risk of thromboembolic events.  Patient summary: This study compares robot-assisted keyhole surgery with open surgery for bladder cancer. The robot-assisted approach offered less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and fewer blood clots. No other differences were seen.Peer reviewe

From Coherent Modes to Turbulence and Granulation of Trapped Gases

The process of exciting the gas of trapped bosons from an equilibrium initial state to strongly nonequilibrium states is described as a procedure of symmetry restoration caused by external perturbations. Initially, the trapped gas is cooled down to such low temperatures, when practically all atoms are in Bose-Einstein condensed state, which implies the broken global gauge symmetry. Excitations are realized either by imposing external alternating fields, modulating the trapping potential and shaking the cloud of trapped atoms, or it can be done by varying atomic interactions by means of Feshbach resonance techniques. Gradually increasing the amount of energy pumped into the system, which is realized either by strengthening the modulation amplitude or by increasing the excitation time, produces a series of nonequilibrium states, with the growing fraction of atoms for which the gauge symmetry is restored. In this way, the initial equilibrium system, with the broken gauge symmetry and all atoms condensed, can be excited to the state, where all atoms are in the normal state, with completely restored gauge symmetry. In this process, the system, starting from the regular superfluid state, passes through the states of vortex superfluid, turbulent superfluid, heterophase granular fluid, to the state of normal chaotic fluid in turbulent regime. Both theoretical and experimental studies are presented.Comment: Latex file, 25 pages, 4 figure

The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

This review addresses our current understanding of comets that venture close to the Sun, and are hence exposed to much more extreme conditions than comets that are typically studied from Earth. The extreme solar heating and plasma environments that these objects encounter change many aspects of their behaviour, thus yielding valuable information on both the comets themselves that complements other data we have on primitive solar system bodies, as well as on the near-solar environment which they traverse. We propose clear definitions for these comets: We use the term near-Sun comets to encompass all objects that pass sunward of the perihelion distance of planet Mercury (0.307 AU). Sunskirters are defined as objects that pass within 33 solar radii of the Sun’s centre, equal to half of Mercury’s perihelion distance, and the commonly-used phrase sungrazers to be objects that reach perihelion within 3.45 solar radii, i.e. the fluid Roche limit. Finally, comets with orbits that intersect the solar photosphere are termed sundivers. We summarize past studies of these objects, as well as the instruments and facilities used to study them, including space-based platforms that have led to a recent revolution in the quantity and quality of relevant observations. Relevant comet populations are described, including the Kreutz, Marsden, Kracht, and Meyer groups, near-Sun asteroids, and a brief discussion of their origins. The importance of light curves and the clues they provide on cometary composition are emphasized, together with what information has been gleaned about nucleus parameters, including the sizes and masses of objects and their families, and their tensile strengths. The physical processes occurring at these objects are considered in some detail, including the disruption of nuclei, sublimation, and ionisation, and we consider the mass, momentum, and energy loss of comets in the corona and those that venture to lower altitudes. The different components of comae and tails are described, including dust, neutral and ionised gases, their chemical reactions, and their contributions to the near-Sun environment. Comet-solar wind interactions are discussed, including the use of comets as probes of solar wind and coronal conditions in their vicinities. We address the relevance of work on comets near the Sun to similar objects orbiting other stars, and conclude with a discussion of future directions for the field and the planned ground- and space-based facilities that will allow us to address those science topics

Scotogenic dark matter and Dirac neutrinos from unbroken gauged B−LB-L symmetry

We propose a simple extension of the standard model where neutrinos get naturally small "scotogenic" Dirac masses from an unbroken gauged $B-L$ symmetry, ensuring dark matter stability. The associated gauge boson gets mass through the Stueckelberg mechanism. Two scenarios are identified, and the resulting phenomenology briefly sketched.Comment: 9 pages, 3 tables, 1 figur

Creating the cultures of the future: cultural strategy, policy and institutions in Gramsci. Part one: Gramsci and cultural policy studies: some methodological reflections

Gramsci’s writings have rarely been discussed and used systematically by scholars in cultural policy studies, despite the fact that in cultural studies, from which the field emerged, Gramsci has been a major source of theoretical concepts. Cultural policy studies were, in fact, theorised as an anti-Gramscian project between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, when a group of scholars based in Australia advocated a major political and theoretical reorientation of cultural studies away from hegemony theory and radical politicisation, and towards reformist-technocratic engagement with the policy concerns of contemporary government and business. Their criticism of the ‘Gramscian tradition’ as inadequate for the study of cultural policy and institutions has remained largely unexamined in any detail for almost twenty years and seems to have had a significant role in the subsequent neglect of Gramsci’s contribution in this area of study. This essay, consisting of three parts, is an attempt to challenge such criticism and to provide an analysis of Gramsci’s writings, with the aim of proposing a more systematic contribution of his work to the theoretical development of cultural policy studies. In Part One, I question the use of the notion of ‘Gramscian tradition’ made by its critics and challenge the claim that it was inadequate for the study of cultural policy and institutions. In parts Two and Three, I consider Gramsci’s specific writings on questions of cultural strategy, policy and institutions, which have so far been overlooked by scholars, arguing that they provide further analytical insights to those offered by his more general concepts. More specifically, in Part Two, I consider Gramsci’s pre-prison writings and political practice in relation to questions of cultural strategy and institutions. I argue that the analysis of these early texts, which were written in the years in which Gramsci was active in party organisation and leadership, is fundamental not only for understanding the nature of Gramsci’s early and continued involvement with questions of cultural strategy and institutions, but also as a key for deciphering and interpreting cultural policy themes that he later developed in the prison notebooks, and which originated in earlier debates. Finally, in Part Three, I carry out a detailed analysis of Gramsci’s prison notes on questions of cultural strategy, policy and institutions, which enrich the theoretical underpinnings for critical frameworks of analysis as well as for radical practices of cultural strategy, cultural policy-making and cultural organisation. I then answer the question of whether Gramsci’s insights amount to a theory of cultural policy