1,499 research outputs found
Energies and widths of atomic core-levels in liquid mercury
High-resolution measurements of the photoinduced X-ray emission of liquid mercury were performed, using a transmission DuMond-type crystal spectrometer for transitions above 11 keV and a reflection von Hamos-type crystal spectrometer for transitions below 11 keV. The target X-ray fluorescence was produced by irradiating the sample with the Bremsstrahlung from X-ray tubes. The energies and natural linewidths of 6 K-shell, 26 L-shell and 2 M-shell X-ray transitions were determined. Using a least-squares-fit method to solve the two sets of equations derived from the observed transition energies and transition widths the binding energies of the subshells K to M5 and O1 and the level widths of the subshells K to N5 and O1 could also be determine
A Fast and Efficient Incremental Approach toward Dynamic Community Detection
Community detection is a discovery tool used by network scientists to analyze
the structure of real-world networks. It seeks to identify natural divisions
that may exist in the input networks that partition the vertices into coherent
modules (or communities). While this problem space is rich with efficient
algorithms and software, most of this literature caters to the static use-case
where the underlying network does not change. However, many emerging real-world
use-cases give rise to a need to incorporate dynamic graphs as inputs.
In this paper, we present a fast and efficient incremental approach toward
dynamic community detection. The key contribution is a generic technique called
, which examines the most recent batch of changes made to an
input graph and selects a subset of vertices to reevaluate for potential
community (re)assignment. This technique can be incorporated into any of the
community detection methods that use modularity as its objective function for
clustering. For demonstration purposes, we incorporated the technique into two
well-known community detection tools. Our experiments demonstrate that our new
incremental approach is able to generate performance speedups without
compromising on the output quality (despite its heuristic nature). For
instance, on a real-world network with 63M temporal edges (over 12 time steps),
our approach was able to complete in 1056 seconds, yielding a 3x speedup over a
baseline implementation. In addition to demonstrating the performance benefits,
we also show how to use our approach to delineate appropriate intervals of
temporal resolutions at which to analyze an input network
Artificial dry surface biofilm (DSB) models for testing the efficacy of cleaning and disinfection
Dry surface biofilms (DSB) harbouring pathogens are widespread in healthcare settings, difficult to detect and resistant to cleaning and disinfection interventions. Here, we describe a practical test protocol to palliate the lack of standard efficacy test methods for DSB.
Staphylococcus aureus DSB were produced over a 12‐day period, grown with or without the presence of organic matter, and their composition and viability were evaluated. Disinfectant treatment was conducted with a modified ASTM2967‐15 test and reduction in viability, transferability, and biofilm regrowth post treatment were measured. Dry surface biofilms produced over a 12‐day period had a similar carbohydrates, proteins and DNA content, regardless the presence or absence of organic matter. The combination of sodium hypochlorite (1,000 ppm) and a microfiber cloth was only effective against DSB in the absence of organic load. With the increasing concerns of the uncontrolled presence of DSB in healthcare settings, the development of effective interventions is paramount. We propose that our DSB model in the presence of organic load is appropriate for the testing of biocidal products, while the use of three parameters, log10 reduction, transferability and regrowth, provides an accurate and practical measurement of product efficacy
It's a trap! The development of a versatile drain biofilm model and its susceptibility to disinfection
Background
Pathogens in drain biofilms pose a significant risk for hospital-acquired infection. However, the evidence of product effectiveness in controlling drain biofilm and pathogen dissemination are scarce. A novel in-vitro biofilm model was developed to address the need for a robust, reproduceable and simple testing methodology for disinfection efficacy against a complex drain biofilm.
Methods
Identical complex drain biofilms were established simultaneously over 8 days, mimicking a sink trap. Reproducibility of their composition was confirmed by next-generation sequencing. The efficacy of sodium hypochlorite 1000 ppm (NaOCl), sodium dichloroisocyanurate 1000 ppm (NaDCC), non-ionic surfactant (NIS) and peracetic acid 4000 ppm (PAA) was explored, simulating normal sink usage conditions. Bacterial viability and recovery following a series of 15-min treatments were measured in three distinct parts of the drain.
Results
The drain biofilm consisted of 119 mixed species of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. NaOCl produced a >4 log10 reduction in viability in the drain front section alone, while PAA achieved a >4 log10 reduction in viability in all of the drain sections following three 15-min doses and prevented biofilm regrowth for >4 days. NIS and NaDCC failed to control the biofilm in any drain sections.
Conclusions
Drains are one source of microbial pathogens in healthcare settings. Microbial biofilms are notoriously difficult to eradicate with conventional chemical biocidal products. The development of this reproducible in-vitro drain biofilm model enabled understanding of the impact of biocidal products on biofilm spatial composition and viability in different parts of the drain.
Keyword
Random Matrix Theory and Classical Statistical Mechanics. I. Vertex Models
A connection between integrability properties and general statistical
properties of the spectra of symmetric transfer matrices of the asymmetric
eight-vertex model is studied using random matrix theory (eigenvalue spacing
distribution and spectral rigidity). For Yang-Baxter integrable cases,
including free-fermion solutions, we have found a Poissonian behavior, whereas
level repulsion close to the Wigner distribution is found for non-integrable
models. For the asymmetric eight-vertex model, however, the level repulsion can
also disappearand the Poisson distribution be recovered on (non Yang--Baxter
integrable) algebraic varieties, the so-called disorder varieties. We also
present an infinite set of algebraic varieties which are stable under the
action of an infinite discrete symmetry group of the parameter space. These
varieties are possible loci for free parafermions. Using our numerical
criterion we have tested the generic calculability of the model on these
algebraic varieties.Comment: 25 pages, 7 PostScript Figure
Multicritical Points of Potts Spin Glasses on the Triangular Lattice
We predict the locations of several multicritical points of the Potts spin
glass model on the triangular lattice. In particular, continuous multicritical
lines, which consist of multicritical points, are obtained for two types of
two-state Potts (i.e., Ising) spin glasses with two- and three-body
interactions on the triangular lattice. These results provide us with numerous
examples to further verify the validity of the conjecture, which has succeeded
in deriving highly precise locations of multicritical points for several spin
glass models. The technique, called the direct triangular duality, a variant of
the ordinary duality transformation, directly relates the triangular lattice
with its dual triangular lattice in conjunction with the replica method.Comment: 18 pages, 2, figure
Exact location of the multicritical point for finite-dimensional spin glasses: A conjecture
We present a conjecture on the exact location of the multicritical point in
the phase diagram of spin glass models in finite dimensions. By generalizing
our previous work, we combine duality and gauge symmetry for replicated random
systems to derive formulas which make it possible to understand all the
relevant available numerical results in a unified way. The method applies to
non-self-dual lattices as well as to self dual cases, in the former case of
which we derive a relation for a pair of values of multicritical points for
mutually dual lattices. The examples include the +-J and Gaussian Ising spin
glasses on the square, hexagonal and triangular lattices, the Potts and Z_q
models with chiral randomness on these lattices, and the three-dimensional +-J
Ising spin glass and the random plaquette gauge model.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figure
Holonomic functions of several complex variables and singularities of anisotropic Ising n-fold integrals
Lattice statistical mechanics, often provides a natural (holonomic) framework
to perform singularity analysis with several complex variables that would, in a
general mathematical framework, be too complex, or could not be defined.
Considering several Picard-Fuchs systems of two-variables "above" Calabi-Yau
ODEs, associated with double hypergeometric series, we show that holonomic
functions are actually a good framework for actually finding the singular
manifolds. We, then, analyse the singular algebraic varieties of the n-fold
integrals , corresponding to the decomposition of the magnetic
susceptibility of the anisotropic square Ising model. We revisit a set of
Nickelian singularities that turns out to be a two-parameter family of elliptic
curves. We then find a first set of non-Nickelian singularities for and , that also turns out to be rational or ellipic
curves. We underline the fact that these singular curves depend on the
anisotropy of the Ising model. We address, from a birational viewpoint, the
emergence of families of elliptic curves, and of Calabi-Yau manifolds on such
problems. We discuss the accumulation of these singular curves for the
non-holonomic anisotropic full susceptibility.Comment: 36 page
Location of the Multicritical Point for the Ising Spin Glass on the Triangular and Hexagonal Lattices
A conjecture is given for the exact location of the multicritical point in
the phase diagram of the +/- J Ising model on the triangular lattice. The
result p_c=0.8358058 agrees well with a recent numerical estimate. From this
value, it is possible to derive a comparable conjecture for the exact location
of the multicritical point for the hexagonal lattice, p_c=0.9327041, again in
excellent agreement with a numerical study. The method is a variant of duality
transformation to relate the triangular lattice directly with its dual
triangular lattice without recourse to the hexagonal lattice, in conjunction
with the replica method.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; Minor corrections in notatio
On the Symmetries of Integrability
We show that the Yang-Baxter equations for two dimensional models admit as a
group of symmetry the infinite discrete group . The existence of
this symmetry explains the presence of a spectral parameter in the solutions of
the equations. We show that similarly, for three-dimensional vertex models and
the associated tetrahedron equations, there also exists an infinite discrete
group of symmetry. Although generalizing naturally the previous one, it is a
much bigger hyperbolic Coxeter group. We indicate how this symmetry can help to
resolve the Yang-Baxter equations and their higher-dimensional generalizations
and initiate the study of three-dimensional vertex models. These symmetries are
naturally represented as birational projective transformations. They may
preserve non trivial algebraic varieties, and lead to proper parametrizations
of the models, be they integrable or not. We mention the relation existing
between spin models and the Bose-Messner algebras of algebraic combinatorics.
Our results also yield the generalization of the condition so often
mentioned in the theory of quantum groups, when no parameter is available.Comment: 23 page
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