Persuasive tech in keeping chronic patients’ willingness in health self-management

Chronic disease is a long and very harmful illness to patient. With the improvement of e-health technology, many users can monitor and manage their health condition at home. At the same time, recording health data is a time-consuming and boring work. Without the supervision of health care professionals, many patients feel very difficult to persist on it by themselves. This platform with persvasive tech is designed to test the effectiveness of peer pressure in the health self-management in the e-health.</p

Eigen model as a quantum spin chain: exact dynamics

We map Eigen model of biological evolution [Naturwissenschaften {\bf 58}, 465 (1971)] into a one-dimensional quantum spin model with non-Hermitean Hamiltonian. Based on such a connection, we derive exact relaxation periods for the Eigen model to approach static energy landscape from various initial conditions. We also study a simple case of dynamic fitness function.Comment: 10 pages. Physical Revew E vol. 69, in press (2004

Dwarfing gene Rht18 from tetraploid wheat responds to exogenous GA₃ in hexaploid wheat

Rht18, derived from Triticum durum (tetraploid) wheat, is classified as a gibberellic acid (GA)-responsive dwarfing gene. Prior to this study, the responses of Rht18 to exogenous GA on agronomic traits in hexaploid wheat were still unknown. The response of Rht18 to exogenous GA3 on coleoptile length, plant height, yield components and other agronomic traits were investigated using F4:5 and F5:6 hexaploid dwarf lines with Rht18 derived from two crosses between the tetraploid donor Icaro and tall Chinese winter wheat cultivars, Xifeng 20 and Jinmai 47. Applications of exogenous GA3 significantly increased coleoptile length in both lines and their tall parents. Plant height was significantly increased by 21.3 and 10.7% in the GA3-treated dwarf lines of Xifeng 20 and Jinmai 47, respectively. Compared to the untreated dwarf lines, the partitioning of dry matter to ears at anthesis was significantly decreased while the partitioning of dry matter to stems was significantly increased in the GA3-treated dwarf lines. There were no obvious changes in plant height and dry matter partitioning in the GA3-treated tall parents. Exogenous GA3 significantly decreased grain number spike–1 while it increased 1000-kernel weight in both the dwarf lines and tall parents. Thus, applications of exogenous GA3 restored plant height and other agronomic traits of Rht18 dwarf lines to the levels of the tall parents. This study indicated that Rht18 dwarf mutants are GA-deficient lines with impaired GA biosynthesis

A simple lattice Boltzmann model for conjugate heat transfer research

In this paper a lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is proposed for conjugated heat transfer research. Through taking the most advantages of the standard LB method, the present model can remedy the shortcomings of the available related LB models via a simple way and meanwhile a number of intrinsic advantages of the standard LB method are preserved. It does not require any specific treatment dependent on interface topology and independent from the choice of lattice model. Moreover, it can be used for unsteady problems with complicated and time dependent interfaces. The accuracy and reliability of the present model are validated by three nontrivial benchmark tests. The good agreements between the present numerical prediction and available open data demonstrate the applicability of the present model for complicated conjugated heat transfer problems. Finally, the present model could be extended to some other important areas straightforwardly, such as fluid–solid phase change modeling

Genetic Algorithm in the Optimization of the Acoustic Attenuation System

[EN] It is well known that Genetic Algorithms (GA) is an optimization method which can be used in problems where the traditional optimization techniques are difficult to be applied. Sonic Crystals (SC) are periodic structures that present ranges of sound frequencies related with the periodicity of the structure, where the sound propagation is forbidden. This means that in the acoustic spectrum there are ranges of frequencies with high acoustic attenuation. This attenuation can be improved producing vacancies in the structure. In this paper we use a parallel implementation of a GA to optimize those structures, by means of the creation of vacancies in a starting SC, in order to obtain the best acoustic attenuation in a predetermined range of frequencies. The cost function used in GA is based on the Multiple Scattering Theory (MST), which is a self consistent method for calculating acoustic pressure in SCs. As a final result we achieve a quasi ordered structures that presents a high acoustic attenuation in a predetermined range of frequencies, independent of the periodicity of the SC.The authors acknowledge financial support provided by the Spanish MEC (Project No. MAT2006-03097) and by the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) under Grant No. GV/2007/191. This work also has been partially supported by MEC (Spanish government) and FEDER funds: projects DPI2005-07835, DPI2004- 8383-C03-02 and GVA-026.Romero García, V.; Fuster García, E.; Sánchez Pérez, JV.; García Raffi, LM.; Blasco, X.; Herrero Durá, JM.; Sanchís Saez, J. (2007). Genetic Algorithm in the Optimization of the Acoustic Attenuation System. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 4507:614-621. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73007-1_74S6146214507Martínez-Sala, R., Sancho, J., Sánchez Pérez, J.V., Llinares, J., Meseguer, F.: Sound attenuation by sculpture. Nature (London) 387, 241 (1995)Hushwaha, M.S., Halevi, P., Martínez, G., Dobrynski, L., Djafari-Rouhani, B.: Theory of acoustic band structure of periodic elastic composites. Phys. Rev. B 49(4), 2313–2322 (1994)Liu, Z., Zhang, X., Mao, Y., Zhu, Y.Y., Yang, Z., Xhan, C.T., Sheng, P.: Locally resonatn sonic materials. Science 289, 1734 (2000)Hu, X., Chan, C.T., Zi, J.: Two dimensional sonic crystals with Helmholtz resonators. Phys. Rev. E 71, 055601 (2005)Umnova, O., Attenborough, K., Linton, C.M.: Effects of porous covering on sound attenuation by poriodi arrays of cylinders. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 278 (2006)Caballero, D., Sánchez-Dehesa, J., Martínez-Sala, R., Rubio, C., Sánchez Pérez, J.V.S., Sanchis, L., Meseguer, F.: Suzuki phase in two-dimensional sonic crystals. Phys. Rev. B 64, 064303 (2001)Hakansson, A., Sánchez-Dehesa, J., Sanchis, L.: Acoustic lens design by genetic algorithms. Phys. Rev. B 70, 214302 (2004)Romero-García, V., Fuster, E., García-Raffi, L.M., Sánchez-Pérez, E.A., Sopena, M., Llinares, J., Sánchez-Pérez, J.V.: Band gap creation using quasiordered strutures based on sonic crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 174104-1 174104-3 (2006)Chen, Y.Y., Ye, Z.: Theoretical analysis of acoustic stop bands in two-dimensional periodic scattering arrays. Phys. Rev. E 64, 036616 (2001)Economou, E.N., Sigalas, M.M.: Classical wave propagation in periodic structures: Cermet versus network topology. Phys. Rev. B 48(18), 13434 (1993)Sigalas, M.M., Economou, E.N., Kafesaki, M.: Spectral gaps for electromagnietic and scalar waves: Possible explanation for certain differences. Phys. Rev. B 50(5), 3393 (1994)Goldberg, D.E.: Genetic Algorithms in search, optimization and machine learning. Addison-Wesley, London (1989)Bäck, T.: Evolutionaty Algorithms in theory and practice. Oxford University Press, New York (1996)Baker, J.E.: Reducing bias and inefficiency in the selection algorithm. In: Proc. Second International Conference on Genetic Algorithms (1987)Mühlenbein, H., Schlierkamp-Voosen, D.: Predictive Models for the Breeder Genetic Algorithm I. Continuous Parameter Optimization. Evolutionary Computation 1(1) (1993)Cantú-Paz, E.: A summary of resaearch on parallel genetic algorithms. Technical Report 95007, Illinois Genetic Algorithms Laboratory. IlliGAL (1995

Criticality of the Mean-Field Spin-Boson Model: Boson State Truncation and Its Scaling Analysis

The spin-boson model has nontrivial quantum phase transitions at zero temperature induced by the spin-boson coupling. The bosonic numerical renormalization group (BNRG) study of the critical exponents $\beta$ and $\delta$ of this model is hampered by the effects of boson Hilbert space truncation. Here we analyze the mean-field spin boson model to figure out the scaling behavior of magnetization under the cutoff of boson states $N_{b}$. We find that the truncation is a strong relevant operator with respect to the Gaussian fixed point in $0<s<1/2$ and incurs the deviation of the exponents from the classical values. The magnetization at zero bias near the critical point is described by a generalized homogeneous function (GHF) of two variables $\tau=\alpha-\alpha_{c}$ and $x=1/N_{b}$. The universal function has a double-power form and the powers are obtained analytically as well as numerically. Similarly, $m(\alpha=\alpha_{c})$ is found to be a GHF of $\epsilon$ and $x$. In the regime $s>1/2$, the truncation produces no effect. Implications of these findings to the BNRG study are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Oscillations of a solid sphere falling through a wormlike micellar fluid

We present an experimental study of the motion of a solid sphere falling through a wormlike micellar fluid. While smaller or lighter spheres quickly reach a terminal velocity, larger or heavier spheres are found to oscillate in the direction of their falling motion. The onset of this instability correlates with a critical value of the velocity gradient scale $\Gamma_{c}\sim 1$ s$^{-1}$. We relate this condition to the known complex rheology of wormlike micellar fluids, and suggest that the unsteady motion of the sphere is caused by the formation and breaking of flow-induced structures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Measuring neutrino masses with a future galaxy survey

We perform a detailed forecast on how well a Euclid-like photometric galaxy and cosmic shear survey will be able to constrain the absolute neutrino mass scale. Adopting conservative assumptions about the survey specifications and assuming complete ignorance of the galaxy bias, we estimate that the minimum mass sum of sum m_nu ~ 0.06 eV in the normal hierarchy can be detected at 1.5 sigma to 2.5 sigma significance, depending on the model complexity, using a combination of galaxy and cosmic shear power spectrum measurements in conjunction with CMB temperature and polarisation observations from Planck. With better knowledge of the galaxy bias, the significance of the detection could potentially reach 5.4 sigma. Interestingly, neither Planck+shear nor Planck+galaxy alone can achieve this level of sensitivity; it is the combined effect of galaxy and cosmic shear power spectrum measurements that breaks the persistent degeneracies between the neutrino mass, the physical matter density, and the Hubble parameter. Notwithstanding this remarkable sensitivity to sum m_nu, Euclid-like shear and galaxy data will not be sensitive to the exact mass spectrum of the neutrino sector; no significant bias (< 1 sigma) in the parameter estimation is induced by fitting inaccurate models of the neutrino mass splittings to the mock data, nor does the goodness-of-fit of these models suffer any significant degradation relative to the true one (Delta chi_eff ^2< 1).Comment: v1: 29 pages, 10 figures. v2: 33 pages, 12 figures; added sections on shape evolution and constraints in more complex models, accepted for publication in JCA

Regio- and stereoselective organocatalyzed relay glycosylations to synthesize 2-amino-2-deoxy-1,3-dithioglycosides

Herein, we describe a novel methodology for the regio-and stereoselectiveconvergent synthesis of 2-amino-2-deoxy-dithioglycosides via one-potrelay glycosylation of 3-O-acetyl-2-nitroglucal donors.This unique organo-catalysis relay glycosylation features excellentsite- and stereoselectivity, good to excellent yields, mild reactionconditions, and broad substrate scope. 2-Amino-2-deoxy-glucosides/mannosidesbearing 1,3-dithio-linkages were efficiently obtained from 3-O-acetyl-2-nitroglucal donors in both stepwise and one-potglycosylation protocols. The dithiolated O-antigen of E. coli serogroup 64 was successfully synthesizedusing this newly developed method.Bio-organic Synthesi