Classical Analog of Quantum Models in Synthetic Dimensions

We introduce a classical analog of quantum matter in ultracold molecule- or Rydberg atom- synthetic dimensions, extending the Potts model to include interactions J1 between atoms adjacent in both real and synthetic space and studying its finite temperature properties. For intermediate values of J1, the resulting phases and phase diagrams are similar to those of the clock and Villain models, in which three phases emerge. There exists a sheet phase analogous to that found in quantum synthetic dimension models between the high temperature disordered phase and the low temperature ferromagnetic phase. We also employ machine learning to uncover non-trivial features of the phase diagram using the learning by confusion approach.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

A contrastive study on the clinical efficacy and safety of laparoscopic myomectomy and high intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of uterine fibroidsn the treatment of uterine fibroids

Objectives: This study intended to compare the safety and clinical efficacy between two treatments of uterine fibroids: laparoscopic myomectomy (LM) and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Material and methods: Clinical data were collected from 587 uterine fibroid patients who were treated in The People’s Hospital of Nanchuan, Chongqing from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019. Among the patients, 287 cases were treated with HIFU (observation group), and 300 cases were treated with LM (control group). The progression-free survival (PFS) was taken as the primary endpoint. The secondary endpoints included operation results (including operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and intraoperative fluid replacement), complications, hemoglobin level one month after surgery and clinical efficacy. In addition, the fibroid volume of the observation group before treatment and 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment were also analyzed. Results: The operative time of observation group was evidently shortened compared to the control group, and the intraoperative blood loss and intraoperative fluid replacement of observation group were also considerably reduced (all p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the hemoglobin level between the two groups one month after surgery (p > 0.05). In terms of curative effect, the total effective rate of HIFU group and LM group was 98.6% (283/287) and 95.3% (286/300) respectively, with statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). In terms of complications, the incidence of bleeding and infection in HIFU group was obviously lower than that in LM group (both p < 0.05), while no significant differences were observed in the remaining complications (all p > 0.05). Fibroid volume comparisons before treatment and 3, 6 and 12 months after operation in observation group showed that fibroid volume decreased significantly (all p < 0.05). The median follow-up time was 30.6 months. The mean PFS of patients in the observation group and control group was 29.71 months (95% CI 28.24–29.75) and 26.74 months (95% CI 26.49–28.33), respectively (HR 0.47; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.76; Log-rank p = 0.002). Conclusions: HIFU could improve the intraoperative efficacy and reduce the complications of patients with uterine fibroids and has excellent performance in improving clinical efficacy and prolonging PFS. HIFU can be used as an alternative to surgical treatment

Pronounced Absurdity: The Wedding-scape Outside a Conical Field

Usually taking on an exotic appearance and occurring as a defocused and cropped backdrop in a picture frame, a wedding park is an architectural complex that provides spectacular and romanticized scene settings like a proscenium stage for wedding photographs. In order to satisfy the bourgeoisie lifestyle fantasy, architectural symbols out of the in situ context are extensively deployed to create a sense of elsewhere in a wedding park, leading to a misalignment of a wedding park’s pictorial presence and physical reality. A wedding park as a real estate typology is an architectural response to both the prosperous wedding economy and the visual consumption fever in China. Xiamen, a city branding itself as the international wedding capital, expects a new typology of wedding park that conforms its highly dense urban fabric and city image around weddings. The double-image phenomenon in a wedding park is paralleled in a dummy cake, a cake whose sponge has been wholly or partially replaced with polystyrene blocks. The dramatic counterpose between its sumptuous profile and inedibility becomes a metaphor for the duality of wedding spaces. This thesis understands a dummy cake as a political and cultural artifact that echoes the double-image of architecture and critiques the misalignment of imageability and physicality in Xiamen’s wedding spaces. This thesis imagines a set of wedding infrastructures inserted in the highly dense urban fabric of Shapowei district, building up fantasies with the appropriation of architectural symbols. The concentration of diversely themed wedding scenes signifies an efficient, inhumane, and consumeristic image-making mechanism. By replicating alienated symbols and juxtaposing the fantasized construct and the realistic urban context, this thesis creates spectacles for visual consumption and simultaneously foregrounds the absurdity of both the construct per se and its uncanny collision with the existing urban ambient. In this way, the rationality of wedding infrastructures only exists in the conical field of a camera, and the dysfunctional, disordered and obscure physical reality behind a flawless wedding photo becomes a critique of visual consumerism.M.Arch

γ-Acyl-ε-Caprolactone Synthesis

Polymers have been an essential part of our lives. They are used to make our clothes, bags, and capsules for drug delivery, to name but a few. Understanding what conditions are necessary for polymers to degrade will help us make polymers that have specific properties, and also reduce the pollution that these polymers cause. The Getzler research lab is aiming to investigate how certain polyesters with specified alkyl groups (R) will affect the overall degradation of that polymer. Understanding how the R group affects the overall characteristic of the polymer will give insight into how that polymer will degrade. This will help make polymers that have desired properties and hence will degrade under desired conditions. Last summer, we transformed ketones into lactones using the Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation (BVO). The product, γ-acyl-ε-caprolactones, is a seven-membered cyclic monomer that we intend to polymerize. In a seven membered ring, there is no way to arrange the atoms with ideal bond angles and minimal steric clash. This generates ring strain, raising potential energy. This energy, when unleashed by a catalyst, will drive the polymerization of the caprolactone

Acupuncture Improves the Facial Muscular Function in a Case of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a genetic muscle disorder in which muscles of the face, shoulder blades, and upper arms develop gradual and progressive weakness. There is no effective pharmacological treatment currently available for this disorder so far. We had an opportunity to treat a patient with FSHD using acupuncture. The patient was a 62-year-old female, who presented to us with symptoms such as weakness in her eyes, mouth, shoulder, and upper and lower limbs. Muscle atrophy could be found in multiple areas in her body including her face, shoulder, arm, chest, and lower limbs. Her diagnosis of FSHD muscular dystrophy was established a few years ago and was later genetically confirmed. After a long treatment course of about 10 months with acupuncture, this patient showed a significant restoration of her facial muscle function. However, acupuncture did not improve the function of other muscle groups. The potential mechanism that acupuncture improved the facial function but not the other muscles needs to be further investigated. Keywords: acupuncture, facial muscle, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, treatmen