Library buildings around the world

"Library Buildings around the World" is a survey based on researches of several years. The objective was to gather library buildings on an international level starting with 1990

MUVOT - Establishing an International Vocational Training Program on the Topic of Measurement Uncertainty

Measurement results represent important information, which are necessary for evaluating and improving the quality of manufactured products and to control manufacturing processes. Furthermore, they build the basis for numerous decisions in the field of quality management, process and production automation or product development and design. Knowledge about the acquisition, evaluation and interpretation of measurement data as well as an understanding of the relevant influences on those measurement results are essential for employees working in the field of manufacturing metrology. Measurement results are always afflicted with deviations, due to a variety of causes. It follows that in order to assign a value to the reliability and quality of a measurement result its uncertainty must be determined and considered. However, employees in the field of quality management or metrology are often not familiar with methods for determination and interpretation of measurement uncertainty, because appropriate opportunities for training are missing in current vocational education. This need has led to the creation of the European project MUVoT, which will create a course for advanced vocational training in determining measurement uncertainty. The training course is based on a blended learning concept, combining self-dependent learning via a web-based platform and face-to-face workshops. This allows the adaption of individual knowledge and skills by self-controlled learning of abstract contents whilst the exercises enable the practical application of typical methods, which are generally considered as quite complex by many employees, and thus assure correct understanding. The featured Blended Learning concept facilitates the integration of the training into a workplace setting, thus the idea of Lifelong Learning is promoted in new fields of application. The curriculum and training concept for this newly developed training program have been designed such that the course can be applied internationally. To facilitate this, a harmonized scheme for course structure and contents has been defined albeit with inherent flexibility, allowing the adaptation to specific constraints

Gradient Photonic Materials Based on One‐Dimensional Polymer Photonic Crystals

In nature, animals such as chameleons are well‐known for the complex color patterns of their skin and the ability to adapt and change the color by manipulating sophisticated photonic crystal systems. Artificial gradient photonic materials are inspired by these color patterns. A concept for the preparation of such materials and their function as tunable mechanochromic materials is presented in this work. The system consists of a 1D polymer photonic crystal on a centimeter scale on top of an elastic poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrate with a gradient in stiffness. In the unstrained state, this system reveals a uniform red reflectance over the entire sample. Upon deformation, a gradient in local strain of the substrate is formed and transferred to the photonic crystal. Depending on the magnitude of this local strain, the thickness of the photonic crystal decreases continuously, resulting in a position‐dependent blue shift of the reflectance peak and hence the color in a rainbow‐like fashion. Using more sophisticated hard‐soft‐hard‐soft‐hard gradient elastomers enables the realization of stripe‐like reflectance patterns. Thus, this approach allows for the tunable formation of reflectance gradients and complex reflectance patterns. Envisioned applications are in the field of mechanochromic sensors, telemedicine, smart materials, and metamaterials

Molecular dynamics simulations and docking of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs): a possible approach to personalized HIV treatment : from 7th German Conference on Chemoinformatics: 25 CIC-Workshop Goslar, Germany, 6 - 8 November 2011

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is currently ranked sixth in the worldwide causes of death [1]. One treatment approach is to inhibit reverse transcriptase (RT), an enzyme essential for reverse transcription of viral RNA into DNA before integration into the host genome [2]. By using non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) [3], which target an allosteric binding site, major side effects can be evaded. Unfortunately, high genetic variability of HIV in combination with selection pressure introduced by drug treatment enables the virus to develop resistance against this drug class by developing point mutations. This situation necessitates treatment with alternative NNRTIs that target the particular RT mutants encountered in a patient. Previously, proteochemometric approaches have demonstrated some success in predicting binding of particular NNRTIs to individual mutants; however a structurebased approach may help to further improve the predictive success of such models. Hence, our aim is to rationalize the experimental activity of known NNRTIs against a variety of RT mutants by combining molecular modeling, long-timescale atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation sampling and ensemble docking. Initial control experiments on known inhibitor-RT mutant complexes using this protocol were successful, and the predictivity for further complexes is currently being evaluated. In addition to predictive power, MD simulations of multiple RT mutants are providing fundamental insight into the dynamics of the allosteric NNRTI binding site which is useful for the design of future inhibitors. Overall, work of this type is hoped to contribute to the development of predictive efficacy models for individual patients, and hence towards personalized HIV treatment options

Spreading of correlations in the Falicov-Kimball model

We study dynamical properties of the one- and two-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model using lattice Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, we calculate the spreading of charge correlations in the equilibrium model and after an interaction quench. The results show a reduction of the light-cone velocity with interaction strength at low temperature, while the phase velocity increases. At higher temperature, the initial spreading is determined by the Fermi velocity of the noninteracting system and the maximum range of the correlations decreases with increasing interaction strength. Charge order correlations in the disorder potential enhance the range of the correlations. We also use the numerically exact lattice Monte Carlo results to benchmark the accuracy of equilibrium and nonequilibrium dynamical cluster approximation calculations. It is shown that the bias introduced by the mapping to a periodized cluster is substantial, and that from a numerical point of view, it is more efficient to simulate the lattice model directly

Microwave photon-mediated interactions between semiconductor qubits

The realization of a coherent interface between distant charge or spin qubits in semiconductor quantum dots is an open challenge for quantum information processing. Here we demonstrate both resonant and non-resonant photon-mediated coherent interactions between double quantum dot charge qubits separated by several tens of micrometers. We present clear spectroscopic evidence of the collective enhancement of the resonant coupling of two qubits. With both qubits detuned from the resonator we observe exchange coupling between the qubits mediated by virtual photons. In both instances pronounced bright and dark states governed by the symmetry of the qubit-field interaction are found. Our observations are in excellent quantitative agreement with master-equation simulations. The extracted two-qubit coupling strengths significantly exceed the linewidths of the combined resonator-qubit system. This indicates that this approach is viable for creating photon-mediated two-qubit gates in quantum dot based systems.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures and 6 table

Exact Energy-Time Uncertainty Relation for Arrival Time by Absorption

We prove an uncertainty relation for energy and arrival time, where the arrival of a particle at a detector is modeled by an absorbing term added to the Hamiltonian. In this well-known scheme the probability for the particle's arrival at the counter is identified with the loss of normalization for an initial wave packet. Under the sole assumption that the absorbing term vanishes on the initial wave function, we show that $\Delta T \Delta E \geq \sqrt p \hbar/2$ and $\Delta E\geq 1.37\sqrt p\hbar$, where $e$ denotes the mean arrival time, and $p$ is the probability for the particle to be eventually absorbed. Nearly minimal uncertainty can be achieved in a two-level system, and we propose a trapped ion experiment to realize this situation.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Nonequilibrium dynamical cluster approximation study of the Falicov-Kimball model

We use a nonequilibrium implementation of the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA) to study the effect of short-range correlations on the dynamics of the two-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model after an interaction quench. As in the case of single-site dynamical mean-field theory, thermalization is absent in DCA simulations, and for quenches across the metal-insulator boundary, nearest-neighbor charge correlations in the nonthermal steady state are found to be larger than in the thermal state with identical energy. We investigate to what extent it is possible to define an effective temperature of the trapped state after a quench. Based on the ratio between the lesser and retarded Green's function, we conclude that a roughly thermal distribution is reached within the energy intervals corresponding to the momentum-patch dependent subbands of the spectral function. The effectively different chemical potentials of these distributions, however, lead to a very hot, or even negative, effective temperature in the energy intervals between these subbands

How much space is needed for decompressive surgery in malignant middle cerebral artery infarction: Enabling single-stage surgery.

INTRODUCTION Decompressive hemicraniectomy (DCE) is routinely performed for intracranial pressure control after malignant middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction. Decompressed patients are at risk of traumatic brain injury and the syndrome of the trephined until cranioplasty. Cranioplasty after DCE is itself associated with high complication rates. Single-stage surgical strategies may eliminate the need for follow-up surgery while allowing for safe brain expansion and protection from environmental factors. RESEARCH QUESTION Assess the volume needed for safe expansion of the brain to enable single-stage surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective radiological and volumetric analysis of all patients that had DCE in our clinic between January 2009 and December 2018 and met inclusion criteria. We investigated prognostic parameters in perioperative imaging and assessed clinical outcome. RESULTS Of 86 patients with DCE, 44 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Median brain swelling was 75.35 mL (8.7-151.2 mL). Median bone flap volume was 113.3 mL (73.34-146.1 mL). Median brain swelling was 1.62 mm below the previous outer rim of the skull (5.3 mm to -2.19 mm). In 79.6% of the patients, the volume of removed bone alone was equivalent to or larger than the additional intracranial volume needed for brain swelling. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The space provided by removal of the bone alone was sufficient to match the expansion of the injured brain after malignant MCA infarction in the vast majority of our patientsA subgaleal space-expanding flap with a minimal offset can provide protection from trauma and atmospheric pressure without compromising brain expansion