The dynamics of a quantum phase transition are explored using slow quenches from the polar to the broken-axisymmetry phases in a small spin-1 ferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate. Measurements of ...the evolution of the spin populations reveal a power-law scaling of the temporal onset of excitations versus quench speed as predicted from quantum extensions of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. The satisfactory agreement of the measured scaling exponent with the analytical theory and numerical simulations provides experimental confirmation of the quantum Kibble-Zurek model.
In this study, by using a characterisation of functions having a fractional derivative, the authors propose a rigorous fractional Lyapunov function candidate method to analyse the stability of ...fractional-order nonlinear systems. First, they prove an inequality concerning the fractional derivatives of convex Lyapunov functions without the assumption of the existence of the derivative of pseudo-states. Second, they establish fractional Lyapunov functions to fractional-order systems without the assumption of the global existence of solutions. Their theorems fill the gaps and strengthen results in some existing papers.
Electrodeposition of CuAg alloy films from plating baths containing 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole (DAT) as an inhibitor yields high surface area catalysts for the active and selective electroreduction ...of CO2 to multicarbon hydrocarbons and oxygenates. EXAFS shows the co-deposited alloy film to be homogeneously mixed. The alloy film containing 6% Ag exhibits the best CO2 electroreduction performance, with the Faradaic efficiency for C2H4 and C2H5OH production reaching nearly 60 and 25%, respectively, at a cathode potential of just −0.7 V vs RHE and a total current density of ∼ – 300 mA/cm2. Such high levels of selectivity at high activity and low applied potential are the highest reported to date. In situ Raman and electroanalysis studies suggest the origin of the high selectivity toward C2 products to be a combined effect of the enhanced stabilization of the Cu2O overlayer and the optimal availability of the CO intermediate due to the Ag incorporated in the alloy.
We aimed to determine the efficacy of multiple micronutrient supplementation on the biomarkers of iron, zinc, and vitamin A status across anthropometric status categories in Vietnamese school ...children. In this 22-week randomised controlled trial, 347 undernourished, normal weight, or overweight/obese children aged 6-9 years were allocated to receive every school day a multiple micronutrient supplement (10 mg iron, 10 mg zinc, 400 µg vitamin A) or a placebo. Haematological indices; circulating ferritin, zinc, and retinol (corrected for inflammation); and C-reactive protein were measured at baseline and 22 weeks. At week 22, linear mixed models showed that mean corpuscular volume increased by 0.3 fL, serum ferritin by 9.1 µg/L, plasma zinc by 0.9 µmol/L, and plasma retinol by 15%, and the prevalence of zinc deficiency decreased by 17.3% points in the intervention group compared to placebo. No intervention effects were found for other haematological indices, or the prevalence of anaemia. Multiple micronutrient supplementation for 22 weeks improved the biomarkers of zinc and vitamin A status and some biomarkers of iron status, and reduced the prevalence of zinc deficiency in Vietnamese school children.Trial registration: This trial was registered on 06/09/2016 at www.anzctr.org.au as ACTRN12616001245482.
Variational Level Set (LS) has been a widely used method in medical segmentation. However, it is limited when dealing with multi-instance objects in the real world. In addition, its segmentation ...results are quite sensitive to initial settings and highly depend on the number of iterations. To address these issues and boost the classic variational LS methods to a new level of the learnable deep learning approaches, we propose a novel definition of contour evolution named Recurrent Level Set (RLS) 1 to employ Gated Recurrent Unit under the energy minimization of a variational LS functional. The curve deformation process in RLS is formed as a hidden state evolution procedure and updated by minimizing an energy functional composed of fitting forces and contour length. By sharing the convolutional features in a fully end-to-end trainable framework, we extend RLS to Contextual RLS (CRLS) to address semantic segmentation in the wild. The experimental results have shown that our proposed RLS improves both computational time and segmentation accuracy against the classic variational LS-based method whereas the fully end-to-end system CRLS achieves competitive performance compared to the state-of-the-art semantic segmentation approaches.
Multi-access edge computing (MEC) and nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) are two enabling technologies in the 5 G network and beyond. MEC admits user equipments (UEs) running many more ...compute-intensive applications by providing computing capabilities at the network edge and within radio access networks, while NOMA enables multiple UEs to share the same resource block, thus leveraging considerable advantages such as greater spectral efficiency and a larger number of supported UEs. The state-of-the-art showed that the combination of NOMA and MEC can lower the energy consumption and/or overall latency; however, they mostly focused on single-carrier NOMA. In this paper, we investigate the computation offloading problem in multi-carrier NOMA enabled MEC systems and solve it from the cooperative game theory viewpoint using coalition formation game. Particularly, UEs are considered as game players and subcarriers are regarded as coalitions that can be used for computation offloading of multiple UEs. Based on the introduced coalition formation game, we develop a low-complexity algorithm with convergence guarantee to achieve the Nash-stable solution. Numerical results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed coalition game based algorithm as well as its comparison with three baseline schemes.
Creative approaches to the design of catalytic nanomaterials are necessary in achieving environmentally sustainable energy sources. Integrating dissimilar metals into a single nanoparticle (NP) ...offers a unique avenue for customizing catalytic activity and maximizing surface area. Alloys containing five or more equimolar components with a disordered, amorphous microstructure, referred to as High-Entropy Metallic Glasses (HEMGs), provide tunable catalytic performance based on the individual properties of incorporated metals. Here, we present a generalized strategy to electrosynthesize HEMG-NPs with up to eight equimolar components by confining multiple metal salt precursors to water nanodroplets emulsified in dichloroethane. Upon collision with an electrode, alloy NPs are electrodeposited into a disordered microstructure, where dissimilar metal atoms are proximally arranged. We also demonstrate precise control over metal stoichiometry by tuning the concentration of metal salt dissolved in the nanodroplet. The application of HEMG-NPs to energy conversion is highlighted with electrocatalytic water splitting on CoFeLaNiPt HEMG-NPs.
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is an increasing burden for global health. The prevalence of ABR in Southeast Asia is among the highest worldwide, especially in relation to hospital-acquired infections ...(HAI) in intensive care units (ICU). However, little is known about morbidity and mortality attributable to ABR in neonates.
This study aimed to assess mortality and the length of hospitalization attributable to ABR in gram-negative bacteria (GNB) causing HAI in a Vietnamese neonatal ICU (NICU).
We conducted a prospective cohort study (n = 296) in a NICU in Hanoi, Vietnam, from March 2016 to October 2017. Patients isolated with HAI caused by GNB were included. The exposure was resistance to multiple antibiotic classes, the two outcomes were mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS). Data were analysed using two regression models, controlling for confounders and effect modifiers such as co-morbidities, time at risk, severity of illness, sex, age, and birthweight.
The overall case fatality rate was 44.3% and the 30 days mortality rate after infection was 31.8%. For every additional resistance to an antibiotic class, the odds of a fatal outcome increased by 27% and LOS increased by 2.1 days. These results were statistically significant (p < 0.05).
ABR was identified as a significant risk factor for adverse outcomes in neonates with HAI. These findings are generally in line with previous research in children and adults. However, heterogeneous study designs, the neglect of important confounders and varying definitions of ABR impair the validity, reliability, and comparability of results.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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