Making kirigami-inspired cuts into a sheet has been shown to be an effective way of designing stretchable materials with metamorphic properties where the 2D shape can transform into complex 3D ...shapes. However, finding the optimal solutions is not straightforward as the number of possible cutting patterns grows exponentially with system size. Here, we report on how machine learning (ML) can be used to approximate the target properties, such as yield stress and yield strain, as a function of cutting pattern. Our approach enables the rapid discovery of kirigami designs that yield extreme stretchability as verified by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We find that convolutional neural networks, commonly used for classification in vision tasks, can be applied for regression to achieve an accuracy close to the precision of the MD simulations. This approach can then be used to search for optimal designs that maximize elastic stretchability with only 1000 training samples in a large design space of ∼4×10^{6} candidate designs. This example demonstrates the power and potential of ML in finding optimal kirigami designs at a fraction of iterations that would be required of a purely MD or experiment-based approach, where no prior knowledge of the governing physics is known or available.
In the past decades, it was recognized that quantum chaos, which is essential for the emergence of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, manifests itself in the effective description of the ...eigenstates of chaotic Hamiltonians through random matrix ensembles and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. Standard measures of chaos in quantum many-body systems are level statistics and the spectral form factor. In this work, we show that the norm of the adiabatic gauge potential, the generator of adiabatic deformations between eigenstates, serves as a much more sensitive measure of quantum chaos. We are able to detect transitions from integrable to chaotic behavior at perturbation strengths orders of magnitude smaller than those required for standard measures. Using this alternative probe in two generic classes of spin chains, we show that the chaotic threshold decreases exponentially with system size and that one can immediately detect integrability-breaking (chaotic) perturbations by analyzing infinitesimal perturbations even at the integrable point. In some cases, small integrability breaking is shown to lead to anomalously slow relaxation of the system, exponentially long in system size.
Ultrathin black phosphorus is a two-dimensional semiconductor with a sizeable band gap. Its excellent electronic properties make it attractive for applications in transistor, logic and optoelectronic ...devices. However, it is also the first widely investigated two-dimensional material to undergo degradation upon exposure to ambient air. Therefore a passivation method is required to study the intrinsic material properties, understand how oxidation affects the physical properties and enable applications of phosphorene. Here we demonstrate that atomically thin graphene and hexagonal boron nitride can be used for passivation of ultrathin black phosphorus. We report that few-layer pristine black phosphorus channels passivated in an inert gas environment, without any prior exposure to air, exhibit greatly improved n-type charge transport resulting in symmetric electron and hole transconductance characteristics.
Graphene's exceptional mechanical properties, including its highest-known stiffness (1 TPa) and strength (100 GPa), have been exploited for various structural applications. However, graphene is also ...known to be quite brittle, with experimentally measured tensile fracture strains that do not exceed a few percent. In this work, we introduce the notion of graphene kirigami, where concepts that have been used almost exclusively for macroscale structures are applied to dramatically enhance the stretchability of both zigzag and armchair graphene. Specifically, we show using classical molecular-dynamics simulations that the yield and fracture strains of graphene can be enhanced by about a factor of 3 using kirigami as compared to standard monolayer graphene. Finally, we demonstrate that this enhanced ductility in graphene may open up interesting opportunities in coupling to graphene's electronic behavior.
Classical statistical mechanics has long relied on assumptions such as the equipartition theorem to understand the behavior of the complicated systems of many particles. The successes of this ...approach are well known, but there are also many well-known issues with classical theories. For some of these, the introduction of quantum mechanics is necessary, e.g., the ultraviolet catastrophe. However, more recently, the validity of assumptions such as the equipartition of energy in classical systems was called into question. For instance, a detailed analysis of a simplified model for blackbody radiation was apparently able to deduce the Stefan-Boltzmann law using purely classical statistical mechanics. This novel approach involved a careful analysis of a "metastable" state which greatly delays the approach to equilibrium. In this paper, we perform a broad analysis of such a metastable state in the classical Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou (FPUT) models. We treat both the α-FPUT and β-FPUT models, exploring both quantitative and qualitative behavior. After introducing the models, we validate our methodology by reproducing the well-known FPUT recurrences in both models and confirming earlier results on how the strength of the recurrences depends on a single system parameter. We establish that the metastable state in the FPUT models can be defined by using a single degree-of-freedom measure-the spectral entropy (η)-and show that this measure has the power to quantify the distance from equipartition. For the α-FPUT model, a comparison to the integrable Toda lattice allows us to define rather clearly the lifetime of the metastable state for the standard initial conditions. We next devise a method to measure the lifetime of the metastable state tm in the α-FPUT model that reduces the sensitivity to the exact initial conditions. Our procedure involves averaging over random initial phases in the plane of initial conditions, the P1-Q1 plane. Applying this procedure gives us a power-law scaling for tm, with the important result that the power laws for different system sizes collapse down to the same exponent as Eα2→0. We examine the energy spectrum E(k) over time in the α-FPUT model and again compare the results to those of the Toda model. This analysis tentatively supports a method for an irreversible energy dissipation process suggested by Onorato et al.: four-wave and six-wave resonances as described by the "wave turbulence" theory. We next apply a similar approach to the β-FPUT model. Here, we explore in particular the different behavior for the two different signs of β. Finally, we describe a procedure for calculating tm in the β-FPUT model, a very different task than for the α-FPUT model, because the β-FPUT model is not a truncation of an integrable nonlinear model.
Vaccination against COVID-19 provides clear public health benefits, but vaccination also carries potential risks. The risks and outcomes of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination are unclear.
To ...describe reports of myocarditis and the reporting rates after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination in the US.
Descriptive study of reports of myocarditis to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) that occurred after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine administration between December 2020 and August 2021 in 192 405 448 individuals older than 12 years of age in the US; data were processed by VAERS as of September 30, 2021.
Vaccination with BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna).
Reports of myocarditis to VAERS were adjudicated and summarized for all age groups. Crude reporting rates were calculated across age and sex strata. Expected rates of myocarditis by age and sex were calculated using 2017-2019 claims data. For persons younger than 30 years of age, medical record reviews and clinician interviews were conducted to describe clinical presentation, diagnostic test results, treatment, and early outcomes.
Among 192 405 448 persons receiving a total of 354 100 845 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines during the study period, there were 1991 reports of myocarditis to VAERS and 1626 of these reports met the case definition of myocarditis. Of those with myocarditis, the median age was 21 years (IQR, 16-31 years) and the median time to symptom onset was 2 days (IQR, 1-3 days). Males comprised 82% of the myocarditis cases for whom sex was reported. The crude reporting rates for cases of myocarditis within 7 days after COVID-19 vaccination exceeded the expected rates of myocarditis across multiple age and sex strata. The rates of myocarditis were highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males aged 12 to 15 years (70.7 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), in adolescent males aged 16 to 17 years (105.9 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), and in young men aged 18 to 24 years (52.4 and 56.3 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine and the mRNA-1273 vaccine, respectively). There were 826 cases of myocarditis among those younger than 30 years of age who had detailed clinical information available; of these cases, 792 of 809 (98%) had elevated troponin levels, 569 of 794 (72%) had abnormal electrocardiogram results, and 223 of 312 (72%) had abnormal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging results. Approximately 96% of persons (784/813) were hospitalized and 87% (577/661) of these had resolution of presenting symptoms by hospital discharge. The most common treatment was nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (589/676; 87%).
Based on passive surveillance reporting in the US, the risk of myocarditis after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was increased across multiple age and sex strata and was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men. This risk should be considered in the context of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.
The International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity is a consensus statement that creates a standard nomenclature for classification of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). It was initially ...published in 1984, expanded in 1987, and revisited in 2005. This article presents a third revision, the International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity, Third Edition (ICROP3), which is now required because of challenges such as: (1) concerns about subjectivity in critical elements of disease classification; (2) innovations in ophthalmic imaging; (3) novel pharmacologic therapies (e.g., anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents) with unique regression and reactivation features after treatment compared with ablative therapies; and (4) recognition that patterns of ROP in some regions of the world do not fit neatly into the current classification system.
Review of evidence-based literature, along with expert consensus opinion.
International ROP expert committee assembled in March 2019 representing 17 countries and comprising 14 pediatric ophthalmologists and 20 retinal specialists, as well as 12 women and 22 men.
The committee was initially divided into 3 subcommittees-acute phase, regression or reactivation, and imaging-each of which used iterative videoconferences and an online message board to identify key challenges and approaches. Subsequently, the entire committee used iterative videoconferences, 2 in-person multiday meetings, and an online message board to develop consensus on classification.
Consensus statement.
The ICROP3 retains current definitions such as zone (location of disease), stage (appearance of disease at the avascular-vascular junction), and circumferential extent of disease. Major updates in the ICROP3 include refined classification metrics (e.g., posterior zone II, notch, subcategorization of stage 5, and recognition that a continuous spectrum of vascular abnormality exists from normal to plus disease). Updates also include the definition of aggressive ROP to replace aggressive-posterior ROP because of increasing recognition that aggressive disease may occur in larger preterm infants and beyond the posterior retina, particularly in regions of the world with limited resources. ROP regression and reactivation are described in detail, with additional description of long-term sequelae.
These principles may improve the quality and standardization of ROP care worldwide and may provide a foundation to improve research and clinical care.
Resonant transverse driving of a two-level system as viewed in the rotating frame couples two degenerate states at the Rabi frequency, an equivalence that emerges in quantum mechanics. While ...successful at controlling natural and artificial quantum systems, certain limitations may arise (e.g., the achievable gate speed) due to nonidealities like the counterrotating term. We introduce a superconducting composite qubit (CQB), formed from two capacitively coupled transmon qubits, which features a small avoided crossing—smaller than the environmental temperature—between two energy levels. We control this low-frequency CQB using solely baseband pulses, nonadiabatic transitions, and coherent Landau-Zener interference to achieve fast, high-fidelity, single-qubit operations with Clifford fidelities exceeding 99.7%. We also perform coupled qubit operations between two low-frequency CQBs. This work demonstrates that universal nonadiabatic control of low-frequency qubits is feasible using solely baseband pulses.
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