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Materials for quantum technologies: A roadmap for spin and topology
Get PDFIn this perspective article, we explore some of the promising spin and topology material platforms (e.g., spins in semiconductors and superconductors, skyrmionic, topological, and two-dimensional materials) being developed for such quantum components as qubits, superconducting memories, sensing, and metrological standards, and discuss their figures of merit. Spin- and topology-related quantum phenomena have several advantages, including high coherence time, topological protection and stability, low error rate, relative ease of engineering and control, and simple initiation and readout. However, the relevant technologies are at different stages of research and development, and here, we discuss their state-of-the-art, potential applications, challenges, and solutions
Lender of last resort in China: operating mechanism, legal foundation, and the financial stability implication
Get PDFAs a crucial component of the financial safety net, the central bank's Lender of Last Resort (LOLR) regime plays a vital role in maintaining financial stability. This paper examines the LOLR frameworks in the United Kingdom and United States before analysing China's current LOLR regime, its legal foundations, and potential risks. The study explores the unique characteristics of China's financial system and how they shape its LOLR practices. We identify several challenges within the existing Chinese LOLR regime, including regulatory gaps, moral hazard concerns, and the need for enhanced supervisory. Drawing on international experiences and China's specific context, we propose a series of recommendations to strengthen the effectiveness and resilience of China's LOLR regime. These suggestions aim to bolster the central bank's capacity to respond to financial crises, mitigate systemic risks, and ensure the long-term stability of China's financial sector. By addressing these critical aspects, this research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on optimizing financial safety nets in emerging economies and underscores the importance of a robust LOLR regime in China's evolving financial landscape
Hadamard states for decomposable Green-hyperbolic operators
No full textHadamard states were originally introduced for quantised Klein--Gordon fields and occupy a central position in the theory of quantum fields on curved spacetimes. Subsequently they have been developed for other linear theories, such as the Dirac, Proca and Maxwell fields, but the particular features of each require slightly different treatments. This paper gives a generalised definition of Hadamard states for linear bosonic and fermionic theories encompassing a range of theories that are described by Green-hyperbolic operators with 'decomposable' Pauli--Jordan propagators, including theories whose bicharacteristic curves are not necessarily determined by the spacetime metric. The new definition reduces to previous definitions for normally hyperbolic and Dirac-type operators. We develop the theory of Hadamard states in detail, showing that our definition propagates under the equation of motion, and is also stable under pullbacks and suitable pushforwards. There is an equivalent formulation in terms of Hilbert space valued distributions, and the generalised Hadamard condition on 2-point functions constrains the singular behaviour of all n-point functions. For locally covariant theories, the Hadamard states form a covariant state space. It is also shown how Hadamard states may be combined through tensor products or reduced by partial tracing while preserving the Hadamard property. As a particular application it is shown that state updates resulting from nonselective measurements preserve the Hadamard condition. The treatment we give was partly inspired by a recent work of Moretti, Murro and Volpe (MMV) [Ann. H. Poincare 24, 3055-3111 (2023)] on the neutral Proca field. Among the other applications, we revisit the neutral Proca field and prove a complete equivalence between the MMV definition of Hadamard states and an older work of Fewster and Pfenning [J. Math. Phys. 44, 4480--4513 (2003)]
Exploring womenโs views towards No-Lo alcohol products during pregnancy:a photo elicitation guided qualitative study
No full textIntegrating procurement, prescription, and resistance data to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship: insights from a public health institution in India
Get PDFIntroduction: Sustained and sub-optimal antimicrobial use drives antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a major health systems challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as India. This study examined the relationship between institutional antimicrobial procurement and outpatient prescribing patterns, and how these influence resistance trends identified through antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) in a public community hospital.
Methods: Data were collected from three sources: (i) procurement records (2018โ2022), (ii) AST results from urine, pus, and stool samples (2023โ2024), and (iii) outpatient prescriptions (2023โ2024). Each dataset was analyzed individually and in an integrated framework to assess interrelationships between antimicrobial use and resistance.
Results: Amoxicillin-clavulanate, ciprofloxacin, and doxycycline were among the most procured drugs, with Escherichia coli (urine) resistance rates of 53%, 87%, and 39%, respectively. The most frequently prescribed antimicrobials were Amoxicillin-Clavulanate (24%), Cefixime (15%), and Azithromycin (11%); over 50% were broad-spectrum agents and over 90% belonged to the WHO AWaRe โAccessโ category. Correlation analysis revealed a weak positive association between procurement and sensitivity, indicating that higher procurement did not necessarily increase resistance.
Discussion: These findings demonstrate the feasibility of linking institutional datasets to identify inefficiencies in antimicrobial use and guide evidence-based stewardship interventions, including formulary revision, procurement alignment, and data-driven prescribing practices
Economic cost of current and alternative models of multidisciplinary care of Juvenileโonset Huntington's Disease
Get PDFBackground
Multidisciplinary care has been advocated for Juvenile-onset Huntington's Disease but there has been no detailed analysis of this.
Objectives
To evaluate the current economic costs of providing health care for patients with Juvenile-onset Huntington's disease (JoHD) and to model the effects and economic costs of providing a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach.
Methods
Patients were recruited through the patientsโ organization, the Huntington's Disease Association, and specialist Huntington's disease clinics. Thirty-three adapted Client Service Receipt Inventories were completed following either a telephone or in-person interview. The effects of delivering two models of providing a systematic MDT approach, traditional in-person MDT and digital MDT were assessed.
Results
The overall mean JoHD cost to the NHS per year (2020) was ยฃ126,966 which varied according to disease severity, costing just under ยฃ11,000 in mild disease, ยฃ132,419 in moderate disease, and ยฃ221,797 in advanced JoHD. The proportion of indirect costs to families and carers was 64% for mild disease and 17% for advanced disease. Assuming a 50% reduction in health care professionals seen, the alternative models saw reduction costs of ยฃ2490 and ยฃ2730, respectively.
Conclusion
We document the high cost of care in JoHD, particularly as the disease progresses towards the later stages. We present estimates from modeling the effects of providing a systematic MDT approach to the care of patients and families with JoHD. These data have clear implications in the consideration of future JoHD models of care in an increasingly digital age and can be developed further as disease modifying treatments become available
Multi-objective Bayesian Optimization for Experimental Design in Copolymerization and Revealing Chemical Mechanism of Pareto Fronts
Get PDFThe chemical properties of copolymers are strongly influenced by a number of intrinsic characteristics, such as their molecular weight and their monomer composition ratio. Identifying the optimal conditions for the copolymerization process that result in a synthesized copolymer with the desired characteristics is a major challenge. Optimization of the copolymerization process has traditionally been based on trial-and-error approaches by humans, relying on empirical rules. Thus, the design space that can be explored experimentally is severely limited by time and economic constraints. In addition, solving problems such as nonuniformity of both the temperature and the concentration of chemicals in the reaction field is also challenging. In this study, we established multiobjective Bayesian optimization and flow copolymerization systems to explore optimal copolymerization conditions for synthesizing copolymers that simultaneously exhibit multiple target characteristics. Finally, we visualized Pareto fronts representing trade-offs between polymer characteristics and employed quantum chemical calculations to reveal the chemical origins of the Pareto fronts
Make your ownโฆDiscover-ring
Get PDFThe Polycrisis Research Network is a group of researchers at the University of Leeds. They study how big problems like climate change, pollution and people not getting along, are all connected like pieces of a big puzzle.
Instead of looking at each problem one by one, they figure out how they connect with each other, so we can find smarter, longer-lasting solutions and build stronger communities. They use creative, hands-on methods to explain tricky ideas, for example:
โข Feedback loops - when one thing causes another, like if you shout in a cave and your voice bounces back.
โข Tipping points - when small changes make a big difference, like adding one more block to a tower and it suddenly falls.
โข System rhythms - patterns that happen again and again, like the seasons or your heartbeat.
By inviting people to take part in activities, discussions, and projects, the Network helps people understand these ideas through real experience and shows that our actions matter.
The Network want to help people learn from their experiences and come up with clever ideas and work together to make the world a better place
Shielding Effectiveness of Enclosures:Characterising the Transition from Reverberant to Resonant Behavior
Get PDFUnderstanding the shielding effectiveness (SE) of enclosures across different frequency ranges is crucial for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) applications. While well-established methods exist for evaluating SE in the reverberant frequency range, the transition between reverberant and resonant behavior remains less explored. This paper investigates the shielding performance of a brass enclosure containing Transmission Line Representative Contents (TL ReCos) across the reverberant, transition, and resonant frequency regions. The study employs a mechanically stirred reverberation chamber (RC) to analyze the SE response using a combination of wall-mounted and internal monopole antennas. Results confirm the existence of a transition frequency region with change in field distribution and SE behavior. The findings highlight how variations in frequency, internal contents, and measurement positions influence SE, providing valuable insights for enclosure design and EMC testing
Spatially localised doubly diffusive convection in an axisymmetric spherical shell
Get PDFDoubly diffusive convection describes the fluid motion driven by the competing buoyancy forces generated by temperature and salinity gradients. While the resulting convective motions usually occupy the entire domain, parameter regions exist where the convection is spatially localised. Although well studied in planar geometries, spatially localised doubly diffusive convection has never been investigated in a spherical shell, a geometry of relevance to astrophysics. In this paper, numerical simulation is used to compute spatially localised solutions of doubly diffusive convection in an axisymmetric spherical shell. Several families of spatially localised solutions, named using variants of the word convecton, are found and their bifurcation diagram computed. The various convectons are distinguished by their symmetry and by whether they are localised at the poles or at the equator. We find that, because the convection rolls that develop in the spherical shell are not straight but curve around the inner sphere, their strength varies with latitude, making the system prone to spatial modulation. As a consequence, spatially periodic states do not form from primary bifurcations and localised states are forced to arise via imperfect bifurcations. While the direct relevance of this work is to doubly diffusive convection, parallels drawn with the SwiftโHohenberg equation suggest a wide applicability to other pattern-forming systems in similar geometries
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