Collective Modes Research Articles

Urine Contamination Prevalence Using a Midstream Collection Device Compared with Clean Voided Collections in Dogs.

Collecting clean-caught voided urine samples is minimally invasive, but contamination occurs when urine passes through the nonsterile urethra and external genitalia. Discarding the initial urine stream may reduce these contaminants. This study hypothesized that using a midstream urine collection device would decrease bacterial and cellular contamination as compared with cleanly caught voided urine. This descriptive cross-sectional study collected urine from dogs using standard clean-caught (SCC), midstream collection device (MCD), and cystocentesis (CYS) techniques. Urinalysis and aerobic urine culture characteristics were recorded with each characteristic's prevalence described using percentages and 95% confidence intervals for each mode of collection. Positive urine culture prevalence did not differ between SCC and MCD (adjusted P value = .099); however, CYS had a lower prevalence compared with SCC and MCD (adjusted P values of <.001 [CYS versus SCC] and 0.009 [CYS versus MCD]). For other variables, there was no difference in prevalence when comparing SCC with MCD. There was no identified advantage to collecting urine using an MCD as compared with the SCC technique. Either option is a suitable alternative when CYS is not practical; however, clinicians need to interpret results cautiously because bacterial contamination is more common as compared with CYS.

Characteristics of web-based and paper-based respondents in The Danish Capital Region Health Survey

Abstract Background and aim This study aims to investigate the potential impact of adopting web-only surveys on the representativeness of survey participants by examining the sociodemographic characteristics of participants in the Danish Capital Region Health Survey (DCRHS) who respond online versus those who respond using a paper-based questionnaire. Methods The study utilizes data from the DCRHS including participants invited by a mixed-mode approach and given the choice to respond to a web-based or paper-based questionnaire in 2021 (N = 53,874) and 2017 (N = 51,902). Information on age and sex was obtained from national registers. Results The proportion of paper respondents decreased significantly from 18% in 2017 to 16% in 2021. In both years, women had higher odds of responding on paper compared with men (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.16-1.24). In 2017, the highest prevalence of paper respondents was observed among participants aged ≥80 (29%) and 16-24 years (21%). In 2021, the highest prevalence was likewise observed among participants aged ≥80 (28%) but with the second highest among the 65-79 years age group (17%). The decrease in paper responses from 2017 to 2021 varied across age groups, with a greater decrease among younger participants than among older participants. Conclusions This study highlights the potential risk of excluding a significant proportion of elderly citizens from large population surveys if the web-based response option is the only option provided. Elderly individuals are less likely than younger individuals to switch to digital responses, emphasizing the importance of considering alternative modes of data collection to ensure representativeness in survey samples. Key messages • The use of web-only surveys has increased; however, we risk excluding a significant proportion of elderly citizens from large population surveys if only the web-based response option is provided. • Elderly individuals are less likely to switch to digital responses, emphasizing the importance of considering alternative modes of data collection to ensure representativeness in survey samples.

Are answers affected by data collection on paper or online? The case of Belgian adolescents

Abstract Background In the early 2000s, the prevalence estimations were compared in relation with the mode of data collection, i.e. paper or online. Following the widely spread routine use of connected devices, especially in adolescents, such a monitoring is of interest. Within the 2022 “Health Behaviour in school-aged children” survey in French-speaking primary and secondary schools of Belgium, those participating could choose between paper and online collection. Our objective was to compare a large set of indicators between the two modes after adjusting for the students’ characteristics. Methods After a two-stage random selection of schools and classes, 11,751 10-to-20-year-old adolescents completed the questionnaire either on paper or online. Descriptive analysis and comparisons were conducted using chi2 and multiple logistic regressions adjusted for the students’ sociodemographic characteristics that may vary according to the questionnaire mode. Results Overall, 54.9% of the questionnaires were completed online. The choice of the collection mode provided to the schools’ headteachers was associated with the adolescents’ characteristics. Those who completed the questionnaire online were more likely to be in secondary schools, in Wallonia, and of a more favourable socioeconomic profile. After adjustments, no difference in the indicators regarding health, well-being, substance use, or sleep duration was observed. Conversely, a difference was observed for screen time (internet ≥2h/weekday: 70.4% on paper vs. 72.3% online; adjusted P-value: 0.02), some food groups (daily vegetables: 51.2% vs. 58.0%; P-value&amp;lt;0.001) and body weight status (overweight including obesity: 16.7% vs. 14.0%; P-value&amp;lt;0.001). Conclusions In some circumstances such as data collection in the school setting, mixed modes are still necessary due to operational issues. While most indicators did not show a difference between online and paper collection, potential implications for others need to be further understood. Key messages • Collecting data through online or paper questionnaires does not lead to major differences in prevalence estimates. • With the rise of online surveys, further assessment is required to understand the potential declaration biases.

Correlation Between Microscopic Current Fluctuations Observed at Ultra-Microelectrodes and Macroscopic Bulk Electrolysis Performance in Redox-Active Microemulsions

Abstract Microemulsions (µEs) have been proposed as redox flow battery (RFB) electrolytes that maximize ionic conductivity and charge capacity by synergizing two immiscible phases. However, charge transfer during electrolysis in µEs is poorly understood. Here, we show that ultramicroelectrode electrolysis of ferrocene-loaded µEs - 20%, 60%, and 90% water - reveals stochastic current fluctuations. These are differentiated in the scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) geometry, where power spectral density analysis showed distinct changes in the frequency contributions. SECM in the substrate generation-tip collection mode showed that fluctuations arise under mass-transfer control. Significant differences in the diffusion coefficient of ferrocene species were deducted from SECM approach curves, suggesting phase transfer behavior. Using bulk electrolysis, we calculated the charge accessibility and cycling behavior in the µEs. A decrease in the stochastic behavior of the µEs seems to correlate to a higher accessibility and cycling performance, with the 90% water µE displaying the best reversibility and the 60% the lowest. Altogether, these results suggest that Marangoni-type convection driven by concentration gradients and/or µE restructuring during charge transfer play a role in the electrochemical performance of µEs. This presents opportunities for screening and diagnosing the performance of these emerging RFB electrolytes.

Electronic interactions in Dirac fluids visualized by nano-terahertz spacetime interference of electron-photon quasiparticles.

Ultraclean graphene at charge neutrality hosts a quantum critical Dirac fluid of interacting electrons and holes. Interactions profoundly affect the charge dynamics of graphene, which is encoded in the properties of its electron-photon collective modes: surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Here, we show that polaritonic interference patterns are particularly well suited to unveil the interactions in Dirac fluids by tracking polaritonic interference in time at temporal scales commensurate with the electronic scattering. Spacetime SPP interference patterns recorded in terahertz (THz) frequency range provided unobstructed readouts of the group velocity and lifetime of polariton that can be directly mapped onto the electronic spectral weight and the relaxation rate. Our data uncovered prominent departures of the electron dynamics from the predictions of the conventional Fermi-liquid theory. The deviations are particularly strong when the densities of electrons and holes are approximately equal. The proposed spacetime imaging methodology can be broadly applied to probe the electrodynamics of quantum materials.

Practical considerations for developing and implementing a video mode for survey data collection

Practical considerations for developing and implementing a video mode for survey data collection

Strange sounds

This latter addresses the effects of long-ranged and/or retarded interactions on the bosonic collective modes in the so-called ‘strange metals’. Recently, there have been conflicting reports on the very existence of such stable collective excitations and their properties. Extending a number of approaches that have been previously used in the analyses of the standard Fermi liquid one finds evidence for, both, conventional and novel behaviors of the non-Fermi-liquid counterparts of the zero-, shear-, and other ‘sounds’.

Survey response rates in European comparative surveys: a 20-year decline irrespective of sampling frames or survey modes

AbstractThis paper assesses trends in three survey outcome rates within four prominent crossnationalcomparative surveys conducted in European countries in the 21st century: theEuropean Quality of Life Survey, the European Social Survey, the European ValuesStudy, and the International Social Survey Programme. These projects are recognisedfor their high-quality sampling and fieldwork procedures, extensive track records, andcommitment to rigorous methodological standards. The analysis is based on 753national surveys conducted on probability samples of the general population in 36European countries from 1999 to 2018. We investigated whether two essential surveycharacteristics, namely sampling frames and data collection modes, moderated thedecrease of survey outcome rates over time. To analyse these relationships, thesurvey year was included as the explanatory variable, and we applied multi-level linearregressions with surveys nested within countries. Additionally, the project name wasincorporated as a fixed factor, and the sampling frame and mode of data collectionwere control variables for the effect of time. Our study provides valuable insights intothe challenges of conducting high-quality Pan-European cross-national comparativesurveys over nearly two decades. We observed a consistent decline in survey outcomerates, irrespective of country or project. Neither the sampling frame nor the datacollection mode moderated this decline. Hence, even though personal register samplesand Face-to-Face interviews are often regarded as enhancements to overall surveyquality, their application does not effectively counter the factors causing a decline insurvey outcome rates.

Loss-induced collective mode in one-dimensional Bose gases

Loss-induced collective mode in one-dimensional Bose gases

Non-thermal fusion burning processes, relevant collective modes and gained perspectives

Abstract New tridimensional plasma structures, that are oscillatory and classified as non-separable ballooning modes, can emerge in inhomogeneous plasmas and undergo resonant mode-particle interactions, e.g. with a minority population, that can lead them to modify their spatial profiles. Thus, unlike the case of previously known ballooning modes their amplitudes are not separable functions of time and space. The relevant resonance conditions are intrinsically different from those of the well-known Landau conditions for (ordinary) plasma waves: they involve the mode geometry and affect different regions of the distribution in momentum space at different positions in configuration space. A process for a transfer of energy among different particle populations is envisioned.

Scramblon loops

In large N chaotic quantum systems, the butterfly effect is mediated by a collective field mode known as the “scramblon.” We study self-interactions of the scramblon in variants of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model. In spatially extended versions of the model and for large spatial separation, fluctuations described by loop diagrams can invalidate the single-scramblon approximation well before its contribution to out-of-time-order correlators becomes of order one. We find a qualitative difference between an incoherent regime at high temperaure (or in a Brownian version of the model) and a coherent regime at low temperature.

The giant graviton expansion in $AdS_5 \times S^5$

The superconformal index of \frac1212-BPS states of \mathcal{N}=4𝒩=4U(N)U(N) super Yang-Mills theory has a known infinite qq-series expression with successive terms suppressed by q^NqN. We derive a holographic bulk interpretation of this series by evaluating the corresponding functional integral in the dual AdS_5 × S^55×S5. The integral localizes to a product of small fluctuations of the vacuum and of the collective modes of an arbitrary number of giant-gravitons wrapping an S^3S3 of maximal size inside the S^5S5. The quantum mechanics of the small fluctuations of one maximal giant is described by a supersymmetric version of the Landau problem. The quadratic fluctuation determinant reduces to a sum over the supersymmetric ground states, and precisely reproduces the first non-trivial term in the infinite series. Further, we show that the terms corresponding to multiple giants are obtained precisely by the matrix versions of the above super-quantum-mechanics.

Willingness to Pay for Solid Waste Collection in Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone: An Analysis of Influencing Factors

This study assesses the willingness to pay for solid waste management services in Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone. The research aims to identify the key factors influencing this willingness. Five semi-urban communities were selected based on their population size, and 60 household heads from randomly selected households were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Using logistic regression analysis, we found that factors such as income, education, occupation, and satisfaction with the current waste management system had varying degrees of significance in influencing willingness to pay. However, variables such as mode of waste collection and age were found to have a significant effect. This study suggests that policymakers in Bo District should consider these factors when implementing fee-based waste collection services.

New Data Sources for Demographic Research

AbstractWe are in the early stages of a new era of demographic research that offers exciting opportunities to quantify demographic phenomena at a scale and resolution once unimaginable. These scientific possibilities are opened up by new sources of data, such as the digital traces that arise from ubiquitous social computing, massive longitudinal datasets produced by the digitization of historical records, and information about previously inaccessible populations reached through innovations in classic modes of data collection. In this commentary, we describe five promising new sources of demographic data and their potential appeal. We identify cross‐cutting challenges shared by these new data sources and argue that realizing their full potential will demand both innovative methodological developments and continued investment in high‐quality, traditional surveys and censuses. Despite these considerable challenges, the future is bright: these new sources of data will lead demographers to develop new theories and revisit and sharpen old ones.

Imagination switch – Friction and thick time in speculative worldmaking

The inability to respond to the environmental crises has been argued to stem from the crisis of imagination that underlies modernity. In response, the potentials of speculative approaches have been explored. This article presents a speculative worldmaking project conducted in a secondary school with young people. The project involved three consecutive phases, last of which is more closely examined. Next to the ideas and stories produced with young people, the paper discusses ways in which the unfolding of the project made perceptible certain challenges in schooling. Through ethnographic narrating and leaning on the concepts of friction and thick time, the article shows how speculative worldmaking can function as an ontological tool and as critical intervention. Through presenting a novel storytelling space and approach, the Living Room, it shows how space can be made for more collective and response-able modes of multispecies storytelling within a neoliberal institutional setting, in this instance a secondary school. Instead of being akin to a swich that can be turned on or off at command, imagination figures as a matter of multiple worlds, rhythms, times, and responses.

Decoherence-induced formation of sub-poissonian entangled and steerable states of collective fields

The decoherence process has a tendency to yield the evolution of a pure state into a mixed one and to cause the quantum-to-classical transition by the coupling of a system of interest to the reservoir with infinitely many degrees of freedom. This is the major obstacle to the implementation of quantum computation and hence the realization of quantum computers. We propose a scheme to create unconditionally sub-Poissonian entangled and steerable states of the collective cavity field modes by use of the dissipation process. Based on the suitable choice of combination modes, the scheme uses the inherent, efficient and controllable two-mode squeezed vacuum reservoir coupled to the combination modes of concern rather than the original cavity modes in the two-level quantum beat laser. The decoherence is shown to pull the collective modes into the sub-Poissonian entangled and steerable states in the stationary regime, while the job of the dissipation of the individual cavity fields is to give rise to the degradation of the bipartite entanglement of the two individual modes and to inhibit the occurrence of the quantum steering from one cavity mode to the other. In particular for the case that the external driving field is close to the exact resonance with the atom, the collective fields are eventually prepared asymptotically in the stationary Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen state, while the two individual cavity modes are pulled into the vacuum states and reach steady state. The disappearance of the decoherence disables the nonclassical states of the collective modes, while the ignorance of the dissipation process of the cavity field modes guarantees the generation of the entanglement between the pair of individual modes. The decoherence-induced formation of a nonclassical source is ascribed to the four-wave mixing process together with the intrinsic amplitude and phase locking.

Characteristic terahertz emissions induced by optically excited collective orbital modes

Characteristic terahertz emissions induced by optically excited collective orbital modes

Hunting the Cell Cycle Snark.

In this very personal hunt for the meaning of the bacterial cell cycle, the snark, I briefly revisit and update some of the mechanisms we and many others have proposed to regulate the bacterial cell cycle. These mechanisms, which include the dynamics of calcium, membranes, hyperstructures, and networks, are based on physical and physico-chemical concepts such as ion condensation, phase transition, crowding, liquid crystal immiscibility, collective vibrational modes, reptation, and water availability. I draw on ideas from subjects such as the 'prebiotic ecology' and phenotypic diversity to help with the hunt. Given the fundamental nature of the snark, I would expect that its capture would make sense of other parts of biology. The route, therefore, followed by the hunt has involved trying to answer questions like "why do cells replicate their DNA?", "why is DNA replication semi-conservative?", "why is DNA a double helix?", "why do cells divide?", "is cell division a spandrel?", and "how are catabolism and anabolism balanced?". Here, I propose some relatively unexplored, experimental approaches to testing snark-related hypotheses and, finally, I propose some possibly original ideas about DNA packing, about phase separations, and about computing with populations of virtual bacteria.

Generation of quantum entanglement and Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen steering in a hybrid qubit-cavity optomagnonic system

We propose a scheme to generate quantum entanglement and Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) steering in a hybrid qubit-cavity optomagnonic system. This hybrid system consists of a microwave cavity, a yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) sphere, and a superconducting qubit. Due to the existence of the effective parametric (beamsplitter) coupling between the optical mode and the magnon mode (superconducting qubit), the quantum entanglement and EPR steering between the magnon and qubit modes can be achieved. It is found that bipartite entanglement and one-way quantum steering are limited to a narrow range of parameters, while two-way quantum steering appears in a wide range of parameters. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the entanglement between the magnon and the collective dressed modes, as well as the conversion of one-way quantum steering, can also be achieved. Our scheme may provide a feasible approach to exploring quantum information processing.

Data-driven approach for identifying the factors related to debt collector performance

The company's success and growth heavily rely on its workforce's performance, yet the evaluation of employees has been only partially and inconclusively executed so far. The primary goal of this research is to build an open innovation framework for analyzing the performance of the debt collector. We have developed the Reinforcement Learning based Continual Learning (RLC) approach for evaluating the performance by analyzing the metrics such as visit patterns and collection percentage. We have used the private debt collection dataset to assess the debt collector's performance. We formulated hypotheses derived from insights gained during exploratory data analysis and subsequently validated them through statistical testing. Whether there are noticeable distinctions among debt collectors in terms of visitation frequency, collection rates, and collection modes. This proposed open innovation framework for analyzing the debt collector performance provides significant variation in terms of collection rate. The proposed EDQN-CL achieved a 13.56 % higher classification rate than the existing algorithm for categorizing the debt collector performance.