Questions In Physics Research Articles

Zooming in on brownian motion with optical trapping microscopy

Optical trapping microscopy unravels open questions in statistical physics by making ultraprecise measurements of Brownian motion in diverse fluid environments. Moreover, the advent of pulsed lasers promises to push the boundaries even further, offering insights on how the compressibility of fluid flow affects Brownian particles at previously unexplored time scales.

Cross-sectional insights into exercise physiology knowledge among medical students in Jordan.

Exercise physiology is a branch of physiology that studies how physical activity and exercise alter the structure and function of living organisms. Knowledge of exercise physiology is crucial to improve athletic performance, improve people's ability to cope with extreme circumstances and approach chronic diseases. This research aimed to evaluate the knowledge of future healthcare professionals, namely, the medical students in Jordan regarding exercise physiology. Responses were collected from 524 undergraduate medical students enrolled in clinical clerkship. An online survey that evaluated participants' basic understanding of various physiological concepts related to physical exercises, such as respiratory exchange ratio, physical fitness, V̇O2 max and exercise at high altitudes was employed in the study. 63.2% of participants had a poor level of exercise physiology knowledge. Misconceptions regarding V̇O2 max definition (93.3%), application (46.4%), significance (35.6%) and related physiological factors (48.7%) were observed. Students had misconceptions about physical fitness evaluation questions (52.5%, 39%, and 41.8%, respectively). Student proportions of 37%, 41%, 80.3% and 73.1% showed misconceptions about muscle groups and energy systems during training, training prescription variables, respiratory exchange ratio, and high-altitude performance, respectively. Significant differences in knowledge levels were found based on respondent characteristics (p < 0.05). Knowledge of exercise physiology is more than desirable for medical professionals. Therefore, efforts must be made to increase awareness and improve knowledge about basic physiological fundamentals related to exercise physiology among medical students in Jordan, as they represent the backbone of healthcare professionals of the future who will deal with medical conditions related to physical activity and exercise.

Answer to January 2024 Figuring Physics Question

Answer to January 2024 Figuring Physics Question

Documenting psychosocial attitudes of persons with aphasia following semantic-based therapy: an exploratory study

Quality of life (QOL) for individuals with aphasia is very individualistic and subjective as the condition presents multifaceted impairments in communication skills. Most intervention strategies for persons with aphasia (PWA) emphasise improving communication and insignificantly focus on a person's social and emotional well-being, which are vital for effective social communication. The present study aims to analyse the effects of a semantic-based treatment approach on the QOL of PWA. The current study inculcated a “modified pre-test post-test design” to study the impact of semantic cueing for verbs and its thematic role (SCVTr) therapy among eleven Kannada-speaking PWAs. The Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life-39 (SAQOL-39) Kannada version assessed QOL among PWAs. SAQOL-39 includes 39 physical, psychosocial, communication, and energy questions. The questionnaire was administered in pre-, mid-, post-, and follow-up phases after SCVTr therapy. The study deployed qualitative, quantitative, and visual inspection methods. The qualitative and quantitative scores for QOL measures showed pronounced effects among most participants across pre- to mid- to post-treatment phases. In addition, the results of maintenance of the QOL were observed among most participants post-SCVTr therapy. The uptrend in QOL among PWAs is attributed to the semantic activation enhanced through SCVTr protocol, near normal physical mobility, adequate social network, and family support, with a barrier-free environment. The study's findings pave the way for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) on the importance of aphasia intervention and its effect on QOL. Indeed, SLPs must observe every PWA beyond linguistic deficits and attempt to notice the psychosocial level, which may invariably vary with severity and other individualistic factors.

On solution of fractional kinetic equation involving Riemann xi function via Sumudu transform

Several significant questions of mathematics and mathematical physics have been effectively explained and answered through the use of fractional kinetic equations containing special functions. Due to the high importance of arbitrary-order kinetic equations, the aim of this work is to obtain the solution of a new arbitrary-order kinetic equation related to the Riemann xi function. The Sumudu transform technique is used to solve it. The findings are plotted with the help of MATLAB R2016a. The outcomes of the paper are in the form of an infinite series representation of the Riemann xi function and in terms of the Mittag-Leffler function.

Students’ perceptions of using ChatGPT in a physics class as a virtual tutor

The latest development of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), particularly ChatGPT, has drawn the attention of educational researchers and practitioners. We have witnessed many innovative uses of ChatGPT in STEM classrooms. However, studies regarding students’ perceptions of ChatGPT as a virtual tutoring tool in STEM education are rare. The current study investigated undergraduate students’ perceptions of using ChatGPT in a physics class as an assistant tool for addressing physics questions. Specifically, the study examined the accuracy of ChatGPT in answering physics questions, the relationship between students’ ChatGPT trust levels and answer accuracy, and the influence of trust on students’ perceptions of ChatGPT. Our finding indicates that despite the inaccuracy of GenAI in question answering, most students trust its ability to provide correct answers. Trust in GenAI is also associated with students’ perceptions of GenAI. In addition, this study sheds light on students’ misconceptions toward GenAI and provides suggestions for future considerations in AI literacy teaching and research.

THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF COMPANION ROBOTIC PETS ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER WOMEN

Abstract This project explores whether companion robotic pets improve mental well-being of community-dwelling older women with depression. Depression is a major mental health issue disproportionately impacting women due to lifelong experiences of sexism and limitations in education and employment. Aging exacerbates an already undervalued status, and feelings of powerlessness increase. Women thus experience double jeopardy from discrimination on both gender and age (Hooyman et al., 2017). This project will investigate the efficacy of companion robotic pets and will recommend plans to the local Office for Aging (OFA). Recruitment was done in collaboration with the local OFA, with mail-survey data collected from community-dwelling women over the age of 65. 38 participants were provided with a robotic pet after an initial screening. Following a one-group pretest posttest design, data from 31 participants were used to determine the impact of a robotic pet intervention on older women’s quality of life. Paired samples t-tests were used to compare means of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), 10-item Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), 6-item De Jong Loneliness Scale, and one physical health status question completed by 30 women. There was a significant average difference between before- and after-companion pet scores for depression (t29 = 6.597, p &amp;lt; 0.001), anxiety (t29 = 6.728, p &amp;lt; 0.001), loneliness (t29 = 6.462, p &amp;lt; 0.001) and physical health (t29 = - 3.496, p = 0.002). Results confirmed companion robotic pets improve mental health in older women with depression and anxiety. Moreover, they are helpful in improving loneliness and physical health.

Entanglement Growth and Minimal Membranes in (d+1) Random Unitary Circuits.

Understanding the nature of entanglement growth in many-body systems is one of the fundamental questions in quantum physics. Here, we study this problem by characterizing the entanglement fluctuations and distribution of a (d+1)-dimensional qubit lattice evolved under a random unitary circuit. Focusing on Clifford gates, we perform extensive numerical simulations of random circuits in 1≤d≤4 dimensions. Our findings demonstrate that properties of growth of bipartite entanglement entropy are characterized by the roughening exponents of a d-dimensional membrane in a (d+1)-dimensional elastic medium.

Quantum simulator on a single chip

Effective quantum simulators could enable researchers to gain deeper insights into unresolved questions in physics. Researchers in the EPIQUS project are working to develop a quantum simulator on a single silicon chip, bringing together electronic, photonic and quantum components, as Dr Mher Ghulinyan explains.

Answer to December 2023 Figuring Physics Question

Answer to December 2023 Figuring Physics Question

The tensor of the exact circle: reconstructing geometry

Developing a theory for quantum gravity is one of the big open questions in theoretical high-energy physics. Recently, a tensor model approach has been considered that treats tensors as the generators of commutative non-associative algebras, which might be an appropriate interpretation of the canonical tensor model. In this approach, the non-associative algebra is assumed to be a low-energy description of the so-called associative closure, which gives the full description of spacetime including the high-energy modes. In the previous work it has been shown how to (re)construct a topological space with a measure on it, and one of the prominent examples that was used to develop the framework was the exact circle. In this work we will further investigate this example, and show that it is possible to reconstruct the full Riemannian geometry by reconstructing the metric tensor. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how diffeomorphisms behave in this formalism, firstly by considering a specific class of diffeomorphisms of the circle, namely the ellipses, and subsequently by performing an explicit diffeomorphism to ‘smoothen’ sets of points generated by the tensor rank decomposition.

Characterizing inertial particle clustering with 1D signals

Preferential concentration in turbulent flows laden with inertial particles still presents many open fundamental physics questions. These gaps hinder the reconciliation of different experimental and numerical studies into a coherent quantitative view, which is needed to enable accurate high resolution modeling. We examine the influence of the dimensionality of the measurement technique (1D line, 2D planes or 3D volumes) on the characterization of cluster properties/preferential concentration, and proposes an approach to disentangle the cluster-characterizing results from random contributions that could contaminate the cluster statistical analysis. We studied this effect by projecting 2D and 3D data snapshots containing inertial particle clusters onto a 1D axis. The objective was to simulate 1D sensors (widely used experimentally: hot wire, fiber optics probes, LDV/PDA, etc) with different sensing lengths. These projected records were analysed by means of one-dimensional Voronoï tessellations. For the experimental parameters explored in this study, our results retrieved average clustering properties, when the measuring window is equal or larger than the Kolmogorov length scale (η), and smaller than of the integral length scale of the turbulence . These observations are consistent with previous research using 2D and 3D datasets taken under similar experimental conditions. The raw probability density function (PDF) of the Voronoï length in 1D does not provide error-free information on the clusters size or local concentration. This measurement bias is corrected based on the histograms of the number of particles within each cluster. Importantly, the analysis of these histograms explains the well-known clusters size PDFs power law reported in previous numerical and experimental research using 2D and 3D datasets. This power-law behavior, however, spanning less than a decade, is not robust in 1D. To address this, we use conditioned statistics (on the number of particles inside each cluster) to discern between turbulence-driven clustering and random particle concentration fluctuations. This secondary analysis complements standard cluster identification algorithms that rely on Voronoï tessellations.

Exploring Capabilities of Large Language Models such as ChatGPT in Radiation Oncology

PurposeTechnological progress of machine learning and natural language processing has led to the development of large language models (LLMs), capable of producing well-formed text responses and providing natural language access to knowledge. Modern conversational LLMs such as ChatGPT have shown remarkable capabilities across a variety of fields, including medicine. These models may assess even highly specialized medical knowledge within specific disciplines, such as radiation therapy. We conducted an exploratory study to examine the capabilities of ChatGPT to answer questions in radiation therapy. Methods and MaterialsA set of multiple-choice questions about clinical, physics, and biology general knowledge in radiation oncology as well as a set of open-ended questions were created. These were given as prompts to the LLM ChatGPT, and the answers were collected and analyzed. For the multiple-choice questions, it was checked how many of the answers could be clearly assigned to one of the answers, and the proportion of correct answers was determined. For the open-ended questions, independent blinded radiation oncologists evaluated the quality of the answers regarding correctness and usefulness on a 5-point Likert scale. Furthermore, the evaluators were asked to provide suggestions for improving the quality of the answers. ResultsFor 70 multiple-choice questions, ChatGPT gave valid answers in 66 cases (94.3%). In 60.61% of the valid answers, the selected answer was correct (50.0% of clinical questions, 78.6% of physics questions, and 58.3% of biology questions). For 25 open-ended questions, 12 answers of ChatGPT were considered as “acceptable,” “good,” or “very good” regarding both correctness and helpfulness by all 6 participating radiation oncologists. Overall, the answers were considered “very good” in 29.3% and 28%, “good” in 28% and 29.3%, “acceptable” in 19.3% and 19.3%, “bad” in 9.3% and 9.3%, and “very bad” in 14% and 14% regarding correctness/helpfulness. ConclusionsModern conversational LLMs such as ChatGPT can provide satisfying answers to many relevant questions in radiation therapy. As they still fall short of consistently providing correct information, it is problematic to use them for obtaining medical information. As LLMs will further improve in the future, they are expected to have an increasing impact not only on general society, but also on clinical practice, including radiation oncology.

Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life, Pain and Functional Parameters in People with Hemophilia and People with Osteoarthritis - a Comparative Follow-up of Physiotherapeutic Training (Physio-FUN Study)

Background: Spontaneous joint bleeding is common in people with hemophilia (PWH). These bleeds lead to reduced physical activity and thus to a weakening of the musculature. Common sequelae of this are synovitis and cartilage damage. In the long term, secondary osteoarthritis, so-called hemophilic arthropathy, occurs with changes and progressive destruction of joint structures (Lafeber et al., 2008). Hemophilic arthropathy is age-independent and can lead to severe movement restrictions and significant limitations in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of affected PWH (Varaklioti et al., 2018). To prevent advanced stages of arthropathy not only regular assessment of musculoskeletal status and early detection of symptoms, but also daily rehabilitation exercises at home, and implementation of appropriate physiotherapy and medical training are important (Bossard et al., 2008). Home exercises and manual therapy can be used without causing bleeding or pain to improve pain, HRQoL and functionality (Tat et al., 2021). The primary aim of the Physio-FUN study was to assess the subjective (Hemophilia Exercise Project Test-Questionnaire [HEP-Test-Q]) and objective physical functioning (Hemophilia Joint Health Score [HJHS]) during the course of 1-year applied physiotherapy comparing PWH with arthropathy and patients with osteoarthritis (PWO). Methods: In this prospevtive, controlled monocentric cohort study it was planned to enroll 20 adult PWH A or B compared to 20 gender-matched adult PWO without a bleeding disorder. Patients with a blood pressure ≥ 180/110 mmHg were excluded. A positive ethical approval for the study was obtained by the Ethics Committee North Rhine, Germany. After informed consent had been obtained, the study participants underwent examinations based on clinician-reported outcomes (ClinRO) and performance outcomes (PerfO) and completed different patient-reported outcomes (PROs). ClinROs included ultrasound, functional movement screen (FMS) and the collection of anthropometric and clinical data; PerfOs included cardiopulmonary performance, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), blood pressure measurement before and after 6MWT, joint mobility (neutral-zero method) and Functional Movement Screen (FMS) to evaluate movement pattern quality; PROs included the assessment of sociodemographic data, HRQoL (SF-12), Physical Activity Questions (EPIC - Simple Index), pain sensation scale (SES) and Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) measuring physical activity intensity level. All patients took part in regular physiotherapy (once a week) at the ARZD as prescribed by a physician. During the study, PWH continued to receive their usual hemophilia treatment regimen without study-related changes. Over a period of 12 months, ClinROs, PerfOs and PROs were collected repeatedly on a quarterly basis. Each patient was supposed to participate in 5 measure points (baseline, every 12 weeks over a one-year period). Ultrasound examinations were performed at baseline and at the conclusion at MZP5 in all patients. Results: At baseline 17 PWH (mean age 43.29±13.1 years) and 12 PWO (mean age 61.42±8.5 years) were enrolled; most PWH had HA (88.2%) were severely affected (58.8%) and 6/17 had a knee endoprosthesis. 88.2% of PWH had a disabled card (most with a disability degree of ≥ 80) compared to 45.5% of PWO (most with a disability degree of 50). PWH had a significant worse orthopaedic joint status ( p&amp;lt;.002) and subjective physical functioning ( p&amp;lt;.001) compared to PWO; PWH had a mean HJHS of 26.76±18.0 vs. 11.0±5.7 and a mean HEP-Test-Q of 48.12±16.4 vs. 67.08±9.1. PWO reported highest impairments in the domain ‘mobility’, while PWH suffered mainly under reduced ‘endurance’. With respect to their age, height and weight most of the PWH were below the predicted lower limit of the 6MWD compared to the PWO who all were above the lower limit of the 6MWD. No difference was found between the groups regarding FMS (11.34±3.8) and RPE before (11.5±3.3) after 6MWT (11.5±3.3). Conclusions: Our study took place during the Corona pandemic and was quite time consuming for the participants, resulting in a failure to reach the desired number of cases and lead to a high drop-out rate over the duration of the project. Although PWH were significantly younger than PWO, they had a significantly worse subjective (HEP-Test-Q) and objective physical functioning (HJHS).

Gravitational decoherence by the apparatus in the quantum-gravity-induced entanglement of masses

Abstract One of the outstanding questions in modern physics is how to test whether gravity is classical or quantum in a laboratory. Recently there has been a proposal to test the quantum nature of gravity by creating quantum superpositions of two nearby neutral masses, close enough that the quantum nature of gravity can entangle the two quantum systems, but still sufficiently far away that all other known Standard Model interactions remain negligible. However, preparing superposition states of a neutral mass (the light system) requires the vicinity of laboratory apparatus (the heavy system). We will suppose that such a heavy system can be modelled as another quantum system; since gravity is universal, the lighter system can get entangled with the heavier system, providing an inherent source of gravitational decoherence. In this paper, we will consider a toy model composed of two light and two heavy quantum oscillators prepared in the motional ground state, forming pairs of probe-detector systems, and study under what conditions the entanglement between two light systems evades the decoherence induced by the heavy systems. We conclude by estimating the decoherence in the proposed experiment for testing the quantum nature of gravity.

Answer to November 2023 Figuring Physics Question

Answer to November 2023 Figuring Physics Question

ENHANCING TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATORS TO ACCOMMODATE VERNACULAR LANGUAGE DIVERSITIES IN HANANG DISTRICT, TANZANIA

&lt;p&gt;The study assessed public primary school teachers' strategies for accommodating learners with vernacular language backgrounds in Hanang District, Tanzania. The study involved 110 participants, including 44 teachers and 49 pupils, 4 Ward Education Officers, 1 School Quality Assurance Officer, 1 District Primary Academic Officer, and 11 head teachers. The study employed a mixed research approach. The study selected the sample size using simple random and purposive sampling, and we collected the data through questionnaires, interviews, and observation. The collected data was analyzed using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). The study's findings indicated that most public primary school teachers in Hanang used multiple teaching strategies, such as songs, total physical response, questions and answers, the direct method, and reading aloud, to accommodate pupils with vernacular language backgrounds. These strategies were most frequently employed in lower levels, exceptionally standard one and two. Further, primary school teachers were using teaching and learning materials like pictures, photographs, drawings, cards, flip charts, and natural objects. Also, primary school teachers assess and evaluate their pupils through written exercises, tests, questions and answers, and oral quizzes. The study concluded that multiple teaching strategies helped learners with vernacular backgrounds in public primary schools to master Kiswahili. Also, the assessment and evaluation tools in public primary schools effectively accommodated all pupils’ capabilities and levels of skills. Therefore, teachers should construct standard tests. Hence, the study recommended that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) organize seminars, workshops and in-service training (IN-SET) to update and impart new knowledge to the teachers on using teaching strategies and preparing practical assessment tools. The government should also employ enough primary school teachers specialized in early childhood education, construct many classrooms and supply sufficient and relevant teaching and learning materials.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/soc/0016/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Detecting High-energy Neutrino Minibursts from Local Supernovae with Multiple Neutrino Observatories

Growing evidence from multiwavelength observations of extragalactic supernovae (SNe) has established the presence of dense circumstellar material in Type II SNe. Interaction between the SN ejecta and the circumstellar material should lead to diffusive shock acceleration of cosmic rays and associated high-energy emission. Observation of high-energy neutrinos along with the MeV neutrinos from SNe will provide unprecedented opportunities to understand unanswered questions in cosmic-ray and neutrino physics. We show that current and future neutrino detectors can identify high-energy neutrinos from an extragalactic SN in the neighborhood of the Milky Way. We present the prospects for detecting high-energy neutrino minibursts from SNe in known local galaxies, and demonstrate how the network of multiple high-energy neutrino detectors will extend the horizon for the identification of high-energy SN neutrinos. We also discuss high-energy neutrino emission from SN 2023ixf.

Answer to October 2023 Figuring Physics Question

Answer to October 2023 Figuring Physics Question

Analyzing University Entrance Exam Physics Questions using Physics Problems Taxonomy for Cognitive Processes

University students often find physics challenging due to physical and mathematical obstacles, poor mathematical skills, and inadequate problem-solving abilities. This perception affects their interest and performance in the subject. High school students also struggle with numerical problems and understand curricular topics that lack concrete examples and require mathematical manipulations or visualization. Analyzing physics problems is crucial for guiding curriculum development, contributing to physics education, identifying students' difficulties in understanding and solving problems, and improving the process of physics education at all educational levels. Taxonomies are hierarchical frameworks used in education to classify educational learning goals or objectives according to their complexity. Bloom's Taxonomy, Anderson and Krathwohl's revised taxonomy, Lee Shulman's learning grid, Marzano's New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (NTEO), and the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP) are all essential tools for understanding and improving educational learning outcomes. The study adapted the TIPP taxonomy into Turkish and analyzed 7 physics questions in the 2023 BPT. Results showed 3 questions were at recall, 1 at comprehension, and 3 at analysis, with no question at using knowledge. The study demonstrates that TIPP is a useful taxonomy for teachers to plan, apply, and evaluate knowledge and algorithms in solving physics problems, identifying students' needs. This taxonomy allows educators to create questions that engage students at all cognitive levels, promoting cognitive engagement. Researchers can analyze physics questions in the TYT and AYT in earlier years.