Potential Fluctuations Research Articles

Strengthened Antimicrobial and Biocompatible of Jelleine-1 Analogs: A Step Toward Food Preservation

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), as important components of the innate immune system, are deemed to have the potential to replace antibiotics and traditional chemical preservatives due to their natural antibacterial properties and less likely to cause bacterial resistance. In this study, the antimicrobial peptide Jelleine-1 derived from bee royal jelly was used as a template, which provided an effective design scheme for short-chain AMPs based on a natural structure. The peptide structure was characterized by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy, and the antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility were evaluated. Additionally, a preliminary study on the antibacterial mechanism was carried out. The results indicated that the designed peptides predominantly exhibited a regular β-sheet conformation, in which J-R and F-K had strong antibacterial activity and excellent biocompatibility, the average therapeutic index (TI) was 23.83 and 30.67. The antibacterial mechanism suggested that the increased outer membrane permeability caused strong fluctuation of bacterial cell membrane potential and cytoplasmic depolarization through electrostatic adsorption to the bacterial membrane surface, and further induced inner membrane damage, eventually leading to bacterial death. This study provides a promising approach to the design and development of innovative biological preservatives.

Optimising Malaysia’s power mix for a sustainable future: a multi-scenario modelling approach

PurposeThis study employs advanced modelling to assess the effectiveness of Malaysia’s current energy policies in achieving a low-carbon future. By optimising a 100% renewable energy mix, including energy storage, the research identifies pathways to decarbonise the power sector while minimising costs. These findings will inform the development of future policies.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs the Stockholm Environment Institute-developed Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) and Next Energy Modeling system for Optimization (NEMO) to construct and optimise a comprehensive Malaysian power sector model. The model encompasses both electricity supply, including diverse electricity generation sources and demand across key sectors. Three scenarios – existing policy, optimised existing policy and more ambitious policy (near-zero emissions) – are analysed.FindingsSolar photovoltaic (PV) is the dominant technology, but realising its full potential requires significant grid upgrades. While natural gas expansion underpins Malaysia’s decarbonisation strategy, solar and storage offer a cleaner and potentially cost-effective alternative. Rapid technological advancements in clean energy increase stranded asset risk for new gas power plants. Malaysia’s abundant bioenergy resources need more tapping. This can contribute to decarbonisation and rural development. Transitioning to a fully renewable grid necessitates substantial investments in energy storage and grid infrastructure. While falling battery costs and regional interconnection can mitigate costs, careful consideration of potential disruptions and cost fluctuations is essential for resilience.Research limitations/implicationsEnergy sector modelling results are inherently dependent on input assumptions, such as future technology costs, resource availability and fossil fuel prices. These factors can be highly uncertain. While this study did not conduct sensitivity analyses to explore how variations in these assumptions might affect the results (e.g. cost variations across scenarios, technology mix fluctuations), the core findings provide valuable insights into potential decarbonisation pathways for Malaysia’s power sector. Future studies could build upon this work by incorporating sensitivity analyses to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how key results might change under a wider range of future possibilities.Originality/valueThis study co-optimises a 100% renewable energy mix for Malaysia, incorporating a comprehensive range of renewable resources, battery and pumped hydro storage. The research also provides a unique perspective on the interplay of philosophical underpinnings, psychological maturity and energy policy.

Cooling Trapped Ions with Phonon Rapid Adiabatic Passage

In recent demonstrations of the quantum charge-coupled device computer architecture, circuit times are dominated by cooling. Some motional modes of multi-ion crystals take orders of magnitude longer to cool than others because of low coolant ion participation. Here we demonstrate a new technique, that solves this issue by coherently exchanging the thermal populations of selected modes on timescales short compared to direct cooling. Using this method, which we call “phonon rapid adiabatic passage,” we can achieve subquanta temperatures from initial states with occupations as high as n¯∼200 quanta. Analogous to adiabatic rapid passage, we quasistatically couple these slow-cooling modes with fast-cooling modes using dc electric fields. When the crystal is then adiabatically ramped through the resultant avoided crossing, nearly complete phonon population exchange results. We demonstrate this on two-ion crystals, and show the indirect ground-state cooling of all radial modes—achieving an order of magnitude speedup compared to direct cooling. We also show the technique’s insensitivity to trap potential and control field fluctuations, and find that it still achieves subquanta temperatures starting as high as n¯∼200. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Latent dynamics of primary sensory cortical population activity structured by fluctuations in the local field potential.

As emerging technologies enable measurement of precise details of the activity within microcircuits at ever-increasing scales, there is a growing need to identify the salient features and patterns within the neural populations that represent physiologically and behaviorally relevant aspects of the network. Accumulating evidence from recordings of large neural populations suggests that neural population activity frequently exhibits relatively low-dimensional structure, with a small number of variables explaining a substantial fraction of the structure of the activity. While such structure has been observed across the brain, it is not known how reduced-dimension representations of neural population activity relate to classical metrics of "brain state," typically described in terms of fluctuations in the local field potential (LFP), single-cell activity, and behavioral metrics. Hidden state models were fit to spontaneous spiking activity of populations of neurons, recorded in the whisker area of primary somatosensory cortex of awake mice. Classic measures of cortical state in S1, including the LFP and whisking activity, were compared to the dynamics of states inferred from spiking activity. A hidden Markov model fit the population spiking data well with a relatively small number of states, and putative inhibitory neurons played an outsize role in determining the latent state dynamics. Spiking states inferred from the model were more informative of the cortical state than a direct readout of the spiking activity of single neurons or of the population. Further, the spiking states predicted both the trial-by-trial variability in sensory responses and one aspect of behavior, whisking activity. Our results show how classical measurements of brain state relate to neural population spiking dynamics at the scale of the microcircuit and provide an approach for quantitative mapping of brain state dynamics across brain areas.

Cellular mechanisms of synchronized rhythmic burst generation in the ventromedial hypothalamus.

The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) plays an important role in feeding behavior and control of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The VMH includes a group of neurons that exhibit strong synchronized rhythmic burst firing (so-called VMH oscillation). This VMH oscillation is glucose inhibited, responsive to feeding-related peptides, and is functionally coupled to outputs of the SNS. However, the details of its rhythm generation and synchronization mechanisms are unknown. In the present study, we investigated cellular mechanisms of VMH oscillation by means of electrophysiological recordings and calcium imaging in juvenile rat slice preparations including the VMH. In the electrophysiological study, we performed membrane potential recording from neurons in the vicinity of pipettes for field potential recording. We found that the rhythmic bursts in the VMH were preserved in low Ca2+/high Mg2+ synaptic transmission blockade solution. During membrane hyperpolarization by current injection, the action potential was largely inhibited, but fluctuation of the membrane potential remained with a frequency similar to that at resting potential level. The electric VMH oscillation disappeared after application of either a gap junction blocker, carbenoxolone (100µM), or a persistent sodium channel blocker, riluzole (20µM). Membrane potentials and input resistances of rhythmic burst neurons in the VMH were not significantly changed during these manipulations. A calcium imaging study revealed that all VMH cells exhibiting synchronized rhythmic activity detected by intracellular calcium increases were silenced following the application of carbenoxolone. These results suggest that VMH oscillation arises from the activation of persistent sodium channels and coupling via gap junctions.

Comparative analysis of income level in matched small farms with and without eucalyptus plantations in Senan, Ethiopia

The cultivation of eucalyptus trees is a widely practiced economic activity in the highlands of the Amhara region, Ethiopia. This study investigates the causal impact of eucalyptus plantation ownership on household income within the Senan District of Ethiopia. Using cross-sectional data from 332 rural households, comprising 166 households with eucalyptus plantations and 166 without, the study employed a two-sample t-test comparison to compare the income level of households in the two groups. To identify the key factors influencing household income, the study conducted a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to isolate the causal impact of eucalyptus plantations on household income. This involved estimating propensity scores using a binary logistic regression model. The Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) analysis revealed that households that plant eucalyptus trees had 40.2 % higher total household income than those that did not participate in such activities. Therefore, considering potential demand and market fluctuations, eucalyptus tree growers need to diversify their livelihood strategies by utilizing the income generated from their plantations.

Microstate Analyses to Study face Processing in Healthy Individuals and Psychiatric Disorders: A Review of ERP Findings.

Microstates represent brief periods of quasi-stable electroencephalography (EEG) scalp topography, offering insights into dynamic fluctuations in event-related potential (ERP) topographies. Despite this, there is a lack of a comprehensive systematic overview of microstate findings concerning cognitive face processing. This review aims to summarize ERP findings on face processing using microstate analyses and assess their effectiveness in characterizing face-related neural representations. A literature search was conducted for microstate ERP studies involving healthy individuals and psychiatric populations, utilizing PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, PsychInfo, and Scopus databases. Twenty-two studies were identified, primarily focusing on healthy individuals (n = 16), with a smaller subset examining psychiatric populations (n = 6). The evidence reviewed in this study suggests that various microstates are consistently associated with distinct ERP stages involved in face processing, encompassing the processing of basic visual facial features to more complex functions such as analytical processing, facial recognition, and semantic representations. Furthermore, these studies shed light on atypical attentional neural mechanisms in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), facial recognition deficits among emotional dysregulation disorders, and encoding and semantic dysfunctions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In conclusion, this review underscores the practical utility of ERP microstate analyses in investigating face processing. Methodologies have evolved towards greater automation and data-driven approaches over time. Future research should aim to forecast clinical outcomes and conduct validation studies to directly demonstrate the efficacy of such analyses in inverse space.

Electrical properties of completely compensated single-crystal Ge-on-GaAs films with two-dimension Coulomb disorder

We present electrical properties of heavily doped and completely compensated Ge films grown on semiinsulating GaAs(100) substrates by vacuum evaporation. The thin (∼100 nm) Ge films are single-crystal and characterized using temperature-dependent transport measurements, with anomalously large activation energy up to half the Ge bandgap, anisotropy of the transverse magnetoresistance, high resistivity (up to 140 Ω cm), low free charge carrier mobility (∼50 cm2/V·s), and concentration (∼1014–1015 cm−3). This behaviour is attributed to a completely compensated semiconductors arising from Ga and As impurity incorporation and large-scale potential fluctuations. Analysis suggests a two-dimensional percolative transport mechanism in Ge-on-GaAs heterostructures.

Realization of grain growth and suppressed bulk defects for efficient solution-processed Cu2ZnSn (S, Se)4 solar cells via co-doping strategy

Environmentally benign and earth-abundant constituent’s kieserite Cu2ZnSn (S, Se)4 (Cotises) is considered as a hopeful photovoltaic material. Unfortunately, the severe tail state caused by various harmful deep defects in CZTSSe absorber prevents further development of its device efficiency. Here, we report firstly that the Co was incorporated into CZTSSe films to form the Cu2CoxZn1-xSn (S, Se)4 (CCZTSSe) films using a two-step annealing and solution-processing technique method. Through optimized the Co/(Co+Zn) ratio, the CCZTSSe film has excellent good surface morphology and single-phase composition. Appropriate amount of Co elements replacing Zn elements in CZTSSe films can effectively reduce the degree of Cu-Zn disorder, thus inhibiting [2CuZn+SnZn] defect clusters and CuZn defects. The detrimental deep defects located in the film were effectively passivated to reduce electrostatic potential fluctuations, resulting in relief of the trailing state. Therefore, a champion device having an efficiency of 7.50 % with a fill factor (FF) of 61.00 % was achieved from CCZTSSe with 3 % Co content. This work provides new insights into the impacts of Co doping in CZTSSe by a solution processed method and offers a deeper comprehension of the origin of the efficiency enhancement of CCZTSSe devices.

Investigations on the effect of arsenic and phosphorus atomic exchange on the origin of crystal potential fluctuations in InAsP/InP epilayers

The study investigates the anion exchange mechanism between the ad-atoms of arsenic and phosphorus followed by their inter-diffusion processes, in InAsP/InP hetero-structures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy technique. The energetics and kinetics of the ad-atoms like arsenic and phosphorus are governed by the growth conditions. It has been found that the percolation of arsenic and phosphorus in the epilayer depends on various factors, such as gas-phase diffusion coefficients, surface reaction rates, misfit strain energy, bond energy, segregations, and the presence of defects and dislocations. Effects of anion exchange mechanisms on generating local crystal potential states that originated due to the local crystal bonding environment are further investigated. The magnitude of these local potential states strongly depends on the strain states associated with the layer thickness. If the difference between the potential minima is small (< 25 meV), it leads to distinct “S” shaped temperature-dependent luminescence/absorption spectra. In contrast, a large difference gives rise to two distinctive luminescence/absorption peaks. Thus, by controlling the strain states associated with the energetics and kinetics of ad-atoms like arsenic/phosphorus and layer thickness, such “S” shaped behavior can be controlled.

Investigation of the Durability of a Water Electrolysis Cell with Iridium Fiber Anode Against Voltage Fluctuations Simulating Wind Power

Durability of a water electrolysis cell against the voltage fluctuations is focused on in this study. An accelerated potential fluctuation test was performed for a newly developed MEA with Iridium fiber anode in our lab. In the first 40 sets of the test, no positive effect of the fiber structure was seen, and rather the fast current loss related to gas stagnation was observed. That was assumed to be owing to the coverage on inter-fiber pores by extra Nafion® ionomer. However, in the latter 40 sets, the expansion of the anode layer was confirmed by SEM images, and the rate of gas stagnation was decreased. Furthermore, the recovery of I-V performance after the rest period was sufficiently good, and almost no irreversible degradation was considered. Therefore, the Iridium fiber anode most likely has high durability against the increased internal pressure in the anode layer derived by stagnated gases.

Cost-effective production of Titania nanoparticles for the modification of transformer insulating oil

Nanofluids are prospective solutions for improving the transformer dielectric strengthby adding nanoparticles to the standard oils used in transformers.Oil-based titania nanofluids are becoming increasingly popular due to their superior insulating qualities and distinctive thermal performance, and they areconsideredas possible replacements in the domains of transformer insulating oils.This paper describes the industrial synthesis of titania nanoparticles for improving the insulating characteristics of virgin oil used in transformers.The titania nanoparticles were analyzed using an X-ray diffractogram (XRD), which revealed a prominent peak at Bragg angle 25O, indicating that the titania nanoparticles were generated in the anatase phase. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy study endorsed the formation of Ti-O-Ti, Ti-OH, C-H and O-H stretching vibrations at 760 cm−1, 1345 cm−1, 2475 cm−1, and 3646 cm−1 wavenumbers respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) examinations on the produced titania nanoparticles revealed that the particles had a circular shape with a diameter of 55 nm and an average roughness value of roughly 3.6 nm respectively.The viscosity of the host virgin oil and the nanoparticles-filled nanofluid were examined, and higher viscosity values were found as particle concentration increased.The effective conductivity study with the zeta potential and thermal conductivity fluctuation with temperature variation also revealed that at higher temperatures, conductivity with the zeta potential increased and thermal conductivity dropped. Furthermore, the breakdown strength of the titania nanoparticles-based virgin oil was observed to be effectively increased with the particle concentration.

Evolution and fluctuations of chiral chemical potential in heavy ion collisions

The possible appearance of the effects of local parity breaking in the QCD medium formed in heavy ion collisions due to violation of chiral symmetry can be quantified by corresponding chiral chemical potential [Formula: see text]. The experimental observables sensitive to the effects of local parity violation in strong interaction include search for polarization splitting of the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons via angular dependence of spectral functions in their decay to leptons. In this paper, we study the space-time evolution and fluctuations of [Formula: see text] using relativistic hydrodynamics and estimate their effect on the light vector meson polarization splitting in Pb–Pb collisions at LHC energy.

Sub-threshold neuronal activity and the dynamical regime of cerebral cortex

Cortical neurons exhibit temporally irregular spiking patterns and heterogeneous firing rates. These features arise in model circuits operating in a ‘fluctuation-driven regime’, in which fluctuations in membrane potentials emerge from the network dynamics. However, it is still debated whether the cortex operates in such a regime. We evaluated the fluctuation-driven hypothesis by analyzing spiking and sub-threshold membrane potentials of neurons in the frontal cortex of mice performing a decision-making task. We showed that while standard fluctuation-driven models successfully account for spiking statistics, they fall short in capturing the heterogeneity in sub-threshold activity. This limitation is an inevitable outcome of bombarding single-compartment neurons with a large number of pre-synaptic inputs, thereby clamping the voltage of all neurons to more or less the same average voltage. To address this, we effectively incorporated dendritic morphology into the standard models. Inclusion of dendritic morphology in the neuronal models increased neuronal selectivity and reduced error trials, suggesting a functional role for dendrites during decision-making. Our work suggests that, during decision-making, cortical neurons in high-order cortical areas operate in a fluctuation-driven regime.

Biallelic TYR and TKFC variants in Egyptian patients with OCA1 and new expanded TKFC features

BackgroundOculocutaneous albinism type1 (OCA1) is caused by the TYR gene's homozygous and compound heterozygous variants. TKFC gene variants cause triokinase & FMN cyclase deficiency syndrome with variable multisystemic disorders.ObjectivesTo determine the potential disease-causing variants in two deceased patients presenting atypical OCA1 features by demonstrating three generations for a single family. The two deceased neonates had severe skeletal abnormalities and fatal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We also explored the potential mechanisms for the causative relationship between TKFC and multisystem disorders.Patients and methodsDue to the new emerging symptoms that weren’t reported before with the TYR gene, the following methods were performed: Sanger sequencing for the TYR gene, followed by whole exome sequencing, co-segregation, and computational analyses.ResultsExtensive parental consanguinity was found, and consequently an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance was prioritized. Upon performing sequencing and segregation data, the following has been confirmed: positive co-segregation of nonsense homozygous NM_000372.5:c.346C > T p.(Arg116*) variant in TYR gene and multisystem disease-missense homozygous NM_015533.4:c.598G > A p.(Val200Ile) variant in TKFC gene in the two affected index patients who deceased due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Using computational analysis, we found that c.598G > A p.(Val200Ile) pathogenicity has led to the failure of L2-K1 active site closure due to the potential differential fluctuation between valine and isoleucine residues. Subsequently, disruption of endogenous DHA phosphorylation was found. Two potential mechanisms exploring the causative relationship between TKFC gene and multisystem disorders have been suggested.ConclusionsThis study presented a first family with the co-existence of biallelic variants in TYR and TKFC genes associating severe skeletal abnormalities and lethal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Neither of these genes would have been pursued in the standard genetic counseling. Such discovery is paving the way for more efficient genetic counseling. Comparing TKFC results with literature data showed that our relevant expanded TKFC variant is the 3rd worldwide.

Prospects of green hydrogen production in the Philippines from solar photovoltaic and wind resources: A techno-economic analysis for the present and 2030

As global temperatures continue to rise, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is more important than ever – demanding an urgent transition to renewable energy systems. In this study, the potential for green hydrogen production from solar and wind sources in the Philippines is explored. Renewable energy systems can yield higher decarbonization by producing green hydrogen, potentially an ‘energy vector’ for industrial, power, and transportation applications, thereby representing a promising solution for the nation's energy transition. This study explores the competitiveness of green hydrogen production in the Philippines through a comprehensive techno-economic analysis to predict the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) derived from solar- and wind-powered electrolysis. The 2030 projections explore three scenarios, each representing varying research and development intensities resulting in different electrolyzer costs. The resulting LCOH values underscore the need for economic policy interventions to slash hydrogen costs to a competitive level. The present and near-future costs and attributes of electrolysis technologies still fall short compared to fossil fuel-based pathways. Furthermore, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are conducted to investigate subsidy and policy requirements, and random changes to costs. The findings of this work provide a comprehensive understanding of the potential fluctuations and challenges in the economic landscape in the Philippines.

MHD activity induced coherent mode excitation in the edge plasma region of ADITYA-U tokamak

In this paper, we report the excitation of coherent density and potential fluctuations induced by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity in the edge plasma region of ADITYA-U tokamak. When the amplitude of the MHD mode, mainly the m/n = 2/1, increases beyond a threshold value, |B̃θ|/Bθ ∼ 0.3%–0.4%, coherent oscillations in the density and potential fluctuations are observed having the same frequency as that of the MHD mode. The mode numbers of these MHD induced density and potential fluctuations are obtained by Langmuir probes placed at different radial, poloidal, and toroidal locations in the edge plasma region. Detailed analyses of these Langmuir probe measurements reveal that the coherent mode in edge potential fluctuation has a mode structure of m/n = 2/1, whereas the edge density fluctuation has an m/n = 1/1 structure. It is further observed that beyond the threshold, the coupled power fraction scales almost linearly with the magnitude of B̃θ/Bθ fluctuations. Furthermore, the rise rates of the coupled power fraction for coherent modes in density and potential fluctuations are also found to be dependent on the growth rate of magnetic fluctuations. The disparate mode structures of the excited modes in density and plasma potential fluctuations suggest that the underlying mechanism for their existence is the coupling of even harmonics of potential to the odd harmonics of pressure due to 1/R dependence of the toroidal magnetic field.

Characteristics of fluctuations in the equatorial and polar directions of a compact dipole plasma driven at steady state

The fluctuations in the plasma potential (Vs̃) and electron density (Nẽ) are measured in the steady-state dipole plasma confined in a spherical vacuum chamber using a single permanent dipole magnet. Measurements are made from a radial distance r = 0.5–17 cm, from the surface of the magnet in the equatorial (θ=90°) and polar (θ=180°) directions, using a 4-pin probe setup, and have been characterized by power spectra, cross-phase, cross-coherence, induced transport, and energy spectra. The fluctuations are stronger near the surface of the dipole magnet for θ=90°, thereafter their magnitude decreases gradually with the radial distance. However, a peaked profile of potential fluctuations with the peak around r = 9 cm is observed for θ=180°. The locations of strong fluctuations are around the locations of smaller values of the electron neutral collision frequency. Frequency-resolved power spectra show that the fluctuations in the dipole plasma, predominantly, belong to the very low-frequency range. The values of cross-phase (≤45°) and |Vs̃/Te|/|Nẽ/Ne|≤1 indicate the presence of drift wave instability in both planes, where Te and Ne are equilibrium values of the electron temperature and density. The radial variation of fluctuation-induced electron flux (Γr) verifies the “inward diffusion” of electrons in the equatorial plane.

Decreasing Productivity in the Primary Healthcare: A Study of the Brazilian Case

ABSTRACT: In 2015, the United Nations (UN) proposed the 2030 Agenda, a resolution that outlines the global goals for sustainable development. This report focuses on promoting health and well-being, emphasizing the importance of primary healthcare (PHC). However, Brazil faces challenges in managing its healthcare system, exacerbated by fiscal policy changes that have reduced public sector expenditures after 2015. This study was motivated by these recent changes in Brazil’s fiscal policy. We evaluated potential fluctuations in total factor productivity (TFP) in 5,524 Brazilian municipalities’ primary healthcare from 2015 to 2019. TFP, a measure of efficiency and production technology in PHC, was computed using the bootstrapping Malmquist productivity index (MPI) derived from the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) algorithm. This study focused on the economic recession and austerity measures initiated in 2015. Moreover, it’s essential to highlight that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Brazil in 2020 brought significant changes to the country’s economic, social, and health dynamics. Therefore, this research intentionally concentrated on the pre-pandemic period. Our results revealed that TFP in the PHC sector in Brazil decreased between 2015 and 2019. It was possible to note that three out of every four Brazilian municipalities experienced either stagnation or a decline in the TFP of primary healthcare, with more pronounced challenges in the Midwest and Northeast regions. Looking at the TFP elements, we could see a continuous drop in technical efficiency everywhere in the country, markedly in the Midwest and Northeast. Conversely, there was a considerable uptick in Brazil’s technological component. These results implied that there might have been advancements in PHC’s technological infrastructure, preventing even less favorable outcomes in the TFP indicator. We concluded that the productivity of primary healthcare in Brazil declined when the 2015 fiscal ceiling was implemented. This decrease in performance was evident in the sluggish growth rate of primary healthcare inputs, a diminution in vaccination coverage indicators, and an increase in hospitalizations for preventable causes. Given that health is a crucial component of social well-being, it is vital to highlight the need for comprehensive efforts to guarantee the effective operation and advancement of primary healthcare services, even during economic downturns.

Impact of potential and temperature fluctuations on charge and heat transport in quantum Hall edges in the heat Coulomb blockade regime

We present a broad study of charge and heat transport in a mesoscopic system where one or several quantum Hall edge channels are strongly coupled to a floating Ohmic contact (OC). It is well-known that charge-current fluctuations emanating from the OC along the edge channels are highly susceptible to the OC charge capacitance in the heat Coulomb blockade regime (an impeded ability of the OC to equilibrate edge channels). Here, we demonstrate how potential and temperature fluctuations due to finite OC charge and heat capacities impact the heat-current fluctuations emitted from the OC. First, by assuming an infinite OC heat capacity, we show that the output heat-current noise is strongly dependent on the OC charge capacitance, following from a close relation between one-dimensional charge and heat currents. When also the OC heat capacity is finite, an interplay of potential and temperature fluctuations influences the heat transport. Concretely, we find that the effect of the charge capacitance on heat transport manifests in terms of a strongly increased energy relaxation time in the heat Coulomb blockade regime. Furthermore, we find expressions for a broad set of output observables, such as charge and heat auto- and cross correlations, as functions of input and OC fluctuations, depending on the relation between charge and energy relaxation times compared to the frequency of fluctuations and inverse (local) temperatures as well as on the number of edge channels attached to the OC. Finally, we show that a finite OC heat capacity transforms the full counting statistics of the output charge from Gaussian to non-Gaussian. Our findings provide opportunities to experimentally probe and harness the quantum nature of heat transport in strongly coupled electron circuits. Published by the American Physical Society 2024