Kirkegaard Thurston (trunkdrake6)

An outstanding open issue in our quest for physics beyond Einstein is the unification of general relativity (GR) and quantum physics. Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a leading approach toward this goal. At its heart is the central lesson of GR Gravity is a manifestation of spacetime geometry. Thus, the approach emphasizes the quantum nature of geometry and focuses on its implications in extreme regimes -- near the big bang and inside black holes-- where Einstein's smooth continuum breaks down. We present a brief overview of the main ideas underlying LQG and highlight a few recent advances. This report is addressed to non-experts.We study the fluency map optimization problem in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) from a cooperative game theory point of view. We consider the cancerous and healthy organs in a patient's body as players of a game, where cancerous organs seek to eliminate the cancerous cells and healthy organs seek to receive no harm. The goal is to balance the trade-offs between the utility of players by forming a grand coalition between them. We do so by proposing a methodology that solves a few convex optimization problems in order to transform the fluency map optimization problem into a bargaining game. Pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate ammonium To solve the bargaining game, we employ the concept of Nash Social Welfare (NSW) optimization due to the desirable efficiency and fairness properties of its outcomes. The proposed NSW optimization is convex and can be solved by powerful commercial solvers such as CPLEX. An additional advantage of the proposed approach is that it has a new control lever for the fluency map optimization, the so-called negotiation powers, which enables practitioners to put more emphasis on an organ by changing its negotiation power. To show the efficacy of our proposed methodology, we apply it to the TG-119 case and a liver case. We compare our proposed approach with a state-of-the-art approach through creating Dose Volume Histograms.Large-scale and well-aligned in-situ growth SnO2 nanotube arrays have been synthesized on the surface of the Al2O3 ceramic tube by a cost-effective template self-etching method. The morphology of in-situ SnO2 nanotubes can be adjusted by changing the concentration of urea. The structure and morphology characteristics of SnO2 nanotube were examined via X-ray diffraction, BET, and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Combining the advantages of unique hollow structure and favorable orientation growth, the in-situ SnO2 nanotube arrays were utilized in the fabrication of gas-sensing devices. A series of detections were carried out to evaluate the gas sensing performances. The in-situ growth SnO2 nanotube arrays sensor exhibited a higher acetone sensing performance, compared with the sensors fabricated by a slurry-coating method. The results indicated that in-situ growth SnO2 nanotube arrays sensor exhibited an excellent response (S=20.3), good linearity under the concentration range of ppm level (5-300 ppm), and outstanding selectivity to 100 ppm of acetone gas. Furthermore, the dominant sensing mechanism about the in-situ growth SnO2 nanotube arrays sensor has been discussed in detail.Objective.Responsive neurostimulation (RNS) is an effective treatment for controlling seizures in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy who are not suitable candidates for resection surgery. A lack of tools for detecting and characterizing potential response biomarkers, however, contributes to a limited understanding of mechanisms by which RNS improves seizure control. We developed a method to quantify ictal frequency modulation, previously identified as a biomarker of clinical responsiveness to RNS.Approach.Frequency modulation is characterized by shifts in power across spectral bands during ictal events, over several months of neurostimulation. This effect was quantified by partitioning each seizure pattern into segments with distinct spectral content and measuring