Developing Collective Teaching Computer Software for the Course “Decision Theory”

Improvement of training students using modern information technologies, like collective developing teaching computer software, is discussed. Organizational, technical, technological advices are given. Experience of using information technologies in educational course “Decision Theory” is described

STUDY AND OPTIMIZATION OF ELECTRIC HEATING FOR OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS PIPELINE

The objectives of the study are to analyze the transients in heated pipelines using the finite element method and the achievement of reduction of energy losses during transportation of liquids in pipelines with electric heating systems by determining the optimal operating conditions and design parameters of the pipeline and electric heating syste

Features of Chronic Bronchitis in Different Age Groups

Background: Lung diseases are assuming greater relevance and importance today. Chronic bronchitis is a self-nosology, which may precede the development of COPD, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated. The main problem in this disease is caused by late diagnosis and treatment due to the delay by patients in seeking medical help. The aim of the work was to study the distribution and exposure to tobacco smoke, especially chronic bronchitis, depending on various factors, including age. Methods: We examined 1779 persons, including 855 men and 924 women. The mean age of the population was 35.83±8.3 years. We conducted surveys and spirometry. The outcome was assessed after a bronchodilation test was performed with salbutamol 400 mcg. We performed all statistical analysis using software package Statistica 10. Results: We identified chronic bronchitis in 9.2% of the cases in the group of younger individuals and in 14.9% of the cases in the group of older individuals, during the active detection of chronic bronchitis using questionnaires. The prevalence of cigarette smoking was slightly higher among the younger (39.5%) than the older persons (33.6%); the frequency of smoking in a group of chronic bronchitis was reliably higher. Also, in this group, the performance spirometry reliably decreased. Conclusions: Outpatient survey is an effective method of identifying chronic bronchitis. Smoking is a major risk factor in the group of young respondents and the prevalence of smoking is inversely related to the education level of the respondents, regardless of age. As the decline in the Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1 and FEV1/FVC) is the main criterion diagnosis of COPD, it revealed significant declines in the FEV1 of the younger smoking individuals, which may help to predict the development of COPD in the older age group

Non-Abelian braiding of graph vertices in a superconducting processor

Indistinguishability of particles is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics. For all elementary and quasiparticles observed to date - including fermions, bosons, and Abelian anyons - this principle guarantees that the braiding of identical particles leaves the system unchanged. However, in two spatial dimensions, an intriguing possibility exists: braiding of non-Abelian anyons causes rotations in a space of topologically degenerate wavefunctions. Hence, it can change the observables of the system without violating the principle of indistinguishability. Despite the well developed mathematical description of non-Abelian anyons and numerous theoretical proposals, the experimental observation of their exchange statistics has remained elusive for decades. Controllable many-body quantum states generated on quantum processors offer another path for exploring these fundamental phenomena. While efforts on conventional solid-state platforms typically involve Hamiltonian dynamics of quasi-particles, superconducting quantum processors allow for directly manipulating the many-body wavefunction via unitary gates. Building on predictions that stabilizer codes can host projective non-Abelian Ising anyons, we implement a generalized stabilizer code and unitary protocol to create and braid them. This allows us to experimentally verify the fusion rules of the anyons and braid them to realize their statistics. We then study the prospect of employing the anyons for quantum computation and utilize braiding to create an entangled state of anyons encoding three logical qubits. Our work provides new insights about non-Abelian braiding and - through the future inclusion of error correction to achieve topological protection - could open a path toward fault-tolerant quantum computing

Timing of surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection:an international prospective cohort study

Peri-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection increases postoperative mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal duration of planned delay before surgery in patients who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection. This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study included patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery during October 2020. Surgical patients with pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection were compared with those without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted 30-day mortality rates stratified by time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection to surgery. From 140,231 patients (116 countries), 3127 patients (2.2%) had a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. Adjusted 30-day mortality in patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1.5% (95%CI 1.4-1.5). In patients with a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, mortality was increased in patients having surgery within 0-2 weeks, 3-4 weeks and 5-6 weeks of the diagnosis (odd ratio (95%CI) 4.1 (3.3-4.8), 3.9 (2.6-5.1) and 3.6 (2.0-5.2), respectively). Surgery performed ≥ 7 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was associated with a similar mortality risk to baseline (odd ratio (95%CI) 1.5 (0.9-2.1)). After a ≥ 7 week delay in undertaking surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection, patients with ongoing symptoms had a higher mortality than patients whose symptoms had resolved or who had been asymptomatic (6.0% (95%CI 3.2-8.7) vs. 2.4% (95%CI 1.4-3.4) vs. 1.3% (95%CI 0.6-2.0), respectively). Where possible, surgery should be delayed for at least 7 weeks following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with ongoing symptoms ≥ 7 weeks from diagnosis may benefit from further delay.</p

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Curvilinear deflagration of energetic materials

The effects of material interface curvature on deflagration of a homogeneous solid energetic material (EM) is studied in a limit when the radius of curvature is much larger than the deflagration front thick- ness. Under the assumption of quasi-steady burning, a method of matched asymptotics is employed do derive first-order curvature corrections to the mass flux across the gas???solid interface as well as to the interface temperature. As an illustration, a problem of quasi-steady spherical particle deflagration is solved numerically and the simulation results are used to verify those obtained through asymptotic analysis. An algorithm for a fully-coupled unsteady solver suitable for EM deflagration simulation is presented. Numerical solution of the unsteady spherical particle deflagration is used to show that the assumption of quasi-steady deflagration is valid.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe