Effects of decoherence and errors on Bell-inequality violation

We study optimal conditions for violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt form of the Bell inequality in the presence of decoherence and measurement errors. We obtain all detector configurations providing the maximal Bell inequality violation for a general (pure or mixed) state. We consider local decoherence which includes energy relaxation at the zero temperature and arbitrary dephasing. Conditions for the maximal Bell-inequality violation in the presence of decoherence are analyzed both analytically and numerically for the general case and for a number of important special cases. Combined effects of measurement errors and decoherence are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Alpha-1 antitrypsin mitigates the inhibition of airway epithelial cell repair by neutrophil elastase

Copyright © 2016 by the American Thoracic Society. Neutrophil elastase (NE) activity is associated with many destructive lung diseases and is a predictor for structural lung damage in early cystic fibrosis (CF), which suggests normal maintenance of airway epitheliumis prevented byuninhibitedNE.However, limited data exist on how the NE activity in airways of very young children with CF affects function of the epithelia. The aimof this studywas to determine if NE activity could inhibit epithelial homeostasis and repair and whether any functional effect was reversible by antiprotease alpha-1 antitrypsin (a1AT) treatment. Viability, inflammation, apoptosis, and proliferation were assessed in healthy non-CF and CF pediatric primary airway epithelial cells (pAEC non-CF and pAEC CF , respectively) during exposure to physiologically relevant NE. The effect of NE activity on pAEC CF wound repair was also assessed.We report that viability after 48 hours was significantly decreased by 100 nM NE in pAEC non-CF and pAEC CF owing to rapid cellular detachment that was accompanied by inflammatory cytokine release. Furthermore, both phenotypes initiated an apoptotic response to 100 nM NE, whereas ≥50 nM NE activity significantly inhibited the proliferative capacity of cultures. Similar concentrations of NE also significantly inhibited wound repair of pAEC CF , but this effect was reversed by the addition of a1AT. Collectively, our results demonstrate free NE activity is deleterious for epithelial homeostasis and support the hypothesis that proteases inthe airway contribute directly toCF structural lung disease. Our results also highlight the need to investigate antiprotease therapies in early CF disease in more detail

Does entropic force always imply the Newtonian force law?

We study the entropic force by introducing a bound $S \le A^{3/4}$ between entropy and area which was derived by imposing the non-gravitational collapse condition. In this case, applying a modified entropic force to this system does not lead to the Newtonian force law.Comment: 11 pages, version to appear in EPJ

Association of polymorphisms in the beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene with fracture risk and bone mineral density

Summary: Signaling through the beta-2 adrenergic receptor (B2AR) on the osteoblast influences bone remodeling in rodents. In the B2AR gene, three polymorphisms influence receptor function. We show that these polymorphisms are not associated with fracture risk or bone mineral density in the UCP, Rotterdam Study, and GEFOS cohorts. Introduction: Signaling through the beta-2 adrenergic receptor (B2AR) on the osteoblast influences bone remodeling in rodents. In the B2AR gene, three polymorphisms are known to influence receptor function in vitro and in vivo (rs1042713, rs1042714, and rs1800888). We examined the role of these polymorphisms in the B2AR gene on human bone metabolism. Methods: We performed nested case–control studies to determine the association of these polymorphisms with fracture risk in the Utrecht Cardiovascular Pharmacogenetics (UCP) cohort and in three cohorts of the Rotterdam Study. We also determined the association of these polymorphisms with bone mineral density (BMD) in the GEFOS Consortium. UCP contains drug-dispensing histories from community pharmacies linked to national registrations of hospital discharges in the Netherlands. The Rotterdam Study is a prospective cohort study investigating demographics and risk factors of chronic diseases. GEFOS is a large international collaboration studying the genetics of osteoporosis. Fractures were defined by ICD-9 codes 800–829 in the UCP cohort (158 cases and 2617 unmatched controls) and by regular X-ray examinations, general practitioner, and hospital records in the Rotterdam Study (2209 cases and 8559 unmatched controls). BMD was measured at the femoral neck and lumbar spine using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in GEFOS (N = 32,961). Results: Meta-analysis of the two nested case–control studies showed pooled odds ratios of 0.98 (0.91–1.05, p = 0.52), 1.04 (0.97–1.12, p = 0.28), and 1.16 (0.83–1.62, p = 0.38) for the associations betwee

Sexual violence against women and children in Chinese societies

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the reported patterns of sexual violence against women and children in China. It reviews the prevalence of and risk factors for various types of sexual violence and discusses community knowledge and perceptions of these violent acts. It also critically examines three major problems of sexual violence research in China. First, the diversity of findings and study methods reported by surveys and criminal reports reflects the problems in obtaining accurate figures on the scope of the problem. Second, precautions must be taken in reading studies on Chinese culture-specific risk factors for domestic violence. Third, the study of culture-specific factors should not focus solely on cultural factors in a vacuum but rather, should examine traditional culture in the context of modern societies and consensus international standards of human rights. Recommendations for future research are also discussed. © 2009 Sage Publications.postprin

Modelling spectral and timing properties of accreting black holes: the hybrid hot flow paradigm

The general picture that emerged by the end of 1990s from a large set of optical and X-ray, spectral and timing data was that the X-rays are produced in the innermost hot part of the accretion flow, while the optical/infrared (OIR) emission is mainly produced by the irradiated outer thin accretion disc. Recent multiwavelength observations of Galactic black hole transients show that the situation is not so simple. Fast variability in the OIR band, OIR excesses above the thermal emission and a complicated interplay between the X-ray and the OIR light curves imply that the OIR emitting region is much more compact. One of the popular hypotheses is that the jet contributes to the OIR emission and even is responsible for the bulk of the X-rays. However, this scenario is largely ad hoc and is in contradiction with many previously established facts. Alternatively, the hot accretion flow, known to be consistent with the X-ray spectral and timing data, is also a viable candidate to produce the OIR radiation. The hot-flow scenario naturally explains the power-law like OIR spectra, fast OIR variability and its complex relation to the X-rays if the hot flow contains non-thermal electrons (even in energetically negligible quantities), which are required by the presence of the MeV tail in Cyg X-1. The presence of non-thermal electrons also lowers the equilibrium electron temperature in the hot flow model to <100 keV, making it more consistent with observations. Here we argue that any viable model should simultaneously explain a large set of spectral and timing data and show that the hybrid (thermal/non-thermal) hot flow model satisfies most of the constraints.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. To be published in the Space Science Reviews and as hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of Accretion on to Black Holes (Springer Publisher

Measurement of (anti)deuteron and (anti)proton production in DIS at HERA

The first observation of (anti)deuterons in deep inelastic scattering at HERA has been made with the ZEUS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 300--318 GeV using an integrated luminosity of 120 pb-1. The measurement was performed in the central rapidity region for transverse momentum per unit of mass in the range 0.3<p_T/M<0.7. The particle rates have been extracted and interpreted in terms of the coalescence model. The (anti)deuteron production yield is smaller than the (anti)proton yield by approximately three orders of magnitude, consistent with the world measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, submitted to Nucl. Phys.

Forward jet production in deep inelastic ep scattering and low-x parton dynamics at HERA

Differential inclusive jet cross sections in neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector. Three phase-space regions have been selected in order to study parton dynamics where the effects of BFKL evolution might be present. The measurements have been compared to the predictions of leading-logarithm parton shower Monte Carlo models and fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations. In the forward region, QCD calculations at order alpha_s^1 underestimate the data up to an order of magnitude at low x. An improved description of the data in this region is obtained by including QCD corrections at order alpha_s^2, which account for the lowest-order t-channel gluon-exchange diagrams, highlighting the importance of such terms in parton dynamics at low x.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types