Cavity-QED simulation of a quantum metamaterial with tunable disorder

We explore experimentally a quantum metamaterial based on a superconducting chip with 25 frequency-tunable transmon qubits coupled to a common coplanar resonator. The collective bright and dark modes are probed via the microwave response, i.e., by measuring the transmission amplitude of an external microwave signal. All qubits have individual control and readout lines. Their frequency tunability allows to change the number N of resonantly coupled qubits and also to introduce a disorder in their excitation frequencies with preassigned distributions. While increasing N, we demonstrate the expected N$^{1/2}$ scaling law for the energy gap (Rabi splitting) between bright modes around the cavity frequency. By introducing a controllable disorder and averaging the transmission amplitude over a large number of realizations, we demonstrate a decay of mesoscopic fluctuations which mimics an approach towards the thermodynamic limit. The collective bright states survive in the presence of disorder when the strength of individual qubit coupling to the cavity dominates over the disorder strength

Прогностические возможности КТ в диагностике хронических воспалительных осложнений дивертикулярной болезни ободочной кишки

Objective: to determine the diagnostic effectiveness of computed tomography (CT) in predicting the course of the disease in patients with chronic inflammatory complications of diverticular disease (DD).Material and methods. The study included 70 patients with a complicated course of colon diverticular disease in the phase of exacerbation of the chronic inflammatory process. All patients underwent CT of the abdominal cavity with intravenous contrast to assess the type and severity of inflammatory changes in the colon and surrounding tissues in the area of localization of diverticula. All patients received conservative treatment and were monitored as part of the ongoing study for 12 months from the moment of initial treatment at the Center. Surgical intervention due to the ineffectiveness of conservative therapy or the recurrence of the inflammatory process during the established follow-up period was considered as an unfavorable outcome of the disease (42/60%). The positive effect of drug therapy without signs of a return of the clinical picture of inflammation within 12 months was considered as a favorable outcome (28/40%). A statistical analysis of CT signs of inflammatory changes in various DD outcomes was performed to identify prognostic CT parameters.Results. Statistically significant differences were revealed between the severity of inflammatory changes according to CT data for different outcomes of the disease. In the favorable outcome group, the main part (23/28.82%) were patients with diverticulitis, in the unfavorable outcome group, 2/3 of patients (29/42.64%) were diagnosed with pericolic infiltrates, including abscesses/cavities, and colon fistulas. It was found that the thickness of the intestinal wall, the extent of inflammatory changes in the intestinal wall, the extent of inflammatory infiltration of pericolic fiber, the symptom of “centipede”, the accumulation of fluid in the pericolic region statistically significantly differed with different outcomes of chronic inflammatory complications of diverticular disease. Мultivariate Cox proportional hazard model revealed two main predictors of the onset of an unfavorable outcome – thickening of the intestinal wall and the presence of fluid in the pericolic region. Thickening of the intestinal wall at values equal to or greater than 0,6 cm increased the risk of an unfavorable outcome by 4.69 times, and the presence of fluid by 4.52 times.Conclusion. The use in clinical practice of the revealed CT predictors of the onset of an unfavorable outcome in chronic inflammatory complications of DB can serve as one of the factors for deciding on elective surgery in this category of patients. Цель исследования: определить диагностическую эффективность компьютерной томографии (КТ) в прогнозировании течения заболевания у больных с хроническими воспалительными осложнениями дивертикулярной болезни (ДБ).Материал и методы. В исследование включено 70 пациентов с осложненным течением ДБ ободочной кишки в фазу обострения хронического воспалительного процесса. Всем пациентам выполнена КТ брюшной полости с внутривенным контрастированием для оценки вида и тяжести воспалительных изменений ободочной кишки и окружающих тканей в области локализации дивертикулов. Все пациенты получили консервативное лечение и находились под наблюдением в рамках проводимого исследования в течении 12 мес с момента первичного обращения в Центр. Оперативное вмешательство в связи с неэффективностью консервативной терапии или рецидивом воспалительного процесса в установленный период наблюдения рассматривалось как неблагоприятный исход заболевания (42/60%). Положительный эффект лекарственной терапии без признаков возврата клинической картины воспаления в течение 12 мес рассматривался как благоприятный исход (28/40%). Проведен статистический анализ КТ-признаков воспалительных изменений при различных исходах ДБ для выявления прогностических КТ-параметров.Результаты. Выявлены статистически значимые различия между выраженностью воспалительных изменений по данным КТ при различных исходах заболевания. В группе благоприятного исхода основную часть (23/28,82%) составили пациенты с дивертикулитом,  в группе неблагоприятного исхода у 2/3 больных (29/42,64%) диагностированы паракишечные инфильтраты, в том числе с абсцессами/полостями, и свищи ободочной кишки. Установлено, что толщина кишечной стенки, протяженность воспалительных изменений кишечной стенки, протяженность воспалительной инфильтрации периколической клетчатки, симптом “сороконожки”, скопление жидкости в периколической области статистически значимо различались при разных исходах хронических воспалительных осложнений ДБ. Многофакторный Кокс-регрессионный анализ выявил два основных предиктора  наступления неблагоприятного исхода – утолщение кишечной стенки и наличие жидкости в периколической области. Утолщение кишечной стенки при значениях, равных или более 0,6 см, в 4,69 раза увеличивало риск наступления неблагоприятного исхода, а наличие жидкости в 4,52 раза.Заключение. Применение в клинической практике выявленных КТ-предикторов наступления неблагоприятного исхода при хронических воспалительных осложнениях ДБ может послужить одним из факторов для принятия решения о плановом хирургическом вмешательстве у этой категории пациентов

Meeting Report: Aging Research and Drug Discovery

Aging is the single largest risk factor for most chronic diseases, and thus possesses large socioeconomic interest to continuously aging societies. Consequently, the field of aging research is expanding alongside a growing focus from the industry and investors in aging research. This year's 8th Annual Aging Research and Drug Discovery ARDD) meeting was organized as a hybrid meeting from August 30th to September 3rd 2021 with more than 130 attendees participating on-site at the Ceremonial Hall at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and 1800 engaging online. The conference comprised of presentations from 75 speakers focusing on new research in topics including mechanisms of aging and how these can be modulated as well as the use of AI and new standards of practices within aging research. This year, a longevity workshop was included to build stronger connections with the clinical community

ARDD 2020: from aging mechanisms to interventions

Aging is emerging as a druggable target with growing interest from academia, industry and investors. New technologies such as artificial intelligence and advanced screening techniques, as well as a strong influence from the industry sector may lead to novel discoveries to treat age-related diseases. The present review summarizes presentations from the 7th Annual Aging Research and Drug Discovery (ARDD) meeting, held online on the 1st to 4th of September 2020. The meeting covered topics related to new methodologies to study aging, knowledge about basic mechanisms of longevity, latest interventional strategies to target the aging process as well as discussions about the impact of aging research on society and economy. More than 2000 participants and 65 speakers joined the meeting and we already look forward to an even larger meeting next year. Please mark your calendars for the 8th ARDD meeting that is scheduled for the 31st of August to 3rd of September, 2021, at Columbia University, USA

Enhanced Longevity by Ibuprofen, Conserved in Multiple Species, Occurs in Yeast through Inhibition of Tryptophan Import

The common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen has been associated with a reduced risk of some age-related pathologies. However, a general pro-longevity role for ibuprofen and its mechanistic basis remains unclear. Here we show that ibuprofen increased the lifespan of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster, indicative of conserved eukaryotic longevity effects. Studies in yeast indicate that ibuprofen destabilizes the Tat2p permease and inhibits tryptophan uptake. Loss of Tat2p increased replicative lifespan (RLS), but ibuprofen did not increase RLS when Tat2p was stabilized or in an already long-lived strain background impaired for aromatic amino acid uptake. Concomitant with lifespan extension, ibuprofen moderately reduced cell size at birth, leading to a delay in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Similar changes in cell cycle progression were evident in a large dataset of replicatively long-lived yeast deletion strains. These results point to fundamental cell cycle signatures linked with longevity, implicate aromatic amino acid import in aging and identify a largely safe drug that extends lifespan across different kingdoms of life.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund