137 research outputs found
Future career plans of Malawian medical students: a cross-sectional survey.
BACKGROUND: Malawi has one of the lowest physician densities in the world, at 1.1 doctors per 100,000 population. Undergraduate training of doctors at the national medical school has increased considerably in recent years with donor support. However, qualified doctors continue to leave the public sector in order to work or train abroad. We explored the postgraduate plans of current medical students, and the extent to which this is influenced by their background. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was developed after discussion with students and senior staff. This included questions on background characteristics, education before medical school, and future career plans. This was distributed to all medical and premedical students on campus over 1 week and collected by an independent researcher. One reminder visit was made to each class. Chi-squared tests were performed to investigate the relationship of student characteristics with future career plans. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-nine students completed the questionnaire out of a student body of 312, a response rate of 48%. When questioned on their plans for after graduation, 49.0% of students plan to stay in Malawi. However, 38.9% plan to leave Malawi immediately. Medical students who completed a 'premedical' foundation year at the medical school were significantly more likely to have immediate plans to stay in Malawi compared to those who completed A-levels, an advanced school-leaving qualification (P = 0.037). Current premedical students were slightly more likely to have immediate plans to work or train in Malawi compared to medical students (P = 0.049). However, a trend test across all the years was not significant. When asked about future plans, nearly half of students intend to work or train outside Malawi. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of respondents plan to leave Malawi in the future. The effectiveness of the substantial upscaling of medical education in Malawi may be diminished unless more medical students plan to work in Malawi after graduation
Simulating Measurement-induced Non Linearity with a Quantum-Optical Computational toolbox
Generating measurement-induced non linearity with a BS (Beam splitter) is an easy way to produce entangled states and potentially reduce the quadratures uncertainty as BS is a simple tool that can be implemented in a huge number of experimental setups without too much difficulty. The importance of this kind of states arises in the fields of quantum information and communication and metrology. To study this method, simulations, with the help of the software package QuTiP for Python, of three different setups involving BS, detectors and phase selectors have been done varying different parameters of the setup. In a simulation with one BS and a detector a reduction of the quadratures uncertainty has been observed. It has been found that same levels of entanglement are reached with one BS or two BS for a photon and a coherent state as input states
Strategies for enhancing quantum entanglement by local photon subtraction
Subtracting photons from a two-mode squeezed state is a well-known method to
increase entanglement. We analyse different strategies of local photon
subtraction from a two-mode squeezed state in terms of entanglement gain and
success probability. We develop a general framework that incorporates
imperfections and losses in all stages of the process: before, during, and
after subtraction. By combining all three effects into a single efficiency
parameter, we provide analytical and numerical results for subtraction
strategies using photon-number-resolving and threshold detectors. We compare
the entanglement gain afforded by symmetric and asymmetric subtraction
scenarios across the two modes. For a given amount of loss, we identify an
optimised set of parameters, such as initial squeezing and subtraction beam
splitter transmissivity, that maximise the entanglement gain rate. We identify
regimes for which asymmetric subtraction of different Fock states on the two
modes outperforms symmetric strategies. In the lossless limit, subtracting a
single photon from one mode always produces the highest entanglement gain rate.
In the lossy case, the optimal strategy depends strongly on the losses on each
mode individually, such that there is no general optimal strategy. Rather,
taking losses on each mode as the only input parameters, we can identify the
optimal subtraction strategy and required beam splitter transmissivities and
initial squeezing parameter. Finally, we discuss the implications of our
results for the distillation of continuous-variable quantum entanglement.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Updated version for publicatio
Continuous phase stabilization and active interferometer control using two modes
We present a computer-based active interferometer stabilization method that
can be set to an arbitrary phase difference and does not rely on modulation of
the interfering beams. The scheme utilizes two orthogonal modes propagating
through the interferometer with a constant phase difference between them to
extract a common phase and generate a linear feedback signal. Switching times
of 50ms over a range of 0 to 6 pi radians at 632.8nm are experimentally
demonstrated. The phase can be stabilized up to several days to within 3
degrees.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure
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