On the optimal feedback control of linear quantum systems in the presence of thermal noise

We study the possibility of taking bosonic systems subject to quadratic Hamiltonians and a noisy thermal environment to non-classical stationary states by feedback loops based on weak measurements and conditioned linear driving. We derive general analytical upper bounds for the single mode squeezing and multimode entanglement at steady state, depending only on the Hamiltonian parameters and on the number of thermal excitations of the bath. Our findings show that, rather surprisingly, larger number of thermal excitations in the bath allow for larger steady-state squeezing and entanglement if the efficiency of the optimal continuous measurements conditioning the feedback loop is high enough. We also consider the performance of feedback strategies based on homodyne detection and show that, at variance with the optimal measurements, it degrades with increasing temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor changes to the letter; better explanation of the necessary and sufficient conditions to achieve the bounds (in the supplemental material); v3: title changed; comparison between optimal general-dyne strategy and homodyne strategy is discussed; supplemental material included in the manuscript and few references added. v4: published versio

Considerations on Neuberger's operator

We discuss new approaches to the numerical implementation of Neuberger's operator for lattice fermions and the possible use of block spin transformations.Comment: LATTICE 99 (Improvement and Renormalization

Biomarker-guided trials: Challenges in practice.

Biomarker-guided trials have drawn considerable attention as they promise to lead to improvements in the benefit-risk ratio of treatments and enhanced opportunities for drug development. A variety of such designs have been proposed in the literature, many of which have been adopted in practice. Implementing such trial designs in practice can be challenging, and identifying those challenges was the main objective of a workshop organised by the MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology Research Network's Stratified Medicine Working Group in March 2017. Participants reflected on completed and ongoing biomarker-guided trials to identify the practical challenges encountered. Here, the key challenges identified during the workshop including those related to funding, ethical and regulatory issues, recruitment, monitoring of samples and laboratories, biomarker assessment, and data sharing and resources, are discussed. Despite the complexities often associated with biomarker-guided trials, the workshop concluded that they can play an important role in advancing the field of personalised medicine. Therefore, it is important that the practical challenges surrounding their implementation are acknowledged and addressed

Functions of the Microbiota for the Physiology of Animal Metaorganisms

Animals are usually regarded as independent entities within their respective environments. However, within an organism, eukaryotes and prokaryotes interact dynamically to form the so-called metaorganism or holobiont, where each partner fulfils its versatile and crucial role. This review focuses on the interplay between microorganisms and multicellular eukaryotes in the context of host physiology, in particular aging and mucus-associated crosstalk. In addition to the interactions between bacteria and the host, we highlight the importance of viruses and nonmodel organisms. Moreover, we discuss current culturing and computational methodologies that allow a deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms controlling the physiology of metaorganisms

Механизмы разрушения титанового сплава ВТ3-1 в области сверхмногоцикловой усталости

Investigations and tests of specimens of VT3-1 titanium alloy were done in Very-High-Cycle-Fatigue regime. Specimens were manufactured from compressor disks of D30-KU engine, and tests under frequency 20 kHz performed on the special test-bed in laboratory of Paris University «ITMA». Crack origination takes place subsurface from different material structural inhomogeneities. Fatigue origin has fine-granular area in the case of specimen tests under symmetrical cycle of cyclic loads but in the case of cyclic tension, origin has flat facet because of a-phase splitting. Experimental data dispersion under the constant stress level covered three orders.Выполнен комплекс испытаний и исследований поведения титанового сплава ВТ3-1 в области сверхмногоцикловой усталости. Образцы вырезаны из диска компрессора первой ступени двигателя Д30-КУ и испытаны при частоте нагружения 20 кГц на специальной установке в Парижском университете «ITMA». Показано, что в исследованной области зарождение трещин происходит под поверхностью от различных структурных неоднородностей материала. При симметричном нагружении формирование очага под поверхностью происходит с формированием мелкокристаллической структуры рельефа, а при растяжении первоначально формируется преимущественно гладкая фасетка раскалывания по a-фазе. Рассеивание экспериментальных данных при фиксированном уровне напряжений составляет почти три порядка

Recent developments of the Hierarchical Reference Theory of Fluids and its relation to the Renormalization Group

The Hierarchical Reference Theory (HRT) of fluids is a general framework for the description of phase transitions in microscopic models of classical and quantum statistical physics. The foundations of HRT are briefly reviewed in a self-consistent formulation which includes both the original sharp cut-off procedure and the smooth cut-off implementation, which has been recently investigated. The critical properties of HRT are summarized, together with the behavior of the theory at first order phase transitions. However, the emphasis of this presentation is on the close relationship between HRT and non perturbative renormalization group methods, as well as on recent generalizations of HRT to microscopic models of interest in soft matter and quantum many body physics.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Review paper to appear in Molecular Physic

Postpartum maternal morbidity requiring hospital admission in Lusaka, Zambia – a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: Information on the extent of postpartum maternal morbidity in developing countries is extremely limited. In many settings, data from hospital-based studies is hard to interpret because of the small proportion of women that have access to medical care. However, in those areas with good uptake of health care, the measurement of the type and incidence of complications severe enough to require hospitalisation may provide useful baseline information on the acute and severe morbidity that women experience in the early weeks following childbirth. An analysis of health services data from Lusaka, Zambia, is presented. METHODS: Six-month retrospective review of hospital registers and 4-week cross-sectional study with prospective identification of postpartum admissions. RESULTS: Both parts of the study identified puerperal sepsis and malaria as, respectively, the leading direct and indirect causes of postpartum morbidity requiring hospital admission. Puerperal sepsis accounted for 34.8% of 365 postpartum admissions in the 6-month period. Malaria and pneumonia together accounted for one-fifth of all postpartum admissions (14.5% & 6% respectively). At least 1.7% of the postpartum population in Lusaka will require hospital-level care for a maternal morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: In developing country urban settings with high public health care usage, meticulous review of hospital registers can provide baseline information on the burden of moderate-to-severe postpartum morbidity

This is a platform alteration: a trial management perspective on the operational aspects of adaptive and platform and umbrella protocols.

Background There are limited research and literature on the trial management challenges encountered in running adaptive platform trials. This trial design allows both (1) the seamless addition of new research comparisons when compelling clinical and scientific research questions emerge, and (2) early stopping of accrual to individual comparisons that do not show sufficient activity without affecting other active comparisons. Adaptive platform design trials also offer many potential benefits over traditional trials, from faster time to accrual to contemporaneously recruiting multiple research comparisons, added flexibility to focus on more promising research comparisons via pre-planned interim analyses and potentially shorter time to primary results. We share here our experiences from a trial management perspective, highlighting the challenges and successes.Methods We evaluated the operational aspects of making changes to these adaptive platform trials and identified both common and trial-specific challenges. The operational steps and challenges linked to both the addition of new research comparisons and stopping recruitment following pre-planned interim analysis were considered in our evaluation.Results Specific operational challenges in these adaptive platform protocols, additional to those in traditional two-arm trials, were identified. Key lessons are presented describing some of the solutions and considerations over conducting these trials. Careful consideration on the practicality of the protocol structure (modular versus single protocol), the longevity and continuity of trial oversight committees, and having clear clinical and scientific criteria for the addition of new research comparisons were identified as some of the most common challenges.Conclusions Understanding the operational complexities associated with running adaptive platform protocols is paramount for their conduct, adaptive platform trials offer an efficient model to run randomised controlled trials and we are continuing to work to reduce further the effort required from an operational perspective.Trial registration FOCUS4: ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN90061546 . Registered on 16 October 2013.Stampede ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN78818544 . Registered on 2 February 2004

Defining criteria for disease activity states in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis based on the systemic Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score

Objective To develop and validate cutoff values in the systemic Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score 10 (sJADAS10) that distinguish the states of inactive disease (ID), minimal disease activity (MiDA), moderate disease activity (MoDA), and high disease activity (HDA) in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), based on subjective disease state assessment by the treating pediatric rheumatologist. Methods The cutoffs definition cohort was composed of 400 patients enrolled at 30 pediatric rheumatology centers in 11 countries. Using the subjective physician rating as an external criterion, 6 methods were applied to identify the cutoffs: mapping, calculation of percentiles of cumulative score distribution, Youden index, 90% specificity, maximum agreement, and ROC curve analysis. Sixty percent of the patients were assigned to the definition cohort and 40% to the validation cohort. Cutoff validation was conducted by assessing discriminative ability. Results The sJADAS10 cutoffs that separated ID from MiDA, MiDA from MoDA, and MoDA from HDA were ≤ 2.9, ≤ 10, and > 20.6. The cutoffs discriminated strongly among different levels of pain, between patients with or without morning stiffness, and between patients whose parents judged their disease status as remission or persistent activity/flare or were satisfied or not satisfied with current illness outcome. Conclusion The sJADAS cutoffs revealed good metrologic properties in both definition and validation cohorts, and are therefore suitable for use in clinical trials and routine practice