Paper Session I-B - Characterizing Space-Grown Degenerate Narrow Gap Semiconductors by Scanning Tunneling Optical Spectroscopy

We consider the II-VI narrow gap semiconducting alloys Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te, Hg(1-x)Zn(x)Te, Hg(1-x)Zn(x)Se, for which empirical equations exist that give each alloy’s forbidden energy band gap Eg(x) as a function of its stoichiometry as characterized by the value x . These materials are important to NASA for two reasons. They are useful for making infrared detectors, and they are best grown in microgravity to optimize their uniformity. The equations can be inverted to yield the stoichiometry parameter x provided that the value of Eg can be determined experimentally, for example, by optical absorption measurements. We have investigated an alternative method, which should yield appreciably better spatial resolution, in which scanning tunneling optical spectroscopy (STOS) is used to measure the enhancement of the current that is due to photoexcitation of carriers at the tunneling junction in an STM. We present a simplified working model for low temperature calculations of STOS. Our major conclusions are: (a) for the degenerate case, knowledge of ND - NA (donor density minus the acceptor density) can be used to deduce the true band gap from the apparent band gap, (b) the low temperature tunneling current may have a sharper onset, depending on the diffusion length, at the band gap than does the optical absorption, and (c) our simplified formulation allows for quick, straightforward evaluation of many different cases and is in essential agreement with more detailed analysis

Characterizing large-scale quantum computers via cycle benchmarking

Quantum computers promise to solve certain problems more efficiently than their digital counterparts. A major challenge towards practically useful quantum computing is characterizing and reducing the various errors that accumulate during an algorithm running on large-scale processors. Current characterization techniques are unable to adequately account for the exponentially large set of potential errors, including cross-talk and other correlated noise sources. Here we develop cycle benchmarking, a rigorous and practically scalable protocol for characterizing local and global errors across multi-qubit quantum processors. We experimentally demonstrate its practicality by quantifying such errors in non-entangling and entangling operations on an ion-trap quantum computer with up to 10 qubits, with total process fidelities for multi-qubit entangling gates ranging from 99.6(1)% for 2 qubits to 86(2)% for 10 qubits. Furthermore, cycle benchmarking data validates that the error rate per single-qubit gate and per two-qubit coupling does not increase with increasing system size.Comment: The main text consists of 6 pages, 3 figures and 1 table. The supplementary information consists of 6 pages, 2 figures and 3 table

Evaluating the Usability of a Mobile Clinical Computing Device

Abstract Observational ethnography of qualitative impressions and quantitative measurement of user reactions were employed in a sample of experienced nurses to measure the usability of the Motion C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant (C5) in a simulated clinical environment. Semi-structured interviews, surveys, and quantitative analysis of observations suggest a positive level of usability and satisfaction with the C5. Introduction Medical error is a known and highly publicized downside to healthcare in the United States. Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) has been proclaimed as a potential solution to reduce the rate of medical error in America 1 . Current studies however are revealing that HIT, when implemented without a strong understanding of the information needs and workflow of users and attention towards human-centered design are actually increasing medical error instead of reducing it as planned 2,3

Related umbilical cord blood transplantation in patients with thalassemia and sickle cell disease.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from HLA-identical siblings is an accepted treatment for both thalassemia and sickle cell disease (SCD). However, it is associated with decided risk of both transplant-related mortality (TRM) and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). We analyzed 44 patients (median age, 5 years; range, 1-20 years) given an allogeneic related cord blood transplant for either thalassemia (n = 33) or SCD (n = 11). Thirty children were given cyclosporin A (CsA) alone as GVHD prophylaxis, 10 received CsA and methotrexate (MTX), and 4 patients received other combinations of immunosuppressive drugs. The median number of nucleated cells infused was 4.0 x 10(7)/kg (range, 1.2-10 x 10(7)/kg). No patient died and 36 of 44 children remain free of disease, with a median follow-up of 24 months (range, 4-76 months). Only one patient with SCD did not have sustained donor engraftment as compared with 7 of the 33 patients with thalassemia. Three of these 8 patients had sustained donor engraftment after BMT from the same donor. Four patients experienced grade 2 acute GVHD; only 2 of the 36 patients at risk developed limited chronic GVHD. The 2-year probability of event-free survival is 79% and 90% for patients with thalassemia and SCD, respectively. Use of MTX for GVHD prophylaxis was associated with a greater risk of treatment failure. Related CBT for hemoglobinopathies offers a good probability of success and is associated with a low risk of GVHD. Optimization of transplantation strategies could further improve these results