A patient preference study that evaluated fluticasone furoate and mometasone furoate nasal sprays for allergic rhinitis

Background: Corticosteroid nasal sprays are the mainstay of treatment for allergic rhinitis. These sprays have sensory attributes such as scent and/or odor, taste and aftertaste, and run down the throat and/or the nose, which, when unpleasant, can affect patient preference for, and compliance with, treatment. Objective: This study examined patient preference for fluticasone furoate nasal spray (FFNS) or mometasone furoate nasal spray (MFNS) based on their sensory attributes after administration in patients with allergic rhinitis. Methods: This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, cross-over study. Patient preferences were determined by using three questionnaires (Overall Preference, Immediate Attributes, and Delayed Attributes). Results: Overall, 56% of patients stated a preference for FFNS versus 32% for MFNS (p _ 0.001); the remaining 12% stated no preference. More patients stated a preference for FFNS versus MFNS for the attributes of “less drip down the throat” (p _ 0.001), “less run out of the nose” (p _ 0.05), “more soothing” (p _ 0.05), and “less irritating” (p _ 0.001). More patients responded in favor of FFNS versus MFNS for the immediate attributes, “run down the throat” (p _ 0.001), and “run out of the nose” (p _ 0.001), and, in the delayed attributes, “run down the throat” (p _ 0.001), “run out of the nose” (p _ 0.01), “presence of aftertaste” (p _ 0.01), and “no nasal irritation” (p _ 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with allergic rhinitis preferred FFNS versus MFNS overall and based on a number of individual attributes, including “less drip down the throat,” “less run out of the nose,” and “less irritating.” Greater preference may improve patient adherence and thereby improve symptom management of the patient’s allergic rhinitis

The partially alternating ternary sum in an associative dialgebra

The alternating ternary sum in an associative algebra, $abc - acb - bac + bca + cab - cba$, gives rise to the partially alternating ternary sum in an associative dialgebra with products $\dashv$ and $\vdash$ by making the argument $a$ the center of each term: $a \dashv b \dashv c - a \dashv c \dashv b - b \vdash a \dashv c + c \vdash a \dashv b + b \vdash c \vdash a - c \vdash b \vdash a$. We use computer algebra to determine the polynomial identities in degree $\le 9$ satisfied by this new trilinear operation. In degrees 3 and 5 we obtain $[a,b,c] + [a,c,b] \equiv 0$ and $[a,[b,c,d],e] + [a,[c,b,d],e] \equiv 0$; these identities define a new variety of partially alternating ternary algebras. We show that there is a 49-dimensional space of multilinear identities in degree 7, and we find equivalent nonlinear identities. We use the representation theory of the symmetric group to show that there are no new identities in degree 9.Comment: 14 page

An Arbitrary Two-qubit Computation In 23 Elementary Gates

Quantum circuits currently constitute a dominant model for quantum computation. Our work addresses the problem of constructing quantum circuits to implement an arbitrary given quantum computation, in the special case of two qubits. We pursue circuits without ancilla qubits and as small a number of elementary quantum gates as possible. Our lower bound for worst-case optimal two-qubit circuits calls for at least 17 gates: 15 one-qubit rotations and 2 CNOTs. To this end, we constructively prove a worst-case upper bound of 23 elementary gates, of which at most 4 (CNOT) entail multi-qubit interactions. Our analysis shows that synthesis algorithms suggested in previous work, although more general, entail much larger quantum circuits than ours in the special case of two qubits. One such algorithm has a worst case of 61 gates of which 18 may be CNOTs. Our techniques rely on the KAK decomposition from Lie theory as well as the polar and spectral (symmetric Shur) matrix decompositions from numerical analysis and operator theory. They are related to the canonical decomposition of a two-qubit gate with respect to the ``magic basis'' of phase-shifted Bell states, published previously. We further extend this decomposition in terms of elementary gates for quantum computation.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures. Version 2 gives correct credits for the GQC "quantum compiler". Version 3 adds justification for our choice of elementary gates and adds a comparison with classical library-less logic synthesis. It adds acknowledgements and a new reference, adds full details about the 8-gate decomposition of topC-V and stealthily fixes several minor inaccuracies. NOTE: Using a new technique, we recently improved the lower bound to 18 gates and (tada!) found a circuit decomposition that requires 18 gates or less. This work will appear as a separate manuscrip

Coerced Hospital Admission and Symptom Change-A Prospective Observational Multi-Centre Study

PMCID: PMC3227658 Freely available online via CCplosone.org

A convenient and efficient synthesis of (S)-lysine and (S)-arginine homologues via olefin cross-metathesis

A convenient five step synthesis of (S)-homolysine, incorporating a key olefin cross-metathesis step in the chain extension methodology, has been developed, together with a six step related synthesis of a new homologue of arginine, (S)-bishomoarginine

Surface-acoustic-wave-driven luminescence from a lateral p-n junction

The authors report surface-acoustic-wave-driven luminescence from a lateral p-n junction formed by molecular beam epitaxy regrowth of a modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well on a patterned GaAs substrate. Surface-acoustic-wave-driven transport is demonstrated by peaks in the electrical current and light emission from the GaAs quantum well at the resonant frequency of the transducer. This type of junction offers high carrier mobility and scalability. The demonstration of surface-acoustic-wave luminescence is a significant step towards single-photon applications in quantum computation and quantum cryptography.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Validation of Methods to Predict Vibration of a Panel in the Near Field of a Hot Supersonic Rocket Plume

This paper describes the measurement and analysis of surface fluctuating pressure level (FPL) data and vibration data from a plume impingement aero-acoustic and vibration (PIAAV) test to validate NASA s physics-based modeling methods for prediction of panel vibration in the near field of a hot supersonic rocket plume. For this test - reported more fully in a companion paper by Osterholt & Knox at 26th Aerospace Testing Seminar, 2011 - the flexible panel was located 2.4 nozzle diameters from the plume centerline and 4.3 nozzle diameters downstream from the nozzle exit. The FPL loading is analyzed in terms of its auto spectrum, its cross spectrum, its spatial correlation parameters and its statistical properties. The panel vibration data is used to estimate the in-situ damping under plume FPL loading conditions and to validate both finite element analysis (FEA) and statistical energy analysis (SEA) methods for prediction of panel response. An assessment is also made of the effects of non-linearity in the panel elasticity

Canonical Decompositions of n-qubit Quantum Computations and Concurrence

The two-qubit canonical decomposition SU(4) = [SU(2) \otimes SU(2)] Delta [SU(2) \otimes SU(2)] writes any two-qubit quantum computation as a composition of a local unitary, a relative phasing of Bell states, and a second local unitary. Using Lie theory, we generalize this to an n-qubit decomposition, the concurrence canonical decomposition (C.C.D.) SU(2^n)=KAK. The group K fixes a bilinear form related to the concurrence, and in particular any computation in K preserves the tangle ||^2 for n even. Thus, the C.C.D. shows that any n-qubit quantum computation is a composition of a computation preserving this n-tangle, a computation in A which applies relative phases to a set of GHZ states, and a second computation which preserves it. As an application, we study the extent to which a large, random unitary may change concurrence. The result states that for a randomly chosen a in A within SU(2^{2p}), the probability that a carries a state of tangle 0 to a state of maximum tangle approaches 1 as the even number of qubits approaches infinity. Any v=k_1 a k_2 for such an a \in A has the same property. Finally, although ||^2 vanishes identically when the number of qubits is odd, we show that a more complicated C.C.D. still exists in which K is a symplectic group.Comment: v2 corrects odd qubit CCD misstatements, reference chapter for KAK v3 notation change to coincide with sequel, typos. 20 pages, 0 figure

Unitary Gate Synthesis for Continuous Variable Systems

We investigate the synthesis of continuous-variable two-mode unitary gates in the setting where two modes A and B are coupled by a fixed quadratic Hamiltonian H. The gate synthesis consists of a sequence of evolutions governed by Hamiltonian H interspaced by local phase shifts applied to A and B. We concentrate on protocols that require the minimum necessary number of steps and we show how to implement the beam splitter and the two-mode squeezer in just three steps. Particular attention is paid to the Hamiltonian x_A p_B that describes the effective off-resonant interaction of light with the collective atomic spin.Comment: 7 pages, minor text modifications, references adde