Synthesis of Reversible Circuits from a Subset of Muthukrishnan-Stroud Quantum Realizable Multi-Valued Gates

We present a new type of quantum realizable reversible cascade. Next we present a new algorithm to synthesize arbitrary single-output ternary functions using these reversible cascades. The cascades use “Generalized Multi-Valued Gates” introduced here, which extend the concept of Generalized Ternary Gates introduced previously. While there were 216 GTGs, a total of 12 ternary gates of the new type are sufficient to realize arbitrary ternary functions. (The count can be further reduced to 5 gates, three 2-qubit and two 1-qubit). Such gates are realizable in quantum ion trap devices. For some functions, the algorithm requires fewer gates than results previously published [1, 5, 8, 14]. In addition, the algorithm also does conversion from arbitrary ternary logic to reversible logic at the cost of relatively small garbage. The algorithm is implemented here in ternary logic, but generalization to arbitrary radix is both straightforward and sees a reduction in growth of cost as the radix is increased

Evaluation of Norepinephrine Transporter Expression and Metaiodobenzylguanidine Avidity in Neuroblastoma: A Report from the Childrens Oncology Group.

Purpose. (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is used for the diagnostic evaluation of neuroblastoma. We evaluated the relationship between norepinephrine transporter (NET) expression and clinical MIBG uptake. Methods. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (N = 82) and immunohistochemistry (IHC; N = 61) were performed for neuroblastoma NET mRNA and protein expression and correlated with MIBG avidity on diagnostic scans. The correlation of NET expression with clinical features was also performed. Results. Median NET mRNA expression level for the 19 MIBG avid patients was 12.9% (range 1.6-73.7%) versus 5.9% (range 0.6-110.0%) for the 8 nonavid patients (P = 0.31). Median percent NET protein expression was 50% (range 0-100%) in MIBG avid patients compared to 10% (range 0-80%) in nonavid patients (P = 0.027). MYCN amplified tumors had lower NET protein expression compared to nonamplified tumors (10% versus 50%; P = 0.0002). Conclusions. NET protein expression in neuroblastoma correlates with MIBG avidity. MYCN amplified tumors have lower NET protein expression

Electronic States of Magnetic Quantum Dots

We study quantum states of electrons in magnetically doped quantum dots as a function of exchange coupling between electron and impurity spins, the strength of Coulomb interaction, confining potential, and the number of electrons. The magnetic phase diagram of quantum dots, doped with a large number of magnetic Mn impurities, can be described by the energy gap in the spectrum of electrons and the mean field electron-Mn exchange coupling. A competition between these two parameters leads to a transition between spin-unpolarized and spin-polarized states, in the absence of applied magnetic field. Tuning the energy gap by electrostatic control of nonparabolicity of the confining potential can enable control of magnetization even at the fixed number of electrons. We illustrate our findings by directly comparing Mn-doped quantum dots with parabolic and Gaussian confining potential.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Part of Focus on Spintronics in Reduced Dimension

Zinc in innate and adaptive tumor immunity

Zinc is important. It is the second most abundant trace metal with 2-4 grams in humans. It is an essential trace element, critical for cell growth, development and differentiation, DNA synthesis, RNA transcription, cell division, and cell activation. Zinc deficiency has adverse consequences during embryogenesis and early childhood development, particularly on immune functioning. It is essential in members of all enzyme classes, including over 300 signaling molecules and transcription factors. Free zinc in immune and tumor cells is regulated by 14 distinct zinc importers (ZIP) and transporters (ZNT1-8). Zinc depletion induces cell death via apoptosis (or necrosis if apoptotic pathways are blocked) while sufficient zinc levels allows maintenance of autophagy. Cancer cells have upregulated zinc importers, and frequently increased zinc levels, which allow them to survive. Based on this novel synthesis, approaches which locally regulate zinc levels to promote survival of immune cells and/or induce tumor apoptosis are in order

Configuration interaction method for Fock-Darwin states

We present a configuration interaction method optimized for Fock-Darwin states of two-dimensional quantum dots with an axially symmetric, parabolic confinement potential subject to a perpendicular magnetic field. The optimization explicitly accounts for geometrical and dynamical symmetries of the Fock-Darwin single-particle states and for many-particle symmetries associated with the center-of-mass motion and with the total spin. This results in a basis set of reduced size and improved accuracy. The numerical results compare well with the quantum Monte Carlo and stochastic variational methods. The method is illustrated by the evolution of a strongly correlated few-electron droplet in a magnetic field in the regime of the fractional quantum Hall effect.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, ReVTeX4, submitted to Solid State Communication

Non-native vascular flora of the Arctic : Taxonomic richness, distribution and pathways

We present a comprehensive list of non-native vascular plants known from the Arctic, explore their geographic distribution, analyze the extent of naturalization and invasion among 23 subregions of the Arctic, and examine pathways of introductions. The presence of 341 non-native taxa in the Arctic was confirmed, of which 188 are naturalized in at least one of the 23 regions. A small number of taxa (11) are considered invasive; these plants are known from just three regions. In several Arctic regions there are no naturalized non-native taxa recorded and the majority of Arctic regions have a low number of naturalized taxa. Analyses of the non-native vascular plant flora identified two main biogeographic clusters within the Arctic: American and Asiatic. Among all pathways, seed contamination and transport by vehicles have contributed the most to non-native plant introduction in the Arctic.Peer reviewe

Case Report Acanthosis Nigricans Associated with an Adrenocortical Tumor in a Pediatric Patient

Malignant acanthosis nigricans (AN) is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome seen primarily in adults with an underlying diagnosis of gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma. Malignant AN is characterized by hyperpigmentation and velvety hyperplasia of the epidermis. This condition is generally not associated with tumors in pediatric populations or in the adrenal gland. We present a case of malignant AN in a pediatric patient with a nonmalignant, functional adrenocortical tumor

EEG phase synchronization during absence seizures

Absence seizures—generalized rhythmic spike-and-wave discharges (SWDs) are the defining property of childhood (CAE) and juvenile (JAE) absence epilepsies. Such seizures are the most compelling examples of pathological neuronal hypersynchrony. All the absence detection algorithms proposed so far have been derived from the properties of individual SWDs. In this work, we investigate EEG phase synchronization in patients with CAE/JAE and healthy subjects to explore the possibility of using the wavelet phase synchronization index to detect seizures and quantify their disorganization (fragmentation). The overlap of the ictal and interictal probability density functions was high enough to preclude effective seizure detection based solely on changes in EEG synchronization. We used a machine learning classifier with the phase synchronization index (calculated for 1 s data segments with 0.5 s overlap) and the normalized amplitude as features to detect generalized SWDs. Using 19 channels (10-20 setup), we identified 99.2% of absences. However, the overlap of the segments classified as ictal with seizures was only 83%. The analysis showed that seizures were disorganized in approximately half of the 65 subjects. On average, generalized SWDs lasted about 80% of the duration of abnormal EEG activity. The disruption of the ictal rhythm can manifest itself as the disappearance of epileptic spikes (with high-amplitude delta waves persisting), transient cessation of epileptic discharges, or loss of global synchronization. The detector can analyze a real-time data stream. Its performance is good for a six-channel setup (Fp1, Fp2, F7, F8, O1, O2), which can be implemented as an unobtrusive EEG headband. False detections are rare for controls and young adults (0.03% and 0.02%, respectively). In patients, they are more frequent (0.5%), but in approximately 82% cases, classification errors are caused by short epileptiform discharges. Most importantly, the proposed detector can be applied to parts of EEG with abnormal EEG activity to quantitatively determine seizure fragmentation. This property is important because a previous study reported that the probability of disorganized discharges is eight times higher in JAE than in CAE. Future research must establish whether seizure properties (frequency, length, fragmentation, etc.) and clinical characteristics can help distinguish CAE and JAE

Placental vascularity and markers of angiogenesis in relation to prenatal growth status in overnourished adolescent ewes.

INTRODUCTION: Placental vascularity may be important in the development of fetal growth restriction (FGR). The overnourished adolescent ewe is a robust model of the condition, with ∼50% of offspring demonstrating FGR (birthweight >2 standard deviations below optimally-fed control mean). We studied whether placental vascularity, angiogenesis and glucose transport reflect FGR severity. METHODS: Singleton pregnancies were established in adolescent ewes either overnourished to putatively restrict fetoplacental growth (n = 27) or control-fed (n = 12). At 131d (term = 145d) pregnancies were interrupted and fetuses classified as FGR (n = 17,  Non-FGR > FGR and fetal:placental weight ratios were higher in overnourished versus Control groups. COT vascular indices were Non-FGR > FGR > Control. COT-CAD, CSD and APC were significantly greater in Non-FGR overnourished versus Control and intermediate in FGR groups. CAR vascularity did not differ. CAR-VEGFA/FLT1/KDR/ANGPT1/ANGPT2/SLC2A1/SLC2A3 mRNA was lower and COT-ANGPT2 higher in overnourished versus Control groups. DISCUSSION: Relative to control-intake pregnancy, overnourished pregnancies are characterised by higher COT vascularity, potentially a compensatory response to reduced nutrient supply, reflected by higher fetal:placental weight ratios. Compared with overnourished pregnancies where fetal growth is relatively preserved, overnourished pregnancies culminating in marked FGR have less placental vascularity, suggesting incomplete adaptation to the prenatal insult

Randomized Controlled Trial of Interval-Compressed Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Localized Ewing Sarcoma: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group

Chemotherapy with alternating vincristine-doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide-etoposide cycles and primary tumor treatment with surgery and/or radiation therapy constitute the usual approach to localized Ewing sarcoma in North America. We tested whether chemotherapy intensification through interval compression could improve outcome