753 research outputs found

    Efficient quantum circuits for port-based teleportation

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    Port-based teleportation (PBT) is a variant of quantum teleportation that, unlike the canonical protocol by Bennett et al., does not require a correction operation on the teleported state. Since its introduction by Ishizaka and Hiroshima in 2008, no efficient implementation of PBT was known. We close this long-standing gap by building on our recent results on representations of partially transposed permutation matrix algebras and mixed quantum Schur transform. We describe efficient quantum circuits for probabilistic and deterministic PBT protocols on n ports of arbitrary local dimension, both for EPR and optimized resource states. We describe two constructions based on different encodings of the Gelfand-Tsetlin basis for n qudits: a standard encoding that achieves OĖœ(n) time and O(n log (n)) space complexity, and a Yamanouchi encoding that achieves OĖœ(n2) time and O(log(n)) space complexity, both for constant local dimension and target error. We also describe efficient circuits for preparing the optimal resource states

    Reconsidering "the love of art" : evaluating the potential of art museum outreach

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    Art museums have long been identified as bastions of social and cultural exclusion. This conclusion was best evidenced by the large-scale 1967 French study by Bourdieu and Darbel demonstrating the exclusionary nature of ā€œThe Love of Art.ā€ However, in recent years there have been increasing efforts to reach out to a broader range of visitors beyond conventional audiences. The present study investigates the impacts of an outreach program at a UK art museum, which sought to engage socially excluded young mothers. This study employs ethnographic research methods on a longitudinal basis to develop qualitative insights about the program seeking to mitigate cultural exclusion. While the studyā€™s findings uphold many longstanding critiques of art museumsā€™ conventional approaches, the study also indicates that carefully designed outreach activities can overcome such limitations and enhance cultural engagement. Thus, art museumsā€™ limited appeal is tied to problematic public engagement practices that can be changed

    Are Elevated Levels of IGF-1 Caused by Coronary Arteriesoclerosis?: Molecular and Clinical Analysis

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    The importance of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in coronary artery disease (CAD) due to wide range of its biological effects and its therapeutic potential, has already been described. Our aim was to evaluate possible influence of IGF-1 serum level changes on coronary atherosclerosis. In case of existence of such association our further aim was to verify and explain this phenomenon by examination of promoter P1 of IGF-1gene and receptor gene for IGF-1. The study was performed in 101 consecutive patients undergo for routine coronary angiography. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of coronary atherosclerosis was performed respectively by estimation of the number of culprit lesions in coronary arteries and by Gensini score calculation. IGF-1, IGFBP3 and plasma lipoproteins were measured in all patients. In addition, we evaluated DNA from 101 patients, isolated from blood cells, which was amplified by using PCR with sophisticated primers for P1 promoter of IGF-1 gene and IGF-1 receptor gene, then analyzed utilizing SSCP technique and automatically sequenced. We observed significant increase of serum IGF-1 levels in patients with ā€œ3 vessel diseaseā€ and with high score in Gensini scale when compared to those without any narrowing lesions in coronary arteries and 0 Gensini score (in group with 3 vessel disease 215.0Ā Ā±Ā 71.3 versuss 176.7Ā Ā±Ā 34.2Ā ng/ml pĀ =Ā 0.04 and with high Gensini score 231.4Ā Ā±Ā 59.3 versus 181.0Ā Ā±Ā 37.8Ā ng/ml pĀ =Ā 0.01).We found different genotypes for five P1 promoter polymorphisms of IGF-1 gene (RS35767, RS5742612, RS228837, RS11829693, RS17879774). There were no significant associations between the observed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and coronary atherosclerosis nor with levels of circulating IGF-1. We found no structural polymorphism in receptor gene for IGF-1 nor in its extracellular domain(exon 2ā€“4) nor in internal domain (exon 16ā€“21). The effect of increased IGF-1 serum level in our study was probably independent from structural polymorphism in promoter P1 for IGF-1 or in receptor gene for IGF-1

    Exploring the interface between adolescent dysmenorrhoea and endometriosis: a protocol for a cohort and nested caseā€“control study within the QResearch Database

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    Introduction Dysmenorrhoea affects up to 70%ā€“91% of adolescents who menstruate, with approximately one-third experiencing severe symptoms with impacts on education, work and leisure. Dysmenorrhoea can occur without identifiable pathology, but can indicate underlying conditions, including congenital genital tract anomalies or endometriosis. There is a need for evidence about the management and incidence of dysmenorrhoea in primary care, the impact of treatments in adolescence on long-term outcomes and when to consider the possibility of endometriosis in adolescence. Methods and analysis This study aims to improve the evidence base for adolescents presenting to primary care with dysmenorrhoea. It comprises three interlinked studies. Using the QResearch Database, the study population includes all female at birth participants aged 10ā€“19 years any time between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2021. We will undertake (1) a descriptive study documenting the prevalence of coded dysmenorrhoea in primary care, stratified by demographic variables, reported using descriptive statistics; (2) a prospective open cohort study following an index cohort of all adolescents recorded as attending primary care with dysmenorrhoea and a comparator cohort of five times as many who have not, to determine the HR for a diagnosis of endometriosis, adenomyosis, ongoing menstrual pain or subfertility (considered singly and in combination) anytime during the study period; and (3) a nested caseā€“control study for adolescents diagnosed with endometriosis, using conditional logistic regression, to determine the OR for symptom(s) preceding this diagnosis. Ethics and dissemination The project has been independently peer reviewed and received ethics approval from the QResearch Scientific Board (reference OX46 under REC 18/EM/0400)

    Floating stones off El Hierro, Canary Islands: xenoliths of pre-island sedimentary origin in the early products of the October 2011 eruption

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    The eruption that started off the south coast of El Hierro, Canary Islands, in October 2011 has emitted intriguing eruption products found floating in the sea. These specimens appeared as floating volcanic "bombs" that have in the meantime been termed "restingolites" (after the close-by village of La Restinga) and exhibit cores of white and porous pumice-like material. Currently the nature and origin of these "floating stones" is vigorously debated among researchers, with important implications for the interpretation of the hazard potential of the ongoing eruption. The "restingolites" have been proposed to be either (i) juvenile high-silica magma (e.g. rhyolite), (ii) remelted magmatic material (trachyte), (iii) altered volcanic rock, or (iv) reheated hyaloclastites or zeolite from the submarine slopes of El Hierro. Here, we provide evidence that supports yet a different conclusion. We have collected and analysed the structure and composition of samples and compared the results to previous work on similar rocks found in the archipelago. Based on their high silica content, the lack of igneous trace element signatures, and the presence of remnant quartz crystals, jasper fragments and carbonate relicts, we conclude that "restingolites" are in fact xenoliths from pre-island sedimentary rocks that were picked up and heated by the ascending magma causing them to partially melt and vesiculate. They hence represent messengers from depth that help us to understand the interaction between ascending magma and crustal lithologies in the Canary Islands as well as in similar Atlantic islands that rest on sediment/covered ocean crust (e.g. Cape Verdes, Azores). The occurrence of these "restingolites" does therefore not indicate the presence of an explosive high-silica magma that is involved in the ongoing eruption

    Acceptance, Prevalence and Indications for Robot-Assisted Laparoscopy - Results of a Survey Among Urologists in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

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    Background: Robotic-assisted laparoscopy (RAL) is being widely accepted in the field of urology as a replacement for conventional laparoscopy (CL). Nevertheless, the process of its integration in clinical routines has been rather spontaneous. Objective: To determine the prevalence of robotic systems (RS) in urological clinics in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the acceptance of RAL among urologists as a replacement for CL and its current use for 25 different urological indications. Materials and Methods: To elucidate the practice patterns of RAL, a survey at hospitals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland was conducted. All surgically active urology departments in Germany (303), Austria (37) and Switzerland (84) received a questionnaire with questions related to the one-year period prior to the survey. Results: The response rate was 63%. Among the participants, 43% were universities, 45% were tertiary care centres, and 8% were secondary care hospitals. A total of 60 RS (Germany 35, Austria 8, Switzerland 17) were available, and the majority (68%) were operated under public ownership. The perception of RAL and the anticipated superiority of RAL significantly differed between robotic and non-robotic surgeons. For only two urologic indications were more than 50% of the procedures performed using RAL: pyeloplasty (58%) and transperitoneal radical prostatectomy (75%). On average, 35% of robotic surgeons and only 14% of non-robotic surgeons anticipated RAL superiority in some of the 25 indications. Conclusions: This survey provides a detailed insight into RAL implementation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. RAL is currently limited to a few urological indications with a small number of high-volume robotic centres. These results might suggest that a saturation of clinics using RS has been achieved but that the existing robotic capacities are being utilized ineffectively. The possible reasons for this finding are discussed, and certain strategies to solve these problems are offered

    Translation Quality and Productivity: A Study on Rich Morphology Languages.

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    This paper introduces a unique large-scale machine translation dataset with various levels of human annotation combined with automatically recorded productivity features such as time and keystroke logging and manual scoring during the annotation process. The data was collected as part of the EU-funded QT21 project and comprises 20,000ā€“45,000 sentences of industry-generated content with translation into English and three morphologically rich languages: Englishā€“German/Latvian/Czech and Germanā€“English, in either the information technologyor life sciences domain. Altogether, the data consists of 176,476 tuples including a sourcesentence, the respective machine translation by a statistical system (additionally, by a neural system for two language pairs), a post-edited version of such translation by a native-speaking professional translator, an independently created reference translation, and information on post-editing: time, keystrokes, Likert scores, and annotator identifier. A subset of 2,000 sentences from this data per language pair and system type was also manually annotated with translation errors for deeper linguistic analysis. We describe the data collection process, provide a brief analysis of the resulting annotations and discuss the use of the data in quality estimation and automatic post-editing tasks

    More than sense of place? Exploring the emotional dimension of rural tourism experiences

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    It is widely suggested that participation in rural tourism is underpinned by a sense of rural place or ā€œruralityā€. However, although nature and the countryside have long been recognised as a source of spiritual or emotional fulfilment, few have explored the extent to which tourism, itself often claimed to be a sacred experience, offers an emotional/spiritual dimension in the rural context. This paper addresses that literature gap. Using in-depth interviews with rural tourists in the English Lake District, it explores the extent to which, within respondentsā€™ individual understanding of spirituality, a relationship exists between sense of place and deeper, emotional experiences and, especially, whether participation in rural tourism may induce spiritual or emotional responses. The research revealed that all respondents felt a strong attachment to the Lake District; similarly, and irrespective of their openness to spirituality, engaging in rural tourism activities resulted in highly emotive experiences for all respondents, the description/interpretation of such experiences being determined by individual ā€œbeliefsā€. However, sense of place was not a prerequisite to emotional or spiritual experiences. Being in and engaging with the landscape ļæ½ effectively becoming part of it ļæ½ especially through physical activity is fundamental to emotional responses
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