Isolated Eigenvalues of the Ferromagnetic Spin-J XXZ Chain with Kink Boundary Conditions

We investigate the low-lying excited states of the spin J ferromagnetic XXZ chain with Ising anisotropy Delta and kink boundary conditions. Since the third component of the total magnetization, M, is conserved, it is meaningful to study the spectrum for each fixed value of M. We prove that for J>= 3/2 the lowest excited eigenvalues are separated by a gap from the rest of the spectrum, uniformly in the length of the chain. In the thermodynamic limit, this means that there are a positive number of excitations above the ground state and below the essential spectrum

A qualitative assessment of the probability of human exposure to Trichinella spp. in Switzerland

Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Trichinella spp. Pork is a potential source of infection for humans. A qualitative assessment was conducted to assess the probability of human exposure to Trichinella spp. in Switzerland via the consumption of pork. For the assessment, both the wildlife cycle and the domestic cycle were taken into account. The probability of occurrence of Trichinella infections in domestic pigs was assessed negligible under controlled housing systems due to biosecurity measures. Free-range pigs were assessed to have a very low probability of being infected. Pork from free-range pigs that were not tested for Trichinella spp. was estimated to carry a very low probability for human exposure to Trichmella spp

Comparing the demonstration of freedom from Trichinella infection of domestic pigs by traditional and risk-based surveillance

Traditionally, the routine artificial digestion test is applied to assess the presence of Trichinella larvae in pigs. However, this diagnostic method has a low sensitivity compared to serological tests. The results from artificial digestion tests in Switzerland were evaluated over a time period of 15 years to determine by when freedom from infection based on these data could be confirmed. Freedom was defined as a 95% probability that the prevalence of infection was below 0·0001%. Freedom was demonstrated after 12 years at the latest. A new risk-based surveillance approach was then developed based on serology. Risk-based surveillance was also assessed over 15 years, starting in 2010. It was shown that by using this design, the sample size could be reduced by at least a factor of 4 when compared with the traditional testing regimen, without lowering the level of confidence in the Trichinella-free status of the pig populatio

Implementing Quantum Gates using the Ferromagnetic Spin-J XXZ Chain with Kink Boundary Conditions

We demonstrate an implementation scheme for constructing quantum gates using unitary evolutions of the one-dimensional spin-J ferromagnetic XXZ chain. We present numerical results based on simulations of the chain using the time-dependent DMRG method and techniques from optimal control theory. Using only a few control parameters, we find that it is possible to implement one- and two-qubit gates on a system of spin-3/2 XXZ chains, such as Not, Hadamard, Pi-8, Phase, and C-Not, with fidelity levels exceeding 99%.Comment: Updated Acknowledgement

Trichinellosis in Switzerland

Human trichinellosis is a food-borne zoonosis exhibiting significant health and economical problems predominantly in countries with high pork consumption. During the past ten years the number of human outbreaks around the world has increased in certain areas. In Europe, more than 20,000 human cases have been detected between the year 1991 and 2000. Conversely, Trichinella infection has not been reported for many decades among Swiss domestic pigs

Transport of interface states in the Heisenberg chain

We demonstrate the transport of interface states in the one-dimensional ferromagnetic Heisenberg model by a time dependent magnetic field. Our analysis is based on the standard Adiabatic Theorem. This is supplemented by a numerical analysis via the recently developed time dependent DMRG method, where we calculate the adiabatic constant as a function of the strength of the magnetic field and the anisotropy of the interaction.Comment: minor revision, final version; 13 pages, 4 figure

Validation of a Western Blot for the detection of anti- Trichinella spp. antibodies in domestic pigs

Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease in humans caused by Trichinella spp. According to international regulations and guidelines, serological surveillance can be used to demonstrate the absence of Trichinella spp. in a defined domestic pig population. Most enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests presently available do not yield 100% specificity, and therefore, a complementary test is needed to confirm the diagnosis of any initial ELISA seropositivity. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a Western Blot assay based on somatic Trichinella spiralis muscle stage (L1) antigen using Bayesian modeling techniques. A total of 295 meat juice and serum samples from pigs negative for Trichinella larvae by artificial digestion, including 74 potentially cross-reactive sera of pigs with other nematode infections, and 93 meat juice samples from pigs infected with Trichinella larvae were included in the study. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the Western Blot were ranged from 95.8% to 96.0% and from 99.5% to 99.6%, respectively. A sensitivity analysis showed that the model outcomes were hardly influenced by changes in the prior distributions, providing a high confidence in the outcomes of the models. This validation study demonstrated that the Western Blot is a suitable method to confirm samples that reacted positively in an initial ELIS