Work-family conflict as a predictor of common mental disorders in the 1958 British birth cohort

© 2015 Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. All rights reserved. The impact of work-family conflict on common mental disorders (CMD) has been examined in cross-sectional studies. The current paper examines work-family conflict and its effect on CMD in a large nationally representative longitudinal sample. This study uses data from the 1958 British birth cohort study, a longitudinal, prospective cohort study of men and women born in a single week in 1958. At 45 years 9,297 individuals were followed up and 9,008 individuals were working. In this sample work-family conflict, sociodemographic factors and the number of hours worked were assessed at age 42 years. The Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) was used to assess CMD, as classified by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), in cohort members at age 45 years. Work-family conflict was prospectively associated with an increased risk of common mental disorders (OR=1.76 95% CI 1.36-2.20) adjusting for gender, marital status, social class and educational qualifications. However there was no significant prospective association between the number of hours worked and the prevalence of CMD in this cohort. These results suggest that work-family conflict is a risk factor for future common mental disorder and that in order to prevent common mental disorder this should be considered in job planning. There is a need for more prospective studies with more detailed measures of work-family conflict to confirm these results

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with ensemble-based memories

Quantum memories are enabling devices for extending the reach of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. The required specifications for memories are, however, often considered too demanding for available technologies. One can change this mindset by introducing memory-assisted measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD), which imposes less stringent conditions on the memory modules. It has been shown that, in the case of fast single-qubit memories, we can reach rates and distances not attainable by single no-memory QKD links. Single-qubit memories, such as single atoms or ions, have, currently, too slow of an access time to offer an advantage in practice. Here, we relax that assumption, and consider ensemble-based memories, which satisfy the main two requirements of having short access times and large storage-bandwidth products. Our results, however, suggest that the multiple-excitation effects in such memories can be so detrimental that they may wash away the scaling improvement offered by memory-equipped systems. We then propose an alternative setup that can in principle remedy the above problem. As a prelude to our main problem, we also obtain secret key generation rates for MDI-QKD systems that rely on imperfect single-photon sources with nonzero probabilities of emitting two photons

Transmit-Power Efficient Linear Precoding Utilizing Known Interference for the Multiantenna Downlink

It has been shown that the knowledge of both channel and data information at the base station prior to downlink transmission can help increase the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each user without the need to increase the transmitted power. Achievability is based on the idea of phase alignment (PA) precoding, where instead of nulling out the destructive interference, it judiciously rotates the phases of the transmitted symbols. In this way, they add up coherently at the intended user and yield higher received SNRs. In addition, it is well known that regularized channel inversion (RCI) precoding improves the performance of channel inversion (CI) in multiantenna downlink communications. In line with this and similar to the RCI precoding, in this paper, we propose the idea of regularized PA (RPA), which is shown to improve the performance of original PA precoding. To do this, we first rectify the original PA precoding, deriving a closed-form expression to evaluate the amount of transmit-power reduction achieved for the same average output SNR compared with CI precoding. We then use this new analysis to select the appropriate regularization factor for our proposed RPA scheme. It is shown by means of theoretical analysis and simulations that the proposed RPA precoding outperforms CI, RCI, and PA precoders from both symbol error rate (SER) and throughput perspectives and provides a more power-efficient alternative. This is particularly pronounced as the number of transmit antennas becomes larger, where up to a 50-times reduction in the transmit power is achieved by RPA (PA) compared with RCI (CI) precoding for a given performance

A non-adiabatic approach to entanglement distribution over long distances

Entanglement distribution between trapped-atom quantum memories, viz. single atoms in optical cavities, is addressed. In most scenarios, the rate of entanglement distribution depends on the efficiency with which the state of traveling single photons can be transferred to trapped atoms. This loading efficiency is analytically studied for two-level, $V$-level, $\Lambda$-level, and double-$\Lambda$-level atomic configurations by means of a system-reservoir approach. An off-resonant non-adiabatic approach to loading $\Lambda$-level trapped-atom memories is proposed, and the ensuing trade-offs between the atom-light coupling rate and input photon bandwidth for achieving a high loading probability are identified. The non-adiabatic approach allows a broad class of optical sources to be used, and in some cases it provides a higher system throughput than what can be achieved by adiabatic loading mechanisms. The analysis is extended to the case of two double-$\Lambda$ trapped-atom memories illuminated by a polarization-entangled biphoton.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure

Improvements on “Secure multi-party quantum summation based on quantum Fourier transform”

Recently, a quantum multi-party summation protocol based on the quantum Fourier transform has been proposed (Yang et al. in Quantum Inf Process 17:129, 2018). The protocol claims to be secure against both outside and participant attacks. However, a closer look reveals that the player in charge of generating the required multi-partite entangled states can launch two kinds of attacks to learn about other parties’ private integer strings without being caught. In this paper, we present these attacks and propose countermeasures to make the protocol secure again. The improved protocol not only can resist these attacks but also remove the need for the quantum Fourier transform and encoding quantum operations by participants

Does training increase the use of more emotionally laden words by nurses when talking with cancer patients? A randomised study

The emotional content of health care professionals–cancer patient communication is often considered as poor and has to be improved by an enhancement of health care professionals empathy. One hundred and fifteen oncology nurses participating in a communication skills training workshop were assessed at three different periods. Nurses randomly allocated to a control group arm (waiting list) were assessed a first time and then 3 and 6 months later. Nurses allocated to the training group were assessed before training workshop, just after and 3 months later. Each nurse completed a 20-min clinical and simulated interview. Each interview was analysed by three content analysis systems: two computer-supported content analysis of emotional words, the Harvard Third Psychosocial Dictionary and the Martindale Regressive Imagery Dictionary and an observer rating system of utterances emotional depth level, the Cancer Research Campaign Workshop Evaluation Manual. The results show that in clinical interviews there is an increased use of emotional words by health care professionals right after having been trained (P=0.056): training group subjects use 4.3 (std: 3.7) emotional words per 1000 used before training workshop, and 7.0 (std: 5.8) right after training workshop and 5.9 (std: 4.3) 3 months later compared to control group subjects which use 4.5 (std: 4.8) emotional words at the first assessment point, 4.3 (std: 4.1) at the second and 4.4 (std: 3.3) at the third. The same trend is noticeable for emotional words used by health care professionals in simulated interviews (P=0.000). The emotional words registry used by health care professionals however remains stable over time in clinical interviews (P=0.141) and is enlarged in simulated interviews (P=0.041). This increased use of emotional words by trained health care professionals facilitates cancer patient emotion words expressions compared to untrained health care professionals especially 3 months after training (P=0.005). This study shows that health care professionals empathy may be improved by communication skills training workshop and that this improvement facilitates cancer patients emotions expression

Architectural Considerations in Hybrid Quantum-Classical Networks

Three network architectures, compatible with passive optical networks, for future hybrid quantum-classical networks are proposed and compared. These setups rely on three different schemes for quantum key distribution (QKD): BB84, entanglement-based QKD, and measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD). It turns out that, while for small-to-moderatesize networks BB84 supports the highest secret key generation rate, it may fail to support large numbers of users. Its cost implications are also expected to be higher than other setups. For large networks, MDI-QKD offers the highest key rate if fast single-photon detectors are employed. Entanglement-based networks offer the longest security distance among the three setups. MDI-QKD is, however, the only architecture resilient to detection loopholes and possibly the most favorable with its less demanding end-user technology. Entanglement-based and MDI-QKD setups can both be combined with quantum repeater systems to allow for long-distance QKD with no trust constraints on the service provider

Alternative schemes for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

Practical schemes for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution using phase and path or time encoding are presented. In addition to immunity to existing loopholes in detection systems, our setup employs simple encoding and decoding modules without relying on polarization maintenance or optical switches. Moreover, by employing a modified sifting technique to handle the dead-time limitations in single-photon detectors, our scheme can be run with only two single-photon detectors. With a phase-postselection technique, a decoy-state variant of our scheme is also proposed, whose key generation rate scales linearly with the channel transmittance.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure

Characterizing heralded single-photon sources with imperfect measurement devices

Any characterization of a single-photon source is not complete without specifying its second-order degree of coherence, i.e., its $g^{(2)}$ function. An accurate measurement of such coherence functions commonly requires high-precision single-photon detectors, in whose absence, only time-averaged measurements are possible. It is not clear, however, how the resulting time-averaged quantities can be used to properly characterize the source. In this paper, we investigate this issue for a heralded source of single photons that relies on continuous-wave parametric down-conversion. By accounting for major shortcomings of the source and the detectors--i.e., the multiple-photon emissions of the source, the time resolution of photodetectors, and our chosen width of coincidence window--our theory enables us to infer the true source properties from imperfect measurements. Our theoretical results are corroborated by an experimental demonstration using a PPKTP crystal pumped by a blue laser, that results in a single-photon generation rate about 1.2 millions per second per milliwatt of pump power. This work takes an important step toward the standardization of such heralded single-photon sources.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures; corrected Eq. (11) and the description follows Eq. (22

Pediatric perioperative outcomes: protocol for a systematic literature review and identification of a core outcome set for infants, children, and young people requiring anesthesia and surgery

Clinical outcomes are measurable changes in health, function, or quality of life that are important for evaluating the quality of care and comparing the efficacy of interventions. However, clinical outcomes and related measurement tools need to be well‐defined, relevant and valid. In adults, Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) methodology has been used to develop core outcome sets for perioperative care. Systematic literature reviews identified Standardized Endpoints (StEP) and valid measurement tools, and consensus across a broader range of relevant stakeholders was achieved via a Delphi process to establish Core Outcome Measures in Perioperative and Anaesthetic Care (COMPAC). Core outcome sets for pediatric perioperative care cannot be directly extrapolated from adult data. The type and weighting of endpoints within particular domains can be influenced by age‐dependent differences in the indications for and/or nature of surgery and medical co‐morbidities, and the validity and utility of many measurement tools vary significantly with developmental stage and age. Involvement of parents/carers is essential as they frequently act as surrogate responders for preverbal and developmentally delayed children, parental response may influence child outcome, and parental and/or child ranking of outcomes may differ from those of health professionals. Here we describe formation of the international Pediatric Perioperative Outcomes Group, which aims to identify and create validated, broadly applicable, patient‐centered outcome measures for infants, children and young people. Methodologies parallel that of the StEP and COMPAC projects, and systematic literature searches have been performed within agreed age‐dependent subpopulations to identify reported outcomes and measurement tools. This represents the first steps for developing core outcome sets for pediatric perioperative care