Quantum Communication with Quantum Dot Spins

Single electron spins in quantum dots are attractive for quantum communication because of their expected long coherence times. We propose a method to create entanglement between two remote spins based on the coincident detection of two photons emitted by the dots. Local nodes of several qubits can be realized using the dipole-dipole interaction between trions in neighboring dots and spectral addressing, allowing the realization of quantum repeater protocols. We have performed a detailed feasibility study of our proposal based on tight-binding calculations of quantum dot properties.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, new and improved version, explicit performance estimate

Capillary Electrophoresis Separation of Protein Composition of γ-Irradiated Food Pathogens Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus

which were previously treated at different irradiation doses., one protein (50 S ribosomal protein) with the MW of 16.3 kDa was significantly decreased at a low dose of irradiation treatment and the other protein (transcriptional regulator CtsR) with the MW of 17.7 kDa was increased significantly (P≤0.05) at all doses of irradiation treatment compared to control.. The research further confirmed that capillary electrophoresis is a useful method to separate and analyse proteins expression which may be related to the resistance or sensitivity of food pathogens to γ-irradiation

Clinician miscalibration of survival estimate in hypothermic cardiac arrest: HOPE-estimated survival probabilities in extreme cases.

Patients with hypothermic cardiac arrest may survive with an excellent outcome after extracorporeal life support rewarming (ECLSR). The HOPE (Hypothermia Outcome Prediction after ECLS) score is recommended to guide the in-hospital decision on whether or not to initiate ECLSR in patients in cardiac arrest following accidental hypothermia. We aimed to assess the HOPE-estimated survival probabilities for a set of survivors of hypothermic cardiac arrest who had extreme values for the variables included in the HOPE score. Survivors were identified and selected through a systematic literature review including case reports. We calculated the HOPE score for each patient who presented extraordinary clinical parameters. We identified 12 such survivors. The HOPE-estimated survival probability was ≥10% for all (n = 11) patients for whom we were able to calculate the HOPE score. Our study confirms the robustness of the HOPE score for outliers and thus further confirms its external validity. These cases also confirm that hypothermic cardiac arrest is a fundamentally different entity than normothermic cardiac arrest. Using HOPE for extreme cases may support the proper calibration of a clinician's prognosis and therapeutic decision based on the survival chances of patients with accidental hypothermic cardiac arrest

Larger and denser: an optimal design for surface grids of EMG electrodes to identify greater and more representative samples of motor units

The spinal motor neurons are the only neural cells whose individual activity can be non-invasively identified. This is usually done using grids of surface electromyographic (EMG) electrodes and source separation algorithms; an approach called EMG decomposition. In this study, we combined computational and experimental analyses to assess how the design parameters of grids of electrodes influence the number and the properties of the identified motor units. We first computed the percentage of motor units that could be theoretically discriminated within a pool of 200 simulated motor units when decomposing EMG signals recorded with grids of various sizes and interelectrode distances (IED). Increasing the density, the number of electrodes, and the size of the grids, increased the number of motor units that our decomposition algorithm could theoretically discriminate, i.e., up to 83.5% of the simulated pool (range across conditions: 30.5-83.5%). We then identified motor units from experimental EMG signals recorded in six participants with grids of various sizes (range: 2-36 cm2) and IED (range: 4-16 mm). The configuration with the largest number of electrodes and the shortest IED maximized the number of identified motor units (56±14; range: 39-79) and the percentage of early recruited motor units within these samples (29±14%). Finally, the number of identified motor units further increased with a prototyped grid of 256 electrodes and an IED of 2 mm. Taken together, our results showed that larger and denser surface grids of electrodes allow to identify a more representative pool of motor units than currently reported in experimental studies.Significance StatementThe application of source separation methods to multi-channel EMG signals recorded with grids of electrodes enables users to accurately identify the activity of individual motor units. However, the design parameters of these grids have never been discussed. They are usually arbitrarily fixed, often based on commercial availability. Here, we showed that using larger and denser grids of electrodes than conventionally proposed drastically increases the number of identified motor units. The samples of identified units are more balanced between early- and late-recruited motor units. Thus, these grids provide a more representative sampling of the active motor unit population. Gathering large datasets of motor units using large and dense grids will impact the study of motor control, neuromuscular modelling, and human-machine interfacing

The uncertain role of substandard and falsified medicines in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance

Approximately 10% of antimicrobials used by humans in low- and middle-income countries are estimated to be substandard or falsified. In addition to their negative impact on morbidity and mortality, they may also be important drivers of antimicrobial resistance. Despite such concerns, our understanding of this relationship remains rudimentary. Substandard and falsified medicines have the potential to either increase or decrease levels of resistance, and here we discuss a range of mechanisms that could drive these changes. Understanding these effects and their relative importance will require an improved understanding of how different drug exposures affect the emergence and spread of resistance and of how the percentage of active pharmaceutical ingredients in substandard and falsified medicines is temporally and spatially distributed

6 TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPOSITE MATERIALS NON-AUTOCLAVE PROCESSING OF SANDWICH STRUCTURES: THE ROLE OF PREPREG THROUGH THICKNESS AIR PERMEABILITY

Abstract No

Aluminum-, Calcium- And Titanium-Rich Oxide Stardust In Ordinary Chondrite Meteorites

We report isotopic data for a total of 96 presolar oxide grains found in residues of several unequilibrated ordinary chondrite meteorites. Identified grain types include Al2O3, MgAl2O4, hibonite (CaAl12O19) and Ti oxide. This work greatly increases the presolar hibonite database, and is the first report of presolar Ti oxide. O-isotopic compositions of the grains span previously observed ranges and indicate an origin in red giant and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of low mass (<2.5 MSun) for most grains. Cool bottom processing in the parent AGB stars is required to explain isotopic compositions of many grains. Potassium-41 enrichments in hibonite grains are attributable to in situ decay of now-extinct 41Ca. Inferred initial 41Ca/40Ca ratios are in good agreement with model predictions for low-mass AGB star envelopes, provided that ionization suppresses 41Ca decay. Stable Mg and Ca isotopic ratios of most of the hibonite grains reflect primarily the initial compositions of the parent stars and are generally consistent with expectations for Galactic chemical evolution, but require some local interstellar chemical inhomogeneity. Very high 17O/16O or 25Mg/24Mg ratios suggest an origin for some grains in binary star systems where mass transfer from an evolved companion has altered the parent star compositions. A supernova origin for the hitherto enigmatic 18O-rich Group 4 grains is strongly supported by multi-element isotopic data for two grains. The Group 4 data are consistent with an origin in a single supernova in which variable amounts of material from the deep 16O-rich interior mixed with a unique end-member mixture of the outer layers. The Ti oxide grains primarily formed in low-mass AGB stars. They are smaller and rarer than presolar Al2O3, reflecting the lower abundance of Ti than Al in AGB envelopes.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 47 pages, 13 figure

Perceived Hospital Preparedness Is Negatively Associated With Pandemic-Induced Psychological Vulnerability in Primary Care Employees: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound negative impact on the psychological wellbeing of healthcare providers (HPs), but little is known about the factors that positively predict mental health of primary care staff during these dire situations. We conducted an online questionnaire survey among 702 emergency department workers across 10 hospitals in Switzerland and Belgium following the first COVID-19 wave in 2020, to explore their psychological vulnerability, perceived concerns, self-reported impact and level of pandemic workplace preparedness. Participants included physicians, nurses, psychologists and nondirect care employees (administrative staff). We tested for predictors of psychological vulnerability through both an exploratory cross-correlation with rigorous correction for multiple comparisons and model-based path modelling. Findings showed that the self-reported impact of COVID-19 at work, concerns about contracting COVID-19 at work, and a lack of personal protective equipment were strong positive predictors of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress, and low Resilience. Instead, knowledge of the degree of preparedness of the hospital/department, especially in the presence of a predetermined contingency plan for an epidemic and training sessions about protective measures, showed the opposite effect, and were associated with lower psychological vulnerability. All effects were confirmed after accounting for confounding factors related to gender, age, geographical location and the role played by HPs in the hospital/department. Difficult working conditions during the pandemic had a major impact on the psychological wellbeing of emergency department HPs, but this effect might have been lessened if they had been informed about adequate measures for minimizing the risk of exposure

Semiconductor microcavities for enhanced nonlinear optics interactions

Semiconductor microcavities offer a unique way to enhance nonlinear optical processes through light confinement in space and time. In this article we review two different nonlinear optics semiconductor-based applications that benefit from the microcavity setting. Firstly, we discuss a difference frequency generation scheme in a GaAs microdisk. Secondly, we show how a recently demonstrated source of counter-propagating twin photons can display an appreciable performance improvement when combined with a vertical cavity