Understanding the British Columbia Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Cluster: A Case Study of Public Laboratories and Private Research

This study looks at the cluster using a structured approach that tests clusters against indicators of current conditions and current performance. It includes the results of an extensive interview program and survey of professionals in the field, both within the cluster and elsewhere. The results give a clear picture of a cluster that has two major components – hydrogen based industries and fuel cell technologies, which are both global in reach and potential

Diagnostic accuracy of perinatal post-mortem ultrasound (PMUS): a systematic review

OBJECTIVE Ultrasound is ubiquitous in live paediatric imaging; however, its usage in post-mortem setting is less established. This systematic review aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of paediatric post-mortem ultrasound (PMUS). DESIGN MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were queried for studies published between 1998 and 2018 assessing PMUS diagnostic accuracy rates in children<18 years old, using autopsy as reference standard. Risk of bias was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2. A bivariate random-effects model was used to obtain combined mean estimates of sensitivity and specificity for different body systems. RESULTS Four studies were included, all relating to ultrasound for perinatal deaths. The mean diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for neurological abnormalities were 84.3% (95% CI: 70.8% to 92.2%) and 96.7% (95% CI: 86.5% to 99.3%); for cardiothoracic abnormalities 52.1% (95% CI: 27.6% to 75.5%,) and 96.6% (95% CI: 86.8% to 99.2%); and for abdominal abnormalities 78.4% (95% CI: 61.0% to 89.4%) and 97.3% (95% CI: 88.9% to 99.4%). Combining all body systems, the mean sensitivity and specificity were 73.3% (95% CI: 59.9% to 83.5%) and 96.6% (95% CI: 92.6% to 98.4%). CONCLUSIONS PMUS demonstrates a reasonable diagnostic accuracy, particularly for abdominal and neurological abnormalities, although cardiac anomalies were less readily identified. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD42018106968

An examination of new ventures going through the initial public offering: The impact of firm capabilities and characteristics on performance.

Entrepreneurship as a field of study generally focuses on the pursuit of new opportunities and the activities of firms engaged in bringing new ideas to financial fruition. Due to their liability of newness, growth and survival are never a certainty for new ventures; indeed, organizational failure is much more common. Those new ventures that do attain a modicum of success often seek to "go public" through an initial public offering (IPO) of their stock in order to raise additional capital. This three-essay dissertation examines the performance of a sample of new ventures both at the time of the IPO as well as one year hence. The first study examines how venture capitalists (VCs) assist their organizations during the post-IPO period. Results suggest that VCs assist their organizations in reacting better to identified threats. The second study examines the nature of the underwriting process and identifies when greater underpricing is expected. Results provide evidence that underwriters pursue greater underpricing when possible (likely in order to create loyalty among their institutional investors). On the other hand, we find that new ventures can mitigate the likelihood of underpricing by reducing their information asymmetry concerning the value of the venture and by demonstrating stronger insider representation on the board of directors. The third study examines how signals impact the new venture at the time of the IPO. We find that the lockup period is often used in lieu of other signals which may be unavailable (such as prestigious underwriter backing or venture capital backing). Ventures with higher uncertainty or performance problems at the time of the IPO can reduce investor uncertainty and concomitantly the amount of underpricing when the lockup period is extended

Personality and early maladaptive schemas differentiating persons who engage in infrequent versus pathological non-suicidal self-injury

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is used as a coping mechanism for regulating emotions and communicating distress. Research has contributed to understanding the prevalence, forms, and functions of NSSI, but little is known about the characteristics that distinguish individuals who have a brief NSSI history from those who repetitively self-harm. One hundred and fifty-six nonclinical participants selected from a larger pool and matched on sex, age, and clinical status were classified into a non-pathological NSSI group (less than 10 NSSI incidents and less than 3 methods), a pathological NSSI group (10 or more NSSI incidents or 3 or more methods), and a control group (no history of NSSI). The groups were then compared on the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the Early Maladaptive Schema Questionnaire - Short Form (EMSQ-SF), assessing personality and cognitive distortions, respectively

Extending Bauer's corollary to fractional derivatives

We comment on the method of Dreisigmeyer and Young [D. W. Dreisigmeyer and P. M. Young, J. Phys. A \textbf{36}, 8297, (2003)] to model nonconservative systems with fractional derivatives. It was previously hoped that using fractional derivatives in an action would allow us to derive a single retarded equation of motion using a variational principle. It is proven that, under certain reasonable assumptions, the method of Dreisigmeyer and Young fails.Comment: Accepted Journal of Physics A at www.iop.org/EJ/journal/JPhys

Maceration determines diagnostic yield of fetal and neonatal whole body post‐mortem ultrasound

OBJECTIVES: To determine factors in non-diagnostic fetal and neonatal post-mortem ultrasound (PMUS) examinations. METHODS: All fetal and neonatal PMUS examinations were included over a 5 year study period (2014 - 2019). Non-diagnostic image quality by body parts (brain, spine, thorax, cardiac, abdomen) were recorded, and correlated with patient variables. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed to identify significant factors for non-diagnostic studies. RESULTS: 265 PMUS examinations were included, with median gestational age of 22 weeks (12 - 42 weeks), post-mortem weight 363g (16 - 4033g) and post-mortem interval of 8 days (0 - 39 days). Diagnostic imaging quality was achieved for 178/265 (67.2%) studies. It was high for abdominal (263/265, 99.2%); thoracic (264/265, 99.6%) and spine (265/265, 100%), but lower for brain (210/265, 79.2%) and cardiac imaging (213/265, 80.4%). Maceration was the best overall predictor for non-diagnostic imaging quality (p<0.0001). Post-mortem fetal weight was positively associated with cardiac (p =0.0133), and negatively associated with brain imaging quality (p =0.0002). Post-mortem interval was not a significant predictor. CONCLUSIONS: Fetal maceration was the best predictor for non-diagnostic PMUS, particularly for brain and heart. Fetuses with marked maceration and suspected cardiac or brain anomalies should be prioritised for post-mortem MRI

Simultaneous minimum-uncertainty measurement of discrete-valued complementary observables

We have made the first experimental demonstration of the simultaneous minimum uncertainty product between two complementary observables for a two-state system (a qubit). A partially entangled two-photon state was used to perform such measurements. Each of the photons carries (partial) information of the initial state thus leaving a room for measurements of two complementary observables on every member in an ensemble.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX, submitted to PR

Characterizing Quantum Microwave Radiation and its Entanglement with Superconducting Qubits using Linear Detectors

Recent progress in the development of superconducting circuits has enabled the realization of interesting sources of nonclassical radiation at microwave frequencies. Here, we discuss field quadrature detection schemes for the experimental characterization of itinerant microwave photon fields and their entanglement correlations with stationary qubits. In particular, we present joint state tomography methods of a radiation field mode and a two-level system. Including the case of finite quantum detection efficiency, we relate measured photon field statistics to generalized quasi-probability distributions and statistical moments for one-channel and two-channel detection. We also present maximum-likelihood methods to reconstruct density matrices from measured field quadrature histograms. Our theoretical investigations are supported by the presentation of experimental data, for which microwave quantum fields beyond the single-photon and Gaussian level have been prepared and reconstructed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Efficient Classical Simulation of Optical Quantum Circuits

We identify a broad class of physical processes in an optical quantum circuit that can be efficiently simulated on a classical computer: this class includes unitary transformations, amplification, noise, and measurements. This simulatability result places powerful constraints on the capability to realize exponential quantum speedups as well as on inducing an optical nonlinear transformation via linear optics, photodetection-based measurement and classical feedforward of measurement results, optimal cloning, and a wide range of other processes.Comment: 4 pages, published versio