Certain Invertible Operator-Block Matrices Induced by C*-Algebras and Scaled Hypercomplex Numbers

The main purposes of this paper are (i) to enlarge scaled hypercomplex structures to operator-valued cases, where the operators are taken from a C*-subalgebra of an operator algebra on a separable Hilbert space, (ii) to characterize the invertibility conditions on the operator-valued scaled-hypercomplex structures of (i), (iii) to study relations between the invertibility of scaled hypercomplex numbers, and that of operator-valued cases of (ii), and (iv) to confirm our invertibility of (ii) and (iii) are equivalent to the general invertibility of (2×2)-block operator matrices

Dynamical Systems of Operators Induced by Scaled Hypercomplex Rings

In this paper, we consider a family of the hypercomplex rings H = {Ht}t∈R scaled by R, and the dynamical system of R acting on H via a certain action θ of R. i.e., we study an analysis on dynamical system induced by H . In particular, we are interested in free-probabilistic information on the dynamical system dictated by our hypercomplex analysis

A universal quantum estimator

Almost all computational tasks in the modem computer can be designed from basic building blocks. These building blocks provide a powerful and efficient language for describing algorithms. In quantum computers, the basic building blocks are the quantum gates. In this tutorial, we will look at quantum gates that act on one and two qubits and briefly discuss how these gates can be used in quantum networks

Improving the quality of weekend medical handover on non-receiving medical hospital wards

INTRODUCTION: Handover is the system by which the responsibility for immediate and ongoing care is transferred between healthcare professionals and can be an area of risk. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has recommended improvement and standardisation of handover. Locally, national training surveys have reported poor feedback regarding handover at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. AIM: To improve and standardise handover from weekday to weekend teams. METHODS: The Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) quality improvement framework was used. Interventions were derived from a driver diagram after consultation with relevant stakeholders. Four PDSA cycles were completed over a 4-month period: PDSA cycle 1—Introduction of standardised paper form on three wards. PDSA cycle 2—Introduction of electronic handover system on three wards. PDSA cycle 3—Expansion of electronic handover to seven wards. PDSA cycle 4—Expansion of electronic handover to all non-receiving medical wards. The outcome of interest was the percentage of patients with full information handed over based on a six-point scale derived from the RCP. Data were collected weekly throughout the study period. RESULTS: 18 data collection exercises were performed including 525 patients. During the initial phase there was an improvement in handover quality with 0/28 (0%) at baseline having all six points completed compared with 13/48 (27%) with standardised paper form and 21/42 (50%) with the electronic system (p<0.001). When the electronic handover form was expanded to all wards, the increased quality was maintained, however, to a lesser extent compared with the initial wards. CONCLUSION: A standardised electronic handover system was successfully introduced to downstream medical wards over a short time period. This led to an in improvement in the quality of handover in the initial wards involved. When expanded to a greater number of wards there was still an improvement in quality but to a lesser degree

High-performance flexible metal-on-silicon thermocouple

We have demonstrated metal-on-silicon thermocouples with a noticeably high Seebeck coefficient and an excellent temperature-sensing resolution. Fabrication of the thermocouples involved only simple photolithography and metal-liftoff procedures on a silicon substrate. The experimentally measured Seebeck coefficient of our thermocouple was 9.17 × 10^(−4) V/°K, which is 30 times larger than those reported for standard metal thin-film thermocouples and comparable to the values of alloy-based thin-film thermocouples that require sophisticated and costly fabrication processes. The temperature-voltage measurements between 20 to 80 °C were highly linear with a linearity coefficient of 1, and the experimentally demonstrated temperature-sensing resolution was 0.01 °K which could be further improved up to a theoretical limit of 0.00055 °K. Finally, we applied this approach to demonstrate a flexible metal-on-silicon thermocouple with enhanced thermal sensitivity. The outstanding performance of our thermocouple combined with an extremely thin profile, bending flexibility, and simple, highly-compatible fabrication will proliferate its use in diverse applications such as micro-/nanoscale biometrics, energy management, and nanoscale thermography

An initial animal proof-of-concept study for central administration of clozapine to schizophrenia patients

While clozapine is the acknowledged superior pharmacotherapeutic for the treatment of schizophrenia, the side effect profile, which includes potentially fatal complications, limits its usefulness. Central administration of clozapine directly into the brain could circumvent many of the side effect issues due to the dramatic reduction in dose and the limitation of the drug primarily to the CNS. The present study demonstrates that clozapine can be formulated as a stable solution at physiological pH, which does not have in vitro neurotoxic effects at concentrations which may be effective at treating symptoms. Acute central administration improved auditory gating deficits in a mouse model of schizophrenia-like deficits. Assessment of behavioral alterations in rats receiving chronic central infusions of clozapine via osmotic minipump was performed with the open field and elevated plus mazes. Neither paradigm revealed any detrimental effects of the infusion. While these data represent only an initial investigation, they none-the-less suggest that central administration of clozapine may be a viable alternate therapeutic approach for schizophrenia patients which may be effective in symptom reduction without causing behavioral or neurotoxic effects

Effect of MDM2 SNP309 and p53 codon 72 polymorphisms on lung cancer risk and survival among non-smoking Chinese women in Singapore

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 309 resulting in a T or G allele in the promoter of <it>MDM2</it>, the negative regulator of p53, has been suggested to affect cancer predisposition and age of onset, primarily in females. However, findings have been inconsistent in various cancers, and ethnicity appears to be a critical factor influencing the effects of the SNP on cancer risk. An increasing trend has been observed in the prevalence of lung cancers in non-smokers, especially females, though the underlying genetic basis is unclear.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We therefore examined the role of the SNPs in the p53 pathway (<it>p53 </it>codon 72 and <it>MDM2 </it>SNP309) on lung cancer risk and prognosis of a life-time non-smoking female Chinese population, in a hospital-based case-control study of 123 cases and 159 age-matched controls, by PCR analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our findings reveal that the risk of lung cancer among individuals with the <it>MDM2 </it>SNP309 TT genotype was 2.1 (95% CI 1.01-4.36) relative to the GG genotype, contrary to initial expectations that the GG genotype with elevated MDM2 levels will increase cancer risk. Those who had this genotype in combination with the <it>p53 </it>Pro allele had a risk of 2.5 (95% CI 1.2-5.0). There was however no effect of either polymorphism on age at diagnosis of lung cancer or on overall survival.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results thus demonstrate that the MDM2 SNP309 TT rather than the GG genotype is associated with increased risk of lung cancer in this population, suggesting that other mechanisms independent of increased MDM2 levels can influence cancer susceptibility.</p