Multi-Partite Entanglement Inequalities via Spin Vector Geometry

We introduce inequalities for multi-partite entanglement, derived from the geometry of spin vectors. The criteria are constructed iteratively from cross and dot products between the spins of individual subsystems, each of which may have arbitrary dimension. For qubit ensembles the maximum violation for our inequalities is larger than that for the Mermin-Klyshko Bell inequalities, and the maximally violating states are different from Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. Our inequalities are violated by certain bound entangled states for which no Bell-type violation has yet been found.Comment: 4 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure. A truncated version is published in Physical Review Letters, volume 95 issue 18, 180402 (October 2005

Burn wound classification model using spatial frequency-domain imaging and machine learning.

Accurate assessment of burn severity is critical for wound care and the course of treatment. Delays in classification translate to delays in burn management, increasing the risk of scarring and infection. To this end, numerous imaging techniques have been used to examine tissue properties to infer burn severity. Spatial frequency-domain imaging (SFDI) has also been used to characterize burns based on the relationships between histologic observations and changes in tissue properties. Recently, machine learning has been used to classify burns by combining optical features from multispectral or hyperspectral imaging. Rather than employ models of light propagation to deduce tissue optical properties, we investigated the feasibility of using SFDI reflectance data at multiple spatial frequencies, with a support vector machine (SVM) classifier, to predict severity in a porcine model of graded burns. Calibrated reflectance images were collected using SFDI at eight wavelengths (471 to 851 nm) and five spatial frequencies (0 to 0.2  mm  -  1). Three models were built from subsets of this initial dataset. The first subset included data taken at all wavelengths with the planar (0  mm  -  1) spatial frequency, the second comprised data at all wavelengths and spatial frequencies, and the third used all collected data at values relative to unburned tissue. These data subsets were used to train and test cubic SVM models, and compared against burn status 28 days after injury. Model accuracy was established through leave-one-out cross-validation testing. The model based on images obtained at all wavelengths and spatial frequencies predicted burn severity at 24 h with 92.5% accuracy. The model composed of all values relative to unburned skin was 94.4% accurate. By comparison, the model that employed only planar illumination was 88.8% accurate. This investigation suggests that the combination of SFDI with machine learning has potential for accurately predicting burn severity

Local and Global Distinguishability in Quantum Interferometry

A statistical distinguishability based on relative entropy characterises the fitness of quantum states for phase estimation. This criterion is employed in the context of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and used to interpolate between two regimes, of local and global phase distinguishability. The scaling of distinguishability in these regimes with photon number is explored for various quantum states. It emerges that local distinguishability is dependent on a discrepancy between quantum and classical rotational energy. Our analysis demonstrates that the Heisenberg limit is the true upper limit for local phase sensitivity. Only the `NOON' states share this bound, but other states exhibit a better trade-off when comparing local and global phase regimes.Comment: 4 pages, in submission, minor revision

Personal pack display and active smoking at outdoor café strips: assessing the impact of plain packaging 1 year postimplementation

Aims: We observed tobacco pack display and smoking at outdoor venues over three summers to assess changes in their prevalence following Australia's introduction of plain tobacco packaging with larger pictorial health warnings. Methods: Between January and April 2012 (preplain packaging (PP)), 2013 (early post-PP) and 2014 (1 year post-PP), we counted patrons, smokers and tobacco packs at cafés, restaurants and bars with outdoor seating. Pack type (branded, plain or unknown) and orientation were noted. Rates of active smoking, pack display and pack orientation were analysed using multilevel Poisson regression. Results: Prevalence of pack display among patrons declined from pre-PP (1 pack per 8.7 patrons) to early post-PP (1 pack per 10.4), and remained low 1 year post-PP (1 pack per 10.3). This appeared to be driven by a sustained decline in active smoking post-PP (pre-PP: 8.4% of patrons were smoking; early post-PP: 6.4%; 1 year post-PP: 6.8%). Notably, active smoking declined more in venues with children present than in those without. While early post-PP, plain packs were less often displayed face-up (74.0%) and more often concealed (8.9%) than branded packs pre-PP (face-up: 85.2%; concealed: 4.0%), this was not sustained 1 year post-PP (face-up: 85.7%; concealed: 4.4%). Also, external case use increased from pre-PP (1.2%) to early post-PP (3.5%), but returned to pre-PP levels 1 year post-PP (1.9%). Conclusions: This study demonstrated a sustained reduction in visibility of tobacco products and smoking in public, particularly in the presence of children, from pre-PP to 1 year post-PP. This effect is likely to reduce smoking-related social norms, thereby weakening an important influence on smoking uptake and better supporting quit attempts.Meghan Zacher, Megan Bayly, Emily Brennan, Joanne Dono, Caroline Miller, Sarah Durkin, Michelle Scollo, Melanie Wakefiel

Radiation Testing of Electronics for the CMS Endcap Muon System

The electronics used in the data readout and triggering system for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator at CERN are exposed to high radiation levels. This radiation can cause permanent damage to the electronic circuitry, as well as temporary effects such as data corruption induced by Single Event Upsets. Once the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) accelerator upgrades are completed it will have five times higher instantaneous luminosity than LHC, allowing for detection of rare physics processes, new particles and interactions. Tests have been performed to determine the effects of radiation on the electronic components to be used for the Endcap Muon electronics project currently being designed for installation in the CMS experiment in 2013. During these tests the digital components on the test boards were operating with active data readout while being irradiated with 55 MeV protons. In reactor tests, components were exposed to 30 years equivalent levels of neutron radiation expected at the HL-LHC. The highest total ionizing dose (TID) for the muon system is expected at the inner-most portion of the CMS detector, with 8900 rad over ten years. Our results show that Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components selected for the new electronics will operate reliably in the CMS radiation environment

Estimation of toxicity of chemical mixtures through modeling of chemical interactions.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in collaboration with the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) Nutrition and Food Research Institute, is conducting studies to evaluate the role of chemical interactions in the expression of toxicity from low-level exposure to combinations of chemicals. The goal of this collaborative effort is to use a weight-of-evidence (WOE) approach to estimate joint toxicity of some simple chemical mixtures and to compare the estimations with test results from animal toxicity studies. The WOE approach uses individual chemical dose-response assessments and algorithms that incorporate various assumptions regarding potential chemical interactions. Qualitative evaluations were prepared for binary combinations of chemicals for the effect of butyl hydroxyanisole on di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, the effect of stannous chloride on Cd chloride (CdCl2), and the effect of CdCl2 on loperamide. Analyses of these evaluations and their comparison with the conclusions of laboratory animal experiments indicate that the WOE approach can be used to estimate qualitatively the joint toxicity of such simple mixtures. To further test the utility of the WOE approach, qualitative and semiquantitative evaluations were prepared for two chemical mixtures--one with similarly acting halogenated aliphatics (trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, hexachloro-1,3-butadiene[HCBD], and 1,1,2-trichloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene [TCTFP]) and the other with dissimilarly acting nephrotoxic components (mercuric chloride, lysinolalanine, D-limonene, and HCBD). These two sets of data were used to estimate the overall toxicities of the mixtures using the WOE algorithm for the mixture. The comparison of the results of the estimated toxicity with experimentally determined toxicity of the mixture of similarly acting nephrotoxicants demonstrated that the WOE approach correctly adjusted for the observed interactions in experimental animal studies. However, this was not true for the mixture of dissimilarly acting nephrotoxicants. This could be attributed to the fact that WOE evaluations are based on dose additivity that postulates that all chemicals in a given mixture act in the same way--by the same mechanism--and differ only in their potencies. In these cases the WOE approach evaluations, based on consideration of common mechanisms for simple chemical mixtures, can lead to better estimates of joint toxicity of chemical mixtures than the default assumption of dose additivity. The results also show that the WOE evaluations should be target-organ specific because none of the models tested could approximate the observed responses in organs other than the target organs in the laboratory animal studies

Experimental Constraints on the Neutrino Oscillations and a Simple Model of Three Flavour Mixing

A simple model of the neutrino mixing is considered, which contains only one right-handed neutrino field, coupled via the mass term to the three usual left-handed fields. This is a simplest model that allows for three-flavour neutrino oscillations. The existing experimental limits on the neutrino oscillations are used to obtain constraints on the two free mixing parameters of the model. A specific sum rule relating the oscillation probabilities of different flavours is derived.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures in post script, Latex, IFT 2/9