Optimizing autonomous thermal machines powered by energetic coherence

The characterization and control of quantum effects in the performance of thermodynamic tasks may open new avenues for small thermal machines working in the nanoscale. We study the impact of coherence in the energy basis in the operation of a small thermal machine which can act either as a heat engine or as a refrigerator. We show that input coherence may enhance the machine performance and allow it to operate in otherwise forbidden regimes. Moreover, our results also indicate that, in some cases, coherence may also be detrimental, rendering optimization of particular models a crucial task for benefiting from coherence-induced enhancements.Comment: 9 + 5 pages, 8 figures; comments are welcome v2: minor corrections; accepted in New J. Phy

Normative values for the bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index in the general population compared with ankylosing spondylitis patients in Morocco

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) has been commonly used in rheumatology to quantify functional disability in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). Our aim was to evaluate the discriminating power of BASFI and determine the best cutoff score of this index in the general population compared with AS patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study that included 200 patients suffering from AS and 223 subjects from the general population matched for age and sex was carried-out. The discriminating power of the BASFI by strata of age was evaluated by the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve and the best cutoff was determined by the Youden index.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of the general population was 39 ± 12 years. 76.7% of them were male. The median BASFI of the healthy subjects and patients was 0.2 and 4.5 (P < 0.001) respectively. The best cutoff of BASFI was 1.5 with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 90%. In the age group of 18-29 years, the best cutoff of the BASFI was 0.9 with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 94%. In the age group of 30-50 years, the best cutoff of the BASFI was 1.5 with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 88%. For those over 50 years of age, the best cutoff of the BASFI was 2.5 with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 97%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that the discriminating power of BASFI is considered good at any age. The best cutoff of this index increased as age increases as functional disability is associated in part with lifestyle choices and increases with age. The cutoff values of the BASFI that we have presented could be used as a reference benchmark for both clinical practice and research.</p

Women in the accounting profession in Morocco

Les femmes, au Maroc, constituent une population hétérogène. Celles, qui, depuis l'indépendance, ont bénéficié de l'éducation puis accédé aux études supérieures, ont pu investir de nombreuses professions qu'elles exercent aujourd'hui parfois en nombre. Pourtant, certaines professions supérieures, comme la profession comptable, notamment dans son segment supérieur, l'expertise comptable, restent des bastions masculins. Les femmes y sont arrivées très lentement et restent en faible nombre, en particulier au stade de l'inscription à l'Ordre des experts-comptables. Cette étude se situe au croisement d'une sociologie des professions et d'une sociologie du genre. Elle montre comment l'intérêt s'est récemment porté sur la sociologie de la profession comptable dont le développement est lié à la libéralisation du marché et comment les modèles professionnels imposés par la colonisation à certains pays comme les pays arabes, dont le protectorat français au Maroc, ont influencé l'institutionnalisation des professions nationales. La place des femmes dans la profession comptable a été très peu étudiée et n'a encore fait l'objet d'aucun travail au Maroc. Aussi ce travail a eu également pour but l'étude de la profession, notamment au niveau de son segment supérieur, l'expertise comptable, au prisme du genre. A partir d'entretiens auprès de femmes mais également d'hommes comptables et experts-comptables à différentes étapes de leur vie professionnelle, ce travail montre la diversité des expériences et des vécus. Il analyse et interprète les trajectoires des femmes, que celles-ci soient linéaires ou qu'elles empruntent des voies alternatives qui les éloignent de l'inscription à l'Ordre. Certaines femmes feront l'expérience d'une accumulation de freins et obstacles qui remettent aujourd'hui en question la classique métaphore du « plafond de verre». D'autres au contraire, suivront des trajectoires linéaires qui leur permettront des carrières de réussite et l'accession à la stature de femmes « dirigeantes ». Les mécanismes susceptibles d'expliquer la diversité de ces parcours, dont les cursus, les conditions de travail, la place que la société fait aux femmes marocaines et la recherche permanente à laquelle s'astreignent les femmes d'un équilibre entre leur vie professionnelle et leur vie familiale, sont analysés dans ce travail.Women in Morocco constitute an heterogeneous population. Those who, since the independence of the country, have benefited from education and accessed higher education, have been able to invest sometimes highly many professions. However, some higher professions like accounting, remain male bastions. Women have come to them very slowly and remain very few, especially when registering at the College of Accountants (Ordre).This study lies at the crossing of the sociology of professions and the sociology of gender. Starting from the development of the sociology of professions, first the Anglo-Saxon then the French one, it shows how interest has recently focused on the sociology of the accounting profession, the development of which is linked to the market liberalization and how professional models imposed on countries such as the Arab countries by colonization influenced the institutionalization of the national profession. In Morocco, the accounting profession was born with the French protectorate.The place of women in the accounting profession has been very little studied and it hasn't been the subject of any work in Morocco. Thus, this work also aimed to study accounting, through the prism of gender. From interviews with accountants, women but also men, at different steps of their professional life, this work shows the diversity of experiences. It analyzes the trajectories of women, either they have been linear or they have borrowed alternative routes that take them away from the registration to the College (Ordre). Some women have experienced an accumulation of disadvantages that would today question the classical metaphor of « glass ceiling ». Others on the contrary, have followed linear paths that have led them to successfully careers and to the stature of « leaders ». Mechanisms able to explain the diversity of courses, including curricula, working conditions, the women permanent search for a balance between their professional and their family lives and the place that society allows them are analyzed in this work

Exploiting coherence for quantum thermodynamic advantage

The introduction of the quantum analogue of a Carnot engine based on a bath comprising of particles with a small amount of coherence initiated an active line of research on the harnessing of different quantum resources for the enhancement of thermal machines beyond the standard reversible limit, with an emphasis on non-thermal baths containing quantum coherence. In our work, we investigate the impact of coherence on the thermodynamic tasks of a collision model which is composed of a system interacting, in the continuous time limit, with a series of coherent ancillas of two baths at different temperatures. Our results show the advantages of utilising coherence as a resource in the operation of the machine, and allows it: (i) to exhibit unconventional behavior such as the appearance of a hybrid refrigerator, capable of simultaneous refrigeration and generation of work, and (ii) to function as an engine or a refrigerator with efficiencies larger than the Carnot bound. Moreover, we find an effective upper bound to the efficiency of the thermal machine operating as an engine in the presence of a coherent reservoir

Evaluation of Vitamin D Status in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Its Association with Disease Activity across 15 Countries: “The COMORA Study”

The aims of this study are to evaluate vitamin D status in 1413 RA patients of COMORA study from 15 countries and to analyze relationship between patients’ RA characteristics and low levels of vitamin D. All demographic, clinical, and biological data and RA comorbidities were completed. The results showed that the average of vitamin D serum dosage was 27.3 ng/mL ± 15.1 [0.1–151]. Status of vitamin D was insufficient in 54.6% and deficient in 8.5% of patients. 43% of RA patients were supplemented with vitamin D and absence of supplementation on vitamin D was related to higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (p<0.001). Finally, our study shows that the status of low levels of vitamin D is common in RA in different countries and under different latitudes. Absence of supplementation on vitamin D was related to higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Low levels of vitamin D were associated with patients characteristics (age, BMI, and educational level), RA (disease activity and corticosteroid dosage), and comorbidities (lung disease and osteoporosis therapy). This suggests the need for a particular therapeutic strategy to improve vitamin D status in RA patients

Acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination among health care workers: a cross-sectional survey in Morocco

Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination among health care workers prior to the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Morocco. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Cheikh Khalifa University Hospital of Casablanca-Morocco. Utilizing a web-based platform surveys were distributed over a 3-week period via professional mailing list and social media. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by using logistic regression models. Results A total of 303 health care workers participated in this study. The results showed a relatively high rate of vaccination acceptability (62.0%) among health care workers included in this study. Participants were more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine if they were physician, nurse, or technician (OR 1.79; 95% CI: 1.09–2.95), had high score of confidence in the information circulating about COVID-19 (OR 1.91; 95% CI: 1.36–2.69), or had high score of perceived severity of COVID-19 (OR 1.55; 95% CI: 1.11–2.15). Reasons of hesitation/or refusal of COVID-19 vaccine were fear of the likely side effects of the vaccine for 74.8% of participants, and concern about the effectiveness of the vaccine for 47.8%. Conclusion This study showed a relatively high rate of the COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among health care workers in Morocco. Willingness to be vaccinated was significantly associated with job category, confidence in the information circulating about COVID-19, and perceived severity of COVID-19. These results could be useful in the development of educational interventions to increase the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among health care workers in Morocco and similar settings