29 research outputs found
Universality of local weak interactions and its application for interferometric alignment
The modification of the effect of interactions of a particle as a function of
its pre- and postselected states is analyzed theoretically and experimentally.
The universality property of this modification in the case of local
interactions of a spatially pre- and postselected particle has been found. It
allowed to define an operational approach for characterization of the presence
of a quantum particle in a particular place: the way it modifies the effect of
local interactions. The experiment demonstrating this universality property
provides an efficient interferometric alignment method, in which the beam on a
single detector throughout one phase scan yields all misalignment parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Fatigue, quality of life and physical fitness following an exercise intervention in multiple myeloma survivors (MASCOT): an exploratory randomised Phase 2 trial utilising a modified Zelen design
Background: Exercise may improve fatigue in multiple myeloma survivors, but trial evidence is limited, and exercise may be perceived as risky in this older patient group with osteolytic bone destruction.
Methods: In this Phase 2 Zelen trial, multiple myeloma survivors who had completed treatment at least 6 weeks ago, or were on maintenance only, were enrolled in a cohort study and randomly assigned to usual care or a 6-month exercise programme of tailored aerobic and resistance training. Outcome assessors and usual care participants were masked. The primary outcome was the FACIT-F fatigue score with higher scores denoting less fatigue.
Results: During 2014–2016, 131 participants were randomised 3:1 to intervention (n = 89) or usual care (n = 42) to allow for patients declining allocation to the exercise arm. There was no difference between groups in fatigue at 3 months (between-group mean difference: 1.6 [95% CI: −1.1–4.3]) or 6 months (0.3 [95% CI: −2.6–3.1]). Muscle strength improved at 3 months (8.4 kg [95% CI: 0.5–16.3]) and 6 months (10.8 kg [95% CI: 1.2–20.5]). Using per-protocol analysis, cardiovascular fitness improved at 3 months (+1.2 ml/kg/min [95% CI: 0.3–3.7]). In participants with clinical fatigue (n = 17), there was a trend towards less fatigue with exercise over 6 months (6.3 [95% CI: −0.6–13.3]). There were no serious adverse events.
Conclusions: Exercise appeared safe and improved muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness, but benefits in fatigue appeared limited to participants with clinical fatigue at baseline. Future studies should focus on patients with clinical fatigue.
Clinical trial registration: The study was registered with ISRCTN (38480455) and is completed
Extreme Weather and Civil War in Somalia: Does Drought Fuel Conflict through Livestock Price Shocks?
Multipartite Entanglement Detection with Minimal Effort
Certifying entanglement of a multipartite state is generally considered as a
demanding task. Since an qubit state is parametrized by real
numbers, one might naively expect that the measurement effort of generic
entanglement detection also scales exponentially with . Here, we introduce a
general scheme to construct efficient witnesses requiring a constant number of
measurements independent of the number of qubits for states like, e.g.,
Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states, cluster states and Dicke states. For four
qubits, we apply this novel method to experimental realizations of the
aforementioned states and prove genuine four-partite entanglement with two
measurement settings only.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables. Comments are welcom