Biomedical Applications of the Information-efficient Spectral Imaging Sensor (ISIS)

The Information-efficient Spectral Imaging Sensor (ISIS) approach to spectral imaging seeks to bridge the gap between tuned multispectral and fixed hyperspectral imaging sensors. By allowing the definition of completely general spectral filter functions, truly optimal measurements can be made for a given task. These optimal measurements significantly improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and speed, minimize data volume and data rate, while preserving classification accuracy. The following paper investigates the application of the ISIS sensing approach in two sample biomedical applications: prostate and colon cancer screening. It is shown that in these applications, two to three optimal measurements are sufficient to capture the majority of classification information for critical sample constituents. In the prostate cancer example, the optimal measurements allow 8% relative improvement in classification accuracy of critical cell constituents over a red, green, blue (RGB) sensor. In the colon cancer example, use of optimal measurements boost the classification accuracy of critical cell constituents by 28% relative to the RGB sensor. In both cases, optimal measurements match the performance achieved by the entire hyperspectral data set. The paper concludes that an ISIS style spectral imager can acquire these optimal spectral images directly, allowing improved classification accuracy over an RGB sensor. Compared to a hyperspectral sensor, the ISIS approach can achieve similar classification accuracy using a significantly lower number of spectral samples, thus minimizing overall sample classification time and cost

A 5-year-old with new-onset diabetes presenting with ketoacidosis, acute pancreatitis, and renal failure

A 5-year-old girl presented to the emergency room with altered mental status secondary to severe diabetic ketoacidosis due to new-onset GAD65 antibody positive, type 1 diabetes mellitus. On hospital day 0, she developed anuria, shock, and hypertriglyceridemia-associated acute pancreatitis. Following intravenous insulin therapy, the patient?s ketoacidosis improved. Her other complications persisted for several days and improved only with significant fluid resuscitation and supportive interventions, including intubation, thoracostomy, and vasopressors. This case underscores the importance of recognizing the early warning signs of diabetic ketoacidosis and reviews how to appropriately manage its associated life-threatening complications

Proposal of an experimental scheme for realising a translucent eavesdropping on a quantum cryptographic channel

Purpose of this paper is to suggest a scheme, which can be realised with today's technology and could be used for entangling a probe to a photon qubit based on polarisation. Using this probe a translucent or a coherent eavesdropping can be performed.Comment: in pres

Bell-inequality violation with "thermal" radiation

The model of a quantum-optical device for a conditional preparation of entangled states from input mixed states is presented. It is demonstrated that even thermal or pseudo-thermal radiation can be entangled in such a way, that Bell-inequalities are violated

Quantum Measurement of a Coupled Nanomechanical Resonator -- Cooper-Pair Box System

We show two effects as a result of considering the second-order correction to the spectrum of a nanomechanical resonator electrostatically coupled to a Cooper-pair box. The spectrum of the Cooper-pair box is modified in a way which depends on the Fock state of the resonator. Similarly, the frequency of the resonator becomes dependent on the state of the Cooper-pair box. We consider whether these frequency shifts could be utilized to prepare the nanomechanical resonator in a Fock state, to perform a quantum non-demolition measurement of the resonator Fock state, and to distinguish the phase states of the Cooper-pair box

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy

Cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy combines broad spectral bandwidth, high spectral resolution, precise frequency calibration, and ultrahigh detection sensitivity, all in one experimental platform based on an optical frequency comb interacting with a high-finesse optical cavity. Precise control of the optical frequency comb allows highly efficient, coherent coupling of individual comb components with corresponding resonant modes of the high-finesse cavity. The long cavity lifetime dramatically enhances the effective interaction between the light field and intracavity matter, increasing the sensitivity for measurement of optical losses by a factor that is on the order of the cavity finesse. The use of low-dispersion mirrors permits almost the entire spectral bandwidth of the frequency comb to be employed for detection, covering a range of ~10% of the actual optical frequency. The light transmitted from the cavity is spectrally resolved to provide a multitude of detection channels with spectral resolutions ranging from a several gigahertz to hundreds of kilohertz. In this review we will discuss the principle of cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy and the various implementations of such systems. In particular, we discuss several types of UV, optical, and IR frequency comb sources and optical cavity designs that can be used for specific spectroscopic applications. We present several cavity-comb coupling methods to take advantage of the broad spectral bandwidth and narrow spectral components of a frequency comb. Finally, we present a series of experimental measurements on trace gas detections, human breath analysis, and characterization of cold molecular beams.Comment: 36 pages, 27 figure

Mental disturbances and perceived complexity of nursing care in medical inpatients: results from a European study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The relationship between mental disturbances - anxiety and depression, somatization and alcohol abuse - on admission to internal medicine units and perceived complexity of care as indicated by the nurse at discharge was studied. The goal was to study the utility of short screeners for mental disturbances to select patients for case-management on admission. DESIGN: The study had a cohort design: patients were included on admission and followed through their hospital stay until discharge. The study was conducted within the framework of the European Biomed 1 Risk Factor study. RESEARCH METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS: In the first 3 days of admission the patients were interviewed by a trained health care professional, who scored the SCL-8D, a somatization questionnaire based on the Whiteley-7 and the CAGE. At discharge, nurses rated the complexity of the patient's care. RESULTS: Patients with high scores on anxiety and depression (SCL-8D) and on somatization received higher ratings on perceived nursing complexity than those with low scores, with and without control for age, severity of illness and chronicity. The actual nursing intensity and medical care utilization, as measured daily by means of a checklist, could not explain these relations. No differences were found between patients with high or low scores on alcohol abuse. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a potential use of screeners for mental disturbances to detect patients for whom nurses might need additional help. However, mental disturbance is not the sole criterion: functional status and other variables that predict medical and nursing care utilization should be included in a screening strategy for case-management programmes