Quantum secret sharing with qudit graph states

We present a unified formalism for threshold quantum secret sharing using graph states of systems with prime dimension. We construct protocols for three varieties of secret sharing: with classical and quantum secrets shared between parties over both classical and quantum channels.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures. v2: Corrected to reflect imperfections of (n,n) QQ protocol. Also changed notation from $(n,m)$ to $(k,n)$, corrected typos, updated references, shortened introduction. v3: Updated acknowledgement

Orbital dynamics of "smart dust" devices with solar radiation pressure and drag

This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centred orbits for swarms of micro-scale 'smart dust' devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where Sun-synchronous apse-line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris

The Control System for the Cryogenics in the LHC Tunnel [First Experience and Improvements]

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was commissioned at CERN and started operation with beams in 2008. Several months of operation in nominal cryogenic conditions have triggered an optimisation of the process functional analysis. This lead to a few revisions of the control logic, which were realised on-the-fly. During the 2008-09 shut-down, and in order to enhance the safety, availability and operability of the LHC cryogenics, a major rebuild of the logic and several hardware modifications were implemented. The databases, containing instruments and controls in-formation, are being rationalized; the automatic tool, that extracts data for the control software, is being simplified. This paper describes the main improvements and sug-gests perspectives of further developments

Evaluasi Program Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris

The aims of this research were to evaluate English learning in context, input, process, product. This research was an evaluation research. The sources of the research were students of English for Children class at English Smart Bandar Jaya. The data was collected through observation, test, and documentation which was analyzed descriptive quantitative. The conclusions in this research were : 1) the of context value of sub component at the pre-condition is fair, the input value of component sub component infrastructure,human resources and curriculum is poor, the result of process component sub component of planning and english learning implementation is fair, and the product component value in the learning result of the students is fair, and 2) the recommendation of this research,the general manager needs to observe and change the curriculum for a better future, then provide laboratory room for listening, the teachers should make a lesson plan based on the syllabus for each competency.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris pada komponen context, input, process, product. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian evaluasi. Sumber penelitian adalah pembelajar kelas English for Children di English Smart Bandar Jaya. Data dikumpulkan dengan observasi, tes dan dokumentasi kemudian dianalisis secara deskriptif kuantitatif. Kesimpulan dalam penelitian ini : 1) nilai context sub komponen kondisi awal lembaga cukup, nilai input sub komponen fasilitas sarana prasarana, tenaga pendidik dan kurikulum cukup, nilai process sub komponen perencanaan dan pelaksanaan pembelajaran bahasa Inggris kurang, dan nilai komponen product pada hasil belajar pembelajar cukup, dan 2) rekomendasi penelitian ini, kepala lembaga perlu meninjau atau mengubah kurikulum lembaga untuk pembaruan ke arah yang lebih baik, disediakan ruang laboratorium untuk menunjang pembelajaran listening, tentor harus membuat lesson plan yang disusun berdasarkan silabus unit kompetensi

First Experience with the LHC Cryogenic Instrumentation

The LHC under commissioning at CERN will be the world's largest superconducting accelerator and therefore makes extensive use of cryogenic instruments. These instruments are installed in the tunnel and therefore have to withstand the LHC environment that imposes radiation-tolerant design and construction. Most of the instruments require individual calibration; some of them exhibit several variants as concerns measuring span; all relevant data are therefore stored in an Oracle® database. Those data are used for the various quality assurance procedures defined for installation and commissioning, as well as for generating tables used by the control system to configure automatically the input/output channels. This paper describes the commissioning of the sensors and the corresponding electronics, the first measurement results during the cool-down of one machine sector; it discusses the different encountered problems and their corresponding solutions

Quantum Eavesdropping without Interception: An Attack Exploiting the Dead Time of Single Photon Detectors

The security of quantum key distribution (QKD) can easily be obscured if the eavesdropper can utilize technical imperfections of the actual implementation. Here we describe and experimentally demonstrate a very simple but highly effective attack which even does not need to intercept the quantum channel at all. Only by exploiting the dead time effect of single photon detectors the eavesdropper is able to gain (asymptotically) full information about the generated keys without being detected by state-of-the-art QKD protocols. In our experiment, the eavesdropper inferred up to 98.8% of the key correctly, without increasing the bit error rate between Alice and Bob significantly. Yet, we find an evenly simple and effective countermeasure to inhibit this and similar attacks

Individual variability in cardiac biomarker release after 30 min of high-intensity rowing in elite and amateur athletes

This study had two objectives: (i) to examine individual variation in the pattern of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) release in response to high-intensity rowing exercise, and (ii) to establish whether individual heterogeneity in biomarker appearance was influenced by athletic status (elite vs. amateur). We examined cTnI and NT-proBNP in 18 elite and 14 amateur rowers before and 5 min, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h after a 30-min maximal rowing test. Compared with pre-exercise levels, peak postexercise cTnI (pre: 0.014 ± 0.030 μg·L–1; peak post: 0.058 ± 0.091 μg·L–1; p = 0.000) and NT-proBNP (pre: 15 ± 11 ng·L–1; peak post: 31 ± 19 ng·L–1; p = 0.000) were elevated. Substantial individual heterogeneity in peak and time-course data was noted for cTnI. Peak cTnI exceeded the upper reference limit (URL) in 9 elite and 3 amateur rowers. No rower exceeded the URL for NT-proBNP. Elite rowers had higher baseline (0.019 ± 0.038 vs. 0.008 ± 0.015 μg·L–1; p = 0.003) and peak postexercise cTnI (0.080 ± 0.115 vs. 0.030 ± 0.029 μg·L–1; p = 0.022) than amateur rowers, but the change with exercise was similar between groups. There were no significant differences in baseline and peak postexercise NT-proBNP between groups. In summary, marked individuality in the cTnI response to a short but high-intensity rowing bout was observed. Athletic status did not seem to affect the change in cardiac biomarkers in response to high-intensity exercise

The Difference in Pharmacists’ Interventions across the Diverse Settings in a Children’s Hospital

Aims: This study aimed to document and compare the nature of clinical pharmacists’ interventions made in different practice settings within a children’s hospital. Methods: The primary investigator observed and documented all clinical interventions performed by clinical pharmacists for between 35–37 days on each of the five study wards from the three practice settings, namely general medical, general surgical and hematology-oncology. The rates, types and significance of the pharmacists’ interventions in the different settings were compared.Results: A total of 982 interventions were documented, related to the 16,700 medication orders reviewed on the five wards in the three practice settings over the duration of the study. Taking medication histories and/or patient counselling were the most common pharmacists’ interventions in the general settings; constituting more than half of all interventions. On the Hematology-Oncology Ward the pattern was different with drug therapy changes being the most common interventions (n = 73/195, 37.4% of all interventions). Active interventions (pharmacists’ activities leading to a change in drug therapy) constituted less than a quarter of all interventions on the general medical and surgical wards compared to nearly half on thespecialty Hematology-Oncology Ward. The majority (n = 37/42, 88.1%) of a random sample of the active interventions reviewed were rated as clinically significant. Dose adjustment was the most frequent active interventions in the general settings, whilst drug addition constituted the most common active interventions on the Hematology-Oncology Ward. The degree of acceptance of pharmacists’ active interventions by prescribers was high (n = 223/244, 91.4%).Conclusions: The rate of pharmacists’ active interventions differed across different practice settings, being most frequent in the specialty hematology-oncology setting. The nature and type of the interventions documented in the hematologyoncology were also different compared to those in the general medical and surgical settings