Super-activating quantum memory with entanglement

© Rinton Press. Noiseless subsystems were proved to be an efficient and faithful approach to preserve fragile information against decoherence in quantum information processing and quantum computation. They were employed to design a general (hybrid) quantum memory cell model that can store both quantum and classical information. In this paper, we find an interesting new phenomenon that the purely classical memory cell can be super-activated to preserve quantum states, whereas the null memory cell can only be super-activated to encode classical information. Furthermore, necessary and sufficient conditions for this phenomenon are discovered so that the super-activation can be easily checked by examining certain eigenvalues of the quantum memory cell without computing the noiseless subsystems explicitly. In particular, it is found that entangled and separable stationary states are responsible for the super-activation of storing quantum and classical information, respectively

Eigenlogic: a Quantum View for Multiple-Valued and Fuzzy Systems

We propose a matrix model for two- and many-valued logic using families of observables in Hilbert space, the eigenvalues give the truth values of logical propositions where the atomic input proposition cases are represented by the respective eigenvectors. For binary logic using the truth values {0,1} logical observables are pairwise commuting projectors. For the truth values {+1,-1} the operator system is formally equivalent to that of a composite spin 1/2 system, the logical observables being isometries belonging to the Pauli group. Also in this approach fuzzy logic arises naturally when considering non-eigenvectors. The fuzzy membership function is obtained by the quantum mean value of the logical projector observable and turns out to be a probability measure in agreement with recent quantum cognition models. The analogy of many-valued logic with quantum angular momentum is then established. Logical observables for three-value logic are formulated as functions of the Lz observable of the orbital angular momentum l=1. The representative 3-valued 2-argument logical observables for the Min and Max connectives are explicitly obtained.Comment: 11 pages, 2 table

Long-term sequel of posterolateral rotatory instability of the elbow: a case report

The natural course of untreated posterior lateral rotatory instability of the elbow is unclear. A case of elbow arthrosis with progressing deformity and flexion contracture after an episode of elbow dislocation about 20 years ago presented the possibility the long term outcome of untreated posterior lateral rotatory instability of the elbow

Treatment of malignant tumors of the skull base with multi-session radiosurgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>Malignant tumors that involve the skull base pose significant challenges to the clinician because of the proximity of critical neurovascular structures and limited effectiveness of surgical resection without major morbidity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of multi-session radiosurgery in patients with malignancies of the skull base.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Clinical and radiographic data for 37 patients treated with image-guided, multi-session radiosurgery between January 2002 and December 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. Lesions were classified according to involvement with the bones of the base of the skull and proximity to the cranial nerves.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our cohort consisted of 37 patients. Six patients with follow-up periods less than four weeks were eliminated from statistical consideration, thus leaving the data from 31 patients to be analyzed. The median follow-up was 37 weeks. Ten patients (32%) were alive at the end of the follow-up period. At last follow-up, or the time of death from systemic disease, tumor regression or stable local disease was observed in 23 lesions, representing an overall tumor control rate of 74%. For the remainder of lesions, the median time to progression was 24 weeks. The median progression-free survival was 230 weeks. The median overall survival was 39 weeks. In the absence of tumor progression, there were no cranial nerve, brainstem or vascular complications referable specifically to CyberKnife^®radiosurgery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our experience suggests that multi-session radiosurgery for the treatment of malignant skull base tumors is comparable to other radiosurgical techniques in progression-free survival, local tumor control, and adverse effects.</p

Ultrasonic Characterization of Porosity in Composites

The determination of levels of porosity is important in the engineering uses of graphite fiber/polymer matrix composites, since the interlaminar shear strength can be greatly reduced by excessive porosity [1]. Research in making nondestructive evaluations using ultrasonics as the probing energy has taken many directions. Hsu [2] has successfully modeled the frequency dependent attenuation to predict porosity levels in composites. Kline [3] has extended the work of Hashsin and Rosen [4] to determine the porosity and fiber volume fraction of composites by solving for the elastic coefficients of the composite structure. The propagation of leaky Lamb waves [5] has also been used to model porosity levels

From Atoms to Cells:Multiscale Modeling of LiNi_xMn_yCo_zO₂Cathodes for Li-Ion Batteries

First-generation cathodes for commercial lithium-ion batteries are based on layered transition-metal oxides. Research on ternary compounds, such as LiCoO2, evolved into mixed-metal systems, notably Li(Ni,Mn,Co)O2 (NMCs), which allows significant tuning of the physical properties. Despite their widespread application in commercial devices, the fundamental understanding of NMCs is incomplete. Here, we review the latest insights from multiscale modeling, bridging between the redox phenomena that occur at an atomistic level to the transport of ions and electrons across an operating device. We discuss changes in the electronic and vibrational structures through the NMC compositional space and how these link to continuum models of electrochemical charge-discharge cycling. Finally, we outline the remaining challenges for predictive models of high-performance batteries, including capturing the relevant device bottlenecks and chemical degradation processes, such as oxygen evolution. </p

Dietary supplements usage among elderly Taiwanese during 2005-2008

This study describes dietary supplement consumption practices among the Taiwanese population over the age of 65. Data for the analyses were derived from the [2005][2006][2007][2008] Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan. Data from a total of 914 participants (456 men and 458 women) was collected in the study to delineate patterns of supplement usage. The results indicated that the percentage of individuals taking supplements was 45.7% for men and 52.2% for women. There were no significant differences in supplement use by gender, age group, geographic stratum, current employment status, household monthly income, self-reported health status or marital status, except for higher education and adequate perceived financial resources. Half of both men and women chose to take only one supplement. In addition, as the number of supplements taken increased, the number of people decreased. The elderly with higher education levels were more likely to take two kinds of supplements. The top five supplements consumed from highest to lowest were: glucosamine, multivitamins and minerals, calcium, fish oil and vitamin B complex. The major reason for supplements use for men was to supplement an unbalanced diet, and that for women was to prevent joint degeneration. The main factor influencing choice of supplements in the elderly was receiving the supplement as a gift from another person. Note that mean intakes of vitamins A, C, E, B-1, B-2, B-6, B-12, biotin, niacin, and pantothenic acid from supplements over-exceeded DRIs in Taiwan. Key Words: dietary supplements, the elderly, Nutrition and Health Survey in INTRODUCTION Increased dissemination of medical information, greater health consciousness in the population and advances in medical technology has resulted in increased life expectancy in Taiwan. In addition, in recent years the birth rate has declined and the age structure of society has changed with an increase in older persons in the population. The World Health Organization has defined an aging society as one in which the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over is more than 7%. According to data from the Department of Household Registration, Ministry of the Interior, the proportion of older persons in Taiwan reached the 7% cut-off for an ageing society in 1993. In 2010 the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over reached 10.74%. 1 As a result, Taiwan, like Europe, the United States and Japan, has become an ageing society and therefore, chronic diseases (e.g. cancer, cardiovascular disease, the metabolic syndrome or diabetes) and health issues common to older persons (e.g. joint health, bone density, cardiovascular health, immune function and delayed aging) are becoming increasingly important. 2 More recently, the concept of preventative medicine has begun to gradually replace more traditional disease treatment methods. People&apos;s attitudes towards medical therapy have also changed from passive to active. Their expectations of health and quality of life have increased, which is the main contributing factor behind the rise in use of supplements. In order to satisfy the demands of different consumer groups, the dietary supplement market has become increasingly individualized, with reported health 328 SY Chen, JR Lin, TH Chen, SG Guo, MD Kao and WH Pan protection effects also becoming more diversified. 2,3 Dietary supplements have already become an important product in the food market. Consumer expenditure on supplements in Taiwan has continued to grow in recent years and the proportion of people taking supplements has increased. In 1995-96 it reached a value of NT$25 billion and further increased to approximately NT$46.1 billion in 2008. 3-5 The scale of the supplement market continues to increase year by year, along with associated import and export market values. 3 Supplement marketing channels have also diversified. The early stages of direct selling were followed by the introduction of television sales and the conversion of pharmacies to mixed businesses that sell both pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products. The 2008 survey of food products found an increasing trend of supplement purchasing through television, online and door-to-door sales. 3 Many researches have found that women, Caucasians, older persons, those living in highly urbanized environments, those with high education or high income are all more likely to take supplements. 2,14 However, little is known about the effectiveness of supplements in appropriately compensating for dietary deficits. Each product is alleged to have health benefits, many of which have not yet been established, and companies use exaggerated and unrealistic advertising to promote their products. The aim of this study was to understand the following in regards to older persons in Taiwan: 1) the characteristics associated with use of supplements; 2) the characteristics associated with use of single or multiple supplements; 3) the types of supplements used, the motivations behind taking supplements and factors influencing choice of supplements; 4) the associations between supplement use behavior and medical history; and 5) nutrient intakes from supplements. An understanding of older people&apos;s use of supplements and the motivations behind such use will enable the development of recommendations for improving appropriate supplement intake in elderly Taiwanese and will facilitate the appropriate management of supplements and other health products in this age group. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data source and sample This study describes dietary supplement consumption practices among the Taiwanese population over the age of 65, including the purpose and motivation behind supplement usage as well as the personal characteristics of supplement takers. Data for the analyses were retrieved from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (2005Taiwan ( -2008 which was carried out during [2005][2006][2007][2008]. Data from a total of 914 participants (456 men and 458 women) was collected in the study to delineate patterns of supplement usage. A complex multistage, area probability sample design was used to select persons within households. Individuals aged 65 years and older were oversampled. Details of the sample design and methods have been enumerated elsewhere. 19 Data were collected by household interviews in the above survey. Household interviews were carried out by local part-time interviewers who systematically collected cases from 2005 to 2008. The local public health department nutritionist was responsible for supervising the household interview. Sociodemographic variables for this analysis included variables shown in previous studies to be related to supplement use, including gender, age group, education level, geographic location, current employment status, household and personal monthly income, perceived financial resources, selfreported health status or marital status. 20,21 Data processing from supplements Supplement information was collected through a series of questions, including the frequency of consumption in the past month, the amount of each nutrient in the supplement (the formulation) and the brand name. Supplement users were defined as individuals who took any kind of vitamin or mineral supplement, or health promotion products in the past month. Based on the nutritional characteristics of the supplements, we classified dietary supplements in this study into eight categories for descriptive statistics: &quot;vitamins&quot;, &quot;vitamins and minerals&quot;, &quot;minerals&quot;, &quot;Chinese herbs&quot;, &quot;lipids&quot;, &quot;protein and formula food&quot;, &quot;plant derived products&quot; and &quot;other health promotional foods&quot;. Data from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (2005Taiwan ( -2008 were used to calculate nutrient intake from supplement users. Some nutrients required conversion to standardized measurement units before comparison of dietary intakes to the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) could be made. Vitamin A had to be converted to micrograms retinol activity equivalents, and vitamin E to milligrams α-tocopherol. 12 Statistical analyses Most of the results were obtained from logistic regression analyses and describe the use of dietary supplements based on information collected by the questionnaire based interview. In order to produce representative estimates of certain attributes, a weighting process was needed. LogisSupplements use among elderly Taiwanese 2005Taiwanese -2008 tic regression analysis was carried out using SUDAAN 8.0. The descriptive analyses were done by Window&apos;s SAS software. Statistical significance was taken as p&lt;0.05. RESULTS Relationships between demographic characteristics of the elderly and use of supplements Relationships between demographic characteristics of the elderly and use of single or multiple supplement

Identification and Typing of Human Enterovirus: A Genomic Barcode Approach

Identification and typing of human enterovirus (HEVs) are important to pathogen detection and therapy. Previous phylogeny-based typing methods are mainly based on multiple sequence alignments of specific genes in the HEVs, but the results are not stable with respect to different choices of genes. Here we report a novel method for identification and typing of HEVs based on information derived from their whole genomes. Specifically, we calculate the k-mer based barcode image for each genome, HEV or other human viruses, for a fixed k, 1<k<7, where a genome barcode is defined in terms of the k-mer frequency distribution across the whole genome for all combinations of k-mers. A phylogenetic tree is constructed using a barcode-based distance and a neighbor-joining method among a set of 443 representative non-HEV human viruses and 395 HEV sequences. The tree shows a clear separation of the HEV viruses from all the non-HEV viruses with 100% accuracy and a separation of the HEVs into four distinct clads with 93.4% consistency with a multiple sequence alignment-based phylogeny. Our detailed analyses of the HEVs having different typing results by the two methods indicate that our results are in better agreement with known information about the HEVs