Point Estimation of States of Finite Quantum Systems

The estimation of the density matrix of a $k$-level quantum system is studied when the parametrization is given by the real and imaginary part of the entries and they are estimated by independent measurements. It is established that the properties of the estimation procedure depend very much on the invertibility of the true state. In particular, in case of a pure state the estimation is less efficient. Moreover, several estimation schemes are compared for the unknown state of a qubit when one copy is measured at a time. It is shown that the average mean quadratic error matrix is the smallest if the applied observables are complementary. The results are illustrated by computer simulations.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Reactivation of the mitosis-promoting factor in postmitotic cardiomyocytes

Cardiomyocytes cease to divide shortly after birth and an irreversible cell cycle arrest is evident accompanied by the downregulation of cyclin-dependent kinase activities. To get a better understanding of the cardiac cell cycle and its regulation, the effect of functional recovery of the mitosis-promoting factor (MPF) consisting of cyclin B1 and the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc2 was assessed in primary cultures of postmitotic ventricular adult rat cardiomyocytes ( ARC). Gene transfer into ARC was achieved using the adenovirus-enhanced transferrinfection system that was characterized by the absence of cytotoxic events. Simultaneous ectopic expression of wild-type versions of cyclin B1 and Cdc2 was sufficient to induce MPF activity. Reestablished MPF resulted in a mitotic phenotype, marked by an abnormal condensation of the nuclei, histone H3 phosphorylation and variable degree of decay of the contractile apparatus. Although a complete cell division was not observed, the results provided conclusive evidence that cell cycle-related events in postmitotic cardiomyocytes could be triggered by genetic intervention downstream of the G1/S checkpoint. This will be of importance to design novel strategies to overcome the proliferation arrest in adult cardiomyocytes

Fungal diversity in floral and honeydew honeys

Studying fungal diversity in various environmental samples provides us with valuable knowledge about the occurrence of fungi of medical and ecological importance. Moreover, fungal composition may also characterise well the botanical and geographical source of food products, such as the origin of the spore enriched honeydew honeys. Thereby, we identified a wide spectrum of fungi found in 100 of honey samples from various geographical sources – most of them were from Italy, Greece and Hungary. Our honeydew honeys had a higher mean of the number of spore types found in them than floral honeys had. Statistically significant differences in diversity were found regarding the botanical source (p = 1.29 × 10–9) and the climatic classification (p = 2.28 × 10–2) according to Kruskal– Wallis rank sum tests. Most frequently encountered genera included ubiquitous saprotrophic species (Alternaria, Cladosporium, Epicoccum nigrum, Stemphylium), both in floral and honeydew honeys. On the other hand, certain sooty moulds like Aureobasidium pullulans, Tripospermum and Capnobotrys were rather present in different types of honeydew honeys. Metschnikowia reukaufii, the nectar inhabiting yeast reached considerably high quantities in floral honey samples. Present findings encourage further studies on quantifying the occurrence and the indicator value of specific fungal elements in honey, concerning its origin

Note on Comparability of MicroCog Test Forms

This study investigated the differences between the Standard and Short forms of MicroCog by comparing Domain scores for a clinical sample of 351 substance abusers which gave a significant difference between scores on the Spatial Processing Domain. Implications for research and clinical use are discussed

Fornication and adultery in the city of Debrecen (1547–1625) compared with the morality of Geneva

To be sure, the more productive field of the international research on Protestantism is related to the subject of social history. In the case of the Calvin studies, for instance, readers will see, much has been written about the operation of the Genevan civil-church administration, consistorial discipline, sexual sins and family-marital life. Their authors' outstanding effort was to consult with the original manuscripts of the Genevan Archives. However, the early generations of Protestant preachers, not only in the western but also in central-eastern Europe, were trying to commit everything to renew the public morality of people. The illumination of the Hungarian pastors' views on the new spiritual and religious dimensions of family life is a neglected part of the research. Consequently, it would be interesting to scrutinise, for instance, the public morality related to the sexual crimes of local townsfolk of the city of Debrecen, which apparently was the centre of the Hungarian Reformation since 1562-1563. Doing so, the present research deals with the operation of the law court, the number of cases, the crimes and motives represented in the Registers of the Magistracy of Debrecen during the period of 1547-1625. Figures and statistics presented by this article point out how important was the practice of forgiveness in the religious life in Debrecen. It is taken for granted that the main results of the study permit to take a brief comparison of the sexual morality of the two Calvinist towns, namely Debrecen and Geneva. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : This article is based on the field of systematic theology. The study offers an attempt to understand sexual sins or crimes in the 16th and 17th-century theological, judicial and historical context.http://www.ve.org.za/index.php/VEDogmatics and Christian Ethic

Fornication and adultery in the city of Debrecen (1547–1625) compared with the morality of Geneva

To be sure, the more productive field of the international research on Protestantism is related to the subject of social history. In the case of the Calvin studies, for instance, readers will see, much has been written about the operation of the Genevan civil-church administration, consistorial discipline, sexual sins, and family-marital life. Their authors’ outstanding effort was to consult with the original manuscripts of the Genevan Archives. However, the early generations of Protestant preachers not only in Western, but in Central East Europe were trying to commit everything to renew the public morality of people, still the illumination of the Hungarian pastors’ views on the new spiritual and religious dimensions of family life, is still a neglected part of the research. Consequently, it would be interesting to scrutinize, for instance, the public morality related to the sexual crimes of local townsfolk of the city of Debrecen which apparently was the center of the Hungarian Reformation since 1562/63. Doing so, the present research deals with the operation of the law court, the number of cases, the crimes, and motives represented in the Registers of the Magistracy of Debrecen during the period of 1547–1625. Figures and statistics presented by the article point out how important was the practice of forgiveness in the religious life in Debrecen. It is taken for granted that the main results of the study permit to take a brief comparison of the sexual morality of the two Calvinist towns, namely: Debrecen and Geneva. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is based on the field of systematic theology. The study offers an attempt to understand sexual sins/crimes in their 16th and 17th century theological, judicial, and historical context

Polynomial averages and pointwise ergodic theorems on nilpotent groups

We establish pointwise almost everywhere convergence for ergodic averages along polynomial sequences in nilpotent groups of step two of measure-preserving transformations on $\sigma$-finite measure spaces. We also establish corresponding maximal inequalities on $L^p$ for $1<p\leq \infty$ and $\rho$-variational inequalities on $L^2$ for $2<\rho<\infty$. This gives an affirmative answer to the Furstenberg--Bergelson--Leibman conjecture in the linear case for all polynomial ergodic averages in discrete nilpotent groups of step two. Our proof is based on almost-orthogonality techniques that go far beyond Fourier transform tools, which are not available in the non-commutative, nilpotent setting. In particular, we develop what we call a \textit{nilpotent circle method} that allows us to adapt some of the ideas of the classical circle method to the setting of nilpotent groups.Juan de la Cierva Incorporación 2019, Grant Number IJC2019-039661-I BERC 2022-2025 progra

Systematic Review: The Effects of Nonpharmacological and Pharmacological Measures in Neonates with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

With the increasing incidence of drug addiction among pregnant women, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) has become a significant problem in the United States and has led to increased hospital costs, longer lengths of stay, and more serious health problems in neonates. This systematic review will explore the evidence about outcome differences for neonates with NAS that receive breastfeeding, rooming-in, and acupuncture in addition to pharmacological agents when compared to infants only receiving pharmacological agents. Twenty-one articles, retrieved from the databases PubMed and CINAHL and published between the years 2000-2017, were described in an integrated review, analyzed with critical appraisal, and synthesized for this systematic review. In general, researchers have found that breastfeeding, rooming-in, and acupuncture have positive effects of decreasing the need for pharmacological treatment, NAS symptoms, hospital costs, and length of hospital stay for infants with NAS when used in conjunction with pharmacologic agents