Simulating noisy quantum channels via quantum state preparation algorithms

In Refs. [Phys. Rev. A 96, 062303 (2017)] and [Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 61, 70311 (2018)], the authors reported an algorithm to simulate, in a circuit-based quantum computer, a general quantum channel (QC). However, the application of their algorithm involves the solution of intricate non-linear systems of equations in order to obtain the quantum circuit to be implemented for the simulation. In this work, we identify and discuss a simple way to implement the simulation of QCs on any $d$-level quantum system through quantum state preparation algorithms. We exemplify the simplicity and versatility of our protocol considering most well known qubit QCs, some qudit QCs, and the effect of Lorentz transformations on spin states. We also deal with the application of our protocol for initial mixed states. Most of the given application examples are verified experimentally using IBM's quantum processors

Correlação entre ensaios com câmara termográfica e resistógrafo na avaliação da integridade de vigas antigas de madeira

Este trabalho de investigação pretende dar um contributo no campo das técnicas não destrutivas de inspecção e de diagnóstico de vigas antigas de madeira. Para o efeito, correlacionou-se os resultados obtidos através do uso do resistógrafo e da termografia no estudo de uma viga recolhida num edifício de habitação unifamiliar que foi sujeito a um processo de remodelação. Verificou-se que poderá haver uma cerca correlação entre ensaios. Contudo, também se recomenda a realização de um número mais expressivo de ensaios de amostras para ser possível apresentar uma conclusão mais fidedigna. A relevância desta possível correlação prende-se com o facto de poder haver uma alternância na realização destes ensaios consoante os condicionalismos do cenário de obra

Helicobacter pylori chronic infection and mucosal inflammation switches the human gastric glycosylation pathways

Helicobacter pylori exploits host glycoconjugates to colonize the gastric niche. Infection can persist for decades promoting chronic inflammation, and in a subset of individuals lesions can silently progress to cancer. This study shows that H. pylori chronic infection and gastric tissue inflammation result in a remodeling of the gastric glycophenotype with increased expression of sialyl-Lewis a/x antigens due to transcriptional up-regulation of the B3GNT5, B3GALT5, and FUT3 genes. We observed that H. pylori infected individuals present a marked gastric local pro-inflammatory signature with significantly higher TNF-a levels and demonstrated that TNF-induced activation of the NF-kappaB pathway results in B3GNT5 transcriptional up-regulation. Furthermore, we show that this gastric glycosylation shift, characterized by increased sialylation patterns, favors SabA-mediated H. pylori attachment to human inflamed gastric mucosa. This study provides novel clinically relevant insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying H. pylori modulation of host glycosylation machinery, and phenotypic alterations crucial for life-long infection. Moreover, the biosynthetic pathways here identified as responsible for gastric mucosa increased sialylation, in response to H. pylori infection, can be exploited as drug targets for hindering bacteria adhesion and counteract the infection chronicity.IPATIMUP integrates the i3S Research Unit, which is partially supported by FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PEst C/SAU/LA0003/2013). This work is funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE (NORTE 07 0124 FEDER 000024; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER028188; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER 041276) and National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology (EXPL/CTM-BIO/0762/2013, PTDC/BBB-EBI/0786/2012) and acknowledges support by the EuropeanUnion (Seventh Framework Programme GastricGlycoExplorer project, grant number 316929). Grants were received from FCT, POPH (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano) and FSE (Fundo Social Europeu) (SFRH/BPD/75871/2011 to AM;SFRH/SINTD/60034/2009 to RMP; SFRH/BPD/84084/2012 to RMF; SFRH/BPD/89764/2012 to PO). AM acknowledges EMBO for a Short-Term Fellowship (EMBO ASTF 330-212). Transcript analysis was funded by NIH (grant P41GM103490) to KWM

Management of epithelial precancerous conditions and lesions in the stomach (MAPS II): European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group (EHMSG), European Society of Pathology (ESP), and Sociedade Portuguesa de Endoscopia Digestiva (SPED) guideline update 2019

Patients with chronic atrophic gastritis or intestinal metaplasia (IM) are at risk for gastric adenocarcinoma. This underscores the importance of diagnosis and risk stratification for these patients. High definition endoscopy with chromoendoscopy (CE) is better than high definition white-light endoscopy alone for this purpose. Virtual CE can guide biopsies for staging atrophic and metaplastic changes and can target neoplastic lesions. Biopsies should be taken from at least two topographic sites (antrum and corpus) and labelled in two separate vials. For patients with mild to moderate atrophy restricted to the antrum there is no evidence to recommend surveillance. In patients with IM at a single location but with a family history of gastric cancer, incomplete IM, or persistent Helicobacter pylori gastritis, endoscopic surveillance with CE and guided biopsies may be considered in 3 years. Patients with advanced stages of atrophic gastritis should be followed up with a high quality endoscopy every 3 years. In patients with dysplasia, in the absence of an endoscopically defined lesion, immediate high quality endoscopic reassessment with CE is recommended. Patients with an endoscopically visible lesion harboring low or high grade dysplasia or carcinoma should undergo staging and treatment. H. pylori eradication heals nonatrophic chronic gastritis, may lead to regression of atrophic gastritis, and reduces the risk of gastric cancer in patients with these conditions, and it is recommended. H. pylori eradication is also recommended for patients with neoplasia after endoscopic therapy. In intermediate to high risk regions, identification and surveillance of patients with precancerous gastric conditions is cost-effective.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Parallax Motion Effect Generation Through Instance Segmentation And Depth Estimation

Stereo vision is a growing topic in computer vision due to the innumerable opportunities and applications this technology offers for the development of modern solutions, such as virtual and augmented reality applications. To enhance the user's experience in three-dimensional virtual environments, the motion parallax estimation is a promising technique to achieve this objective. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for generating parallax motion effects from a single image, taking advantage of state-of-the-art instance segmentation and depth estimation approaches. This work also presents a comparison against such algorithms to investigate the trade-off between efficiency and quality of the parallax motion effects, taking into consideration a multi-task learning network capable of estimating instance segmentation and depth estimation at once. Experimental results and visual quality assessment indicate that the PyD-Net network (depth estimation) combined with Mask R-CNN or FBNet networks (instance segmentation) can produce parallax motion effects with good visual quality.Comment: 2020 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirate

Antibody reactivity against potato apyrase, a protein that shares epitopes with Schistosoma mansoni ATP diphosphohydrolase isoforms, in acute and chronically infected mice, after chemotherapy and reinfection

Schistosoma mansoni ATP diphosphohydrolase isoforms and potato apyrase share conserved epitopes. By enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, elevated levels of IgM, IgG2a and IgG1 antibody reactivity against potato apyrase were observed in S. mansoni-infected BALB/c mice during the acute phase of infection, while only IgM and IgG1 antibody reactivity levels maintained elevated during the chronic phase of infection. Antibody reactivity against potato apyrase was monitored over an 11-month period in chronically-infected mice treated with oxamniquine. Eleven months later, the level of seropositive IgM decreased significantly (~30%) compared to the level found in untreated, infected mice. The level of seropositive IgG1 decreased significantly four months after treatment (MAT) (61%) and remained at this level even after 11 months. The IgG2a reactivity against potato apyrase, although unchanged during chronic phase to 11 MAT, appeared elevated again in re-infected mice suggesting a response similar to that found during the acute phase. BALB/c mouse polyclonal anti-potato apyrase IgG reacted with soluble egg antigens probably due to the recognition of parasite ATP diphosphohydrolase. This study, for the first time, showed that the IgG2a antibody from S. mansoni-infected BALB mice cross-reacts with potato apyrase and the level of IgG2a in infected mice differentiates disease phases. The results also suggest that different conserved-epitopes contribute to the immune response in schistosomiasis

Social representations of AIDS and their quotidian interfaces for people living with HIV

This qualitative descriptive study, guided by the Social Representations Theory, aimed to describe the content of the social representations regarding the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) for seropositive individuals in outpatient monitoring of the public health network and to analyze the interface of the social representations of AIDS with the quotidian of the individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), especially in the adherence to treatment process Interviews were conducted with 30 seropositive individuals and the manual content analysis technique was used. From the analysis, six categories emerged that re-translated the quotidian of seropositive people permeated by the stigma, prejudice, struggle for life and the need for the continuous use of antiretrovirals. AIDS was assimilated to chronic diseases such as diabetes, showing a trend of transformation of the social representation of AIDS, substituting the idea of death, with life. It is concluded that people living with HIV are more optimistic due to effective treatments for the control of the disease.Se trata de un estudio cualitativo descriptivo orientado por la Teoría de las Representaciones Sociales, que objetivó describir el contenido de las representaciones sociales acerca de la Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (SIDA) para los usuarios seropositivos en acompañamiento de ambulatorio en la red pública de salud y analizar la interconexión de las representaciones sociales del Sida con lo cotidiano de los individuos que viven con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (HIV), especialmente al proceso de adhesión al tratamiento. Se realizaron entrevistas con 30 individuos seropositivos. Se utilizó la técnica de análisis de contenido manual. Del análisis, emergieron seis categorías que tradujeron lo cotidiano de seropositivos impregnados por el estigma, prejuicio, lucha por la vida y la necesidad del uso continuo de antirretrovirales. El Sida fue comparado a enfermedades crónicas como la diabetes, evidenciando una tendencia de transformación de la representación social del Sida, substituyendo la idea de muerte, por la de vida. Se concluye que las personas que conviven con HIV están más optimistas debido a los tratamientos eficaces en el control de la enfermedad.Trata-se de estudo qualitativo descritivo, norteado pela teoria das representações sociais. Objetivou-se descrever o conteúdo das representações sociais acerca da síndrome de imunodeficiência adquirida (AIDS) para os usuários soropositivos, em acompanhamento ambulatorial da rede pública de saúde, e analisar a interface das representações sociais da AIDS com o cotidiano dos indivíduos que vivem com o vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV), especialmente no processo de adesão ao tratamento. Realizaram-se entrevistas com 30 indivíduos soropositivos. Utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo manual. Da análise, emergiram seis categorias que retraduziram o cotidiano de soropositivos, permeados pelo estigma, preconceito, luta pela vida e a necessidade do uso contínuo de antirretrovirais. A AIDS foi assimilada a doenças crônicas como diabetes, evidenciando tendência para transformação da representação social da AIDS, substituindo a ideia de morte, por vida. Conclui-se que as pessoas que convivem com HIV estão mais otimistas devido aos tratamentos eficazes no controle da doença