Aspects of quality control of wind profiler measurements in complex topography

It is well known in the scientific community that some remote sensing instruments assume that sample volumes present homogeneous conditions within a defined meteorological profile. At complex topographic sites and under extreme meteorological conditions, this assumption may be fallible depending on the site, and it is more likely to fail in the lower layers of the atmosphere. This piece of work tests the homogeneity of the wind field over a boundary layer wind profiler radar located in complex terrain on the coast under different meteorological conditions. The results reveal the qualitative importance of being aware of deviations in this homogeneity assumption and evaluate its effect on the final product. Patterns of behavior in data have been identified in order to simplify the analysis of the complex signal registered. <br><br> The quality information obtained from the homogeneity study under different meteorological conditions provides useful indicators for the best alternatives the system can offer to build wind profiles. Finally, the results are also to be considered in order to integrate them in a quality algorithm implemented at the product level

Nonlinear Matroid Optimization and Experimental Design

We study the problem of optimizing nonlinear objective functions over matroids presented by oracles or explicitly. Such functions can be interpreted as the balancing of multi-criteria optimization. We provide a combinatorial polynomial time algorithm for arbitrary oracle-presented matroids, that makes repeated use of matroid intersection, and an algebraic algorithm for vectorial matroids. Our work is partly motivated by applications to minimum-aberration model-fitting in experimental design in statistics, which we discuss and demonstrate in detail

Implementing quantum gates through scattering between a static and a flying qubit

We investigate whether a two-qubit quantum gate can be implemented in a scattering process involving a flying and a static qubit. To this end, we focus on a paradigmatic setup made out of a mobile particle and a quantum impurity, whose respective spin degrees of freedom couple to each other during a one-dimensional scattering process. Once a condition for the occurrence of quantum gates is derived in terms of spin-dependent transmission coefficients, we show that this can be actually fulfilled through the insertion of an additional narrow potential barrier. An interesting observation is that under resonance conditions the above enables a gate only for isotropic Heisenberg (exchange) interactions and fails for an XY interaction. We show the existence of parameter regimes for which gates able to establish a maximum amount of entanglement can be implemented. The gates are found to be robust to variations of the optimal parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Quantum Computing via The Bethe Ansatz

We recognize quantum circuit model of computation as factorisable scattering model and propose that a quantum computer is associated with a quantum many-body system solved by the Bethe ansatz. As an typical example to support our perspectives on quantum computation, we study quantum computing in one-dimensional nonrelativistic system with delta-function interaction, where the two-body scattering matrix satisfies the factorisation equation (the quantum Yang--Baxter equation) and acts as a parametric two-body quantum gate. We conclude by comparing quantum computing via the factorisable scattering with topological quantum computing.Comment: 6 pages. Comments welcom

Efeitos da quantidade de lã no escroto sobre características reprodutivas de carneiros Corriedale no decorrer do ano.

O presente trabalho foi delineado para se avaliar possíveis modificações nas características reprodutivas de carneiros em função da quantidade de lã no escroto e época do ano

Una intervención en escritura académica durante la cursada virtual de Histología y Embriología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias-Universidad de Buenos Aires.

En la asignatura Histología y Embriología de la carrera de Veterinaria de la Universidad de Buenos Aires se solicita a los alumnos cursantes resolver una serie de actividades escritas. Durante la cursada virtual del primer cuatrimestre de 2021 se implementaron cinco actividades de integración. El objetivo fue propiciar la integración de los contenidos de la materia y su adecuada expresión escrita. Las consignas propuestas solicitaban la producción de textos individuales y originales, con una elaboración adicional a la expuesta en las fuentes bibliográficas. Los docentes correctores realizaban una devolución formal de cada entrega, aplicando una rúbrica diseñada por los autores. Esta rúbrica permitía calificar en base a siete criterios: formato textual, registro, uso del lenguaje técnico de la materia, pertinencia y cobertura de los contenidos solicitados, relación y dominio de conceptos, aspectos formales y fuentes de investigación teórica. Cada criterio reunía varios parámetros analizables. La devolución constaba de comentarios puntuales sobre el texto y breves párrafos explicativos. Se analizaron los escritos de un grupo de estudiantes (n=23), entre un “momento inicial” de la intervención y un “momento final”. Mediante un instrumento adicional se evaluó la evolución para cada criterio (y parámetro) de la rúbrica.Se observó una evolución favorable en más del 40% de los estudiantes para los criterios: formato textual, registro (persona verbal), lenguaje (expresión), aspectos formales (sintaxis, puntuación) y bibliografía (calidad, formato). Entre el 30 y el 40% demostró evolución favorable en: registro (formal y tiempo verbal), lenguaje (precisión) y aspectos formales (conectores). Menos del 30% demostró evolución favorable en:pertinencia y cobertura, relación y dominio de conceptos y lenguaje técnico de la materia (léxico). Se concluye que la intervención tuvo un efecto favorable en la calidad de la escritura académica de los estudiantes

Isothermal microcalorimetry minimal inhibitory concentration testing in extensively drug resistant Gram-negative bacilli: a multicentre study

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of an isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) method for determining the MICs among extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli. Methods: A collection of 320 clinical isolates (n = 80 of each) of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii from Sweden, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands were tested. The MICs were determined using the IMC device calScreener (Symcel, Stockholm, Sweden) and ISO-broth microdilution as the reference method. Essential agreement, categorical agreement, very major errors (VME), major errors (ME) and minor (mE) errors for each antibiotic were determined. Results: Data from 316 isolates were evaluated. Four errors (two ME, one VME, one mE) among 80 K. pneumoniae, six errors (four ME, one VME, one mE) among 79 E. coli, 15 errors (seven VME, three ME, five mE) among 77 P. aeruginosa and 18 errors (12 VME, two ME, four mE) among 80 A. baumannii were observed. Average essential agreement and categorical agreement of the IMC method were 96.6% (95% confidence interval, 94.2–99) and 97.1% (95% confidence interval, 95.4–98.5) respectively when the MICs were determined at the end of 18 hours. Categorical agreement of the IMC method for prediction of MIC by the end of 8 hours for colistin, meropenem, amikacin, ciprofloxacin and piperacillin/tazobactam were 95%, 91.4%, 94%, 95.2% and 93.7% respectively. Conclusions: The IMC method could accurately determine the MICs among extensively drug-resistant clinical isolates of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii isolates

Design and implementation of a global site assessment survey among HIV clinics participating in the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) research consortium

Introduction Timely descriptions of HIV service characteristics and their evolution over time across diverse settings are important for monitoring the scale-up of evidence-based program strategies, understanding the implementation landscape, and examining service delivery factors that influence HIV care outcomes. Methods The International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) consortium undertakes periodic cross-sectional surveys on service availability and care at participating HIV treatment sites to characterize trends and inform the scientific agenda for HIV care and implementation science communities. IeDEA’s 2020 general site assessment survey was developed through a consultative, 18-month process that engaged diverse researchers in identifying content from previous surveys that should be retained for longitudinal analyses and in developing expanded and new content to address gaps in the literature. An iterative review process was undertaken to standardize the format of new survey questions and align them with best practices in survey design and measurement and lessons learned through prior IeDEA site assessment surveys. Results The survey questionnaire developed through this process included eight content domains covered in prior surveys (patient population, staffing and community linkages, HIV testing and diagnosis, new patient care, treatment monitoring and retention, routine HIV care and screening, pharmacy, record-keeping and patient tracing), along with expanded content related to antiretroviral therapy (differentiated service delivery and roll-out of dolutegravir-based regimens); mental health and substance use disorders; care for pregnant/postpartum women and HIV-exposed infants; tuberculosis preventive therapy; and pediatric/adolescent tuberculosis care; and new content related to Kaposi’s sarcoma diagnostics, the impact of COVID-19 on service delivery, and structural barriers to HIV care. The survey was distributed to 238 HIV treatment sites in late 2020, with a 95% response rate. Conclusion IeDEA’s approach for site survey development has broad relevance for HIV research networks and other priority health conditions

Rapid determination of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance from whole-genome sequences

Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance (DR) challenges effective tuberculosis disease control. Current molecular tests examine limited numbers of mutations, and although whole genome sequencing approaches could fully characterise DR, data complexity has restricted their clinical application. A library (1,325 mutations) predictive of DR for 15 anti-tuberculosis drugs was compiled and validated for 11 of them using genomic-phenotypic data from 792 strains. A rapid online ‘TB-Profiler’ tool was developed to report DR and strain-type profiles directly from raw sequences. Using our DR mutation library, in silico diagnostic accuracy was superior to some commercial diagnostics and alternative databases. The library will facilitate sequence-based drug-susceptibility testing

Functional Relationship between Protein Disulfide Isomerase Family Members during the Oxidative Folding of Human Secretory Proteins

We systematically depleted PDI family members and show that whereas ERp72 and P5 contributed minimally to oxidative protein folding, PDI and ERp57 were the predominant catalysts. Depletion of PDI or ERp57 alone modestly delayed folding, but depletion of both led to generalized protein misfolding and degradation