On the quantum probability flux through surfaces

We remark that the often ignored quantum probability current is fundamental for a genuine understanding of scattering phenomena and, in particular, for the statistics of the time and position of the first exit of a quantum particle from a given region, which may be simply expressed in terms of the current. This simple formula for these statistics does not appear as such in the literature. It is proposed that the formula, which is very different from the usual quantum mechanical measurement formulas, be verified experimentally. A full understanding of the quantum current and the associated formula is provided by Bohmian mechanics.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, revised and more detailed version, to be published in Journal of Statistical Physics, August 9

Semiconductor-based geometrical quantum gates

We propose an implementation scheme for holonomic, i.e., geometrical, quantum information processing based on semiconductor nanostructures. Our quantum hardware consists of coupled semiconductor macroatoms addressed/controlled by ultrafast multicolor laser-pulse sequences. More specifically, logical qubits are encoded in excitonic states with different spin polarizations and manipulated by adiabatic time control of the laser amplitudes. The two-qubit gate is realized in a geometric fashion by exploiting dipole-dipole coupling between excitons in neighboring quantum dots

A tractable method for simultaneous modifications to the head and tail of bacteriophage lambda and its application to enhancing phage-mediated gene delivery

There is considerable interest in the use of bacteriophage vectors for mammalian cell gene transfer applications, due to their stability, excellent safety profile and inexpensive mass production. However, to date, phage vectors have been plagued by mediocre performance as gene transfer agents. This may reflect the complexity of the viral infection process in mammalian cells and the need to refine each step of this process in order to arrive at an optimal, phage-based gene transfer system. Therefore, a flexible system was designed that alowed for the introduction of multiple modifications on the surface of bacteriophage lambda. Using this novel method, multiple peptides were displayed simultaneously from both the phage head and tail. Surface head display of an ubiquitinylation motif greatly increased the efficiency of phage-mediated gene transfer in a murine macrophage cell line. Gene transfer was further increased when this peptide was displayed in combination with a tail-displayed CD40-binding motif. Overall, this work provides a novel system that can be used to rationally improve bacteriophage gene transfer vectors and shows it may be possible to enhance the efficiency of phage-mediated gene transfer by targeting and optimizing multiple steps within the viral infection pathway

The Risk of Toxicities from Trastuzumab, Alone or in Combination, in an Elderly Breast Cancer Population

Abstract Background: Breast cancer in the elderly is associated with high recurrence and death rates, due mostly to undertreatment. Human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) overexpression is infrequent in older patients. Trastuzumab- based chemotherapy is often withheld from elderly patients because of its cardiotoxicity. Patients and Methods: Medical records of consecutive HER2-positive breast cancer patients aged 65 70 years old treated between 2005 and 2010 in the participating centers were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent multidimensional geriatric assessment (MGA). Results: Among 59 patients identified, 51 patients were evaluable (median age 76 years). The rate of any adverse event was 20% (10/51). The most relevant cardiac adverse event consisted of symptomatic congestive heart failure (CHF; n = 1, 2%) followed by asymptomatic decreases of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; n = 6, 12%). Other toxicities included moderate hypersensitivity reactions during trastuzumab infusions (n = 3, 6%). Hypertension, obesity, prior anthracyclines exposure and concurrent chemotherapy were associated with a higher incidence of toxic events. Previous radiotherapy, concurrent endocrine therapy and different trastuzumab-based regimens did not seem to influence toxicity. Conclusions: Our data suggest that trastuzumab has a good safety profile in nonfrail women aged 70 years and older. These favorable findings may be related to a limited number of anthracycline pretreatments, patient selection and a close cardiologic monitoring

Acute Colonic Diverticulitis: CT Findings, Classifications, and a Proposal of a Structured Reporting Template

Acute colonic diverticulitis (ACD) is the most common complication of diverticular disease and represents an abdominal emergency. It includes a variety of conditions, extending from localized diverticular inflammation to fecal peritonitis, hence the importance of an accurate diagnosis. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis due to its high sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and interobserver agreement. In fact, CE-CT allows alternative diagnoses to be excluded, the inflamed diverticulum to be localized, and complications to be identified. Imaging findings have been reviewed, dividing them into bowel and extra-intestinal wall findings. Moreover, CE-CT allows staging of the disease; the most used classifications of ACD severity are Hinchey’s modified and WSES classifications. Differential diagnoses include colon carcinoma, epiploic appendagitis, ischemic colitis, appendicitis, infectious enterocolitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. We propose a structured reporting template to standardize the terminology and improve communication between specialists involved in patient care

Spontaneous Abdominal Wall Hematoma Treated with Percutaneous Transarterial Embolization: Diagnostic Findings, Procedural Outcome, and Efficacy—A Multicenter Study

Endovascular management of abdominal wall hematomas (AWHs) is now the primary treatment option in hemodynamically stable patients, and it is often preferred to surgical interventions. The purpose of this multicentric study was to assess the safety, technical, and clinical success of percutaneous transarterial embolization (PTAE) of spontaneous AWHs to evaluate the efficacy of blind or empiric embolization compared to targeted embolization and to compare the outcome of the endovascular treatment approach in patients affected by COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. We retrospectively enrolled 112 patients with spontaneous AWHs who underwent PTAE, focusing on signs of bleeding at pre-procedural CTA and DSA. Patients were separated into two groups depending on whether a blind or targeted embolization approach was used. We also divided patients into COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. The mean age of the study population was 68.6 ± 15.8 years. CTA and DSA revealed signs of active bleeding in 99 and 88 patients, respectively. In 21 patients, blind embolization was performed. The overall technical success rate was 99%. Clinical success was obtained in 96 patients (86%), while 16 (14%) re-bled within 96 h. One patient reported a major peri-procedural complication. The comparison between blind and targeted embolization approaches showed no statistically significant differences in the characteristics of groups and technical and clinical success rates. No significant differences were found in the procedural outcome between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. Our study confirmed that PTAE is effective for treating spontaneous AWHs, even in COVID-19 patients. It suggests that the efficacy and safety of blind embolization are comparable to targeted embolization

Internet of Things for Sustainability: Perspectives in Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Future Trends

In the sustainability IoT, the cybersecurity risks to things, sensors, and monitoring systems are distinct from the conventional networking systems in many aspects. The interaction of sustainability IoT with the physical world phenomena (e.g., weather, climate, water, and oceans) is mostly not found in the modern information technology systems. Accordingly, actuation, the ability of these devices to make changes in real world based on sensing and monitoring, requires special consideration in terms of privacy and security. Moreover, the energy efficiency, safety, power, performance requirements of these device distinguish them from conventional computers systems. In this chapter, the cybersecurity approaches towards sustainability IoT are discussed in detail. The sustainability IoT risk categorization, risk mitigation goals, and implementation aspects are analyzed. The openness paradox and data dichotomy between privacy and sharing is analyzed. Accordingly, the IoT technology and security standard developments activities are highlighted. The perspectives on opportunities and challenges in IoT for sustainability are given. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of sustainability IoT cybersecurity case studies

Growth of nanostructures by cluster deposition : a review

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of simple models useful to analyze the growth of nanostructures obtained by cluster deposition. After detailing the potential interest of nanostructures, I extensively study the first stages of growth (the submonolayer regime) by kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations. These simulations are performed in a wide variety of experimental situations : complete condensation, growth with reevaporation, nucleation on defects, total or null cluster-cluster coalescence... The main scope of the paper is to help experimentalists analyzing their data to deduce which of those processes are important and to quantify them. A software including all these simulation programs is available at no cost on request to the author. I carefully discuss experiments of growth from cluster beams and show how the mobility of the clusters on the surface can be measured : surprisingly high values are found. An important issue for future technological applications of cluster deposition is the relation between the size of the incident clusters and the size of the islands obtained on the substrate. An approximate formula which gives the ratio of the two sizes as a function of the melting temperature of the material deposited is given. Finally, I study the atomic mechanisms which can explain the diffusion of the clusters on a substrate and the result of their mutual interaction (simple juxtaposition, partial or total coalescence...)Comment: To be published Rev Mod Phys, Oct 99, RevTeX, 37 figure