A simple operational interpretation of the fidelity

This note presents a corollary to Uhlmann's theorem which provides a simple operational interpretation for the fidelity of mixed states.Comment: 1 pag

Meta-Analysis of Cyathostomin Species-Specific Prevalence and Relative Abundance in Domestic Horses from 1975-2020: Emphasis on Geographical Region and Specimen Collection Method

BACKGROUND: Cyathostomins infect virtually all horses, and concomitant infections with 10 or more species per horse is standard. Species-specific knowledge is limited, despite potential species bias in development of disease and anthelmintic resistance. This is the first meta-analysis to examine effects of geographical region and cyathostomin collection method on reported composition of cyathostomin communities. METHODS: Thirty-seven articles published in English in 1975 or later, in which adults of individual species were systematically enumerated, were included. Seven regions; North America, South America, eastern Europe, western Europe, northern Europe, southern Africa, and Oceania, and three cyathostomin collection methods; (i) standard necropsy recovery from the large intestine, (ii) critical test collection from post-treatment feces and necropsy, and (iii) diagnostic deworming recovery solely from post-treatment feces, were considered. Generalized mixed linear models analyzed the effects of region and collection method on species-specific prevalence and relative abundance. Species richness was analyzed by mixed linear models. RESULTS: Definitively, the most prevalent and relatively abundant species were Cylicocyclus nassatus (prevalence = 93%, relative abundance = 20%), Cylicostephanus (Cys.) longibursatus (93%, 20%), and Cyathostomum catinatum (90%, 16%). A bias toward horses with high infection intensities and cyathostomin collection from feces resulted in North American critical tests and eastern European diagnostic deworming overestimating the species-specific prevalence and underestimating the relative abundance of rare/uncommon species compared to respective intra-regional standard necropsies. North American critical tests underestimated species richness due partially to identification key errors. Inter-regional standard necropsy comparisons yielded some species-specific regional differences, including a significantly higher Cys. longibursatus prevalence and relative abundance in North America (92%, 33%) than in eastern Europe (51%, 7%) (P \u3e 0.0001). Localization of critical tests to North America and diagnostic deworming to Eastern Europe precluded expansive ‘region by collection method’ interaction analyses. CONCLUSION: We provide substantial data to inform study design, e.g. effect and study size, for cyathostomin research and highlight necessity for method standardization and raw data accessibility for optimal post-factum comparisons

Record of a Sixteen-year-old White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Carbondale, Illinois: a Brief Note.

In May 2004, a dead white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) radiocollared in 1991 was found in Carbondale, Illinois, and was aged at 16 years old via cementum annuli analysis. She was a member of an unharvested, free-ranging population and likely died of natural causes. Given the average longevity of deer in unharvested populations at about 8 years of age, our finding is quite rare. Increased longevity of deer can heighten lifetime reproductive output, which may contribute to elevated deer abundance and concentrated herbivory in urban settings

A practical scheme for quantum computation with any two-qubit entangling gate

Which gates are universal for quantum computation? Although it is well known that certain gates on two-level quantum systems (qubits), such as the controlled-not (CNOT), are universal when assisted by arbitrary one-qubit gates, it has only recently become clear precisely what class of two-qubit gates is universal in this sense. Here we present an elementary proof that any entangling two-qubit gate is universal for quantum computation, when assisted by one-qubit gates. A proof of this important result for systems of arbitrary finite dimension has been provided by J. L. and R. Brylinski [arXiv:quant-ph/0108062, 2001]; however, their proof relies upon a long argument using advanced mathematics. In contrast, our proof provides a simple constructive procedure which is close to optimal and experimentally practical [C. M. Dawson and A. Gilchrist, online implementation of the procedure described herein (2002), http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc/].Comment: 3 pages, online implementation of procedure described can be found at http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc

The role of microarthropods in emerging models of soil organic matter

A new understanding of soil organic matter (SOM) formation and stabilization has emerged over the past decade, highlighting the importance of microbial activity, mineral association of organic matter and aggregate occlusion of organic matter to SOM persistence. To date, the contribution of microarthropods to litter decomposition and SOM formation processes has not received due consideration and theoretical and empirical models should be modified to include how these organisms impact SOM protection. Here, we highlight the biological, chemical and physical mechanisms by which microarthropods influence SOM formation both directly and indirectly. Although more data is needed to quantify the impacts of different microarthropods on SOM dynamics, we highlight areas where inclusion of microarthropods in emerging models of SOM formation could reduce model uncertainties

Testing a model for identifying nursing and paramedic students’ risk in level 1 human bioscience

BACKGROUND Factors such as the number of hours of paid work, class attendance and university admission scores have been shown to impact on student success. Conflicting results have been demonstrated for factors such as age, healthcare work experience and previous study of biology. Self-efficacy has been linked to academic achievement and performance in science courses has been directly linked to overall academic achievement. At our regional university the student demographic profile of students enrolled in Human Bioscience 1 indicates that up to 50% of students complete the final year of high school and consequently at least half enter through alternative pathways. AIMS 1. Gather detailed information regarding the student demographic profile 2. Develop a model for student risk independent of university admission scores. 3. Prospectively test the model METHOD Students enrolled in Human Bioscience 1 (n=1328) in 2011-12 were invited to undertake an online survey and short science test. The response rate was 70.4%. Data was matched to student final results. A linear model using restricted maximum likelihood was used to analyse the data. Validation of the model was undertaken using 10% of the data randomly selected with the remaining 90% of the data being used to estimate the model. Predicted TotalMark was then compared with the observed TotalMark. Prospective testing of the model was undertaken with data collected during session 1 of 2014. RESULTS Socioeconomic status and the short science test score were not significant to the model. The average correlation between the predicted TotalMark from the model and the actual observed TotalMark for 2011-12 cohort was 0.319 (Range 0.086 – 0.538). A comparison of the demographic characteristics between the two groups, 2011-12 and 2014, indicated similar profiles. Both groups contain students enrolled to study by distance mode and on a campus. The model was used to predict the potential mark to be achieved by the 2014 students. The predicted marks were classified as pass or fail based on a mark >49.5%. McNemars test was then used to determine if this prediction was significantly different from the observed pass/fail result. Only 8 of 300 students were misclassified. The test showed there was no significant difference between observed and predicted values. DISCUSSION Students enrolled in the nursing course are less likely to succeed than their paramedic counterparts with similar backgrounds. The risk is further increased for students aged less than 25 years and students who are the first in their family to attend university. The predictive model highlighted the tension between previous health care work experience and study success. If the student had work experience but was studying on campus the work experience had a negative impact. This may be related to age as those studying on campus are younger overall and work experience is unlikely to have been at a high level of responsibility. This contrasted with those studying by distance, most of who were older and had a higher level of responsibility due to prior technical college qualifications. Limitations to the model include factors such as carer responsibility and measures of the students’ self-efficacy, engagement and anxiety all of which have been shown to impact on student success. Socioeconomic status was determined by geographic location which may not accurately reflect the status for an individual student. IMPLICATIONS With the increasing diversity of undergraduate student populations, the ability to identify students at risk of attrition is more important than ever. The regression model provides a mechanism to identify students who may be assisted by targeted strategies, such as pre-study resources and inclusion of mechanisms for building study resilience

Incidence of WISE -selected obscured AGNs in major mergers and interactions from the SDSS

We use the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to confirm a connection between dust-obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and galaxy merging. Using a new, volume-limited (z ≤ 0.08) catalogue of visually selected major mergers and galaxy–galaxy interactions from the SDSS, with stellar masses above 2 × 1010 M⊙, we find that major mergers (interactions) are 5–17 (3–5) times more likely to have red [3.4] − [4.6] colours associated with dust-obscured or ‘dusty’ AGNs, compared to non-merging galaxies with similar masses. Using published fibre spectral diagnostics, we map the [3.4] − [4.6] versus [4.6] − [12] colours of different emission-line galaxies and find that one-quarter of Seyferts have colours indicative of a dusty AGN. We find that AGNs are five times more likely to be obscured when hosted by a merging galaxy, half of AGNs hosted by a merger are dusty, and we find no enhanced frequency of optical AGNs in merging over non-merging galaxies. We conclude that undetected AGNs missed at shorter wavelengths are at the heart of the ongoing AGN-merger connection debate. The vast majority of mergers hosting dusty AGNs are star forming and located at the centres of Mhalo < 1013 M⊙ groups. Assuming plausibly short-duration dusty-AGN phases, we speculate that a large fraction of gas-rich mergers experience a brief obscured AGN phase, in agreement with the strong connection between central star formation and black hole growth seen in merger simulations

Incidence of WISE -selected obscured AGNs in major mergers and interactions from the SDSS

We use the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to confirm a connection between dust-obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and galaxy merging. Using a new, volume-limited (z ≤ 0.08) catalogue of visually selected major mergers and galaxy–galaxy interactions from the SDSS, with stellar masses above 2 × 1010 M⊙, we find that major mergers (interactions) are 5–17 (3–5) times more likely to have red [3.4] − [4.6] colours associated with dust-obscured or ‘dusty’ AGNs, compared to non-merging galaxies with similar masses. Using published fibre spectral diagnostics, we map the [3.4] − [4.6] versus [4.6] − [12] colours of different emission-line galaxies and find that one-quarter of Seyferts have colours indicative of a dusty AGN. We find that AGNs are five times more likely to be obscured when hosted by a merging galaxy, half of AGNs hosted by a merger are dusty, and we find no enhanced frequency of optical AGNs in merging over non-merging galaxies. We conclude that undetected AGNs missed at shorter wavelengths are at the heart of the ongoing AGN-merger connection debate. The vast majority of mergers hosting dusty AGNs are star forming and located at the centres of Mhalo < 1013 M⊙ groups. Assuming plausibly short-duration dusty-AGN phases, we speculate that a large fraction of gas-rich mergers experience a brief obscured AGN phase, in agreement with the strong connection between central star formation and black hole growth seen in merger simulations

Universal quantum computation and simulation using any entangling Hamiltonian and local unitaries

What interactions are sufficient to simulate arbitrary quantum dynamics in a composite quantum system? We provide an efficient algorithm to simulate any desired two-body Hamiltonian evolution using any fixed two-body entangling n-qubit Hamiltonian and local unitaries. It follows that universal quantum computation can be performed using any entangling interaction and local unitary operations.Comment: Added references to NMR refocusing and to earlier work by Leung et al and Jones and Knil