Calculation of quantum discord for qubit-qudit or N qubits

Quantum discord, a kind of quantum correlation, is defined as the difference between quantum mutual information and classical correlation in a bipartite system. It has been discussed so far for small systems with only a few independent parameters. We extend here to a much broader class of states when the second party is of arbitrary dimension d, so long as the first, measured, party is a qubit. We present two formulae to calculate quantum discord, the first relating to the original entropic definition and the second to a recently proposed geometric distance measure which leads to an analytical formulation. The tracing over the qubit in the entropic calculation is reduced to a very simple prescription. And, when the d-dimensional system is a so-called X state, the density matrix having non-zero elements only along the diagonal and anti-diagonal so as to appear visually like the letter X, the entropic calculation can be carried out analytically. Such states of the full bipartite qubit-qudit system may be named "extended X states", whose density matrix is built of four block matrices, each visually appearing as an X. The optimization involved in the entropic calculation is generally over two parameters, reducing to one for many cases, and avoided altogether for an overwhelmingly large set of density matrices as our numerical investigations demonstrate. Our results also apply to states of a N-qubit system, where "extended X states" consist of (2^(N+2) - 1) states, larger in number than the (2^(N+1) - 1) of X states of N qubits. While these are still smaller than the total number (2^(2N) - 1) of states of N qubits, the number of parameters involved is nevertheless large. In the case of N = 2, they encompass the entire 15-dimensional parameter space, that is, the extended X states for N = 2 represent the full qubit-qubit system.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Development of a diagnostic algorithm in periodontal disease and identification of genetic expression patterns: A preliminary report

AbstractBackground/purposeTo identify genetic expression patterns that can be used to define an appropriate diagnostic algorithm of clinical use in periodontal disease.Materials and methodsTotal RNA was extracted from 13 samples corresponding to normal human gingiva (NHG) and human gingiva affected by periodontal disease (PDHG). A comprehensive gene expression analysis was carried out by microarray analysis using Affymetrix Human Genome U133 plus 2.0 oligonucleotide arrays.ResultsSixty-six probe sets (genes and expressed sequence tags – EST) overexpressed in all samples of one of the comparison groups, were used for the diagnostic algorithm. All samples, including an independent test sample, were correctly classified as normal or periodontally affected using the diagnostic algorithm. In addition, 2596 genes/EST were upregulated and 1542 genes/EST were downregulated in PDHG, with numerous gene functions impaired in PDHG, especially those related to the immune response, cell-cell junctions, and extracellular matrix remodeling.ConclusionOur study reveals differential gene expression profiles in NHG and PDHG. The proposed diagnostic algorithm could have clinical usefulness for differential diagnosis in periodontal disease

Taxonomical over splitting in the Rhodnius prolixus (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae) clade: Are R. taquarussuensis (da Rosa et al., 2017) and R. neglectus (Lent, 1954) the same species?

El uso de características sutiles como características de diagnóstico de especies en taxones con una gran similitud morfológica a veces falla en discriminar la variación intraespecífica de las diferencias interespecíficas, lo que lleva a una delimitación incorrecta de la especie. Una evaluación clara de los límites de las especies es particularmente relevante en los organismos vectores de enfermedades para comprender los procesos epidemiológicos y evolutivos que afectan la capacidad de transmisión. Aquí, evaluamos la validez del Rhodnius taquarussuensis recientemente descrito (da Rosa et al., 2017) utilizando cruces interespecíficos y marcadores moleculares. No detectamos diferencias en las tasas de eclosión en cruces interespecíficos entre R. taquarussuensis y R. negligencias (Lent, 1954). Además, los análisis de divergencia genética y delimitación de especies muestran que R. taquarussuensis no es un linaje independiente en el grupo R. prolixus. Estos resultados sugieren que R. taquarussuensis es una forma fenotípica de R. negligenciaus en lugar de una especie distinta. Nos gustaría enfatizar que se necesitan diferentes fuentes de evidencia para delimitar correctamente las especies. Consideramos que este es un paso importante en la comprensión de la propagación y transmisión vectorial de la enfermedad de Chagas.The use of subtle features as species diagnostic traits in taxa with high morphological similarity sometimes fails in discriminating intraspecific variation from interspecific differences, leading to an incorrect species delimitation. A clear assessment of species boundaries is particularly relevant in disease vector organisms in order to understand epidemiological and evolutionary processes that affect transmission capacity. Here, we assess the validity of the recently described Rhodnius taquarussuensis (da Rosa et al., 2017) using interspecific crosses and molecular markers. We did not detect differences in hatching rates in interspecific crosses between R. taquarussuensis and R. neglectus (Lent, 1954). Furthermore, genetic divergence and species delimitation analyses show that R. taquarussuensis is not an independent lineage in the R. prolixus group. These results suggest that R. taquarussuensis is a phenotypic form of R. neglectus instead of a distinct species. We would like to stress that different sources of evidence are needed to correctly delimit species. We consider this is an important step in understanding vectorial Chagas disease spread and transmission

Taxonomical over splitting in the Rhodnius prolixus (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae) clade: Are R. Taquarussuensis (da Rosa et al., 2017) and R. Neglectus (Lent, 1954) the same species?

El uso de características sutiles como características de diagnóstico de especies en taxones con una gran similitud morfológica a veces falla en discriminar la variación intraespecífica de las diferencias interespecíficas, lo que lleva a una delimitación incorrecta de la especie. Una evaluación clara de los límites de las especies es particularmente relevante en los organismos vectores de enfermedades para comprender los procesos epidemiológicos y evolutivos que afectan la capacidad de transmisión. Aquí, evaluamos la validez del Rhodnius taquarussuensis recientemente descrito (da Rosa et al., 2017) utilizando cruces interespecíficos y marcadores moleculares. No detectamos diferencias en las tasas de eclosión en cruces interespecíficos entre R. taquarussuensis y R. negligencias (Lent, 1954). Además, los análisis de divergencia genética y delimitación de especies muestran que R. taquarussuensis no es un linaje independiente en el grupo R. prolixus. Estos resultados sugieren que R. taquarussuensis es una forma fenotípica de R. negligenciaus en lugar de una especie distinta. Nos gustaría enfatizar que se necesitan diferentes fuentes de evidencia para delimitar correctamente las especies. Consideramos que este es un paso importante en la comprensión de la propagación y transmisión vectorial de la enfermedad de Chagas.The use of subtle features as species diagnostic traits in taxa with high morphological similarity sometimes fails in discriminating intraspecific variation from interspecific differences, leading to an incorrect species delimitation. A clear assessment of species boundaries is particularly relevant in disease vector organisms in order to understand epidemiological and evolutionary processes that affect transmission capacity. Here, we assess the validity of the recently described Rhodnius taquarussuensis (da Rosa et al., 2017) using interspecific crosses and molecular markers. We did not detect differences in hatching rates in interspecific crosses between R. taquarussuensis and R. neglectus (Lent, 1954). Furthermore, genetic divergence and species delimitation analyses show that R. taquarussuensis is not an independent lineage in the R. prolixus group. These results suggest that R. taquarussuensis is a phenotypic form of R. neglectus instead of a distinct species. We would like to stress that different sources of evidence are needed to correctly delimit species. We consider this is an important step in understanding vectorial Chagas disease spread and transmission. © 2019 Nascimento et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Locally Inaccessible Information as a Fundamental Ingredient to Quantum Information

Quantum discord (QD) measures the fraction of the pairwise mutual information that is locally inaccessible, in a multipartite system. Fundamental aspects related to two important measures in quantum information theory the Entanglement of Formation (EOF) and the conditional entropy, can be understood in terms of the distribution of this form of Local Inaccessible Information (LII). As such, the EOF for an arbitrarily mixed bipartite system AB can be related to the gain or loss of LII due to the extra knowledge that a purifying ancillary system E has on the pair AB. Similarly, a clear meaning of the negativity of the conditional entropy for AB is given. We exemplify by showing that these relations elucidate important and yet not well understood quantum features, such as the bipartite entanglement sudden death and the distinction between EOF and QD for quantifying quantum correlation. For that we introduce the concept of LII flow which quantifies the LII shared in multipartite system when a sequential local measurements are performed.Comment: We relate the entanglement and the conditional entropy exclusively as a function of quantum discord. Final Versio

Exercise, bone mineral density and quality of life in menopause women

El objetivo del presente estudio ha sido evaluar la densidad mineral ósea (DMO) y su relación con el perfil de calidad de vida (CV), en un grupo de mujeres menopáusicas, antes y después de realizar un programa de ejercicio físico terapéutico, en comparación con un grupo control, utilizando como instrumentos de medida la absorción radiológica de doble energía (DEXA) y el cuestionario “Perfil de Calidad de Vida para Enfermos Crónicos” (PECVEC) de Siegrist, Broer y Junge. Nuestros resultados muestran cambios significativos en la CV y DMO en relación con el desempeño físico.Actividad Física y DeporteMedicinaTerapia y Rehabilitació

Tributyl citrate as an effective plasticizer for biodegradable polymers: effect of plasticizer on free volume and transport and mechanical properties

The effectiveness of tributyl citrate (TbC) as a plasticizer for polylactide and polyhydroxybutyrate was analysed in order to improve the ductility of these polymers and make them good candidates for food packaging applications. Although the thermal and mechanical properties have been widely studied in the literature, the effect of the plasticizer on free volume and transport properties has not been deeply analysed. The free volume was characterized using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy observing its linear increase with TbC content. The permeability to water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide was determined and the obtained results were related to the changes in glass transition temperature, level of crystallinity of the samples and free volume. This work would allow a better understanding of the effect of the plasticizer on the barrier and mechanical properties of polymers allowing the development of competitive materials for packaging applications. (c) 2018 Society of Chemical Industr

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter