Quantum computers in phase space

We represent both the states and the evolution of a quantum computer in phase space using the discrete Wigner function. We study properties of the phase space representation of quantum algorithms: apart from analyzing important examples, such as the Fourier Transform and Grover's search, we examine the conditions for the existence of a direct correspondence between quantum and classical evolutions in phase space. Finally, we describe how to directly measure the Wigner function in a given phase space point by means of a tomographic method that, itself, can be interpreted as a simple quantum algorithm.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Phys Rev

Self-care practices of primary health care patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure : A cross-sectional survey

Funding: This study was granted by the Official College of Nurses of Barcelona (Spain) (PR-2079 /15)Chronic heart failure patients require self-care behaviors and active monitoring of signs and symptoms to prevent worsening. Most patients with this condition are attended in primary healthcare centers. This study aimed to evaluate the endorsement of and adherence to self-care behaviors in primary health care patients with chronic heart failure. We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study. We randomly included chronic heart failure patients from 10 primary healthcare centers in the Barcelona metropolitan area (Spain). Patients completed the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behaviour Scale, a health literacy questionnaire. Differences between groups were studied using ANOVA tests. We included 318 patients with a mean age of 77.9 years, mild limitations in functional activity New York Heart Association scale (NYHA) II = 51.25%), and a low health literacy index of 79.6%. The endorsement of self-care behaviors was low in daily weighing (10.66%), contacting clinicians if the body weight increased (22.57%), and doing physical exercise regularly (35.58%). Patients with lower educational levels and a worse health literacy had a lower endorsement. The screening of individual self-care practices in heart failure patients might improve the clinician follow-up. We suggest that primary healthcare clinicians should routinely screen self-care behaviors to identify patients requiring a closer follow-up and to design and adapt rehabilitation programs to improve self-care

First-line avelumab plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors: results from the phase Ib/II JAVELIN chemotherapy medley study

Purpose: Chemotherapy can potentially enhance the activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors by promoting immune priming. The phase Ib/II JAVELIN Chemotherapy Medley trial (NCT03317496) evaluated first-line avelumab + concurrent chemotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma or non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: Avelumab 800 or 1,200 mg was administered continuously every 3 weeks with standard doses of cisplatin + gemcitabine in patients with urothelial carcinoma, or carboplatin + pemetrexed in patients with nonsquamous NSCLC. Dual primary endpoints were dose-limiting toxicity (DLT; phase Ib) and confirmed objective response (phase Ib/II). Results: In phase Ib, urothelial carcinoma and NSCLC cohorts received avelumab 800 mg (n = 13 and n = 6, respectively) or 1,200 mg (n = 6 each) + chemotherapy. In evaluable patients with urothelial carcinoma treated with avelumab 800 or 1,200 mg + chemotherapy, DLT occurred in 1/12 (8.3%) and 1/6 (16.7%), respectively; no DLT occurred in the NSCLC cohort. In phase II, 35 additional patients with urothelial carcinoma received avelumab 1,200 mg + chemotherapy. Across all treated patients, safety profiles were similar irrespective of avelumab dose. Objective response rates (95% confidence internal) with avelumab 800 or 1,200 mg + chemotherapy, respectively, across phase Ib/II, were 53.8% (25.1–80.8) and 39.0% (24.2–55.5) in urothelial carcinoma, and 50.0% (11.8–88.2) and 33.3% (4.3–77.7) in NSCLC. Conclusions: Preliminary efficacy and safety findings with avelumab + chemotherapy in urothelial carcinoma and NSCLC were consistent with previous studies of similar combination regimens. Conclusions about clinical activity are limited by small patient numbers. Significance: This phase Ib/II trial evaluated avelumab (immune checkpoint inhibitor) administered concurrently with standard first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma or advanced nonsquamous NSCLC without actionable mutations. Efficacy and safety appeared consistent with previous studies of similar combinations, although patient numbers were small

Estirpes de Bradyrhizobium em simbiose com guandu-anão em casa de vegetação e no campo

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência simbiótica de estirpes de bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio do gênero Bradyrhizobium com guandu-anão. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em vasos de Leonard, em vasos com solo e em campo. Foram testadas 11 estirpes em vasos de Leonard, e as que apresentaram maior eficiência em promover o crescimento do guandu-anão foram avaliadas em vasos com solo (Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo e Cambissolo) e em campo (Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo). Em todos os experimentos, os tratamentos foram comparados a dois controles positivos (estirpes aprovadas como inoculantes para as cultivares de guandu-anão BR 2003 e BR 2801) e a duas testemunhas sem inoculação, uma com alta concentração de N mineral, e a outra, a depender do experimento, sem N mineral (solo) ou com baixa concentração de N (vasos de Leonard). Algumas estirpes proporcionaram crescimento vegetal semelhante ou superior às estirpes-referência e às testemunhas em vaso de Leonard. Em vasos com solo, o tipo de solo influenciou os tratamentos. No campo, não houve diferença entre os tratamentos, e as estirpes nativas promoveram bom crescimento. O guandu-anão é capaz de estabelecer associação simbiótica com bactérias fixadoras de N2, e a estirpe UFLA 03-320 apresenta potencial para ser recomendada para a cultura junto com a estirpe BR 2801

Measurement of the View the tt production cross-section using eμ events with b-tagged jets in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper describes a measurement of the inclusive top quark pair production cross-section (σtt¯) with a data sample of 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV, collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This measurement uses events with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state. Jets containing b-quarks are tagged using an algorithm based on track impact parameters and reconstructed secondary vertices. The numbers of events with exactly one and exactly two b-tagged jets are counted and used to determine simultaneously σtt¯ and the efficiency to reconstruct and b-tag a jet from a top quark decay, thereby minimising the associated systematic uncertainties. The cross-section is measured to be: σtt¯ = 818 ± 8 (stat) ± 27 (syst) ± 19 (lumi) ± 12 (beam) pb, where the four uncertainties arise from data statistics, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the LHC beam energy, giving a total relative uncertainty of 4.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. A fiducial measurement corresponding to the experimental acceptance of the leptons is also presented

Search for TeV-scale gravity signatures in high-mass final states with leptons and jets with the ATLAS detector at sqrt [ s ] = 13TeV

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model, in final states with at least one high transverse momentum charged lepton (electron or muon) and two additional high transverse momentum leptons or jets, is performed using 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 at √s = 13 TeV. The upper end of the distribution of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of leptons and jets is sensitive to the production of high-mass objects. No excess of events beyond Standard Model predictions is observed. Exclusion limits are set for models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions

The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector during 2011 data taking

The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the 2011 data taking period is described. During 2011 the LHC provided proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and heavy ion collisions with a 2.76 TeV per nucleon–nucleon collision energy. The ATLAS trigger is a three level system designed to reduce the rate of events from the 40 MHz nominal maximum bunch crossing rate to the approximate 400 Hz which can be written to offline storage. The ATLAS jet trigger is the primary means for the online selection of events containing jets. Events are accepted by the trigger if they contain one or more jets above some transverse energy threshold. During 2011 data taking the jet trigger was fully efficient for jets with transverse energy above 25 GeV for triggers seeded randomly at Level 1. For triggers which require a jet to be identified at each of the three trigger levels, full efficiency is reached for offline jets with transverse energy above 60 GeV. Jets reconstructed in the final trigger level and corresponding to offline jets with transverse energy greater than 60 GeV, are reconstructed with a resolution in transverse energy with respect to offline jets, of better than 4 % in the central region and better than 2.5 % in the forward direction

Search for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at sqrt (s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson using 3.2 fb−1 of pp collisions at View the MathML sources=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet compatible with a W or Z boson and with large missing transverse momentum are analysed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and are interpreted in terms of both an effective field theory and a simplified model containing dark matter

Measurement of the double-differential high-mass Drell-Yan cross section in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the double-differential cross section for the Drell-Yan Z/γ∗ → ℓ+ℓ− and photon-induced γγ → ℓ+ℓ− processes where ℓ is an electron or muon. The measurement is performed for invariant masses of the lepton pairs, mℓℓ, between 116 GeV and 1500 GeV using a sample of 20.3 fb−1 of pp collisions data at centre-of-mass energy of √s = 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012. The data are presented double differentially in invariant mass and absolute dilepton rapidity as well as in invariant mass and absolute pseudorapidity separation of the lepton pair. The single-differential cross section as a function of mℓℓ is also reported. The electron and muon channel measurements are combined and a total experimental precision of better than 1% is achieved at low mℓℓ. A comparison to next-to-next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions using several recent parton distribution functions and including next-to-leading order electroweak effects indicates the potential of the data to constrain parton distribution functions. In particular, a large impact of the data on the photon PDF is demonstrated