1,295 research outputs found
Renal Evaluation in Women with Preeclampsia
Background/Aims: Preeclampsia (PE) is a cause of glomerulopathy worldwide. Urinary retinol-binding protein (RBP) is a marker of proximal tubular dysfunction, albuminuria is an endothelial injury marker, urine protein:creatinine ratio (PCR) may have a predictive value for renal disease later in life, and, recently, podocyturia has been proposed as a sensitive tool in pregnancy, but it needs to be tested. The aim of this study was to evaluate renal involvement in PE and healthy pregnancy. Methods: Case-control study with 39 pregnant women assessed after 20 weeks of gestation (25 in the control group, CG, and 14 in the PE group) by performing urinary tests. Results: Mean (±SD) age and gestational age of the CG were 26.9 ± 6.4 years and 37.1 ± 5.0 weeks, and of the PE group 26.4 ± 6.9 years and 30.6 ± 5.6 weeks, respectively (p = 0.001). Mean (±SD) urinary RBP (p = 0.017), albuminuria (p = 0.002), and urinary albumin concentration (UAC) ratio (p = 0.006) of the CG were 0.4 ± 0.7 mg/l, 7.3 ± 6.9 mg/l, and 8.2 ± 6.7 mg/g and of the PE group 2.0 ± 4.4 mg/l, 2,267.4 ± 2,130.8 mg/l (p = 0.002), and 3,778.9 ± 4,296.6 mg/g (p = 0.006), respectively. Mean (±SD) urine PCR in the PE group was 6.7 ± 6.1 g/g (p Conclusions: Urinary RBP, PCR, albuminuria, and UAC ratio were elevated in the PE group in comparison to the CG. Podocyturia did not predict PE
Nonclassical correlations of photon number and field components in the vacuum state
It is shown that the quantum jumps in the photon number n from zero to one or
more photons induced by backaction evasion quantum nondemolition measurements
of a quadrature component x of the vacuum light field state are strongly
correlated with the quadrature component measurement results. This correlation
corresponds to the operator expectation value which is equal to one
fourth for the vacuum even though the photon number eigenvalue is zero. Quantum
nondemolition measurements of a quadrature component can thus provide
experimental evidence of the nonclassical operator ordering dependence of the
correlations between photon number and field components in the vacuum state.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, corrections of omissions in equations (6) and
(25). To be published in Phys. Rev.
Optimized quantum nondemolition measurement of a field quadrature
We suggest an interferometric scheme assisted by squeezing and linear
feedback to realize the whole class of field-quadrature quantum nondemolition
measurements, from Von Neumann projective measurement to fully non-destructive
non-informative one. In our setup, the signal under investigation is mixed with
a squeezed probe in an interferometer and, at the output, one of the two modes
is revealed through homodyne detection. The second beam is then
amplitude-modulated according to the outcome of the measurement, and finally
squeezed according to the transmittivity of the interferometer. Using strongly
squeezed or anti-squeezed probes respectively, one achieves either a projective
measurement, i.e. homodyne statistics arbitrarily close to the intrinsic
quadrature distribution of the signal, and conditional outputs approaching the
corresponding eigenstates, or fully non-destructive one, characterized by an
almost uniform homodyne statistics, and by an output state arbitrarily close to
the input signal. By varying the squeezing between these two extremes, or
simply by tuning the internal phase-shift of the interferometer, the whole set
of intermediate cases can also be obtained. In particular, an optimal quantum
nondemolition measurement of quadrature can be achieved, which minimizes the
information gain versus state disturbance trade-off
Soliton back-action evading measurement using spectral filtering
We report on a back-action evading (BAE) measurement of the photon number of
fiber optical solitons operating in the quantum regime. We employ a novel
detection scheme based on spectral filtering of colliding optical solitons. The
measurements of the BAE criteria demonstrate significant quantum state
preparation and transfer of the input signal to the signal and probe outputs
exiting the apparatus, displaying the quantum-nondemolition (QND) behavior of
the experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Gravitational Collapse of Cylindrical Shells Made of Counter-Rotating Dust Particles
The general formulas of a non-rotating dynamic thin shell that connects two
arbitrary cylindrical regions are given using Israel's method. As an
application of them, the dynamics of a thin shell made of counter-rotating dust
particles, which emits both gravitational waves and massless particles when it
is expanding or collapsing, is studied. It is found that when the models
represent a collapsing shell, in some cases the angular momentum of the dust
particles is strong enough to halt the collapse, so that a spacetime
singularity is prevented from forming, while in other cases it is not, and a
line-like spacetime singularity is finally formed on the symmetry axis.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
The usefulness of serum adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2) activity in adults for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis
AbstractRapid diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains an obstacle for therapy of tuberculosis (TB). Adenosine deaminase isoform 2 (ADA2) is produced by activated macrophages and has been used for diagnosis of TB from extra-pulmonary sites. However, few studies adequately address whether serum ADA2 activity is useful for diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). We prospectively measured serum ADA2 activity in 110 patients with pulmonary disease (65 cases with active PTB and 45 cases with other respiratory diseases) and 78 healthy volunteers (eight with tuberculin skin test positive). The serum ADA2 for the diagnosis of PTB had the sensitivity of 36·9%, the specificity of 84·5%, the positive predictive value of 10·9% and the negative predictive value of 96·2%. We concluded that serum ADA2 activity is neither useful to diagnosis of active PTB nor to differentiate from other respiratory diseases
Information and noise in quantum measurement
Even though measurement results obtained in the real world are generally both
noisy and continuous, quantum measurement theory tends to emphasize the ideal
limit of perfect precision and quantized measurement results. In this article,
a more general concept of noisy measurements is applied to investigate the role
of quantum noise in the measurement process. In particular, it is shown that
the effects of quantum noise can be separated from the effects of information
obtained in the measurement. However, quantum noise is required to ``cover up''
negative probabilities arising as the quantum limit is approached. These
negative probabilities represent fundamental quantum mechanical correlations
between the measured variable and the variables affected by quantum noise.Comment: 16 pages, short comment added in II.B., final version for publication
in Phys. Rev.
Haematological and biochemical parameters in Churra-da-Terra-Quente ewes from the northeast of Portugal
Hematological and biochemical parameters, including plasma electrolytes and thyroid hormones, were determined in 73 clinically healthy Churra-da-Terra-Quente ewes, a typical breed from the northeast of Portugal. The hemogram values were: erythrocytes 9.8±1.51012/L; haemoglobin 118.1±19.1g/L; haematocrit 40.8±5.9%; leukocytes 5.7±1.8109/L; and platelets 544.3±177.2109/L. The thrombin time was 17.3±1.7 seconds. The values of biochemical parameters were: total protein 76.4±6.1g/L; glucose 2.87±0.60mmol/L; total cholesterol 1.65±0.33mmol/L; aspartate aminotransferase 155.9±49.2U/L; alanine aminotransferase 23.2±9.6U/L; γ-glutamyl transferase 48.0±18.7U/L; total alkaline phosphatase 121.6±76.1U/L; glutamate dehydrogenase 6.4±3.7U/L; urea 7.32±2.22mmol/L; creatinine 123.0±54.1μmol/L; total calcium 2.53±0.25mmol/L; phosphorus 2.10±0.46mmol/L; magnesium 1.01±0.09mmol/L; sodium 152.04±3.65mmol/L; potassium 4.7±0.4mmol/L; ionized calcium 1.32±0.07mmol/L; total thyroxine 111.75±42.29nmol/L; total triiodothyronine 1.01±0.28nmol/L; free T4 11.93±1.78pmol/L; free T3 4.22±1.33pmol/L; and thyroid-stimulating hormone 0.18±0.19μIU/mL. Although differences among the Churra-da-Terra-Quente breed and other breeds may occur, the hematological and biochemical parameters, plasma electrolytes, and thyroid hormones, for this indigenous breed, were generally situated within the reference intervals previously reported for sheep
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