Mauriac Syndrome in a Child with a Positive Antinuclear Antibody Screen

A 17-year-old male with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) presented to clinic with elevated transaminases and a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) screen. Due to concern for autoimmune hepatitis, a liver biopsy was performed which revealed Mauriac syndrome. This case report is the second known description of a child with Mauriac syndrome presenting with positive autoimmune markers

Clostridium difficile Infection and Proton Pump Inhibitor Use in Hospitalized Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) often take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which helps improve efficacy of fat absorption with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy. However, PPI use is known to be associated with Clostridium difficile-(C. diff-) associated diarrhea (CDAD). We retrospectively evaluated the incidence of C. diff infection from all pediatric hospital admissions over a 5-year period at a single tertiary children's hospital. We found significantly more C. diff-positive stool tests in hospitalized patients with CF compared to patients with no diagnosis of CF. However, use of a PPI was not associated with an increased risk of CDAD in hospitalized CF patients. In summary, C. diff infection is more common in hospitalized pediatric CF patients although PPI use may not be a risk factor for CDAD development in this patient population

Laser-induced resonant transitions in the v=n-l-1=2 and 3 metastable cascades of antiprotonic $^{3}He atoms

Laser-induced resonant transitions in metastable antiprotonic ^3He atoms have been found. The observed transitions at wavelengths 593.388 \pm 0.001~nm and at 463.947 \pm 0.002~nm have been respectively ascribed to the (n,l)~=~(38,34)\,\rightarrow\,(37,33) and the (36 33)\,\rightarrow\,(35,32) transitions

Observation of double resonant laser induced transitions in the v=n−l−1=2v = n - l - 1 = 2 metastable cascade of antiprotonic helium-4 atoms

A new laser-induced resonant transition in the $v=n-l-1=2$ metastable cascade of antiprotonic $^4$He atoms has been found by using a double resonance technique. This was done by setting the first laser to the already known 470.724 nm resonance ($(n,l)=(37,34)\rightarrow (36,33)$), while the $(38,35)\rightarrow (37,34)$ transition was searched for with the second laser. The resonant transition was found at wavelength of 529.622$\pm$0.003 nm, showing excellent agreement with a recent prediction of Korobov

Hydrogen-assisted laser-induced resonant transitions between metastable states of antiprotonic helium atoms

Laser resonance transitions between normally metastable states of antiprotonic helium atoms were observed making use of state dependent quenching effects caused by small admixtures of \htwo\ molecules. By selectively shortening the lifetimes of states with higher principal quantum number $n$ as compared to those of lower $n$, this method for the first time provides access to all initially populated metastable states of \pbar\hep\ atoms. This was demonstrated by observing the transitions $(n,l)=(38,l)\rightarrow (39,l+1),\ l=35,36,37$ and $(n,l)=(37,l)\rightarrow (38,l+1),\ l=34,35,36$

Entanglement in a Solid State Spin Ensemble

Entanglement is the quintessential quantum phenomenon and a necessary ingredient in most emerging quantum technologies, including quantum repeaters, quantum information processing (QIP) and the strongest forms of quantum cryptography. Spin ensembles, such as those in liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance, have been powerful in the development of quantum control methods, however, these demonstrations contained no entanglement and ultimately constitute classical simulations of quantum algorithms. Here we report the on-demand generation of entanglement between an ensemble of electron and nuclear spins in isotopically engineered phosphorus-doped silicon. We combined high field/low temperature electron spin resonance (3.4 T, 2.9 K) with hyperpolarisation of the 31P nuclear spin to obtain an initial state of sufficient purity to create a non-classical, inseparable state. The state was verified using density matrix tomography based on geometric phase gates, and had a fidelity of 98% compared with the ideal state at this field and temperature. The entanglement operation was performed simultaneously, with high fidelity, to 10^10 spin pairs, and represents an essential requirement of a silicon-based quantum information processor.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures plus supporting information of 4 pages, 1 figure v2: Updated reference

Quenching of metastable states of antiprotonic helium atoms by collisions with H2_2 molecules

Laser resonance transitions between normally metastable states of antiprotonic helium atoms were induced making use of state dependent quenching effects caused by trace admixtures of \mbox{H$_2$}\ to the target helium gas. With this method of ``\mbox{H$_2$}-assisted inverse resonances'' the decay rates of the states $(n,l)=(39,l),\ l=36,37,38$ and $(38,l),\ l=35,36,37$ of \mbox{$\overline{\mathrm{p}}$}\mbox{He$^{+}$}\ were determined as a function of the \mbox{H$_2$}\ admixture. The quenching cross sections at 30~K deduced therefrom for the states with $n=39$ were found to be of the order of the geometrical cross section for \mbox{$\overline{\mathrm{p}}$}\mbox{He$^{+}$}-\mbox{H$_2$}\ collisions ($2\cdot 10^{-15}$~cm$^2$), with a moderate decrease with increasing $l$. Within a given cascade with constant $v=n-l-1$, the quenching cross sections for states with $n=38$ are smaller by a factor of 4--6 than those for states with $n=39$

Constraining Very Heavy Dark Matter Using Diffuse Backgrounds of Neutrinos and Cascaded Gamma Rays

We consider multi-messenger constraints on very heavy dark matter (VHDM) from recent Fermi gamma-ray and IceCube neutrino observations of isotropic background radiation. Fermi data on the diffuse gamma-ray background (DGB) shows a possible unexplained feature at very high energies (VHE), which we have called the "VHE Excess" relative to expectations for an attenuated power law extrapolated from lower energies. We show that VHDM could explain this excess, and that neutrino observations will be an important tool for testing this scenario. More conservatively, we derive new constraints on the properties of VHDM for masses of 10^3-10^10 GeV. These generic bounds follow from cosmic energy budget constraints for gamma rays and neutrinos that we developed elsewhere, based on detailed calculations of cosmic electromagnetic cascades and also neutrino detection rates. We show that combining both gamma-ray and neutrino data is essential for making the constraints on VHDM properties both strong and robust. In the lower mass range, our constraints on VHDM annihilation and decay are comparable to other results; however, our constraints continue to much higher masses, where they become relatively stronger.Comment: 33 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in JCA