A two-step MaxLik-MaxEnt strategy to infer photon distribution from on/off measurement at low quantum efficiency

A method based on Maximum-Entropy (ME) principle to infer photon distribution from on/off measurements performed with few and low values of quantum efficiency is addressed. The method consists of two steps: at first some moments of the photon distribution are retrieved from on/off statistics using Maximum-Likelihood estimation, then ME principle is applied to infer the quantum state and, in turn, the photon distribution. Results from simulated experiments on coherent and number states are presented.Comment: 4 figures, to appear in EPJ

β2-agonist-induced inhibition of neutrophil chemotaxis is not associated with modification of LFA-1 and Mac-1 expression or with impairment of polymorphonuclear leukocyte antibacterial activity

AbstractPatients with chronic obstructive lung disorders often show increased susceptibility to airway infections. As β2-adrenoceptor agonists, in addition to reversing the contractile response of bronchial smooth muscles, may inhibit a variety of inflammatory and immuno-effector cell functions, it is possible that these drugs interfere with host defence mechanisms.The present study was designed to test in vitro whether fenoterol, a short-acting β2-adrenoceptor agonist, could modify human blood neutrophil recruitment and antimicrobial activity.Pre-exposure to fenoterol significantly reduced neutrophil migration towards the complement component C5a, at concentrations ranging from 10−7m to 10−5m , or towards lipopolysaccharide, at a concentration of 10−5m (P<0·05, each comparison). In contrast, the drug (10−8–10−5m) did not significantly modify the increased expression of lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA-1, i.e. CD11a/CD18) the macrophage antigen-1 (Mac-1, i.e. CD11b/CD18) induced by N -formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine (fMLP) (P>0·05, each comparison). Finally, incubation of neutrophils with fenoterol (10−8–10−5m) did not significantly influence phagocytosis or intracellular killing of bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) or H2O2release induced by tetradecanoyl-phorbol-acetate (P>0·1 for each comparison).These results suggest that short-acting β2-adrenoceptor agonists, such as fenoterol, are able partially to reduce neutrophil recruitment in the airways without interfering with the processes involved in phagocytic activity against bacteria

Antibiotic resistance, virulence factors, phenotyping, and genotyping of non\u2013escherichia coli enterobacterales from the gut microbiota of healthy subjects

Non-Escherichia coli Enterobacterales (NECE) can colonize the human gut and may present virulence determinants and phenotypes that represent severe heath concerns. Most information is available for virulent NECE strains, isolated from patients with an ongoing infection, while the commensal NECE population of healthy subjects is understudied. In this study, 32 NECE strains were isolated from the feces of 20 healthy adults. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and mass spectrometry attributed the isolates to Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter kobei, Citrobacter freundii, Citrobacter amalonaticus, Cronobacter sp., and Hafnia alvei, Morganella morganii, and Serratia liquefaciens. Multiplex PCR revealed that K. pneumoniae harbored virulence genes for adhesins (mrkD, ycfM, and kpn) and enterobactin (entB) and, in one case, also for yersiniabactin (ybtS, irp1, irp2, and fyuA). Virulence genes were less numerous in the other NECE species. Biofilm formation was spread across all the species, while curli and cellulose were mainly produced by Citrobacter and Enterobacter. Among the most common antibiotics, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid was the sole against which resistance was observed, only Klebsiella strains being susceptible. The NECE inhabiting the intestine of healthy subjects have traits that may pose a health threat, taking into account the possibility of horizontal gene transfer

Optimized teleportation in Gaussian noisy channels

We address continuous variable quantum teleportation in Gaussian quantum noisy channels, either thermal or squeezed-thermal. We first study the propagation of twin-beam and evaluate a threshold for its separability. We find that the threshold for purely thermal channels is always larger than for squeezed-thermal ones. On the other hand, we show that squeezing the channel improves teleportation of squeezed states and, in particular, we find the class of squeezed states that are better teleported in a given noisy channel. Finally, we find regimes where optimized teleportation of squeezed states improves amplitude-modulated communication in comparison with direct transmission

Feasibility of inguinal hernioplasty under local anaesthesia in elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and the safety of hernioplasty under local anaesthesia in elderly patients with significant comorbidity. METHODS: A total of 218 patients underwent inguinal hernia repair with mesh between June 2009 and July 2012. Presence of comorbid conditions and complications were compared between patients younger and older than 70 years. RESULTS: Hernia repair in older patients were more likely associated with comorbid conditions than in their younger counterparts ( hypertension: 25% vs 8.16%; cardiovascular diseases: 50% vs 22%; benign prostatic hypertrophy 60% vs 30%). The most common postoperative complications in both groups were recurrence, wound infection, urinary retention. There was a slightly higher rate of complication in elderly group. CONCLUSIONS: Inguinal hernia repair with local anaesthesia is quite safe and results in a good success rate in elderly patients despite a higher rate of comorbidity typical of this kind of patient

Once daily nebulized beclomethasone is effective in maintaining pulmonary function and improving symptoms in asthmatic children

Background and Aim. Compliance with long-term inhaled therapy in asthma is often poor, but it is likely to be improved with a simplified administration, once daily.The present study was designed to assess whether, in childhood asthma, a single dose of nebulized beclomethasone dipropionate once daily was as effective and safe as the same total daily dose administered twice daily. Methods. Asthmatic children, not treated with inhaled steroids for at least a month preceding the study and using short-acting bronchodilators more than once a week were enrolled in a double-blind, double dummy, randomised, multicentric study. After a two week run-in period on nebulised twice daily 400 mcg beclomethasone dipropionate, patients were randomly assigned to twelve weeks of treatment with 800 mcg nebulised beclomethasone dipropionate daily, either in single dose (o.d. group) or divided into two 400 mcg doses (b.i.d. group). Results. 65 children (mean age 8.6 years, mean FEV1 81% of predicted), were valuable for intention to treat. During the run-in period, a significant improvement in FEV1, FVC, morning and evening PEF values and clinical scores was observed. Children then entered the randomised trial: 32 were included in the o.d. group and 33 in the b.i.d. group. During the twelve week treatment period, the observed improvement in pulmonary function parameters was maintained in both treatment groups. Morning and evening PEF showed a progressive slight increase as well as PEF diurnal variability showed a progressive reduction in the two treatment groups during the whole study period without reaching statistical significance. Moreover, in both treatment groups a similar progressive increase in symptom free nights and days and in the percentage of children achieving total asthma symptoms control was detected. Finally, no significant changes in urinary cortisol/creatinine ratio were observed throughout the study period and between groups. Conclusions. A daily dose of 800 mcg of beclomethasone, administered for twelve weeks with a nebuliser either once or twice daily provide similar efficacy in maintaining pulmonary function and symptoms of asthmatic children, with a good tolerability profile

Coherent Radio Pulses From GEANT Generated Electromagnetic Showers In Ice

Radio Cherenkov radiation is arguably the most efficient mechanism for detecting showers from ultra-high energy particles of 1 PeV and above. Showers occuring in Antarctic ice should be detectable at distances up to 1 km. We report on electromagnetic shower development in ice using a GEANT Monte Carlo simulation. We have studied energy deposition by shower particles and determined shower parameters for several different media, finding agreement with published results where available. We also report on radio pulse emission from the charged particles in the shower, focusing on coherent emission at the Cherenkov angle. Previous work has focused on frequencies in the 100 MHz to 1 GHz range. Surprisingly, we find that the coherence regime extends up to tens of Ghz. This may have substantial impact on future radio-based neutrino detection experiments as well as any test beam experiment which seeks to measure coherent Cherenkov radiation from an electromagnetic shower. Our study is particularly important for the RICE experiment at the South Pole.Comment: 44 pages, 29 figures. Minor changes made, reference added, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Materials and techniques for percutaneous retrieval of intravascular foreign bodies

The presence of an intravascular foreign body represents a well-known risk of serious complications. While in the past surgical removal of intravascular foreign body was the most common intervention, nowadays a percutaneous approach in the retrieval of an intravascular foreign body is widely accepted as the first-line technique. In the literature, many case reports describe different techniques and materials. This article summarizes and illustrates the main materials and techniques currently applied for percutaneous retrieval of intravascular foreign body, providing a simplified tool with different interventional possibilities, adaptable to different clinical situations

A Green's function approach to transmission of massless Dirac fermions in graphene through an array of random scatterers

We consider the transmission of massless Dirac fermions through an array of short range scatterers which are modeled as randomly positioned $\delta$- function like potentials along the x-axis. We particularly discuss the interplay between disorder-induced localization that is the hallmark of a non-relativistic system and two important properties of such massless Dirac fermions, namely, complete transmission at normal incidence and periodic dependence of transmission coefficient on the strength of the barrier that leads to a periodic resonant transmission. This leads to two different types of conductance behavior as a function of the system size at the resonant and the off-resonance strengths of the delta function potential. We explain this behavior of the conductance in terms of the transmission through a pair of such barriers using a Green's function based approach. The method helps to understand such disordered transport in terms of well known optical phenomena such as Fabry Perot resonances.Comment: 22 double spaced single column pages. 15 .eps figure