Quantum Critical Environment Assisted Quantum Magnetometer

A central qubit coupled to an Ising ring of $N$ qubits, operating close to a critical point is investigated as a potential precision quantum magnetometer for estimating an applied transverse magnetic field. We compute the Quantum Fisher information for the central, probe qubit with the Ising chain initialized in its ground state or in a thermal state. The non-unitary evolution of the central qubit due to its interaction with the surrounding Ising ring enhances the accuracy of the magnetic field measurement. Near the critical point of the ring, Heisenberg-like scaling of the precision in estimating the magnetic field is obtained when the ring is initialized in its ground state. However, for finite temperatures, the Heisenberg scaling is limited to lower ranges of $N$ values.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Quasi-chemical theory with a soft cutoff

In view of the wide success of molecular quasi-chemical theory of liquids, this paper develops the soft-cutoff version of that theory. This development has important practical consequences in the common cases that the packing contribution dominates the solvation free energy of realistically-modeled molecules because treatment of hard-core interactions usually requires special purpose simulation methods. In contrast, treatment of smooth repulsive interactions is typically straightforward on the basis of widely available software. This development also shows how fluids composed of molecules with smooth repulsive interactions can be treated analogously to the molecular-field theory of the hard-sphere fluid. In the treatment of liquid water, quasi-chemical theory with soft-cutoff conditioning doesn't change the fundamental convergence characteristics of the theory using hard-cutoff conditioning. In fact, hard cutoffs are found here to work better than softer ones.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

A Community Based Study on Menstrual Hygiene among Reproductive Age Group Women in a Rural Area, Tamil Nadu

Background: Women suffer due to their ignorance on hygienic requirement during menstruation. Hygiene‑related practices of women during menstruation are of considerable importance, as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (RTI). Aims: This study aims to assess the hygienic practices during menstruation and influence of socio-demographic factors on menstrual hygienic practices among women of reproductive age-group. Subjects and Methods: It is a cross‑sectional community‑based study conducted among 200 women of reproductive age group (15-45 years) in a rural field practice area, VMKV Medical college, Salem in Oct–Dec 2013 by using simple random sampling technique. Using structured pretested questionnaire, women were interviewed regarding their sociodemographic history and menstrual hygiene practices. Result: Majority of study population, 36% (72/200) belonged to the 21-30 year age group. About 75% (150/200) were married. Majority of women were unskilled workers 35% (70/200), had primary education 43.3% (86/200), and 54.3% (108/200) belonged to lower middle class. The mean age of menarche among the reproductive age‑group women was 13.15 years. Majority of women 51.8% (104/200) used cloth during menstruation; about 45.7% (91/200) used the same cloth by washing and reusing every month. There was a significant influence of sociodemographic factors and hygienic practices during menstruation (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Most women were found to follow unhygienic practices. Hence, efforts such as improving female literacy and health education regarding the various risk factors should be made by the policy makers to increase menstrual hygiene among rural population. Keywords: Menstrual hygiene, reproductive age‑group women, rural are

The identity of the serotonin-sensitive aryl acylamidase with acetylcholinesterase from human erythrocytes, sheep basal ganglia and electric eel

The identity of the serotonin-sensitive aryl acylamidase with acetylcholinesterase from three diverse sources, namely sheep basal ganglia, human erythrocyte membrane: and electric eel, was examined. Both the enzymes co-purified with constant ratios of specific activity from all the three sources by different affinity chromatographic techniques. The ratio of acetylcholinesterase to aryl acylarnidase activity was highest for basal ganglia, less for erythrocyte and lowest for eel enzymes. Both the purified enzymes co-migrated on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis either as a single species or multiple species under different conditions. Gel density gradient electrophoresis indicated identical migration rates of both the enzymes. Extraction of the enzymes from the three sources by different techniques of membrane disruption and subsequent gel filtration on Sepharose 6B showed multiple peaks of enzyme activity. Both the enzymes had identical elution profiles on Sepharose 6B gel filtration. All the enzyme peaks from Sepharose 6B on gel electrophoresis showed co-migration of the enzyme activities. Apart from inhibition by serotonin and acetylcholine the purified aryl acylamidases from all the three sources were potently inhibited by neostygmine, eserine and BW284C51, all strong inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase. It is suggested that the serotonin-sensitive aryl acylamidase is identical with acetylcholinesterase

The aryl acylamidases and their relationship to cholinesterases in human serum, erythrocyte and liver

Human serum aryl acylamidase associated with serum cholinesterase was purified to homogeneity. Evidence for the identity of the two enzymes was based on co-elution profiles, co-purification in the different steps including affinity chromatography with constant ratios of specific activity and percentage recoveries, co-migration on gel electrophoresis, parallel inhibition by typical cholinesterase inhibitors and co-precipitation by antibody raised against the purified enzyme. Human liver aryl acylamidase was partially purified. Based on the elution profiles, purification data, inhibitory characteristics and gel electrophoresis it was concluded that aryl acrylamidase of liver was not associated with liver cholinesterase. More conclusive evidence for the non-association of the liver aryl acylamidase and cholinesterase came from their clear-cut separation on procainamide-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Both the serum and liver aryl acylamidase were compared with the purified erythrocyte aryl acylamidase associated with acetylcholinesterase. While the erythrocyte and serum aryl acylamidases showed some similarities in their sensitivities to amines like serotonin or tryptamine and choline derivatives, the liver enzyme was unaffected by any of these compounds. A notable observation was the activation by tyramine of the serum aryl acylamidase but not the erythrocyte and liver aryl acylamidases. The liver aryl acylamidase also differed from the other two in its relative insensitivity to inhibition by eserine, neostygmine and other cholinesterase inhibitors. Immunodiffusion and immunoprecipitation studies showed that the aryl acylamidases from the liver and erythrocytes were immunologically non-identical with the serum enzyme

Hotspot analysis: a first prototype Python plugin enabling exploratory spatial data analysis into QGIS

The growing popularity of Free and Open Source (FOSS) GIS software is without doubts due to the possibility to build and customize geospatial applications to meet specific requirements for any users. From this point of view, QGIS is one of the most flexible as well as fashionable GIS software environment which enables users to develop powerful geospatial applications using Python. Exploiting this feature, we present here a first prototype plugin for QGIS dedicated to Hotspot analysis, one of the techniques included in the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA). These statistics aim to perform analysis of geospatial data when spatial autocorrelation is not neglectable and they are available inside different Python libraries, but still not integrated within the QGIS core functionalities. The main plugin features, including installation requirements and computational procedures, are described together with an example of the possible applications of the Hotspot analysis

Quantum Discord and Quantum Computing - An Appraisal

We discuss models of computing that are beyond classical. The primary motivation is to unearth the cause of nonclassical advantages in computation. Completeness results from computational complexity theory lead to the identification of very disparate problems, and offer a kaleidoscopic view into the realm of quantum enhancements in computation. Emphasis is placed on the `power of one qubit' model, and the boundary between quantum and classical correlations as delineated by quantum discord. A recent result by Eastin on the role of this boundary in the efficient classical simulation of quantum computation is discussed. Perceived drawbacks in the interpretation of quantum discord as a relevant certificate of quantum enhancements are addressed.Comment: To be published in the Special Issue of the International Journal of Quantum Information on "Quantum Correlations: entanglement and beyond." 11 pages, 4 figure