Hybrid solid state qubits: the powerful role of electron spins

We review progress on the use of electron spins to store and process quantum information, with particular focus on the ability of the electron spin to interact with multiple quantum degrees of freedom. We examine the benefits of hybrid quantum bits (qubits) in the solid state that are based on coupling electron spins to nuclear spin, electron charge, optical photons, and superconducting qubits. These benefits include the coherent storage of qubits for times exceeding seconds, fast qubit manipulation, single qubit measurement, and scalable methods for entangling spatially separated matter-based qubits. In this way, the key strengths of different physical qubit implementations are brought together, laying the foundation for practical solid-state quantum technologies.Comment: 54 pages, 7 figure

Patient safety and estimation of renal function in patients prescribed new oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation

OBJECTIVE: In clinical trials of dabigatran and rivaroxaban for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF), drug eligibility and dosing were determined using the Cockcroft-Gault equation to estimate creatine clearance as a measure of renal function. This cross-sectional study aimed to compare whether using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by the widely available and widely used Modified Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation would alter prescribing or dosing of the renally excreted new oral anticoagulants. PARTICIPANTS: Of 4712 patients with known AF within a general practitioner-registered population of 930 079 in east London, data were available enabling renal function to be calculated by both Cockcroft-Gault and MDRD methods in 4120 (87.4%). RESULTS: Of 4120 patients, 2706 were <80 years and 1414 were ≥80 years of age. Among those ≥80 years, 14.9% were ineligible for dabigatran according to Cockcroft-Gault equation but would have been judged eligible applying MDRD method. For those <80 years, 0.8% would have been incorrectly judged eligible for dabigatran and 5.3% would have received too high a dose. For rivaroxaban, 0.3% would have been incorrectly judged eligible for treatment and 13.5% would have received too high a dose. CONCLUSIONS: Were the MDRD-derived eGFR to be used instead of Cockcroft-Gault in prescribing these new agents, many elderly patients with AF would either incorrectly become eligible for them or would receive too high a dose. Safety has not been established using the MDRD equation, a concern since the risk of major bleeding would be increased in patients with unsuspected renal impairment. Given the potentially widespread use of these agents, particularly in primary care, regulatory authorities and drug companies should alert UK doctors of the need to use the Cockcroft-Gault formula to calculate eligibility for and dosing of the new oral anticoagulants in elderly patients with AF and not rely on the MDRD-derived eGFR

Estrogen Binding Protein Activity in Morris Hepatoma 7777 Compared With Normal Rat Liver

Estrogen binding protein activities were determined in the cytosol from adult male Buffalo rat liver and Morris hepatoma 7777. Estrogen receptors were prepared using the protamine sulfate precipitation technique of Chamness. The ability of various unlabeled steroids competing with [3H]estradiol was examined to establish the binding specificity. Estradiol binding in Morris hepatoma 7777 cytosol was greatly decreased compared with that present in hepatic cytosol prepared from normal rat liver. The receptor concentration expressed as femtomoles per milligram of cytoplasmic protein was 31.1 ± 2.9 SD for normal rat liver and 0.41 ± 0.88 SD for the hepatoma. Gel filtration chromatography revealed the presence of an estrogen binder in hepatoma cytosol which was not present in either normal liver or in the protamine sulfate precipitates of hepatoma cytosol. The molecular weight, binding specificity, and precipitation of this protein by specific antiserum suggests that it is α-fetoprotein. © 1984, American Gastroenterological Association. All rights reserved

TAC1 (tachykinin, precursor 1)

Review on TAC1 (tachykinin, precursor 1), with data on DNA, on the protein encoded, and where the gene is implicated

Patient safety and estimation of renal in function in patients prescribed new oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: In clinical trials of dabigatran and rivaroxaban for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF), drug eligibility and dosing were determined using the Cockcroft-Gault equation to estimate creatine clearance as a measure of renal function. This cross-sectional study aimed to compare whether using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by the widely available and widely used Modified Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation would alter prescribing or dosing of the renally excreted new oral anticoagulants. PARTICIPANTS: Of 4712 patients with known AF within a general practitioner-registered population of 930 079 in east London, data were available enabling renal function to be calculated by both Cockcroft-Gault and MDRD methods in 4120 (87.4%). RESULTS: Of 4120 patients, 2706 were <80 years and 1414 were ≥80 years of age. Among those ≥80 years, 14.9% were ineligible for dabigatran according to Cockcroft-Gault equation but would have been judged eligible applying MDRD method. For those <80 years, 0.8% would have been incorrectly judged eligible for dabigatran and 5.3% would have received too high a dose. For rivaroxaban, 0.3% would have been incorrectly judged eligible for treatment and 13.5% would have received too high a dose. CONCLUSIONS: Were the MDRD-derived eGFR to be used instead of Cockcroft-Gault in prescribing these new agents, many elderly patients with AF would either incorrectly become eligible for them or would receive too high a dose. Safety has not been established using the MDRD equation, a concern since the risk of major bleeding would be increased in patients with unsuspected renal impairment. Given the potentially widespread use of these agents, particularly in primary care, regulatory authorities and drug companies should alert UK doctors of the need to use the Cockcroft-Gault formula to calculate eligibility for and dosing of the new oral anticoagulants in elderly patients with AF and not rely on the MDRD-derived eGFR

Periodic pattern formation in reaction-diffusion systems -an introduction for numerical simulation

The aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive explanation of Turing reaction–diffusion systems in sufficient detail to allow readers to perform numerical calculations themselves. The reaction–diffusion model is widely studied in the field of mathematical biology, serves as a powerful paradigm model for self-organization and is beginning to be applied to actual experimental systems in developmental biology. Despite the increase in current interest, the model is not well understood among experimental biologists, partly because appropriate introductory texts are lacking. In the present review, we provide a detailed description of the definition of the Turing reaction–diffusion model that is comprehensible without a special mathematical background, then illustrate a method for reproducing numerical calculations with Microsoft Excel. We then show some examples of the patterns generated by the model. Finally, we discuss future prospects for the interdisciplinary field of research involving mathematical approaches in developmental biology

Shear Modes, Criticality and Extremal Black Holes

We consider a (2+1)-dimensional field theory, assumed to be holographically dual to the extremal Reissner-Nordstrom AdS(4) black hole background, and calculate the retarded correlators of charge (vector) current and energy-momentum (tensor) operators at finite momentum and frequency. We show that, similar to what was observed previously for the correlators of scalar and spinor operators, these correlators exhibit emergent scaling behavior at low frequency. We numerically compute the electromagnetic and gravitational quasinormal frequencies (in the shear channel) of the extremal Reissner-Nordstrom AdS(4) black hole corresponding to the spectrum of poles in the retarded correlators. The picture that emerges is quite simple: there is a branch cut along the negative imaginary frequency axis, and a series of isolated poles corresponding to damped excitations. All of these poles are always in the lower half complex frequency plane, indicating stability. We show that this analytic structure can be understood as the proper limit of finite temperature results as T is taken to zero holding the chemical potential fixed.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, added reference

Rapid Veterinary Diagnosis of Bovine Reproductive Infectious Diseases from Semen Using Paper-Origami DNA Microfluidics

The health and well-being of cattle is an important issue in maintaining and increasing global agricultural output. In dairy production within low and middle income countries (LMICs), there is a significant biosensing challenge in detecting sexually transmitted infection (STI) pathogens during animal husbandry, due in part to difficulties associated with the limited infrastructure for veterinary medicine. Here we demonstrate low-cost, multiplexed, and sample-to-answer paper-origami tests for the detection of three bovine infectious reproductive diseases in semen samples, collected at a test site in rural India. Pathogen DNA from one viral pathogen, bovine herpes virus-1 (BoHV-1), and two bacteria (Brucella and Leptospira) was extracted, amplified (using loop-mediated isothermal amplification, LAMP), and detected fluorescently, enabling <1 pg (∼ from 115 to 274 copies per reaction) of target genomic DNA to be measured. Data was collected as a fluorescence signal either visually, using a low-cost hand-held torch, or digitally with a mobile-phone camera. Limits of detection and sensitivities of the paper-origami device for the three pathogens were also evaluated using pathogen-inoculated semen samples and were as few as 50 Leptospira organisms, 50 CFU Brucella, and 1 TCID50 BoHV-1. Semen samples from elite bulls at a germplasm center were also tested in double-blind tests, as a demonstrator for a low-cost, user-friendly point-of-care sensing platform, for in-the-field resource-limited regions. The sensors showed excellent levels of sensitivity and specificity, and for the first time a demonstrated ability of the application of paper microfluidics devices for the diagnosis multiple infectious diseases from semen samples