Randomisation of Pulse Phases for Unambiguous and Robust Quantum Sensing

We develop theoretically and demonstrate experimentally a universal dynamical decoupling method for robust quantum sensing with unambiguous signal identification. Our method uses randomisation of control pulses to suppress simultaneously two types of errors in the measured spectra that would otherwise lead to false signal identification. These are spurious responses due to finite-width $\pi$ pulses, as well as signal distortion caused by $\pi$ pulse imperfections. For the cases of nanoscale nuclear spin sensing and AC magnetometry, we benchmark the performance of the protocol with a single nitrogen vacancy centre in diamond against widely used non-randomised pulse sequences. Our method is general and can be combined with existing multipulse quantum sensing sequences to enhance their performance

Coherent-scattering two-dimensional cooling in levitated cavity optomechanics

The strong light-matter optomechanical coupling offered by coherent scattering set-ups have allowed the experimental realization of quantum ground-state cavity cooling of the axial motion of a levitated nanoparticle [U. Delić et al., Science 367, 892 (2020)]. An appealing milestone is now quantum two-dimensional (2D) cooling of the full in-plane motion, in any direction in the transverse plane. By a simple adjustment of the trap polarization, one obtains two nearly equivalent modes, with similar frequencies ω x ∼ ω y and optomechanical couplings g x ≃ g y —in this experimental configuration we identify an optimal trap ellipticity, nanosphere size, and cavity linewidth which allows for efficient 2D cooling. Moreover, we find that 2D cooling to occupancies n x + n y ≲ 1 at moderate vacuum ( 10 − 6 mbar) is possible in a “Goldilocks” zone bounded by √ κ Γ / 4 ≲ g x , g y ≲ ∣ ∣ ω x − ω y ∣ ∣ ≲ κ , where one balances the need to suppress dark modes while avoiding far-detuning of either mode or low cooperativities, and κ ( Γ ) is the cavity decay rate (motional heating rate). With strong-coupling regimes g x , g y ≳ κ in view one must consider the genuine three-way hybridization between x , y and the cavity light mode resulting in hybridized bright/dark modes. Finally, we show that bright/dark modes in the levitated set-up have a simple geometrical interpretation, related by rotations in the transverse plane, with implications for directional sensing

Career resources among higher education students: a mixed-methods study

Las universidades han sido cuestionadas por su contribución al desarrollo de la empleabilidad de su alumnado. Este tema es particularmente relevante por la incertidumbre que genera el mercado laboral, especialmente para la juventud, acentuado por la crisis pandémica de la Covid-19. Con este punto de partida, se realiza una conceptualización de los recursos de carrera, configurados por un conjunto de factores que inciden en el desarrollo profesional: los recursos relativos al capital humano, al capital social, psicológicos y los relacionadoscon la identidad. Seguidamente, se establece como propósito de la investigación explorar el desarrollo de los recursos de carrera y analizar la perspectiva del alumnado universitario sobre la contribución de sus estudios para conseguir sus metas profesionales. Para ello se realizó un análisis mixto explicativo secuencial. Se aplicó el cuestionario de recursos de carrera a 339 estudiantes de educación superior de una universidad pública española y se realizaron 18 entrevistas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los recursos de carrera son generalmente trabajados y desarrollados en los estudios universitarios de grado. Asimismo, se han identificado algunas dimensiones que presentan una mayor debilidad, como el conocimiento de las oportunidades de futuro en su entorno próximo; y la conexión entre sus características individuales y las experiencias educativas en el desarrollo de los recursos de carrera. Por tanto, este trabajo contribuye a identificar aquellos recursos profesionales específicos que necesitan una mayor atención en la enseñanza universitaria y supone un punto de partida para continuar la investigación en otras instituciones de educación superior en intervenciones, en términos curriculares, pedagógicos y de orientación para la carrera y poder ampliar el conocimiento en este sentido.Increased attention has been paid to the way Higher Education institutions contribute to the development of graduates’ employability. Such issue is particularly relevant in the light of the current uncertainty experienced in the labour market, particularly among younger people, that was recently exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. Building on the career resources framework, which integrates a set of resources that are expected to predict career success, including human capital resources, social capital, psychological resources and career identity resources, this study aims to explore the development of student’s career resources over their graduation courses and students’ perceptions about the contribution of their higher education degree for career success. For this purpose, a mixedmethod explanatory sequential design was conducted. The career resources questionnaire was applied to 339 Spanish higher education students from a public university, and then 18 interviews were conducted. The results obtained allow us to conclude that career resources are generally malleable and developed throughout higher education studies. It is also possible to identify dimensions where students present more fragilities, namely those related to the exploration of knowledge related to future professional opportunities in their surrounding environment, and to establish some relation between individual characteristics and educational experiences and the development of career resources. Thus, this research adds knowledge to the identification of specific career resources that need more attention in higher education programs. Implications from this study are discussed, taking its potential to higher education institutions in interventions, in terms of curriculum, pedagogical and/or career counselling actions

Career Resources among Higher Education Students: a ixed-method Study

[Resumen] Las universidades han sido cuestionadas por su contribución al desarrollo de la empleabilidad de su alumnado. Este tema es particularmente relevante por la incertidumbre que genera el mercado laboral, especialmente para la juventud, acentuado por la crisis pandémica de la Covid-19. Con este punto de partida, se realiza una conceptualización de los recursos de carrera, configurados por un conjunto de factores que inciden en el desarrollo profesional: los recursos relativos al capital humano, al capital social, psicológicos y los relacionados con la identidad. Seguidamente, se establece como propósito de la investigación explorar el desarrollo de los recursos de carrera y analizar la perspectiva del alumnado universitario sobre la contribución de sus estudios para conseguir sus metas profesionales. Para ello se realizó un análisis mixto exploratorio secuencial. Se aplicó el cuestionario de recursos de carrera a 339 estudiantes de educación superior de una universidad pública española y se realizaron 18 entrevistas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los recursos de carrera son generalmente trabajados y desarrollados en los estudios universitarios de grado. Asimismo, se han identificado algunas dimensiones que presentan una mayor debilidad, como el conocimiento de las oportunidades de futuro en su entorno próximo; y la conexión entre sus características individuales y las experiencias educativas en el desarrollo de los recursos de carrera. Por tanto, este trabajo contribuye a identificar aquellos recursos profesionales específicos que necesitan una mayor atención en la enseñanza universitaria y supone un punto de partida para continuar la investigación en otras instituciones de educación superior en intervenciones, en términos curriculares, pedagógicos y de orientación para la carrera y poder ampliar el conocimiento en este sentido.[Abstract] Increased attention has been paid to the way Higher Education institutions contribute to the development of graduates’ employability. Such issue is particularly relevant in the light of the current uncertainty experienced in the labour market, particularly among younger people, that was recently exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. Building on the career resources framework, which integrates a set of resources that are expected to predict career success, including human capital resources, social capital, psychological resources and career identity resources, this study aims to explore the development of student’s career resources over their graduation courses and students’ perceptions about the contribution of their higher education degree for career success. For this purpose, a mixed-method explanatory sequential design was conducted. The career resources questionnaire was applied to 339 Spanish higher education students from a public university, and then 18 interviews were conducted. The results obtained allow us to conclude that career resources are generally malleable and developed throughout higher education studies. It is also possible to identify dimensions where students present more fragilities, namely those related to the exploration of knowledge related to future professional opportunities in their surrounding environment, and to establish some relation between individual characteristics and educational experiences and the development of career resources. Thus, this research adds knowledge to the identification of specific career resources that need more attention in higher education programs. Implications from this study are discussed, taking its potential to higher education institutions in interventions, in terms of curriculum, pedagogical and/or career counselling actions.Fundación Portuguesa para la Ciencia y la Tecnología; PTDC/CED-EDG/0122/2020Fundación Portuguesa para la Ciencia y la Tecnología; UIDB/01661/2020Fundación Portuguesa para la Ciencia y la Tecnología; UIDP/01661/202

Quantum control of hybrid nuclear-electronic qubits

Pulsed magnetic resonance is a wide-reaching technology allowing the quantum state of electronic and nuclear spins to be controlled on the timescale of nanoseconds and microseconds respectively. The time required to flip either dilute electronic or nuclear spins is orders of magnitude shorter than their decoherence times, leading to several schemes for quantum information processing with spin qubits. We investigate instead the novel regime where the eigenstates approximate 50:50 superpositions of the electronic and nuclear spin states forming "hybrid nuclear-electronic" qubits. Here we demonstrate quantum control of these states for the first time, using bismuth-doped silicon, in just 32 ns: this is orders of magnitude faster than previous experiments where pure nuclear states were used. The coherence times of our states are five orders of magnitude longer, reaching 4 ms, and are limited by the naturally-occurring 29Si nuclear spin impurities. There is quantitative agreement between our experiments and no-free-parameter analytical theory for the resonance positions, as well as their relative intensities and relative Rabi oscillation frequencies. In experiments where the slow manipulation of some of the qubits is the rate limiting step, quantum computations would benefit from faster operation in the hybrid regime.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, new data and simulation

Malaria in pregnancy regulates P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp/ Abcb1a ) and ABCA1 efflux transporters in the Mouse Visceral Yolk Sac

Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) induces intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preterm labour (PTL). However, its effects on yolk sac morphology and function are largely unexplored. We hypothesized that MiP modifies yolk sac morphology and efflux transport potential by modulating ABC efflux transporters. C57BL/6 mice injected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (5 × 105 infected erythrocytes) at gestational day (GD) 13.5 were subjected to yolk sac membrane harvesting at GD 18.5 for histology, qPCR and immunohistochemistry. MiP did not alter the volumetric proportion of the yolk sac's histological components. However, it increased levels of Abcb1a mRNA (encoding P-glycoprotein) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (Mif chemokine), while decreasing Abcg1 (P < 0.05); without altering Abca1, Abcb1b, Abcg2, Snat1, Snat2, interleukin (Il)-1β and C-C Motif chemokine ligand 2 (Ccl2). Transcripts of Il-6, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (Cxcl1), Glut1 and Snat4 were not detectible. ABCA1, ABCG1, breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and P-gp were primarily immunolocalized to the cell membranes and cytoplasm of endodermic epithelium but also in the mesothelium and in the endothelium of mesodermic blood vessels. Intensity of P-gp labelling was stronger in both endodermic epithelium and mesothelium, whereas ABCA1 labelling increased in the endothelium of the mesodermic blood vessels. The presence of ABC transporters in the yolk sac wall suggests that this fetal membrane acts as an important protective gestational barrier. Changes in ABCA1 and P-gp in MiP may alter the biodistribution of toxic substances, xenobiotics, nutrients and immunological factors within the fetal compartment and participate in the pathogenesis of malaria-induced IUGR and PTL

Influenza-Specific T Cells from Older People Are Enriched in the Late Effector Subset and Their Presence Inversely Correlates with Vaccine Response

T cells specific for persistent pathogens accumulate with age and express markers of immune senescence. In contrast, much less is known about the state of T cell memory for acutely infecting pathogens. Here we examined T cell responses to influenza in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells from older (>64) and younger (<40) donors using whole virus restimulation with influenza A (A/PR8/34) ex vivo. Although most donors had pre-existing influenza reactive T cells as measured by IFNγ production, older donors had smaller populations of influenza-responsive T cells than young controls and had lost a significant proportion of their CD45RA-negative functional memory population. Despite this apparent dysfunction in a proportion of the older T cells, both old and young donors' T cells from 2008 could respond to A/California/07/2009 ex vivo. For HLA-A2+ donors, MHC tetramer staining showed that a higher proportion of influenza-specific memory CD8 T cells from the 65+ group co-express the markers killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1) and CD57 compared to their younger counterparts. These markers have previously been associated with a late differentiation state or immune senescence. Thus, memory CD8 T cells to an acutely infecting pathogen show signs of advanced differentiation and functional deterioration with age. There was a significant negative correlation between the frequency of KLRG1+CD57+ influenza M1-specific CD8 T cells pre-vaccination and the ability to make antibodies in response to vaccination with seasonal trivalent inactivated vaccine, whereas no such trend was observed when the total CD8+KLRG1+CD57+ population was analyzed. These results suggest that the state of the influenza-specific memory CD8 T cells may be a predictive indicator of a vaccine responsive healthy immune system in old age

Diversity and ethics in trauma and acute care surgery teams: results from an international survey

Background Investigating the context of trauma and acute care surgery, the article aims at understanding the factors that can enhance some ethical aspects, namely the importance of patient consent, the perceptiveness of the ethical role of the trauma leader, and the perceived importance of ethics as an educational subject. Methods The article employs an international questionnaire promoted by the World Society of Emergency Surgery. Results Through the analysis of 402 fully filled questionnaires by surgeons from 72 different countries, the three main ethical topics are investigated through the lens of gender, membership of an academic or non-academic institution, an official trauma team, and a diverse group. In general terms, results highlight greater attention paid by surgeons belonging to academic institutions, official trauma teams, and diverse groups. Conclusions Our results underline that some organizational factors (e.g., the fact that the team belongs to a university context or is more diverse) might lead to the development of a higher sensibility on ethical matters. Embracing cultural diversity forces trauma teams to deal with different mindsets. Organizations should, therefore, consider those elements in defining their organizational procedures. Level of evidence Trauma and acute care teams work under tremendous pressure and complex circumstances, with their members needing to make ethical decisions quickly. The international survey allowed to shed light on how team assembly decisions might represent an opportunity to coordinate team member actions and increase performance