China and South Asia: Contention and Cooperation Between Giant Neighbours

Are China and India allies or enemies in the South Asian economy? Well, it seems they are both; working together in healthy and profitable partnerships while maintaining armies in the contested China-India borders. This article explains the paradoxical nature of the China-India relationship and its impact and implications for the smaller countries in South Asia and neighboring Southeast Asia

Quantum Games with Correlated Noise

We analyze quantum game with correlated noise through generalized quantization scheme. Four different combinations on the basis of entanglement of initial quantum state and the measurement basis are analyzed. It is shown that the advantage that a quantum player can get by exploiting quantum strategies is only valid when both the initial quantum state and the measurement basis are in entangled form. Furthermore, it is shown that for maximum correlation the effects of decoherence diminish and it behaves as a noiseless game.Comment: 12 page

Incomplete Polyp Resection During Colonoscopy—Results of the Complete Adenoma Resection (CARE) Study

Although the adenoma detection rate is used as a measure of colonoscopy quality, there are limited data on the quality of endoscopic resection of detected adenomas. We determined the rate of incompletely resected neoplastic polyps in clinical practice.We performed a prospective study on 1427 patients who underwent colonoscopy at 2 medical centers and had at least 1 nonpedunculated polyp (5-20 mm). After polyp removal was considered complete macroscopically, biopsies were obtained from the resection margin. The main outcome was the percentage of incompletely resected neoplastic polyps (incomplete resection rate [IRR]) determined by the presence of neoplastic tissue in post-polypectomy biopsies. Associations between IRR and polyp size, morphology, histology, and endoscopist were assessed by regression analysis. Of 346 neoplastic polyps (269 patients; 84.0% men; mean age, 63.4 years) removed by 11 gastroenterologists, 10.1% were incompletely resected. IRR increased with polyp size and was significantly higher for large (10-20 mm) than small (5-9 mm) neoplastic polyps (17.3% vs 6.8%; relative risk = 2.1), and for sessile serrated adenomas/polyps than for conventional adenomas (31.0% vs 7.2%; relative risk = 3.7). The IRR for endoscopists with at least 20 polypectomies ranged from 6.5% to 22.7%; there was a 3.4-fold difference between the highest and lowest IRR after adjusting for size and sessile serrated histology. Neoplastic polyps are often incompletely resected, and the rate of incomplete resection varies broadly among endoscopists. Incomplete resection might contribute to the development of colon cancers after colonoscopy (interval cancers). Efforts are needed to ensure complete resection, especially of larger lesions

Revival-collapse phenomenon in the fluctuations of quadrature field components of the multiphoton Jaynes-Cummings model

In this paper we consider a system consisting of a two-level atom, initially prepared in a coherent superposition of upper and lower levels, interacting with a radiation field prepared in generalized quantum states in the framework of multiphoton Jaynes-Cummings model. For this system we show that there is a class of states for which the fluctuation factors can exhibit revival-collapse phenomenon (RCP) similar to that exhibited in the corresponding atomic inversion. This is shown not only for normal fluctuations but also for amplitude-squared fluctuations. Furthermore, apart from this class of states we generally demonstrate that the fluctuation factors associated with three-photon transition can provide RCP similar to that occurring in the atomic inversion of the one-photon transition. These are novel results and their consequence is that RCP occurred in the atomic inversion can be measured via a homodyne detector. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of the atomic relative phases on such phenomenon.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Flexibility of habitat use in novel environments: insights from a translocation experiment with lesser black-backed gulls

Being faced with unknown environments is a concomitant challenge of species' range expansions. Strategies to cope with this challenge include the adaptation to local conditions and a flexibility in resource exploitation. The gulls of the Larus argentatus-fuscus-cachinnans group form a system in which ecological flexibility might have enabled them to expand their range considerably, and to colonize urban environments. However, on a population level both flexibility and local adaptation lead to signatures of differential habitat use in different environments, and these processes are not easily distinguished. Using the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) as a system, we put both flexibility and local adaptation to a test. We compare habitat use between two spatially separated populations, and use a translocation experiment duringwhich individuals were released into novel environment. The experiment revealed that on a population-level flexibility best explains the differences in habitat use between the two populations. We think that our results suggest that the range expansion and huge success of this species complex could be a result of its broad ecological niche and flexibility in the exploitation of resources. However, this also advises caution when using species distribution models to extrapolate habitat use across space

Toward safer thanatopraxy cares: formaldehyde-releasers use.

Human cadavers constitute very useful educational tools to teach anatomy in medical scholarship and related disciplines such as physiology, for example. However, as biological material, human body is subjected to decay. Thanatopraxy cares such as embalming have been developed to slow down and inhibit this decay, but the formula used for the preservation fluids are mainly formaldehyde (FA)-based. Very recently, other formulas were developed in order to replace FA, and to avoid its toxicity leading to important environmental and professional exposure concerns. However, these alternative FA-free fluids are still not validated or commercialized, and their efficiency is still under discussion. In this context, the use of FA-releasing substances, already used in the cosmetics industry, may offer interesting alternatives in order to reduce professional exposures to FA. Simultaneously, the preservation of the body is still guaranteed by FA generated over time from FA-releasers. The aim of this review is to revaluate the use of FA in thanatopraxy cares, to present its benefits and disadvantages, and finally to propose an alternative to reduce FA professional exposure during thanatopraxy cares thanks to FA-releasers use

Magnetic fields in supernova remnants and pulsar-wind nebulae

We review the observations of supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar-wind nebulae (PWNe) that give information on the strength and orientation of magnetic fields. Radio polarimetry gives the degree of order of magnetic fields, and the orientation of the ordered component. Many young shell supernova remnants show evidence for synchrotron X-ray emission. The spatial analysis of this emission suggests that magnetic fields are amplified by one to two orders of magnitude in strong shocks. Detection of several remnants in TeV gamma rays implies a lower limit on the magnetic-field strength (or a measurement, if the emission process is inverse-Compton upscattering of cosmic microwave background photons). Upper limits to GeV emission similarly provide lower limits on magnetic-field strengths. In the historical shell remnants, lower limits on B range from 25 to 1000 microGauss. Two remnants show variability of synchrotron X-ray emission with a timescale of years. If this timescale is the electron-acceleration or radiative loss timescale, magnetic fields of order 1 mG are also implied. In pulsar-wind nebulae, equipartition arguments and dynamical modeling can be used to infer magnetic-field strengths anywhere from about 5 microGauss to 1 mG. Polarized fractions are considerably higher than in SNRs, ranging to 50 or 60% in some cases; magnetic-field geometries often suggest a toroidal structure around the pulsar, but this is not universal. Viewing-angle effects undoubtedly play a role. MHD models of radio emission in shell SNRs show that different orientations of upstream magnetic field, and different assumptions about electron acceleration, predict different radio morphology. In the remnant of SN 1006, such comparisons imply a magnetic-field orientation connecting the bright limbs, with a non-negligible gradient of its strength across the remnant.Comment: 20 pages, 24 figures; to be published in SpSciRev. Minor wording change in Abstrac

Quantum capacity of an amplitude-damping channel with memory

We calculate the quantum capacity of an amplitude-damping channel with time correlated Markov noise, for two channel uses. Our results show that memory of the channel increases it's ability to transmit quantum information significantly. We analyze and compare our findings with earlier numerical results on amplitude-damping channel with memory. An upper bound on the amount of quantum information transmitted over the channel in presence of memory, for an arbitrary number of channel uses is also presented.Comment: 17 Pages, 5 Figure