1,003 research outputs found
Direct sampling of the Susskind-Glogower phase distributions
Coarse-grained phase distributions are introduced that approximate to the
Susskind--Glogower cosine and sine phase distributions. The integral relations
between the phase distributions and the phase-parametrized field-strength
distributions observable in balanced homodyning are derived and the integral
kernels are analyzed. It is shown that the phase distributions can be directly
sampled from the field-strength distributions which offers the possibility of
measuring the Susskind--Glogower cosine and sine phase distributions with
sufficiently well accuracy. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate
the applicability of the method.Comment: 10 figures using a4.st
Direct sampling of exponential phase moments of smoothed Wigner functions
We investigate exponential phase moments of the s-parametrized
quasidistributions (smoothed Wigner functions). We show that the knowledge of
these moments as functions of s provides, together with photon-number
statistics, a complete description of the quantum state. We demonstrate that
the exponential phase moments can be directly sampled from the data recorded in
balanced homodyne detection and we present simple expressions for the sampling
kernels. The phase moments are Fourier coefficients of phase distributions
obtained from the quasidistributions via integration over the radial variable
in polar coordinates. We performed Monte Carlo simulations of the homodyne
detection and we demonstrate the feasibility of direct sampling of the moments
and subsequent reconstruction of the phase distribution.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted Phys. Rev.
Measuring the elements of the optical density matrix
Most methods for experimentally reconstructing the quantum state of light
involve determining a quasiprobability distribution such as the Wigner
function. In this paper we present a scheme for measuring individual density
matrix elements in the photon number state representation. Remarkably, the
scheme is simple, involving two beam splitters and a reference field in a
coherent state.Comment: 6 pages and 1 figur
Conditional generation of arbitrary multimode entangled states of light with linear optics
We propose a universal scheme for the probabilistic generation of an
arbitrary multimode entangled state of light with finite expansion in Fock
basis. The suggested setup involves passive linear optics, single photon
sources, strong coherent laser beams, and photodetectors with single-photon
resolution. The efficiency of this setup may be greatly enhanced if, in
addition, a quantum memory is available.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Risk Categorization Using New American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for Cholesterol Management and Its Relation to Alirocumab Treatment Following Acute Coronary Syndromes
BACKGROUND: The 2018 US cholesterol management guidelines recommend
additional lipid-lowering therapies for secondary prevention in patients with lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol ≥70 mg/dL or non−high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
≥100 mg/dL despite maximum tolerated statin therapy. Such patients are considered
at very high risk (VHR) based on a history of >1 major atherosclerotic cardiovascular
disease (ASCVD) event or a single ASCVD event and multiple high-risk conditions.
We investigated the association of US guideline-defined risk categories with the
occurrence of ischemic events after acute coronary syndrome and reduction of
those events by alirocumab, a PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9)
inhibitor.
METHODS: In the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial (Evaluation of Cardiovascular
Outcomes After an Acute Coronary Syndrome During Treatment With Alirocumab),
patients with recent acute coronary syndrome and residual dyslipidemia despite
optimal statin therapy were randomly assigned to alirocumab or placebo. The primary
trial outcome (major adverse cardiovascular events, ie, coronary heart disease death,
nonfatal myocardial infarction, is
Meta-analysis comparing upfront surgery with neoadjuvant treatment in patients with resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer
Background: Studies comparing upfront surgery with neoadjuvant treatment in pancreatic cancer may report only patients who underwent resection and so survival will be skewed. The aim of this study was to report survival by intention to treat in a comparison of upfront surgery versus neoadjuvant treatment in resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.
Methods: MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies reporting median overall survival by intention to treat in patients with resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer treated with or without neoadjuvant treatment. Secondary outcomes included overall and R0 resection rate, pathological lymph node rate, reasons for unresectability and toxicity of neoadjuvant treatment.
Results: In total, 38 studies were included with 3484 patients, of whom 1738 (49·9 per cent) had neoadjuvant treatment. The weighted median overall survival by intention to treat was 18·8months for neoadjuvant treatment and 14·8months for upfront surgery; the difference was larger among patients whose tumours were resected (26·1 versus 15·0months respectively). The overall resection rate was lower with neoadjuvant treatment than with upfront surgery (66·0 versus 81·3 per cent; P<0·001), but the R0 rate was higher (86·8 (95 per cent c.i. 84·6 to 88·7) versus 66·9 (64·2 to 69·6) per cent; P<0·001). Reported by intention to treat, the R0 rates were 58·0 and 54·9 per cent respectively (P=0·088). The pathological lymph node rate was 43·8 per cent after neoadjuvant therapy and 64·8 per cent in the upfront surgery group (P<0·001). Toxicity of at least grade III was reported in up to 64 per cent of the patients.
Conclusion: Neoadjuvant treatment appears to improve overall survival by intention to treat, despite lower overall resection rates for resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42016049374
Methane sources in gas hydrate-bearing cold-seeps : evidence from radiocarbon and stable isotopes
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 115 (2009): 102-109, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2009.07.001.Fossil methane from the large and dynamic marine gas hydrate reservoir has the potential to influence oceanic and atmospheric carbon pools. However, natural radiocarbon (14C) measurements of gas hydrate methane have been extremely limited, and their use as a source and process indicator has not yet been systematically established. In this study, gas hydrate-bound and dissolved methane recovered from six geologically and geographically distinct high-gas-flux cold seeps was found to be 98 to 100% fossil based on its 14C content. Given this prevalence of fossil methane and the small contribution of gas hydrate (≤1%) to the present-day atmospheric methane flux, non-fossil contributions of gas hydrate methane to the atmosphere are not likely to be quantitatively significant. This conclusion is consistent with contemporary atmospheric methane budget calculations.
In combination with δ13C- and δD-methane measurements, we also determine the extent to which the low, but detectable, amounts of 14C (~ 1-2 percent modern carbon, pMC) in methane from two cold seeps might reflect in situ production from near-seafloor sediment organic carbon (SOC). A 14C mass balance approach using fossil methane and 14C-enriched SOC suggests that as much as 8 to 29% of hydrate-associated methane carbon may originate from SOC contained within the upper 6 meters of sediment. These findings validate the assumption of a predominantly fossil carbon source for marine gas hydrate, but also indicate that structural gas hydrate from at least certain cold seeps contains a component of methane produced during decomposition of non-fossil organic matter in near-surface sediment.This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research and Naval Research
Laboratory (NRL). Partial support was also provided by
the USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program to JWP, and NSF
Chemical Oceanography (OCE-0327423) and Integrated Carbon Cycle Research (EAR-
0403949) program support to JEB
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