Quantum Rotor Engines

This chapter presents autonomous quantum engines that generate work in the form of directed motion for a rotor. We first formulate a prototypical clock-driven model in a time-dependent framework and demonstrate how it can be translated into an autonomous engine with the introduction of a planar rotor degree of freedom. The rotor plays both the roles of internal engine clock and of work repository. Using the example of a single-qubit piston engine, the thermodynamic performance is then reviewed. We evaluate the extractable work in terms of ergotropy, the kinetic energy associated to net directed rotation, as well as the intrinsic work based on the exerted torque under autonomous operation; and we compare them with the actual energy output to an external dissipative load. The chapter closes with a quantum-classical comparison of the engine's dynamics. For the single-qubit piston example, we propose two alternative representations of the qubit in an entirely classical framework: (i) a coin flip model and (ii) a classical magnet moment, showing subtle differences between the quantum and classical descriptions.Comment: Chapter of the upcoming book "Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime - Recent Progress and Outlook

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound monitoring of perfusion changes in hepatic neuroendocrine metastases after systemic versus selective arterial ¹⁷⁷Lu/⁹⁰Y-DOTATOC and ²¹³Bi-DOTATOC radiopeptide therapy

Aim - radiopeptide therapy with beta emitter labeled ¹⁷⁷Lu/⁹⁰Y- DOTA(0)-Phe(1)-Tyr(3)-octreotide (DOTATOC) and more recently also alpha emitting ²¹³Bi-DOTATOC are promising new treatments for neuroendocrine tumors. No early predictors for treatment response have been recognized and tumor-shrinkage after radiation therapy appears slowly. In some solid tumors a decline in tumor perfusion was found predictive of final treatment response but the gold standard multiphase computed tomography (CT) has a high radiation burden. Therefore we evaluated the ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to evaluate tumor perfusion as a response criteria. 14 patients with hepatic neuroendocrine tumor (NET) metastases were enrolled in the retrospective study. Eleven patients were treated with beta-emitting ¹⁷⁷Lu/⁹⁰Y-DOTATOC, either intravenous (i.v.) (n = 5) or intra-arterial (i.a.) (n = 6) and three patients received alpha-emitting ²¹³Bi-DOTATOC (i.a.). CEUS and contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT) were performed before and 3 months after treatment. CE-CT and CEUS presented comparable results in the baseline study and in the assessment of perfusion changes due to the different treatment regimes. A therapy related decrease in tumor perfusion is an early predictor of longterm morphologic response. Conclusion: CEUS is available and radiation free technique which showed comparable results for perfusion and diameter of liver metastases compared to CE-CT. Intensity reduction in an arterial phase CEUS can be seen as a positive sign indicating long term tumor response to treatment. Therefore CEUS may be considered as an imaging modality for monitoring early treatment after focal alpha and beta targeted therapy. Key Words: contrast-enhanced ultrasound, radionuclide therapy, treatment response, DOTATOC PET/CT

Maintenance of long-term clinical benefit with sirolimus-eluting coronary stents - Three-year results of the RAVEL trial

Background— The use of sirolimus-eluting coronary stents has been associated with a nearly complete elimination of restenosis at 6 months and with a very low 1-year incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). This analysis examined whether these beneficial effects persist over the longer term. Methods and Results— This multicenter trial randomly assigned 238 patients to revascularization of single, de novo, native coronary artery lesions with sirolimus-eluting versus conventional bare-metal stents. Survival free from target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel failure (TVF), and MACE up to 3 years of follow-up was compared between the 2 treatment groups. Complete data sets were available in 94.2% of patients treated with sirolimus-eluting stents and in 94.1% of patients randomized to the control group. The cumulative 1-, 2-, and 3-year event-free survival rates were 99.2%, 96.5%, and 93.7% for TLR and 95.8%, 92.3%, and 87.9% for TVF, respectively, in the sirolimus-eluting stent group, versus 75.9%, 75.9%, and 75.0% for TLR and 71.2%, 69.4%, and 67.3% for TVF in the control group (P<0.001 for both comparisons at 3 years). Rates of MACE at 3 years were 15.8% in patients randomly assigned to sirolimus-eluting stents versus 33.1% in patients assigned to bare-metal stents (P=0.002). One patient treated with a sirolimus-eluting stent died of a cardiac cause between 12 and 36 months. Conclusions— Treatment of de novo coronary stenosis with sirolimus-eluting stents was associated with a sustained clinical benefit and very low rates of TLR and of other MACE up to 3 years after device implantation

O Estudo do Comportamento Verbal no Brasil

In the present study a historical review was realized of Brazilian master thesis and doctoral dissertations about verbal behavior, which were based on Skinner’ proposals (1957/1992) and carried out from 1968 to 2012. The following aspects were analyzed: a) type of work (thesis or dissertation, b) affiliation of the authors, c) advisor, d) line of research (basic, applied, conceptual or historical), e) methodology (descriptive or experimental), and f) research topics. In total, 177 thesis and 53 dissertations related to verbal behavior were identified. The results indicate that the study of verbal behavior in Brazil has been established as a research program and has grown over the years.O presente trabalho realizou uma revisão histórica de dissertações e teses brasileiras sobre comportamento verbal, com base na proposta de Skinner (1957), produzidas entre 1969 e 2012. Foram investigados: (a) número de dissertações e teses sobre o tema, (b) orientador, (c) tipo de pesquisa (descritiva ou experimental), (d) linha de pesquisa (básica, aplicada ou histórico-conceitual), (e) conceitos da análise do comportamento, (f) área de aplicação, (g) tema e (h) publicações decorrentes das dissertações e teses. Os resultados obtidos no presente trabalho permitem afirmar que o estudo do comportamento verbal, no Brasil, estabeleceu-se como programa de pesquisa e cresceu ao longo dos anos

Correction of temperature induced spectral variation by continuous piece-wise direct standardization

In process analytical applications it is not always possible to keep the measurement conditions constant. However, fluctuations in external variables such as temperature can have a strong influence on measurement results. For example, nonlinear temperature effects on near-infrared (NIR) spectra may lead to a strongly biased prediction result from multivariate calibration models such as PLS. A new method, called Continuous Piecewise Direct Standardization (CPDS) has been developed for the correction of such external influences. It represents a generalization of the discrete PDS calibration transfer method and is able to adjust for continuous nonlinear influences such as the temperature effects on spectra. It was applied to shortwave NIR spectra of ethanol/water/2-propanol mixtures measured at different temperatures in the range 30-70 degrees C. The method was able to remove, almost completely, the temperature effects on the spectra, and prediction of the mole fractions of the chemical components was close to the results obtained at constant temperatur