753 research outputs found
Electrical Tuning of Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Optical Transitions Enhanced by Photoinduced Fields
We demonstrate precise control over the zero-phonon optical transition
energies of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond by applying
multiaxis electric fields, via the dc Stark effect. The Stark shifts display
surprising asymmetries that we attribute to an enhancement and rectification of
the local electric field by photoionized charge traps in the diamond. Using
this effect, we tune the excited-state orbitals of strained NV centers to
degeneracy and vary the resulting degenerate optical transition frequency by
>10 GHz, a scale comparable to the inhomogeneous frequency distribution. This
technique will facilitate the integration of NV-center spins within photonic
networks.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
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Homoepitaxial Growth of Single Crystal Diamond Membranes for Quantum Information Processing
Fabrication of devices designed to fully harness the unique properties of quantum mechanics through their coupling to quantum bits (qubits) is a prominent goal in the field of quantum information processing (QIP). Among various qubit candidates, nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have recently emerged as an outstanding platform for room temperature QIP. However, formidable challenges still remain in processing diamond and in the fabrication of thin diamond membranes, which are necessary for planar photonic device engineering. Here we demonstrate epitaxial growth of single crystal diamond membranes using a conventional microwave chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The grown membranes, only a few hundred nanometers thick, show bright luminescence, excellent Raman signature and good NV center electronic spin coherence times. Microdisk cavities fabricated from these membranes exhibit quality factors of up to 3000, overlapping with NV center emission. Our methodology offers a scalable approach for diamond device fabrication for photonics, spintronics, optomechanics and sensing applications.Engineering and Applied Science
Glycaemic control and hypoglycaemia risk with insulin glargine 300 U/mL versus glargine 100 U/mL: A patient-level meta-analysis examining older and younger adults with type 2 diabetes
Abstract Aim Older people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are at an increased risk of hypoglycaemia and its consequences. However, efficacy and safety data for basal insulin therapy are limited in these individuals. This patient-level meta-analysis assessed the treatment effects of insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) versus glargine 100 U/mL (Gla-100) in people with T2DM ≥ 65 years old. Methods Data were pooled for patients randomised to receive Gla-300 or Gla-100 in the Phase 3a, treat-to-target EDITION 1, 2 and 3 trials. Glycaemic efficacy, hypoglycaemia, changes in body weight and insulin dosage and adverse events were examined over 6 months' treatment with Gla-300 versus Gla-100 for participants aged ≥ 65 and  Results Of 2496 participants randomised, 662 were ≥ 65 years (Gla-300, n = 329; Gla-100, n = 333). Glycaemic control was comparable for Gla-300 and Gla-100 in participants ≥ 65 years (LS mean [95% CI] difference in HbA1c change from baseline to month 6: 0.00 [−0.14 to 0.15] %; 0.00 [−1.53 to 1.64] mmol/mol) and  Conclusion Gla-300 was associated with a reduced risk of nocturnal hypoglycaemia versus Gla-100, accompanied by comparable glycaemic improvement, for people aged ≥ 65 an
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Sample-efficient verification of continuously-parameterized quantum gates for small quantum processors
Error mitigation, optimization, and extrapolation on a trapped ion testbed
Current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) trapped-ion devices are
subject to errors around 1% per gate for two-qubit gates. These errors
significantly impact the accuracy of calculations if left unchecked. A form of
error mitigation called Richardson extrapolation can reduce these errors
without incurring a qubit overhead. We demonstrate and optimize this method on
the Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed (QSCOUT) trapped-ion device
to solve an electronic structure problem. We explore different methods for
integrating this error mitigation technique into the Variational Quantum
Eigensolver (VQE) optimization algorithm for calculating the ground state of
the HeH+ molecule at 0.8 Angstrom. We test two methods of scaling noise for
extrapolation: time-stretching the two-qubit gates and inserting two-qubit gate
identity operations into the ansatz circuit. We find the former fails to scale
the noise on our particular hardware. Scaling our noise with global gate
identity insertions and extrapolating only after a variational optimization
routine, we achieve an absolute relative error of 0.363% +- 1.06 compared to
the true ground state energy of HeH+. This corresponds to an absolute error of
0.01 +- 0.02 Hartree; outside chemical accuracy, but greatly improved over our
non error mitigated estimate. We ultimately find that the efficacy of this
error mitigation technique depends on choosing the right implementation for a
given device architecture and sampling budget.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure
Quantum Computation of Hydrogen Bond Dynamics and Vibrational Spectra
Calculating the observable properties of chemical systems is often
classically intractable, and is widely viewed as a promising application of
quantum information processing. This is because a full description of chemical
behavior relies upon the complex interplay of quantum-mechanical electrons and
nuclei, demanding an exponential scaling of computational resources with system
size. While considerable progress has been made in mapping electronic-structure
calculations to quantum hardware, these approaches are unsuitable for
describing the quantum dynamics of nuclei, proton- and hydrogen-transfer
processes, or the vibrational spectra of molecules. Here, we use the QSCOUT
ion-trap quantum computer to determine the quantum dynamics and vibrational
properties of a shared proton within a short-strong hydrogen-bonded system. For
a range of initial states, we experimentally drive the ion-trap system to
emulate the quantum trajectory of the shared proton wavepacket as it evolves
along the potential surface generated by the nuclear frameworks and electronic
structure. We then extract the characteristic vibrational frequencies for the
shared proton motion to spectroscopic accuracy and determine all energy
eigenvalues of the system Hamiltonian to > 99.9% fidelity. Our approach offers
a new paradigm for studying the quantum chemical dynamics and vibrational
spectra of molecules, and when combined with quantum algorithms for electronic
structure, opens the possibility to describe the complete behavior of molecules
using exclusively quantum computation techniques.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
What next? Experiences of social support and signposting after a diagnosis of dementia
The experience of being diagnosed with dementia can be shocking. This may be compounded if individuals feel that there is a lack of signposting onto further avenues of support following diagnosis. This study, then, examines how social support is promoted in the diagnostic process. Using purposive sampling and a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 members of a dementia empowerment group in Northern Ireland, discussing both their experience of diagnosis and also their subsequent group membership. Respondents reported both positive and negative experiences of diagnosis. Feelings of shock and bewilderment accompanied this process. Only one was able to identify a direct link between a medical professional and referral to the empowerment group, others being referred by other health professionals or dementia navigators. The study indicates that, due to disorienting feelings, one diagnostic consultation is insufficient to explain both the diagnosis and offer follow-up support. Therefore, more explicit links to navigators or other services need to be made at the point of diagnosis to prioritise information regarding opportunities for social engagement for those being diagnosed.
Elimination of human rabies in Goa, India through an integrated One Health approach
Dog-mediated rabies kills tens of thousands of people each year in India, representing one third of the estimated global rabies burden. Whilst the World Health Organization (WHO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have set a target for global dog-mediated human rabies elimination by 2030, examples of large-scale dog vaccination programs demonstrating elimination remain limited in Africa and Asia. We describe the development of a data-driven rabies elimination program from 2013 to 2019 in Goa State, India, culminating in human rabies elimination and a 92% reduction in monthly canine rabies cases. Smartphone technology enabled systematic spatial direction of remote teams to vaccinate over 95,000 dogs at 70% vaccination coverage, and rabies education teams to reach 150,000 children annually. An estimated 2249 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were averted over the program period at 526 USD per DALY, making the intervention ‘very cost-effective’ by WHO definitions. This One Health program demonstrates that human rabies elimination is achievable at the state level in India
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