Entanglement witnesses and geometry of entanglement of two--qutrit states

We construct entanglement witnesses with regard to the geometric structure of the Hilbert--Schmidt space and investigate the geometry of entanglement. In particular, for a two--parameter family of two--qutrit states that are part of the magic simplex we calculate the Hilbert--Schmidt measure of entanglement. We present a method to detect bound entanglement which is illustrated for a three--parameter family of states. In this way we discover new regions of bound entangled states. Furthermore we outline how to use our method to distinguish entangled from separable states.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

The economics of desertification, land degradation, and drought: Toward an integrated global assessment

cost of inaction, desertification, drought, Economics, Land degradation, prevention of land degradation,

The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought; Toward an Integrated Global Assessment

Land degradation has not been comprehensively addressed at the global level or in developing countries. A suitable economic framework that could guide investments and institutional action is lacking. This study aims to overcome this deficiency and to provide a framework for a global assessment based on a consideration of the costs of action versus inaction regarding desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD). Most of the studies on the costs of land degradation (mainly limited to soil erosion) give cost estimates of less than 1 percent up to about 10 percent of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) for various countries worldwide. But the indirect costs of DLDD on the economy (national income), as well as their socioeconomic consequences (particularly poverty impacts), must be accounted for, too. Despite the numerous challenges, a global assessment of the costs of action and inaction against DLDD is possible, urgent, and necessary. This study provides a framework for such a global assessment and provides insights from some related country studies.Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Individualised nutritional support in medical inpatients: a practical guideline

Malnutrition has been defined as a “state resulting from lack of uptake or intake of nutrition, leading to altered body composition and body cell mass, as well as to diminished physical and mental function and impaired clinical outcome from disease.” Particularly for the multimorbid medical inpatient, there are multiple research studies linking malnutrition to adverse clinical outcomes independent of type of acute and chronic illnesses. Importantly, recent trials have shown that malnutrition is indeed a modifiable risk factor with specific individualised nutritional support interventions started at hospital admission having positive effects on the risk of complications, mortality, functional outcomes, rehospitalisation and quality of life. Understanding the optimal use of nutritional support in patients with acute illness is complex – as timing, route of delivery, and the amount and type of nutrients can all affect patient outcome. The aim of this narrative review is to provide a practical guideline for pragmatic and evidence-based assessment and treatment of medical inpatients at nutritional risk. We thereby focus on screening, patient assessment, definition of individual nutritional goals and nutritional support interventions that help patients to reach these goals. Keywords: nutrition, malnutrition, nutritional suppor

Handgrip Strength Values Depend on Tumor Entity and Predict 180-Day Mortality in Malnourished Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND Cancer-related malnutrition is a prevalent condition associated with a loss of muscle mass and impaired functional status, leading to immunodeficiency, impaired quality of life and adverse clinical outcomes. Handgrip strength (HGS) is a practical measure to assess muscle strength in individual patients during clinical practice. However, HGS reference values refer to populations of healthy people, and population-specific values, such as those in the population of cancer patients, still need to be defined. METHODS Within a secondary analysis of a previous randomized controlled nutritional trial focusing on hospitalized cancer patients at risk for malnutrition, we investigated sex-specific HGS values stratified by age and tumor entity. Additionally, we examined the association between HGS and 180-day all-cause mortality. RESULTS We included data from 628 cancer patients, which were collected from eight hospitals in Switzerland. Depending on the age of patients, HGS varied among female patients from 7 kg to 26 kg and among male patients from 20.5 kg to 44 kg. An incremental decrease in handgrip strength by 10 kg resulted in a 50% increase in 180-day all-cause mortality (odds ratio 1.52 (95%CI 1.19 to 1.94), p = 0.001). CONCLUSION Our data provide evidence of the prognostic implications of HGS measurement in cancer patients and validate the prognostic value of handgrip strength in regard to long-term mortality. In addition, our results provide expected HGS values in the population of hospitalized malnourished cancer patients, which may allow better interpretation of values in individual patients

Characterizing entanglement with geometric entanglement witnesses

We show how to detect entangled, bound entangled, and separable bipartite quantum states of arbitrary dimension and mixedness using geometric entanglement witnesses. These witnesses are constructed using properties of the Hilbert-Schmidt geometry and can be shifted along parameterized lines. The involved conditions are simplified using Bloch decompositions of operators and states. As an example we determine the three different types of states for a family of two-qutrit states that is part of the "magic simplex", i.e. the set of Bell-state mixtures of arbitrary dimension.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, some typos and notational errors corrected. To be published in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo