Testing the EPR Locality using B-Mesons

We study the possibility of testing local realistic theory (LRT), envisioned implicitly by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen in 1935, based on the Bell inequality for the correlations in the decay modes of entangled K or B-mesons. It is shown that such a test is possible for a restricted class of LRT, despite the passive nature of decay events and/or the non-unitary treatment of the correlations which invalidate the test for general LRT. Unfortunately, the present setup of the KEKB (Belle) experiment, where the coherence of entangled B-mesons has been confirmed recently, does not admit such a test due to the inability of determining the decay times of the entangled pairs separately. The indeterminacy also poses a problem for ensuring the locality of the test, indicating that improvement to resolve the indeterminacy is crucial for the test of LRT.Comment: 14 pages, PlainTeX, minor revisio

On tests of local realism by CP-violation parameters of K^0 mesons

Recently various papers have proposed to test local realism (LR) by considering electroweak CP-violation parameters values in neutral pseudoscalar meson systems. Considering the large interest for a conclusive test of LR and the experimental accessibility to these tests, in this paper we critically consider these results showing how they, albeit very interesting, require anyway additional assumptions and therefore cannot be considered conclusive tests of LR

Violation of a Bell inequality in particle physics experimentally verified?

Relevant aspects for testing Bell inequalities with entangled meson-antimeson systems are analyzed. In particular, we argue that the result of A. Go, J. Mod. Optics 51, 991 (2004), which nicely illustrate the quantum entanglement of B-meson pairs, cannot be considered as a Bell-test refuting local realism.Comment: 9 page

Transparent Meta-Analysis of Prospective Memory and Aging

Prospective memory (ProM) refers to our ability to become aware of a previously formed plan at the right time and place. After two decades of research on prospective memory and aging, narrative reviews and summaries have arrived at widely different conclusions. One view is that prospective memory shows large age declines, larger than age declines on retrospective memory (RetM). Another view is that prospective memory is an exception to age declines and remains invariant across the adult lifespan. The present meta-analysis of over twenty years of research settles this controversy. It shows that prospective memory declines with aging and that the magnitude of age decline varies by prospective memory subdomain (vigilance, prospective memory proper, habitual prospective memory) as well as test setting (laboratory, natural). Moreover, this meta-analysis demonstrates that previous claims of no age declines in prospective memory are artifacts of methodological and conceptual issues afflicting prior research including widespread ceiling effects, low statistical power, age confounds, and failure to distinguish between various subdomains of prospective memory (e.g., vigilance and prospective memory proper)

Electrophysiological Correlates of Strategic Monitoring in Event-Based and Time-Based Prospective Memory

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to accomplish an action when a particular event occurs (i.e., event-based PM), or at a specific time (i.e., time-based PM) while performing an ongoing activity. Strategic Monitoring is one of the basic cognitive functions supporting PM tasks, and involves two mechanisms: a retrieval mode, which consists of maintaining active the intention in memory; and target checking, engaged for verifying the presence of the PM cue in the environment. The present study is aimed at providing the first evidence of event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with time-based PM, and at examining differences and commonalities in the ERPs related to Strategic Monitoring mechanisms between event- and time-based PM tasks

Event-based prospective memory performance in autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of the present study was to investigate event-based prospective memory performance in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and to explore possible relations between laboratory-based prospective memory performance and everyday performance. Nineteen children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and 19 matched neurotypical controls participated. The laboratory-based prospective memory test was embedded in a visuo-spatial working memory test and required participants to remember to respond to a cue-event. Everyday planning performance was assessed with proxy ratings. Although parents of the autism group rated their children’s everyday performance as significantly poorer than controls’ parents, no group differences were found in event-based prospective memory. Nevertheless, individual differences in laboratory-based and everyday performances were related. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed

Determinants of fluoroscopy time for invasive coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention: Insights from the NCDR ®

Objectives Identifying the distributions and determinants of fluoroscopy time for invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Background ICA and PCI are significant contributors to radiation exposure from medical imaging in the US. Fluoroscopy time is a potentially modifiable determinant of radiation exposure for these procedures, but has not been well characterized in contemporary practice. Methods We evaluated the distribution of fluoroscopy time in patients undergoing ICA and/or PCI in the CathPCI Registry ® , stratifying patients by numerous clinical scenarios. Hierarchical models were used to determine patient, procedure, operator and hospital‐level factors associated with fluoroscopy time for these procedures. Results Our study included a total of 3,295,348 ICA and PCI procedures performed by 9,600 operators from January 2005 through June 2009. There was wide variation in fluoroscopy times for these procedures with median [IQR] fluoroscopy times of 2.6 [1.7–4.5] minutes for ICA, 6.7 [4.2–10.8] minutes for ICA in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), 10.1 [6.0–17.4] minutes for PCI, 10.7 [7.0–16.9] minutes for PCI with ICA, and 16.0 [10.6–24.0] minutes for PCI and ICA in patients with prior CABG. Prolonged fluoroscopy times (>30 minutes) were rare for ICA, but occurred in 6.7% of PCIs and 14.7% of PCIs in patients with prior CABG. After accounting for patient characteristics and procedure complexity, operator and hospital‐level factors explained nearly 20% of the variation in fluoroscopy time. Conclusions Fluoroscopy times vary widely during ICA and PCI with operator and hospital‐level factors contributing substantially to these differences. A better understanding of potentially modifiable sources of this variation will elucidate opportunities for enhancing the radiation safety of these procedures. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101860/1/ccd24996.pd

Individual Assessment of Arteriosclerosis by Empiric Clinical Profiling

BACKGROUND: Arteriosclerosis is a common cause of chronic morbidity and mortality. Myocardial infarction, stroke or other cardiovascular events identify vulnerable patients who suffer from symptomatic arteriosclerosis. Biomarkers to identify vulnerable patients before cardiovascular events occur are warranted to improve care for affected individuals. We tested how accurately basic clinical data can describe and assess the activity of arteriosclerosis in the individual patient. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 269 in-patients who were treated for various conditions at the department of general medicine of an academic tertiary care center were included in a cross-sectional study. Personal history and clinical examination were obtained. When paraclinical tests were performed, the results were added to the dataset. The numerical variables in the clinical examination were statistically compared between patients with proven symptomatic arteriosclerosis (n = 100) and patients who had never experienced cardiovascular events in the past (n = 110). 25 variables were different between these two patient groups and contributed to the disease activity score. The percentile distribution of these variables defined the empiric clinical profile. Anthropometric data, signs of arterial, cardiac and renal disease, systemic inflammation and health economics formed the major categories of the empiric clinical profile that described an individual patient's disease activity. The area under the curve of the receiver operating curve for symptomatic arteriosclerosis was 0.891 (95% CI 0.799-0.983) for the novel disease activity score compared to 0.684 (95% CI 0.600-0.769) for the 10-year risk calculated according to the Framingham score. In patients suffering from symptomatic arteriosclerosis, the disease activity score deteriorated more rapidly after two years of follow-up (from 1.25 to 1.48, P = 0.005) compared to age- and sex-matched individuals free of cardiovascular events (from 1.09 to 1.19, P = 0.125). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Empiric clinical profiling and the disease activity score that are based on accessible, available and affordable clinical data are valid markers for symptomatic arteriosclerosis