Dissipative "Groups" and the Bloch Ball

We show that a quantum control procedure on a two-level system including dissipation gives rise to a semi-group corresponding to the Lie algebra semi-direct sum gl(3,R)+R^3. The physical evolution may be modelled by the action of this semi-group on a 3-vector as it moves inside the Bloch sphere, in the Bloch ball.Comment: 4 pages. Proceedings of Group 24, Paris, July, 200

Dissipative Quantum Control

Nature, in the form of dissipation, inevitably intervenes in our efforts to control a quantum system. In this talk we show that although we cannot, in general, compensate for dissipation by coherent control of the system, such effects are not always counterproductive; for example, the transformation from a thermal (mixed) state to a cold condensed (pure state) can only be achieved by non-unitary effects such as population and phase relaxation.Comment: Contribution to Proceedings of \emph{ICCSUR 8} held in Puebla, Mexico, July 2003, based on talk presented by Allan Solomon (ca 8 pages, latex, 1 latex figure, 2 pdf figures converted to eps, appear to cause some trouble

Limitations on quantum control

In this note we give an introduction to the topic of quantum control, explaining what its objectives are, and describing some of its limitations.Comment: 6 page

Tef (Eragrostis tef) Variety ‘Tesfa’

 አህፅሮት ጤፍ በኢትዮጵያ ከሚመረቱ የብርዕና አገዳ ሰብሎች ዋናው ሲሆን በየዓመቱ ቁጥር ከ6.5 ሚሊዮን የማያንስ አርሶ አደር ያመርተዋል፡፡ ይህም አጠቃላይ በብርዕና አገዳ ሰብሎች ከሚሸፈነው ማሳ 30% ድርሻ አለው፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ከሌሎች ሰብሎች ጋር ሲነፃፀር ምርታማነቱ አነስተኛ ነው፡፡ ለዚህም ምክንያቱ በከፊል አርሶ አደሩ ያልተሻሻሉ የአካባቢ ዝርያዎችን በመጠቀሙና፣ የሰብሉ ተፈጥሯዊ የመጋሸብ ባህሪ ናቸው፡፡  የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማ በተለየ ምርምር አሰራር የተገኘን የጤፍ ዝርያን በመፈተሸ የተሻለ ምርት፤ የአገዳ ጥንካሬን አንዲሁም የዘር ቀለም ያለውና በአርሶ አደሩ ተመራጭ ዝርያ ማፍለቅ ነበር፡፡ በጥናቱ በቅርቡ የተለቀቀ አንድ ዝርያና አንድ የአካባቢ ዝርያን ጨምሮ 10 የተለያዩ የጤፍ አይነቴዎችን በማካተት በስድስት ወካይ ጤፍ አብቃይ ቦታዎች ላይ ተፈትሸው ተስፋ (ደዘ-ክሮስ-457) ተብሎ የተሰየመውና የተለያዩ የጤፍ አይነቴዎች ተዳቅለው የተገኘው ዝርያ ከሌሎች ማወዳደሪያ ተፈታሽ ዝርያዎች የተሻለ ውጤት በማስመዝገቡ በብሄራዊ የዝርያ አፅዳቂ ኮሚቴ ተገምግሞ ለምርት እንዲለቀቅ ተወስኗል፡፡ ይህ ዝርያ ከሌሎች ዝርያዎች በንፅፅር መጋሸብን በመቋቋሙ፤ የተሻለ ምርት በመስጠቱ በአርሶአደሩ ተፈላጊ ከመሆኑም በሻገር ከዝርያው ባህሪ የተነሳ ለመስኖ እርሻና በሰብል መድረሻ ጊዜ የማጨጃ የእርሻ መሳሪያ መጠቀም ያስችላል፡፡ Abstract Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is extensively cultivated cereal crop in Ethiopia where it is annually grown by about 6.5 million smallholder farmers on about 30% of the total area allocated to cereal crops.However, the productivity of tef is very low compared to other cereals mainly due to lack of high yielding and lodging tolerant cultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the recently released tef variety called Tesfaand to provide unique morphological and agronomic descriptions of this new variety. Ten genotypes which were derived from three independent crosses and bred for at least eight generations plus a local and standard check varieties were tested at six tef growing sites in Ethiopia (namely, Adet, Chafe Donsa,DebreZeit black soil, DebreZeit light soil,Ginchiand Holetta) using RandomizedCompleteBlock Design with three replications. The study found that Tesfa(DZ-Cr-457 RIL-181) which was obtained from a cross between kinde (a semi-dwarf mutant line developed at the University of Bern, Switzerland) and Kay Murri(a landrace) outperformed other genotypes and approved for release by the Ethiopian National Variety Release Committee in March 2017.The main advantages of Tesfa over other tested lines were its higher grain yield and higher lodging tolerance. In addition, Tesfa possesses unique properties for which high acceptance by growers is expected. These are its compact panicle, lack of shattering, and thick and strong culm which makes it potentially cultivated under irrigation and also mechanically harvested

Impact of Spironolactone on Longitudinal Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life in the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure With an Aldosterone Antagonist Trial

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction patients have equally impaired health-related quality of life (HRQL) compared with those with HF with reduced ejection fraction, but limited studies have evaluated the impact of therapies on changes in HRQL. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients ≥50 years of age, with symptomatic HF and left ventricular ejection fraction ≥45%, were enrolled in Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure With an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT) and randomized to spironolactone or placebo. Patients completed the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), which was the primary HRQL instrument, and EQ5D visual analog scale at baseline, 4 months, 12 months, and annually thereafter. McMaster Overall Treatment Evaluation was assessed at 4 and 12 months to assess global change scores. Change scores (+SD) were calculated to determine between-group differences, and multivariable repeated-measures models were created to identify other factors associated with change scores. Paired KCCQ data were available for 91.7% of 3445 TOPCAT patients. By 4 months, the mean change in KCCQ was 7.7±16 and mean change in EQ5D visual analog scale was 4.7±16. Adjusted mean changes in KCCQ for the spironolactone group were significantly better than those for the placebo group at 4-month (1.54 better; P=0.002), 12-month (1.35 better; P=0.02), and 36-month (1.86 better; P=0.02) visits. No between-group differences in EQ5D visual analog scale change scores or McMaster Overall Treatment Evaluation were noted. Older age, obesity, current smoking, New York Heart Association class III/IV, and comorbid illnesses were associated with declines in KCCQ scores. Use of spironolactone was an independent predictor of improved KCCQ scores. CONCLUSIONS: In symptomatic HF with preserved ejection fraction patients, use of spironolactone was associated with an improvement in HF-specific HRQL. Several modifiable risk factors were associated with HRQL deterioration. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00094302

Technology generation to dissemination:lessons learned from the tef improvement project

Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef\u2014an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa\u2019s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released

Protocol of a randomized controlled trial of the Tobacco Tactics website for operating engineers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent research indicates that 35 percent of blue-collar workers in the US currently smoke while only 20 percent of white-collar workers smoke. Over the last year, we have been working with heavy equipment operators, specifically the Local 324 Training Center of the International Union of Operating Engineers, to study the epidemiology of smoking, which is 29% compared to 21% among the general population. For the current study funded by the National Cancer Institute (1R21CA152247-01A1), we have developed the Tobacco Tactics website which will be compared to the state supported 1-800-QUIT-NOW telephone line. Outcome evaluation will compare those randomized to the Tobacco Tactics web-based intervention to those randomized to the 1-800-QUIT-NOW control condition on: a) 30-day and 6-month quit rates; b) cotinine levels; c) cigarettes smoked/day; d) number of quit attempts; and e) nicotine addiction. Process evaluation will compare the two groups on the: a) contacts with intervention; b) medications used; c) helpfulness of the nurse/coach; and d) willingness to recommend the intervention to others.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This will be a randomized controlled trial (N = 184). Both interventions will be offered during regularly scheduled safety training at Local 324 Training Center of the International Union of Operating Engineers and both will include optional provision of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy and the same number of telephone contacts. However, the Tobacco Tactics website has graphics tailored to Operating Engineers, tailored cessation feedback from the website, and follow up nurse counseling offered by multimedia options including phone and/or email, and/or e-community. Primary Analysis of Aim 1 will be conducted by using logistic regression to compare smoking habits (e.g., quit rates) of those in the intervention arm to those in the control arm. Primary analyses for Aim 2 will compare process measures (e.g., medications used) between the two groups by linear, logistic, and Poisson regression.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Dissemination of an efficacious work-site, web-based smoking cessation intervention has the potential to substantially impact cancer rates among this population. Based on the outcome of this smaller study, wider scale testing in conjunction with the International Environment Technology Testing Center which services Operating Engineers across North America (including US, Mexico, and Canada) will be conducted.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NCT01124110</p

The many possible climates from the Paris Agreement’s aim of 1.5 °C warming

The United Nations’ Paris Agreement includes the aim of pursuing efforts to limit global warming to only 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. However, it is not clear what the resulting climate would look like across the globe and over time. Here we show that trajectories towards a ‘1.5 °C warmer world’ may result in vastly different outcomes at regional scales, owing to variations in the pace and location of climate change and their interactions with society’s mitigation, adaptation and vulnerabilities to climate change. Pursuing policies that are considered to be consistent with the 1.5 °C aim will not completely remove the risk of global temperatures being much higher or of some regional extremes reaching dangerous levels for ecosystems and societies over the coming decades

World-Wide FINGERS Network: A global approach to risk reduction and prevention of dementia

© 2020 The Authors. Alzheimer\u27s & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Alzheimer\u27s Association Reducing the risk of dementia can halt the worldwide increase of affected people. The multifactorial and heterogeneous nature of late-onset dementia, including Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), indicates a potential impact of multidomain lifestyle interventions on risk reduction. The positive results of the landmark multidomain Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) support such an approach. The World-Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS), launched in 2017 and including over 25 countries, is the first global network of multidomain lifestyle intervention trials for dementia risk reduction and prevention. WW-FINGERS aims to adapt, test, and optimize the FINGER model to reduce risk across the spectrum of cognitive decline—from at-risk asymptomatic states to early symptomatic stages—in different geographical, cultural, and economic settings. WW-FINGERS aims to harmonize and adapt multidomain interventions across various countries and settings, to facilitate data sharing and analysis across studies, and to promote international joint initiatives to identify globally implementable and effective preventive strategies