We study the estimation of the overlap between two unknown pure quantum states of a finite-dimensional system, given M and N copies of each type. This is a fundamental primitive in quantum ...information processing that is commonly accomplished from the outcomes of N swap tests, a joint measurement on one copy of each type whose outcome probability is a linear function of the squared overlap. We show that a more precise estimate can be obtained by allowing for general collective measurements on all copies. We derive the statistics of the optimal measurement and compute the optimal mean square error in the asymptotic pointwise and finite Bayesian estimation settings. Besides, we consider two strategies relying on the estimation of one or both states and show that, although they are suboptimal, they outperform the swap test. In particular, the swap test is extremely inefficient for small values of the overlap, which become exponentially more likely as the dimension increases. Finally, we show that the optimal measurement is less invasive than the swap test and study the robustness to depolarizing noise for qubit states.
Radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) is associated with inferior survival in patients with glioblastoma, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer. We asked whether stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) ...decreases severity of RIL compared to conventional chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).
Serial total lymphocyte counts (TLCs) from patients enrolled in a prospective trial of SBRT for LAPC were compared to TLCs from an existing database of LAPC patients undergoing definitive CRT. SBRT patients received 33 Gy (6.6 Gy × 5 fractions). CRT patients received a median dose of 50.4 Gy (1.8 Gy × 28 fractions) with concurrent 5-fluorouracil (77%) or gemcitabine (23%) therapy. Univariate and multivariate analyses (MVA) were used to identify associations between clinical factors and post-treatment TLC and between TLC and survival.
Thirty-two patients received SBRT and 101 received CRT. Median planning target volume (PTV) was smaller in SBRT (88.7 cm(3)) than in CRT (344.6 cm(3); P<.001); median tumor diameter was larger for SBRT (4.6 cm) than for CRT (3.6 cm; P=.01). SBRT and CRT groups had similar median baseline TLCs. One month after starting radiation, 71.7% of CRT patients had severe lymphopenia (ie, TLC <500 cells/mm(3) vs 13.8% of SBRT patients; P<.001). At 2 months, 46.0% of CRT patients remained severely lymphopenic compared with 13.6% of SBRT patients (P=.007). MVA demonstrated that treatment technique and baseline TLCs were significantly associated with post-treatment TLC at 1 but not 2 months after treatment. Higher post-treatment TLC was associated with improved survival regardless of treatment technique (hazard ratio HR for death: 2.059; 95% confidence interval: 1.310-3.237; P=.002).
SBRT is associated with significantly less severe RIL than CRT at 1 month in LAPC, suggesting that radiation technique affects RIL and supporting previous modeling studies. Given the association of severe RIL with survival in LAPC, further study of the effect of radiation technique on immune status is warranted.
This report reviews the study of open heavy-flavour and quarkonium production in high-energy hadronic collisions, as tools to investigate fundamental aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics, from the ...proton and nucleus structure at high energy to deconfinement and the properties of the Quark–Gluon Plasma. Emphasis is given to the lessons learnt from LHC Run 1 results, which are reviewed in a global picture with the results from SPS and RHIC at lower energies, as well as to the questions to be addressed in the future. The report covers heavy flavour and quarkonium production in proton–proton, proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus collisions. This includes discussion of the effects of hot and cold strongly interacting matter, quarkonium photoproduction in nucleus–nucleus collisions and perspectives on the study of heavy flavour and quarkonium with upgrades of existing experiments and new experiments. The report results from the activity of the SaporeGravis network of the I3 Hadron Physics programme of the European Union 7
th
Framework Programme.
Background
Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a promising option for patients with pancreatic cancer (PCA); however, limited data support its efficacy. This study reviews our institutional ...experience of SBRT in the treatment of locally advanced (LAPC) and borderline resectable (BRPC) PCA.
Methods
Charts of all PCA patients receiving SBRT at our institution from 2010 to 2014 were reviewed. Most patients received pre-SBRT chemotherapy. Primary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and local progression-free survival (LPFS). Patients received a total dose of 25–33 Gy in five fractions.
Results
A total of 88 patients were included in the analysis, 74 with LAPC and 14 with BRPC. The median age at diagnosis was 67.2 years, and median follow-up from date of diagnosis for LAPC and BRPC patients was 14.5 and 10.3 months, respectively. Median OS from date of diagnosis was 18.4 months (LAPC, 18.4 mo; BRPC, 14.4 mo) and median PFS was 9.8 months (95 % CI 8.0–12.3). Acute toxicity was minimal with only three patients (3.4 %) experiencing acute grade ≥3 toxicity. Late grade ≥2 gastrointestinal toxicity was seen in five patients (5.7 %). Of the 19 patients (21.6 %) who underwent surgery, 79 % were LAPC patients and 84 % had margin-negative resections.
Conclusions
Chemotherapy followed by SBRT in patients with LAPC and BRPC resulted in minimal acute and late toxicity. A large proportion of patients underwent surgical resection despite limited radiographic response to therapy. Further refinements in the integration of chemotherapy, SBRT, and surgery might offer additional advancements toward optimizing patient outcomes.
The aim of our meta-analysis is to evaluate the association between the modifications of the cardiovascular system and chronic exposure to noise in occupationally exposed subjects.
We considered the ...articles published from 1950 to May 2008. Only 15 papers were conforming to the inclusion criteria identified for this meta-analysis. A total of 18,658 workers were divided in three groups according to the level of noise exposure as measured in the original studies (High Exposure, HE, Intermediate Exposure, IE, Low Exposure, LE). A preliminary evaluation of the type of data allowed for a classification of the type of performed measurements. Two classes of variables were identified: Class I, composed by continuous variables (systolic blood pressure, SBP, diastolic blood pressure, DBP, and heart rate, HR) and Class II, composed by not continuous variables (prevalence of hypertension and prevalence of ECG abnormalities). For each variable the calculation of heterogeneity was performed. For continuous variables the calculation of ES and its significance were performed while Odds Ratio (OR) and its significance were calculated for not continuous variables.
The results show a statistically significant increase of SBP and DBP in HE workers compared to LE and IE workers while HR is statistically higher in HE participants compared to LE participants. The prevalence of both hypertension and ECG abnormalities is statistically higher in HE workers compared to LE and IE workers.
Taking into account both the extremely high heterogeneity among studies and the ES/OR values we suggest a particular attention to the measurement and evaluation of SBP, DBP and HR in workers with chronic exposure to noise. Also ECG for workers with chronic exposure to noise is suggested in order to identify and evaluate possible abnormalities noise could be a concurrent cause of.
Although most patients with pancreatic cancer die of metastatic disease, an autopsy study showed that up to one-third of patients die of predominantly local disease. This patient population stands to ...benefit the most from radiation, surgery, or both. Unfortunately, however, single-agent chemotherapy has had minimal benefit in pancreatic cancer, and most patients progress distantly before receiving radiation therapy (RT). With the addition of multiagent chemotherapy, patients are living longer, and RT has emerged as an important modality in preventing local progression. Standard chemoradiation delivered over 5-6 weeks has been shown to improve local control, but this approach delays full-dose systemic therapy and increases toxicity when compared to chemotherapy alone. Stereotactic body RT (SBRT) delivered in 3-5 fractions can be used to accurately target the pancreatic tumor with small margins and limited acute treatment-related toxicity. Given the favorable toxicity profile, SBRT can easily be integrated with other therapies in all stages of pancreatic cancer. However, future studies are necessary to determine optimal dose or fractionation regimens and sequencing with targeted therapies and immunotherapy. The purpose of this review is to discuss our current understanding of SBRT in the multidisciplinary management of patients with pancreatic cancer and future implications.
Purpose
A major problem in treating patients with peritoneal spread from colorectal cancer is that at diagnosis wide peritoneal involvement often precludes all curative attempts. A possible solution ...is to identify those patients at risk for peritoneal metastases and intervene early to prevent locoregional disease spread before it develops and, thus, to improve outcome.
Methods
We analyzed long-term results from a previous study and compared outcomes in 25 patients with advanced colon cancer considered at high risk for peritoneal spread (pT3/pT4 and mucinous or signet ring cell histology) prospectively included and managed with a proactive surgical approach including target organ resection for peritoneal spread plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and in 50 retrospectively well-matched controls who underwent standard surgical resection during the same period and in the same hospital by different surgical teams.
Results
At 48 months after the study closed, peritoneal metastases and local recurrence developed significantly less often in proactively managed patients than in controls (4 vs 28 %) (
p
< 0.03). Patients in the proactive group also survived longer than control patients (median overall survival 59.5 vs 52 months). Despite similar morbidity, Kaplan–Meier survival curves disclosed significantly longer disease-free and overall survival in the proactive than in the control group (
p
< 0.05 and
<
0.04)
.
Conclusions
In patients with advanced colon cancer at risk for peritoneal recurrence, the proactive surgical approach plus HIPEC seems to achieve good locoregional control preventing peritoneal spread thus improving outcome without increasing morbidity. These advantages merit investigation in a multicentric randomized trial.
Research into novel internal combustion engines requires consideration of the diversity in future fuels in an attempt to reduce drastically CO2 emissions from vehicles and promote energy ...sustainability. Hydrogen has been proposed as a possible fuel for future internal combustion engines. Hydrogen’s wide flammability range allows higher engine efficiency with much leaner operation than conventional fuels, for both reduced toxic emissions and no CO2 gases. This paper presents results from an optical study of combustion in a spark-ignition research engine running with direct injection and port injection of hydrogen. Crank-angle resolved flame chemiluminescence images were acquired and post-processed for a series of consecutive cycles in order to calculate in-cylinder rates of flame growth. Laser induced fluorescence of OH was also applied on an in-cylinder plane below the spark plug to record detailed features of the flame front for a series of engine cycles. The tests were performed at various air-to-fuel ratios, typically in a range of φ = 0.50–0.83 at 1000 RPM with 0.5 bar intake pressure. The engine was also run with gasoline in direct-injection and port-injection modes to compare with the operation on hydrogen. The observed combustion characteristics were analysed with respect to laminar and turbulent burning velocities, as well as flame stretch. An attempt was also made to review relevant hydrogen work from the limited literature on the subject and make comparisons were appropriate.
► Flame chemiluminescence and OH LIF images were acquired in a hydrogen engine. ► Flame expansion speeds with direct injection were 25–40 m/s for ϕ = 0.5–0.83. ► Combustion was slower with port injection showing peak expansion speeds 10–20 m/s ► Flame stretch was in the range 5000–10,000 s−1 for flames up to 5 mm in radius. ► Flames showed distortion on a planar macro scale depending on injection/spark timings.
Several biomaterials are available for the purpose of soft tissue augmentation, but none of them has all the properties of the ideal filler material. The recent development of hyaluronic acid gels ...for dermal implantation give the physician new possibilities of effective treatment in this field.
This study provides a clinical and histological evaluation of safety and efficacy of a cross-linked stabilized non-animal hyaluronic acid gel (Restylane, Q-Med, Uppsala, Sweden) to determine its characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and side-effects.
158 patients were treated with facial intradermal implant of hyaluronic acid gel for augmentation therapy of wrinkles and folds, and for lip augmentation and/or recontouring. The results were evaluated in all patients by subjective judgement by the physician and the patient, and by photographic method at time 0 and after 1, 2, 4 and 8 months from the procedure. In addition, a smaller histological study was carried out in five volunteer patients for a term of 52 weeks to determine the interaction and duration of the material in human healthy skin.
Clinically, both the physicians' and patients' evaluations revealed very satisfactory results, with a global 78.5% and 73.4% respectively of moderate or marked improvement after eight months, independent of the treated area. The photographic evaluation revealed even better results with a 80.4% of moderate or marked improvement after 8 months. The safety evaluation showed a 12.5% of postoperative immediate adverse events, that were localized and transient. There was no evidence of major systemic side effects. Histologically, the product was shown to be long-lasting and well tolerated as judged by histological techniques.
Stabilized, non-animal, hyaluronic acid gel is well tolerated and effective in augmentation therapy of soft tissues of the face. This material presents several advantages in comparison to previously used injectable biomaterials and expands the arsenal of therapeutic tools in the field of soft tissue augmentation.
•The control possibilities for OWC devices depend on the type of air turbine.•Comprehensive control strategies should minimise the levelized cost of energy.•To date, OWC control mainly focuses on ...turbine efficiency maximisation.•Complete model-based control strategies need control-oriented wave-to-wire models.•Control co-design should be used to guarantee optimal control-informed WEC design.
Wave energy is a significant untapped renewable energy source which can be harnessed by wave energy converters (WECs). The oscillating water column (OWC) is one of the most promising WECs, due to its relative simplicity of operation and relatively small number of moving parts, all located above the water level. OWC power take-off systems also have lower levels of mechanical stress and more easily dissipate excess wave power, compared to other types of WECs, helping to increase the capacity factor. To improve the economic viability of OWC WECs, the performance of the associated energy-maximising control system is a major determining factor. However, energy maximisation alone does not necessarily imply that the economic return is maximised, since: (i) capital and operational costs of the OWC system should be considered and (ii) the additional goals of power quality and device integrity are also important. Indeed, to maximise return on investment, the optimisation pathway should ideally minimise the levelised cost of energy (LCoE). This critical review aims to: (i) provide a comprehensive analysis of the OWC control problem, (ii) offer an exhaustive review of available control strategies for OWCs, (iii) identify unexplored control and optimisation possibilities, and (iv) suggest future directions for OWC control. Ultimately, this review highlights that, to date, OWC control mainly focuses on turbine control, especially due to the importance of operating the turbine around its maximum efficiency point. However, comprehensive control strategies should maximise the overall, or wave-to-wire (W2W), efficiency of the device. To this end, control-oriented (complete and computationally simple) W2W OWC models should be considered in model-based control strategies. Finally, control co-design techniques should be adopted to guarantee optimal control-informed WEC design and to take into account cost-related aspects.
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