Semiconductor qubits rely on the control of charge and spin degrees of freedom of electrons or holes confined in quantum dots. They constitute a promising approach to quantum information processing, ...complementary to superconducting qubits. Here, we demonstrate coherent coupling between a superconducting transmon qubit and a semiconductor double quantum dot (DQD) charge qubit mediated by virtual microwave photon excitations in a tunable high-impedance SQUID array resonator acting as a quantum bus. The transmon-charge qubit coherent coupling rate (~21 MHz) exceeds the linewidth of both the transmon (~0.8 MHz) and the DQD charge qubit (~2.7 MHz). By tuning the qubits into resonance for a controlled amount of time, we observe coherent oscillations between the constituents of this hybrid quantum system. These results enable a new class of experiments exploring the use of two-qubit interactions mediated by microwave photons to create entangled states between semiconductor and superconducting qubits.
Antipsychotics are primarily labelled for the treatment of severe mental illness and have documented clinical utility in certain neurological disorders or palliative care. However, off-label use of ...antipsychotics is common and increasing, and prior studies on antipsychotic utilisation have not specifically assessed users in neurology, palliative care or general practice. We aimed to explore diagnoses associated with antipsychotic use, treatment patterns and characteristics of users without diagnoses relevant to antipsychotic treatment.
Population-based study identifiying all users of antipsychotics in Denmark (pop 5.7 mio.) 1997-2018 in the Danish National Prescription Register (DNPR). Possible indications for antipsychotic therapy were evaluated using in- and outpatient contacts from the DNPR. Users were divided hierarchically into six groups: severe mental disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar-spectrum disorders), chronic mental disorders (dementias, mental retardation, autism), other mental disorders (depression-spectrum, anxiety and personality disorders, etc.), selected neurological diseases, cancer and antipsychotic users without any of these diagnoses. This last group was characterised regarding demographics, antipsychotic use, health care utilisation and likely antipsychotic treatment initiator in 2018.
Altogether, 630 307 antipsychotic users were identified, of whom 127 649 had filled prescriptions during 2018. Users without diagnoses relevant to antipsychotic treatment comprised of the largest group (37%), followed by schizophrenia and bipolar-spectrum disorders (34%), other mental disorders (15%), dementia, autism and mental retardation (11%), cancer (2.2%) and neurological diagnoses (2.0%). Of 37 478 incident users in 2018, 39% had no diagnosis relevant to antipsychotic treatment, 7.9% had major depression, 7.7% neurotic/stress-related disorders and 7.5% dementia. Quetiapine was most commonly used, both overall (51%) and among users without diagnoses relevant to antipsychotic treatment (58%). Of 14 474 incident users in 2018 without diagnoses relevant to antipsychotic treatment, treatment was most likely initiated by a general practitioner (65%), with only 17% seeing a psychiatrist during the following year. As many as 18% of patients with adjustment disorders and 14% of those without relevant diagnoses for antipsychotic use, remained on antipsychotic treatment 5 years after their first prescription.
Over one-third of antipsychotic users in Denmark did not have psychiatric, neurological or cancer diagnoses as possible indications for antipsychotic therapy. Many antipsychotics are initiated or prescribed in general practice, and a concerningly large subgroup without documented diagnoses relevant for antipsychotics continued to receive them. Rational prescribing, adequate side effect monitoring and further research into reasons for the observed antipsychotic use patterns and their risk-benefit ratio are needed.
•Finland had a different drug profile compared to the other countries.•Opioids were the main cause of death among fatal poisoned drug addicts in all countries.•Cocaine and MDMA deaths increased in ...all countries.•Sweden saw a high number of deaths from fentanyl analogues.•New psychoactive substances have emerged in all countries except Iceland.
This study is the seventh report on fatal poisonings among drug addicts in the Nordic countries. In this report, we analyse data from the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Data on gender, number of deaths, places of deaths, age, main intoxicants and substances detected in blood were recorded to obtain national and comparable Nordic data, and to allow comparison with earlier studies conducted in 1984, 1991, 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012.
The death rate (number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants) was highest in Iceland (6.58) followed closely by Sweden (6.46) and then lowest in Denmark (4.29). The death rate increased in Finland (5.84), Iceland and Sweden and decreased in Denmark compared to earlier studies. The death rate in Norway, which has decreased since 2002, has stabilised around 5.7 as of 2017. Women accounted for 7–23% of the fatal poisonings. The percentage was lowest in Iceland and highest in Finland and Norway. The age range was 14–70 years. The median age (41 years) was highest in Denmark and Norway. The other countries had a median age between 33 and 35 years.
Opioids were the main cause of death. Methadone remained the main intoxicant in Denmark, while heroin/morphine was still the main intoxicant in Norway, as was buprenorphine in Finland. However, the picture has changed in Sweden compared to 2012, where heroin/morphine caused most deaths in 2017. Sweden also experienced the highest number of deaths from fentanyl analogues (67 deaths) and buprenorphine (61 deaths). Deaths from fentanyl analogues also occurred in Denmark, Finland and Norway, but to a smaller extent. Over the years, the proportion of opioid deaths has decreased in all countries except Sweden, which has experienced an increase. This decline has been replaced by deaths from CNS stimulants like cocaine, amphetamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Cocaine deaths have occurred in all countries but most frequently in Denmark. MDMA deaths have increased in all countries but mostly in Finland.
Poly-drug use was widespread, as seen in the earlier studies. The median number of detected drugs per case varied from 4–6. Heroin/morphine, methadone, buprenorphine, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and benzodiazepines were frequently detected. Pregabalin and gabapentin were detected in all countries, especially pregabalin, which was detected in 42% of the Finnish cases. New psychoactive substances (NPS) occurred in all countries except Iceland.
•Treatment with QT-prolonging medications may induce fatal cardiac arrhythmia.•22.5% of 741 autopsy cases had a high risk of medication-induced QT-prolongation.•Cardiac arrhythmia related to ...QT-prolonging medications could be suspected in 0.9%.•A genetic pro-arrhythmic background in these 0.9% cannot be excluded.
Medication-induced prolongation of the QT-interval (miQTP) can lead to cardiac arrhythmia. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of forensic autopsy cases where fatal cardiac arrhythmia related to treatment with QT-prolonging medications (QT-PMs) could be suspected. We performed a cross-sectional study of 741 forensic autopsies undertaken at our institution in non-drug addicts aged 15 years or above from 2017 to 2019. We defined a high risk of miQTP by one detected QT-PM in a concentration above therapeutic level, or two or more detected QT-PMs in post mortem blood. We reviewed the autopsy reports from cases with a high miQTP-risk to identify cases with no other apparent cause of death. We discarded suicides and cases with lethal levels of QT-PMs. We identified 167 cases (22.5%) with high risk of miQTP, and discarded 36 suicides (4.9%) and 7 (0.9%) with lethal levels of QT-PMs. Apart from a high risk of miQTP, no other apparent explanation of the cause of death was present in seven (0.9%). In 18 cases (2.4%) with high miQTP-risk, the cause of death was primarily attributed to cardiac changes other than acute cardiovascular events. In conclusion, 22.5% had a high risk of miQTP, and fatal cardiac arrhythmia related to treatment with QT-PMs could be suspected in 0.9%. However, a genetic pro-arrhythmic background could not be excluded in our study. Furthermore, it is possible that QT-PMs could have played a role in some of the 2.4% of cases where the cause of death was mainly attributed to cardiac changes and the risk of miQTP was high.
New and well‐dated evidence of sulphate deposits in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores indicate a substantial and extensive atmospheric acidic dust veil at A.D. 533–534 ± 2 years. This was likely ...produced by a large explosive, near equatorial volcanic eruption, causing widespread dimming and contributing to the abrupt cooling across much of the Northern Hemisphere known from historical records and tree‐ring data to have occurred in A.D. 536. Tree‐ring data suggest that this was the most severe and protracted short‐term cold episode across the Northern Hemisphere in the last two millennia, even surpassing the severity of the cold period following the Tambora eruption in 1815.
ABSTRACT We report on the mass and distance measurements of two single-lens events from the 2015 Spitzer microlensing campaign. With both finite-source effect and microlens parallax measurements, we ...find that the lens of OGLE-2015-BLG-1268 is very likely a brown dwarf (BD). Assuming that the source star lies behind the same amount of dust as the Bulge red clump, we find the lens is a 45 7 BD at 5.9 1.0 kpc. The lens of of the second event, OGLE-2015-BLG-0763, is a 0.50 0.04 star at 6.9 1.0 kpc. We show that the probability to definitively measure the mass of isolated microlenses is dramatically increased once simultaneous ground- and space-based observations are conducted.
Summary Background The peptide apelin is localised in the vascular endothelium and highly expressed in pulmonary tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate whether apelin could be a potential ...lung-derived plasma marker for pulmonary hypertension, and study the effect of apelin in pulmonary arteries. Methods Apelin protein levels were measured in the lung, right ventricle, and plasma from normoxic and chronic hypoxic rats with pulmonary hypertension. Isolated intrapulmonary arteries were mounted in microvascular myographs and the effect of apelin investigated. Finally, the distribution of apelin receptors in pulmonary tissue was visualised by immunohistochemistry. Results Total pulmonary apelin content was not changed by hypoxia. Right ventricular apelin concentrations and content were lower than in the lung, but increased substantially in hypoxia in correlation with right ventricular pressure. Plasma apelin did not reflect pulmonary or right ventricular apelin levels. In pulmonary arteries from normoxic rats, apelin inhibited vasoconstriction to endothelin-1 and angiotensin-II. However, in arteries from hypoxic rats, apelin failed to inhibit contraction to angiotensin-II and endothelin-1. No difference in immunoreaction for apelin receptors was found in lung sections and arteries from normoxic versus chronic hypoxic rats. Conclusions Apelin changes in the right ventricle seem more specific for pulmonary hypertension than do changes in pulmonary tissue, which does not speak in favour of apelin as a lung-derived marker for this disease. During normoxic conditions, apelin has a modulating effect on vasoconstriction which is lost in chronic hypoxia. This may reflect alterations in the signal transduction downstream of the apelin receptor.
Pseudomonas sp. strain B13 and Pseudomonas putida OUS82 were genetically tagged with the green fluorescent protein and the Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein, and the development and dynamics ...occurring in flow chamber-grown two-colored monospecies or mixed-species biofilms were investigated by the use of confocal scanning laser microscopy. Separate red or green fluorescent microcolonies were formed initially, suggesting that the initial small microcolonies were formed simply by growth of substratum attached cells and not by cell aggregation. Red fluorescent microcolonies containing a few green fluorescent cells and green fluorescent microcolonies containing a few red fluorescent cells were frequently observed in both monospecies and two-species biofilms, suggesting that the bacteria moved between the microcolonies. Rapid movement of P. putida OUS82 bacteria inside microcolonies was observed before a transition from compact microcolonies to loose irregularly shaped protruding structures occurred. Experiments involving a nonflagellated P. putida OUS82 mutant suggested that the movements between and inside microcolonies were flagellum driven. The results are discussed in relation to the prevailing hypothesis that biofilm bacteria are in a physiological state different from planktonic bacteria.
Summary
Background Acute pancreatitis after ERCP is a severe side effect.
Aim To evaluate the preventive effect of nitroglycerin on post‐ERCP pancreatitis by a meta‐analysis of randomized clinical ...studies.
Methods We searched on Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library and all s presented at Digestive Disease Week and United European Gastrointestinal Week from 2004 to 2008. We used the MeSH terms ‘pancreatitis’ together (AND) with the terms: ‘glyceryl trinitrate’, ‘glyceryl dinitrate’, ‘isosorbide dinitrate’ or ‘nitroglycerin’.
Results Five clinical studies evaluating the incidence of post‐ERCP pancreatitis after administration of nitroglycerin were identified. Meta‐analysis including all five studies showed a relative risk (RR) of 0.61 (95% CI; 0.44, 0.86) with the number needed to treat (NNT) of 26 (95% CI: 16, 82). Three studies evaluated nitroglycerin administered by a dermal patch reaching together an RR of 0.66 (95% CI; 0.43, 1.01). The use of nitroglycerin is associated with a significantly increased risk of hypotension (RR 2.25) and headache (RR 3.64). No difference in mortality was observed.
Conclusions Overall, our meta‐analysis supports the use of nitroglycerin in the prevention of post‐ERCP pancreatitis, but administration of nitroglycerin by the dermal route, which is the preferred route of administration, did not reach statistical significance.
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