Quantum mechanical phenomena are revolutionizing classical engineering fields such as signal processing or cryptography. When randomness plays an important role, like in cryptography where random bit ...sequences guarantee certain levels of security, quantum mechanical phenomena allow new ways of generating random bit sequences. Such sequences have a lot of applications in the communication sector, e.g., regarding data transmission, simulation, sensors or radars, and beyond. They can be generated deterministically (e.g., by using polynomials, resulting in pseudo-random sequences) or in a non-deterministic way (e.g., by using physical noise sources like external devices or sensors, resulting in random sequences). Important characteristics of such binary sequences can be modelled by gap processes in conjunction with the probability theory. Recently, all-optical approaches have attracted a lot of research interest. In this work, an adaptation of the quantum key distribution setup is utilized for generating randomised bit sequences. The simulation results show that all-optically generated sequences very well resemble the theoretically ideal probability density characteristic. Additionally, an experimental optical setup is developed that confirms the simulation results. Furthermore, m-sequences show very promising results as well as Gold sequences. Additionally, the level of burstiness, i.e., the distribution of ones and zeros throughout the sequence, is studied for the different sequences. The results enable the finding that generator polynomials with concentrated non-zero coefficients lead to more bursty bit sequences.
Endovascular thrombectomy (ET) for acute ischemic stroke is the current standard of care. Although successful ET has high efficacy in improving functional outcomes, the decision to abort a long ...procedure remains a challenge. Longer procedure time (PT) has been associated with lower rates of functional independence.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of PT on outcomes and complications after ET using different techniques at a multicenter level and to define the risk of procedure extension in different patient cohorts.
Patients undergoing ET with a stent retriever (SR) or a direct aspiration at first pass technique at 7 U.S. centers between June 2013 and February 2018 were reviewed from prospectively maintained databases that include baseline variables and technical and clinical outcomes. Multivariate analyses were used to assess impact of PT on 90-day modified Rankin scores, successful recanalization, post-procedural symptomatic hemorrhage (sICH), and complications.
The study included 1,359 patients and demonstrated a decreased likelihood of good functional outcomes (modified Rankin score 0 to 2) when PT extended beyond 30 min (p < 0.01). Rates of sICH and complications increased exponentially with PT (doubling rates of 26 and 50 min, respectively). The cumulative rate of successful recanalization and good outcomes plateaued after 60 min of PT. In patients with PT >30 min, fewer attempts predicted the success of ET and good outcomes (p < 0.01). Successful recanalization was achieved faster with the direct aspiration at first pass technique than in SR. The direct aspiration technique was more sensitive to PT than SR, and posterior stroke was more sensitive to PT than anterior stroke.
Longer ET procedures lead to lower rates of functional independence and higher rates of sICH and complications. Exceeding 60 min or 3 attempts should trigger careful assessment of futility and risks of continuing the procedure.
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In optical fiber communication, recent advances in multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) systems using space-division multiplexing have helped achieve higher spectral efficiency and data rates. ...Propagating higher-order modulation formats over MIMO systems further strengthens the capacity of the transmission link. In the optical-MIMO system, the dispersion impairments originating from a 1.4 km long multi-mode fiber (MMF) are mitigated using the proposed joint-transceiver equalization technique. A numerical convex optimization algorithm is used to compute and optimize the pre- and post-equalization (PPE) coefficients jointly restricted by cost and power budgets. The potential of the proposed joint-PPE technique is tested on an MMF link, which is severely degraded by dispersion compared to a single-mode fiber channel. From the experimental results, the average optical received power gain necessary to reach 10−4 bit-error rate is improved by nearly 2.5 dB using the joint-PPE compared to the post-equalization only based on the minimum mean-squared error principle. When the efficiency of the conventional zero-forcing (ZF) principle-based PPE and the joint-PPE is compared, the joint-PPE scheme outperforms the ZF-PPE by approximately 1.5 dB. The enhancement in the transmission quality is observed with experimentally measured eye diagrams using the joint-PPE scheme. Under the analyzed scenarios, computer simulation also confirms the hypothesis, which establishes the effectiveness of the proposed joint-transceiver equalization over the conventional ZF-PPE scheme. Moreover, the simulated performance benefits of the joint-PPE are evaluated using the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. Improvement of ≈3.86 dB in the average optical received power gain required to reach 10−4 bit-error rate is witnessed with the PAM-4 format. Overall, the joint-transceiver equalization technique is proven to be beneficial in optical MIMO systems.
Rapamycin acts synergistically with platinum agents to induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation in breast cancer cell lines. Combination of everolimus also known as RAD001 (oral mammalian target of ...rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor) and carboplatin may have activity in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
The primary objective of this study was to determine clinical benefit rate (CBR), that is (complete remission (CR) + partial remission (PR) + stable disease (SD) lasting ≥6 months) and the toxicity of everolimus/carboplatin in women with metastatic TNBC. Prior carboplatin was allowed. Treatment consisted of intravenous carboplatin area under the curve (AUC) 6 (later decreased to AUC 5 and subsequently to AUC 4) every 3 weeks with daily 5 mg everolimus.
We enrolled 25 patients in this study. Median age was 58 years. There were one CR, six PRs, seven SDs and eight PDs (progression of disease). CBR was 36% (95% confidence interval (CI) 21.1 to 57.4%). One SD was achieved in a patient progressing on single agent carboplatin. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 3 months (95% CI 1.6 to 4.6 months) and overall survival (OS) was 16.6 months (95% CI 7.3 months to not reached). There were seven patients (28%) with ≥ grade 3 thrombocytopenia; three (12%) with grade 3 neutropenia (no bleeding/febrile neutropenia) and one (4%) with grade 3 anemia. Greater hematological toxicity was seen in the first seven patients treated with carboplatin AUC5/6. After the amendment for starting dose of carboplatin to AUC 4, the regimen was well tolerated with only one out of 18 patients with grade 3 neutropenia and two patients with grade 3 thrombocytopenia. There was only one case of mucositis.
Everolimus-carboplatin was efficacious in metastatic TNBC. Dose limiting hematological toxicity was observed when AUC5/6 of carboplatin was combined with everolimus. However, carboplatin AUC 4 was well tolerated in combination with everolimus with continuing responses.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01127763.
Over recent decades the use of smartphones for work purposes has burgeoned both within and beyond working hours. The aim of the study was to conduct a scoping review to explore the association ...between the use of smartphone technology for work purposes in off-job hours with employees’ self-reported work-life conflict. Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework was adopted. Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), Academic Search Complete, ProQuest Central, Web of Science, ProQuest Theses, Emerald, Business Source Complete, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar. Articles were eligible that reported on a sample of workers, were published in English between 1 st January 2012 and 29 th November 2023. The review was conducted and reported using a quality assessment checklist and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). Data charting and synthesis was undertaken narratively, using the framework approach and thematic analysis. Twenty-three studies were identified, conducted in nine countries. Nineteen studies (83%) showed a significant association between increased use of smartphone for work purposes in off job-hours and increased work-life conflict, with small-to-moderate effect sizes. This relationship was mediated by psychological detachment from work, and communication about family demands with one’s supervisor. Moderators either strengthened or attenuated the relationship between use of smartphone for work purposes in off job-hours and increased work-life conflict. Findings suggest that smartphone use during off-job hours is likely to impact negatively on work-life conflict, which has implications for employee wellbeing. Managers could play a key role in clarifying expectations about after-hours availability, reducing job pressure, advocating psychological detachment from work in off-job hours where it is appropriate, and creating a workplace culture where communication about the interplay between work and home life is encouraged. The protocol is registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WFZU6 ).
ABSTRACT
HCO+ is one of the most abundant polyatomic ion in the Universe, also its presence in the planetary atmospheres and interstellar medium (ISM) makes it an interesting case to study. Low ...energy e−-HCO+ collisions result in rotational excitation and other molecular processes. In this study, the cross-sections for rotational transitions in HCO+ are evaluated for four rotational levels (j = 0, 1, 2, and 3) using the UK R-matrix method and the multichannel quantum defect theory (MQDT). The UK R-matrix method used to generate scattering matrices, through which cross-sections are computed. In past two decades, after developments and implementations of different theoretical approaches, the improved channel elimination procedure applied here is more promising to evaluate more accurate results near rotational thresholds important for the analysis of intensities of microwave region in plasma modelling. The rate coefficients are deduced from the computed cross-sections and studied over a wide electron temperature range.
The land use and land cover (LULC) of a watershed play an important role in controlling its hydrological processes. With the help of applying the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), this study ...aims to quantify the impact of changing LULC on hydrological responses and water quality in the Big Creek Lake watershed in Mobile County, South Alabama. A number of data sources were input into the SWAT model as part of its calibration and validation, including land use and land cover (LULC), weather variables, digital elevation models (DEMs), soil properties, and measured streamflows. The total monthly streamflow increased by about 62 m3/s and the average nitrogen and phosphorus are estimated to have increased by about 3,172 kg/Ha and 892 kg/Ha per year respectively over the thirty years because of the increasing agricultural land (11,406 acres), urban development (3,350 acres), and decreasing forested areas (11,482 acres). This research could be helpful for water resource managers and planners by incorporating the results in the monitoring and planning for the future.
The multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technology is a promising area of research to cope up with the demands of higher data rates and capacity. In the optical communication domain, the ...combination of space-division multiplexing (SDM) with higher-order modulation (HOM) formats over an optical MIMO system actively addresses these challenges. By allowing multi-level signaling with limited increment in the transmitter’s complexity, a jointly designed pre- and post-equalization (PPE) for an optical MIMO system with a multi-mode fiber (MMF) link is proposed. Cost-effectiveness of the system is incorporated by utilizing intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) with HOM formats such as pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) schemes. With the aid of a numerical optimization algorithm, the proposed joint-PPE filter coefficients are optimized with respect to the MMF channel and the transmit power constraint. In contrast to existing research on the single-mode fiber (SMF) based optical systems, the effectiveness of the proposed joint-PPE filter is analyzed on an MMF link, which is considerably degraded by the modal dispersion. In the analyzed experimental scenario, the proposed joint-PPE scheme confirms to be beneficial as compared to the post-equalization only (PE-only) in terms of bit-error rate (BER) performance. Furthermore, the required average received optical power to reach a BER 10−4 by the joint-PPE scheme is improved by 2 dB with comparison to the minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) PE-only.
Drug screening models have a vital role in the development of novel antimycobacterial agents which are urgently needed to tackle drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). We recently established the larvae ...of the insect
(greater wax moth) as a novel infection model for the
complex. Here we demonstrate its use as a rapid and reproducible screen to evaluate antimycobacterial drug efficacy using larvae infected with bioluminescent
BCG
. Treatment improved larval survival outcome and, with the exception of pyrazinamide, was associated with a significant reduction in
mycobacterial bioluminescence over a 96 h period compared to the untreated controls. Isoniazid and rifampicin displayed the greatest
efficacy and survival outcome. Thus
infected with bioluminescent mycobacteria, can rapidly determine
drug efficacy, and has the potential to significantly reduce and/or replace the number of animals used in TB research.
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