Dissipative Landau-Zener tunneling in the crossover regime from weak to strong environment coupling.

Landau-Zener tunneling, which describes the transition in a two-level system during a sweep through an anti-crossing, is a model applicable to a wide range of physical phenomena. Realistic quantum systems are affected by dissipation due to coupling to their environments. An important aspect of understanding such open quantum systems is the relative energy scales of the system itself and the system-environment coupling, which distinguishes the weak- and strong-coupling regimes.

An integrated photonic engine for programmable atomic control.

Solutions for scalable, high-performance optical control are important for the development of scaled atom-based quantum technologies. Modulation of many individual optical beams is central to applying arbitrary gate and control sequences on arrays of atoms or atom-like systems. At telecom wavelengths, miniaturization of optical components via photonic integration has pushed the scale and performance of classical and quantum optics far beyond the limitations of bulk devices.

Neurological Complications Associated With the Powassan Virus and Treatment Interventions.

Powassan virus (POWV), a flavivirus transmitted by ticks, poses significant neurological risks, including encephalitis and meningitis. Despite its growing geographical spread and severe clinical manifestations, no specific antiviral treatments are currently available. This review synthesizes the existing literature on POWV, focusing on its epidemiology, clinical manifestations, neurological impact, and current treatment approaches.

The effect of restrictive compared to liberal intravenous fluid volume on hypotension in adults undergoing major abdominal surgery.

In a cardiac output (CO) sub-study of the Restrictive versus Liberal Fluid Therapy in Major Abdominal Surgery (RELIEF) trial, it was shown that restrictive fluid management was associated with lower cardiac index at the end of surgery. However, the association of the fluid protocol with intraoperative blood pressure was less clear. This paper primarily compares rates of hypotension between the two fluid regimens.

Evolution of 1/f Flux Noise in Superconducting Qubits with Weak Magnetic Fields.

The microscopic description of 1/f magnetic flux noise in superconducting circuits has remained an open question for several decades despite extensive experimental and theoretical investigation. Recent progress in superconducting devices for quantum information has highlighted the need to mitigate sources of qubit decoherence, driving a renewed interest in understanding the underlying noise mechanism(s). Though a consensus has emerged attributing flux noise to surface spins, their identity and interaction mechanisms remain unclear, prompting further study.

Insights from a workplace SARS-CoV-2 specimen collection program, with genomes placed into global sequence phylogeny.

In 2020, the Department of Energy established the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL) to address key challenges associated with COVID-19. As part of that effort, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established a capability to collect and analyze specimens from employees who self-reported symptoms consistent with the disease. During the spring and fall of 2021, 688 specimens were screened for SARS-CoV-2, with 64 (9.

Demonstration of Tunable Three-Body Interactions between Superconducting Qubits.

Nonpairwise multiqubit interactions present a useful resource for quantum information processors. Their implementation would facilitate more efficient quantum simulations of molecules and combinatorial optimization problems, and they could simplify error suppression and error correction schemes. Here, we present a superconducting circuit architecture in which a coupling module mediates two-local and three-local interactions between three flux qubits by design.

Single-centre experience of refractory rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the proportion of RA patients who are refractory to multiple targeted therapies (TTs) in a real-world cohort of patients in a tertiary rheumatology referral centre, to describe patterns of drug sequencing associated with the development of refractory RA (RefRA) and to identify whether there is a subgroup of RefRA patients in whom successive drugs have shown primary lack of efficacy.

Methods: Patients at a single centre were defined as refractory if they had failed two or more classes of TT and were identified from a dedicated TT clinic database. Reasons for drug failure were recorded, and patients were categorized pragmatically as having mild [failure of two biologic DMARD (bDMARD) classes], moderate [failure of at least three bDMARD classes] or severe [failure of at least two bDMARD classes and JAK inhibitor] refractory disease.

Improving qubit coherence using closed-loop feedback.

Superconducting qubits are a promising platform for building a larger-scale quantum processor capable of solving otherwise intractable problems. In order for the processor to reach practical viability, the gate errors need to be further suppressed and remain stable for extended periods of time. With recent advances in qubit control, both single- and two-qubit gate fidelities are now in many cases limited by the coherence times of the qubits.

Compound specific stable isotope analysis of aromatics in diesel fuel to identify potential cocktailing.

Estimates suggest billions of dollars are lost annually in the US due to fuel tax fraud. One method of fuel fraud is called "cocktailing" and involves blending products that are non-taxed, lower value, taxed at a lower rate, or unwanted/less-refined petroleum to diesel fuels. The goal of this study was to investigate compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) for small aromatics contained in diesel fuel to determine whether this approach could be used to identify cocktailing and potentially fingerprint possible sources.

Hexagonal boron nitride as a low-loss dielectric for superconducting quantum circuits and qubits.

Dielectrics with low loss at microwave frequencies are imperative for high-coherence solid-state quantum computing platforms. Here we study the dielectric loss of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) thin films in the microwave regime by measuring the quality factor of parallel-plate capacitors (PPCs) made of NbSe-hBN-NbSe heterostructures integrated into superconducting circuits. The extracted microwave loss tangent of hBN is bounded to be at most in the mid-10 range in the low-temperature, single-photon regime.

Validation of the Southend giant cell arteritis probability score in a Scottish single-centre fast-track pathway.

Objective: The aim was to provide external validation of the Southend GCA probability score (GCAPS) in patients attending a GCA fast-track pathway (GCA FTP) in NHS Lanarkshire.

Methods: Consecutive GCA FTP patients between November 2018 and December 2020 underwent GCAPS assessment as part of routine care. GCA diagnoses were supported by US of the cranial and axillary arteries (USS), with or without temporal artery biopsy (TAB), and confirmed at 6 months.

Value of the loss of heterozygosity to BRCA1 variant classification.

At least 10% of the BRCA1/2 tests identify variants of uncertain significance (VUS) while the distinction between pathogenic variants (PV) and benign variants (BV) remains particularly challenging. As a typical tumor suppressor gene, the inactivation of the second wild-type (WT) BRCA1 allele is expected to trigger cancer initiation. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the WT allele is the most frequent mechanism for the BRCA1 biallelic inactivation.

A multistep enrichment process with custom growth medium improves resuscitation of chlorine-stressed coliforms from secondary sewage effluents.

Resuscitation and detection of stressed total coliforms in chlorinated water samples is needed to assess and prevent health effects from adverse exposure. In this study, we report that the addition of a growth enhancer mix consisting of trehalose, sodium pyruvate, magnesium chloride, and 1× trace mineral supplement improved growth of microorganisms from chlorinated secondary effluent in the base medium with Colilert-18. Improving growth of chlorine stressed microorganisms from secondary effluent is crucial to decreased detection time from 18 to 8 h.

Mapping Glyceride Species in Biodiesel by High-Temperature Gas Chromatography Combined with Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

Accurate and comprehensive identification of residual glycerides in biodiesel is an important part of fuel characterization due to the impact of glycerides on the fuel physicochemical properties. However, analysis of bound glycerol in biodiesel samples faces challenges due to lack of readily available standards of structurally complex glyceride species in nontraditional biodiesel feedstocks and a risk of misannotation in the presence of impurities in gas chromatographic separations. Here, we evaluate methane and isobutane chemical ionization-single quadrupole mass spectrometry combined with high-temperature gas chromatography separations for mapping monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, and triacylglycerols in biodiesel.

Multi-level quantum noise spectroscopy.

System noise identification is crucial to the engineering of robust quantum systems. Although existing quantum noise spectroscopy (QNS) protocols measure an aggregate amount of noise affecting a quantum system, they generally cannot distinguish between the underlying processes that contribute to it. Here, we propose and experimentally validate a spin-locking-based QNS protocol that exploits the multi-level energy structure of a superconducting qubit to achieve two notable advances.

Real-world experience of effectiveness of non-medical switch from originator to biosimilar rituximab in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of non-medical switch from rituximab originator (RTX-O) to biosimilar (RTX-B) in patients with RA.

Methods: Between October 2017 and October 2019, all patients on RTX-O in our centre requiring re-treatment were switched to RTX-B unless declined by the patient or specified by the treating clinician. Switch strategy effectiveness was assessed retrospectively using DAS28-CRP(3) and RTX retention, with patients remaining on RTX-O as a comparator group.

Real-world single centre use of JAK inhibitors across the rheumatoid arthritis pathway.

Objectives: To evaluate real-world efficacy of approved JAK inhibitors (JAKi) tofacitinib and baricitinib in a large, single-centre cohort of RA patients across the treatment pathway, including those refractory to multiple biologic drugs.

Methods: All RA patients, treated with tofacitinib (from time of compassionate access scheme) or baricitinib since approval in 2017 had DAS28-CRP scores and components recorded at baseline, 3 and 6 months (with retrospective data for compassionate access scheme). Efficacy was evaluated in the total cohort, each treatment group, and subgroups of number of prior biologic classes failed.

Cross-Sectional Transcriptional Analysis of the Aging Murine Heart.

Cardiovascular disease accounts for millions of deaths each year and is currently the leading cause of mortality worldwide. The aging process is clearly linked to cardiovascular disease, however, the exact relationship between aging and heart function is not fully understood. Furthermore, a holistic view of cardiac aging, linking features of early life development to changes observed in old age, has not been synthesized.

Generating spatially entangled itinerant photons with waveguide quantum electrodynamics.

Realizing a fully connected network of quantum processors requires the ability to distribute quantum entanglement. For distant processing nodes, this can be achieved by generating, routing, and capturing spatially entangled itinerant photons. In this work, we demonstrate the deterministic generation of such photons using superconducting transmon qubits that are directly coupled to a waveguide.