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We study the entanglement harvesting between two identical buckled honeycomb lattices placed inside a planar microcavity. By applying time dependent perturbation theory, we obtain quantum correlations between both layers induced by the cavity field. Considering the vacuum state as the initial state of the cavity field and tracing out the time-evolved degrees of freedom, we analyze the entanglement formation using the concurrence measure. We show that the concurrence depends on the virtual photon exchanged and the positions of the layer through the interlayer photon propagator. Furthermore, we find that the formation of entanglement between equal energy electrons tends to be enhanced when they move in perpendicular directions. Our results indicate that a buckled honeycomb structure and a large spin-orbit interaction favor the entanglement harvesting.

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Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that poses significant health risks and requires early detection for effective treatment. This study proposing a novel approach that integrates a transformer-based model with hand-crafted texture features and Gray Wolf Optimization, aiming to enhance efficiency of melanoma classification. Preprocessing involves standardizing image dimensions and enhancing image quality through median filtering techniques. Texture features, including GLCM and LBP, are extracted to capture spatial patterns indicative of melanoma. The GWO algorithm is applied to select the most discriminative features. A transformer-based decoder is then employed for classification, leveraging attention mechanisms to capture contextual dependencies. The experimental validation on the HAM10000 dataset and ISIC2019 dataset showcases the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The transformer-based model, integrated with hand-crafted texture features and guided by Gray Wolf Optimization, achieves outstanding results. The results showed that the proposed method performed well in melanoma detection tasks, achieving an accuracy and F1-score of 99.54% and 99.11% on the HAM10000 dataset, and an accuracy of 99.47%, and F1-score of 99.25% on the ISIC2019 dataset. • We use the concepts of LBP and GLCM to extract features from the skin lesion images. • The Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm is employed for feature selection. • A decoder based on Transformers is utilized for melanoma classification.

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We study genuine multipartite entanglement (GME) and multipartite k-entanglement based on q-concurrence. Well-defined parameterized GME measures and measures of multipartite k-entanglement are presented for arbitrary dimensional n-partite quantum systems. Our GME measures show that the GHZ state is more entangled than the W state. Moreover, our measures are shown to be inequivalent to the existing measures according to entanglement ordering. Detailed examples show that our measures characterize the multipartite entanglement finer than some existing measures, in the sense that our measures identify the difference of two different states while the latter fail.

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Magnetic and topological properties along with quantum correlations in terms of several entanglement measures have been investigated for an antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin-1/2 XY model in the presence of transverse magnetic field and XZX-YZY type of three-spin interactions. Symmetries of the spin Hamiltonian have been identified. Under the Jordan-Wigner transformation, the spin Hamiltonian converted into spinless superconducting model with nearest neighbor (NN) hopping and Cooper pairing terms in addition to next NN Cooper pairing potential. Long range AFM order has been studied in terms of staggered spin-spin correlation functions, while the topological orders have been characterized by winding numbers. Magnetic and topological phase diagrams have been prepared. Faithful coexistence of magnetic and topological superconducting phases is found in the entire parameter regime. Boundaries of various quantum phases have been marked and positions of bicritical points have been identified.

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Background: Exposure to multiple risk factors is prevalent in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), challenging one-directional strategies to address preventable under-5 mortality (U5M). This study aims to assess the associations between concurrence of multiple risk factors and U5M in LMICs. Methods: We extracted data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2010 and 2021 across 61 LMICs. Our primary outcome was U5M, defined as deaths from birth to 59 months. Binary logistic regression model was applied to ascertain the association between U5M and a total of 20 critical risk factors. Upon identifying the risk factors demonstrating the strongest associations, we investigated the simultaneous presence of multiple risk factors in each individual and assessed their combined effects on U5M with logistic regression models. Findings: Of the 604,372 under-5 children, 18,166 (3.0%) died at the time of the survey. Unsatisfied family planning needs was the strongest risk factor for U5M (odds ratio [OR]: 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.9-2.1), followed by short birth interval (<18 months; OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.9-2.1), small birth size (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.8-2.1), never breastfed or delayed breastfeeding (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.9-2.0), and low maternal education (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.4-1.8). 66.7% (66.6%-66.8%) of the children had 2 or more leading risk factors simultaneously. Simultaneous presence of multiple leading risk factors was significantly associated with elevated risk of U5M and children presenting with all 5 leading risk factors exhibited an exceedingly high risk of U5M (OR: 5.2, 95% CI: 4.3-6.3); a dose-response relationship between the number of risk factors and U5M was also observed-with the increment of numbers of leading risk factors, the U5M showed an increasing trend (p-trend < 0.001). Interpretation: Exposure to multiple risk factors is very common in LMICs and underscores the necessity of developing multisectoral and integrated approaches to accelerate progress in reducing U5M in line with the SDG 3.2. Funding: This research is funded by Research Fund, Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University.

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The assessment and characterization of trend accuracy, that is, the ability of a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system to correctly indicate the direction and rate of change (RoC) of glucose levels, has received comparatively little attention in the overall evaluation of CGM performance. As such, only few approaches that examine the trend accuracy have been put forward. In this article, we review existing approaches and propose the clinical trend concurrence analysis (CTCA) which is an adaptation of the conventional trend concurrence analysis. The CTCA is intended to directly evaluate the trend arrows displayed by the CGM systems by characterizing their agreement to suitably categorized comparator RoCs. Here, we call on manufactures of CGM systems to provide the displayed trend arrows for retrospective analysis. The CTCA classifies any deviations between the CGM trend and comparator RoC according to their risk for an adverse clinical event arising from a possibly erroneous treatment decision. For that, the existing rate error grid analysis and a specific set of trend arrow-based insulin dosing recommendations were used. The results of the CTCA are presented in an accessible graphical display and exemplified on data from three CGM systems. With this article, we hope to increase the awareness for the importance and challenges of assessing the accuracy of trend information displayed by CGM systems.

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Objective To explore the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome elements in patients with multi-drug resistant bacteria-infected pneumonia.Methods Clinical data of 126 patients with multi-drug resistant bacteria-infected pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit of Lung Disease Centre of Qingdao Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2020 to July 2022 were retrospectively collected.The clinical data included the patients'gender,age,underlying diseases,history of bad additions of smoking and alcohol,multi-drug resistant bacteria,and the information of four diagnostic methods of TCM,etc.The disease-nature syndrome elements in patients with drug-resistance to various strains of drug-resistant bacteria were extracted,and then deficiency-excess syndrome differentiation was carried out.Results(1)A total of 201 strains of multi-drug resistant bacteria were detected in 126 patients with multi-drug resistant bacterial pneumonia.The main pathogenic species were Gram-negative bacteria,and the proportion accounted for 95.52%(192/201),which was significantly higher than that of Gram-positive bacteria[4.48%(9/201)],with a statistically significant difference(χ2 = 166.612,P＜0.001).Klebsiella pneumoniae accounted for the highest percentage of 23.38%in the gram-negative bacterium.(2)A total of 12 syndrome elements were extracted from the 126 patients.The excess syndrome elements were predominated by phlegm and heat,and the deficiency syndrome elements were predominated by yin deficiency.There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of yin deficiency,blood deficiency,heat,phlegm,fluid-retention and damp syndrome elements among patients with different strains of drug-resistant bacterial infection(P＞0.05).(3)Of the 126 patients,62 cases(49.21%)had simple excess syndrome,one case(0.79%)had simple deficiency syndrome,and 63 cases(50.00%)had concurrent deficiency-excess syndrome.Among the 126 patients,there were 19 cases of single syndrome element,41 cases of concurrent two-syndrome element,49 cases of concurrent three-syndrome element,16 cases of concurrent four-syndrome element,and one case of concurrent five-syndrome element.And the combined syndrome element of phlegm-heat-yin deficiency occurred most frequently for 26 times.Conclusion Gram-negative bacteria are the primary infectious pathogens for the patients with multi-drug resistant bacterial infections,and the TCM syndrome elements of the patients are characterized by the concurrence of deficiency and excess and simple excess syndrome,mainly manifesting as phlegm,heat,and yin deficiency.

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Cluster molecular magnets prove their potential for applications in quantum technologies, encouraging studies of quantum entanglement in spin systems. In the paper we discuss quantum entanglement properties of pentamer cluster composed of spins S=1/2 forming a tetrahedron with additional spin in its center, with geometry reproducing the smallest nonplanar graph. We model the system with isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian including external magnetic field and use exact diagonalization approach to explore the ground-state phase diagram and thermodynamic properties within canonical ensemble formalism. We focus the interest on two-spin entanglement quantified by Wootters concurrence. For ground state, we find two states with total cluster spin equal to 3/2 exhibiting entanglement, occurring preferably for antiferromagnetic interactions. For finite temperatures, we predict the presence of magnetic-field-induced entanglement as well as temperature-induced entanglement.

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Concurrent polycythemia vera with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma is extremely rare. We described a 70-year-old woman with concurrent polycythemia vera and newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Genetic testing confirmed the JAK2 V617F mutation for the first time, while determination of serum erythropoietin decreased. A retrospective review of our patient's case was conducted thereafter, and related literature was systemically reviewed. We totally identified eight cases with concurrent polycythemia vera with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, which were further analyzed and compared. The present case is the first patient of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma with diagnosis of polycythemia vera confirmed by positive JAK2 V617F mutation. Abnormal erythremia, hepatosplenomegaly and thrombosis history suggested comorbidity of polycythemia vera with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The bortezomib-based chemotherapy regimen seemed to be effective on controlling the proliferation of erythrocyte. Whereas the pathogenesis of these two entities remains to be further investigated.

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A paradox regarding Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is thats spontaneous cure of AD has never been reported, whereas spontaneous cure for MCI occurs fequently. This article analyzes what accounts for this difference. It holds that it is not merely because, for any condition, a stage is reached beyond which it cannot be reversed, since even widely metastatic cancer would be curable were there effective chemotherapy and rheumatoid arthritis became controllable when immune-suppressant treatment was introduced; thus, so could AD be reversible via effective therapy. The analysis presented leads to an explanation of the paradox that is in four categories: (1) levels of transforming growth factor-ß are significantly reduced after the transition from MCI to AD; (2) levels of Wnt/ß-catenin are significantly reduced after the transition; (3) there is altered epidermal-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in neurons after the transition; (4) there may be risk factors that are either newly operative or pre-existing but worsened at the time of transition, that are particular to individual patients. It is suggested that addressing and ameliorating all of those four categories might cure AD. Medications to address and ameliorate each of the four categories are described.

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Phosphorylated tau (p-tau) pathology correlates strongly with cognitive decline and is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). In recent years, phosphorylated transactive response DNA-binding protein (pTDP-43) has emerged as a common comorbidity, found in up to 70% of all AD cases (Josephs et al., Acta Neuropathol, 131(4), 571-585; Josephs, Whitwell, et al., Acta Neuropathol, 127(6), 811-824). Current staging schemes for pTDP-43 in AD and primary age-related tauopathy (PART) track its progression throughout the brain, but the distribution of pTDP-43 within the entorhinal cortex (EC) at the earliest stages has not been studied. Moreover, the exact nature of p-tau and pTDP-43 co-localization is debated. We investigated the selective vulnerability of the entorhinal subfields to phosphorylated pTDP-43 pathology in preclinical AD and PART postmortem tissue. Within the EC, posterior-lateral subfields showed the highest semi-quantitative pTDP-43 density scores, while the anterior-medial subfields had the lowest. On the rostrocaudal axis, pTDP-43 scores were higher posteriorly than anteriorly (p < 0.010), peaking at the posterior-most level (p < 0.050). Further, we showed the relationship between pTDP-43 and p-tau in these regions at pathology-positive but clinically silent stages. P-tau and pTDP-43 presented a similar pattern of affected subregions (p < 0.0001) but differed in density magnitude (p < 0.0001). P-tau burden was consistently higher than pTDP-43 at every anterior-posterior level and in most EC subfields. These findings highlight pTDP-43 burden heterogeneity within the EC and the posterior-lateral subfields as the most vulnerable regions within stage II of the current pTDP-43 staging schemes for AD and PART. The EC is a point of convergence for p-tau and pTDP-43 and identifying its most vulnerable neuronal populations will prove key for early diagnosis and disease intervention.

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Entanglement swapping is gaining widespread attention due to its application in entanglement distribution among different parts of quantum appliances. We investigate the entanglement swapping for pure and noisy systems, and argue different entanglement quantifiers for quantum states. We explore the relationship between the entanglement of initial states and the average entanglement of final states in terms of concurrence and negativity. We find that if initial quantum states are maximally entangled and we make measurements in the Bell basis, then average concurrence and average negativity of final states give similar results. In this case, we simply obtain the average concurrence (average negativity) of the final states by taking the product of concurrences (negativities) of the initial states. However, the measurement in non-maximally entangled basis during entanglement swapping degrades the average swapped entanglement. Further, the product of the entanglement of the initial mixed states provides an upper bound to the average swapped entanglement of final states obtained after entanglement swapping. The negativity work well for weak entangled noisy states but concurrence gives better results for relatively strong entanglement regimes. We also discuss how successfully the output state can be used as a channel for the teleportation of an unknown qubit.

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The global spread of colistin or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has been a pressing threat to public health. Members of Enterobacteriaceae, especially Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli, have been prevalent foodborne pathogens and such pathogens from fresh vegetables have triggered foodborne illness in China. However, reports about CRE, especially P. mirabilis from fresh vegetables, are still lacking. In this study, we identified five blaNDM-positive P. mirabilis and five blaNDM-positive generic E. coli concurrently from five fresh vegetables in two markets from China, and four of the five E. coli also carried mcr-1. The 10 isolates were characterized with methods including antimicrobial susceptibility testing, conjugation, whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. All 10 isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR). blaNDM-5 in five E. coli isolates and one P. mirabilis carrying blaNDM-5 was located on similarly transferable IncX3 plasmids, while transferably untypable plasmids were the carriers of blaNDM-1 in four P. mirabilis isolates from different types of vegetables/markets. mcr-1 in the four blaNDM-5-positive E. coli was located on similarly non-conjugative IncHI2 MDR plasmids lacking transfer region. Notably, ISCR1 complex class 1 integron capable of capturing blaNDM-1 was found on all untypable plasmids from P. mirabilis, and five copies of ISCR1 complex class 1 integron containing blaNDM-1 even occurred in one P. mirabilis, which showed high-level carbapenem resistance. Plasmid and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the blaNDM-positive P. mirabilis and E. coli from fresh vegetables might be derived from animals and transmitted to humans via the food chain. The concurrence of blaNDM-positive P. mirabilis and E. coli carrying both mcr-1 and blaNDM in different types of fresh vegetables eaten raw is alarming and threatens food safety. Sustained surveillance of these foodborne pathogens among fresh vegetables is urgent to ensure the health of food consumers. We report for the first time the concurrence of blaNDM-positive P. mirabilis and mcr-1-bearing E. coli carrying blaNDM from the same fresh vegetables.

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Inter-pathologist variation is widely recognized across human and veterinary pathology and is often compounded by missing animal or clinical information on pathology submission forms. Variation in pathologist threshold levels of resident inflammatory cells in the tissue of interest can further decrease inter-pathologist agreement. This study applied a predictive modeling tool to bladder histology slides that were assessed by four pathologists: first without animal and clinical information, then with this information, and finally using the predictive tool. All three assessments were performed twice, using digital whole-slide images (WSI) and then glass slides. Results showed marked variation in pathologists' interpretation of bladder slides, with kappa agreement values of 7-37% without any animal or clinical information, 23-37% with animal signalment and history, and 31-42% when our predictive tool was applied, for digital WSI and glass slides. The concurrence of test pathologists to the reference diagnosis was 60% overall. This study provides a starting point for the use of predictive modeling in standardizing pathologist agreement in veterinary pathology. It also highlights the importance of high-quality whole-slide imaging to limit the effect of digitization on inter-pathologist agreement and the benefit of continued standardization of tissue assessment in veterinary pathology.

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BACKGROUND: Several measures are in force in Switzerland to control the cost of drugs, but are not effective enough. There are many determinants influencing these expenditures, related to treatments, markets, physicians, patients and regions, but their impact on costs is not clear. METHODS: We applied a Bayesian multilevel model with five levels to adjust for patients, drugs' market, and physicians 'characteristics, treatment type, and district (i.e. Swiss canton). We used data of the Swiss drugs' market in 2006, offering real choices for doctors and patients (multiple products for similar active substances), with a neutral position of pharmacists (no financial incentives). RESULTS: Variance partitioning of yearly drugs' cost per insured showed that market level (delivered substance) contributed to 76% of the variance, treatment level (delivered product) to 20%, whereas patients' and physicians' levels accounted for only 2% each, without significant differences between Swiss cantons. After adjusting for covariables at each level, the model explained about 51% of the variation at the market and 20% at the treatment levels. We found that older but substitutable drugs, generics, larger size of the market and physician's specialty were associated with lower expenditure, whereas drugs requiring a physician's prescription, the number of prescribers per patient, patient' age, male gender, and comorbidities increased expenditure. Our results show that for a specific medication the yearly cost of recently released drugs was 36 CHF higher than for similar and substitutable drugs introduced 15 years earlier, corresponding to one third of the average annual treatment cost observed in our dataset. Competition did not seem to be effective to reduce expenditure on the drug market. CONCLUSION: The main finding of this study is that recentness of drugs was associated with an increase in drug expenditure in 2006, even after adjustment for all non-controllable determinants. Further research is recommended to confirm those results with updated data.

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Background: Wilson disease (WD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are common genetic disorders in clinical practice, however, the concurrence of WD and RP has never been reported before. WD occurs due to mutations that cause copper metabolic abnormalities; in turn, change in copper metabolism has been suggested to be related with RP. Here, we report the first case of concurrent WD and bilateral RP, and investigate possible pathogenesis to illuminate whether the two genetic disorders are causality or coincidence. Case Presentation: The patient was a 43-year-old Chinese female diagnosed with WD 12 years ago. She had suffered from night blindness since childhood and faced diminution of bilateral vision within 10 years, for which she was referred to our Eye Center during hospitalization for routine copper excretion treatment. The ceruloplasmin, skull magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and abdominal ultrasound results accorded with hepatolenticular degeneration. Ocular examinations revealed corneal Kayser-Fleischer (K-F) ring, sunflower-like cataract, retinal osteocyte-like pigmentation, bilateral atrophy of outer retina, cystoid macular edema (CME), and tubular vision in both eyes. Phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation was performed in the right and left eye, but there was limited improvement in her visual acuity. Whole exome sequencing (WES) detected a deleterious homozygous mutation in the ATP7B gene related to WD, and a homozygous mutation in the CNGA1 gene very likely to cause RP. Conclusions: We reported the first case of concurrent WD and RP. WES detected two pathogenic gene mutations, ATP7B and CNGA1. Though we cannot completely rule out a causal effect of WD-related abnormal copper metabolism with RP, we speculate that the two gene mutations lead to the coincidence of the two genetic disorders, respectively.

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We consider a family of states describing three-qubit systems. We derived formulas showing the relations between linear entropy and measures of coherence such as degree of coherence, first- and second-order correlation functions. We show that qubit-qubit states are strongly entangled when linear entropy reaches some range of values. For such states, we derived the conditions determining boundary values of linear entropy parametrized by measures of coherence.

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Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a chronic haemolytic anaemia associated with vaso-occlusive painful crises which may affect several systems including the gastro-intestinal system, resulting in abdominal pain. The concurrence of inflammatory bowel disease and haemoglobinopathy is rare. No previously reported concurrent cases of both SCA and ulcerative colitis (UC) in sub-Saharan Africa were found in the literature. A 16-year-old girl with concurrent SCA and UC is presented. She was admitted to University College Hospital, Ibadan with a 1-year history of recurrent peri-umbilical pain and bloody stools. These symptoms were mainly attributed to SCA at the referring hospital, and she was managed for chronic tropical diarrhoea without a remarkable clinical response. This case illustrates the concurrent presentation of SCA and ulcerative colitis which led to the missed and delayed diagnosis of ulcerative colitis.

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