PMC18 HEALTH UTILITIES INDEX (HUI) ON-LINE QUESTIONNAIRE SYSTEM: CRITERION VALIDITY OF MULTI- AND SINGLE-ATTRIBUTE UTILITY SCORES

Data aproximada de realització del reportatgeAguilera, Josep Mari

Quantum picturalism for topological cluster-state computing

Topological quantum computing is a way of allowing precise quantum computations to run on noisy and imperfect hardware. One implementation uses surface codes created by forming defects in a highly-entangled cluster state. Such a method of computing is a leading candidate for large-scale quantum computing. However, there has been a lack of sufficiently powerful high-level languages to describe computing in this form without resorting to single-qubit operations, which quickly become prohibitively complex as the system size increases. In this paper we apply the category-theoretic work of Abramsky and Coecke to the topological cluster-state model of quantum computing to give a high-level graphical language that enables direct translation between quantum processes and physical patterns of measurement in a computer - a "compiler language". We give the equivalence between the graphical and topological information flows, and show the applicable rewrite algebra for this computing model. We show that this gives us a native graphical language for the design and analysis of topological quantum algorithms, and finish by discussing the possibilities for automating this process on a large scale.Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures. Published in New J. Phys. special issue on topological quantum computin

The role of the representational entity in physical computing

We have developed abstraction/representation (AR) theory to answer the question “When does a physical system compute?” AR theory requires the existence of a representational entity (RE), but the vanilla theory does not explicitly include the RE in its definition of physical computing. Here we extend the theory by showing how the RE forms a linked complementary model to the physical computing model, and demonstrate its use in the case of intrinsic computing in a non-human RE: a bacterium

Current management of treatment-induced bone loss in women with breast cancer treated in the United Kingdom

New therapeutic options in breast cancer have improved survival but consequently increase the relevance of late complications. Ovarian suppression/ablation and aromatase inhibitors (AI) in the adjuvant setting have improved outcome, but have clinically important adverse effects on bone health. However, investigation and management of cancer treatment-induced bone loss (CTIBL) is poorly defined with no national guidance. In 2004, a questionnaire was sent to over 500 breast surgeons and oncologists who treat breast cancer within the United Kingdom. The questionnaire evaluated access to bone densitometry and specialist expertise as well as attitudes to investigation of CTIBL and anticipated changes in the use of AI for postmenopausal early breast cancer. A total of 354 completed questionnaires were received, 47 from clinicians not currently treating breast cancer. Of the 307 evaluable questionnaires, 164 (53%) were from breast surgeons, 112 (36%) from clinical oncologists and 31 (10%) from medical oncologists. Although most respondents recognised that CTIBL was the responsibility of the treating breast team, investigations for CTIBL are limited even though most had adequate access to bone densitometry; 98 (32%) had not requested a DXA scan in the last 6 months and 224 (73%) had requested fewer than five scans. In all, 235 (76%) were not routinely investigating patients on AI for bone loss. A total of 277 (90%) felt that their practice would benefit from national guidelines to manage these patients, and the majority (59%) had little or no confidence in interpreting DXA results and advising on treatment. This questionnaire has highlighted clear deficiencies in management of CTIBL in early breast cancer. The development of national guidelines for the management of these patients and educational initiatives for breast teams are urgently required

Surface code quantum computing by lattice surgery

In recent years, surface codes have become a leading method for quantum error correction in theoretical large scale computational and communications architecture designs. Their comparatively high fault-tolerant thresholds and their natural 2-dimensional nearest neighbour (2DNN) structure make them an obvious choice for large scale designs in experimentally realistic systems. While fundamentally based on the toric code of Kitaev, there are many variants, two of which are the planar- and defect- based codes. Planar codes require fewer qubits to implement (for the same strength of error correction), but are restricted to encoding a single qubit of information. Interactions between encoded qubits are achieved via transversal operations, thus destroying the inherent 2DNN nature of the code. In this paper we introduce a new technique enabling the coupling of two planar codes without transversal operations, maintaining the 2DNN of the encoded computer. Our lattice surgery technique comprises splitting and merging planar code surfaces, and enables us to perform universal quantum computation (including magic state injection) while removing the need for braided logic in a strictly 2DNN design, and hence reduces the overall qubit resources for logic operations. Those resources are further reduced by the use of a rotated lattice for the planar encoding. We show how lattice surgery allows us to distribute encoded GHZ states in a more direct (and overhead friendly) manner, and how a demonstration of an encoded CNOT between two distance 3 logical states is possible with 53 physical qubits, half of that required in any other known construction in 2D.Comment: Published version. 29 pages, 18 figure

Deregulation of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene by chromosomal translocations in B-cell malignancies

Sequence variants at the TERT-CLPTM1L locus in chromosome 5p have been recently associated with disposition for various cancers. Here we show that this locus including the gene encoding the telomerase reverse-transcriptase TERT at 5p13.33 is rarely but recurrently targeted by somatic chromosomal translocations to IGH and non-IG loci in B-cell neoplasms, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma and splenic marginal zone lymphoma. In addition, cases with genomic amplification of TERT locus were identified. Tumors bearing chromosomal aberrations involving TERT showed higher TERT transcriptional expression and increased telomerase activity. These data suggest that deregulation of TERT gene by chromosomal abnormalities leading to increased telomerase activity might contribute to B-cell lymphomagenesis

ImmunoGlobulin galaxy (IGGalaxy) for simple determination and quantitation of immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangements from NGS

Background: Sequence analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) gene rearrangements and frequency analysis is a powerful tool for studying the immune repertoire, immune responses and immune dysregulation in health and disease. The challenge is to provide user friendly, secure and reproducible analytical services that are available for both small and large laboratories which are determining VDJ repertoire using NGS technology. Results: In this study we describe ImmunoGlobulin Galaxy (IGGalaxy)- a convenient web based application for analyzing next-generation sequencing results and reporting IGH gene rearrangements for both repertoire and clonality studies. IGGalaxy has two analysis options one using the built in igBLAST algorithm and the second using output from IMGT; in either case repertoire summaries for the B-cell populations tested are available. IGGalaxy supports multi-sample and multi-replicate input analysis for both igBLAST and IMGT/HIGHV-QUEST. We demonstrate the technical validity of this platform using a standard dataset, S22, used for benchmarking the performance of antibody alignment utilities with a 99.9 % concordance with previous results. Re-analysis of NGS data from our samples of RAG-deficient patients demonstrated the validity and user friendliness of this tool. Conclusions: IGGalaxy provides clinical researchers with detailed insight into the repertoire of the B-cell population per individual sequenced and between control and pathogenic genomes. IGGalaxy was developed for 454 NGS results but is capable of analyzing alternative NGS data (e.g. Illumina, Ion Torrent). We demonstrate the use of a Galaxy virtual machine to determine the VDJ repertoire for reference data and from B-cells taken from immune deficient patients. IGGalaxy is available as a VM for download and use on a desktop PC or on a server

Rapid progression of prostate cancer in men with a BRCA2 mutation.

Men with BRCA2 mutations have been found to be at increased risk of developing prostate cancer. There is a recent report that BRCA2 carriers with prostate cancer have poorer survival than noncarrier prostate cancer patients. In this study, we compared survival of men with a BRCA2 mutation and prostate cancer with that of men with a BRCA1 mutation and prostate cancer. We obtained the age at diagnosis, age at death or current age from 182 men with prostate cancer from families with a BRCA2 mutation and from 119 men with prostate cancer from families with a BRCA1 mutation. The median survival from diagnosis was 4.0 years for men with a BRCA2 mutation vs 8.0 years for men with a BRCA1 mutation, and the difference was highly significant (P<0.01). It may be important to develop targeted chemotherapies to treat prostate cancer in men with a BRCA2 mutation