Two-Qubit Engine Fueled by Entanglement and Local Measurements.

We introduce a two-qubit engine that is powered by entanglement and local measurements. Energy is extracted from the detuned qubits coherently exchanging a single excitation. Generalizing to an N-qubit chain, we show that the low energy of the first qubit can be up-converted to an arbitrarily high energy at the last qubit by successive neighbor swap operations and local measurements. We finally model the local measurement as the entanglement of a qubit with a meter, and we identify the fuel as the energetic cost to erase the correlations between the qubits. Our findings extend measurement-powered engines to composite working substances and provide a microscopic interpretation of the fueling mechanism.

Providing prescheduled appointments as a strategy for improving follow-up compliance after community-based glaucoma screening: results from an urban underserved population.

To determine if receiving a prescheduled appointment is associated with an increased likelihood of complying with follow-up eye care among individuals identified as at risk for glaucoma during community-based glaucoma screening in an urban underserved population. This study sampled 362 individuals aged ≥30 years without known glaucoma from low-income, predominantly black/Hispanic neighborhoods in New Haven, Connecticut presenting to one of twelve community-based glaucoma screening events from May 2010 to October 2012. A quasi-experimental design systematically assigned 63 individuals identified as at risk for glaucoma into either intervention or control group with a 1:2 ratio. Individuals in the control group (n = 41) received counseling on glaucoma and a recommendation for obtaining a follow-up appointment at the eye department of a local community health center, which offers affordable health services with income-adjusted fee discounts to uninsured, low-income patients. Those in the intervention group (n = 22) received the same counseling and a prescheduled appointment at the community health center. The overall rate of follow-up compliance within 3 months of screening was 30 % (41 % in the intervention group; 24 % in the control group). Multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusting for sex, age, ethnicity, health insurance status, car access, living situation, and smoking status found that follow-up compliance was significantly associated with intervention (adjusted odds ratio 4.8; 95 % confidence interval 1.1-20.9). Providing prescheduled appointments can improve follow-up compliance after community-based glaucoma screening. This finding may be potentially applicable to community-based health screening for other preventable diseases.

Low-threshold laser medium utilizing semiconductor nanoshell quantum dots.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) represent a promising class of nanomaterials for lasing applications. Currently, one of the key challenges facing the development of high-performance NC optical gain media lies in enhancing the lifetime of biexciton populations. This usually requires the employment of charge-delocalizing particle architectures, such as core/shell NCs, nanorods, and nanoplatelets. Here, we report on a two-dimensional nanoshell quantum dot (QD) morphology that enables a strong delocalization of photoinduced charges, leading to enhanced biexciton lifetimes and low lasing thresholds. A unique combination of a large exciton volume and a smoothed potential gradient across interfaces of the reported CdSbulk/CdSe/CdSshell (core/shell/shell) nanoshell QDs results in strong suppression of Auger processes, which was manifested in this work though the observation of stable amplified stimulated emission (ASE) at low pump fluences. An extensive charge delocalization in nanoshell QDs was confirmed by transient absorption measurements, showing that the presence of a bulk-size core in CdSbulk/CdSe/CdSshell QDs reduces exciton-exciton interactions. Overall, present findings demonstrate unique advantages of the nanoshell QD architecture as a promising optical gain medium in solid-state lighting and lasing applications.

Complete Genome Sequences of 18 Paenibacillus larvae Phages from the Western United States.

We present here the complete genomes of 18 phages that infect Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood in honeybees. The phages were isolated between 2014 and 2016 as part of an undergraduate phage discovery course at Brigham Young University. The phages were isolated primarily from bee debris and lysogens.

Genome Sequences of 19 Novel Erwinia amylovora Bacteriophages.

Erwinia amylovora is the causal agent of fire blight, a devastating disease affecting some plants of the Rosaceae family. We isolated bacteriophages from samples collected from infected apple and pear trees along the Wasatch Front in Utah. We announce 19 high-quality complete genome sequences of E. amylovora bacteriophages.