Observers of quantum systems cannot agree to disagree.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Contreras-Tejada P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8640027 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Choosing among types of genomic markers to be used in a phylogenomic study can have a major influence on the cost, design, and results of a study. Yet few attempts have been made to compare categories of next-generation sequence markers limiting our ability to compare the suitability of these different genomic fragment types. Here we explore properties of different genomic markers to find if they vary in the accuracy of component phylogenetic trees and to clarify the causes of conflict obtained from different datasets or inference methods. As a test case, we explore the causes of discordance between phylogenetic hypotheses obtained using a novel dataset of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and a recently published exon dataset of the cichlid tribe Heroini. Resolving relationships among heroine cichlids has historically been difficult, and the processes of colonization and diversification in Middle America and the Greater Antilles are not yet well understood. Despite differences in informativeness and levels of gene tree discordance between UCEs and exons, the resulting phylogenomic hypotheses generally agree on most relationships. The independent datasets disagreed in areas with low phylogenetic signal that were overwhelmed by incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) and non-phylogenetic signals. For UCEs, high levels of ILS were found to be the major cause of gene tree discordance, whereas, for exons, non-phylogenetic signal is most likely caused by a reduced number of highly informative loci. This paucity of informative loci in exons might be due to heterogeneous substitution rates that are problematic to model (i.e., computationally restrictive) resulting in systematic errors that UCEs (being less informative individually but more uniform) are less prone to. These results generally demonstrate the robustness of phylogenomic methods to accommodate genomic markers with different biological and phylogenetic properties. However, we identify common and unique pitfalls of different categories of genomic fragments when inferring enigmatic phylogenetic relationships.
| S-EPMC8369075 | biostudies-literature
Project description:RationaleBecause the Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has only moderate reliability, physicians disagree about the diagnosis of ARDS in some patients. Understanding the clinical differences between patients with agreement and disagreement about the diagnosis of ARDS may provide insight into the epidemiology and pathophysiology of this syndrome, and inform strategies to improve the reliability of ARDS diagnosis.ObjectivesTo characterize patients with diagnostic disagreement about ARDS among critical-care-trained physicians and compare them with patients with a consensus that ARDS developed.MethodsPatients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (arterial oxygen tension/pressure [PaO2]/fraction of inspired oxygen [FiO2] < 300 during invasive mechanical ventilation) were independently reviewed for ARDS by multiple critical-care physicians and categorized as consensus-ARDS, disagreement about the diagnosis, or no ARDS.ResultsAmong 738 patients reviewed, 110 (15%) had consensus-ARDS, 100 (14%) had disagreement, and 528 (72%) did not have ARDS. ARDS diagnosis rates ranged from 9% to 47% across clinicians. Patients with disagreement had baseline comorbidity rates similar to those of patients with consensus-ARDS, but lower rates of ARDS risk factors and less severe measures of lung injury. Mean days of severe hypoxemia (PaO2/FiO2 < 100) were 3.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-3.9), 2.0 (95% CI, 1.5-2.4), and 0.8 (95% CI, 0.7-0.9) among patients with consensus-ARDS, disagreement, and no ARDS, respectively. Hospital mortality was 37% (95% CI, 28-46%), 35% (95% CI, 26-44%), and 19% (95% CI, 15-22%) across groups. Simple combinations of specific ARDS risk factors and lowest PaO2/FiO2 value could effectively discriminate patients (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.88-0.92). For example, 63% of patients with pneumonia, shock, and PaO2/FiO2 < 110 had consensus-ARDS, whereas 100% of patients without pneumonia or shock and PaO2/FiO2 > 180 did not have ARDS.ConclusionsDisagreement about the diagnosis of ARDS is common and can be partly explained by the difficulty of dichotomizing patients along a continuous spectrum of ARDS manifestations. Considering both the presence of key ARDS risk factors and hypoxemia severity can help guide clinicians in identifying patients with diagnosis of ARDS agreed upon by a consensus of physicians.
| S-EPMC6376946 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Quantum theory provides an extremely accurate description of fundamental processes in physics. It thus seems likely that the theory is applicable beyond the, mostly microscopic, domain in which it has been tested experimentally. Here, we propose a Gedankenexperiment to investigate the question whether quantum theory can, in principle, have universal validity. The idea is that, if the answer was yes, it must be possible to employ quantum theory to model complex systems that include agents who are themselves using quantum theory. Analysing the experiment under this presumption, we find that one agent, upon observing a particular measurement outcome, must conclude that another agent has predicted the opposite outcome with certainty. The agents' conclusions, although all derived within quantum theory, are thus inconsistent. This indicates that quantum theory cannot be extrapolated to complex systems, at least not in a straightforward manner.
| S-EPMC6143649 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Joint attention, or sharing attention with another individual about an object or event, is a critical behaviour that emerges in pre-linguistic infants and predicts later language abilities. Given its importance, it is perhaps surprising that there is no consensus on how to measure joint attention in prelinguistic infants. A rigorous definition proposed by Siposova & Carpenter (2019) requires the infant and partner to gaze alternate between an object and each other (coordination of attention) and exchange communicative signals (explicit acknowledgement of jointly sharing attention). However, Hobson and Hobson (2007) proposed that the quality of gaze between individuals is, in itself, a sufficient communicative signal that demonstrates sharing of attention. They proposed that observers can reliably distinguish "sharing", "checking", and "orienting" looks, but the empirical basis for this claim is limited as their study focussed on two raters examining looks from 11-year-old children. Here, we analysed categorisations made by 32 naïve raters of 60 infant looks to their mothers, to examine whether they could be reliably distinguished according to Hobson and Hobson's definitions. Raters had overall low agreement and only in 3 out of 26 cases did a significant majority of the raters agree with the judgement of the mother who had received the look. For the looks that raters did agree on at above chance levels, look duration and the overall communication rate of the mother were identified as cues that raters may have relied upon. In our experiment, naïve third party observers could not reliably determine the type of look infants gave to their mothers, which indicates that subjective judgements of types of look should not be used to identify mutual awareness of sharing attention in infants. Instead, we advocate the use of objective behaviour measurement to infer that interactants know they are 'jointly' attending to an object or event, and believe this will be a crucial step in understanding the ontogenetic and evolutionary origins of joint attention.
| S-EPMC8301644 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDistal radius fractures are the most frequently encountered fractures in Western societies, typically affecting patients aged 50 years and older. Although this is a common injury, the best treatment for these fractures in older patients is still under debate.ObjectiveThis prospective study aims to compare the outcome of operatively and nonoperatively treated distal radius fractures in the older population. Only patients with distal radius fractures for which equipoise regarding the optimal treatment exists will be included.MethodsThis prospective international multicenter observational cohort study will be designed as a natural experiment. Natural experiments are observational studies in which treatment allocation is determined by factors outside the control of the investigators but also (largely) independent of patient characteristics. Patients aged 65 years and older with an acute distal radius fracture will be considered for inclusion. Treatment allocation (operative vs nonoperative) will be based on the local preferences of the treating hospital either in Switzerland or the Netherlands. Hence, the process governing treatment allocation resembles that of randomization. Patients will be identified after treatment has been initiated. Based on the radiographs and baseline information of the patient, an expert panel of 6 certified trauma surgeons from 2 regions will provide their treatment recommendation. Only patients for whom the experts disagree on treatment recommendations will ultimately be included in the study (ie, for whom there is a clinical equipoise). For these patients, both operative and nonoperative treatment of distal radius fractures are viable, and treatment choice is predominantly determined by personal or local preference. The primary outcome will be the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation score at 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes will include the Physical Activity Score for the Elderly, the EQ questionnaire, pain, the living situation, range of motion, complications, and radiological outcomes. By including outcomes such as living situation and the Physical Activity Score for the Elderly, which are not relevant for younger cohorts, valuable information to tailor treatment to the needs of the older population can be gained. According to the sample size collection, which was based on the minimal important clinical difference of the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation, 92 patients will have to be included, with at least 46 patients in each treatment group.ResultsEnrollment began in July 2023 and is expected to continue until summer 2024. The final follow-up will be 2 years after the last patient is included.ConclusionsAlthough many trials on this topic have previously been published, there remains an ongoing debate regarding the optimal treatment for distal radius fractures in older patients. This observational study, which will use a fairly new methodological study design, will provide further information on treatment outcomes for older patients with distal radius fractures for which to date equipoise exists regarding the optimal treatment.International registered report identifier (irrid)DERR1-10.2196/52917.
| S-EPMC10900084 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPlatelet-rich plasma (PRP) is widely used in the management of lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET) despite conflicting evidence on its effectiveness. With high levels of user experience, this study aimed to assess consensus amongst experts on its clinical use.MethodsA three-round international Delphi study was conducted. Participants were invited through national society mailing lists and contact lists derived from a systematic search of the literature on PRP. In round one, a primary working group developed 40 statements on PRP preparation and clinical application. In rounds two and three, an international group of researchers on PRP and clinical users of the device scored their levels of agreement with the statements on a five-point scale. Consensus was defined as an interquartile range of ≤ 1.ResultsConsensus of agreement was only reached for 17/40 (42.5%) statements. For statements on PRP formulation, consensus of agreement was reached in 2/6 statements (33%). Only limited consensus on the contraindications, delivery strategy and delivery technique was achieved.ConclusionExperts reached very limited consensus on the use of PRP in LET. High levels of user experience have not resulted in a convergence of opinion on the technical components of PRP formulation and delivery, substantiating the need for further studies and improved trial reporting.
| S-EPMC8617097 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Universal quantum algorithms (UQA) implemented on fault-tolerant quantum computers are expected to achieve an exponential speedup over classical counterparts. However, the deep quantum circuits make the UQA implausible in the current era. With only the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices in hand, we introduce the quantum-assisted quantum algorithm, which reduces the circuit depth of UQA via NISQ technology. Based on this framework, we present two quantum-assisted quantum algorithms for simulating open quantum systems, which utilize two parameterized quantum circuits to achieve a short-time evolution. We propose a variational quantum state preparation method, as a subroutine to prepare the ancillary state, for loading a classical vector into a quantum state with a shallow quantum circuit and logarithmic number of qubits. We demonstrate numerically our approaches for a two-level system with an amplitude damping channel and an open version of the dissipative transverse field Ising model on two sites.
| S-EPMC10040711 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The main descriptors of chemical bonding such as bond order (BO) and electron density at the bond critical point, ρc, are customarily used to understand the crystal and electronic structure of materials, as well as to predict their reactivity and stability. They can be obtained in the framework of crystal chemistry and quantum chemistry approaches, which are mostly applied as alternatives to each other. This paper verifies the convergence of the two approaches by analyzing a plethora of quantum chemistry data available in the literature. The exponential correlation between the electron descriptors [BO ij and ρc(ij)] and the length of chemical bonds, Rij , which is basic in crystal chemistry, was confirmed for 72 atom pairs, regardless of the nature of their interactions (ionic/covalent, metal-metal, etc.). The difference between the BO ij (Rij ) correlations obtained in this work and those accepted in crystal chemistry for the same atomic pairs does not exceed the dispersion of quantum chemistry data, confirming the qualitative validity of the BO conservation principle. Various examples are presented to show that knowledge of the exponential parameters ensures a surprisingly simple determination of two basic electron descriptors in any complex compound with known interatomic distances. In particular, the BO analysis for 20 Re6-cluster complexes illustrates the BO conservation for systems with delocalized electrons. Despite the significant transfer of electron density from the Re-Re to the Re-ligand bonds, the total number of Re valence electrons used in bonding remains close to the formal value of seven electrons.
| S-EPMC6126658 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundInformation on exact causes of death and stillbirth are limited in low and middle income countries. Minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) is increasingly practiced in place of autopsy across several settings. A formative research documented the experiences of counselling and consenting for MITS in north India.MethodsThis exploratory qualitative study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Delhi. During the early implementation of MITS, observations of the counselling and consenting process (n = 13) for under-five child death and stillbirths were conducted. In-depth interviews with MITS team members (n = 3) were also conducted. Observation and interview data were transcribed and inductively analysed using thematic content analysis to identify emerging themes and codes.ResultsThe MITS team participated in daily ward rounds for familiarisation with parents/families. Following death declaration the counselling was done in counselling corner of the ward or adjacent corridor. Mostly the counselling was targeted at the father and family members present, using verbal explanation and the consent document in local language. The key concerns raised by parents/family were possible disfigurement, time needed and possible benefits. Most of the parents consulted family members before consent. Among those who consented, desire for next pregnancy, previous pregnancy or neonatal loss and participation of treating senior doctor were the key factors. The negative experience of hospital care, poor comprehension and distance from residence were the factors for consent refusal. Lesser number of parents of deceased children consented for MITS compared to the neonates and stillbirths.ConclusionsThe initial experiences of obtaining consent for MITS were encouraging. Consent for MITS may be improved with active involvement of the treating doctors and nurses, better bereavement support, private counselling area along with improvement in quality of care and communication during hospitalisation. Special efforts and refinement in counselling are needed to improve consent for MITS in older children.
| S-EPMC8597286 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Health systems guidance (HSG) provides recommendations to address health systems challenges. No tools exist to inform HSG developers and users about the components of high quality HSG and to differentiate between HSG of varying quality. In response, we developed a tool to assist with the development, reporting and appraisal of HSG - the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation-Health Systems (AGREE-HS). This paper reports on the validity, usability and initial measurement properties of the AGREE-HS. METHODS:To establish face validity (Study 1), stakeholders completed a survey about the AGREE-HS and provided feedback on its content and structure. Revisions to the tool were made in response. To establish usability (Study 2), the revised tool was applied to 85 HSG documents and the appraisers provided feedback about their experiences via an online survey. An initial test of the revised tool's measurement properties, including internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and criterion validity, was conducted. Additional revisions to the tool were made in response. RESULTS:In Study 1, the AGREE-HS Overview, User Manual, quality item content and structure, and overall assessment questions were rated favourably. Participants indicated that the AGREE-HS would be useful, feasible to use, and that they would apply it in their context. In Study 2, participants indicated that the quality items were easy to understand and apply, and the User Manual, usefulness and usability of the tool were rated favourably. Study 2 participants also indicated intentions to use the AGREE-HS. CONCLUSIONS:The AGREE-HS comprises a User Manual, five quality items and two overall assessment questions. It is available at agreetrust.org.
| S-EPMC6011397 | biostudies-literature