[Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on youngsters with autistic spectrum disorder]. / Análisis del impacto de la COVID-19 en menores de edad con trastorno del espectro autista.

INTRODUCTION: The state of emergency and national lockdown declared in Spain over the coronavirus pandemic markedly impaired routines and access towards health services supports for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This population is of particular vulnerability towards sudden changes and is distinguished by their complex management. OBJECTIVES: The main goal was to qualitatively assess the psychosocial and mental state of children diagnosed with ASD affiliated to the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, during and after the first lockdown period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A survey was administered to relatives of 65 boys and girls with a main diagnosis of ASD. RESULTS: A worsening of key A symptoms was reported during lockdown. In addition, the use of new technologies, intake between meals, and anxiety symptoms increased. Recovery after lockdown was not complete in our sample. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the need for planning specific supports for minors with ASD and for resources to reverse the effects on routines, habits, and school returnal.

TITLE: Análisis del impacto de la COVID-19 en menores de edad con trastorno del espectro autista.Introducción. La declaración del confinamiento domiciliario a raíz de la pandemia de la COVID-19 alteró profundamente las rutinas y el acceso a soportes sociosanitarios en menores de edad con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA). Esta población se distingue por su elevada complejidad de manejo y vulnerabilidad ante cambios. Objetivos. Evaluar cualitativamente el estado psicosocial en menores con TEA atendidos en el Hospital Clínic de Barcelona durante el confinamiento y pasado éste. Pacientes y métodos. Se administró una encuesta, elaborada específicamente para este estudio, a los cuidadores principales de 65 niños y niñas con diagnóstico principal de TEA. Resultados. Se observó una regresión en la sintomatología nuclear del TEA. Además, aumentó el uso de nuevas tecnologías y la ingesta entre comidas, y apareció una sintomatología ansiosa. La recuperación tras el confinamiento no fue total en nuestra muestra. Conclusiones. Los resultados ponen de relieve la necesidad de planificación de soportes específicos para los menores con TEA y de recursos para revertir las afectaciones en las rutinas, los hábitos y la incorporación escolar.

Análisis del impacto de la COVID-19 en menores de edad con trastorno del espectro autista / Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on youngsters with autistic spectrum disorder

Introducción: La declaración del confinamiento domiciliario a raíz de la pandemia de la COVID-19 alteró profundamente las rutinas y el acceso a soportes sociosanitarios en menores de edad con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA). Esta población se distingue por su elevada complejidad de manejo y vulnerabilidad ante cambios. Objetivos: Evaluar cualitativamente el estado psicosocial en menores con TEA atendidos en el Hospital Clínic de Barcelona durante el confinamiento y pasado éste.Pacientes y métodos: Se administró una encuesta, elaborada específicamente para este estudio, a los cuidadores principales de 65 niños y niñas con diagnóstico principal de TEA. Resultados: Se observó una regresión en la sintomatología nuclear del TEA. Además, aumentó el uso de nuevas tecnologías y la ingesta entre comidas, y apareció una sintomatología ansiosa. La recuperación tras el confinamiento no fue total en nuestra muestra. Conclusiones: Los resultados ponen de relieve la necesidad de planificación de soportes específicos para los menores con TEA y de recursos para revertir las afectaciones en las rutinas, los hábitos y la incorporación escolar.(AU)

Introduction: The state of emergency and national lockdown declared in Spain over the coronavirus pandemic markedly impaired routines and access towards health services supports for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This population is of particular vulnerability towards sudden changes and is distinguished by their complex management. Objectives: The main goal was to qualitatively assess the psychosocial and mental state of children diagnosed with ASD affiliated to the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, during and after the first lockdown period. Patients and methods. A survey was administered to relatives of 65 boys and girls with a main diagnosis of ASD. Results. A worsening of key ASD symptoms was reported during lockdown. In addition, the use of new technologies, intake between meals, and anxiety symptoms increased. Recovery after lockdown was not complete in our sample. Conclusions: These results highlight the need for planning specific supports for minors with ASD and for resources to reverse the effects on routines, habits, and school returnal.(AU)

Exploiting Dynamic Quantum Circuits in a Quantum Algorithm with Superconducting Qubits.

To date, quantum computation on real, physical devices has largely been limited to simple, time-ordered sequences of unitary operations followed by a final projective measurement. As hardware platforms for quantum computing continue to mature in size and capability, it is imperative to enable quantum circuits beyond their conventional construction. Here we break into the realm of dynamic quantum circuits on a superconducting-based quantum system. Dynamic quantum circuits not only involve the evolution of the quantum state throughout the computation but also periodic measurements of qubits midcircuit and concurrent processing of the resulting classical information on timescales shorter than the execution times of the circuits. Using noisy quantum hardware, we explore one of the most fundamental quantum algorithms, quantum phase estimation, in its adaptive version, which exploits dynamic circuits, and compare the results to a nonadaptive implementation of the same algorithm. We demonstrate that the version of real-time quantum computing with dynamic circuits can yield results comparable to an approach involving classical asynchronous postprocessing, thus opening the door to a new realm of available algorithms on real quantum systems.

Incidence and Risk of Pneumococcal Pneumonia in Adults with Distinct Underlying Medical Conditions: A Population-Based Study.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the incidence of pneumococcal pneumonia requiring hospitalisation among middle-aged and older adults with and without specific underlying medical conditions, evaluating the influence of these conditions in the risk of developing pneumonia. METHODS: Population-based prospective cohort study included 2,025,730 individuals ≥ 50 years around Catalonia, Spain. The Catalonian information system for the development of research in primary care (SIDIAP) was used to establish baseline characteristics of the cohort (comorbidities and underlying medical conditions). Hospitalisations from pneumococcal pneumonia occurred among cohort members between 01/01/2015 and 31/12/2015 were collected from hospital discharge codes of 68 reference Catalonian hospitals. Cox regression was used to estimate the association between baseline conditions and the risk of developing pneumonia. RESULTS: Global incidence rate (IR) of hospitalised pneumococcal pneumonia was 82.8 cases per 100,000 persons-year. Maximum IRs (per 100,000 persons-year) emerged among persons with haematological neoplasia (837.4), immunodeficiency (709.2), HIV infection (474.7), severe renal disease (407.5) and chronic pulmonary disease (305.7). In the multivariable analyses, apart from increasing age, HIV infection (hazard ratio [HR] 6.78), haematological neoplasia (HR 6.30), prior all-cause pneumonia (HR 5.27), immunodeficiency (HR 4.57) and chronic pulmonary disease (HR 2.89) were the conditions most strongly associated with an increasing risk. Pneumococcal vaccination did not emerge associated with a reduced risk in our study population (nor PPsV23 neither PCV13). CONCLUSION: Old age, immunocompromising conditions and chronic pulmonary/respiratory disease are major risk factors for pneumococcal pneumonia in adults. Our data underline the need for better prevention strategies in these persons.

Experimental Demonstration of Fault-Tolerant State Preparation with Superconducting Qubits.

Robust quantum computation requires encoding delicate quantum information into degrees of freedom that are hard for the environment to change. Quantum encodings have been demonstrated in many physical systems by observing and correcting storage errors, but applications require not just storing information; we must accurately compute even with faulty operations. The theory of fault-tolerant quantum computing illuminates a way forward by providing a foundation and collection of techniques for limiting the spread of errors. Here we implement one of the smallest quantum codes in a five-qubit superconducting transmon device and demonstrate fault-tolerant state preparation. We characterize the resulting code words through quantum process tomography and study the free evolution of the logical observables. Our results are consistent with fault-tolerant state preparation in a protected qubit subspace.

Prevalence of high, medium and low-risk medical conditions for pneumococcal vaccination in Catalonian middle-aged and older adults: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Updated population-based data on the frequency and distribution of risk factors for pneumococcal disease is scarce. This study investigated the prevalence of distinct comorbidities and underlying risk conditions related to an increasing risk of pneumococcal disease among Catalonian middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional population-based study including 2,033,465 individuals aged 50 years or older registered at 01/01/2015 in the Catalonian Health Institute (Catalonia, Spain). The clinical research database of the Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP database) was used to identify high-risk (asplenia and/or immunocompromising conditions) and other increased-risk conditions (chronic pulmonary, cardiac or liver disease, diabetes mellitus, alcoholism and/or smoking) among study subjects. RESULTS: Globally, 980,310 (48.2%) of the 2,033,465 study population had at least one risk condition of suffering pneumococcal disease (55.4% in men vs 42.0% in women, p < 0.001; 41.7% in people 50-64 years vs 54.7% in persons 65 years or older, p < 0.001). An amount of 176,600 individuals (8.7%) had high-risk conditions (basically immunocompromising conditions). On the other hand, 803,710 persons (39.5%) had one or more other risk conditions. In fact, 212,255 (10.4%) had chronic pulmonary diseases, 248,377 (12.2%) cardiac disease, 41,734 (2.1%) liver disease, 341,535 (16.8%) diabetes mellitus, 58,781 (2.9%) alcoholism and 317,558 (15.6%) were smokers. CONCLUSION: In our setting, approximately 50 % of overall persons 50 years or older may be considered at-risk population for pneumococcal disease (almost 10 % have high-risk conditions and 40 % have other risk conditions).

Experimental Demonstration of a Resonator-Induced Phase Gate in a Multiqubit Circuit-QED System.

The resonator-induced phase (RIP) gate is an all-microwave multiqubit entangling gate that allows a high degree of flexibility in qubit frequencies, making it attractive for quantum operations in large-scale architectures. We experimentally realize the RIP gate with four superconducting qubits in a three-dimensional circuit-QED architecture, demonstrating high-fidelity controlled-z (cz) gates between all possible pairs of qubits from two different 4-qubit devices in pair subspaces. These qubits are arranged within a wide range of frequency detunings, up to as large as 1.8 GHz. We further show a dynamical multiqubit refocusing scheme in order to isolate out 2-qubit interactions, and combine them to generate a 4-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state.

Demonstration of Weight-Four Parity Measurements in the Surface Code Architecture.

We present parity measurements on a five-qubit lattice with connectivity amenable to the surface code quantum error correction architecture. Using all-microwave controls of superconducting qubits coupled via resonators, we encode the parities of four data qubit states in either the X or the Z basis. Given the connectivity of the lattice, we perform a full characterization of the static Z interactions within the set of five qubits, as well as dynamical Z interactions brought along by single- and two-qubit microwave drives. The parity measurements are significantly improved by modifying the microwave two-qubit gates to dynamically remove nonideal Z errors.

Incidence and risk conditions of ischemic stroke in older adults.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate incidence and mortality from ischemic stroke in older adults with specific underlying chronic conditions, evaluating the influence of these conditions in developing stroke. MATERIALS & METHODS: Population-based cohort study involving 27,204 individuals ≥60 years old in Southern Catalonia, Spain. All cases of hospitalization from ischemic stroke (confirmed by neuro-imaging) were collected from 01/12/2008 until 30/11/2011. Incidence rates and 30-day mortality were estimated according to age, sex, chronic illnesses, and underlying conditions. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to calculate Hazards Ratio (HR) and estimate the association between baseline conditions and risk of developing stroke. RESULTS: Mean incidence rate reached 453 cases per 100,000 person-years. Maximum rates appeared among individuals with history of prior stroke (2926 per 100,000), atrial fibrillation (1815 per 100,000), coronary artery disease (1104 per 100,000), nursing-home residence (1014 per 100,000), and advanced age ≥80 years (1006 per 100,000). Thirty-day mortality was 13% overall, reaching 21% among patients over 80 years. Age [HR: 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04-1.07], history of prior stroke (HR: 5.08; 95% CI: 3.96-6.51), history of coronary artery disease (HR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.21-2.25), atrial fibrillation (HR: 2.96; 95% CI: 2.30-3.81), diabetes mellitus (HR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.23-1.95), and smoking (HR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.15-2.34) emerged independently associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke. CONCLUSION: Incidence and mortality from ischemic stroke remains considerable. Apart from age and history of atherosclerosis (prior stroke or coronary artery disease), atrial fibrillation, diabetes, and smoking were the underlying conditions most strongly associated with an increased risk.

Epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing acute otitis media among children in Southern Catalonia throughout 2007-2013: Incidence, serotype distribution and vaccine's effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated incidence and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing acute otitis media (AOM) in Catalonian children, evaluating vaccination effectiveness in the current era of extended valency pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). METHODS: Population-based surveillance study that included all AOM cases with isolation of pneumococcus (from otic fluids/otorrea) identified among children ≤14 years in the region of Tarragona (Southern Catalonia, Spain) from 01/01/2007 to 31/12/2013. Prevalence of infections caused by serotypes covered by the different PCVs formulations were calculated for the periods before and after 30/06/2010 (date of PCV7/PCV13 replacement). The indirect cohort method was used to estimate PCV7/13 effectiveness against vaccine-type infections. RESULTS: A total of 78 children with a pneumococcal AOM were identified across study period, which meant an incidence rate of 23 cases per 100,000 population-year. Thirty-six cases (46.2%) occurred within the late PCV7 era and 42 cases (53.8%) during the early PCV13 era. Overall, the most common serotypes were type 19A (21.7%), type 3 (13.3%) and type 15B (6.7%). Prevalence of cases caused by serotypes included in PCV7 did not substantially change between the first and the second study period (from 10.3% to 12.9%), whereas prevalence of cases caused by PCV13 serotypes showed a decreasing trend between both periods (from 65.5% to 48.4%). The aggregate PCV7/13 effectiveness against vaccine-type infections was 72% (95% confidence interval: -26 to 94). CONCLUSION: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccination appears an acceptable preventive option to prevent pneumococcal AOM in infants. However, its serotype coverage and clinical effectiveness are not optimal.

Machine Learning for Discriminating Quantum Measurement Trajectories and Improving Readout.

Current methods for classifying measurement trajectories in superconducting qubit systems produce fidelities systematically lower than those predicted by experimental parameters. Here, we place current classification methods within the framework of machine learning (ML) algorithms and improve on them by investigating more sophisticated ML approaches. We find that nonlinear algorithms and clustering methods produce significantly higher assignment fidelities that help close the gap to the fidelity possible under ideal noise conditions. Clustering methods group trajectories into natural subsets within the data, which allows for the diagnosis of systematic errors. We find large clusters in the data associated with T1 processes and show these are the main source of discrepancy between our experimental and ideal fidelities. These error diagnosis techniques help provide a path forward to improve qubit measurements.

Demonstration of a quantum error detection code using a square lattice of four superconducting qubits.

The ability to detect and deal with errors when manipulating quantum systems is a fundamental requirement for fault-tolerant quantum computing. Unlike classical bits that are subject to only digital bit-flip errors, quantum bits are susceptible to a much larger spectrum of errors, for which any complete quantum error-correcting code must account. Whilst classical bit-flip detection can be realized via a linear array of qubits, a general fault-tolerant quantum error-correcting code requires extending into a higher-dimensional lattice. Here we present a quantum error detection protocol on a two-by-two planar lattice of superconducting qubits. The protocol detects an arbitrary quantum error on an encoded two-qubit entangled state via quantum non-demolition parity measurements on another pair of error syndrome qubits. This result represents a building block towards larger lattices amenable to fault-tolerant quantum error correction architectures such as the surface code.

Evaluating the clinical effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination in preventing myocardial infarction: The CAPAMIS study, three-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular benefits using the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) are controversial. This study assessed clinical effectiveness of PPV23 in preventing acute myocardial infarction in people over 60-years. METHODOLOGY: We conducted a population-based cohort study involving 27,204 individuals ≥60 years-old in Tarragona, Spain, who were prospectively followed from 01/12/2008 until 30/11/2011. Outcomes were hospitalization for AMI, 30-day mortality from AMI and all-cause death. Cox regression was used to evaluate the association between pneumococcal vaccination and the risk of each outcome. RESULTS: Cohort members were followed for a total of 76,033 person-years, of which 29,065 were for vaccinated subjects. Overall, 359 cases of AMI, 55 deaths from AMI and 2465 all-cause deaths were observed. Pneumococcal vaccination did not alter the risk of AMI (multivariable hazard ratio [HR]: 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.76-1.18; p=0.630), death from AMI (HR: 1.32; 95% CI: 0.76-2.28; p=0.321) and all-cause death (HR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.89-1.05; p=0.448). In analyses focused on people with and without history of prior coronary artery disease, pneumococcal vaccination did not emerge effective in preventing any analyzed event. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports that PPV23 does not provide any relevant benefit against AMI in the general population over 60 years, as in primary as well as in secondary prevention, although it is underpowered to exclude a small benefit of vaccination against rare outcomes.

Validation of the CORB75 (confusion, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age ≥ 75 years) as a simpler pneumonia severity rule.

PURPOSE: This study compares the ability of two simpler severity rules (classical CRB65 vs. proposed CORB75) in predicting short-term mortality in elderly patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: A population-based study was undertaken involving 610 patients ≥ 65 years old with radiographically confirmed CAP diagnosed between 2008 and 2011 in Tarragona, Spain (350 cases in the derivation cohort, 260 cases in the validation cohort). Severity rules were calculated at the time of diagnosis, and 30-day mortality was considered as the dependent variable. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) was used to compare the discriminative power of the severity rules. RESULTS: Eighty deaths (46 in the derivation and 34 in the validation cohorts) were observed, which gives a mortality rate of 13.1 % (15.6 % for hospitalized and 3.3 % for outpatient cases). After multivariable analyses, besides CRB (confusion, respiration rate ≥ 30/min, systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg or diastolic ≤ 60 mmHg), peripheral oxygen saturation (≤ 90 %) and age ≥ 75 years appeared to be associated with increasing 30-day mortality in the derivation cohort. The model showed adequate calibration for the derivation and validation cohorts. A modified CORB75 scoring system (similar to the classical CRB65, but adding oxygen saturation and increasing the age to 75 years) was constructed. The AUC statistics for predicting mortality in the derivation and validation cohorts were 0.79 and 0.82, respectively. In the derivation cohort, a CORB75 score ≥ 2 showed 78.3 % sensitivity and 65.5 % specificity for mortality (in the validation cohort, these were 82.4 and 71.7 %, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed CORB75 scoring system has good discriminative power in predicting short-term mortality among elderly people with CAP, which supports its use for severity assessment of these patients in primary care.

Incidence of pneumococcal infections among children under 15 years in southern Catalonia throughout the heptavalent conjugate vaccine era, 2002-2009.

PURPOSE: Updating epidemiological studies to document current incidences of pneumococcal diseases are greatly needed in the current era of new pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). The aim of this study is to analyze the incidence and distribution of different serotypes causing pneumococcal infections among the pediatric population in southern Catalonia, Spain, throughout the 2002-2009 PCV7 eras. METHODS: A population-based surveillance study was conducted among children aged ≤ 14 years in the region of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain) during the period 2002-2009. All cases of pneumococcal infections (invasive and non-invasive cases) were included in the study. Incidence rates (per 100,000 population-year) and prevalence of infections caused by serotypes included in different PCV formulations were calculated for the 2002-2005 and 2006-2009 periods. RESULTS: Globally, across the total 2002-2009 period, the incidence of pneumococcal infections was 48.2 per 100,000 children-year (22.4 and 25.8 for invasive and non-invasive infections, respectively). Between 2002-2005 and 2006-2009, the incidence rates largely decreased among children aged <2 years (from 171 to 111 per 100,000 children-year; p = 0.059), but they did not substantially vary among children aged 2-14 years. The percentages of cases caused by serotypes included in PCV7 (60.0 vs. 16.7 %; p < 0.001), PCV10 (75.0 vs. 47.4 %; p = 0.028), and PCV13 (85.0 vs. 70.5 %; p = 0.190) decreased in both periods. CONCLUSION: In this study, which was conducted in a setting with intermediate PCV7 uptakes, a considerable protective direct effect of vaccination occurred among young infants, but an indirect protective effect did not emerge in the rest of the pediatric population. Despite new PCVs with higher serotype coverage, an important proportion of pneumococcal infections is still not covered by these vaccines.

Universal quantum gate set approaching fault-tolerant thresholds with superconducting qubits.

We use quantum process tomography to characterize a full universal set of all-microwave gates on two superconducting single-frequency single-junction transmon qubits. All extracted gate fidelities, including those for Clifford group generators, single-qubit π/4 and π/8 rotations, and a two-qubit controlled-not, exceed 95% (98%), without (with) subtracting state preparation and measurement errors. Furthermore, we introduce a process map representation in the Pauli basis which is visually efficient and informative. This high-fidelity gate set serves as a critical building block towards scalable architectures of superconducting qubits for error correction schemes and pushes up on the known limits of quantum gate characterization.

Characterization of addressability by simultaneous randomized benchmarking.

The control and handling of errors arising from cross talk and unwanted interactions in multiqubit systems is an important issue in quantum information processing architectures. We introduce a benchmarking protocol that provides information about the amount of addressability present in the system and implement it on coupled superconducting qubits. The protocol consists of randomized benchmarking experiments run both individually and simultaneously on pairs of qubits. A relevant figure of merit for the addressability is then related to the differences in the measured average gate fidelities in the two experiments. We present results from two similar samples with differing cross talk and unwanted qubit-qubit interactions. The results agree with predictions based on simple models of the classical cross talk and Stark shifts.

Entanglement of two superconducting qubits in a waveguide cavity via monochromatic two-photon excitation.

We report a system where fixed interactions between noncomputational levels make bright the otherwise forbidden two-photon |00}→|11} transition. The system is formed by hand selection and assembly of two discrete component transmon-style superconducting qubits inside a rectangular microwave cavity. The application of a monochromatic drive tuned to this transition induces two-photon Rabi-like oscillations between the ground and doubly excited states via the Bell basis. The system therefore allows all-microwave two-qubit universal control with the same techniques and hardware required for single qubit control. We report Ramsey-like and spin echo sequences with the generated Bell states, and measure a two-qubit gate fidelity of F(g)=90% (unconstrained) and 86% (maximum likelihood estimator).

Quantum transport in mesoscopic 3He films: experimental study of the interference of bulk and boundary scattering.

We discuss the mass transport of a degenerate Fermi liquid ^{3}He film over a rough surface, and the film momentum relaxation time, in the framework of theoretical predictions. In the mesoscopic regime, the anomalous temperature dependence of the relaxation time is explained in terms of the interference between elastic boundary scattering and inelastic quasiparticle-quasiparticle scattering within the film. We exploit a quasiclassical treatment of quantum size effects in the film in which the surface roughness, whose power spectrum is experimentally determined, is mapped into an effective disorder potential within a film of uniform thickness. Confirmation is provided by the introduction of elastic scattering centers within the film. The improved understanding of surface roughness scattering may impact on enhancing the conductivity in thin metallic films.

Simple all-microwave entangling gate for fixed-frequency superconducting qubits.

We demonstrate an all-microwave two-qubit gate on superconducting qubits which are fixed in frequency at optimal bias points. The gate requires no additional subcircuitry and is tunable via the amplitude of microwave irradiation on one qubit at the transition frequency of the other. We use the gate to generate entangled states with a maximal extracted concurrence of 0.88, and quantum process tomography reveals a gate fidelity of 81%.