Hallmarks of quantum mechanics include superposition and entanglement. In the context of large complex systems, these features should lead to situations as envisaged in the 'Schrödinger's cat' thought experiment (where the cat exists in a superposition of alive and dead states entangled with a radioactive nucleus). Such situations are not observed in nature. This may be simply due to our inability to sufficiently isolate the system of interest from the surrounding environment-a technical limitation. Another possibility is some as-yet-undiscovered mechanism that prevents the formation of macroscopic entangled states. Such a limitation might depend on the number of elementary constituents in the system or on the types of degrees of freedom that are entangled. Tests of the latter possibility have been made with photons, atoms and condensed matter devices. One system ubiquitous to nature where entanglement has not been previously demonstrated consists of distinct mechanical oscillators. Here we demonstrate deterministic entanglement of separated mechanical oscillators, consisting of the vibrational states of two pairs of atomic ions held in different locations. We also demonstrate entanglement of the internal states of an atomic ion with a distant mechanical oscillator. These results show quantum entanglement in a degree of freedom that pervades the classical world. Such experiments may lead to the generation of entangled states of larger-scale mechanical oscillators, and offer possibilities for testing non-locality with mesoscopic systems. In addition, the control developed here is an important ingredient for scaling-up quantum information processing with trapped atomic ions.

AimsIn patients with systolic heart failure (SHF) a high prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has been documented. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and type of SDB in patients with heart failure with normal left ventricular ejection fraction (HFNEF). Methods and resultsTwo hundred and forty-four consecutive patients (87 women, aged 65.3 + 1.4 years) with HFNEF underwent capillary blood gas analysis, measurement of NT-proBNP concentrations, echocardiography, cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX), cardiorespiratory polygraphy, and simultaneous right and left heart catheterization. Sleep-disordered breathing was defined as an apnoea-hypopnoea-index (AHI) 5/h. Sleep-disordered breathing was documented in 69.3% of all patients, 97 patients (39.8%) presented with OSA and 72 patients (29.5%) with CSA. With an increasing impairment of diastolic function the proportion of SDB, and CSA in particular, increased. Patients with SDB performed worse on CPX and six-minute walk test. Partial pressure of CO 2 was lower in CSA, whereas AHI, left atrial diameter, NT-proBNP, LVEDP, PAP, and PCWP were higher. ConclusionThere is a high prevalence of SDB in HFNEF. In parallel to SHF, CSA patients in particular are characterized by a more impaired cardiopulmonary function. Whether SDB is of prognostic relevance in HFNEF needs to be determined.--

In patients with CHF, CSA and OSA are independently associated with an increased risk for ventricular arrhythmias and appropriate cardioverter-defibrillator therapies.

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Abstract. The neutron time-of-flight facility n TOF features a white neutron source produced by spallation through 20 GeV/c protons impinging on a lead target. The facility, aiming primarily at the measurement of neutron-induced reaction cross sections, was operating at CERN between 2001 and 2004, and then underwent a major upgrade in 2008. This paper presents in detail all the characteristics of the new neutron beam in the currently available configurations, which correspond to two different collimation systems and two choices of neutron moderator. The characteristics discussed include the intensity and energy dependence of the neutron flux, the spatial profile of the beam, the in-beam background components and the energy resolution/broadening. The discussion of these features is based on dedicated measurements and Monte Carlo simulations, and includes estimations of the systematic uncertainties of the mentioned quantities.

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At the ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI the unbound nucleus 13 Be has been produced in one-neutron knockout reactions from a 304 MeV/nucleon relativistic beam of 14 Be ions impinging on a liquid hydrogen target. An analysis of the data including all available information about 13 Be, and in particular recent data from a similar experiment performed at RIKEN, has been performed. A consistent description is reached. It is found that the excitation spectrum is dominated by s-waves at low energy, which solves problems from previous seemingly contradictory interpretations. A possible interference between two s-states in 13 Be is also discussed. The results indicate that the ground-state wave function of 14 Be is dominated by valence neutrons in the s-shell contributing with 60-75% of the total neutron knockout cross section.

Background and aims: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB), especially Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) is common in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Adaptive servoventilation (ASV) was recently introduced to treat CSR in CHF. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ASV on CSR and CHF parameters. Methods: In 29 male patients (63.9 ± 9 years, NYHA ≥ II, left ventricular ejection fraction [LV-EF] ≤ 40%), cardiorespiratory polygraphy, cardiopulmonary exercise (CPX) testing, and echocardiography were performed and concentrations of NT-proBNP determined before and after 5.8 ± 3.5 months (median 5.7 months) of ASV (AutoSet CS™2, ResMed) treatment. All patients also received guideline-driven CHF therapy. Results: Apnoea-hypopnoea-index was reduced from 37.4 ± 9.4/h to 3.9 ± 4.1/h (p b 0.001). Workload during CPX testing increased from 81 ± 26 to 100 ± 31 W (p = 0.005), oxygen uptake (VO 2 ) at the anaerobic threshold from 12.6 ± 3 to 15.3 ± 4 ml/kg/min (p = 0.01) and predicted peak VO 2 from 58 ± 12% to 69 ± 17% (p = 0.007). LV-EF increased from 28.2 ± 7% to 35.2 ± 11% (p = 0.001), and NT-proBNP levels decreased significantly (2285 ± 2192 pg/ml to 1061 ± 1293 pg/ml, p = 0.01). Conclusions: In selected patients with CHF and CSR, addition of ASV to standard heart failure therapy is able to improve SDB, CPX test results, LV-EF and NT-proBNP concentrations.