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Objectives: A body of research is clarifying the complexity of the effects of online gaming on the lives of gamers. We explored self-reported negative emotional states, satisfaction with life, and relationship satisfaction in a sample of young adults. Methods: We recruited 165 student participants (70.9% female; Mage = 24.24, SD = 6.15) who completed an online survey. Two-way ANCOVAs were used to assess the relationships between online gaming, gender and the measures of negative emotional states, satisfaction with life, and relationship satisfaction. Results: No effects of gaming on relationship satisfaction were evident. However, gaming was positively related to satisfaction with life. In contrast, when negative emotional states were examined, female gamers had higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than both non-gamers and male gamers. Conclusion and Implications: This highlights the complexities of the effects of gaming and that gaming itself should not be pathologized. The interactions evident in female gamers require further investigation, with the results supporting the notion that in some cohorts pre-existing characteristics of gamers might be a factor, as could how female gamers engage with online gaming environments. Further, the distinction between cognitive judgmental measures of satisfaction with life and negative emotional states was reiterated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistent winter haze episodes that occurred in Beijing over the period 1980 to 2016 are examined based on both reanalysis and station data. On both interannual and intra-seasonal timescales, winter haze weather in Beijing is found to be associated with a significant atmospheric teleconnection pattern from the North Atlantic to Eurasia (Beijing). A positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO+) phase and a positive East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR+) phase can be observed as part of this teleconnection pattern (or an arched wave train). This study focuses mainly on the role of the NAO+ pattern, because the NAO index shows a closer relationship with winter haze frequency, especially after 1999, and the NAO+ pattern leads to the formation of persistent haze events over a longer period of time. Composite analyses show that a robust and consistent daily evolution of the wave train originates from an NAO+ pattern over the North Atlantic 8-10 days prior to the persistent haze events. The wave train continues propagating energy downstream, which leads to the formation and maintenance of a high-pressure center over northeast China, thus creating favorable meteorological conditions for the persistent haze events in Beijing. Thus, the NAO+ pattern is also an essential preceding background for the formation of the wave train, which can be treated as a potential predictor for persistent hazy weather. Corresponding to the NAO+ pattern, a tripolar sea surface temperature mode and intensified zonal wind over the North Atlantic also serve as prior signals for the persistent haze events. In addition, the propagation of the wave train is also associated with preceding significant positive sea ice concentration anomalies in the Barents-Kara Sea. Moreover, comparative analysis demonstrates that NAO+ winters are more advantageous to the formation and maintenance of winter haze weather in Beijing rather than NAO- winters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the feasibility of implementing a small surface code with 9 data qubits and 8 ancilla qubits, commonly referred to as surface-17, using a linear chain of 171Yb+ ions. Two-qubit gates can be performed between any two ions in the chain with gate time increasing linearly with ion distance. Measurement of the ion state by fluorescence requires that the ancilla qubits be physically separated from the data qubits to avoid errors on the data due to scattered photons. We minimize the time required to measure one round of stabilizers by optimizing the mapping of the two-dimensional surface code to the linear chain of ions. We develop a physically motivated Pauli error model that allows for fast simulation and captures the key sources of noise in an ion trap quantum computer including gate imperfections and ion heating. Our simulations showed a consistent requirement of a two-qubit gate fidelity of ≥99.9% for the logical memory to have a better fidelity than physical two-qubit operations. Finally, we perform an analysis of the error subsets from the importance sampling method used to bound the logical error rates to gain insight into which error sources are particularly detrimental to error correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]