Remarks on Hawking radiation as tunneling from the BTZ black holes

Hawking radiation viewed as a semiclassical tunneling process from the event horizon of the (2 + 1)-dimensional rotating BTZ black hole is carefully reexamined by taking into account not only the energy conservation but also the conservation of angular momentum when the effect of the emitted particle's self-gravitation is incorporated. In contrast to previous analysis of this issue in the literature, our result obtained here fits well to the Kraus-Parikh-Wilczek's universal conclusion without any modification to the Bekenstein-Hawking area-entropy formulae of the BTZ black hole.Comment: 12pages, no figure, use JHEP3.cls. Version better than published one in JHE

Health policies to control Chagas disease transmission in European countries

Chagas disease (CD) is a highly prevalent parasitic disease in immigrants from Mexico, as well as all of Central and South America. The total number of infected people is estimated between eight and ten million [1], [2], of whom 30%-40% either have, or will, develop cardiopathy, gastrointestinal disease, or both [1]. Cardiac involvement is the main cause of death from this infection through arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy. Nifurtimox and benznidazole are the only available medicines with proven efficacy against Trypanosoma cruzi infection in acute, congenital infection and early chronic infection. Until recently the treatment of chronic disease, particularly of adult patients with indeterminate form, was controversial; but during the past decade there has been a trend to offer treatment to adult patients and those with early cardiomyopathy

Rapid immunochromatographic tests for the diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease in at-risk populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Despite of a high disease burden, mainly in Latin America, Chagas disease (CD) is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) might improve the access to diagnosis. The aim of this study is to review the accuracy of commercially available RDTs used in field conditions for the diagnosis of chronic CD in populations at risk, in endemic and non-endemic countries. Methods/Principal findings We undertook a comprehensive search of the following databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, LILACS (last up-date on the 01st July, 2017), without language or date limits. Non-electronic sources have been also searched. This review included clinical studies with cohort recruitment of individuals at risk of T. cruzi exposure, without age limits; adequate reference standards for the diagnosis of CD. We excluded case-control studies and those testing RDTs during acute CD. Data on test accuracies were pooled through a bivariate random-effects model. Only one index test was evaluated separately. Geographical area, commercial brand, disease prevalence, study size, and risk of bias were explored as possible source of heterogeneity. Values of sensitivity and specificity were computed to obtain summary positive/negative likelihood ratios, and summary diagnostic odds ratio. Ten studies were included on six different immunochromatographic RDTs. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of the RDTs resulted 96.6% (95% CI 91.3–98.7%) and 99.3% (95% CI 98.4–99.7%), respectively. Test accuracy was particularly good in endemic areas (98.07%/99.03% of sensitivity/specificity, respectively). One test (Stat-Pak) showed an overall sensitivity of 97% (95% CI 87.6–99.3) and specificity of 99.4% (95% CI 98.6–99.8). Conclusions/Significance RDTs demonstrated to be sufficiently accurate to recommend their use for screening in endemic areas, even as stand-alone tests. This approach might increase the accessibility to the diagnosis. However, an additional confirmatory test in case of positive result remains a prudent approach

Hawking radiation as tunneling and the unified first law of thermodynamics at the apparent horizon in the FRW universe

Relations between the tunneling rate and the unified first law of thermodynamics at the apparent horizon of the FRW universe are investigated. The tunneling rate arises as a consequence of the unified first law of thermodynamics in such a dynamical system. The analysis shows obviously how the tunneling is intimately connected with the unified first law of thermodynamics through the principle of conservation of energy.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, no figur

Quantum instability for charged scalar particles on charged Nariai and ultracold black hole manifolds

We analyze in detail the quantum instability which characterizes charged scalar field on three special de Sitter charged black hole backgrounds. In particular, we compute exactly the imaginary part of the effective action for scalar charged fields on the ultracold I, ultracold II and Nariai charged black hole backgrounds. Both the transmission coefficient approach and the $\zeta$-function approach are exploited. Thermal effects on this quantum instability are also taken into account in presence of a non-zero black hole temperature (ultracold I and Nariai).Comment: 20 pages, IOP styl

Manual de produção de uvas viníferas de alta qualidade.

bitstream/item/129038/1/MANUAL-de-PRODUCAO-de-UVAS-VINIFERAS-de-ALTA-QUALIDADE-2015-Revisado-em-31-08-15.pd

Seroprevalence of five neglected parasitic diseases among immigrants accessing five infectious and tropical diseases units in Italy: a cross-sectional study.

: This multicentre cross-sectional study aims to estimate the prevalence of five neglected tropical diseases (Chagas disease, filariasis, schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis, toxocariasis) among immigrants accessing health care facilities in five Italian cities (Bologna, Brescia, Florence, Rome, Verona). : Individuals underwent a different set of serological tests, according to country of origin and presence of eosinophilia. Seropositive patients were treated and further followed up. : A total of 930 adult immigrants were enrolled: 477 men (51.3%), 445 women (47.9%), 8 transgender (0.8%); median age was 37.81 years (range 18-80). Most of them were coming from the African continent (405/930, 43.5%), the rest from East Europe, South America and Asia. A portion of 9.6% (89/930) were diagnosed with at least one of the infections under study. Seroprevalence of each specific infection varied from 3.9% (7/180) for Chagas diseases to 9.7% (11/113) for toxocariasis. Seropositive people were more likely to be 35 to 40 years-old male and to come from South East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa or South America. : The results of our study confirm that neglected tropical diseases represent a substantial health problem among immigrants and highlight the need for addressing this emerging public health issue.<br/

Chagas disease in Italy: breaking an epidemiological silence

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Target product profile for a test for the early assessment of treatment efficacy in Chagas disease patients: An expert consensus.

Six to 7 million people are estimated to be infected by Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite causing Chagas disease. Thirty to 40% of them, i.e., 1.8 to 2.4 million people, will suffer cardiac disorders and/or digestive clinical manifestations if they are not treated early during the course of the infection [1, 2]. However, only a small fraction of patients are properly diagnosed and treated [3]. Current clinical guidelines recommend treating T. cruzi–infected people if they are asymptomatic or present early symptoms of the disease (Table 1) [4, 5]. Benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox (NFX) are the first-line antiparasitic treatments currently available, both with long administration regimens (60 days) that can produce adverse side effects [6–8]. Despite the fact they are not 100% effective in patients with chronic disease [9–12], they are the only drugs currently registered, and the benefits of their administration have been confirmed in several clinical studies. Currently, clinical trials with new compounds, using alternative regimens that aim to maintain efficacy whilst reducing toxicity, are ongoing and could lead to new therapeutic opportunities and/or policy change