8,925 research outputs found
Origin of the Thermal Radiation in a Solid-State Analog of a Black-Hole
An effective black-hole-like horizon occurs, for electromagnetic waves in
matter, at a surface of singular electric and magnetic permeabilities. In a
physical dispersive medium this horizon disappears for wave numbers with
. Nevertheless, it is shown that Hawking radiation is still emitted if
free field modes with are in their ground state.Comment: 13 Pages, 3 figures, Revtex with epsf macro
The use of VTE prophylaxis in relation to patient risk profiling(TUNE-IN) Wave 2 Study
KMBackground: The TUNE-IN (The Use of VTE prophylaxis in relatioN to patiEnt risk profiling) study evaluated venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment and prophylaxis in private medical and surgical inpatients in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The study concluded that of the 608 patients enrolled, 54.1% were clinically evaluated to be at risk for VTE. A VTE risk assessment model (RAM), the Caprini score, increased the rate to 74.6%.
Objectives: TUNE-IN Wave 2, an extension of TUNE-IN, was conducted on a national level including the public sector, focusing on surgical inpatients.
Methods. The study was a national, prospective, non-interventional, multisite, epidemiological disease registry enrolling 453 surgical inpatients. The perceived clinical VTE risk, VTE risk score on Caprini RAM, VTE prophylaxis and clinical details were documented during a baseline visit. A bleeding risk score was provided.
Results: Of the cohort, 269 patients (59.4%) were assessed to be at risk for VTE before applying the RAM. All patients (100%), however, were
at risk on the RAM score. Early mobilisation and assessment of the VTE risk as low were the most frequent reasons for non-prescription of prophylaxis. Only 15 patients in the private and 2 in the public sector were assessed as having a bleeding risk. Chemoprophylaxis differed between the healthcare sectors, with low-molecular-weight heparin predominating in the private sector and unfractionated heparin being prescribed only in the public sector.
Conclusion: VTE risk assessment and prophylaxis need to improve in both the public and the private sectors. A formal RAM will improve identification of patients at risk of VTE
Self-Dual Action for Fermionic Fields and Gravitation
This paper studies the self-dual Einstein-Dirac theory. A generalization is
obtained of the Jacobson-Smolin proof of the equivalence between the self-dual
and Palatini purely gravitational actions. Hence one proves equivalence of
self-dual Einstein-Dirac theory to the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble-Dirac
theory. The Bianchi symmetry of the curvature, core of the proof, now contains
a non-vanishing torsion. Thus, in the self-dual framework, the extra terms
entering the equations of motion with respect to the standard Einstein-Dirac
field equations, are neatly associated with torsion.Comment: 13 pages, plain-tex, recently appearing in Nuovo Cimento B, volume
109, pages 973-982, September 199
Gaucher disease: A cause of massive splenomegaly in a 15-year-old black African male
Patients with Gaucher disease (GD), a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease, commonly present to paediatricians with massive splenomegaly. While the diagnosis and management of patients with this chronic multisystem disorder has evolved significantly in recent years, the initial diagnosis represents a challenge. We describe the case of a 15-year-old black African male who presented with abdominal distension, delayed growth and fatigue. Initial laboratory studies revealed severe anaemia (haemoglobin concentration 8 g/dL) and moderate thrombocytopenia (platelet count 80 Ă— 109/L). A computed tomography scan of the abdomen showed an enlarged liver of 173 mm and massive splenomegaly of 27 mm. The diagnosis of GD was confirmed by reduced beta-glucocerebrosidase activity and heterozygous mutations in the GBA1 gene. The patient was managed at a dedicated paediatric haematology unit with enzyme replacement therapy and regular clinical, biochemical and radiological monitoring
Correlation between rivaroxaban (Xarelto) plasma activity, patient clinical variables and outcomes in a South African centre
Background. Low-molecular-weight heparin and vitamin K antagonists such as warfarin are the gold standard for prohylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolic disease (VTED). Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) result in predictable anticoagulation with significantly reduced inter- and intra-patient variability. DOAC absorption is rapid, with a short half-life and relatively few drug interactions. DOACs are effective and safe at fixed doses without activity monitoring. However, specific situations may require assessment of accurate drug activity. Rivaroxaban, a DOAC targeting activated coagulation factor X (FXa), is registered for the prevention and treatment of VTED in South Africa.Objectives. To establish a prophylactic rivaroxaban activity level range and determine any associations with clinical complications, viz. haemorrhage and/or thrombosis. Methods. Samples from 115 orthopaedic patients were tested 3 hours after a prophylactic oral dose of 10 mg rivaroxaban with STAGO rivaroxaban anti-FXa reagent on an automated coagulation analyser. Patient demographics and clinical outcomes were documented.Results. The mean rivaroxaban anti-FXa level was 105.7 ng/mL. Two patients developed adverse events on therapy. One patient had minor bleeding (menorrhagia) (drug activity level 288.7 ng/mL) and another a deep-vein thrombosis (drug activity level 34.7 ng/mL). Statistical analysis demonstrated an association between drug activity and advancing age (p=0.008), most apparent among those aged ≥65 years.Conclusions. Measuring rivaroxaban activity levels may reduce uncertainty if treatment failure and complications occur. Patients aged ≥65 years should be closely monitored. A local expected rivaroxaban activity level for patients on rivaroxaban prophylaxis has been established
Spatial curvature effects on molecular transport by diffusion
For a substance diffusing on a curved surface, we obtain an explicit relation
valid for very small values of the time, between the local concentration, the
diffusion coefficient, the intrinsic spatial curvature and the time. We recover
the known solution of Fick's law of diffusion in the flat space limit. In the
biological context, this result would be useful in understanding the variations
in the diffusion rates of integral proteins and other molecules on membranes.Comment: 10 page
Reality Conditions and Ashtekar Variables: a Different Perspective
We give in this paper a modified self-dual action that leads to the
-ADM formalism without having to face the difficult second class
constraints present in other approaches (for example if one starts from the
Hilbert-Palatini action). We use the new action principle to gain some new
insights into the problem of the reality conditions that must be imposed in
order to get real formulations from complex general relativity. We derive also
a real formulation for Lorentzian general relativity in the Ashtekar phase
space by using the modified action presented in the paper.Comment: 22 pages, LATEX, Preprint CGPG-94/10-
Can MONDian vector theories explain the cosmic speed up ?
Generalized Einstein - Aether vector field models have been shown to provide,
in the weak field regime, modifications to gravity which can be reconciled with
the successfull MOND proposal. Very little is known, however, on the function
F(K) defining the vector field Lagrangian so that an analysis of the viability
of such theories at the cosmological scales has never been performed. As a
first step along this route, we rely on the relation between F(K) and the MOND
interpolating function to assign the vector field Lagrangian thus
obtaining what we refer to as "MONDian vector models". Since they are able by
construction to recover the MOND successes on galaxy scales, we investigate
whether they can also drive the observed accelerated expansion by fitting the
models to the Type Ia Supernovae data. Should be this the case, we have a
unified framework where both dark energy and dark matter can be seen as
different manifestations of a single vector field. It turns out that both
MONDian vector models are able to well fit the low redshift data on Type Ia
Supernovae, while some tension could be present in the high z regime.Comment: 15 pages, 5 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication on Physical
Review
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