2,314 research outputs found
Branonium
We study the bound states of brane/antibrane systems by examining the motion
of a probe antibrane moving in the background fields of N source branes. The
classical system resembles the point-particle central force problem, and the
orbits can be solved by quadrature. Generically the antibrane has orbits which
are not closed on themselves. An important special case occurs for some
Dp-branes moving in three transverse dimensions, in which case the orbits may
be obtained in closed form, giving the standard conic sections but with a
nonstandard time evolution along the orbit. Somewhat surprisingly, in this case
the resulting elliptical orbits are exact solutions, and do not simply apply in
the limit of asymptotically-large separation or non-relativistic velocities.
The orbits eventually decay through the radiation of massless modes into the
bulk and onto the branes, and we estimate this decay time. Applications of
these orbits to cosmology are discussed in a companion paper.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures, uses JHEP
Intestinal colonization due to Escherichia coli ST131: Risk factors and prevalence
Background Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is a successful clonal group that has dramatically spread during the last decades and is considered an important driver for the rapid increase of quinolone resistance in E. coli. Methods Risk factors for rectal colonization by ST131 Escherichia coli (irrespective of ESBL production) were investigated in 64 household members (18 were colonized) and 54 hospital contacts (HC; 10 colonized) of 34 and 30 index patients with community and nosocomial infection due to these organisms, respectively, using multilevel analysis with a p limit of < 0.1. Result Colonization among household members was associated with the use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) by the household member (OR = 3.08; 95% CI: 0.88–10.8) and higher age of index patients (OR = 1.05; 95% CI; 1.01–1.10), and among HC, with being bed-ridden (OR = 21.1; 95% CI: 3.61–160.0) and having a urinary catheter (OR = 8.4; 95% CI: 0.87–76.9). Conclusion Use of PPI and variables associated with higher need of person-to-person contact are associated with increased risk of rectal colonization by ST131. These results should be considered for infection control purposes.Plan Nacional de I + D + i 2013-2016Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)European Development Regional Fund REIPI RD12/0015/0010 REIPI RD16/0016/0001Instituto de Salud Carlos III 070190 AC16/000076-MODERN AC16/AC16/00072-ST131TSJunta de Andalucía CTS5259 CTS21
On the Effective Action of N=1 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory
We propose a generalization of the Veneziano-Yankielowicz effective
low-energy action for N=1 SUSY Yang-Mills theory which includes composite
operators interpolating pure gluonic bound states. The chiral supermultiplet of
anomalies is embedded in a larger three-form multiplet and an extra term in the
effective action is introduced. The mass spectrum and mixing of the lowest-spin
bound states are studied within the effective Lagrangian approach. The physical
mass eigenstates form two multiplets, each containing a scalar, pseudoscalar
and Weyl fermion. The multiplet containing the states which are most closely
related to glueballs is the lighter one.Comment: 20 pages, LaTex file, some references and footnotes are adde
Geometrical Tachyon Kinks and NS5 Branes
We further investigate the 5 ring background using the tachyon map.
Mapping the radion fields to the rolling tachyon helps to explain the motion of
a probe -brane in this background. It turns out that the radion field
becomes tachyonic when the brane is confined to one dimensional motion inside
the ring. We find explicit solutions for the geometrical tachyon field that
describe stable kink solutions which are similar to those of the open string
tachyon. Interestingly in the case of the geometric tachyon, the dynamics is
controlled by a cosine potential. In addition, we couple a constant electric
field to the probe-brane, but find that the only stable kink solutions occur
when there is zero electric field or a critical field value. We also
investigate the behaviour of Non-BPS branes in this background, and find that
the end state of any probe brane is that of tachyonic matter 'trapped' around
the interior of the ring. We conclude by considering compactification of the
ring solution in one of the transverse directions.Comment: Latex, 24 pages, 1 eps fig; clarifying comments added to Section 2;
typos correcte
S-Brane Thermodynamics
The description of string-theoretic s-branes at g_s=0 as exact worldsheet
CFTs with a (lambda cosh X^0) or (lambda e^(X^0)) boundary interaction is
considered. Due to the imaginary-time periodicity of the interaction under X^0
-> X^0 + 2 pi i, these configurations have intriguing similarities to black
hole or de Sitter geometries. For example, the open string pair production as
seen by an Unruh detector is thermal at temperature T = 1/4 pi. It is shown
that, despite the rapid time dependence of the s-brane, there exists an exactly
thermal mixed state of open strings. The corresponding boundary state is
constructed for both the bosonic and superstring cases. This state defines a
long-distance Euclidean effective field theory whose light modes are confined
to the s-brane. At the critical value of the coupling lambda=1/2, the boundary
interaction simply generates an SU(2) rotation by pi from Neumman to Dirichlet
boundary conditions. The lambda=1/2 s-brane reduces to an array of sD-branes
(D-branes with a transverse time dimension) on the imaginary time axis. The
long range force between a (bosonic) sD-brane and an ordinary D-brane is shown
from the annulus diagram to be 11/12 times the force between two D-branes. The
linearized time-dependent RR field F=dC produced by an sD-brane in superstring
theory is explicitly computed and found to carry a half unit of s-charge
Q_s=\int_S *F=1/2, where S is any transverse spacelike slice.Comment: 42 page
Kahler Moduli Inflation Revisited
We perform a detailed numerical analysis of inflationary solutions in Kahler
moduli of type IIB flux compactifications. We show that there are inflationary
solutions even when all the fields play an important role in the overall shape
of the scalar potential. Moreover, there exists a direction of attraction for
the inflationary trajectories that correspond to the constant volume direction.
This basin of attraction enables the system to have an island of stability in
the set of initial conditions. We provide explicit examples of these
trajectories, compute the corresponding tilt of the density perturbations power
spectrum and show that they provide a robust prediction of n_s approximately
0.96 for 60 e-folds of inflation.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figure
EFT beyond the horizon: stochastic inflation and how primordial quantum fluctuations go classical
We identify the effective theory describing inflationary super-Hubble scales and show it to be a special case of effective field theories appropriate to open systems. Open systems allow information to be exchanged between the degrees of freedom of interest and those that are integrated out, such as for particles moving through a fluid. Strictly speaking they cannot in general be described by an effective lagrangian; rather the appropriate `low-energy' limit is instead a Lindblad equation describing the evolution of the density matrix of the slow degrees of freedom. We derive the equation relevant to super-Hubble modes of quantum fields in near-de Sitter spacetimes and derive two implications. We show the evolution of the diagonal density-matrix elements quickly approaches the Fokker-Planck equation of Starobinsky's stochastic inflationary picture. This provides an alternative first-principles derivation of this picture's stochastic noise and drift, as well as its leading corrections. (An application computes the noise for systems with a sub-luminal sound speed.) We argue that the presence of interactions drives the off-diagonal density-matrix elements to zero in the field basis. This shows why the field basis is the `pointer basis' for the decoherence of primordial quantum fluctuations while they are outside the horizon, thus allowing them to re-enter as classical fluctuations, as assumed when analyzing CMB data. The decoherence process is efficient, occurring after several Hubble times even for interactions as weak as gravitational-strength. Crucially, the details of the interactions largely control only the decoherence time and not the nature of the final late-time stochastic state, much as interactions can control the equilibration time for thermal systems but are largely irrelevant to the properties of the resulting equilibrium state
An exploration of parents’ preferences for foot care in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a possible role for the discrete choice experiment
Background:
An increased awareness of patients’ and parents’ care preferences regarding foot care is desirable from a clinical perspective as such information may be utilised to optimise care delivery. The aim of this study was to examine parents’ preferences for, and valuations of foot care and foot-related outcomes in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).<p></p>
Methods:
A discrete choice experiment (DCE) incorporating willingness-to-pay (WTP) questions was conducted by surveying 42 parents of children with JIA who were enrolled in a randomised-controlled trial of multidisciplinary foot care at a single UK paediatric rheumatology outpatients department. Attributes explored were: levels of pain; mobility; ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL); waiting time; referral route; and footwear. The DCE was administered at trial baseline. DCE data were analysed using a multinomial-logit-regression model to estimate preferences and relative importance of attributes of foot care. A stated-preference WTP question was presented to estimate parents’ monetary valuation of health and service improvements.<p></p>
Results:
Every attribute in the DCE was statistically significant (p < 0.01) except that of cost (p = 0.118), suggesting that all attributes, except cost, have an impact on parents’ preferences for foot care for their child. The magnitudes of the coefficients indicate that the strength of preference for each attribute was (in descending order): improved ability to perform ADL, reductions in foot pain, improved mobility, improved ability to wear desired footwear, multidisciplinary foot care route, and reduced waiting time. Parents’ estimated mean annual WTP for a multidisciplinary foot care service was £1,119.05.<p></p>
Conclusions:
In terms of foot care service provision for children with JIA, parents appear to prefer improvements in health outcomes over non-health outcomes and service process attributes. Cost was relatively less important than other attributes suggesting that it does not appear to impact on parents’ preferences.<p></p>
Time Evolution via S-branes
Using S(pacelike)-branes defined through rolling tachyon solutions, we show
how the dynamical formation of D(irichlet)-branes and strings in tachyon
condensation can be understood. Specifically we present solutions of S-brane
actions illustrating the classical confinement of electric and magnetic flux
into fundamental strings and D-branes. The role of S-branes in string theory is
further clarified and their RR charges are discussed. In addition, by examining
``boosted'' S-branes, we find what appears to be a surprising dual S-brane
description of strings and D-branes, which also indicates that the critical
electric field can be considered as a self-dual point in string theory. We also
introduce new tachyonic S-branes as Euclidean counterparts to non-BPS branes.Comment: 62 pages, 10 figures. v2 references adde
Prospective memory functioning among ecstasy/polydrug users: evidence from the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT)
Rationale:
Prospective memory (PM) deficits in recreational drug users have been documented in recent years. However, the assessment of PM has largely been restricted to self-reported measures that fail to capture the distinction between event-based and time-based PM. The aim of the present study is to address this limitation.
Objectives:
Extending our previous research, we augmented the range laboratory measures of PM by employing the CAMPROMPT test battery to investigate the impact of illicit drug use on prospective remembering in a sample of cannabis only, ecstasy/polydrug and non-users of illicit drugs, separating event and time-based PM performance. We also administered measures of executive function and retrospective memory in order to establish whether ecstasy/polydrug deficits in PM were mediated by group differences in these processes.
Results:
Ecstasy/polydrug users performed significantly worse on both event and time-based prospective memory tasks in comparison to both cannabis only and non-user groups. Furthermore, it was found that across the whole sample, better retrospective memory and executive functioning was associated with superior PM performance. Nevertheless, this association did not mediate the drug-related effects that were observed. Consistent with our previous study, recreational use of cocaine was linked to PM deficits.
Conclusions:
PM deficits have again been found among ecstasy/polydrug users, which appear to be unrelated to group differences in executive function and retrospective memory. However, the possibility that these are attributable to cocaine use cannot be excluded
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