HIV-1 superinfection with a triple-class drug-resistant strain in a patient successfully controlled with antiretroviral treatment.

We report a case of HIV-1 superinfection (HSI) with a clade B, triple-class resistant virus in a patient successfully controlling viremia with continuous combination antiretroviral therapy started 8 years earlier during primary HIV infection. The course of HIV infection prior to HSI was monitored in both the source partner and recipient (8 and 11 years, respectively) and 4 years following HSI. This case report demonstrates re-infection with HIV-1 despite effective combination antiretroviral therapy

Effect of an educational intervention in primary care physicians on the compliance of indicators of good clinical practice in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus [OBTEDIGA project]

[Abstract] Aim. To evaluate the effect of an educational intervention among primary care physicians on several indicators of good clinical practice in diabetes care. Methods. Two groups of physicians were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group (IG and CG). Every physician randomly selected two samples of patients from all type 2 diabetic patients aged 40 years and above and diagnosed more than a year ago. Baseline and final information were collected cross-sectionally 12 months apart, in two independent samples of 30 patients per physician. The educational intervention comprised: distribution of educational materials and physicians' specific bench-marking information, an on-line course and three on-site educational workshops on diabetes. External observers collected information directly from the physicians and from the medical records of the patients on personal and family history of disease and on the evolution and treatment of their disease. Baseline information was collected retrospectively in the control group. Results. Intervention group comprised 53 physicians who included a total of 3018 patients in the baseline and final evaluations. CG comprised 50 physicians who included 2868 patients in the same evaluations. Measurement of micro-albuminuria in the last 12 months (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.4) and foot examination in the last year (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1–3.6) were the indicators for which greater improvement was found in the IG. No other indicator considered showed statistically significant improvement between groups. Conclusions. The identification of indicators with very low level of compliance and the implementation of a simple intervention in physicians to correct them is effective in improving the quality of care of diabetic patients

Sub-terahertz, microwaves and high energy emissions during the December 6, 2006 flare, at 18:40 UT

The presence of a solar burst spectral component with flux density increasing with frequency in the sub-terahertz range, spectrally separated from the well-known microwave spectral component, bring new possibilities to explore the flaring physical processes, both observational and theoretical. The solar event of 6 December 2006, starting at about 18:30 UT, exhibited a particularly well-defined double spectral structure, with the sub-THz spectral component detected at 212 and 405 GHz by SST and microwaves (1-18 GHz) observed by the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA). Emissions obtained by instruments in satellites are discussed with emphasis to ultra-violet (UV) obtained by the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE), soft X-rays from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and X- and gamma-rays from the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The sub-THz impulsive component had its closer temporal counterpart only in the higher energy X- and gamma-rays ranges. The spatial positions of the centers of emission at 212 GHz for the first flux enhancement were clearly displaced by more than one arc-minute from positions at the following phases. The observed sub-THz fluxes and burst source plasma parameters were found difficult to be reconciled to a purely thermal emission component. We discuss possible mechanisms to explain the double spectral components at microwaves and in the THz ranges.Comment: Accepted version for publication in Solar Physic

Time-dependent density-functional and reduced density-matrix methods for few electrons: Exact versus adiabatic approximations

To address the impact of electron correlations in the linear and non-linear response regimes of interacting many-electron systems exposed to time-dependent external fields, we study one-dimensional (1D) systems where the interacting problem is solved exactly by exploiting the mapping of the 1D $N$-electron problem onto an $N$-dimensional single electron problem. We analyze the performance of the recently derived 1D local density approximation as well as the exact-exchange orbital functional for those systems. We show that the interaction with an external resonant laser field shows Rabi oscillations which are detuned due to the lack of memory in adiabatic approximations. To investigate situations where static correlations play a role, we consider the time-evolution of the natural occupation numbers associated to the reduced one-body density matrix. Those studies shed light on the non-locality and time-dependence of the exchange and correlation functionals in time-dependent density and density-matrix functional theories.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, version as published apart from layou

Climate, irrigation, and land cover change explain streamflow trends in countries bordering the northeast Atlantic

Attribution of trends in streamflow is complex, but essential, in identifying optimal management options for water resources. Disagreement remains on the relative role of climate change and human factors, including water abstractions and land cover change, in driving change in annual streamflow. We construct a very dense network of gauging stations (n = 1,874) from Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Portugal for the period of 1961–2012 to detect and then attribute changes in annual streamflow. Using regression‐based techniques, we show that climate (precipitation and atmospheric evaporative demand) explains many of the observed trends in northwest Europe, while for southwest Europe human disturbances better explain both temporal and spatial trends. For the latter, large increases in irrigated areas, agricultural intensification, and natural revegetation of marginal lands are inferred to be the dominant drivers of decreases in streamflow

Adiabatic evolution of a coupled-qubit Hamiltonian

We present a general method for studying coupled qubits driven by adiabatically changing external parameters. Extended calculations are provided for a two-bit Hamiltonian whose eigenstates can be used as logical states for a quantum CNOT gate. From a numerical analysis of the stationary Schroedinger equation we find a set of parameters suitable for representing CNOT, while from a time-dependent study the conditions for adiabatic evolution are determined. Specializing to a concrete physical system involving SQUIDs, we determine reasonable parameters for experimental purposes. The dissipation for SQUIDs is discussed by fitting experimental data. The low dissipation obtained supports the idea that adiabatic operations could be performed on a time scale shorter than the decoherence time.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, to be pub.in Phys Rev

On the origin of M81 group extended dust emission

Galactic cirrus emission at far-infrared wavelengths affects many extragalactic observations. Separating this emission from that associated with extragalactic objects is both important and difficult. In this paper we discuss a particular case, the M81 group, and the identification of diffuse structures prominent in the infrared, but also detected at optical wavelengths. The origin of these structures has previously been controversial, ranging from them being the result of a past interaction between M81 and M82 or due to more local Galactic emission. We show that over an order of a few arcmin scales, the far-infrared (Herschel 250 mu m) emission correlates spatially very well with a particular narrow-velocity (2-3 km s(-1)) component of the Galactic HI. We find no evidence that any of the far-infrared emission associated with these features actually originates in the M81 group. Thus we infer that the associated diffuse optical emission must be due to galactic light-back scattered off dust in our galaxy. Ultraviolet observations pick out young stellar associations around M81, but no detectable far-infrared emission. We consider in detail one of the Galactic cirrus features, finding that the far-infrared HI relation breaks down below arcmin scales and that at smaller scales there can be quite large dust-temperature variation