Notes on the Verlinde formula in non-rational conformal field theories

We review and extend evidence for the validity of a generalized Verlinde formula in particular non-rational conformal field theories. We identify a subset of representations of the chiral algebra in non-rational conformal field theories that give rise to an analogue of the relation between modular S-matrices and fusion coefficients in rational conformal field theories. To that end we review and extend the Cardy-type brane calculations in bosonic and supersymmetric Liouville theory (and its duals) as well as in the hyperbolic three-plane H3+. We analyze the three-point functions of Liouville theory and of H3+ in detail to directly identify the fusion coefficients from the operator product expansion.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, v2: minor corrections, PRD versio

Security of quantum key distribution with iterative sifting

Several quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols employ iterative sifting. After each quantum transmission round, Alice and Bob disclose part of their setting information (including their basis choices) for the detected signals. The quantum phase of the protocol then ends when the numbers of detected signals per basis exceed certain pre-agreed threshold values. Recently, however, Pfister et al. [New J. Phys. 18 053001 (2016)] showed that iterative sifting makes QKD insecure, especially in the finite key regime, if the parameter estimation for privacy amplification uses the random sampling theory. This implies that a number of existing finite key security proofs could be flawed and cannot guarantee security. Here, we solve this serious problem by showing that the use of Azuma's inequality for parameter estimation makes QKD with iterative sifting secure again. This means that the existing protocols whose security proof employs this inequality remain secure even if they employ iterative sifting. Also, our results highlight a fundamental difference between the random sampling theorem and Azuma's inequality in proving security.Comment: 9 pages. We have found a flaw in the first version, which we have corrected in the revised versio

Rapid Optical Fluctuations in the Black Hole Binary, V4641 Sgr

We report on unprecedented short-term variations detected in the optical flux from the black hole binary system, V4641 Sgr. Amplitudes of the optical fluctuations were larger at longer time scales, and surprisingly reached ~60% around a period of ~10 min. The power spectra of fluctuations are characterized by a power law. It is the first case in black hole binaries that the optical emission was revealed to show short-term and large-amplitude variations given by such a power spectrum. The optical emission from black hole binaries is generally dominated by the emission from the outer portion of an accretion disc. The rapid optical fluctuations however indicate that the emission from an inner accretion region significantly contributes to the optical flux. In this case, cyclo-synchrotron emission associated with various scales of magnetic flares is the most promising mechanism for the violently variable optical emission.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Isolation of Unknown Genes from Human Bone Marrow by Differental Screening and Single-Pass cDNA Sequences Determination

A cDNA sequencing project was initiated to characterize gene expression in human bone marrow and develop strategies to isolate novel genes. Forty-eight random cDNAs from total human bone marrow were subjected to single-pass DNA sequence analysis to determine a limited complexity of mRNAs expressed in the bone marrow. Overall, 8 cDNAs (17%) showed no similarity to known sequences. Information from DNA sequence analysis was used to develop a differential prescreen to subtract unwanted cDNAs and to enrich for unknown cDNAs. Forty-eight cDNAs that were negative with a complex probe were subject to single-pass DNA sequence determination. Of these prescreened cDNAs, the number of unknown sequences increased to 23 (48%). Unknown cDNAs were also characterized by RNA expression analysis using 25 different human leukemic cell lines. Of 13 unknown cDNAs tested, 10 were expressed in all cell types tested and 3 revealed a hematopoietic lineage-restricted expression pattern. Interestingly, while a total of only 96 bone marrow cDNAs were sequenced, 31 of these cDNAs represent sequences from unknown genes and 12 showed significant similarities to sequences in the data bases. One cDNA revealed a significant similarity to a serine/threonine-protein kinase at the amino acid level (56% identity for 123 amino acids) and may represent a previously unknown kinase. Differential screening techniques coupled with single-pass cDNA sequence analysis may prove to be a powerful and simple technique to examine developmental gene expression

Molecular characterization and distribution of cephalosporin resistance determinants in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from patients attending Kampala International University Teaching Hospital in Bushenyi, Western Uganda

Cephalosporins are the first-line therapy antibiotics used in the treatment of gram-negative bacterial infections. However, high prevalence of cephalosporins resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli has been reported worldwide. Studies conducted in Uganda reported high incidences of cephalosporin resistance (CR). Successive studies at Mulago National Referral Hospital indicated a decline in the resistance levels pointing to the need for regular antibiotic resistance surveillance. Therefore, this study carried out molecular characterization of CR determinants in E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolated from patients attending Kampala International University Teaching Hospital (KIU-TH). A retrospective study using E. coli and K. pnuemoniae samples previously obtained from surgical wounds and urinary tract infections among patients treated at KIU-TH between September 2016 and August 2018 was conducted. Biochemical assays were used to confirm the identity of the samples. Combined disc and boronic acid assays were used to determine the cephalosporine resistance profile of the isolates. Multiplex PCR amplification was used to characterize the extended spectrum betalactmase (ESBL) encoding genes. The study revealed that E. coli (130/81.2%) isolates were more predominant than K. pneumoniae (30/18.8%) among the archived samples. K. pneumoniae showed the highest phenotypic resistance with a mean prevalence of 90.6% but comparable to that of E. coli (89.3%). Of the 160 isolates screened, 105 (65.6%) were ESBL producers. Multiplex PCR revealed that the most predominant ESBL encoding gene was blaSHV at a prevalence of 42.0%, followed by blaTEM at 27.3%, blaCTX-M at 22.4% and blaCTX-M-15 at 8.4%. The incidence of phenotypic resistance and distribution of ESBL genes were significantly higher in patients of Ishaka division. Our study reports a high prevalence of cephalosporin-resistant E. coli and K. pnuemoniae isolated from patients attending KIU-TH and highlights the need forr routine screening of antimicrobial resistance in health-care facilities so as to guide clinicians on the rational prescription of antibiotics.List of abbreviations: ATCC: American Type Culture Collection; ESBL: extended spectrum betalactmases; AmpC: aminopenicillin cephalosporinase; CTX-M: cephotaxime (M-first detected in Munich) hydrolyzing capabilities; CTX-M-U: cephotaxime hydrolyzing capabilities gene Universal primer; SHV: sulfhydryl variables (variant-2); CMY-2: cephamycins (variant-2); TEM: temoneira; ACT-1: AmpC type (variant-1); Bla: Beta lactam; DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; MNRH: Mulago National Referral Hospital; MRRH: Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital; KRRH: Kabale Regional Referral Hospital (KRRH); KIU-TH: Kampala International University Teaching Hospital; CDL: Central Diagnostic Laboratory; CoVAB: College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity; CR: cephalosporin resistanc

Caregivers' perceived treatment failure in home-based management of fever among Ugandan children aged less than five years

BACKGROUND: Home-based management of fever (HBMF) could improve prompt access to antimalarial medicines for African children. However, the perception of treatment failure by caregivers has not been assessed. METHODS: Caregiver's perceived treatment outcome in HBMF and in alternative sources of fever treatment was assessed in a rural Ugandan setting using nine hundred and seventy eight (978) caregivers of children between two and 59 months of age, who had reported fever within two weeks prior to the study. RESULTS: Lower caregivers' perceived treatment failure (15% and 23%) was observed in the formal health facilities and in HBMF, compared to private clinics (38%), drug shops (55%) or among those who used herbs (56%). Under HBMF, starting treatment within 24 hours of symptoms onset and taking treatment for the recommended three days duration was associated with a lower perceived treatment failure. Conversely, vomiting, convulsions and any illness in the month prior to the fever episode was associated with a higher perceived treatment failure. CONCLUSION: In this medium malaria transmission setting, caregiver's perceived treatment outcome was better in HBMF compared to alternative informal sources of treatment

Can foraging ecology drive the evolution of body size in a diving endotherm?

Within a single animal species, different morphs can allow for differential exploitation of foraging niches between populations, while sexual size dimorphism can provide each sex with access to different resources. Despite being potentially important agents of evolution, resource polymorphisms, and the way they operate in wild populations, remain poorly understood. In this study, we examine how trophic factors can select for different body sizes between populations and sexes in a diving endotherm. Dive depth and duration are positively related to body size in diving birds and mammals, a relationship explained by a lower mass-specific metabolic rate and greater oxygen stores in larger individuals. Based on this allometry, we predict that selection for exploiting resources situated at different depths can drive the evolution of body size in species of diving endotherms at the population and sexual level. To test this prediction, we studied the foraging ecology of Blue-eyed Shags, a group of cormorants with male-biased sexual size dimorphism from across the Southern Ocean. We found that mean body mass and relative difference in body mass between sexes varied by up to 77% and 107% between neighbouring colonies, respectively. Birds from colonies with larger individuals dived deeper than birds from colonies with smaller individuals, when accounting for sex. In parallel, males dived further offshore and deeper than females and the sexual difference in dive depth reflected the level of sexual size dimorphism at each colony. We argue that body size in this group of birds is under intense selection for diving to depths of profitable benthic prey patches and that, locally, sexual niche divergence selection can exaggerate the sexual size dimorphism of Blue-eyed Shags initially set up by sexual selection. Our findings suggest that trophic resources can select for important geographic micro-variability in body size between populations and sexes

V344 Lyrae: A Touchstone SU UMa Cataclysmic Variable in the Kepler Field

We report on the analysis of the Kepler short-cadence (SC) light curve of V344 Lyr obtained during 2009 June 20 through 2010 Mar 19 (Q2--Q4). The system is an SU UMa star showing dwarf nova outbursts and superoutbursts, and promises to be a touchstone for CV studies for the foreseeable future. The system displays both positive and negative superhumps with periods of 2.20 and 2.06-hr, respectively, and we identify an orbital period of 2.11-hr. The positive superhumps have a maximum amplitude of ~0.25-mag, the negative superhumps a maximum amplitude of ~0.8 mag, and the orbital period at quiescence has an amplitude of ~0.025 mag. The quality of the Kepler data is such that we can test vigorously the models for accretion disk dynamics that have been emerging in the past several years. The SC data for V344 Lyr are consistent with the model that two physical sources yield positive superhumps: early in the superoutburst, the superhump signal is generated by viscous dissipation within the periodically flexing disk, but late in the superoutburst, the signal is generated as the accretion stream bright spot sweeps around the rim of the non-axisymmetric disk. The disk superhumps are roughly anti-phased with the stream/late superhumps. The V344 Lyr data also reveal negative superhumps arising from accretion onto a tilted disk precessing in the retrograde direction, and suggest that negative superhumps may appear during the decline of DN outbursts. The period of negative superhumps has a positive dP/dt in between outbursts.Comment: ApJ, In Press (20 pages, 27 figures) A version with full-resolution figures is available at http://www.astro.fit.edu/wood/WoodV344.pd

Malaria Treatment Policy Change and Implementation: The Case of Uganda

Malaria due to P. falciparum is the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in Uganda where it is highly endemic in 95% of the country. The use of efficacious and effective antimalarial medicines is one of the key strategies for malaria control. Until 2000, Chloroquine (CQ) was the first-line drug for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Uganda. Due to progressive resistance to CQ and to a combination of CQ with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine, Uganda in 2004 adopted the use of ACTs as first-line drug for treating uncomplicated malaria. A review of the drug policy change process and postimplementation reports highlight the importance of managing the policy change process, generating evidence for policy decisions and availability of adequate and predictable funding for effective policy roll-out. These and other lessons learnt can be used to guide countries that are considering anti-malarial drug change in future

Machine-driven parameter screen of biochemical reactions

The development of complex methods in molecular biology is a laborious, costly, iterative and often intuition-bound process where optima are sought in a multidimensional parameter space through step-by-step optimizations. The difficulty of miniaturizing reactions under the microliter volumes usually handled in multiwell plates by robots, plus the cost of the experiments, limit the number of parameters and the dynamic ranges that can be explored. Nevertheless, because of non-linearities of the response of biochemical systems to their reagent concentrations, broad dynamic ranges are necessary. Here we use a high-performance nanoliter handling platform and computer generation of liquid transfer programs to explore in quadruplicates 648 combinations of 4 parameters of a biochemical reaction, the reverse-transcription, which lead us to uncover non-linear responses, parameter interactions and novel mechanistic insights. With the increased availability of computer-driven laboratory platforms for biotechnology, our results demonstrate the feasibility and advantage of methods development based on reproducible, computer-aided exhaustive characterization of biochemical systems