Inverse-designed diamond photonics

Diamond hosts optically active color centers with great promise in quantum computation, networking, and sensing. Realization of such applications is contingent upon the integration of color centers into photonic circuits. However, current diamond quantum optics experiments are restricted to single devices and few quantum emitters because fabrication constraints limit device functionalities, thus precluding color center integrated photonic circuits. In this work, we utilize inverse design methods to overcome constraints of cutting-edge diamond nanofabrication methods and fabricate compact and robust diamond devices with unique specifications. Our design method leverages advanced optimization techniques to search the full parameter space for fabricable device designs. We experimentally demonstrate inverse-designed photonic free-space interfaces as well as their scalable integration with two vastly different devices: classical photonic crystal cavities and inverse-designed waveguide-splitters. The multi-device integration capability and performance of our inverse-designed diamond platform represents a critical advancement toward integrated diamond quantum optical circuits

A double-blind randomized controlled trial of maternal postpartum deworming to improve infant weight gain in the Peruvian Amazon

Background : Nutritional interventions targeting the critical growth and development period before two years of age can have the greatest impact on health trajectories over the life course. Compelling evidence has demonstrated that interventions investing in maternal health in the first 1000 days of life are beneficial for both mothers and their children. One such potential intervention is deworming integrated into maternal postpartum care in areas where soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are endemic. Methodology/Principal Findings : From February to August 2014, 1010 mother-infant pairs were recruited into a trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of maternal postpartum deworming on infant and maternal health outcomes. Following delivery, mothers were randomly assigned to receive either single-dose 400 mg albendazole or placebo. Participants were followed-up at 1 and 6 months postpartum. There was no statistically significant difference in mean weight gain between infants in the experimental and control groups (mean difference: -0.02; 95% CI: -0.1, 0.08) at 6 months of age. Further, deworming had no effect on measured infant morbidity indicators. However, ad hoc analyses restricted to mothers who tested positive for STHs at baseline suggest that infants of mothers in the experimental group had greater mean length gain in cm (mean difference: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.1, 1.4) and length-for-age z-score (mean difference: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.8) at 6 months of age. Conclusions/Significance : In a study population composed of both STH-infected and uninfected mothers, maternal postpartum deworming was insufficient to impact infant growth and morbidity indicators up to 6 months postpartum. Among STH-infected mothers, however, important improvements in infant length gain and length-for-age were observed. The benefits of maternal postpartum deworming should be further investigated in study populations having higher overall prevalences and intensities of STH infections and, in particular, where whipworm and hookworm infections are of public health concern

Corrigendum to "GLOWORM-PARA:a flexible framework to simulate the population dynamics of the parasitic phase of gastrointestinal nematodes infecting grazing livestock" [Int. J. Parasitol. 50 (2020) 133-144]

Gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes are a significant threat to the economic and environmental sustainability of keeping livestock, as adequate control becomes increasingly difficult due to the development of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in some systems and climate-driven changes to infection dynamics. To mitigate any negative impacts of climate on GI nematode epidemiology and slow AR development, there is a need to develop effective, targeted control strategies that minimise the unnecessary use of anthelmintic drugs and incorporate alternative strategies such as vaccination and evasive grazing. However, the impacts climate and GI nematode epidemiology may have on the optimal control strategy are generally not considered, due to lack of available evidence to drive recommendations. Parasite transmission models can support control strategy evaluation to target field trials, thus reducing the resources and lead-time required to develop evidence-based control recommendations incorporating climate stochasticity. GI nematode population dynamics arising from natural infections have been difficult to replicate and model applications have often focussed on the free-living stages. A flexible framework is presented for the parasitic phase of GI nematodes, GLOWORM-PARA, which complements an existing model of the free-living stages, GLOWORM-FL. Longitudinal parasitological data for two species that are of major economic importance in cattle, Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora, were obtained from seven cattle farms in Belgium for model validation. The framework replicated the observed seasonal dynamics of infection in cattle on these farms and overall, there was no evidence of systematic under- or over-prediction of faecal egg counts (FECs). However, the model under-predicted the FECs observed on one farm with very young calves, highlighting potential areas of uncertainty that may need further investigation if the model is to be applied to young livestock. The model could be used to drive further research into alternative parasite control strategies such as vaccine development and novel treatment approaches, and to understand GI nematode epidemiology under changing climate and host management

Four problems regarding representable functors

Let $R$, $S$ be two rings, $C$ an $R$-coring and ${}_{R}^C{\mathcal M}$ the category of left $C$-comodules. The category ${\bf Rep}\, ( {}_{R}^C{\mathcal M}, {}_{S}{\mathcal M} )$ of all representable functors ${}_{R}^C{\mathcal M} \to {}_{S}{\mathcal M}$ is shown to be equivalent to the opposite of the category ${}_{R}^C{\mathcal M}_S$. For $U$ an $(S,R)$-bimodule we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the induction functor $U\otimes_R - : {}_{R}^C\mathcal{M} \to {}_{S}\mathcal{M}$ to be: a representable functor, an equivalence of categories, a separable or a Frobenius functor. The latter results generalize and unify the classical theorems of Morita for categories of modules over rings and the more recent theorems obtained by Brezinski, Caenepeel et al. for categories of comodules over corings.Comment: 16 pages, the second versio