A One-Parameter Family of Hamiltonian Structures for the KP Hierarchy and a Continuous Deformation of the Nonlinear \W_{\rm KP} Algebra

The KP hierarchy is hamiltonian relative to a one-parameter family of Poisson structures obtained from a generalized Adler map in the space of formal pseudodifferential symbols with noninteger powers. The resulting \W-algebra is a one-parameter deformation of \W_{\rm KP} admitting a central extension for generic values of the parameter, reducing naturally to \W_n for special values of the parameter, and contracting to the centrally extended \W_{1+\infty}, \W_\infty and further truncations. In the classical limit, all algebras in the one-parameter family are equivalent and isomorphic to \w_{\rm KP}. The reduction induced by setting the spin-one field to zero yields a one-parameter deformation of \widehat{\W}_\infty which contracts to a new nonlinear algebra of the \W_\infty-type.Comment: 31 pages, compressed uuencoded .dvi file, BONN-HE-92/20, US-FT-7/92, KUL-TF-92/20. [version just replaced was truncated by some mailer

Phonon Quasidiffusion in Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Large Germanium Detectors

We present results on quasidi usion studies in large, 3 inch diameter, 1 inch thick [100] high purity germanium crystals, cooled to 50 mK in the vacuum of a dilution refrigerator, and exposed with 59.5 keV gamma-rays from an Am-241 calibration source. We compare data obtained in two di erent detector types, with di erent phonon sensor area coverage, with results from a Monte Carlo. The Monte Carlo includes phonon quasidi usion and the generation of phonons created by charge carriers as they are drifted across the detector by ionization readout channels.United States. Dept. of Energy (Grant DE-FG02-04ER41295)United States. Dept. of Energy (Grant DE-FG02-07ER41480)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHY-0542066)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHY-0503729)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHY-0503629)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHY-0504224)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHY-0705078)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHY-0801712

Hypertension in Guatemala’s Public Primary Care System: A Needs Assessment Using the Health System Building Blocks Framework

Background: Uncontrolled hypertension represents a substantial and growing burden in Guatemala and other low and middle-income countries. As a part of the formative phase of an implementation research study, we conducted a needs assessment to define short- and long-term needs and opportunities for hypertension services within the public health system. Methods: We conducted a multi-method, multi-level assessment of needs related to hypertension within Guatemala’s public system using the World Health Organization’s health system building blocks framework. We conducted semi-structured interviews with stakeholders at national (n = 17), departmental (n = 7), district (n = 25), and community (n = 30) levels and focus groups with patients (3) and frontline auxiliary nurses (3). We visited and captured data about infrastructure, accessibility, human resources, reporting, medications and supplies at 124 health posts and 53 health centers in five departments of Guatemala. We conducted a thematic analysis of transcribed interviews and focus group discussions supported by matrix analysis. We summarized quantitative data observed during visits to health posts and centers. Results: Major challenges for hypertension service delivery included: gaps in infrastructure, insufficient staffing and high turnover, limited training, inconsistent supply of medications, lack of reporting, low prioritization of hypertension, and a low level of funding in the public health system overall. Key opportunities included: prior experience caring for patients with chronic conditions, eagerness from providers to learn, and interest from patients to be involved in managing their health. The 5 departments differ in population served per health facility, accessibility, and staffing. All but 7 health posts had basic infrastructure in place. Enalapril was available in 74% of health posts whereas hydrochlorothiazide was available in only 1 of the 124 health posts. With the exception of one department, over 90% of health posts had a blood pressure monitor. Conclusions: This multi-level multi-method needs assessment using the building blocks framework highlights contextual factors in Guatemala’s public health system that have been important in informing the implementation of a hypertension control trial. Long-term needs that are not addressed within the scope of this study will be important to address to enable sustained implementation and scale-up of the hypertension control approach.Fil: Fort, Meredith P.. University of Colorado; Estados UnidosFil: Mundo, William. University of Colorado; Estados UnidosFil: Paniagua Avila, Alejandra. No especifíca;Fil: Cardona, Sayra. No especifíca;Fil: Figueroa, Juan Carlos. No especifíca;Fil: Hernández Galdamez, Diego. No especifíca;Fil: Mansilla, Kristyne. No especifíca;Fil: Peralta García, Ana. No especifíca;Fil: Roche, Dina. No especifíca;Fil: Palacios, Eduardo Alberto. No especifíca;Fil: Glasgow, Russell E.. University of Colorado; Estados UnidosFil: Gulayin, Pablo Elías. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Irazola, Vilma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: He, Jiang. University of Tulane; Estados UnidosFil: Ramirez Zea, Manuel. No especifíca

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

LSST Science Book, Version 2.0

A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo

Prevalence, concordance and determinants of human papillomavirus infection among heterosexual partners in a rural region in central Mexico

Background: Although human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in heterosexual couples has been sparsely studied, it is relevant to understand disease burden and transmission mechanisms. The present study determined the prevalence and concordance of type-specific HPV infection as well as the determinants of infection in heterosexual couples in a rural area of Mexico. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 504 clinically healthy heterosexual couples from four municipalities in the State of Mexico, Mexico. HPV testing was performed using biotinylated L1 consensus primers and reverse line blot in cervical samples from women and in genital samples from men. Thirty-seven HPV types were detected, including high-risk oncogenic types and low-risk types. Multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to evaluate factors associated with HPV. Results: The prevalence of HPV infection was 20.5% in external male genitals and 13.7% in cervical samples. In 504 sexual couples participating in the study, concordance of HPV status was 79%; 34 partners (6.7%) were concurrently infected, and 21 out of 34 partners where both were HPV positive (61.8%) showed concordance for one or more HPV types. The principal risk factor associated with HPV DNA detection in men as well as women was the presence of HPV DNA in the respective regular sexual partner (OR = 5.15, 95% CI 3.01-8.82). In men, having a history of 10 or more sexual partners over their lifetime (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.3 - 4.8) and having had sexual relations with prostitutes (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.01 - 2.8) increased the likelihood of detecting HPV DNA. Conclusions: In heterosexual couples in rural regions in Mexico, the prevalence of HPV infection and type-specific concordance is high. High-risk sexual behaviors are strong determinants of HPV infection in men

Transancestral mapping and genetic load in systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with marked gender and ethnic disparities. We report a large transancestral association study of SLE using Immunochip genotype data from 27,574 individuals of European (EA), African (AA) and Hispanic Amerindian (HA) ancestry. We identify 58 distinct non-HLA regions in EA, 9 in AA and 16 in HA (∼50% of these regions have multiple independent associations); these include 24 novel SLE regions (P<5 × 10-8), refined association signals in established regions, extended associations to additional ancestries, and a disentangled complex HLA multigenic effect. The risk allele count (genetic load) exhibits an accelerating pattern of SLE risk, leading us to posit a cumulative hit hypothesis for autoimmune disease. Comparing results across the three ancestries identifies both ancestry-dependent and ancestry-independent contributions to SLE risk. Our results are consistent with the unique and complex histories of the populations sampled, and collectively help clarify the genetic architecture and ethnic disparities in SLE

Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of oral and pharyngeal cancer in Puerto Rico and among Non-Hispanics Whites, Non-Hispanic Blacks, and Hispanics in the USA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the American region, Puerto Rico (PR) has the highest incidence of oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC), but racial/ethnic differences have never been assessed and compared with other groups in the United States of America (USA). We compared the age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates of OPC between PR and among USA Hispanics (USH), Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), and Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB) to assess the burden of this cancer in PR.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Analysis of the age-standardized rates (per 100,000) was performed using the direct method with the world standard population (ASR(World)) from 1998–2002. Annual percent change (APC) and Relative Risks (RR) were calculated using the Poisson regression model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The incidence ASR(World) for men in PR was constant (APC ≈ 0.0%), in contrast, a decrease was observed among NHW, NHB, and USH men, although only USH showed statistical significance (APC = -4.9%, p < 0.05). In women, the highest increase in incidence (APC = 5.3%) and the lowest decrease in mortality (APC = -1.4%) was observed in PR. The ratio of the ASR(World) showed that in all racial/ethnic groups, men had approximately 2–4 fold increased incidence and mortality risk of OPC than women (p < 0.05). Men in PR had a higher mortality risk (p < 0.05) of OPC as compared to USH, NHW, and NHB; but among women, PR showed a significant excess of mortality only as compared to USH (est. SRR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.41, 2.33).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The overall higher incidence of OPC in men in PR as compared to USH, NHB, and NHW could be explained by the effect of gene-environment interactions. Meanwhile, the higher mortality from OPC in PR suggests limitations in the health-care access within this population. Further research is warranted to elucidate these findings.</p

The Tree Biodiversity Network (BIOTREE-NET): prospects for biodiversity research and conservation in the Neotropics

Biodiversity research and conservation efforts in the tropics are hindered by the lack of knowledge of the assemblages found there, with many species undescribed or poorly known. Our initiative, the Tree Biodiversity Network (BIOTREE-NET), aims to address this problem by assembling georeferenced data from a wide range of sources, making these data easily accessible and easily queried, and promoting data sharing. The database (GIVD ID NA-00-002) currently comprises ca. 50,000 tree records of ca. 5,000 species (230 in the IUCN Red List) from \u3e2,000 forest plots in 11 countries. The focus is on trees because of their pivotal role in tropical forest ecosystems (which contain most of the world\u27s biodiversity) in terms of ecosystem function, carbon storage and effects on other species. BIOTREE-NET currently focuses on southern Mexico and Central America, but we aim to expand coverage to other parts of tropical America. The database is relational, comprising 12 linked data tables. We summarise its structure and contents. Key tables contain data on forest plots (including size, location and date(s) sampled), individual trees (including diameter, when available, and both recorded and standardised species name), species (including biological traits of each species) and the researchers who collected the data. Many types of queries are facilitated and species distribution modelling is enabled. Examining the data in BIOTREE-NET to date, we found an uneven distribution of data in space and across biomes, reflecting the general state of knowledge of the tropics. More than 90% of the data were collected since 1990 and plot size varies widely, but with most less than one hectare in size. A wide range of minimum sizes is used to define a \u27tree\u27. The database helps to identify gaps that need filling by further data collection and collation. The data can be publicly accessed through a web application at http://portal.biotreenet.com. Researchers are invited and encouraged to contribute data to BIOTREE-NET

Demonstration of surface electron rejection with interleaved germanium detectors for dark matter searches

The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 103.16 (2013): 164105 and may be found at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/100/26/10.1063/1.4729825The SuperCDMS experiment in the Soudan Underground Laboratory searches for dark matter with a 9-kg array of cryogenic germanium detectors. Symmetric sensors on opposite sides measure both charge and phonons from each particle interaction, providing excellent discrimination between electron and nuclear recoils, and between surface and interior events. Surface event rejection capabilities were tested with two 210 Pb sources producing ∼130 beta decays/hr. In ∼800 live hours, no events leaked into the 8–115 keV signal region, giving upper limit leakage fraction 1.7 × 10−5 at 90% C.L., corresponding to < 0.6 surface event background in the future 200-kg SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment.This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. AST-9978911, NSF-0847342, PHY-1102795,NSF-1151869, PHY-0542066, PHY-0503729, PHY-0503629, PHY-0503641, PHY-0504224, PHY-0705052,PHY-0801708, PHY-0801712, PHY-0802575, PHY-0847342, PHY-0855299, PHY-0855525, and PHY-1205898), by the Department of Energy (Contract Nos. DE-AC03-76SF00098, DE-FG02-92ER40701, DE-FG02-94ER40823,DE-FG03-90ER40569, DE-FG03-91ER40618, and DESC0004022),by NSERC Canada (Grant Nos. SAPIN 341314 and SAPPJ 386399), and by MULTIDARK CSD2009-00064 and FPA2012-34694. Fermilab is operated by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC under Contract No. De-AC02-07CH11359, while SLAC is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515 with the United States Department of Energy