92 research outputs found
Gender differences in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA and CD4 cell counts among new entrants to HIV care
ABSTRACTClinic database extraction identified 806 new entrants to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care in Cleveland, OH, USA. At entry, women had higherCD4 counts and lower HIVRNAlevels than men (mean, 388 vs. 310 cells/µL, and 8.94 × 104 vs. 1.27 × 105 copies/mL, respectively), but the proportion of entrants with category C illnesses, category B conditions, sexually transmitted diseases and CD4 counts < 200 µL did not differ between genders. Hepatitis B seroprevalence was higher in men (8.7% vs. 0.6%), but there was no difference in hepatitis C prevalence. Whether women in Cleveland seek HIV care earlier, or whether early markers of HIV disease differ between the genders, remains to be determined
Quantum Efficiency of Charge Qubit Measurements Using a Single Electron Transistor
The quantum efficiency, which characterizes the quality of information gain
against information loss, is an important figure of merit for any realistic
quantum detectors in the gradual process of collapsing the state being
measured. In this work we consider the problem of solid-state charge qubit
measurements with a single-electron-transistor (SET). We analyze two models:
one corresponds to a strong response SET, and the other is a tunable one in
response strength. We find that the response strength would essentially bound
the quantum efficiency, making the detector non-quantum-limited. Quantum
limited measurements, however, can be achieved in the limits of strong response
and asymmetric tunneling. The present study is also associated with appropriate
justifications for the measurement and backaction-dephasing rates, which were
usually evaluated in controversial methods.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
The Blackbody Radiation Spectrum Follows from Zero-Point Radiation and the Structure of Relativistic Spacetime in Classical Physics
The analysis of this article is entirely within classical physics. Any
attempt to describe nature within classical physics requires the presence of
Lorentz-invariant classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation so as to
account for the Casimir forces between parallel conducting plates at low
temperatures. Furthermore, conformal symmetry carries solutions of Maxwell's
equations into solutions. In an inertial frame, conformal symmetry leaves
zero-point radiation invariant and does not connect it to non-zero-temperature;
time-dilating conformal transformations carry the Lorentz-invariant zero-point
radiation spectrum into zero-point radiation and carry the thermal radiation
spectrum at non-zero temperature into thermal radiation at a different
non-zero-temperature. However, in a non-inertial frame, a time-dilating
conformal transformation carries classical zero-point radiation into thermal
radiation at a finite non-zero-temperature. By taking the no-acceleration
limit, one can obtain the Planck radiation spectrum for blackbody radiation in
an inertial frame from the thermal radiation spectrum in an accelerating frame.
Here this connection between zero-point radiation and thermal radiation is
illustrated for a scalar radiation field in a Rindler frame undergoing
relativistic uniform proper acceleration through flat spacetime in two
spacetime dimensions. The analysis indicates that the Planck radiation spectrum
for thermal radiation follows from zero-point radiation and the structure of
relativistic spacetime in classical physics.Comment: 21 page
Macroscopic resonant tunneling of magnetic flux
We have developed a quantitative theory of resonant tunneling of magnetic
flux between discrete macroscopically distinct quantum states in SQUID systems.
The theory is based on the standard density-matrix approach. Its new elements
include the discussion of the two different relaxation mechanisms that exist
for the double-well potential, and description of the ``photon-assisted''
tunneling driven by external rf radiation. It is shown that in the case of
coherent flux dynamics, rf radiation should lead to splitting of the peaks of
resonant flux tunneling, indicating that the resonant tunneling is a convenient
tool for studying macroscopic quantum coherence of flux.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
A prediction for bubbling geometries
We study the supersymmetric circular Wilson loops in N=4 Yang-Mills theory.
Their vacuum expectation values are computed in the parameter region that
admits smooth bubbling geometry duals. The results are a prediction for the
supergravity action evaluated on the bubbling geometries for Wilson loops.Comment: 21 pages, latex; v.2 reference added; v.3 minor correction
Interaction of Hawking radiation with static sources in deSitter and Schwarzschild-deSitter spacetimes
We study and look for similarities between the response rates and of a static scalar source
with constant proper acceleration interacting with a massless,
conformally coupled Klein-Gordon field in (i) deSitter spacetime, in the
Euclidean vacuum, which describes a thermal flux of radiation emanating from
the deSitter cosmological horizon, and in (ii) Schwarzschild-deSitter
spacetime, in the Gibbons-Hawking vacuum, which describes thermal fluxes of
radiation emanating from both the hole and the cosmological horizons,
respectively, where is the cosmological constant and is the black
hole mass. After performing the field quantization in each of the above
spacetimes, we obtain the response rates at the tree level in terms of an
infinite sum of zero-energy field modes possessing all possible angular
momentum quantum numbers. In the case of deSitter spacetime, this formula is
worked out and a closed, analytical form is obtained. In the case of
Schwarzschild-deSitter spacetime such a closed formula could not be obtained,
and a numerical analysis is performed. We conclude, in particular, that and do not coincide in
general, but tend to each other when or . Our
results are also contrasted and shown to agree (in the proper limits) with
related ones in the literature.Comment: ReVTeX4 file, 9 pages, 5 figure
Exceptional collections and D-branes probing toric singularities
We demonstrate that a strongly exceptional collection on a singular toric
surface can be used to derive the gauge theory on a stack of D3-branes probing
the Calabi-Yau singularity caused by the surface shrinking to zero size. A
strongly exceptional collection, i.e., an ordered set of sheaves satisfying
special mapping properties, gives a convenient basis of D-branes. We find such
collections and analyze the gauge theories for weighted projective spaces, and
many of the Y^{p,q} and L^{p,q,r} spaces. In particular, we prove the strong
exceptionality for all p in the Y^{p,p-1} case, and similarly for the
Y^{p,p-2r} case.Comment: 49 pages, 6 figures; v2 refs added; v3 published versio
Axiomatic quantum field theory in curved spacetime
The usual formulations of quantum field theory in Minkowski spacetime make
crucial use of features--such as Poincare invariance and the existence of a
preferred vacuum state--that are very special to Minkowski spacetime. In order
to generalize the formulation of quantum field theory to arbitrary globally
hyperbolic curved spacetimes, it is essential that the theory be formulated in
an entirely local and covariant manner, without assuming the presence of a
preferred state. We propose a new framework for quantum field theory, in which
the existence of an Operator Product Expansion (OPE) is elevated to a
fundamental status, and, in essence, all of the properties of the quantum field
theory are determined by its OPE. We provide general axioms for the OPE
coefficients of a quantum field theory. These include a local and covariance
assumption (implying that the quantum field theory is locally and covariantly
constructed from the spacetime metric), a microlocal spectrum condition, an
"associativity" condition, and the requirement that the coefficient of the
identity in the OPE of the product of a field with its adjoint have positive
scaling degree. We prove curved spacetime versions of the spin-statistics
theorem and the PCT theorem. Some potentially significant further implications
of our new viewpoint on quantum field theory are discussed.Comment: Latex, 44 pages, 2 figure
Inverse problems for Sturm-Liouville equations with boundary conditions linearly dependent on the spectral parameter from partial information
[[abstract]]Abstract.In this paper, we study the inverse spectral problems for Sturm–Liouville equations with boundary conditions linearly dependent on the spectral parameter and show that the potential of such problem can be uniquely determined from partial information on the potential and parts of two spectra, or alternatively, from partial information on the potential and a subset of pairs of eigenvalues and the normalization constants of the corresponding eigenvalues.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]DE
Systematic review of the prospective association of daily step counts with risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dysglycemia
Background: Daily step counts is an intuitive metric that has demonstrated success in motivating physical activity in adults and may hold potential for future public health physical activity recommendations. This review seeks to clarify the pattern of the associations between daily steps and subsequent all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality, and dysglycemia, as well as the number of daily steps needed for health outcomes. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify prospective studies assessing daily step count measured by pedometer or accelerometer and their associations with all-cause mortality, CVD morbidity or mortality, and dysglycemia (dysglycemia or diabetes incidence, insulin sensitivity, fasting glucose, HbA1c). The search was performed across the Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library databases from inception to August 1, 2019. Eligibility criteria included longitudinal design with health outcomes assessed at baseline and subsequent timepoints; defining steps per day as the exposure; reporting all-cause mortality, CVD morbidity or mortality, and/or dysglycemia outcomes; adults ≥18 years old; and non-patient populations. Results: Seventeen prospective studies involving over 30,000 adults were identified. Five studies reported on all-cause mortality (follow-up time 4-10 years), four on cardiovascular risk or events (6 months to 6 years), and eight on dysglycemia outcomes (3 months to 5 years). For each 1000 daily step count increase at baseline, risk reductions in all-cause mortality (6-36%) and CVD (5-21%) at follow-up were estimated across a subsample of included studies. There was no evidence of significant interaction by age, sex, health conditions or behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, smoking status, diet) among studies that tested for interactions. Studies examining dysglycemia outcomes report inconsistent findings, partially due to heterogeneity across studies of glycemia-related biomarker outcomes, analytic approaches, and sample characteristics. Conclusions: Evidence from longitudinal data consistently demonstrated that walking an additional 1000 steps per day can help lower the risk of all-cause mortality, and CVD morbidity and mortality in adults, and that health benefits are present below 10,000 steps per day. However, the shape of the dose-response relation is not yet clear. Data are currently lacking to identify a specific minimum threshold of daily step counts needed to obtain overall health benefit
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