The stochastic gravitational-wave background in the absence of horizons

Gravitational-wave astronomy has the potential to explore one of the deepest and most puzzling aspects of Einstein's theory: the existence of black holes. A plethora of ultracompact, horizonless objects have been proposed to arise in models inspired by quantum gravity. These objects may solve Hawking's information-loss paradox and the singularity problem associated with black holes, while mimicking almost all of their classical properties. They are, however, generically unstable on relatively short timescales. Here, we show that this 'ergoregion instability' leads to a strong stochastic background of gravitational waves, at a level detectable by current and future gravitational-wave detectors. The absence of such background in the first observation run of Advanced LIGO already imposes the most stringent limits to date on black-hole alternatives, showing that certain models of 'quantum-dressed' stellar black holes can be at most a small percentage of the total population. The future LISA mission will allow for similar constraints on supermassive black-hole mimickers

Superradiant instability of black resonators and geons

Abstract: Black resonators and geons in global AdS are rapidly rotating, low-energy solutions with a helical Killing field. We study the linear mode stability of equal angular momenta, five-dimensional black resonators and geons under scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational perturbations. We find that black resonators are unstable to the superradiant instability, in agreement with previously known results. Perhaps surprisingly, many geons appear linearly stable, despite having an ergoregion. This apparent stability implies that geons are important long-lived, low-energy states in the dual gauge theory. However, we do find that geons are unstable within a certain range of parameter space. We comment on the nature of this instability and to its possible endpoints. We also report on new non-spinning oscillating geons, which we construct within a cohomogeneity two ansatz. Given the existing arguments that suggest our linear stability results may be extended nonlinearly, our findings indicate that most geons are generic and long-lived solutions

Analytical and clinical sensitivity of the Procleix Ultrio HIV-1/HCV/HBV assay in samples with a low viral load

Background and Objectives The Procleix Ultrio human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)/hepatitis C virus (HCV)/hepatitis B virus (HBV) (Ultrio) assay simultaneously detects HIV-1 RNA, HCV RNA and HBV DNA in individual blood donations. The main objective of the study was to assess the analytical and clinical sensitivity of the multiplex and discriminatory probe assays in samples with a low viral load. Material and Methods The VQC HIV RNA genotype B, HCV RNA genotype 1 and HBV DNA genotype A standard dilutions were tested in 26 repeats. The probability of detection by Ultrio was compared with previously obtained data of the Procleix Duplex HIV-1/HCV assay on the same reference panels. A selection of 121 anti-HIV-1, 138 anti-HCV and 190 HBsAg positive samples from patients receiving antiviral therapy were tested. The majority of patient samples had a viral load below the detection limit of the diagnostic nucleic acid test assays, which made them suitable to evaluate the performance of the multiplex and discriminatory assays on yield cases with a similar low viral load. Results The 95% and 50% detection end-points of the Ultrio assay along with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals are 53.7 (32.9-117.2) and 8.6 (6.2-12.1) geq/ml for HIV-1 RNA, 30.3 (19.0-62.4) and 5.2 (3.7-7.2) geq/ml for HCV RNA and 393.7 (147.9-6978) and 54.5 (22.4-143.8) geq/ml for HBV DNA. The analytical sensitivity of Ultrio expressed as a potency factor relative to previously obtained Duplex results on the same HIV-1 RNA and HCV-RNA standard dilutions was 1.09 (0.20-6.10) and 1.11 (0.21-5.89), respectively. The assay detected all 22 HIV-1 infected patients with viral load > 50 copies/ml, and 41 of 99 patients (41%) with viral load < 50 copies/ml, of which 23 (56%) were detected by the discriminatory assay. All 47 patients with HCV RNA load > 521 IU/ml and 10/91 polymerase chain reaction-negative patients with viral load < 50 IU/ml tested positive in Ultrio assay of which five were missed in the discriminatory test. The assay detected 53/55 HBV infected patients (96%) with viral load > 250 copies/ml and 108/135 patients (80%) with viral load < 250 copies/ml of which 17 (16%) were missed by the discriminatory test. Conclusions The new Procleix Ultrio assay is as sensitive as the Procleix Duplex assay for HIV-1 and HCV detection meeting the requirements of universal guidelines. The ability of the assay to detect HBV DNA in low viral load samples could be useful for screening blood. Inevitable negative results of discriminatory probe assays caused by stochastic sample variation will reduce the chance of recognizing low viraemic blood donors detected by individual donation nucleic acid test

Searching for West Nile virus (WNV) in Greece

West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus, has increasingly become a concern in both America and Europe due to its complex and unpredictable lifecycle. Transfusion-associated transmission of the WNV has been well documented during the last few years. This study aimed to detect the presence of WNV in: (i) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens derived from aseptic meningitis cases in Greece and (ii) Greek blood donations. A total of 115 CSF specimens from patients suffering from aseptic meningitis and 9590 blood samples were collected from seven Greek hospitals during the periods June to October 2006 and 2007 and tested for investigational purposes. Both blood and CSF samples were tested for the presence of WNV RNA by using the PROCLEIX WNV assay. None of 115 CSF and 9590 blood donor samples was found positive according to our testing algorithms. Despite the presence of WNV in Balkan countries, WNV has not reached significant levels in Greece