On Bubbling Dynamics Generated by a Stochastic Model of Herd Behavior.

This paper suggests a class of stochastic collective learning processes exhibiting very irregular behavior. In particular, there are multimodal long run distributions. Some of these modes may vanish as the population size increases. This may be thought of as "bubbles" persistent for a finite range of population sizes but disappearing in the limit. The limit distribution proves to be a discontinuous function of parameters determining the learning process. This gives rise to another type of "bubbles": limit outcomes corresponding to small perturbations of parameters are different. Since an agent's decision rule involves imitation of the majority choice in a random sample of other members of the population, the resulting collective dynamics exhibit "herding" or "epidemic" features.

On bubbling dynamics generated by a stochastic model of herd behavior

This paper suggests a class of stochastic collective learning processes exhibiting very irregular behavior. In particular, there are multimodal long run distributions. Some of these modes may vanish as the population size increases. This may be thought of as "bubbles" persistent for a finite range of population sizes but disappearing in the limit. The limit distribution proves to be a discontinuous function of parameters determining the learn- ing process. This gives rise to another type of "bubbles": limit outcomes corresponding to small perturbations of parameters are different. Since an agent's decision rule involves imitation of the majority choice in a random sample of other members of the population, the resulting collective dynamics exhibit "herding" or "epidemic" features

Relationship between body mass index and mean arterial pressure in normotensive and chronic hypertensive pregnant women: a prospective, longitudinal study

Being overweight is associated with both higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) during pregnancy and increased risk of gestational hypertensive disorders. The objective of this study was to determine and quantify the effect of body mass index (BMI) on mean arterial pressure (MAP) at several time points throughout pregnancy in normotensive (NT) and chronic hypertensive pregnant (HT) women

Tuberculosis among the homeless: should we change the strategy?

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major concern among high-risk populations such as the homeless. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate TB incidence and treatment outcomes among homeless patients in Portugal and to identify predictors of unsuccessful TB treatment outcomes among the homeless. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of all TB patients notified in Portugal from 2008 to 2014. Characteristics of homeless TB patients were assessed and predictors of unsuccessful TB treatment were determined using logistic regression. RESULTS: TB incidence among the homeless was 122/100 000 homeless persons and was positively correlated with TB incidence among non-homeless persons. Homeless TB patients had a higher prevalence of alcohol and/or drug use, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection, cavitary TB and smear positivity. The rate of unsuccessful treatment outcomes among the homeless was 28.6%, and was significantly associated with increased age, injection drug use (IDU) and HIV co-infection. CONCLUSION: TB incidence among homeless persons was five times that among the non-homeless, and higher in regions with greater TB incidence among non homeless persons. The successful treatment outcome rate was lower. Predictors of unsuccessful treatment were age, IDU and HIV co-infection. Integrated TB programmes targeting homeless and non-homeless patients, with measures targeting specific characteristics, may contribute to TB elimination in Portugal.CONTEXTE : La tuberculose (TB) est un souci majeur dans les populations à haut risque comme les personnes sans domicile fixe. OBJECTIFS : Evaluer le taux d’incidence de la TB et les resultats du traitement parmi des patients sans domicile fixe au Portugal et identifier les facteurs de préediction d’ échec du traitement de la TB parmi ces patients. SCHÉMA : Etude rétrospective de cohorte incluant tous les patients TB notifies au Portugal entre 2008 et 2014. Les caractéristiques des patients sans domicile fixe ont été ́évaluées et les facteurs de prédiction d’ échec du traitement de la TB ont été déterminés par ŕegression logistique. RESULTATS : Le taux d’incidence de la TB parmi les personnes sans domicile fixe a été de 122/100 000, et il a été positivement corrélé avec l’incidence de la TB parmi le reste de la population. Les patients tuberculeux sans domicile fixe avaient une prévalence plus élevée de consommation d’alcool et/ou de drogues, de co- infection au virus de l’immunodéficience humaine (VIH), de forme caverneuse et de frottis positif. Le taux d’ ́echec du traitement a ́et ́e de 28,6% ; l’ ́echec a ́ et ́esignificativement associé à un âge plus avancé, à la consommation de drogues injectables et à la co-infection par le VIH. CONCLUSION : L’incidence dela TB parmi les personnes sans domicile fixe a été cinq fois plus élevée que celle du reste de la population et plus haute dans les régions ou l’incidence dans le reste de la population est egalement plus élevée. Leur taux d’ échec du traitement à été plus faible. Les facteurs de prédiction d’ échec du traitement ont été l´âge, la consommation de drogues injectables et la co-infection `a VIH. Des programmes de TB intégrés ciblant les patients sans domicile fixe et les autres, avec des mesures spécifiques adaptées à leurs caractéristiques particulières, pourrait contribuer à l’ élimination de la TB au Portugal.MARCO DE REFERENCIA: La tuberculosis (TB) constituye una gran preocupación en las poblaciones muy vulnerables como las personas sin hogar. OBJETIVOS: Evaluar la tasa de incidencia de TB y los desenlaces terapéuticos en las personas sin domicilio en Portugal y definir los factores pronósticos de fracaso terapéutico en este grupo de la población. MÉTODO: Fue este un estudio retrospectivo de cohortes de todos los pacientes con diagnóstico de TB notificados del 2008 al 2014 en Portugal. Mediante un análisis de regresión logística se analizaron las características de los pacientes tuberculosos sin hogar y los factores pronósticos de fracaso terapéutico. RESULTADOS: La tasa de incidencia de TB en la población sin hogar fue 122 por 100 000 personas y exhibió una correlación positiva con la incidencia de TB en las personas con domicilio. Los pacientes con diagnóstico de TB y sin hogar presentaron una prevalencia más alta de consumo de alcohol y/o de drogas, de coinfección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH), de lesiones cavernosas y de resultados positivos de la baciloscopia. La tasa de fracaso terapéutico en esta población fue 28,6% y se asoción de manera significativa con una mayor edad, el consumo de drogas intravenosas y la coinfección por el VIH. CONCLUSIÓN: La incidencia de TB en las personas sin hogar fue cinco veces mayor que en las personas con domicilio y fue más alta en las regiones con una mayor incidencia de TB en las personas con domicilio. La tasa de éxito terapéutico en las personas sin hogar fue más baja. Los factores pronósticos de fracaso terapéutico fueron la edad, el consumo de drogas intravenosas y la coinfecció non por el VIH. La ejecución de programas integrados de atención de la TB dirigidos a las personas sin hogar y con domicilio, que comporten medidas específicas que aborden sus características particulares, podrıa contribuir a la eliminación de la TB en PortugalStudy Group for Infectious Diseases of Instituto de Saúde Púublica da Universidade do Porto who collaborated on this project: B Miranda, C Carvalho, C Matos, C Carvalho, G Rodrigues, J Goncalves, L Maio and T Rito. This work was supported by contributions from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the European Economic Area Grants under the Public Health Initiatives Programme (PT 06, grant number 138DT1). RG was also partially supported by Centro de Matemática da Universidade do Porto (UID/MAT/00144/2013), which is funded by Fundação do Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia(Portugal) with national (MEC) and European structural funds (Fonds europeen de d ́eveloppement economique et regional) under the PT2020 Partnership Agreementinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Twisting gauged non-linear sigma-models

We consider gauged sigma-models from a Riemann surface into a Kaehler and hamiltonian G-manifold X. The supersymmetric N=2 theory can always be twisted to produce a gauged A-model. This model localizes to the moduli space of solutions of the vortex equations and computes the Hamiltonian Gromov-Witten invariants. When the target is equivariantly Calabi-Yau, i.e. when its first G-equivariant Chern class vanishes, the supersymmetric theory can also be twisted into a gauged B-model. This model localizes to the Kaehler quotient X//G.Comment: 33 pages; v2: small additions, published versio

Start of SPIDER operation towards ITER neutral beams

Heating Neutral Beam (HNB) Injectors will constitute the main plasma heating and current drive tool both in ITER and JT60-SA, which are the next major experimental steps for demonstrating nuclear fusion as viable energy source. In ITER, in order to achieve the required thermonuclear fusion power gain Q=10 for short pulse operation and Q=5 for long pulse operation (up to 3600s), two HNB injectors will be needed [1], each delivering a total power of about 16.5 MW into the magnetically-confined plasma, by means of neutral hydrogen or deuterium particles having a specific energy of about 1 MeV. Since only negatively charged particles can be efficiently neutralized at such energy, the ITER HNB injectors [2] will be based on negative ions, generated by caesium-catalysed surface conversion of atoms in a radio-frequency driven plasma source. A negative deuterium ion current of more than 40 A will be extracted, accelerated and focused in a multi-aperture, multi-stage electrostatic accelerator, having 1280 apertures (~ 14 mm diam.) and 5 acceleration stages (~200 kV each) [3]. After passing through a narrow gas-cell neutralizer, the residual ions will be deflected and discarded, whereas the neutralized particles will continue their trajectory through a duct into the tokamak vessels to deliver the required heating power to the ITER plasma for a pulse duration of about 3600 s. Although the operating principles and the implementation of the most critical parts of the injector have been tested in different experiments, the ITER NBI requirements have never been simultaneously attained. In order to reduce the risks and to optimize the design and operating procedures of the HNB for ITER, a dedicated Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) [4] has been promoted by the ITER Organization with the contribution of the European Union\u2019s Joint Undertaking for ITER and of the Italian Government, with the participation of the Japanese and Indian Domestic Agencies (JADA and INDA) and of several European laboratories, such as IPP-Garching, KIT-Karlsruhe, CCFE-Culham, CEA-Cadarache. The NBTF, nicknamed PRIMA, has been set up at Consorzio RFX in Padova, Italy [5]. The planned experiments will verify continuous HNB operation for one hour, under stringent requirements for beam divergence (< 7 mrad) and aiming (within 2 mrad). To study and optimise HNB performances, the NBTF includes two experiments: MITICA, full-scale NBI prototype with 1 MeV particle energy and SPIDER, with 100 keV particle energy and 40 A current, aiming at testing and optimizing the full-scale ion source. SPIDER will focus on source uniformity, negative ion current density and beam optics. In June 2018 the experimental operation of SPIDER has started

HIV screening of tuberculosis patients in Portugal: what are we missing?

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status is essential to effectively manage both tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infection. This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends routine HIV testing in all TB patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine the number of TB patients with unknown HIV status in Portugal and to identify the factors associated with unknown HIV status. METHODS: A retrospective study of all TB notifications from 2008 to 2014 in Portugal was conducted. A multiple logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association of sociodemographic and clinical factors with unknown HIV status. RESULTS: We examined the records of 18 445 patients with TB notification, 2402 of whom (13%) had unknown HIV status. Unknown HIV status was positively associated with age >= 65 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.208, 95%CI 1.037-1.408) and extra-pulmonary TB (aOR 1.381, 95%CI 1.252-1.523), but negatively associated with unemployment (aOR 0.755, 95%CI 0.637-0.895), alcohol dependence (aOR 0.809, 95%CI 0.682-0.959) and drug dependence (aOR 0.566, 95%CI 0.449-0.713). CONCLUSION: Risk perception is the most important barrier to complete knowledge of HIV status in TB patients in Portugal. Given the importance of HIV screening in TB patients, every effort should be made to ensure that all TB patients undergo HIV screening.RG was supported in part by the Centre for Mathematics of the University of Porto, Porto (UID/MAT/00144/2013), which is funded by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Lisbon, Portugal, with national (Ministerio da Educacao e Ciencia) and European structural funds (Fonds europeen de developpement regional) under the PT2020 partnership agreement

Hip Manipulation Under Anesthesia for Post-Hip Arthroscopy Pericapsular Scarring: Indications and Techniques

Hip arthroscopy has become an increasingly common procedure with expanding indications over the last several decades. With the increase in number of procedures performed a complication profile has emerged, although there is yet to be a formal classification system for complications. The most cited complications include lateral femoral cutaneous nerve neuropraxia, other sensory deficits, chondral or labral iatrogenic damage, superficial infection and deep vein thrombosis. One complication that has not yet been well documented in the literature is pericapsular scarring/adhesions resulting in decreased hip range of motion and function. If this complication is noted to persist after adequate impingement resection and a rigorous post-operative physical therapy regimen, the senior author has addressed this with a hip manipulation under anesthesia. Therefore, this techniques paper aims to describe pericapsular scarring as a post hip-arthroscopy condition which may cause pain and demonstrate our technique to address this diagnosis through hip manipulation under anesthesia

Bacterial associations reveal spatial population dynamics in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes

The intolerable burden of malaria has for too long plagued humanity and the prospect of eradicating malaria is an optimistic, but reachable, target in the 21st century. However, extensive knowledge is needed about the spatial structure of mosquito populations in order to develop effective interventions against malaria transmission. We hypothesized that the microbiota associated with a mosquito reflects acquisition of bacteria in different environments. By analyzing the whole-body bacterial flora of An. gambiae mosquitoes from Burkina Faso by 16 S amplicon sequencing, we found that the different environments gave each mosquito a specific bacterial profile. In addition, the bacterial profiles provided precise and predicting information on the spatial dynamics of the mosquito population as a whole and showed that the mosquitoes formed clear local populations within a meta-population network. We believe that using microbiotas as proxies for population structures will greatly aid improving the performance of vector interventions around the world