1,629 research outputs found
The National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS): a view from the UK.
This is the final version. Available from Dove Medical Press via the DOI in this record.The interest in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) continues to increase as recognition of their potential utility rises in an effort to make health systems more patient-centered. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) has used state of the art psychometric and statistical techniques to create a universal PROMs language, with potential application across the whole spectrum of health conditions, languages, and geographic locations. PROMIS offers a versatile platform where specific health domains are assessed using both standardized short forms and computerized adaptive tests, which are automatically tailored to individual patients. The scores of each health domain or a standardized profile of multiple domains are all scored on a common metric scale. PROMIS is increasingly recognized as the international gold standard for patient-centered assessment, although the use of these tools in the UK is limited. In this review, the developmental methodology of the PROMIS is described with discussion of its relevant strengths and limitations for use in the UK. We provide a case study of the largest application of the PROMIS tools in the UK as an example of straightforward integration into health-care research. Barriers to the uptake of PROMIS in the UK include the technology requirement, measurement tradition, and lack of a clear understanding of its benefits, and although potential stakeholders should cautiously consider its use, its impressive potential and increasing international utilization should be recognized
Spacetime diffeomorphisms and the geodesic approximation
We present a spacetime diffeomorphism invariant formulation of the geodesic approximation to soliton dynamics
Fermions and Type IIB Supergravity On Squashed Sasaki-Einstein Manifolds
We discuss the dimensional reduction of fermionic modes in a recently found
class of consistent truncations of type IIB supergravity compactified on
squashed five-dimensional Sasaki-Einstein manifolds. We derive the lower
dimensional equations of motion and effective action, and comment on the
supersymmetry of the resulting theory, which is consistent with N=4 gauged
supergravity in , coupled to two vector multiplets. We compute fermion
masses by linearizing around two vacua of the theory: one that breaks
N=4 down to N=2 spontaneously, and a second one which preserves no
supersymmetries. The truncations under consideration are noteworthy in that
they retain massive modes which are charged under a U(1) subgroup of the
-symmetry, a feature that makes them interesting for applications to
condensed matter phenomena via gauge/gravity duality. In this light, as an
application of our general results we exhibit the coupling of the fermions to
the type IIB holographic superconductor, and find a consistent further
truncation of the fermion sector that retains a single spin-1/2 mode.Comment: 43 pages, 2 figures, PDFLaTeX; v2: added references, typos corrected,
minor change
Generalized geometry, calibrations and supersymmetry in diverse dimensions
We consider type II backgrounds of the form R^{1,d-1} x M^{10-d} for even d,
preserving 2^{d/2} real supercharges; for d = 4, 6, 8 this is minimal
supersymmetry in d dimensions, while for d = 2 it is N = (2,0) supersymmetry in
two dimensions. For d = 6 we prove, by explicitly solving the Killing-spinor
equations, that there is a one-to-one correspondence between background
supersymmetry equations in pure-spinor form and D-brane generalized
calibrations; this correspondence had been known to hold in the d = 4 case.
Assuming the correspondence to hold for all d, we list the calibration forms
for all admissible D-branes, as well as the background supersymmetry equations
in pure-spinor form. We find a number of general features, including the
following: The pattern of codimensions at which each calibration form appears
exhibits a (mod 4) periodicity. In all cases one of the pure-spinor equations
implies that the internal manifold is generalized Calabi-Yau. Our results are
manifestly invariant under generalized mirror symmetry.Comment: 28 pages, 1 tabl
Particle dynamics near extreme Kerr throat and supersymmetry
The extreme Kerr throat solution is believed to be non-supersymmetric.
However, its isometry group SO(2,1) x U(1) matches precisely the bosonic
subgroup of N=2 superconformal group in one dimension. In this paper we
construct N=2 supersymmetric extension of a massive particle moving near the
horizon of the extreme Kerr black hole. Bosonic conserved charges are related
to Killing vectors in a conventional way. Geometric interpretation of
supersymmetry charges remains a challenge.Comment: V2: 10 pages; discussion in sect. 4 and 5 extended, acknowledgements
and references adde
M-Horizons
We solve the Killing spinor equations and determine the near horizon
geometries of M-theory that preserve at least one supersymmetry. The M-horizon
spatial sections are 9-dimensional manifolds with a Spin(7) structure
restricted by geometric constraints which we give explicitly. We also provide
an alternative characterization of the solutions of the Killing spinor
equation, utilizing the compactness of the horizon section and the field
equations, by proving a Lichnerowicz type of theorem which implies that the
zero modes of a Dirac operator coupled to 4-form fluxes are Killing spinors. We
use this, and the maximum principle, to solve the field equations of the theory
for some special cases and present some examples.Comment: 36 pages, latex. Reference added, minor typos correcte
Holographic metals at finite temperature
A holographic dual description of a 2+1 dimensional system of strongly
interacting fermions at low temperature and finite charge density is given in
terms of an electron cloud suspended over the horizon of a charged black hole
in asymptotically AdS spacetime. The electron star of Hartnoll and Tavanfar is
recovered in the limit of zero temperature, while at higher temperatures the
fraction of charge carried by the electron cloud is reduced and at a critical
temperature there is a second order phase transition to a configuration with
only a charged black hole. The geometric structure implies that finite
temperature transport coefficients, including the AC electrical conductivity,
only receive contributions from bulk fermions within a finite band in the
radial direction.Comment: LaTex 16 pages, 12 figures, v2: Added reference. Error in free energy
corrected. Phase transition to AdS-RN black brane is third order rather than
second order as was claimed previousl
The variation of G in a negatively curved space-time
Scalar-tensor (ST) gravity theories provide an appropriate theoretical
framework for the variation of Newton's fundamental constant, conveyed by the
dynamics of a scalar-field non-minimally coupled to the space-time geometry.
The experimental scrutiny of scalar-tensor gravity theories has led to a
detailed analysis of their post-newtonian features, and is encapsulated into
the so-called parametrised post-newtonian formalism (PPN). Of course this
approach can only be applied whenever there is a newtonian limit, and the
latter is related to the GR solution that is generalized by a given ST solution
under consideration. This procedure thus assumes two hypothesis: On the one
hand, that there should be a weak field limit of the GR solution; On the other
hand that the latter corresponds to the limit case of given ST solution. In the
present work we consider a ST solution with negative spatial curvature. It
generalizes a general relativistic solution known as being of a degenerate
class (A) for its unusual properties. In particular, the GR solution does not
exhibit the usual weak field limit in the region where the gravitational field
is static. The absence of a weak field limit for the hyperbolic GR solution
means that such limit is also absent for comparison with the ST solution, and
thus one cannot barely apply the PPN formalism. We therefore analyse the
properties of the hyperbolic ST solution, and discuss the question o defining a
generalised newtonian limit both for the GR solution and for the purpose of
contrasting it with the ST solution. This contributes a basic framework to
build up a parametrised pseudo-newtonian formalism adequate to test ST
negatively curved space-times.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Contribution to the Joint European and National
Astronomy Meeting (JENAM) 2010; based on a talk given by JPM in the "From
Varying Couplings to Fundamental Physics" Symposiu
Reduzindo intervenções de rotina durante o trabalho de parto e parto: primeiro, não causar dano [Reducing routine interventions during labor and delivery: First, do no harm.]
(1,0) superconformal theories in six dimensions and Killing spinor equations
We solve the Killing spinor equations of 6-dimensional (1,0) superconformal
theories in all cases. In particular, we derive the conditions on the fields
imposed by the Killing spinor equations and demonstrate that these depend on
the isotropy group of the Killing spinors. We focus on the models proposed by
Samtleben et al in \cite{ssw} and find that there are solutions preserving 1,2,
4 and 8 supersymmetries. We also explore the solutions which preserve 4
supersymmetries and find that many models admit string and 3-brane solitons as
expected from the M-brane intersection rules. The string solitons are smooth
regulated by the moduli of instanton configurations.Comment: 26 page
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