A Randomized Controlled Trial of Glucose versus Amylase Resistant Starch Hypo-Osmolar Oral Rehydration Solution for Adult Acute Dehydrating Diarrhea

Background: Reduction of gross diarrhea rate in excess of that seen over time with intravenous therapy and appropriate antibiotics is not usually achieved by oral glucose-electrolyte rehydration therapy for cholera and cholera-like diarrheas. Methodology and Principal Findings: This prospective randomized clinical trial at a tertiary referral hospital in southern India was undertaken to determine whether amylase resistant starch, substituting for glucose in hypo-osmolar oral rehydration solution, would reduce diarrhea duration and weight in adults with acute severe dehydrating diarrhea. 50 adult males with severe watery diarrhea of less than three days' duration and moderate to severe dehydration were randomized to receive hypo-osmolar ORS (HO-ORS) or HO-ORS in which amylase resistant high amylose maize starch 50g/L substituted for glucose (HAMS-ORS). All remaining therapy followed standard protocol. Duration of diarrhea (ORS commencement to first formed stool) in hours was significantly shorter with HAMS-ORS (median 19, IQR 10-28) compared to HO-ORS (median 42, IQR 24-50) (Bonferroni adjusted P, P-adj < 0.001). Survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier) showed faster recovery from diarrhea in the HAMS-ORS group (P < 0.001, log rank test). Total diarrhea fecal weight in grams (median, IQR) was not significantly lower in the HAMS-ORS group (2190, 1160-5635) compared to HO-ORS (5210, 2095-12190) (P-adj = 0.08). However, stool weight at 13-24 hours (280, 0-965 vs. 1360, 405-2985) and 25-48 hours (0, 0-360 vs. 1080, 55-3485) were significantly lower in HAMS-ORS compared to HO-ORS group (Padj = 0.048 and P = 0.012, respectively). ORS intake after first 24 hours was lower in the HAMS-ORS group. Subgroup analysis of patients with culture isolates of Vibrio cholerae indicated similar significant differences between the treatment groups. Conclusions: Compared to HO-ORS, HAMS-ORS reduced diarrhea duration by 55% and significantly reduced fecal weight after the first 12 hours of ORS therapy in adults with cholera-like diarrhea

Low-Reynolds number swimming in gels

Many microorganisms swim through gels, materials with nonzero zero-frequency elastic shear modulus, such as mucus. Biological gels are typically heterogeneous, containing both a structural scaffold (network) and a fluid solvent. We analyze the swimming of an infinite sheet undergoing transverse traveling wave deformations in the "two-fluid" model of a gel, which treats the network and solvent as two coupled elastic and viscous continuum phases. We show that geometric nonlinearities must be incorporated to obtain physically meaningful results. We identify a transition between regimes where the network deforms to follow solvent flows and where the network is stationary. Swimming speeds can be enhanced relative to Newtonian fluids when the network is stationary. Compressibility effects can also enhance swimming velocities. Finally, microscopic details of sheet-network interactions influence the boundary conditions between the sheet and network. The nature of these boundary conditions significantly impacts swimming speeds.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to EP

Variability of Low-ionization Broad Absorption Line Quasars Based on Multi-epoch Spectra from The Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We present absorption variability results for 134 bona fide \mgii\ broad absorption line (BAL) quasars at 0.46~$\lesssim z \lesssim$~2.3 covering days to $\sim$ 10 yr in the rest frame. We use multiple-epoch spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has delivered the largest such BAL-variability sample ever studied. \mgii-BAL identifications and related measurements are compiled and presented in a catalog. We find a remarkable time-dependent asymmetry in EW variation from the sample, such that weakening troughs outnumber strengthening troughs, the first report of such a phenomenon in BAL variability. Our investigations of the sample further reveal that (i) the frequency of BAL variability is significantly lower (typically by a factor of 2) than that from high-ionization BALQSO samples; (ii) \mgii\ BAL absorbers tend to have relatively high optical depths and small covering factors along our line of sight; (iii) there is no significant EW-variability correlation between \mgii\ troughs at different velocities in the same quasar; and (iv) the EW-variability correlation between \mgii\ and \aliii\ BALs is significantly stronger than that between \mgii\ and \civ\ BALs at the same velocities. These observational results can be explained by a combined transverse-motion/ionization-change scenario, where transverse motions likely dominate the strengthening BALs while ionization changes and/or other mechanisms dominate the weakening BALs.Comment: 24 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ

X-ray and multi-epoch optical/UV investigations of BAL to non-BAL quasar transformations

We report on an X-ray and optical/UV study of eight Broad Absorption Line (BAL) to non-BAL transforming quasars at $z\,\approx\,$1.7-2.2 over 0.29-4.95 rest-frame years with at least three spectroscopic epochs for each quasar from the SDSS, BOSS, $Gemini$, and ARC 3.5-m telescopes. New $Chandra$ observations obtained for these objects show their values of $\alpha_{\rm ox}$ and $\Delta{\alpha}_{\rm ox}$, as well as their spectral energy distributions, are consistent with those of non-BAL quasars. Moreover, our targets have X-ray spectral shapes that are, on average, consistent with weakened absorption with an effective power-law photon index of $\Gamma_{\rm eff}\,=\,1.69^{+0.25}_{-0.25}$. The newer $Gemini$ and ARC 3.5-m spectra reveal that the BAL troughs have remained absent since the BOSS observations where the BAL disappearance was discovered. The X-ray and optical/UV results in tandem are consistent with at least the X-ray absorbing material moving out of the line-of-sight, leaving an X-ray unabsorbed non-BAL quasar. The UV absorber might have become more highly ionized (in a shielding-gas scenario) or also moved out of the line-of-sight (in a wind-clumping scenario).Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Band inversion driven by electronic correlations at the (111) LaAlO3_3/SrTiO3_3 interface

Quantum confinement at complex oxide interfaces establishes an intricate hierarchy of the strongly correlated $d$-orbitals which is widely recognized as a source of emergent physics. The most prominent example is the (001) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$(LAO/STO) interface, which features a dome-shaped phase diagram of superconducting critical temperature and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) as a function of electrostatic doping, arising from a selective occupancy of $t_{2g}$ orbitals of different character. Here we study (111)-oriented LAO/STO interfaces - where the three $t_{2g}$ orbitals contribute equally to the sub-band states caused by confinement - and investigate the impact of this unique feature on electronic transport. We show that transport occurs through two sets of electron-like sub-bands, and the carrier density of one of the sets shows a non-monotonic dependence on the sample conductance. Using tight-binding modeling, we demonstrate that this behavior stems from a band inversion driven by on-site Coulomb interactions. The balanced contribution of all $t_{2g}$ orbitals to electronic transport is shown to result in strong SOC with reduced electrostatic modulation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, (+ supplemental material

ROMOP: a light-weight R package for interfacing with OMOP-formatted electronic health record data.

Objectives:Electronic health record (EHR) data are increasingly used for biomedical discoveries. The nature of the data, however, requires expertise in both data science and EHR structure. The Observational Medical Out-comes Partnership (OMOP) common data model (CDM) standardizes the language and structure of EHR data to promote interoperability of EHR data for research. While the OMOP CDM is valuable and more attuned to research purposes, it still requires extensive domain knowledge to utilize effectively, potentially limiting more widespread adoption of EHR data for research and quality improvement. Materials and methods:We have created ROMOP: an R package for direct interfacing with EHR data in the OMOP CDM format. Results:ROMOP streamlines typical EHR-related data processes. Its functions include exploration of data types, extraction and summarization of patient clinical and demographic data, and patient searches using any CDM vocabulary concept. Conclusion:ROMOP is freely available under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) license and can be obtained from GitHub (http://github.com/BenGlicksberg/ROMOP). We detail instructions for setup and use in the Supplementary Materials. Additionally, we provide a public sandbox server containing synthesized clinical data for users to explore OMOP data and ROMOP (http://romop.ucsf.edu)

On finite pp-groups whose automorphisms are all central

An automorphism $\alpha$ of a group $G$ is said to be central if $\alpha$ commutes with every inner automorphism of $G$. We construct a family of non-special finite $p$-groups having abelian automorphism groups. These groups provide counter examples to a conjecture of A. Mahalanobis [Israel J. Math., {\bf 165} (2008), 161 - 187]. We also construct a family of finite $p$-groups having non-abelian automorphism groups and all automorphisms central. This solves a problem of I. Malinowska [Advances in group theory, Aracne Editrice, Rome 2002, 111-127].Comment: 11 pages, Counter examples to a conjecture from [Israel J. Math., {\bf 165} (2008), 161 - 187]; This paper will appear in Israel J. Math. in 201