ZIKA: A New System to Empower Health Workers and Local Communities to Improve Surveillance Protocols by E-learning and to Forecast Zika Virus in Real Time in Brazil

The devastating consequences of neonates infected with the Zika virus makes it necessary to fight and stop the spread of this virus and its vectors (Aedes mosquitoes). An essential part of the fight against mosquitoes is the use of mobile technology to support routine surveillance and risk assessment by community health workers (health agents). In addition, to improve early warning systems, the public health authorities need to forecast more accurately where an outbreak of the virus and its vector is likely to occur. The ZIKΛ system aims to develop a novel comprehensive framework that combines e-learning to empower health agents, community-based participatory surveillance, and forecasting of occurrences and distribution of the Zika virus and its vectors in real time. This system is currently being implemented in Brazil, in the cities of Campina Grande, Recife, Jaboatão dos Guararapes, and Olinda, the State of Pernambuco and Paraiba with the highest prevalence of the Zika virus disease. In this paper, we present the ZIKA system which helps health agents to learn new techniques and good practices to improve the surveillance of the virus and offer a real time distribution forecast of the virus and the vector. The forecast model is recalibrated in real time with information coming from health agents, governmental institutions, and weather stations to predict the areas with higher risk of a Zika virus outbreak in an interactive map. This mapping and alert system will help governmental institutions to make fast decisions and use their resources more efficiently to stop the spread of the Zika virus. The ZIKA app was developed and built in Ionic which allows for easy cross-platform rendering for both iOS and Android. The system presented in the current paper is one of the first systems combining public health surveillance, citizen-driven participatory reporting and weather data-based prediction. The implementation of the ZIKA system will reduce the devastating consequences of Zika virus in neonates and improve the life quality of vulnerable people in Brazil

Sideband Cooling Micromechanical Motion to the Quantum Ground State

The advent of laser cooling techniques revolutionized the study of many atomic-scale systems. This has fueled progress towards quantum computers by preparing trapped ions in their motional ground state, and generating new states of matter by achieving Bose-Einstein condensation of atomic vapors. Analogous cooling techniques provide a general and flexible method for preparing macroscopic objects in their motional ground state, bringing the powerful technology of micromechanics into the quantum regime. Cavity opto- or electro-mechanical systems achieve sideband cooling through the strong interaction between light and motion. However, entering the quantum regime, less than a single quantum of motion, has been elusive because sideband cooling has not sufficiently overwhelmed the coupling of mechanical systems to their hot environments. Here, we demonstrate sideband cooling of the motion of a micromechanical oscillator to the quantum ground state. Entering the quantum regime requires a large electromechanical interaction, which is achieved by embedding a micromechanical membrane into a superconducting microwave resonant circuit. In order to verify the cooling of the membrane motion into the quantum regime, we perform a near quantum-limited measurement of the microwave field, resolving this motion a factor of 5.1 from the Heisenberg limit. Furthermore, our device exhibits strong-coupling allowing coherent exchange of microwave photons and mechanical phonons. Simultaneously achieving strong coupling, ground state preparation and efficient measurement sets the stage for rapid advances in the control and detection of non-classical states of motion, possibly even testing quantum theory itself in the unexplored region of larger size and mass.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Microwave amplification with nanomechanical resonators

Sensitive measurement of electrical signals is at the heart of modern science and technology. According to quantum mechanics, any detector or amplifier is required to add a certain amount of noise to the signal, equaling at best the energy of quantum fluctuations. The quantum limit of added noise has nearly been reached with superconducting devices which take advantage of nonlinearities in Josephson junctions. Here, we introduce a new paradigm of amplification of microwave signals with the help of a mechanical oscillator. By relying on the radiation pressure force on a nanomechanical resonator, we provide an experimental demonstration and an analytical description of how the injection of microwaves induces coherent stimulated emission and signal amplification. This scheme, based on two linear oscillators, has the advantage of being conceptually and practically simpler than the Josephson junction devices, and, at the same time, has a high potential to reach quantum limited operation. With a measured signal amplification of 25 decibels and the addition of 20 quanta of noise, we anticipate near quantum-limited mechanical microwave amplification is feasible in various applications involving integrated electrical circuits.Comment: Main text + supplementary information. 14 pages, 3 figures (main text), 18 pages, 6 figures (supplementary information

Nanomechanical motion measured with precision beyond the standard quantum limit

Nanomechanical oscillators are at the heart of ultrasensitive detectors of force, mass and motion. As these detectors progress to even better sensitivity, they will encounter measurement limits imposed by the laws of quantum mechanics. For example, if the imprecision of a measurement of an oscillator's position is pushed below the standard quantum limit (SQL), quantum mechanics demands that the motion of the oscillator be perturbed by an amount larger than the SQL. Minimizing this quantum backaction noise and nonfundamental, or technical, noise requires an information efficient measurement. Here we integrate a microwave cavity optomechanical system and a nearly noiseless amplifier into an interferometer to achieve an imprecision below the SQL. As the microwave interferometer is naturally operated at cryogenic temperatures, the thermal motion of the oscillator is minimized, yielding an excellent force detector with a sensitivity of 0.51 aN/rt(Hz). In addition, the demonstrated efficient measurement is a critical step towards entangling mechanical oscillators with other quantum systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Josephson junction microwave amplifier in self-organized noise compression mode

The fundamental noise limit of a phase-preserving amplifier at frequency is the standard quantum limit . In the microwave range, the best candidates have been amplifiers based on superconducting quantum interference devices (reaching the noise temperature at 700 MHz), and non-degenerate parametric amplifiers (reaching noise levels close to the quantum limit at 8 GHz). We introduce a new type of an amplifier based on the negative resistance of a selectively damped Josephson junction. Noise performance of our amplifier is limited by mixing of quantum noise from Josephson oscillation regime down to the signal frequency. Measurements yield nearly quantum-limited operation, at 2.8 GHz, owing to self-organization of the working point. Simulations describe the characteristics of our device well and indicate potential for wide bandwidth operation

Cosmology of a Scalar Field Coupled to Matter and an Isotropy-Violating Maxwell Field

Motivated by the couplings of the dilaton in four-dimensional effective actions, we investigate the cosmological consequences of a scalar field coupled both to matter and a Maxwell-type vector field. The vector field has a background isotropy-violating component. New anisotropic scaling solutions which can be responsible for the matter and dark energy dominated epochs are identified and explored. For a large parameter region the universe expands almost isotropically. Using that the CMB quadrupole is extremely sensitive to shear, we constrain the ratio of the matter coupling to the vector coupling to be less than 10^(-5). Moreover, we identify a large parameter region, corresponding to a strong vector coupling regime, yielding exciting and viable cosmologies close to the LCDM limit.Comment: Refs. added, some clarifications. Published in JHEP10(2012)06

Plantar fasciitis and calcaneal spur formation are associated with abductor digiti minimi atrophy on MRI of the foot

Objective To determine the association of atrophy of the abductor digiti minimi muscle (ADMA), an MRI manifestation of chronic compression of the inferior calcaneal nerve suggesting the clinical diagnosis of Baxter’s neuropathy, with MRI markers of potential etiologies, including calcaneal spur formation, plantar fasciitis, calcaneal edema, Achilles tendinosis and posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD). Materials and methods Prevalence of calcaneal spur formation, plantar fasciitis, calcaneal edema, Achilles tendinosis and PTTD was assessed retrospectively on 100 MRI studies with ADMA and 100 MRI studies without ADMA. Patients ranged in age from 10–92 years. Pearson chi-square analyses and Fisher’s exact test were used to compare prevalence of the above findings in patients with and without ADMA. Logistic regression was used to determine which variables were significantly associated with ADMA. Results Among patients with ADMA, there was significantly greater age (57.2 years vs 40.8 years, p \u3c 0.001), presence of Achilles tendinosis (22.0% vs 3.0%, P \u3c 0.001), calcaneal edema (15.0% vs 3.0%, P = 0.005), calcaneal spur (48.0% vs 7.0%, P \u3c 0.001), plantar fasciitis (52.5% vs 11.0%, P \u3c 0.001), and PTTD (32.0% vs 11.0%, P \u3c 0.001). After multivariate logistic regression analysis, only age [odds ratio (OR) 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03, 1.09], calcaneal spur (OR 3.60, 95% CI 1.28, 10.17), and plantar fasciitis (OR 3.35, 95% CI 1.31, 8.56) remained significant. Conclusion Advancing age, calcaneal spur, and plantar fasciitis are significantly associated with ADMA. Their high odds ratios support the notion of a possible etiologic role for calcaneal spur and plantar fasciitis in the progression to Baxter’s neuropathy

A New Era in the Quest for Dark Matter

There is a growing sense of `crisis' in the dark matter community, due to the absence of evidence for the most popular candidates such as weakly interacting massive particles, axions, and sterile neutrinos, despite the enormous effort that has gone into searching for these particles. Here, we discuss what we have learned about the nature of dark matter from past experiments, and the implications for planned dark matter searches in the next decade. We argue that diversifying the experimental effort, incorporating astronomical surveys and gravitational wave observations, is our best hope to make progress on the dark matter problem.Comment: Published in Nature, online on 04 Oct 2018. 13 pages, 1 figur

Back-action Evading Measurements of Nanomechanical Motion

When performing continuous measurements of position with sensitivity approaching quantum mechanical limits, one must confront the fundamental effects of detector back-action. Back-action forces are responsible for the ultimate limit on continuous position detection, can also be harnessed to cool the observed structure, and are expected to generate quantum entanglement. Back-action can also be evaded, allowing measurements with sensitivities that exceed the standard quantum limit, and potentially allowing for the generation of quantum squeezed states. We realize a device based on the parametric coupling between an ultra-low dissipation nanomechanical resonator and a microwave resonator. Here we demonstrate back-action evading (BAE) detection of a single quadrature of motion with sensitivity 4 times the quantum zero-point motion, back-action cooling of the mechanical resonator to n = 12 quanta, and a parametric mechanical pre-amplification effect which is harnessed to achieve position resolution a factor 1.3 times quantum zero-point motion.Comment: 19 pages (double-spaced) including 4 figures and reference

Inhibiting androgen receptor nuclear entry in castration-resistant prostate cancer

Clinical resistance to the second-generation antiandrogen enzalutamide in castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), despite persistent androgen receptor (AR) activity in tumors, highlights the unmet medical need for next generation antagonists. We have identified and characterized tetra-aryl cyclobutanes (CBs) as a new class of competitive AR antagonists that exhibit a unique mechanism of action. These CBs are structurally distinct from current antiandrogens (hydroxyflutamide, bicalutamide, and enzalutamide), and inhibit AR-mediated gene expression, cell proliferation, and tumor growth in several models of CRPC. Conformational profiling revealed that CBs stabilize an AR conformation resembling an unliganded receptor. Using a variety of techniques, it was determined that the AR:CB complex was not recruited to AR-regulated promoters and, like apo AR, remains sequestered in the cytoplasm bound to heat shock proteins. Thus, we have identified third generation AR antagonists whose unique mechanism of action suggests that they may have therapeutic potential in CRPC