122 research outputs found
On the Status of Highly Entropic Objects
It has been proposed that the entropy of any object must satisfy fundamental
(holographic or Bekenstein) bounds set by the object's size and perhaps its
energy. However, most discussions of these bounds have ignored the possibility
that objects violating the putative bounds could themselves become important
components of Hawking radiation. We show that this possibility cannot a priori
be neglected in existing derivations of the bounds. Thus this effect could
potentially invalidate these derivations; but it might also lead to
observational evidence for the bounds themselves.Comment: 6 pages, RevTex, a few editorial change
Information Metric on Instanton Moduli Spaces in Nonlinear Sigma Models
We study the information metric on instanton moduli spaces in two-dimensional
nonlinear sigma models. In the CP^1 model, the information metric on the moduli
space of one instanton with the topological charge Q=k which is any positive
integer is a three-dimensional hyperbolic metric, which corresponds to
Euclidean anti--de Sitter space-time metric in three dimensions, and the
overall scale factor of the information metric is (4k^2)/3; this means that the
sectional curvature is -3/(4k^2). We also calculate the information metric in
the CP^2 model.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX; added references for section 1; typos adde
Central extensions of groups of sections
If q : P -> M is a principal K-bundle over the compact manifold M, then any
invariant symmetric V-valued bilinear form on the Lie algebra k of K defines a
Lie algebra extension of the gauge algebra by a space of bundle-valued 1-forms
modulo exact forms. In the present paper we analyze the integrability of this
extension to a Lie group extension for non-connected, possibly
infinite-dimensional Lie groups K. If K has finitely many connected components
we give a complete characterization of the integrable extensions. Our results
on gauge groups are obtained by specialization of more general results on
extensions of Lie groups of smooth sections of Lie group bundles. In this more
general context we provide sufficient conditions for integrability in terms of
data related only to the group K.Comment: 54 pages, revised version, to appear in Ann. Glob. Anal. Geo
Molecular detection of Strongyloides sp. in Australian thoroughbred foals
Background
Strongyloides westeri is found in the small intestine of young horses, mainly in foals up to about 16 weeks of age. The main source of infection for foals is through transmammary transmission, and foals can develop acute diarrhoea, weakness, dermatitis and respiratory signs. The epidemiology of S. westeri in Australia is largely unknown. Further, molecular techniques have never been employed for detection of S. westeri in horses. This pilot study aimed to assess the utility of a molecular phylogenetic method for the detection of S. westeri in the faeces of foals.
Methods
Faecal samples were collected from a foal of less than 2 months of age, and eggs of Strongyloides sp. were detected using the modified McMaster technique. DNA was extracted from purified eggs, and a partial fragment of the small subunit of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (18S) was characterised using polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic methods.
Results
Microscopic examination of faeces revealed small ellipsoidal eggs typical of Strongyloides sp. The 18S sequence generated by PCR in this study revealed 98.4% identity with that of a reference sequence of S. westeri available from GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a polyphyletic clustering of S. westeri sequences.
Conclusion
This is the first study reporting the detection of DNA of Strongyloides sp. in faeces of a foal using a molecular phylogenetic approach targeting the variable region of 18S rDNA. It is anticipated that this study will allow future molecular epidemiological studies on S. westeri in horses
Comparative studies on faecal egg counting techniques used for the detection of gastrointestinal parasites of equines: A systematic review
Faecal egg counting techniques (FECT) form the cornerstone for the detection of gastrointestinal parasites in equines. For this purpose, several flotation, centrifugation, image- and artificial intelligence-based techniques are used, with varying levels of performance. This review aimed to critically appraise the literature on the assessment and comparison of various coprological techniques and/or modifications of these techniques used for equines and to identify the knowledge gaps and future research directions. We searched three databases for published scientific studies on the assessment and comparison of FECT in equines and included 27 studies in the final synthesis. Overall, the performance parameters of McMaster (81.5%), Mini-FLOTAC® (33.3%) and simple flotation (25.5%) techniques were assessed in most of the studies, with 77.8% of them comparing the performance of at least two or three methods. The detection of strongyle, Parascaris spp. and cestode eggs was assessed for various FECT in 70.4%, 18.5% and 18.5% studies, respectively. A sugar-based flotation solution with a specific gravity of ≥1.2 was found to be the optimal flotation solution for parasitic eggs in the majority of FECT. No uniform or standardised protocol was followed for the comparison of various FECT, and the tested sample size (i.e. equine population and faecal samples) also varied substantially across all studies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to evaluate studies on the comparison of FECT in equines and it highlights important knowledge gaps in the evaluation and comparison of such techniques
De Sitter and Schwarzschild-De Sitter According to Schwarzschild and De Sitter
When de Sitter first introduced his celebrated spacetime, he claimed,
following Schwarzschild, that its spatial sections have the topology of the
real projective space RP^3 (that is, the topology of the group manifold SO(3))
rather than, as is almost universally assumed today, that of the sphere S^3.
(In modern language, Schwarzschild was disturbed by the non-local correlations
enforced by S^3 geometry.) Thus, what we today call "de Sitter space" would not
have been accepted as such by de Sitter. There is no real basis within
classical cosmology for preferring S^3 to RP^3, but the general feeling appears
to be that the distinction is in any case of little importance. We wish to
argue that, in the light of current concerns about the nature of de Sitter
space, this is a mistake. In particular, we argue that the difference between
"dS(S^3)" and "dS(RP^3)" may be very important in attacking the problem of
understanding horizon entropies. In the approach to de Sitter entropy via
Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime, we find that the apparently trivial
difference between RP^3 and S^3 actually leads to very different perspectives
on this major question of quantum cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, typos fixed, references added, equation numbers
finally fixed, JHEP versio
Quantum Corrections for ABGB Black Hole
In this paper, we study quantum corrections to the temperature and entropy of
a regular Ay\'{o}n-Beato-Garc\'{\i}a-Bronnikov black hole solution by using
tunneling approach beyond semiclassical approximation. We use the first law of
black hole thermodynamics as a differential of entropy with two parameters,
mass and charge. It is found that the leading order correction to the entropy
is of logarithmic form. In the absence of the charge, i.e., , these
corrections approximate the corresponding corrections for the Schwarzschild
black hole.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Comparative Natural History of Visual Function From Patients With Biallelic Variants in BBS1 and BBS10.
The purpose of this study was to compare the natural history of visual function change in cohorts of patients affected with retinal degeneration due to biallelic variants in Bardet-Biedl syndrome genes: BBS1 and BBS10.
Patients were recruited from nine academic centers from six countries (Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States). Inclusion criteria were: (1) female or male patients with a clinical diagnosis of retinal dystrophy, (2) biallelic disease-causing variants in BBS1 or BBS10, and (3) measures of visual function for at least one visit. Retrospective data collected included genotypes, age, onset of symptoms, and best corrected visual acuity (VA). When possible, data on refractive error, fundus images and autofluorescence (FAF), optical coherence tomography (OCT), Goldmann kinetic perimetry (VF), electroretinography (ERG), and the systemic phenotype were collected.
Sixty-seven individuals had variants in BBS1 (n = 38; 20 female patients and 18 male patients); or BBS10 (n = 29; 14 female patients and 15 male patients). Missense variants were the most common type of variants for patients with BBS1, whereas frameshift variants were most common for BBS10. When ERGs were recordable, rod-cone dystrophy (RCD) was observed in 82% (23/28) of patients with BBS1 and 73% (8/11) of patients with BBS10; cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) was seen in 18% of patients with BBS1 only, and cone dystrophy (COD) was only seen in 3 patients with BBS10 (27%). ERGs were nondetectable earlier in patients with BBS10 than in patients with BBS1. Similarly, VA and VF declined more rapidly in patients with BBS10 compared to patients with BBS1.
Retinal degeneration appears earlier and is more severe in BBS10 cases as compared to those with BBS1 variants. The course of change of visual function appears to relate to genetic subtypes of BBS
Horizons, Constraints, and Black Hole Entropy
Black hole entropy appears to be ``universal''--many independent
calculations, involving models with very different microscopic degrees of
freedom, all yield the same density of states. I discuss the proposal that this
universality comes from the behavior of the underlying symmetries of the
classical theory. To impose the condition that a black hole be present, we must
partially break the classical symmetries of general relativity, and the
resulting Goldstone boson-like degrees of freedom may account for the
Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. In particular, I demonstrate that the imposition of
a ``stretched horizon'' constraint modifies the algebra of symmetries at the
horizon, allowing the use of standard conformal field theory techniques to
determine the asymptotic density of states. The results reproduce the
Bekenstein-Hawking entropy without any need for detailed assumptions about the
microscopic theory.Comment: 16 pages, talk given at the "Peyresq Physics 10 Meeting on Micro and
Macro structures of spacetime
Corrections to Hawking-like Radiation for a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Universe
Recently, a Hamilton-Jacobi method beyond semiclassical approximation in
black hole physics was developed by \emph{Banerjee} and
\emph{Majhi}\cite{beyond0}. In this paper, we generalize their analysis of
black holes to the case of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe. It is
shown that all the higher order quantum corrections in the single particle
action are proportional to the usual semiclassical contribution. The
corrections to the Hawking-like temperature and entropy of apparent horizon for
FRW universe are also obtained. In the corrected entropy, the area law involves
logarithmic area correction together with the standard inverse power of area
term.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, comments are welcome; v2: references added and
some typoes corrected, to appear in Euro.Phys.J.C; v3:a defect corrected. We
thank Dr.Elias Vagenas for pointing out a defect of our pape
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