Decompounding on compact Lie groups

Noncommutative harmonic analysis is used to solve a nonparametric estimation problem stated in terms of compound Poisson processes on compact Lie groups. This problem of decompounding is a generalization of a similar classical problem. The proposed solution is based on a char- acteristic function method. The treated problem is important to recent models of the physical inverse problem of multiple scattering.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, 25 reference

Familiarity with and preferences for oral and long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in a national sample of gay and bisexual men in the U.S.

Objectives: We sought to determine preferences for oral versus long-acting injectable (LAI) PrEP among gay and bisexual men (GBM). Methods: We surveyed a national U.S. sample of 1,071 GBM about forms of PrEP. Results: Overall, 46.0% preferred LAI, 14.3% oral, 21.7% whichever was most effective, 10.1% had no preference, and 7.8% would not take PrEP. There were no differences in PrEP preferences by race/ethnicity, income, region of residence, or relationship status. Those unwilling to take PrEP were significantly older than those who preferred LAI PrEP and those who would take either. Those who preferred the most effective form were younger, had less education, and reported more recent club drug use. Those who reported condomless anal sex and those who thought they were good PrEP candidates were more willing to take PrEP. Long-term health and side effects were of the greatest concern for both LAI and oral PrEP. Conclusions: The availability of LAI PrEP has the potential to increase uptake among GBM. The results of ongoing clinical trials of LAI PrEP will need to demonstrate similar or greater efficacy as daily Truvada for uptake to be maximized

Case report: Surgical repair of a large tracheo-esophageal fistula in a patient with post-transplant esophageal lymphoproliferative disorder

Introduction and importance The management of large malignant tracheo-esophageal fistulas (TEF) is not standardized. Herein, we report a case with a malignant TEF associated with esophageal post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) for whom we successfully performed a surgical repair. This contributes to the knowledge on how to treat large acquired malignant TEFs. Case presentation A 69-year old male presented with a one-week history of fever, productive cough and bilateral coarse crackles. In addition, he described a weight loss of 10 kg during the past three months. The patient's history included a kidney transplantation twenty years ago. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy with a biopsy of the esophagus was performed nine days before. Histopathology showed a PTLD of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma subtype. Subsequent diagnostics revealed a progressive TEF (approx. 2.0 × 1.5 cm) 3.0 cm above the carina. PET-CT scan showed an esophagus with slight tracer uptake in the middle third (approx. 11.5 cm length, SUV max 7.4). After decision against stenting, transthoracic subtotal esophagectomy with closure of the tracheal mouth of the fistula by a pedicled flap was performed. PTLD was treated with prednisone and rituximab. Tumor progression (brain metastasis) led to death 95 days after surgery. Clinical discussion The treatment of a malignant TEF is complex and personalized while both the consequences of the esophago-tracheal connection and those of the underlying responsible diagnosis have to be considered concurrently. In this case, we considered surgery as the best treatment option due to a relatively good prognosis of the underlying diagnosis (PTLD) and a large fistula. Esophageal or dual stenting, the treatment of choice for small malignant TEF, would have been associated with a high risk of failure due to the wide trachea, extensively dilated esophagus, proximal location and large diameter of the fistula. Conclusion Surgery can be considered for patients with a large acquired malignant TEF and positive long-term prognosis of the underlying diagnosis. Due to the complexity of TEF management, immediate pre-operative multidisciplinary discussion is advised

Sexual behavior varies between same-race and different-race partnerships: A daily diary study of highly sexually active Black, Latino, and White gay and bisexual men

Background. Gay and bisexual men (GBM) are at elevated risk for gonorrhea and chlamydia trachomatis (GC/CT). Rectal GC/CT symptoms may be less obvious than urethral, increasing opportunities for undiagnosed rectal GC/CT. Method. A U.S. national sample of 1,071 GBM completed urethral and rectal GC/CT testing and an online survey. Results. In total, 6.2% were GC/CT positive (5.3% rectal, 1.7% urethral). We calculated adjusted (for education, race, age, relationship status, having health insurance, and income) odds ratios for factors associated with rectal and urethral GC/CT diagnoses. Age was inversely associated with urethral and rectal GC/CT. Compared to White men, Latinos had significantly greater odds of rectal GC/CT. Among men who reported anal sex, those reporting only insertive sex had lower odds of rectal GC/CT than men who reported both insertive and receptive. There was a positive association between rectal GC/CT and number of male partners (\u3c12 \u3emonths), the number of anal receptive acts, receptive condomless anal sex (CAS) acts, and insertive CAS acts. Compared to those who had engaged in both insertive and receptive anal sex, those who engaged in only receptive anal sex had lower odds of urethral GC/CT. The number of male partners (\u3c12 \u3emonths) was associated with increased odds of urethral GC/CT. Conclusion. Rectal GC/CT was more common than urethral and associated with some demographic and behavioral characteristics. Our finding that insertive CAS acts was associated with rectal GC/CT highlights that providers should screen patients for GC/CT via a full range of transmission routes, lest GC/CT go undiagnosed

Changes in familiarity with and willingness to take PrEP in a longitudinal study of highly sexually active gay and bisexual men

PURPOSE: For gay and bisexual men (GBM), research suggests that familiarity with Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) has been increasing since being approved by the U.S. FDA in 2012. However, it is less clear how willingness to start using PrEP has changed over time. Likewise, some have expressed concerns regarding the potential for risk compensation (i.e., reduced condom use) were one to start PrEP; however, again, it is unclear how these may have been changing over time. METHODS: We conducted baseline and 12 month assessments with 158 highly sexually active HIV-negative GBM in NYC who were assessed between 2011 and 2014. We examined change over time both between participants (based on when they entered the study), as well as within each participant (over the 12 months of his involvement). RESULTS: Familiarity with PrEP increased over time (both between and within participants); however, willingness to take PrEP did not change (neither between nor within participants). Few men believed taking PrEP would cause their condomless anal sex (CAS) to increase and this did not change over time. However, a majority believed PrEP would increase temptation for CAS, and this did not change over time within participants. Sexual compulsivity (SC) symptomology was associated with higher willingness to take PrEP and perceiving that PrEP would increase one’s temptations for CAS. Furthermore, recent CAS was associated with greater willingness to take PrEP, a perception that PrEP would increase one’s likelihood to engage in CAS, and a perception that being on PrEP would increase one’s temptation for CAS. CONCLUSIONS: Participants became more familiar with PrEP over time; however, willingness to start PrEP did not change, and this may serve as an opportunity for providers to 3 discuss PrEP with their patients. Higher risk men were interested in PrEP and pre-existing patterns of sexual behavior may be the primary determinant of CAS while on PrEP

Tracking icebergs with time-lapse photography and sparse optical flow, LeConte Bay, Alaska, 2016–2017

We present a workflow to track icebergs in proglacial fjords using oblique time-lapse photos and the Lucas-Kanade optical flow algorithm. We employ the workflow at LeConte Bay, Alaska, where we ran five time-lapse cameras between April 2016 and September 2017, capturing more than 400 000 photos at frame rates of 0.5–4.0 min−1. Hourly to daily average velocity fields in map coordinates illustrate dynamic currents in the bay, with dominant downfjord velocities (exceeding 0.5 m s−1 intermittently) and several eddies. Comparisons with simultaneous Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements yield best agreement for the uppermost ADCP levels (∼ 12 m and above), in line with prevalent small icebergs that trace near-surface currents. Tracking results from multiple cameras compare favorably, although cameras with lower frame rates (0.5 min−1) tend to underestimate high flow speeds. Tests to determine requisite temporal and spatial image resolution confirm the importance of high image frame rates, while spatial resolution is of secondary importance. Application of our procedure to other fjords will be successful if iceberg concentrations are high enough and if the camera frame rates are sufficiently rapid (at least 1 min−1 for conditions similar to LeConte Bay).This work was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (OPP-1503910, OPP-1504288, OPP-1504521 and OPP-1504191).Ye

Wireless magnetoelectrically powered organic light-emitting diodes

This work was supported by a scholarship to J.F.B. donated by Beverly and Frank MacInnis to the University of St Andrews, the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101023743 (PolDev to A.M.), The Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2017-231), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Humboldt Professorship to M.C.G.), the DFG-funded Research Training Group “Template-Designed Organic Electronics (TIDE)” (RTG2591), and the EPSRC NSF-CBET lead agency agreement (EP/R010595/1, 1706207).Compact wireless light sources are a fundamental building block for applications ranging from wireless displays to optical implants. However, their realization remains challenging because of constraints in miniaturization and the integration of power harvesting and light-emission technologies. Here, we introduce a strategy for a compact wirelessly powered light-source that consists of a magnetoelectric transducer serving as power source and substrate and an antiparallel pair of custom-designed organic light-emitting diodes. The devices operate at low-frequency ac magnetic fields (~100 kHz), which has the added benefit of allowing operation multiple centimeters deep inside watery environments. By tuning the device resonance frequency, it is possible to separately address multiple devices, e.g., to produce light of distinct colors, to address individual display pixels, or for clustered operation. By simultaneously offering small size, individual addressing, and compatibility with challenging environments, our devices pave the way for a multitude of applications in wireless displays, deep tissue treatment, sensing, and imaging.Peer reviewe

Using error correction to determine the noise model

Quantum error correcting codes have been shown to have the ability of making quantum information resilient against noise. Here we show that we can use quantum error correcting codes as diagnostics to characterise noise. The experiment is based on a three-bit quantum error correcting code carried out on a three-qubit nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum information processor. Utilizing both engineered and natural noise, the degree of correlations present in the noise affecting a two-qubit subsystem was determined. We measured a correlation factor of c=0.5+/-0.2 using the error correction protocol, and c=0.3+/-0.2 using a standard NMR technique based on coherence pathway selection. Although the error correction method demands precise control, the results demonstrate that the required precision is achievable in the liquid-state NMR setting.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Added discussion section, improved figure

Kajian dan Implementasi Real TIME Operating System pada Single Board Computer Berbasis Arm

Operating System is an important software in computer system. For personal and office use the operating system is sufficient. However, to critical mission applications such as nuclear power plants and braking system on the car (auto braking system) which need a high level of reliability, it requires operating system which operates in real time. The study aims to assess the implementation of the Linux-based operating system on a Single Board Computer (SBC) ARM-based, namely Pandaboard ES with the Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, TI OMAP 4460 type. Research was conducted by the method of implementation of the General Purpose OS Ubuntu 12:04 OMAP4-armhf-RTOS and Linux 3.4.0-rt17 + on PandaBoard ES. Then research compared the latency value of each OS on no-load and with full-load condition. The results obtained show the maximum latency value of RTOS on full load condition is at 45 uS, much smaller than the maximum value of GPOS at full-load at 17.712 uS. The lower value of latency demontrates that the RTOS has ability to run the process in a certain period of time much better than the GPOS