Quantum Optics and Electronics

Contains reports on two research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-78-C-0020)National Science Foundation (Grant ENG79-11380)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-79-C-0694)National Science Foundation (Grant ENG79-08031

Cost and impact of policies to remove and reduce fees for obstetric care in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Morocco.

BACKGROUND: Across the Africa region and beyond, the last decade has seen many countries introducing policies aimed at reducing financial barriers to obstetric care. This article provides evidence of the cost and effects of national policies focussed on improving financial access to caesarean and facility deliveries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Morocco. METHODS: The study uses a comparative case study design with mixed methods, including realist evaluation components. This article presents results across 14 different data collection tools, used in 4-6 research sites in each of the four study countries over 2011-13. The methods included: document review; interviews with key informants; analysis of secondary data; structured extraction from medical files; cross-sectional surveys of patients and staff; interviews with patients and observation of care processes. RESULTS: The article finds that the policies have contributed to continued increases in skilled birth attendance and caesarean sections and a narrowing of inequalities in all four countries, but these trends were already occurring so a shift cannot be attributed solely to the policies. It finds a significant reduction in financial burdens on households after the policy, suggesting that the financial protection objectives may have been met, at least in the short term, although none achieved total exemption of targeted costs. Policies are domestically financed and are potentially sustainable and efficient, and were relatively thoroughly implemented. Further, we find no evidence of negative effects on technical quality of care, or of unintended negative effects on untargeted services. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the policies were effective in meeting financial protection goals and probably health and equity goals, at sustainable cost, but that a range of measures could increase their effectiveness and equity. These include broadening the exempted package (especially for those countries which focused on caesarean sections alone), better calibrated payments, clearer information on policies, better stewardship of the local health system to deal with underlying systemic weaknesses, more robust implementation of exemptions for indigents, and paying more attention to quality of care, especially for newborns

SEPALLATA3: the 'glue' for MADS box transcription factor complex formation

A yeast 3-hybrid screen in Arabidopsis reveals MADS box protein complexes: SEP3 is shown to mediate complex formation and floral timing

Construction of exact solutions to eigenvalue problems by the asymptotic iteration method

We apply the asymptotic iteration method (AIM) [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36, 11807 (2003)] to solve new classes of second-order homogeneous linear differential equation. In particular, solutions are found for a general class of eigenvalue problems which includes Schroedinger problems with Coulomb, harmonic oscillator, or Poeschl-Teller potentials, as well as the special eigenproblems studied recently by Bender et al [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 34 9835 (2001)] and generalized in the present paper to higher dimensions.Comment: 10 page

Current status and opportunities for therapeutic drug monitoring in the treatment of tuberculosis

Contains fulltext : 172247.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access

A Review of Family-Based Tests for Linkage Disequilibrium between a Quantitative Trait and a Genetic Marker

Quantitative trait transmission/disequilibrium tests (quantitative TDTs) are commonly used in family-based genetic association studies of quantitative traits. Despite the availability of various quantitative TDTs, some users are not aware of the properties of these tests and the relationships between them. This review aims at outlining the broad features of the various quantitative TDT procedures carried out in the frequently used QTDT and FBAT packages. Specifically, we discuss the “Rabinowitz” and the “Monks-Kaplan” procedures, as well as the various “Abecasis” and “Allison” regression-based procedures. We focus on the models assumed in these tests and the relationships between them. Moreover, we discuss what hypotheses are tested by the various quantitative TDTs, what testing procedures are best suited to various forms of data, and whether the regression-based tests overcome population stratification problems. Finally, we comment on power considerations in the choice of the test to be used. We hope this brief review will shed light on the similarities and differences of the various quantitative TDTs

Exome sequencing and genotyping identify a rare variant in NLRP7 gene associated with ulcerative colitis.

Background and Aims Although genome-wide association studies [GWAS] in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] have identified a large number of common disease susceptibility alleles for both Crohn’s disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC], a substantial fraction of IBD heritability remains unexplained, suggesting that rare coding genetic variants may also have a role in pathogenesis. We used high-throughput sequencing in families with multiple cases of IBD, followed by genotyping of cases and controls, to investigate whether rare protein-altering genetic variants are associated with susceptibility to IBD. Methods Whole-exome sequencing was carried out in 10 families in whom three or more individuals were affected with IBD. A stepwise filtering approach was applied to exome variants, to identify potential causal variants. Follow-up genotyping was performed in 6025 IBD cases [2948 CD; 3077 UC] and 7238 controls. Results Our exome variant analysis revealed coding variants in the NLRP7 gene that were present in affected individuals in two distinct families. Genotyping of the two variants, p.S361L and p.R801H, in IBD cases and controls showed that the p.S361L variant was significantly associated with an increased risk of ulcerative colitis [odds ratio 4.79, p = 0.0039] and IBD [odds ratio 3.17, p = 0.037]. A combined analysis of both variants showed suggestive association with an increased risk of IBD [odds ratio 2.77, p = 0.018]. Conclusions The results suggest that NLRP7 signalling and inflammasome formation may be a significant component in the pathogenesis of IBD

Determination of the Michel Parameters rho, xi, and delta in tau-Lepton Decays with tau --> rho nu Tags

Using the ARGUS detector at the $e^+ e^-$ storage ring DORIS II, we have measured the Michel parameters $\rho$, $\xi$, and $\xi\delta$ for $\tau^{\pm}\to l^{\pm} \nu\bar\nu$ decays in $\tau$-pair events produced at center of mass energies in the region of the $\Upsilon$ resonances. Using $\tau^\mp \to \rho^\mp \nu$ as spin analyzing tags, we find $\rho_{e}=0.68\pm 0.04 \pm 0.08$, $\xi_{e}= 1.12 \pm 0.20 \pm 0.09$, $\xi\delta_{e}= 0.57 \pm 0.14 \pm 0.07$, $\rho_{\mu}= 0.69 \pm 0.06 \pm 0.08$, $\xi_{\mu}= 1.25 \pm 0.27 \pm 0.14$ and $\xi\delta_{\mu}= 0.72 \pm 0.18 \pm 0.10$. In addition, we report the combined ARGUS results on $\rho$, $\xi$, and $\xi\delta$ using this work und previous measurements.Comment: 10 pages, well formatted postscript can be found at http://pktw06.phy.tu-dresden.de/iktp/pub/desy97-194.p