1,939 research outputs found
Treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a remote, conflict-affected area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a high-burden country for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Médecins Sans Frontières has supported the Ministry of Health in the conflict-affected region of Shabunda since 1997. In 2006, three patients were diagnosed with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and had no options for further treatment. An innovative model was developed to treat these patients despite the remote setting. Key innovations were the devolving of responsibility for treatment to non-TB clinicians remotely supported by a TB specialist, use of simplified monitoring protocols, and a strong focus on addressing stigma to support adherence. Treatment was successfully completed after a median of 24 months. This pilot programme demonstrates that successful treatment for DR-TB is possible on a small scale in remote settings
Baby-Step Giant-Step Algorithms for the Symmetric Group
We study discrete logarithms in the setting of group actions. Suppose that
is a group that acts on a set . When , a solution
to can be thought of as a kind of logarithm. In this paper, we study
the case where , and develop analogs to the Shanks baby-step /
giant-step procedure for ordinary discrete logarithms. Specifically, we compute
two sets such that every permutation of can be
written as a product of elements and . Our
deterministic procedure is optimal up to constant factors, in the sense that
and can be computed in optimal asymptotic complexity, and and
are a small constant from in size. We also analyze randomized
"collision" algorithms for the same problem
Development of a novel system for isolating genes involved in predator-prey interactions using host independent derivatives of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus </it>is a gram-negative bacterium that preys upon other gram-negative bacteria. Although the life cycle of <it>Bdellovibrio </it>has been extensively investigated, very little is known about the mechanisms involved in predation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Host-Independent (HI) mutants of <it>B. bacteriovorus </it>were isolated from wild-type strain 109J. Predation assays confirmed that the selected HI mutants retained their ability to prey on host cells grown planktonically and in a biofilm. A mariner transposon library of <it>B. bacteriovorus </it>HI was constructed and HI mutants that were impaired in their ability to attack biofilms were isolated. Transposon insertion sites were determined using arbitrary polymerase chain reaction. Ten HI transposon mutants mapped to genes predicted to be involved in mechanisms previously implicated in predation (flagella, pili and chemotaxis) were further examined for their ability to reduce biofilms.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study we describe a new method for isolating genes that are required for <it>Bdellovibrio </it>biofilm predation. Focusing on mechanisms that were previously attributed to be involved in predation, we demonstrate that motility systems are required for predation of bacterial biofilms. Furthermore, genes identified in this study suggest that surface gliding motility may also play a role in predation of biofilms consistent with Bdellovibrios occupying a biofilm niche. We believe that the methodology presented here will open the way for future studies on the mechanisms involved in <it>Bdellovibrio </it>host-prey interaction and a greater insight of the biology of this unique organism.</p
Multiple planar coincidences with N-fold symmetry
Planar coincidence site lattices and modules with N-fold symmetry are well
understood in a formulation based on cyclotomic fields, in particular for the
class number one case, where they appear as certain principal ideals in the
corresponding ring of integers. We extend this approach to multiple
coincidences, which apply to triple or multiple junctions. In particular, we
give explicit results for spectral, combinatorial and asymptotic properties in
terms of Dirichlet series generating functions.Comment: 13 pages, two figures. For previous related work see math.MG/0511147
and math.CO/0301021. Minor changes and references update
Modified Spin Wave Analysis of Low Temperature Properties of Spin-1/2 Frustrated Ferromagnetic Ladder
Low temperature properties of the spin-1/2 frustrated ladder with
ferromagnetic rungs and legs, and two different antiferromagnetic next nearest
neighbor interaction are investigated using the modified spin wave
approximation in the region with ferromagnetic ground state. The temperature
dependence of the magnetic susceptibility and magnetic structure factors is
calculated. The results are consistent with the numerical exact diagonalization
results in the intermediate temperature range. Below this temperature range,
the finite size effect is significant in the numerical diagonalization results,
while the modified spin wave approximation gives more reliable results. The low
temperature properties near the limit of the stability of the ferromagnetic
ground state are also discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Interacting Boson Theory of the Magnetization Process of the Spin-1/2 Ferromagnetic-Antiferromagnetic Alternating Heisenberg Chain
The low temperature magnetization process of the
ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain is studied using the
interacting boson approximation. In the low field regime and near the
saturation field, the spin wave excitations are approximated by the
function boson gas for which the Bethe ansatz solution is available. The finite
temperature properties are calculated by solving the integral equation
numerically. The comparison is made with Monte Carlo calculation and the limit
of the applicability of the present approximation is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
Pepper-pot emittance measurement of laser-plasma wakefield accelerated electrons
The transverse emittance is an important parameter governing the brightness of an electron beam. Here we present the first pepper-pot measurement of the transverse emittance for a mono-energetic electron beam from a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator, carried out on the Advanced Laser-Plasma High Energy Accelerators towards X-Rays (ALPHA-X) beam line. Mono-energetic electrons are passed through an array of 52 mu m diameter holes in a tungsten mask. The pepper-pot results set an upper limit for the normalised emittance at 5.5 +/- 1 pi mm mrad for an 82 MeV beam
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