2,421 research outputs found
Searches for Gravitational Waves from Binary Neutron Stars: A Review
A new generation of observatories is looking for gravitational waves. These
waves, emitted by highly relativistic systems, will open a new window for ob-
servation of the cosmos when they are detected. Among the most promising
sources of gravitational waves for these observatories are compact binaries in
the final min- utes before coalescence. In this article, we review in brief
interferometric searches for gravitational waves emitted by neutron star
binaries, including the theory, instru- mentation and methods. No detections
have been made to date. However, the best direct observational limits on
coalescence rates have been set, and instrumentation and analysis methods
continue to be refined toward the ultimate goal of defining the new field of
gravitational wave astronomy.Comment: 30 pages, 5 Figures, to appear in "Short-Period Binary Stars:
Observations, Analyses, and Results", Ed.s Eugene F. Milone, Denis A. Leahy,
David W. Hobil
Exploring the effects of BCG vaccination in patients diagnosed with tuberculosis: Observational study using the Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance system.
BACKGROUND: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is one of the most widely-used vaccines worldwide. BCG primarily reduces the progression from infection to disease, however there is evidence that BCG may provide additional benefits. We aimed to investigate whether there is evidence in routinely-collected surveillance data that BCG vaccination impacts outcomes for tuberculosis (TB) cases in England. METHODS: We obtained all TB notifications for 2009-2015 in England from the Enhanced Tuberculosis surveillance system. We considered five outcomes: All-cause mortality, death due to TB (in those who died), recurrent TB, pulmonary disease, and sputum smear status. We used logistic regression, with complete case analysis, to investigate each outcome with BCG vaccination, years since vaccination and age at vaccination, adjusting for potential confounders. All analyses were repeated using multiply imputed data. RESULTS: We found evidence of an association between BCG vaccination and reduced all-cause mortality (aOR:0.76 (95%CI 0.64-0.89), P:0.001) and weak evidence of an association with reduced recurrent TB (aOR:0.90 (95%CI 0.81-1.00), P:0.056). Analyses using multiple imputation suggested that the benefits of vaccination for all-cause mortality were reduced after 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: We found that BCG vaccination was associated with reduced all-cause mortality in people with TB although this benefit was less pronounced more than 10 years after vaccination. There was weak evidence of an association with reduced recurrent TB
Single stage repair of a complex pathology: end stage ischaemic cardiomyopathy, ascending aortic aneurysm and thoracic coarctation
The not uncommon combination of ascending aortic pathology with late presenting coarctation is a difficult surgical challenge. The two stage approach is usually adopted. The necessity for cardiac transplantation adds to the complexity: a trans-sternal approach and single stage repair become mandatory
The complete mitochondrial genome of the foodborne parasitic pathogen Cyclospora cayetanensis
Cyclospora cayetanensis is a human-specific coccidian parasite responsible for several food and water-related outbreaks around the world, including the most recent ones involving over 900 persons in 2013 and 2014 outbreaks in the USA. Multicopy organellar DNA such as mitochondrion genomes have been particularly informative for detection and genetic traceback analysis in other parasites. We sequenced the C. cayetanensis genomic DNA obtained from stool samples from patients infected with Cyclospora in Nepal using the Illumina MiSeq platform. By bioinformatically filtering out the metagenomic reads of non-coccidian origin sequences and concentrating the reads by targeted alignment, we were able to obtain contigs containing Eimeria-like mitochondrial, apicoplastic and some chromosomal genomic fragments. A mitochondrial genomic sequence was assembled and confirmed by cloning and sequencing targeted PCR products amplified from Cyclospora DNA using primers based on our draft assembly sequence. The results show that the C. cayetanensis mitochondrion genome is 6274 bp in length, with 33% GC content, and likely exists in concatemeric arrays as in Eimeria mitochondrial genomes. Phylogenetic analysis of the C. cayetanensis mitochondrial genome places this organism in a tight cluster with Eimeria species. The mitochondrial genome of C. cayetanensis contains three protein coding genes, cytochrome (cytb), cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), and cytochrome C oxidase subunit 3 (cox3), in addition to 14 large subunit (LSU) and nine small subunit (SSU) fragmented rRNA genes
Effective Theory of a Dynamically Broken Electroweak Standard Model at NLO
We consider the Standard Model as an effective theory at the weak scale
of a generic new strong interaction that dynamically breaks electroweak
symmetry at the energy scale (few) TeV. Assuming only the
minimal field content with the Standard Model fermions and gauge bosons, but
without a light Higgs particle, we construct the complete Lagrangian through
next-to-leading order, that is, including terms of order . The
systematics behind this expansion is clarified. Although similar to chiral
perturbation theory, it is not governed by the dimension of operators alone,
but depends in an essential way on the loop expansion. Power-counting formulas
are derived that indicate the classes of operators required at the
next-to-leading order. The complete set of operators at leading and
next-to-leading order is then listed, based on the restrictions implied by the
Standard-Model gauge symmetries. We recover the well-known operators discussed
in the literature in connection with the electroweak chiral Lagrangian and in
similar contexts, but we collect a complete and systematic list of all terms
through order . This includes some operators not discussed in
explicit terms before. We also show that a few of the previously considered
operators can be eliminated via the equations of motion. As another important
result we confirm the known list of dimension-6 operators in the Standard Model
with an elementary Higgs doublet, essentially as a special case of our
scenario.Comment: 35 pages, 1 figure; references adde
Analyzing three-player quantum games in an EPR type setup
We use the formalism of Clifford Geometric Algebra (GA) to develop an
analysis of quantum versions of three-player non-cooperative games. The quantum
games we explore are played in an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) type setting.
In this setting, the players' strategy sets remain identical to the ones in the
mixed-strategy version of the classical game that is obtained as a proper
subset of the corresponding quantum game. Using GA we investigate the outcome
of a realization of the game by players sharing GHZ state, W state, and a
mixture of GHZ and W states. As a specific example, we study the game of
three-player Prisoners' Dilemma.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
No triangles on the moduli space of maximally supersymmetric gauge theory
Maximally supersymmetric gauge theory in four dimensions has a remarkably
simple S-matrix at the origin of its moduli space at both tree and loop level.
This leads to the question what, if any, of this structure survives at the
complement of this one point. Here this question is studied in detail at one
loop for the branch of the moduli space parameterized by a vacuum expectation
value for one complex scalar. Motivated by the parallel D-brane picture of
spontaneous symmetry breaking a simple relation is demonstrated between the
Lagrangian of broken super Yang-Mills theory and that of its higher dimensional
unbroken cousin. Using this relation it is proven both through an on- as well
as an off-shell method there are no so-called triangle coefficients in the
natural basis of one-loop functions at any finite point of the moduli space for
the theory under study. The off-shell method yields in addition absence of
rational terms in a class of theories on the Coulomb branch which includes the
special case of maximal supersymmetry. The results in this article provide
direct field theory evidence for a recently proposed exact dual conformal
symmetry motivated by the AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figure
Quantum Gravity in Everyday Life: General Relativity as an Effective Field Theory
This article is meant as a summary and introduction to the ideas of effective
field theory as applied to gravitational systems.
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Effective Field Theories
3. Low-Energy Quantum Gravity
4. Explicit Quantum Calculations
5. ConclusionsComment: 56 pages, 2 figures, JHEP style, Invited review to appear in Living
Reviews of Relativit
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