Ethnomedicine in healthcare systems of the world: a Semester at Sea pilot survey in 11 countries

An understanding and appreciation for the varied healthcare systems in use throughout the world are increasingly vital for medical personnel as patient populations are now composed of ethnically diverse people with wide-ranging belief systems. While not a statistically valid survey, this pilot study gives a global overview of healthcare differences around the world. A pilot study of 459 individuals from 11 different countries around the world was administered by 33 students in the upper division course, People, Pathology, and World Medicine from Semester at Sea, Fall 2007, to ascertain trends in healthcare therapies. Open-ended surveys were conducted in English, through an interpreter, or in the native language. Western hospital use ranked highly for all countries, while ethnomedical therapies were utilized to a lesser degree. Among the findings, mainland China exhibited the greatest overall percentage of ethnomedical therapies, while the island of Hong Kong, the largest use of Western hospitals. The figures and trends from the surveys suggest the importance of understanding diverse cultural healthcare beliefs when treating individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. The study also revealed the increasingly complex and multisystem-based medical treatments being used internationally

More three-point correlators of giant magnons with finite size

In the framework of the semiclassical approach, we compute the normalized structure constants in three-point correlation functions, when two of the vertex operators correspond to heavy string states, while the third vertex corresponds to a light state. This is done for the case when the heavy string states are finite-size giant magnons with one or two angular momenta, and for two different choices of the light state, corresponding to dilaton operator and primary scalar operator. The relevant operators in the dual gauge theory are Tr(F_{\mu\nu}^2 Z^j+...) and Tr(Z^j). We first consider the case of AdS_5 x S^5 and N = 4 super Yang-Mills. Then we extend the obtained results to the gamma-deformed AdS_5 x S^5_\gamma, dual to N = 1 super Yang-Mills theory, arising as an exactly marginal deformation of N = 4 super Yang-Mills.Comment: 14 pages, no figure

Evaluation of two high-throughput proteomic technologies for plasma biomarker discovery in immunotherapy-treated melanoma patients

Background: Selective kinase and immune checkpoint inhibitors, and their combinations, have significantly improved the survival of patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. Not all patients will respond to treatment however, and some patients will present with significant toxicities. Hence, the identification of biomarkers is critical for the selection and management of patients receiving treatment. Biomarker discovery often involves proteomic techniques that simultaneously profile multiple proteins but few studies have compared these platforms. Methods: In this study, we used the multiplex bead-based Eve Technologies Discovery assay and the aptamer-based SomaLogic SOMAscan assay to identify circulating proteins predictive of response to immunotherapy in melanoma patients treated with combination immune checkpoint inhibitors. Expression of four plasma proteins were further validated using the bead-based Millipore Milliplex assay. Results: Both the Discovery and the SOMAscan assays detected circulating plasma proteins in immunotherapy-treated melanoma patients. However, these widely used assays showed limited correlation in relative protein quantification, due to differences in specificity and the dynamic range of protein detection. Protein data derived from the Discovery and Milliplex bead-based assays were highly correlated. Conclusions: Our study highlights significant limitations imposed by inconsistent sensitivity and specificity due to differences in the detection antibodies or aptamers of these widespread biomarker discovery approaches. Our findings emphasize the need to improve these technologies for the accurate identification of biomarkers

Strings in AdS_4 x CP^3: finite size spectrum vs. Bethe Ansatz

We compute the first curvature corrections to the spectrum of light-cone gauge type IIA string theory that arise in the expansion of $AdS_4\times \mathbb{CP}^3$ about a plane-wave limit. The resulting spectrum is shown to match precisely, both in magnitude and degeneration that of the corresponding solutions of the all-loop Gromov--Vieira Bethe Ansatz. The one-loop dispersion relation correction is calculated for all the single oscillator states of the theory, with the level matching condition lifted. It is shown to have all logarithmic divergences cancelled and to leave only a finite exponentially suppressed contribution, as shown earlier for light bosons. We argue that there is no ambiguity in the choice of the regularization for the self-energy sum, since the regularization applied is the only one preserving unitarity. Interaction matrices in the full degenerate two-oscillator sector are calculated and the spectrum of all two light magnon oscillators is completely determined. The same finite-size corrections, at the order 1/J, where $J$ is the length of the chain, in the two-magnon sector are calculated from the all loop Bethe Ansatz. The corrections obtained by the two completely different methods coincide up to the fourth order in $\lambda' =\lambda/J^2$. We conjecture that the equivalence extends to all orders in $\lambda$ and to higher orders in 1/J.Comment: 32 pages. Published version; journal reference adde

On supersymmetric quantum mechanics

This paper constitutes a review on N=2 fractional supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics of order k. The presentation is based on the introduction of a generalized Weyl-Heisenberg algebra W_k. It is shown how a general Hamiltonian can be associated with the algebra W_k. This general Hamiltonian covers various supersymmetrical versions of dynamical systems (Morse system, Poschl-Teller system, fractional supersymmetric oscillator of order k, etc.). The case of ordinary supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics corresponds to k=2. A connection between fractional supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics and ordinary supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics is briefly described. A realization of the algebra W_k, of the N=2 supercharges and of the corresponding Hamiltonian is given in terms of deformed-bosons and k-fermions as well as in terms of differential operators.Comment: Review paper (31 pages) to be published in: Fundamental World of Quantum Chemistry, A Tribute to the Memory of Per-Olov Lowdin, Volume 3, E. Brandas and E.S. Kryachko (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 200

Holographic 3-point function at one loop

We explore the recent weak/strong coupling match of three-point functions in the AdS/CFT correspondence for two semi-classical operators and one light chiral primary operator found by Escobedo et al. This match is between the tree-level three-point function with the two semi-classical operators described by coherent states while on the string side the three-point function is found in the Frolov-Tseytlin limit. We compute the one-loop correction to the three-point function on the gauge theory side and compare this to the corresponding correction on the string theory side. We find that the corrections do not match. Finally, we discuss the possibility of further contributions on the gauge theory side that can alter our results.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures. v2: Typos fixed, Ref. added, figure improved. v3: Several typos and misprints fixed, Ref. updated, figures improved, new section 2.3 added on correction from spin-flipped coherent state, computations on string theory side improve

Holographic Correlation Functions for Open Strings and Branes

In this paper, we compute holographically the two-point and three-point functions of giant gravitons with open strings. We consider the maximal giant graviton in $S^5$ and the string configurations corresponding to the ground states of Z=0 and Y=0 open spin chain, and the spinning string in AdS$_5$ corresponding to the derivative type impurities in Y=0 or Z=0 open spin chain as well. We treat the D-brane and open string contribution separately and find the corresponding D3-brane and string configurations in bulk which connect the composite operators at the AdS$_5$ boundary. We apply a new prescription to treat the string state contribution and find agreements for the two-point functions. For the three-point functions of two giant gravitons with open strings and one certain half-BPS chiral primary operator, we find that the D-brane contributions to structure constant are always vanishing and the open string contribution for the Y=0 ground state is in perfect match with the prediction in the free field limit.Comment: 25 page

On holographic three point functions for GKP strings from integrability

Adapting the powerful integrability-based formalism invented previously for the calculation of gluon scattering amplitudes at strong coupling, we develop a method for computing the holographic three point functions for the large spin limit of Gubser-Klebanov- Polyakov (GKP) strings. Although many of the ideas from the gluon scattering problem can be transplanted with minor modifications, the fact that the information of the external states is now encoded in the singularities at the vertex insertion points necessitates several new techniques. Notably, we develop a new generalized Riemann bilinear identity, which allows one to express the area integral in terms of appropriate contour integrals in the presence of such singularities. We also give some general discussions on how semiclassical vertex operators for heavy string states should be constructed systematically from the solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation.Comment: 62 pages;v2 Typos and equation (3.7) corrected. Clarifying remarks added in Section 4.1. Published version;v3 Minor errors found in version 2 are corrected. For explanation of the revision, see Erratum published in http://www.springerlink.com/content/m67055235407vx67/?MUD=M