131 research outputs found
A Cluster Algorithm for the Kalb-Ramond Model
A cluster algorithm is presented for the Kalb-Ramond plaquette model in
four dimensions which dramatically reduces critical slowing. The critical
exponent is reduced from (standard Metropolis algorithm) to . The Cluster algorithm updates the monopole configuration known to
be responsible for the second order phase transition.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX + 7 figures in self-extracting shell archiv
A nano-biosensor for DNA sequence detection using absorption spectra of SWNT-DNA composite
biosensor based on Single Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT)-Poly (GT)n ssDNA hybrid has been developed for medical diagnostics. The absorption spectrum of this assay is determined with the help of a Shimadzu UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer. Two
distinct bands each containing three peaks corresponding to first and second van Hove singularities in the density of states of the nanotubes were observed in the absorption spectrum. When a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) having a sequence
complementary to probic DNA is added to the ssDNA-SWNT conjugates, hybridization takes place, which causes the red shift of absorption spectrum of nanotubes. On the
other hand, when the DNA is noncomplementary, no shift in the absorption spectrum occurs since hybridization between the DNA and probe does not take place. The red shifting of the spectrum is considered to be due to change in the dielectric
environment around nanotubes.
When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2212
Rotating Circular Strings, and Infinite Non-Uniqueness of Black Rings
We present new self-gravitating solutions in five dimensions that describe
circular strings, i.e., rings, electrically coupled to a two-form potential (as
e.g., fundamental strings do), or to a dual magnetic one-form. The rings are
prevented from collapsing by rotation, and they create a field analogous to a
dipole, with no net charge measured at infinity. They can have a regular
horizon, and we show that this implies the existence of an infinite number of
black rings, labeled by a continuous parameter, with the same mass and angular
momentum as neutral black rings and black holes. We also discuss the solution
for a rotating loop of fundamental string. We show how more general rings arise
from intersections of branes with a regular horizon (even at extremality),
closely related to the configurations that yield the four-dimensional black
hole with four charges. We reproduce the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of a large
extremal ring through a microscopic calculation. Finally, we discuss some
qualitative ideas for a microscopic understanding of neutral and dipole black
rings.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures. v2: minor changes, added reference. v3:
erroneous values of T_{ww} (eq.(3.39)) and n_p (eq.(5.20)) corrected, and
accompanying discussion amended. In the journal version these corrections
appear as an appended erratum. No major changes involve
Three-Charge Black Holes on a Circle
We study phases of five-dimensional three-charge black holes with a circle in
their transverse space. In particular, when the black hole is localized on the
circle we compute the corrections to the metric and corresponding
thermodynamics in the limit of small mass. When taking the near-extremal limit,
this gives the corrections to the constant entropy of the extremal three-charge
black hole as a function of the energy above extremality. For the partial
extremal limit with two charges sent to infinity and one finite we show that
the first correction to the entropy is in agreement with the microscopic
entropy by taking into account that the number of branes shift as a consequence
of the interactions across the transverse circle. Beyond these analytical
results, we also numerically obtain the entire phase of non- and near-extremal
three- and two-charge black holes localized on a circle. More generally, we
find in this paper a rich phase structure, including a new phase of
three-charge black holes that are non-uniformly distributed on the circle. All
these three-charge black hole phases are found via a map that relates them to
the phases of five-dimensional neutral Kaluza-Klein black holes.Comment: 58 pages, 10 figures; v2: Corrected typos, version appearing in JHE
Lodged in the throat: Internal infinities and AdS/CFT
In the context of AdS3/CFT2, we address spacetimes with a certain sort of
internal infinity as typified by the extreme BTZ black hole. The internal
infinity is a null circle lying at the end of the black hole's infinite throat.
We argue that such spacetimes may be described by a product CFT of the form
CFT-L * CFT-R, where CFT-R is associated with the asymptotically AdS boundary
while CFT-L is associated with the null circle. Our particular calculations
analyze the CFT dual of the extreme BTZ black hole in a linear toy model of
AdS3/CFT2. Since the BTZ black hole is a quotient of AdS3, the dual CFT state
is a corresponding quotient of the CFT vacuum state. This state turns out to
live in the aforementioned product CFT. We discuss this result in the context
of general issues of AdS/CFT duality and entanglement entropy.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; v2 - some typos corrected, minor revision
Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17 : analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
Background
Across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), one in ten deaths in children younger than 5 years is attributable to diarrhoea. The substantial between-country variation in both diarrhoea incidence and mortality is attributable to interventions that protect children, prevent infection, and treat disease. Identifying subnational regions with the highest burden and mapping associated risk factors can aid in reducing preventable childhood diarrhoea.
Methods
We used Bayesian model-based geostatistics and a geolocated dataset comprising 15 072 746 children younger than 5 years from 466 surveys in 94 LMICs, in combination with findings of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, to estimate posterior distributions of diarrhoea prevalence, incidence, and mortality from 2000 to 2017. From these data, we estimated the burden of diarrhoea at varying subnational levels (termed units) by spatially aggregating draws, and we investigated the drivers of subnational patterns by creating aggregated risk factor estimates.
Findings
The greatest declines in diarrhoeal mortality were seen in south and southeast Asia and South America, where 54·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 38·1–65·8), 17·4% (7·7–28·4), and 59·5% (34·2–86·9) of units, respectively, recorded decreases in deaths from diarrhoea greater than 10%. Although children in much of Africa remain at high risk of death due to diarrhoea, regions with the most deaths were outside Africa, with the highest mortality units located in Pakistan. Indonesia showed the greatest within-country geographical inequality; some regions had mortality rates nearly four times the average country rate. Reductions in mortality were correlated to improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) or reductions in child growth failure (CGF). Similarly, most high-risk areas had poor WASH, high CGF, or low oral rehydration therapy coverage.
Interpretation
By co-analysing geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden and its key risk factors, we could assess candidate drivers of subnational death reduction. Further, by doing a counterfactual analysis of the remaining disease burden using key risk factors, we identified potential intervention strategies for vulnerable populations. In view of the demands for limited resources in LMICs, accurately quantifying the burden of diarrhoea and its drivers is important for precision public health
Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol
High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p
Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2019: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2•72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2•66–2•79) in 2000 to 2•31 (2•17–2•46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134•5 million (131•5–137•8) in 2000 to a peak of 139•6 million (133•0–146•9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135•3 million (127•2–144•1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2•1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27•1% (95% UI 26•4–27•8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67•2 years (95% UI 66•8–67•6) in 2000 to 73•5 years (72•8–74•3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50•7 million (49•5–51•9) in 2000 to 56•5 million (53•7–59•2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9•6 million (9•1–10•3) in 2000 to 5•0 million (4•3–6•0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25•7%, from 6•2 billion (6•0–6•3) in 2000 to 7•7 billion (7•5–8•0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58•6 years (56•1–60•8) in 2000 to 63•5 years (60•8–66•1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019. Interpretation: Over the past 20 years, fertility rates have been dropping steadily and life expectancy has been increasing, with few exceptions. Much of this change follows historical patterns linking social and economic determinants, such as those captured by the GBD Socio-demographic Index, with demographic outcomes. More recently, several countries have experienced a combination of low fertility and stagnating improvement in mortality rates, pushing more populations into the late stages of the demographic transition. Tracking demographic change and the emergence of new patterns will be essential for global health monitoring. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens
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