Quantum Mechanical Corrections to the Schwarzschild Black Hole Metric

Motivated by quantum mechanical corrections to the Newtonian potential, which can be translated into an $\hbar$-correction to the $g_{00}$ component of the Schwarzschild metric, we construct a quantum mechanically corrected metric assuming $-g_{00}=g^{rr}$. We show how the Bekenstein black hole entropy $S$ receives its logarithmic contribution provided the quantum mechanical corrections to the metric are negative. In this case the standard horizon at the Schwarzschild radius $r_S$ increases by small terms proportional to $\hbar$ and a remnant of the order of Planck mass emerges. We contrast these results with a positive correction to the metric which, apart from a corrected Schwarzschild horizon, leads to a new purely quantum mechanical horizon.Comment: 14 pages Latex, enlarged version as compared to the published on

Implementation of a multidisciplinary psychoeducational intervention for Parkinson's disease patients and carers in the community: study protocol

Background: Parkinson’s disease progressively limits patients at different levels and as a result family members play a key role in their care. However, studies show lack of an integrative approach in Primary Care to respond to the difficulties and psychosocial changes experienced by them. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of a multidisciplinary psychoeducational intervention focusing on improving coping skills, the psychosocial adjustment to Parkinson’s disease and the quality of life in patients and family carers in a Primary Care setting. Methods: This quasi-experimental study with control group and mixed methods was designed to evaluate a multidisciplinary psychoeducational intervention. Based on the study power calculations, 100 people with Parkinson’s disease and 100 family carers will be recruited and assigned to two groups. The intervention group will receive the ReNACE psychoeducational intervention. The control group will be given a general educational programme. The study will be carried out in six community-based health centres. The results obtained from the two groups will be collected for evaluation at three time points: at baseline, immediately after the intervention and at 6 months post-intervention. The results will be measured with these instruments: the Quality of Life Scale PDQ39 for patients and the Scale of Quality of Life of Care-givers SQLC for family carers, and for all participants the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness scale and the Brief COPE Inventory. Focus groups will be organised with some patients and family carers who will have received the ReNACE psychoeducational intervention and also with the healthcare professionals involved in its development. Discussion: An important gap exists in the knowledge and application of interventions with a psychosocial approach for people with PD and family carers as a whole. This study will promote this comprehensive approach in Primary Care, which will clearly contribute in the existing knowledge and could reduce the burden of PD for patients and family carers, and also in other long-term conditions

Mycorrhiza induced resistance against pests: from the lab to the field

1 página - Conferencia invitada presentada en Iberian Plant Biology 2023. XVIII Portuguese-Spanish Congress on Plant Biology and the XXV Meeting of the Spanish Society of Plant Biology. 9-12 Julio 2023, Braga, PortugalArbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can prime plant defences increasing their resistance against pathogens and insect herbivores. Using tomato as a model, we have shown that inoculation with different AMF reduces the performance of the chewing herbivore Spodoptera exigua and the leaf miner Tuta absoluta. Transcriptomic and metabolomics analyses revealed that this Mycorrhiza Induced Resistance (MIR) is associated to boosted activation of plant direct and indirect defences in response to the attackers. We found primed accumulation in attacked leaves of antiherbivore metabolites, including alkaloids and polyamine conjugates, and functional analyses demonstrated that some of the identified compounds significantly inhibit herbivore development. In addition, the symbiosis altered the volatile blends released by the plant, and enhanced the attraction of natural enemies of the pests (Nesidiocoris tenuis, commonly used in biocontrol programs). Finally, networks analyses allowed the identification of key regulators of the primed response within the jasmonic acid and ethylene signalling pathways. Despite the many studies showing induced resistance by microorganisms in different plant‐pest systems, the variability in the protection achieved under agronomic settings is hindering the application of this strategy in agriculture. Plant‐microbe‐herbivore interactions are highly context dependent, with multiple biotic and abiotic factors influencing the final output. Identifying such factors is essential to optimize the application of microbial inoculants for crop protection in agriculture. We found that the plant genotype and nutrient availability are important drivers of the context dependency of MIR in tomato. Despite of the variability, comparisons across different experimental scales, from controlled lab set‐ups to commercial production conditions, confirmed that MIR can be achieved under crop production conditions and is compatible with other biocontrol methods. Accordingly, MIR can be a relevant addition to current Integrated Pest Management Programs

Functional upgrading in China’s export processing sector

Functional upgrading occurs when a firm acquires more sophisticated functions within an existing value chain. In this paper, we analyze if there is evidence of this type of upgrading in China’s export processing regime by investigating dynamics in the relative prevalence of Import & Assembly (IA) versus Pure Assembly (PA) processing trade over the period 2000-2013. Firms in both regimes provide similar manufacturing services to foreign companies, but IA firms also conduct the sophisticated tasks of quality control, searching, financing and storing imported materials. Consistent with a trend of functional upgrading, we show that the share of IA trade in total processing trade has increased rapidly during the period 2000-2006, both overall and within product categories. Furthermore, we find that this trend has gone hand in hand with improvements in a sector’s labor productivity and unit values. Against expectations, we find that this process has slowed down notably during the period 2006-2013.status: publishe

Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km$^2$ str and provides us with an unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X$_{max}$ data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100% duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201

A search for point sources of EeV photons

Measurements of air showers made using the hybrid technique developed with the fluorescence and surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory allow a sensitive search for point sources of EeV photons anywhere in the exposed sky. A multivariate analysis reduces the background of hadronic cosmic rays. The search is sensitive to a declination band from -85{\deg} to +20{\deg}, in an energy range from 10^17.3 eV to 10^18.5 eV. No photon point source has been detected. An upper limit on the photon flux has been derived for every direction. The mean value of the energy flux limit that results from this, assuming a photon spectral index of -2, is 0.06 eV cm^-2 s^-1, and no celestial direction exceeds 0.25 eV cm^-2 s^-1. These upper limits constrain scenarios in which EeV cosmic ray protons are emitted by non-transient sources in the Galaxy.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Global access to technologies to support safe and effective inguinal hernia surgery:prospective, international cohort study

Technological advancement is important to improve healthcare quality and safety, especially in surgery1. For patients with an inguinal hernia, mesh and minimally invasive surgery are the two main technologies that have improved healthcare quality and safety2,3. The use of mesh is proven to reduce recurrence4,5. This avoids the need for further repairs, which are technically more challenging and have a higher risk for patients6. The use of minimally invasive surgery has proven advantages in bilateral hernias and in female patients2,3 and is recommended in unilateral repair where appropriate expertise is available2,3.Access to these technologies and the expertise required are not widely or equitably distributed at a global level. As it is the case for other technologies, countries in the Global South have more limited access1. At the same time, in this part of the globe, there is a higher prevalence and a higher burden of disease associated with inguinal hernias7. Several barriers to implementation in the Global South have been identified previously, including costs, distribution, and training8,9. To overcome these, studies reporting the use of mesh based on mosquito net mesh and evaluating training programmes have been conducted10,11. With these efforts and with global investment in new technologies and the expansion of existing technologies, it was expected that there would be an increase in their use in low–middle-income countries. Data assessing this variability have not been collected in a standardized way and are usually reported from single-country or single-region studies5,12. Therefore, identification of areas where improvement is most needed will be key to better inform policymakers.The overarching aim of this study was to evaluate access to technologies that are relevant to the treatment of inguinal hernia patients to identify the areas where improvement is needed. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the use of mesh and predictors of mesh use in elective inguinal hernia repairs and the secondary aims of this study were to evaluate the use of minimally invasive surgery and predictors of minimally invasive surgery use and to evaluate the safety associated with the use of mesh and the use of minimally invasive surgery

Reconstruction of inclined air showers detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

We describe the method devised to reconstruct inclined cosmic-ray air showers with zenith angles greater than $60^\circ$ detected with the surface array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The measured signals at the ground level are fitted to muon density distributions predicted with atmospheric cascade models to obtain the relative shower size as an overall normalization parameter. The method is evaluated using simulated showers to test its performance. The energy of the cosmic rays is calibrated using a sub-sample of events reconstructed with both the fluorescence and surface array techniques. The reconstruction method described here provides the basis of complementary analyses including an independent measurement of the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using very inclined events collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 27 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP