Race affects SVR12 in a large and ethnically diverse hepatitis C-infected patient population following treatment with direct-acting antivirals: Analysis of a single-center Department of Veterans Affairs cohort.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic liver disease. HCV cure has been linked to improved patient outcomes. In the era of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), HCV cure has become the goal, as defined by sustained virological response 12 weeks (SVR12) after completion of therapy. Historically, African-Americans have had lower SVR12 rates compared to White people in the interferon era, which had been attributed to the high prevalence of non-CC interleukin 28B (IL28B) type. Less is known about the association between race/ethnicity and SVR12 in DAA-treated era. The aim of the study is to evaluate the predictors of SVR12 in a diverse, single-center Veterans Affairs population. We conducted a retrospective study of patients undergoing HCV therapy with DAAs from 2014 to 2016 at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. We performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine predictors of SVR12, adjusting for age, HCV genotype, DAA regimen and duration, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, fibrosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score, homelessness, mental health, and adherence. Our cohort included 1068 patients, out of which 401 (37.5%) were White people and 400 (37.5%) were African-American. Genotype 1 was the most common genotype (83.9%, N = 896). In the adjusted models, race/ethnicity and the presence of fibrosis were statistically significant predictors of non-SVR. African-Americans had 57% lower odds for reaching SVR12 (adj.OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 1.5-4.1) compared to White people. Advanced fibrosis (adj.OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.26-0.68) was also a significant predictor of non-SVR. In a single-center VA population on DAAs, African-Americans were less likely than White people to reach SVR12 when adjusting for covariates

Resonant Photon-Assisted Tunneling Through a Double Quantum Dot: An Electron Pump From Spatial Rabi Oscillations

The time average of the fully nonlinear current through a double quantum dot, subject to an arbitrary combination of ac and dc voltages, is calculated exactly using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function technique. When driven on resonance, the system functions as an efficient electron pump due to Rabi oscillation between the dots. The pumping current is maximum when the coupling to the leads equals the Rabi frequency.Comment: 6 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 3 postscript figure

Charge-ordered ferromagnetic phase in manganites

A mechanism for charge-ordered ferromagnetic phase in manganites is proposed. The mechanism is based on the double exchange in the presence of diagonal disorder. It is modeled by a combination of the Ising double-exchange and the Falicov-Kimball model. Within the dynamical mean-field theory the charge and spin correlation function are explicitely calculated. It is shown that the system exhibits two successive phase transitions. The first one is the ferromagnetic phase transition, and the second one is a charge ordering. As a result a charge-ordered ferromagnetic phase is stabilized at low temperature.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

The Anderson Model out of equilibrium: Time dependent perturbations

The influence of high-frequency fields on quantum transport through a quantum dot is studied in the low-temperature regime. We generalize the non crossing approximation for the infinite-U Anderson model to the time-dependent case. The dc spectral density shows asymmetric Kondo side peaks due to photon-assisted resonant tunneling. As a consequence we predict an electron-photon pump at zero bias which is purely based on the Kondo effect. In contrast to the resonant level model and the time-independent case we observe asymmetric peak amplitudes in the Coulomb oscillations and the differential conductance versus bias voltage shows resonant side peaks with a width much smaller than the tunneling rate. All the effects might be used to clarify the question whether quantum dots indeed show the Kondo effect.Comment: 13 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 5 figure

Transition Matrix Monte Carlo Reweighting and Dynamics

We study an induced dynamics in the space of energy of single-spin-flip Monte Carlo algorithm. The method gives an efficient reweighting technique. This dynamics is shown to have relaxation times proportional to the specific heat. Thus, it is plausible for a logarithmic factor in the correlation time of the standard 2D Ising local dynamics.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 3 figure

Regional prediction of landslide hazard using probability analysis of intense rainfall in the Hoa Binh province, Vietnam.

The main objective of this study is to assess regional landslide hazards in the Hoa Binh province of Vietnam. A landslide inventory map was constructed from various sources with data mainly for a period of 21 years from 1990 to 2010. The historic inventory of these failures shows that rainfall is the main triggering factor in this region. The probability of the occurrence of episodes of rainfall and the rainfall threshold were deduced from records of rainfall for the aforementioned period. The rainfall threshold model was generated based on daily and cumulative values of antecedent rainfall of the landslide events. The result shows that 15-day antecedent rainfall gives the best fit for the existing landslides in the inventory. The rainfall threshold model was validated using the rainfall and landslide events that occurred in 2010 that were not considered in building the threshold model. The result was used for estimating temporal probability of a landslide to occur using a Poisson probability model. Prior to this work, five landslide susceptibility maps were constructed for the study area using support vector machines, logistic regression, evidential belief functions, Bayesian-regularized neural networks, and neuro-fuzzy models. These susceptibility maps provide information on the spatial prediction probability of landslide occurrence in the area. Finally, landslide hazard maps were generated by integrating the spatial and the temporal probability of landslide. A total of 15 specific landslide hazard maps were generated considering three time periods of 1, 3, and 5 years

Bridging the Mid-Infrared-to-Telecom Gap with Silicon Nanophotonic Spectral Translation

Expanding far beyond traditional applications in optical interconnects at telecommunications wavelengths, the silicon nanophotonic integrated circuit platform has recently proven its merits for working with mid-infrared (mid-IR) optical signals in the 2-8 {\mu}m range. Mid-IR integrated optical systems are capable of addressing applications including industrial process and environmental monitoring, threat detection, medical diagnostics, and free-space communication. Rapid progress has led to the demonstration of various silicon components designed for the on-chip processing of mid-IR signals, including waveguides, vertical grating couplers, microcavities, and electrooptic modulators. Even so, a notable obstacle to the continued advancement of chip-scale systems is imposed by the narrow-bandgap semiconductors, such as InSb and HgCdTe, traditionally used to convert mid-IR photons to electrical currents. The cryogenic or multi-stage thermo-electric cooling required to suppress dark current noise, exponentially dependent upon the ratio Eg/kT, can limit the development of small, low-power, and low-cost integrated optical systems for the mid-IR. However, if the mid-IR optical signal could be spectrally translated to shorter wavelengths, for example within the near-infrared telecom band, photodetectors using wider bandgap semiconductors such as InGaAs or Ge could be used to eliminate prohibitive cooling requirements. Moreover, telecom band detectors typically perform with higher detectivity and faster response times when compared with their mid-IR counterparts. Here we address these challenges with a silicon-integrated approach to spectral translation, by employing efficient four-wave mixing (FWM) and large optical parametric gain in silicon nanophotonic wires

Absence of Scaling in the Integer Quantum Hall Effect

We have studied the conductivity peak in the transition region between the two lowest integer Quantum Hall states using transmission measurements of edge magnetoplasmons. The width of the transition region is found to increase linearly with frequency but remains finite when extrapolated to zero frequency and temperature. Contrary to prevalent theoretical pictures, our data does not show the scaling characteristics of critical phenomena.These results suggest that a different mechanism governs the transition in our experiment.Comment: Minor changes and new references include

Gaussian density estimates for the solution of singular stochastic Riccati equations

summary:Stochastic Riccati equation is a backward stochastic differential equation with singular generator which arises naturally in the study of stochastic linear-quadratic optimal control problems. In this paper, we obtain Gaussian density estimates for the solutions to this equation

Statistical Analsysis to Evaluate Heavy Metal Pollution in the Air Obatained by Moss Technique in Hanoi and its Surrounding Region

The aim of this paper was the application of statistical analysis including principal component analysis to evaluate heavy metal pollution obtained by moss technique in the air of Ha Noi and its surrounding areas and to evaluate potential pollution sources. The concentrations of 33 heavy metal elements in 27 samples of Barbula Indica moss in the investigated region collected in December of 2016 in the investigated area have been examined using multivariate statistical analysis. Five factors explaining 80% of the total variance were identified and their potential sources have been discussed