Gravity and Geometric Phases

The behavior of a quantum test particle satisfying the Klein-Gordon equation in a certain class of 4 dimensional stationary space-times is examined. In a space-time of a spinning cosmic string, the wave function of a particle in a box is shown to acquire a geometric phase when the box is transported around a closed path surrounding the string. When interpreted as an Aharonov-Anandan geometric phase, the effect is shown to be related to the Aharonov-Bohm effect.Comment: 11 pages, latex fil

Role of carbonate burial in Blue Carbon budgets

Calcium carbonates (CaCO 3 ) often accumulate in mangrove and seagrass sediments. As CaCO 3 production emits CO 2 , there is concern that this may partially offset the role of Blue Carbon ecosystems as CO 2 sinks through the burial of organic carbon (C org ). A global collection of data on inorganic carbon burial rates (C inorg , 12% of CaCO 3 mass) revealed global rates of 0.8 TgC inorg yr −1 and 15–62 TgC inorg yr −1 in mangrove and seagrass ecosystems, respectively. In seagrass, CaCO 3 burial may correspond to an offset of 30% of the net CO 2 sequestration. However, a mass balance assessment highlights that the C inorg burial is mainly supported by inputs from adjacent ecosystems rather than by local calcification, and that Blue Carbon ecosystems are sites of net CaCO 3 dissolution. Hence, CaCO 3 burial in Blue Carbon ecosystems contribute to seabed elevation and therefore buffers sea-level rise, without undermining their role as CO 2 sinks. © 2019, The Author(s)

Genetic diversity of the myrtle rust pathogen (Austropuccinia psidii) in the Americas and Hawaii : global implications for invasive threat assessments

Since the myrtle rust pathogen (Austropuccinia psidii) was first reported (as Puccinia psidii) in Brazil on guava (Psidium guajava) in 1884, it has been found infecting diverse myrtaceous species. Because A. psidii has recently spread rapidly worldwide with an extensive host range, genetic and genotypic diversities were evaluated within and among A. psidii populations in its putative native range and other areas of myrtle rust emergence in the Americas and Hawaii. Microsatellite markers revealed several unique multilocus genotypes (MLGs), which grouped isolates into nine distinct genetic clusters [C1–C9 comprising C1: from diverse hosts from Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and USA‐Hawaii, and USA‐California; C2: from eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp.) in Brazil/Uruguay and rose apple (Syzygium jambos) in Brazil; C3: from eucalypts in Brazil; C4: from diverse hosts in USA‐Florida; C5: from Java plum (Syzygium cumini) in Brazil; C6: from guava and Brazilian guava (Psidium guineense) in Brazil; C7: from pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) in Brazil; C8: from allspice (Pimenta dioica) in Jamaica and sweet flower (Myrrhinium atropurpureum) in Uruguay; C9: from jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) in Brazil]. The C1 cluster, which included a single MLG infecting diverse host in many geographic regions, and the closely related C4 cluster are considered as a “Pandemic biotype,” associated with myrtle rust emergence in Central America, the Caribbean, USA‐Florida, USA‐Hawaii, Australia, China‐Hainan, New Caledonia, Indonesia and Colombia. Based on 19 bioclimatic variables and documented occurrences of A. psidii contrasted with reduced sets of specific genetic clusters (subnetworks, considered as biotypes), maximum entropy bioclimatic modelling was used to predict geographic locations with suitable climate for A. psidii which are at risk from invasion. The genetic diversity of A. psidii throughout the Americas and Hawaii demonstrates the importance of recognizing biotypes when assessing the invasive threats posed by A. psidii around the globe.USDA-Forest Service, RMRS-Forest and Woodlands Ecosystem Program, Western Wildlands Environmental Threat Assessment Center, Special Technology Development Program, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection-Region 5; Conselho Nactional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brasil (CNPq); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG); Research Joint Venture Agreements RMRS 15-JV-11221633-160 (Jane Stewart, Colorado State University) and RMRS 14-JV-11221633-117 (Western Forest Conservation Association).http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/efp2019-02-01hj2018Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)Plant Production and Soil Scienc

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Mapping child growth failure across low- and middle-income countries

Childhood malnutrition is associated with high morbidity and mortality globally1. Undernourished children are more likely to experience cognitive, physical, and metabolic developmental impairments that can lead to later cardiovascular disease, reduced intellectual ability and school attainment, and reduced economic productivity in adulthood2. Child growth failure (CGF), expressed as stunting, wasting, and underweight in children under five years of age (0�59 months), is a specific subset of undernutrition characterized by insufficient height or weight against age-specific growth reference standards3�5. The prevalence of stunting, wasting, or underweight in children under five is the proportion of children with a height-for-age, weight-for-height, or weight-for-age z-score, respectively, that is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization�s median growth reference standards for a healthy population6. Subnational estimates of CGF report substantial heterogeneity within countries, but are available primarily at the first administrative level (for example, states or provinces)7; the uneven geographical distribution of CGF has motivated further calls for assessments that can match the local scale of many public health programmes8. Building from our previous work mapping CGF in Africa9, here we provide the first, to our knowledge, mapped high-spatial-resolution estimates of CGF indicators from 2000 to 2017 across 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 99 of affected children live1, aggregated to policy-relevant first and second (for example, districts or counties) administrative-level units and national levels. Despite remarkable declines over the study period, many LMICs remain far from the ambitious World Health Organization Global Nutrition Targets to reduce stunting by 40 and wasting to less than 5 by 2025. Large disparities in prevalence and progress exist across and within countries; our maps identify high-prevalence areas even within nations otherwise succeeding in reducing overall CGF prevalence. By highlighting where the highest-need populations reside, these geospatial estimates can support policy-makers in planning interventions that are adapted locally and in efficiently directing resources towards reducing CGF and its health implications. © 2020, The Author(s)

Measurement of the View the tt production cross-section using eμ events with b-tagged jets in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper describes a measurement of the inclusive top quark pair production cross-section (σtt¯) with a data sample of 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV, collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This measurement uses events with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state. Jets containing b-quarks are tagged using an algorithm based on track impact parameters and reconstructed secondary vertices. The numbers of events with exactly one and exactly two b-tagged jets are counted and used to determine simultaneously σtt¯ and the efficiency to reconstruct and b-tag a jet from a top quark decay, thereby minimising the associated systematic uncertainties. The cross-section is measured to be: σtt¯ = 818 ± 8 (stat) ± 27 (syst) ± 19 (lumi) ± 12 (beam) pb, where the four uncertainties arise from data statistics, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the LHC beam energy, giving a total relative uncertainty of 4.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. A fiducial measurement corresponding to the experimental acceptance of the leptons is also presented

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe

Search for strong gravity in multijet final states produced in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC

A search is conducted for new physics in multijet final states using 3.6 inverse femtobarns of data from proton-proton collisions at √s = 13TeV taken at the CERN Large Hadron Collider with the ATLAS detector. Events are selected containing at least three jets with scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT) greater than 1TeV. No excess is seen at large HT and limits are presented on new physics: models which produce final states containing at least three jets and having cross sections larger than 1.6 fb with HT > 5.8 TeV are excluded. Limits are also given in terms of new physics models of strong gravity that hypothesize additional space-time dimensions