A laminar flow model of aerosol survival of epidemic and non-epidemic strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from people with cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited multi-system disorder characterised by chronic airway infection with pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Acquisition of P. aeruginosa by patients with CF is usually from the environment, but recent studies have demonstrated patient to patient transmission of certain epidemic strains, possibly via an airborne route. This study was designed to examine the survival of P. aeruginosa within artificially generated aerosols. Survival was effected by the solution used for aerosol generation. Within the aerosols it was adversely affected by an increase in air temperature. Both epidemic and non-epidemic strains of P. aeruginosa were able to survive within the aerosols, but strains expressing a mucoid phenotype had a survival advantage. This would suggest that segregating individuals free of P. aeruginosa from those with chronic P. aeruginosa infection who are more likely to be infected with mucoid strains may help reduce the risk of cross-infection. Environmental factors also appear to influence bacterial survival. Warming and drying the air within clinical areas and avoidance of humidification devices may also be beneficial in reducing the risk of cross-infection

Real continuation from the complex quadratic family: Fixed-point bifurcation sets

This paper is primarily a numerical study of the fixed-point bifurcation loci -- saddle-node, period-doubling and Hopf bifurcations -- present in the family: z ! f (C;A) (z; z) j z + z 2 + C +Az where z is a complex dynamic (phase) variable, z its complex conjugate, and C and A are complex parameters. We treat the parameter C as a primary parameter and A as a secondary parameter, asking how the bifurcation loci projected to the C plane change as the auxiliary parameter A is varied. For A = 0, the resulting two-real-parameter family is a familiar one-complex-parameter quadratic family, and the local fixed-point bifurcation locus is the main cardioid of the Mandlebrot set. For A 6= 0, the resulting two-real-parameter families are not complex analytic, but are still analytic (quadratic) when viewed as a map of R 2 . Saddle-node and period-doubling loci evolve from points on the main cardioid for A = 0 into closed curves for A 6= 0. As A is varied further from 0 in the co..

A simple interpretation of quantum mirages

In an interesting new experiment the electronic structure of a magnetic atom adsorbed on the surface of Cu(111), observed by STM, was projected into a remote location on the same surface. The purpose of the present paper is to interpret this experiment with a model Hamiltonian, using ellipses of the size of the experimental ones, containing about 2300 atoms. The charge distribution for the different wavefunctions is analyzed, in particular, for those with energy close to the Fermi energy of copper Ef. Some of them show two symmetric maxima located on the principal axis of the ellipse but not necessarily at the foci. If a Co atom is adsorbed at the site where the wavefunction with energy $E_F$ has a maximum and the interaction is small, the main effect of the adsorbed atom will be to split this particular wavefunction in two. The total charge density will remain the same but the local density of states will present a dip at Ef at any site where the charge density is large enough. We relate the presence of this dip to the observation of quantum mirages. Our interpretation suggests that other sites, apart from the foci of the ellipses, can be used for projecting atomic images and also indicates the conditions for other non magnetic adsorbates to produce mirages.Comment: 3 pages, 3 Fig

Healthcare choice: Discourses, perceptions, experiences and practices

Policy discourse shaped by neoliberal ideology, with its emphasis on marketisation and competition, has highlighted the importance of choice in the context of healthcare and health systems globally. Yet, evidence about how so-called consumers perceive and experience healthcare choice is in short supply and limited to specific healthcare systems, primarily in the Global North. This special issue aims to explore how choice is perceived and utilised in the context of different systems of healthcare throughout the world, where choice, at least in policy and organisational terms, has been embedded for some time. The articles are divided into those emphasising: embodiment and the meaning of choice; social processes associated with choice; the uncertainties, risks and trust involved in making choices; and issues of access and inequality associated with enacting choice. These sociological studies reveal complexities not always captured in policy discourse and suggest that the commodification of healthcare is particularly problematic

Supersymmetric Transformations in Optical Fibers

[EN] Supersymmetry (SUSY) has recently emerged as a tool to design unique optical structures with degenerate spectra. Here, we study several fundamental aspects and variants of one-dimensional SUSY in axially symmetric optical media, including their basic spectral features and the conditions for degeneracy breaking. Surprisingly, we find that the SUSY degeneracy theorem is partially (totally) violated in optical systems connected by isospectral (broken) SUSY transformations due to a degradation of the paraxial approximation. In addition, we show that isospectral constructions provide a dimension-independent design control over the group delay in SUSY fibers. Moreover, we find that the studied unbroken and isospectral SUSY transformations allow us to generate refractive-index superpartners with an extremely large phase-matching bandwidth spanning the S þ C þ L optical bands. These singular features define a class of optical fibers with a number of potential applications. To illustrate this, we numerically demonstrate the possibility of building photonic lanterns supporting broadband heterogeneous supermodes with large effective area, a broadband all-fiber true-mode (de)multiplexer requiring no mode conversion, and different mode-filtering, mode-conversion, and pulse-shaping devices. Finally, we discuss the possibility of extrapolating our results to acoustics and quantum mechanics.We thank Sergio Lechago for his valuable help with the numerical simulations. This work is supported by Spanish National Plan projects [No. MINECO/FEDER UE XCORE TEC2015-70858-C2-1-R, No. PHUTURE TEC2015-73581-JIN (AEI/FEDER, UE), and No. HIDRASENSE RTC-2014-2232-3]. A.M.'s work is supported by F.P.I. Grant No. BES-2013-062952.Macho-Ortiz, A.; Llorente, R.; García Meca, C. (2018). Supersymmetric Transformations in Optical Fibers. Physical Review Applied. 9(1):014024-1-014024-15. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.9.014024S014024-1014024-159