Hamilton-Jacobi Theory in k-Symplectic Field Theories

In this paper we extend the geometric formalism of Hamilton-Jacobi theory for Mechanics to the case of classical field theories in the k-symplectic framework

Spectral analysis of Markarian 421 and Markarian 501 with HAWC

The Hight Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory monitors the gamma-ray sky in the energy range from 100 GeV to 100 TeV and has detected two very high energy (VHE) blazars: Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) and Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) in 1.5 years of observations. In this work, we present the spectral analysis above 1 TeV of both sources using a maximum likelihood method and an artificial neural network as an energy estimator. The main objectives are to constrain the spectral curvature of Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 at $\sim$5 TeV using the EBL models from Gilmore et al. (2012) and Franceschini et al. (2008).Comment: Presented at the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2017), Bexco, Busan, Korea. See arXiv:1708.02572 for all HAWC contribution

Nonholonomic constraints in kk-symplectic Classical Field Theories

A $k$-symplectic framework for classical field theories subject to nonholonomic constraints is presented. If the constrained problem is regular one can construct a projection operator such that the solutions of the constrained problem are obtained by projecting the solutions of the free problem. Symmetries for the nonholonomic system are introduced and we show that for every such symmetry, there exist a nonholonomic momentum equation. The proposed formalism permits to introduce in a simple way many tools of nonholonomic mechanics to nonholonomic field theories.Comment: 27 page

Generation of bipartite spin entanglement via spin-independent scattering

We consider the bipartite spin entanglement between two identical fermions generated in spin-independent scattering. We show how the spatial degrees of freedom act as ancillas for the creation of entanglement to a degree that depends on the scattering angle, $\theta$. The number of Slater determinants generated in the process is greater than 1, corresponding to genuine quantum correlations between the identical fermions. The maximal entanglement attainable of 1 ebit is reached at $\theta=\pi/2$. We also analyze a simple $\theta$ dependent Bell's inequality, which is violated for $\pi/4<\theta\leq\pi/2$. This phenomenon is unrelated to the symmetrization postulate but does not appear for unequal particles.Comment: 5 pages and 3 figures. Accepted in PR

Cost of health care utilization among homeless frequent emergency department users

Research demonstrates that homelessness is associated with frequent use of emergency department (ED) services, yet prior studies have not adequately examined the relationship between frequent ED use and utilization of non-ED health care services among those experiencing homelessness. There has also been little effort to assess heterogeneity among homeless individuals who make frequent use of ED services. To address these gaps, the present study used Medicaid claims data from 2010 to estimate the association between the number of ED visits and non-ED health care costs for a cohort of 6,338 Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program patients, and to identify distinct subgroups of persons in this cohort who made frequent use of ED services based on their clinical and demographic characteristics. A series of gamma regression models found more frequent ED use to be associated with higher non-ED costs, even after adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics. Latent class analysis was used to examine heterogeneity among frequent ED users, and the results identified 6 characteristically distinct subgroups among these persons. The subgroup of persons with trimorbid illness had non-ED costs that far exceeded members of all 5 other subgroups. Study findings reinforce the connection between frequent ED use and high health care costs among homeless individuals and suggest that different groups of homeless frequent ED users may benefit from interventions that vary in terms of their composition and intensity

Physical qubits from charged particles: IR divergences in quantum information

We consider soft photons effects (IR structure of QED) on the construction of physical qubits. Soft-photons appear when we build charged qubits from the asymptotic states of QED. This construction is necessary in order to include the effect of soft photons on entanglement measures. The nonexistence of free charged particles (due to the long range of QED interactions) lead us to question the sense of the very concept of free charged qubit. In this letter, using the "dressing" formalism, we build physical charged qubits from dressed fields which have the correct asymptotic behavior, are gauge invariant, their propagators have a particle pole structure and are free from infrared divergences. Finally, we discuss the impact of the soft corrections on the entanglement measures.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX. Version 2: Some references update

Characterization of an emergent clone of enteroinvasive Escherichia coli circulating in Europe

Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) cause intestinal illness indistinguishable from that caused by Shigella, mainly in developing countries. Recently an upsurge of cases of EIEC infections has been observed in Europe, with two large outbreaks occurring in Italy and in the United Kingdom. We have characterized phenotypically and genotypically the strains responsible for these epidemics together with an additional isolate from a sporadic case isolated in Spain. The three isolates belonged to the same rare serotype O96:H19 and were of sequence type ST-99, never reported before in EIEC or Shigella. The EIEC strains investigated possessed all the virulence genes harboured on the large plasmid conferring the invasive phenotype to EIEC and Shigella while showing only some of the known chromosomal virulence genes and none of the described pathoadaptative mutations. At the same time, they displayed motility abilities and biochemical requirements resembling more closely those of the non-pathogenic E. coli rather than the EIEC and Shigella strains used as reference. Our observations suggested that the O96:H19 strains belong to an emerging EIEC clone, which could be the result of a recent event of acquisition of the invasion plasmid by commensal E. coli