218 research outputs found
How hot are expanding universes ?
A way to address the conundrum of Quantum Gravity is to illustrate the
potentially fundamental interplay between quantum field theory, curved
space-times physics and thermodynamics. So far, when studying moving quantum
systems in the vacuum, the only known perfectly thermal temperatures are those
obtained for constant (or null) accelerations in constant (or null) Hubble
parameters space-times. In this Letter, restricting ourselves to
conformally coupled scalar fields, we present the most comprehensive expression
for the temperature undergone by a moving observer in the vacuum, valid for any
time-dependent linear accelerations and Hubble parameters: where \dot t=\d t/\d\t is the motion's Lorentz
factor. The inequivalence between a constant and actual thermality is
explained. As a byproduct, all the Friedman universes for which observers at
rest feel the vacuum as a thermal bath are listed.Comment: 4 pages, no figure, version accepted in PR
Uniformly Accelerated Mirrors. Part 1: Mean Fluxes
The Davies-Fulling model describes the scattering of a massless field by a
moving mirror in 1+1 dimensions. When the mirror travels under uniform
acceleration, one encounters severe problems which are due to the infinite blue
shift effects associated with the horizons. On one hand, the Bogoliubov
coefficients are ill-defined and the total energy emitted diverges. On the
other hand, the instantaneous mean flux vanishes. To obtained well-defined
expressions we introduce an alternative model based on an action principle. The
usefulness of this model is to allow to switch on and off the interaction at
asymptotically large times. By an appropriate choice of the switching function,
we obtain analytical expressions for the scattering amplitudes and the fluxes
emitted by the mirror. When the coupling is constant, we recover the vanishing
flux. However it is now followed by transients which inevitably become singular
when the switching off is performed at late time. Our analysis reveals that the
scattering amplitudes (and the Bogoliubov coefficients) should be seen as
distributions and not as mere functions. Moreover, our regularized amplitudes
can be put in a one to one correspondence with the transition amplitudes of an
accelerated detector, thereby unifying the physics of uniformly accelerated
systems. In a forthcoming article, we shall use our scattering amplitudes to
analyze the quantum correlations amongst emitted particles which are also
ill-defined in the Davies-Fulling model in the presence of horizons.Comment: 23 pages, 7 postscript figure
Increased false positive Down syndrome screening in women with sickle cell anemia
ObjectivesThis study seeks to determine whether there is a higher rate of false positive serum screening for Down syndrome in women with sickle cell anemia and, if so, which markers contribute to the false positive screen.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study of women who had serum screening between 1998 and 2011. Subjects were women with sickle cell anemia (n = 13), and controls were African American women who did not have that disease (n = 91). The populations were compared using basic inferential statistics.ResultsThe positive screen rate was 38.5% (5/13) in women with sickle cell anemia and 7.7% (7/91) in the control population (odds ratio 7.5, 95% confidence interval 1.6–35.8, P = 0.001). At the average age of the cases (25 years), the expected false positive rate is only 2%. The human chorionic gonadotrophin values were significantly higher in cases than controls (2.00 and 1.30 MoM, P = 0.017), whereas levels of other serum analytes were similar. None of the screen positive results were associated with a fetus or neonate affected by Down syndrome.ConclusionsThe false positive Down syndrome serum screen rate is significantly higher in patients with sickle cell anemia than in African American women without that disease. The human chorionic gonadotrophin values were significantly higher in cases than controls, suggesting that placental factors may contribute to the elevated false positive rate. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.What's already known about this topic? There are no previously published studies on the effect of sickle cell anemia on accuracy of maternal serum genetic screening.What does this study add? Maternal serum second‐trimester genetic screening has a high false positive rate in women with sickle cell anemia.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112238/1/pd4610.pd
Uniformly Accelerated Mirrors. Part 2: Quantum Correlations
We study the correlations between the particles emitted by a moving mirror.
To this end, we first analyze , the
two-point function of the stress tensor of the radiation field. In this we
generalize the work undertaken by Carlitz and Willey. To further analyze how
the vacuum correlations on are scattered by the mirror and redistributed
among the produced pairs of particles, we use a more powerful approach based on
the value of which is conditional to the detection of a given
particle on . We apply both methods to the fluxes emitted by a uniformly
accelerated mirror. This case is particularly interesting because of its strong
interferences which lead to a vanishing flux, and because of its divergences
which are due to the infinite blue shift effects associated with the horizons.
Using the conditional value of , we reveal the existence of
correlations between created particles and their partners in a domain where the
mean fluxes and the two-point function vanish. This demonstrates that the
scattering by an accelerated mirror leads to a steady conversion of vacuum
fluctuations into pairs of quanta. Finally, we study the scattering by two
uniformly accelerated mirrors which follow symmetrical trajectories (i.e. which
possess the same horizons). When using the Davies-Fulling model, the Bogoliubov
coefficients encoding pair creation vanish because of perfectly destructive
interferences. When using regularized amplitudes, these interferences are
inevitably lost thereby giving rise to pair creation.Comment: 30 pages, 9 postscript figure
Accelerating towards P. vivax elimination with a novel serological test-and-treat strategy: a modelling case study in Brazil
BACKGROUND: Plasmodium vivax malaria is challenging to control and eliminate. Treatment with radical cure drugs fails to target the hidden asymptomatic and hypnozoite reservoirs in populations. PvSeroTAT, a novel serological test-and-treat intervention using a serological diagnostic to screen hypnozoite carriers for radical cure eligibility and treatment, could accelerate P. vivax elimination. METHODS: Using a previously developed mathematical model of P. vivax transmission adapted to the Brazilian context as a case study for implementation, we evaluate the public health impact of various deployment strategies of PvSeroTAT as a mass campaign. We compare relative reductions in prevalence, cases averted, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) tests, and treatment doses of PvSeroTAT campaigns to strengthened case management alone or mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns across different settings. FINDINGS: Deploying a single round of PvSeroTAT with 80% coverage to treat cases with a high efficacy radical cure regimen with primaquine is predicted to reduce point population prevalence by 22.5% [95% UI: 20.2%-24.8%] in a peri-urban setting with high transmission and by 25.2% [95% UI: 9.6%-42.2%] in an occupational setting with moderate transmission. In the latter example, while a single PvSeroTAT achieves 9.2% less impact on prevalence and averts 300 less cases per 100,000 than a single MDA (25.2% [95% UI: 9.6%-42.2%] point prevalence reduction versus 34.4% [95% UI: 24.9%-44%]), PvSeroTAT requires 4.6 times less radical cure treatments and G6PD tests. Layering strengthened case management and deploying four rounds of PvSeroTAT six months apart is predicted to reduce point prevalence by a mean of 74.1% [95% UI: 61.3%-86.3%] or more in low transmission settings with less than 10 cases per 1000 population. INTERPRETATION: Modelling predicts that mass campaigns with PvSeroTAT are predicted to reduce P. vivax parasite prevalence across a range of transmission settings and require fewer resources than MDA. In combination with strengthened case management, mass campaigns of serological test-and-treat interventions can accelerate towards P. vivax elimination. FUNDING: This project was funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council
Validation of the English and Swahili Adaptation of the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 for Use Among Adolescents in Kenya
Purpose: Our study aimed to validate culturally adapted English and Swahili versions of the Patient Health Questionnairee9 (PHQ-9) for use with adolescents in Kenya. Criterion validity was determined with clinician-administered diagnostic interviews using the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.
Methods: A total of 250 adolescents comprising 148 (59.2%) females and 102 (40.8%) males aged 10e19 years (mean ¼ 14.76; standard deviation ¼ 2.78) were recruited. The PHQ-9 was administered to all respondents concurrently in English and Swahili. Adolescents were later interviewed by clinicians using Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia to determine the presence or absence of current symptoms of major depressive disorder. Sensitivity specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), and likelihood ratios for various cut-off scores for PHQ-9 were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curves.
Results: The internal consistency (Cronbach’s a) for PHQ-9 was 0.862 for the English version and 0.834 for Swahili version. The area under the curve was 0.89 (95% confidence interval, 0.84e0.92) and 0.87 (95% confidence interval, 0.82e0.90) for English and Swahili version, respectively, on receiver operating characteristic analysis. A cut-off of 9 on the English-language version had a sensitivity of 95.0%, specificity of 73.0%, PPV of 0.23, and NPV of 0.99; a cut-off of 9 on the Swahili version yielded a sensitivity of 89.0%, specificity of 70.0%, PPV of 0.20, and NPV of 0.9
Entanglement Dynamics between Inertial and Non-uniformly Accelerated Detectors
We study the time-dependence of quantum entanglement between two Unruh-DeWitt
detectors, one at rest in a Minkowski frame, the other non-uniformly
accelerated in some specified way. The two detectors each couple to a scalar
quantum field but do not interact directly. The primary challenge in problems
involving non-uniformly accelerated detectors arises from the fact that an
event horizon is absent and the Unruh temperature is ill-defined. By numerical
calculation we demonstrate that the correlators of the accelerated detector in
the weak coupling limit behaves like those of an oscillator in a bath of
time-varying "temperature" proportional to the instantaneous proper
acceleration of the detector, with oscillatory modifications due to
non-adiabatic effects. We find that in this setup the acceleration of the
detector in effect slows down the disentanglement process in Minkowski time due
to the time dilation in that moving detectorComment: 20 pages, 15 figures; References added; More analysis given in
Appendix C; Typos correcte
Differential impact of malaria control interventions on P. falciparum and P. vivax infections in young Papua New Guinean children
INTRODUCTION: As malaria transmission declines, understanding the differential impact of intensified control on Plasmodium falciparum relative to Plasmodium vivax and identifying key drivers of ongoing transmission is essential to guide future interventions. METHODS: Three longitudinal child cohorts were conducted in Papua New Guinea before (2006/2007), during (2008) and after scale-up of control interventions (2013). In each cohort, children aged 1-5 years were actively monitored for infection and illness. Incidence of malaria episodes, molecular force of blood-stage infections (molFOB) and population-averaged prevalence of infections were compared across the cohorts to investigate the impact of intensified control in young children and the key risk factors for malaria infection and illness in 2013. RESULTS: Between 2006 and 2008, P. falciparum infection prevalence, molFOB, and clinical malaria episodes reduced by 47%, 59% and 69%, respectively, and a further 49%, 29% and 75% from 2008 to 2013 (prevalence 41.6% to 22.1% to 11.2%; molFOB: 3.4 to 1.4 to 1.0 clones/child/year; clinical episodes incidence rate (IR) 2.6 to 0.8 to IR 0.2 episodes/child/year). P. vivax clinical episodes declined at rates comparable to P. falciparum between 2006, 2008 and 2013 (IR 2.5 to 1.1 to 0.2), while P. vivax molFOB (2006, 9.8; 2008, 12.1) and prevalence (2006, 59.6%; 2008, 65.0%) remained high in 2008. However, in 2013, P. vivax molFOB (1.2) and prevalence (19.7%) had also substantially declined. In 2013, 89% of P. falciparum and 93% of P. vivax infections were asymptomatic, 62% and 47%, respectively, were sub-microscopic. Area of residence was the major determinant of malaria infection and illness. CONCLUSION: Intensified vector control and routine case management had a differential impact on rates of P. falciparum and P. vivax infections but not clinical malaria episodes in young children. This suggests comparable reductions in new mosquito-derived infections but a delayed impact on P. vivax relapsing infections due to a previously acquired reservoir of hypnozoites. This demonstrates the need to strengthen implementation of P. vivax radical cure to maximise impact of control in co-endemic areas. The high heterogeneity of malaria in 2013 highlights the importance of surveillance and targeted interventions to accelerate towards elimination
Assessing the Combined Public Health Impact of Pharmaceutical Interventions on Pandemic Transmission and Mortality: An Example in SARS CoV-2
To assess the combined role of anti-viral monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and vaccines in reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and mortality in the United States, an agent-based model was developed that accounted for social contacts, movement/travel, disease progression, and viral shedding. The model was calibrated to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality between October 2020 and April 2021 (aggressive pandemic phase), and projected an extended outlook to estimate mortality during a less aggressive phase (April–August 2021). Simulated scenarios evaluated mAbs for averting infections and deaths in addition to vaccines and aggregated non-pharmaceutical interventions. Scenarios included mAbs as a treatment of COVID-19 and for passive immunity for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) during a period when variants were susceptible to the mAbs. Rapid diagnostic testing paired with mAbs was evaluated as an early treatment-as-prevention strategy. Sensitivity analyses included increasing mAb supply and vaccine rollout. Allocation of mAbs for use only as PEP averted up to 14% more infections than vaccine alone, and targeting individuals ≥ 65 years averted up to 37% more deaths. Rapid testing for earlier diagnosis and mAb use amplified these benefits. Doubling the mAb supply further reduced infections and mortality. mAbs provided benefits even as proportion of the immunized population increased. Model projections estimated that ~ 42% of expected deaths between April and August 2021 could be averted. Assuming sensitivity to mAbs, their use as early treatment and PEP in addition to vaccines would substantially reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality even as vaccination increases and mortality decreases. These results provide a template for informing public health policy for future pandemic preparedness
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