Folded Strings Falling into a Black Hole

We find all the classical solutions (minimal surfaces) of open or closed strings in {\it any} two dimensional curved spacetime. As examples we consider the SL(2,R)/R two dimensional black hole, and any 4D black hole in the Schwarzschild family, provided the motion is restricted to the time-radial components. The solutions, which describe longitudinaly oscillating folded strings (radial oscillations in 4D), must be given in lattice-like patches of the worldsheet, and a transfer operation analogous to a transfer matrix determines the future evolution. Then the swallowing of a string by a black hole is analyzed. We find several new features that are not shared by particle motions. The most surprizing effect is the tunneling of the string into the bare singularity region that lies beyond the black hole that is classically forbidden to particles.Comment: 28 pages plus 4 figures, LaTeX, USC-94/HEP-B

Unique Continuation for Schr\"odinger Evolutions, with applications to profiles of concentration and traveling waves

We prove unique continuation properties for solutions of the evolution Schr\"odinger equation with time dependent potentials. As an application of our method we also obtain results concerning the possible concentration profiles of blow up solutions and the possible profiles of the traveling waves solutions of semi-linear Schr\"odinger equations.Comment: 23 page

Cu NMR Study of Detwinned Single Crystals of Ortho--II YBCO6.5

Copper NMR has been used as a local probe of the oxygen ordering in Ortho--II YBa2Cu3O6.5 crystals grown in BaZrO3 crucibles. Line assignments have been made to each of the expected crystallographically inequivalent sites. The presence of distinct and narrow lines for these sites as well as the lack of a line known to be associated with oxygen defects indicates that these crystals are highly stoichiometric. Our estimate of the lower limit on the chain length is consistent with that derived from X-ray diffraction measurements. In addition, we have found no evidence for static magnetic moments, in contrast to some previous results.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physica

Ebola virus disease

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe and frequently lethal disease caused by Ebola virus (EBOV). EVD outbreaks typically start from a single case of probable zoonotic transmission, followed by human-to-human transmission via direct contact or contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated fomites. EVD has a high case–fatality rate; it is characterized by fever, gastrointestinal signs and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Diagnosis requires a combination of case definition and laboratory tests, typically real-time reverse transcription PCR to detect viral RNA or rapid diagnostic tests based on immunoassays to detect EBOV antigens. Recent advances in medical countermeasure research resulted in the recent approval of an EBOV-targeted vaccine by European and US regulatory agencies. The results of a randomized clinical trial of investigational therapeutics for EVD demonstrated survival benefits from two monoclonal antibody products targeting the EBOV membrane glycoprotein. New observations emerging from the unprecedented 2013–2016 Western African EVD outbreak (the largest in history) and the ongoing EVD outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have substantially improved the understanding of EVD and viral persistence in survivors of EVD, resulting in new strategies toward prevention of infection and optimization of clinical management, acute illness outcomes and attendance to the clinical care needs of patients

Remarks on Dirac-like Monopole, Maxwell and Maxwell-Chern-Simons Electrodynamics in D=(2+1)

Classical Maxwell and Maxwell-Chern-Simons (MCS) Electrodynamics in (2+1)D are studied in some details. General expressions for the potential and fields are obtained for both models, and some particular cases are explicitly solved. Conceptual and technical difficulties arise, however, for accelerated charges. The propagation of electromagnetic signals is also studied and their reverberation is worked out and discussed. Furthermore, we show that a Dirac-like monopole yields a (static) tangential electric field. We also discuss some classical and quantum consequences of the field created by such a monopole when acting upon an usual electric charge. In particular, we show that at large distances, the dynamics of one single charged particle under the action of such a potential and a constant (external) magnetic field as well, reduces to that of one central harmonic oscillator, presenting, however, an interesting angular sector which admits energy-eigenvalues. Among other peculiarities, both sectors, the radial and the angular one, present non-vanishing energy-eigenvalues for their lowest level. Moreover, those associated to the angle are shown to respond to discrete shifts of such a variable. We also raise the question whether the formation of bound states is possible in the system.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Non-Equilibrium Bose-Einstein Condensates, Dynamical Scaling and Symmetric Evolution in large N Phi^4 theory

We analyze the non-equilibrium dynamics of the O(N) Phi^4 model in the large N limit and for states of large energy density. The dynamics is dramatically different when the energy density is above the top of the tree level potential V_0 than when it is below it.When the energy density is below V_0, we find that non-perturbative particle production through spinodal instabilities provides a dynamical mechanism for the Maxwell construction. The asymptotic values of the order parameter only depend on the initial energy density and all values between the minima of the tree level potential are available, the asymptotic dynamical `effective potential' is flat between the minima. When the energy density is larger than V_0, the evolution samples ergodically the broken symmetry states, as a consequence of non-perturbative particle production via parametric amplification. Furthermore, we examine the quantum dynamics of phase ordering into the broken symmetry phase and find novel scaling behavior of the correlation function. There is a crossover in the dynamical correlation length at a time scale t_s \sim \ln(1/lambda). For t < t_s the dynamical correlation length \xi(t) \propto \sqrt{t} and the evolution is dominated by spinodal instabilities, whereas for t>t_s the evolution is non-linear and dominated by the onset of non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation of long-wavelength Goldstone bosons.In this regime a true scaling solution emerges with a non- perturbative anomalous scaling length dimension z=1/2 and a dynamical correlation length \xi(t) \propto (t-t_s). The equal time correlation function in this scaling regime vanishes for r>2(t-t_s) by causality. For t > t_s the equal time correlation function falls of as 1/r. A semiclassical but stochastic description emerges for time scales t > t_s.Comment: Minor improvements, to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Latex file, 48 pages, 12 .ps figure

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362