Epidemiology and the agreement rate of serological tests in human brucellosis in North East of Iran

Background: Brucellosis still remains a major health problem with different symptoms and various diagnostic methods. Diagnostic methods of brucellosis are usually based on detecting specific antibodies in the patient’s serum. Nowadays, many serological tests are applied for the diagnosis of human brucellosis. Most routine tests are serum agglutination tests based on Wright and 2-Mercaptoethanol (2-ME). Objectives: The aim of this study (cross sectional study) was to evaluate the prevalence of brucellosis and assess the degree of agreement among serum samples of suspected brucellosis serological tests routinely performed in Mashhad, Iran. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in Mashhad from August 2011 to September 2012. Sera (2 - 3 mL) were collected from 83 cases suspected of brucellosis among 594 patients. Ten serum samples were collected from healthy subjects as control sera. Rose Bengal test for initial screening and Wright and 2 ME as standard tests were conducted to determine antibody titers. Thereafter, IgG and IgM levels were determined by the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. Results: Among 83 serum samples, Rose Bengal test was able to identify 20 (12%) positive specimens; the standard tube agglutination test was able to detect 30 (18%) positive samples, and the ELISA IgG and ELISA IgM were able to trace 42 (21%) and 13 (6.5%) positive samples, respectively. Ten control samples had negative results for the ELISA method. The results were calculated by the Kappa formula. The highest level of agreement was among 1 = KRB-SAT tests and the lowest level of agreement was among tests K ELISA IgM-IgG = 0.30. Conclusions: According to the results, brucellosis has remained endemic in this region. Most cases were detected by ELISA IgG. The highest kappa agreements were between tests KRB-SAT, KRB-IgG and KSAT-IgG, while the lowest levels of agreement were between tests SAT-IgM and ELISA IgM-IgG. Considering that ELISA IgM results are covered by SAT and ELISA IgG test results, applications of this test do not seem necessary. © 2015, Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center

On Classification of Geometries with SO(2,2) Symmetry

Motivated by the Extremal Vanishing Horizon (EVH) black holes, their near horizon geometry and the EVH/CFT proposal, we construct and classify solutions with (local) SO(2,2) symmetry to four and five dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton (EMD) theory with positive, zero or negative cosmological constant Lambda, the EMD-$\Lambda$ theory, and also $U(1)^4$ gauged supergravity in four dimensions and $U(1)^3$ gauged supergravity in five dimensions. In four dimensions the geometries are warped product of AdS3 with an interval or a circle. In five dimensions the geometries are of the form of warped product of AdS3 and a 2d surface $\Sigma_2$. For the Einsten-Maxwell-$\Lambda$ theory we prove that $\Sigma_2$ should have a U(1) isometry, a rigidity theorem in this class of solutions. We also construct all d dimensional Einstein vacuum solutions with $SO(2,2) \times U(1)^{d-4}$ or $SO(2,2) \times SO(d-3)$ isometry.Comment: 26 pages, updated to published versio

Dark matter distributions around massive black holes: A general relativistic analysis

The cold dark matter at the center of a galaxy will be redistributed by the presence of a massive black hole. The redistribution may be determined using an approach pioneered by Gondolo and Silk: begin with a model distribution function for the dark matter, and ``grow'' the black hole adiabatically, holding the adiabatic invariants of the motion constant. Unlike the approach of Gondolo and Silk, which adopted Newtonian theory together with ad hoc correction factors to mimic general relativistic effects, we carry out the calculation fully relativistically, using the exact Schwarzschild geometry of the black hole. We find that the density of dark matter generically vanishes at r=2R_S, not 4R_S as found by Gondolo and Silk, where R_S is the Schwarzschild radius, and that the spike very close to the black hole reaches significantly higher densities. We apply the relativistic adiabatic growth framework to obtain the final dark matter density for both cored and cusped initial distributions. Besides the implications of these results for indirect detection estimates, we show that the gravitational effects of such a dark matter spike are significantly smaller than the relativistic effects of the black hole, including frame dragging and quadrupolar effects, for stars orbiting close to the black hole that might be candidates for testing the black hole no-hair theorems.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev

Three Theorems on Near Horizon Extremal Vanishing Horizon Geometries

EVH black holes are Extremal black holes with Vanishing Horizon area, where vanishing of horizon area is a result of having a vanishing one-cycle on the horizon. We prove three theorems regarding near horizon geometry of EVH black hole solutions to generic Einstein gravity theories in diverse dimensions. These generic gravity theories are Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-Lambda theories, and gauged or ungauged supergravity theories with U(1) Maxwell fields. Our three theorems are: (1) The near horizon geometry of any EVH black hole has a three dimensional maximally symmetric subspace. (2) If the energy momentum tensor of the theory satisfies strong energy condition either this 3d part is an AdS3, or the solution is a direct product of a locally 3d flat space and a d-3 dimensional part. (3) These results extend to the near horizon geometry of near-EVH black holes, for which the AdS3 part is replaced with BTZ geometry.Comment: 5 page

Capture of non-relativistic particles in eccentric orbits by a Kerr black hole

We obtain approximate analytic expressions for the critical value of the total angular momentum of a non-relativistic test particle moving in the Kerr geometry, such that it will be captured by the black hole. The expressions apply to arbitrary orbital inclinations, and are accurate over the entire range of angular momentum for the Kerr black hole. The expressions can be easily implemented in N-body simulations of the evolution of star clusters around massive galactic black holes, where such captures play an important role.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, published versio

Near Horizon Structure of Extremal Vanishing Horizon Black Holes

We study the near horizon structure of Extremal Vanishing Horizon (EVH) black holes, extremal black holes with vanishing horizon area with a vanishing one-cycle on the horizon. We construct the most general near horizon EVH and near-EVH ansatz for the metric and other fields, like dilaton and gauge fields which may be present in the theory. We prove that (1) the near horizon EVH geometry for generic gravity theory in generic dimension has a three dimensional maximally symmetric subspace; (2) if the matter fields of the theory satisfy strong energy condition either this 3d part is AdS$_3$, or the solution is a direct product of a locally 3d flat space and a $d-3$ dimensional part; (3) these results extend to the near horizon geometry of near-EVH black holes, for which the AdS$_3$ part is replaced with BTZ geometry. We present some specific near horizon EVH geometries in 3, 4 and 5 dimensions for which there is a classification. We also briefly discuss implications of these generic results for generic (gauged) supergravity theories and also for the thermodynamics of near-EVH black holes and the EVH/CFT proposal.Comment: 26 page

Effect of air pollution on onset of acute coronary syndrome in susceptible subgroups

While long-term exposure to air pollutants is associated with an increase in heart diseases and mortality, little information is available about the short-term effects of air pollution. This case-crossover study assessed the relationship of particulate matter (PM10) and carbon monoxide (CO) levels with hospital admission for acute coronary syndrome in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. We interviewed 250 patients with a first episode of acute coronary syndrome and obtained data from hospital records and Tehran Air Quality Control Company. The risk of acute coronary syndrome was significantly associated with elevated concentrations of CO the day before the event (OR 1.18; 95% CI: 1.03-1.34) but not significantly with PM10 (OR 1.00; 95% CI: 0.99-1.02). Stratification by age, sex, diabetes, hypertension and smoking status did not affect the results, but women were more susceptible than men to CO levels (OR for women/men 1.68; 95% CI: 1.25-2.26)

Near Horizon Structure of Extremal Vanishing Horizon Black Holes

We study the near horizon structure of Extremal Vanishing Horizon (EVH) black holes, extremal black holes with vanishing horizon area with a vanishing one-cycle on the horizon. We construct the most general near horizon EVH and near-EVH ansatz for the metric and other fields, like dilaton and gauge fields which may be present in the theory. We prove that (1) the near horizon EVH geometry for generic gravity theory in generic dimension has a three dimensional maximally symmetric subspace; (2) if the matter fields of the theory satisfy strong energy condition either this 3d part is AdS$_3$, or the solution is a direct product of a locally 3d flat space and a $d-3$ dimensional part; (3) these results extend to the near horizon geometry of near-EVH black holes, for which the AdS$_3$ part is replaced with BTZ geometry. We present some specific near horizon EVH geometries in 3, 4 and 5 dimensions for which there is a classification. We also briefly discuss implications of these generic results for generic (gauged) supergravity theories and also for the thermodynamics of near-EVH black holes and the EVH/CFT proposal.Comment: 26 page