de Sitter vacua from ten dimensions

We analyze the de Sitter construction of [1] using ten-dimensional supergravity, finding exact agreement with the four-dimensional effective theory. Starting from the fermionic couplings in the D7-brane action, we derive the ten-dimensional stress-energy due to gaugino condensation on D7-branes. We demonstrate that upon including this stress-energy, as well as that due to anti-D3-branes, the ten-dimensional equations of motion require the four-dimensional curvature to take precisely the value determined by the four-dimensional effective theory of [1].

Revisiting the multi-monopole point of SU(N) $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 gauge theory in four dimensions

Motivated by applications to soft supersymmetry breaking, we revisit the expansion of the Seiberg-Witten solution around the multi-monopole point on the Coulomb branch of pure SU(N) $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 gauge theory in four dimensions. At this point N − 1 mutually local magnetic monopoles become massless simultaneously, and in a suitable duality frame the gauge couplings logarithmically run to zero. We explicitly calculate the leading threshold corrections to this logarithmic running from the Seiberg-Witten solution by adapting a method previously introduced by D’Hoker and Phong. We compare our computation to existing results in the literature; this includes results specific to SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories, the large-N results of Douglas and Shenker, as well as results obtained by appealing to integrable systems or topological strings. We find broad agreement, while also clarifying some lingering inconsistencies. Finally, we explicitly extend the results of Douglas and Shenker to finite N , finding exact agreement with our first calculation.

A Poynting theorem formulation for the gravitational wave stress pseudo tensor

A very simple and physical derivation of the conservation equation for the propagation of gravitational radiation is presented. The formulation is exact. The result takes the readily recognisable and intuitive form of a Poynting-style equation, in which the outward propagation of stress energy is directly related to the volumetric equivalent of a radiation reaction force acting back upon the sources, including the purely gravitational contribution to the sources. Upon averaging, the emergent pseudo tensor for the gravitational radiation is in exact agreement with that found by much more labour-intensive methods.

Patient-proxy agreement on change in acute stroke patient-reported outcome measures: a prospective study

Objectives Research has indicated proxies overestimate symptoms on patients’ behalves, however it is unclear whether patients and proxies agree on meaningful change across domains over time. The objective of this study is to assess patient-proxy agreement over time, as well as agreement on identification of meaningful change, across 10 health domains in patients who underwent acute rehabilitation following stroke. Methods Stroke patients were recruited from an ambulatory clinic or inpatient rehabilitation unit, and were included in the study if they were undergoing rehabilitation. At baseline and again after 30 days, patients and their proxies completed PROMIS Global Health and eight domain-specific PROMIS short forms. Reliability of patient-proxy assessments at baseline, follow-up, and the change in T-score was evaluated for each domain using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC(2,1)). Agreement on meaningful improvement or worsening, defined as 5+ T-score points, was compared using percent exact agreement. Results Forty-one patient-proxy dyads were included in the study. Proxies generally reported worse symptoms and functioning compared to patients at both baseline and follow-up, and reported less change than patients. ICCs for baseline and change were primarily poor to moderate (range: 0.06 (for depression change) to 0.67 (for physical function baseline)), and were better at follow-up (range: 0.42 (for anxiety) to 0.84 (for physical function)). Percent exact agreement between indicating meaningful improvement versus no improvement ranged from 58.5–75.6%. Only a small proportion indicated meaningful worsening. Conclusions Patient-proxy agreement across 10 domains of health was better following completion of rehabilitation compared to baseline or change. Overall change was minimal but the majority of patient-proxy dyads agreed on meaningful change. Our study provides important insight for clinicians and researchers when interpreting change scores over time for questionnaires completed by both patients and proxies.

On Galilean conformal bootstrap

In this work, we develop conformal bootstrap for Galilean conformal field theory (GCFT). In a GCFT, the Hilbert space could be decomposed into quasiprimary states and its global descendants. Different from the usual conformal field theory, the quasiprimary states in a GCFT constitute multiplets, which are block-diagonized under the Galilean boost operator. More importantly the multiplets include the states of negative norms, indicating the theory is not unitary. We compute global blocks of the multiplets, and discuss the expansion of four-point functions in terms of the global blocks of the multiplets. Furthermore we do the harmonic analysis for the Galilean conformal symmetry and obtain an inversion formula. As the first step to apply the Galilean conformal bootstrap, we construct generalized Galilean free theory (GGFT) explicitly. We read the data of GGFT by using Taylor series expansion of four-point function and the inversion formula independently, and find exact agreement. We discuss some novel features in the Galilean conformal bootstrap, due to the non-semisimpleness of the Galilean conformal algebra and the non-unitarity of the GCFTs.

Exploring the Validity and Operational Impact of Using Allied Health Assistants to Conduct Dysphagia Screening for Low-Risk Patients Within the Acute Hospital Setting

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the agreement between allied health assistants (AHAs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when completing dysphagia screening for low-risk referrals and at-risk patients under a delegation model and (b) the operational impact of this delegation model. Method All AHAs worked in the adult acute inpatient settings across three hospitals and completed training and competency evaluation prior to conducting independent screening. Screening (pass/fail) was based on results from pre-screening exclusionary questions in combination with a water swallow test and the Eating Assessment Tool. To examine the agreement of AHAs' decision making with SLPs, AHAs ( n = 7) and SLPs ( n = 8) conducted an independent, simultaneous dysphagia screening on 51 adult inpatients classified as low-risk/at-risk referrals. To examine operational impact, AHAs independently completed screening on 48 low-risk/at-risk patients, with subsequent clinical swallow evaluation conducted by an SLP with patients who failed screening. Results Exact agreement between AHAs and SLPs on overall pass/fail screening criteria for the first 51 patients was 100%. Exact agreement for the two tools was 100% for the Eating Assessment Tool and 96% for the water swallow test. In the operational impact phase ( n = 48), 58% of patients failed AHA screening, with only 10% false positives on subjective SLP assessment and nil identified false negatives. Conclusion AHAs demonstrated the ability to reliably conduct dysphagia screening on a cohort of low-risk patients, with a low rate of false negatives. Data support high level of agreement and positive operational impact of using trained AHAs to perform dysphagia screening in low-risk patients.

How Important Is Randomization of Swallows During Kinematic Analyses of Swallow Function?

Purpose In dysphagia research involving kinematic analyses on individual swallow parameters, randomization is used to ensure judges are not influenced by judgments made for other parameters within the same swallow or by judgments made for other swallows from the same participant. Yet, the necessity of randomizing swallows to avoid bias during kinematic analyses is largely assumed and untested. This study investigated whether randomization of the order of swallows presented to judges impacts analyses of temporal kinematic events from videofluoroscopic swallow studies. Method One hundred twenty-seven swallows were analyzed from 18 healthy adults who underwent standardized videofluoroscopic swallow studies. Swallows were first analyzed by two trained raters sequentially, analyzing all kinematic events within each swallow, and then a second time in random order, measuring one kinematic event at a time. Intrarater reliability measurements were calculated between random and sequential swallow judgments for all kinematic events using intraclass correlation coefficient and percent exact agreement within a three-frame tolerance. Results Intraclass correlation coefficients (1.00) and percent exact agreement (89%) were excellent for all kinematic events between analyses methods, indicating there were no significant differences in measurements performed in random or sequential order. Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that randomization may be unnecessary during temporal swallow kinematic data analyses for research, which may lead to more efficient analyses and dissemination of findings, and alignment of findings with clinical interpretations. Replication of this design with swallows from people with dysphagia would strengthen the generalizability of the results.

Comparison of Patient Self-Reported Quality of Life and Health Care Professional-Assessed Symptoms in Terminally ill Patients With Cancer

Background: Few studies evaluated whether health care professionals accurately assess several symptoms for patients with cancer in palliative care units. We determined the agreement level for several symptoms related to quality of life (QOL) between patient-reported QOL assessment and health care professional-assessed symptoms based on the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS). Method: An observational study was performed with terminally ill patients with cancer hospitalized in the palliative care unit between June 2018 and December 2019. Patients and health care professionals independently assessed 7 symptoms at the time of hospitalization and after 1 week. Patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL). In examining the proportions of exact agreement, “exact agreement” referred to the pairs of the scores (QLQ-C15-PAL vs STAS) being (1 vs 0), (2 vs 1), (3 vs 2 or 3), or (4 vs 4). The relationships of physical functioning between QLQ-C15-PAL and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) were examined. Results: Of 130 patients, approximately 60% had PPS scores from 40 to 60. The highest mean score on QLQ-C15-PAL was for fatigue (63.8). The exact agreement on symptoms between patients and health care professionals ranged from 15.4% (fatigue) to 57.7% (nausea and vomiting). The mean of the transformed QLQ-C15-PAL and proportions of exact agreement were negatively correlated ( R 2 = 0.949, P < .05). The physical function scores in QLQ-C15-PAL for each PPS group showed no differences. Conclusion: We expect patient-reported outcomes including QLQ-C15-PAL to be added to health care professionals’ assessment of serious symptoms such as fatigue in terminally ill patients with cancer.

Normal modes in thermal AdS via the Selberg zeta function

The heat kernel and quasinormal mode methods of computing 1-loop partition functions of spin ss fields on hyperbolic quotient spacetimes \mathbb{H}^{3}/\mathbb{Z}ℍ3/ℤ are related via the Selberg zeta function. We extend that analysis to thermal \text{AdS}_{2n+1}AdS2n+1 backgrounds, with quotient structure \mathbb{H}^{2n+1}/\mathbb{Z}ℍ2n+1/ℤ. Specifically, we demonstrate the zeros of the Selberg function encode the normal mode frequencies of spin fields upon removal of non-square-integrable modes. With this information we construct the 1-loop partition functions for symmetric transverse traceless tensors in terms of the Selberg zeta function and find exact agreement with the heat kernel method.