Observational Exclusion of a Consistent Quantum Cosmology Scenario

It is often argued that inflation erases all the information about what took place before it started. Quantum gravity, relevant in the Planck era, seems therefore mostly impossible to probe with cosmological observations. In general, only very ad hoc scenarios or hyper fine-tuned initial conditions can lead to observationally testable theories. Here we consider a well-defined and well motivated candidate quantum cosmology model that predicts inflation. Using the most recent observational constraints on the cosmic microwave background B modes, we show that the model is excluded for all its parameter space, without any tuning. Some important consequences are drawn for the deformed algebra approach to loop quantum cosmology. We emphasize that neither loop quantum cosmology in general nor loop quantum gravity are disfavored by this study but their falsifiability is established.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figur

Primordial scalar power spectrum from the Euclidean Big Bounce

In effective models of loop quantum cosmology, the holonomy corrections are associated with deformations of space-time symmetries. The most evident manifestation of the deformations is the emergence of an Euclidean phase accompanying the non-singular bouncing dynamics of the scale factor. In this article, we compute the power spectrum of scalar perturbations generated in this model, with a massive scalar field as the matter content. Instantaneous and adiabatic vacuum-type initial conditions for scalar perturbations are imposed in the contracting phase. The evolution through the Euclidean region is calculated based on the extrapolation of the time direction pointed by the vectors normal to the Cauchy hypersurface in the Lorentzian domains. The obtained power spectrum is characterized by a suppression in the IR regime and oscillations in the intermediate energy range. Furthermore, the speculative extension of the analysis in the UV reveals a specific rise of the power.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

A 45-year-old Female with an Atypical Presentation of Pharyngitis

Introduction: Emergency physicians are trained to treat a variety of ailments in the emergency department (ED), some of which are emergent, while others are not. A common complaint seen in the ED is a sore throat. While most sore throats are easily diagnosed and treated, less common causes are often not considered in the differential diagnoses. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to present an atypical case of sore throat and discuss differential diagnoses.Case Presentation: The patient was a 45-year-old female who presented to the ED with a three-day history of sore throat that was exacerbated by eating and drinking. The patient was not on any prescription medications, but tried over-the-counter medications for the sore throat without any improvement in symptoms. Review of systems was positive for sore throat, fevers, and chills. Physical examination of her oropharynx revealed mildly dry mucous membranes with confluent plaques and white patchy ulcerative appearance involving the tongue, tonsils, hard palate, and soft palate. Rapid streptococcal antigen, mononucleosis spot test, and KOH test were performed and found to be negative.Discussion: After initial testing was negative, a follow-up complete blood count with differential and complete metabolic profile were ordered. The patient was found to have decreased lymphocytes and platelets. Based upon those results, a diagnosis was made in the ED, the patient was started on medication, and further laboratory workup was ordered to confirm the diagnosis. ED providers should consider non-infectious as well as infectious causes for a sore throat, as this might lead to a diagnosis of an underlying condition

Manual zur Stärkung der ambulanten Pflege im Katastrophenfall

Das Manual richtet sich an Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben (BOS) und fasst praxisorientierte Handlungsempfehlungen, welche in dem Forschungsprojekt KOPHIS gewonnenen wurden, zur Sicherstellung der Versorgung ambulant gepflegter hilfs- und pflegebedürftiger Menschen in Extremsituationen anschaulich und übersichtlich zusammen

Empfehlungen für Katastrophenschutzbehörden und andere politische Entscheider*innen

Das vorliegende Policy Paper stellt die von der Katastrophenforschungsstelle (KFS) im Projekt KOPHIS generierten Handlungsvorschläge zur Sicherstellung der ambulanten Versorgung von Hilfs- und Pflegebedürftigen für Kata-strophenschutzbehörden und andere politische Entscheider*innen vor. Es werden fünf Zielbereiche fokussiert und jeweils theoretisch untermauert

Deskriptive Darstellung der Ergebnisse einer deutschlandweiten Befragung

Bislang ist nicht systematisch erforscht, welche konkreten Unterstützungsbedarfe und -potentiale in Bezug auf hilfs- und pflegebedürftige Menschen in Krisensituationen vorhanden sind. Damit fehlt es an Grundlagenwissen, um die Verletzlichkeit (im Folgenden Vulnerabilität) dieser wach-senden Bevölkerungsgruppe adäquat bewerten und Maßnahmen zur Vulnerabilitätsreduktion ergreifen zu können. Dieses Desiderat adressiert das BMBF-geförderte Forschungsprojekt KOPHIS »Kontexte von Pflege- und Hilfsbedürftigen stärken«. Ziel des Vorhabens ist es, die Vulnerabilität von hilfs- und pflegebedürftigen Menschen aus einer praxissoziologisch geprägten Untersuchungsperspektive, konkretisiert am Beispiel eines Wintersturmszenarios, differenziert zu bewer-ten. Dazu führte die Katastrophenforschungsstelle (KFS) unter anderem eine deutschlandweite Befragung (N = 2.018) durch. Folgend werden die Ergebnisse dieser Befragung deskriptiv dargestellt

Molecular Phylogeny of the Astrophorida (Porifera, Demospongiaep) Reveals an Unexpected High Level of Spicule Homoplasy

Background: The Astrophorida (Porifera, Demospongiaep) is geographically and bathymetrically widely distributed. Systema Porifera currently includes five families in this order: Ancorinidae, Calthropellidae, Geodiidae, Pachastrellidae and Thrombidae. To date, molecular phylogenetic studies including Astrophorida species are scarce and offer limited sampling. Phylogenetic relationships within this order are therefore for the most part unknown and hypotheses based on morphology largely untested. Astrophorida taxa have very diverse spicule sets that make them a model of choice to investigate spicule evolution. Methodology/Principal Findings: With a sampling of 153 specimens (9 families, 29 genera, 89 species) covering the deepand shallow-waters worldwide, this work presents the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Astrophorida, using a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene partial sequence and the 59 end terminal part of the 28S rDNA gene (C1-D2 domains). The resulting tree suggested that i) the Astrophorida included some lithistid families and some Alectonidae species, ii) the sub-orders Euastrophorida and Streptosclerophorida were both polyphyletic, iii) the Geodiidae, the Ancorinidae and the Pachastrellidae were not monophyletic, iv) the Calthropellidae was part of the Geodiidae clade (Calthropella at least), and finally that v) many genera were polyphyletic (Ecionemia, Erylus, Poecillastra, Penares, Rhabdastrella, Stelletta and Vulcanella). Conclusion: The Astrophorida is a larger order than previously considered, comprising ca. 820 species. Based on these results, we propose new classifications for the Astrophorida using both the classical rank-based nomenclature (i.e., Linnaean classification) and the phylogenetic nomenclature following the PhyloCode, independent of taxonomic rank. A key to the Astrophorida families, sub-families and genera incertae sedis is also included. Incongruences between our molecular tree and the current classification can be explained by the banality of convergent evolution and secondary loss in spicule evolution. These processes have taken place many times, in all the major clades, for megascleres and microscleres

Pancreatic hormones and amino acid levels following liver transplantation

Glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinemia, peripheral insulin resistance and hyperglucagonemia are common in patients with advanced liver disease. These abnormalities in the plasma levels of the pancreatic hormones, insulin and glucagon have been thought to be responsible, at least in part, for the abnormal plasma ratio of branched‐chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids. To evaluate this issue, plasma levels of glucose, insulin, glucagon, C‐peptide and the branched‐chain and aromatic amino acids were measured before and serially after orthotopic liver transplantation in 9 humans and 5 dogs. The abnormal plasma amino acid levels rapidly improved and achieved normal levels following orthotopic liver transplantation. Insulin levels also became normal following orthotopic liver transplantation, despite enhanced insulin secretion documented by an even further increased level of C‐peptide. In contrast, the baseline abnormal plasma glucagon levels which are commonly seen in cirrhotics became even more abnormal following orthotopic liver transplantation. Despite this progressive increase in the abnormally elevated plasma glucagon levels, plasma amino acid levels, both branched‐chain and aromatic, became normal. These data demonstrate that before and after orthotopic liver transplantation, there is: (i) no relationship between the changes in plasma levels of glucagon and changes observed in the plasma level of amino acids; and (ii) plasma insulin and amino acid levels change in the same direction. In addition, these changes in plasma insulin and amino acid levels following orthotopic liver transplantation occur despite enhanced secretion of insulin evidenced by the progressive increase in plasma levels of C‐peptide. Copyright © 1987 American Association for the Study of Liver Disease