Persistent spatial clustering and predictors of pediatric La Crosse virus neuroinvasive disease risk in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, 2003-2020.

The combined region of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina has a persistently high risk of pediatric La Crosse virus neuroinvasive disease (LACV-ND). To guide public health intervention in this region, the objectives of this retrospective ecological study were to investigate the geographic clustering and predictors of pediatric LACV-ND risk at the ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) level. Data on pediatric cases of LACV-ND reported between 2003 and 2020 were obtained from Tennessee Department of Health and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Purely spatial and space-time scan statistics were used to identify ZCTA-level clusters of confirmed and probable pediatric LACV-ND cases from 2003-2020, and a combination of global and local (i.e., geographically weighted) negative binomial regression models were used to investigate potential predictors of disease risk from 2015-2020. The cluster investigation revealed spatially persistent high-risk and low-risk clusters of LACV-ND, with most cases consistently reported from a few high-risk clusters throughout the entire study period. Temperature and precipitation had positive but antagonistic associations with disease risk from 2015-2020, but the strength of those relationships varied substantially across the study area. Because LACV-ND risk clustering in this region is focally persistent, retroactive case surveillance can be used to guide the implementation of targeted public health intervention to reduce the disease burden in high-risk areas. Additional research on the role of climate in LACV transmission is warranted to support the development of predictive transmission models to guide proactive public health interventions.

Occupational risks during a monkeypox outbreak, Wisconsin, 2003.

We determined factors associated with occupational transmission in Wisconsin during the 2003 outbreak of prairie dog--associated monkeypox virus infections. Our investigation included active contact surveillance, exposure-related interviews, and a veterinary facility cohort study. We identified 19 confirmed, 5 probable, and 3 suspected cases. Rash, headache, sweats, and fever were reported by > 80% of patients. Occupationally transmitted infections occurred in 12 veterinary staff, 2 pet store employees, and 2 animal distributors. The following were associated with illness: working directly with animal care (p = 0.002), being involved in prairie dog examination, caring for an animal within 6 feet of an ill prairie dog (p = 0.03), feeding an ill prairie dog (p = 0.002), and using an antihistamine (p = 0.04). Having never handled an ill prairie dog (p = 0.004) was protective. Veterinary staff used personal protective equipment sporadically. Our findings underscore the importance of standard veterinary infection-control guidelines.

Experimental study of high speed polarization-coding quantum key distribution with sifted-key rates over Mbit/s.

We present a quantitative study of various limitations on quantum cryptographic systems operating with sifted-key rates over Mbit/s. The dead time of silicon APDs not only limits the sifted-key rate but also causes correlation between the neighboring key bits. In addition to the well-known count-rate dependent timing jitter in avalanche photo-diode (APD), the faint laser sources, the vertical cavity surface emission lasers (VCSELs) in our system, also induce a significant amount of data-dependent timing jitter. Both the dead time and the data-dependent timing jitter are major limiting factors in designing QKD systems with sifted-key rates beyond Mbit/s.

Quantum encounters of the cold kind.

Since the introduction of laser-cooling techniques for neutral atoms in the early 1980s, the study of collisional interactions between atoms and molecules has been extended to the regime of ultracold temperatures. With nanokelvin temperatures now attainable, our ability to probe the interactions, both experimentally and theoretically, has also progressed. Understanding of the subtle and often highly quantum-mechanical effects that are manifest at such low energies has advanced to the point where new precision measurements are matched by highly accurate theoretical calculations. Low-energy phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation and the photoassociation of atoms into bound molecules are now accurately described with no free parameters.

Treasure of the Past X: A Spectroscopic Determination of Scattering Lengths for Sodium Atom Collisions.

We report a preliminary value for the zero magnetic field Na (2)S(f = 1, m = - 1) + Na (2)S(f = 1, m = - 1) scattering length, a 1,-1. This parameter describes the low-energy elastic two-body processes in a dilute gas of composite bosons and determines, to a large extent, the macroscopic wavefunction of a Bose condensate in a trap. Our scattering length is obtained from photoassociative spectroscopy with samples of uncondensed atoms. The temperature of the atoms is sufficiently low that contributions from the three lowest partial waves dominate the spectrum. The observed lineshapes for the purely long-range [Formula: see text] molecular state enable us to establish key features of the ground state scattering wavefunction. The fortuitous occurrence of a p-wave node near the deepest point (R e = 72 a 0) of the [Formula: see text] potential curve is instrumental in determining a 1,-1 = (52 ± 5) a 0 and a 2.2 = (85 ± 3) a 0, where the latter is for a collision of two Na (2)S(f = 2, m = 2) atoms.

A Spectroscopic Determination of Scattering Lengths for Sodium Atom Collisions.

We report a preliminary value for the zero magnetic field Na 2S(f = 1, m = - 1) + Na 2S(f = 1, m = - 1) scattering length, a1,-1. This parameter describes the low-energy elastic two-body processes in a dilute gas of composite bosons and determines, to a large extent, the macroscopic wavefunction of a Bose condensate in a trap. Our scattering length is obtained from photoassociative spectroscopy with samples of uncondensed atoms. The temperature of the atoms is sufficiently low that contributions from the three lowest partial waves dominate the spectrum. The observed lineshapes for the purely long-range [Formula: see text] molecular state enable us to establish key features of the ground state scattering wavefunction. The fortuitous occurrence of a p-wave node near the deepest point (Re = 72 a0) of the [Formula: see text] potential curve is instrumental in determining a1,-1 = (52 ± 5) a0 and a2,2 = (85 ± 3) a0, where the latter is for a collision of two Na 2S(f = 2, m = 2) atoms.

Estimating Bounds on Collisional Relaxation Rates of Spin-Polarized 87Rb Atoms at Ultracold Temperatures.

We present quantum scattering calculations for the collisional relaxation rate coefficient of spin-polarized 87Rb(f = 2,m = 2) atoms, which determines the loss rate of cold Rb atoms from a magnetic trap. Unlike the lighter alkali atoms, spin-polarized 87Rb atoms can undergo dipolar relaxation due to both the normal spin-spin dipole interaction and a second-order spin-orbit interaction with distant electronic states of the dimer. We present ab initio calculations for the second-order spin-orbit terms for both Rb2 and Cs2. The corrections lead to a reduction in the relaxation rate for 87Rb. Our primary concern is to analyze the sensitivity of the 87Rb trap loss to the uncertainties in the ground state molecular potentials. Since the scattering length for the a3Σ+u state is already known, the major uncertainties are associated with the X1Σ+g potential. After testing the effect of systematically modifying the short-range form of the molecular potentials over a reasonable range, and introducing our best estimate of the second-order spin-orbit interaction, we estimate that in the low temperature limit the rate coefficient for loss of Rb atoms from the f = 2,m = 2 state is between 0.4 × 10-15 cm3/s and 2.4 × 10-15 cm3/s (where this number counts two atoms lost per collision). In a pure condensate the rate coefficient would be reduced by 1/2.