Burden of dengue, leishmaniasis and lymphatic filariasis in India and its states from 1990-2019: Analysis from the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD 2019)

Vector-borne diseases such as dengue, leishmaniasis, and lymphatic filariasis, constitute significant sources of illness, disability, and mortality among the poor and vulnerable in many countries around the world, including India. Based on the global burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors study 2019, we analyse the burden of dengue, leishmaniasis, and lymphatic filariasis, in India from 1990 to 2019. Over this period, there was a reduction in the burden of lymphatic filariasis and leishmaniasis. Notably, dengue emerged as the most common vector-borne disease, exhibiting high fatality rate above 15 years of age and the highest DALY within 15-49 age group. Additionally, dengue cases surged substantially between 1990 and 2019. Leishmaniasis related mortality and DALY declined in the year 2019 compared to the year 1990, with high mortality and DALY in the 0-49-year-old age group. For lymphatic filariasis, DALY was more pronounce among those in the 15-49-year age group, which underwent reduction in 2019. Males had a higher burden in other vector-borne diseases than females, although females had a slightly elevated dengue burden. These findings highlight the evolving epidemiological trends related to vector-borne diseases in India, over the last three decades and underline the critical significance of sustained efforts for the elimination and control of vector-borne diseases.

Prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections in HIV patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Soil-transmitted Helminth (STH) infections have been found associated with people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but little is known about the overall burden of STH coinfection in HIV patients. We aimed to assess the burden of STH infections among HIV patients. Relevant databases were systematically searched for studies reporting the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminthic pathogens in HIV patients. Pooled estimates of each helminthic infection were calculated. The odds ratio was also determined as a measure of the association between STH infection and the HIV status of the patients. Sixty-one studies were finally included in the meta-analysis, consisting of 16,203 human subjects from all over the world. The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides infection in HIV patients was found to be 8% (95% CI 0.06, 0.09), the prevalence of Trichuris trichiura infection in HIV patients was found to be 5% (95% CI 0.04, 0.06), the prevalence of hookworm infection in HIV patients was found to be 5% (95% CI 0.04, 0.06), and prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis infection in HIV patients was found to be 5% (95% CI 0.04, 0.05). Countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America & Caribbean and Asia were identified with the highest burden of STH-HIV coinfection. Our analysis indicated that people living with HIV have a higher chance of developing Strongyloides stercoralis infections and decreased odds of developing hookworm infections. Our findings suggest a moderate level of prevalence of STH infections among people living with HIV. The endemicity of STH infections and HIV status both are partially responsible for the burden of STH-HIV coinfections.

Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking for spinless fermions on a triangular lattice

As a minimal fermionic model with kinetic frustration, we study a system of spinless fermions in the lowest band of a triangular lattice with nearest-neighbor repulsion. We find that the combination of interactions and kinetic frustration leads to spontaneous symmetry breaking in various ways. Time-reversal symmetry can be broken by two types of loop current patterns, a chiral one and one that breaks the translational lattice symmetry. Moreover, the translational symmetry can also be broken by a density wave forming a kagome pattern or by a Peierls-type trimerization characterized by enhanced correlations among the sites of certain triangular plaquettes (giving a plaquette-centered density wave). We map out the phase diagram as it results from leading-order Ginzburg-Landau mean-field theory. Several experimental realizations of the type of system under study are possible with ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

Coupling nanomechanical cantilevers to dipolar molecules

We investigate the coupling of a nanomechanical oscillator in the quantum regime with molecular (electric) dipoles. We find theoretically that the cantilever can produce single-mode squeezing of the center-of-mass motion of an isolated trapped molecule and two-mode squeezing of the phonons of an array of molecules. This work opens up the possibility of manipulating dipolar crystals, which have been recently proposed as quantum memory, and more generally, is indicative of the promise of nanoscale cantilevers for the quantum detection and control of atomic and molecular systems.

Fermionic stabilization and density-wave ground state of a polar condensate

We examine the stability of a trapped dipolar condensate mixed with a single-component fermion gas at T=0. Whereas pure dipolar condensates with a small s-wave interaction are unstable even at small dipole-dipole interaction strength, we find that the admixture of fermions can significantly stabilize them, depending on the strength of the boson-fermion interaction. Within the stable regime we find a region where a ground state is characterized by a density wave along the soft trap direction.