691 research outputs found
Length-weight relationships of coral reef fishes from the Alacran Reef, Yucatan, Mexico
Length-weight relationships were computed for 42 species of coral reef fishes from 14 families from the Alacran Reef (Yucatan, Mexico). A total of 1 892 individuals was used for this purpose. The fish species were caught by different fishing techniques such as fishhooks, harpoons, gill and trawl nets. The sampling period was from March 1998 to January 2000
Dynamics of Quintessence Models of Dark Energy with Exponential Coupling to the Dark Matter
We explore quintessence models of dark energy which exhibit non-minimal
coupling between the dark matter and the dark energy components of the cosmic
fluid. The kind of coupling chosen is inspired in scalar-tensor theories of
gravity. We impose a suitable dynamics of the expansion allowing to derive
exact Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solutions once the coupling function is given
as input. Self-interaction potentials of single and double exponential types
emerge as result of our choice of the coupling function. The stability and
existence of the solutions is discussed in some detail. Although, in general,
models with appropriated interaction between the components of the cosmic
mixture are useful to handle the coincidence problem, in the present study the
coincidence can not be evaded due to the choice of the solution generating
ansatz.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Optical Trapping of Single Nanostructures in a Weakly Focused Beam. Application to Magnetic Nanoparticles
"This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see [insert ACS Articles on Request author-directed link to Published Work, see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b04676."[EN] Optical trapping of individual particles is believed to be only effective under highly focused beams because these conditions strengthen the gradient forces. This is especially critical in the beam propagating direction, where the scattering and absorption forces must be counterbalanced. Here, we demonstrate that optical trapping of nanostructures is also possible in a weakly focused beam. We study the theoretical conditions for effective three-dimensional optical confinement and verify them experimentally on iron-oxide-based nanoparticles with and without a silica coating, for which scattering, absorption, and gradient forces exist. This chemical approach to their all-optical control is, in turn, convenient for making magnetic nanostructures biocompatible. Weakly focused beams reduce the irradiance in the focal region and therefore the photon damage to the samples, which is further important to delay quantum dot quenching in the trap or to prevent artifacts in the study of biomolecular motor dynamics.We are grateful to Dr. Maria Acebron and Dr. Beatriz H. Juarez for their support in the silica encapsulation of the nano particles. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Grant MAT2015-71806-R). IMDEA Nanociencia acknowledges support from the "Severo Ochoa" Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (MINECO, Grant SEV-2016-0686). H.R.-R. is supported by an FPI-UAM fellowship.Rodríguez-Rodríguez, H.; De Lorenzo, S.; De La Cueva, L.; Salas, G.; Arias-Gonzalez, JR. (2018). Optical Trapping of Single Nanostructures in a Weakly Focused Beam. Application to Magnetic Nanoparticles. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 122(31):18094-18101. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b04676S18094181011223
The influence of road networks on brown bear spatial distribution and habitat suitability in a human-modified landscape
Roads are human infrastructure that heavily affect wildlife, often with marked
impacts on carnivores, including brown bears Ursus arctos. Here, we assessed the
potential impact of road networks on the distribution of brown bears in the small, isolated
and endangered Cantabrian population of north-western Spain. To ascertain
whether local road networks affect brown bear spatial distribution, we first assessed
potential influences on the distance of bear locations to roads using candidate models
which included topographic variables, landcover types, bear age and reproductive status,
traffic volume and road visibility. Then, we built two sets of habitat suitability
models, both with and without roads, to discern the possible loss of habitat suitability
caused by roads. The mean distance of bear locations to the nearest road was
968 804 m and the closest road was a low traffic road in 72.5% of cases. Candidate
models showed little influence of our variables on bear distance to the nearest
road, with the exception of elevation. Habitat suitability models revealed that road
networks in our study area seem to have almost no effect on brown bear habitat suitability,
except for females with yearlings during the denning season. However, this
result may also be a consequence of the fact that only a small proportion (16.5%) of
the cells classified as suitable bear habitats were crossed by roads, that is, most of the
roads are primarily located in unsuitable bear habitats in the Cantabrian Mountains.
Compared to previous studies conducted in other populations, mainly North American
ones, our findings might suggest a different response of Eurasian brown bears to
roads due to a longer bear-human coexistence in Europe versus North America. However,
the indirect approach used in our study does not exclude other detrimental
effects, for example, road mortality, increased stress and movement pattern disruption,
only detectable by more direct approaches such as telemetry
A pharmacogenetic intervention for the improvement of the safety profile of antipsychotic treatments
Antipsychotic drugs fail to achieve adequate response in 30-50% of treated patients and about 50% of them develop severe and lasting side effects. Treatment failure results in poorer prognosis with devastating repercussions for the patients, carers and broader society. Our study evaluated the clinical benefits of a pharmacogenetic intervention for the personalisation of antipsychotic treatment. Pharmacogenetic information in key CYP polymorphisms was used to adjust clinical doses in a group of patients who started or switched treatment with antipsychotic drugs (PharmG+, N = 123), and their results were compared with those of a group of patients treated following existing clinical guides (PharmG−, N = 167). There was no evidence of significant differences in side effects between the two arms. Although patients who had their antipsychotic dose adjusted according to CYPs polymorphisms (PharmG+) had a bigger reduction in side effects than those treated as usual (PharmG−), the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05 for all comparisons). However, PharmG+ patients treated with CYP2D6 substrates that were carriers of CYP2D6 UMs or PMs variants showed a significantly higher improvement in global, psychic and other UKU side effects than PharmG− patients (p = 0.02, p = 0.05 and p = 0.01, respectively). PharmG+ clozapine treated patients with CYP1A2 or CYP2C19 UM and PMs variants also showed higher reductions in UKU scores than PharmG− clozapine patients in general. However, those differences were not statistically significant. Pharmacogenetic interventions may improve the safety of antipsychotic treatments by reducing associated side effects. This intervention may be particularly useful when considering treatment with antipsychotics with one major metabolic pathway, and therefore more susceptible to be affected by functional variants of CYP enzymes
Evolution of density perturbations in double exponential quintessence models
In this work we investigate the evolution of matter density perturbations for
quintessence models with a self-interaction potential that is a combination of
exponentials. One of the models is based on the Einstein theory of gravity,
while the other is based on the Brans-Dicke scalar tensor theory. We constrain
the parameter space of the models using the determinations for the growth rate
of perturbations derived from data of the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift
Survey.Comment: 5 pages, 3 eps figure
A multispectral view of the periodic events in eta Carinae
A full description of the 5.5-yr low excitation events in Eta Carinae is
presented. We show that they are not as simple and brief as previously thought,
but a combination of two components. The first, the 'slow variation' component,
is revealed by slow changes in the ionization level of circumstellar matter
across the whole cycle and is caused by gradual changes in the wind-wind
collision shock-cone orientation, angular opening and gaseous content. The
second, the 'collapse' component, is restricted to around the minimum, and is
due to a temporary global collapse of the wind-wind collision shock. High
energy photons (E > 16 eV) from the companion star are strongly shielded,
leaving the Weigelt objects at low ionization state for >6 months. High energy
phenomena are sensitive only to the 'collapse', low energy only to the 'slow
variation' and intermediate energies to both components. Simple eclipses and
mechanisms effective only near periastron (e.g., shell ejection or accretion
onto the secondary star) cannot account for the whole 5.5-yr cycle.
We find anti-correlated changes in the intensity and the radial velocity of P
Cygni absorption profiles in FeII 6455 and HeI 7065 lines, indicating that the
former is associated to the primary and the latter to the secondary star. We
present a set of light curves representative of the whole spectrum, useful for
monitoring the next event (2009 January 11).Comment: 16 pages, 7 EPS figures, accepted for publication on MNRA
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