Convergence of resonances on thin branched quantum wave guides

We prove an abstract criterion stating resolvent convergence in the case of operators acting in different Hilbert spaces. This result is then applied to the case of Laplacians on a family X_\eps of branched quantum waveguides. Combining it with an exterior complex scaling we show, in particular, that the resonances on X_\eps approximate those of the Laplacian with ``free'' boundary conditions on $X_0$, the skeleton graph of X_\eps.Comment: 48 pages, 1 figur

Delta-baryon electromagnetic form factors in lattice QCD

We develop techniques to calculate the four Delta electromagnetic form factors using lattice QCD, with particular emphasis on the sub-dominant electric quadrupole form factor that probes deformation of the Delta. Results are presented for pion masses down to approximately 350 MeV for three cases: quenched QCD, two flavors of dynamical Wilson quarks, and three flavors of quarks described by a mixed action combining domain wall valence quarks and dynamical staggered sea quarks. The magnetic moment of the Delta is chirally extrapolated to the physical point and the Delta charge density distributions are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Heat flow method to Lichnerowicz type equation on closed manifolds

In this paper, we establish existence results for positive solutions to the Lichnerowicz equation of the following type in closed manifolds -\Delta u=A(x)u^{-p}-B(x)u^{q},\quad in\quad M, where $p>1, q>0$, and $A(x)>0$, $B(x)\geq0$ are given smooth functions. Our analysis is based on the global existence of positive solutions to the following heat equation {ll} u_t-\Delta u=A(x)u^{-p}-B(x)u^{q},\quad in\quad M\times\mathbb{R}^{+}, u(x,0)=u_0,\quad in\quad M with the positive smooth initial data $u_0$.Comment: 10 page

Rapid sympathetic cooling to Fermi degeneracy on a chip

Neutral fermions present new opportunities for testing many-body condensed matter systems, realizing precision atom interferometry, producing ultra-cold molecules, and investigating fundamental forces. However, since their first observation, quantum degenerate Fermi gases (DFGs) have continued to be challenging to produce, and have been realized in only a handful of laboratories. In this Letter, we report the production of a DFG using a simple apparatus based on a microfabricated magnetic trap. Similar approaches applied to Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) of 87Rb have accelerated evaporative cooling and eliminated the need for multiple vacuum chambers. We demonstrate sympathetic cooling for the first time in a microtrap, and cool 40K to Fermi degeneracy in just six seconds -- faster than has been possible in conventional magnetic traps. To understand our sympathetic cooling trajectory, we measure the temperature dependence of the 40K-87Rb cross-section and observe its Ramsauer-Townsend reduction.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures (v3: new collision data, improved atom number calibration, revised text, improved figures.

The Cauchy problems for Einstein metrics and parallel spinors

We show that in the analytic category, given a Riemannian metric $g$ on a hypersurface $M\subset \Z$ and a symmetric tensor $W$ on $M$, the metric $g$ can be locally extended to a Riemannian Einstein metric on $Z$ with second fundamental form $W$, provided that $g$ and $W$ satisfy the constraints on $M$ imposed by the contracted Codazzi equations. We use this fact to study the Cauchy problem for metrics with parallel spinors in the real analytic category and give an affirmative answer to a question raised in B\"ar, Gauduchon, Moroianu (2005). We also answer negatively the corresponding questions in the smooth category.Comment: 28 pages; final versio

Plantation vs. natural forest: Matrix quality determines pollinator abundance in crop fields

In terrestrial ecosystems, ecological processes and patterns within focal patches frequently depend on their matrix. Crop fields (focal patches) are often surrounded by a mosaic of other land-use types (matrix), which may act as habitats for organisms and differ in terms of the immigration activities of organisms to the fields. We examined whether matrix quality affects wild pollinator abundance in crop fields, given that the species (Apis cerana) generally nest in the cavities of natural trees. We examined fields of a pollination-dependent crop surrounded by plantations and natural forests, which comprised the matrix. Our analysis revealed a clear positive effect of the natural forest on the pollinator abundance, but the plantation forest had little effects. These indicate that agricultural patches are influenced by their matrix quality and the resulting crop pollinator abundance, suggesting the importance of matrix management initiatives such as forest restoration surrounding agricultural fields to improve crop production

BioInfer: a corpus for information extraction in the biomedical domain

BACKGROUND: Lately, there has been a great interest in the application of information extraction methods to the biomedical domain, in particular, to the extraction of relationships of genes, proteins, and RNA from scientific publications. The development and evaluation of such methods requires annotated domain corpora. RESULTS: We present BioInfer (Bio Information Extraction Resource), a new public resource providing an annotated corpus of biomedical English. We describe an annotation scheme capturing named entities and their relationships along with a dependency analysis of sentence syntax. We further present ontologies defining the types of entities and relationships annotated in the corpus. Currently, the corpus contains 1100 sentences from abstracts of biomedical research articles annotated for relationships, named entities, as well as syntactic dependencies. Supporting software is provided with the corpus. The corpus is unique in the domain in combining these annotation types for a single set of sentences, and in the level of detail of the relationship annotation. CONCLUSION: We introduce a corpus targeted at protein, gene, and RNA relationships which serves as a resource for the development of information extraction systems and their components such as parsers and domain analyzers. The corpus will be maintained and further developed with a current version being available at

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

3D Bioprinted Human Skeletal Muscle Constructs for Muscle Function Restoration

A bioengineered skeletal muscle tissue as an alternative for autologous tissue flaps, which mimics the structural and functional characteristics of the native tissue, is needed for reconstructive surgery. Rapid progress in the cell-based tissue engineering principle has enabled in vitro creation of cellularized muscle-like constructs; however, the current fabrication methods are still limited to build a three-dimensional (3D) muscle construct with a highly viable, organized cellular structure with the potential for a future human trial. Here, we applied 3D bioprinting strategy to fabricate an implantable, bioengineered skeletal muscle tissue composed of human primary muscle progenitor cells (hMPCs). The bioprinted skeletal muscle tissue showed a highly organized multi-layered muscle bundle made by viable, densely packed, and aligned myofiber-like structures. Our in vivo study presented that the bioprinted muscle constructs reached 82% of functional recovery in a rodent model of tibialis anterior (TA) muscle defect at 8 weeks of post-implantation. In addition, histological and immunohistological examinations indicated that the bioprinted muscle constructs were well integrated with host vascular and neural networks. We demonstrated the potential of the use of the 3D bioprinted skeletal muscle with a spatially organized structure that can reconstruct the extensive muscle defects