Experimental biology group: Summaries of scientific papers

No Abstract

High pressure insulator-metal transition in SmB6

We report the temperature and pressure dependence of the electrical resistivity and Hall constant of single crystal SmB6 for temperatures ranging from 1.2 K to room temperature, and pressures from 1 bar to 80 kbar. Our results indicate that at low pressures SmB6 is an insulator, but undergoes a sudden transition to metallic behavior at a pressure of 50 kbar.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31646/1/0000580.pd

Mapping Vesta: First Results from Dawn’s Survey Orbit

The geologic objectives of the Dawn Mission [1] are to derive Vesta’s shape, map the surface geology, understand the geological context and contribute to the determination of the asteroids’ origin and evolution.Geomorphology and distribution of surface features will provide evidence for impact cratering, tectonic activity, volcanism, and regolith processes. Spectral measurements of the surface will provide evidence of the compositional characteristics of geological units. Age information, as derived from crater sizefrequency distributions, provides the stratigraphic context for the structural and compositional mapping results, thus revealing the geologic history of Vesta. We present here the first results of the Dawn mission from data collected during the approach to Vesta, and its first discrete orbit phase – the Survey Orbit, which lasts 21 days after the spacecraft had established a circular polar orbit at a radius of ~3000 km with a beta angle of 10°-15°

Statefinder Parameters for Different Dark Energy Models with Variable G Correction in Kaluza-Klein Cosmology

In this work, we have calculated the deceleration parameter, statefinder parameters and EoS parameters for different dark energy models with variable $G$ correction in homogeneous, isotropic and non-flat universe for Kaluza-Klein Cosmology. The statefinder parameters have been obtained in terms of some observable parameters like dimensionless density parameter, EoS parameter and Hubble parameter for holographic dark energy, new agegraphic dark energy and generalized Chaplygin gas models.Comment: 9 pages, no figure, accepted for publication in IJTP. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1104.2366 by other author

Ecological Invasion, Roughened Fronts, and a Competitor's Extreme Advance: Integrating Stochastic Spatial-Growth Models

Both community ecology and conservation biology seek further understanding of factors governing the advance of an invasive species. We model biological invasion as an individual-based, stochastic process on a two-dimensional landscape. An ecologically superior invader and a resident species compete for space preemptively. Our general model includes the basic contact process and a variant of the Eden model as special cases. We employ the concept of a "roughened" front to quantify effects of discreteness and stochasticity on invasion; we emphasize the probability distribution of the front-runner's relative position. That is, we analyze the location of the most advanced invader as the extreme deviation about the front's mean position. We find that a class of models with different assumptions about neighborhood interactions exhibit universal characteristics. That is, key features of the invasion dynamics span a class of models, independently of locally detailed demographic rules. Our results integrate theories of invasive spatial growth and generate novel hypotheses linking habitat or landscape size (length of the invading front) to invasion velocity, and to the relative position of the most advanced invader.Comment: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com/content/8528v8563r7u2742

Spinor condensates and light scattering from Bose-Einstein condensates

These notes discuss two aspects of the physics of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates: optical properties and spinor condensates. The first topic includes light scattering experiments which probe the excitations of a condensate in both the free-particle and phonon regime. At higher light intensity, a new form of superradiance and phase-coherent matter wave amplification were observed. We also discuss properties of spinor condensates and describe studies of ground--state spin domain structures and dynamical studies which revealed metastable excited states and quantum tunneling.Comment: 58 pages, 33 figures, to appear in Proceedings of Les Houches 1999 Summer School, Session LXXI

Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study

A41 Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study In: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 2017, 12(Suppl 1): A4

Methodologies for <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> evaluation of efficacy of antifungal and antibiofilm agents and surface coatings against fungal biofilms.

Unlike superficial fungal infections of the skin and nails, which are the most common fungal diseases in humans, invasive fungal infections carry high morbidity and mortality, particularly those associated with biofilm formation on indwelling medical devices. Therapeutic management of these complex diseases is often complicated by the rise in resistance to the commonly used antifungal agents. Therefore, the availability of accurate susceptibility testing methods for determining antifungal resistance, as well as discovery of novel antifungal and antibiofilm agents, are key priorities in medical mycology research. To direct advancements in this field, here we present an overview of the methods currently available for determining (i) the susceptibility or resistance of fungal isolates or biofilms to antifungal or antibiofilm compounds and compound combinations; (ii) the &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt; efficacy of antifungal and antibiofilm compounds and compound combinations; and (iii) the &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt; performance of anti-infective coatings and materials to prevent fungal biofilm-based infections