535 research outputs found
A Review of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Ochratoxin A Inhalational Exposure Associated with Human Illness and Kidney Disease including Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
Ochratoxin A (OTA) exposure via ingestion and inhalation has been described in the literature to cause kidney disease in both animals and humans. This paper reviews Ochratoxin A and its relationship to human health and kidney disease with a focus on a possible association with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in humans. Prevention and treatment strategies for OTA-induced illness are also discussed, including cholestyramine, a bile-acid-binding resin used as a sequestrant to reduce the enterohepatic recirculation of OTA
Stimulation of Beta Decay due to a Bose-Einstein Condensate
Nuclear processes can be stimulated by the presence of a macroscopic number
of bosons in one of the final states. We describe the conditions necessary to
observe the atom-stimulation of a beta decay process. The stimulation may be
observable if it becomes possible to produce a Bose-Einstein condensate with
the order of atoms in a trap.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, uses elsart.cls, home page at
http://online.anu.edu.au/Physics/Welcome.htm
Quantum statistical measurements of an atom laser beam
We describe a scheme, operating in a manner analogous to a reversed Raman
output coupler, for measuring the phase-sensitive quadrature statistics of an
atom laser beam. This scheme allows for the transferral of the atomic field
statistics to an optical field, for which the quantum statistics may then be
measured using the well-developed technology of optical homodyne measurement.Comment: 4 pages, 2 fugure
Quantum depletion of collapsing Bose-Einstein condensates
We perform the first numerical three-dimensional studies of quantum field
effects in the Bosenova experiment on collapsing condensates by E. Donley et
al. [Nature 415, 39 (2002)] using the exact experimental geometry. In a
stochastic truncated Wigner simulation of the collapse, the collapse times are
larger than the experimentally measured values. We find that a finite
temperature initial state leads to an increased creation rate of uncondensed
atoms, but not to a reduction of the collapse time. A comparison of the
time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov and Wigner methods for the more
tractable spherical trap shows excellent agreement between the uncondensed
populations. We conclude that the discrepancy between the experimental and
theoretical values of the collapse time cannot be explained by Gaussian quantum
fluctuations or finite temperature effects.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, replaced with published versio
Mutual friction and diffusion of two-dimensional quantum vortices
We present a microscopic open quantum systems theory of thermally-damped
vortex motion in oblate atomic superfluids that includes previously neglected
energy-damping interactions between superfluid and thermal atoms. This
mechanism couples strongly to vortex core motion and causes dissipation of
vortex energy due to mutual friction, as well as Brownian motion of vortices
due to thermal fluctuations. We derive an analytic expression for the
dimensionless mutual friction coefficient that gives excellent quantitative
agreement with experimentally measured values, without any fitted parameters.
Our work closes an existing two orders of magnitude gap between dissipation
theory and experiments, previously bridged by fitted parameters, and provides a
microscopic origin for the mutual friction and diffusion of quantized vortices
in two-dimensional atomic superfluids
Measuring the quantum statistics of an atom laser beam
We propose and analyse a scheme for measuring the quadrature statistics of an
atom laser beam using extant optical homodyning and Raman atom laser
techniques. Reversal of the normal Raman atom laser outcoupling scheme is used
to map the quantum statistics of an incoupled beam to an optical probe beam. A
multimode model of the spatial propagation dynamics shows that the Raman
incoupler gives a clear signal of de Broglie wave quadrature squeezing for both
pulsed and continuous inputs. Finally, we show that experimental realisations
of the scheme may be tested with existing methods via measurements of Glauber's
intensity correlation function.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Comet Dust: The Diversity of "Primitive" Particles and Implications
Comet dust is primitive and shows significant diversity. Our knowledge of the properties of primitive particles has expanded significantly through microscale investigations of cosmic dust samples ( IDP's(Interplanetary Dust Particles) and AMM's (Antarctic Micrometeorites)) and of comet dust samples (Stardust and Rosetta's COSIMA), as well as through remote sensing (spectroscopy and imaging) via Spitzer and via spacecraft encounters with 103P/Hartley 2 and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Microscale investigations show that comet dust and cosmic dust are particles of unequilibrated materials, including aggregates of materials unequilibrated at submicron scales. We call unequilibrated materials "primitive" and we deduce they were incorporated into ice-rich (H2O-, CO2-, and CO-ice) parent bodies that remained cold, i.e., into comets, because of the lack of aqueous or thermal alteration since particle aggregation; yet some Stardust olivines suggest mild thermal metamorphism. Primitive particles exhibit a diverse range of: structure and typology; size and size distribution of constituents; concentration and form of carbonaceous and organic matter; D-, N-, and O- isotopic enhancements over solar; Mg-, Fe-contents of the silicate minerals; the compositions and concentrations of sulfides, and of less abundant mineral species such as chondrules, CAIs and carbonates. The uniformity within a group of samples points to: aerodynamic sorting of particles and/or particle constituents; the inclusion of a limited range of oxygen fugacities; the inclusion or exclusion of chondrules; a selection of organics. The properties of primitive particles imply there were disk processes that resulted in different comets having particular selections of primitive materials. The diversity of primitive particles has implications for the diversity of materials in the protoplanetary disk present at the time and in the region where the comets formed
Crowding and Cognitive Development: The Mediating Role of Maternal Responsiveness Among 36-Month-Old Children
Residential crowding in both U.S. and U.K. samples of 36-month-old children is related concurrently to the Bracken scale, a standard index of early cognitive development skills including letter and color identification, shape recognition, and elementary numeric comprehension. In the U.S. sample, these effects also replicate prospectively. Statistical controls for income, child gender, maternal age, and maternal education are incorporated throughout. In both samples the association between crowding and cognitive development are mediated by maternal responsiveness. Mothers in more crowded homes are less responsive to their children. © 2010 Sage Publications
An Atom Laser Based on Raman Transitions
In this paper we present an atom laser scheme using a Raman transition for
the output coupling of atoms. A beam of thermal atoms (bosons) in a metastable
atomic state are pumped into a multimode atomic cavity. This cavity is
coupled through spontaneous emission to a single mode of another cavity for the
ground atomic state, . Above a certain threshold pumping rate a large
number of atoms, , builds up in this single quantum state and transitions
to the ground state of the cavity become enhanced by a factor .
Atoms in this state are then coupled to the outside of the cavity with a Raman
transition. This changes the internal state of the atom and imparts a momentum
kick, allowing the atoms to leave the system.Comment: 8 pages, 4 postscript figures, uses RevTex, home page at
http://online.anu.edu.au/Physics/Welcome.html (Some aspects of the exact
physical model have changed from original version. Other general improvements
included
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