Biotic indicators for ecological state change in Amazonian floodplains

Riverine floodplains are biologically diverse and productive ecosystems. Although tropical floodplains remain relatively conserved and ecologically functional compared to those at higher latitudes, they face accelerated hydropower development, climate change, and deforestation. Alterations to the flood pulse could act synergistically with other drivers of change to promote profound ecological state change at a large spatial scale. State change occurs when an ecosystem reaches a critical threshold or tipping point, which leads to an alternative qualitative state for the ecosystem. Visualizing an alternative state for Amazonian floodplains is not straightforward. Yet, it is critical to recognize that changes to the flood pulse could push tropical floodplain ecosystems over a tipping point with cascading adverse effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We characterize the Amazonian flood pulse regime, summarize evidence of flood pulse change, assess potential ecological repercussions, and provide a monitoring framework for tracking flood pulse change and detecting biotic responses

Interference between the halves of a double-well trap containing a Bose-Einstein condensate

Interference between the halves of a double-well trap containing a Bose-Einstein condensate is studied. It is found that when the atoms in the two wells are initially in the coherent state, the intensity exhibits collapses and revivals, but it does not for the initial Fock states. Whether the initial states are in the coherent states or in a Fock states, the fidelity time has nothing to do with collision. We point out that interference and its fidelity can be adjusted experimentally by properly preparing the number and initial states of the system.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Phy. rev.

Robust Entanglement in Atomic Systems via Lambda-Type Processes

It is shown that the system of two three-level atoms in $\Lambda$ configuration in a cavity can evolve to a long-lived maximum entangled state if the Stokes photons vanish from the cavity by means of either leakage or damping. The difference in evolution picture corresponding to the general model and effective model with two-photon process in two-level system is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Testing Broken U(1) Symmetry in a Two-Component Atomic Bose-Einstein Condensate

We present a scheme for determining if the quantum state of a small trapped Bose-Einstein condensate is a state with well defined number of atoms, a Fock state, or a state with a broken U(1) gauge symmetry, a coherent state. The proposal is based on the observation of Ramsey fringes. The population difference observed in a Ramsey fringe experiment will exhibit collapse and revivals due to the mean-field interactions. The collapse and revival times depend on the relative strength of the mean-field interactions for the two components and the initial quantum state of the condensate.Comment: 20 Pages RevTex, 3 Figure

Coherent dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in high-finesse optical cavities

We study the mutual interaction of a Bose-Einstein condensed gas with a single mode of a high-finesse optical cavity. We show how the cavity transmission reflects condensate properties and calculate the self-consistent intra-cavity light field and condensate evolution. Solving the coupled condensate-cavity equations we find that while falling through the cavity, the condensate is adiabatically transfered into the ground state of the periodic optical potential. This allows time dependent non-destructive measurements on Bose-Einstein condensates with intriguing prospects for subsequent controlled manipulation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures; revised version: added reference

Utilizing Technology for Diet and Exercise Change in Complex Chronic Conditions Across Diverse Environments (U-DECIDE): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome is common across many complex chronic disease groups. Advances in health technology have provided opportunities to support lifestyle interventions. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of a health technology-assisted lifestyle intervention in a patient-led model of care. METHODS: The study is a single-center, 26-week, randomized controlled trial. The setting is specialist kidney and liver disease clinics at a large Australian tertiary hospital. The participants will be adults with a complex chronic condition who are referred for dietetic assessment and display at least one feature of the metabolic syndrome. All participants will receive an individualized assessment and advice on diet quality from a dietitian, a wearable activity monitor, and standard care. Participants randomized to the intervention group will receive access to a suite of health technologies from which to choose, including common base components (text messages) and optional components (online and mobile app–based nutrition information, an online home exercise program, and group-based videoconferencing). Exposure to the optional aspects of the intervention will be patient-led, with participants choosing their preferred level of engagement. The primary outcome will be the feasibility of delivering the program, determined by safety, recruitment rate, retention, exposure uptake, and telehealth adherence. Secondary outcomes will be clinical effectiveness, patient-led goal attainment, treatment fidelity, exposure demand, and participant perceptions. Primary outcome data will be assessed descriptively and secondary outcomes will be assessed using an analysis of covariance. This study will provide evidence on the feasibility of the intervention in a tertiary setting for patients with complex chronic disease exhibiting features of the metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: The study was funded in 2019. Enrollment has commenced and is expected to be completed by June 2022. Data collection and follow up are expected to be completed by December 2022. Results from the analyses based on primary outcomes are expected to be submitted for publication by June 2023. CONCLUSIONS: The study will test the implementation of a health technology–assisted lifestyle intervention in a tertiary outpatient setting for a diverse group of patients with complex chronic conditions. It is novel in that it embeds patient choice into intervention exposure and will inform health service decision-makers in regards to the feasibility of scale and spread of technology-assisted access to care for a broader reach of specialist services. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12620001282976; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=378337 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/3755

Atomic diffraction from nanostructured optical potentials

We develop a versatile theoretical approach to the study of cold-atom diffractive scattering from light-field gratings by combining calculations of the optical near-field, generated by evanescent waves close to the surface of periodic nanostructured arrays, together with advanced atom wavepacket propagation on this optical potential.Comment: 8 figures, 10 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Robustness of nonclassical superpositions states against decoherence

We make a comparative study of quadrature squeezing, photon-number distribution and Wigner function in a decayed quantum system. Specifically, for a field mode prepared initially in cat states interacting with a zero-temperature environment, we show that the rate of reduction of the nonclassical effects in this system is proportional to the occurrence of the decoherence process.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results