Relation between the eigenfrequencies of Bogoliubov excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates and the eigenvalues of the Jacobian in a time-dependent variational approach

We study the relation between the eigenfrequencies of the Bogoliubov excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates, and the eigenvalues of the Jacobian stability matrix in a variational approach which maps the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to a system of equations of motion for the variational parameters. We do this for Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive contact interaction in an external trap, and for a simple model of a self-trapped Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive 1/r interaction. The stationary solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and Bogoliubov excitations are calculated using a finite-difference scheme. The Bogoliubov spectra of the ground and excited state of the self-trapped monopolar condensate exhibits a Rydberg-like structure, which can be explained by means of a quantum defect theory. On the variational side, we treat the problem using an ansatz of time-dependent coupled Gaussians combined with spherical harmonics. We first apply this ansatz to a condensate in an external trap without long-range interaction, and calculate the excitation spectrum with the help of the time-dependent variational principle. Comparing with the full-numerical results, we find a good agreement for the eigenfrequencies of the lowest excitation modes with arbitrary angular momenta. The variational method is then applied to calculate the excitations of the self-trapped monopolar condensates, and the eigenfrequencies of the excitation modes are compared.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

"Of Mice and Measures": A Project to Improve How We Advance Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Therapies to the Clinic

A new line of dystrophic mdx mice on the DBA/2J (D2) background has emerged as a candidate to study the efficacy of therapeutic approaches for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). These mice harbor genetic polymorphisms that appear to increase the severity of the dystropathology, with disease modifiers that also occur in DMD patients, making them attractive for efficacy studies and drug development. This workshop aimed at collecting and consolidating available data on the pathological features and the natural history of these new D2/mdx mice, for comparison with classic mdx mice and controls, and to identify gaps in information and their potential value. The overall aim is to establish guidance on how to best use the D2/mdx mouse model in preclinical studies

Interpolated wave functions for nonadiabatic simulations with the fixed-node quantum Monte Carlo method

Simulating nonadiabatic effects with many-body wave function approaches is an open field with many challenges. Recent interest has been driven by new algorithmic developments and improved theoretical understanding of properties unique to electron-ion wave functions. Fixed-node diffusion Monte Caro is one technique that has shown promising results for simulating electron-ion systems. In particular, we focus on the CH molecule for which previous results suggested a relatively significant contribution to the energy from nonadiabatic effects. We propose a new wave function ansatz for diatomic systems which involves interpolating the determinant coefficients calculated from configuration interaction methods. We find this to be an improvement beyond previous wave function forms that have been considered. The calculated nonadiabatic contribution to the energy in the CH molecule is reduced compared to our previous results, but still remains the largest among the molecules under consideration.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Non-adiabatic and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy for molecular systems

We quantify the non-adiabatic contributions to the vibronic sidebands of equilibrium and explicitly time-resolved non-equilibrium photoelectron spectra for a vibronic model system of Trans-Polyacetylene. Using exact diagonalization, we directly evaluate the sum-over-states expressions for the linear-response photocurrent. We show that spurious peaks appear in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation for the vibronic spectral function, which are not present in the exact spectral function of the system. The effect can be traced back to the factorized nature of the Born-Oppenheimer initial and final photoemission states and also persists when either only initial, or final states are replaced by correlated vibronic states. Only when correlated initial and final vibronic states are taken into account, the spurious spectral weights of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation are suppressed. In the non-equilibrium case, we illustrate for an initial Franck-Condon excitation and an explicit pump-pulse excitation how the vibronic wavepacket motion of the system can be traced in the time-resolved photoelectron spectra as function of the pump-probe delay

Involvement of Noradrenergic Neurotransmission in the Stress- but not Cocaine-Induced Reinstatement of Extinguished Cocaine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Mice: Role for β-2 Adrenergic Receptors

The responsiveness of central noradrenergic systems to stressors and cocaine poses norepinephrine as a potential common mechanism through which drug re-exposure and stressful stimuli promote relapse. This study investigated the role of noradrenergic systems in the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-induced conditioned place preference by cocaine and stress in male C57BL/6 mice. Cocaine- (15 mg/kg, i.p.) induced conditioned place preference was extinguished by repeated exposure to the apparatus in the absence of drug and reestablished by a cocaine challenge (15 mg/kg), exposure to a stressor (6-min forced swim (FS); 20–25°C water), or administration of the α-2 adrenergic receptor (AR) antagonists yohimbine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) or BRL44408 (5, 10 mg/kg, i.p.). To investigate the role of ARs, mice were administered the nonselective β-AR antagonist, propranolol (5, 10 mg/kg, i.p.), the α-1 AR antagonist, prazosin (1, 2 mg/kg, i.p.), or the α-2 AR agonist, clonidine (0.03, 0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) before reinstatement testing. Clonidine, prazosin, and propranolol failed to block cocaine-induced reinstatement. The low (0.03 mg/kg) but not high (0.3 mg/kg) clonidine dose fully blocked FS-induced reinstatement but not reinstatement by yohimbine. Propranolol, but not prazosin, blocked reinstatement by both yohimbine and FS, suggesting the involvement of β-ARs. The β-2 AR antagonist ICI-118551 (1 mg/kg, i.p.), but not the β-1 AR antagonist betaxolol (10 mg/kg, i.p.), also blocked FS-induced reinstatement. These findings suggest that stress-induced reinstatement requires noradrenergic signaling through β-2 ARs and that cocaine-induced reinstatement does not require AR activation, even though stimulation of central noradrenergic neurotransmission is sufficient to reinstate

Multi-variate analyses of flood loss in Can Tho city, Mekong delta

Floods in the Mekong delta are recurring events and cause substantial losses to the economy. Sea level rise and increasing precipitation during the wet season result in more frequent floods. For effective flood risk management, reliable losses and risk analyses are necessary. However, knowledge about damaging processes and robust assessments of flood losses in the Mekong delta are scarce. In order to fill this gap, we identify and quantify the effects of the most important variables determining flood losses in Can Tho city through multi-variate statistical analyses. Our analysis is limited to the losses of residential buildings and contents. Results reveal that under the specific flooding characteristics in the Mekong delta with relatively well-adapted households, long inundation durations and shallow water depths, inundation duration is more important than water depth for the resulting loss. However, also building and content values, floor space of buildings and building quality are important loss-determining variables. Human activities like undertaking precautionary measures also influence flood losses. The results are important for improving flood loss modelling and, consequently, flood risk assessments in the Mekong delta

Flood loss models and risk analysis for private households in can Tho City, Vietnam

Vietnam has a long history and experience with floods. Flood risk is expected to increase further due to climatic, land use and other global changes. Can Tho City, the cultural and economic center of the Mekong delta in Vietnam, is at high risk of flooding. To improve flood risk analyses for Vietnam, this study presents novel multi-variable flood loss models for residential buildings and contents and demonstrates their application in a flood risk assessment for the inner city of Can Tho. Cross-validation reveals that decision tree based loss models using the three input variables water depth, flood duration and floor space of building are more appropriate for estimating building and contents loss in comparison with depth-damage functions. The flood risk assessment reveals a median expected annual flood damage to private households of US$3340 thousand for the inner city of Can Tho. This is approximately 2.5%of the total annual income of households in the study area. For damage reduction improved flood risk management is required for the Mekong Delta, based on reliable damage and risk analyses