482 research outputs found
Emerging Viruses: Coming in on a Wrinkled Wing and a Prayer
The role that bats have played in the emergence of several new infectious diseases has been under review. Bats have been identified as the reservoir hosts of newly emergent viruses such as Nipah virus, Hendra virus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome–like coronaviruses. This article expands on recent findings about bats and viruses and their relevance to human infections. It briefly reviews the history of chiropteran viruses and discusses their emergence in the context of geography, phylogeny, and ecology. The public health and trade impacts of several outbreaks are also discussed. Finally, we attempt to predict where, when, and why we may see the emergence of new chiropteran viruses
The structure of flame filaments in chaotic flows
The structure of flame filaments resulting from chaotic mixing within a
combustion reaction is considered. The transverse profile of the filaments is
investigated numerically and analytically based on a one-dimensional model that
represents the effect of stirring as a convergent flow. The dependence of the
steady solutions on the Damkohler number and Lewis number is treated in detail.
It is found that, below a critical Damkohler number Da(crit), the flame is
quenched by the flow. The quenching transition appears as a result of a
saddle-node bifurcation where the stable steady filament solution collides with
an unstable one. The shape of the steady solutions for the concentration and
temperature profiles changes with the Lewis number and the value of Da(crit)
increases monotonically with the Lewis number. Properties of the solutions are
studied analytically in the limit of large Damkohler number and for small and
large Lewis number.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Physica
On the verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the correspondence principle (Part One)
In October 1924, the Physical Review, a relatively minor journal at the time,
published a remarkable two-part paper by John H. Van Vleck, working in virtual
isolation at the University of Minnesota. Van Vleck combined advanced
techniques of classical mechanics with Bohr's correspondence principle and
Einstein's quantum theory of radiation to find quantum analogues of classical
expressions for the emission, absorption, and dispersion of radiation. For
modern readers Van Vleck's paper is much easier to follow than the famous paper
by Kramers and Heisenberg on dispersion theory, which covers similar terrain
and is widely credited to have led directly to Heisenberg's "Umdeutung" paper.
This makes Van Vleck's paper extremely valuable for the reconstruction of the
genesis of matrix mechanics. It also makes it tempting to ask why Van Vleck did
not take the next step and develop matrix mechanics himself.Comment: 82 page
Hematology and serum chemistry reference values of stray dogs in Bangladesh
Hematology and serum chemistry values were obtained from 28 male and 22 female stray dogs in Chittagong Metropolitan area, Bangladesh. The goal of the study was to establish reference value for hematology and serum chemistry for these semi wild animals in relation to age, sex, reproductive stage and body condition. No significant differences were found for mean values of hemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, white blood cell, differential leukocyte count, total protein, albumin, glucose, cholesterol, phosphorus and potassium among or between sexes, ages, reproductive states or body conditions. Significant differences were noted for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p<0.02) between sexes. Among different age groups significant differences were found for total red blood cell count (p<0.001). Different body conditions have significant differences in red blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (p<0.001). Pregnant and non-pregnant females differed significantly in their red blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (p<0.001)
Recoil correction to the ground state energy of hydrogenlike atoms
The recoil correction to the ground state energy of hydrogenlike atoms is
calculated to all orders in \alpha Z in the range Z = 1-110. The nuclear size
corrections to the recoil effect are partially taken into account. In the case
of hydrogen, the relativistic recoil correction beyond the Salpeter
contribution and the nonrelativistic nuclear size correction to the recoil
effect, amounts to -7.2(2) kHz. The total recoil correction to the ground state
energy in hydrogenlike uranium (^{238}U^{91+}) constitutes 0.46 eV.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure (eps), Latex, submitted to Phys.Rev.
Heating rate and electrode charging measurements in a scalable, microfabricated, surface-electrode ion trap
We characterise the performance of a surface-electrode ion "chip" trap
fabricated using established semiconductor integrated circuit and
micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) microfabrication processes which are in
principle scalable to much larger ion trap arrays, as proposed for implementing
ion trap quantum information processing. We measure rf ion micromotion parallel
and perpendicular to the plane of the trap electrodes, and find that on-package
capacitors reduce this to <~ 10 nm in amplitude. We also measure ion trapping
lifetime, charging effects due to laser light incident on the trap electrodes,
and the heating rate for a single trapped ion. The performance of this trap is
found to be comparable with others of the same size scale.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figure
Quantum control of Sr in a miniature linear Paul trap
We report on the construction and characterization of an apparatus for
quantum information experiments using Sr ions. A miniature linear
radio-frequency (rf) Paul trap was designed and built. Trap frequencies above 1
MHz in all directions are obtained with 50 V on the trap end-caps and less than
1 W of rf power. We encode a quantum bit (qubit) in the two spin states of the
electronic ground-state of the ion. We constructed all the necessary
laser sources for laser cooling and full coherent manipulation of the ions'
external and internal states. Oscillating magnetic fields are used for coherent
spin rotations. High-fidelity readout as well as a coherence time of 2.5 ms are
demonstrated. Following resolved sideband cooling the average axial vibrational
quanta of a single trapped ion is and a heating rate of
ms is measured.Comment: 8 pages,9 figure
Post-Newtonian Gravitational Radiation
1 Introduction 2 Multipole Decomposition 3 Source Multipole Moments 4
Post-Minkowskian Approximation 5 Radiative Multipole Moments 6 Post-Newtonian
Approximation 7 Point-Particles 8 ConclusionComment: 46 pages, in Einstein's Field Equations and Their Physical
Implications, B. Schmidt (Ed.), Lecture Notes in Physics, Springe
Testing gravity to second post-Newtonian order: a field-theory approach
A new, field-theory-based framework for discussing and interpreting tests of
gravity, notably at the second post-Newtonian (2PN) level, is introduced.
Contrary to previous frameworks which attempted at parametrizing any
conceivable deviation from general relativity, we focus on the best motivated
class of models, in which gravity is mediated by a tensor field together with
one or several scalar fields. The 2PN approximation of these
"tensor-multi-scalar" theories is obtained thanks to a diagrammatic expansion
which allows us to compute the Lagrangian describing the motion of N bodies. In
contrast with previous studies which had to introduce many phenomenological
parameters, we find that the 2PN deviations from general relativity can be
fully described by only two new 2PN parameters, epsilon and zeta, beyond the
usual (Eddington) 1PN parameters beta and gamma. It follows from the basic
tenets of field theory, notably the absence of negative-energy excitations,
that (beta-1), epsilon and zeta (as well as any new parameter entering higher
post-Newtonian orders) must tend to zero with (gamma-1). It is also found that
epsilon and zeta do not enter the 2PN equations of motion of light. Therefore,
light-deflection or time-delay experiments cannot probe any theoretically
motivated 2PN deviation from general relativity, but they can give a clean
access to (gamma-1), which is of greatest significance as it measures the basic
coupling strength of matter to the scalar fields. Because of the importance of
self-gravity effects in neutron stars, binary-pulsar experiments are found to
constitute a unique testing ground for the 2PN structure of gravity. A
simplified analysis of four binary pulsars already leads to significant
constraints: |epsilon| < 7x10^-2, |zeta| < 6x10^-3.Comment: 63 pages, 11 figures.ps.tar.gz.uu, REVTeX 3.
Lyapunov exponents, bifurcation currents and laminations in bifurcation loci
Bifurcation loci in the moduli space of degree rational maps are shaped
by the hypersurfaces defined by the existence of a cycle of period and
multiplier 0 or . Using potential-theoretic arguments, we
establish two equidistribution properties for these hypersurfaces with respect
to the bifurcation current. To this purpose we first establish approximation
formulas for the Lyapunov function. In degree , this allows us to build
holomorphic motions and show that the bifurcation locus has a lamination
structure in the regions where an attracting basin of fixed period exists
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