10,658 research outputs found
Vertebrate DNA in Fecal Samples from Bonobos and Gorillas: Evidence for Meat Consumption or Artefact?
Background: Deciphering the behavioral repertoire of great apes is a challenge for several reasons. First, due to their elusive behavior in dense forest environments, great ape populations are often difficult to observe. Second, members of the genus Pan are known to display a great variety in their behavioral repertoire; thus, observations from one population are not necessarily representative for other populations. For example, bonobos (Pan paniscus) are generally believed to consume almost no vertebrate prey. However, recent observations show that at least some bonobo populations may consume vertebrate prey more commonly than previously believed. We investigated the extent of their meat consumption using PCR amplification of vertebrate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) segments from DNA extracted from bonobo feces. As a control we also attempted PCR amplifications from gorilla feces, a species assumed to be strictly herbivorous. Principal Findings: We found evidence for consumption of a variety of mammalian species in about 16% of the samples investigated. Moreover, 40% of the positive DNA amplifications originated from arboreal monkeys. However, we also found duiker and monkey mtDNA in the gorilla feces, albeit in somewhat lower percentages. Notably, the DNA sequences isolated from the two ape species fit best to the species living in the respective regions. This result suggests that the sequences are of regional origin and do not represent laboratory contaminants. Conclusions: Our results allow at least three possible and mutually not exclusive conclusions. First, all results may represent contamination of the feces by vertebrate DNA from the local environment. Thus, studies investigating a species' diet from feces DNA may be unreliable due to the low copy number of DNA originating from diet items. Second, there is some inherent difference between the bonobo and gorilla feces, with only the later ones being contaminated. Third, similar to bonobos, for which the consumption of monkeys has only recently been documented, the gorilla population investigated (for which very little observational data are as yet available) may occasionally consume small vertebrates. Although the last explanation is speculative, it should not be discarded a-priori given that observational studies continue to unravel new behaviors in great ape species
Finite-size effects in the dynamics of few bosons in a ring potential
We study the temporal evolution of a small number of ultra-cold bosonic
atoms confined in a ring potential. Assuming that initially the system is in a
solitary-wave solution of the corresponding mean-field problem, we identify
significant differences in the time evolution of the density distribution of
the atoms when it instead is evaluated with the many-body Schr\"odinger
equation. Three characteristic timescales are derived: the first is the period
of rotation of the wave around the ring, the second is associated with a
"decay" of the density variation, and the third is associated with periodic
"collapses" and "revivals" of the density variations, with a factor of separating each of them. The last two timescales tend to infinity in the
appropriate limit of large , in agreement with the mean-field approximation.
These findings are based on the assumption of the initial state being a
mean-field state. We confirm this behavior by comparison to the exact solutions
for a few-body system stirred by an external potential. We find that the exact
solutions of the driven system exhibit similar dynamical features.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physics
Atom detection and photon production in a scalable, open, optical microcavity
A microfabricated Fabry-Perot optical resonator has been used for atom
detection and photon production with less than 1 atom on average in the cavity
mode. Our cavity design combines the intrinsic scalability of microfabrication
processes with direct coupling of the cavity field to single-mode optical
waveguides or fibers. The presence of the atom is seen through changes in both
the intensity and the noise characteristics of probe light reflected from the
cavity input mirror. An excitation laser passing transversely through the
cavity triggers photon emission into the cavity mode and hence into the
single-mode fiber. These are first steps towards building an optical
microcavity network on an atom chip for applications in quantum information
processing.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. A typographical error in the published paper has
been corrected (equation of the corrected normalized variance, page 3, 2nd
paragraph
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Beyond viral suppression: the quality of life of people living with HIV in Sweden
Sweden has one of the best HIV treatment outcomes in the world and an estimated 95% of all diagnosed people living with HIV are virally suppressed, but the quality of life (QoL) is understudied. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between variables within sociodemographic, behavioural, clinical, psychological, sexual life, social support and personal resource component and the QoL of people living with HIV in Sweden. Data were derived from a cross-sectional, nation-wide survey completed by 15% (n = 1096) of all people living with HIV and collected at 15 infectious disease clinics and 2 needle exchange sites during 2014. Ordinal univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between potential contributors and QoL. Respondents reported high QoL: 63% rated their QoL 7 or higher on a scale ranging from 0 to 10. QoL was independent of gender, age, mode of HIV transmission and country of origin. Lower QoL was associated with recent homelessness, hazardous alcohol consumption, comorbidities, treatment side-effects, HIV-related physical symptoms, hopelessness, negative self-image, sexual dissatisfaction, and negative changes in sex life after HIV. The QoL of people living with HIV in Sweden was high overall, but still significantly influenced by HIV
Si/SiGe quantum dot with superconducting single-electron transistor charge sensor
We report a robust process for fabrication of surface-gated Si/SiGe quantum
dots (QDs) with an integrated superconducting single-electron transistor
(S-SET) charge sensor. A combination of a deep mesa etch and AlOx backfill is
used to reduce gate leakage. After the leakage current is suppressed, Coulomb
oscillations of the QD and the current-voltage characteristics of the S-SET are
observed at a temperature of 0.3 K. Coupling of the S-SET to the QD is
confirmed by using the S-SET to perform sensing of the QD charge state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Pyramidal micromirrors for microsystems and atom chips
Concave pyramids are created in the (100) surface of a silicon wafer by anisotropic etching in potassium hydroxide. High quality micromirrors are then formed by sputtering gold onto the smooth silicon (111) faces of the pyramids. These mirrors show great promise as high quality optical devices suitable for integration into micro-optoelectromechanical systems and atom chips. We have shown that structures of this shape can be used to laser-cool and hold atoms in a magneto-optical trap
Identifying single electron charge sensor events using wavelet edge detection
The operation of solid-state qubits often relies on single-shot readout using
a nanoelectronic charge sensor, and the detection of events in a noisy sensor
signal is crucial for high fidelity readout of such qubits. The most common
detection scheme, comparing the signal to a threshold value, is accurate at low
noise levels but is not robust to low-frequency noise and signal drift. We
describe an alternative method for identifying charge sensor events using
wavelet edge detection. The technique is convenient to use and we show that,
with realistic signals and a single tunable parameter, wavelet detection can
outperform thresholding and is significantly more tolerant to 1/f and
low-frequency noise.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Oscillator Strengths and Damping Constants for Atomic Lines in the J and H Bands
We have built a line list in the near-infrared J and H bands (1.00-1.34,
1.49-1.80 um) by gathering a series of laboratory and computed line lists.
Oscillator strengths and damping constants were computed or obtained by fitting
the solar spectrum.
The line list presented in this paper is, to our knowledge, the most complete
one now available, and supersedes previous lists.Comment: Accepted, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, tentatively scheduled for
the Sep. 1999 Vol. 124 #1 issue. Text and tables also available at
http://www.iagusp.usp.br/~jorge
Signatures of Valley Kondo Effect in Si/SiGe Quantum Dots
We report measurements consistent with the valley Kondo effect in Si/SiGe
quantum dots, evidenced by peaks in the conductance versus source-drain voltage
that show strong temperature dependence. The Kondo peaks show unusual behavior
in a magnetic field that we interpret as arising from the valley degree of
freedom. The interplay of valley and Zeeman splittings is suggested by the
presence of side peaks, revealing a zero-field valley splitting between 0.28 to
0.34 meV. A zero-bias conductance peak for non-zero magnetic field, a
phenomenon consistent with valley non- conservation in tunneling, is observed
in two samples.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
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