15,095 research outputs found
Transplacental transmission of field and rescued strains of BTV-2 and BTV-8 in experimentally infected sheep
Transplacental transmission of bluetongue virus has been shown previously for the North European strain of serotype 8 (BTV-8) and for tissue culture or chicken egg-adapted vaccine strains but not for field strains of other serotypes. In this study, pregnant ewes (6 per group) were inoculated with either field or rescued strains of BTV-2 and BTV-8 in order to determine the ability of these viruses to cross the placental barrier. The field BTV-2 and BTV-8 strains was passaged once in Culicoides KC cells and once in mammalian cells. All virus inoculated sheep became infected and seroconverted against the different BTV strains used in this study. BTV RNA was detectable in the blood of all but two ewes for over 28 days but infectious virus could only be detected in the blood for a much shorter period. Interestingly, transplacental transmission of BTV-2 (both field and rescued strains) was demonstrated at high efficiency (6 out of 13 lambs born to BTV-2 infected ewes) while only 1 lamb of 12 born to BTV-8 infected ewes showed evidence of in utero infection. In addition, evidence for horizontal transmission of BTV-2 between ewes was observed. As expected, the parental BTV-2 and BTV-8 viruses and the viruses rescued by reverse genetics showed very similar properties to each other. This study showed, for the first time, that transplacental transmission of BTV-2, which had been minimally passaged in cell culture, can occur; hence such transmission might be more frequent than previously thought
Comment on "Can one predict DNA Transcription Start Sites by Studying Bubbles?"
Comment on T.S. van Erp, S. Cuesta-Lopez, J.-G. Hagmann, and M. Peyrard,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 218104 (2005) [arXiv: physics/0508094]
Discrete Nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger Breathers in a Phonon Bath
We study the dynamics of the discrete nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger lattice
initialized such that a very long transitory period of time in which standard
Boltzmann statistics is insufficient is reached. Our study of the nonlinear
system locked in this {\em non-Gibbsian} state focuses on the dynamics of
discrete breathers (also called intrinsic localized modes). It is found that
part of the energy spontaneously condenses into several discrete breathers.
Although these discrete breathers are extremely long lived, their total number
is found to decrease as the evolution progresses. Even though the total number
of discrete breathers decreases we report the surprising observation that the
energy content in the discrete breather population increases. We interpret
these observations in the perspective of discrete breather creation and
annihilation and find that the death of a discrete breather cause effective
energy transfer to a spatially nearby discrete breather. It is found that the
concepts of a multi-frequency discrete breather and of internal modes is
crucial for this process. Finally, we find that the existence of a discrete
breather tends to soften the lattice in its immediate neighborhood, resulting
in high amplitude thermal fluctuation close to an existing discrete breather.
This in turn nucleates discrete breather creation close to a already existing
discrete breather
Note on SLE and logarithmic CFT
It is discussed how stochastic evolutions may be linked to logarithmic
conformal field theory. This introduces an extension of the stochastic Loewner
evolutions. Based on the existence of a logarithmic null vector in an
indecomposable highest-weight module of the Virasoro algebra, the
representation theory of the logarithmic conformal field theory is related to
entities conserved in mean under the stochastic process.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, v2: version to be publishe
Magnetoinductive breathers in magnetic metamaterials
The existence and stability of discrete breathers (DBs) in one-dimensional
and two-dimensional magnetic metamaterials (MMs), which consist of periodic
arrangem ents (arrays) of split-ring resonators (SRRs), is investigated
numerically. We consider different configurations of the SRR arrays, which are
related to the relative orientation of the SRRs in the MM, both in one and two
spatial dimensions. In the latter case we also consider anisotropic MMs. Using
standard numerical methods we construct several types of linearly stable
breather excitations both in Hamiltonian and dissipative MMs (dissipative
breathers). The study of stability in both cases is performed using standard
Floquet analysi s. In both cases we found that the increase of dimensionality
from one to two spatial dimensions does not destroy the DBs, which may also
exist in the case of moderate anisotropy (in two dimensions). In dissipative
MMs, the dynamics is governed by a power balance between the mainly Ohmic
dissipation and driving by an alternating magnetic field. In that case it is
demonstrated that DB excitation locally alters the magnetic response of MMs
from paramagnetic to diamagnetic. Moreover, when the frequency of the applied
field approaches the SRR resonance frequency, the magnetic response of the MM
in the region of the DB excitation may even become negative (extreme
diamagnetic).Comment: 12 pages 15 figure
Simulation of transition dynamics to high confinement in fusion plasmas
The transition dynamics from the low (L) to the high (H) confinement mode in
magnetically confined plasmas is investigated using a first-principles
four-field fluid model. Numerical results are in close agreement with
measurements from the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak - EAST.
Particularly, the slow transition with an intermediate dithering phase is well
reproduced by the numerical solutions. Additionally, the model reproduces the
experimentally determined L-H transition power threshold scaling that the ion
power threshold increases with increasing particle density. The results hold
promise for developing predictive models of the transition, essential for
understanding and optimizing future fusion power reactors
Research study of some RAM antennas Final report, 18 Nov. 1964 - 18 Jun. 1965
Input impedance and radiation pattern determinations for cylindrical gap, waveguide excited and circular waveguide slot antenna array
Hanle effect in coherent backscattering
We study the shape of the coherent backscattering (CBS) cone obtained when
resonant light illuminates a thick cloud of laser-cooled rubidium atoms in
presence of a homogenous magnetic field. We observe new magnetic
field-dependent anisotropies in the CBS signal. We show that the observed
behavior is due to the modification of the atomic radiation pattern by the
magnetic field (Hanle effect in the excited state).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Quantum transport in carbon nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are a versatile material in which many aspects of condensed
matter physics come together. Recent discoveries, enabled by sophisticated
fabrication, have uncovered new phenomena that completely change our
understanding of transport in these devices, especially the role of the spin
and valley degrees of freedom. This review describes the modern understanding
of transport through nanotube devices.
Unlike conventional semiconductors, electrons in nanotubes have two angular
momentum quantum numbers, arising from spin and from valley freedom. We focus
on the interplay between the two. In single quantum dots defined in short
lengths of nanotube, the energy levels associated with each degree of freedom,
and the spin-orbit coupling between them, are revealed by Coulomb blockade
spectroscopy. In double quantum dots, the combination of quantum numbers
modifies the selection rules of Pauli blockade. This can be exploited to read
out spin and valley qubits, and to measure the decay of these states through
coupling to nuclear spins and phonons. A second unique property of carbon
nanotubes is that the combination of valley freedom and electron-electron
interactions in one dimension strongly modifies their transport behaviour.
Interaction between electrons inside and outside a quantum dot is manifested in
SU(4) Kondo behavior and level renormalization. Interaction within a dot leads
to Wigner molecules and more complex correlated states.
This review takes an experimental perspective informed by recent advances in
theory. As well as the well-understood overall picture, we also state clearly
open questions for the field. These advances position nanotubes as a leading
system for the study of spin and valley physics in one dimension where
electronic disorder and hyperfine interaction can both be reduced to a very low
level.Comment: In press at Reviews of Modern Physics. 68 pages, 55 figure
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