Fluxon analogues and dark solitons in linearly coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

Two effectively one-dimensional parallel coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in the presence of external potentials are studied. The system is modelled by linearly coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations. In particular, grey-soliton-like solutions representing analogues of superconducting Josephson fluxons as well as coupled dark solitons are discussed. Theoretical approximations based on variational formulations are derived. It is found that the presence of a magnetic trap can destabilize the fluxon analogues. However, stabilization is possible by controlling the effective linear coupling between the condensates.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, The paper is to appear in Journal of Physics

Does Weight Status Influence Cardiovascular Response to Sitting Versus Standing While Performing Computer Work?

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Bifurcation scenario to Nikolaevskii turbulence in small systems

We show that the chaos in Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation occurs through period-doubling cascade (Feigenbaum scenario), in contrast, the chaos in Nikolaevskii equation occurs through torus-doubling bifurcation (Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse scenario).Comment: 8pages, 9figure

Structural insight into the TRIAP1/PRELI-like domain family of mitochondrial phospholipid transfer complexes

The composition of the mitochondrial membrane is important for its architecture and proper function. Mitochondria depend on a tightly regulated supply of phospholipid via intra-mitochondrial synthesis and by direct import from the endoplasmic reticulum. The Ups1/PRELI-like family together with its mitochondrial chaperones (TRIAP1/Mdm35) represent a unique heterodimeric lipid transfer system that is evolutionary conserved from yeast to man. Work presented here provides new atomic resolution insight into the function of a human member of this system. Crystal structures of free TRIAP1 and the TRIAP1–SLMO1 complex reveal how the PRELI domain is chaperoned during import into the intermembrane mitochondrial space. The structural resemblance of PRELI-like domain of SLMO1 with that of mammalian phoshatidylinositol transfer proteins (PITPs) suggest that they share similar lipid transfer mechanisms, in which access to a buried phospholipid-binding cavity is regulated by conformationally adaptable loops

Sleep, major depressive disorder and Alzheimer’s disease: a Mendelian randomisation study

Objective To explore the causal relationships between sleep, major depressive disorder (MDD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods We conducted bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomisation analyses. Genetic associations were obtained from the largest genome-wide association studies currently available in UK Biobank (N=446,118), the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (N=18,759), and the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (N=63,926). We used the inverse variance weighted Mendelian randomisation method to estimate causal effects, and weighted median and MR-Egger for sensitivity analyses to test for pleiotropic effects. Results We found that higher risk of AD was significantly associated with being a “morning person” (odds ratio (OR)=1.01, P=0.001), shorter sleep duration (self-reported: β=-0.006, P=1.9×10-4; accelerometer-based: β=-0.015, P=6.9×10-5), less likely to report long sleep (β=-0.003, P=7.3×10-7), earlier timing of the least active 5 hours (β=-0.024, P=1.7×10-13), and a smaller number of sleep episodes (β=-0.025, P=5.7×10-14) after adjusting for multiple comparisons. We also found that higher risk of AD was associated with lower risk of insomnia (OR=0.99, P=7×10-13). However, we did not find evidence either that these abnormal sleep patterns were causally related to AD or for a significant causal relationship between MDD and risk of AD. Conclusion We found that AD may causally influence sleep patterns. However, we did not find evidence supporting a causal role of disturbed sleep patterns for AD or evidence for a causal relationship between MDD and AD

The impact of population growth and climate change on food security in Africa:looking ahead to 2050

This work was funded by a PhD studentship for CH from the Scottish Food Security Alliance-Crops (Universities of Aberdeen and Dundee and the James Hutton Institute), and contributes to the Belmont Forum funded DEVIL project (NERC fund UK contribution: NE/M021327/1). JIM and RBM acknowledge funding from the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services, Scottish Government.Peer reviewedPostprin

Faint Infrared Flares from the Microquasar GRS 1915+105

We present simultaneous infrared and X-ray observations of the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105 using the Palomar 5-m telescope and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer on July 10, 1998 UT. Over the course of 5 hours, we observed 6 faint infrared (IR) flares with peak amplitudes of $\sim 0.3-0.6$ mJy and durations of $\sim 500-600$ seconds. These flares are associated with X-ray soft-dip/soft-flare cycles, as opposed to the brighter IR flares associated with X-ray hard-dip/soft-flare cycles seen in August 1997 by Eikenberry et al. (1998). Interestingly, the IR flares begin {\it before} the X-ray oscillations, implying an ``outside-in'' origin of the IR/X-ray cycle. We also show that the quasi-steady IR excess in August 1997 is due to the pile-up of similar faint flares. We discuss the implications of this flaring behavior for understanding jet formation in microquasars.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

ACHINOS: A Multi-Anode Read-Out for Position Reconstruction and Tracking with Spherical Proportional Counters

The spherical proportional counter is a versatile gaseous detector with physics applications ranging from rare event searches to fast neutron spectroscopy. In its simplest form, the detector operates with a single channel read-out, and uses pulse-shape information to reconstruct the interaction radius, which is used for background discrimination and target volume definition. Recent developments in the read-out instrumentation have enabled the use of a multi-anode read-out structure, ACHINOS. The multiple anodes provide information about the interaction position which, coupled with the radial information, can be used to reconstruct an ionisation track. This ability has implications for several applications of the detector, for example, background discrimination in rare event searches.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

3C 48: Stellar Populations and the Kinematics of Stars and Gas in the Host Galaxy

We present deep Keck LRIS spectroscopy of the host galaxy of 3C 48. Our observations at various slit positions sample the different luminous components near the quasar, including the apparent tidal tail to the NW and several strong emission line regions. By fitting Bruzual & Charlot (1996) population synthesis models to our spectra, we obtain ages for the most recent major episodes of star formation in various parts of the host galaxy covered by our slits. There is vigorous current star formation in regions just NE and SE of the quasar and post-starburst regions with ages up to ~10^8 years in other parts of the host galaxy, but most of the NW tidal tail shows no sign of significant recent star formation. We use these model fits, together with the kinematics of the stars and gas, to outline a plausible evolutionary history for the host galaxy, its recent starburst activity, the triggering of the quasar, and the interaction of the radio jet with the ambient gas. There is strong evidence that the 3C 48 host is an ongoing merger, and that it is probably near the peak of its starburst activity. Nevertheless, the quasar itself seems to suffer little extinction, perhaps because we are viewing it along a particularly favorable line-of-sight.Comment: 27 pages plus 11 figures (7 postscript, 4 gif). Postscript version including figures (1840 kb) available at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~canaguby/preprints.html . Accepted for publication in Ap