Observation of pseudogap behavior in a strongly interacting Fermi gas

Ultracold atomic Fermi gases present an opportunity to study strongly interacting Fermi systems in a controlled and uncomplicated setting. The ability to tune attractive interactions has led to the discovery of superfluidity in these systems with an extremely high transition temperature, near T/T_F = 0.2. This superfluidity is the electrically neutral analog of superconductivity; however, superfluidity in atomic Fermi gases occurs in the limit of strong interactions and defies a conventional BCS description. For these strong interactions, it is predicted that the onset of pairing and superfluidity can occur at different temperatures. This gives rise to a pseudogap region where, for a range of temperatures, the system retains some of the characteristics of the superfluid phase, such as a BCS-like dispersion and a partially gapped density of states, but does not exhibit superfluidity. By making two independent measurements: the direct observation of pair condensation in momentum space and a measurement of the single-particle spectral function using an analog to photoemission spectroscopy, we directly probe the pseudogap phase. Our measurements reveal a BCS-like dispersion with back-bending near the Fermi wave vector k_F that persists well above the transition temperature for pair condensation

KC-SMARTR: An R package for detection of statistically significant aberrations in multi-experiment aCGH data

Background: Most approaches used to find recurrent or differential DNA Copy Number Alterations (CNA) in array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) data from groups of tumour samples depend on the discretization of the aCGH data to gain, loss or no-change states. This causes loss of valuable biological information in tumour samples, which are frequently heterogeneous. We have previously developed an algorithm, KC-SMART, that bases its estimate of the magnitude of the CNA at a given genomic location on kernel convolution (Klijn et al., 2008). This accounts for the intensity of the probe signal, its local genomic environment and the signal distribution across multiple samples. Results: Here we extend the approach to allow comparative analyses of two groups of samples and introduce the R implementation of these two approaches. The comparative module allows for a supervised analysis to be performed, to enable the identification of regions that are differentially aberrated between two user-defined classes. We analyzed data from a series of B- and T-cell lymphomas and were able to retrieve all positive control regions (VDJ regions) in addition to a number of new regions. A t-test employing segmented data, that we implemented, was also able to locate all the positive control regions and a number of new regions but these regions were highly fragmented. Conclusions: KC-SMARTR offers recurrent CNA and class specific CNA detection, at different genomic scales, in a single package without the need for additional segmentation. It is memory efficient and runs on a wide range of machines. Most importantly, it does not rely on data discretization and therefore maximally exploits the biological information in the aCGH data.MediamaticsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc

Transcription profiling reveals potential mechanisms of dysbiosis in the oral microbiome of rhesus macaques with chronic untreated SIV infection.

A majority of individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have inadequate access to antiretroviral therapy and ultimately develop debilitating oral infections that often correlate with disease progression. Due to the impracticalities of conducting host-microbe systems-based studies in HIV infected patients, we have evaluated the potential of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infected rhesus macaques to serve as a non-human primate model for oral manifestations of HIV disease. We present the first description of the rhesus macaque oral microbiota and show that a mixture of human commensal bacteria and "macaque versions" of human commensals colonize the tongue dorsum and dental plaque. Our findings indicate that SIV infection results in chronic activation of antiviral and inflammatory responses in the tongue mucosa that may collectively lead to repression of epithelial development and impact the microbiome. In addition, we show that dysbiosis of the lingual microbiome in SIV infection is characterized by outgrowth of Gemella morbillorum that may result from impaired macrophage function. Finally, we provide evidence that the increased capacity of opportunistic pathogens (e.g. E. coli) to colonize the microbiome is associated with reduced production of antimicrobial peptides

A Minimal Threshold of c-di-GMP Is Essential for Fruiting Body Formation and Sporulation in Myxococcus xanthus

Generally, the second messenger bis-(3’-5’)-cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) regulates the switch between motile and sessile lifestyles in bacteria. Here, we show that c-di-GMP is an essential regulator of multicellular development in the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. In response to starvation, M. xanthus initiates a developmental program that culminates in formation of spore-filled fruiting bodies. We show that c-di-GMP accumulates at elevated levels during development and that this increase is essential for completion of development whereas excess c-di-GMP does not interfere with development. MXAN3735 (renamed DmxB) is identified as a diguanylate cyclase that only functions during development and is responsible for this increased c-di-GMP accumulation. DmxB synthesis is induced in response to starvation, thereby restricting DmxB activity to development. DmxB is essential for development and functions downstream of the Dif chemosensory system to stimulate exopolysaccharide accumulation by inducing transcription of a subset of the genes encoding proteins involved in exopolysaccharide synthesis. The developmental defects in the dmxB mutant are non-cell autonomous and rescued by co-development with a strain proficient in exopolysaccharide synthesis, suggesting reduced exopolysaccharide accumulation as the causative defect in this mutant. The NtrC-like transcriptional regulator EpsI/Nla24, which is required for exopolysaccharide accumulation, is identified as a c-diGMP receptor, and thus a putative target for DmxB generated c-di-GMP. Because DmxB can be—at least partially—functionally replaced by a heterologous diguanylate cyclase, these results altogether suggest a model in which a minimum threshold level of c-di-GMP is essential for the successful completion of multicellular development in M. xanthus

Metastability and Coherence of Repulsive Polarons in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Mixture

Ultracold Fermi gases with tuneable interactions represent a unique test bed to explore the many-body physics of strongly interacting quantum systems. In the past decade, experiments have investigated a wealth of intriguing phenomena, and precise measurements of ground-state properties have provided exquisite benchmarks for the development of elaborate theoretical descriptions. Metastable states in Fermi gases with strong repulsive interactions represent an exciting new frontier in the field. The realization of such systems constitutes a major challenge since a strong repulsive interaction in an atomic quantum gas implies the existence of a weakly bound molecular state, which makes the system intrinsically unstable against decay. Here, we exploit radio-frequency spectroscopy to measure the complete excitation spectrum of fermionic 40K impurities resonantly interacting with a Fermi sea of 6Li atoms. In particular, we show that a well-defined quasiparticle exists for strongly repulsive interactions. For this "repulsive polaron" we measure its energy and its lifetime against decay. We also probe its coherence properties by measuring the quasiparticle residue. The results are well described by a theoretical approach that takes into account the finite effective range of the interaction in our system. We find that a non-zero range of the order of the interparticle spacing results in a substantial lifetime increase. This major benefit for the stability of the repulsive branch opens up new perspectives for investigating novel phenomena in metastable, repulsively interacting fermion systems.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Disparities and risks of sexually transmissible infections among men who have sex with men in China: a meta-analysis and data synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including Hepatitis B and C virus, are emerging public health risks in China, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). This study aims to assess the magnitude and risks of STIs among Chinese MSM. METHODS: Chinese and English peer-reviewed articles were searched in five electronic databases from January 2000 to February 2013. Pooled prevalence estimates for each STI infection were calculated using meta-analysis. Infection risks of STIs in MSM, HIV-positive MSM and male sex workers (MSW) were obtained. This review followed the PRISMA guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO. RESULTS: Eighty-eight articles (11 in English and 77 in Chinese) investigating 35,203 MSM in 28 provinces were included in this review. The prevalence levels of STIs among MSM were 6.3% (95% CI: 3.5-11.0%) for chlamydia, 1.5% (0.7-2.9%) for genital wart, 1.9% (1.3-2.7%) for gonorrhoea, 8.9% (7.8-10.2%) for hepatitis B (HBV), 1.2% (1.0-1.6%) for hepatitis C (HCV), 66.3% (57.4-74.1%) for human papillomavirus (HPV), 10.6% (6.2-17.6%) for herpes simplex virus (HSV-2) and 4.3% (3.2-5.8%) for Ureaplasma urealyticum. HIV-positive MSM have consistently higher odds of all these infections than the broader MSM population. As a subgroup of MSM, MSW were 2.5 (1.4-4.7), 5.7 (2.7-12.3), and 2.2 (1.4-3.7) times more likely to be infected with chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HCV than the broader MSM population, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prevalence levels of STIs among MSW were significantly higher than the broader MSM population. Co-infection of HIV and STIs were prevalent among Chinese MSM. Integration of HIV and STIs healthcare and surveillance systems is essential in providing effective HIV/STIs preventive measures and treatments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO NO: CRD42013003721

The Impact of Case Diagnosis Coverage and Diagnosis Delays on the Effectiveness of Antiviral Strategies in Mitigating Pandemic Influenza A/H1N1 2009

BACKGROUND: Neuraminidase inhibitors were used to reduce the transmission of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 at the early stages of the 2009/2010 pandemic. Policies for diagnosis of influenza for the purposes of antiviral intervention differed markedly between and within countries, leading to differences in the timing and scale of antiviral usage. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The impact of the percentage of symptomatic infected individuals who were diagnosed, and of delays to diagnosis, for three antiviral intervention strategies (each with and without school closure) were determined using a simulation model of an Australian community. Epidemic characteristics were based on actual data from the A/H1N1 2009 pandemic including reproduction number, serial interval and age-specific infection rate profile. In the absence of intervention an illness attack rate (AR) of 24.5% was determined from an estimated R(0) of 1.5; this was reduced to 21%, 16.5% or 13% by treatment-only, treatment plus household prophylaxis, or treatment plus household plus extended prophylaxis antiviral interventions respectively, assuming that diagnosis occurred 24 hours after symptoms arose and that 50% of symptomatic cases were diagnosed. If diagnosis occurred without delay, ARs decreased to 17%, 12.2% or 8.8% respectively. If 90% of symptomatic cases were diagnosed (with a 24 hour delay), ARs decreased to 17.8%, 11.1% and 7.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The ability to rapidly diagnose symptomatic cases and to diagnose a high proportion of cases was shown to improve the effectiveness of all three antiviral strategies. For epidemics with R(0)< = 1.5 our results suggest that when the case diagnosis coverage exceeds ∼70% the size of the antiviral stockpile required to implement the extended prophylactic strategy decreases. The addition of at least four weeks of school closure was found to further reduce cumulative and peak attack rates and the size of the required antiviral stockpile

Sulfur Nanoparticles Synthesis and Characterization from H2S Gas, Using Novel Biodegradable Iron Chelates in W/O Microemulsion

Sulfur nanoparticles were synthesized from hazardous H2S gas using novel biodegradable iron chelates in w/o microemulsion system. Fe3+–malic acid chelate (0.05 M aqueous solution) was studied in w/o microemulsion containing cyclohexane, Triton X-100 andn-hexanol as oil phase, surfactant, co-surfactant, respectively, for catalytic oxidation of H2S gas at ambient conditions of temperature, pressure, and neutral pH. The structural features of sulfur nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), diffused reflectance infra-red Fourier transform technique, and BET surface area measurements. XRD analysis indicates the presence of α-sulfur. TEM analysis shows that the morphology of sulfur nanoparticles synthesized in w/o microemulsion system is nearly uniform in size (average particle size 10 nm) and narrow particle size distribution (in range of 5–15 nm) as compared to that in aqueous surfactant systems. The EDS analysis indicated high purity of sulfur (>99%). Moreover, sulfur nanoparticles synthesized in w/o microemulsion system exhibit higher antimicrobial activity (against bacteria, yeast, and fungi) than that of colloidal sulfur

Quality of Care in Contraceptive Services Provided to Young People in Two Ugandan Districts: A Simulated Client Study

BACKGROUND: Low and inconsistent use of contraceptives by young people contributes to unintended pregnancies. This study assessed quality of contraceptive services for young people aged 15-24 in two rural districts in Uganda. METHODS: Five female and two male simulated clients (SCs) interacted with 128 providers at public, private not-for-profit (PNFP), and private for profit (PFP) health facilities. After consultations, SCs were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Six aspects of quality of care (client's needs, choice of contraceptive methods, information given to users, client-provider interpersonal relations, constellation of services, and continuity mechanisms) were assessed. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were performed. RESULTS: Means and categorized quality scores for all aspects of quality were low in both public and private facilities. The lowest quality scores were observed in PFP, and medium scores in PNFP facilities. The choice of contraceptive methods and interpersonal relations quality scores were slightly higher in public facilities. Needs assessment scores were highest in PNFP facilities. All facilities were classified as having low scores for appropriate constellation of services. Information given to users was suboptimal and providers promoted specific contraceptive methods. Minority of providers offered preferred method of choice and showed respect for privacy. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of contraceptive services provided to young people was low. Concurrent quality improvements and strengthening of health systems are needed