Spatial confinement of muonium atoms

We report the achievement of spatial confinement of muonium atoms (the bound state of a positive muon and an electron). Muonium emitted into vacuum from mesoporous silica reflects between two SiO$_2$ confining surfaces separated by 1 mm. From the data, one can extract that the reflection probability on the confining surfaces kept at 100 K is about 90% and the reflection process is well described by a cosine law. This technique enables new experiments with this exotic atomic system and is a very important step towards a measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency using continuous wave laser spectroscopy.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Contribution of cod liver oil-related nutrients (vitamins A, D, E and eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) to daily nutrient intake and their associations with plasma concentrations in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort

Total nutrient intake (TNI) is intake from food and supplements. This provides an assessment of nutrient adequacy and the prevalence of excessive intake, as well as the response with respect to biomarkers. Cod liver oil (CLO) is the most frequently consumed supplement in the UK, containing nutrients that might have varying influences on health. We calculated TNI for vitamins A, D and E, as well as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and assessed associations with the respective blood concentrations

Galectins and their involvement in ocular disease and development

Galectins are carbohydrate binding proteins with high affinity to ß-galactoside containing glycoconjugates. Understanding of the functions of galectins has grown steadily over the past decade, as a result of substantial advancements in the field of glycobiology. Galectins have been shown to be versatile molecules that participate in a range of important biological systems, including inflammation, neovascularisation and fibrosis. These processes are of particular importance in ocular tissues, where a major theme of recent research has been to divert diseases away from pathways which result in loss of function into pathways of repair and regeneration. This review summarises our current understanding galectins in the context important ocular diseases, followed by an update on current clinical studies and future directions

High temperature dielectric properties of cubic bismuth zinc tantalate.

Electrical properties of the parent phase in the Bi2O3–ZnO–Ta2O5 ternary system, cubic Bi1.5ZnTa1.5O7 (α-BZT), P, are investigated using impedance spectroscopy. P has permittivity (ɛ′) of 58, dielectric loss (tan δ) of 0.0023 at 30 °C and 1 MHz; temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) of −156 ppm/°C in the range of 30–300 °C at 1 MHz. A high degree of dispersion in the permittivity at low frequencies (<1 kHz) and temperatures above 500 °C is apparent. Dielectric losses exhibit non-frequency dependence at low temperatures presenting an increase at temperatures above 500 °C. A decrease of the loss occurs with increasing frequency

Author Reply : The relationship between alcohol intake and falls

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