2,441 research outputs found
Do good health and material circumstances protect older people from the increased risk of death after bereavement?
This is an open access Article. Copyright @ 2012 The AuthorsAn increased risk of death in persons who have suffered spousal bereavement has been described in many populations. The impact of modifying factors, such as chronic disease and material circumstances, is less well understood. The authors followed 171,120 couples 60 years of age or older in a United Kingdom primary care database between 2005 and 2010 for an average of 4 years. A total of 26,646 (15.5%) couples experienced bereavement, with mean follow up after bereavement of 2 years. In a model adjusted for age, sex, comorbid conditions at baseline, material deprivation based on area of residence, season, and smoking status, the hazard ratio for mortality in the first year after bereavement was 1.25 (95% confidence interval: 1.18, 1.33). Further adjustment for changes in comorbid conditions throughout follow up did not alter the hazard ratio for bereavement (hazard ratio = 1.27, 95% confidence interval: 1.19, 1.35). The association was strongest in individuals with no significant chronic comorbid conditions throughout follow up (hazard ratio = 1.50, 95% confidence interval: 1.28, 1.77) and in more affluent couples (P = 0.035). In the first year after bereavement, the association between bereavement and death is not primarily mediated through worsening or new onset of chronic disease. Good health and material circumstances do not protect individuals from increased mortality rates after bereavement.This study was funded by a grant from the Dunhill Medical Trust
Spontaneous squeezing of a vortex in an optical lattice
We study the equilibrium states of a vortex in a Bose-Einstein condensate in
a one-dimensional optical lattice. We find that quantum effects can be
important and that it is even possible for the vortex to be strongly squeezed,
which reflects itself in a different quantum mechanical uncertainty of the
vortex position in two orthogonal directions. The latter is observable by
measuring the atomic density after an expansion of the Bose-Einstein condensate
in the lattice.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, more details added, some new citation
Quantum theory of a vortex line in an optical lattice
We investigate the quantum theory of a vortex line in a stack of
weakly-coupled two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates, that is created by a
one-dimensional optical lattice. We derive the dispersion relation of the
Kelvin modes of the vortex line and also study the coupling between the Kelvin
modes and the quadrupole modes. We solve the coupled dynamics of the vortex
line and the quadrupole modes, both classically as well as quantum
mechanically. The quantum mechanical solution reveals the possibility of
generating nonequilibrium squeezed vortex states by strongly driving the
quadrupole modes.Comment: Minor changes in response to a referee repor
Vortex structure in spinor F=2 Bose-Einstein condensates
Extended Gross-Pitaevskii equations for the rotating F=2 condensate in a
harmonic trap are solved both numerically and variationally using trial
functions for each component of the wave function. Axially-symmetric vortex
solutions are analyzed and energies of polar and cyclic states are calculated.
The equilibrium transitions between different phases with changing of the
magnetization are studied. We show that at high magnetization the ground state
of the system is determined by interaction in "density" channel, and at low
magnetization spin interactions play a dominant role. Although there are five
hyperfine states, all the particles are always condensed in one, two or three
states. Two novel types of vortex structures are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Nuclear antiferromagnetism in rhodium metal at positive and negative nanokelvin temperatures
We have measured the dynamic susceptibility of polycrystalline rhodium foils down to 280 pK and up to -750 pK. These record-low and -high nuclear spin temperatures were reached by adiabatic demagnetization using initial polarizations of 83 and -60%. At T>0, the static susceptibility, integrated from NMR spectra, displays an antiferromagnetic Curie-Weiss law, with θ=-1.8±0.3 nK. At T<0, a crossover from ferro- to antiferromagnetic tendency is found around -6 nK. We obtain Jnn/h=-17±3 Hz and Jnnn/h=10±3 Hz if only nearest and next nearest neighbor interactions are assumed.Peer reviewe
Quantum Numbers for Excitations of Bose-Einstein Condensates in 1D Optical Lattices
The excitation spectrum and the band structure of a Bose-Einstein condensate
in a periodic potential are investigated. Analyses within full 3D systems,
finite 1D systems, and ideal periodic 1D systems are compared. We find two
branches of excitations in the spectra of the finite 1D model. The band
structures for the first and (part of) the second band are compared between a
finite 1D and the fully periodic 1D systems, utilizing a new definition of a
effective wavenumber and a phase-slip number. The upper and lower edges of the
first gap coincide well between the two cases. The remaining difference is
explained by the existence of the two branches due to the finite-size effect.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figure
Vortex oscillations in confined Bose-Einstein condensate interacting with 1D optical lattice
We study Bose-Einstein condensate of atomic Boson gases trapped in a
composite potential of a harmonic potential and an optical lattice potential.
We found a series of collective excitations that induces localized vortex
oscillations with a characteristic wavelength. The oscillations might be
observed experimentally when radial confinement is tight. We present the
excitation spectra of the vortex oscillation modes and propose a way to
experimentally excite the modes.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. Title, abstract and references are update
Controlling two-species Mott-insulator phses in an optical lattice to form an array of dipolar molecules
We consider the transfer of a two-species Bose-Einstein condensate into an
optical lattice with a density such that that a Mott-insulator state with one
atom per species per lattice site is obtained in the deep lattice regime.
Depending on collision parameters the result could be either a `mixed' or a
`separated' Mott-insulator phase. Such a `mixed' two-species insulator could
then be photo-associated into an array of dipolar molecules suitable for
quantum computation or the formation of a dipolar molecular condensate. For the
case of a Rb-K two-species BEC, however, the large inter-species
scattering length makes obtaining the desired `mixed' Mott insulator phase
difficult. To overcome this difficulty we investigate the effect of varying the
lattice frequency on the mean-field interaction and find a favorable parameter
regime under which a lattice of dipolar molecules could be generated
Bose-Einstein condensation in shallow traps
In this paper we study the properties of Bose-Einstein condensates in shallow
traps. We discuss the case of a Gaussian potential, but many of our results
apply also to the traps having a small quadratic anharmonicity. We show the
errors introduced when a Gaussian potential is approximated with a parabolic
potential, these errors can be quite large for realistic optical trap parameter
values. We study the behavior of the condensate fraction as a function of trap
depth and temperature and calculate the chemical potential of the condensate in
a Gaussian trap. Finally we calculate the frequencies of the collective
excitations in shallow spherically symmetric and 1D traps.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Have regional inequalities in life expectancy widened within the European Union between 1991 and 2008?
<b>BACKGROUND:</b> Health inequalities have widened within and between many European countries over recent decades, but Europe-wide sub-national trends have been largely overlooked. For regions across the European Union (EU), we assess how geographical inequalities (i.e., between regions) and sociospatial inequalities (i.e., between regions grouped by an area-level measure of average household income) in male and female life expectancy have changed between 1991 and 2008.<p></p>
<b>METHODS:</b> Household income, life expectancy at birth and population count data were obtained for 129 regions (level 2 Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units, 'NUTS') in 13 European countries with 1991-2008 data (2008 population = 272 million). We assessed temporal changes in the range of life expectancies, for all regions and for Western and Eastern European regions separately.<p></p>
<b>RESULTS:</b> Between 1991 and 2008, the geographical range of life expectancies found among European regions remained relatively constant, with the exception of life expectancy among male Eastern Europeans, for whom the range widened by 2.8 years. Sociospatial inequalities in life expectancy (1999-2008 data only) remained constant for all regions combined and for Western Europe, but more than doubled in size for male Eastern Europeans. For female Eastern Europeans, life expectancy was unrelated to regional household income.<p></p>
<b>CONCLUSIONS:</b>Regional life-expectancy inequalities in the EU have not narrowed over 2 decades, despite efforts to reduce them. Household income differences across European regions may partly explain these inequalities. As inequalities transcend national borders, reduction efforts may require EU-wide coordination in addition to national efforts.<p></p>
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