780 research outputs found
Correlations in Ultracold Trapped Few-Boson Systems: Transition from Condensation to Fermionization
We study the correlation properties of the ground states of few ultracold
bosons, trapped in double wells of varying barrier height in one dimension.
Extending previous results on the signature of the transition from a
Bose-condensed state via fragmentation to the hard-core limit, we provide a
deeper understanding of that transition by relating it to the loss of coherence
in the one-body density matrix and to the emerging long-range tail in the
momentum spectrum. These are accounted for in detail by discussing the natural
orbitals and their occupations. Our discussion is complemented by an analysis
of the two-body correlation function.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure
Excitations of Few-Boson Systems in 1-D Harmonic and Double Wells
We examine the lowest excitations of one-dimensional few-boson systems
trapped in double wells of variable barrier height. Based on a numerically
exact multi-configurational method, we follow the whole pathway from the
non-interacting to the fermionization limit. It is shown how, in a purely
harmonic trap, the initially equidistant, degenerate levels are split up due to
interactions, but merge again for strong enough coupling. In a double well, the
low-lying spectrum is largely rearranged in the course of fermionization,
exhibiting level adhesion and (anti-)crossings. The evolution of the underlying
states is explained in analogy to the ground-state behavior. Our discussion is
complemented by illuminating the crossover from a single to a double well.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Quantum dynamics of two bosons in an anharmonic trap: Collective vs internal excitations
This work deals with the effects of an anharmonic trap on an interacting
two-boson system in one dimension. Our primary focus is on the role of the
induced coupling between the center of mass and the relative motion as both
anharmonicity and the (repulsive) interaction strength are varied. The ground
state reveals a strong localization in the relative coordinate, counteracting
the tendency to fragment for stronger repulsion. To explore the quantum
dynamics, we study the system's response upon (i) exciting the harmonic ground
state by continuously switching on an additional anharmonicity, and (ii)
displacing the center of mass, this way triggering collective oscillations. The
interplay between collective and internal dynamics materializes in the collapse
of oscillations, which are explained in terms of few-mode models.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Indomethacin decreases viscosity of gallbladder bile in patients with cholesterol gallstone disease
There is experimental evidence that inhibition of cyclooxygenase with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may decrease cholesterol gall-stone formation and mitigate biliary pain in gall-stone patients. The mechanisms by which NSAIDs exert these effect are unclear. In a prospective, controlled clinical trial we examined the effects of oral indomethacin on the composition of human gall-bladder bile. The study included 28 patients with symptomatic cholesterol or mixed gallstones. Of these, 8 were treated with 3 × 25 mg indomethacin daily for 7 days prior to elective cholecystectomy while 20 received no treatment and served as controls. Bile and tissue samples from the gallbladder were obtained during cholecystectomy. Indomethacin tissue levels in the gallbladder mucosa, as assessed by HPLC, were 1.05±0.4 ng/mg wet weight, a concentration known to inhibit effectively cyclooxygenase activity. Nevertheless, no differences between the treated and untreated groups were found in the concentrations of biliary mucus glycoprotein (0.94±0.27 versus 0.93±0.32 mg/ml) or total protein (5.8±0.9 versus 6.4±1.3 mg/ml), cholesterol saturation (1.3±0.2 versus 1.5±0.2), or nucleation time (2.0±3.0 versus 1.5±2.0 days). However, biliary viscosity, measured using a low-shear rotation viscosimeter, was significantly lower in patients receiving indomethacin treatment (2.9±0.6 versus 5.6±1.2 mPa.s; P < 0.02). In conclusion, in man oral indomethacin decreases bile viscosity without alteration of bile lithogenicity or biliary mucus glycoprotein content. Since mucus glycoproteins are major determinants of bile viscosity, an alteration in mucin macromolecular composition may conceivably cause the indomethacin-induced decrease in biliary viscosity and explain the beneficial effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in gallstone disease
Comparison of the Effects of Early Pregnancy with Human Interferon, Alpha 2 (IFNA2), on Gene Expression in Bovine Endometrium
Interferon tau (IFNT), a type I IFN similar to alpha IFNs (IFNA), is the pregnancy recognition signal produced by the ruminant conceptus. To elucidate specific effects of bovine IFNT and of other conceptus-derived factors, endometrial gene expression changes during early pregnancy were compared to gene expression changes after intrauterine application of human IFNA2. In experiment 1, endometrial tissue samples were obtained on Day (D) 12, D15, and D18 postmating from nonpregnant or pregnant heifers. In experiment 2, heifers were treated from D14 to D16 of the estrous cycle with an intrauterine device releasing IFNA2 or, as controls, placebo lipid extrudates or PBS only. Endometrial biopsies were performed after flushing the uterus. All samples from both experiments were analyzed with an Affymetrix Bovine Genome Array. Experiment 1 revealed differential gene expression between pregnant and nonpregnant endometria on D15 and D18. In experiment 2, IFNA2 treatment resulted in differential gene expression in the bovine endometrium. Comparison of the data sets from both studies identified genes that were differentially expressed in response to IFNA2 but not in response to pregnancy on D15 or D18. In addition, genes were found that were differentially expressed during pregnancy but not after IFNA2 treatment. In experiment 3, spatiotemporal alterations in expression of selected genes were determined in uteri from nonpregnant and early pregnant heifers using in situ hybridization. The overall findings of this study suggest differential effects of bovine IFNT compared to human IFNA2 and that some pregnancy-specific changes in the endometrium are elicited by conceptus-derived factors other than IFNT
N-Electron Giant Dipole States in Crossed Electric and Magnetic Fields
Multi-electron giant dipole resonances of atoms in crossed electric and
magnetic fields are investigated. Stationary configurations corresponding to a
highly symmetric arrangement of the electrons on a decentered circle are
derived, and a normal-mode and stability analysis are performed. A
classification of the various modes, which are dominated by the magnetic field
or the Coulomb interactions, is provided. Based on the MCTDH approach, we carry
out a six-dimensional wave-packet dynamical study for the two-electron
resonances, yielding in particular lifetimes of more than 0.1 s for strong
electric fields.Comment: 37 pages, 22 figs. (plus subfigures
Ubiquitin, a central component of selective cytoplasmic proteolysis, is linked to proteins residing at the locus of non-selective proteolysis, the vacuole
Ubiquitin, an evolutionary highly conserved protein, is known to be involved in selective proteolysis in the cytoplasm. Here we show that ubiquitin-protein conjugates are also found in the yeast vacuole. Mutants defective in the major vacuolar endopeptidases, proteinase yscA and yscB, lead to accumulation of ubiquitin-protein conjugates in this cellular organelle.
The dynamical Green's function and an exact optical potential for electron-molecule scattering including nuclear dynamics
We derive a rigorous optical potential for electron-molecule scattering
including the effects of nuclear dynamics by extending the common many-body
Green's function approach to optical potentials beyond the fixed-nuclei limit
for molecular targets. Our formalism treats the projectile electron and the
nuclear motion of the target molecule on the same footing whereby the dynamical
optical potential rigorously accounts for the complex many-body nature of the
scattering target. One central result of the present work is that the common
fixed-nuclei optical potential is a valid adiabatic approximation to the
dynamical optical potential even when projectile and nuclear motion are
(nonadiabatically) coupled as long as the scattering energy is well below the
electronic excitation thresholds of the target. For extremely low projectile
velocities, however, when the cross sections are most sensitive to the
scattering potential, we expect the influences of the nuclear dynamics on the
optical potential to become relevant. For these cases, a systematic way to
improve the adiabatic approximation to the dynamical optical potential is
presented that yields non-local operators with respect to the nuclear
coordinates.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, accepted for publ., Phys. Rev.
Radioactive 26Al and massive stars in the Galaxy
Gamma-rays from radioactive 26Al (half life ~7.2 10^5 yr) provide a
'snapshot' view of ongoing nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The Galaxy is
relatively transparent to such gamma-rays, and emission has been found
concentrated along the plane of the Galaxy. This led to the conclusion1 that
massive stars throughout the Galaxy dominate the production of 26Al. On the
other hand, meteoritic data show locally-produced 26Al, perhaps from spallation
reactions in the protosolar disk. Furthermore, prominent gamma-ray emission
from the Cygnus region suggests that a substantial fraction of Galactic 26Al
could originate in localized star-forming regions. Here we report high spectral
resolution measurements of 26Al emission at 1808.65 keV, which demonstrate that
the 26Al source regions corotate with the Galaxy, supporting its Galaxy-wide
origin. We determine a present-day equilibrium mass of 2.8 (+/-0.8) M_sol of
26Al. We use this to estimate that the frequency of core collapse (i.e. type
Ib/c and type II) supernovae to be 1.9(+/- 1.1) events per century.Comment: accepted for publication in Nature, 24 pages including Online
Supplements, 11 figures, 1 tabl
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