1,962 research outputs found
Two-species magneto-optical trap with 40K and 87Rb
We trap and cool a gas composed of 40K and 87Rb, using a two-species
magneto-optical trap (MOT). This trap represents the first step towards cooling
the Bose-Fermi mixture to quantum degeneracy. Laser light for the MOT is
derived from laser diodes and amplified with a single high power semiconductor
amplifier chip. The four-color laser system is described, and the
single-species and two-species MOTs are characterized. Atom numbers of 1x10^7
40K and 2x10^9 87Rb are trapped in the two-species MOT. Observation of trap
loss due to collisions between species is presented and future prospects for
the experiment are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review
Prevalence study of yaws in the Democratic Republic of Congo using the lot quality assurance sampling method.
BACKGROUND: Until the 1970s the prevalence of non-venereal trepanomatosis, including yaws, was greatly reduced after worldwide mass treatment. In 2005, cases were again reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We carried out a survey to estimate the village-level prevalence of yaws in the region of Equator in the north of the country in order to define appropriate strategies to effectively treat the affected population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We designed a community-based survey using the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling method to classify the prevalence of active yaws in 14 groups of villages (lots). The classification into high, moderate, or low yaws prevalence corresponded to World Health Organization prevalence thresholds for identifying appropriate operational treatment strategies. Active yaws cases were defined by suggestive clinical signs and positive rapid plasma reagin and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination serological tests. The overall prevalence in the study area was 4.7% (95% confidence interval: 3.4-6.0). Two of 14 lots had high prevalence (>10%), three moderate prevalence (5-10%) and nine low prevalence (<5%.). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although yaws is no longer a World Health Organization priority disease, the presence of yaws in a region where it was supposed to be eradicated demonstrates the importance of continued surveillance and control efforts. Yaws should remain a public health priority in countries where previously it was known to be endemic. The integration of sensitive surveillance systems together with free access to effective treatment is recommended. As a consequence of our study results, more than 16,000 people received free treatment against yaws
Does the professional know their supracondylar from their gluteus maximus?
An international multiple centre investigation into nature versus nurture
Thirty Years of Precision Electroweak Physics
We discuss the development of the theory of electroweak radiative corrections
and its role in testing the Standard Model, predicting the top quark mass,
constraining the Higgs boson mass, and searching for deviations that may signal
the presence of new physics.Comment: 19 pages, acknowledgments added, J.J.Sakurai Prize Talk, APS Meeting,
Albuquerque, N.M., April 2002. To appear in a future issue of Journal of
Physics
Observable geometric phase induced by a cyclically evolving dissipative process
In a prevous paper (Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 150403 (2006)) we have proposed a
new way to generate an observable geometric phase on a quantum system by means
of a completely incoherent phenomenon. The basic idea was to force the ground
state of the system to evolve ciclically by "adiabatically" manipulating the
environment with which it interacts. The specific scheme we have previously
analyzed, consisting of a multilevel atom interacting with a broad-band
squeezed vacuum bosonic bath whose squeezing parameters are smoothly changed in
time along a closed loop, is here solved in a more direct way. This new
solution emphasizes how the geometric phase on the ground state of the system
is indeed due to a purely incoherent dynamicsComment: 6 pages, 1 figur
Generation of macroscopic quantum-superposition states by linear coupling to a bath
We demonstrate through an exactly solvable model that collective coupling to
any thermal bath induces effectively nonlinear couplings in a quantum many-body
(multi-spin) system. The resulting evolution can drive an uncorrelated
large-spin system with high probability into a macroscopic
quantum-superposition state. We discuss possible experimental realizations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Physical Review Letters (in press
Limits to Sympathetic Evaporative Cooling of a Two-Component Fermi Gas
We find a limit cycle in a quasi-equilibrium model of evaporative cooling of
a two-component fermion gas. The existence of such a limit cycle represents an
obstruction to reaching the quantum ground state evaporatively. We show that
evaporatively the \beta\mu ~ 1. We speculate that one may be able to cool an
atomic fermi gas further by photoassociating dimers near the bottom of the
fermi sea.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev
Can changes in angiogenic biomarkers between the first and second trimesters of pregnancy predict development of pre-eclampsia in a low-risk nulliparous patient population?
OBJECTIVE:
To determine if change in maternal angiogenic biomarkers between the first and second trimesters predicts pre-eclampsia in low-risk nulliparous women. DESIGN:
A nested case-control study of change in maternal plasma soluble Flt-1 (sFlt-1), soluble endoglin (sEng) and placenta growth factor (PlGF). We studied 158 pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia and 468 normotensive nonproteinuric controls. SETTING:
A multicentre study in 16 academic medical centres in the USA. POPULATION:
Low-risk nulliparous women. METHODS:
Luminex assays for PlGF, sFlt-1 and sEng performed on maternal EDTA plasma collected at 9-12, 15-18 and 23-26 weeks of gestation. Rate of change of analyte between first and either early or late second trimester was calculated with and without adjustment for baseline clinical characteristics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Change in PlGF, sFlt-1 and sEng. RESULTS:
Rates of change of PlGF, sEng and sFlt-1 between first and either early or late second trimesters were significantly different in women who developed pre-eclampsia, severe pre-eclampsia or early-onset pre-eclampsia compared with women who remained normotensive. Inclusion of clinical characteristics (race, body mass index and blood pressure at entry) increased sensitivity for detecting severe and particularly early-onset pre-eclampsia but not pre-eclampsia overall. Receiver operating characteristics curves for change from first to early second trimester in sEng, PlGF and sFlt-1 with clinical characteristics had areas under the curve of 0.88, 0.84 and 0.86, respectively, and for early-onset pre-eclampsia with sensitivities of 88% (95% CI 64-99), 77% (95% CI 50-93) and 77% (95% CI 50-93) for 80% specificity, respectively. Similar results were seen in the change from first to late second trimester. CONCLUSION:
Change in angiogenic biomarkers between first and early second trimester combined with clinical characteristics has strong utility for predicting early-onset pre-eclampsia
Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Surface Micro Trap
Bose-Einstein condensation has been achieved in a magnetic surface micro trap
with 4x10^5 87Rb atoms. The strongly anisotropic trapping potential is
generated by a microstructure which consists of microfabricated linear copper
conductors at a width ranging from 3 to 30 micrometer. After loading a high
number of atoms from a pulsed thermal source directly into a magneto-optical
trap (MOT) the magnetically stored atoms are transferred into the micro trap by
adiabatic transformation of the trapping potential. The complete in vacuo trap
design is compatible with ultrahigh vacuum below 2x10^(-11) mbar.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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