Density wave and supersolid phases of correlated bosons in an optical lattice

Motivated by the recent experiment on the Bose-Einstein condensation of $^{52}$Cr atoms with long-range dipolar interactions (Werner J. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 94 (2005) 183201), we consider a system of bosons with repulsive nearest and next-nearest neighbor interactions in an optical lattice. The ground state phase diagram, calculated using the Gutzwiller ansatz, shows, apart from the superfluid (SF) and the Mott insulator (MI), two modulated phases, \textit{i.e.}, the charge density wave (CDW) and the supersolid (SS). Excitation spectra are also calculated which show a gap in the insulators, gapless, phonon mode in the superfluid and the supersolid, and a mode softening of superfluid excitations in the vicinity of the modulated phases. We discuss the possibility of observing these phases in cold dipolar atoms and propose experiments to detect them

Evaluation of Renoprotective Effects of Ethanolic Extract of Morinda citrifolia L. in a Murine Model of Gentamicin-induced Nephrotoxicity

AIM: The present study was undertaken to evaluate noni fruit juice for its protective effects on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. METHODS:Wistar albino rats of either sex, weighing 150-200g were divided into 4 groups; normal saline, gentamicin 80 mg/kg, i.p.,i for 8 days, noni fruit juice 5 and 10 mg/kg, p.o., for 8 days, noni fruit juice 3 days prior and concurrently with gentamicin for 5 days. Blood urea, serum creatinine, serum uric acid and blood urea nitrogen analyses and microscopic examination of kidney were performed after the treatment. RESULTS: Gentamicin treatment caused nephrotoxicity as evidenced by marked elevation in blood urea and serum creatinine. Serum urea, serum uric acid, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were increased with gentamicin compared to saline-treated animals (162.33 ± 9.92mg/dl, 3.13 ± 0.12 mg/dl, 6.85 ± 0.35 mg/dl and 75.86 ± 4.64 mg/dl respectively).Co-administration of noni fruit juice with gentamicin decreased the rise in in these parameters in a dose dependent manner. Study of renal morphology by light microscope showed epithelial loss with intense granular degeneration involving \u3e50% renal cortex in gentamicin treated rats, whereas in noni fruit juice plus gentamicin treated rat revealed insignificant changes in tubular epithelium. CONCLUSION: To conclude, our data suggest that supplementation of noni fruit juice may be useful in reducing gentamicin nephrotoxicity in rats

Clinical Prognostic Value of RNA Viral Load and CD4 Cell Counts during Untreated HIV-1 Infection—A Quantitative Review

Background: The prognostic value of CD4 counts and RNA viral load for identifying treatment need in HIV-infected individuals depends on (a) variation within and among individuals, and (b) relative risks of clinical progression per unit CD4 or RNA difference. Methodology/Principal Findings: We reviewed these measurements across (a) 30 studies, and (b) 16 cohorts of untreated seropositive adults. Median within-population interquartile ranges were 74,000 copies/mL for RNA with no significant change during the course of infection; and 330 cells/μL for CD4, with a slight proportional increase over infection. Applying measurement and physiological fluctuations observed on chronically infected patients, we estimate that 45% of population-level variation in RNA, and 25% of variation in CD4, were due to within-patient fluctuations. Comparing a patient with RNA at upper 75th centile with a patient at median RNA, 5-year relative risks were 1.4 (95% CI 1.2-1.7) for AIDS and 1.5 (1.3-1.9) for death, without change over the course of infection. In contrast, for a patient with CD4 count at the lower 75th centile, relative risks increased from 1.0 at seroconversion to maxima of 6.3 (4.4-8.9) for AIDS and 5.5 (2.7-10.1) for death by year 6, when the population median had fallen to 300 cells/ μL. Below 300 cells/μL, prognostic power did not increase, due to a narrower CD4 range. Conclusions: Findings support the current WHO recommendation (used with clinical criteria) to start antiretroviral treatment in low-income settings at CD4 thresholds of 200-350 cells/μL, without pre-treatment RNA monitoring - while not precluding earlier treatment based on clinical, socio-demographic or public health criteria

Principles And Practices Fostering Inclusive Excellence: Lessons From The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Capstone Institutions

Best-practices pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) aims for inclusive excellence that fosters student persistence. This paper describes principles of inclusivity across 11 primarily undergraduate institutions designated as Capstone Awardees in Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) 2012 competition. The Capstones represent a range of institutional missions, student profiles, and geographical locations. Each successfully directed activities toward persistence of STEM students, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, through a set of common elements: mentoring programs to build community; research experiences to strengthen scientific skill/identity; attention to quantitative skills; and outreach/bridge programs to broaden the student pool. This paper grounds these program elements in learning theory, emphasizing their essential principles with examples of how they were implemented within institutional contexts. We also describe common assessment approaches that in many cases informed programming and created traction for stakeholder buy-in. The lessons learned from our shared experiences in pursuit of inclusive excellence, including the resources housed on our companion website, can inform others’ efforts to increase access to and persistence in STEM in higher education

Fluctuation Induced Non-Fermi Liquid Behavior near a Quantum Phase Transition in Itinerant Electron Systems

The signature for a non-Fermi liquid behavior near a quantum phase transition has been observed in thermal and transport properties of many metallic systems at low temperatures. In the present work we consider specific examples of itinerant ferromagnet as well as antiferromagnet in the limit of vanishing transition temperature. The temperature variation of spin susceptibility, electrical resistivity, specific heat, and NMR relaxation rates at low temperatures is calculated in the limit of infinite exchange enhancement within the frame work of a self consistent spin fluctuation theory. The resulting non-Fermi liquid behavior is due to the presence of the low lying critically damped spin fluctuations in these systems. The theory presented here gives the leading low temperature behavior, as it turns out that the fluctuation correlation term is always smaller than the mean fluctuation field term in three as well as in two space dimensions. A comparison with illustrative experimental results of these properties in some typical systems has been done. Finally we make some remarks on the effect of disorder in these systems.Comment: File RevTex, 7 Figures available on request, Abstract and text modified, To appear in Phys. Rev.

Evaluation of Effectiveness of Wavelet Based Denoising Schemes Using ANN and SVM for Bearing Condition Classification

The wavelet based denoising has proven its ability to denoise the bearing vibration signals by improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reducing the root-mean-square error (RMSE). In this paper seven wavelet based denoising schemes have been evaluated based on the performance of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and the Support Vector Machine (SVM), for the bearing condition classification. The work consists of two parts, the first part in which a synthetic signal simulating the defective bearing vibration signal with Gaussian noise was subjected to these denoising schemes. The best scheme based on the SNR and the RMSE was identified. In the second part, the vibration signals collected from a customized Rolling Element Bearing (REB) test rig for four bearing conditions were subjected to these denoising schemes. Several time and frequency domain features were extracted from the denoised signals, out of which a few sensitive features were selected using the Fisher’s Criterion (FC). Extracted features were used to train and test the ANN and the SVM. The best denoising scheme identified, based on the classification performances of the ANN and the SVM, was found to be the same as the one obtained using the synthetic signal

Phases of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model

The zero-temperature phase diagram of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor interaction is investigated using the Density-Matrix Renormalization Group. Recently normal phases without long-range order have been conjectured between the charge density wave phase and the superfluid phase in one-dimensional bosonic systems without disorder. Our calculations demonstrate that there is no intermediate phase in the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model but a simultaneous vanishing of crystalline order and appearance of superfluid order. The complete phase diagrams with and without nearest-neighbor interaction are obtained. Both phase diagrams show reentrance from the superfluid phase to the insulator phase.Comment: Revised version, 4 pages, 5 figure