3,369 research outputs found
Contact transmission of influenza virus between ferrets imposes a looser bottleneck than respiratory droplet transmission allowing propagation of antiviral resistance
Influenza viruses cause annual seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics. It is important to elucidate the stringency of bottlenecks during transmission to shed light on mechanisms that underlie the evolution and propagation of antigenic drift, host range switching or drug resistance. The virus spreads between people by different routes, including through the air in droplets and aerosols, and by direct contact. By housing ferrets under different conditions, it is possible to mimic various routes of transmission. Here, we inoculated donor animals with a mixture of two viruses whose genomes differed by one or two reverse engineered synonymous mutations, and measured the transmission of the mixture to exposed sentinel animals. Transmission through the air imposed a tight bottleneck since most recipient animals became infected by only one virus. In contrast, a direct contact transmission chain propagated a mixture of viruses suggesting the dose transferred by this route was higher. From animals with a mixed infection of viruses that were resistant and sensitive to the antiviral drug oseltamivir, resistance was propagated through contact transmission but not by air. These data imply that transmission events with a looser bottleneck can propagate minority variants and may be an important route for influenza evolution
Effect of anharmonicities in the critical number of trapped condensed atoms with attractive two-body interaction
We determine the quantitative effect, in the maximum number of particles and
other static observables, due to small anharmonic terms added to the confining
potential of an atomic condensed system with negative two-body interaction. As
an example of how a cubic or quartic anharmonic term can affect the maximum
number of particles, we consider the trap parameters and the results given by
Roberts et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4211 (2001)]. However, this study can be
easily transferred to other trap geometries to estimate anharmonic effects.Comment: Total of 5 pages, 3 figures and 1 table. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Environmental and climate finance in a new world: How past environmental aid allocation impacts future climate aid
In this paper we update previous work that categorizes foreign aid projects in terms of their likely impact on the natural environment. We then document trends in the global distribution of environmental aid over time and show that environmental aid has increasingly focussed on global environmental issues (especially climate change), rather than local issues in recipient countries. Somewhat surprisingly, we also find that environmental aid is increasingly allocated through bilateral aid agencies rather than through the increasing number of multilateral channels created for this purpose. After providing these descriptive statistics and demonstrating trends, we offer a tentative explanation for this puzzling pattern. We argue that each individual aid project represents a negotiation between donor and recipient. This additional level of bargaining significantly conditions the costs and benefits of multilateralism for donors, especially as recipients have multiple outside options for obtaining development finance. Reflecting the growing political salience of global environmental threats, donors are providing increasing levels of environmental aid, and especially climate finance. However, at the same time, donors are increasingly failing to co-ordinate their allocation of climate finance (and other environmental aid) within multilateral institutions. At a practical level, this raises the question whether the effect of increasing levels of funding will be undercut by decreasing co-ordination and efficiency
Finite temperature scaling theory for the collapse of Bose-Einstein condensate
We show how to apply the scaling theory in an inhomogeneous system like
harmonically trapped Bose condensate at finite temperatures. We calculate the
temperature dependence of the critical number of particles by a scaling theory
within the Hartree-Fock approximation and find that there is a dramatic
increase in the critical number of particles as the condensation point is
approached.Comment: Published online [6 pages, 3 figures
Critical number of atoms for attractive Bose-Einstein condensates with cylindrically symmetrical traps
We calculated, within the Gross-Pitaevskii formalism, the critical number of
atoms for Bose-Einstein condensates with two-body attractive interactions in
cylindrical traps with different frequency ratios. In particular, by using the
trap geometries considered by the JILA group [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4211
(2001)], we show that the theoretical maximum critical numbers are given
approximately by . Our results also show that, by
exchanging the frequencies and , the geometry with
favors the condensation of larger number of particles.
We also simulate the time evolution of the condensate when changing the ground
state from to using a 200ms ramp. A conjecture on higher order
nonlinear effects is also added in our analysis with an experimental proposal
to determine its signal and strength.Comment: (4 pages, 2 figures) To appear in Physical Review
Stability of the trapped nonconservative Gross-Pitaevskii equation with attractive two-body interaction
The dynamics of a nonconservative Gross-Pitaevskii equation for trapped
atomic systems with attractive two-body interaction is numerically
investigated, considering wide variations of the nonconservative parameters,
related to atomic feeding and dissipation. We study the possible limitations of
the mean field description for an atomic condensate with attractive two-body
interaction, by defining the parameter regions where stable or unstable
formation can be found. The present study is useful and timely considering the
possibility of large variations of attractive two-body scattering lengths,
which may be feasible in recent experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Geochemical and microstructural characterisation of two species of cool-water bivalves (Fulvia tenuicostata and Soletellina biradiata) from Western Australia
The shells of two marine bivalve species (Fulvia tenuicostata and Soletellina biradiata) endemic to south Western Australia have been characterised using a combined crystallographic, spectroscopic and geochemical approach. Both species have been described previously as purely aragonitic; however, this study identified the presence of three phases, namely aragonite, calcite and Mg-calcite, using XRD analysis. Data obtained via confocal Raman spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) show correlations between Mg • S and Mg • P in F. tenuicostata and between Sr • S and S • Ba in S. biradiata. The composition of the organic macromolecules that constitute the shell organic matrix (i.e. the soluble phosphorus-dominated and/or insoluble sulfur-dominated fraction) influences the incorporation of Mg, Sr and Ba into the crystal lattice. Ionic substitution, particularly Ca2+ by Mg2+ in calcite in F. tenuicostata, appears to have been promoted by the combination of both S- and P-dominated organic macromolecules. The elemental composition of these two marine bivalve shells is species specific and influenced by many factors, such as crystallographic structure, organic macromolecule composition and environmental setting. In order to reliably use bivalve shells as proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, both the organic and inorganic crystalline material need to be characterised to account for all influencing factors and accurately describe the "vital effect"
Bose-Einstein condensate collapse: a comparison between theory and experiment
We solve the Gross-Pitaevskii equation numerically for the collapse induced
by a switch from positive to negative scattering lengths. We compare our
results with experiments performed at JILA with Bose-Einstein condensates of
Rb-85, in which the scattering length was controlled using a Feshbach
resonance. Building on previous theoretical work we identify quantitative
differences between the predictions of mean-field theory and the results of the
experiments. Besides the previously reported difference between the predicted
and observed critical atom number for collapse, we also find that the predicted
collapse times systematically exceed those observed experimentally. Quantum
field effects, such as fragmentation, that might account for these
discrepancies are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Concordance studies between hospital discharge data and medical records for the recording of lower extremity amputation and diabetes in the Republic of Ireland.
Background Hospital discharge data have been used to study trends in Lower Extremity Amputation (LEA) rates in people with and without diabetes. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of routine hospital discharge data in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) for this purpose by determining the level of agreement between hospital discharge data and medical records for both the occurrence of LEA and diagnosis of diabetes. Methods Two concordance studies between hospital discharge data (HIPE) and medical records were performed. To determine the level of agreement for LEA occurrence, HIPE records were compared to theatre logbooks in 9 hospitals utilising HIPE over a two-year period in a defined study area. To determine the level of agreement for diabetes diagnosis, HIPE records were compared to laboratory records in each of the 4 largest hospitals utilising HIPE over a one week period in the same study area. The proportions of positive and negative agreement and Cohen’s kappa statistic of agreement were calculated. Results During a two-year study period in 9 hospitals, 216 LEAs were recorded in both data sources. Sixteen LEAs were recorded in medical records alone and 25 LEAs were recorded in hospital discharge records alone. The proportion of positive agreement was 0.91 (95% CI 0.88-0.94), the proportion of negative agreement was 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-0.99) and the kappa statistic was 0.91 (95% CI 0.88-0.94). During a one-week study period in 4 hospitals, 49 patients with diabetes and 716 patients without diabetes were recorded in both data sources. Eighteen patients had diabetes in medical records alone and 2 patients had diabetes in hospital discharge records alone. The proportion of positive agreement was 0.83 (95% CI 0.76-0.9), the proportion of negative agreement was 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-0.99) and the kappa statistic was 0.82 (95% CI 0.75-0.89). Conclusions This study detected high levels of agreement between hospital discharge data and medical records for LEA and diabetes in a defined study area. Based on these findings, we suggest that HIPE is sufficiently reliable to monitor trends in LEAs in people with and without diabetes in the RoI
Mean-field analysis of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates
The dynamics of collapsing and exploding trapped Bose-Einstein condensat es
caused by a sudden switch of interactions from repulsive to attractive a re
studied by numerically integrating the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with atomic
loss for an axially symmetric trap. We investigate the decay rate of
condensates and the phenomena of bursts and jets of atoms, and compare our
results with those of the experiments performed by E. A. Donley {\it et al.}
[Nature {\bf 412}, 295 (2001)]. Our study suggests that the condensate decay
and the burst production is due to local intermittent implosions in the
condensate, and that atomic clouds of bursts and jets are coherent. We also
predict nonlinear pattern formation caused by the density instability of
attractive condensates.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, axi-symmetric results are adde
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