Salmonella Infection Level in Danish Indoor and Outdoor Pig Production Systems measured by Antbodies in Meat Juice and Faecal Shedding on-farm and at Slaughter

The prevalence of Salmonella shedding was compared in 34 organic, conventional outdoor, and indoor pig herds. Individual faecal and meat juice samples from 30-50 pigs per herd were analysed for presence of Salmonella, and Salmonella antibodies, respectively. We found low levels of Salmonella shedding on farm and at slaughter in organic and conventional outdoor herds compared to indoor pigs. Overall 5,5 % of the pigs were seropositive. The serological test result was associated with Salmonella shedding at slaughter in pigs from conventional systems, but not in organic pigs. The duration of transport did not affect the risk of Salmonella shedding

Polyhedral Computations for the Simple Graph Partitioning Problem

The simple graph partitioning problem is to partition an edge-weighted graph into mutually disjoint subgraphs, each containing no more than b nodes, such that the sum of the weights of all edges in the subgraphs is maximal. In this paper we present a branch-and-cut algorithm for the problem that uses several classes of facet-defining inequalities as cuttingplanes. These are b-tree, clique, cycle with ear, multistar, and S, Tinequalities. Descriptions of the separation procedures that are used for these inequality classes are also given. In order to evaluate the usefulness of the inequalities and the overall performance of the branch-and-cut algorithm several computational experiments are conducted. We present some of the results of these experiments.Branch-and-cut algorithm; Facets; Graph partitioning; Multicuts; Separation procedures

Coming From Good Stock: Career Histories and New Venture Formation

We examine how the social structure of existing organizations influences entrepreneurship and suggest that resources accrue to entrepreneurs based on the structural position of their prior employers. We argue that information advantages allow individuals from entrepreneurially prominent prior firms to identify new opportunities. Entrepreneurial prominence also reduces the perceived uncertainty of a new venture. Using a sample of Silicon Valley start-ups, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial prominence is associated with initial strategy and the probability of attracting external financing. New ventures with high prominence are more likely to be innovators; furthermore, innovators with high prominence are more likely to obtain financing

Ground-State Energy and Spin Gap of Spin-1/2 Kagome Heisenberg Antiferromagnetic Clusters: Large Scale Exact Diagonalization Results

We present a comprehensive list of ground state energies and spin gaps of finite kagome clusters with up to 42 spins obtained using large-scale exact diagonalization techniques. This represents the current limit of this exact approach. For a fixed number of spins N we study several cluster shapes under periodic boundary conditions in both directions resulting in a toroidal geometry. The clusters are characterized by their side length and diagonal as well as the shortest "Manhattan" diameter of the torii. A finite-size scaling analysis of the ground state energy as well as the spin gap is then performed in terms of the shortest toroidal diameter as well as the shortest "Manhattan" diameter. The structure of the spin-spin correlations further supports the importance of short loops wrapping around the torii.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, added one referenc

Dissipative preparation of entanglement in optical cavities

We propose a novel scheme for the preparation of a maximally entangled state of two atoms in an optical cavity. Starting from an arbitrary initial state, a singlet state is prepared as the unique fixed point of a dissipative quantum dynamical process. In our scheme, cavity decay is no longer undesirable, but plays an integral part in the dynamics. As a result, we get a qualitative improvement in the scaling of the fidelity with the cavity parameters. Our analysis indicates that dissipative state preparation is more than just a new conceptual approach, but can allow for significant improvement as compared to preparation protocols based on coherent unitary dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Bogoliubov theory of entanglement in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate which is illuminated by a short resonant light pulse that coherently couples two internal states of the atoms. We show that the subsequent time evolution prepares the atoms in an interesting entangled state called a spin squeezed state. This evolution is analysed in detail by developing a Bogoliubov theory which describes the entanglement of the atoms. Our calculation is a consistent expansion in $1/\sqrt{N}$, where $N$ is the number of particles in the condensate, and our theory predict that it is possible to produce spin squeezing by at least a factor of $1/\sqrt{N}$. Within the Bogoliubov approximation this result is independent of temperature.Comment: 14 pages, including 5 figures, minor changes in the presentatio

Combining Planck with Large Scale Structure gives strong neutrino mass constraint

We present the strongest current cosmological upper limit on the sum of neutrino masses of < 0.18 (95% confidence). It is obtained by adding observations of the large-scale matter power spectrum from the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey to observations of the cosmic microwave background data from the Planck surveyor, and measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale. The limit is highly sensitive to the priors and assumptions about the neutrino scenario. We explore scenarios with neutrino masses close to the upper limit (degenerate masses), neutrino masses close to the lower limit where the hierarchy plays a role, and addition of massive or massless sterile species.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Found bug in analysis which is fixed in v2. The resulting constraints on M_nu remain very strong. Additional info added on hierarch

Doppler cooling of calcium ions using a dipole-forbidden transition

Doppler cooling of calcium ions has been experimentally demonstrated using the S1/2 to D5/2 dipole-forbidden transition. Scattering forces and fluorescence levels a factor of 5 smaller than for usual Doppler cooling on the dipole allowed S1/2 to P1/2 transition have been achieved. Since the light scattered from the ions can be monitored at (violet) wavelengths that are very different from the excitation wavelengths, single ions can be detected with an essentially zero background level. This, as well as other features of the cooling scheme, can be extremely valuable for ion trap based quantum information processing.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, minor changes to commentary and reference

Photon sorters and QND detectors using single photon emitters

We discuss a new method for realizing number-resolving and non-demolition photo detectors by strong coupling of light to individual single photon emitters, which act as strong optical non-linearities. As a specific application we show how these elements can be integrated into an error-proof Bell state analyzer, whose efficiency exceeds the best possible performance with linear optics even for a modest atom-field coupling. The methods are error-proof in the sense that every detection event unambiguously projects the photon state onto a Fock or Bell state.Comment: revised and enlarged version, 6+ pages, 5 figure