82 research outputs found
High flux cold Rubidium atomic beam for strongly coupled Cavity QED
This paper presents a setup capable of producing a high-flux continuous beam
of cold rubidium atoms for cavity QED experiments in the regime of strong
coupling. A 2 MOT, loaded by rubidium getters in a dry film coated vapor
cell, fed a secondary moving-molasses MOT (MM-MOT) at a rate of 1.5 x
atoms/sec. The MM-MOT provided a continuous beam with tunable velocity. This
beam was then directed through the waist of a 280 m cavity resulting in a
Rabi splitting of more than +/- 10 MHz. The presence of sufficient number of
atoms in the cavity mode also enabled splitting in the polarization
perpendicular to the input. The cavity was in the strong coupling regime, with
parameters (g, , )/2 equal to (7, 3, 6)/ 2 MHz.Comment: Journal pape
Dark States and Interferences in Cascade Transitions of Ultra-Cold Atoms in a Cavity
We examine the competition among one- and two-photon processes in an
ultra-cold, three-level atom undergoing cascade transitions as a result of its
interaction with a bimodal cavity. We show parameter domains where two-photon
transitions are dominant and also study the effect of two-photon emission on
the mazer action in the cavity. The two-photon emission leads to the loss of
detailed balance and therefore we obtain the photon statistics of the cavity
field by the numerical integration of the master equation. The photon
distribution in each cavity mode exhibits sub- and super- Poissonian behaviors
depending on the strength of atom-field coupling. The photon distribution
becomes identical to a Poisson distribution when the atom-field coupling
strengths of the modes are equal.Comment: 15 pages including 7 figures in Revtex, submitted to PR
Preliminary assessment of bovine tuberculosis at the livestock/wildlife interface in two protected areas of Northern Botswana
Protected areas of northern Botswana such as the Okavango Delta (OD) or Chobe
National Park (CNP) are well-known hot spots for the conservation of African
wildlife. However, their infection status regarding bovine tuberculosis (BTB) at
the domestic/wildlife interface has never been investigated. To provide preliminary
baseline data on the circulation of Mycobacterium bovis in those sites, we performed
a cross-sectional survey on 130 buffalo in both protected areas (60
individuals from CNP and 70 from OD) and 818 cattle in their surrounding communal
lands (369 in CNP and 449 in the OD). Whole-blood samples were tested
using a commercial interferon-gamma assay (IFN-c) with modifications. The
apparent BTB prevalence in buffalo was nil in CNP and 0.7% 95% CI [0.2–1.9] in
the OD, while the apparent BTB prevalence in cattle was 0.7% 95% CI [0.2–2.1]
in the OD and 2.4% 95% CI [1.2–4.7] in CNP. True prevalence values calculated
on the basis of the locally applicable IFN-c test performance suggested that BTB
prevalence was nil in both buffalo populations and in cattle from the OD interface,
but reached 2.3% 95% CI [0.2–4.5] in cattle populations around CNP. The
results of a questionnaire survey conducted among a sample of farmers living in
the communities adjacent to each conservation area (97 and 38 persons in the
OD and CNP, respectively) suggested a higher risk of the circulation of M. bovis
at the wildlife/livestock interface of the CNP than at that of the OD. However,
further comprehensive studies are needed to confirm the circulation of M. bovis
and to monitor the inter-species and transboundary transmission of BTB in
northern Botswana.The Food and Agriculture Organization, EMPRES Animal Health Unit and the Wildlife Health and Ecology Unit.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1865-1682hb201
Chaos and flights in the atom-photon interaction in cavity QED
We study dynamics of the atom-photon interaction in cavity quantum
electrodynamics (QED), considering a cold two-level atom in a single-mode
high-finesse standing-wave cavity as a nonlinear Hamiltonian system with three
coupled degrees of freedom: translational, internal atomic, and the field. The
system proves to have different types of motion including L\'{e}vy flights and
chaotic walkings of an atom in a cavity. It is shown that the translational
motion, related to the atom recoils, is governed by an equation of a parametric
nonlinear pendulum with a frequency modulated by the Rabi oscillations. This
type of dynamics is chaotic with some width of the stochastic layer that is
estimated analytically. The width is fairly small for realistic values of the
control parameters, the normalized detuning and atomic recoil
frequency . It is demonstrated how the atom-photon dynamics with a
given value of depends on the values of and initial
conditions. Two types of L\'{e}vy flights, one corresponding to the ballistic
motion of the atom and another one corresponding to small oscillations in a
potential well, are found. These flights influence statistical properties of
the atom-photon interaction such as distribution of Poincar\'{e} recurrences
and moments of the atom position . The simulation shows different regimes of
motion, from slightly abnormal diffusion with at to a superdiffusion with at that
corresponds to a superballistic motion of the atom with an acceleration. The
obtained results can be used to find new ways to manipulate atoms, to cool and
trap them by adjusting the detuning .Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
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Distribution of mosquitoes in the South East of Argentina and first report on the analysis based on 18S rDNA and COI sequences
Although Mar del Plata is the most important city on the Atlantic coast of Argentina, mosquitoes inhabiting such area are almost uncharacterized. To increase our knowledge in their distribution, we sampled specimens of natural populations. After the morphological identification based on taxonomic keys, sequences of DNA from small ribosomal subunit (18S rDNA) and cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) genes were obtained from native species and the phylogenetic analysis of these sequences were done. Fourteen species from the genera Uranotaenia, Culex, Ochlerotatus and Psorophora were found and identified. Our 18S rDNA and COI-based analysis indicates the relationships among groups at the supra-species level in concordance with mosquito taxonomy. The introduction and spread of vectors and diseases carried by them are not known in Mar del Plata, but some of the species found in this study were reported as pathogen vectors
Inhibition of Casein kinase-2 induces p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and sensitizes glioblastoma cells to tumor necrosis factor (TNFα)-induced apoptosis through SIRT1 inhibition
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are resistant to TNFα-induced apoptosis and blockade of TNFα-induced NF-κB activation sensitizes glioma cells to apoptosis. As Casein kinase-2 (CK2) induces aberrant NF-κB activation and as we observed elevated CK2 levels in GBM tumors, we investigated the potential of CK2 inhibitors (CK2-Is) - DRB and Apigenin in sensitizing glioma cells to TNFα-induced apoptosis. CK2-Is and CK2 small interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced glioma cell viability, inhibited TNFα-mediated NF-κB activation, and sensitized cell to TNFα-induced apoptosis. Importantly, CK2-Is activated p53 function in wild-type but not in p53 mutant cells. Activation of p53 function involved its increased transcriptional activation, DNA-binding ability, increased expression of p53 target genes associated with cell cycle progression and apoptosis. Moreover, CK2-Is decreased telomerase activity and increased senescence in a p53-dependent manner. Apoptotic gene profiling indicated that CK2-Is differentially affect p53 and TNFα targets in p53 wild-type and mutant glioma cells. CK2-I decreased MDM2-p53 association and p53 ubiquitination to enhance p53 levels. Interestingly, CK2-Is downregulated SIRT1 activity and over-expression of SIRT1 decreased p53 transcriptional activity and rescued cells from CK2-I-induced apoptosis. This ability of CK2-Is to sensitize glioma to TNFα-induced death via multiple mechanisms involving abrogation of NF-κB activation, reactivation of wild-type p53 function and SIRT1 inhibition warrants investigation
Longitudinal monitoring of Ehrlichia ruminantium infection in Gambian lambs and kids by pCS20 PCR and MAP1-B ELISA
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The epidemiology of <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection in extensively managed young animals is not adequately understood. Thus in this study, we monitored the onset (age at first infection) and kinetics of <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection and antibody response in extensively managed newborn lambs and kids at three sites in The Gambia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used a nested pCS20 PCR and MAP1-B ELISA in a longitudinal study to monitor the onset (age at first infection) and kinetics of <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection and antibody response respectively, in 77 newborn lambs and kids under a traditional husbandry system at three sites (Kerr Seringe, Keneba, Bansang) in The Gambia where heartwater is known to occur. The animals were monitored for field tick infestation and the comparative performance of the two assays in detecting <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection was also assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The infection rate detected by pCS20 PCR varied between 8.6% and 54.8% over the 162-day study period. Nineteen per cent of the animals in week 1 post-partum tested positive by pCS20 PCR with half of these infections (7/14) detected in the first 3 days after birth, suggesting that transmission other than by tick feeding had played a role. The earliest detectable <it>A. variegatum </it>infestation in the animals occurred in week 16 after birth. Antibodies detected by MAP1-B ELISA also varied, between 11.5% and 90%. Although there is considerable evidence that this assay can detect false positives and due to this and other reasons serology is not a reliable predictor of infection at least for heartwater. In contrast to the pCS20 PCR, the serological assay detected the highest proportion of positive animals in week 1 with a gradual decline in seropositivity with increasing age. The pCS20 PCR detected higher <it>E. ruminantium </it>prevalence in the animals with increasing age and both the Spearman's rank test (<it>r</it><sub><it>s </it></sub>= -0.1512; P = 0.003) and <it>kappa </it>statistic (-0.091 to 0.223) showed a low degree of agreement between the two assays.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of pCS20 PCR supported by transmission studies and clinical data could provide more accurate information on heartwater epidemiology in endemic areas and single-occasion testing of an animal may not reveal its true infection status. The view is supported because both the vector and vertical transmission may play a vital role in the epidemiology of heartwater in young small ruminants; the age range of 4 and 12 weeks corresponds to the period of increased susceptibility to heartwater in traditionally managed small ruminants.</p
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