5,094 research outputs found
The Status of the Pion-Nucleon Coupling Constant
A review is given of the various determinations of the different piNN
coupling constants in analyses of the low-energy pp, np, pbarp, and pi-p
scattering data. The most accurate determinations are in the energy-dependent
partial-wave analyses of the NN data. The recommended value is f^2 = 0.075 . A
recent determination of f^2 by the Uppsala group from backward np cross
sections is shown to be model dependent and inaccurate, and therefore
completely uninteresting. We also argue that an accurate determination of f^2
using pp forward dispersion relations is not a realistic option.Comment: 19 pages, latex2e with a4wide.sty, more information is available at
http://NN-OnLine.sci.kun.nl . Invited talk at FBXV, Groningen, The
Netherlands, July 22-26, 1997. Invited talk at MENU97, Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada, July 28 - August 1, 199
Partial-Wave Analyses of all Proton-Proton and Neutron-Proton Data Below 500 MeV
In 1993 the Nijmegen group published the results of energy-dependent
partial-wave analyses (PWAs) of the nucleon-nucleon (NN) scattering data for
laboratory kinetic energies below Tlab=350 MeV (PWA93). In this talk some
general aspects, but also the newest developments on the Nijmegen NN PWAs are
reported. We have almost finished a new energy-dependent PWA and will discuss
some typical aspects of this new PWA; where it differs from PWA93, but also
what future developments might be, or should be.Comment: Presentation at the 19th European Conference on Few-Body Problems in
Physics, Groningen, The Netherlands, 23-27 August 2004. 4 pages REVTeX4, no
figure
Zero sound in a single component fermion - Bose Einstein Condensate mixture
The resonant dynamics of mediated interactions supports zero-sound in a cold
atom degenerate mixture of a single component fermion gas and a Bose-Einstein
condensate (BEC). We characterize the onset of instability in the phase
separation of an unstable mixture and we find a rich collective mode structure
for stable mixtures with one undamped mode that exhibits an avoided crossing
and a Landau-damped mode that terminates.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
The evolutionary genetics of highly divergent alleles of the mimicry locus in Papilio dardanus
Background: The phylogenetic history of genes underlying phenotypic diversity can offer insight into the evolutionary origin of adaptive traits. This is especially true where single genes have large phenotypic effects, for example in determining polymorphic mimicry in butterflies. Here, we characterise the evolutionary history of two candidate genes for the mimicry switch in the polymorphic Batesian mimic Papilio dardanus coding for the transcription factors engrailed and invected.
Results: We show that phased haplotypes associated with the dominant morphs f. poultoni and f. planemoides are phylogenetically highly divergent, in particular at non-synonymous sites. Some non-synonymous changes are shared between the divergent alleles suggesting either convergence or a shared ancestry. Gene trees for invected
do not show this pattern. Despite their great divergence, all engrailed alleles of P. dardanus were monophyletic with respect to alleles of closely related species. Phylogenetic analyses therefore reveal no evidence for introgression from other species. A McDonald-Kreitman test conducted on a population sample from South Africa confirms a significant excess of intraspecific non-synonymous diversity in P. dardanus engrailed, suggesting long-term balanced polymorphism at this locus.
Conclusions: The divergence between engrailed haplotypes suggests an evolutionary history distorted by selection with multiple changes reflecting recurrent selective sweeps. The high level of intraspecific polymorphism observed is characteristic of balancing selection on this locus, as expected if the gene engrailed is under phenotypic selection for the maintenance of multiple mimetic morphs. Non-synonymous changes in key functional portions of a major transcription factor are likely to be deleterious but if maintained in a dominant allele at low frequency, heterozygosity would reduce the associated genetic load
Degenerate fermion gas heating by hole creation
Loss processes that remove particles from an atom trap leave holes behind in
the single particle distribution if the trapped gas is a degenerate fermion
system. The appearance of holes increases the temperature and we show that the
heating is (i) significant if the initial temperature is well below the Fermi
temperature , and (ii) increases the temperature to
after half of the system's lifetime, regardless of the initial temperature. The
hole heating has important consequences for the prospect of observing
Cooper-pairing in atom traps.Comment: to be published in PR
Exploring the causes of adverse events in hospitals and potential prevention strategies
Objectives
To examine the causes of adverse events
(AEs) and potential prevention strategies to minimise the
occurrence of AEs in hospitalised patients.
Methods
For the 744 AEs identified in the patient record
review study in 21 Dutch hospitals, trained reviewers
were asked to select all causal factors that contributed
to the AE. The results were analysed together with data
on preventability and consequences of AEs. In addition,
the reviewers selected one or more prevention strategies
for each preventable AE. The recommended prevention
strategies were analysed together with four general
causal categories: technical, human, organisational and
patient-related factors.
Results
Human causes were predominantly involved in
the causation of AEs (in 61% of the AEs), 61% of those
being preventable and 13% leading to permanent
disability. In 39% of the AEs, patient-related factors were
involved, in 14% organisational factors and in 4%
technical factors. Organisational causes contributed
relatively often to preventable AEs (93%) and AEs
resulting in permanent disability (20%). Recommended
strategies to prevent AEs were quality assurance/peer
review, evaluation of safety behaviour, training and
procedures. For the AEs with human and patient-related
causes, reviewers predominantly recommended quality
assurance/peer review. AEs caused by organisational
factors were considered preventable by improving
procedures.
Discussion
Healthcare interventions directed at human
causes are recommended because these play a large
role in AE causation. In addition, it seems worthwhile to
direct interventions on organisational causes because the
AEs they cause are nearly always believed to be
preventable. Organisational factors are thus relatively
easy to tackle. Future research designs should allow
researchers to interview healthcare providers that were
involved in the event, as an additional source of
information on contributing factors.
Schiff Theorem and the Electric Dipole Moments of Hydrogen-Like Atoms
The Schiff theorem is revisited in this work and the residual - and
-odd electron--nucleus interaction, after the shielding takes effect, is
completely specified. An application is made to the electric dipole moments of
hydrogen-like atoms, whose qualitative features and systematics have important
implication for realistic paramagnetic atoms.Comment: 3 pages. Contribution to PANIC05, Particles and Nuclei International
Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct. 24-28, 200
Are track recommendations dependent on schools and school boards? A study of trends in the level of track recommendations, number of double recommendations and reconsiderations in Dutch urban and rural areas
Track recommendations provided to students in the final grade of primary education lead the allocation to specific school tracks in secondary education in the Netherlands. Where the results of a standardised test indicate that students are able to go to a higher track level, primary schools are required to reconsider and potentially adjust the track recommendation to a higher level. The current research aimed to (1) investigate trends in the level of track recommendations, double track recommendations and reconsiderations over the years 2014–2015 to 2018–2019, (2) explore the variation in (trends of) track recommendations between Dutch primary schools and their school boards, and (3) assess the association between track recommendations and the school level variables degree of urbanisation and type of primary education. We used multilevel growth curve modelling for continuous and count data based on publicly available school-level population data regarding track recommendations and school leavers tests from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019. The number of double track recommendations has increased over the cohorts, with a slightly decreasing gap between schools in rural and urban areas. The number of reconsiderations first decreased and then increased. The differences in reconsiderations between rural and urban areas are increasing over time. An initial trend towards higher average recommendations stabilising in the later cohorts appeared with no clear pattern for degree of urbanisation. The current study adds to the existing knowledge by assessing longitudinal trends instead of cross-sectional analyses and including multiple stakeholders and factors simultaneously.</p
Intraspecific genetic variation in complex assemblages from mitochondrial metagenomics: comparison with DNA barcodes
Metagenomic shotgun sequencing, using Illumina technology, and de novo genome assembly of mixed field-collected amples of invertebrates readily produce mitochondrial genome sequences, allowing rapid identification and quantification of species diversity. However, intraspecific genetic variability present in the specimen pools is lost during mitogenome assembly, which limits the utility of ‘mitochondrial metagenomics’ for studies of population diversity.
2. Using 10 natural communities (>2600 individuals) of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), DNA variation in the mitochondrial cox1-5’ ‘barcode’ was compared for Sanger sequenced individuals and Illumina shotgun sequenced specimen pools.
3. Generally, only a single mitochondrial contig was assembled per species, even in the presence of intraspecific variation. Ignoring ambiguity from the use of two different assemblers, the cox1 barcode regions from these assemblies were exact nucleotide matches of a Sanger sequenced barcode in 90.7% of cases, which dropped to 76.0% in assemblies from samples with large intra and interspecific variability. Nucleotide differences between barcodes from both data types were almost exclusively in synonymous 3rd codon position, although the number of affected sites was very low, and the greatest discrepancies were correlated with poor quality of Sanger sequences.
4. Unassembled shotgun reads were also used to score single nucleotide polymorphisms and to calculate intraspecific nucleotide diversity (pi) for all available populations at each site. These values correlated with Sanger sequenced cox1 variation but were significantly higher.
5. Overall, the assemblage-focused shotgun sequencing of pooled samples produced nucleotide variation data comparable to the well-established specimen-focused Sanger approach. The findings thus extend the application of mitochondrial metagenomics of complex biodiversity samples to the estimation of diversity below the species level
Cosmic rays studied with a hybrid high school detector array
The LORUN/NAHSA system is a pathfinder for hybrid cosmic ray research
combined with education and outreach in the field of astro-particle physics.
Particle detectors and radio antennae were mainly setup by students and placed
on public buildings. After fully digital data acquisition, coincidence
detections were selected. Three candidate events confirmed a working prototype,
which can be multiplied to extend further particle detector arrays on high
schools.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Nigl, A., Timmermans, C., Schellart, P.,
Kuijpers, J., Falcke, H., Horneffer, A., de Vos, C. M., Koopman, Y., Pepping,
H. J., Schoonderbeek, G., Cosmic rays studied with a hybrid high school
detector array, Europhysics News (EPN), Vol. 38, No. 5, accepted on
22/08/200
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