Development of a high-throughput microsatellite typing approach for forensic and population genetic analysis of wild and domestic African Bovini

Conservation management and forensic traceability of African buffalo and cattle rely on the timely provision of unbiased and accurate genetic information. An approach in which 17 cattle microsatellite markers are co-electrophoresed, following amplification in three core multiplex reactions was established for this purpose. Mean allelic richness per locus was 8.24 and 6.47, for buffalo and Bonsmara cattle, respectively, whilst an unbiased match probability of 6.5x×10-17 and 1.03 × 10-16 was obtained for each. These results confirm the usefulness of this rapid, cost-effective typing approach for forensic, paternity and fine-scale genetic analyses of wild and domestic African Bovini tribe member

Efficient use of energy in the ventilation and cooling of mines

Escalating energy and electricity costs have become one of the largest drivers of expenditure in mining operations. Over the last eight years, energy costs have tripled when expressed as a percentage of total expenses in South African mines. In an effort to manage and reduce electricity costs, energy management strategies can be developed, inefficient operating units replaced, and the operation of energy-consuming components of ventilation systems optimized. Power consumption on mines is controlled mainly by three strategies, namely load clipping, by which energy use is reduced for certain parts of the day; load shifting, by which energy use is shifted to other parts of the day; and energy efficiency, by which energy use is reduced permanently. In this paper several projects that were implemented using the first two strategies of load clipping and load shifting are investigated. The actual and potential savings that can be achieved by implementing such energysaving interventions are presented. To reduce the operating costs of ventilating and cooling underground mines permanently, system optimization studies must be completed. Methods that can be used to reduce energy usage by optimizing cooling and ventilation systems are described, and network simulation models that accurately reflect the current and planned ventilation conditions are discussed. These models are then used to examine various options for improving the overall ventilation and cooling strategy. Different optimization scenarios can be simulated, and this assists the design engineer in obtaining the most energy-efficient system that will satisfy design workplace conditions. The final outcome is a reduction in operating costs, which can result in better operating margins and an extension of the life of mine.http://www.saimm.co.za/journal-papersam201

Polysaccharides and polyphenols in sea buckthorn leaf tea have synergistic impact on studied colonic strains in vitro and bacteria in vivo

Present research on prebiotics focuses on either polysaccharides or polyphenols. This study compared the individual and combined impact of polysaccharide, quercetin, and gallic acid (GA) treatment on three human faecal strains. In vitro pure culturing and correlation analysis confirmed that the growth of both beneficial microbe B. longum subsp. longum (0.695, 0.205: R2, slope, respectively) and pathogenic C. perfringens (0.712, 0.085: R2, slope, respectively) increased due to polysaccharide treatment, and only GA treatment would inhibit C. perfringens (0.789, –0.165: R2, slope, respectively) growth. In vivo studies also revealed that genome copies of Bifidobacterium increased and C. perfringens decreased in the faeces, when a blend of the three nutrients rather than single polysaccharide or polyphenols were fed to rats. These data suggested that combined prebiotic treatment improved human faecal strain composition better than single treatment

Universal and non-universal features of glassy relaxation in propylene carbonate

It is demonstrated that the susceptibility spectra of supercooled propylene carbonate as measured by depolarized-light-scattering, dielectric-loss, and incoherent quasi-elastic neutron-scattering spectroscopy within the GHz window are simultaneously described by the solutions of a two-component schematic model of the mode-coupling theory (MCT) for the evolution of glassy dynamics. It is shown that the universal beta-relaxation-scaling laws, dealing with the asymptotic behavior of the MCT solutions, describe the qualitative features of the calculated spectra. But the non-universal corrections to the scaling laws render it impossible to achieve a complete quantitative description using only the leading-order-asymptotic results.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

CP violation in chargino decays in the MSSM

In the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with complex parameters, supersymmetric loop effects can lead to \emph{CP} violation. We calculate the rate asymmetries of decays of charginos into the lightest neutralino and a $W$ boson on the basis of the most important loop contributions in the third generation squark sectors. It turns out that the \emph{CP} violating asymmetries can be a few per cent in typical regions of the parameter space of the MSSM. These processes would provide very promising channels for probing \emph{CP} violation in the MSSM at future high-energy colliders.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX2

QCD sum rules analysis of the rare B_c \rar X\nu\bar{\nu} decays

Taking into account the gluon correction contributions to the correlation function, the form factors relevant to the rare B_c \rar X \nu\bar{\nu} decays are calculated in the framework of the three point QCD sum rules, where $X$ stands for axial vector particle, $AV(D_{s1})$, and vector particles, $V(D^*,D^*_s)$. The total decay width as well as the branching ratio of these decays are evaluated using the $q^2$ dependent expressions of the form factors. A comparison of our results with the predictions of the relativistic constituent quark model is presented.Comment: 21 Pages, 2 Figures and 5 Table

Multiple-scattering effects on incoherent neutron scattering in glasses and viscous liquids

Incoherent neutron scattering experiments are simulated for simple dynamic models: a glass (with a smooth distribution of harmonic vibrations) and a viscous liquid (described by schematic mode-coupling equations). In most situations multiple scattering has little influence upon spectral distributions, but it completely distorts the wavenumber-dependent amplitudes. This explains an anomaly observed in recent experiments

Propylene Carbonate Reexamined: Mode-Coupling β\beta Scaling without Factorisation ?

The dynamic susceptibility of propylene carbonate in the moderately viscous regime above $T_{\rm c}$ is reinvestigated by incoherent neutron and depolarised light scattering, and compared to dielectric loss and solvation response. Depending on the strength of $\alpha$ relaxation, a more or less extended $\beta$ scaling regime is found. Mode-coupling fits yield consistently $\lambda=0.72$ and $T_{\rm c}=182$K, although different positions of the susceptibility minimum indicate that not all observables have reached the universal asymptotics

Distributed phase-covariant cloning with atomic ensembles via quantum Zeno dynamics

We propose an interesting scheme for distributed orbital state quantum cloning with atomic ensembles based on the quantum Zeno dynamics. These atomic ensembles which consist of identical three-level atoms are trapped in distant cavities connected by a single-mode integrated optical star coupler. These qubits can be manipulated through appropriate modulation of the coupling constants between atomic ensemble and classical field, and the cavity decay can be largely suppressed as the number of atoms in the ensemble qubits increases. The fidelity of each cloned qubit can be obtained with analytic result. The present scheme provides a new way to construct the quantum communication network.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The transition form factors for semi-leptonic weak decays of J/ψJ/\psi in QCD sum rules

Within the Standard Model, we investigate the semi-leptonic weak decays of $J/\psi$. The various form factors of $J/\psi$ transiting to a single charmed meson ($D^{(*)}_{(d,s)}$) are studied in the framework of the QCD sum rules. These form factors fully determine the rates of the weak semi-leptonic decays of $J/\psi$ and provide valuable information about the non-perturbative QCD effects. Our results indicate that the decay rate of the semi-leptonic weak decay mode $J/\psi \to D^{(*)-}_{s}+e^{+}+\nu_{e}$ is at order of $10^{-10}$.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures, revised version to be published in Eur.Phys.J.