9,174 research outputs found
Emergence of chaotic scattering in ultracold Er and Dy
We show that for ultracold magnetic lanthanide atoms chaotic scattering
emerges due to a combination of anisotropic interaction potentials and Zeeman
coupling under an external magnetic field. This scattering is studied in a
collaborative experimental and theoretical effort for both dysprosium and
erbium. We present extensive atom-loss measurements of their dense magnetic
Feshbach resonance spectra, analyze their statistical properties, and compare
to predictions from a random-matrix-theory inspired model. Furthermore,
theoretical coupled-channels simulations of the anisotropic molecular
Hamiltonian at zero magnetic field show that weakly-bound, near threshold
diatomic levels form overlapping, uncoupled chaotic series that when combined
are randomly distributed. The Zeeman interaction shifts and couples these
levels, leading to a Feshbach spectrum of zero-energy bound states with
nearest-neighbor spacings that changes from randomly to chaotically distributed
for increasing magnetic field. Finally, we show that the extreme temperature
sensitivity of a small, but sizeable fraction of the resonances in the Dy and
Er atom-loss spectra is due to resonant non-zero partial-wave collisions. Our
threshold analysis for these resonances indicates a large collision-energy
dependence of the three-body recombination rate
Effects of Health Risk Assessment and Counselling on Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Older People: A Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial.
OBJECTIVES
Interventions to increase fruit and vegetable intake among community-dwelling older people have shown mixed effects. We investigated whether an intervention based on an initial multidimensional health risk assessment and subsequent physician-lead nutrition counselling has favourable effects on dietary intake among community-dwelling older people.
DESIGN
Randomised controlled trial comparing the intervention versus usual care.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
Non-disabled persons aged 65 years or older at an ambulatory geriatric clinic in Bucharest, Romania, allocated to intervention (n=100) and control (n=100) groups.
INTERVENTION
Participants received a computer-generated health profile report based on answers to a health risk assessment questionnaire, followed by monthly individual counselling sessions with a geriatrician on topics related to health promotion and disease prevention, with a special focus on adequate fruit and vegetable consumption.
MEASUREMENTS
Fruit and vegetable intake at baseline and at 6-month follow-up.
RESULTS
At baseline, fruit and vegetable intake was below the recommended five portions per day in most study participants (85% in the intervention group, and 86% among controls, respectively). At six months, intake increased in the intervention group from a median of 3.8 to 4.6 portions per day, and decreased in the control group due to a seasonal effect from a median of 3.8 to 3.1 portions per day. At six months, fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly higher among persons in the intervention group as compared to controls (median difference 1.4 portions per day, 95% confidence interval 1.1-1.7, p<0.001).
CONCLUSION
Personalised food-based dietary guidance, delivered as part of multidimensional preventive health counselling during geriatric clinic visits, results in relevant improvement of fruit and vegetable intake in community-dwelling older adults
Deconvolution of complex G protein-coupled receptor signaling in live cells using dynamic mass redistribution measurements
Label-free biosensor technology based on dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) of cellular constituents promises to translate GPCR signaling into complex optical 'fingerprints' in real time in living cells. Here we present a strategy to map cellular mechanisms that define label-free responses, and we compare DMR technology with traditional second-messenger assays that are currently the state of the art in GPCR drug discovery. The holistic nature of DMR measurements enabled us to (i) probe GPCR functionality along all four G-protein signaling pathways, something presently beyond reach of most other assay platforms; (ii) dissect complex GPCR signaling patterns even in primary human cells with unprecedented accuracy; (iii) define heterotrimeric G proteins as triggers for the complex optical fingerprints; and (iv) disclose previously undetected features of GPCR behavior. Our results suggest that DMR technology will have a substantial impact on systems biology and systems pharmacology as well as for the discovery of drugs with novel mechanisms
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