Experiments on ultracold quantum gases of 85Rb and 87Rb

This thesis describes a new apparatus designed to study ultracold gases of rubidium. The apparatus comprises a six-beam MOT chamber and a dierential pumping stage leading into a 'science chamber'. This science chamber is constructed from a rectangular glass cell. Atomic gases of rubidium are collected in a MOT and then transferred into a magnetic quadrupole trap. This quadrupole trap is mounted on a motorised translation stage. This setup transports the atoms into the science chamber, where they are transferred into a static quadrupole trap which is built around the glass cell. During the transport the atoms are deected over a glass prism, which shields the science chamber from stray rubidium from the MOT chamber. The magnetic transport is studied in detail and the deection over the glass prism is fully described simulating the displacement of the quadrupole trap. Using the magnetic quadrupole trap in the science chamber to store one rubidium isotope, we are able to load the other rubidium isotope in the MOT chamber and transfer it also into the science chamber. There, the two magnetic traps are merged and variable ratios of isotopic mixtures can be created. The merging of the two quadrupole traps could be employed in future experiments to cool 85Rb sympathetically with 87Rb. In the science chamber forced radio-frequency evaporation is performed and the loading of a far-detuned dipole trap is studied. Initially the dipole trap is realised as a hybrid trap, a single beam dipole trap in combination with the quadrupole trap. Further studies include the loading of a crossed beam dipole trap. We demonstrate that the apparatus is capable of producing 87Rb condensates. Preliminary studies of 85Rb in the dipole trap are included which hopefully in future will lead to a quantum degenerate gas of 85Rb

Uberon: towards a comprehensive multi-species anatomy ontology

The lack of a single unified species-neutral ontology covering the anatomy of a variety of metazoans is a hindrance to translating model organism research to human health. We have developed an Uber-anatomy ontology to fill this need, filling the gap between the CARO upper-level ontology and species-specific anatomical ontologies

Changes in Electroencephalogram Coherence in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder after a Social Skills Intervention

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects social communication and behavior. There is a consensus that neurological differences present in individuals with ASD. Further, theories emphasize the mixture of hypo- and hyper-connectivity as a neuropathology in ASD (O’Reilly, Lewis, & Elsabbagh, 2017), however, there is a paucity of studies specifically testing neurological underpinnings as predictors of success on social skills interventions. This study examined functional neural connectivity (electroencephalogram, EEG, coherence) of adolescents with ASD before and after the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) intervention. Two groups were utilized in this randomized controlled trial (RCT): an Experimental ASD Group (EXP ASD; n = 74) and a Waitlist Control ASD Group (WL ASD; n = 74). The study had 2 purposes. Aim 1 was to determine whether changes in EEG coherence differed in adolescents with ASD receiving PEERS® compared to a waitlist control group of ASD adolescents that did not receive the intervention. Results revealed a statistically significant difference between groups in EEG coherence in the occipital left to temporal left pair; indicating an increase of connectivity between the occipital left and temporal left regions after intervention. Aim 2 was to determine if changes in EEG coherence related to changes in behavior, friendships, and social skills via the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS: Gresham, 2009), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS: Constantino, 2005), Quality of Socialization Questionnaire-Adolescent (QSQ-A: Laugeson, 2010), and Test of Adolescent Social Skills (TASSK: Laugeson, 2010). Results indicated a positive change in frontal right to parietal right coherence was linked to an increase in SSIS Social Skills scores at post-test. Positive changes in occipital right to temporal right coherence and occipital left to parietal left coherence were linked to an increase in the total number of get-togethers via the QSQ-A. Results of this study have implications for the importance of assessing response to treatment in ASD using neurobehavioral domains

The Temples of King Rajendravarman: Tenth Century Architecture at Angkor.

The thesis is a detailed analysis of the two main temples of King Rajendravarman, consecrated in the mid-tenth century, focusing on their architecture and epigraphy. The background to this study is Philippe Stern's classification of Angkorean temples into ancestor and state temples, which is examined critically. Chapter 2 provides the general background, introducing the Indian religions, both theoretically and as practised in Cambodia. Brahmanical Temple Architecture is briefly presented, followed by a detailed description of the East Mebon and Pre Rup. The methodological background is given in chapter 3. The development of Cambodian studies is examined, most importantly the theories of Ph. Stern. Subsequently, the methodologies utilised for this study are introduced. Chapter 4 analyses in depth the architectural features of the individual buildings within the temple complexes, which has not been done up to now, and formulates an internal building sequence. This is completed in chapter 7 by the application of general architectural theory and the regulations given in the Indian sastras to suggest the function of the individual buildings. In chapter 5 the foundation inscriptions of the two temples are analysed. First a general introduction to the Sanskrit epigraphy of Kambujadesa is given, presenting the most important religious concepts expressed in the inscriptions. The main part of the chapter deals with the three main inscriptions of King Rajendravarman. The analysis of the texts comprises the study of the religious ideas expressed, and of the information regarding the temples themselves contained in the texts. This analysis is refined in chapter 6 to examine whether the images mentioned in the inscriptions were founded, and where they were placed. Overall it is argued that the East Mebon and Pre Rup are part of one building programme, to legitimise King Rajedravarman and secure his spiritual and political position. Due to their fundamental similarities it is not warranted to classify them in two separate categories of temples. The necessity for detailed studies is stressed, instead of attempting to impose preconceived categories on them

Giant anisotropy of Zeeman splitting of quantum confined acceptors in Si/Ge

Shallow acceptor levels in Si/Ge/Si quantum well heterostructures are characterized by resonant tunneling spectroscopy in the presence of high magnetic fields. In a perpendicular magnetic field we observe a linear Zeeman splitting of the acceptor levels. In an in-plane field, on the other hand, the Zeeman splitting is strongly suppressed. This anisotropic Zeeman splitting is shown to be a consequence of the huge light hole-heavy hole splitting caused by a large biaxial strain and a strong quantum confinement in the Ge quantum well.Comment: 5 figures, 4 page

New models for human disease from the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium

International audienceThe International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) continues to expand the catalogue of mammalian gene function by conducting genome and phenome-wide phenotyping on knockout mouse lines. The extensive and standardized phenotype screens allow the identification of new potential models for human disease through cross-species comparison by computing the similarity between the phenotypes observed in the mutant mice and the human phenotypes associated to their orthologous loci in Mendelian disease. Here, we present an update on the novel disease models available from the most recent data release (DR10.0), with 5861 mouse genes fully or partially phenotyped and a total number of 69,982 phenotype calls reported. With approximately one-third of human Mendelian genes with orthologous null mouse phenotypes described, the range of available models relevant for human diseases keeps increasing. Among the breadth of new data, we identify previously uncharacterized disease genes in the mouse and additional phenotypes for genes with existing mutant lines mimicking the associated disorder. The automated and unbiased discovery of relevant models for all types of rare diseases implemented by the IMPC constitutes a powerful tool for human genetics and precision medicine

Modularization for the Cell Ontology

One of the premises of the OBO Foundry is that development of an orthogonal set of ontologies will increase domain expert contributions and logical interoperability, and decrease maintenance workload. For these reasons, the Cell Ontology (CL) is being re-engineered. This process requires the extraction of sub-modules from existing OBO ontologies, which presents a number of practical engineering challenges. These extracted modules may be intended to cover a narrow or a broad set of species. In addition, applications and resources that make use of the Cell Ontology have particular modularization requirements, such as the ability to extract custom subsets or unions of the Cell Ontology with other OBO ontologies. These extracted modules may be intended to cover a narrow or a broad set of species, which presents unique complications.

We discuss some of these requirements, and present our progress towards a customizable simple-to-use modularization tool that leverages existing OWL-based tools and opens up their use for the CL and other ontologies