Impurity effects in few-electron quantum dots: Incipient Wigner molecule regime

Numerically exact path-integral Monte Carlo data are presented for $N\leq 10$ strongly interacting electrons confined in a 2D parabolic quantum dot, including a defect to break rotational symmetry. Low densities are studied, where an incipient Wigner molecule forms. A single impurity is found to cause drastic effects: (1) The standard shell-filling sequence with magic numbers $N=4,6,9$, corresponding to peaks in the addition energy $\Delta(N)$, is destroyed, with a new peak at N=8, (2) spin gaps decrease, (3) for N=8, sub-Hund's rule spin S=0 is induced, and (4) spatial ordering of the electrons becomes rather sensitive to spin. We also comment on the recently observed bunching phenomenon.Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter

Oral diabetes medication monotherapy and short-term mortality in individuals with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease

Objective To determine whether sulfonylurea use, compared with non-sulfonylurea oral diabetes medication use, was associated with 2-year mortality in individuals with well-controlled diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD). Research design and methods We studied 5352 US veterans with type 2 diabetes, obstructive CAD on coronary angiography, hemoglobin A1c ≤7.5% at the time of catheterization, and taking zero or one oral diabetes medication (categorized as no medications, non-sulfonylurea medication, or sulfonylurea). We estimated the association between medication category and 2-year mortality using inverse probability of treatment-weighted (IPW) standardized mortality differences and IPW multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression. Results 49%, 35%, and 16% of the participants were on no diabetes medications, non-sulfonylurea medications, and sulfonylureas, respectively. In individuals on no medications, non-sulfonylurea medications, and sulfonylureas, the unadjusted mortality rates were 6.6%, 5.2%, and 11.9%, respectively, and the IPW-standardized mortality rates were 5.9%, 6.5%, and 9.7%, respectively. The standardized absolute 2-year mortality difference between non-sulfonylurea and sulfonylurea groups was 3.2% (95% CI 0.7 to 5.7) (p=0.01). In Cox proportional hazards models, the point estimate suggested that sulfonylurea use might be associated with greater hazard of mortality than non-sulfonylurea medication use, but this finding was not statistically significant (HR 1.38 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.93), p=0.05). We did not observe significant mortality differences between individuals on no diabetes medications and non-sulfonylurea users. Conclusions Sulfonylurea use was common (nearly one-third of those taking medications) and was associated with increased 2-year mortality in individuals with obstructive CAD. The significance of the association between sulfonylurea use and mortality was attenuated in fully adjusted survival models. Caution with sulfonylurea use may be warranted for patients with well-controlled diabetes and CAD, and metformin or newer diabetes medications with cardiovascular safety data could be considered as alternatives when individualizing therapy

Mapping and modeling eelgrass Zostera marina distribution in the western Baltic Sea

In the northern hemisphere, eelgrass Zostera marina L. is the most important and widespread seagrass species. Despite its ecological importance, baseline data on eelgrass distribution and abundance are mostly absent, particularly in subtidal areas with relatively turbid waters. Here, we report a combined approach of vegetation mapping in the Baltic Sea coupled to a species distribution model (SDM). Eelgrass cover was mapped continuously in the summers of 2010 and 2011 with an underwater towed camera along ~400 km of seafloor. Eelgrass populated 80% of the study region and occurred at water depths between 0.6 and 7.6 m at sheltered to moderately exposed coasts. Mean patch length was 128.6 m but was higher at sheltered locations, with a maximum of >2000 m. The video observations (n = 7824) were used as empiric input to the SDMs. Using generalized additive models, 3 predictor variables (depth, wave exposure, and slope), which were selected based on Akaike’s information criterion, were sufficient to predict eelgrass presence/absence. Along with a very good overall discriminative ability (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve ROC/AUC = 0.82), depth (as a proxy for light), wave exposure, and slope contributed 66, 29, and 5%, respectively, to the final model. The estimated total areal extent of eelgrass in the study region amounts to 140.5 km2 and comprises about 11.5% of all known Baltic seagrass beds. The present work is, to the best of our knowledge, the largest study undertaken to date on vegetation mapping and the first to assess distribution of eelgrass quantitatively in the western Baltic Sea

Two ground-state modifications of quantum-dot beryllium

Exact electronic properties of a system of four Coulomb-interacting two-dimensional electrons in a parabolic confinement are reported. We show that degenerate ground states of this system are characterized by qualitatively different internal electron-electron correlations, and that the formation of Wigner molecule in the strong-interaction regime is going on in essentially different ways in these ground states.Comment: 5 pages, incl 5 Figures and 2 Table

Effect of grazing and mowing on the clonal structure of Elytrigia atherica: a long-term study of abandoned and managed sites

Physical disturbance by large herbivores can affect species diversity at the community level and concurrently genetic diversity at the species level. As seedling establishment is rarely observed in clonal plants, short-term experiments and demographic studies are unlikely to reveal the response of clonal plants to disturbances. A long-term (30-year) field experiment and the availability of molecularmarkers allowed us to investigate the clonal structure of populations of Elytrigia atherica subjected to different management regimes. The long-term field study provided us with five replicated blocks that had been subjected to three different management regimes, grazing by cattle, mowing and abandonment. In this study we examined the effects of herbivore grazing andmowing on clonal richness and genetic diversity of populations in salt marshes using multilocus microsatellite genotypes. In addition, phenotypic traits and spatial positions of E. atherica ramets were determined for 20 samples in a 5 × 10m plot in each of the blocks. Abundance and phenotypic traits were affected by the management regimes, resulting in a higher abundance in abandoned fields and plants having shorter and narrower leaves in managed fields. Biomass removal did affect the clonal structure of populations and increased the genetic diversity compared to that in abandoned fields. However, no distinct difference was found between the two management regimes, mowing and grazing. Although seedling recruitment has rarely been observed, the present study shows that such rare events have occurred within the populations studied. Thus, molecular tools can greatly increase our understanding of vegetation dynamics and processes within populations growing under different conditions

Urinary and plasma catecholamines and metanephrines in dogs with pheochromocytoma, hypercortisolism, nonadrenal disease and in healthy dogs.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of pheochromocytoma (PC) is based on a combination of clinical suspicion, finding an adrenal mass, increased plasma, and urine concentrations of catecholamine metabolites and is finally confirmed with histopathology. In human medicine, it is controversial whether biochemically testing plasma is superior to testing urine. OBJECTIVES: To measure urinary and plasma catecholamines and metanephrines in healthy dogs, dogs with PC, hypercortisolism (HC), and nonadrenal diseases (NAD) and to determine the test with the best diagnostic performance for dogs with PC. ANIMALS: Seven PC dogs, 10 dogs with HC, 14 dogs with NAD, 10 healthy dogs. METHODS: Prospective diagnostic clinical study. Urine and heparin plasma samples were collected and stored at -80°C before analysis using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to electrochemical detection or tandem mass spectrometry were performed. Urinary variables were expressed as ratios to urinary creatinine concentration. RESULTS: Dogs with PC had significantly higher urinary normetanephrine and metanephrine : creatinine ratios and significantly higher plasma-total and free normetanephrine and plasma-free metanephrine concentrations compared to the 3 other groups. There were no overlapping results of urinary normetanephrine concentrations between PC and all other groups, and only one PC dog with a plasma normetanephrine concentration in the range of the dogs with HC and NAD disease. Performances of total and free plasma variables were similar. Overlap of epinephrine and norepinephrine results between the groups was large with both urine and plasma. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Measurement of normetanephrine is the preferred biochemical test for PC and urine was superior to plasma

Hyperglycaemia but not hyperlipidaemia causes beta cell dysfunction and beta cell loss in the domestic cat

Aims/hypothesis: In vitro studies point to a toxic effect of high glucose and non-esterified fatty acids on beta cells. Whether elevated levels of glucose and lipids induce beta cell loss in vivo is less clear. The domestic cat has recently been proposed as a valuable animal model for human type 2 diabetes because feline diabetes shows several similarities with diabetes in humans, including obesity-induced insulin resistance, impaired beta cell function, decreased number of beta cells and pancreatic amyloid deposition. Methods: We infused healthy cats with glucose or lipids for 10days to clamp their blood concentrations at the approximate level found in untreated feline diabetes (glucose: 25-30mmol/l; triacylglycerols: 3-7mmol/l). Results: Glucose and lipid levels were adequately targeted. Plasma non-esterified fatty acids were increased by lipid infusion 1.7-fold. A dramatic and progressive decline of plasma insulin levels was observed in glucose-infused cats beginning after 2days of hyperglycaemic clamp. In contrast, plasma insulin concentration and glucose tolerance test were not affected by hyperlipidaemia. Compared with controls, glucose-infused cats had a 50% decrease in beta cells per pancreatic area. Apoptotic islet cells and cleaved caspase-3-positive beta cells were observed in glucose-infused cats only. Conclusions/interpretation: Sustained hyperglycaemia but not hyperlipidaemia induces early and severe beta cell dysfunction in cats, and excess glucose causes beta cell loss via apoptosis in vivo. Hyperglycaemic clamps in cats may provide a good model to study the pathogenesis of glucose toxicity in beta cell

Specific immune priming in the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi

Specific immune priming enables an induced immune response upon repeated pathogen encounter. As a functional analogue to vertebrate immune memory, such adaptive plasticity has been described, for instance, in insects and crustaceans. However, towards the base of the metazoan tree our knowledge about the existence of specific immune priming becomes scattered. Here, we exposed the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi repeatedly to two different bacterial epitopes (Gram-positive or -negative) and measured gene expression. Ctenophores experienced either the same bacterial epitope twice (homologous treatments) or different bacterial epitopes (heterologous treatments). Our results demonstrate that immune gene expression depends on earlier bacterial exposure. We detected significantly different expression upon heterologous compared with homologous bacterial treatment at three immune activator and effector genes. This is the first experimental evidence for specific immune priming in Ctenophora and generally in non-bilaterian animals, hereby adding to our growing notion of plasticity in innate immune systems across all animal phyla

Quantum dots in high magnetic fields: Rotating-Wigner-molecule versus composite-fermion approach

Exact diagonalization results are reported for the lowest rotational band of N=6 electrons in strong magnetic fields in the range of high angular momenta 70 <= L <= 140 (covering the corresponding range of fractional filling factors 1/5 >= nu >= 1/9). A detailed comparison of energetic, spectral, and transport properties (specifically, magic angular momenta, radial electron densities, occupation number distributions, overlaps and total energies, and exponents of current-voltage power law) shows that the recently discovered rotating-electron-molecule wave functions [Phys. Rev. B 66, 115315 (2002)] provide a superior description compared to the composite-fermion/Jastrow-Laughlin ones.Comment: Extensive clarifications were added (see new footnotes) regarding the difference between the rotating Wigner molecule and the bulk Wigner crystal; also regarding the influence of an external confining potential. 12 pages. Revtex4 with 6 EPS figures and 5 tables . For related papers, see http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~ph274c