Why fishing magnifies fluctuations in fish abundance

It is now clear that fished populations can fluctuate more than unharvested stocks. However, it is not clear why. Here we distinguish among three major competing mechanisms for this phenomenon, by using the 50-year California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) larval fish record. First, variable fishing pressure directly increases variability in exploited populations. Second, commercial fishing can decrease the average body size and age of a stock, causing the truncated population to track environmental fluctuations directly. Third, age-truncated or juvenescent populations have increasingly unstable population dynamics because of changing demographic parameters such as intrinsic growth rates. We find no evidence for the first hypothesis, limited evidence for the second and strong evidence for the third. Therefore, in California Current fisheries, increased temporal variability in the population does not arise from variable exploitation, nor does it reflect direct environmental tracking. More fundamentally, it arises from increased instability in dynamics. This finding has implications for resource management as an empirical example of how selective harvesting can alter the basic dynamics of exploited populations, and lead to unstable booms and busts that can precede systematic declines in stock levels.     

Anatase TiO2 single crystals with a large percentage of reactive facets

Owing to their scientific and technological importance, inorganic single crystals with highly reactive surfaces have long been studied. Unfortunately, surfaces with high reactivity usually diminish rapidly during the crystal growth process as a result of the minimization of surface energy. A typical example is titanium dioxide (TiO2), which has promising energy and environmental applications. Most available anatase TiO(2) crystals are dominated by the thermodynamically stable {101} facets (more than 94 per cent, according to the Wulff construction), rather than the much more reactive {001} facets. Here we demonstrate that for fluorine-terminated surfaces this relative stability is reversed: {001} is energetically preferable to {101}. We explored this effect systematically for a range of non-metallic adsorbate atoms by first-principle quantum chemical calculations. On the basis of theoretical predictions, we have synthesized uniform anatase TiO(2) single crystals with a high percentage (47 per cent) of {001} facets using hydrofluoric acid as a morphology controlling agent. Moreover, the fluorated surface of anatase single crystals can easily be cleaned using heat treatment to render a fluorine-free surface without altering the crystal structure and morphology.     

Superconductivity at 43 K in SmFeAsO1-xFx

Since the discovery of high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) superconductivity in layered copper oxides, extensive effort has been devoted to exploring the origins of this phenomenon. A T(c) higher than 40 K (about the theoretical maximum predicted from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory), however, has been obtained only in the copper oxide superconductors. The highest reported value for non-copper-oxide bulk superconductivity is T(c) = 39 K in MgB(2) (ref. 2). The layered rare-earth metal oxypnictides LnOFeAs (where Ln is La-Nd, Sm and Gd) are now attracting attention following the discovery of superconductivity at 26 K in the iron-based LaO(1-x)F(x)FeAs (ref. 3). Here we report the discovery of bulk superconductivity in the related compound SmFeAsO(1-x)F(x), which has a ZrCuSiAs-type structure. Resistivity and magnetization measurements reveal a transition temperature as high as 43 K. This provides a new material base for studying the origin of high-temperature superconductivity.     

A GaAs polariton light-emitting diode operating near room temperature

The increasing ability to control light-matter interactions at the nanometre scale has improved the performance of semiconductor lasers in the past decade. The ultimate optimization is realized in semiconductor microcavities, in which strong coupling between quantum-well excitons and cavity photons gives rise to hybrid half-light/half-matter polariton quasiparticles. The unique properties of polaritons-such as stimulated scattering, parametric amplification, lasing, condensation and superfluidity-are believed to provide the basis for a new generation of polariton emitters and semiconductor lasers. Until now, polariton lasing and nonlinearities have only been demonstrated in optical experiments, which have shown the potential to reduce lasing thresholds by two orders of magnitude compared to conventional semiconductor lasers. Here we report an experimental realization of an electrically pumped semiconductor polariton light-emitting device, which emits directly from polariton states at a temperature of 235 K. Polariton electroluminescence data reveal characteristic anticrossing between exciton and cavity modes, a clear signature of the strong coupling regime. These findings represent a substantial step towards the realization of ultra-efficient polaritonic devices with unprecedented characteristics.     

Micro-engineered local field control for high-sensitivity multispectral MRI

In recent years, biotechnology and biomedical research have benefited from the introduction of a variety of specialized nanoparticles whose well-defined, optically distinguishable signatures enable simultaneous tracking of numerous biological indicators. Unfortunately, equivalent multiplexing capabilities are largely absent in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Comparable magnetic-resonance labels have generally been limited to relatively simple chemically synthesized superparamagnetic microparticles that are, to a large extent, indistinguishable from one another. Here we show how it is instead possible to use a top-down microfabrication approach to effectively encode distinguishable spectral signatures into the geometry of magnetic microstructures. Although based on different physical principles from those of optically probed nanoparticles, these geometrically defined magnetic microstructures permit a multiplexing functionality in the magnetic resonance radio-frequency spectrum that is in many ways analogous to that permitted by quantum dots in the optical spectrum. Additionally, in situ modification of particle geometries may facilitate radio-frequency probing of various local physiological variables.     

Conjugated action of two species-specific invasion proteins for fetoplacental listeriosis

The ability to cross host barriers is an essential virulence determinant of invasive microbial pathogens. Listeria monocytogenes is a model microorganism that crosses human intestinal and placental barriers, and causes severe maternofetal infections by an unknown mechanism. Several studies have helped to characterize the bacterial invasion proteins InlA and InlB. However, their respective species specificity has complicated investigations on their in vivo role. Here we describe two novel and complementary animal models for human listeriosis: the gerbil, a natural host for L. monocytogenes, and a knock-in mouse line ubiquitously expressing humanized E-cadherin. Using these two models, we uncover the essential and interdependent roles of InlA and InlB in fetoplacental listeriosis, and thereby decipher the molecular mechanism underlying the ability of a microbe to target and cross the placental barrier.