Links between climate and sea levels for the past three million years

The oscillations between glacial and interglacial climate conditions over the past three million years have been characterized by a transfer of immense amounts of water between two of its largest reservoirs on Earth -- the ice sheets and the oceans. Since the latest of these oscillations, the Last Glacial Maximum (between about 30,000 and 19,000 years ago), approximately 50 million cubic kilometres of ice has melted from the land-based ice sheets, raising global sea level by approximately 130 metres. Such rapid changes in sea level are part of a complex pattern of interactions between the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets and solid earth, all of which have different response timescales. The trigger for the sea-level fluctuations most probably lies with changes in insolation, caused by astronomical forcing, but internal feedback cycles complicate the simple model of causes and effects.     

Altered performance of forest pests under atmospheres enriched by CO2 and O3

Human activity causes increasing background concentrations of the greenhouse gases CO2 and O3. Increased levels of CO2 can be found in all terrestrial ecosystems. Damaging O3 concentrations currently occur over 29% of the world's temperate and subpolar forests but are predicted to affect fully 60% by 2100 (ref. 3). Although individual effects of CO2 and O3 on vegetation have been widely investigated, very little is known about their interaction, and long-term studies on mature trees and higher trophic levels are extremely rare. Here we present evidence from the most widely distributed North American tree species, Populus tremuloides, showing that CO2 and O3, singly and in combination, affected productivity, physical and chemical leaf defences and, because of changes in plant quality, insect and disease populations. Our data show that feedbacks to plant growth from changes induced by CO2 and O3 in plant quality and pest performance are likely. Assessments of global change effects on forest ecosystems must therefore consider the interacting effects of CO2 and O3 on plant performance, as well as the implications of increased pest activity.     

Prediction in a duration model

Predictors of mean duration and an arbitrary quantile are given for the Weibull regression model for duration data. Associated prediction variances arising from maximum likelihood and least squares estimation are given. In an empirical example, based on duration of employment data, the uses of various model diagnostics and the predictors are illustrated.     

Measurement of the spatial coherence of a trapped Bose gas at the phase transition

The experimental realization of Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute gases has allowed investigations of fundamental concepts in quantum mechanics at ultra-low temperatures, such as wave-like behaviour and interference phenomena. The formation of an interference pattern depends fundamentally on the phase coherence of a system; the latter may be quantified by the spatial correlation function. Phase coherence over a long range is the essential factor underlying Bose-Einstein condensation and related macroscopic quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity and superfluidity. Here we report a direct measurement of the phase coherence properties of a weakly interacting Bose gas of rubidium atoms. Effectively, we create a double slit for magnetically trapped atoms using a radio wave field with two frequency components. The correlation function of the system is determined by evaluating the interference pattern of two matter waves originating from the spatially separated 'slit' regions of the trapped gas. Above the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation, the correlation function shows a rapid gaussian decay, as expected for a thermal gas. Below the critical temperature, the correlation function has a different shape: a slow decay towards a plateau is observed, indicating the long-range phase coherence of the condensate fraction.     

Direct observation of second-order atom tunnelling

Tunnelling of material particles through a classically impenetrable barrier constitutes one of the hallmark effects of quantum physics. When interactions between the particles compete with their mobility through a tunnel junction, intriguing dynamical behaviour can arise because the particles do not tunnel independently. In single-electron or Bloch transistors, for example, the tunnelling of an electron or Cooper pair can be enabled or suppressed by the presence of a second charge carrier due to Coulomb blockade. Here we report direct, time-resolved observations of the correlated tunnelling of two interacting ultracold atoms through a barrier in a double-well potential. For the regime in which the interactions between the atoms are weak and tunnel coupling dominates, individual atoms can tunnel independently, similar to the case of a normal Josephson junction. However, when strong repulsive interactions are present, two atoms located on one side of the barrier cannot separate, but are observed to tunnel together as a pair in a second-order co-tunnelling process. By recording both the atom position and phase coherence over time, we fully characterize the tunnelling process for a single atom as well as the correlated dynamics of a pair of atoms for weak and strong interactions. In addition, we identify a conditional tunnelling regime in which a single atom can only tunnel in the presence of a second particle, acting as a single atom switch. Such second-order tunnelling events, which are the dominating dynamical effect in the strongly interacting regime, have not been previously observed with ultracold atoms. Similar second-order processes form the basis of superexchange interactions between atoms on neighbouring lattice sites of a periodic potential, a central component of proposals for realizing quantum magnetism.     

认知与民族志

人类知识中最重要的部分应该是不直接表明的。人类学的诠释过程是民族志实践中的重要且不可或缺的部分。但是阐释也必须关照科学的传统,不能任由模糊的直觉来指引:运用认知科学,人们对于知识、对于行动的动机、对于研究对象的行动,都可以从一个明确与深思后的假设来分析;同时会让人们注意到田野中可能忽略的现象,或者至少可以做出不同的阐释。     

Inhibitors of protein translocation across membranes of the secretory pathway: novel antimicrobial and anticancer agents

Proteins routed to the secretory pathway start their journey by being transported across biological membranes, such as the endoplasmic reticulum. The essential nature of this protein translocation process has led to the evolution of several factors that specifically target the translocon and block translocation. In this review, various translocation pathways are discussed together with known inhibitors of translocation. Properties of signal peptide-specific systems are highlighted for the development of new therapeutic and antimicrobial applications, as compounds can target signal peptides from either host cells or pathogens and thereby selectively prevent translocation of those specific proteins. Broad inhibition of translocation is also an interesting target for the development of new anticancer drugs because cancer cells heavily depend on efficient protein translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum to support their fast growth.     

Parametric oscillation in vertical triple microcavities

Optical parametric oscillation is a nonlinear process that enables coherent generation of 'signal' and 'idler' waves, shifted in frequency from the pump wave. Efficient parametric conversion is the paradigm for the generation of twin or entangled photons for quantum optics applications such as quantum cryptography, or for the generation of new frequencies in spectral domains not accessible by existing devices. Rapid development in the field of quantum information requires monolithic, alignment-free sources that enable efficient coupling into optical fibres and possibly electrical injection. During the past decade, much effort has been devoted to the development of integrated devices for quantum information and to the realization of all-semiconductor parametric oscillators. Nevertheless, at present optical parametric oscillators typically rely on nonlinear crystals placed into complex external cavities, and pumped by powerful external lasers. Long interaction lengths are typically required and the phase mismatch between the parametric waves propagating at different velocities results in poor parametric conversion efficiencies. Here we report the demonstration of parametric oscillation in a monolithic semiconductor triple microcavity with signal, pump and idler waves propagating along the vertical direction of the nanostructure. Alternatively, signal and idler beams can also be collected at finite angles, allowing the generation of entangled photon pairs. The pump threshold intensity is low enough to envisage the realization of an all-semiconductor electrically pumped micro-parametric oscillator.