Discrete Euler processes and their applications

This paper introduces discrete Euler processes and shows their application in detecting and forecasting cycles in non‐stationary data where periodic behavior changes approximately linearly in time. A discrete Euler process becomes a classical stationary process if ‘time’ is transformed properly. By moving from one time domain to another, one may deform certain time‐varying data to non‐time‐varying data. With these non‐time‐varying data on the deformed timescale, one may use traditional tools to do parameter estimation and forecasts. The obtained results then can be transformed back to the original timescale. For datasets with an underlying discrete Euler process, the sample M‐spectrum and the spectra estimator of a Euler model (i.e., EAR spectral) are used to detect cycles of a Euler process. Beam response and whale data are used to demonstrate the usefulness of a Euler model. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magma storage beneath Axial volcano on the Juan de Fuca mid-ocean ridge.

Axial volcano, which is located near the intersection of the Juan de Fuca ridge and the Cobb-Eickelberg seamount chain beneath the northeast Pacific Ocean, is a locus of volcanic activity thought to be associated with the Cobb hotspot. The volcano rises 700 metres above the ridge, has substantial rift zones extending about 50 kilometres to the north and south, and has erupted as recently as 1998 (ref. 2). Here we present seismological data that constrain the three-dimensional velocity structure beneath the volcano. We image a large low-velocity zone in the crust, consisting of a shallow magma chamber and a more diffuse reservoir in the lower crust, and estimate the total magma volume in the system to be between 5 and 21 km3. This volume is two orders of magnitude larger than the amount of melt emplaced during the most recent eruption (0.1-0.2 km3). We therefore infer that such volcanic events remove only a small portion of the reservoir that they tap, which must accordingly be long-lived compared to the eruption cycle. On the basis of magma flux estimates, we estimate the crustal residence time of melt in the volcanic system to be a few hundred to a few thousand years.     

中国人看生物技术——2003-2007研究报告

本文基于"中国公众对生物技术应用态度的研究",项目从2003年开始到2007年结束,先后获得中国和丹麦政府间科技合作项目、浙江省自然科学基金、浙江省科技国际合作项目的资助.研究参照欧洲EUROBAROMETER研究范式设计问卷,采用职业分层抽样的方法,对我国代表性样本浙江四个地区的4157名公众进行了生物技术应用态度的纵向实证研究,定量分析并定性描述了我国公众对生物技术应用态度的轮廓和远景.     

Desert rodents reduce seedling recruitment of Salsola paulsenii

Heteromyid rodents in the deserts of North America have been shown to harvest large quantities of seeds of both native and introduced plants from soil seed banks, but rarely has the impact of this seed removal been demonstrated experimentally. I used a series of fenced plots (some of which excluded rodents) to demonstrate that heteromyids at a western Nevada study site can measurably reduce seed banks and subsequent seedling establishment of Salsola paulsenii , an introduced invasive weed that has become a significant problem over much of the desert Southwest. The frequency of S. paulsenii seedlings in both 2004 and 2005 was significantly greater around the interior perimeters of plots that permitted access by rodents than in plots that excluded rodents. Density of S. paulsenii seedlings was significantly greater inside than outside rodent exclusion plots, but there was no such difference in seedling density inside versus outside plots that permitted rodent access. Salsola paulsenii has such a conspicuous presence in many desert environments that the effect of rodents in reducing its abundance may not be visually apparent; however, rodents may still ameliorate competitive effects of this weed on coexisting plants. Heteromyid rodents disperse seeds through caching, and they also consume them. Caching may enhance establishment of native plant seedlings, but is unlikely to benefit exotics such as S. paulsenii .     

On Joseph Fourier: the man,the mathematician and the physicist

In 1793 Lord Macartney arrived in China as ambassador of King George III. The aims of his embassy were largely directed towards the enlargement of British trade with the far east, and especially with China. The embassy also had a diplomatic and cultural mission, to impress the Chinese with British achievements. They were to do so largely by distributing presents of British manufactures, chief among them being scientific instruments. The Chinese refused the embassy's requests, and clearly regarded the gifts of instruments as merely ingenious toys. This paper describes the role of instruments in the embassy, and contrasts British expectations with Chinese attitudes to scientific instruments. The embassy's failure is shown to reveal fundamental differences in British and Chinese eighteenth-century responses to science, and has wide cultural implications.     

Vegetation characteristics of mountainous northeastern Nevada sagebrush community types

Vegetation characteristics of 15 sagebrush community types identified on the Humboldt National Forest, northeastern Nevada, are described. A total of 218 plant species were found over the 372 relatively undisturbed rangeland communities sampled. The dominant plant families encountered were the Asteraceae (45 taxa), Poaceae (32 taxa), Scrophulariaceae (14 taxa), and the Fabaceae (12 taxa). Average annual dry weight production of the community types ranged from about 400 kg/ha/yr on types with Artemisia nova as the dominant sagebrush species to 1,200 kg/ha/yr on some A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana community types. A general increase in species richness and vegetation plus litter ground cover was observed within community types as the dominant sagebrush species changed from A. nova to A. arbuscula to A. longiloba to A. tridentata spp. tridentata to A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana . Major differences in plant species production and constancy exist between the sagebrush community types studied.     

Catastrophic wildfire and number of populations as factors influencing risk of extinction for Gila trout ( Oncorhynchus gilae )

We used the computer program RAMAS to explore the sensitivity of an extinction-risk model for the Gila trout ( Oncorhynchus gilae ) to management of wildfires and number of populations of the species. The Gila trout is an endangered salmonid presently restricted to very few headwaters of the Gila and San Francisco river tributaries in southwestern New Mexico. Life history data for 10 extant populations were used to examine sensitivity of the species viability to changes in a variety of factors including population size, fecundity, life stage structure, number of populations, severity and probability of forest fires, and a regulated fishery. The probability and severity of forest fires and number of populations had the greatest effect on viability. Results indicate that successful conservation of Gila trout requires establishment of additional populations and reduction of the severity of forest fires through a program incorporating more frequent, but less severe, fires.     

Early development of the razorback sucker, Xyrauchen texanus (Abbott)

  Fertilized ova of razorback sucker, Xyrauchen texanus, were adhesive for 3 to 4 hours after fertilization. Cleavage was completed at 24 hours, gastrulation occurred at 34 hours, and blood circulation was established at 117 hours. Hatching occurred from 5.2 to 5.5 days after fertilization. Larvae were from 6.8 to 7.3 mm TL at hatching. Yolk was assimilated at 13 days (10 mm TL). All fins were formed and had ossified rays at 64 days (27 mm TL). The unique nuchal keel appeared about 200 days after fertilization.     

Infection of young Douglas-firs and spruces by dwarf mistletoes in the Southwest

Mistletoe infection of Douglas-fir and spruce seedlings increased as the mean dwarf mistletoe rating of the overstory, seedling density, and total age of seedlings increased. Percent of spruce seedlings infected increased more rapidly than for Douglas-fir as overstory dwarf mistletoe ratings increased. However, the intensity of infection as measured by the mean dwarf mistletoe rating of seedlings, increased at about the same rate for spruce and Douglas-fir. Percent infection of seedlings less than 20 years total age was higher for spruce than for Douglas-fir. Douglas-fir and spruce seedling mortality was from two to three times greater in heavily infested stands than in healthy stands.     

Richard Watson

The development of the circular dividing engine in England is traced from Henry Hindley and Jesse Ramsden through the improvements introduced by Ramsden's successors to the self-acting engine of William Simms. Particular emphasis is given to the invention, evolution and transmission of the methods used to achieve accuracy in: dividing the wheel; ratching the teeth and matching them to the endless screw; and mounting the cutter. The procedures adopted by Ramsden and Troughton for correcting initial dividing marks are also described.