On the formation of sand ramps: A case study from the Mojave Desert

Sand ramps are dune-scale sedimentary accumulations found at mountain fronts and consist of a combination of aeolian sands and the deposits of other geomorphological processes associated with hillslope and fluvial activity. Their complexity and their construction by wind, water and mass movement means that sand ramps potentially hold a very rich store of palaeoenvironmental information. However, before this potential can be realised a full understanding of their formation is necessary. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the principal factors influencing the development of sand ramps. It reviews the stratigraphic, chronometric and sedimentological evidence relating to the past development of sand ramps, focussing particularly on Soldier Mountain sand ramp in the Mojave Desert, as well as using observations of the modern movement of slope material to elucidate the formation of stone horizons within sand ramps. Findings show that sand ramps cannot easily be interpreted in terms of a simple model of fluctuating palaeoenvironmental phases from aeolian dominated to soil/fluvial dominated episodes. They accumulate quickly (perhaps in < 5 ka), probably in a single phase before becoming relict. Based on the evidence from Soldier Mountain, they appear strongly controlled by a ‘window of opportunity’ when sediment supply is plentiful and cease to develop when this sediment supply diminishes and/or the accommodation space is filled up. Contemporary observations of stone movement both on rock and sandy sloping surfaces in the Mojave region indicate movement rates in the order of 0.6 and 11 mm yr− 1, which is insufficiently fast to explain how stone horizons could have been moved across and been incorporated into sand ramps on multiple occasions. Stone horizons found within the aeolian sediments lack evidence for soil development and are interpreted as very short-term events in which small streams moved and splayed discontinuous stone horizons across the sand ramp surface before aeolian deposition resumed. Surface stone horizons may form by creep from mountain slope sources across sand ramps but require enhanced speed compared to measured rates of runoff creep. We propose the mechanism of fluvio-aeolian creep. Our study suggests that current models of alternating aeolian and colluvial deposition within sand ramps, their palaeoenvironmental significance and indeed how sand ramps are distinguished from other dune forms require amendment

A completely self-contained cryogen-free dilution refrigerator, the TritonDR™

Oxford Instruments have developed a new dilution refrigerator for ultralow temperatures down to below 35 mK. The TritonDRTM system is a continuous cryogenic cycle dilution refrigerator. The refrigerator is driven by a closed cycle cryocooler and hence requires no liquid cryogens. The system has a dedicated electronic control unit and software that provides full control of operation

Matterwave interferometric velocimetry of cold Rb atoms

We consider the matterwave interferometric measurement of atomic velocities, which forms a building block for all matterwave inertial measurements. A theoretical analysis, addressing both the laboratory and atomic frames and accounting for residual Doppler sensitivity in the beamsplitter and recombiner pulses, is followed by an experimental demonstration, with measurements of the velocity distribution within a 20 μK cloud of rubidium atoms. Our experiments use Raman transitions between the long-lived ground hyperfine states, and allow quadrature measurements that yield the full complex interferometer signal and hence discriminate between positive and negative velocities. The technique is most suitable for measurement of colder samples

From dynamical scaling to local scale-invariance: a tutorial

Dynamical scaling arises naturally in various many-body systems far from equilibrium. After a short historical overview, the elements of possible extensions of dynamical scaling to a local scale-invariance will be introduced. Schr\"odinger-invariance, the most simple example of local scale-invariance, will be introduced as a dynamical symmetry in the Edwards-Wilkinson universality class of interface growth. The Lie algebra construction, its representations and the Bargman superselection rules will be combined with non-equilibrium Janssen-de Dominicis field-theory to produce explicit predictions for responses and correlators, which can be compared to the results of explicit model studies. At the next level, the study of non-stationary states requires to go over, from Schr\"odinger-invariance, to ageing-invariance. The ageing algebra admits new representations, which acts as dynamical symmetries on more general equations, and imply that each non-equilibrium scaling operator is characterised by two distinct, independent scaling dimensions. Tests of ageing-invariance are described, in the Glauber-Ising and spherical models of a phase-ordering ferromagnet and the Arcetri model of interface growth.Comment: 1+ 23 pages, 2 figures, final for

Breakout from the hot CNO cycle: The 18F(p,γ) vs 18F(p,α) branching ratio

We have studied the properties of low-lying 18Fp resonances as excited states in 19Ne. Three new levels have been found in the range 0Ec.m.1 MeV just above the 18Fp threshold, and partial decay widths and isospin-mirror connections are suggested to known states in 19F for each of the nine states in this energy range. The properties of these resonances have been used to calculate the reaction rate NAvfor the 18F(p,)19Ne and 18F(p,)15O reactions in the temperature range 108T109. A comparison of these rates indicates that in this temperature range, the 14O(,p)17F(p,)18Ne(e)18F(p,)19Ne reaction sequence is not as fast as the 15O(,)19Ne reaction

Inferring Deleterious-Mutation Parameters in Natural Daphnia Populations

Deng and Lynch (1, 2) proposed to characterize deleterious genomic mutations from changes in the mean and genetic variance of fitness traits upon selfing in outcrossing populations. Such observations can be readily acquired in cyclical parthenogens. Selfing and life-table experiments were performed for two such Daphnia populations. A significant inbreeding depression and an increase of genetic variance for all traits analyzed were observed. Deng and Lynch's (2) procedures were employed to estimate the genomic mutation rate (U), mean dominance coefficient ( [Image: see text] ), mean selection coefficient ( [Image: see text] ), and scaled genomic mutational variance ( [Image: see text] ). On average, [Image: see text] , [Image: see text] , [Image: see text] and [Image: see text] (^ indicates an estimate) are 0.84, 0.30, 0.14 and 4.6E-4 respectively. For the true values, the [Image: see text] and [Image: see text] are lower bounds, and [Image: see text] and [Image: see text] upper bounds

Structure of 18Ne and the breakout from the hot CNO cycle

We used the 16O(3He,n)18Ne, 12C(12C,6He)18Ne, and 20Ne(p,t)18Ne reactions to study 18Ne states up to an excitation energy of 10 MeV, with emphasis on levels corresponding to 14O(α,p)17F and 17F(p,γ)18Ne resonances that could strongly affect these reaction rates in hot stellar environments. Excitation energies, widths, absolute cross sections, and angular distributions were measured. We found previously unidentified states at Ex=6.15±0.01 MeV, 7.12±0.02 MeV, 7.35±0.02 MeV, 7.62±0.02 MeV, 8.30±0.02 MeV, (8.45 ±0.03 MeV), 8.55±0.03 MeV, 8.94±0.02 MeV, and 9.58±0.02 MeV. We combined level width, cross section, and angular distribution data to infer Jπ values for a number of the new levels as well as for the previously known 5.1-MeV doublet. Using information from our experiments, we recalculated the 14O(α.p) 17F reaction rate, which constitutes a possible path out of the hot CNO cycle into the rp process and could play an important role in transforming nuclei involved in the hot CNO cycle into heavier nuclei with Z≥10

[Accepted Manuscript] Presymptomatic atrophy in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease: A serial MRI study.

Identifying at what point atrophy rates first change in Alzheimer's disease is important for informing design of presymptomatic trials. Serial T1-weighed magnetic resonance imaging scans of 94 participants (28 noncarriers, 66 carriers) from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network were used to measure brain, ventricular, and hippocampal atrophy rates. For each structure, nonlinear mixed-effects models estimated the change-points when atrophy rates deviate from normal and the rates of change before and after this point. Atrophy increased after the change-point, which occurred 1-1.5 years (assuming a single step change in atrophy rate) or 3-8 years (assuming gradual acceleration of atrophy) before expected symptom onset. At expected symptom onset, estimated atrophy rates were at least 3.6 times than those before the change-point. Atrophy rates are pathologically increased up to seven years before &quot;expected onset&quot;. During this period, atrophy rates may be useful for inclusion and tracking of disease progression

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR