Vortex Lattices in Rotating Atomic Bose Gases with Dipolar Interactions

We show that dipolar interactions have dramatic effects on the groundstates of rotating atomic Bose gases in the weak interaction limit. With increasing dipolar interaction (relative to the net contact interaction), the mean-field, or high filling fraction, groundstate undergoes a series of transitions between vortex lattices of different symmetries: triangular, square, ``stripe'', and ``bubble'' phases. We also study the effects of dipolar interactions on the quantum fluids at low filling fractions. We show that the incompressible Laughlin state at filling fraction $\nu=1/2$ is replaced by compressible stripe and bubble phases.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Using data assimilation to optimize pedotransfer functions using field-scale in situ soil moisture observations

Soil moisture predictions from land surface models are important in hydrological, ecological, and meteorological applications. In recent years, the availability of wide-area soil moisture measurements has increased, but few studies have combined model-based soil moisture predictions with in situ observations beyond the point scale. Here we show that we can markedly improve soil moisture estimates from the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model using field-scale observations and data assimilation techniques. Rather than directly updating soil moisture estimates towards observed values, we optimize constants in the underlying pedotransfer functions, which relate soil texture to JULES soil physics parameters. In this way, we generate a single set of newly calibrated pedotransfer functions based on observations from a number of UK sites with different soil textures. We demonstrate that calibrating a pedotransfer function in this way improves the soil moisture predictions of a land surface model at 16 UK sites, leading to the potential for better flood, drought, and climate projections

Investigating the role of FMRP, CYFIP1 and DDX3X in the processes of mRNA localisation and translation within mesenchymal cells

This thesis undertakes to elucidate the roles of the proteins Fragile-X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), Cytoplasmic FMRP Interacting Protein (CYFIP1) and the helicase DDX3X, within mesenchymal cells. Total Internal Reflection Microscopy (TIRFM) was used to look for spatiotemporal colocalisation of FMRP and CYFIP1, as prior work suggests that they function in concert, acting as translational repressors within neuronal cells. Biochemical methods provided evidence of a Ribonucleoprotein complex consisting of four participants – mRNA, eIF4E, CYFIP1 and FMRP. Using super-resolution microscopy techniques, the interaction of FMRP and CYFIP were established at the leading edge of spreading fibroblasts with a resolution of 50nm. DXX3X has a known structural helicase domain and evidence suggests that it may be involved in the up-regulation of mRNA translation. Within this thesis, biochemical methods are complemented with standard immunocytochemistry (ICC) to elucidate the role and subcellular location of DDX3X. Using ICC and post-acquisition imaging techniques such as deconvolution, colocalisation of DDX3X with actin stress fibres suggests that DDX3X may be transported intracellularly via actin filaments. Using in situ Proximity Ligation Assay (PLA), a bespoke analysis program ‘PLAY’ provides evidence to suggest that DDX3X interacts with the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF4E, whilst travelling along filamentous actin structures to the cell periphery. The interaction between DDX3X and eIF4E at the leading edge of cells appears to correlate with an upregulation in local metabolism and morphology change, suggesting that DDX3X may be involved in the transport and localised translation of proteins needed for cell spreading and motility

Police and Crime Commissioners: a corrosive exercise of power which destabilises police accountability?

This article explores data obtained through interviews with senior stakeholders in policing at a regional and national level, and relevant persons in Government. It focuses on a striking feature of the present structure of police accountability, namely that Police and Crime Commissioners [PCCs] are solely responsible for holding Chief Constables to account while also having the exclusive power to remove them from office. Removing a Chief Constable involves a PCC activating a hard mechanism of accountability and exercising a broad discretion as the PCC alone decides when to remove a Chief Constable. Referring to a number of recent reports and reviews, the discussion examines why this power is controversial. The interviews show the PCC’s power to remove Chief Constables to be contentious. They also reveal two new, unforeseen and possibly corrosive impacts on police accountability. First, a probable instability in police leadership. Second, a possibility that Chief Constables could be abstaining from questioning and challenging PCCs and risk becoming beholden to their PCC. As well as posing prominent questions about the governance of policing through PCCs, these potential effects also suggest that the PCC’s power to remove Chief Constables might unintentionally empower PCCs and displace Chief Constables