1,231 research outputs found
Current research, pressing issues, and lingering questions in marine invasion science: lessons from the Tenth International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions (ICMB-X)
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fowler, A. E., Blakeslee, A. M. H., Bortolus, A., Dias, J., Tepolt, C. K., & Schwindt, E. Current research, pressing issues, and lingering questions in marine invasion science: lessons from the Tenth International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions (ICMB-X). Aquatic Invasions, 15(1), (2020): 1-10, doi:10.3391/ai.2020.15.1.01.Research on marine bioinvasions is an inherently international collaboration. Species range boundaries have become more fluid in recent decades as a result of enhanced human globalization, leading to species translocations across international boundaries through high profile vectors (e.g., shipping, hull fouling, aquaculture, etc.) (Ruiz et al. 2000; Seebens et al. 2013). Global trade and anthropogenic activities that promote invasive species spread continue to increase, rising by an average of 70% since 1970, with no sign of saturation (Pagad et al. 2015; Seebens et al. 2017). Even though these numbers are primarily based on terrestrial systems, recent work has demonstrated that marine ecosystems are as severely impacted by invasive species as by other human activities including overfishing, pollution (including plastics), climate change, and ocean acidification (Diaz et al. 2019). Species introductions to seas, coasts, and estuaries are therefore a global threat to human and non-human populations alike. As such,
scientists and managers are increasingly focused on prevention and management, risk analysis and prioritization, and innovative technologies to detect novel species.The ICMB-X was supported by CONICET, MINCyT, SCTeIP Chubut, Consejo Federal de Inversiones, Biodiversity Heritage Library, Administración Portuaria de Puerto Madryn (APPM), Office of Naval Research Global, Aluar Aluminio Argentino, Madryn Bureau, Ente Mixto Puerto Madryn, Municipalidad de Puerto Madryn, and FAO-GEF-SAyDS
Simulated Annealing for Topological Solitons
The search for solutions of field theories allowing for topological solitons
requires that we find the field configuration with the lowest energy in a given
sector of topological charge. The standard approach is based on the numerical
solution of the static Euler-Lagrange differential equation following from the
field energy. As an alternative, we propose to use a simulated annealing
algorithm to minimize the energy functional directly. We have applied simulated
annealing to several nonlinear classical field theories: the sine-Gordon model
in one dimension, the baby Skyrme model in two dimensions and the nuclear
Skyrme model in three dimensions. We describe in detail the implementation of
the simulated annealing algorithm, present our results and get independent
confirmation of the studies which have used standard minimization techniques.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX, better quality pics at
http://www.phy.umist.ac.uk/~weidig/Simulated_Annealing/, updated for
publicatio
A low-voltage activated, transient calcium current is responsible for the time-dependent depolarizing inward rectification of rat neocortical neurons in vitro
Intracellular recordings were obtained from rat neocortical neurons in vitro. The current-voltage-relationship of the neuronal membrane was investigated using current- and single-electrode-voltage-clamp techniques. Within the potential range up to 25 mV positive to the resting membrane potential (RMP: –75 to –80 mV) the steady state slope resistance increased with depolarization (i.e. steady state inward rectification in depolarizing direction). Replacement of extracellular NaCl with an equimolar amount of choline chloride resulted in the conversion of the steady state inward rectification to an outward rectification, suggesting the presence of a voltage-dependent, persistent sodium current which generated the steady state inward rectification of these neurons. Intracellularly injected outward current pulses with just subthreshold intensities elicited a transient depolarizing potential which invariably triggered the first action potential upon an increase in current strength. Single-electrode-voltage-clamp measurements reveled that this depolarizing potential was produced by a transient calcium current activated at membrane potentials 15–20 mV positive to the RMP and that this current was responsible for the time-dependent increase in the magnitude of the inward rectification in depolarizing direction in rat neocortical neurons. It may be that, together with the persistent sodium current, this calcium current regulates the excitability of these neurons via the adjustment of the action potential threshold
Guiding neutral atoms around curves with lithographically patterned current-carrying wires
Laser-cooled neutral atoms from a low-velocity atomic source are guided via a
magnetic field generated between two parallel wires on a glass substrate. The
atoms bend around three curves, each with a 15-cm radius of curvature, while
traveling along a 10-cm-long track. A maximum flux of 2*10^6 atoms/sec is
achieved with a current density of 3*10^4 A/cm^2 in the
100x100-micrometer-cross-section wires. The kinetic energy of the guided atoms
in one transverse dimension is measured to be 42 microKelvin.Comment: 9 page
Invasive species
Globally, about 2,000 marine non-indige¬nous species (NIS) have been introduced to new locations through human-mediated movements. A few of those have econom¬ic value, but most have had negative eco¬logical, socioeconomic or human health impacts. With increased trade and climate change, biological invasions are likely to increase
Quantitative wave-particle duality and non-erasing quantum erasure
The notion of wave-particle duality may be quantified by the inequality
V^2+K^2 <=1, relating interference fringe visibility V and path knowledge K.
With a single-photon interferometer in which polarization is used to label the
paths, we have investigated the relation for various situations, including
pure, mixed, and partially-mixed input states. A quantum eraser scheme has been
realized that recovers interference fringes even when no which-way information
is available to erase.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
An interferometric complementarity experiment in a bulk Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ensemble
We have experimentally demonstrated the interferometric complementarity,
which relates the distinguishability quantifying the amount of which-way
(WW) information to the fringe visibility characterizing the wave feature
of a quantum entity, in a bulk ensemble by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
techniques. We primarily concern on the intermediate cases: partial fringe
visibility and incomplete WW information. We propose a quantitative measure of
by an alternative geometric strategy and investigate the relation between
and entanglement. By measuring and independently, it turns out that
the duality relation holds for pure quantum states of the
markers.Comment: 13 page, 5 PS figure
Observation of off-diagonal geometric phase in polarized neutron interferometer experiments
Off-diagonal geometric phases acquired in the evolution of a spin-1/2 system
have been investigated by means of a polarized neutron interferometer. Final
counts with and without polarization analysis enable us to observe
simultaneously the off-diagonal and diagonal geometric phases in two detectors.
We have quantitatively measured the off-diagonal geometric phase for noncyclic
evolutions, confirming the theoretical predictions. We discuss the significance
of our experiment in terms of geometric phases (both diagonal and off-diagonal)
and in terms of the quantum erasing phenomenon.Comment: pdf, 22 pages + 8 figures (included in the pdf). In print on Phys.
Rev.
Optical Magnetometry
Some of the most sensitive methods of measuring magnetic fields utilize
interactions of resonant light with atomic vapor. Recent developments in this
vibrant field are improving magnetometers in many traditional areas such as
measurement of geomagnetic anomalies and magnetic fields in space, and are
opening the door to new ones, including, dynamical measurements of bio-magnetic
fields, detection of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), magnetic-resonance
imaging (MRI), inertial-rotation sensing, magnetic microscopy with cold atoms,
and tests of fundamental symmetries of Nature.Comment: 11 pages; 4 figures; submitted to Nature Physic
Quantitative conditional quantum erasure in two-atom resonance fluorescence
We present a conditional quantum eraser which erases the a priori knowledge
or the predictability of the path a photon takes in a Young-type double-slit
experiment with two fluorescent four-level atoms. This erasure violates a
recently derived erasure relation which must be satisfied for a conventional,
unconditional quantum eraser that aims to find an optimal sorting of the system
into subensembles with particularly large fringe visibilities. The conditional
quantum eraser employs an interaction-free, partial which-way measurement which
not only sorts the system into optimal subsystems with large visibility but
also selects the appropriate subsystem with the maximum possible visibility. We
explain how the erasure relation can be violated under these circumstances.Comment: Revtex4, 12pages, 4 eps figures, replaced with published version,
changes in Sec. 3, to appear in Physical Review
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