Quaternary sea level changes in Scotland

This paper summarises developments in understanding sea level change during the Quaternary in Scotland since the publication of the Quaternary of Scotland Geological Conservation Review volume Quaternary of Scotland in 1993. We present a review of progress in methodology, particularly in the study of sediments in isolation basins and estuaries as well as in techniques in the field and laboratory, which have together disclosed greater detail in the record of relative sea level (RSL) change than was available in 1993. However, progress in determining the record of RSL change varies in different areas. Studies of sediments and stratigraphy offshore on the continental shelf have increased greatly, but the record of RSL change there remains patchy. Studies onshore have resulted in improvements in the knowledge of rock shorelines, including the processes by which they are formed, but much remains to be understood. Studies of Late Devensian and Holocene RSLs around present coasts have improved knowledge of both the extent and age range of the evidence. The record of RSL change on the W and NW coasts has disclosed a much longer dated RSL record than was available before 1993, possibly with evidence of Meltwater Pulse 1A, while studies in estuaries on the E and SW coasts have disclosed widespread and consistent fluctuations in Holocene RSLs. Evidence for the meltwater pulse associated with the Early Holocene discharge of Lakes Agassiz-Ojibway in N America has been found on both E and W coasts. The effects of the impact of storminess, in particular in cliff-top storm deposits, have been widely identified. Further information on the Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami has enabled a better understanding of the event but evidence for other tsunami events on Scottish coasts remains uncertain. Methodological developments have led to new reconstructions of RSL change for the last 2000 years, utilising state-of-the-art GIA models and alongside coastal biostratigraphy to determine trends to compare with modern tide gauge and documentary evidence. Developments in GIA modelling have provided valuable information on patterns of land uplift during and following deglaciation. The studies undertaken raise a number of research questions which will require addressing in future work

Post-transcriptional regulation of satellite cell quiescence by TTP-mediated mRNA decay.

Skeletal muscle satellite cells in their niche are quiescent and upon muscle injury, exit quiescence, proliferate to repair muscle tissue, and self-renew to replenish the satellite cell population. To understand the mechanisms involved in maintaining satellite cell quiescence, we identified gene transcripts that were differentially expressed during satellite cell activation following muscle injury. Transcripts encoding RNA binding proteins were among the most significantly changed and included the mRNA decay factor Tristetraprolin. Tristetraprolin promotes the decay of MyoD mRNA, which encodes a transcriptional regulator of myogenic commitment, via binding to the MyoD mRNA 3' untranslated region. Upon satellite cell activation, p38α/β MAPK phosphorylates MAPKAP2 and inactivates Tristetraprolin, stabilizing MyoD mRNA. Satellite cell specific knockdown of Tristetraprolin precociously activates satellite cells in vivo, enabling MyoD accumulation, differentiation and cell fusion into myofibers. Regulation of mRNAs by Tristetraprolin appears to function as one of several critical post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms controlling satellite cell homeostasis

Smart Drugs “As Common As Coffee”: Media Hype about Neuroenhancement

Background: The use of prescription drugs to improve cognitive functioning in normal persons -"neuroenhancement" - has gained recent attention from bioethicists and neuroscientists. Enthusiasts claim that the practice is widespread and increasing, and has many potential benefits; however recent evidence provides weak support for these claims. In this study we explored how the newsprint media portrays neuroenhancement

Limiting Behaviour of the Mean Residual Life

In survival or reliability studies, the mean residual life or life expectancy is an important characteristic of the model. Here, we study the limiting behaviour of the mean residual life, and derive an asymptotic expansion which can be used to obtain a good approximation for large values of the time variable. The asymptotic expansion is valid for a quite general class of failure rate distributions--perhaps the largest class that can be expected given that the terms depend only on the failure rate and its derivatives.Comment: 19 page

An Atom Laser with a cw Output Coupler

We demonstrate a continuous output coupler for magnetically trapped atoms. Over a period of up to 100 ms a collimated and monoenergetic beam of atoms is continuously extracted from a Bose- Einstein condensate. The intensity and kinetic energy of the output beam of this atom laser are controlled by a weak rf-field that induces spin flips between trapped and untrapped states. Furthermore, the output coupler is used to perform a spectroscopic measurement of the condensate, which reveals the spatial distribution of the magnetically trapped condensate and allows manipulation of the condensate on a micrometer scale.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Are superflares on solar analogues caused by extra-solar planets?

Stellar flares with ${10^2-10^7}$ times more energy than the largest solar flare have been detected from 9 normal F and G main sequence stars (Schaefer, King & Deliyannis 1999). These superflares have durations of hours to days and are visible from at least x-ray to optical frequencies. The absence of world-spanning aurorae in historical records and of anomalous extinctions in the geological record indicate that our Sun likely does not suffer superflares. In seeking to explain this new phenomenon, we are struck by its similarity to large stellar flares on RS Canum Venaticorum binary systems, which are caused by magnetic reconnection events associated with the tangling of magnetic fields between the two stars. The superflare stars are certainly not of this class, although we propose a similar flare mechanism. That is, superflares are caused by magnetic reconnection between fields of the primary star and a close-in Jovian planet. Thus, by only invoking known planetary properties and reconnection scenarios, we can explain the energies, durations, and spectra of superflares, as well as explain why our Sun does not have such events.Comment: 13 pages, Accepted for publication in Ap

Phase separation and vortex states in binary mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates in the trapping potentials with displaced centers

The system of two simultaneously trapped codensates consisting of $^{87}Rb$ atoms in two different hyperfine states is investigated theoretically in the case when the minima of the trapping potentials are displaced with respect to each other. It is shown that the small shift of the minima of the trapping potentials leads to the considerable displacement of the centers of mass of the condensates, in agreement with the experiment. It is also shown that the critical angular velocities of the vortex states of the system drastically depend on the shift and the relative number of particles in the condensates, and there is a possibility to exchange the vortex states between condensates by shifting the centers of the trapping potentials.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Measurements of Relative Phase in Binary Mixtures of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We have measured the relative phase of two Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) using a time-domain separated-oscillatory-field condensate interferometer. A single two-photon coupling pulse prepares the double condensate system with a well-defined relative phase; at a later time, a second pulse reads out the phase difference accumulated between the two condensates. We find that the accumulated phase difference reproduces from realization to realization of the experiment, even after the individual components have spatially separated and their relative center-of-mass motion has damped.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Dynamical response of a Bose-Einstein condensate to a discontinuous change in internal state

A two-photon transition is used to convert an arbitrary fraction of the 87Rb atoms in a |F=1,m_f=-1> condensate to the |F=2,m_f=1> state. Transferring the entire population imposes a discontinuous change on the condensate's mean-field repulsion, which leaves a residual ringing in the condensate width. A calculation based on Gross-Pitaevskii theory agrees well with the observed behavior, and from the comparison we obtain the ratio of the intraspecies scattering lengths for the two states, a_|1,-1> / a_|2,1> = 1.062(12).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure