A vast 4000-year-old spatial pattern of termite mounds

The origins of many large-scale ‘biogenic’ earthen structures are controversial, because often the species that built them have vanished. This is especially true when they form regular (over-dispersed), self-organized vegetation patterns [1]. Here, we describe a vast array of soil mounds constructed by termites (Syntermes dirus) that has persisted for up to 4000 years and covers an estimated 230,000 km2 of seasonally dry tropical forest in a relatively undisturbed and climatically stable region of Northeast Brazil. The mounds are not nests, but rather they are generated by the excavation of vast inter-connecting tunnel networks, resulting in approximately 10 km3 of soil being deposited in 200 million conical mounds that are 2.5 m tall and approximately 9 m in diameter. S. dirus termites are still present in the soil surrounding the mounds and we found that intra-specific aggression occurred at a scale much larger than an individual mound. We suggest that the complex network of tunnels built to access episodic leaf-fall has allowed for the optimization of waste soil removal, which over thousands of years has formed an over-dispersed spatial pattern of mounds

A tour of contemporary color vision research

The study of color vision encompasses many disciplines, including art, biochemistry, biophysics, brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience, color preferences, colorimetry, computer modelling, design, electrophysiology, language and cognition, molecular genetics, neuroscience, physiological optics, psychophysics and physiological optics. Coupled with the elusive nature of the subjective experience of color, this wide range of disciplines makes the study of color as challenging as it is fascinating. This overview of the special issue Color: Cone Opponency and Beyond outlines the state of the science of color, and points to some of the many questions that remain to be answered in this exciting field

Introduction to quantitative susceptibility mapping and susceptibility weighted imaging.

Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI) are magnetic resonance imaging techniques that measure and display differences in the magnetisation that is induced in tissues, i.e. their magnetic susceptibility, when placed in the strong external magnetic field of an MRI system. SWI produces images in which the contrast is heavily weighted by the intrinsic tissue magnetic susceptibility. It has been applied in a wide range of clinical applications. QSM is a further advancement of this technique that requires sophisticated post-processing in order to provide quantitative maps of tissue susceptibility. This review explains the steps involved in both SWI and QSM as well as describing some of their uses in both clinical and research applications.Mr Ruetten is funded by a Medical Research Council/Sackler Stipend. The project was supported by the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and the National Institute for Health Research [Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre at the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust]

The koniocellular whiteboard

In 1994 Vivien Casagrande published a review paper in which she summarized evidence for a koniocellular pathway to visual cortex. Here we try to explain how that review moved the field forward, and summarize some key unanswered questions about koniocellular pathways

InGaN nano-ring structures for high-efficiency light emitting diodes

A technique based on the Fresnel diffraction effect for the fabrication of nano-scale site-controlled ring structures in InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well structures has been demonstrated. The ring structures have an internal diameter of 500 nm and a wall width of 300 nm. A 1 cm-1 Raman shift has been measured, signifying substantial strain relaxation from the fabricated structure. The 9 nm blueshift observed in the cathodoluminescence spectra can be attributed to band filling and/or screening of the piezoelectric field. A light emitting diode based on this geometry has been demonstrated. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

The parameter space of graphene chemical vapor deposition on polycrystalline Cu

A systematic study on the parameter space of graphene CVD on polycrystalline Cu foils is presented, aiming at a more fundamental process rationale in particular regarding the choice of carbon precursor and mitigation of Cu sublimation. CH4 as precursor requires H2 dilution and temperatures ≥1000°C to keep the Cu surface reduced and yield a high quality, complete monolayer graphene coverage. The H2 atmosphere etches as-grown graphene, hence maintaining a balanced CH4/H2 ratio is critical. Such balance is more easily achieved at low pressure conditions, at which however Cu sublimation reaches deleterious levels. In contrast, C6H6 as precursor requires no reactive diluent and consistently gives similar graphene quality at 100-150°C lower temperatures. The lower process temperature and more robust processing conditions allow the problem of Cu sublimation to be effectively addressed. Graphene formation is not inherently self-limited to a monolayer for any of the precursors. Rather, the higher the supplied carbon chemical potential the higher the likelihood of film inhomogeneity and primary and secondary multilayer graphene nucleation. For the latter, domain boundaries of the inherently polycrystalline CVD graphene offer pathways for a continued carbon supply to the catalyst. Graphene formation is significantly affected by the Cu crystallography, i.e. the evolution of microstructure and texture of the catalyst template form an integral part of the CVD process.S.H. acknowledges funding from ERC grant InsituNANO (n°279342) and from EPSRC (Grant Nr. EP/H047565/1). P.R.K. acknowledges funding from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and C.D. acknowledges funding from Royal Society.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ACS at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp303597m

Préface

Lorsqu’il nous a été proposé de rédiger la préface de cet ouvrage sur les sols en Afrique, nous avons tout de suite perçu non seulement l’intérêt de mettre en avant les conclusions de cette étude pour notre pays, mais surtout la portée de ce livre pour notre continent et pour le monde. Nul besoin de préciser que l’enjeu de la santé des sols n’est propre ni au Bénin, ni à l’Afrique, et que c’est en cela qu’il est du devoir de chacun d’agir à la fois pour préserver ce qui peut l’être et pour re..

Psychological therapies for the prevention of migraine in adults [Protocol]

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess beneficial and adverse effects of psychological treatment versus active alternative treatment or no treatment in adults with migraine, using methods that allow comparison with reviews of psychological interventions for other painful conditions