2,136 research outputs found
Nuclear alpha-clustering, superdeformation, and molecular resonances
Nuclear alpha-clustering has been the subject of intense study since the
advent of heavy-ion accelerators. Looking back for more than 40 years we are
able today to see the connection between quasimolecular resonances in heavy-ion
collisions and extremely deformed states in light nuclei. For example
superdeformed bands have been recently discovered in light N=Z nuclei such as
Ar, Ca, Cr, and Ni by -ray spectroscopy.
The search for strongly deformed shapes in N=Z nuclei is also the domain of
charged-particle spectroscopy, and our experimental group at IReS Strasbourg
has studied a number of these nuclei with the charged particle multidetector
array {\sc Icare} at the {\sc Vivitron} Tandem facility in a systematical
manner. Recently the search for -decays in Mg has been
undertaken in a range of excitation energies where previously nuclear molecular
resonances were found in C+C collisions. The breakup reaction
MgC has been investigated at E(Mg) = 130 MeV, an
energy which corresponds to the appropriate excitation energy in Mg for
which the C+C resonance could be related to the breakup
resonance. Very exclusive data were collected with the Binary Reaction
Spectrometer in coincidence with {\sc Euroball IV} installed at the {\sc
Vivitron}.Comment: 10 pages, 4 eps figures included. Invited Talk 10th Nuclear Physics
Workshop Marie and Pierre Curie, Kazimierz Dolny Poland, Sep. 24-28, 2003; To
be published in International Journal of Modern Physics
Shot-noise-limited spin measurements in a pulsed molecular beam
Heavy diatomic molecules have been identified as good candidates for use in
electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) searches. Suitable molecular species can
be produced in pulsed beams, but with a total flux and/or temporal evolution
that varies significantly from pulse to pulse. These variations can degrade the
experimental sensitivity to changes in spin precession phase of an electri-
cally polarized state, which is the observable of interest for an eEDM
measurement. We present two methods for measurement of the phase that provide
immunity to beam temporal variations, and make it possible to reach
shot-noise-limited sensitivity. Each method employs rapid projection of the
spin state onto both components of an orthonormal basis. We demonstrate both
methods using the eEDM-sensitive H state of thorium monoxide (ThO), and use one
of them to measure the magnetic moment of this state with increased accuracy
relative to previous determinations.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
A randomised controlled trial of ion-exchange water softeners for the treatment of eczema in children
Epidemiological studies and anecdotal reports suggest a possible link between household use of hard water and atopic eczema. We sought to test whether installation of an ion-exchange water softener in the home can improve eczema in children
What is the nature and extent of evidence on methodologies for monitoring and evaluating marine spatial management measures in UK and similar coastal waters? A systematic map protocol
Background
Anthropogenic degradation of marine ecosystems is widely accepted as a major social-ecological problem. The growing urgency to better manage marine ecosystems has led to the increasing application of âspatial management measuresâ including marine protected areas, sectoral (e.g. fishery) closures, and marine spatial planning. However, the designation of varied spatial management regimes is just the first step; achievement of objectives relies upon effective implementation, monitoring, evaluation and adaptation. Despite spatial management being a core component of the marine management portfolio, to our knowledge, there is no systematic overview of the evidence on methodologies available, and employed, to monitor and evaluate their effectiveness across social, economic and ecological outcomes.
Methods
This systematic map will examine existing evidence describing methodologies for monitoring the effects, and evaluating the effectiveness, of marine spatial management across ecological, social and economic outcomes. Our aim is to provide a resource for decision-makers, primarily in the UK but also internationally, that supports effective marine management, and to describe the current evidence base. Identification and evaluation of relevant studies will therefore be restricted to coastal countries identified by our Stakeholder Group as being relevant to the UK, and searches will be restricted to the period 2009 to 2019 to align with the current UK policy context. Searches for relevant grey and academic literature, published in English, will be conducted in four bibliographic search engines, Google Scholar, 38 organisational websites and one specialist data repository. Eligibility screening will be conducted first at title and abstract level, and then at full text. Coding and meta-data extraction from eligible studies will include: bibliographic information, general information about the spatial management measure studied, and methodological information on the monitoring and evaluation undertaken. Consistency checking amongst reviewers will be undertaken during screening, coding and data extraction phases. The outcome of the systematic map will be a database that displays the meta-data of identified relevant studies. Findings will be presented in a descriptive report detailing the evaluation approaches and analytical methodologies employed, and data collection methods applied and/or data required by relevant studies to inform evaluations on the effectiveness of marine spatial management measures
The future of marine fisheries management and conservation in the United Kingdom: Lessons learnt from over 100 years of biased policy
Marine wild-capture fisheries depend on the capacity of the ocean to provide a flow of harvestable resources to
sustain the industry. Paradoxically, conventional fishing often undermines these resources by degrading the
environment and overexploiting fish stocks. Many UK fisheries have declined for over a century due to a biased
focus on their social-economic value and lack of recognition that they are social-ecological systems and need to
be managed as such. With the UKâs recent transition to an independent coastal state, the Fisheries Act (2020) and
associated Joint Fisheries Statement provide an opportunity to correct this. Focusing on the ecological foundations, a more sustainable future for UK fisheries may be achieved by: (1) implementing a conservative quota
setting system based on Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), defined as that which would occur when the biomass
of a population of the target species is at 50% of that estimated at carrying capacity, to set catch limits rather
than targets. The biomass of fish stocks should be allowed to regenerate to a minimum of 120% of that which will
achieve MSY to provide a buffer against the uncertainty in ecological response to climate change. (2) Fishing
capacity should be reduced while redistributing a greater share of the quota to sectors of the fleet that are
demonstrably more sustainable; recognising that short term compensation may be required by some to mitigate
the impacts of displaced activity until the benefits of stock recovery are realised. (3) Greater restrictions should
be applied to ensure the most damaging fishing techniques (e.g. bottom trawling and dredging) are prohibited as
appropriate in the network of marine protected areas. Protection should be enforced to promote the regeneration
of degraded habitats and restoration of fish populations to help achieve the objectives as set out in the Ac
Interpreting wde-band neural activity using convolutional neural networks
Rapid progress in technologies such as calcium imaging and electrophysiology has seen a dramatic increase in the size and extent of neural recordings. Even so, interpretation of this data requires considerable knowledge about the nature of the representation and often depends on manual operations. Decoding provides a means to infer the information content of such recordings but typically requires highly processed data and prior knowledge of the encoding scheme. Here, we developed a deep-learning framework able to decode sensory and behavioral variables directly from wide-band neural data. The network requires little user input and generalizes across stimuli, behaviors, brain regions, and recording techniques. Once trained, it can be analyzed to determine elements of the neural code that are informative about a given variable. We validated this approach using electrophysiological and calcium-imaging data from rodent auditory cortex and hippocampus as well as human electrocorticography (ECoG) data. We show successful decoding of finger movement, auditory stimuli, and spatial behaviors â including a novel representation of head direction - from raw neural activity
Carbon Control on Terrestrial Ecosystem Function Across Contrasting Site Productivities: The Carbon Connection Revisited
Understanding how altered soil organic carbon (SOC) availability affects microbial communities and their function is imperative in predicting impacts of global change on soil carbon (C) storage and ecosystem function. However, the response of soil microbial communities and their function to depleted C availability in situ is unclear. We evaluated the role of soil C inputs in controlling microbial biomass, community composition, physiology, and function by (1) experimentally excluding plant C inputs in situ for 9 yr in four temperate forest ecosystems along a productivity gradient in Oregon, USA; and (2) integrating these findings with published data from similar Câexclusion studies into a global metaâanalysis. Excluding plant C inputs for 9 yr resulted in a 13% decrease in SOC across the four Oregon sites and an overall shift in the microbial community composition, with a 45% decrease in the fungal : bacterial ratio and a 13% increase in Gramâpositive : Gramânegative bacterial ratio. Although gross N mineralization decreased under C exclusion, decreases in gross N immobilization were greater, resulting in increased net N mineralization rates in all but the lowestâproductivity site. Microbial biomass showed a variable response to C exclusion that was method dependent; however, we detected a 29% decrease in Câuse efficiency across the sites, with greater declines occurring in lessâproductive sites. Although extracellular enzyme activity increased with C exclusion, C exclusion resulted in a 31% decrease in microbial respiration across all sites. Our metaâanalyses of published data with similar Câexclusion treatments were largely consistent with our experimental results, showing decreased SOC, fungal : bacterial ratios, and microbial respiration, and increased Gramâpositive : Gramânegative bacterial ratio following exclusion of C inputs to soil. Effect sizes of SOC and respiration correlated negatively with the duration of C exclusion; however, there were immediate effects of C exclusion on microbial community composition and biomass that were unaltered by duration of treatment. Our fieldâbased experimental results and analyses demonstrate unequivocally the dominant control of C availability on soil microbial biomass, community composition, and function, and provide additional insight into the mechanisms for these effects in forest ecosystems
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