The Mechanical Impact of the Tibetan Plateau on the Seasonal Evolution of the South Asian Monsoon

The impact of the Tibetan Plateau on the South Asian monsoon is examined using a hierarchy of atmospheric general circulation models. During the premonsoon season and monsoon onset (April–June), when westerly winds over the Southern Tibetan Plateau are still strong, the Tibetan Plateau triggers early monsoon rainfall downstream, particularly over the Bay of Bengal and South China. The downstream moist convection is accompanied by strong monsoonal low-level winds. In experiments where the Tibetan Plateau is removed, monsoon onset occurs about a month later, but the monsoon circulation becomes progressively stronger and reaches comparable strength during the mature phase. During the mature and decaying phase of monsoon (July–September), when westerly winds over the Southern Tibetan Plateau almost disappear, monsoon circulation strength is not much affected by the presence of the Tibetan Plateau. A dry dynamical core with east–west-oriented narrow mountains in the subtropics consistently simulates downstream convergence with background zonal westerlies over the mountain. In a moist atmosphere, the mechanically driven downstream convergence is expected to be associated with significant moisture convergence. The authors speculate that the mechanically driven downstream convergence in the presence of the Tibetan Plateau is responsible for zonally asymmetric monsoon onset, particularly over the Bay of Bengal and South China

Comments on "The Role of the Central Asian Mountains on the Midwinter Suppression of North Pacific Storminess" - Reply

We thank Chang and Lin for their thoughtful and constructive comments on our study (Park et al. 2010). In Park et al. (2010), we did not explicitly state that the topography-forced stationary waves are the direct cause for the reduced downstream transient eddy kinetic energy (EKE). The response of stationary waves to topography may saturate even with a relatively small mountain (Cook and Held 1992); furthermore, their magnitudes are much smaller than thermally forced stationary waves (Chang 2009; Held et al. 2002). Instead, we suggest that quasistationary waves generated by the central Asian mountains may strongly affect North Pacific storminess by changing the year-to-year variability of westerly winds over the eastern Eurasian continent. Observational analyses indicate that the midwinter suppression of North Pacific storminess does not occur every year. Some years experience stronger and more meridionally confined zonal winds over the western North Pacific, leading to stronger midwinter suppression (Harnik and Chang 2004; Nakamura and Sampe 2002)

Magnetic states and optical properties of single-layer carbon-doped hexagonal boron nitride

We show that carbon-doped hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has extraordinary properties with many possible applications. We demonstrate that the substitution-induced impurity states, associated with carbon atoms, and their interactions dictate the electronic structure and properties of C-doped h-BN. Furthermore, we show that stacking of localized impurity states in small C clusters embedded in h-BN forms a set of discrete energy levels in the wide gap of h-BN. The electronic structures of these C clusters have a plethora of applications in optics, magneto-optics, and opto-electronics

Suppressed Andreev Reflection at the Normal-Metal / Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn5_5 Interface

Dynamic conductance spectra are taken from Au/CeCoIn$_5$ point contacts in the Sharvin limit along the (001) and (110) directions. Our conductance spectra, reproducibly obtained over wide ranges of temperature, constitute the cleanest data sets ever reported for HFSs. A signature for the emerging heavy-fermion liquid is evidenced by the development of the asymmetry in the background in the normal state. Below $T_c$, an enhancement of the sub-gap conductance arising from Andreev reflection is observed, with the magnitude of $\sim$ 13.3 % and $\sim$ 11.8 % for the (001) and the (110) point contacts, respectively, an order of magnitude smaller than those observed in conventional superconductors but consistent with those in other HFSs. Our zero-bias conductance data for the (001) point contacts are best fit with the extended BTK model using the d-wave order parameter. The fit to the full conductance curve of the (001) point contact indicates the strong coupling nature ($2\Delta/k_{B}T_c = 4.64$). However, our observed suppression of both the Andreev reflection signal and the energy gap indicates the failure of existing models. We provide possible directions for theoretical formulations of the electronic transport across an N/HFS interface. Several qualitative features observed in the (110) point contacts provide the first clear spectroscopic evidence for the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ symmetry.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX, paper invited and submitted to SPIE Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Materials: Physics and Nanoengineering, in San Diego, California, July 31 - August 4, 200

Conference Tutorials-An Opportunity For Continuing Education

The Educational Services Committee of the IEEE Communications Society has sponsored eleven tutorial short courses at its major conferences over the past six years. The experience gained in developing and presenting these tutorials is shared with others so that they may be in a better position to sponsor similar continuing education activities in the future. The conference tutorial is one example of a continuing education activity that can be sponsored by an IEEE Group or Society as a service to its members. Copyright © 1978 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc

Glacial cycles drive variations in the production of oceanic crust

Glacial cycles redistribute water between oceans and continents causing pressure changes in the upper mantle, with consequences for melting of Earth's interior. Using Plio-Pleistocene sea-level variations as a forcing function, theoretical models of mid-ocean ridge dynamics that include melt transport predict temporal variations in crustal thickness of hundreds of meters. New bathymetry from the Australian-Antarctic ridge shows significant spectral energy near the Milankovitch periods of 23, 41, and 100 ky, consistent with model predictions. These results suggest that abyssal hills, one of the most common bathymetric features on Earth, record the magmatic response to changes in sea level. The models and data support a link between glacial cycles at the surface and mantle melting at depth, recorded in the bathymetric fabric of the sea floor.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures (including supplementary information). Resubmitted to Science on 12 December 201

Programming DNA Tube Circumferences

Synthesizing molecular tubes with monodisperse, programmable circumferences is an important goal shared by nanotechnology, materials science, and supermolecular chemistry. We program molecular tube circumferences by specifying the complementarity relationships between modular domains in a 42-base single-stranded DNA motif. Single-step annealing results in the self-assembly of long tubes displaying monodisperse circumferences of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, or 20 DNA helices