Integrated Scenarios of Regional Development in Two Semi-Arid States of North-Eastern Brazil

Scenario analysis of the future is an important tool for supporting sustainability-oriented regional planning. To assist regional planning in two federal states in semi-arid North-eastern Brazil, Ceará and Piauí, we developed integrated qualitative¿quantitative scenarios that show potential developments of the agricultural and water resources situation as well as the internal migration until the year 2025. In these states, regional development is negatively influenced by the high seasonality of rainfall and El-Niño-related drought years. Two reference scenarios, 'Coastal Boom and Cash Crops' and 'Decentralisation - Integrated Rural Development' were developed. First, story lines were created and the development of the driving forces was quantified. Then, an integrated model, which includes modules for simulating water availability, water demand, and agricultural production and income, was applied to compute the temporal development of relevant system indicators in each of the 332 municipalities of Ceará and Piauí. These indicators encompass the fraction of the irrigation water demand than can be satisfied, the volume of water which is stored in the reservoirs at the beginning of the dry season, agricultural productivity and production as well as the internal migration among scenario regions. In addition, the impact of certain policy measures was assessed in the context of both reference scenarios. Reference and intervention scenarios were derived by an interdisciplinary group of scientists and were discussed and refined during policy workshops with planning agencies of Ceará

Nanolithography with metastable helium atoms in a high-power standing-wave light field

We have created periodic nanoscale structures in a gold substrate with a lithography process using metastable triplet helium atoms that damage a hydrofobic resist layer on top of the substrate. A beam of metastable helium atoms is transversely cooled and guided through an intense standing-wave light field. Compared to commonly used low-power optical masks, a high-power light field (saturation parameter of 10E7) increases the confinement of the atoms in the standing-wave considerably, and makes the alignment of the experimental setup less critical. Due to the high internal energy of the metastable helium atoms (20 eV), a dose of only one atom per resist molecule is required. With an exposure time of only eight minutes, parallel lines with a separation of 542 nm and a width of 100 nm (1/11th of the wavelength used for the optical mask) are created.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

A nonadiabatic semi-classical method for dynamics of atoms in optical lattices

We develop a semi-classical method to simulate the motion of atoms in a dissipative optical lattice. Our method treats the internal states of the atom quantum mechanically, including all nonadiabatic couplings, while position and momentum are treated as classical variables. We test our method in the one-dimensional case. Excellent agreement with fully quantum mechanical simulations is found. Our results are much more accurate than those of earlier semi-classical methods based on the adiabatic approximation.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to European Physical Journal

Influence of the lattice topography on a three-dimensional, controllable Brownian motor

We study the influence of the lattice topography and the coupling between motion in different directions, for a three-dimensional Brownian motor based on cold atoms in a double optical lattice. Due to controllable relative spatial phases between the lattices, our Brownian motor can induce drifts in arbitrary directions. Since the lattices couple the different directions, the relation between the phase shifts and the directionality of the induced drift is non trivial. Here is therefore this relation investigated experimentally by systematically varying the relative spatial phase in two dimensions, while monitoring the vertically induced drift and the temperature. A relative spatial phase range of 2pi x 2pi is covered. We show that a drift, controllable both in speed and direction, can be achieved, by varying the phase both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the measured induced drift. The experimental results are qualitatively reproduced by numerical simulations of a simplified, classical model of the system

Covariant quantum measurements may not be optimal

Quantum particles, such as spins, can be used for communicating spatial directions to observers who share no common coordinate frame. We show that if the emitter's signals are the orbit of a group, then the optimal detection method may not be a covariant measurement (contrary to widespread belief). It may be advantageous for the receiver to use a different group and an indirect estimation method: first, an ordinary measurement supplies redundant numerical parameters; the latter are then used for a nonlinear optimal identification of the signal.Comment: minor corrections, to appear in J. Mod. Opt. (proc. of Gdansk conf.

ENHANCE YOUR WORKPLACE! A dialogue tool for workplace health promotion with a salutogenic approach

The aim of this thesis was to develop and make a quality assessment of a tool, which includes a questionnaire and a dialogue process that could be useful for workplace health promotion from a salutogenic point of view. The studies have been performed within two health care organizations between 2005 and 2009, together with hospital staff. Two questionnaire studies were conducted (n=446 n=505, respectively). A focus group interview study was performed (n=78), and meetings were held in an action research process for applying a questionnaire process at two wards (n=69). The result shows a development process for a multi-dimensional questionnaire, the Work Experience Measurement Scale (WEMS), which can be used to measure work experiences from a salutogenic perspective. WEMS was shown to be a functional workplace health promotion questionnaire with the ability to discriminate between groups. Its psychometric properties support its applicability in health care settings and offer a possibility to measure trends over time regarding employees´ work experiences. A dialogue structure for progress in the questionnaire process is presented. It describes what to precede and how to proceed through a workplace questionnaire process to foster applicability, meaningfulness, and sustainability. Through WEMS, the outcome of work-related Specific Enhancing Resources (SER) may be highlighted and strengthened in workplace activities. When used as a dialogue tool in a continuous questionnaire process, WEMS has the potential of being a useful assessment tool in workplace health promotion. Such a dialogue tool is useful in discussions and tangible for the work of enhancing positive human capabilities and resources (SER) that improve work performance

Translation initiation factor eIF3 promotes programmed stop codon readthrough.

Programmed stop codon readthrough is a post-transcription regulatory mechanism specifically increasing proteome diversity by creating a pool of C-terminally extended proteins. During this process, the stop codon is decoded as a sense codon by a near-cognate tRNA, which programs the ribosome to continue elongation. The efficiency of competition for the stop codon between release factors (eRFs) and near-cognate tRNAs is largely dependent on its nucleotide context; however, the molecular mechanism underlying this process is unknown. Here, we show that it is the translation initiation (not termination) factor, namely eIF3, which critically promotes programmed readthrough on all three stop codons. In order to do so, eIF3 must associate with pre-termination complexes where it interferes with the eRF1 decoding of the third/wobble position of the stop codon set in the unfavorable termination context, thus allowing incorporation of near-cognate tRNAs with a mismatch at the same position. We clearly demonstrate that efficient readthrough is enabled by near-cognate tRNAs with a mismatch only at the third/wobble position. Importantly, the eIF3 role in programmed readthrough is conserved between yeast and humans