Cold atoms in a high-Q ring-cavity

We report the confinement of large clouds of ultra-cold 85-Rb atoms in a standing-wave dipole trap formed by the two counter-propagating modes of a high-Q ring-cavity. Studying the properties of this trap we demonstrate loading of higher-order transverse cavity modes and excite recoil-induced resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The ‘mosaic habitat’ concept in human evolution: past and present

The habitats preferred by hominins and other species are an important theme in palaeoanthropology, and the ‘mosaic habitat’ (also referred to as habitat heterogeneity) has been a central concept in this regard for the last four decades. Here we explore the development of this concept – loosely defined as a range of different habitat types, such as woodlands, riverine forest and savannah within a limited spatial area– in studies of human evolution in the last sixty years or so. We outline the key developments that took place before and around the time when the term ‘mosaic’ came to wider palaeoanthropological attention. To achieve this we used an analysis of the published literature, a study of illustrations of hominin evolution from 1925 onwards and an email survey of senior researchers in palaeoanthropology and related fields. We found that the term mosaic starts to be applied in palaeoanthropological thinking during the 1970’s due to the work of a number of researchers, including Karl Butzer and Glynn Isaac , with the earliest usage we have found of ‘mosaic’ in specific reference to hominin habitats being by Adriaan Kortlandt (1972). While we observe a steady increase in the numbers of publications reporting mosaic palaeohabitats, in keeping with the growing interest and specialisation in various methods of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, we also note that there is a lack of critical studies that define this habitat, or examine the temporal and spatial scales associated with it. The general consensus within the field is that the concept now requires more detailed definition and study to evaluate its role in human evolution

GENIE: Exploiting Grid enabled computing and data handling resources for integrated Earth system modelling

The GENIE project is developing a grid based framework for the composition, execution and management of new Earth System Models, and the data they produce. Our principle aims are to• flexibly couple together state-of-the-art components to form unified Earth System Models (ESMs),• study and tune the resulting ESMs over multi-millennial timescales.We have achieved this by developing a framework and technologies which allow us to exploit:• grid-enabled computational resources, and• grid-enabled data management to allow post-processing, analysis and sharing of the distributed data produced by model runs.Our framework is based around the widely used Matlab problem solving environment and is also being extended to provide the same functionality for Python. It is built upon software developed by the UK Geodise project (www.geodise.org). A Matlab client provides a common environment for the project Virtual Organisation and allows the scripting of model execution through an interface to the computational Grid (Globus and Condor resources are supported). An augmented version of the Geodise Database Toolbox provides access to a grid-enabled repository for scripts, binaries and output data from the GENIE framework. In addition, rich metadata associated with these files is stored in a grid-enabled database, which can then be searched to locate files in the repository. We provide both GUI and programmatic access from the scripting environment to archive and retrieve files from the file repository and also to query the metadata store. An interface is also provided to a sophisticated Design Search and Optimisation package OPTIONS which has been exploited in some of our tuning studies.We will illustrate the use of our grid-enabled environment with a number of exemplars representative of the range of scientific challenges that we have been addressing. These include (1) ensemble studies of the behaviour of the ocean’s thermohaline circulation, (2) parameter tuning of coupled atmosphere, ocean and sea-ice models, and (3) multi-millennial timescale simulations. Our studies have used a wide range of local and national grid-enabled computational and data handling resources and have demonstrated how the grid can be exploited for integrated Earth system modelling

THE POLITICS OF LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT: MONITORING EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN SIX STATES

Legislative oversight traditionally has been viewed as a rational tool for achieving democratic accountability. Legislators conduct oversight to ensure consistency between implementation and official policy directives. The major theme of this paper is t h a t oversight is best understood as an integral part of legislative-administrative politics. By examining how six states monitored recent educational reforms, the author finds that legislators conducted oversight in ways that minimized time commitments and maximized political benefits. Copyright 1989 by The Policy Studies Organization.

RHETORIC AND REALITY IN THE REFORM OF JUVENILE JUSTICE POLICY

In the 1960s and 1970s dissatisfaction with the administration of juvenile justice led to a reform movement which advocated "diversion, deinstitutionalization," and the decriminalization of status offenses as strategies to reduce the harmfulness of official contacts. This paper argues not only that these reforms have not been successfully implemented, but also that the traditional system has been maintained and extended. Explanations for the failure of these reforms are offered and a new direction is suggested. Copyright 1982 by The Policy Studies Organization.