The effect of population structure, plant size, herbivory and reproductive potential on effective population size in the temperate epiphytic orchid, Sarcochilus australis

Distribution of plant size and reproductive success is investigated in the temperate epiphytic orchid Sarcochilus australis (Lindl.) Rchb. f. at Kinglake National Park, Victoria, in south-eastern Australia, and applied to estimating the effective population size. Plant size distribution (leaf number, length of longest leaf and number of flowers) was not normally distributed. Most individuals were vegetative and it is estimated that more than half of all individuals are too small to flower, however exceptionally large individuals even though rare are able to have more than one active inflorescence. Flowering probability is plant size dependent and follows a sigmoid curve. The minimum observed leaf size of a flowering individual was 26 mm, however these small individuals have a low probability of flowering ( 80 mm) have a much higher probability of flowering (90%). The effective population size (Ne) of the Kinglake population of Sarcochilus australis was estimated from the distribution of flower production, and shown to be small (Ne = 10–19%) and comparatively similar to some of the other published estimates of effective populations size in orchids. From this basic survey of size distribution in Sarcochilus australis it is predicted that genetic diversity is low

Neon diffusion kinetics and implications for cosmogenic neon paleothermometry in feldspars

Observations of cosmogenic neon concentrations in feldspars can potentially be used to constrain the surface exposure duration or surface temperature history of geologic samples. The applicability of cosmogenic neon to either application depends on the temperature-dependent diffusivity of neon isotopes. In this work, we investigate the kinetics of neon diffusion in feldspars of different compositions and geologic origins through stepwise degassing experiments on single, proton-irradiated crystals. To understand the potential causes of complex diffusion behavior that is sometimes manifest as nonlinearity in Arrhenius plots, we compare our results to argon stepwise degassing experiments previously conducted on the same feldspars. Many of the feldspars we studied exhibit linear Arrhenius behavior for neon whereas argon degassing from the same feldspars did not. This suggests that nonlinear behavior in argon experiments is an artifact of structural changes during laboratory heating. However, other feldspars that we examined exhibit nonlinear Arrhenius behavior for neon diffusion at temperatures far below any known structural changes, which suggests that some preexisting material property is responsible for the complex behavior. In general, neon diffusion kinetics vary widely across the different feldspars studied, with estimated activation energies (Ea) ranging from 83.3 to 110.7 kJ/mol and apparent pre-exponential factors (D0) spanning three orders of magnitude from 2.4 × 10−3 to 8.9 × 10−1 cm2 s−1. As a consequence of this variability, the ability to reconstruct temperatures or exposure durations from cosmogenic neon abundances will depend on both the specific feldspar and the surface temperature conditions at the geologic site of interest

Theory of single-particle properties of the Hubbard model

It is shown that it is possible to quantitatively explain quantum Monte Carlo results for the Green's function of the two-dimensional Hubbard model in the weak to intermediate coupling regime. The analytic approach includes vertex corrections in a paramagnon-like self-energy. All parameters are determined self-consistently. This approach clearly shows that in two dimensions Fermi-liquid quasiparticles disappear in the paramagnetic state when the antiferromagnetic correlation length becomes larger than the electronic thermal de Broglie wavelength.Comment: 5 pages, latex, uuencoded figures, REVTEX Also available by direct request to [email protected]

Supersolidity, entropy and frustration

We study the properties of t-t'-V model of hard-core bosons on the triangular lattice that can be realized in optical lattices. By mapping to the spin-1/2 XXZ model in a field, we determine the phase diagram of the t-V model where the supersolid characterized by the ordering pattern (x,x,-2x') ("ferrimagnetic" or SS A) is a ground state for chemical potential \mu >3V. By turning on either temperature or t' at half-filling \mu =3V, we find a first order transition from SS A to the elusive supersolid characterized by the (x,-x,0) ordering pattern ("antiferromagnetic" or SS C). In addition, we find a large region where a superfluid phase becomes a solid upon raising temperature at fixed chemical potential. This is an analog of the Pomeranchuk effect driven by the large entropic effects associated with geometric frustration on the triangular lattice.Comment: 4 pages, igures, LaTe

On the selection of words and oral motor responses : evidence of a response-independent fronto-parietal network

Several brain areas including the medial and lateral premotor areas, and the prefrontal cortex, are thought to be involved in response selection. It is unclear, however, what the specific contribution of each of these areas is. It is also unclear whether the response selection process operates independent of response modality or whether a number of specialized processes are recruited depending on the behaviour of interest. In the present study, the neural substrates for different response selection modes (volitional and stim- ulus-driven) were compared, using sparse-sampling functional magnetic resonance imaging, for two different response modalities: words and comparable oral motor gestures. Results demonstrate that response selection relies on a network of prefrontal, premotor and parietal areas, with the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) at the core of the process. Overall, this network is sensitive to the manner in which responses are selected, despite the absence of a medio-lateral axis, as was suggested by Goldberg (1985). In contrast, this network shows little sensitivity to the modality of the response, suggesting of a domain-general selection process. Theoretical implications of these results are discussed