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Selected AbstractsCorrelation of Density Pedestal Width and Neutral Penetration LengthCONTRIBUTIONS TO PLASMA PHYSICS, Issue 1-3 2004X. Q. Xu Abstract Pedestal studies in DIII-D and MAST find good correlation between the width of the H-mode density barrier and the neutral penetration length [1, 2]. These results suggest that the width may be set by the combined effects of neutrals and plasma transport. This paper is a report on fluid simulations of boundary plasma using the BOUT code[3] with a neutral source added. Thus both neutral and plasma physics are treated. The plasma transport is self-consistently driven by boundary turbulence due to the resistive X-point mode, while neutrals are described by a simple analytic model. The plasma profiles are evolved on the same time scale as the turbulence for the given heat source from the core plasma and particle source from the neutrals. For prescribed neutral profiles, we find the formation of a density pedestal inside the separatrix in the L-mode even though the calculated plasma diffusion coefficients are almost radially constant and without the formation of a temperature pedestal. These results support the hypothesis that particle fueling can provide the dominant control for the size of the H-mode density barrier. The width of the density barrier decreases as the pedestal density increases which is also consistent with experimental data. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Enantiomeric composition of chiral polychlorinated biphenyl atropisomers in dated sediment coresENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2007Charles S. Wong Abstract ,Enantiomer fractions (EFs) of seven chiral poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in dated sediment cores of Lake Hartwell (SC, USA) and Lake Ontario (USA) to detect, quantify, and gain insight regarding microbial reductive dechlorination of PCBs in lake sediments with high and low concentrations, respectively. Lake Hartwell sediments had high total PCBs (5,60 ,g/g), with significantly nonracemic EFs that generally were consistent with those from previous laboratory microcosm reductive dechlorination experiments using sediments from these sites. Thus, stereoselective reductive dechlorination had occurred in situ, including at total PCB concentrations of less than the threshold of approximately 30 to 80 ,g/g suggested as being necessary for reductive dechlorination. Enantiomer fractions of PCBs 91, 95, 132, and 136 in Lake Hartwell cores were significantly correlated both with concentrations of those individual congeners and with total PCB concentration for some sites. This result indicates that enantioselective microbial dechlorination activity increases with higher concentrations within sediments for these congeners. Enantiomer composition reversed with depth for PCBs 91, 132, and 176, suggesting that multiple microbial populations may be present within the same core that are enantioselectively dechlorinating PCBs. Such observations indicate that concentration and time are not the only factors affecting biotransformation, complicating prediction of enantioselectivity. Comparison of EFs with dates suggested biotransformation half-lives of approximately 30 years, which is on the same time scale as sequestration by burial. In contrast, Lake Ontario sediments (maximum total PCBs, 400 ng/g) had racemic or near-racemic amounts of most congeners throughout the core profile, which is consistent with achiral indicators suggesting no microbial biotransformation within Lake Ontario sediments. Thresholds for reductive dechlorination may exist, but they would be at concentrations of less than 30 to 80 ,g/g. [source] Rapid evolution of social learningJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 9 2009M. FRANZ Abstract Culture is widely thought to be beneficial when social learning is less costly than individual learning and thus may explain the enormous ecological success of humans. Rogers (1988. Does biology constrain culture. Am. Anthropol. 90: 819,831) contradicted this common view by showing that the evolution of social learning does not necessarily increase the net benefits of learned behaviours in a variable environment. Using simulation experiments, we re-analysed extensions of Rogers' model after relaxing the assumption that genetic evolution is much slower than cultural evolution. Our results show that this assumption is crucial for Rogers' finding. For many parameter settings, genetic and cultural evolution occur on the same time scale, and feedback effects between genetic and cultural dynamics increase the net benefits. Thus, by avoiding the costs of individual learning, social learning can increase ecological success. Furthermore, we found that rapid evolution can limit the evolution of complex social learning strategies, which have been proposed to be widespread in animals. [source] Photoinduced electron transfer in glucose oxidase: a picosecond time-resolved ultraviolet resonance Raman studyJOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 11 2008Akiko Fujiwara Abstract Picosecond time-resolved ultraviolet resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy has been applied to photoinduced electron transfer (ET) of glucose oxidase (GOD). In this study, we succeeded in directly observing changes in the aromatic amino acid residues in the photoinduced ET of GOD for the first time. UVRR spectra excited at 226 nm showed bands from Trp and Tyr residues. An intensity decrease of the Trp UVRR bands and the appearance of the UVRR bands attributable to Trp,+ were observed in the time-resolved spectra. In the time-resolved UVRR spectra excited at 240 nm, the intensity decrease of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) bands was also observed on the same time scale. These results showed that the Trp residue(s) serves as an electron donor to excited-state FAD in the photoinduced ET of GOD. The comparison of the temporal changes of the Trp and FAD band intensities suggested that the ET from the Trp residue(s) to the FAD occurs with a time constant of ,1.5 ps. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||