ALBERT

Description: Thermal springs in the Southern Alps, New Zealand, originate through penetration of fluids into a thermal anomaly generated by rapid uplift and exhumation on the Alpine Fault. Copland hot spring (43.629S, 169.946E) is one of the most vigorously flowing, hottest of the springs, discharging strongly effervescent CO 2 -rich 56–58°C water at 6 ± 1 l sec −1 . Shaking from the Mw7.8 Dusky Sound (Fiordland) 2009 and Mw7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) 2010 earthquakes, 350 and 180 km from the spring, respectively, resulted in a characteristic approximately 1°C delayed cooling over 5 days. A decrease in conductivity and increase in pH were measured following the Mw7.1 Darfield earthquake. Earthquake-induced decreases in Cl, Li, B, Na, K, Sr and Ba concentrations and an increase in SO 4 concentration reflect higher proportions of shallow-circulating meteoric fluid mixing in the subsurface. Shaking at amplitudes of approximately 0.5% g Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and/or 0.05–0.10 MPa dynamic stress influences Copland hot spring temperature, which did not respond during the Mw6.3 Christchurch 2011 aftershock or other minor earthquakes. Such thresholds should be exceeded every 1–10 years in the central Southern Alps. The characteristic cooling response at low shaking intensities (MM III–IV) and seismic energy densities (approximately 10 −1  J m −3 ) from intermediate-field distances was independent of variations in spectral frequency, without the need for post-seismic recovery. Observed temperature and fluid chemistry responses are inferred to reflect subtle changes in the fracture permeability of schist mountains adjacent to the spring. Permanent 10 −7 –10 −6 strains recorded by cGPS reflect opening or generation of fractures, allowing greater quantities of relatively cool near-surface groundwater to mix with upwelling hot water. Active deformation, tectonic and topographic stress in the Alpine Fault hanging wall, where orographic rainfall, uplift and erosion are extreme, make the Southern Alps hydrothermal system particularly susceptible to earthquake-induced transient permeability. In response to large distant earthquakes Copland hot spring cooled approximately 1°C and changed fluid chemistry. Relatively low intensity shaking induced small permanent strains across the Southern Alps – opening fractures which enhanced mixing of relatively cool near-surface groundwater with upwelling hot water. Active deformation, tectonic and topographic stress in the Alpine Fault hanging wall makes the Southern Alps hydrothermal system particularly susceptible to earthquake-induced transience.

Description: Detrital provenance analyses in orogenic settings, in which sediments are collected at the outlet of a catchment, have become an important tool to es-timate how erosion varies in space and time. Here we present how Raman Spectroscopy on Carbonaceous Material (RSCM) can be used for provenance analysis. RSCM provides an estimate of the peak temperature (RSCM-T) experienced during metamorphism. We show that we can infer modern ero-sion patterns in a catchment by combining new measurements on detrital sands with previously acquired bedrock data. We focus on the Whataroa catch-ment in the Southern Alps of New Zealand and exploit the metamorphic gra-dient that runs parallel to the main drainage direction. To account for po-tential sampling biases, we also quantify abrasion properties using flume ex-periments and measure the total organic carbon content in the bedrock that produced the collected sands. Finally, we integrate these parameters into a mass-conservative model. Our results fist demonstrate that RSCM-T can be used for detrital studies. Second, we finnd that spatial variations in tracer concentration and erosion have a rst-order control on the RSCM-T distri-butions, even though our flume experiments reveal that weak lithologies pro-duce substantially more ne particles than do more durable lithologies. This result implies that sand specimens are good proxies for mapping spatial vari-ations in erosion when the bedrock concentration of the target mineral is quan-tied. The modeling suggests highest present-day erosion rates (in Whataroa catchment) are not situated at the range front, but around 10 km into the mountain belt.

Description: Atoh1 is a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that controls differentiation of hair cells (HCs) in the inner ear and its enhancer region has been used to create several HC-specific mouse lines. We generated a transgenic tetracycline-inducible mouse line (called Atoh1-rtTA) using the Atoh1 enhancer to drive expression of the reverse tetracycline transactivator (rtTA) protein and human placental alkaline phosphatase. Presence of the transgene was confirmed by alkaline phosphatase staining and rtTA activity was measured using two tetracycline operator (TetO) reporter alleles with doxycycline administered between postnatal days 0–3. This characterization of five founder lines demonstrated that Atoh1-rtTA is expressed in the majority of cochlear and utricular HCs. Although the tetracycline-inducible system is thought to produce transient changes in gene expression, reporter positive HCs were still observed at 6 weeks of age. To confirm that Atoh1-rtTA activity was specific to Atoh1-expressing cells, we also analyzed the cerebellum and found rtTA-driven reporter expression in cerebellar granule neuron precursor cells. The Atoh1-rtTA mouse line provides a powerful tool for the field and can be used in combination with other existing Cre recombinase mouse lines to manipulate expression of multiple genes at different times in the same animal. Scientific Reports 4 doi: 10.1038/srep06885

Description: Author(s): Kevin C. Cox, Graham P. Greve, Joshua M. Weiner, and James K. Thompson We demonstrate the creation of entangled, spin-squeezed states using a collective, or joint, measurement and real-time feedback. The pseudospin state of an ensemble of N = 5 × 10 4 laser-cooled Rb 87 atoms is deterministically driven to a specified population state with angular resolution that is a factor… [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 093602] Published Fri Mar 04, 2016

Description: We report the discovery of a gravitationally lensed hyperluminous infrared galaxy (intrinsic L IR   10 13 L ) with strong radio emission (intrinsic L 1.4 GHz   10 25  W Hz –1 ) at z  = 2.553. The source was identified in the citizen science project Space Warps  through the visual inspection of tens of thousands of iJK s colour composite images of luminous red galaxies (LRGs), groups and clusters of galaxies and quasars. Appearing as a partial Einstein ring ( r e   3 arcsec) around an LRG at z  = 0.2, the galaxy is extremely bright in the sub-millimetre for a cosmological source, with the thermal dust emission approaching 1 Jy at peak. The redshift of the lensed galaxy is determined through the detection of the CO(3-〉2) molecular emission line with the Large Millimetre Telescope's Redshift Search Receiver and through [O iii ] and Hα line detections in the near-infrared from Subaru/Infrared Camera and Spectrograph. We have resolved the radio emission with high-resolution (300–400 mas) eMERLIN L -band and Very Large Array C -band imaging. These observations are used in combination with the near-infrared imaging to construct a lens model, which indicates a lensing magnification of μ  10. The source reconstruction appears to support a radio morphology comprised of a compact (〈250 pc) core and more extended component, perhaps indicative of an active nucleus and jet or lobe.

Description: Recent research has demonstrated how scavenging, the act of consuming dead animals, plays a key role in ecosystem structure, functioning, and stability. A growing number of studies suggest that vertebrate scavengers also provide key ecosystem services, the benefits humans gain from the natural world, particularly in the removal of carcasses from the environment. An increasing proportion of the human population is now residing in cities and towns, many of which, despite being highly altered environments, contain significant wildlife populations, and so animal carcasses. Indeed, non-predation fatalities may be higher within urban than natural environments. Despite this, the fate of carcasses in urban environments and the role vertebrate scavengers play in their removal have not been determined. In this study, we quantify the role of vertebrate scavengers in urban environments in three towns in the UK. Using experimentally deployed rat carcasses and rapid fire motion-triggered cameras, we determined which species were scavenging and how removal of carcass biomass was partitioned between them. Of the 63 experimental carcasses deployed, vertebrate scavenger activity was detected at 67%. There was a significantly greater depletion in carcass biomass in the presence (mean loss of 194 g) than absence (mean loss of 14 g) of scavengers. Scavenger activity was restricted to three species, Carrion crows Corvus corone , Eurasian magpies Pica pica , and European red foxes Vulpes vulpes . From behavioral analysis, we estimated that a maximum of 73% of the carcass biomass was removed by vertebrate scavengers. Despite having low species richness, the urban scavenger community in our urban study system removed a similar proportion of carcasses to those reported in more pristine environments. Vertebrate scavengers are providing a key urban ecosystem service in terms of carcass removal. This service is, however, often overlooked, and the species that provide it are among some of the most disliked and persecuted. Scavenging plays a key role in ecosystem structure, functioning and stability but has not been explored in an urban context. Here we quantify the role of vertebrates scavengers in urban ecosystems and demonstrate how they remove the majority of experimentally deployed carcasses.

Description: Potentially active faults are exposed in the steep glaciated topography of the central Southern Alps, New Zealand, immediately adjacent to the Alpine Fault plate boundary. Four major faults exposed along the flanks of three of the highest mountain ranges strike 10–23 km (potentially 40 km) NNE oblique to the Alpine Fault, dipping 57° ± 12° NW in the opposite direction. Youngest discernable motions were reverse dip-slip, accommodating both margin-perpendicular shortening and dextral margin-parallel components of plate motion. Kinematic analysis yields a compression axis (295/10° ± 9° trend or plunge) equivalent to the contemporary shortening determined from seismological and geodetic studies, suggesting the faults may be active, although definitive evidence for recent movement or single event displacements is lacking. There are 106 other potentially active faults mapped in central Southern Alps with strike lengths 4–73 km. Earthquake parameters were assigned from fault trace lengths and historical earthquake statistics, indicating potential for MW 5.5–7.4 earthquakes at recurrence intervals of 1000–10,000 years. Such long recurrence intervals are consistent with the faults having little surface expression, with rapid erosion of these seismically agitated mountains erasing any evidence of surface rupture during periods between earthquakes. The central Southern Alps faults exemplify the difficulty in fully deciphering long-term (e.g., Holocene or Quaternary) records of seismicity in tectonically active regions with rapidly evolving landscapes. Although there may be little evidence of surface ruptures remaining in the landscape, the faults are still an important potential source of earthquakes and seismic hazard.

Description: A theoretical analysis is made of the properties of various methods for comparing two distributions of survival time. The results are intended primarily to guide the choice of method of analysis for such simple comparisons as of a treatment versus a control, but the main implications are fairly general, illustrating the performance of different models in a range of conditions. For most of the models there is a parameter specifying the comparison of interest and the Fisher information per observation can be calculated for that parameter, and provides a succinct basis for comparison. Two of the models are semiparametric and the others are based on exponential distributions with or without extra sources of variability.

Description: Gene location and DNA density determine transcription factor distributions in Escherichia coli Molecular Systems Biology 8, (2012). doi:10.1038/msb.2012.42 Authors: Thomas E Kuhlman & Edward C Cox

Description: Author(s): Kevin C. Cox, Joshua M. Weiner, and James K. Thompson We study experimentally and theoretically the response of a superradiant or bad-cavity laser to an applied coherent drive. We observe two forms of synchronization (injection locking) between the superradiant ensemble and the applied drive: one attractive and one repulsive in nature. In the region of... [Phys. Rev. A 90, 053845] Published Tue Nov 25, 2014