Differences in the stable isotope signatures of seabird egg membrane and albumen – implications for non‐invasive studies

In many bird species, egg membranes can be obtained non‐invasively after the chicks have hatched, and stable isotope analysis of egg membranes can be used to study the diet and foraging distribution of these birds during egg formation. It has been suggested that the enrichment factors of albumen and egg membranes differ for ¹³C, but are similar for ¹⁵N. In this study, we compared carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of the membranes and albumen of individual eggs of three wild seabird species, the Southern Rockhopper penguin Eudyptes chrysocome, the Imperial shag Phalacrocorax atriceps albiventer, and the Thin‐billed prion Pachyptila belcheri. We also included chicken eggs for comparison. Egg membranes were generally enriched in ¹³C, compared with albumen. The difference varied between species, with 2.1‰ in Rockhopper penguins, 1.6‰ in Imperial shags, but only 0.5‰ in Thin‐billed prions and 0.4‰ in chicken eggs. Egg membranes were slightly enriched in ¹⁵N in Imperial shags (0.9‰) and chickens (0.5‰), compared with albumen, while there was no difference for Thin‐billed prions and Rockhopper penguins. The isotopic values of carbon and nitrogen were correlated between albumen and egg membranes of individual eggs, suggesting that egg membranes can be used reliably to investigate trophic differences between individuals, seasons or colonies. Species‐specific mathematical corrections could be used to compare results across studies that use different egg components. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

尿素分子团簇线性和一阶非线性光学极化率的理论计算

检验分子晶体非线性光学极化率的可加性,对于确认有向气体模型(Oriented-Gas Model) 具有重要的科学意义,对探索新型实用的分子非线性光学材料也有实际的意义。本文对尿素晶体中分子簇非线性光学极化率的可加性做了详尽的理论研究。首次做到了尿素分子最近邻排布团簇的非线性光学极化率的从头算,从而扩展了前人的工作。研究结果有效地确认了有向气体模型。同时,我们还提出了壳层结构模型 (Shell-Structure Model),用以解决有向气体模型中的缺陷,可实现更为有效可靠地计算晶体宏观非线性光学系数。     

Could the New Absorption Cross Section of J/ψ Change the Aspect of Nuclear Absorption Mechanism

The enlarged new absorption cross sections of J/ψ by π and ρ were put into the hadron and string cascade model, JPCIAE, and the J/ψ suppression factors in P-A, O-U, S-U and Pb-Pb minimum bias collisions at 200A GeV/c were calculated with nuclear absorption mechanism only. The results seem to indicate that, with new enlarged cross section it is still hard to change the aspect that nuclear absorption mechanism itself could not easily account for the J/ψ anomalous suppression in Pb-Pb collisions.     

Reactions of Podophyllotoxin with DDQ

Introduction 2, 3-Dichloro-5, 6-dicyanobenzoquinone (DDQ) can react with lignans of the mono- arylidene-butyrolactone1, aryltetralin2, dibenzylbutane3 and aryltetralin-butyrolactone4,5 series. We have studied the reactions of this reagent with podophyllotoxin 1, which is a well-known natural product on account of its long history of use in folk medicine and the biological activity of its many derivatives6. In particular, derivatives of 4-demethyl epipodophyllotoxin are used in cancer chemo…     

核形变对J/ψ压低的效应

用强子和弦级联模型,JPCIAE,研究(200A GeV)U+U中心碰撞中核形变对J/ψ压低的效应.结果表明:在两形变核的长轴都沿束流方向的碰撞中,J/ψ压低因子约为两长轴都垂直于束流方向碰撞时的二分之一.     

Recent progress in thin-film solar cells

The depletion of energy resources should produce an increase in the range of applications for terrestrial solar cells. The main factor determining the extent of this increase will be cost. In this respect, thin-film solar cells are particularly promising. Recent work on cells based on doped amorphous silicon is reviewed in detail. The properties of this relatively new material are still poorly understood.     

Efficient gradient estimation using finite differencing and likelihood ratios for kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

While many optimization and control methods for stochastic processes require gradient information from the process of interest, obtaining gradient information from experiments is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. As a result, such information is often obtained from stochastic process simulations. Computing gradients efficiently and accurately from stochastic simulations is challenging, especially for simulations involving computationally expensive models with significant inherent noise. In this work, we analyze and characterize the applicability of two gradient estimation methods for kinetic Monte Carlo simulations: finite differencing and likelihood ratio. We developed a systematic method for choosing an optimal perturbation size for finite differencing and discuss, for both methods, important implementation issues such as scaling with respect to the number of elements in the gradient vector. Through a series of numerical experiments, the methods were compared across different time and size regimes to characterize the precision and accuracy associated with each method. We determined that the likelihood ratio method is appropriate for estimating gradients at short (transient) times or for systems with small population sizes, whereas finite differencing is better-suited for gradient estimation at long times (steady state) or for systems with large population sizes.