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We consider the suppression of spatiotemporal chaos in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation by a combined global and local time-delay feedback. Feedback terms are implemented as a control scheme, i.e., they are proportional to the difference between the time-delayed state of the system and its current state. We perform a linear stability analysis of uniform oscillations with respect to space-dependent perturbations and compare with numerical simulations. Similarly, for the fixed-point solution that corresponds to amplitude death in the spatially extended system, a linear stability analysis with respect to space-dependent perturbations is performed and complemented by numerical simulations.
The apparent isotope enrichment factor epsilon(macrophyte) of submerged plants (epsilon(macrophyte-DIC) = delta C-13(macrophyte) - delta C-13(DIC)) is indicative of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) supply in neutral to alkaline waters and is related to variations in aquatic productivity (Papadimitriou et al. in Limnol Oceanogr 50:1084-1095, 2005). This paper aims to evaluate the usage of epsilon(macrophyte) inferred from isotopic analyses of submerged plant fossils in addition to analyses of lake carbonate as a palaeolimnological proxy for former HCO3 (-) concentrations. Stable carbon isotopic analysis of modern Potamogeton pectinatus leaves and its host water DIC from the Tibetan Plateau and Central Yakutia (Russia) yielded values between -23.3 and +0.4aEuro degrees and between +14.0 and +6.5aEuro degrees, respectively. Values of epsilon (Potamogeton-DIC) (range -15.4 to +1.1aEuro degrees) from these lakes are significantly correlated with host water HCO3 (-) concentration (range 78-2,200 mg/l) (r = -0.86; P < 0.001), thus allowing for the development of a transfer function. Palaeo-epsilon (Potamogeton-ostracods) values from Luanhaizi Lake on the NE Tibetan Plateau, as inferred from the stable carbon isotope measurement of fossil Potamogeton pectinatus seeds (range -24 to +2.8aEuro degrees) and ostracods (range -7.8 to +7.5%) range between -14.8 and 1.6aEuro degrees. Phases of assumed disequilibrium between delta C-13(DIC) and delta C-13(ostracods) known to occur in charophyte swards (as indicated by the deposition of charophyte fossils) were excluded from the analysis of palaeo-epsilon. The application of the epsilon (Potamogeton-DIC)-HCO3 (-) transfer function yielded a median palaeo-HCO3 (-) -concentration of 290 mg/l. Variations in the dissolved organic carbon supply compare well with aquatic plant productivity changes and lake level variability as inferred from a multiproxy study of the same record including analyses of plant macrofossils, ostracods, carbonate and organic content.
African savannas are primarily used as pastures and are subject to changes in climate and management strategies. For sustainable management of these landscapes ecological knowledge on seasonal and long-term variability in plant community composition and the availability of green biomass is essential. In this study, we assessed the effects of dry and wet season on species richness and beta diversity for three sites along a gradient of increasing vegetation cover and precipitation in northwest Namibia. A hexagonal systematic sampling design was used to record floristic data. The Simple Matching, Soerensen, and multi-plot similarity coefficient and distance decay analyses were applied for examining beta diversity. Analyses were repeated while separating the plots according to the presence of woody vegetation. Species richness nearly doubled from dry to wet season; compositional similarity increased from dry to wet season and with increasing aridity of the study sites: distance decay was more pronounced in the dry season without any link to the precipitation gradient. Woody elements in the landscape, which occur along drainage lines or as tree islands, govern spatial and seasonal plant diversity fluctuations. Monitoring them is important for conservation strategies and for establishing grazing rules that ensure a sustainable use of savanna ecosystems.
Investigation of transient soil moisture profiles yields valuable information of near- surface processes. A recently developed reconstruction algorithm based on the telegraph equation allows the inverse estimation of soil moisture profiles along coated, three rod TDR probes. Laboratory experiments were carried out to prove the results of the inversion and to understand the influence of probe rod deformation and solid objects close to the probe in heterogeneous media. Differences in rod geometry can lead to serious misinterpretations in the soil moisture profile, but have small influence on the average soil moisture along the probe. Solids in the integration volume have almost no effect on average soil moisture, but result in locally slightly decreased moisture values. Inverted profiles obtained in a loamy soil with a clay content of about 16% were in good agreement with independent measurements.
Recent studies have pointed out the importance of transient synchronization between widely distributed neural assemblies to understand conscious perception. These neural assemblies form intricate networks of neurons and synapses whose detailed map for mammals is still unknown and far from our experimental capabilities. Only in a few cases, for example the C. elegans, we know the complete mapping of the neuronal tissue or its mesoscopic level of description provided by cortical areas. Here we study the process of transient and global synchronization using a simple model of phase-coupled oscillators assigned to cortical areas in the cerebral cat cortex. Our results highlight the impact of the topological connectivity in the developing of synchronization, revealing a transition in the synchronization organization that goes from a modular decentralized coherence to a centralized synchronized regime controlled by a few cortical areas forming a Rich-Club connectivity pattern.
Review article: Democratic inclusiveness : a reinterpretation of Lijphart's patterns of democracy
(2010)
This contribution to the study or democratic inclusiveness advances three main claims, based on Lijphart's original data First, his measurement of executive inclusiveness is incoherent and invalid. Secondly, executive inclusiveness is best explained by the interaction of many parties and strong legislative veto points. This implies that executive inclusiveness should not be contained in either of Lijphart's two dimensions of democracy. Thirdly, parties have incentives to economize on the costs of inclusive coalitions by avoiding strong legislative veto points, and these incentives are greater in parliamentary than in presidential systems. Hence. Lijphart's favourite version of consensus democracy - characterized by a parliamentary system and a high degree of executive inclusiveness - is unlikely to be a behavioural-institutional equilibrium.
Borehole logs provide geological information about the rocks crossed by the wells. Several properties of rocks can be interpreted in terms of lithology, type and quantity of the fluid filling the pores and fractures. Here, the logs are assumed to be nonhomogeneous Brownian motions (nhBms) which are generalized fractional Brownian motions (fBms) indexed by depth-dependent Hurst parameters H(z). Three techniques, the local wavelet approach (LWA), the average-local wavelet approach (ALWA), and Peltier Algorithm (PA), are suggested to estimate the Hurst functions (or the regularity profiles) from the logs. First, two synthetic sonic logs with different parameters, shaped by the successive random additions (SRA) algorithm, are used to demonstrate the potential of the proposed methods. The obtained Hurst functions are close to the theoretical Hurst functions. Besides, the transitions between the modeled layers are marked by Hurst values discontinuities. It is also shown that PA leads to the best Hurst value estimations. Second, we investigate the multifractional property of sonic logs data recorded at two scientific deep boreholes: the pilot hole VB and the ultra deep main hole HB, drilled for the German Continental Deep Drilling Program (KTB). All the regularity profiles independently obtained for the logs provide a clear correlation with lithology, and from each regularity profile, we derive a similar segmentation in terms of lithological units. The lithological discontinuities (strata' bounds and faults contacts) are located at the local extrema of the Hurst functions. Moreover, the regularity profiles are compared with the KTB estimated porosity logs, showing a significant relation between the local extrema of the Hurst functions and the fluid-filled fractures. The Hurst function may then constitute a tool to characterize underground heterogeneities.
Quantum many-body models describing natural systems or materials and physical systems assembled piece by piece in the laboratory for the purpose of realizing quantum information processing share an important feature: intricate correlations that originate from the coherent interaction between a large number of constituents. In recent years it has become manifest that the cross-fertilization between research devoted to quantum information science and to quantum many- body physics leads to new ideas, methods, tools, and insights in both fields. Issues of criticality, quantum phase transitions, quantum order and magnetism that play a role in one field find relations to the classical simulation of quantum systems, to error correction and fault tolerance thresholds, to channel capacities and to topological quantum computation, to name but a few. The structural similarities of typical problems in both fields and the potential for pooling of ideas then become manifest. Notably, methods and ideas from quantum information have provided fresh approaches to long-standing problems in strongly correlated systems in the condensed matter context, including both numerical methods and conceptual insights.
The centromeric histone H3 variant (CenH3) serves to target the kinetochore to the centromeres and thus ensures correct chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis. The Dictyostelium H3-like variant H3v1 was identified as the CenH3 ortholog. Dictyostelium CenH3 has an extended N-terminal domain with no similarity to any other known proteins and a histone fold domain at its C-terminus. Within the histone fold, alpha-helix 2 (alpha 2) and an extended loop 1 (L1) have been shown to be required for targeting CenH3 to centromeres. Compared to other known and putative CenH3 histones, Dictyostelium CenH3 has a shorter L1, suggesting that the extension is not an obligatory feature. Through ChIP analysis and fluorescence microscopy of live and fixed cells, we provide here the first survey of centromere structure in amoebozoa. The six telocentric centromeres were found to mostly consist of all the DIRS-1 elements and to associate with H3K9me3. During interphase, the centromeres remain attached to the centrosome forming a single CenH3-containing cluster. Loading of Dictyostelium CenH3 onto centromeres occurs at the G2/prophase transition, in contrast to the anaphase/ telophase loading of CenH3 observed in metazoans. This suggests that loading during G2/prophase is the ancestral eukaryotic mechanism and that anaphase/telophase loading of CenH3 has evolved more recently after the amoebozoa diverged from the animal linage.