We assess evidence relevant to Earth's equilibrium climate sensitivity per doubling of atmospheric CO2, characterized by an effective sensitivity S . This evidence includes feedback process ...understanding, the historical climate record, and the paleoclimate record. An S value lower than 2 K is difficult to reconcile with any of the three lines of evidence. The amount of cooling during the Last Glacial Maximum provides strong evidence against values of S greater than 4.5 K. Other lines of evidence in combination also show that this is relatively unlikely. We use a Bayesian approach to produce a probability density (PDF) for S given all the evidence, including tests of robustness to difficult‐to‐quantify uncertainties and different priors. The 66% range is 2.6‐3.9 K for our Baseline calculation, and remains within 2.3‐4.5 K under the robustness tests; corresponding 5‐95% ranges are 2.3‐4.7 K, bounded by 2.0‐5.7 K (although such high‐confidence ranges should be regarded more cautiously). This indicates a stronger constraint on S than reported in past assessments, by lifting the low end of the range. This narrowing occurs because the three lines of evidence agree and are judged to be largely independent, and because of greater confidence in understanding feedback processes and in combining evidence. We identify promising avenues for further narrowing the range in S , in particular using comprehensive models and process understanding to address limitations in the traditional forcing‐feedback paradigm for interpreting past changes.
Time has always had a special status in physics because of its fundamental role in specifying the regularities of nature and because of the extraordinary precision with which it can be measured. This ...precision enables tests of fundamental physics and cosmology, as well as practical applications such as satellite navigation. Recently, a regime of operation for atomic clocks based on optical transitions has become possible, promising even higher performance. We report the frequency ratio of two optical atomic clocks with a fractional uncertainty of 5.2 x 10⁻¹⁷. The ratio of aluminum and mercury single-ion optical clock frequencies νAl⁺/νHg⁺ is 1.052871833148990438(55), where the uncertainty comprises a statistical measurement uncertainty of 4.3 x 10⁻¹⁷, and systematic uncertainties of 1.9 x 10⁻¹⁷ and 2.3 x 10⁻¹⁷ in the mercury and aluminum frequency standards, respectively. Repeated measurements during the past year yield a preliminary constraint on the temporal variation of the fine-structure constant α of Formula: see text.
Before acquiring highest-resolution data of Ceres, questions remained about the emplacement mechanism and source of Occator crater’s bright faculae. Here we report that brine effusion emplaced the ...faculae in a brine-limited, impact-induced hydrothermal system. Impact-derived fracturing enabled brines to reach the surface. The central faculae, Cerealia and Pasola Facula, postdate the central pit, and were primarily sourced from an impact-induced melt chamber, with some contribution from a deeper, pre-existing brine reservoir. Vinalia Faculae, in the crater floor, were sourced from the laterally extensive deep reservoir only. Vinalia Faculae are comparatively thinner and display greater ballistic emplacement than the central faculae because the deep reservoir brines took a longer path to the surface and contained more gas than the shallower impact-induced melt chamber brines. Impact-derived fractures providing conduits, and mixing of impact-induced melt with deeper endogenic brines, could also allow oceanic material to reach the surfaces of other large icy bodies.
We present theoretical and simulation results for the performance of asymmetrically-clipped optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM) and DC-biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM) in AWGN for intensity-modulated ...direct-detection systems. Constellations from 4 QAM to 1024 QAM are considered. For DCO-OFDM, the optimum bias depends on the constellation size which limits its performance in adaptive systems. ACO-OFDM requires less optical power for a given data rate than DCO-OFDM for all but the largest constellations and is better suited to adaptive systems as the same structure is optimum for all constellations.
The composition of the intestinal microbiota influences the outcome of enteric infections in human and mice. However, the role of specific members and their metabolites contributing to disease ...severity is largely unknown. Using isogenic mouse lines harboring distinct microbiota communities, we observed highly variable disease kinetics of enteric Citrobacter rodentium colonization after infection. Transfer of communities from susceptible and resistant mice into germ-free mice verified that the varying susceptibilities are determined by microbiota composition. The strongest differences in colonization were observed in the cecum and could be maintained in vitro by coculturing cecal bacteria with C. rodentium. Cohousing of animals as well as the transfer of cultivable bacteria from resistant to susceptible mice led to variable outcomes in the recipient mice. Microbiome analysis revealed that a higher abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria was associated with the resistant phenotype. Quantification of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels before and after infection revealed increased concentrations of acetate, butyrate and propionate in mice with delayed colonization. Addition of physiological concentrations of butyrate, but not of acetate and/or propionate strongly impaired growth of C. rodentium in vitro. In vivo supplementation of susceptible, antibiotic-treated and germ-free mice with butyrate led to the same level of protection, notably only when cecal butyrate concentration reached a concentration higher than 50 nmol/mg indicating a critical threshold for protection. In the recent years, commensal-derived primary and secondary bacterial metabolites emerged as potent modulators of hosts susceptibility to infection. Our results provide evidence that variations in SCFA production in mice fed fibre-rich chow-based diets modulate susceptibility to colonization with Enterobacteriaceae not only in antibiotic-disturbed ecosystems but even in undisturbed microbial communities. These findings emphasise the need for microbiota normalization across laboratory mouse lines for infection experiments with the model-pathogen C. rodentium independent of investigations of diet and antibiotic usage.
We present experimental demonstrations using direct-detection and optical-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DD-OOFDM) for the compensation of chromatic dispersion in long-haul optical fiber ...links. Three transmitter designs of varying electrical and optical complexity are used for optical single sideband (OSSB) transmission and the theory behind each design is discussed. The data rates achieved for the three systems are 10, 12, and 20 Gbit/s for fiber distances between 320 and 400 km. A discussion of system overheads is provided together with simulations of the required optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR).
High-harmonic spectroscopy provides a unique insight into the electronic structure of atoms and molecules. Although attosecond science holds the promise of accessing the timescale of ...electron-electron interactions, until now, their signature has not been seen in high-harmonic spectroscopy. We have recorded high-harmonic spectra of atoms to beyond 160 eV, using a new, almost ideal laser source with a wavelength of 1.8 μm and a pulse duration of less than two optical cycles. We show that we can relate these spectra to differential photoionization cross-sections measured with synchrotron sources. In addition, we show that the high-harmonic spectra contain features due to collective multi-electron effects involving inner-shell electrons, in particular the giant resonance in xenon. We develop a new theoretical model based on the strong-field approximation and show that it is in agreement with the experimental observations.
Summary
Calories from any food have the potential to increase risk for obesity and cardiometabolic disease because all calories can directly contribute to positive energy balance and fat gain. ...However, various dietary components or patterns may promote obesity and cardiometabolic disease by additional mechanisms that are not mediated solely by caloric content. Researchers explored this topic at the 2017 CrossFit Foundation Academic Conference ‘Diet and Cardiometabolic Health – Beyond Calories’, and this paper summarizes the presentations and follow‐up discussions. Regarding the health effects of dietary fat, sugar and non‐nutritive sweeteners, it is concluded that food‐specific saturated fatty acids and sugar‐sweetened beverages promote cardiometabolic diseases by mechanisms that are additional to their contribution of calories to positive energy balance and that aspartame does not promote weight gain. The challenges involved in conducting and interpreting clinical nutritional research, which preclude more extensive conclusions, are detailed. Emerging research is presented exploring the possibility that responses to certain dietary components/patterns are influenced by the metabolic status, developmental period or genotype of the individual; by the responsiveness of brain regions associated with reward to food cues; or by the microbiome. More research regarding these potential ‘beyond calories’ mechanisms may lead to new strategies for attenuating the obesity crisis.
Functional supramolecular systems like carbonyl-bridged triarylamine (CBT) trisamides are known for their long-range energy transport at room temperature. Understanding the complex self-assembly ...processes of this system allows for control over generated structures using controlled supramolecular polymerization. Here, we present two novel CBT trisamides with (S)- or (R)-chiral side chains which show a two-pathway self-assembly behavior in solution. Depending on the thermal profile during the self-assembly process, two different stable states are obtained under otherwise identical conditions. A kinetically trapped state A is reached upon cooling to 7 °C, via a proposed isodesmic process. In addition, there is a thermodynamically stable state B at 7 °C that is induced by first undercooling to −5 °C, via a nucleation-elongation mechanism. In both cases, helical supramolecular aggregates comprising H-aggregated CBTs are formed. Additionally, controlled supramolecular polymerization was achieved by mixing the two different states (A and B) from the same enantiomer, leading to a conversion of the kinetically trapped state to the thermodynamically stable state. This process is highly enantioselective, as no conversion is observed if the two states consist of opposite enantiomers. We thus show the importance and opportunities emerging from understanding the pathway complexity of functional supramolecular systems.
Abstract Finite element (FE) model studies have made important contributions to our understanding of functional biomechanics of the lumbar spine. However, if a model is used to answer clinical and ...biomechanical questions over a certain population, their inherently large inter-subject variability has to be considered. Current FE model studies, however, generally account only for a single distinct spinal geometry with one set of material properties. This raises questions concerning their predictive power, their range of results and on their agreement with in vitro and in vivo values. Eight well-established FE models of the lumbar spine (L1-5) of different research centers around the globe were subjected to pure and combined loading modes and compared to in vitro and in vivo measurements for intervertebral rotations, disc pressures and facet joint forces. Under pure moment loading, the predicted L1-5 rotations of almost all models fell within the reported in vitro ranges, and their median values differed on average by only 2° for flexion-extension, 1° for lateral bending and 5° for axial rotation. Predicted median facet joint forces and disc pressures were also in good agreement with published median in vitro values. However, the ranges of predictions were larger and exceeded those reported in vitro , especially for the facet joint forces. For all combined loading modes, except for flexion, predicted median segmental intervertebral rotations and disc pressures were in good agreement with measured in vivo values. In light of high inter-subject variability, the generalization of results of a single model to a population remains a concern. This study demonstrated that the pooled median of individual model results, similar to a probabilistic approach, can be used as an improved predictive tool in order to estimate the response of the lumbar spine.
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