| 1. |
- Loisel, J., et al.
(author)
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Expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink
- 2021
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In: Nature Climate Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-678X .- 1758-6798. ; 11:1, s. 70-77
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Peatlands are impacted by climate and land-use changes, with feedback to warming by acting as either sources or sinks of carbon. Expert elicitation combined with literature review reveals key drivers of change that alter peatland carbon dynamics, with implications for improving models. The carbon balance of peatlands is predicted to shift from a sink to a source this century. However, peatland ecosystems are still omitted from the main Earth system models that are used for future climate change projections, and they are not considered in integrated assessment models that are used in impact and mitigation studies. By using evidence synthesized from the literature and an expert elicitation, we define and quantify the leading drivers of change that have impacted peatland carbon stocks during the Holocene and predict their effect during this century and in the far future. We also identify uncertainties and knowledge gaps in the scientific community and provide insight towards better integration of peatlands into modelling frameworks. Given the importance of the contribution by peatlands to the global carbon cycle, this study shows that peatland science is a critical research area and that we still have a long way to go to fully understand the peatland-carbon-climate nexus.
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| 2. |
- Ahmadi, M., et al.
(author)
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An improved limit on the charge of antihydrogen from stochastic acceleration
- 2016
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 529:7586, s. 373-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Antimatter continues to intrigue physicists because of its apparent absence in the observable Universe. Current theory requires that matter and antimatter appeared in equal quantities after the Big Bang, but the Standard Model of particle physics offers no quantitative explanation for the apparent disappearance of half the Universe. It has recently become possible to study trapped atoms(1-4) of antihydrogen to search for possible, as yet unobserved, differences in the physical behaviour of matter and antimatter. Here we consider the charge neutrality of the antihydrogen atom. By applying stochastic acceleration to trapped antihydrogen atoms, we determine an experimental bound on the antihydrogen charge, Qe, of vertical bar Q vertical bar < 0.71 parts per billion (one standard deviation), in which e is the elementary charge. This bound is a factor of 20 less than that determined from the best previous measurement(5) of the antihydrogen charge. The electrical charge of atoms and molecules of normal matter is known(6) to be no greater than about 10(-21)e for a diverse range of species including H-2, He and SF6. Charge-parity-time symmetry and quantum anomaly cancellation(7) demand that the charge of antihydrogen be similarly small. Thus, our measurement constitutes an improved limit and a test of fundamental aspects of the Standard Model. If we assume charge superposition and use the best measured value of the antiproton charge(8), then we can place a new limit on the positron charge anomaly (the relative difference between the positron and elementary charge) of about one part per billion (one standard deviation), a 25-fold reduction compared to the current best measurement(8),(9).
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| 3. |
- Amole, C., et al.
(author)
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An experimental limit on the charge of antihydrogen
- 2014
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 5, s. 3955-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The properties of antihydrogen are expected to be identical to those of hydrogen, and any differences would constitute a profound challenge to the fundamental theories of physics. The most commonly discussed antiatom- based tests of these theories are searches for antihydrogen- hydrogen spectral differences (tests of CPT (charge- parity- time) invariance) or gravitational differences (tests of the weak equivalence principle). Here we, the ALPHA Collaboration, report a different and somewhat unusual test of CPT and of quantum anomaly cancellation. A retrospective analysis of the influence of electric fields on antihydrogen atoms released from the ALPHA trap finds a mean axial deflection of 4.1 +/- 3.4mm for an average axial electric field of 0.51Vmm1. Combined with extensive numerical modelling, this measurement leads to a bound on the charge Qe of antihydrogen of Q (+/- 1.3 +/- 1.1 +/- 0.4)10 8. Here, e is the unit charge, and the errors are from statistics and systematic effects.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Charman, D. J., et al.
(author)
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Climate-related changes in peatland carbon accumulation during the last millennium
- 2013
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In: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4189. ; 10:2, s. 929-944
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Peatlands are a major terrestrial carbon store and a persistent natural carbon sink during the Holocene, but there is considerable uncertainty over the fate of peatland carbon in a changing climate. It is generally assumed that higher temperatures will increase peat decay, causing a positive feedback to climate warming and contributing to the global positive carbon cycle feedback. Here we use a new extensive database of peat profiles across northern high latitudes to examine spatial and temporal patterns of carbon accumulation over the past millennium. Opposite to expectations, our results indicate a small negative carbon cycle feedback from past changes in the long-term accumulation rates of northern peatlands. Total carbon accumulated over the last 1000 yr is linearly related to contemporary growing season length and photosynthetically active radiation, suggesting that variability in net primary productivity is more important than decomposition in determining long-term carbon accumulation. Furthermore, northern peatland carbon sequestration rate declined over the climate transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) to the Little Ice Age (LIA), probably because of lower LIA temperatures combined with increased cloudiness suppressing net primary productivity. Other factors including changing moisture status, peatland distribution, fire, nitrogen deposition, permafrost thaw and methane emissions will also influence future peatland carbon cycle feedbacks, but our data suggest that the carbon sequestration rate could increase over many areas of northern peatlands in a warmer future.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Tillmann, J., et al.
(author)
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Evaluating Sex and Age Differences in ADI-R and ADOS Scores in a Large European Multi-site Sample of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- 2018
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In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0162-3257 .- 1573-3432. ; 48:7, s. 2490-2505
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research on sex-related differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been impeded by small samples. We pooled 28 datasets from 18 sites across nine European countries to examine sex differences in the ASD phenotype on the ADI-R (376 females, 1763 males) and ADOS (233 females, 1187 males). On the ADI-R, early childhood restricted and repetitive behaviours were lower in females than males, alongside comparable levels of social interaction and communication difficulties in females and males. Current ADI-R and ADOS scores showed no sex differences for ASD severity. There were lower socio-communicative symptoms in older compared to younger individuals. This large European ASD sample adds to the literature on sex and age variations of ASD symptomatology.
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