| 41. |
- Cassidy, R, et al.
(author)
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Neurobiology. Stem cells on the brain
- 2001
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 412:6848, s. 690-691
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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| 42. |
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| 43. |
- Cayrel, R., et al.
(author)
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Measurement of stellar age from uranium decay
- 2001
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 409:6821, s. 691-692
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ages of the oldest stars in the Galaxy indicate when star formationbegan, and provide a minimum age for the Universe. Radioactive dating ofmeteoritic material and stars relies on comparing the present abundanceratios of radioactive and stable nuclear species to the theoreticallypredicted ratios of their production. The radioisotope 232Th(half-life 14Gyr) has been used to date Galactic stars, but it decays byonly a factor of two over the lifetime of the Universe. 238U(half-life 4.5Gyr) is in principle a more precise age indicator, buteven its strongest spectral line, from singly ionized uranium at awavelength of 385.957nm, has previously not been detected in stars. Herewe report a measurement of this line in the very metal-poor starCS31082-0018, a star which is strongly overabundant in itsheavy elements. The derived uranium abundance, log(U/H) = -13.7 +/- 0.14+/- 0.12 yields an age of 12.5 +/- 3Gyr, though this is still modeldependent. The observation of this cosmochronometer gives the mostdirect age determination of the Galaxy. Also, with improved theoreticaland laboratory data, it will provide a highly precise lower limit to theage of the Universe.
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| 44. |
- Cederström, Björn, et al.
(author)
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Focusing hard X-rays with old LPs
- 2000
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 404:6781, s. 951-951
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 45. |
- Chapman, Henry N, et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond time-delay X-ray holography
- 2007
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 448:7154, s. 676-679
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extremely intense and ultrafast X-ray pulses from free-electron lasers offer unique opportunities to study fundamental aspects of complex transient phenomena in materials. Ultrafast time-resolved methods usually require highly synchronized pulses to initiate a transition and then probe it after a precisely defined time delay. In the X-ray regime, these methods are challenging because they require complex optical systems and diagnostics. Here we propose and apply a simple holographic measurement scheme, inspired by Newton's 'dusty mirror' experiment1, to monitor the X-ray-induced explosion of microscopic objects. The sample is placed near an X-ray mirror; after the pulse traverses the sample, triggering the reaction, it is reflected back onto the sample by the mirror to probe this reaction. The delay is encoded in the resulting diffraction pattern to an accuracy of one femtosecond, and the structural change is holographically recorded with high resolution. We apply the technique to monitor the dynamics of polystyrene spheres in intense free-electron-laser pulses, and observe an explosion occurring well after the initial pulse. Our results support the notion that X-ray flash imaging2, 3 can be used to achieve high resolution, beyond radiation damage limits for biological samples4. With upcoming ultrafast X-ray sources we will be able to explore the three-dimensional dynamics of materials at the timescale of atomic motion.
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| 46. |
- Choi, Minkee, et al.
(author)
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Stable single-unit-cell nanosheets of zeolite MFI as active and long-lived catalysts
- 2009
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 461:7261, s. 246-249
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Zeolites-microporous crystalline aluminosilicates-are widely used in petrochemistry and fine-chemical synthesis(1-3) because strong acid sites within their uniform micropores enable size- and shape-selective catalysis. But the very presence of the micropores, with aperture diameters below 1 nm, often goes hand-in-hand with diffusion limitations(3-5) that adversely affect catalytic activity. The problem can be overcome by reducing the thickness of the zeolite crystals, which reduces diffusion path lengths and thus improves molecular diffusion(4,5). This has been realized by synthesizing zeolite nanocrystals(6), by exfoliating layered zeolites(7-9), and by introducing mesopores in the microporous material through templating strategies(10-17) or demetallation processes(18-22). But except for the exfoliation, none of these strategies has produced 'ultrathin' zeolites with thicknesses below 5 nm. Here we show that appropriately designed bifunctional surfactants can direct the formation of zeolite structures on themesoporous and microporous length scales simultaneously and thus yield MFI (ZSM-5, one of the most important catalysts in the petrochemical industry) zeolite nanosheets that are only 2 nm thick, which corresponds to the b-axis dimension of a single MFI unit cell. The large number of acid sites on the external surface of these zeolites renders them highly active for the catalytic conversion of large organic molecules, and the reduced crystal thickness facilitates diffusion and thereby dramatically suppresses catalyst deactivation through coke deposition during methanol-to-gasoline conversion. We expect that our synthesis approach could be applied to other zeolites to improve their performance in a range of important catalytic applications.
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
- Clark, Andrew G., et al.
(author)
-
Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny
- 2007
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 450:7167, s. 203-218
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Comparative analysis of multiple genomes in a phylogenetic framework dramatically improves the precision and sensitivity of evolutionary inference, producing more robust results than single-genome analyses can provide. The genomes of 12 Drosophila species, ten of which are presented here for the first time (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi), illustrate how rates and patterns of sequence divergence across taxa can illuminate evolutionary processes on a genomic scale. These genome sequences augment the formidable genetic tools that have made Drosophila melanogaster a pre-eminent model for animal genetics, and will further catalyse fundamental research on mechanisms of development, cell biology, genetics, disease, neurobiology, behaviour, physiology and evolution. Despite remarkable similarities among these Drosophila species, we identified many putatively non-neutral changes in protein-coding genes, non-coding RNA genes, and cis-regulatory regions. These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species.
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| 49. |
- Clutton-Brock, T. H., et al.
(author)
-
Intrasexual competition and sexual selection in cooperative mammals
- 2006
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 444:7122, s. 1065-1068
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In most animals, the sex that invests least in its offspring competes more intensely for access to the opposite sex and shows greater development of secondary sexual characters than the sex that invests most(1,2). However, in some mammals where females are the primary care-givers, females compete more frequently or intensely with each other than males(3-5). A possible explanation is that, in these species, the resources necessary for successful female reproduction are heavily concentrated and intrasexual competition for breeding opportunities is more intense among females than among males. Intrasexual competition between females is likely to be particularly intense in cooperative breeders where a single female monopolizes reproduction in each group(6). Here, we use data from a twelve-year study of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta), where females show high levels of reproductive skew, to show that females gain greater benefits from acquiring dominant status than males and traits that increase competitive ability exert a stronger influence on their breeding success. Females that acquire dominant status also develop a suite of morphological, physiological and behavioural characteristics that help them to control other group members. Our results show that sex differences in parental investment are not the only mechanism capable of generating sex differences in reproductive competition and emphasize the extent to which competition for breeding opportunities between females can affect the evolution of sex differences and the operation of sexual selection.
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| 50. |
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