Toward Heisenberg-limited spectroscopy with multiparticle entangled states

The precision in spectroscopy of any quantum system is fundamentally limited by the Heisenberg uncertainty relation for energy and time. For N systems, this limit requires that they be in a quantum-mechanically entangled state. We describe a scalable method of spectroscopy that can potentially take full advantage of entanglement to reach the Heisenberg limit and has the practical advantage that the spectroscopic information is transferred to states with optimal protection against readout noise. We demonstrate our method experimentally with three beryllium ions. The spectroscopic sensitivity attained is 1.45(2) times as high as that of a perfect experiment with three non-entangled particles.     

Seabed habitat mapping in the Kent Group of islands and its role in Marine protected area planning

• 1. Mapping of seabed habitats is increasingly being used to identify the distribution and structure of marine ecosystems and as surrogate measures of biodiversity for marine protected area (MPA) planning. In this study, the distribution of seabed habitats to the 3 nmi limit around the Kent Group of islands, south‐eastern Australia were mapped using video ground‐truthed single‐beam acoustics at the mesoscale level (10 m to 1 km) as part of an MPA planning process.
• 2. Six distinct seabed habitat types (continuous reef, patchy reef, sand, hard sand, sparse sponge, and seagrass) were identified based primarily on visual differences in the first and second echo and a further four (low, medium and high profile reef, and sand hills) on variations in seabed profile identified in the echogram. Extensive acoustic and video transects allowed an estimate of the broad‐scale spatial distribution of seabed habitats defined at several hierarchical levels and provided information on the cover of the dominant benthic species or assemblages.
• 3. The island group supports a range of consolidated habitats, including rocky reefs of varying profile dominated by the macroalgae Phyllospora comosa and Ecklonia radiata in depths down to around 45 m, adjacent to deeper sponge‐dominated reefs containing encrusting, erect and branching forms. Unconsolidated habitats occurred broadly through the island group, with the offshore region dominated by hard sand (sand with scallop shells and/or shell grit) and sparse sponge‐habitats (sand interspersed with low cover of sponge‐dominated assemblages). The sheltered coves were dominated by sand and seagrass habitats consisting of beds of the seagrasses Halophila australis, Zostera tasmanica and Posidonia australis, with variations in species composition, patchiness and percentage cover evident within and between coves.
• 4. In February 2004 the Kent Group MPA was announced, covering all waters out to the 3 nmi limit containing two areas defined as a Sanctuary Zone (‘no take’) and a Habitat Protection Zone (‘restricted take’). Overall, seabed habitat mapping generated a capability to define the boundary and size of potential MPA zones within the Kent Group of islands and was an essential component of the planning process to improve the likelihood that the MPA was comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR).
• 5. The need to define habitats at multiple scales within a hierarchical classification scheme that are meaningful in terms of biodiversity and CAR principles and identifiable using mapping techniques is discussed.

Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low-density lipoprotein antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds and polyphenol oxidase activity in selected clingstone peach cultivars

The antioxidant potential of eight clingstone peach cultivars was investigated by determining phenolic compounds and inhibition of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation. Cultivars low in polyphenol oxidase (PPO) were also selected to minimize enzymatic browning. Inhibition of LDL oxidation varied from 17.0 to 37.1% in peach flesh extract, from 15.2 to 49.8% in whole peach extract, and from 18.2 to 48.1% in peel extract. Total phenols were 432.8-768.1 mg/kg in flesh extract, 483.3-803.0 mg/kg in whole extract, and 910.9-1922.9 mg/kg in peel extract. The correlation coefficient between relative LDL antioxidant activity and concentration of total phenols was 0.76. Peel PPO activity was higher than flesh activity in most cultivars. The lowest PPO and specific activities were found in the Walgant cultivar, followed by Kakamas and 18-8-23. These three cultivars combine the desirable characteristics of strong antioxidant activity, low PPO activity, and lower susceptibility to browning reactions.     

Conceptualizing hunger in contemporary African policymaking: From technical to community-based approaches

This paper explains and offers a criticism of the technical solutions that have been proposed in recent years to address Africa's hunger problems, summarizes selected results of some of these approaches, and suggests a more useful conceptualization of African hunger for policymakers. Hunger is a problem with multifactorial causality. As such, it is not given to solution by the sequence of reductionist approaches that have been applied in recent years. Widespread adoption by African governments of ultimately unsuccessful reductionist conceptualizations of hunger has had much to do with foreign aid dependency, the general absence from central policymaking circles of senior government officials with responsibility for hunger-related policies, and political preference for centralized bureaucracy. The paper concludes with some recommendations for community-based strategies of hunger alleviation.Barrett is an assistant professor of economics at Utah State University. This paper was written while he was a doctoral candidate in the Departments of Agricultural Economics and Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously he worked for four years as a development economist monitoring African economies for an international institution in Washington. His research focuses on agricultural development strategies and rural poverty alleviation.     

Purification and partial characterization of broccoli (Brassica oleracea Var. Italica) peroxidases

Three peroxidase (POD) isoenzymes were purified from a soluble extract of broccoli stems. The acidic and neutral PODs were purified to homogeneity by using ion exchange and hydrophobic chromatography. The basic POD was purified by cation exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The neutral and basic PODs had molecular masses of approximately 43 kDa, and the acidic POD had a molecular mass of 48 kDa by SDS-PAGE. pI was approximately 4, 5, and 8 for acidic, neutral, and basic PODs, respectively. Optimum activity using guaiacol as the H donor was obtained at pH approximately 6 for both neutral and basic PODs and at pH approximately 4 for acidic POD. All three of the purified isoenzymes are glycosylated. Reaction rates with various substrates including guaiacol, guaiacol/MBTH, DMAB/MBTH, and ferulic acid/MBTH were different among the isoenzymes. K(m) and amino acid composition were also determined.     

Characterization of the temperature activation of pectin methylesterase in green beans and tomatoes

Low-temperature blanching of vegetables activates the enzyme pectin methylesterase (PME), which demethylates cell wall pectins and improves tissue firmness. This temperature activation of PME has been investigated by measuring the formation of methanol in intact tissue of green beans and tomatoes. Rates of methanol formation at temperatures of 35-65 degrees C were obtained by measuring the release of methanol from thin slices of tomato pericarp or green bean pod material. Activation energies of 112 and 97 kJ mol(-1) were calculated for PME activity in green beans and tomatoes, respectively. These activation energies indicate that the rate of pectin demethylation at 65 degrees C will be nearly 100 times that at 25 degrees C. PME activity was also determined titrimetrically using a solubilized form of the enzyme and purified pectin at temperatures from 30 to 60 degrees C. Under these conditions, much lower activation energies of 37 and 35 kJ mol(-1) were obtained for green beans and tomatoes, respectively. Methanol accumulation during heating of whole intact green beans was also determined and yielded an activation energy similar to that obtained with sliced beans. Whole green beans held at room temperature did not accumulate any methanol, but sliced or homogenized beans did. If whole beans were first heated to 45 degrees C and then cooled, methanol accumulation was observed at room temperature. These results indicate that two factors contribute to the observed high rate of pectin de-esterification during low-temperature blanching: (1) An irreversible change, causing PME to become active, occurs by heating to > or = 45 degrees C. (2) The high activation energy for pectin de-esterification means that the rate of de-esterification increases substantially with increasing temperature.     

The Interdependence of Deformational and Thermal Processes in Mountain Belts

Crustal temperatures within collisional orogens are anomalously high compared with temperatures at comparable depths in stable continents, which is evidence of thermal processes that are fundamental to orogenesis. These temperatures can be explained by the redistribution of crust enriched in heat-producing elements through the accretion of crust from the down-going plate to the upper plate and surface erosion. With the use of geologically reasonable rates, the model results predict high temperatures (over 600°C) and inverted upper-plate geotherms (about 100°C over 20 kilometers) at shallow depths (20 to 40 kilometers) by 25 to 35 million years after collision. This study emphasizes the interdependence of deformational, surficial, and thermal processes.