University of Victoria

About: University of Victoria is a education organization based out in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 14994 authors who have published 41051 publications receiving 1447972 citations. The organization is also known as: Victoria College.

A Lack of Planets in 47 Tucanae from a Hubble Space Telescope Search

Abstract: We report results from a large Hubble Space Telescope project to observe a significant (~34,000) ensemble of main-sequence stars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae with a goal of defining the frequency of inner orbit, gas giant planets. Simulations based on the characteristics of the 8.3 days of time series data in the F555W and F814W Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) filters show that ~17 planets should be detected by photometric transit signals if the frequency of hot Jupiters found in the solar neighborhood is assumed to hold for 47 Tuc. The experiment provided high-quality data sufficient to detect planets. A full analysis of these WFPC2 data reveals ~75 variables, but no light curves resulted for which a convincing interpretation as a planet could be made. The planet frequency in 47 Tuc is at least an order of magnitude below that for the solar neighborhood. The cause of the absence of close-in planets in 47 Tuc is not yet known; presumably the low metallicity and/or crowding of 47 Tuc interfered with planet formation, with orbital evolution to close-in positions, or with planet survival.

Adaptive synthesis and design of resonator filters with source/load-multiresonator coupling

Abstract: The paper presents a universal and comprehensive synthesis technique of coupled resonator filters with source/load-multiresonator coupling. The approach is based on repeated analyses of a circuit with the desired topology; no similarity transformation is needed. Restrictions imposed by the implementation on the coupling coefficients such as signs and orders of magnitudes are straightforwardly handled within this technique. The technique is then used to synthesize and design filters with full or almost full coupling matrices by selecting, among the infinite number of solutions, the matrix that corresponds to the actual implementation. In such cases, analytical techniques and those based on similarity transformations cannot be used since they provide no mechanism to constrain individual coupling coefficients in order to discriminate between two full coupling matrices, which are both solutions to the synthesis problem. Using the technique described in this paper, a filter designer can extract the coupling matrix of a filter of arbitrary order and topology while enforcing relevant constraints. There is no need to master all the different existing similarity-transformation-based techniques and the topologies to which they are applicable. For the first time, detailed investigations of parasitic coupling effects, for either compensation or utilization, are made possible. The method is applied to the synthesis of a variety of filters, some of which are then designed and built and their response measured.

Ecosystem ecology: size-based constraints on the pyramids of life

Abstract: Biomass distribution and energy flow in ecosystems are traditionally described with trophic pyramids, and increasingly with size spectra, particularly in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we show that these methods are equivalent and interchangeable representations of the same information. Although pyramids are visually intuitive, explicitly linking them to size spectra connects pyramids to metabolic and size-based theory, and illuminates size-based constraints on pyramid shape. We show that bottom-heavy pyramids should predominate in the real world, whereas top-heavy pyramids indicate overestimation of predator abundance or energy subsidies. Making the link to ecological pyramids establishes size spectra as a central concept in ecosystem ecology, and provides a powerful framework both for understanding baseline expectations of community structure and for evaluating future scenarios under climate change and exploitation.

Current trends in quantitative proteomics

Abstract: It was inevitable that as soon as mass spectrometrists were able to tell biologists which proteins were in their samples, the next question would be how much of these proteins were present. This has turned out to be a much more challenging question. In this review, we describe the multiple ways that mass spectrometry has attempted to address this issue, both for relative quantitation and for absolute quantitation of proteins. There is no single method that will work for every problem or for every sample. What we present here is a variety of techniques, with guidelines that we hope will assist the researcher in selecting the most appropriate technique for the particular biological problem that needs to be addressed. We need to emphasize that this is a very active area of proteomics research-new quantitative methods are continuously being introduced and some 'pitfalls' of older methods are just being discovered. However, even though there is no perfect technique--and a better technique may be developed tomorrow--valuable information on biomarkers and pathways can be obtained using these currently available methods.

Vanadium partitioning and the oxidation state of Archaean komatiite magmas

Abstract: The MgO content of komatiite lavas is an important measure of their formation temperature deep in the Archaean mantle, and forms the basis for models of the early Earth's thermal and chemical evolution1,2,3,4,5. Estimates of the primary MgO content of komatiites are sensitive to the oxidation state—characterized by the oxygen fugacity ( )—assumed for the magmas during their crystallization. Despite two decades of study, however, is still poorly constrained for these lavas. Here I present an estimate of the for komatiite flows, based on the systematics of vanadium partitioning between komatiitic liquid and olivine in six well-characterized komatiite flows of varying ages. This approach shows that the oxidation state of several of these Archaean lava flows was the same as, or possibly more oxidizing than, that of present-day oceanic basalts. These results may require a downward revision of the mantle melting temperature estimated for many komatiites by about 50 °C, and suggest that the mantle was unlikely to be much less oxidized during the Archaean era than at present.