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The article reports on the two papers which were linked to an extortion attempt and originated from the laboratory of Peter Schultz, a prominent chemist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, San Diego, California. The papers claimed to describe the successful incorporation of amino acids linked to sugars at specific positions in proteins made by the bacterium Escherichia coli. Related issues are further discussed.

The article profiles Phil Baran, a researcher and author for the journal "Nature Chemical Biology." It states the Baran is also an organic chemist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. According to the article, since he was called up to work on the review of the terpenes, he agreed to do the task and developed his knowledge in terpene field. Further information on the researches of Baran related to chemical synthesis is presented.

The article discusses the success of Erica Ollmann Saphire, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and her team in winning the race on providing a picture of how the deadly Ebola virus evades the immune system and enter cells. The move was risky and the work was long and difficult. It took them over four years to express 130 versions of the Ebola virus glycoprotein, grow and test crystal diffractions. The team found out that the virus can lie in wait for years. Saphire and her colleagues managed to solve the structure of an infection-blocking antibody bound to a viral protein, revealing a possible defence against the virus.

Focuses on the adaptive, evolving character of a research school developed among scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California in the 1930s and 1940s. Dynamical geography; Importance of adaptation and interaction in research schools; Insights into the formation of research schools.

Comments on the letter by author Richard Buttery published in the 424 volume of the journal "Nature" about the Joint European Torus (JET) as of October 16, 2003. Statements given by the author on the situation that might occur if there were no substantial increase in the fusion budget in the Seventh Euratom Framework Programme; Criticism made by the author about the misinterpretation of his statements about JET in the letter; Relationship between JET and International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in La Jolla, California.

The article provides information on the biological process of converting sound waves into electrical impulses by hair cells in the cochlea. As stated by Ulrich Müller and colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, San Diego, California, hair cells will allow individuals to hear sound through sound waves conversion. It states that the end of the hair cell is a bundle of stereocilla which are connected to each other through structures. It likewise claims that when the structures are deflected by sound pressure they will exert a force which would open the channels resulting to sound creation.

Impacts of pellets injected from the low-field side (LFS) on plasma in ITER are investigated using the 1.5D BALDUR integrated predictive modeling code. In these simulations, the pellet ablation is described using the neutral gas shielding (NGS) model. The pellet ablation model is coupled with the plasma core transport model, which is a combination of the MMM95 anomalous transport model and NCLASS neoclassical transport model. The boundary conditions are assumed to be at the top of the pedestal, in which the pedestal parameters are predicted using a pedestal model based on the theoretical-based pedestal width scaling (either magnetic and flow shear stabilization width scaling, or flow shear stabilization width scaling, or normalized poloidal pressure width scaling) and the infinite- n ballooning mode pressure gradient limit. These pedestal models depend sensitively on the density at the top of the pedestal, which can be strongly influenced by the injection of pellets. The combination of the MMM95 and NCLASS models, together with the pedestal and NGS models, is used to simulate the time evolution of the plasma current, ion and electron temperatures, and density profiles for ITER standard type-I ELMy H-mode discharges during the injection of LFS pellets. It is found that the injection of pellets results in a complicated plasma scenario, especially in the outer region of the plasma and the plasma conditions at the boundary in which the pellet has an impact on increasing the plasma edge density, but reducing the plasma edge temperature. The LFS pellet has a stronger impact on the edge as compared to the center. For fusion performance, the pellet can result in either enhancement or degradation, depending sensitively on the pellet parameters; such as the pellet size, pellet velocity, and pellet frequency. For example, when a series of deuterium pellets with a size of 0.5 cm, velocity of 1 km/s, and frequency of 2 Hz are injected into the ITER plasma from the LFS, the plasma performance, evaluated in terms of Q, can increase to 72% of that before the use of pellets. It is also found that the injection of pellets results in an increase in the ion and electron densities, but does not enhance the central plasma density. On the other hand, it results in the formation of another peak of the plasma density in the outer region near the plasma edge. The formation of the density peak results in the reduction of plasma transports near the edge by decreasing the contributions of ion-temperature-gradient and trapped electron modes, as well as kinetic ballooning modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current status review of a tokamak reactor-based research is intended for the average readers. Using the project of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) as an example, physical and engineering issues are discussed. Socio-economic aspects of a future fusion power plant (FPP) are considered. Draft of Russian Roadmap to FPP is presented. In conclusion possibilities of nuclear fuel production in a fusion reactor are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the quest for new energy sources, the research on controlled thermonuclear fusion has been boosted by the start of the construction phase of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). ITER is based on the tokamak magnetic configuration, which is the best performing one in terms of energy confinement. Alternative concepts are however actively researched, which in the long term could be considered for a second generation of reactors. Here, we show results concerning one of these configurations, the reversed-field pinch (RFP). By increasing the plasma current, a spontaneous transition to a helical equilibrium occurs, with a change of magnetic topology. Partially conserved magnetic flux surfaces emerge within residual magnetic chaos, resulting in the onset of a transport barrier. This is a structural change and sheds new light on the potential of the RFP as the basis for a low-magnetic-field ohmic fusion reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tracked six individuals of three shark species, the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, great white, Carcharodon carcharias, and blue, Prionace glauca, near the submarine canyon off La Jolla, southern California during the summers of 1995 and 1997. The duration of tracking ranged from 2 to 38 h per shark. The mode of travel differed in one respect among species. The rate of movement of the endothermic species, the mako and white shark, exceeded that of the ectothermic species, the blue shark. Similarities among species were more common. Firstly, individuals of all three species swam in a directional manner. Secondly, individuals constantly moved up and down in the water column, exhibiting oscillatory or yo-yo swimming. Thirdly, members of the three species swam at the surface for prolonged periods. Finally, the movements of the mako and white sharks were at times loosely associated with bottom topography. We discuss the various adaptive advantages that have been proposed for these behavioral patterns. Oscillatory swimming has been attributed to the following: (1) heating the body in the warm surface waters after swimming in cold, deep water, (2) alternating between two strata of water, one carrying chemical information as to its source, and deriving a direction to that stratum's origin, (3) conserving energy by quickly propelling oneself upward with many tail beats and slowly gliding downward with few beats, and (4) descending to where magnetic gradients are steeper, more perceptible, and useful to guide migratory movements. At the surface, an individual would be able to swim in a straight line by using following features as a reference: (1) celestial bodies, (2) polarized light, or (3) the earth's main dipole field. Furthermore, an individual would conserve energy because of the greater ease to maintaining a warm body in the heated surface waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]