Suprathermal electron flux peaks at stream interfaces: Signature of solar wind dynamics or tracer for open magnetic flux transport on the Sun?

The high variability of the intensity of suprathermal electron flux in the solar wind is usually ascribed to the high variability of sources on the Sun. Here we demonstrate that a substantial amount of the variability arises from peaks in stream interaction regions, where fast wind runs into slow wind and creates a pressure ridge at the interface. Superposed epoch analysis centered on stream interfaces in 26 interaction regions previously identified in Wind data reveal a twofold increase in 250 eV flux (integrated over pitch angle). Whether the peaks result from the compression there or are solar signatures of the coronal hole boundary, to which interfaces may map, is an open question. Suggestive of the latter, some cases show a displacement between the electron and magnetic field peaks at the interface. Since solar information is transmitted to 1 AU much more quickly by suprathermal electrons compared to convected plasma signatures, the displacement may imply a shift in the coronal hole boundary through transport of open magnetic flux via interchange reconnection. If so, however, the fact that displacements occur in both directions and that the electron and field peaks in the superposed epoch analysis are nearly coincident indicate that any systematic transport expected from differential solar rotation is overwhelmed by a random pattern, possibly owing to transport across a ragged coronal hole boundary.

'Nature Conservation': a new dimension in Open Access publishing bridging science and application

This Editorial presents the focus, scope and policies of the inaugural issue of Nature Conservation, a new open access, peer-reviewed journal bridging natural sciences, social sciences and hands-on applications in conservation management. The journal covers all aspects of nature conservation and aims particularly at facilitating better interaction between scientists and practitioners. The journal will impose no restrictions on manuscript size or the use of colour. We will use an XML-based editorial workflow and several cutting-edge innovations in publishing and information dissemination. These include semantic mark-up of, and enhancements to published text, data, and extensive cross-linking within the journal and to external sources. We believe the journal will make an important contribution to better linking science and practice, offers rapid, peer-reviewed and flexible publication for authors and unrestricted access to content.

Polarized hadroproduction of open heavy quarks in NLO QCD at JHF and RHIC

We present the complete next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the polarized hadroproduction of heavy flavors. This reaction can be studied experimentally in polarized pp collisions at the JHF and at the BNL RHIC in order to constrain the polarized gluon density. It is demonstrated that the dependence on the unphysical renormalization and factorization scales is strongly reduced beyond the leading order. We also discuss how the high luminosity at the JHF can be used to control remaining theoretical uncertainties. An effective method for bridging the gap between theoretical predictions for heavy quarks and experimental measurements of heavy meson decay products is introduced briefly.