795 research outputs found
Urea Uptake and Carbon Fixation by Marine Pelagic Bacteria and Archaea during the Arctic Summer and Winter Seasons
How Arctic climate change might translate into alterations of biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) with respect to inorganic and organic N utilization is not well understood. This study combined N-15 uptake rate measurements for ammonium, nitrate, and urea with N-15-and C-13-based DNA stable-isotope probing (SIP). The objective was to identify active bacterial and archeal plankton and their role in N and C uptake during the Arctic summer and winter seasons. We hypothesized that bacteria and archaea would successfully compete for nitrate and urea during the Arctic winter but not during the summer, when phytoplankton dominate the uptake of these nitrogen sources. Samples were collected at a coastal station near Barrow, AK, during August and January. During both seasons, ammonium uptake rates were greater than those for nitrate or urea, and nitrate uptake rates remained lower than those for ammonium or urea. SIP experiments indicated a strong seasonal shift of bacterial and archaeal N utilization from ammonium during the summer to urea during the winter but did not support a similar seasonal pattern of nitrate utilization. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained from each SIP fraction implicated marine group I Crenarchaeota (MGIC) as well as Betaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, SAR11, and SAR324 in N uptake from urea during the winter. Similarly, C-13 SIP data suggested dark carbon fixation for MGIC, as well as for several proteobacterial lineages and the Firmicutes. These data are consistent with urea-fueled nitrification by polar archaea and bacteria, which may be advantageous under dark conditions
Assimilatory nitrate utilization by bacteria on the West Florida Shelf as determined by stable isotope probing and functional microarray analysis
Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) uptake by marine heterotrophic bacteria has important implications for the global nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycles. Bacterial nitrate utilization is more prevalent in the marine environment than traditionally thought, but the taxonomic identity of bacteria that utilize nitrate is difficult to determine using traditional methodologies. 15N-based DNA stable isotope probing was applied to document direct use of nitrate by heterotrophic bacteria on the West Florida Shelf. Seawater was incubated in the presence of 2 mu M 15N ammonium or 15N nitrate. DNA was extracted, fractionated via CsCl ultracentrifugation, and each fraction was analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis. TRFs that exhibited density shifts when compared to controls that had not received 15N amendments were identified by comparison with 16S rRNA gene sequence libraries. Relevant marine proteobacterial lineages, notably Thalassobacter and Alteromonadales, displayed evidence of 15N incorporation. RT-PCR and functional gene microarray analysis could not demonstrate the expression of the assimilatory nitrate reductase gene, nasA, but mRNA for dissimilatory pathways, i.e. nirS, nirK, narG, nosZ, napA, and nrfA was detected. These data directly implicate several bacterial populations in nitrate uptake, but suggest a more complex pattern for N flow than traditionally implied
Fluctuating Dimension in a Discrete Model for Quantum Gravity Based on the Spectral Principle
The spectral principle of Connes and Chamseddine is used as a starting point
to define a discrete model for Euclidean quantum gravity. Instead of summing
over ordinary geometries, we consider the sum over generalized geometries where
topology, metric and dimension can fluctuate. The model describes the geometry
of spaces with a countable number of points, and is related to the Gaussian
unitary ensemble of Hermitian matrices. We show that this simple model has two
phases. The expectation value . Moreover, the
space-time dimension is a dynamical observable in our model, and plays
the role of an order parameter. The computation of is discussed and
an upper bound is found, .Comment: 10 pages, no figures. Third version: This new version emphasizes the
spectral principle rather than the spectral action. Title has been changed
accordingly. We also reformulated the computation of the dimension, and added
a new reference. To appear in Physical Review Letter
Universal parametric correlations in the transmission eigenvalue spectra of disordered conductors
We study the response of the transmission eigenvalue spectrum of disordered
metallic conductors to an arbitrary external perturbation. For systems without
time-reversal symmetry we find an exact non-perturbative solution for the
two-point correlation function, which exhibits a new kind of universal behavior
characteristic of disordered conductors. Systems with orthogonal and symplectic
symmetries are studied in the hydrodynamic regime.Comment: 10 pages, written in plain TeX, Preprint OUTP-93-36S (University of
Oxford), to appear in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communication
Correlation functions of eigenvalues of multi-matrix models, and the limit of a time dependent matrix
We consider the correlation functions of eigenvalues of a unidimensional
chain of large random hermitian matrices. An asymptotic expression of the
orthogonal polynomials allows to find new results for the correlations of
eigenvalues of different matrices of the chain. Eventually, we consider the
limit of the infinite chain of matrices, which can be interpreted as a time
dependent one-matrix model, and give the correlation functions of eigenvalues
at different times.Comment: Tex-Harvmac, 27 pages, submitted to Journ. Phys.
Bayesian modelling of an absolute chronology for Egypt's 18th Dynasty by astrophysical and radiocarbon methods
Only a few astrophysical points and synchronisms listed in texts provide anchor points for the absolute chronology of Ancient Egypt. At first we will show how we can re-calculate some of these anchor points by using Sothic dating based on the arcus visionis method, and modelling lunar dates using a Bayesian approach. Then, we will discuss two radiocarbon studies carried out on short-lived Egyptian materials held at the Louvre Museum that could be attributed to particular reigns or other precise periods. Using a Bayesian approach, these dates were combined with the known order of succession and the lengths of reigns. Sothic and lunar dates were integrated as priors in the model. This approach has led to a new proposal for the absolute chronology of Egypt's 18th Dynasty
Asymptotic Level Spacing of the Laguerre Ensemble: A Coulomb Fluid Approach
We determine the asymptotic level spacing distribution for the Laguerre
Ensemble in a single scaled interval, , containing no levels,
E_{\bt}(0,s), via Dyson's Coulomb Fluid approach. For the
Unitary-Laguerre Ensemble, we recover the exact spacing distribution found by
both Edelman and Forrester, while for , the leading terms of
, found by Tracy and Widom, are reproduced without the use of the
Bessel kernel and the associated Painlev\'e transcendent. In the same
approximation, the next leading term, due to a ``finite temperature''
perturbation (\bt\neq 2), is found.Comment: 10pp, LaTe
Random matrix ensembles with an effective extensive external charge
Recent theoretical studies of chaotic scattering have encounted ensembles of
random matrices in which the eigenvalue probability density function contains a
one-body factor with an exponent proportional to the number of eigenvalues. Two
such ensembles have been encounted: an ensemble of unitary matrices specified
by the so-called Poisson kernel, and the Laguerre ensemble of positive definite
matrices. Here we consider various properties of these ensembles. Jack
polynomial theory is used to prove a reproducing property of the Poisson
kernel, and a certain unimodular mapping is used to demonstrate that the
variance of a linear statistic is the same as in the Dyson circular ensemble.
For the Laguerre ensemble, the scaled global density is calculated exactly for
all even values of the parameter , while for (random
matrices with unitary symmetry), the neighbourhood of the smallest eigenvalue
is shown to be in the soft edge universality class.Comment: LaTeX209, 17 page
Breakdown of universality in multi-cut matrix models
We solve the puzzle of the disagreement between orthogonal polynomials
methods and mean field calculations for random NxN matrices with a disconnected
eigenvalue support. We show that the difference does not stem from a Z2
symmetry breaking, but from the discreteness of the number of eigenvalues. This
leads to additional terms (quasiperiodic in N) which must be added to the naive
mean field expressions. Our result invalidates the existence of a smooth
topological large N expansion and some postulated universality properties of
correlators. We derive the large N expansion of the free energy for the general
2-cut case. From it we rederive by a direct and easy mean-field-like method the
2-point correlators and the asymptotic orthogonal polynomials. We extend our
results to any number of cuts and to non-real potentials.Comment: 35 pages, Latex (1 file) + 3 figures (3 .eps files), revised to take
into account a few reference
Theory of random matrices with strong level confinement: orthogonal polynomial approach
Strongly non-Gaussian ensembles of large random matrices possessing unitary
symmetry and logarithmic level repulsion are studied both in presence and
absence of hard edge in their energy spectra. Employing a theory of polynomials
orthogonal with respect to exponential weights we calculate with asymptotic
accuracy the two-point kernel over all distance scale, and show that in the
limit of large dimensions of random matrices the properly rescaled local
eigenvalue correlations are independent of level confinement while global
smoothed connected correlations depend on confinement potential only through
the endpoints of spectrum. We also obtain exact expressions for density of
levels, one- and two-point Green's functions, and prove that new universal
local relationship exists for suitably normalized and rescaled connected
two-point Green's function. Connection between structure of Szeg\"o function
entering strong polynomial asymptotics and mean-field equation is traced.Comment: 12 pages (latex), to appear in Physical Review
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