532 research outputs found
Survival and Habitat of Pen-Raised Northern Bobwhites at Camp Robinson Wildlife Demonstration Area, Arkansas (Poster Abstract)
Post-release survival of pen-reared northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is often extremely low. Although predation is usually assumed to cause low survival rates, very little detailed research has been conducted into cause-specific mortality of pen-reared bobwhites in natural settings. Further, little is known about habitat selection by pen-reared bobwhites, and the relationship between habitat and survival. We report results based on 110 radiomarked bobwhites out of 2500 banded and released at Camp Robinson Wildlife Demonstration Area in Arkansas. Birds were released at 125 sites in coveys of 20 birds per site. Release sites were ranked based on habitat quality. In addition, habitat analyses were conducted over each individual’s area of activity. In March 2001, when monitoring of birds ended, 6 birds remained alive. Mortality agents included avian predators (51%, n = 49), mammalian predators (36%, n = 35) and unknown predators (13%, n = 12). Other causes of mortality included radio collars (5%, n = 5) and apparent heat stress (3%, n = 3). Most mortality occurred within 1 month of release (66%, n = 73). Overall mean survival was 36.4 +- 4.3 days. We found no significant difference in length of survival among birds released at good, medium, or poor sites (P = 0.97). Regardless of release site, birds were located most often in shrub cover (50%, n = 388 locations) while the second most common habitat used was herbaceous cover (29%, n = 230 locations). During callback trapping in May 2001, we recaptured 14 bobwhites that were banded and released in August of 2000, and 6 wild birds, suggesting that pen-reared birds actually outnumbered wild birds
Temperature dependent fluorescence in disordered Frenkel chains: interplay of equilibration and local band-edge level structure
We model the optical dynamics in linear Frenkel exciton systems governed by
scattering on static disorder and lattice vibrations, and calculate the
temperature dependent fluorescence spectrum and lifetime. The fluorescence
Stokes shift shows a nonmonotonic behavior with temperature, which derives from
the interplay of the local band-edge level structure and thermal equilibration.
The model yields excellent fits to experiments performed on linear dye
aggregates.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
UHE nuclei propagation and the interpretation of the ankle in the cosmic-ray spectrum
We consider the stochastic propagation of high-energy protons and nuclei in
the cosmological microwave and infrared backgrounds, using revised photonuclear
cross-sections and following primary and secondary nuclei in the full 2D
nuclear chart. We confirm earlier results showing that the high-energy data can
be fit with a pure proton extragalactic cosmic ray (EGCR) component if the
source spectrum is \propto E^{-2.6}. In this case the ankle in the CR spectrum
may be interpreted as a pair-production dip associated with the propagation. We
show that when heavier nuclei are included in the source with a composition
similar to that of Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs), the pair-production dip is not
present unless the proton fraction is higher than 85%. In the mixed composition
case, the ankle recovers the past interpretation as the transition from GCRs to
EGCRs and the highest energy data can be explained by a harder source spectrum
\propto E^{-2.2} - E^{-2.3}, reminiscent of relativistic shock acceleration
predictions, and in good agreement with the GCR data at low-energy and holistic
scenarios.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to A&A Letters (minor changes, two
figures replaced, two references added
Enhanced spectral discrimination through the exploitation of interface effects in photon dose data
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134954/1/mp7731.pd
Time-dependence in Relativistic Collisionless Shocks: Theory of the Variable "Wisps" in the Crab Nebula
We describe results from time-dependent numerical modeling of the
collisionless reverse shock terminating the pulsar wind in the Crab Nebula. We
treat the upstream relativistic wind as composed of ions and electron-positron
plasma embedded in a toroidal magnetic field, flowing radially outward from the
pulsar in a sector around the rotational equator. The relativistic cyclotron
instability of the ion gyrational orbit downstream of the leading shock in the
electron-positron pairs launches outward propagating magnetosonic waves.
Because of the fresh supply of ions crossing the shock, this time-dependent
process achieves a limit-cycle, in which the waves are launched with
periodicity on the order of the ion Larmor time. Compressions in the magnetic
field and pair density associated with these waves, as well as their
propagation speed, semi-quantitatively reproduce the behavior of the wisp and
ring features described in recent observations obtained using the Hubble Space
Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. By selecting the parameters of the
ion orbits to fit the spatial separation of the wisps, we predict the period of
time variability of the wisps that is consistent with the data. When coupled
with a mechanism for non-thermal acceleration of the pairs, the compressions in
the magnetic field and plasma density associated with the optical wisp
structure naturally account for the location of X-ray features in the Crab. We
also discuss the origin of the high energy ions and their acceleration in the
equatorial current sheet of the pulsar wind.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ. High-resolution figures and
mpeg movies available at http://astron.berkeley.edu/~anatoly/wisp
Climate response to off-equatorial stratospheric sulfur injections in three Earth system models – Part 2: Stratospheric and free-tropospheric response
The paper constitutes Part 2 of a study performing a first systematic
inter-model comparison of the atmospheric responses to stratospheric aerosol
injection (SAI) at various single latitudes in the tropics, as simulated by
three state-of-the-art Earth system models – CESM2-WACCM6, UKESM1.0, and
GISS-E2.1-G. Building on Part 1 (Visioni et al., 2023) we demonstrate
the role of biases in the climatological circulation and specific aspects of
the model microphysics in driving the inter-model differences in the
simulated sulfate distributions. We then characterize the simulated changes
in stratospheric and free-tropospheric temperatures, ozone, water vapor, and
large-scale circulation, elucidating the role of the above aspects in
the surface SAI responses discussed in Part 1.
We show that the differences in the aerosol spatial distribution can be
explained by the significantly faster shallow branches of the Brewer–Dobson
circulation in CESM2, a relatively isolated tropical pipe and older tropical
age of air in UKESM, and smaller aerosol sizes and relatively stronger
horizontal mixing (thus very young stratospheric age of air) in the two GISS
versions used. We also find a large spread in the magnitudes of the tropical
lower-stratospheric warming amongst the models, driven by microphysical,
chemical, and dynamical differences. These lead to large differences in
stratospheric water vapor responses, with significant increases in
stratospheric water vapor under SAI in CESM2 and GISS that were largely not
reproduced in UKESM. For ozone, good agreement was found in the tropical
stratosphere amongst the models with more complex microphysics, with lower
stratospheric ozone changes consistent with the SAI-induced modulation of
the large-scale circulation and the resulting changes in transport. In
contrast, we find a large inter-model spread in the Antarctic ozone
responses that can largely be explained by the differences in the simulated
latitudinal distributions of aerosols as well as the degree of
implementation of heterogeneous halogen chemistry on sulfate in the models.
The use of GISS runs with bulk microphysics demonstrates the importance of
more detailed treatment of aerosol processes, with contrastingly different
stratospheric SAI responses to the models using the two-moment aerosol
treatment; however, some problems in halogen chemistry in GISS are also
identified that require further attention. Overall, our results contribute
to an increased understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms as well
as identifying and narrowing the uncertainty in model projections of climate
impacts from SAI.</p
Plant height and seed yield of castor (Ricinus communis L.) sprayed with growth retardants and harvest aid chemicals.
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Temperature Dependence of Exciton Diffusion in Conjugated Polymers
The temperature dependence of the exciton dynamics in a conjugated polymer is studied using time-resolved spectroscopy. Photoluminescence decays were measured in heterostructured samples containing a sharp polymer-fullerene interface, which acts as an exciton quenching wall. Using a 1D diffusion model, the exciton diffusion length and diffusion coefficient were extracted in the temperature range of 4-293 K. The exciton dynamics reveal two temperature regimes: in the range of 4-150 K, the exciton diffusion length (coefficient) of ~3 nm (~1.5 × 10-4 cm2/s) is nearly temperature independent. Increasing the temperature up to 293 K leads to a gradual growth up to 4.5 nm (~3.2 × 10-4 cm2/s). This demonstrates that exciton diffusion in conjugated polymers is governed by two processes: an initial downhill migration toward lower energy states in the inhomogenously broadened density of states, followed by temperature activated hopping. The latter process is switched off below 150 K.
Budget of Primary Production and Dinitrogen Fixation in a Highly Seasonal Red Sea Coral Reef
Biological dinitrogen (N2) fixation (diazotrophy, BNF) relieves marine primary producers of nitrogen (N) limitation in a large part of the world oceans. N concentrations are particularly low in tropical regions where coral reefs are located, and N is therefore a key limiting nutrient for these productive ecosystems. In this context, the importance of diazotrophy for reef productivity is still not resolved, with studies up to now lacking organismal and seasonal resolution. Here, we present a budget of gross primary production (GPP) and BNF for a highly seasonal Red Sea fringing reef, based on ecophysiological and benthic cover measurements combined with geospatial analyses. Benthic GPP varied from 215 to 262 mmol C m−2 reef d−1, with hard corals making the largest contribution (41–76%). Diazotrophy was omnipresent in space and time, and benthic BNF varied from 0.16 to 0.92 mmol N m−2 reef d−1. Planktonic GPP and BNF rates were respectively approximately 60- and 20-fold lower than those of the benthos, emphasizing the importance of the benthic compartment in reef biogeochemical cycling. BNF showed higher sensitivity to seasonality than GPP, implying greater climatic control on reef BNF. Up to about 20% of net reef primary production could be supported by BNF during summer, suggesting a strong biogeochemical coupling between diazotrophy and the reef carbon cycle
Analysis of corpus callosum size depending on age and sex
Background: The aim of the study was to analyse changes in the size of the corpus callosum (CC) depending on age and sex and to establish the reference values of the morphometric indices of the CC in the Polish population.Â
Materials and methods: The results of magnetic resonance studies of 1108 patients performed in the years 2010–2014 were analysed. Two independent radiologists evaluated cerebral images to exclude deviations from normal state. In patients divided according to sex and to 10 age groups, measurements of CC and brain dimensions were made and morphometric indices were calculated.Â
Results: The results of measurements related to the following parameters: lengths of longitudinal cross-section of CC (CD), CC thickness in the narrowest place — isthmus (EF), the largest linear dimension of the brain from the frontal pole to the occipital pole (AB), the longitudinal cross-section area of the CC (A1) and cerebral cross-section area (A2) as well as CD/AB and A1/A2 ratios are summarised in 7 figures and 3 tables.Â
Conclusions: It was demonstrated, that in all age groups there are statistically significant differences in the values of the analysed parameters and ratios of CC size. It was indicated, that there are no statistically significant differences between men and women in the CD, EF, and A1 parameters related to CC size, and the profiles of variations of these parameters are very similar. It was proved that the- re are statistical differences between women and men in parameters/indicators concerning of the brain size.
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