The Evolution of Reaction-diffusion Controllers for Minimally Cognitive Agents

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Direct neutron capture of 48Ca at kT = 52 keV

The neutron capture cross section of 48Ca was measured relative to the known gold cross section at kT = 52 keV using the fast cyclic activation technique. The experiment was performed at the Van-de-Graaff accelerator, Universitaet Tuebingen. The new experimental result is in good agreement with a calculation using the direct capture model. The 1/v behaviour of the capture cross section at thermonuclear energies is confirmed, and the adopted reaction rate which is based on several previous experimental investigations remains unchanged.Comment: 9 pages (uses Revtex), 2 postscript figures, accepted for publication as Brief Report in Phys. Rev.

Role of Diatoms in the Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Intracellular Nitrate in Intertidal Sediment

Intracellular nitrate storage allows microorganisms to survive fluctuating nutrient availability and anoxic conditions in aquatic ecosystems. Here we show that diatoms, ubiquitous and highly abundant microalgae, represent major cellular reservoirs of nitrate in an intertidal flat of the German Wadden Sea and are potentially involved in anaerobic nitrate respiration. Intracellular nitrate (ICNO3) was present year-round in the sediment and was spatially and temporally correlated with fucoxanthin, the marker photopigment of diatoms. Pyrosequencing of SSU rRNA genes of all domains of life confirmed that ICNO3 storage was most likely due to diatoms rather than other known nitrate-storing microorganisms (i.e., large sulfur bacteria and the eukaryotic foraminifers and gromiids). Sedimentary ICNO3 concentrations reached up to 22.3 mu mol dm(-3) at the sediment surface and decreased with sediment depth to negligible concentrations below 5 cm. Similarly, the ICNO3/fucoxanthin ratio and porewater nitrate (PWNO3) concentrations decreased with sediment depth, suggesting that ICNO3 of diatoms is in equilibrium with PWNO3, but is enriched relative to PWNO3 by 2-3 orders of magnitude. Cell-volume-specific ICNO3 concentrations in a diatom mat covering the sediment surface during spring were estimated at 9.3-46.7 mmol L-1. Retrieval of 18S rRNA gene sequences related to known nitrate-storing and nitrate-ammonifying diatom species suggested that diatoms in dark and anoxic sediment layers might be involved in anaerobic nitrate respiration. Due to the widespread dominance of diatoms in microphytobenthos, the total nitrate pool in coastal marine sediments may generally be at least two times larger than derived from porewater measurements and partially be recycled to ammonium

Yield response of corn in a Planosol soil to subsurface drainage with variable tile spacings

The Edina soil series of southeastern Iowa and northern Missouri are soils of relatively flat topography and poor internal drainage. The need for research data on the feasibility of drainage (both surface and subsurface) on the Edina soils was recognized at the time experiments were begun on the Southern Iowa Experimental Farm, Davis County, Iowa. The yield response of corn to surface drainage by bedding was summarized and reported by Beer et al.3 in 1961. Since initiation of the subsurface drainage experiment in 1949, data on crop-yield response to tile drainage have been collected. The purpose of this bulletin is to present the results of this study as related to the effects of tile drainage on crop yields, with the emphasis on corn, during the period of record. The nature of tile discharge during the growing seasons from 1951 to 1963 also is presented

Nitric oxide turnover in permeable river sediment

We measured nitric oxide (NO) microprofiles in relation to oxygen (O-2) and all major dissolved N-species (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide [N2O]) in a permeable, freshwater sediment (River Weser, Germany). NO reaches peak concentrations of 0.13 mu mol L-1 in the oxic zone and is consumed in the oxic-anoxic transition zone. Apparently, NO is produced by ammonia oxidizers under oxic conditions and consumed by denitrification under microoxic conditions. Experimental percolation of sediment cores with aerated surface water resulted in an initial rate of NO production that was 12 times higher than the net NO production rate in steady state. This initial NO production rate is in the same range as the net ammonia oxidation rate, indicating that NO is transiently the main product of ammonia oxidizers. Stable isotope labeling experiments with the N-15-labeled chemical NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) (1) confirmed denitrification as the main NO consumption pathway, with N2O as its major product, (2) showed that denitrification combines one free NO molecule with one NO molecule formed from nitrite to produce N2O, and (3) suggested that NO inhibits N2O reduction

In Situ Coral Reef Oxygen Metabolism: An Eddy Correlation Study

Quantitative studies of coral reefs are challenged by the three-dimensional hard structure of reefs and the high spatial variability and temporal dynamics of their metabolism. We used the non-invasive eddy correlation technique to examine respiration and photosynthesis rates, through O-2 fluxes, from reef crests and reef slopes in the Florida Keys, USA. We assessed how the photosynthesis and respiration of different reef habitats is controlled by light and hydrodynamics. Numerous fluxes (over a 0.25 h period) were as high as 4500 mmol O-2 m(-2) d(-1), which can only be explained by efficient light utilization by the phototrophic community and the complex canopy structure of the reef, having a many-fold larger surface area than its horizontal projection. Over diel cycles, the reef crest was net autotrophic, whereas on the reef slope oxygen production and respiration were balanced. The autotrophic nature of the shallow reef crests implies that the export of organics is an important source of primary production for the larger area. Net oxygen production on the reef crest was proportional to the light intensity, up to 1750 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1) an d decreased thereafter as respiration was stimulated by high current velocities coincident with peak light levels. Nighttime respiration rates were also stimulated by the current velocity, through enhanced ventilation of the porous framework of the reef. Respiration rates were the highest directly after sunset, and then decreased during the night suggesting that highly labile photosynthates produced during the day fueled early-night respiration. The reef framework was also important to the acquisition of nutrients as the ambient nitrogen stock in the water had sufficient capacity to support these high production rates across the entire reef width. These direct measurements of complex reefs systems yielded high metabolic rates and dynamics that can only be determined through in situ, high temporal resolution measurements

Measurement of neutron capture on 48^{48}Ca at thermal and thermonuclear energies

At the Karlsruhe pulsed 3.75\,MV Van de Graaff accelerator the thermonuclear $^{48}$Ca(n,$\gamma$)$^{49}$Ca(8.72\,min) cross section was measured by the fast cyclic activation technique via the 3084.5\,keV $\gamma$-ray line of the $^{49}$Ca-decay. Samples of CaCO$_3$ enriched in $^{48}$Ca by 77.87\,\% were irradiated between two gold foils which served as capture standards. The capture cross-section was measured at the neutron energies 25, 151, 176, and 218\,keV, respectively. Additionally, the thermal capture cross-section was measured at the reactor BR1 in Mol, Belgium, via the prompt and decay $\gamma$-ray lines using the same target material. The $^{48}$Ca(n,$\gamma$)$^{49}$Ca cross-section in the thermonuclear and thermal energy range has been calculated using the direct-capture model combined with folding potentials. The potential strengths are adjusted to the scattering length and the binding energies of the final states in $^{49}$Ca. The small coherent elastic cross section of $^{48}$Ca+n is explained through the nuclear Ramsauer effect. Spectroscopic factors of $^{49}$Ca have been extracted from the thermal capture cross-section with better accuracy than from a recent (d,p) experiment. Within the uncertainties both results are in agreement. The non-resonant thermal and thermonuclear experimental data for this reaction can be reproduced using the direct-capture model. A possible interference with a resonant contribution is discussed. The neutron spectroscopic factors of $^{49}$Ca determined from shell-model calculations are compared with the values extracted from the experimental cross sections for $^{48}$Ca(d,p)$^{49}$Ca and $^{48}$Ca(n,$\gamma$)$^{49}$Ca.Comment: 15 pages (uses Revtex), 7 postscript figures (uses psfig), accepted for publication in PRC, uuencoded tex-files and postscript-files also available at ftp://is1.kph.tuwien.ac.at/pub/ohu/Ca.u

The s-process branching at 185W

The neutron capture cross section of the unstable nucleus 185W has been derived from experimental photoactivation data of the inverse reaction 186W(gamma,n)185W. The new result of sigma = (687 +- 110) mbarn confirms the theoretically predicted neutron capture cross section of 185W of sigma = 700 mbarn at kT = 30 keV. A neutron density in the classical s-process of n_n = (3.8 +0.9 -0.8} * 1e8 cm-3 is derived from the new data for the 185W branching. In a stellar s-process model one finds a significant overproduction of the residual s-only nucleus 186Os.Comment: ApJ, in pres

Hydrodynamic dispersion within porous biofilms

Many microorganisms live within surface-associated consortia, termed biofilms, that can form intricate porous structures interspersed with a network of fluid channels. In such systems, transport phenomena, including flow and advection, regulate various aspects of cell behavior by controlling nutrient supply, evacuation of waste products, and permeation of antimicrobial agents. This study presents multiscale analysis of solute transport in these porous biofilms. We start our analysis with a channel-scale description of mass transport and use the method of volume averaging to derive a set of homogenized equations at the biofilm-scale in the case where the width of the channels is significantly smaller than the thickness of the biofilm. We show that solute transport may be described via two coupled partial differential equations or telegrapher's equations for the averaged concentrations. These models are particularly relevant for chemicals, such as some antimicrobial agents, that penetrate cell clusters very slowly. In most cases, especially for nutrients, solute penetration is faster, and transport can be described via an advection-dispersion equation. In this simpler case, the effective diffusion is characterized by a second-order tensor whose components depend on (1) the topology of the channels' network; (2) the solute's diffusion coefficients in the fluid and the cell clusters; (3) hydrodynamic dispersion effects; and (4) an additional dispersion term intrinsic to the two-phase configuration. Although solute transport in biofilms is commonly thought to be diffusion dominated, this analysis shows that hydrodynamic dispersion effects may significantly contribute to transport