10,959 research outputs found
Variation in Snow Algae Blooms in the Coast Range of British Columbia
Snow algae blooms cover vast areas of summer snowfields worldwide, reducing albedo and increasing snow melt. Despite their global prevalence, little is known about the algae species that comprise these blooms. We used 18S and rbcL metabarcoding and light microscopy to characterize algae species composition in 31 snow algae blooms in the Coast Range of British Columbia, Canada. This study is the first to thoroughly document regional variation between blooms. We found all blooms were dominated by the genera Sanguina, Chloromonas, and Chlainomonas. There was considerable variation between blooms, most notably species assemblages above treeline were distinct from forested sites. In contrast to previous studies, the snow algae genus Chlainomonas was abundant and widespread in snow algae blooms. We found few taxa using traditional 18S metabarcoding, but the high taxonomic resolution of rbcL revealed substantial diversity, including OTUs that likely represent unnamed species of snow algae. These three cross-referenced datasets (rbcL, 18S, and microscopy) reveal that alpine snow algae blooms are more diverse than previously thought, with different species of algae dominating different elevations
Laminar flow of two miscible fluids in a simple network
When a fluid comprised of multiple phases or constituents flows through a
network, non-linear phenomena such as multiple stable equilibrium states and
spontaneous oscillations can occur. Such behavior has been observed or
predicted in a number of networks including the flow of blood through the
microcirculation, the flow of picoliter droplets through microfluidic devices,
the flow of magma through lava tubes, and two-phase flow in refrigeration
systems. While the existence of non-linear phenomena in a network with many
inter-connections containing fluids with complex rheology may seem
unsurprising, this paper demonstrates that even simple networks containing
Newtonian fluids in laminar flow can demonstrate multiple equilibria.
The paper describes a theoretical and experimental investigation of the
laminar flow of two miscible Newtonian fluids of different density and
viscosity through a simple network. The fluids stratify due to gravity and
remain as nearly distinct phases with some mixing occurring only by diffusion.
This fluid system has the advantage that it is easily controlled and modeled,
yet contains the key ingredients for network non-linearities. Experiments and
3D simulations are first used to explore how phases distribute at a single
T-junction. Once the phase separation at a single junction is known, a network
model is developed which predicts multiple equilibria in the simplest of
networks. The existence of multiple stable equilibria is confirmed
experimentally and a criteria for their existence is developed. The network
results are generic and could be applied to or found in different physical
systems
Near-Infrared MOSFIRE Spectra of Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies at 0.2<z<4
We present near-infrared and optical spectroscopic observations of a sample
of 450m and 850m-selected dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs)
identified in a 400 arcmin area in the COSMOS field. Thirty-one sources of
the 102 targets were spectroscopically confirmed at , identified
primarily in the near-infrared with Keck MOSFIRE and some in the optical with
Keck LRIS and DEIMOS. The low rate of confirmation is attributable both to high
rest-frame optical obscuration in our targets and limited sensitivity to
certain redshift ranges. The high-quality photometric redshifts available in
the COSMOS field allow us to test the robustness of photometric redshifts for
DSFGs. We find a subset (11/31%) of DSFGs with inaccurate () or non-existent photometric redshifts; these have very distinct
spectral energy distributions from the remaining DSFGs, suggesting a decoupling
of highly obscured and unobscured components. We present a composite rest-frame
4300--7300\AA\ spectrum for DSFGs, and find evidence of 20030 km s
gas outflows. Nebular line emission for a sub-sample of our detections indicate
that hard ionizing radiation fields are ubiquitous in high-z DSFGs, even more
so than typical mass or UV-selected high-z galaxies. We also confirm the
extreme level of dust obscuration in DSFGs, measuring very high Balmer
decrements, and very high ratios of IR to UV and IR to H luminosities.
This work demonstrates the need to broaden the use of wide bandwidth technology
in the millimeter to the spectroscopic confirmations of large samples of high-z
DSFGs, as the difficulty in confirming such sources at optical/near-infrared
wavelengths is exceedingly challenging given their obscuration.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, ApJ accepted. Composite DSFG Halpha spectrum
available at www.as.utexas.edu/~cmcasey/downloads.htm
Narrow Linewidth 780 nm Distributed Feedback Lasers for Cold Atom Quantum Technology
Cold atom quantum technology systems have a wide range of potential applications which includes atomic clocks, rotational sensors, inertial sensors, quantum navigators, magnetometers and gravimeters. The UK Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Metrology has the aim of developing miniature cold atom systems using an approach similar to that pioneered by the chip scale atomic clock where microfabricated vacuum chambers have atomic transitions excited and probed by lasers. Whilst narrow linewidth Ti:Sa and external cavity diode lasers have been required for cooling and control, such lasers are too large, power hungry and expensive for future miniature cold atom systems.
Here we demonstrate 1 mm long 780.24 nm GaAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback (DFB) lasers aimed at 87Rb cold atom systems operating at 20 ËšC with over 50 mW of power and side-mode suppression ratios of 46 dB using sidewall gratings and no regrowth. Rb spectroscopy is used to demonstrate linewidths below the required 6.07 MHz natural linewidth of the 87Rb D2 optical transition used for cooling. Initial packaged fibre-coupled devices demonstrate lifetimes greater than 200 hours. We also investigate the use of integrated semiconductor amplifiers (SOAs) and longer devices to further reduce the linewidths well below 1 MHz. A range of options to control the populations of electrons in the hyperfine split energy levels spaced by 3.417 GHz are examined. Two integrated lasers, integrated electro-absorption modulators (EAMs) and the direct modulation of a single DFB laser approaches are investigated and we will discuss which is best suited to integrated cold atom systems
A massive, distant proto-cluster at z=2.47 caught in a phase of rapid formation?
Numerical simulations of cosmological structure formation show that the
Universe's most massive clusters, and the galaxies living in those clusters,
assemble rapidly at early times (2.5 < z < 4). While more than twenty
proto-clusters have been observed at z > 2 based on associations of 5-40
galaxies around rare sources, the observational evidence for rapid cluster
formation is weak. Here we report observations of an asymmetric, filamentary
structure at z = 2.47 containing seven starbursting, submillimeter-luminous
galaxies and five additional AGN within a comoving volume of 15000 Mpc.
As the expected lifetime of both the luminous AGN and starburst phase of a
galaxy is ~100 Myr, we conclude that these sources were likely triggered in
rapid succession by environmental factors, or, alternatively, the duration of
these cosmologically rare phenomena is much longer than prior direct
measurements suggest. The stellar mass already built up in the structure is
and we estimate that the cluster mass will exceed that
of the Coma supercluster at . The filamentary structure is in line
with hierarchical growth simulations which predict that the peak of cluster
activity occurs rapidly at z > 2.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted in ApJL (small revisions from
previous version
Growth rate and resource imbalance interactively control biomass stoichiometry and elemental quotas of aquatic bacteria
The effects of resource stoichiometry and growth rate on the elemental composition of biomass have been examined in a wide variety of organisms, but the interaction among these effects is often overlooked. To determine how growth rate and resource imbalance affect bacterial carbon (C): nitrogen (N): phosphorus (P) stoichiometry and elemental content, we cultured two strains of aquatic heterotrophic bacteria in chemostats at a range of dilution rates and P supply levels (C:P of 100:1 to 10,000:1). When growing below 50% of their maximum growth rate, P availability and dilution rate had strong interactive effects on biomass C:N:P, elemental quotas, cell size, respiration rate, and growth efficiency. In contrast, at faster growth rates, biomass stoichiometry was strongly homeostatic in both strains (C:N:P of 70:13:1 and 73:14:1) and elemental quotas of C, N, and P were tightly coupled (but not constant). Respiration and cell size increased with both growth rate and P limitation, and P limitation induced C accumulation and excess respiration. These results show that bacterial biomass stoichiometry is relatively constrained when all resources are abundant and growth rates are high, but at low growth rates resource imbalance is relatively more important than growth rate in controlling bacterial biomass composition.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136292/1/ecy1705_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136292/2/ecy1705.pd
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