277 research outputs found
Tests of the mid-domain hypotheses: A review of the evidence
Geographic variation of species richness is strongly correlated with environmental
gradients. However, random arrangement of species distributions within a bounded
domain can also theoretically produce richness gradients without underlying environmental gradients. This mid-domain effect (MDE) could serve as the null hypothesis against which to test effects of environmental variables, or as a component of a multivariate explanation of species-richness patterns. Recent reviews have concluded that there is a substantial MDE
signature in observed geographical patterns of richness, based on correlations between
observed patterns of richness and the predictions of mid-domain models. However, the middomain hypothesis makes additional powerful predictions about how richness should vary through space, and about the slope of the relationship between predicted and observed richness. Very few studies have tested these more powerful MDE predictions. Here, we reexamine the published mid-domain literature for agreement between observed patterns of richness and MDE predictions. We find that 50 of 53 published studies of MDEs showed significant deviations from the predictions of mid-domain models. When observed richness is correlated with MDE predictions, there are nearly always strongly collinear environmental gradients (e.g., in the Americas, climatic favorability and MDE-predicted richness are both maximal in the middle). Interpolation in sparsely sampled data can also give rise to spurious, apparently strong, mid-domain effects (e.g., the classic study of the Madagascan rain forest). We conclude that observed broad-scale patterns of species richness are not consistent with the
mid-domain hypothesis.Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biolog
A New Relativistic High Temperature Bose-Einstein Condensation
We discuss the properties of an ideal relativistic gas of events possessing
Bose-Einstein statistics. We find that the mass spectrum of such a system is
bounded by where is the usual chemical
potential, is an intrinsic dimensional scale parameter for the motion of an
event in space-time, and is an additional mass potential of the
ensemble. For the system including both particles and antiparticles, with
nonzero chemical potential the mass spectrum is shown to be bounded by
and a special type of high-temperature
Bose-Einstein condensation can occur. We study this Bose-Einstein condensation,
and show that it corresponds to a phase transition from the sector of
continuous relativistic mass distributions to a sector in which the boson mass
distribution becomes sharp at a definite mass This phenomenon
provides a mechanism for the mass distribution of the particles to be sharp at
some definite value.Comment: Latex, 22 page
Assessment of hydropyrolysis as a method for the quantification of black carbon using standard reference materials
A wide selection of thermal, chemical and optical methods have been proposed for the quantification of black carbon (BC) in environmental matrices, and the results to date differ markedly depending upon the method used. A new approach is hydropyrolysis (hypy), where pyrolysis assisted by high hydrogen pressures (150 bar) facilitates the complete reductive removal of labile organic matter, so isolating a highly stable portion of the BC continuum (defined as BChypy). Here, the potential of hypy for the isolation and quantification of BC is evaluated using the 12 reference materials from the International BC Ring Trial, comprising BC-rich samples, BC-containing environmental matrices and BC-free potentially interfering materials. By varying the hypy operating conditions, it is demonstrated that lignocellulosic, humic and other labile organic carbon material (defined as non-BChypy) is fully removed by 550 °C, with hydrogasification of the remaining BChypy not commencing until over 575 °C. The resulting plateau in sample mass and carbon loss is apparent in all of the environmental samples, facilitating BC quantification in a wide range of materials. The BChypy contents for all 12 ring trial samples fall within the range reported in the BC inter-comparison study, and systematic differences with other methods are rationalised.
All methods for BC isolation, including hypy are limited by the fact that BC cannot be distinguished from extremely thermally mature organic matter; for example in high rank coals. However, the data reported here indicates that BChypy has an atomic H/C ratio of less than 0.5 and therefore comprises a chemically well-defined polyaromatic structure in terms of the average size of peri-condensed aromatic clusters of >7 rings (24 carbon atoms), that is consistent across different sample matrices. This, together with the sound underlying rationale for the reductive removal of labile organic matter, makes hypy an ideal approach for matrix independent BC quantification. The hypy results are extremely reproducible, with BChypy determinations from triplicate analyses typically within ±2% across all samples, limited mainly by the precision of the elemental analyser
Stochastic Production Of Kink-Antikink Pairs In The Presence Of An Oscillating Background
We numerically investigate the production of kink-antikink pairs in a
dimensional field theory subject to white noise and periodic driving.
The twin effects of noise and periodic driving acting in conjunction lead to
considerable enhancement in the kink density compared to the thermal
equilibrium value, for low dissipation coefficients and for a specific range of
frequencies of the oscillating background. The dependence of the kink-density
on the temperature of the heat bath, the amplitude of the oscillating
background and value of the dissipation coefficient is also investigated. An
interesting feature of our result is that kink-antikink production occurs even
though the system always remains in the broken symmetry phase.Comment: Revtex, 21 pages including 7 figures; more references adde
Effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists on proteinuria and progression of chronic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background: Hypertension and proteinuria are critically involved in the progression of chronic kidney disease. Despite treatment with renin angiotensin system inhibition, kidney function declines in many patients. Aldosterone excess is a risk factor for progression of kidney disease. Hyperkalaemia is a concern with the use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. We aimed to determine whether the renal protective benefits of mineralocorticoid antagonists outweigh the risk of hyperkalaemia associated with this treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis investigating renoprotective effects and risk of hyperkalaemia in trials of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in chronic kidney disease. Trials were identified from MEDLINE (1966-2014), EMBASE (1947-2014) and the Cochrane Clinical Trials Database. Unpublished summary data were obtained from investigators. We included randomised controlled trials, and the first period of randomised cross over trials lasting â„4 weeks in adults. Results: Nineteen trials (21 study groups, 1 646 patients) were included. In random effects meta-analysis, addition of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists to renin angiotensin system inhibition resulted in a reduction from baseline in systolic blood pressure (-5.7 [-9.0, -2.3] mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (-1.7 [-3.4, -0.1] mmHg) and glomerular filtration rate (-3.2 [-5.4, -1.0] mL/min/1.73 m2). Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism reduced weighted mean protein/albumin excretion by 38.7 % but with a threefold higher relative risk of withdrawing from the trial due to hyperkalaemia (3.21, [1.19, 8.71]). Death, cardiovascular events and hard renal end points were not reported in sufficient numbers to analyse. Conclusions: Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism reduces blood pressure and urinary protein/albumin excretion with a quantifiable risk of hyperkalaemia above predefined study upper limit
Measurement of charged particle multiplicities in collisions at TeV in the forward region
The charged particle production in proton-proton collisions is studied with
the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of TeV in different
intervals of pseudorapidity . The charged particles are reconstructed
close to the interaction region in the vertex detector, which provides high
reconstruction efficiency in the ranges and
. The data were taken with a minimum bias trigger, only requiring
one or more reconstructed tracks in the vertex detector. By selecting an event
sample with at least one track with a transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c
a hard QCD subsample is investigated. Several event generators are compared
with the data; none are able to describe fully the multiplicity distributions
or the charged particle density distribution as a function of . In
general, the models underestimate the charged particle production
Projected WIMP sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment
LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000 live day run using a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above 1.4 Ă 10-48cm2 for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP.
Additionally, a 5Ï discovery potential is projected, reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of 2.3 Ă 10â43 cm2 (7.1 Ă 10â42 cm2) for a 40 GeV/c2
mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020
Measurement of prompt hadron production ratios in collisions at 0.9 and 7 TeV
The charged-particle production ratios , , ,
, and are measured with the LHCb detector using of collisions delivered by the LHC at TeV and
at TeV. The measurements are performed as a
function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity . The
production ratios are compared to the predictions of several Monte Carlo
generator settings, none of which are able to describe adequately all
observables. The ratio is also considered as a function of rapidity
loss, , and is used to constrain models of
baryon transport.Comment: Incorrect entries in Table 2 corrected. No consequences for rest of
pape
Measurement of relative branching fractions of B decays to and mesons
The relative rates of B-meson decays into and mesons are
measured for the three decay modes in pp collisions recorded with the LHCb
detector. The ratios of branching fractions () are measured to be
,
,
where the third uncertainty is from the ratio of the and
branching fractions to .Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur
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