175 research outputs found
The stream evolution triangle: Integrating geology, hydrology, and biology
The foundations of river restoration science rest comfortably in the fields of geology, hydrology, and engineering, and yet, the impetus for many, if not most, stream restoration projects is biological recovery. Although Lane's stream balance equation from the midâ1950s captured the dynamic equilibrium between the amount of stream flow, the slope of the channel, and the amount and calibre of sediment, it completely ignored biology. Similarly, most of the stream classification systems used in river restoration design today do not explicitly include biology as a primary driver of stream form and process. To address this omission, we cast biology as an equal partner with geology and hydrology, forming a triumvirate that governs stream morphology and evolution. To represent this, we have created the stream evolution triangle, a conceptual model that explicitly accounts for the influences of geology, hydrology, and biology. Recognition of biology as a driver leads to improved understanding of reachscale morphology and the dynamic response mechanisms responsible for stream evolution and adjustment following natural or anthropogenic disturbance, including stream restoration. Our aim in creating the stream evolution triangle is not to exclude or supersede existing stream classifications and evolutionary models but to provide a broader âthinking spaceâ within which they can be framed and reconsidered, thus facilitating thought outside of the alluvial box
Unital Quantum Channels - Convex Structure and Revivals of Birkhoff's Theorem
The set of doubly-stochastic quantum channels and its subset of mixtures of
unitaries are investigated. We provide a detailed analysis of their structure
together with computable criteria for the separation of the two sets. When
applied to O(d)-covariant channels this leads to a complete characterization
and reveals a remarkable feature: instances of channels which are not in the
convex hull of unitaries can return to it when either taking finitely many
copies of them or supplementing with a completely depolarizing channel. In
these scenarios this implies that a channel whose noise initially resists any
environment-assisted attempt of correction can become perfectly correctable.Comment: 31 page
Reach-scale bankfull channel types can exist independently of catchment hydrology
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Reach-scale morphological channel classifications are underpinned by the theory that each channel type is related to an assemblage of reach- and catchment-scale hydrologic, topographic, and sediment supply drivers. However, the relative importance of each driver on reach morphology is unclear, as is the possibility that different driver assemblages yield the same reach morphology. Reach-scale classifications have never needed to be predicated on hydrology, yet hydrology controls discharge and thus sediment transport capacity. The scientific question is: do two or more regions with quantifiable differences in hydrologic setting end up with different reach-scale channel types, or do channel types transcend hydrologic setting because hydrologic setting is not a dominant control at the reach scale? This study answered this question by isolating hydrologic metrics as potential dominant controls of channel type. Three steps were applied in a large test basin with diverse hydrologic settings (Sacramento River, California) to: (1) create a reach-scale channel classification based on local site surveys, (2) categorize sites by flood magnitude, dimensionless flood magnitude, and annual hydrologic regime type, and (3) statistically analyze two hydrogeomorphic linkages. Statistical tests assessed the spatial distribution of channel types and the dependence of channel type morphological attributes by hydrologic setting. Results yielded 10 channel types. Nearly all types existed across all hydrologic settings, which is perhaps a surprising development for hydrogeomorphology. Downstream hydraulic geometry relationships were statistically significant. In addition, cobble-dominated uniform streams showed a consistent inverse relationship between slope and dimensionless flood magnitude, an indication of dynamic equilibrium between transport capacity and sediment supply. However, most morphological attributes showed no sorting by hydrologic setting. This study suggests that median hydraulic geometry relations persist across basins and within channel types, but hydrologic influence on geomorphic variability is likely due to local influences rather than catchment-scale drivers. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Modelling physical characteristics of river habitats
The physical characteristics of river habitats constitute the setting in which fluvial biota dwell and thrive. Determining the spatial and temporal patterns of physical habitat characteristics and the main factors that control them is extremely important to increase the efficiency of river management, conservation, and restoration. This study determined spatial patterns of physical habitat characteristics for Atlantic and Mediterranean rivers in northern Spain and developed a river classification based on hydromorphological characteristics. Data gathered from almost 600 sites following a modified version of the River Habitat Survey methodology were used. In addition to the usual River Habitat Survey variables, the sequence of hydromorphologic units (i.e., areas exhibiting similar hydraulic characteristics, in terms of water velocity and depth), water depths, and widths were recorded. Unmodified reaches were selected computing the Habitat Modification Score. Multiple Linear Regression models were employed to test relationships between Principal Component Analyses that summarized physical river habitat characteristics with ecological relevance and environmental variables (i.e., climate, topography, land cover, and geology) at different spatial scales and used to predict physical habitat attributes for all river reaches. The density of hydromorphologic units, flow turbulence, substrate size, and channel dimensions were able to discriminate river classes within the river network, with topography being the main environmental driver of habitat characteristics (although climate, geology, and land cover were also relevant). This classification scheme could constitute a useful tool to restore physical habitat conditions in modified river reaches.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Two-sided bounds on minimum-error quantum measurement, on the reversibility of quantum dynamics, and on the maximum overlap problem using directional iterates
In a unified framework, we obtain two-sided estimates of the following
quantities of interest in quantum information theory:
1.The minimum-error distinguishability of arbitrary ensembles of mixed
quantum states.
2.The approximate reversibility of quantum dynamics in terms of entanglement
fidelity. (This is also referred to as "channel-adapted quantum error recovery"
when the reversed channel is the composition of an encoding operation and a
noise channel.)
3.The maximum overlap between a bipartite pure quantum state and a bipartite
mixed state that may be achieved by applying a local quantum operation to one
part of the mixed state.
4. The conditional min-entropy of bipartite quantum states.
A refined version of the author's techniques [J. Math. Phys. 50, 032016] for
bounding the first quantity is employed to give two-sided estimates of the
remaining three quantities. Our primary tool is "small angle" initialization of
an abstract generalization of the iterative schemes for computing optimal
measurements and quantum error recoveries introduced by Jezek-Rehacek-Fiurasek
[Phys. Rev. A 65, 060301], Jezek-Fiurasek-Hradil [Phys. Rev. A 68, 012305], and
Reimpell-Werner [Phys. Rev. Lett 94, 080501].Comment: Extensively revised & new content added. Improved min-entropy bounds.
Notation made more accessible. Minimax theorem used to clarify relationship
between "worst case" bounds and "single instance" bounds. Improved motivation
of the choice of "small angle" guess. Eliminated spurious factor appearing
when overlap bounds are applied to state distinction. Work connected to that
of Beny and Oreshko
Physical Habitat and Fish Assemblage Relationships with Landscape Variables at Multiple Spatial Scales in Wadeable Iowa Streams
Landscapes in Iowa and other midwestern states have been profoundly altered by conversion of native prairies to agriculture. We analyzed landscape data collected at multiple spatial scales to explore relationships with reach-scale physical habitat and fish assemblage data from 93 randomly selected sites on second- through fifth-order wadeable Iowa streams. Ordination of sites by physical habitat showed significant gradients of channel shape, habitat complexity, substrate composition, and stream size. Several landscape variables were significantly associated with the physical habitat ordination. Row crop land use was associated with fine substrates and steep bank angles, whereas wetland land cover and greater sinuosity and catchment land area were associated with complex channel and bank morphology and greater residual pool volume, woody debris, and canopy cover. Thirteen landscape variables were significant predictors of physical habitat variables in multiple linear regressions, with adjusted R 2 values ranging from 0.07 to 0.74. Inclusion of landscape variables with physical habitat variables in multiple regression models predicting fish assemblage metrics and a fish index of biotic integrity resulted in negligible improvements over models based on only physical habitat variables. Physical habitat in wadeable Iowa streams is strongly associated with landscape characteristics. Results of this study and previous studies suggest that (1) landscape factors directly influence physical habitat, (2) physical habitat directly influences fish assemblages, and (3) the influence of landscape factors on fish assemblages is primarily indirect. Understanding how landscape factors, such as human land use, influence physical habitat and fish assemblages will help managers make more informed decisions for improving Iowa\u27s wadeable streams
Crowding Alone Cannot Account for Cosolute Effect on Amyloid Aggregation
Amyloid fiber formation is a specific form of protein aggregation, often resulting from the misfolding of native proteins. Aimed at modeling the crowded environment of the cell, recent experiments showed a reduction in fibrillation halftimes for amyloid-forming peptides in the presence of cosolutes that are preferentially excluded from proteins and peptides. The effect of excluded cosolutes has previously been attributed to the large volume excluded by such inert cellular solutes, sometimes termed âmacromolecular crowdingâ. Here, we studied a model peptide that can fold to a stable monomeric ÎČ-hairpin conformation, but under certain solution conditions aggregates in the form of amyloid fibrils. Using Circular Dichroism spectroscopy (CD), we found that, in the presence of polyols and polyethylene glycols acting as excluded cosolutes, the monomeric ÎČ-hairpin conformation was stabilized with respect to the unfolded state. Stabilization free energy was linear with cosolute concentration, and grew with molecular volume, as would also be predicted by crowding models. After initiating the aggregation process with a pH jump, fibrillation in the presence and absence of cosolutes was followed by ThT fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy, and CD spectroscopy. Polyols (glycerol and sorbitol) increased the lag time for fibril formation and elevated the amount of aggregated peptide at equilibrium, in a cosolute size and concentration dependent manner. However, fibrillation rates remained almost unaffected by a wide range of molecular weights of soluble polyethylene glycols. Our results highlight the importance of other forces beyond the excluded volume interactions responsible for crowding that may contribute to the cosolute effects acting on amyloid formation
Classification of river morphology and hydrology to support management and restoration
The work leading to this paper has received funding from the European Unionâs FP7 programme under Grant Agreement No. 282656 (REFORM
Quantum key distribution based on orthogonal states allows secure quantum bit commitment
For more than a decade, it was believed that unconditionally secure quantum
bit commitment (QBC) is impossible. But basing on a previously proposed quantum
key distribution scheme using orthogonal states, here we build a QBC protocol
in which the density matrices of the quantum states encoding the commitment do
not satisfy a crucial condition on which the no-go proofs of QBC are based.
Thus the no-go proofs could be evaded. Our protocol is fault-tolerant and very
feasible with currently available technology. It reopens the venue for other
"post-cold-war" multi-party cryptographic protocols, e.g., quantum bit string
commitment and quantum strong coin tossing with an arbitrarily small bias. This
result also has a strong influence on the Clifton-Bub-Halvorson theorem which
suggests that quantum theory could be characterized in terms of
information-theoretic constraints.Comment: Published version plus an appendix showing how to defeat the
counterfactual attack, more references [76,77,90,118-120] cited, and other
minor change
Cost effective measuring technique to simultaneously quantify 2D velocity fields and depth-averaged solute concentrations in shallow water flows
This paper presents a cost-effective methodology to simultaneously measure mixing processes and surface velocity fields in shallow flows using low cost cameras and lighting. Velocity fields and depth averaged concentration of a soluble fluorescent tracer are obtained using the new techniques and the results verified against traditional point probe measurements in a laboratory flume. An example of simultaneous velocity/concentration measurement is presented for an instantaneous release of tracer into flow around an obstruction. The method will help to improve the understanding of mixing processes in shallow open channel flows. It is anticipated that the technique will be useful in physical modelling studies where the mixing and hydraulic length scales under investigation are in the order of 1-10 m, for example in compound channels and partially vegetated streams
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