32,870 research outputs found
Vertical variation of optical properties of mixed Asian dust/pollution plumes according to pathway of air mass transport over East Asia
© Author(s) 2015. This is an Open Access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/We use five years (2009-2013) of multiwavelength Raman lidar measurements at Gwangju, South Korea (35.10° N, 126.53° E) for the identification of changes of optical properties of East Asian dust depending on its transport path over China. Profiles of backscatter and extinction coefficients, lidar ratios, and backscatter-related Ångström exponents (wavelength pair 355/532 nm) were measured at Gwangju. Linear particle depolarization ratios were used to identify East Asian dust layers. We used backward trajectory modeling to identify the pathway and the vertical position of dust-laden air masses over China during long-range transport. Most cases of Asian dust events can be described by the emission of dust in desert areas and subsequent transport over highly polluted regions of China. The Asian dust plumes could be categorized into two classes according to the height above ground at which these plumes were transported: (case I) the dust layers passed over China at high altitude levels (> 3 km) until arrival over Gwangju, and (case II) the Asian dust layers were transported near the surface and within the lower troposphere (< 3 km) over industrialized areas before they arrived over Gwangju. We find that the optical characteristics of these mixed Asian dust layers over Gwangju differ depending on their vertical position above ground over China and the change of height above ground during transport. The mean linear particle depolarization ratio was 0.21 ± 0.06 (at 532 nm), the mean lidar ratios were 52 ± 7 sr at 355 nm and 53 ± 8 sr at 532 nm, and the mean Ångström exponent was 0.74 ± 0.31 for case I. In contrast, plumes transported at lower altitudes (case II) showed low depolarization ratios (0.13 ± 0.04 at 532 nm), and higher lidar ratio (63 ± 9 sr at 355 nm and 62 ± 8 sr at 532 nm) and Ångström exponents (0.98 ± 0.51). These numbers show that the optical characteristics of mixed Asian plumes are more similar to optical characteristics of urban pollution. We find a decrease of the linear depolarization ratio of the mixed dust/pollution plume depending on transport time if the pollution layer traveled over China at low heights, i.e., below approximately 3 km above ground. In contrast, we do not find such a trend if the dust plumes traveled at heights above 3 km over China. We need a longer time series of lidar measurements in order to determine in a quantitative way the change of optical properties of dust with transport time.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
Shear-induced criticality near a liquid-solid transition of colloidal suspensions
We investigate colloidal suspensions under shear flow through numerical
experiments. By measuring the time-correlation function of a bond-orientational
order parameter, we find a divergent time scale near a transition point from a
disordered fluid phase to an ordered fluid phase, where the order is
characterized by a nonzero value of the bond-orientational order parameter. We
also present a phase diagram in the plane,
where is the density of the colloidal particles and
is the shear rate of the solvent. The transition
line in the phase diagram terminates at the equilibrium transition point, while
a critical region near the transition line vanishes continuously as
.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
Structural Reorganization of Parallel Actin Bundles by Crosslinking Proteins: Incommensurate States of Twist
We construct a coarse-grained model of parallel actin bundles crosslinked by
compact, globular bundling proteins, such as fascin and espin, necessary
components of filapodial and mechanosensory bundles. Consistent with structural
observations of bundles, we find that the optimal geometry for crosslinking is
overtwisted, requiring a coherent structural change of the helical geometry of
the filaments. We study the linker-dependent thermodynamic transition of
bundled actin filaments from their native state to the overtwisted state and
map out the "twist-state'' phase diagram in terms of the availability as well
as the flexibility of crosslinker proteins. We predict that the transition from
the uncrosslinked to fully-crosslinked state is highly sensitive to linker
flexibility: flexible crosslinking smoothly distorts the twist-state of bundled
filaments, while rigidly crosslinked bundles undergo a phase transition,
rapidly overtwisting filaments over a narrow range of free crosslinker
concentrations. Additionally, we predict a rich spectrum of intermediate
structures, composed of alternating domains of sparsely-bound (untwisted) and
strongly-bound (overtwisted) filaments. This model reveals that subtle
differences in crosslinking agents themselves modify not only the detailed
structure of parallel actin bundles, but also the thermodynamic pathway by
which they form.Comment: Main Text (25 pages, 7 figures) with supporting material (12 pages, 9
figures, 2 tables
Sine-Gordon Soliton on a Cnoidal Wave Background
The method of Darboux transformation, which is applied on cnoidal wave
solutions of the sine-Gordon equation, gives solitons moving on a cnoidal wave
background. Interesting characteristics of the solution, i.e., the velocity of
solitons and the shift of crests of cnoidal waves along a soliton, are
calculated. Solutions are classified into three types (Type-1A, Type-1B,
Type-2) according to their apparent distinct properties.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Contents change
PRESENCE AND PREVALENCE OF BD (BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS) IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIAN WOODLAND VERNAL POOLS
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a virulent chytrid fungus responsible for dramatic amphibian declines, has been detected in the northwestern and southeastern regions of Pennsylvania. However, little environmental Bd testing has been performed in central Pennsylvania, particularly in the unique and speciose habitats of woodland vernal pools. Our study included sampling in four vernal pools over a period of three months during amphibian breeding periods. Skin swabs were taken from three caudate and two anuran species, during the course of late winter and spring migrations (n = 143). Low Bd zoospore equivalent loads were detected in only a few individuals, in three of the five species but in all four vernal pools sampled. No significant trends were seen between zoospore loads and ambient temperature or migration timing across the species sampled
Numerical simulation of super-square patterns in Faraday waves
We report the first simulations of the Faraday instability using the full
three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in domains much larger than the
characteristic wavelength of the pattern. We use a massively parallel code
based on a hybrid Front-Tracking/Level-set algorithm for Lagrangian tracking of
arbitrarily deformable phase interfaces. Simulations performed in rectangular
and cylindrical domains yield complex patterns. In particular, a
superlattice-like pattern similar to those of [Douady & Fauve, Europhys. Lett.
6, 221-226 (1988); Douady, J. Fluid Mech. 221, 383-409 (1990)] is observed. The
pattern consists of the superposition of two square superlattices. We
conjecture that such patterns are widespread if the square container is large
compared to the critical wavelength. In the cylinder, pentagonal cells near the
outer wall allow a square-wave pattern to be accommodated in the center
Shortcuts to adiabaticity for an ion in a rotating radially-tight trap
We engineer the fast rotation of a quantum particle confined in an
effectively one-dimensional, harmonic trap, for a predetermined rotation angle
and time, avoiding final excitation. Different schemes are proposed with
different speed limits that depend on the control capabilities. We also make
use of trap rotations to create squeezed states without manipulating the trap
frequencies.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Spin relaxation in mesoscopic superconducting Al wires
We studied the diffusion and the relaxation of the polarized quasiparticle
spins in superconductors. To that end, quasiparticles of polarized spins were
injected through an interface of a mesoscopic superconducting Al wire in
proximity contact with an overlaid ferromagnetic Co wire in the single-domain
state. The superconductivity was observed to be suppressed near the
spin-injecting interface, as evidenced by the occurrence of a finite voltage
for a bias current below the onset of the superconducting transition. The spin
diffusion length, estimated from finite voltages over a certain length of Al
wire near the interface, was almost temperature independent in the temperature
range sufficiently below the superconducting transition but grew as the
transition temperature was approached. This temperature dependence suggests
that the relaxation of the spin polarization in the superconducting state is
governed by the condensation of quasiparticles to the paired state. The spin
relaxation in the superconducting state turned out to be more effective than in
the normal state.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
- …