339 research outputs found
Surface Deformations as Indicators of Deep Ebullition Fluxes in a Large Northern Peatland
Peatlands deform elastically during precipitation cycles by small (+/- 3 cm) oscillations in surface elevation. In contrast, we used a Global Positioning System network to measure larger oscillations that exceeded 20 cm over periods of 4 - 12 hours during two seasonal droughts at a bog and fen site in northern Minnesota. The second summer drought also triggered 19 depressuring cycles in an overpressured stratum under the bog site. The synchronicity between the largest surface deformations and the depressuring cycles indicates that both phenomena are produced by the episodic release of large volumes of gas from deep semi-elastic compartments confined by dense wood layers. We calculate that the three largest surface deformations were associated with the release of 136 g CH4 m(-2), which exceeds by an order of magnitude the annual average chamber fluxes measured at this site. Ebullition of gas from the deep peat may therefore be a large and previously unrecognized source of radiocarbon depleted methane emissions from northern peatlands
Near-infrared spectroscopy detects age-related differences in skeletal muscle oxidative function: promising implications for geroscience
Age is the greatest risk factor for chronic disease and is associated with a marked decline in functional capacity and quality of life. A key factor contributing to loss of function in older adults is the decline in skeletal muscle function. While the exact mechanism(s) remains incompletely understood, age-related mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to play a major role. To explore this question further, we studied 15 independently living seniors (age: 72 ± 5 years; m/f: 4/11; BMI: 27.6 ± 5.9) and 17 young volunteers (age: 25 ± 4 years; m/f: 8/9; BMI: 24.0 ± 3.3). Skeletal muscle oxidative function was measured in forearm muscle from the recovery kinetics of muscle oxygen consumption using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Muscle oxygen consumption was calculated as the slope of change in hemoglobin saturation during a series of rapid, supra-systolic arterial cuff occlusions following a brief bout of exercise. Aging was associated with a significant prolongation of the time constant of oxidative recovery following exercise (51.8 ± 5.4 sec vs. 37.1 ± 2.1 sec, P = 0.04, old vs. young, respectively). This finding suggests an overall reduction in mitochondrial function with age in nonlocomotor skeletal muscle. That these data were obtained using NIRS holds great promise in gerontology for quantitative assessment of skeletal muscle oxidative function at the bed side or clinic
Polarization and relaxation of radon
Investigations of the polarization and relaxation of Rn by spin
exchange with laser optically pumped rubidium are reported. On the order of one
million atoms per shot were collected in coated and uncoated glass cells.
Gamma-ray anisotropies were measured as a signal of the alignment (second order
moment of the polarization) resulting from the combination of polarization and
quadrupole relaxation at the cell walls. The temperature dependence over the
range 130C to 220C shows the anisotropies increasing with
increasing temperature as the ratio of the spin exchange polarization rate to
the wall relaxation rate increases faster than the rubidium polarization
decreases. Polarization relaxation rates for coated and uncoated cells are
presented. In addition, improved limits on the multipole mixing ratios of some
of the main gamma-ray transitions have been extracted. These results are
promising for electric dipole moment measurements of octupole-deformed
Rn and other isotopes, provided sufficient quantities of the rare
isotopes can be produced.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Nucleon Edm from Atomic Systems and Constraints on Supersymmetry Parameters
The nucleon EDM is shown to be directly related to the EDM of atomic systems.
From the observed EDM values of the atomic Hg system, the neutron EDM can be
extracted, which gives a very stringent constraint on the supersymmetry
parameters. It is also shown that the measurement of Nitrogen and Thallium
atomic systems should provide important information on the flavor dependence of
the quark EDM. We perform numerical analyses on the EDM of neutron, proton and
electron in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with CP-violating phases.
We demonstrate that the new limit on the neutron EDM extracted from atomic
systems excludes a wide parameter region of supersymmetry breaking masses above
1 TeV, while the old limit excludes only a small mass region below 1 TeV.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure file
Angular Momentum Partitioning in the Dissociation of Diatomic Molecules
We discuss recent experiments that study the transfer of angular momentum from a projectile to the residual target in collisions between the simple diatomic molecules H2 and N2 and spin-polarized electrons or circularly-polarized photons. We observe the fluorescence of both the atomic fragments and excited molecular states, and measure the circular polarization fraction of this light, P3. The incident electron energies range from 10 to 100 eV; the incident photon energies from 33 to 38 eV
Hadronic EDMs, the Weinberg Operator, and Light Gluinos
We re-examine questions concerning the contribution of the three-gluon
Weinberg operator to the electric dipole moment of the neutron, and provide
several QCD sum rule-based arguments that the result is smaller than - but
nevertheless consistent with - estimates which invoke naive dimensional
analysis. We also point out a regime of the MSSM parameter space with light
gluinos for which this operator provides the dominant contribution to the
neutron electric dipole moment due to enhancement via the dimension five color
electric dipole moment of the gluino.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures; v2: references added; v3: typos
corrected, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Electric dipole moments of Hg, Xe, Rn, Ra, Pu, and TlF induced by the nuclear Schiff moment and limits on time-reversal violating interactions
We have calculated the atomic electric dipole moments (EDMs) induced in
^{199}Hg, ^{129}Xe, ^{223}Rn, ^{225}Ra, and ^{239}Pu by their respective
nuclear Schiff moments S. The results are (in units 10^{-17}S(e {fm}^{3})^{-1}e
cm): d(^{199}Hg)=-2.8, d(^{129}Xe)=0.38, d(^{223}Rn)=3.3, d(^{225}Ra)=-8.5,
d(^{239}Pu)=-11. We have also calculated corrections to the parity- and
time-invariance-violating (P,T-odd) spin-axis interaction constant in TlF.
These results are important for the interpretation of atomic and molecular
experiments on EDMs in terms of fundamental P,T-odd parameters.Comment: 16 page
Hydrogeochemical controls on brook trout spawning habitats in a coastal stream
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) spawn in fall and
overwintering egg development can benefit from stable, relatively warm
temperatures in groundwater-seepage zones. However, eggs are also sensitive
to dissolved oxygen concentration, which may be reduced in discharging
groundwater (i.e., seepage). We investigated a 2 km reach of the coastal
Quashnet River in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, to relate preferred fish
spawning habitats to geology, geomorphology, and discharging groundwater
geochemistry. Thermal reconnaissance methods were used to locate zones of
rapid groundwater discharge, which were predominantly found along the central
channel of a wider stream valley section. Pore-water chemistry and temporal
vertical groundwater flux were measured at a subset of these zones during
field campaigns over several seasons. Seepage zones in open-valley
sub-reaches generally showed suboxic conditions and higher dissolved solutes
compared to the underlying glacial outwash aquifer. These discharge zones
were cross-referenced with preferred brook trout redds and evaluated during
10 years of observation, all of which were associated with discrete alcove
features in steep cutbanks, where stream meander bends intersect the glacial
valley walls. Seepage in these repeat spawning zones was generally stronger
and more variable than in open-valley sites, with higher dissolved oxygen and
reduced solute concentrations. The combined evidence indicates that regional
groundwater discharge along the broader valley bottom is predominantly
suboxic due to the influence of near-stream organic deposits; trout show no
obvious preference for these zones when spawning. However, the meander bends
that cut into sandy deposits near the valley walls generate strong oxic
seepage zones that are utilized routinely for redd construction and the
overwintering of trout eggs. Stable water isotopic data support the
conclusion that repeat spawning zones are located directly on preferential
discharges of more localized groundwater. In similar coastal systems with
extensive valley peat deposits, the specific use of groundwater-discharge points
by brook trout may be limited to morphologies such as cutbanks, where
groundwater flow paths do not encounter substantial buried organic material
and remain oxygen-rich.</p
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