An evaluation of ocean color model estimates of marine primary productivity in coastal and pelagic regions across the globe

Nearly half of the earth\u27s photosynthetically fixed carbon derives from the oceans. To determine global and region specific rates, we rely on models that estimate marine net primary productivity (NPP) thus it is essential that these models are evaluated to determine their accuracy. Here we assessed the skill of 21 ocean color models by comparing their estimates of depth-integrated NPP to 1156 in situ C-14 measurements encompassing ten marine regions including the Sargasso Sea, pelagic North Atlantic, coastal Northeast Atlantic, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Sea, subtropical North Pacific, Ross Sea, West Antarctic Peninsula, and the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone. Average model skill, as determined by root-mean square difference calculations, was lowest in the Black and Mediterranean Seas, highest in the pelagic North Atlantic and the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone, and intermediate in the other six regions. The maximum fraction of model skill that may be attributable to uncertainties in both the input variables and in situ NPP measurements was nearly 72%. On average, the simplest depth/wavelength integrated models performed no worse than the more complex depth/wavelength resolved models. Ocean color models were not highly challenged in extreme conditions of surface chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature, nor in high-nitrate low-chlorophyll waters. Water column depth was the primary influence on ocean color model performance such that average skill was significantly higher at depths greater than 250 m, suggesting that ocean color models are more challenged in Case-2 waters (coastal) than in Case-1 (pelagic) waters. Given that in situ chlorophyll-a data was used as input data, algorithm improvement is required to eliminate the poor performance of ocean color NPP models in Case-2 waters that are close to coastlines. Finally, ocean color chlorophyll-a algorithms are challenged by optically complex Case-2 waters, thus using satellite-derived chlorophyll-a to estimate NPP in coastal areas would likely further reduce the skill of ocean color models

Polynomials for Crystal Frameworks and the Rigid Unit Mode Spectrum

To each discrete translationally periodic bar-joint framework \C in \bR^d we associate a matrix-valued function \Phi_\C(z) defined on the d-torus. The rigid unit mode spectrum \Omega(\C) of \C is defined in terms of the multi-phases of phase-periodic infinitesimal flexes and is shown to correspond to the singular points of the function z \to \rank \Phi_\C(z) and also to the set of wave vectors of harmonic excitations which have vanishing energy in the long wavelength limit. To a crystal framework in Maxwell counting equilibrium, which corresponds to \Phi_\C(z) being square, the determinant of \Phi_\C(z) gives rise to a unique multi-variable polynomial p_\C(z_1,\dots,z_d). For ideal zeolites the algebraic variety of zeros of p_\C(z) on the d-torus coincides with the RUM spectrum. The matrix function is related to other aspects of idealised framework rigidity and flexibility and in particular leads to an explicit formula for the number of supercell-periodic floppy modes. In the case of certain zeolite frameworks in dimensions 2 and 3 direct proofs are given to show the maximal floppy mode property (order $N$). In particular this is the case for the cubic symmetry sodalite framework and some other idealised zeolites.Comment: Final version with new examples and figures, and with clearer streamlined proof

The adjoint problem in the presence of a deformed surface: the example of the Rosensweig instability on magnetic fluids

The Rosensweig instability is the phenomenon that above a certain threshold of a vertical magnetic field peaks appear on the free surface of a horizontal layer of magnetic fluid. In contrast to almost all classical hydrodynamical systems, the nonlinearities of the Rosensweig instability are entirely triggered by the properties of a deformed and a priori unknown surface. The resulting problems in defining an adjoint operator for such nonlinearities are illustrated. The implications concerning amplitude equations for pattern forming systems with a deformed surface are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

αV-Integrins Are Required for Mechanotransduction in MDCK Epithelial Cells

The properties of epithelial cells within tissues are regulated by their immediate microenvironment, which consists of neighboring cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Integrin heterodimers orchestrate dynamic assembly and disassembly of cell-ECM connections and thereby convey biochemical and mechanical information from the ECM into cells. However, the specific contributions and functional hierarchy between different integrin heterodimers in the regulation of focal adhesion dynamics in epithelial cells are incompletely understood. Here, we have studied the functions of RGD-binding αV-integrins in a Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell model and found that αV-integrins regulate the maturation of focal adhesions (FAs) and cell spreading. αV-integrin-deficient MDCK cells bound collagen I (Col I) substrate via α2β1-integrins but failed to efficiently recruit FA components such as talin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), vinculin and integrin-linked kinase (ILK). The apparent inability to mature α2β1-integrin-mediated FAs and link them to cellular actin cytoskeleton led to disrupted mechanotransduction in αV-integrin deficient cells seeded onto Col I substrate

On the Theory of Superfluidity in Two Dimensions

The superfluid phase transition of the general vortex gas, in which the circulations may be any non-zero integer, is studied. When the net circulation of the system is not zero the absence of a superfluid phase is shown. When the net circulation of the vortices vanishes, the presence of off-diagonal long range order is demonstrated and the existence of an order parameter is proposed. The transition temperature for the general vortex gas is shown to be the Kosterlitz---Thouless temperature. An upper bound for the average vortex number density is established for the general vortex gas and an exact expression is derived for the Kosterlitz---Thouless ensemble.Comment: 22 pages, one figure, written in plain TeX, published in J. Phys. A24 (1991) 502

Bosonization method for second super quantization

A bosonic-fermionic correspondence allows an analytic definition of functional super derivative, in particular, and a bosonic functional calculus, in general, on Bargmann- Gelfand triples for the second super quantization. A Feynman integral for the super transformation matrix elements in terms of bosonic anti-normal Berezin symbols is rigorously constructed.Comment: In memoriam of F. A. Berezin, accepted in Journal of Nonlinear Mathematical Physics, 15 page

On the Meaning of the Principle of General Covariance

We present a definite formulation of the Principle of General Covariance (GCP) as a Principle of General Relativity with physical content and thus susceptible of verification or contradiction. To that end it is useful to introduce a kind of coordinates, that we call quasi-Minkowskian coordinates (QMC), as an empirical extension of the Minkowskian coordinates employed by the inertial observers in flat space-time to general observers in the curved situations in presence of gravitation. The QMC are operationally defined by some of the operational protocols through which the inertial observers determine their Minkowskian coordinates and may be mathematically characterized in a neighbourhood of the world-line of the corresponding observer. It is taken care of the fact that the set of all the operational protocols which are equivalent to measure a quantity in flat space-time split into inequivalent subsets of operational prescriptions under the presence of a gravitational field or when the observer is not inertial. We deal with the Hole Argument by resorting to de idea of the QMC and show how it is the metric field that supplies the physical meaning of coordinates and individuates point-events in regions of space-time where no other fields exist. Because of that the GCP has also value as a guiding principle supporting Einstein's appreciation of its heuristic worth in his reply to Kretschmann in 1918

Streaming Algorithm for Euler Characteristic Curves of Multidimensional Images

We present an efficient algorithm to compute Euler characteristic curves of gray scale images of arbitrary dimension. In various applications the Euler characteristic curve is used as a descriptor of an image. Our algorithm is the first streaming algorithm for Euler characteristic curves. The usage of streaming removes the necessity to store the entire image in RAM. Experiments show that our implementation handles terabyte scale images on commodity hardware. Due to lock-free parallelism, it scales well with the number of processor cores. Our software---CHUNKYEuler---is available as open source on Bitbucket. Additionally, we put the concept of the Euler characteristic curve in the wider context of computational topology. In particular, we explain the connection with persistence diagrams

Vowel recognition at fundamental frequencies up to 1 kHz reveals point vowels as acoustic landmarks

The phonological function of vowels can be maintained at fundamental frequencies (fo) up to 880 Hz [Friedrichs, Maurer, and Dellwo (2015). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 138, EL36–EL42]. Here, the influence of talker variability and multiple response options on vowel recognition at high fos is assessed. The stimuli (n = 264) consisted of eight isolated vowels (/i y e ø ε a o u/) produced by three female native German talkers at 11 fos within a range of 220–1046 Hz. In a closed-set identification task, 21 listeners were presented excised 700-ms vowel nuclei with quasi-flat fo contours and resonance trajectories. The results show that listeners can identify the point vowels /i a u/ at fos up to almost 1 kHz, with a significant decrease for the vowels /y ε/ and a drop to chance level for the vowels /e ø o/ toward the upper fos. Auditory excitation patterns reveal highly differentiable representations for /i a u/ that can be used as landmarks for vowel category perception at high fos. These results suggest that theories of vowel perception based on overall spectral shape will provide a fuller account of vowel perception than those based solely on formant frequency patterns