Modeling gross primary production of two steppes in Northern China using MODIS time series and climate data

AbstractTerrestrial carbon cycle plays an important role in global climate change. As a key component of terrestrial carbon cycle, gross primary production (GPP) is a major determinant of the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems. With rapid advancement of remote-sensing technology, it has become a common practice to utilize parameters derived from remote-sensing data to estimate GPP at a regional or global scale. In this study, a satellite-driven model, Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM) was introduced to estimate GPP of two steppes, Xilinhot (XH, 43.5544°N, 116.6714°E) and Duolun (DL, 42.0467°N, 116.2836°E), at Inner Mongolia in Northern China, by integrating moderate resolution imaging spectral radiometer (MODIS) and meteorological measurements at the two flux towers. As defined by the input variables of VPM, two improved vegetation indices (enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index (LSWI)) derived from the standard data product MOD09A1 of MODIS, air temperature and photosynthetic active radiation at the flux towers, were included for the model calculating. Canopy-level maximum light use efficiency, a key parameter for VPM, was estimated by using the observed CO2 flux data and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). Observed GPP derived from flux data were then used to critically evaluate the performance of the model. The results indicate that the seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted by the VPM model agreed well with measured GPP by the flux towers. The determination coefficient (R2) of predicted GPP with measured GPP was 0.86 and 0.79 in 2006, 0.66 and 0.76 in 2007 for DL and XH, respectively. Further, time-series data for the EVI have a stronger linear relationship with the GPP than those for the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. Results of this study demonstrate that the satellite-driven VPM has been potential for estimating site-level or regional grassland GPP, and might be an effective tool for scaling-up carbon fluxes

Hadron Collider Signatures for New Interactions of Top and Bottom Quarks

One of the main goals for hadron colliders is the study of the properties of the third generation quarks. We study the signatures for new TeV resonances that couple to top or bottom quarks both at the Tevatron Run II and at the LHC. We find that in the simplest production processes of Drell-Yan type at the Tevatron, the signals are overwhelmed by QCD backgrounds. We also find that it is possible to study these resonances when they are produced in association with a pair of heavy quarks or in association with a single top at the LHC.In particular, with an integrated luminosity of 300 fb$^{-1}$ at the LHC, it is possible to probe resonance masses up to around 2 TeV.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, Minor corrections, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Evidencia experimental de la abundancia de bacterias del suelo como el principal iniciador del efecto de preparación de la rizosfera

Se piensa que las comunidades microbianas del suelo son responsables del efecto de preparación de la rizósfera (RPE). Sin embargo, desde que las comunidades microbiales están compuestas de diversos componentes, se conoce muy poco acerca de cuál es el componente que tiene el rol principal en dicho efecto. En este estudio, se hicieron crecer soja y algodón en dos lugares a diferentes latitudes con diferentes condiciones de luz y temperatura in situ. Se cuantificó RPE usando un método natural de δC13 y se midió la abundancia, riqueza y composición de las comunidades de hongos y bacterias con métodos moleculares basados en el ADN. Entre todas las variables potenciales, incluyendo los tres índices de comunidades de hongos y bacterias anteriormente mencionados, e índices vegetales y físico-químicos del suelo, se mostró que la abundancia de bacterias explicó una gran proporción de la variación en RPE. Nuestro estudio identificó el mecanismo biológico que subyace este importante proceso ecológico.Soil microbial communities are thougth to be responsible for the rhizosphere priming effect (RPE). However, because soil microbial communities are comprised of diverse components, very little is known about which component plays the critical role. Here, soybean and cottonwood were grown at two latitudinal locations with different temperature and light conditions in-situ. We quantified RPE using a natural 13C method, and measured the abundance, richness and composition of bacteria and fungi communities with DNA-based molecular methods. Among all potential variables, including the three aforementioned indexes of bacteria and fungi communities and soil physiochemical and plant indexes, bacterial abundance was found to explain a large proportion of variation in RPE. Our study identified the biological mechanism underlying this important ecological process.Fil: Ma, Y.P.. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Applied Ecology; China. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture. Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture;; China. University of Chinese Academy of Science; ChinaFil: Zhang, Z.J.. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Applied Ecology; China. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture. Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture;; ChinaFil: Su, T.Q.. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Applied Ecology; ChinaFil: Busso, Carlos Alberto. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Johnston, E.R.. Georgia Institute of Technology. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Estados UnidosFil: Han, X.G.. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Applied Ecology; China. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Botany. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change; ChinaFil: Zhang, X.M.. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture. Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture;; Chin

Transport Measurements on Nano-engineered Two Dimensional Superconducting Wire Networks

Superconducting triangular Nb wire networks with high normal-state resistance are fabricated by using a negative tone hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) resist. Robust magnetoresistance oscillations are observed up to high magnetic fields and maintained at low temperatures, due to the eective reduction of wire dimensions. Well-defined dips appear at integral and rational values (1/2, 1/3, 1/4) of the reduced flux f = Phi/Phi_0, which is the first observation in the triangular wire networks. These results are well consistent with theoretical calculations for the reduced critical temperature as a function of f.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Numerical Test of Disk Trial Wave function for Half-Filled Landau Level

The analyticity of the lowest Landau level wave functions and the relation between filling factor and the total angular momentum severely limits the possible forms of trial wave functions of a disk of electrons subject to a strong perpendicular magnetic field. For N, the number of electrons, up to 12 we have tested these disk trial wave functions for the half filled Landau level using Monte Carlo and exact diagonalization methods. The agreement between the results for the occupation numbers and ground state energies obtained from these two methods is excellent. We have also compared the profile of the occupation number near the edge with that obtained from a field-theoretical method. The results give qualitatively identical edge profiles. Experimental consequences are briefly discussed.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. B. 9 pages, 6 figure

Quasiparticle excitation in and around the vortex core of underdoped YBa_2Cu_4O_8 studied by site-selective NMR

We report a site-selective ^{17}O spin-lattice relaxation rate T_1^{-1} in the vortex state of underdoped YBa_2Cu_4O_8. We found that T_1^{-1} at the planar sites exhibits an unusual nonmonotonic NMR frequency dependence. In the region well outside the vortex core, T_1^{-1} cannot be simply explained by the density of states of the Doppler-shifted quasiparticles in the d-wave superconductor. Based on T_1^{-1} in the vortex core region, we establish strong evidence that the local density of states within the vortex core is strongly reduced.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Unitarity bounds on low scale quantum gravity

We study the unitarity of models with low scale quantum gravity both in four dimensions and in models with a large extra-dimensional volume. We find that models with low scale quantum gravity have problems with unitarity below the scale at which gravity becomes strong. An important consequence of our work is that their first signal at the Large Hadron Collider would not be of a gravitational nature such as graviton emission or small black holes, but rather linked to the mechanism which fixes the unitarity problem. We also study models with scalar fields with non minimal couplings to the Ricci scalar. We consider the strength of gravity in these models and study the consequences for inflation models with non-minimally coupled scalar fields. We show that a single scalar field with a large non-minimal coupling can lower the Planck mass in the TeV region. In that model, it is possible to lower the scale at which gravity becomes strong down to 14 TeV without violating unitarity below that scale.Comment: 15 page

t→bWt \to b W in NonCommutative Standard Model

We study the top quark decay to b quark and W boson in the NonCommutative Standard Model (NCSM). The lowest contribution to the decay comes from the terms quadratic in the matrix describing the noncommutative (NC) effects while the linear term is seen to identically vanish because of symmetry. The NC effects are found to be significant only for low values of the NC characteristic scale.Comment: 11 page Latex file containing 2 eps figures (redrawn). More discussion included. To appear in PR

Multifunctional Magnetic-fluorescent Nanocomposites for Biomedical Applications

Nanotechnology is a fast-growing area, involving the fabrication and use of nano-sized materials and devices. Various nanocomposite materials play a number of important roles in modern science and technology. Magnetic and fluorescent inorganic nanoparticles are of particular importance due to their broad range of potential applications. It is expected that the combination of magnetic and fluorescent properties in one nanocomposite would enable the engineering of unique multifunctional nanoscale devices, which could be manipulated using external magnetic fields. The aim of this review is to present an overview of bimodal “two-in-one” magnetic-fluorescent nanocomposite materials which combine both magnetic and fluorescent properties in one entity, in particular those with potential applications in biotechnology and nanomedicine. There is a great necessity for the development of these multifunctional nanocomposites, but there are some difficulties and challenges to overcome in their fabrication such as quenching of the fluorescent entity by the magnetic core. Fluorescent-magnetic nanocomposites include a variety of materials including silica-based, dye-functionalised magnetic nanoparticles and quantum dots-magnetic nanoparticle composites. The classification and main synthesis strategies, along with approaches for the fabrication of fluorescent-magnetic nanocomposites, are considered. The current and potential biomedical uses, including biological imaging, cell tracking, magnetic bioseparation, nanomedicine and bio- and chemo-sensoring, of magnetic-fluorescent nanocomposites are also discussed

CUORE: The first bolometric experiment at the ton scale for the search for neutrino-less double beta decay

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is the most massive bolometric experiment searching for neutrino-less double beta (0νββ) decay. The detector consists of an array of 988 TeO crystals (742 kg) arranged in a compact cylindrical structure of 19 towers. This paper will describe the CUORE experiment, including the cryostat, and present the detector performance during the first year of running. Additional detail will describe the effort made in improving the energy resolution in the Te 0νββ decay region of interest (ROI) and the suppression of backgrounds. A description of work to lower the energy threshold in order to give CUORE the sensitivity to search for other rare events, such as dark matter, will also be provided. 2 13