Determination of phase-volume fractions from tomographic measurements in two-phase systems

A method is proposed to determine the phase-volume fractions in tomographic representations of two-phase systems. The method is applicable in cases where no independent mean values for the phase-characteristic property (a) are available, such as in standard X-ray computed tomography (CT) using a polychromatic source. The proposed procedure is based on ®tting a sum of three parametric expressions to the histogram of a-values. The terms include two normal probability-density functions to account for noisy pure-phase values, and an analytical expression to account for intermediate values due to interface-containing voxels and blurring. To test the method, it was applied to several X-ray CT data sets of two-phase systems with known volume fractions and varying a-ranges, including a system with only about one standard deviation dierence between the mean phase a-values, i.e., with substantial overlap between the noisy pure-phase distributions. The accuracy for the considered cases was found to be approximately 2 vol% or better. As an example, the proposed ®tting procedure was used to determine the representative elementary volume needed for porosity estimation of a porous medium consisting of 0.5-mm glass beads.

Experimental demonstration of a suspended diffractively coupled optical cavity

All-reflective optical systems are under consideration for future gravitational wave detector topologies. One approach in proposed designs is to use diffraction gratings as input couplers for Fabry–Perot cavities. We present an experimental demonstration of a fully suspended diffractively coupled cavity and investigate the use of conventional Pound–Drever–Hall length sensing and control techniques to maintain the required operating condition

Three-dimensional femtosecond laser nanolithography of crystals

Nanostructuring hard optical crystals has so far been exclusively feasible at their surface, as stress induced crack formation and propagation has rendered high precision volume processes ineffective. We show that the inner chemical etching reactivity of a crystal can be enhanced at the nanoscale by more than five orders of magnitude by means of direct laser writing. The process allows to produce cm-scale arbitrary three-dimensional nanostructures with 100 nm feature sizes inside large crystals in absence of brittle fracture. To showcase the unique potential of the technique, we fabricate photonic structures such as sub-wavelength diffraction gratings and nanostructured optical waveguides capable of sustaining sub-wavelength propagating modes inside yttrium aluminum garnet crystals. This technique could enable the transfer of concepts from nanophotonics to the fields of solid state lasers and crystal optics.Comment: Submitted Manuscript and Supplementary Informatio

A strategy for the next decade to address data deficiency in neglected biodiversity

Measuring progress toward international biodiversity targets requires robust information on the conservation status of species, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species provides. However, data and capacity are lacking for most hyperdiverse groups, such as invertebrates, plants, and fungi, particularly in megadiverse or high-endemism regions. Conservation policies and biodiversity strategies aimed at halting biodiversity loss by 2020 need to be adapted to tackle these information shortfalls after 2020. We devised an 8-point strategy to close existing data gaps by reviving explorative field research on the distribution, abundance, and ecology of species; linking taxonomic research more closely with conservation; improving global biodiversity databases by making the submission of spatially explicit data mandatory for scientific publications; developing a global spatial database on threats to biodiversity to facilitate IUCN Red List assessments; automating preassessments by integrating distribution data and spatial threat data; building capacity in taxonomy, ecology, and biodiversity monitoring in countries with high species richness or endemism; creating species monitoring programs for lesser-known taxa; and developing sufficient funding mechanisms to reduce reliance on voluntary efforts. Implementing these strategies in the post-2020 biodiversity framework will help to overcome the lack of capacity and data regarding the conservation status of biodiversity. This will require a collaborative effort among scientists, policy makers, and conservation practitioners.Peer reviewe

Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling

We demonstrate the application of a high-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) method to quantify water distribution in soil pores under successive reductive drying. We focus on the wet end of the water release characteristic (WRC) (0 to −75 kPa) to investigate changes in soil water distribution in contrasting soil textures (sand and clay) and structures (sieved and field structured) and to determine the impact of soil structure on hydraulic behavior. The 3-D structure of each soil was obtained from the CT images (at a 10 μm resolution). Stokes equations for flow were solved computationally for each measured structure to estimate hydraulic conductivity. The simulated values obtained compared extremely well with the measured saturated hydraulic conductivity values. By considering different sample sizes we were able to identify the smallest possible representative sample size which is required to determine a globally valid hydraulic conductivity

A new model for root growth in soil with macropores

Abstract: Background and aimsThe use of standard dynamic root architecture models to simulate root growth in soil containing macropores failed to reproduce experimentally observed root growth patterns. We thus developed a new, more mechanistic model approach for the simulation of root growth in structured soil. Methods: In our alternative modelling approach, we distinguish between, firstly, the driving force for root growth, which is determined by the orientation of the previous root segment and the influence of gravitropism and, secondly, soil mechanical resistance to root growth. The latter is expressed by its inverse, soil mechanical conductance, and treated similarly to hydraulic conductivity in Darcy’s law. At the presence of macropores, soil mechanical conductance is anisotropic, which leads to a difference between the direction of the driving force and the direction of the root tip movement. Results: The model was tested using data from the literature, at pot scale, at macropore scale, and in a series of simulations where sensitivity to gravity and macropore orientation was evaluated. Conclusions: Qualitative and quantitative comparisons between simulated and experimentally observed root systems showed good agreement, suggesting that the drawn analogy between soil water flow and root growth is a useful one

A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

This manuscript is a contribution of the Alliance for Freshwater Life (www.allianceforfreshwaterlife.org). We thank Nick Bond, Lisa Bossenbroek, Lekima Copeland, Dean Jacobsen, Maria Cecilia Londo?o, David Lopez, Jaime Ricardo Garcia Marquez, Ketlhatlogile Mosepele, Nunia Thomas-Moko, Qiwei Wei and the authors of Living Waters: A Research Agenda for the Biodiversity of Inland and Coastal Waters for their contributions. We also thank Peter Thrall, Ian Harrison and two anonymous referees for their valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript. Open access funding enabled and organised by Projekt DEAL