221 research outputs found
The Effect of Dispersed Oil on the Calcification Rate of the Reef-Building Coral Diploria Strigosa
Hermatypic corals represent environmentally and economically important components of the reef ecosystem. Oil spills and clean-up operations in reef areas are potential sources of pollution impact. This paper presents an evaluation of the calcification rate of specimens of the reef-building coral Diploria strigosa in response to 24 hour treatments of chemically dispersed oil at concentrations of 20 ppm. The concentrations and durations were chosen to represent a scenario of a short-term oil spill treated with dispersant passing over a coral reef.
Calcification rates were determined by the buoyant weight technique at several day intervals for up to 29 days following treatment. Results from laboratory experiments (Winter and Summer) conducted in a flow-through seawater system indicate that treated corals, both in comparison to untreated controls as well as to their pretreatment rates, experienced no depression in calcification.
In contrast, a possible short-term enhancement of calcification for the treated corals was observed
Effects of a Dispersed and Undispersed Crude Oil on Mangroves, Seagrasses and Corals
The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the application of dispersant to spilled oil as a means of reducing adverse environmental effects of oil spills in nearshore, tropical waters. The results of numerous laboratory and field studies have suggested that dispersants may play a useful role in reducing adverse impacts on sensitive and valued environments such as mangroves, seagrasses, and corals. However, the use of dispersants has not been allowed thus far in most situations because of a lack of direct experimental data on the various effects of dispersants and the environmental trade-offs presumed to occur as a result of their application to crude oils. To accomplish this objective, a 21/2- year field experiment was designed in which detailed, synoptic measurements and assessments were made of representative intertidal and nearshore subtidal habitats and organisms (man-groves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs) before, during, and after exposure to untreated crude oil and chemically dispersed oil. The results were in-tended to give guidance in minimizing the ecological impacts of oil spills through evaluation of trade-offs in the relative impacts of chemical dispersion to tropical marine intertidal and subtidal habitats
The Effects of Oil and Oil Dispersants on the Skeletal Growth of the Hermatypic Coral Diploria strigosa
Specimens of the hermatypic coral species Diploria strigosa were exposed to various concentrations (1–50 ppm) of oil or oil plus dispersant for 6–24 h periods in four laboratory and two field experiments. After dosing, corals were transplanted to, or left in, the field and recollected approximately one year later for extension (linear) growth analysis by the alizarin stain method. The experiments were designed to assess the long-term effects of brief low-level concentrations of chemically dispersed oil and oil alone on corals in a situation, for example, where an oil slick (treated and non-treated with dispersants) passes over a reef. No significant differences between extension growth parameters (Septa increase, Columella increase) and a calical shape parameter (New Endotheca Length) of treated corals versus controls were found in any of the experiments. In two summer experiments calical relief (Fossa length) was found to be depressed in corals of some of the experimental treatments
Behavioural Effects of Chemically Dispersed Oil and Subsequent Recovery in Diploria strigosa (Dana)
Survival and behaviour of the hermatypic coral Diploria strigosa was studied during 6–24 h doses with water-accomodated fractions of chemically dispersed crude oil, and for a subsequent recovery period of 1 month. Experiments utilized a flow-through laboratory dosing procedure and incorporated petroleum hydrocarbon measurements in order to simulate a major but short-term oil spill in shallow subtidal benthic reef environments. Chemically dispersed oil treatments consisted of Arabian Light Crude oil with Corexit 9527 or BP1100WD at 1–20 ppm concentrations of oil.
In general, effects observed were sub-lethal, temporary, and associated with the highest concentrations tested. Responses to the presence of dispersed oil at 20ppm for 24 h included mesenterial filament extrusion, extreme tissue contraction, tentacle retraction and localized tissue rupture. The nature and severity of reactions during the dosing phase varied between colonies and treatments, but colonies typically resumed normal behaviour within 2 h to 4 d of the recovery period. It therefore seems unlikely that observed biological effects would impair long-term viability
Strong coupling expansion for the Bose-Hubbard and the Jaynes-Cummings lattice model
A strong coupling expansion, based on the Kato-Bloch perturbation theory,
which has recently been proposed by Eckardt et al. [Phys. Rev. B 79, 195131]
and Teichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. B 79, 224515] is implemented in order to study
various aspects of the Bose-Hubbard and the Jaynes-Cummings lattice model. The
approach, which allows to generate numerically all diagrams up to a desired
order in the interaction strength is generalized for disordered systems and for
the Jaynes-Cummings lattice model. Results for the Bose-Hubbard and the
Jaynes-Cummings lattice model will be presented and compared with results from
VCA and DMRG. Our focus will be on the Mott insulator to superfluid transition.Comment: 29 pages, 21 figure
Room Temperature Coherent and Voltage Tunable Terahertz Emission from Nanometer-Sized Field Effect Transistors
We report on reflective electro-optic sampling measurements of TeraHertz
emission from nanometer-gate-length InGaAs-based high electron mobility
transistors. The room temperature coherent gate-voltage tunable emission is
demonstrated. We establish that the physical mechanism of the coherent
TeraHertz emission is related to the plasma waves driven by simultaneous
current and optical excitation. A significant shift of the plasma frequency and
the narrowing of the emission with increasing channel's current are observed
and explained as due to the increase of the carriers density and drift
velocity.Comment: 3 figure
Strong tuning of Rashba spin orbit interaction in single InAs nanowires
A key concept in the emerging field of spintronics is the gate voltage or
electric field control of spin precession via the effective magnetic field
generated by the Rashba spin orbit interaction. Here, we demonstrate the
generation and tuning of electric field induced Rashba spin orbit interaction
in InAs nanowires where a strong electric field is created either by a double
gate or a solid electrolyte surrounding gate. In particular, the electrolyte
gating enables six-fold tuning of Rashba coefficient and nearly three orders of
magnitude tuning of spin relaxation time within only 1 V of gate bias. Such a
dramatic tuning of spin orbit interaction in nanowires may have implications in
nanowire based spintronic devices.Comment: Nano Letters, in pres
Highly-Sensitive Thin Film THz Detector Based on Edge Metal-Semiconductor-Metal Junction
Terahertz (THz) detectors have been extensively studied for various applications such as security, wireless communication, and medical imaging. In case of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunnel junction THz detector, a small junction area is desirable because the detector response time can be shortened by reducing it. An edge metal-semiconductor-metal (EMSM) junction has been developed with a small junction area controlled precisely by the thicknesses of metal and semiconductor films. The voltage response of the EMSM THz detector shows the clear dependence on the polarization angle of incident THz wave and the responsivity is found to be very high (similar to 2,169 V/W) at 0.4 THz without any antenna and signal amplifier. The EMSM junction structure can be a new and efficient way of fabricating the nonlinear device THz detector with high cut-off frequency relying on extremely small junction area
Experimental study of weak antilocalization effect in a high mobility InGaAs/InP quantum well
The magnetoresistance associated with quantum interference corrections in a
high mobility, gated InGaAs/InP quantum well structure is studied as a function
of temperature, gate voltage, and angle of the tilted magnetic field.
Particular attention is paid to the experimental extraction of phase-breaking
and spin-orbit scattering times when weak anti- localization effects are
prominent. Compared with metals and low mobility semiconductors the
characteristic magnetic field in high mobility
samples is very small and the experimental dependencies of the interference
effects extend to fields several hundreds of times larger. Fitting experimental
results under these conditions therefore requires theories valid for arbitrary
magnetic field. It was found, however, that such a theory was unable to fit the
experimental data without introducing an extra, empirical, scale factor of
about 2. Measurements in tilted magnetic fields and as a function of
temperature established that both the weak localization and the weak
anti-localization effects have the same, orbital origin. Fits to the data
confirmed that the width of the low field feature, whether a weak localization
or a weak anti-localization peak, is determined by the phase-breaking time and
also established that the universal (negative) magnetoresistance observed in
the high field limit is associated with a temperature independent spin-orbit
scattering time.Comment: 13 pages including 10 figure
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