862 research outputs found
Interactive Effects of Time, CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e, N, and Diversity on Total Belowground Carbon Allocation and Ecosystem Carbon Storage in a Grassland Community
Predicting if ecosystems will mitigate or exacerbate rising CO2 requires understanding how elevated CO2 will interact with coincident changes in diversity and nitrogen (N) availability to affect ecosystem carbon (C) storage. Yet achieving such understanding has been hampered by the difficulty of quantifying belowground C pools and fluxes. Thus, we used mass balance calculations to quantify the effects of diversity, CO2, and N on both the total amount of C allocated belowground by plants (total belowground C allocation, TBCA) and ecosystem C storage in a periodically burned, 8-year Minnesota grassland biodiversity, CO2, and N experiment (BioCON). Annual TBCA increased in response to elevated CO2, enriched N, and increasing diversity. TBCA was positively related to standing root biomass. After removing the influence of root biomass, the effect of elevated CO2 remained positive, suggesting additional drivers of TBCA apart from those that maintain high root biomass. Removing root biomass effects resulted in the effects of N and diversity becoming neutral or negative (depending on year), suggesting that the positive effects of diversity and N on TBCA were related to treatmentdriven differences in root biomass. Greater litter production in high diversity, elevated CO2, and enhanced N treatments increased annual ecosystem C loss in fire years and C gain in non-fire years, resulting in overall neutral C storage rates. Our results suggest that frequently burned grasslands are unlikely to exhibit enhanced C sequestration with increasing atmospheric CO2 levels or N deposition
Atomic quasi-Bragg diffraction in a magnetic field
We report on a new technique to split an atomic beam coherently with an
easily adjustable splitting angle. In our experiment metastable helium atoms in
the |{1s2s}^3S_1 M=1> state diffract from a polarization gradient light field
formed by counterpropagating \sigma^+ and \sigma^- polarized laser beams in the
presence of a homogeneous magnetic field. In the near-adiabatic regime, energy
conservation allows the resonant exchange between magnetic energy and kinetic
energy. As a consequence, symmetric diffraction of |M=0> or |M=-1> atoms in a
single order is achieved, where the order can be chosen freely by tuning the
magnetic field. We present experimental results up to 6th order diffraction (24
\hbar k momentum splitting, i.e., 2.21 m/s in transverse velocity) and present
a simple theoretical model that stresses the similarity with conventional Bragg
scattering. The resulting device constitutes a flexible, adjustable,
large-angle, three-way coherent atomic beam splitter with many potential
applications in atom optics and atom interferometry.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Epistatic Interactions in {NS5A} of Hepatitis {C} Virus Suggest Drug Resistance Mechanisms
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes a major health burden and can be effectively treated by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). The non-structural protein 5A (NS5A), which plays a role in the viral genome replication, is one of the DAAs’ targets. Resistance-associated viruses (RAVs) harbouring NS5A resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) have been described at baseline and after therapy failure. A mutation from glutamine to arginine at position 30 (Q30R) is a characteristic RAM for the HCV sub/genotype (GT) 1a, but arginine corresponds to the wild type in the GT-1b; still, GT-1b strains are susceptible to NS5A-inhibitors. In this study, we show that GT-1b strains with R30Q often display other specific NS5A substitutions, particularly in positions 24 and 34. We demonstrate that in GT-1b secondary substitutions usually happen after initial R30Q development in the phylogeny, and that the chemical properties of the corresponding amino acids serve to restore the positive charge in this region, acting as compensatory mutations. These findings may have implications for RAVs treatment
Equilibrium shapes and faceting for ionic crystals of body-centered-cubic type
A mean field theory is developed for the calculation of the surface free
energy of the staggered BCSOS, (or six vertex) model as function of the surface
orientation and of temperature. The model approximately describes surfaces of
crystals with nearest neighbor attractions and next nearest neighbor
repulsions. The mean field free energy is calculated by expressing the model in
terms of interacting directed walks on a lattice. The resulting equilibrium
shape is very rich with facet boundaries and boundaries between reconstructed
and unreconstructed regions which can be either sharp (first order) or smooth
(continuous). In addition there are tricritical points where a smooth boundary
changes into a sharp one and triple points where three sharp boundaries meet.
Finally our numerical results strongly suggest the existence of conical points,
at which tangent planes of a finite range of orientations all intersect each
other. The thermal evolution of the equilibrium shape in this model shows
strong similarity to that seen experimentally for ionic crystals.Comment: 14 Pages, Revtex and 10 PostScript figures include
Evaluation of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator performance in patients with ion channelopathies from the EFFORTLESS cohort and comparison with a meta-analysis of transvenous ICD outcomes
Background: The subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) is an alternative to conventional transvenous ICD (TV-ICD) therapy to reduce lead complications. Objective: To evaluate outcomes in channelopathy vs patients with structural heart disease in the EFFORTLESS-SICD Registry and with a previously reported TV-ICD meta-analysis in channnelopathies. Methods: The EFFORTLESS registry includes 199 patients with channelopathies (Brugada syndrome 83, long QT syndrome 24, idiopathic ventricular fibrillation 78, others 14) and 786 patients with structural heart disease. Results: Channelopathy patients were younger (39 ± 14 years vs 51 ± 17 years; P 200 beats per minute (P = .0002). Annualized appropriate shock, IAS, and complication rates appear to be lower for the S-ICD vs meta-analysis TV-ICD patients, particularly lead complications. Conclusion: EFFORTLESS demonstrates similar S-ICD efficacy and a nonsignificant, lower rate of IAS in channelopathy patients as compared to structural heart disease. Comparable IAS rates were achieved with the device programmed to higher rates for channelopathy patients
Conformal Anomaly and Critical Exponents of the XY-Ising Model
We use extensive Monte Carlo transfer matrix calculations on infinite strips
of widths up to 30 lattice spacing and a finite-size scaling analysis to
obtain critical exponents and conformal anomaly number for the
two-dimensional -Ising model. This model is expected to describe the
critical behavior of a class of systems with simultaneous and
symmetries of which the fully frustrated model is a special case. The
effective values obtained for show a significant decrease with at
different points along the line where the transition to the ordered phase takes
place in a single transition. Extrapolations based on power-law corrections
give values consistent with although larger values can not be ruled
out. Critical exponents are obtained more accurately and are consistent with
previous Monte Carlo simulations suggesting new critical behavior and with
recent calculations for the frustrated model.Comment: 33 pages, 13 latex figures, uses RevTeX 3.
The impact of trauma-center care on mortality and function following pelvic ring and acetabular injuries
ABSTRACT
Background: Lower mortality and improved physical function following major polytrauma have been associated with treatment at level-1 trauma centers (TC) compared with that at non-trauma centers (NTC). This study investigates the impact of TC care on outcomes after pelvic and acetabular injuries.
Methods: Mortality and quality of life-related measures were compared among patients treated in 18 hospitals with level-1 trauma centers and 51 hospitals without trauma centers in 14 U.S. states. Complete data were obtained on 829 adult trauma patients (18-84 years old) with at least one pelvic ring or acetabular injury (OTA 61 or 62). We used inverse probability of treatment weighting to adjust for observable confounding.
Results: After adjustment for case mix, in-hospital mortality was significantly lower at TC versus NTC (RR 0.10, 95% CI 0.02-0.47), as was death by 90 days (RR 0.10, 95% CI 0.02-0.47), and one year (RR 0.21, 95% CI 0.06-0.76) for patients with more severe acetabular injuries (OTA 62-B or 62-C). Patients with combined pelvic ring and acetabular injuries treated at TC had lower mortality by 90 days (RR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14-0.82) and one year (RR 0.30 95% CI 0.14-0.68). Care at TC was also associated with mortality risk reduction for those with unstable pelvic ring injuries (OTA 61-B or 61-C) at one year (RR 0.21, 95%CI 0.06-0.76). Seventy-eight percent of included subjects discharged alive was available for interview at twelve months. Average absolute differences in SF-36 physical functioning and Musculoskeletal Functional Assessment at one year were 11.4 (95%CI 5.3 – 17.4) and 13.2 (1.7 – 24.7) respectively, indicating statistically and clinically significant improved outcomes with TC treatment for more severe acetabular injuries.
Conclusions: Mortality is reduced for patients with unstable pelvic and severe acetabular injuries when care is provided in a TC compared to NTC. Moreover, those with severe acetabular fractures experience improved physical function at one year. Patients with these injuries represent a well-defined subset of trauma patients that should be preferentially triaged or transferred to a Level-1 trauma center
Roughening Induced Deconstruction in (100) Facets of CsCl Type Crystals
The staggered 6-vertex model describes the competition between surface
roughening and reconstruction in (100) facets of CsCl type crystals. Its phase
diagram does not have the expected generic structure, due to the presence of a
fully-packed loop-gas line. We prove that the reconstruction and roughening
transitions cannot cross nor merge with this loop-gas line if these degrees of
freedom interact weakly. However, our numerical finite size scaling analysis
shows that the two critical lines merge along the loop-gas line, with strong
coupling scaling properties. The central charge is much larger than 1.5 and
roughening takes place at a surface roughness much larger than the conventional
universal value. It seems that additional fluctuations become critical
simultaneously.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figure
Phase transitions in a frustrated XY model with zig-zag couplings
We study a new generalized version of the square-lattice frustrated XY model
where unequal ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic couplings are arranged in a
zig-zag pattern. The ratio between the couplings can be used to tune the
system, continuously, from the isotropic square-lattice to the
triangular-lattice frustrated XY model. The model can be physically realized as
a Josephson-junction array with two different couplings, in a magnetic field
corresponding to half-flux quanta per plaquette. Mean-field approximation,
Ginzburg-Landau expansion and finite-size scaling of Monte Carlo simulations
are used to study the phase diagram and critical behavior. Depending on the
value of , two separate transitions or a transition line in the
universality class of the XY-Ising model, with combined and U(1)
symmetries, takes place. In particular, the phase transitions of the standard
square-lattice and triangular-lattice frustrated XY models correspond to two
different cuts through the same transition line. Estimates of the chiral
() critical exponents on this transition line deviate significantly from
the pure Ising values, consistent with that along the critical line of the
XY-Ising model. This suggests that a frustrated XY model or Josephson-junction
array with a zig-zag coupling modulation can provide a physical realization of
the XY-Ising model critical line.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, RevTex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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