Combined use of 16S ribosomal DNA and 16S rRNA to study the bacterial community of polychlorinated biphenyl-polluted soil

The bacterial diversity assessed from clone libraries prepared from rRNA (two libraries) and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) (one library) from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-polluted soil has been analyzed. A good correspondence of the community composition found in the two types of library was observed. Nearly 29% of the cloned sequences in the rDNA library were identical to sequences in the rRNA libraries. More than 60% of the total cloned sequence types analyzed were grouped in phylogenetic groups (a clone group with sequence similarity higher than 97% [98% for Burkholderia andPseudomonas-type clones]) represented in both types of libraries. Some of those phylogenetic groups, mostly represented by a single (or pair) of cloned sequence type(s), were observed in only one of the types of library. An important difference between the libraries was the lack of clones representative of the Actinobacteriain the rDNA library. The PCB-polluted soil exhibited a high bacterial diversity which included representatives of two novel lineages. The apparent abundance of bacteria affiliated to the beta-subclass of theProteobacteria, and to the genus Burkholderiain particular, was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. The possible influence on apparent diversity of low template concentrations was assessed by dilution of the RNA template prior to amplification by reverse transcription-PCR. Although differences in the composition of the two rRNA libraries obtained from high and low RNA concentrations were observed, the main components of the bacterial community were represented in both libraries, and therefore their detection was not compromised by the lower concentrations of template used in this study

Scaling treatment of the random field Ising model

Analytic phenomenological scaling is carried out for the random field Ising model in general dimensions using a bar geometry. Domain wall configurations and their decorated profiles and associated wandering and other exponents $(\zeta,\gamma,\delta,\mu)$ are obtained by free energy minimization. Scaling between different bar widths provides the renormalization group (RG) transformation. Its consequences are (1) criticality at $h=T=0$ in $d \leq 2$ with correlation length $\xi(h,T)$ diverging like $\xi(h,0) \propto h^{-2/(2-d)}$ for $d<2$ and $\xi(h,0) \propto \exp[1/(c_1\gamma h^{\gamma})]$ for $d=2$, where $c_1$ is a decoration constant; (2) criticality in $d = 2+\epsilon$ dimensions at $T=0$, $h^{\ast}= (\epsilon/2c_1)^{1/\gamma}$, where $\xi \propto [(s-s^{\ast})/s]^{-2\epsilon/\gamma}$, $s \equiv h^{\gamma}$. Finite temperature generalizations are outlined. Numerical transfer matrix calculations and results from a ground state algorithm adapted for strips in $d=2$ confirm the ingredients which provide the RG description.Comment: RevTex v3.0, 5 pages, plus 4 figures uuencode

Search For A Permanent Electric Dipole Moment Using Atomic Indium

We propose indium (In) as a possible candidate for observing the permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) arising from the violations of parity (P) and time-reversal (T) symmetries. This atom has been laser cooled and therefore the measurement of its EDM has the potential of improving on the current best EDM limit for a paramagnetic atom which comes from thallium. We report the results of our calculations of the EDM enhancement factor due to the electron EDM and the ratio of the atomic EDM to the electron-nucleus scalar-pseudoscalar (S-PS) interaction coupling constant in In in the framework of the relativistic coupled cluster theory. It might be possible to get new limits for the electron EDM and the S-PS CP violating coupling constant by combining the results of our calculations with the measured value of the EDM of In when it is available. These limits could have important implications for the standard model (SM) of particle physics.Comment: 5 pages, 1 fig, Rapid Communicatio

The Escape of Ionizing Photons from the Galaxy

The Magellanic Stream and several high velocity clouds have now been detected in optical line emission. The observed emission measures and kinematics are most plausibly explained by photoionization due to hot, young stars in the Galactic disk. The highly favorable orientation of the Stream allows an unambiguous determination of the fraction of ionizing photons, F_esc, which escape the disk. We have modelled the production and transport of ionizing photons through an opaque interstellar medium. Normalization to the Stream detections requires F_esc = 6%, in reasonable agreement with the flux required to ionize the Reynolds layer. Neither shock heating nor emission within a hot Galactic corona can be important in producing the observed H-alpha emission. If such a large escape fraction is typical of L_* galaxies, star-forming systems dominate the extragalactic ionizing background. Within the context of this model, both the three-dimensional orientation of the Stream and the distances to high-velocity clouds can be determined by sensitive H-alpha observations.Comment: 4 pages; LaTeX2e, emulateapj.sty, apjfonts.sty; 4 encapsulated PS figures. For correct labels, may need to print Fig. 3 separately due to psfig limitation. Astrophysical Journal (Letters), accepte

The Extended Range X-Ray Telescope center director's discretionary fund report

An Extended Range X-Ray Telescope (ERXRT) of high sensitivity and spatial resolution capable of functioning over a broad region of the X-ray/XUV portion of the spectrum has been designed and analyzed. This system has been configured around the glancing-incidence Wolter Type I X-ray mirror system which was flown on the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount as ATM Experiment S-056. Enhanced sensitivity over a vastly broader spectral range can be realized by the utilization of a thinned, back-illuminated, buried-channel Charge Coupled Device (CCD) as the X-ray/XUV detector rather than photographic film. However, to maintain the high spatial resolution inherent in the X-ray optics when a CCD of 30 micron pixel size is used, it is necessary to increase the telescope plate scale. This can be accomplished by use of a glancing-incidence X-ray microscope to enlarge and re-focus the primary image onto the focal surface of the CCD

Infinite Randomness Phases and Entanglement Entropy of the Disordered Golden Chain

Topological insulators supporting non-abelian anyonic excitations are at the center of attention as candidates for topological quantum computation. In this paper, we analyze the ground-state properties of disordered non-abelian anyonic chains. The resemblance of fusion rules of non-abelian anyons and real space decimation strongly suggests that disordered chains of such anyons generically exhibit infinite-randomness phases. Concentrating on the disordered golden chain model with nearest-neighbor coupling, we show that Fibonacci anyons with the fusion rule $\tau\otimes\tau={\bf 1}\oplus \tau$ exhibit two infinite-randomness phases: a random-singlet phase when all bonds prefer the trivial fusion channel, and a mixed phase which occurs whenever a finite density of bonds prefers the $\tau$ fusion channel. Real space RG analysis shows that the random-singlet fixed point is unstable to the mixed fixed point. By analyzing the entanglement entropy of the mixed phase, we find its effective central charge, and find that it increases along the RG flow from the random singlet point, thus ruling out a c-theorem for the effective central charge.Comment: 16 page

Toward an accurate mass function for precision cosmology

Cosmological surveys aim to use the evolution of the abundance of galaxy clusters to accurately constrain the cosmological model. In the context of LCDM, we show that it is possible to achieve the required percent level accuracy in the halo mass function with gravity-only cosmological simulations, and we provide simulation start and run parameter guidelines for doing so. Some previous works have had sufficient statistical precision, but lacked robust verification of absolute accuracy. Convergence tests of the mass function with, for example, simulation start redshift can exhibit false convergence of the mass function due to counteracting errors, potentially misleading one to infer overly optimistic estimations of simulation accuracy. Percent level accuracy is possible if initial condition particle mapping uses second order Lagrangian Perturbation Theory, and if the start epoch is between 10 and 50 expansion factors before the epoch of halo formation of interest. The mass function for halos with fewer than ~1000 particles is highly sensitive to simulation parameters and start redshift, implying a practical minimum mass resolution limit due to mass discreteness. The narrow range in converged start redshift suggests that it is not presently possible for a single simulation to capture accurately the cluster mass function while also starting early enough to model accurately the numbers of reionisation era galaxies, whose baryon feedback processes may affect later cluster properties. Ultimately, to fully exploit current and future cosmological surveys will require accurate modeling of baryon physics and observable properties, a formidable challenge for which accurate gravity-only simulations are just an initial step.Comment: revised in response to referee suggestions, MNRAS accepte

Omnidirectional scattering of ultrasonic waves from rough surfaces of known statistics with application to electromagnetic scattering

Directional properties of ultrasonic waves scattered from rough surfaces with applications to electromagnetic scatterin

Measurement of Lande g factor of 5D5/2 state of BaII with a single trapped ion

We present the first terrestrial measurement of the Lande g factor of the 5D5/2 state of singly ionized barium. Measurements were performed on single Doppler-cooled 138Ba+ ions in a linear Paul trap. A frequency-stabilized fiber laser with nominal wavelength 1.762 um was scanned across the 6S1/25D5/2 transition to spectroscopically resolve transitions between Zeeman sublevels of the ground and excited states. From the relative positions of the four narrow transitions observed at several different values for the applied magnetic field, we find a value of 1.2020+/-0.0005 for g of 5D5/2.Comment: 3 figure