4,006 research outputs found
Strong increase of photosynthetic pigments and leaf size in a pruned Ginkgo biloba tree
A 50-year-old solitary, sun-exposed ginkgo tree had strongly been pruned in the fall of 2021. Very few buds for the formation of new leaves, twigs, and branches were left over. In spring 2022, these few remaining buds responded with the formation of a different leaf type. These leaves were 2.7 times larger and also thicker than in the years before. In addition, the mean content of total chlorophylls [Chl (a+b)] per leaf area unit of dark-green leaves was 1.45, those of green leaves two times higher as compared to the years leaves as compared to 435 to 770 mg m-2 in leaves of other trees. The higher values for Chl (a+b) and total carotenoid content showed up also on a fresh and dry mass basis. Thus, with the formation of a new, larger leaf type by changes in morphology (leaf size and thickness) and the increase of photosynthetic pigments, the pruned ginkgo tree was able to compensate for the much lower number of leaves and photosynthetic units
Detection of weak lensing by a cluster of galaxies at z=0.83
We report the detection of weak gravitational lensing of faint, distant
background galaxies by the rich, X-ray luminous cluster of galaxies MS1054-03
at z=0.83. This is the first measurement of weak lensing by a bona fide cluster
at such a high redshift. We detect tangential shear at the 5% - 10% level over
a range of radii 50'' < r < 250'' centered on the optical position of the
cluster. Two-dimensional mass reconstruction using galaxies with 21.5 < I <
25.5 shows a strong peak which coincides with the peak of the smoothed cluster
light distribution. Splitting this sample by magnitude (at I = 23.5) and color
(at R-I = 0.7), we find that the brighter and redder subsamples are only very
weakly distorted, indicating that the faint blue galaxies (FBG's), which
dominate the shear signal, are relatively more distant. The derived cluster
mass is quite sensitive to the N(z) for the FBG's. At one extreme, if all the
FBG's are at z_s = 3, then the mass within a Mpc aperture is \h1 , and the mass-to-light ratio is in solar units. For the derived mass is 70\%
higher and . If follows the no evolution model (in
shape) then , and if all the FBG's lie at z_s\la 1 the
required exceeds . These data provide clear evidence that large,
dense mass concentrations existed at early epochs; that they can be weighed
efficiently by weak lensing observations; and that most of the FBG's are at
high redshift.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 15 pages (incl 8 figs, 3 of which are plates).
Plate images not included, but are available from
ftp://hubble.ifa.hawaii.edu/pub/ger/ms1054/ms1054_fig[1,3,5].ps.
First Interferometric Observations of Molecular Gas in a Polar Ring: The Helix Galaxy NGC 2685
We have detected four Giant Molecular cloud Associations (GMAs) (sizes <
6.6'' ~ 430 pc) in the western and eastern region of the polar ring in NGC2685
(the Helix galaxy) using the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) millimeter
interferometer. Emission from molecular gas is found close to the brightest
Halpha and HI peaks in the polar ring and is confirmed by new IRAM 30m single
dish observations. The CO and HI line velocities are very similar, providing
additional kinematic confirmation that the CO emission emerges from the polar
ring. For the first time, the total molecular mass within a polar ring is
determined (M_H2~(8-11)x10^6 M_sol, using the standard Galactic conversion
factor). We detect about M_H2~4.4x10^6 M_sol in the nuclear region with the
single dish. Our upper limit derived from the interferometric data is lower
(M_H2<0.7x10^6 M_sol) suggesting that the molecular gas is distributed in an
extended (< 1.3 kpc) diffuse disk. These new values are an order of magnitude
lower than in previous reports. The total amount of molecular gas and the
atomic gas content of the polar ring are consistent with formation due to
accretion of a small gas-rich object, such as a dwarf irregular. The properties
of the NGC2685 system suggest that the polar ring and the host galaxy have been
in a stable configuration for a considerable time (few Gyr). The second (outer)
HI ring within the disk of NGC2685 is very likely at the outer Lindblad
resonance (OLR) of the ~ 11 kpc long stellar bar.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter
The complex geometry of holographic flows of quiver gauge theories
We argue that the complete Klebanov-Witten flow solution must be described by
a Calabi-Yau metric on the conifold, interpolating between the orbifold at
infinity and the cone over T^(1,1) in the interior. We show that the complete
flow solution is characterized completely by a single, simple, quasi-linear,
second order PDE, or "master equation," in two variables. We show that the
Pilch-Warner flow solution is almost Calabi-Yau: It has a complex structure, a
hermitian metric, and a holomorphic (3,0)-form that is a square root of the
volume form. It is, however, not Kahler. We discuss the relationship between
the master equation derived here for Calabi-Yau geometries and such equations
encountered elsewhere and that govern supersymmetric backgrounds with multiple,
independent fluxes.Comment: 26 pages, harvmac + amssy
A Framework to Manage the Complex Organisation of Collaborating: Its Application to Autonomous Systems
In this paper we present an analysis of the complexities of large group
collaboration and its application to develop detailed requirements for
collaboration schema for Autonomous Systems (AS). These requirements flow from
our development of a framework for collaboration that provides a basis for
designing, supporting and managing complex collaborative systems that can be
applied and tested in various real world settings. We present the concepts of
"collaborative flow" and "working as one" as descriptive expressions of what
good collaborative teamwork can be in such scenarios. The paper considers the
application of the framework within different scenarios and discuses the
utility of the framework in modelling and supporting collaboration in complex
organisational structures
Coupling langmuir with michaelis-menten-a practical alternative to estimate se content in rice?
Selenium plays an important, but vastly neglected role in human nutrition with a narrow gap between dietary deficiency and toxicity. For a potential biofortification of food with Se, as well as for toxicity-risk assessment in sites contaminated by Se, modelling of local and global Se cycling is essential. As bioavailability of Se for rice plants depends on the speciation of Se and the resulting interactions with mineral surfaces as well as the interaction with Se uptake mechanisms in plants, resulting plant Se content is complex to model. Unfortunately, simple experimental models to estimate Se uptake into plants from substrates have been lacking. Therefore, a mass balance of Se transfer between lithosphere (represented by kaolinite), hydrosphere (represented by a controlled nutrient solution), and biosphere (represented by rice plants) has been established. In a controlled, closed, lab-scale system, rice plants were grown hydroponically in nutrient solution supplemented with 0–10000 μgL¯¹ Se of either selenite or selenite. Furthermore, in a series of batch experiments, adsorption and desorption were studied for selenite and selenite in competition with each of the major nutrient oxy-anions, nitrate, sulfate and phosphate. In a third step, the hydroponical plants experiments were coupled with sorption experiments to study synergy effects. These data were used to develop a mass balance fitting model of Se uptake and partitioning. Adsorption was well-described by Langmuir isotherms, despite competing anions, however, a certain percentage of Se always remained bio-unavailable to the plant. Uptake of selenite or selenite by transporters into the rice plant was fitted with the non-time differentiated Michaelis-Menten equation. Subsequent sequestration of Se to the shoot was better described using a substrate-inhibited variation of the Michaelis-Menten equation. These fitted parameters were then integrated into a mass balance model of Se transfer
Composite Supersymmetries in low-dimensional systems
Starting from a N=1 scalar supermultiplet in 2+1 dimensions, we demonstrate
explicitly the appearance of induced N=1 vector and scalar supermultiplets of
composite operators made out of the fundamental supersymmetric constituents. We
discuss an extension to a N=2 superalgebra with central extension, due to the
existence of topological currents in 2+1 dimensions. As a specific model we
consider a supersymmetric -model as the constituent theory, and
discuss the relevance of these results for an effective description of the
infrared dynamics of planar high-temperature superconducting condensed matter
models with quasiparticle excitations near nodal points of their Fermi surface.Comment: 20 pages Latex, no figure
A Diagramatic Analysis of Duality in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories
We introduce a diagramatic notation for supersymmetric gauge theories. The
notation is a tool for exploring duality and helps to present the field content
of more complicated models in a simple visual way. We introduce the notation
with a few examples from the literature. The power of the formalism allows us
to study new models with gauge group and their duals. Amongst these
are models which, contrary to a naive analysis, possess no conformal phase.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, figures include
Supergravity Instabilities of Non-Supersymmetric Quantum Critical Points
Motivated by the recent use of certain consistent truncations of M-theory to
study condensed matter physics using holographic techniques, we study the
SU(3)-invariant sector of four-dimensional, N=8 gauged supergravity and compute
the complete scalar spectrum at each of the five non-trivial critical points.
We demonstrate that the smaller SU(4)^- sector is equivalent to a consistent
truncation studied recently by various authors and find that the critical point
in this sector, which has been proposed as the ground state of a holographic
superconductor, is unstable due to a family of scalars that violate the
Breitenlohner-Freedman bound. We also derive the origin of this instability in
eleven dimensions and comment on the generalization to other embeddings of this
critical point which involve arbitrary Sasaki-Einstein seven manifolds. In the
spirit of a resurging interest in consistent truncations, we present a formal
treatment of the SU(3)-invariant sector as a U(1)xU(1) gauged N=2 supergravity
theory coupled to one hypermultiplet.Comment: 46 page
Infrared-Faint Radio Sources: A New Population of High-redshift Radio Galaxies
We present a sample of 1317 Infrared-Faint Radio Sources (IFRSs) that, for
the first time, are reliably detected in the infrared, generated by
cross-correlating the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky survey
with major radio surveys. Our IFRSs are brighter in both radio and infrared
than the first generation IFRSs that were undetected in the infrared by the
Spitzer Space Telescope. We present the first spectroscopic redshifts of IFRSs,
and find that all but one of the IFRSs with spectroscopy has z > 2. We also
report the first X-ray counterparts of IFRSs, and present an analysis of radio
spectra and polarization, and show that they include Gigahertz-Peaked Spectrum,
Compact Steep Spectrum, and Ultra-Steep Spectrum sources. These results,
together with their WISE infrared colours and radio morphologies, imply that
our sample of IFRSs represents a population of radio-loud Active Galactic
Nuclei at z > 2. We conclude that our sample consists of lower-redshift
counterparts of the extreme first generation IFRSs, suggesting that the fainter
IFRSs are at even higher redshift.Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures. Submitted to MNRA
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