1,419 research outputs found
Geometric morphometrics of macro- and meiofaunal priapulid pharyngeal teeth provides a proxy for studying Cambrian “tooth taxa”
Priapulids are marine, benthic ecdysozoan worms that feed using a distinctive toothed pharynx. While only a handful of lineages have survived to the present day, the Cambrian priapulid stem group left behind a rich record of articulated body fossils and characteristic trace fossils in the form of burrows. Recently, the fossil record of isolated priapulid cuticular elements including pharyngeal teeth has gained increased attention as a means of revealing cryptic priapulid taxa otherwise unknown among macrofossils. In this study, we focus on the ecological implications of shape variation in the teeth of extant and extinct priapulids, which display substantial morphological differences between taxa and life stages. We define a landmarking scheme to capture shape variation in priapulid teeth and apply it to our dataset, which includes a breadth of tooth specimens from extant macrofaunal and meiofaunal lineages alongside numerous Cambrian priapulid teeth preserved as isolated small carbonaceous fossils. Through ordination of the principal components of shape, we explore the priapulid tooth morphospace and find evidence that its occupancy has expanded since Cambrian times, indicating a corresponding expansion of the group’s ecological niche. We also employ our geometric morphometric approach to make linear discriminant analysis-based taxon assignments based on tooth morphology, which can be helpful for classifying enigmatic “tooth taxa” known solely from fossil teeth. Finally, we use discriminant analysis to study tooth shapes from a functional perspective, considering known ecologies to characterize the ecological functions of unclassified isolated teeth
Spin-Orbit-Induced Magnetic Anisotropy for Impurities in Metallic Samples I. Surface Anisotropy
Motivated by the recent measurements of Kondo resistivity in thin films and
wires, where the Kondo amplitude is suppressed for thinner samples, the surface
anisotropy for magnetic impurities is studied. That anisotropy is developed in
those cases where in addition to the exchange interaction with the impurity
there is strong spin-orbit interaction for conduction electrons around the
impurity in the ballistic region. The asymmetry in the neighborhood of the
magnetic impurity exhibits the anisotropy axis which, in the case of a
plane surface, is perpendicular to the surface. The anisotropy energy is
for spin , and the anisotropy constant is
inversionally proportional to distance measured from the surface and
. Thus at low temperature the spin is frozen in a singlet or doublet of
lowest energy. The influence of that anisotropy on the electrical resistivity
is the subject of the following paper (part II).Comment: 28 pages, RevTeX (using epsfig), 8 eps figures included, submitted to
PR
Tailings microbial community profile and prediction of its functionality in basins of tungsten mine
In a circular economy concept, where more than 300 million tons of mining and quarrying wastes are produced annually, those are valuable resources, supplying metals that are extracted today by other processes, if innovative methods and processes for efficient extraction of these elements are applied. This work aims to assess microbiological and chemical spatial distribution within two tailing basins from a tungsten mine, using a MiSeq approach targeting the 16S rRNA gene, to relate microbial composition and function with chemical variability, thus, providing information to enhance the efficiency of the exploitation of these secondary sources. The tailings sediments core microbiome comprised members of family Anaerolineacea and genera Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Cellulomonas, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus and Rothia, despite marked differences in tailings physicochemical properties. The higher contents of Al and K shaped the community of Basin 1, while As-S-Fe contents were correlated with the microbiome composition of Basin 2. The predicted metabolic functions of the microbiome were rich in genes related to metabolism pathways and environmental information processing pathways. An in-depth understanding of the tailings microbiome and its metabolic capabilities can provide a direction for the management of tailings disposal sites and maximize their potential as secondary resources
Theory of magnetoresistance in films of dilute magnetic alloys
Earlier a magnetic anisotropy for magnetic impurities nearby the surface of
non-magnetic host was proposed in order to explain the size dependence of the
Kondo effect in dilute magnetic alloys. Recently Giordano has measured the
magnetoresistance of dilute Au(Fe) films for different thicknesses well above
the Kondo temperature . In this way he verified the existence of that
anisotropy even for such a case where the Kondo effect is not dominating. For
detailed comparison of that suggestion with experiments, the magnetic field
dependence of the magnetoresistance is calculated in the lowest approximation,
thus in the second order of the exchange coupling. The strength of the
anisotropy is very close to earlier estimates deduced from the size dependence
of the Kondo resistivity amplitude.Comment: (11 pages, 8 figures, essential changes compared to the old version
Homeomorphic Embedding for Online Termination of Symbolic Methods
Well-quasi orders in general, and homeomorphic embedding in particular, have gained popularity to ensure the termination of techniques for program analysis, specialisation, transformation, and verification. In this paper we survey and discuss this use of homeomorphic embedding and clarify the advantages of such an approach over one using well-founded orders. We also discuss various extensions of the homeomorphic embedding relation. We conclude with a study of homeomorphic embedding in the context of metaprogramming, presenting some new (positive and negative) results and open problems
Light-shift-induced quantum gates for ions in thermal motion
An effective interaction between trapped ions in thermal motion can be generated by illuminating them simultaneously with a single laser resonant with the ionic carrier frequency. The ac Stark-shift induces simultaneous `virtual' two-phonon transitions via several motional modes. Within a certain laser intensity range these transitions can interfere constructively, resulting in a relatively fast, heating-resistant two-qubit logic gate
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