360 research outputs found
Thermal Adaptation and Diversity in Tropical Ecosystems: Evidence from Cicadas (Hemiptera, Cicadidae)
The latitudinal gradient in species diversity is a central problem in ecology. Expeditions covering approximately 16°54′ of longitude and 21°4′ of latitude and eight Argentine phytogeographic regions provided thermal adaptation data for 64 species of cicadas. We test whether species diversity relates to the diversity of thermal environments within a habitat. There are general patterns of the thermal response values decreasing in cooler floristic provinces and decreasing maximum potential temperature within a habitat except in tropical forest ecosystems. Vertical stratification of the plant communities leads to stratification in species using specific layers of the habitat. There is a decrease in thermal tolerances in species from the understory communities in comparison to middle level or canopy fauna. The understory Herrera umbraphila Sanborn & Heath is the first diurnally active cicada identified as a thermoconforming species. The body temperature for activity in H. umbraphila is less than and significantly different from active body temperatures of all other studied species regardless of habitat affiliation. These data suggest that variability in thermal niches within the heterogeneous plant community of the tropical forest environments permits species diversification as species adapt their physiology to function more efficiently at temperatures different from their potential competitors
Nebula Scale Mixing Between Non-Carbonaceous and Carbonaceous Chondrite Reservoirs: Testing the Grand Tack Model with Almahata Sitta Stones
There is an increasing number of Cr-O-Ti isotope studies that show that solar system materials are divided into two main populations, one carbonaceous chondrite (CC)-like and the other is non-carbonaceous (NCC)-like, with minimal mixing between them attributed to a gap opened in the propoplanetary disk due to Jupiter's formation. The Grand Tack model suggests that there should be a particular time in the disk history when this gap is breached and ensuring a subsequent large-scale mixing between S- and C-type asteroids (inner solar system and outer solar system materials), an idea supported by our recent work on chondrule (Delta)17O-(epsilon)54Cr isotope systematics
Spin- and energy relaxation of hot electrons at GaAs surfaces
The mechanisms for spin relaxation in semiconductors are reviewed, and the
mechanism prevalent in p-doped semiconductors, namely spin relaxation due to
the electron-hole exchange interaction, is presented in some depth. It is shown
that the solution of Boltzmann-type kinetic equations allows one to obtain
quantitative results for spin relaxation in semiconductors that go beyond the
original Bir-Aronov-Pikus relaxation-rate approximation. Experimental results
using surface sensitive two-photon photoemission techniques show that the spin
relaxation-time of electrons in p-doped GaAs at a semiconductor/metal surface
is several times longer than the corresponding bulk spin relaxation-times. A
theoretical explanation of these results in terms of the reduced density of
holes in the band-bending region at the surface is presented.Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures; earlier submission replaced by corrected and
expanded version; eps figures now included in the tex
The Minimum-Uncertainty Squeezed States for for Atoms and Photons in a Cavity
We describe a six-parameter family of the minimum-uncertainty squeezed states
for the harmonic oscillator in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. They are
derived by the action of corresponding maximal kinematical invariance group on
the standard ground state solution. We show that the product of the variances
attains the required minimum value 1/4 only at the instances that one variance
is a minimum and the other is a maximum, when the squeezing of one of the
variances occurs. The generalized coherent states are explicitly constructed
and their Wigner function is studied. The overlap coefficients between the
squeezed, or generalized harmonic, and the Fock states are explicitly evaluated
in terms of hypergeometric functions. The corresponding photons statistics are
discussed and some applications to quantum optics, cavity quantum
electrodynamics, and superfocusing in channeling scattering are mentioned.
Explicit solutions of the Heisenberg equations for radiation field operators
with squeezing are found.Comment: 27 pages, no figures, 174 references J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.,
Special Issue celebrating the 20th anniversary of quantum state engineering
(R. Blatt, A. Lvovsky, and G. Milburn, Guest Editors), May 201
Physics-Based Stress Corrosion Cracking Component Reliability Model cast in an R7-Compatible Cumulative Damage Framework
This is a working report drafted under the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization pathway of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, describing statistical models of passives component reliabilities
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Bunburra Rockhole: Exploring the geology of a new differentiated basaltic asteroid
Bunburra Rockhole (BR) is the first recovered meteorite of the Desert Fireball Network. It was initially classified as a basaltic eucrite, based on texture, mineralogy, and mineral chemistry but subsequent O isotopic analyses showed that BR's composition lies significantly far away from the HED group of meteorites. This suggested that BR was not a piece of the HED parent body (4 Vesta), but other explanations could also account for the observed oxygen signatures. Possible scenarios include contamination by components from other bodies (chondrites or other achondrites) or that 4 Vesta may not be as equilibrated as hypothesized. After examining multiple pieces with different instruments (CT scans and x-ray maps), no obvious evidence of contamination was found. If BR is not from Vesta, a conundrum exists as no unusual features were found in mineral and bulk trace element chemistry as exist for other anomalous basaltic achondrites such as Ibitira or Asuka 881394. These meteorites have distinct petrological and geochemical characteristics, in addition to their anomalous O isotope compositions, that set them apart from eucrites. Thus, early results provided a somewhat ambiguous picture of BR's petrogenesis and parentage. To clarify the nature of the relationship, if any, between BR and eucrites, we have performed a correlated stable isotope and bulk chemical study of several lithologic fragments
Integrating transposable elements in the 3D genome
Chromosome organisation is increasingly recognised as an essential component of genome regulation, cell fate and cell health. Within the realm of transposable elements (TEs) however, the spatial information of how genomes are folded is still only rarely integrated in experimental studies or accounted for in modelling. Whilst polymer physics is recognised as an important tool to understand the mechanisms of genome folding, in this commentary we discuss its potential applicability to aspects of TE biology. Based on recent works on the relationship between genome organisation and TE integration, we argue that existing polymer models may be extended to create a predictive framework for the study of TE integration patterns. We suggest that these models may offer orthogonal and generic insights into the integration profiles (or "topography") of TEs across organisms. In addition, we provide simple polymer physics arguments and preliminary molecular dynamics simulations of TEs inserting into heterogeneously flexible polymers. By considering this simple model, we show how polymer folding and local flexibility may generically affect TE integration patterns. The preliminary discussion reported in this commentary is aimed to lay the foundations for a large-scale analysis of TE integration dynamics and topography as a function of the three-dimensional host genome
Measuring, in solution, multiple-fluorophore labeling by combining Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy and photobleaching
Determining the number of fluorescent entities that are coupled to a given
molecule (DNA, protein, etc.) is a key point of numerous biological studies,
especially those based on a single molecule approach. Reliable methods are
important, in this context, not only to characterize the labeling process, but
also to quantify interactions, for instance within molecular complexes. We
combined Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and photobleaching
experiments to measure the effective number of molecules and the molecular
brightness as a function of the total fluorescence count rate on solutions of
cDNA (containing a few percent of C bases labeled with Alexa Fluor 647). Here,
photobleaching is used as a control parameter to vary the experimental outputs
(brightness and number of molecules). Assuming a Poissonian distribution of the
number of fluorescent labels per cDNA, the FCS-photobleaching data could be
easily fit to yield the mean number of fluorescent labels per cDNA strand (@
2). This number could not be determined solely on the basis of the cDNA
brightness, because of both the statistical distribution of the number of
fluorescent labels and their unknown brightness when incorporated in cDNA. The
statistical distribution of the number of fluorophores labeling cDNA was
confirmed by analyzing the photon count distribution (with the cumulant
method), which showed clearly that the brightness of cDNA strands varies from
one molecule to the other.Comment: 38 pages (avec les figures
New Meteorite Type NWA 8159 Augite Basalt: Specimen from a Previously Unsampled Location on Mars?
Up until recently the orthopyroxenite ALH 84001, a singleton martian meteorite type, was the only sample that did not fit within the common SNC types. However with the discovery of the unique basaltic breccia NWA 7034 pairing group [1] the diversity of martian meteorites beyond SNC types was expanded, and now with Northwest Africa (NWA) 8159, and its possible pairing NWA 7635 [2], the diversiy is expanded further with a third unique non-SNC meteorite type. The existence of meteorite types beyond the narrow range seen in SNCs is what might be expected from a random cratering sampling of a geologically long-lived and complex planet such as Mars
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