Fracture zones in the Mid Atlantic Ridge lead to alterations in prokaryotic and viral parameters in deep-water masses

We hypothesized that mixing zones of deep-water masses act as ecotones leading to alterations in microbial diversity and activity due to changes in the biogeochemical characteristics of these boundary systems. We determined the changes in prokaryotic and viral abundance and production in the Vema Fracture Zone (VFZ) of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, where North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) are funneled through this narrow canyon and therefore, are subjected to intense vertical mixing. Consequently, salinity, potential temperature, oxygen, PO4, SiO4, NO3 were altered in the NADW inside the VFZ as compared to the NADW outside of the VFZ. Also, viral abundance, lytic viral production (VP) and the virus-to-prokaryote ratio (VPR) were elevated in the NADW in the VFZ as compared to the NADW outside the VFZ. In contrast to lytic VP, lysogenic VP and both the frequency of lytically (FIC) and lysogenically infected cells (FLC) did not significantly differ between in- and outside the VFZ. Generally, FIC was higher than FLC throughout the water column. Prokaryotic (determined by T-RFLP) and viral (determined by RAPD-PCR) community composition was depth-stratified inside and outside the VFZ. The viral community was more modified both with depth and over distance inside the VFZ as compared to the northern section and to the prokaryotic communities. However, no clusters of prokaryotic and viral communities characteristic for the VFZ were identified. Based on our observations, we conclude that turbulent mixing of the deep water masses impacts not only the physico-chemical parameters of the mixing zone but also the interaction between viruses and prokaryotes due to a stimulation of the overall activity. However, only minor effects of deep water mixing were observed on the community composition of the dominant prokaryotes and viruses

Effect of Treatment and Cultivar on the Ensiling of Corn Stover

Nine cultivars of corn stover selected for ethanol potential were harvested (34 to 40% dry matter) and each ensiled with six treatments: untreated, lactic acid bacteria, cell-wall degrading enzymes, sulfuric acid, bacteria-enzyme combination and enzyme-acid combination. Ensiling was carried out in vacuum-sealed bags at ~22°C for 60 d. The untreated stovers ensiled well. Lactic acid bacteria and enzyme treatments had no effect on pH, but the bacteria-enzyme combination lowered pH in some cultivars. The acid and acid-enzyme treatments had low pH values ranging from 1.3 to 1.5. Lactic acid was generally highest in the bacteria-enzyme treatment whereas acetic acid was highest for the acid treatments. The acid treatments substantially reduced hemicellulose. Potential ethanol yield on average was highest in the bacteria-enzyme treatments

Effect of Alfalfa Silage Storage Structure and Roasting Corn on Production and Ruminal Metabolism of Lactating Dairy Cows

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine if feeding roasted corn would improve production and nutrient utilization when supplemented to lactating cows fed 1 of 3 different alfalfa silages (AS). Forty-two lactating Holstein cows (6 fitted with ruminal cannulas) averaging 77 d in milk and 43kg of milk/d pretrial were assigned to 2 cyclic changeover designs. Treatments were AS ensiled in bag, bunker, or O 2 -limiting tower silos and supplemented with ground shelled corn (GSC) or roasted GSC (RGSC). Silages were prepared from second-cutting alfalfa, field-wilted an average of 24h, and ensiled over 2 d. Production and N utilization were evaluated in 36 cows during four 28-d periods, and ruminal fermentation was evaluated with 6 cows during five 21-d periods. Experimental diets contained 40% AS, 15% corn silage, and 35% of either GSC or RGSC on a dry matter basis. No significant interactions between AS and corn sources were detected for any production trait. Although the chemical composition of the 3 AS was similar, feeding AS from the O 2 -limited tower silo elicited positive production responses. Yields of 3.5% fat-corrected milk and fat were increased 1.7kg/d and 150g/d, and milk fat content was increased 0.3% when cows were fed diets based on AS from the O 2 -limiting silo compared with the other 2 silages. The responses in milk fat were paralleled by an average increase in acid detergent fiber digestibility of 270g/d for cows fed AS from the O 2 -limiting tower silo. However, ruminal concentrations of lipogenic volatile fatty acids were unchanged with AS source. Cows fed RGSC consumed 0.6kg/d more dry matter and yielded 30g/d more protein and 50g/d more lactose than cows fed GSC diets. There was no evidence of increased total tract digestibility of organic matter or starch, or reduced ruminal NH 3 concentration, when feeding RGSC. Free amino acids increased, and isovalerate decreased in rumen fluid from cows fed RGSC diets. However, responses in production with roasted corn were mainly due to increased dry matter intake, which increased the supply of energy and nutrients available for synthesis of milk and milk components

QCD/String holographic mapping and high energy scattering amplitudes

We find a one to one mapping between low energy string dilaton states in AdS bulk and high energy glueball states on the corresponding boundary. This holographic mapping leads to a relation between bulk and boundary scattering amplitudes. From this relation and the dilaton action we find the appropriate momentum scaling for high energy QCD amplitudes at fixed angles.Comment: Minor changes in text. Version accepted for publication in PL

Quarkonium from the Fifth Dimension

Adding fundamental matter of mass m_Q to N=4 Yang Mills theory, we study quarkonium, and "generalized quarkonium" containing light adjoint particles. At large 't Hooft coupling the states of spin<=1 are anomalously light (Kruczenski et al., hep-th/0304032). We examine their form factors, and show these hadrons are unlike any known in QCD. By a traditional yardstick they appear infinite in size (as with strings in flat space) but we show that this is a failure of the yardstick. All of the hadrons are actually of finite size ~ \sqrt{g^2N}/m_Q, regardless of their radial excitation level and of how many valence adjoint particles they contain. Certain form factors for spin-1 quarkonia vanish in the large-g^2N limit; thus these hadrons resemble neither the observed J/Psi quarkonium states nor rho mesons.Comment: 57 pages, LaTeX, 5 figure

Linearized Gravity in Isotropic Coordinates in the Brane World

We solve the Einstein equations in the Randall-Sundrum framework using an isotropic ansatz for the metric and obtain an exact expression to first order in the gravitational coupling. The solution is free from metric singularities away from the source and it satisfies the Israel matching condition on a straight brane. At distances far away from the source and on the physical brane this solution coincides with the 4-D Schwarzschild metric in isotropic coordinates. Furthermore we show that the extension of the standard Schwarzschild horizon in the bulk is tubular for any diagonal form of the metric while there is no restriction for the extension of the Schwarzschild horizon in isotropic coordinates.Comment: 13 pages, plain Te

Strong tree level unitarity violations in the extra dimensional Standard Model with scalars in the bulk

We show how the tree level unitarity violations of compactified extra dimensional extensions of the Standard Model become much stronger when the scalar sector is included in the bulk. This effect occurs when the couplings are not suppressed for larger Kaluza-Klein levels, and could have relevant consequences for the phenomenology of the next generation of colliders. We also introduce a simple and generic formalism to obtain unitarity bounds for finite energies, taking into account coupled channels including the towers of Kaluza-Klein excitations.Comment: Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D Typos corrected and remarks added to clarify figure

Holographic Normal Ordering and Multi-particle States in the AdS/CFT Correspondence

The general correlator of composite operators of N=4 supersymmetric gauge field theory is divergent. We introduce a means for renormalizing these correlators by adding a boundary theory on the AdS space correcting for the divergences. Such renormalizations are not equivalent to the standard normal ordering of current algebras in two dimensions. The correlators contain contact terms that contribute to the OPE; we relate them diagrammatically to correlation functions of compound composite operators dual to multi-particle states.Comment: 18 pages, one equation corr., further comments and refs. adde

Light-Front Hadron Dynamics and AdS/CFT Correspondence

A remarkable consequence of the AdS/CFT correspondence is the nonperturbative derivation of dimensional counting rules for hard scattering processes. Using string/gauge duality we derive the QCD power behavior of light-front Fock-state hadronic wavefunctions for hard scattering in the large-$r$ region of the AdS space from the conformal isometries which determine the scaling of string states as we approach the boundary from the interior of AdS space. The nonperturbative scaling results are obtained for spin-zero and spin-\half hadrons and are extended to include the orbital angular momentum dependence of the constituents in the light-front Fock-expansion. The correspondence with string states is considered for hadronic states of arbitrary orbital angular momentum for a given hadron of spin $\leq 2$. We examine the implications of the color configuration of hadronic Fock-states for the QCD structure of scattering amplitudes at large $N_C$. Quark interchange amplitudes emerge as the dominant large $N_C$ scattering mechanisms for conformal QCD.Comment: LaTex, 21 pages. Additional references, corrected color factors, and corrected Dirac conformal dimension