643 research outputs found
Limaria hians (Mollusca : Limacea): a neglected reef-forming keystone species
1. A key component of physical habitat along braided river systems is the exposed riverine sediment within the active zone. The relatively unmanaged, gravel-bed Fiume Tagliamento, Italy, provides the focus for exploring two ecologically important properties of exposed riverine sediments: their within-patch and between-patch variability in calibre.
2. To characterize between-patch variation in exposed riverine sediments, replicate (within-patch) samples were obtained from three geomorphologically distinct locations along 130 km of the river: bar heads along the margin of the low-flow channel, the heads of major bars across the exposed surface of the active zone, and floodplain surfaces. A photographic technique enabled rapid and consistent field sampling of the coarse sediments at bar heads along the low-flow channel margin and on major bars across the dry bed.
3. A downstream decrease in particle size and an increase in within-patch heterogeneity in sediment size were observed within bar head sediments along the margin of the low-flow channel. Comparisons between major bar and low-flow channel samples revealed greatest within-patch variability in individual sediment size indices (D50, A- and B-axes of the larger particles) at headwater sites, greatest between-patch variability in the three measured indices in the central reaches, and lowest between-patch variability at downstream sites. However, there was a distinct increase in the overall heterogeneity in particle size, which was sustained across all patches, in a downstream direction.
4. There was a clear downstream decrease in the size of floodplain sediments in the headwaters, but thereafter there was no distinct downstream trend in any of the calculated particle size indices.
5. The geomorphological controls on the observed patterns and the potential ecological significance of the patterns, particularly for plant establishment, are discussed in relation to the relative relief of the active zone, and the highly variable hydrological and climatic regime along the river
Beyond brain reading: randomized sparsity and clustering to simultaneously predict and identify
International audienceThe prediction of behavioral covariates from functional MRI (fMRI) is known as brain reading. From a statistical standpoint, this challenge is a supervised learning task. The ability to predict cognitive states from new data gives a model selection criterion: prediction accu- racy. While a good prediction score implies that some of the voxels used by the classifier are relevant, one cannot state that these voxels form the brain regions involved in the cognitive task. The best predictive model may have selected by chance non-informative regions, and neglected rele- vant regions that provide duplicate information. In this contribution, we address the support identification problem. The proposed approach relies on randomization techniques which have been proved to be consistent for support recovery. To account for the spatial correlations between voxels, our approach makes use of a spatially constrained hierarchical clustering algorithm. Results are provided on simulations and a visual experiment
String Necklaces and Primordial Black Holes from Type IIB Strings
We consider a model of static cosmic string loops in type IIB string theory,
where the strings wrap cycles within the internal space. The strings are not
topologically stabilised, however the presence of a lifting potential traps the
windings giving rise to kinky cycloops. We find that PBH formation occurs at
early times in a small window, whilst at late times we observe the formation of
dark matter relics in the scaling regime. This is in stark contrast to previous
predictions based on field theoretic models. We also consider the PBH
contribution to the mass density of the universe, and use the experimental data
to impose bounds on the string theory parameters.Comment: 45 pages, 9 figures, LaTeX; published versio
Out-of-equilibrium singlet-triplet Kondo effect in a single C_60 quantum dot
We have used an electromigration technique to fabricate a
single-molecule transistor (SMT). Besides describing our electromigration
procedure, we focus and present an experimental study of a single molecule
quantum dot containing an even number of electrons, revealing, for two
different samples, a clear out-of-equilibrium Kondo effect. Low temperature
magneto-transport studies are provided, which demonstrates a Zeeman splitting
of the finite bias anomaly.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Fluvial lateral environments in Río de La Plata basin: effects of hydropower damming and eutrophication
Alpha-Photon Coincidence Spectroscopy Along Element 115 Decay Chains
Produced in the reaction 48Ca+243Am, thirty correlated α-decay chains were observed in an experiment conducted at the GSI Helmholzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany. The decay chains are basically consistent with previous findings and are considered to originate from isotopes of element 115 with mass numbers 287, 288, and 289. A set-up aiming specifically for high-resolution charged particle and photon coincidence spectroscopy was placed behind the gas-filled separator TASCA. For the first time, γ rays as well as X-ray candidates were observed in prompt coincidence with the α-decay chains of element 115
The Anatomic Variations of the Circle of Willis in Preterm-at-Term and Term-Born Infants: An MR Angiography Study at 3T
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