Weak universality of dynamical Φ34\Phi^4_3: non-Gaussian noise

We consider a class of continuous phase coexistence models in three spatial dimensions. The fluctuations are driven by symmetric stationary random fields with sufficient integrability and mixing conditions, but not necessarily Gaussian. We show that, in the weakly nonlinear regime, if the external potential is a symmetric polynomial and a certain average of it exhibits pitchfork bifurcation, then these models all rescale to $\Phi^4_3$ near their critical point.Comment: 37 pages; updated introduction and reference

The communication of timbral intentions between pianists and listeners and its dependence on auditory-visual conditions

The perceptual experiment reported in this article explored whether the communication of five pairs of timbral intentions (bright/dark, heavy/light, round/sharp, tense/relaxed, and dry/velvety) between pianists and listeners is reliable and the extent to which performers' gestures provide visual cues that influence the perceived timbre. Three pianists played three musical excerpts with 10 different timbral intentions (3 × 10 = 30 music stimuli) and 21 piano students were asked to rate perceived timbral qualities on both unipolar Likert scales and non-verbal sensory scales (shape, size, and brightness) under three modes (vision-alone, audio-alone, and audio-visual). The results revealed that nine of the timbral intentions were reliably communicated between the pianists and the listeners, except for the dark timbre. The communication of tense and relaxed timbres was improved by the visual conditions regardless of who is performing; for the rest, we found the individuality in each pianist's preference for using visual cues. The results also revealed a strong cross-modal association between timbre and shape. This study implies that the communication of piano timbre is not based on acoustic cues alone but relates to a shared understanding of sensorimotor experiences between the performers and the listeners

Quantifying the short-term dynamics of soil organic carbon decomposition using a power function model

Introduction Soil heterotrophic respiration (R h, an indicator of soil organic carbon decomposition) is an important carbon efflux of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the dynamics of soil R h and its empirical relations with climatic factors have not been well understood. Methods We incubated soils of three subtropical forests at five temperatures (10, 17, 24, 31, and 38 °C) and five moistures (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% water holding capacity (WHC)) over 90 days. R h was measured throughout the course of the incubation. Three types of models (log-linear, exponential, and power model) were fitted to the measurements and evaluated based on the coefficient of determination (r 2) and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) of the model. Further regression analysis was used to derive the empirical relations between model parameters and the two climatic factors. Results Among the three models, the power function model (R h = R 1 t −k) performed the best in fitting the descending trend of soil R h with incubation time (r 2 \u3e 0.69 for 26 of 30 models). Both R 1 and k generally increased linearly with soil temperature but varied quadratically with soil moisture in the three forest soils. Conclusions This study demonstrated that the power function model was much more accurate than the exponential decay model in describing the decomposition dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) in mineral soils of subtropical forests. The empirical relations and parameter values derived from this incubation study may be incorporated into process-based ecosystem models to simulate R h responses to climate changes

Time delay estimation in the ultrasonic flowmeter in the oil well

AbstractA new prototype of ultrasonic flowmeter used in the oil well is presented. The flowmeter depends on the time delay between the propagating times of the downstream and upstream ultrasonic pulses. The ultrasonic passageway is slanted to prevent the disadvantage introduced by the high viscosity of the oil. Two method of time delay estimation: threshold and cross-correlation are both studied and realized

Crosstalk Impacts on Homogeneous Weakly-Coupled Multicore Fiber Based IM/DD System

We numerically discussed crosstalk impacts on homogeneous weakly-coupled multicore fiber based intensity modulation/direct-detection (IM/DD) systems taking into account mean crosstalk power fluctuation, walk-off between cores, laser frequency offset, and laser linewidth.Comment: 3 pages, 11 figures

Near Isometric Biomass Partitioning in Forest Ecosystems of China

Based on the isometric hypothesis, belowground plant biomass (MB) should scale isometrically with aboveground biomass (MA) and the scaling exponent should not vary with environmental factors. We tested this hypothesis using a large forest biomass database collected in China. Allometric scaling functions relating MB and MA were developed for the entire database and for different groups based on tree age, diameter at breast height, height, latitude, longitude or elevation. To investigate whether the scaling exponent is independent of these biotic and abiotic factors, we analyzed the relationship between the scaling exponent and these factors. Overall MB was significantly related to MA with a scaling exponent of 0.964. The scaling exponent of the allometric function did not vary with tree age, density, latitude, or longitude, but varied with diameter at breast height, height, and elevation. The mean of the scaling exponent over all groups was 0.986. Among 57 scaling relationships developed, 26 of the scaling exponents were not significantly different from 1. Our results generally support the isometric hypothesis. MB scaled near isometrically with MA and the scaling exponent did not vary with tree age, density, latitude, or longitude, but increased with tree size and elevation. While fitting a single allometric scaling relationship may be adequate, the estimation of MB from MA could be improved with size-specific scaling relationships

Restoration of Mangrove Plantations and Colonisation by Native Species in Leizhou Bay, South China

To examine the natural colonization of native mangrove species into remediated exotic mangrove stands in Leizhou Bay, South China, we compared soil physical–chemical properties, community structure and recruitments of barren mangrove areas, native mangrove species plantations, and exotic mangrove species—Sonneratia apetala Buch.Ham—between plantations and natural forest. We found that severely degraded mangrove stands could not regenerate naturally without human intervention due to severely altered local environments, whereas some native species had been recruited into the 4–10 year S. apetala plantations. In the first 10 years, the exotic species S. apetala grew better than native species such as Rhizophora stylosa Griff and Kandelia candel (Linn.) Druce. The mangrove plantation gradually affected soil physical and chemical properties during its recovery. The exotic S. apetala was more competitive than native species and its plantation was able to restore soil organic matter in about 14 years. Thus, S. apetala can be considered as a pioneer species to improve degraded habitats to facilitate recolonization by native mangrove species. However, removal to control proliferation may be needed at late stages to facilitate growth of native species. To ensure sustainability of mangroves in South China, the existing mangrove wetlands must be managed as an ecosystem, with long-term scientific monitoring program in place

Restoration of Mangrove Plantations and Colonisation by Native Species in Leizhou Bay, South China

To examine the natural colonization of native mangrove species into remediated exotic mangrove stands in Leizhou Bay, South China, we compared soil physical–chemical properties, community structure and recruitments of barren mangrove areas, native mangrove species plantations, and exotic mangrove species—Sonneratia apetala Buch.Ham—between plantations and natural forest. We found that severely degraded mangrove stands could not regenerate naturally without human intervention due to severely altered local environments, whereas some native species had been recruited into the 4–10 year S. apetala plantations. In the first 10 years, the exotic species S. apetala grew better than native species such as Rhizophora stylosa Griff and Kandelia candel (Linn.) Druce. The mangrove plantation gradually affected soil physical and chemical properties during its recovery. The exotic S. apetala was more competitive than native species and its plantation was able to restore soil organic matter in about 14 years. Thus, S. apetala can be considered as a pioneer species to improve degraded habitats to facilitate recolonization by native mangrove species. However, removal to control proliferation may be needed at late stages to facilitate growth of native species. To ensure sustainability of mangroves in South China, the existing mangrove wetlands must be managed as an ecosystem, with long-term scientific monitoring program in place