Is silt the most influential soil grain size fraction?

The contribution of individual grain size fractions (2000–500, 500–250, 250–63, 63–2 and < 2 μm) to bulk soil surface area and reactivity is discussed with reference to mineralogical and oxalate and dithionite extractions data. The 63–2 μm fraction contributed up to 56% and 67% of bulk soil volume and BET surface area, respectively. Consideration of these observations and the mineralogy of this fraction suggest that the 63–2 μm fraction may be the most influential for the release of elements via mineral dissolution in the bulk soil

Cumulant ratios and their scaling functions for Ising systems in strip geometries

We calculate the fourth-order cumulant ratio (proposed by Binder) for the two-dimensional Ising model in a strip geometry L x oo. The Density Matrix Renormalization Group method enables us to consider typical open boundary conditions up to L=200. Universal scaling functions of the cumulant ratio are determined for strips with parallel as well as opposing surface fields.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, one .eps figure; references added, format change

Identifying conservation units after large-scale land clearing: a spatio-temporal molecular survey of endangered white-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus spp.)

Aim: We examined how the threatened and endemic white-tailed black cockatoos of Western Australia have responded genetically to recent and comprehensive habitat loss with the ultimate aim of identifying units for conservation. We assessed the population structure, connectivity and genetic diversity at spatial and temporal scales for Calyptorhynchus baudinii and C. latirostris, which have undergone dramatic population declines. Genetic comparisons of pre- and post-population decline were carried out by including historical samples dating back to 1920. We examined samples collected from across 700 km of their distribution and sampled approximately 1% of the current population census size to produce significant insights into the population genetics of white-tailed black cockatoos and generate genetic information crucial for conservation management. Location: Southwest corner of Western Australia. Methods: Six hundred and eighty-four cockatoo samples were collected from 1920 to 2010 and profiled with 19 microsatellites to identify spatial population structure and loss of genetic diversity.Results: The temporal and spatial microsatellite data illustrated that the geographically defined genetic structuring in white-tailed black cockatoos is likely to represent a recent phenomenon. We identified: (1) spatial population substructure east and west of extensively cleared habitat (>95,800 km2), but the historical samples clustered with the current western population, regardless of origin, (2) a regional loss of allelic diversity over 3–4 generations for the current eastern population, (3) a lack of a genetic signal of the recent population decline, but perhaps a mid-Holocene population collapse and lastly, (4) limited genetic differentiation between the two currently recognized white-tailed black-cockatoo species suggests a review of taxonomy and/or management units should be undertaken. Main conclusion: Based on extensive spatio-temporal sampling, we have demonstrated that recent anthropogenic habitat modifications have affected the genetic structure of a long-lived and highly mobile species. Our results have identified areas of high conservation value and the importance of maintaining native vegetation migration corridors

Quantum-fluctuation-induced repelling interaction of quantum string between walls

Quantum string, which was brought into discussion recently as a model for the stripe phase in doped cuprates, is simulated by means of the density-matrix-renormalization-group method. String collides with adjacent neighbors, as it wonders, owing to quantum zero-point fluctuations. The energy cost due to the collisions is our main concern. Embedding a quantum string between rigid walls with separation d, we found that for sufficiently large d, collision-induced energy cost obeys the formula \sim exp (- A d^alpha) with alpha=0.808(1), and string's mean fluctuation width grows logarithmically \sim log d. Those results are not understood in terms of conventional picture that the string is `disordered,' and only the short-wave-length fluctuations contribute to collisions. Rather, our results support a recent proposal that owing to collisions, short-wave-length fluctuations are suppressed, but instead, long-wave-length fluctuations become significant. This mechanism would be responsible for stabilizing the stripe phase

Renormalization-group running of the cosmological constant and its implication for the Higgs boson mass in the Standard Model

The renormalization-group equation for the zero-point energies associated with vacuum fluctuations of massive fields from the Standard Model is examined. Our main observation is that at any scale the running is necessarily dominated by the heaviest degrees of freedom, in clear contradistinction with the Appelquist & Carazzone decoupling theorem. Such an enhanced running would represent a disaster for cosmology, unless a fine-tuned relation among the masses of heavy particles is imposed. In this way, we obtain $m_H \simeq 550 GeV$ for the Higgs mass, a value safely within the unitarity bound, but far above the more stringent triviality bound for the case when the validity of the Standard Model is pushed up to the grand unification (or Planck) scale.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex2

Coulomb gap in one-dimensional disordered electronic systems

We study a one-dimensional system of spinless electrons in the presence of a long-range Coulomb interaction (LRCI) and a random chemical potential at each site. We first present a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL) description of the system. We use the bosonization technique followed by the replica trick to average over the quenched randomness. An expression for the localization length of the system is then obtained using the renormalization group method and also a physical argument. We then find the density of states for different values of the energy; we get different expressions depending on whether the energy is larger than or smaller than the inverse of the localization length. We work in the limit of weak disorder where the localization length is very large; at that length scale, the LRCI has the effect of reducing the interaction parameter K of the TLL to a value much smaller than the noninteracting value of unity.Comment: Revtex, 6 pages, no figures; discussions have been expanded in several place

Magnetization curve of the kagome-strip-lattice antiferromagnet

We study the magnetization curve of the Heisenberg model on the quasi-one-dimensional kagome-strip lattice that shares the same lattice structure in the inner part with the two-dimensional kagome lattice. Our numerical calculations based on the density matrix renormalization group method reveal that the system shows several magnetization plateaus between zero magnetization and the saturated one; we find the presence of the magnetic plateaus with the n=7 height of the saturation for n =1,2,3,4,5 and 6 in the S =1/2 case, whereas we detect only the magnetic plateaus of n =1,3,5 and 6 in the S =1 case. In the cases of n =2,4 and 6 for the S=1/2 system, the Oshikawa-Yamanaka-Affleck condition suggests the occurrence of the translational symmetry breaking (TSB). We numerically confirm this non-trivial TSB in our results of local magnetizations. We have also found that the macroscopic jump appears near the saturation field irrespective of the spin amplitude as well as the two-dimensional kagome model.Comment: 6pages, 3figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Modelling the social and structural determinants of tuberculosis: opportunities and challenges

INTRODUCTION: Despite the close link between tuberculosis (TB) and poverty, most mathematical models of TB have not addressed underlying social and structural determinants. OBJECTIVE: To review studies employing mathematical modelling to evaluate the epidemiological impact of the structural determinants of TB. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed and personal libraries to identify eligible articles. We extracted data on the modelling techniques employed, research question, types of structural determinants modelled and setting. RESULTS: From 232 records identified, we included eight articles published between 2008 and 2015; six employed population-based dynamic TB transmission models and two non-dynamic analytic models. Seven studies focused on proximal TB determinants (four on nutritional status, one on wealth, one on indoor air pollution, and one examined overcrowding, socio-economic and nutritional status), and one focused on macro-economic influences. CONCLUSIONS: Few modelling studies have attempted to evaluate structural determinants of TB, resulting in key knowledge gaps. Despite the challenges of modelling such a complex system, models must broaden their scope to remain useful for policy making. Given the intersectoral nature of the interrelations between structural determinants and TB outcomes, this work will require multidisciplinary collaborations. A useful starting point would be to focus on developing relatively simple models that can strengthen our knowledge regarding the potential effect of the structural determinants on TB outcomes