Innovation in organic vegetable growing

Innovation is essential to allow organic vegetable growers to continue to develop in response to a changing market and environment. This paper examines uptake of innovations amongst a group of organic vegetable growers over a period of three years. The study revealed that innovations in a wide range of disciplines were carried out and that both small and large farms were active in pioneering innovations. The drivers behind innovation and the various factors infl uencing uptake and implementation were varied and complex and are discussed here

Phase-space structure of two-dimensional excitable localized structures

In this work we characterize in detail the bifurcation leading to an excitable regime mediated by localized structures in a dissipative nonlinear Kerr cavity with a homogeneous pump. Here we show how the route can be understood through a planar dynamical system in which a limit cycle becomes the homoclinic orbit of a saddle point (saddle-loop bifurcation). The whole picture is unveiled, and the mechanism by which this reduction occurs from the full infinite-dimensional dynamical system is studied. Finally, it is shown that the bifurcation leads to an excitability regime, under the application of suitable perturbations. Excitability is an emergent property for this system, as it emerges from the spatial dependence since the system does not exhibit any excitable behavior locally.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Understanding and controlling the ingress of driven rain through exposed, solid wall masonry structures

Long term performance of historic buildings can be affected by many environmental factors, some of which become more apparent as the competence of the fabric deteriorates. Many tall historic buildings suffer from water ingress when exposed to driving rain conditions, particularly church towers in the south west of England. It is important to recognise that leakage can occur not only through flaws in the roof of a building but also through significant thicknesses of solid masonry. Identification of the most appropriate intervention requires an understanding of the way in which water might enter the structure and the assessment of potential repair options. While the full work schedule used an integrated assessment involving laboratory, field and archival work to assess the repairs which might be undertaken on these solid wall structures, this paper focuses on the laboratory work done to inform the writing of a Technical Advice Note on the effects of wind driven rain and moisture movement in historic structures (English Heritage, 2012). The laboratory work showed that grouting and rendering was effective at reducing water penetration without retarding drying rates, but that use of internal plastering also had a very beneficial effect

Vibration Interaction in a Multiple Flywheel System

This study uses a linear model of an Integrated Power and Attitude Control System (IPACS) to investigate the vibration interaction between multiple flywheels. An easily extendable Matlab® script is created for the analysis of flywheel vibrations. This script is used to build a vibration model consisting of two active magnetic bearing flywheels mounted on a support structure. The flywheels are rotated at varying speeds, with an imbalance-induced centripetal force in one or both wheels causing vibrations in both wheels. Flywheel and system responses are examined for low frequency vibrations which would cause undesirable excitation to a satellite using IPACS, with a specific focus on the beat phenomenon and extra-synchronous vibration

What factors affect the emotional well-being of newly qualified midwives in their first year of practice?

YesThe Royal College of Midwives (RCM) reports that between 5–10% of newly qualified midwives (NQM) leave the profession in the UK within a year of registration, with similar losses reported internationally (RCM 2010). NQMs are in a position of vulnerability and are highly susceptible to workplace adversity that subsequently may affect their emotional well-being. This literature review explores the experiences of NQMs surrounding their emotional well-being within the first 12 months of transition. Following a thorough search and appraisal of the literature, four papers were reviewed. Two key themes were identified consisting of factors that challenge NQMs’ resilience causing negative emotional well-being, and factors that enhance resilience, promoting positive emotional well-being. The findings of this review demonstrate that there is a need for the consistent implementation of protective mechanisms such as structured preceptorship and supportive mentorship. Such interventions may improve physical and emotional well-being, increase retention and better prepare NQMs for the journey ahead; ultimately also improving quality of care for women and patient safety

Stability of multi-hump optical solitons

We demonstrate that, in contrast with what was previously believed, multi-hump solitary waves can be stable. By means of linear stability analysis and numerical simulations, we investigate the stability of two- and three-hump solitary waves governed by incoherent beam interaction in a saturable medium, providing a theoretical background for the experimental results reported by M. Mitchell, M. Segev, and D. Christodoulides [Phys. Rev. Lett. v. 80, p. 4657 (1998)].Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to appear in PR

Drifting instabilities of cavity solitons in vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers with frequency selective feedback

In this paper we study the formation and dynamics of self-propelled cavity solitons (CSs) in a model for vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) subjected to external frequency selective feedback (FSF), and build their bifurcation diagram for the case where carrier dynamics is eliminated. For low pump currents, we find that they emerge from the modulational instability point of the trivial solution, where traveling waves with a critical wavenumber are formed. For large currents, the branch of self-propelled solitons merges with the branch of resting solitons via a pitchfork bifurcation. We also show that a feedback phase variation of 2\pi can transform a CS (whether resting or moving) into a different one associated to an adjacent longitudinal external cavity mode. Finally, we investigate the influence of the carrier dynamics, relevant for VCSELs. We find and analyze qualitative changes in the stability properties of resting CSs when increasing the carrier relaxation time. In addition to a drifting instability of resting CSs, a new kind of instability appears for certain ranges of carrier lifetime, leading to a swinging motion of the CS center position. Furthermore, for carrier relaxation times typical of VCSELs the system can display multistability of CSs.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure