The legacy of stockless organic conversion strategies

Huxham et al. (2005) reported the impacts of seven conversion strategies on the first organic crop (winter wheat). This paper investigates the effect of the conversion strategies on the second (winter beans) and third (winter oats) organic crops, thereby extending the analysis throughout the fi rst complete rotation. Conversion strategy had a significant impact on organic bean yield, which ranged from 2.84 to 3.62 t ha-1 and organic oat yield, which ranged from 3.24 to 4.17 t ha-1. In the organic bean crop, weed abundance prior to harvest, along with soil texture, accounted for 70% of yield variation. For the oats, soil mineral nitrogen in November together with weed abundance in April, accounted for 72% of the variation in yield. Annual average gross margins, calculated over the two year conversion period and the first three organic crops, ranged from £274 to £459 ha-1

Basic Approaches to the Simulation of Recrystallization and Grain Growth

Simulations: Why? How? Discrete simulation methods; Examples; Conclusion

How specific is synchronous neuronal firing? : Poster presentation

Background Synchronous neuronal firing has been discussed as a potential neuronal code. For testing first, if synchronous firing exists, second if it is modulated by the behaviour, and third if it is not by chance, a large set of tools has been developed. However, to test whether synchronous neuronal firing is really involved in information processing one needs a direct comparison of the amount of synchronous firing for different factors like experimental or behavioural conditions. To this end we present an extended version of a previously published method NeuroXidence [1], which tests, based on a bi- and multivariate test design, whether the amount of synchronous firing above the chance level is different for different factors

Fast Fourier transform-based modelling for the determination of micromechanical fields in polycrystals

International audienceEmerging characterization methods in Experimental Mechanics pose a challenge to modelers to devise efficient formulations that permit interpretation and exploitation of the massive amount of data generated by these novel methods. In this overview we report on a numerical formulation based on Fast Fourier Transforms, developed over the last 15 years, which can use the voxelized microstructural images of heterogeneous materials as input to predict their micromechanical and effective response. The focus of this presentation is on applications of the method to plastically-deforming polycrystalline materials

Combined Multipoint Remote and In Situ Observations of the Asymmetric Evolution of a Fast Solar Coronal Mass Ejection

We present an analysis of the fast coronal mass ejection (CME) of 2012 March 7, which was imaged by both STEREO spacecraft and observed in situ by MESSENGER, Venus Express, Wind and Mars Express. Based on detected arrivals at four different positions in interplanetary space, it was possible to strongly constrain the kinematics and the shape of the ejection. Using the white-light heliospheric imagery from STEREO-A and B, we derived two different kinematical profiles for the CME by applying the novel constrained self-similar expansion method. In addition, we used a drag-based model to investigate the influence of the ambient solar wind on the CME's propagation. We found that two preceding CMEs heading in different directions disturbed the overall shape of the CME and influenced its propagation behavior. While the Venus-directed segment underwent a gradual deceleration (from ~2700 km/s at 15 R_sun to ~1500 km/s at 154 R_sun), the Earth-directed part showed an abrupt retardation below 35 R_sun (from ~1700 to ~900 km/s). After that, it was propagating with a quasi-constant speed in the wake of a preceding event. Our results highlight the importance of studies concerning the unequal evolution of CMEs. Forecasting can only be improved if conditions in the solar wind are properly taken into account and if attention is also paid to large events preceding the one being studied

ElEvoHI : A NOVEL CME PREDICTION TOOL FOR HELIOSPHERIC IMAGING COMBINING AN ELLIPTICAL FRONT WITH DRAG-BASED MODEL FITTING

This article has an erratum: DOI 10.3847/0004-637X/831/2/210In this study, we present a new method for forecasting arrival times and speeds of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at any location in the inner heliosphere. This new approach enables the adoption of a highly flexible geometrical shape for the CME front with an adjustable CME angular width and an adjustable radius of curvature of its leading edge, i.e., the assumed geometry is elliptical. Using, as input, Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) heliospheric imager (HI) observations, a new elliptic conversion (ElCon) method is introduced and combined with the use of drag-based model (DBM) fitting to quantify the deceleration or acceleration experienced by CMEs during propagation. The result is then used as input for the Ellipse Evolution Model (ElEvo). Together, ElCon, DBM fitting, and ElEvo form the novel ElEvoHI forecasting utility. To demonstrate the applicability of ElEvoHI, we forecast the arrival times and speeds of 21 CMEs remotely observed from STEREO/HI and compare them to in situ arrival times and speeds at 1 AU. Compared to the commonly used STEREO/HI fitting techniques (Fixed-phi, Harmonic Mean, and Self-similar Expansion fitting), ElEvoHI improves the arrival time forecast by about 2 to +/- 6.5 hr and the arrival speed forecast by approximate to 250 to +/- 53 km s(-1), depending on the ellipse aspect ratio assumed. In particular, the remarkable improvement of the arrival speed prediction is potentially beneficial for predicting geomagnetic storm strength at Earth.Peer reviewe

Microstructural Evolution Based on Fundamental Interfacial Properties

This first CMSN project has been operating since the summer of 1999. The main achievement of the project was to bring together a community of materials scientists, physicists and mathematicians who share a common interest in the properties of interfaces and the impact of those properties on microstructural evolution. Six full workshops were held at Carnegie Mellon (CMU), Northwestern (NWU), Santa Fe, Northeastern University (NEU), National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), Ames Laboratory, and at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD) respectively. Substantial scientific results were obtained through the sustained contact between the members of the project. A recent issue of Interface Science (volume 10, issue 2/3, July 2002) was dedicated to the output of the project. The results include: the development of methods for extracting anisotropic boundary energy and mobility from molecular dynamics simulations of solid/liquid interfaces in nickel; the extraction of anisotropic energies and mobilities in aluminum from similar MD simulations; the application of parallel computation to the calculation of interfacial properties; the development of a method to extract interfacial properties from the fluctuations in interface position through consideration of interfacial stiffness; the use of anisotropic interface properties in studies of abnormal grain growth; the discovery of abnormal grain growth from random distributions of orientation in subgrain networks; the direct comparison at the scale of individual grains between experimentally observed grain growth and simulations, which confirmed the importance of including anisotropic interfacial properties in the simulations; the classification of a rich variety of dendritic morphologies based on slight variations in the anisotropy of the solid-liquid interface; development of phase field methods that permit both solidification and grain growth to be simulated within the same framework

Constraining the Kinematics of Coronal Mass Ejections in the Inner Heliosphere with In-Situ Signatures

We present a new approach to combine remote observations and in situ data by STEREO/HI and Wind, respectively, to derive the kinematics and propagation directions of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). We used two methods, Fixed-Phi and Harmonic Mean, to convert ICME elongations into distance, and constrained the ICME direction such that the ICME distance-time and velocity-time profiles are most consistent with in situ measurements of the arrival time and velocity. The derived velocity-time functions from the Sun to 1 AU for the three events under study (1-6 June 2008, 13-18 February 2009, 3-5 April 2010) do not show strong differences for the two extreme geometrical assumptions of a wide ICME with a circular front (Harmonic Mean) or an ICME of small spatial extent in the ecliptic (Fixed-Phi). Due to the geometrical assumptions, Harmonic Mean delivers the propagation direction further away from the observing spacecraft with a mean difference of ~25 degree