Comparison of planted soil infiltration systems for treatment of log yard runoff

Treatment of log yard runoff is required to avoid contamination of receiving watercourses. The research aim was to assess if infiltration of log yard runoff through planted soil systems is successful and if different plant species affect the treatment performance at a fieldscale experimental site in Sweden (2005 to 2007). Contaminated runoff from the log yard of a sawmill was infiltrated through soil planted with Alnus glutinosa (L.) Ga¨rtner (common alder), Salix schwerinii3viminalis (willow variety ‘‘Gudrun’’), Lolium perenne (L.) (rye grass), and Phalaris arundinacea (L.) (reed canary grass). The study concluded that there were no treatment differences when comparing the four different plants with each other, and there also were no differences between the tree and the grass species. Furthermore, the infiltration treatment was effective in reducing total organic carbon (55%) and total phosphorus (45%) concentrations in the runoff, even when the loads on the infiltration system increased from year to year

Assessing the rider's seat and horse's behavior: difficulties and perspectives

correct seat and position are the basis for a good performance in horseback riding. This study aimed to measure deviations from the correct seat, test a seat improvement program (dismounted exercises), and investigate whether horse behavior was affected by the rider's seat. Five experienced trainers defined 16 seat deviations and scored the occurrence in 20 riders in a dressage test. Half the riders then carried out an individual training program; after 9 weeks, riders were again scored. The study took no video or heart-rate recordings of horses and riders. Panel members did not agree on the deviations in the rider's seat; the study detected no differences¿with the exception of improvement of backward-tilted pelvis¿between the groups. Horse behavior, classified as ¿evasive,¿ increased; horse heart rate decreased in the experimental group. Heart rates of riders in both groups decreased. Seven of 9 riders in the experimental group had the impression that the exercises improved their riding performance. There is a clear need to develop a robust system that allows trainers to objectively evaluate the rider's sea

A Holder Continuous Nowhere Improvable Function with Derivative Singular Distribution

We present a class of functions $\mathcal{K}$ in $C^0(\R)$ which is variant of the Knopp class of nowhere differentiable functions. We derive estimates which establish \mathcal{K} \sub C^{0,\al}(\R) for 0<\al<1 but no $K \in \mathcal{K}$ is pointwise anywhere improvable to C^{0,\be} for any \be>\al. In particular, all $K$'s are nowhere differentiable with derivatives singular distributions. $\mathcal{K}$ furnishes explicit realizations of the functional analytic result of Berezhnoi. Recently, the author and simulteously others laid the foundations of Vector-Valued Calculus of Variations in $L^\infty$ (Katzourakis), of $L^\infty$-Extremal Quasiconformal maps (Capogna and Raich, Katzourakis) and of Optimal Lipschitz Extensions of maps (Sheffield and Smart). The "Euler-Lagrange PDE" of Calculus of Variations in $L^\infty$ is the nonlinear nondivergence form Aronsson PDE with as special case the $\infty$-Laplacian. Using $\mathcal{K}$, we construct singular solutions for these PDEs. In the scalar case, we partially answered the open $C^1$ regularity problem of Viscosity Solutions to Aronsson's PDE (Katzourakis). In the vector case, the solutions can not be rigorously interpreted by existing PDE theories and justify our new theory of Contact solutions for fully nonlinear systems (Katzourakis). Validity of arguments of our new theory and failure of classical approaches both rely on the properties of $\mathcal{K}$.Comment: 5 figures, accepted to SeMA Journal (2012), to appea

Existence and uniqueness of global solutions to fully nonlinear second order elliptic systems

We consider the problem of existence and uniqueness of strong a.e. solutions u:Rn⟶RNu:Rn⟶RN to the fully nonlinear PDE system F(⋅,D2u)=f, a.e. on Rn,(1) F(⋅,D2u)=f, a.e. on Rn,(1) when f∈L2(Rn)Nf∈L2(Rn)N and F is a Carathéodory map. (1) has not been considered before. The case of bounded domains has been studied by several authors, firstly by Campanato and under Campanato’s ellipticity condition on F. By introducing a new much weaker notion of ellipticity, we prove solvability of (1) in a tailored Sobolev “energy” space and a uniqueness estimate. The proof is based on the solvability of the linearised problem by Fourier transform methods, together with a “perturbation device” which allows to use Campanato’s near operators. We also discuss our hypothesis via counterexamples and give a stability theorem of strong global solutions for systems of the form (1)

Effective communications on invasive alien species: Identifying communication needs of Swedish domestic garden owners

Invasive alien species threaten biodiversity with domestic gardens acting as a major pathway for the introduction of alien species. Even though the Nordic region is not currently a hotspot for biological invasions, the number of invasions in the Nordic area has been predicted to increase due to climate change. Given a time lag between introduction and invasion, many non-invasive horticultural alien species already introduced into gardens may become invasive in the future. This study aimed to identify the communication needs of Swedish garden owners regarding their management of invasive alien species. A survey among domestic garden owners, informed by topic specialists and local area experts, and interviews with garden owners were conducted in three different bio-climatic areas in a latitudinal gradient across Sweden. The questions targeted invasive alien species and their relations to biodiversity loss and climate change, as well as measures taken to control these species. Analysing the survey data collected in relation to measures taken to control invasive species, Bayesian Additive Regression Tree (BART) modelling was used to identify geographically varying communication needs of the domestic garden owners. In all study areas, the garden owners' measures taken to control invasive alien species were correlated with their strength of beliefs in having experienced local biodiversity loss. A majority of the garden owners were, moreover, uncertain about the impact of climate change on the invasiveness of alien species. In addition, the garden owners' capacity for identifying invasive alien species was often in need of improvement, in particular with respect to the species Impatiens glandulifera, Reynoutria japonica and Rosa rugosa. The results suggest that the evidence-based guidelines for effective communications we developed, have the potential to help communicators meet the local communication needs of garden owners across Sweden, in relation to the management of invasive alien garden species

Bulk-sensitive Photoemission of Mn5Si3

We have carried out a bulk-sensitive high-resolution photoemission experiment on Mn5Si3. The measurements are performed for both core level and valence band states. The Mn core level spectra are deconvoluted into two components corresponding to different crystallographic sites. The asymmetry of each component is of noticeable magnitude. In contrast, the Si 2p spectrum shows a simple Lorentzian shape with low asymmetry. The peaks of the valence band spectrum correspond well to the peak positions predicted by the former band calculation.Comment: To be published in: Solid State Communication