RESEARCH REAGRDING ACID SOILS IMPROVEMENT USING A WASTE FROM METALLURGY

The soil reaction value depend on the soil percentage base saturation degree and of the saturation type (predominantly with calcium or sodium). At the same time, the soil moisture regime, percolative or periodically percolative, the long application of nitrogen fertilizers, acid pollution, determine the deep leaching of bases. So, the upper part of soil suffers an acidification process especially under the conditions without liming. Generally, soil pH values less than 5,5 ensure conditions for strong solubilization of pollutants and their translocation into plants. Particular problems are raised by the very strongly and strongly acid soils (0,60% and 6,57%, respectively), some of the being specific for the mountainous pastures. In Romania are 1 867 000 ha acid agricultural land, representing over 12% from the total agricultural surface of the country. On the other hand, in Romania are produced annually from 0.18 to 0.2 million tones ladle slag (LF slag) from steel refinery, classified as a dangerous waste due to its alkalinity (alkalinity index 3.5-4.5)

Laser-controlled fluorescence in two-level systems

The ability to modify the character of fluorescent emission by a laser-controlled, optically nonlinear process has recently been shown theoretically feasible, and several possible applications have already been identified. In operation, a pulse of off-resonant probe laser beam, of sufficient intensity, is applied to a system exhibiting fluorescence, during the interval of excited- state decay following the initial excitation. The result is a rate of decay that can be controllably modified, the associated changes in fluorescence behavior affording new, chemically specific information. In this paper, a two-level emission model is employed in the further analysis of this all-optical process; the results should prove especially relevant to the analysis and imaging of physical systems employing fluorescent markers, these ranging from quantum dots to green fluorescence protein. Expressions are presented for the laser-controlled fluorescence anisotropy exhibited by samples in which the fluorophores are randomly oriented. It is also shown that, in systems with suitably configured electronic levels and symmetry properties, fluorescence emission can be produced from energy levels that would normally decay nonradiatively. © 2010 American Chemical Society

RESEARCH REGARDING THE INFLUENCE OF LF SLAG ON CHROMIC LUVISOL REACTION AND WHEAT YIELD IN THE EXPERIMENTAL FIELD FROM MOARA DOMNEASCĂ

Lately,changing soil reaction as a consequence of culture technologies necessary measures to amend and improve them. The areas of soils with high acidity in Romania are very large and their improvement is expensive and lengthy. High acidity is due on the one hand, soil genesis and secondly the use of technologies and fertilizers which have decreased reaction from year to year. The research wereconducted in 2014 in the experimental field at Moara Domnească by using LF slag from metallurgy onthe chromic luvisol, demonstrated that it can be used as an amendment to correct acidic soil reaction. Increasing soil reaction resulted a better use of nutrients from soil and a significant increase in wheat yield. The highest yield were registered by the application rates of more than 3 t/ha of slag together with nitrogen (100 kg/ha)

Larval dispersal in a changing ocean with an emphasis on upwelling regions

Dispersal of benthic species in the sea is mediated primarily through small, vulnerable larvae that must survive minutes to months as members of the plankton community while being transported by strong, dynamic currents. As climate change alters ocean conditions, the dispersal of these larvae will be affected, with pervasive ecological and evolutionary consequences. We review the impacts of oceanic changes on larval transport, physiology, and behavior. We then discuss the implications for population connectivity and recruitment and evaluate life history strategies that will affect susceptibility to the effects of climate change on their dispersal patterns, with implications for understanding selective regimes in a future ocean. We find that physical oceanographic changes will impact dispersal by transporting larvae in different directions or inhibiting their movements while changing environmental factors, such as temperature, pH, salinity, oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, and turbidity, will affect the survival of larvae and alter their behavior. Reduced dispersal distance may make local adaptation more likely in well-connected populations with high genetic variation while reduced dispersal success will lower recruitment with implications for fishery stocks. Increased dispersal may spur adaptation by increasing genetic diversity among previously disconnected populations as well as increasing the likelihood of range expansions. We hypothesize that species with planktotrophic (feeding), calcifying, or weakly swimming larvae with specialized adult habitats will be most affected by climate change. We also propose that the adaptive value of retentive larval behaviors may decrease where transport trajectories follow changing climate envelopes and increase where transport trajectories drive larvae toward increasingly unsuitable conditions. Our holistic framework, combined with knowledge of regional ocean conditions and larval traits, can be used to produce powerful predictions of expected impacts on larval dispersal as well as the consequences for connectivity, range expansion, or recruitment. Based on our findings, we recommend that future studies take a holistic view of dispersal incorporating biological and oceanographic impacts of climate change rather than solely focusing on oceanography or physiology. Genetic and paleontological techniques can be used to examine evolutionary impacts of altered dispersal in a future ocean, while museum collections and expedition records can inform modern-day range shifts

Unified ab initio treatment of attosecond photoionization and Compton scattering

We present a new theoretical approach to attosecond laser-assisted photo- and Compton ionization. Attosecond x-ray absorption and scattering are described by \hat{\mathrsfs{S}}^{(1,2)}-matrices, which are coherent superpositions of "monochromatic" $\hat{S}^{(1,2)}$-matrices in a laser-modified Furry representation. Besides refining the existing theory of the soft x-ray photoelectron attosecond streak camera and spectral phase interferometry (ASC and ASPI), we formulate a theory of hard x-ray photoelectron and Compton ASC and ASPI. The resulting scheme has a simple structure and leads to closed-form expressions for ionization amplitudes. We investigate Compton electron interference in the separable Coulomb-Volkov continuum with both Coulomb and laser fields treated non-perturbatively. We find that at laser-field intensities below 10$^{13}$ Wcm$^{-2}$ normalized Compton lines almost coincide with the lines obtained in the laser-free regime. At higher intensities, attosecond interferences survive integration over electron momenta, and feature prominently in the Compton lines themselves. We define a regime where the electron ground-state density can be measured with controllable accuracy in an attosecond time interval. The new theory provides a firm basis for extracting photo- and Compton electron phases and atomic and molecular wavefunctions from experimental data.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Cooperative coupling of ultracold atoms and surface plasmons

Cooperative coupling between optical emitters and light fields is one of the outstanding goals in quantum technology. It is both fundamentally interesting for the extraordinary radiation properties of the participating emitters and has many potential applications in photonics. While this goal has been achieved using high-finesse optical cavities, cavity-free approaches that are broadband and easy to build have attracted much attention recently. Here we demonstrate cooperative coupling of ultracold atoms with surface plasmons propagating on a plane gold surface. While the atoms are moving towards the surface they are excited by an external laser pulse. Excited surface plasmons are detected via leakage radiation into the substrate of the gold layer. A maximum Purcell factor of $\eta_\mathrm{P}=4.9$ is reached at an optimum distance of $z=250~\mathrm{nm}$ from the surface. The coupling leads to the observation of a Fano-like resonance in the spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Fano resonances in plasmonic core-shell particles and the Purcell effect

Despite a long history, light scattering by particles with size comparable with the light wavelength still unveils surprising optical phenomena, and many of them are related to the Fano effect. Originally described in the context of atomic physics, the Fano resonance in light scattering arises from the interference between a narrow subradiant mode and a spectrally broad radiation line. Here, we present an overview of Fano resonances in coated spherical scatterers within the framework of the Lorenz-Mie theory. We briefly introduce the concept of conventional and unconventional Fano resonances in light scattering. These resonances are associated with the interference between electromagnetic modes excited in the particle with different or the same multipole moment, respectively. In addition, we investigate the modification of the spontaneous-emission rate of an optical emitter at the presence of a plasmonic nanoshell. This modification of decay rate due to electromagnetic environment is referred to as the Purcell effect. We analytically show that the Purcell factor related to a dipole emitter oriented orthogonal or tangential to the spherical surface can exhibit Fano or Lorentzian line shapes in the near field, respectively.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures; invited book chapter to appear in "Fano Resonances in Optics and Microwaves: Physics and Application", Springer Series in Optical Sciences (2018), edited by E. O. Kamenetskii, A. Sadreev, and A. Miroshnichenk

Challenges in the harmonisation of global integrated assessment models: a comprehensive methodology to reduce model response heterogeneity

Harmonisation sets the ground to a solid inter-comparison of integrated assessment models. A clear and transparent harmonisation process promotes a consistent interpretation of the modelling outcomes divergences and, reducing the model variance, is instrumental to the use of integrated assessment models to support policy decision-making. Despite its crucial role for climate economic policies, the definition of a comprehensive harmonisation methodology for integrated assessment modelling remains an open challenge for the scientific community. This paper proposes a framework for a harmonisation methodology with the definition of indispensable steps and recommendations to overcome stumbling blocks in order to reduce the variance of the outcomes which depends on controllable modelling assumptions. The harmonisation approach of the PARIS REINFORCE project is presented here to layout such a framework. A decomposition analysis of the harmonisation process is shown through 6 integrated assessment models (GCAM, ICES-XPS, MUSE, E3ME, GEMINI-E3, and TIAM). Results prove the potentials of the proposed framework to reduce the model variance and present a powerful diagnostic tool to feedback on the quality of the harmonisation itself