The private sector in Chinese agriculture after the "Gang of Four"

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Politics, 1982

The Link Overlap and Finite Size Effects for the 3D Ising Spin Glass

We study the link overlap between two replicas of an Ising spin glass in three dimensions using the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation and scaling arguments based on the droplet picture. For moderate system sizes, the distribution of the link overlap shows the asymmetric shape and large sample-to-sample variations found in Monte Carlo simulations and usually attributed to replica symmetry breaking. However, the scaling of the width of the distribution, and the link overlap in the presence of a weak coupling between the two replicas are in agreement with the droplet picture. We also discuss why it is impossible to see the asymptotic droplet-like behaviour for moderate system sizes and temperatures not too far below the critical temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Status of Platanthera praeclara Sheviak & Bowles (Western Prairie Fringed Orchid) in the Platte River Valley in Nebraska from Hamilton to Garden Counties

During June and July, 1991, a search for western prairie fringed orchid was conducted in the Platte River Valley in central and west-central Nebraska. No orchids were found in the 370 sites surveyed. Factors which may contribute to the scarcity of this orchid in the area surveyed include drought conditions in the previous three years; habitat alteration by draining, ditching, herbicide application, mowing for hay, crop cultivation and planting of non-native species for hay fields; invasion of the area by trees; and the presence of alkaline soils in some area

Nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviour of members of commercial slimming clubs in Greater Manchester

Objective: To establish whether there is a relationship between nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviour in members of commercial slimming clubs. Design: A self-completed questionnaire on nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviour and factors associated with weight-loss management. Setting: Members of slimming clubs in their home environment. Subjects: The targeted sample comprised of 56 members of slimming clubs in the Greater Manchester area recruited through social media and the local Rosemary Conley slimming club leader. Results: The level of nutrition knowledge in the study population was high, however this was not significantly correlated with dietary behaviour which was poor (r=0.054; p=.694). Similarly, nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviour were not significantly correlated with education levels, age or alcohol consumption (p>.05). However, a significant inverse relationship was found between educational attainment and BMI (r=-0.392, p=.005). Barriers to weight loss were not reported to be major factors by this study group; the greatest benefits of membership were support and encouragement from other members and the club leader. The proportion of returning members was >70%. Conclusions: Dietary behaviour in members of commercial slimming clubs is not significantly influenced by nutrition knowledge. Although healthy eating recommendations can be valuable, other factors are more important for achieving weight loss, particularly support and fellowship from other members. Slimming club members regain the weight lost after leaving the clubs and inevitably re-join

Comment on "General Method to Determine Replica Symmetry Breaking Transitions"

In a recent letter Marinari et al [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1698 (1998)] introduced a new method to study spin glass transitions and argued that by probing replica symmetry (RS) as opposed to time reversal symmetry (TRS), their method unambiguously shows that replica symmetry breaking (RSB) occurs in short-range spin glasses. In this comment we show that while the new method is indeed useful for studying transitions in systems where TRS is absent (such as the p-spin model studied by them), the conclusion that it shows the existence of RSB in short-range spin glasses is wrong.Comment: 1 page, RevTe

Evidence for the droplet/scaling picture of spin glasses

We have studied the Parisi overlap distribution for the three dimensional Ising spin glass in the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation. For temperatures T around 0.7Tc and system sizes upto L=32, we found a P(q) as expected for the full Parisi replica symmetry breaking, just as was also observed in recent Monte Carlo simulations on a cubic lattice. However, for lower temperatures our data agree with predictions from the droplet or scaling picture. The failure to see droplet model behaviour in Monte Carlo simulations is due to the fact that all existing simulations have been done at temperatures too close to the transition temperature so that sytem sizes larger than the correlation length have not been achieved.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

The Red-Naped Sapsucker in Nebraska

The Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) was for many years accorded subspecific status within Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyapicus varius), but the American Ornithologists’ Union recently revised this opinion, and now regards nuchalis as a “good” species (Auk 102:680). Red-naped Sapsucker can be added to the Nebraska (species) list on the basis of three specimens in the collection of the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM). The breeding range of Red-naped Sapsucker includes the Rocky Mountains east of the Cascades from southwest Canada south to central Arizona and it winters in much of northern Mexico, north as far as the southern part of its breeding range (The NOU Checklist of North American Birds, Sixth Edition, 1983)

Hybrid Bluebirds in the Pine Ridge

A hybrid pair of bluebirds is raising young in Dawes County, Nebraska, in the yard of Jim and Hope Minyard, approximately 8 miles south of Crawford. The female of the pair is a Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). She is basically a dull gray bluebird, with little contrast between upperparts and underparts. There is no rusty or tan on her breast, and no sharp demarcation between the gray breast and the lighter belly. Her rump and the bases of her outer tail feathers are a light, bright blue, while the other tail feathers and the primaries are blackish. When the wing is folded, her longest wing feathers approach, but do not reach, the tip of her tail. The male presents a more complicated picture. Superficially he resembles an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) because the upper parts are uniformly bright blue, the breast and throat are rusty, and the belly is white. The blue of his upperparts appears a lighter, more cerulean blue than is typical of Eastern Bluebirds, though it is difficult to judge without direct breast comparison. The rusty breast is paler and duller than usual for male Easterns as well. Most peculiarly, there is a small, bright blue bib or necklace on the upper breast, similar in color to the back. When folded, the male’s wing tips reach a little over half way down the tail. In other words, his wings are relatively shorter than those of the female. We believe that the male is a Mountain x Eastern Bluebird hybrid