High temperature control in mediterranean greenhouse production: The constraints and the options

In the open field, the environment is a critical determinant of crop yield and produce quality and it affects the geographical distribution of most crop species. In contrast, in protected cultivation, environmental control allows the fulfillment of the actual needs depending on the technological level. The economic optimum, however, depends on the trade-off between the costs of increased greenhouse control and increase in return, dictated by yield quantity, yield quality and production timing. Additional constraints are increasingly applied for achieving environmental targets. However, the diverse facets of greenhouse technology in different areas of the world will necessarily require different approaches to achieve an improved utilization of the available resources. Although advanced technologies to improve resource use efficiency can be developed as a joint effort between different players involved in greenhouse technology, some specific requirements may clearly hinder the development of common “European” resource management models that, conversely should be calibrated for different environments. For instance, the quantification and control of resource fluxes can be better accomplished in a relatively closed and fully automated system, such as those utilized in the glasshouse of Northern-Central Europe, compared to Southern Europe, where different typologies of semi-open/semi-closed greenhouse systems generally co-exist. Based on these considerations, innovations aimed at improving resource use efficiency in greenhouse agriculture should implement these aspects and should reinforce and integrate information obtained from different research areas concerning the greenhouse production. Advancing knowledge on the physiology of high temperature adaptation, for instance, may support the development and validation of models for optimizing the greenhouse system and climate management in the Mediterranean. Overall, a successful approach will see horticulturists, plant physiologists, engineers and economists working together toward the definition of a sustainable greenhouse system

Full-wave electromagnetic modes and hybridization in nanoparticle dimers

The plasmon hybridization theory is based on a quasi-electrostatic approximation of the Maxwell’s equations. It does not take into account magnetic interactions, retardation effects, and radiation losses. Magnetic interactions play a dominant role in the scattering from dielectric nanoparticles. The retardation effects play a fundamental role in the coupling of the modes with the incident radiation and in determining their radiative strength; their exclusion may lead to erroneous predictions of the excited modes and of the scattered power spectra. Radiation losses may lead to a significant broadening of the scattering resonances. We propose a hybridization theory for non-Hermitian composite systems based on the full-Maxwell equations that, overcoming all the limitations of the plasmon hybridization theory, unlocks the description of dielectric dimers. As an example, we decompose the scattered field from silicon and silver dimers, under different excitation conditions and gap-sizes, in terms of dimer modes, pinpointing the hybridizing isolated-sphere modes behind them

Small, high-intensity flasher permits continuous close-in photography

Compact, high-intensity spark-flash unit is used as a light source for continuous rapid photography. The spark-breakdown flash source is enclosed in polymethylmethacrylate and incorporates a parabolic reflector

A study of medical terminology pertinent to the educational preparation of the medical secretary and medical assistants

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston UniversityStatement of the Problem The major problem of this investigation was to determine the most commonly dictated medical terms in hospital records and to provide authors, teachers, and test constructors with scientifically determined lists of technical medical data which may be used in the educational preparation of medical assistants. Summary of Procedures 1. Utilizing the records of three hospitals, two case histories for each of 17 medical systems and specialties were selected for analysis each month for a two-year period. 2. Blakiston's New Gould Medical Dictionary was utilized to identify technical medical terms and the Teacher's Word Book of 30,000 Words by Thorndike and Lorge was used to delimit the study. 3. A common list of medical specialties offered in the general hospital field was determined to facilitate classification of the medical terms analyzed. 4. The validity of the sampling method utilized vas verified by comparing the proportion of cases discharged from each medical department in the hospital with the sampled cases analyzed. 5. Although the hospitals utilized were in one state, the writer made an effort to show the geographic representativeness of the study by analyzing the distribution of the medical colleges and hospitals attended by the physicians involved in the study. 6. The medical data were arranged alphabetically in eight lists. Those terms with a frequency of five or more were considered commonly dictated words and were listed in rank order according to frequency. 7. A series of tables were constructed for the purpose of guiding teachers and authors in determining the extent of practice that may be devoted to the common technical data reported in the study. Summary of Findings 1. The sampling method employed produced 816 case histories dictated by 289 physicians and represented 17 specialized fields of medicine. 2. The case histories analyzed contained 325,061 running words which included 41,798 medical terms, 23,528 medical phrases, 4,065 medical abbreviations, 1,064 weights and measures, 1,539 medical diseases and operations, and the medical terms contained 19,139 prefixes and 41,258 suffixes. 3. The following medical terminology had a frequency of occurrence of five or more in the case histories analyzed and were considered commonly dictated in medical practice: (1) 1,746 medical terms, (2) 973 medical phrases, (3) 289 medical abbreviations, (4) 15 weights and measures, (5) 51 medical diseases and operations, and (6) 77 prefixes and 80 suffixes. 4. Neurologists dictated the largest number of technical medical terms in each case history, 95, and psychiatrists dictated the largest number of running words in each case history, 1,057. 5. The percentage of technical medical terms in the 325,061 running words was 14.13 per cent. 6. The 289 physicians involved in the study (a) have attended 39 of the 78 medical colleges in the United States and 32 medical colleges in 17 foreign countries, (b) have completed their internship and residency training in 135 hospitals in 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, and (c) have had 4,205 collective years of active medical practice. Conclusions and Recommendations 1. The common medical vocabulary utilized by physicians is difficult and extensive. 2. The seven types of common technical medical data reported in the study should be considered an essential part of the medical vocabulary of every medical assistant. 3. Prospective medical assistants should be taught the definitions and the common medical terminology of the 17 areas of medical specialization. 4. As indicated by the wide geographic distribution of the training schools of the physicians participating in the study, it may be concluded that the medical terminology in this study is representative of the terminology utilized by physicians in many parts of the United States and the world. 5. The findings of this study appear to be a reliable basis for the writing and revising of classroom materials and textbooks for the educational preparation of the medical secretary and medical assistants

Accurate measurement of a 96% input coupling into a cavity using polarization tomography

Pillar microcavities are excellent light-matter interfaces providing an electromagnetic confinement in small mode volumes with high quality factors. They also allow the efficient injection and extraction of photons, into and from the cavity, with potentially near-unity input and output-coupling efficiencies. Optimizing the input and output coupling is essential, in particular, in the development of solid-state quantum networks where artificial atoms are manipulated with single incoming photons. Here we propose a technique to accurately measure input and output coupling efficiencies using polarization tomography of the light reflected by the cavity. We use the residual birefringence of pillar microcavities to distinguish the light coupled to the cavity from the uncoupled light: the former participates to rotating the polarization of the reflected beam, while the latter decreases the polarization purity. Applying this technique to a micropillar cavity, we measure a $53 \pm2 \%$ output coupling and a $96 \pm 1\%$ input coupling with unprecedented precision.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

The AMBRE Project: Parameterisation of FGK-type stars from the ESO:HARPS archived spectra

The AMBRE project is a collaboration between the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur (OCA). It has been established to determine the stellar atmospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, global metallicities and abundance of alpha-elements over iron) of the archived spectra of four ESO spectrographs. The analysis of the ESO:HARPS archived spectra is presented. The sample being analysed (AMBRE:HARPS) covers the period from 2003 to 2010 and is comprised of 126688 scientific spectra corresponding to 17218 different stars. For the analysis of the spectral sample, the automated pipeline developed for the analysis of the AMBRE:FEROS archived spectra has been adapted to the characteristics of the HARPS spectra. Within the pipeline, the stellar parameters are determined by the MATISSE algorithm, developed at OCA for the analysis of large samples of stellar spectra in the framework of galactic archaeology. In the present application, MATISSE uses the AMBRE grid of synthetic spectra, which covers FGKM-type stars for a range of gravities and metallicities. We first determined the radial velocity and its associated error for the ~15% of the AMBRE:HARPS spectra, for which this velocity had not been derived by the ESO:HARPS reduction pipeline. The stellar atmospheric parameters and the associated chemical index [alpha/Fe] with their associated errors have then been estimated for all the spectra of the AMBRE:HARPS archived sample. Based on quality criteria, we accepted and delivered the parameterisation of ~71% of the total sample to ESO. These spectra correspond to ~10706 stars; each are observed between one and several hundred times. This automatic parameterisation of the AMBRE:HARPS spectra shows that the large majority of these stars are cool main-sequence dwarfs with metallicities greater than -0.5 dex

Method for providing a polarization filter for processing synthetic aperture radar image data

A polarization filter can maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of a polarimetric SAR and help discriminate between targets or enhance image features, e.g., enhance contract between different types of target. The method disclosed is based on the Stokes matrix/Stokes vector representation, so the targets of interest can be extended targets, and the method can also be applied to the case of bistatic polarimetric radars

Characterisation of spatial network-like patterns from junctions' geometry

We propose a new method for quantitative characterization of spatial network-like patterns with loops, such as surface fracture patterns, leaf vein networks and patterns of urban streets. Such patterns are not well characterized by purely topological estimators: also patterns that both look different and result from different morphogenetic processes can have similar topology. A local geometric cue -the angles formed by the different branches at junctions- can complement topological information and allow to quantify the large scale spatial coherence of the pattern. For patterns that grow over time, such as fracture lines on the surface of ceramics, the rank assigned by our method to each individual segment of the pattern approximates the order of appearance of that segment. We apply the method to various network-like patterns and we find a continuous but sharp dichotomy between two classes of spatial networks: hierarchical and homogeneous. The first class results from a sequential growth process and presents large scale organization, the latter presents local, but not global organization.Comment: version 2, 14 page