Oxygen supply and consumption in soilless culture: evaluation of an oxygen simulation model for cucumber

A soil oxygen simulation model (OXSI) was tested and evaluated for evaluating growing media with respect to aeration. In the model, local oxygen concentrations are calculated from coefficients of diffusion and consumption (respiration), assuming equilibrium conditions. Apparent oxygen diffusion coefficients (D) were determined under laboratory conditions in 5 cm high samples at different water contents (-3.2, -10 and -20 cm pressure heads). D values were positively related to air-filled porosity (AFP). For fine-graded perlite D ranged from 9.10-7 at AFP of 34 percent to 5.10-9 m2s-1 at AFP of 19 percent. Possibly due to absence of closed pores in rockwool, the AFP vs. D relation was different for rockwool compared to perlite: D for rockwool ranged from 2.10-6 at AFP of 56 percent to 3.10-9 m2s-1 at AFP of 3 percent. A greenhouse experiment with cucumber was carried out to determine respiration and realised oxygen concentrations. The cucumbers were grown in 20 cm high, 3.5 litre containers filled with fine-graded perlite and supplied with high-frequency irrigation. AFP varied between 25 and 45 percent. At three heights and on four occasions during growth, oxygen concentration ( f volume) in the medium varied between 16.6 and 20 n the perlite. Root respiration of the cucumbers as determined by two independent methods (in vivo and in vitro) ranged from 1.4 to 5.4 10-6 ml.ml-1.s-1. Using these respiration rates, OXSI calculated that no oxygen depletion may occur at D > 1 to 5 10-7 m2s-1, corresponding with an AFP of 30 percent for both perlite and rockwool. Anoxic condtions were calculated for D values of 10-8 m2s-1, corresponding with AFP below 10 percent for rockwool and 20 percent for perlite

Polariton Squeezing in Semiconductor Microcavities

We report squeezed polariton generation using parametric polariton four-wave mixing in semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime. The geometry of the experiment corresponds to degenerate four-wave mixing, which gives rise to a bistability threshold. Spatial effects in the nonlinear regime are evidenced, and spatial filtering is required in order to optimize the measured squeezing. By measuring the noise of the outgoing light, we infer a 9 percent squeezing on the polariton field close to the bistability turning point

Operations on integral lifts of K(n)

This very rough sketch is a sequel to arXiv:1808.08587; it presents evidence that operations on lifts of the functors K(n) to cohomology theories with values in modules over valuation rings of local number fields, indexed by Lubin-Tate groups of such fields, are extensions of the groups of automorphisms of the indexing group laws, by the exterior algebras on the normal bundle to the orbits of the group laws in the space of lifts.Comment: \S 2.0 hopefully less cryptic. To appear in the proceedings of the 2015 Nagoya conference honoring T Ohkawa. Comments very welcome

Twin polaritons in semiconductor microcavities

The quantum correlations between the beams generated by polariton pair scattering in a semiconductor microcavity above the parametric oscillation threshold are computed analytically. The influence of various parameters like the cavity-exciton detuning, the intensity mismatch between the signal and idler beams and the amount of spurious noise is analyzed. We show that very strong quantum correlations between the signal and idler polaritons can be achieved. The quantum effects on the outgoing light fields are strongly reduced due to the large mismatch in the coupling of the signal and idler polaritons to the external photons

Metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: consensus on pathology and molecular tests, first-line, second-line, and third-line therapy: 1st ESMO Consensus Conference in Lung Cancer; Lugano 2010

The 1st ESMO Consensus Conference on lung cancer was held in Lugano, Switzerland on 21 and 22 May 2010 with the participation of a multidisciplinary panel of leading professionals in pathology and molecular diagnostics, medical oncology, surgical oncology and radiation oncology. Before the conference, the expert panel prepared clinically relevant questions concerning five areas: early and locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), first-line metastatic NSCLC, second-/third-line NSCLC, NSCLC pathology and molecular testing, and small-cell lung cancer to be addressed through discussion at the Consensus Conference. All relevant scientific literature for each question was reviewed in advance. During the Consensus Conference, the panel developed recommendations for each specific question. The consensus agreement on three of these areas: NSCLC pathology and molecular testing, the treatment of first-line, and second-line/third-line therapy in metastatic NSCLC are reported in this article. The recommendations detailed here are based on an expert consensus after careful review of published data. All participants have approved this final updat

Processes and products of turbidity currents entering soft muddy substrates

New laboratory experiments reveal that cohesionless turbidity currents are able to enter cohesive soft muddy substrates without losing their shape. These intrabed currents are driven by bed shear stress exceeding bed cohesive strength, and by flow density exceeding bed den - sity. The flows produce unique turbidites with internal mud layers, mixed cohesive-nonco - hesive sediment layers, and flame and load structures. A depositional model for intrabed (I) turbidites is proposed, comprising, from base to top: I1�sand-bearing mud, with a scoured base, dispersed mud, and mud clasts; I2�muddy sand from the intrabed portion of the tur - bidity current; I3�sandy mud with a speckled appearance; and I4�mud-poor sand from the suprabed portion of the flow. Complete I1�I4 turbidites are inferred to dominate loca - tions in nature where the currents mix with the bed and deep erosional scours form, filled with deformed or chaotic sand-mud mixtures. Further downflow, base-missing I2�I4 and I4 sequences signify gradual deceleration, loss of erosivity, and termination of intrabed flo

Comparative study between AZERTY-type and K- Hermes virtual keyboards dedicated to users with cerebral palsy

International audienceThe aim of this paper is to compare two virtual keyboards for people with cerebral palsy; many of these users have difficulty performing actions using their upper limbs due to large numbers of unwanted movements. The first is a classical QWERTY type keyboard, called Clavicom NG. The second is the K-Hermes proposed in this paper. K-Hermes is a reduced and monotape keyboard; its entry principles are inspired by the T9 keyboard. The aim of the experiment is to demonstrate the reduced effort and increased speed of typing with the keyboard suggested for people with Cerebral Palsy

Dust and molecules in the Local Group galaxy NGC 6822. III. The first-ranked HII region complex Hubble V

We present maps of the first-ranked HII region complex Hubble V in the metal-poor Local Group dwarf galaxy NGC 6822 in the first four transitions of CO, the 158 micron transition of C+, the 21-cm line of HI, the Pa-beta line of HII, and the continuum at 21 cm and 2.2 micron wavelengths. We have also determined various integrated intensities, notably of HCO+ and near-IR H2 emission. Although Hubble X is located in a region of relatively strong HI emission, our mapping failed to reveal any significant CO emission from it. The relatively small CO cloud complex associated with Hubble V is comparable in size to the ionized HII region. The CO clouds are hot (Tkin) = 150 K) and have high molecular gas densities (n(H2) = 10**4 cm**-3) Molecular hydrogen probably extends well beyond the CO boundaries. C+ column densities are more than an order of magnitude higher than those of CO. The total mass of the complex is about 10**6 M(sun) and molecular gas account for more than half of this. The complex is excited by luminous stars reddened or obscured at visual, but apparent at near-infrared wavelengths. The total embedded stellar mass may account for about 10% of the total mass, and the mass of ionized gas for half of that. Hubble V illustrates that modest star formation efficiencies may be associated with high CO destruction efficiencies in low-metallicity objects. The analysis of the Hubble V photon-dominated region (PDR) confirms in an independent manner the high value of the CO-to-H2 conversion factor X found earlier, characteristic of starforming low-metallicity regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&