ESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC GAINS FROM LARGER TOMATO TRANSPLANT CELL SIZES

This paper examines the costs and economic benefits of utilizing larger seedling transplant in commercial vegetable production. Larger transplants have been shown to mature earlier and yield more premium graded fruit. Offsetting these benefits is the increased cost of producing larger transplants, primarily from reducing the capacity of a transplant house.Crop Production/Industries,

Optimization of Al/AlOx/AlAl/AlO_x/Al-Layer Systems for Josephson Junctions from a Microstructure Point of View

$Al/AlO_x/Al$-layer systems are frequently used for Josephson junction-based superconducting devices. Although much work has been devoted to the optimization of the superconducting properties of these devices, systematic studies on influence of deposition conditions combined with structural analyses on the nanoscale are rare up to now. We have focused on the optimization of the structural properties of $Al/AlO_x/Al$-layer systems deposited on Si(111) substrates with a particular focus on the thickness homogeneity of the $AlO_x$-tunnel barrier. A standard high-vacuum electron-beam deposition system was used and the effect of substrate pretreatment, different Al-deposition temperatures and Al-deposition rates was studied. Transmission electron microscopy was applied to analyze the structural properties of the $Al/AlO_x/Al$-layer systems to determine the thickness homogeneity of the $AlO_x$ layer, grain size distribution in the Al layers, Al-grain boundary types and the morphology of the $Al/AlO_x$ interface. We show that the structural properties of the lower Al layer are decisive for the structural quality of the whole $Al/AlO_x/Al$-layer system. Optimum conditions yield an epitaxial Al(111) layer on a Si(111) substrate with an Al-layer thickness variation of only 1.6 nm over more than 10 $\mu m$ and large lateral grain sizes up to 1 $\mu m$. Thickness fluctuations of the $AlO_x$-tunnel barrier are minimized on such an Al layer which is essential for the homogeneity of the tunnel current. Systematic variation of the Al-deposition rate and deposition temperature allows to develop an understanding of the growth mechanisms

Upper-critical dimension in a quantum impurity model: Critical theory of the asymmetric pseudogap Kondo problem

Impurity moments coupled to fermions with a pseudogap density of states display a quantum phase transition between a screened and a free moment phase upon variation of the Kondo coupling. We describe the universal theory of this transition for the experimentally relevant case of particle-hole asymmetry. The theory takes the form of a crossing between effective singlet and doublet levels, interacting with low-energy fermions. Depending on the pseudogap exponent, this interaction is either relevant or irrelevant under renormalization group transformations, establishing the existence of an upper-critical "dimension" in this impurity problem. Using perturbative renormalization group techniques we compute various critical properties and compare with numerical results.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figs, (v2) title changed, log corrections for r=1 adde

An entropic approach to local realism and noncontextuality

For any Bell locality scenario (or Kochen-Specker noncontextuality scenario), the joint Shannon entropies of local (or noncontextual) models define a convex cone for which the non-trivial facets are tight entropic Bell (or contextuality) inequalities. In this paper we explore this entropic approach and derive tight entropic inequalities for various scenarios. One advantage of entropic inequalities is that they easily adapt to situations like bilocality scenarios, which have additional independence requirements that are non-linear on the level of probabilities, but linear on the level of entropies. Another advantage is that, despite the nonlinearity, taking detection inefficiencies into account turns out to be very simple. When joint measurements are conducted by a single detector only, the detector efficiency for witnessing quantum contextuality can be arbitrarily low.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, minor mistakes correcte

Correlating the nanostructure of Al-oxide with deposition conditions and dielectric contributions of two-level systems in perspective of superconducting quantum circuits

This work is concerned with Al/Al-oxide(AlO$_{x}$)/Al-layer systems which are important for Josephson-junction-based superconducting devices such as quantum bits. The device performance is limited by noise, which has been to a large degree assigned to the presence and properties of two-level tunneling systems in the amorphous AlO$_{x}$ tunnel barrier. The study is focused on the correlation of the fabrication conditions, nanostructural and nanochemical properties and the occurrence of two-level tunneling systems with particular emphasis on the AlO$_{x}$-layer. Electron-beam evaporation with two different processes and sputter deposition were used for structure fabrication, and the effect of illumination by ultraviolet light during Al-oxide formation is elucidated. Characterization was performed by analytical transmission electron microscopy and low-temperature dielectric measurements. We show that the fabrication conditions have a strong impact on the nanostructural and nanochemical properties of the layer systems and the properties of two-level tunneling systems. Based on the understanding of the observed structural characteristics, routes are derived towards the fabrication of Al/AlO$_{x}$/Al-layers systems with improved properties.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figure

Motivating and Sustaining Participation in VGI

Volunteers are the key component in the collection of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), so what motivates their participation, what strategies work in recruitment and how sustainability of participation can be achieved are key questions that need to be answered to inform VGI system design and implementation. This chapter reviews studies that have examined these questions and presents the main motivational factors that drive volunteer participation, as determined from empirical research. Some best practices from broader citizen science applications are also presented that may have relevance for VGI initiatives. Finally, a set of case studies from our experiences are used to illustrate how volunteers have been motivated to collect VGI through mapping parties, gamification and working with schools