SUSMETRO : Impact Assessment Tools for Food Planning in Metropolitan Regions : IA tools and serious gaming in support of sustainability targets for food planning, nature conservation and recreation

By offering a series of decision support tools for stakeholders of metropolitan regions, SUSMETRO facilitates and enables evidence-based decision making by means of ‘serious gaming’. Making use of the Phase 1 thematic maps such as on agricultural competitiveness, nature conservation and recreational values, stakeholders can compare impacts of traditional versus innovative forms of agricultural production. The SUSMETRO Impact Assessment tool provides information on the expected effects of spatial planning with regard to the self-supportive capacities of the region (ecological footprint) and the share of recreational and nature conservation facilities (land use functions), offering cost-benefit calculations regarding the expected economic revenues. The whole process is embedded in a Landscape Character Assessment process and guided by Knowledge Brokerage procedures to strengthen the science-policy interface. In sum, the SUSMETRO approach allows a wide range of stakeholders to co-develop images for sustainable Metropolitan Agriculture

ILC Beam Energy Measurement by means of Laser Compton Backscattering

A novel, non-invasive method of measuring the beam energy at the International Linear Collider is proposed. Laser light collides head-on with beam particles and either the energy of the Compton scattered electrons near the kinematic end-point is measured or the positions of the Compton backscattered $\gamma$-rays, the edge electrons and the unscattered beam particles are recorded. A compact layout for the Compton spectrometer is suggested. It consists of a bending magnet and position sensitive detectors operating in a large radiation environment. Several options for high spatial resolution detectors are discussed. Simulation studies support the use of an infrared or green laser and quartz fiber detectors to monitor the backscattered photons and edge electrons. Employing a cavity monitor, the beam particle position downstream of the magnet can be recorded with submicrometer precision. Such a scheme provides a feasible and promising method to access the incident beam energy with precisions of $10^{-4}$ or better on a bunch-to-bunch basis while the electron and positron beams are in collision.Comment: 47 pages, 26 figures, version as accepted by Nucl. Instr. Meth. A after improvement

Comparing reactions in reaction systems

Originally, reaction systems were introduced to describe in a formal way the interactions between biochemical reactions taking place in living cells. They are also investigated as an abstract model of interactive computation. A reaction system is determined by a finite background set of entities and a finite set of reactions. Each reaction specifies the entities that it needs to be able to occur, the entities which block its execution, and the entities that it produces if it occurs. Based on the entities available in a state of the system, all reactions of the system that are enabled take place and together produce the entities that form the next state. In this paper we compare reactions in terms of their enabledness and results. We investigate three partial orders on reactions that build on two definitions of equivalence of (sets of) reactions. It is demonstrated how each partial order defines a lattice (with greatest lower bounds and least upper bounds) for all nontrivial reactions. Together, these orders provide an insight in possible redundancies and (re)combinations of the reactions of a reaction system. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Tomonaga-Luttinger features in the resonant Raman spectra of quantum wires

The differential cross section for resonant Raman scattering from the collective modes in a one dimensional system of interacting electrons is calculated non-perturbatively using the bosonization method. The results indicate that resonant Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid behaviour in quasi-one dimensional electron systems.Comment: 4 pages, no figur

Reduction of myocardial infarction by postischemic administration of the calpain inhibitor A-705253 in comparison to the Na(+)/H(+) exchange inhibitor Cariporide (R) in isolated perfused rabbit hearts

The calpain inhibitor A-705253 and the Na(+)/H(+) exchange inhibitor Cariporide (R) were studied in isolated perfused rabbit hearts subjected to 60 min occlusion of the ramus interventricularis of the left coronary artery (below the origin of the first diagonal branch), followed by 120 min of reperfusion. The inhibitors were added to the perfusion fluid solely or in combination at the beginning of reperfusion. Hemodynamic monitoring and biochemical analysis of perfusion fluid from the coronary outflow were performed. Myocardial infarct size and area at risk (transiently not perfused myocardium) were determined from left ventricular slices after a special staining procedure with Evans blue and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride. The infarcted area (dead myocardium) was 72.7 +/- 4.0% of the area at risk in untreated controls, but was significantly smaller in the presence of the inhibitors. The largest effect was observed with 10(-6) M A-705253, which reduced the infarcted area to 49.2 +/- 4.1% of the area at risk, corresponding to a reduction of 33.6%. Cariporide (R) at 10(-6) M reduced the infarct size to the same extent. The combination of both inhibitors, however, did not further improve cardioprotection. No significant difference was observed between the experimental groups in coronary perfusion, left ventricular pressure, heart rate, or in the release of lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase from heart muscle

Transition Spectra for a BCS Superconductor with Multiple Gaps: Model Calculations for MgB_2

We analyze the qualitative features in the transition spectra of a model superconductor with multiple energy gaps, using a simple extension of the Mattis-Bardeen expression for probes with case I and case II coherence factors. At temperature T = 0, the far infrared absorption edge is, as expected, determined by the smallest gap. However, the large thermal background may mask this edge at finite temperatures and instead the secondary absorption edges found at Delta_i+Delta_j may become most prominent. At finite T, if certain interband matrix elements are large, there may also be absorption peaks at the gap difference frequencies | Delta_i-Delta_j | . We discuss the effect of sample quality on the measured spectra and the possible relation of these predictions to the recent infrared absorption measurement on MgB_2

Statistical analysis of nitrous oxide emission factors from pastoral agriculture field trials conducted in New Zealand

AbstractBetween 11 May 2000 and 31 January 2013, 185 field trials were conducted across New Zealand to measure the direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emission factors (EF) from nitrogen (N) sources applied to pastoral soils. The log(EF) data were analysed statistically using a restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. To estimate mean EF values for each N source, best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) were calculated. For lowland soils, mean EFs for dairy cattle urine and dung, sheep urine and dung and urea fertiliser were 1.16 ± 0.19% and 0.23 ± 0.05%, 0.55 ± 0.19% and 0.08 ± 0.02% and 0.48 ± 0.13%, respectively, each significantly different from one another (p < 0.05), except for sheep urine and urea fertiliser. For soils in terrain with slopes >12°, mean EFs were significantly lower. Thus, urine and dung EFs should be disaggregated for sheep and cattle as well as accounting for terrain

RPA vs. exact shell-model correlation energies

The random phase approximation (RPA) builds in correlations left out by mean-field theory. In full 0-hbar-omega shell-model spaces we calculate the Hartree-Fock + RPA binding energy, and compare it to exact diagonalization. We find that in general HF+RPA gives a very good approximation to the ``exact'' ground state energy. In those cases where RPA is less satisfactory, however, there is no obvious correlation with properties of the HF state, such as deformation or overlap with the exact ground state wavefunction.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys Rev

Anisotropy of the Upper Critical Field and Critical Current in Single Crystal MgB2_2

We report on specific heat, high magnetic field transport and $ac-$susceptibility measurements on magnesium diboride single crystals. The upper critical field $H_{c2}$ for magnetic fields perpendicular and parallel to the Mg and B planes is presented for the first time in the entire temperature range. A very different temperature dependence has been observed in the two directions which yields to a temperature dependent anisotropy with $\Gamma \sim$ 5 at low temperatures and about 2 near $T_c$. A peak effect is observed in susceptibility measurements for $H \sim$2 T parallel to the $c-$axis and the critical current density presnts a sharp maximum for $H$ parallel to the ab-plane.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure