A Model of the Extension and Branching of a Seminal Root of Barley, and Its Use in Studying Relations Between Root Dimensions I the Model

RESP-660

Gravitational form factors of the proton from lattice QCD

The gravitational form factors (GFFs) of a hadron encode fundamental aspects of its structure, including its shape and size as defined from e.g., its energy density. This work presents a determination of the flavor decomposition of the GFFs of the proton from lattice QCD, in the kinematic region $0\leq -t\leq 2~\text{GeV}^2$. The decomposition into up-, down-, strange-quark, and gluon contributions provides first-principles constraints on the role of each constituent in generating key proton structure observables, such as its mechanical radius, mass radius, and $D$-term.Comment: Additional comparisons added to Figures 2 and 4. 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table in the main text plus 11 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables in the supplementary materia

Gravitational form factors of the pion from lattice QCD

The two gravitational form factors of the pion, $A^{\pi}(t)$ and $D^{\pi}(t)$, are computed as functions of the momentum transfer squared $t$ in the kinematic region $0\leq -t< 2~\text{GeV}^2$ on a lattice QCD ensemble with quark masses corresponding to a close-to-physical pion mass $m_{\pi}\approx 170~\text{MeV}$ and $N_f=2+1$ quark flavors. The flavor decomposition of these form factors into gluon, up/down light-quark, and strange quark contributions is presented in the $\overline{\text{MS}}$ scheme at energy scale $\mu=2~\text{GeV}$, with renormalization factors computed non-perturbatively via the RI-MOM scheme. Using monopole and (modified) $z$-expansion fits to the gravitational form factors, we obtain estimates for the pion momentum fraction and $D$-term that are consistent with the momentum fraction sum rule and the next-to-leading order chiral perturbation theory prediction for $D^{\pi}(0)$.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, 7 table

Sub-Nyquist Field Trial Using Time Frequency Packed DP-QPSK Super-Channel Within Fixed ITU-T Grid

Sub-Nyquist time frequency packing technique was demonstrated for the first time in a super channel field trial transmission over long-haul distances. The technique allows a limited spectral occupancy even with low order modulation formats. The transmission was successfully performed on a deployed Australian link between Sydney and Melbourne which included 995 km of uncompensated SMF with coexistent traffic. 40 and 100 Gb/s co-propagating channels were transmitted together with the super-channel in a 50 GHz ITU-T grid without additional penalty. The super-channel consisted of eight sub-channels with low-level modulation format, i.e. DP-QPSK, guaranteeing better OSNR robustness and reduced complexity with respect to higher order formats. At the receiver side, coherent detection was used together with iterative maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) detection and decoding. A 975 Gb/s DP-QPSK super-channel was successfully transmitted between Sydney and Melbourne within four 50GHz WSS channels (200 GHz). A maximum potential SE of 5.58 bit/s/Hz was achieved with an OSNR=15.8 dB, comparable to the OSNR of the installed 100 Gb/s channels. The system reliability was proven through long term measurements. In addition, by closing the link in a loop back configuration, a potential SE*d product of 9254 bit/s/Hz*km was achieved

Identifying spring barley cultivars with differential response to tillage

Cultivars and some cultivar mixtures of spring barley were grown under inversion and non-inversion tillage conditions for three or four years and assessed for disease and yield in order to obtain genotypes that can be used to determine the mechanisms of cultivation adaptation. In general, the higher-yielding cultivars under inversion tillage conditions gave lower yields under non-inversion tillage, whereas low-yielding older cultivars showed relatively smaller reductions in yield under non-inversion tillage. A few cultivars showed preferential yield performance for either inversion or non-inversion tillage and this was irrespective of their overall yield performance. There was no pedigree or breeding programme link between these cultivars and no above-ground gross morphological trait observed was associated with tillage adaptation. Root hairs may contribute to inversion tillage adaptation as a root hair absence mutant was associated with non-inversion adaptation and it is likely that other root-associated traits are responsible also for tillage adaptation. There was no overall cultivar or tillage interaction with rhynchosporium symptoms but a differential tillage interaction may occur in individual years. We have identified clearly contrasting cultivars and tested their across-season robustness with respect to tillage treatment for further detailed mechanistic studies and identification of tillage adaptation traits

Reflections on a degree initiative: the UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers enter the University of Birmingham

This paper provides an opportunity to share experiences and perceptions of the first 5 years of a degree programme for professional dancers. A partnership developed in the mid-1990s between the UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet and the University of Birmingham, Westhill (now School of Education), to provide a part-time, post-experience, flexible study programme for full-time Company dancers. This is the first 'company customised' higher education programme to dovetail studies around rehearsal, performance and touring schedules. Methodology is based on a narrative by the author, informed by ongoing internal and external evaluations, in-depth interviews with dancers and Company managers, documentation and secondary sources. Outcomes indicate that the programme has made a positive difference to the Company, to the dancers and to the wider education and dance/arts world

Chiral Extrapolation of Lattice Data for Heavy Baryons

The masses of heavy baryons containing a b quark have been calculated numerically in lattice QCD with pion masses which are much larger than its physical value. In the present work we extrapolate these lattice data to the physical mass of the pion by applying the effective chiral Lagrangian for heavy baryons, which is invariant under chiral symmetry when the light quark masses go to zero and heavy quark symmetry when the heavy quark masses go to infinity. A phenomenological functional form with three parameters, which has the correct behavior in the chiral limit and appropriate behavior when the pion mass is large, is proposed to extrapolate the lattice data. It is found that the extrapolation deviates noticably from the naive linear extrapolation when the pion mass is smaller than about 500MeV. The mass differences between Sigma_b and Sigma_b^* and between Sigma_b^{(*)} and Lambda_b are also presented. Uncertainties arising from both lattice data and our model parameters are discussed in detail. We also give a comparision of the results in our model with those obtained in the naive linear extrapolations.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure

Health behaviour changes after type 2 diabetes diagnosis: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Healthy lifestyle is key for type 2 diabetes (T2D) management. It is unclear whether individuals change health behaviours in response to T2D diagnosis. We compared smoking, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake and alcohol consumption at three times (pre-diagnosis, at diagnosis, 2-4 years post-diagnosis) in individuals who developed T2D and controls. Behaviours were assessed in 6877 individuals at waves 3-7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine differences by group and time and group-by-time interactions. The T2D group were less active (p < 0.001) and consumed less alcohol (p < 0.001). Smoking (p < 0.001), alcohol consumption (p = 0.037) and physical activity (p = 0.042) decreased over time in the overall sample, fruit and vegetable intake (p = 0.012) and sedentary activity (p < 0.001) increased. A group-by-time interaction was found for smoking, with the T2D group having greater reductions in smoking over time (p < 0.001). No significant interactions were detected for other behaviours. We found limited evidence that T2D diagnosis encourages behaviour change, other than a reduction in smoking. Given the importance of lifestyle for T2D outcomes, strategies for motivating behaviour change need to be identified

A case study of an 87-year-old male bodybuilder with complex health conditions

This exploratory clinical case report presents an 87-year-old man who began bodybuilding at the age of 76 years and was officially recognised as the world’s oldest competitive bodybuilder, competing until age 83. He has a background of complex health conditions including polio, strokes, cardiac arrest, atrial fibrillation, prostate disease, osteoarthritis, depression, bowel obstruction, reflux, and bladder cancer. Assessments of body composition, bone density, muscle performance, and diet-related practices were performed. The bodybuilder had superior fat-free mass, lower fat mass, and generally greater muscle performance compared to untrained healthy males of a similar age. Commencement of bodybuilding in older age appears to be possible, even with ongoing complex health conditions, and the potential benefits of this practice require systematic investigation in the future