Unstable Slope Management Program

INE/AUTC 11.1

Marketing Channel and Technology Adoption: Chinese Villages in the Local Horticulture Market

China has been experiencing the substantial changes in agricultural sectors in the past decades. Interaction between diversified channels for marketing agricultural products and modern technology adoption are important for restructuring agriculture and improving productivity, but fewer researches have been done in this field in China. With the village - level data collected a round Beijing, the capital of China, this study attempts to find out the major market channel(s) in rural China and its (their) linkage with technology innovation in the horticulture sector. The study finds that small brokers still dominate horticultural product distribution in rural area because of their cheap labor costs; however, the modern supply chain components such as supermarkets are penetrating the rural area and competing with small brokers. Modern market channels stimulate the adoptions of new technology, whereas technology adoption had few effects on modern market channel selection. In addition, shares of crop such as vegetables and fruits are soaring; surprisingly villages farther away from Beijing experienced faster crop restructuring with higher specialization. In the future we try to incorporate wholesalers or supermarkets into the analysis, which can depict a more complete picture of rural market development.Crop Production/Industries,

Vascular remodeling of the mouse yolk sac requires hemodynamic force

The embryonic heart and vessels are dynamic and form and remodel while functional. Much has been learned about the genetic mechanisms underlying the development of the cardiovascular system, but we are just beginning to understand how changes in heart and vessel structure are influenced by hemodynamic forces such as shear stress. Recent work has shown that vessel remodeling in the mouse yolk sac is secondarily effected when cardiac function is reduced or absent. These findings indicate that proper circulation is required for vessel remodeling, but have not defined whether the role of circulation is to provide mechanical cues, to deliver oxygen or to circulate signaling molecules. Here, we used time-lapse confocal microscopy to determine the role of fluid-derived forces in vessel remodeling in the developing murine yolk sac. Novel methods were used to characterize flows in normal embryos and in embryos with impaired contractility (Mlc2a^(–/–)). We found abnormal plasma and erythroblast circulation in these embryos, which led us to hypothesize that the entry of erythroblasts into circulation is a key event in triggering vessel remodeling. We tested this by sequestering erythroblasts in the blood islands, thereby lowering the hematocrit and reducing shear stress, and found that vessel remodeling and the expression of eNOS (Nos3) depends on erythroblast flow. Further, we rescued remodeling defects and eNOS expression in low-hematocrit embryos by restoring the viscosity of the blood. These data show that hemodynamic force is necessary and sufficient to induce vessel remodeling in the mammalian yolk sa

Microscopic Observations of Voids in Anodic Oxide Films on Aluminum

The relationship was explored between nanoscale voids in anodic aluminum oxide films and the surface condition of aluminum samples prior to anodizing. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) detected voids on the order of 10 nm in anodic films. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of these films, obtained after partial oxide dissolution, revealed surface cavities; comparison of TEM and AFM suggested that the cavities were the oxide voids. AFM images after variable extents of oxide dissolution showed that the voids were distributed evenly through the inner 60% of the film thickness, indicating that they were formed at the metal-oxide interface during film growth. Both AFM and TEM showed that the void concentration in the film was sensitive to the extent of dissolution of the aluminum samples in NaOH prior to anodizing. Positron annihilation spectroscopy had previously detected voids in samples without anodic films, located in the metal near the oxide-metal interface; the quantity of these interfacial voids was controlled by NaOH dissolution. The void concentration in the inner part of the anodic films was proportional to the quantity of these pre-existing interfacial voids. It was inferred that the oxide voids were formed by incorporation, during anodizing, of interfacial metal voids into the oxide film. The uniform concentration of oxide voids in the inner film suggested that interfacial metal voids formed continuously during anodizing and that metal voids were generated repeatedly at specific interfacial sites during film growth

Can a Bose gas be saturated?

Bose-Einstein condensation is unique among phase transitions between different states of matter in the sense that it occurs even in the absence of interactions between particles. In Einstein's textbook picture of an ideal gas, purely statistical arguments set an upper bound on the number of particles occupying the excited states of the system, and condensation is driven by this saturation of the quantum vapour. Dilute ultracold atomic gases are celebrated as a realisation of Bose-Einstein condensation in close to its purely statistical form. Here we scrutinise this point of view using an ultracold gas of potassium (39K) atoms, in which the strength of interactions can be tuned via a Feshbach scattering resonance. We first show that under typical experi-mental conditions a partially condensed atomic gas strongly deviates from the textbook concept of a saturated vapour. We then use measurements at a range of interaction strengths and temperatures to extrapolate to the non-interacting limit, and prove that in this limit the behaviour of a Bose gas is consistent with the saturation picture. Finally, we provide evidence for the universality of our observations through additional measurements with a different atomic species, 87Rb. Our results suggest a new way of characterising condensation phenomena in different physical systems.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

The effect of multiple sclerosis on carotid baroreflex control of heart rate and blood pressure

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is marked by conduction abnormalities within the central nervous system that can lead to impaired blood pressure regulation. However, the impact of this disease on dynamic neural control—responsiveness and timing (i.e., latency)—of blood pressure has not been examined. Utilizing a variable neck chamber system, we tested the hypothesis that patients with MS (MS: n=4) exhibit an altered response following baroreflex perturbation compared to sex and age matched healthy controls (CON: n=4). At rest, 5-sec pulses of neck suction (NS; -60 Torr) and neck pressure (NP; +40 Torr) were applied to simulate carotid hypertension and hypotension, respectively. Mean arterial pressure (MAP; Finometer) and heart rate (HR) were continuously measured in response to the perturbations. Carotid baroreflex (CBR) latencies (i.e., time-to-peak responses) were examined using carotid-cardiac (peak HR responses), carotid-vasomotor (peak MAP responses), and change in MAP at the peak HR response of the corresponding stimuli (MAP@HRpeak), all of which were not significant for both NP and NS. Following NS, responses in MAP (MS: -12±5, CON: -10±3 mmHg; p=0.43) and HR (MS: -9±3, CON: -8±4 BPM; p=0.58) were similar between groups. Following administration of NP, HR responses (MS: 4±2, CON: 5±4 BPM; p=0.47) were no different. However, the differences found in MAP were significant (MS: 5±2, CON: 8±2 mmHg; p=0.05), providing some evidence that baroreceptor responsiveness may be compromised when faced with a hypotensive challenge

Comment on "Prediction of lattice constant in cubic perovskites"

In a recent work by Jiang et al. [J. Phys. Chem. Solids 67 (2006) 1531-1536], the interrelationship between lattice constant, ionic radii and tolerance factor of cubic perovskites has been established and an empirical equation was obtained. However, the assumption of incorrect ionic coordination led to an incorrect mathematical expression even though the average relative errors between predicted and observed lattice constants of 132 materials were below 1%. Here, corrected coefficients for that empirical expression are obtained, which would likely be useful for investigation of general perovskite materials

Reduced Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity Response to a Cold Pressor Test in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative autoimmune disease characterized by demyelination in the central nervous system leading to potential impairments in the autonomic control of cardiovascular function. We have previously demonstrated individuals with MS exhibit a diminished ability to increase blood pressure in response to a hypotensive stimulus compared with healthy controls likely due to impaired sympathetic modulation of the vasculature. PURPOSE: The aim of the current investigation was to test the hypothesis that muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) responses to a cold pressor test (CPT) are reduced in individuals with MS compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Four patients with relapsing-remitting MS (2 females/2 males, EDSS \u3c 4) and 4 sex-, age- and mass-matched controls were instrumented for MSNA (peroneal nerve), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP; Finometer), and heart rate (HR). Subjects were exposed to a CPT by immersing a hand in ice water for 2 min. Mean cardiovascular and MSNA responses (burst frequency) at baseline and at 30 sec intervals during the CPT were compared between groups. RESULTS: Heart rate (P\u3c0.001) and MAP (P\u3c0.001) responses increased from baseline throughout the CPT but no group differences were observed (P=0.10 and P=0.78, respectively). At baseline, MSNA was similar between groups (MS: 2 ± 2 vs. CON: 14 ± 9 bursts/min; P=0.239). However, individuals with MS had blunted MSNA responses to CPT compared to healthy controls at 60 seconds (MS: 18 ± 14 vs. CON: 42 ± 10 bursts/min; P=0.033), at 90 seconds (MS: 16 ± 12 vs. CON: 44 ± 10 bursts/min; P=.017) and at 120 seconds (MS: 13 ± 12 vs. CON: 43 ± 13 bursts/min; P=.012). CONCLUSION: Individuals with MS appear to have an attenuated muscle sympathetic response to CPT. However, MAP appears to respond similarly to healthy controls potentially through other compensatory mechanisms