How efficient are seeding operations : Kondinin work study

The efficiency of machinery and labour during seeding operations was studied in 1977 by the Kondinin and Districts Farm Improvement Group and the Department of Agriculture. The aim was to find what influenced efficiency during cropping. Time spent on activities during the working day was measured, and it was found that repairs, maintenance, meals and other incidental jobs considerably reduced the time spent driving the tractor. Each farmer participating in the study was given the results of his own farm compared to the group, indicating tasks most needing improvement

Low Molecular Weight mRNA Encodes a Protein That Controls Serotonin 5-HT_(1c) and Acetylcholine M_1 Receptor Sensitivity in Xenopus Oocytes

Serotonin 5-HT_(1c) and acetylcholine M_1 receptors activate phosphoinositidase, resulting in an increased formation of IP_3 and 1,2 diacylglycerol. In Xenopus oocytes injected with mRNA encoding either of these receptors, Ca^(2+) released from intracellular stores in response to IP3 then opens Ca^(2+)-gated Cl^-channels. In the present experiments, oocytes expressing a transcript from a cloned mouse serotonin 5-HT_(1c) receptor were exposed to identical 15-s pulses of agonist, administered 2 min apart; the second current response was two to three times that of the first. However, in those oocytes coinjected with the 5-HT_(1c) receptor transcript and a low molecular weight fraction (0.3-1.5 kb) of rat brain mRNA, the second current response was ~50% of the first. Thus, the low molecular weight RNA encodes a protein (or proteins) that causes desensitization. Experiments using fura-2 or a Ca^(2+)-free superfusate indicated that desensitization of the 5-HT_(1c) receptor response does not result from a sustained elevation of intracellular Ca^(2+) level or require the entry of extracellular Ca^(2+). Photolysis of caged IP_3 demonstrated that an increase in IP_3 and a subsequent rise in Ca^(2+) do not produce desensitization of either the IP_3 or 5-HT_(1c) peak current responses. Furthermore, in oocytes coinjected with the low molecular weight RNA and a transcript from the rat M_1 acetylcholine receptor, the M_1 current response was greatly attenuated. Our data suggest that the proteins involved in attenuation of the M_1 current response and desensitization of the 5-HT_(1c) current response may be the same

Teaching the Grid: Learning Distributed Computing with the M-grid Framework

A classic challenge within Computer Science is to distribute data and processes so as to take advantage of multiple computers tackling a single problem in a simultaneous and coordinated way. This situation arises in a number of different scenarios, including Grid computing which is a secure, service-based architecture for tackling massively parallel problems and creating virtual organizations. Although the Grid seems destined to be an important part of the future computing landscape, it is very difficult to learn how to use as real Grid software requires extensive setting up and complex security processes. M-grid mimics the core features of the Grid, in a much simpler way, enabling the rapid prototyping of distributed applications. We describe m-grid and explore how it may be used to teach foundation Grid computing skills at the Higher Education level and report some of our experiences of deploying it as an exercise within a programming course

How Modify the Curriculum To Benefit the Academically Talented Student?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66896/2/10.1177_019263656104526448.pd

Dynamic facilitation explains democratic particle motion of metabasin transitions

Transitions between metabasins in supercooled liquids seem to occur through rapid "democratic" collective particle rearrangements. Here we show that this apparent homogeneous particle motion is a direct consequence of dynamic facilitation. We do so by studying metabasin transitions in facilitated spin models and constrained lattice gases. We find that metabasin transitions occur through a sequence of locally facilitated events taking place over a relatively short time frame. When observed on small enough spatial windows these events appear sudden and homogeneous. Our results indicate that metabasin transitions are essentially "non-democratic" in origin and yet another manifestation of dynamical heterogeneity in glass formers.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Fast Simulation of Facilitated Spin Models

We show how to apply the absorbing Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm of Novotny to simulate kinetically constrained models of glasses. We consider in detail one-spin facilitated models, such as the East model and its generalizations to arbitrary dimensions. We investigate how to maximise the efficiency of the algorithms, and show that simulation times can be improved on standard continuous time Monte Carlo by several orders of magnitude. We illustrate the method with equilibrium and aging results. These include a study of relaxation times in the East model for dimensions d=1 to d=13, which provides further evidence that the hierarchical relaxation in this model is present in all dimensions. We discuss how the method can be applied to other kinetically constrained models.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure