Risk of elevated nitrate concentrations below forest in the region of Munich (South Bavaria) : regionalisation at the basis of remote sensing data and nested samples

Eine zielgerichtete Bewirtschaftung der Wälder im Hinblick auf die fortschreitende N-Sättigung fordert entsprechende Geoinformationen. Auf der Basis der Ergebnisse der Nitratinventur Bayern (Gensior et al 2003b, Mellert et al. 2005a) wurde eine Karte des Risikos erhöhter Nitratkonzentrationen für das Land Bayern erstellt (Mellert 2005c). Die Bayernkarte liefert Informationen über die durchschnittliche Situation in den forstlichen Wuchsgebieten und dient der Identifizierung von Problemregionen. Als Übersichtskarte kann sie jedoch die Bedürfnisse auf regionaler Ebene, z.B. für ein Wuchsgebiet, kaum befriedigen. Hierzu ist eine räumliche Präzisierung der Geodaten in einem detaillierten Maßstab erforderlich. Die bayernweite Regionalisierung basiert auf der in den Jahren 2001/2002 durchgeführten Nitratinventur im 8 x 8 km Raster (Level-I/BZE) an 399 Punkten im Flachland. Die Anzahl von Inventurpunkten in den einzelnen Wuchsgebieten ist daher sehr begrenzt. Zur Informationsverdichtung der kleinmaßstäbigen Bayernkarte auf den größeren Maßstab der Karte für den Großraum München wurden detaillierte Informationen aus einer 1998 durchgeführten Sickerwasserstudie (Rothe & Mellert 2004) herangezogen. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die Möglichkeit eines Downscalings durch ein genestets Verfahren vorgestellt. Die auf einem logistischem Regressionsmodell basierende Regionalisierung auf bayerischer Ebene (Meller et al. 2005c) wird hierbei mit den regionalen Daten durch ein multiples Regressionsverfahren verknüpft. Dank einer ins Projekt integrierten Pilotstudie zur Fernerkundung von Waldtypen konnte eine geeignete Waldkarte für den Raum München durch Klassifikation von Landsat-Daten bereit gestellt werden.A nested model design at two different spatial scales is presented to predict the risk of elevated nitrate concentrations below the main rooting zone of forests in the region of Munich. The procedure combines a logistic regression on the Bavarian scale with a general linear model (Mellert et al. 2005c) are used as a link between both scales. This link of information on two spatial levels and the identification of predictors at different scales are the advantages of this approach, compared to a sole and independent model. At the Bavarian scale the ammonium deposition and the precipitation as well as the stand type and the site conditions predict the risk of elevated nitrate concentration. At the regional scale the degree of forestation and the stand age contribute considerably to explain the variance of the nitrate concentrations. Among the sources of nitrogen input into the forests especially regional ammonium emissions by agriculture seem to contribute to the occurrence of high nitrate concentrations. The central outcome of this study is a map indicating the risk of elevated nitrate concentrations. The results suggests that forestry could contribute to retard nitrogen saturation and nitrate leaching by conversation of spruce into mixed stands with a high percentage of broad-leaved species

Structural and magnetic properties of [\lbrackErTb]\rbrackmultilayers

Abstract.: We have investigated the structural and magnetic properties of $\lbrack$ Er|Tb $\rbrack$ multilayers by different scattering methods. Diffuse X-ray scattering under grazing incidence reveals the interface structure in $\lbrack$ Er|Tb $\rbrack$ bilayers and trilayers, indicating vertically correlated roughness between the Er and Tb interfaces. The magnetic properties of $\lbrack$ ErnEr|TbnTb $\rbrack$ superlattices have been studied as a function of the superlattice composition (indices denote the number of atomic layers). Coupled ferromagnetic structures exist in all investigated samples. The phase transition temperature varies with the Tb layer thickness. Modulated magnetic order is short range for all samples beside the $\lbrack$ Er20|Tb5 $\rbrack$ superlattice, the sample with the smallest Tb layer thickness. We observe dipolar antiferromagnetic coupling between single ferromagnetic Tb layers in all samples, with the onset of this ordering depending on the Tb layer thickness. Due to competing interactions, exchange coupling is limited to the interface near region. Therefore long range modulated magnetic order is observed in the $\lbrack$ Er20|Tb5 $\rbrack$ superlattice only, where the interface regions overlap. The distinct differences to the magnetic structure of an Er0.8Tb0.2 alloy film are explained by a highly anisotropic arrangement of neighbouring atoms due to the correlated roughnes

Reporting of eligibility criteria of randomised trials: cohort study comparing trial protocols with subsequent articles

Objective To determine whether and how eligibility criteria of participants prespecified in protocols of randomised trials are reported in subsequent articles

Thermodynamics of C incorporation on Si(100) from ab initio calculations

We study the thermodynamics of C incorporation on Si(100), a system where strain and chemical effects are both important. Our analysis is based on first-principles atomistic calculations to obtain the important lowest energy structures, and a classical effective Hamiltonian which is employed to represent the long-range strain effects and incorporate the thermodynamic aspects. We determine the equilibrium phase diagram in temperature and C chemical potential, which allows us to predict the mesoscopic structure of the system that should be observed under experimentally relevant conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Quantifying, displaying and accounting for heterogeneity in the meta-analysis of RCTs using standard and generalised Q statistics

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract Background Clinical researchers have often preferred to use a fixed effects model for the primary interpretation of a meta-analysis. Heterogeneity is usually assessed via the well known Q and I2 statistics, along with the random effects estimate they imply. In recent years, alternative methods for quantifying heterogeneity have been proposed, that are based on a 'generalised' Q statistic. Methods We review 18 IPD meta-analyses of RCTs into treatments for cancer, in order to quantify the amount of heterogeneity present and also to discuss practical methods for explaining heterogeneity. Results Differing results were obtained when the standard Q and I2 statistics were used to test for the presence of heterogeneity. The two meta-analyses with the largest amount of heterogeneity were investigated further, and on inspection the straightforward application of a random effects model was not deemed appropriate. Compared to the standard Q statistic, the generalised Q statistic provided a more accurate platform for estimating the amount of heterogeneity in the 18 meta-analyses. Conclusions Explaining heterogeneity via the pre-specification of trial subgroups, graphical diagnostic tools and sensitivity analyses produced a more desirable outcome than an automatic application of the random effects model. Generalised Q statistic methods for quantifying and adjusting for heterogeneity should be incorporated as standard into statistical software. Software is provided to help achieve this aim.Published versio

Hyper-domains in exchange bias micro-stripe pattern

A combination of experimental techniques, e.g. vector-MOKE magnetometry, Kerr microscopy and polarized neutron reflectometry, was applied to study the field induced evolution of the magnetization distribution over a periodic pattern of alternating exchange bias (EB) stripes. The lateral structure is imprinted into a continuous ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic EB bilayer via laterally selective exposure to He-ion irradiation in an applied field. This creates an alternating frozen-in interfacial EB field competing with the external field in the course of the re-magnetization. It was found that in a magnetic field applied at an angle with respect to the EB axis parallel to the stripes the re-magnetization process proceeds via a variety of different stages. They include coherent rotation of magnetization towards the EB axis, precipitation of small random (ripple) domains, formation of a stripe-like alternation of the magnetization, and development of a state in which the magnetization forms large hyper-domains comprising a number of stripes. Each of those magnetic states is quantitatively characterized via the comprehensive analysis of data on specular and off-specular polarized neutron reflectivity. The results are discussed within a phenomenological model containing a few parameters, which can readily be controlled by designing systems with a desired configuration of magnetic moments of micro- and nano-elements

The Complexity of Flat Freeze LTL

We consider the model-checking problem for freeze LTL on one-counter automata (OCAs). Freeze LTL extends LTL with the freeze quantifier, which allows one to store different counter values of a run in registers so that they can be compared with one another. As the model-checking problem is undecidable in general, we focus on the flat fragment of freeze LTL, in which the usage of the freeze quantifier is restricted. Recently, Lechner et al. showed that model checking for flat freeze LTL on OCAs with binary encoding of counter updates is decidable and in 2NEXPTIME. In this paper, we prove that the problem is, in fact, NEXPTIME-complete no matter whether counter updates are encoded in unary or binary. Like Lechner et al., we rely on a reduction to the reachability problem in OCAs with parameterized tests (OCAPs). The new aspect is that we simulate OCAPs by alternating two-way automata over words. This implies an exponential upper bound on the parameter values that we exploit towards an NP algorithm for reachability in OCAPs with unary updates. We obtain our main result as a corollary

Si3AlP: A new promising material for solar cell absorber

First-principles calculations are performed to study the structural and optoelectronic properties of the newly synthesized nonisovalent and lattice-matched (Si2)0.6(AlP)0.4 alloy [T. Watkins et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 16212.] We find that the ordered CC-Si3AlP with a basic unit of one P atom surrounded by three Si atoms and one Al atom is the most stable one within the experimentally observed unit cell.1 Si3AlP has a larger fundamental band gap and a smaller direct band gap than Si, thus it has much higher absorption in the visible light region. The calculated properties of Si3AlP suggest that it is a promising candidate for improving the performance of the existing Si-based solar cells. The understanding on the stability and band structure engineering obtained in this study is general and can be applied for future study of other nonisovalent and lattice-matched semiconductor alloys