Responses of the EU feed and livestock system to shocks in trade and production

Dit rapport gaat in op de mogelijke effecten van meervoudige en/of langdurige calamiteiten die de beschikbaarheid van landbouwproducten verminderen op de Europese voedsel- en voersector in 2020

Zelflerende systemen : teeltregistratie als sleutel voor innovatie

Dit rapport beschrijft een aantal activiteiten die zijn verricht in het kader van het AgroBiokon project met als oogmerk om: 1. te inventariseren wat voor benaderingen er nu al zijn t.a.v. al dan niet geautomatiseerde systemen voor kennisoverdracht, 2. te inventariseren wat voor teelt-registratie nodig is voor zelflerende systemen, 3. te bekijken welke generieke gegevensbestanden er zijn om te gebruiken als basis voor zelflerende systemen, 4. een aantal methoden te vergelijken die de basis kunnen vormen voor zelflerende systemen, 5. voorbeelden te geven van toepassing van die methoden in bestaande situaties, 6. inzichten van partners te inventariseren over de mogelijkheden van nieuwe systemen voor teeltinnovatie, 7. een beschrijving te geven van een project om innovatie in de (zetmeel) aardappelproductie te stimulere

Nanometer resolution TEM sample manipulator for rotational and translational positioning

The design and fabrication process for a high performance manipulation stage for nanometer resolution TEM sample positioning over a 20 μm range is presented. A two level, planar stage is moved in three translational and three rotational directions by just two types of actuators; three horizontal and three vertical combdrives. The vertical combdrives are suspended by optimally designed torsion-beams, improving lateral stiffness by at least a factor of 50 compared to rectangular beams, hence minimizing the chance of electrostatic side pull-in

Psychological contract development: An integration of existing knowledge to form a temporal model

The psychological contract has received substantial theoretical attention over the past two decades as a popular framework within which to examine contemporary employment relationships. Previous research mostly examines breach and violation of the psychological contract and its impact on employee organization outcomes. Few studies have employed longitudinal, prospective research designs to investigate the psychological contract and as a result, psychological contract content and formation are incompletely understood. It is argued that employment relationships may be better proactively managed with greater understanding of formation and changes in the psychological contract. We examine existing psychological contract literature to identify five key factors proposed to contribute to the formation of psychological contracts. We extend the current research by integrating these factors for the first time into a temporal model of psychological contract development

The vulnerability of the European agriculture and food system for calamities and geopolitics : a stress test

During the 1960s and 1970s, the EU succeeded in becoming largely self-sufficient in food production, thus assuring its food security for the most part. However, it is unclear which areas of food security are still vulnerable and/or whether there are there new vulnerabilities. In this report we have focused on emergencies and geopolitical shocks that can have a major impact on food security, i.e. food volume. We have not included emergencies that affect food safety (such as a nuclear disaster) or emergencies that have a much broader effect than on food chains alone (such as a flu pandemic or power failure)

Lowland river responses to intraplate tectonism and climate forcing quantified with luminescence and cosmogenic 10Be

Intraplate tectonism has produced large-scale folding that steers regional drainage systems, such as the 1600 km-long Cooper Ck, en route to Australia’s continental depocentre at Lake Eyre. We apply cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating in bedrock, and luminescence dating in sediment, to quantify the erosional and depositional response of Cooper Ck where it incises the rising Innamincka Dome. The detachment of bedrock joint-blocks during extreme floods governs the minimum rate of incision (17.4±6.5 mm/ky) estimated using a numerical model of episodic erosion calibrated with our 10Be measurements. The last big-flood phase occurred no earlier than ~112–121ka. Upstream of the Innamincka Dome long-term rates of alluvial deposition, partly reflecting synclinal-basin subsidence, are estimated from 47 luminescence dates in sediments accumulated since ~270 ka. Sequestration of sediment in subsiding basins such as these may account for the lack of Quaternary accumulation in Lake Eyre, and moreover suggests that notions of a single primary depocentre at base-level may poorly represent lowland, arid-zone rivers. Over the period ~75–55 ka Cooper Ck changed from a bedload- dominant, laterally-active meandering river to a muddy anabranching channel network up to 60 km wide. We propose that this shift in river pattern was a product of base-level rise linked with the slowly deforming syncline–anticline structure, coupled with a climate-forced reduction in discharge. The uniform valley slope along this subsiding alluvial and rising bedrock system represents an adjustment between the relative rates of deformation and the ability of greatly enhanced flows at times during the Quaternary to incise the rising anticline. Hence, tectonic and climate controls are balanced in the long term

Some mechanisms of "spontaneous" polarization of superfluid He-4

Previously, a quantum "tidal" mechanism of polarization of the atoms of He-II was proposed, according to which, as a result of interatomic interaction, each atom of He-II acquires small fluctuating dipole and multipole moments, oriented chaotically on the average. In this work, we show that, in the presence of a temperature or density gradient in He-II, the originally chaotically oriented tidal dipole moments of the atoms become partially ordered, which results in volume polarization of He-II. It is found that the gravitational field of the Earth induces electric induction U =10(-7)V in He-II (for vessel dimensions of the order of 10 cm). We study also the connection of polarization and acceleration, and discuss a possible nature of the electric signal dU = kdT/2e observed by A.S. Rybalko in experiments with second sound.Comment: 13 pages; the calculation is extended and refined; v4: reconstructio

Handleiding voor het simuleren, calibreren, optimaliseren in TIPS-Z. AGROBIOKON

Dit rapport beschrijft de systematiek van de onderliggende software van TIPS-Z en de benodigde en geproduceerde data. Aan de hand van een aantal voorbeelden wordt getoond hoe gebruik gemaakt kan worden van de verschillende functionaliteiten van TIPS-Z. TIPS-Z is een software-pakket, waarmee een gebruiker ten behoeve van de teelt van zetmeelaardappelen: kan berekenen via simulatie wat het effect is van perceelskenmerken, weerscondities, stikstof management en beregening op de gewasgroei; parameters die gebruikt worden in de simulatie-modulen automatisch kan laten calibreren via een vergelijking van waarnemingen en simulatie-uitkomsten; kan laten uitrekenen wat de optimale toediening van stikstofbemesting en beregening is voor een specifiek perceel met een specifieke cultivar van zetmeelaardappel, wat betreft tijdstippen en hoeveelheden

Living with Ghosts and their Radiative Corrections

The role of higher derivative operators in 4D effective field theories is discussed in both non-supersymmetric and supersymmetric contexts. The approach, formulated in the Minkowski space-time, shows that theories with higher derivative operators do not always have an improved UV behaviour, due to subtleties related to the analytical continuation from the Minkowski to the Euclidean metric. This continuation is further affected at the dynamical level due to a field-dependence of the poles of the Green functions of the particle-like states, for curvatures of the potential of order unity in ghost mass units. The one-loop scalar potential in lambda*phi^4 theory with a single higher derivative term is shown to have infinitely many counterterms, while for a very large mass of the ghost the usual 4D renormalisation is recovered. In the supersymmetric context of the O'Raifeartaigh model of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking with a higher derivative (supersymmetric) operator, it is found that quadratic divergences are present in the one-loop self-energy of the scalar field. They arise with a coefficient proportional to the amount of supersymmetry breaking and suppressed by the scale of the higher derivative operator. This is also true in the Wess-Zumino model with higher derivatives and explicit soft breaking of supersymmetry. In both models, the UV logarithmic behaviour is restored in the decoupling limit of the ghost.The role of higher derivative operators in 4D effective field theories is discussed in both non-supersymmetric and supersymmetric contexts. The approach, formulated in the Minkowski space-time, shows that theories with higher derivative operators do not always have an improved UV behaviour, due to subtleties related to the analytical continuation from the Minkowski to the Euclidean metric. This continuation is further affected at the dynamical level due to a field-dependence of the poles of the Green functions of the particle-like states, for curvatures of the potential of order unity in ghost mass units. The one-loop scalar potential in lambda*phi^4 theory with a single higher derivative term is shown to have infinitely many counterterms, while for a very large mass of the ghost the usual 4D renormalisation is recovered. In the supersymmetric context of the O'Raifeartaigh model of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking with a higher derivative (supersymmetric) operator, it is found that quadratic divergences are present in the one-loop self-energy of the scalar field. They arise with a coefficient proportional to the amount of supersymmetry breaking and suppressed by the scale of the higher derivative operator. This is also true in the Wess-Zumino model with higher derivatives and explicit soft breaking of supersymmetry. In both models, the UV logarithmic behaviour is restored in the decoupling limit of the ghost.The role of higher derivative operators in 4D effective field theories is discussed in both non-supersymmetric and supersymmetric contexts. The approach, formulated in the Minkowski space–time, shows that theories with higher derivative operators do not always have an improved UV behaviour, due to subtleties related to the analytical continuation from the Minkowski to the Euclidean metric. This continuation is further affected at the dynamical level due to a field-dependence of the poles of the Green functions of the particle-like states, for curvatures of the potential of order unity in ghost mass units. The one-loop scalar potential in λ ϕ 4 theory with a single higher derivative term is shown to have infinitely many counterterms, while for a very large mass of the ghost the usual 4D renormalisation is recovered. In the supersymmetric context of the O'Raifeartaigh model of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking with a higher derivative (supersymmetric) operator, it is found that quadratic divergences are present in the one-loop self-energy of the scalar field. They arise with a coefficient proportional to the amount of supersymmetry breaking and suppressed by the scale of the higher derivative operator. This is also true in the Wess–Zumino model with higher derivatives and explicit soft breaking of supersymmetry. In both models, the UV logarithmic behaviour is restored in the decoupling limit of the ghost

Production of Medical Radioisotopes with High Specific Activity in Photonuclear Reactions with γ\gamma Beams of High Intensity and Large Brilliance

We study the production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine in $(\gamma,x{\rm n}+y{\rm p})$ photonuclear reactions or ($\gamma,\gamma'$) photoexcitation reactions with high flux [($10^{13}-10^{15}$)$\gamma$/s], small diameter $\sim (100 \, \mu$m$)^2$ and small band width ($\Delta E/E \approx 10^{-3}-10^{-4}$) $\gamma$ beams produced by Compton back-scattering of laser light from relativistic brilliant electron beams. We compare them to (ion,$x$n$+ y$p) reactions with (ion=p,d,$\alpha$) from particle accelerators like cyclotrons and (n,$\gamma$) or (n,f) reactions from nuclear reactors. For photonuclear reactions with a narrow $\gamma$ beam the energy deposition in the target can be managed by using a stack of thin target foils or wires, hence avoiding direct stopping of the Compton and pair electrons (positrons). $(\gamma,\gamma')$ isomer production via specially selected $\gamma$ cascades allows to produce high specific activity in multiple excitations, where no back-pumping of the isomer to the ground state occurs. We discuss in detail many specific radioisotopes for diagnostics and therapy applications. Photonuclear reactions with $\gamma$ beams allow to produce certain radioisotopes, e.g. $^{47}$Sc, $^{44}$Ti, $^{67}$Cu, $^{103}$Pd, $^{117m}$Sn, $^{169}$Er, $^{195m}$Pt or $^{225}$Ac, with higher specific activity and/or more economically than with classical methods. This will open the way for completely new clinical applications of radioisotopes. For example $^{195m}$Pt could be used to verify the patient's response to chemotherapy with platinum compounds before a complete treatment is performed. Also innovative isotopes like $^{47}$Sc, $^{67}$Cu and $^{225}$Ac could be produced for the first time in sufficient quantities for large-scale application in targeted radionuclide therapy.Comment: submitted to Appl. Phys.