1,263 research outputs found
IS THERE A CLASSICAL ANALOG OF A QUANTUM TIME-TRANSLATION MACHINE?
In a recent article [D. Suter, Phys. Rev. {\bf A 51}, 45 (1995)] Suter has
claimed to present an optical implementation of the quantum time-translation
machine which ``shows all the features that the general concept predicts and
also allows, besides the quantum mechanical, a classical description.'' It is
argued that the experiment proposed and performed by Suter does not have the
features of the quantum time-translation machine and that the latter has no
classical analog.Comment: 7 pages, LaTe
Toward sustainable nitrogen management in vegetable production: balancing yield and nitrogen use efficiency
Non-Peer ReviewedCover crops (CC) have the potential to immobilize nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), that would otherwise be lost during post- or pre-harvest periods, leading to improved N management. However, information on how CCs influence N management for vegetable production are scarce. This study aims to determine agronomic responses (yield and N use efficiency, NUE) of three common prairie vegetable crops when produced with and without an overwintering rye CC. In 2017 and repeated in 2018, trials were initiated on a Sutherland clay soil (Dark Brown Chernozem) in Saskatoon for a fully phased broccoli-sweet corn-carrot sequence, with each crop type receiving five N fertilizer treatments (ranging from 0 to 300 kg N ha-1) arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. After harvest, sub-plots were established with vs without a shoulder-season rye CC, and the effect followed into the subsequent growing season. Compared with zero N control, N fertilizer rate did not affect vegetable crop yields in either year, demonstrating the N-rich nature of the soil at this site. Depending on the crop, moderate to high application rates of N significantly reduced crop NUE; N rates above zero N control reduced NUE for sweet corn, rates above 75 kg N ha-1 reduced NUE for broccoli, all rates above 55 kg N ha-1 reduced NUE for the root crop in 2018. Subsequent to the CC in 2018, we found no N fertilizer by CC interaction for crop yields or NUE. The rye CC had no effect on crop yield or NUE for sweet corn or carrot, but significantly reduced broccoli yield and NUE. Regression analysis showed a decreasing trend in NUE with increasing N rates for all three vegetables, regardless of the CC. Our results suggest that the repetition of this experiment for a number of years is necessary to avoid excessive N application and improvement of productivity with cover crops
Developing a soil health assessment protocol for Saskatchewan producers
Non-Peer ReviewedMaintaining and building soil health is an essential component of long-term sustainable agriculture. Soil health can be defined as the capacity of a soil to function, which reflects sustained biological productivity, environmental quality, and plant health. Farmers need appropriate tools or methods for assessing and interpreting the soil health status of their soils, however, there is no standardized and prairie-based soil health test available. Thus, research is needed to address this gap. We currently have a project underway to assess soil health across Saskatchewan, which will contribute to developing a Saskatchewan Soil Health Assessment Protocol (SSHAP). Soil samples from the 0-15, 15-30, and 30-60 cm depth were collected from 56 fields across 26 sites in Sept and Oct 2018. The selected sites represented various Agri-Arm sites, producer fields, and AAFC long-term sites. The selected sites were representative of Saskatchewan agriculture as most sites were previously cropped with wheat or canola; other sites had barley, chickpea, lentil, field pea, soybean, potato, and green manure. Native prairie samples were also collected. Soil samples were air dried and sieved (2mm) prior to analyses. Lab-work in currently underway to characterize soil health attributes, such as wet aggregate stability, active carbon, texture, pH, EC, organic matter, nutrient composition, mineralizable nitrogen, etc. The dataset will enable descriptive statistics for each soil health attribute, form which soil health scoring functions will be explored (similar to the Cornell Soil Health Assessment, but based on Saskatchewan soils). Maintaining soil health is an essential constituent of sustainable agriculture and having an appropriate and standardized method for quantifying and interpreting soil health status a logical first-step
A neutron diffraction study and mode analysis of compounds of the system La<sub>1âx</sub>Sr<sub>x</sub>FeO<sub>3âx</sub>F<sub>x</sub> (x=1, 0.8, 0.5, 0.2) and an investigation of their magnetic properties
AbstractWe report here a detailed study of the system La1âxSrxFeO3âxFx, by neutron powder diffraction- and magnetic-measurements. All the compounds are robust antiferromagnetics with ordering temperatures well above room temperature. Magnetic moments are shown to align parallel to the c-axis. FC-ZFC measurements indicate a small canting of the magnetic moments, resulting in a ferromagnetic component with a maximum for La0.5Sr0.5FeO2.5F0.5. We show that the system exhibits a composition-driven transition from a phase, for low fluorination levels (xâ€0.5), with Pnma symmetry and the usual system of octahedral tiltings, to a phase with space group Imma for higher fluorine contents, where a correlated distortion of the oxygen octahedra plays a significant role. The consistency of the structural models, with respect to the expected continuity of the amplitudes of the different distortion modes and the invariance of their internal form, was monitored through the symmetry mode decomposition of the structures
The phosphoproteome of Arabidopsis plants lacking the oxidative signal-inducible1 (OXI1) protein kinase
The AGC protein kinase OXI1 is a key protein in plant responses to oxidative signals, and is important for two oxidative burst-mediated processes: basal resistance to microbial pathogens and root hair growth. To identify possible components of the OXI1 signalling pathway, phosphoproteomic techniques were used to detect alterations in the abundance of phosphorylated proteins and peptides in an oxi1 null mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. The relative abundance of phosphorylated proteins was assessed either using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and staining with the phosphoprotein stain Pro-Q Diamond or by the identification and quantification, by mass spectrometry, of stable-isotope labelled phosphopeptides. A number of proteins show altered phosphorylation in the oxi1 mutant. Five proteins, including a putative F-box and 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1, show reduced phosphorylation in the oxi1 mutant, and may be direct or indirect targets of OXI1. Four proteins, including ethylene insensitive 2 and phospholipase d-gamma, show increased phosphorylation in the oxi1 mutant. This study has identified a range of candidate proteins from the OXI1 signalling pathway. The diverse activities of these proteins, including protein degradation and hormone signalling, may suggest crosstalk between OXI1 and other signal transduction cascades.</p
Quantum Communication Protocol Employing Weak Measurements
We propose a communication protocol exploiting correlations between two
events with a definite time-ordering: a) the outcome of a {\em weak
measurement} on a spin, and b) the outcome of a subsequent ordinary measurement
on the spin. In our protocol, Alice, first generates a "code" by performing
weak measurements on a sample of N spins.
The sample is sent to Bob, who later performs a post-selection by measuring
the spin along either of two certain directions. The results of the
post-selection define the "key', which he then broadcasts publicly. Using both
her previously generated code and this key, Alice is able to infer the {\em
direction} chosen by Bob in the post-selection. Alternatively, if Alice
broadcasts publicly her code, Bob is able to infer from the code and the key
the direction chosen by Alice for her weak measurement. Two possible
experimental realizations of the protocols are briefly mentioned.Comment: 5 pages, Revtex, 1 figure. A second protocol is added, where by a
similar set of weak measurement Alice can send, instead of receiving, a
message to Bob. The security question for the latter protocol is discusse
Local states of free bose fields
These notes contain an extended version of lectures given at the ``Summer
School on Large Coulomb Systems'' in Nordfjordeid, Norway, in august 2003. They
furnish a short introduction to the theory of quantum harmonic systems, or free
bose fields. The main issue addressed is the one of local states. I will adopt
the definition of Knight of ``strictly local excitation of the vacuum'' and
will then state and prove a generalization of Knight's Theorem which asserts
that finite particle states cannot be perfectly localized. It will furthermore
be explained how Knight's a priori counterintuitive result can be readily
understood if one remembers the analogy between finite and infinite dimensional
harmonic systems alluded to above. I will also discuss the link between the
above result and the so-called Newton-Wigner position operator thereby
illuminating, I believe, the difficulties associated with the latter. I will in
particular argue that those difficulties do not find their origin in special
relativity or in any form of causality violation, as is usually claimed
Time resolved particle dynamics in granular convection
We present an experimental study of the movement of individual particles in a
layer of vertically shaken granular material. High-speed imaging allows us to
investigate the motion of beads within one vibration period. This motion
consists mainly of vertical jumps, and a global ordered drift. The analysis of
the system movement as a whole reveals that the observed bifurcation in the
flight time is not adequately described by the Inelastic Bouncing Ball Model.
Near the bifurcation point, friction plays and important role, and the branches
of the bifurcation do not diverge as the control parameter is increased. We
quantify the friction of the beads against the walls, showing that this
interaction is the underlying mechanism responsible for the dynamics of the
flow observed near the lateral wall
- âŠ