Separable states to distribute entanglement

It was shown that two distant particles can be entangled by sending a third particle never entangled with the other two [T. S. Cubitt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 037902 (2003)]. In this paper, we investigate a class of three-qubit separable states to distribute entanglement by the same way, and calculate the maximal amount of entanglement which two particles of separable states in the class can have after applying the way.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, Revised argumen

Modeling irrigation water delivery schedule for rice cultivation in East Coast Malaysia

An irrigation water delivery-scheduling model has been developed to increase irrigation efficiency for a large-scale rice irrigation project in Malaysia. The study focused on modeling irrigation water delivery schedules during the main season and off-season of the rice-based project. The procedure used a water balance approach in which rainfall was considered as a stochastic variable. Rainfall and evapotranspiration values were used to estimate weekly irrigation water deliveries through the water balance equation. Comparison of the observed and computed irrigation delivery values for the main season and off-season showed that the observed values were higher than the computed values, indicating excess water supply in the field. With the application of this model, it was observed that a modification of the existing irrigation water delivery schedules would save a considerable amount of irrigation water during the main season and off-season. The computed irrigation schedules could save 19% and 11% of irrigation water in the main season and off-season, respectively when compared with the traditional irrigation schedules

In time rice irrigation water management under limited water supply

In-time water distribution of canal water to the farmers has been a major concern of managers, planners and researchers involved in irrigation. This study analyzed the ways for water distribution and timely water release in a rice growing area during the pre-saturation period and the normal irrigation supply periods. The analyses were carried out using field data collected at the Besut Irrigation Scheme located in the northeastern corner of Peninsular Malaysia in the state of Terengganu. The scheme comprises two sub-schemes, giving a total irrigation area of 5, 164 ha for the overall Besut Irrigation Scheme. Based on field water requirements and available flows at the intake gates, canal simulations were performed and results show that land preparation should not be done continuously unless flow rates are at least 9.00 m3/s and 3.00 m3/s at the Besut Barrage and Angga Barrage respectively. If the respective flow rates fall below these values, then land preparation should be done in two phases. However, when the flow rate is between 5.00 and 5.50 m3/s at the Besut Barrage, land preparation is recommended to be carried out over three phases. During the normal irrigation supply period, flow rates of 6.00 m3/s and 1.75 m3/s for the Besut and Angga Barrage respectively, are to be maintained for the entire irrigation scheme, otherwise selective irrigation or irrigation on a rotational basis has to be enforced. When flow rates are 7.20 - 9.00 m3/s and 1.70 - 3.00 m3/s at the Besut and Angga Barrage respectively, then water should be released two days before the beginning of the pre-saturation period for the filling main and secondary canals. However, water should be released three days before the beginning of the pre-saturation period when flow rates are between 5.00 and 7.00 m3Is at the Besut Barrage. But irrigation water should release 5.00 hours before beginning the normal supply period in order to maintain the in-time irrigation schedule

Evaluation of water use in a rice double cropping system in Malaysia

Irrigated rice all over Asia has been criticized for inefficient water use, but very little information is available to quantify its performance. The quantification or assessment of the inefficiency will give the farmers, managers or schemes and policy makers to come up with remedial measures. In this work, the Besut rice irrigation scheme, located in the Terengganu State of Malaysia was characterized, and its water use (WU) efficiency assessed. The daily rainfall for 48 years and river flows for 45 years were analyzed to identify water excess or shortage throughout the rice-growing season. During the November-January period, 45% of the total annual rains fall. The irrigation water supply could be reduced in the main season (November-April) because of higher rainfall occurrence. Low monthly river flows of 10.5 m3/s and 10.9 m3/s were observed for the Besut barrage and 2.3 m3/s and 2.4 m3/s for the Angga barrage in the months of July and August respectively, characterizing the driest months. The off-season (May-October) crop suffered from water problems during vegetative and reproductive stages because of water shortage in the river. The relative water supply values have been classified into five categories based on results on the indices on irrigation performance. The average water productivity was 0.31 kg/m3 and 0.25 kg/m3 during the main season and off-season respectively. Two WU indices, water productivity (WPI) and adequacy (AI), ranked the performance of the blocks and identified those having problems in water allocation and utilization. These indices revealed that the blocks using more water performed poorly in terms of water productivity. These indices could be used to rectify uneven distribution of water in the scheme

Neo-liberalism and the Korean Economy since the 1997 Financial Crisis: A Christian Ethical Analysis centering upon Tax Havens, Labor-Management Relations and Real Estate

Reinders, J.S. [Promotor]Goudzwaard, B. [Copromotor

Modeling of changes in evapotranspiration for an area in Peninsular Malaysia,

A study was carried out to check the sensitivity of evapotranspiration estimation due to changes in climate. The study used 30 years of data from the meteorological station in the FELCRA paddy estate, Seberang Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. The effect of changes in the climatic variables, temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind speed on evapotranspiration were analyzed. Results showed that the mean temperature, mean relative humidity, mean wind speed, and net global radiation have changed by + 0.182 oC, -0.73%, -0.0365 mis, and +0.146 MJ/m2 respectively per decade, while the short wave radiation received has decreased by 0.0037 MJ/m2 per decade. The statistical analysis of the evapotranspiration estimations using selected methods showed that the Penman-Monteith, Blaney-Criddle and Pan evaporation methods give similar estimations (P = 0.05) and are suitable for the study area. When changes to the present climate are imposed for future decades, the over-estimation rate is linear with the Blaney-Criddle and Penman methods whereas for the PenmanMonteith method it is exponential. The overall increment expected after 5 decades is 5.3% and 6.9% with Penman and Blaney-Criddle methods respectively. The Penman-Monteith shows a 74.4% increment in the evapotranspiration over the next five decades.The authors wish to expressive their sincere gratitude to the staff of the FELCRA Seberang Perak Paddy Estate Irrigation Scheme, the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the Malaysian Meteorological Service. The authors would also like to thank The Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment for the funding of the Project IRPA 01-02-04-0422

Optimal design of a toroidal field magnet system and cost of electricity implications for a tokamak using high temperature superconductors

The potential for reducing the Cost of Electricity (CoE) by using High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) in the Toroidal Field (TF) coils of a fusion tokamak power plant has been investigated using a new HTS module in the PROCESS systems code. We report the CoE and the design of HTS tokamaks that have been optimised by minimising the major radius of the plasma. Potential future improvements in both the superconducting properties and the structural materials for TF coils operating at 4.8 K and 30 K are considered. Increasing the critical current density by a factor of 10 (with a commensurate reduction in costs kA−1 m−1) results in a CoE 4.4% less than equivalent tokamaks using current low temperature superconductors (LTS). If the yield strength of the TF casing material is increased by 40% to 1400 MPa, the CoE is further reduced by 3.4%. Implementing both improvements and operating the TF coils at 4.8 K leads to CoE of 19.1 (10.1) €cent kW−1 h−1 for a 500 MW (1.5 GW) HTS reactor compared to 20.7 (11.1) €cent kW−1 h−1 for an LTS reactor (2013 costs). Operating the HTS TF coils at 30 K with both improvements, gives a similar CoE for HTS and LTS tokamaks

Recurrent Connectivity Can Account for the Dynamics of Disparity Processing in V1

Disparity tuning measured in the primary visual cortex (V1) is described well by the disparity energy model, but not all aspects of disparity tuning are fully explained by the model. Such deviations from the disparity energy model provide us with insight into how network interactions may play a role in disparity processing and help to solve the stereo correspondence problem. Here, we propose a neuronal circuit model with recurrent connections that provides a simple account of the observed deviations. The model is based on recurrent connections inferred from neurophysiological observations on spike timing correlations, and is in good accord with existing data on disparitytuning dynamics.Wefurther performedtwo additional experimentstotest predictions ofthe model. First, we increased the size of stimuli to drive more neurons and provide a stronger recurrent input. Our model predicted sharper disparity tuning for larger stimuli. Second, we displayed anticorrelated stereograms, where dots of opposite luminance polarity are matched between the left- and right-eye images and result in inverted disparity tuning in the disparity energy model. In this case, our model predicted reduced sharpening and strength of inverted disparity tuning. For both experiments, the dynamics of disparity tuning observed from the neurophysiological recordings in macaque V1 matched model simulation predictions. Overall, the results of this study support the notion that, whilethe disparity energy model provides a primary account of disparitytuning in V1 neurons, neural disparity processing in V1 neurons is refined by recurrent interactions among elements in the neural circuit

Sustainability of rice production: a Malaysian perspective

As Asian rice demand is projected to increase by 30% in 2010, a sustainable approach of rice production has become important. In order to fulfill the rice demand for the growing population and with the target rice self-sufficiency of 65%, Malaysia has to increase its rice productivity. As the attainment of sustainability in rice farming is country and area specific, Malaysia has devised its own ways to achieve this goal within a prescribed time frame. The major problems faced by the rice sector have been identified and step-by-step solutions are sought through policy changes. Rice estates in Malaysia have already proven that commercial rice production is viable, economical and sustainable. FELCRA Seberang Perak, the first and largest rice estate in Malaysia, has proven the sustainability and viability of commercial rice farming by achieving a continuous cropping intensity of 200%. The keywords to sustainable rice production are doubling yields, estatization and private corporate sector investments. The strategies to be devised must include getting investments to make the present non-lucrative business a profitable venture, whilst balancing the country’s social obligation

Mesenchymal stem cell secretes microparticles enriched in pre-microRNAs

10.1093/nar/gkp857Nucleic Acids Research381215-22