708 research outputs found
Estrategias de mejoramiento de frijol para un sistema asociado con maiz, en el Valle Sagrado, Cusco-Peru
The improvement strategy of climbing bean in Cusco should take into account the importance of maize as a crop. In a recent study in 2 maize-growing communities of Valle Sagrado, 75 and 88 percent of the farmers considered beans as the main crop; however, only 57 and 22 percent of the maize-growing area was planted to beans. Furthermore, farmers usually plant beans at low densities, partly due to the high degree of competition with maize. This practice causes low bean yields (300-500 kg/ha). Considering these data, and to take advantage of the large areas planted to maize in Valle Sagrado and other areas, the improvement strategy has consisted in developing bean lines apt for associated cropping with maize. The new lines allow maize to maintain its yield level, while increasing bean production/ha. Using this strategy and on the basis of previous evaluations, 15 promising bean lines were selected at the Taray Exptl. Station for the 1988/89 cropping season. Of these, outstanding lines were ZAV 8382 (1354 kg beans and 7667 kg maize/ha), ZAV 8397 (1354 kg beans and 7395 kg maize/ha), and ZAV 8398 (1052 kg beans and 8156 kg maize/ha), compared with the local check Amarillo Gigante (1350 kg beans and 4500 kg maize/ha). The local check, due to its IVb growth habit (very aggressive), reduced maize yields significantly; the new lines, however, overcome this disadvantage, all being of growth habit IVa (less aggressive). (AS- CIAT
Continuous-wave phase-sensitive parametric image amplification
We study experimentally parametric amplification in the continuous regime
using a transverse-degenerate type-II Optical Parametric Oscillator operated
below threshold. We demonstrate that this device is able to amplify either in
the phase insensitive or phase sensitive way first a single mode beam, then a
multimode image. Furthermore the total intensities of the amplified image
projected on the signal and idler polarizations are shown to be correlated at
the quantum level.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Journal of Modern Optics, Special
Issue on Quantum Imagin
Parametric Self-Oscillation via Resonantly Enhanced Multiwave Mixing
We demonstrate an efficient nonlinear process in which Stokes and anti-Stokes
components are generated spontaneously in a Raman-like, near resonant media
driven by low power counter-propagating fields. Oscillation of this kind does
not require optical cavity and can be viewed as a spontaneous formation of
atomic coherence grating
Comparing two approaches for parsimonious vegetation modelling in semiarid regions using satellite data
[EN] Large portions of Earth's terrestrial surface are arid or semiarid. As in these regions, the hydrological cycle and the vegetation dynamics are tightly interconnected, a coupled modelling of these two systems is needed to fully reproduce the ecosystem behaviour. In this paper, the performance of two parsimonious dynamic vegetation models, suitable for the inclusion in operational ecohydrological models and based on well-established but different approaches, is compared in a semiarid Aleppo Pine region. The first model [water use efficiency (WUE) model] links growth to transpiration through WUE; the second model [light use efficiency (LUE) model] simulates biomass increase in relation to absorbed photosynthetically active radiation and LUE. Furthermore, an analysis of the information contained in MODIS products is presented to indicate the best vegetation indices to be used as observational verification for the models. Enhanced Vegetation Index is reported in literature to be highly correlated with leaf area index, so it is compared with modelled LAI(mod) (rWUE model = 0.45; rLUE model = 0.57). In contrast, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index appears highly linked to soil moisture, through the control exerted by this variable on chlorophyll production, and is therefore used to analyze LAI*(mod), models' output corrected by plant water stress (rWUE model = 0.62; rLUE model = 0.59). Moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer Leaf Area Index and evapotranspiration are found to be unrealistic in the studied area. The performance of both models in this semiarid region is found to be reasonable. However, the LUE model presents the advantages of a better performance, the possibility to be used in a wider range of climates and to have been extensively tested in literature. (C) Copyright 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.The research leading to these results has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research projects FLOOD-MED (ref. CGL2008-06474-C02-02), SCARCE-CONSOLIDER (ref. CSD2009-00065) and ECO-TETIS (ref. CGL2011-28776-C02-01), and from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 238366. The MODIS data were obtained through the online Data Pool at the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Centre (LP DAAC), USGS/Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Centre, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/get_data). The meteorological data were provided by the Spanish National Weather Agency (AEMET). The authors thank Antonio Del Campo Garcia and Maria Gonzalez Sanchis at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for their support and valuable comments.Pasquato, M.; Medici, C.; Friend, A.; Francés, F. (2015). Comparing two approaches for parsimonious vegetation modelling in semiarid regions using satellite data. Ecohydrology. 8(6):1024-1036. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1559S102410368
Autofeedback scheme for preservation of macroscopic coherence in microwave cavities
We present a scheme for controlling the decoherence of a linear superposition
of two coherent states with opposite phases in a high-Q microwave cavity, based
on the injection of appropriately prepared ``probe'' and ``feedback'' Rydberg
atoms, improving the one presented in [D. Vitali et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 79,
2442 (1997)]. In the present scheme, the information transmission from the
probe to the feedback atom is directly mediated by a second auxiliary cavity.
The detection efficiency for the probe atom is no longer a critical parameter,
and the decoherence time of the superposition state can be significantly
increased using presently available technology.Comment: revtex, 15 pages, 4 eps figure
In vivo safety and efficacy testing of a thermally triggered injectable hydrogel scaffold for bone regeneration and augmentation in a rat model
Bone loss resulting from degenerative diseases and trauma is a significant clinical burden which is likely to grow exponentially with the aging population. In a number of conditions where pre-formed materials are clinically inappropriate an injectable bone forming hydrogel could be beneficial. The development of an injectable hydrogel to stimulate bone repair and regeneration would have broad clinical impact and economic benefit in a variety of orthopedic clinical applications. We have previously reported the development of a Laponite® crosslinked pNIPAMco- DMAc (L-pNIPAM-co-DMAc) hydrogel delivery system, loaded with hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAPna), which was capable of inducing osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) without the need for additional growth factors in vitro. However to enable progression towards clinical acceptability, biocompatibility and efficacy of the L-pNIPAM-co-DMAc hydrogel to induce bone repair in vivo must be determined. Biocompatibility was evaluated by subcutaneous implantation for 6 weeks in rats, and efficacy to augment bone repair was evaluated within a rat femur defect model for 4 weeks. No inflammatory reactions, organ toxicity or systemic toxicity were observed. In young male rats where hydrogel was injected, defect healing was less effective than sham operated controls when rat MSCs were incorporated. Enhanced bone healing was observed however, in aged exbreeder female rats where acellular hydrogel was injected, with increased deposition of collagen type I and Runx2. Integration of the hydrogel with surrounding bone was observed without the need for delivered MSCs; native cell infiltration was also seen and bone formation was observed within all hydrogel systems investigated. This hydrogel can be delivered directly into the target site, is biocompatible, promotes increased bone formation and facilitates migration of cells to promote integration with surrounding bone, for safe and efficacious bone repai
Dissipative dynamics of circuit-QED in the mesoscopic regime
We investigate the behavior of a circuit QED device when the resonator is
initially populated with a mesoscopic coherent field. The strong coupling
between the cavity and the qubit produces an entangled state involving
mesoscopic quasi-pointer states with respect to cavity dissipation. The overlap
of the associated field components results in collapse and revivals for the
Rabi oscillation. Although qubit relaxation and dephasing do not preserve these
states, a simple analytical description of the dissipative dynamics of the
circuit QED device including cavity relaxation as well as qubit dissipation is
obtained from the Monte-Carlo approach. Explicit predictions for the
spontaneous and induced Rabi oscillation signals are derived and sucessfully
compared with exact calculations. We show that these interesting effects could
be observed with a 10 photon field in forthcoming circuit QED experiments.Comment: 10 figures, 1 tabl
Copper mediated decyano decarboxylative coupling of cyanoacetate ligands: Pesci versus Lewis acid mechanism
First published online 24 Apr 2015A combination of gas-phase ion trap multistage mass spectrometry (MSn) experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been used to examine the mechanisms of the sequential decomposition reactions of copper cyanoacetate anions, [(NCCH2CO2)2Cu]−, introduced into the gas-phase via electrospray ionization. Gas phase IR spectroscopy, used to probe the coordination mode of the cyanoacetate ligands, revealed that the initial precursor ions are bound to the Cu via the carboxylate, [NCCH2CO2CuO2CCH2CN], 1. Multistage collision-induced dissociation (CID) of 1 gave sequential losses of CO2 and ethene. DFT calculations suggest that the lowest energy pathways for sequential decarboxylation involve Lewis acid mechanisms in which the binding of the cyanoacetate ligand sequentially rearranges from O to N: [NCCH2CO2CuO2CCH2CN]− → [NCCH2CO2CuNCCH2CO2]− → [NCCH2CO2CuNCCH2]− + CO2 and [NCCH2CO2CuNCCH2]− → [O2CCH2CNCuNCCH2]− → [CH2CNCuNCCH2]− + CO2. Loss of ethene involves sequential rearrangement of the binding of the cyanomethyl carbanion ligands from N to C: [CH2CNCuNCCH2]− → [NCCH2CuNCCH2]− → [NCCH2CuCH2CN]−. CH2[double bond, length as m-dash]CH2 loss then proceeds via a 1,2-dyotropic rearrangement to form [NCCuCH2CH2CN]− followed by β-cyanide transfer. This study highlights the rich mechanistic possibilities for metal mediated decarboxylation reactions involving ambidentate carboxylate ligands.Jiawei Li, George N. Khairallah, Vincent Steinmetz, Philippe Maitre and Richard A. J. O'Hai
On Epsilon Expansions of Four-loop Non-planar Massless Propagator Diagrams
We evaluate three typical four-loop non-planar massless propagator diagrams
in a Taylor expansion in dimensional regularization parameter
up to transcendentality weight twelve, using a recently
developed method of one of the present coauthors (R.L.). We observe only
multiple zeta values in our results.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, results unchanged, discussion improved, to appear
in European Physical Journal
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