Prediction of Canopy Photosynthesis for Cocksfoot Pastures Grown Under Different Light Regimes

Plants in field environments can experience frequent fluctuations in irradiance from full sun to shade caused by cloud cover, overstory shading (e.g. silvopastoral systems) and within canopy shading. Research with widely spaced radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) has suggested that due to its shade tolerance cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) is a suitable grass for silvopastoral systems. However, there is limited explanation of the physiological basis for the responses, and consequently no predictive capacity. This limits the application of results to environments, sites and seasons outside of those in which they were measured. The objectives of this study were to simulate net daily canopy photosynthesis rates incorporating the leaf photosynthesis models into a canopy photosynthesis model when only shade was limiting, and to determine the optimum net canopy photosynthesis and LAI for each light regime

A modal model for diffraction gratings

A description of an algorithm for a rather general modal grating calculation is presented. Arbitrary profiles, depth, and permittivity are allowed. Gratings built up from sub-gratings are allowed, as are coatings on the sidewalls of lines, and arbitrary complex structure. Conical angles and good conductors are supported

Museums and the making of textile histories: Past, present, and future

Many different types of museums collect, document, and preserve textiles, interpreting them through temporary and semi-permanent exhibitions, publications, and web- site interventions – sometimes independently, sometimes as part of a broader histo- ry of art and design, science and technology, social history and anthropology, local history or world cultures (for example, see the range and approaches in major fash- ion capitals such as London, Paris, Milan, New York with a long tradition of textile production as well as consumption, and in manufacturing cities such as Krefeld, Lyon, Manchester). Nonetheless, textile-focused events seldom receive great public attention or crit- ical acclaim, with the possible exceptions of innovative temporary exhibitions such as Jean-Paul Leclercq, “Jouer la Lumière” (Paris, Les Arts Décoratifs, 2001); Thomas P. Campbell, “Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence” (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002); Amelia Peck et al., “Interwoven Globe. The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800” (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013-2014); John Styles, “Threads of Feeling” (London, The Foundling Hospital, 2010-2011; Colonial Williamsburg, 2014).1 The aims of this debate are to draw on the different cultural experiences and disciplinary backgrounds of participants: – To generate discussion over the role of museums in making and representing tex- tile histories. Museums are not only depositories of textile objects, but also write or make both public and academic history through displays and publications. But how does their work relate to university research and dissemination, feed such research, or react to it? How might interactions between museums and universities in different regions and cultures be developed in the future? – To consider where innovative museum work is being undertaken (locally, region- ally, nationally, internationally), wherein lies its innovation, and how it might suggest directions for the future (in collecting, interpretation, etc.). By interpreta- tion, I mean any analogue or digital explanation that contextualizes the objects on display. – To suggest that the most dynamic study of objects from 1500 to the present is no longer limited to art historians – indeed, that the focus in art history on textiles that belong within a well-established tradition of connoisseurship (in which tap- estries and high-end commissions for wall-hangings dominate) is being challenged by the adoption of a more inclusive approach among historians, design historians, and historians of material culture. [Lesley Miller] EAN: 978-2-917902-31-

Induced P-wave Superfluidity in Asymmetric Fermi Gases

We show that two new intra-species P-wave superfluid phases appear in two-component asymmetric Fermi systems with short-range S-wave interactions. In the BEC limit, phonons of the molecular BEC induce P-wave superfluidity in the excess fermions. In the BCS limit, density fluctuations induce P-wave superfluidity in both the majority and the minority species. These phases may be realized in experiments with spin-polarized Fermi gases.Comment: published versio

Optimizing Yield and Quality of Orchardgrass Pasture in Temperate Silvipastoral Systems

The objective of this study was to provide grazing management recommendations for a silvipastoral system by determining the effects of shade and nitrogen (N) on the pattern of dry matter accumulation and nutritive value of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) in a subhumid temperate environment. Orchardgrass in open pasture (100% transmittance) and under 10 year old Pinus radiata tree shade (60% transmittance) at 200 stems/ha was used as the main plot and nitrogen (0 and 300 kg N/ha as synthetic urine) was the subplot factor. Dry matter (DM) production of orchardgrass in the first 60-day spring rotation was similar in open and shade conditions (2.6 t/ha) but approximately doubled by the application of N. In the 60- day summer rotation, DM production was about 22% lower in the shaded plots and was increased by about 60% by the addition of N. Crude protein and organic matter digestibility declined with herbage age and the onset of reproductive tiller growth. It was concluded that to maximise DM production without compromising pasture quality, grazing management of orchardgrass should be similar in open and shaded pastures in spring (30-35 day regrowth) but a shorter regrowth length used for open (20 days) than silvipastoral (25-30 days) systems in summer

Dry Matter Production and Nutritive Value of Alfalfa (\u3ci\u3eMedicago sativa\u3c/i\u3e L.) and Orchardgrass (\u3ci\u3eDactylis glomerata\u3c/i\u3e L.) under Different Light Regimes

Spring and summer alfalfa dry matter and nitrogen production rates were greater than orchardgrass in open pasture and under three shade levels. Ten years old Pinus radiata allowed 60% light transmissivity. The addition of artificial shade resulted in 45% and 25% transmissivity. Orchardgrass pastures were nitrogen deficient and water stressed. In contrast, alfalfa was not stressed and it was more light responsive than orchardgrass. Differences in nutritive value were relatively small between species and between light regimes. Sheep liveweight gain on alfalfa was greater than on orchardgrass. Orchardgrass demonstrated shade tolerance, but alfalfa was more productive even at 25% transmissivity. Conventional concepts of shade tolerance may not be appropriate when screening pasture species for silvipastoral systems

Fc-receptor-mediated phagocytosis occurs in macrophages without an increase in average [Ca++]i

The calcium ion has been implicated as a cytosolic signal or regulator in phagocytosis. Using the Ca++-sensitive photoprotein aequorin we have measured intracellular free Ca++ ion concentration ([Ca++]i) in thioglycolate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages during phagocytosis and IgG-induced spreading. Macrophages plated on glass were loaded with aequorin and [Ca++]i was then measured from cell populations, both as previously described (McNeil, P. L., and D. L. Taylor, 1985, Cell Calcium, 6:83-92). Aequorin indicated a resting [Ca++]i in adherent macrophages of 84 nM and was responsive to changes in [Ca++]i induced by the addition of Mg-ATP (0.1 mM) or serum to medium. However, during the 15 min required for phagocytosis of seven or eight IgG-coated erythrocytes per macrophage loaded with aequorin, we measured no change in [Ca++]i. Similarly, the ligation of Fc-receptors that occurs when macrophages spread on immune complex-coated coverslips did not change macrophage [Ca++]i. In contrast, a rise in [Ca++]i of macrophages was measured during phagocytosis occurring in a serum-free saline of pH 7.85, and as a consequence of incubation with quin2 A/M. We estimate that had a change in [Ca++]i occurred during phagocytosis, aequorin would have detected a rise from 0.1 to 1.0 microM taking place in as little as 2% of the macrophage's cytoplasmic volume. We therefore suggest that either Ca++ is not involved as a cytoplasmic signal for phagocytosis or that increases in [Ca++]i during phagocytosis are confined to such small regions of cytoplasm as to be below the limits of detection by our cellular averaging method. Our data emphasizes, moreover, the need for well-defined, nonperturbing conditions in such measurements of [Ca++]i

A nonparametric urn-based approach to interacting failing systems with an application to credit risk modeling

In this paper we propose a new nonparametric approach to interacting failing systems (FS), that is systems whose probability of failure is not negligible in a fixed time horizon, a typical example being firms and financial bonds. The main purpose when studying a FS is to calculate the probability of default and the distribution of the number of failures that may occur during the observation period. A model used to study a failing system is defined default model. In particular, we present a general recursive model constructed by the means of inter- acting urns. After introducing the theoretical model and its properties we show a first application to credit risk modeling, showing how to assess the idiosyncratic probability of default of an obligor and the joint probability of failure of a set of obligors in a portfolio of risks, that are divided into reliability classes