582 research outputs found
Unconventional critical scaling of magnetization in uranium ferromagnetic superconductors UGe and URhGe
We report a dc magnetization study of the critical phenomenon around the
ferromagnetic transition temperature T_C in high-quality single crystals of
uranium ferromagnetic superconductors UGe2 and URhGe. The critical exponents,
beta for the temperature dependence of the magnetization below T_C, gamma for
the magnetic susceptibility, and delta for the magnetic isothermal at T_C have
been determined with a modified Arrott plot, a Kouvel-Fisher plot, and the
scaling analysis. Magnetization in the ferromagnetic state has strong uniaxial
magnetic anisotropy in the two compounds. However, the universality class of
the critical phenomena do not belong to the three dimensional (3D) Ising
system. Although the values of beta in UGe2 and URhGe are close to those in the
3D magnets, the values of gamma are close to unity, that expected from the mean
field theory. Similar critical exponents have been reported previously for the
3D Ising ferromagnet UIr where superconductivity appears under high pressure.
The critical behavior may be limited to a very narrow Ginzburg critical region
of 1 mK because of the strong itinerant character of the 5f electrons in the
ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe where the mean field behavior of the
magnetization has been reported. The unconventional critical scaling of
magnetization in UGe2, URhGe and UIr cannot be explained via previous
approaches to critical phenomena. The ferromagnetic correlation between the 5f
electrons differs from that in the 3D Ising system and this difference may be a
key point for the understanding of the ferromagnetism where superconductivity
emerges.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Comparing technical efficiency of organic and conventional coffee farms in Nepal using data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach used to estimate technical efficiency and followed by regressing the technical efficiency scores to farm specific characters under tobit regression model. Primary data was collected from random samples of 240 (120 from each) coffee famers. Mean technical efficiency score was 0.89 and 0.83 in organic and conventional coffee farming respectively. Farms operating under CRS, DRS and IRS were 31.67, 3.83 and 37.5% respectively in organic coffee and 29.17, 25 and 45.83% respectively in conventional farming areas. Tobit regression showed the variation in technical efficiency was related education, farm experience and training/extension services and excess to credit.Production frontier, Resource use, Technical efficiency, Organic, Altitude, Productivity Analysis,
Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Small-Scale Rice Farmers in Indonesia
In this study, we analyzed the performance of small-scale rice farmers who used hand tractors in Jember Regency, Indonesia. Data were collected from 144 small-scale rice farmers in six districts through the use of a questionnaire in September 2015. The Data Envelopment AnalysisSlack-Based Model (DEA-SBM) was used to calculate the technical efficiency of small-scale rice farmers based on seven inputs and one output by determining Overall Technical Efficiency (OTE), Pure Technical Efficiency (PTE), and Scale Efficiency (SE). The results showed that out of 144 small-scale rice farmers, only nine farmers and 14 farmers were evaluated as strongly efficient and weakly efficient, respectively, while the rest were categorized as inefficient. The average values for OTE, PTE, and SE were 0.41, 0.63, and 0.61, respectively. The observed inefficiency was because of both poor input utilization (managerial inefficiency) and failure to operate at an optimal scale (scale inefficiency). Such analysis of technical efficiency can encourage small-scale rice farmers to enhance their performance and profitability
Functional role of surface layer proteins of Lactobacillus acidophilus L-92 in stress tolerance and binding to host cell proteins
Lactobacillus acidophilus surface layer proteins (SLPs) self-assemble into a monolayer that is non-covalently bound to the outer surface of the cells. There they are in direct contact with the environment, environmental stressors and gut components of the host in which the organism resides. The role of L. acidophilus SLPs is not entirely understood, although SLPs seem to be essential for bacterial growth. We constructed three L. acidophilus L-92 strains, each expressing a mutant of the most abundant SLP, SlpA. Each carried a 12-amino acid c-myc epitope substitution at a different position in the protein. A strain was also obtained that expressed the SlpA paralog SlpB from an originally silent sIpB gene. All four strains behaved differently with respect to growth under various stress conditions, such as the presence of salt, ox gall or ethanol, suggesting that SlpA affects stress tolerance in L. acidophilus L-92. Also, the four mutants showed differential in vitro binding ability to human host cell proteins such as uromodulin or dendritic cell (DC)-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3 grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN). Furthermore, co-culture of murine immature DCs with a mutant strain expressing one of the recombinant SlpA proteins changed the concentrations of the cytokines IL-10 and IL-12. Our data suggest that SlpA and SlpB of L. acidophilus participate in bacterial stress tolerance and binding to uromodulin or DC-SIGN, possibly leading to effective immune-modification
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