Constraint Effective Potential of the Staggered Magnetization in an Antiferromagnet

We employ an improved estimator to calculate the constraint effective potential of the staggered magnetization in the spin $\tfrac{1}{2}$ quantum Heisenberg model using a loop-cluster algorithm. The first and second moment of the probability distribution of the staggered magnetization are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the systematic low-energy magnon effective field theory. We also compare the Monte Carlo data with the universal shape of the constraint effective potential of the staggered magnetization and study its approach to the convex effective potential in the infinite volume limit. In this way the higher-order low-energy parameter $k_0$ is determined from a fit to the numerical data

Positive Mischungseffekte auf Ertrag und Stickstoffversorgung in Klee-Gras-Mischungen

High plant species richness has been shown to positively influence grassland biomass production. In mixtures containing two forage grass and two forage legume species we quantified the diversity-productivity effect and the nitrogen economy of the swards across a broad range of species proportions. Positive diversity-productivity effects resulted in higher yield (up to +35%) of the four-species grass-clover-mixtures than the highest yielding monoculture (transgressive overyielding). The diversity-productivity effect depended on the species proportion in the mixture and was maximal in well balanced mixtures with a clover proportion of 40 – 60%. Transgressive overyielding was significant over a fairly wide range of clover proportions. Well balanced grassclover- mixtures allowed obtaining up to 320 kg N ha-1 yr-1 deriving from symbiotic N2 fixation and allowed an optimal transformation of fixed N into dry matter yield. These mixtures allowed benefiting from maximal fixation activity of the legumes without reducing the uptake of N from soil and fertiliser by the grasses in the sward

Characterization of phenolic compounds and their contribution to sensory properties of olive oil

Olive oil is not only known for its pungent, bitter, and fruity taste, but also for its health potential, which is often hypothesized to depend on its phenolic compounds. One hundred extra virgin olive oil samples (monocultivaric as well as blends of varieties) were assessed with regard to their sensory properties and phenolic compound composition. Nineteen phenolic compounds have been determined and correlated with sensory data. In all olive oil samples, oleocanthal and oleacein were the most abundant phenolic compounds, with average amounts of 77.9 mg/kg and 41.8 mg/kg, respectively. The highest correlation coefficient between a sensory descriptor and the phenolic compounds was found for the bitter taste sensation and the total phenolic content with r = 0.72 and in particular, for 3,4-DHPEA-EA, with r = 0.57. Intensity plots were assessed for the three main sensory descriptors fruitiness, bitterness, pungency, and for the quality factor harmony, which is associated with the degree of ripeness aroma of olive oil. Positive correlations for the aroma descriptors freshly cut grass, leaves, and nuts, and the phenolic compounds were especially observed for oleoside 11-methylester and vanillic acid. The present study provides a comprehensive database of phenolic compounds in olive oils from six different varieties and seven countries

Nitrogen yield advantage from grass-legume mixtures is robust over a wide range of legume proportions and environmental conditions

Coordination of this project was supported by the EU Commission through COST Action 852 ‘Quality legume-based forage systems for contrasting environments‘. A636 contribution to the research leading to these results has been conducted as part of the Animal Change project which received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-20 13) under the grant agreement no. 266018.peer-reviewedCurrent challenges to global food security require sustainable intensification of agriculture through initiatives that include more efficient use of nitrogen (N), increased protein self-sufficiency through home-grown crops, and reduced N losses to the environment. Such challenges were addressed in a continental-scale field experiment conducted over three years, in which the amount of total nitrogen yield (Ntot) and the gain of N yield in mixtures as compared to grass monocultures (Ngainmix) was quantified from four-species grass-legume stands with greatly varying legume proportions. Stands consisted of monocultures and mixtures of two N2 fixing legumes and two non-fixing grasses.The amount of Ntot of mixtures was significantly greater (P ≤ 0.05) than that of grass monocultures at the majority of evaluated sites in all three years. Ntot and thus Ngainmix increased with increasing legume proportion up to one third of legumes. With higher legume percentages, Ntot and Ngainmix did not continue to increase. Thus, across sites and years, mixtures with one third proportion of legumes attained ~95% of the maximum Ntot acquired by any stand and had 57% higher Ntot than grass monocultures.Realized legume proportion in stands and the relative N gain in mixture (Ngainmix/Ntot in mixture) were most severely impaired by minimum site temperature (R = 0.70, P = 0.003 for legume proportion; R = 0.64, P = 0.010 for Ngainmix/Ntot in mixture). Nevertheless, the relative N gain in mixture was not correlated to site productivity (P = 0.500), suggesting that, within climatic restrictions, balanced grass-legume mixtures can benefit from comparable relative gains in N yield across largely differing productivity levels.We conclude that the use of grass-legume mixtures can substantially contribute to resource-efficient agricultural grassland systems over a wide range of productivity levels, implying important savings in N fertilizers and thus greenhouse gas emissions and a considerable potential for climate change mitigation.European Unio

Effect of four plant species on soil 15N-access and herbage yield in temporary agricultural grasslands

Positive plant diversity-productivity relationships have been reported for experimental semi-natural grasslands (Cardinale et al. 2006; Hector et al. 1999; Tilman et al. 1996) as well as temporary agricultural grasslands (Frankow-Lindberg et al. 2009; Kirwan et al. 2007; Nyfeler et al. 2009; Picasso et al. 2008). Generally, these relationships are explained, on the one hand, by niche differentiation and facilitation (Hector et al. 2002; Tilman et al. 2002) and, on the other hand, by greater probability of including a highly productive plant species in high diversity plots (Huston 1997). Both explanations accept that diversity is significant because species differ in characteristics, such as root architecture, nutrient acquisition and water use efficiency, to name a few, resulting in composition and diversity being important for improved productivity and resource use (Naeem et al. 1994; Tilman et al. 2002). Plant diversity is generally low in temporary agricultural grasslands grown for ruminant fodder production. Grass in pure stands is common, but requires high nitrogen (N) inputs. In terms of N input, two-species grass-legume mixtures are more sustainable than grass in pure stands and consequently dominate low N input grasslands (Crews and Peoples 2004; Nyfeler et al. 2009; Nyfeler et al. 2011). In temperate grasslands, N is often the limiting factor for productivity (Whitehead 1995). Plant available soil N is generally concentrated in the upper soil layers, but may leach to deeper layers, especially in grasslands that include legumes (Scherer-Lorenzen et al. 2003) and under conditions with surplus precipitation (Thorup-Kristensen 2006). To improve soil N use efficiency in temporary grasslands, we propose the addition of deep-rooting plant species to a mixture of perennial ryegrass and white clover, which are the most widespread forage plant species in temporary grasslands in a temperate climate (Moore 2003). Perennial ryegrass and white clover possess relatively shallow root systems (Kutschera and Lichtenegger 1982; Kutschera and Lichtenegger 1992) with effective rooting depths of <0.7 m on a silt loamy site (Pollock and Mead 2008). Grassland species, such as lucerne and chicory, grow their tap-roots into deep soil layers and exploit soil nutrients and water in soil layers that the commonly grown shallow-rooting grassland species cannot reach (Braun et al. 2010; Skinner 2008). Chicory grown as a catch crop after barley reduced the inorganic soil N down to 2.5 m depth during the growing season, while perennial ryegrass affected the inorganic soil N only down to 1 m depth (Thorup-Kristensen 2006). Further, on a Wakanui silt loam in New Zealand chicory extracted water down to 1.9 m and lucerne down to 2.3 m soil depth, which resulted in greater herbage yields compared with a perennial ryegrass-white clover mixture, especially for dryland plots (Brown et al. 2005). There is little information on both the ability of deep- and shallow-rooting grassland species to access soil N from different vertical soil layers and the relation of soil N-access and herbage yield in temporary agricultural grasslands. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to test the hypotheses 1) that a mixture comprising both shallow- and deep-rooting plant species has greater herbage yields than a shallow-rooting binary mixture and pure stands, 2) that deep-rooting plant species (chicory and lucerne) are superior in accessing soil N from 1.2 m soil depth compared with shallow-rooting plant species, 3) that shallow-rooting plant species (perennial ryegrass and white clover) are superior in accessing soil N from 0.4 m soil depth compared with deep-rooting plant species, 4) that a mixture of deep- and shallow-rooting plant species has greater access to soil N from three soil layers compared with a shallow-rooting two-species mixture and that 5) the leguminous grassland plants, lucerne and white clover, have a strong impact on grassland N acquisition, because of their ability to derive N from the soil and the atmosphere

‘Presume Not That I am the Thing I Was’: Altering Perceptions of the Disabled via the Staging of Disability in Early Modern England

Attitudes toward people with physical or mental disabilities have varied throughout history. Each society collectively defines what is considered normal and abnormal, and those values change over time. Many cultural factors impact how much these views change, including the dominant social philosophies and religions of an era. In Early Modern England, the rise of large public theaters and an increasingly permissive society contributed to the development of plays becoming a powerful tool for swaying public opinion. Using this new pulpit, Shakespeare and his contemporaries staged plays that often depicted disability and deformity in negative ways, including the implications that a character’s outward physical differences, like Richard III’s deformities, signaled an inner monstrosity. By touching the emotions of the audience with passionate and sometimes despicable characters, these playwrights were able to transform the generally positive views of the disabled, held by many playgoers of the era, into disgust and intolerance. Because these plays, primarily by Shakespeare, continue to be staged, the animus against the disabled, presented via the stage, continues to this day

Assessing the accuracy of current near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy analysis for fresh grass-clover mixture silages and development of new equations for this purpose

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether Near Infra-Red Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) prediction equations calibrated on grass silage samples, could accurately predict the chemical composition of mixed grass-clover silage samples, and furthermore, to develop and calibrate new grass-clover equations should the grass-based equations be insufficiently accurate for these silages. A set of 94 silage samples from mixed grass-clover swards (clover concentration (CC) ranging from 4 to 1000 g/kg as fed; determined manually) were analysed for chemical composition using reference laboratory techniques, in vivo digestible organic matter in the dry matter (DOMD, in sheep), and in situ degradability of dry matter and crude protein (in cows). The same samples were scanned fresh (undried and unmilled, as is standard practice for silage analysis within UK laboratories) using NIRS (at AFBI, Northern Ireland) and grass-based prediction equations applied. Predicted and observed results were compared. Of 15 chemical components that were tested for prediction accuracy, only volatile-corrected dry matter and nitrogen were well predicted (RPD values of 4.9 and 2.4 respectively, with low root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP)). Neutral detergent fibre and DOMD showed low RPD values, however the predicted and observed datasets had no significant bias between them and were therefore also considered as fit for purpose. Variables with significant bias between predicted and observed datasets that were not considered suitably accurate included crude protein, acid detergent fibre, microbial dry matter yield and the effective degradability of protein. For many components, bias could be attributed at least in part to CC and changes in the fractionation of nutrients present. For some variables such as crude protein, grass-based equations were sufficiently accurate at low CCs but became inaccurate as CC increased, as expected. In response to inadequate prediction accuracy of certain nutrients, new grass-clover equations were calibrated using the obtained spectra. These were validated and results indicated that the grass-clover-based equations outperformed their grass-based counterparts. The adoption of new grass-clover equations, or alternatively, with further development, the use of a CC correction factor to the existing grass-based equations, is recommended for commercial laboratories offering undried and unmilled silage analysis on samples containing clover

Monte Carlo Determination of the Low-Energy Constants of a Spin 1/2 Heisenberg Model with Spatial Anisotropy

Motivated by the possible mechanism for the pinning of the electronic liquid crystal direction in YBCO as proposed in \cite{Pardini08}, we use the first principles Monte Carlo method to study the spin 1/2 Heisenberg model with antiferromagnetic couplings $J_{1}$ and $J_{2}$ on the square lattice. The corresponding low-energy constants, namely the spin stiffness $\rho_s$, the staggered magnetization density ${\cal M}_s$, the spin wave velocity $c$, as well as the ground state energy density $e_0$ are determined by fitting the Monte Carlo data to the predictions of magnon chiral perturbation theory. In particular, the spin stiffnesses $\rho_{s1}$ and $\rho_{s2}$ are investigated as a function of the ratio $J_{2}/J_{1}$ of the couplings. Although we find a good agreement between our results with those obtained by the series expansion method in the weakly anisotropic regime, for strong anisotropy we observe discrepancies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, version accepted for publishing in Phys. Rev.

Red clover for silage: management impacts on herbage yield, nuitritive value, ensilability and persistence, and relativity to perennial ryegrass

This six year experiment quantified the impacts of management factors on red clover yield, persistence, nutritive value and ensilability, and compared these to perennial ryegrass receiving inorganic N fertiliser. Within a randomised complete block design, field plots were used to evaluate a 2 (cultivar; Merviot and Ruttinova) x 2 (alone or with perennial ryegrass) x 2 (0 and 50 kg fertiliser N/ha in mid March) x 2 (harvest schedule) combination of factors relating to red clover, and a 2 (harvest schedule) x 4 (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N/ha for each cut) combination of factors relating to perennial ryegrass. The Early and Late harvest schedules both involved four cuts per year but commenced a fortnight apart. Red clover treatments averaged 14,906 kg dry matter/ha per year. There was no yield decline evident across years despite a decline in the proportion of red clover. The Early harvest schedule and sowing ryegrass with red clover increased herbage yield and digestibility. March application of fertiliser N to red clover treatments reduced annual yield. Early harvest schedule increased and both fertiliser N and sowing with ryegrass decreased the proportion of red clover. Sowing with ryegrass improved indices of ensilability but reduced crude protein. Both red clover cultivars had similar performance characteristics. A selected red clover-based treatment, considered to exhibit superior overall production characteristics, out-yielded perennial ryegrass plus fertiliser N in mid-season. However, it had poorer digestibility and ensilability indices

Nitrogen transfer from forage legumes to nine neighbouring plants in a multi-species grassland

Legumes play a crucial role in nitrogen supply to grass-legume mixtures for ruminant fodder. To quantify N transfer from legumes to neighbouring plants in multi-species grasslands we established a grass-legume-herb mixture on a loamy-sandy site in Denmark. White clover (Trifolium repens L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) were leaf-labelled with 15N enriched urea during one growing season. N transfer to grasses (Lolium perenne L. and xfestulolium), white clover, red clover, lucerne, birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor L.)and caraway (Carum carvi L.) was assessed. Neighbouring plants contained greater amounts of N derived from white clover (4.8 gm-2) compared with red clover (2.2 gm-2) and lucerne (1.1 gm-2). Grasses having fibrous roots received greater amounts of N from legumes than dicotyledonous plants which generally have taproots. Slurry application mainly increased N transfer from legumes to grasses. During the growing season the three legumes transferred approximately 40 kg N ha-1 to neighbouring plants. Below-ground N transfer from legumes to neighbouring plants differed among nitrogen donors and nitrogen receivers and may depend on root characteristics and regrowth strategies of plant species in the multi-species grassland