Relative yield and salt tolerance of barley and oilseed radish (Raphanus oleiferus)

Non-Peer Reviewe

Using distance education to enhance technology transfer

Non-Peer ReviewedThere is an increasing need for farmers to be well educated in order to successfully manage today's complex farm businesses. At the same time farmers are unable to attend regular institutionally based programs. In many cases both farm spouses need and desire more education. Accordingly, the School of Agriculture and the Extension Division developed a Certificate in Agriculture program which resulted in regular, on-campus Diploma in Agriculture courses to be delivered off-campus throughout the province in an enhanced correspondence mode. Four were delivered for the first time in 1990-91 to the homes of 124 adult learners who had an average age of 35.5 years and of which 20.2 percent were female. In 1991-92 101 additional students, with an average age of 34.5 and of which 16.0 percent were female, started to take Crop Production courses from a choice of seven. In 1990-91 nearly 90 percent of the students completed the courses. Off-campus students out performed first year on-campus students by a considerable margin and performed on par with second and third year on-campus students. Course evaluations by students indicated that courses were interesting and applicable. A feeling of isolation, a common problem of distance learners, was successfully overcome by regular telephone contact and by periodic group sessions at regional centres, interconnected by telephone and satellite television with a University based tutor

The effect of three different crop rotations on a saline Solonetzic soil over a period of five years

Non-Peer Reviewe

The twin paradox in compact spaces

Twins travelling at constant relative velocity will each see the other's time dilate leading to the apparent paradox that each twin believes the other ages more slowly. In a finite space, the twins can both be on inertial, periodic orbits so that they have the opportunity to compare their ages when their paths cross. As we show, they will agree on their respective ages and avoid the paradox. The resolution relies on the selection of a preferred frame singled out by the topology of the space.Comment: to be published in PRA, 3 page

Next-generation metrics: responsible metrics and evaluation for open science

This is the final report of the European Commission's Expert Group on Altmetrics, which undertook its work over the course of 2016. The report outlines a framework for next-generation metrics in the context of the EC's Open Science agenda and includes a series of recommendations for how responsible metrics can be built into the design and evaluation of the EU's Ninth Framework Programme (FP9)

Daily ingestion of alginate reduces energy intake in free-living subjects

Sodium alginate is a seaweed-derived fibre that has previously been shown to moderate appetite in models of acute feeding. The mechanisms underlying this effect may include slowed gastric clearance and attenuated uptake from the small intestine. In order to assess whether alginate could be effective as a means of appetite control in free-living adults, 68 males and females (BMI range: 18.50-32.81 kgl M-2) completed this randomised, controlled two-way crossover intervention to compare the effects of 7 day daily ingestion of a strong-gelling sodium alginate formulation against a control. A sodium alginate with a high-guluronate content was chosen because, upon ingestion, it forms a strong gel in the presence of calcium ions. Daily preprandial ingestion of the sodium alginate formulation produced a significant 134.8 kcal (7%) reduction in mean daily energy intake. This reduced energy intake was underwritten by significant reductions in mean daily carbohydrate, sugar, fat, saturated fat and protein intakes. The absence of any significant interaction effects between the main effect of preload type and those of gender, BMI classification and/or timing of preload delivery indicates the efficacy of this treatment for individuals in different settings. These findings suggest a possible role for a strong-gelling sodium alginate formulation in the future management of overweight and obesity. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Forced Stratified Turbulence: Successive Transitions with Reynolds Number

Numerical simulations are made for forced turbulence at a sequence of increasing values of Reynolds number, R, keeping fixed a strongly stable, volume-mean density stratification. At smaller values of R, the turbulent velocity is mainly horizontal, and the momentum balance is approximately cyclostrophic and hydrostatic. This is a regime dominated by so-called pancake vortices, with only a weak excitation of internal gravity waves and large values of the local Richardson number, Ri, everywhere. At higher values of R there are successive transitions to (a) overturning motions with local reversals in the density stratification and small or negative values of Ri; (b) growth of a horizontally uniform vertical shear flow component; and (c) growth of a large-scale vertical flow component. Throughout these transitions, pancake vortices continue to dominate the large-scale part of the turbulence, and the gravity wave component remains weak except at small scales.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures (submitted to Phys. Rev. E

An Agent-Based Approach to Self-Organized Production

The chapter describes the modeling of a material handling system with the production of individual units in a scheduled order. The units represent the agents in the model and are transported in the system which is abstracted as a directed graph. Since the hindrances of units on their path to the destination can lead to inefficiencies in the production, the blockages of units are to be reduced. Therefore, the units operate in the system by means of local interactions in the conveying elements and indirect interactions based on a measure of possible hindrances. If most of the units behave cooperatively ("socially"), the blockings in the system are reduced. A simulation based on the model shows the collective behavior of the units in the system. The transport processes in the simulation can be compared with the processes in a real plant, which gives conclusions about the consequencies for the production based on the superordinate planning.Comment: For related work see http://www.soms.ethz.c