Effects of organic matter input on soil microbial properties and crop yields in conventional and organic cropping systems

Unlike conventional cropping systems, which are characterised by targeted short-term fertility management, organic farming systems depend on long-term increase in soil fertility and promotion of soil biodiversity. This study sought to investigate long-term effects of organic matter inputs on various cropping systems in a 10-year-old experiment. Results show that in the long-term high C and N inputs enhance microbial activity. Microbial biomass N and the potential nitrification rate were higher in cropping systems based on green manure than in those reliant on inputs from animal manure and mineral fertilizer. Soil microbiological properties were affected by the individual crops in the rotation. The high microbial activity with increased organic matter inputs did not transform to enhanced crop productivity

Primordial magnetic field and non-Gaussianity of the 1-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data

Alfven turbulence caused by statistically isotropic and homogeneous primordial magnetic field induces correlations in the cosmic microwave background anisotropies. The correlations are specifically between spherical harmonic modes a_{l-1,m} and a_{l+1,m}. In this paper we approach this issue from phase analysis of the CMB maps derived from the WMAP data sets. Using circular statistics and return phase mapping we examine phase correlation of \Delta l=2 for the primordial non-Gaussianity caused by the Alfven turbulence at the epoch of recombination. Our analyses show that such specific features from the power-law Alfven turbulence do not contribute significantly in the phases of the maps and could not be a source of primordial non-Gaussianity of the CMB.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, ApJ accepted with minor changes and the explanation on the whitened derived CMB map

Using structuration theory to analyse relationship value creation

There has been growth in research into relationship value in both the business to consumer and business to business contexts, but research is still sparse into the relationship processes by which value is created at the level of boundary personnel as individual actors. Most of the research reported to date is at the level of the firm and of relationships between firms, so the important human element of value creation is largely missing. The sparseness of research is apparent both with respect to the processes by which value is transferred from one partner to the other and also with respect to the processes by which value may be created within the relationship itself. As a complement to existing theory, including the IMP frameworks, Giddens' structuration theory can help to develop explanations of how actors interact with firm and relationship structures. Giddens' theory can thus be applied to buyer-seller relationships to analyse how boundary personnel accomplish value creation on the basis of the activity links and resource ties between relationship partners. This paper suggests that this is a useful approach to filling gaps in the knowledge of value creation in business to business buyer-seller relationships

Below-ground plant-fungus network topology is not congruent with above-ground plant-animal network topology

植物を支える「共生ネットワーク」は地上と地下で構造が違う --見えてきた地下生物圏の構造--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2015-10-26.In nature, plants and their pollinating and/or seed-dispersing animals form complex interaction networks. The commonly observed pattern of links between specialists and generalists in these networks has been predicted to promote species coexistence. Plants also build highly species-rich mutualistic networks below ground with root-associated fungi, and the structure of these plant–fungus networks may also affect terrestrial community processes. By compiling high-throughput DNA sequencing data sets of the symbiosis of plants and their root-associated fungi from three localities along a latitudinal gradient, we uncovered the entire network architecture of these interactions under contrasting environmental conditions. Each network included more than 30 plant species and hundreds of mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi belonging to diverse phylogenetic groups. The results were consistent with the notion that processes shaping host-plant specialization of fungal species generate a unique linkage pattern that strongly contrasts with the pattern of above-ground plant–partner networks. Specifically, plant–fungus networks lacked a “nested” architecture, which has been considered to promote species coexistence in plant–partner networks. Rather, the below-ground networks had a conspicuous “antinested” topology. Our findings lead to the working hypothesis that terrestrial plant community dynamics are likely determined by the balance between above-ground and below-ground webs of interspecific interactions

Fermion Density Induced Instability of the W-Boson Pair Condensate in Strong Magnetic Field

The electroweak vacuum structure in an external magnetic field close to the lower critical value is considered at finite fermion density. It is shown that the leading effect of the fermions is to reduce the symmetry of the W-pair condensate in the direction of the magnetic field. The energy is minimized by the appearance of a helicoidal structure of the condensate along the magnetic field.Comment: 9 pages, LaTex, JHU-TIPAC-93000

Exploring attitudinal factors influencing modal shift:a latent class analysis of Danish commuters

Governments advocate for a modal shift from motorized transport modes to active modes. Various political approaches can be adopted to affect travel behavior and patterns. However, interventions spread across the entire population offer limited opportunities to achieve behavioral change. Furthermore, attitude has been shown to cut across demographic characteristics and strongly influence the conducted travel behavior. Therefore, a latent class analysis including significant sociodemographic variables and value-based attitudes concerning factors influencing transport, settlement, and additional priorities was performed. The study objectively identified five classes of Danish commuters with the same preconditions in terms of commuting distance but with clear differences in attitude and transport modes. Each latent class represents a unique combination of characteristics, which indicates the need to design target group-specific interventions to optimize the chances of influencing travel behavior. In particular, a group of malcontented motorists demonstrating a high intention to change exhibit negative feelings toward car travel and thus appear to act in contravention of their attitudes. In contrast, a class of immovable motorists was found, a class of beneficial commuters and finally two cycling dominated classes of passionate cyclists and environmentalist cyclists. Finally, this study has emphasized that similar attitudes can lead to dissimilar behaviors and that the same behavior can be exhibited for various reasons. We deduced how transport mode choice is influenced by various factors, with habit as one of the strongest, as those with strong habits seem disinclined to information about alternatives and call for “harder” policy interventions. The findings emphasize the importance of targeted interventions tailored to specific commuter groups to encourage modal shifts towards sustainable transportation.</p

Critical Boundary Conditions for the Effective String

Gauge systems in the confining phase induce constraints at the boundaries of the effective string, which rule out the ordinary bosonic string even with short distance modifications. Allowing topological excitations, corresponding to winding around the colour flux tube, produces at the quantum level a universal free fermion string with a boundary phase nu=1/4. This coincides with a model proposed some time ago in order to fit Monte Carlo data of 3D and 4D Lattice gauge systems better. A universal value of the thickness of the colour flux tube is predicted.Comment: 9 pages + 1 figur