2,966 research outputs found
The influence of long-term inputs of catch crops and cereal straw on yield, protein composition and technological quality of a spring and a winter wheat
Under conditions of restricted nitrogen (N) input such as in organic farming systems, crop N uptake must rely on N mineralised from applied animal manure, crop residues and native soil organic matter. Scarcity of N may impede the production of quality grain for bread production, and input and retention of N in soil are therefore important parameters for soil fertility. Toretain N in the crop-soilsystem, catch crops may be grown in breaks between main crops where they provide a significant sink for N mineralised in late summer and autumn (Thomsen, 2005). In corporation of straw may likewise retain mineralised N by microbial immobilisation (Christensen, 1986) and will also directly add to the N mineralisation potential when the N supplied in the straw accumulates (Thomsen & Christensen, 2004). Under northern European conditions, winter wheat may generally be of lower quality than spring wheat, but winter wheat has a higher yield potential. When the N uptake is mainly based on N mineralised from either applied or indigenous soil organic matter, however, this may even out the quality difference between winter and spring wheat as the longer growing season of winter wheat may boost its N utilisation. Growing conditions are highly important for protein quantity whereas main lygenetic factors influence protein composition (Amesetal., 1999; Luoetal., 2000). Wheat grain proteins have been classified as albumins, globulins, gliadins and glutenins on the basis of their solubility (Osborne, 1907). Reverse-phase (RP) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) allows the quantitative determination of these different flour protein groups together with single proteins (α5-, α1,2-, α-, γc-type gliadins, x- and γ-type high (HMW) and low (LMW) molecular weights subunits of glutenin) (Wieser & Seilmeier, 1998). The proteins can also be divided into polymers (glutenins) or monomers (gliadins, albumins, globulins) based on their aggregating properties. The polymeric proteins are critical for governing wheat flour processing properties, and their quantity and size distribution reliably measured by size-exclusion (SE) HPLC techniques have been shown to be important indicators of baking quality (Dachkevitch & Autran, 1989; Bateyetal., 1991). The aim of this study was to examine whether wheat yield and baking quality determined by chromatographic techniques together with rheological and chemical quality measurements could be improved by combining agronomic strategies consisting of wheat cultivars and long-term organic matter inputs. The variables tested were (A) a winter wheat and a spring wheat cultivar, (B) three catch crop strategies and (C) four straw incorporation rates
Partially autoionizing states of atomic oxygen
The Rydberg states 3d' (3Po)2,1,0 and 3s'' (3Po)2,1,0 and the inner shell transition 2s 2p5 (3Po)2,1,0, which are forbidden to autoionize on the basis of LS coupling, were observed in emission spectroscopy and in autoionization spectra produced in the photoelectron spectrum of atomic oxygen
Distributed Learning Policies for Power Allocation in Multiple Access Channels
We analyze the problem of distributed power allocation for orthogonal
multiple access channels by considering a continuous non-cooperative game whose
strategy space represents the users' distribution of transmission power over
the network's channels. When the channels are static, we find that this game
admits an exact potential function and this allows us to show that it has a
unique equilibrium almost surely. Furthermore, using the game's potential
property, we derive a modified version of the replicator dynamics of
evolutionary game theory which applies to this continuous game, and we show
that if the network's users employ a distributed learning scheme based on these
dynamics, then they converge to equilibrium exponentially quickly. On the other
hand, a major challenge occurs if the channels do not remain static but
fluctuate stochastically over time, following a stationary ergodic process. In
that case, the associated ergodic game still admits a unique equilibrium, but
the learning analysis becomes much more complicated because the replicator
dynamics are no longer deterministic. Nonetheless, by employing results from
the theory of stochastic approximation, we show that users still converge to
the game's unique equilibrium.
Our analysis hinges on a game-theoretical result which is of independent
interest: in finite player games which admit a (possibly nonlinear) convex
potential function, the replicator dynamics (suitably modified to account for
nonlinear payoffs) converge to an eps-neighborhood of an equilibrium at time of
order O(log(1/eps)).Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. Revised manuscript structure and added more
material and figures for the case of stochastically fluctuating channels.
This version will appear in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communication, Special Issue on Game Theory in Wireless Communication
Dynamic Power Allocation Games in Parallel Multiple Access Channels
We analyze the distributed power allocation problem in parallel multiple
access channels (MAC) by studying an associated non-cooperative game which
admits an exact potential. Even though games of this type have been the subject
of considerable study in the literature, we find that the sufficient conditions
which ensure uniqueness of Nash equilibrium points typically do not hold in
this context. Nonetheless, we show that the parallel MAC game admits a unique
equilibrium almost surely, thus establishing an important class of
counterexamples where these sufficient conditions are not necessary.
Furthermore, if the network's users employ a distributed learning scheme based
on the replicator dynamics, we show that they converge to equilibrium from
almost any initial condition, even though users only have local information at
their disposal.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Valuetools '1
Optical signatures of auroral arcs produced by field line resonances: comparison with satellite observations and modeling
International audienceWe show two examples from the CANOPUS array of the optical signatures of auroral arcs produced by field line resonances on the night of 31 January 1997. The first example occurs during local evening at about 18:00 MLT (Magnetic Local Time), where CANOPUS meridian scanning photometer data show all the classic features of field line resonances. There are two, near-monochromatic resonances (at approximately 2.0 and 2.5 mHz) and both show latitudinal peaks in amplitude with an approximately 180 degree latitudinal phase shift across the maximum. The second field line resonance event occurs closer to local midnight, between approximately 22:00 and 22:40 MLT. Magnetometer and optical data show that the field line resonance has a very low frequency, near 1.3 mHz. All-sky imager data from CANOPUS show that in this event the field line resonances produce auroral arcs with westward propagation, with arc widths of about 10 km. Electron energies are on the order of 1 keV. This event was also seen in data from the FAST satellite (Lotko et al., 1998), and we compare our observations with those of Lotko et al. (1998). A remarkable feature of this field line resonance is that the latitudinal phase shift was substantially greater than 180 degrees. In our discussion, we present a model of field line resonances which accounts for the dominant physical effects and which is in good agreement with the observations. We emphasize three points. First, the low frequency of the field line resonance in the second event is likely due to the stretched topology of the magnetotail field lines, with the field line resonance on field lines threading the earthward edge of the plasma sheet. Second, the latitudinal phase structure may indicate dispersive effects due to electron trapping or finite ion gyroradius. Third, we show that a nonlocal conductivity model can easily explain the parallel electric fields and the precipitating electron energies seen in the field line resonance
Direct detection of Campylobacter from feces of organic and conventional pigs highlighted the presence of Campylobacter lanienae
In the frame of the CORE Organic II funded European project SafeOrganic, fecal samples from 31 organic pig herds and 31 conventional pig herds were sampled in a slaughterhouse. Samples were highly positive in Campylobacter coli but also in another Campylobacter species not described at that time in France.
Identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and PCR 16S allowed us to confirm that 85 isolates were C. Lanienae; 56 from conventional pigs and 29 from organic pigs. Individual occurrence in Campylobacter spp. was thus re-estimated to 91.1 % (51/56) and 96.3 % (52/54) for conventional and organic pigs, respectively. A total of 55 isolates of C. Lanienae were studied for their resistance to 7 antibiotics. Only one was pansusceptible. Natural resistance to Nalidixic acid was confirmed. Resistance to Tetracycline was significantly different (p \u3c to 0,001) between the two productions: 88 % of isolates from conventional pigs were resistant against 14% of isolates from organic pigs. Moreover, isolates from conventional pigs were mostly multiresistant (73%) whereas only 5% of strains isolated in organic pigs were multiresistant. The C. lanienae isolates were typed by PFGE using KpnI and SmaI enzymes. The genetic diversity was very high, whatever the enzyme used. No link between PFGE profile and isolate origin or antibiotic resistance pattern was evidenced. This study allowed us to demonstrate for the first time in France that pigs, known to be a reservoir for C. coli may also carry in their feces a species rarely highlighted: C. lanienae. The species was present in fecal samples from conventional and organic pigs. The lower level of antibiotic resistance and multiresistance of C. Lanienae strains for organic pigs may be related to the restricted use of antibiotics in this production
Superlight small bipolarons from realistic long-range Coulomb and Fr\"ohlich interactions
We report analytical and numerical results on the two-particle states of the
polaronic t-Jp model derived recently with realistic Coulomb and
electron-phonon (Frohlich) interactions in doped polar insulators. Eigenstates
and eigenvalues are calculated for two different geometries. Our results show
that the ground state is a bipolaronic singlet, made up of two polarons. The
bipolaron size increases with increasing ratio of the polaron hopping integral
t to the exchange interaction Jp but remains small compared to the system size
in the whole range 0<t/Jp<1. Furthermore, the model exhibits a phase transition
to a superconducting state with a critical temperature well in excess of 100K.
In the range t/Jp<1, there are distinct charge and spin gaps opening in the
density of states, specific heat, and magnetic susceptibility well above Tc.Comment: Calculation section and discussion of gap have been updated. Revised
calculations now enhance the predicted T_c in our model to over 200 K at
large hoppin
Hyperoxidation: influence of various oxygen supply levels on oxidation kinetics of phenolic compounds and wine quality
Chenin blanc, Mauzac and Chardonnay musts were hyperoxidized using three different oxygen levels fixed according to the maximum oxygen consumption capacity determined for each must. Phenolic composition of the control and oxidized musts and that of the corresponding wines were analyzed by HPLC. The wines were also submitted to sensory evaluation. Hyperoxidation hardly modified phenolic composition of Chenin blanc and Mauzac musts which were in fact almost totally oxidized after pressing. As well, it induced no change in wine quality in these two varieties. In Chardonnay musts, concentrations of caffeoyl and p-coumaroyl tartaric acid, 2-S-glutathionyl caffeoyl tartaric acid and catechin decreased with increasing oxygen supplies. Wines contained larger amounts of phenolic compounds than musts because part of the quinones formed during oxidation were reduced when sulfiting, especially for intemediate oxygen levels. Thus, sulfiting should be omitted or delayed to allow quinone condensation and maximum efficency of the hyperoxidation technique. Hyperoxidized Chardonnay wines were rated higher in quality and lower in color than the control
Observation of vortex dipoles in an oblate Bose-Einstein condensate
We report experimental observations and numerical simulations of the
formation, dynamics, and lifetimes of single and multiply charged quantized
vortex dipoles in highly oblate dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). We
nucleate pairs of vortices of opposite charge (vortex dipoles) by forcing
superfluid flow around a repulsive gaussian obstacle within the BEC. By
controlling the flow velocity we determine the critical velocity for the
nucleation of a single vortex dipole, with excellent agreement between
experimental and numerical results. We present measurements of vortex dipole
dynamics, finding that the vortex cores of opposite charge can exist for many
seconds and that annihilation is inhibited in our highly oblate trap geometry.
For sufficiently rapid flow velocities we find that clusters of like-charge
vortices aggregate into long-lived dipolar flow structures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 EPAPS fil
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