3,663 research outputs found
Dissimilar response of plant and soil biota communities to long-term nutrient adition in grasslands
The long-term effect of fertilizers on plant diversity and productivity is well known, but long-term effects on soil biota communities have received relatively little attention. Here, we used an exceptional long-lasting (>40 years) grassland fertilization experiment to investigate the long-term effect of Ca, N, PK, and NPK addition on the productivity and diversity of both vegetation and soil biota. Whereas plant diversity increased by liming and decreased by N and NPK, the diversity of nematodes, collembolans, mites, and enchytraeids increased by N, PK, or NPK. Fertilization with NPK and PK increased plant biomass and biomass of enchytraeids and collembolans. Biomass of nematodes and earthworms increased by liming. Our results suggest that soil diversity might be driven by plant productivity rather than by plant diversity. This may imply that the selection of measures for restoring or conserving plant diversity may decrease soil biota diversity. This needs to be tested in future experiment
Entropy Identity and Material-Independent Equilibrium Conditions in Relativistic Thermodynamics
On the basis of the balance equations for energy-momentum, spin, particle and
entropy density, an approach is considered which represents a comparatively
general framework for special- and general-relativistic continuum
thermodynamics. In the first part of the paper, a general entropy density
4-vector, containing particle, energy-momentum, and spin density contributions,
is introduced which makes it possible, firstly, to judge special assumptions
for the entropy density 4-vector made by other authors with respect to their
generality and validity and, secondly, to determine entropy supply and entropy
production. Using this entropy density 4-vector, in the second part,
material-independent equilibrium conditions are discussed. While in literature,
at least if one works in the theory of irreversible thermodynamics assuming a
Riemann space-time structure, generally thermodynamic equilibrium is determined
by introducing a variety of conditions by hand, the present approach proceeds
as follows: For a comparatively wide class of space-time geometries the
necessary equilibrium conditions of vanishing entropy supply and entropy
production are exploited and, afterwards, supplementary conditions are assumed
which are motivated by the requirement that thermodynamic equilibrium
quantities have to be determined uniquely.Comment: Research Paper, 30 page
Conformal Einstein equations and Cartan conformal connection
Necessary and sufficient conditions for a space-time to be conformal to an
Einstein space-time are interpreted in terms of curvature restrictions for the
corresponding Cartan conformal connection
On possible skewon effects on light propagation
We start from a local and linear spacetime relation between the
electromagnetic excitation and the field strength. Then we study the generally
covariant Fresnel surfaces for light rays and light waves. The metric and the
connection of spacetime are left unspecified. Accordingly, our framework is
ideally suited for a search of possible violations of the Lorentz symmetry in
the photon sector of the extended standard model. We discuss how the skewon
part of the constitutive tensor, if suitably parametrized, influences the
Fresnel surfaces and disturbs the light cones of vacuum electrodynamics.
Conditions are specified that yield the reduction of the original quartic
Fresnel surface to the double light cone structure (birefringence) and to the
single light cone. Qualitatively, the effects of the real skewon field can be
compared to those in absorbing material media. In contrast, the imaginary
skewon field can be interpreted in terms of non-absorbing media with natural
optical activity and Faraday effects. The astrophysical data on gamma-ray
bursts are used for deriving an upper limit for the magnitude of the skewon
field.Comment: Revtex, 29 pages, 10 figures, references added, text as in the
published versio
The Cotton tensor in Riemannian spacetimes
Recently, the study of three-dimensional spaces is becoming of great
interest. In these dimensions the Cotton tensor is prominent as the substitute
for the Weyl tensor. It is conformally invariant and its vanishing is
equivalent to conformal flatness. However, the Cotton tensor arises in the
context of the Bianchi identities and is present in any dimension. We present a
systematic derivation of the Cotton tensor. We perform its irreducible
decomposition and determine its number of independent components for the first
time. Subsequently, we exhibit its characteristic properties and perform a
classification of the Cotton tensor in three dimensions. We investigate some
solutions of Einstein's field equations in three dimensions and of the
topologically massive gravity model of Deser, Jackiw, and Templeton. For each
class examples are given. Finally we investigate the relation between the
Cotton tensor and the energy-momentum in Einstein's theory and derive a
conformally flat perfect fluid solution of Einstein's field equations in three
dimensions.Comment: 27 pages, revtex
Evaluation of EMG, force and joystick as control interfaces for active arm supports
Background:\ud
The performance capabilities and limitations of control interfaces for the operation of active movement-assistive devices remain unclear. Selecting an optimal interface for an application requires a thorough understanding of the performance of multiple control interfaces. \ud
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Methods:\ud
In this study the performance of EMG-, force- and joystick-based control interfaces were assessed in healthy volunteers with a screen-based one-dimensional position-tracking task. The participants had to track a target that was moving according to a multisine signal with a bandwidth of 3 Hz. The velocity of the cursor was proportional to the interface signal. The performance of the control interfaces were evaluated in terms of tracking error, gain margin crossover frequency, information transmission rate and effort. \ud
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Results:\ud
None of the evaluated interfaces was superior in all four performance descriptors. The EMG-based interface was superior in tracking error and gain margin crossover frequency compared to the force- and the joystick-based interfaces. The force-based interface provided higher information transmission rate and lower effort than the EMG-based interface. The joystick-based interface did not present any significant difference with the force-based interface for any of the four performance descriptors. We found that significant differences in terms of tracking error and information transmission rate were present beyond 0.9 and 1.4 Hz respectively. \ud
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Conclusions:\ud
Despite the fact that the EMG-based interface is far from the natural way of interacting with the environment, while the force-based interface is closer, the EMG-based interface presented very similar and for some descriptors even a better performance than the force-based interface for frequencies below 1.4 Hz. The classical joystick presented a similar performance to the force-based interface and holds the advantage of being a well established interface for the control of many assistive devices. From these findings we concluded that all the control interfaces considered in this study can be regarded as a candidate interface for the control of an active arm support
The geometry of the Barbour-Bertotti theories I. The reduction process
The dynamics of interacting particles is investigated in the
non-relativistic context of the Barbour-Bertotti theories. The reduction
process on this constrained system yields a Lagrangian in the form of a
Riemannian line element. The involved metric, degenerate in the flat
configuration space, is the first fundamental form of the space of orbits of
translations and rotations (the Leibniz group). The Riemann tensor and the
scalar curvature are computed by a generalized Gauss formula in terms of the
vorticity tensors of generators of the rotations. The curvature scalar is
further given in terms of the principal moments of inertia of the system. Line
configurations are singular for . A comparison with similar methods in
molecular dynamics is traced.Comment: 15 pages, to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit
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