Natural handicaps in Dutch agricultural areas : assessment of less favoured areas based on biophysical criteria

In order to assess agricultural areas with natural handicaps, the European Commission proposed a set of biophysical criteria. In this report all criteria were applied to the Dutch agricultural areas. The application of the criteria showed that four criteria led to the delineation of areas with natural handicaps. The handicaps were soil drainage, texture, chemical properties and slope. The criteria for low temperature, heat stress, rooting depth and soil moisture balance were not applicable to the Dutch agricultural soils. All results were aggregated to LAU2 units (municipality). An area at the scale of LAU2 units was considered affected by significant natural handicaps if at least 66% of the Utilised Agricultural Areas met at least one of the biophysical criteria. In total 109 LAU2 units were considered a Less Favoured Are

Observation of electronic and atomic shell effects in gold nanowires

The formation of gold nanowires in vacuum at room temperature reveals a periodic spectrum of exceptionally stable diameters. This is identified as shell structure similar to that which was recently discovered for alkali metals at low temperatures. The gold nanowires present two competing `magic' series of stable diameters, one governed by electronic structure and the other by the atomic packing.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Spin Disorder and Magnetic Anisotropy in Fe3O4 Nanoparticles

We have studied the magnetic behavior of dextran-coated magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) nanoparticles with median particle size \left=8 $nm$. Magnetization curves and in-field M\"ossbauer spectroscopy measurements showed that the magnetic moment $M_S$ of the particles was much smaller than the bulk material. However, we found no evidence of magnetic irreversibility or non-saturating behavior at high fields, usually associated to spin canting. The values of magnetic anisotropy $K_{eff}$ from different techniques indicate that surface or shape contributions are negligible. It is proposed that these particles have bulk-like ferrimagnetic structure with ordered A and B sublattices, but nearly compensated magnetic moments. The dependence of the blocking temperature with frequency and applied fields, $T_B(H,\omega)$, suggests that the observed non-monotonic behavior is governed by the strength of interparticle interactions.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 3 Table

Remote sensing and hydrologic models for performance assessment in Sirsa Irrigation Circle, India

Irrigation management / Irrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Performance evaluation / Remote sensing / GIS / Models / Irrigated farming / Hydrology / Satellite surveys / Irrigation scheduling / Evapotranspiration / India

Direct calorimetric measurements of isothermal entropy change on single crystal W-type hexaferrites at the spin reorientation transition

We report on the magnetic field induced isothermal entropy change, \Delta s(Ha, T), of W-type ferrite with CoZn substitution. Entropy measurements are performed by direct calorimetry. Single crystals of the composition BaCo$_0.62$Zn$_1.38$Fe$_16$O$_27$, prepared by the flux method, are measured at different fixed temperatures under an applied field perpendicular and parallel to the c axis. At 296 K one deduces a value of K$_1$ = 8.7 \times 10^{4} J m$^-3$ for the first anisotropy constant, which is in good agreement with the literature. The spin reorientation transition temperature is estimated to take place between 200 and 220 K

Static interactions and stability of matter in Rindler space

Dynamical issues associated with quantum fields in Rindler space are addressed in a study of the interaction between two sources at rest generated by the exchange of scalar particles, photons and gravitons. These static interaction energies in Rindler space are shown to be scale invariant, complex quantities. The imaginary part will be seen to have its quantum mechanical origin in the presence of an infinity of zero modes in uniformly accelerated frames which in turn are related to the radiation observed in inertial frames. The impact of a uniform acceleration on the stability of matter and the properties of particles is discussed and estimates are presented of the instability of hydrogen atoms when approaching the horizon.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figure

Tachyonic preheating using 2PI-1/N dynamics and the classical approximation

We study the process of tachyonic preheating using approximative quantum equations of motion derived from the 2PI effective action. The O(N) scalar (Higgs) field is assumed to experience a fast quench which is represented by an instantaneous flip of the sign of the mass parameter. The equations of motion are solved numerically on the lattice, and the Hartree and 1/N-NLO approximations are compared to the classical approximation. Classical dynamics is expected to be valid, since the occupation numbers can rise to large values during tachyonic preheating. We find that the classical approximation performs excellently at short and intermediate times, even for couplings in the larger region currently allowed for the SM Higgs. This is reassuring, since all previous numerical studies of tachyonic preheating and baryogenesis during tachyonic preheating have used classical dynamics. We also compare different initializations for the classical simulations.Comment: 32 pages, 21 figures. Published version: Some details added, section added, references added, conclusions unchange

Fifty years of thoracic surgical research in South Africa

Aim. To investigate the scope and trends in clinical research inSouth African thoracic surgery between 1955 and 2006 and tomeasure its impact on clinical practice.Method. A systematic review of all SA thoracic surgicalpublications was performed.Results. There were 252 general thoracic publications and amarked decrease in publications was noted after the peakperiod of productivity of the 1980s. There was a shift towardthe private sector as an origin of articles and toward a local,non-indexed journal. Inflammatory lung disease was themost frequent topic of publication. Case series and casereports were the most frequent type of article.Conclusion. The vulnerability of a small specialty in adeveloping country is illustrated by the clear trends thatemerged. The study provides important indicators for futureresearch, highlights the need for a national database of clinicalexperience, and emphasises the importance of rekindlinginterest and a culture of research in thoracic surgery

Paramagnetic anisotropic magnetoresistance in thin films of SrRuO3

SrRuO3 is an itinerant ferromagnet and in its thin film form when grown on miscut SrTiO3 it has Tc of ~ 150 K and strong uniaxial anisotropy. We measured both the Hall effect and the magnetoresistance (MR) of the films as a function of the angle between the applied field and the normal to the films at temperatures above Tc. We extracted the extraordinary Hall effect that is proportional to the perpendicular component of the magnetization and thus the MR for each angle of the applied field could be correlated with the magnitude and orientation of the induced magnetization. We successfully fit the MR data with a second order magnetization expansion, which indicates large anisotropic MR in the paramagnetic state. The extremum values of resistivity are not obtained for currents parallel or perpendicular to the magnetization, probably due to the crystal symmetry.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure