1,270 research outputs found
Study on agroforestry practices in Abak Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
A study was carried out to assess the various agroforestry practices in Abak Local Government Area (LGA) of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaires, physical observations and oral interview were used to collect data from agroforestry farmers (respondents) in the four clans (Abak, Otoro, Midim and Afaha-Obong) in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Results showed that 67.25% of the respondents were males whereas 32.75% were females. 81.75% of the respondents were in the age brackets of 30-49 years, while those in age brackets 50 years and above were 18.25%. Married people constituted 89.50% of the respondents with 0.50% as single; 56.75% engaged in fulltime farming, 20% were civil servants/farmers and 23.25% combined petty trading withfarming. Local knowledge (84.50%) largely contributed to agroforestry knowledge of the respondents. Educational qualifications of respondents were: FSLC (45.25%), WAEC (48.25%), OND/NCE (6.00%), while 0.50% had HND/Degree. Types of agroforestry practices adopted by respondents, plant utility-form, mode of cultivation of agroforestry farms, problems affecting production of agroforestry, and source of nutrient in agroforestry farms in the study areas, all showed different significant results (p=0.05). Further study is recommended to determine the appropriate plant compositions of individual plant species in the various agroforestry practices.KEYWORDS: Agroforestry practices, ecological benefits, socio-economic livelihood, Abak LGA, Nigeria
Annona muricata (graviola): toxic or therapeutic
This paper examines annona muricata (graviola): toxic or therapeutic
Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline. Part I, assessing the natural sensitivity to wave climate
The impact of future sea-level rise on coastal erosion as a result of a changing climate has been studied in detail over the past decade. The potential impact of a changing wave climate on erosion rates, however, is not typically considered. We explore the effect of changing wave climates on a pinned, soft-cliff, sandy coastline, using as an example the Holderness coast of East Yorkshire, UK.
The initial phase of the study concentrates on calibrating a numerical model to recently measured erosion rates for the Holderness coast using an ensemble of geomorphological and shoreface parameters under an observed offshore wave climate. In the main phase of the study, wave climate data are perturbed gradually to assess their impact on coastal morphology. Forward-modelled simulations constrain the nature of the morphological response of the coast to changes in wave climate over the next century. Results indicate that changes to erosion rates over the next century will be spatially and temporally heterogeneous, with a variability of up to ±25% in the erosion rate relative to projections under constant wave climate. The heterogeneity results from the current coastal morphology and the sediment transport dynamics consequent on differing wave climate regimes
Sure success partial search
Partial search has been proposed recently for finding the target block
containing a target element with fewer queries than the full Grover search
algorithm which can locate the target precisely. Since such partial searches
will likely be used as subroutines for larger algorithms their success rate is
important. We propose a partial search algorithm which achieves success with
unit probability
Assessing the influence of sea walls on the coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff, sandy coastline
Coastal defences have long been employed to halt or slow coastal erosion. Their impact on local sediment flux and ecology has been studied in detail through field studies and numerical simulations. The non-local impact of a modified sediment flux regime on mesoscale erosion and accretion has received less attention. Morphological changes at this scale due to defended structures can be difficult to quantify or identify with field data. Engineering scale numerical models, often applied to assess the design of modern defences on local coastal erosion, tend not to cover large stretches of coast and are rarely applied to assess the impact of older structures. We extend previous work to explore the influences of sea walls on the evolution and morphological sensitivity of a pinned, soft-cliff, sandy coastline under a changing wave climate. The Holderness coast of East Yorkshire, UK, is used as a case study, represented both as a defended example with major sea walls included and a natural example where no sea defences exist.
Using a mesoscale numerical coastal evolution model, stochastic wave climate data are perturbed gradually to assess the sensitivity of the coastal morphology to changing wave climate for both the defended and natural scenarios. Comparative analysis of the simulated output suggests that sea walls in the south of the region have a greater impact on sediment flux due to the increased sediment availability along this part of the coast. Multiple defended structures, including those separated by several kilometres, were found to interact with each other, producing a complex imprint on coastal morphology under a changing wave climate. Although spatially and temporally heterogeneous, sea walls generally slowed coastal recession and accumulated sediment on their up-drift side
A numerical study of multi-soliton configurations in a doped antiferromagnetic Mott insulator
We evaluate from first principles the self-consistent Hartree-Fock energies
for multi-soliton configurations in a doped, spin-1/2, antiferromagnetic Mott
insulator on a two-dimensional square lattice. We find that nearest-neighbor
Coulomb repulsion stabilizes a regime of charged meron-antimeron vortex soliton
pairs over a region of doping from 0.05 to 0.4 holes per site for intermediate
coupling 3 < U/t <8. This stabilization is mediated through the generation of
``spin-flux'' in the mean-field antiferromagnetic (AFM) background. Holes
cloaked by a meron-vortex in the spin-flux AFM background are charged bosons.
Our static Hartree-Fock calculations provide an upper bound on the energy of a
finite density of charged vortices. This upper bound is lower than the energy
of the corresponding charged stripe configurations. A finite density of charge
carrying vortices is shown to produce a large number of unoccupied electronic
levels in the Mott-Hubbard charge transfer gap. These levels lead to
significant band tailing and a broad mid-infrared band in the optical
absorption spectrum as observed experimentally. At very low doping (below 0.05)
the doping charges create extremely tightly bound meron-antimeron pairs or even
isolated conventional spin-polarons, whereas for very high doping (above 0.4)
the spin background itself becomes unstable to formation of a conventional
Fermi liquid and the spin-flux mean-field is energetically unfavorable. Our
results point to the predominance of a quantum liquid of charged, bosonic,
vortex solitons at intermediate coupling and intermediate doping
concentrations.Comment: 12 pages, 25 figures; added references, modified/eliminated some
figure
Auxiliary particle theory of threshold singularities in photoemission and X-ray absorption spectra: Test of a conserving T-matrix approximation
We calculate the exponents of the threshold singularities in the
photoemission spectrum of a deep core hole and its X-ray absorption spectrum in
the framework of a systematic many-body theory of slave bosons and
pseudofermions (for the empty and occupied core level). In this representation,
photoemission and X-ray absorption can be understood on the same footing; no
distinction between orthogonality catastrophe and excitonic effects is
necessary. We apply the conserving slave particle T-matrix approximation
(CTMA), recently developed to describe both Fermi and non-Fermi liquid behavior
systems with strong local correlations, to the X-ray problem as a test case.
The numerical results for both photoemission and X-ray absorption are found to
be in agreement with the exact infrared powerlaw behavior in the weak as well
as in the strong coupling regions. We point out a close relation of the CTMA
with the parquet equation approach of Nozi{\`e}res et al.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, published versio
Novel Synthesis and High Pressure Behavior of Na0.3CoO2 x 1.3 H2O and Related Phases
We have prepared powder samples of NaxCoO2 x yH2O using a new synthesis
route. Superconductivity was observed in Na0.3CoO2 x 1.3H2O between 4 and 5K as
indicated by the magnetic susceptibility. The bulk compressibilities of
Na0.3CoO2 x 1.3H2O, Na0.3CoO2 x 0.6H2O and Na0.3CoO2 were determined using a
diamond anvil cell and synchrotron powder diffraction. Chemical changes
occurring under pressure when using different pressure transmitting media are
discussed and further transport measurements are advocated.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, PRrapid submitte
Magnetic and Dynamic Properties of the Hubbard Model in Infinite Dimensions
An essentially exact solution of the infinite dimensional Hubbard model is
made possible by using a self-consistent mapping of the Hubbard model in this
limit to an effective single impurity Anderson model. Solving the latter with
quantum Monte Carlo procedures enables us to obtain exact results for the one
and two-particle properties of the infinite dimensional Hubbard model. In
particular we find antiferromagnetism and a pseudogap in the single-particle
density of states for sufficiently large values of the intrasite Coulomb
interaction at half filling. Both the antiferromagnetic phase and the
insulating phase above the N\'eel temperature are found to be quickly
suppressed on doping. The latter is replaced by a heavy electron metal with a
quasiparticle mass strongly dependent on doping as soon as . At half
filling the antiferromagnetic phase boundary agrees surprisingly well in shape
and order of magnitude with results for the three dimensional Hubbard model.Comment: 32 page
Superconducting properties of RuSr2GdCu2O8 studied by SQUID magnetometry
For polycrystalline RuSr2GdCu2O8 (Ru-1212), distinct peaks have been reported
in d.c. magnetization in the superconducting state of the sample. Sr2GdRuO6
(Sr-2116), the precursor for the preparation of Ru-1212, shows similar peaks in
the same temperature regime. Based on measurements performed on both bulk and
powdered samples of Ru-1212 and Sr-2116, we exclude the possibility, that the
observed behavior of the magnetization of Ru-1212 is due to Sr-2116 impurities.
The effect is related to the superconductivity of Ru-1212, but it is not an
intrinsic property of this compound. We provide evidence that the observation
of magnetization peaks in the superconducting state of Ru-1212 is due to flux
motion generated by the movement of the sample in an inhomogeneous field,
during the measurement in the SQUID magnetometer. We propose several tests,
that help to decide, whether the features observed in a SQUID magnetization
measurement of Ru-1212 represent a property of the compound or not.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
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