406 research outputs found
Safe food and feed through an integrated toolbox for mycotoxin management: the MyToolBox approach
There is a pressing need to mobilise the wealth of knowledge from the international mycotoxin research conductedover the past 25-30 years, and to perform cutting-edge research where knowledge gaps still exist. This knowledgeneeds to be integrated into affordable and practical tools for farmers and food processors along the chain inorder to reduce the risk of mycotoxin contamination of crops, feed and food. This is the mission of MyToolBox – a four-year project which has received funding from the European Commission. It mobilises a multi-actorpartnership (academia, farmers, technology small and medium sized enterprises, food industry and policystakeholders) to develop novel interventions aimed at achieving a significant reduction in crop losses due tomycotoxin contamination. Besides a field-to-fork approach, MyToolBox also considers safe use options ofcontaminated batches, such as the efficient production of biofuels. Compared to previous efforts of mycotoxin reduction strategies, the distinguishing feature of MyToolBox is to provide the recommended measures to theend users along the food and feed chain in a web-based MyToolBox platform (e-toolbox). The project focuseson small grain cereals, maize, peanuts and dried figs, applicable to agricultural conditions in the EU and China. Crop losses using existing practices are being compared with crop losses after novel pre-harvest interventionsincluding investigation of genetic resistance to fungal infection, cultural control (e.g. minimum tillage or cropdebris treatment), the use of novel biopesticides suitable for organic farming, competitive biocontrol treatment and development of novel modelling approaches to predict mycotoxin contamination. Research into post-harvestmeasures includes real-time monitoring during storage, innovative sorting of crops using vision-technology, novelmilling technology and studying the effects of baking on mycotoxins at an industrial scale
Temperature Dependence of Facet Ridges in Crystal Surfaces
The equilibrium crystal shape of a body-centered solid-on-solid (BCSOS) model
on a honeycomb lattice is studied numerically. We focus on the facet ridge
endpoints (FRE). These points are equivalent to one dimensional KPZ-type growth
in the exactly soluble square lattice BCSOS model. In our more general context
the transfer matrix is not stochastic at the FRE points, and a more complex
structure develops. We observe ridge lines sticking into the rough phase where
thesurface orientation jumps inside the rounded part of the crystal. Moreover,
the rough-to-faceted edges become first-order with a jump in surface
orientation, between the FRE point and Pokrovsky-Talapov (PT) type critical
endpoints. The latter display anisotropic scaling with exponent instead
of familiar PT value .Comment: 12 pages, 19 figure
Particle Dynamics in a Mass-Conserving Coalescence Process
We consider a fully asymmetric one-dimensional model with mass-conserving
coalescence. Particles of unit mass enter at one edge of the chain and
coalescence while performing a biased random walk towards the other edge where
they exit. The conserved particle mass acts as a passive scalar in the reaction
process , and allows an exact mapping to a restricted ballistic
surface deposition model for which exact results exist. In particular, the
mass- mass correlation function is exactly known. These results complement
earlier exact results for the process without mass. We introduce a
comprehensive scaling theory for this process. The exact anaytical and
numerical results confirm its validity.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Asymmetric XXZ chain at the antiferromagnetic transition: Spectra and partition functions
The Bethe ansatz equation is solved to obtain analytically the leading
finite-size correction of the spectra of the asymmetric XXZ chain and the
accompanying isotropic 6-vertex model near the antiferromagnetic phase boundary
at zero vertical field. The energy gaps scale with size as and
its amplitudes are obtained in terms of level-dependent scaling functions.
Exactly on the phase boundary, the amplitudes are proportional to a sum of
square-root of integers and an anomaly term. By summing over all low-lying
levels, the partition functions are obtained explicitly. Similar analysis is
performed also at the phase boundary of zero horizontal field in which case the
energy gaps scale as . The partition functions for this case are found
to be that of a nonrelativistic free fermion system. From symmetry of the
lattice model under rotation, several identities between the partition
functions are found. The scaling at zero vertical field is
interpreted as a feature arising from viewing the Pokrovsky-Talapov transition
with the space and time coordinates interchanged.Comment: Minor corrections only. 18 pages in RevTex, 2 PS figure
Some New Results on Complex-Temperature Singularities in Potts Models on the Square Lattice
We report some new results on the complex-temperature (CT) singularities of
-state Potts models on the square lattice. We concentrate on the problematic
region (where ) in which CT zeros of the partition function
are sensitive to finite lattice artifacts. From analyses of low-temperature
series expansions for , we establish the existence, in this
region, of complex-conjugate CT singularities at which the magnetization and
susceptibility diverge. From calculations of zeros of the partition function,
we obtain evidence consistent with the inference that these singularities occur
at endpoints of arcs protruding into the (complex-temperature
extension of the) FM phase. Exponents for these singularities are determined;
e.g., for , we find , consistent with .
By duality, these results also imply associated arcs extending to the (CT
extension of the) symmetric PM phase. Analytic expressions are suggested for
the positions of some of these singularities; e.g., for , our finding is
consistent with the exact value . Further discussions of
complex-temperature phase diagrams are given.Comment: 26 pages, latex, with eight epsf figure
Vicinal Surfaces and the Calogero-Sutherland Model
A miscut (vicinal) crystal surface can be regarded as an array of meandering
but non-crossing steps. Interactions between the steps are shown to induce a
faceting transition of the surface between a homogeneous Luttinger liquid state
and a low-temperature regime consisting of local step clusters in coexistence
with ideal facets. This morphological transition is governed by a hitherto
neglected critical line of the well-known Calogero-Sutherland model. Its exact
solution yields expressions for measurable quantities that compare favorably
with recent experiments on Si surfaces.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 2 figures (.eps
Correlated electron states and transport in triangular arrays
We study correlated electron states in frustrated geometry of a triangular
lattice. The interplay of long range interactions and finite residual entropy
of a classical system gives rise to unusual effects in equilibrium ordering as
well as in transport. A novel correlated fluid phase is identified in a wide
range of densities and temperatures above freezing into commensurate solid
phases. The charge dynamics in the correlated phase is described in terms of a
height field, its fluctuations, and topological defects. We demonstrate that
the height field fluctuations give rise to a ``free'' charge flow and finite dc
conductivity. We show that freezing into the solid phase, controlled by the
long range interactions, manifests itself in singularities of transport
properties.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure
Non-Abelian bosonization of the frustrated antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain
We study the spin-1/2 chain with nearest neighbor () and
next-nearest neighbor () interactions in the regime , which is equivalent to two chains with a `zig-zag' interaction. In
the continuum limit, this system is described in term of two coupled level-1
WZW field theories. We illustrate its equivalence with four off-critical Ising
models (Majorana fermions). This description is used to investigate the opening
of a gap as a function of and the associated spontaneous breakdown
of parity. We calculate the dynamic spin structure factor near the wavevectors
accessible to the continuum limit. We comment on the nonzero string order
parameter and show the presence of a hidden
symmetry via a nonlocal transformation on the microscopic Hamiltonian. For a
ferromagnetic interchain coupling, the model is conjectured to be critical,
with different velocities for the spin singlet and spin triplet excitations.Comment: 20 pages, RevTeX, 1 postscript figure. Minor corrections added,
resulting in different velocity renormalizations; no qualitative change in
conclusion
Spin-density Wave in Ising-coupled Antiferromagnetic Chains
The effect of anisotropy in the nearest-neighbor spin interactions that
couple consecutive spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic chains is studied
theoretically by considering the limit where the coupling is purely of the
Ising type. An analysis based on the equivalent Luttinger model reveals that
the groundstate is an Ising antiferromagnet in general.Comment: 11 pgs. of plain TeX, one postscript fig., to appear in Phys. Rev.
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