3,255 research outputs found
Potato virus Y transmitting aphids in a Finnish seed potato area
The aphid-transmissible Potato virus Y is a major problem in seed potato production (Valkonen , 2007).
The aphid flight activity was monitored from mid-June to the end of August with a suction trap and with yellow pan traps in 2007 and 2008.
Previous studies have concluded that potato colonising aphids are not the main vectors of Potato virus Y
Majorana bound states in hybrid 2D Josephson junctions with ferromagnetic insulators
We consider a Josephson junction consisting of superconductor/ferromagnetic
insulator (S/FI) bilayers as electrodes which proximizes a nearby 2D electron
gas. By starting from a generic Josephson hybrid planar setup we present an
exhaustive analysis of the the interplay between the superconducting and
magnetic proximity effects and the conditions under which the structure
undergoes transitions to a non-trivial topological phase. We address the 2D
bound state problem using a general transfer matrix approach that reduces the
problem to an effective 1D Hamiltonian. This allows for straightforward study
of topological properties in different symmetry classes. As an example we
consider a narrow channel coupled with multiple ferromagnetic superconducting
fingers, and discuss how the Majorana bound states can be spatially controlled
by tuning the superconducting phases. Following our approach we also show the
energy spectrum, the free energy and finally the multiterminal Josephson
current of the setup.Comment: 8 pages; 5 figure
Stochastic Acceleration in Relativistic Parallel Shocks
(abridged) We present results of test-particle simulations on both the first
and the second order Fermi acceleration at relativistic parallel shock waves.
We consider two scenarios for particle injection: (i) particles injected at the
shock front, then accelerated at the shock by the first order mechanism and
subsequently by the stochastic process in the downstream region; and (ii)
particles injected uniformly throughout the downstream region to the stochastic
process. We show that regardless of the injection scenario, depending on the
magnetic field strength, plasma composition, and the employed turbulence model,
the stochastic mechanism can have considerable effects on the particle spectrum
on temporal and spatial scales too short to be resolved in extragalactic jets.
Stochastic acceleration is shown to be able to produce spectra that are
significantly flatter than the limiting case of particle energy spectral index
-1 of the first order mechanism. Our study also reveals a possibility of
re-acceleration of the stochastically accelerated spectrum at the shock, as
particles at high energies become more and more mobile as their mean free path
increases with energy. Our findings suggest that the role of the second order
mechanism in the turbulent downstream of a relativistic shock with respect to
the first order mechanism at the shock front has been underestimated in the
past, and that the second order mechanism may have significant effects on the
form of the particle spectra and its evolution.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures (9 black/white and 2 color postscripts). To be
published in the ApJ (accepted 6 Nov 2004
Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries. Review of economic data collected in relation to the DCF and harmonisation of sampling strategies (STECF-11-19)
The STECF Expert Working Group (EWG) on reflections on the review of economic data collected in relation to the DCF and harmonisation of sampling strategies (EWG 11-18) met in Salerno, from 17th to 21st October 2011. The EWG dealt with a broad range of issues that are important in the improvement of the collection of economic data and in the evolution of the DCF. STECF reviewed the report during its Plenary meeting on 7-11 November 2011
Long-term adherence to healthy dietary guidelines and chronic inflammation in the prospective Whitehall II study
Background
Inflammation plays an important role in the cause of cardiovascular diseases and may contribute to the association linking an unhealthy diet to chronic age-related diseases. However, to date the long-term associations between diet and inflammation have been poorly described. Our aim was to assess the extent to which adherence to a healthy diet and dietary improvements over a 6-year exposure period prevented subsequent chronic inflammation over a 5-year follow-up in a large British population of men and women.
Methods
Data were drawn from 4600 adults (mean ± standard deviation, age 49.6 ± 6.1 years, 28% were women) from the prospective Whitehall cohort II study. Adherence to a healthy diet was measured using Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) scores in 1991-1993 (50.7 ± 11.9 points) and 1997-1999 (51.6 ± 12.4 points). Chronic inflammation, defined as average levels of serum interleukin-6 from 2 measures 5 years apart, was assessed in 1997-1999 and 2002-2004.
Results
After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and health status, participants who maintained a high AHEI score (ie, a healthy diet, n = 1736, 37.7%) and those who improved this score over time (n = 681, 14.8%) showed significantly lower mean levels of interleukin-6 (1.84 pg/mL, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-1.98 and 1.84 pg/mL, 95% CI, 1.70-1.99, respectively) than those who had a low AHEI score (n = 1594, 34.6%) over the 6-year exposure period (2.01 pg/mL, 95% CI, 1.87-2.17).
Conclusions
These data suggest that maintaining and improving adherence to healthy dietary recommendations may reduce the risk of long-term inflammation.</p
Comparison of mean-field theories for vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates
We compute structures of vortex configurations in a harmonically trapped
Bose-Einstein condensed atom gas within three different gapless self-consistent
mean-field theories. Outside the vortex core region, the density profiles for
the condensate and the thermal gas are found to differ only by a few percent
between the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-Popov theory and two of its recently
proposed gapless extensions. In the core region, however, the differences in
the density profiles are substantial. The structural differences are reflected
in the energies of the quasiparticle states localized near the vortex core.
Especially, the predictions for the energy of the lowest quasiparticle
excitation differ considerably between the theoretical models investigated.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Trajectory subgroups of perceived emotional support from teachers: Associations with change in mastery climate and intentions to quit upper secondary school
The aims of this three-wave longitudinal study were to identify and describe trajectories of perceived emotional support from teachers and investigate whether these trajectories were related to the development of intentions to quit upper secondary school via change in perceived mastery climate. Among 1379 Norwegian upper secondary school students, three trajectory subgroups were identified: stable high (84.9%), decreasing (7.8%), and low increasing (7.3%). The subgroups differed in levels of achievement ambition and academic self-concept. Further, a parallel process latent growth curve model revealed essential associations with change in intentions to quit school. Specifically, students with high probabilities of membership in the decreasing emotional support subgroup appeared to be at particular risk, perceiving a decrease in mastery climate that was related to a worrying development of intentions to quit school. The results are discussed considering the importance of a sustained supportive learning environment for late adolescents.publishedVersio
Thermal leptogenesis in a 5D split fermion scenario with bulk neutrinos
We study the thermal leptogenesis in a hybrid model, which combines the so
called split fermion model and the bulk neutrino model defined in five
dimensional spacetime. This model predicts the existence of a heavy neutrino
pair nearly degenerate in mass, whose decays might generate a CP violation
large enough for creating the baryon asymmetry of the universe through
leptogenesis. We investigate numerically the constraints this sets on the
parameters of the model such as the size of the compactified fifth dimension.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
Developing LCA-based benchmarks for sustainable consumption - for and with users
This article presents the development process of a consumer-oriented, illustrative benchmarking tool enabling consumers to use the results of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) to make informed decisions. Active and environmentally conscious consumers and environmental communicators were identified as key target groups for this type of information. A brochure presenting the benchmarking tool was developed as an participatory, iterative process involving consumer focus groups, stakeholder workshops and questionnaire-based feedback. In addition to learning what works and what does not, detailed suggestions on improved wording and figures were obtained, as well as a wealth of ideas for future applications
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