2,921 research outputs found
One hundred angstrom niobium wire
Composite of fine niobium wires in copper is used to study the size and proximity effects of a superconductor in a normal matrix. The niobium rod was drawn to a 100 angstrom diameter wire on a copper tubing
Screening of organically based fungicides for apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) control and a histopathological study of the mode of action of a resistance inducer.
A range of possible substitutes for copper-based fungicides for control of apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) in organic growing were tested in laboratory and growth chamber experiments in the Danish project StopScab (2002-2004). Eighteen crude plant extracts, 19 commercial plant-based products and 6 miscellaneous compounds were tested for their ability to reduce scab symptoms on apple seedlings. Most of the compounds were also tested for their effect on conidium germination on glass slides. Fourteen of the crude plant extracts, 13 of the commercial plant products and 5 of the miscellaneous compounds showed promising control efficacies when used either preventively or curatively in the plant assay. A histopathological study was carried out on the mode of action of the resistance inducer, acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), which reduced scab severity and sporulation on apple seedlings in several plant assays when applied as preventive treatment. The effect of the inducer on key pre- and post-penetration events of V. inaequalis was studied and compared to these events in water-treated control leaves. The histopathological study showed that the inducer had its strongest effect on post-penetration events indicated by delayed infection and reduced stroma development. In addition, a small but significant inhibition of conidial germination and a stimulation of germ tube length were observed. This investigation provides new histopathological evidence for the mode of action of ASM against V. inaequalis and serves as a model for evaluation of the mechanisms by which the organically based fungicides reduce infection of V. inaequalis
Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris race 1 is the main causal agent of black rot of Brassicas in Southern Mozambique
Severe outbreaks of bacterial black rot caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) were observed in Brassica production fields of Southern Mozambique. The causal agent of the disease in the Mahotas and Chòkwé districts was identified and characterised. In total, 83 Xanthomonas-like strains were isolated from seed samples and leaves of cabbage and tronchuda cole with typical symptoms of the disease. Forty-six out of the 83 strains were found to be putative Xcc in at least one of the tests used: Classical biochemical assays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with monoclonal antibodies, Biolog identification system, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers and pathogenicity tests. The ELISA tests were positive for 43 strains. Biolog identified 43 strains as Xanthomonas, but only 32 as Xcc. PCR tests with primers targeting a fragment of the hrpF gene were positive for all 46 strains tested. Three strains were not pathogenic or weakly pathogenic and all other strains caused typical black rot symptoms in brassicas. Race type differentiation tests revealed the Xcc strains from Mozambique as members of race 1. The prevalence of this pathogenic race of the Xcc pathogen in Mozambique should be considered when black rot resistant cultivars are evaluated or introduced into the production regions of this country
Geometric variational problems of statistical mechanics and of combinatorics
We present the geometric solutions of the various extremal problems of
statistical mechanics and combinatorics. Together with the Wulff construction,
which predicts the shape of the crystals, we discuss the construction which
exhibits the shape of a typical Young diagram and of a typical skyscraper.Comment: 10 page
Stability transitions for axisymmetric relative equilibria of Euclidean symmetric Hamiltonian systems
In the presence of noncompact symmetry, the stability of relative equilibria
under momentum-preserving perturbations does not generally imply robust
stability under momentum-changing perturbations. For axisymmetric relative
equilibria of Hamiltonian systems with Euclidean symmetry, we investigate
different mechanisms of stability: stability by energy-momentum confinement,
KAM, and Nekhoroshev stability, and we explain the transitions between these.
We apply our results to the Kirchhoff model for the motion of an axisymmetric
underwater vehicle, and we numerically study dissipation induced instability of
KAM stable relative equilibria for this system.Comment: Minor revisions. Typographical errors correcte
Research on a superconducting niobium-thorium eutectic alloy and superconducting composites
Superconducting niobium-thorium eutectic alloy and composite
De tijd is voorbij …………
Op 22 April 2013 werd het symposium ‘Transitie
naar vitaal ouder worden’ gehouden. De inhoud
van het symposium was gebouwd op de vier
pijlers die worden geacht essentieel te zijn om de
transitie van reguliere, traditionele ouderenzorg
naar een gezondheidszorg gericht op vitaal
ouder worden te realiseren
Monte Carlo study of the evaporation/condensation transition on different Ising lattices
In 2002 Biskup et al. [Europhys. Lett. 60, 21 (2002)] sketched a rigorous
proof for the behavior of the 2D Ising lattice gas, at a finite volume and a
fixed excess \delta M of particles (spins) above the ambient gas density
(spontaneous magnetisation). By identifying a dimensionless parameter \Delta
(\delta M) and a universal constant \Delta_c, they showed in the limit of large
system sizes that for \Delta < \Delta_c the excess is absorbed in the
background (``evaporated'' system), while for \Delta > \Delta_c a droplet of
the dense phase occurs (``condensed'' system).
To check the applicability of the analytical results to much smaller,
practically accessible system sizes, we performed several Monte Carlo
simulations for the 2D Ising model with nearest-neighbour couplings on a square
lattice at fixed magnetisation M. Thereby, we measured the largest minority
droplet, corresponding to the condensed phase, at various system sizes (L=40,
>..., 640). With analytic values for for the spontaneous magnetisation m_0, the
susceptibility \chi and the Wulff interfacial free energy density \tau_W for
the infinite system, we were able to determine \lambda numerically in very good
agreement with the theoretical prediction.
Furthermore, we did simulations for the spin-1/2 Ising model on a triangular
lattice and with next-nearest-neighbour couplings on a square lattice. Again,
finding a very good agreement with the analytic formula, we demonstrate the
universal aspects of the theory with respect to the underlying lattice. For the
case of the next-nearest-neighbour model, where \tau_W is unknown analytically,
we present different methods to obtain it numerically by fitting to the
distribution of the magnetisation density P(m).Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, 1 tabl
Ab Initio Structural Energetics of Beta-Si3N4 Surfaces
Motivated by recent electron microscopy studies on the Si3N4/rare-earth oxide
interfaces, the atomic and electronic structures of bare beta-Si3N4 surfaces
are investigated from first principles. The equilibrium shape of a Si3N4
crystal is found to have a hexagonal cross section and a faceted dome-like base
in agreement with experimental observations. The large atomic relaxations on
the prismatic planes are driven by the tendency of Si to saturate its dangling
bonds, which gives rise to resonant-bond configurations or planar sp^2-type
bonding. We predict three bare surfaces with lower energies than the open-ring
(10-10) surface observed at the interface, which indicate that
non-stoichiometry and the presence of the rare-earth oxide play crucial roles
in determining the termination of the Si3N4 matrix grains.Comment: 4 Pages, 4 Figures, 1 tabl
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