The role of governance in agricultural expansion and intensification: a global study of arable agriculture

In this research we studied empirical relationships between agricultural production dynamics and six quantitative World Bank governance indicators for 173 countries between 1975 and 2007. It is hypothesized that in countries with lower quality of governance, agricultural production increases are more likely to be achieved by area expansions than by increases in yields. We distinguished four groups of countries: those with both area and yield increases; those with increasing yields but decreasing area; those with decreasing yields but a growing area; and those with both declines in yields and area. We analyzed differences between these four groups, and also analyzed governance-production relationships within these groups. On average, quality of governance is low in countries with both area and yield increases and high in countries with increasing yields but decreasing area. Countries with declining yields were too few in number to allow for quantitative analyses. The analysis of governance-production relationships within the four groups suggests that countries with a lower quality of governance are more inclined to achieve production increases by expanding agricultural area rather than increasing yields. Additional explanatory value of governance indicators to agricultural production dynamics is generally small, but nevertheless significant in most cases. Our results suggest that, in order for agricultural production to increase without excessive expansions of agricultural area, governance issues should be resolve

Strong coupling constant from bottomonium fine structure

From a fit to the experimental data on the $b\bar{b}$ fine structure, the two-loop coupling constant is extracted. For the 1P state the fitted value is $\alpha_s(\mu_1) = 0.33 \pm 0.01(exp)\pm 0.02 (th)$ at the scale $\mu_1 = 1.8 \pm 0.1$ GeV, which corresponds to the QCD constant $\Lambda^{(4)}(2-loop) = 338 \pm 30$ MeV (n_f = 4) and $\alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.119 \pm 0.002. For the 2P state the value$\alpha_s(\mu_2) = 0.40 \pm 0.02(exp)\pm 0.02(th)$at the scale$\mu_2 = 1.02 \pm 0.2$GeV is extracted, which is significantly larger than in the previous analysis of Fulcher (1991) and Halzen (1993), but about 30smaller than the value given by standard perturbation theory. This value$\alpha_s(1.0) \approx 0.40$can be obtained in the framework of the background perturbation theory, thus demonstrating the freezing of$\alpha_s$. The relativistic corrections to$\alpha_s$ are found to be about 15%.Comment: 18 pages LaTe

The leptonic widths of high ψ\psi-resonances in unitary coupled-channel model

The leptonic widths of high $\psi$-resonances are calculated in a coupled-channel model with unitary inelasticity, where analytical expressions for mixing angles between (n+1)\,^3S_1 and n\,^3D_1 states and probabilities $Z_i$ of the $c\bar c$ component are derived. Since these factors depend on energy (mass), different values of mixing angles $\theta(\psi(4040))=27.7^\circ$ and $\theta(\psi(4160))=29.5^\circ$, $Z_1\,(\psi(4040))=0.76$, and $Z_2\,(\psi(4160))=0.62$ are obtained. It gives the leptonic widths $\Gamma_{ee}(\psi(4040))=Z_1\, 1.17=0.89$~keV, $\Gamma_{ee}(\psi(4160))=Z_2\, 0.76=0.47$~keV in good agreement with experiment. For $\psi(4415)$ the leptonic width $\Gamma_{ee}(\psi(4415))=~0.55$~keV is calculated, while for the missing resonance $\psi(4510)$ we predict $M(\psi(4500))=(4515\pm 5)$~MeV and $\Gamma_{ee}(\psi(4510)) \cong 0.50$~keV.Comment: 10 pages, 6 references corrected, some new material adde

Higher excitations of the DD and DsD_s mesons

The masses of higher $D(nL)$ and $D_s(nL)$ excitations are shown to decrease due to the string contribution, originating from the rotation of the QCD string itself: it lowers the masses by 45 MeV for $L=2 (n=1)$ and by 65 MeV for $L=3 (n=1)$. An additional decrease $\sim 100$ MeV takes place if the current mass of the light (strange) quark is used in a relativistic model. For $D_s(1\,{}^3D_3)$ and $D_s(2P_1^H)$ the calculated masses agree with the experimental values for $D_s(2860)$ and $D_s(3040)$, and the masses of $D(2\,{}^1S_0)$, $D(2\,{}^3S_1)$, $D(1\,{}^3D_3)$, and $D(1D_2)$ are in agreement with the new BaBar data. For the yet undiscovered resonances we predict the masses $M(D(2\,{}^3P_2))=2965$ MeV, $M(D(2\,{}^3P_0))=2880$ MeV, $M(D(1\,{}^3F_4))=3030$ MeV, and $M(D_s(1\,{}^3F_2))=3090$ MeV. We show that for $L=2,3$ the states with $j_q=l+1/2$ and $j_q=l-1/2$ ($J=l$) are almost completely unmixed ($\phi\simeq -1^\circ$), which implies that the mixing angles $\theta$ between the states with S=1 and S=0 ($J=L$) are $\theta\approx 40^\circ$ for L=2 and $\approx 42^\circ$ for L=3.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, 4 tables Two references and corresponding discussion adde

Climate and Yield in a closed greenhouse

The so-called closed greenhouse (closed ventilation windows) is a recent innovation in Dutch greenhouse industry. The technical concept consists of a heat pump, underground (aquifer) seasonal energy storage as well as daytime storage, air treatment units with heat exchangers, and air distribution ducts. Savings of up to 30% in fossil fuel and production increases by up to 20%, mainly because of the continuously high CO2 concentration, have been reported. Economic feasibility of this innovative greenhouse highly depends on the yield increase that can be obtained. In this simulation study the effects of greenhouse climate on tomato yield in a closed greenhouse are presented. The explanatory model INTKAM was used, which has several submodels e.g. for light interception, leaf photosynthesis and biomass partitioning. The closed greenhouse offers possibilities for combinations of light, temperature, air humidity and CO2 concentration that are impossible in a conventional greenhouse. At high CO2 concentration and high light intensity, leaf photosynthesis shows a more narrow optimum for temperature than at high CO2 and moderate light intensity. However, the response of crop photosynthesis to temperature has a much broader optimum than that of leaf photosynthesis. Besides photosynthesis, temperature also influences aspects like partitioning, leaf area development and fruit development. Yield potential reduces at temperatures above 26°C, with fruit set being one of the first processes that is negatively influenced by supra-optimal temperatures. Based on actual climatic conditions in a conventional and a closed greenhouse (same crop management) measured during two years, INTKAM predicts an increase in yield by about 17%. Hence, in a closed greenhouse a higher stem density can be maintained for obtaining the same average fruit weight (size) as in a conventional greenhouse. In 2005 actual yield increase was similar to the simulated one (16%), but in 2004 only a 9% higher yield was realized, at least partly because of botrytis infection in the closed greenhouse

A rapid transition from ice covered CO2–rich waters to a biologically mediated CO2 sink in the eastern Weddell Gyre

Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), locally called Warm Deep Water (WDW), enters the Weddell Gyre in the southeast, roughly at 25° E to 30° E. In December 2002 and January 2003 we studied the effect of entrainment of WDW on the fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO2) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in Weddell Sea surface waters. Ultimately the fCO2 difference across the sea surface drives air-sea fluxes of CO2. Deep CTD sections and surface transects of fCO2 were made along the Prime Meridian, a northwest-southeast section, and along 17° E to 23° E during cruise ANT XX/2 on FS Polarstern. Upward movement and entrainment of WDW into the winter mixed layer had significantly increased DIC and fCO2 below the sea ice along 0° W and 17° E to 23° E, notably in the southern Weddell Gyre. Nonetheless, the ice cover largely prevented outgassing of CO2 to the atmosphere. During and upon melting of the ice, biological activity rapidly reduced surface water fCO2 by up to 100 µatm, thus creating a sink for atmospheric CO2. Despite the tendency of the surfacing WDW to cause CO2 supersaturation, the Weddell Gyre may well be a CO2 sink on an annual basis due to this effective mechanism involving ice cover and ensuing biological fCO2 reduction. Dissolution of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in melting sea ice may play a minor role in this rapid reduction of surface water fCO2

Comparison of relativistic bound-state calculations in Front-Form and Instant-Form Dynamics

Using the Wick-Cutkosky model and an extended version (massive exchange) of it, we have calculated the bound states in a quantum field theoretical approach. In the light-front formalism we have calculated the bound-state mass spectrum and wave functions. Using the Terent'ev transformation we can write down an approximation for the angular dependence of the wave function. After calculating the bound-state spectra we characterized all states found. Similarly, we have calculated the bound-state spectrum and wave functions in the instant-form formalism. We compare the spectra found in both forms of dynamics in the ladder approximation and show that in both forms of dynamics the O(4) symmetry is broken.Comment: 22 pages Latex, 7 figures, style file amssymb use

Metabolomic systems biology of trypanosomes

Metabolomics analysis, which aims at the systematic identification and quantification of all metabolites in biological systems, is emerging as a powerful new tool to identify biomarkers of disease, report on cellular responses to environmental perturbation, and to identify the targets of drugs. Here we discuss recent developments in metabolomic analysis, from the perspective of trypanosome research, highlighting remaining challenges and the most promising areas for future research

Pauli-Potential and Green Function Monte-Carlo Method for Many-Fermion Systems

The time evolution of a many-fermion system can be described by a Green's function corresponding to an effective potential, which takes anti-symmetrization of the wave function into account, called the Pauli-potential. We show that this idea can be combined with the Green's Function Monte Carlo method to accurately simulate a system of many non-relativistic fermions. The method is illustrated by the example of systems of several (2-9) fermions in a square well.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 4 figure