Innovations within the organic food sector – basis for novel business relations between agricultural and processing enterprises

Innovations within the processing sector may stimulate new, and extend and stabilize existing business relations with agricultural enterprises along the market chain. Due to their regional focus, small and medium-sized businesses in organic food production are eminently dependent on collaboration. On the basis of the evaluation of 140 applications for the Innovation Contest, this paper demonstrates how new and sustainable revenues can be built up by entering economic collaborations with innovative businesses of the processing sector

Representational momentum in the motor system?

PURPOSE: If presented with a moving object which suddenly disappears observers usually misjudge the object's last seen position as being further forward along the path of motion. This effect, called representational momentum, can also be seen in objects that change size or shape. It has been argued that the effect is due to perceptual anticipation. We tested whether a similar effect is present in the motor system. METHODS: Using stereo computer graphics we presented cubes of different sizes on a CRT monitor. In each trial three cubes were successively presented for 200 msec with increasing or decreasing size (steps of 1 cm width difference). Ten participants either compared the last cube to a comparison cube (perceptual task) or grasped the cube using a virtual haptic setup (motor task). The setup consisted of two robot arms (Phantom TM) attached to index finger and thumb. The robot arms were controlled to create forces equivalent to the forces created by real objects. The CRT monitor was viewed via a mirror such that the visual position of the cubes matched the position of the virtual haptic objects. RESULTS: In the motor task participants opened their fingers by 1.1+/-0.4 mm wider if they grasped a cube that was preceded by smaller cubes than if they grasped a cube that was preceded by larger cubes. This is the well-known representational momentum effect. In the perceptual task the effect was reversed (-2.2+/-0.4 mm). The effects correlated between observers (r=.71, p=.02). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that a representational momentum occurs also in grasping tasks. The correlation between observers suggests that the motor effect is related to the perceptual effect. However, our perceptual task showed a reversed effect. Reasons for this discrepancy will be discussed

On chaos in mean field spin glasses

We study the correlations between two equilibrium states of SK spin glasses at different temperatures or magnetic fields. The question, presiously investigated by Kondor and Kondor and V\'egs\"o, is approached here constraining two copies of the same system at different external parameters to have a fixed overlap. We find that imposing an overlap different from the minimal one implies an extensive cost in free energy. This confirms by a different method the Kondor's finding that equilibrium states corresponding to different values of the external parameters are completely uncorrelated. We also consider the Generalized Random Energy Model of Derrida as an example of system with strong correlations among states at different temperatures.Comment: 19 pages, Late

The liquid-glass transition of silica

We studied the liquid-glass transition of $SiO_2$ by means of replica theory, utilizing an effective pair potential which was proved to reproduce a few experimental features of silica. We found a finite critical temperature $T_0$, where the system undergoes a phase transition related to replica symmetry breaking, in a region where experiments do not show any transition. The possible sources of this discrepancy are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 6 postscript figures. Revised version accepted for pubblication on J.Chem.Phy

Chaos in temperature in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model

We prove the existence of chaos in temperature in the Sherringhton-Kirkpatrick model. The effect is exceedingly small, namely of the ninth order in perturbation theory. The equations describing two systems at different temperatures constrained to have a fixed overlap are studied analytically and numerically, yielding information about the behaviour of the overlap distribution function $P_{T_1,T_2}(q)$ in finite-size systems.Comment: REVTEX, 6 pages, 2 figure

Temperature evolution and bifurcations of metastable states in mean-field spin glasses, with connections with structural glasses

The correlations of the free-energy landscape of mean-field spin glasses at different temperatures are investigated, concentrating on models with a first order freezing transition. Using a ``potential function'' we follow the metastable states of the model in temperature, and discuss the possibility of level crossing (which we do not find) and multifurcation (which we find). The dynamics at a given temperature starting from an equilibrium configuration at a different temperature is also discussed. In presence of multifurcation, we find that the equilibrium is never achieved, leading to aging behaviour at slower energy levels than usual aging. The relevance of the observed mechanisms for real structural glasses is discussed, and some numerical simulations of a soft sphere model of glass are presented.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 10 figures (12 postscript files

Extremal Quantum Correlations and Cryptographic Security

We investigate a fundamental property of device independent security in quantum cryptography by characterizing probability distributions which are necessarily independent of the measurement results of any eavesdropper. We show that probability distributions that are secure in this sense are exactly the extremal quantum probability distributions. This allows us to give a characterization of security in algebraic terms. We apply the method to common examples for two-party as well as multi-party setups and present a scheme for verifying security of probability distributions with two parties, two measurement settings, and two outcomes.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, revised version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Switching of the vortex polarity in a magnetic nanodisk by a DC current

We study the dynamics of a vortex state nanodisk due to a dc spin current, perpendicular to the disk plane. The irreversible switching of the vortex polarity takes place above some threshold current. The detailed description of these processes is obtained by spin-lattice simulations.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages, 3 figure