Numerical Determination of the Distribution of Energies for the XY-model

We compute numerically the distribution of energies W(E,N) for the XY-model with short-range and long-range interactions. We find that in both cases the distribution can be fitted to the functional form: W(E,N) ~ exp(N f(E,N)), with f(E,N) an intensive function of the energy.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to Physica

Use of turnips to reduce potassium accumulation on areas receiving farm dairy effluent : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Soil Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Land treatment of farm dairy effluent (FDE) on small areas of intensive of dairy farms has enriched soils with nutrients particularly K. Solving the problem solely by increasing the area allocated for land treatment requires large investment in pump, pipes and irrigator infrastructure. A less costly strategy, of sowing and grazing a summer turnip on the land treatment area in order to redistribute K to the pasture area is evaluated in this thesis. A survey (February 2006) showed that in the Manawatu region turnip crop yields (8 to 17t DM.ha⁻¹) provided profitable feed for dairy cows, were a suitable re-grassing strategy and if harvested, removed 350 to 700 kg K ha⁻¹ from the soil. In the summer of 2005/06, a turnip (Brassica rapa cv. Barkant) trial was established after permanent pasture on a Pallic soil (pH 6.5, Olsen P 35.2 ug. g⁻¹, exchangeable K⁺ 0.7, Ca²⁺ 6.3, Mg²⁺ 1.4 me/ 100 g soil). The following treatments pre-plant fertiliser only (38 kg N ha⁻¹, 25 kg P ha⁻¹) and 25 kg K ha⁻¹), pre-plant fertiliser plus side-dressed urea at 40 DAS (46 kg N ha⁻¹) and pre-plant fertiliser plus 5 x 10 mm FDE applications (57kgha⁻¹) all produced similar final dry matter yields (8 t DM ha⁻¹) at 100 days after sowing (DAS). Leaf was the largest component of dry matter and had higher K concentrations (4.6 and 6.8% K in the control and FDE treatments respectively) than bulb (3 and 4 %K in the control and FDE treatments respectively). The ratio of leaf to bulb dry matter however varied for each different treatment. Side-dressed urea and FDE treatments produced the largest leaf biomass and reached maximum yields earlier by 75 DAS and 64 DAS, respectively and generated more K removal at harvest (339, 428 & 537 kg K ha-⁻ at 75 DAS and 316, 372 & 490 kg K ha-⁻ at 100 DAS for pre-plant only, urea & FDE treatments, respectively). The lack of yield response to N partially resulted from crop uptake of between 107 and 114 kg N ha-⁻ from mineralisable soil N. The dynamic N crop model N-able predicted that extra side-dressed N would not increase turnip yield but in the absence of pre-plant N (38 kg N ha-⁻) the turnips would yield 7.4 t DM ha-⁻ at 100 DAS. The use of the N-able model demonstrated a need for a decision support model to assist farmers in choosing appropriate N fertiliser application rates. A simple model was created to simulate how the grazing cow can transfer K from turnip paddocks (part of a FDE treatment block) to other parts of the farm. The model simulation of 490 cows on a mixed diet of 4kg DM turnips and 12 kg DM pasture predicted that the grazing of turnips (8t DM ha-⁻ crop) would result in the net transfer of significant quantities (>170 kg K ha-⁻) of K from land growing turnips to other parts of the farm. To cause net transfer to occur the allocated turnip dry matter must be grazed in the shortest time possible and the cows returned to pasture after short milking times

A look into the picture-perfect fake life of Amalia Ulman’s Excellences and perfections

In 2014, the Spanish artist Amalia Ulman gathered inspiration from the ways of aestheticizing everyday life chosen by Instagram users to develop an elaborate performative photographic series that lasted months and existed firstly only on her personal Instagram feed @amaliaulman. In April of that year, she suddenly started posting iPhone photographs about an apparently trendy life she was living in Los Angeles, California. She started reproducing the style of different Instagram personas while incorporating the usual aesthetic choices of the social media. The narrative constructed by each of the 175 pictures accounted for her life as an artsy girl who firstly moves to LA after apparently breaking up with a boyfriend, starting work as an escort, having cosmetic plastic surgery and drug abuse issues, followed by time in rehab, and finally posts about recovery, and healthy and fitness habits. The attention to the details of what she wrote and exhibited was what probably made the almost 90 thousand subscribers she gathered along the 5 months of the performance very surprised when she finally announced it was all part of an art work entitled Excellences and Perfections. This fictional life of Amalia Ulman was thoroughly calculated to appear believable to an audience already accustomed to aesthetics of this social media visual culture by reproducing certain patterns of pictures, captions, use of hashtags and interactions with followers. This paper will analyse the performance via the Instagram archive as well as the recently published book Excellences and Perfections. (2018), discussing the ways that it deals aesthetically with questions of identity, gender, class, sexuality and “lifestyle porn” in a visual network platform. The main question to be discussed is: how did the aesthetic choices of this performance made a fake story so convincing

A preliminary treatment of the Central American species of Octoblepharum (Musci: Calymperaceae)

The species of Octoblepharum occurring in Central America have been critically examined. Six are recognized as valid species: O. albidum, O. cocuiense, O. cylindricum, O. erectifolium, O. pulvinatum and O. stramineum. Synonyms are given for these species: O. longifolium = O. albidum; O. mittenii, O. fragillimum, O. pellucidum and =O. pulvinatum var. angustifolium are synonyms of O. cocuiense; O. juruense and O. densum = O. pulvinatum and O. purpureo-brunneum = O. stramineum. All species are widely distributed in the area except for O. cylindricum and O. stramineum that are known only from Belize and Panama respectively.Las especies de Octoblepharum que se presentan en America Central han sido criticamente estudiadas. Se reconocen seis especies: O. albidum, O. cocuiense, O. cylindricum, O. erectifolium, O. pulvinatum y O. stramineum. Se dan los sinonimos para estas especies: O. longifolium = O. albidum; O. fragillimum, O. mittenii, O. pellucidum, O. perforatum y =.O. pulvinatum var. angustifolium son sinonimos de O. cocuiense; O. juruense y O. densum = O. pulvinatum y, O. purpureo-brunneum = O. stramineum. Todas las especies son de amplia distribucion en el area excepto O. cylindricum y O. stramineum que se conocen solo para Belize y Panama respectivamente

U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Current Conflicts

Many wars or conflicts in U.S. history have federally designated “periods of war,” dates marking their beginning and ending. These dates are important for qualification for certain veterans’ pension or disability benefits. Confusion can occur because beginning and ending dates for “periods of war” in many nonofficial sources are often different from those given in treaties and other official sources of information, and armistice dates can be confused with termination dates. This report lists the beginning and ending dates for “periods of war” found in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It also lists and differentiates other beginning dates given in declarations of war, as well as termination of hostilities dates and armistice and ending dates given in proclamations, laws, or treaties. The dates for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are included along with the official end date for Operation New Dawn on December 15, 2011. This report will be updated when events warrant

Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2013

[Excerpt] This report lists hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its Armed Forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. It was compiled in part from various older lists and is intended primarily to provide a rough survey of past U.S. military ventures abroad, without reference to the magnitude of the given instance noted. The listing often contains references, especially from 1980 forward, to continuing military deployments, especially U.S. military participation in multinational operations associated with NATO or the United Nations. Most of these post-1980 instances are summaries based on presidential reports to Congress related to the War Powers Resolution. A comprehensive commentary regarding any of the instances listed is not undertaken here