WorldWideScience

Sample records for arable field margins

  1. Managing Bioenergy Production on Arable Field Margins for Multiple Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrarini, Andrea; Serra, Paolo; Amaducci, Stefano; Trevisan, Marco; Puglisi, Edoardo

    2013-04-01

    Growing crops for bioenergy is increasingly viewed as conflicting with food production. However, energy use continues to rise and food production requires fuel inputs, which have increased with intensification. The debate should shift from "food or fuel" to the more challenging target: how the increasing demand for food and energy can be met in the future, particularly when water and land availability will be limited. As for food crops, also for bioenergy crops it is questioned whether it is preferable to manage cultivation to enhance ecosystem services ("land sharing" strategy) or to grow crops with lower ecosystem services but higher yield, thereby requiring less land to meet bioenergy demand ("land sparing" strategy). Energy crop production systems differ greatly in the supply of ecosystem services. The use of perennial biomass (e.g. Switchgrass, Mischantus, Giant reed) for energy production is considered a promising way to reduce net carbon emissions and mitigate climate change. In addition, regulating and supporting ecosystem services could be provided when specific management of bioenergy crops is implemented. The idea of HEDGE-BIOMASS* project is to convert the arable field margins to bioenergy crop production fostering a win-win strategy at landscape level. Main objective of the project is to improve land management to generate environmental benefits and increase farmer income. The various options available in literature for an improved field boundary management are presented. The positive/unknown/negative effects of growing perennial bioenergy crops on field margins will be discussed relatively to the following soil-related ecosystem services: (I) biodiversity conservation and enhancement, (II) soil nutrient cycling, (III) climate regulation (reduction of GHG emissions and soil carbon sequestration/stabilization, (IV) water regulation (filtering and buffering), (V) erosion regulation, (VI) pollination and pest regulation. From the analysis of available

  2. Earthworm assemblages as affected by field margin strips and tillage intensity: An on-farm approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Crittenden, S.; Huerta, E.; Goede, de R.G.M.; Pulleman, M.M.

    2015-01-01

    Earthworm species contribute to soil ecosystem functions in varying ways. Important soil functions like structural maintenance and nutrient cycling are affected by earthworms, thus it is essential to understand how arable farm management influences earthworm species. One aim of arable field margin

  3. Factors affecting the species composition of arable field boundary vegetation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kleijn, D.; Verbeek, M.

    2000-01-01

    1. In recent decades the botanical diversity of arable field boundaries has declined drastically. To determine the most important factors related to the species composition of arable field boundaries, the vegetation composition of 105 herbaceous boundaries, 1-m wide, in the central and eastern

  4. Abandonment and expansion of arable land in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hatna, E.; Bakker, M.M.

    2011-01-01

    Abandonment of arable land is often assumed to happen mostly in marginal areas where the conditions for arable cultivation are relatively unfavorable, whereas arable expansion is expected to occur mostly in areas with favorable conditions. This assumption, used in many land-use change forecasts, was

  5. Biodiversity and agro-ecology in field margins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Cauwer, B; Reheul, D; Nijs, I; Milbau, A

    2005-01-01

    This multidisciplinary study investigates agro-ecological functions (nature conservation, agriculture, environment) and implications of newly created, mown sown and unsown field margin strips installed on ex-arable land to increase biodiversity. From conservational concern, the development of species rich field margin strips was not strongly affected by the installed type of margin strip since species diversity converged over time, whether strips were sown or not. Convergence between unsown and sown margin strips occurred also in terms of species composition: unsown and sown strips became similar over time. Mowing without removal of cuttings significantly reduced species richness, yielded more grassy margin strips and delayed similarity in species composition between sown and unsown margin strips. Species richness on the longer term was not significantly affected by light regime nor by disturbance despite significant temporary effects shortly after the disturbance event. On the contrary vegetation composition in terms of importance of functional groups changed after disturbance: the share of spontaneous species within functional groups increased resulting in higher similarity between the sown and unsown vegetation. Furthermore risk of invasion was highest in the disturbed unsown community on the unshaded side of a tree lane. A positive effect of botanical diversity on insect number and diversity was found. However the effects of botanical diversity on insect number was mediated by light regime. At high light availability differences between plant communities were more pronounced compared to low light availablilty. The abundance of some insect families was dependent on the vegetation composition. Furthermore light availability significantly influenced insect diversity as well as the spatial distribution of families. From agricultural concern, installing margin strips by sowing a species mixture and a mowing regime with removal of cuttings are good practices to

  6. Patterns of bryophyte diversity in arable fields of Lithuania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danguolė Andriušaitytė

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents research data on bryophyte diversity in arable land throughout the territory of Lithuania. The bryoflora was analyzed regarding systematic structure and morphological forms, life-history strategies, mode of reproduction and frequency of species. Bryophyte diversity in arable fields of Lithuania was compared with that of Slovakia and the British Isles, which are positioned in different geographical regions of Europe. A total of 97 species of bryophytes of 25 families and 48 genera were ascertained. Dominance of acrocarpous mosses and thalloid liverworts, high representation of Pottiaceae, Bryaceae, Mielichhoferiaceae and Ricciaceae families as well as Bryum, Dicranella, Pohlia and Riccia genera, wide distribution of annual shuttles and ephemeral colonists, high reproduction effort of the species (frequent sporophytes and asexual propagules were specific features of the bryophytes of the studied habitats as a result of adaptations to regular disturbances. The distribution of species into six frequency groups seemed to be uneven. The most abundant group of species with the lowest frequency (1–3 records covered 53.6% of all species. The group contained about 90% of all many-year potential life span species recorded in the habitat. Species with short life span were distributed quite evenly throughout frequency groups. No regionally-specific species were ascertained in the studied habitat. Most of arable-land-specific species recorded in Lithuania is distributed throughout different regions of Europe.

  7. Nitrate leaching from organic arable crop rotations is mostly determined by autumn field management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Askegaard, M; Olesen, Jørgen E; Rasmussen, Ilse Ankjær

    2011-01-01

    Two main challenges facing organic arable farming are the supply of nitrogen (N) to the crop and the control of perennial weeds. Nitrate leaching from different organic arable crop rotations was investigated over three consecutive four-year crop rotations in a field experiment at three locations....../volunteers had on avg. 30 kg N ha−1, and the largest N leaching losses were found after stubble cultivation (avg. 55 kg N ha−1). The N leaching losses increased with increasing number of autumn soil cultivations...

  8. Enhancing the diversity of breeding invertebrates within field margins of intensively managed grassland: Effects of alternative management practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fritch, Rochelle A; Sheridan, Helen; Finn, John A; McCormack, Stephen; Ó hUallacháin, Daire

    2017-11-01

    Severe declines in biodiversity have been well documented for many taxonomic groups due to intensification of agricultural practices. Establishment and appropriate management of arable field margins can improve the diversity and abundance of invertebrate groups; however, there is much less research on field margins within grassland systems. Three grassland field margin treatments (fencing off the existing vegetation "fenced"; fencing with rotavation and natural regeneration "rotavated" and; fencing with rotavation and seeding "seeded") were compared to a grazed control in the adjacent intensively managed pasture. Invertebrates were sampled using emergence traps to investigate species breeding and overwintering within the margins. Using a manipulation experiment, we tested whether the removal of grazing pressure and nutrient inputs would increase the abundance and richness of breeding invertebrates within grassland field margins. We also tested whether field margin establishment treatments, with their different vegetation communities, would change the abundance and richness of breeding invertebrates in the field margins. Exclusion of grazing and nutrient inputs led to increased abundance and richness in nearly all invertebrate groups that we sampled. However, there were more complex effects of field margin establishment treatment on the abundance and richness of invertebrate taxa. Each of the three establishment treatments supported a distinct invertebrate community. The removal of grazing from grassland field margins provided a greater range of overwintering/breeding habitat for invertebrates. We demonstrate the capacity of field margin establishment to increase the abundance and richness in nearly all invertebrate groups in study plots that were located on previously more depauperate areas of intensively managed grassland. These results from grassland field margins provide evidence to support practical actions that can inform Greening (Pillar 1) and agri

  9. Statistical analysis and modelling of surface runoff from arable fields

    OpenAIRE

    P. Fiener; K. Auerswald; F. Winter; M. Disse

    2013-01-01

    Surface runoff generation on arable fields is an important driver of (local) flooding, on-site and off-site damages by erosion, and of nutrient and agrochemical transport. In general, three different processes generate surface runoff (Hortonian runoff, saturation excess runoff, and return of subsurface flow). Despite the developments in our understanding of these processes it remains difficult to predict, which processes govern runoff generation during the course of an event or through...

  10. Time-lagged response of carabid species richness and composition to past management practices and landscape context of semi-natural field margins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alignier, Audrey; Aviron, Stéphanie

    2017-12-15

    Field margins are key features for the maintenance of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Little is known about the effects of management practices of old semi-natural field margins, and their historical dimension regarding past management practices and landscape context is rarely considered. In this paper, the relative influence of recent and past management practices and landscape context (during the last five years) were assessed on the local biodiversity (species richness and composition) of carabid assemblages of field margins in agricultural landscapes of northwestern France. The results showed that recent patterns of carabid species richness and composition were best explained by management practices and landscape context measured four or five years ago. It suggests the existence of a time lag in the response of carabid assemblages to past environmental conditions of field margins. The relative contribution of past management practices and past landscape context varied depending on the spatial scale at which landscape context was taken into account. Carabid species richness was higher in grazed or sprayed field margins probably due to increased heterogeneity in habitat conditions. Field margins surrounded by grasslands and crops harbored species associated with open habitats whilst forest species dominated field margins surrounded by woodland. Landscape effect was higher at fine spatial scale, within 50 m around field margins. The present study highlights the importance of considering time-lagged responses of biodiversity when managing environment. It also suggests that old semi-natural field margins should not be considered as undisturbed habitats but more as management units being part of farming activities in agricultural landscapes, as for arable fields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Earthworm-induced distribution of organic matter in macro-aggregates from differently managed arable fields.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marinissen, J.C.Y.; Hillenaar, S.I.

    1997-01-01

    To study the influence of soil structure on organic matter decomposition, and the possible role of earthworms therein, aggregates of the size of earthworm casts (3-4.8 mm) were sieved from air-dry soil of three arable fields. Due to different management histories (in terms of manuring and pesticide

  12. Effects of Field-Relevant Concentrations of Clothianidin on Larval Development of the Butterfly Polyommatus icarus (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basley, Kate; Goulson, Dave

    2018-04-03

    Arable field margins are often sown with wildflowers to encourage pollinators and other beneficial or desirable insects such as bees and butterflies. Concern has been raised that these margins may be contaminated with systemic pesticides such as neonicotinoids used on the adjacent crop, and that this may negatively impact beneficial insects. The use of neonicotinoids has been linked to butterfly declines, and species such as the common blue butterfly ( Polyommatus icarus) that feed upon legumes commonly sown in arable field margins, may be exposed to such toxins. Here, we demonstrate that the larval food plants of P. icarus growing in an arable field margin adjacent to a wheat crop treated with the neonicotinoid clothianidin not only contain the pesticide at concentrations comparable to and sometimes higher than those found in foliage of treated crops (range 0.2-48 ppb) but also remain detectable at these levels for up to 21 months after sowing of the crop. Overall, our study demonstrates that nontarget herbivorous organisms in arable field margins are likely to be chronically exposed to neonicotinoids. Under laboratory conditions, exposure to clothianidin at 15 ppb (a field-realistic dose) or above reduced larval growth for the first 9 days of the experiment. Although there was evidence of clothianidin inducing mortality in larvae, with highest survival in control groups, the dose-response relationship was unclear. Our study suggests that larvae of this butterfly exhibit some deleterious sublethal and sometimes lethal impacts of exposure to clothianidin, but many larvae survive to adulthood even when exposed to high doses.

  13. About the value of species diversity in arable weeds for weed management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerowitt, Bärbel

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Arable weeds accompany arable land use – we define them based on their affiliation to ar able systems. They are adapted to such a degree that most of them cannot exist without arable land use. Weeds are part of the total biodiversity on arable fields, as primary producers they are basic for important functions within the ecosystem. This paper elaborates the relevance of species diversity in arable weeds for their management. Arable systems can be regarded for the number of different methods for preventive and direct weed control which are realized. Historical arable land use is roughly divided into three periods, which differ concerning the diversity of weed management and the occurring diversity in weed species. Obviously divers weed management in arable systems and diversity in weed species depend on each other, this is illustrated with a simple abstract picture. Arable systems, which are characterised by simpleness, favor the domination of few species which ensure an effective use of the resources within the ecosystem. One consequence under continuous pressure of an overused tool in weed management is that the genetic diversity within a dominating weed population is exploited to ensure this resource use. Current herbicides represent this tool – the results are herbicide resistant biotypes within the weed populations. Species diversity in arable weeds as a rationale within arable production can assist to prevent this development.

  14. To be or not to be - common and endangered arable weed species in the face of Global Climate Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rühl, Anna Theresa

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Arable weeds are one of the most endangered species groups in Europe. Modern agriculture and intensive land use management with the application of herbicides and fertilisers, enhanced seed cleaning, simplified crop rotations and abandonment of marginal arable sites are the main causes for the continuous decline of arable weeds. However, besides these changes in land use also global climate change may challenge the adaptability of arable weeds. Most scientists agree that the frequency of extreme meteorological conditions will increase in the future. As a consequence, plants of Central Europe will be subject to higher temperatures and reduced water supply due to longer intervals without precipitation during the growing season. We exposed seeds of five common and five endangered arable weed species to different temperatures and water potentials to study i how this plant group responds to higher temperatures and lower moisture during germination in general and ii whether there is a significant difference between common and endangered species in this respect.

  15. Relations between Agronomic Practice and Earthworms in Norwegian Arable Soils

    OpenAIRE

    Pommeresche, Reidun; Løes, Anne-Kristin

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents Norwegian studies of earthworms (density, biomass, burrows density, species, juvenile to adult ratios) in arable soil in Norway conducted during the last 20 years. The effects of crop rotations, fertilization, soil tillage and compaction on earthworms are presented, based on various field experiments. Geophagous (soil eating) species such as Aporrectodea caliginosa and A. rosea dominate the earthworm fauna in Norwegian arable soil. Lumbricus terrestris is also present; in ...

  16. Topographic variability influences the carbon sequestration potential of arable soils

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chirinda, Ngoni; Elsgaard, Lars; Thomsen, Ingrid Kaag

    2012-01-01

    There is presently limited knowledge on the influence of field spatial variability on the carbon (C) sink-source relationships in arable landscapes. This is accompanied by the fact that our understanding of soil profile C dynamics is also limited. This study aimed at investigating how spatial...... results indicated that variability across arable landscapes makes footslope soils both a larger sink of buried soil C and a bigger potential CO2 source than upslope soils....

  17. Interspecific competition of early successional plant species in ex-arable fields as influenced by plant-soil feedback

    OpenAIRE

    Jing, Jingying; Bezemer, T. Martijn; Van der Putten, Wim H.

    2015-01-01

    Plant–soil feedback can affect plants that belong to the same (intraspecific feedback) or different species (interspecific feedback). However, little is known about how intra- and interspecific plant–soil feedbacks influence interspecific plant competition. Here, we used plants and soil from early-stage ex-arable fields to examine how intra- and interspecific plant–soil feedbacks affect the performance of 10 conditioning species and the focal species, Jacobaea vulgaris. Plants were grown alon...

  18. Continuous measurements of N2O emissions from arable fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallman, Magdalena; Lammirato, Carlo; Rütting, Tobias; Delin, Sofia; Weslien, Per; Klemedtsson, Leif

    2017-04-01

    Agriculture represents 59 % of the anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, according to the IPCC (Ciais et al. 2013). N2O emissions are typically irregular and vary widely in time and space, which makes it difficult to get a good representation of the emissions (Henault et al. 2012), particularly if measurements have low frequency and/or cover only a short time period. Manual measurements are, for practical reasons, often short-term and low-frequent, or restricted to periods where emissions are expected to be high, e.g. after fertilizing. However, the nature of N2O emissions, being largely unpredictable, calls for continuous or near-continuous measurements over long time periods. So far, rather few long-term, high resolution measurements of N2O emissions from arable fields are reported; among them are Flessa et al. (2002) and Senapati et al. (2016). In this study, we have a two-year data set (2015-2017) with hourly measurements from ten automatic chambers, covering unfertilized controls as well as different nitrogen fertilizer treatments. Grain was produced on the field, and effects of tillage, harvest and other cropping measures were covered. What we can see from the experiment is that (a) the unfertilized control plots seem to follow the same emission pattern as the fertilized plots, at a level similar to the standard mineral fertilized plots (120 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and (b) freeze/thaw emissions are comparable in size to emissions after fertilizing. These two findings imply that the importance of fertilizing to the overall N2O emissions from arable soils may be smaller than previously expected. References: Ciais, P., C. Sabine, G. Bala, L. Bopp, V. Brovkin, J. Canadell et al. 2013: Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung et

  19. Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoate, C; Boatman, N D; Borralho, R J; Carvalho, C R; de Snoo, G R; Eden, P

    2001-12-01

    Although arable landscapes have a long history, environmental problems have accelerated in recent decades. The effects of these changes are usually externalized, being greater for society as a whole than for the farms on which they operate, and incentives to correct them are therefore largely lacking. Arable landscapes are valued by society beyond the farming community, but increased mechanization and farm size, simplification of crop rotations, and loss of non-crop features, have led to a reduction in landscape diversity. Low intensity arable systems have evolved a characteristic and diverse fauna and flora, but development of high input, simplified arable systems has been associated with a decline in biodiversity. Arable intensification has resulted in loss of non-crop habitats and simplification of plant and animal communities within crops, with consequent disruption to food chains and declines in many farmland species. Abandonment of arable management has also led to the replacement of such wildlife with more common and widespread species. Soils have deteriorated as a result of erosion, compaction, loss of organic matter and contamination with pesticides, and in some areas, heavy metals. Impacts on water are closely related to those on soils as nutrient and pesticide pollution of water results from surface runoff and subsurface flow, often associated with soil particles, which themselves have economic and ecological impacts. Nitrates and some pesticides also enter groundwater following leaching from arable land. Greatest impacts are associated with simplified, high input arable systems. Intensification of arable farming has been associated with pollution of air by pesticides, NO2 and CO2, while the loss of soil organic matter has reduced the system's capacity for carbon sequestration. International trade contributes to global climate change through long distance transport of arable inputs and products. The EU Rural Development Regulation (1257/99) provides an

  20. How to make offshore marginal fields work for everyone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blandford, P.R.

    1995-01-01

    Marginal fields make positive impact on certain oil and gas companies' financial performances. These developments are integrated into the operator's operational and philosophical mindset, so that they optimize return and establish a reasonable reserve base for the company. Having a portfolio of marginal field developments is definitely a part of the offshore business, and oil field suppliers and subcontractors will continue to develop technology and methods to ensure the fields are exploited. It goes without saying that the continued production of marginal fields helps a lot of consumers and the companies that make up the energy chain that gets it to them. There are marginal fields all over the world and the market can only grow as more and more of the resources decline and industrialization expands demand. The projections for 2020 state that fossil fuels will remain the major supply link to dependable and affordable energy, particularly as additional oil and gas infrastructures are built and installed. Likened to the commodity, oil and gas companies and the energy industry have slowly evolved to the point where they are making a difference for people worldwide. As long as there is product to produce, most companies and consumers do not really care what type of reservoir started it all. More often then not, it probably started out as a marginal prospect. The paper discusses the energy picture today, marginal field update, offshore marginal field geography, and independent and marginal field developments

  1. Occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi in arable soil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryszard Miętkiewski

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Samples of soil were taken from arable field and from balk. Larvae of Galleria mellonella and Ephestia kühniella were used as an "insect bait" for isolation of entomopathogenic fungi from soil. Metarhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus were isolated from both kind of soil. but Beauveria bassiana was present only in soil taken from balk.

  2. OK-Net Arable online knowledge platform

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Ilse Ankjær; Jensen, Allan Leck; Jørgensen, Margit Styrbæk

    2017-01-01

    The complexity of organic farming requires farmers to have a very high level of knowledge and skills, but exchange on organic farming techniques remains limited. In order to increase productivity and quality in organic arable cropping in Europe, the thematic network OK-Net Arable under Horizon 20...

  3. Can Arable Land Alone Ensure Food Security? The Concept of Arable Land Equivalent Unit and Its Implications in Zhoushan City, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongzhong Tan

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The requisition–compensation balance of farmlands (RCBF is a strict Chinese policy that aims to ensure food security. However, the process of supplementing arable land has substantially damaged the ecological environment through the blind development of grasslands, woodlands, and wetlands to supplement arable land. Can arable land alone ensure food security? To answer this question, this study introduced the concepts of arable land equivalent unit (ALEU and food equivalent unit (FEU based on the idea of food security. Zhoushan City in Zhejiang Province, China was selected as the research area. This study analyzed the ALEU supply and demand capabilities in the study area and presented the corresponding policy implications for the RCBF improvement. The results showed that the proportion of ALEU from arable land and waters for aquaculture is from 46:54 in 2009 to 31:69 in 2015, thereby suggesting that aquaculture waters can also be important in food security. Under three different living standards (i.e., adequate food and clothing, well-off, and affluence, ALEU from arable land can barely meet the needs of the permanent resident population in the study area. However, ALEU from aquaculture waters can provide important supplementation. Therefore, we suggest that food supply capability from land types other than the arable land be taken seriously. Furthermore, RCBF can be improved with ALEU as core of the balance.

  4. Converting loss-on-ignition to organic carbon content in arable topsoil: pitfalls and proposed procedure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Johannes Lund; Christensen, Bent Tolstrup; Schjønning, Per

    2018-01-01

    Assessments of changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks depend heavily on reliable values of SOC content obtained by automated high‐temperature C analysers. However, historical as well as current research often relies on indirect SOC estimates such as loss‐on‐ignition (LOI). In this study, we...... revisit the conversion of LOI to SOC using soil from two long‐term agricultural field experiments and one arable field with different contents of SOC, clay and particles fractions were isolated from the arable soil. Samples were analysed for texture, LOI (500...

  5. Statistical analysis and modelling of surface runoff from arable fields in central Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Fiener

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Surface runoff generation on arable fields is an important driver of flooding, on-site and off-site damages by erosion, and of nutrient and agrochemical transport. In general, three different processes generate surface runoff (Hortonian runoff, saturation excess runoff, and return of subsurface flow. Despite the developments in our understanding of these processes it remains difficult to predict which processes govern runoff generation during the course of an event or throughout the year, when soil and vegetation on arable land are passing many states. We analysed the results from 317 rainfall simulations on 209 soils from different landscapes with a resolution of 14 286 runoff measurements to determine temporal and spatial differences in variables governing surface runoff, and to derive and test a statistical model of surface runoff generation independent from an a priori selection of modelled process types. Measured runoff was related to 20 time-invariant soil properties, three variable soil properties, four rain properties, three land use properties and many derived variables describing interactions and curvilinear behaviour. In an iterative multiple regression procedure, six of these properties/variables best described initial abstraction and the hydrograph. To estimate initial abstraction, the percentages of stone cover above 10% and of sand content in the bulk soil were needed, while the hydrograph could be predicted best from rain depth exceeding initial abstraction, rainfall intensity, soil organic carbon content, and time since last tillage. Combining the multiple regressions to estimate initial abstraction and surface runoff allowed modelling of event-specific hydrographs without an a priori assumption of the underlying process. The statistical model described the measured data well and performed equally well during validation. In both cases, the model explained 71 and 58% of variability in accumulated runoff volume and instantaneous

  6. Potential carbon sequestration of European arable soils estimated by modelling a comprehensive set of management practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lugato, Emanuele; Bampa, Francesca; Panagos, Panos; Montanarella, Luca; Jones, Arwyn

    2014-11-01

    Bottom-up estimates from long-term field experiments and modelling are the most commonly used approaches to estimate the carbon (C) sequestration potential of the agricultural sector. However, when data are required at European level, important margins of uncertainty still exist due to the representativeness of local data at large scale or different assumptions and information utilized for running models. In this context, a pan-European (EU + Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Norway) simulation platform with high spatial resolution and harmonized data sets was developed to provide consistent scenarios in support of possible carbon sequestration policies. Using the CENTURY agroecosystem model, six alternative management practices (AMP) scenarios were assessed as alternatives to the business as usual situation (BAU). These consisted of the conversion of arable land to grassland (and vice versa), straw incorporation, reduced tillage, straw incorporation combined with reduced tillage, ley cropping system and cover crops. The conversion into grassland showed the highest soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rates, ranging between 0.4 and 0.8 t C ha(-1)  yr(-1) , while the opposite extreme scenario (100% of grassland conversion into arable) gave cumulated losses of up to 2 Gt of C by 2100. Among the other practices, ley cropping systems and cover crops gave better performances than straw incorporation and reduced tillage. The allocation of 12 to 28% of the European arable land to different AMP combinations resulted in a potential SOC sequestration of 101-336 Mt CO2 eq. by 2020 and 549-2141 Mt CO2 eq. by 2100. Modelled carbon sequestration rates compared with values from an ad hoc meta-analysis confirmed the robustness of these estimates. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. A specialist-generalist classification of the arable flora and its response to changes in agricultural practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background Theory in ecology points out the potential link between the degree of specialisation of organisms and their responses to disturbances and suggests that this could be a key element for understanding the assembly of communities. We evaluated this question for the arable weed flora as this group has scarcely been the focus of ecological studies so far and because weeds are restricted to habitats characterised by very high degrees of disturbance. As such, weeds offer a case study to ask how specialization relates to abundance and distribution of species in relation to the varying disturbance regimes occurring in arable crops. Results We used data derived from an extensive national monitoring network of approximately 700 arable fields scattered across France to quantify the degree of specialisation of 152 weed species using six different ecological methods. We then explored the impact of the level of disturbance occurring in arable fields by comparing the degree of specialisation of weed communities in contrasting field situations. The classification of species as specialist or generalist was consistent between different ecological indices. When applied on a large-scale data set across France, this classification highlighted that monoculture harbour significantly more specialists than crop rotations, suggesting that crop rotation increases abundance of generalist species rather than sets of species that are each specialised to the individual crop types grown in the rotation. Applied to a diachronic dataset, the classification also shows that the proportion of specialist weed species has significantly decreased in cultivated fields over the last 30 years which suggests a biotic homogenization of agricultural landscapes. Conclusions This study shows that the concept of generalist/specialist species is particularly relevant to understand the effect of anthropogenic disturbances on the evolution of plant community composition and that ecological theories

  8. Magnetic Measurements as a Useful Tool for the Evaluation of Spatial Variability of the Arable Horizon Thickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fattakhova, Leysan; Shinkarev, Alexandr; Ryzhikh, Lyudmila; Kosareva, Lina

    2017-04-01

    In normal practice, the thickness of the arable horizon is determined on the basis of field morphological descriptions, allowing the subjectivity of perception and judgment at the crucial role of experience of the researcher. The subject of special interest are independent analytical and technically relatively simple in design approaches to the diagnosis of the lower boundary of the blended plowing the profiles part. Theoretical premises to use spectrophotometry and magnetometry to arable horizon depth diagnose is based on the concept of regular color and magnetic properties vertical differentiation in a profile of virgin soils. This work is devoted to the comparative assessment of the possibility to objectively and reliably diagnose the lower boundary of the arable horizon in gray forest soils by determining the color characteristics and the magnetic susceptibility of their layer-wise samples. It was shown with arable gray forest soil (Cutanic Luvisols (Anthric)) as example that the magnetic susceptibility profile distribution curves can provide more reliable and objective assessment of the arable horizon thickness spatial variability than the profile curves of the color characteristics in the CIELAB coordinates. Therefore, magnetic measurements can be a useful tool for the tillage erosion estimation in the monitoring of soil characteristics in connection with the development of precision agriculture technologies and the organizing of agricultural field plot experiments.

  9. Neonicotinoid concentrations in arable soils after seed treatment applications in preceding years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Ainsley; Harrington, Paul; Turnbull, Gordon

    2014-12-01

    Concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticides clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid were determined in arable soils from a variety of locations in England. In soil samples taken from the central area of fields, concentrations of clothianidin ranged from 0.02 to 13.6 µg kg(-1) . Thiamethoxam concentrations were between clothianidin and thiamethoxam were lower in soil samples taken from the edges of fields than from the centres of fields, but this difference was less pronounced for imidacloprid. This work gives a clear indication of the levels of neonicotinoids in arable soils after typical use of these compounds as seed dressings in the United Kingdom. There was evidence that imidacloprid was more persistent in the soils studied than clothianidin and thiamethoxam. As clothianidin and thiamethoxam have largely superseded imidacloprid in the United Kingdom, neonicotinoid levels were lower than suggested by predictions based on imidacloprid alone. © 2014 Crown copyright. Pest Management Science © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  10. Analytic solutions for marginal deformations in open superstring field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okawa, Y.

    2007-04-01

    We extend the calculable analytic approach to marginal deformations recently developed in open bosonic string field theory to open superstring field theory formulated by Berkovits. We construct analytic solutions to all orders in the deformation parameter when operator products made of the marginal operator and the associated superconformal primary field are regular. (orig.)

  11. Extensive management of field margins enhances their potential for off-site soil erosion mitigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Hamada E; Reineking, Björn

    2016-03-15

    Soil erosion is a widespread problem in agricultural landscapes, particularly in regions with strong rainfall events. Vegetated field margins can mitigate negative impacts of soil erosion off-site by trapping eroded material. Here we analyse how local management affects the trapping capacity of field margins in a monsoon region of South Korea, contrasting intensively and extensively managed field margins on both steep and shallow slopes. Prior to the beginning of monsoon season, we equipped a total of 12 sites representing three replicates for each of four different types of field margins ("intensive managed flat", "intensive managed steep", "extensive managed flat" and "extensive managed steep") with Astroturf mats. The mats (n = 15/site) were placed before, within and after the field margin. Sediment was collected after each rain event until the end of the monsoon season. The effect of management and slope on sediment trapping was analysed using linear mixed effects models, using as response variable either the sediment collected within the field margin or the difference in sediment collected after and before the field margin. There was no difference in the amount of sediment reaching the different field margin types. In contrast, extensively managed field margins showed a large reduction in collected sediment before and after the field margins. This effect was pronounced in steep field margins, and increased with the size of rainfall events. We conclude that a field margin management promoting a dense vegetation cover is a key to mitigating negative off-site effects of soil erosion in monsoon regions, particularly in field margins with steep slopes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Exact marginality in open string field theory. A general framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiermaier, M.

    2007-07-01

    We construct analytic solutions of open bosonic string field theory for any exactly marginal deformation in any boundary conformal field theory when properly renormalized operator products of the marginal operator are given. We explicitly provide such renormalized operator products for a class of marginal deformations which include the deformations of flat D-branes in flat backgrounds by constant massless modes of the gauge field and of the scalar fields on the D-branes, the cosine potential for a space-like coordinate, and the hyperbolic cosine potential for the time-like coordinate. In our construction we use integrated vertex operators, which are closely related to finite deformations in boundary conformal field theory, while previous analytic solutions were based on unintegrated vertex operators. We also introduce a modified star product to formulate string field theory around the deformed background. (orig.)

  13. Assessment on the Impact of Arable Land Protection Policies in a Rapidly Developing Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiadan Li

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the effect of arable land protection policies in China, a practical framework that integrates geographic information systems (GIS, soil quality assessment and landscape metrics analysis was employed to track and analyze arable land transformations and landscape changes in response to rampant urbanization within the Ningbo region (China from 2005 to 2013. The results showed that arable land loss and degradation have continued, despite the development of a comprehensive legal framework for arable land protection. The implementation of arable land protection policies is judged to be effective, but not entirely successful, because it guarantees the overall amount of arable land but does not consider soil quality and spatial distribution. In addition, there are distinct variations in arable land change dynamics between two temporal intervals. From 2005–2009, the transformation of arable land was diversified, with intensified conversion among arable land, built-up land, water and orchards. Moreover, many new arable land parcels were adjacent to built-up land, and are in danger of being occupied again through urban sprawl. By 2009–2013, most of the arable land was occupied by urban expansion, whereas a majority of newly increased arable land was reclaimed from coastal tideland. Although the newly increased arable land was contiguous and far from the urban area, it is of poor quality and has limited use. The permanent loss of high-quality arable land due to intensified urban sprawl may threaten sustainable development and food security on a larger scale.

  14. Distinct germination response of endangered and common arable weeds to reduced water potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rühl, A T; Eckstein, R L; Otte, A; Donath, T W

    2016-01-01

    Arable weeds are one of the most endangered species groups in Europe. Modern agriculture and intensive land-use management are the main causes of their dramatic decline. However, besides the changes in land use, climate change may further challenge the adaptability of arable weeds. Therefore, we investigated the response pattern of arable weeds to different water potential and temperature regimes during the phase of germination. We expected that endangered arable weeds would be more sensitive to differences in water availability and temperature than common arable weeds. To this end, we set up a climate chamber experiment where we exposed seeds of five familial pairs of common and endangered arable weed species to different temperatures (5/15, 10/20 °C) and water potentials (0.0 to -1.2 MPa). The results revealed a significant relationship between the reaction of arable weed species to water availability and their Red List status. The effects of reduced water availability on total germination, mean germination time and synchrony were significantly stronger in endangered than in common arable weeds. Therefore, global climate change may present a further threat to the survival of endangered arable weed species. © 2015 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

  15. Real analytic solutions for marginal deformations in open superstring field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okawa, Yuji

    2007-01-01

    We construct analytic solutions for marginal deformations satisfying the reality condition in open superstring field theory formulated by Berkovits when operator products made of the marginal operator and the associated superconformal primary field are regular. Our strategy is based on the recent observation by Erler that the problem of finding solutions for marginal deformations in open superstring field theory can be reduced to a problem in the bosonic theory of finding a finite gauge parameter for a certain pure-gauge configuration labeled by the parameter of the marginal deformation. We find a gauge transformation generated by a real gauge parameter which infinitesimally changes the deformation parameter and construct a finite gauge parameter by its path-ordered exponential. The resulting solution satisfies the reality condition by construction

  16. Real analytic solutions for marginal deformations in open superstring field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okawa, Y.

    2007-04-01

    We construct analytic solutions for marginal deformations satisfying the reality condition in open superstring field theory formulated by Berkovits when operator products made of the marginal operator and the associated superconformal primary field are regular. Our strategy is based on the recent observation by Erler that the problem of finding solutions for marginal deformations in open superstring field theory can be reduced to a problem in the bosonic theory of finding a finite gauge parameter for a certain pure-gauge configuration labeled by the parameter of the marginal deformation. We find a gauge transformation generated by a real gauge parameter which infinitesimally changes the deformation parameter and construct a finite gauge parameter by its path-ordered exponential. The resulting solution satisfies the reality condition by construction. (orig.)

  17. The Role of Field Margins in Agro-biodiversity Management at the Farm Level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giulio Lazzerini

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available The agroecosystem could be considered as a mosaic so large to involve fields with annual and perennial crops, pastures, spots of wildwood, semi-natural habitats, vegetation in the edges of fields. In the agroecosystem these ecological infrastructures have a positive effects on the crops because of the exchange among community of organisms, materials and energy. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effects of field margins on some biodiversity components (plant species and carabid beetles of four farms located in Val d’Orcia (Tuscany. We compared three types of field margins: 1. Cultivated margin strips; 2. Sown grass margin strips; 3. Wild margin strips with hedgerow. In a very simplified typology of farming system, like the one studied (Val d’Orcia, the presence of field margins (hedges, margin strips and semi-natural habitats associated with the boundary is very important for its ecological effects: it improves the planned biodiversity, gives habitat, refuge, food and corridors for the movement to the different species of organisms in the area. Applying the multivariate analysis to the experimental data, we can notice a positive effect of the presence of field margins on the trend of both components of biodiversity. This positive effect, which support the mechanisms of autoregulation of the agroecosystems, is very important especially for organic and biodynamic agriculture, where the use of pesticides is not allowed.

  18. Conference Report: The New Discovery of Margins: Theory-Based Excursions in Marginal Social Fields

    OpenAIRE

    Kirchner, Babette; Lorenzen, Jule-Marie; Striffler, Christine

    2014-01-01

    At this year's spring conference of the Sociology of Knowledge Section of the German Sociological Association, a diverse range of theoretical concepts and multiple empirical insights into different marginal social fields were presented. As in everyday life, drawing a line between center and margin can be seen as an important challenge that must equally be faced in sociology. The socially constructed borderline appears to be highly variable. Therefore it has to be delineated or fixed somehow. ...

  19. Biochar Decelerates Soil Organic Nitrogen Cycling but Stimulates Soil Nitrification in a Temperate Arable Field Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prommer, Judith; Wanek, Wolfgang; Hofhansl, Florian; Trojan, Daniela; Offre, Pierre; Urich, Tim; Schleper, Christa; Sassmann, Stefan; Kitzler, Barbara; Soja, Gerhard; Hood-Nowotny, Rebecca Clare

    2014-01-01

    Biochar production and subsequent soil incorporation could provide carbon farming solutions to global climate change and escalating food demand. There is evidence that biochar amendment causes fundamental changes in soil nutrient cycles, often resulting in marked increases in crop production, particularly in acidic and in infertile soils with low soil organic matter contents, although comparable outcomes in temperate soils are variable. We offer insight into the mechanisms underlying these findings by focusing attention on the soil nitrogen (N) cycle, specifically on hitherto unmeasured processes of organic N cycling in arable soils. We here investigated the impacts of biochar addition on soil organic and inorganic N pools and on gross transformation rates of both pools in a biochar field trial on arable land (Chernozem) in Traismauer, Lower Austria. We found that biochar increased total soil organic carbon but decreased the extractable organic C pool and soil nitrate. While gross rates of organic N transformation processes were reduced by 50–80%, gross N mineralization of organic N was not affected. In contrast, biochar promoted soil ammonia-oxidizer populations (bacterial and archaeal nitrifiers) and accelerated gross nitrification rates more than two-fold. Our findings indicate a de-coupling of the soil organic and inorganic N cycles, with a build-up of organic N, and deceleration of inorganic N release from this pool. The results therefore suggest that addition of inorganic fertilizer-N in combination with biochar could compensate for the reduction in organic N mineralization, with plants and microbes drawing on fertilizer-N for growth, in turn fuelling the belowground build-up of organic N. We conclude that combined addition of biochar with fertilizer-N may increase soil organic N in turn enhancing soil carbon sequestration and thereby could play a fundamental role in future soil management strategies. PMID:24497947

  20. Biochar decelerates soil organic nitrogen cycling but stimulates soil nitrification in a temperate arable field trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith Prommer

    Full Text Available Biochar production and subsequent soil incorporation could provide carbon farming solutions to global climate change and escalating food demand. There is evidence that biochar amendment causes fundamental changes in soil nutrient cycles, often resulting in marked increases in crop production, particularly in acidic and in infertile soils with low soil organic matter contents, although comparable outcomes in temperate soils are variable. We offer insight into the mechanisms underlying these findings by focusing attention on the soil nitrogen (N cycle, specifically on hitherto unmeasured processes of organic N cycling in arable soils. We here investigated the impacts of biochar addition on soil organic and inorganic N pools and on gross transformation rates of both pools in a biochar field trial on arable land (Chernozem in Traismauer, Lower Austria. We found that biochar increased total soil organic carbon but decreased the extractable organic C pool and soil nitrate. While gross rates of organic N transformation processes were reduced by 50-80%, gross N mineralization of organic N was not affected. In contrast, biochar promoted soil ammonia-oxidizer populations (bacterial and archaeal nitrifiers and accelerated gross nitrification rates more than two-fold. Our findings indicate a de-coupling of the soil organic and inorganic N cycles, with a build-up of organic N, and deceleration of inorganic N release from this pool. The results therefore suggest that addition of inorganic fertilizer-N in combination with biochar could compensate for the reduction in organic N mineralization, with plants and microbes drawing on fertilizer-N for growth, in turn fuelling the belowground build-up of organic N. We conclude that combined addition of biochar with fertilizer-N may increase soil organic N in turn enhancing soil carbon sequestration and thereby could play a fundamental role in future soil management strategies.

  1. Biochar decelerates soil organic nitrogen cycling but stimulates soil nitrification in a temperate arable field trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prommer, Judith; Wanek, Wolfgang; Hofhansl, Florian; Trojan, Daniela; Offre, Pierre; Urich, Tim; Schleper, Christa; Sassmann, Stefan; Kitzler, Barbara; Soja, Gerhard; Hood-Nowotny, Rebecca Clare

    2014-01-01

    Biochar production and subsequent soil incorporation could provide carbon farming solutions to global climate change and escalating food demand. There is evidence that biochar amendment causes fundamental changes in soil nutrient cycles, often resulting in marked increases in crop production, particularly in acidic and in infertile soils with low soil organic matter contents, although comparable outcomes in temperate soils are variable. We offer insight into the mechanisms underlying these findings by focusing attention on the soil nitrogen (N) cycle, specifically on hitherto unmeasured processes of organic N cycling in arable soils. We here investigated the impacts of biochar addition on soil organic and inorganic N pools and on gross transformation rates of both pools in a biochar field trial on arable land (Chernozem) in Traismauer, Lower Austria. We found that biochar increased total soil organic carbon but decreased the extractable organic C pool and soil nitrate. While gross rates of organic N transformation processes were reduced by 50-80%, gross N mineralization of organic N was not affected. In contrast, biochar promoted soil ammonia-oxidizer populations (bacterial and archaeal nitrifiers) and accelerated gross nitrification rates more than two-fold. Our findings indicate a de-coupling of the soil organic and inorganic N cycles, with a build-up of organic N, and deceleration of inorganic N release from this pool. The results therefore suggest that addition of inorganic fertilizer-N in combination with biochar could compensate for the reduction in organic N mineralization, with plants and microbes drawing on fertilizer-N for growth, in turn fuelling the belowground build-up of organic N. We conclude that combined addition of biochar with fertilizer-N may increase soil organic N in turn enhancing soil carbon sequestration and thereby could play a fundamental role in future soil management strategies.

  2. Conference Report: The New Discovery of Margins: Theory-Based Excursions in Marginal Social Fields

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Babette Kirchner

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available At this year's spring conference of the Sociology of Knowledge Section of the German Sociological Association, a diverse range of theoretical concepts and multiple empirical insights into different marginal social fields were presented. As in everyday life, drawing a line between center and margin can be seen as an important challenge that must equally be faced in sociology. The socially constructed borderline appears to be highly variable. Therefore it has to be delineated or fixed somehow. The construction of margins is necessary for society in general and smaller social groupings alike to confirm one's own "normal" identity, or one's own membership on the fringes. The different contributions exemplify what was established at the beginning of the conference: Namely that society and its margins are defined differently according to the empirical as well as conceptual focus. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1402148

  3. Effects of a copper tolerant grass (Agrostis capillaris) on the ecosystem of a copper-contaminated arable soil

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boon, G.T.; Bouwman, L.A.; Bloem, J.; Römkens, P.F.A.M.

    1998-01-01

    To test how a dysfunctioning ecosystem of a severely metal-polluted soil responds to renewed plant growth, a pot experiment was conducted with soil from an experimental arable field with pH and copper gradients imposed 13 years ago. In this experimentfour pH/copper combinations from this field were

  4. COMPARISON OF THE CHOSEN ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES OF THE ARABLE LAND AND FALLOW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanisław Włodek

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The results and analysis of the chosen physico-chemical soil properties of the fallow, which was not cultivated for 7 years and of the arable land, situated close to it, are presented in this work. Soil moisture content was higher and the weed infestation rate was bigger on the arable land in comparison to fallow. Significant increase of C.org. as well as P, K and Mg availability for plant was noticed on the fallow. On the arable land segetal species were common, whereas on the fallow ruderal species occurred as well. In spite of the close neighborhood of fallow with Solidago gigantea and Solidago canadensis species domination, this species was not reported on the arable land.

  5. Spatial patterns of soil organic carbon stocks in Estonian arable soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suuster, Elsa; Astover, Alar; Kõlli, Raimo; Roostalu, Hugo; Reintam, Endla; Penu, Priit

    2010-05-01

    Soil organic carbon (SOC) determines ecosystem functions, influencing soil fertility, soil physical, chemical and biological properties and crop productivity. Therefore the spatial pattern of SOC stocks and its appropriate management is important at various scales. Due to climate change and the contribution of carbon store in the soils, the national estimates of soil carbon stocks should be determined. Estonian soils have been well studied and mapped at a scale 1:10,000. Previous studies have estimated SOC stocks based on combinations of large groups of Estonian soils and the mean values of the soil profile database, but were not embedded into the geo-referenced databases. These studies have estimated SOC stocks of Estonian arable soils 122.3 Tg. Despite of available soil maps and databases, this information is still very poorly used for spatial soil modelling. The aim of current study is to assess and model spatial pattern of SOC stocks of arable soils on a pilot area Tartu County (area 3089 sq km). Estonian digital soil map and soil monitoring databases are providing a good opportunity to assess SOC stocks at various scales. The qualitative nature of the initial data from a soil map prohibits any straightforward use in modelling. Thus we have used several databases to construct models and linkages between soil properties that can be integrated into soil map. First step was to reorganize the soil map database (44,046 mapping units) so it can be used as an input to modelling. Arable areas were distinguished by a field layer of Agricultural Registers and Information Board, which provides precise information of current land use as it is the basis of paying CAP subsidies. The estimates of SOC content were found by using the arable land evaluation database of Tartu from the Estonian Land Board (comprising 950 sq km and 31,226 fields), where each soil type was assessed separately and average SOC content grouped by texture was derived. SOC content of epipedon varies in

  6. Earthworm communities in arable fields and restored field margins, as related to management practices and surrounding landscape diversity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Frazão, Joana; Goede, de Ron G.M.; Brussaard, Lijbert; Faber, Jack H.; Groot, Jeroen C.J.; Pulleman, Mirjam M.

    2017-01-01

    Agricultural intensification has negative impacts on biodiversity at spatial scales from field to landscape. Earthworms are important for soil functioning, so it is crucial to understand the responses of earthworm communities to agricultural management and land use. We aimed to: 1) investigate

  7. Task-based agricultural mobile robots in arable farming: A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aravind, K.R.; Raja, P.; Pérez-Ruiz, M.

    2017-01-01

    In agriculture (in the context of this paper, the terms “agriculture” and “farming” refer to only the farming of crops and exclude the farming of animals), smart farming and automated agricultural technology have emerged as promising methodologies for increasing the crop productivity without sacrificing produce quality. The emergence of various robotics technologies has facilitated the application of these techniques in agricultural processes. However, incorporating this technology in farms has proven to be challenging because of the large variations in shape, size, rate and type of growth, type of produce, and environmental requirements for different types of crops. Agricultural processes are chains of systematic, repetitive, and time-dependent tasks. However, some agricultural processes differ based on the type of farming, namely permanent crop farming and arable farming. Permanent crop farming includes permanent crops or woody plants such as orchards and vineyards whereas arable farming includes temporary crops such as wheat and rice. Major operations in open arable farming include tilling, soil analysis, seeding, transplanting, crop scouting, pest control, weed removal and harvesting and robots can assist in performing all of these tasks. Each specific operation requires axillary devices and sensors with specific functions. This article reviews the latest advances in the application of mobile robots in these agricultural operations for open arable farming and provide an overview of the systems and techniques that are used. This article also discusses various challenges for future improvements in using reliable mobile robots for arable farming.

  8. Task-based agricultural mobile robots in arable farming: A review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aravind, K.R.; Raja, P.; Pérez-Ruiz, M.

    2017-09-01

    In agriculture (in the context of this paper, the terms “agriculture” and “farming” refer to only the farming of crops and exclude the farming of animals), smart farming and automated agricultural technology have emerged as promising methodologies for increasing the crop productivity without sacrificing produce quality. The emergence of various robotics technologies has facilitated the application of these techniques in agricultural processes. However, incorporating this technology in farms has proven to be challenging because of the large variations in shape, size, rate and type of growth, type of produce, and environmental requirements for different types of crops. Agricultural processes are chains of systematic, repetitive, and time-dependent tasks. However, some agricultural processes differ based on the type of farming, namely permanent crop farming and arable farming. Permanent crop farming includes permanent crops or woody plants such as orchards and vineyards whereas arable farming includes temporary crops such as wheat and rice. Major operations in open arable farming include tilling, soil analysis, seeding, transplanting, crop scouting, pest control, weed removal and harvesting and robots can assist in performing all of these tasks. Each specific operation requires axillary devices and sensors with specific functions. This article reviews the latest advances in the application of mobile robots in these agricultural operations for open arable farming and provide an overview of the systems and techniques that are used. This article also discusses various challenges for future improvements in using reliable mobile robots for arable farming.

  9. Task-based agricultural mobile robots in arable farming: A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krishnaswamy R. Aravind

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available In agriculture (in the context of this paper, the terms “agriculture” and “farming” refer to only the farming of crops and exclude the farming of animals, smart farming and automated agricultural technology have emerged as promising methodologies for increasing the crop productivity without sacrificing produce quality. The emergence of various robotics technologies has facilitated the application of these techniques in agricultural processes. However, incorporating this technology in farms has proven to be challenging because of the large variations in shape, size, rate and type of growth, type of produce, and environmental requirements for different types of crops. Agricultural processes are chains of systematic, repetitive, and time-dependent tasks. However, some agricultural processes differ based on the type of farming, namely permanent crop farming and arable farming. Permanent crop farming includes permanent crops or woody plants such as orchards and vineyards whereas arable farmingincludestemporary crops such as wheat and rice. Major operations in open arable farming include tilling, soil analysis, seeding, transplanting, crop scouting, pest control, weed removal and harvesting and robots can assist in performing all of these tasks. Each specific operation requires axillary devices and sensors with specific functions. This article reviews the latest advances in the application of mobile robots in these agricultural operations for open arable farming and provide an overview of the systems and techniques that are used. This article also discusses various challenges for future improvements in using reliable mobile robots for arable farming.

  10. Crop Condition Assessment with Adjusted NDVI Using the Uncropped Arable Land Ratio

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miao Zhang

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Crop condition assessment in the early growing stage is essential for crop monitoring and crop yield prediction. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI-based method is employed to evaluate crop condition by inter-annual comparisons of both spatial variability (using NDVI images and seasonal dynamics (based on crop condition profiles. Since this type of method will generate false information if there are changes in crop rotation, cropping area or crop phenology, information on cropped/uncropped arable land is integrated to improve the accuracy of crop condition monitoring. The study proposes a new method to retrieve adjusted NDVI for cropped arable land during the growing season of winter crops by integrating 16-day composite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS reflectance data at 250-m resolution with a cropped and uncropped arable land map derived from the multi-temporal China Environmental Satellite (Huan Jing Satellite charge-coupled device (HJ-1 CCD images at 30-m resolution. Using the land map’s data on cropped and uncropped arable land, a pixel-based uncropped arable land ratio (UALR at 250-m resolution was generated. Next, the UALR-adjusted NDVI was produced by assuming that the MODIS reflectance value for each pixel is a linear mixed signal composed of the proportional reflectance of cropped and uncropped arable land. When UALR-adjusted NDVI data are used for crop condition assessment, results are expected to be more accurate, because: (i pixels with only uncropped arable land are not included in the assessment; and (ii the adjusted NDVI corrects for interannual variation in cropping area. On the provincial level, crop growing profiles based on the two kinds of NDVI data illustrate the difference between the regular and the adjusted NDVI, with the difference depending on the total area of uncropped arable land in the region. The results suggested that the proposed method can be used to improve the assessment of

  11. Flood offers new hope for marginal oil fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1966-03-14

    The economics of producing a marginal Cardium sand oil field in west-central Alberta have been greatly improved by introduction of an inexpensive waterflood pressure maintenance and secondary recovery project. Canadian Gridoil Ltd. is now in full operation at its Willesden Green Cardium Unit No. 5. Of the 8.1 million bbl estimated original oil in place, only 9% would have been recoverable by primary depletion. The waterflood is calculated to add 13%, for ultimate recovery of 22% or 1.8 million bbl. This waterflood installation is considered a prototype of economical and profitable pressure maintenance systems which can be built to advantage in marginal oil fields in Alberta. Ultimate returns in the form of increased oil production and more than doubled oil recovery will be immensely greater than the capital investment of $195,000 in the facilities. Assuming GOR control and full well allowables, the entire capital cost should be paid out within 3 years. Life of the field is estimated at not less than 25 years.

  12. Mapping of Rill Erosion of Arable Soils Based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashtanov, A. N.; Vernyuk, Yu. I.; Savin, I. Yu.; Shchepot'ev, V. V.; Dokukin, P. A.; Sharychev, D. V.; Li, K. A.

    2018-04-01

    Possibilities of using data obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles for detection and mapping of rill erosion on arable lands are analyzed. Identification and mapping of rill erosion was performed on a key plot with a predominance of arable gray forest soils (Greyzemic Phaeozems) under winter wheat in Tula oblast. This plot was surveyed from different heights and in different periods to determine the reliability of identification of rill erosion on the basis of automated procedures in a GIS. It was found that, despite changes in the pattern of rills during the warm season, only one survey during this season is sufficient for adequate assessment of the area of eroded soils. According to our data, the most reliable identification of rill erosion is based on the aerial survey from the height of 50 m above the soil surface. When the height of the flight is more than 200 m, erosional rills virtually escape identification. The efficiency of identification depends on the type of crops, their status, and time of the survey. The surveys of bare soil surface in periods with maximum possible interval from the previous rain or snowmelt season are most efficient. The results of our study can be used in the systems of remote sensing monitoring of erosional processes on arable fields. Application of multiand hyperspectral cameras can improve the efficiency of monitoring.

  13. Nutrient surpluses on integrated arable farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schröder, J.J.; Asperen, van P.; Dongen, van G.J.M.; Wijnands, F.G.

    1996-01-01

    From 1990 to 1993 nutrient fluxes were monitored on 38 private arable farms that had adopted farming strategies aiming at reduced nutrient inputs and substitution of mineral fertilizers by organic fertilizers. The nutrient surplus was defined as the difference between inputs (including inputs

  14. Energy momentum tensor and marginal deformations in open string field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sen, Ashoke

    2004-01-01

    Marginal boundary deformations in a two dimensional conformal field theory correspond to a family of classical solutions of the equations of motion of open string field theory. In this paper we develop a systematic method for relating the parameter labelling the marginal boundary deformation in the conformal field theory to the parameter labelling the classical solution in open string field theory. This is done by first constructing the energy-momentum tensor associated with the classical solution in open string field theory using Noether method, and then comparing this to the answer obtained in the conformal field theory by analysing the boundary state. We also use this method to demonstrate that in open string field theory the tachyon lump solution on a circle of radius larger than one has vanishing pressure along the circle direction, as is expected for a co-dimension one D-brane. (author)

  15. Ecology of microarthropods in arable soil

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vreeken - Buijs, M.J.

    1998-01-01

    Soil microarthropods are all free-living mites and collembolans, living in the soil. The study presented in this thesis formed part of the Dutch Programme on Soil Ecology of Arable Farming Systems, an integrated multidisciplinary research programme, focused on the functioning of two

  16. ESTIMATION OF EROSION ACTIVITY IN THE RAVINE COMPLEX OF ARABLE SLOPES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. N. Trofimetz

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes the results of the evaluation of erosion on arable slopes (in the thalweg part of the ancient microravines, no more than 400 m in length. The radiocesium method has been applied, augmented by the methods of the topographic survey, remote sensing and GIS analysis. It has been shown that layer-by-layer soil sampling in the thalwegs of the modern streams (which are clearly visible on arable slopes allows obtaining the dependence of soil runoff (in centimeters of layer from the activity of Cesium-137 presented in the arable horizon. Conversion of Cesium-137 activities onto a common time scale (by taking into account the radioactive decay made it possible to increase the analyzed data series (in comparison to the previously published data and to obtain the linear dependence with the correlation coefficient of 0.98 (significant at confidence level p=0.05. The 1 cm soil layer was washed out during 26 years on the watershed surface, according to the obtained dependence. About 6 cm layer over the same period was washed out in the thalwegs of the ravines in the lower part of the slope (in its concave part that is accumulation zone. We have found that very high resolution satellite imagery, or aerial photographs, of field surveys are needed for the correct implementation of the GIS analysis when modeling erosion activity of the streambeds. These supporting data have to be collected during the period of snowmelt or rainfall to understand the behavior of streams in the accumulation zones identified by negative values of profile curvature of the relief.

  17. Does insecticide drift adversely affect grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Saltatoria) in field margins? A case study combining laboratory acute toxicity testing with field monitoring data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bundschuh, Rebecca; Schmitz, Juliane; Bundschuh, Mirco; Brühl, Carsten Albrecht

    2012-08-01

    The current terrestrial risk assessment of insecticides regarding nontarget arthropods considers exclusively beneficial organisms, whereas herbivorous insects, such as grasshoppers, are ignored. However, grasshoppers living in field margins or meadows adjacent to crops may potentially be exposed to insecticides due to contact with or ingestion of contaminated food. Therefore, the present study assessed effects of five active ingredients of insecticides (dimethoate, pirimicarb, imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin, and deltamethrin) on the survival of Chorthippus sp. grasshopper nymphs by considering two routes of exposure (contact and oral). The experiments were accompanied by monitoring field margins that neighbored cereals, vineyards, and orchards. Grasslands were used as reference sites. The laboratory toxicity tests revealed a sensitivity of grasshoppers with regard to the insecticides tested in the present study similar to that of the standard test species used in arthropod risk assessments. In the field monitoring program, increasing grasshopper densities were detected with increasing field margin width next to cereals and vineyards, but densities remained low over the whole range of field margins from 0.5 to 20 m next to orchards. Grasshopper densities equivalent to those of grassland sites were only observed in field margins exceeding 9 m in width, except for field margins next to orchards. These results may indicate that current insecticide risk assessments are insufficiently protective for grasshoppers in field margins. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.

  18. Comparison of infiltration capacity of permanent grassland and arable land during the 2011 growing season

    OpenAIRE

    Tomáš Mašíček; F. Toman; M. Vičanová

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this paper was to compare the rate of infiltration and cumulative infiltration in permanent grassland (PG) and in arable land over the course of the 2011 growing season. The measurement of water infiltration into soil was conducted via ponded infiltration method based on the use of two concentric cylinders in field conditions. Kostiakov equations were applied to evaluate the ponded infiltration. Based on field measurements, the dependence of infiltration rate (v) on time (t) was de...

  19. An econometric analysis of changes in arable land utilization using multinomial logit model in Pinggu district, Beijing, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yueqing; McNamara, Paul; Wu, Yanfang; Dong, Yue

    2013-10-15

    Arable land in China has been decreasing as a result of rapid population growth and economic development as well as urban expansion, especially in developed regions around cities where quality farmland quickly disappears. This paper analyzed changes in arable land utilization during 1993-2008 in the Pinggu district, Beijing, China, developed a multinomial logit (MNL) model to determine spatial driving factors influencing arable land-use change, and simulated arable land transition probabilities. Land-use maps, as well as social-economic and geographical data were used in the study. The results indicated that arable land decreased significantly between 1993 and 2008. Lost arable land shifted into orchard, forestland, settlement, and transportation land. Significant differences existed for arable land transitions among different landform areas. Slope, elevation, population density, urbanization rate, distance to settlements, and distance to roadways were strong drivers influencing arable land transition to other uses. The MNL model was proved effective for predicting transition probabilities in land use from arable land to other land-use types, thus can be used for scenario analysis to develop land-use policies and land-management measures in this metropolitan area. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Mean Field Theory, Ginzburg Criterion, and Marginal Dimensionality of Phase-Transitions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Als-Nielsen, Jens Aage; Birgenau, R. J.

    1977-01-01

    By applying a real space version of the Ginzburg criterion, the role of fluctuations and thence the self‐consistency of mean field theory are assessed in a simple fashion for a variety of phase transitions. It is shown that in using this approach the concept of ’’marginal dimensionality’’ emerges...... in a natural way. For example, it is shown that for many homogeneous structural transformations the marginal dimensionality is two, so that mean field theory will be valid for real three‐dimensional systems. It is suggested that this simple self‐consistent approach to Landau theory should be incorporated...

  1. ) Ima Field: A Type Marginal Field-Challenges and Prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Afolabi, T. J.

    2003-01-01

    The IMA Field is located in the south-eastern Niger Delta in approximately 30' of water. Discovered in 1972 by Japan Petroleum, commercial accumulation was not established until 1994 by the AMNI/Abacan Joint Venture, with the drilling of ima-3 well, which discovered the major reservoirs in the C and D sands. Recoverable Reserve of 48MMBO. Ten wells have been drilled on the IMA structure to date, with a cumulative production of 16 Million barrels of condensates.The IMA Field is a typical Niger Delta rollover anticlinal structure trending northeast southwest with a regional tilt to the northeast. The major trapping mechanism is the anticline.The sediments of IMA Field are Miocene Agbada Fm. They are deltaic deposits with high sand/shale ratio. The reservoirs are loosely compacted sandstones with porosity values ranging from 21% to 27% while permeability is generally measured in darcies.The development of IMA Field posed financial and logistical challenges since the partners had decided to fast track this process, and since neither had the resources to drill the development wells, assemble/install the crude processing and storage facilities; a mixture of debt financing and contractor financing arrangements were made.The prospects in IMA Field are to be found in early realisation of the limitations of a marginal field, particularly the management of cash flow. Workers and field development funding is financed by current production. Appraisal and exploration drilling within the same lease have required equity financing (participation)

  2. Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stoate, C.; Boatman, N.D.; Borralho, R.J.; Rio Carvalho, C.; Snoo, de G.R.; Eden, P.

    2001-01-01

    Although arable landscapes have a long history, environmental problems have accelerated in recent decades. The effects of these changes are usually externalised, being greater for society as a whole than for the farms on which they operate, and incentives to correct them are therefore largely

  3. Ground beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae diversity in Finnish arable land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.K. HELENIUS

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Carabid data compiled from six independent studies, consisting of 97 799 individuals trapped by pitfalls from Finnish agricultural fields and identified to 111 species were analyzed. Shannon-Wiener H' diversity index was typically around 2.5 and expected species number rarefied to 600 trapped individuals was typically around 30 species. The five most abundant species accounted for 42% of the total catch, and the thirty most abundant species made up 98% of the total catch. Percentage similarities among the assemblages by PS-index were from 16% to 48%. In comparison to published data about carabid diversity in boreal forests, which form the dominating habitat matrix in which Finnish farmland is embedded as relatively small patches, arable fields harbor more species rich assemblages, with more even rank-abundance distributions but variable species composition. Importance of landscape (regional level, instead of spatial level of crop fields, in understanding carabid diversity in farmland is discussed. Inclusion of carabids into monitoring schemes of agro-biodiversity at landscape level is suggested.

  4. Yield gaps in Dutch arable farming systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nunes Vieira da Silva, Joao; Reidsma, Pytrik; Ittersum, van Martin K.

    2017-01-01

    Arable farming systems in the Netherlands are characterized by crop rotations in which potato, sugar beet, spring onion, winter wheat and spring barley are the most important crops. The objectives of this study were to decompose crop yield gaps within such rotations into efficiency, resource and

  5. Field margins, foraging distances and their impacts on nesting pollinator success.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sean A Rands

    Full Text Available The areas of wild land around the edges of agricultural fields are a vital resource for many species. These include insect pollinators, to whom field margins provide both nest sites and important resources (especially when adjacent crops are not in flower. Nesting pollinators travel relatively short distances from the nest to forage: most species of bee are known to travel less than two kilometres away. In order to ensure that these pollinators have sufficient areas of wild land within reach of their nests, agricultural landscapes need to be designed to accommodate the limited travelling distances of nesting pollinators. We used a spatially-explicit modelling approach to consider whether increasing the width of wild strips of land within the agricultural landscape will enhance the amount of wild resources available to a nesting pollinator, and if it would impact differently on pollinators with differing foraging strategies. This was done both by creating field structures with a randomised geography, and by using landscape data based upon the British agricultural landscape. These models demonstrate that enhancing field margins should lead to an increase in the availability of forage to pollinators that nest within the landscape. With the exception of species that only forage within a very short range of their nest (less than 125 m, a given amount of field margin manipulation should enhance the proportion of land available to a pollinator for foraging regardless of the distance over which it normally travels to find food. A fixed amount of field edge manipulation should therefore be equally beneficial for both longer-distance nesting foragers such as honeybees, and short-distance foragers such as solitary bees.

  6. Reintroduction of rare arable plants by seed transfer. What are the optimal sowing rates?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Marion; Prestele, Julia; Fischer, Christina; Kollmann, Johannes; Albrecht, Harald

    2016-08-01

    During the past decades, agro-biodiversity has markedly declined and some species are close to extinction in large parts of Europe. Reintroduction of rare arable plant species in suitable habitats could counteract this negative trend. The study investigates optimal sowing rates of three endangered species (Legousia speculum-veneris (L.) Chaix, Consolida regalis Gray, and Lithospermum arvense L.), in terms of establishment success, seed production, and crop yield losses.A field experiment with partial additive design was performed in an organically managed winter rye stand with study species added in ten sowing rates of 5-10,000 seeds m(-2). They were sown as a single species or as a three-species mixture (pure vs. mixed sowing) and with vs. without removal of spontaneous weeds. Winter rye was sown at a fixed rate of 350 grains m(-2). Performance of the study species was assessed as plant establishment and seed production. Crop response was determined as grain yield.Plant numbers and seed production were significantly affected by the sowing rate, but not by sowing type (pure vs. mixed sowing of the three study species), and weed removal. All rare arable plant species established and reproduced at sowing rates >25 seeds m(-2), with best performance of L. speculum-veneris. Negative density effects occurred to some extent for plant establishment and more markedly for seed production.The impact of the three study species on crop yield followed sigmoidal functions. Depending on the species, a yield loss of 10% occurred at >100 seeds m(-2). Synthesis and applications: The study shows that reintroduction of rare arable plants by seed transfer is a suitable method to establish them on extensively managed fields, for example, in organic farms with low nutrient level and without mechanical weed control. Sowing rates of 100 seeds m(-2) for C. regalis and L. arvense, and 50 seeds m(-2) for L. speculum-veneris are recommended, to achieve successful establishment

  7. The Balanced Scorecard as a Management Tool for Arable Farming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Margit Paustian

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Management requirements for crop farming are high and will rise in the future. Arable farms are challenged by volatile markets, growing administrative burdens, increasing operating costs and growing competition for land. Management skills have become much more important for farmers in recent years and this trend will continue in the future. There are numerous instruments like accounting software or crop field cards integrated in daily management practice, but there is a deficiency of a fully integrated management system to give an overview of all areas of the farming business. This gap can be closed by the management tool Balanced Scorecard (BSC that provides an overview of all production and management activities on a farm. Therefore, with the aim to transfer the BSC concept to crop farming, German farmers and agricultural advisors were surveyed to get insights into the success factors and key performance indicators in the four BSC perspectives they consider most relevant for the operational success of arable farms. By the use of a cluster analysis, three different farm types were identified according to their visions and strategies. For the three farm types the key performance indicators that the respondents considered most relevant for farm performance were figured out. Implementation of the BSC to crop farming can result in a big benefit for management practice. The BSC focuses vision and long-term strategy with the main goal to ensure consistency of the farm and increase farm performance.

  8. Nitrous oxide and nitrate concentration in under-drainage from arable fields subject to diffuse pollution mitigation measures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hama-Aziz, Zanist; Hiscock, Kevin; Adams, Christopher; Reid, Brian

    2016-04-01

    Atmospheric nitrous oxide concentrations are increasing by 0.3% annually and a major source of this greenhouse gas is agriculture. Indirect emissions of nitrous oxide (e.g. from groundwater and surface water) account for about quarter of total nitrous oxide emissions. However, these indirect emissions are subject to uncertainty, mainly due to the range in reported emission factors. It's hypothesised in this study that cover cropping and implementing reduced (direct drill) cultivation in intensive arable systems will reduce dissolved nitrate concentration and subsequently indirect nitrous oxide emissions. To test the hypothesis, seven fields with a total area of 102 ha in the Wensum catchment in eastern England have been chosen for experimentation together with two fields (41 ha) under conventional cultivation (deep inversion ploughing) for comparison. Water samples from field under-drainage have been collected for nitrate and nitrous oxide measurement on a weekly basis from April 2013 for two years from both cultivation areas. A purge and trap preparation line connected to a Shimadzu GC-8A gas chromatograph fitted with an electron capture detector was used for dissolved nitrous oxide analysis. Results revealed that with an oilseed radish cover crop present, the mean concentration of nitrate, which is the predominant form of N, was significantly depleted from 13.9 mg N L-1 to 2.5 mg N L-1. However, slightly higher mean nitrous oxide concentrations under the cover crop of 2.61 μg N L-1 compared to bare fields of 2.23 μg N L-1 were observed. Different inversion intensity of soil tended to have no effect on nitrous oxide and nitrate concentrations. The predominant production mechanism for nitrous oxide was nitrification process and the significant reduction of nitrate was due to plant uptake rather than denitrification. It is concluded that although cover cropping might cause a slight increase of indirect nitrous oxide emission, it can be a highly effective

  9. Combined analysis of climate, technological and price changes on future arable farming systems in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wolf, J.; Kanellopoulos, Argyris; Kros, J.; Webber, H.; Zhao, G.; Britz, W.; Reinds, G.J.; Ewert, F.; Vries, de W.

    2015-01-01

    In this study, we compare the relative importance of climate change to technological, management, price and policy changes on European arable farming systems. This required linking four models: the SIMPLACE crop growth modelling framework to calculate future yields under climate change for arable

  10. Simulating the impacts of land use in northwest Europe on Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE): the role of arable ecosystems, grasslands and forest plantations in climate change mitigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdalla, Mohamed; Saunders, Matthew; Hastings, Astley; Williams, Mike; Smith, Pete; Osborne, Bruce; Lanigan, Gary; Jones, Mike B

    2013-11-01

    In this study, we compared measured and simulated Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) values from three wide spread ecosystems in the southeast of Ireland (forest, arable and grassland), and investigated the suitability of the DNDC (the DeNitrification-DeComposition) model to estimate present and future NEE. Although, the field-DNDC version overestimated NEE at temperatures >5 °C, forest-DNDC under-estimated NEE at temperatures >5 °C. The results suggest that the field/forest DNDC models can successfully estimate changes in seasonal and annual NEE from these ecosystems. Differences in NEE were found to be primarily land cover specific. The annual NEE was similar for the grassland and arable sites, but due to the contribution of exported carbon, the soil carbon increased at the grassland site and decreased at the arable site. The NEE of the forest site was an order of magnitude larger than that of the grassland or arable ecosystems, with large amounts of carbon stored in woody biomass and the soil. The average annual NEE, GPP and Reco values over the measurement period were -904, 2379 and 1475 g C m(-2) (forest plantations), -189, 906 and 715 g C m(-2) (arable systems) and -212, 1653 and 1444 g C m(-2) (grasslands), respectively. The average RMSE values were 3.8 g C m(-2) (forest plantations), 0.12 g C m(-2) (arable systems) and 0.21 g C m(-2) (grasslands). When these models were run with climate change scenarios to 2060, predictions show that all three ecosystems will continue to operate as carbon sinks. Further, climate change may decrease the carbon sink strength in the forest plantations by up to 50%. This study supports the use of the DNDC model as a valid tool to predict the consequences of climate change on NEE from different ecosystems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Utilization of Agro-meteorological Services among Arable Crop ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Thomas Kehinde Adesina

    The study assessed arable crop farmers' utilization of agro-meteorological services in ... The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC's Fourth ... the patterns of impact of climate change on agriculture can be classified into ... temperature rise causing fish to inhabit in different ranges. ..... Journal of Human Ecology.

  12. Changes in the Metagenome of Prokaryotic Community as an Indicator of Fertility of Arable Soddy-Podzolic Soils upon Fertilizer Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naliukhin, A. N.; Khamitova, S. M.; Glinushkin, A. P.; Avdeev, Yu. M.; Snetilova, V. S.; Laktionov, Yu. V.; Surov, V. V.; Siluyanova, O. V.; Belozerov, D. A.

    2018-03-01

    The influence of different systems of fertilization and liming on the changes in the taxonomic structure of prokaryotic community in arable soddy-podzolic soil (Albic Retisol (Loamic, Aric, Cutanic, Differentic, Ochric)) was studied in a stationary field experiment of Vologda State Dairy Farming Academy with the use of high-performance sequencing method of gene 16S rRNA. The 25-year-old fallow plot, in which the intensity of microbiological processes was close to that in the virgin soddy-podzolic soils, was used as a control. At the first stage, dominant phyla were identified: Proteobacteria (45.3-56.2%), Actinobacteria (13.6-20.4%), Bacteroidetes (7.2-19.3%), Acidobacteria (7.1-11.5%), and Verrucomicrobia (4.3-10.3%). Several groups of microorganisms-indicators, whose portion changes in the arable soil under the influence of liming, fertilizer application, and soil treatment in comparison with the control, were determined. The applied approach made it possible to relate the taxonomic structure of the soil microbial cenosis with external factors for assessing changes in the structure of soil microbial complex under the impact of different uses of the arable soil.

  13. Uses of glyphosate in German arable farming – operational aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiese, Armin

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Glyphosate is the most frequently used herbicide active ingredient in Germany. Studies regarding its usage in non-GMO arable farming are still rare even though it plays an important role in several agronomic situations. Therefore, we conducted a comprehensive survey, which was carried out among conventional German farms in Winter 2014/2015. Based on the results of this survey we analyzed via cluster analysis how types of farms differ in terms of glyphosate usage. An illustration of seven clusters allows deep insights into arable farm structures. The farm types can be distinguished regarding their tillage system and similar to this differentiation also concerning their intensity of glyphosate application. Furthermore, it becomes obvious that farm clusters with a higher level of glyphosate usage are characterized by a lower number of labourers per hectare, more arable land and/or enhanced cover cropping. Moreover, groups of farmers who rely more on glyphosate are more likely to state that they need glyphosate for herbicide resistance management. Farmers’ assessments of the economic importance of glyphosate usage vary depending on the type of farm. By means of the farm clusters, the most important situations of glyphosate usage can be further analyzed economically and scenarios for impact assessments can be made.

  14. The sustainable arable land use pattern under the tradeoff of agricultural production, economic development, and ecological protection-an analysis of Dongting Lake basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Guanyi; Liu, Liming; Jiang, Xilong

    2017-11-01

    To find a solution regarding sustainable arable land use pattern in the important grain-producing area during the rapid urbanization process, this study combined agricultural production, locational condition, and ecological protection to determine optimal arable land use. Dongting Lake basin, one of the major grain producing areas in China, was chosen as the study area. The analysis of land use transition, the calculation of arable land barycenter, the landscape indices of arable land patches, and the comprehensive evaluation of arable land quality(productivity, economic location, and ecological condition) were adopted in this study. The results showed that (1) in 1990-2000, the arable land increased by 11.77%, and the transformation between arable land and other land use types actively occurred; in 2000-2010, the arable land decreased by 0.71%, and more ecological area (forestland, grassland, and water area) were disturbed and transferred into arable land; (2) urban expansion of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster (the major economy center of this area) induced the northward movement of the arable land barycenter; (3) the landscape fragmentation and decentralization degree of arable land patches increased during 1990-2010; (4) potential high-quality arable land is located in the zonal area around Dongting Lake, which contains the Li County, Linli County, Jinshi County, Taoyuan County, Taojiang County, Ningxiang County, Xiangxiang County, Shaoshan County, Miluo County, and Zhuzhou County. The inferior low-quality arable land is located in the northwestern Wuling mountainous area, the southeastern hilly area, and the densely populated big cities and their surrounding area. In the optimized arable land use pattern, the high-quality land should be intensively used, and the low-quality arable land should be reduced used or prohibitively used. What is more, it is necessary to quit the arable land away from the surrounding area of cities appropriately, in order to

  15. Farm size - productivity relationships among arable crops farmers ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study was designed to analyze the relationship between farm size and resource productivity among arable crop farmers in Imo state, and isolate the major determinants of agricultural productivity. Data used for the study were collected from a sample of 120 farmers randomly selected from Okigwe and Orlu agricultural ...

  16. Grass-clover undersowing affects nitrogen dynamics in a grain legume–cereal arable cropping system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauggaard-Nielsen, Henrik; Mundus, Simon; Jensen, Erik Steen

    2012-01-01

    A field experiment was carried out in an arable organic cropping system and included a sequence with sole cropped fababean (Vicia faba L.), lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), oat (Avena sativa L.) and pea–oat intercropping with or without an undersown perennial ryegrass...... N2 fixation and 15N labeling technique to determine the fate of pea and oat residue N recovery in the subsequent crop. The subsequent spring wheat and winter triticale crop yields were not significantly affected by the previous main crop, but a significant effect of catch crop undersowing...

  17. Mycostimulation in a glyphosate treated arable soil: implications on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mycostimulation in a glyphosate treated arable soil: implications on the yield and agronomic characters of Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss. ... If properly managed and stimulated, fungi can contribute significantly to improving soil health, thus improving food security in a sustainable manner. Keywords: Mycoaugmentation ...

  18. Parotid gland sparing effect by computed tomography-based modified lower field margin in whole brain radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Oyeon; Chun, Mi Son; Oh, Young Taek; Kim, Mi Hwa; Park, Hae Jin; Nam, Sang Soo; Heo, Jae Sung; Noh, O Kyu; Park, Sung Ho

    2013-01-01

    Parotid gland can be considered as a risk organ in whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the parotid gland sparing effect of computed tomography (CT)-based WBRT compared to 2-dimensional plan with conventional field margin. From January 2008 to April 2011, 53 patients underwent WBRT using CT-based simulation. Bilateral two-field arrangement was used and the prescribed dose was 30 Gy in 10 fractions. We compared the parotid dose between 2 radiotherapy plans using different lower field margins: conventional field to the lower level of the atlas (CF) and modified field fitted to the brain tissue (MF). Averages of mean parotid dose of the 2 protocols with CF and MF were 17.4 Gy and 8.7 Gy, respectively (p 98% of prescribed dose were 99.7% for CF and 99.5% for MF. Compared to WBRT with CF, CT-based lower field margin modification is a simple and effective technique for sparing the parotid gland, while providing similar dose coverage of the whole brain.

  19. Cutting risk, boosting cash flow and developing marginal fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baustad, T.; Courtin, G.; Davies, T.; Kenison, R.; Turnbull, J.; Gray, B.; Jalali, Y.; Remondet, J.C.; Hjelmsmark, L.; Oldfield, T.; Romano, C.; Saier, R.; Rannestad, G.

    1996-01-01

    To minimize financial risk and accelerate return on investment, oil companies are using low-cost, reusable production systems. The scope of these development options is illustrated by looking at three offshore case studies that range from extended well test to marginal field development. In each case, production systems technology has been deployed to provide superior data, early oil or both, thus reducing economic uncertainty and delivering accelerated cash flow. 10 figs., 23 refs

  20. Soil conservation practices among Arable Crop Farmers In Enugu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Soil conservation practices among Arable Crop Farmers In Enugu – North Agricultural Zone, Nigeria: Implications for Climate Change. ... The paper recommends concerted efforts to promote among farmers the conservation practices that aid mitigation and adaptation to climate change and at the same time enhance ...

  1. A RAINFALL SIMULATOR STUDY OF INFILTRATION INTO ARABLE SOILS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    WIERDA, A; VEEN, AWL

    Since Hortonian surface runoff is one possible mechanism for the fast transport of agricultural chemicals from arable soils to surface water, more information is needed on its significance in agricultural areas. The present study concerns the sandy soils of the Dutch Cover Sands area, and is based

  2. Adverse weather impacts on arable cropping systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gobin, Anne

    2016-04-01

    Damages due to extreme or adverse weather strongly depend on crop type, crop stage, soil conditions and management. The impact is largest during the sensitive periods of the farming calendar, and requires a modelling approach to capture the interactions between the crop, its environment and the occurrence of the meteorological event. The hypothesis is that extreme and adverse weather events can be quantified and subsequently incorporated in current crop models. Since crop development is driven by thermal time and photoperiod, a regional crop model was used to examine the likely frequency, magnitude and impacts of frost, drought, heat stress and waterlogging in relation to the cropping season and crop sensitive stages. Risk profiles and associated return levels were obtained by fitting generalized extreme value distributions to block maxima for air humidity, water balance and temperature variables. The risk profiles were subsequently confronted with yields and yield losses for the major arable crops in Belgium, notably winter wheat, winter barley, winter oilseed rape, sugar beet, potato and maize at the field (farm records) to regional scale (statistics). The average daily vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and reference evapotranspiration (ET0) during the growing season is significantly lower (p < 0.001) and has a higher variability before 1988 than after 1988. Distribution patterns of VPD and ET0 have relevant impacts on crop yields. The response to rising temperatures depends on the crop's capability to condition its microenvironment. Crops short of water close their stomata, lose their evaporative cooling potential and ultimately become susceptible to heat stress. Effects of heat stress therefore have to be combined with moisture availability such as the precipitation deficit or the soil water balance. Risks of combined heat and moisture deficit stress appear during the summer. These risks are subsequently related to crop damage. The methodology of defining

  3. Analysis of Multi-Scale Changes in Arable Land and Scale Effects of the Driving Factors in the Loess Areas in Northern Shaanxi, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina Zhong

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, statistical data on the national economic and social development, including the year-end actual area of arable land, the crop yield per unit area and 10 factors, were obtained for the period between 1980 and 2010 and used to analyze the factors driving changes in the arable land of the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, China. The following areas of arable land, which represent different spatial scales, were investigated: the Baota District, the city of Yan’an, and the Northern Shaanxi region. The scale effects of the factors driving the changes to the arable land were analyzed using a canonical correlation analysis and a principal component analysis. Because it was difficult to quantify the impact of the national government policies on the arable land changes, the contributions of the national government policies to the changes in arable land were analyzed qualitatively. The primary conclusions of the study were as follows: between 1980 and 2010, the arable land area decreased. The trends of the year-end actual arable land proportion of the total area in the northern Shaanxi region and Yan’an City were broadly consistent, whereas the proportion in the Baota District had no obvious similarity with the northern Shaanxi region and Yan’an City. Remarkably different factors were shown to influence the changes in the arable land at different scales. Environmental factors exerted a greater effect for smaller scale arable land areas (the Baota District. The effect of socio-economic development was a major driving factor for the changes in the arable land area at the city and regional scales. At smaller scales, population change, urbanization and socio-economic development affected the crop yield per unit area either directly or indirectly. Socio-economic development and the modernization of agricultural technology had a greater effect on the crop yield per unit area at the large-scales. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis

  4. External beam radiotherapy of localized prostatic adenocarcinoma. Evaluation of conformal therapy, field number and target margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lennernaes, B.; Rikner, G.; Letocha, H.; Nilsson, S.

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to identify factors of importance in the planning of external beam radiotherapy of prostatic adenocarcinoma. Seven patients with urogenital cancers were planned for external radiotherapy of the prostate. Four different techniques were used, viz. a 4-field box technique and four-, five- or six-field conformal therapy set-ups combined with three different margins (1-3 cm). The evaluations were based on the doses delivered to the rectum and the urinary bladder. A normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) was calculated for each plan using Lyman's dose volume reduction method. The most important factors that resulted in a decrease of the dose delivered to the rectum and the bladder were the use of conformal therapy and smaller margins. Conformal therapy seemed more important for the dose distribution in the urinary bladder. Five- and six-field set-ups were not significantly better than those with four fields. NTCP calculations were in accordance with the evaluation of the dose volume histograms. To conclude, four-field conformal therapy utilizing reduced margins improves the dose distribution to the rectum and the urinary bladder in the radiotherapy of prostatic adenocarcinoma. (orig.)

  5. Economics of plant production on marginal sites in the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziesemer, Andrea; Andreas, Gurgel; Ines, Bull

    2017-04-01

    Marginal sites are defined by economics. It is not possible to produce any profit there under given conditions of markets and policy even when management is optimized. In the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a portion of nearly 20 % of arable land is characterized by such conditions. There are often to find sandy sites below 28 soil points with low storage capacity and irregular water supply. Animal husbandry as a type of agricultural upgrading has a more important role in the south and southwest of the state than in the regions with better soil quality. The percentage of Maize was already in 2003 twice as high in the regions with more marginal sites. After implementation of the Renewable Energy Act many enterprises started built biogas plants. In 2010, the portion of maize was raised to 20 %. The increase of Maize was combined with a reduction of growing other fodder crops, rye and also by reducing set-aside areas. The scale of the cash crops Rape (16%), Wheat (15 %) and barley (9 %) stayed the same. The yields and production processes of several selected farms in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were analyzed for the years 2011 to 2016. The farms reached 6.6 tons per hectare of wheat and 6.1 tons per hectare of barley on soils below 28 soil points. Hybrid rye achieved 5.4 tons per hectare and rape 3.0. Maize was especially dependent on water supply and made between 30 and 35 tons per hectare. The big problem in these regions is caused by high production costs in cropping. More than a half of the costs is required for seeds, fertilization and crop protection. However, the remaining revenues are not adequate for paying work and fix costs as an evaluation of farms in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern shows. It is not a valid option to set more land that is arable aside in regions with much marginal sites because cropping is a strategic investment there. Therefore, it is important to make effort on crop rotations and optimization of production intensities to decrease costs per unit and to

  6. Purchase of Catastrophe Insurance by Dutch Dairy and Arable Farmers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ogurtsov, V.; Asseldonk, van M.A.P.M.; Huirne, R.B.M.

    2009-01-01

    This article analyzed the impact of risk perception, risk attitude, and other farmer personal and farm characteristics on the actual purchase of catastrophe insurance by Dutch dairy and arable farmers. The specific catastrophe insurance types considered were hail–fire–storm insurance for buildings,

  7. Increasing bioenergy production on arable land: Does the regional and local climate respond? Germany as a case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tölle, Merja H.; Gutjahr, Oliver; Busch, Gerald; Thiele, Jan C.

    2014-03-01

    The extent and magnitude of land cover change effect on local and regional future climate during the vegetation period due to different forms of bioenergy plants are quantified for extreme temperatures and energy fluxes. Furthermore, we vary the spatial extent of plant allocation on arable land and simulate alternative availability of transpiration water to mimic both rainfed agriculture and irrigation. We perform climate simulations down to 1 km scale for 1970-1975 C20 and 2070-2075 A1B over Germany with Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling in Climate Mode. Here an impact analysis indicates a strong local influence due to land cover changes. The regional effect is decreased by two thirds of the magnitude of the local-scale impact. The changes are largest locally for irrigated poplar with decreasing maximum temperatures by 1°C in summer months and increasing specific humidity by 0.15 g kg-1. The increased evapotranspiration may result in more precipitation. The increase of surface radiative fluxes Rnet due to changes in latent and sensible heat is estimated by 5 W m-2locally. Moreover, increases in the surface latent heat flux cause strong local evaporative cooling in the summer months, whereas the associated regional cooling effect is pronounced by increases in cloud cover. The changes on a regional scale are marginal and not significant. Increasing bioenergy production on arable land may result in local temperature changes but not in substantial regional climate change in Germany. We show the effect of agricultural practices during climate transitions in spring and fall.

  8. Northeastern Brazilian margin: Regional tectonic evolution based on integrated analysis of seismic reflection and potential field data and modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blaich, Olav A.; Tsikalas, Filippos; Faleide, Jan Inge

    2008-10-01

    Integration of regional seismic reflection and potential field data along the northeastern Brazilian margin, complemented by crustal-scale gravity modelling, is used to reveal and illustrate onshore-offshore crustal structure correlation, the character of the continent-ocean boundary, and the relationship of crustal structure to regional variation of potential field anomalies. The study reveals distinct along-margin structural and magmatic changes that are spatially related to a number of conjugate Brazil-West Africa transfer systems, governing the margin segmentation and evolution. Several conceptual tectonic models are invoked to explain the structural evolution of the different margin segments in a conjugate margin context. Furthermore, the constructed transects, the observed and modelled Moho relief, and the potential field anomalies indicate that the Recôncavo, Tucano and Jatobá rift system may reflect a polyphase deformation rifting-mode associated with a complex time-dependent thermal structure of the lithosphere. The constructed transects and available seismic reflection profiles, indicate that the northern part of the study area lacks major breakup-related magmatic activity, suggesting a rifted non-volcanic margin affinity. In contrast, the southern part of the study area is characterized by abrupt crustal thinning and evidence for breakup magmatic activity, suggesting that this region evolved, partially, with a rifted volcanic margin affinity and character.

  9. A site-specific slurry application technique on grassland and on arable crops.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schellberg, Jürgen; Lock, Reiner

    2009-01-01

    There is evidence that unequal slurry application on agricultural land contributes to N losses to the environment. Heterogeneity within fields demands adequate response by means of variable rate application. A technique is presented which allows site-specific application of slurry on grassland and arable land based on pre-defined application maps. The system contains a valve controlling flow rate by an on-board PC. During operation, flow rate is measured and scaled against set point values given in the application map together with the geographic position of the site. The systems worked sufficiently precise at a flow rate between 0 and 25 l s(-1) and an offset of actual slurry flow from set point values between 0.33 and 0.67 l s(-1). Long-term experimentation is required to test if site-specific application de facto reduces N surplus within fields and so significantly contributes to the unloading of N in agricultural areas.

  10. Potential conflict between the coal and arable land resources in australia: A case for corporate responsiveness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langkamp, Peter J.

    1985-01-01

    Background information on possible surface-coal-mining operations in arable agricultural areas in Australia is provided. The major co-occurrence of the coal and arable land resources was in the Darling Downs region of Queensland and the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales; however, coal development will probably only occur in the former region over the next decade. Analysis of the situation in the Darling Downs region, which consists of 11 Shires, found five companies conducting prefeasibility projects for surface-coal development and the size of exploration areas concerned far exceeding final mined-land disturbance estimates. Most of the land included in the prefeasibility studies was classified as “arable with moderate crop restrictions requiring intensive management” (classes II IV). The total area of land that may be disturbed at some time in the future was less than 2% of the arable land in the Shires concerned. Project mutual exclusivity and ongoing rehabilitation of disturbed areas further reduce arable land out of production at any one time. It is suggested that, if self-regulation by the coal industry in Australia on rehabilitation issues is to remain a viable option in these areas, an understanding between the corporate and public sectors on the extent and limitations of its responsibilities must be obtained. The current development of a National Conservation Strategy for Australia should assist this to proceed. Research on various rehabilitation issues may be required prior to project commitment to ensure the responsibilities identified are realizable. Integrative problem-solving, incorporating audit procedures, was suggested as a suitable method to achieve these aims and corporate responsiveness was seen as a necessary first step.

  11. Organizing data in arable farming : towards an ontology of processing potato

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haverkort, A.J.; Top, J.L.; Verdenius, F.

    2006-01-01

    Arable farmers and their suppliers, consultants and procurers are increasingly dealing with gathering and processing of large amounts of data. Data sources are related to mandatory and voluntary registration (certification, tracing and tracking, quality control). Besides data collected for

  12. Breeding birds on organic and conventional arable farms

    OpenAIRE

    Kragten, Steven

    2009-01-01

    As a result of agricultural intensification, farmland bird populations have been declining dramatically over the past decades. Organic farming is often mentioned to be a possible solution to stop these declines. In order to see whether farmland birds really benefit from organic farming a study was carried out comparing breeding bird densities, breeding success and bird food abundance between organic and conventional arable farms in Flevoland, the Netherlands. skylark (Alauda arvensis) and lap...

  13. Two bee-pollinated plant species show higher seed production when grown in gardens compared to arable farmland.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Cussans

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Insect pollinator abundance, in particular that of bees, has been shown to be high where there is a super-abundance of floral resources; for example in association with mass-flowering crops and also in gardens where flowering plants are often densely planted. Since land management affects pollinator numbers, it is also likely to affect the resultant pollination of plants growing in these habitats. We hypothesised that the seed or fruit set of two plant species, typically pollinated by bumblebees and/or honeybees might respond in one of two ways: 1 pollination success could be reduced when growing in a floriferous environment, via competition for pollinators, or 2 pollination success could be enhanced because of increased pollinator abundance in the vicinity.We compared the pollination success of experimental plants of Glechoma hederacea L. and Lotus corniculatus L. growing in gardens and arable farmland. On the farms, the plants were placed either next to a mass-flowering crop (oilseed rape, Brassica napus L. or field beans, Vicia faba L. or next to a cereal crop (wheat, Triticum spp.. Seed set of G. hederacea and fruit set of L. corniculatus were significantly higher in gardens compared to arable farmland. There was no significant difference in pollination success of G. hederacea when grown next to different crops, but for L. corniculatus, fruit set was higher in the plants growing next to oilseed rape when the crop was in flower.The results show that pollination services can limit fruit set of wild plants in arable farmland, but there is some evidence that the presence of a flowering crop can facilitate their pollination (depending on species and season. We have also demonstrated that gardens are not only beneficial to pollinators, but also to the process of pollination.

  14. Agro-environmental scheme for segetal plant conservation in Wallonia (Belgium: an assessment in conventional and organic fields

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lemoine, C.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Description of the subject. Segetal plant species are highly threatened in arable land. They are an integral part of agricultural history and biodiversity in Western Europe. In Wallonia (southern Belgium, an agro-environmental scheme (AES has been adopted for their conservation. It consists of strips on a field margin, with at least 60% cereals in crop rotation, and proscribes spraying and fertilisation. Objectives. This paper assessed the impact of an AES on segetal species conservation. Method. In eight organic fields and six conventional fields, a vegetation survey was performed on an AES strip and on a control margin of each field. Evenness, richness, cover and species composition for both total and segetal species were compared between AES strips and their corresponding control margins. Also, a cover of pernicious weeds was considered to be a factor in the rejection of AES by farmers. Results. In conventional agriculture, species richness (total and segetal and cover (total and segetal were higher in the AES than in the respective control; however, pernicious weed cover was also enhanced. In organic fields, total species richness was higher and pernicious weed cover was lower in the AES than in the respective control. Total evenness was higher in organic than in conventional fields, due to the co-dominance of several species. Under the AES, species composition and abundance remained different between conventional and organic fields. In all cases, rare species were hardly found in our survey. Conclusions. AES promote plant diversity in both organic and conventional fields. Sowing AES strips with uncleaned seeds from well-preserved fields, or species introduction, are recommended to enhance rare species recovery.

  15. Manipulating field margins to increase predation intensity in fields of winter wheat (Triticum eastivum)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mansion-Vaquie, Agathe; Ferrante, Marco; Cook, S M

    2017-01-01

    , intraguild predation, hyperparasitism) may complicate the assumption that a higher density of natural enemies would increase the level of biological control. We investigated the natural enemy guild composition and the predation rate along flower vs. grass margins at the edge of winter wheat (Triticum...... to the two margin types: specialists (mostly parasitic wasps) were attracted by the flower margins, while generalists (ground beetles, rove beetles and spiders) were more active in grass margins. The number of artificial caterpillars attacked was significantly greater in grass margins (mean = 48.9%, SD = 24...

  16. Cover crops support ecological intensification of arable cropping systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wittwer, Raphaël A.; Dorn, Brigitte; Jossi, Werner; van der Heijden, Marcel G. A.

    2017-02-01

    A major challenge for agriculture is to enhance productivity with minimum impact on the environment. Several studies indicate that cover crops could replace anthropogenic inputs and enhance crop productivity. However, so far, it is unclear if cover crop effects vary between different cropping systems, and direct comparisons among major arable production systems are rare. Here we compared the short-term effects of various cover crops on crop yield, nitrogen uptake, and weed infestation in four arable production systems (conventional cropping with intensive tillage and no-tillage; organic cropping with intensive tillage and reduced tillage). We hypothesized that cover cropping effects increase with decreasing management intensity. Our study demonstrated that cover crop effects on crop yield were highest in the organic system with reduced tillage (+24%), intermediate in the organic system with tillage (+13%) and in the conventional system with no tillage (+8%) and lowest in the conventional system with tillage (+2%). Our results indicate that cover crops are essential to maintaining a certain yield level when soil tillage intensity is reduced (e.g. under conservation agriculture), or when production is converted to organic agriculture. Thus, the inclusion of cover crops provides additional opportunities to increase the yield of lower intensity production systems and contribute to ecological intensification.

  17. Studying media at The Margins: learning from the field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clemencia Rodríguez

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This article, informed by ethnographic research on media at the margins, proposes a shift in perspective at several different levels: 1 instead of focusing on individual technologies, our research should examine how grassroots communicators operating at the margins exist in a media ecology that offers different potentialities in each historical situation; 2 instead of trying to determine if the media technologies used at the margin are old or new, digital or not digital, we need to explore how embedded community communicators detect local information or communication needs and use available technologies to address these needs; 3 our research on media at the margins should shed light on how grassroots communicators re-invent, hybridize, converge, and bridge technologies from one platform to another. In sum, understanding media at the margins is about embracing complexity, maintaining the notion of media ecologies, and understanding how grassroots communicators, deeply embedded in local contexts, wedge media technologies into everyday life.

  18. Soil organic (14)C dynamics : Effects of pasture installation on arable land

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Romkens, P.F A M; Hassink, J; van der Plicht, Johannes

    1998-01-01

    In a study addressing composition and recovery of soil carbon following pasture installation on arable land, radiocarbon isotope ratios were measured in size- and density-separated soil organic matter (SOM) fractions in a pasture and maize plot. The average soil carbon age increased with depth from

  19. Projekt OK-NET-ARABLE : mahetootmiseks vajalik teave tuleb tuua praktikuteni / Airi Vetemaa

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Vetemaa, Airi

    2015-01-01

    OK-NET-ARABLE, mida võiks tõlkida kui põllukultuuride kasvatuse alast maheteabe võrgustikku, on ELi teadusrahastu Horisont 2020 projekt, mille eesmärk on vahendada innovaatilist ja traditsioonilist teavet mahetootjate, nõustajate ja teadlaste vahel, suurendamaks mahepõllukultuuride produktiivsust ja kvaliteeti üle Euroopa

  20. Soil organic 14C dynamics: effects of pasture installation on arable land

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Römkens, P.F.A.M.; Plicht, van der J.; Hassink, J.

    1998-01-01

    In a study addressing composition and recovery of soil carbon following pasture installation on arable land, radiocarbon isotope ratios were measured in size-and density-separated soil organic matter (SOM) fractions in a pasture and maize plot. The average soil carbon age increased with depth from

  1. Marginal and happy? The need for uniqueness predicts the adjustment of marginal immigrants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debrosse, Régine; de la Sablonnière, Roxane; Rossignac-Milon, Maya

    2015-12-01

    Marginalization is often presented as the strategy associated with the worst adjustment for immigrants. This study identifies a critical variable that buffers marginal immigrants from the negative effects of marginalization on adjustment: The need for uniqueness. In three studies, we surveyed immigrants recruited on university campuses (n = 119, n = 116) and in the field (n = 61). Among marginal immigrants, a higher need for uniqueness predicted higher self-esteem (Study 1), affect (Study 2), and life satisfaction (Study 3), and marginally higher happiness (Study 2) and self-esteem (Study 3). No relationship between the need for uniqueness and adjustment was found among non-marginal immigrants. The adaptive value of the need for uniqueness for marginal immigrants is discussed. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  2. Soil organic matter dynamics after the conversion of arable land to pasture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Römkens, P.F.A.M.; Plicht, van der J.; Hassink, J.

    1999-01-01

    Conversion of arable land (maize) to pasture will affect the soil organic matter (SOM) content. Changes in the SOM content were studied using a size- and density-fractionation method and 13C analysis. Twenty-six years of maize cropping had resulted in a depletion of carbon stored in the

  3. Exploring the Patterns and Mechanisms of Reclaimed Arable Land Utilization under the Requisition-Compensation Balance Policy in Wenzhou, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Lin

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Arable land in China is undergoing significant changes, with massive losses of arable land due to rapid urbanization and the reclamation of arable land from other lands to compensate for these losses. Many studies have analyzed arable land loss, but less attention has been paid to land reclamation, and the utilization of reclaimed land remains unclear. The goal of our study was to characterize the patterns and efficiency of the utilization of reclaimed land and to identify the factors influencing the land utilization process in Wenzhou using remote sensing, geographic information systems and logistic regression. Our results showed that only 37% of the total reclaimed land area was under cultivation, and other lands were still bare or had been covered by trees and grasses. The likelihood that reclaimed land was used for cultivation was highly correlated with the land use type of its neighboring or adjacent parcels. Reclaimed land utilization was also limited at high elevations in lands with poor soil fertility and in lands at a great distance from rural residential areas. In addition, parcels located in the ecological protection zone were less likely to be cultivated. Therefore, we suggest that the important determinants should be considered when identifying the most suitable land reclamation areas.

  4. Conversion of Forests to Arable Land and its Effect on Soil Physical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Prof. Ogunji

    Conversion of Forests to Arable Land and its Effect on Soil ... greater hydraulic conductivity than those under cultivation and this may indicate greater pore ... stability and clay dispersion index were 10% higher and 28% lower in the .... degraded the physical properties, making the soil more prone to soil erosion by water.

  5. New uses of clover-grass mixtures in the structure of fodder crops on arable land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiří Sláma

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of clover-grasses in the structure of fodder crops grown on arable soil, especially those with intergeneric hybrids as the main component part, could avert the negative current trend, i.e. further decreasing the area of perennial fodder plants or fodder crops as a whole on arable soil. They have an irreplaceable role in crop sequences and in preserving the cultural character of the countryside, above all due to the fact that they improve soil fertility and microbial life in the soil and that they have an excellent pre-produce value, and, at the same time, they are applied in various farming systems (both conventional and ecological and in various climatic conditions, and agricultural businesses are well equipped for growing, harvesting and storing them. In the Czech Republic, the area of fodder crops grown on arable soil was decreased from 1,019.9 thousand hectares to mere 396.7 thousand hectares between 1980 and 2009, which is 15.6 % of the total area of arable soil whereas perennial fodder plants only take up 8.5 %. Fodder from clover crops and clover-grass growths on arable soil are one of the main resources of voluminous fodder for dairy cows. Most of this fodder is preserved through a fermentation process (silages, hay storage; a smaller part is fed as fresh fodder, or serves for production of hay. Silages made with perennial fodder plants are the most important source of both proteins and other nutrients for ruminants, especially for high-yielding milch cows. The basis of fodder production systems are the conservative elements of the landscape area (geomorphology in combination with the progressive elements (weather conditions, plants and human labour and relict ones, the representative of which is the soil. The fodder production systems in Europe are divided into five main fodder production zones. From this point of view, the areas where short-term clover-grass mixtures are grown on arable soil could be classed with Zone 4, i

  6. Advancing land-terminating ice margin in North Greenland - characteristics, evolution, and first field measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steiner, J. F.; Prinz, R.; Abermann, J.

    2017-12-01

    More than 40% of the ice sheet in North Greenland terminate on land, however the characteristics of this ice margin and response to a changing climate have so far received little attention. While land-terminating ice cliffs are a feature commonly found and studied in other regions, detailed investigations in Greenland were only carried out more than six decades ago in the Thule area (Red Rock, Northwest Greenland). These studies showed a continuous advance at one location over multiple years, while the local mass balance was reported negative. The purpose of our study is to revisit the location previously studied and extend the analysis to the complete Northern ice margin employing newly available high-resolution digital terrain models (Arctic DEM). First results show that the advance at Red Rock is indeed long-term, continuing unabated today at rates of up to several meter per year. Similar magnitudes were found for large other stretches along the ice margin. With our study we aim to show (a) the main characteristics of the land-terminating ice margin in Northern Greenland, namely its slope and aspect distribution and comparison to spatial datasets of flow velocity and mass balance and (b) to provide further explanations of physical processes driving the advance. We have therefore mapped the complete ice margin and present the first results of this analysis. First field work provides new data on energy fluxes and ice temperatures at the Red Rock site as well as high resolution DEMs obtained with the use of UAVs.

  7. Carbon Dioxide in Arable Soil Profiles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chirinda, Ngoni; Plauborg, Finn; Heckrath, Goswin Johann

    2014-01-01

    on the comparability of results obtained using different methods is limited. We therefore aimed to compare the dynamics in soil CO2 concentrations obtained from an automated system (GMP343 sensors) to those from a manually operated measurement system (i.e., soil gas sampled using stainless steel needles and rods......Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in arable soil profiles are influenced by autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration as well as soil physical properties that regulate gas transport. Whereas different methods have been used to assess dynamics of soil CO2 concentrations, our understanding...... systems. Within the measurement range for the GMP343 sensors (0-20,000 ppm), mean results from the two systems were similar within the plough layer at the upslope (P = 0.060) and footslope (P = 0.139) position, and also below the plough layer at the upslope position (P = 0.795). However, results from...

  8. Prospects for arable farm uptake of Short Rotation Coppice willow and miscanthus in England.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glithero, Neryssa J; Wilson, Paul; Ramsden, Stephen J

    2013-07-01

    Biomass will play a role in the UK meeting EU targets on renewable energy use. Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) and miscanthus are potential biomass feedstocks; however, supply will rely on farmer willingness to grow these crops. Despite attractive crop establishment grants for dedicated energy crops (DECs) in the UK, uptake remains low. Drawing on results from an on-farm survey with 244 English arable farmers, 81.6% (87.7%) of farmers would not consider growing miscanthus (SRC), while respectively, 17.2% (11.9%) would consider growing and 1.2% (0.4%) were currently growing these crops. Farmer age, location, land ownership, farm type, farm size and farmer education level were not significant factors in determining acceptance of DECs. The main reasons cited for not growing DECs were impacts on land quality, lack of appropriate machinery, commitment of land for a long period of time, time to financial return and profitability. Reasons cited for willingness to grow DECs included land quality, ease of crop management, commitment of land for a long period of time, and profitability. Farmers cited a range of 'moral' (e.g. should not be using land for energy crops when there is a shortage of food), land quality, knowledge, profit and current farming practice comments as reasons for not growing DECs, while those willing to grow DECs cited interest in renewable energy, willingness to consider new crops, and low labour needs as rationale for their interest. Farm business objectives indicated that maximising profit and quality of life were most frequently cited as very important objectives. Previous research in the UK indicates that farmers in arable areas are unlikely to convert large areas of land to DECs, even where these farmers have an interest and willingness to grow them. Assuming that those farmers interested in growing DECs converted 9.29% (average percentage of arable land set-aside between 1996 and 2005) of their utilised agricultural area to these crops, 50,700

  9. Soil health: a comparison between organically and conventionally managed arable soils in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Diepeningen, van A.D.; Blok, W.J.; Korthals, G.W.; Bruggen, van A.H.C.; Ariena, H.C.

    2005-01-01

    A comparative study of 13 organic and 13 neighboring conventional arable farming systems was conducted in the Netherlands to determine the effect of management practices on chemical and biological soil properties and soil health. Soils were analyzed using a polyphasic approach combining traditional

  10. SU-E-P-40: Dosimetric Characteristics of Field Aperture Margin Design in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, J

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To characterize the dosimetric effects of field aperture margin design in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). Methods: Three artificial spherical PTVs, with diameter of 10mm, 20mm and 30mm, were created on CT images of a human body thoracic phantom. Seven non-coplanar isocentric fields were used for treatment planning. For each PTV, treatment plans with margins 0mm, 1mm, 2mm and 3mm were planned. Dosimetric comparison among plans was done considering the following parameters: prescribed isodose line for target coverage, maximum dose, mean dose as well as dose spillages of V80, V50, and V20. Results: Corresponding to aperture margins of 0mm, 1mm,2m and 3mm used in the treatment planning, the percentage of isodose line chosen for dose prescription increases from 65% to 93% for 10mm PTV, 70% to 92% for 20mm PTV, and 75% to 92% for 30mm PTV. The maximum dose decrease accordingly from 155.7% to 109.5% for 10mm PTV, 145% to 111.6% for 20mm PTV, 137% to 112.2% for 30mm PTV. The mean dose decrease from 138.% to 104.4% for 10mm PTV, 122.8% to 106.1% for 20mm PTV, 121.3% to 106% for 30mm PTV. Dose spillages (mm3) increase (V80−2.6 to 4.02, V50−4.55 to 9.3, V20–87.86 to 101.71) for 10 mm PTV, (V80−6.78 to 9.89, V50–13.46 to 20.4, V20-119.16 to 219.1) for 20 mm PTV, (V80–22.01 to 28.59, V50–41.56 to 52.66, V20-532.71 to 551.84) for 30 mm PTV. Conclusion: In SBRT treatment planning, tight field aperture margin requires prescribing dose to lower isodose line that leading to higher dose inhomogeneity and higher mean dose to PTV. Loose margin allows prescribing dose to higher isodose line, therefore improves the dose homogeneity. However, it increases dose spillages. Clinician could try different margins according to the PTV size and location of surrounding critical organs to optimize the dose delivered to the patient.

  11. Margins for treatment planning of proton therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, Simon J

    2006-01-01

    For protons and other charged particles, the effect of set-up errors on the position of isodoses is considerably less in the direction of the incident beam than it is laterally. Therefore, the margins required between the clinical target volume (CTV) and planning target volume (PTV) can be less in the direction of the incident beam than laterally. Margins have been calculated for a typical head plan and a typical prostate plan, for a single field, a parallel opposed and a four-field arrangement of protons, and compared with margins calculated for photons, assuming identical geometrical uncertainties for each modality. In the head plan, where internal motion was assumed negligible, the CTV-PTV margin reduced from approximately 10 mm to 3 mm in the axial direction for the single field and parallel opposed plans. For a prostate plan, where internal motion cannot be ignored, the corresponding reduction in margin was from 11 mm to 7 mm. The planning organ at risk (PRV) margin in the axial direction reduced from 6 mm to 2 mm for the head plan, and from 7 mm to 4 mm for the prostate plan. No reduction was seen on the other axes, or for any axis of the four-field plans. Owing to the shape of proton dose distributions, there are many clinical cases in which good dose distributions can be obtained with one or two fields. When this is done, it is possible to use smaller PTV and PRV margins. This has the potential to convert untreatable cases, in which the PTV and PRV overlap, into cases with a gap between PTV and PRV of adequate size for treatment planning

  12. Sensitive indicators of side-effects of pesticides on the epigeal fauna of Arable land

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Everts, J.W.

    1990-01-01

    The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the possible impact of pesticides on epigeal arthropods in arable land. It was also envisaged to develop a predictive model for possible undesirable effects of pesticides on the epigeal arthropod fauna using an indicator species from

  13. Marginal Shape Deep Learning: Applications to Pediatric Lung Field Segmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansoor, Awais; Cerrolaza, Juan J; Perez, Geovanny; Biggs, Elijah; Nino, Gustavo; Linguraru, Marius George

    2017-02-11

    Representation learning through deep learning (DL) architecture has shown tremendous potential for identification, localization, and texture classification in various medical imaging modalities. However, DL applications to segmentation of objects especially to deformable objects are rather limited and mostly restricted to pixel classification. In this work, we propose marginal shape deep learning (MaShDL), a framework that extends the application of DL to deformable shape segmentation by using deep classifiers to estimate the shape parameters. MaShDL combines the strength of statistical shape models with the automated feature learning architecture of DL. Unlike the iterative shape parameters estimation approach of classical shape models that often leads to a local minima, the proposed framework is robust to local minima optimization and illumination changes. Furthermore, since the direct application of DL framework to a multi-parameter estimation problem results in a very high complexity, our framework provides an excellent run-time performance solution by independently learning shape parameter classifiers in marginal eigenspaces in the decreasing order of variation. We evaluated MaShDL for segmenting the lung field from 314 normal and abnormal pediatric chest radiographs and obtained a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 0.927 using only the four highest modes of variation (compared to 0.888 with classical ASM 1 (p-value=0.01) using same configuration). To the best of our knowledge this is the first demonstration of using DL framework for parametrized shape learning for the delineation of deformable objects.

  14. Skin cancer margin analysis within minutes with full-field OCT (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalimier, Eugénie; Ogrich, Lauren; Morales, Diego; Cusack, Carrie Ann; Abdelmalek, Mark; Boccara, Claude; Durkin, John

    2017-02-01

    Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common cancer. Treatment consists of surgical removal of the skin cancer. Traditional excision involves the removal of the visible skin cancer with a significant margin of normal skin. On cosmetically sensitive areas, Mohs micrographic tissue is the standard of care. Mohs uses intraoperative microscopic margin assessment which minimizes the surgical defect and can help reduce the recurrence rate by a factor of 3. The current Mohs technique relies on frozen section tissue slide preparation which significantly lengthens operative time and requires on-site trained histotechnicians. Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography (FFOCT) is a novel optical imaging technique which provides a quick and efficient method to visualize cancerous areas in minutes, without any preparation or destruction of the tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of FFOCT for the analysis of skin cancer margins during Mohs surgery. Over 150 images of Mohs specimens were acquired intraoperatively with FFOCT before frozen section analysis. The imaging procedure took less than 5 minutes for each specimen. No artifacts on histological preparation were found arising from FFOCT manipulation; however frozen section artifact was readily seen on FFOCT. An atlas was established with FFOCT images and corresponding histological slides to reveal FFOCT reading criteria of normal and cancerous structures. Blind analysis showed high concordance between FFOCT and histology. FFOCT can potentially reduce recurrence rates while maintaining short surgery times, optimize clinical workflow, and decrease healthcare costs. For the patient, this translates into smaller infection risk, decreased stress, and better comfort.

  15. Analysing Production Technology and Risk in Organic and Conventional Dutch Arable Farming using Panel Data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gardebroek, C.; Chavez Clemente, M.D.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.

    2010-01-01

    Abstract This paper compares the production technology and production risk of organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands. Just–Pope production functions that explicitly account for output variability are estimated using panel data of Dutch organic and conventional farms. Prior

  16. Weed vegetation ecology of arable land in Salalah, Southern Oman.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Sheikh, Mohamed A

    2013-07-01

    This paper applies multivariate statistical methods to a data set of weed relevés from arable fields in two different habitat types of coastal and mountainous escarpments in Southern Oman. The objectives were to test the effect of environmental gradients, crop plants and time on weed species composition, to rank the importance of these particular factors, and to describe the patterns of species composition and diversity associated with these factors. Through the application of TWINSPAN, DCA and CCA programs on data relating to 102 species recorded in 28 plots and farms distributed in the study area, six plant communities were identified: I- Dichanthium micranthum, II- Cynodon dactylon-D. micranthum, III- Convolvulus arvensis, IV- C. dactylon-Sonchus oleraceus, V- Amaranthus viridis and VI- Suaeda aegyptiaca-Achyranthes aspera. The ordination process (CCA) provided a sequence of plant communities and species diversity that correlated with some anthropogenic factors, physiographic variables and crop types. Therefore, length of time since farm construction, disturbance levels and altitude are the most important factors related to the occurrence of the species. The perennial species correlated with the more degraded mountain areas of new farm stands, whereas most of the annuals correlated with old lowland and less disturbed farms.

  17. Seedling emergence response of rare arable plants to soil tillage varies by species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torra, Joel; Recasens, Jordi; Royo-Esnal, Aritz

    2018-01-01

    Very little information is available on emergence of rare arable plants (RAP) in relation to soil disturbance and seed burial conditions in Europe. This information is essential to design conservation and soil management strategies to prevent the decline of these species in agroecosystems. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of soil cultivation with burial time on the emergence and seed persistence of RAP. Seeds of 30 RAP species were collected from Spanish arable fields and subjected to two tillage treatments: (a) no soil disturbance, and (b) autumnal soil disturbance down to 10 cm depth every year. The treatments simulated no-till and tilled (disking), respectively. In plots under no-till, RAP seeds were sown at 1-cm depth. In the tilled plots, seeds were sown homogeneously mixed in the top 1-10 cm of soil. The trial was established every two consecutive seasons, and each trial was maintained for two years. Annual cumulative plant emergence was calculated each year; whereas the first trial was monitored for a third year to estimate seed longevity using a persistence index. The response in emergence of the 30 RAP to annual tillage varied among species. With burial time (number of years), higher emergence was observed for seeds sown in tilled soil. This was true across all species, and with strong season effects. The persistence index was correlated with seed weight, species with bigger seeds had low persistence indices while no pattern was observed for small seeded species. Most RAP species, particularly those with high persistence, showed induction of secondary dormancy processes, highlighting the importance of tillage to promote RAP emergence, and hence, seed bank replenishment. Therefore, as time passes the absence of soil tillage may represent a driver of RAP seed bank decline for those species with secondary dormancy processes. In conclusion, it is important to design soil management strategies, such as regular tillage to promote

  18. Margins of freedom: a field-theoretic approach to class-based health dispositions and practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnett, Patrick John; Veenstra, Gerry

    2017-09-01

    Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice situates social practices in the relational interplay between experiential mental phenomena (habitus), resources (capitals) and objective social structures (fields). When applied to class-based practices in particular, the overarching field of power within which social classes are potentially made manifest is the primary field of interest. Applying relational statistical techniques to original survey data from Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, we investigated whether smoking, engaging in physical activity and consuming fruit and vegetables are dispersed in a three-dimensional field of power shaped by economic and cultural capitals and cultural dispositions and practices. We find that aesthetic dispositions and flexibility of developing and established dispositions are associated with positioning in the Canadian field of power and embedded in the logics of the health practices dispersed in the field. From this field-theoretic perspective, behavioural change requires the disruption of existing relations of harmony between the habitus of agents, the fields within which the practices are enacted and the capitals that inform and enforce the mores and regularities of the fields. The three-dimensional model can be explored at: http://relational-health.ca/margins-freedom. © 2017 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

  19. Marketing of petroleum from fields with marginal accumulations in Brazil; Comercializacao de petroleo em campos com acumulacoes marginais no Brasil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodrigues, Jefferson

    2009-07-01

    The continuous work and collaborative efforts that are being developed to overcome obstacles regarding the marketing of oil produced in fields with marginal accumulations is described.It is also described the difficulties in overcoming adverse factors such as reduced production of fields, lack of infrastructure and inadequate facilities. Also to be dealt with is the question that involves all small and medium-sized producers, with the presentation of the commercial situation of oil production. There will be described all processes required for marketing of production. Advances in the sector will be raised and discussed, as well as limitations on the procedure for the sale of oil. Possible actions and suggestions arising from the Brazilian experience in the period will be mentioned, aimed at improving prospects for the sector of fields with marginal accumulations. (author)

  20. Productivity of organic and conventional arable cropping systems in long-term experiments in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shah, Ambreen; Askegaard, Margrethe; Rasmussen, Ilse Ankjær

    2017-01-01

    manure there was a tendency for increased DM yield over time at all sites, whereas little response was seen in N yield. In the O4 rotation DM and N yields tended to increase at Foulum over time, but there was little change at Flakkebjerg. The DM yield gap between organic and conventional systems in the 3......A field experiment comparing different arable crop rotations was conducted in Denmark during 1997–2008 on three sites varying in climatic conditions and soil types, i.e. coarse sand (Jyndevand), loamy sand (Foulum), and sandy loam (Flakkebjerg). The crop rotations followed organic farm management......, and from 2005 also conventional management was included for comparison. Three experimental factors were included in the experiment in a factorial design: 1) crop rotation (organic crop rotations varying in use of whole-year green manure (O1 and O2 with a whole-year green manure, and O4 without...

  1. Restoration of species-rich grasslands on ex-arable land: Seed addition outweighs soil fertility reduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kardol, P.; Van der Wal, A.; Bezemer, T.M.; De Boer, W.; Duyts, H.; Holtkamp, R.; Van der Putten, W.H.

    2008-01-01

    A common practice in biodiversity conservation is restoration of former species-rich grassland on ex-arable land. Major constraints for grassland restoration are high soil fertility and limited dispersal ability of plant species to target sites. Usually, studies focus on soil fertility or on methods

  2. Soil structure and earthworm activity in an marine silt loam under pasture versus arable land

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jongmans, A.G.; Pulleman, M.M.; Marinissen, J.C.Y.

    2001-01-01

    Agricultural management influences soil organic matter (SOM) and earthworm activity which interact with soil structure. We aimed to describe the change in earthworm activity and related soil (micro)structure and SOM in a loamy Eutrodept as affected by permanent pasture (PP) and conventional arable

  3. The assessment of water vapour and carbon dioxide fluxes above arable crops - a comparison of methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schaaf, S.; Daemmgen, U.; Burkart, S. [Federal Agricultural Research Centre, Inst. of Agroecology, Braunschweig (Germany); Gruenhage, L. [Justus-Liebig-Univ., Inst. for Plant Ecology, Giessen (Germany)

    2005-04-01

    Vertical fluxes of water vapour and carbon dioxide obtained from gradient, eddy covariance (closed and open path systems) and chamber measurements above arable crops were compared with the directly measured energy balance and the harvested net biomass carbon. The gradient and chamber measurements were in the correct order of magnitude, whereas the closed path eddy covariance system showed unacceptably small fluxes. Correction methods based on power spectra analysis yielded increased fluxes. However, the energy balance could not be closed satisfactorily. The application of the open path system proved to be successful. The SVAT model PLATIN which had been adapted to various arable crops was able to depict the components of the energy balance adequately. Net carbon fluxes determined with the corrected closed path data sets, chamber, and SVAT model equal those of the harvested carbon. (orig.)

  4. Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Forces of Arable Land-Use Intensity in China: Toward Sustainable Land Management Using Emergy Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hualin Xie

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The level of arable land-use intensity has important impacts on food security and rural sustainable development. Using the emergy method, we investigate the spatial disparities and driving forces of arable land-use intensity in China from 1999 to 2008 at the national, regional and provincial levels. The empirical results show that chemical fertilizer was the largest component of agricultural inputs and that agricultural diesel oil recorded the highest growth rate. The degree of heterogeneities in arable land-use intensity in China showed a decreasing trend, which resulted mainly from the differences among the eastern, northeastern, central and western regions. The regional disparities in labor, pesticides and plastic sheeting decreased from 1999 to 2008. The per capita annual net incomes of household operations and the agricultural policies had a significant positive correlation with total inputs, fertilizer inputs, pesticide inputs and agricultural plastic sheeting. In addition, the nonagricultural population had a greater impact on agricultural plastic sheeting. Finally, we suggest that there is an urgent need to focus on the effects of chemical fertilizer and pesticide inputs on the ecological environment. Agricultural support policies should be introduced for the poor agricultural production provinces.

  5. Direct and Indirect Short-term Effects of Biochar on Physical Characteristics of an Arable Sandy Loam

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sun, Zhencai; Moldrup, Per; Elsgaard, Lars

    2013-01-01

    Biochar addition to agricultural soil is reported in several studies to reduce climate gas emissions, boost carbon storage, and improve soil fertility and crop productivity. These effects may be partly related to soil physical changes resulting from biochar amendment, but knowledge of how biochar...... application mechanistically affects soil physical characteristics is limited. This study investigated the effect of biochar application on soil structural and functional properties, including specific surface area, water retention, and gas transport parameters. Intact soil cores were taken from a field...... experiment on an arable sandy loam that included four reference plots without biochar and four plots with 20 tons ha(-1) biochar incorporated into the upper 20 cm 7 months before sampling. Water retention was measured at matric potentials ranging from wet (pF 1.0) to extremely dry conditions (pF similar to 6...

  6. Variability in the Water Footprint of Arable Crop Production across European Regions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gobin, A.; Kersebaum, K. C.; Eitzinger, Josef; Trnka, Miroslav; Hlavinka, Petr; Takáč, J.; Kroes, J.; Ventrella, D.; Dalla Marta, A.; Deelstra, J.; Lalic, B.; Nejedlík, P.; Orlandini, S.; Peltonen-Sainio, P.; Rajala, A.; Saue, T.; Saylan, L.; Stricevic, R.; Vucetic, V.; Zoumides, C.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 9, č. 2 (2017), č. článku 93. ISSN 2073-4441 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1415; GA MŠk(CZ) LD13030 Institutional support: RVO:86652079 Keywords : simulate yield response * climate - change * virtual water * impact * green * model * blue * agriculture * irrigation * reduction * water footprint * arable crops * cereals * Europe * crop water use * yield Subject RIV: DA - Hydrology ; Limnology OBOR OECD: Water resources Impact factor: 1.832, year: 2016

  7. Marginally bound resonances of charged massive scalar fields in the background of a charged reflecting shell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hod, Shahar, E-mail: shaharhod@gmail.com [The Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer 40250 (Israel); The Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem 91010 (Israel)

    2017-05-10

    We study analytically the characteristic resonance spectrum of charged massive scalar fields linearly coupled to a spherically symmetric charged reflecting shell. In particular, we use analytical techniques in order to solve the Klein–Gordon wave equation for the composed charged-shell–charged-massive-scalar-field system. Interestingly, it is proved that the resonant oscillation frequencies of this composed physical system are determined by the characteristic zeroes of the confluent hypergeometric function. Following this observation, we derive a remarkably compact analytical formula for the resonant oscillation frequencies which characterize the marginally-bound charged massive scalar field configurations. The analytically derived resonance spectrum is confirmed by numerical computations.

  8. Wettability, soil organic matter and structure-properties of typical chernozems under the forest and under the arable land

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bykova, Galina; Umarova, Aminat; Tyugai, Zemfira; Milanovskiy, Evgeny; Shein, Evgeny

    2017-04-01

    Intensive tillage affects the properties of soil: decrease in content of soil organic matter and in hydrophobicity of the soil's solid phase, the reduction of amount of water stable aggregates - all this leads to deterioration of the structure of the soil and affects the process of movement of moisture in the soil profile. One of the hypotheses of soil's structure formation ascribes the formation of water stable aggregates with the presence of hydrophobic organic substances on the surface of the soil's solid phase. The aim of this work is to study the effect of tillage on properties of typical chernozems (pachic Voronic Chernozems, Haplic Chernozems) (Russia, Kursk region), located under the forest and under the arable land. The determination of soil-water contact angle was performed by a Drop Shape Analyzer DSA100 (Krüss GmbH, Germany) by the static sessile drop method. For all samples the content of total and organic carbon by dry combustion in oxygen flow and the particle size distribution by the laser diffraction method on the device Analysette 22 comfort, FRITCH, Germany were determined. The estimation of aggregate composition was performed by dry sieving (AS 200, Retsch, Germany), the content of water stable aggregates was estimated by the Savvinov method. There was a positive correlation between the content of organic matter and soil's wettability in studied soils, a growth of contact angle with the increasing the content of organic matter. Under the forest the content of soil organic matter was changed from 6,41% on the surface up to 1,9% at the depth of 100 cm. In the Chernozem under the arable land the organic carbon content in arable horizon is almost two times less. The maximum of hydrophobicity (78.1o) was observed at the depth of 5 cm under the forest. In the profile under the arable land the contact angle value at the same depth was 50o. The results of the structure analysis has shown a decrease in the content of agronomically valuable and water

  9. Insights into crustal structure of the Eastern North American Margin from community multichannel seismic and potential field data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, J. K.; Becel, A.; Shillington, D. J.; Buck, W. R.

    2017-12-01

    In the fall of 2014, the R/V Marcus Langseth collected gravity, magnetic, and reflection seismic data as part of the Eastern North American Margin Community Seismic Experiment. The dataset covers a 500 km wide section of the Mid-Atlantic passive margin offshore North Carolina, which formed after the Mesozoic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea. Using these seismic and potential field data, we present observations and interpretations along two cross margin and one along-margin profiles. Analyses and interpretations are conducted using pre-stack depth migrated reflection seismic profiles in conjunction with forward modeling of shipboard gravity and magnetic anomalies. Preliminary interpretations of the data reveal variations in basement character and structure across the entire transition between continental and oceanic domains. These interpretations help provide insight into the origin and nature of the prominent East Coast and Blake Spur magnetic anomalies, as well as the Inner Magnetic Quiet Zone which occupies the domain between the anomalies. Collectively, these observations can aid in deciphering the rift-to-drift transition during the breakup of North America and West Africa and formation of the Central Atlantic.

  10. Assessing biodiversity in arable farmland by means of indicators: an overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bockstaller Christian

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Maintaining biodiversity is one of the key issues of sustainable agriculture. It is now stated that innovation to enhance biodiversity in arable land requires operational assessment tools like indicators. The goal of the article is to provide an overview of available indicators. Besides measured indicators and simple indicators based on management data, we focus on predictive indicators derived from operational models and adapted to ex ante assessment in innovative cropping design. The possibility of use for each indicator type is discussed.

  11. Modelling soil organic carbon concentration of mineral soils in arable lands using legacy soil data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Suuster, E; Ritz, Christian; Roostalu, H

    2012-01-01

    is appropriate if the study design has a hierarchical structure as in our scenario. We used the Estonian National Soil Monitoring data on arable lands to predict SOC concentrations of mineral soils. Subsequently, the model with the best prediction accuracy was applied to the Estonian digital soil map...

  12. Assessment of various practices of the mitigation of N2O emissions from the arable soils of Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sosulski Tomasz

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This review assesses the adaptability and effectiveness of the basic practices to mitigate the N2O emissions from the arable land in the climate, soil and agricultural conditions of Poland. We have analyzed the decrease in the nitrogen-based fertilization, selection of the fertilizer nitrogen forms, use of biological inhibitors of nitrogen transformation in the soil, control of the acidic soil reaction, reduction in the natural fertilizers use and afforestation of the low productive soils. The challenge evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation practices lies in the inadequacy of the national data on N2O soil emissions in particular agrotechnical conditions. In Poland, circumstances that favor intensive N2O emissions from the arable soils occur uncommonly, as shows the analysis of the literature reporting on the country climate, soil and agricultural conditions alongside the N2O emissions from soils under various cultivation conditions. Consequently, the effectiveness of mitigation practices that relies on an extensification of plant production may be insufficient. It can be assumed that, at the doses of nitrogen fitting the nutritional needs of crops, the soil N2O emissions are low and do not meaningfully differ from the emissions from untreated soils (literature data point to limited N2O emission from arable soils treated with N doses of ≤150-200 kg N·ha-1. The effectiveness of the nitrogen fertilization reduction as an N2O emissions mitigation practice is restricted to intensive farming. A universal registry of the mineral and natural fertilization use could help identify the agricultural holdings with a potential for high N2O emission and foster a targeted application of mitigation practices. It is suggested that normalization and maintenance of the optimum (i.e. close to neutral soil pH should become a more common practice of N2O emissions mitigation in Poland in view of the extent of arable soils acidification and the literature data

  13. Landscape history and archaeology of open field landscapes in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Renes, J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/071365303

    2016-01-01

    The landscapes of open fields were the grain baskets of medieval Europe. The term ‘open fields’ refers to the large arable fields that have an open character because the individual parcels of the owners were not surrounded by hedges, woodbanks, drystone walls or other visible boundaries. In this

  14. Manual for prototyping integrated and ecological arable farming systems (I/EAFS) in interaction with pilot farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vereijken, P.

    1999-01-01

    A manual for prototyping Integrated and Ecological Arable Farming Systems (I/EAFS) in interaction with pilot farms is presented. It concerns a comprehensive and consistent approach of 5 steps. Step 1 is establishing a hierarchy of objectives considering the shortcomings of current farming systems in

  15. European Perspectives on the Adoption of Nonchemical Weed Management in Reduced-Tillage Systems for Arable Crops

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Melander, B.; Munier-Jolain, N.M.; Charles, R.; Wirth, J.; Schwarz, J.; Weide, van der R.Y.; Bonin, L.; Jensen, P.K.; Kudsk, P.K.

    2013-01-01

    Noninversion tillage with tine- or disc-based cultivations prior to crop establishment is the most common way of reducing tillage for arable cropping systems with small grain cereals, oilseed rape, and maize in Europe. However, new regulations on pesticide use might hinder further expansion of

  16. Type 'A' and 'B' recovery revisited: The role of field-edge habitats for Collembola and macroarthropod community recovery after insecticide treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frampton, Geoff K.; Gould, Philip J.L.; Brink, Paul J. van den; Hendy, Eleanor

    2007-01-01

    Previous work has identified two patterns of arthropod recovery after insecticide applications to arable crops: dispersal-mediated recolonisation from untreated areas (Type A) and recolonisation within treated areas assisted by reduced predation (Type B). In this study, connectivity between field-edge habitats was manipulated using barriers to investigate whether a crop edge and adjacent hedgerow influence recolonisation of an insecticide-treated crop by surface-active Collembola and other arthropods. Collembola recovery patterns differed among closely-related taxa. Epigeic collembolan and macroarthropod communities were more diverse and abundant, and rates of artificial prey predation were higher, in sprayed crop areas connected to both hedgerow and unsprayed crop edge than in sprayed areas connected to the unsprayed edge alone. These findings indicate that effectiveness of unsprayed crop edges as sources of field recolonisation may depend on adjoining field margin habitats. An assumption in risk assessment that unsprayed crop edges assist population recovery within treated areas is not supported. - Collembola recolonisation differs among species; effectiveness of unsprayed crop edges as sources of arthropod recolonisation may depend on adjacent habitat

  17. Post-dispersal seed predation of woody forest species limits recolonization of forest plantations on ex-arable land

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bruun, Hans Henrik; Valtinat, Karin; Kollmann, Johannes

    2010-01-01

    be differences in recruitment. The present study addresses post-dispersal seed predation, mainly of woody plants, as the factor limiting the recolonization of young oak plantations in southern Sweden. Our objectives were to investigate differences in dispersal and post-dispersal seed predation between first......, the colonization of forest plantations by native shrubs and trees appears to be habitat-limited; the only exception being Rhamnus catharticus, for which poor dispersal ability may be more important. Post-dispersal seed predation of forest shrubs and trees was marked, especially in relatively small and isolated...... plantations on ex-arable land. There was a high seed predation of Crataegus monogyna, Sorbus aucuparia and Viburnum opulus on ex-arable land, while that of Frangula alnus and Sambucus racemosa was not associated with site placement and land-use history. Seed predation is probably a more important factor...

  18. European Perspectives on the Adoption of Nonchemical Weed Management in Reduced -Tillage Systems for Arable Crops

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Melander, Bo; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas; Charles, Raphaël

    2013-01-01

    Non-inversion tillage with tine or disc based cultivations prior to crop establishment is the most common way of reducing tillage for arable cropping systems with small grain cereals, oilseed rape and maize in Europe. However, new regulations on pesticide use may hinder further expansion of reduc...

  19. Growth rate of Heterobasidion annosum in Picea abies established on forest land and arable land

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bendz-Hellgren, M.; Johansson, Martin; Swedjemark, G.; Stenlid, J. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Forest Mycology and Pathology; Brandtberg, P.O. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Research

    1999-07-01

    The growth rates of Heterobasidion annosum in Norway spruce were investigated in southern Sweden. In one study, stump and tree roots in stands established on previous forest or arable land were inoculated with H. annosum-infested sawdust. After 1-3 yrs, the linear extent of colonization by the fungus was measured, based on detection of its conidiophores on incubated samples. The average growth rate was 25 cm yr{sup -1} in stump roots and 9 cm yr{sup -1} in tree roots, neither of which differed significantly between forest and arable land. The feeling of a decayed tree could enhance the spread of H. annosum within root systems. In the second study, the height of discoloration and extent of colonization by H. annosum, measured as above, were assessed in naturally infected trees. On average, discoloration moved through the roots and stem at a rate of 36 cm yr{sup -1}. Heterobasidion annosum was found 60 cm in advance of the discoloration, corresponding to a growth rate of 52 cm yr{sup -1}.

  20. Spatial Heterogeneity of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Its Temporal Course on Arable Land: Combining Field Measurements, Remote Sensing and Simulation in a Comprehensive Data Analysis Approach (CDAA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korres, Wolfgang; Montzka, Carsten; Fiener, Peter; Wilken, Florian; Stadler, Anja; Waldhoff, Guido; Schneider, Karl

    2016-01-01

    The ratio of leaf area to ground area (leaf area index, LAI) is an important state variable in ecosystem studies since it influences fluxes of matter and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. As a basis for generating temporally continuous and spatially distributed datasets of LAI, the current study contributes an analysis of its spatial variability and spatial structure. Soil-vegetation-atmosphere fluxes of water, carbon and energy are nonlinearly related to LAI. Therefore, its spatial heterogeneity, i.e., the combination of spatial variability and structure, has an effect on simulations of these fluxes. To assess LAI spatial heterogeneity, we apply a Comprehensive Data Analysis Approach that combines data from remote sensing (5 m resolution) and simulation (150 m resolution) with field measurements and a detailed land use map. Test area is the arable land in the fertile loess plain of the Rur catchment on the Germany-Belgium-Netherlands border. LAI from remote sensing and simulation compares well with field measurements. Based on the simulation results, we describe characteristic crop-specific temporal patterns of LAI spatial variability. By means of these patterns, we explain the complex multimodal frequency distributions of LAI in the remote sensing data. In the test area, variability between agricultural fields is higher than within fields. Therefore, spatial resolutions less than the 5 m of the remote sensing scenes are sufficient to infer LAI spatial variability. Frequency distributions from the simulation agree better with the multimodal distributions from remote sensing than normal distributions do. The spatial structure of LAI in the test area is dominated by a short distance referring to field sizes. Longer distances that refer to soil and weather can only be derived from remote sensing data. Therefore, simulations alone are not sufficient to characterize LAI spatial structure. It can be concluded that a comprehensive picture of LAI spatial

  1. The Use of Organic vs. Chemical Fertilizer with a Mineral Losses Tax: The Case of Dutch Arable Farmers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Feinerman, E.; Komen, M.H.C.

    2005-01-01

    The paper focuses on farm-level nitrogen fertilization strategies of Dutch arable farmers for analyzing the substitution of organic fertilizers (manure) with chemical fertilizers. The model developed investigates the impact of the major parameters affecting the inferiority of manure compared with

  2. Type 'A' and 'B' recovery revisited: The role of field-edge habitats for Collembola and macroarthropod community recovery after insecticide treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frampton, Geoff K. [Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton SO16 7PX (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: gkf@soton.ac.uk; Gould, Philip J.L. [Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton SO16 7PX (United Kingdom); Brink, Paul J. van den [Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen (Netherlands); Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen (Netherlands); Hendy, Eleanor [Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton SO16 7PX (United Kingdom)

    2007-02-15

    Previous work has identified two patterns of arthropod recovery after insecticide applications to arable crops: dispersal-mediated recolonisation from untreated areas (Type A) and recolonisation within treated areas assisted by reduced predation (Type B). In this study, connectivity between field-edge habitats was manipulated using barriers to investigate whether a crop edge and adjacent hedgerow influence recolonisation of an insecticide-treated crop by surface-active Collembola and other arthropods. Collembola recovery patterns differed among closely-related taxa. Epigeic collembolan and macroarthropod communities were more diverse and abundant, and rates of artificial prey predation were higher, in sprayed crop areas connected to both hedgerow and unsprayed crop edge than in sprayed areas connected to the unsprayed edge alone. These findings indicate that effectiveness of unsprayed crop edges as sources of field recolonisation may depend on adjoining field margin habitats. An assumption in risk assessment that unsprayed crop edges assist population recovery within treated areas is not supported. - Collembola recolonisation differs among species; effectiveness of unsprayed crop edges as sources of arthropod recolonisation may depend on adjacent habitat.

  3. Vertical migration of 85Sr, 137Cs and 131I in various arable and undisturbed soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palagyi, S.; Palagyiova, J.

    2002-01-01

    Vertical migration of 85 Sr, 137 Cs and 131 I in some arable and undisturbed single-contaminated soils was studied by gamma-spectrometry measurements in lysimetric laboratory conditions applying irrigation of the soil profiles with wet atmospheric precipitation for about one year (except radioiodine). A new simple exponential compartment (box) model was derived, allowing us to calculate the migration rate constants and migration rates in the individual soil layers (vertical sections) as well as the total vertical migration rate constants and total vertical migration rates of radionuclides in the bulk soil horizon. The data from the time dependence of the depth activity distribution (radionuclide concentration along the vertical soil profile) were used to test the model. The migration rate constants and migration rates were found to be affected by the contaminating radionuclides as well as by the site, type and depth of the soil. The relaxation times of the radionuclides in the soil horizons were calculated. The effects on the rate parameters of the permanent grass cover and the zeolite applied onto the arable soil surfaces were also investigated

  4. Influence of long-term land use (arable and forest) and soil mineralogy on organic carbon stocks as well as composition and stability of soil organic matter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaiser, M.; Ellerbrock, R. H.; Wulf, M.; Dultz, S.; Hierath, C.; Sommer, M.

    2009-04-01

    The function of soils to sequester organic carbon (OC) and their related potential to mitigate the greenhouse effect is strongly affected by land use and soil mineralogy. This study is aimed to clarify long-term impacts of arable and forest land use as well as soil mineralogy on topsoil soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks as well as soil organic matter (SOM) composition and stability. Topsoil samples were taken from deciduous forest and adjacent arable sites (within Germany) that are continuously used for more than 100 years. The soils are different in genesis (Albic and Haplic Luvisol (AL, HL), Colluvic and Haplic Regosol (CR, HR), Haplic and Vertic Cambisol (HC, VC), Haplic Stagnosol (HSt)). First, particulate and water soluble organic matter were separated from the topsoil samples (Ap and Ah horizons). From the remaining solid extraction residues the Na-pyrophosphate soluble organic matter fractions (OM(PY)) were extracted, analysed for its OC content (OC(PY)) and characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and 14C analyses. The SOC stocks calculated for 0-40 cm depth are in general larger for the forest as compared to the adjacent arable soils (except VC). The largest difference between forest and arable topsoils was detected for the HR site (5.9 kg m-2) and seemed to be caused by a two times larger stock of exchangeable Ca of the forest topsoil. For the arable topsoils multiple regression analyses indicate a strong influence of clay, oxalate soluble Al and pyrophosphate soluble Mg on the content of OC(PY) weighted with its C=O content. Such relation is not found for the forest topsoils. Further, a positive relation between Δ14C values of OM(PY) and the following independent variables: (i) specific mineral surface area, (ii) relative C=O group content in OM(PY) and (iii) soil pH is found for the arable topsoils (pH 6.7 - 7.5) suggesting an increase in OM(PY) stability with increasing interactions between OM(PY) and soil mineral surfaces via cation bridging. A similar

  5. Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lechenet, Martin; Dessaint, Fabrice; Py, Guillaume; Makowski, David; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas

    2017-03-01

    Achieving sustainable crop production while feeding an increasing world population is one of the most ambitious challenges of this century 1 . Meeting this challenge will necessarily imply a drastic reduction of adverse environmental effects arising from agricultural activities 2 . The reduction of pesticide use is one of the critical drivers to preserve the environment and human health. Pesticide use could be reduced through the adoption of new production strategies 3-5 ; however, whether substantial reductions of pesticide use are possible without impacting crop productivity and profitability is debatable 6-17 . Here, we demonstrated that low pesticide use rarely decreases productivity and profitability in arable farms. We analysed the potential conflicts between pesticide use and productivity or profitability with data from 946 non-organic arable commercial farms showing contrasting levels of pesticide use and covering a wide range of production situations in France. We failed to detect any conflict between low pesticide use and both high productivity and high profitability in 77% of the farms. We estimated that total pesticide use could be reduced by 42% without any negative effects on both productivity and profitability in 59% of farms from our national network. This corresponded to an average reduction of 37, 47 and 60% of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use, respectively. The potential for reducing pesticide use appeared higher in farms with currently high pesticide use than in farms with low pesticide use. Our results demonstrate that pesticide reduction is already accessible to farmers in most production situations. This would imply profound changes in market organization and trade balance.

  6. Heavy Metals Technogenic Pollution of Plough Lands Arable Layer in the Chelyabinsk Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantorova, G. F.

    2017-11-01

    Environmental protection and rational use of natural resources in agriculture are the main directions of this scientific research. Contamination is caused by the substances of chemical, radiation and biological origin above the maximum permissible concentration (MPC). The main source of soil contamination in the arable land, hayfields and pastures is the waste of livestock complexes, agricultural chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides), motor vehicle exhausts, industrial emissions, sewage from settlements, etc. The ecological state of the soil and vegetation cover is largely determined by agricultural activities. The agricultural production technology complicating is accompanied by increase in the degree of environmental risk, especially in the chemicalization of agriculture. Pollution also enters the soil with atmospheric precipitation, surface waste. They are also introduced into the soil layer by soil and groundwater. The most dangerous for human health is considered to be contamination with heavy metals (HM)-lead, mercury and cadmium. However, the concentration of the rest elements is no less harmful. The paradox of heavy metals is that in certain quantities they are necessary to ensure the normal life of plants and organisms but their excess can lead to serious diseases and even death. A nutritional cycle causes harmful compounds to enter the human body and often cause great harm to health. The present work reveals the results of the research of a long-term experience on accumulation and distribution of heavy metals on the arable layer profile depending on the concentration in humus soil and the system of ground processing.

  7. Earthworms influenced by reduced tillage, conventional tillage and energy forest in Swedish agricultural field experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lagerloef, Jan (SLU, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden)), Email: Jan.Lagerlof@ekol.slu.se; Paalsson, Olof; Arvidsson, Johan (SLU, Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden))

    2012-03-15

    We compared earthworm density, depth distribution and species composition in three soil cultivation experiments including the treatments ploughless tillage and mouldboard ploughing. Sampling was done in September 2005 and for one experiment also in 1994. By yearly sampling 1995-2005, earthworms in an energy forest of Salix viminalis were compared with those in an adjacent arable field. Sampling method was digging of soil blocks and hand sorting and formalin sampling in one cultivation experiment. Both methods were used in the energy forest and arable land comparison. In two soil cultivation experiments, highest abundances or biomass were found in ploughless tillage. Earthworm density was higher in the upper 10 cm, especially in the ploughless tillage. Earthworm density was significantly higher in the energy forest than in the arable field. Formalin sampling revealed c. 36% of the earthworm numbers found by digging in the energy forest and gave almost no earthworms in the arable field. In all treatments with soil cultivation, species living and feeding in the rhizosphere and soil dominated. One such species, Allolobophora chlorotica, was more abundant under mouldboard ploughing than ploughless tillage. Lumbricus terrestris, browsing on the surface and producing deep vertical burrows, was more common in the ploughless tillage. Species living and feeding close to the soil surface were almost only found in the energy forest, which had not been soil cultivated since 1984. The findings support earlier studies pointing out possibilities to encourage earthworms by reduced soil cultivation. This is one of the first published studies that followed earthworm populations in an energy forest plantation during several years. Explanation of earthworm reactions to management and environmental impacts should be done with consideration of the ecology of species or species groups. Earthworm sampling by formalin must always be interpreted with caution and calibrated by digging and

  8. Tile-Level Annotation of Satellite Images Using Multi-Level Max-Margin Discriminative Random Field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Sun

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a multi-level max-margin discriminative analysis (M3DA framework, which takes both coarse and fine semantics into consideration, for the annotation of high-resolution satellite images. In order to generate more discriminative topic-level features, the M3DA uses the maximum entropy discrimination latent Dirichlet Allocation (MedLDA model. Moreover, for improving the spatial coherence of visual words neglected by M3DA, conditional random field (CRF is employed to optimize the soft label field composed of multiple label posteriors. The framework of M3DA enables one to combine word-level features (generated by support vector machines and topic-level features (generated by MedLDA via the bag-of-words representation. The experimental results on high-resolution satellite images have demonstrated that, using the proposed method can not only obtain suitable semantic interpretation, but also improve the annotation performance by taking into account the multi-level semantics and the contextual information.

  9. Water balance in afforestation chronosequences of common oak and Norway spruce on former arable land in Denmark and southern Sweden

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rosenqvist, L.; Hansen, K.; Vesterdal, L.; Salm, van der C.

    2010-01-01

    Precipitation, throughfall and soil moisture were measured, and interception, transpiration and water recharge were estimated in four afforestation chronosequences on former arable land at two Danish locations (Vestskoven and Gejlvang) and at one southern Swedish location (Tonnersjoheden).

  10. Response of rhizosphere microbial community structure and diversity to heavy metal co-pollution in arable soil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Linjing; Zeng, Guangming; Fan, Changzheng; Lu, Lunhui; Chen, Xunfeng; Chen, Ming; Wu, Haipeng; He, Xiaoxiao; He, Yan

    2015-10-01

    Due to the emerging environmental issues related to heavy metals, concern about the soil quality of farming lands near manufacturing district is increasing. Investigating the function of soil microorganisms exposed to long-term heavy metal contamination is meaningful and important for agricultural soil utilization. This article studied the potential influence of several heavy metals on microbial biomass, activity, abundance, and community composition in arable soil near industrial estate in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, China. The results showed that soil organic contents (SOC) were significantly positive correlated with heavy metals, whereas dehydrogenase activity (DHA) was greatly depressed by the heavy metal stress. Negative correlation was found between heavy metals and basal soil respiration (BSR), and no correlation was found between heavy metals and microbial biomass content (MBC). The quantitative PCR (QPCR) and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analysis could suggest that heavy metal pollution has significantly decreased abundance of bacteria and fungi and also changed their community structure. The results could contribute to evaluate heavy metal pollution level in soil. By combining different environmental parameters, it would promote the better understanding of heavy metal effect on the size, structure, and activity of microbial community in arable soil.

  11. Integrated crop protection and environment exposure to pesticides: methods to reduce use and impact of pesticides in arable farming

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijnands, F.G.

    1997-01-01

    Prototypes of Integrated Farming Systems for arable farming are being developed in the Netherlands based on a coherent methodology elaborated in an European Union concerted action. The role of crop protection in Integrated systems is, additional to all other methods, to efficiently control the

  12. VARIABILITY OF ARABLE AND FOREST SOILS PROPERTIES ON ERODED SLOPES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paweł Wiśniewski

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The basic method of reducing soil and land erosion is a change of land use, for example, from arable to forest. Particularly effective as a protective role – according to the Polish law – soil-protecting forests. The thesis presents differences in the deformation of the basic soil properties on moraine slopes, depending on land use. There has been presented the function and the efficiency of the soil-protecting forests in erosion control. The soil cross section transects and soil analysis displayed that soil-protecting forests are making an essential soil cover protection from degradation, inter alia, limiting the decrease of humus content, reduction of upper soil horizons and soil pedons layer. On the afforested slopes it was stated some clear changes of grain size and chemical properties of soils in relation to adjacent slopes agriculturally used.

  13. Patterns of failure for glioblastoma multiforme following limited-margin radiation and concurrent temozolomide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gebhardt, Brian J; Dobelbower, Michael C; Ennis, William H; Bag, Asim K; Markert, James M; Fiveash, John B

    2014-01-01

    To analyze patterns of failure in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treated with limited-margin radiation therapy and concurrent temozolomide. We hypothesize that patients treated with margins in accordance with Adult Brain Tumor Consortium guidelines (ABTC) will demonstrate patterns of failure consistent with previous series of patients treated with 2–3 cm margins. A retrospective review was performed of patients treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for GBM between 2000 and 2011. Ninety-five patients with biopsy-proven disease and documented disease progression after treatment were analyzed. The initial planning target volume includes the T1-enhancing tumor and surrounding edema plus a 1 cm margin. The boost planning target volume includes the T1-enhancing tumor plus a 1 cm margin. The tumors were classified as in-field, marginal, or distant if greater than 80%, 20-80%, or less than 20% of the recurrent volume fell within the 95% isodose line, respectively. The median progression-free survival from the time of diagnosis to documented failure was 8 months (range 3–46). Of the 95 documented recurrences, 77 patients (81%) had an in-field component of treatment failure, 6 (6%) had a marginal component, and 27 (28%) had a distant component. Sixty-three patients (66%) demonstrated in-field only recurrence. The low rate of marginal recurrence suggests that wider margins would have little impact on the pattern of failure, validating the use of limited margins in accordance ABTC guidelines

  14. Evaluation of mitigation strategies to reduce ammonia losses from slurry fertilisation on arable lands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carozzi, M., E-mail: marco.carozzi@unimi.it [University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan (Italy); Ferrara, R.M.; Rana, G. [Consiglio per la Ricerca e sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Research Unit for Cropping Systems in Dry Environments, via C. Ulpiani, 5 – 70125 Bari (Italy); Acutis, M. [University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan (Italy)

    2013-04-01

    To evaluate the best practices in reducing ammonia (NH{sub 3}) losses from fertilised arable lands, six field trials were carried out in three different locations in northern Italy. NH{sub 3} emissions from cattle slurry were estimated considering the spreading techniques and the field incorporation procedures. The measurements were performed using long term exposure samplers associated to the determination of the atmospheric turbulence and the use of the backward Lagrangian stochastic (bLS) model WindTrax. The results obtained indicate that the NH{sub 3} emission process was exhausted in the first 24–48 h after slurry spreading. The slurry incorporation technique was able to reduce the NH{sub 3} losses with respect to the surface spreading, where a contextual incorporation led to reductions up to 87%. However, the best abatement strategy for NH{sub 3} losses from slurry applications has proved to be the direct injection into the soil, with a reduction of about 95% with respect to the surface spreading. The results obtained highlight the strong dependence of the volatilisation phenomenon by soil and weather conditions. - Highlights: ► Ammonia emissions from land-application of slurry were quantified. ► We examined and compared six different agronomic treatments in three locations. ► The faster was the soil-incorporation of slurry, the lower was the ammonia loss. ► The direct injection of slurry was found to be the best abatement strategy. ► The environmental factors were able to strongly influence the ammonia emission.

  15. Ecological Intensification Through Pesticide Reduction: Weed Control, Weed Biodiversity and Sustainability in Arable Farming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petit, Sandrine; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas; Bretagnolle, Vincent; Bockstaller, Christian; Gaba, Sabrina; Cordeau, Stéphane; Lechenet, Martin; Mézière, Delphine; Colbach, Nathalie

    2015-11-01

    Amongst the biodiversity components of agriculture, weeds are an interesting model for exploring management options relying on the principle of ecological intensification in arable farming. Weeds can cause severe crop yield losses, contribute to farmland functional biodiversity and are strongly associated with the generic issue of pesticide use. In this paper, we address the impacts of herbicide reduction following a causal framework starting with herbicide reduction and triggering changes in (i) the management options required to control weeds, (ii) the weed communities and functions they provide and (iii) the overall performance and sustainability of the implemented land management options. The three components of this framework were analysed in a multidisciplinary project that was conducted on 55 experimental and farmer's fields that included conventional, integrated and organic cropping systems. Our results indicate that the reduction of herbicide use is not antagonistic with crop production, provided that alternative practices are put into place. Herbicide reduction and associated land management modified the composition of in-field weed communities and thus the functions of weeds related to biodiversity and production. Through a long-term simulation of weed communities based on alternative (?) cropping systems, some specific management pathways were identified that delivered high biodiversity gains and limited the negative impacts of weeds on crop production. Finally, the multi-criteria assessment of the environmental, economic and societal sustainability of the 55 systems suggests that integrated weed management systems fared better than their conventional and organic counterparts. These outcomes suggest that sustainable management could possibly be achieved through changes in weed management, along a pathway starting with herbicide reduction.

  16. Dynamics of the agrochemical fertility parameters of arable soils in the southwestern region of Central Chernozemic zone of Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukin, S. V.

    2017-11-01

    Data of the agrochemical survey of arable soils in Belgorod oblast during the period from 1964 to 2014 have been analyzed. The soil cover mainly consists of typical chernozems (Haplic Chernozems) and leached chernozems (Luvic Chernozems) in the forest-steppe zone and ordinary chernozems (Calcic Chernozems) in the steppe zone. Under long-term agricultural use (from 1964 to 2014), the content of mobile phosphorus in arable soils of the region under study has increased from 55 to 137 mg/kg, and the content of mobile potassium has increased from 105 to 147 mg/kg. During the period of 1976-2014, the share of acid soils has increased from 22.8 to 45.8%, including medium-acid soils from 1.5 to 12.6%. No significant changes in the weighted average content of soil organic matter are revealed for the period from 1985 to 2014. The value of this parameter is within the range of 4.8-5.0%. In the 2010-2014, 95.0% of arable soils belonged to the category of low supplied with mobile sulfur; 99.2, 96.9, 94.1, and 54.4% of soils were poorly supplied with zinc, copper, cobalt, and manganese, respectively. During the same period, the maximum average productivity of the crop area (3710 f. u./ha) was noted at the application of 4.8 t/ha organic fertilizers and 97.9 kg/ha organic fertilizers on the average. The maximum long-term yields of sugar beet (36.8 t/ha) and corn grain (4.97 t/ha) were obtained at the application of relatively low fertilizer rates.

  17. Mental Depreciation and Marginal Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heath; Fennema

    1996-11-01

    We propose that individuals practice "mental depreciation," that is, they implicitly spread the fixed costs of their expenses over time or use. Two studies explore how people spread fixed costs on durable goods. A third study shows that depreciation can lead to two distinct errors in marginal decisions: First, people sometimes invest too much effort to get their money's worth from an expense (e.g., they may use a product a lot to spread the fixed expense across more uses). Second, people sometimes invest too little effort to get their money's worth: When people add a portion of the fixed cost to the current costs, their perceived marginal (i.e., incremental) costs exceed their true marginal costs. In response, they may stop investing because their perceived costs surpass the marginal benefits they are receiving. The latter effect is supported by two field studies that explore real board plan decisions by university students.

  18. Disentangling the root- and detritus-based food chain in the micro-food web of an arable soil by plant removal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena Glavatska

    Full Text Available Soil food web structure and function is primarily determined by the major basal resources, which are living plant tissue, root exudates and dead organic matter. A field experiment was performed to disentangle the interlinkage of the root-and detritus-based soil food chains. An arable site was cropped either with maize, amended with maize shoot litter or remained bare soil, representing food webs depending on roots, aboveground litter and soil organic matter as predominant resource, respectively. The soil micro-food web, i.e. microorganisms and nematodes, was investigated in two successive years along a depth transect. The community composition of nematodes was used as model to determine the changes in the rhizosphere, detritusphere and bulk soil food web. In the first growing season the impact of treatments on the soil micro-food web was minor. In the second year plant-feeding nematodes increased under maize, whereas after harvest the Channel Index assigned promotion of the detritivore food chain, reflecting decomposition of root residues. The amendment with litter did not foster microorganisms, instead biomass of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of fungi declined in the rooted zone. Likely higher grazing pressure by nematodes reduced microbial standing crop as bacterial and fungal feeders increased. However, populations at higher trophic levels were not promoted, indicating limited flux of litter resources along the food chain. After two years of bare soil microbial biomass and nematode density remained stable, pointing to soil organic matter-based resources that allow bridging periods with deprivation. Nematode communities were dominated by opportunistic taxa that are competitive at moderate resource supply. In sum, removal of plants from the system had less severe effects than expected, suggesting considerable food web resilience to the disruption of both the root and detrital carbon channel, pointing to a legacy of

  19. Disentangling the root- and detritus-based food chain in the micro-food web of an arable soil by plant removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glavatska, Olena; Müller, Karolin; Butenschoen, Olaf; Schmalwasser, Andreas; Kandeler, Ellen; Scheu, Stefan; Totsche, Kai Uwe; Ruess, Liliane

    2017-01-01

    Soil food web structure and function is primarily determined by the major basal resources, which are living plant tissue, root exudates and dead organic matter. A field experiment was performed to disentangle the interlinkage of the root-and detritus-based soil food chains. An arable site was cropped either with maize, amended with maize shoot litter or remained bare soil, representing food webs depending on roots, aboveground litter and soil organic matter as predominant resource, respectively. The soil micro-food web, i.e. microorganisms and nematodes, was investigated in two successive years along a depth transect. The community composition of nematodes was used as model to determine the changes in the rhizosphere, detritusphere and bulk soil food web. In the first growing season the impact of treatments on the soil micro-food web was minor. In the second year plant-feeding nematodes increased under maize, whereas after harvest the Channel Index assigned promotion of the detritivore food chain, reflecting decomposition of root residues. The amendment with litter did not foster microorganisms, instead biomass of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of fungi declined in the rooted zone. Likely higher grazing pressure by nematodes reduced microbial standing crop as bacterial and fungal feeders increased. However, populations at higher trophic levels were not promoted, indicating limited flux of litter resources along the food chain. After two years of bare soil microbial biomass and nematode density remained stable, pointing to soil organic matter-based resources that allow bridging periods with deprivation. Nematode communities were dominated by opportunistic taxa that are competitive at moderate resource supply. In sum, removal of plants from the system had less severe effects than expected, suggesting considerable food web resilience to the disruption of both the root and detrital carbon channel, pointing to a legacy of organic matter

  20. Fate of metal resistance genes in arable soil after manure application in a microcosm study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Wenguang; Zeng, Zhenling; Zhang, Yiming; Ding, Xueyao; Sun, Yongxue

    2015-03-01

    Manure application contributes to the spread and persistence of metal resistance genes (MRGs) in the environment. We investigated the fate of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) resistance genes (pcoA, pcoD and zntA) in arable soil after Cu/Zn-containing manure application. Manure with or without addition of metals (Cu/Zn) was added in a soil microcosm over 2 months. Soil samples were collected for analysis on day 0, 30 and 60. The abundances of all MRGs (pcoA, pcoD and zntA) in manure group were significantly higher than those in untreated soil and manure+metals groups. All MRGs dissipated 1.2-1.3 times faster in manure group (from -90 ± 8% to -93 ± 7%) than those in manure+metals group (from -68 ± 8% to -78 ± 5%). The results indicated that manure from healthy pigs contributed to the occurrence of metals (Cu/Zn) and MRGs (pcoA, pcoD and zntA) in arable soil. The significant effects of manure application on the accumulation of pcoA, pcoD and zntA lasted for 1-2 months. Cu/Zn can slow down the dissipation of pcoA, pcoD and zntA after manure application. This is the first report to investigate the fate of MRGs in soil after manure application. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Short-term marginal costs in French agriculture

    OpenAIRE

    Latruffe, Laure; LETORT, Elodie

    2011-01-01

    The paper investigates short-term marginal costs in French agriculture for field cropping, beef cattle, and dairy farms during the period 1995-2006. The multi-input multi-output Symmetric Generalised MacFadden cost function is used, with three variable inputs (crop-specific, animal-specific, energy costs), four outputs and three quasi-fixed inputs. Results indicate that marginal costs are on average lower for crop farms than for livestock samples. However, for crop farms, Common Agricultural ...

  2. Annual losses of weed seeds due to predation in organic cereal fields

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Westerman, P.R.; Wes, J.S.; Kropff, M.J.; Werf, van der W.

    2003-01-01

    1. Post-dispersal seed losses in annual arable weed species are poorly quantified, but may be of significance for natural population control, especially if they can be manipulated. We hypothesized that weed seed predation on the soil surface was significant, so we measured rates in the field to

  3. Variability of the geothermal gradient across two differently aged magma-rich continental rifted margins of the Atlantic Ocean: the Southwest African and the Norwegian margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gholamrezaie, Ershad; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Sippel, Judith; Strecker, Manfred R.

    2018-02-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate the shallow thermal field differences for two differently aged passive continental margins by analyzing regional variations in geothermal gradient and exploring the controlling factors for these variations. Hence, we analyzed two previously published 3-D conductive and lithospheric-scale thermal models of the Southwest African and the Norwegian passive margins. These 3-D models differentiate various sedimentary, crustal, and mantle units and integrate different geophysical data such as seismic observations and the gravity field. We extracted the temperature-depth distributions in 1 km intervals down to 6 km below the upper thermal boundary condition. The geothermal gradient was then calculated for these intervals between the upper thermal boundary condition and the respective depth levels (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 km below the upper thermal boundary condition). According to our results, the geothermal gradient decreases with increasing depth and shows varying lateral trends and values for these two different margins. We compare the 3-D geological structural models and the geothermal gradient variations for both thermal models and show how radiogenic heat production, sediment insulating effect, and thermal lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) depth influence the shallow thermal field pattern. The results indicate an ongoing process of oceanic mantle cooling at the young Norwegian margin compared with the old SW African passive margin that seems to be thermally equilibrated in the present day.

  4. Individualized determination of lower margin in pelvic radiation field after low anterior resection for rectal cancer resulted in equivalent local control and radiation volume reduction compared with traditional method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Suk Won; Ahn, Yong Chan; Huh, Seung Jae; Chun, Ho Kyung; Kang, Won Ki; Kim, Dae Yong; Lim, Do Hoon; Noh, Young Ju; Lee, Jung Eun

    2000-01-01

    When determining the lower margin of post-operative pelvic radiation therapy field according to the traditional method (recommended by Gunderson), the organs located in the low pelvic cavity and the perineum are vulnerable to unnecessary radiation. This study evaluated the effect of individualized determination of the lower margin at 2 cm to 3 cm below the anastomotic site on the failure patterns. Authors included 88 patients with modified Astler-Coller (MAC) stages from B2 through C3, who received low anterior resection and post-operative pelvic radiation therapy from Sept. 1994 to May 1998 at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University. The numbers of male and female patients were 44 and 44, and the median age was 57 years (range: 32-81 years). Three field technique (posterior-anterior and bilateral portals) by 6, 10, 15 MY X-rays was used to deliver 4,500 cGy to the whole pelvis followed by 600 cGy's small field boost to the tumor bed over 5.5 weeks. Sixteen patients received radiation therapy by traditional field margin determination, and the lower margin was set either at the low margin of the obturator foramen or at 2 cm to 3 cm below the anastomotic site, whichever is lower. In 72 patients, the lower margin was set at 2 cm to 3 cm below the anastomotic site, irrespectively of the obturator foramen, by which the reduction of radiation volume was possible in 55 patients (76%). Authors evaluated and compared survival, local control, and disease-free survival rates of these two groups. The median follow-up period was 27 months (range: 7-58 months). MAC stages were B2 in 32 (36%) , B3 in 2 (2%), C1 in 2 (2%), C2 in 50 (57%), and C3 in 2 (2%) patients, respectively. The entire patients' overall survival rates at 2 and 4 years were 94% and 68%, respectively, and disease-free survival rates at 2 and 4 years were 86% and 58%, respectively. The first failure sites were local only in 4, distant only in 14, and combined local and distant in 1 patient, respectively

  5. Effects of organic versus conventional arable farming on soil structure and organic matter dynamics in a marine loam in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pulleman, M.M.; Jongmans, A.G.; Marinissen, J.C.Y.; Bouma, J.

    2003-01-01

    We compared the effects of conventional and organic arable farming on soil organic matter (SOM) content, soil structure, aggregate stability and C and N mineralization, which are considered important factors in defining sustainable land management. Within one soil series, three different farming

  6. Exploring the Subtleties of Inverse Probability Weighting and Marginal Structural Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breskin, Alexander; Cole, Stephen R; Westreich, Daniel

    2018-05-01

    Since being introduced to epidemiology in 2000, marginal structural models have become a commonly used method for causal inference in a wide range of epidemiologic settings. In this brief report, we aim to explore three subtleties of marginal structural models. First, we distinguish marginal structural models from the inverse probability weighting estimator, and we emphasize that marginal structural models are not only for longitudinal exposures. Second, we explore the meaning of the word "marginal" in "marginal structural model." Finally, we show that the specification of a marginal structural model can have important implications for the interpretation of its parameters. Each of these concepts have important implications for the use and understanding of marginal structural models, and thus providing detailed explanations of them may lead to better practices for the field of epidemiology.

  7. Farmers' Interest in Nature and Its Relation to Biodiversity in Arable Fields

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Ahnström

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Biodiversity declines in farmland have been attributed to intensification of farming at the field level and loss of heterogeneity at the landscape level. However, farmers are not solely optimizing production; their actions are also influenced by social factors, tradition and interest in nature, which indirectly influence biodiversity but rarely are incorporated in studies of farmland biodiversity. We used social science methods to quantify farmers' interest in nature on 16 farms with winter wheat fields in central Sweden, and combined this with biodiversity inventories of five organism groups (weeds, carabid beetles, bumblebees, solitary bees, and birds and estimates of landscape composition and management intensity at the field level. Agricultural intensity, measured as crop density, and farmers' interest in nature explained variation in biodiversity, measured as the proportion of the regional species richness found on single fields. Interest in nature seemed to incorporate many actions taken by farmers and appeared to be influenced by both physical factors, for example, the surrounding landscape, and social factors, for example, social motivations. This study indicates that conservation of biodiversity in farmland, and design of new agri-environmental subsidy systems, would profit from taking farmers' interest in nature and its relation to agricultural practices into account.

  8. The arable farmer as the assessor of within-field soil variation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heijting, S.; Bruin, de S.; Bregt, A.K.

    2011-01-01

    Feasible, fast and reliable methods of mapping within-field variation are required for precision agriculture. Within precision agriculture research much emphasis has been put on technology, whereas the knowledge that farmers have and ways to explore it have received little attention. This research

  9. Distribution and Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Arable Soils in Bijiang Watershed, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HUANG Wei-heng

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available It has been paid much attention to soil heavy metal pollution in the Bijiang watershed caused by the Lanping lead-zinc mine. We collected 35 arable soil samples along Bijiang, then sampled and tested the contents of As, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Hg. And then with Nemerow Multi-Factor Index and the Potential Ecological Risk Index method, we evaluated the heavy metal pollution risk. The results showed:(1The accumulation of Pb, Zn, Cd was in a relatively high level, the average was 1 146.97, 579.15, 4.85 mg·kg-1 respectively, which was seriously polluted; the average accumulation of As was 26.85 mg·kg-1; but Cu, Hg was slightly polluted. (2Statistical analysis showed that Lanping area was a main point source pollution of As, Zn, Pb, Cd, while Cu, Hg was pollution caused by different non-point source pollution.(3Within this basin, the Nemerow index was 17.69, which was serious heavy metal pollution, while the comprehensive potential ecological risk index was 773.38, which was a strong potential ecological risk. The contribution of pollutants was Cd > Pb > Zn> As> Hg > Cu. (4As a whole, the soil heavy metal pollution of paddy field was higher than of the dry land.

  10. Variability of the geothermal gradient across two differently aged magma-rich continental rifted margins of the Atlantic Ocean: the Southwest African and the Norwegian margins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Gholamrezaie

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the shallow thermal field differences for two differently aged passive continental margins by analyzing regional variations in geothermal gradient and exploring the controlling factors for these variations. Hence, we analyzed two previously published 3-D conductive and lithospheric-scale thermal models of the Southwest African and the Norwegian passive margins. These 3-D models differentiate various sedimentary, crustal, and mantle units and integrate different geophysical data such as seismic observations and the gravity field. We extracted the temperature–depth distributions in 1 km intervals down to 6 km below the upper thermal boundary condition. The geothermal gradient was then calculated for these intervals between the upper thermal boundary condition and the respective depth levels (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 km below the upper thermal boundary condition. According to our results, the geothermal gradient decreases with increasing depth and shows varying lateral trends and values for these two different margins. We compare the 3-D geological structural models and the geothermal gradient variations for both thermal models and show how radiogenic heat production, sediment insulating effect, and thermal lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB depth influence the shallow thermal field pattern. The results indicate an ongoing process of oceanic mantle cooling at the young Norwegian margin compared with the old SW African passive margin that seems to be thermally equilibrated in the present day.

  11. Emission of CO2 from the arable soils polluted by heavy metals of Baikal forest-steppe region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semenova, Yu.V.; Pomazkina, L.V.

    2008-01-01

    The influence of arable soil contamination by heavy metals on C0 2 emission in Lake Baikal region had been studied during the period from 1992 till 2005. It was shown, that the way of agroecosystems response on technogenic impact vary from year to year following the changes in both the temperature and humidity. The contamination mostly resulted in soil organic matter mineralization increase and, consequently, increased carbon losses in the form of CO 2 .

  12. How much Nitrous Oxide is produced in cultivation of biofuels on arable land in Sweden?; Hur mycket lustgas blir det vid odling av biobraenslen paa aakermark i Sverige?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kasimir Klemedtsson, Aasa (Univ. of Goeteborg, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Goeteborg (Sweden). Physical Geography)

    2010-03-15

    Several methods that can be used to estimate the emission of nitrous oxide from arable land are discussed, all of them with their pros and cons. 1 The base for all estimation methods is field measurements, well executed with a technique designed for the production of high quality data. Published field data of good quality were collected from areas in north Europe and America, both from grain and rape crops and unfertilised grasslands where natural background emission is assumed. The compilation shows that grasslands emit in average 0.3 +- 0.1 kg N{sub 2}O-N/ha/year. In crop systems where a high amount of nitrogen is repeatedly added to the soil, the soil N store will contribute to N{sub 2}O emission coming years. This is one reason why emission is higher for unfertilised arable land (where nitrogen have been added previous years) compared to unfertilised grassland, 1 +- 0.1 kg N{sub 2}O-N/ha/year. Fertilised arable lands have higher emission, in average around 3 kg N{sub 2}O-N/ha/year. In comparison, field measurements in Sweden have shown lower emission, 0.6 and 2 kg N{sub 2}O-N/ha/year from clay and sandy soil respectively. 2 The IPCC method is the best known, where the emission from arable land is estimated as a function of added nitrogen. In reality there is no correlation between a low N-addition and the emission of nitrous oxide since the N-addition needs to be high to have influence on the nitrous oxide emission..25 or the new factor 1% of added N has been used in many LCA's as an estimator for nitrous oxide and the uncertainty span of 0,3 and 3% is seldom used. The method underestimates the size of nitrous oxide emission in many systems and cannot estimate a true emission from individual fields. 3 Globally there is a connection between the increase in reactive nitrogen and the increase of atmospheric nitrous oxide, which is the base for a method suggested by Crutzen et al. Nitrous oxide emission has been estimated to be 3-5% of both biological nitrogen

  13. Variability in the Water Footprint of Arable Crop Production across European Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Gobin

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Crop growth and yield are affected by water use during the season: the green water footprint (WF accounts for rain water, the blue WF for irrigation and the grey WF for diluting agri-chemicals. We calibrated crop yield for FAO’s water balance model “Aquacrop” at field level. We collected weather, soil and crop inputs for 45 locations for the period 1992–2012. Calibrated model runs were conducted for wheat, barley, grain maize, oilseed rape, potato and sugar beet. The WF of cereals could be up to 20 times larger than the WF of tuber and root crops; the largest share was attributed to the green WF. The green and blue WF compared favourably with global benchmark values (R2 = 0.64–0.80; d = 0.91–0.95. The variability in the WF of arable crops across different regions in Europe is mainly due to variability in crop yield ( c v ¯ = 45% and to a lesser extent to variability in crop water use ( c v ¯ = 21%. The WF variability between countries ( c v ¯ = 14% is lower than the variability between seasons ( c v ¯ = 22% and between crops ( c v ¯ = 46%. Though modelled yields increased up to 50% under sprinkler irrigation, the water footprint still increased between 1% and 25%. Confronted with drainage and runoff, the grey WF tended to overestimate the contribution of nitrogen to the surface and groundwater. The results showed that the water footprint provides a measurable indicator that may support European water governance.

  14. Effects of three management strategies on the seedbank, emergence and the need for hand weeding in an organic arable cropping system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Riemens, M.M.; Groeneveld, R.M.W.; Lotz, L.A.P.; Kropff, M.J.

    2007-01-01

    The effects of three different weed management strategies on the required input of hand weeding in an arable organic farming system, the weed seedbank in the soil and the emerging weed seedling emergence were studied from 1996 to 2003. Strategies were based on population dynamic models and aimed for

  15. Modeling of the cesium 137 air transfer taking account of dust-making distinction on arable and long-fallow lands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bogdanov, A.P.; Zhmura, G.M.

    1997-01-01

    The mathematical model for air transfer of cesium 137 out from the contaminated regions which takes into account of dust-making distinction on arable and long-fallow lands is suggested. The calculation results of near-ground concentrations of cesium 137 for several towns of Belarus are presented. The sources of the contamination of the atmosphere in each calculated point have been analysed

  16. Fluxes of total reactive atmospheric nitrogen (ΣNr using eddy covariance above arable land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christophe R. Flechard

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The amount and timing of reactive nitrogen exchange between agricultural land and the atmosphere play a key role in evaluating ecosystem productivity and in addressing atmospheric nitrogen budgets and transport. With the recent development of the Total Reactive Atmospheric Nitrogen Converter (TRANC apparatus, a methodology has been provided for continuous measurement of the sum of all airborne nitrogen containing species (ΣNr allowing for diurnal and seasonal investigations. We present ΣNr concentration and net flux data from an 11-month field campaign conducted at an arable field using the TRANC system within an eddy-covariance setup. Clear diurnal patterns of both ΣNr concentrations and fluxes with significant dependencies on atmospheric stability and stomatal regulation were observed in the growing season. TRANC data were compared with monthly-averaged concentrations and dry deposition rates of selected Nr compounds using DELTA denuders and ensemble-averages of four inferential models, respectively. Similar seasonal trends were found for Nr concentrations from DELTA and TRANC measurements with values from the latter being considerably higher than those of DELTA denuders. The variability of the difference between these two systems could be explained by seasonally changing source locations of NOx contributions to the TRANC signal. As soil and vegetation Nr emissions to the atmosphere are generally not treated by inferential (dry deposition models, TRANC data showed lower monthly deposition rates than those obtained from inferential modelling. Net ΣNr exchange was almost neutral (~0.072 kg N ha−1 at the end of the observation period. However, during most parts of the year, slight but permanent net ΣNr deposition was found. Our measurements demonstrate that fertilizer addition followed by substantial ΣNr emissions plays a crucial role in a site's annual atmospheric nitrogen budget. As long-term Nr measurements with high temporal

  17. Anthrosols in Iron Age Shetland: Implications for Arable and Economic Activity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guttmann, Erika B.; Simpson, Ian A.; Nielsen, Nina

    2008-01-01

    The soils surrounding three Iron Age settlements on South Mainland, Shetland, were sampled and compared for indicators of soil amendment. Two of the sites (Old Scatness and Jarlshof) were on lower-lying, better-drained, sheltered land; the third (Clevigarth) was in an acid, exposed environment...... at a higher elevation. The hypothesis, based on previous regional assessments, soil thicknesses, and excavations at Old Scatness, was that the lowland sites would have heavily fertilized soils and that the thin upland soil would show little if any amendment. Our findings indicate that the Middle Iron Age...... soils at Old Scatness had extremely high phosphorus levels, while the soil at Jarlshof had lower levels of enhancement. At Clevigarth, where charcoal from the buried soil was 14C dated to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, there was no evidence of arable activity or soil amendment associated with the Iron...

  18. Conservation of Pollinators in Traditional Agricultural Landscapes - New Challenges in Transylvania (Romania) Posed by EU Accession and Recommendations for Future Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovács-Hostyánszki, Anikó; Földesi, Rita; Mózes, Edina; Szirák, Ádám; Fischer, Joern; Hanspach, Jan; Báldi, András

    2016-01-01

    Farmland biodiversity is strongly declining in most of Western Europe, but still survives in traditional low intensity agricultural landscapes in Central and Eastern Europe. Accession to the EU however intensifies agriculture, which leads to the vanishing of traditional farming. Our aim was to describe the pollinator assemblages of the last remnants of these landscapes, thus set the baseline of sustainable farming for pollination, and to highlight potential measures of conservation. In these traditional farmlands in the Transylvanian Basin, Romania (EU accession in 2007), we studied the major pollinator groups-wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Landscape scale effects of semi-natural habitats, land cover diversity, the effects of heterogeneity and woody vegetation cover and on-site flower resources were tested on pollinator communities in traditionally managed arable fields and grasslands. Our results showed: (i) semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale have a positive effect on most pollinators, especially in the case of low heterogeneity of the direct vicinity of the studied sites; (ii) both arable fields and grasslands hold abundant flower resources, thus both land use types are important in sustaining pollinator communities; (iii) thus, pollinator conservation can rely even on arable fields under traditional management regime. This has an indirect message that the tiny flower margins around large intensive fields in west Europe can be insufficient conservation measures to restore pollinator communities at the landscape scale, as this is still far the baseline of necessary flower resources. This hypothesis needs further study, which includes more traditional landscapes providing baseline, and exploration of other factors behind the lower than baseline level biodiversity values of fields under agri-environmental schemes (AES).

  19. Conservation of Pollinators in Traditional Agricultural Landscapes - New Challenges in Transylvania (Romania Posed by EU Accession and Recommendations for Future Research.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki

    Full Text Available Farmland biodiversity is strongly declining in most of Western Europe, but still survives in traditional low intensity agricultural landscapes in Central and Eastern Europe. Accession to the EU however intensifies agriculture, which leads to the vanishing of traditional farming. Our aim was to describe the pollinator assemblages of the last remnants of these landscapes, thus set the baseline of sustainable farming for pollination, and to highlight potential measures of conservation. In these traditional farmlands in the Transylvanian Basin, Romania (EU accession in 2007, we studied the major pollinator groups-wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Landscape scale effects of semi-natural habitats, land cover diversity, the effects of heterogeneity and woody vegetation cover and on-site flower resources were tested on pollinator communities in traditionally managed arable fields and grasslands. Our results showed: (i semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale have a positive effect on most pollinators, especially in the case of low heterogeneity of the direct vicinity of the studied sites; (ii both arable fields and grasslands hold abundant flower resources, thus both land use types are important in sustaining pollinator communities; (iii thus, pollinator conservation can rely even on arable fields under traditional management regime. This has an indirect message that the tiny flower margins around large intensive fields in west Europe can be insufficient conservation measures to restore pollinator communities at the landscape scale, as this is still far the baseline of necessary flower resources. This hypothesis needs further study, which includes more traditional landscapes providing baseline, and exploration of other factors behind the lower than baseline level biodiversity values of fields under agri-environmental schemes (AES.

  20. Conservation of Pollinators in Traditional Agricultural Landscapes – New Challenges in Transylvania (Romania) Posed by EU Accession and Recommendations for Future Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovács-Hostyánszki, Anikó; Földesi, Rita; Mózes, Edina; Szirák, Ádám; Fischer, Joern; Hanspach, Jan; Báldi, András

    2016-01-01

    Farmland biodiversity is strongly declining in most of Western Europe, but still survives in traditional low intensity agricultural landscapes in Central and Eastern Europe. Accession to the EU however intensifies agriculture, which leads to the vanishing of traditional farming. Our aim was to describe the pollinator assemblages of the last remnants of these landscapes, thus set the baseline of sustainable farming for pollination, and to highlight potential measures of conservation. In these traditional farmlands in the Transylvanian Basin, Romania (EU accession in 2007), we studied the major pollinator groups—wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Landscape scale effects of semi-natural habitats, land cover diversity, the effects of heterogeneity and woody vegetation cover and on-site flower resources were tested on pollinator communities in traditionally managed arable fields and grasslands. Our results showed: (i) semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale have a positive effect on most pollinators, especially in the case of low heterogeneity of the direct vicinity of the studied sites; (ii) both arable fields and grasslands hold abundant flower resources, thus both land use types are important in sustaining pollinator communities; (iii) thus, pollinator conservation can rely even on arable fields under traditional management regime. This has an indirect message that the tiny flower margins around large intensive fields in west Europe can be insufficient conservation measures to restore pollinator communities at the landscape scale, as this is still far the baseline of necessary flower resources. This hypothesis needs further study, which includes more traditional landscapes providing baseline, and exploration of other factors behind the lower than baseline level biodiversity values of fields under agri-environmental schemes (AES). PMID:27285118

  1. Effect of Margin Designs on the Marginal Adaptation of Zirconia Copings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habib, Syed Rashid; Al Ajmi, Mohammed Ginan; Al Dhafyan, Mohammed; Jomah, Abdulrehman; Abualsaud, Haytham; Almashali, Mazen

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the effect of Shoulder versus Chamfer margin design on the marginal adaptation of zirconia (Zr) copings. 40 extracted molar teeth were mounted in resin and prepared for zirconia crowns with two margin preparation designs (20=Shoulder and 20=Chamfer). The copings were manufactured by Cercon® (DeguDent GmbH, Germany) using the CAD/CAM system for each tooth. They were tried on each tooth, cemented, thermocycled, re-embedded in resin and were subsequently cross sectioned centrally into two equal mesial and distal halves. They were examined under electron microscope at 200 X magnification and the measurements were recorded at 5 predetermined points in micrometers (µm). The o verall mean marginal gap for the two groups was found to be 206.98+42.78µm with Shoulder margin design (Marginal Gap=199.50+40.72µm) having better adaptation compared to Chamfer (Marginal Gap=214.46+44.85µm). The independent-samples t-test showed a statistically non-significant difference (p=.113) between the means of marginal gap for Shoulder and Chamfer margin designs and the measurements were recorded at 5 predetermined points for the two groups. The Chamfer margin design appeared to offer the same adaptation results as the Shoulder margin design.

  2. Is it necessary to plan with safety margins for actively scanned proton therapy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albertini, F.; Hug, E. B.; Lomax, A. J.

    2011-07-01

    In radiation therapy, a plan is robust if the calculated and the delivered dose are in agreement, even in the case of different uncertainties. The current practice is to use safety margins, expanding the clinical target volume sufficiently enough to account for treatment uncertainties. This, however, might not be ideal for proton therapy and in particular when using intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) plans as degradation in the dose conformity could also be found in the middle of the target resulting from misalignments of highly in-field dose gradients. Single field uniform dose (SFUD) and IMPT plans have been calculated for different anatomical sites and the need for margins has been assessed by analyzing plan robustness to set-up and range uncertainties. We found that the use of safety margins is a good way to improve plan robustness for SFUD and IMPT plans with low in-field dose gradients but not necessarily for highly modulated IMPT plans for which only a marginal improvement in plan robustness could be detected through the definition of a planning target volume.

  3. The stability margin on EAST tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin-Ping, Qian; Bao-Nian, Wan; Biao, Shen; Bing-Jia, Xiao; Walker, M.L.; Humphreys, D.A.

    2009-01-01

    The experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) is the first full superconducting tokamak with a D-shaped cross-sectional plasma presently in operation. Its poloidal coils are relatively far from the plasma due to the necessary thermal isolation from the superconducting magnets, which leads to relatively weaker coupling between plasma and poloidal field. This may cause more difficulties in controlling the vertical instability by using the poloidal coils. The measured growth rates of vertical stability are compared with theoretical calculations, based on a rigid plasma model. Poloidal beta and internal inductance are varied to investigate their effects on the stability margin by changing the values of parameters α n and γ n (Howl et al 1992 Phys. Fluids B 4 1724), with plasma shape fixed to be a configuration with k = 1.9 and δ = 0.5. A number of ways of studying the stability margin are investigated. Among them, changing the values of parameters κ and l i is shown to be the most effective way to increase the stability margin. Finally, a guideline of stability margin M s (κ, l i , A) to a new discharge scenario showing whether plasmas can be stabilized is also presented in this paper

  4. Task Group on Safety Margins Action Plan (SMAP). Safety Margins Action Plan - Final Report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hrehor, Miroslav; Gavrilas, Mirela; Belac, Josef; Sairanen, Risto; Bruna, Giovanni; Reocreux, Michel; Touboul, Francoise; Krzykacz-Hausmann, B.; Park, Jong Seuk; Prosek, Andrej; Hortal, Javier; Sandervaag, Odbjoern; Zimmerman, Martin

    2007-01-01

    . Chapter 3 looks at techniques for the deterministic calculation of safety margins and discusses the complementary probabilistic risk assessment techniques needed to generalize safety margins beyond design basis accidents. Chapter 4 examines the definition of safety margin, which is noted to take different meanings in different fields. For example, in civil engineering and applications that deal with the load-strength interference concept, safety margin describes the distance between the means of the load and strength probability density functions with regard to the standard deviation in both. However, in the nuclear industry, the term safety margin evolved to describe the goal of assuring the existence of adequate safety margin in deterministic calculations. Specifically, safety margin refers to keeping the value of a given safety variable under a pre-established safety limit in design basis accidents. Implicitly, safety margin in the nuclear industry is the distance from the safety limit to onset of damage. The SMAP task group fulfilled its first objective by adopting a methodology for quantifying safety margins that merges the deterministic and probabilistic approaches. The methodology described in Chapter 5 is consistent with the definition of safety margin commonly used in the nuclear industry. The metrics of this methodology quantify the change in safety over a range of accident sequences that extend beyond the design bases. However, the methodology is not described in this report to a level that would meet guidance document requirements. This is in part because methods and techniques needed to quantify safety margins in a global manner are evolving, and thus specific guidance rendered at this time would shortly become obsolete. This report presents the framework in sufficient detail to serve as the basis of an analysis and, thus, this report meets the second objective established for the SMAP group. A proof-of-concept application to further aid potential applicants

  5. Phytoextraction of cadmium and zinc from arable soils amended with sewage sludge using Thlaspi caerulescens: Development of a predictive model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maxted, A.P. [School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Biology Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Black, C.R. [School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD (United Kingdom); West, H.M.; Crout, N.M.J. [School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Biology Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); McGrath, S.P. [Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ (United Kingdom); Young, S.D. [School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Biology Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom)], E-mail: scott.young@nottingham.ac.uk

    2007-12-15

    The objectives of this study were to assess the potential for using Thlaspi caerulescens as a phytoextraction plant and develop a user-advice model, which can predict the frequency of phytoextraction operation required under prescribed conditions. Pot and field trials were conducted using soil collected from a dedicated sewage sludge disposal facility. Soil amendments (sulphuric acid, potassium chloride and EDTA) intended to increase Cd solubility were also tested. Predictive models of Cd and Zn uptake were developed which were able to reproduce the observed pH-dependence of Cd uptake with an apparent maximum around pH 6. Chemical treatments did not significantly increase the uptake of Cd. The periodic use of phytoextraction with T. caerulescens to maintain soils below statutory metal concentration limits, when modern sewage sludges are repeatedly applied, seems very attractive given the non-intrusive and cost-effective nature of the process. The major limitations lie with the large-scale husbandry of T. caerulescens. - A predictive model of Cd and Zn uptake by Thlaspi caerulescens is presented as a management tool in the phytoextraction of arable soils receiving sewage sludge.

  6. Phytoextraction of cadmium and zinc from arable soils amended with sewage sludge using Thlaspi caerulescens: Development of a predictive model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maxted, A.P.; Black, C.R.; West, H.M.; Crout, N.M.J.; McGrath, S.P.; Young, S.D.

    2007-01-01

    The objectives of this study were to assess the potential for using Thlaspi caerulescens as a phytoextraction plant and develop a user-advice model, which can predict the frequency of phytoextraction operation required under prescribed conditions. Pot and field trials were conducted using soil collected from a dedicated sewage sludge disposal facility. Soil amendments (sulphuric acid, potassium chloride and EDTA) intended to increase Cd solubility were also tested. Predictive models of Cd and Zn uptake were developed which were able to reproduce the observed pH-dependence of Cd uptake with an apparent maximum around pH 6. Chemical treatments did not significantly increase the uptake of Cd. The periodic use of phytoextraction with T. caerulescens to maintain soils below statutory metal concentration limits, when modern sewage sludges are repeatedly applied, seems very attractive given the non-intrusive and cost-effective nature of the process. The major limitations lie with the large-scale husbandry of T. caerulescens. - A predictive model of Cd and Zn uptake by Thlaspi caerulescens is presented as a management tool in the phytoextraction of arable soils receiving sewage sludge

  7. Stability of marginally outer trapped surfaces and symmetries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carrasco, Alberto; Mars, Marc, E-mail: acf@usal.e, E-mail: marc@usal.e [Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca (Spain)

    2009-09-07

    We study the properties of stable, strictly stable and locally outermost marginally outer trapped surfaces in spacelike hypersurfaces of spacetimes possessing certain symmetries such as isometries, homotheties and conformal Killings. We first obtain results for general diffeomorphisms in terms of the so-called metric deformation tensor and then particularize to different types of symmetries. In particular, we find restrictions at the surfaces on the vector field generating the symmetry. Some consequences are discussed. As an application, we present a result on non-existence of stable marginally outer trapped surfaces in slices of FLRW.

  8. Innovation and entrepreneurship in geosciences: challenges and opportunities for oil and gas production in marginal fields; Inovacao e empreendedorismo em geociencias: desafios e oportunidades para a producao de petroleo e gas em campos marginais

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodrigues, Livia da Silva Modesto [Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), Salvador, BA (Brazil); Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS), BA (Brazil); Fundacao Visconde de Cairu, Salvador, BA (Brazil); Ferreira, Doneivan Fernandes [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), BA (Brazil)

    2012-07-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual perspective for the analysis of entrepreneurial behavior and the implementation of a innovation and applied research culture on the niche of marginal oil and gas production in Brazil. Among other topics discussed, there is the conceptual approach of entrepreneurship and innovation, its correlation to the geosciences field, the importance of applied research in the segment, the innovative environment in business and Academia and regulatory issues (Innovation Law and 'Lei do Bem'). The culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of Geosciences should be embodied in the Upstream Segment, highlighting the opportunities represented by geo-knowledge and entrepreneurship, service, technical expertise, and even by the capacity to elaborate a Business Plan Document. The methodology used was literature research through existing publications, books, magazines, web sites, seminars and interaction with players in the niche of production in marginal fields, based on interviews and content analysis, and on the experience of the Group of Applied Research CNPq 'Production of Oil and Gas Marginal Fields' experienced at the Federal University of Bahia. (author)

  9. Marginal production in the Gulf of Mexico - I. Historical statistics and model framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaiser, Mark J.

    2010-01-01

    Experts may disagree on when world oil production will peak, but there is general agreement that marginal fields will contribute a greater percentage of world supply in the future. As fields mature and operations transition into the later stages of their production cycle, decreasing revenue streams, higher operating costs, and fewer upside opportunities lead to declining profitability. Eventually, all properties are abandoned when cost exceeds the revenue of production. In this two-part paper on marginal production in the Gulf of Mexico, the number of marginal structures in the gulf and their expected contribution to future production is forecast using established economic models. In Part 1, a historical perspective on producing assets is provided and the inventory of committed assets is modeled and categorized. We operationalize the definition of marginal production based on a structure's economic limit. The model framework to identify marginal assets in the Gulf of Mexico is discussed and a step-by-step description of the methodology is provided. In Part 2, the results of the model are described. (author)

  10. SPOT-Based Sub-Field Level Monitoring of Vegetation Cover Dynamics: A Case of Irrigated Croplands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena Dubovyk

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Acquiring multi-temporal spatial information on vegetation condition at scales appropriate for site-specific agricultural management is often complicated by the need for meticulous field measurements. Understanding spatial/temporal crop cover heterogeneity within irrigated croplands may support sustainable land use, specifically in areas affected by land degradation due to secondary soil salinization. This study demonstrates the use of multi-temporal, high spatial resolution (10 m SPOT-4/5 image data in an integrated change vector analysis and spectral mixture analysis (CVA-SMA procedure. This procedure was implemented with the principal objective of mapping sub-field vegetation cover dynamics in irrigated lowland areas within the lowerlands of the Amu Darya River. CVA intensity and direction were calculated separately for the periods of 1998–2006 and 2006–2010. Cumulative change intensity and the overall directional trend were also derived for the entire observation period of 1998–2010. Results show that most of the vector changes were observed between 1998 and 2006; persistent conditions were seen within the study region during the 2006–2010 period. A decreasing vegetation cover trend was identified within 38% of arable land. Areas of decreasing vegetation cover were located principally in the irrigation system periphery where deficient water supply and low soil quality lead to substandard crop development. During the 2006–2010 timeframe, degraded crop cover conditions persisted in 37% of arable land. Vegetation cover increased in 25% of the arable land where irrigation water supply was adequate. This high sub-field crop performance spatial heterogeneity clearly indicates that current land management practices are inefficient. Such information can provide the basis for implementing and adapting irrigation applications and salt leaching techniques to site-specific conditions and thereby make a significant contribution to sustainable

  11. Matthew and marginality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denis C. Duling

    1995-12-01

    Full Text Available This article explores marginality theory as it was first proposed in  the social sciences, that is related to persons caught between two competing cultures (Park; Stonequist, and, then, as it was developed in sociology as related to the poor (Germani and in anthropology as it was related to involuntary marginality and voluntary marginality (Victor Turner. It then examines a (normative scheme' in antiquity that creates involuntary marginality at the macrosocial level, namely, Lenski's social stratification model in an agrarian society, and indicates how Matthean language might fit with a sample inventory  of socioreligious roles. Next, it examines some (normative schemes' in  antiquity for voluntary margi-nality at the microsocial level, namely, groups, and examines how the Matthean gospel would fit based on indications of factions and leaders. The article ,shows that the author of the Gospel of Matthew has an ideology of (voluntary marginality', but his gospel includes some hope for (involuntary  marginals' in  the  real world, though it is somewhat tempered. It also suggests that the writer of the Gospel is a (marginal man', especially in the sense defined by the early theorists (Park; Stone-quist.

  12. Weed Biomass and Weed Species Diversity of Juvenile Citrus Trees Intercrop with some Arable Crops

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patience Mojibade OLORUNMAIYE

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available A preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the performances of eight crops in the intercrop of citrus with arable crops at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT Ibadan, Nigeria. Eight arable crops: maize, cucumber, sweet potato, Corchorus olitorius, large green, grain amaranth, Mucuna pruriens var. utilis, and groundnut were intercropped with young citrus trees in the early planting season of 2010 with sole citrus as control. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized block design with three replicates. Data were collected on weed flora, weed density and weed dry weight. Results showed that the relative frequencies of weeds in all the plots were less than 4% at both 6 and 9WAP. Gomphrena celosoides, Oldenlandia corymbosa and Tridax procumbens were most preponderant in appearing in all the plots. Tridax procumbens had a consistent relative frequency (2.34% in all the plots except in citrus/maize plot (0.78% at 9 WAP. Significantly lower broadleaf weed densities were obtained in citrus/sweet potato, citrus/large green, control plot and citrus/cucumber (28.67, 45.00, 50.00 and 76.33 m-2 respectively than in citrus/groundnut plot (143.00 m-2. Similarly, significantly lower grass weed densities were produced in citrus/Mucuna and citrus/sweet potato (0.33 m-2 each plots than the control plot (11.33 m-2. Whereas citrus/corchorus plot produced significantly lower broadleaf weed dry weight (37.59 g m-2 than citrus/Mucuna plot (126.47 g m-2 at 3WAP, citrus/large green plot (16.15 g m-2 and citrus/groundnut plot (123.25 g m-2 followed the same trend at 6 WAP. Sedges dry weights were less than 7 g m-2 in all the plots compared with control plot.

  13. Comparison of hydrothermal activity between the Adriatic and the Red Sea rift margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ball, Philip; Incerpi, Nicolò; Birkle, Peter; Lacsamana, Elizabeth; Manatschal, Gianreto; Agar, Susan; Zhang, Shuo; Borsato, Ron

    2017-04-01

    Detailed field studies, and access to high-quality seismic reflection and refraction data have led to an improved understanding of the architecture and evolution of magma poor and magma rich margins. Associated with the spatial-temporal evolution of the rift, it is evident that there are evolving, extensive, fluid-rock interactions due to the infiltration of fluids within the sediment, basement and lithospheric mantle. Key questions therefore arise: What are the different fluid-rock reactions that can be typed to different geodynamic stages of the rift evolution? What are their compositions and how do they interact with their environment (basement, sediments, evaporites, hydrosphere, and magmatism)? What are the implications for the evolution of the margin rheology, thermal structure, depositional environments/organic matter maturity, and reservoir quality? The Adriatic paleo-rifted margin is preserved in both SE Switzerland and northern Italy. The field exposures provide a unique opportunity to study the fluid flow history of a hyperextended magma poor extensional margin. Analysis of breccias, cement veins and replacement minerals reveal that the margin records a complex, long-lasting history of dolomitization, calcification and silicification during the Jurassic rifting. The Red Sea by contrast is a young rifted margin. It differs from the paleo-Adriatic margin by several characteristics: volcanism is more evident, and syn-tectonic sediments, including evaporites (halite and anhydrite) are thicker. Several core and fluid samples are available from both onshore and offshore wells, which reveal rift-related hydrothermal alteration. In addition, we find evidence for the presence of an extreme dynamic hydraulic system with infiltration of surface water into sub-salt units during Late Pleistocene. In this study we present results from petrographic and geochemical analysis of basement and sedimentary rocks from Adriatic field-derived samples and core/subsurface fluid

  14. A method to select aperture margin in collimated spot scanning proton therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Dongxu; Smith, Blake R; Gelover, Edgar; Flynn, Ryan T; Hyer, Daniel E

    2015-01-01

    The use of collimator or aperture may sharpen the lateral dose gradient for spot scanning proton therapy. However, to date, there has not been a standard method to determine the aperture margin for a single field in collimated spot scanning proton therapy. This study describes a theoretical framework to select the optimal aperture margin for a single field, and also presents the spot spacing limit required such that the optimal aperture margin exists. Since, for a proton pencil beam partially intercepted by collimator, the maximum point dose (spot center) shifts away from the original pencil beam central axis, we propose that the optimal margin should be equal to the maximum pencil beam center shift under the condition that spot spacing is small with respect to the maximum pencil beam center shift, which can be numerically determined based on beam modeling data. A test case is presented which demonstrates agreement with the prediction made based on the proposed methods. When apertures are applied in a commercial treatment planning system this method may be implemented. (note)

  15. Margin estimation and disturbances of irradiation field in layer-stacking carbon-ion beams for respiratory moving targets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tajiri, Shinya; Tashiro, Mutsumi; Mizukami, Tomohiro; Tsukishima, Chihiro; Torikoshi, Masami; Kanai, Tatsuaki

    2017-11-01

    Carbon-ion therapy by layer-stacking irradiation for static targets has been practised in clinical treatments. In order to apply this technique to a moving target, disturbances of carbon-ion dose distributions due to respiratory motion have been studied based on the measurement using a respiratory motion phantom, and the margin estimation given by the square root of the summation Internal margin2+Setup margin2 has been assessed. We assessed the volume in which the variation in the ratio of the dose for a target moving due to respiration relative to the dose for a static target was within 5%. The margins were insufficient for use with layer-stacking irradiation of a moving target, and an additional margin was required. The lateral movement of a target converts to the range variation, as the thickness of the range compensator changes with the movement of the target. Although the additional margin changes according to the shape of the ridge filter, dose uniformity of 5% can be achieved for a spherical target 93 mm in diameter when the upward range variation is limited to 5 mm and the additional margin of 2.5 mm is applied in case of our ridge filter. Dose uniformity in a clinical target largely depends on the shape of the mini-peak as well as on the bolus shape. We have shown the relationship between range variation and dose uniformity. In actual therapy, the upper limit of target movement should be considered by assessing the bolus shape. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japan Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.

  16. Innovation and entrepreneurship in geosciences: challenges and opportunities for oil and gas production in marginal fields; Inovacao e empreendedorismo em geociencias: desafios e oportunidades para a producao de petroleo e gas em campos marginais

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodrigues, Livia da Silva Modesto [Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), Salvador, BA (Brazil); Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS), BA (Brazil); Fundacao Visconde de Cairu, Salvador, BA (Brazil); Ferreira, Doneivan Fernandes [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), BA (Brazil)

    2012-07-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual perspective for the analysis of entrepreneurial behavior and the implementation of a innovation and applied research culture on the niche of marginal oil and gas production in Brazil. Among other topics discussed, there is the conceptual approach of entrepreneurship and innovation, its correlation to the geosciences field, the importance of applied research in the segment, the innovative environment in business and Academia and regulatory issues (Innovation Law and 'Lei do Bem'). The culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of Geosciences should be embodied in the Upstream Segment, highlighting the opportunities represented by geo-knowledge and entrepreneurship, service, technical expertise, and even by the capacity to elaborate a Business Plan Document. The methodology used was literature research through existing publications, books, magazines, web sites, seminars and interaction with players in the niche of production in marginal fields, based on interviews and content analysis, and on the experience of the Group of Applied Research CNPq 'Production of Oil and Gas Marginal Fields' experienced at the Federal University of Bahia. (author)

  17. Effect of seasonal abiotic conditions and field margin habitat on the activity of Pandora neoaphidis inoculum on soil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baverstock, J; Clark, S J; Pell, J K

    2008-03-01

    The ability of the aphid pathogenic fungus Pandora neoaphidis to remain active in the absence of a resting stage through a combination of continuous infection and as conidia deposited on soil was assessed alongside the potential for planted field margins to act as a refuge for the fungus. P. neoaphidis was able to infect the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, when maintained under controlled conditions that simulated those that occur seasonally in the UK. Although there was a significant inverse relationship between temperature and time-to-kill, with death occurring after 4.2, 6.9 and 13.6 days when maintained under fluctuating summer, autumn and winter temperatures, respectively, there were no additional statistically significant effects of photoperiod. The activity of inoculum on soil was indirectly assessed by baiting with A. pisum. Under controlled conditions P. neoaphidis remained active on soil and was able to infect aphids for up to 80 days. However, the percentage of aphids that became infected decreased from 76% on day 1 to 11% on day 80. Whereas there was little difference in the activity of conidia that had been maintained at 4 degrees C and 10 degrees C, activity at 18 degrees C was considerably reduced. Under field conditions the activity of inoculum was strongly influenced by season. On day 49 there was little or no activity during spring, summer or winter. However, during autumn a mean proportion of 0.08 aphids still became infected with P. neoaphidis. Margin type did not affect the activity of conidia nor was there a difference in activity between blocks that had regenerated naturally and those that had been planted. These results suggest that P. neoaphidis can infect aphids and remain active on soil under the abiotic conditions that occur seasonally in the UK and that this fungus may be able to persist annually without a resting stage.

  18. Vertical migration of 85Sr, 137Cs and 131I in various arable and undisturbed soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palagyi, S.; Palagyiova, J.

    2003-01-01

    The vertical migration of 85 Sr, 137 Cs and 131 I in some arable and undisturbed single-contaminated soils was studied by gamma-spectrometry measurements under lysimetric laboratory conditions during irrigation of the soil profiles with wet atmospheric precipitation for about one year, except 131 I. A new simple exponential compartment (box) model was derived, which makes it possible to calculate the migration rate constants and migration rates in the individual soil layers (vertical sections) as well as the total vertical migration rate constants and total vertical migration rates of radionuclides in the bulk soil horizon. The relaxation times of radionuclides in respective soil horizons can also be evaluated. (author)

  19. MARGINAL EXPENSE OIL WELL WIRELESS SURVEILLANCE MEOWS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mason M. Medizade; John R. Ridgely; Donald G. Nelson

    2004-11-01

    A marginal expense oil well wireless surveillance system to monitor system performance and production from rod-pumped wells in real time from wells operated by Vaquero Energy in the Edison Field, Main Area of Kern County in California has been successfully designed and field tested. The surveillance system includes a proprietary flow sensor, a programmable transmitting unit, a base receiver and receiving antenna, and a base station computer equipped with software to interpret the data. First, the system design is presented. Second, field data obtained from three wells is shown. Results of the study show that an effective, cost competitive, real-time wireless surveillance system can be introduced to oil fields across the United States and the world.

  20. The role of production risks in the conversion to more sustainable arable farming = [De rol van productierisico's in de omschakeling naar een meer duurzame akkerbouw

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buck, de A.

    2001-01-01

    The objective of the research described in this thesis was to determine the role of production risks in the conversion to more sustainable production systems of arable farming in The Netherlands. More specifically, the research goals were: (1) to specify the typical production risks that prevent

  1. Trade and agriculture policy conditions for the use of plant oils in the energy field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joerdens, R.

    1994-01-01

    Preservation of resources, ecology and agricultural policy supply the most important argument for an increased use of raw materials which grow again. Regenerative raw materials are at present grown on about 2.5% of the arable land area in Germany, where production for the chemical technical field is to the fore. Access to the energy field is, however, difficult due to the considerable economic deficit compared to fossil fuels. Possibilities of use exist mainly in heating plant and in Diesel engines. (BWI) [de

  2. Modeling efficient resource allocation patterns for arable crop ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    optimum plans. This should be complemented with strong financial support, farm advisory services and adequate supply of modern inputs at fairly competitive prices would enhance the prospects of the small holder farmers. Keywords: efficient, resource allocation, optimization, linear programming, gross margin ...

  3. Deformation patterns and seismic hazard along the eastern Sunda margin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopp, Heidrun; Djajadihardja, Yusuf; Flueh, Ernst R.; Hindle, David; Klaeschen, Dirk; Mueller, Christian; Planert, Lars; Reichert, Christian; Shulgin, Alexey; Wittwer, Andreas

    2010-05-01

    The eastern Sunda margin offshore Java, Bali, Lombok and Sumba is the site of oceanic subduction of the Indo-Australian plate underneath the Indonesian archipelago. Data from a suite of geophysical experiments conducted between 1997-2006 using RV SONNE as platform include seismic and seismological studies, potential field measurements and high-resolution seafloor bathymetry mapping. Tomographic inversions provide an image of the ongoing deformation of the forearc and the deep subsurface. We investigate the role of various key mechanisms that shape the first-order features characterizing the present margin architecture. Our contribution evaluates the differences in architecture and evolution along the Java forearc from a marine perspective to better understand the variation in tectonic styles and segmentation of the convergent margin, including its seismic risk potential.

  4. Modelling the economics of farm-based anaerobic digestion in a UK whole-farm context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, Philip; Salter, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Anaerobic digestion (AD) technologies convert organic wastes and crops into methane-rich biogas for heating, electricity generation and vehicle fuel. Farm-based AD has proliferated in some EU countries, driven by favourable policies promoting sustainable energy generation and GHG mitigation. Despite increased state support there are still few AD plants on UK farms leading to a lack of normative data on viability of AD in the whole-farm context. Farmers and lenders are therefore reluctant to fund AD projects and policy makers are hampered in their attempts to design policies that adequately support the industry. Existing AD studies and modelling tools do not adequately capture the farm context within which AD interacts. This paper demonstrates a whole-farm, optimisation modelling approach to assess the viability of AD in a more holistic way, accounting for such issues as: AD scale, synergies and conflicts with other farm enterprises, choice of feedstocks, digestate use and impact on farm Net Margin. This modelling approach demonstrates, for example, that: AD is complementary to dairy enterprises, but competes with arable enterprises for farm resources. Reduced nutrient purchases significantly improve Net Margin on arable farms, but AD scale is constrained by the capacity of farmland to absorb nutrients in AD digestate. -- Highlights: •Lack of empirical data on UK farm AD is barrier to investment and policy formulation. •A modelling approach used to assess economic viability of AD in whole-farm context. •AD increases dairy and arable farm net margin including by savings in nutrient costs. •AD margins better for a few crops than other uses, especially wheat and beet crops. •AD co-exists with dairy, but to obtain best margin displaces conventional cropping

  5. Field Scale Studies on the Spatial Variability of Soil Quality Indicators in Washington State, USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey L. Smith

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Arable lands are needed for sustainable agricultural systems to support an ever-growing human population. Soil quality needs to be defined to assure that new land brought into crop production is sustainable. To evaluate soil quality, a number of soil attributes will need to be measured, evaluated, and integrated into a soil-quality index using the multivariable indicator kriging (MVIK procedure. This study was conducted to determine the spatial variability and correlation of indicator parameters on a field scale with respect to soil quality and suitability for use with MVIK. The variability of the biological parameters decreased in the order of respiration > enzyme assays and qCO2 > microbial biomass C. The distribution frequency of all parameters except respiration were normal although the spatial distribution across the landscape was highly variable. The biological parameters showed little correlation with each other when all data points were considered; however, when grouped in smaller sections, the correlations were more consistent with observed patterns across the field. To accurately assess soil quality, and arable land use, consideration of spatial and temporal variability, soil conditions, and other controlling factors must be taken into account.

  6. Continental transform margins : state of art and future milestones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basile, Christophe

    2010-05-01

    to be emphasized. There is not only one type of transform margins, but as for divergent margins huge changes from one margin to another in both structure and evolution. Multiple types have to be evidenced together with the various parameters that should control the variability. As for divergent margins, special attention should be paid to conjugated transform margins as a tool to assess symmetrical / asymmetrical processes in the oceanic opening. Attention should also be focused on the three-dimensional structure of the intersections between transform and divergent margins, such as the one where the giant oil field Jubilee was recently discovered. There is almost no 3D data available in these area, and their structures still have to be described. An other key point to develop is the mechanical behavior of the lithosphere in and in the vicinity of transform margins. The classical behaviors (isostasy, elastic flexure) have be tested extensively. The localization of the deformation by the transform fault, and the coupling of continental and oceanic lithosphere across the transform fault have to be adressed to understand the evolution of these margins. Again as for divergent margins, new concepts are needed to explain the variations in the post-rift and post-transform subsidence, that can not always be explained by classical subsidence models. But the most remarkable advance in our understanding of transform margins may be related to the study of interactions between the lithosphere and adjacent envelops : deep interactions with the mantle, as underplating, tectonic erosion, or possible lateral crustal flow ; surficial interactions between structural evolution, erosion and sedimentation processes in transform margins may affect the topography and bathymetry, thus the oceanic circulation with possible effects on regional and global climate.

  7. Outcomes and Patterns of Failure for Grade 2 Meningioma Treated With Reduced-Margin Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Press, Robert H. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Prabhu, Roshan S., E-mail: roshansprabhu@gmail.com [Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Appin, Christina L.; Brat, Daniel J. [Department of Pathology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Shu, Hui-Kuo G. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Hadjipanayis, Constantinos; Olson, Jeffrey J.; Oyesiku, Nelson M. [Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Curran, Walter J.; Crocker, Ian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States); Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia (United States)

    2014-04-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate intracranial control and patterns of local recurrence (LR) for grade 2 meningiomas treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with limited total margin expansions of ≤1 cm. Methods and Materials: We reviewed records of patients with a neuropathological diagnosis of grade 2 meningioma who underwent IMRT at our institution between 2002 and 2012. Actuarial rates were determined by the Kaplan-Meier method from the end of RT. LR was defined as in-field if ≥90% of the recurrence was within the prescription isodose, out-of-field (marginal) if ≥90% was outside of the prescription isodose, and both if neither criterion was met. Results: Between 2002 and 2012, a total of 54 consecutive patients underwent IMRT for grade 2 meningioma. Eight of these patients had total initial margins >1 cm and were excluded, leaving 46 patients for analysis. The median imaging follow-up period was 26.2 months (range, 7-107 months). The median dose for fractionated IMRT was 59.4 Gy (range, 49.2-61.2 Gy). Median clinical target volume (CTV), planning target volume (PTV), and total margin expansion were 0.5 cm, 0.3 cm, and 0.8 cm, respectively. LR occurred in 8 patients (17%), with 2-year and 3-year actuarial local control (LC) of 92% and 74%, respectively. Six of 8 patients (85%) had a known pattern of failure. Five patients (83%) had in-field LR; no patients had marginal LR; and 1 patient (17%) had both. Conclusions: The use of IMRT to treat grade 2 meningiomas with total initial margins (CTV + PTV) ≤1 cm did not appear to compromise outcomes or increase marginal failures compared with other modern retrospective series. Of the 46 patients who had margins ≤1 cm, none experienced marginal failure only. These results demonstrate efficacy and low risk of marginal failure after IMRT treatment of grade 2 meningiomas with reduced margins, warranting study within a prospective clinical trial.

  8. Systems considerations in seismic margin evaluations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buttermer, D.R.

    1987-01-01

    Increasing knowledge in the geoscience field has led to the understanding that, although highly unlikely, it is possible for a nuclear power plant to be subjected to earthquake ground motion greater than that for which the plant was designed. While it is recognized that there are conservatisms inherent in current design practices, interest has developed in evaluating the seismic risk of operating plants. Several plant-specific seismic probabilistic risk assessments (SPRA) have been completed to address questions related to the seismic risk of a plant. The results from such SPRAs are quite informative, but such studies may entail a considerable amount of expensive analysis of large portions of the plant. As an alternative to an SPRA, it may be more practical to select an earthquake level above the design basis for which plant survivability is to be demonstrated. The principal question to be addressed in a seismic margin evaluation is: At what ground motion levels does one have a high confidence that the probability of seismically induced core damage is sufficiently low? In a seismic margin evaluation, an earthquake level is selected (based on site-specific geoscience considerations) for which a stable, long-term safe shutdown condition is to be demonstrated. This prespecified earthquake level is commonly referred to as the seismic margin earthquake (SME). The Electric Power Research Institute is currently supporting a research project to develop procedures for use by the utilities to allow them to perform nuclear plant seismic margin evaluations. This paper describes the systems-related aspects of these procedures

  9. Disentailment and agricultural intensification of river banks: the vega de Aranjuez

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez Garcia, M. J.; Mateu Belles, J. F.

    2009-01-01

    In Spain, successive appropriations by the state of river flood terraces which had previously been in communal or private hands led to apart from notorious social repercussions-increased pressure on the limited water resources, loss of the diversity of agricultural uses as practices became more uniform, and accelerated destruction of the few remaining fragments or riverside woodlands. later water laws (1866 and 1879) and court rulings permitted the aggregation of adjacent fields on river margins, the disappearance of customary uses (including settled and transhumant grazing) and the expansion of horticulture and other intensive arable crops. (Author) 8 refs.

  10. RJD A Cost Effective Frackless Solution For Production Enhancement In Marginal Fields

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Kamel

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available With the worldwide trend of low oil prices high maturity of oil fields excessive cost of horizontal and fracking technologies and necessity for green drilling applications radial jet drilling RJD technology can be a cost effective and environmentally-friendly alternative. RJD is an unconventional drilling technique that utilizes coiled tubing conveyed tools and the energy of high velocity jet fluids to drill laterals inside the reservoir. In recent years rapid advances in high pressure water jet technology has tremendously increased its application in oil and gas industry not only in drilling operations to improve drilling rate and reduce drilling cost but also in production to maximize hydrocarbon recovery. In addition RJD can be used to bypass near wellbore damage direct reservoir treatmentsinjections improve water disposal and re-injection rates and assist in steam or CO2 treatments. This paper highlights the theoretical basis technological advancement procedures applications and challenges of high pressure water jets. Several worldwide case studies are discussed to evaluate the success results pros and cons of RJD. The results show that nearly an average of four to five fold production increase can be obtained. The present paper clearly shows that radial jet drilling is a viable and attractive alternative in marginal and small reservoirs that still have significant oil in place to capture the benefits of horizontal drillingfracking and to improve productivity from both new wells andor workover wells that cannot be produced with the existing expensive conventional completions.

  11. Aggregate Settling Velocities in San Francisco Estuary Margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, R. M.; Stacey, M. T.; Variano, E. A.

    2015-12-01

    One way that humans impact aquatic ecosystems is by adding nutrients and contaminants, which can propagate up the food web and cause blooms and die-offs, respectively. Often, these chemicals are attached to fine sediments, and thus where sediments go, so do these anthropogenic influences. Vertical motion of sediments is important for sinking and burial, and also for indirect effects on horizontal transport. The dynamics of sinking sediment (often in aggregates) are complex, thus we need field data to test and validate existing models. San Francisco Bay is well studied and is often used as a test case for new measurement and model techniques (Barnard et al. 2013). Settling velocities for aggregates vary between 4*10-5 to 1.6*10-2 m/s along the estuary backbone (Manning and Schoellhamer 2013). Model results from South San Francisco Bay shoals suggest two populations of settling particles, one fast (ws of 9 to 5.8*10-4 m/s) and one slow (ws of Brand et al. 2015). While the open waters of San Francisco Bay and other estuaries are well studied and modeled, sediment and contaminants often originate from the margin regions, and the margins remain poorly characterized. We conducted a 24 hour field experiment in a channel slough of South San Francisco Bay, and measured settling velocity, turbulence and flow, and suspended sediment concentration. At this margin location, we found average settling velocities of 4-5*10-5 m/s, and saw settling velocities decrease with decreasing suspended sediment concentration. These results are consistent with, though at the low end of, those seen along the estuary center, and they suggest that the two population model that has been successful along the shoals may also apply in the margins.

  12. The role of the margins in ice stream dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Echelmeyer, Keith; Harrison, William

    1993-07-01

    equals 5) outward of the shear margin, or the bed is frozen there. And last, the high shear stress and strain rate found at the margin are likely to cause significant viscous heating (q) in the marginal ice. The increase in temperature is proportional to qX/u, where X is the width of the shear zone and u is the transverse velocity component bringing cold ice in from the ice sheet outside the shear zone. Near upstream B, this heating is likely to cause an increase in temperature of 4 to 10 K. Plans are to measure this temperature increase in a series of bore holes near the margin during the 1992-93 field season, as well as to provide a more detailed description of the velocity field there.

  13. Spatial distribution of arable and abandoned land across former Soviet Union countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesiv, Myroslava; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Moltchanova, Elena; Bun, Rostyslav; Dürauer, Martina; Prishchepov, Alexander V.; Schierhorn, Florian; Estel, Stephan; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Alcántara, Camilo; Kussul, Natalia; Shchepashchenko, Maria; Kutovaya, Olga; Martynenko, Olga; Karminov, Viktor; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Havlik, Petr; Kraxner, Florian; See, Linda; Fritz, Steffen

    2018-04-01

    Knowledge of the spatial distribution of agricultural abandonment following the collapse of the Soviet Union is highly uncertain. To help improve this situation, we have developed a new map of arable and abandoned land for 2010 at a 10 arc-second resolution. We have fused together existing land cover and land use maps at different temporal and spatial scales for the former Soviet Union (fSU) using a training data set collected from visual interpretation of very high resolution (VHR) imagery. We have also collected an independent validation data set to assess the map accuracy. The overall accuracies of the map by region and country, i.e. Caucasus, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine, are 90±2%, 84±2%, 92±1%, 78±3%, 95±1%, 83±2%, respectively. This new product can be used for numerous applications including the modelling of biogeochemical cycles, land-use modelling, the assessment of trade-offs between ecosystem services and land-use potentials (e.g., agricultural production), among others.

  14. On the marginally relevant operator in z=2 Lifshitz holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holsheimer, Kristian

    2014-01-01

    We study holographic renormalization and RG flow in a strongly-coupled Lifshitz-type theory in 2+1 dimensions with dynamical exponent z=2. The bottom-up gravity dual we use is 3+1 dimensional Einstein gravity coupled to a massive vector field. This model contains a marginally relevant operator around the Lifshitz fixed point. We show how holographic renormalization works in the presence of this marginally relevant operator without the need to introduce explicitly cutoff-dependent counterterms. A simple closed-form expression is found for the renormalized on-shell action. We also discuss how asymptotically Lifshitz geometries flow to AdS in the interior due to the marginally relevant operator. We study the behavior of the renormalized entanglement entropy and confirm that it decreases monotonically along the Lifshitz-to-AdS RG flow

  15. Effects of a copper-tolerant grass (Agrostis capillaris) on the ecosystem of a copper-contaminated arable soil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boon, G.T. [State Univ. Groningen (Netherlands); Bouwman, L.A.; Bloem, J.; Roemkens, P.F.A.M. [Research Inst. for Agrobiology and Soil Fertility, Haren (Netherlands)

    1998-10-01

    To test how a dysfunctioning ecosystem of a severely metal-polluted soil responds to renewed plant growth, a pot experiment was conducted with soil from an experimental arable field with pH and copper gradients imposed 13 years ago. In this experiment, four pH/copper combinations from this field were either planted with a pH- and copper-resistant grass cultivar or remained fallow. During a 10-week period, the dynamics of the microbial activity and of the abundances of bacteria, protozoa. and nematodes were measured, as were the dynamics of several chemical soil parameters. After 13 years of copper, which had resulted in severely reduced crop growth, no effects were observed on bacterial numbers, respiration, or protozoan numbers, but bacterial growth was strongly reduced in the low pH plots, and even more so in low pH plots enriched with copper. Of the organisms, only nematodes were negatively affected under conditions of high copper load at low pH. In these plots, numbers belonging to all feeding categories were strongly reduced. Planting of a copper-tolerant grass variety, Agrostis capillaris L. var. Parys Mountain, resulted within 10 weeks in faster bacterial growth and more protozoa and bacterivorous nematodes in comparison with fallow controls; these effects were markedly strongest in the acidic, copper-enriched soils. During incubation, fungivorous nematodes increased in all treatments, in fallow and in planted pots and in the pots with high-copper, low-pH soil. The results of this experiment suggest that introduction of plant growth is one of the major causes of increased biological activity in acidic contaminated soils. Planting such soils with metal-tolerant plant species can reestablish the necessary food base to support soil organism growth, and this can lead to numerous positive effects, reversing the loss of soil functions due to the high copper levels under acidic conditions.

  16. Net Fluxes of CO2, but not N20 or CH4, are Affected Following Agronomic-Scale Additions of Urea to Prairie and Arable Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Microbial production of carbon dioxide (CO2) increased with nitrogen (N) application rate for both arable and prairie soils incubated at 21 °C. Rate of N applied as urea (0, 11, 56, 112 kg N ha-1) did not affect soil methane consumption and nitrous oxide production for soil collected from either ec...

  17. Relationship between soil cellulolytic activity and suppression of seedling blight of barley in arable soils

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Peter Have; Knudsen, I.; Elmholt, S.

    2002-01-01

    the Hanes-Wolf transformation of the Michaelis-Menten equation. Soil samples from 6 to 13 cm depth were collected in the early spring as undisturbed blocks from 10 arable soils with different physico-chemical properties and cultivation history. Significant correlations were found between soil suppresiveness......The objective was to investigate the relationship between soil suppression of seedling blight of barley caused by Fusarium culmorum (W.G. Smith) Sacc. and the soil cellulolytic activity of beta-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase and endocellulase. Disease suppression was investigated in bioassays...... with test soils mixed with sand, and barley seeds inoculated with F. culmorum. After 19 days, disease severity was evaluated on the barley seedlings. Soil cellulolytic activities were measured using 4-methylumbelliferyl-labelled fluorogenic substrates, and were expressed as V-max values obtained by using...

  18. "We call ourselves marginalized"

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Nanna Jordt

    2014-01-01

    of the people we refer to as marginalized. In this paper, I discuss how young secondary school graduates from a pastoralist community in Kenya use and negotiate indigeneity, marginal identity, and experiences of marginalization in social navigations aimed at broadening their current and future opportunities. I...

  19. International bioenergymarkets - the effects of biofuelpolicies on agriculture and arable area; Kansainvaelinen bioenergiakauppa. Biopolttoainetavoitteiden vaikutukset maatalouteen ja viljelyalan kaeyttoeoen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rintamaeki, H.; Aro-Heinilae, E.

    2012-11-01

    is based on corn and the oil seed affects the prices of foods and weakens access of especially the world's poorest to the food market. Biofuels production has increased so direct as indirect changes into the use of the land. Direct changes refer to the introduction of the new land to the biofuels production. The indirect changes in the use of the land can be the result from biofuels production displacing services or commodities (food, feed, fiber products) on land currently in production. It is supposed the growth of the arable land in the different biofuel scenarios being 1-4 per cent at a global level compared with a situation without the production of biofuels. Growth pressure of arable land remain moderate, however effects to food prices with firs generation biofuels are high, which dilutes food security. This comes crucial when taken into account pressure that comes from population growth, as well as the fact that effects allocates the most towards the most poor which use prominent share of their income for staple foodstuff purchase. Development of second generation biofuels, which production is based on byproduct and wastes or biomass that is cultivated in marginal lands, is essential to meet political biofuel targets in sustainable manner. (orig.)

  20. Impact of organ shape variations on margin concepts for cervix cancer ART.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seppenwoolde, Yvette; Stock, Markus; Buschmann, Martin; Georg, Dietmar; Bauer-Novotny, Kwei-Yuang; Pötter, Richard; Georg, Petra

    2016-09-01

    Target and organ movement motivate adaptive radiotherapy for cervix cancer patients. We investigated the dosimetric impact of margin concepts with different levels of complexity on both organ at risk (OAR) sparing and PTV coverage. Weekly CT and daily CBCT scans were delineated for 10 patients. The dosimetric impact of organ shape variations were evaluated for four (isotropic) margin concepts: two static PTVs (PTV 6mm and PTV 15mm ), a PTV based on ITV of the planning CT and CBCTs of the first treatment week (PTV ART ITV ) and an adaptive PTV based on a library approach (PTV ART Library ). Using static concepts, OAR doses increased with large margins, while smaller margins compromised target coverage. ART PTVs resulted in comparable target coverage and better sparing of bladder (V40Gy: 15% and 7% less), rectum (V40Gy: 18 and 6cc less) and bowel (V40Gy: 106 and 15cc less) compared to PTV 15mm . Target coverage evaluation showed that for elective fields a static 5mm margin sufficed. PTV ART Library achieved the best dosimetric results. However when weighing clinical benefit against workload, ITV margins based on repetitive movement evaluation during the first week also provide improvements over static margin concepts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Marginal Matter

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Hecke, Martin

    2013-03-01

    All around us, things are falling apart. The foam on our cappuccinos appears solid, but gentle stirring irreversibly changes its shape. Skin, a biological fiber network, is firm when you pinch it, but soft under light touch. Sand mimics a solid when we walk on the beach but a liquid when we pour it out of our shoes. Crucially, a marginal point separates the rigid or jammed state from the mechanical vacuum (freely flowing) state - at their marginal points, soft materials are neither solid nor liquid. Here I will show how the marginal point gives birth to a third sector of soft matter physics: intrinsically nonlinear mechanics. I will illustrate this with shock waves in weakly compressed granular media, the nonlinear rheology of foams, and the nonlinear mechanics of weakly connected elastic networks.

  2. Marginalization of the Youth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Niels Rosendal

    2009-01-01

    The article is based on a key note speach in Bielefeld on the subject "welfare state and marginalized youth", focusing upon the high ambition of expanding schooling in Denmark from 9 to 12 years. The unintended effect may be a new kind of marginalization.......The article is based on a key note speach in Bielefeld on the subject "welfare state and marginalized youth", focusing upon the high ambition of expanding schooling in Denmark from 9 to 12 years. The unintended effect may be a new kind of marginalization....

  3. Evaluation of margining algorithms in commercial treatment planning systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pooler, Alistair M.; Mayles, Helen M.; Naismith, Olivia F.; Sage, John P.; Dearnaley, David P.

    2008-01-01

    Introduction: During commissioning of the Pinnacle (Philips) treatment planning system (TPS) the margining algorithm was investigated and was found to produce larger PTVs than Plato (Nucletron) for identical GTVs. Subsequent comparison of PTV volumes resulting from the QA outlining exercise for the CHHIP (Conventional or Hypofractionated High Dose IMRT for Prostate Ca.) trial confirmed that there were differences in TPS's margining algorithms. Margining and the clinical impact of the different PTVs in seven different planning and virtual simulation systems (Pinnacle, Plato, Prosoma (MedCom), Eclipse (7.3 and 7.5) (Varian), MasterPlan (Nucletron), Xio (CMS) and Advantage Windows (AW) (GE)) is investigated, and a simple test for 3D margining consistency is proposed. Methods: Using each TPS, two different sets of prostate GTVs on 2.5 mm and 5 mm slices were margined according to the CHHIP protocol to produce PTV3 (prostate + 5 mm/0 mm post), PTV2 (PTV3 + 5 mm) and PTV1 (prostate and seminal vesicles + 10 mm). GTVs and PTVs were imported into Pinnacle for volume calculation. DVHs for 5 mm slice plans, created using the smallest PTVs, were recalculated on the largest PTV dataset and vice versa. Since adding a margin of 50 mm to a structure should give the same result as adding five margins of 10 mm, this was tested for each TPS (consistency test) using an octahedron as the GTV and CT datasets with 2.5 mm and 5 mm slices. Results: The CHHIP PTV3 and PTV1 volumes had a standard deviation, across the seven systems, of 5% and PTV2 (margined twice) 9%, on the 5 mm slices. For 2.5 mm slices the standard deviations were 4% and 6%. The ratio of the Pinnacle and the Eclipse 7.3 PTV2 volumes was 1.25. Rectal doses were significantly increased when encompassing Pinnacle PTVs (V 50 42.8%), compared to Eclipse 7.3 PTVs (V 50 = 36.4%). Conversely, fields that adequately treated an Eclipse 7.3 PTV2 were inadequate for a Pinnacle PTV2. AW and Plato PTV volumes were the most consistent

  4. Convexity and Marginal Vectors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Velzen, S.; Hamers, H.J.M.; Norde, H.W.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper we construct sets of marginal vectors of a TU game with the property that if the marginal vectors from these sets are core elements, then the game is convex.This approach leads to new upperbounds on the number of marginal vectors needed to characterize convexity.An other result is that

  5. Phenotypic plasticity in the range-margin population of the lycaenid butterfly Zizeeria maha

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otaki Joji M

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many butterfly species have been experiencing the northward range expansion and physiological adaptation, probably due to climate warming. Here, we document an extraordinary field case of a species of lycaenid butterfly, Zizeeria maha, for which plastic phenotypes of wing color-patterns were revealed at the population level in the course of range expansion. Furthermore, we examined whether this outbreak of phenotypic changes was able to be reproduced in a laboratory. Results In the recently expanded northern range margins of this species, more than 10% of the Z. maha population exhibited characteristic color-pattern modifications on the ventral wings for three years. We physiologically reproduced similar phenotypes by an artificial cold-shock treatment of a normal southern population, and furthermore, we genetically reproduced a similar phenotype after selective breeding of a normal population for ten generations, demonstrating that the cold-shock-induced phenotype was heritable and partially assimilated genetically in the breeding line. Similar genetic process might have occurred in the previous and recent range-margin populations as well. Relatively minor modifications expressed in the tenth generation of the breeding line together with other data suggest a role of founder effect in this field case. Conclusions Our results support the notion that the outbreak of the modified phenotypes in the recent range-margin population was primed by the revelation of plastic phenotypes in response to temperature stress and by the subsequent genetic process in the previous range-margin population, followed by migration and temporal establishment of genetically unstable founders in the recent range margins. This case presents not only an evolutionary role of phenotypic plasticity in the field but also a novel evolutionary aspect of range expansion at the species level.

  6. Contributions to knowledge of the continental margin of Uruguay. Uruguayan continental margin: Physiographic and seismic analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preciozzi, F

    2014-01-01

    This work is about the kind of continental margins such as a )Atlantic type passive margins which can be hard or soft b) An active or Pacific margins that because of the very frequent earthquakes develop a morphology dominated by tectonic processes. The Uruguayan continental margin belongs to a soft Atlantic margin

  7. Fixing soft margins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    P. Kofman (Paul); A. Vaal, de (Albert); C.G. de Vries (Casper)

    1993-01-01

    textabstractNon-parametric tolerance limits are employed to calculate soft margins such as advocated in Williamson's target zone proposal. In particular, the tradeoff between softness and zone width is quantified. This may be helpful in choosing appropriate margins. Furthermore, it offers

  8. SOCIAL MARGINALIZATION AND HEALTH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjana Bogdanović

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available The 20th century was characterized by special improvement in health. The aim of WHO’s policy EQUITY IN HEALTH is to enable equal accessibility and equal high quality of health care for all citizens. More or less some social groups have stayed out of many social systems even out of health care system in the condition of social marginalization. Phenomenon of social marginalization is characterized by dynamics. Marginalized persons have lack of control over their life and available resources. Social marginalization stands for a stroke on health and makes the health status worse. Low socio-economic level dramatically influences people’s health status, therefore, poverty and illness work together. Characteristic marginalized groups are: Roma people, people with AIDS, prisoners, persons with development disorders, persons with mental health disorders, refugees, homosexual people, delinquents, prostitutes, drug consumers, homeless…There is a mutual responsibility of community and marginalized individuals in trying to resolve the problem. Health and other problems could be solved only by multisector approach to well-designed programs.

  9. Pickering seismic safety margin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghobarah, A.; Heidebrecht, A.C.; Tso, W.K.

    1992-06-01

    A study was conducted to recommend a methodology for the seismic safety margin review of existing Canadian CANDU nuclear generating stations such as Pickering A. The purpose of the seismic safety margin review is to determine whether the nuclear plant has sufficient seismic safety margin over its design basis to assure plant safety. In this review process, it is possible to identify the weak links which might limit the seismic performance of critical structures, systems and components. The proposed methodology is a modification the EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) approach. The methodology includes: the characterization of the site margin earthquake, the definition of the performance criteria for the elements of a success path, and the determination of the seismic withstand capacity. It is proposed that the margin earthquake be established on the basis of using historical records and the regional seismo-tectonic and site specific evaluations. The ability of the components and systems to withstand the margin earthquake is determined by database comparisons, inspection, analysis or testing. An implementation plan for the application of the methodology to the Pickering A NGS is prepared

  10. Indian Ocean margins

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Naqvi, S.W.A

    in the latter two areas. Some of these fluxes are expected to be substantial in the case of Indonesian continental margins and probably also across the eastern coasts of Africa not covered in this chapter. However, a dearth of information makes these margins...

  11. Marginal kidney donor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ganesh Gopalakrishnan

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for a medically eligible patient with end stage renal disease. The number of renal transplants has increased rapidly over the last two decades. However, the demand for organs has increased even more. This disparity between the availability of organs and waitlisted patients for transplants has forced many transplant centers across the world to use marginal kidneys and donors. We performed a Medline search to establish the current status of marginal kidney donors in the world. Transplant programs using marginal deceased renal grafts is well established. The focus is now on efforts to improve their results. Utilization of non-heart-beating donors is still in a plateau phase and comprises a minor percentage of deceased donations. The main concern is primary non-function of the renal graft apart from legal and ethical issues. Transplants with living donors outnumbered cadaveric transplants at many centers in the last decade. There has been an increased use of marginal living kidney donors with some acceptable medical risks. Our primary concern is the safety of the living donor. There is not enough scientific data available to quantify the risks involved for such donation. The definition of marginal living donor is still not clear and there are no uniform recommendations. The decision must be tailored to each donor who in turn should be actively involved at all levels of the decision-making process. In the current circumstances, our responsibility is very crucial in making decisions for either accepting or rejecting a marginal living donor.

  12. Identifying obstacles and ranking common biological control research priorities for Europe to manage most economically important pests in arable, vegetable and perennial crops.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamichhane, Jay Ram; Bischoff-Schaefer, Monika; Bluemel, Sylvia; Dachbrodt-Saaydeh, Silke; Dreux, Laure; Jansen, Jean-Pierre; Kiss, Jozsef; Köhl, Jürgen; Kudsk, Per; Malausa, Thibaut; Messéan, Antoine; Nicot, Philippe C; Ricci, Pierre; Thibierge, Jérôme; Villeneuve, François

    2017-01-01

    EU agriculture is currently in transition from conventional crop protection to integrated pest management (IPM). Because biocontrol is a key component of IPM, many European countries recently have intensified their national efforts on biocontrol research and innovation (R&I), although such initiatives are often fragmented. The operational outputs of national efforts would benefit from closer collaboration among stakeholders via transnationally coordinated approaches, as most economically important pests are similar across Europe. This paper proposes a common European framework on biocontrol R&I. It identifies generic R&I bottlenecks and needs as well as priorities for three crop types (arable, vegetable and perennial crops). The existing gap between the market offers of biocontrol solutions and the demand of growers, the lengthy and expensive registration process for biocontrol solutions and their varying effectiveness due to variable climatic conditions and site-specific factors across Europe are key obstacles hindering the development and adoption of biocontrol solutions in Europe. Considering arable, vegetable and perennial crops, a dozen common target pests are identified for each type of crop and ranked by order of importance at European level. Such a ranked list indicates numerous topics on which future joint transnational efforts would be justified. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  13. Passive margins getting squeezed in the mantle convection vice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamato, Philippe; Husson, Laurent; Becker, Thorsten W.; Pedoja, Kevin

    2014-05-01

    Passive margins often exhibit uplift, exhumation and tectonic inversion. We speculate that the compression in the lithosphere gradually increased during the Cenozoic. In the same time, the many mountain belts at active margins that accompany this event seem readily witness this increase. However, how that compression increase affects passive margins remains unclear. In order to address this issue, we design a 2D viscous numerical model wherein a lithospheric plate rests above a weaker mantle. It is driven by a mantle conveyor belt, alternatively excited by a lateral downwelling on one side, an upwelling on the other side, or both simultaneously. The lateral edges of the plate are either free or fixed, representing the cases of free convergence, and collision or slab anchoring, respectively. This distinction changes the upper boundary condition for mantle circulation and, as a consequence, the stress field. Our results show that between these two regimes, the flow pattern transiently evolves from a free-slip convection mode towards a no-slip boundary condition above the upper mantle. In the second case, the lithosphere is highly stressed horizontally and deforms. For an equivalent bulk driving force, compression increases drastically at passive margins provided that upwellings are active. Conversely, if downwellings alone are activated, compression occurs at short distances from the trench and extension prevails elsewhere. These results are supported by Earth-like 3D spherical models that reveal the same pattern, where active upwellings are required to excite passive margins compression. These results support the idea that compression at passive margins, is the response to the underlying mantle flow, that is increasingly resisted by the Cenozoic collisions.

  14. Investigation of the dynamics of ephemeral gully erosion on arable land of the forest-steppe and steppe zone of the East of the Russian Plain from remote sensing data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platoncheva, E. V.

    2018-01-01

    Spatio-temporal estimation of the erosion of arable soils is still an urgent task, in spite of the numerous methods of such assessments. Development of information technologies, the emergence of high and ultra-high resolution images allows reliable identification of linear forms of erosion to determine its dynamics on arable land. The study drew attention to the dynamics of the most active erosion unit - an ephemeral gully. The estimation of the dynamics was carried out on the basis of different space images for the maximum possible period (from 1986 to 2016). The cartographic method was used as the main research method. Identification of a belt of ephemeral gully erosion based on materials of multi-zone space surveys and GIS-technology of their processing was carried out. In the course of work with satellite imagery and subsequent verification of the received data on the ground, the main signs of deciphering the ephemeral gully network were determined. A methodology for geoinformation mapping of the dynamics of ephemeral gully erosion belt was developed and a system of indicators quantitatively characterizing its development on arable slopes was proposed. The evaluation of the current ephemeral gully network based on the interpretation of space images includes the definition of such indicators of ephemeral gully erosion as the density of the ephemeral gully net, the density of the ephemeral gullies, the area and linear dynamics of the ephemeral gully network. Preliminary results of the assessment of the dynamics of the belt erosion showed an increase in all quantitative indicators of ephemeral gully erosion for the observed period.

  15. Difference in the Set-up Margin between 2D Conventional and 3D CT Based Planning in Patients with Early Breast Cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jo, Sun Mi; Chun, Mi Sun; Kim, Mi Hwa; Oh, Young Taek; Noh, O Kyu; Kang, Seung Hee

    2010-01-01

    Simulation using computed tomography (CT) is now widely available for radiation treatment planning for breast cancer. It is an important tool to help define the tumor target and normal tissue based on anatomical features of an individual patient. In Korea, most patients have small sized breasts and the purpose of this study was to review the margin of treatment field between conventional two-dimensional (2D) planning and CT based three-dimensional (3D) planning in patients with small breasts. Twenty-five consecutive patients with early breast cancer undergoing breast conservation therapy were selected. All patients underwent 3D CT based planning with a conventional breast tangential field design. In 2D planning, the treatment field margins were determined by palpation of the breast parenchyma (In general, the superior: base of the clavicle, medial: midline, lateral: mid - axillary line, and inferior margin: 2 m below the inflamammary fold). In 3D planning, the clinical target volume (CTV) ought to comprise all glandular breast tissue, and the PTV was obtained by adding a 3D margin of 1 cm around the CTV except in the skin direction. The difference in the treatment field margin and equivalent field size between 2D and 3D planning were evaluated. The association between radiation field margins and factors such as body mass index, menopause status, and bra size was determined. Lung volume and heart volume were examined on the basis of the prescribed breast radiation dose and 3D dose distribution. The margins of the treatment field were smaller in the 3D planning except for two patients. The superior margin was especially variable (average, 2.5 cm; range, -2.5 to 4.5 cm; SD, 1.85). The margin of these targets did not vary equally across BMI class, menopause status, or bra size. The average irradiated lung volume was significantly lower for 3D planning. The average irradiated heart volume did not decrease significantly. The use of 3D CT based planning reduced the

  16. Difference in the Set-up Margin between 2D Conventional and 3D CT Based Planning in Patients with Early Breast Cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jo, Sun Mi; Chun, Mi Sun; Kim, Mi Hwa; Oh, Young Taek; Noh, O Kyu [Ajou University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Seung Hee [Inje University, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Ilsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2010-11-15

    Simulation using computed tomography (CT) is now widely available for radiation treatment planning for breast cancer. It is an important tool to help define the tumor target and normal tissue based on anatomical features of an individual patient. In Korea, most patients have small sized breasts and the purpose of this study was to review the margin of treatment field between conventional two-dimensional (2D) planning and CT based three-dimensional (3D) planning in patients with small breasts. Twenty-five consecutive patients with early breast cancer undergoing breast conservation therapy were selected. All patients underwent 3D CT based planning with a conventional breast tangential field design. In 2D planning, the treatment field margins were determined by palpation of the breast parenchyma (In general, the superior: base of the clavicle, medial: midline, lateral: mid - axillary line, and inferior margin: 2 m below the inflamammary fold). In 3D planning, the clinical target volume (CTV) ought to comprise all glandular breast tissue, and the PTV was obtained by adding a 3D margin of 1 cm around the CTV except in the skin direction. The difference in the treatment field margin and equivalent field size between 2D and 3D planning were evaluated. The association between radiation field margins and factors such as body mass index, menopause status, and bra size was determined. Lung volume and heart volume were examined on the basis of the prescribed breast radiation dose and 3D dose distribution. The margins of the treatment field were smaller in the 3D planning except for two patients. The superior margin was especially variable (average, 2.5 cm; range, -2.5 to 4.5 cm; SD, 1.85). The margin of these targets did not vary equally across BMI class, menopause status, or bra size. The average irradiated lung volume was significantly lower for 3D planning. The average irradiated heart volume did not decrease significantly. The use of 3D CT based planning reduced the

  17. A methodology to determine margins by EPID measurements of patient setup variation and motion as applied to immobilization devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prisciandaro, Joann I.; Frechette, Christina M.; Herman, Michael G.; Brown, Paul D.; Garces, Yolanda I.; Foote, Robert L.

    2004-01-01

    Assessment of clinic and site specific margins are essential for the effective use of three-dimensional and intensity modulated radiation therapy. An electronic portal imaging device (EPID) based methodology is introduced which allows individual and population based CTV-to-PTV margins to be determined and compared with traditional margins prescribed during treatment. This method was applied to a patient cohort receiving external beam head and neck radiotherapy under an IRB approved protocol. Although the full study involved the use of an EPID-based method to assess the impact of (1) simulation technique (2) immobilization, and (3) surgical intervention on inter- and intrafraction variations of individual and population-based CTV-to-PTV margins, the focus of the paper is on the technique. As an illustration, the methodology is utilized to examine the influence of two immobilization devices, the UON TM thermoplastic mask and the Type-S TM head/neck shoulder immobilization system on margins. Daily through port images were acquired for selected fields for each patient with an EPID. To analyze these images, simulation films or digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR's) were imported into the EPID software. Up to five anatomical landmarks were identified and outlined by the clinician and up to three of these structures were matched for each reference image. Once the individual based errors were quantified, the patient results were grouped into populations by matched anatomical structures and immobilization device. The variation within the subgroup was quantified by calculating the systematic and random errors (Σ sub and σ sub ). Individual patient margins were approximated as 1.65 times the individual-based random error and ranged from 1.1 to 6.3 mm (A-P) and 1.1 to 12.3 mm (S-I) for fields matched on skull and cervical structures, and 1.7 to 10.2 mm (L-R) and 2.0 to 13.8 mm (S-I) for supraclavicular fields. Population-based margins ranging from 5.1 to 6.6 mm (A

  18. Nitrogen removal in shallow groundwater below three arable land systems in a high nitrogen loading region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, X.; Zhou, W.

    2017-12-01

    The Taihu Lake region (TLR) is one of the most intensive agricultural regions with high nitrogen (N) loading in eastern China. Large inputs of synthetic N fertilizer have led to a series of environmental problems including eutrophication of surface waters, nitrate (NO3-) pollution of groundwater. To fully evaluate the risk of NO3- on groundwater environments, it is necessary to know the natural NO3- removal ability. In this study, denitrification capacity was assessed for two years through measuring the concentration of different N species (NO3-, NH4+, TN, excess N2 and dissolved N2O) in groundwater below three typical agricultural land-use types in the TLR. The results suggested that the conversion of paddy field (PF) to vineyard (VY) and vegetable (VF) significantly increased the groundwater NO3-N concentration, but denitrification consumed 76%, 83% and 65% of the groundwater NO3-N in VY, VF and PF, respectively. Because of the low O2 and high DOC concentrations in groundwater, denitrification activity was high in the study sites, resulting in high excess N2 accumulation in groundwater, and the concentration even exceeded the total active N in the deep layer. The large amounts of excess N2 observed in the VY and VF over all the sample times indicated that considerable N was stored as gaseous N2 in groundwater and should not be ignored in balancing N budgets in aquifers where denitrification is high. Our results also demonstrated that the indirect N2O emission factor (EF5-g) in VY (0.0052)and VF (0.0057)was significantly higher than PF (0.0011)as well as higher than the IPCC default values (0.0025. In view of the increasing trend of paddy fields being converted to uplands combined with the low GWT in the TLR, we thus concluded that the risk of NO3- contamination in groundwater and indirect N2O emission will intensify below arable land.

  19. Confinement margins for ignition and driven operation in Iter Eda ID

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johner, J.

    1995-09-01

    Preliminary calculations for ITER EDA ID have been performed using the 1/2D thermal equilibrium code HELIOS. It is found that: - The maximum ignition margin for ITER ID (29%) is 6% less than for ITER OD (35%) and 5% less than for ITER CDA (34%). - Decreasing the ration τ * He /τ E from the nominal value 10 to a value of 5 gives a 12% gain in the maximum ignition margin. Increasing the ration from 10 to 15 causes a 22% loss in the margin. Furthermore, ignited equilibria non longer exist for τ * He /τ E ≥ 17.6. - Operation in driven mode with 50 MW of external power increases the confinement capability by 13%. With 100 MW, the improvement is 24%. - Lowering the fusion power from 1500 to 1000 MW slightly improves the maximum ignition margin (+5%) and allows operation below the Greenwald density limit. - A 10% reduction of the toroidal magnetic field with a correlative diminution of the plasma current for constant safety factor operation, causes a dramatic reduction (-18%) of the maximum ignition margin. - A fraction of neon of 0.68% would completely suppress the ignition margin. Furthermore, ignited equilibria, with the nominal fusion power and τ * He /τ E , no longer exist when the neon fraction exceeds 0.75%. (Author). 2 refs., 10 figs

  20. Refining MARGINS Mini-Lessons Using Classroom Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iverson, E. A.; Manduca, C. A.; McDaris, J. R.; Lee, S.

    2009-12-01

    One of the challenges that we face in developing teaching materials or activities from research findings is testing the materials to determine that they work as intended. Traditionally faculty develop material for their own class, notice what worked and didn’t, and improve them the next year. However, as we move to a community process of creating and sharing teaching materials, a community-based process for testing materials is appropriate. The MARGINS project has piloted such a process for testing teaching materials and activities developed as part of its mini-lesson project (http://serc.carleton.edu/margins/index.html). Building on prior work developing mechanisms for community review of teaching resources (e.g. Kastens, 2002; Hancock and Manduca, 2005; Mayhew and Hall, 2007), the MARGINS evaluation team developed a structured classroom observation protocol. The goals of field testing are to a) gather structured, consistent feedback for the lesson authors based on classroom use; b) guide reviewers of these lessons to reflect on research-based educational practice as a framework for their comments; c) collect information on the data and observations that the reviewer used to underpin their review; d) determine which mini-lessons are ready to be made widely available on the website. The protocol guides faculty observations on why they used the activity, the effectiveness of the activity in their classroom, the success of the activity in leading to the desired learning, and what other faculty need to successfully use the activity. Available online (http://serc.carleton.edu/margins/protocol.html), the protocol can be downloaded and completed during instruction with the activity. In order to encourage review of mini-lessons using the protocol, a workshop focused on review and revision of activities was held in May 2009. In preparation for the workshop, 13 of the 28 participants chose to field test a mini-lesson prior to the workshop and reported that they found this

  1. On marginal regeneration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stein, H.N.

    1991-01-01

    On applying the marginal regeneration concept to the drainage of free liquid films, problems are encountered: the films do not show a "neck" of minimum thickness at the film/border transition; and the causes of the direction dependence of the marginal regeneration are unclear. Both problems can be

  2. Indigenous women's voices: marginalization and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodgson, Joan E; Struthers, Roxanne

    2005-10-01

    Marginalization may affect health care delivery. Ways in which indigenous women experienced marginalization were examined. Data from 57 indigenous women (18 to 65 years) were analyzed for themes. Three themes emerged: historical trauma as lived marginalization, biculturalism experienced as marginalization, and interacting within a complex health care system. Experienced marginalization reflected participants' unique perspective and were congruent with previous research. It is necessary for health care providers to assess the detrimental impact of marginalization on the health status of individuals and/or communities.

  3. Plant litter decomposition and carbon sequestration for arable soils. Final report of works. April 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Recous, S.; Barrois, F.; Coppens, F.; Garnier, P.; Grehan, E.; Balesdent, J.; Dambrine, E.; Zeller, B.; Loiseau, P.; Personeni, E.

    2002-01-01

    The general objective of this project was to contribute to the evaluation of land use and management impacts on C sequestration and nitrogen dynamics in soils. The land used through the presence/absence of crops and their species, and the land management through tillage, localisation of crop residues, fertilizer applications,... are important factors that affect the dynamics of organic matters in soils, particularly the mineralization of C and N, the losses to the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the retention of carbon into the soil. This project was conducted by four research groups, three of them having expertise in nutrient cycling of three major agro-ecosystems (arable crops, grasslands, forests) and the fourth one having expertise in modelling long term effects of land use on C storage into the soils. Within this common project one major objective was to better understand the fate of plant litter entering the soil either as above litter or as root litter. The focus was put on two factors that particularly affect decomposition: the initial biochemical quality of plant litter, and the location of the decomposing litter. One innovative aspect of the project was the use of stable isotope as 13 C for carbon, based on the use of enriched or depleted 13 C material, the only option to assess the dynamics of 'new' C entering the soil on the short term, in order to reveal the effects of decomposition factors. Another aspect was the simultaneous study of C and N. The project consisted in experiments relevant for each agro-ecosystem, in forest, grassland and arable soils for which interactions between residue quality and nitrogen availability on the one hand, residue quality and location on the other hand, was investigated. A common experiment was set up to investigate the potential degradability of the various residue used (beech leaf rape straw, young rye, Lolium and dactylic roots) in a their original soils and in a single soil was assessed. Based on these experiments, the

  4. Refining margins and prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baudouin, C.; Favennec, J.P.

    1997-01-01

    Refining margins throughout the world have remained low in 1996. In Europe, in spite of an improvement, particularly during the last few weeks, they are still not high enough to finance new investments. Although the demand for petroleum products is increasing, experts are still sceptical about any rapid recovery due to prevailing overcapacity and to continuing capacity growth. After a historical review of margins and an analysis of margins by regions, we analyse refining over-capacities in Europe and the unbalances between production and demand. Then we discuss the current situation concerning barriers to the rationalization, agreements between oil companies, and the consequences on the future of refining capacities and margins. (author)

  5. Safety margins in deterministic safety analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viktorov, A.

    2011-01-01

    The concept of safety margins has acquired certain prominence in the attempts to demonstrate quantitatively the level of the nuclear power plant safety by means of deterministic analysis, especially when considering impacts from plant ageing and discovery issues. A number of international or industry publications exist that discuss various applications and interpretations of safety margins. The objective of this presentation is to bring together and examine in some detail, from the regulatory point of view, the safety margins that relate to deterministic safety analysis. In this paper, definitions of various safety margins are presented and discussed along with the regulatory expectations for them. Interrelationships of analysis input and output parameters with corresponding limits are explored. It is shown that the overall safety margin is composed of several components each having different origins and potential uses; in particular, margins associated with analysis output parameters are contrasted with margins linked to the analysis input. While these are separate, it is possible to influence output margins through the analysis input, and analysis method. Preserving safety margins is tantamount to maintaining safety. At the same time, efficiency of operation requires optimization of safety margins taking into account various technical and regulatory considerations. For this, basic definitions and rules for safety margins must be first established. (author)

  6. National monitoring study in Denmark finds increased and critical levels of copper and zinc in arable soils fertilized with pig slurry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, John; Larsen, Martin Mørk; Bak, Jesper

    2016-07-01

    The increasing consumption of copper and zinc in modern farming is linked to their documented benefit as growth promoting agents and usefulness for controlling diarrhoea. Copper and zinc are inert and non-degradable in the slurry and the environment and thereby introducing new challenges and concern. Therefore, a follow-up to pervious national soil monitoring programs on heavy metals was initiated in 2014 with special focus on the historical trends in soil concentrations of copper and zinc in Danish arable soils. Hereby it is possible to analyse trends for a 28 year period. Data shows that: 1) Amendment of soils with pig slurry has led to a significant increase in soil concentrations of copper and zinc, especially in the latest monitoring period from 1998 to 2014; 2) Predicted no-effect concentrations for soil dwelling species published by the European Union is exceeded for zinc in 45% of all soil samples, with the highest proportion on sandy soils; 3) The current use of zinc and copper in pig production may lead to leaching of metals, especially zinc, from fields fertilized with pig slurry in concentrations that may pose a risk to aquatic species. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Marginal Models for Categorial Data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bergsma, W.P.; Rudas, T.

    2002-01-01

    Statistical models defined by imposing restrictions on marginal distributions of contingency tables have received considerable attention recently. This paper introduces a general definition of marginal log-linear parameters and describes conditions for a marginal log-linear parameter to be a smooth

  8. Impacts of projected climate change on productivity and nitrogen leaching of crop rotations in arable and pig farming systems in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Doltra, Jordi; Lægdsmand, Mette; Olesen, Jørgen E

    2014-01-01

    The effects of projected changes in climate and atmospheric CO2 concentration on productivity and nitrogen (N) leaching of characteristic arable and pig farming rotations in Denmark were investigated with the FASSET simulation model. The LARS weather generator was used to provide climatic data...... for the baseline period (1961–90) and in combination with two regional circulation models (RCM) to generate climatic data under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B emission scenario for four different 20-year time slices (denoted by midpoints 2020, 2040, 2060 and 2080) for two locations...

  9. GLANAM (Glaciated North Atlantic Margins): A Marie Curie Initial Training Network between Norway, the UK & Denmark

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petter Sejrup, Hans; Oline Hjelstuen, Berit

    2015-04-01

    GLANAM (Glaciated North Atlantic Margins) is an Initial Training Network (ITN) funded under the EU Marie Curie Programme. It comprises 10 research partners from Norway, UK and Denmark, including 7 University research teams, 1 industrial full partner and 2 industrial associate partners. The GLANAM network will employ and train 15 early career researchers (Fellows). The aim of GLANAM is to improve the career prospects and development of young researchers in both the public and private sector within the field of earth science, focusing on North Atlantic glaciated margins. The young scientists will perform multi-disciplinary research and receive training in geophysics, remote sensing, GIS, sedimentology, geomorphology, stratigraphy, geochemistry and numerical modeling through three interconnected work packages that collectively address knowledge gaps related to the large, glacial age, sedimentary depocentres on the North Atlantic margin. The 15 Fellows will work on projects that geographically extend from Ireland in the south to the High Arctic. Filling these gaps will not only result in major new insights regarding glacial age processes on continental margins in general, but will also provide paleoclimate information essential for understanding the role of marine-based ice sheets in the climate system and for the testing of climate models. GLANAM brings together leading European research groups working on glaciated margins in a coordinated and collaborative research and training project. Focusing on the North Atlantic margins, this coordinated approach will lead to a major advance in the understanding of glaciated margins more widely and will fundamentally strengthen European research and build capacity in this field.

  10. The role of fish ponds in the nutrient dynamics of mixed farming systems

    OpenAIRE

    Muendo, P.N.

    2006-01-01

    Rapid population growth in developing countries has resulted in increased demand for food, leading to increased pressure to extend land under cultivation and to intensify food production. Because most of the arable land has already been utilized, further intensification of agricultural production has involved conversion of marginal lands such as forest reserves, communal grazing land & and fragile areas such as river banks and steep hill slopes. Intensified crop production on marginal lands e...

  11. Digital Margins : How spatially and socially marginalized communities deal with digital exclusion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salemink, Koen

    2016-01-01

    The increasing importance of the Internet as a means of communication has transformed economies and societies. For spatially and socially marginalized communities, this transformation has resulted in digital exclusion and further marginalization. This book presents a study of two kinds of

  12. The availability and economic analyses of using marginal land for bioenergy production in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuqi, Chen; Xudong, Guo; Chunyan, Lv

    2017-04-01

    In recent years, China has witnessed rapid increase in the dependence of foreign oil import. In 2015, the primary energy consumption of China is 543 million tons, of which 328 million tons was imported. The total amount of imported foreign oil increased from 49.8% in 2008 to 60.41% in 2016. To address the national energy security and GHG emission reduction, China has made considerable progress in expanding renewable energy portfolio, especially liquid biofuels. However, under the pressure of high population and vulnerable food security, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) ruled that bioenergy is only allowed to be produced using non-cereal feedstock. In addition, the energy crops can only be planted on marginal land, which is the land not suitable for growing field crops due to edaphic and/or climatic limitations, and other environmental risks. Although there have been a number of studies about estimating the marginal land for energy plants' cultivation in China, as to the different definition of marginal land and land use data, the results are quite different. Furthermore, even if there is enough marginal land suitable for energy plants' cultivation, economic viability of cultivating energy plants on marginal land is critical. In order to analyze the availability and economic analyses of the marginal land for bioenergy production strategy, firstly, by using of the latest and most authoritative land use data, this study focused on the assessment of marginal land resources and bioenergy potential by planting five species of energy plants including Cassava, Jatropha curcas, Helianthus tuberous L, Pistacia chinensis, Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge. The results indicate that there are 289.71 million ha marginal land can be used for these five energy plants' cultivation, which can produce 24.45 million tons bioethanol and 8.77 million tons of biodiesel. Secondly, based on field survey data and literature reviews, we found that, from the farmers

  13. Western Continental Margin of India - Re-look using potential field data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajaram, M.; S P, A.

    2008-05-01

    The Western Continental Margin of India (WCMI) evolved as a result of rifting between India and Madagascar that took place during mid Cretaceous (~88Ma).The WCMI is equally important in terms of natural resources as well as research point of view. The major tectonic elements in the western offshore includes the Laxmi and Chagos- Laccadive ridge dividing the WCMI and the adjoining Arabian sea into two basins, Pratap Ridge, Alleppey platform etc. Different theories have been proposed for the evolution of each of these tectonic elements. In the current paper we look at geopotential data on the west coast of India and the western off-shore. The data sets utilized include Satellite derived High Resolution Free Air Gravity data over the off-shore, Bouguer data onland, Champ Satellite Magnetic data, published Marine Magnetic data collected by ONGC, NIO, ground magnetic data over west cost collected by IIG and available aeromagnetic data. From the free air gravity anomaly the structural details of the western offshore can be delineated. The Euler depths of FAG depict deep solutions associated with Pratap Ridge, Comorin Ridge, the west coast fault and the Laxmi Ridge. These may be associated with continental margin and continental fragments. From the aeromagnetic and marine magnetic data it is evident that the West Coast Fault is dissected at several places. The shallow circular feature associated with Bombay High is evident both on the FAG and the analytic signal derived from satellite Magnetic data. The crustal magnetic thickness from MF5 lithospheric model of the Champ appears to suggest that the continental crust extends up to the Chagos- Laccadive ridge. Based on the analysis of these geopotential data sets the various theories for the evolution of the WCMI will be evaluated and these results will be presented.

  14. Application of fermionic marginal constraints to hybrid quantum algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubin, Nicholas C.; Babbush, Ryan; McClean, Jarrod

    2018-05-01

    Many quantum algorithms, including recently proposed hybrid classical/quantum algorithms, make use of restricted tomography of the quantum state that measures the reduced density matrices, or marginals, of the full state. The most straightforward approach to this algorithmic step estimates each component of the marginal independently without making use of the algebraic and geometric structure of the marginals. Within the field of quantum chemistry, this structure is termed the fermionic n-representability conditions, and is supported by a vast amount of literature on both theoretical and practical results related to their approximations. In this work, we introduce these conditions in the language of quantum computation, and utilize them to develop several techniques to accelerate and improve practical applications for quantum chemistry on quantum computers. As a general result, we demonstrate how these marginals concentrate to diagonal quantities when measured on random quantum states. We also show that one can use fermionic n-representability conditions to reduce the total number of measurements required by more than an order of magnitude for medium sized systems in chemistry. As a practical demonstration, we simulate an efficient restoration of the physicality of energy curves for the dilation of a four qubit diatomic hydrogen system in the presence of three distinct one qubit error channels, providing evidence these techniques are useful for pre-fault tolerant quantum chemistry experiments.

  15. The dynamics of cultivation and floods in arable lands of Central Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. F. Viglizzo

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Although floods in watersheds have been associated with land-use change since ancient times, the dynamics of flooding is still incompletely understood. In this paper we explored the relations between rainfall, groundwater level, and cultivation to explain the dynamics of floods in the extremely flat and valuable arable lands of the Quinto river watershed, in central Argentina. The analysis involved an area of 12.4 million hectare during a 26-year period (1978–2003, which comprised two extensive flooding episodes in 1983–1988 and 1996–2003. Supported by information from surveys as well as field and remote sensing measurements, we explored the correlation among precipitation, groundwater levels, flooded area and land use. Flood extension was associated to the dynamics of groundwater level. While no correlation with rainfall was recorded in lowlands, a significant correlation (P<0.01 between groundwater and rainfall in highlands was found when estimations comprise a time lag of one year. Correlations between groundwater level and flood extension were positive in all cases, but while highly significant relations (P<0.01 were found in highlands, non significant relations (P>0.05 predominate in lowlands. Our analysis supports the existence of a cyclic mechanism driven by the reciprocal influence between cultivation and groundwater in highlands. This cycle would involve the following stages: (a cultivation boosts the elevation of groundwater levels through decreased evapotranspiration; (b as groundwater level rises, floods spread causing a decline of land cultivation; (c flooding propitiates higher evapotranspiration favouring its own retraction; (d cultivation expands again following the retreat of floods. Thus, cultivation would trigger a destabilizing feedback self affecting future cultivation in the highlands. It is unlikely that such sequence can work in lowlands. The results suggest that rather than responding directly

  16. Informing practice regarding marginalization: the application of the Koci Marginality Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koci, Anne Floyd; McFarlane, Judith; Nava, Angeles; Gilroy, Heidi; Maddoux, John

    2012-12-01

    The 49th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared violence as the leading worldwide public health problem with a focus on the increase in the incidence of injuries to women. Violence against women is an international epidemic with specific instruments required to measure the impact on women's functioning. This article describes the application of the Koci Marginality Index (KMI), a 5-item scale to measure marginality, to the baseline data of a seven-year prospective study of 300 abused women: 150 first time users of a shelter and 150 first time applicants for a protection order from the justice system. Validity and reliability of the Koci Marginality Index and its usefulness for best clinical practice and for policy decisions for abused women's health are discussed. The 49th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared violence as the leading worldwide public health problem and focused on the increase in the incidence of injuries to women (Krug et al., 2002 ). Violence against women in the form of intimate partner violence (IPV) is costly in terms of dollars and health. In the United States in 2003, estimated costs of IPV approached $8.3 billion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2011). Outcomes related to severity of IPV vary but in 2003 victims suffering severe IPV lost nearly 8 million days of paid work, and greater than 5 million days of household productivity annually (CDC, 2011). Besides the evident financial cost of IPV, research confirms that exposure to IPV impacts a woman's health immediately and in the long-term (Breiding, Black, & Ryan, 2008 ; Campbell, 2002 ; CDC, 2011). Such sequela adversely affect the health of women and may increase their marginalization, a concept akin to isolation that may further increase negative effects on health outcomes. Immigrant women are at high risk for IPV (Erez, 2002 ) and those without documentation are at higher risk for marginalization (Montalvo

  17. EGSNRC Monte Carlo study of the effect of photon energy and field margin in phantoms simulating small lung lesions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osei, E.K.; Darko, J.; Mosseri, A.; Jezioranski, J.

    2003-01-01

    The dose distribution in small lung tumors (coin lesions) is affected by the combined effects of reduced attenuation of photons and extended range of electrons in lung. The increased range of electrons in low-density tissues can lead to loss of field flatness and increased penumbra width, especially at high energies. The EGSNRC Monte Carlo code, together with DOSXYZNRC, a three-dimensional voxel dose calculation module has been used to study the characteristics of the penumbra in the region of the target-lung interfaces for various radiation beam energies, lung densities, target-field edge distances, target size, and depth. The Monte Carlo model was validated by film measurements made in acrylic (simulating a tumor) imbedded in cork (simulating the lung). Beam profiles that are deemed to be acceptable are defined as those in which no point within the planning target volume (target volume plus 1 cm margin) received less than 95% of the dose prescribed to the center of the target. For parallel opposed beams and 2 cm cube target size, 6 MV photons produce superior dose distribution with respect to penumbra at the lateral, anterior, and posterior surfaces and midplane of the simulated target, with a target-field edge distance of 2.5 cm. A lesser target-field edge distance of 2.0 cm is required for 4 MV photons to produce acceptable dose distribution. To achieve equivalent dose distribution with 10 and 18 MV photons, a target-field edge distance of 3.0 and 3.5 cm, respectively, is required. For a simulated target size of 4 cm cube, a target-field edge distance of 2, 2.5, and 3 cm is required for 6, 10, and 18 MV photons, respectively, to yield acceptable PTV coverage. The effect, which is predominant in determining the target dose, depends on the beam energy, target-field edge distance, lung density, and the depth and size of the target

  18. [The Assistance maternelle de Montreal (1912-1961). An example of marginalization of philanthropic active women in the field of care for pregnants (French)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baillargeon, D

    1999-01-01

    This article examines the story of the Assistance maternelle de Montreal, an organization founded in 1912 by a group of bourgeois catholic women to provide material assistance and free medical services to poor pregnant mothers of the city. I want to show that even if the timid intervention of the Quebec state allowed the AM to survive during the almost 50 years, the rise of the experts in the health field--a phenomenon to which the AM has largely contributed--and in the philanthropic sector led to the marginalization of the female volunteers within the very institution they had created.

  19. Assessing and analysing the impact of land take pressures on arable land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Aksoy

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Land, and in particular soil, is a finite and essentially non-renewable resource. Across the European Union, land take, i.e. the increase of settlement area over time, annually consumes more than 1000 km2 of which half is actually sealed and hence lost under impermeable surfaces. Land take, and in particular soil sealing, has already been identified as one of the major soil threats in the 2006 European Commission Communication Towards a Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection and the Soil Thematic Strategy and has been confirmed as such in the report on the implementation of this strategy. The aim of this study is to relate the potential of land for a particular use in a given region with the actual land use. This allows evaluating whether land (especially the soil dimension is used according to its (theoretical potential. To this aim, the impact of several land cover flows related to urban development on soils with good, average, and poor production potentials were assessed and mapped. Thus, the amount and quality (potential for agricultural production of arable land lost between the years 2000 and 2006 was identified. In addition, areas with high productivity potential around urban areas, indicating areas of potential future land use conflicts for Europe, were identified.

  20. Energy crop (Sida hermaphrodita) fertilization using digestate under marginal soil conditions: A dose-response experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nabel, Moritz; Bueno Piaz Barbosa, Daniela; Horsch, David; Jablonowski, Nicolai David

    2014-05-01

    The global demand for energy security and the mitigation of climate change are the main drivers pushing energy-plant production in Germany. However, the cultivation of these plants can cause land use conflicts since agricultural soil is mostly used for plant production. A sustainable alternative to the conventional cultivation of food-based energy-crops is the cultivation of special adopted energy-plants on marginal lands. To further increase the sustainability of energy-plant cultivation systems the dependency on synthetic fertilizers needs to be reduced via closed nutrient loops. In the presented study the energy-plant Sida hermaphrodita (Malvaceae) will be used to evaluate the potential to grow this high potential energy-crop on a marginal sandy soil in combination with fertilization via digestate from biogas production. With this dose-response experiment we will further identify an optimum dose, which will be compared to equivalent doses of NPK-fertilizer. Further, lethal doses and deficiency doses will be observed. Two weeks old Sida seedlings were transplanted to 1L pots and fertilized with six doses of digestate (equivalent to a field application of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160t/ha) and three equivalent doses of NPK-fertilizer. Control plants were left untreated. Sida plants will grow for 45 days under greenhouse conditions. We hypothesize that the nutrient status of the marginal soil can be increased and maintained by defined digestate applications, compared to control plants suffering of nutrient deficiency due to the low nutrient status in the marginal substrate. The dose of 40t/ha is expected to give a maximum biomass yield without causing toxicity symptoms. Results shall be used as basis for further experiments on the field scale in a field trial that was set up to investigate sustainable production systems for energy crop production under marginal soil conditions.

  1. Carbon footprints of crops from organic and conventional arable crop rotations – using a life cycle assessment approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Marie Trydeman; Meyer-Aurich, A; Olesen, Jørgen E

    2014-01-01

    Many current organic arable agriculture systems are challenged by a dependency on imported livestock manure from conventional agriculture. At the same time organic agriculture aims at being climate friendly. A life cycle assessment is used in this paper to compare the carbon footprints of different....... The results showed significantly lower carbon footprint of the crops from the ‘Biogas’ rotation (assuming that biogas replaces fossil gas) whereas the remaining crop rotations had comparable carbon footprints per kg cash crop. The study showed considerable contributions caused by the green manure crop (grass......-clover) and highlights the importance of analysing the whole crop rotation and including soil carbon changes when estimating carbon footprints of organic crops especially where green manure crops are included....

  2. Can a marginally open universe amplify magnetic fields?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shtanov, Yuri; Sahni, Varun

    2013-01-01

    In a series of recent papers, including arXiv:1210.1183, it was claimed that large-scale magnetic fields generated during inflation in a spatially open universe could remain astrophysically significant at the present time since they experienced superadiabatic amplification specific to an open universe. We reexamine this assertion and show that, on the contrary, large-scale magnetic fields in a realistic open universe decay in much the same manner as they would in a spatially flat universe. Consequently, their amplitude today is extremely small (B 0 ∼ −59 G) and is unlikely to be of astrophysical significance

  3. Investigations of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Ocean and Ice Conditions in and Near the Marginal Ice Zone. The “Marginal Ice Zone Observations and Processes Experiment” (MIZOPEX) Final Campaign Summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeMott, P. J. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Hill, T. C.J. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

    2016-02-01

    Despite the significance of the marginal ice zones of the Arctic Ocean, basic parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST) and a range of sea-ice characteristics are still insufficiently understood in these areas, and especially so during the summer melt period. The field campaigns summarized here, identified collectively as the “Marginal Ice Zone Ocean and Ice Observations and Processes Experiment” (MIZOPEX), were funded by U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) with the intent of helping to address these information gaps through a targeted, intensive observation field campaign that tested and exploited unique capabilities of multiple classes of unmanned aerial systems (UASs). MIZOPEX was conceived and carried out in response to NASA’s request for research efforts that would address a key area of science while also helping to advance the application of UASs in a manner useful to NASA for assessing the relative merits of different UASs. To further exercise the potential of unmanned systems and to expand the science value of the effort, the field campaign added further challenges such as air deployment of miniaturized buoys and coordinating missions involving multiple aircraft. Specific research areas that MIZOPEX data were designed to address include relationships between ocean skin temperatures and subsurface temperatures and how these evolve over time in an Arctic environment during summer; variability in sea-ice conditions such as thickness, age, and albedo within the marginal ice zone (MIZ); interactions of SST, salinity, and ice conditions during the melt cycle; and validation of satellite-derived SST and ice concentration fields provided by satellite imagery and models.

  4. On the dynamics of turbulent transport near marginal stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diamond, P.H.; Hahm, T.S.

    1995-03-01

    A general methodology for describing the dynamics of transport near marginal stability is formulated. Marginal stability is a special case of the more general phenomenon of self-organized criticality. Simple, one field models of the dynamics of tokamak plasma self-organized criticality have been constructed, and include relevant features such as sheared mean flow and transport bifurcations. In such models, slow mode (i.e. large scale, low frequency transport events) correlation times determine the behavior of transport dynamics near marginal stability. To illustrate this, impulse response scaling exponents (z) and turbulent diffusivities (D) have been calculated for the minimal (Burgers) and sheared flow models. For the minimal model, z = 1 (indicating ballastic propagation) and D ∼(S 0 2 ) 1/3 , where S 0 2 is the noise strength. With an identically structured noise spectrum and flow with shearing rate exceeding the ambient decorrelation rate for the largest scale transport events, diffusion is recovered with z = 2 and D ∼ (S 0 2 ) 3/5 . This indicates a qualitative change in the dynamics, as well as a reduction in losses. These results are consistent with recent findings from ρ scaling scans. Several tokamak transport experiments are suggested

  5. Marginal deformations of 3d supersymmetric U(N) model and broken higher spin symmetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hikida, Yasuaki [Center for Gravitational Physics, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University,Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Wada, Taiki [Department of Physical Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University,Shiga 525-8577 (Japan)

    2017-03-08

    We examine the marginal deformations of double-trace type in 3d supersymmetric U(N) model with N complex free bosons and fermions. We compute the anomalous dimensions of higher spin currents to the 1/N order but to all orders in the deformation parameters by mainly applying the conformal perturbation theory. The 3d field theory is supposed to be dual to 4d supersymmetric Vasiliev theory, and the marginal deformations are argued to correspond to modifying boundary conditions for bulk scalars and fermions. Thus the modification should break higher spin gauge symmetry and generate the masses of higher spin fields. We provide supports for the dual interpretation by relating bulk computation in terms of Witten diagrams to boundary one in conformal perturbation theory.

  6. Marginal deformations of 3d supersymmetric U(N) model and broken higher spin symmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hikida, Yasuaki; Wada, Taiki

    2017-01-01

    We examine the marginal deformations of double-trace type in 3d supersymmetric U(N) model with N complex free bosons and fermions. We compute the anomalous dimensions of higher spin currents to the 1/N order but to all orders in the deformation parameters by mainly applying the conformal perturbation theory. The 3d field theory is supposed to be dual to 4d supersymmetric Vasiliev theory, and the marginal deformations are argued to correspond to modifying boundary conditions for bulk scalars and fermions. Thus the modification should break higher spin gauge symmetry and generate the masses of higher spin fields. We provide supports for the dual interpretation by relating bulk computation in terms of Witten diagrams to boundary one in conformal perturbation theory.

  7. Margin improvement initiatives: realistic approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chan, P.K.; Paquette, S. [Royal Military College of Canada, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Dept., Kingston, ON (Canada); Cunning, T.A. [Department of National Defence, Ottawa, ON (Canada); French, C.; Bonin, H.W. [Royal Military College of Canada, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Dept., Kingston, ON (Canada); Pandey, M. [Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON (Canada); Murchie, M. [Cameco Fuel Manufacturing, Port Hope, ON (Canada)

    2014-07-01

    With reactor core aging, safety margins are particularly tight. Two realistic and practical approaches are proposed here to recover margins. The first project is related to the use of a small amount of neutron absorbers in CANDU Natural Uranium (NU) fuel bundles. Preliminary results indicate that the fuelling transient and subsequent reactivity peak can be lowered to improve the reactor's operating margins, with minimal impact on burnup when less than 1000 mg of absorbers is added to a fuel bundle. The second project involves the statistical analysis of fuel manufacturing data to demonstrate safety margins. Probability distributions are fitted to actual fuel manufacturing datasets provided by Cameco Fuel Manufacturing, Inc. They are used to generate input for ELESTRES and ELOCA. It is found that the fuel response distributions are far below industrial failure limits, implying that margin exists in the current fuel design. (author)

  8. Terraced margins of inflated lava flows on Earth and Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimbelman, J. R.; Garry, W. B.; Bleacher, J. E.; Crumpler, L. S.

    2011-12-01

    When fluid basaltic lava flows are emplaced over a shallow regional slope (typically much less than one degree), the lava flows often display impressive characteristics of inflation. Here we describe a distinctive marginal characteristic that is often developed along the margins of endogenously inflated basaltic lava flows; discreet topographic levels of the emplaced lava that are here termed 'terraced margins'. Terraced margins were first noted at the distal end of the Carrizozo lava flow in central New Mexico, where they are particularly well expressed, but terraces have also been observed along some margins of the McCartys lava flow (NM), the distal end of the 1859 Mauna Loa lava flow (HI), and lava flows at Craters of the Moon (ID). Differential Global Positioning System surveys across several terraced margins reveal consistent topographic characteristics: the upper surface of each terrace level is at roughly one half the height of the sheet lobe from which it emerges; when a terrace becomes the source of an additional outbreak, the upper surface of the second terrace is at roughly one half the height of the source terrace; often a subtle topographic depression is present along the contact between a terrace and its source sheet lobe, suggesting that the terrace outflow starts at a level roughly one-third the height of the source lobe; the upper surfaces of both the source sheet lobe and associated terraces are level to within tens of centimeters across length scales of many tens to hundreds of meters, indicative of inflation of all components. The field observations will be used as the constraints for modeling of the inflation and terracing mechanisms, an effort that has only recently started. The multiple imaging data sets now available for Mars have revealed the presence of terraced margins on some lava flows on Mars. Although detailed topographic data are not currently available for the Martian examples identified so far, the presence of terraced margins for

  9. The marginal costs of greenhouse gas emissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tol, R.S.J.

    1999-01-01

    Estimates of the marginal costs of greenhouse gas emissions are on important input to the decision how much society would want to spend on greenhouse gas emission reduction. Marginal cost estimates in the literature range between $5 and $25 per ton of carbon. Using similar assumptions, the FUND model finds marginal costs of $9--23/tC, depending on the discount rate. If the aggregation of impacts over countries accounts for inequalities in income distribution or for risk aversion, marginal costs would rise by about a factor of 3. Marginal costs per region are an order of magnitude smaller than global marginal costs. The ratios between the marginal costs of CO 2 and those of CH 4 and N 2 O are roughly equal to the global warming potentials of these gases. The uncertainty about the marginal costs is large and right-skewed. The expected value of the marginal costs lies about 35% above the best guess, the 95-percentile about 250%

  10. Refining margins: recent trends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baudoin, C.; Favennec, J.P.

    1999-01-01

    Despite a business environment that was globally mediocre due primarily to the Asian crisis and to a mild winter in the northern hemisphere, the signs of improvement noted in the refining activity in 1996 were borne out in 1997. But the situation is not yet satisfactory in this sector: the low return on invested capital and the financing of environmental protection expenditure are giving cause for concern. In 1998, the drop in crude oil prices and the concomitant fall in petroleum product prices was ultimately rather favorable to margins. Two elements tended to put a damper on this relative optimism. First of all, margins continue to be extremely volatile and, secondly, the worsening of the economic and financial crisis observed during the summer made for a sharp decline in margins in all geographic regions, especially Asia. Since the beginning of 1999, refining margins are weak and utilization rates of refining capacities have decreased. (authors)

  11. The arable plant ecosystem as battleground for emergence of human pathogens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leo eVan Overbeek

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Disease incidences related to Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica infections by consumption of (fresh vegetables, sprouts and occasionally fruits made clear that these pathogens are not only transmitted to humans via the ‘classical’ routes of meat, eggs and dairy products, but also can be transmitted to humans via plants or products derived from plants. Nowadays, it is of major concern that these human pathogens, especially the ones belonging to the taxonomical family of Enterobacteriaceae, become adapted to environmental habitats without losing their virulence to humans. Adaptation to the plant environment would lead to longer persistence in plants, increasing their chances on transmission to humans via consumption of plant-derived food. One of the mechanisms of adaptation to the plant environment in human pathogens, proposed in this paper, is horizontal transfer of genes from different microbial communities present in the arable ecosystem, like the ones originating from soil, animal digestive track systems (manure, water and plants themselves. Genes that would confer better adaptation to the phytosphere might be genes involved in plant colonization, stress resistance and nutrient acquisition and utilization. Because human pathogenic enterics often were prone to genetic exchanges via phages and conjugative plasmids, it was postulated that these genetic elements may be hold key responsible for horizontal gene transfers between human pathogens and indigenous microbes in agroproduction systems. In analogy to zoonosis, we coin the term phytonosis for a human pathogen that is transmitted via plants and not exclusively via animals.

  12. Anisotropic Margin Expansions in 6 Anatomic Directions for Oropharyngeal Image Guided Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yock, Adam D.; Garden, Adam S.; Court, Laurence E.; Beadle, Beth M.; Zhang, Lifei; Dong, Lei

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this work was to determine the expansions in 6 anatomic directions that produced optimal margins considering nonrigid setup errors and tissue deformation for patients receiving image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) of the oropharynx. Methods and Materials: For 20 patients who had received IGRT to the head and neck, we deformably registered each patient's daily images acquired with a computed tomography (CT)-on-rails system to his or her planning CT. By use of the resulting vector fields, the positions of volume elements within the clinical target volume (CTV) (target voxels) or within a 1-cm shell surrounding the CTV (normal tissue voxels) on the planning CT were identified on each daily CT. We generated a total of 15,625 margins by dilating the CTV by 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 mm in the posterior, anterior, lateral, medial, inferior, and superior directions. The optimal margins were those that minimized the relative volume of normal tissue voxels positioned within the margin while satisfying 1 of 4 geometric target coverage criteria and 1 of 3 population criteria. Results: Each pair of geometric target coverage and population criteria resulted in a unique, anisotropic, optimal margin. The optimal margin expansions ranged in magnitude from 1 to 5 mm depending on the anatomic direction of the expansion and on the geometric target coverage and population criteria. Typically, the expansions were largest in the medial direction, were smallest in the lateral direction, and increased with the demand of the criteria. The anisotropic margin resulting from the optimal set of expansions always included less normal tissue than did any isotropic margin that satisfied the same pair of criteria. Conclusions: We demonstrated the potential of anisotropic margins to reduce normal tissue exposure without compromising target coverage in IGRT to the head and neck

  13. Margin Requirements and Equity Option Returns

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hitzemann, Steffen; Hofmann, Michael; Uhrig-Homburg, Marliese

    In equity option markets, traders face margin requirements both for the options themselves and for hedging-related positions in the underlying stock market. We show that these requirements carry a significant margin premium in the cross-section of equity option returns. The sign of the margin...... premium depends on demand pressure: If end-users are on the long side of the market, option returns decrease with margins, while they increase otherwise. Our results are statistically and economically significant and robust to different margin specifications and various control variables. We explain our...... findings by a model of funding-constrained derivatives dealers that require compensation for satisfying end-users’ option demand....

  14. Margin Requirements and Equity Option Returns

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hitzemann, Steffen; Hofmann, Michael; Uhrig-Homburg, Marliese

    In equity option markets, traders face margin requirements both for the options themselves and for hedging-related positions in the underlying stock market. We show that these requirements carry a significant "margin premium" in the cross-section of equity option returns. The sign of the margin...... premium depends on demand pressure: If end-users are on the long side of the market, option returns decrease with margins, while they increase otherwise. Our results are statistically and economically significant and robust to different margin specifications and various control variables. We explain our...... findings by a model of funding-constrained derivatives dealers that require compensation for satisfying end-users’ option demand....

  15. Decoding the Margins: What Can the Fractal Geometry of Basaltic Flow Margins Tell Us?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaefer, E. I.; Hamilton, C.; Neish, C.; Beard, S. P.; Bramson, A. M.; Sori, M.; Rader, E. L.

    2016-12-01

    Studying lava flows on other planetary bodies is essential to characterizing eruption styles and constraining the bodies' thermal evolution. Although planetary basaltic flows are common, many key features are not resolvable in orbital imagery. We are thus developing a technique to characterize basaltic flow type, sub-meter roughness, and sediment mantling from these data. We will present the results from upcoming fieldwork at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve with FINESSE (August) and at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (September). We build on earlier work that showed that basaltic flow margins are approximately fractal [Bruno et al., 1992; Gaonac'h et al., 1992] and that their fractal dimensions (D) have distinct `a`ā and pāhoehoe ranges under simple conditions [Bruno et al., 1994]. Using a differential GPS rover, we have recently shown that the margin of Iceland's 2014 Holuhraun flow exhibits near-perfect (R2=0.9998) fractality for ≥24 km across dm to km scales [Schaefer et al., 2016]. This finding suggests that a fractal-based technique has significant potential to characterize flows at sub-resolution scales. We are simultaneously seeking to understand how margin fractality can be modified. A preliminary result for an `a'ā flow in Hawaii's Ka'ū Desert suggests that although aeolian mantling obscures the original flow margin, the apparent margin (i.e., sediment-lava interface) remains fractal [Schaefer et al., 2015]. Further, the apparent margin's D is likely significantly modified from that of the original margin. Other factors that we are exploring include erosion, transitional flow types, and topographic confinement. We will also rigorously test the intriguing possibility that margin D correlates with the sub-meter Hurst exponent H of the flow surface, a common metric of roughness scaling [e.g., Shepard et al., 2001]. This hypothesis is based on geometric arguments [Turcotte, 1997] and is qualitatively consistent with all results so far.

  16. The scenario-based generalization of radiation therapy margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fredriksson, Albin; Bokrantz, Rasmus

    2016-01-01

    We give a scenario-based treatment plan optimization formulation that is equivalent to planning with geometric margins if the scenario doses are calculated using the static dose cloud approximation. If the scenario doses are instead calculated more accurately, then our formulation provides a novel robust planning method that overcomes many of the difficulties associated with previous scenario-based robust planning methods. In particular, our method protects only against uncertainties that can occur in practice, it gives a sharp dose fall-off outside high dose regions, and it avoids underdosage of the target in ‘easy’ scenarios. The method shares the benefits of the previous scenario-based robust planning methods over geometric margins for applications where the static dose cloud approximation is inaccurate, such as irradiation with few fields and irradiation with ion beams. These properties are demonstrated on a suite of phantom cases planned for treatment with scanned proton beams subject to systematic setup uncertainty. (paper)

  17. Assessing soil quality and potential productivity - a basic approach to define and assess the marginality of land

    Science.gov (United States)

    Repmann, Frank; Gerwin, Werner; Freese, Dirk

    2017-04-01

    An ever growing demand for energy and the widely proposed switch from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources puts the cultivation and use of bioenergy plants into focus. However, bioenergy production on regular and fertile agricultural soils might conflict with the worldwide growing demand for food. To mitigate or omit this potential conflict, the use of low quality or marginal land for cultivation of bioenergy plants becomes favorable. Against this background the definition and assessment of land marginality and, respectively, the evaluation whether and to which extent specific areas are marginal and thus convenient for sustainable bioenergy production, becomes highly relevant. Within the framework of the EU funded Horizon 2020 project SEEMLA, we attempted to asses land marginality of designated test sites in the Ukraine, Greece and Germany by direct field survey. For that purpose, soil and site properties were investigated and evaluated by applying the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (SQR) method, developed at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). The method deploys a comprehensive set of biogeophysical and chemical indicators to describe and finally evaluate the quality of the soil and site by a score ranging from 1 to 100 points. Field survey data were supported by additional laboratory tests on a representative set of soil samples. Practical field work and analysis of field and lab data from the investigated sites proved the applicability of the SQR method within the SEEMLA context. The SQR indices calculated from the field and lab data ranged from 2 to Greece and Germany, which differed considerably in respect to their characteristics. Correlating the site quality index to yield data reflecting yield estimations for common bioenergy plants such as willow (Salix sp.), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and poplar (Populus sp.) cultivated at the respective test sites, revealed that SQR might additionally reflect the potential

  18. Role of initial depth at basin margins in sequence architecture: field examples and computer models

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Uličný, David; Nichols, G.; Waltham, D.

    2002-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 3 (2002), s. 347-360 ISSN 0950-091X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/01/0629 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z3012916 Keywords : basin margin * initial depth * sedimentation * depositional sequences Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy Impact factor: 2.022, year: 2002

  19. Occurrence of Neophytes in Agrophytocoenoses – Field Survey in the Czech Republic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michaela Kolářová

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Neophytes belong to a group of non‑native plants, which were introduced by man either intentionally or unintentionally in different ways. The discovery of America is a historical milestone for non-native plant research. Most scientists use the term neophyte for species introduced after the year 1500. Neophytes became progressively more numerous in arable fields and their proportion significantly increased during the second half of the 20th century. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of neophytes in arable fields in the Czech Republic in terms of applied management systems, crops, and environmental site conditions at different altitudes. In the years 2006 to 2008, a phytocoenological survey was conducted on selected farms across the Czech Republic under various climate and soil conditions in spring and winter cereals and in wide‑row crops. Totally, 172 weed species were found. Among these species, 8 % were considered as neophytes (13 species. In respect of their stage of invasiveness, 6 neophytes were considered as invasive, 6 species as naturalized and 1 species was considered as casual. Frequencies of neophyte species we found ranged between 0.3 – 31 % from all relevés. Environmental site conditions associated with altitude were the most important factors correlated with the occurrence of neophytes. The incidence of neophytes is primarily concentrated at lower altitudes and is mainly associated with stands of spring wide‑row crops, especially root crops and vegetables. A higher proportion of neophytes was found in organic farming.

  20. Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prisila Mkenda

    Full Text Available Plants with pesticidal properties have been investigated for decades as alternatives to synthetics, but most progress has been shown in the laboratory. Consequently, research on pesticidal plants is failing to address gaps in our knowledge that constrain their uptake. Some of these gaps are their evaluation of their efficacy under field conditions, their economic viability and impact on beneficial organisms. Extracts made from four abundant weed species found in northern Tanzania, Tithonia diversifolia, Tephrosia vogelii, Vernonia amygdalina and Lippia javanica offered effective control of key pest species on common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris that was comparable to the pyrethroid synthetic, Karate. The plant pesticide treatments had significantly lower effects on natural enemies (lady beetles and spiders. Plant pesticide treatments were more cost effective to use than the synthetic pesticide where the marginal rate of return for the synthetic was no different from the untreated control, around 4USD/ha, compared to a rate of return of around 5.50USD/ha for plant pesticide treatments. Chemical analysis confirmed the presence of known insecticidal compounds in water extracts of T. vogelii (the rotenoid deguelin and T. diversifolia (the sesquiterpene lactone tagitinin A. Sesquiterpene lactones and the saponin vernonioside C were also identified in organic extracts of V. amygdalina but only the saponin was recorded in water extracts which are similar to those used in the field trial. Pesticidal plants were better able to facilitate ecosystem services whilst effectively managing pests. The labour costs of collecting and processing abundant plants near farm land were less than the cost of purchasing synthetic pesticides.

  1. Towards intraoperative assessment of tumor margins in breast surgery using optical coherence elastography (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Brendan F.; Wijesinghe, Philip; Allen, Wes M.; Chin, Lixin; Latham, Bruce; Saunders, Christobel M.; Sampson, David D.

    2016-03-01

    Surgical excision of tumor is a critical factor in the management of breast cancer. The most common surgical procedure is breast-conserving surgery. The surgeon's goal is to remove the tumor and a rim of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor: the surgical margin. A major issue in breast-conserving surgery is the absence of a reliable tool to guide the surgeon in intraoperatively assessing the margin. A number of techniques have been proposed; however, the re-excision rate remains high and has been reported to be in the range 30-60%. New tools are needed to address this issue. Optical coherence elastography (OCE) shows promise as a tool for intraoperative tumor margin assessment in breast-conserving surgery. Further advances towards clinical translation are limited by long scan times and small fields of view. In particular, scanning over sufficient areas to assess the entire margin in an intraoperative timeframe has not been shown to be feasible. Here, we present a protocol allowing ~75% of the surgical margins to be assessed within 30 minutes. To achieve this, we have incorporated a 65 mm-diameter (internal), wide-aperture annular piezoelectric transducer, allowing the entire surface of the excised tumor mass to be automatically imaged in an OCT mosaic comprised of 10 × 10 mm tiles. As OCT is effective in identifying adipose tissue, our protocol uses the wide-field OCT to selectively guide subsequent local OCE scanning to regions of solid tissue which often present low contrast in OCT images. We present promising examples from freshly excised human breast tissue.

  2. How much biochar does gasification energy need to be carbon neutral?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saez de Bikuna Salinas, Koldo; Ibrom, Andreas; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    and arable land scenarios. Specific soil types and their estimated SOC changes have been considered [9], as well as iLUC emissions for the arable case. Taking the study case of a willow plantation combined with a medium-scale gasification plant in Denmark, we illustrate the biochar needed from the process...... in order to remain carbon neutral. The time scopes assessed are 20 and 100 years and it is assumed a fossil fuel (FF) free Denmark beyond 2050 as targeted by government (no FF displacement occurs after 2050). Results show that willow on marginal land remains carbon negative (4% biochar fraction......) for the short term, while as much as 31,8% of biochar (or 0,95 Mg C ha-1 yr-1) would be necessary in 100 years to be carbon neutral (taking natural vegetation as reference baseline). As for arable land willow, a biochar fraction of 34,1% (or 2,32 Mg C ha-1 yr-1) would be necessary in the short term...

  3. Splenic marginal zone lymphoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piris, Miguel A; Onaindía, Arantza; Mollejo, Manuela

    Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) is an indolent small B-cell lymphoma involving the spleen and bone marrow characterized by a micronodular tumoral infiltration that replaces the preexisting lymphoid follicles and shows marginal zone differentiation as a distinctive finding. SMZL cases are characterized by prominent splenomegaly and bone marrow and peripheral blood infiltration. Cells in peripheral blood show a villous cytology. Bone marrow and peripheral blood characteristic features usually allow a diagnosis of SMZL to be performed. Mutational spectrum of SMZL identifies specific findings, such as 7q loss and NOTCH2 and KLF2 mutations, both genes related with marginal zone differentiation. There is a striking clinical variability in SMZL cases, dependent of the tumoral load and performance status. Specific molecular markers such as 7q loss, p53 loss/mutation, NOTCH2 and KLF2 mutations have been found to be associated with the clinical variability. Distinction from Monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis with marginal zone phenotype is still an open issue that requires identification of precise and specific thresholds with clinical meaning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Categorical marginal models: quite extensive package for the estimation of marginal models for categorical data

    OpenAIRE

    Wicher Bergsma; Andries van der Ark

    2015-01-01

    A package accompanying the book Marginal Models for Dependent, Clustered, and Longitudinal Categorical Data by Bergsma, Croon, & Hagenaars, 2009. It’s purpose is fitting and testing of marginal models.

  5. Characterizing Convexity of Games using Marginal Vectors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Velzen, S.; Hamers, H.J.M.; Norde, H.W.

    2003-01-01

    In this paper we study the relation between convexity of TU games and marginal vectors.We show that if specfic marginal vectors are core elements, then the game is convex.We characterize sets of marginal vectors satisfying this property, and we derive the formula for the minimum number of marginal

  6. 12 CFR 220.4 - Margin account.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM CREDIT BY... securities. The required margin on a net long or net short commitment in a when-issued security is the margin...) Interest charged on credit maintained in the margin account; (ii) Premiums on securities borrowed in...

  7. What margins should be added to the clinical target volume in radiotherapy treatment planning of lung cancer?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ekberg, L.; Wittgren, L.; Holmberg, O.

    1995-01-01

    When defining the planning target volume (PTV) in radiotherapy treatment planning, it is vital to add geometrical margins of normal tissue around the clinical target volume (CTV). This is to ensure that the whole CTV will receive the planned absorbed dose taking into account both set-up deviations and target movements as well as other geometrical variations in the treatment chain. The problem is our limited knowledge of how large these margins should be. To assess the size of needed margins around the CTV in conformal radiotherapy of lung cancer, electronic portal imaging was employed in 232 irradiation field set-ups of 14 patients. This was done in order to quantify the uncertainty in the execution of treatment considering patient movement and set-up displacements. For an estimation of the added geometrical variation from target movement during irradiation, fluoroscopy was used at the simulation of the irradiation fields. The set-up study showed an average systematic deviation for all individual fields of 3.1 mm and an average maximal systematic deviation (in either transversal or craniocaudal direction) of 4.8 mm. The random errors can be described by an average standard deviation of 2.8 mm for all fields in either direction. Major gradual displacements as a function of time was also detected in one of the patients. CTV-movements of several millimetres during respiration could be observed. It was also seen that heartbeats could add to CTV-movements during irradiation with an equal magnitude. The combined effect of these factors are considered when making an overall estimation of margins that should be added to the CTV

  8. NRC Seismic Design Margins Program Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cummings, G.E.; Johnson, J.J.; Budnitz, R.J.

    1985-08-01

    Recent studies estimate that seismically induced core melt comes mainly from earthquakes in the peak ground acceleration range from 2 to 4 times the safe shutdown earthquake (SSE) acceleration used in plant design. However, from the licensing perspective of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there is a continuing need for consideration of the inherent quantitative seismic margins because of, among other things, the changing perceptions of the seismic hazard. This paper discusses a Seismic Design Margins Program Plan, developed under the auspices of the US NRC, that provides the technical basis for assessing the significance of design margins in terms of overall plant safety. The Plan will also identify potential weaknesses that might have to be addressed, and will recommend technical methods for assessing margins at existing plants. For the purposes of this program, a general definition of seismic design margin is expressed in terms of how much larger that the design basis earthquake an earthquake must be to compromise plant safety. In this context, margin needs to be determined at the plant, system/function, structure, and component levels. 14 refs., 1 fig

  9. The marginal band system in nymphalid butterfly wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taira, Wataru; Kinjo, Seira; Otaki, Joji M

    2015-01-01

    Butterfly wing color patterns are highly complex and diverse, but they are believed to be derived from the nymphalid groundplan, which is composed of several color pattern systems. Among these pattern systems, the marginal band system, including marginal and submarginal bands, has rarely been studied. Here, we examined the color pattern diversity of the marginal band system among nymphalid butterflies. Marginal and submarginal bands are usually expressed as a pair of linear bands aligned with the wing margin. However, a submarginal band can be expressed as a broken band, an elongated oval, or a single dot. The marginal focus, usually a white dot at the middle of a wing compartment along the wing edge, corresponds to the pupal edge spot, one of the pupal cuticle spots that signify the locations of color pattern organizing centers. A marginal band can be expressed as a semicircle, an elongated oval, or a pair of eyespot-like structures, which suggest the organizing activity of the marginal focus. Physical damage at the pupal edge spot leads to distal dislocation of the submarginal band in Junonia almana and in Vanessa indica, suggesting that the marginal focus functions as an organizing center for the marginal band system. Taken together, we conclude that the marginal band system is developmentally equivalent to other symmetry systems. Additionally, the marginal band is likely a core element and the submarginal band a paracore element of the marginal band system, and both bands are primarily specified by the marginal focus organizing center.

  10. Late Cenozoic flexural deformation of the middle U.S. Atlantic passive margin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pazzaglia, Frank J.; Gardner, Thomas, W.

    1994-01-01

    resulting rom sediment loading are accomodated primately by a convex-up flexural hinge, physiographically represented by the Fall Zone. Our results elucidate an inherent danger in using topography alone to constrain late-stage passive margin deformation mechanisms. Only through careful synthesis of field stratigraphic and geomorphic elements such as fluvial terraces, Coastal Plain deposits, and offshore stratigraphy can age control be extended from the offshore depositional setting to the erosionally dominated continent. This sudy demonstrates that despite a relatively subdued topography, the middle U.S. Atlantic margin experiences progressive flexural isostatic deformation similar to that proposed for high-relief margins characterized by great escarpments. Thus margin topographic diversity remains a function of other factors, such as lithospheric composition and/or structure, supracrustal stratigraphy and structure, degree of drainage integration, drainage divide migration and climate.

  11. Assessment of seismic margin calculation methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennedy, R.P.; Murray, R.C.; Ravindra, M.K.; Reed, J.W.; Stevenson, J.D.

    1989-03-01

    Seismic margin review of nuclear power plants requires that the High Confidence of Low Probability of Failure (HCLPF) capacity be calculated for certain components. The candidate methods for calculating the HCLPF capacity as recommended by the Expert Panel on Quantification of Seismic Margins are the Conservative Deterministic Failure Margin (CDFM) method and the Fragility Analysis (FA) method. The present study evaluated these two methods using some representative components in order to provide further guidance in conducting seismic margin reviews. It is concluded that either of the two methods could be used for calculating HCLPF capacities. 21 refs., 9 figs., 6 tabs

  12. MARGINS: Toward a novel science plan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mutter, John C.

    A science plan to study continental margins has been in the works for the past 3 years, with almost 200 Earth scientists from a wide variety of disciplines gathering at meetings and workshops. Most geological hazards and resources are found at continental margins, yet our understanding of the processes that shape the margins is meager.In formulating this MARGINS research initiative, fundamental issues concerning our understanding of basic Earth-forming processes have arisen. It is clear that a business-as-usual approach will not solve the class of problems defined by the MARGINS program; the solutions demand approaches different from those used in the past. In many cases, a different class of experiment will be required, one that is well beyond the capability of individual principle investigators to undertake on their own. In most cases, broadly based interdisciplinary studies will be needed.

  13. Reliabilityy and operating margins of LWR fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strasser, A.A.; Lindquist, K.O.

    1977-01-01

    The margins to fuel thermal operating limits under normal and accident conditions are key to plant operating flexibility and impact on availability and capacity factor. Fuel performance problems that do not result in clad breach, can reduce these margins. However, most have or can be solved with design changes. Regulatory changes have been major factors in eroding these margins. Various methods for regaining the margins are discussed

  14. [Characteristics of nutrient loss by runoff in sloping arable land of yellow-brown under different rainfall intensities].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ling; Liu, De-Fu; Song, Lin-Xu; Cui, Yu-Jie; Zhang, Gei

    2013-06-01

    In order to investigate the loss characteristics of N and P through surface flow and interflow under different rainfall intensities, a field experiment was conducted on the sloping arable land covered by typical yellow-brown soils inXiangxi River watershed by artificial rainfall. The results showed that the discharge of surface flow, total runoff and sediment increased with the increase of rain intensity, while the interflow was negatively correlated with rain intensity under the same total rainfall. TN, DN and DP were all flushed at the very beginning in surface flow underdifferent rainfall intensities; TP fluctuated and kept consistent in surface flow without obvious downtrend. While TN, DN and DP in interflow kept relatively stable in the whole runoff process, TP was high at the early stage, then rapidly decreased with time and kept steady finally. P was directly influenced by rainfall intensity, its concentration in the runoff increased with the increase of the rainfall intensity, the average concentration of N and P both exceeded the threshold of eutrophication of freshwater. The higher the amount of P loss was, the higher the rain intensity. The change of N loss was the opposite. The contribution rate of TN loss carried by surface flow increased from 36.5% to 57.6% with the increase of rainfall intensity, but surface flow was the primary form of P loss which contributed above 90.0%. Thus, it is crucial to control interflow in order to reduce N loss. In addition, measures should be taken to effectively manage soil erosion to mitigate P loss. The proportion of dissolved nitrogen in surface flow elevated with the decrease of rainfall intensity, but in interflow, dissolved form was predominant. P was exported mainly in the form of particulate under different rainfall intensities and runoff conditions.

  15. The origin of Karaj dam basement sill marginal reversal by Soret fractionation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maghdour-Mashhour, Reza; Esmaeily, Dariush

    2010-05-01

    The Karaj dam basement sill (KDBS), located North West of Tehran, northern Iran, is one of the several E-W-trending plutons in the Albourz Mountains. The KDBS consists of a layered series between upper and lower chilled margins. The rocks of the chilled margins are gabbroic in composition and porphyritic, with euhedral to subhedral plagioclase and clinopyroxene megacrysts up to 5 mm long. The rocks become coarse-grained toward the center of the sill and show a gradual transition from porphyritic to equigranular texture. Field and petrographic observations reveal a reverse trend in marginal units crystallization from the eutectic point to the main magma composition; i.e., the olivine-bearing gabbro (porphyritic chilled margin), which has a eutectic composition, crystallized prior to the marginal gabbros, which have a cotectic or near-cotectic composition, as plagioclase laths in the gabbroic unit are embedded in large crystals of clinopyroxene and this phenomenon is believed to result from the cotectic crystallization of plagioclase and clinopyroxene. Four major mechanisms are proposed and discussed in order to find the exact mechanism responsible for marginal reversal formation as following: 1) Crystal settling is a gravity-dependent mechanism and phenocrysts must have settled to form a layer at the bottom of the sill, showing sharp upper boundary which is not observable in KDBS. Besides, the reverse fractionation of inwardly-dipping sequence of mentioned sill occurs in layers with primary dips up to 55°. Consequently capability of marginal reversals to develop along steeply inclined chamber margins, by this mechanism is implausible. 2) Multiple injections of successive magma pulses fails to explain the origin of marginal reversal since the transition along the entire length of marginal reversal is gradual also there is no compositional break or chilled contact between two mentioned units of KDBS margin (Olivine-gabbro and marginal gabbro). 3) The idea of

  16. Legal framework for a sustainable biomass production for bioenergy on Marginal Lands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgarten, Wibke; Pelikan, Vincent

    2017-04-01

    authorities and principal laws in the field of bioenergy is given, supplemented by national biomass potentials and bioenergy use as well as by the German, Greek, Italian and Ukrainian NREAP. The overall target of all EU-28 countries - and Ukraine - is to create a more efficient bioeconomy, to increase the amount of biomass produced for bioenergy purposes, to avoid an increased competition between food/feed production on arable land and energy plant production, and decrease imports of fossil energy sources, i.e. [crude] oil, aiming at an independent, domestically based (bio)energy supply. Whereas in Germany the national policy framework regarding bioenergy is well-defined, there are only few specific national and/or regional policies in Greece, Italy or Ukraine. Moreover, the German legislation offers a higher potential for designing and modifying already existing regulations and laws, e.g. soil protection, EEG, etc. with respect to the use of MagL for bioenergy production, than in other SEEMLA partner countries. Although the biomass potential of each SEEMLA partner country varies a lot and the 2020 targets remain ambitious, the exploitation of sustainable biomass production on MagL may offer a suitable approach to fill the gaps of future biomass demands and accelerate the growth of an independent bioenergy based society.

  17. Biogenic emissions of greenhouse gases caused by arable and animal agriculture. Task 3. Overall biogenic greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. National Inventories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hensen, A.

    1999-12-01

    The aim of the concerted action 'Biogenic Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Caused by Arable and Animal Agriculture' is to obtain an overview of the current knowledge on the emissions of greenhouse gases related to agricultural activities. This task 3 report summarises the activities that take place in the Netherlands with respect to agriculture emission inventories. This 'national' report was compiled using information from a number of Dutch groups. Therefore, from a national point of view the compilation does not contain new information. The paper can however be useful for other European partners to get an overview of how emission estimates are obtained in the Netherlands. 14 p

  18. Study to Determine Adequate Margins in Radiotherapy Planning for Esophageal Carcinoma by Detailing Patterns of Recurrence After Definitive Chemoradiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Button, Michael R.; Morgan, Carys A.; Croydon, Elizabeth S.; Roberts, S. Ashley; Crosby, Thomas D.L.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To ascertain the adequacy of radiotherapy (RT) margins by studying the relapse patterns after definitive chemoradiotherapy for carcinoma of the esophagus. Methods and Materials: We performed a retrospective study assessing the first site of disease relapse after definitive chemoradiotherapy that included four 3-weekly cycles of cisplatin and continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil, with conformal RT (50 Gy in 25 fractions) concurrent with Cycles 3 and 4. The RT planning target volume was the endoscopic ultrasonography/computed tomography-defined gross tumor volume with 1.5-cm lateral and 3-cm superoinferior margins. Results: A total of 145 patients were included. Their average age was 65.4 years, 45% had adenocarcinoma, 61% had lower third esophageal tumors, and 75% had Stage III-IVA disease. After RT, of 142 patients, 85 (60%) had evidence of relapse at a median follow-up of 18 months. The relapse was local (within the RT field) in 55; distant (metastatic) in 13, and a combination of local and distant in 14. The local relapse rates were not influenced by tumor stage, lymph node status, or disease length. Three patients developed a relapse in regions adjacent to the RT fields; however, it is unlikely that larger field margins would have been clinically acceptable or effective in these cases. The median overall survival was 15 months. Conclusion: The gross tumor volume-planning target volume margins in this study appeared adequate. Future efforts to improve outcomes using definitive chemoradiotherapy should be directed toward reducing the high rates of in-field and distant relapses

  19. Marginal cost application in the power industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Twardy, L.; Rusak, H.

    1994-01-01

    Two kind of marginal costs, the short-run and the long-run, are defined. The former are applied in conditions when the load increase is not accompanied neither by the increase of the transmission capacity not the installed capacity while the latter assume new investments to expand the power system. The long-run marginal costs be used to forecast optimized development of the system. They contain two main components: the marginal costs of capacity and the marginal costs of energy. When the long-run marginal costs are calculated, each component is considered for particular voltage levels, seasons of the year, hours of the day - selected depending on the system reliability factor as well as on its load level. In the market economy countries the long-run marginal costs can be used for setting up the electric energy tariffs. (author). 7 refs, 11 figs

  20. Workers' marginal costs of commuting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    van Ommeren, Jos; Fosgerau, Mogens

    2009-01-01

    This paper applies a dynamic search model to estimate workers' marginal costs of commuting, including monetary and time costs. Using data on workers' job search activity as well as moving behaviour, for the Netherlands, we provide evidence that, on average, workers' marginal costs of one hour...

  1. Pathology of nodal marginal zone lymphomas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pileri, Stefano; Ponzoni, Maurilio

    Nodal marginal zone B cell lymphomas (NMZLs) are a rare group of lymphoid disorders part of the spectrum of marginal zone B-cell lymphomas, which encompass splenic marginal one B-cell lymphoma (SMZL) and extra nodal marginal zone of B-cell lymphoma (EMZL), often of MALT-type. Two clinicopathological forms of NMZL are recognized: adult-type and pediatric-type, respectively. NMZLs show overlapping features with other types of MZ, but distinctive features as well. In this review, we will focus on the salient distinguishing features of NMZL mostly under morphological/immunophenotypical/molecular perspectives in views of the recent acquisitions and forthcoming updated 2016 WHO classification of lymphoid malignancies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Biological water contamination in some cattle production fields of Argentina subjected to runoff and erosion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celio I. Chagas

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Grain production has displaced livestock to marginal lands in most of the productive regions in Argentina since 1990. In the fertile Rolling Pampa region, extensive cattle production has been concentrated in lowlands subjected to flooding, salt excess, erosion and sedimentation processes but also in some feedlots recently located in sloping arable lands prone to soil erosion. We studied the concentration of microbiological contamination indicators in runoff water and sediments accumulated in depressions along the tributary network from these lands devoted to cattle production. The aims of this work were: (i to gather a reliable set of data from different monitoring periods and scales, (ii to search for simple and sensible variables to be used as indicators for surface water quality advising purposes and (iii to corroborate previous biological contamination conceptual models for this region. Concentration of pollution indicators in these ponds was related to mean stocking rates from nearby fields and proved to depend significantly on the accumulated water and sediments. Viable mesophiles and total coliforms were found mainly attached to large sediments rather than in the runoff water phase. Seasonal sampling showed that the time period between the last significant runoff event and each sampling date regarding enterococci proved to be a sensible variable for predicting contamination. Enterococci concentration tended to increase gradually until the next extraordinary runoff event washed away contaminants. The mentioned relationship may be useful for designing early warning surface water contamination programs regarding enterococci dynamics and other related microbial pollutants as well.

  3. a panacea to food crisis among women farmers in imo state

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    oma

    holder farmers on marginal soils of Aba Agricultural zone, Abia State. Five blocks were randomly selected out of ... The soil-types of this zone are inherently low in major soil nutrients and trace elements to support arable crop production .... your vegetable and garden egg farm. Overall Mean. 2.72. As seen from Table 5, the ...

  4. Marginalized zero-inflated negative binomial regression with application to dental caries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preisser, John S; Das, Kalyan; Long, D Leann; Divaris, Kimon

    2016-05-10

    The zero-inflated negative binomial regression model (ZINB) is often employed in diverse fields such as dentistry, health care utilization, highway safety, and medicine to examine relationships between exposures of interest and overdispersed count outcomes exhibiting many zeros. The regression coefficients of ZINB have latent class interpretations for a susceptible subpopulation at risk for the disease/condition under study with counts generated from a negative binomial distribution and for a non-susceptible subpopulation that provides only zero counts. The ZINB parameters, however, are not well-suited for estimating overall exposure effects, specifically, in quantifying the effect of an explanatory variable in the overall mixture population. In this paper, a marginalized zero-inflated negative binomial regression (MZINB) model for independent responses is proposed to model the population marginal mean count directly, providing straightforward inference for overall exposure effects based on maximum likelihood estimation. Through simulation studies, the finite sample performance of MZINB is compared with marginalized zero-inflated Poisson, Poisson, and negative binomial regression. The MZINB model is applied in the evaluation of a school-based fluoride mouthrinse program on dental caries in 677 children. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Improved propagation margin in YIG coated LPE garnet films for bubble devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hidaka, Y.; Yoshimi, K.; Hibiya, T.; Mikami, M.

    1975-01-01

    YIG thin layers grown on (Y,Eu,Yb) 3 (Fe,Ga) 5 O 12 LPE films were found to be very effective for improvement of bubble propagation margin as well as for hard bubble suppression. In the ion-implanted rare earth substituted Ga:YIG on (111) GGG with 8 micron bubble, T-bar propagation margin was diminished, because of stretching or oscillating of bubble along the patterns. A 600 A YIG thin layer with in-plane magnetization, grown by CVD at 1065 0 C, obviated these destructive shortcomings and guaranteed the minimum driving field for stable bubble propagation down to 10 Oe. This improvement can be attributed to the magnetostatic interaction between the YIG layer and the bubble supporting layer. (auth)

  6. Risk insights from seismic margin reviews

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Budnitz, R.J.

    1990-01-01

    This paper discusses the information that has been derived from the three seismic-margin reviews conducted so far, and the information that is potentially available from using the seismic-margin method more generally. There are two different methodologies for conducting seismic margin reviews of nuclear power plants, one developed under NRC sponsorship and one developed under sponsorship of the Electric Power Research Institute. Both methodologies will be covered in this paper. The paper begins with a summary of the steps necessary to complete a margin review, and will then outline the key technical difficulties that need to be addressed. After this introduction, the paper covers the safety and operational insights derived from the three seismic-margin reviews already completed: the NRC-sponsored review at Maine Yankee; the EPRI-sponsored review at Catawba; and the joint EPRI/NRC/utility effort at Hatch. The emphasis is on engineering insights, with attention to the aspects of the reviews that are easiest to perform and that provide the most readily available insights

  7. Exactly marginal deformations from exceptional generalised geometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ashmore, Anthony [Merton College, University of Oxford,Merton Street, Oxford, OX1 4JD (United Kingdom); Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford,Andrew Wiles Building, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG (United Kingdom); Gabella, Maxime [Institute for Advanced Study,Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States); Graña, Mariana [Institut de Physique Théorique, CEA/Saclay,91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Petrini, Michela [Sorbonne Université, UPMC Paris 05, UMR 7589, LPTHE,75005 Paris (France); Waldram, Daniel [Department of Physics, Imperial College London,Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

    2017-01-27

    We apply exceptional generalised geometry to the study of exactly marginal deformations of N=1 SCFTs that are dual to generic AdS{sub 5} flux backgrounds in type IIB or eleven-dimensional supergravity. In the gauge theory, marginal deformations are parametrised by the space of chiral primary operators of conformal dimension three, while exactly marginal deformations correspond to quotienting this space by the complexified global symmetry group. We show how the supergravity analysis gives a geometric interpretation of the gauge theory results. The marginal deformations arise from deformations of generalised structures that solve moment maps for the generalised diffeomorphism group and have the correct charge under the generalised Reeb vector, generating the R-symmetry. If this is the only symmetry of the background, all marginal deformations are exactly marginal. If the background possesses extra isometries, there are obstructions that come from fixed points of the moment maps. The exactly marginal deformations are then given by a further quotient by these extra isometries. Our analysis holds for any N=2 AdS{sub 5} flux background. Focussing on the particular case of type IIB Sasaki-Einstein backgrounds we recover the result that marginal deformations correspond to perturbing the solution by three-form flux at first order. In various explicit examples, we show that our expression for the three-form flux matches those in the literature and the obstruction conditions match the one-loop beta functions of the dual SCFT.

  8. RISK-INFORMED SAFETY MARGIN CHARACTERIZATION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dinh, Nam; Szilard, Ronaldo

    2009-01-01

    The concept of safety margins has served as a fundamental principle in the design and operation of commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs). Defined as the minimum distance between a system's 'loading' and its 'capacity', plant design and operation is predicated on ensuring an adequate safety margin for safety-significant parameters (e.g., fuel cladding temperature, containment pressure, etc.) is provided over the spectrum of anticipated plant operating, transient and accident conditions. To meet the anticipated challenges associated with extending the operational lifetimes of the current fleet of operating NPPs, the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have developed a collaboration to conduct coordinated research to identify and address the technological challenges and opportunities that likely would affect the safe and economic operation of the existing NPP fleet over the postulated long-term time horizons. In this paper we describe a framework for developing and implementing a Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) approach to evaluate and manage changes in plant safety margins over long time horizons

  9. Variability of the geothermal gradient across two differently aged magma-rich continental rifted margins of the Atlantic Ocean

    OpenAIRE

    Gholamrezaie, Ershad; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena (Dr.); Sippel, Judith (Dr.); Strecker, Manfred R. (Prof. Dr.)

    2018-01-01

    Abstract. The aim of this study is to investigate the shallow thermal field differences for two differently aged passive continental margins by analyzing regional variations in geothermal gradient and exploring the controlling factors for these variations. Hence, we analyzed two previously published 3-D conductive and lithospheric-scale thermal models of the Southwest African and the Norwegian passive margins. These 3-D models differentiate various sedimentary, crustal, and mantle units and i...

  10. Back to acid soil fields

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Carvalho, Geraldo; Schaffert, Robert Eugene; Malosetti Zunin, Marcos; Eeuwijk, van Fred

    2016-01-01

    Aluminum (Al) toxicity damages plant roots and limits crop production on acid soils, which comprise up to 50% of the world's arable lands. A major Al tolerance locus on chromosome 3, AltSB, controls aluminum tolerance in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] via SbMATE, an Al-activated plasma

  11. Venezuela slates second oil field revival round

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that Venezuela will accept bids under a second round next year from private foreign and domestic companies for production contracts to operate marginal active as well as inactive oil fields. The first such round came earlier this year, involving about 55 other marginal, inactive fields. It resulted in two contractors signed with domestic and foreign companies. It represented the first time since nationalization of the petroleum industry in Venezuela in 1976 that private companies were allowed to produce oil in the country. A public bid tender was expected at presstime last week

  12. Marginalization and Exclusion: Unraveling Systemic Bias in Classification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mai, Jens-Erik

    2016-01-01

    This paper explores the knowledge organization landscape in which Hope Olson’s numerous contri- butions to the field are situated. The paper first explores some of the foundational conceptual notions within knowledge organization that today are well-accepted. The paper then reviews Hope Olson’s...... contributions to that landscape and places her work in the context of Bor- ges’ essay about John Wilkins’ project to develop a universal language that would organize and contain all human thought. The paper shows how Hope Olson’s work on marginalization and exclusion of specific topics and groups of people...

  13. Professional Commitment and Professional Marginalism in Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalashnikov A.I.

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The article reviews teachers' attitudes towards the teaching profession which can be expressed both in professional commitment and in professional marginalism. The dominance of professional marginalism could affect destructively the students as well as the teacher’s personality, hence the issues related to the content of personal position of a marginal and the rate of marginalism among teachers. It was suggested that marginalism could be revealed in the study of professional commitment. The study involved 81 teachers of Sverdlovsk secondary schools aged 21—60 years with work experience ranging from 1 month to 39 years. The Professional Commitment Questionnaire was used as the study technique. The results showed that negative emotional attitude towards the profession and reluctance to leave the profession were grouped as a separate factor. The dispersion factor was 12,5%. The factor loadings ranged from 0.42 to 0.84. The study proved that professional marginalism in teachers includes dissatisfaction with work, feelings of resentment against profession and an unwillingness to leave the profession.

  14. A quantitative analysis of transtensional margin width

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeanniot, Ludovic; Buiter, Susanne J. H.

    2018-06-01

    Continental rifted margins show variations between a few hundred to almost a thousand kilometres in their conjugated widths from the relatively undisturbed continent to the oceanic crust. Analogue and numerical modelling results suggest that the conjugated width of rifted margins may have a relationship to their obliquity of divergence, with narrower margins occurring for higher obliquity. We here test this prediction by analysing the obliquity and rift width for 26 segments of transtensional conjugate rifted margins in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. We use the plate reconstruction software GPlates (http://www.gplates.org) for different plate rotation models to estimate the direction and magnitude of rifting from the initial phases of continental rifting until breakup. Our rift width corresponds to the distance between the onshore maximum topography and the last identified continental crust. We find a weak positive correlation between the obliquity of rifting and rift width. Highly oblique margins are narrower than orthogonal margins, as expected from analogue and numerical models. We find no relationships between rift obliquities and rift duration nor the presence or absence of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs).

  15. On the evaluation of marginal expected shortfall

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caporin, Massimiliano; Santucci de Magistris, Paolo

    2012-01-01

    In the analysis of systemic risk, Marginal Expected Shortfall may be considered to evaluate the marginal impact of a single stock on the market Expected Shortfall. These quantities are generally computed using log-returns, in particular when there is also a focus on returns conditional distribution....... In this case, the market log-return is only approximately equal to the weighed sum of equities log-returns. We show that the approximation error is large during turbulent market phases, with a subsequent impact on Marginal Expected Shortfall. We then suggest how to improve the evaluation of Marginal Expected...

  16. [Resection margins in conservative breast cancer surgery].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medina Fernández, Francisco Javier; Ayllón Terán, María Dolores; Lombardo Galera, María Sagrario; Rioja Torres, Pilar; Bascuñana Estudillo, Guillermo; Rufián Peña, Sebastián

    2013-01-01

    Conservative breast cancer surgery is facing a new problem: the potential tumour involvement of resection margins. This eventuality has been closely and negatively associated with disease-free survival. Various factors may influence the likelihood of margins being affected, mostly related to the characteristics of the tumour, patient or surgical technique. In the last decade, many studies have attempted to find predictive factors for margin involvement. However, it is currently the new techniques used in the study of margins and tumour localisation that are significantly reducing reoperations in conservative breast cancer surgery. Copyright © 2012 AEC. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  17. Marginalizing Instrument Systematics in HST WFC3 Transit Light Curves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wakeford, H. R.; Sing, D. K.; Evans, T.; Deming, D.; Mandell, A.

    2016-03-01

    Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) infrared observations at 1.1-1.7 μm probe primarily the H2O absorption band at 1.4 μm, and have provided low-resolution transmission spectra for a wide range of exoplanets. We present the application of marginalization based on Gibson to analyze exoplanet transit light curves obtained from HST WFC3 to better determine important transit parameters such as Rp/R*, which are important for accurate detections of H2O. We approximate the evidence, often referred to as the marginal likelihood, for a grid of systematic models using the Akaike Information Criterion. We then calculate the evidence-based weight assigned to each systematic model and use the information from all tested models to calculate the final marginalized transit parameters for both the band-integrated and spectroscopic light curves to construct the transmission spectrum. We find that a majority of the highest weight models contain a correction for a linear trend in time as well as corrections related to HST orbital phase. We additionally test the dependence on the shift in spectral wavelength position over the course of the observations and find that spectroscopic wavelength shifts {δ }λ (λ ) best describe the associated systematic in the spectroscopic light curves for most targets while fast scan rate observations of bright targets require an additional level of processing to produce a robust transmission spectrum. The use of marginalization allows for transparent interpretation and understanding of the instrument and the impact of each systematic evaluated statistically for each data set, expanding the ability to make true and comprehensive comparisons between exoplanet atmospheres.

  18. Ferritin associates with marginal band microtubules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Infante, Anthony A.; Infante, Dzintra; Chan, M.-C.; How, P.-C.; Kutschera, Waltraud; Linhartova, Irena; Muellner, Ernst W.; Wiche, Gerhard; Propst, Friedrich

    2007-01-01

    We characterized chicken erythrocyte and human platelet ferritin by biochemical studies and immunofluorescence. Erythrocyte ferritin was found to be a homopolymer of H-ferritin subunits, resistant to proteinase K digestion, heat stable, and contained iron. In mature chicken erythrocytes and human platelets, ferritin was localized at the marginal band, a ring-shaped peripheral microtubule bundle, and displayed properties of bona fide microtubule-associated proteins such as tau. Red blood cell ferritin association with the marginal band was confirmed by temperature-induced disassembly-reassembly of microtubules. During erythrocyte differentiation, ferritin co-localized with coalescing microtubules during marginal band formation. In addition, ferritin was found in the nuclei of mature erythrocytes, but was not detectable in those of bone marrow erythrocyte precursors. These results suggest that ferritin has a function in marginal band formation and possibly in protection of the marginal band from damaging effects of reactive oxygen species by sequestering iron in the mature erythrocyte. Moreover, our data suggest that ferritin and syncolin, a previously identified erythrocyte microtubule-associated protein, are identical. Nuclear ferritin might contribute to transcriptional silencing or, alternatively, constitute a ferritin reservoir

  19. Methylation patterns in marginal zone lymphoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arribas, Alberto J; Bertoni, Francesco

    Promoter DNA methylation is a major regulator of gene expression and transcription. The identification of methylation changes is important for understanding disease pathogenesis, for identifying prognostic markers and can drive novel therapeutic approaches. In this review we summarize the current knowledge regarding DNA methylation in MALT lymphoma, splenic marginal zone lymphoma, nodal marginal zone lymphoma. Despite important differences in the study design for different publications and the existence of a sole large and genome-wide methylation study for splenic marginal zone lymphoma, it is clear that DNA methylation plays an important role in marginal zone lymphomas, in which it contributes to the inactivation of tumor suppressors but also to the expression of genes sustaining tumor cell survival and proliferation. Existing preclinical data provide the rationale to target the methylation machinery in these disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Limitations of ''margin'' in qualification tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clough, R.L.; Gillen, K.T.

    1984-01-01

    We have carried out investigations of polymer radiation degradation behaviors which have brought to light a number of reasons why this concept of margin can break down. First of all, we have found that dose-rate effects vary greatly in magnitude. Thus, based on high dose-rate testing, poor materials with large dose-rate effects may be selected over better materials with small effects. Also, in certain cases, material properties have been found to level out (as with PVC) or reverse trend (as with buna-n) at high doses, so that ''margin'' may be ineffective, misleading, or counterproductive. For Viton, the material properties were found to change in opposite directions at high and low dose rates, making ''margin'' inappropriate. The underlying problem with the concept of ''margin'' is that differences in aging conditions can lead to fundamental differences in degradation mechanisms

  1. Climate change adaptation in arable land use, and impact on nitrogen load at catchment scale in northern agriculture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katri Rankinen

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Prolongation of the growing season due to a warming climate could represent new opportunities for northern agriculture. Climatic and biotic constraints may challenge future crop production. The objective of this study was to speculate how a range of arable land use patterns, resulting from various policy driven choices, could be introduced into a farming system, and how they would affect the risks associated with nutrient leaching. We found that while adaptation to climate change must include consideration of crop choices, there are conflicts associated with allocations and rotations for various market and policy situations. The expected increase in nutrient loading in the simulations caused by climate change was moderate. The increase can partly be compensated for by changes in farmland use, more in the shorter term than in the longer term to mid-century. In the future, adaptation at cropping system level is potentially an efficient way to manage nutrient load risks.

  2. Silenced, Silence, Silent: Motherhood in the Margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpenter, Lorelei; Austin, Helena

    2007-01-01

    This project explores the experiences of women who mother children with ADHD. The authors use the metaphor of the text and the margin. The text is the "motherhood myth" that describes a particular sort of "good" mothering. The margin is the space beyond that text. This marginal space is inhabited by some or all of the mothers they spoke with, some…

  3. Comparison of corn and switchgrass on marginal soils for bioenergy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Varvel, G.E.; Vogel, K.P.; Mitchell, R.B. [USDA-ARS, 344 Keim Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, P.O. Box 830937, Lincoln, NE 68583-0937 (United States); Follett, R.F. [USDA-ARS, Room S-100, 2150 Centre Avenue Building D, Ft. Collins, CO 80526-8119 (United States); Kimble, J.M. [USDA-NRCS, National Soil Survey Center, 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln, NE 68508-3866 (United States)

    2008-01-15

    Crop residues such as corn (Zea mays L.) stover are viewed as an abundant and inexpensive source of biomass that can be removed from fields to produce bioenergy. Assumptions include that with minimum or no-tillage farming methods, there will be no deleterious production or environmental effects. A long-term field study was established in eastern Nebraska, USA, to compare the switchgrass managed as a biomass energy crop versus no-till corn on a non-irrigated site, marginal for row-crop production, in the western Corn Belt. Our objective in this paper is to report on corn stover removal effects on corn grain yields and potential ethanol production in both cropping systems. Corn, under no-till management, and switchgrass were grown at three N fertilizer levels. In the first 5 years (2001-2005), removal of half the available stover significantly reduced corn yields. During that same time period, the potential ethanol yield for switchgrass was equal to or greater than the potential total ethanol yield of corn grain and harvested stover fertilized at the same optimum N rate. The effect of crop residue removal on crop productivity needs to be investigated in other agro-ecosystems and the potential use of dedicated perennial biomass energy crops should remain a viable renewable energy option on non-irrigated marginal croplands. (author)

  4. Nutrient production from dairy cattle manure and loading on arable land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seunggun Won

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective Along with increasing livestock products via intensive rearing, the accumulation of livestock manure has become a serious issue due to the fact that there is finite land for livestock manure recycling via composting. The nutrients from livestock manure accumulate on agricultural land and the excess disembogues into streams causing eutrophication. In order to systematically manage nutrient loading on agricultural land, quantifying the amount of nutrients according to their respective sources is very important. However, there is a lack of research concerning nutrient loss from livestock manure during composting or storage on farms. Therefore, in the present study we quantified the nutrients from dairy cattle manure that were imparted onto agricultural land. Methods Through investigation of 41 dairy farms, weight reduction and volatile solids (VS, total nitrogen (TN, and total phosphorus (TP changes of dairy cattle manure during the storage and composting periods were analyzed. In order to support the direct investigation and survey on site, the three cases of weight reduction during the storing and composting periods were developed according to i experiment, ii reference, and iii theoretical changes in phosphorus content (ΔP = 0. Results The data revealed the nutrient loading coefficients (NLCs of VS, TN, and TP on agricultural land were 1.48, 0.60, and 0.66, respectively. These values indicated that the loss of nitrogen and phosphorus was 40% and 34%, respectively, and that there was an increase of VS since bedding materials were mixed with excretion in the barn. Conclusion As result of nutrient-footprint analyses, the amounts of TN and TP particularly entered on arable land have been overestimated if applying the nutrient amount in fresh manure. The NLCs obtained in this study may assist in the development of a database to assess the accurate level of manure nutrient loading on soil and facilitate systematic nutrient management.

  5. Errors of Mean Dynamic Topography and Geostrophic Current Estimates in China's Marginal Seas from GOCE and Satellite Altimetry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jin, Shuanggen; Feng, Guiping; Andersen, Ole Baltazar

    2014-01-01

    and geostrophic current estimates from satellite gravimetry and altimetry are investigated and evaluated in China's marginal seas. The cumulative error in MDT from GOCE is reduced from 22.75 to 9.89 cm when compared to the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity field model ITG-Grace2010 results......The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) and satellite altimetry can provide very detailed and accurate estimates of the mean dynamic topography (MDT) and geostrophic currents in China's marginal seas, such as, the newest high-resolution GOCE gravity field model GO......-CONS-GCF-2-TIM-R4 and the new Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales mean sea surface model MSS_CNES_CLS_11 from satellite altimetry. However, errors and uncertainties of MDT and geostrophic current estimates from satellite observations are not generally quantified. In this paper, errors and uncertainties of MDT...

  6. Aspects of marginal expenditures in energy sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stojchev, D.; Kynev, K.

    1994-01-01

    Technical and economical problems of marginal analysis methodology, its application procedure in energy sector and marginal expenditures determination are outlined. A comparative characteristics of the application is made for different periods of time. The differences in calculation of the marginal expenditures and prices are discussed. The operational costs, investments and inflation are analyzed. The mechanism of application of this approach in different planing horizon is outlined. The role of the change in the costs in time, the time unit, volume, the scope of application, etc. are determined. The areas of transition from one to other form of marginal expenditures are shown. 4 refs. (orig.)

  7. Characterizing entanglement with global and marginal entropic measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adesso, Gerardo; Illuminati, Fabrizio; De Siena, Silvio

    2003-01-01

    We qualify the entanglement of arbitrary mixed states of bipartite quantum systems by comparing global and marginal mixednesses quantified by different entropic measures. For systems of two qubits we discriminate the class of maximally entangled states with fixed marginal mixednesses, and determine an analytical upper bound relating the entanglement of formation to the marginal linear entropies. This result partially generalizes to mixed states the quantification of entanglement with marginal mixednesses holding for pure states. We identify a class of entangled states that, for fixed marginals, are globally more mixed than product states when measured by the linear entropy. Such states cannot be discriminated by the majorization criterion

  8. Steel Industry Marginal Opportunity Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2005-09-01

    The Steel Industry Marginal Opportunity Analysis (PDF 347 KB) identifies opportunities for developing advanced technologies and estimates both the necessary funding and the potential payoff. This analysis determines what portion of the energy bandwidth can be captured through the adoption of state-of-the-art technology and practices. R&D opportunities for addressing the remainder of the bandwidth are characterized and plotted on a marginal opportunity curve.

  9. Erosion Losses of Soils on Arable Land in the European part of Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maltsev, K. A.; Yermolaev, O. P.

    2018-01-01

    The quantitative assessment of potential soil losses in arable lands of the European part of Russia is carried out in the article. The assessment was carried out using a mathematical model based on the mathematical dependencies of the universal soil loss equation and the mathematical dependencies of the State Hydrological Institute of Russia. Assessment of potential soil losses was performed using calculations in a geographic information system. To perform the calculations the database was created containing information on: the relief; properties of soils; climate and land use. The raster model of data organization was used to create the database and subsequent calculations. The assessment shows that the average amount of soil loss in the plowed land of the European territory of Russia is 11 t/ha per year. At the same time, about half of the territories are located in conditions where the soil loss value does not exceed 0.5 t/ha per year. The potential loss of soil taking into account the soil protection role of vegetation is 3.3 tons/ha per year. In addition, a spatial analysis of the distribution of soil loss by landscape zones shows that there is a consistent reduction in the potential loss of soil from the forest zone (20.92 t/ha per year) to the forest-steppe (10.84 t / ha per year), steppe (8.13 t/ha per year) and semi-desert (4.7 tons/ha per year) zone.

  10. Steep microbial boundstone-dominated plaform margins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kenter, J.A.M.; Harris, P.M.; Della Porta, G.P.

    2005-01-01

    Seaward progradation of several kilometers has been documented mostly for leeward margin low-angle carbonate slope systems with a dominant platform top sediment source. However, steep and high-relief margins fronting deep basins can also prograde and as such are somewhat perplexing. Characteristics

  11. Evaluating the marginal utility principle for long-term hydropower scheduling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Tongtiegang; Zhao, Jianshi; Liu, Pan; Lei, Xiaohui

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Analysis of one-, two- and multi-period hydropower scheduling. • Derivation of marginal cost and marginal return of carry-over storage. • Evaluation of the marginal utility principle in a case study of the Three Gorges Reservoir. - Abstract: The conversion of the potential energy of dammed water into hydropower depends on both reservoir storage and release, which are the major difficulties in hydropower reservoir operation. This study evaluates the marginal utility principle, which determines the optimal carry-over storage between periods, for long-term hydropower scheduling. Increasing marginal cost and decreasing marginal return are two important characteristics that determine the marginal utility principle in water supply. However, the notion of decreasing marginal return is inapplicable in hydropower scheduling. Instead, the carry-over storage from one period has an increasing marginal contribution to the power generation in the next period. Although carry-over storage incurs an increasing marginal cost to the power generation in the current period, the marginal return is higher than the marginal cost. The marginal return from the carry-over storage further increases in the multi-period case. These findings suggest saving as much carry-over storage as possible, which is bounded by the operational constraints of storage capacity, environmental flow, and installed capacity in actual hydropower scheduling. The marginal utility principle is evaluated for a case study of the Three Gorges Reservoir, and the effects of the constraints are discussed. Results confirm the theoretical findings and show that the marginal return from carry-over storage is larger than the marginal cost. The operational constraints help determine the optimal carry-over storage.

  12. The Seno Otway pockmark field and its relationship to thermogenic gas occurrence at the western margin of the Magallanes Basin (Chile)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilian, R.; Breuer, S.; Behrmann, J. H.; Baeza, O.; Diaz-Michelena, M.; Mutschke, E.; Arz, H.; Lamy, F.

    2017-12-01

    Pockmarks are variably sized crater-like structures that occur in young continental margin sediments. They are formed by gas eruptions and/or long-term release of fluid or gas. So far no pockmarks were known from the Pacific coast of South America between 51°S and 55°S. This article documents an extensive and previously unknown pockmark field in the Seno Otway (Otway Sound, 52°S) with multibeam bathymetry and parametric echosounding as well as sediment drill cores. Up to 31 pockmarks per square kilometer occur in water depths of 50 to >100 m in late glacial and Holocene sediments. They are up to 150 m wide and 10 m deep. Below and near the pockmarks, echosounder profiles image acoustic blanking as well as gas chimneys often crosscutting the 20 to >30 m thick glacial sediments above the acoustic basement, in particular along fault zones. Upward-migrating gas is trapped within the sediment strata, forming dome-like features. Two 5 m long piston cores from inside and outside a typical pockmark give no evidence for gas storage within the uppermost sediments. The inside core recovered poorly sorted glacial sediment, indicating reworking and re-deposition after several explosive events. The outside core documents an undisturbed stratigraphic sequence since 15 ka. Many buried paleo-pockmarks occur directly below a prominent seismic reflector marking the mega-outflow event of the Seno Otway at 14.3 ka, lowering the proglacial lake level by about 80 m. This decompression would have led to frequent eruptions of gas trapped in reservoirs below the glacial sediments. However, the sediment fill of pockmarks formed after this event suggests recurrent events throughout the Holocene until today. Most pockmarks occur above folded hydrocarbon-bearing Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene rocks near the western margin of the Magallanes Basin, constraining them as likely source rocks for thermogenic gas.

  13. Heavy metal contamination in arable soils and vegetables around a sulfuric acid factory, China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Juan [Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou (China); Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei (China); Wang, Jin; Li, Xiangping; Chen, Yongheng; Wu, Yingjuan [Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou (China); Qi, Jianying [South China Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection (SCIES-MEP), Guangzhou (China); Wang, Chunlin [Research Center for Environmental Science, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Environmental Science, Guangzhou (China)

    2012-07-15

    This study was designed to investigate heavy metal (Tl, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni) contamination levels of arable soils and vegetables grown in the vicinity of a sulfuric acid factory in the Western Guangdong Province, China. Health risks associated with these metals by consumption of vegetables were assessed based on the hazard quotient (HQ). The soils show a most significant contamination of Tl, followed by Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni. The heavy metal contents ({mu}g/g, dry weight basis) in the edible parts of vegetables range from 5.60 to 105 for Tl, below detection limit to 227 for Pb, 5.0-30.0 for Cu, 10.0-82.9 for Zn, and 0.50-26.0 for Ni, mostly exceeding the proposed maximum permissible level in Germany or China. For the studied vegetables, the subterranean part generally bears higher contents of Tl and Zn than the aerial part, while the former has lower contents of Cu and Ni than the latter. In addition, the results reveal that Tl is the major risk contributor for the local people since its HQ values are mostly much higher than 1.0. The potential health risk of Tl pollution in the food chain and the issue of food safety should be highly concerned and kept under continued surveillance and control. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  14. Ecotoxicological Impact of the Bioherbicide Leptospermone on the Microbial Community of Two Arable Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romdhane, Sana; Devers-Lamrani, Marion; Barthelmebs, Lise; Calvayrac, Christophe; Bertrand, Cédric; Cooper, Jean-François; Dayan, Franck E.; Martin-Laurent, Fabrice

    2016-01-01

    The ecotoxicological impact of leptospermone, a β-triketone bioherbicide, on the bacterial community of two arable soils was investigated. Soil microcosms were exposed to 0 × (control), 1 × or 10 × recommended dose of leptospermone. The β-triketone was moderately adsorbed to both soils (i.e.,: Kfa ~ 1.2 and Koc ~ 140 mL g−1). Its dissipation was lower in sterilized than in unsterilized soils suggesting that it was mainly influenced by biotic factors. Within 45 days, leptospermone disappeared almost entirely from one of the two soils (i.e., DT50 < 10 days), while 25% remained in the other. The composition of the microbial community assessed by qPCR targeting 11 microbial groups was found to be significantly modified in soil microcosms exposed to leptospermone. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons showed a shift in the bacterial community structure and a significant impact of leptospermone on the diversity of the soil bacterial community. Changes in the composition, and in the α- and β-diversity of microbial community were transient in the soil able to fully dissipate the leptospermone, but were persistent in the soil where β-triketone remained. To conclude the bacterial community of the two soils was sensitive to leptospermone and its resilience was observed only when leptospermone was fully dissipated. PMID:27252691

  15. From Borders to Margins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parker, Noel

    2009-01-01

    of entities that are ever open to identity shifts.  The concept of the margin possesses a much wider reach than borders, and focuses continual attention on the meetings and interactions between a range of indeterminate entities whose interactions may determine both themselves and the types of entity...... upon Deleuze's philosophy to set out an ontology in which the continual reformulation of entities in play in ‘post-international' society can be grasped.  This entails a strategic shift from speaking about the ‘borders' between sovereign states to referring instead to the ‘margins' between a plethora...

  16. The accuracy of electron-boost fields in the radiation therapy of early breast cancer after lumpectomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yakar, D.; Bower, D.; Kambouris, A.

    1989-01-01

    Electron boost fields used in the radiotherapy of early breast cancer may be set up either clinically (on the basis of lumpectomy scar location and other clinical data) or on location of surgical clips shown by simulation films. A comparison of these two methods has been conducted on 27 patients. In 13 patients, the clinical set up was good (margin around the clips > 1.5 cm); in four, marginal (margin = 0.5-1.5 cm) and in 10, unacceptable (< 0.5 cm margin). The authors concluded that placement of surgical clips at the margins of the tumor bed and simulation of the electron boost fields is necessary to ensure geographic miss

  17. Marginal and Interaction Effects in Ordered Response Models

    OpenAIRE

    Debdulal Mallick

    2009-01-01

    In discrete choice models the marginal effect of a variable of interest that is interacted with another variable differs from the marginal effect of a variable that is not interacted with any variable. The magnitude of the interaction effect is also not equal to the marginal effect of the interaction term. I present consistent estimators of both marginal and interaction effects in ordered response models. This procedure is general and can easily be extended to other discrete choice models. I ...

  18. CRBRP structural and thermal margin beyond the design base

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strawbridge, L.E.

    1979-01-01

    Prudent margins beyond the design base have been included in the design of Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant to further reduce the risk to the public from highly improbable occurrences. These margins include Structural Margin Beyond the Design Base to address the energetics aspects and Thermal Margin Beyond the Design Base to address the longer term thermal and radiological consequences. The assessments that led to the specification of these margins are described, along with the experimental support for those assessments. 8 refs

  19. Positive Surgical Margins in Favorable-Stage Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mercado, Catherine E; Drew, Peter A; Morris, Christopher G; Dziegielewski, Peter T; Mendenhall, William M; Amdur, Robert J

    2018-04-16

    The significance of positive margin in favorable-stage well-differentiated thyroid cancer is controversial. We report outcomes of positive-margin patients with a matched-pair comparison to a negative-margin group. A total of 25 patients with classic-histology papillary or follicular carcinoma, total thyroidectomy +/- node dissection, stage T1-3N0-1bM0, positive surgical margin at primary site, adjuvant radioactive iodine (I-131), and age older than 18 years were treated between 2003 and 2013. Endpoints were clinical and biochemical (thyroglobulin-only) recurrence-free survival. Matched-pair analysis involved a 1:1 match with negative-margin cases matched for overall stage and I-131 dose. Recurrence-free survival in positive-margin patients was 71% at 10 years. No patient was successfully salvaged with additional treatment. Only 1 patient died of thyroid cancer. Recurrence-free survival at 10 years was worse with a positive (71%) versus negative (90%) margin (P=0.140). Cure with a microscopically positive margin was suboptimal (71%) despite patients having classic-histology papillary and follicular carcinoma, favorable stage, and moderate-dose I-131 therapy.

  20. Learning Convex Inference of Marginals

    OpenAIRE

    Domke, Justin

    2012-01-01

    Graphical models trained using maximum likelihood are a common tool for probabilistic inference of marginal distributions. However, this approach suffers difficulties when either the inference process or the model is approximate. In this paper, the inference process is first defined to be the minimization of a convex function, inspired by free energy approximations. Learning is then done directly in terms of the performance of the inference process at univariate marginal prediction. The main ...

  1. Spectrum estimation method based on marginal spectrum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai Jianhua; Hu Weiwen; Wang Xianchun

    2011-01-01

    FFT method can not meet the basic requirements of power spectrum for non-stationary signal and short signal. A new spectrum estimation method based on marginal spectrum from Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) was proposed. The procession of obtaining marginal spectrum in HHT method was given and the linear property of marginal spectrum was demonstrated. Compared with the FFT method, the physical meaning and the frequency resolution of marginal spectrum were further analyzed. Then the Hilbert spectrum estimation algorithm was discussed in detail, and the simulation results were given at last. The theory and simulation shows that under the condition of short data signal and non-stationary signal, the frequency resolution and estimation precision of HHT method is better than that of FFT method. (authors)

  2. Thick tissue diffusion model with binding to optimize topical staining in fluorescence breast cancer margin imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Xiaochun; Kang, Soyoung; Navarro-Comes, Eric; Wang, Yu; Liu, Jonathan T. C.; Tichauer, Kenneth M.

    2018-03-01

    Intraoperative tumor/surgical margin assessment is required to achieve higher tumor resection rate in breast-conserving surgery. Though current histology provides incomparable accuracy in margin assessment, thin tissue sectioning and the limited field of view of microscopy makes histology too time-consuming for intraoperative applications. If thick tissue, wide-field imaging can provide an acceptable assessment of tumor cells at the surface of resected tissues, an intraoperative protocol can be developed to guide the surgery and provide immediate feedback for surgeons. Topical staining of margins with cancer-targeted molecular imaging agents has the potential to provide the sensitivity needed to see microscopic cancer on a wide-field image; however, diffusion and nonspecific retention of imaging agents in thick tissue can significantly diminish tumor contrast with conventional methods. Here, we present a mathematical model to accurately simulate nonspecific retention, binding, and diffusion of imaging agents in thick tissue topical staining to guide and optimize future thick tissue staining and imaging protocol. In order to verify the accuracy and applicability of the model, diffusion profiles of cancer targeted and untargeted (control) nanoparticles at different staining times in A431 tumor xenografts were acquired for model comparison and tuning. The initial findings suggest the existence of nonspecific retention in the tissue, especially at the tissue surface. The simulator can be used to compare the effect of nonspecific retention, receptor binding and diffusion under various conditions (tissue type, imaging agent) and provides optimal staining and imaging protocols for targeted and control imaging agent.

  3. Thermal margin model for transition core of KSNP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nahm, Kee Yil; Lim, Jong Seon; Park, Sung Kew; Chun, Chong Kuk; Hwang, Sun Tack

    2004-01-01

    The PLUS7 fuel was developed with mixing vane grids for KSNP. For the transition core partly loaded with the PLUS7 fuels, the procedure to set up the optimum thermal margin model of the transition core was suggested by introducing AOPM concept into the screening method which determines the limiting assembly. According to the procedure, the optimum thermal margin model of the first transition core was set up by using a part of nuclear data for the first transition and the homogeneous core with PLUS7 fuels. The generic thermal margin model of PLUS7 fuel was generated with the AOPM of 138%. The overpower penalties on the first transition core were calculated to be 1.0 and 0.98 on the limiting assembly and the generic thermal margin model, respectively. It is not usual case to impose the overpower penalty on reload cores. It is considered that the lack of channel flow due to the difference of pressure drop between PLUS7 and STD fuels results in the decrease of DNBR. The AOPM of the first transition core is evaluated to be about 135% by using the optimum generic thermal margin model which involves the generic thermal margin model and the total overpower penalty. The STD fuel is not included among limiting assembly candidates in the second transition core, because they have much lower pin power than PLUS7 fuels. The reduced number of STD fuels near the limiting assembly candidates the flow from the limiting assembly to increase the thermal margin for the second transition core. It is expected that cycle specific overpower penalties increase the thermal margin for the transition core. Using the procedure to set up the optimum thermal margin model makes sure that the enhanced thermal margin of PLUS7 fuel can be sufficiently applied to not only the homogeneous core but also the transition core

  4. Reconstructing Rodinia by Fitting Neoproterozoic Continental Margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, John H.

    2009-01-01

    Reconstructions of Phanerozoic tectonic plates can be closely constrained by lithologic correlations across conjugate margins by paleontologic information, by correlation of orogenic belts, by paleomagnetic location of continents, and by ocean floor magmatic stripes. In contrast, Proterozoic reconstructions are hindered by the lack of some of these tools or the lack of their precision. To overcome some of these difficulties, this report focuses on a different method of reconstruction, namely the use of the shape of continents to assemble the supercontinent of Rodinia, much like a jigsaw puzzle. Compared to the vast amount of information available for Phanerozoic systems, such a limited approach for Proterozoic rocks, may seem suspect. However, using the assembly of the southern continents (South America, Africa, India, Arabia, Antarctica, and Australia) as an example, a very tight fit of the continents is apparent and illustrates the power of the jigsaw puzzle method. This report focuses on Neoproterozoic rocks, which are shown on two new detailed geologic maps that constitute the backbone of the study. The report also describes the Neoproterozoic, but younger or older rocks are not discussed or not discussed in detail. The Neoproterozoic continents and continental margins are identified based on the distribution of continental-margin sedimentary and magmatic rocks that define the break-up margins of Rodinia. These Neoproterozoic continental exposures, as well as critical Neo- and Meso-Neoproterozoic tectonic features shown on the two new map compilations, are used to reconstruct the Mesoproterozoic supercontinent of Rodinia. This approach differs from the common approach of using fold belts to define structural features deemed important in the Rodinian reconstruction. Fold belts are difficult to date, and many are significantly younger than the time frame considered here (1,200 to 850 Ma). Identifying Neoproterozoic continental margins, which are primarily

  5. Firn thickness variations across the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream margins indicating nonlinear densification rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riverman, K. L.; Anandakrishnan, S.; Alley, R. B.; Peters, L. E.; Christianson, K. A.; Muto, A.

    2013-12-01

    Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the largest ice stream in Greenland, draining approximately 8.4% of the ice sheet's area. The flow pattern and stability mechanism of this ice stream are unique to others in Greenland and Antarctica, and merit further study to ascertain the sensitivity of this ice stream to future climate change. Geophysical methods are valuable tools for this application, but their results are sensitive to the structure of the firn and any spatial variations in firn properties across a given study region. Here we present firn data from a 40-km-long seismic profile across the upper reaches of NEGIS, collected in the summer of 2012 as part of an integrated ground-based geophysical survey. We find considerable variations in firn thickness that are coincident with the ice stream shear margins, where a thinner firn layer is present within the margins, and a thicker, more uniform firn layer is present elsewhere in our study region. Higher accumulation rates in the marginal surface troughs due to drift-snow trapping can account for some of this increased densification; however, our seismic results also highlight enhanced anisotropy within the firn and upper ice column that is confined to narrow bands within the shear margins. We thus interpret these large firn thickness variations and abrupt changes in anisotropy as indicators of firn densification dependent on the effective stress state as well as the overburden pressure, suggesting that the strain rate increases nonlinearly with stress across the shear margins. A GPS strain grid maintained for three weeks across both margins observed strong side shearing, with rapid stretching and then compression along particle paths, indicating large deviatoric stresses in the margins. This work demonstrates the importance of developing a high-resolution firn densification model when conducting geophysical field work in regions possessing a complex ice flow history; it also motivates the need for a more

  6. Margins in breast conserving surgery: The financial cost & potential savings associated with the new margin guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Lauren; Brown, Eric; Lanni, Thomas

    2016-08-01

    In this study, we compare the indications for re-excision, the findings of additional tumor in the re-excision specimen as they relate to margin status, and costs associated with re-excision based on recent new consensus statements. A retrospective analysis was performed on 462 patients with invasive breast carcinoma who underwent at least one lumpectomy between January 2011 and December 2013. Postoperative data was analyzed based on where additional disease was found, as it relates to the margin status of the initial lumpectomy and the additional direct costs associated with additional procedures. Of the 462 patients sampled, 149 underwent a re-excision surgery (32.2%). Four patients underwent mastectomy as their second operation. In the 40 patients with additional disease found on re-excision, 36 (90.0%) of them had a positive margin on their initial lumpectomy. None of the four mastectomy patients had residual disease. The mean cost of the initial lumpectomy for all 462 patients was $2118.01 plus an additional $1801.92 for those who underwent re-excision. A positive margin was most predictive of finding residual tumor on re-excision as would be expected. Using old criteria only 0.07% (4/61) of patients who had undergone re-excision with a 'clear' margin, had additional tumor found, at a total cost of $106,354.11. Thus, the new consensus guidelines will lead to less overall cost, at no clinical risk to patients while reducing a patient's surgical risk and essentially eliminating delays in adjuvant care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. High-Density Near-Field Optical Disc Recording

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinoda, Masataka; Saito, Kimihiro; Ishimoto, Tsutomu; Kondo, Takao; Nakaoki, Ariyoshi; Ide, Naoki; Furuki, Motohiro; Takeda, Minoru; Akiyama, Yuji; Shimouma, Takashi; Yamamoto, Masanobu

    2005-05-01

    We developed a high-density near-field optical recording disc system using a solid immersion lens. The near-field optical pick-up consists of a solid immersion lens with a numerical aperture of 1.84. The laser wavelength for recording is 405 nm. In order to realize the near-field optical recording disc, we used a phase-change recording media and a molded polycarbonate substrate. A clear eye pattern of 112 GB capacity with 160 nm track pitch and 50 nm bit length was observed. The equivalent areal density is 80.6 Gbit/in2. The bottom bit error rate of 3 tracks-write was 4.5× 10-5. The readout power margin and the recording power margin were ± 30.4% and ± 11.2%, respectively.

  8. Plasticity margin recovery during annealing after cold deformation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bogatov, A.A.; Smirnov, S.V.; Kolmogorov, V.L.

    1978-01-01

    Restoration of the plasticity margin in steel 20 after cold deformation and annealing at 550 - 750 C and soaking for 5 - 300 min was investigated. The conditions of cold deformation under which the metal acquires microdefects unhealed by subsequent annealing were determined. It was established that if the degree of utilization of the plasticity margin is psi < 0.5, the plasticity margin in steel 20 can be completely restored by annealing. A mathematical model of restoration of the plasticity margin by annealing after cold deformation was constructed. A statistical analysis showed good agreement between model and experiment

  9. Reinforcing marginality? Maternal health interventions in rural Nicaragua.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kvernflaten, Birgit

    2017-06-23

    To achieve Millennium Development Goal 5 on maternal health, many countries have focused on marginalized women who lack access to care. Promoting facility-based deliveries to ensure skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric care has become a main measure for preventing maternal deaths, so women who opt for home births are often considered 'marginal' and in need of targeted intervention. Drawing upon ethnographic data from Nicaragua, this paper critically examines the concept of marginality in the context of official efforts to increase institutional delivery amongst the rural poor, and discusses lack of access to health services among women living in peripheral areas as a process of marginalization. The promotion of facility birth as the new norm, in turn, generates a process of 're-marginalization', whereby public health officials morally disapprove of women who give birth at home, viewing them as non-compliers and a problem to the system. In rural Nicaragua, there is a discrepancy between the public health norm and women's own preferences and desires for home birth. These women live at the margins also in spatial and societal terms, and must relate to a health system they find incapable of providing good, appropriate care. Strong public pressure for institutional delivery makes them feel distressed and pressured. Paradoxically then, the aim of including marginal groups in maternal health programmes engenders resistance to facility birth.

  10. Gas hydrate on the northern Cascadia margin: regional geophysics and structural framework

    OpenAIRE

    Riedel, Michael; Willoughby, E. C.; Chen, M. A.; He, T.; Novosel, I.; Schwalenberg, K.; Hyndman, R. D.; Spence, G. D.; Chapman, N. R.; Edwards, R. N.

    2006-01-01

    Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 311 is based on ex- tensive site survey data and historic research at the northern Cas- cadia margin since 1985. This research includes various regional geophysical surveys using a broad spectrum of seismic tech- niques, coring and logging by the Ocean Drilling Program Leg 146, heat flow measurements, shallow piston coring, and bottom video observations across a cold-vent field, as well as novel con- trolled-source electromagne...

  11. Effect of posterior crown margin placement on gingival health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reitemeier, Bernd; Hänsel, Kristina; Walter, Michael H; Kastner, Christian; Toutenburg, Helge

    2002-02-01

    The clinical impact of posterior crown margin placement on gingival health has not been thoroughly quantified. This study evaluated the effect of posterior crown margin placement with multivariate analysis. Ten general dentists reviewed 240 patients with 480 metal-ceramic crowns in a prospective clinical trial. The alloy was randomly selected from 2 high gold, 1 low gold, and 1 palladium alloy. Variables were the alloy used, oral hygiene index score before treatment, location of crown margins at baseline, and plaque index and sulcus bleeding index scores recorded for restored and control teeth after 1 year. The effect of crown margin placement on sulcular bleeding and plaque accumulation was analyzed with regression models (Prisk of bleeding at intrasulcular posterior crown margins was approximately twice that at supragingival margins. Poor oral hygiene before treatment and plaque also were associated with sulcular bleeding. Facial sites exhibited a lower probability of sulcular bleeding than lingual surfaces. Type of alloy did not influence sulcular bleeding. In this study, placement of crown margins was one of several parameters that affected gingival health.

  12. Colorado Basin Structure and Rifting, Argentine passive margin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Autin, Julia; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Loegering, Markus; Anka, Zahie; Vallejo, Eduardo; Rodriguez, Jorge; Marchal, Denis; Reichert, Christian; di Primio, Rolando

    2010-05-01

    The Argentine margin presents a strong segmentation with considerable strike-slip movements along the fracture zones. We focus on the volcanic segment (between the Salado and Colorado transfer zones), which is characterized by seaward dipping reflectors (SDR) all along the ocean-continent transition [e.g. Franke et al., 2006; Gladczenko et al., 1997; Hinz et al., 1999]. The segment is structured by E-W trending basins, which differs from the South African margin basins and cannot be explained by classical models of rifting. Thus the study of the relationship between the basins and the Argentine margin itself will allow the understanding of their contemporary development. Moreover the comparison of the conjugate margins suggests a particular evolution of rifting and break-up. We firstly focus on the Colorado Basin, which is thought to be the conjugate of the well studied Orange Basin [Hirsch et al., 2009] at the South African margin [e.g. Franke et al., 2006]. This work presents results of a combined approach using seismic interpretation and structural, isostatic and thermal modelling highlighting the structure of the crust. The seismic interpretation shows two rift-related discordances: one intra syn-rift and the break-up unconformity. The overlying sediments of the sag phase are less deformed (no sedimentary wedges) and accumulated before the generation of oceanic crust. The axis of the Colorado Basin trends E-W in the western part, where the deepest pre-rift series are preserved. In contrast, the basin axis turns to a NW-SE direction in its eastern part, where mainly post-rift sediments accumulated. The most distal part reaches the margin slope and opens into the oceanic basin. The general basin direction is almost orthogonal to the present-day margin trend. The most frequent hypothesis explaining this geometry is that the Colorado Basin is an aborted rift resulting from a previous RRR triple junction [e.g. Franke et al., 2002]. The structural interpretation

  13. A marginal structural model to estimate the causal effect of antidepressant medication treatment on viral suppression among homeless and marginally housed persons with HIV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Alexander C; Weiser, Sheri D; Petersen, Maya L; Ragland, Kathleen; Kushel, Margot B; Bangsberg, David R

    2010-12-01

    Depression strongly predicts nonadherence to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antiretroviral therapy, and adherence is essential to maintaining viral suppression. This suggests that pharmacologic treatment of depression may improve virologic outcomes. However, previous longitudinal observational analyses have inadequately adjusted for time-varying confounding by depression severity, which could yield biased estimates of treatment effect. Application of marginal structural modeling to longitudinal observation data can, under certain assumptions, approximate the findings of a randomized controlled trial. To determine whether antidepressant medication treatment increases the probability of HIV viral suppression. Community-based prospective cohort study with assessments conducted every 3 months. Community-based research field site in San Francisco, California. One hundred fifty-eight homeless and marginally housed persons with HIV who met baseline immunologic (CD4+ T-lymphocyte count, 13) inclusion criteria, observed from April 2002 through August 2007. Probability of achieving viral suppression to less than 50 copies/mL. Secondary outcomes of interest were probability of being on an antiretroviral therapy regimen, 7-day self-reported percentage adherence to antiretroviral therapy, and probability of reporting complete (100%) adherence. Marginal structural models estimated a 2.03 greater odds of achieving viral suppression (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-3.58; P = .02) resulting from antidepressant medication treatment. In addition, antidepressant medication use increased the probability of antiretroviral uptake (weighted odds ratio, 3.87; 95% CI, 1.98-7.58; P effect is likely attributable to improved adherence to a continuum of HIV care, including increased uptake and adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

  14. The Seismicity of Two Hyperextended Margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redfield, Tim; Terje Osmundsen, Per

    2013-04-01

    A seismic belt marks the outermost edge of Scandinavia's proximal margin, inboard of and roughly parallel to the Taper Break. A similar near- to onshore seismic belt runs along its inner edge, roughly parallel to and outboard of the asymmetric, seaward-facing escarpment. The belts converge at both the northern and southern ends of Scandinavia, where crustal taper is sharp and the proximal margin is narrow. Very few seismic events have been recorded on the intervening, gently-tapering Trøndelag Platform. Norway's distribution of seismicity is systematically ordered with respect to 1) the structural templates of high-beta extension that shaped the thinning gradient during Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous time, and 2) the topographically resurgent Cretaceous-Cenozoic "accommodation phase" family of escarpments that approximate the innermost limit of crustal thinning [See Redfield and Osmundsen (2012) for diagrams, definitions, discussion, and supporting citations.] Landwards from the belt of earthquake epicenters that mark the Taper Break the crust consistently thickens, and large fault arrays tend to sole out at mid crustal levels. Towards the sea the crystalline continental crust is hyperextended, pervasively faulted, and generally very thin. Also, faulting and serpentinization may have affected the uppermost parts of the distal margin's lithospheric mantle. Such contrasting structural conditions may generate a contrasting stiffness: for a given stress, more strain can be accommodated in the distal margin than in the less faulted proximal margin. By way of comparison, inboard of the Taper Break on the gently-tapered Trøndelag Platform, faulting was not penetrative. There, similar structural conditions prevail and proximal margin seismicity is negligible. Because stress concentration can occur where material properties undergo significant contrast, the necking zone may constitute a natural localization point for post-thinning phase earthquakes. In Scandinavia

  15. The Marginal Source of Finance

    OpenAIRE

    Lindhe, Tobias

    2002-01-01

    This paper addresses the ongoingdebate on which view of equity, traditional or new, that best describes firm behavior. According to the traditional view, the marginal source of finance is new equity, whereas under to the new view, marginal financing comes from retained earnings. In the theoretical part, we set up a model where the firm faces a cost of adjusting the dividend level because of an aggravated free cash flow problem. The existence of such a cost - which has been used in arguing the...

  16. Assessing the environmental performance of English arable and livestock holdings using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westbury, D B; Park, J R; Mauchline, A L; Crane, R T; Mortimer, S R

    2011-03-01

    Agri-environment schemes (AESs) have been implemented across EU member states in an attempt to reconcile agricultural production methods with protection of the environment and maintenance of the countryside. To determine the extent to which such policy objectives are being fulfilled, participating countries are obliged to monitor and evaluate the environmental, agricultural and socio-economic impacts of their AESs. However, few evaluations measure precise environmental outcomes and critically, there are no agreed methodologies to evaluate the benefits of particular agri-environmental measures, or to track the environmental consequences of changing agricultural practices. In response to these issues, the Agri-Environmental Footprint project developed a common methodology for assessing the environmental impact of European AES. The Agri-Environmental Footprint Index (AFI) is a farm-level, adaptable methodology that aggregates measurements of agri-environmental indicators based on Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) techniques. The method was developed specifically to allow assessment of differences in the environmental performance of farms according to participation in agri-environment schemes. The AFI methodology is constructed so that high values represent good environmental performance. This paper explores the use of the AFI methodology in combination with Farm Business Survey data collected in England for the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), to test whether its use could be extended for the routine surveillance of environmental performance of farming systems using established data sources. Overall, the aim was to measure the environmental impact of three different types of agriculture (arable, lowland livestock and upland livestock) in England and to identify differences in AFI due to participation in agri-environment schemes. However, because farm size, farmer age, level of education and region are also likely to influence the environmental performance of a

  17. On probabilistically defined margins in radiation therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Papiez, Lech; Langer, Mark [Department of Radiation Oncology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN (United States)

    2006-08-21

    Margins about a target volume subject to external beam radiation therapy are designed to assure that the target volume of tissue to be sterilized by treatment is adequately covered by a lethal dose. Thus, margins are meant to guarantee that all potential variation in tumour position relative to beams allows the tumour to stay within the margin. Variation in tumour position can be broken into two types of dislocations, reducible and irreducible. Reducible variations in tumour position are those that can be accommodated with the use of modern image-guided techniques that derive parameters for compensating motions of patient bodies and/or motions of beams relative to patient bodies. Irreducible variations in tumour position are those random dislocations of a target that are related to errors intrinsic in the design and performance limitations of the software and hardware, as well as limitations of human perception and decision making. Thus, margins in the era of image-guided treatments will need to accommodate only random errors residual in patient setup accuracy (after image-guided setup corrections) and in the accuracy of systems designed to track moving and deforming tissues of the targeted regions of the patient's body. Therefore, construction of these margins will have to be based on purely statistical data. The characteristics of these data have to be determined through the central limit theorem and Gaussian properties of limiting error distributions. In this paper, we show how statistically determined margins are to be designed in the general case of correlated distributions of position errors in three-dimensional space. In particular, we show how the minimal margins for a given level of statistical confidence are found. Then, how they are to be used to determine geometrically minimal PTV that provides coverage of GTV at the assumed level of statistical confidence. Our results generalize earlier recommendations for statistical, central limit theorem

  18. On probabilistically defined margins in radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Papiez, Lech; Langer, Mark

    2006-01-01

    Margins about a target volume subject to external beam radiation therapy are designed to assure that the target volume of tissue to be sterilized by treatment is adequately covered by a lethal dose. Thus, margins are meant to guarantee that all potential variation in tumour position relative to beams allows the tumour to stay within the margin. Variation in tumour position can be broken into two types of dislocations, reducible and irreducible. Reducible variations in tumour position are those that can be accommodated with the use of modern image-guided techniques that derive parameters for compensating motions of patient bodies and/or motions of beams relative to patient bodies. Irreducible variations in tumour position are those random dislocations of a target that are related to errors intrinsic in the design and performance limitations of the software and hardware, as well as limitations of human perception and decision making. Thus, margins in the era of image-guided treatments will need to accommodate only random errors residual in patient setup accuracy (after image-guided setup corrections) and in the accuracy of systems designed to track moving and deforming tissues of the targeted regions of the patient's body. Therefore, construction of these margins will have to be based on purely statistical data. The characteristics of these data have to be determined through the central limit theorem and Gaussian properties of limiting error distributions. In this paper, we show how statistically determined margins are to be designed in the general case of correlated distributions of position errors in three-dimensional space. In particular, we show how the minimal margins for a given level of statistical confidence are found. Then, how they are to be used to determine geometrically minimal PTV that provides coverage of GTV at the assumed level of statistical confidence. Our results generalize earlier recommendations for statistical, central limit theorem

  19. Trade-offs between economic and environmental impacts of introducing legumes into cropping systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moritz eReckling

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Europe’s agriculture is highly specialized, dependent on external inputs and responsible for negative environmental impacts. Legume crops are grown on less than 2 % of the arable land and more than 70 % of the demand for protein feed supplement is imported from overseas. The integration of legumes into cropping systems has the potential to contribute to the transition to a more resource-efficient agriculture and reduce the current protein deficit. Legume crops influence the production of other crops in the rotation making it difficult to evaluate the overall agronomic effects of legumes in cropping systems. A novel assessment framework was developed and applied in five case study regions across Europe with the objective of evaluating trade-offs between economic and environmental effects of integrating legumes into cropping systems. Legumes resulted in positive and negative impacts when integrated into various cropping systems across the case studies. On average, cropping systems with legumes reduced nitrous oxide emissions by 18 % and 33 % and N fertilizer use by 24 % and 38 % in arable and forage systems, respectively, compared to systems without legumes. Nitrate leaching was similar with and without legumes in arable systems and reduced by 22 % in forage systems. However, grain legumes reduced gross margins in 3 of 5 regions. Forage legumes increased gross margins in 3 of 3 regions. Among the cropping systems with legumes, systems could be identified that had both relatively high economic returns and positive environmental impacts. Thus, increasing the cultivation of legumes could lead to economic competitive cropping systems and positive environmental impacts, but achieving this aim requires the development of novel management strategies informed by the involvement of advisors and farmers.

  20. The homogeneous marginal utility of income assumption

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Demuynck, T.

    2015-01-01

    We develop a test to verify if every agent from a population of heterogeneous consumers has the same marginal utility of income function. This homogeneous marginal utility of income assumption is often (implicitly) used in applied demand studies because it has nice aggregation properties and

  1. Marginal Iodine Deficiency Affects Dendritic Spine Development by Disturbing the Function of Rac1 Signaling Pathway on Cytoskeleton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, Hui; Dong, Jing; Wang, Yi; Wang, Yuan; Yu, Ye; Shan, Zhongyan; Xi, Qi; Teng, Weiping; Chen, Jie

    2017-01-01

    Iodine deficiency (ID)-induced thyroid hormone (TH) insufficient during development leads to impairments of brain function, such as learning and memory. Marginal ID has been defined as subtle insufficiency of TH, characterized as low thyroxine (T 4 ) levels, whether marginal ID potentially had adverse effects on the development of hippocampus and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, in the present study, we established Wistar rat models with ID diet during pregnancy and lactation. The effects of marginal ID on long-term potentiation (LTP) were investigated in the hippocampal CA1 region. To study the development of dendritic spines in pyramidal cells, Golgi-Cox staining was conducted on postnatal day (PN) 7, PN14, PN21, and PN28. The activation of Rac1 signaling pathway, which is essential for dendritic spine development by regulating actin cytoskeleton, was also investigated. Our results showed that marginal ID slightly reduced the field-excitatory postsynaptic potential (f-EPSP) slope and the population spike (PS) amplitude. Besides, the density of dendritic spines during the critical period of rat postnatal development was mildly decreased, and we found no significant change of spine morphology in marginal ID group. We also observed decreased activation of the Rac1 signaling pathway in pups subjected to maternal marginal ID. Our study may support the hypothesis that decreased T 4 induced by marginal ID results in slight impairments of LTP and leads to mild damage of dendritic spine development, which may be due to abnormal regulation of Rac1 signaling pathway on cytoskeleton.

  2. Large margin image set representation and classification

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Alzahrani, Majed A.; Gao, Xin

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel image set representation and classification method by maximizing the margin of image sets. The margin of an image set is defined as the difference of the distance to its nearest image set from different classes and the distance to its nearest image set of the same class. By modeling the image sets by using both their image samples and their affine hull models, and maximizing the margins of the images sets, the image set representation parameter learning problem is formulated as an minimization problem, which is further optimized by an expectation - maximization (EM) strategy with accelerated proximal gradient (APG) optimization in an iterative algorithm. To classify a given test image set, we assign it to the class which could provide the largest margin. Experiments on two applications of video-sequence-based face recognition demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms state-of-the-art image set classification methods in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency.

  3. Large margin image set representation and classification

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Jim Jing-Yan

    2014-07-06

    In this paper, we propose a novel image set representation and classification method by maximizing the margin of image sets. The margin of an image set is defined as the difference of the distance to its nearest image set from different classes and the distance to its nearest image set of the same class. By modeling the image sets by using both their image samples and their affine hull models, and maximizing the margins of the images sets, the image set representation parameter learning problem is formulated as an minimization problem, which is further optimized by an expectation - maximization (EM) strategy with accelerated proximal gradient (APG) optimization in an iterative algorithm. To classify a given test image set, we assign it to the class which could provide the largest margin. Experiments on two applications of video-sequence-based face recognition demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms state-of-the-art image set classification methods in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency.

  4. The adaptability of upland rice waxy mutant (Oryza sativa L.) to marginal land in Batumarta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dwimahyani, Ita; Mitrosuhardjo, M.M.

    1998-01-01

    A field experiment had been conducted at Batumarta, Lampung Province to test the adaptability of upland rice waxy mutant (DT 20.11.84) at marginal land. Similar experiments had also been conducted in fertilize soil at Ps. Jumat, Jakarta and Citayam, Kabupaten Bogor. Agronomic evaluation such as number of tiller, panicle length number of seeds per tiller, and weight of 1000 grains from waxy mutant line, which were cultivated at Batumarta showed adaptability was better than the original variety (Danau Tempe). Grains yield of waxy mutant line per ha at marginal land (Batubara) was higher than Danau Tempe i.e 2,34 and 1,89 ton/ha respectively. In addition to grain yield of waxy mutant line at Psr Jumat, Jakarta and Citayam, Bogor was lower than Danau Tempe. The Low of grain yield that waxy mutant compared with the original variety line was caused by number of tiller and panicle length of waxy mutant line also low. Results of experiment can be concluded that waxy mutant line was favourable growing at marginal land when compared with the original variety. (author)

  5. Single-Center Experience Using Marginal Liver Grafts in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, P-J; Yu, Y-D; Yoon, Y-I; Kim, S-R; Kim, D-S

    2018-05-01

    Liver transplantation (LT) is an established therapeutic modality for patients with end-stage liver disease. The use of marginal donors has become more common worldwide due to the sharp increase in recipients, with a consequent shortage of suitable organs. We analyzed our single-center experience over the last 8 years in LT to evaluate the outcomes of using so-called "marginal donors." We retrospectively analyzed the database of all LTs performed at our institution from 2009 to 2017. Only patients undergoing deceased-donor LTs were analyzed. Marginal grafts were defined as livers from donors >60 years of age, livers from donors with serum sodium levels >155 mEq, graft steatosis >30%, livers with cold ischemia time ≥12 hours, livers from donors who were hepatitis B or C virus positive, livers recovered from donation after cardiac death, and livers split between 2 recipients. Patients receiving marginal grafts (marginal group) were compared with patients receiving standard grafts (standard group). A total of 106 patients underwent deceased-donor LT. There were 55 patients in the standard group and 51 patients in the marginal group. There were no significant differences in terms of age, sex, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, underlying liver disease, presence of hepatocellular carcinoma, and hospital stay between the 2 groups. Although the incidence of acute cellular rejection, cytomegalovirus infection, and postoperative complications was similar between the 2 groups, the incidence of early allograft dysfunction was higher in the marginal group. With a median follow-up of 26 months, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall and graft (death-censored) survivals in the marginal group were 85.5%, 75%, and 69.2% and 85.9%, 83.6%, and 77.2%, respectively. Patient overall survival and graft survival (death-censored) were significantly lower in the marginal group (P = .023 and P = .048, respectively). On multivariate analysis, receiving a marginal graft (hazard ratio [HR

  6. Application of geoinformation techniques in sustainable development of marginal rural

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leszczynska, G.

    2009-04-01

    on location, properties of attributes and mutual relations of objects analyses of synergic influence of specific development forms on the environment and development of rural areas will be carried out. The important aspect here is the possibility of linking the phenomena and processes presented in maps with functional relations, including the space and time function. Application of that solution will allow analysis of actual marginal rural areas management system as a model of object and it will allow application of artificial intelligence as decision support tool. The system designed in that way will be characterized by the following properties: - it will be modelled and built of mutually communicating objects implemented by software using special object types. - division of the software into objects will facilitate its analysis. - dynamic properties of object structures: polymorphism, hermetization and implementation of methods in object structure will be applied. - objects will be used as the set of system model elements, which will assure ease of its modification. - specialization of classes will be introduced by means of inheritance of fields and methods [Muller, 2000]. The applied methods of object design coupled with GIS use should allow integration of marginal rural areas management according to the principle of sustainable development.

  7. Marginal-cost pricing for Hydro-Quebec residential customers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paquin, C.

    1994-02-01

    An option available to governments and to utilities such as Hydro-Quebec for responding to objectives of energy efficiency is the adoption of marginal cost pricing. Compared to currently used price structures, marginal cost pricing will allow improvement of price signals and assure an optimal utilization of the resource. That type of pricing could be economically beneficial but may not be desirable from the point of view of revenue distribution. Taking account of Hydro-Quebec's cost structure, pure marginal cost pricing would generate an income that would be strongly contested on equity grounds. For example, it would raise prices 60% for residential customers. Faced with this possibility, an analysis is presented of the impact of a peak-offpeak pricing (or pure marginal cost pricing) on Hydro-Quebec's residential customer energy bills. The marginal costs of Hydro-Quebec are calculated by the method of Bernard and Chatel (1985) and analysis of the results is based on Friedman and Weare (1993). A sample of 28,417 residential customers from a 1989 Hydro-Quebec survey is used in the study. Two scenarios are analyzed; the first allowing comparison of the energy bill only on the basis of marginal costs and of average costs, and the second allowing comparison of the impact of marginal cost pricing on the total bill. In the first scenario, the impact translates into a 31% increase in energy bills for the entire customer class considered; in addition, this impact is inversely proportional to the revenue class. In the second scenario, the increase is 24%. 33 refs., 10 figs., 53 tabs

  8. FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI MARGIN PEMASARAN SAPI POTONG DAN DAGING SAPI DI KABUPATEN ACEH BESAR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hendra Koesmara

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available This research identified the forms of share market, to calculate the price received by farmers and middlemen, and analyze marketing margins of beef cattle market. This research was conducted in June to August 2011, in Aceh Besar regency of Aceh province. The method used in this study was a survey method and field direct observations and interviews using questionnaires to farmers, middlemen (mugge and meat traders respondent. The number of samples were 420 respondents, including 270 respondents of livestock farmers,105 respondents of middlemen (mugee and 45 respondents of meat traders (final consumerfrom the three districts. This study used regression analysis to determine the effect of variables simultaneously observed the marketing margin. The results showed there were 2 channel marketings, channel marketing I of farmers to the final consumer through two market participants were mugee and meat traders,while the marketing channel II from farmers to consumers through one market participants that was meat traders. In marketing channels I mugee get income share 24.89% with 10.38% share of the cost, while the meat traders got incomeshare 47.70% with 17.03% share of the cost. In marketing channels II meat tradersgot income share 83.00% with17.00% share of the cost. In marketing channels I mugee marketing margin of Rp1,026,293.10/head and the meat traders of Rp1,883,045.98/head, while the meat traders of Rp2,944,838.00/head. The coefficient ofdetermination (R2 equalto 0.337321, which means cattle marketing margin could be explained jointly by 33.73% by the marketing costs, the price at the farmer level and the number of middlemen. The test results of the marketing costs (x1 significantly (P<0.05 on the marketing margin, the price at the farmer level (x2 was highly significant (P<0.01 on the marketing margin and the number of middlemen (x3 didnot affect the marketing margin. (Keywords: Cattle, District of Aceh Besar, Market share

  9. Positive random fields for modeling material stiffness and compliance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasofer, Abraham Michael; Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager; Tarp-Johansen, Niels Jacob

    1998-01-01

    Positive random fields with known marginal properties and known correlation function are not numerous in the literature. The most prominent example is the log\\-normal field for which the complete distribution is known and for which the reciprocal field is also lognormal. It is of interest to supp...

  10. Higher US crop prices trigger little area expansion so marginal land for biofuel crops is limited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swinton, Scott M.; Babcock, Bruce A.; James, Laura K.; Bandaru, Varaprasad

    2011-01-01

    By expanding energy biomass production on marginal lands that are not currently used for crops, food prices increase and indirect climate change effects can be mitigated. Studies of the availability of marginal lands for dedicated bioenergy crops have focused on biophysical land traits, ignoring the human role in decisions to convert marginal land to bioenergy crops. Recent history offers insights about farmer willingness to put non-crop land into crop production. The 2006-09 leap in field crop prices and the attendant 64% gain in typical profitability led to only a 2% increase in crop planted area, mostly in the prairie states. At this rate, a doubling of expected profitability from biomass crops would expand cropland supply by only 3.2%. Yet targets for cellulosic ethanol production in the US Energy Independence and Security Act imply boosting US planted area by 10% or more with perennial biomass crops. Given landowner reluctance to expand crop area with familiar crops in the short run, large scale expansion of the area in dedicated bioenergy crops will likely be difficult and costly to achieve. - Highlights: → Biofuel crops on cropland can displace food crops, reducing food supply and triggering indirect land use. → Growing biofuel crops on non-crop marginal land avoids these problems. → But US farmers expanded cropland by only 2% when crop profitability jumped 64% during 2006-09. → So medium-term availability of marginal lands for biofuel crops is limited and costly.

  11. Values and marginal preferences in international business

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maseland, Robbert; van Hoorn, Andre

    2010-01-01

    In a recent paper in this journal, Maseland and van Hoorn argued that values surveys tend to conflate values and marginal preferences. This assertion has been challenged by Brewer and Venaik, who claim that the wording of most survey items does not suggest that these elicit marginal preferences.

  12. Military land use and the impact on nature and landscape a study of Danish military areas 1900 - 2017

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svenningsen, Stig Roar; Levin, Gregor; Linnet Perner, Mads

    . This suggests that military activities not only conserve nature and biodiversity but also create new valuable nature. However, some results also suggest that the benefits for nature are related to specifics types of military activity, such as maneuver grounds and ranges, while the positive impact of depots...... as the content of biological diversity. Results suggest, that military activities, in general, generate landscapes with a land cover and land use composition different from the Danish landscape in general, which is dominated by agriculture and urban land use. This difference is also reflected by a relatively...... marginal lands; (4) permanent and continues forest cover; (5) change from arable land or nature to build environment and (6) development into recreational land. Interestingly, results also indicated that high nature quality and biodiversity on military sites, which originated from arable land...

  13. Recent progress in Pacific-Asian Marginal Seas (PAMS) studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuno, Takeshi; Hirose, Naoki; Zhang, Jing; Cho, Yang-Ki; Chen, Dake; Yuan, Dongliang; Hung, Chin-Chang; Jan, Sen

    2017-07-01

    Marginal seas which represent the buffer zones between land and the pelagic ocean are being increasingly influenced by human activity. The role of the marginal seas is important for many reasons, among which are biological resources and climate change. In East Asia, we have marginal seas between the Asian Continent and the Pacific Ocean, where various countries and areas form complicated territories and EEZ. To understand the marine environment of marginal seas, international cooperative scientific activities are necessary, and it is essential to share the latest information and knowledge.

  14. Fedme og risiko for marginal parodontitis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kongstad, Johanne; Keller, Amélie Cléo; Rohde, Jeanett Friis

    2017-01-01

    Oversigtsartiklen, der er af narrativ karakter, beskriver sammenhængen mellem overvægt/ fedme og marginal parodontitis. Artiklen er baseret på et udvalg af nyere engelsksproget litteratur og motiveres af den øgede forekomst af overvægtige og fede i befolkningen. Desuden er det afgørende, at tandl......Oversigtsartiklen, der er af narrativ karakter, beskriver sammenhængen mellem overvægt/ fedme og marginal parodontitis. Artiklen er baseret på et udvalg af nyere engelsksproget litteratur og motiveres af den øgede forekomst af overvægtige og fede i befolkningen. Desuden er det afgørende......, at tandlæger forholder sig kritisk til systemiske tilstandes mulige konsekvens for udvikling, forværring og behandling af marginal parodontitis. Der nævnes forskellige mål for fedme, hvor body mass index (BMI) og taljeomkreds er de mest anvendte. Problematikken vedrørende tidligere studiers anvendelse af...... forskellige kriterier for marginal parodontitis berøres. Litteraturgennemgangen tager udgangspunkt i de biologiske mekanismer, der udløses i fedtvæv ved overvægt/fedme og medfører en kronisk inflammatorisk tilstand med frigivelse af bl.a. adipokiner. Epidemiologiske tværsnitsog longitudinelle studier af...

  15. Structural properties of dissolved organic carbon in deep soil horizons of an arable and temporarily grassland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavaud, A.; Chabbi, A.; Croue, J. P.

    2009-04-01

    It is commonly accepted that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the bio-available fraction of the largest amount of soil organic matter (SOM), even if it does represent only a very small proportion. Because most of the studies on DOC dynamics were mainly restricted to forest soils, studies on the factors governing the dynamics of DOC in deep soil horizons (>1 m) in arable system are still very little limited. The objective of this work is to better define the proportion of DOC in deep soil horizons and indicate their main characteristics and structural properties. The study was conducted on the long term observatory for environmental research- biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity Lusignan site). DOC collected using lysimeters plates inserted to a depth of 105 cm was fractionated into 3 fractions using the two column array of XAD-8 and XAD-4 resins. The HPO (hydrophobic) fraction (i.e. humic substances) isolated from the XAD-8 resin, the TPH (Transphilic) fraction from the XAD-4 resin and the HPI (hydrophilic) fraction which corresponds to the DOC that does not adsorbed onto the two resins under the acid condition used (pH 2). DOM adsorbed onto the resins is recovered with a 75%/25% acetonitrile/water mixture and lyophilized. Depend on the amount of material; the chemical composition of DOC was performed using UV254 nm, fluorescence EEM, NMR and HPSEC/UV/COD. The results show that the concentration and structural properties of DOC in deep soil horizon were similar to those of groundwater (low SUVA (1.2 m-1.L.mg C-1), structures composed mainly of low molecular weight). Because of the relatively recent establishment of the treatment, the monitoring of the dynamics of the DOC concentrations did not show significant differences between arable and grassland. However, the temporal dynamic shows a slight increase in the DOC content regardless of the of land use. DOC concentrations between winter and the middle of spring tend to double going from 1 to 2.5 mg / L and then

  16. Euphorbia davidii - an invasive weed species in the fields of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vajgand Dragan K.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Euphorbia davidii Subils (Euphorbiaceae or toothed spurge is a plant native to North America, but in Europe it is an alien weed. The populations of this weed were recorded in the Province of Vojvodina (Serbia for the first time in 2007 in the arable fields in two localities: between the villages of Aleksa Šantić and Pačir and also between the villages of Pačir and Đurđin. There were no previous published data about the occurrence of this species in Serbia, nor about management measures in crops to suppress this agricultural invader. In this paper, we present experiences with several herbicide treatments applied to suppress populations of toothed spurge from the crop fields in Serbia during the last six years. The most effective was treatment with a high concentration of glyphosate in the early phases of toothed spurge growing. The populations of this invasive weed spread and formed more or less dense patches in the crop field, the area of distribution increased from 3 ha to 7 ha. Observations and experiences with treatments suggest that Euphorbia davidii, as an invasive plant, has significant impact on crop fields, therefore further investigation of suppression measures and monitoring of its population is needed.

  17. Refining prices and margins in 1998

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favennec, J.P.; Baudoin, C.

    1999-01-01

    Despite a business environment that was globally mediocre due primarily to the Asian crisis and to a mild winter in the northern hemisphere, the signs of improvement noted in the refining activity in 1996 were borne out in 1997. But the situation is not yet satisfactory in this sector: the low return on invested capital and the financing of environmental protection expenditure are giving cause for concern. In 1998, the drop in crude oil prices and the concomitant fall in petroleum product prices was ultimately rather favorable to margins. Two elements tended to put a damper on this relative optimism. First of all, margins continue to be extremely volatile and, secondly, the worsening of the economic and financial crisis observed during the summer made for a sharp decline in margins in all geographic regions, especially Asia

  18. The lived experience of girl-to-girl aggression in marginalized girls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zenz Adamshick, Pamela

    2010-04-01

    Girl-to-girl aggression is increasingly being recognized as a health problem, and the number of teenage girls involved in serious fighting is on the rise. Research on the experiences of girl-to-girl aggression in marginalized girls who are out of the mainstream because of poor relationship skills and physical aggression is notably absent, yet this group is at heightened risk for persistent violence. In this study I used the interpretive phenomenological approach to study the lived experience of girl-to-girl aggression in girls who were marginalized and attending an alternative school because of physically aggressive behavior. Data were collected over a 4-month period by means of in-depth interviews and field notes. For this population, girl-to-girl aggression provided self-protection, expressed girls' identity, and was also a means to finding attachment, connection, and friendship. These findings have multidisciplinary implications for interventions with physically aggressive girls, including mentoring programs, in-school support groups, and exploration of a paradigm shift in the use of alternative schools.

  19. Mean field theory of EM algorithm for Bayesian grey scale image restoration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, Jun-ichi; Tanaka, Kazuyuki

    2003-01-01

    The EM algorithm for the Bayesian grey scale image restoration is investigated in the framework of the mean field theory. Our model system is identical to the infinite range random field Q-Ising model. The maximum marginal likelihood method is applied to the determination of hyper-parameters. We calculate both the data-averaged mean square error between the original image and its maximizer of posterior marginal estimate, and the data-averaged marginal likelihood function exactly. After evaluating the hyper-parameter dependence of the data-averaged marginal likelihood function, we derive the EM algorithm which updates the hyper-parameters to obtain the maximum likelihood estimate analytically. The time evolutions of the hyper-parameters and so-called Q function are obtained. The relation between the speed of convergence of the hyper-parameters and the shape of the Q function is explained from the viewpoint of dynamics

  20. [Target volume margins for lung cancer: internal target volume/clinical target volume].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jouin, A; Pourel, N

    2013-10-01

    The aim of this study was to carry out a review of margins that should be used for the delineation of target volumes in lung cancer, with a focus on margins from gross tumour volume (GTV) to clinical target volume (CTV) and internal target volume (ITV) delineation. Our review was based on a PubMed literature search with, as a cornerstone, the 2010 European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) recommandations by De Ruysscher et al. The keywords used for the search were: radiotherapy, lung cancer, clinical target volume, internal target volume. The relevant information was categorized under the following headings: gross tumour volume definition (GTV), CTV-GTV margin (first tumoural CTV then nodal CTV definition), in field versus elective nodal irradiation, metabolic imaging role through the input of the PET scanner for tumour target volume and limitations of PET-CT imaging for nodal target volume definition, postoperative radiotherapy target volume definition, delineation of target volumes after induction chemotherapy; then the internal target volume is specified as well as tumoural mobility for lung cancer and respiratory gating techniques. Finally, a chapter is dedicated to planning target volume definition and another to small cell lung cancer. For each heading, the most relevant and recent clinical trials and publications are mentioned. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier SAS.

  1. Realistic respiratory motion margins for external beam partial breast irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Conroy, Leigh; Quirk, Sarah [Department of Medical Physics, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N2 (Canada); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 (Canada); Smith, Wendy L., E-mail: wendy.smith@albertahealthservices.ca [Department of Medical Physics, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N2 (Canada); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 (Canada); Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 (Canada)

    2015-09-15

    Purpose: Respiratory margins for partial breast irradiation (PBI) have been largely based on geometric observations, which may overestimate the margin required for dosimetric coverage. In this study, dosimetric population-based respiratory margins and margin formulas for external beam partial breast irradiation are determined. Methods: Volunteer respiratory data and anterior–posterior (AP) dose profiles from clinical treatment plans of 28 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) PBI patient plans were used to determine population-based respiratory margins. The peak-to-peak amplitudes (A) of realistic respiratory motion data from healthy volunteers were scaled from A = 1 to 10 mm to create respiratory motion probability density functions. Dose profiles were convolved with the respiratory probability density functions to produce blurred dose profiles accounting for respiratory motion. The required margins were found by measuring the distance between the simulated treatment and original dose profiles at the 95% isodose level. Results: The symmetric dosimetric respiratory margins to cover 90%, 95%, and 100% of the simulated treatment population were 1.5, 2, and 4 mm, respectively. With patient set up at end exhale, the required margins were larger in the anterior direction than the posterior. For respiratory amplitudes less than 5 mm, the population-based margins can be expressed as a fraction of the extent of respiratory motion. The derived formulas in the anterior/posterior directions for 90%, 95%, and 100% simulated population coverage were 0.45A/0.25A, 0.50A/0.30A, and 0.70A/0.40A. The differences in formulas for different population coverage criteria demonstrate that respiratory trace shape and baseline drift characteristics affect individual respiratory margins even for the same average peak-to-peak amplitude. Conclusions: A methodology for determining population-based respiratory margins using real respiratory motion patterns and dose profiles in the AP direction was

  2. Realistic respiratory motion margins for external beam partial breast irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Conroy, Leigh; Quirk, Sarah; Smith, Wendy L.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Respiratory margins for partial breast irradiation (PBI) have been largely based on geometric observations, which may overestimate the margin required for dosimetric coverage. In this study, dosimetric population-based respiratory margins and margin formulas for external beam partial breast irradiation are determined. Methods: Volunteer respiratory data and anterior–posterior (AP) dose profiles from clinical treatment plans of 28 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) PBI patient plans were used to determine population-based respiratory margins. The peak-to-peak amplitudes (A) of realistic respiratory motion data from healthy volunteers were scaled from A = 1 to 10 mm to create respiratory motion probability density functions. Dose profiles were convolved with the respiratory probability density functions to produce blurred dose profiles accounting for respiratory motion. The required margins were found by measuring the distance between the simulated treatment and original dose profiles at the 95% isodose level. Results: The symmetric dosimetric respiratory margins to cover 90%, 95%, and 100% of the simulated treatment population were 1.5, 2, and 4 mm, respectively. With patient set up at end exhale, the required margins were larger in the anterior direction than the posterior. For respiratory amplitudes less than 5 mm, the population-based margins can be expressed as a fraction of the extent of respiratory motion. The derived formulas in the anterior/posterior directions for 90%, 95%, and 100% simulated population coverage were 0.45A/0.25A, 0.50A/0.30A, and 0.70A/0.40A. The differences in formulas for different population coverage criteria demonstrate that respiratory trace shape and baseline drift characteristics affect individual respiratory margins even for the same average peak-to-peak amplitude. Conclusions: A methodology for determining population-based respiratory margins using real respiratory motion patterns and dose profiles in the AP direction was

  3. Neotectonic of Southern Brazilian Passive Margin: evidence from field and remote sensing studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riffel, S. B.; Fernandes, L. A. D.

    2017-12-01

    Canyons and structured-controlled coastal lagoons along Southern Brazil show morphotectonic evidence of an active response from the compressive strain on rifted continental margins. Considering the current main stress directions (E-W) and co-axial deformation, the most likely faults to be reactivated are the N45E and N45W trending systems. The area set in the eastern limit of the Paraná-Etendeka large igneous province, where a fault scarp marks regressive erosion and exposes a succession of fine-grained sediments belonging to the Pelotas Offshore Basin. Extrusion of enormous volumes of lavas provoked isostatic compensation during the Lower Cretaceous followed by the break-up of the Gondwanaland and the development of a volcanic passive margin. At this latitude (29°30´S), the Paraná Basin occurs as a promontory and extends below the Pelotas Offshore Basin, which sets in a continental crust. Regionally, this area is characterized by a down-warping known as Torres Syncline, limited towards the North by the outcropping of Permian sedimentary units, whilst the Serra Geral escarpment is recessed into the interior. The abrupt scarp on acidic volcanic rocks is cut-across by lineaments produced by reactivation of pre-existing faults, resulting in one of the most remarkable sequences of canyons in South America (Aparados da Serra National Park). Along the V-shaped valleys, several sets of triangular facets and suspended valleys are common. Capture, and flow of streams are controlled by the N45-70E and N45-70W trending lineaments. Besides, fault scarps showing displacement of up to 2-3 m, alluvial fan sediments, and transported soil with several sets of fracture represent a geomorphological evidence of reactivation. At the coastal plain, four depositional episodes have developed along the last 400 ka, functioning as barrier-lagoon systems. In this region, linear NE and NW lineaments constrained the shape of Holocene lagoons and affected the distribution of wet lands and

  4. 17 CFR 41.47 - Withdrawal of margin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... PRODUCTS Customer Accounts and Margin Requirements § 41.47 Withdrawal of margin. (a) By the customer... positions in the account under this Regulation (Subpart E, §§ 41.42 through 41.49). (b) By the security...) Interest charged on credit maintained in the account; (3) Communication or shipping charges with respect to...

  5. Double-sided Moral Hazard and Margin-based Royalty

    OpenAIRE

    NARIU, Tatsuhiko; UEDA, Kaoru; LEE, DongJoon

    2009-01-01

    This paper analyzes royalty modes in the franchise arrangements of convenience stores under double-sided moral hazard. In Japan, the majority of franchisors charge margin-based royalties based on net margins rather than sales-based royalties based on sales. We show that the franchisor can attain the first-best outcome by adopting margin-based royalties under double-sided moral hazard. We consider a case where a franchisee sells two kinds of goods; one is shipped from its franchisor and the ot...

  6. Time Safety Margin: Theory and Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-09-01

    Air Education and Training Command Handbook 99-107, T-38 Road to Wings, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, July 2013. 65 This page was intentionally left...412TW-TIH-16-01 TIME SAFETY MARGIN: THEORY AND PRACTICE WILLIAM R. GRAY, III Chief Test Pilot USAF Test Pilot School SEPTEMBER 2016... Safety Margin: The01y and Practice) was submitted by the Commander, 4 I 2th Test Wing, Edwards AFB, Ca lifornia 93524-6843. Foreign announcement and

  7. Bringing diversity back to agriculture: Smaller fields and non-crop elements enhance biodiversity in intensively managed arable farmlands

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šálek, Martin; Hula, V.; Kipson, M.; Daňková, R.; Niedobová, J.; Gamero, A.

    2018-01-01

    Roč. 90, July (2018), s. 65-73 ISSN 1470-160X Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : Common Agricultural Policy * Conservation measures * Field size * Habitat heterogeneity * Species richness * Abundance * Biodiversity indicators Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour OBOR OECD: Ecology Impact factor: 3.898, year: 2016

  8. Benefit–cost analysis of non-marginal climate and energy projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dietz, Simon; Hepburn, Cameron

    2013-01-01

    Conventional benefit–cost analysis incorporates the normally reasonable assumption that the policy or project under examination is marginal. Among the assumptions this entails is that the policy or project is small, so the underlying growth rate of the economy does not change. However, this assumption may be inappropriate in some important circumstances, including in climate-change and energy policy. One example is global targets for carbon emissions, while another is a large renewable energy project in a small economy, such as a hydropower dam. This paper develops some theory on the evaluation of non-marginal projects, with empirical applications to climate change and energy. We examine the conditions under which evaluation of a non-marginal project using marginal methods may be wrong, and in our empirical examples we show that both qualitative and large quantitative errors are plausible. - Highlights: • This paper develops the theory of the evaluation of non-marginal projects. • It also includes empirical applications to climate change and energy. • We show when evaluation of a non-marginal project using marginal methods is wrong

  9. 30 CFR 204.3 - What alternatives are available for marginal properties?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What alternatives are available for marginal... MINERALS REVENUE MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR MARGINAL PROPERTIES General Provisions § 204.3 What alternatives are available for marginal properties? If you have production from a marginal property, MMS and...

  10. Margination of Stiffened Red Blood Cells Regulated By Vessel Geometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yuanyuan; Li, Donghai; Li, Yongjian; Wan, Jiandi; Li, Jiang; Chen, Haosheng

    2017-11-10

    Margination of stiffened red blood cells has been implicated in many vascular diseases. Here, we report the margination of stiffened RBCs in vivo, and reveal the crucial role of the vessel geometry in the margination by calculations when the blood is seen as viscoelastic fluid. The vessel-geometry-regulated margination is then confirmed by in vitro experiments in microfluidic devices, and it establishes new insights to cell sorting technology and artificial blood vessel fabrication.

  11. Criticality safety margins for mixtures of fissionable materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williamson, T.G.; Mincey, J.F.

    1992-01-01

    In the determination of criticality safety margins, approximations for combinations of fissile and fissionable isotopes are sometimes used that go by names such as the rule of fractions or equivalency relations. Use of the rule of fractions to ensure criticality safety margins was discussed in an earlier paper. The purpose of this paper is to correct errors and to clarify some of the implications. Deviations of safety margins from those calculated by the rule of fractions are still noted; however, the deviations are less severe. Caution in applying such rules is still urged. In general, these approximations are based on American National Standard ANSI/ANS-8.15, Sec. 5.2. This section allows that ratios of material masses to their limits may be summed for fissile nuclides in aqueous solutions. It also allows the addition of nonfissile nuclides if an aqueous moderator is present and addresses the effects of infinite water or equivalent reflector. Water-reflected binary combinations of aqueous solutions of fissile materials, as well as binary combinations of fissile and fissionable metals, were considered. Some combinations were shown to significantly decrease the margin of subcriticality compared to the single-unit margins. In this study, it is confirmed that some combinations of metal units in an optimum geometry may significantly decrease the margin of subcriticality. For some combinations of aqueous solutions of fissile materials, the margin of subcriticality may also be reduced by very small amounts. The conclusion of Ref. 1 that analysts should be careful in applying equivalency relations for combining materials remains valid and sound advice. The ANSI/ANS standard, which allows the use of ratios of masses to their limits, applies to aqueous, fully water-reflected, single-unit solutions. Extensions to other situations should be considered with extreme care

  12. Evaluation of motion management strategies based on required margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sawkey, D; Svatos, M; Zankowski, C

    2012-01-01

    Strategies for delivering radiation to a moving lesion each require a margin to compensate for uncertainties in treatment. These motion margins have been determined here by separating the total uncertainty into components. Probability density functions for the individual sources of uncertainty were calculated for ten motion traces obtained from the literature. Motion margins required to compensate for the center of mass motion of the clinical treatment volume were found by convolving the individual sources of uncertainty. For measurements of position at a frequency of 33 Hz, system latency was the dominant source of positional uncertainty. Averaged over the ten motion traces, the motion margin for tracking with a latency of 200 ms was 4.6 mm. Gating with a duty cycle of 33% required a mean motion margin of 3.2–3.4 mm, and tracking with a latency of 100 ms required a motion margin of 3.1 mm. Feasible reductions in the effects of the sources of uncertainty, for example by using a simple prediction algorithm to anticipate the lesion position at the end of the latency period, resulted in a mean motion margin of 1.7 mm for tracking with a latency of 100 ms, 2.4 mm for tracking with a latency of 200 ms, and 2.1–2.2 mm for the gating strategies with duty cycles of 33%. A crossover tracking latency of 150 ms was found, below which tracking strategies could take advantage of narrower motion margins than gating strategies. The methods described here provide a means to guide selection of a motion management strategy for a given patient. (paper)

  13. Sustainable food production in marginal lands—Case of GDLA member countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shabbir A. Shahid

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable food production in the changing climate and dwindling water resources in the Global Dry Land Alliance (GDLA member countries is a real challenge, especially when considering marginal lands in dryland systems. The definition of marginal land is very vague and defined from different perspectives (pragmatism about marginal lands. Dryland itself indicates "marginality" due to water stress. In general, the abandoned agriculture land where food production is not economical, and has low inherent productivity potential is considered marginal; however, a land may be marginal for agriculture but vital for grazing. In this paper attempts have been made to give review of literature (water stress, extent of marginal saline lands, marginality. Policy matters (development of soil, water and agriculture strategies that GDLA and member countries should consider for future sustainable food production in their countries, including but not limited to, assessment of land resources for agriculture potential, defining, mapping and characterizing marginal lands, and use of innovative technologies (conservation agriculture, climate smart agriculture, integrated soil reclamation program and capacity building for food production, are discussed. The international perception (FAO, UNEP, CGIAR on marginal lands is also described. An innovative approach of using national biocapacity and ecological footprint is used to assess marginality of GDLA member countries. Ecological overshoot (using 1.5 earth planets and biocapacity debtor and creditor countries are highlighted. Challenges and best management practices for food production in marginal lands are included. Other important issues, like leasing land abroad, GDLA strategic food reserves and best management practices, innovative ideas for food production are shared. Finally recommendations are drafted for actions by GDLA, its member countries and the partners.

  14. The dissolved organic matter as a potential soil quality indicator in arable soils of Hungary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filep, Tibor; Draskovits, Eszter; Szabó, József; Koós, Sándor; László, Péter; Szalai, Zoltán

    2015-07-01

    Although several authors have suggested that the labile fraction of soils could be a potential soil quality indicator, the possibilities and limitations of using the dissolved organic matter (DOM) fraction for this purpose have not yet been investigated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that DOM is an adequate indicator of soil quality. To test this, the soil quality indices (SQI) of 190 arable soils from a Hungarian dataset were estimated, and these values were compared to DOM parameters (DOC and SUVA254). A clear difference in soil quality was found between the soil types, with low soil quality for arenosols (average SQI 0.5) and significantly higher values for gleysols, vertisols, regosols, solonetzes and chernozems. The SQI-DOC relationship could be described by non-linear regression, while a linear connection was observed between SQI and SUVA. The regression equations obtained for the dataset showed only one relatively weak significant correlation between the variables, for DOC (R (2) = 0.157(***); n = 190), while non-significant relationships were found for the DOC and SUVA254 values. However, an envelope curve operated with the datasets showed the robust potential of DOC to indicate soil quality changes, with a high R (2) value for the envelope curve regression equation. The limitations to using the DOM fraction of soils as a quality indicator are due to the contradictory processes which take place in soils in many cases.

  15. Identifying technology innovations for marginalized smallholders-A conceptual approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malek, Mohammad Abdul; Gatzweiler, Franz W; Von Braun, Joachim

    2017-05-01

    This paper adds a contribution in the existing literature in terms of theoretical and conceptual background for the identification of idle potentials of marginal rural areas and people by means of technological and institutional innovations. The approach follows ex-ante assessment for identifying suitable technology and institutional innovations for marginalized smallholders in marginal areas-divided into three main parts (mapping, surveying and evaluating) and several steps. Finally, it contributes to the inclusion of marginalized smallholders by an improved way of understanding the interactions between technology needs, farming systems, ecological resources and poverty characteristics in the different segments of the poor, and to link these insights with productivity enhancing technologies.

  16. Evaluation of the marginal fit of metal copings fabricated on three different marginal designs using conventional and accelerated casting techniques: An in vitro study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharad Vaidya

    2014-01-01

    Conclusion: Among the three marginal designs studied, shoulder with bevel showed the best marginal fit with conventional as well as accelerated casting techniques. Accelerated casting technique could be a vital alternative to the time-consuming conventional casting technique. The marginal fit between the two casting techniques showed no statistical difference.

  17. Customized Computed Tomography-Based Boost Volumes in Breast-Conserving Therapy: Use of Three-Dimensional Histologic Information for Clinical Target Volume Margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanbeukers, Bianca; Borger, Jacques; Ende, Piet van den; Ent, Fred van der; Houben, Ruud; Jager, Jos; Keymeulen, Kristien; Murrer, Lars; Sastrowijoto, Suprapto; Vijver, Koen van de; Boersma, Liesbeth

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the difference in size between computed tomography (CT)-based irradiated boost volumes and simulator-based irradiated volumes in patients treated with breast-conserving therapy and to analyze whether the use of anisotropic three-dimensional clinical target volume (CTV) margins using the histologically determined free resection margins allows for a significant reduction of the CT-based boost volumes. Patients and Methods: The CT data from 49 patients were used to delineate a planning target volume (PTV) with isotropic CTV margins and to delineate a PTV sim that mimicked the PTV as delineated in the era of conventional simulation. For 17 patients, a PTV with anisotropic CTV margins was defined by applying customized three-dimensional CTV margins, according to the free excision margins in six directions. Boost treatment plans consisted of conformal portals for the CT-based PTVs and rectangular fields for the PTV sim . Results: The irradiated volume (volume receiving ≥95% of the prescribed dose [V 95 ]) for the PTV with isotropic CTV margins was 1.6 times greater than that for the PTV sim : 228 cm 3 vs. 147 cm 3 (p 95 was similar to the V 95 for the PTV sim (190 cm 3 vs. 162 cm 3 ; p = NS). The main determinant for the irradiated volume was the size of the excision cavity (p < .001), which was mainly related to the interval between surgery and the planning CT scan (p = .029). Conclusion: CT-based PTVs with isotropic margins for the CTV yield much greater irradiated volumes than fluoroscopically based PTVs. Applying individualized anisotropic CTV margins allowed for a significant reduction of the irradiated boost volume.

  18. Evaluation of the setup margins for cone beam computed tomography–guided cranial radiosurgery: A phantom study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calvo Ortega, Juan Francisco, E-mail: jfcdrr@yahoo.es [Department of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Quirón, Barcelona (Spain); Wunderink, Wouter [Department of Radiotherapy, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Delgado, David; Moragues, Sandra; Pozo, Miquel; Casals, Joan [Department of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Quirón, Barcelona (Spain)

    2016-10-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the setup margins from the clinical target volume (CTV) to planning target volume (PTV) for cranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatments guided by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). We designed an end-to-end (E2E) test using a skull phantom with an embedded 6mm tungsten ball (target). A noncoplanar plan was computed (E2E plan) to irradiate the target. The CBCT-guided positioning of the skull phantom on the linac was performed. Megavoltage portal images were acquired after 15 independent deliveries of the E2E plan. The displacement 2-dimensional (2D) vector between the centers of the square field and the ball target on each portal image was used to quantify the isocenter accuracy. Geometrical margins on each patient's direction (left-right or LR, anterior-posterior or AP, superior-inferior or SI) were calculated. Dosimetric validation of the margins was performed in 5 real SRS cases: 3-dimesional (3D) isocenter deviations were mimicked, and changes in CTV dose coverage and organs-at-risk (OARs) dosage were analyzed. The CTV-PTV margins of 1.1 mm in LR direction, and 0.7 mm in AP and SI directions were derived from the E2E tests. The dosimetric analysis revealed that a 1-mm uniform margin was sufficient to ensure the CTV dose coverage, without compromising the OAR dose tolerances. The effect of isocenter uncertainty has been estimated to be 1 mm in our CBCT-guided SRS approach.

  19. Geochronological and sedimentological evidences of Panyangshan foreland basin for tectonic control on the Late Paleozoic plate marginal orogenic belt along the northern margin of the North China Craton

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jialiang; Zhou, Zhiguang; He, Yingfu; Wang, Guosheng; Wu, Chen; Liu, Changfeng; Yao, Guang; Xu, Wentao; Zhao, Xiaoqi; Dai, Pengfei

    2017-08-01

    There is a wide support that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift on the northern margin of the North China Craton has undergone an uplifting history. However, when and how did the uplift occurred keeps controversial. Extensive field-based structural, metamorphic, geochemical, geochronological and geophysical investigations on the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift, which suggested that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift was an uplifted region since the Early Precambrian or range from Late Carboniferous-Early Jurassic. The geochemical characteristics of the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic intrusive rocks indicated that the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift was an Andean-type continental margin that is the extensional tectonic setting. To address the spatial and temporal development of the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift, we have carried out provenance analysis of Permian sedimentary rocks which collected from the Panyangshan basin along the northern margin of the North China Craton. The QFL diagram revealed a dissected arc-recycled orogenic tectonic setting. Moreover, the framework grains are abundant with feldspar (36-50%), indicating the short transport distance and unstable tectonic setting. Detrital zircon U-Pb analysis ascertained possible provenance information: the Precambrian basement ( 2490 and 1840 Ma) and continental arc magmatic action ( 279 and 295 Ma) along the northern margin of the North China Craton. The projection in rose diagrams of the mean palaeocurrent direction, revealing the SSW and SSE palaeoflow direction, also shows the provenance of the Panyangshan basin sources mainly from the Inner Mongolia Palaeo-uplift. The andesite overlying the Naobaogou Formation has yielded U-Pb age of 277.3 ± 1.4 Ma. The additional dioritic porphyry dike intruded the Naobaogou and Laowopu Formations, which has an emplacement age of 236 ± 1 Ma. The above data identify that the basin formed ranges from Early Permian to Middle Triassic (277-236 Ma). Accordingly, the Inner Mongolia

  20. Marginal Accuracy of Castings Produced with Different Investment Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadav, R K

    2009-04-01

    The use of casting ring to produce accurate castings has been challenged with the introduction of a ringless casting technique. This study compared the marginal accuracy of all - metal complete coverage crowns fabricated with ringless, split plastic ring and metal ring investment systems. A total of 40 all- metal complete coverage crowns were fabricated on a metal die. The crowns were divided in 4 groups (Group A, B, C and D) of 10 patterns each. A ringless system of investing and casting was used for group A whereas a split plastic ring system was used for group B. Groups C and D utilized metal ring with single and double layers of asbestos free cellulose acetate liner respectively for investing and casting procedures. The restorations were seated on the metal die and the vertical marginal discrepancy was evaluated by measuring the gap between the finish line on the die and the margins of the crown on four specific sites with an optical microscope. Statistical analysis was carried out using ANOVA and multiple comparison "t" test. The mean vertical marginal discrepancy for groups A, B, C and D was 95μm, 136μm, 128μm and 104μm respectively. Vertical marginal discrepancy on each surface was compared among the four groups. Difference of vertical marginal discrepancy on buccal surface (p0.05). Accurate castings with better marginal fit can be produced with ringless casting technique.

  1. Influence of Crack Morphology on Leak Before Break Margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weilin Zang

    2007-11-01

    The purpose of the project is to evaluate the deterministic LBB-margins for different pipe systems in a Swedish PWR-plant and using different crack morphology parameters. Results: - The influence of crack morphology on Leak Before Break (LBB) margins is studied. The subject of the report is a number of LBB-submittals to SKI where deterministic LBB-margins are reported. These submittals typically uses a surface roughness of 0.0762 mm (300 microinch) and number of turns equal to zero and an in-house code for the leak rate evaluations. The present report has shown that these conditions give the largest LBB-margins both in terms of the quotient between the critical crack length and the leakage crack size and for the leak rate margin. - Crack morphology parameters have a strong influence on the leak rate evaluations. Using the SQUIRT code and more recent recommendations for crack morphology parameters, it is shown that in many cases the evaluated margins, using 1 gpm as the reference leak rate detection limit, are below the safety factor of 2 on crack size and 10 on leak rate, which is generally required for LBB approval. - The effect of including weld residual stresses on the LBB margins is also investigated. It is shown that for the two examples studied, weld residual stresses were important for the small diameter thin wall pipe whereas it was negligible for the large diameter thick wall pipe which had a self-balanced weld residual stress distribution

  2. Marginal adaptation of composite resins under two adhesive techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dačić, Stefan; Veselinović, Aleksandar M; Mitić, Aleksandar; Nikolić, Marija; Cenić, Milica; Dačić-Simonović, Dragica

    2016-11-01

    In the present research, different adhesive techniques were used to set up fillings with composite resins. After the application of etch and rinse or self etch adhesive technique, marginal adaptation of composite fillings was estimated by the length of margins without gaps, and by the microretention of resin in enamel and dentin. The study material consisted of 40 extracted teeth. Twenty Class V cavities were treated with 35% phosphorous acid and restored after rinsing by Adper Single Bond 2 and Filtek Ultimate-ASB/FU 3M ESPE composite system. The remaining 20 cavities were restored by Adper Easy One-AEO/FU 3M ESPE composite system. Marginal adaptation of composite fillings was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The etch and rinse adhesive technique showed a significantly higher percentage of margin length without gaps (in enamel: 92.5%, in dentin: 57.3%), compared with the self-etch technique with lower percentage of margin length without gaps, in enamel 70.4% (p resin tugs in interprismatic spaces of enamel, while the dentin microretention was composed of adhesive and hybrid layers with resin tugs in dentin canals. In the second technique, resin tugs were rarely seen and a microgap was dominant along the border of restoration margins. The SEM analysis showed a better marginal adaptation of composite resin to enamel and dentin with better microretention when the etch and rinse adhesive procedure was applied. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Description and discussion of governmental participations for companies producing oil and gas in marginal fields; Descricao e discussao do regime tributario e participacoes governamentais para empresas produtoras de petroleo e gas em campos marginais

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eduardo, Antonio Sergio [Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS), BA (Brazil); Rodrigues, Jose Allankardec Fernandes [Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), Salvador, BA (Brazil); Rodrigues, Livia da Silva Modesto [Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), Salvador, BA (Brazil); Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS), BA (Brazil); Fundacao Visconde de Cairu, Salvador, BA (Brazil); Ferreira, Doneivan Fernandes [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, BA (Brazil)

    2012-07-01

    This article reports taxing and government participation in oil and gas extraction in peripheral fields as defined by the Agencia Nacional de Petroleo, Gas Natural e Combustivel (ANP) and the need to discuss the essence of the contributing capacity as a means to take into account the characteristics of this specific niche in gas and oil production. Their own particular policies distinguish them from other segments. The analysis is founded on the Aristotelian view which treats equals equally and unequals unequally. The analysis shows these companies' present situation and makes it clear that taxing in Brazil acts as an obstacle to the development of several sectors, including the small oil and gas production sector. Also worth mentioning is, besides taxes in the oil business, there is also the incidence of financial indemnity established by the Petroleum Law, illustrating an analysis of this legislation. Initially, when peripheral fields are still seen as great opportunities (according to the regulatory definition adopted by the ANP), mainly because of the high price of the barrel of oil (over US$ 100 ) the weight of taxes may not be a critical factor. However, when marginal oil wells do not attract interest in the average independent producer, the only mechanisms capable of extending the activity, and as a consequence, the positive impacts generated in producing communities, may well be tax relief and government involvement. The method used was a reference research and technical visits to leasers of concessions at peripheral fields. The present study will continue with the object of showing econometric models by simulating the impact taxing has on marginal production projects at different stages of maturity. (author)

  4. Technical specification improvement through safety margin considerations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howard, R.C.; Jansen, R.L.

    1986-01-01

    Westinghouse has developed an approach for utilizing safety analysis margin considerations to improve plant operability through technical specification revision. This approach relies on the identification and use of parameter interrelations and sensitivities to identify acceptable operating envelopes. This paper summarizes technical specification activities to date and presents the use of safety margin considerations as another viable method to obtain technical specification improvement

  5. Pattern of Failure After Limited Margin Radiotherapy and Temozolomide for Glioblastoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonald, Mark W.; Shu, Hui-Kuo G.; Curran, Walter J.; Crocker, Ian R.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the pattern of failure after limited margin radiotherapy for glioblastoma. Methods and Materials: We analyzed 62 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated between 2006 and 2008 with standard fractionation to a total dose of 60Gy with concurrent temozolomide (97%) or arsenic trioxide (3%). The initial clinical target volume included postoperative T2 abnormality with a median margin of 0.7cm. The boost clinical target volume included residual T1-enhancing tumor and resection cavity with a median margin of 0.5cm. Planning target volumes added a 0.3- or 0.5-cm margin to clinical target volumes. The total boost planning target volume (PTV boost ) margin was 1cm or less in 92% of patients. The volume of recurrent tumor (new T1 enhancement) was categorized by the percent within the 60-Gy isodose line as central (>95%), infield (81-95%), marginal (20-80%), or distant ( boost with a 2.5-cm margin were created for each patient. Results: With a median follow-up of 12 months, radiographic tumor progression developed in 43 of 62 patients. Imaging was available for analysis in 41: 38 (93%) had central or infield failure, 2 (5%) had marginal failure, and 1 (2%) had distant failure relative to the 60-Gy isodose line. The treated PTV boost (median, 140cm 3 ) was, on average, 70% less than the PTV boost with a 2.5-cm margin (median, 477cm 3 ) (p boost margin of 1cm or less did not appear to increase the risk of marginal and/or distant tumor failures compared with other published series. With careful radiation planning and delivery, it appears that treatment margins for glioblastoma can be reduced.

  6. Stroke: a Hidden Danger of Margin Trading in Stock Markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Shu-Hui; Wang, Chien-Ho; Liu, Tsai-Ching; Chen, Chin-Shyan

    2015-10-01

    Using 10-year population data from 2000 through 2009 in Taiwan, this is the first paper to analyze the relationship between margin trading in stock markets and stroke hospitalizations. The results show that 3 and 6 days after an increase of margin trading in the Taiwan stock markets are associated with greater stoke hospitalizations. In general, a 1 % increase in total margin trading positions is associated with an increment of 2.5 in the total number of stroke hospitalizations, where the mean number of hospital admissions is 233 cases a day. We further examine the effects of margin trading by gender and age groups and find that the effects of margin trading are significant for males and those who are 45-74 years old only. In summary, buying stocks with money you do not have is quite risky, especially if the prices of those stocks fall past a certain level or if there is a sudden and severe drop in the stock market. There is also a hidden danger to one's health from margin trading. A person should be cautious before conducting margin trading, because while it can be quite profitable, danger always lurks just around the corner.

  7. Uplift history of a transform continental margin revealed by the stratigraphic record: The case of the Agulhas transform margin along the Southern African Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baby, Guillaume; Guillocheau, François; Boulogne, Carl; Robin, Cécile; Dall'Asta, Massimo

    2018-04-01

    The south and southeast coast of southern Africa (from 28°S to 33°S) forms a high-elevated transform passive margin bounded to the east by the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ). We analysed the stratigraphic record of the Outeniqua and Durban (Thekwini) Basins, located on the African side of the AFFZ, to determine the evolution of these margins from the rifting stage to present-day. The goal was to reconstruct the strike-slip evolution of the Agulhas Margin and the uplift of the inland high-elevation South African Plateau. The Agulhas transform passive margin results from four successive stages: Rifting stage, from Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous ( 200?-134 Ma), punctuated by three successive rifting episodes related to the Gondwana breakup; Wrench stage (134-131 Ma), evidenced by strike- and dip-slip deformations increasing toward the AFFZ; Active transform margin stage (131-92 Ma), during which the Falkland/Malvinas Plateau drifts away along the AFFZ, with an uplift of the northeastern part of the Outeniqua Basin progressively migrating toward the west; Thermal subsidence stage (92-0 Ma), marked by a major change in the configuration of the margin (onset of the shelf-break passive margin morphology). Two main periods of uplift were documented during the thermal subsidence stage of the Agulhas Margin: (1) a 92 Ma short-lived margin-scale uplift, followed by a second one at 76 Ma located along the Outeniqua Basin and; (2) a long-lasting uplift from 40 to 15 Ma limited to the Durban (Thekwini) Basin. This suggests that the South African Plateau is an old Upper Cretaceous relief (90-70 Ma) reactivated during Late Eocene to Early Miocene times (40-15 Ma).

  8. The determinants of intermediaries’ power over farmers’ margin-related activities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xhoxhi, Orjon; Pedersen, Søren Marcus; Lind, Kim Martin Hjorth

    2014-01-01

    This paper investigates the determinants of intermediaries’ power over farmers’ margin-related activities in Adana, Turkey. In doing so, a holistic model of intermediaries’ power over farmers’ margin-related activities is proposed. The objective of this model is to contribute to a better understa......This paper investigates the determinants of intermediaries’ power over farmers’ margin-related activities in Adana, Turkey. In doing so, a holistic model of intermediaries’ power over farmers’ margin-related activities is proposed. The objective of this model is to contribute to a better...

  9. Volcanic passive margins: another way to break up continents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geoffroy, L; Burov, E B; Werner, P

    2015-10-07

    Two major types of passive margins are recognized, i.e. volcanic and non-volcanic, without proposing distinctive mechanisms for their formation. Volcanic passive margins are associated with the extrusion and intrusion of large volumes of magma, predominantly mafic, and represent distinctive features of Larges Igneous Provinces, in which regional fissural volcanism predates localized syn-magmatic break-up of the lithosphere. In contrast with non-volcanic margins, continentward-dipping detachment faults accommodate crustal necking at both conjugate volcanic margins. These faults root on a two-layer deformed ductile crust that appears to be partly of igneous nature. This lower crust is exhumed up to the bottom of the syn-extension extrusives at the outer parts of the margin. Our numerical modelling suggests that strengthening of deep continental crust during early magmatic stages provokes a divergent flow of the ductile lithosphere away from a central continental block, which becomes thinner with time due to the flow-induced mechanical erosion acting at its base. Crustal-scale faults dipping continentward are rooted over this flowing material, thus isolating micro-continents within the future oceanic domain. Pure-shear type deformation affects the bulk lithosphere at VPMs until continental breakup, and the geometry of the margin is closely related to the dynamics of an active and melting mantle.

  10. Preoperative imaging and surgical margins in maxillectomy patients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kreeft, Anne Marijn; Smeele, Ludwig E.; Rasch, Coen R. N.; Hauptmann, Michael; Rietveld, Derk H. F.; Leemans, C. René; Balm, Alfons J. M.

    2012-01-01

    Background High rates of positive surgical margins are reported after a maxillectomy. A large part of tumors that are preoperatively considered operable can thus not be resected with tumor-free margins. Methods This was a retrospective study on medical files of 69 patients that underwent

  11. Effect of post-implant edema on prostate brachytherapy treatment margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reed, Daniel R.; Wallner, Kent; Ford, Eric; Mueller, Amy; Merrick, Gregory; Maki, Jeffrey; Sutlief, Steven; Butler, Wayne

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: To determine if postimplant prostate brachytherapy treatment margins calculated on Day 0 differ substantially from those calculated on Day 30. Methods: Thirty patients with 1997 American Joint Commission on Cancer clinical stage T1-T2 prostatic carcinoma underwent prostate brachytherapy with I-125 prescribed to 144 Gy. Treatment planning methods included using loose seeds in a modified peripheral loading pattern and treatment margins (TMs) of 5-8 mm. Postimplant plain radiographs, computed tomography scans, and magnetic resonance scans were obtained 1-4 hours after implantation (Day 0). A second set of imaging studies was obtained at 30 days after implantation (Day 30) and similarly analyzed. Treatment margins were measured as the radial distance in millimeters from the prostate edge to the 100% isodose line. The TMs were measured and tabulated at 90 o intervals around the prostate periphery at 0.6-cm intervals. Each direction was averaged to obtain the mean anterior, posterior, left, and right margins. Results: The mean overall TM increased from 2.6 mm (±2.3) on Day 0 to 3.5 mm (±2.4) on Day 30. The mean anterior margin increased from 1.2 mm on Day 0 to 1.8 mm on Day 30. The posterior margin increased from 1.2 mm on Day 0 to 2.8 mm on Day 30. The lateral treatment margins increased most over time, with mean right treatment margin increasing from 3.9 mm on Day 0 to 4.7 mm on Day 30. Conclusion: Treatment margins appear to be durable in the postimplant period, with a clinically insignificant increase from Day 0 to Day 30

  12. STUDI PERBANDINGAN ANTARA ALGORITMA BIVARIATE MARGINAL DISTRIBUTION DENGAN ALGORITMA GENETIKA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chastine Fatichah

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm is extended from Estimation of Distribution Algorithm. This heuristic algorithm proposes the new approach for recombination of generate new individual that without crossover and mutation process such as genetic algorithm. Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm uses connectivity variable the pair gene for recombination of generate new individual. Connectivity between variable is doing along optimization process. In this research, genetic algorithm performance with one point crossover is compared with Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm performance in case Onemax, De Jong F2 function, and Traveling Salesman Problem. In this research, experimental results have shown performance the both algorithm is dependence of parameter respectively and also population size that used. For Onemax case with size small problem, Genetic Algorithm perform better with small number of iteration and more fast for get optimum result. However, Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm perform better of result optimization for case Onemax with huge size problem. For De Jong F2 function, Genetic Algorithm perform better from Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm of a number of iteration and time. For case Traveling Salesman Problem, Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm have shown perform better from Genetic Algorithm of optimization result. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm merupakan perkembangan lebih lanjut dari Estimation of Distribution Algorithm. Algoritma heuristik ini mengenalkan pendekatan baru dalam melakukan rekombinasi untuk membentuk individu baru, yaitu tidak menggunakan proses crossover dan mutasi seperti pada Genetic Algorithm. Bivariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm menggunakan keterkaitan pasangan variabel dalam melakukan rekombinasi untuk membentuk individu baru. Keterkaitan antar variabel tersebut ditemukan selama proses optimasi berlangsung. Aplikasi yang

  13. Consideration of margins for hypo fractionated radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herschtal, A.; Foroudi, F.; Kron, T.

    2010-01-01

    Full text: Geographical misses of the tumour are of concern in radiotherapy and are typically accommodated by introducing margins around the target. However, there is a trade-off between ensuring the target receives sufficient dose and minimising the dose to surrounding normal structures. Several methods of determining margin width have been developed with the most commonly used one proposed by M. VanHerk (VanHerk UROBP 52: 1407, 2002). VanHerk's model sets margins to achieve 95% of dose coverage for the target in 90% of patients. However, this model was derived assuming an infinite number of fractions. The aim of the present work is to estimate the modifications necessary to the model if a finite number of fractions are given. Software simulations were used to determine the true probability of a patient achieving 95% target coverage if different fraction numbers are used for a given margin width. Model parameters were informed by a large data set recently acquired at our institution using daily image guidance for prostate cancer patients with implanted fiducial markers. Assuming a 3 mm penumbral width it was found that using the VanHerk model only 74 or 54% of patients receive 95% of the prescription dose if 20 or 6 fractions are given, respectively. The steep dose gradients afforded by IMRT are likely to make consideration of the effects of hypofractionation more important. It is necessary to increase the margins around the target to ensure adequate tumour coverage if hypofractionated radiotherapy is to be used for cancer treatment. (author)

  14. Influence of Different Ceramic Systems on Marginal Misfit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vargas, S P; Neves, A C C; Vitti, R; Amaral, M; Henrique, M N; Silva-Concílio, L R

    2017-09-01

    the aim of this study was to evaluate the marginal misfit at the interface between a ceramic coping and its abutment. Twenty-four specimens were made with solid abutments. The specimens were divided into 3 groups according to the ceramic system (n = 8): Lava (zirconia), IPS e.max Press (lithium disilicate), and IPS Empress Esthetic (leucite). All copings were cemented with resin luting agent (RelyX U200) and the marginal misfit were evaluated at 3 different times: initial, after cementation, and after mechanical cycling using a linear measuring microscope (Measuring Microscope STM-Olympus) at a magnification of 40x. All specimens were subjected to mechanical cycling (1 million cycles) by an universal testing machine (Instron 8800). The results were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance and Student's t-test (α = 0.05). all groups showed an increase in the marginal misfit after cementation. The lithium disilicate group demonstrated the lowest interacial gap values at each evaluation (p = 0.001). The zirconia and leucite groups showed similar interfacial gap values (initial, p = 0.244; and post cementation, p = 0.751). the cementation increase the marginal misfit, but the mechanical cycling did not influence the marginal misfit of the ceramics systems evaluated. Copyright© 2017 Dennis Barber Ltd.

  15. Determinants of banks’ net interest margins in Central and Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomislav Rizdak

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This research analyzes the main determinants of the net interest margin of banks operating in Central and Eastern European (CEE countries in the period from 1999 to 2010. The results reveal several main drivers of net interest margins in the CEE. Prior to 2008 the net interest margins declined primarily due to strong capital inflows and stable macroeconomic environment. In the crisis period, significant rise in government debt accompanied by the increase in macroeconomic risks and abating capital inflows were pushing margins up while other factors such as low credit demand, higher capitalization and significantly increased share of non-performing loans pressured banks’ margins down. The results also confirm the important contribution of higher efficiency to lowering banks’ margins.

  16. Marginal Assessment of Crowns by the Aid of Parallel Radiography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farnaz Fattahi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Marginal adaptation is the most critical item in long-term prognosis of single crowns. This study aimed to assess the marginal quality as well asthe discrepancies in marginal integrity of some PFM single crowns of posterior teeth by employing parallel radiography in Shiraz Dental School, Shiraz, Iran. Methods: In this descriptive study, parallel radiographies were taken from 200 fabricated PFM single crowns of posterior teeth after cementation and before discharging the patient. To calculate the magnification of the images, a metallic sphere with the thickness of 4 mm was placed in the direction of the crown margin on the occlusal surface. Thereafter, the horizontal and vertical space between the crown margins, the margin of preparations and also the vertical space between the crown margin and the bone crest were measured by using digital radiological software. Results: Analysis of data by descriptive statistics revealed that 75.5% and 60% of the cases had more than the acceptable space (50µm in the vertical (130±20µm and horizontal (90±15µm dimensions, respectively. Moreover, 85% of patients were found to have either horizontal or vertical gap. In 77% of cases, the margins of crowns invaded the biologic width in the mesial and 70% in distal surfaces. Conclusion: Parallel radiography can be expedient in the stage of framework try-in to yield some important information that cannot be obtained by routine clinical evaluations and may improve the treatment prognosis

  17. Supervised linear dimensionality reduction with robust margins for object recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dornaika, F.; Assoum, A.

    2013-01-01

    Linear Dimensionality Reduction (LDR) techniques have been increasingly important in computer vision and pattern recognition since they permit a relatively simple mapping of data onto a lower dimensional subspace, leading to simple and computationally efficient classification strategies. Recently, many linear discriminant methods have been developed in order to reduce the dimensionality of visual data and to enhance the discrimination between different groups or classes. Many existing linear embedding techniques relied on the use of local margins in order to get a good discrimination performance. However, dealing with outliers and within-class diversity has not been addressed by margin-based embedding method. In this paper, we explored the use of different margin-based linear embedding methods. More precisely, we propose to use the concepts of Median miss and Median hit for building robust margin-based criteria. Based on such margins, we seek the projection directions (linear embedding) such that the sum of local margins is maximized. Our proposed approach has been applied to the problem of appearance-based face recognition. Experiments performed on four public face databases show that the proposed approach can give better generalization performance than the classic Average Neighborhood Margin Maximization (ANMM). Moreover, thanks to the use of robust margins, the proposed method down-grades gracefully when label outliers contaminate the training data set. In particular, we show that the concept of Median hit was crucial in order to get robust performance in the presence of outliers.

  18. Influence of margin segmentation and anomalous volcanism upon the break-up of the Hatton Bank rifted margin, west of the UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliott, G. M.; Parson, L. M.

    2007-12-01

    The Hatton Bank margin, flanking the Iceland Basin is a widely cited example of a volcanic rifted margin. Prior to this study insights into the break-up history of the margin have been limited to profiles in the north and south, yet whilst valuable, the along margin tectono-magmatic variability has not been revealed. Over 5660 line km of high quality reflection seismic profiles with supplementary multibeam bathymetry were collected to support the UK's claim to Hatton region under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Integration of this new data with existing profiles, allowed the margin to be divided into three segments, each of which are flanked by oceanic crust with a smooth upper surface and internal dipping reflectors. The southernmost segment is characterised by a series of inner and outer seaward dipping reflector (SDR) packages, which are separated by an outer high feature. The outer SDR are truncated by Endymion Spur, a chain of steep sided, late stage volcanic cones linked with necks. The central sector has no inner SDR package and is characterised by the presence of a highly intruded continental block, the Hatton Bank Block (HBB). The northern sector is adjacent to Lousy Bank, with a wider region of SDR recognised than to the south and a high amount of volcanic cones imaged. The variations in the distribution of the SDR's along the margin, the presence of the HBB and Endymion Spur all suggest that the break-up process was not uniform alongstrike. The division of the margin into three sectors reveals that structural segmentation played an important role in producing the variations along the margin. Break- up initiated in the south and progressed north producing the SDR packages witnessed, when the HBB was encountered the focus of break-up moved seaward of the block. The northern sector was closer to the Iceland Hotspot and hence a greater amount of volcanism is encountered. The smooth oceanic basement also indicates a high thermal flux

  19. Slope failure of chalk channel margins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gale, A.; Anderskouv, Kresten; Surlyk, Finn

    2015-01-01

    provide evidence for recurring margin collapse of a long-lived Campanian channel. Compressionally deformed and thrust chalk hardgrounds are correlated to thicker, non-cemented chalk beds that form a broad, gentle anticline. These chalks represent a slump complex with a roll-over anticline of expanded, non......-cemented chalk in the head region and a culmination of condensed hardgrounds in the toe region. Observations strongly suggest that the slumping represents collapse of a channel margin. Farther northwards, the contemporaneous succession shows evidence of small-scale penecontemporaneous normal faulting towards...

  20. Perennial Grass Bioenergy Cropping on Wet Marginal Land

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Das, Srabani; Teuffer, Karin; Stoof, Cathelijne R.; Walter, Michael F.; Walter, M.T.; Steenhuis, Tammo S.; Richards, Brian K.

    2018-01-01

    The control of soil moisture, vegetation type, and prior land use on soil health parameters of perennial grass cropping systems on marginal lands is not well known. A fallow wetness-prone marginal site in New York (USA) was converted to perennial grass bioenergy feedstock production. Quadruplicate

  1. Helping Students on the Margin Succeed in Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langenfeld, Michelle Schoen; Cumming, Brenda

    1996-01-01

    Addresses how Apple Valley High School (Minnesota) has been able to help marginal students succeed in school. The fundamental actions that contributed to the effectiveness of study-team efforts to help marginal students are discussed, and what has been learned through these efforts is considered. (GR)

  2. Principals' Perceived Supervisory Behaviors Regarding Marginal Teachers in Two States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Range, Bret; Hewitt, Paul; Young, Suzie

    2014-01-01

    This descriptive study used an online survey to determine how principals in two states viewed the supervision of marginal teachers. Principals ranked their own evaluation of the teacher as the most important factor when identifying marginal teachers and relied on informal methods to diagnose marginal teaching. Female principals rated a majority of…

  3. Ensemble-marginalized Kalman filter for linear time-dependent PDEs with noisy boundary conditions: Application to heat transfer in building walls

    KAUST Repository

    Iglesias, Marco

    2017-11-26

    In this work, we present the ensemble-marginalized Kalman filter (EnMKF), a sequential algorithm analogous to our previously proposed approach [1,2], for estimating the state and parameters of linear parabolic partial differential equations in initial-boundary value problems when the boundary data are noisy. We apply EnMKF to infer the thermal properties of building walls and to estimate the corresponding heat flux from real and synthetic data. Compared with a modified Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) that is not marginalized, EnMKF reduces the bias error, avoids the collapse of the ensemble without needing to add inflation, and converges to the mean field posterior using $50\\\\%$ or less of the ensemble size required by EnKF. According to our results, the marginalization technique in EnMKF is key to performance improvement with smaller ensembles at any fixed time.

  4. Quantifying Safety Margin Using the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grabaskas, David; Bucknor, Matthew; Brunett, Acacia; Nakayama, Marvin

    2015-04-26

    The Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC), developed by Idaho National Laboratory as part of the Light-Water Reactor Sustainability Project, utilizes a probabilistic safety margin comparison between a load and capacity distribution, rather than a deterministic comparison between two values, as is usually done in best-estimate plus uncertainty analyses. The goal is to determine the failure probability, or in other words, the probability of the system load equaling or exceeding the system capacity. While this method has been used in pilot studies, there has been little work conducted investigating the statistical significance of the resulting failure probability. In particular, it is difficult to determine how many simulations are necessary to properly characterize the failure probability. This work uses classical (frequentist) statistics and confidence intervals to examine the impact in statistical accuracy when the number of simulations is varied. Two methods are proposed to establish confidence intervals related to the failure probability established using a RISMC analysis. The confidence interval provides information about the statistical accuracy of the method utilized to explore the uncertainty space, and offers a quantitative method to gauge the increase in statistical accuracy due to performing additional simulations.

  5. Development and function of the splenic marginal zone

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mebius, Reina E.; Nolte, Martijn A.; Kraal, Georg

    2004-01-01

    The marginal zone of the spleen is a crucial region where blood-borne pathogens are sequestered by macrophages with unique arrays of scavenger molecules. In addition, a special population of B cells, which is capable of rapid activation, resides in this region. Marginal zone B cells and macrophages

  6. Excitable waves at the margin of the contact area between a cell and a substrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, O; Albigès-Rizo, C; Block, M R; Fourcade, B

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we study a new physical mechanism to generate an activator field which signals the extreme margin of the contact area between an adherent cell and the substrate. This mechanism is based on the coupling between the adhesive bridges connecting the substrate to the cytoskeleton and a cytosolic activator. Once activated by adhesion on the adhesive bridges, this activator is free to diffuse on the membrane. We propose that this activator is part of the mecano-transduction pathway which links adhesion to actin polymerization and, thus, to cellular motility. The consequences of our model are as follows: (a) the activator is localized at the rim of the contact area, (b) the adhesion is reinforced at the margin of the contact area between the cell and the substrate, (c) excitable waves of the activator can propagate along the adhesion rim

  7. Marginal Leakage of Class V Composite Resin Restorations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryam Khoroushi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available >Introduction: Marginal leakage is one of the significant causes of restoration failure. This in-vitro study was conducted to compare cone beam computed tomography (CBCT and dye-penetration methods for determining marginal leakage at gingival surface of class V resin composite restorations.Materials and Methods: Class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surfaces of nineteen caries-free extracted human molar teeth. Cavities were conditioned and filled. The teeth were immersed in a 50% w/w aqueous silver nitrate solution for 24 h and were taken out and rinsed with distilled water. Then, they were put into a developing solution. Whole specimens were first viewed with CBCT and were then sectioned and evaluated by stereomicroscope.Results: Measurement of agreement between CBCT and stereomicroscope revealed that 15 (78.9% teeth had score 0, 1 (5.3% tooth had score 1, and 1 (5.3% tooth had score 2 in both techniques. Measurement of agreement between CBCT and stereomicroscope techniques, in the detection of marginal leakage, was 89.5% (Kappa coefficient = 0.627, P = 0.00. The Wilcoxon paired rank test revealed no significant difference between the results of CBCT and stereomicroscope in measuring the leakage at gingival margin (P = 0.157.Conclusion: Considering the limitations of the study, there was no significant difference between the results of CBCT and stereomicroscope in measuring the leakage at gingival margin of class V composite restorations. CBCT can be used noninvasively to detect the marginal leakage of gingival wall of class V composite restorations using aqueous silver nitrate solution as a tracer.

  8. Marginally Deformed Starobinsky Gravity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Codello, A.; Joergensen, J.; Sannino, Francesco

    2015-01-01

    We show that quantum-induced marginal deformations of the Starobinsky gravitational action of the form $R^{2(1 -\\alpha)}$, with $R$ the Ricci scalar and $\\alpha$ a positive parameter, smaller than one half, can account for the recent experimental observations by BICEP2 of primordial tensor modes....

  9. Komorbiditet ved marginal parodontitis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holmstrup, Palle; Damgaard, Christian; Olsen, Ingar

    2017-01-01

    Nærværende artikel præsenterer en oversigt over den foreliggende væsentligste viden om sammenhængen mellem marginal parodontitis og en række medicinske sygdomme, herunder hjerte-kar-sygdomme, diabetes mellitus, reumatoid arthritis, osteoporose, Parkinsons sygdom, Alzheimers sygdom, psoriasis og...

  10. From marginality to further marginalization: Experiences from the victims of the July 2000 Payatas trashslide in the Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JC Gaillard

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Victims of disasters are disproportionately drawn from the marginalized segments of society. Disaster victims are marginalized geographically because they live in hazardous places, socially because they are members of minority groups, economically because they are poor, and marginalized politically because their voice is disregarded by those with political power. #e victims of the July 2000 Payatas trash slide in the Philippines show all these characteristics. Most of the victims of the disaster were urban migrants who came all the way from their poor provinces to settle on the lower slopes of the largest dumpsite of the country. #ey scavenged recyclable materials to sell as a way to make a living, but their limited incomes did not allow them to a$ord safer locations for their homes, farther removed from the slopes of the dumpsite. On the morning of 10 July 2000, 300 of them lost their lives when a large section of the dumpsite collapsed in a massive debris %ow which buried their houses. In the aftermath of the disaster, the survivors who used to live on the dumpsite, and who were the poorest victims, were also those who were relocated by the Philippine government. In the present case, the most vulnerable families in the face of the trash slide were eventually those who had to su#er again from life-disrupting relocation while being the less able to recover quickly from the disaster. Daily incomes of relocated families are today much lower than those who remained in the vicinity of the dumpsite. For the victims of the July 2000 Payatas tragedy, poverty thus acted as a vicious, worsening circle which ranged from vulnerability to poor recovery, or from marginality to further marginalization.

  11. Intraoperative monitoring of marginal mandibular nerve during neck dissection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tirelli, Giancarlo; Bergamini, Pier Riccardo; Scardoni, Alessandro; Gatto, Annalisa; Boscolo Nata, Francesca; Marcuzzo, Alberto Vito

    2018-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of intraoperative nerve integrity monitoring (NIM) to prevent marginal mandibular nerve injuries during neck dissection. This prospective study compared 36 patients undergoing NIM-assisted neck dissection from July 2014 to March 2015 to a cohort of 35 patients subjected to neck dissection over an identical period of time before the technique was introduced. We also assessed possible correlations between marginal mandibular nerve injuries and other factors, such as anthropometric measurements, presence of clinical neck metastases, type of neck dissection, and site of primary tumor. The incidence of marginal mandibular nerve paralyses was significantly lower among the group of patients undergoing NIM-assisted neck dissection (P = .021). There was no significant difference in the duration of the procedure, and the technique resulted in a limited increase of cost. No other factor seemed to influence the onset of marginal mandibular nerve palsy. In our opinion, NIM is a valuable aid for preventing marginal mandibular nerve injuries during neck dissection. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Portable optical fiber probe-based spectroscopic scanner for rapid cancer diagnosis: a new tool for intraoperative margin assessment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niyom Lue

    Full Text Available There continues to be a significant clinical need for rapid and reliable intraoperative margin assessment during cancer surgery. Here we describe a portable, quantitative, optical fiber probe-based, spectroscopic tissue scanner designed for intraoperative diagnostic imaging of surgical margins, which we tested in a proof of concept study in human tissue for breast cancer diagnosis. The tissue scanner combines both diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy (IFS, and has hyperspectral imaging capability, acquiring full DRS and IFS spectra for each scanned image pixel. Modeling of the DRS and IFS spectra yields quantitative parameters that reflect the metabolic, biochemical and morphological state of tissue, which are translated into disease diagnosis. The tissue scanner has high spatial resolution (0.25 mm over a wide field of view (10 cm × 10 cm, and both high spectral resolution (2 nm and high spectral contrast, readily distinguishing tissues with widely varying optical properties (bone, skeletal muscle, fat and connective tissue. Tissue-simulating phantom experiments confirm that the tissue scanner can quantitatively measure spectral parameters, such as hemoglobin concentration, in a physiologically relevant range with a high degree of accuracy (<5% error. Finally, studies using human breast tissues showed that the tissue scanner can detect small foci of breast cancer in a background of normal breast tissue. This tissue scanner is simpler in design, images a larger field of view at higher resolution and provides a more physically meaningful tissue diagnosis than other spectroscopic imaging systems currently reported in literatures. We believe this spectroscopic tissue scanner can provide real-time, comprehensive diagnostic imaging of surgical margins in excised tissues, overcoming the sampling limitation in current histopathology margin assessment. As such it is a significant step in the development of a

  13. Ductile extension of syn-magmatic lower crusts, with application to volcanic passive margins: the Ivrea Zone (Southern Alps, Italy)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidault, Marie; Geoffroy, Laurent; Arbaret, Laurent; Aubourg, Charles

    2017-04-01

    Deep seismic reflection profiles of present-day volcanic passive margins often show a 2-layered lower crust, from top to bottom: an apparently ductile 12 km-thick middle-lower layer (LC1) of strong folded reflectors and a 4 km-thick supra-Moho layer (LC2) of horizontal and parallel reflectors. Those layers appear to be structurally disconnected and to develop at the early stages of margins evolution. A magmatic origin has been suggested by several studies to explain those strong reflectors, favoring mafic sills intrusion hypothesis. Overlying mafic and acidic extrusives (Seaward Dipping Reflectors sequences) are bounded by continentward-dipping detachment faults rooting in, and co-structurated with, the ductile part of the lower crust (LC1). Consequently the syn-rift to post-rift evolution of volcanic passive margins (and passive margins in general) largely depends on the nature and the properties of the lower crust, yet poorly understood. We propose to investigate the properties and rheology of a magma-injected extensional lower crust with a field analogue, the Ivrea Zone (Southern Alps, Italy). The Ivrea Zone displays a complete back-thrusted section of a Variscan continental lower crust that first underwent gravitational collapse, and then lithospheric extension. This Late Paleozoic extension was apparently associated with the continuous intrusion of a large volume of mafic to acid magma. Both the magma timing and volume, and the structure of the Ivrea lower crust suggest that this section represents an adequate analogue of a syn-magmatic in-extension mafic rift zone which aborted at the end of the Permian. Notably, we may recognize the 2 layers LC1 and LC2. From a number of tectonic observations, we reconstitute the whole tectonic history of the area, focusing on the strain field evolution with time, in connection with mafic magma injection. We compare those results with available data from extensional mafic lower crusts at rifts and margins.

  14. Radiotherapy Results of Carcinoma of Cervix with positive Resection Margin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huh, Seung Jae; Kim, Dae Yong; Ahn, Yong Chan; Kim, Won Dong; Wu, Hong Gyun; Ha, Sung Whan; Kim, Il Han; Park, Charn Il

    1996-01-01

    Purpose : Patients with cervical cancer who have positive resection margins after radical hysterectomy are at increased risk for local recurrence. The results of postoperative pelvic radiotherapy for cervix cancer with positive resection margins were analyzed to evaluated the role of radiotherapy. Materials and Methods : Between 1979 and 1992, 60 patients of cervix carcinoma were treated with postoperative radiotherapy after radical hysterectomy because of positive vaginal(48 patients) or parametrial resection margins(12 patients). Patients were treated with external beam radiation therapy(EBRT) alone (12 patients) or EBRT plus vaginal ovoid irradiation (VOI) (48 patients). The median follow-up period was 5 months. Results : The 5-year actuarial disease free and overall survival rates for all patients were 75.2%, 84.1%, respectively. The overall recurrence rate was 23%(14/60). In 48 patients with positive vaginal resection margins, the pelvic recurrence was 8%(4/48). Distant metastasis was 15%(7/48). Of the 43 patients with positive vaginal resection margins treated with EBRT and VOI, recurrence rate was 21%(9/43), while recurrence rate was 40%(2/5) in the EBRT only treated group. In 12 patients with positive parametrial margins, three patients (25%) had distant metastases. The most significant prognostic factor was lymph node metastasis. Complications resulting from radiotherapy occurred at a rate of 32%(19/60) and grade III complications occurred in three patients (5%). Conclusion : Postoperative radiotherapy can produce excellent pelvic control rates in patients with positive resection margins. In patients with positive vaginal margins, whole pelvic EBRT and BOI is recommended

  15. The potential for satellite and marginal field developments on the Norwegian continental shelf

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raustein, O.; Abrahamsen, L.E.; Einang, G.

    1994-01-01

    Norway is faced with decreasing field sizes in hostile waters. On the other hand, approximately 620 billion 1993-NOK have been invested in field installations and transport systems. These installations will have significant available processing and transport capacity in the future, and thus represent a valuable infrastructure. This paper describes the resource situation and the installed infrastructure on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Then the potential of still maintaining a high activity level in field developments is outlined

  16. Marginal pricing of transmission services: An analysis of cost recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perez-Arriaga, I.J.; Rubio, F.J. [Univ. Pontificia Comillas, Madrid (Spain); Puerta, J.F.; Arceluz, J.; Marin, J. [IBERDROLA, Bilbao (Spain). Unidad de Planificacion Estrategica

    1995-02-01

    This paper presents an in-depth analysis of network revenues computed with marginal pricing, and in particular it investigates the reasons why marginal prices fail to recover the total incurred network costs in actual power systems. The basic theoretical results are presented and the major causes of the mismatch between network costs and marginal revenues are identified and illustrated with numerical examples, some tutorial and others of realistic size. The regulatory implications of marginal network pricing in the context of competitive electricity markets are analyzed, and suggestions are provided for the meaningful allocation of the costs of the network among its users.

  17. Marginal pricing of transmission services: An analysis of cost recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez-Arriaga, I.J.; Rubio, F.J.; Puerta, J.F.; Arceluz, J.; Marin, J.

    1995-01-01

    This paper presents an in-depth analysis of network revenues computed with marginal pricing, and in particular it investigates the reasons why marginal prices fail to recover the total incurred network costs in actual power systems. The basic theoretical results are presented and the major causes of the mismatch between network costs and marginal revenues are identified and illustrated with numerical examples, some tutorial and others of realistic size. The regulatory implications of marginal network pricing in the context of competitive electricity markets are analyzed, and suggestions are provided for the meaningful allocation of the costs of the network among its users

  18. Metody měření rychlosti infiltrace vody do půdy

    OpenAIRE

    PIVOŇKA, Jiří

    2013-01-01

    This thesis deals with field measurements of steady infiltration rate in the Kopaninský stream catchment. Single-ring infiltrometer and compact pressure infiltrometer were used for measurement. 30 infiltration tests were made in the catchment in July and August 2012. Infiltration rate was measured on grassland and arable land. Both methods showed, that steady infiltration rate is approximately the same on grassland and arable land. Further the most common methods of infiltration measurements ...

  19. Evaluation of the marginal fit of metal copings fabricated on three different marginal designs using conventional and accelerated casting techniques: an in vitro study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaidya, Sharad; Parkash, Hari; Bhargava, Akshay; Gupta, Sharad

    2014-01-01

    Abundant resources and techniques have been used for complete coverage crown fabrication. Conventional investing and casting procedures for phosphate-bonded investments require a 2- to 4-h procedure before completion. Accelerated casting techniques have been used, but may not result in castings with matching marginal accuracy. The study measured the marginal gap and determined the clinical acceptability of single cast copings invested in a phosphate-bonded investment with the use of conventional and accelerated methods. One hundred and twenty cast coping samples were fabricated using conventional and accelerated methods, with three finish lines: Chamfer, shoulder and shoulder with bevel. Sixty copings were prepared with each technique. Each coping was examined with a stereomicroscope at four predetermined sites and measurements of marginal gaps were documented for each. A master chart was prepared for all the data and was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version. Evidence of marginal gap was then evaluated by t-test. Analysis of variance and Post-hoc analysis were used to compare two groups as well as to make comparisons between three subgroups . Measurements recorded showed no statistically significant difference between conventional and accelerated groups. Among the three marginal designs studied, shoulder with bevel showed the best marginal fit with conventional as well as accelerated casting techniques. Accelerated casting technique could be a vital alternative to the time-consuming conventional casting technique. The marginal fit between the two casting techniques showed no statistical difference.

  20. Nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) expression in histologically normal margins of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morelatto, Rosana; Itoiz, María-Elina; Guiñazú, Natalia; Piccini, Daniel; Gea, Susana; López-de Blanc, Silvia

    2014-05-01

    The activity of Nitric Oxide Synthase 2 (NOS2) was found in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) but not in normal mucosa. Molecular changes associated to early carcinogenesis have been found in mucosa near carcinomas, which is considered a model to study field cancerization. The aim of the present study is to analyze NOS2 expression at the histologically normal margins of OSCC. Eleven biopsy specimens of OSCC containing histologically normal margins (HNM) were analyzed. Ten biopsies of normal oral mucosa were used as controls. The activity of NOS2 was determined by immunohistochemistry. Salivary nitrate and nitrite as well as tobacco and alcohol consumption were also analyzed. The Chi-squared test was applied. Six out of the eleven HNM from carcinoma samples showed positive NOS2 activity whereas all the control group samples yielded negative (p=0.005). No statistically significant association between enzyme expression and tobacco and/or alcohol consumption and salivary nitrate and nitrite was found. NOS2 expression would be an additional evidence of alterations that may occur in a state of field cancerization before the appearance of potentially malignant morphological changes.

  1. Radiotherapy margin design with particular consideration of high curvature CTVs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herschtal, Alan; Kron, Tomas; Fox, Chris

    2009-01-01

    In applying 3D conformal radiation therapy to a tumor clinical target volume (CTV), a margin is added around the CTV to account for any sources of error in the application of treatment which may result in misalignment between the CTV and the dose distribution actually delivered. The volume enclosed within the CTV plus the margin is known as the PTV, or planning target volume. The larger the errors are anticipated to be, the wider the margin will need to be to accommodate those errors. Based on the approach of van Herk et al. [''The probability of correct target dosage: Dose-population histograms for deriving treatment margins in radiotherapy,'' Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol., Phys. 47(4), 1121-1135 (2000)] this paper develops the mathematical theory behind the calculation of the margin width required to ensure that the entire CTV receives sufficiently high dose with sufficiently high probability. The margin recipe developed not only considers the magnitude of the errors but also includes a term to adjust for curved CTV surfaces. In doing so, the accuracy of the margin recipe is enhanced yet remains mathematically concise enough to be readily implemented in the clinical setting. The results are particularly relevant for clinical situations in which the uncertainties in treatment are large relative to the size of the CTV.

  2. Marginal Pricing and Student Investment in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemelt, Steven W.; Stange, Kevin M.

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines the effect of marginal price on students' educational investments using rich administrative data on students at Michigan public universities. Marginal price refers to the amount colleges charge for each additional credit taken in a semester. Institutions differ in how they price credits above the full-time minimum (of 12…

  3. Are subduction zones invading the atlantic? Evidence from the southwest iberia margin

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duarte, João C.; Rosas, Filipe M.; Terrinha, Pedro; Schellart, Wouter P.; Boutelier, David; Gutscher, Marc André; Ribeiro, António

    Subduction initiation at passive margins plays a central role in the plate tectonics theory. However, the process by which a passive margin becomes active is not well understood. In this paper we use the southwest Iberia margin (SIM) in the Atlantic Ocean to study the process of passive margin

  4. Deregulated model and locational marginal pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sood, Yog Raj; Padhy, N.P.; Gupta, H.O.

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents a generalized optimal model that dispatches the pool in combination with privately negotiated bilateral and multilateral contracts while maximizing social benefit has been proposed. This model determines the locational marginal pricing (LMP) based on marginal cost theory. It also determines the size of non-firm transactions as well as pool demand and generations. Both firms as well as non-firm transactions are considered in this model. The proposed model has been applied to IEEE-30 bus test system. In this test system different types of transactions are added for analysis of the proposed model. (author)

  5. The impact of surgery on survival of patients with cutaneous melanoma: revisiting the role of primary tumor excision margins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mocellin, Simone; Pasquali, Sandro; Nitti, Donato

    2011-02-01

    To quantify the impact of excision margins on disease-specific survival of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma. Current guidelines recommend narrow margins for the treatment of primary melanoma, although available evidence on this subject is not unequivocal and not always appropriately analyzed. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCT) addressing the issue of wide versus narrow excision margins was performed. Meta-analysis methods for time-to-event data were used to extract hazard ratios(HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) from eligible studies, and ultimately to estimate the summary effect of excision margins on patients' survival. The 5 eligible RCT enrolled a total of 3295 patients who were allocated to wide (3-5 cm) or narrow (1-2 cm) excision of their primary tumor. The data of locoregional disease-free (LDFS), disease-free (DFS),disease-specific (DSS), and overall (OS) survival were available for 3, 5, 3, and 5 RCT, respectively. The meta-analysis suggested that narrow margins might be associated with an increased risk of both locoregional disease recurrence (HR: 1.30, CI: 1.07-1.57; P = 0.01) and death by disease (HR: 1.28, CI:1.07-1.53, P = 0.01). As regards DFS, the borderline disadvantage (HR:1.13, CI: 0.995-1.28; P = 0.06) becomes significant when considering RCT that enrolled patients with thicker melanoma (HR: 1.19, CI: 1.02-1.39, P =0.03). When death by any cause (OS) was analyzed, no risk difference was found. The lack of DSS data from all the available RCT does not allow to draw definitive conclusions. However, current evidence appears sufficient to question the common belief that narrow excision margins are as safe as wide margins in the management of primary melanoma, that calls for further investigation in this field.

  6. 30 CFR 204.4 - What is a marginal property under this part?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What is a marginal property under this part... REVENUE MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR MARGINAL PROPERTIES General Provisions § 204.4 What is a marginal property under this part? (a) To qualify as a marginal property eligible for royalty prepayment or...

  7. Analysis of the EDIPO Temperature Margin During Current Ramp-Up

    CERN Document Server

    Marinucci, C; Calvi, Marco; Marinucci, Claudio; Cau, Francesca; Bottura, Luca

    2010-01-01

    The European dipole (EDIPO), currently under construction, will provide background magnetic fields of up to 12.5 T for tests of ITER high-current superconducting cables. The EDIPO winding consists of 7 x 2 double layers of Nb$_{3}$SN cable-in-conduit conductors with forced flow cooling of supercritical helium. The performance limits of EDIPO during current ramp-up are analyzed analysed with the CryoSoft suite of codes, recently integrated into a customizable and flexible environment for the analysis of thermal hydraulic and electrical transients in superconducting magnetic systems. The simultaneous analysis of the cryogenic system and all 14 double layers shows that under all charging conditions the EDIPO temperature margin remains sufficiently high.

  8. Systematic reviews: I. The correlation between laboratory tests on marginal quality and bond strength. II. The correlation between marginal quality and clinical outcome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heintze, Siegward D

    2007-01-01

    An accepted principle in restorative dentistry states that restorations should be placed with the best marginal quality possible to avoid postoperative sensitivity, marginal discoloration, and secondary caries. Different laboratory methods claim to predict the clinical performance of restorative materials, for example, tests of bond strength and microleakage and gap analysis. The purpose of this review was twofold: (1) find studies that correlated the results of bond strength tests with either microleakage or gap analysis for the same materials, and (2) find studies that correlated the results of microleakage and/or gaps with the clinical parameters for the same materials. Furthermore, influencing factors on the results of the laboratory tests were reviewed and assessed. For the first question, searches for studies were conducted in the MEDLINE database and IADR/AADR abtracts online with specific search and inclusion criteria. The outcome for each study was assessed on the basis of the statistical test applied in the study, and finally the number of studies with or without correlation was compiled. For the second question, results of the quantitative marginal analysis of Class V restorations published by the University of Zürich with the same test protocol and prospective clinical trials were searched that investigated the same materials for at least 2 years in Class V cavities. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for pooled data of materials and clinical outcome parameters such as retention loss, marginal discoloration, marginal integrity, and secondary caries. For the correlation of dye penetration and clinical outcome, studies on Class V restorations published by the same research institute were searched in MEDLINE that examined the same adhesive systems as the selected clinical trials. For the correlation bond strength/microleakage, 30 studies were included into the review, and for the correlation bond strength/gap analysis 18 studies. For both

  9. Testing for marginal linear effects in quantile regression

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Huixia Judy

    2017-10-23

    The paper develops a new marginal testing procedure to detect significant predictors that are associated with the conditional quantiles of a scalar response. The idea is to fit the marginal quantile regression on each predictor one at a time, and then to base the test on the t-statistics that are associated with the most predictive predictors. A resampling method is devised to calibrate this test statistic, which has non-regular limiting behaviour due to the selection of the most predictive variables. Asymptotic validity of the procedure is established in a general quantile regression setting in which the marginal quantile regression models can be misspecified. Even though a fixed dimension is assumed to derive the asymptotic results, the test proposed is applicable and computationally feasible for large dimensional predictors. The method is more flexible than existing marginal screening test methods based on mean regression and has the added advantage of being robust against outliers in the response. The approach is illustrated by using an application to a human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance data set.

  10. Testing for marginal linear effects in quantile regression

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Huixia Judy; McKeague, Ian W.; Qian, Min

    2017-01-01

    The paper develops a new marginal testing procedure to detect significant predictors that are associated with the conditional quantiles of a scalar response. The idea is to fit the marginal quantile regression on each predictor one at a time, and then to base the test on the t-statistics that are associated with the most predictive predictors. A resampling method is devised to calibrate this test statistic, which has non-regular limiting behaviour due to the selection of the most predictive variables. Asymptotic validity of the procedure is established in a general quantile regression setting in which the marginal quantile regression models can be misspecified. Even though a fixed dimension is assumed to derive the asymptotic results, the test proposed is applicable and computationally feasible for large dimensional predictors. The method is more flexible than existing marginal screening test methods based on mean regression and has the added advantage of being robust against outliers in the response. The approach is illustrated by using an application to a human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance data set.

  11. Seismic influence in the Quaternary uplift of the Central Chile coastal margin, preliminary results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdivia, D.; del Valle, F.; Marquardt, C.; Elgueta, S.

    2017-12-01

    In order to quantify the influence of NW striking potentially seismogenic normal faults over the longitudinal variation of the Central Chile Coastal margin uplift, we measured Quaternary marine terraces, which represent the tectonic uplift of the coastal margin. Movement in margin oblique normal faults occurs by co-seismic extension of major subduction earthquakes and has occurred in the Pichilemu fault, generating a 7.0 Mw earthquake after the 2010 8.8 Mw Maule earthquake.The coastal area between 32° and 34° S was selected due to the presence of a well-preserved sequence of 2 to 5 Quaternary marine terraces. In particular, the margin oblique normal NW-trending, SW-dipping Laguna Verde fault, south of Valparaiso (33° S) puts in contact contrasting morphologies: to the south, a flat coast with wide marine terraces is carved in both, Jurassic plutonic rocks and Neogene semi-consolidated marine sediments; to the north, a steeper scarp with narrower marine terraces, over 120 m above the corresponding ones in the southern coast, is carved in Jurassic plutonic rocks.We have collected over 6 months microseimic data, providing information on seismic activity and underground geometry of the Laguna Verde fault. We collected ca. 100 systematic measurements of fringes at the base of paleo coastal scarps through field mapping and a 5 m digital elevation model. These fringes mark the maximum sea level during the terrace's carving.The heights of these fringes range between 0 and 250 masl. We estimate a 0.7 mm/yr slip rate for the Laguna Verde fault based on the height difference between corresponding terraces north- and southward, with an average uplift rate of 0.3 mm/yr for the whole area.NW striking normal faults, besides representing a potential seismic threat to the near population on one of the most densely populated areas of Chile, heavily controls the spatial variation of the coastal margin uplift. In Laguna Verde, the uplift rate differs more than three times northward

  12. Reconstructing the tectonic history of Fennoscandia from its margins: The past 100 million years

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muir Wood, R.

    1995-12-01

    In the absence of onland late Mesozoic and Cenozoic geological formations the tectonic history of the Baltic Shield over the past 100 million years can most readily be reconstructed from the thick sedimentary basins that surround Fennoscandia on three sides. Tectonic activity around Fennoscandia through this period has been diverse but can be divided into four main periods: a. pre North Atlantic spreading ridge (100-60 Ma) when transpressional deformation on the southern margins of Fennoscandia and transtensional activity to the west was associated with a NNE-SSW maximum compressive stress direction; b. the creation of the spreading ridge (60-45 Ma) when there was rifting along the western margin; c. the re-arrangement of spreading axes (45-25 Ma) when there was a radial compression around Fennoscandia, and d. the re-emergence of the Iceland hot-spot (25-0 Ma) when the stress-field has come to accord with ridge or plume 'push'. Since 60 Ma the Alpine plate boundary has had little influence on Fennoscandia. The highest levels of deformation on the margins of Fennoscandia were achieved around 85 Ma, 60-55 Ma, with strain-rates around 10 -9 /year. Within the Baltic Shield long term strain rates have been around 10 -1 1/year, with little evidence for evidence for significant deformations passing into the shield from the margins. Fennoscandian Border Zone activity, which was prominent from 90-60 Ma, was largely abandoned following the creation of the Norwegian Sea spreading ridge, and with the exception of the Lofoten margin, there is subsequently very little evidence for deformation passing into Fennoscandia. Renewal of modest compressional deformation in the Voering Basin suggest that the 'Current Tectonic Regime' is of Quaternary age although the orientation of the major stress axis has remained approximately consistent since around 10 Ma. The past pattern of changes suggest that in the geological near-future variations are to be anticipated in the magnitude rather

  13. Reconstructing the tectonic history of Fennoscandia from its margins: The past 100 million years

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muir Wood, R [EQE International Ltd (United Kingdom)

    1995-12-01

    In the absence of onland late Mesozoic and Cenozoic geological formations the tectonic history of the Baltic Shield over the past 100 million years can be reconstructed from the thick sedimentary basins that surround Fennoscandia on three sides. Tectonic activity around Fennoscandia through this period has been diverse but can be divided into four main periods: a. pre North Atlantic spreading ridge (100-60 Ma) when transpressional deformation on the southern margins of Fennoscandia and transtensional activity to the west was associated with a NNE-SSW maximum compressive stress direction; b. the creation of the spreading ridge (60-45 Ma) when there was rifting along the western margin; c. the re-arrangement of spreading axes (45-25 Ma) when there was a radial compression around Fennoscandia, and d. the re-emergence of the Iceland hot-spot (25-0 Ma) when the stress-field has come to accord with ridge or plume `push`. Since 60 Ma the Alpine plate boundary has had little influence on Fennoscandia. The highest levels of deformation on the margins of Fennoscandia were achieved around 85 Ma, 60-55 Ma, with strain-rates around 10{sup -9}/year. Within the Baltic Shield long term strain rates have been around 10{sup -1}1/year, with little evidence for significant deformations passing into the shield from the margins. Fennoscandian Border Zone activity, which was prominent from 90-60 Ma, was largely abandoned following the creation of the Norwegian Sea spreading ridge, and with the exception of the Lofoten margin, there is subsequently little evidence for deformation passing into Fennoscandia. Renewal of modest compressional deformation in the Voering Basin suggest that the `Current Tectonic Regime` is of Quaternary age although the orientation of the major stress axis has remained consistent since around 10 Ma. The past pattern of changes suggest that in the geological near-future variations are to be anticipated in the magnitude rather than the orientation of stresses.

  14. Preface: Biogeochemistry–ecosystem interaction on changing continental margins in the Anthropocene

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Liu, K-K.; Emeis, K.-C.; Levin, L.A.; Naqvi, S.W.A.; Roman, M.

    and hypercapnia in upwelling systems • Interactions between natural and social sciences for better steward- ship of continental margins. It has long been acknowledged (e.g., Doney, 2010; Liu et al., 2010) that marine ecosystems on continental margins, including... and possibly manage margin ecosystems in a changing world. Effective governance of social–ecological systems on continental margins is key to reducing the pervasive over- exploitation, depletion and destruction of marine resources and http://dx.doi.org/10...

  15. Slow decay of magnetic fields in open Friedmann universes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrow, John D.; Tsagas, Christos G.

    2008-01-01

    Magnetic fields in Friedmann universes can experience superadiabatic growth without departing from conventional electromagnetism. The reason is the relativistic coupling between vector fields and spacetime geometry, which slows down the decay of large-scale magnetic fields in open universes, compared to that seen in perfectly flat models. The result is a large relative gain in magnetic strength that can lead to astrophysically interesting B fields, even if our Universe is only marginally open today

  16. Assessment of bioenergy potential on marginal land in China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhuang, Dafang; Jiang, Dong; Liu, Lei; Huang, Yaohuan [Data Center for Resources and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101 (China)

    2011-02-15

    Bioenergy developed from energy plants will play a more and more important role in future energy supply. Much attention has been paid to energy plants in recent years. As China has fairly limited cultivated land resources, the bioenergy development may mainly rely on the exploitation of marginal land. This study focused on the assessment of marginal land resources and bio-fuel potential in China using newly acquired data and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. A multi-factor analysis method was adopted to identify marginal lands for bioenergy development in China, with data of several main types of energy plants on the eco-environmental requirements and natural habits employed. A combined planting zonation strategy was proposed, which was targeted for five species of energy plants including Helianthus tuberous L., Pistacia chinensis, Jatropha curcas L., Cassava and Vernicia fordii. The results indicated that total area of marginal land exploitable for development of energy plants on a large scale was about 43.75 million ha. If 10% of this marginal land was fully utilized for growing the energy plants, the production of bio-fuel would be 13.39 million tons. (author)

  17. Relief for marginal wells is better than energy tax

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swords, J.; Wilson, D.

    1993-01-01

    By increasing production costs and reducing petroleum prices, President Bill Clinton's proposed energy tax would increase marginal well abandonments and hasten the decline of the US oil and gas industry. Instead, the US needs tax law changes to help counteract the increasing number of oil and gas well abandonments in the lower 48 states. The proposed tax would create potential difficulties, while three incentives could be introduced to reduce abandonments and at the same time preserve US government tax revenues that otherwise would be lost. Eliminating the net income limitation on percentage depletion allowances on wells that would otherwise be abandoned would be a great help for marginal well operators. Extended enhanced oil recovery (EOR) credits and broader investment tax credits could also serve the dual purpose of keeping marginal wells operating longer and generating more federal tax revenues. A marginal well investment tax credit should be provided that is not just a credit for incremented investments that exceed investment in prior years. An investment tax credit based on out-of-pocket costs of production, targeted for marginal wells, would be an important incentive to invest in, and continue to maintain, these properties. (author)

  18. In silico particle margination in blood flow

    OpenAIRE

    Müller, Kathrin

    2015-01-01

    A profound knowledge of margination, the migration of blood components to the vessel wall in blood flow, is required in order to understand the genesis of various diseases, as e.g., cardiovascular diseases or bleeding disorders. Margination of particles is a pre-condition for potential adhesion. Adhesion to the vessel wall is required for platelets, the protein von Willebrand factor (VWF), but also for drug and imaging agent carriers in order to perform their particular tasks. In the haemosta...

  19. Leaching of plant protection products to field ditches in the Netherlands : development of a drainpipe scenario for arable land

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tiktak, A.; Boesten, J.J.T.I.; Hendriks, R.F.A.; Linden, van der A.M.A.

    2012-01-01

    In the current Dutch authorisation procedure for calculating exposure of surface water organisms to plant protection products, deposition of drift is considered to be the only source. Drainage from agriclutural fields is being ignored. Because drainage may be an important source for exposure of

  20. Seaward dipping reflectors along the SW continental margin of India: Evidence for volcanic passive margin

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Ajay, K.K.; Chaubey, A.K.; Krishna, K.S.; Rao, D.G.; Sar, D.

    Multi-channel seismic reflection profiles across the southwest continental margin of India (SWCMI) show presence of westerly dipping seismic reflectors beneath sedimentary strata along the western flank of the Laccadive Ridge-northernmost part...

  1. Marginalization and School Nursing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Julia Ann

    2004-01-01

    The concept of marginalization was first analyzed by nursing researchers Hall, Stevens, and Meleis. Although nursing literature frequently refers to this concept when addressing "at risk" groups such as the homeless, gays and lesbians, and those infected with HIV/AIDS, the concept can also be applied to nursing. Analysis of current school nursing…

  2. Margins for geometric uncertainty around organs at risk in radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKenzie, Alan; Herk, Marcel van; Mijnheer, Ben

    2002-01-01

    Background and purpose: ICRU Report 62 suggests drawing margins around organs at risk (ORs) to produce planning organ at risk volumes (PRVs) to account for geometric uncertainty in the radiotherapy treatment process. This paper proposes an algorithm for drawing such margins, and compares the recommended margin widths with examples from clinical practice and discusses the limitations of the approach. Method: The use of the PRV defined in this way is that, despite the geometric uncertainties, the dose calculated within the PRV by the treatment planning system can be used to represent the dose in the OR with a certain confidence level. A suitable level is where, in the majority of cases (90%), the dose-volume histogram of the PRV will not under-represent the high-dose components in the OR. In order to provide guidelines on how to do this in clinical practice, this paper distinguishes types of OR in terms of the tolerance doses relative to the prescription dose and suggests appropriate margins for serial-structure and parallel-structure ORs. Results: In some instances of large and parallel ORs, the clinician may judge that the complication risk in omitting a margin is acceptable. Otherwise, for all types of OR, systematic, treatment preparation uncertainties may be accommodated by an OR→PRV margin width of 1.3Σ. Here, Σ is the standard deviation of the combined systematic (treatment preparation) uncertainties. In the case of serial ORs or small, parallel ORs, the effects of blurring caused by daily treatment execution errors (set-up and organ motion) should be taken into account. Near a region of high dose, blurring tends to shift the isodoses away from the unblurred edge as shown on the treatment planning system by an amount that may be represented by 0.5σ. This margin may be used either to increase or to decrease the margin already calculated for systematic uncertainties, depending upon the size of the tolerance dose relative to the detailed planned dose

  3. PORTRAIT GRAFFITI IN MARGINS OF ANTIQUE LITHUANIAN BOOKS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Burba, Domininkas

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available This article presents and discusses fourteen drawings that portray a human and were found in manuscripts and printed books (documents that were actively used in Lithuania from 17th to 19th centuries. All the drawings were made in the margins of the documents. For the authors the drawings were not planned work but more like quips, scribbles and doodles. Therefore the terms portrait graffiti and (as a synonym portrait marginalia are used to describe the discussed portraits. According to the formal classification of marginal drawings (suggested by J. Liskeviciene two of the examined marginal portraits (no. 10 and 14 are classed as seperate and finished works with their own composition; ten marginal portraits (no. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 represent the readers (document users sketch like drawings. Two other portraits (no. 1 and 3 are just scribbles that have nothing to do with artictic perception and are very close to book graffiti. From the artistic approcah the most sophisticated of the marginal portraits are “the hunt scene” (no. 14 and the late (first half of the 19th century “portrait of the teacher” (no. 13. In the viewpoint of documentary and social communication the discussed marginal drawings did not have a direct addressee. They were made not for public but for personal use. Paleographical, structural and content analysis of the document showed that the author of the “bearded nobleman” portrait (no. 2 could have been the elder of Merkine Antanas Kazimieras Sapiega. The political realia of Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from now GDL are reflected by the heart shaped portrait of a youngster who we can guess is portrayed weeping over the countries misfortunes and internal disagreements duringthe period of foreight military interventions in the years from 1733 to 1736. It was forbiden for scribes to daub on court files and other official GDL documents therefore the discussed graffiti could be linked to psychological stress and

  4. Application of matrix singular value properties for evaluating gain and phase margins of multiloop systems. [stability margins for wing flutter suppression and drone lateral attitude control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, V.; Newsom, J. R.

    1982-01-01

    A stability margin evaluation method in terms of simultaneous gain and phase changes in all loops of a multiloop system is presented. A universal gain-phase margin evaluation diagram is constructed by generalizing an existing method using matrix singular value properties. Using this diagram and computing the minimum singular value of the system return difference matrix over the operating frequency range, regions of guaranteed stability margins can be obtained. Singular values are computed for a wing flutter suppression and a drone lateral attitude control problem. The numerical results indicate that this method predicts quite conservative stability margins. In the second example if the eigenvalue magnitude is used instead of the singular value, as a measure of nearness to singularity, more realistic stability margins are obtained. However, this relaxed measure generally cannot guarantee global stability.

  5. Mobility of fertiliser-derived uranium in arable soils and its contribution to uranium concentrations in groundwater and tap water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smidt, Geerd Ahlrich

    2011-01-01

    Phosphorus (P) mineral fertilisers are found to contain high concentrations of uranium (U) (up to 206 mg U kg -1 ) and other trace elements (TE), such as Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, Th, Nb, Sr, V, and rare earth elements. The content of U and other trace elements is depended on the sedimentary of igneous origin of the rock phosphate. In this study, the production of P fertilisers has been shown to contaminate top soil horizons with U and other trace elements in the close vicinity of a factory located in Southern Brazil. In contrast to this point source, agricultural P fertilisation leads to a diffuse contamination of the agro-ecosystem with U and other fertiliser-derived trace elements on a large scale. Top soil horizons of arable land accumulate fertiliser-derived U. According to the geochemical behaviour of U(VI) species under oxidising conditions, the mobilisation capacity for U in top soil horizons is considered to be high, contrary to other fertiliser-derived heavy metals (e.g. Cd). Hence, it is assumed that U can be leached to shallow groundwater and can reach fresh water resources potentially used for drinking water supply. The aims of this study were to investigate the concentration of U and other contaminants in P fertilisers, to identify geochemical processes of fertiliser-derived U mobility and mobilisation from arable top soil horizons to the groundwater, and to evaluate the origin of U in German groundwater and tap water. This study presents the broadest recent data set on regional distribution of U concentrations in German tap water to which 76 % of the German population has access. The mean U concentration was 0.68 μg L -1 , the median 0.50 μg L -1 . 1.3 % or 1 million of the 80.6 million inhabitants in Germany are exposed to U concentrations in tap water which are higher than the German drinking water threshold limit of 10 μg L -1 . The regional distribution of U concentrations largely agrees with the geological setting reported for mineral waters

  6. Mobility of fertiliser-derived uranium in arable soils and its contribution to uranium concentrations in groundwater and tap water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smidt, Geerd Ahlrich

    2011-12-20

    Phosphorus (P) mineral fertilisers are found to contain high concentrations of uranium (U) (up to 206 mg U kg{sup -1}) and other trace elements (TE), such as Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, Th, Nb, Sr, V, and rare earth elements. The content of U and other trace elements is depended on the sedimentary of igneous origin of the rock phosphate. In this study, the production of P fertilisers has been shown to contaminate top soil horizons with U and other trace elements in the close vicinity of a factory located in Southern Brazil. In contrast to this point source, agricultural P fertilisation leads to a diffuse contamination of the agro-ecosystem with U and other fertiliser-derived trace elements on a large scale. Top soil horizons of arable land accumulate fertiliser-derived U. According to the geochemical behaviour of U(VI) species under oxidising conditions, the mobilisation capacity for U in top soil horizons is considered to be high, contrary to other fertiliser-derived heavy metals (e.g. Cd). Hence, it is assumed that U can be leached to shallow groundwater and can reach fresh water resources potentially used for drinking water supply. The aims of this study were to investigate the concentration of U and other contaminants in P fertilisers, to identify geochemical processes of fertiliser-derived U mobility and mobilisation from arable top soil horizons to the groundwater, and to evaluate the origin of U in German groundwater and tap water. This study presents the broadest recent data set on regional distribution of U concentrations in German tap water to which 76 % of the German population has access. The mean U concentration was 0.68 μg L{sup -1}, the median 0.50 μg L{sup -1}. 1.3 % or 1 million of the 80.6 million inhabitants in Germany are exposed to U concentrations in tap water which are higher than the German drinking water threshold limit of 10 μg L{sup -1}. The regional distribution of U concentrations largely agrees with the geological setting reported for

  7. Optimization of fuel cycles: marginal loss values

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaussens, J.; Lasteyrie, B. de; Doumerc, J.

    1965-01-01

    Uranium processing from the pit to the fuel element rod entails metal losses at every step. These losses become more and more expensive with the elaboration of the metal. Some of the uranium must be accepted as definitely lost whilst the rest could be recovered and recycled. The high cost of these losses, whether they are recycled or not, and the fact that the higher the enrichment is the higher their costs are, make it necessary to take them into account when optimizing fuel cycles. It is therefore felt important to determine their most desirable level from an economic point of view at the various nuclear fuel processing stages. However, in France as in some other countries, fissile material production is a state concern, whilst fuel element fabrication is carried out by private enterprise. Optimization criteria and the economic value of losses are therefore different for each of the two links in the fabrication chain. One can try in spite of this to reach an optimum which would conform to public interest, without interfering with the firm's sales policy. This entails using the fact that for a given output marginal costs are equal at the optimum. One can therefore adjust the level of the losses to attain this equation of marginal costs, as these are easier to obtain from the firm than a justification of the actual prices. One notices moreover that, although mainly concerned with losses, this global analysis can bring both the state and the firm to a better use of other production factors. An account is given of the theory of this economic optimization method and practical applications in the field of natural uranium-graphite moderated and CO 2 cooled reactor fuel element fabrication are offered. (authors) [fr

  8. Small cell lymphocytic variant of marginal zone lymphoma: A distinct form of marginal zone lymphoma derived from naïve B cells as a cutaneous counterpart to the naïve marginal zone lymphoma of splenic origin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magro, Cynthia M; Olson, Luke C

    2018-02-21

    Primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma most commonly represents an indolent form of cutaneous B cell lymphoma. However, epidermotropic marginal zone lymphoma, blastic marginal zone lymphoma and B cell dominant variants without isotype switching can be associated with extracutaneous dissemination. The presumptive cell of origin is a post germinal center B cell with plasmacytic features. In the extracutaneous setting, however, a naïve B cell origin has been proposed for a subset of marginal zone lymphomas, notably splenic marginal zone lymphoma. The author encountered 11 cases of atypical lymphocytic infiltration of the skin primarily occurring in older individuals with an upper arm and head and neck localization; there was a reproducible pattern of diffuse and nodular infiltration by small monomorphic-appearing B cells. Phenotypically, the infiltrate was one predominated by B cells exhibiting CD23 and IgD positivity without immunoreactivity for CD38 and there were either no plasma cells or only a few without light chain restriction. In cases presenting with a solitary lesion complete excision and/or radiation led to successful disease remission in all cases without recurrence or metastatic disease. Of three cases with multiple initial lesions, evidence of extracutaneous disease was seen in two cases and recurrence occurred in one case. No patients have died of lymphoma. Longer term follows up and additional cases are needed to determine if this subset of marginal zone lymphoma is associated with a worse prognosis. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. An audio-magnetotelluric investigation of the eastern margin of the Mamfe Basin, Cameroon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tabod, C.T.; Tokam Kamga, A.-P.; Manguelle-Dicoum, E.; Nouayou, R.; Nguiya, S.

    2006-12-01

    Audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) data has been used to study the eastern margin of the Mamfe sedimentary basin along two profiles. Both profiles run across the sedimentary-metamorphic transition zone in this part of the basin. A 1-D interpretation of these data has been carried out using frequency profiling, pseudosections and geoelectric sections. Studying the propagation of the electric field at each station also gives an initial qualitative understanding of the possible layering of the subsurface at the station. A dioritic basement intrusion into the sediments has been identified along one of these profiles and a granitic intrusion under the other. Faults have been identified along both profiles marking the transition from sedimentary to metamorphic rocks at the eastern edge of the basin. However, this transition is complex and not smooth. This complexity can probably be explained by the fact that regional lithospheric stretching must have been responsible for the formation of this basin resulting in faulting in the eastern margin, thus strengthening the link between this basin and the Benue Trough of Nigeria. (author)

  10. Seismic safety margins research program overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tokarz, F.J.; Smith, P.D.

    1978-01-01

    A multiyear seismic research program has been initiated at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. This program, the Seismic Safety Margins Research Program (SSMRP) is funded by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. The program is designed to develop a probabilistic systems methodology for determining the seismic safety margins of nuclear power plants. Phase I, extending some 22 months, began in July 1978 at a funding level of approximately $4.3 million. Here we present an overview of the SSMRP. Included are discussions on the program objective, the approach to meet the program goal and objectives, end products, the probabilistic systems methodology, and planned activities for Phase I

  11. Marketing margins and agricultural technology in Mozambique

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arndt, Channing; Jensen, Henning Tarp; Robinson, Sherman

    2000-01-01

    of improved agricultural technology and lower marketing margins yield welfare gains across the economy. In addition, a combined scenario reveals significant synergy effects, as gains exceed the sum of gains from the individual scenarios. Relative welfare improvements are higher for poor rural households......Improvements in agricultural productivity and reductions in marketing costs in Mozambique are analysed using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The model incorporates detailed marketing margins and separates household demand for marketed and home-produced goods. Individual simulations...

  12. Carbon-ion radiotherapy for marginal lymph node recurrences of cervical cancer after definitive radiotherapy: a case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamaki, Tomoaki; Nakano, Takashi; Ohno, Tatsuya; Kiyohara, Hiroki; Noda, Shin-ei; Ohkubo, Yu; Ando, Ken; Wakatsuki, Masaru; Kato, Shingo; Kamada, Tadashi

    2013-01-01

    Recurrences of cervical cancer after definitive radiotherapy often occur at common iliac or para-aortic lymph nodes as marginal lymph node recurrences. Patients with these recurrences have a chance of long-term survival by optimal re-treatment with radiotherapy. However, the re-irradiation often overlaps the initial and the secondary radiotherapy fields and can result in increased normal tissue toxicities in the bowels or the stomach. Carbon-ion radiotherapy, a form of particle beam radiotherapy using accelerated carbon ions, offers more conformal and sharp dose distribution than X-ray radiotherapy. Therefore, this approach enables the delivery of high radiation doses to the target while sparing its surrounding normal tissues. Marginal lymph node recurrences in common iliac lymph nodes after radiotherapy were treated successfully by carbon-ion radiotherapy in two patients. These two patients were initially treated with a combination of external beam radiotherapy and intracavitary and interstitial brachytherapy. However, the diseases recurred in the lymph nodes near the border of the initial radiotherapy fields after 22 months and 23 months. Because re-irradiation with X-ray radiotherapy may deliver high doses to a section of the bowels, carbon-ion radiotherapy was selected to treat the lymph node recurrences. A total dose of 48 Gy (RBE) in 12 fractions over 3 weeks was given to the lymph node recurrences, and the tumors disappeared completely with no severe acute toxicities. The two patients showed no evidence of disease for 75 months and 63 months after the initial radiotherapy and for 50 months and 37 months after the carbon-ion radiotherapy, respectively. No severe late adverse effects are observed in these patients. The two presented cases suggest that the highly conformal dose distribution of carbon-ion radiotherapy may be beneficial in the treatment of marginal lymph node recurrences after radiotherapy. In addition, the higher biological effect of carbon

  13. New evidence on the asymmetry in gasoline price: volatility versus margin?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abosedra, S.; Radchenko, S.

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines recent evidence on the role that gasoline margins and volatility play in the asymmetric response of gasoline prices to changes in oil prices at different stages of distribution process. In a regression model with margins, we find that margins are statistically significant in explaining asymmetry between crude oil and spot gasoline prices, spot gasoline prices and wholesale gasoline prices, and wholesale gasoline prices and retail prices. In a regression model with input volatility, we find evidence that volatility is responsible for asymmetry between wholesale gasoline prices and retail gasoline prices. When both, gasoline margins and gasoline volatility are included in the regression, we find evidence supporting margins, the search theory, volatility, the oligopolistic coordination theory and an explanation of asymmetry. (author)

  14. Interpreting Marginal Effects in the Multinomial Logit Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wulff, Jesper

    2014-01-01

    with a substantial increase in the probability of entering a foreign market using a joint venture, while increases in the unpredictability in the host country environment are associated with a lower probability of wholly owned subsidiaries and a higher probability of exporting entries....... that have entered foreign markets. Through the application of a multinomial logit model, careful analysis of the marginal effects is performed through graphical representations, marginal effects at the mean, average marginal effects and elasticities. I show that increasing cultural distance is associated......This paper presents the challenges when researchers interpret results about relationships between variables from discrete choice models with multiple outcomes. The recommended approach is demonstrated by testing predictions from transaction cost theory on a sample of 246 Scandinavian firms...

  15. The Effects of Marginal Deviations on Behavioral Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caprara, Gian Vittorio; Dodge, Kenneth A; Pastorelli, Concetta; Zelli, Arnaldo

    2006-01-01

    This investigation was conceptually framed within the theory of marginal deviations (Caprara & Zimbardo, 1996) and sought evidence for the general hypothesis that some children who initially show marginal behavioral problems may, over time, develop more serious problems depending partly on other personal and behavioral characteristics. To this end, the findings of two studies conducted, respectively, with American elementary school children and Italian middle school students are reviewed. These two studies show that hyperactivity, cognitive difficulties, low special preference, and lack of prosocial behavior increase a child's risk for growth in aggressive behavior over several school years. More importantly, they also show that equivalent levels of these risk factors have a greater impact on the development of children who, early on, were marginally aggressive.

  16. Calculating the marginal costs of a district-heating utility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoedin, Joergen; Henning, Dag

    2004-01-01

    District heating plays an important role in the Swedish heat-market. At the same time, the price of district heating varies considerably among different district-heating utilities. A case study is performed here in which a Swedish utility is analysed using three different methods for calculating the marginal costs of heat supply: a manual spreadsheet method, an optimising linear-programming model, and a least-cost dispatch simulation model. Calculated marginal-costs, obtained with the three methods, turn out to be similar. The calculated marginal-costs are also compared to the actual heat tariff in use by the utility. Using prices based on marginal costs should be able to bring about an efficient resource-allocation. It is found that the fixed rate the utility uses today should be replaced by a time-of-use rate, which would give a more accurate signal for customers to change their heat consumptions. (Author)

  17. Containment safety margins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Von Riesemann, W.A.

    1980-01-01

    Objective of the Containment Safety Margins program is the development and verification of methodologies which are capable of reliably predicting the ultimate load-carrying capability of light water reactor containment structures under accident and severe environments. The program was initiated in June 1980 at Sandia and this paper addresses the first phase of the program which is essentially a planning effort. Brief comments are made about the second phase, which will involve testing of containment models

  18. Fission product margin in burnup credit analyses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finck, P.J.; Stenberg, C.G.

    1998-01-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) is currently working toward the licensing of a methodology for using actinide-only burnup credit for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Important margins are built into this methodology. By using comparisons with a representative experimental database to determine bias factors, the methodology ensures that actinide concentrations and worths are estimated conservatively; furthermore, the negative net reactivity of certain actinides and all fission products (FPs) is not taken into account, thus providing additional margin. A future step of DOE's effort might aim at establishing an actinide and FP burnup credit methodology. The objective of this work is to establish the uncertainty to be applied to the total FP worth in SNF. This will serve two ends. First, it will support the current actinide-only methodology by demonstrating the margin available from FPs. Second, it will identify the major contributions to the uncertainty and help set priorities for future work

  19. On marginally resolved objects in optical interferometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachaume, R.

    2003-03-01

    With the present and soon-to-be breakthrough of optical interferometry, countless objects shall be within reach of interferometers; yet, most of them are expected to remain only marginally resolved with hectometric baselines. In this paper, we tackle the problem of deriving the properties of a marginally resolved object from its optical visibilities. We show that they depend on the moments of flux distribution of the object: centre, mean angular size, asymmetry, and curtosis. We also point out that the visibility amplitude is a second-order phenomenon, whereas the phase is a combination of a first-order term, giving the location of the photocentre, and a third-order term, more difficult to detect than the visibility amplitude, giving an asymmetry coefficient of the object. We then demonstrate that optical visibilities are not a good model constraint while the object stays marginally resolved, unless observations are carried out at different wavelengths. Finally, we show an application of this formalism to circumstellar discs.

  20. Lithosphere structure and subsidence evolution of the conjugate S-African and Argentine margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dressel, Ingo; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Cacace, Mauro; Götze, Hans-Jürgen; Franke, Dieter

    2016-04-01

    The bathymetric evolution of the South Atlantic passive continental margins is a matter of debate. Though it is commonly accepted that passive margins experience thermal subsidence as a result of lithospheric cooling as well as load induced subsidence in response to sediment deposition it is disputed if the South Atlantic passive margins were affected by additional processes affecting the subsidence history after continental breakup. We present a subsidence analysis along the SW African margin and offshore Argentina and restore paleobathymetries to assess the subsidence evolution of the margin. These results are discussed with respect to mechanisms behind margin evolution. Therefore, we use available information about the lithosphere-scale present-day structural configuration of these margins as a starting point for the subsidence analysis. A multi 1D backward modelling method is applied to separate individual subsidence components such as the thermal- as well as the load induced subsidence and to restore paleobathymetries for the conjugate margins. The comparison of the restored paleobathymetries shows that the conjugate margins evolve differently: Continuous subsidence is obtained offshore Argentina whereas the subsidence history of the SW African margin is interrupted by phases of uplift. This differing results for both margins correlate also with different structural configurations of the subcrustal mantle. In the light of these results we discuss possible implications for uplift mechanisms.

  1. Molecular markers in the surgical margin of oral carcinomas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bilde, A.; Buchwald, C. von; Dabelsteen, E.

    2009-01-01

    epithelium in the surgical resection margin may explain the local recurrence rate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of senescence markers, which may represent early malignant changes in the margin that in routine pathological evaluations are classified as histologically normal...

  2. Marginal Fit Comparison of CAD/CAM Crowns Milled from Two Different Materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azarbal, Atousa; Azarbal, Mohsen; Engelmeier, Robert L; Kunkel, Thomas C

    2017-11-16

    To evaluate the marginal fit of CAD/CAM copings milled from hybrid ceramic (Vita Enamic) blocks and lithium disilicate (IPS e.max CAD) blocks, and to evaluate the effect of crystallization firing on the marginal fit of lithium disilicate copings. A standardized metal die with a 1-mm-wide shoulder finish line was imaged using the CEREC AC Bluecam. The coping was designed using CEREC 3 software. The design was used to fabricate 15 lithium disilicate and 15 hybrid ceramic copings. Design and milling were accomplished by one operator. The copings were seated on the metal die using a pressure clamp with a uniform pressure of 5.5 lbs. A Macroview Microscope (14×) was used for direct viewing of the marginal gap. Four areas were imaged on each coping (buccal, distal, lingual, mesial). Image analysis software was used to measure the marginal gaps in μm at 15 randomly selected points on each of the four surfaces. A total of 60 measurements were made per specimen. For lithium disilicate copings the measurements for marginal gap were made before and after crystallization firing. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The overall mean difference in marginal gap between the hybrid ceramic and crystallized lithium disilicate copings was statistically significant (p marginal gaps were measured for crystallized lithium disilicate copings. The overall mean difference in marginal gap before and after firing (precrystallized and crystallized lithium disilicate copings) showed an average of 62 μm increase in marginal gap after firing. This difference was also significant (p marginal gap discrepancy when comparing hybrid ceramic and lithium disilicate CAD/CAM crowns. Also crystallization firing can result in a significant increase in the marginal gap of lithium disilicate CAD/CAM crowns. © 2017 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

  3. Air-sea interactions in the marginal ice zone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seth Zippel

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The importance of waves in the Arctic Ocean has increased with the significant retreat of the seasonal sea-ice extent. Here, we use wind, wave, turbulence, and ice measurements to evaluate the response of the ocean surface to a given wind stress within the marginal ice zone, with a focus on the local wind input to waves and subsequent ocean surface turbulence. Observations are from the Beaufort Sea in the summer and early fall of 2014, with fractional ice cover of up to 50%. Observations showed strong damping and scattering of short waves, which, in turn, decreased the wind energy input to waves. Near-surface turbulent dissipation rates were also greatly reduced in partial ice cover. The reductions in waves and turbulence were balanced, suggesting that a wind-wave equilibrium is maintained in the marginal ice zone, though at levels much less than in open water. These results suggest that air-sea interactions are suppressed in the marginal ice zone relative to open ocean conditions at a given wind forcing, and this suppression may act as a feedback mechanism in expanding a persistent marginal ice zone throughout the Arctic.

  4. Dopamine reward prediction error responses reflect marginal utility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stauffer, William R; Lak, Armin; Schultz, Wolfram

    2014-11-03

    Optimal choices require an accurate neuronal representation of economic value. In economics, utility functions are mathematical representations of subjective value that can be constructed from choices under risk. Utility usually exhibits a nonlinear relationship to physical reward value that corresponds to risk attitudes and reflects the increasing or decreasing marginal utility obtained with each additional unit of reward. Accordingly, neuronal reward responses coding utility should robustly reflect this nonlinearity. In two monkeys, we measured utility as a function of physical reward value from meaningful choices under risk (that adhered to first- and second-order stochastic dominance). The resulting nonlinear utility functions predicted the certainty equivalents for new gambles, indicating that the functions' shapes were meaningful. The monkeys were risk seeking (convex utility function) for low reward and risk avoiding (concave utility function) with higher amounts. Critically, the dopamine prediction error responses at the time of reward itself reflected the nonlinear utility functions measured at the time of choices. In particular, the reward response magnitude depended on the first derivative of the utility function and thus reflected the marginal utility. Furthermore, dopamine responses recorded outside of the task reflected the marginal utility of unpredicted reward. Accordingly, these responses were sufficient to train reinforcement learning models to predict the behaviorally defined expected utility of gambles. These data suggest a neuronal manifestation of marginal utility in dopamine neurons and indicate a common neuronal basis for fundamental explanatory constructs in animal learning theory (prediction error) and economic decision theory (marginal utility). Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Biological impact of geometric uncertainties: what margin is needed for intra-hepatic tumors?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuo, Hsiang-Chi; Liu, Wen-Shan; Wu, Andrew; Mah, Dennis; Chuang, Keh-Shih; Hong, Linda; Yaparpalvi, Ravi; Guha, Chandan; Kalnicki, Shalom

    2010-01-01

    To evaluate and compare the biological impact on different proposed margin recipes for the same geometric uncertainties for intra-hepatic tumors with different tumor cell types or clinical stages. Three different margin recipes based on tumor motion were applied to sixteen IMRT plans with a total of twenty two intra-hepatic tumors. One recipe used the full amplitude of motion measured from patients to generate margins. A second used 70% of the full amplitude of motion, while the third had no margin for motion. The biological effects of geometric uncertainty in these three situations were evaluated with Equivalent Uniform Doses (EUD) for various survival fractions at 2 Gy (SF 2 ). There was no significant difference in the biological impact between the full motion margin and the 70% motion margin. Also, there was no significant difference between different tumor cell types. When the margin for motion was eliminated, the difference of the biological impact was significant among different cell types due to geometric uncertainties. Elimination of the motion margin requires dose escalation to compensate for the biological dose reduction due to the geometric misses during treatment. Both patient-based margins of full motion and of 70% motion are sufficient to prevent serious dosimetric error. Clinical implementation of margin reduction should consider the tumor sensitivity to radiation

  6. Regrounding in Place: Paths to Native American Truths at the Margins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucas, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Margin acts as ground to receive the figure of the text. Margin is initially unreadable, but as suggested by gestalt studies, may be reversed, or regrounded. A humanities course, "Native American Architecture and Place," was created for a polytechnic student population, looking to place as an inroad for access to the margins of a better…

  7. Reaction des bororos face a l'occupation des pâturages du Mont Mbapit par les agriculteurs (Ouest Cameroun

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ngapgue Jean Noël

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Mount Mbapit (1988m had since been exploited by Bororo rearers. Being a volcanic mountain it is however characterised by fertile soils that are suitable for arable agricultural. In recent years arable farmers have encroached into hitherto pasture lands for food crop cultivation. This has orchestrated conflicts between the arable farmers and the breeders over land. This asserted rush for space is susceptible to put an end to cattle rearing on the mountain, provoking reactions from Bororo. Information derived from satellite photographs and field work depicts the conquest of space by arable farmers and new space organisation on the mountain by the different stakeholders. Food crop cultivation and market gardening destined principally for sales have replaced transhumant cattle rearing. It is also observed that the mode of life of the Bororo pastoralists has changed from nomadic to sedentary life style as they have also taken to arable agriculture. The former Bororo camps made of houses constructed with makeshift materials have of late been replaced by permanent houses surrounded by enclosed farms. Consequently, the rearing of cattle has been relegated to the steep mountain slopes. The rush for land for arable and pastoral farming on these mountain slopes adjoining densely populated villages obscure other activities such as tourism and culture that could be developed. This study analyses this conflicting situation and explains the adaptations by the solution taken by the subjugated pastoralists.

  8. Safety margins in older adults increase with improved control of a dynamic object

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasson, Christopher J.; Sternad, Dagmar

    2014-01-01

    Older adults face decreasing motor capabilities due to pervasive neuromuscular degradations. As a consequence, errors in movement control increase. Thus, older individuals should maintain larger safety margins than younger adults. While this has been shown for object manipulation tasks, several reports on whole-body activities, such as posture and locomotion, demonstrate age-related reductions in safety margins. This is despite increased costs for control errors, such as a fall. We posit that this paradox could be explained by the dynamic challenge presented by the body or also an external object, and that age-related reductions in safety margins are in part due to a decreased ability to control dynamics. To test this conjecture we used a virtual ball-in-cup task that had challenging dynamics, yet afforded an explicit rendering of the physics and safety margin. The hypotheses were: (1) When manipulating an object with challenging dynamics, older adults have smaller safety margins than younger adults. (2) Older adults increase their safety margins with practice. Nine young and 10 healthy older adults practiced moving the virtual ball-in-cup to a target location in exactly 2 s. The accuracy and precision of the timing error quantified skill, and the ball energy relative to an escape threshold quantified the safety margin. Compared to the young adults, older adults had increased timing errors, greater variability, and decreased safety margins. With practice, both young and older adults improved their ability to control the object with decreased timing errors and variability, and increased their safety margins. These results suggest that safety margins are related to the ability to control dynamics, and may explain why in tasks with simple dynamics older adults use adequate safety margins, but in more complex tasks, safety margins may be inadequate. Further, the results indicate that task-specific training may improve safety margins in older adults. PMID:25071566

  9. Safety Margins in Older Adults Increase with Improved Control of a Dynamic Object

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher James Hasson

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Older adults face decreasing motor capabilities due to pervasive neuromuscular degradations. As a consequence errors in movement control increase. Thus, older individuals should maintain larger safety margins than younger adults. While this has been shown for object manipulation tasks, several reports on whole-body activities, such as posture and locomotion, however demonstrate age-related reductions in safety margins. This is despite increased costs for control errors, such as a fall. We posit that this paradox could be explained by the dynamic challenge presented by the body or an external object, and that age-related reductions in safety margins are in part due to a decreased ability to control dynamics. To test this conjecture we used a virtual ball-in-cup task that had challenging dynamics, yet afforded an explicit rendering of the physics and safety margin. The hypotheses were: 1 When manipulating an object with challenging dynamics, older adults have smaller safety margins than younger adults. 2 Older adults increase their safety margins with practice. Nine young and 10 healthy older adults practiced moving the virtual ball-in-cup to a target location in exactly two seconds. The accuracy and precision of the timing error quantified skill and the ball energy relative to an escape threshold quantified the safety margin. Compared to the young adults, older adults had increased timing errors, greater variability, and decreased safety margins. With practice, both young and older adults improved their ability to control the object with decreased timing errors and variability, and increased their safety margins. These results suggest that safety margins are related to the ability to control dynamics, and may explain why in tasks with simple dynamics older adults use adequate safety margins, but in more complex tasks, safety margins may be inadequate. Further, the results indicate that task-specific training may improve safety margins in older

  10. Texas curve margin of safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    This software can be used to assist with the assessment of margin of safety for a horizontal curve. It is intended for use by engineers and technicians responsible for safety analysis or management of rural highway pavement or traffic control devices...

  11. Marginality and Social Rejection in Amiri Baraka's Slave Ship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Hammad Abed

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Marginality and social rejection are the most influential matters exploited by Baraka to intentionally criticize the American society.  More often than not, these two matters have become the scenes of major or minor acts of humiliation and dehumanization that threaten to violate the ethical rules of living. This paper aims at investigating the impact of marginality and social rejection on a number of black characters in Baraka's Slave Ship who are brought to America to be sold as commodities. It is divided into two sections and conclusion. Section one deals with Amiri Baraka’s dramatic thought and experience of marginality within the American society. The textual analysis of Slave Ship is investigated in section two. The significance of the study lies in its textual exploration of the impact of marginality and social rejection in subverting the American dream of democracy, freedom, and equality in Baraka’s Slave Ship.

  12. Marginal Bone Loss after Ten Years in an Adult Danish Population: A Radiographic Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahrami, Golnosh; Vaeth, Michael; Wenzel, Ann; Isidor, Flemming

    To evaluate marginal bone loss over a 10-year period in individuals and in tooth groups in relation to age and level of marginal bone. In 1997, 616 randomly selected individuals (mean age: 42 years, range: 21-63 years) underwent a full-mouth radiographic survey. In 2008, the survey was repeated in 362 of the same individuals (182 women and 180 men). The marginal bone level of each tooth was measured in mm from the cementoenamel junction to the marginal bone. These measurements were used to calculate marginal bone loss during the 10-year period for individuals and tooth groups in relation to age and to baseline marginal bone level, calculated as the average between measurements in 1997 and 2008 to circumvent regression towards the mean. The average annual marginal bone loss was 0.09 mm (SD ± 0.04 mm) during the 10-year study period. The association between marginal bone loss and baseline marginal bone level was more pronounced in the youngest age group, compared to the other age groups. Molars displayed the most severe bone loss during the study period. Marginal bone loss over a 10-year period is associated with age and baseline marginal bone level. Younger individuals with a reduced marginal bone level were at higher risk for further bone loss. Molars lose marginal bone more rapidly than other tooth groups.

  13. Marginal Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Item Response Models in R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew S. Johnson

    2007-02-01

    Full Text Available Item response theory (IRT models are a class of statistical models used by researchers to describe the response behaviors of individuals to a set of categorically scored items. The most common IRT models can be classified as generalized linear fixed- and/or mixed-effect models. Although IRT models appear most often in the psychological testing literature, researchers in other fields have successfully utilized IRT-like models in a wide variety of applications. This paper discusses the three major methods of estimation in IRT and develops R functions utilizing the built-in capabilities of the R environment to find the marginal maximum likelihood estimates of the generalized partial credit model. The currently available R packages ltm is also discussed.

  14. Transforming variability to profitability – variable seed rates in New Zealand maize

    OpenAIRE

    Holmes, A

    2017-01-01

    The use of variable rate seeding (VRS) in arable crops to match seeding rates to areas with homogenous paddock performance, known as Management Zones (MZ) is widespread worldwide. However, VRS has not been undertaken in commercial maize crops in New Zealand. This paper outlines a single maize VRS trial carried out in the 2015/16 growing season in the Waikato, New Zealand, to investigate the relationship between different seeding rates and MZ to maximise crop yield, but also gross margin (GM)....

  15. Land-cover effects on soil organic carbon stocks in a European city.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmondson, Jill L; Davies, Zoe G; McCormack, Sarah A; Gaston, Kevin J; Leake, Jonathan R

    2014-02-15

    Soil is the vital foundation of terrestrial ecosystems storing water, nutrients, and almost three-quarters of the organic carbon stocks of the Earth's biomes. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks vary with land-cover and land-use change, with significant losses occurring through disturbance and cultivation. Although urbanisation is a growing contributor to land-use change globally, the effects of urban land-cover types on SOC stocks have not been studied for densely built cities. Additionally, there is a need to resolve the direction and extent to which greenspace management such as tree planting impacts on SOC concentrations. Here, we analyse the effect of land-cover (herbaceous, shrub or tree cover), on SOC stocks in domestic gardens and non-domestic greenspaces across a typical mid-sized U.K. city (Leicester, 73 km(2), 56% greenspace), and map citywide distribution of this ecosystem service. SOC was measured in topsoil and compared to surrounding extra-urban agricultural land. Average SOC storage in the city's greenspace was 9.9 kg m(-2), to 21 cm depth. SOC concentrations under trees and shrubs in domestic gardens were greater than all other land-covers, with total median storage of 13.5 kg m(-2) to 21 cm depth, more than 3 kg m(-2) greater than any other land-cover class in domestic and non-domestic greenspace and 5 kg m(-2) greater than in arable land. Land-cover did not significantly affect SOC concentrations in non-domestic greenspace, but values beneath trees were higher than under both pasture and arable land, whereas concentrations under shrub and herbaceous land-covers were only higher than arable fields. We conclude that although differences in greenspace management affect SOC stocks, trees only marginally increase these stocks in non-domestic greenspaces, but may enhance them in domestic gardens, and greenspace topsoils hold substantial SOC stores that require protection from further expansion of artificial surfaces e.g. patios and driveways. Copyright

  16. Participatory democracy and Hillary Clinton’s marginalized fandom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abigail De Kosnik

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available After the drawn-out, heated contest for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and Senator Obama's victory over Senator Clinton, a segment of Clinton's supporters are threatening to leave the party rather than fall in line behind the nominee. This essay argues that the battle between Clinton's and Obama's followers is best understood as a war between fan bases, with Obama enthusiasts constituting as the dominant fandom and Clinton voters occupying the position of marginalized fandom. Marginalized fandoms tend to blame the opposing fan base, intermediaries, and The Powers That Be for their fan campaigns' losses, and Clinton's fans are adhering to this pattern. However, the Clinton marginalized fandom's complaints can be regarded as valuable critiques that, if noted rather than dismissed, could greatly strengthen participatory democracy in the United States.

  17. Planning target volumes for radiotherapy: how much margin is needed?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Antolak, John A.; Rosen, Isaac I.

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: The radiotherapy planning target volume (PTV) encloses the clinical target volume (CTV) with anisotropic margins to account for possible uncertainties in beam alignment, patient positioning, organ motion, and organ deformation. Ideally, the CTV-PTV margin should be determined solely by the magnitudes of the uncertainties involved. In practice, the clinician usually also considers doses to abutting healthy tissues when deciding on the size of the CTV-PTV margin. This study calculates the ideal size of the CTV-PTV margin when only physical position uncertainties are considered. Methods and Materials: The position of the CTV for any treatment is assumed to be described by independent Gaussian distributions in each of the three Cartesian directions. Three strategies for choosing a CTV-PTV margin are analyzed. The CTV-PTV margin can be based on: 1. the probability that the CTV is completely enclosed by the PTV; 2. the probability that the projection of the CTV in the beam's eye view (BEV) is completely enclosed by the projection of the PTV in the BEV; and 3. the probability that a point on the edge of the CTV is within the PTV. Cumulative probability distributions are derived for each of the above strategies. Results: Expansion of the CTV by 1 standard deviation (SD) in each direction results in the CTV being entirely enclosed within the PTV 24% of the time; the BEV projection of the CTV is enclosed within the BEV projection of the PTV 39% of the time; and a point on the edge of the CTV is within the PTV 84% of the time. To have the CTV enclosed entirely within the PTV 95% of the time requires a margin of 2.8 SD. For the BEV projection of the CTV to be within the BEV projection of the PTV 95% of the time requires a margin of 2.45 SD. To have any point on the surface of the CTV be within the PTV 95% of the time requires a margin of 1.65 SD. Conclusion: In the first two strategies for selecting a margin, the probability of finding the CTV within the PTV is

  18. Marginal Loss Calculations for the DCOPF

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eldridge, Brent [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States); Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States); O' Neill, Richard P. [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States); Castillo, Andrea R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2016-12-05

    The purpose of this paper is to explain some aspects of including a marginal line loss approximation in the DCOPF. The DCOPF optimizes electric generator dispatch using simplified power flow physics. Since the standard assumptions in the DCOPF include a lossless network, a number of modifications have to be added to the model. Calculating marginal losses allows the DCOPF to optimize the location of power generation, so that generators that are closer to demand centers are relatively cheaper than remote generation. The problem formulations discussed in this paper will simplify many aspects of practical electric dispatch implementations in use today, but will include sufficient detail to demonstrate a few points with regard to the handling of losses.

  19. Marginalism, quasi-marginalism and critical phenomena in micellar solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reatto, L.

    1986-01-01

    The observed nonuniversal critical behaviour of some micellar solutions is interpreted in terms of quasi-marginalism, i.e. the presence of a coupling which scales with an exponent very close to the spatial dimensionality. This can give rise to a preasymptotic region with varying effective critical exponents with a final crossover to the Ising ones. The reduced crossover temperature is estimated to be below 10 -6 . The exponents β and γ measured in C 12 e 5 are in good agreement with the scaling law expected to hold for the effective exponents. The model considered by Shnidman is found unable to explain the nonuniversal critical behaviour

  20. Pricing district heating by marginal cost

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Difs, Kristina; Trygg, Louise

    2009-01-01

    A vital measure for industries when redirecting the energy systems towards sustainability is conversion from electricity to district heating (DH). This conversion can be achieved for example, by replacing electrical heating with DH and compression cooling with heat-driven absorption cooling. Conversion to DH must, however, always be an economically attractive choice for an industry. In this paper the effects for industries and the local DH supplier are analysed when pricing DH by marginal cost in combination with industrial energy efficiency measures. Energy audits have shown that the analysed industries can reduce their annual electricity use by 30% and increase the use of DH by 56%. When marginal costs are applied as DH tariffs and the industrial energy efficiency measures are implemented, the industrial energy costs can be reduced by 17%. When implementing the industrial energy efficiency measures and also considering a utility investment in the local energy system, the local DH supplier has a potential to reduce the total energy system cost by 1.6 million EUR. Global carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 25,000 tonnes if the industrial energy efficiency measures are implemented and when coal-condensing power is assumed to be the marginal electricity source