Midterm evaluation of DARCOF II. Increased production and closer relationships between organic and inherent qualities

In October 2002 seven international scientists with expertise on organic farming performed an evaluation of the ongoing Danish research effort in organic food and farming (DARCOF II). The evaluation covers 23 individual projects established in 2000 and the DARCOF II programme as a whole

John

Reviewed Book: Beasley-Murray, George Raymond. John. Waco, Tex: Word Books, 1988. Word biblical commentary; 36

Numerical Study of Amplified Spontaneous Emission and Lasing in Random Media

We simulate the transition from amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) to lasing in random systems with varying degrees of mode overlap. This is accomplished by solving the stochastic Maxwell-Bloch equations with the finite-difference time-domain method. Below lasing threshold, the continuous emission spectra are narrowed by frequency-dependent amplification. Our simulations reproduce the stochastic emission spikes in the spectra. Well-defined peaks, corresponding to the system resonances, emerge at higher pumping and are narrowed by stimulated emission before lasing takes place. Noise tends to distribute pump energy over many modes, resulting in multi-mode operation. Well above the lasing threshold, the effects of noise lessen and results become similar to those without noise. By comparing systems of different scattering strength, we find that weaker scattering extends the transition region from ASE to lasing, where the effects of noise are most significant.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure

Nonlinear propagation of light in structured media: generalized unidirectional pulse propagation equations

Unidirectional pulse propagation equations [UPPE, Phys. Rev. E 70, 036604 (2004)] have provided a theoretical underpinning for computer-aided investigations into dynamics of high-power ultrashort laser pulses and have been successfully utilized for almost a decade. Unfortunately, they are restricted to applications in bulk media or, with additional approximations, to simple waveguide geometries in which only a few guided modes can approximate the propagating waveform. The purpose of this work is to generalize the directional pulse propagation equations to structures characterized by strong refractive index differences and material interfaces. We also outline a numerical solution framework that draws on the combination of the bulk-media UPPE method with single-frequency beam-propagation techniques.Comment: 8 page

Finding the key transition states and intermediates controlling net reaction rates and selectivity

In this paper Campbell's degree of rate control is extended to introduce the concepts of degree of kinetic rate control, degree of kinetic selectivity control, degree of thermodynamic rate control and degree of thermodynamic selectivity control. It is demonstrated by applying hypothetical but realistic kinetic models of varying complexity that the new methods offers a rigorous framework to analyze the importance of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters i.e. establishing the critical parameters of the kinetic model. The methods are general and can be applied to complex reaction networks with multiple overall reactions not only in heterogeneous catalysis but for all sorts of chemical kinetic models

DARCOF II. Danish research in Organic Food and Farming systems 2000-2005

The aim of this book is to present a comprehensive overview of the 41 research projects undertaken in the period 2000-2005 in the research programme DARCOF II.For each project there is a description of its background and objective in terms of which issues gave rise to the project and what the project aims to achieve. This is followed by a short description of the experiments or investigations that have been undertaken in the project. The general and applicable results derived from the project are finally described. For each project there is a reference to a project home page on www.darcof.dk. Via this page there is direct access to "Organic Eprints", which is the site containing all the project publications – both technical and scientific

The fifth most prevalent disease is being neglected by public health organisations

The progress towards reduction of global mortality has produced an epidemiological transition towards non-fatal diseases, which challenge the ability of the world’s population to live in full health. Although traumatic dental injuries are not lethal, their treatment is more expensive (US$2 000 000–5 000 000 per million inhabitants) and time-consuming than that of all the other bodily injuries, making dental rehabilitation less likely among disadvantaged individuals. Since untreated traumatic dental injuries have a negative social, functional, and emotional effect in children and adolescents, differences in treatment of these injuries between children from different countries and social classes produce disparities in their quality of life

Haematoxenus separatus sp. n. (Sporozoa, Theileriidae) a new tickborne blood parasite of domestic sheep in Tanzania

Après une revue du genre Haematoxenus, connu chez le bovin, le buffle africain et des antilopes africaines, les auteurs rapportent la découverte d'une nouvelle espèce de ce genre chez le mouton domestique en Tanzanie, H. separatus sp. n. Le parasite, apparu chez un mouton après splénectomie, a pu être transmis à un second mouton par inoculation de sang infecté. Le parasite diffère morphologiquement des Theileriidae déjà connues chez le mouton par la présence d'un voile, particularité du genre Haematoxenus; de plus, ses dimensions sont plus grandes que celles de Theileria ovis de Madagascar et de la République Centrafricaine. On ne sait pas encore si des éléments sans voile, apparus en même temps que les formes à voile, appartiennent à l'espèce H. separatus ou s'ils doivent être attribués à une infection mixte. Le voile est séparé du parasite, contrairement à celui d'H. veliferus. Le voile semble provenir du cytoplasme de l'érythrocyte infesté. La division d'H. separatus dans les globules rouges se fait en quatre, comme chez les autres Theileriidae. Des stades exo-érythrocytaires n'ont pas encore été observés. Une modification de la définition du genre Haematoxenus est proposé