Business orientation and the food security status of small scale producers in the Venda region, South Africa

Questions addressed in this paper are: How to determine the food status of rural households; and does an agribusiness orientation enhance the food security status of farm families. A study was conducted on two groups of small scale black farmers in the Venda region: one group, agribusiness directed and generally more progressive towards technology, produces mangos and other subtropical fruits (cash crop farmers); the other group concentrates on locally consumed and sold vegetables (food crop farmers). Their food status was quantitatively determined by means of household energy, protein and fat balances and food security determinants were identified. More than 80% of the households had a negative balance for energy, protein or fat. Business orientation and farming type in this particular case study does not influence the energy, protein and fat coverage significantly. The marginal nature of farming by these small holders could explain this finding. Significant predictors of food security status were rather factors such as the household size and the availability of outside sources of income and cash to spend on food.Agribusiness, Food Security and Poverty,

Optical measurement of heteronuclear cross-relaxation interactions in Tm:YAG

We investigate cross-relaxation interactions between Tm and Al in Tm:YAG using two optical methods: spectral holeburning and stimulated echoes. These interactions lead to a reduction in the hyperfine lifetime at magnetic fields that bring the Tm hyperfine transition into resonance with an Al transition. We develop models for measured echo decay curves and holeburning spectra near a resonance, which are used to show that the Tm-Al interaction has a resonance width of 10~kHz and reduces the hyperfine lifetime to 0.5 ms. The antihole structure is consistent with an interaction dominated by the Al nearest neighbors at 3.0 Angstroms, with some contribution from the next nearest neighbors at 3.6 Angstroms.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Securing coherence rephasing with a pair of adiabatic rapid passages

Coherence rephasing is an essential step in quantum storage protocols that use echo-based strategies. We present a thorough analysis on how two adiabatic rapid passages (ARP) are able to rephase atomic coherences in an inhomogeneously broadened ensemble. We consider both the cases of optical and spin coherences, rephased by optical or radio-frequency (rf) ARPs, respectively. We show how a rephasing sequence consisting of two ARPs in a double-echo scheme is equivalent to the identity operator (any state can be recovered), as long as certain conditions are fulfilled. Our mathematical treatment of the ARPs leads to a very simple geometrical interpretation within the Bloch sphere that permits a visual comprehension of the rephasing process. We also identify the conditions that ensure the rephasing, finding that the phase of the optical or rf ARP fields plays a key role in the capability of the sequence to preserve the phase of the superposition state. This settles a difference between optical and rf ARPs, since field phase control is not readily guaranteed in the former case. We also provide a quantitative comparison between $\pi$-pulse and ARP rephasing efficiencies, showing the superiority of the latter. We experimentally verify the conclusions of our analysis through rf ARP rephasing sequencies performed on the rare-earth ion-doped crystal Tm$^{3+}$:YAG, of interest in quantum memories.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figure

Dietary red meat aggravates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice whereas resistant starch attenuates inflammation

Although a genetic component has been identified as a risk factor for developing inflammatory bowel disease, there is evidence that dietary factors also play a role in the development of this disease. Aims The aim of this study was to determine the effects of feeding a red meat diet with and without resistant starch (RS) to mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. Methods Colonic experimental colitis was induced in Balb/c mice using DSS. The severity of colitis was evaluated based on a disease activity index (based on bodyweight loss, stool consistency, rectal bleeding, and overall condition of the animal) and a histological score. Estimations were made of numbers of a range of different bacteria in the treatment pools of cecal digesta using quantitative real-time PCR. Results Consumption of a diet high in red meat increased DSS-induced colitis as evidenced by higher disease activity and histopathological scores. Addition of RS to the red meat diet exerted a beneficial effect in acute DSS-induced colitis. Subjective analysis of numbers of a range of bacterial targets suggest changes in the gut microbiota abundance were induced by red meat and RS treatments and these changes could contribute to the reported outcomes. Conclusions A dietary intake of red meat aggravates DSS-induced colitis whereas co-consumption of resistant starch reduces the severity of colitis.This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (grant ID 535079) and CSIRO Preventative Health National Research Flagship

Spin Wave Eigenmodes of Dzyaloshinskii Domain Walls

A theory for the spin wave eigenmodes of a Dzyaloshinskii domain wall is presented. These walls are N\'eel-type domain walls that can appear in perpendicularly-magnetized ultrathin ferromagnets in the presence of a sizeable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The mode frequencies for spin waves propagating parallel and perpendicular to the domain wall are computed using a continuum approximation. In contrast to Bloch-type walls, it is found that the spin wave potential associated with Dzyaloshinskii domain walls is not reflectionless, which leads to a finite scattering cross-section for interactions between spin waves and domain walls. A gap produced by the Dzyaloshinskii interaction emerges, and consequences for spin wave driven domain wall motion and band structures arising from periodic wall arrays are discussed

A low optical depth region in the inner disk of the HerbigAe star HR5999

Circumstellar disks surrounding young stars are known to be the birthplaces of planets, and the innermost astronomical unit is of particular interest. We present new long-baseline spectro-interferometric observations of the HerbigAe star, HR5999, obtained in the H and K bands with the AMBER instrument at the VLTI, and aim to produce near-infrared images at the sub-AU spatial scale. We spatially resolve the circumstellar material and reconstruct images using the MiRA algorithm. In addition, we interpret the interferometric observations using models that assume that the near-infrared excess is dominated by the emission of a circumstellar disk. We compare the images reconstructed from the VLTI measurements to images obtained using simulated model data. The K-band image reveals three main elements: a ring-like feature located at ~0.65 AU, a low surface brightness region inside, and a central spot. At the maximum angular resolution of our observations (1.3 mas), the ring is resolved while the central spot is only marginally resolved, preventing us from revealing the exact morphology of the circumstellar environment. We suggest that the ring traces silicate condensation, i.e., an opacity change, in a circumstellar disk around HR 5999. We build a model that includes a ring at the silicate sublimation radius and an inner disk of low surface brightness responsible for a large amount of the near-infrared continuum emission. The model successfully fits the SED, visibilities, and closure phases, and provides evidence of a low surface brightness region inside the silicate sublimation radius. This study provides additional evidence that in HerbigAe stars, there is material in a low surface brightness region, probably a low optical depth region, located inside the silicate sublimation radius and of unknown nature.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Accumulation of promutagenic DNA adducts in the mouse distal colon after consumption of heme does not induce colonic neoplasms in the western diet model of spontaneous colorectal cancer

Author version made available in accordance with Publisher copyright policy.Scope: Red meat is considered a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). Heme is considered to promote colonic hyperproliferation and cell damage. Resistant starch (RS) is a food that ferments in the colon with studies demonstrating protective effects against CRC. By utilizing the western diet model of spontaneous CRC, we determined if feeding heme (as hemin chloride) equivalent to a high red meat diet would increase colonic DNA adducts and CRC and whether RS could abrogate such effects. Methods and results: Four groups of mice: control, heme, RS and heme + RS were fed diets for 1 or 18 months. Colons were analyzed for apoptosis, proliferation, DNA adducts “8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine” and “O6-methyl-2-deoxyguanosine” (O6MeG), and neoplasms. In the short term, heme increased cell proliferation (p < 0.05). Changes from 1 to 18 months showed increased cell proliferation (p<0.01) and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine adducts (p < 0.05) in all groups, but only heme-fed mice showed reduced apoptosis (p < 0.01) and increasedO6MeGadducts (p<0.01). The incidence of colon neoplasms was not different between any interventions. Conclusion: We identified heme to increase proliferation in the short term, inhibit apoptosis over the long term, and increase O6MeG adducts in the colon over time although these changes did not affect colonic neoplasms within this mouse model.Funding for this project was provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Project number 535079).We would like to acknowledge the Royal Society of Edinburgh for funding a visit for Dr. SilviaGratz fromUKto Australia to carry out work associated with this project

ISO spectroscopy of disks around Herbig Ae/Be stars

We have investigated the infrared spectra of all 46 Herbig Ae/Be stars for which spectroscopic data is available in the ISO data archive. Our quantitative analysis of these spectra focusses on the emission bands linked to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the amorphous 10 micron silicate band and the crystalline silicate band at 11.3 micron. We have detected PAH emission in 57% of the Herbig stars in our sample. Clear examples of differences in the PAH spectra are present within our sample, indicating differences in PAH size, chemistry and/or ionization. Amorphous silicate emission was detected in the spectra of 52% of the sample stars, amorphous silicate absorption in 13%. We have detected crystalline silicate emission in 11 stars (24% of our sample), of which four (9%) also display strong PAH emission. We have classified the sample sources according to the strength of their mid-IR energy distribution. The systems with stronger mid-infared (20-100 um) excesses relative to their near-infrared (1-5 um) excess display significantly more PAH emission than those with weaker mid-infrared excesses. This provides strong observational support for the disk models by Dullemond (2002), in which systems with a flaring disk geometry display a strong mid-infrared excess, whereas those with disks that are strongly shadowed by the puffed-up inner rim of the disk only display modest amounts of mid-infrared emission. The PAH emission is expected to be produced mainly in the part of the disk atmosphere that is directly exposed to radiation from the central star. In this model, self-shadowed disks should display weaker PAH emission than flared disks, consistent with our observations.Comment: 27 pages, 26 figures, A&A accepted (22/06/2004

The Dixmier property and tracial states for C*-algebras

A.T. was partially supported by an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship and through the EPSRC grant EP/N00874X/1. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Luis Santiago for helpful discussions at an early stage of this investigation. We would also like to thank the referee for providing helpful comments, which have led to a number of improvements.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Dressed States Approach to Quantum Systems

Using the non-perturbative method of {\it dressed} states previously introduced in JPhysA, we study effects of the environment on a quantum mechanical system, in the case the environment is modeled by an ensemble of non interacting harmonic oscillators. This method allows to separate the whole system into the {\it dressed} mechanical system and the {\it dressed} environment, in terms of which an exact, non-perturbative approach is possible. When applied to the Brownian motion, we give explicit non-perturbative formulas for the classical path of the particle in the weak and strong coupling regimes. When applied to study atomic behaviours in cavities, the method accounts very precisely for experimentally observed inhibition of atomic decay in small cavities PhysLA, physics0111042