Quantitative study of molecular N_2 trapped in disordered GaN:O films

The structure of disordered GaN:O films grown by ion-assisted deposition is investigated using x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It is found that between 4 and 21 % of the nitrogen in the films is in the form of molecular N_2 that interacts only weakly with the surrounding matrix. The anion to cation ratio in the GaN:O host remains close to unity, and there is a close correlation between the N_2 fraction, the level of oxygen impurities, and the absence of short-range order in the GaN:O matrix.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Global Opportunities to Increase Agricultural Independence Through Phosphorus Recycling

Food production hinges largely upon access to phosphorus (P) fertilizer. Most fertilizer P used in the global agricultural system comes from mining of nonrenewable phosphate rock deposits located within few countries. However, P contained in livestock manure or urban wastes represents a recyclable source of P. To inform development of P recycling technologies and policies, we examined subnational, national, and global spatial patterns for two intersections of land use affording high P recycling potential: (a) manure‐rich cultivated areas and (b) populous cultivated areas. In turn, we examined overlap between P recycling potential and nation‐level P fertilizer import dependency. Populous cultivated areas were less abundant globally than manure‐rich cultivated areas, reflecting greater segregation between crops and people compared to crops and livestock, especially in the Americas. Based on a global hexagonal grid (290‐km2 grid cell area), disproportionately large shares of subnational “hot spots” for P recycling potential occurred in India, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa. Outside of China, most of the remaining manure‐rich or populous cultivated areas occurred within nations that had relatively high imports of P fertilizer (net P import:consumption ratios ≥0.4) or substantial increases in fertilizer demand between the 2000s (2002–2006) and 2010s (2010–2014). Manure‐rich cultivated grid cells (those above the 75th percentiles for both manure and cropland extent) represented 12% of the global grid after excluding cropless cells. Annually, the global sum of animal manure P was at least 5 times that contained in human excreta, and among cultivated cells the ratio was frequently higher (median = 8.9). The abundance of potential P recycling hot spots within nations that have depended on fertilizer imports or experienced rising fertilizer demand could prove useful for developing local P sources and maintaining agricultural independence

Distributed Computing Grid Experiences in CMS

The CMS experiment is currently developing a computing system capable of serving, processing and archiving the large number of events that will be generated when the CMS detector starts taking data. During 2004 CMS undertook a large scale data challenge to demonstrate the ability of the CMS computing system to cope with a sustained data-taking rate equivalent to 25% of startup rate. Its goals were: to run CMS event reconstruction at CERN for a sustained period at 25 Hz input rate; to distribute the data to several regional centers; and enable data access at those centers for analysis. Grid middleware was utilized to help complete all aspects of the challenge. To continue to provide scalable access from anywhere in the world to the data, CMS is developing a layer of software that uses Grid tools to gain access to data and resources, and that aims to provide physicists with a user friendly interface for submitting their analysis jobs. This paper describes the data challenge experience with Grid infrastructure and the current development of the CMS analysis system

Large Scale Job Management and Experience in Recent Data Challenges within the LHC CMS experiment

From its conception the job management system has been distributed to increase scalability and robustness. The system consists of several applications (called ProdAgents) which manage Monte Carlo, reconstruction and skimming jobs on collections of sites within different Grid environments (OSG, NorduGrid, LCG) and submission systems such as GlideIn, local batch, etc... Production of simulated data in CMS mainly takes place on so called Tier2s (small to medium size computing centers) resources. Approximately ~50% of the CMS Tier2 resources are allocated to running simulation jobs. While the so-called Tier1s (medium to large size computing centers with high capacity tape storage systems) will be mainly used for skimming and reconstructing detector data. During the last one and a half years the job management system has been adapted such that it can be configured to convert Data Acquisition (DAQ) / High Level Trigger (HLT) output from the CMS detector to the CMS data format and manage the real time data stream from the experiment. Simultaneously the system has been upgraded to facilitate the increasing scale of the CMS production and adapting to the procedures used by its operators. In this paper we discuss the current (high level) architecture of ProdAgent, the experience in using this system in computing challenges, feedback from these challenges, and future work including migration to a set of core libraries to facilitate convergence between the different data management projects within CMS that deal with analysis, simulation, and initial reconstruction of real data. This migration is important, as it will decrease the code footprint used by these projects and increase maintainability of the code base

Bacterial communities vary between sinuses in chronic rhinosinusitis patients

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common and potentially debilitating disease characterized by inflammation of the sinus mucosa for longer than 12 weeks. Bacterial colonization of the sinuses and its role in the pathogenesis of this disease is an ongoing area of research. Recent advances in culture-independent molecular techniques for bacterial identification have the potential to provide a more accurate and complete assessment of the sinus microbiome, however there is little concordance in results between studies, possibly due to differences in the sampling location and techniques. This study aimed to determine whether the microbial communities from one sinus could be considered representative of all sinuses, and examine differences between two commonly used methods for sample collection, swabs, and tissue biopsies. High-throughput DNA sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was applied to both swab and tissue samples from multiple sinuses of 19 patients undergoing surgery for treatment of CRS. Results from swabs and tissue biopsies showed a high degree of similarity, indicating that swabbing is sufficient to recover the microbial community from the sinuses. Microbial communities from different sinuses within individual patients differed to varying degrees, demonstrating that it is possible for distinct microbiomes to exist simultaneously in different sinuses of the same patient. The sequencing results correlated well with culture-based pathogen identification conducted in parallel, although the culturing missed many species detected by sequencing. This finding has implications for future research into the sinus microbiome, which should take this heterogeneity into account by sampling patients from more than one sinus

Shelley’s idea of nature a study of the interrelationship of subject and object in the major poems

The thesis offers an interpretation of Shelley's poetry which focuses on his treatment of external nature. Its main argument is that a subject-object dialectic lies at the basis of his thought and style. Manifesting itself as a tension and oscillation between dualist and monist tendencies, this dialectic underlies the opposing strains of thought associated with his sceptical idealism; it informs the relationship between various contraries with which he is recurrently concerned, such as reason and feeling, necessity and freedom, language and thought; and it accounts for some major characteristics of his style--for example, its self-reflexiveness, indeterminacy, and restless forward momentum. Nature is found to play a complex dual function in this dialectical process: first, as the circumference to the circle of which mind is the centre, it provides the material of thought and poetry; secondly, through its cyclic processes, it serves as an emblem of the mind's dynamic relationship with that material. In finding the characteristic thought-pattern of his poetry to be constituted of a creative-destructive interplay of contraries, the thesis contends that Shelley is a significant exponent of Romantic irony. Such a reading of his work mediates between an earlier tradition of interpreting him as a Platonising poet of nature and the more recent emphasis that has been given to his philosophical scepticism and political radicalism. Throughout, attention is given to the interacting influences of his direct experience of nature (as recorded mainly in his letters) and the representations of nature he encounters in his reading. The following poems, chosen for their importance in Shelley's canon and as clear illustrations of his treatment of nature, are discussed chronologically in successive chapters: Queen Mab, Master, the 1816 odes, Prometheus Unbound, Adonais, and The Triumph of Life

Discussion of the base line survey for the evaluation of the foot and mouth disease control programme in Narok and Kajiado Districts

This paper gives the salient information contained in the fuller base line survey by the same author. It presents data on education, employment, cattle holdings, household budgets, environmental perception, agricultural activities, veterinary practices and local problems. It concludes by highlighting the major problems that confront planners in the development of pastoral areas

The economics of beef/dairy supply in the traditional farm sector: policy and methodological investigations

This study aims (a) to investigate policy alternatives for the beef and dairy industries through the construction of a multi-period linear programming model and (b) to evaluate a quantified model of this kind. The paper outlines and discusses the methodology of the study. Nandi District was chosen for its suitability of agricultural mix. The sample design is described and the type of data collected is detailed – this covers dairying, beef and maize principally. Since the data is still being collected no results can be presented yet. The policy implications are indicated briefly