Community assembly theory provides a useful framework to assess the responseof weed communities to agricultural management systems and to improve thepredictive power of weed science. Under this framework, weed communityassembly is constrained by abiotic and biotic “filters” that act on speciestraits to determine community composition. We used an assembly approach toinvestigate the response of weed seed banks to 25 yr of management-relatedfiltering in three different row-crop management systems in southeasternPennsylvania: organic manure-based, organic legume-based, and conventional.Weed seed banks were sampled in April of 2005 and 2006 and quantified bydirect germination in a greenhouse. We also assessed the filtering effectsof weed management practices and relationships between assembled seed bankand emergent weed communities by allowing or excluding weed controlpractices within each management system and measuring emergent weedcommunity response. Germinable weed seed bank densities and species richnessin the final year of the study were over 40% and 15% higher, respectively,in the organic systems relative to the conventional system. Seed bankcommunity structure in the organic systems was different from theconventional system, and the relationships between assembled seed banks andthe emergent flora varied. Primary tillage, weed control, timing ofplanting, and fertility management appeared to be the main filters thatdifferentiated weed seed banks in the three systems. Weed life history,emergence periodicity, seed size, and responsiveness to soil fertility andhydrology appeared to be the most important functional traits determininghow weed species responded to management-related filters. Our resultssuggest that management systems can exert strong filtering effects that canpersist over relatively long (greater than one growing season) time scales.Legacy effects of community-level filtering might be more important thanpreviously assumed, and should be incorporated into predictive models ofweed community assembly.

Weed seed persistence in soil can be influenced by many factors, including crop management. This research was conducted to determine whether organic management systems with higher organic amendments and soil microbial biomass could reduce weed seed persistence compared with conventional management systems. Seeds of smooth pigweed and common lambsquarters were buried in mesh bags in organic and conventional systems of two long-term experiments, the Farming Systems Project at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Maryland, and the Farming Systems Trial at the Rodale Institute, Pennsylvania. Seed viability was determined after retrieval at half-year intervals for 2 yr. Total soil microbial biomass, as measured by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) content, was higher in organic systems than in conventional systems at both locations. Over all systems, locations, and experiments, viable seed half-life was relatively consistent with a mean of 1.3 and 1.1 yr and a standard deviation of 0.5 and 0.3 for smooth pigweed and common lambsquarters, respectively. Differences between systems were small and relatively inconsistent. Half-life of smooth pigweed seeds was shorter in the organic than in the conventional system in two of four location-experiments. Half-life of common lambsquarters was shorter in the organic than in the conventional system in one of four location-experiments, but longer in the organic than in the conventional system in two of four location-experiments. There were few correlations between PLFA biomarkers and seed half-lives in three of four location-experiments; however, there were negative correlations up to −0.64 for common lambsquarters and −0.55 for smooth pigweed in the second Rodale experiment. The lack of consistent system effects on seed persistence and the lack of consistent associations between soil microbial biomass and weed seed persistence suggest that soil microorganisms do not have a dominating role in seed mortality. More precise research targeted to identifying specific microbial functions causing seed mortality will be needed to provide a clearer picture of the role of soil microbes in weed seed persistence.

We study the stellar content of three galactic bulges with the high resolution gratings (R=7000) of the WiFeS integral field unit in order to better understand their formation and evolution. In all cases we find that at least 50% of the stellar mass already existed 12 Gyrs ago, more than currently predicted by simulations. A younger component (age between ∼1 to ∼8 Gyrs) is also prominent and its present day distribution seems to be much more affected by morphological structures, especially bars, than the older one. This in-depth analysis supports the notion of increasing complexity in bulges which cannot be achieved by mergers alone, but requires a non-negligible contribution from secular evolution.

In 1983 we presented a systematic analysis of the available literature on the course of anorexia nervosa (Steinhausen & Glanville, 1983 a). The survey was based on 45 English and German language studies published between 1953 and 1981. During the past decade there has been a striking increase of publications related to eating disorders in general. This pertains as well to follow-up studies on anorexia nervosa. In addition to studies compiled in our previous report, we were able to locate another 22 follow-up studies published in major English and German language journals between 1981 and 1989.

The development of high power ion diodes for inertial confinement fusion is in progress on the PBFA I accelerator. The three main types of magnetically-insulated ion diodes, the Applied-B, Hybrid, and Pinch Reflex diodes, are compared. This paper presents the results from the first series of tests of the Hybrid diode.

Fully electromagnetic, relativistic, two-dimensional, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of barrel-type and extractor-type Applied-B ion diodes have increased our confidence in the design of present and future diodes for the Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II (PBFA II). In addition, the data from various experiments on Pro to I, Proto II, and PBFA I Applied-B ion diodes are inconsistent with previous models of diode operation, based on anode-cathode gap closure from expanding plasmas. A new model has been devised and applied to the PBFA II diode to explain the diode impedance and its time history, and to suggest methods for controlling the impedance.

The CRESST-II direct Dark Matter search is located in the Gran Sasso underground laboratories, Italy. CaWO4 crystals are used as scintillating targets for WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) interactions. They are operated as cryogenic calorimeters in combination with a second cryogenic detector used to measure the scintillation light produced in the target crystal. For each particle interaction, the combination of phonon and light signals provides an event by event discrimination which allows to distinguish known particles (alphas, betas, gammas, neutrons) from the expected signal of WIMPs. A major upgrade of the setup comprises modifications of the shielding, installation of a muon-veto, and new read out electronics, as well as a new detector-support structure to accommodate up to 33 detector modules, i.e. 10 kg of target mass. The experiment was thereafter successfully commissioned in 2007. Data obtained during this commissioning phase from 2 detector modules are presented here. Combining the data collected with these two detector modules with data from one single module obtained during the CRESST-I phase, the experiment could already place a limit of ~6 × 10-7 pb for the spin independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section at a WIMP mass of ~60 GeV/c2.

EURECA (European Underground Rare Event Calorimeter Array) is an astro-particle physics facility aiming to directly detect galactic dark matter. The Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane has been selected as host laboratory. The EURECA collaboration unites CRESST, EDELWEISS and the Spanish-French experiment ROSEBUD, thus concentrating and focussing effort on cryogenic detector research in Europe into a single facility. EURECA will use a target mass of up to one ton, enough to explore WIMP – nucleon scalar scattering cross sections in the region of 10-9 – 10-10 picobarn. A major advantage of EURECA is the planned use of more than just one target material (multi target experiment for WIMP identification).

Mechanical Q-factor measurements of single crystalline calcium fluoride CaF2 bulk material are presented. Resonant modes between 27 and 100 kHz were investigated on a cylindrical test sample ( $\varnothing$ $75~{\rm mm} \times 75~{\rm mm}$ ). For selected modes low temperature measurements of the mechanical Q-factor were done within a temperature range from 5 to 300 K. For the Q-measurements a ring-down technique was used. The substrate was suspended as a pendulum by means of a tungsten wire loop. The highest Q-factor has been achieved around 60 K with 3 × 108 which is the highest Q-factor reported on CaF2 up to now.

Summary

Background and objectives: Salt-water aspiration results in pulmonary oedema and hypoxia. We tested the hypothesis that partial liquid ventilation has beneficial effects on gas exchange and rate of survival in acute and extended salt water-induced lung injury. Methods: Anaesthetized, ventilated rats (tidal volume 6 mL kg−1, PEEP 5 cmH2O) received a tracheal salt-water instillation (3%, 8 mL kg−1 body weight) and were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 10 per group). While lungs of Group 1 were gas-ventilated, lungs of Group 2 received a single perfluorocarbon instillation (30 min after the injury, 5 mL kg−1 perfluorocarbon) and lungs of Group 3 received an additional continuous perfluorocarbon application into the treachea (5 mL kg−1 h−1). Arterial blood gases were measured with an intravascular blood gas sensor. Results: Salt-water instillation resulted in a marked decrease in PaO2 values within 30 min (from 432 ± 65 to 83 ± 40 mmHg, FiO2 = 1.0, P < 0.01). Arterial oxygenation improved in all three groups irrespective of treatment. We observed no significant differences between groups in peak PaO2 and PaCO2 values. Conclusions: Our results suggest that partial liquid ventilation has no additional beneficial effects on gas exchange after life-threatening salt water-induced lung injury when compared to conventional gas ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure.

Low concentration of toxic radioactive metals in environmental samples often limits the interpretation of results of infrared studies investigating the interaction processes between the metal ions and environmental compartments. For the first time, we could show that photothermal infrared spectroscopy performed with a pulsed free electron laser can provide reliable infrared spectra throughout a distinct spectral range of interest. In this model investigation, we provide vibrational absorption spectra of a rare earth metal salt dissolved in a KBr matrix and a natural calcite sample obtained by photothermal beam deflection (PTBD) technique and FT-IR spectroscopy, respectively. General agreement was found between all spectra of the different recording techniques. Spectral deviations were observed with samples containing low concentration of the rare earth metal salt indicating a lower detection limit of the photothermal method as compared to conventional FT-IR spectroscopy.

The 1999 severe crop season drought in the northeastern US was followed by hurricane-driven torrential rains in September, offering a unique opportunity to observe how managed and natural systems respond to climate-related stress. The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial has been operating since 1981 and consists of three replicated cropping systems, one organic manure based (MNR), one organic legume based (LEG) and a conventional system (CNV). The MNR system consists of a 5-year maize–soybean–wheat–clover/hay rotation, the LEG of a 3-year maize–soybean–wheat–green manure, and the CNV of a 5-year maize-soybean rotation. Subsoil lysimeters allowed quantification of percolated water in each system. Average maize and soybean yields were similar in all three systems over the post-transition years (1985–1998). Five drought years occurred between 1984 and 1998 and in four of them the organic maize outyielded the CNV by significant margins. In 1999 all crop systems suffered severe yield depressions; however, there were substantial yield differences between systems. Organic maize yielded 38% and 137% relative to CNV in the LEG and MNR treatments, respectively, and 196% and 152% relative to CNV in the soybean plots. The primary mechanism of the higher yield of the MNR and LEG is proposed to be the higher water-holding capacity of the soils in those treatments, while the lower yield of the LEG maize was due to weed competition in that particular year and treatment. Soils in the organic plots captured more water and retained more of it in the crop root zone than in the CNV treatment. Water capture in the organic plots was approximately 100% higher than in CNV plots during September's torrential rains.

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) offer extraordinary properties for applications in microelectronics. We assess the methods used to grow CNTs for integration into microelectronics, in particular, metallic carbon nanotubes for vias and interconnects as well as semiconducting CNTs for fieldeffect devices are discussed. State-of-the-art CNTFETs are compared to Si-MOSFETs. A vertical CNTFET (VCNTFET) device concept is presented which offers better growth control, adding a new quality to microelectronics and making real 3-dimensional electronics possible.

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is an emerging ultra-thin film deposition technique for advanced microelectronics applications. Enabling features of ALD are precise control over film thickness, excellent conformality and relative insensitivity to wafer size. Additionally, ALD allows interface and film engineering that can be utilized to maximize device performance within the minimum feature size requirements. This paper reports on the compositional, structural and electrical properties of engineered Ti-Ta-N composite films grown by ALD at 360°C. For a wide range of composition these Ti-Ta-N films exhibit resistivity from 500 to 2000 μω-cm, high density, and 100 % step coverage. Additionally, the ability to control texture by changing film composition is established. Based on experimental results, an approach to grow Composite Engineered Barriers by ALD (CEBA) is described that could provide a solution to the challenging barrier requirements.

Background. A cohort of 60 adolescent eating-disordered patients that was consecutively admitted between 1979 and 1988 to a child and adolescent psychiatric university department in Berlin, Germany was followed up at a mean of 5·0 years and for a second time at a mean of 11·5 years.

Methods. Each patient was personally interviewed and findings dealing with eating disorder symptoms and psychosocial functioning were rated on four-point scales. In addition, the duration of both in-patient and out-patient treatment and the Body Mass Index (BMI) were recorded.

Results. Patients were in treatment for a mean of 33% of the initial 5-year follow-up period, but this has dropped to a mean of 17% of the entire 11-year follow-up period. No predictors of treatment duration were found. The mortality rate was 8·3% at the second follow-up. The distribution of abnormal BMIs (<17·5) reflected a trend of improvement with increasing duration of follow-up. In comparison to the 5-year follow-up, fewer patients suffered from symptoms of the full clinical picture of an eating disorder at the 11-year follow-up. Among the surviving patients 80% recovered during the long-term course. There were few specific predictors of three different outcome criteria.

Conclusion. This outcome study of adolescent eating disorders provides further evidence that the long-term course of the disorders in terms of the eating pathology is better than can be expected after a few years. Very little can be said with regard to individual prognosis.

Amorphous tungsten nitride (WNx) is a promising diffusion barrier for extending Cu metallization beyond 0.18 μm. This study evaluates the barrier performance, adhesion, and step coverage of PECVD WN 0.5 integrated with a CVD Cu seed layer. The WN0.5 films exhibit amorphous structure with 33% bottom and side-wall step coverage in 0.14 μm wide structures with 9:1 aspect ratio. The potential of 50 Å WN0.5 as an effective Cu barrier is shown by the absence of Secco etch-pits in the Si substrate after a 30 min anneal at 500°C. When deposited on PECVD WN0.5 the CVD Cu films exhibit uniform nucleation, and as deposited resistivity of 2.5 μΩ-cm. Step coverage of the CVD Cu is better than 95% in 0.14 μm structures. Adhesion exceeding epoxy strength of the CVD Cu seed layer even to air-exposed WN0.5 is demonstrated using stud-pull adhesion tests.