[en] Degraded environments are both widespread (being found on all continents on earth) and diverse. They have been broadly classified as: irrigated (and rain-fed) farmland with elevated water tables causing salinity; rain-fed farmland with soil erosion, loss of organic matter, nutrient depletion and weed invasion; and degraded rangeland. This review considers all these but with a focus on the first two, and particularly addresses options for simultaneous improvement in livestock production and landscape health. There is evidence that responsible grazing is consistent with ecosystem benefits and resilient land use systems; exclusion from grazing may reduce diversity and create management complexity. Responsible grazing however will only prevail if the land owner or user receives a financial benefit in the process. Solutions need to be profitable. In the development and management of grazing systems, expectations need to be realistic. The prescriptive approach to livestock feeding based on the selection and cultivation of a small range of improved plant species to meet predetermined energy, protein and mineral requirements is inappropriate. Degraded landscapes are often associated with a high edaphic and climatic variability that is best suited to a diverse range of plant species in an assembly that will fluctuate over time and space. This diversity means that under some circumstances degraded land may contribute to reduced risk within a whole farm business. Simultaneous objectives for livestock and landscape improvement may or may not contribute to the return of the landscape to its original state. In some cases stable vegetation that provides some of the functional benefits of the original landscape, such as improved biodiversity and soil health, combined with production benefits is the best option available. This provides an opportunity to establish a range of objectives in vegetation management and design. In Australia, such an approach is leading to the development of new farming systems that use salinised and degraded cropland for livestock. Livestock can cope with the diversity of vegetation that is suited to degraded landscapes; they have the ability to select a diet based on the minimisation of metabolic cost. They not only optimise energy and protein intake but select combinations that increase their ability to deal with toxins and parasites and to modify metabolic processes. This does not necessarily mean they will thrive; low biomass production cannot be overcome by increased choice alone, but it does mean we may need to learn from animal behaviour rather than endeavour to control it. With limiting biomass, complementary and supplementary feeds may still be required to improve the efficiency of use of grazed plants or to manipulate grazing where degradation is concentrated. There are also opportunities for strategic revegetation with plants selected for a range of nutritional, medicinal and ecosystem benefits. Just as plant species that have been bred for highly productive systems are usually inappropriate for degraded environments, so too are livestock. Traditional breeds may be better able to cope with the diverse feeding options, difficult terrain and variable climate and be more efficient in energy use. Animals bred for high production systems often partition a high proportion of available nutrients to production when feed supply is abundant but store less nutrients and are therefore less able to survive and reproduce during periods of low feed availability. Breeding within the relevant environment also exposes animals to stressors in utero and this may improve their ability to cope with these in later life. The concept of responsible management depends on available labour or technology for monitoring of both livestock and environment. Technology is now available or under development that will allow monitoring of livestock condition and detailed information on behaviours. These parameters are closely related to the condition of the grazing environment; the animal acts as a natural integrator of the information that describes the environment. This sensitive direct feedback mechanism is very powerful and offers new opportunities in the simultaneous management of livestock and the environment. In conclusion, degrading environments provide an opportunity for the profitable production of food. Livestock systems may be designed to retrieve or sustain landscape functionality. Livestock systems management within these environments requires an innovative approach that integrates the skills of animal physiology and behaviour, agronomy, plant ecophysiology, soil science and ecosystem ecology and management. This integration must operate outside the narrow perspectives that often characterise these disciplines. (author)

[en] A series of static and dynamic tests of the ASST were conducted from July 1992 to the present. These tests included heat leak measurements, as well as, temperature and pressure profiles obtained during quench testing of the string. An accurate assessment of heat leak measurements of collider components requires a stable thermal environment with the minimization of end effects. The string test provides the ideal static environment necessary to conduct these measurements. This report summarizes the results of the heat leak measurements conducted on the cold mass, 20K, and 80K shields of the dipoles used in the ASST assembly. We also report on the rapidly changing temperatures and pressures recorded during the string quench tests

[en] A series of static and dynamic tests of the ASST were conducted from July 1992 to the present. These tests included heat leak measurements, as well as, temperature and pressure profiles obtained during quench testing of the string. An accurate assessment of heat leak measurements of collider components requires a stable thermal environment with the minimization of end effects. The string test provides the ideal static environment necessary to conduct these measurements. This report summarizes the results of the heat leak measurement conducted on the cold mass, 20 K, and 80 K shields of the dipoles used in the ASST assembly. The authors also report on the rapidly changing temperatures and pressures recorded during the string quench tests