Effects of the Stage of Growth and Inoculation on Proteolysis in Field Pea Silage

Ensiling legumes is a good way of providing home-grown protein in dairy farms but severe protein degradation can occur when conserving legumes. Peas (Pisum sativum L.) are legumes with a high crude protein and starch content, that provide a high forage yield in a short growing period. Very little information is available on the protein value of field pea silage. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of stage of maturity and inoculant application on proteolysis in field pea silage in the Po Valley, NW Italy

Effects of Stage of Growth and Inoculation on Fermentation Quality of Field Pea Silage

Field peas (Pisum sativum L.) are a short-term catch crop with a high crude protein content, which provides a high forage yield in a short growing period. Since field peas are a succulent crop and are difficult to field cure, it is preferable to directly ensile them to prevent weather damage and excessive grain losses. The onset of lodging is delayed in field pea varieties, since the crop is supported by the tendrils in a more erect manner, and this allows easy harvesting without soil contamination even at advanced stages of maturity (Koivisto et al., 2003). To our knowledge, no information is available on the ensiling of peas in Southern Europe. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the stage of maturity and inoculant application on the quality of silage produced from directly-cut field peas in the Po Valley, NW Italy

Betavoltaics using scandium tritide and contact potential difference

Tritium-powered betavoltaic micropower sources using contact potential difference (CPD) are demonstrated. Thermally stable scandium tritide thin films with a surface activity of 15 mCi cm2 were used as the beta particle source. The electrical field created by the work function difference between the ScT film and a platinum or copper electrode was used to separate the beta-generated electrical charge carriers. Open circuit voltages of 0.5 and 0.16 V and short circuit current densities of 2.7 and 5.3 nA cm2 were achieved for gaseous and solid dielectric media-based CPD cells, respectively. © 2008 American Institute of Physics

Phase transitions of quasistationary states in the Hamiltonian Mean Field model

The out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model is studied in presence of an externally imposed magnetic field h. Lynden-Bell's theory of violent relaxation is revisited and shown to adequately capture the system dynamics, as revealed by direct Vlasov based numerical simulations in the limit of vanishing field. This includes the existence of an out-of-equilibrium phase transition separating magnetized and non magnetized phases. We also monitor the fluctuations in time of the magnetization, which allows us to elaborate on the choice of the correct order parameter when challenging the performance of Lynden-Bell's theory. The presence of the field h removes the phase transition, as it happens at equilibrium. Moreover, regions with negative susceptibility are numerically found to occur, in agreement with the predictions of the theory.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Study of a zirconium getter for purification of xenon gas

Oxygen, nitrogen and methane purification efficiencies for a common zirconium getter are measured in 1050 Torr of xenon gas. Starting with impurity concentrations near 10^{-6} g/g, the outlet impurity level is found to be less than 120*10^{-12} g/g for O2 and less than 950*10^{-12} g/g for N2. For methane we find residual contamination of the purified gas at concentrations varying over three orders of magnitude, depending on the purifier temperature and the gas flow rate. A slight reduction in the purifier's methane efficiency is observed after 13 mg of this impurity has been absorbed, which we attribute to partial exhaustion of the purifier's capacity for this species. We also find that the purifier's ability to absorb N2 and methane can be extinguished long before any decrease in O2 performance is observed, and slower flow rates should be employed for xenon purification due to the cooling effect that the heavy gas has on the getter.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure