3,205 research outputs found
THE RECOVERY OF MECHANICALLY ENTRAPPED PLUTONIUM FROM CASTING SKULLS AND TURNINGS
The small critical mass of plutonium which limits charge size, coupled with its value necessithting quantitative recovery from all residues, makes the direct recovery of mechanically entrapped plutonium from casting skulls and oxidized turnings an economic necessity. The newest method used at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for the direct recovery of entrapped plutonium involves mechanical stirring and vibration of the plutonium melt to physically break up to spongy skull and oxide film, thus allowing the heavier molten plutonium to settle out at the bottom of the melt. The recovery equipment and procedures are described. (auth
Anthropogenic alteration of nutrient supply increases the global freshwater carbon sink
Lakes have a disproportionate effect on the global carbon (C) cycle relative to their area, mediating C transfer from land to atmosphere, and burying organic-C in their sediments. The magnitude and temporal variability of C burial is, however, poorly constrained, and the degree to which humans have influenced lake C cycling through landscape alteration has not been systematically assessed. Here, we report global and biome specific trajectories of lake C sequestration based on 516 lakes and show that some lake C burial rates (i.e., those in tropical forest and grassland biomes) have quadrupled over the last 100 years. Global lake C-sequestration (~0.12 Pg yearâ1) has increased by ~72 Tg yearâ1 since 1900, offsetting 20% of annual CO2 freshwater emissions rising to ~30% if reservoirs are included and contributing to the residual continental C sink. Nutrient availability explains ~70% of the observed increase, while rising temperatures have a minimal effect
The Influence of Alfalfa Coumestrol on the Reproductive Performance of Gilts
In Australia during the early 1940\u27sa syndrome known as clover disease was observed in sheep grazing subterranean clover. This syndrome was characterized by a marked reduction in fertility which was later proved to be due to a high content of estrogenic substances in the clover. Alfalfa has since been shown to contain varying levels of these plant estrogens. The most important of the plant estrogens present in alfalfa is coumestrol because of its relatively greater biological potency than the other plant estrogens and because of its more frequent occurrence. Plant physiologists have shown that alfalfa infected with certain fungus diseases contains a level of coumestrol which increases with the amount of disease present in the alfalfa plants. Since alfalfa meal is such an important source of nutrients for farm animals and is often included in swine rations this study was conducted to determine if alfalfa plants with coumestrol levels in excess of 100 parts per million (ppm) would have any effect on the reproductive performance of gilts when included in their ration
The case for the development and use of "ecologically valid" measures of executive function in experimental and clinical neuropsychology
This article considers the scientific process whereby new and better clinical tests of executive function might be developed, and what form they might take. We argue that many of the traditional tests of executive function most commonly in use (e.g., the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; Stroop) are adaptations of procedures that emerged almost coincidentally from conceptual and experimental frameworks far removed from those currently in favour, and that the prolongation of their use has been encouraged by a sustained period of concentration on âconstruct-drivenâ experimentation in neuropsychology. This resulted from the special theoretical demands made by the field of executive function, but was not a necessary consequence, and may not even have been a useful one. Whilst useful, these tests may not therefore be optimal for their purpose. We consider as an alternative approach a function-led development programme which in principle could yield tasks better suited to the concerns of the clinician because of the transparency afforded by increased ârepresentativenessâ and âgeneralisability.â We further argue that the requirement of such a programme to represent the interaction between the individual and situational context might also provide useful constraints for purely experimental investigations. We provide an example of such a programme with reference to the Multiple Errands and Six Element tests
Applicability of the Fisher Equation to Bacterial Population Dynamics
The applicability of the Fisher equation, which combines diffusion with
logistic nonlinearity, to population dynamics of bacterial colonies is studied
with the help of explicit analytic solutions for the spatial distribution of a
stationary bacterial population under a static mask. The mask protects the
bacteria from ultraviolet light. The solution, which is in terms of Jacobian
elliptic functions, is used to provide a practical prescription to extract
Fisher equation parameters from observations and to decide on the validity of
the Fisher equation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figs. include
Very long optical path-length from a compact multi-pass cell
The multiple-pass optical cell is an important tool for laser absorption
spectroscopy and its many applications. For most practical applications, such
as trace-gas detection, a compact and robust design is essential. Here we
report an investigation into a multi-pass cell design based on a pair of
cylindrical mirrors, with a particular focus on achieving very long optical
paths. We demonstrate a path-length of 50.31 m in a cell with 40 mm diameter
mirrors spaced 88.9 mm apart - a 3-fold increase over the previously reported
longest path-length obtained with this type of cell configuration. We
characterize the mechanical stability of the cell and describe the practical
conditions necessary to achieve very long path-lengths
An explicit height bound for the classical modular polynomial
For a prime m, let Phi_m be the classical modular polynomial, and let
h(Phi_m) denote its logarithmic height. By specializing a theorem of Cohen, we
prove that h(Phi_m) <= 6 m log m + 16 m + 14 sqrt m log m. As a corollary, we
find that h(Phi_m) <= 6 m log m + 18 m also holds. A table of h(Phi_m) values
is provided for m <= 3607.Comment: Minor correction to the constants in Theorem 1 and Corollary 9. To
appear in the Ramanujan Journal. 17 pages
Issues and Observations on Applications of the Constrained-Path Monte Carlo Method to Many-Fermion Systems
We report several important observations that underscore the distinctions
between the constrained-path Monte Carlo method and the continuum and lattice
versions of the fixed-node method. The main distinctions stem from the
differences in the state space in which the random walk occurs and in the
manner in which the random walkers are constrained. One consequence is that in
the constrained-path method the so-called mixed estimator for the energy is not
an upper bound to the exact energy, as previously claimed. Several ways of
producing an energy upper bound are given, and relevant methodological aspects
are illustrated with simple examples.Comment: 28 pages, REVTEX, 5 ps figure
Quantum interference effects in p-Si1âxGex quantum wells
Quantum interference effects, such as weak localization and electronelectron interaction (EEI), have been investigated in magnetic fields up to 11 T for hole gases in a set of Si1âxGex quantum wells with 0.13 < x < 0.95. The temperature dependence of the hole phase relaxation time has been extracted from the magneto-resistance between 35 mK and 10 K. The spin-orbit effects that can be described within the Rashba model were observed in low magnetic fields. A quadratic negative magneto-resistance was observed in strong magnetic fields, due to the EEI effect. The hole-phonon scattering time was determined from hole overheating in a strong magnetic field
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