Report on the development of the large-bore powder gun for the Nevada Test Site

Experiments are needed to locate phase boundaries and to provide both Hugoniot data and off-Hugoniot data (such as principle isentrope, refreezing, dynamic strength, etc.) achieved through complex loading paths. The objective of the current work was to de- velop a large bore (3.5 inch or greater) powder gun capable of accelerating projectiles to moderately high velocities exceeding 2 km/s for impact experiments. A total of 24 ex- periments were performed to measure the projectile velocity, breech strain, and projectile tilt to demonstrate the performance of the gun up to the maximum breech capacity of 16 pounds of propellant. Physics experiments using a multislug method were performed to obtain sound speed and Hugoniot for shocked cerium metal and to demonstrate the ability of the large bore gun to conduct well-defined, plate-impact experiments. In addition, six experiments were performed on the prototype containment system to examine the ability of the launcher and containment system to withstand the impact event and contain the propellant gases and impact debris postshot. The data presented here were essential for qualification of the launcher for experiments to be conducted at the U1a complex of the Nevada Test Site

Managing Irrigation and Nitrogen for Moravian Barley in Southern Idaho

Moravian barley has become an important variety in southern Idaho and its acreage is still increasing. This grow barley tends to lodge soon after heading. The risk of lodging is greater if excess nitrogen is present and if the crop is well-watered before the boot stage. Lodging decreases the barley's malting quality and may lower yield because of harvesting problems

Nitrogen Management for Malting Barley

Malting barley is a specialized agricultural crop in which high yields and quality are production objectives. We evaluated the effects of different N rates on barley yields and selected malting quality parameters grown on irrigated silt loam soils (Xerollic calciorthids). Maximum barley yields having acceptable malting quality parameters were obtained when the preplant soil NO?-N plus fertilizer N was between 100 to 120 kg N/ha. About 33 kg N/ha was taken up by the plants from the mineralization of soil organic N. Higher available N levels decreased malting quality parameters below acceptable levels. Germination percentage was not changed by the different N rates

Estimating Soil Moisture Depletion from Climate, Crop and Soil Data

TREMENDOUS international scientific effort has been expended on evaporation and transpiration problems during the past decade as evidenced by hundreds of technical publications, and numerous conferences. However, use of this scientific achievement by agriculturalists, project planners and operators of irrigation farms has lagged behind technological advancements. The lag in adaptation of new technology by the user can be partly attributed to a lack of time, technical training and experience in meteorology, physics and agronom

Numerical study of a first-order irreversible phase transition in a CO+NO catalyzed reaction model

The first-order irreversible phase transitions (IPT) of the Yaldran-Khan model (Yaldran-Khan, J. Catal. 131, 369, 1991) for the CO+NO reaction is studied using the constant coverage (CC) ensemble and performing epidemic simulations. The CC method allows the study of hysteretic effects close to coexistence as well as the location of both the upper spinodal point and the coexistence point. Epidemic studies show that at coexistence the number of active sites decreases according to a (short-time) power law followed by a (long-time) exponential decay. It is concluded that first-order IPT's share many characteristic of their reversible counterparts, such as the development of short ranged correlations, hysteretic effects, metastabilities, etc.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Effect of Nitrogen and Irrigation on Sugarbeet Production in Southern Idaho

Most of the nitrogen fertilizer is applied to sugarbeet fields in southern Idaho before planting. During the early stages of plant growth the soil and fertilizer N is subject to leaching because the NO?-N concentrations in the soil usually are higher than later in the season. The rate of N uptake in this area, under conditions where N does not limit plant growth, increases rapidly beginning early in June, reaches a peak early in July, and begins to decrease in late July. If inadequate N is available to meet crop needs then the addition of N fertilizer just prior to the period when the demand rate increases should increase the efficiency of sucrose production and N fertilizer use. The practice of supplemental, midseason application of N in irrigation water is increasing in southern Idaho. It is not known whether this practice is resulting in more efficient use of N fertilizer, increasing yields, or whether or not midseason applications have an adverse net effect on sucrose production. The objective of this study was to evaluate current N fertilizer practices and the effect of irrigation management on root and sucrose yields. Major emphasis was placed on the effects of N and irrigation management on petiole NO?-N concentrations to refine the use of petiole analysis as a diagnostic tool in managing N fertilizer

Effect of sorghum seed treatment in Burkina Faso varies with baseline crop performance and geographical location

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a major subsistence crop throughout the region of Sahel. With the exception of seeds and labour, no agricultural inputs are in general used in sorghum production since the grain is of a relatively low commercial value and the risk of losing the crop to drought, flooding, etc. is substantial. A meta-analysis of 118 field experiments was carried out to identify conditions in which two protective seed treatments could support a yield increase of sorghum in Burkina Faso. The two treatments were: i) treatment with the pesticide Calthio C (thiram and chlorpyrifos) and ii) treatment with an aqueous extract from the plant clipta alba. Both treatments were found to produce a yield increase (Medians: Calthio C +199 kg ha-1, P<2x10-9; E. alba +90.5 kg ha-1 P<4x10-4). A strong relative effect of Calthio C on yield (+36%) was found for field experiments with a low baseline yield. A strong relative effect of E. alba extract on yield (+22%) was found for experiments with a low baseline of emergence. ANOVA of the 118 field tests showed that baseline crop performance (yield and emergence) and the effect of seed treatments were strongly linked to geographical location (twelve different villages included). Roots from sorghum in the village showing the strongest effect of both seed treatments (>40% yield increase) were found to carry a comparatively high load of the infectious ascomycetes: Fusarium equiseti, Macrophomina phaseolina and Curvularia lunata.Key Words: Curvularia lunata, Fusarium equiseti, Macrophomina phaseolina, Sorghum bicolo

Zero Temperature Glass Transition in the Two-Dimensional Gauge Glass Model

We investigate dynamic scaling properties of the two-dimensional gauge glass model for the vortex glass phase in superconductors with quenched disorder. From extensive Monte Carlo simulations we obtain static and dynamic finite size scaling behavior, where the static simulations use a temperature exchange method to ensure convergence at low temperatures. Both static and dynamic scaling of Monte Carlo data is consistent with a glass transition at zero temperature. We study a dynamic correlation function for the superconducting order parameter, as well as the phase slip resistance. From the scaling of these two functions, we find evidence for two distinct diverging correlation times at the zero temperature glass transition. The longer of these time scales is associated with phase slip fluctuations across the system that lead to finite resistance at any finite temperature, while the shorter time scale is associated with local phase fluctuations.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures; v2: some minor correction

OA phenotypes, rather than disease stage, drive structural progression – identification of structural progressors from 2 phase III randomized clinical studies with symptomatic knee OA

SummaryBackground/PurposeThe aim of this study was to identify key characteristics of disease progression through investigation of the association of radiographic progression over two years with baseline Joint Space Width (JSW), Kellgren–Lawrence (KL) grade, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) pain, Joint Space Narrowing (JSN), and BMI.MethodsData from 2206 subjects (4390 knees) were combined for this post-hoc analysis of two randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled phase III trials (NCT00486434 and NCT00704847) that evaluated the efficacy and safety of 2-years treatment with oral salmon calcitonin of subjects with painful knee osteoarthritis (OA).ResultsThere was a clear positive and significant correlation between KL grade and WOMAC pain and total WOMAC, albeit the variance in pain measures was from min-to-max for all KL categories, emphasizing the heterogeneity of this patient population and pain perception. 32% of target knees did not progress, and only 51% had changes over minimum significant change (MSC). BMI, KL-Score and WOMAC pain was diagnostic, but only KL-score and pain had prognostic value, albeit pain in a non-linear manner.ConclusionThese data clearly describe significant associations between KL grade, JSW, pain and BMI in patients with symptomatic knee OA. KL grade, BMI and WOMAC pain were diagnostically associated with OA based on JSW but only KL-score and pain in a non-linier fashion was prognostic. 50% of patients did not progress more than MSC, highlighting the importance for identification of structural progressors and the phenotypes associated with these. These results suggest that disease phenotypes, rather than disease status, are responsible for disease progression

Bias and temperature dependence of the 0.7 conductance anomaly in Quantum Point Contacts

The 0.7 (2e^2/h) conductance anomaly is studied in strongly confined, etched GaAs/GaAlAs quantum point contacts, by measuring the differential conductance as a function of source-drain and gate bias as well as a function of temperature. We investigate in detail how, for a given gate voltage, the differential conductance depends on the finite bias voltage and find a so-called self-gating effect, which we correct for. The 0.7 anomaly at zero bias is found to evolve smoothly into a conductance plateau at 0.85 (2e^2/h) at finite bias. Varying the gate voltage the transition between the 1.0 and the 0.85 (2e^2/h) plateaus occurs for definite bias voltages, which defines a gate voltage dependent energy difference $\Delta$. This energy difference is compared with the activation temperature T_a extracted from the experimentally observed activated behavior of the 0.7 anomaly at low bias. We find \Delta = k_B T_a which lends support to the idea that the conductance anomaly is due to transmission through two conduction channels, of which the one with its subband edge \Delta below the chemical potential becomes thermally depopulated as the temperature is increased.Comment: 9 pages (RevTex) with 9 figures (some in low resolution