Structure, bonding and morphology of hydrothermally synthesised xonotlite

The authors have systematically investigated the role of synthesis conditions upon the structure and morphology of xonotlite. Starting with a mechanochemically prepared, semicrystalline phase with Ca/Si=1, the authors have prepared a series of xonotlite samples hydrothermally, at temperatures between 200 and 250 degrees C. Analysis in each case was by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The authors’ use of a much lower water/solid ratio has indirectly confirmed the ‘through solution’ mechanism of xonotlite formation, where silicate dissolution is a key precursor of xonotlite formation. Concerning the role of temperature, too low a temperature (~200 degrees C) fails to yield xonotlite or leads to increased number of structural defects in the silicate chains of xonotlite and too high a temperature (>250 degrees C) leads to degradation of the xonotlite structure, through leaching of interchain calcium. Synthesis duration meanwhile leads to increased silicate polymerisation due to diminishing of the defects in the silicate chains and more perfect crystal morphologies

Dairy Farm Revenue Insurance: Is the Application Viable?

Risk and Uncertainty,

Parity Effect in a Small Superconducting Particle

Matveev and Larkin calculated the parity effect on the ground state energy of a small superconducting particle in the regimes where the mean level spacing is either large or small compared to the bulk gap. We perform a numerical calculation which extends their results into the intermediate regime, where the level spacing is of the same order as the bulk gap.Comment: 6 LaTeX pages, including 2 EPS figures; corrected reference and spellin

Blade loss transient dynamics analysis. Volume 3: User's manual for TETRA program

The users manual for TETRA contains program logic, flow charts, error messages, input sheets, modeling instructions, option descriptions, input variable descriptions, and demonstration problems. The process of obtaining a NASTRAN 17.5 generated modal input file for TETRA is also described with a worked sample

Soil type and soil management factors in hemp production

Hemp (Cannabis sativa) came into prominence as a strategic war crop shortly after United States\u27 imports of abaca and sisal were cut off from the Philippines and the Netherlands Indies. Production of hemp in the United States was expanded from about 3,000 acres annually during the period of 1939 to 1941 to 146,000\u27 acres in 1943. Most of the additional acreage was planted in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana where farmers had little or no experience with hemp. Moreover, prior to the war period the minor economic importance of the crop, even in the old hemp-producing states of Kentucky and Wisconsin, had practically precluded the expenditure of much effort on experimental work to determine the response of the crop to different soil and management conditions. Thus, at the time the emergency arose, our knowledge of hemp growing was rather limited. The experimental work reported in this bulletin was undertaken primarily to obtain information on the effect of soil types and soil management practices on the yield of hemp. Data are presented to show the effect of soil types, previous crops, time of plowing and method of planting on the yield of hemp, the effect of hemp on the yield of the following crops of hemp and corn, and the relative yields of hemp and corn

Iowa Soils Need Nitrogen

We are not doing a very good job of keeping up the available nitrogen content in Iowa soils. W e could step up our yields and we would get a lot more good from the phosphorus and potassium fertilizers which we use if we had more available nitrogen in our soils

Light forces in ultracold photoassociation

We study the time-resolved photoassociation of ultracold sodium in an optical dipole trap. The photoassociation laser excites pairs of atoms to molecular states of large total angular momentum at high intensities (above 20 kW/cm$^{2}$). Such transitions are generally suppressed at ultracold temperatures by the centrifugal barriers for high partial waves. Time-resolved ionization measurements reveal that the atoms are accelerated by the dipole potential of the photoassociation beam. We change the collision energy by varying the potential depth, and observe a strong variation of the photoassociation rate. These results demonstrate the important role of light forces in cw photoassociation at high intensities.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Nutrient uptake by soybeans on two Iowa soils

Although the soybean was introduced into the United States in 1804, it is only recently that its production has increased to the point where as a cash-grain crop it ranks fourth in the United States and second in the Midwest. It is perhaps owing to the relatively new status of the soybean as an important crop that the soil fertility requirements are not as yet well understood. Notwithstanding the fact that soybean yields increase with the fertility level of the soil, experiments in the Midwest have shown in general that soybeans do not give the profitable response to direct application of fertilizer that is obtained with corn. The yield increases produced by direct application of fertilizers are comparatively small and unpredictable. This behavior may result from plant characteristics that have been classified as feeding power or it may result from a lack of knowledge of the plant in relation to its environment so that advantage is not taken of the proper means to bring about a profitable increase in yield from fertilizer application. Regarding\u27 the latter point, Norman (20) has suggested that information on the nutritional needs of the plant during its various stages of growth might be of considerable value in the experimental approach to the soil fertility problems of the soybean. To obtain such information for soybeans grown in the field on two Iowa soils differing widely in fertility level was the primary object of the present investigation