The Influence of Galactic Cosmic Rays on Ion-Neutral Hydrocarbon Chemistry in the Upper Atmospheres of Free-Floating Exoplanets

Cosmic rays may be linked to the formation of volatiles necessary for prebiotic chemistry. We explore the effect of cosmic rays in a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere, as a proof-of-concept that ion-neutral chemistry may be important for modelling hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. In order to accomplish this, we utilize Monte Carlo cosmic ray transport models with particle energies of $10^6$ eV $< E < 10^{12}$ eV in order to investigate the cosmic ray enhancement of free electrons in substellar atmospheres. Ion-neutral chemistry is then applied to a Drift-Phoenix model of a free-floating giant gas planet. Our results suggest that the activation of ion-neutral chemistry in the upper atmosphere significantly enhances formation rates for various species, and we find that C$_2$H$_2$, C$_2$H$_4$, NH$_3$, C$_6$H$_6$ and possibly C$_{10}$H are enhanced in the upper atmospheres because of cosmic rays. Our results suggest a potential connection between cosmic ray chemistry and the hazes observed in the upper atmospheres of various extrasolar planets. Chemi-ionization reactions are briefly discussed, as they may enhance the degree of ionization in the cloud layer.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to the International Journal of Astrobiolog

Information seeking in the Humanities: physicality and digitality

This paper presents a brief overview of a research project that is examining the information seeking practices of humanities scholars. The results of this project are being used to develop digital resources to better support these work activities. Initial findings from a recent set of interviews is offered, revealing the importance of physical artefacts in the humanities scholars’ research processes and the limitations of digital resources. Finally, further work that is soon to be undertaken is summarised, and it is hoped that after participation in this workshop these ideas will be refined

Pilot study: Can the draft film Broken support trainee teachers’ understanding of autism communication issues in mainstream classrooms?

The draft film Broken (Rimmer, 2020) is an artistic impression that aims to articulate dysfluency from an autistic viewpoint. This paper reports on a pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of the film as a tool to support trainee teachers’ understanding of fluency issues in autistic pupils in the mainstream classroom. The study positions what is a personal perspective as articulated in the film within the wider autism literature, and reports and discusses trainees’ responses to the film. Implications for future Initial Teacher Education in this area – including resultant adaptations of the film – are discussed

DIGESTIBILITY OF SELECTED FEED INGREDIENTS FOR TIGER GROUPER, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

The apparent digestibility (AD) of eight feed ingredients are widely available in Indonesia was determined. In each of two 5x5 latin-square experimental, tiger grouper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus juveniles (100—150 g) were fed a reference diet and four test diets in accordance with the latin-square design. Test feed ingredients were substituted at rates of 40% for animal meals or 30% for plant meals. Chromic oxide was used as the digestibility marker. In determining the ingredient AD, the substitution ratio was calculated as the proportion of the nutrient (or energy) contributed by the test ingredient on an ‘as-is’ basis. Digestibility tanks were steeply slope 200 L cylindroconical tanks with a bottom outlet to facilitate faecal collection, which was carried out at 3-hourly intervals throughout the day. Each collection period took 5—7 days with a similar acclimatization time between diets. A combined ANOVA of the data for both experimental showed no difference (P&gt;0.05) in the AD’s for each reference diets. Thus for comparative purpose, the derived AD’s of the test ingredients were analysed as a single ANOVA. The digestibility of animal meals was generally high(&gt;59% for dry matter, &gt;83% for protein, &gt;65% for lipid, and &gt;70 for gross energy) while that of plant meals was slow (&lt;53% for dry matter, &lt;53% for protein, &lt;66% for lipid, and &lt;46% for gross energy). This information will enable grow-out feeds for tiger grouper to be formulated on a least-cost digestible nutrient basis

Organic Geochemical and Petrographic Analysis of Pure Macerals from the Ohio Shale

Recent advances now permit the separation of coal into constituent macerals of high purity using density gradient centrifugation (DGC). With the availability of pure macerals, the chemical structure of each can be investigated separately, without the interactive interference of the other macerals or mineral matter. The present study is a preliminary effort applying these methods to the study of oil shale kerogen. We have used a sample from the Huron Member of the Upper Devonian Ohio Shale from Logan County, Ohio. Whole rock petrographic examination revealed intact Tasmanites, telalginite of unknown derivation and a weakly fluorescing matrix. Pyrite is abundant, including framboidal and euhedral pyrite imbedded within macerals. The kerogen concentrate was subjected to DGC. The resulting profile shows a single, broad main peak, consisting of mixed telaginite, amorphinite and rare vitrinite. Variable amounts of entrapped minerals apparently account for the broad range of density within the peak, with the organic assemblage being fairly consistent. In future work, it is recommended that the kerogen be micronized prior to DOC to permit a cleaner separation. In order to investigate the chemistry of macerals, pyrolysis is preferred over simple extraction, since soluble native bitumen is mobile and may migrate from the maceral of origin into a neighboring one, acting as a natural contaminant. Pyrolysis techniques assure that the data reflect the nature of indigenous material only. The Ohio Shale kerogen and 4 DGC fractions were subjected to micro-scale, anhydrous, in vitro pyrolysis, followed by GCMS of the saturate and aromatic LC fractions of the pyrolyzate. The 4 DGC fractions are nearly identical in both their saturate and aromatic molecular distributions, consistent with the petrographic observations. To further demonstrate the efficacy of the method, a pure sporinite isolated from a coal in the Pennsylvanian Brazil Formation of Indiana was also analyzed. The sporinite pyrolyzate can readily be distinguished from that of the Ohio Shale alginite by the distributions of n-alkanes, isoprenoids, phyllocladane derivatives, extended tricyclic terpanes, hopanes, moretanes, steranes, alkylbenzenes and thiophene derivatives. Py-LC-GCMS is an effective and versatile characterization tool, as it provides a great number of molecular parameters

Evidence for quantum confinement in the photoluminescence of porous Si and SiGe

We have used anodization techniques to process porous surface regions in p-type Czochralski Si and in p-type Si0.85Ge0.15 epitaxial layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The SiGe layers were unrelaxed before processing. We have observed strong near-infrared and visible light emission from both systems. Analysis of the radiative and nonradiative recombination processes indicate that the emission is consistent with the decay of excitons localized in structures of one or zero dimensions

An examination of the physical and the digital qualities of humanities research

Traditionally humanities scholars have worked in physical environments and with physical artefacts. Libraries are familiar places, built on cultural traditions over thousands of years, and books are comfortable research companions. Digital tools are a more recent addition to the resources available to a researcher. This paper explores both the physical and the digital qualities of modern humanities research, drawing on existing literature and presenting a study of humanities scholars’ perceptions of the research resources they use. We highlight aspects of the physical and digital that can facilitate or hinder the researcher, focusing on three themes that emerge from the data: the working environment; the experience of finding resources; and the experience of working with documents. Rather than aiming to replace physical texts and libraries by digital surrogates, providers need to recognise the complementary roles they play: digital information environments have the potential to provide improved access and analysis features and the facility to exploit the library from any place, while the physical library and resources provide greater authenticity, trustworthiness and the demand to be in a particular place with important material properties

Cognitive economy and satisficing in information seeking: A longitudinal study of undergraduate information behavior

This article reports on a longitudinal study of information seeking by undergraduate information management students. It describes how they found and used information, and explores their motivation and decision making. We employed a use-in-context approach where students were observed conducting, and were interviewed about, information-seeking tasks carried out during their academic work. We found that participants were reluctant to engage with a complex range of information sources, preferring to use the Internet. The main driver for progress in information seeking was the immediate demands of their work (e.g., assignments). Students used their growing expertise to justify a conservative information strategy, retaining established strategies as far as possible and completing tasks with minimum information-seeking effort. The time cost of using library material limited the uptake of such resources. New methods for discovering and selecting information were adopted only when immediately relevant to the task at hand, and tasks were generally chosen or interpreted in ways that minimized the need to develop new strategies. Students were driven by the demands of the task to use different types of information resources, but remained reluctant to move beyond keyword searches, even when they proved ineffective. They also lacked confidence in evaluating the relative usefulness of resources. Whereas existing literature on satisficing has focused on stopping conditions, this work has highlighted a richer repertoire of satisficing behaviors

Constraints on the Emplacement and Uplift History of the Pine Mountain Thrust Sheet, Eastern Kentucky: Evidence from Coal Rank Trends

In this paper coal rank trends on both sides of the Pine Mountain thrust in eastern Kentucky are used to place constraints on thrust evolution. Vitrinite reflectance () measurements on a single Pennsylvanian coal horizon (Fire Clay coal) in eastern Kentucky increase from 0.5% in the north to about 1.0% toward the SE in front of the Pine Mountain thrust. The same horizon in the hangingwall of the thrust displays lower Rmax values (0.8-0.85%). The reflectance isograds are subparallel to the thrust within approximately 10 km of the trace of the fault. We attribute thermal maturation to (1) pre-orogenic maturation by burial to a depth of about 2 km followed by (2) maturation due to conductive relaxation in the footwall after thrusting. Isotherms would not have been offset unless the thrust velocity was \u3e\u3e 10km / Mα. Assuming no erosion, the emergent thrust would have been approximately 3 km thick. In order to explain the relatively low reflectance values observed in the footwall, rapid uplift (\u3e3 km/Ma) after thrust emplacement is required. Alternatively, if erosion kept pace with thrusting, the thrust sheet would have been substantially thinner (\u3c1 \u3ekm), and thermal equilibrium would be rapidly attained in the footwall. Localized frictional heating may have caused elevated reflectance values observed in sheared coals from outcrop scale faults