Moessbauer spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy of the Murchison meteorite

Meteorites provide a wealth of information about the solar system's formation, since they have similar building blocks as the Earth's crust but have been virtually unaltered since their formation. Some stony meteorites contain minerals and silicate inclusions, called chondrules, in the matrix. Utilizing Moessbauer spectroscopy, we identified minerals in the Murchison meteorite, a carbonaceous chondritic meteorite, by the gamma ray resonance lines observed. Absorption patterns of the spectra were found due to the minerals olivine and phyllosilicate. We used a scanning electron microscope to describe the structure of the chondrules in the Murchison meteorite. The chondrules were found to be deformed due to weathering of the meteorite. Diameters varied in size from 0.2 to 0.5 mm. Further enhancement of the microscopic imagery using a digital image processor was used to describe the physical characteristics of the inclusions

Leech Parasitism of the Gulf Coast Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina major (Testudines:Emydidae) in Mississippi, USA

Ten leeches were collected from a Gulf Coast box turtle, Terrapene carolina major, found crossing a road in Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi, USA. Eight of the leeches were identified as Placobdella multilineata and 2 were identified as Helobdella europaea. This represents the second vouchered report of leeches from a box turtle. Helobdella europaea is reported for the first time associated with a turtle and for the second time from the New World

High Quality Ultrathin Bi2Se3 Films on CaF2 and CaF2/Si by Molecular Beam Epitaxy with a Radio Frequency Cracker Cell

Here we report a method to fabricate high quality Bi2Se3 thin films using molecular beam epitaxy with a radio frequency cracker cell as an atomic selenium source. With rates close to exact stoichiometry, optimal layer-by-layer growth of high quality Bi2Se3 thin films with smooth surfaces, has been achieved on CaF2(111) substrates and Si(111) substrates with a thin CaF2 buffer layer(CaF2/Si). Transport measurements show a characteristic weak antilocalization mangnetoresistance, with emergence of weak localization in the ultrathin film limit. Quantum Oscillations attributed to the topological surface states have been observed, including in films on CaF2/Si

Axial Torsion-Dirac spin Effect in Rotating Frame with Relativistic Factor

In the framework of spacetime with torsion and without curvature, the Dirac particle spin precession in the rotational system is studied. We write out the equivalent tetrad of rotating frame, in the polar coordinate system, through considering the relativistic factor, and the resultant equivalent metric is a flat Minkowski one. The obtained rotation-spin coupling formula can be applied to the high speed rotating case, which is consistent with the expectation.Comment: 6 page

Soybean and alfalfa hays for wintering pregnant ewes

Since the soybean acreage has increased in Iowa and the Corn Belt, the determination of the economic feeding value of this plant deserves attention. Alfalfa and clover have long been considered good legume hays for sheep. Because of the increase in soybean production, which involves a greater volume of soybean hay, the question naturally arises as to how this legume hay compares in feeding value with clover and alfalfa. With this question in mind four lots of pregnant ewes were experimentally fed on soybean and alfalfa hays and certain combinations of these two hays. The results secured are reported herein

Roughages for fattening two-year-old steers

The relative values of different roughages in the winter fattening of two-year-old steers when shelled corn, full-fed, cottonseed meal and salt are allowed, as well as the advisability of limiting the grain fed in a corn silage-alfalfa hay-salt ration are the themes of the experiment covered in this bulletin. How does corn fodder compare in feeding value with corn silage? What are the comparative feeding values of red clover and alfalfa hays? Will timothy and oat straw supply the steers\u27 needs economically when this roughage is balanced with a liberal allowance of cottonseed meal fed with the corn grain and salt? How does mixed timothy-clover hay rank alongside the pure red clover? Can one finish two-year-old. cattle with profit by using corn silage, alfalfa hay and salt without extra grain? These are some of the questions this research throws light upon

Experimental and numerical study of error fields in the CNT stellarator

Sources of error fields were indirectly inferred in a stellarator by reconciling computed and numerical flux surfaces. Sources considered so far include the displacements and tilts (but not the deformations, yet) of the four circular coils featured in the simple CNT stellarator. The flux surfaces were measured by means of an electron beam and phosphor rod, and were computed by means of a Biot-Savart field-line tracing code. If the ideal coil locations and orientations are used in the computation, agreement with measurements is poor. Discrepancies are ascribed to errors in the positioning and orientation of the in-vessel interlocked coils. To that end, an iterative numerical method was developed. A Newton-Raphson algorithm searches for the coils' displacements and tilts that minimize the discrepancy between the measured and computed flux surfaces. This method was verified by misplacing and tilting the coils in a numerical model of CNT, calculating the flux surfaces that they generated, and testing the algorithm's ability to deduce the coils' displacements and tilts. Subsequently, the numerical method was applied to the experimental data, arriving at a set of coil displacements whose resulting field errors exhibited significantly improved quantitative and qualitative agreement with experimental results.Comment: Special Issue on the 20th International Stellarator-Heliotron Worksho

The salt consumption of sheep: Fattening lambs

1. Common salt (sodium chloride) is one of the essential nutrients in the rations of sheep and lambs, and the proper provision of it makes for a more profitable and satisfactory sheep husbandry. 2. Free-choice salt feeding with our present knowledge appears to be the most satisfactory method of allowance under Corn-belt conditions to secure near-optimum nutritional results. 3. When salt is arbitrarily allowed, mixed with the feeds, experimental results indicate that with our present understanding of the factors controlling salt needs, it is very difficult to approximate the correct quantitative allowance. 4. Researches with wintering ewes indicate that salting the feed may be easily overdone, or underdone. An absence of salt from the feeds allowed ewes resulted in lesser gains, less efficient use of feeds, an impaired lamb crop and a decreased wool yield. The ewes not fed salt developed a marked craving for it. 5. The records kept on 1,306 winter-fed lambs show an average daily salt consumption of 0.011 pound per lamb, the range by lots being from 0.001 to 0.019 pound. It is estimated that lambs fed at Ames secure about one-half of their total sodium (pure common salt contains 39.34 percent of the mineral sodium) and three-fourths of their chlorine (salt contains 60.66 percent of chlorine) from the salt box (salt self-fed). Ames campus water supplies but very little of the total salt constituents, but the feed provides practically all the sodium and chlorine not supplied in the salt box. 6. The character and composition of the rations fed affect in large measure the salt consumption and r equirements of fattening lambs. Feeding beet molasses markedly decreased salt consumption, whereas alfalfa hay had the opposite effect. 7. Fattening lambs consume much more salt per unit weight than steers fed under similar conditions, and whereas the daily salt consumption of lambs increases during the feeding period, that of the steers decreases. Lambs in the finishing lots consume more roughage in proportion to concentrates than do steers; this ratio of roughage to concentrates is the more marked as the period of feeding progresses. The greater the proportion of roughage, the larger apparently is the salt consumption. 8. The salt required for a hundred pounds gain on 1,306 fattening lambs averaged 3.78 pounds, the range being from 0.21 to 11.18 pounds. A typical representative of an average lamb, gaining 30 pounds in our experiments, would therefore require a little over one and a tenth pounds of salt during the winter feeding period. 9. The observations and data as available and interpreted indicate that the free-choice feeding of salt of high grade, block or flake, is good practice in the fattening of lambs