Fixation of virgin lunar surface soil

Two systems are shown to be suitable for fixing loose particulate soils with a polymer film, without visually detectable disturbance of the soil particle spatial relationships. A two-component system is described, which uses a gas monomer condensible at the soil temperature and a gas phase catalyst acting to polymerize the monomer. A one-component system using a monomer which polymerizes spontaneously on and within the top few millimeters of the soil is also considered. The two-component system employs a simpler apparatus, but it operates over a narrower temperature range (approximately -40 to -10 C). Other two-component systems were identified which may operate at soil temperatures as high as +100 C, at relatively narrow temperature ranges of approximately 30 C. The one-component system was demonstrated to operate successfully with initial soil temperatures from -70 C or lower to +150 C

Dynamical Realization of Macroscopic Superposition States of Cold Bosons in a Tilted Double Well

We present exact expressions for the quantum sloshing of Bose-Einstein condensates in a tilted two-well potential. Tunneling is suppressed by a small potential difference between wells, or tilt. However, tunneling resonances occur for critical values of the tilt when the barrier is high. At resonance, tunneling times on the order of 10-100 ms are possible. Furthermore, such tilted resonances lead to a dynamical scheme for creating few-body NOON-like macroscopic superposition states which are protected by the many body wavefunction against potential fluctuations.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, final version, only minor changes from previous arXiv versio

Nutrient Limitation of Periphyton in a Spring-Fed, Coastal Stream in Florida, USA.

There is strong evidence to suggest that ground-water nitrate concentrations have increased in recent years and further increases are expected along portions of the central Gulf coast of Florida. Much of the nitrate enriched groundwater is discharged into surface waters through numerous freshwater springs that are characteristic of the area and the potential for eutrophication of their receiving waters is a legitimate concern. To test the potential effects of elevated nutrient concentrations on the periphyton community an in situ nutrient addition experiment was conducted in the spring-fed Chassahowitzka River, FL, USA, during the summer of 1999. Plastic tubes housing arrays of glass microscope slides were suspended in the stream. Periphyton colonizing the microscope slides was subjected to artificial increases in nitrogen, phosphorus or a combination of both. Slides from each tube were collected at 3- to 4- day intervals and the periphyton communities were measured for chlorophyll concentration. The addition of approximately 10 μg/L of phosphate above ambient concentrations significantly increased the amount of periphyton on artificial substrates relative to controls; the addition of approximately 100 μg/L of nitrate above ambient concentrations did not. The findings from this experiment implicated phosphorus, rather than nitrogen, as the nutrient that potentially limits periphyton growth in this system.(PDF contains 4 pages.

A fast and reliable method for the delineation of tree crown outlines for the computation of crown openness values and other crown parameters

Numerous crown parameters (e.g., leaf area index, diameter, height, volume) can be obtained via the analysis of tree crown photographs. In all cases, parameter values are functions of the position of the crown outline. However, no standardized method to delineate crowns exists. To explore the effect of different outlines on tree crown descriptors, in this case crown openness (CO), and facilitate the adoption of a standard method free of user bias, we developed the program Crown Delineator that automatically delineates any outline around tree crowns following predetermined sensibility settings. We used different outlines to analyze tree CO in contrasting settings: using saplings from four species in young boreal mixedwood forests and medium-sized hybrid poplar trees from a low-density plantation. In both cases, the estimated CO increases when calculated from a looser outline, which had a strong influence on understory available light simulations using a forest simulator. These results demonstrate that the method used to trace crown outlines is an important step in the determination of CO values. We provide a much-needed computer-assisted solution to help standardize this procedure, which can also be used in many other situations in which the delineation of tree crowns is needed (e.g., competition and crown shyness)

A Deep Radio Survey of Abell 2125 III: The Cluster Core - Merging and Stripping

We use radio, near-IR, optical, and X-ray observations to examine dynamic processes in the central region of Abell 2125. In addition to the central triple, including members of both major dynamical subsystems identified from a redshift survey, this region features a galaxy showing strong evidence for ongoing gas stripping during a high-velocity passage through the gas in the cluster core. The disk galaxy C153 exhibits a plume stretching toward the cluster center seen in soft X-rays by Chandra, parts of which are also seen in [O II] emission and near-UV continuum light. HST imaging shows a distorted disk, with star-forming knots asymmetrically distributed and remnant spiral structure possibly defined by dust lanes. The stars and ionized gas in its disk are kinematically decoupled, demonstrating that pressure stripping must be important, and that tidal disruption is not the only mechanism at work. Comparison of the gas properties seen in the X-ray and optical data on the plume highlight significant features of the history of stripped gas in the intracluster medium. The nucleus of C153 also hosts an AGN, shown by the weak and distorted extended radio emission and a radio compact core. The unusual strength of the stripping signatures in this instance is likely related to the high relative velocity of the galaxy with respect to the intracluster medium, during a cluster/cluster merger, and its passage very near the core of the cluster. Another sign of recent dynamical events is diffuse starlight asymmetrically placed about the central triple in a cD envelope. Transient and extreme dynamical events as seen in Abell 2125 may be important drivers of galaxy evolution in the cores of rich clusters.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figures, accepted AJ, paper with full resolution figures is available at http:www.aoc.nrao.edu/~fowen/papers/a2125/a2125paper3.ps.g