Mechanical Alloying of Nitrogen into Iron Powders

Mechanical alloying of nitrogen into bcc-fe powder is a very effective and efficient means of obtaining very high concentration of nitrogen in micron-size iron particles. Mechanical alloying increases the concentration of nitrogen in the iron powder far in excess of the bcc-Fe lattice low nitrogen solubility, however most of the infused nitrogen resides on the nano-size grain boundaries and in nano-size bct-fe that forms during mechanical alloying

Changes induced by magnesium ions in the morphology of some plant viruses with filamentous particles

RESP-645

New evidence on the mechanism of aphid transmission of potato C and potato aucuba mosaic viruses

RESP-632

The role of the helper virus in aphid transmission of potato aucuba mosaic virus and potato virus C

RESP-646

ESCA studies of a brass surface subjected to gas-jet enhanced sputtering

The inert gas ion bombardment of solid surfaces has found many uses in the field of analytical chemistry. In one method of spectrochemical analysis, inert gas ion bombardment in a glow discharge is used to produce an atomic vapor, representative of the sample bulk, which is analyzed using atomic absorption techniques. Gas jets directed at the sample surface during the discharge increase the removal rate of sample material from the surface. Such bombardment of solid surfaces results in changes to the surface which are visually evident in the formation of craters and surface deposits. This thesis was designed to gain a better understanding of the changes in a brass surface caused by jet-enhanced sputtering. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) is used to study selected regions of the surface. Changes in chemical composition were observed as successive atomic layers were removed from the sample. The results of this investigation indicate that the effects of ion bombardment can be explained in terms of the selective sputtering of one bulk component over another. The surfaces of the sputtered craters were found to be depleted of the higher sputtering yield component, Zn, when compared to the bulk composition. In a deposit, the component with the highest sputtering yield was found to be more concentrated in layers closest to the bulk material. The component with the lowest sputtering yield was found at relatively higher concentrations nearest the deposit surface. The component with the higher sputtering yield is selectively sputtered first during the glow discharge, and consequently is deposited with a higher concentration closest to the bulk, the converse being true for the lowest sputtering yield component

Residual Infectivity and the Extent of Photoreactivation in Three Different Host Plants of uv-irradiated Potato Virus X

RESP

A probabilistic analysis of argument cogency

This paper offers a probabilistic treatment of the conditions for argument cogency as endorsed in informal logic: acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency. Treating a natural language argument as a reason-claim-complex, our analysis identifies content features of defeasible argument on which the RSA conditions depend, namely: change in the commitment to the reason, the reason’s sensitivity and selectivity to the claim, one’s prior commitment to the claim, and the contextually determined thresholds of acceptability for reasons and for claims. Results contrast with, and may indeed serve to correct, the informal understanding and applications of the RSA criteria concerning their conceptual dependence, their function as update-thresholds, and their status as obligatory rather than permissive norms, but also show how these formal and informal normative approachs can in fact align

Practical reasoning in political discourse: The UK government's response to the economic crisis in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report

This article focuses on practical reasoning in political discourse and argues for a better integration of argumentation theory with critical discourse analysis (CDA). Political discourse and its specific genres (for example, deliberation) primarily involve forms of practical reasoning, typically oriented towards finding solutions to problems and deciding on future courses of action. Practical reasoning is a form of inference from cognitive and motivational premises: from what we believe (about the situation or about means—end relations) and what we want or desire (our goals and values), leading to a normative judgement (and often a decision) concerning action. We offer an analysis of the main argument in the UK government’s 2008 Pre-Budget Report (HM Treasury, 2008) and suggest how a critical evaluation of the argument from the perspective of a normative theory of argumentation (particularly the informal logic developed by Douglas Walton) can provide the basis for an evaluation in terms of characteristic CDA concerns. We are advancing this analysis as a contribution to CDA, aimed at increasing the rigour and systematicity of its analyses of political discourse, and as a contribution to the normative concerns of critical social science