Theory of Electron Spin Relaxation in n-Doped Quantum Wells

Recent experiments have demonstrated long spin lifetimes in uniformly n-doped quantum wells. The spin dynamics of exciton, localized, and conduction spins are important for understanding these systems. We explain experimental behavior by invoking spin exchange between all spin species. By doing so we explain quantitatively and qualitatively the striking and unusual temperature dependence in (110)-GaAs quantum wells. We discuss possible future experiments to resolve the pertinent localized spin relaxation mechanisms. In addition, our analysis allows us to propose possible experimental scenarios that will optimize spin relaxation times in GaAs and CdTe quantum wells.Comment: Small corrections made. Accepted to Phys. Rev. B. 8 pages, 5 figure

A Method for Determining Optimum Re-entry Trajectories

Determining optimum atmospheric reentry trajectories using Pontryagin maximum principl

Trees of Unusual Size: Biased Inference of Early Bursts from Large Molecular Phylogenies

An early burst of speciation followed by a subsequent slowdown in the rate of diversification is commonly inferred from molecular phylogenies. This pattern is consistent with some verbal theory of ecological opportunity and adaptive radiations. One often-overlooked source of bias in these studies is that of sampling at the level of whole clades, as researchers tend to choose large, speciose clades to study. In this paper, we investigate the performance of common methods across the distribution of clade sizes that can be generated by a constant-rate birth-death process. Clades which are larger than expected for a given constant-rate branching process tend to show a pattern of an early burst even when both speciation and extinction rates are constant through time. All methods evaluated were susceptible to detecting this false signature when extinction was low. Under moderate extinction, both the gamma-statistic and diversity-dependent models did not detect such a slowdown but only because the signature of a slowdown was masked by subsequent extinction. Some models which estimate time-varying speciation rates are able to detect early bursts under higher extinction rates, but are extremely prone to sampling bias. We suggest that examining clades in isolation may result in spurious inferences that rates of diversification have changed through time.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

QUANTITY OF LIVING PLANT MATERIALS IN PRAIRIE SOILS IN RELATION TO RUN-OFF AND SOIL EROSION

The menace of soil erosion did not appear in the west until much of the prairie was broken for cropping or weakened by continuous overgrazing. The grassland sod is a great conserver of rainfall; the amount of run-off water is relatively small, and the soil is firmly held against the forces of erosion. This study is concerned with the role that the living underground plant parts play in promoting the absorption of water by the soil, and especially their importance in reducing run-off. Their holding of the soil against the forces of water erosion has been experimentally determined. A study of the quantity of living plant materials in native prairies and pastures near Lincoln, Nebraska, has just been completed. These materials-largely the underground parts of grasses-are composed of roots, rhizomes, and the bases of stems. In the case of non-grassy species or forbs, they sometimes include corms, bulbs, and certain other underground plant structures. The relation of the vegetation to the effectiveness of the precipitation in supplying water to the soil is one of great importance. When the fate of the water falling as drops of rain is studied, it is found that a part is intercepted by the vegetation and never reaches the soil. Much water is lost as run-off when absorption is not sufficiently rapid. This frequently results in erosion. Large amounts are absorbed by the soil and again used by the plant, especially when the vegetation has produced good soil structure and abundant humus. Some water may percolate beyond the depths of the roots of even the most deeply rooted species. The cover of vegetation and the amount of living and dead organic materials in the soil both play an extremely important role in all of these processes. Although this study is not concerned primarily with the effects of the cover of vegetation on soil water relations, yet plant cover is closely related to quantity of underground plant parts and to run-off. Hence, brief consideration will be given to the interception of rainfall, decrease in run-off, and promotion of absorption by the cover of vegetation

Estimating ventilation rates of animal houses through CO2 balance

Citation: Liu, Z., Powers, W., & Harmon, J. D. (2016). Estimating ventilation rates of animal houses through CO2 balance. Transactions of the Asabe, 59(1), 321-328. doi:10.13031/trans.59.10235The CO2 production rates from various animal species were measured as well as the ventilation rates (VR) in environmental rooms at Michigan State University over the course of 15 studies that considered dietary strategies to alter air emissions, including two dairy cow studies, four steer studies, two swine studies, one Turkey study, four laying hen studies, and two broiler chicken studies. The objectives of this article are to summarize the baseline data on CO2 production from various animal species and determine uncertainties of the CO2 balance approach for estimating VR of animal houses by evaluating the model performance in these studies. In the poultry (broiler, laying hen, and Turkey) and dairy studies, the CO2 production rates per heat production of animals or respiratory quotient (RQ) showed a decreasing trend with increasing animal age or days in milk (DIM). Higher variation in CO2 production rates per heat production of animals were observed in young broiler chicken (<3 weeks) and Turkeys (<10 weeks) and in the dairy cow studies. The modeled and measured CO2 production rates were generally comparable with each other for each species, and the standard deviation of model residuals was about 20% to 30% of the average measured CO2 production rate for each species except dairy cows. By only including data in which the differences between exhaust and inlet CO2 concentrations were larger than 50 ppm, the standard deviations of model residuals were less than 32% of the average measured VR in the broiler, laying hen, swine, and steer studies. Based on the results, when using the CO2 balance approach to estimate VR for broiler, laying hen, swine, and steer operations, a minimum of ten replicate measurements is required to achieve a margin of error less than 20% in modeled VR with 95% confidence. © 2016 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

Long-term source monitoring with BATSE

The uncollimated Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) large area detectors (LADs) are well suited to nearly continuous monitoring of the stronger hard x-ray sources, and time series analysis for pulsars. An overview of the analysis techniques presently being applied to the data are discussed, including representative observations of the Crab Nebula, Crab pulsar, and summaries of the sources detected to data. Results of a search for variability in the Crab Pulsar pulse profile are presented