Functional Changes in Littoral Macroinvertebrate Communities in Response to Watershed-Level Anthropogenic Stress

Watershed-scale anthropogenic stressors have profound effects on aquatic communities. Although several functional traits of stream macroinvertebrates change predictably in response to land development and urbanization, little is known about macroinvertebrate functional responses in lakes. We assessed functional community structure, functional diversity (Rao’s quadratic entropy) and voltinism in macroinvertebrate communities sampled across the full gradient of anthropogenic stress in Laurentian Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Functional diversity and voltinism significantly decreased with increasing development, whereas agriculture had smaller or non-significant effects. Functional community structure was affected by watershed-scale development, as demonstrated by an ordination analysis followed by regression. Because functional community structure affects energy flow and ecosystem function, and functional diversity is known to have important implications for ecosystem resilience to further environmental change, these results highlight the necessity of finding ways to remediate or at least ameliorate these effects

Simulation of the processes of drilling polymer composite blanks using digital twins

Polycrystalline composite materials made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics have more and more widespread application in mechanical engineering and become the main material for the production of modern types of high-speed transport. Thus, their share has already reached 35–45 % in the structural design of passenger aircrafts. However, the technology of machining surfaces of parts made of these materials, in particular, holes, is characterized by insufficient knowledge, the absence of regulatory standards for cutting modes and is most often based on the production experience of enterprises. When changing the processing conditions and the material, the pre-production engineering duration causes a significant increase in the cost of manufacturing parts due to the need for experimental selection of the cutting mode rational elements. To exclude the empirical selection of rational elements of the machining equipment cutting mode, the authors considered the possibility of using digital twins for studying the processes of drilling holes in the blanks made of composite materials, including those with the ultrasonic field energy introduction into the new surface shaping zone (to improve the processing quality and productivity). When modeling, the LS-DYNA program was used. The authors prepared the models and processed the results using the LS-PrePost 4.8 program. During the study, an explicit modeling method was used with preliminary validation and calibration of the results of tests of composites. The authors carried out calibration on test operations of tension, three-point bending, and interlaminar shear of the ВКУ-39 polymer composite material based on carbon fibers (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) widely used in domestic engineering. The developed finite element computer models allow simulating drilling procedures without carrying out rather complicated and expensive field tests. As a result of modeling, a simulation file was obtained, which reflects the process of drilling holes in a polymer composite material blank, as close as possible to the real-life situation with chip removal

Beta decay of 71,73Co; probing single particle states approaching doubly magic 78Ni

Low-energy excited states in 71,73Ni populated via the {\beta} decay of 71,73Co were investigated in an experiment performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU). Detailed analysis led to the construction of level schemes of 71,73Ni, which are interpreted using systematics and analyzed using shell model calculations. The 5/2- states attributed to the the f5/2 orbital and positive parity 5/2+ and 7/2+ states from the g9/2 orbital have been identified in both 71,73Ni. In 71Ni the location of a 1/2- {\beta}-decaying isomer is proposed and limits are suggested as to the location of the isomer in 73Ni. The location of positive parity cluster states are also identified in 71,73Ni. Beta-delayed neutron branching ratios obtained from this data are given for both 71,73Co.Comment: Accepted for publication in PR

beta-decay study of Cu-77

A beta-decay study of Cu-77 has been performed at the ISOLDE mass separator with the aim to deduce its beta-decay properties and to obtain spectroscopic information on Zn-77. Neutron-rich copper isotopes were produced by means of proton- or neutron-induced fission reactions on U-238. After the production, Cu-77 was selectively laser ionized, mass separated and sent to different detection systems where beta-gamma and beta-n coincidence data were collected. We report on the deduced half-live, decay scheme, and possible spin assignment of 77Cu

Direct measurement of resonance strengths in S 34 (α,γ) Ar 38 at astrophysically relevant energies using the DRAGON recoil separator

Background: Nucleosynthesis of mid-mass elements is thought to occur under hot and explosive astrophysical conditions. Radiative α capture on S34 has been shown to impact nucleosynthesis in several such conditions, including core and shell oxygen burning, explosive oxygen burning, and type Ia supernovae. Purpose: Broad uncertainties exist in the literature for the strengths of three resonances within the astrophysically relevant energy range (ECM=1.94-3.42MeV at T=2.2GK). Further, there are several states in Ar38 within this energy range which have not been previously measured. This work aimed to remeasure the resonance strengths of states for which broad uncertainty existed as well as to measure the resonance strengths and energies of previously unmeasured states. Methods: Resonance strengths and energies of eight narrow resonances (five of which had not been previously studied) were measured in inverse kinematics with the DRAGON facility at TRIUMF by impinging an isotopically pure beam of S34 ions on a windowless He4 gas target. Prompt γ emissions of de-exciting Ar38 recoils were detected in an array of bismuth germanate scintillators in coincidence with recoil nuclei, which were separated from unreacted beam ions by an electromagnetic mass separator and detected by a time-of-flight system and a multianode ionization chamber. Results: The present measurements agree with previous results. Broad uncertainty in the resonance strength of the ECM=2709keV resonance persists. Resonance strengths and energies were determined for five low-energy resonances which had not been studied previously, and their strengths were determined to be significantly weaker than those of previously measured resonances. Conclusions: The five previously unmeasured resonances were found not to contribute significantly to the total thermonuclear reaction rate. A median total thermonuclear reaction rate calculated using data from the present work along with existing literature values using the STARLIB rate calculator agrees with the NON-SMOKER statistical model calculation as well as the REACLIB and STARLIB library rates at explosive and nonexplosive oxygen-burning temperatures (T=3-4GK and T=1.5-2.7GK, respectively)

β-decay studies of the transitional nucleus Cu75 and the structure of Zn75

The β decay of Cu75 [t1/2=1.222(8)s] to levels in Zn75 was studied at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The γγ and βγ data were collected at the Low-energy Radioactive Ion Beam Spectroscopy Station using the high-resolution isobar separator to obtain a purified Cu75 beam with a rate of over 2000 ions per second. The excited states in Zn75 have been identified for the first time. A total of 120 γ-ray transitions were placed in a level scheme containing 59 levels including two states above the neutron separation energy and a previously unknown 1/2- isomeric state at 127 keV. Spins and parities of several states were deduced and interpreted based on the observed β feeding and γ-decay pattern. © 2011 American Physical Society