378 research outputs found

    Iron single crystal growth from a lithium-rich melt

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    \alpha-Fe single crystals of rhombic dodecahedral habit were grown from a melt of Li84_{84}N12_{12}Fe3_{\sim 3}. Crystals of several millimeter along a side form at temperatures around T800T \approx 800^\circC. Upon further cooling the growth competes with the formation of Fe-doped Li3_3N. The b.c.c. structure and good sample quality of \alpha-Fe single crystals were confirmed by X-ray and electron diffraction as well as magnetization measurements and chemical analysis. A nitrogen concentration of 90\,ppm was detected by means of carrier gas hot extraction. Scanning electron microscopy did not reveal any sign of iron nitride precipitates.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

    Ferromagnetism or slow paramagnetic relaxation in Fe-doped Li3_3N?

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    We report on isothermal magnetization, M\"ossbauer spectroscopy, and magnetostriction as well as temperature-dependent alternating-current (ac) susceptibility, specific heat, and thermal expansion of single crystalline and polycrstalline Li2_2(Li1x_{1-x}Fex_x)N with x=0x = 0 and x0.30x \approx 0.30. Magnetic hysteresis emerges at temperatures below T50T \approx 50\,K with coercivity fields of up to μ0H=11.6\mu_0H = 11.6\,T at T=2T = 2\,K and magnetic anisotropy energies of 310310\,K (2727\,meV). The ac susceptibility is strongly frequency dependent (f=10f\,=\,10--10,00010,000\,Hz) and reveals an effective energy barrier for spin reversal of ΔE1100\Delta E \approx 1100\,K. The relaxation times follow Arrhenius behavior for T>25T > 25\,K. For T<10T < 10\,K, however, the relaxation times of τ1010\tau \approx 10^{10}\,s are only weakly temperature-dependent indicating the relevance of a quantum tunneling process instead of thermal excitations. The magnetic entropy amounts to more than 2525\,J molFe1^{-1}_{\rm Fe}\,K1^{-1} which significantly exceeds RRln2, the value expected for the entropy of a ground state doublet. Thermal expansion and magnetostriction indicate a weak magneto-elastic coupling in accordance with slow relaxation of the magnetization. The classification of Li2_2(Li1x_{1-x}Fex_x)N as ferromagnet is stressed and contrasted with highly anisotropic and slowly relaxing paramagnetic behavior.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

    Spatial Predictive Modeling and Remote Sensing of Land Use Change in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

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    This project was focused on modeling the processes by which increasing demand for developed land uses, brought about by changes in the regional economy and the socio-demographics of the region, are translated into a changing spatial pattern of land use. Our study focused on a portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed where the spatial patterns of sprawl represent a set of conditions generally prevalent in much of the U.S. Working in the region permitted us access to (i) a time-series of multi-scale and multi-temporal (including historical) satellite imagery and (ii) an established network of collaborating partners and agencies willing to share resources and to utilize developed techniques and model results. In addition, a unique parcel-level tax assessment database and linked parcel boundary maps exists for two counties in the Maryland portion of this region that made it possible to establish a historical cross-section time-series database of parcel level development decisions. Scenario analyses of future land use dynamics provided critical quantitative insight into the impact of alternative land management and policy decisions. These also have been specifically aimed at addressing growth control policies aimed at curbing exurban (sprawl) development. Our initial technical approach included three components: (i) spatial econometric modeling of the development decision, (ii) remote sensing of suburban change and residential land use density, including comparisons of past change from Landsat analyses and more traditional sources, and (iii) linkages between the two through variable initialization and supplementation of parcel level data. To these we added a fourth component, (iv) cellular automata modeling of urbanization, which proved to be a valuable addition to the project. This project has generated both remote sensing and spatially explicit socio-economic data to estimate and calibrate the parameters for two different types of land use change models and has undertaken analyses of these models. One (the CA model) is driven largely by observations on past patterns of land use change, while the other (the EC model) is driven by mechanisms of the land use change decision at the parcel level. Our project may be the first serious attempt at developing both types of models for the same area, using as much common data as possible. We have identified the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches and plan to continue to revise each model in the light of new data and new lessons learned through continued collaboration. Questions, approaches, findings, publication and presentation lists concerning the research are also presented

    Re-analysis of the Levanluhta skeletal material : Sex and stature estimation of individuals in an Iron Age water burial in Finland

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    Levanluhta, an Iron Age water burial site in Finland, and its material consisting of commingled skeletal remains and artifacts, has been studied by several researchers over the past 100 years, resulting in multiple interpretations of the people and the site. Previous skeletal analyses have concluded that the majority of the individuals represented in the remains were females and children and were of relatively short stature, so possibly nutritionally deprived. This study re-analyzed the commingled adult human remains with updated methods. The methods applied in this study to estimate sex and stature were based on more representative European reference samples than the previously applied methods. The methods included morphology, osteometrics, and computed tomography (CT) scans. Our results indicated that depending on the reference data, the majority of the individual adult bones including os coxae (73%, n = 45) and long bones (humerus 83%-89%, n = 52; radius 72%-89%, n = 47; ulna 50%-65%, n = 58; femur 92%-100%, n = 25; tibia 77%-85%, n = 26) were classified as females based on their size and morphology. The cross-sectional bone properties of humerii, femora, and tibiae visualized using CT scanning also supported these findings. However, the cranial morphology did not show as clear female-biased sex ratio as other methods (42% females, 33% males, 24% undetermined, n = 33). In females, the mean stature based on the tibia (155.3 cm, n = 10) was within the range of the coeval European females and did not necessarily indicate nutritional deprivation, which is in line with previously published stable isotope findings from the site. The mean stature based on the tibia suggested that the Levanluhta males were short (164.0 cm, n = 3), but final interpretations were limited due to the small number of male individuals. The current study affirmed that the Levanluhta skeletal assemblage was female biased and gave new insights into interpretation of the stature.Peer reviewe

    Homing in on consciousness in the nervous system: An action-based synthesis

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    Abstract: The primary function of consciousness in the nervous system remains mysterious. Passive frame theory, a synthesis of empirically supported hypotheses from diverse fields of investigation, reveals that consciousness serves as a frame that constrains and directs skeletal muscle output, thereby yielding adaptive behavior. How consciousness achieves this is more counterintuitive, “low level, ” and passive than the kinds of functions that theorists have attributed to consciousness. From this unique, action-based perspective, consciousness is in the service of the somatic nervous system. The framework begins to isolate the neuroanatomical, cognitive-mechanistic, and representational processes associated with consciousness.
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