Archaeological Investigation at the Marshall Powder Mill (41HS17), Confederate States of America 1863-1865, Harrison County, Texas: 1994 Season

The Northeast Texas Archeological Society, in conjunction with the East Texas, Dallas, and Tarrant County archeological societies, reinstated archaeological investigations at the Marshall Powder Mill (41HS17) in 1994 following several years of delicate negotiations with the landowner about the value of preserving this archaeological site. The Marshall Powder Mill manufactured gunpowder, small arms and cannon, and refurbished weaponry, and was one of several arsenals that served the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate States of America from 1863 to 1865. None have been thoroughly investigated archaeologically, however, thereby ignoring a major aspect of the Confederacy\u27s war effort, and an important industrial enterprise. Building foundations, earthworks, roads, and an artificial channel race remain essentially undisturbed within the Loop 390 corridor and the privately-owned portions of the site; the eastern one-third of the site has been destroyed by a modern lumber mill. Although the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there is no concerted plan for preservation of this Civil War military-industrial complex. Little historical documentation exists as to the number and types of buildings, their locations, or the activities that were conducted at the Marshall Powder Mill. The single map in the National Archives was captured by Federal troops in 1864, and only indicates a few of the buildings and none of the earthworks. Apparently the Confederates were concerned with security, and the commander, Major George D. Alexander, destroyed or removed all records prior to Federal occupation of the site in 1865. Therefore, the archaeological remains speak the clearest about the Marshall Powder Mill\u27s buildings and their functions, and may be the only sure means of reconstructing the layout and design of the arsenal, as well as ancillary fortifications, buildings, and structures around Marshall that date to the Civil War period

Archaeological Investigations at the Marshall Powdermill and Arsenal (41HS17), Confederate States of America 1864-1865, Harrison County, Texas

The Northeast Texas Archeological Society (NETAS), in conjunction with the East Texas, Dallas, and Tarrant County Archeological Societies has completed a year-long project at the Marshall Powder Mill, 41HS17, Harrison County, Texas. The Marshall Powder Mill manufactured gunpowder, small arms and cannon, and refurbished weaponry. It is one of several arsenals that served the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate States of America, and was among the last in operation from 1864 to 1865. None have been thoroughly investigated archaeologically, thereby ignoring a major aspect of the Confederacy\u27s war effort and an important industrial enterprise

Fission product gamma spectra

The fission product gamma spectra of /sup 233/U, /sup 235/U, and /sup 239/Pu were measured at 12 cooling times following 20,000-s irradiations in the thermal column of the Omega West Reactor. The mean cooling times ranged from 29 s to 146,500 s. The total gamma energies were obtained by integrating over the energy spectra, and both the spectra and the total energies are compared with calculations using the CINDER-10 code and ENDF/B-IV data base. The measured and calculated gamma spectra are compared in a series of figures. The measured total gamma energies are approx. 14% larger than the calculated energies during the earliest counting period (4 s to 54 s cooling time). For /sup 235/U, the measured and calculated total gamma energies are nearly the same after 1200 s cooling time, and the measurements are 2% to 6% lower at longer cooling times. For /sup 239/Pu, the measured and calculated total gamma energies are nearly the same at cooling times longer than 4,000 s, and for /sup 233/U this condition prevails at cooling times longer than 10,000 s. 39 figures, 4 tables

Realistic Calculation of the hep Astrophysical Factor

The astrophysical factor for the proton weak capture on 3He is calculated with correlated-hyperspherical-harmonics bound and continuum wave functions corresponding to a realistic Hamiltonian consisting of the Argonne v18 two-nucleon and Urbana-IX three-nucleon interactions. The nuclear weak charge and current operators have vector and axial-vector components, that include one- and many-body terms. All possible multipole transitions connecting any of the p-3He S- and P-wave channels to the 4He bound state are considered. The S-factor at a p-3He center-of-mass energy of 10 keV, close to the Gamow-peak energy, is predicted to be 10.1 10^{-20} keV b, a factor of five larger than the standard-solar-model value. The P-wave transitions are found to be important, contributing about 40 % of the calculated S-factor.Comment: 8 pages RevTex file, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

RhoE Deficiency Produces Postnatal Lethality, Profound Motor Deficits and Neurodevelopmental Delay in Mice

Rnd proteins are a subfamily of Rho GTPases involved in the control of actin cytoskeleton dynamics and other cell functions such as motility, proliferation and survival. Unlike other members of the Rho family, Rnd proteins lack GTPase activity and therefore remain constitutively active. We have recently described that RhoE/Rnd3 is expressed in the Central Nervous System and that it has a role in promoting neurite formation. Despite their possible relevance during development, the role of Rnd proteins in vivo is not known. To get insight into the in vivo function of RhoE we have generated mice lacking RhoE expression by an exon trapping cassette. RhoE null mice (RhoE gt/gt) are smaller at birth, display growth retardation and early postnatal death since only half of RhoE gt/gt mice survive beyond postnatal day (PD) 15 and 100% are dead by PD 29. RhoE gt/gt mice show an abnormal body position with profound motor impairment and impaired performance in most neurobehavioral tests. Null mutant mice are hypoactive, show an immature locomotor pattern and display a significant delay in the appearance of the hindlimb mature responses. Moreover, they perform worse than the control littermates in the wire suspension, vertical climbing and clinging, righting reflex and negative geotaxis tests. Also, RhoE ablation results in a delay of neuromuscular maturation and in a reduction in the number of spinal motor neurons. Finally, RhoE gt/gt mice lack the common peroneal nerve and, consequently, show a complete atrophy of the target muscles. This is the first model to study the in vivo functions of a member of the Rnd subfamily of proteins, revealing the important role of Rnd3/RhoE in the normal development and suggesting the possible involvement of this protein in neurological disorders

Gamma measurements on spherical shells of /sup 239/Pu and /sup 238/U

The gamma spectra from two /sup 239/Pu spherical shells and an identical /sup 238/U shell 67-mm o.d. and 2.2 mm thick were measured with NaI(Tl) and Ge(Li) detectors. The plutonium shells differed in the /sup 240/Pu content. The intrinsic gamma radiation at 2 m from the shells was 93.3 ..mu..rem/h (5.93% /sup 230/Pu); 67.3 ..mu..rem/h (2.65% /sup 240/Pu); and 0.69 ..mu..rem/h (tuballoy with 0.2% /sup 235/U). The NaI(T1) spectrum is given in photons/cm/sup 2/-s and in mrem/h for 10 keV energy bins to 1 MeV for the plutonium shells, and for 25 keV energy bins to 3 MeV for the tuballoy shell. The decay chains leading to the prominent gamma lines in the Ge(Li) spectra are discussed. 2 references

Gamma spectra from /sup 233/U, /sup 235/U, and /sup 239/Pu during thermal neutron irradiation. [Reaction mechanisms not distinguished]

The gamma spectra from three fissionable isotopes, /sup 233/U, /sup 235/U, and /sup 239/Pu, were measured during neutron irradiation in the thermal column of the Omega West Reactor. The measurements were preceded by a neutron irradiation of at least 20,000 s to build up a near-equilibrium concentration of the shorter half-life fission products. The measurements provide the total gamma spectra and do not distinguish between photons emitted following neutron capture, fission, or by fission products. Cross sections were obtained by comparison with the hydrogen (n,..gamma..) peak from a 44.2-mg sample of polyethylene irradiated in the same flux. A 4.7-g/cm/sup 2/ polyethylene scatterer was used to remove fission neutrons from the photon beam. The spectra for all three isotopes are similar, and prominent peaks occur at the same energies. The spectra can be approximated within approximately 30% by a single exponential: for /sup 233/U and /sup 235/U, sigma(E) approximately equal to 8000 (exp -1.1 E), and for /sup 239/Pu, sigma(E) approximately equal to 11,000 (exp -1.1 E), where E is in MeV. The multiplicity of photons per absorbed neutron, the energy released as gammas per absorbed neutron, and the average photon energy were obtained by summing the photon probability over the spectra