Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Nuclei from Individual Magnetized Sources

We investigate the dependence of composition, spectrum and angular distributions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays above 10^19 eV from individual sources on their magnetization. We find that, especially for sources within a few megaparsecs from the observer, observable spectra and composition are severely modified if the source is surrounded by fields of ~ 10^-7 Gauss on scales of a few megaparsecs. Low energy particles diffuse over larger distances during their energy loss time. This leads to considerable hardening of the spectrum up to the energy where the loss distance becomes comparable to the source distance. Magnetized sources thus have very important consequences for observations, even if cosmic rays arrive within a few degrees from the source direction. At the same time, details in spectra and chemical composition may be intrinsically unpredictable because they depend on the unknown magnetic field structure. If primaries are predominantly nuclei of atomic mass A accelerated up to a maximum energy E_max with spectra not much softer than E^-2, secondary protons from photo-disintegration can produce a conspicuous peak in the spectrum at energy ~ E_max/A. A related feature appears in the average mass dependence on energy.Comment: 15 pages, 16 ps figures, published version with minor changes, see http://stacks.iop.org/1475-7516/2004/i=08/a=01

Separation of Oligosaccharides from Lotus Seeds via Medium-pressure Liquid Chromatography Coupled with ELSD and DAD

peer-reviewedLotus seeds were identified by the Ministry of Public Health of China as both food and medicine. One general function of lotus seeds is to improve intestinal health. However, to date, studies evaluating the relationship between bioactive compounds in lotus seeds and the physiological activity of the intestine are limited. In the present study, by using medium pressure liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light-scattering detector and diode-array detector, five oligosaccharides were isolated and their structures were further characterized by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In vitro testing determined that LOS3-1 and LOS4 elicited relatively good proliferative effects on Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. These results indicated a structure-function relationship between the physiological activity of oligosaccharides in lotus seeds and the number of probiotics applied, thus providing room for improvement of this particular feature. Intestinal probiotics may potentially become a new effective drug target for the regulation of immunity

Blast Shock Wave Mitigation Using the Hydraulic Energy Redirection and Release Technology

A hydraulic energy redirection and release technology has been developed for mitigating the effects of blast shock waves on protected objects. The technology employs a liquid-filled plastic tubing as a blast overpressure transformer to transfer kinetic energy of blast shock waves into hydraulic energy in the plastic tubings. The hydraulic energy is redirected through the plastic tubings to the openings at the lower ends, and then is quickly released with the liquid flowing out through the openings. The samples of the specifically designed body armor in which the liquid-filled plastic tubings were installed vertically as the outer layer of the body armor were tested. The blast test results demonstrated that blast overpressure behind the body armor samples was remarkably reduced by 97% in 0.2 msec after the liquid flowed out of its appropriate volume through the openings. The results also suggested that a volumetric liquid surge might be created when kinetic energy of blast shock wave was transferred into hydraulic energy to cause a rapid physical movement or displacement of the liquid. The volumetric liquid surge has a strong destructive power, and can cause a noncontact, remote injury in humans (such as blast-induced traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder) if it is created in cardiovascular system. The hydraulic energy redirection and release technology can successfully mitigate blast shock waves from the outer surface of the body armor. It should be further explored as an innovative approach to effectively protect against blast threats to civilian and military personnel

Time to establish an international vaccine candidate pool for potential highly infectious respiratory disease: a community's view.

In counteracting highly infectious and disruptive respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, vaccination remains the primary and safest way to prevent disease, reduce the severity of illness, and save lives. Unfortunately, vaccination is often not the first intervention deployed for a new pandemic, as it takes time to develop and test vaccines, and confirmation of safety requires a period of observation after vaccination to detect potential late-onset vaccine-associated adverse events. In the meantime, nonpharmacologic public health interventions such as mask-wearing and social distancing can provide some degree of protection. As climate change, with its environmental impacts on pathogen evolution and international mobility continue to rise, highly infectious respiratory diseases will likely emerge more frequently and their impact is expected to be substantial. How quickly a safe and efficacious vaccine can be deployed against rising infectious respiratory diseases may be the most important challenge that humanity will face in the near future. While some organizations are engaged in addressing the World Health Organization's "blueprint for priority diseases", the lack of worldwide preparedness, and the uncertainty around universal vaccine availability, remain major concerns. We therefore propose the establishment of an international candidate vaccine pool repository for potential respiratory diseases, supported by multiple stakeholders and countries that contribute facilities, technologies, and other medical and financial resources. The types and categories of candidate vaccines can be determined based on information from previous pandemics and epidemics. Each participant country or region can focus on developing one or a few vaccine types or categories, together covering most if not all possible potential infectious diseases. The safety of these vaccines can be tested using animal models. Information for effective candidates that can be potentially applied to humans will then be shared across all participants. When a new pandemic arises, these pre-selected and tested vaccines can be quickly tested in RCTs for human populations

Vegetation-Soil Relationships in Flint Hills Bluestem Pastures

This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202

The influence of intertidal location and temperature on the metabolic cost of emersion in Pisaster ochraceus

International audienceVertical zonation within the intertidal results from an interaction between the physical environment and an organism's physiological limits. Bioenergetic costs of emersion are likely to vary based on an organism's vertical location in the intertidal. The present study quantified the metabolic costs of microhabitat choice in the important intertidal predator Pisaster ochraceus. Rates of oxygen consumption (VO2) were measured at a range of ecologically relevant temperatures in both water and air. In both media, rates increased with increasing temperature but, at any given temperature, aerial VO2 was approximately 50% that of aquatic VO2. These rates, along with biomimetic body temperature data from two field sites in Bodega Bay, California, were used to estimate the metabolism of sea stars at different vertical locations over a 10-day period in the summers of 2006, 2007, and 2010. Results suggest that vertical location would have a much smaller effect on sea star VO2 than would inter-annual temperature differences. The influence of higher body temperatures experienced by sea stars at low tide in the mid-high intertidal, as compared to the low intertidal, was almost negligible because aerial VO2 was lower than aquatic VO2. By contrast, the higher average water temperature experienced by sea stars in 2006 yielded a 50% higher metabolic cost relative to sea stars in 2007 and 2010. These results suggest that energetic demands of intertidal organisms can vary markedly according to global environmental fluctuations such as El Niño and Pacific Decadal Oscillations

Symposium no. 24 Paper no. 249 Presentation: poster 249-1

Fly ash is a waste product of the electrical power plant at Mae Mau in Lampang province, northern Thailand. This experiment was conducted in order to study the responses of selected soil types on fly ash applications with respect to chemical properties. The experiment was based on soil samples from two depths, 0-0.1 m. and 0.1-0.25 m. depths of three soil series developed on different substrate: Doi Pui (Dp, granite), Ubon (Ub, sandstone) and Takhli (Tk, limestone). Soil samples were mixed with fly ash at rates of 0, 1.5 and 3.0 t ha and incubated for a month at field capacity. Soil reaction ( pH ) was slightly increased in Dp and Ub but decreased in Tk topsoil from 6.1 to 5.9 with fly ash application. The concentrations of available P and exchangeable K and Na were increased. Calcium and magnesium increased especially in Dp and Ub soil series with low initial amounts and coarser textures. Fly ash application had an influence on the DTPA extractable amount of trace elements. As a general trend, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn decreased, probably due to a pHeffect. A benefit is expected using fly ash as soil amendment in boron deficient soils of Thailand due to a boron content in the fly ash of more than 20 mg kg . With respect to heavy metals, no consistent effect could be detected since background values a partly higher than concentrations in the fly ash. Usually, at the rate of 1.5 t ha fly ash application, an increase of 1-2 mg kg of As, Ni and Co can be expected in the Dp and Tk soil series, whereas Cd and Cr responses were out of the detection limit. As will be the element which restricts fly ash application and should be carefully monitored