8,936 research outputs found
HERD SIZE AND EFFICIENCY ON MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK FARMS: CASE STUDIES OF CHIWESHE AND GOKWE, ZIMBABWE
This study is based on two 1991 sample surveys, each of ninety farms, in the predominantly arable region of Chiweshe and in the low rainfall area of Gokwe, where animals are more important. The two samples are reasonably representative of the range of conditions found in the communal areas in Zimbabwe. Programming techniques are used to determine the efficiency levels of the farms in each region. The results show that efficiency is positively related to the numbers of both cows and oxen, with only a few farms in Gokwe possibly having too many animals. Farms in Gokwe are on average about two thirds as efficient as those in Chiweshe, which is a measure of the effects of the poorer climate and soils. Non-farm income is also lower, due to lesser opportunities in the more remote region. In both regions, the majority of farms are too small and the estimates suggest that increasing farm size could almost double productivity.Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,
Vibration signature analysis of multistage gear transmission
An analysis is presented for multistage multimesh gear transmission systems. The analysis predicts the overall system dynamics and the transmissibility to the gear box or the enclosed structure. The modal synthesis approach of the analysis treats the uncoupled lateral/torsional model characteristics of each stage or component independently. The vibration signature analysis evaluates the global dynamics coupling in the system. The method synthesizes the interaction of each modal component or stage with the nonlinear gear mesh dynamics and the modal support geometry characteristics. The analysis simulates transient and steady state vibration events to determine the resulting torque variations, speeds, changes, rotor imbalances, and support gear box motion excitations. A vibration signature analysis examines the overall dynamic characteristics of the system, and the individual model component responses. The gear box vibration analysis also examines the spectral characteristics of the support system
Coexpression of rat P2X2 and P2X6 subunits in Xenopus oocytes.
Transcripts for P2X(2) and P2X(6) subunits are present in rat CNS and frequently colocalize in the same brainstem nuclei. When rat P2X(2) (rP2X(2)) and rat P2X(6) (rP2X(6)) receptors were expressed individually in Xenopus oocytes and studied under voltage-clamp conditions, only homomeric rP2X(2) receptors were fully functional and gave rise to large inward currents (2-3 microA) to extracellular ATP. Coexpression of rP2X(2) and rP2X(6) subunits in Xenopus oocytes resulted in a heteromeric rP2X(2/6) receptor, which showed a significantly different phenotype from the wild-type rP2X(2) receptor. Differences included reduction in agonist potencies and, in some cases (e.g., Ap(4)A), significant loss of agonist activity. ATP-evoked inward currents were biphasic at the heteromeric rP2X(2/6) receptor, particularly when Zn(2+) ions were present or extracellular pH was lowered. The pH range was narrower for H(+) enhancement of ATP responses at the heteromeric rP2X(2/6) receptor. Also, H(+) ions inhibited ATP responses at low pH levels (<pH 6.3). The pH-dependent blocking activity of suramin was changed at this heteromeric receptor, although the potentiating effect of Zn(2+) on ATP responses was unchanged. Thus, the rP2X(2/6) receptor is a functionally modified P2X(2)-like receptor with a distinct pattern of pH modulation of ATP activation and suramin blockade. Although homomeric P2X(6) receptors function poorly, the P2X(6) subunit can contribute to functional heteromeric P2X channels and may influence the phenotype of native P2X receptors in those cells in which it is expressed
Discovery of a strong magnetic field in the rapidly rotating B2Vn star HR 7355
We report the detection of a strong, organized magnetic field in the
helium-variable early B-type star HR 7355 using spectropolarimetric data
obtained with ESPaDOnS on the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope within the
context of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Large Program. HR 7355 is
both the most rapidly rotating known main-sequence magnetic star and the most
rapidly rotating helium-strong star, with = 300 15 km s
and a rotational period of 0.5214404 0.0000006 days. We have modeled our
eight longitudinal magnetic field measurements assuming an oblique dipole
magnetic field. Constraining the inclination of the rotation axis to be between
and , we find the magnetic obliquity angle to be
between and , and the polar strength of the magnetic
field at the stellar surface to be between 13-17 kG. The photometric light
curve constructed from HIPPARCOS archival data and new CTIO measurements shows
two minima separated by 0.5 in rotational phase and occurring 0.25 cycles
before/after the magnetic extrema. This photometric behavior coupled with
previously-reported variable emission of the H line (which we confirm)
strongly supports the proposal that HR 7355 harbors a structured magnetosphere
similar to that in the prototypical helium-strong star, Ori E.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
Parameterizations of the linear energy transfer spectrum for the CRaTER instrument during the LRO mission
[1] The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) instrument was launched as part of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft in June 2009. Its purpose is to measure the linear energy transfer (LET) spectrum in lunar orbit as an aid in determining risks to human crews on future lunar missions. Part of the preparations for the mission involved estimating the LET spectrum for the anticipated environment that the instrument is likely to see during the 1 year operational phase of the LRO mission. Detailed estimates of LET spectra in the six silicon detectors and two tissue equivalent plastic segments were made using the beta version of the HETC-HEDS Monte Carlo transport code. Tables of LET in each detector component, for incident particle elemental species from hydrogen through iron, were carried out at incident particle energies from 20 MeV per nucleon to 3 GeV per nucleon. The LET values in these tables have been parameterized by elemental species and energy for ease in quickly and accurately estimating the LET response for any input solar or galactic cosmic ray spectrum likely to be encountered during the lifetime of the instrument. The parameterized LET values are in excellent agreement with the HETC-HEDS calculations. Typical differences are on the order of a few percent. These parameterizations will also be useful in validation studies of the Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Environment Module using CRaTER measurements in lunar orbit
String/-brane Duality and Duality as Symmetries of Actions
We realize the string/-brane duality on the action level between the
-compactified heterotic string effective action and the -
brane effective action in dimensions by managing a Lagrange multiplier
field. A dual dictionary is composed to be available for the translation
between the elementary or solitonic solutions of the dual pair of actions. In
the same way the duality is also reconstructed on the action level as a
double dualization for the -compactified heterotic string effective
action.Comment: 9 pages, latex, no figure
Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Giant Planets, Oscillations, Rotation, and Massive Stars
We substantially update the capabilities of the open source software package
Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA), and its one-dimensional
stellar evolution module, MESA Star. Improvements in MESA Star's ability to
model the evolution of giant planets now extends its applicability down to
masses as low as one-tenth that of Jupiter. The dramatic improvement in
asteroseismology enabled by the space-based Kepler and CoRoT missions motivates
our full coupling of the ADIPLS adiabatic pulsation code with MESA Star. This
also motivates a numerical recasting of the Ledoux criterion that is more
easily implemented when many nuclei are present at non-negligible abundances.
This impacts the way in which MESA Star calculates semi-convective and
thermohaline mixing. We exhibit the evolution of 3-8 Msun stars through the end
of core He burning, the onset of He thermal pulses, and arrival on the white
dwarf cooling sequence. We implement diffusion of angular momentum and chemical
abundances that enable calculations of rotating-star models, which we compare
thoroughly with earlier work. We introduce a new treatment of
radiation-dominated envelopes that allows the uninterrupted evolution of
massive stars to core collapse. This enables the generation of new sets of
supernovae, long gamma-ray burst, and pair-instability progenitor models. We
substantially modify the way in which MESA Star solves the fully coupled
stellar structure and composition equations, and we show how this has improved
MESA's performance scaling on multi-core processors. Updates to the modules for
equation of state, opacity, nuclear reaction rates, and atmospheric boundary
conditions are also provided. We describe the MESA Software Development Kit
(SDK) that packages all the required components needed to form a unified and
maintained build environment for MESA. [Abridged]Comment: Accepted for publication in The ApJ Supplement Series. Extra
informations required to reproduce the calculations in this paper are
available at http://mesastar.org/results/mesa
Effects of S-wave thresholds
The opening of a new S-wave threshold is frequently accompanied by an abrupt
dip in the magnitude of an amplitude for an already-open channel. One familiar
example is the behavior of the I=0 S-wave scattering amplitude at threshold. Numerous other examples of this phenomenon in recent data
are noted, and a unified description of the underlying dynamics is sought.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. Two additional references; typographic
correction. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Earth‐Moon‐Mars Radiation Environment Module framework
[1] We are preparing to return humans to the Moon and setting the stage for exploration to Mars and beyond. However, it is unclear if long missions outside of low-Earth orbit can be accomplished with acceptable risk. The central objective of a new modeling project, the Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Exposure Module (EMMREM), is to develop and validate a numerical module for characterizing time-dependent radiation exposure in the Earth-Moon-Mars and interplanetary space environments. EMMREM is being designed for broad use by researchers to predict radiation exposure by integrating over almost any incident particle distribution from interplanetary space. We detail here the overall structure of the EMMREM module and study the dose histories of the 2003 Halloween storm event and a June 2004 event. We show both the event histories measured at 1 AU and the evolution of these events at observer locations beyond 1 AU. The results are compared to observations at Ulysses. The model allows us to predict how the radiation environment evolves with radial distance from the Sun. The model comparison also suggests areas in which our understanding of the physics of particle propagation and energization needs to be improved to better forecast the radiation environment. Thus, we introduce the suite of EMMREM tools, which will be used to improve risk assessment models so that future human exploration missions can be adequately planned for
Computerized Simulation of Meshing of Conventional Helical Involute Gears and Modification of Geometry
An approach is proposed for computerized simulation of meshing of aligned and misaligned involute helical gears. Algorithms for TCA (Tooth Contact Analysis) computer programs were developed. Influence of misalignment on the shift of the bearing contact and transmission errors has been investigated. Numerical examples that illustrate the developed theory are provided
- …