Microsatellite Markers for Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers are reported for 68 nuclear-encoded microsatellites developed during the past several years from genomic libraries of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). All 68 microsatellites were tested for reproducibility and polymorphism on a sample of five to 12 red drum; 60 of the microsatellites were found to be polymorphic. Estimates of observed and expected heterozygosity (gene diversity) and tests of conformity of genotypes to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were carried out for a subset of 31 microsatellites on a larger sample of 45 adults provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife. Levels of allelic and gene diversity were average relative to values observed for marine and anadromous fishes. The set of genetic markers should be useful for a variety of studies, including monitoring and assessment of red drum stock enhancement

Some Consequences of Thermosolutal Convection: The Grain Structure of Castings

The essential principles of thermosolutal convection are outlined, and how convection provides a transport mechanism between the mushy region of a casting and the open bulk liquid is illustrated. The convective flow patterns which develop assist in heat exchange and macroscopic solute segregation during solidification; they also provide a mechanism for the transport of dendritic fragments from the mushy region into the bulk liquid. Surviving fragments become nuclei for equiaxed grains and so lead to blocking of the parental columnar, dendritic growth front from which they originated. The physical steps in such a sequence are considered and some experimental data are provided to support the argument

The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC

The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix

Should science educators deal with the science/religion issue?

I begin by examining the natures of science and religion before looking at the ways in which they relate to one another. I then look at a number of case studies that centre on the relationships between science and religion, including attempts to find mechanisms for divine action in quantum theory and chaos theory, creationism, genetic engineering and the writings of Richard Dawkins. Finally, I consider some of the pedagogical issues that would need to be considered if the science/religion issue is to be addressed in the classroom. I conclude that there are increasing arguments in favour of science educators teaching about the science/religion issue. The principal reason for this is to help students better to learn science. However, such teaching makes greater demands on science educators than has generally been the case. Certain of these demands are identified and some specific suggestions are made as to how a science educator might deal with the science/religion issue. © 2008 Taylor & Francis

Search for jet extinction in the inclusive jet-pT spectrum from proton-proton collisions at s=8 TeV

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.The first search at the LHC for the extinction of QCD jet production is presented, using data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.7  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The extinction model studied in this analysis is motivated by the search for signatures of strong gravity at the TeV scale (terascale gravity) and assumes the existence of string couplings in the strong-coupling limit. In this limit, the string model predicts the suppression of all high-transverse-momentum standard model processes, including jet production, beyond a certain energy scale. To test this prediction, the measured transverse-momentum spectrum is compared to the theoretical prediction of the standard model. No significant deficit of events is found at high transverse momentum. A 95% confidence level lower limit of 3.3 TeV is set on the extinction mass scale

Searches for electroweak neutralino and chargino production in channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons in pp collisions at 8 TeV

Searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) are presented based on the electroweak pair production of neutralinos and charginos, leading to decay channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons and undetected lightest SUSY particles (LSPs). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 19.5 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The main emphasis is neutralino pair production in which each neutralino decays either to a Higgs boson (h) and an LSP or to a Z boson and an LSP, leading to hh, hZ, and ZZ states with missing transverse energy (E-T(miss)). A second aspect is chargino-neutralino pair production, leading to hW states with E-T(miss). The decays of a Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair, to a photon pair, and to final states with leptons are considered in conjunction with hadronic and leptonic decay modes of the Z and W bosons. No evidence is found for supersymmetric particles, and 95% confidence level upper limits are evaluated for the respective pair production cross sections and for neutralino and chargino mass values

Investigation of tracer tests on the Western Research Institute 10-ton retort

An oil shale rubble bed with contrasting permeability regions is investigated using a gas tracer in conjunction with a two-dimensional flow and tracer model and with a one-dimensional dispersion model. Six runs on the retort are discussed. Tracer injections are made into the main flow inlet and into five taps near the top of the retort. Detection taps are located at four levels in the retort with five taps on each level. The one-dimensional dispersion model is fit to the tracer response curves producing estimates of dispersion and space time in the retort. The dispersion model produces reasonable estimates where the fluid flow deviates only slightly from vertical. The two-dimensional flow model developed by Travis at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is compared to tracer velocities. The correlation between the model and the data is good in the last of the six tests. The correlation is not as good in the earlier tests and possible reasons for this are discussed

Initial study of coal pretreatment and coprocessing

This document describes research performed in accordance with task 3.3.1 in the 1989--1990 annual research plan under cooperative agreement number DE-FC21-86MC11076. The objective of this study was to determine the potential for enhancing liquid yields by integrating coal pretreatment and coprocessing technologies. The process tested involved pretreatment of coal to a very low moisture content and partial decarboxylation in an inclined fluidized-bed reactor by contact with hot C0[sub 2] or a C0[sub 2] and superheated steam mixture. The pretreated coal was then coprocessed with a heavy, coal-derived oil in a 2-inch screw pyrolysis reactor to produce dried coal with a higher calorific value and an upgraded oil. Six pretreatment tests and seven coprocessing tests were conducted independently with two separate systems being utilized: one system for the pretreatment tests and the other system for the coprocessing tests. The test program included evaluating alternative pretreatment gases, temperatures, and residence times in combination with different coprocessing temperatures and residence times. Pretreatment and coprocessing studies were performed on Herrin Results of the integrated pretreatment and coprocessing operations were evaluated and compared with the coprocessing of raw coal. The results indicate that a solid product is formed with a higher calorific content than the starting coal and that an upgraded oil is generated