A description of the reformatted spring small grains labeling procedure used in test 2, part 2 of the US/Canada wheat and barley exploratory experiment

The reformatted spring small grains labeling procedure is designed to be used for assigning crop identification labels to a predetermined and selected number of dots. The development and description of this procedure is presented

FEP covers for silicon solar cells

Feasibility of fluorinated ethylene propylene as replacement for conventional silicon solar cell cover

Strongly-coupled quantum critical point in an all-in-all-out antiferromagnet

Dimensionality and symmetry play deterministic roles in the laws of Nature. They are important tools to characterize and understand quantum phase transitions, especially in the limit of strong correlations between spin, orbit, charge, and structural degrees of freedom. Using newly-developed, high-pressure resonant x-ray magnetic and charge diffraction techniques, we have discovered a quantum critical point in Cd2Os2O7 as the all-in-all-out (AIAO) antiferromagnetic order is continuously suppressed to zero temperature and, concomitantly, the cubic lattice structure continuously changes from space group Fd-3m to F-43m. Surrounded by three phases of different time reversal and spatial inversion symmetries, the quantum critical region anchors two phase lines of opposite curvature, with striking departures from a mean-field form at high pressure. As spin fluctuations, lattice breathing modes, and quasiparticle excitations interact in the quantum critical region, we argue that they present the necessary components for strongly-coupled quantum criticality in this three-dimensional compound

Novel sol–gel preparation of (PO)–(CaO)–(NaO)–(TiO) bioresorbable glasses (X = 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15)

Quaternary phosphate-based glasses in the PO–CaO–NaO–TiO system with a fixed PO and CaO content of 40 and 25 mol% respectively have been successfully synthesised via sol–gel method and bulk, transparent samples were obtained. The structure, elemental proportion, and thermal properties of stabilised sol–gel glasses have been characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), P nuclear magnetic resonance (P NMR), titanium K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The XRD results confirmed the amorphous nature for all stabilized sol–gel derived glasses. The EDX result shows the relatively low loss of phosphorus during the sol–gel process and Ti K-edge XANES confirmed titanium in the glass structure is in mainly six-fold coordination environment. The P NMR and FTIR results revealed that the glass structure consist of mainly Q and Q phosphate units and the Ti cation was acting as a cross-linking between phosphate units. In addition DTA results confirmed a decrease in the glass transition and crystallisation temperature with increasing NaO content. Ion release studies also demonstrated a decrease in degradation rates with increasing TiO content therefore supporting the use of these glasses for biomedical applications that require a degree of control over glass degradation. These sol–gel glasses also offer the potential to incorporate proactive molecules for drug delivery application due to the low synthesis temperature employed

Roles of polyurethane foam in aerobic moving and fixed bed bioreactors

The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of sponge as an active mobile carrier for attachedgrowth biomass in three typical types of aerobic bioreactors to treat a high strength synthetic wastewater. The results show that sponge thickness deteriorated the organic and nutrient removal and 1 cm is the optimumthickness for fixed-bed sponge biofilter (SBF). The sponge volume had significant impact on phosphorus removal rather than organic or nitrogen removal, and 20% volume of sponge could achieve 100% T-P removal within 3 h in a sponge batch reactor (SBR). When sponge coupled with submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR), the single system show outstanding ammonium (100% at filtration flux of 10 and 15 L/m2 h) and phosphorus (>91% at all fluxes range) removal with optimum pH range of 6-7. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd

Comparison of Grain Sources (Barley, White Corn, and Yellow Corn) for Swine Diets and Their Effects on Meat Quality and Production Traits

Efficient pork production is a necessity for an economically viable swine industry. Number two yellow corn is considered the primary energy source for swine diets in the Midwest. Despite the low protein content, corn is considered one of the most economical feed stuffs available to the swine production system. Barley is a high fiber that has approximately 89% of the energy content of corn. While barley contains a higher protein and amino acid level than corn, animal performance is expected to be depressed due to the high fiber content. Because barley lacks the carotene content that yellow corn possesses, it has been hypothesized that barley-fed pigs will yield higher meat and fat quality that is desired by export markets. White corn was used in this trial to determine its contribution to meat quality and growth traits. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of energy source on performance and carcass traits of pigs. Diet treatments (primary energy source) were: 1) yellow corn, 2) white corn, 3) 1/3 yellow corn, 2/3 white corn, 4) 2/3 yellow corn, 1/3 white corn, 5) barley. Pigs completing the trial were from two sires lines, Duroc (n=500) and Hamp x Duroc (n=499), that were mated to PIC 1055 females. Pigs were randomly allocated to pens based on genetic type and gender using a 2 x 2 x 5 factorial arrangement with two genetic types, two sexes (barrows and gilts) and five treatments. Animals fed these diets differing in energy source did not express a difference in average daily gain, average daily feed intake, feed-to-gain ratio, backfat depth or percent fat free lean. However, barley-fed pigs did have a smaller (p \u3c .05) loin muscle area than pigs fed corn-based diets. Diet did not have an effect on sensory panel traits for tenderness or chewiness and limited differences were observed for juiciness, flavor, and off-flavor. Percentage loin purge, and cooking loss did not differ among diets fed to the pigs with minimal difference noted for color values. Pigs fed barley diets did have lower iodine value content within the subcutaneous fat indicating that the fat is of firmer quality. Results of this trial suggest that barley does not have an advantage in meat quality traits when compared to traditional corn-based diets. Barley does however have a significant impact on the hardness of pork fat, but does not have a significant effect on subjective color values