USAXS and x-ray microscopy investigation on silica and precursors of zeolites

Combination of SAXS and USAXS measurements provide an extended q-range (0.006-3.0/nm) to study fractal growth of both aging silica gel as well as precursors of zeolite-A. Mass (silica) and surface (zeolite) fractals are obsd. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) proves to be an extremely useful technique to obtain direct images of wet samples in the 0.1-100 m range, confirming the SAXS/USAXS results on even larger length scale

Subsoiling for sunflower production in the Southeast Coastal Plains

Crops grown on the Paleudult soils of the South Atlantic Coastal Plain often benefit from disruption of root-restrictive subsoil layers. In this physiographic area, the response of sunflower (Helianthus annum L) to subsoiling was unknown. We hypothesized that in-row subsoiling would benefit sunflower performance, and that plant performance could be related to profile penetration-resistance patterns. Sunflower was grown on Norfolk loamy sand in Florence, SC, and on Orangeburg loamy sand (both fine-loamy, siliceous, thermic Typic Paleudults) in Blackville, SC, in 1985 and in Blackville only in 1987. Plots were either subsoiled using 0.45-m shanks or not subsoiled. Distribution (and, in most instances, magnitude) of cone indices were significantly different for subsoiled and nonsubsoiled profiles. Accumulation frequency of low cone indices was greater for Florence and Blackville in 1985 but not for Blackville in 1987. For subsoiled treatments, lower cone indices below planted rows persisted to late summer in 1985 at both locations, which favored plant growth. Reduction of soil profile strength produced increased seed yield, oil concentration, oil yield, and seed size in these cases. In 1987, accumulation frequency of soil strength was similar for non-subsoiled and subsoiled plots shortly after tillage. In this case, plant parameters were not statistically improved with subsoiling. No tillage X N-rate, hybrid X tillage, or hybrid X N-rate interactions were observed. If low-cone-index isopleths persist throughout the season, then a positive response to subsoiling can be expected

Effect of early and late planting on sunflower performance in the southeastern United States

Current sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) production worldwide occurs predominantly in mid-latitude and humid continental climates [2], especially the latter. The potential for using sunflower in systems that produce more than one agronomic crop per year (double or multiple cropping) is generally limited to warm areas with long growing seasons, such as the southern United States. This climatic area corresponds to the humid subtropic climate zone which also occurs in significant continental areas of eastern south-central South America (Paraguay, Uruguay, and parts of Brazil and Argentina), southern China, and the eastern coastal areas of Australia

Calculation of Effective Coulomb Interaction for Pr3+Pr^{3+}, U4+U^{4+}, and UPt3UPt_3

In this paper, the Slater integrals for a screened Coulomb interaction of the the Yukawa form are calculated and by fitting the Thomas-Fermi wavevector, good agreement is obtained with experiment for the multiplet spectra of $Pr^{3+}$ and $U^{4+}$ ions. Moreover, a predicted multiplet spectrum for the heavy fermion superconductor $UPt_3$ is shown with a calculated Coulomb U of 1.6 eV. These effective Coulomb interactions, which are quite simple to calculate, should be useful inputs to further many-body calculations in correlated electron metals.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, 3 uuencoded postscript figure

Theoretical Production Restrictions and Agricultural Technology in the United States

Agricultural production studies are usually conducted using classical econometrics that make it difficult, if not impossible, to impose conditions derived from economic theory on flexible functional forms. Therefore, such conditions need not hold in estimation. We apply Bayesian econometrics to estimate a flexible production function using U.S. agricultural data under alternative restrictions dictated by theory, including a fully theoretically consistent model that satisfies all restrictions at each point of the data. The probability density functions of parameters, output elasticities, scale elasticity, and productivity gains vary substantially across models. Output elasticities from the fully theoretically consistent model suggest that agricultural production in the United States has typically been more responsive to land than to other factors of production. However, output became more responsive over time to changes in materials, and less responsive to changes in land and labor. By the early 2000s, the elasticity of output to materials was very similar to the elasticity of output to land. The elasticity of output to capital remained relatively stable over the entire sample. The estimates from the fully theoretically consistent model also show a slight increase in the average rate of productivity gains between the 1960s and the 1970s, a relative slowdown in the 1980s and 1990s, and a relative stabilization afterwards. All inputs are substitutes in production; all the elasticities of substitution have increased through the decades, though at different rates

An optimization principle for deriving nonequilibrium statistical models of Hamiltonian dynamics

A general method for deriving closed reduced models of Hamiltonian dynamical systems is developed using techniques from optimization and statistical estimation. As in standard projection operator methods, a set of resolved variables is selected to capture the slow, macroscopic behavior of the system, and the family of quasi-equilibrium probability densities on phase space corresponding to these resolved variables is employed as a statistical model. The macroscopic dynamics of the mean resolved variables is determined by optimizing over paths of these probability densities. Specifically, a cost function is introduced that quantifies the lack-of-fit of such paths to the underlying microscopic dynamics; it is an ensemble-averaged, squared-norm of the residual that results from submitting a path of trial densities to the Liouville equation. The evolution of the macrostate is estimated by minimizing the time integral of the cost function. The value function for this optimization satisfies the associated Hamilton-Jacobi equation, and it determines the optimal relation between the statistical parameters and the irreversible fluxes of the resolved variables, thereby closing the reduced dynamics. The resulting equations for the macroscopic variables have the generic form of governing equations for nonequilibrium thermodynamics, and they furnish a rational extension of the classical equations of linear irreversible thermodynamics beyond the near-equilibrium regime. In particular, the value function is a thermodynamic potential that extends the classical dissipation function and supplies the nonlinear relation between thermodynamics forces and fluxes

Projected WIMP sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment

LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000 live day run using a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above 1.4 × 10-48cm2 for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP. Additionally, a 5σ discovery potential is projected, reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of 2.3 × 10−43 cm2 (7.1 × 10−42 cm2) for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362