1,901 research outputs found

    Packaging techniques for low-altitude Venus balloons beacon

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    The results of a specific design project for the Venus balloon beacon, in which a microwave beacon is required to operate for a limited time at high temperature (350 C) and at high pressure, (10 bars). In a chemically hostile environment after surviving large mechanical shock forces (up to 280 gs) are discussed. It was found that many existing, commerically-available component can be used in such a design with only minor modifications. A further result is that a crude (and consequently low-cost) test program can be designed to identify and select promising commercial components

    Radiation data definitions and compilation for equipment qualification data bank

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    Dose definitions, physical properties, mechanical properties, electrical properties, and particle definitions are listed for insulators and dielectrics, elastomeric seals and gaskets, lubricants, adhesives, and coatings

    Doctor of Philosophy

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    dissertationSingle electron tunneling force microscopy has been developed over the last decade as a tool to manipulate the occupation and probe the properties of trap states in completely non conducting materials. The technique has been advanced through the efforts of several generations of graduate students in the Clayton Williams research group. Previous graduate students have demonstrated that the single electron tunneling force microscopy technique can repeatably facilitate single electron tunneling between a metallic tip and an electron trap state in a completely non conducting, dielectric material. Also the single electron tunneling force spectroscopy technique has been shown to make these measurements with atomic scale resolution. As solid state device technology rushes toward higher power and increasingly smaller devices single electron tunneling force microscopy is uniquely positioned to identify the properties of trap states in dielectric materials with atomic scale resolution. The main thrust of this work has been concerned with demonstrating a repeatable spectroscopic method which can be used to reliably measure the energy of electron and hole traps due to defect states in dielectric materials. The single electron tunneling force spectroscopy technique was used to make spectroscopic measurements at several places on the surface of SiO2, Si3N4 and HfO2 films. The spectra measured were compared to known trap states in both the theoretical and experimental literature. The data show that the density of trap states is not spatially homogeneous, but varies from measurement to measurement. Most of the defect states identified by the single electron tunneling force spectroscopy technique correspond nicely with trap state energies found in either the experimental or theoretical literature. However, several states, not found in the literature, have also been identified by the scanning electron tunneling force spectroscopy technique. Additionally single electron tunneling force spectroscopy has provided evidence of irreversible and reversible tunneling events with irreversible tunneling predominantly near the conduction and valence bands. A noted asymmetry in the amount of irreversible tunneling in favor of trap states near the valence band edge has also been identified. Finally a first demonstration of state creation and characterization by SETFS in SiO2 is discussed

    The effects of CO and HCN on pole-jump avoidance-escape behavior

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    The effects of carbon monoxide and mixtures of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide at different concentrations and times of exposure were studied in a pole-jump apparatus. The time to loose the avoidance and escape response for mice exposed to these atmospheres was obtained. Correlations to predict the loss as a function of dosage are presented

    Evaluation of Host Resistance and the Utilization of Organic Amendments to Manage Macrophomina Crown Rot of Strawberry in California

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    The production of strawberries can be severely limited by soilborne plant pathogens, insects and weeds. Macrophomina phaseolina is a problematic soilborne fungal pathogen in California strawberry production inciting the disease Macrophomina crown rot. When established, the pathogen can cause extensive plant decline and mortality. Host resistance will be a critical tool for managing this disease and guiding breeding programs in the post methyl bromide era. Evaluation of host resistance in strawberry germplasm to M. phaseolina was evaluated through phenotypic assessments of disease incidence. A total of 90 strawberry cultivars and elite selections were included in a replicated field trial conducted in artificially inoculated soils to assess host resistance. Significant differences in levels of resistance and susceptibility were observed among genotypes tested in this trial. The five most resistant strawberry genotypes from highest to lowest in percent plant mortality were: UC-R, UC-G, UC-V, Manresa, and Osceola. The five most susceptible strawberry genotypes with the highest percent mortality in ranking order from highest to lowest were: UC-J, Ruby June, Festival, UC-Y, and UC-A. Of the genotypes tested in this trial UC-V, Manresa and Osceola could be characterized as highly resistant, but no complete resistance was observed. An additional study was conducted to correlate host symptom expression with the extent of pathogen colonization in different strawberry tissues, and to determine if resistant germplasm can contribute to secondary inoculum production in the field. An established qPCR method was utilized to quantify M. phaseolina colonization of strawberry tissues. There were significant effects for cultivar (P \u3c 0.0001) as well as a significant two-way interaction of cultivar x sample time (P= 0.0083) on the concentration of M. phaseolina DNA detected in strawberry tissues. Expression of the resistant phenotype in strawberry cultivars was associated with limited plant colonization by M. phaseolina. The extent of colonization of a specific cultivar by M. phaseolina was dependent on the sample time after inoculation with the pathogen. In addition, the roots and crowns of a specific strawberry cultivar were equally colonized on a per plant tissue weight basis, but this provides only speculation into the mechanisms conferring host resistance. A third study was conducted to integrate host resistance of strawberry genotypes with the use of organic amendments in effort to mutually enhance the efficacy of each factor for the control of Macrophomina crown rot. Artificially inoculated potting substrate was amended with Brassica juncea mustard seed meal at a rate of 4.94 tons ha-1(MSM), and anaerobic soil disinfestation utilizing rice bran at a rate of 22.24 tons ha-1 (ASD) were compared to a non-amended (UTC) and steam controls. The soil assay indicated that the ASD and steam treatments were able to reduce the CFU g-1 potting substrate of M. phaseolina by 99.7-100%. In addition, there were significant effects of soil treatment on the fresh biomass of weed seedlings recovered from the potting substrate. However, disease severity and host colonization of multiple strawberry cultivars by M. phaseolina was not reduced when grown in the treated potting substrate. The effect of strawberry cultivar on the extent of pathogen colonization was highly significant (P \u3c 0.0001), in which cultivars characterized as resistant from phenotypic screenings possessed lower concentrations of M. phaseolina DNA. The suppression of M. phaseolina in response to organic amendments was limited but this study supports findings from previous experiments that genotype specific host resistance minimizes host colonization and reduces the production of secondary inoculum

    Cyclotrons as Drivers for Precision Neutrino Measurements

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    As we enter the age of precision measurement in neutrino physics, improved flux sources are required. These must have a well-defined flavor content with energies in ranges where backgrounds are low and cross section knowledge is high. Very few sources of neutrinos can meet these requirements. However, pion/muon and isotope decay-at-rest sources qualify. The ideal drivers for decay-at-rest sources are cyclotron accelerators, which are compact and relatively inexpensive. This paper describes a scheme to produce decay-at-rest sources driven by such cyclotrons, developed within the DAEdALUS program. Examples of the value of the high precision beams for pursuing Beyond Standard Model interactions are reviewed. New results on a combined DAEdALUS--Hyper-K search for CP-violation that achieve errors on the mixing matrix parameter of 4 degrees to 12 degrees are presented.Comment: This paper was invited by the journal Advances in High Energy Physics for their upcoming special issue on "Neutrino Masses and Oscillations," which will be published on the 100th anniversary of Pontecorvo's birt
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