38,629 research outputs found
Precision CW laser automatic tracking system investigated
Precision laser tracker capable of tracking a low acceleration target to an accuracy of about 20 microradians rms is being constructed and tested. This laser tracking has the advantage of discriminating against other optical sources and the capability of simultaneously measuring range
Scaling in the Bombay Stock Exchange Index
In this paper we study BSE Index financial time series for fractal and
multifractal behaviour. We show that Bombay stock Exchange (BSE)Index time
series is mono-fractal and can be represented by a fractional Brownian motion.Comment: 11 pages,3 figure
THE PROFITABILITY OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ON A REPRESENTATIVE GRAIN FARM IN THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION, 1981-89
A long-term whole-farm analysis compared conventional and low-input farming systems. Data from a nine-year agronomic study at the Rodale Research Farm, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, were used to analyze profitability, liquidity, solvency, and risk on a representative commercial grain farm. Conventional and low-input farms participating in government programs are the most profitable scenarios, followed by conventional and low-input farms not participating in government programs. All farms increased their net worth. The low-input approach is advantageous for risk-averse farmers using a safety-first criterion.Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,
Fluorescence measurements of the thermal control experiments coatings on LDEF S0069 and A0114
Fluorescence measurements were made on the thermal control coatings from the Long Duration Experiment Facility (LDEF) S0069, Thermal Control Surfaces Experiment (TCSE); and the A0114, Interaction of Atomic Oxygen with Material Surfaces in Low Earth orbit. Fluorescence was observed in two types of thermal control coatings and is attributed to pigments or binders. In addition, fluorescence measurement on the silver Teflon from the front cover of TCSE led to confirmation of damage (cracking) to the metal layers during application
Paleoecology and paleoceanography of the Athel silicilyte, Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, Sultanate of Oman
The Athel silicilyte is an enigmatic, hundreds of meters thick, finely laminated quartz deposit, in which silica precipitated in deep water (>~100–200 m) at the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary in the South Oman Salt Basin. In contrast, Meso-Neoproterozoic sinks for marine silica were dominantly restricted to peritidal settings. The silicilyte is known to contain sterane biomarkers for demosponges, which today are benthic, obligately aerobic organisms. However, the basin has previously been described as permanently sulfidic and time-equivalent shallow-water carbonate platform and evaporitic facies lack silica. The Athel silicilyte thus represents a unique and poorly understood depositional system with implications for late Ediacaran marine chemistry and paleoecology. To address these issues, we made petrographic observations, analyzed biomarkers in the solvent-extractable bitumen, and measured whole-rock iron speciation and oxygen and silicon isotopes. These data indicate that the silicilyte is a distinct rock type both in its sedimentology and geochemistry and in the original biology present as compared to other facies from the same time period in Oman. The depositional environment of the silicilyte, as compared to the bounding shales, appears to have been more reducing at depth in sediments and possibly bottom waters with a significantly different biological community contributing to the preserved biomarkers. We propose a conceptual model for this system in which deeper, nutrient-rich waters mixed with surface seawater via episodic mixing, which stimulated primary production. The silica nucleated on this organic matter and then sank to the seafloor, forming the silicilyte in a sediment-starved system. We propose that the silicilyte may represent a type of environment that existed elsewhere during the Neoproterozoic. These environments may have represented an important locus for silica removal from the oceans
Two-band ferromagnetic Kondo-lattice model for local-moment half-metals
We introduce a two-band Kondo-lattice model to describe ferromagnetic
half-metals with local magnetic moments. In a model study, the electronic and
magnetic properties are presented by temperature dependent magnetization
curves, band-structures, spin polarizations and plasma frequencies. These are
obtained from numerically evaluated equations, based on the single-electron
Green functions. We show that the mutual influence between the itinerant
electrons and the local magnetic moments is responsible for several phase
transitions of the half-metals, namely first and second order magnetic phase
transitions, as well as half-metal to semiconductor and half-metal to semimetal
transitions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matte
Bridge over Olduvai Gorge: Capacity building and conservation of lithics and fossils
This paper explores decision-making processes
involved in the conservation of lithics and fossils
excavated at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The site is
renowned for discoveries of early humans from
the Palaeolithic period, lithics and fossils that
document the evolutionary history of humans,
vertebrate fauna and their environment over
the last two million years. Excavated specimens
are treated in situ, at the field laboratory and at
the UCL Institute of Archaeology in London. Factors
such as accessibility, ease of transportation
and preparation, disposal, Tg and toxicity of resins,
and ease of re-treatability are considered to
decide what can be used in treatments and how.
Frequently used materials include Paraloid B-44
and cyclododecane for temporary consolidation
and Paraloid B-44 for adhesion and gap-filling.
We have found that, in such complex contexts,
the more one engages with colleagues across
the disciplines and local community groups, the
smoother, stronger and more sustainable one’s
efforts become
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