Potassium food supplement

Potassium gluconate is considered best supplementary source for potassium. Gluconate consistently received highest taste rating and was indistinguishable from nonsupplemented samples. No unfavorable side effects were found during use, and none are reported in literature. Gluconate is normal intermediary metabolite that is readily adsorbed and produces no evidence of gastrointestinal ulcerations

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 1999

The primary aim of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties in the major cotton growing areas in Arkansas. This information helps seed dealers establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. In this way the annual test facilitates the inclusion of new, improved genetic material into Arkansas cotton production. The 1999 test had 67 entries (including 25 transgenic genotypes and 35 first-year entries), which were evaluated at sixsites in eastern Arkansas. The presence of four transgenic and five first-year entries among the top 10 yielding entries suggests that improvement is being accomplished in varietal development. This report also includes the Mississippi County Variety Test (an on-farm evaluation of selected varieties) and on-farm variety trials conducted by the Cooperative Extension Service

Dynamic Intraesophageal Imaging of the Heart with Ultrasound

Real-time images of the heart from within the esophagus are produced by a new intraesophageal ultrasonic sector scanner. Sixty images per second are displayed on a gray scale CRT in real-time and recorded on standard videotape for review. By interactive positioning of the esophageal probe, heart ventricles, atria, and valves can be visualized and their dynamics can be studied. The esophageal probe comprises four 5 MHz PZT-5 piezoelements of 6.35 mm diameter, mounted on a shaft that rotates at 900 rpm. The piezoelements are pulsed at a 5 kHz rate and the echoes are processed electronically

Dynamic intraesophageal imagining of the heart with ultrasound

Real-time images of the heart from within the esophagus are produced by a new intraesophageal ultrasonic sector scanner. Sixty images per second are displayed on a gray scale CRT in real-time and recorded on standard videotape for review. By interactive positioning of the esophageal probe, heart ventricles, atria, and valves can be visualized and their dynamics can be studied. The esophageal probe comprises four 5 MHz PZT-5 piezoelements of 6.35 mm diameter, mounted on a shaft that rotates at 900 rpm. The piezoelements are pulsed at a 5 kHz rate and the echoes are processed electronically

Hard loss of stability in Painlev\'e-2 equation

A special asymptotic solution of the Painlev\'e-2 equation with small parameter is studied. This solution has a critical point $t_*$ corresponding to a bifurcation phenomenon. When $t<t_*$ the constructed solution varies slowly and when $t>t_*$ the solution oscillates very fast. We investigate the transitional layer in detail and obtain a smooth asymptotic solution, using a sequence of scaling and matching procedures

Symmetry breaking perturbations and strange attractors

The asymmetrically forced, damped Duffing oscillator is introduced as a prototype model for analyzing the homoclinic tangle of symmetric dissipative systems with \textit{symmetry breaking} disturbances. Even a slight fixed asymmetry in the perturbation may cause a substantial change in the asymptotic behavior of the system, e.g. transitions from two sided to one sided strange attractors as the other parameters are varied. Moreover, slight asymmetries may cause substantial asymmetries in the relative size of the basins of attraction of the unforced nearly symmetric attracting regions. These changes seems to be associated with homoclinic bifurcations. Numerical evidence indicates that \textit{strange attractors} appear near curves corresponding to specific secondary homoclinic bifurcations. These curves are found using analytical perturbational tools

Variation in Onset of Leaf Unfolding and Wood Formation in a Central African Tropical Tree Species

A diversity of phenological strategies has been reported for tropical tree species. Defoliation and seasonal dormancy of cambial activity inform us on how trees cope with water stress during the dry season, or maximize the use of resources during the rainy season. Here, we study the matching between leaf phenology (unfolding and shedding) and cambial activity for Prioria balsamifera, a key timber species in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In particular, we (i) evaluated the seasonality of cambial activity and synchrony of phenology among trees in response to climate and (ii) identified the seasonality of leaf phenology and its relation with cambial phenology. The study was conducted in the Luki Man and Biosphere Reserve, located in the Mayombe forest at the southern margin of the Congo Basin. Historic defoliation data were collected every ten days using weekly crown observations whereas recent observations involved timelapse cameras. Cambial pinning was performed on ten trees during 20 months and radius dendrometers were installed on three trees during 13 months. Tree rings were measured on cores from 13 trees and growth synchrony was evaluated. We found that P. balsamifera defoliates annually with a peak observed at the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season. The new leaves unfolded shortly after shedding of the old leaves. The peak defoliation dates varied across years from September 12 to November 14 and the fraction of number of trees that defoliated at a given time was found to be negatively correlated with annual rainfall and temperature; during the dry season, when precipitation and temperatures are the lowest. Wood formation (radial growth), was found to be highly seasonal, with cambial dormancy occurring during the dry season and growth starting at the beginning of the rainy season. Individual ringwidth series did not cross date well. The within species variability of leaf phenology and cambial rhythms provides indication about resistance of the population against climatic changes

Muon (g-2) Technical Design Report

The Muon (g-2) Experiment, E989 at Fermilab, will measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment a factor-of-four more precisely than was done in E821 at the Brookhaven National Laboratory AGS. The E821 result appears to be greater than the Standard-Model prediction by more than three standard deviations. When combined with expected improvement in the Standard-Model hadronic contributions, E989 should be able to determine definitively whether or not the E821 result is evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. After a review of the physics motivation and the basic technique, which will use the muon storage ring built at BNL and now relocated to Fermilab, the design of the new experiment is presented. This document was created in partial fulfillment of the requirements necessary to obtain DOE CD-2/3 approval

First Records of ‘Flagship’ Soil Ciliates in North America

‘Flagship’ ciliates were investigated from soil samples collected in Florida, USA. This was undertaken to determine if species thought to be restricted to a given world region could be uncovered from similar habitats in a novel location, e.g. another continent. Two species of Condylostomides were discovered, and recorded from the North American continent for the first time. Condylostomides etoschensis was known only from Africa, but was found to be thriving in a Florida study site. An 18S rDNA sequence for this species was determined for the first time. Also discovered from the same study site was the ciliate Condylostomides coeruleus, previously known only from Central and South America. These two ‘flagship’ ciliates were found in the same habitat, from a continent well outside of their previously recorded biogeographies. Molecular sequencing and microscopy investigations were conducted to form the baseline for future work within this genus. Soil ciliates can obtain large population numbers and form cysts and are therefore likely able to disperse globally. These new records provide additional evidence that large distances, even between continents, do not hinder microbes from thriving globally. The absence of these conspicuously-colored gold and blue ciliates from previous studies is likely due to undersampling, rather than to any physical barriers