The Seismic Structure of the Sun

Global Oscillation Network Group data reveal that the internal structure of the sun can be well represented by a calibrated standard model. However, immediately beneath the convection zone and at the edge of the energy-generating core, the sound-speed variation is somewhat smoother in the sun than it is in the model. This could be a consequence of chemical inhomogeneity that is too severe in the model, perhaps owing to inaccurate modeling of gravitational settling or to neglected macroscopic motion that may be present in the sun. Accurate knowledge of the sun's structure enables inferences to be made about the physics that controls the sun; for example, through the opacity, the equation of state, or wave motion. Those inferences can then be used elsewhere in astrophysics.     

The Quantum Event of Oceanic Crustal Accretion: Impacts of Diking at Mid-Ocean Ridges

Seafloor diking-eruptive events represent the irreducible, quantum events of upper oceanic crustal accretion. They record events by which a large portion of the oceanic crust has formed through geological history. Since 1993, the U.S. Navy's real-time Sound Surveillance System has allowed location of ongoing acoustic signatures of dike emplacement and basalt eruptions at ridge crests in the northeast Pacific. These diking-eruptive events trigger a sequence of related, rapidly evolving physical, chemical, and biological processes. Magmatic volatiles released during these events may provide nutrients for communities of subseafloor microorganisms, some of which thrive in high-temperature anaerobic environments. Many of the organisms identified from these systems are Archaea. If microorganisms can thrive in the water-saturated pores and cracks within deep, volcanically active portions of our planet, other hydrothermally active planets may harbor similar life forms.     

Off-axis crustal thickness across and along the east pacific rise within the MELT area

Wide-angle seismic data along the Mantle Electromagnetic and Tomography (MELT) arrays show that the thickness of 0.5- to 1. 5-million-year-old crust of the Nazca Plate is not resolvably different from that of the Pacific Plate, despite an asymmetry in depth and gravity across this portion of the East Pacific Rise. Crustal thickness on similarly aged crust on the Nazca plate near a magmatically robust part of the East Pacific Rise at 17 degrees15'S is slightly thinner (5.1 to 5.7 kilometers) than at the 15 degrees55'S overlapping spreading center (5.8 to 6.3 kilometers). This small north-south off-axis crustal thickness difference may reflect along-axis temporal variations in magma supply, whereas the across-axis asymmetry in depth and gravity must be caused by density variations in the underlying mantle.     

The Current State of Solar Modeling

Data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project and other helioseismic experiments provide a test for models of stellar interiors and for the thermodynamic and radiative properties, on which the models depend, of matter under the extreme conditions found in the sun. Current models are in agreement with the helioseismic inferences, which suggests, for example, that the disagreement between the predicted and observed fluxes of neutrinos from the sun is not caused by errors in the models. However, the GONG data reveal subtle errors in the models, such as an excess in sound speed just beneath the convection zone. These discrepancies indicate effects that have so far not been correctly accounted for; for example, it is plausible that the sound-speed differences reflect weak mixing in stellar interiors, of potential importance to the overall evolution of stars and ultimately to estimates of the age of the galaxy based on stellar evolution calculations.     

栽培因素对北方粳稻产量及米质的影响——第10报不同叶龄秧苗对产量及米质的影响

通过不同秧龄秧苗对水稻生育和米质的影响试验,结果表明:插秧秧龄越大株高增高,叶龄和有效穗数增加,但千粒重有降低的趋势。3.5和4.5叶龄插秧时每穗粒数最多、产量最高。插秧秧龄大,加工品质差,外观品质变坏,但食味品质提高。     

Modeling the Exchanges of Energy, Water, and Carbon Between Continents and the Atmosphere

Atmospheric general circulation models used for climate simulation and weather forecasting require the fluxes of radiation, heat, water vapor, and momentum across the land-atmosphere interface to be specified. These fluxes are calculated by submodels called land surface parameterizations. Over the last 20 years, these parameterizations have evolved from simple, unrealistic schemes into credible representations of the global soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer system as advances in plant physiological and hydrological research, advances in satellite data interpretation, and the results of large-scale field experiments have been exploited. Some modern schemes incorporate biogeochemical and ecological knowledge and, when coupled with advanced climate and ocean models, will be capable of modeling the biological and physical responses of the Earth system to global change, for example, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.     

Reconstruction of Current Flow and Imaging of Current-Limiting Defects in Polycrystalline Superconducting Films

Magneto-optical imaging was used to visualize the inhomogeneous penetration of magnetic flux into polycrystalline TlBa2Ca2Cu3Ox films with high critical current densities, to reconstruct the local two-dimensional supercurrent flow patterns and to correlate inhomogeneities in this flow with the local crystallographic misorientation. The films have almost perfect c-axis alignment and considerable local a- and b-axis texture because the grains tend to form colonies with only slightly misaligned a and b axes. Current flows freely over these low-angle grain boundaries but is strongly reduced at intermittent colony boundaries of high misorientation. The local (<10-micrometer scale) critical current density Jc varies widely, being up to 10 times as great as the transport Jc (scale of approximately 1 millimeter), which itself varies by a factor of about 5 in different sections of the film. The combined experiments show that the magnitude of the transport Jc is largely determined by a few high-angle boundaries.     

An investigation into the prevalence of Renibacterium salmoninarum in farmed rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), and wild fish populations in selected river catchments in England and Wales between 1998 and 2000

A cross-sectional survey of Renibacterium salmoninarum infection in farmed rainbow trout (RBT) and wild fish populations was carried out in 10 farms and six river catchments, respectively, in England and Wales. The majority of the wild fish were sampled in 1998 and the farmed fish in 2000. Grayling, Thymallus thymallus, and brown trout, Salmo trutta, were the main wild species sampled. Two fish, one grayling and one salmon, Salmo salar, were R. salmoninarum culture-positive, compared with 40 confirmed polymerase chain reaction-positive wild fish. The highest prevalence of R. salmoninarum infection was found in grayling in rivers with RBT farms with a history of R. salmoninarum infection. One hundred and fifty fish were sampled from each RBT farm, but none of the fish was found to be R. salmoninarum-positive. Evidence was found, for the first time, for the presence of R. salmoninarum in an eel, Anguilla anguilla.     

Ligation of the caudal mesenteric artery during resection and anastomosis of the colorectal junction for annular adenocarcinoma in two dogs

An 8-year-old terrier cross and a 10-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer presented to the University Veterinary Centre, Sydney, for investigation of long-standing tenesmus and dyschezia. Both patients had an annular adenocarcinoma at the colorectal junction. Exploratory laparotomy was performed and the affected large intestinal segment was removed by resection and anastomosis. In both dogs, the caudal mesenteric artery was intimately associated with the mass, necessitating its ligation and transection. Postoperatively, there was no evidence of anastomosis breakdown in either case and both animals recovered well from surgery. The dogs were euthanased 8 and 10 months, respectively, after surgery because of clinical signs relating to metastatic disease.