Historical and marketing trends of natural/synthetic fatty acids

As long as a substantial portion of raw materials for natural fatty acids are relatively inexpensive by-products of other major industries, natural fatty acids should fulfill the world's projected needs at least through 1985. Production of synthetic fatty acids may also increase; however, at the present time the cost of their raw material and processing has made them largely noncompetitive, except in a few cases. Synthetic organic acid manufacturers currently supplying short chain products will continue their efforts to enter the detergent range fatty acid market area. We expect some breakthrough in synthetics during the life of our forecast. However, potential producers have yet to develop an economically competitive synthetic fatty acid as a replacement for natural fatty acids in the U.S. Petroleum-based products include odd, even, and branched chain acids whose performance must be proven. Finally, the petroleum base for synthetic fatty acids no longer has the price stability we have been accustomed to in the past. Recent changes in price of ethylene and forecasts are evidence of this trends for the future.     

Twinning rates for North American Holstein sires

Calving data of North American Holsteins were analyzed using a linear sire model and a threshold sire model to estimate fixed effects and sire predicted transmitting abilities (PTA) for twinning rate. The data were 1,324,678 births of 37,174 sires of cows from the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) calving ease database. All twins were assumed to be dizygotic. Triplets were not included in the analysis. The twinning rate was 5.02%. The sire model included relationships among sires and fixed effects of herd-years, season, parity, and sire groups. Different estimates of heritability due to models and restrictions on data have been demonstrated. Heritability estimates for the sire of the cow effect were 2.10% by the linear model analysis and 8.71% by the threshold model analysis. Sire PTA for twinning rate ranged from 1.6 to 8.0%. Mean incidence of twins increased from first to fifth and later parities: 1.63, 5.22, 6.66, 7.19, and 7.19%, respectively. Some changes with season were also evident. The incidence of twins was highest in April to June, at 5.88%, and lowest in October to December, at 4.23%. Sire group effects showed that sires born after 1990 had a higher incidence of twins than sires born before 1990. The mean twinning rate for sires born before 1980 was 4.55% compared with a mean of 5.58% for sires born after 1991. Characteristics of individual sire evaluations are discussed. Ample opportunity exists to change the incidence of twins in the Holstein population. Sire selection can be used to reduce the incidence of twins and also the increased cost of production associated with twins. From a national perspective, a reduction in the incidence of twin births can result in a saving of as much as $55 million per year.     

Radiation Effects on Multiplier Phototubes

A multiplier phototube is an extremely sensitive device used to measure ultraviolet, visible and near infrared radiant energy. Physically, multiplier phototubes are high vacuum tubes which are comprised of a photo-cathode; an electron lens, which directs the photo-electrons onto the first dynode; a series of dynodes or amplifying stages; and an anode or collector. The use of multiplier phototubes in photometric and nuclear detectors for satellite systems has increased dramatically within the last few years. Because many of these systems are subjected to either natural or artificially created radiation, such as encountered in the Van Allen belts, or the South Atlantic anomaly, or galactic or solar cosmic radiation, a study of the behavior of these tubes under such conditions has become necessary. This paper summarizes the work of EMR and that of many other investigators, and discusses degradation of optical windows used; effects on photocathodes and dynodes; effects on noise, dark current and resolution. A list of conclusions is given.     

Influence of zeolite on the availability of radiocaesium in soil to plants.

Plant availability of radiocaesium is usually high immediately after incorporation in a soil. However, for some Swedish soils, e.g, peat soils, a high radiocaesium uptake in plants has also been observed during a second growth period after contamination. For these soils the reduction in the plant availability of the nuclide seems to be a slow process. In the last two years the mineral zeolite has become of interest and has been tested as a caesium binding agent in both animal and in soil-plant systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the time dependency and the effect of zeolite on the plant availability of radiocaesium in a peat soil-plant system. The pot experiments designed for this purpose were carried out in a climate chamber, using winter wheat as the test crop. A significant reduction of the uptake of 134Cs was obtained in wheat when increasing amounts of zeolite were added. This reduction in plant uptake, up to a factor of 8, might depend on two factors. One is that zeolite has reduced the activity concentration of radiocaesium in the soil solution available to the plant roots. The other is that the potassium added with the natural zeolite increased the degree of dilution of caesium in the soil solution. Also, increasing equilibration time for caesium in soil before sowing brought about an effective reduction in the caesium uptake.     

Are We Afraid of Magic? Magical Artifacts in Estonian Museums

Abstract

Despite the importance of folk religion in Estonian identity, material collections of magical objects are formed randomly. Scarcity is characteristic also of academic interest towards magical objects, resulting on the one hand in ignoring magical objects, on the other hand in ungrounded over-interpretations. This article explores the formation of museum collections holding magical objects and ways of exploiting magic in academic studies.     

Liquid/air partition coefficients of the trimethylbenzenes

Liquid/air partition coefficients (lambda) of the three isomers of trimethylbenzene (1,2,3-,1,2,4-, and 1,3,5-TMB) were determined in vitro using automated head space gas chromatography. The liquids used were water (physiological saline), fresh human blood, and olive oil. The lambda water/air were 1.23 (95% confidence interval 1.11-1.35) for 1,3,5-TMB, 1.61 (1.47-1.75) for 1,2,4-TMB, and 2.73 (2.54-2.92) for 1,2,3-TMB. Corresponding lambda blood/air were 43.0 (40.8-45.2), 59.1 (56.9-61.3), and 66.5 (63.7-69.3). As expected, the TMBs have a high affinity for olive oil, the lambda oil/air being 9,880 (9,620-10,140), 10,200 (9,900-10,400), and 10,900 (10,500-11,300), respectively. It is notable that all partition coefficients increase in the order 1,3,5-TMB < 1,2,4-TMB < 1,2,3-TMB.     

Fabrication experiences and performance tests of the coal-fired flow facility superconducting dipole magnet

The Argonne National Laboratory has designed, constructed and tested a large aperture superconducting MHD magnet for use in the coal-fired flow facility at Tullahoma, Tennessee. The magnet generates a peak on-axis field of 6 T in a MHD warm bore of 80 cm diameter at inlet, 100 cm diameter at outlet, and 300 cm effective length. The stored energy of the magnet is 210 MJ, the cold mass (4.2 K) is 131 metric tons and the ampere-turns, 13.7 × 10⁶. The final design of the magnet will be briefly introduced. Described in detail are the experiences of coil winding and coil assembly, the assembly of force-containment superstructure, assembly of magnet cryostat and results of magnet performance tests.