Compaction characteristics for the towed and driven conditions of a wheel operating in an agricultural soil

High axle loads, duration of strain as well as strain rate due to applied stresses, and field moisture condition have been found to contribute to compaction in the field. Numerous previous investigations on agricultural soil compaction were carried out with relatively dry soil. The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelationships between compaction, applied load, vehicle speed and a certain practical range of soil moisture content through a soil bin investigation of the compaction which results from the passage of a towed and a driven wheel. Soil pressure and the corresponding bulk density were analysed using a model proposed by Bailey et al. (J. agric Engng Res. 33, 257–262 (1986)) and ANOVA techniques. The results showed that compaction was higher at the higher moisture content level for both towed and driven conditions of the wheel, and that it was applied load that had the greatest contributory effect. Also, compaction was higher in the case of the driven wheel as compared to the towed wheel due to the phenomenon of slip sinkage. Bailey's model, it appears, can be utilized in the field for a practical estimation of compaction resulting from the passage of a towed wheel.     

Temperature dependence of the electronic structure of Sr14Cu24O41 studied by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

We report a resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) study of charge excitations in the two-leg ladder Sr₁₄Cu₂₄O₄₁. RIXS spectra at 1–5 eV are found to be dependent on temperature. An intraband excitation of the ladder, which appears as a continuum intensity below the Mott gap, decreases in intensity with temperature. Because the intraband excitation is related to the dynamics of doped holes in the ladder, its decrease of the intraband excitation is attributed to the reduction of the mobile holes in the ladder at low temperature.     

Phenolic constituents from the rhizomes of Dryopteris crassirhizoma

A new phenolic glycoside, dryopteroside (1), was isolated from the rhizomes of Dryopteris crassirhizoma (Dryopteridaceae), together with five known compounds, 4beta-carboxymethyl-(-)-epicatechin (2), isobiflorin (3), biflorin (4), 1-beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy-3-methoxy-5-hydroxybenzene (5) and (+)-catechin-6-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside (6). The new compound was elucidated to be 1-butanoyl-3-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-5-methyl-phloroglucinyl-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1) by chemical and various spectroscopic analyses. The known compounds 2-6 were first reported from the genus Dryopteris.     

128Cs as the best example revealing chiral symmetry breaking

The results of the Doppler-shift attenuation method lifetime measurements in partner bands of 128Cs and 132La are presented. Experimental reduced transition probabilities in 128Cs are compared with theoretical calculations done in the frame of the core-quasiparticle coupling model. The electromagnetic properties, energy and spin of levels belonging to the partner bands show that 128Cs is the best known example revealing the chiral symmetry breaking phenomenon.     

Effects of Fe and Co addition on the magnetoresistance in Ni-Mn-Ga films

Effects of Fe and Co addition on the magnetoresistance MR were investigated in sputtered Ni-Mn-Ga-M (M = Fe, Co) films. With increasing M content, magnetization σ enhanced for M = Fe, while it reduced for M = Co. At 300 K, absolute MR value at 1.5 T |MR|_1.5 was about 1%. The value of |MR|_1.5 was found to be decreased with increasing M = Fe content. In the case of M = Co, |MR|_1.5 increased with M content. |MR|_1.5 of the film containing Co 1.6 at.% showed a maximum value of 2.5% at 355 K in the vicinity of the Curie temperature T_C. An origin of MR behavior in the present films was suggested to be explained by a s-d scattering model.     

An improved sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system for the analysis of membrane protein complexes

Membrane protein complexes such as the reaction center complexes of oxygenic photosynthesis or the complex I of mitochondira are composed of many subunit polypeptides. To analyze their polypeptide compositions by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), a wide range of molecular sizes has to be resolved, especially in the low molecular mass range. We have improved the traditional Tris/HCI buffer systems adopting a Tris/2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES) buffer system containing 6 M urea. This gel system was used with an 18-24% acrylamide gradient for the separation of polypeptides with molecular masses from below 5 kDa to over 100 kDa. This buffer system can also be applied to the usual uniform concentration of acrylamide gel and also to minislab gels.     

Enhancing effect of cetyl lactate on the percutaneous absorption of indomethacin in rats

The enhancing effect of cetyl lactate (CL) on the percutaneous absorption of indomethacin (ID) from test solutions in propylene glycol (PG) was investigated by using the abdominal skin of rats in vivo. The percutaneous absorption rate of ID from 1 or 3% CL-PG test solution through the intact skin of rats was observed to be faster than that from the control solution (without CL). The bioavailability of ID was about 0.04% for the control solution, 2.2% for 1% CL-PG and 6.8% for 3% CL-PG test solutions. These results suggest that CL functions as an enhancer for the percutaneous absorption of ID. Furthermore, marked enhancing effects on percutaneous absorption of ID were obtained at a concentration greater than 1% CL in PG. In order to elucidate the mode of action of CL as an absorption enhancer, the percutaneous absorption of ID from the control solution and 3% CL-PG test solution through damaged skin from which the stratum corneum had been stripped was additionally investigated. It was confirmed that CL acts on the stratum corneum to produce its effect.