Logs and Snags in a Shola Forest of Kerala, India

Introduction Dead wood is an important structural and functional component of a forest ecosystem(Fridman and Welheim 2000). Recent studies also indicate that dead wood is important for maintaining both plant and animal diversity in different forest ecosystems (Grove 2001) as it serve as an energy source (Bray and Gorham 1964) and habitat for an array of organisms. Dead wood can also help reduce erosion, increase soil organic matters (McFee and Stone 1966), and suitable conditions for seedli…     

Spectroscopic analysis of sdB stars from the ESO Supernova Ia Progenitor Survey

We report on the analysis of high-resolution optical spectra for 77 subdwarf B (sdB) stars from the ESO Supernova Ia Progenitor Survey. Effective temperature, surface gravity, and photospheric helium abundance are determined simultaneously by spectral line profile fitting of hydrogen and helium lines, and are found to be in agreement with previous studies of sdB stars. Twenty four objects show spectral signs of a cool companion, being either companion absorption lines or a flux contribution at Hα. Five stars with relatively high luminosity show peculiar Hα profiles, possibly indicating stellar winds. Our results are compared to recent theoretical simulations by Han et al. [MNRAS, 341, 669] for the distribution in effective temperature and surface gravity, and are found to agree very well with these calculations. Finally, we present a binary system consisting of two helium-rich hot subdwarfs.     

THE FREE-WILSON PARADIGM REDUX:SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FREE-WILSON COEFFICIENTS,INSIGNIFICANCE OF COEFFICIENT ‘UNCERTAINTIES’ AND STATISTICAL SINS

The Free-Wilson paradigm is an established and powerful tool for quantitatively relating activity withchemical structure.Current implementations of the paradigm,however,are flawed both conceptually andin execution.As part of an attempt to more fully realize the promise of the paradigm,it was necessaryto examine these limitations in detail.This report introduces a robust,theory-founded Free-Wilson implementation:stepwise principalcomponents regression analysis(SPCRA).SPCRA is computationally superior to previousimplementations but does not in itself correct their conceptual flaws.The development of SPCRA did,however,facilitate derivation of a simple and chemically significantinterpretation of the Free-Wilson structure-activity model.A number of statistical aspects of this modelcommonly misused in previous applications are discussed at length.These discussions provide criticalbackground for the development of an alternative implementation of the Free-Wilson paradigm.     

Mathematical investigation of bode's law and quantilization of gravity

A non-static General Relativistic mathematical solution for the gravitational field around a star is obtained. From this mathematical solution, the orbits of the planets around the Sun are calculated and compared with Bode's law and the mean distances of the orbits, the origin of the Moon is deduced, and a theory for quantilization of gravity is concluded.     

Propagation of shock waves at the surface of heterogeneous soil grounds

The paper deals with the propagation of shock waves at the surface of soils. Heterogeneity and damping are introduced into analytical half-space solutions. The suggested model explains two phenomena, often observed with shock propagation in actual soils, that differ from the behaviour of the homogeneous half-space: the pronounced decay of the disturbances with distance and the elongation of the disturbance into a train of waves. The effects of heterogeneity and damping are discussed quantitatively. The response of footings on heterogeneous soils has been investigated by several authors. Awojobi⁴ considered the Gibson soil in which the shear modulus increases linearly with depth. Luco⁵ and Gazetas and Roesset⁶ investigated a multi-layered soil, the shear modulus being constant within each layer. Gazetas⁷, using a technique suggested by Gupta⁸ extended this method to layers with linearly varying shear modulus. Little work is available on the propagation of waves in heterogeneous bodies. Some results concerning the modes and the mode shapes in heterogeneous soils were reported by Ewing, Jardetzky and Press⁹ and Bath.¹⁰ The modes have to be superposed in an appropriate way to obtain the displacement field at the surface. This has been approximately achieved by the finite element formulations of Lysmer, ¹¹, Lysmer and Waas¹² and Waas.¹³ Auersch¹⁴ applied this method to a homogeneous layer on a rigid base. He found some dispersion of the Rayleigh wave within a narrow frequency range. Finite elements combined with discrete Laplace transforms, however, consume much computer time. Rao and Goda¹⁵ and Rao¹⁶ calculated surface vibrations of a half-space with exponentially varying shear modulus and density. Their method is similar to Lamb'S¹ procedure for the homogeneous half-space. Only one mode–the Rayleigh wave–occurs in their heterogeneous half-space. The examples show the considerable effect of heterogeneity on wave propagation. In the present paper, more general variations of the shear modulus are considered.     

Production of krypton and xenon isotopes in thick stony and iron targets isotropically irradiated with 1600 MeV protons

Abstract— Two spherical targets made of gabbro with a radius of 25 cm and of steel with a radius of 10 cm were irradiated isotropically with 1600 MeV protons at the SATURNE synchrotron at Laboratoire National Saturne (LNS)/CEN Saclay, in order to simulate the production of nuclides in meteorites induced by galactic cosmic‐ray protons in space. These experiments supply depth‐dependent production rate data for a wide range of radioactive and stable isotopes in up to 28 target elements. In this paper, we report results for ⁷⁸Kr, ^80–86Kr isotopes in Rb, Sr, Y and Zr and for ¹²⁴Xe, ¹²⁶Xe, ^128–132Xe, ¹³⁴Xe, ¹³⁶Xe isotopes in Ba and La. Krypton and xenon concentrations have been measured at different depths in the spheres by using conventional mass spectrometry. Based on Monte‐Carlo techniques, theoretical production rates are calculated by folding depth‐dependent spectra of primary and secondary protons and secondary neutrons with the excitation functions of the relevant nuclear reactions. The comparison of the model calculation results with experimental data in the thick target experiments performed at LNS and previously at CERN have allowed adjustments of the poorly known excitation functions of neutron‐induced reactions. Thus, for the two experiments at SATURNE, excellent agreement is obtained between experimental and calculated production rates for most Kr and Xe isotopes in all investigated target elements. Only Xe production in Ba in the gabbro is underestimated by the calculations by ?25%. This work validates the approach of the thin‐target model calculations of cosmogenic nuclide production rates in the attempt of modeling the interaction of galactic cosmic‐ray protons with stony and iron meteorites in space as well as with lunar samples.