Feeding fodder beet (FB) to dairy cows in early lactation has recently been adopted by New Zealand dairy producers despite limited definition of feeding and grazing management practices that may prevent acute and sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA). This modelling study aimed to characterize changes of rumen pH, milk production and total discomfort from FB and define practical feeding strategies of a mixed herbage and FB diet. The deterministic, dynamic and mechanistic model MINDY was used to compare a factorial arrangement of FB allowance (FBA), herbage allowance (HA) and time of allocation. The FBA were 0, 2, 4 or 7 kg dry matter (DM)/cow/day (0FB, 2FB, 4FB and 7FB, respectively) and HA were 18, 24 or 48 kg DM/cow/day above ground. All combinations were offered either in the morning or afternoon or split across two equal meals. Milk production from 2FB diets was similar to 0FB but declined by 4 and 16% when FB increased to 4 and 7 kg DM, respectively. MINDY predicted that 7FB would result in SARA and that rumen conditions were sub-optimal even at moderate FBA (pH < 5.6 for 160 and 90 min/day, 7FB and 4FB respectively). Pareto front analysis identified the best compromise between high milk production and low total discomfort was achieved by splitting the 2FB diet into two equal meals fed each day with 48 kg DM herbage. However, due to low milk response and high risk of acidosis, it is concluded that FB is a poor supplement for lactating dairy cows.

An analysis was undertaken to measure age-specific vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 2010/11 trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine (TIV) and monovalent 2009 pandemic influenza vaccine (PIV) administered in 2009/2010. The test-negative case-control study design was employed based on patients consulting primary care. Overall TIV effectiveness, adjusted for age and month, against confirmed influenza A(H1N1)pdm 2009 infection was 56% (95% CI 42–66); age-specific adjusted VE was 87% (95% CI 45–97) in <5-year-olds and 84% (95% CI 27–97) in 5- to 14-year-olds. Adjusted VE for PIV was only 28% (95% CI −6 to 51) overall and 72% (95% CI 15–91) in <5-year-olds. For confirmed influenza B infection, TIV effectiveness was 57% (95% CI 42–68) and in 5- to 14-year-olds 75% (95% CI 32–91). TIV provided moderate protection against the main circulating strains in 2010/2011, with higher protection in children. PIV administered during the previous season provided residual protection after 1 year, particularly in the <5 years age group.

The dielectric response in artificially layered 1x1 KTaO3/KNbO3 perovskite superlattice structures is reported. While KTaO3 and KNbO3 are ferroelectric or paraelectric, respectively, superlattices appear antiferroelectric based on an increase in dielectric constant with applied dc bias. This “positive tunability” in dielectric response occurs at the same temperature region where a structural phase transition is observed. This dielectric behavior is inconsistent with the nonlinear response for either paraelectric or ferroelectric materials. However, an increase in the dielectric constant with applied electric field is consistent with antiferroelectric behavior. The antiferroelectric ordering correlates with cation modulation imposed by the superlattice.

The deterministic growth of ZnO nanorods using molecular beam epitaxy is reported. The process is catalyst-driven, as single crystal ZnO nanorod growth is realized via nucleation on Ag islands that are distributed on a SiO2-terminated Si substrate surface. Growth occurs at substrate temperatures on the order of 300-500°C. The nanorods exhibit diameters of 15-40 nm and lengths in excess of 1 μm. Nanorod placement can be predefined via location of metal catalyst islands or particles. This, coupled with the relatively low growth temperatures needed, suggests that ZnO nanorods could be integrated on device platforms for numerous applications, including chemical sensors and nanoelectronics.

The growth mechanisms of MgB2 films obtained by different methods on various substrates are comparably studied by transport measurements and scanning electron microscopy observations. The analyzed films include those prepared by ex situ postanneal with Tc0 ˜38.8 K and those from in situ anneal with Tc0 ˜24 K. It is clearly observed that the films obtained by the high-temperature reaction of e-beam evaporated B with Mg vapor are formed by the nucleation of independent MgB2 grains at the film surface, indicating that this approach may not be suitable to obtain epitaxial films. A significant oxygen contamination was also present in films obtained from pulsed-laser-deposition-grown precursors, which drag the Tc0 down to 24 K.

An individual single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) has been shown [1-4] to exhibit remarkable electronic properties which depend on its diameter and chirality. In this work, the 13C nuclear magnetic resonance technique is used to measure quantitatively the electronic density-of-state (DOS) at the Fermi level in a bulk SWNT sample. Two types of 13C nuclear spins are observed with drastically different nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time (Tl). About onethird of the 13C nuclear spins with shorter Tl, are identified to reside at the metallic SWNTs and two-thirds can be associated with the semiconducting SWNTs. For the metallic SWNTs, the DOS at the Feimi level is measured quantitatively, which is about 0.022 states/(eV·atom·spin). The measured electronic DOS at the Fermi level agrees with the theoretical prediction for metallic tubes. This study also found that the semiconducting SWNTs in bundles, in fact, possess weak metallic characters. This indicates that tube-tube interactions within SWNT bundles could change the electronic properties.

The 2s21S0–2s2p 3P1 intercombination line at 1218.34 Å of Be-like O V has been observed in IUE spectra of gaseous nebulae such as RR Tel (Doschek & Feibelman 1993). However, the forbidden line at 1213 Å has not been detected to date in any astrophysical object, with the possible exception of the Sun, where Sandlin, Brueckner & Tousey (1977) very tentatively identify the line at 1213.90 Å in an off-limb spectrum.

Laser-heated float zone growth was used to study the directional solidification behavior of Bi–Sr–Ca–Cu–O superconductors. The phases that solidify from the melt, their morphology, and their composition are altered by growth rate. Highly textured microstructures are achieved by directional solidification at all growth rates. The superconducting phase is found always to have the composition Bi2.5Sr2CaCu2.2Oy when grown from boules with composition 2:2:1:2 (BiO1.5:SrO:CaO:CuO). Planar growth fronts of Bi2.5Sr2CaCu2.2Oy are observed when the temperature gradient divided by the growth rate (G/R) is larger than 3 ⊠ 1011 K-s/m2 in 2.75 atm oxygen. Thus, the 2212 compound was observed to solidify directly from the melt at the slowest growth rates used in this study. Measurement of the steady-state liquid zone composition indicates that it becomes bismuth-rich as the growth rate decreases. Dendrites of the primary solidification phase, (Sr1−xCax)14Cu24Oy, form in a matrix of Bi2.5Sr2CaCu2.2Oy when G/R is somewhat less than 3 ⊠ 1011 K-s/m2. Observed microstructures are consistent with a peritectic relationship among Bi2.5Sr2CaCu2.2Oy, (Sr1−xCax)14Cu24Oy (x = 0.4), and a liquid rich in bismuth at elevated oxygen pressure. At lower values of G/R, Sr3Ca2Cu5Oy is the primary solidification phase and negligible Bi2.5Sr2CaCu2.2Oy forms in the matrix.

Ba2YCu3O7 films produced by co-evaporation of BaF2, Cu and Y onto <100> S1TiO3 substrates in an O2 ambient followed by post-annealing were analyzed using RBS, X-ray diffraction and Auger microscopy. These films exhibit Tc's (R=0) of =90K and a best Jc of > 1.0×106 A/cm2 at 81K for a =2500A thick film. RBS and Auger depth profiling limit the level of F present in the post-annealed films to <5 at. %, although F is evident in the as-deposited material. RBS channeling experiments yield a Xmin=31%, demonstrating the epitaxial quality of the films. X-ray diffraction shows that the films are predominantly oriented with c-axis perpendicular to the substrate, with narrow mosaic spread in-plane. A small portion of the film is in the form of needles oriented with a-axis perpendicular to the substrate, whose areal density is dependent on annealing conditions and local film stoichiometry. Scanning Auger microscopy confirms that the needles and c-axis plateaus have the same metal and oxygen stoichiometry. Also present in the film are insulating balls which appear to nucleate terraces in the c-axis perpendicular structure. Scanning Auger shows that these features are also close to the metals stoichiometry, but are C rich compared to the needles. The plateaus are covered with =11 times more C than the needles, indicating that the basal plane surface is highly reactive. Auger depth profiling and RBS show little evidence for interdiffusion.