On 1 December 2011 the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice-core project reached its final depth of 3405 m. The WAIS Divide ice core is not only the longest US ice core to date, but is also the highest-quality deep ice core, including ice from the brittle ice zone, that the US has ever recovered. The methods used at WAIS Divide to handle and log the drilled ice, the procedures used to safely retrograde the ice back to the US National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) and the methods used to process and sample the ice at the NICL are described and discussed.

The global population of the Critically Endangered Raso Lark Alauda razae was estimated in January 2003 at 93–103 birds and in November 2003 at 76–87 birds. Of these, only 25–35% were females. Counts were based on observations of individually colour-ringed and measured birds. Birds were not breeding during the January visit, and were concentrated in two small areas at opposite ends of the island of Raso. This distribution differed substantially from that recorded previously during the breeding season. Three different feeding strategies were apparent: flocking, aggregating around key resources and feeding singly or in pairs. Birds moving to new feeding areas immediately adopted the feeding strategy of other birds present. Birds were seen drinking seawater on several occasions. In November 2003, birds were breeding but nest survival was extremely low due to high rates of egg predation. No evidence was detected of introduced predators on Raso. However, a population of feral cats was found on nearby Santa Luzia, prohibiting natural colonization or deliberate introduction of Raso Lark to the island, despite much apparently suitable habitat there. Faecal analyses showed that these cats feed largely on skinks. Increased tourism development on neighbouring islands is identified as a potential threat to the species.

We hypothesised that the observed acceleration in the kinetics of exercise on-transient oxygen uptake (V˙O2) of five older humans (77 ± 7 years (mean ± S.D.) following 9 weeks of single-leg endurance exercise training was due to adaptations at the level of the muscle cell. Prior to, and following training, subjects performed constant-load single-limb knee extension exercise. Following training V˙O2 kinetics (phase 2, τ) were accelerated in the trained leg (week 0, 92 ± 44 s; week 9, 48 ± 22 s) and unchanged in the untrained leg (week 0, 104 ± 43 s; week 9, 126 ± 35 s). The kinetics of mean blood velocity in the femoral artery were faster than the kinetics of V˙O2, but were unchanged in both the trained (week 0, 19 ± 10 s; week 9, 26 ± 11 s) and untrained leg (week 0, 20 ± 18 s; week 9, 18 ± 10 s). Maximal citrate synthase activity, measured from biopsies of the vastus lateralis muscle, increased (P < 0.05) in the trained leg (week 0, 6.7 ± 2.0 µmol (g wet wt)-1 min-1; week 9, 11.4 ± 3.6 µmol (g wet wt)-1 min-1) but was unchanged in the untrained leg (week 0, 5.9 ± 0.5 µmol (g wet wt)-1 min-1; week 9, 7.9 ± 1.9 µmol (g wet wt)-1 min-1). These data suggest that the acceleration of V˙O2 kinetics was due to an improved rate of O2 utilisation by the muscle, but was not a result of increased O2 delivery. Experimental Physiology (2001) 86.5, 659-665.

Organic and sustainable fed cattle production are compared through development and estimation of two production indexes: a Producer Organic Index (POI) and a Producer Sustainability Index (PSI). The POI reflects current production standards for organically certified beef The PSI reflects a broader range of concerns, including long-term natural resource conservation and economic staying-power of cattle producers.

The study shows there may be only a loose connection between the two. The method used to develop the indexes can provide insights to beef cattle extension specialists and individual cattle producers on the strengths and weaknesses of current feedlot management practices.

Many structural components are exposed to thermal environments that promote aging-induced changes in material microstructure and properties. The extent of these changes may lead to a reduction in the design safety factors and, as a worst case, premature failure of the component. In order to illustrate how nondestructive measurements can be used to indicate these changes, ultrasonic measurements were conducted on stainless steel. Specimens from a high-carbon, Type 304 stainless steel were subjected to various thermal treatments to introduce differing precipitation morphologies. Specimens were examined using transmission electron microscopy to quantify the size, density, and distribution of the precipitates formed. Ultrasonic measurements were performed to assess sensitivity to the change in precipitation levels. Shear-wave birefringence provided the most consistent measurements for tracking precipitate morphology changes. Birefringence velocity differences increased as precipitate size and density increased on grain boundaries and as additional precipitates formed in the matrix. The ability to nondestructively monitor the precipitation process is important since susceptibility to environmentally assisted cracking and low-temperature embrittlement correlated with this microstructural change.

The study was designed to investigate the process of speech accommodation between bilinguals from two ethnolinguistic groups. It was hypothesized that the greater the amount of effort in accommodation that a bilingual speaker of one group was perceived to put into his message, the more favourably he would be perceived by listeners from another ethnic group, and also the more effort they in turn would put into accommodating back to him. Eighty bilingual English-Canadians were divided into four groups and individually tested. Ss heard on tape a French-Canadian describe a picture and they were required to sketch this while listening. Ss were made fully aware that their speaker had a choice of language for his description. The four groups heard the same male speaker describe the drawing but each in a different guise: (1) French, (2) Mix-mix, (3) Fluent English and (4) Nonfluent English. Ss were then requested to rate their speaker and his performance, and to record a description of another picture themselves for that same French-Canadian to draw later. From analyses of the ratings and the Ss' tapes, the hypotheses were confirmed and different types of accommodation noted. A theoretical framework for these results and other forms of interpersonal accommodation was suggested. (Bilingualism; social interaction; accommodation theory; Canadian French, Canadian English.)

For the quantitative analysis of a 65 Cu-30 Ni-S Fe alloy, a 96 Cu-3 Si-1 Mn alloy, and a 78 Cu-20 Zn-2 Al alloy, the Ziebold empirical method of correcting electron-microbeam-probe data was used. Four binary standards, of single-phase Cu-Ni, Ni-Fe, Cu-Mn, and Cu-Zn alloys, were cast and the a correction factor found for each element in each binary by Ziebold's relationship (1 – K)/K – α (1 – C)/C, where K – I/I0 found in the probe and C is the weight fraction found by wet chemistry. The ARL EMX probe was used at 30 kV with a 25-μ beam diameter to negate inhomogeneities. Experience with these binaries indicated that in the presence of secondary fluorescence, the experimental α values agreed poorly with theoretically calculated K values; however, where secondary fluorescence was negligible, agreement between the experimental and theoretical α values was good. The α values for Cu–Si, Cu–Al, Al-Zn, and Mn–Si alioys, were therefore calculated from the theoretical equations. The α values for Cu–Fe alloys were also calculated from theoretical considerations because single-phase binaries over the composition range of interest could not be made for this system. All these α values were used in Ziebold's ternary equations to correct probe data (again using a 25-μ beam) from specimens of Cu–Ni-Fe, Cu–Si–Mn, and Cu-Zn–Al. These results were compared to wet-chemistry analyses for the same specimens with quite good correlation between the two sets of data. Calibration curves for the binary systems Cu-Ni, Cu-Fe, Ni-Fe, Cu-Mn, Cu-Si, Mn-Si, Cu-Al, Cu-Zn, and Al-Zn were made and are reproduced.