X-ray computed tomography augmented by elemental microanalysis has been used to characterize two drill cores from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, west Cumbria, UK. Information about the three-dimensional (3D) distribution of mineral phases was obtained non-destructively, and regionsof interest were extracted for thin sectioning and elemental analysis. This revealed the presence of pyrite and other iron- and iron-titanium-bearing minerals. X-ray computed tomography is a very useful tool for 3D visualization, but the limitations of the tomography system used made it difficultto distinguish between regions with similar compositions, such as the different layers within the calcite veins. Methods by which these limitations might be overcome are briefly discussed.

The effect of transportation and lairage on the faecal shedding and post-slaughter contamination of carcasses with Escherichia coli O157 and O26 in young calves (4–7-day-old) was assessed in a cohort study at a regional calf-processing plant in the North Island of New Zealand, following 60 calves as cohorts from six dairy farms to slaughter. Multiple samples from each animal at pre-slaughter (recto-anal mucosal swab) and carcass at post-slaughter (sponge swab) were collected and screened using real-time PCR and culture isolation methods for the presence of E. coli O157 and O26 (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and non-STEC). Genotype analysis of E. coli O157 and O26 isolates provided little evidence of faecal–oral transmission of infection between calves during transportation and lairage. Increased cross-contamination of hides and carcasses with E. coli O157 and O26 between co-transported calves was confirmed at pre-hide removal and post-evisceration stages but not at pre-boning (at the end of dressing prior to chilling), indicating that good hygiene practices and application of an approved intervention effectively controlled carcass contamination. This study was the first of its kind to assess the impact of transportation and lairage on the faecal carriage and post-harvest contamination of carcasses with E. coli O157 and O26 in very young calves.

Much can be learned from terrestrial planets that appear to have had the potential to be habitable, but failed to realize that potential. Mars shows evidence of a once hospitable surface environment. The reasons for its current state, and in particular its thin atmosphere and dry surface, are of great interest for what they can tell us about habitable zone planet outcomes. A main goal of the MAVEN mission is to observe Mars’ atmosphere responses to solar and space weather influences, and in particular atmosphere escape related to space weather ‘storms’ caused by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Numerical experiments with a data-validated MHD model suggest how the effects of an observed moderately strong ICME compare to what happens during a more extreme event. The results suggest the kinds of solar and space weather conditions that can have evolutionary importance at a planet like Mars.

Weld residual stress (RS) measurements are often undertaken on test-pieces which have been cut out from large components, yet it remains unclear to what extent the RSs in test-pieces are representative of those present in the original component. Similarly weld mechanical performance tests are frequently undertaken on cross-weld test-pieces without a proper understanding of the level or influence of retained RS. We present a systematic study of the relaxation of longitudinal RS in thin-plate butt welds produced using different materials and welding methods (FSW, laser-MIG, and pulsed-MIG). In each case the RSs were measured repeatedly in the same location as the welds were progressively and symmetrically cut down. Although cutting inevitably leads to stress redistribution, significant relaxation of the longitudinal RS was only observed when the weld length or width was reduced to below a certain value. This critical value appears to correlate with the lateral width of the tensile zone local to the weld-line and may be considered to be the characteristic length as defined in St. Venant’s principle. Further, it was found that the level of stress relaxation as a function of weld length for all the welds studied could be collapsed onto a single empirical curve using a simple approach based on the characteristic length scales of the weld. Given the range of materials and welding methods used, this relation appears to be of general use for thin-plate welds although further work is required to test the limits of its applicability.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

Measuring residual-stresses at the micron scale in glassy materials imposes experimental challenges, particularly when using diffraction, or other conventional laboratory methods, e.g., optical non-contact methods, grid methods, etc. In this short paper, a technique for mapping residual-stress profiles in amorphous materials with high spatial definition is used to measure residual-stresses in a laser-peened and fatigued bulk-metallic glass - Vit-105. The method involves local deposition of nano Pt dots patterns on the mapped region of the specimen and milling of a series of micro-slots of size 15 × 2 × 0.4 μm3 using the focused ion beam of a dual beam Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope / Focused Ion Gun (FEGSEM/FIB) instrument. The deformation fields in the vicinity of slots are reconstructed by the digital image correlation analyses (DICA) of FEGSEM images recorded during milling. The residual-stresses are inferred by fitting a reference displacement field obtained from finite-element analyses (FEA) with the recorded displacement field. In this way, residual-stress distributions have been characterized as a function of the distance from the laser-peened surface to a depth of 1,200 microns with a spatial resolution of 30 μm. The influence of fatigue loading on the compressive residual-stresses spatial distribution is studied and discussed. It was found that the fatigue loading significantly changes the compressive residual-stress spatial distribution in the laser-peened layer.