Microcomputer-based system for data acquisition and analysis of oxygen uptake studies.

The use of a Warburg Respirometer to study oxidation reactions is tedious and time-consuming. A microcomputer-based oxygen uptake device that is more sensitive than a Warburg Respirometer is described. The device consists of stainless steel or Teflon reaction vessels coupled to ultrasensitive pressure transducers. A high speed analog to digital convertor is used to poll the transducers. The direct memory access (DMA) controller of an IBM XT is used to poll the convertor and store the data in memory. Software used to program the DMA controller and IBM XT is described. The reproducibility and utility of the device is demonstrated with a brief study of lipid oxidation.

Composition of the mount st. Helens ashfall in the moscow-pullman area on 18 may 1980.

Mineralogical and chemical analyses of the ashfall from Mount St. Helens on 18 May 1980 indicate that there were two distinct ashes. The early dark ash is composed principally of plagioclase and lithic fragments of plagioclase and glass with titanium-rich magnetite and some basaltic hornblende and orthopyroxene. The later pale ash, four-fifths by weight of the whole fallout, is 80 percent glass with plagioclase as the principal crystalline phase. Quartz and potassium feldspar are rare to absent in both ashes. Chemical analyses of nine ash fractions and of the glass in each type emphasize the differences between the two ash types and their chemical homogeneity.