409 research outputs found
MAJOR AGRICULTURAL POLICY QUESTIONS OF THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS
Agricultural and Food Policy,
Against Hayek
Presents a critical analysis of Hayek in the light of modern computability and economic computability theory.Hayek, Computability, Socialism
Chlorine isotope composition in chlorofluorocarbons CFC-11, CFC-12 and CFC-113 in firn, stratospheric and tropospheric air
The stratospheric degradation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) releases chlorine, which is a major contributor to the destruction of stratospheric ozone (O3). A recent study reported strong chlorine isotope fractionation during the breakdown of the most abundant CFC (CFC-12, CCl2F2, Laube et al., 2010a), similar to effects seen in nitrous oxide (N2O). Using air archives to obtain a long-term record of chlorine isotope ratios in CFCs could help to identify and quantify their sources and sinks. We analyse the three most abundant CFCs and show that CFC-11 (CCl3F) and CFC-113 (CClF2CCl2F) exhibit significant stratospheric chlorine isotope fractionation, in common with CFC-12. The apparent isotope fractionation (εapp) for mid- and high-latitude stratospheric samples are (-2.4±0.5) ‰ and (-2.3±0.4) ‰ for CFC-11, (-12.2±1.6) ‰ and (-6.8±0.8) ‰ for CFC-12 and (-3.5±1.5) ‰ and (-3.3±1.2) ‰ for CFC-113, respectively. Assuming a constant isotope composition of emissions, we calculate the expected trends in the tropospheric isotope signature of these gases based on their stratospheric 37Cl enrichment and stratosphere-troposphere exchange. We compare these projections to the long-term δ(37Cl) trends of all three CFCs, measured on background tropospheric samples from the Cape Grim air archive (Tasmania, 1978 – 2010) and tropospheric firn air samples from Greenland (NEEM site) and Antarctica (Fletcher Promontory site). From 1970 to the present-day, projected trends agree with tropospheric measurements, suggesting that within analytical uncertainties a constant average emission isotope delta is a compatible scenario. The measurement uncertainty is too high to determine whether the average emission isotope delta has been affected by changes in CFC manufacturing processes, or not. Our study increases the suite of trace gases amenable to direct isotope ratio measurements in small air volumes (approximately 200 ml), using a single-detector gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system
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Large-area proportional counter camera for the US National Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Facility
An engineering model of a multiwire position-sensitive proportional-counter (PSPC) was developed, tested, and installed at the US National Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Facility at ORNL. The PSPC is based on the RC-encoding and time-difference decoding method to measure the spatial coordinates of the interaction loci of individual scattered neutrons. The active area of the PSPC is 65 cm x 65 cm, and the active depth is 3.6 cm. The spatial uncertainty in both coordinates is approx. 1.0 cm (fwhm) for thermal neutrons; thus, a matrix of 64 x 64 picture elements is resolved. The count rate capability for randomly detected neutrons is 10/sup 4/ counts per second, with < 3% coincidence loss. The PSPC gas composition is 63% /sup 3/He, 32% Xe, and 5% CO/sub 2/ at an absolute pressure of approx. 3 x 10/sup 5/ Pa (3 atm). The detection efficiency is approx. 90% for the 0.475-nm (4.75-A) neutrons used in the scattering experiments
A Population of Faint Non-Transient Low Mass Black Hole Binaries
We study the thermal and viscous stability of accretion flows in Low Mass
Black Hole Binaries (LMBHBs). We consider a model in which an inner
advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) is surrounded by a geometrically thin
accretion disk, the transition between the two zones occurring at a radius
R_tr. In all the known LMBHBs, R_tr appears to be such that the outer disks
could suffer from a global thermal-viscous instability. This instability is
likely to cause the transient behavior of these systems. However, in most
cases, if R_tr were slightly larger than the estimated values, the systems
would be globally stable. This suggests that a population of faint persistent
LMBHBs with globally stable outer disks could be present in the Galaxy. Such
LMBHBs would be hard to detect because they would lack large amplitude
outbursts, and because their ADAF zones would have very low radiative
efficiencies, making the systems very dim. We present model spectra of such
systems covering the optical and X-ray bands.Comment: LateX, 37 pages, 11 figures; Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Infrared and Optical Spectroscopy of Type Ia Supernovae in the Nebular Phase
We present near-infrared (NIR) spectra for Type Ia supernovae at epochs of 13
to 338 days after maximum blue light. Some contemporary optical spectra are
also shown. All the NIR spectra exhibit considerable structure throughout the
J-, H- and K-bands. In particular they exhibit a flux `deficit' in the J-band
which persists as late as 175 days. This is responsible for the well-known red
J-H colour. To identify the emission features and test the Ni hypothesis
for the explosion and subsequent light curve, we compare the NIR and optical
nebular-phase data with a simple non-LTE nebular spectral model. We find that
many of the spectral features are due to iron-group elements and that the
J-band deficit is due to a lack of emission lines from species which dominate
the rest of the IR/optical spectrum. Nevertheless, some emission is unaccounted
for, possibly due to inaccuracies in the cobalt atomic data. For some
supernovae, blueshifts of 1000--3000 km/s are seen in infrared and optical
features at 3 months. We suggest this is due to clumping in the ejecta. The
evolution of the cobalt/iron mass ratio indicates that Co-decay
dominates the abundances of these elements. The absolute masses of iron-group
elements which we derive support the basic thermonuclear explosion scenario for
Type Ia supernovae. A core-collapse origin is less consistent with our data.Comment: 33 Latex pages, 12 Postscript figures: accepted by Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Societ
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