8,097 research outputs found
The human value of scientific investigations of the origin and evolution of the solar system
The value of space exploration in relation to such earth bound problems as poverty, hunger, overpopulation, pollution, disease, and urban blight is discussed
User community development for the space transportation system/Skylab
The New User Function plan for identifying beneficial uses of space is described. Critical issues such as funding, manpower, and protection of user proprietary rights are discussed along with common barriers which impede the development of a user community. Studies for developing methodologies of identifying new users and uses of the space transportation system are included
Phase behavior of a fluid with competing attractive and repulsive interactions
Fluids in which the interparticle potential has a hard core, is attractive at
moderate separations, and repulsive at greater separations are known to exhibit
novel phase behavior, including stable inhomogeneous phases. Here we report a
joint simulation and theoretical study of such a fluid, focusing on the
relationship between the liquid-vapor transition line and any new phases. The
phase diagram is studied as a function of the amplitude of the attraction for a
certain fixed amplitude of the long ranged repulsion. We find that the effect
of the repulsion is to substitute the liquid-vapor critical point and a portion
of the associated liquid-vapor transition line, by two first order transitions.
One of these transitions separates the vapor from a fluid of spherical
liquidlike clusters; the other separates the liquid from a fluid of spherical
voids. At low temperature, the two transition lines intersect one another and a
vapor-liquid transition line at a triple point. While most integral equation
theories are unable to describe the new phase transitions, the Percus Yevick
approximation does succeed in capturing the vapor-cluster transition, as well
as aspects of the structure of the cluster fluid, in reasonable agreement with
the simulation results.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure
Development of methodologies and procedures for identifying STS users and uses
A study was conducted to identify new uses and users of the new Space Transporation System (STS) within the domestic government sector. The study develops a series of analytical techniques and well-defined functions structured as an integrated planning process to assure efficient and meaningful use of the STS. The purpose of the study is to provide NASA with the following functions: (1) to realize efficient and economic use of the STS and other NASA capabilities, (2) to identify new users and uses of the STS, (3) to contribute to organized planning activities for both current and future programs, and (4) to air in analyzing uses of NASA's overall capabilities
User benefits and funding strategies
The justification, economic and technological benefits of NASA Space Programs (aside from pure scientific objectives), in improving the quality of life in the United States is discussed and outlined. Specifically, a three-step, systematic method is described for selecting relevant and highly beneficial payloads and instruments for the Interim Upper Stage (IUS) that will be used with the space shuttle until the space tug becomes available. Viable Government and private industry cost-sharing strategies which would maximize the number of IUS payloads, and the benefits obtainable under a limited NASA budget were also determined. Charts are shown which list the payload instruments, and their relevance in contributing to such areas as earth resources management, agriculture, weather forecasting, and many others
Soft core fluid in a quenched matrix of soft core particles: A mobile mixture in a model gel
We present a density-functional study of a binary phase-separating mixture of
soft core particles immersed in a random matrix of quenched soft core particles
of larger size. This is a model for a binary polymer mixture immersed in a
crosslinked rigid polymer network. Using the replica `trick' for
quenched-annealed mixtures we derive an explicit density functional theory that
treats the quenched species on the level of its one-body density distribution.
The relation to a set of effective external potentials acting on the annealed
components is discussed. We relate matrix-induced condensation in bulk to the
behaviour of the mixture around a single large particle. The interfacial
properties of the binary mixture at a surface of the quenched matrix display a
rich interplay between capillary condensation inside the bulk matrix and
wetting phenomena at the matrix surface.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for Phys. Rev.
MECHANISMS OF DISEASE Acute Oxygen-Sensing Mechanisms
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, ONE OF THE THREE SCIENTISTS CREDITED WITH THE discovery of oxygen, described the death of mice that were deprived of oxygen. However, he was also well aware of the toxicity of too much oxygen, stating, “For as a candle burns much faster in dephlogisticated [oxygen enriched] than in common air, so we might live out too fast, and the animal powers be too soon exhausted in this pure kind of air. A moralist, at least, may
say, that the air which nature has provided for us is as good as we deserve.”1
In this review we examine the remarkable mechanisms by which different organs detect and respond to acute changes in oxygen tension. Specialized tissues that sense the local oxygen tension include glomus cells of the carotid body, neuroepithelial bodies in the lungs, chromaffin cells of the fetal adrenal medulla, and smooth-muscle cells of the resistance pulmonary arteries,
fetoplacental arteries, systemic arteries, and the ductus arteriosus. Together, they constitute a specialized homeostatic oxygen-sensing system. Although all tissues are sensitive to severe hypoxia, these specialized tissues respond rapidly to moderate changes in oxygen tension within the physiologic range (roughly 40 to 100 mm Hg in an adult and 20 to 40 mm Hg in a fetus)Junta de Andalucí
A model colloidal fluid with competing interactions: bulk and interfacial properties
Using a simple mean-field density functional theory theory (DFT), we
investigate the structure and phase behaviour of a model colloidal fluid
composed of particles interacting via a pair potential which has a hard core of
diameter , is attractive Yukawa at intermediate separations and
repulsive Yukawa at large separations. We analyse the form of the asymptotic
decay of the bulk fluid correlation functions, comparing results from our DFT
with those from the self consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation (SCOZA). In
both theories we find rich crossover behaviour, whereby the ultimate decay of
correlation functions changes from monotonic to long-wavelength damped
oscillatory decay on crossing certain lines in the phase diagram, or sometimes
from oscillatory to oscillatory with a longer wavelength. For some choices of
potential parameters we find, within the DFT, a -line at which the
fluid becomes unstable with respect to periodic density fluctuations. SCOZA
fails to yield solutions for state points near such a -line. The
propensity to clustering of particles, which is reflected by the presence of a
long wavelength , slowly decaying oscillatory pair correlation
function, and a structure factor that exhibits a very sharp maximum at small
but non zero wavenumbers, is enhanced in states near the -line. We
present density profiles for the planar liquid-gas interface and for fluids
adsorbed at a planar hard wall. The presence of a nearby -transition
gives rise to pronounced long-wavelength oscillations in the one-body densities
at both types of interface.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure
An evaluation of Skylab (EREP) remote sensing techniques applied to investigations of crustal structure
The author has identified the following significant results. Film positives (70mm) from all six S190A multispectral photographic camera stations for any one scene can be registered and analyzed in a color additive viewer. Using a multispectral viewer, S190A and B films can be projected directly onto published geologic and topographic maps at scales as large as 1:62,500 and 1:24,000 without significant loss of detail. S190A films and prints permit the detection of faults, fractures, and other linear features not visible in any other space imagery. S192 MSS imagery can be useful for rock-type discrimination studies and delineation of linear patterns and arcuate anomalies. Anomalous color reflectances and arcuate color patterns revealed mineralized zones, copper deposits, vegetation, and volcanic rocks in various locations such as Panamint Range (CA), Greenwater (Death Valley), Lava Mountains (CA), northwestern Arizona, and Coso Hot Springs (CA)
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