2,269 research outputs found
Ultrasonic Microdissection of Rat Cerebellum for Scanning Electron Microscopy
The cerebelli of rats were initially fixed with aldehydes (modified Karnovsky\u27s fixative; 503 mOsM/L) by cardiac perfusion. Blocks of tissue were razor-cut, usually longitudinal to folia, and immersed in the same fluid for 2-4 hours. Three separate methods of treatment followed: (1) immersion in 1% aqueous boric acid, or (2) in 2% phosphate buffered OsO4 followed by boric acid or (3) in an 8/2 mixture of boric acid and OsO4. After 18-48 hours immersion the blocks were dehydrated in ascending grades of acetone. They were then exposed to ultrasound in 100% acetone at frequencies of 80 kHz or 40 kHz for 10 to 20 minutes.
Microdissection of cut surfaces (erosion) occurs after all three treatments. It is least extensive after boric acid, moderate after OsO4 and greatest after the combined mixture. All cerebellar cell types are recognizable as are numerous fibers according to morphology and position. Variable erosion accommodates analysis of different levels of neural organization. In general, structural situations not involving great depth of field are best revealed by H3BO3 or OsO4. Blood vascular relationships to other structures are best demonstrated in deeply eroded specimens
Collapsars - Gamma-Ray Bursts and Explosions in "Failed Supernovae"
Using a two-dimensional hydrodynamics code (PROMETHEUS), we study the
continued evolution of rotating massive helium stars whose iron core collapse
does not produce a successful outgoing shock, but instead forms a black hole.
We study the formation of a disk, the associated flow patterns, and the
accretion rate for disk viscosity parameter, alpha ~ 0.001 and 0.1. For the
standard 14 solar mass model the average accretion rate for 15 s is 0.07 solar
masses per second and the total energy deposited along the rotational axes by
neutrino annihilation is (1 - 14) x 10**51 erg, depending upon the evolution of
the Kerr parameter and uncertain neutrino efficiencies. Simulated deposition of
this energy in the polar regions results in strong relativistic outflow - jets
beamed to about 1.5% of the sky. The jets remain highly focused, and are
capable of penetrating the star in 5 - 10 s. After the jet breaks through the
surface of the star, highly relativistic flow can commence. Because of the
sensitivity of the mass ejection and jets to accretion rate, angular momentum,
and disk viscosity, and the variation of observational consequences with
viewing angle, a large range of outcomes is possible ranging from bright GRBs
like GRB 971214 to faint GRB-supernovae like SN 1998bw. X-ray precursors are
also possible as the jet first breaks out of the star. While only a small
fraction of supernovae make GRBs, we predict that all GRBs longer than a few
seconds will make supernovae similar to SN 1998bw. However, hard, energetic
GRBs shorter than a few seconds will be difficult to make in this model.Comment: Latex, 66 pages including 27 figures (9 color), Submitted to The
Astrophysical Journal, latex uses aaspp4.sty. Figures also available at
http://www.ucolick.org/~andre
Screened thermonuclear reactions and predictive stellar evolution of detached double-lined eclipsing binaries
The low energy fusion cross sections of charged-particle nuclear reactions
(and the respective reaction rates) in stellar plasmas are enhanced due to
plasma screening effects. We study the impact of those effects on predictive
stellar evolution simulations for detached double-lined eclipsing binaries. We
follow the evolution of binary systems (pre-main sequence or main sequence
stars) with precisely determined radii and masses from 1.1Mo to 23Mo (from
their birth until their present state). The results indicate that all the
discrepancies between the screened and unscreened models (in terms of
luminosity, stellar radius, and effective temperature) are within the
observational uncertainties. Moreover, no nucleosynthetic or compositional
variation was found due to screening corrections. Therefore all thermonuclear
screening effects on the charged-particle nuclear reactions that occur in the
binary stars considered in this work (from their birth until their present
state) can be totally disregarded. In other words, all relevant
charged-particle nuclear reactions can be safely assumed to take place in a
vacuum, thus simplifying and accelerating the simulation processes.Comment: 5 RevTex pages,no figures. Accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.
Massive Stars in the Range : Evolution and Nucleosynthesis. II. the Solar Metallicity Models
We present the evolutionary properties of a set of massive stellar models
(namely 13, 15, 20 and 25 ) from the main sequence phase up to the
onset of the iron core collapse. All these models have initial solar chemical
composition, i.e. Y=0.285 and Z=0.02. A 179 isotope network, extending from
neutron up to and fully coupled to the evolutionary code has been
adopted from the Carbon burning onward. Our results are compared, whenever
possible, to similar computations available in literature.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figures, 26 tables, accepted for publicatin in ApJ
2D Multi-Angle, Multi-Group Neutrino Radiation-Hydrodynamic Simulations of Postbounce Supernova Cores
We perform axisymmetric (2D) multi-angle, multi-group neutrino
radiation-hydrodynamic calculations of the postbounce phase of core-collapse
supernovae using a genuinely 2D discrete-ordinate (S_n) method. We follow the
long-term postbounce evolution of the cores of one nonrotating and one
rapidly-rotating 20-solar-mass stellar model for ~400 milliseconds from 160 ms
to ~550 ms after bounce. We present a multi-D analysis of the multi-angle
neutrino radiation fields and compare in detail with counterpart simulations
carried out in the 2D multi-group flux-limited diffusion (MGFLD) approximation
to neutrino transport. We find that 2D multi-angle transport is superior in
capturing the global and local radiation-field variations associated with
rotation-induced and SASI-induced aspherical hydrodynamic configurations. In
the rotating model, multi-angle transport predicts much larger asymptotic
neutrino flux asymmetries with pole to equator ratios of up to ~2.5, while
MGFLD tends to sphericize the radiation fields already in the optically
semi-transparent postshock regions. Along the poles, the multi-angle
calculation predicts a dramatic enhancement of the neutrino heating by up to a
factor of 3, which alters the postbounce evolution and results in greater polar
shock radii and an earlier onset of the initially rotationally weakened SASI.
In the nonrotating model, differences between multi-angle and MGFLD
calculations remain small at early times when the postshock region does not
depart significantly from spherical symmetry. At later times, however, the
growing SASI leads to large-scale asymmetries and the multi-angle calculation
predicts up to 30% higher average integral neutrino energy deposition rates
than MGFLD.Comment: 20 pages, 21 figures. Minor revisions. Accepted for publication in
ApJ. A version with high-resolution figures may be obtained from
http://www.stellarcollapse.org/papers/Ott_et_al2008_multi_angle.pd
A dynamical model of surrogate reactions
A new dynamical model is developed to describe the whole process of surrogate
reactions; transfer of several nucleons at an initial stage, thermal
equilibration of residues leading to washing out of shell effects and decay of
populated compound nuclei are treated in a unified framework. Multi-dimensional
Langevin equations are employed to describe time-evolution of collective
coordinates with a time-dependent potential energy surface corresponding to
different stages of surrogate reactions. The new model is capable of
calculating spin distributions of the compound nuclei, one of the most
important quantity in the surrogate technique. Furthermore, various observables
of surrogate reactions can be calculated, e.g., energy and angular distribution
of ejectile, and mass distributions of fission fragments. These features are
important to assess validity of the proposed model itself, to understand
mechanisms of the surrogate reactions and to determine unknown parameters of
the model. It is found that spin distributions of compound nuclei produced in
O+U O+U and O+U
O+U reactions are equivalent and much less than
10, therefore satisfy conditions proposed by Chiba and Iwamoto (PRC 81,
044604(2010)) if they are used as a pair in the surrogate ratio method.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Observational Tests and Predictive Stellar Evolution II: Non-standard Models
We examine contributions of second order physical processes to results of
stellar evolution calculations amenable to direct observational testing. In the
first paper in the series (Young et al. 2001) we established baseline results
using only physics which are common to modern stellar evolution codes. In the
current paper we establish how much of the discrepancy between observations and
baseline models is due to particular elements of new physics. We then consider
the impact of the observational uncertainties on the maximum predictive
accuracy achievable by a stellar evolution code. The sun is an optimal case
because of the precise and abundant observations and the relative simplicity of
the underlying stellar physics. The Standard Model is capable of matching the
structure of the sun as determined by helioseismology and gross surface
observables to better than a percent. Given an initial mass and surface
composition within the observational errors, and no additional constraints for
which the models can be optimized, it is not possible to predict the sun's
current state to better than ~7%. Convectively induced mixing in radiative
regions, seen in multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations, dramatically
improves the predictions for radii, luminosity, and apsidal motions of
eclipsing binaries while simultaneously maintaining consistency with observed
light element depletion and turnoff ages in young clusters (Young et al. 2003).
Systematic errors in core size for models of massive binaries disappear with
more complete mixing physics, and acceptable fits are achieved for all of the
binaries without calibration of free parameters. The lack of accurate abundance
determinations for binaries is now the main obstacle to improving stellar
models using this type of test.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Collisional Dark Matter and the Origin of Massive Black Holes
If the cosmological dark matter is primarily in the form of an elementary
particle which has cross section and mass for self-interaction having a ratio
similar to that of ordinary nuclear matter, then seed black holes (formed in
stellar collapse) will grow in a Hubble time, due to accretion of the dark
matter, to a mass range 10^6 - 10^9 solar masses. Furthermore, the dependence
of the final black hole mass on the galaxy velocity dispersion will be
approximately as observed and the growth rate will show a time dependence
consistent with observations. Other astrophysical consequences of collisional
dark matter and tests of the idea are noted.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, LaTeX2e, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Lett. Changed conten
Parental Involvement Among Collegiate Student-Athletes: An Analysis Across NCAA Divisions
Despite emerging evidence of a link between parental involvement and student-athletes’ (SA) experiences, and the desire for educational programming for parents of these SAs, previous research has been limited to the Division I level. This has prevented the ability to inform, develop, and deliver parent programming across the NCAA’s diverse membership. The present study was designed to descriptively assess SA reports of parental involvement (i.e., support, contact, academic engagement, athletic engagement) across NCAA Division I, II, and III member institutions and examine the potential impact of this involvement on SAs’ experiences (i.e., academic self-efficacy, athletic satisfaction, well-being, individuation). Participants were 455 SAs (53% female; 81% Caucasian; Mage = 19.81, SD = 1.65) from DI (30%), DII (37%), and DIII (33%) institutions, who completed an online survey with items assessing parental involvement and SA experiences. Regarding academic classification, 32% were freshmen, 24% sophomores, 22% juniors, and 22% seniors. Results provide novel evidence for an absence of division-wide differences in average levels of involvement and no variability in links between involvement and SA experiences across divisions. Results complement and extend previous research by offering a clearer understanding of differential associations between involvement and SAs’ experiences regardless of division, notably that involvement bolstered well-being but also strongly detracted from individuation. Findings highlight the importance of developing programs to promote positive and developmentally-appropriate parental involvement across the spectrum of intercollegiate athletics, especially given the absence of evidence-based resources presently offered by the NCAA
Supernova Ia: a Converging Delayed Detonation Wave
A model of a carbon-oxygen (C--O) presupernova core with an initial mass 1.33
M_\odot, an initial carbon mass fraction 0.27, and with an average mass
growth-rate 5 x 10^{-7} M_\odot/yr due to accretion in a binary system was
evolved from initial central density 10^9 g/cm^3, and temperature 2.05 x 10^8 K
through convective core formation and its subsequent expansion to the carbon
runaway at the center. The only thermonuclear reaction contained in the
equations of evolution and runaway was the carbon burning reaction 12C + 12C
with an energy release corresponding to the full transition of carbon and
oxygen (with the same rate as carbon) into 56Ni. As a parameter we take
\alpha_c - a ratio of a mixing length to the size of the convective zone. In
spite of the crude assumptions, we obtained a pattern of the runaway acceptable
for the supernova theory with the strong dependence of its duration on
\alpha_c. In the variants with large enough values of \alpha_c=4.0 x 10^{-3}
and 3.0 x 10^{-3} the fuel combustion occurred from the very beginning as a
prompt detonation. In the range of 2.0 x 10^{-3} >= \alpha_c >= 3.0 x 10^{-4}
the burning started as a deflagration with excitation of stellar pulsations
with growing amplitude. Eventually, the detonation set in, which was activated
near the surface layers of the presupernova (with m about 1.33 M_\odot) and
penetrated into the star down to the deflagration front. Excitation of model
pulsations and formation of a detonation front are described in detail for the
variant with \alpha_c=1.0 x 10^{-3}.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Astronomy Letter
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