992 research outputs found

    A simple approach to estimating three-dimensional supercavitating flow fields

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    A simple method is formulated for predicting three-dimensional supercavitating flow behind cavitators subject to gravitational acceleration and motion of the cavitator. The method applies slenderbody theory in the context of matched asymptotic expansions to pose an inner problem for the cavity evolution downstream from the locus of cavity detachment. This inner problem is solved by means of a coupled set of equations for the Fourier coefficients characterizing the cavity radius and the velocity potential as a function of downstream location and circumferential location, thus resulting in a two-dimensional multipole solution at each station. For the lowestorder term in the Fourier expansion, it is necessary to match the parabolic inner solution to a fully elliptic outer solution. This step allows the application of any one of a number of methods to solve the axisymmetric problem, which serves as the base solution that is perturbed by the three-dimensional effects. The method is an attempt to formalize the Logvinovich principle of independent cavity section evolution. Results flow past a circular disk cavitator are presented for severalvalues of the cavity Froude number.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/84318/1/CAV2009-final145.pd

    Millimeter Wavelength Brightness Fluctuations of the Atmosphere Above the South Pole

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    We report measurements of the millimeter wavelength brightness fluctuations produced by the atmosphere above the South Pole made with the Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver (ACBAR). The data span the 2002 Austral winter during which ACBAR was mounted on the Viper telescope at the South Pole. We recover the atmospheric signal in the presence of instrument noise by calculating the correlation between signals from distinct elements of the ACBAR bolometer array. With this method, it is possible to measure atmospheric brightness fluctuations with high SNR even under the most stable atmospheric conditions. The observed atmospheric signal is characterized by the parameters of the Komolgorov-Taylor (KT) model, which are the amplitude and power law exponent describing the atmospheric power spectrum, and the two components of the wind angular velocity at the time of the observation. The KT model is typically a good description of the observed fluctuations, and fits to the data produce values of the Komolgorov exponent that are consistent with theoretical expectations. By combining the wind angular velocity results with measurements of the wind linear velocity, we find that the altitude of the observed atmospheric fluctuations is consistent with the distribution of water vapor determined from radiosonde data. For data corresponding to frequency passbands centered on 150, 219, and 274 GHz, we obtain median fluctuation power amplitudes of [10, 38, 74] mK^{2} rad^{-5/3} in Rayleigh-Jeans temperature units. Comparing with previous work, we find that these median amplitudes are approximately an order of magnitude smaller than those found at the South Pole during the Austral summer and at least 30 times lower than found at the ALMA site in the Atacama desert.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, submitted to ApJ, vertical margins fixe

    Signatures of Spin Glass Freezing in NiO Nanoparticles

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    We present a detailed study of the magnetic properties of sol-gel prepared nickel oxide nanoparticles of different sizes. We report various measurements such as frequency, field and temperature dependence of ac susceptibility, temperature and field dependence of dc magnetization and time decay of thermoremanent magnetization. Our results and analysis show that the system behaves as a spin glass.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

    Catalysis of amide synthesis by RNA phosphodiester and hydroxyl groups

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    The functional groups found among the RNA bases and in the phosphoribose backbone represent a limited repertoire from which to construct a ribozyme active site. This work investigates the possibility that simple RNA phosphodiester and hydroxyl functional groups could catalyze amide bond synthesis. Reaction of amine groups with activated esters would be catalyzed by a group that stabilizes the partial positive charge on the amine nucleophile in the transition state. 2′-Amine substitutions adjacent to 3′-phosphodiester or 3′-hydroxyl groups react efficiently with activated esters to form 2′-amide and peptide products. In contrast, analogs in which the 3′-phosphodiester is replaced by an uncharged phosphotriester or is constrained in a distal conformation react at least 100-fold more slowly. Similarly, a nucleoside in which the 3′-hydroxyl group is constrained trans to the 2′-amine is also unreactive. Catalysis of synthetic reactions by RNA phosphodiester and ribose hydroxyl groups is likely to be even greater in the context of a preorganized and solvent-excluding catalytic center. One such group is the 2′-hydroxyl of the ribosome-bound P-site adenosine substrate, which is close to the amine nucleophile in the peptidyl synthesis reaction. Given ubiquitous 2′-OH groups in RNA, there exists a decisive advantage for RNA over DNA in catalyzing reactions of biological significance

    Validity of the second law in nonextensive quantum thermodynamics

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    The second law of thermodynamics in nonextensive statistical mechanics is discussed in the quantum regime. Making use of the convexity property of the generalized relative entropy associated with the Tsallis entropy indexed by q, Clausius' inequality is shown to hold in the range of q between zero and two. This restriction on the range of the entropic index, q, is purely quantum mechanical and there exists no upper bound of q for validity of the second law in classical theory.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

    Time decay of the remanent magnetization in the ±J\pm J spin glass model at T=0

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    Using the zero-temperature Metropolis dynamics, the time decay of the remanent magnetization in the ±J\pm J Edward-Anderson spin glass model with a uniform random distribution of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions has been investigated. Starting from the saturation, the magnetization per spin mm reveals a slow decrease with time, which can be approximated by a power law:m(t)=m∞+(ta0)a1m(t)=m_{\infty}+ ({t\over a_{0}})^{a_{1}}, a1<0a_{1} < 0. Moreover, its relaxation does not lead it into one of the ground states, and therefore the system is trapped in metastable isoenergetic microstates remaining magnetized. Such behaviour is discussed in terms of a random walk the system performs on its available configuration space.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

    Hypermethioninaemia due to methionine adenosyltransferase I/III (MAT I/III) deficiency: diagnosis in an expanded neonatal screening programme

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    The Expanded Newborn Screening Program (MS/MS) in the region of Galicia (NW Spain) was initiated in 2000 and includes the measurement of methionine levels in dried blood spots. Between June 2000 and June 2007, 140 818 newborns were analysed, and six cases of persistent hypermethioninaemia were detected: one homocystinuria due to cystathionine β-synthase (CβS) deficiency, and five methionine adenosyltransferase I/III (MAT I/III) deficiencies. The five cases of MAT I/III deficiency represent an incidence of 1/28 163 newborns. In these five patients, methionine levels in dried blood spots ranged from 50 to 147 μmol/L. At confirmation of the persistence of the hypermethioninaemia in a subsequent plasma sample, plasma methionine concentrations were moderately elevated in 4 of the 5 patients (mean 256 μmol/L), while total homocysteine (tHcy) was normal; the remaining patient showed plasma methionine of 573 μmol/L and tHcy of 22.8 μmol/L. All five patients were heterozygous for the same dominant mutation, R264H in the MAT1A gene. With a diet not exceeding recommended protein requirements for their age, all patients maintained methionine levels below 300 μmol/L. Currently, with a mean of 2.5 years since diagnosis, the patients are asymptomatic and show developmental quotients within the normal range. Our results show a rather high frequency of hypermethioninaemia due to MAT I/III deficiency in the Galician neonatal population, indicating a need for further studies to evaluate the impact of persistent isolated hypermethioninaemia in neonatal screening programmes

    Biochemical basis for the dominant inheritance of hypermethioninemia associated with the R264H mutation of the MAT1A gene. A monomeric methionine adenosyltransferase with tripolyphosphatase activity

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    Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) catalyzes the synthesis of S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), the main alkylating agent in living cells. Additionally, in the liver, MAT is also responsible for up to 50% of methionine catabolism. Humans with mutations in the gene MAT1A, the gene that encodes the catalytic subunit of MAT I and III, have decreased MAT activity in liver, which results in a persistent hypermethioninemia without homocystinuria. The hypermethioninemic phenotype associated with these mutations is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. The only exception is the dominant mild hypermethioninemia associated with a G-A transition at nucleotide 791 of exon VII. This change yields a MAT1A-encoded subunit in which arginine 264 is replaced by histidine. Our results indicate that in the homologous rat enzyme, replacement of the equivalent arginine 265 by histidine (R265H) results in a monomeric MAT with only 0.37% of the AdoMet synthetic activity. However the tripolyphosphatase activity is similar to that found in the wild type (WT) MAT and is inhibited by PP(i). Our in vivo studies demonstrate that the R265H MAT I/III mutant associates with the WT subunit resulting in a dimeric R265H-WT MAT unable to synthesize AdoMet. Tripolyphosphatase activity is maintained in the hybrid MAT, but is not stimulated by methionine and ATP, indicating a deficient binding of the substrates. Our data indicate that the active site for tripolyphosphatase activity is functionally active in the monomeric R265H MAT I/III mutant. Moreover, our results provide a molecular mechanism that might explain the dominant inheritance of the hypermethioninemia associated with the R264H mutation of human MAT I/III

    Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves

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    We present an analysis of high-precision pulsar timing data taken as part of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational waves (NANOGrav) project. We have observed 17 pulsars for a span of roughly five years using the Green Bank and Arecibo radio telescopes. We analyze these data using standard pulsar timing models, with the addition of time-variable dispersion measure and frequency-variable pulse shape terms. Sub-microsecond timing residuals are obtained in nearly all cases, and the best root-mean-square timing residuals in this set are ~30-50 ns. We present methods for analyzing post-fit timing residuals for the presence of a gravitational wave signal with a specified spectral shape. These optimally take into account the timing fluctuation power removed by the model fit, and can be applied to either data from a single pulsar, or to a set of pulsars to detect a correlated signal. We apply these methods to our dataset to set an upper limit on the strength of the nHz-frequency stochastic supermassive black hole gravitational wave background of h_c (1 yr^-1) < 7x10^-15 (95%). This result is dominated by the timing of the two best pulsars in the set, PSRs J1713+0747 and J1909-3744.Comment: To be submitted to Ap
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