Future space transport

Prospects for the mastery of space and the basic problems which must be solved in developing systems for both manned and cargo spacecraft are examined. The achievements and flaws of rocket boosters are discussed as well as the use of reusable spacecraft. The need for orbiting satellite solar power plants and related astrionics for active control of large space structures for space stations and colonies in an age of space industrialization is demonstrated. Various forms of spacecraft propulsion are described including liquid propellant rocket engines, nuclear reactors, thermonuclear rocket engines, electrorocket engines, electromagnetic engines, magnetic gas dynamic generators, electromagnetic mass accelerators (rail guns), laser rocket engines, pulse nuclear rocket engines, ramjet thermonuclear rocket engines, and photon rockets. The possibilities of interstellar flight are assessed

Low-Temperature Decoherence of Qubit Coupled to Background Charges

We have found an exact expression for the decoherence rate of a Josephson charge qubit coupled to fluctuating background charges. At low temperatures $T$ the decoherence rate ${\Gamma}$ is linear in $T$ while at high temperatures it saturates in agreement with a known classical solution which, however, reached at surprisingly high $T$. In contrast to the classical picture, impurity states spread in a wide interval of energies ($\gg T$) may essentially contribute to ${\Gamma}$.Comment: Both figures are changed to illustrate a more generic case of impurity states spread in wide interval of energies. Some changes have been made to the abstract and the introductio

Nanomechanical morphology of amorphous, transition, and crystalline domains in phase change memory thin films

In the search for phase change materials (PCM) that may rival traditional random access memory, a complete understanding of the amorphous to crystalline phase transition is required. For the well-known Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) and GeTe (GT) chalcogenides, which display nucleation and growth dominated crystallization kinetics, respectively, this work explores the nanomechanical morphology of amorphous and crystalline phases in 50 nm thin films. Subjecting these PCM specimens to a lateral thermal gradient spanning the crystallization temperature allows for a detailed morphological investigation. Surface and depth-dependent analyses of the resulting amorphous, transition and crystalline regions are achieved with shallow angle cross-sections, uniquely implemented with beam exit Ar ion polishing. To resolve the distinct phases, ultrasonic force microscopy (UFM) with simultaneous topography is implemented revealing a relative stiffness contrast between the amorphous and crystalline phases of 14% for the free film surface and 20% for the cross-sectioned surface. Nucleation is observed to occur preferentially at the PCM-substrate and free film interface for both GST and GT, while fine subsurface structures are found to be sputtering direction dependent. Combining surface and cross-section nanomechanical mapping in this manner allows 3D analysis of microstructure and defects with nanoscale lateral and depth resolution, applicable to a wide range of materials characterization studies where the detection of subtle variations in elastic modulus or stiffness are required

Polarization bremsstrahlung by fast charge on atomic bound electrons—Analog of nuclear M¨ossbauer’s effect

Features of polarization bremsstrahlung radiation (PB) by a relativistic charge on medium electrons bound in atoms are discussed. PB is considered as a dispersion of virtual photons of an electromagnetic field of a fast charge on atomic bound electrons. In this case atomic electron can get dispersed at a recoil energy in only certain portions, as in the nuclear M¨ossbauer process. Because of this a spectrum of dispersed photons is degenerated in a series of narrow peaks

Probing the Outer Mouth Structure of the hERG Channel with Peptide Toxin Footprinting and Molecular Modeling

Abstract Previous studies have shown that the unusually long S5-P linker lining human ether a-go-go related gene’s (hERG’s) outer vestibule is critical for its channel function: point mutations at high-impact positions here can interfere with the inactivation process and, in many cases, also reduce the pore’s K+ selectivity. Because no data are available on the equivalent region in the available K channel crystal structures to allow for homology modeling, we used alternative approaches to model its three-dimensional structure. The first part of this article describes mutant cycle analysis used to identify residues on hERG’s outer vestibule that interact with specific residues on the interaction surface of BeKm-1, a peptide toxin with known NMR structure and a high binding affinity to hERG. The second part describes molecular modeling of hERG’s pore domain. The transmembrane region was modeled after the crystal structure of KvAP pore domain. The S5-P linker was docked to the transmembrane region based on data from previous NMR and mutagenesis experiments, as well as a set of modeling criteria. The models were further restrained by contact points between hERG’s outer vestibule and the bound BeKm-1 toxin molecule deduced from the mutant cycle analysis. Based on these analyses, we propose a working model for the open conformation of the outer vestibule of the hERG channel, in which the S5-P linkers interact with the pore loops to influence ion flux through the pore

Водоснабжение населения как социально значимое благо

Supply of an available housing by water of drinking quality is a strategic problem of the state in maintenance of vital, sanitary and hygienic safety of the population. At supply of the population by water important not only to solve problems of profitability of the enterprises of water supply and water removal but also to satisfy needs of social character.Снабжение жилищного фонда водопроводной водой питьевого качества является стратегической задачей государства по обеспечению жизненной и санитарно-гигиенической безопасности населения. При реализации водопроводно-канализационной продукции населению важно не только решать задачи рентабельности предприятий водоснабжения и водоотведения, но и удовлетворять потребности социального характера

Structure similarity measure with penalty for close non-equivalent residues

Motivation:Recent improvement in homology-based structure modeling emphasizes the importance of sensitive evaluation measures that help identify and correct modest distortions in models compared with the target structures. Global Distance Test Total Score (GDT_TS), otherwise a very powerful and effective measure for model evaluation, is still insensitive to and can even reward such distortions, as observed for remote homology modeling in the latest CASP8 (Comparative Assessment of Structure Prediction)

Installation for experimental research of multiphase electromechanical systems

The subject of this study is an installation for experimental research designed to study the characteristics and control algorithms of multiphase motors with the number of working phases from 3 to 8, connected by a star, a triangle, or in another way, allowing phase currents to flow, creating a rotating electromagnetic field. The installation consists of two separate independent units: a controller, or a human-machine control interface, and a power inverter module (converter). The controller is connected to the converter by a two-wire half-duplex interface (RS485) via the Modbus RTU communication protocol. The installation also includes synchronous motors with the number of phases 3, 5, 7. Using the developed installation for experimental research, it is possible to carry out experimental studies of multiphase motors when implementing various control algorithms for a converter that implements pulse-width vector modulation. The time required to implement control algorithms is minimal. According to the results of the experiments, it is possible to carry out a comparative analysis of multiphase motors in terms of energy efficiency, in terms of vibration of electromagnetic origin, in dynamic parameters. An experimental assessment of the load of the converter keys is possible. The created installation is an effective tool for checking the reliability of the results of theoretical studies of electromechanical systems based on multiphase motors

Comparison of Geant4 hadron generation with data from the interactions with beryllium nuclei of +8.9 GeV/c protons and pions, and of -8 GeV/c pions

Hadron generation in the Geant4 simulation tool kit is compared with inclusive spectra of secondary protons and pions from the interactions with beryllium nuclei of +8.9 GeV/c protons and pions, and of -8.0 GeV/c pions. The data were taken in 2002 at the CERN Proton Synchrotron with the HARP spectrometer. We report on significant disagreements between data and simulated data especially in the polar-angle distributions of secondary protons and pions.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure