44,520 research outputs found
Tracking air-dropped drogues and dyes from aircraft in support of ERTS-1 circulation studies
The author has identified the following significant results. For two years ERTS-1 has been employed to investigate current circulation patterns in Delaware Bay under different tidal, flow, and wind conditions. Since sufficient numbers of current meters and boats are not available, air-droppable drogues and dye packs have been developed and tested. The drogues consist of a styrofoam float and a line to which is attached a stainless steel biplane. The length of the line determines at what depth currents will be monitored. The floats are color coded to distinguish their movement and mark the depth of the biplanes. Simultaneously floating and anchored dye packs of fluorescein dye have been deployed from aircraft. The movement of the dye and drogues is tracked by sequential aerial photography, using fixed markers on shore or on buoys as reference points to calibrate the scale and direction of drogue movement. The current data obtained by this technique is then used to annotate current circulation maps derived from ERTS-1 imagery
Superfluid Phase Stability of He in Axially Anisotropic Aerogel
Measurements of superfluid He in 98% aerogel demonstrate the existence of
a metastable \emph{A}-like phase and a stable \emph{B}-like phase. It has been
suggested that the relative stability of these two phases is controlled by
anisotropic quasiparticle scattering in the aerogel. Anisotropic scattering
produced by axial compression of the aerogel has been predicted to stabilize
the axial state of superfluid He. To explore this possiblity, we used
transverse acoustic impedance to map out the phase diagram of superfluid He
in a % porous silica aerogel subjected to 17% axial compression. We
have previously shown that axial anisotropy in aerogel leads to optical
birefringence and that optical cross-polarization studies can be used to
characterize such anisotropy. Consequently, we have performed optical
cross-polarization experiments to verify the presence and uniformity of the
axial anisotropy in our aerogel sample. We find that uniform axial anisotropy
introduced by 17% compression does not stabilize the \emph{A}-like phase. We
also find an increase in the supercooling of the \emph{A}-like phase at lower
pressure, indicating a modification to \emph{B}-like phase nucleation in
\emph{globally} anisotropic aerogels.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to LT25 (25th International Conference
on Low Temperature Physics
A Cost-effective Satellite-aircraft-drogue Approach for Studying Estuarine Circulation and Shelf Waste Dispersion
The author has identified the following significant results. Satellites, such as ERTS-1, can be used to obtain a synoptic view of current circulation over large coastal areas. Since in turbid coastal regions suspended sediment acts as a natural tracer, cost is minimized by eliminating the need for expensive injections of large volumes of dye such as Rhodamine-B. One of the principal shortcomings of satellite imaging of coastal currents was its inability to determine current magnitude and to penetrate beyond the upper few meters of the water column. These objections were overcome by complementing satellite observations with drogues tracking currents at various selected depths. By combining the satellite's wide coverage with aircraft or shore stations capable of tracking expendable drogues, a cost effective, integrated system was devised for monitoring currents over large areas, various depths, and under severe environmental conditions
Calculation of the microcanonical temperature for the classical Bose field
The ergodic hypothesis asserts that a classical mechanical system will in
time visit every available configuration in phase space. Thus, for an ergodic
system, an ensemble average of a thermodynamic quantity can equally well be
calculated by a time average over a sufficiently long period of dynamical
evolution. In this paper we describe in detail how to calculate the temperature
and chemical potential from the dynamics of a microcanonical classical field,
using the particular example of the classical modes of a Bose-condensed gas.
The accurate determination of these thermodynamics quantities is essential in
measuring the shift of the critical temperature of a Bose gas due to
non-perturbative many-body effects.Comment: revtex4, 10 pages, 1 figure. v2: updated to published version. Fuller
discussion of numerical results, correction of some minor error
Application of LANDSAT to the management of Delaware's marine and wetland resources
The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT data were found to be the best source of synoptic information on the distribution of horizontal water mass discontinuities (fronts) at different portions of the tidal cycle. Distributions observed were used to improve an oil slick movement prediction model for the Delaware Bay. LANDSAT data were used to monitor the movement and dispersion of industrial acid waste material dumped over the continental shelf. A technique for assessing aqueous sediment concentration with limited ground truth was proposed
Patterns of gene expression in schistosomes: localization by whole mount in situ hybridization
rom the identification of genes to the characterization of their functions and interactions. Developmental biologists have long used whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH) to determine gene expression patterns, as a vital tool for formulating and testing hypotheses about function. This paper describes the application of WISH to the study of gene expression in larval and adult schistosomes. Fixed worms were permeablized by proteinase K treatment for hybridization with digoxygenin-labelled RNA probes, with binding being detected by alkaline phosphatase-coupled anti-digoxygenin antibodies, and BM Purple substrate. Discrete staining patterns for the transcripts of the molecules Sm29, cathepsin L, antigen 10.3 and chorion were observed in the tegument cell bodies, gut epithelium, oesophageal gland and vitelline lobules, respectively, of adult worms. Transcripts of the molecules SGTP4, GP18-22 and cathepsin L were localized to tegument cell bodies and embryonic gut, respectively, of lung schistosomula. We also showed that Fast Red TR fluorescent substrate can refine the pattern of localization permitting use of confocal microscopy. We believe that method of WISH will find broad application, in synergy with other emerging post-genomic techniques, such as RNA interference, to studies focused at increasing our molecular understanding of schistosomes
Delaying spawning of lamellibranchs by low temperature
Spawning of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and clams (Venus mercenaria) was delayed by transferring ripe or nearly ripe animals from Long Island Sound to the cold waters of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the temperature, although high enough to permit gametogenesis, was too low to induce spawning. With C. virginica, spawning could be postponed until six or eight weeks after the Long Island Sound population was completely spent, while V. mercenaria held over healthy summer spawn throughout the fall and winter and into the following spring. By similar means, laboratory workers can be provided with ripe animals during the fall when none are normally available in their own locality
Initial Stages of Bose-Einstein Condensation
We present the quantum theory for the nucleation of Bose-Einstein
condensation in a dilute atomic Bose gas. This quantum theory comfirms the
results of the semiclassical treatment, but has the important advantage that
both the kinetic and coherent stages of the nucleation process can now be
described in a unified way by a single Fokker-Planck equation.Comment: Four pages of ReVTeX and no figure
A Four-Unit-Cell Periodic Pattern of Quasiparticle States Surrounding Vortex Cores in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d
Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to image the additional quasiparticle
states generated by quantized vortices in the high-Tc superconductor
Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d. They exhibit a Cu-O bond oriented 'checkerboard' pattern, with
four unit cell (4a0) periodicity and a ~30 angstrom decay length. These
electronic modulations may be related to the magnetic field-induced, 8a0
periodic, spin density modulations of decay length ~70 angstroms recently
discovered in La1.84Sr0.16CuO4. The proposed explanation is a spin density wave
localized surrounding each vortex core. General theoretical principles predict
that, in the cuprates, a localized spin modulation of wavelength L should be
associated with a corresponding electronic modulation of wavelength L/2, in
good agreement with our observations.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Monitoring estuarine circulation and ocean waste dispersion using an integrated satellite-aircraft-drogue approach
The author has identified the following significant results. An inexpensive, integrated drogue-aircraft-satellite approach was developed which is based on the Lagrangian technique and employs remotely tracked drogues and dyes together with satellite observation of natural tracers, such as suspended sediment. Results include current circulation studies in Delaware Bay in support of an oil slick movement model; investigations of the dispersion and movement of acid wastes dumped 40 miles off the Delaware coast; and coastal current circulation. In each case, the integrated drogue-aircraft-satellite approach compares favorably with other techniques on the basis of accuracy, cost effectiveness, and performance under severe weather conditions
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