Scientific objectives and first results from COMPTEL

The imaging Compton telescope (COMPTEL) is the first imaging telescope in space to explore the MeV gamma ray range. At present it is performing a complete sky survey. In later phases of the mission, selected celestial objects will be studied in more detail. Targets of special interest in the COMPTEL energy range are radio pulsars, X-ray binaries, novae, supernova remnants, molecular clouds, and the interstellar medium within the Milky Way, as well as the nuclei of active galaxies, supernovae, and the diffuse cosmic background radiation in extragalactic space. The first four months of operation demonstrated that COMPTEL basically performs as expected. The Crab is clearly seen at its proper position in the first images of the anticenter region of the Galaxy. The Crab pulsar lightcurve was measured with unprecedented accuracy. The quasar 3C273 was seen for the first time at MeV-energies. Several cosmic bursts within the COMPTEL field of view could be located to an accuracy of about 1 degree. On June 9, 11, and 15, 1991 COMPTEL observed gamma ray (continuum and line) emission from three solar flares. Neutrons were also detected from the June 9 flare. At the present state of analysis, COMPTEL achieves the prelaunch predictions of its sensitivity within a factor of 2. Based on the present performance of COMPTEL, the team is confident that COMPTEL will fulfill its primary mission of surveying and exploring the MeV sky

COMPTEL: Instrument description and performance

The imaging Compton telescope (COMPTEL) is one of the four gamma ray detectors aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO). COMPTEL is sensitive to gamma rays from 800 keV to 30 MeV with a field of view of approximately 1 sr. Its angular resolution ranges between 1 and 2 degrees depending on the energy and incidence angle. The energy resolution of better than 10 percent FWHM enables COMPTEL to provide spectral resolution in the regime of astrophysical nuclear lines. The effective area varies typically from 10 to 50 cm(exp 2) depending on the energy and event selections made. In its telescope mode, COMPTEL is able to study a wide variety of objects, pointlike as well as extended in space. With 0.125 msec timing resolution, pulsed emission can be studied. In the single detector mode, COMPTEL uses two of its detectors to study the temporal spectral evolution of strong gamma ray bursts or transients

Expansion Dating: Calibrating Molecular Clocks in Marine Species from Expansions onto the Sunda Shelf following the Last Glacial Maximum

The rate of change in DNA is an important parameter for understanding molecular evolution, and hence for inferences drawn from studies of phylogeography and phylogenetics. Most rate calibrations for mitochondrial coding regions in marine species have been made from divergence dating for fossils and vicariant events older than 1-2 million years, and are typically 0.5% - 2% per lineage per million years. Recently, calibrations made with ancient DNA from younger dates have yielded faster rates, suggesting that estimates of the molecular rate of change depend on the time of calibration, decaying from the instantaneous mutation rate to the phylogenetic substitution rate. Ancient DNA methods for recent calibrations are not available for most marine taxa so instead we use radiometric dates for sea-level rise onto the Sunda Shelf following the Last Glacial Maximum (starting ~18,000 years ago), which led to massive population expansions for marine species. Instead of divergence dating, we use a two epoch coalescent model of logistic population growth preceded by a constant population size to infer a time in mutational units for the beginning of these expansion events. This model compares favorably to simpler coalescent models of constant population size, and exponential or logistic growth, and is far more precise than estimates from the mismatch distribution. Mean rates estimated with this method for mitochondrial coding genes in three invertebrate species are elevated in comparison to older calibration points (2.3% - 6.6% per lineage per million years), lending additional support to the hypothesis of calibration time-dependency for molecular rates

Expansion Dating: Calibrating Molecular Clocks in Marine Species from Expansions onto the Sunda Shelf Following the Last Glacial Maximum

The rate of change in DNA is an important parameter for understanding molecular evolution and hence for inferences drawn from studies of phylogeography and phylogenetics. Most rate calibrations for mitochondrial coding regions in marine species have been made from divergence dating for fossils and vicariant events older than 1-2 My and are typically 0.5-2% per lineage per million years. Recently, calibrations made with ancient DNA (aDNA) from younger dates have yielded faster rates, suggesting that estimates of the molecular rate of change depend on the time of calibration, decaying from the instantaneous mutation rate to the phylogenetic substitution rate. aDNA methods for recent calibrations are not available for most marine taxa so instead we use radiometric dates for sea-level rise onto the Sunda Shelf following the Last Glacial Maximum (starting similar to 18,000 years ago), which led to massive population expansions for marine species. Instead of divergence dating, we use a two-epoch coalescent model of logistic population growth preceded by a constant population size to infer a time in mutational units for the beginning of these expansion events. This model compares favorably to simpler coalescent models of constant population size, and exponential or logistic growth, and is far more precise than estimates from the mismatch distribution. Mean rates estimated with this method for mitochondrial coding genes in three invertebrate species are elevated in comparison to older calibration points (2.3-6.6% per lineage per million years), lending additional support to the hypothesis of calibration time dependency for molecular rates

COMPTEL observations of the inner galaxy

This paper presents a first global study of COMPTEL observations of the inner Galaxy in the energy range 0.75–10 MeV. Preliminary findings demonstrate COMPTEL’s capabilities for mapping the observed gamma radiation and disentangling the contributions from point sources and diffuse emission

Stochastic Feedback and the Regulation of Biological Rhythms

We propose a general approach to the question of how biological rhythms spontaneously self-regulate, based on the concept of ``stochastic feedback''. We illustrate this approach by considering the neuroautonomic regulation of the heart rate. The model generates complex dynamics and successfully accounts for key characteristics of cardiac variability, including the $1/f$ power spectrum, the functional form and scaling of the distribution of variations, and correlations in the Fourier phases. Our results suggest that in healthy systems the control mechanisms operate to drive the system away from extreme values while not allowing it to settle down to a constant output.Comment: 15 pages, latex2e using rotate and epsf, with 4 ps figures. Submitted to PR

Irrigation of Sand-based Creeping Bentgrass Putting Greens with Nanobubble-oxygenated Water

Cultural and environmental factors can place creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) under extreme stress during the summer months. This stress, coupled with the growth adaptation of creeping bentgrass, can result in shallow, poorly rooted stands of turf. To enhance root zone oxygen and rooting of creeping bentgrass, golf courses use methods such as core and solid-tine aerification, and sand topdressing. An additional method of delivering oxygen to the soil could be irrigation with nanobubble-oxygenated water. The properties of nanobubbles (NBs) allow for high gas dissolution rates in water. Irrigating with NB-oxygenated water sources may promote increased rooting of creeping bentgrass putting greens during high-temperature periods and lead to a more resilient playing surface. The objectives of this study include comparing the effects of irrigation with NB-oxygenated water sources with untreated water sources on creeping bentgrass putting green root zone and plant health characteristics using field and controlled environment experiments. Treatments included NB-oxygenated potable water and irrigation pond water, and untreated potable and irrigation pond water. In the field, NB-oxygenated water did not enhance plant health characteristics of creeping bentgrass. In 1 year, NB-oxygenated water increased the daily mean partial pressure of soil oxygen from 17.48 kPa to 18.21 kPa but soil oxygen was unaffected in the other 2 years of the trial. Subsurface irrigation with NB-oxygenated water did not affect measured plant health characteristics in the greenhouse. NB-oxygenation of irrigation water remains an excellent means of efficiently oxygenating large volumes of water. However, plant health benefits from NB-oxygenated irrigation water were not observed in this research

Initial results from COMPTEL—an overview

COMPTEL is presently completing the first full sky survey in MeV gamma‐ray astronomy (0.7 to 30 MeV). An overview of initial results from the survey is given: among these are the observations of the Crab and Vela pulsars with unprecedented accuracy, the observation of the black hole candidates Cyg X‐1 and Nova Persei 1992, an analysis of the diffuse Galactic continuum emission from the Galactic center region, the broad scale distribution of the 1.8 MeV line from radioactive 2 6Al, upper limits on gamma‐ray line emission from SN 1991T, observations of the three quasars 3C273, 3C279 and PKS 0528+134 and the radio galaxy Cen A, measurements of energy spectra, time histories and locations of a number of cosmic gamma‐ray bursts, and gamma‐ray and neutron emission from solar flares