15,055 research outputs found
Electronic aperture control devised for solid state imaging system
Electronic means of performing the equivalent of automatic aperture control has been devised for the new class of television cameras that incorporates a solid state imaging device in the form of phototransistor mosaic sensors
Neutrino fluence after r-process freeze-out and abundances of Te isotopes in presolar diamonds
Using the data of Richter et al. (1998) on Te isotopes in diamond grains from
a meteorite, we derive bounds on the neutrino fluence and the decay timescale
of the neutrino flux relevant for the supernova r-process. Our new bound on the
neutrino fluence F after freeze-out of the r-process peak at mass number A =
130 is more stringent than the previous bound F < 0.045 (in units of 10**37
erg/cm**2) of Qian et al. (1997) and Haxton et al. (1997) if the neutrino flux
decays on a timescale tau > 0.65 s. In particular, it requires that a fluence
of F = 0.031 be provided by a neutrino flux with tau < 0.84 s. Such a fluence
may be responsible for the production of the solar r-process abundances at A =
124-126 (Qian et al. 1997; Haxton et al. 1997). Our results are based on the
assumption that only the stable nuclei implanted into the diamonds are retained
while the radioactive ones are lost from the diamonds upon decay after
implantation (Ott 1996). We consider that the nanodiamonds are condensed in an
environment with C/O > 1 in the expanding supernova debris or from the exterior
H envelope. The implantation of nuclei would have occurred 10**4-10**6 s after
r-process freeze-out. This time interval may be marginally sufficient to permit
adequate cooling upon expansion for the formation of diamond grains. The
mechanisms of preferential retention/loss of the implanted nuclei are not well
understood.Comment: AASTeX, 11 pages, 3 Postscript figure
Adaptive Controller Placement for Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks with Erasure Channels
Wireless sensor-actuator networks offer flexibility for control design. One
novel element which may arise in networks with multiple nodes is that the role
of some nodes does not need to be fixed. In particular, there is no need to
pre-allocate which nodes assume controller functions and which ones merely
relay data. We present a flexible architecture for networked control using
multiple nodes connected in series over analog erasure channels without
acknowledgments. The control architecture proposed adapts to changes in network
conditions, by allowing the role played by individual nodes to depend upon
transmission outcomes. We adopt stochastic models for transmission outcomes and
characterize the distribution of controller location and the covariance of
system states. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed architecture has
the potential to give better performance than limiting control calculations to
be carried out at a fixed node.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Automatic
Meteoritic material on the moon
Three types of meteoritic material are found on the moon: micrometeorites, ancient planetesimal debris from the "early intense bombardment," and debris of recent, craterforming projectiles. Their amounts and compositions have been determined from trace element studies. The micrometeorite component is uniformly distributed over the entire lunar surface, but is seen most clearly in mare soils. It has a primitive, C1-chondrite-like composition, and comprises 1 to 1.5 percent of mature soils. Apparently it represents cometary debris. The ancient component is seen in highland breccias and soils. Six varieties have been recognized, differing in their proportions of refractories (Ir, Re), volatiles (Ge, Sb), and Au. All have a fractionated composition, with volatiles depleted relative to siderophiles. The abundance patterns do not match those of the known meteorite classes. These ancient meteoritic components seem to represent the debris of an extinct population of bodies (planetisimals, moonlets) that produced the mare basins during the first 700 Myr of the moon's history. On the basis of their stratigraphy and geographic distribution, five of the six groups are tentatively assigned to specific mare basins: Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Nectaris, and Humorum or Nubium
Meteoritic material on the moon
Micrometeorites, ancient planetesimal debris from the early intense bombardment, and debris of recent, crater-forming projectiles are discussed and their amounts and compositions have been determined from trace element studies. The micrometeorite component is uniformly distrubuted over the entire lunar surface, but is seen most clearly in mare soils whereas, the ancient component is seen in highland breccias and soils. A few properties of the basin-forming objects are inferred from the trace element data. An attempt is made to reconstruct the bombardment history of the moon from the observation that only basin-forming objects fell on the moon after crustal differentiation. The apparent half-life of basin-forming bodies is close to the calculated value for earth-crossing planetesimals. It is shown that a gap in radiometric ages is expected between the Imbrium and Nectaris impacts, because all 7 basins formed in this interval lie on the farside or east limb
Interpretation of the ion mass spectra in the mass range 25-35 obtained in the inner coma of Halley's comet by the HIS-sensor of the Giotto IMS Experiment
The IMS-HIS double-focussing mass spectrometer that flew on the Giotto spacecraft covered the mass per charge range from 12 to 56 (AMU/e). By comparing flight data, calibration data, and results of model calculations of the ion population in the inner coma, the absolute mass scale is established, and ions in the mass range 25 to 35 are identified. Ions resulting from protonation of molecules with high proton affinity are relatively abundant, enabling us to estimate relative source strengths for H2CO, CH3OH, HCN, and H2S, providing for the first time a positive in situ measurement of methanol. Also, upper limits for NO and some hydrocarbons are derived
Unusual Non-Fermi Liquid Behavior of CeLaNiGe Analyzed in a Single Impurity Anderson Model with Crystal Field Effects
CeNiGe exhibits unusual non-Fermi liquid behavior with the largest
ever recorded value of the electronic specific heat
JKmol without showing any evidence of magnetic order. Specific
heat measurements show that the logarithmic increase of the Sommerfeld
coefficient flattens off below 200 mK. In marked contrast, the local
susceptibility levels off well above 200 mK and already becomes
constant below 1 K. Furthermore, the entropy reaches 2ln2 below 20 K
corresponding to a four level system. An analysis of and was
performed in terms of an single impurity Anderson model with
additional crystal electric field (CEF) splitting. Numerical renormalization
group calculations point to a possible consistent description of the different
low temperature scales in and stemming from the
interplay of Kondo effect and crystal field splitting.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figure
Microfractures: A review
Microfractures are small, high-aspect-ratio cracks in rock that result from application of differential stresses. Although the term has been used to refer to larger features in the petroleum engineering and geophysics literature, in geologic parlance the term refers to fractures visible only under magnification, having lengths of millimeters or less and widths generally less than 0.1 mm. Nevertheless, populations of these structures typically encompass a wide size range and in some cases they form the small-size fraction of fracture arrays that include much larger factures. In geologic settings, microfractures commonly form as Mode I (opening) fractures where the minimum principal stress exceeds the elastic tensile strength creating a narrow opening displacement; in isotropic rocks such fractures mark the plane perpendicular to the least compressive principal stress during fracture growth. These planar or curviplanar openings provide an opportunity for fluids and/or gases to enter the created cavity. Cement deposits or crack closure may trap fluids or gases, leaving mineral precipitates and a track of enclosed fluids and gases. In transmitted light these precipitates frequently manifest as fluid-inclusion planes (FIPs). Cathodoluminescence (CL) images show that many are cement-filled microveins. Microfractures can be used to assess the paleostress history or fluid movement history of a rock body. Also, because sudden opening produces acoustic emissions, microfractures created in the laboratory can be used to assess the rock-failure process. Here we review recent discoveries made using microfractures, including fracture patterns, strain, fracture growth and size-scaling, evolution of stresses around propagating faults (process zones), far-field tectonic stresses, and insights into the state of stress leading to earthquakes
Protein structure validation and refinement using amide proton chemical shifts derived from quantum mechanics
We present the ProCS method for the rapid and accurate prediction of protein
backbone amide proton chemical shifts - sensitive probes of the geometry of key
hydrogen bonds that determine protein structure. ProCS is parameterized against
quantum mechanical (QM) calculations and reproduces high level QM results
obtained for a small protein with an RMSD of 0.25 ppm (r = 0.94). ProCS is
interfaced with the PHAISTOS protein simulation program and is used to infer
statistical protein ensembles that reflect experimentally measured amide proton
chemical shift values. Such chemical shift-based structural refinements,
starting from high-resolution X-ray structures of Protein G, ubiquitin, and SMN
Tudor Domain, result in average chemical shifts, hydrogen bond geometries, and
trans-hydrogen bond (h3JNC') spin-spin coupling constants that are in excellent
agreement with experiment. We show that the structural sensitivity of the
QM-based amide proton chemical shift predictions is needed to refine protein
structures to this agreement. The ProCS method thus offers a powerful new tool
for refining the structures of hydrogen bonding networks to high accuracy with
many potential applications such as protein flexibility in ligand binding.Comment: PLOS ONE accepted, Nov 201
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