A Limited Study of a Hypothetical Winged Anti-ICBM Point-Defense Missile

A preliminary investigation was conducted to determine whether a warhead stage of an antimissile missile could be placed within an arbitrary 2-nautical-mile-radius maneuver cylinder around an intercontinental-ballistic-missile (ICBM) flight path above an altitude of 140,000 feet, a horizontal range of 40 nautical miles, at a flight-path angle of approximately 20 deg, and within 50 seconds after take-off using only aerodynamic forces to turn the antimissile missile. The preliminary investigation indicated that an antimissile missile using aerodynamic forces for turning was capable of intercepting the ICBM for the stated conditions of this study although the turning must be completed below an altitude of approximately 70,000 feet to insure that the antimissile missile will be at the desired flight-path angle. Trim lift coefficients on the order of 2 to 3 and a maximum normal-acceleration force of from 25g to 35g were necessary to place the warhead stage in intercept position. The preliminary investigation indicated that for the two boosters investigated the booster having a burning time of 10 seconds gave greater range up the ICBM flight path than did the booster having a burning time of 15 seconds for the same trim lift coefficient and required the least trim lift coefficient for the same range

Seismic recurrence intervals and timing of aseismic subduction inferred from emerged corals and reefs of the Central Vanuatu (New Hebrides) Frontal Arc

The recognition and dating of corals that have been killed by tectonic uplift allow us to date paleoseismic uplifts in the Vanuatu island arc. We recognize corals that record paleouplifts by their similarity to those known to have died during contemporary sudden uplifts and date them (1) by counting annual coral growth bands (only if part of the coral is alive at the time of collection) or (2) by newly developed techniques for obtaining ^(230)Th ages by mass spectrometry. The mass spectrometric method produces isotopic ages with precisions of ±3 to ±9 years (2σ) in the 0–1000 years B.P. time range. The ^(230)Th ages in this time range appear to be accurate. Samples whose ages are known by counting coral growth bands give ^(230)Th ages that are indistinguishable from their growth band ages. By dividing the average increment of uplift for the latest Holocene uplifts by the mean Holocene uplift rate, we can estimate average seismic uplift recurrence intervals for the past 6000 years. The results for each of four central Vanuatu arc segments are (1) North Santo emerged 1.2 m in 1866 A.D. and 0.6 m 107 years later in 1973 A.D. The average coseismic uplift of 0.9 m and mean Holocene uplift rate of 4.3 mm yr^(−1) suggest a longer recurrence interval of 212 years. (2) South Santo emerged 0.29 m in 1946 and 0.26 m 19 years later in 1965, including the related 1971 event. Here the mean Holocene uplift rate is 5.5 mm yr^(−1). The uplift data suggest a longer average recurrence interval of about 51 years. (3) North Malekula emerged 1.23 m near 1729 A. D. and 1.05 m 236 years later in 1965. The mean Holocene uplift rate of 2.7 mm yr^(−1) and mean coseismic uplift of 1.14 m for dated events suggest a longer recurrence interval of 422 years. (4) Part of southernmost Malekula has uplifted continuously or episodically by about 0.35 m from about 1957 until at least mid-1983 A.D. The maximum uplift of 2.7 mm yr^(−1) occurs near a nest of small earthquakes. Both the earthquakes and rapid uplift suggest that interplate slip beneath south Malekula may be continuous, rather than episodic. Episodes of 0.35 m uplift would have to recur every 130 years to maintain the 2.7 mm yr^(−1) uplift rate. In contrast, we find no evidence of interseismic vertical movements for the other three blocks. The most reasonable interpretation of these results is that the seismic recurrence intervals and processes for accommodation of slip are quite different on adjacent arc segments. We have used the most widely accepted moment magnitude relationship to evaluate the accumulated seismic slip caused by large earthquakes occurring since 1920. In all four arc segments this analysis suggests that the seismically radiated moments account for less than one-third to one-tenth of the slip associated with plate convergence. The similarity between the paleoseismic record of uplifts and the contemporary record of coseismic uplifts suggests that this analysis can be generalized to times before 1920. For the northern three segments of central Vanuatu, aseismic slip probably occurs in the same years as large earthquakes because the contemporary coral record records uplifts only in years having large historic earthquakes. This suggests that aseismic slip is not continuous and does not occur at rates which vary slowly over the course of the earthquake cycle. The south Santo segment may have the highest proportion of seismic slip because the mean recurrence interval of 51 years is shortest and the mean Holocene uplift rate of at least 5.5 mm yr^(−1) is the fastest

Accretion Rates for T Tauri Stars Using Nearly Simultaneous Ultraviolet and Optical Spectra

We analyze the accretion properties of 21 low-mass T Tauri stars using a data set of contemporaneous near-UV (NUV) through optical observations obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the ground-based Small and Medium Aperture Research Telescope System, a unique data set because of the nearly simultaneous broad wavelength coverage. Our data set includes accreting T Tauri stars in Taurus, Chamaeleon I, η Chamaeleon, and the TW Hydra Association. For each source we calculate the accretion rate (Ṁ) by fitting the NUV and optical excesses above the photosphere, produced in the accretion shock, introducing multiple accretion components characterized by a range in energy flux (or density) for the first time. This treatment is motivated by models of the magnetospheric geometry and accretion footprints, which predict that high-density, low filling factor accretion spots coexist with low-density, high filling factor spots. By fitting the UV and optical spectra with multiple accretion components, we can explain excesses which have been observed in the near-IR. Comparing our estimates of Ṁ to previous estimates, we find some discrepancies; however, they may be accounted for when considering assumptions for the amount of extinction and variability in optical spectra. Therefore, we confirm many previous estimates of the accretion rate. Finally, we measure emission line luminosities from the same spectra used for the Ṁ estimates, to produce correlations between accretion indicators (Hβ, Ca II K, C II], and Mg II) and accretion properties obtained simultaneously

Adaptive Lévy Walks in Foraging Fallow Deer

Background: Lévy flights are random walks, the step lengths of which come from probability distributions with heavy power-law tails, such that clusters of short steps are connected by rare long steps. Lévy walks maximise search efficiency of mobile foragers. Recently, several studies raised some concerns about the reliability of the statistical analysis used in previous analyses. Further, it is unclear whether Lévy walks represent adaptive strategies or emergent properties determined by the interaction between foragers and resource distribution. Thus two fundamental questions still need to be addressed: the presence of Lévy walks in the wild and whether or not they represent a form of adaptive behaviour. Methodology/Principal Findings: We studied 235 paths of solitary and clustered (i.e. foraging in group) fallow deer (Dama dama), exploiting the same pasture. We used maximum likelihood estimation for discriminating between a power-tailed distribution and the exponential alternative and rank/frequency plots to discriminate between Lévy walks and composite Brownian walks. We showed that solitary deer perform Lévy searches, while clustered animals did not adopt that strategy. Conclusion/Significance: Our demonstration of the presence of Lévy walks is, at our knowledge, the first available which adopts up-to-date statistical methodologies in a terrestrial mammal. Comparing solitary and clustered deer, we concluded that the Lévy walks of solitary deer represent an adaptation maximising encounter rates with forage resources and not a

Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope

The advanced interferometer network will herald a new era in observational astronomy. There is a very strong science case to go beyond the advanced detector network and build detectors that operate in a frequency range from 1 Hz-10 kHz, with sensitivity a factor ten better in amplitude. Such detectors will be able to probe a range of topics in nuclear physics, astronomy, cosmology and fundamental physics, providing insights into many unsolved problems in these areas.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Plenary talk given at Amaldi Meeting, July 201

Structure Guided Design and Synthesis of a Pyridazinone Series of Trypanosoma cruzi Proteasome Inhibitors

There is an urgent need for new treatments for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection which mostly impacts South and Central America. We previously reported on the discovery of GSK3494245/DDD01305143, a preclinical candidate for visceral leishmaniasis which acted through inhibition of the Leishmania proteasome. A related analogue, active against Trypanosoma cruzi, showed suboptimal efficacy in an animal model of Chagas disease, so alternative proteasome inhibitors were investigated. Screening a library of phenotypically active analogues against the T. cruzi proteasome identified an active, selective pyridazinone, the development of which is described herein. We obtained a cryo-EM co-structure of proteasome and a key inhibitor and used this to drive optimization of the compounds. Alongside this, optimization of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties afforded a suitable compound for mouse efficacy studies. The outcome of these studies is discussed, alongside future plans to further understand the series and its potential to deliver a new treatment for Chagas disease.</p

Near-ultraviolet Excess in Slowly Accreting T Tauri Stars: Limits Imposed by Chromospheric Emission

Young stars surrounded by disks with very low mass accretion rates are likely in the final stages of inner disk evolution and therefore particularly interesting to study. We present ultraviolet (UV) observations of the ~5-9 Myr old stars RECX-1 and RECX-11, obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope , as well as optical and near-infrared spectroscopic observations. The two stars have similar levels of near-UV emission, although spectroscopic evidence indicates that RECX-11 is accreting and RECX-1 is not. The line profiles of H_ and He I _10830 in RECX-11 show both broad and narrow redshifted absorption components that vary with time, revealing the complexity of the accretion flows. We show that accretion indicators commonly used to measure mass accretion rates, e.g., U -band excess luminosity or the Ca II triplet line luminosity, are unreliable for low accretors, at least in the middle K spectral range. Using RECX-1 as a template for the intrinsic level of photospheric and chromospheric emission, we determine an upper limit of 3 _ 10 –10 M _ yr –1 for RECX-11. At this low accretion rate, recent photoevaporation models predict that an inner hole should have developed in the disk. However, the spectral energy distribution of RECX-11 shows fluxes comparable to the median of Taurus in the near-infrared, indicating that substantial dust remains. Fluorescent H 2 emission lines formed in the innermost disk are observed in RECX-11, showing that gas is present in the inner disk, along with the dust.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90770/1/0004-637X_743_2_105.pd

Phase control and measurement in digital microscopy

The ongoing merger of the digital and optical components of the modern microscope is creating opportunities for new measurement techniques, along with new challenges for optical modelling. This thesis investigates several such opportunities and challenges which are particularly relevant to biomedical imaging. Fourier optics is used throughout the thesis as the underlying conceptual model, with a particular emphasis on three--dimensional Fourier optics. A new challenge for optical modelling provided by digital microscopy is the relaxation of traditional symmetry constraints on optical design. An extension of optical transfer function theory to deal with arbitrary lens pupil functions is presented in this thesis. This is used to chart the 3D vectorial structure of the spatial frequency spectrum of the intensity in the focal region of a high aperture lens when illuminated by linearly polarised beam. Wavefront coding has been used successfully in paraxial imaging systems to extend the depth of field. This is achieved by controlling the pupil phase with a cubic phase mask, and thereby balancing optical behaviour with digital processing. In this thesis I present a high aperture vectorial model for focusing with a cubic phase mask, and compare it with results calculated using the paraxial approximation. The effect of a refractive index change is also explored. High aperture measurements of the point spread function are reported, along with experimental confirmation of high aperture extended depth of field imaging of a biological specimen. Differential interference contrast is a popular method for imaging phase changes in otherwise transparent biological specimens. In this thesis I report on a new isotropic algorithm for retrieving the phase from differential interference contrast images of the phase gradient, using phase shifting, two directions of shear, and non--iterative Fourier phase integration incorporating a modified spiral phase transform. This method does not assume that the specimen has a constant amplitude. A simulation is presented which demonstrates good agreement between the retrieved phase and the phase of the simulated object, with excellent immunity to imaging noise