9,685 research outputs found
New Nondestructive Beam Diagnostics for the IUCF Cyclotron
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Diffuse Interstellar Bands in z < 0.6 CaII Absorbers
The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) probably arise from complex organic
molecules whose strength in local galaxies correlates with neutral hydrogen
column density, N(HI), and dust reddening, E(B-V). Since CaII absorbers in
quasar (QSO) spectra are posited to have high N(HI) and significant E(B-V),
they represent promising sites for the detection of DIBs at cosmological
distances. Here we present the results from the first search for DIBs in 9
CaII-selected absorbers at 0.07 < z_abs < 0.55. We detect the 5780Ang DIB in
one line of sight at z_abs = 0.1556; this is only the second QSO absorber in
which a DIB has been detected. Unlike the majority of local DIB sight-lines,
both QSO absorbers with detected DIBs show weak 6284Ang absorption compared
with the 5780Ang band. This may be indicative of different physical conditions
in intermediate redshift QSO absorbers compared with local galaxies. Assuming
that local relations between the 5780Ang DIB strength and N(HI) and E(B-V)
apply in QSO absorbers, DIB detections and limits can be used to derive N(HI)
and E(B-V). For the one absorber in this study with a detected DIB, we derive
E(B-V) = 0.23mag and log[N(HI)] >= 20.9, consistent with previous conclusions
that CaII systems have high HI column densities and significant reddening. For
the remaining 8 CaII-selected absorbers with 5780Ang DIB non-detections, we
derive E(B-V) upper limits of 0.1-0.3mag.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Accepted to MNRAS Letter
Antibacterial activity of lactoferrin and a pepsin-derived lactoferrin peptide fragment
Although the antimicrobial activity of lactoferrin has been well described, its mechanism of action has been poorly characterized. Recent work has indicated that in addition to binding iron, human lactoferrin damages the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. In this study, we determined whether bovine lactoferrin and a pepsin-derived bovine lactoferrin peptide (lactoferricin) fragment have similar activities. We found that both 20 microM bovine lactoferrin and 20 microM lactoferricin release intrinsically labeled [3H]lipopolysaccharide ([3H]LPS) from three bacterial strains, Escherichia coli CL99 1-2, Salmonella typhimurium SL696, and Salmonella montevideo SL5222. Under most conditions, more LPS is released by the peptide fragment than by whole bovine lactoferrin. In the presence of either lactoferrin or lactoferricin there is increased killing of E. coli CL99 1-2 by lysozyme. Like human lactoferrin, bovine lactoferrin and lactoferricin have the ability to bind to free intrinsically labeled [3H]LPS molecules. In addition to these effects, whereas bovine lactoferrin was at most bacteriostatic, lactoferricin demonstrated consistent bactericidal activity against gram-negative bacteria. This bactericidal effect is modulated by the cations Ca2+, Mg2+, and Fe3+ but is independent of the osmolarity of the medium. Transmission electron microscopy of bacterial cells exposed to lactoferricin show the immediate development of electron-dense membrane blisters. These experiments offer evidence that bovine lactoferrin and lactoferricin damage the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, the peptide fragment lactoferricin has direct bactericidal activity. As lactoferrin is exposed to proteolytic factors in vivo which could cleave the lactoferricin fragment, the effects of this peptide are of both mechanistic and physiologic relevance
The Investigation of Space Charge Dominated Beams in a Synchrotron
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Acceleration of Solar Wind Ions by Nearby Interplanetary Shocks: Comparison of Monte Carlo Simulations with Ulysses Observations
The most stringent test of theoretical models of the first-order Fermi
mechanism at collisionless astrophysical shocks is a comparison of the
theoretical predictions with observational data on particle populations. Such
comparisons have yielded good agreement between observations at the
quasi-parallel portion of the Earth's bow shock and three theoretical
approaches, including Monte Carlo kinetic simulations. This paper extends such
model testing to the realm of oblique interplanetary shocks: here observations
of proton and alpha particle distributions made by the SWICS ion mass
spectrometer on Ulysses at nearby interplanetary shocks are compared with test
particle Monte Carlo simulation predictions of accelerated populations. The
plasma parameters used in the simulation are obtained from measurements of
solar wind particles and the magnetic field upstream of individual shocks. Good
agreement between downstream spectral measurements and the simulation
predictions are obtained for two shocks by allowing the the ratio of the
mean-free scattering length to the ionic gyroradius, to vary in an optimization
of the fit to the data. Generally small values of this ratio are obtained,
corresponding to the case of strong scattering. The acceleration process
appears to be roughly independent of the mass or charge of the species.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, AASTeX format, to appear in the Astrophysical
Journal, February 20, 199
Dust-driven Dynamos in Accretion Disks
Magnetically driven astrophysical jets are related to accretion and involve
toroidal magnetic field pressure inflating poloidal magnetic field flux
surfaces. Examination of particle motion in combined gravitational and magnetic
fields shows that these astrophysical jet toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields
can be powered by the gravitational energy liberated by accreting dust grains
that have become positively charged by emitting photo-electrons. Because a dust
grain experiences magnetic forces after becoming charged, but not before,
charging can cause irreversible trapping of the grain so dust accretion is a
consequence of charging. Furthermore, charging causes canonical angular
momentum to replace mechanical angular momentum as the relevant constant of the
motion. The resulting effective potential has three distinct classes of
accreting particles distinguished by canonical angular momentum, namely (i)
"cyclotron-orbit", (ii) "Speiser-orbit", and (iii) "zero canonical angular
momentum" particles. Electrons and ions are of class (i) but depending on mass
and initial orbit inclination, dust grains can be of any class. Light-weight
dust grains develop class (i) orbits such that the grains are confined to
nested poloidal flux surfaces, whereas grains with a critical weight such that
they experience comparable gravitational and magnetic forces can develop class
(ii) or class (iii) orbits, respectively producing poloidal and toroidal field
dynamos.Comment: 70 pages, 16 figure
A Beam Tracking System for Use in Orbital Dynamics Studies
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Cooler Intensity Limitations
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Diffusion due to the Beam-Beam Interaction and Fluctuating Fields in Hadron Colliders
Random fluctuations in the tune, beam offsets and beam size in the presence
of the beam-beam interaction are shown to lead to significant particle
diffusion and emittance growth in hadron colliders. We find that far from
resonances high frequency noise causes the most diffusion while near resonances
low frequency noise is responsible for the large emittance growth observed.
Comparison of different fluctuations shows that offset fluctuations between the
beams causes the largest diffusion for particles in the beam core.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figure
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