1,505 research outputs found
Characterization of the space shuttle reaction control system engine
A computer program was developed and written in FORTRAN 5 which predicts the transient and steady state performance and heat transfer characteristics of a pulsing GO2/GH2 rocket engine. This program predicts the dynamic flow and ignition characteristics which, when combined in a quasi-steady state manner with the combustion and mixing analysis program, will provide the thrust and specific impulse of the engine as a function of time. The program also predicts the transient and steady state heat transfer characteristics of the engine using various cooling concepts. The computer program, test case, and documentation are presented. The program is applicable to any system capable of utilizing the FORTRAN 4 or FORTRAN 5 language
Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fortune, S. M. E., Ferguson, S. H., Trites, A. W., Hudson, J. M., & Baumgartner, M. F. Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution. Scientific Reports, 10(1), (2020): 20249, doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76071-9.As zooplanktivorous predators, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) must routinely locate patches of prey that are energy-rich enough to meet their metabolic needs. However, little is known about how the quality and quantity of prey might influence their feeding behaviours. We addressed this question using a new approach that included: (1) multi-scale biologging and unmanned aerial system observations of bowhead whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut (Canada), and (2) an optical plankton counter (OPC) and net collections to identify and enumerate copepod prey species through the water column. The OPC data revealed two prey layers comprised almost exclusively of lipid-rich calanoid copepods. The deep layer contained fewer, but larger, particles (10% greater overall biomass) than the shallow prey layer. Dive data indicated that the whales conducted long deep Square-shaped dives (80% of dives; averaging depth of 260.4 m) and short shallow Square-shaped dives (16%; averaging depth of 22.5 m) to feed. The whales tended to dive proportionally more to the greater biomass of zooplankton that occurred at depth. Combining behavioural recordings with prey sampling showed a more complex feeding ecology than previously understood, and provides a means to evaluate the energetic balance of individuals under current environmental conditions.Funding was awarded to S.H.F and provided by: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Emerging Fisheries), World Wildlife Fund Canada (Arctic Species Conservation Fund), Nunavut Wildlife Research Trust Fund, Nunavut General Monitoring Program, Ocean Tracking Network and ArcticNet Centre of Excellence. Personal support was awarded to S.M.E.F and provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canadian Graduate Scholarship, Northern Scientific Training Program (Canadian Polar Commission), The Molson Foundation and the W.Garfield Weston Foundation
Spectroscopy of Na: Bridging the two-proton radioactivity of Mg
The unbound nucleus Na, the intermediate nucleus in the two-proton
radioactivity of Mg, was studied by the measurement of the resonant
elastic scattering reaction Ne(p,Ne)p performed at 4 A.MeV.
Spectroscopic properties of the low-lying states were obtained in a R-matrix
analysis of the excitation function. Using these new results, we show that the
lifetime of the Mg radioactivity can be understood assuming a sequential
emission of two protons via low energy tails of Na resonances
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Factors Influencing Optical Coherence Tomography Peripapillary Choroidal Thickness: A Multicenter Study.
Purpose:To quantify peripapillary choroidal thickness (PCT) and the factors that influence it in healthy participants who represent the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population. Methods:A total of 362 healthy participants underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) enhanced depth imaging of the optic nerve head with a 24 radial B-scan pattern aligned to the fovea to Bruch's membrane opening axis. Bruch's membrane, anterior scleral canal opening (ASCO), and the anterior scleral surface were manually segmented. PCT was measured at 100, 300, 500, 700, 900, and 1100 μm from the ASCO globally and within 12 clock-hour sectors. The effects of age, axial length, intraocular pressure, ethnicity, sex, sector, and ASCO area on PCT were assessed by ANOVA and univariable and multivariable regressions. Results:Globally, PCT was thicker further from the ASCO border and thinner with older age, longer axial length, larger ASCO area, European descent, and female sex. Among these effectors, age and axial length explained the greatest proportion of variance. The rate of age-related decline increased further from the ASCO border. Sectorally, the inferior-temporal sectors were thinnest (10.7%-20.0% thinner than the thickest sector) and demonstrated a higher rate of age-related loss (from 15.6% to 20.7% faster) at each ASCO distance. Conclusions:In healthy eyes, PCT was thinnest in the inferior temporal sectors and thinner PCT was associated with older age, European descent, longer axial length, larger ASCO area, and female sex. Among these associations, age had the strongest influence, and its effect was greatest within the inferior temporal sectors
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change
The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowing whether they can make behavioural or distributional adjustments to maintain sufficient prey acquisition rates. However, little is known about how foraging behaviour and associated environmental conditions fluctuate over space and time. We collected long-term movement (average satellite transmission days were 397 (± 204 SD) in 2012 and 484 (± 245 SD) in 2013) and dive behaviour data for 25 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) equipped with time-depth telemetry tags, and used hierarchical switching-state-space models to quantify their movements and behaviours (resident and transit). We examined trends in inferred two-dimensional foraging behaviours based on dive shape of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales in relation to season and sea ice, as well as animal sex and age via size. We found no differences with regards to whale sex and size, but we did find evidence that subsurface foraging occurs year-round, with peak foraging occurring in fall (7.3 hrs d-1 ± 5.70 SD; October) and reduced feeding during spring (2.7 hrs d-1 ± 2.55 SD; May). Although sea ice cover is lowest during summer foraging, whales selected areas with 65% (± 36.1 SD) sea ice cover. During winter, bowheads occurred in areas with 90% (± 15.5 SD) ice cover, providing some open water for breathing. The depth of probable foraging varied across seasons with animals conducting epipelagic foraging dives (< 200 m) during spring and summer, and deeper mesopelagic dives (> 400 m) during fall and winter that approached the sea bottom, following the seasonal vertical migration of lipid-rich zooplankton. Our findings suggest that, compared to related species (e.g., right whales), bowheads forage at relatively low rates and over a large geographic area throughout the year. This suggests that bowhead whales have the potential to adjust their behaviours (e.g., increased time allocated to feeding) and shift their distributions (e.g., occupy higher latitude foraging grounds) to adapt to climate-change induced environmental conditions. However, the extent to which energetic consumption may vary seasonally is yet to be determined
Theoretical study of the two-proton halo candidate Ne including contributions from resonant continuum and pairing correlations
With the relativistic Coulomb wave function boundary condition, the energies,
widths and wave functions of the single proton resonant orbitals for Ne
are studied by the analytical continuation of the coupling constant (ACCC)
approach within the framework of the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory.
Pairing correlations and contributions from the single-particle resonant
orbitals in the continuum are taken into consideration by the resonant
Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) approach, in which constant pairing strength is
used. It can be seen that the fully self-consistent calculations with NL3 and
NLSH effective interactions mostly agree with the latest experimental
measurements, such as binding energies, matter radii, charge radii and
densities. The energy of 2s orbital is slightly higher than that
of orbital, and the occupation probability of the
2s orbital is about 20%, which are in accordance with the
shell model calculation and three-body model estimation
High-Order Coupled Cluster Method Study of Frustrated and Unfrustrated Quantum Magnets in External Magnetic Fields
We apply the coupled cluster method (CCM) in order to study the ground-state
properties of the (unfrustrated) square-lattice and (frustrated)
triangular-lattice spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnets in the presence of
external magnetic fields. Here we determine and solve the basic CCM equations
by using the localised approximation scheme commonly referred to as the
`LSUB' approximation scheme and we carry out high-order calculations by
using intensive computational methods. We calculate the ground-state energy,
the uniform susceptibility, the total (lattice) magnetisation and the local
(sublattice) magnetisations as a function of the magnetic field strength. Our
results for the lattice magnetisation of the square-lattice case compare well
to those results of QMC for all values of the applied external magnetic field.
We find a value for magnetic susceptibility of for the
square-lattice antiferromagnet, which is also in agreement with the results of
other approximate methods (e.g., via QMC). Our estimate for the
range of the extent of the () magnetisation plateau for the
triangular-lattice antiferromagnet is , which is in good
agreement with results of spin-wave theory () and
exact diagonalisations (). The CCM value for the
in-plane magnetic susceptibility per site is , which is below the
result of the spin-wave theory (evaluated to order 1/S) of .Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, 1 Tabl
Topological Defects and Non-homogeneous Melting of Large 2D Coulomb Clusters
The configurational and melting properties of large two-dimensional clusters
of charged classical particles interacting with each other via the Coulomb
potential are investigated through the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The
particles are confined by a harmonic potential. For a large number of particles
in the cluster (N>150) the configuration is determined by two competing
effects, namely in the center a hexagonal lattice is formed, which is the
groundstate for an infinite 2D system, and the confinement which imposes its
circular symmetry on the outer edge. As a result a hexagonal Wigner lattice is
formed in the central area while at the border of the cluster the particles are
arranged in rings. In the transition region defects appear as dislocations and
disclinations at the six corners of the hexagonal-shaped inner domain. Many
different arrangements and type of defects are possible as metastable
configurations with a slightly higher energy. The particles motion is found to
be strongly related to the topological structure. Our results clearly show that
the melting of the clusters starts near the geometry induced defects, and that
three different melting temperatures can be defined corresponding to the
melting of different regions in the cluster.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Destruction of density-wave states by a pseudo-gap in high magnetic fields: application to (TMTSF)ClO
A model is presented for the destruction of density-wave states in
quasi-one-dimensional crystals by high magnetic fields. The model is consistent
with previously unexplained properties of the organic conductors
(TMTSF)ClO and (BEDT-TTF)MHg(SCN) (M=K,Rb,Tl). As the magnetic
field increases quasi-one-dimensional density-wave fluctuations increase,
producing a pseudo-gap in the electronic density of states near the transition
temperature. When the pseudo-gap becomes larger than the mean-field transition
temperature formation of a density-wave state is not possible.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 2 figures in uuencoded compressed tar file. Small
changes to text and Figure 1. Final version to appear in Physical Review
Letter
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