Simulation of stellar instabilities with vastly different timescales using domain decomposition

Strange mode instabilities in the envelopes of massive stars lead to shock waves, which can oscillate on a much shorter timescale than that associated with the primary instability. The phenomenon is studied by direct numerical simulation using a, with respect to time, implicit Lagrangian scheme, which allows for the variation by several orders of magnitude of the dependent variables. The timestep for the simulation of the system is reduced appreciably by the shock oscillations and prevents its long term study. A procedure based on domain decomposition is proposed to surmount the difficulty of vastly different timescales in various regions of the stellar envelope and thus to enable the desired long term simulations. Criteria for domain decomposition are derived and the proper treatment of the resulting inner boundaries is discussed. Tests of the approach are presented and its viability is demonstrated by application to a model for the star P Cygni. In this investigation primarily the feasibility of domain decomposition for the problem considered is studied. We intend to use the results as the basis of an extension to two dimensional simulations.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, published in MNRA

Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods

Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures. In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.

Description of collisionless plasmas by classical field equations

Classical field equations are derived from quantum fields to obtain a different and possibly simpler description of a collisionless plasma. The method is to take the simultaneous limit, Dirac constant, e, m $Yields$ 0, of charged scalar fields and the electromagnetic field. Laplace transforms for perturbations in a uniform relativistic plasma are compared with corresponding results from the Maxwell--Vlasov equations. For the nonlinear case, a distribution function defined on the classical fields is shown to satisfy the Vlasov equation. (auth

Rayleigh-Taylor stability for a shock wave-density discontinuity interaction

Shells in inertial fusion targets are typically accelerated and decelerated by two or three shocks followed by continuous acceleration. The analytic solution for perturbation growth of a shock wave striking a density discontinuity in an inviscid fluid is investigated. The Laplace transform of the solution results in a functional equation, which has a simple solution for weak shock waves. The solution for strong shock waves may be given by a power series. It is assumed that the equation of state is given by a gamma law. The four independent parameters of the solution are the gamma values on each side of the material interface, the density ratio at the interface, and the shock strength. The asymptotic behavior (for large distances and times) of the perturbation velocity is given. For strong shocks the decay of the perturbation away from the interface is much weaker than the exponential decay of an incompressible fluid. The asymptotic value is given by a constant term and a number of slowly decaying discreet frequencies. The number of frequencies is roughly proportional to the logarithm of the density discontinuity divided by that of the shock strength. The asymptotic velocity at the interface is tabulated for representative values of the independent parameters. For weak shocks the solution is compared with results for an incompressible fluid. The range of density ratios with possible zero asymptotic velocities is given

Vocalizations of the Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus): how stimuli, sex, and social groups affect their vocal repertoire

ABSTRACT: Pekin ducks are exposed to stressors such as heat stress, enteric pathogens, mycotoxins, and other environmental stressors. We know from wild bird literature that birds communicate through vocalizations. We hypothesized that Pekin ducks would have a diverse repertoire that is affected by the sex, social group, and specific stimuli. We utilized adult Pekin ducks to develop a vocal repertoire. We placed 1 to 4 ducks of varying sexes into a sound chamber with various stimuli used to encourage new vocalizations. Birds were recorded for 20 min with several variations of number and sexes of ducks. Once the ducks were recorded each vocalization that was clipped was named based on a predetermined naming system. We characterized the vocal system of the ducks under each stimulus and social treatment in 4 ways: overall call rates, call diversity, call repertoire, and call spectral properties. In all cases, normality of residuals and homogeneity of variances for GLM and ANOVA models were confirmed using Proc Univariate (SAS v9.4) where a p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. We found that Pekin ducks produce up to 16 different vocalizations. The treatments had a significant effect on the overall rate of calls given by the ducks (ANOVA: F6,31 = 8.55, p < 0.0001). Ducks produced the most calls by far when someone was sitting in the chamber with them (30.04 ± 4.45 calls/min). For call diversity, we found that there was a significant main effect of hen number (F218 = 12.21, p = 0.0004) but no main effect of drake number (F3,18 = 3.04, p = 0.0555). Cluster analyses indicated that certain types of calls were given under specific conditions. There were generally 6 major clusters of vocal repertoires (R-square = 0.899, Cubic Clustering Criterion = 9.30). Our results suggest that Pekin ducks are affected by the types of stimuli and social environment in how much they vocalize and in the properties of the calls they use. In addition, males and females differ somewhat in the repertoire of the calls they use, and in the spectral properties of their calls