Dynamic capacitor having a peripherally driven element and system incorporating the same

A capacitor in which one plate or electrode element is vibratable to achieve a variation in capacitance is described. The capacitor includes two spaced stationary elements. The third element is supported at its center and in the form of a thin diaphragm which is vibrated at its inherent mechanical resonant frequency to achieve a corresponding variation in capacitance between one of the stationary elements and the vibrating diaphragm

Site-specific mutations in a minimal voltage-dependent K+ channel alter ion selectivity and open-channel block.

MinK is a small membrane protein of 130 amino acids with a single potential membrane-spanning alpha-helical domain. Its expression in Xenopus oocytes induces voltage-dependent, K(+)-selective channels. Using site-directed mutagenesis of a synthetic gene, we have identified residues in the hydrophobic region of minK that influence both ion selectivity and open-channel block. Single amino acid changes increase the channel's relative permeability for NH4+ and Cs+ without affecting its ability to exclude Na+ and Li+. Blockade by two common K+ channel pore blockers, tetraethylammonium and Cs+, was also modified. These results suggest that an ion selectivity region and binding sites for the pore blockers within the conduction pathway have been modified. We conclude that the gene encoding minK is a structural gene for a K+ channel protein

Optical gyroscope system

Light beams pass in opposite directions through a single mode fiber optic wave guide that extends in a circle or coil in an optical gyroscope system which measures the rotation rate of the coil by measuring the relative phase shifts of the beams by interferometric techniques. Beam splitting and phase shifting of the light are facilitated by utilizing brief pulses of light and by using light-controlling devices which are operated for a brief time only when the light pulse passes in one direction through the device but not at a different time when the pulse is passing in the opposite direction through the device. High accuracy in rotation measurement is achieved at both very slow and very fast rotation rates, by alternately operating the system so that at zero rotation the interfering waves are alternately 90 out of phase and in phase. Linear polarization of the light beams is maintained by coiling the full length of the optic fiber in a single plane

The charybdotoxin receptor of a Shaker K+ channel: peptide and channel residues mediating molecular recognition.

Charybdotoxin (CTX) is a peptide of known structure that inhibits Shaker K+ channels by a pore-blocking mechanism. Point mutagenesis of all 30 solvent-exposed residues identified the part of the CTX molecular surface making contact with the receptor in the K+ channel. All close-contact residues are clustered in a well-defined interaction surface; the shape of this surface implies that the outer opening of the Shaker channel conduction pore abruptly widens to a 25 x 35 A plateau. A mutagenic scan of the S5-S6 linker sequence of the Shaker K+ channel identified those channel residues influencing CTX binding affinity. The Shaker residues making the strongest contribution to toxin binding are located close to the pore-lining sequence, and more distant residues on both sides of this region influence CTX binding weakly, probably by an electrostatic mechanism. Complementary mutagenesis of both CTX and Shaker suggests that Shaker-F425 contacts a specific area near T8 and T9 on the CTX molecular surface. This contact point constrains Shaker-F425 to be located at a 20 A radial distance from the pore axis and 10-15 A above the "floor" of the CTX receptor

Telemetry receiver

Communications system maintains phase lock of weak telemetry signals with a minimal expenditure of power and bandwidth. An estimate of the frequency variation as a function of time is used to achieve coherent phase demodulation

Baryons and Mesons with Beauty

Recent experimental findings of several mesons and baryons with "beauty" and "charm" as flavors remind us of the days when strangeness was discovered, and how its inclusion led to SU(3)-flavor symmetry with enormous success in the classification of the "proliferated" states into SU(3) multiplets. One of the key elements was the successful application of the first order perturbation in symmetry breaking, albeit what then appeared to be huge mass differences, and the prediction of new states that were confirmed by experiments. In this note, we venture into the past and, applying the same techniques, predict some new "beauty-" and "charm-" flavored hadrons. If these new states are confirmed experimentally, it may provide a useful phenomenological model for classifying numerous states that are found to be in the PDG data and could invite further theoretical challenges towards our understanding of symmetry breaking.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, plain Late

Method and apparatus for contour mapping using synthetic aperture radar

By using two SAR antennas spaced a known distance, B, and oriented at substantially the same look angle to illuminate the same target area, pixel data from the two antennas may be compared in phase to determine a difference delta phi from which a slant angle theta is determined for each pixel point from an equation Delta phi = (2 pi B/lambda)sin(theta - alpha), where lambda is the radar wavelength and alpha is the roll angle of the aircraft. The height, h, of each pixel point from the aircraft is determined from the equation h = R cos theta, and from the known altitude, a, of the aircraft above sea level, the altitude (elevation), a', of each point is determined from the difference a - h. This elevation data may be displayed with the SAR image by, for example, quantizing the elevation at increments of 100 feet starting at sea level, and color coding pixels of the same quantized elevation. The distance, d, of each pixel from the ground track of the aircraft used for the display may be determined more accurately from the equation d = R sin theta

Extension the Noether's theorem to Lagrangian formulation with nonlocality

A Lagrangian formulation with nonlocality is investigated in this paper. The nonlocality of the Lagrangian is introduced by a new nonlocal argument that is defined as a nonlocal residual satisfying the zero mean condition. The nonlocal Euler-Lagrangian equation is derived from the Hamilton's principle. The Noether's theorem is extended to this Lagrangian formulation with nonlocality. With the help of the extended Noether's theorem, the conservation laws relevant to energy, linear momentum, angular momentum and the Eshelby tensor are determined in the nonlocal elasticity associated with the mechanically based constitutive model. The results show that the conservation laws exist only in the form of the integral over the whole domain occupied by body. The localization of the conservation laws is discussed in detail. We demonstrate that not every conservation law corresponds to a local equilibrium equation. Only when the nonlocal residual of conservation current exists, can a conservation law be transformed into a local equilibrium equation by localization.Comment: 13 page

Ground Band and a Generalized GP-equation for Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensates

For the spinor Bose-Einstein condensates both the total spin $S$ and its Z-component $S_{Z}$ should be conserved. However, in existing theories, only the conservation of $S_{z}$ has been taken into account. To remedy, this paper is the first attempt to take the conservation of both $$ and $S_{Z}$ into account. For this purpose, a total spin-state with the good quantum numbers $S$ and $S_{Z}$ is introduced in the trial wave function, thereby a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation has been derived. With this new equation, the ground bands of the $^{23}$Na and $$Rb condensates have been studied, where the levels distinct in $S$ split. It was found that the level density is extremely dense in the bottom of the ground band of $^{23}$Na, i.e., in the vicinity of the ground state. On the contrary, for $^{87}$Rb, the levels are extremely dense in the top of the ground band,Comment: 7 page, 5 figure

1966-a year of challenge for monetary management

Monetary policy - United States