41,273 research outputs found
Genesis Mission Bulk Metallic Glass Solar Wind Collector: Characterization of Return Samples Available for Re-Allocation
The Genesis mission collected solar wind atoms for 28 months with a variety of collectors mounted on a spacecraft. A total of fifteen pure materials were selected as collectors based on engineering and science requirements. One of the materials was the bulk metallic glass (BMG). It was intended for collecting noble gases and solar energetic particles (SEP). This material is an amorphous metal which was custom made by C.C. Hays at the California Institute of Technology. The final glass composition is Zr58.5Nb2.8Cu15.6Ni12.8Al10.3 (in atom percent). The BMG was located on top of the wafer array mechanism and was exposed for the entire time the science canister was open (~28 months). Fortunately, the BMG did not suffer any serious damage and was intact after the Genesis canisters hard-landing into the Utah desert (Fig. 1)
Measurement and Modeling of Infrared Nonlinear Absorption Coefficients and Laser-induced Damage Thresholds in Ge and GaSb
Using a simultaneous fitting technique to extract nonlinear absorption coefficients from data at two pulse widths, we measure two-photon and free-carrier absorption coefficients for Ge and GaSb at 2.05 and 2.5 μm for the first time, to our knowledge. Results agreed well with published theory. Single-shot damage thresholds were also measured at 2.5 μm and agreed well with modeled thresholds using experimentally determined parameters including nonlinear absorption coefficients and temperature dependent linear absorption. The damage threshold for a single-layer Al2O3 anti-reflective coating on Ge was 55% or 35% lower than the uncoated threshold for picosecond or nanosecond pulses, respectively
Vortex ratchet reversal: The role of interstitial vortices
Triangular arrays of Ni nanotriangles embedded in superconducting Nb films
exhibit unexpected dynamical vortex effects. Collective pinning with a vortex
lattice configuration different from the expected fundamental triangular
"Abrikosov state" is found. The vortex motion which prevails against the
triangular periodic potential is produced by channelling effects between
triangles. Interstitial vortices coexisting with pinned vortices in this
asymmetric potential, lead to ratchet reversal, i.e. a DC output voltage which
changes sign with the amplitude of an applied alternating drive current. In
this landscape, ratchet reversal is always observed at all magnetic fields (all
numbers of vortices) and at different temperatures. The ratchet reversal is
unambiguously connected to the presence of two locations for the vortices:
interstitial and above the artificial pinning sites.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, 1 Tabl
Few-anyon systems in a parabolic dot
The energy levels of two and three anyons in a two-dimensional parabolic
quantum dot and a perpendicular magnetic field are computed as power series in
1/|J|, where J is the angular momentum. The particles interact repulsively
through a coulombic (1/r) potential. In the two-anyon problem, the reached
accuracy is better than one part in 10^5. For three anyons, we study the
combined effects of anyon statistics and coulomb repulsion in the ``linear''
anyonic states.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 4 postscript figure
The effect of hypoxia on appetite, appetite regulating hormones and energy intake: a planned meta-analysis
MULTI-PARENTAL MATING DESIGN ANALYSIS: MODEL EVALUATION AND APPLICATION IN SPRING WHEAT
Conventional quantitative genetics studies have mainly focused on bi-parental mating systems. However, genetic potential of selected individuals within a segregating population may be limited due to only two parents being used for each cross. Multiple-parental mating systems have been proposed that involve three or four diverse parents. This provides a higher potential of combining desirable genes. Due to complexity of the data structure of multi-parental mating systems, analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods are not applicable in analysis. The objective of this study is to validate and apply a mixed linear model approach, minimum norm quadratic unbiased estimation (MINQUE), to analyze a widely used additive-dominance (AD) genetic model. Various simulations were conducted to validate the use of this approach. Twelve different spring wheat genotypes were used to develop populations in the study. Phenotypic data containing parents and their F2 (second filial generation) on preharvest sprouting (PHS) resistance in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) developed by multi-parental crosses were used as a demonstration. The simulation study showed that a modified AD model can be used to estimate variance components in an unbiased manner within this complex data structure. Actual data analysis revealed that both additive and dominance effects were responsible for PHS resistance. Several parents associated with desirable additive effects for PHS were identified. In addition, some crosses with desirable heterozygous dominance effects were also identified, which can be used for hybrid development. Results should help breeders to obtain useful genetic information by using the methods suggested in this study
Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) using Meta model Assisted Evolutionary Algorithms
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is recognised to be the next revolution in aviation as information technology matures in the aerospace sector. UAS systems are multidiscipline systems as they integrate several disciplines, e.g. avionics, flight control, aerodynamics, structures. The design and optimisation of these vehicles can be multi-modal, non-convex or discontinuous, with multiple local minima and with noise. Traditional gradient based optimisation method might fail to find true optimal solutions or Pareto Fronts. This paper explores the design and coupling of Meta-model Assisted (MMA) with Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEA) for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) design. Results indicate an improvement on optimisation performance and both practicality and robustness of the method in finding optimal solutions and Pareto trade-offs between the disciplines
Characterisation of spatial network-like patterns from junctions' geometry
We propose a new method for quantitative characterization of spatial
network-like patterns with loops, such as surface fracture patterns, leaf vein
networks and patterns of urban streets. Such patterns are not well
characterized by purely topological estimators: also patterns that both look
different and result from different morphogenetic processes can have similar
topology. A local geometric cue -the angles formed by the different branches at
junctions- can complement topological information and allow to quantify the
large scale spatial coherence of the pattern. For patterns that grow over time,
such as fracture lines on the surface of ceramics, the rank assigned by our
method to each individual segment of the pattern approximates the order of
appearance of that segment. We apply the method to various network-like
patterns and we find a continuous but sharp dichotomy between two classes of
spatial networks: hierarchical and homogeneous. The first class results from a
sequential growth process and presents large scale organization, the latter
presents local, but not global organization.Comment: version 2, 14 page
TEM Characterization of Solar Wind Effects on Genesis Mission Silicon Collectors
The Genesis Discovery Mission passively allowed solar wind (SW) to implant into substrates during exposure times up to ~853 days from 2001 to 2004. The spacecraft then returned the SW to Earth for analysis. Substrates included semiconductor wafers (silicon, sapphire, and germanium), as well as a number of thin films supported by either silicon or sapphire wafers. During flight, subsets of the SW collectors were exposed to one of 4 SW regimes: bulk solar wind, coronal hole solar wind (CH, high speed), interstream solar wind (IS, low speed) or coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Each SW regime had a different composition and range of ion speeds and, during their collection, uniquely changed their host SW collector. This study focuses on bulk vs IS SW effects on CZ silicon
Magnetic field-induced insulating behavior in highly oriented pyrolitic graphite
We propose an explanation for the apparent semimetal-insulator transition
observed in highly oriented pyrolitic graphite in the presence of magnetic
field perpendicular to the layers. We show that the magnetic field opens an
excitonic gap in the linear spectrum of the Coulomb interacting quasiparticles,
in a close analogy with the phenomenon of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in
the relativistic theories of the 2+1-dimensional Dirac fermions. Our
strong-coupling appoach allows for a non-perturbative description of the
corresponding critical behavior
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