2,285 research outputs found
The interaction of spacecraft high voltage power systems with the space plasma environment
The development of spacecraft with electrical loads that require high voltage power is discussed. The high voltage solar array has been considered for supplying d.c. power directly to high voltage loads such as ion thrusters and communication tubes without intermediate power processing. Space power stations for transferring solar power to earth are being studied in the 40 kilovolt, multikilowatt regime. Analytical and experimental studies have determined that with the advent of high voltage power, new problems will arise through the interaction of the high voltage surfaces with the charged particle environment of space. The interactive environment has been identified and duplicated to some extent in simulation facilities at NASA-Lewis Research Center and at several contractor locations
Current from a dilute plasma measured through holes in insulators
The current collected from a plasma through holes in insulated electrodes was measured. Holes of 0.051- and 2.54-cm diameters in Kapton H film and plasma number densities of 100 and 10,000 electrons/cu cm were used. The current collected by bare electrodes, that is, electrodes with no surrounding insulation, is also presented. For all the samples the current at a given voltage was a function of the surrounding insulator area rather than of the hole size or the underlying electrode size. In addition, at the low plasma density the I-V characteristic showed very steep rises for voltages below 1 kV. In one case the current jumped by a factor of approximately 70 to 200 V. Results are given for positive biases to 10 kV. For negative biases, sparking prevented testing most samples to the 10-kV limit
The Importance of Broad Emission-Line Widths in Single Epoch Black Hole Mass Estimates
Estimates of the mass of super-massive black holes (BHs) in distant active
galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be obtained efficiently only through single-epoch
spectra, using a combination of their broad emission-line widths and continuum
luminosities. Yet the reliability and accuracy of the method, and the resulting
mass estimates, M_BH, remain uncertain. A recent study by Croom using a sample
of SDSS, 2QZ and 2SLAQ quasars suggests that line widths contribute little
information about the BH mass in these single-epoch estimates and can be
replaced by a constant value without significant loss of accuracy. In this
Letter, we use a sample of nearby reverberation-mapped AGNs to show that this
conclusion is not universally applicable. We use the bulge luminosity (L_Bulge)
of these local objects to test how well the known M_BH - L_Bulge correlation is
recovered when using randomly assigned line widths instead of the measured ones
to estimate M_BH. We find that line widths provide significant information
about M_BH, and that for this sample, the line width information is just as
significant as that provided by the continuum luminosities. We discuss the
effects of observational biases upon the analysis of Croom and suggest that the
results can probably be explained as a bias of flux-limited, shallow quasar
samples.Comment: 10 text pages + 4 Figures + 1 Table. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Letter
Weak Long-Ranged Casimir Attraction in Colloidal Crystals
We investigate the influence of geometric confinement on the free energy of
an idealized model for charge-stabilized colloidal suspensions. The mean-field
Poisson-Boltzmann formulation for this system predicts pure repulsion among
macroionic colloidal spheres. Fluctuations in the simple ions' distribution
provide a mechanism for the macroions to attract each other at large
separations. Although this Casimir interaction is long-ranged, it is too weak
to influence colloidal crystals' dynamics.Comment: 5 pages 2 figures ReVTe
Large Culvert Inspection Procedures: Guidelines for INDOT
Within the state of Indiana, there are approximately 9,000 structures with unsupported span lengths that range from 4 ft to 20 ft that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is responsible for maintaining. These structures are referred to as large culverts by INDOT. The agency recognized the need to improve culvert inspection procedures so that inspection data that is collected can provide essential information to asset engineers who make decisions regarding culvert management. The purpose of the project described in this report was to identify best practices for the inspection and management of these structures to develop guidelines that optimize the resources allocated for the maintenance and inspection of large culvert structures. This study found that standardizing the inspection process and evaluation criteria for inspection will positively impact the overall performance of the inventory of these structures. A proposed large culvert inspection manual accompanies this report and provides a detailed guide for large culvert inspection
Blunted Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter Function in the Nucleus Accumbens Promotes Cocaine-induced Drug Seeking
Repeated cocaine alters glutamate neurotransmission, in part, by reducing cystine–glutamate exchange via system xc−, which maintains glutamate levels and receptor stimulation in the extrasynaptic compartment. In the present study, we undertook two approaches to determine the significance of plasticity involving system xc−. First, we examined whether the cysteine prodrug N-acetylcysteine attenuates cocaine-primed reinstatement by targeting system xc−. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (1 mg/kg/200 μl, i.v.) under extended access conditions (6 h/day). After extinction training, cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) primed reinstatement was assessed in rats pretreated with N-acetylcysteine (0–60 mg/kg, i.p.) in the presence or absence of the system xc− inhibitor (S)-4-carboxyphenylglycine (CPG; 0.5 μM; infused into the nucleus accumbens). N-acetylcysteine attenuated cocaine-primed reinstatement, and this effect was reversed by co-administration of CPG. Secondly, we examined whether reduced system xc− activity is necessary for cocaine-primed reinstatement. To do this, we administered N-acetylcysteine (0 or 90 mg/kg, i.p.) prior to 12 daily self-administration sessions (1 mg/kg/200 μl, i.v.; 6 h/day) since this procedure has previously been shown to prevent reduced activity of system xc−. On the reinstatement test day, we then acutely impaired system xc− in some of the rats by infusing CPG (0.5 μM) into the nucleus accumbens. Rats that had received N-acetylcysteine prior to daily self-administration sessions exhibited diminished cocaine-primed reinstatement; this effect was reversed by infusing the cystine–glutamate exchange inhibitor CPG into the nucleus accumbens. Collectively these data establish system xc− in the nucleus accumbens as a key mechanism contributing to cocaine-primed reinstatement
Guidance, Flight Mechanics and Trajectory Optimization. Volume 5 - State Determination And/or Estimation
Guidance, flight mechanics, and trajectory optimizatio
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