1,739 research outputs found
Radiation risks from large solar energetic particle events
Solar energetic particles (SEPs) constitute a radiation hazard to both humans and hardware in space. Over the past few years there have been significant advances in our knowledge of the composition and energy spectra of SEP events, leading to new insights into the conditions that contribute to the largest events. This paper summarizes the energy spectra and frequency of large SEP events, and discusses the interplanetary conditions that affect the intensity of the largest events
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Analysis, design, and implementation of PHENIX on-line computing systems software using Shlaer-Mellor object-oriented analysis and recursive design
An early prototype of the core software for on-line computing systems for the PHENIX detector at RHIC has been developed using the Shlaer-Mellor OOA/RD method, including the automatic generation of C++ source code using a commercial translation engine and {open_quotes}architecture{close_quotes}
Observations of the longitudinal spread of solar energetic particle events in solar cycle 24
With the twin STEREO spacecraft, significantly separated from L1-based satellites such as ACE, simultaneous multi-point measurements of solar energetic particle (SEP) events can be made for H-Fe ions from a few hundred keV/nuc to over 100 MeV/nuc and for electrons from tens to hundreds of keV. These observations allow studies of the longitudinal characteristics of SEP events to advance beyond statistical analysis of single point measurements. Although there have been few large SEP events thus far in cycle 24, there have been a number of smaller events that have been detected by more than one spacecraft. The composition of these SEP events, as indicated by the H/He and Fe/O abundance ratios, shows a dependence on longitudinal distance from the solar source in some events, at times with ratios varying by an order of magnitude. However, these variations are not organized by either the speed or width of the associated coronal mass ejections
Transition from ion-coupled to electron-only reconnection: Basic physics and implications for plasma turbulence
Using kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we simulate reconnection
conditions appropriate for the magnetosheath and solar wind, i.e., plasma beta
(ratio of gas pressure to magnetic pressure) greater than 1 and low magnetic
shear (strong guide field). Changing the simulation domain size, we find that
the ion response varies greatly. For reconnecting regions with scales
comparable to the ion Larmor radius, the ions do not respond to the
reconnection dynamics leading to ''electron-only'' reconnection with very large
quasi-steady reconnection rates. The transition to more traditional
''ion-coupled'' reconnection is gradual as the reconnection domain size
increases, with the ions becoming frozen-in in the exhaust when the magnetic
island width in the normal direction reaches many ion inertial lengths. During
this transition, the quasi-steady reconnection rate decreases until the ions
are fully coupled, ultimately reaching an asymptotic value. The scaling of the
ion outflow velocity with exhaust width during this electron-only to
ion-coupled transition is found to be consistent with a theoretical model of a
newly reconnected field line. In order to have a fully frozen-in ion exhaust
with ion flows comparable to the reconnection Alfv\'en speed, an exhaust width
of at least several ion inertial lengths is needed. In turbulent systems with
reconnection occurring between magnetic bubbles associated with fluctuations,
using geometric arguments we estimate that fully ion-coupled reconnection
requires magnetic bubble length scales of at least several tens of ion inertial
lengths
Heat Shock Protein-90 Inhibitors Enhance Antigen Expression on Melanomas and Increase T Cell Recognition of Tumor Cells
In an effort to enhance antigen-specific T cell recognition of cancer cells, we have examined numerous modulators of antigen-expression. In this report we demonstrate that twelve different Hsp90 inhibitors (iHsp90) share the ability to increase the expression of differentiation antigens and MHC Class I antigens. These iHsp90 are active in several molecular and cellular assays on a series of tumor cell lines, including eleven human melanomas, a murine B16 melanoma, and two human glioma-derived cell lines. Intra-cytoplasmic antibody staining showed that all of the tested iHsp90 increased expression of the melanocyte differentiation antigens Melan-A/MART-1, gp100, and TRP-2, as well as MHC Class I. The gliomas showed enhanced gp100 and MHC staining. Quantitative analysis of mRNA levels showed a parallel increase in message transcription, and a reporter assay shows induction of promoter activity for Melan-A/MART-1 gene. In addition, iHsp90 increased recognition of tumor cells by T cells specific for Melan-A/MART-1. In contrast to direct Hsp90 client proteins, the increased levels of full-length differentiation antigens that result from iHsp90 treatment are most likely the result of transcriptional activation of their encoding genes. In combination, these results suggest that iHsp90 improve recognition of tumor cells by T cells specific for a melanoma-associated antigen as a result of increasing the expressed intracellular antigen pool available for processing and presentation by MHC Class I, along with increased levels of MHC Class I itself. As these Hsp90 inhibitors do not interfere with T cell function, they could have potential for use in immunotherapy of cancer
Heavy Ion and Electron Release Times in Solar Particle Events
Using data from the SIS and EPAM instruments on ACE we have measured the onset times of 6 - 88 MeV/nuc ions and 38 - 315 keV electrons in 11 solar energetic particle (SEP) events from 1997 through 2002. We find that heavy ions
are generally released later than electrons, by as much as âŒ50 minutes. There is an apparent correlation between the release times (and the inferred release distances) and the 3He/4He ratio
Multipoint connectivity analysis of the May 2007 solar energetic particle events
In May of 2007, the STEREO Ahead and Behind spacecraft, along with the ACE spacecraft situated between the two STEREO spacecraft, observed two small solar energetic particle (SEP) events. STEREO-A and -B observed nearly identical time profiles in the 19 May event, but in the 23 May event, the protons arrived significantly earlier at STEREO-A than at STEREO-B and the time-intensity profiles were markedly different. We present SEP anisotropy, suprathermal electron pitch angle and solar wind data to demonstrate distortion in the magnetic field topology produced by the passage of multiple interplanetary coronal mass ejections on 22 and 23 May, causing the two spacecraft to magnetically connect to different points back at the Sun. This pair of events illustrates the power of multipoint observations in detailed interpretation of complex events, since only a small shift in observer location results in different magnetic field line connections and different SEP time-intensity profiles
Observations of a ^3He-rich SEP Event over a Broad Range of Heliographic Longitudes: Results from STEREO and ACE
Observations of energetic ions and electrons from STEREO and ACE have been used to investigate the longitudinal extent of particle emissions from 3He ârich solar energetic particle (SEP) events. In the event of 3â4 Nov 2008, ions and electrons were detected 20° ahead and behind the nominal connection from the source region to 1 AU, and electrons were also detected 60° ahead. The results are consistent with those of earlier studies that correlated data from nearâEarth spacecraft with Helios data or with observations of source regions on the Sun
Symmetry breaking in crossed magnetic and electric fields
We present the first observations of cylindrical symmetry breaking in highly
excited diamagnetic hydrogen with a small crossed electric field, and we give a
semiclassical interpretation of this effect. As the small perpendicular
electric field is added, the recurrence strengths of closed orbits decrease
smoothly to a minimum, and revive again. This phenomenon, caused by
interference among the electron waves that return to the nucleus, can be
computed from the azimuthal dependence of the classical closed orbits.Comment: 4 page REVTeX file including 5 postscript files (using psfig)
Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Difference from earlier
preprint: we have discovered the cause of the earlier apparent discrepancy
between experiment and theory and now achieve excellent agreemen
Further Evidence for the Decay K+ to pi+ neutrino-antineutrino
Additional evidence for the rare kaon decay K+ to pi+ neutrino-antineutrino
has been found in a new data set with comparable sensitivity to the previously
reported result. One new event was observed in the pion momentum region
examined, 211<P<229 MeV/c, bringing the total for the combined data set to two.
Including all data taken, the backgrounds were estimated to contribute 0.15 pm
0.05 events. The branching ratio is B=1.57^{+1.75}_{-0.82} 10^{-10}.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
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