500 research outputs found
The effects of bait type, trap-soak duration, and trap modification on harvest of red swamp crawfish
The effects of bait type, trap-soak duration, and a trap entrance modification were evaluated from February through May 2008 in a 1.29 ha crawfish (red swamp crawfish, Procambarus clarkii) pond in southwest Louisiana. Commercial pyramid traps with three entrance funnels, 1.9-cm square-mesh vinyl-coated welded metal wire, were used. In trial 1, crawfish catch was evaluated in traps baited with Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), a formulated dry bait, or a menhaden+formulated bait mixture, each at 24-h and 48-h soak durations. In trial 2, the escape of marked crawfish was evaluated in the presence or absence of bait at 24-h and 48-h soak durations. In trial 3, the catchability of traps with modified entrances, designed to reduce crawfish escape, were evaluated at 24-h and 48-h trap-soak durations. In trial 1, menhaden alone was the most effective bait in February and March, all baits were equally effective in April, and the formulated bait alone was most effective in May. Overall, crawfish catch per unit effort (CPUE) with a 24-h soak duration was 36% and 27% higher in number and weight than the 48-h soak. Mean crawfish size increased when trap-soak duration was increased from 24-h to 48-h. In trial 2, traps containing “no marked crawfish” caught significantly more crawfish in both number (37%) and weight (30%) than traps with marked crawfish indicating that the presence of crawfish in traps prior to baiting decreased catch. Mean crawfish escape from traps ranged from 29 to 34%, and the presence or absence of bait had no significant effect on escape; however, the mean escape rate following a 48-h trap-soak duration (39%) was nearly twice that of a 24-h soak (22%). Crawfish CPUE with modified traps was 20% higher with a 48-h trap-soak duration. Modification of the trap entrance funnels with plastic cable ties appeared to reduce the rate of crawfish egress from the traps between 24-h and 48-h
Acceleration Mechanics in Relativistic Shocks by the Weibel Instability
Plasma instabilities (e.g., Buneman, Weibel and other two-stream
instabilities) created in collisionless shocks may be responsible for particle
(electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. Using a 3-D relativistic
electromagnetic particle (REMP) code, we have investigated long-term particle
acceleration associated with relativistic electron-ion or electron-positron jet
fronts propagating into an unmagnetized ambient electron-ion or
electron-positron plasma. These simulations have been performed with a longer
simulation system than our previous simulations in order to investigate the
nonlinear stage of the Weibel instability and its particle acceleration
mechanism. The current channels generated by the Weibel instability are
surrounded by toroidal magnetic fields and radial electric fields. This radial
electric field is quasi stationary and accelerates particles which are then
deflected by the magnetic field.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, A full
resolution ot the paper can be found at
http://gammaray.nsstc.nasa.gov/~nishikawa/accmec.pd
Lentiviral vectors with amplified beta cell-specific gene expression.
An important goal of gene therapy is to be able to deliver genes, so that they express in a pattern that recapitulates the expression of an endogenous cellular gene. Although tissue-specific promoters confer selectivity, in a vector-based system, their activity may be too weak to mediate detectable levels in gene-expression studies. We have used a two-step transcriptional amplification system to amplify gene expression from lentiviral vectors using the human insulin promoter. In this system, the human insulin promoter drives expression of a potent synthetic transcription activator (the yeast GAL4 DNA-binding domain fused to the activation domain of the Herpes simplex virus-1 VP16 activator), which in turn activates a GAL4-responsive promoter, driving the enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene. Vectors carrying the human insulin promoter did not express in non-beta-cell lines, but expressed in murine insulinoma cell lines, indicating that the human insulin promoter was capable of conferring cell specificity of expression. The insulin-amplifiable vector was able to amplify gene expression five to nine times over a standard insulin-promoter vector. In primary human islets, gene expression from the insulin-promoted vectors was coincident with insulin staining. These vectors will be useful in gene-expression studies that require a detectable signal and tissue specificity
Particle acceleration, magnetic field generation, and emission in relativistic pair jets
Shock acceleration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in astrophysical plasmas.
Plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., Buneman, Weibel and
other two-stream instabilities) created in collisionless shocks are responsible
for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. Using a 3-D
relativistic electromagnetic particle (REMP) code, we have investigated
particle acceleration associated with a relativistic jet front propagating into
an ambient plasma. We find that the growth times of Weibel instability are
proportional to the Lorentz factors of jets. Simulations show that the Weibel
instability created in the collisionless shock front accelerates jet and
ambient particles both perpendicular and parallel to the jet propagation
direction.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Il nuovo cimento (4th Workshop
Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era, Rome, 18-22 October 2004
Particle Acceleration, Magnetic Field Generation, and Associated Emission in Collisionless Relativistic Jets
Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing
relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., active galactic nuclei (AGNs), gamma-ray
bursts (GRBs), and Galactic microquasar systems usually have power-law emission
spectra. Recent PIC simulations using injected relativistic electron-ion
(electro-positron) jets show that acceleration occurs within the downstream
jet. Shock acceleration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in astrophysical plasmas.
Plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Buneman instability,
other two-streaming instability, and the Weibel instability) created in the
shocks are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration.
The simulation results show that the Weibel instability is responsible for
generating and amplifying highly nonuniform, small-scale magnetic fields. These
magnetic fields contribute to the electron's transverse deflection behind the
jet head. The ``jitter'' radiation from deflected electrons has different
properties than synchrotron radiation which assumes a uniform magnetic field.
This jitter radiation may be important to understanding the complex time
evolution and/or spectral structure in gamma-ray bursts, relativistic jets, and
supernova remnants.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, contributed talk at the workshop: High Energy
Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows (HEPRO), Dublin, 24-28 September 2007.
Fig. 3 is replaced by the correct versio
Particle acceleration in electron-ion jets
Weibel instability created in collisionless shocks is responsible for
particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. Using a 3-D relativistic
electromagnetic particle (REMP) code, we have investigated particle
acceleration associated with a relativistic electron-ion jet fronts propagating
into an ambient plasma without initial magnetic fields with a longer simulation
system in order to investigate nonlinear stage of the Weibel instability and
its acceleration mechanism. The current channels generated by the Weibel
instability induce the radial electric fields. The z component of the Poynting
vector (E x B) become positive in the large region along the jet propagation
direction. This leads to the acceleration of jet electrons along the jet. In
particular the E x B drift with the large scale current channel generated by
the ion Weibel instability accelerate electrons effectively in both parallel
and perpendicular directions.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings for Astrophysical Sources of High
Energy Particles and Radiation, AIP proceeding Series, eds . T. Bulik, G.
Madejski and B. Ruda
A Comparison of the Morphology and Stability of Relativistic and Nonrelativistic Jets
We compare results from a relativistic and a nonrelativistic set of 2D
axisymmetric jet simulations. For a set of five relativistic simulations that
either increase the Lorentz factor or decrease the adiabatic index we compute
nonrelativistic simulations with equal useful power or thrust. We examine these
simulations for morphological and dynamical differences, focusing on the
velocity field, the width of the cocoon, the age of the jets, and the internal
structure of the jet itself. The primary result of these comparisons is that
the velocity field of nonrelativistic jet simulations cannot be scaled up to
give the spatial distribution of Lorentz factors seen in relativistic
simulations. Since the local Lorentz factor plays a major role in determining
the total intensity for parsec scale extragalactic jets, this suggests that a
nonrelativistic simulation cannot yield the proper intensity distribution for a
relativistic jet. Another general result is that each relativistic jet and its
nonrelativistic equivalents have similar ages (in dynamical time units, =
R/a_a, where R is the initial radius of a cylindrical jet and a_a is the sound
speed in the ambient medium). In addition to these comparisons, we have
completed four new relativistic simulations to investigate the effect of
varying thermal pressure on relativistic jets. The simulations generally
confirm that faster (larger Lorentz factor) and colder jets are more stable,
with smaller amplitude and longer wavelength internal variations. The apparent
stability of these jets does not follow from linear normal mode analysis, which
suggests that there are available growing Kelvin-Helmholtz modes. (Abridged.)Comment: 32 pages, AASTEX, to appear in May 10, 1999 issue of ApJ, better
versions of Figures 1 and 6 are available at
http://crux.astr.ua.edu/~rosen/rel/rhdh.htm
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