Proceedings of the MEVTV Workshop on The Evolution of Magma Bodies on Mars

The workshop focused on many of the diverse approaches related to the evolution of magma bodies on Mars that have been pursued during the course of the Mars Evolution of Volcanism, Tectonism, and Volatiles (MEVTV) Program. Approximately 35 scientists from the Mars volcanology, petrology, geochemistry, and modeling communities attended. Segments of the meeting concentrated of laboratory analyses and investigations of SNC meteorites, the interpretation of Viking Orbiter and Lander datasets, and the interpretation of computer codes that model volcanic and tectonic processes on Mars. Abstracts of these reports are presented

Comparative analyses of space-to-space central power stations

The technological and economical impact of a large central power station in Earth orbit on the performance and cost of future spacecraft and their orbital transfer systems are examined. It is shown that beaming power to remote users cannot be cost effective if the central power station uses the same power generation system that is readily available for provision of onboard power and microwave transmission and reception of power through space for use in space is not cost competitive with onboard power or propulsion systems. Laser and receivers are required to make central power stations feasible. Remote power transmission for propulsion of orbital transfer vehicles promises major cost benefits. Direct nuclear pumped or solar pumped laser power station concepts are attractive with laser thermal and laser electric propulsion systems. These power stations are also competitive, on a mass and cost basis, with a photovoltaic power station

The orbital recovery problem. Part II - Application of analysis technique to selection of recovery sites for return from low circular orbits

Lateral range requirements used in selecting spacecraft landing recovery sites for return from low circular orbit

The origin of the strings in the outer regions of Eta Carinae

The narrow optical filaments (`strings' or `spikes') emerging from the Homunculus of Eta Carinae are modelled as resulting from the passage of ballistic `bullets' of material through the dense circumstellar environment. In this explanation, the string is the decelerating flow of ablated gas from the bullet. An archive HST image and new forbidden line profiles of the most distinct of the strings are presented and discussed in terms of this simple model.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Spatial Econometric Issues for Bio-Economic and Land-Use Modeling

We survey the literature on spatial bio-economic and land-use modelling and review thematic developments. Unobserved site-specific heterogeneity is common in almost all of the surveyed works. Heterogeneity appears also to be a significant catalyst engendering significant methodological innovation. To better equip prototypes to adequately incorporate heterogeneity, we consider a smorgasbord of extensions. We highlight some problems arising with their application; provide Bayesian solutions to some; and conjecture solutions for others.spatial econometrics, bio-economic and land-use modelling, Bayesian solution, Land Economics/Use,

Ohmic contacts, irradiation effects, and thin film growth of GaAs and Al sub 1-x Ga sub x As

The effects of interfacial chemistry on the electrical properties of metal contacts to gallium arsenides and aluminum gallium arsenides are determined

Charge separation instability in an unmagnetized disk plasma around a Kerr black hole

In almost all of plasma theories for astrophysical objects, we have assumed the charge quasi-neutrality of unmagnetized plasmas in global scales. This assumption has been justified because if there is a charged plasma, it induces electric field which attracts the opposite charge, and this opposite charge reduces the charge separation. Here, we report a newly discovered instability which causes a charge separation in a rotating plasma inside of an innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) around a black hole. The growth rate of the instability is smaller than that of the disk instability even in the unstable disk region and is forbidden in the stable disk region outside of the ISCO. However, this growth rate becomes comparable to that of the disk instability when the plasma density is much lower than a critical density inside of the ISCO. In such case, the charge separation instability would become apparent and cause the charged accretion into the black hole, thus charge the hole up.Comment: 15pages, 1 figur

The Lore of Low Methane Livestock:Co-Producing Technology and Animals for Reduced Climate Change Impact

Methane emissions from sheep and cattle production have gained increasing profile in the context of climate change. Policy and scientific research communities have suggested a number of technological approaches to mitigate these emissions. This paper uses the concept of co-production as an analytical framework to understand farmers’ evaluation of a 'good animal’. It examines how technology and sheep and beef cattle are co-produced in the context of concerns about the climate change impact of methane. Drawing on 42 semi-structured interviews, this paper demonstrates that methane emissions are viewed as a natural and integral part of sheep and beef cattle by farmers, rather than as a pollutant. Sheep and beef cattle farmers in the UK are found to be an extremely heterogeneous group that need to be understood in their specific social, environmental and consumer contexts. Some are more amenable to appropriating methane reducing measures than others, but largely because animals are already co-constructed from the natural and the technical for reasons of increased production efficiency

'Open Marxism' against and beyond the 'Great Enclosure'? Reflections on How (Not) to Crack Capitalism

The main purpose of this article is to provide an in-depth discussion of John Holloway’s recent book, Crack Capitalism. To this end, the paper offers a detailed account of the key strengths and weaknesses of Holloway’s version of ‘open Marxism’. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on six significant strengths of Crack Capitalism: (1) its insistence upon the importance of autonomous forms of agenda-setting for both individual and collective emancipation; (2) its emphasis on the ordinary constitution of social struggles; (3) its fine-grained interpretation of the socio-ontological conditions underlying human agency; (4) its processual conception of radical social transformation; (5) its recognition of the elastic, adaptable, and integrative power of capitalism; and (6) its proposal for an alternative critical theory, commonly known as ‘open Marxism’ or ‘autonomous Marxism’. The second part of the study examines the principal weaknesses of Crack Capitalism: (1) the counterproductive implications of the preponderance of negativity, owing to a one-sided concern with critique, cracks, and crises; (2) conceptual vagueness; (3) an overuse of poetic and metaphorical language; (4) the absence of a serious engagement with the question of normativity; (5) a lack of substantive evidence; (6) a residual economic reductionism; (7) a simplistic notion of gender; (8) the continuing presence of various problematic ‘isms’; (9) the misleading distinction between ‘doing’ and ‘labour’; (10) a reductive understanding of capitalism; (11) an unrealistic view of society; and (12) socio-ontological idealis

Determinants of a transcriptionally competent environment at the GM-CSF promoter

Granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is produced by T cells, but not B cells, in response to immune signals. GM-CSF gene activation in response to T-cell stimulation requires remodelling of chromatin associated with the gene promoter, and these changes do not occur in B cells. While the CpG methylation status of the murine GM-CSF promoter shows no correlation with the ability of the gene to respond to activation, we find that the basal chromatin environment of the gene promoter influences its ability to respond to immune signals. In unstimulated T cells but not B cells, the GM-CSF promoter is selectively marked by enrichment of histone acetylation, and association of the chromatin-remodelling protein BRG1. BRG1 is removed from the promoter upon activation concomitant with histone depletion and BRG1 is required for efficient chromatin remodelling and transcription. Increasing histone acetylation at the promoter in T cells is paralleled by increased BRG1 recruitment, resulting in more rapid chromatin remodelling, and an associated increase in GM-CSF mRNA levels. Furthermore, increasing histone acetylation in B cells removes the block in chromatin remodelling and transcriptional activation of the GM-CSF gene. These data are consistent with a model in which histone hyperacetylation and BRG1 enrichment at the GM-CSF promoter, generate a chromatin environment competent to respond to immune signals resulting in gene activation