1,324 research outputs found
Chemical fractionation of siderophile elements in impactites from Australian meteorite craters
The abundance pattern of siderophile elements in terrestrial and lunar impact melt rocks was used extensively to infer the nature of the impacting projectiles. An implicit assumption made is that the siderophile abundance ratios of the projectiles are approximately preserved during mixing of the projectile constituents with the impact melts. As this mixture occurs during flow of strongly shocked materials at high temperatures, however there are grounds for suspecting that the underlying assumption is not always valid. In particular, fractionation of the melted and partly vaporized material of the projectile might be expected because of differences in volatility, solubility in silicate melts, and other characteristics of the constituent elements. Impactites from craters with associated meteorites offer special opportunities to test the assumptions on which projectile identifications are based and to study chemical fractionation that occurred during the impact process
Structure and dynamics of the Shapley Supercluster
We present results of our wide-field redshift survey of galaxies in a 285
square degree region of the Shapley Supercluster (SSC), based on a set of 10529
velocity measurements (including 1201 new ones) on 8632 galaxies obtained from
various telescopes and from the literature. Our data reveal that the main plane
of the SSC (v~ 14500 km/s) extends further than previous estimates, filling the
whole extent of our survey region of 12~degrees by 30~degrees on the sky (30 x
75~h-1 Mpc). There is also a connecting structure associated with the slightly
nearer Abell~3571 cluster complex (v~ 12000km/s. These galaxies seem to link
two previously identified sheets of galaxies and establish a connection with a
third one at V= 15000 km/s near R.A.= 13h. They also tend to fill the gap of
galaxies between the foreground Hydra-Centaurus region and the more distant
SSC. In the velocity range of the Shapley Supercluster (9000 km/s < cz < 18000
km/s), we found redshift-space overdensities with b\_j < 17.5 of ~5.4 over the
225 square degree central region and ~3.8 in a 192 square degree region
excluding rich clusters. Over the large region of our survey, we find that the
intercluster galaxies make up 48 per cent of the observed galaxies in the SSC
region and, accounting for the different completeness, may contribute nearly
twice as much mass as the cluster galaxies. In this paper, we discuss the
completeness of the velocity catalogue, the morphology of the supercluster, the
global overdensity, and some properties of the individual galaxy clusters in
the Supercluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
A Conversation: Living Through Lacrosse
Living through Lacrosse featured a panel of those involved directly with the Duke lacrosse incident, ranging from the senior vice president for public affairs and government relations of Duke University to a former Duke student who was serving as a staff member of the Duke Chronicle in 2007.
Members of the panel assessed what happened during the course of the incident and then discussed what could be learned from this case and what might have been done differently. Questions/themes/discussion topics What were the individual roles of the panelists during the lacrosse incident? In hindsight, what would the panelists have done differently? What can be learned from the Duke lacrosse case for both similar and non-similar cases going forward
Out-of-core solution of eigenproblems for macromolecular simulations
We consider the solution of large-scale eigenvalue problems that appear in the motion simulation of complex macromolecules on desktop platforms. To tackle the dimension of the matrices that are involved in these problems, we formulate out-of-core (OOC) variants of the two selected eigensolvers, that basically decouple the performance of the solver from the storage capacity. Furthermore, we contend with the high
computational complexity of the solvers by off-loading the arithmetically-intensive parts of the algorithms to a hardware graphics accelerator
Securing the legacy of TESS through the care and maintenance of TESS planet ephemerides
Much of the science from the exoplanets detected by the TESS mission relies
on precisely predicted transit times that are needed for many follow-up
characterization studies. We investigate ephemeris deterioration for simulated
TESS planets and find that the ephemerides of 81% of those will have expired
(i.e. 1 mid-transit time uncertainties greater than 30 minutes) one
year after their TESS observations. We verify these results using a sample of
TESS planet candidates as well. In particular, of the simulated planets that
would be recommended as JWST targets by Kempton et al. (2018), 80% will
have mid-transit time uncertainties 30 minutes by the earliest time JWST
would observe them. This rapid deterioration is driven primarily by the
relatively short time baseline of TESS observations. We describe strategies for
maintaining TESS ephemerides fresh through follow-up transit observations. We
find that the longer the baseline between the TESS and the follow-up
observations, the longer the ephemerides stay fresh, and that 51% of simulated
primary mission TESS planets will require space-based observations. The
recently-approved extension to the TESS mission will rescue the ephemerides of
most (though not all) primary mission planets, but the benefits of these new
observations can only be reaped two years after the primary mission
observations. Moreover, the ephemerides of most primary mission TESS planets
(as well as those newly discovered during the extended mission) will again have
expired by the time future facilities such as the ELTs, Ariel and the possible
LUVOIR/OST missions come online, unless maintenance follow-up observations are
obtained.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted to AJ; main changes are cross-checking
results against the sample of real TOIs, and addressing the impact of the
TESS extended missio
Climate change impacts of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) commercial agriculture portfolio
This report provides an initial, rapid assessment of a selection of programmes in the commercial agricultural portfolio of the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DfID) (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Offices or FCDO) to demonstrate a range of interventions and their likely net greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts. Analysis of crop and livestock value chains in seven countries, representing over four million hectares, shows that the changes in farmers’ practices supported by DfID’s bilateral investments in commercial agriculture significantly enhance crop and livestock production, while likely reducing net GHG emissions in the near term. The programme value chains increased average crop productivity by 1.0 ton per hectare per year (t ha-1 y-1), and reduced net GHG emissions by as much as 5.5 tCO2e ha-1 y-1 (cocoa agroforestry) compared to the start of the programme. Cereals demonstrated smaller annual changes, averaging a reduction of 0.80 tCO2e ha-1 y-1. Livestock productivity only increased slightly on average from 1.0 (goats) to 3.0 kg head-1 y-1 (beef cattle), with corresponding slight reductions in net GHG emissions from 0.001 (goats) to 0.01 (beef cattle) tCO2e head-1 y-1. Increases in emissions across the programmes are commonly due to increased use of nitrogen fertiliser and mechanisation. Reductions are commonly due to carbon sequestration in the soil as a result of manure addition, minimum tillage, crop rotation or reduced burning. These results are consistent with the increased use of inputs expected from market-driven agricultural intensification
The ischemic preconditioning effect of adenosine in patients with ischemic heart disease
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p><it>In vivo </it>and <it>in vitro </it>evidence suggests that adenosine and its agonists play key roles in the process of ischemic preconditioning. The effects of low-dose adenosine infusion on ischemic preconditioning have not been thoroughly studied in humans.</p> <p>Aims</p> <p>We hypothesised that a low-dose adenosine infusion could reduce the ischemic burden evoked by physical exercise and improve the regional left ventricular (LV) systolic function.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>We studied nine severely symptomatic male patients with severe coronary artery disease. Myocardial ischemia was induced by exercise on two separate occasions and quantified by Tissue Doppler Echocardiography. Prior to the exercise test, intravenous low-dose adenosine or placebo was infused over ten minutes according to a randomized, double blind, cross-over protocol. The LV walls were defined as ischemic if a reduction, no increment, or an increment of < 15% in peak systolic velocity (PSV) was observed during maximal exercise compared to the baseline values observed prior to placebo-infusion. Otherwise, the LV walls were defined as non-ischemic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PSV increased from baseline to maximal exercise in non-ischemic walls both during placebo (<it>P </it>= 0.0001) and low-dose adenosine infusion (<it>P </it>= 0.0009). However, in the ischemic walls, PSV increased only during low-dose adenosine infusion <it>(P </it>= 0.001), while no changes in PSV occurred during placebo infusion (<it>P </it>= NS).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low-dose adenosine infusion reduced the ischemic burden and improved LV regional systolic function in the ischemic walls of patients with exercise-induced myocardial ischemia, confirming that adenosine is a potential preconditioning agent in humans.</p
Planetary Dynamics and Habitable Planet Formation In Binary Star Systems
Whether binaries can harbor potentially habitable planets depends on several
factors including the physical properties and the orbital characteristics of
the binary system. While the former determines the location of the habitable
zone (HZ), the latter affects the dynamics of the material from which
terrestrial planets are formed (i.e., planetesimals and planetary embryos), and
drives the final architecture of the planets assembly. In order for a habitable
planet to form in a binary star system, these two factors have to work in
harmony. That is, the orbital dynamics of the two stars and their interactions
with the planet-forming material have to allow terrestrial planet formation in
the habitable zone, and ensure that the orbit of a potentially habitable planet
will be stable for long times. We have organized this chapter with the same
order in mind. We begin by presenting a general discussion on the motion of
planets in binary stars and their stability. We then discuss the stability of
terrestrial planets, and the formation of potentially habitable planets in a
binary-planetary system.Comment: 56 pages, 29 figures, chapter to appear in the book: Planets in
Binary Star Systems (Ed. N. Haghighipour, Springer publishing company
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