2,813 research outputs found
TAVERNS and the space station software support environment
The Space Station Information System (SSIS) provides the data processing capability for the Space Station Program (SSP). The Software Support Environment (SSE) System for the SSP is the collection of software, procedures, standards, hardware specification, documentation, policy, and training materials. The Ada programming language was baselined by the Space Station Program Office as the language for development and maintenance of all space station software including the software of the SSE itself. The Test And Validation Environment for Remote Networked Systems (TAVERNS) is a distributed philosophy for development and validation of Ada applications software for the space station and as such is closely related to the SSE. An overview of the system is provided
Validity of the Taylor Hypothesis for Linear Kinetic Waves in the Weakly Collisional Solar Wind
The interpretation of single-point spacecraft measurements of solar wind
turbulence is complicated by the fact that the measurements are made in a frame
of reference in relative motion with respect to the turbulent plasma. The
Taylor hypothesis---that temporal fluctuations measured by a stationary probe
in a rapidly flowing fluid are dominated by the advection of spatial structures
in the fluid rest frame---is often assumed to simplify the analysis. But
measurements of turbulence in upcoming missions, such as Solar Probe Plus,
threaten to violate the Taylor hypothesis, either due to slow flow of the
plasma with respect to the spacecraft or to the dispersive nature of the plasma
fluctuations at small scales. Assuming that the frequency of the turbulent
fluctuations is characterized by the frequency of the linear waves supported by
the plasma, we evaluate the validity of the Taylor hypothesis for the linear
kinetic wave modes in the weakly collisional solar wind. The analysis predicts
that a dissipation range of solar wind turbulence supported by whistler waves
is likely to violate the Taylor hypothesis, while one supported by kinetic
Alfven waves is not.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Interpreting Magnetic Variance Anisotropy Measurements in the Solar Wind
The magnetic variance anisotropy () of the solar wind has been
used widely as a method to identify the nature of solar wind turbulent
fluctuations; however, a thorough discussion of the meaning and interpretation
of the has not appeared in the literature. This paper explores
the implications and limitations of using the as a method for
constraining the solar wind fluctuation mode composition and presents a more
informative method for interpreting spacecraft data. The paper also compares
predictions of the from linear theory to nonlinear turbulence
simulations and solar wind measurements. In both cases, linear theory compares
well and suggests the solar wind for the interval studied is dominantly
Alfv\'{e}nic in the inertial and dissipation ranges to scales .Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Using Synthetic Spacecraft Data to Interpret Compressible Fluctuations in Solar Wind Turbulence
Kinetic plasma theory is used to generate synthetic spacecraft data to
analyze and interpret the compressible fluctuations in the inertial range of
solar wind turbulence. The kinetic counterparts of the three familiar linear
MHD wave modes---the fast, Alfven, and slow waves---are identified and the
properties of the density-parallel magnetic field correlation for these kinetic
wave modes is presented. The construction of synthetic spacecraft data, based
on the quasi-linear premise---that some characteristics of magnetized plasma
turbulence can be usefully modeled as a collection of randomly phased, linear
wave modes---is described in detail. Theoretical predictions of the
density-parallel magnetic field correlation based on MHD and Vlasov-Maxwell
linear eigenfunctions are presented and compared to the observational
determination of this correlation based on 10 years of Wind spacecraft data. It
is demonstrated that MHD theory is inadequate to describe the compressible
turbulent fluctuations and that the observed density-parallel magnetic field
correlation is consistent with a statistically negligible kinetic fast wave
energy contribution for the large sample used in this study. A model of the
solar wind inertial range fluctuations is proposed comprised of a mixture of a
critically balanced distribution of incompressible Alfvenic fluctuations and a
critically balanced or more anisotropic than critical balance distribution of
compressible slow wave fluctuations. These results imply that there is little
or no transfer of large scale turbulent energy through the inertial range down
to whistler waves at small scales.Comment: Accepted to Astrophysical Journal. 28 pages, 7 figure
Immunolocalization and divergent roles of phosducin and phosducin-like protein in the retina
Journal ArticlePURPOSE: These investigations were undertaken to compare and contrast the roles of phosducin and phosducin-like protein in the retina. METHODS: Phosducin and phosducin-like protein were compared in an in vitro assay measuring their inhibition of transducin binding to light-activated rhodopsin. The two proteins were localized within the retina by immunoblot analyses and immunocytochemistry using affinity-purified antibodies with high specificity for each of the two homologs. The sensitivity of phosducin-like protein to phosphorylation was probed using in vitro protein kinase reactions. RESULTS: Phosducin and phosducin-like protein were found to have similar, though not identical, transducin inhibiting activity in vitro. These two proteins were found to be localized dissimilarly within the retina, with spatial overlap limited to the inner segments of the photoreceptors. Phosducin is found exclusively in photoreceptor cells, including the synaptic and nuclear layers, while phosducin-like protein is found throughout the inner retinal layers, most abundantly in the bipolar cells of the inner nuclear layer. Phosducin-like protein is not efficiently phosphorylated by the protein kinases tested, indicating that its regulation differs from that of phosducin. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that phosducin and phosducin-like protein play distinct roles in the retina. While phosducin is likely to be important in feedback regulation of the visual signal, such as in light adaptation, phosducin-like protein probably has little if any function in the phototransduction cascade. Phosducin-like protein may have a role in regulating the processing of visual signals by the neural cells of the inner retina
Gene array and expression of mouse retina guanylate cyclase activating proteins 1 and 2
Journal ArticlePURPOSE: To identify gene arrangement, chromosomal localization, and expression pattern of mouse guanylate cyclase activating proteins GCAP1 and GCAP2, retina-specific Ca2+-binding proteins, and photoreceptor guanylate cyclase activators. METHODS: The GCAP1 and GCAP2 genes were cloned from genomic libraries and sequenced. The chromosomal localization of the GCAP array was determined using fluorescent in situ hybridization. The expression of GCAP1 and GCAP2 in mouse retinal tissue was determined by immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: In this study, the mouse GCAP1 and GCAP2 gene array, its chromosomal localization, RNA transcripts, and immunolocalization of the gene products were fully characterized. The GCAP tail-to-tail array is located at the D band of chromosome 17. Each gene is transcribed into a single transcript of 0.8 kb (GCAP1) and 2 kb (GCAP2). Immunocytochemistry showed that both GCAP genes are expressed in retinal photoreceptor cells, but GCAP2 was nearly undetectable in cones. GCAP2 was also found in amacrine and ganglion cells of the inner retina. Light-adapted and dark-adapted retinas showed no significant difference in the distribution of the most intense GCAP2 staining within the outer segment and outer plexiform layers. CONCLUSIONS: Identical GCAP gene structures and the existence of the tail-to-tail gene array in mouse and human suggest an ancient gene duplication-inversion event preceding mammalian diversification. Identification of both GCAPs in synaptic regions, and of GCAP2 in the inner retina suggest roles of these Ca-binding proteins in addition to regulation of phototransduction
Kinetic Scale Density Fluctuations in the Solar Wind
We motivate the importance of studying kinetic scale turbulence for
understanding the macroscopic properties of the heliosphere, such as the
heating of the solar wind. We then discuss the technique by which kinetic scale
density fluctuations can be measured using the spacecraft potential, including
a calculation of the timescale for the spacecraft potential to react to the
density changes. Finally, we compare the shape of the density spectrum at ion
scales to theoretical predictions based on a cascade model for kinetic
turbulence. We conclude that the shape of the spectrum, including the ion scale
flattening, can be captured by the sum of passive density fluctuations at large
scales and kinetic Alfven wave turbulence at small scales
Damping of Electron Density Structures and Implications for Interstellar Scintillation
The forms of electron density structures in kinetic Alfven wave turbulence
are studied in connection with scintillation. The focus is on small scales cm where the Kinetic Alfv\'en wave (KAW) regime is active in
the interstellar medium. MHD turbulence converts to a KAW cascade, starting at
10 times the ion gyroradius and continuing to smaller scales. These scales are
inferred to dominate scintillation in the theory of Boldyrev et al. From
numerical solutions of a decaying kinetic Alfv\'en wave turbulence model,
structure morphology reveals two types of localized structures, filaments and
sheets, and shows that they arise in different regimes of resistive and
diffusive damping. Minimal resistive damping yields localized current filaments
that form out of Gaussian-distributed initial conditions. When resistive
damping is large relative to diffusive damping, sheet-like structures form. In
the filamentary regime, each filament is associated with a non-localized
magnetic and density structure, circularly symmetric in cross section. Density
and magnetic fields have Gaussian statistics (as inferred from Gaussian-valued
kurtosis) while density gradients are strongly non-Gaussian, more so than
current. This enhancement of non-Gaussian statistics in a derivative field is
expected since gradient operations enhance small-scale fluctuations. The
enhancement of density gradient kurtosis over current kurtosis is not obvious,
yet it suggests that modest fluctuation levels in electron density may yield
large scintillation events during pulsar signal propagation in the interstellar
medium. In the sheet regime the same statistical observations hold, despite the
absence of localized filamentary structures. Probability density functions are
constructed from statistical ensembles in both regimes, showing clear formation
of long, highly non-Gaussian tails
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