1,125 research outputs found
Affordable In-Space Transportation
Current and proposed launch systems will provide access to low-Earth orbit (LEO), and destinations beyond LEO, but the cost of delivering payloads will preclude the use of these services by many users. To develop and encourage revolutionary commercial utilization of geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and to provide an affordable means to continue NASA space science and exploration missions, the transportation costs to in-space destinations must be reduced. The principal objective of this study was to conceptually define three to four promising approaches to in-space transportation for delivery of satellites and other payloads, 3,000- to 10,000-lb class, to GEO destinations. This study established a methodology for evaluating in-space transportation systems based on life-cycle cost. The reusable concepts seemed to fare better in the evaluation than expendable, since a major driver in the life-cycle cost was the stage production cost
High Level of Soluble HLA-G in the Female Genital Tract of Beninese Commercial Sex Workers Is Associated with HIV-1 Infection
Most HIV infections are transmitted across mucosal epithelium. Understanding the role of innate and specific mucosal immunity in susceptibility or protection against HIV infection, as well as the effect of HIV infection on mucosal immunity, are of fundamental importance. HLA-G is a powerful modulator of the immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate whether soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) expression in the female genital tract is associated with HIV-1 infection.Genital levels of sHLA-G were determined in 52 HIV-1-uninfected and 44 antiretroviral naïve HIV-1-infected female commercial sex workers (CSWs), as well as 71 HIV-1-uninfected non-CSW women at low risk of exposure, recruited in Cotonou, Benin. HIV-1-infected CSWs had higher genital levels of sHLA-G compared with those in both the HIV-1-uninfected CSW (P = 0.009) and non-CSW groups (P = 0.0006). The presence of bacterial vaginosis (P = 0.008), and HLA-G*01:01:02 genotype (P = 0.002) were associated with higher genital levels of sHLA-G in the HIV-1-infected CSWs, whereas the HLA-G*01:04:04 genotype was also associated with higher genital level of sHLA-G in the overall population (P = 0.038). When adjustment was made for all significant variables, the increased expression of sHLA-G in the genital mucosa remained significantly associated with both HIV-1 infection (P = 0.02) and bacterial vaginosis (P = 0.03).This study demonstrates that high level of sHLA-G in the genital mucosa is independently associated with both HIV-1 infection and bacterial vaginosis
Antideuteron yield at the AGS and coalescence implications
We present Experiment 864's measurement of invariant antideuteron yields in
11.5A GeV/c Au + Pt collisions. The analysis includes 250 million triggers
representing 14 billion 10% central interactions sampled for events with high
mass candidates. We find (1/2 pi pt) d^(2)N/dydpt = 3.5 +/- 1.5 (stat.)
+0.9,-0.5 (sys.) x 10^(-8) GeV^(-2)c^(2) for 1.8=0.35 GeV/c
(y(cm)=1.6) and 3.7 +/- 2.7 (stat.) +1.4,-1.5 (sys.) x 10^(-8) GeV^(-2)c^(2)
for 1.4=0.26 GeV/c, and a coalescence parameter B2-bar of 4.1 +/-
2.9 (stat.) +2.3,-2.4 (sys.) x 10^(-3) GeV^(2)c^(-3). Implications for the
coalescence model and antimatter annihilation are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, Latex, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Mass dependence of light nucleus production in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions
Light nuclei can be produced in the central reaction zone via coalescence in
relativistic heavy ion collisions. E864 at BNL has measured the production of
ten light nuclei with nuclear number of A=1 to A=7 at rapidity and
. Data were taken with a Au beam of momentum of 11.5 A
on a Pb or Pt target with different experimental settings. The
invariant yields show a striking exponential dependence on nuclear number with
a penalty factor of about 50 per additional nucleon. Detailed analysis reveals
that the production may depend on the spin factor of the nucleus and the
nuclear binding energy as well.Comment: (6 pages, 3 figures), some changes on text, references and figures'
lettering. To be published in PRL (13Dec1999
PHENIX upgrade: Novel stripixel detector for heavy quark detection and proton spin structure measurements at RHIC energies
New design of silicon stripixel sensor has been developed at BNL for PHENIX upgrade. The sensor is a single-sided, DC-coupled, two-dimensional position sensitive device with good position resolution. This design is simpler for sensor fabrication and signal processing than the conventional double-sided strip sensor. HPK has produced pre-production stripixel sensors with thickness of 625 μm. The quality assurance tests show that the very low leakage current 0.12 nA per strip allows the use of the SVX4 chip. A long term stability test shows that the leakage current is stable over a long period of time. The study of the effects of irradiation on the performance of the stripixel sensor has been made using p+p collisions at 200 GeV at PHENIX, 14 MeV neutron and 20 MeV proton beams
Antiproton Production in 11.5 A GeV/c Au+Pb Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
We present the first results from the E864 collaboration on the production of
antiprotons in 10% central 11.5 A GeV/c Au+Pb nucleus collisions at the
Brookhaven AGS. We report invariant multiplicities for antiproton production in
the kinematic region 1.4<y<2.2 and 50<p_T<300 MeV/c, and compare our data with
a first collision scaling model and previously published results from the E878
collaboration. The differences between the E864 and E878 antiproton
measurements and the implications for antihyperon production are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
The Blue Stragglers of the Old Open Cluster NGC 188
The old (7 Gyr) open cluster NGC 188 has yielded a wealth of astrophysical
insight into its rich blue straggler population. Specifically, the NGC 188 blue
stragglers are characterized by: A binary frequency of 80% for orbital periods
less than days;Typical orbital periods around 1000 days;Typical
secondary star masses of 0.5 M; At least some white dwarf companion
stars; Modestly rapid rotation; A bimodal radial spatial distribution;
Dynamical masses greater than standard stellar evolution masses (based on
short-period binaries); Under-luminosity for dynamical masses (short-period
binaries). Extensive -body modeling of NGC 188 with empirical initial
conditions reproduces the properties of the cluster, and in particular the
main-sequence solar-type binary population. The current models also reproduce
well the binary orbital properties of the blue stragglers, but fall well short
of producing the observed number of blue stragglers. This deficit could be
resolved by reducing the frequency of common-envelope evolution during Roche
lobe overflow. Both the observations and the -body models strongly indicate
that the long-period blue-straggler binaries - which dominate the NGC 188 blue
straggler population - are formed by asymptotic-giant (primarily) and red-giant
mass transfer onto main sequence stars. The models suggest that the few
non-velocity-variable blue stragglers formed from mergers or collisions.
Several remarkable short-period double-lined binaries point to the importance
of subsequent dynamical exchange encounters, and provide at least one example
of a likely collisional origin for a blue straggler.Comment: Chapter 3, in Ecology of Blue Straggler Stars, H.M.J. Boffin, G.
Carraro & G. Beccari (Eds), Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Springe
Search for Exotic Strange Quark Matter in High Energy Nuclear Reactions
We report on a search for metastable positively and negatively charged states
of strange quark matter in Au+Pb reactions at 11.6 A GeV/c in experiment E864.
We have sampled approximately six billion 10% most central Au+Pb interactions
and have observed no strangelet states (baryon number A < 100 droplets of
strange quark matter). We thus set upper limits on the production of these
exotic states at the level of 1-6 x 10^{-8} per central collision. These limits
are the best and most model independent for this colliding system. We discuss
the implications of our results on strangelet production mechanisms, and also
on the stability question of strange quark matter.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Nuclear Physics A (Carl Dover
memorial edition
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