A long trail behind the planetary nebula HFG1 (PK 136+05) and its precataclysmic binary central star V664 Cas

A deep wide-field image in the light of the Halpha+[N II] emission lines, of the planetary nebula HFG1 which surrounds the precataclysmic binary system V664 Cas, has revealed a tail of emission at least 20' long, at a position angle of 316deg. Evidence is presented which suggests that this is an ~10^5 y old trail of shocked material, left behind V664 Cas as it ejects matter whilst ploughing through its local interstellar media at anywhere between 29 and 59 km/s depending on its distance from the Sun.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRA

Observations of stratospheric aerosols associated with the El Chichon eruption

Lidar observations of aerosols were carried out at Aberystwyth between Nov. 1982 and Dec. 1985 using a frequency doubled and frequency tripled Nd/Yag laser and a receiver incorporating a 1 m diameter in a Newtonian telescope configuration. In analyses of the experimental data attention is paid to the magnitude of the coefficient relating extinction and backscatter, the choice being related to the possible presence of aerosols in the upper troposphere and the atmospheric densities employed in the normalisation procedure. The aerosol loading showed marked day to day changes in early months and an overall decay was apparent only after April 1983, this decay being consistent with an e sup -1 time of about 7 months. The general decay was accompanied by a lowering of the layer but layers of aerosols were shown intermittently at heights above the main layer in winter months. The height variations of photon counts corrected for range, or of aerosol backscatter ratio, showed clear signatures of the tropopause. A strong correlation was found between the heights of the tropopause identified from the lidar measurements and from radiosonde-borne temperature measurements. A notable feature of the observations is the appearance of very sharp height gradients of backscatter ratio which seem to be produced by differential advection

Uterine spiral artery remodeling involves endothelial apoptosis induced by extravillous trophoblasts through Fas/FasL interactions.

Objective— Invasion of uterine spiral arteries by extravillous trophoblasts in the first trimester of pregnancy results in loss of endothelial and musculoelastic layers. This remodeling is crucial for an adequate blood supply to the fetus with a failure to remodel implicated in the etiology of the hypertensive disorder preeclampsia. The mechanism by which trophoblasts induce this key process is unknown. This study gives the first insights into the potential mechanisms involved. Methods and Results— Spiral arteries were dissected from nonplacental bed biopsies obtained at Caesarean section, and a novel model was used to mimic in vivo events. Arteries were cultured with trophoblasts in the lumen, and apoptotic changes in the endothelial layer were detected after 20 hours, leading to loss of endothelium by 96 hours. In vitro, coculture experiments showed that trophoblasts stimulated apoptosis of primary decidual endothelial cells and an endothelial cell line. This was blocked by caspase inhibition and NOK2, a FasL blocking antibody. NOK2 also abrogated trophoblast-induced endothelial apoptosis in the vessel model. Conclusions— Extravillous trophoblast induction of endothelial apoptosis is a possible mechanism by which the endothelium is removed, and vascular remodeling may occur in uterine spiral arteries. Fas/FasL interactions have an important role in trophoblast-induced endothelial apoptosis

Faraday Rotation in the Tail of the Planetary Nebula DeHt 5

We present 1420 MHz polarization images of a 5x5 degree region around the planetary nebula (PN) DeHt 5. The images reveal narrow Faraday-rotation structures on the visible disk of DeHt 5, as well as two wider, tail-like, structures "behind" DeHt 5. Though DeHt 5 is an old PN known to be interacting with the interstellar medium (ISM), a tail has not previously been identified for this object. The innermost tail is approximately 3 pc long and runs away from the north-east edge of DeHt 5 in a direction roughly opposite that of the sky-projected space velocity of the white dwarf central star, WD 2218+706. We believe this tail to be the signature of ionized material ram-pressure stripped and deposited downstream during a >74,000 yr interaction between DeHt 5 and the ISM. We estimate the rotation measure (RM) through the inner tail to be -15 +/- 5 rad/m^2, and, using a realistic estimate for the line-of-sight component of the ISM magnetic field around DeHt 5, derive an electron density in the inner tail of n_e = 3.6 +/- 1.8 cm^-3. Assuming the material is fully ionized, we estimate a total mass in the inner tail of 0.68 +/- 0.33 solar masses, and predict that 0.49 +/- 0.33 solar masses was added during the PN-ISM interaction. The outermost tail consists of a series of three roughly circular components, which have a collective length of approximately 11.0 pc. This tail is less conspicuous than the inner tail, and may be the signature of the earlier interaction between the WD 2218+706 asymptotic giant branch (AGB) progenitor and the ISM. The results for the inner and outer tails are consistent with hydrodynamic simulations, and may have implications for the PN missing-mass problem as well as for models which describe the impact of the deaths of intermediate-mass stars on the ISM.Comment: 30 pages (single-column preprint format), 5 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

New Evidence for Mass Loss from delta Cephei from HI 21-cm Line Observations

Recently published Spitzer observations of the classical Cepheid archetype delta Cephei revealed an extended dusty nebula surrounding this star and its hot companion. The infrared emission resembles a bow shock aligned with the direction of space motion of the star, indicating that delta Cep is undergoing mass-loss through a stellar wind. Here we report HI 21-cm line observations with the VLA to search for neutral atomic hydrogen associated with this wind. Our VLA data reveal a spatially extended HI nebula (~13' or 1 pc across) surrounding the position of delta Cep. The nebula has a head-tail morphology, consistent with circumstellar ejecta shaped by the interaction between a stellar wind and the ISM. We directly measure a mass of circumstellar hydrogen M_HI\approx0.07M_odot, although the total HI mass may be larger. The HI data imply a stellar wind with an outflow velocity V_o=35.6\pm1.2 km/s and a mass-loss rate of M_dot=(1.0\pm0.8)x10**-6 M_dot/yr. We have computed theoretical evolutionary tracks that include mass loss across the instability strip and show that a mass-loss rate of this magnitude, sustained over the preceding Cepheid lifetime of delta Cep, could be sufficient to resolve a significant fraction of the discrepancy between the pulsation and evolutionary masses for this star. (abridged)Comment: ApJ, in press (January 1, 2012). Version with full resolution figures available at http://www.haystack.mit.edu/hay/staff/lmatthew/matthews_deltaCep.pd

Comparison of Numerical Predictions with CO2 Pipeline Release Datasets of Relevance to Carbon Capture and Storage Applications

Predicting the correct multi-phase fluid flow behaviour during the discharge process in the near-field of sonic CO2 jets is of particular importance in assessing the risks associated with transport aspects of carbon capture and storage schemes, given the very different hazard profiles of CO2 in the gaseous and solid states. In this paper, we apply our state-of-the-art mathematical model implemented in an efficient computational method to available data. Compared to previous applications, an improved equation of state is used. We also compare to all the available data, rather than just subsets as previously, and demonstrate both the improved performance of the fluid flow model and the variation between the available datasets. The condensed phase fraction at the vent, puncture or rupture release point is revealed to be of key importance in understanding the near-field dispersion of sonic CO2

Validation of Turbulence Closures for the RANS Modelling of Under-expanded Fluid Releases

Presented are results from the application of a shock-capturing numerical scheme to the solution of the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes fluid-flow equations, coupled with compressibility-corrected turbulence models. The relative performance of both a two-equation model and a Reynolds-stress transport model are evaluated in their application to the modelling of both moderately under-expanded, and highly under-expanded experimental releases. Both standard, and compressibility corrected models are investigated, and the superior predictive capabilities of the second-moment Reynolds-stress model are demonstrated