1,650 research outputs found
A Flight Evaluation of a VTOL Jet Transport Under Visual and Simulated Instrument Conditions
Transition, approach, and vertical landing tests for VTOL transport in terminal are
UV Spectroscopy of AB Doradus with the Hubble Space Telescope. Impulsive flares and bimodal profiles of the CIV 1549 line in a young star
We observed AB Doradus, a young and active late type star (K0 - K2 IV-V, P=
0.514 d) with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph of the post-COSTAR
Hubble Space Telescope with the time and spectral resolutions of 27 s and 15
km, respectively. The wavelength band (1531 - 1565 A) included the strong CIV
doublet (1548.202 and 1550.774, formed in the transition region at 100 000 K).
The mean quiescent CIV flux state was close to the saturated value and 100
times the solar one. The line profile (after removing the rotational and
instrumental profiles) is bimodal consisting of two Gaussians, narrow (FWHM =
70 km/s) and broad (FWHM =330km/s). This bimodality is probably due to two
separate broadening mechanisms and velocity fields at the coronal base. It is
possible that TR transient events (random multiple velocities), with a large
surface coverage, give rise to the broadening of the narrow component,while
true microflaring is responsible for the broad one.
The transition region was observed to flare frequently on different time
scales and magnitudes. The largest impulsive flare seen in the CIV 1549
emission reached in less than one minute the peak differential emission measure
(10**51.2 cm-3) and returned exponentially in 5 minutes to the 7 times lower
quiescent level.The 3 min average line profile of the flare was blue-shifted
(-190 km/s) and broadened (FWHM = 800 km/s). This impulsive flare could have
been due to a chromospheric heating and subsequent evaporation by an electron
beam, accelerated (by reconnection) at the apex of a coronal loop.Comment: to be published in AJ (April 98), 3 tables and 7 figures as separate
PS-files, print Table 2 as a landscap
Flight evaluation of advanced flight control systems and cockpit displays for powered-lift STOL Aircraft
A flight research program was conducted to assess the improvements, in longitudinal path control during a STOL approach and landing, that can be achieved with manual and automatic control system concepts and cockpit displays with various degrees of complexity. NASA-Ames powered-lift Augmentor Wing Research Aircraft was used in the research program. Satisfactory flying qualities were demonstrated for selected stabilization and command augmentation systems and flight director combinations. The ability of the pilot to perform precise landings at low touchdown sink rates with a gentle flare maneuver was also achieved. The path-control improvement is considered to be applicable to other powered-lift aircraft configurations
Inferring coronal structure from X-ray lightcurves and Doppler shifts: a Chandra study of AB Doradus
The Chandra X-ray observatory monitored the single cool star, AB Doradus,
continuously for a period lasting 88 ksec (1.98 Prot) in 2002 December with the
LETG/HRC-S. The X-ray lightcurve shows rotational modulation, with three peaks
that repeat in two consecutive rotation cycles. These peaks may indicate the
presence of compact emitting regions in the quiescent corona. Centroid shifts
as a function of phase in the strongest line profile, O VIII 18.97 A, indicate
Doppler rotational velocities with a semi-amplitude of 30 +/- 10 km/s. By
taking these diagnostics into account along with constraints on the rotational
broadening of line profiles (provided by archival Chandra HETG Fe XVII and FUSE
Fe XVIII profile) we can construct a simple model of the X-ray corona that
requires two components. One of these components is responsible for 80% of the
X-ray emission, and arises from the pole and/or a homogeneously distributed
corona. The second component consists of two or three compact active regions
that cause modulation in the lightcurve and contribute to the O VIII centroid
shifts. These compact regions account for 16% of the emission and are located
near the stellar surface with heights of less than 0.3R*. At least one of the
compact active regions is located in the partially obscured hemisphere of the
inclined star, while one of the other active regions may be located at 40
degrees. High quality X-ray data such as these can test the models of the
coronal magnetic field configuration as inferred from magnetic Zeeman Doppler
imaging.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, accepted by Ap
Archival light curves from the Bamberg Sky Patrol - CFOctantis, 1964-1976
We use the archive of the Bamberg Sky Patrol to obtain light curves of the
active K subgiant CF Octantis for the interval 1964-1976. Digitised images of
the field near CF Oct were obtained with a flat-bed scanner. Aperture
photometry was performed of photo-positives of these images. Using a
transformation to second order in plate magnitude, and first order in B-V, for
9 field stars for each plate, the B magnitudes of CF Octantis were obtained for
just over 350 plates. The estimated precision of an individual determination of
the B magnitude of CF Oct is 0.05 mag. Analysis of the resulting data reveals
the known 20 d rotational variation of this star, and shows the evolution of
the light curves from year to year. We obtain light curves with good phase
coverage for 1964 to 1969 inclusive, partial light curves for 1970 and 1976,
and a few data points from 1971. The amplitude of variation ranges from ~0.2 to
\~0.4 mag. There is evidence that the characteristic rotation period of the
star in the 1960s was slightly less than that measured from photoelectric
photometry in the 1980s.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
ESR, raman and conductivity studies on fractionated poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid)
Synthesis methods used to produce poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid) (PMAS), a water soluble, self-doped conducting polymer, have been shown to form two distinctly different polymer fractions with molecular weights of approximately 2 kDa and 8 -10 kDa. The low molecular weight (LMWT) PMAS fraction is redox inactive and non-conducting while the high molecular weight (HMWT) PMAS is electro-active with electrical conductivities of 0.94 0.05 S cm-1. Previous investigations have illustrated the different photochemical and electrochemical properties of these fractions, but have not correlated these properties with the structural and electronic interactions that drive them. Incomplete purification of the PMAS mixture, typically via bag dialysis, has been shown to result in a mixture of approximately 50:50 HMWT:LMWT PMAS with electrical conductivity significantly lower at approximately 0.10 to 0.26 S cm-1. The difference between the electrical conductivities of these fractions has been investigated by the controlled addition of the non-conducting LMWT PMAS fraction into the HMWT PMAS composite film with the subsequent electronic properties investigated by solid-state ESR and Raman spectroscopies. These studies illustrate strong electronic intereactions of the insulating LMWT PMAS with the emeraldine salt HMWT PMAS to substantially alter the population of the electronic charge carriers in the conducting polymer. ESR studies on these mixtures, when compared to HMWT PMAS, exhibited a lower level of electron spin in the presence of LMWT PMAS indicative of the the formation of low spin bipolarons without a change the oxidation state of the conducting HMWT fraction
The dolphin proline-rich antimicrobial peptide Tur1A inhibits protein synthesis by targeting the bacterial ribosome
Proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) internalize into susceptible bacteria using specific transporters and interfere with protein synthesis and folding. To date, mammalian PrAMPs have so far only been identified in artiodactyls. Since cetaceans are co-phyletic with artiodactyls, we mined the genome of the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncates, leading to the identification of two PrAMPs, Tur1A and Tur1B. Tur1A, which is orthologous to the bovine PrAMP Bac7, is internalized into E. coli without damaging the membranes using the inner membrane transporters SbmA and YjiL/MdM. Furthermore, like Bac7, Tur1A also inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the ribosome and blocking the transition from the initiation to the elongation phase. By contrast, Tur1B is a poor inhibitor of protein synthesis and may utilize another mechanism of action. An X-ray structure of Tur1A bound within the ribosomal exit tunnel provides a basis to develop these peptides as novel antimicrobial agents
High Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy of the Post-T Tauri Star PZ Tel
We present an analysis of the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating
Spectrometer observation of the rapidly rotating P_(rot)=0.94 d post T Tauri
(~20 Myr old) star PZ Telescopii, in the Tucana association. Using two
different methods we have derived the coronal emission measure distribution,
em(T), and chemical abundances. The em(T) peaks at log T = 6.9 and exhibits a
significant emission measure at temperatures log T > 7. The coronal abundances
are generally ~0.5 times the solar photospheric values that are presumed fairly
representative of the composition of the underlying star. A minimum in
abundance is seen at a first ionization potential (FIP) of 7-8 eV, with
evidence for higher abundances at both lower and higher FIP, similar to
patterns seen in other active stars. From an analysis of the He-like triplet of
Mg XI we have estimated electron densities of ~10^(12)-10^(13) cm^(-3). All the
coronal properties found for PZ Tel are much more similar to those of AB Dor,
which is slightly older than PZ Tel, than to those of the younger T Tauri star
TW Hya. These results support earlier conclusions that the soft X-ray emission
of TW Hya is likely dominated by accretion activity rather than by a
magnetically-heated corona. Our results also suggest that the coronae of
pre-main sequence stars rapidly become similar to those of older active
main-sequence stars soon after the accretion stage has ended.Comment: 15 pages, 8 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
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