Interferometric meteor head echo observations using the Southern Argentina Agile Meteor Radar

A radar meteor echo is the radar scattering signature from the free electrons generated by the entry of extraterrestrial particles into the atmosphere. Three categories of scattering mechanisms exist: specular, nonspecular trails, and head echoes. Generally, there are two types of radars utilized to detect meteors. Traditional VHF all-sky meteor radars primarily detect the specular trails, while high-power, large-aperture (HPLA) radars efficiently detect meteor head echoes and, in some cases, nonspecular trails. The fact that head echo measurements can be performed only with HPLA radars limits these studies in several ways. HPLA radars are sensitive instruments constraining the studies to the lower masses, and these observations cannot be performed continuously because they take place at national observatories with limited allocated observing time. These drawbacks can be addressed by developing head echo observing techniques with modified all-sky meteor radars. Such systems would also permit simultaneous detection of all different scattering mechanisms using the same instrument, rather than requiring assorted different classes of radars, which can help clarify observed differences between the different methodologies. In this study, we demonstrate that such concurrent observations are now possible, enabled by the enhanced design of the Southern Argentina Agile Meteor Radar (SAAMER). The results presented here are derived from observations performed over a period of 12 days in August 2011 and include meteoroid dynamical parameter distributions, radiants, and estimated masses. Overall, the SAAMER's head echo detections appear to be produced by larger particles than those which have been studied thus far using this technique.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) undergoing parr-smolt transformation and the effects of dietary linseed and rapeseed oils

Duplicate groups of Atlantic salmon parr were fed diets containing either fish oil (FO), rapeseed oil (RO), linseed oil (LO) or linseed oil supplemented with arachidonic acid (20:4n-6; AA) (LOA) from October (week 0) to seawater transfer in March (week 19). From March to July (weeks 20-34) all fish were fed a fish oil-containing diet. Fatty acyl desaturation and elongation activity in isolated hepatocytes incubated with [1-14C]18:3n-3 increased in all dietary groups, peaking in early March about one month prior to seawater transfer. Desaturation activities at their peak were significantly greater in fish fed the vegetable oils, particularly RO, compared to fish fed FO. Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3:DHA) and AA in liver and gill polar lipids (PL) increased in all dietary groups during the freshwater phase whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3;EPA) increased greatly in all groups after seawater transfer. The AA/EPA ratio in tissue PL increased up to seawater transfer and then decreased after transfer. AA levels and the AA/EPA ratio in gill PL were generally higher in the LOA group. The levels of 18:3n-3 in muscle total lipid were increased significantly in the LO, LOA and, to a lesser extent, RO groups prior to transfer but were reduced to initial levels by the termination of the experiment (week 34). In contrast, 18:2n-6 in muscle total lipid was significantly increased after 18 weeks in fish fed the diets supplemented with RO and LO, and was significantly greater in the FO and RO groups at the termination of the experiment. Gill PGF production showed a large peak about two months after transfer to seawater. The production of total PGF post-transfer was significantly lower in fish previously fed the LOA diet. However, plasma chloride concentrations in fish subjected to a seawater challenge at 18 weeks were all lower in fish fed the diets with vegetable oils. This effect was significant in the case of fish receiving the diet with LOA, compared to those fed the diet containing FO. The present study showed that during parr-smolt transformation in Atlantic salmon there is a pre-adaptive increase in hepatocyte fatty acyl desaturation/elongation activities that is controlled primarily by environmental factors such as photoperiod and temperature but that can also be significantly modulated by diet. Feeding salmon parr diets supplemented with rapeseed or linseed oils prevented inhibition of the desaturase activities that is induced by feeding parr diets with fish oils and thus influenced the smoltification process by altering tissue PL fatty acid compositions and eicosanoid production. These effect, in turn, had a beneficial effect on the ability of the fish to osmoregulate and thus adapt to salinity changes

UK export performance research - review and implications

Previous research on export performance has been criticized for being a mosaic of autonomous endeavours and for a lack of theoretical development. Building upon extant models of export performance, and a review and analysis of research on export performance in the UK for the period 1990-2005, an integrated model of export performance is developed and theoretical explanations of export performance are put forward. It is suggested that a multi-theory approach to explaining export performance is viable. Management and policy implications for the UK emerging from the review and synthesis of the literature and the integrated model are discussed

Coefficient of restitution for elastic disks

We calculate the coefficient of restitution, $\epsilon$, starting from a microscopic model of elastic disks. The theory is shown to agree with the approach of Hertz in the quasistatic limit, but predicts inelastic collisions for finite relative velocities of two approaching disks. The velocity dependence of $\epsilon$ is calculated numerically for a wide range of velocities. The coefficient of restitution furthermore depends on the elastic constants of the material via Poisson's number. The elastic vibrations absorb kinetic energy more effectively for materials with low values of the shear modulus.Comment: 25 pages, 12 Postscript figures, LaTex2

Astrophysical evidence for the existence of black holes

Following a short account of the history of the idea of black holes, we present a review of the current status of the search for observational evidence of their existence aimed at an audience of relativists rather than astronomers or astrophysicists. We focus on two different regimes: that of stellar-mass black holes and that of black holes with the masses of galactic nuclei.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, TeX forma

Evidence of dispersion and refraction of a spectrally broad gravity wave packet in the mesopause region observed by the Na lidar and Mesospheric Temperature Mapper above Logan, Utah

Gravity wave packets excited by a source of finite duration and size possess a broad frequency and wave number spectrum and thus span a range of temporal and spatial scales. Observing at a single location relatively close to the source, the wave components with higher frequency and larger vertical wavelength dominate at earlier times and at higher altitudes, while the lower frequency components, with shorter vertical wavelength, dominate during the latter part of the propagation. Utilizing observations from the Na lidar at Utah State University and the nearby Mesospheric Temperature Mapper at Bear Lake Observatory (41.9ÁN, 111.4ÁW), we investigate a unique case of vertical dispersion for a spectrally broad gravity wave packet in the mesopause region over Logan, Utah (41.7ÁN, 111.8ÁW), that occurred on 2 September 2011, to study the waves\u27 evolution as it propagates upward. The lidar-observed temperature perturbation was dominated by close to a 1 h modulation at 100 km during the early hours but gradually evolved into a 1.5 h modulation during the second half of the night. The vertical wavelength also decreased simultaneously, while the vertical group and phase velocities of the packet apparently slowed, as it was approaching a critical level during the second half of the night. A two-dimensional numerical model is used to simulate the observed gravity wave processes, finding that the location of the lidar relative to the source can strongly influence which portion of the spectrum can be observed at a particular location relative to a source. © 2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved