Numerical Modeling of the Finite Well with Implications for Observing Quantum Interference Between Coherent Electron Wave

We use numerical modeling in Fortran to investigate the claims of Wollenhaupt et al. (2006) and Hommelhoff et al. (2002) regarding ultra-­short electron pulses ionized via laser excitation of a tungsten nanotip. We assume that the nanotip acts as a finite one‐dimensional potential well with the depth equal to the work function of tungsten and the width of the order of the radius of curvature of the nanotip. The interactions of propagating Gaussian wave packets are modeled in order to give insight into the temporal and spatial evolution of the generated electron wave packets. Furthermore we hope to demonstrate the transference of the temporal coherence of the light pulse to the free electron wave packets generated

Feasibility of Orion Crew Module Entry on Half of Available Propellant Due to Tank Isolation Fault

The fuel tank isolation as a result of leak or rupture can leave an Orion Crew Module with only half of the loaded propellant for ISS return atmospheric entry. To assess the feasibility of returning under this condition, an analysis of various entry control options with deliberate degradation of control performance was performed. The study determined that a ballistic entry without a raise burn, a steeper flight path trajectory, relaxed atmospheric pitch/yaw rate damping, and degraded touchdown control could achieve 2-sigma requirements compliance with a 2-sigma fuel usage that is less than half of the liftoff propellant loading. The results of this analysis indicate that an entry with only half the nominal propellant load is feasible following a tank isolation fault

Motion of the dayside polar cap boundary during substorm cycles: I. Observations of pulses in the magnetopause reconnection rate

Using data from the EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter) VHF radar and DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) spacecraft passes, we study the motion of the dayside open-closed field line boundary during two substorm cycles. The satellite data show that the motions of ion and electron temperature boundaries in EISCAT data, as reported by Moen et al. (2004), are not localised around the radar; rather, they reflect motions of the open-closed field line boundary at all MLT throughout the dayside auroral ionosphere. The boundary is shown to erode equatorward when the IMF points southward, consistent with the effect of magnetopause reconnection. During the substorm expansion and recovery phases, the dayside boundary returns poleward, whether the IMF points northward or southward. However, the poleward retreat was much faster during the substorm for which the IMF had returned to northward than for the substorm for which the IMF remained southward – even though the former substorm is much the weaker of the two. These poleward retreats are consistent with the destruction of open flux at the tail current sheet. Application of a new analysis of the peak ion energies at the equatorward edge of the cleft/cusp/mantle dispersion seen by the DMSP satellites identifies the dayside reconnection merging gap to extend in MLT from about 9.5 to 15.5 h for most of the interval. Analysis of the boundary motion, and of the convection velocities seen near the boundary by EISCAT, allows calculation of the reconnection rate (mapped down to the ionosphere) from the flow component normal to the boundary in its own rest frame. This reconnection rate is not, in general, significantly different from zero before 06:45 UT (MLT<9.5 h) – indicating that the X line footprint expands over the EISCAT field-of-view to earlier MLT only occasionally and briefly. Between 06:45 UT and 12:45UT (9.5<MLT<15.5 h) reconnection is continuously observed by EISCAT, confirming the (large) MLT extent of the reconnection footprint deduced from the DMSP passes. As well as direct control by the IMF on longer timescales, the derived reconnection rate variation shows considerable pulsing on timescales of 2–20 min during periods of steady southward IMF

Polar cap patch segmentation of the tongue of ionization in the morning convection cell

Two types of poleward moving plasma concentration enhancements (PMPCEs) were observed during a sequence of pulsed reconnection events, both in the morning convection cell: Type L (low density) was associated with a cusp flow channel and seems likely to have been produced by ionization associated with particle precipitation, while Type H (high density) appeared to originate from the segmentation of the tongue of ionization by the processes which produced the Type L events. As a result, the Type L and Type H PMPCEs were interspersed, producing a complex density structure which underlines the importance of cusp flow channels as a mechanism for segmenting and structuring electron density in the cusp and shows the necessity of differentiating between at least two classes of electron density patches

GPS Technology for Semi-Aquatic Turtle Research

Global positioning system (GPS) telemetry units are now small enough to be deployed on terrestrial and semi-aquatic turtles. Many of these GPS units use snapshot technology which collects raw satellite and timestamp data during brief periods of data recording to minimize size. We evaluated locations from snapshot GPS units in stationary tests and on wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in northeastern Minnesota. Stationary GPS units were placed in wood turtle habitat to evaluate location accuracy, fix success rate, and directional bias. The GPS fix success rate and accuracy were reduced in closed canopy conditions and when the stationary GPS unit was placed under a log to simulate wood turtle hiding behavior. We removed GPS location outliers and used a moving average calculation to reduce mean location error in stationary tests from 27 m (SD = 38) to 10 m (SD = 8). We then deployed GPS units and temperature loggers on wood turtles and collected 122,657 GPS locations and 242,781 temperature readings from 26 turtles from May to September 2015 and 2016. Location outliers accounted for 12% of locations when the GPS receiver was on a turtle. We classified each wood turtle location based on the GPS location and by comparing temperature profiles from river, sun, and shaded locations to the temperature logger on the turtle. We estimated that wood turtles were on land 68% (SD = 12) of the time from May to September. The fix success rate for land locations was 38% (SD = 9), indicating that wood turtles often use habitats with obstructed views of the sky. Mean net daily movement was 55 m (SD = 192). Our results demonstrate that snapshot GPS units and temperature loggers provide fine-scale GPS data useful in describing spatial ecology and habitat use of semi-aquatic turtles

Woolf et als GWAS by subtraction is not useful for cross-generational Mendelian randomization studies

Mendelian randomization (MR) is an epidemiological method that can be used to strengthen causal inference regarding the relationship between a modifiable environmental exposure and a medically relevant trait and to estimate the magnitude of this relationship1. Recently, there has been considerable interest in using MR to examine potential causal relationships between parental phenotypes and outcomes amongst their offspring. In a recent issue of BMC Research Notes, Woolf et al (2023) present a new method, GWAS by subtraction, to derive genome-wide summary statistics for paternal smoking and other paternal phenotypes with the goal that these estimates can then be used in downstream (including two sample) MR studies. Whilst a potentially useful goal, Woolf et al. (2023) focus on the wrong parameter of interest for useful genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and downstream cross-generational MR studies, and the estimator that they derive is neither efficient nor appropriate for such use.Comment: 8 pages, 0 figure