5,880 research outputs found
Pressure Modulator Radiometer (PMR) tests
The pressure modulator technique was evaluated for monitoring pollutant gases in the Earth's atmosphere of altitude levels corresponding to the mid and lower troposphere. Using an experimental set up and a 110 cm sample cell, pressure modulator output signals resulting from a range of gas concentrations in the sample cell were examined. Then a 20 cm sample cell was modified so that trace gas properties in the atmosphere could be simulated in the laboratory. These gas properties were measured using an infrared sensor
The evaluation of a shuttle borne lidar experiment to measure the global distribution of aerosols and their effect on the atmospheric heat budget
A shuttle-borne lidar system is described, which will provide basic data about aerosol distributions for developing climatological models. Topics discussed include: (1) present knowledge of the physical characteristics of desert aerosols and the absorption characteristics of atmospheric gas, (2) radiative heating computations, and (3) general circulation models. The characteristics of a shuttle-borne radar are presented along with some laboratory studies which identify schemes that permit the implementation of a high spectral resolution lidar system
Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Systems with Long Range Interactions: an Introduction
We review theoretical results obtained recently in the framework of
statistical mechanics to study systems with long range forces. This fundamental
and methodological study leads us to consider the different domains of
applications in a trans-disciplinary perspective (astrophysics, nuclear
physics, plasmas physics, metallic clusters, hydrodynamics,...) with a special
emphasis on Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: Chapter of the forthcoming "Lecture Notes in Physics" volume:
``Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Systems with Long Range Interactions'', T.
Dauxois, S. Ruffo, E. Arimondo, M. Wilkens Eds., Lecture Notes in Physics
Vol. 602, Springer (2002). (see http://link.springer.de/series/lnpp/
Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research
Guidelines for use of wild mammal species are updated from the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) 2007 publication. These revised guidelines cover current professional techniques and regulations involving mammals used in research and teaching. They incorporate additional resources, summaries of procedures, and reporting requirements not contained in earlier publications. Included are details on marking, housing, trapping, and collecting mammals. It is recommended that institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs), regulatory agencies, and investigators use these guidelines as a resource for protocols involving wild mammals. These guidelines were prepared and approved by the ASM, working with experienced professional veterinarians and IACUCs, whose collective expertise provides a broad and comprehensive understanding of the biology of nondomesticated mammals in their natural environments. The most current version of these guidelines and any subsequent modifications are available at the ASM Animal Care and Use Committee page of the ASM Web site (http://mammalsociety.org/committees/index.asp).American Society of Mammalogist
Late-Type Near-Contact Eclipsing Binary [HH97] FS Aur-79
The secondary photometric standard star #79 for the FS Aur field (Henden &
Honeycutt 1997) designated as [HH97] FS Aur-79 (GSC 1874 399) is a short period
(0.2508 days) eclipsing binary whose light curve is a combination of the
Lyr and BY Dra type variables. High signal-to-noise multi-color
photometry were obtained using the USNO 1-m telescope. These light curves show
asymmetry at quadrature phases (O'Connell effect), which can be modeled with
the presence of star spots. A low resolution spectrum obtained with the 3.5-m
WIYN telescope at orbital phase 0.76 is consistent with a spectral type of dK7e
and dM3e. A radial velocity curve for the primary star was constructed using
twenty-four high resolution spectra from the 9.2 m HET. Spectra show H-alpha
and H-beta in emission confirming chromospheric activity and possibly the
presence of circumstellar material. Binary star models that simultaneously fit
the U, B, V, R and RV curves are those with a primary star of mass 0.59+-0.02
Msun, temperature 4100+-25 K, mean radius of 0.67 Rsun, just filling its Roche
lobe and a secondary star of mass 0.31+-0.09 Msun, temperature 3425+-25 K, mean
radius of 0.48 Rsun, just within its Roche lobe. An inclination angle of 83+-2
degrees with a center of mass separation of 1.62 Rsun is also derived. Star
spots, expected for a rotation period of less than a day, had to be included in
the modeling to fit the O'Connell effect
Oncological Outcomes in Rats Given Nephrocarcinogenic Exposure to Dietary Ochratoxin A, Followed by the Tumour Promoter Sodium Barbital for Life: A Pilot Study
The potent experimental renal carcinogenesis of ochratoxin A (OTA) in male rats makes the dietary contaminant a potential factor in human oncology. We explored whether the tumour promoter sodium barbitate could shorten the otherwise long latency between exposure to toxin and tumourigenesis. Young rats, of a hybrid in which mononuclear leukaemia was rare, were given feed contaminated (5 ppm) with OTA for 36 weeks to initiate renal tumourigenesis. Some individuals were thereafter given sodium barbitate (500 ppm in drinking water) for life. Pathological outcomes were studied at or near the end of natural life. Renal tumours in males given barbitate became evident after latency of one year, but only slightly before those without barbitate. In contrast, female mammary tumourigenesis was advanced by at least 6 months synchronously in all rats given the OTA-barbitate regimen compared to tumourigenesis in controls. Diagnosis of malignant mammary angiosarcoma in a female given the OTA-barbitate regimen is a new finding in the rat. The long latency of OTA-induced renal tumourigenesis was not notably susceptible to accelerated promotion by barbitate, contrasting with an apparently marked effect of barbitate on development of mammary tumours
O(N) methods in electronic structure calculations
Linear scaling methods, or O(N) methods, have computational and memory
requirements which scale linearly with the number of atoms in the system, N, in
contrast to standard approaches which scale with the cube of the number of
atoms. These methods, which rely on the short-ranged nature of electronic
structure, will allow accurate, ab initio simulations of systems of
unprecedented size. The theory behind the locality of electronic structure is
described and related to physical properties of systems to be modelled, along
with a survey of recent developments in real-space methods which are important
for efficient use of high performance computers. The linear scaling methods
proposed to date can be divided into seven different areas, and the
applicability, efficiency and advantages of the methods proposed in these areas
is then discussed. The applications of linear scaling methods, as well as the
implementations available as computer programs, are considered. Finally, the
prospects for and the challenges facing linear scaling methods are discussed.Comment: 85 pages, 15 figures, 488 references. Resubmitted to Rep. Prog. Phys
(small changes
A blind detection of a large, complex, Sunyaev--Zel'dovich structure
We present an interesting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) detection in the first of
the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) 'blind', degree-square fields to have
been observed down to our target sensitivity of 100{\mu}Jy/beam. In follow-up
deep pointed observations the SZ effect is detected with a maximum peak
decrement greater than 8 \times the thermal noise. No corresponding emission is
visible in the ROSAT all-sky X-ray survey and no cluster is evident in the
Palomar all-sky optical survey. Compared with existing SZ images of distant
clusters, the extent is large (\approx 10') and complex; our analysis favours a
model containing two clusters rather than a single cluster. Our Bayesian
analysis is currently limited to modelling each cluster with an ellipsoidal or
spherical beta-model, which do not do justice to this decrement. Fitting an
ellipsoid to the deeper candidate we find the following. (a) Assuming that the
Evrard et al. (2002) approximation to Press & Schechter (1974) correctly gives
the number density of clusters as a function of mass and redshift, then, in the
search area, the formal Bayesian probability ratio of the AMI detection of this
cluster is 7.9 \times 10^4:1; alternatively assuming Jenkins et al. (2001) as
the true prior, the formal Bayesian probability ratio of detection is 2.1
\times 10^5:1. (b) The cluster mass is MT,200 = 5.5+1.2\times 10^14h-1M\odot.
(c) Abandoning a physical model with num- -1.3 70 ber density prior and instead
simply modelling the SZ decrement using a phenomenological {\beta}-model of
temperature decrement as a function of angular distance, we find a central SZ
temperature decrement of -295+36 {\mu}K - this allows for CMB primary
anisotropies, receiver -15 noise and radio sources. We are unsure if the
cluster system we observe is a merging system or two separate clusters.Comment: accepted MNRAS. 12 pages, 9 figure
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Overview of mathematical approaches used to model bacterial chemotaxis II: bacterial populations
We review the application of mathematical modeling to understanding the behavior of populations of chemotactic bacteria. The application of continuum mathematical models, in particular generalized Keller–Segel models, is discussed along with attempts to incorporate the microscale (individual) behavior on the macroscale, modeling the interaction between different species of bacteria, the interaction of bacteria with their environment, and methods used to obtain experimentally verified parameter values. We allude briefly to the role of modeling pattern formation in understanding collective behavior within bacterial populations. Various aspects of each model are discussed and areas for possible future research are postulated
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