463 research outputs found
Study of contamination of liquid oxygen by gaseous nitrogen First quarterly report, 1 Jul. - 30 Sep. 1964
Analytical model development for contamination study of liquid oxygen by gaseous nitroge
Global-scale wreath-building dynamos in stellar convection zones
When stars like our Sun are young they rotate rapidly and are very
magnetically active. We explore dynamo action in rapidly rotating suns with the
3-D MHD anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code. The magnetic fields built in
these dynamos are organized on global-scales into wreath-like structures that
span the convection zone. Wreath-building dynamos can undergo quasi-cyclic
reversals of polarity and such behavior is common in the parameter space we
have been able to explore. These dynamos do not appear to require tachoclines
to achieve their spatial or temporal organization. Wreath-building dynamos are
present to some degree at all rotation rates, but are most evident in the more
rapidly rotating simulations.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. To appear in IAU 271: "Astrophysical Dynamics:
from Stars to Galaxies
High frequency guided wave propagation in monocrystalline silicon wafers
Monocrystalline silicon wafers are widely used in the photovoltaic industry for solar panels with high conversion efficiency. The cutting process can introduce micro-cracks in the thin wafers and lead to varying thickness. High frequency guided ultrasonic waves are considered for the structural monitoring of the wafers. The anisotropy of the monocrystalline silicon leads to variations of the wave characteristics, depending on the propagation direction relative to the crystal orientation. Full three-dimensional Finite Element simulations of the guided wave propagation were conducted to visualize and quantify these effects for a line source. The phase velocity (slowness) and skew angle of the two fundamental Lamb wave modes (first anti-symmetric mode A0 and first symmetric mode S0) for varying propagation directions relative to the crystal orientation were measured experimentally. Selective mode excitation was achieved using a contact piezoelectric transducer with a custom-made wedge and holder to achieve a controlled contact pressure. The out-of-plane component of the guided wave propagation was measured using a noncontact laser interferometer. Good agreement was found with the simulation results and theoretical predictions based on nominal material properties of the silicon wafe
Environmental Noise and Nonlinear Relaxation in Biological Systems
We analyse the effects of environmental noise in three different biological
systems: (i) mating behaviour of individuals of \emph{Nezara viridula} (L.)
(Heteroptera Pentatomidae); (ii) polymer translocation in crowded solution;
(iii) an ecosystem described by a Verhulst model with a multiplicative L\'{e}vy
noise.Comment: 32 pages; In "Ecological Modeling" by Ed. Wen-Jun Zhang. ISBN:
978-1-61324-567-5. - Nova Science Publishers, New York, 201
A time-variable, phase-dependent emission line in the X-ray spectrum of the isolated neutron star RXJ0822–4300
RX J0822−4300 is the central compact object associated with the Puppis A supernova remnant. Previous X-ray observations suggested RX J0822−4300 to be a young neutron star with a weak dipole field and a peculiar surface temperature distribution dominated by two antipodal spots with different temperatures and sizes. An emission line at 0.8 keV was also detected. We performed a very deep (130-ks) observation with XMM–Newton, which allowed us to study in detail the phase-resolved properties of RX J0822−4300. Our new data confirm the existence of a narrow spectral feature, best modelled as an emission line, only seen in the ‘soft’-phase interval – when the cooler region is best aligned to the line of sight. Surprisingly, comparison of our recent observations to the older ones yields evidence for a variation in the emission-line component, which can be modelled as a decrease in the central energy from ∼0.80 keV in 2001 to ∼0.73 keV in 2009–10. The line could be generated via cyclotron scattering of thermal photons in an optically-thin layer of gas, or, alternatively, it could originate in low-rate accretion by a debris disc. In any case, a variation in energy, pointing to a variation of the magnetic field in the line-emitting region, cannot be easily accounted for
Uso de microeletrodos interligados de ouro revestidos com filmes poliméricos para a detecção de pesticidas em água por espectroscopia de impedância.
bitstream/CNPDIA-2009-09/11853/1/DOC25_2006.pd
The serendipituous discovery of a short-period eclipsing polar in 2XMMp
We report the serendipituous discovery of the new eclipsing polar 2XMMp
J131223.4+173659. Its striking X-ray light curve attracted immediate interest
when we were visually inspecting the source products of the 2XMMp catalogue.
This light curve revealed its likely nature as a magnetic cataclysmic variable
of AM Herculis (or polar) type with an orbital period of ~92 min, which was
confirmed by follow-up optical spectroscopy and photometry. 2XMMp
J131223.4+173659 probably has a one-pole accretion geometry. It joins the group
of now nine objects that show no evidence of a soft component in their X-ray
spectra despite being in a high accretion state, thus escaping ROSAT/EUVE
detection. We discuss the likely accretion scenario, the system parameters, and
the spectral energy distribution.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Observing expertise-related actions leads to perfect time flow estimations.
The estimation of the time of exposure of a picture portraying an action increases as a function of the amount of movement implied in the action represented. This effect suggests that the perceiver creates an internal embodiment of the action observed as if internally simulating the entire movement sequence. Little is known however about the timing accuracy of these internal action simulations, specifically whether they are affected by the level of familiarity and experience that the observer has of the action. In this study we asked professional pianists to reproduce different durations of exposure (shorter or longer than one second) of visual displays both specific (a hand in piano-playing action) and non-specific to their domain of expertise (a hand in finger-thumb opposition and scrambled-pixels) and compared their performance with non-pianists. Pianists outperformed non-pianists independently of the time of exposure of the stimuli; remarkably the group difference was particularly magnified by the pianists' enhanced accuracy and stability only when observing the hand in the act of playing the piano. These results for the first time provide evidence that through musical training, pianists create a selective and self-determined dynamic internal representation of an observed movement that allows them to estimate precisely its temporal duration
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