Studies of photoabsorption by atomic hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen

Quantitative measurement of atomic photoionization cross sections of atomic hydrogen, oxygen, and nitroge

A note on the evaluation of a beta-casein variant in bovine breeds by allele-specific PCR and relevance to β-casomorphin

peer-reviewedThis work was supported by Enterprise Ireland and by a Teagasc Walsh fellowship to A.F. Keating.Two genetic variants of the bovine β-casein gene (A1 and B) encode a histidine residue at codon 67, resulting in potential liberation of a bioactive peptide, β-casomorphin, upon digestion. An allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) was evaluated to distinguish between the β-casomorphin-releasing variants (A1 and B) and the non-releasing variants. AS-PCR successfully distinguished β-casein variants in 41 of 42 animals as confirmed by sequence analysis. Overall, while the incidence of the homozygous A1 and B animals (i.e., homozygous for the histidine residue; 21.4%) was lower than that for animals without the histidine residue (30.9% respectively), 69% of animals carried at least one allele for the histidine residue at codon 67.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship ProgrammeEnterprise Irelan

Lower-hybrid waves generated by anomalous Doppler resonance in auroral plasmas

This paper describes sonic aspects of lower-hybrid wave activity in space plasmas. Lower-hybrid waves are particularly important since they can transfer energy efficiently between electrons and ions in a collisionless magnetized plasma. We consider the 'fan' or anomalous Doppler resonance instability driven by energetic electron tails and show that it is responsible for the generation of lower-hybrid waves. We also demonstrate that observations of their intensity are sufficient to drive the modulational instability.Peer reviewe

Are supernova remnants quasi-parallel or quasi-perpendicular accelerators

Observations of shock waves in the solar system which show a pronounced difference in the plasma wave and particle environment depending on whether the shock is propagating along or perpendicular to the interplanetary magnetic field are discussed. Theories for particle acceleration developed for quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular shocks, when extended to the interstellar medium suggest that the relativistic electrons in radio supernova remnants are accelerated by either the Q parallel or Q perpendicular mechanisms. A model for the galactic magnetic field and published maps of supernova remnants were used to search for a dependence of structure on the angle Phi. Results show no tendency for the remnants as a whole to favor the relationship expected for either mechanism, although individual sources resemble model remnants of one or the other acceleration process

Solar coronal electron heating by short-wavelength dispersive shear Alfvén waves

This work was partially supported by the STFC through the Centre for Fundamental Physics (CfFP) at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, UK. BE acknowledges support by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK, Grant no EP/M009386/1.The electron heating of the solar coronal plasma has remained one of the most important problems in solar physics. An explanation of the electron heating rests on the identification of the energy source and appropriate physical mechanisms via which the energy can be channelled to the electrons. Our objective here is to present an estimate for the electron heating rate in the presence of finite amplitude short-wavelength (in comparison with the ion gyroradius) dispersive shear Alfven (SWDSA) waves that propagate obliquely to the ambient magnetic field direction in the solar corona. Specifically, it is demonstrated that SWDSA waves can significantly contribute to the solar coronal electron heating via collisionless heating involving SWDSA wave-electron interactions.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Studies of neutron inelastic scattering in crystal and liquid scintillators

An investigation has been made of the feasibility of using crystal, liquid and gel scintillators for the study of neutron inelastic scattering from elements, contained or loaded in the scintillators. The nuclides included those of iodine, cesium, lanthanum, holmium, praseodymium and bismuth. investigations showed that the technique was feasible for crystal and liquid scintillators, and indicated the study or 12 7I iri sodium iodide crystal to be the most suitable for further investigation. A study was then made of inelastic scattering to the 59 keV level of 1 2 7 I for incident neutrons in the energy range 60 to 360 keV. Cross section data obtained were compared with inelastic scattering cross sections calculated using a Hauser-Feshbach model of Auerbach and Moore. Experimental data were; found to be in reasonable agreement with the calculated cross sections based on neutron transmission coefficients given by Auerbach and Perey

The coupling of a hearing aid loudspeaker membrane to visco-thermal air layers

Hearing aids and their components are becoming smaller. This presents new problems for the acoustical components, such as the loudspeaker. A circular membrane of a hearing aid loudspeaker is modeled in this paper. Neglecting air influences, the membrane and its suspension behave as a mass spring system. However, under operating conditions, thin layers of air on both sides of the membrane influence its behavior. Air can enter and leave these layers at certain locations on the circular edge of the layer. Since these air layers are thin, visco-thermal effects may have to be taken into account. Therefore, the air layers are not modeled by the wave equation, but by the low reduced frequency model that takes these visco-thermal effects into account. The equations of this model are solved in a polar coordinate system, using a wave-based method. The other acoustical parts of the hearing aid loudspeaker, and the membrane itself are modeled by simple lumped models. The emphasis in this paper is on the coupling of the viscothermal air layer model to the mechanical model of the membrane. Coupling of the air layer to other acoustical parts by using an impedance as boundary condition for the layer model, is also described. The resulting model is verified by experiments. The model and the measurements match reasonably well, considering the level of approximation with lumped parts

On the estimation of temporal mileage rates

Peer reviewedPostprin