847 research outputs found
Electrostatic ion rocket engine Patent
Electron bombardment ion rocket engine with improved propellant introduction syste
Electrostatic ion engine having a permanent magnetic circuit Patent
Ion engine with magnetic circuit for optimal discharg
Operation of an electron-bombardment ion source using various gases
An electron-bombardment ion thruster of the SERT 2 type was operated with xenon, krypton, argon, neon, nitrogen, helium, and carbon dioxide. The discharge performance with xenon, krypton, and argon was similar to that obtained previously with mercury. Mass spectrometer data indicated that the xenon contained no significant multiple ionization. Restriction of the beam area, with an associated decrease in discharge potential, was necessary to reduce multiple ionization with argon to a negligible level. This modification also resulted in more stable operation of the thruster. Performance with the remaining gases was poor because the basic thruster designed was optimized for operation with mercury
An electron-bombardment ion rocket with a permanent magnet
Electron-bombardment ion rocket engine with permanent magne
s-Process Abundances in Planetary Nebulae
The s-process should occur in all but the lower mass progenitor stars of
planetary nebulae, and this should be reflected in the chemical composition of
the gas which is expelled to create the current planetary nebula shell. Weak
forbidden emission lines are expected from several s-process elements in these
shells, and have been searched for and in some cases detected in previous
investigations. Here we extend these studies by combining very high
signal-to-noise echelle spectra of a sample of PNe with a critical analysis of
the identification of the emission lines of Z>30 ions. Emission lines of Br,
Kr, Xe, Rb, Ba, and Pb are detected with a reasonable degree of certainty in at
least some of the objects studied here, and we also tentatively identify lines
from Te and I, each in one object. The strengths of these lines indicate
enhancement of s-process elements in the central star progenitors, and we
determine the abundances of Br, Kr, and Xe, elements for which atomic data
relevant for abundance determination have recently become available. As
representative elements of the ``light'' and ``heavy'' s-process peaks Kr and
Xe exhibit similar enhancements over solar values, suggesting that PNe
progenitors experience substantial neutron exposure.Comment: 56 Pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ This version
corrects missing captions in Figure 1-3 and minor typo
Oscillator strengths with pseudopotentials
The time-dependent local-density approximation (TDLDA) is shown to remain
accurate in describing the atomic response of IB elements under the additional
approximation of using pseudopotentials to treat the effects of core electrons.
This extends the work of Zangwill and Soven who showed the utility of the
all-electron TDLDA in the atomic response problem.Comment: 13 pages including 3 Postscript figure
The role of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) during ovarian follicular development in sheep
BACKGROUND: Recently, several members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily have been shown to be essential for regulating the growth and differentiation of ovarian follicles and thus fertility. METHODS: Ovaries of neonatal and adult sheep were examined for expression of the TGF-betas 1–3 and their receptors (RI and RII) by in situ hybridization using ovine cDNAs. The effects of TGF-beta 1 and 2 on proliferation and differentiation of ovine granulosa cells in vitro were also studied. RESULTS: The expression patterns of TGF-beta 1 and 2 were similar in that both mRNAs were first observed in thecal cells of type 3 (small pre-antral) follicles. Expression of both mRNAs continued to be observed in the theca of larger follicles and was also present in cells within the stroma and associated with the vascular system of the ovary. There was no evidence for expression in granulosa cells or oocytes. Expression of TGF-beta 3 mRNA was limited to cells associated with the vascular system within the ovary. TGFbetaRI mRNA was observed in oocytes from the type 1 (primordial) to type 5 (antral) stages of follicular growth and granulosa and thecal cells expressed this mRNA at the type 3 (small pre-antral) and subsequent stages of development. The TGFbetaRI signal was also observed in the ovarian stroma and vascular cells. In ovarian follicles, mRNA encoding TGFbetaRII was restricted to thecal cells of type 3 (small pre-antral) and larger follicles. In addition, expression was also observed in some cells of the surface epithelium and in some stromal cells. In granulosa cells cultured for 6 days, both TGF-beta 1 and 2 decreased, in a dose dependent manner, both the amount of DNA and concentration of progesterone. CONCLUSION: In summary, mRNA encoding both TGF-beta 1 and 2 were synthesized by ovarian theca, stroma and cells of the vascular system whereas TGF-beta 3 mRNA was synthesized by vascular cells. Luteinizing granulosa cells also responded to both TGF-beta 1 and beta 2 in vitro. These findings in sheep are consistent with TGF-beta potentially being an important autocrine regulator of thecal cell function and possibly a paracrine regulator of ovarian cell function at various development stages
Flux Tube Zero-Point Motion, Hadronic Charge Radii, and Hybrid Meson Production Cross Sections
Flux tube zero-point motion produces quark displacements transverse to the
flux tube which make significant contributions to hadronic charge radii. In
heavy quark systems, these contributions can be related by Bjorken's sum rule
to the rates for semileptonic decay to hybrid mesons. This connection can be
generalized to other leptoproduction processes, where transverse contributions
to elastic form factor slopes are related to the cross sections for the
production of the associated hybrid states. I identify the flux tube overlap
integral responsible for these effects as the strong QCD analogue of the
Sudakov form factor of perturbative QCD.Comment: 16 pages, revised to clarify some points and to improve and correct
the notation for the flux tube wave function
A large-scale R-matrix calculation for electron-impact excitation of the Ne O-like ion
The five J levels within a or ground state complex provide
an excellent testing ground for the comparison of theoretical line ratios with
astrophysically observed values, in addition to providing valuable electron
temperature and density diagnostics. The low temperature nature of the line
ratios ensure that the theoretically derived values are sensitive to the
underlying atomic structure and electron-impact excitation rates. Previous
R-matrix calculations for the Ne O-like ion exhibit large spurious
structure in the cross sections at higher electron energies, which may affect
Maxwellian averaged rates even at low temperatures. Furthermore, there is an
absence of comprehensive excitation data between the excited states that may
provide newer diagnostics to compliment the more established lines discussed in
this paper. To resolve these issues, we present both a small scale 56-level
Breit-Pauli (BP) calculation and a large-scale 554 levels R-matrix Intermediate
Coupling Frame Transformation (ICFT) calculation that extends the scope and
validity of earlier JAJOM calculations both in terms of the atomic structure
and scattering cross sections. Our results provide a comprehensive
electron-impact excitation data set for all transitions to higher shells.
The fundamental atomic data for this O-like ion is subsequently used within a
collisional radiative framework to provide the line ratios across a range of
electron temperatures and densities of interest in astrophysical observations.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
State-resolved valence shell photoionization of Be-like ions: experiment and theory
High-resolution photoionization experiments were carried out using beams of
Be-like C, N, and O ions with roughly equal populations of
the S ground-state and the P manifold of metastable components. The
energy scales of the experiments are calibrated with uncertainties of 1 to 10
meV depending on photon energy. Resolving powers beyond 20,000 were reached
allowing for the separation of contributions from the individual metastable
P, P, and P states. The measured data compare
favourably with semi-relativistic Breit-Pauli R-matrixComment: 23 figures and 3 table
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