Stirring Unmagnetized Plasma

A new concept for spinning unmagnetized plasma is demonstrated experimentally. Plasma is confined by an axisymmetric multi-cusp magnetic field and biased cathodes are used to drive currents and impart a torque in the magnetized edge. Measurements show that flow viscously couples momentum from the magnetized edge (where the plasma viscosity is small) into the unmagnetized core (where the viscosity is large) and that the core rotates as a solid body. To be effective, collisional viscosity must overcome the ion-neutral drag due to charge exchange collisions

Turbulent dissipation in the ISM: the coexistence of forced and decaying regimes and implications for galaxy formation and evolution

We discuss the dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy Ek in the global ISM by means of 2-D, MHD, non-isothermal simulations in the presence of model radiative heating and cooling. We argue that dissipation in 2D is representative of that in three dimensions as long as it is dominated by shocks rather than by a turbulent cascade. Energy is injected at a few isolated sites in space, over relatively small scales, and over short time periods. This leads to the coexistence of forced and decaying regimes in the same flow. We find that the ISM-like flow dissipates its turbulent energy rapidly. In simulations with forcing, the input parameters are the radius l_f of the forcing region, the total kinetic energy e_k each source deposits into the flow, and the rate of formation of those regions, sfr_OB. The global dissipation time t_d depends mainly on l_f. In terms of measurable properties of the ISM, t_d >= Sigma_g u_rms^2/(e_k sfr_OB), where Sigma_g is the average gas surface density and u_rms is the rms velocity dispersion. For the solar neighborhood, t_d >= 1.5x10^7 yr. The global dissipation time is consistently smaller than the crossing time of the largest energy-containing scales. In decaying simulations, Ek decreases with time as t^-n, where n~0.8-0.9. This suggests a decay with distance d as Ek\propto d^{-2n/(2-n)} in the mixed forced+decaying case. If applicable to the vertical direction, our results support models of galaxy evolution in which stellar energy injection provides significant support for the gas disk thickness, but not models of galaxy formation in which this energy injection is supposed to reheat an intra-halo medium at distances of up to 10-20 times the optical galaxy size, as the dissipation occurs on distances comparable to the disk height.Comment: 23 pages, including figures. To appear in ApJ. Abstract abridge

BVRI Surface Photometry of Isolated Spiral Galaxies

A release of multicolor broad band (BVRI) photometry for a subsample of 44 isolated spirals drawn from the Catalogue of Isolated Galaxies (CIG) is presented. Total magnitudes and colors at various circular apertures, as well as some global structural/morphological parameters are estimated. Morphology is reevaluated through optical and sharp/filtered R band images, (B-I) color index maps, and archive near-IR JHK images from the Two-Micron Survey. The CAS structural parameters (Concentration, Asymmetry, and Clumpiness) were calculated from the images in each one of the bands. The fraction of galaxies with well identified optical/near-IR bars (SB) is 63%, while a 17% more shows evidence of weak or suspected bars (SAB). The sample average value of the maximum bar ellipticity is 0.4. Half of the galaxies in the sample shows rings. We identify two candidates for isolated galaxies with disturbed morphology. The structural CAS parameters change with the observed band, and the tendencies they follow with the morphological type and global color are more evident in the redder bands. In any band, the major difference between our isolated spirals and a sample of interacting spirals is revealed in the A-S plane. A deep and uniformly observed sample of isolated galaxies is intended for various purposes including (i) comparative studies of environmental effects, (ii) confronting model predictions of galaxy evolution and (iii) evaluating the change of galaxy properties with redshift.Comment: 44 pages, 9 figures and 7 tables included. To appear in The Astronomical Journal. For the 43 appendix figures 4.1-4.43 see http://www.astroscu.unam.mx/~avila/Figs4.1_4.43.tar.gz (7.2 Mb tar.gz file

Analysis of the thermomechanical inconsistency of some extended hydrodynamic models at high Knudsen number

There are some hydrodynamic equations that, while their parent kinetic equation satisfies fundamental mechanical properties, appear themselves to violate mechanical or thermodynamic properties. This article aims to shed some light on the source of this problem. Starting with diffusive volume hydrodynamic models, the microscopic temporal and spatial scales are first separated at the kinetic level from the macroscopic scales at the hydrodynamic level. Then we consider Klimontovich’s spatial stochastic version of the Boltzmann kinetic equation, and show that, for small local Knudsen numbers, the stochastic term vanishes and the kinetic equation becomes the Boltzmann equation. The collision integral dominates in the small local Knudsen number regime, which is associated with the exact traditional continuum limit. We find a sub-domain of the continuum range which the conventional Knudsen number classification does not account for appropriately. In this sub-domain, it is possible to obtain a fully mechanically-consistent volume (or mass) diffusion model that satisfies the second law of thermodynamics on the grounds of extended non-local-equilibrium thermodynamics

Tritrophic Interaction of Parasitoid \u3ci\u3eLysiphlebus testaceipes \u3c/i\u3e(Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae), Greenbug, \u3ci\u3eSchizaphis graminum\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Aphididae), and Greenbug-Resistant Sorghum Hybrids

Interactions of the parasitoid Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson) and the greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), on greenbug-resistant ‘Cargill 607E’ (antibiosis), ‘Cargill 797’ (primarily tolerance), and -susceptible ‘Golden Harvest 510B’ sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, were tested using three levels of biotype I greenbug infestation. The parasitoid infestation rate was 0.5 female and 1.0 male L. testaceipes per plant. For all three greenbug infestation levels, the parasitoid brought the greenbug under control (i.e., prevented the greenbugs from killing the plants) on both resistant hybrids, but it did not prevent heavy leaf damage at the higher greenbug infestation rates. At the low greenbug infestation rate (50 greenbugs per resistant plant when parasitoids were introduced), greenbugs damaged 5 and 18% of the total leaf area on ‘Cargill 797’ and ‘Cargill 607E’, respectively, before greenbugs were eliminated. Leaf damage was higher for the intermediate infestation study (120 greenbugs per plant), 21% and 30% leaf area were damaged on the resistant sorghum hybrids ‘Cargill 797’ and ‘Cargill 607E’, respectively. At the high greenbug infestation rate (300 greenbugs per plant), heavy damage occurred: 61% on ‘Cargill 607E’ and 75% on ‘Cargill 797’. The parasitoids did not control greenbugs on the susceptible sorghum hybrid ’Golden Harvest 510B’. L. testaceipes provided comparable control on both greenbug-resistant hybrids. This study supports previous studies indicating that L. testaceipes is effective in controlling greenbugs on sorghum with antibiosis resistance to greenbugs. Furthermore, new information is provided indicating that L. testaceipes is also effective in controlling greenbugs on a greenbug-tolerant hybrid

Restoration of Frequency-Dependent Depression of the H-Reflex by Passive Exercise in Spinal Rats

Hyper-reflexia, measured as a decrease of low frequency-dependent depression of the H-reflex, is known to occur in both humans and animals after spinal cord injury (SCI). Previous studies have shown that passive exercise for 3 months could be used to restore low frequency-dependent depression of the H-reflex after SCI. To determine the effects of various periods of time on the ability of passive exercise to restore low frequency-dependent depression of the H-reflex. Spinal Cord Injury Mobilization Program of the Center for Translational Neuroscience, the research arm of the Jackson T Stephens Spine and Neuroscience Institute, Little Rock, AR, USA. Adult rats underwent complete spinal cord transection at the T10 level. The hindlimbs were passively exercised in different groups of rats for 1 h/day, 5 days/week for 15, 30, 45, 60, or 90 days, and low frequency-dependent depression of the H-reflex was tested. Statistically significant low frequency-dependent depression of the H-reflex was evident by 30 days of exercise, although numerical reductions were seen even at 15 days. There was a linear decrease in low frequency-dependent depression of the H-reflex with duration of passive exercise. Passive exercise can restore frequency-dependent depression of spinal reflexes in a time-dependent manner if used following complete spinal transection