3,341 research outputs found
Microbial load monitor
A card configuration which combines the functions of identification, enumeration and antibiotic sensitivity into one card was developed. An instrument package was designed around the card to integrate the card filling, incubation reading, computation and decision making process into one compact unit. Support equipment was also designed to prepare the expandable material used in the MLM
Midcourse maneuver operations program
Midcourse Maneuver Operations Program /MMOP/ computes the required velocity change to correct a spacecraft trajectory. The program establishes the existence of maneuvers which satisfy spacecraft constraints, explores alternate trajectories in the event that some out-of-tolerance condition forces a change in plans, and codes the maneuvers into commands
Droplet and cluster formation in freely falling granular streams
Particle beams are important tools for probing atomic and molecular
interactions. Here we demonstrate that particle beams also offer a unique
opportunity to investigate interactions in macroscopic systems, such as
granular media. Motivated by recent experiments on streams of grains that
exhibit liquid-like breakup into droplets, we use molecular dynamics
simulations to investigate the evolution of a dense stream of macroscopic
spheres accelerating out of an opening at the bottom of a reservoir. We show
how nanoscale details associated with energy dissipation during collisions
modify the stream's macroscopic behavior. We find that inelastic collisions
collimate the stream, while the presence of short-range attractive interactions
drives structure formation. Parameterizing the collision dynamics by the
coefficient of restitution (i.e., the ratio of relative velocities before and
after impact) and the strength of the cohesive interaction, we map out a
spectrum of behaviors that ranges from gas-like jets in which all grains drift
apart to liquid-like streams that break into large droplets containing hundreds
of grains. We also find a new, intermediate regime in which small aggregates
form by capture from the gas phase, similar to what can be observed in
molecular beams. Our results show that nearly all aspects of stream behavior
are closely related to the velocity gradient associated with vertical free
fall. Led by this observation, we propose a simple energy balance model to
explain the droplet formation process. The qualitative as well as many
quantitative features of the simulations and the model compare well with
available experimental data and provide a first quantitative measure of the
role of attractions in freely cooling granular streams
The perturbed sublimation rim of the dust disk around the post-AGB binary IRAS08544-4431
Context: Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) binaries are surrounded by stable
dusty and gaseous disks similar to the ones around young stellar objects.
Whereas significant effort is spent on modeling observations of disks around
young stellar objects, the disks around post-AGB binaries receive significantly
less attention, even though they pose significant constraints on theories of
disk physics and binary evolution. Aims: We want to examine the structure of
and phenomena at play in circumbinary disks around post-AGB stars. We continue
the analysis of our near-infrared interferometric image of the inner rim of the
circumbinary disk around IRAS08544-4431. We want to understand the physics
governing this inner disk rim. Methods: We use a radiative transfer model of a
dusty disk to reproduce simultaneously the photometry as well as the
near-infrared interferometric dataset on IRAS08544-4431. The model assumes
hydrostatic equilibrium and takes dust settling self-consistently into account.
Results: The best-fit radiative transfer model shows excellent agreement with
the spectral energy distribution up to mm wavelengths as well as with the
PIONIER visibility data. It requires a rounded inner rim structure, starting at
a radius of 8.25 au. However, the model does not fully reproduce the detected
over-resolved flux nor the azimuthal flux distribution of the inner rim. While
the asymmetric inner disk rim structure is likely to be the consequence of
disk-binary interactions, the origin of the additional over-resolved flux
remains unclear. Conclusions: As in young stellar objects, the disk inner rim
of IRAS08544-4431 is ruled by dust sublimation physics. Additional observations
are needed to understand the origin of the extended flux and the azimuthal
perturbation at the inner rim of the disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 13 figures, 13 page
Does rotation of B stars depend on metallicity? preliminary results from GIRAFFE spectra
We show the vsini distribution of main sequence B stars in sites of various
metallicities, in the absolute magnitude range -3.34 < Mv < -2.17. These
include Galactic stars in the field measured by Abt et al. (2002), members of
the h & chi Per open clusters measured by North et al. (2004), and five fields
in the SMC and LMC measured at ESO Paranal with the FLAMES-GIRAFFE
spectrograph, within the Geneva-Lausanne guaranteed time. Following the
suggestion by Maeder et al. (1999), we do find a higher rate of rapid rotators
in the Magellanic Clouds than in the Galaxy, but the vsini distribution is the
same in the LMC and in the SMC in spite of their very different metallicities.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, poster presented at the ESO/Arcetri Workshop on
"Chemical abundances and mixing in stars in the Milky Way and its
satellites", 13-17 Sept. 200
Correlated projection operator approach to non-Markovian dynamics in spin baths
The dynamics of an open quantum system is usually studied by performing a
weak-coupling and weak-correlation expansion in the system-bath interaction.
For systems exhibiting strong couplings and highly non-Markovian behavior this
approach is not justified. We apply a recently proposed correlated projection
superoperator technique to the model of a central spin coupled to a spin bath
via full Heisenberg interaction. Analytical solutions to both the
Nakajima-Zwanzig and the time-convolutionless master equation are determined
and compared with the results of the exact solution. The correlated projection
operator technique significantly improves the standard methods and can be
applied to many physical problems such as the hyperfine interaction in a
quantum dot
Wave-number Selection by Target Patterns and Side Walls in Rayleigh-Benard Convection
We present experimental results for Rayleigh-Benard convection patterns in a
cylindrical container with static side-wall forcing induced by a heater. This
forcing stabilized a pattern of concentric rolls (a target pattern) with the
central roll (the umbilicus) at the center of the cell after a jump from the
conduction to the convection state. A quasi-static increase of the control
parameter (epsilon) beyond 0.8 caused the umbilicus of the pattern to move off
center. As observed by others, a further quasi-static increase of epsilon up to
15.6 caused a sequence of transitions. Each transition began with the
displacement of the umbilicus and then proceeded with the loss of one
convection roll at the umbilicus and the return of the umbilicus to a location
near the center of the cell. Alternatively, with decreasing epsilon new rolls
formed at the umbilicus but large umbilicus displacements did not occur. In
addition to quantitative measurements of the umbilicus displacement, we
determined and analyzed the entire wave-director field of each image. The wave
numbers varied in the axial direction, with minima at the umbilicus and at the
cell wall and a maximum at a radial position close to 2/3 Gamma. The wave
numbers at the maximum showed hysteretic jumps at the transitions, but on
average agreed well with the theoretical predictions for the wave numbers
selected in the far field of an infinitely extended target pattern.Comment: ReVTeX, 11 pages, 16 eps figures include
Carinae's Dusty Homunculus Nebula from Near-Infrared to Submillimeter Wavelengths: Mass, Composition, and Evidence for Fading Opacity
Infrared observations of the dusty, massive Homunculus Nebula around the
luminous blue variable Carinae are crucial to characterize the mass-loss
history and help constrain the mechanisms leading to the Great Eruption. We
present the 2.4 - 670 m spectral energy distribution, constructed from
legacy ISO observations and new spectroscopy obtained with the {\em{Herschel
Space Observatory}}. Using radiative transfer modeling, we find that the two
best-fit dust models yield compositions which are consistent with CNO-processed
material, with iron, pyroxene and other metal-rich silicates, corundum, and
magnesium-iron sulfide in common. Spherical corundum grains are supported by
the good match to a narrow 20.2 m feature. Our preferred model contains
nitrides AlN and SiN in low abundances. Dust masses range from 0.25 to
0.44 but 45 in both cases due to an
expected high Fe gas-to-dust ratio. The bulk of dust is within a 5
7 central region. An additional compact feature is detected at 390 m.
We obtain = 2.96 10 , a 25\% decline from
an average of mid-IR photometric levels observed in 1971-1977. This indicates a
reduction in circumstellar extinction in conjunction with an increase in visual
brightness, allowing 25-40\% of optical and UV radiation to escape from the
central source. We also present an analysis of CO and CO through lines, showing that the abundances are consistent with
expectations for CNO-processed material. The [C~{\sc{ii}}] line is
detected in absorption, which we suspect originates in foreground material at
very low excitation temperatures.Comment: Accepted in Ap
Emission of intermediate mass fragments from hot Ba formed in low-energy Ni+Ni reaction
The complex fragments (or intermediate mass fragments) observed in the
low-energy Ni+NiBa reaction, are studied within
the dynamical cluster decay model for s-wave with the use of the
temperature-dependent liquid drop, Coulomb and proximity energies. The
important result is that, due to the temperature effects in liquid drop energy,
the explicit preference for -like fragments is washed out, though the
C (or the complementary Sn) decay is still predicted to be one
of the most probable -nucleus decay for this reaction. The production
rates for non- like intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) are now higher
and the light particle production is shown to accompany the IMFs at all
incident energies, without involving any statistical evaporation process in the
model. The comparisons between the experimental data and the (s-wave)
calculations for IMFs production cross sections are rather satisfactory and the
contributions from other -waves need to be added for a further
improvement of these comparisons and for calculations of the total kinetic
energies of fragments.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figure
A very-front-end ADC for the electromagnetic calorimeter of the International Linear Collider
A 10-bits pipeline Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is introduced in this paper and the measurements carried out on prototypes produced in a 0.35 µm CMOS technology are presented. This ADC is a building block of the very-front-end electronics dedicated to the electromagnetic calorimeter of the International Linear Collider (ILC). Based on a 1.5-bit resolution per stage architecture, it reaches the 10-bits precision at a sampling rate of 4 MSamples/s with a consumption of 35 mW. Integral and Differential Non-Linearity obtained are respectively within ±1 LSB and ±0.6 LSB, and the measured noise is 0.47 LSB at 68% C.L. The performance obtained confirms that the pipeline architecture ADC is suitable for the Ecal readout requirement
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