Experimental investigation of reactor-loop transients during startup of a simulated SNAP-8 system

Primary loop transients during startup of Rankine cycle space power system in SNAP 8 simulato

Draft genome sequence of a meningitic isolate of Cronobacter sakazakii clonal complex 4, strain 8399

The Cronobacter sakazakii clonal lineage defined as clonal complex 4 (CC4), composed of nine sequence types, is associated with severe cases of neonatal meningitis. To date, only closely related C. sakazakii sequence type 4 (ST4) strains have been sequenced. C. sakazakii strain 8399, isolated from a case of neonatal meningitis, was sequenced as the first non-ST4 C. sakazakii strain

Nonflammable, antistatic, and heat-sealable film

Antistatic, heat-sealable, nonflammable films prepared from polyvinylidene fluoride and polyvinylidene chloride resin

A Dust-Penetrated Classification Scheme for Bars as Inferred from their Gravitational Force Fields

The division of galaxies into ``barred'' (SB) and ``normal'' (S) spirals is a fundamental aspect of the Hubble galaxy classification system. This ``tuning fork'' view was revised by de Vaucouleurs, whose classification volume recognized apparent ``bar strength'' (SA, SAB, SB) as a continuous property of galaxies called the ``family''. However, the SA, SAB, and SB families are purely visual judgments that can have little bearing on the actual bar strength in a given galaxy. Until very recently, published bar judgments were based exclusively on blue light images, where internal extinction or star formation can either mask a bar completely or give the false impression of a bar in a nonbarred galaxy. Near-infrared camera arrays, which principally trace the old stellar populations in both normal and barred galaxies, now facilitate a quantification of bar strength in terms of their gravitational potentials and force fields. In this paper, we show that the maximum value, Qb, of the ratio of the tangential force to the mean radial force is a quantitative measure of the strength of a bar. Qb does not measure bar ellipticity or bar shape, but rather depends on the actual forcing due to the bar embedded in its disk. We show that a wide range of true bar strengths characterizes the category ``SB'', while de Vaucouleurs category ``SAB'' corresponds to a much narrower range of bar strengths. We present Qb values for 36 galaxies, and we incorporate our bar classes into a dust-penetrated classification system for spiral galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (LaTex, 30 pages + 3 figures); Figs. 1 and 3 are in color and are also available at http://bama.ua.edu/~rbuta/bars

A Lie algebra that can be written as a sum of two nilpotent subalgebras, is solvable

This is an old paper put here for archeological purposes. It is proved that a finite-dimensional Lie algebra over a field of characteristic p>5, that can be written as a vector space (not necessarily direct) sum of two nilpotent subalgebras, is solvable. The same result (but covering also the cases of low characteristics) was established independently by V. Panyukov (Russ. Math. Surv. 45 (1990), N4, 181-182), and the homological methods utilized in the proof were developed later in arXiv:math/0204004. Many inaccuracies in the English translation are corrected, otherwise the text is identical to the published version.Comment: v2: minor change

Cooperative Cargo Transport by Several Molecular Motors

The transport of cargo particles which are pulled by several molecular motors in a cooperative manner is studied theoretically. The transport properties depend primarily on the maximal number, $N$, of motor molecules that may pull simultaneously on the cargo particle. Since each motor must unbind from the filament after a finite number of steps but can also rebind to it again, the actual number of pulling motors is not constant but varies with time between zero and $N$. An increase in the maximal number $N$ leads to a strong increase of the average walking distance (or run length) of the cargo particle. If the cargo is pulled by up to $N$ kinesin motors, e.g., the walking distance is estimated to be $5^{N-1}/N$ micrometers which implies that seven or eight kinesin molecules are sufficient to attain an average walking distance in the centimeter range. If the cargo particle is pulled against an external load force, this force is shared between the motors which provides a nontrivial motor-motor coupling and a generic mechanism for nonlinear force-velocity relationships. With increasing load force, the probability distribution of the instantenous velocity is shifted towards smaller values, becomes broader, and develops several peaks. Our theory is consistent with available experimental data and makes quantitative predictions that are accessible to systematic in vitro experiments.Comment: 24 pages, latex, 6 figures, includes Supporting Tex

The uneasy heirs of acquaintance

My contribution to the first round of a tetralog with Bill Brewer, Anil Gupta, and John McDowell. Each of us has written a response to the writings of the other three philosophers on the topic "Empirical Reason". My initial contribution focuses on what we know a priori about perception. In the second round, we will each respond to the each writer's first-round contributions

The Dwarf Galaxy Population of the Dorado group down to Mv=-11

We present V and I CCD photometry of suspected low-surface brightness dwarf galaxies detected in a survey covering ~2.4 deg^2 around the central region of the Dorado group of galaxies. The low-surface brightness galaxies were chosen based on their sizes and magnitudes at the limiting isophote of 26.0V\mu. The selected galaxies have magnitudes brighter than V=20 (Mv=-11 for an assumed distance to the group of 17.2 Mpc), with central surface brightnesses \mu0>22.5 V mag/arcsec^2, scale lengths h>2'', and diameters > 14'' at the limiting isophote. Using these criteria, we identified 69 dwarf galaxy candidates. Four of them are large very low-surface brightness galaxies that were detected on a smoothed image, after masking high surface brightness objects. Monte Carlo simulations performed to estimate completeness, photometric uncertainties and to evaluate our ability to detect extended low-surface brightness galaxies show that the completeness fraction is, on average, > 80% for dwarf galaxies with $-17<M_{V}<-10.5$ and 22.5<\mu0<25.5 V mag/arcsec^2, for the range of sizes considered by us (D>14''). The V-I colors of the dwarf candidates vary from -0.3 to 2.3 with a peak on V-I=0.98, suggesting a range of different stellar populations in these galaxies. The projected surface density of the dwarf galaxies shows a concentration towards the group center similar in extent to that found around five X-ray groups and the elliptical galaxy NGC1132 studied by Mulchaey and Zabludoff (1999), suggesting that the dwarf galaxies in Dorado are probably physically associated with the overall potential well of the group.Comment: 32 pages, 16 postscript figures and 3 figures in GIF format, aastex v5.0. To appear in The Astronomical Journal, January 200

Steps in the bacterial flagellar motor

The bacterial flagellar motor is a highly efficient rotary machine used by many bacteria to propel themselves. It has recently been shown that at low speeds its rotation proceeds in steps [Sowa et al. (2005) Nature 437, 916--919]. Here we propose a simple physical model that accounts for this stepping behavior as a random walk in a tilted corrugated potential that combines torque and contact forces. We argue that the absolute angular position of the rotor is crucial for understanding step properties, and show this hypothesis to be consistent with the available data, in particular the observation that backward steps are smaller on average than forward steps. Our model also predicts a sublinear torque-speed relationship at low torque, and a peak in rotor diffusion as a function of torque