166,787 research outputs found
Experimental study and evaluation of radioprotective drugs
Experimental study evaluates radioprotective drugs administered before exposure either orally or intravenously. Specifically studied are the sources of radiation, choice of radiation dose, choice of animals, administration of drugs, the toxicity of protective agents and types of protective drug
Human transfer characteristics in flight and ground simulation for a roll tracking task
Human transfer characteristics in flight and ground simulation for roll tracking tas
A technique to investigate space maintenance tasks
Effects of space suit pressurization and weightlessness on performance decrement in space maintenance activit
Coherent microwave backscatter of natural snowpacks
The backscatter of natural snowpacks was measured using a swept-frequency system operating from 5.8 to 8.0 GHz. Snow layering produced sequences of maxima and minima in backscatter intensity, with typical peak-to-valley ratios of 15 db. Wetness produced in the upper portion of the snowpack by solar heat input enhanced the effect of layering. The layer response persisted for incidence exhibits predominantly coherent properties. Frequency modulation of the incident signal masked the layer response by averaging the unmodulated response over the bandwidth represented by the modulation. Further changes in backscatter were attributed to changes in wetness in the surface regions of the snowpack; for a fixed frequency of 13.5 GHz and incidence angle of 39 deg, the backscatter decreased typically 15 db between 11 A.M. and noon, and returned to approximately its initial level of overnight
The Very Massive Star Content of the Nuclear Star Clusters in NGC 5253
The blue compact dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 hosts a very young starburst
containing twin nuclear star clusters, separated by a projected distance of 5
pc. One cluster (#5) coincides with the peak of the H-alpha emission and the
other (#11) with a massive ultracompact H II region. A recent analysis of these
clusters shows that they have a photometric age of 1+/-1 Myr, in apparent
contradiction with the age of 3-5 Myr inferred from the presence of Wolf-Rayet
features in the cluster #5 spectrum. We examine Hubble Space Telescope
ultraviolet and Very Large Telescope optical spectroscopy of #5 and show that
the stellar features arise from very massive stars (VMS), with masses greater
than 100 Msun, at an age of 1-2 Myr. We further show that the very high
ionizing flux from the nuclear clusters can only be explained if VMS are
present. We investigate the origin of the observed nitrogen enrichment in the
circum-cluster ionized gas and find that the excess N can be produced by
massive rotating stars within the first 1 Myr. We find similarities between the
NGC 5253 cluster spectrum and those of metal poor, high redshift galaxies. We
discuss the presence of VMS in young, star-forming galaxies at high redshift;
these should be detected in rest frame UV spectra to be obtained with the James
Webb Space Telescope. We emphasize that population synthesis models with upper
mass cut-offs greater than 100 Msun are crucial for future studies of young
massive star clusters at all redshifts.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journa
Snow wetness measurements for melt forecasting
A microwave technique for directly measuring snow pack wetness in remote installations is described. The technique, which uses satellite telemetry for data gathering, is based on the attenuation of a microwave beam in transmission through snow
Unpulsed UBV Optical Emission from the Crab Pulsar
Based on observations of the Crab pulsar using the TRIFFID high speed imaging
photometer in the UBV bands using the Special Astrophysical Observatory's 6m
telescope in the Russian Caucasus, we report the detection of pronounced
emission during the so-called `off' phase of emission. Following de-extinction,
this unpulsed component of emission is shown to be consistent with a power law
with an exponent of alpha = -0.60 +/- 0.37, the uncertainty being dominated by
the error associated with the independent CCD photometry used to reference the
TRIFFID data. This suggests a steeper power law form than that reported
elsewhere in the literature for the total integrated spectrum, which is
essentially flat with alpha ~ 0.1, although the difference in this case is only
significant at the ~ 2 sigma level. Deeper reference integrated and TRIFFID
phase-resolved photometry in these bands in conjunction with further
observations in the UV and R region would constrain this fit further.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures, uses aasms4.sty, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Flight performance of a navigation, guidance, and control system concept for automatic approach and landing of space shuttle orbiter
Unpowered automatic approaches and landings were conducted to study navigation, guidance, and control problems associated with terminal area approach and landing for the space shuttle vehicle. The flight tests were performed in a Convair 990 aircraft equipped with a digital flight control computer connected to the aircraft control system and displays. The tests were designed to evaluate the performance of a navigation and guidance concept that utilized blended radio/inertial navigation with VOR, DME, and ILS as the ground navigation aids. Results from 36 automatic approaches and landings from 11,300 m (37,000 ft) to touchdown are presented. Preliminary results indicate that this concept may provide sufficient accuracy to accomplish automatic landing of the shuttle orbiter without air-breathing engines
Droplet impact on a thin fluid layer
The initial stages of high-velocity droplet impact on a shallow water layer are described, with special emphasis given to the spray jet mechanics. Four stages of impact are delineated, with appropriate scalings, and the successively more important influence of the base is analysed. In particular, there is a finite time before which part of the water in the layer remains under the droplet and after which all of the layer is ejected in the splash jet
The tail of the Jurassic fish Leedsichthys problematicus (Osteichthyes: Actinopterygii) collected by Alfred Nicholson Leeds - an example of the importance of historical records in palaeontology
The specimen of the tail of <i>Leedsichthys problematicus</i>, now in The Natural History Museum, London, was one of the most spectacular fossil vertebrates from the Oxford Clay Formation of Peterborough, but as an isolated find it shares no bones in common with the holotype of the genus and species. However, a letter from Alfred Nicholson Leeds and related documents cast valuable new light on the excavation of the tail, indicating that it was discovered with cranial bones, gill-rakers, and two pectoral fins, thereby including elements that can potentially be compared with those of the holotype. The documents also clearly indicate that The Natural History Museum's specimen is not part of the same individual as any other numbered specimen of <i>Leedsichthys</i> as had been speculated on other occasions. The maximum size of the animal represented by The Natural History Museum's specimen was possibly around 9 metres, considerably less than previous estimates of up to 27.6 metres for <i>Leedsichthys</i>. Historical documentary evidence should therefore be rigorously checked both when studying historical specimens in science, and in preparing text for museum display labels
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