94,225 research outputs found
Some implications of sampling choices on comparisons between satellite and model aerosol optical depth fields
The comparison of satellite and model aerosol optical depth (AOD) fields provides useful information on the strengths and weaknesses of both. However, the sampling of satellite and models is very different and some subjective decisions about data selection and aggregation must be made in order to perform such comparisons. This work examines some implications of these decisions, using GlobAerosol AOD retrievals at 550 nm from Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) measurements, and aerosol fields from the GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model. It is recommended to sample the model only where the satellite flies over on a particular day; neglecting this can cause regional differences in model AOD of up to 0.1 on monthly and annual timescales. The comparison is observed to depend strongly upon thresholds for sparsity of satellite retrievals in the model grid cells. Requiring at least 25% coverage of the model grid cell by satellite data decreases the observed difference between the two by approximately half over land. The impact over ocean is smaller. In both model and satellite datasets, there is an anticorrelation between the proportion <i>p</i> of a model grid cell covered by satellite retrievals and the AOD. This is attributed to small <i>p</i> typically occuring due to high cloud cover and lower AODs being found in large clear-sky regions. Daily median AATSR AODs were found to be closer to GEOS-Chem AODs than daily means (with the root mean squared difference being approximately 0.05 smaller). This is due to the decreased sensitivity of medians to outliers such as cloud-contaminated retrievals, or aerosol point sources not included in the model
Rapid, quantitative determination of bacteria in water
A bioluminescent assay for ATP in water borne bacteria is made by adding nitric acid to a water sample with concentrated bacteria to rupture the bacterial cells. The sample is diluted with sterile, deionized water, then mixed with a luciferase-luciferin mixture and the resulting light output of the bioluminescent reaction is measured and correlated with bacteria present. A standard and a blank also are presented so that the light output can be correlated to bacteria in the sample and system noise can be substracted from the readings. A chemiluminescent assay for iron porphyrins in water borne bacteria is made by adding luminol reagent to a water sample with concentrated bacteria and measuring the resulting light output of the chemiluminescent reaction
Relationship between resistivity and specific heat in a canonical non-magnetic heavy fermion alloy system: UPt_5-xAu_x
UPt_(5-x)Au_x alloys form in a single crystal structure, cubic AuBe_5-type,
over a wide range of concentrations from x = 0 to at least x = 2.5. All
investigated alloys, with an exception for x = 2.5, were non-magnetic. Their
electronic specific heat coefficient varies from about 60 (x = 2) to
about 700 mJ/mol K^2 (x = 1). The electrical resistivity for all alloys has a
Fermi-liquid-like temperature variation, \rho = \rho_o + AT^2, in the limit of
T -> 0 K. The coefficient A is strongly enhanced in the heavy-fermion regime in
comparison with normal and transition metals. It changes from about 0.01 (x =
0) to over 2 micro-ohm cm/K^2 (x = 1). A/\gamma^2, which has been postulated to
have a universal value for heavy-fermions, varies from about 10^-6 (x = 0, 0.5)
to 10^-5 micro-ohm cm (mol K/mJ)^2 (x > 1.1), thus from a value typical of
transition metals to that found for some other heavy-fermion metals. This ratio
is unaffected, or only weakly affected, by chemical or crystallographic
disorder. It correlates with the paramagnetic Curie-Weiss temperature of the
high temperature magnetic susceptibility.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps figures, RevTe
Dynamical modelling of luminous and dark matter in 17 Coma early-type galaxies
Dynamical models for 17 Coma early-type galaxies are presented. The galaxy
sample consists of flattened, rotating as well as non-rotating early-types
including cD and S0 galaxies with luminosities between M=-18.79 and M=-22.56.
Kinematical long-slit observations cover at least the major and minor axis and
extend to 1-4 effective radii. Axisymmetric Schwarzschild models are used to
derive stellar mass-to-light ratios and dark halo parameters. In every galaxy
models with a dark matter halo match the data better than models without. The
statistical significance is over 95 percent for 8 galaxies, around 90 percent
for 5 galaxies and for four galaxies it is not significant. For the highly
significant cases systematic deviations between observed and modelled
kinematics are clearly seen; for the remaining galaxies differences are more
statistical in nature. Best-fit models contain 10-50 percent dark matter inside
the half-light radius. The central dark matter density is at least one order of
magnitude lower than the luminous mass density. The central phase-space density
of dark matter is often orders of magnitude lower than in the luminous
component, especially when the halo core radius is large. The orbital system of
the stars along the major-axis is slightly dominated by radial motions. Some
galaxies show tangential anisotropy along the minor-axis, which is correlated
with the minor-axis Gauss-Hermite coefficient H4. Changing the balance between
data-fit and regularisation constraints does not change the reconstructed mass
structure significantly. Model anisotropies tend to strengthen if the weight on
regularisation is reduced, but the general property of a galaxy to be radially
or tangentially anisotropic, respectively, does not change. (abridged)Comment: 31 pages, 34 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA
Is the Sun Lighter than the Earth? Isotopic CO in the Photosphere, Viewed through the Lens of 3D Spectrum Synthesis
We consider the formation of solar infrared (2-6 micron) rovibrational bands
of carbon monoxide (CO) in CO5BOLD 3D convection models, with the aim to refine
abundances of the heavy isotopes of carbon (13C) and oxygen (18O,17O), to
compare with direct capture measurements of solar wind light ions by the
Genesis Discovery Mission. We find that previous, mainly 1D, analyses were
systematically biased toward lower isotopic ratios (e.g., R23= 12C/13C),
suggesting an isotopically "heavy" Sun contrary to accepted fractionation
processes thought to have operated in the primitive solar nebula. The new 3D
ratios for 13C and 18O are: R23= 91.4 +/- 1.3 (Rsun= 89.2); and R68= 511 +/- 10
(Rsun= 499), where the uncertainties are 1 sigma and "optimistic." We also
obtained R67= 2738 +/- 118 (Rsun= 2632), but we caution that the observed
12C17O features are extremely weak. The new solar ratios for the oxygen
isotopes fall between the terrestrial values and those reported by Genesis
(R68= 530, R6= 2798), although including both within 2 sigma error flags, and
go in the direction favoring recent theories for the oxygen isotope composition
of Ca-Al inclusions (CAI) in primitive meteorites. While not a major focus of
this work, we derive an oxygen abundance of 603 +/- 9 ppm (relative to
hydrogen; 8.78 on the logarithmic H= 12 scale). That the Sun likely is lighter
than the Earth, isotopically speaking, removes the necessity to invoke exotic
fractionation processes during the early construction of the inner solar
system
Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Coma cluster early-type galaxies IV. Completing the dataset
The long-slit spectra obtained along the minor axis, offset major axis and
diagonal axis are presented for 12 E and S0 galaxies of the Coma cluster drawn
from a magnitude-limited sample studied before. The rotation curves, velocity
dispersion profiles and the H_3 and H_4 coefficients of the Hermite
decomposition of the line of sight velocity distribution are derived. The
radial profiles of the Hbeta, Mg, and Fe line strength indices are measured
too. In addition, the surface photometry of the central regions of a subsample
of 4 galaxies recently obtained with Hubble Space Telescope is presented. The
data will be used to construct dynamical models of the galaxies and study their
stellar populations.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Teleprinter uses thermal printing technique
Alphameric/facsimile printer receives serial digital data in the form of a specified number of bits per group and prints it on thermally sensitive paper. A solid state shift-register memorizes the incoming serial digital data
Scaling in a continuous time model for biological aging
In this paper we consider a generalization to the asexual version of the
Penna model for biological aging, where we take a continuous time limit. The
genotype associated to each individual is an interval of real numbers over
which Dirac --functions are defined, representing genetically
programmed diseases to be switched on at defined ages of the individual life.
We discuss two different continuous limits for the evolution equation and two
different mutation protocols, to be implemented during reproduction. Exact
stationary solutions are obtained and scaling properties are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
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