116 research outputs found
Current State of Pasture Vegetation of the Arid Zone (On the Example of Key Rural Municipalities of the Republic of Kalmykia)
The article presents the results of field observations over 2012–2018 carried out by the Department of Environmental Research of the Institute for Complex Studies of Arid Territories. The work includes materials on the climatic review and the original results of geobotanical investigation of 5 farms in rural municipalities of the Republic of Kalmykia (RK) over the period of the study. We used materials of a large geobotanical survey of YUZHNIIGIPROZEM Company (1991–1995) and materials of earth remote sensing (by Landsat satellite). According to the studies, the period from 2012 to 2018 demonstrates a general trend of climate warming throughout the territory of Kalmykia accompanied by a decrease in precipitation and an increase in extreme droughts in the summer. Geoecological monitoring of pastures at five key sites of the RK revealed that in the dry steppe zone (Manych municipality) and in the semi-desert zone (Khanatinsky municipality), deterioration of pastures is observed; in the desert zone (Adykovskoye municipality), significant degradation processes were identified associated with strong anthropogenic impact and fires, manifested in the loss of valuable food crops (wormwood) and increased influence of cereal crops. Floristic and phytocenotic analyzes revealed an increase in the number of plant species in the weed and ruderal groups
AM-FFF of Objects Using Commercial PLA Based Shape Memory Polymer Printed by an Open-Source 3D Printer
The 4D additive manufacturing processes are considered today as the "next big thing" in R&D. The aim of this research is to provide two examples of commercial PLA based shape memory polymer (SMP) objects printed on an open-source 3D printer in order to proof the feasibility of such novel 4D printing process. To that purpose, a PLA based filament of eSUN (4D filament e4D-1white, SMP) was chosen, and two applications, a spring and a vase, were designed by 3D-printing with additive manufacturing (AM) fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique. The 4D-printed objects were successfully produced, the shape memory effect and their functionality were demonstrated by achieving the shape-memory cycle of programming, storage and recovery
Numerical adiabatic potentials of orthorhombic Jahn-Teller effects retrieved from ultrasound attenuation experiments. Application to the SrF2:Cr crystal
A methodology is worked out to retrieve the numerical values of all the main
parameters of the six-dimensional adiabatic potential energy surface (APES) of
a polyatomic system with a quadratic T-term Jahn-Teller effect (JTE) from
ultrasound experiments. The method is based on a verified assumption that
ultrasound attenuation and speed encounter anomalies when the direction of
propa- gation and polarization of its wave of strain coincides with the
characteristic directions of symmetry breaking in the JTE. For the SrF2:Cr
crystal, employed as a basic example, we observed anomaly peaks in the
temperature dependence of attenuation of ultrasound at frequencies of 50-160
MHz in the temperature interval of 40-60 K for the wave propagating along the
[110] direction, for both the longitudinal and shear modes, the latter with two
polarizations along the [001] and [110] axes, respectively. We show that these
anomalies are due to the ultrasound relaxation by the system of non-interacting
Cr2+ JT centers with orthorhombic local distortions. The interpretation of the
ex- perimental findings is based on the T2g (eg +t2g) JTE problem including the
linear and quadratic terms of vibronic interactions in the Hamiltonian and the
same-symmetry modes reduced to one interaction mode. Combining the experimental
results with a theoretical analysis we show that on the complicated
six-dimensional APES of this system with three tetragonal, four trigonal, and
six orthorhombic extrema points, the latter are global minima, while the former
are saddle points, and we estimate numerically all the main parameters of this
surface, including the linear and quadratic vibronic coupling constants, the
primary force constants, the coordinates of all the extrema points and their
energies, the energy barrier between the orthorhombic minima, and the tunneling
splitting of the ground vibrational states.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Selected Applications of Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: 4D Printing by the Fused Filament Fabrication Technology
In the past few years four-dimensional (4D) printing technologies have attained worldwide interest and they are now considered the "next big thing". The aim of this research is to provide three selected examples of stimuli-responsive polymer (SRP) applications additively manufactured (AM) by the fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique. To that end, a CCT BLUE filament of thermo-responsive polymer was chosen to produce a water temperature indicator, which changes colour from blue to white when temperature increases; a CCU RED filament of photo-responsive polymer was used to produce a sunlight / UV indicator bracelet; a transparent PLA CLEAR polymer, a CCU RED photo-responsive polymer, and an electrical conductive PLA polymer were selected to produce a smart business card stand. The temperature indicator capability was analysed based on examining colour changes as a function of temperature changes. The sunlight/UV indicator capability was analysed based on the inspection of colour change as a function of absorbed sun/ultraviolet light. The electrical conductivity of the conductive PLA polymer was examined by performing resistance measurements. All three objects were successfully produced and their functionality was demonstrated. We hope that these examples will catalyse the expansion of FFF 4D printed SRP applications, as much work remains to be done in designing the parts and developing FFF printing parameters that take advantage of the stimuli-responsive materials currently being developed for FFF technology
GROND coverage of the main peak of Gamma-Ray Burst 130925A
Prompt or early optical emission in gamma-ray bursts is notoriously difficult
to measure, and observations of the dozen cases show a large variety of
properties. Yet, such early emission promises to help us achieve a better
understanding of the GRB emission process(es).
We performed dedicated observations of the ultra-long duration (T90 about
7000 s) GRB 130925A in the optical/near-infrared with the 7-channel "Gamma-Ray
Burst Optical and Near-infrared Detector" (GROND) at the 2.2m MPG/ESO
telescope. We detect an optical/NIR flare with an amplitude of nearly 2 mag
which is delayed with respect to the keV--MeV prompt emission by about 300--400
s. The decay time of this flare is shorter than the duration of the flare (500
s) or its delay.
While we cannot offer a straightforward explanation, we discuss the
implications of the flare properties and suggest ways toward understanding it.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publ. in A&
Activation Energy of the Jahn-Teller Complexes in CaF2:Cu2+ Crystal
In CaF2 crystal doped with Cu^2+ ions, attenuation of all the normal ultrasonic modes with the wave vector k // were investigated at 22 -163 MHz in the temperature region of 4 - 200 K
Multi-Wavelength Studies of the Optically Dark Gamma-Ray Burst 001025A
We identify the fading X-ray afterglow of GRB 001025A from XMM-Newton
observations obtained 1.9-2.3 days, 2 years, and 2.5 years after the burst. The
non-detection of an optical counterpart to an upper limit of R=25.5, 1.20 days
after the burst, makes GRB 001025A a ``dark'' burst. Based on the X-ray
afterglow spectral properties of GRB 001025A, we argue that some bursts appear
optically dark because their afterglow is faint and their cooling frequency is
close to the X-ray band. This interpretation is applicable to several of the
few other dark bursts where the X-ray spectral index has been measured. The
X-ray afterglow flux of GRB 001025A is an order of magnitude lower than for
typical long-duration gamma-ray bursts. The spectrum of the X-ray afterglow can
be fitted with an absorbed synchrotron emission model, an absorbed thermal
plasma model, or a combination thereof. For the latter, an extrapolation to
optical wavelengths can be reconciled with the R-band upper limit on the
afterglow, without invoking any optical circumburst absorption, provided the
cooling frequency is close to the X-ray band. Alternatively, if the X-ray
afterglow is due to synchrotron emission only, seven magnitudes of extinction
in the observed R-band is required to meet the R-band upper limit, making GRB
001025A much more obscured than bursts with detected optical afterglows. Based
on the column density of X-ray absorbing circumburst matter, an SMC gas-to-dust
ratio is insufficient to produce this amount of extinction. The X-ray tail of
the prompt emission enters a steep temporal decay excluding that the tail of
the prompt emission is the onset of the afterglow (abridged).Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures, ApJ in pres
The ultraluminous GRB 110918A
GRB 110918A is the brightest long GRB detected by Konus-WIND during its 19
years of continuous observations and the most luminous GRB ever observed since
the beginning of the cosmological era in 1997. We report on the final IPN
localization of this event and its detailed multiwavelength study with a number
of space-based instruments. The prompt emission is characterized by a typical
duration, a moderare of the time-integrated spectrum, and strong
hard-to-soft evolution. The high observed energy fluence yields, at z=0.984, a
huge isotropic-equivalent energy release
erg. The record-breaking energy flux observed at the peak of the short, bright,
hard initial pulse results in an unprecedented isotropic-equivalent luminosity
erg s. A tail of the soft gamma-ray
emission was detected with temporal and spectral behavior typical of that
predicted by the synchrotron forward-shock model. Swift/XRT and Swift/UVOT
observed the bright afterglow from 1.2 to 48 days after the burst and revealed
no evidence of a jet break. The post-break scenario for the afterglow is
preferred from our analysis, with a hard underlying electron spectrum and
ISM-like circumburst environment implied. We conclude that, among multiple
reasons investigated, the tight collimation of the jet must have been a key
ingredient to produce this unusually bright burst. The inferred jet opening
angle of 1.7-3.4 deg results in reasonable values of the collimation-corrected
radiated energy and the peak luminosity, which, however, are still at the top
of their distributions for such tightly collimated events. We estimate a
detection horizon for a similar ultraluminous GRB of for Konus-WIND,
and for Swift/BAT, which stresses the importance of GRBs as probes of
the early Universe.Comment: 22 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The optical identifcation of events with poorly defined locations: The case of the Fermi GBM GRB140801A
We report the early discovery of the optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst
(GRB) 140801A in the 137 deg 3- error-box of the Fermi Gamma-ray
Burst Monitor (GBM). MASTER is the only observatory that automatically react to
all Fermi alerts. GRB 140801A is one of the few GRBs whose optical counterpart
was discovered solely from its GBM localization. The optical afterglow of GRB
140801A was found by MASTER Global Robotic Net 53 sec after receiving the
alert, making it the fastest optical detection of a GRB from a GBM error-box.
Spectroscopy obtained with the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the 6-m BTA
of SAO RAS reveals a redshift of . We performed optical and
near-infrared photometry of GRB 140801A using different telescopes with
apertures ranging from 0.4-m to 10.4-m. GRB 140801A is a typical burst in many
ways. The rest-frame bolometric isotropic energy release and peak energy of the
burst is erg and
keV, respectively, which is consistent with the
Amati relation. The absence of a jet break in the optical light curve provides
a lower limit on the half-opening angle of the jet deg. The
observed is consistent with the limit derived from the
Ghirlanda relation. The joint Fermi GBM and Konus-Wind analysis shows that GRB
140801A could belong to the class of intermediate duration. The rapid detection
of the optical counterpart of GRB 140801A is especially important regarding the
upcoming experiments with large coordinate error-box areas.Comment: in press MNRAS, 201
- …