Localized Effects of Hurricane Michael (2018) on Total Electron Content

Understanding the connection between terrestrial and space environments is an emerging field of study that can significantly improve operational weather forecasting. In particular, it is well known that tropical cyclones (TCs) and thunderstorms can initiate gravity waves that generate fluctuations in the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere. These perturbations can deteriorate and delay the transmission of high-frequency (HF) communications, such as emergency services, amateur radio, and aviation. This study investigates changes in TEC according to the number of lightning ashes and the rainfall rates associated with Hurricane Michael (2018). A composite analysis will be performed using the GOES Geostationary Lightning Map- per (GLM), NCEP Stage IV Precipitation, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Haystack\u27s Global Positioning System (GPS) TEC data sets to characterize the influence of lightning on the ionosphere at Hurricane Michael\u27s peak intensity on 10 October 2018. Overall, improved characterization of the dynamic and electrodynamic connection between the lower and upper atmospheres has important implications for both space physics and atmospheric science communities. The techniques developed in this study have the potential to improve forecasting of tropical cyclogenesis, tropical cyclone intensification, and the discrimination between naturogenic and anthropogenic phenomena impacts on the ionosphere. No correlation is found between lightning and TEC variations; however, there are some more conclusive results relating a moderate rainfall rate to an increase in TEC variation during Hurricane Michael

The Interaction of High-Speed Turbulence with Flames: Global Properties and Internal Flame Structure

We study the dynamics and properties of a turbulent flame, formed in the presence of subsonic, high-speed, homogeneous, isotropic Kolmogorov-type turbulence in an unconfined system. Direct numerical simulations are performed with Athena-RFX, a massively parallel, fully compressible, high-order, dimensionally unsplit, reactive-flow code. A simplified reaction-diffusion model represents a stoichiometric H2-air mixture. The system being modeled represents turbulent combustion with the Damkohler number Da = 0.05 and with the turbulent velocity at the energy injection scale 30 times larger than the laminar flame speed. The simulations show that flame interaction with high-speed turbulence forms a steadily propagating turbulent flame with a flame brush width approximately twice the energy injection scale and a speed four times the laminar flame speed. A method for reconstructing the internal flame structure is described and used to show that the turbulent flame consists of tightly folded flamelets. The reaction zone structure of these is virtually identical to that of the planar laminar flame, while the preheat zone is broadened by approximately a factor of two. Consequently, the system evolution represents turbulent combustion in the thin-reaction zone regime. The turbulent cascade fails to penetrate the internal flame structure, and thus the action of small-scale turbulence is suppressed throughout most of the flame. Finally, our results suggest that for stoichiometric H2-air mixtures, any substantial flame broadening by the action of turbulence cannot be expected in all subsonic regimes.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures; published in Combustion and Flam

The E5 oncoprotein of BPV-4 does not interfere with the biosynthetic pathway of non-classical MHC class I

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I region in mammals contains both classical and non-classical MHC class I genes. Classical MHC class I molecules present antigenic peptides to cytotoxic T lymphocytes, whereas non-classical MHC class I molecules have a variety of functions. Both classical and non-classical MHC molecules interact with natural killer cell receptors and may under some circumstances prevent cell death by natural killer cytotoxicity. The E5 oncoprotein of BPV-4 down-regulates the expression of classical MHC class I on the cell surface and retains the complex in the Golgi apparatus. The inhibition of classical MHC class I to the cell surface results from both the impaired acidification of the Golgi, due to the interaction of E5 with subunit c of the H+ V-ATPase, and to the physical binding of E5 to the heavy chain of MHC class I. Despite the profound effect of E5 on classical MHC class I, E5 does not retain a non-classical MHC class I in the Golgi, does not inhibit its transport to the cell surface and does not bind its heavy chain. We conclude that, as is the case for HPV-16 E5, BPV-4 E5 does not down-regulate certain non-classical MHC class I, potentially providing a mechanism for the escape of the infected cell from attack by both cytotoxic T lymphocytes and NK cells

A Review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Baenidae

The fossil record of the turtle clade Baenidae ranges from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian—Albian) to the Eocene. The group is present throughout North America during the Early Cretaceous, but is restricted to the western portions of the continents in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. No credible remains of the clade have been reported outside of North America to date. Baenids were warmadapted freshwater aquatic turtles that supported high levels of diversity at times through niche partitioning, particularly by adapting to a broad range of dietary preferences ranging from omnivorous to molluscivorous. Current phylogenies place Baenidae near the split of crown-group Testudines. Within Baenidae three more inclusive, named clades are recognized: Baenodda, Palatobaeninae and Eubaeninae. A taxonomic review of the group concludes that of 49 named taxa, 30 are nomina valida, 12 are nomina invalida and 7 are nomina dubia

A Theory for High-TcT_c Superconductors Considering Inhomogeneous Charge Distribution

We propose a general theory for the critical $T_c$ and pseudogap $T^*$ temperature dependence on the doping concentration for high-$T_c$ oxides, taking into account the charge inhomogeneities in the $CuO_2$ planes. The well measured experimental inhomogeneous charge density in a given compound is assumed to produce a spatial distribution of local $\rho(r)$. These differences in the local charge concentration is assumed to yield insulator and metallic regions, possibly in a stripe morphology. In the metallic region, the inhomogeneous charge density yields also spatial distributions of superconducting critical temperatures $T_c(r)$ and zero temperature gap $\Delta_0(r)$. For a given sample, the measured onset of vanishing gap temperature is identified as the pseudogap temperature, that is, $T^*$, which is the maximum of all $T_c(r)$. Below $T^*$, due to the distribution of $T_c(r)$'s, there are some superconducting regions surrounded by insulator or metallic medium. The transition to a superconducting state corresponds to the percolation threshold among the superconducting regions with different $T_c(r)$'s. To model the charge inhomogeneities we use a double branched Poisson-Gaussian distribution. To make definite calculations and compare with the experimental results, we derive phase diagrams for the BSCO, LSCO and YBCO families, with a mean field theory for superconductivity using an extended Hubbard Hamiltonian. We show also that this novel approach provides new insights on several experimental features of high-$T_c$ oxides.Comment: 7 pages, 5 eps figures, corrected typo

Centrifugal stretching from lifetime measurements in the 170Hf ground state band

Centrifugal stretching in the deformed rare-earth nucleus 170Hf is investigated using high-precision lifetime measurements, performed with the New Yale Plunger Device at Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory, Yale University. Excited states were populated in the fusion-evaporation reaction 124Sn(50Ti,4n)170Hf at a beam energy of 195 MeV. Recoil distance doppler shift data were recorded for the ground state band through the J=16+ level. The measured B(E2) values and transition quadrupole moments improve on existing data and show increasing β deformation in the ground state band of 170Hf. The results are compared to descriptions by a rigid rotor and by the confined β-soft rotor model. © 2013 American Physical Society

Electromigration-Induced Flow of Islands and Voids on the Cu(001) Surface

Electromigration-induced flow of islands and voids on the Cu(001) surface is studied at the atomic scale. The basic drift mechanisms are identified using a complete set of energy barriers for adatom hopping on the Cu(001) surface, combined with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The energy barriers are calculated by the embedded atom method, and parameterized using a simple model. The dependence of the flow on the temperature, the size of the clusters, and the strength of the applied field is obtained. For both islands and voids it is found that edge diffusion is the dominant mass-transport mechanism. The rate limiting steps are identified. For both islands and voids they involve detachment of atoms from corners into the adjacent edge. The energy barriers for these moves are found to be in good agreement with the activation energy for island/void drift obtained from Arrhenius analysis of the simulation results. The relevance of the results to other FCC(001) metal surfaces and their experimental implications are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 13 ps figure