NASTRAN used in a production environment

A finite element analysis procedure built around the NASTRAN system is assessed. A number of support programs that were either written or modified to interface with NASTRAN and some improvements that were made to NASTRAN itself are noted. Some typical models are analyzed and an actual schedule is followed for constructing and analyzing the models to support a large design program

Microscopic calculations of isospin mixing in N~Z nuclei and isospin-symmetry-breaking corrections to the superallowed beta-decay

Recently, we have applied for the first time the angular momentum and isospin projected nuclear density functional theory to calculate the isospin-symmetry breaking (ISB) corrections to the superallowed beta-decay. With the calculated set of the ISB corrections we found |V_{ud}|=0.97447(23) for the leading element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. This is in nice agreement with both the recent result of Towner and Hardy [Phys. Rev. {\bf C77}, 025501 (2008)] and the central value deduced from the neutron decay. In this work we extend our calculations of the ISB corrections covering all superallowed transitions A,I^\pi=0^+,T=1,T_z \rightarrow A,I^\pi=0^+,T=1,T_z+1 with T_z =-1,0 and A ranging from 10 to 74.Comment: Invited talk presented by WS at the Nordic Conference on Nuclear Physics, June 13-17, 2011, Stockholm, Sweden; Accepted for publication in Physica Scripta, Figure 1 has been correcte

Crystallization of the regulatory and effector domains of the key sporulation response regulator Spo0A

The key response-regulator gene of sporulation, spo0A, has been cloned from Bacillus stearothermophilus and the encoded protein purified. The DNA-binding and phospho-acceptor domains of Spo0A have been prepared by tryptic digestion of the intact protein and subsequently crystallized in forms suitable for X-ray crystallographic studies. The DNA-binding domain has been crystallized in two forms, one of which diffracts X-rays to beyond 2.5 Angstrom spacing. The crystals of the phospho-acceptor domain diffract X-rays beyond 2.0 Angstrom spacing using synchrotron radiation

Tunneling Mechanism due to Chaos in a Complex Phase Space

We have revealed that the barrier-tunneling process in non-integrable systems is strongly linked to chaos in complex phase space by investigating a simple scattering map model. The semiclassical wavefunction reproduces complicated features of tunneling perfectly and it enables us to solve all the reasons why those features appear in spite of absence of chaos on the real plane. Multi-generation structure of manifolds, which is the manifestation of complex-domain homoclinic entanglement created by complexified classical dynamics, allows a symbolic coding and it is used as a guiding principle to extract dominant complex trajectories from all the semiclassical candidates.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Extraterrestrial reliquefaction of cryogenic propellants Final report, May 1964 - Dec. 1965

Reliquefier design and cycles studied to reduce boiloff in extraterrestrial cryogenic propellant storag

Chemical Evolution in the Carina Dwarf Spheroidal

We present metallicities for 487 red giants in the Carina dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy that were obtained from FLAMES low-resolution Ca triplet (CaT) spectroscopy. We find a mean [Fe/H] of -1.91 dex with an intrinsic dispersion of 0.25 dex, whereas the full spread in metallicities is at least one dex. The analysis of the radial distribution of metallicities reveals that an excess of metal poor stars resides in a region of larger axis distances. These results can constrain evolutionary models and are discussed in the context of chemical evolution in the Carina dSph.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the ESO/Arcetri-workshop on "Chemical Abundances and Mixing in Stars", 13.-17. Sep. 2004, Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy, L. Pasquini, S. Randich (eds.

Phase--coherence Effects in Antidot Lattices: A Semiclassical Approach to Bulk Conductivity

We derive semiclassical expressions for the Kubo conductivity tensor. Within our approach the oscillatory parts of the diagonal and Hall conductivity are given as sums over contributions from classical periodic orbits in close relation to Gutzwiller's trace formula for the density of states. Taking into account the effects of weak disorder and temperature we reproduce recently observed anomalous phase coherence oscillations in the conductivity of large antidot arrays.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures available under request, RevTe

Artificial dielectric optical structures: A challenge for nanofabrication

Diffractive optical components can be made using multiple level kinoforms or single level artificial dielectric structures. The latter require the fabrication of pillars of equal depth but differing width and spacing. As a demonstration device, the diffractive optic equivalent of a wedge has been made in GaAs for use at 1.15 μm. The need for all pillars to have the same height was met by using a selective etch and a very thin etch-stop layer on AlGaAs. The experimental diffraction efficiency was 87.8%, among the best ever obtained and close to the theoretical maximum of 97.6%. © 1998 American Vacuum Society