Double layers on auroral field lines

Time-stationary solutions to the Vlasov-Poisson equation for ion holes and double layers were examined along with particle simulations which pertain to recent observations of small amplitude (e phi)/t sub e approx. 1 electric field structures on auroral field lines. Both the time-stationary analysis and the simulations suggest that double layers evolve from holes in ion phase space when their amplitude reaches (e phi)/t sub e approx. 1. Multiple small amplitude double layers which are seen in long simulation systems and are seen to propagate past spacecraft may account for the acceleration of plasma sheet electrons to produce the discrete aurora

Movement of Triazine Herbicides in Conventional, Reduced Tillage, and No-Tillage Corn Production

Herbicides are applied to over 90 percent of the corn acreage in Kentucky and triazine herbicides are used the most. Conservation tillage methods are often used to prevent soil erosion and to conserve soil water. However, as tillage is decreased the dependence on herbicides for weed control often increases. Minimizing herbicide movement from the application sites to non-target areas, such as ground and surface waters, is necessary to maintain optimum water quality

Hybrid Reactions to Phytotoxic Effects of The Corn Herbicide, Eradicane Extra

Although corn hybrids are primarily evaluated only for yield performance in the Kentucky Hybrid Corn Performance Test, the 1984 test (Poneleit and Evans, 1985) provided a unique opportunity to evaluate hybrid reactions to an unusual hybrid-herbicide interacting Of seven non-virus test locations, four were treated with Eradicane Extra or Eradicane for weed control. At the Princeton location Eradicane Extra, at 8 pints/acre, was used for johnsongrass rhizome suppression and seedling control. In late July, a routine check revealed that numerous plants had unusual appearances that were similar to abnormalities reported earlier as caused by Eptam and Eradicane (Poneleit et aI, 1975). Subsequent observations confirmed the severity of damage at the Princeton test site and reports of similar hybrid reactions from farmer fields prompted the collection of apparent herbicide damage data from the replicated Princeton test. The other performance test sites where Eradicane Extra or Eradicane was applied did not show significant plant abnormalities. Apparently the appearance of phytotoxic effects owing to Eradicane Extra are sporadic and strongly influenced by specific interaction of environmental factors. It was postulated that this injury occurrence in 1984 was the result of excessive rainfall four to six weeks after planting. Dichlormid (safener) is very water soluble and could have been leached away from the corn roots, and thus not available to protect the corn from EPTC

X-ray Halos and Large Grains in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium

Recent observations with dust detectors on board the interplanetary spacecraft Ulysses and Galileo have recorded a substantial flux of large interstellar grains with radii between 0.25 and 2.0 mu entering the solar system from the local interstellar cloud. The most commonly used interstellar grain size distribution is characterized by a a^-3.5 power law in grain radii a, and extends to a maximum grain radius of 0.25 mu. The extension of the interstellar grain size distribution to such large radii will have a major effect on the median grain size, and on the amount of mass needed to be tied up in dust for a given visual optical depth. It is therefore important to investigate whether this population of larger dust particles prevails in the general interstellar medium, or if it is merely a local phenomenon. The presence of large interstellar grains can be mainly inferred from their effect on the intensity and radial profiles of scattering halos around X-ray sources. In this paper we examine the grain size distribution that gives rise to the X-ray halo around Nova Cygni 1992. The results of our study confirm the need to extend the interstellar grain size distribution in the direction of this source to and possibly beyond 2.0 mu. The model that gives the best fit to the halo data is characterized by: (1) a grain size distribution that follows an a^-3.5 power law up to 0.50 mu, followed by an a^-4.0 extension from 0.50 mu to 2.0 mu; and (2) silicate and graphite (carbon) dust-to-gas mass ratios of 0.0044 and 0.0022, respectively, consistent with solar abundances constraints. Additional observations of X-ray halos probing other spatial directions are badly needed to test the general validity of this result.Comment: 17 pages, incl. 1 figure, accepted for publ. by ApJ Letter

Polymerase chain reactions with alphoid-repeat primers in combination with Alu or LINEs primers, generate chromosome-specific DNA fragments

Y alphoid primers in combination with Alu and LINEs primers generated new DNA fragments in polymerase chain reactions (PCR) on DNA from a Y-only somatic cell hybrid but not from X-only, 3-only, or 21-only hybrids. X alphoid primers used in a similar manner generated new DNA fragments from the X-only hybrid, and 1 of the primers (X 2 ) also generated new DNA fragments on 3-only and 21-only hybrids when used in conjunction with Alu or LINEs primers. In all but one case, consensus alphoid primers generated new chromosome-specific fragments in PCR reactions with the Alu or LINEs primers. A search for cryptic Alu- or alphoid-alone PCR products as the source for one Alu -alphoid band (chosen at random) was negative. Partial sequencing of products demonstrated that alphoid and Alu sequences were indeed contiguous in some newly synthesized DNA fragments. While Alu or LINEs primers generate smears of DNA fragments on total human DNA, the alphoid-nonalphoid repeat combinations generated electrophoretically distinguishable bands of DNA when the template was total DNA. While these were distinguishable with different chromosome-specific alphoid primers, the DNA fragments were not of the same sizes as those generated with the chromosome-only hybrids.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66359/1/j.1469-1809.1991.tb00414.x.pd

Hin-mediated DNA knotting and recombining promote replicon dysfunction and mutation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The genetic code imposes a dilemma for cells. The DNA must be long enough to encode for the complexity of an organism, yet thin and flexible enough to fit within the cell. The combination of these properties greatly favors DNA collisions, which can knot and drive recombination of the DNA. Despite the well-accepted propensity of cellular DNA to collide and react with itself, it has not been established what the physiological consequences are.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we analyze the effects of recombined and knotted plasmids in <it>E. coli </it>using the Hin site-specific recombination system. We show that Hin-mediated DNA knotting and recombination (i) promote replicon loss by blocking DNA replication; (ii) block gene transcription; and (iii) cause genetic rearrangements at a rate three to four orders of magnitude higher than the rate for an unknotted, unrecombined plasmid.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results show that DNA reactivity leading to recombined and knotted DNA is potentially toxic and may help drive genetic evolution.</p

Some Heuristic Semiclassical Derivations of the Planck Length, the Hawking Effect and the Unruh Effect

The formulae for Planck length, Hawking temperature and Unruh-Davies temperature are derived by using only laws of classical physics together with the Heisenberg principle. Besides, it is shown how the Hawking relation can be deduced from the Unruh relation by means of the principle of equivalence; the deep link between Hawking effect and Unruh effect is in this way clarified.Comment: LaTex file, 6 pages, no figure

Semiclassical thermodynamics of scalar fields

We present a systematic semiclassical procedure to compute the partition function for scalar field theories at finite temperature. The central objects in our scheme are the solutions of the classical equations of motion in imaginary time, with spatially independent boundary conditions. Field fluctuations -- both field deviations around these classical solutions, and fluctuations of the boundary value of the fields -- are resummed in a Gaussian approximation. In our final expression for the partition function, this resummation is reduced to solving certain ordinary differential equations. Moreover, we show that it is renormalizable with the usual 1-loop counterterms.Comment: 24 pages, 5 postscript figure

The Photophysics of the Carrier of Extended Red Emission

Interstellar dust contains a component which reveals its presence by emitting a broad, unstructured band of light in the 540 to 950 nm wavelength range, referred to as Extended Red Emission (ERE). The presence of interstellar dust and ultraviolet photons are two necessary conditions for ERE to occur. This is the basis for suggestions which attribute ERE to an interstellar dust component capable of photoluminescence. In this study, we have collected all published ERE observations with absolute-calibrated spectra for interstellar environments, where the density of ultraviolet photons can be estimated reliably. In each case, we determined the band-integrated ERE intensity, the wavelength of peak emission in the ERE band, and the efficiency with which absorbed ultraviolet photons are contributing to the ERE. The data show that radiation is not only driving the ERE, as expected for a photoluminescence process, but is modifying the ERE carrier as manifested by a systematic increase in the ERE band's peak wavelength and a general decrease in the photon conversion efficiency with increasing densities of the prevailing exciting radiation. The overall spectral characteristics of the ERE and the observed high quantum efficiency of the ERE process are currently best matched by the recently proposed silicon nanoparticle (SNP) model. Using the experimentally established fact that ionization of semiconductor nanoparticles quenches their photoluminescence, we proceeded to test the SNP model by developing a quantitative model for the excitation and ionization equilibrium of SNPs under interstellar conditions for a wide range of radiation field densities.Comment: 42 p., incl. 8 fig. Accepted for publication by Ap

Supra-oscillatory critical temperature dependence of Nb-Ho bilayers

We investigate the critical temperature Tc of a thin s-wave superconductor (Nb) proximity coupled to a helical rare earth ferromagnet (Ho). As a function of the Ho layer thickness, we observe multiple oscillations of Tc superimposed on a slow decay, that we attribute to the influence of the Ho on the Nb proximity effect. Because of Ho inhomogeneous magnetization, singlet and triplet pair correlations are present in the bilayers. We take both into consideration when solving the self consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, and we observe a reasonable agreement. We also observe non-trivial transitions into the superconducting state, the zero resistance state being attained after two successive transitions which appear to be associated with the magnetic structure of Ho.Comment: Main article: 5 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary materials: 4 pages, 5 figure