Plasma heating, plasma flow and wave production around an electron beam injected into the ionosphere

A brief historical summary of the Minnesota ECHO series and other relevant electron beam experiments is given. The primary purpose of the ECHO experiments is the use of conjugate echoes as probes of the magnetosphere, but beam-plasma and wave studies were also made. The measurement of quasi-dc electric fields and ion streaming during the ECHO 6 experiment has given a pattern for the plasma flow in the hot plasma region extending to 60m radius about the ECHO 6 electron beam. The sheath and potential well caused by ion orbits is discussed with the aid of a model which fits the observations. ELF wave production in the plasma sheath around the beam is briefly discussed. The new ECHO 7 mission to be launched from the Poker Flat range in November 1987 is described

Domino Tatami Covering is NP-complete

A covering with dominoes of a rectilinear region is called \emph{tatami} if no four dominoes meet at any point. We describe a reduction from planar 3SAT to Domino Tatami Covering. As a consequence it is NP-complete to decide whether there is a perfect matching of a graph that meets every 4-cycle, even if the graph is restricted to be an induced subgraph of the grid-graph. The gadgets used in the reduction were discovered with the help of a SAT-solver.Comment: 10 pages, accepted at The International Workshop on Combinatorial Algorithms (IWOCA) 201

A wall interference assessment/correction system

The Hackett method (a Wall Pressure Signature Method) was selected to be adapted for the 12 ft Wind Tunnel WIAC system. This method uses limited measurements of the static pressure at the wall, in conjunction with the solid wall boundary condition, to determine the strength and distribution of singularities representing the test article. The singularities are used in term for estimating wall interference at the model location. Hackett's method will have to be formulated for application to the unique geometry of the 12 ft tunnel. The WIAC code will be validated by conducting numerically simulated experiments rather than actual wind tunnel experiments. The simulations will be used to generate both free air and confined wind tunnel flow fields for each of the test articles over a range of test configurations. Specifically the pressure signature at the test section wall will be computed for the confined case to provide the simulated 'measured' data. These data will serve as the input for the WIAC method. The performance of the WIAC method then may be evaluated by comparing the corrected parameters with those for the free air simulation

Cryogenic MMIC low noise amplifiers

Monolithic (MMIC) and discrete transistor (MIC) low noise amplifiers are compared on the basis of performance, cost, and reliability. The need for cryogenic LNA’s for future large microwave arrays for radio astronomy is briefly discussed and data is presented on a prototype LNA for the 1 to 10 GHz range along with a very wideband LNA for the 1 to 60 GHz range. A table of MMIC LNA and mixer designs under development for the frequencies up to 210 GHz is reported and data on cryogenic amplifiers in the 85 to 115 GHz is reviewed. The current status of the topics of transconductance fluctuations and cryogenic noise modeling will be briefly summarized

FLARR Pages #19: Developing Students\u27 Understanding of Latin Grammar through Sentence-Structure Analysis Sheets

Latin teachers well know that students are often overwhelmed when they are making the transition from English, a word-order dependent language, to Latin, which is not and thus is highly flexible. Sentence-Structure Analysis ( SSA ) is a technique of mine that has been used successfully to help students make the transition to Latin\u27s word order and develop an understanding of its syntax. Let us begin by considering a basic principle underlying Sentence-Structure Analysis Sheets

Studies of interstellar vibrationally-excited molecules

Several molecules thus far have been detected in the ISM in vibrationally-excited states, including H2, SiO, HC3N, and CH3CN. In order for vibrational-excitation to occur, these species must be present in unusually hot and dense gas and/or where strong infrared radiation is present. In order to do a more thorough investigation of vibrational excitation in the interstellar medium (ISM), studies were done of several mm-wave transitions originating in excited vibrational modes of HCN, an abundant interstellar molecule. Vibrationally-excited HCN was recently detected toward Orion-KL and IRC+10216, using a 12 meter antenna. The J=3-2 rotational transitions were detected in the molecule's lowest vibrational state, the bending mode, which is split into two separate levels, due to l-type doubling. This bending mode lies 1025K above ground state, with an Einstein A coefficient of 3.6/s. The J=3-2 line mode of HCN, which lies 2050K above ground state, was also observed toward IRC+10216, and subsequently in Orion-KL. Further measurements of vibrationally-excited HCN were done using a 14 meter telescope, which include the observations of the (0,1,0) and (0,2,0) modes towards Orion-KL, via their J=3-2 transitions at 265-267 GHz. The spectrum of the J=3-2 line in Orion taken with the 14 meter telescope, is shown, along with a map, which indicates that emission from vibrationally-excited HCN arises from a region probably smaller than the 14 meter telescope's 20 arcsec beam

Squarepants in a Tree: Sum of Subtree Clustering and Hyperbolic Pants Decomposition

We provide efficient constant factor approximation algorithms for the problems of finding a hierarchical clustering of a point set in any metric space, minimizing the sum of minimimum spanning tree lengths within each cluster, and in the hyperbolic or Euclidean planes, minimizing the sum of cluster perimeters. Our algorithms for the hyperbolic and Euclidean planes can also be used to provide a pants decomposition, that is, a set of disjoint simple closed curves partitioning the plane minus the input points into subsets with exactly three boundary components, with approximately minimum total length. In the Euclidean case, these curves are squares; in the hyperbolic case, they combine our Euclidean square pants decomposition with our tree clustering method for general metric spaces.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures. This version replaces the proof of what is now Lemma 5.2, as the previous proof was erroneou

Molecular Gas Content of HI Monsters and Implications to Cold Gas Content Evolution in Galaxies

We present 12CO (J=1-0) observations of a sample of local galaxies (0.04<z<0.08) with a large neutral hydrogen reservoir, or "HI monsters". The data were obtained using the Redshift Search Receiver on the FCRAO 14 m telescope. The sample consists of 20 HI-massive galaxies with M(HI)>3e10Msun from the ALFALFA survey and 8 LSBs with a comparable M(HI) (>1.5e10Msun). Our sample selection is purely based on the amount of neutral hydrogen, thereby providing a chance to study how atomic and molecular gas relate to each other in these HI-massive systems. We have detected CO in 15 out of 20 ALFALFA selected galaxies and 4 out of 8 LSBs with molecular gas mass M(H2) of (1-11)e9Msun. Their total cold gas masses of (2-7e10Msun make them some of the most gas-massive galaxies identified to date in the Local Universe. Observed trends associated with HI, H2, and stellar properties of the HI massive galaxies and the field comparison sample are analyzed in the context of theoretical models of galaxy cold gas content and evolution, and the importance of total gas content and improved recipes for handling spatially differentiated behaviors of disk and halo gas are identified as potential areas of improvement for the modeling.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables; Accepted for publication in MNRA

Standardization of an Immunoassay for the Detection of Antibodies to B2 Glycoprotein-I

Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) is an evolving autoimmune disease with numerous clinical manifestations. APS occurs in two forms: Primary Antiphospholipid Syndrome (PAPS) and secondarily in association with other autoimmune disorders such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE). In the brief period since its discovery as a cofactor for anticardiolipin antibodies, p1-glycoprotein I (�GPI; apolipoprotein H) has been recognized as the autoantigen in the absence of anionic phospholipid when appropriately presented to human autoantibodies. Recent studies suggest that this presentation requires the surface-dependent unmasking of a cryptic epitope. Immunoassays of autoantibodies directed against p1GPI, developed through the application of suitable polymeric matrices, may be clinicaJly relevant in that they may be more specific for (APS). Assays of Anti-� Glycoptotein I (aj32GPI) have used a variety of materials in the antigen-specific presentation system. This situation renders this assay particularly susceptible to interlaboratory variation when raw absorbance data are reported. Presently, many assay systems for the detection of APS lack standardization and are plagued with technical problems. Reference materials for a uniform enzyme immunoassay oflgG aj31GPI have not, as yet, been available. The following thesis focuses on the development and standardization of a clinically significant assay for the detection of APS. The assay centers on the detection of a�GPI antibodies. Described herein, is a method utilizing commercially available, chemically activated polystyrene microtiter plates with a surface -which binds proteins covalently. Additionally, a commercial source of human P,GPI has been obtained. been Reference calibrators have developed consisting of a control group of 111 men and 93 women, yielding a range of 0-19 standard lgG antj.j.\GPI units (SGU) for the ninety-fifth percentile of values. These are intended as interim calibrators that can be used to develop primary international standards for an immunoassay of lgO aP2GPI

Probing for Binding Regions of the FtsZ Protein Surface through Site-Directed Insertions: Discovery of Fully Functional FtsZ-Fluorescent Proteins

FtsZ, a bacterial tubulin homologue, is a cytoskeletal protein that assembles into protofilaments that are one subunit thick. These protofilaments assemble further to form a “Z ring” at the center of prokaryotic cells. The Z ring generates a constriction force on the inner membrane and also serves as a scaffold to recruit cell wall remodeling proteins for complete cell division in vivo. One model of the Z ring proposes that protofilaments associate via lateral bonds to form ribbons; however, lateral bonds are still only hypothetical. To explore potential lateral bonding sites, we probed the surface of Escherichia coli FtsZ by inserting either small peptides or whole fluorescent proteins (FPs). Among the four lateral surfaces on FtsZ protofilaments, we obtained inserts on the front and back surfaces that were functional for cell division. We concluded that these faces are not sites of essential interactions. Inserts at two sites, G124 and R174, located on the left and right surfaces, completely blocked function, and these sites were identified as possible sites for essential lateral interactions. However, the insert at R174 did not interfere with association of protofilaments into sheets and bundles in vitro. Another goal was to find a location within FtsZ that supported insertion of FP reporter proteins while allowing the FtsZ-FPs to function as the sole source of FtsZ. We discovered one internal site, G55-Q56, where several different FPs could be inserted without impairing function. These FtsZ-FPs may provide advances for imaging Z-ring structure by superresolution techniques. IMPORTANCE One model for the Z-ring structure proposes that protofilaments are assembled into ribbons by lateral bonds between FtsZ subunits. Our study excluded the involvement of the front and back faces of the protofilament in essential interactions in vivo but pointed to two potential lateral bond sites, on the right and left sides. We also identified an FtsZ loop where various fluorescent proteins could be inserted without blocking function; these FtsZ-FPs functioned as the sole source of FtsZ. This advance provides improved tools for all fluorescence imaging of the Z ring and may be especially important for superresolution imaging