16,326 research outputs found
Radiation Damping in the Photoionization of Fe^{14+}
A theoretical investigation of photoabsorption and photoionization of
Fe^{14+} extending beyond an earlier frame transformation R-matrix
implementation is performed using a fully-correlated, Breit-Pauli R-matrix
formulation including both fine-structure splitting of strongly-bound
resonances and radiation damping. The radiation damping of
resonances gives rise to a resonant photoionization cross section that is
significantly lower than the total photoabsorption cross section. Furthermore,
the radiation-damped photoionization cross section is found to be in good
agreement with recent experimental results once a global shift in energy of
eV is applied. These findings have important implications.
Firstly, the presently available synchrotron experimental data are applicable
only to photoionization processes and not to photoabsorption; the latter is
required in opacity calculations. Secondly, our computed cross section, for
which the L-shell ionization threshold is aligned with the NIST value, shows a
series of Rydberg resonances that are uniformly 3-4 eV
higher in energy than the corresponding experimental profiles, indicating that
the L-shell threshold energy values currently recommended by NIST are likely in
error.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figures, and 2 table
Intraspecific variation in thermal acclimation and tolerance between populations of the winter ant, Prenolepis imparis.
Thermal phenotypic plasticity, otherwise known as acclimation, plays an essential role in how organisms respond to short-term temperature changes. Plasticity buffers the impact of harmful temperature changes; therefore, understanding variation in plasticity in natural populations is crucial for understanding how species will respond to the changing climate. However, very few studies have examined patterns of phenotypic plasticity among populations, especially among ant populations. Considering that this intraspecies variation can provide insight into adaptive variation in populations, the goal of this study was to quantify the short-term acclimation ability and thermal tolerance of several populations of the winter ant, Prenolepis imparis. We tested for correlations between thermal plasticity and thermal tolerance, elevation, and body size. We characterized the thermal environment both above and below ground for several populations distributed across different elevations within California, USA. In addition, we measured the short-term acclimation ability and thermal tolerance of those populations. To measure thermal tolerance, we used chill-coma recovery time (CCRT) and knockdown time as indicators of cold and heat tolerance, respectively. Short-term phenotypic plasticity was assessed by calculating acclimation capacity using CCRT and knockdown time after exposure to both high and low temperatures. We found that several populations displayed different chill-coma recovery times and a few displayed different heat knockdown times, and that the acclimation capacities of cold and heat tolerance differed among most populations. The high-elevation populations displayed increased tolerance to the cold (faster CCRT) and greater plasticity. For high-temperature tolerance, we found heat tolerance was not associated with altitude; instead, greater tolerance to the heat was correlated with increased plasticity at higher temperatures. These current findings provide insight into thermal adaptation and factors that contribute to phenotypic diversity by revealing physiological variance among populations
Fluctuation characteristics of the TCV snowflake divertor measured with high speed visible imaging
Tangentially viewing fast camera footage of the low-field side snowflake
minus divertor in TCV is analysed across a four point scan in which the
proximity of the two X-points is varied systematically. The motion of
structures observed in the post- processed movie shows two distinct regions of
the camera frame exhibiting differing patterns. One type of motion in the outer
scrape-off layer remains present throughout the scan whilst the other, apparent
in the inner scrape-off layer between the two nulls, becomes increasingly
significant as the X-points contract towards one another. The spatial structure
of the fluctuations in both regions is shown to conform to the equilibrium
magnetic field. When the X-point gap is wide the fluctuations measured in the
region between the X-points show a similar structure to the fluctuations
observed above the null region, remaining coherent for multiple toroidal turns
of the magnetic field and indicating a physical connectivity of the
fluctuations between the upstream and downstream regions. When the X-point gap
is small the fluctuations in the inner scrape-off layer between the nulls are
decorrelated from fluctuations upstream, indicating local production of
filamentary structures. The motion of filaments in the inter-null region
differs, with filaments showing a dominantly poloidal motion along magnetic
flux surfaces when the X-point gap is large, compared to a dominantly radial
motion across flux-surfaces when the gap is small. This demonstrates an
enhancement to cross-field tranport between the nulls of the TCV low-field-side
snowflake minus when the gap between the nulls is small.Comment: Accepted for publication in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio
Making co-enrolment feasible for randomised controlled trials in paediatric intensive care.
Enrolling children into several trials could increase recruitment and lead to quicker delivery of optimal care in paediatric intensive care units (PICU). We evaluated decisions taken by clinicians and parents in PICU on co-enrolment for two large pragmatic trials: the CATCH trial (CATheters in CHildren) comparing impregnated with standard central venous catheters (CVCs) for reducing bloodstream infection in PICU and the CHIP trial comparing tight versus standard control of hyperglycaemia
Evidence From HETE-2 For GRB Evolution With Redshift
After taking into account threshold effects, we find that the
isotropic-equivalent energies E_iso and luminosities L_iso of gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs) are correlated with redshift at the 5% and 0.9% signficance levels,
respectively. Our results are based on 10 BeppoSAX GRBs and 11 HETE-2 GRBs with
known redshifts. Our results suggest that the isotropic-equivalent energies and
luminosities of GRBs increase with redshift. They strengthen earlier clues to
this effect from analyses of the BATSE catalog of GRBs, using the variability
of burst time histories as an estimator of burst luminosities (and therefore
redshifts), and from an analysis of BeppoSAX bursts only. If the
isotropic-equivalent energies and luminosities of GRBs really do increase with
redshift, it suggests that GRB jets at high redshifts may be narrower and thus
the cores of GRB progenitor stars at high redshifts may be rotating more
rapidly. It also suggests that GRBs at very high redshifts may be more luminous
-- and therefore easier to detect -- than has been thought, which would make
GRBs a more powerful probe of cosmology and the early universe than has been
thought.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in proc. 2003 GRB Conference, Santa Fe,
N
Hot subdwarf stars and their connection to thermonuclear supernovae
Hot subdwarf stars (sdO/Bs) are evolved core helium-burning stars with very
thin hydrogen envelopes, which can be formed by common envelope ejection. Close
sdB binaries with massive white dwarf (WD) companions are potential progenitors
of thermonuclear supernovae type Ia (SN Ia). We discovered such a progenitor
candidate as well as a candidate for a surviving companion star, which escapes
from the Galaxy. More candidates for both types of objects have been found by
crossmatching known sdB stars with proper motion and light curve catalogues.
The Gaia mission will provide accurate astrometry and light curves of all the
stars in our hot subdwarf sample and will allow us to compile a much larger
all-sky catalogue of those stars. In this way we expect to find hundreds of
progenitor binaries and ejected companions.Comment: Proceedings of the 11th Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar
Astrophysics, Hong Kong 2015, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, in pres
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