2,990 research outputs found
Structure of MnO nanoparticles embedded into channel-type matrices
X-ray diffraction experiments were performed on MnO confined in mesoporous
silica SBA-15 and MCM-41 matrices with different channel diameters. The
measured patterns were analyzed by profile analysis and compared to numerical
simulations of the diffraction from confined nanoparticles. From the lineshape
and the specific shift of the diffraction reflections it was shown that the
embedded objects form ribbon-like structures in the SBA-15 matrices with
channels diameters of 47-87 {\AA}, and nanowire-like structures in the MCM-41
matrices with channels diameters of 24-35 {\AA}. In the latter case the
confined nanoparticles appear to be narrower than the channel diameters. The
physical reasons for the two different shapes of the confined nanoparticles are
discussed.Comment: 8 pages, including 9 postscript figures, uses revtex4.cl
The Heliogyro Reloaded
The heliogyro is a high-performance, spinning solar sail architecture that uses long - order of kilometers - reflective membrane strips to produce thrust from solar radiation pressure. The heliogyro s membrane blades spin about a central hub and are stiffened by centrifugal forces only, making the design exceedingly light weight. Blades are also stowed and deployed from rolls; eliminating deployment and packaging problems associated with handling extremely large, and delicate, membrane sheets used with most traditional square-rigged or spinning disk solar sail designs. The heliogyro solar sail concept was first advanced in the 1960s by MacNeal. A 15 km diameter version was later extensively studied in the 1970s by JPL for an ambitious Comet Halley rendezvous mission, but ultimately not selected due to the need for a risk-reduction flight demonstration. Demonstrating system-level feasibility of a large, spinning heliogyro solar sail on the ground is impossible; however, recent advances in microsatellite bus technologies, coupled with the successful flight demonstration of reflectance control technologies on the JAXA IKAROS solar sail, now make an affordable, small-scale heliogyro technology flight demonstration potentially feasible. In this paper, we will present an overview of the history of the heliogyro solar sail concept, with particular attention paid to the MIT 200-meter-diameter heliogyro study of 1989, followed by a description of our updated, low-cost, heliogyro flight demonstration concept. Our preliminary heliogyro concept (HELIOS) should be capable of demonstrating an order-of-magnitude characteristic acceleration performance improvement over existing solar sail demonstrators (HELIOS target: 0.5 to 1.0 mm/s2 at 1.0 AU); placing the heliogyro technology in the range required to enable a variety of science and human exploration relevant support missions
No disks around low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the young sigma Orionis cluster?
We report on the analysis of 2MASS near-infrared data of a sample of low-mass
stars and brown dwarfs in the sigma Orionis cluster. Youth and cluster
membership have been spectroscopically confirmed using the Li I spectral line.
We find little evidence in the JHKs colour-colour diagram for near-infrared
excess emission for these cluster members. By comparison with model
expectations, at most 2 out of 34 stars show (H-K) colour consistent with a
near-infrared excess. This scarcity of near-infrared signatures of
circumstellar disks in the lower-mass and substellar regimes of this cluster
contrasts with findings in younger clusters, hinting at an age dependence of
the disk frequency. Taking into account the apparent cluster age, our result
supports the idea of a relatively fast (few Myr) disk dissipation and extends
this conclusion to the substellar regime. We also find some evidence that, in
this cluster, the disk frequency as measured by the Ks-band excess may be mass
dependent.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics
Letter
Incorporation by coordination and release of the iron chelator drug deferiprone from zinc-based metal–organic frameworks
A series of new zinc-based metal–organic framework materials has been prepared in which deferiprone is incorporated as a chelating ligand on infinite or tri-zinc secondary building units following deprotonation. Deferiprone is immediately released from the MOFs on treatments with 1 N hydrochloric acid or buffer, but slow release is observed in ethanoic acid
Natural history of Arabidopsis thaliana and oomycete symbioses
Molecular ecology of plant–microbe interactions has immediate significance for filling a gap in knowledge between the laboratory discipline of molecular biology and the largely theoretical discipline of evolutionary ecology. Somewhere in between lies conservation biology, aimed at protection of habitats and the diversity of species housed within them. A seemingly insignificant wildflower called Arabidopsis thaliana has an important contribution to make in this endeavour. It has already transformed botanical research with deepening understanding of molecular processes within the species and across the Plant Kingdom; and has begun to revolutionize plant breeding by providing an invaluable catalogue of gene sequences that can be used to design the most precise molecular markers attainable for marker-assisted selection of valued traits. This review describes how A. thaliana and two of its natural biotrophic parasites could be seminal as a model for exploring the biogeography and molecular ecology of plant–microbe interactions, and specifically, for testing hypotheses proposed from the geographic mosaic theory of co-evolution
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