Intense spreading of radar echoes from ionospheric plasmas

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 41).On December 25, 2004, a large-scale ionospheric plasma bubble was observed over Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, inducing significant range spreading on ionograms. This phenomena may be explained by means of the E x B instability and gravitational Rayleigh-Taylor instability. A derivation of the dispersion relations for X and O mode waves transmitted from an ionosonde and an analysis of the collisional Rayleigh-Taylor instability leading to an expression for the growth rate are presented as background information. Ray tracing code developed by Nathan Dalrymple, a previous graduate student of Professor Min-Chang Lee, is extended, first to draw refractive index surfaces to illustrate a key principle in ray tracing and later to simulate range spreading due to depleted ionospheric ducts [1]. Data from Arecibo incoherent scatter radar and Arecibo's CADI digisonde is examined showing strong evidence for the development of a plasma bubble following a rise in the plasma layer and the appearance of a horizontal density gradient. In one portion of the ionosphere, this gradient is found to be at an angle of approximately 70 degrees to the Earth's magnetic field, a favorable condition for the excitation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability over Arecibo.by Seth E. Dorfman.S.B

Experimental Study of 3-D, Impulsive Reconnection Events in a Laboratory Plasma

Fast, impulsive reconnection is commonly observed in laboratory, space and astrophysical plasmas. Many existing models of reconnection attempt to explain this behavior without including variation in the third direction. However, the impulsive reconnection events observed on the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) which are described in this dissertation cannot be explained by 2-D models and are therefore fundamentally three-dimensional. These events include both a slow buildup phase and a fast current layer disruption phase. The buildup phase is characterized by a slow transition from collisional to collisionless reconnection and the formation of “flux rope” structures; these “flux ropes” are defined as 3-D high current density regions associated with an O point at the measurement location. In the disruption phase, the “flux ropes” are ejected from the reconnection layer as the total current drops and the reconnection rate spikes. Strong out-of-plane gradients in both the density and reconnecting magnetic field are another key feature of disruptive discharges; after finite upstream density is depleted by reconnection during the buildup phase, the out of plane magnetic field gradient flattens and this disruption spreads in the electron flow direction. Electromagnetic fluctuations in the lower hybrid frequency range are observed to peak at the disruption time; however, they are not the key physics responsible for the impulsive phenomena observed. Important features of the disruption dynamics cannot be explained by an anomalous resistivity model. Furthermore, an important discrepancy in the layer width and force balance between the collisionless regime of MRX and kinetic simulations persists when the fluctuations are small or absent, implying that they are not the cause of the wider electron layers observed in the experiment. These wider layers may instead be due to the formation of flux ropes with a wide range of sizes; consistent with this hypothesis, flux rope signatures are observed down to the smallest scales resolved by the diagnostics. Finally, a 3-D two-fluid model is proposed to explain how the observed out-of-plane variation may lead to a localized region of enhanced reconnection that spreads in the direction of electron flow

Bidirectional immune tolerance in nonmyeloablative MHC-mismatched BMT for murine β-thalassemia

Nonmyeloablative conditioning using total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) and rabbit antithymocyte serum (ATS) (the murine preclinical equivalent of antithymocyte globulin [ATG]) facilitates immune tolerance after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) across major histocompatibility complex (MHC) disparities and may be a useful strategy for nonmalignant disorders. We previously reported that donor effector T-cell function and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are regulated via recipient invariant natural killer T-cell (iNKT) interleukin-4-driven expansion of donor Foxp3 naturally occurring regulatory T cells (Tregs). This occurs via recipient iNKT- and STAT6-dependent expansion of recipient myeloid dendritic cells (MDCs) that induce contact-dependent expansion of donor Treg through PD-1/PD ligand signaling. After TLI/ATS + BMT, Gr-1 CD11c MDCs and Gr-1 CD11c myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were enriched in GVHD target organs. We now report that the recovery of both recipient MDSCs ( < .01) and MDCs ( < .01) is significantly increased when the alkylator cyclophosphamide (CTX) is added to TLI/ATS conditioning. In a BALB/c → B6 lethal GVHD model, adoptive transfer of MDSCs from TLI/ATS/CTX-conditioned recipients is associated with significantly improved GVHD colitis and survival ( < .001), conversion of MDSCs to PD ligand-expressing MDCs, and increased donor naturally occurring Treg recovery ( < .01) compared with control treatment. Using BALB/c donors and β-thalassemic HW-80 recipients, we found significantly improved rates of engraftment and GVHD following TLI/ATS/CTX compared with TLI/ATS, lethal or sublethal total body irradiation/ATS/CTX, or CTX/ATS conditioning. These data provide preclinical support for trials of TLI/ATG/alkylator regimens for MHC-mismatched BMT for hemoglobinopathies. The data also delineate innate immune mechanisms by which TLI/ATS/CTX conditioning may augment transplantation tolerance