Differences between stellar and laboratory reaction cross sections

Nuclear reactions proceed differently in stellar plasmas than in the laboratory due to the thermal effects in the plasma. On one hand, a target nucleus is bombarded by projectiles distributed in energy with a distribution defined by the plasma temperature. The most relevant energies are low by nuclear physics standards and thus require an improved description of low-energy properties, such as optical potentials, required for the calculation of reaction cross sections. Recent studies of low-energy cross sections suggest the necessity of a modification of the proton optical potential. On the other hand, target nuclei are in thermal equilibrium with the plasma and this modifies their reaction cross sections. It is generally expected that this modification is larger for endothermic reactions. We show that there are many exceptions to this rule.Comment: 4 pages, Proceedings of Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics 4, Frascati, Italy; to appear in J. Phys. Conf. Serie

A CLIPS-based tool for aircraft pilot-vehicle interface design

The Pilot-Vehicle Interface of modern aircraft is the cognitive, sensory, and psychomotor link between the pilot, the avionics modules, and all other systems on board the aircraft. To assist pilot-vehicle interface designers, a C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) based tool was developed that allows design information to be stored in a table that can be modified by rules representing design knowledge. Developed for the Apple Macintosh, the tool allows users without any CLIPS programming experience to form simple rules using a point and click interface

A carboxy-subterminal aromatic residue in Schizophyllum commune mating pheromones controls specific recognition by Bar4 receptor

Most heterothallic basidiomycetes use small lipopeptide pheromones as part of mate recognition. Schizophyllum commune has scores of pheromones that must be specifically recognized by mating receptors. A correlation between a phenylalanine residue near the C-terminus of several pheromones and the ability of those pheromones to activate receptor Bar4 was recognized. We hypothesized that the phenylalanine residue would be critical for Bar4 activation and tested the hypothesis by making site-directed mutant pheromones and testing these pheromone variants in matings. The data support the hypothesis and add to our understanding of which amino acid residues within pheromones are critical for specific recognition by pheromone receptors

Ignorance of the Law: Should it Excuse Violations of Certain Federal Restrictions on the Possession of Firearms?

Are thousands of North Carolinians violating federal criminal law every day without knowing it even though such violations may subject them to imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine of up to $250,000? Ignorance of the law is generally held not to excuse criminal conduct, but can such ignorance ever be so reasonable and predictable as to constitute a legitimate excuse? Are some laws so obscure, technical, counter-intuitive, or hard to discover that ignorance of the law will be a defense

Of Moons, Thongs, Holdings and Dicta: State v. Fly and the Rule of Law

Section I of this Article reviews the facts of State v. Fly, North Carolina\u27s law of indecent exposure prior to Fly and the Court of Appeals\u27 decision. Section II analyzes the Supreme Court\u27s opinion in Fly and the various rationales offered by the Court to justify its decision. Section III considers the plight of the trial judges in applying the principles, statements, and analysis announced in State v. Fly. Although trial judges must apply the rule of law, and therefore must abide by the holding in State v. Fly, this Article argues that trial judges have the same authority as appellate judges to determine what statements in Fly constitute binding precedent. The conclusion makes clear that trial judges could and should construe most of the purported holdings in Fly as nonbinding dictum because these dicta lack the soundness and clarity necessary to guide the lower courts in predicting how the Supreme Court will interpret and apply the indecent exposure statute in the future. If the trial judges do not exercise their authority to parse the language in Fly, efforts to follow the Fly rationales will result in inconsistent application of the indecent exposure law across the state

Intimate and Transparent Production of Space

This paper illustrates the design work from an integrated third-year Architecture Design Studio and a Professional Practice (a.k.a., project constructability) Studio. There are two parts to this paper. The first part shows how students were involved in a collaborative interdisciplinary project with New Media Arts students in the Liberal Arts Department on campus. Students in collaborative teams designed and constructed a temporary pneumatic structure to house a virtually interactive technology called “Intimate Transactions”. Lessons learned from this design build collaboration in working with the inventor of this technology system, along with the reading of a range of essays on new media design, and additional vocabulary generation exercises provided a launching off point for each of the architecture students’ individual design projects. The second part of this paper shows the follow on building design process and design reflections for one of the student’s studio projects (Jeff Hammerquist, who received the 2007 form•Z Honorable Mention Design Award for his Satellite Automobile Assembly Plant project)