1,367 research outputs found
Structural Invariance of Sunspot Umbrae Over the Solar Cycle: 1993-2004
Measurements of maximum magnetic flux, minimum intensity, and size are
presented for 12 967 sunspot umbrae detected on the NASA/NSO
spectromagnetograms between 1993 and 2004 to study umbral structure and
strength during the solar cycle. The umbrae are selected using an automated
thresholding technique. Measured umbral intensities are first corrected for a
confirming observation of umbral limb-darkening. Log-normal fits to the
observed size distribution confirm that the size spectrum shape does not vary
with time. The intensity-magnetic flux relationship is found to be steady over
the solar cycle. The dependence of umbral size on the magnetic flux and minimum
intensity are also independent of cycle phase and give linear and quadratic
relations, respectively. While the large sample size does show a low amplitude
oscillation in the mean minimum intensity and maximum magnetic flux correlated
with the solar cycle, this can be explained in terms of variations in the mean
umbral size. These size variations, however, are small and do not substantiate
a meaningful change in the size spectrum of the umbrae generated by the Sun.
Thus, in contrast to previous reports, the observations suggest the equilibrium
structure, as testified by the invariant size-magnetic field relationship, as
well as the mean size (i.e. strength) of sunspot umbrae do not significantly
depend on solar cycle phase.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures. Published in Solar Physic
Evolution of active and polar photospheric magnetic fields during the rise of Cycle 24 compared to previous cycles
The evolution of the photospheric magnetic field during the declining phase
and minimum of Cycle 23 and the recent rise of Cycle 24 are compared with the
behavior during previous cycles. We used longitudinal full-disk magnetograms
from the NSO's three magnetographs at Kitt Peak, the Synoptic Optical Long-term
Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) Vector Spectro-Magnetograph (VSM), the
Spectromagnetograph and the 512-Channel Magnetograph instruments, and
longitudinal full-disk magnetograms from the Mt. Wilson 150-foot tower. We
analyzed 37 years of observations from these two observatories that have been
observing daily, weather permitting, since 1974, offering an opportunity to
study the evolving relationship between the active region and polar fields in
some detail over several solar cycles. It is found that the annual averages of
a proxy for the active region poloidal magnetic field strength, the magnetic
field strength of the high-latitude poleward streams, and the time derivative
of the polar field strength are all well correlated in each hemisphere. These
results are based on statistically significant cyclical patterns in the active
region fields and are consistent with the Babcock-Leighton phenomenological
model for the solar activity cycle. There was more hemispheric asymmetry in the
activity level, as measured by total and maximum active region flux, during
late Cycle 23 (after around 2004), when the southern hemisphere was more
active, and Cycle 24 up to the present, when the northern hemisphere has been
more active, than at any other time since 1974. The active region net proxy
poloidal fields effectively disappeared in both hemispheres around 2004, and
the polar fields did not become significantly stronger after this time. We see
evidence that the process of Cycle 24 field reversal has begun at both poles.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic
A novel superfamily containing the β-grasp fold involved in binding diverse soluble ligands
BACKGROUND: Domains containing the β-grasp fold are utilized in a great diversity of physiological functions but their role, if any, in soluble or small molecule ligand recognition is poorly studied. RESULTS: Using sensitive sequence and structure similarity searches we identify a novel superfamily containing the β-grasp fold. They are found in a diverse set of proteins that include the animal vitamin B12 uptake proteins transcobalamin and intrinsic factor, the bacterial polysaccharide export proteins, the competence DNA receptor ComEA, the cob(I)alamin generating enzyme PduS and the Nqo1 subunit of the respiratory electron transport chain. We present evidence that members of this superfamily are likely to bind a range of soluble ligands, including B12. There are two major clades within this superfamily, namely the transcobalamin-like clade and the Nqo1-like clade. The former clade is typified by an insert of a β-hairpin after the helix of the β-grasp fold, whereas the latter clade is characterized by an insert between strands 4 and 5 of the core fold. CONCLUSION: Members of both clades within this superfamily are predicted to interact with ligands in a similar spatial location, with their specific inserts playing a role in the process. Both clades are widely represented in bacteria suggesting that this superfamily was derived early in bacterial evolution. The animal lineage appears to have acquired the transcobalamin-like proteins from low GC Gram-positive bacteria, and this might be correlated with the emergence of the ability to utilize B12 produced by gut bacteria. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Andrei Osterman, Igor Zhulin, and Arcady Mushegian
The questionnaire and coding frame used in the article: The assessment of the risks associated with reactionary financial restraint on nursing budgets in an acute hospital setting
The questionnaire and coding frame used in the article: The assessment of the risks associated with reactionary financial restraint on nursing budgets in an acute hospital settin
Efficient measurements, purification, and bounds on the mutual information
When a measurement is made on a quantum system in which classical information
is encoded, the measurement reduces the observers average Shannon entropy for
the encoding ensemble. This reduction, being the {\em mutual information}, is
always non-negative. For efficient measurements the state is also purified;
that is, on average, the observers von Neumann entropy for the state of the
system is also reduced by a non-negative amount. Here we point out that by
re-writing a bound derived by Hall [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 55}, 100 (1997)], which
is dual to the Holevo bound, one finds that for efficient measurements, the
mutual information is bounded by the reduction in the von Neumann entropy. We
also show that this result, which provides a physical interpretation for Hall's
bound, may be derived directly from the Schumacher-Westmoreland-Wootters
theorem [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 76}, 3452 (1996)]. We discuss these bounds, and
their relationship to another bound, valid for efficient measurements on pure
state ensembles, which involves the subentropy.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex4. v3: rewritten and reinterpreted somewha
On the Formation Height of the SDO/HMI Fe 6173 Doppler Signal
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics
Observatory (SDO) is designed to study oscillations and the mag- netic field in
the solar photosphere. It observes the full solar disk in the Fe I absorption
line at 6173\AA . We use the output of a high-resolution 3D, time- dependent,
radiation-hydrodynamic simulation based on the CO5BOLD code to calculate
profiles F({\lambda},x,y,t) for the Fe I 6173{\AA} line. The emerging profiles
F({\lambda},x,y,t) are multiplied by a representative set of HMI filter
transmission profiles R_i({\lambda},1 \leq i \leq 6) and filtergrams
I_i(x,y,t;1 \leq i \leq 6) are constructed for six wavelengths. Doppler
velocities V_HMI(x,y,t) are determined from these filtergrams using a
simplified version of the HMI pipeline. The Doppler velocities are correlated
with the original velocities in the simulated atmosphere. The cross-
correlation peaks near 100 km, suggesting that the HMI Doppler velocity signal
is formed rather low in the solar atmosphere. The same analysis is performed
for the SOHO/MDI Ni I line at 6768\AA . The MDI Doppler signal is formed
slightly higher at around 125 km. Taking into account the limited spatial
resolution of the instruments, the apparent formation height of both the HMI
and MDI Doppler signal increases by 40 to 50 km. We also study how
uncertainties in the HMI filter-transmission profiles affect the calculated
velocities.Comment: 15 pages, 11 Figure
Quasichemical Models of Multicomponent Nonlinear Diffusion
Diffusion preserves the positivity of concentrations, therefore,
multicomponent diffusion should be nonlinear if there exist non-diagonal terms.
The vast variety of nonlinear multicomponent diffusion equations should be
ordered and special tools are needed to provide the systematic construction of
the nonlinear diffusion equations for multicomponent mixtures with significant
interaction between components. We develop an approach to nonlinear
multicomponent diffusion based on the idea of the reaction mechanism borrowed
from chemical kinetics.
Chemical kinetics gave rise to very seminal tools for the modeling of
processes. This is the stoichiometric algebra supplemented by the simple
kinetic law. The results of this invention are now applied in many areas of
science, from particle physics to sociology. In our work we extend the area of
applications onto nonlinear multicomponent diffusion.
We demonstrate, how the mechanism based approach to multicomponent diffusion
can be included into the general thermodynamic framework, and prove the
corresponding dissipation inequalities. To satisfy thermodynamic restrictions,
the kinetic law of an elementary process cannot have an arbitrary form. For the
general kinetic law (the generalized Mass Action Law), additional conditions
are proved. The cell--jump formalism gives an intuitively clear representation
of the elementary transport processes and, at the same time, produces kinetic
finite elements, a tool for numerical simulation.Comment: 81 pages, Bibliography 118 references, a review paper (v4: the final
published version
Repetitive Reduction Patterns in Lambda Calculus with letrec (Work in Progress)
For the lambda-calculus with letrec we develop an optimisation, which is
based on the contraction of a certain class of 'future' (also: virtual)
redexes.
In the implementation of functional programming languages it is common
practice to perform beta-reductions at compile time whenever possible in order
to produce code that requires fewer reductions at run time. This is, however,
in principle limited to redexes and created redexes that are 'visible' (in the
sense that they can be contracted without the need for unsharing), and cannot
generally be extended to redexes that are concealed by sharing constructs such
as letrec. In the case of recursion, concealed redexes become visible only
after unwindings during evaluation, and then have to be contracted time and
again.
We observe that in some cases such redexes exhibit a certain form of
repetitive behaviour at run time. We describe an analysis for identifying
binders that give rise to such repetitive reduction patterns, and eliminate
them by a sort of predictive contraction. Thereby these binders are lifted out
of recursive positions or eliminated altogether, as a result alleviating the
amount of beta-reductions required for each recursive iteration.
Both our analysis and simplification are suitable to be integrated into
existing compilers for functional programming languages as an additional
optimisation phase. With this work we hope to contribute to increasing the
efficiency of executing programs written in such languages.Comment: In Proceedings TERMGRAPH 2011, arXiv:1102.226
The Expectation Monad in Quantum Foundations
The expectation monad is introduced abstractly via two composable
adjunctions, but concretely captures measures. It turns out to sit in between
known monads: on the one hand the distribution and ultrafilter monad, and on
the other hand the continuation monad. This expectation monad is used in two
probabilistic analogues of fundamental results of Manes and Gelfand for the
ultrafilter monad: algebras of the expectation monad are convex compact
Hausdorff spaces, and are dually equivalent to so-called Banach effect
algebras. These structures capture states and effects in quantum foundations,
and also the duality between them. Moreover, the approach leads to a new
re-formulation of Gleason's theorem, expressing that effects on a Hilbert space
are free effect modules on projections, obtained via tensoring with the unit
interval.Comment: In Proceedings QPL 2011, arXiv:1210.029
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