Self-similar signature of the active solar corona within the inertial range of solar-wind turbulence

We quantify the scaling of magnetic energy density in the inertial range of solar-wind turbulence seen in situ at 1 AU with respect to solar activity. At solar maximum, when the coronal magnetic field is dynamic and topologically complex, we find self-similar scaling in the solar wind, whereas at solar minimum, when the coronal fields are more ordered, we find multifractality. This quantifies the solar-wind signature that is of direct coronal origin and distinguishes it from that of local MHD turbulence, with quantitative implications for coronal heating of the solar wind

Magnetic Reconnection and Intermittent Turbulence in the Solar Wind

A statistical relationship between magnetic reconnection, current sheets and intermittent turbulence in the solar wind is reported for the first time using in-situ measurements from the Wind spacecraft at 1 AU. We identify intermittency as non-Gaussian fluctuations in increments of the magnetic field vector, $\mathbf{B}$, that are spatially and temporally non-uniform. The reconnection events and current sheets are found to be concentrated in intervals of intermittent turbulence, identified using the partial variance of increments method: within the most non-Gaussian 1% of fluctuations in $\mathbf{B}$, we find 87%-92% of reconnection exhausts and $\sim$9% of current sheets. Also, the likelihood that an identified current sheet will also correspond to a reconnection exhaust increases dramatically as the least intermittent fluctuations are removed from the dataset. Hence, the turbulent solar wind contains a hierarchy of intermittent magnetic field structures that are increasingly linked to current sheets, which in turn are progressively more likely to correspond to sites of magnetic reconnection. These results could have far reaching implications for laboratory and astrophysical plasmas where turbulence and magnetic reconnection are ubiquitous.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Multi-Spacecraft Measurement of Turbulence within a Magnetic Reconnection Jet

The relationship between magnetic reconnection and plasma turbulence is investigated using multipoint in-situ measurements from the Cluster spacecraft within a high-speed reconnection jet in the terrestrial magnetotail. We show explicitly that work done by electromagnetic fields on the particles, $\mathbf{J}\cdot\mathbf{E}$, has a non-Gaussian distribution and is concentrated in regions of high electric current density. Hence, magnetic energy is converted to kinetic energy in an intermittent manner. Furthermore, we find the higher-order statistics of magnetic field fluctuations generated by reconnection are characterized by multifractal scaling on magnetofluid scales and non-Gaussian global scale invariance on kinetic scales. These observations suggest $\mathbf{J}\cdot\mathbf{E}$ within the reconnection jet has an analogue in fluid-like turbulence theory in that it proceeds via coherent structures generated by an intermittent cascade. This supports the hypothesis that turbulent dissipation is highly nonuniform, and thus these results could have far reaching implications for space and astrophysical plasmas.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Kinetic Signatures and Intermittent Turbulence in the Solar Wind Plasma

A connection between kinetic processes and intermittent turbulence is observed in the solar wind plasma using measurements from the Wind spacecraft at 1 AU. In particular, kinetic effects such as temperature anisotropy and plasma heating are concentrated near coherent structures, such as current sheets, which are non-uniformly distributed in space. Furthermore, these coherent structures are preferentially found in plasma unstable to the mirror and firehose instabilities. The inhomogeneous heating in these regions, which is present in both the magnetic field parallel and perpendicular temperature components, results in protons at least 3-4 times hotter than under typical stable plasma conditions. These results offer a new understanding of kinetic processes in a turbulent regime, where linear Vlasov theory is not sufficient to explain the inhomogeneous plasma dynamics operating near non-Gaussian structures.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Statistically determined dispersion relations of magnetic field fluctuations in the terrestrial foreshock

We obtain dispersion relations of magnetic field fluctuations for two crossings of the terrestrial foreshock by Cluster spacecraft. These crossings cover plasma conditions that differ significantly in their plasma β and in the density of the reflected ion beam, but not in the properties of the encountered ion population, both showing shell-like distribution function. Dispersion relations are reconstructed using two-point instantaneous wave number estimations from pairs of Cluster spacecraft. The accessible range of wave vectors, limited by the available spacecraft separations, extends to ≈2 × 104 km. Results show multiple branches of dispersion relations, associated with different powers of magnetic field fluctuations. We find that sunward propagating fast magnetosonic waves and beam resonant modes are dominant for the high plasma β interval with a dense beam, while the dispersions of the interval with low beam density include Alfvén and fast magnetosonic modes propagating sunward and anti-sunward

Parametric study of prospective early commercial MHD power plants (PSPEC). General Electric Company, task 1: Parametric analysis

The performance and cost of moderate technology coal-fired open cycle MHD/steam power plant designs which can be expected to require a shorter development time and have a lower development cost than previously considered mature OCMHD/steam plants were determined. Three base cases were considered: an indirectly-fired high temperature air heater (HTAH) subsystem delivering air at 2700 F, fired by a state of the art atmospheric pressure gasifier, and the HTAH subsystem was deleted and oxygen enrichment was used to obtain requisite MHD combustion temperature. Coal pile to bus bar efficiencies in ease case 1 ranged from 41.4% to 42.9%, and cost of electricity (COE) was highest of the three base cases. For base case 2 the efficiency range was 42.0% to 45.6%, and COE was lowest. For base case 3 the efficiency range was 42.9% to 44.4%, and COE was intermediate. The best parametric cases in bases cases 2 and 3 are recommended for conceptual design. Eventual choice between these approaches is dependent on further evaluation of the tradeoffs among HTAH development risk, O2 plant integration, and further refinements of comparative costs

Structural features discriminate androgen receptor N/C terminal and coactivator interactions

Human androgen receptor (AR) transcriptional activity involves interdomain and coactivator interactions with the agonist-bound AR ligand binding domain (LBD). Structural determinants of the AR NH2- and carboxyl-terminal interaction between the AR NH2-terminal FXXLF motif and activation function 2 (AF2) in the LBD were shown previously by crystallography. In this report, we provide evidence for a region in AR LBD helix 12 outside the AF2 binding cleft that facilitates interactions with the FXXLF and LXXLL motifs. Mutagenesis of glutamine 902 to alanine in AR LBD helix 12 (Q902A) disrupted AR FXXLF motif binding to AF2, but enhanced coactivator LXXLL motif binding. Functional compensation for defective FXXLF motif binding by AR-Q902A was suggested by the slower dissociation rate of bound androgen. Functional importance of glutamine 902 was indicated by the charged residue germline mutation Q902R that caused partial androgen insensitivity, and a similar somatic mutation Q902K reported in prostate cancer, both of which increased the androgen dissociation rate and decreased AR transcriptional activity. High affinity equilibrium androgen binding was retained by alanine substitution mutations at Tyr-739 in AR LBD helix 5 or Lys-905 in helix 12 structurally adjacent to AF2, whereas transcriptional activity decreased and the androgen dissociation increased. Deleterious effects of these loss of function mutations were rescued by the helix stabilizing AR prostate cancer somatic mutation H874Y. Sequence NH2-terminal to the AR FXXLF motif contributed to the AR NH2- and carboxyl-terminal interaction based on greater AR-2-30 FXXLF motif peptide binding to the agonist-bound AR LBD than a shorter AR-20-30 FXXLF motif peptide. We conclude that helix 12 residues outside the AF2 binding cleft modulate AR transcriptional activity by providing flexibility to accommodate FXXLF or LXXLL motif binding

A nonextensive entropy approach to solar wind intermittency

The probability distributions (PDFs) of the differences of any physical variable in the intermittent, turbulent interplanetary medium are scale dependent. Strong non-Gaussianity of solar wind fluctuations applies for short time-lag spacecraft observations, corresponding to small-scale spatial separations, whereas for large scales the differences turn into a Gaussian normal distribution. These characteristics were hitherto described in the context of the log-normal, the Castaing distribution or the shell model. On the other hand, a possible explanation for nonlocality in turbulence is offered within the context of nonextensive entropy generalization by a recently introduced bi-kappa distribution, generating through a convolution of a negative-kappa core and positive-kappa halo pronounced non-Gaussian structures. The PDFs of solar wind scalar field differences are computed from WIND and ACE data for different time lags and compared with the characteristics of the theoretical bi-kappa functional, well representing the overall scale dependence of the spatial solar wind intermittency. The observed PDF characteristics for increased spatial scales are manifest in the theoretical distribution functional by enhancing the only tuning parameter $\kappa$, measuring the degree of nonextensivity where the large-scale Gaussian is approached for $\kappa \to \infty$. The nonextensive approach assures for experimental studies of solar wind intermittency independence from influence of a priori model assumptions. It is argued that the intermittency of the turbulent fluctuations should be related physically to the nonextensive character of the interplanetary medium counting for nonlocal interactions via the entropy generalization.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophys.

An Androgen Receptor NH 2 -terminal Conserved Motif Interacts with the COOH Terminus of the Hsp70-interacting Protein (CHIP)

The NH2-terminal sequence of steroid receptors is highly variable between different receptors and in the same receptor from different species. In this study, a primary sequence homology comparison identified a 14-amino acid NH2-terminal motif of the human androgen receptor (AR) that is common to AR from all species reported, including the lower vertebrates. The evolutionarily conserved motif is unique to AR, with the exception of a partial sequence in the glucocorticoid receptor of higher species. The presence of the conserved motif in AR and the glucocorticoid receptor and its absence in other steroid receptors suggests convergent evolution. The function of the AR NH2-terminal conserved motif was suggested from a yeast two-hybrid screen that identified the COOH terminus of the Hsp70-interacting protein (CHIP) as a binding partner. We found that CHIP functions as a negative regulator of AR transcriptional activity by promoting AR degradation. In support of this, two mutations in the AR NH2-terminal conserved motif previously identified in the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate model reduced the interaction between CHIP and AR. Our results suggest that the AR NH2-terminal domain contains an evolutionarily conserved motif that functions to limit AR transcriptional activity. Moreover, we demonstrate that the combination of comparative sequence alignment and yeast two-hybrid screening using short conserved peptides as bait provides an effective strategy to probe the structure-function relationships of steroid receptor NH2-terminal domains and other intrinsically unstructured transcriptional regulatory proteins