This paper describes a model of electron energization and cyclotron-maser emission applicable to astrophysical magnetized collisionless shocks. It is motivated by the work of Begelman, Ergun and Rees [Astrophys. J. 625, 51 (2005)] who argued that the cyclotron-maser instability occurs in localized magnetized collisionless shocks such as those expected in blazar jets. We report on recent research carried out to investigate electron acceleration at collisionless shocks and maser radiation associated with the accelerated electrons. We describe how electrons accelerated by lower-hybrid waves at collisionless shocks generate cyclotron-maser radiation when the accelerated electrons move into regions of stronger magnetic fields. The electrons are accelerated along the magnetic field and magnetically compressed leading to the formation of an electron velocity distribution having a horseshoe shape due to conservation of the electron magnetic moment. Under certain conditions the horseshoe electron velocity distribution function is unstable to the cyclotron-maser instability [Bingham and Cairns, Phys. Plasmas 7, 3089 (2000); Melrose, Rev. Mod. Plasma Phys. 1, 5 (2017)].

The deep subsurface of other planetary bodies is of special interest for robotic and human exploration. The subsurface provides access to planetary interior processes, thus yielding insights into planetary formation and evolution. On Mars, the subsurface might harbour the most habitable conditions. In the context of human exploration, the subsurface can provide refugia for habitation from extreme surface conditions. We describe the fifth Mine Analogue Research (MINAR 5) programme at 1 km depth in the Boulby Mine, UK in collaboration with Spaceward Bound NASA and the Kalam Centre, India, to test instruments and methods for the robotic and human exploration of deep environments on the Moon and Mars. The geological context in Permian evaporites provides an analogue to evaporitic materials on other planetary bodies such as Mars. A wide range of sample acquisition instruments (NASA drills, Small Planetary Impulse Tool (SPLIT) robotic hammer, universal sampling bags), analytical instruments (Raman spectroscopy, Close-Up Imager, Minion DNA sequencing technology, methane stable isotope analysis, biomolecule and metabolic life detection instruments) and environmental monitoring equipment (passive air particle sampler, particle detectors and environmental monitoring equipment) was deployed in an integrated campaign. Investigations included studying the geochemical signatures of chloride and sulphate evaporitic minerals, testing methods for life detection and planetary protection around human-tended operations, and investigations on the radiation environment of the deep subsurface. The MINAR analogue activity occurs in an active mine, showing how the development of space exploration technology can be used to contribute to addressing immediate Earth-based challenges. During the campaign, in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA), MINAR was used for astronaut familiarization with future exploration tools and techniques. The campaign was used to develop primary and secondary school and primary to secondary transition curriculum materials on-site during the campaign which was focused on a classroom extra vehicular activity simulation.

This list includes mainly the results of datings done from 1967 to 1969. Methods are essentially the same as those described in Radiocarbon, 1966, v. 8, p. 46–53, 1967, v. 9, p. 38–42, and 1969, v. 11, p. 15–21. Samples synthesized to benzene and counted by liquid scintillation spectrometry. Age calculations are based on 95% of the activity of the NBS oxalic acid standard and computed from the Libby half-life of 5570 yr and reference A.D. 1950. The error listed is the one-sigma statistical counting error. Most samples were counted for 2000 to 3000 min. HCL and NaOH pretreatments were applied to samples as required.

This list is a compilation of samples dated since September, 1965. It includes a continuation of several series begun in FSU I as well as new series undertaken since that time.

The numerical action variational method (NAM) is an elegant, non-chaotic technique for calculating the trajectories of gravitating systems in a cosmological context. It has been used extensively for establishing orbits of Local Group galaxies in a series of papers (Peebles 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995) and for the Local Supercluster (Shaya, Peebles, & Tully 1995).

Our repertoir of tools include code that holds present distances constant and predicts possible redshifts, one that holds present redshifts constant and predicts possible distances, and one that varies masses of each mass tracer and simultaneously satisfies both distance and redshift.

Our results indicate a Ω0 = 0.2, a mass-to-light ratio of field galaxies in the range of 100 M ⊙/L ⊙ in blue light (t 0 = 11 Gyr with no cosmological constant), but for the Virgo Cluster, the value is 6 or 7 times higher. The higher values of Ω0 determined from using the IRAS galaxy distributions may be a result of under weighting this important mass component of the universe plus a poor correlation between cluster and field galaxy distributions.

The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. The Ebola outbreak has led to the disruption of already fragile but essential health services and drug distribution systems; HIV clinical services in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea were particularly affected. Targeted approaches are necessary to protect the continuity of HIV treatment for people living with HIV and should be integrated within the broader Ebola response; this will save lives, prevent drug resistance, and decrease the likelihood of HIV transmission. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:522–526)

Numerical simulations have been conducted to study the spatial growth rate and emission topology of the cyclotron-maser instability responsible for stellar/planetary auroral magnetospheric radio emission and intense non-thermal radio emission in other astrophysical contexts. These simulations were carried out in an unconstrained geometry, so that the conditions existing within the source region of some natural electron cyclotron masers could be more closely modelled. The results have significant bearing on the radiation propagation and coupling characteristics within the source region of such non-thermal radio emissions.

Existing work in the mechanical behavior of thin films focuses mainly on measurement of macroscopic properties without strong correlation to microstructural features. We used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize the microstructures of free-standing copper thin films both before and after monotonic tensile deformation in an ex-situ thin film tensile testing system, as well as during in-situ loading in the TEM. The defect structures contributing to plastic deformation were investigated with an emphasis on comparison to mechanisms known to operate in bulk copper. The thin film exhibited much lower ductility (approximately 1%) than that normally observed in bulk form (greater than 40%). The predominant plastic deformation mechanisms did not include the typical dislocation activity that occurs in bulk copper, but rather greatly inhibited dislocation interactions typical of stages I and II hardening only. The absence of those structures normally found in tensile-deformed bulk copper is attributed to the differences in characteristic sizes of features within the microstructure available for deformation in bulk versus evaporated thin film material, that is, grain size and film thickness. The thin film ductility is an order of magnitude lower than what has been observed in bulk, ultrafine-grained copper, implying that a pure thin film effect on ductility exists and is significant. Microstructural features both near to and far from the fracture surface regions will be presented.

Miniature and microscale fuel processors that incorporate novel catalysts and microtechnology-based designs are discussed. The novel catalyst allows for methanol reforming at high gas hourly space velocities of 50,000 hr-1 or higher while maintaining a carbon monoxide levels at 1% or less. The microtechnology-based designs extremely compact and lightweight devices. The miniature fuel processors, with a volume less than 25 cm3, a mass less than 200 grams, and thermal efficiencies of up to 83%, nominally provide 25 to 50 watts equivalent of hydrogen, which is ample for the portable power supplies described here. With reasonable assumptions on fuel cell efficiencies, anode gas and water management, parasitic power loss, the energy density was estimated at 1700 Whr/kg. These processors have been demonstrated with a CO cleanup method and a fuel cell stack. The microscale fuel processors, with a volume of less than 0.25 cm3 and a mass of less than 1 gram, are designed to provide up to 0.3 watt equivalent of power with efficiencies over 20%.

We report self-diffusion studies of silicon between 855 and 1388°C in highly enriched epitaxial 28Si layers. Diffusion profiles of 30Si and 29Si are determined with high resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The temperature dependence of the Si self-diffusion coefficients is accurately described with an activation enthalpy of 4.76 eV and a pre-exponential factor of 560 cm2s-1. The single activation enthalpy indicates that Si self-interstitials dominate self-diffusion over the whole temperature range investigated. Self- and interdiffusion in buried Al71GaAs/Al69GaAs/71GaAs isotope heterostructures with different Al composition is measured between 800 and 1160°C. Ga self-diffusion in AlGaAs and interdiffusion of Al and Ga at the AlGaAs/GaAs interface show that Ga diffusion decreases with increasing Al composition and that the interdiffusion coefficient depends linearly on Al concentration. Furthermore Al is found to diffuse more rapidly into GaAs than Ga diffuses in GaAs. The temperature dependence of Ga and Al diffusion in GaAs and of Ga diffusion in AlGaAs is described by a single activation enthalpy in the range of 3.6±0.1 eV, but by different pre-exponential factors. Differences found for Ga and Al diffusion in GaAs and for Ga diffusion in AlGaAs with different Al concentrations are discussed.

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) techniques were used to determine InxGa1-xN and AlxGa1-xN compositions. While RBS is generally considered a quantitative technique for compositional analysis, SIMS has not been. We have applied a new analytical technique, which reduces the matrix effect in SIMS analysis, to accurately determine stoichiometry. The composition of InxGa1-xN (AlxGa1-xN) in the multiple layers and quantum well of the LED can be measured by SIMS, but is inaccessible to RBS.

Stress and electromigration voids are believed to nucleate at the metal/passivation interface. In this study, modified interfaces were synthesized to experimentally elucidate the role of the interface on stress voiding for comparison with theoretical predictions. Interfaces were modified by depositing photoresist in a controlled manner on Ti/Algfi lines prior to passivation deposition. Stress voiding susceptibility was assessed in as-received lines as well as those subjected to storage anneals for 1, 5, and 25 days at 190°C to accelerate void formation. The global textures of all the lines were <111> fiber and were not significantly affected by the interface modification. Differences in stress voiding were attributed to the different interfaces. Higher ratios of voids in modified regions to voids in unmodified regions were observed both in as-received lines and those given a 1 day storage anneal due to the heterogeneous nucleation sites provided by the photoresist contamination in the modified regions. However, the void ratio appears to decrease exponentially with longer time anneals. Lowered driving force for void formation in the modified regions leads to less voiding with time, while higher driving force and a limited number of nucleation sites in the unmodified regions leads to more voiding with time. Local textures at a limited number of voided sites in modified and unmodified regions were identical to the global texture of the line. In our limited sampling, voids did not form in local regions of weaker <111> texture.

SIMS analysis was applied to the characterization of GaN, AlGaN/GaN and InGaN/GaN grown by MOCVD. Such characterization enables the control of purity and doping, and the determination of growth rate and alloy composition. The analysis can be performed on finished optoelectronic and electronic devices and this makes SIMS technique a powerful tool for failure analysis, reverse engineering, and concurrent engineering.

We present an investigation of the amplitude modulation of an external magnetic field-aligned right-hand circularly polarized electromagnetic electron-cyclotron (EMEC) wave in a strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma. It is shown that the dynamics of the modulated EMEC wave packet is governed by a cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The latter reveals that a modulated wave packet can propagate in the form of either a dark or a grey envelope soliton. This result could have relevance to the transport of electromagnetic wave energy over long distances via envelope solitons in the magnetospheres of pulsars and magnetars.

We characterize diametrically maximal and constant width sets in $C(K)$ , where $K$ is any compact Hausdorff space. These results are applied to prove that the sum of two diametrically maximal sets needs not be diametrically maximal, thus solving a question raised in a paper by Groemer. A characterization of diametrically maximal sets in $\ell _{1}^{3}$ is also given, providing a negative answer to Groemer's problem in finite dimensional spaces. We characterize constant width sets in ${{c}_{0}}\left( I \right)$ , for every $I$ , and then we establish the connections between the Jung constant of a Banach space and the existence of constant width sets with empty interior. Porosity properties of families of sets of constant width and rotundity properties of diametrically maximal sets are also investigated. Finally, we present some results concerning non-reflexive and Hilbert spaces.

If an initially mainly rectilinear electron beam is subject to significant magnetic compression, the conservation of the magnetic moment results in the ultimate formation of a horseshoe distribution in phase space. A similar situation occurs where particles are accelerated into the auroral region of the Earth's magnetic dipole. Such a distribution has been shown to be unstable to a cyclotron resonance maser type of instability and it has been postulated that this may be the mechanism required to explain the production in these regions of auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) and also possibly radiation from other astrophysical objects such as stars with a suitable magnetic field configuration. In this paper we describe a laboratory experiment to investigate the evolution of an electron beam subject to a magnetic compression of up to a factor of 30.

Cumulative germination curves were recorded for carrot (Daucus carota L.) seeds at a range of constant temperatures (T) and water potentials (Ψ) in the laboratory and under variable soil conditions in 15 seed-bed environments in the field. A single base temperature (Tb), a distribution of base water potentials (Ψb(G)) for percentiles (G) of the population and the hydrothermal time constant (Hg) were determined from laboratory data. Although less effective at low Ψ, it was possible, using these germination parameters, to satisfactorily describe the effect of T and Ψ on germination rates under constant conditions according to the threshold models of thermal and hydrothermal time. These models were applied to field data with the condition that the germination process ceased if T<Tb for thermal time and additionally Ψ<Ψb(G) for hydrothermal time.

Neither model accurately predicted germination patterns in the field. However, the pattern of germination was adequately described in most situations by a modified threshold model in which the predicted progress towards germination was unaffected by soil Ψ, provided it remained above Ψb(G), and was therefore more rapid under variable seed bed conditions than hydrothermal time. In this modified threshold model, the condition Ψ<Ψb(G) had to be fulfilled at the initiation of radicle extension before germination occurred. This result implies that the initiation of radicle growth operates as a moisture-sensitive step that can determine germination and seedling emergence timing under variable soil-moisture conditions.

Seedling emergence was also recorded in the field and used to determine, separately, the impact of germination and post-germination growth on the variation in seedling emergence patterns. The analysis suggests that delays in seedling emergence occur largely in the germination phase, but that seedling losses and variation in the spread of seedling emergence times within the population occur largely during the post-germination growth phase.