Changes in surface UV solar irradiance and ozone over the balkans during the eclipse of August 11, 1999

Intensive measurements of UV solar irradiance, total ozone and surface ozone were carried out during the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 at Thessaloniki, Greece and Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, located very close to the footprint of the moon's shadow during the solar eclipse with the maximum coverage of the solar disk reaching about 90% and 96% respectively. It is shown that during the eclipse the diffuse component is reduced less compared to the decline of the direct solar irradiance at the shorter wavelengths. A 20-minute oscillation of erythemal UV-B solar irradiance was observed before and after the time of the eclipse maximum under clear skies, indicating a possible 20-minute fluctuation in total ozone presumably caused by the eclipse induced gravity waves. The surface ozone measurements at Thessaloniki display a decrease of around 10–15 ppbv during the solar eclipse. Similarly, ozone profile measurements with a lidar system indicate a decrease of ozone up to 2 km during the solar eclipse. The eclipse offered the opportunity to test our understanding of tropospheric ozone chemistry. The use of a chemical box model suggested that photochemistry can account for a significant portion of the observed surface ozone decrease.     

DNA double strand break production and rejoining in V79 cells irradiated with light ions.

Low energy protons and other densely ionizing light ions are known to have RBE>1 for cellular end points relevant for stochastic and deterministic effects. The occurrence of a close relationship between them and induction of DNA dsb is still a matter of debate. We studied the production of DNA dsb in V79 cells irradiated with low energy protons having LET values ranging from 11 to 31 keV/micrometer, i.e. in the energy range characteristic of the Bragg peak, using the sedimentation technique. We found that the initial yield of dsb is quite insensitive to proton LET and not significantly higher than that observed with X-rays, in agreement with recent data on V79 cells irradiated with alpha particles of various LET up to 120 keV/micrometer. By contrast, RBE for cell inactivation and for mutation induction rises with the proton LET. In experiments aimed at evaluating the rejoining of dsb after proton irradiation we found that the amount of dsb left unrepaired after 120 min incubation is higher for protons than for sparsely ionizing radiation. These results indicate that dsb are not homogeneous with respect to repair and give support to the hypothesis that increasing LET leads to an increase in the complexity of DNA lesions with a consequent decrease in their repairability.     

Printed circuit board diagnosis using artificial neural networksand circuit magnetic fields

Testing of electronic systems using conventional testing methods has become more difficult and costly as these systems have become more complex and compact. Conventional testing methods and systems often require lengthy analysis to define testing strategies. These test systems may require lengthy test periods, complex stimulus and measurement instrumentation as well as complicated fixturing. The results are often ambiguous and require further interpretation. This paper presents an exploration of a “non-intrusive” test method based on interpreting changes in the magnetic field close to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Currents moving between devices on the PCB produce these magnetic fields. Changes of the PCB operational status due to faults cause changes in the associated magnetic field pattern that can be interpreted by Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for fault identification. An apparatus to collect magnetic field measurements is described along with some problems of collecting data. Typical magnetic field patterns for “known-good” and faulted PCBs are presented. Possible extensions of the method are discussed. This paper resulted from internally funded work at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) concerning non-intrusive diagnostic techniques     

Evaluation of EarthRadar unexploded ordnance testing at Fort A.P.Hill, Virginia

Previously, K. Bakhtar and E. Sagal [ibid. vol. 17, pp. 4-11, 2002] made remarkable claims for the performance of the Bakhtar Associates ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in detecting and classifying buried unexploded ordnance (UXO). In this article, we report the results of the series of blind tests on the EarthRadar carried out during the Fall of 2000 and Spring of 2001, which led to very different conclusions regarding the radar's performance. The contents of this article are excerpted from the final report on the testing, prepared by the Institute for Defense Analyses     

Estimation of risk based on multiple events in radiation carcinogenesis of rat skin.

In the multistage theory of carcinogenesis, cells progress to cancer through a series of discrete, irreversible, heritable genetic alterations or mutations. However data on radiation-induced cancer incidence in rat skin suggests that some part of an intermediate repairable alteration may occur. Data are presented on cancer induction in rat skin exposed to the following radiations: 1. an electron beam (LET=0.34 keV/um, 2. a neon ion beam (LET=25 keV/um and 3. an argon ion beam (LET=125 keV/um. The latter 2 beams were generated by the Bevalac at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. About 6.0 cm2 of skin was irradiated per rat. The rats were observed every 6 weeks for at least 78 weeks and tumors were scored at first occurrence. Several histological types of cancer, including squamous and basal cell carcinomas, were induced. The cancer yield versus radiation dose was fitted by the quadratic equation (Y(D)=CLD+BD2), and the parameters C and B were estimated for each type of radiation. Analysis of the DNA from the electron-induced carcinomas indicated that K-ras and/or c-myc oncogenes were activated in all tumors tested, although only a small proportion of neon-induced tumors showed similar activation. In situ hybridization indicated that the cancers contain subpopulations of cells with differing amounts of c-myc and H-ras amplification. The results are consistent with the idea that ionizing radiation produces carcinogenically relevant lesions via 2 repairable events at low LET and via a non-repairable, linked event pathway at high LET; either pathway may advance the cell by 1 stage in the multistage model. The model, if validated, permits the direct calculation of cancer risk in rat skin in a way that can be subjected to experimental testing.     

The development of a series hybrid electric vehicle for near-termapplications

The design of a feasible hybrid electric vehicle for use in near-term applications is presented. The challenge involved cost effectiveness, acceleration, range, safety, and emissions, which were incorporated into the vehicle design. The relationship of the design goals was studied, and compromises were made to provide near-optimal system design. This process resulted in the selection and design of the major vehicle components. The design decisions and the actual vehicle components are reviewed     

Possible contribution of different energy sources to the production of organics in Titan's atmosphere.

A quantitative comparison of the products arising from the irradiation of a Titan's simulated atmosphere is presented. The energy sources used represent some of the main events that occur in the satellite's atmosphere. All of the compounds identified are classified in the hydrocarbon and nitrile chemical families. Almost all of the detected compounds in Titan's atmosphere are produced by one or more energy sources. The compounds with the highest energy yields include the C2 hydrocarbons, methanonitrile and ethanonitrile. The possibility of using some of the produced organics as tracer compounds during the Huygens descend to identify the leading energy form in the different atmospheric levels remains open.     

Infrared spectrometer PFS for the Mars 94 orbiter

Thin films containing a mixture of aliphatic (glycine) and aromatic (tryptophan or tyrosine) amino acids were exposed to a vacuum ultraviolet radiation (VUV) with wavelenghts 100–200 nm. Dipeptides (glycyl-tryptophan and glycyl-tyrosine) were synthesized in these conditions. We compared the actions of VUV and γ-radiation. Polymerization is an essential step in prebiological evolution and we have shown that this stage probably occured over an early Solar system history.     

Evolution of the sun''s near-surface asphericities over the activity cycle

Solar oscillations provide the most accurate measures of cycle dependent changes in the sun, and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) data are the most precise of all. They give us the opportunity to address the real challenge — connecting the MDI seismic measures to observed characteristics of the dynamic sun. From inversions of the evolving MDI data, one expects to determine the nature of the evolution, through the solar cycle, of the layers just beneath the sun's surface. Such inversions require one to guess the form of the causal perturbation — usually beginning with asking whether it is thermal or magnetic. Matters here are complicated because the inversion kernels for these two are quite similar, which means that we don't have much chance of disentangling them by inversion. However, since the perturbation lies very close to the solar surface, one can use synoptic data as an outer boundary condition to fix the choice. It turns out that magnetic and thermal synoptic signals are also quite similar. Thus, the most precise measure of the surface is required.

We argue that the most precise synoptic data come from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) Solar Disk Photometer (SDP). A preliminary analysis of these data implies a magnetic origin of the cycle-dependent sub-surface perturbation. However, we still need to do a more careful removal of the facular signal to determine the true thermal signal.