Doppler observations of infrasonic waves of meteorological origin at ionospheric heights

Ionospheric effects of meteorological origin observed by the continuous HF Doppler sounder over the Czech Republic are reported in this paper. We focused on detection of waves of periods 1–10 min. We discuss the influence of dynamics and intensity of active weather systems on the occurrence of short period waves and dependence of the observed ionospheric effects on the height of reflection of the sounding radio wave. We observed 3–5 min waves during a severe weather event in summer and 2.5–4 min waves during a severe weather event in winter. We excluded possible geomagnetic origin of these oscillations by the analysis of fluctuations of the local geomagnetic field. In eight cases of 10, wave activity in the analysed period range was not significantly increased comparing to quiet days. The intensity of weather systems as well as the location of potential sources of waves towards the points of HF Doppler shift observation influence significantly the occurrence of infrasonic waves in the ionosphere. The results in Central Europe differ considerably from those previously obtained in North America. As a possible reason, we discuss different intensity and dynamics of weather systems in both regions.     

一种基于UML活动图模型的系统测试方法

UML活动图是基于UML开发的软件设计模型的重要组成部分,它描述了软件系统的动态行为,是软件系统测试过程中的一个重要的信息来源.提出了一个基于UML活动图的场景测试方法,给出了生成基本流和备选流的原则,对传统场景法进行了改进,避免了测试场景集数量爆炸.最后重点结合一个实例对该方法进行了论述.     

Solar signals in the minimum extreme temperature records in the southern region of the Gulf of Mexico

Minimum extreme temperature series from several meteorological stations of the Gulf of Mexico are spectrally analyzed using the Maximum Entropy Method.We obtained significant periodicities similar to those found in meteorological and solar activity phenomena. This indicates that probably the solar activity signals are present in the minimum extreme temperature records of this Mexican region.     

Presynaptic transporter-mediated release of glutamate evoked by the protonophore FCCP increases under altered gravity conditions

High-affinity Na⁺-dependent glutamate transporters of the plasma membrane mediate the glutamate uptake into neurons, and thus maintain low levels of extracellular glutamate in the synaptic cleft. The study focused on the release of glutamate by reversal of Na⁺-dependent glutamate transporters from rat brain nerve terminals (synaptosomes) under conditions of centrifuge-induced hypergravity. Flow cytometric analysis revealed similarity in the size and cytoplasmic granularity between synaptosomal preparations obtained from control and G-loaded animals (10 G, 1 h). The release of cytosolic l-[¹⁴C]glutamate from synaptosomes was evaluated using the protonophore FCCP, which dissipated synaptic vesicle proton gradient, thus synaptic vesicles were not able to keep glutamate inside and the latter enriched cytosol. FCCP per se induced the greater release of l-[¹⁴C]glutamate in hypergravity as compared to control (4.8 ± 1.0% and 8.0 ± 1.0% of total label). Exocytotic release of l-[¹⁴C]glutamate evoked by depolarization was reduced down to zero after FCCP application under both conditions studied. Depolarization stimulated release of cytosolic l-[¹⁴C]glutamate from synaptosomes preliminary treated with FCCP was considerably increased from 27.0 ± 2.2% of total label in control to 35.0 ± 2.3% in hypergravity. Non-transportable inhibitor of glutamate transporter dl-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate was found to significantly inhibit high-KCl and FCCP-stimulated release of l-[¹⁴C]glutamate, confirming the release by reversal of glutamate transporters. The enhancement of transporter-mediated release of glutamate in hypergravity was found to result at least partially from the inhibition of the activity of Na/K-ATPase in the plasma membrane of synaptosomes. We suggested that hypergravity-induced alteration in transporter-mediated release of glutamate indicated hypoxic injury of neurons.     

基于能力的工作流任务组织化

为解决一般工作流模型中"活动-成员"的紧耦合链,改进任务分配的柔性和适应性,提出了工作流活动和成员的能力概念.描述了能力本体模型和基于能力的任务组织化原则,建立了"活动-能力-成员"三层结构的过程元模型,给出了一系列能力匹配策略的形式化描述.上述概念和方法在开放边界工作流系统ABCflow中得到应用和验证.      

Energy utilization rates during shuttle extravehicular activities

The work rates or energy utilization rates during EVA are major factors in sizing of life support systems. These rates also provide a measure of ease of EVA and its cost in crew fatigue. From the first Shuttle EVA on the STS-6 mission in 1983, we have conducted 59 man-EVA and 341 man-hours of EVA. Energy utilization rates have been measured on each of these EVA. Metabolic rate was measured during each EVA using oxygen utilization corrected for suit leakage. From 1981–1987, these data were available for average data over the EVA or over large segments of the EVA. Since 1987, EVA oxygen utilization data were available at 2-minute intervals. The average metabolic rate on Shuttle EVA (194 kcal/hr.) has been significantly lower than metabolic rates during Apollo and Skylab missions. Peak rates have been below design levels, infrequent, and of short duration. The data suggest that the energy cost of tasks may be inversely related to the degree of training for the task. The data provide insight on the safety margins provided by life support designs and on the energy cost of Station construction EVA.     

"神舟三号"大气成分探测器探测结果--2002年4月磁暴期间大气成分的异常变化

"神州三号"(SZ-3)大气成分探测器搭载在SZ-3留轨舱上于2002年3月26日发射入轨,正遇2002年4月发生的连续两次地磁扰动事件,SZ-3大气成分探测器测得了轨道舱运行高度上(330-350 km附近)大气成分的响应变化和异常现象.探测数据表明,在地磁扰动期间,不仅发生了大气中主要成分O和N2的数密度值增变的响应变化,而且在进入地磁扰动峰期开始后6h左右在较高纬度处出现了N2的异常增变和O的异常降变.4-5h后,这种异常增变峰和降变谷由纬度42°N左右逐渐推移向纬度较低地区,直至消失.     

舱外航天服热控系统仿真

针对人体穿着航天服处于过热状态下的散热问题，在分别建立人体热调节系统、金属氢化物冷源和液冷服数学模型的基础上，将3个模型进行结合，对舱外航天服热控系统在5．5h的时间轴上进行综合的仿真计算，求出人体各节段的温度分布情况，液冷服的入口及出口水温，金属氢化物冷源的出口水温等参数，分析航天员的热舒适性，对航天服热控系统的设计有一定的指导作用，并为今后进一步的研究打下了基础．     

Long-term changes in indices of geomagnetic activity at the auroral station Sodankylä

Here we compare the traditional analog measure of geomagnetic activity, Ak, with the more recent digital indices of IHV and Ah based on hourly mean data, and their derivatives at the auroral station Sodankylä. By this selection of indices we study the effects of (i) analog vs. digital technique, and (ii) full local-time vs. local night-time coverage on quantifying local geomagnetic activity. We find that all other indices are stronger than Ak during the low-activity cycles 15–16 suggesting an excess of very low scalings in Ak at this time. The full-day indices consistently depict stronger correlation with the interplanetary magnetic field strength, while the night-time indices have higher correlation with solar wind speed. The Ak index correlates better with the digital indices of full-day coverage than with any night-time index. However, Ak depicts somewhat higher activity levels than the digital full-day indices in the declining phase of the solar cycle, indicating that, due to their different sampling rates, the latter indices are less sensitive to high-frequency variations driven by the Alfvén waves in high-speed streams. On the other hand, the night-time indices have an even stronger response to solar wind speed than Ak. The results strongly indicate that at auroral latitudes, geomagnetic indices with different local time coverage reflect different current systems, which, by an appropriate choice of indices, allows studying the century-scale dynamics of these currents separately.     

A study on possible solar and geomagnetic effects on the precipitation over northwestern Argentina

The precipitation over Tucuman (26.8°S; 65.2°W), which is representative of the Northwestern region of Argentina, is analyzed in search of an association with solar and geomagnetic activity, with the purpose of contributing to the controversial issue on the connection between climate variation and anthropogenic vs. natural forcing. Monthly time series of precipitation, sunspot number (Rz), and aa index were used for the period 1884–2010. A wavelet analysis was performed first which, due to the time series length, shows significant results only for periodicities lower than 32 years. Due to the transient character and non-constant phase of the results, any sustained wavelet coherence between precipitation and either sunspots or aa could be noticed. Moving averages and correlations were also assessed. The 11 and 22-year running mean of precipitation is positively correlated to Rz and aa when the whole period of analysis is considered. However, a shift in the long-term behavior of precipitation is noticed around 1940, which implies different correlation values with Rz and aa when the period before or after this year are considered. The solar cycle length is also considered for this statistical study and partly confirms the results obtained with Rz and aa. We propose plausible physical explanations based on geomagnetic activity and total solar irradiance effects over atmospheric circulation that could support the statistical result. A deeper analysis and broader geographical coverage is needed in order to detect a connection between precipitation and solar variability discernible from greenhouse gases effects. We emphasize the idea of the importance of recognizing and quantifying the different forcing acting on precipitation (or any other climate parameter), which sometimes can be barely evident from a solely statistical analysis.