The pressure balance at the magnetopause is formed by magnetic field and plasma in the magnetosheath, on one side, and inside the magnetosphere, on the other side. In the approach of dipole earth's magnetic field configuration and gas-dynamics solar wind flowing around the magnetosphere, the pressure balance predicts that the magnetopause distance R depends on solar wind dynamic pressure Pd as a power low R ~ Pd^alpha, where the exponent alpha=-1/6. In the real magnetosphere the magnetic filed is contributed by additional sources: Chapman-Ferraro current system, field-aligned currents, tail current, and storm-time ring current. Net contribution of those sources depends on particular magnetospheric region and varies with solar wind conditions and geomagnetic activity. As a result, the parameters of pressure balance, including power index alpha, depend on both the local position at the magnetopause and geomagnetic activity. In addition, the pressure balance can be affected by a non-linear transfer of the solar ...

The knowledge of plasma pressure is essential for many physics applications in the magnetosphere, such as computing magnetospheric currents and deriving magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. A thorough knowledge of the 3-D pressure distribution has however eluded the community, as most in-situ pressure observations are either in the ionosphere or the equatorial region of the magnetosphere. With the assumption of pressure isotropy there have been attempts to obtain the pressure at different locations by either (a) mapping observed data (e.g., in the ionosphere) along the field lines of an empirical magnetospheric field model or (b) computing a pressure profile in the equatorial plane (in 2-D) or along the Sun-Earth axis (in 1-D) that is in force balance with the magnetic stresses of an empirical model. However, the pressure distributions obtained through these methods are not in force balance with the empirical magnetic field at all locations. In order to find a global 3-D plasma pressure distribution in force balance with the magnetospheric magnetic field, we have developed the MAG-3D code, that solves the 3-D force balance equation J x B = (upside-down delta) P computationally. Our calculation is performed in a flux coordinate system in which the magnetic field is expressed in terms of Euler potentials as B = (upside-down delta) psi x (upside-down delta) alpha. The pressure distribution, P = P(psi,alpha), is prescribed in the equatorial plane and is based on satellite measurements. In addition, computational boundary conditions for y surfaces are imposed using empirical field models. Our results provide 3-D distributions of magnetic field and plasma pressure as well as parallel and transverse currents for both quiet-time and disturbed magnetospheric conditions.

A data set of 1821 magnetopause crossings was assembled. Separate fits to subsets of this data set determine the magnetopause location as a function of solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation. Solar wind dynamic pressure variations produce self-similar magnetopause motion on time scales of one hour or longer. In this paper, the pressure balance relationship between the solar wind dynamic pressure and the location of the subsolar magnetopause are verified. The relationship between the IMF Bz, region 1 Birkeland current strength, the position of the subsolar magnetopause, and the shape of the dayside magnetosphere is quantified. Cross sections of the dayside magnetopause in planes perpendicular to the earth-sun line are oblate.

Varying reference pressure used together with a balanced pressure pickup /a diaphragm switch/ to switch the electric output of the pressure transducer in a reference pressure line obtains precise engine cylinder pressure data from a high speed internal combustion engine.

Dynamic analysis on the 2-dimensional FEM(Finite Element Method) numerical model with variously changed rigidity of underground structures and virtual unit mass has been studied as a simulation taking the place of a vibration test of a physical model. This paper examines how various constants of test equations for load distribution ratio and coefficient of subgrade reaction change when the numerical model is sized two or four times as large as the original one to induce usual equations. It is shown that proportional constant of major dynamic earth pressure in proportion to relative displacement between the conduit and the free ground can be estimated by the square steel plate distribution theory of Yamahara. Moreover, theoretical value of load distribution ratio of the conduit in proportion to logarithm of shear-regidity ratio of the conduit and the ground is brought about from the energy method. Then, vertical shearing dynamic earth pressure around the conduit is formulated by clarifying balance propertis of the moment. Thus the theory to estimate all dynamic earth pressure acting on the underground conduit is established. 8 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs.

Plasma pressure data from the ISEE 2 fast plasma experiment (FPE) were statistically analyzed to determine the plasma sheet pressure versus distance in the midnight local time sector of the near-earth (12-35 R{sub E}) magnetotail plasma sheet. The observed plasma pressure, assumed isotropic, was mapped along model magnetic field flux tubes (obtained from the Tsyganenko and Usmanov (1982) model) to the magnetic equator, sorted according to magnetic activity, and binned according to the mapped equatorial location. In regions (L {approx gt} 12 R{sub E}) where the bulk of the plasma pressure was contributed by particles in the energy range of the FPE (70 eV to 40 keV for ions), the statistically determined peak plasma pressures vary with distance similarly to previously determined lobe magnetic pressures (i.e., in a time-averaged sense, pressure balance normal to the magnetotail magnetic equator in the midnight meridian is maintained between lobe magnetic and plasma sheet plasma pressures). Additional plasma pressure data obtained in the inner magnetosphere (2.5 < L < 7) by the Explorer 45, ATS 5, and AMPTE CCE spacecraft supplement the ISEE 2 data. Estimates of plasma pressures in the transition region (7-12 R{sub E}), where the magnetic field topology changes rapidly from a dipolar to a tail-like configuration, are compared with the observed pressure profiles. The quiet time transition region pressure estimates, obtained previously from inversions of empirical magnetic field models, bridge observations both interior to and exterior to the transition region in a reasonable manner. Quiet time observations and estimates are combined to provide profiles of the equatorial plasma pressure along the midnight meridian between 2.5 and 35 R{sub E}.

The range of observed Mars exospheric temperatures obtained by Mariner, Mars, and Viking instruments is not highly correlated with solar EUV input. Various physical processes that influence Mars temperatures are now examined using parameterizations previously employed for Venus in order to investigate the plausibility of solar EUV as the most important thermospheric heat source. The authors demonstrate, using a one-dimensional NLTE radiative transfer code, that observed long-term variations in Mars exospheric temperatures can be largely reproduced ({approximately}210 to 360 K) using strong 15-{mu}m cooling and moderate eddy conduction to balance 16% efficient EUV heating. A wider range of calculated exospheric temperatures (150 to 410 K) is achieved under the influence of variable eddy conduction and uncertain thermospheric atomic O. They observe that CO{sub 2} cooling is relatively less important for Mars thermal balance in comparison with Venus owing to the larger Mars scale heights which shift maximum heating to lower pressures where molecular thermal conduction is dominant, and because Mars atomic O is depleted. As a result, the calculated Mars global mean energy balance more closely resembles that of the Earth than that of Venus. They also find that it is not possible to derive realistic heat balance models for both Venus and Mars using identical parameters. These Mars calculations of reasonable global average temperatures provide the first step in the simulation of the dynamics and observed characteristics of the Mars upper atmosphere.

We investigate the effects of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on Mars. The magnetic field in the magnetic pileup region on Mars is dominated by the dynamic pressure from the solar as increased dynamic pressure compresses the magnetic pileup region causing a larger magnetic pressure, until this balances the solar wind pressure. As the dynamic pressure is severely increased during a CME, so is the magnetic pressure. A CME are also typically connected to a Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) event, causing large amounts of radiation. When the shock front of a CME arrives at Mars strong signals are seen in both the magnetic field data and in the radiation data. Based on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Magnetometer (MAG) and Electron Reflectometer (ER) data we study the radiation and magnetic field variations on Mars during a CME event. We also compare the effects on Mars to the effects on Earth for the same CME event. Finally we test the ability to predict the propagation of the event through the solar system by using a heliospheric MHD model (ENLIL) to model the solar wind parameters.

Under equilibrium conditions, climate can be viewed in simple terms as the average energy pathways that incoming solar radiation takes before exiting the system in order to maintain overall energy balance. Similarly, future climate change will ultimately be determined by how the Earth?s energy balance and average energy pathways change in response to external radiative forcings, such as anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and internal redistributions. Here, we give an overview of climate research in the context of Earth?s energy flows and make the case for improved observations of total energy as a more physically robust metric of climate change than the commonly used surface temperature record.

Jul 11, 2012... EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) payload ... of RS (Russian Segment) ventilation systems, FE-2 Revin worked in the ... of frequencies (0.25-10 kHz) and sound pressure levels, in each ear.

Venus mesosphere is characterized by an extremely complex dynamics: a retrograde super rotation flow near the cloud top completes a full rotation of the planets in only four earth days and in the upper thermosphere a solar - antisolar circulation reaches speeds of 100 m/s. Earlier studies have shown that the strong zonal winds at cloud top are the result of local balance of pressure gradient and centripetal force which is called cyclostrophic balance. The thermal wind equation that describes this balance relates the vertical wind gradient to the latitudinal temperature gradient on isobaric levels. The temperature structure of Venus mesosphere has been observed with a good spatial and temporal coverage in the last two years from VIRTIS (Visual and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) on board the Venus Express spacecraft. Here we present preliminary retrievals of the cyclostrophic wind derived from VIRTIS temperature sounding. The main features of the wind are 1) the midlatitude jet with a maximum speed of 80 - 90 ± 10 m/s which occurs around 50° S latitude at 70 km altitude; 2) the fast decrease of the wind speed from 60° S toward the pole; 3) the decrease of the wind speed with increasing height above the jet. The dependence of zonal wind on local time has been analysed, our preliminary results show that parameters of the mid-latitude jet only weekly depend on local solar time. Comparison with cloud - tracked wind derived from the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) show a general good agreement.

Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Earth System Data Record (LSTE-. ESDR) ... biophysical processes which govern the balances of water and energy at the land surface. Table 1 ... Geothermal resource exploration. 3.2 Why is the ...

All of these factors, including the ice sheet surface mass balance processes, undergo ... Aerosols affect the earth's energy budget and climate by scattering and ...... tors, which operate in Geiger mode with $60% photon-counting efficiency.

climate system is responding to rapid human-made changes of atmospheric composition, ... change of Earth's energy balance, as may be caused, for example, by a ... We show from paleoclimate data that the eventual global warming due to ...

Mar 4, 2003 ... Fortunately, the brain is adaptive and can adjust its processing of the ... After return to Earth, however, the brain's processing pathways no longer expect sensory ... system widely employed for evaluation of balance disorders.

A dual-wall pressure balanced vessel for processing high viscosity slurries at high temperatures and pressures having an outer pressure vessel and an inner vessel with an annular space between the vessels pressurized at a pressure slightly less than or equivalent to the pressure within the inner vessel.

The discrete element method (DEM) was used to simulate the flow characteristic and strength characteristic of the conditioned sands in the earth pressure balance (EPB) tunneling. In the laboratory the conditioned sands were reproduced and the slump test and the direct shear test of the conditioned sands were implemented. A DEM equivalent model that can simulate the macro mechanical characteristic of the conditioned sands was proposed, and the corresponding numerical models of the slump test and the shear test were established. By selecting proper DEM model parameters, the errors of the slump values between the simulation results and the test results are in the range of 10.3%?14.3%, and the error of the curves between the shear displacement and the shear stress calculated with the DEM simul...

... CERES Lead: Norman Loeb, NASA LaRC; Purpose: To measure the Earth's energy balance ... The sun's radiant energy is the fuel that drives Earth's climate engine and the ... CERES data can be used for evaluating the radiative effects and climatic impact ... The long-term CERES data set will provide a basis for scientific ...

Thermal effects have been assessed on a non- watercooled, flow-through balance with ..... nornml operating procedure prevents possit)Ie dam- age to the force balance from ... analysis of heat transfer within the model and balance is necessary. ... within the center of the outer tube increased for the high-pressure runs (Rcc ...

Knowledge of the average size and shape of the near-Earth magnetotail is an essential element for our understanding of the magnetospheric response to the influence of the solar wind. An empirical model of the near-Earth magnetotail has been developed, which depends upon distance downtail (x{sub GSM}), the solar wind momentum flux ({rho}v{sup 2}{sub SW}), and the Z{sub GSM} component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF B{sub z}). This model has been created by using the pressure balance relation to calculate a set of flare angles for the nightside magnetopause in the region {minus}22 R{sub E} {le}X{sub GSM} {le}{minus}10 R{sub E}. Observations of the magnetic field in the lobe by ISEE 2 and simultaneous observations of the magnetic field and plasma properties of the solar wind by IMP 8 were used to determine the internal and external pressure components, respectively. Examination of calculated flare angle values reveal a dependence upon downtail distance and {rho}v{sup 2}{sub SW}. Normalized to the median downtail distance and dynamic pressure, the angle of flare of the magnetopause is found to increase linearly with decreasing B{sub Z} when the IMF is southward, but there is little variation when the IMF is northward. The empirical function derived for the flaring angle of the magnetotail is used to determine a relation for the radius of the tail. Comparisons with previous empirical models and results are also performed. In addition, values of magnetic flux within the magnetotail are calculated for times of sudden impulse events. 43 refs., 17 figs., 4 tabs.

Ditch surface wall is stabilized in slurry excavation method by filling bentonite liquid (which is considered as stable liquid) into excavation earth and balancing earth cross-sectional resistance, lubrication and slurry pressure with slurry film. A model which can be sued for experiments in centrifuge device (60G) is developed to increase the resistance of ditch wall collapse in the shape of excavation ditch. The size of the model is 1/60th of original size. The base vessel if 380 times 244times 300 (H) mm. One side is made of tension glass and ditch with a size of 9 times 30 times 250 (H) mm is established at horizontal corner. Inside liquid is substituted by salt water and two tanks are attached to control salt water surface. Water level inside vessel is seen by standpipe attached outside vessel and can be controlled. Initially water level is not changed even if stable liquid level is decreased. Then finally at boiling point, collapse of ditch is obtained. It is understood that stability depends on the height difference ({Delta}H) of stable liquid and stored liquid inside vessel. 4 figs., 9 figs., 2 tabs.

In January 2004, two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) landed on the surface of Mars to begin their mission as robotic geologists. A year prior to these historic landings, both rovers and the spacecraft that delivered them to Mars, were completing a series of environmental tests in facilities at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This paper describes the test program undertaken to validate the thermal design and verify the workmanship integrity of both rovers and the spacecraft. The spacecraft, which contained the rover within the aeroshell, were tested in a 7.5 m diameter thermal vacuum chamber. Thermal balance was performed for the near earth (hot case) condition and for the near Mars (cold case) condition. A solar simulator was used to provide the solar boundary condition on the solar array. IR lamps were used to simulate the solar heat load on the aeroshell for the off-sun attitudes experienced by the spacecraft during its cruise to Mars. Each rover was tested separately in a 3.0 m diameter thermal vacuum chamber over conditions simulating the warmest and coldest expected Mars diurnal temperature cycles. The environmental tests were conducted in a quiescent nitrogen atmosphere at a pressure of 8 to 10 Torr. In addition to thermal balance testing, the science instruments on board the rovers were tested successfully in the extreme environmental conditions anticipated for the mission. A solar simulator was not used in these tests.

This dissertation examines the field reversing magnetotail current sheets at the earth, Venus, and Comet Giacobini-Zinner. In the near earth study a new analysis technique is developed to calculate the detailed current density distributions within the cross tail current sheet for the first time. This technique removes the effects of a variable sheet velocity by inverting intersatellite timings between the co-orbiting satellites ISEE-1 and -2. Case studies of three relatively geomagnetically quiet crossings are made; sheet thicknesses and peak current densities are approx.1-5 x 10/sup 4/ km and approx.5-50 nA/m/sup 2/. Current density distributions reveal a high density central region, lower density shoulders, and considerable fine structure throughout. In the Venus study another new analysis technique is developed to reconstruct the average tail configuration from a correlation between field magnitude and draping angle in a large statistical data set. In the comet study, high resolution magnetic field and plasma electron data from the ICE traversal of Giacobini-Zinner are combined for the first time to determine the tail/current sheet geometry and calculate certain important but unmeasured local ion and upstream properties. Pressure balance across the tail gives ion temperatures and betas of approx.1.2 x 10/sup 5/ K and approx.40 in the center of the current sheet to approx.1 x 10/sup 6/ K and approx.3 in the outer lobes. Axial stress balance shows that the velocity shear upstream near the nucleus is >6 (approx.1 at ICE), and that a region of strongly enhanced mass loading (ion source rate approx.24 times that upstream from lobes) exists upstream from the current sheet. The integrated downtail mass flux is approx.2.6 x 10/sup 26/ H/sub 2/O+/sec, which is only approx.1% of the independently determined total cometary efflux. 79 refs., 37 figs.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine if a 6-week intervention program using the Nintendo Wii Fit Balance Board would lead to improvements in balance in community-dwelling older adults over the age of 65 with a perceived balance deficit. Balance, balance confidence, and limits of stability were measured at preintervention and postintervention using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, and the Multi-Directional Reach Test, respectively. The center of pressure excursion was calculated by the Wii Balance Board. The intervention consisted of 30-min sessions, 2x?/week using the Balance Board. No statistically significant changes were found for any outcome measure, although 4 of the 6 participants demonstrated clinically significant improvemen...

Pressure solution is considered the most important ductile deformation mechanism operating in the Earths upper crust. Pressure solution (also termed chemical compaction) is a major player in a variety of geological processes, including evolution of sedimentary basins, hydrocarbon reservoirs, aquifers, earthquake recurrence cycles, and fault healing. Here we present a new numerical model of pressure solution, based on the Discrete Element Method. The new approach allows granular dissolution at stressed contacts between grains in the Discrete Element Method. The new model captures both the slow chemical compaction process and the more abrupt brittle fracturing and sliding between grains. Field observations of interactions between pressure solution features and veins, shear fractures and pull-apart are reproduced very well with the new Pressure Solution Discrete Element Method (PSDEM). PSDEM combines friction and brittle deformation with pressure dissolution on grain contacts, by allowing the grains to change size and shape as a function of the stress that is applied on their contact. A Rock is simulated as made of a collection of cohesive grains, each grain representing either a real grain or a unit of rock. Dissolution, i.e. mass loss, is represented by penetration of contacting grains into each other with a rate that depends on local conditions, while still maintaining a global balance of forces, accounting for other (elastic, frictional) material forces, and allowing large strains within the rock. This enables studying the effect of progressive dissolution on surrounding brittle deformation and stress. We use our new model to study how the pressure solution mechanism interacts with frictional sliding, to investigate the role of stress and clays in controlling the pressure solution process. Our model shows that grain rearrangement and compaction rate driven by a combination of pressure solution and mechanical deformation depend on surface friction coefficient of grains. We also apply our model into simulation of stylolites via localization of dissolution. Simulation results show distinct brittle features, such as cracks that open between two stylolites, and a high porosity process zone at the tips of stylolites, which were observed in field studies of stylolites. These are modeled and predicted for the first time. Our new modeling tool holds a promise to provide many new insights regarding the coupling between pressure solution and brittle deformation, i.e. between mechanical and chemical compaction.

Earth pressure and sidewall friction acting on an embedded footing are investigated based on dynamic centrifuge tests on a superstructure-footing model that is supported on piles in sand deposits of different densities. For this purpose, a simple method is presented to evaluate not only the earth pressures on the active and passive sides, but also the sidewall friction of an embedded footing. Results show that the total earth thrust, which is defined by the difference in earth pressure between the passive and active sides, and the sidewall friction counter the inertial force transmitted from the superstructure-footing to the pile head. Especially, the total earth thrust in the dense sand case plays an important role in reducing the shear force at pile heads because the difference between the total earth thrust and sidewall friction in the dense sand is greater than that in loose sand.   

The subtidal, depth-average momentum balances in 12 m and 27 m water depth are investigated using observations from 2001 to 2007 of water velocity, temperature, and density; bottom pressure; surface gravity waves; and wind stress. In the fluctuating across-shelf momentum budget, the dominant terms are surface wind stress, pressure gradient, and Coriolis acceleration. The balance is a combination of (1) the geostrophic balance expected at midshelf sites and (2) the coastal setup and setdown balance driven by the across-shelf wind stress expected where surface and bottom boundary layers overlap. At the 12 m site, the estimated wave radiation stress gradient due to surface gravity wave shoaling is also large but is uncorrelated with the observed pressure gradient. A simple model suggests the wave radiation stress gradient is balanced by an across-shelf pressure gradient with a spatial scale too small to resolve with this mooring array. In the fluctuating along-shelf momentum balance, the dominant terms are surface wind stress, pressure gradient, and bottom stress at the shallower site, but the other estimated terms are not negligible. Our results support the Grant and Madsen (1986) formulation for wave-induced bottom stress. The fluctuating along-shelf pressure gradient is mainly a local sea level response to wind forcing, not a remotely generated pressure gradient. A strong correlation between along-shelf velocity and along-shelf wind stress at the shallower site is captured by a simple steady model of imbalance between wind stress and pressure gradient balanced by linear bottom drag.

A hypothesis of the dualistic chemical evolution to the stabilization of the energy-balance is proposed and explained in connection with the origin of life on the earth. From author's viewpoint, the existence of all things and all phenomena in the universe are closely related to the stabilization of the energy-balance and life is not an exceptional case in this matter. It is presumed that the first life on the earth was formed as the process towards the stabilization of the energy-balance by interactions between the earth and other heavenly body. A white dwarf was considered as this other heavenly body and the base-bonding polypeptide was assumed to be the origin of protein and nucleic acid.   

The possible physical linkage between galactic cosmic rays intensity and the Earth's cloud cover is discussed using the analysis of the first indirect aerosol effect (Twomey effect) and its experimental representation as the dependence of average cloud droplet effective radius on aerosol index characterizing the aerosol concentration in the atmospheric air column of unit section. It is shown that the basic kinetic equation of the Earth's climate energy-balance model is described by the bifurcation equation (with respect to the temperature of the Earth's surface) in the form of fold catastrophe with two governing parameters defining the variations of insolation and Earth's magnetic field (or galactic cosmic rays intensity in the atmosphere), respectively. The principle of hierarchical climatic models construction, which consists in the structural invariance of balance equations of these models evolving on the different time scales, is described. It means that if the system of equations of multizonal weather mo...

As widely accepted, aerosols strongly contribute to the formation of the earth`s radiation balance through the absorption and scattering of solar radiation. In addition, aerosols, being active condensation nuclei, also have a role in the cloud formation process. In this paper, results are presented of aerosol studies undertaken at the field measurement sites of the Institute of Atmospheric Optics in Tomsk and the Tomsk region.

Topics covered include: Methods of Helium Injection and Removal for Heat Transfer Augmentation; The ESA Large Space Simulator Mechanical Ground Support Equipment for Spacecraft Testing; Temperature Stability and Control Requirements for Thermal Vacuum/Thermal Balance Testing of the Aquarius Radiometer; The Liquid Nitrogen System for Chamber A: A Change from Original Forced Flow Design to a Natural Flow (Thermo Siphon) System; Return to Mercury: A Comparison of Solar Simulation and Flight Data for the MESSENGER Spacecraft; Floating Pressure Conversion and Equipment Upgrades of Two 3.5kw, 20k, Helium Refrigerators; Affect of Air Leakage into a Thermal-Vacuum Chamber on Helium Refrigeration Heat Load; Special ISO Class 6 Cleanroom for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Project; A State-of-the-Art Contamination Effects Research and Test Facility Martian Dust Simulator; Cleanroom Design Practices and Their Influence on Particle Counts; Extra Terrestrial Environmental Chamber Design; Contamination Sources Effects Analysis (CSEA) - A Tool to Balance Cost/Schedule While Managing Facility Availability; SES and Acoustics at GSFC; HST Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier (SLIC) Static Test; Virtual Shaker Testing: Simulation Technology Improves Vibration Test Performance; Estimating Shock Spectra: Extensions beyond GEVS; Structural Dynamic Analysis of a Spacecraft Multi-DOF Shaker Table; Direct Field Acoustic Testing; Manufacture of Cryoshroud Surfaces for Space Simulation Chambers; The New LOTIS Test Facility; Thermal Vacuum Control Systems Options for Test Facilities; Extremely High Vacuum Chamber for Low Outgassing Processing at NASA Goddard; Precision Cleaning - Path to Premier; The New Anechoic Shielded Chambers Designed for Space and Commercial Applications at LIT; Extraction of Thermal Performance Values from Samples in the Lunar Dust Adhesion Bell Jar; Thermal (Silicon Diode) Data Acquisition System; Aquarius's Instrument Science Data System (ISDS) Automated to Acquire, Process, Trend Data and Produce Radiometric System Assessment Reports; Exhaustive Thresholds and Resistance Checkpoints; Reconfigurable HIL Testing of Earth Satellites; FPGA Control System for the Automated Test of MicroShutters; Ongoing Capabilities and Developments of Re-Entry Plasma Ground Tests at EADS-ASTRIUM; Operationally Responsive Space Standard Bus Battery Thermal Balance Testing and Heat Dissipation Analysis; Galileo - The Serial-Production AIT Challenge; The Space Systems Environmental Test Facility Database (SSETFD), Website Development Status; Simulated Reentry Heating by Torching; Micro-Vibration Measurements on Thermally Loaded Multi-Layer Insulation Samples in Vacuum; High Temperature Life Testing of 80Ni-20Cr Wire in a Simulated Mars Atmosphere for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suit Gas Processing System (GPS) Carbon Dioxide Scrubber; The Planning and Implementation of Test Facility Improvements; and Development of a Silicon Carbide Molecular Beam Nozzle for Simulation Planetary Flybys and Low-Earth Orbit.

Eventually, the weight stabilized and the measurements commenced. Helium pressure was increased slowly and carefully, first to 15 psig then to 28 psig. The readout for the balance unit continued to exhibit unexplained fluctuation and output. Buoyancy of the empty pan was measured at pressures ranging up to 800 psig measured at approximately 100 psig increments. The balance weighing unit exhibited a progressive increase in weight with increasing pressure demonstrating that the displacement volume of the tare weight side of the balance was greater than the displacement volume of the weighing pan side of the balance. Therefore, the increased gas pressure produced a greater buoyancy of the tare side, producing a net increase in weight. The carefully collected data showed a linear change in weight with pressure (see accompanying diagram). A schematic diagram of the new configuration of the sorption apparatus is depicted in the accompanying figure.

Understanding the behavior of landslides often starts with a numerical simulation that accurately accounts for observed physical processes. This research proposes a method for the implementation of the dynamic SLOWMOVE model to a high-mobility, moderate velocity earth flow located in the northern Apennines. The Valoria landslide is 3.5 km long earth slide- earth flow that resumed activity in 2001. Landslide materials comprised of disaggregated Flysch, Marl and Claystones are mainly transported as earth slides in the upper slope, and as earth flows in the main track. Repeated acceleration events lasting several weeks occur seasonally since 2001 reactivation. During events it can reach velocities of about 10 m per hour with a cumulative displacement of hundreds of meters. Through this intermittent activity, more than ten million cubic meters have been transferred down-slope since 2001, changing significantly and several times the morphology of the slope. The SLOWMOVE model postulates that landslide materials can be represented as a homogeneous material with rheological properties and constant density. The approach is based on the Navier-Stokes equations. Under the assumptions that the inertia of the moving mass can be neglected, the behavior of the landslide depends solely on the balance between driving forces and resisting forces which contain a Coulomb-viscous component. Excess pore pressure due to undrained loading and lateral force form the main parameters that control the acceleration. The effects of lateral force and excess pore pressure allow a numerical simulation of landslide reactivation by coupling of two landslide bodies. A numerical scheme based on a finite difference solution (2D Eulerian space with Cartesian coordinates) was implemented in Microsoft Excel and used to compute propagation of the mass in 1D. The model allows coupling between mass movements having different geotechnical characteristic. In practice, it allows simulating the reactivation of dormant landslide parts as an effect of undrained loading and changed pressure conditions caused by active movements approaching from upslope. A representative landslide cross-section of the Valoria landslide, stretching from the main track zone down to the toe zone, was analyzed in SLOWMOVE. A large set of surface displacement data obtained since March 2008 through continuous total-station monitoring allowed for evaluation and calibration of the numerical implementations in terms of velocity. Multi-temporal Lidar surveys allowed for calibration of the model in terms of event-induced morphological changes along the selected cross section. Model parameters were defined, on such basis, via a trial and error approach starting from laboratory and literature data. The model was able to reproduce realistic velocities and morphological changes. The specific function of coupling between interacting portion of the mass movement, allowed for simulation of landslide toe reactivation, that was observed during major acceleration events as a result of the domino effect caused by active flows in the main flow track. Further development is needed in order to integrate in the model transient pore pressure conditions. Nevertheless, results are promising, as they point to a possible application of the model in quantitative hazard and risk assessment.

This lecture will cover progress and prospect of applications of high-pressure neutron diffraction techniques to Earth and materials sciences. I will first introduce general high-pressure research topics and available in-situ high-pressure techniques. Then I'll talk about high-pressure neutron diffraction techniques using two types of pressure cells: fluid-driven and anvil-type cells. Lastly, I will give several case studies using these techniques, particularly, those on hydrogen-bearing materials and magnetic transitions.

Simple scalings suggest that super-Earths are more likely than an equivalent Earth-sized planet to be undergoing plate tectonics. Generally, viscosity and thermal conductivity increase with pressure while thermal expansivity decreases, resulting in lower convective vigor in the deep mantle. According to conventional thinking, this might result in no convection in a super-Earth's deep mantle. Here we evaluate this. First, we here extend the density functional theory (DFT) calculations of post-perovskite activation enthalpy of to a pressure of 1 TPa. The activation volume for diffusion creep becomes very low at very high pressure, but nevertheless for the largest super-Earths the viscosity along an adiabat may approach 1030 Pa s in the deep mantle. Second, we use these calculated values in numerical simulations of mantle convection and lithosphere dynamics of planets with up to ten Earth masses. The models assume a compressible mantle including depth-dependence of material properties and plastic yielding induce...

Noble metals and gases are very sensitive to the late accretion to the Earth of asteroids and comets. We present mass balance arguments based on these elements that indicate that 0.7E22-2.7E22 kg of extraterrestrial bodies struck the Earth after core formation and that comets comprised less than 1E-5 by mass of the impacting population. These results imply that the dynamics of asteroids and comets changed drastically with time and that biogenic elements and prebiotic molecules were not delivered to the Earth by comets but rather by carbonaceous asteroids.

In the post-Enron climate corporate executives are increasingly pressured to increase productivity and create an ethical, trustworthy organizational climate. 'Total Performance Scorecard' introduces a concept of organizational improvement and change management that combines the Balanced Scorecard model with the learning organization theory. The TPS contains a personal balanced scorecard, which is tied to an organizational balanced scorecard. These scorecards reflect not only performance goals but personal learning and growth goals as well, and the organizational scorecards also address organiz

Balanced flow meters are recent additions to an established class of simple, rugged flow meters that contain no moving parts in contact with flow and are based on measurement of pressure drops across objects placed in flow paths. These flow meters are highly accurate, minimally intrusive, easily manufacturable, and reliable. A balanced flow meter can be easily mounted in a flow path by bolting it between conventional pipe flanges. A balanced flow meter can be used to measure the flow of any of a variety of liquids or gases, provided that it has been properly calibrated. Relative to the standard orifice-plate flow meter, the balanced flow meter introduces less turbulence and two times less permanent pressure loss and is therefore capable of offering 10 times greater accuracy and repeatability with less dissipation of energy. A secondary benefit of the reduction of turbulence is the reduction of vibration and up to 15 times less acoustic noise generation. Both the balanced flow meter and the standard orifice-plate flow meter are basically disks that contain holes and are instrumented with pressure transducers on their upstream and downstream faces. The most obvious difference between them is that the standard orifice plate contains a single, central hole while the balanced flow meter contains multiple holes. The term 'balanced' signifies that in designing the meter, the sizes and locations of the holes are determined in an optimization procedure that involves balancing of numerous factors, including volumetric flow, mass flow, dynamic pressure, kinetic energy, all in an effort to minimize such undesired effects as turbulence, pressure loss, dissipation of kinetic energy, and non-repeatability and nonlinearity of response over the anticipated range of flow conditions. Due to proper balancing of these factors, recent testing demonstrated that the balanced flow-meter performance was similar to a Venturi tube in both accuracy and pressure recovery, but featured reduced cost and pipe-length requirements.

Savannas cover one fifth of the earth’s surface and is home to one billion of the world’s population. It is therefore no surprise that they are experiencing a wealth of land use pressures resulting from population growth. Landsat is one tool used to map land use change in savannas. While those will...

The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate the elastic properties of an fcc FeMg alloy with 10 at.% magnesium under high pressure. Recent research has shown that magnesium can be a possible candidate for light element impurities in the Earth’s inner core, something that was previously not co...

A procedure with a nomograph for the design of cylinder piles as retaining structures is proposed. Soil parameters, such as the coefficient of earth pressure, modulus of subgrade reaction and passive failure strength, to be used with the design nomograph,...

Experimental investigations of the elastic wave velocity at high isotropic pressures and ... character of wave propagation deep in the crust and in the upper mantle of the earth. ..... The choice of the lower frequency limit was confirmed exper- ...

reasonable insurance of continuous coverage of solar phenomena during the period of maximum solar ...... possible back contamination of the Earth at a later date. The sterilization ...... 12-FOOT PRESSURE WINE CUNNEL. AUXILlARIES ...

Jun 8, 1979 ... Effect of Temperature and Total Pressure, Pj, On. Evaporation Rates of ..... sponded. Their valuable information has been incorporated into this report. 3-2 ..... effects associated with electrokinetic separations at earth gravity.

Radar. 4/23/1999, Robert, Atlas (Joint), GSFC, Use of Satellite Observations in ... 4/11/1980, Peter M. Bell, Carnegie-GL, Ultra High Pressure Experiments-- Application to Earth and Planets ...... Ctr. Recent Results on Sonic Boom Research ...

Nov 13, 2012... (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) equipment at the .... maintenance of RS (Russian Segment) ventilation systems, working in the ... of frequencies (0.25-10 kHz) and sound pressure levels, in each ear.

In this paper the first non-linear force-free Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium is presented. One component of the equilibrium magnetic field has the same spatial structure as the Harris sheet, but whereas the Harris sheet is kept in force balance by pressure gradients, in the force-free solution presented here force balance is kept by magnetic shear. Magnetic pressure, plasma pressure and plasma density are constant. The method used to find the equilibrium is based on the analogy of the one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium problem to the motion of a pseudo-particle in a two-dimensional conservative potential. This potential is equivalent to one of the diagonal components of the plasma pressure tensor. After finding the appropriate functional form for this pressure tensor component, the corresponding distribution functions can be found using a Fourier transform method. The force-free solution can be generalized to a complete family of equilibria that describe the transition between the purely pressure-balanced...

sources in data obtained with a self-nulling, moment-measuring, skin-friction balance. .... tunnel with provisions for control of pressure, temperature, and humidity of ..... not surprising since the variation of shearing stress in the lower part of a ...

... the U.S., nearly 1/3rd of the adult population have high blood pressure, the leading risk factor ... olds. Release Date: 08/11/2009 Finding A Balance Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about ...

... the U.S., nearly 1/3rd of the adult population have high blood pressure, the leading risk factor ... olds. Release Date: 08/11/2009 Finding A Balance Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about ...

... the U.S., nearly 1/3rd of the adult population have high blood pressure, the leading risk factor ... olds. Release Date: 08/11/2009 Finding A Balance Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about ...

... the U.S., nearly 1/3rd of the adult population have high blood pressure, the leading risk factor ... olds. Release Date: 08/11/2009 Finding A Balance Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about ...

... the U.S., nearly 1/3rd of the adult population have high blood pressure, the leading risk factor ... olds. Release Date: 08/11/2009 Finding A Balance Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about ...

May 14, 2012 ... Pumps: Convert shaft power into fluid power in the form of elevated pressure .... Calculations that relate turbine-drive gas conditions and turbine design ... at a place where all your guesses work and your system is balanced.

compressor, and turbine cavities must be pressure and load balanced on one, two ..... solution times, SCISEAL could be used to treat both the power-steam and below- ...... safety and (2) FAA airworthiness regulations and component reliability ...

A new momentum-integral method has been devised for describing the ..... Equation (6) is the correct form for the balance of pressure, shear stress, and electro- ..... Dhanak, A. M. : Heat Transfer in Magnetohydrodynamic Flow in an Entrance ...

The lab's current inventory of machine-?to-?balance adapters .... room for distribution of high-?pressure air to the. Unitary Plan ..... of rotation), can also be adapted to an investigator's needs or ... cooling system is also available for payloads ...

Within diverse outdoor educational activities, a core experience of connection with the earth balances self, others, and nature with elements of ritual. Most effective when experiential, integrated, and technologically simple, the core experience's educative power lies in awakening awareness of interconnectedness between human and nonhuman life. Outdoor education in Chile is examined in relation to the core experience. (Author/SAS)

effects of the Space Shuttle, fluorocarbons, stratospheric aircraft, and other chemical ... propellants for hair sprays, shaving creams, and deodorants unless .... After receiving his Ph.D., Watson did postdoctoral work at the University of ...... a book, Earth in the Balance, that showed a deep concern for the same kind of global ...

A Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) is proposed for the estimation of atmospheric turbulent fluxes and evaporative fraction using satellite earth observation data, in combination with meteorological information at proper scales. SEBS consists of: a set of tools for the determination of the land s...

The continuous permafrost zone of the former Soviet Union occupies 5% of the land surface area of the earth and stores a significant amount of carbon. limate warming could disrupt the balance between carbon (C) accumulation and decomposition processes within the permafrost zone. ...

Introduction. Cloud top properties (height, temperature, and effective emissivity) will be generated ... Cirrus clouds are crucially important to global radiative processes and the heat balance of the Earth .... The intent of the cloud phase discrimination method is to implement an infrared-only ..... If the radiative transfer integral of ...

We have previously shown that fluid balances and body fluid regulation in microgravity (microG) differ from those on Earth (Drummer et al, Eur J Physiol 441:R66-R72, 2000). Arriving in microG leads to a redistribution of body fluid-composed of a shift of fluid to the upper part of the body and an exaggerated extravasation very early in-flight. The mechanisms for the increased vascular permeability are not known. Evaporation, oral hydration, and urinary fluid excretion, the major components of water balance, are generally diminished during space flight compared with conditions on Earth. Nevertheless, cumulative water balance and total body water content are stable during flight if hydration, nutritional energy supply, and protection of muscle mass are at an acceptable level. Recent water balance data disclose that the phenomenon of an absolute water loss during space flight, which has often been reported in the past, is not a consequence of the variable microG. The handling of sodium, however, is considerably affected by microG. Sodium-retaining endocrine systems, such as renin-aldosterone and catecholamines, are much more activated during microG than on Earth. Despite a comparable oral sodium supply, urinary sodium excretion is diminished and a considerable amount of sodium is retained-without accumulating in the intravascular space. An enormous storage capacity for sodium in the extravascular space and a mechanism that allows the dissociation between water and sodium handling likely contribute to the fluid balance adaptation in weightlessness.

Without the stabilizing influence of the Moon, the Earth's obliquity could vary significantly. Extrasolar terrestrial planets with the potential to host life may therefore have large obliquities or be subject to strong obliquity variations. We revisit the habitability of oblique planets with an energy balance climate model (EBM) allowing for dynamical transitions to ice-covered snowball states as a result of ice-albedo feedback. Despite the great simplicity of our EBM, it captures reasonably well the seasonal cycle of global energetic fluxes at Earth's surface. It also performs satisfactorily against a full-physics climate model of a highly oblique Earth, in an unusual regime of circulation dominated by heat transport from the poles to the equator. Climates on oblique terrestrial planets can violate global radiative balance through much of their seasonal cycle, which limits the usefulness of simple radiative equilibrium arguments. High obliquity planets have severe climates, with large amplitude seasonal vari...

The volume of Earth's continental crust depends on the rate of addition of continental crust from the mantle compared to the rate of continental loss back to the mantle, which at present is roughly balanced. Models for the growth rate of continental crust vary, with isotope data suggesting various episodes of increased growth rate throughout Earth's history; these episodes have been correlated with the supercontinent cycle, but may be a consequence of preferential preservation of continental crust during these cycles. The global balance between addition and loss of continental crust is controlled by: 1) the extent of internal orogens versus exterior orogens, with the latter favouring continental addition, and 2) the balance between exterior orogens in retreating mode versus those in advanc...

Preliminary thrust balance measurements of efficiency with the Pulsed Inductive Thruster have shown that efficiencies of 40 to 50 percent may be achievable in the I(sp) range from 4000 to 6000 sec for a throttleable thruster in which I(sp) can be changed in flight by varying propellant injection valve pressure. Effectiveness of this thruster in providing support for Mars exploration missions is examined, with mission performance expressed in terms of initial mass in low earth orbit (IMLEO) as a function of trip time. Results are compared for an 'all-up' crew transfer vehicle and a lighter vehicle supported by a cargo vehicle that predelivers both return propellant, and a Mars taxi used for crew return to the Mars park orbit. The same mission comparison is made for an advanced nuclear thermal rocket. The all-up nuclear electric vehicle is found to save 25 days round-trip time compared to the nuclear thermal vehicle at the same IMLEO. The nuclear electric cargo vehicle reduces crew transfer time by 25 days for the same total mission mass. For the nuclear thermal vehicle, cargo predelivery reduces crew transfer time by 45 days, bringing it to within 5 days of the comparable nuclear electric vehicle round-trip time. 2 refs.

Dietary potassium and protein intakes predict net endogenous acid production in humans. Intracellular buffers, including exchangeable bone mineral, play a crucial role in balancing chronic acid-base perturbations in the body; subsequently, chronic acid loads can potentially contribute to bone loss. Bone is lost during space flight, and a dietary countermeasure would be desirable for many reasons. We studied the ability of diet protein and potassium to predict levels of bone resorption markers in males and females. Identical twin pairs (8 M, 7 F) were assigned to 2 groups: bed rest (sedentary, SED) or bed rest with supine treadmill exercise in a lower body negative pressure chamber (EX). Diet was controlled for 3 d before and 30 d of bed rest (BR). Urinary Ca, N-telopeptide (NTX), and pyridinium crosslinks (PYD) were measured before and on days 5, 12, 19, and 26 of BR. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation (Pmetabolism during bed rest. Altering this ratio may help prevent bone loss on Earth and during space flight.

The world of underground engineering and construction has acquired a wide-ranging and high-level experience on tunnel construction with Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) and nowadays remarkable progresses are traceable in the number of tunnels that are becoming longer, going deeper, and growing larger in diameter and in other words becoming more difficult to realize. Tabriz-one of the big cities in northern west of Iran has four subway lines which are under con-struction or investigation. The phase1 design of Tabriz urban railway line 2 (TURL2) has completely been done. Method statement of this line in the length of about 20 km and much interference due to tunneling in urban area dictates the appli-cation of TBM. Two kinds of TBM such as EPB (earth pressure balance) and SS (slurry shield) are usually used for urban areas. In this paper, the process of choosing TBM for TURL2 using MCA method (Multi Criteria Analysis) is expressed. Generally in this method some technical, economical and environmental parameters affected the TBM type are identified and taken into account by assigned weights related to the case study. Finally the results show that EPB-TBM will be more appropriate choice for TURL2 excavation.

Reconnection is the most important process driving the Earth's magnetosphere. Key to the success of the MMS science plan is the coupling of theory and observation. Determining the kinetic processes occurring in the diffusion region and physical parameters that control the rate of magnetic reconnection are among primary objectives of the MMS mission. Analysis of the role played by particle inertial effects in the diffusion region where the plasma is unmagnetized will be presented. The reconnection electric field in he diffusion region is supported primarily by particle non-gyrotropic effects. At the quasi-steady stage the reconnection electric field serves to accelerate and heat the incoming plasma population to maintain the current flow in the diffusion region the pressure balance. The primary mechanism controlling the dissipation in the vicinity of the reconnection site is incorporated into the fluid description in terms of non-gyrotropic corrections to the. induction and energy equations. The results of kinetic and fluid simulations illustrating the physics of magnetic reconnection will be presented. We will dem:tistrate that kinetic nongyrotropic effects can significantly alter the global magnetosphere evolution and location of reconnection sites.

Global energy balance of the Earth-atmosphere system may change due to natural and man-made climate variations. For example, changes in the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) can be regarded as a crucial indicator of climate variations. Clouds play an important role -still insufficiently assessed-, in the global energy balance on all spatial and temporal scales, and satellites can provide an ideal platform to measure cloud and large-scale atmospheric variables simultaneously. This is extremely important for developing more reliable cloud models, which could help to improve the representation of cloud-climate feedbacks (probably the least known ones, still hindering global warming predictions, for example) in global general circulation models. The TOVS series of satellites were the first to provide this type of information since 1979 on. OLR [Mehta and Susskind, 1999], cloud cover and cloud top pressure [Susskind et al., 1997] are among the key climatic parameters computed by the TOVS Path A algorithm using mainly the retrieved temperature and moisture profiles. Here we present validation efforts and preliminary trend analyses of TOVS-retrieved cloud top pressures [Pc] and "effective" (Aeff, a product of infrared emissivity at 11 ?m and physical cloud cover or Ac) cloud fractions. For example, the TOVS and ISCCP [available since 1983] cloud top pressures correlate strongly. Decadal trends in Pc and Aeff/Ac are also similar. However, validation of the TOVS Aeff time series requires further effort, since the ISCCP provides the Ac time series only. We are also presenting encouraging agreements between MODIS and AIRS [which can be regarded as the "new and improved TOVS"] Pc and Aeff interannual variabilities for selected Months. We also present TOVS and AIRS OLR validation effort results and (for the longer-term TOVS) trend analyses. OLR interannual spatial variabilities from the available state-of-the-art CERES measurements and both from the AIRS [Susskind et al., 2003] and TOVS OLR computations are in remarkably good agreement. Global mean Monthly CERES and TOVS OLR time series show very good agreement in absolute values also. References Mehta, A., and J. Susskind, Outgoing Longwave Radiation from the TOVS Pathfinder Path A Data Set, J. Geophys. Res., {104, NO. D10, 12193-12212. Susskind, J., P. Piraino, L. Rokke, L. Iredell, and A. Mehta, 1997: Characteristics of the TOVS Pathfinder Path A Dataset. Bull. Am. Met Soc., 78, 1449-1472. Susskind, J., C, D. Barnet, and J. M. Blaisdell, Retrieval of Atmospheric and Surface Parameters from AIRS/AMSU/HSB Data in the Presence of Clouds, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2003.

The aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between the foot sensations and standing balance in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and find out the sensation, which best predicts balance. Twenty-seven patients with MS (Expanded Disability Status Scale 1-3.5) and 10 healthy volunteers were included. Threshold of light touch-pressure, duration of vibration, and distance of two-point discrimination of the foot sole were assessed. Duration of static one-leg standing balance was measured. Light touch-pressure, vibration, two-point discrimination sensations of the foot sole, and duration of one-leg standing balance were decreased in patients with MS compared with controls (p<0.05). Sensation of the foot sole was related with duration of one-leg standing balance in patie...

Of the numerous energy sources, several important ones come from deep inside the earth. Coal, oil, and natural gas have formed over time through the interaction of enormous pressures and temperatures on organic material. Geothermal energy - steam and hot water - is also a product of these subsurface forces. Even the raw material for nuclear energy, uranium, comes from ores deposited by hot water circulating through the earth`s crust. Geochemists in ORNL`s Chemical and Analytical Sciences Division (CASD) focus on developing experimental and analytical methods to investigate and quantify the natural processes occurring below the surface. This earth science research examines processes that influence hydrocarbon and geothermal energy development, nuclear and toxic waste migration, and elemental cycling in the ocean-atmosphere-lithosphere system - research relevant to human use of the earth`s energy and material resources.

Abstract The atmospheric pressure on Mars ranges from 1?10 mbar, about 1% of Earth pressure (?1013 mbar). Low pressure is a growth-inhibitory factor for terrestrial microorganisms on Mars, and a putative low-pressure barrier for growth of Earth bacteria of ?25 mbar has been postulated. In a previous communication, we described the isolation of a strain of Bacillus subtilis that had evolved enhanced growth ability at the near-inhibitory low pressure of 50 mbar. To explore mechanisms that enabled growth of the low-pressure-adapted strain, numerous genes differentially transcribed between the ancestor strain WN624 and low-pressure-evolved strain WN1106 at 50 mbar were identified by microarray analysis. Among these was a cluster of three candidate genes (des, desK, and desR), whose mRNA levels...

The Earth is only partially habitable according to the standard liquid-water definition. We reconsider planetary habitability in the framework of energy-balance models, the simplest seasonal models in physical climatology, to assess the spatial and temporal habitability of Earth-like planets. In order to quantify the degree of climatic habitability of our models, we define several metrics of fractional habitability. Previous evaluations of habitable zones may have omitted important climatic conditions by focusing on close Solar System analogies. For example, we find that model pseudo-Earths with different rotation rates or different land-ocean fractions generally have fractional habitabilities that differ significantly from that of the Earth itself. Furthermore, the stability of a planet's climate against albedo-feedback snowball events strongly impacts its habitability. Therefore, issues of climate dynamics may be central in assessing the habitability of discovered terrestrial exoplanets, especially if astro...

The oxidation state of the Earth's lower mantle is an area of great interest in petrology and mineral physics, as it plays a key role in governing mantle mineralogy. It is well known that the amount of available oxygen in a system (oxygen fugacity) can dictate the system's mineralogy, as displayed by the reaction between oxygen and iron to form wustite: Fe + 1/2O2 = FeO (I-W buffer), or the reaction between carbon (graphite or diamond) and oxygen to form a carbonate ion: C + 3/2O2 = CO3 2- (C-CO buffer). However, the redox state of the lower mantle is uncertain, particularly in light of a recently reported crystal- chemically controlled self-redox reaction in iron (Frost et al., 2004) and debates on the oxidation state of carbon in the mantle (Brenker et al., 2007; McCammon et al., 2004). We present results of experiments to constrain the I-W mineral redox buffer relative to the C-CO mineral redox buffer at mantle P-T conditions. Samples prepared according to the balanced reaction FeCO3 + 2Fe = 3FeO + C were loaded in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell and heated to 1700-2200 K at pressures of 23-70 GPa. Bulk phase relationships were determined by x-ray diffraction at the National Synchrotron Light Source. Recovered samples were then analyzed by TEM and EDS coupled with Focused Ion Beam Milling (FIB) to further quantify the Fe, C, and O content of the metal and oxide phases to determine the relative fugacities. At 29 GPa and 2000 K, the IW buffer is approximately 1.2 log units below the C-CO buffer. Effects of pressure, temperature, and the spin crossover in FeO on the relative buffers will be discussed.

Progress is reported on the following projects: adsorption of water vapor on reservoir rocks, drawdown and buildup pressure analysis in multiwell reservoirs, adsorption parameters from experimental data, tritium tracer movement at the Geysers, adsorption modeling, and effects of earth tides on downhole pressures.

This paper aims at reviewing the current advancements of high pressure experimental geosciences. The an- gle chosen is that of in situ measurements at the high pressure (P) and high temperature (T) conditions relevant of the deep Earth and planets, measurements that are often carried out at large fa...

Developments in the melt-growth of CdTe are reviewed particularly with respect to techniques for controlling the dissociation pressure. The potential merits of Pressure Balancing are considered together with the results of a preliminary LEC growth investigation. The characterization of the LEC cryst...

In this study a 3D nonlinear parallel FEM formulation was derived for dynamic soil structure interaction problems. To express the nonlinear property of the saturated soil the simplified bounding surface model was used referring the Wolf and Crouch’s study. In the implementation of the parallel processing algorithm for the 3D nonlinear FEM formulation, Domain Decomposition Method and Conjugate Gradient Method were applied. To see the validity of the proposed parallel analysis a seismic earth pressure test using a shaking table was simulated. The numerical results for the seismic active earth pressures and dynamic pore water pressures acting on the wall coincide well with those of the experiment.   

Revolutionary new technology that creates balanced conditions across the face of a multi-hole orifice plate has been developed, patented and exclusively licensed for commercialization. This balanced flow technology simultaneously measures mass flow rate, volumetric flow rate, and fluid density with little or no straight pipe run requirements. Initially, the balanced plate was a drop in replacement for a traditional orifice plate, but testing revealed substantially better performance as compared to the orifice plate such as, 10 times better accuracy, 2 times faster (shorter distance) pressure recovery, 15 times less acoustic noise energy generation, and 2.5 times less permanent pressure loss. During 2004 testing at MSFC, testing revealed several configurations of the balanced flow meter that match the accuracy of Venturi meters while having only slightly more permanent pressure loss. However, the balanced meter only requires a 0.25 inch plate and has no upstream or downstream straight pipe requirements. As a fluid conditioning device, the fluid usually reaches fully developed flow within 1 pipe diameter of the balanced conditioning plate. This paper will describe the basic balanced flow metering technology, provide performance details generated by testing to date and provide implementation details along with calculations required for differing degrees of flow metering accuracy.

Global energy balance of the Earth-atmosphere system may change due to natural and man-made climate variations. For example, changes in the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) can be regarded as a crucial indicator of climate variations. Clouds play an important role -still insufficiently assessed- in the global energy balance on all spatial and temporal scales, and satellites provide an ideal platform to measure cloud and largescale atmospheric variables simultaneously. The TOVS series of satellites were the first to provide this type of information since 1979. OLR [Mehta and Susskind1], cloud cover and cloud top pressure [Susskind et al.2] are among the key climatic parameters computed by the TOVS Pathfinder Path-A algorithm using mainly the retrieved temperature and moisture profiles. AIRS, regarded as the 'new and improved TOVS', has a much higher spectral resolution and greater S/N ratio, retrieving climatic parameters with higher accuracy. First we present encouraging agreements between MODIS and AIRS cloud top pressure (Ctp) and 'effective' (Aeff, a product of infrared emissivity at 11 ?m and physical cloud cover or Ac) cloud fraction seasonal and interannual variabilities for selected months. Next we present validation efforts and preliminary trend analyses of TOVS-retrieved Ctp and Aeff. For example, decadal global trends of the TOVS Path-A and ISCCP-D2 Pc and Aeff/Ac values are similar. Furthermore, the TOVS Path-A and ISCCP-AVHRR [available since 1983] cloud fractions correlate even more strongly, including regional trends. We also present TOVS and AIRS OLR validation effort results and (for the longer-term TOVS Pathfinder Path-A dataset) trend analyses. OLR interannual spatial variabilities from the available state-of-the-art CERES measurements and both from the AIRS [Susskind et al.3,4] and TOVS OLR computations are in remarkably good agreement. Global monthly mean CERES and TOVS OLR time series show very good agreement in absolute values also. Finally, we will assess correlations among long-term trends of selected parameters, derived simultaneously from the TOVS Pathfinder Path-A dataset.

This paper reports the design principle and study contents of the disaster prevention plan during the site construction of Nose transformer substation which is located at all area being sand prevention designated area and building construction regulated area and its construction is accompanied by mass cutting earth and mass filling earth. The cutting earth generated by the site construction of the transformer substation is planned to be balanced with the whole construction site, but as the valley is deep and the slope is abruptly steep, the cutting part becomes a long and high gradient slope with a normal plane of 50m in height and the filling part of it becomes a mass filling earth with a normal plane of 100m in height, 60m in thickness and 980 thousand m{sup 3} in total quantity of the filling earth. And, in order to take countermeasures against the increase of rain water outflow and sand outflow caused by the site construction, a regulation pond is prepared on the site. As the surrounding area of the transformer substation is all designated as sand prevention designated area and building construction regulated area, the stability of mass cutting earth and mass filling earth, that are important to the disaster prevention, are studied. While design on drainage, surface drainage, underground drainage, in embankment drainage, by-pass drainage and flood regulation pond are studied. 18 figs., 6 tabs.

The electric hybrid vehicle can solve the problems which today make the pure electric car limited in its acceptance. The primary limitations are excess weight and short range due to a heavy battery pack of limited energy density. Our basic vehicular design makes use of three power technologies in a balanced way. The chassis is the standard Volkswagen Beetle type which carried many millions of the {open_quotes}beetles{close_quotes} across all the Earth`s continents. The body is a fiberfab replica of a 1970s design sports car which provides three compartments from it`s original mid engine design and a classic aerodynamic shape.

We present current results from tests of the equivalence principle using a rotating torsion balance. Test bodies made from different materials are arranged in a composition dipole and installed on a torsion pendulum. The torsion pendulum is mounted on a turntable that rotates with constant angular velocity. Test body pairs of Be-Ti, Be-Al and test bodies that mimic the earth's and moon's compositions were used. Results are presented with limits using the earth and astrophysical objects as sources for a hypothetical equivalence principle violation. )

It is generally assumed that the fluid regime of the basement of ancient platforms is not associated with that of the sedimentary cover. This assumption is mainly due to the substantial time gap between the formation of the crystalline and sedimentary rocks as well as the evolutionary differences between the thermal regime of the interior and the redox potentials of fluid systems. The presence of loosely aggregated zones filled with salt-water solutions, oil or gas in the upper basement is explained by downward fluid flows from sedimentary rocks through tectonic faults into the disintegrated crystalline rocks. The formation of such zones is believed to be due to the crustal stratification due to Earth's pulsation, periodic variations of its rotational rate, hydrogenic deconsolidation, burial of the post-Early Proterozoic disintegration zones, etc. This pattern suggests that the matter and energy exchange between the Earth's spheres in the late stages of the platform development could only take place with the help of magmatic melts and the associated fluids during the tectonomagmatic cycles of the Earth's crust transformation. Gas and liquid hydrocarbon components mainly occur in crystalline basement rocks of ancient platforms penetrated to a depth of more than 3000 m due to deep degassing processes. The traces of the upward migration of fluids are sealed in the geological sequence, including the sedimentary cover, within secondary inclusions of rocks and minerals. The fluids are complex, reduced, multicomponent systems that transport lithophilous, chalcophilous and siderophilous elements. The presence of microelements in the bituminous phase of inclusions indicates that metals mainly occur in the complexes containing organic ligands. During the evolution of the fluid systems under new pressure and temperature conditions, low-solubility substances were separated out of the fluid to form hard bitumen, and the lighter components migrated into the overlying fractured and porous rocks. The high metal content of carbonaceous substances and their compositional variations governed by homogenisation temperatures of the inclusions suggest that they are not the products of the decomposition of oil fields. The constant presence of uranium in the fluid and its differentiation products allows the tracing of the systems' migration ways from the crystalline basement to oil-saturated reservoir zones of the sedimentary cover The known geochemical properties of bitumen and oil - high platinum content, specific distributions of rare earth elements, that are not characteristic of the upper crust formations, as well as 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic compounds, which are out of balance with the organic matter of sedimentary rocks - suggest that hydrocarbons are accumulated in the presence of cooling high-alkalinity mafite-ultramafite intrusions. This logically corresponds to the distribution of seismic anomalies and magnetic and gravity fields in the consolidated crust below the various petroleum fields (for example, South Tatarstan and Nepsky arches of the Romashkino and Verkhne-Chonskoye oil fields). The acquired geochemical and thermodynamic characteristics of the reduced fluids and their differentiation products from the crystalline basement and the sedimentary cover of the southern Siberian and eastern East European platforms indicate that these were formed outside of the sedimentary cover and that the migration was directed upwards. The analysis of the magmatic evolution on platforms reveals its alkaline trend due to the impeded degassing of magmatic sources at depth and the inflow of new doses of alkaline fluids or melts into them. Further evolution of the zones of partial melting of the substratum led, in the authors' view, to the generation of oil-forming fluids and their transportation into the Earth's upper crust. Their interaction with the surrounding rocks in turn led to the formation of oil accumulations. Thus, oil is the product of the interaction of deep, reduced fluids. Oil, graphite of the Archaean crystalline complexes a

The effect of the shape and arrangement of filled materials such as boulder in steel-made structures on their earth pressure was studied. Ellipse model elements were substituted for the filled materials for analyzing the earth pressure by distinct element method, the contact force between two ellipse elements was calculated by Newton{prime}s method, and the difference equation of motion for the ellipse model was numerically solved by Euler{prime}s method. The earth pressure was thus obtained by summing up the contact forces applied to a steel wall. As the results of three numerical examples, the coefficient of earth pressure was 0.2-0.3 in the arrangement with flat shape elements, 0.6 for circle shape ones, and 1.2-2.0 for longitudinal shape ones. As subjected to a horizontal force from a back wall, the earth pressure in the flat arrangement of elements was headed diagonally toward the bottom of structures, resulting in the very efficient arrangement because of the smaller resistance on the upper part of a front wall. 7 refs., 10 figs.

High pressure atomizing nozzle includes a high pressure gas manifold having a divergent expansion chamber between a gas inlet and arcuate manifold segment to minimize standing shock wave patterns in the manifold and thereby improve filling of the manifold with high pressure gas for improved melt atomization. The atomizing nozzle is especially useful in atomizing rare earth-transition metal alloys to form fine powder particles wherein a majority of the powder particles exhibit particle sizes having near-optimum magnetic properties.

The crystal fields (CFs) of the binary rare-earth compounds PrAl sub 3 and NdAl sub 3 have been examined at ambient pressure by means of inelastic neutron scattering. The CF of the latter compound has also been measured under hydrostatic pressure (p = 0.84 GPa). The observed substantial changes of the CF under pressure are discussed within the framework of first-principles density functional theory calculations.

We investigate the dynamics of bubble rearrangements in coarsening foams, using a time-resolved multiple light scattering technique. We measure the average duration of such events as a function of the foam confinement pressure. Rearrangements slow down as the pressure is decreased toward the jamming point. Our results are explained by a scaling law based on the balance of pressure and Darcy flow, highlighting an analogy between wet foams with mobile interfaces and suspensions of hard grains.

The mass and radius of our closest neighbour Venus are only slightly smaller than those of the Earth indicating a similarity in composition. However, the lack of self-sustained internal magnetic field in Venus points to a difference in the core structure. The theory of tricritical phenomena has recently been used to study solidification at the high pressures and temperatures of the Earth, revealing how the Earth's core works. This theoretical approach is here applied to Venus. While keeping Venus' mantle density similar to the Earth's, one obtains the gravitational acceleration g inside Venus, its moment of inertia factor, the size, pressure and density of its core, together with the planet's temperature profile. Mainly due to the temperature difference between the core-mantle boundary and...

Shippers are daily users of the French gas grid. Differences between planned and effective gas demand unbalance the grid. To restore the balance, GRTgaz computes every day amounts of gas transiting on the grid. Amounts injected or withdrawn from the storages, balancing tolerances use rates are also computed. Finally, if the grid is still unbalanced, amounts of gas (associated with penalties) bought or sold to shippers are computed too. To minimize billed penalties to shippers, GRTgaz uses all these balancing facilities in a certain order. We solve a four stages lexicographical (or hierarchical) optimization program. The cost function to be minimized at each stage is convex quadratic. Lagrange multipliers are interpreted as pressures; flows try to balance pressures over the network. In the ...

In this work a non-equilibrium model is established to provide more accurate description of high pressure sodium-mercury-xenon plasma than the widely used standard LTE approaches. The core of the model consists of three time dependent balance equations in ID cylindrical geometry: (1) balance of electrons and ions; (2) energy balance of electrons; and (3) energy balance of heavy particles. The self-consistent set of coupled non-linear partial differential equations is solved simultaneously by implicit time marching. The calculations showed that for most of the typical cases ionization/recombination kinetics was very fast, making it possible to eliminate the balance equation of electrons/ions by assuming Saha-equilibrium at the electron temperature. On the other hand, non-equilibrium due to different electron and heavy particle temperatures proved to be substantial. As illustration for the importance of this two-temperature non-LTE approach two specific examples are mentioned here.

The results of six years of continuous observations of deformations (strains) of the Earth?s crust and of the accompanying metrological parameters carried out using a high-precision long-base laser interferometerdeformograph are presented. The position of the laser interferometer in the Baksan neutrino observatory (North Caucasus) in an underground gallery with forced ventilation reveals the specific features of the behavior of the temperature and atmospheric pressure under these conditions.

Numerical methods are used to study the structure of perturbations in the orbital motion of navigational earth satellites similar to Navstar. Perturbations are considered which are caused by the geopotential, by the gravitational field of the moon and the sun, by lunar- solar tides in the earth's field, by photon pressure, and by relativistic effects. Perturbation characteristics are obtained over a prediction interval of 1-90 days.

Although fullerenes and their compounds are very new and exhibit new phenomena, pressure has already been an important factor in the characterization and study of these materials. In order to illustrate this, the authors will review collaborative studies on: (i) the effect of pressure on alkali and alkaline earth doped C{sub 60} superconductors, (ii) the effect of pressure and pressure medium on the ordering temperature of C{sub 60}, and (iii) the role of pressure in the study of the feasibility of using C{sub 60} as ``lattice sieves`` for separation of gases.

An experimental study on validity and improvement of base pressure correction for a bluff-base body with hemisphere nose using MSBS (Magnetic Suspension and Balance System) has been conducted. Force and pressure distribution data on the model base were examined for several parameters; angles of attack 0 7.5º, Reynolds number ReD=7.6×104, with or without a sting and diameters of the sting. These results showed that the base pressure correction using the pressure data near the sting could have validity at the case of 0º of angle of attack only. Besides we could propose a new accurate method to calculate base-pressure axis forces.

Mass and energy balances were performed to check the accuracy of RELAP5-3D’s solution during a loss-of-coolant accident initiated by a small break in a typical pressurized water reactor. Mass and energy balances were performed for the combined liquid and gas phases and the gas phase by itself. The analysis showed that RELAP5-3D adequately conserved mass and energy for the combined fluid and the gas phase.

The authors study the response of the horizontal component of the magnetic field at the earths surface at low latitudes to sudden changes in the dynamic pressure of the solar wind on the earths magnetosphere. Often overshoots in this field component are observed. The overshoot does not seem to be related to currents being induced in either the earths interior or in the ionosphere in response to the adjustment of the magnetosphere. There does seem to be a correlation between both the ring current magnitude and the time of day with the overshoot. They urge simulation studies of this observation.

Earth rotation is physically described by the Euler-Liouville Equation that is based on the balance of angular momentum in the Earth system. The Earth orientation parameters (EOP), polar motion and length of day, are highly precise observed by geodetic methods over many decades. A sensitivity analysis showed that some weakly determined Earth parameters have a great influence on the numerical forward modeling of the EOP. Therefore we concentrate on the inversion of the Euler-Liouville Equation in order to estimate and improve such parameters. A recursive adjustment approach allows the inversion of the Euler-Liouville Equation to be efficient. Here we concentrate on the estimation of parameters related to period and damping of the free rotation of the Earth (Chandler oscillation). Before we apply the approach to the complex Earth system we demonstrate its concept on the simplified example of a spring mass damper system. The spring mass damper system is analogous to the damped Chandler oscillation and the results can directly be transferred. Also the differential equation describing the motion of the spring has the same structure as the Euler-Liouville Equation. Spring constant and damping coefficient describing the anelastic behavior of the system correspond to real and imaginary part of the Earth's pole tide Love number. Therefore the simplified model is ideal for studying various aspects, e.g. the influences of sampling rate, overall time frame, and the number of observations on the numerical results. It is shown that the recursive adjustment approach is an adequate method for the estimation of the spring parameters and therewith for the parameters describing the Earth's rheology. The study is carried out in the frame of the German research unit on Earth Rotation and Global Dynamic Processes.

This talk will review the work of Mikhail I. Budyko, author of "Climate and Life" and many other works, who died recently at age 81, in St Petersburg, Russia. He directed the Division for Climate Change Research at the State Hydrological Institute. We will explore Budyko's work in clarifying the role of energy balance in determining planetary climate, and the role of climate in regulating Earth s biosphere.

Condensation and sublimation of water vapors (and CO2, CH4, N2O vapors also) in the Earth atmosphere must be accompanied by emission of latent heats on characteristic frequencies marked in absorption spectra. Calculated wave lengths completely explain all peaks observed for these gases in the near IR. Established phenomena require further investigations, re-estimation of atmospheric heat balances and so on. Investigation of analogical peaks in atmospheres of other planets can be used for analyses of their structures.

A method for calculating the interaction of a powerful microwave with a plane layer of magnetoactive low-pressure plasma under conditions of electron cyclotron resonance is presented. In this paper, the plasma layer is situated between a plane dielectric layer and a plane metal screen. The calculation model contains the microwave energy balance, particle balance, and electron energy balance. The equation that expressed microwave properties of nonuniform magnetoactive plasma is found. The numerical calculations of the microwave-plasma interaction for a one-dimensional model of the problem are considered. Applications of the results for microwave plasmatrons designed for processing giant integrated circuits are suggested.

As a method to utilize coal ash generated from coal burning power plants more effectively in bulk, its use has been studied as a reclamation material behind bulkhead structures in harbors and airports. Verification trials for the study results were performed at the Hekinan power plant of the Chubu Electric Power Company. The trials included the following: an experiment to verify horizontal soil pressure and active earth pressure when slurry made of fly ash added with cement and seawater was placed in frameworks installed behind bulkheads of a harbor, a slurry hardening test, environmental impact investigation, and constructibility investigation. As a result, a large number of findings were obtained, including the following matters: earth pressure of slurry which has been placed in a soil tank in about ten minutes would be measured as pressure of liquid, but it shifts to behavior as a soil in a relatively short time; the earth pressure after three hours agreed with static earth pressure calculated under provision of K{sub o} = 0.2; and a hardened body made with cement under a certain mixing ratio was obtained, which stands by itself at a height of 7.5 m at compression strength of 1.77 kgf/cm {sup 2}. 11 figs., 2 tabs.

[1] The magnetic measurements from the Mars Global Surveyor satellite are used to study the magnetic field on the Martian dayside, and its variation with the solar wind. Because of the lack of solar wind measurements near Mars, solar wind measurements near Earth during a period centered on a Mars-Earth conjunction are used. Concurrent variations at Mars and Earth related to the interplanetary sector-structure and dynamic pressure variations are demonstrated. The study is confined to the northern hemisphere of Mars in regions where the crustal anomalies are weak. Here we find a close association between the solar wind dynamic pressure and the magnetic pressure in the pile-up region, and also a strong asymmetry with the Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By-component, probably related to solar wind pick-up of planetary ions.

The experiment on the search for life under very high pressure done for small animal tardigrades has been extended to a plankton, Artemia. It was found that cysts, or dried eggs, of Artemia remain alive after being exposed to a very high hydrostatic pressure of 7.5GPa for 42h. We are convinced that at least two kinds of small animals are still alive after being exposed to such high hydrostatic pressure of 7.5GPa, which corresponds to the pressure at the depth of about 180km below the surface of the Earth, i.e., Mantle pressure. The results of the present investigation suggest the possibility that Artemia, as well as tardigrade may have traveled through outer space in a large meteorite, and reached the Earth alive from another planet or galaxy.

Climates at regional scale are strongly dependent on the interaction between atmosphere and its lower boundary, the oceans and the land surface mosaic. Land surfaces influence climate through their albedo, and the aerodynamic roughness, the processes of the biosphere and many soil hydrological properties; all these factors vary considerably geographically. Land surfaces receive a certain portion of the solar irradiance depending on the cloudiness, atmospheric transparency and surface albedo. Short-wave solar irradiance is the source of the heat energy exchange at the earth`s surface and also regulates many biological processes, e.g. photosynthesis. Methods for estimating solar irradiance, atmospheric transparency and surface albedo were reviewed during the course of this project. The solar energy at earth`s surface is consumed for heating the soil and the lower atmosphere. Where moisture is available, evaporation is one of the key components of the surface energy balance, because the conversion of liquid water into water vapour consumes heat. The evaporation process was studied by carrying out field experiments and testing parameterisation for a cultivated agricultural surface and for lakes. The micrometeorological study over lakes was carried out as part of the international `Northern Hemisphere Climatic Processes Experiment` (NOPEX/BAHC) in Sweden. These studies have been aimed at a better understanding of the energy exchange processes of the earth`s surface-atmosphere boundary for a more accurate and realistic parameterisation of the land surface in atmospheric models

Except for the first 50-100 million years or so of the Earth's history, when most of the mantle may have been subjected to melting, the differentiation of Earth's silicate mantle has been controlled by solid-state convection. As the mantle upwells and decompresses across its solidus, it partially melts. These low-density melts rise to the surface and form the continental and oceanic crusts, driving the differentiation of the silicate part of the Earth. Because many trace elements, such as heat-producing U, Th and K, as well as the noble gases, preferentially partition into melts (here referred to as incompatible elements), melt extraction concentrates these elements into the crust (or atmosphere in the case of noble gases), where nearly half of the Earth's budget of these elements now resides. In contrast, the upper mantle, as sampled by mid-ocean ridge basalts, is highly depleted in incompatible elements, suggesting a complementary relationship with the crust. Mass balance arguments require that the other half of these incompatible elements be hidden in the Earth's interior. Hypotheses abound for the origin of this hidden reservoir. The most widely held view has been that this hidden reservoir represents primordial material never processed by melting or degassing. Here, we suggest that a necessary by-product of whole-mantle convection during the Earth's first billion years is deep and hot melting, resulting in the generation of dense liquids that crystallized and sank into the lower mantle. These sunken lithologies would have 'primordial' chemical signatures despite a non-primordial origin. PMID:20164926

You may have heard the phrase as difficult as walking and chewing gum as a joking way of referring to something that is not difficult at all. Just walking, however, is not all that simple physiologically speaking. Even standing upright is an undertaking requiring the complex cooperation of multiple motor and sensory systems including vision, the inner ear, somatosensation (sensation from the skin), and proprioception (the sense of the body s parts in relation to each other). The compromised performance of any of these elements can lead to a balance disorder, which in some form affects nearly half of Americans at least once in their lifetimes, from the elderly, to those with neurological or vestibular (inner ear) dysfunction, to athletes with musculoskeletal injuries, to astronauts returning from space. Readjusting to Earth s gravity has a significant impact on an astronaut s ability to balance, a result of the brain switching to a different "model" for interpreting sensory input in normal gravity versus weightlessness. While acclimating, astronauts can experience headaches, motion sickness, and problems with perception. To help ease the transition and study the effects of weightlessness on the body, NASA has conducted many investigations into post-flight balance control, realizing this research can help treat patients with balance disorders on Earth as well. In the 1960s, the NASA-sponsored Man Vehicle Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studied the effects of prolonged space flight on astronauts. The lab s work intrigued MIT doctoral candidate Lewis Nashner, who began conducting NASA-funded research on human movement and balance under the supervision of Dr. Larry Young in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 1982, Nashner s work resulted in a noninvasive clinical technique for assessing the cooperative systems that allow the body to balance, commonly referred to as computerized dynamic posturography (CDP). CDP employs a series of dynamic protocols to isolate and assess balance function deficiencies. The technology was based on Nashner s novel, engineering-inspired concept of balance as an adaptable collaboration between multiple sensory and motor systems. CDP proved useful not only for examining astronauts, but for anyone suffering from balance problems. Today, CDP is the standard medical tool for objectively evaluating balance control.

This paper presents an approach to measuring the major components of the water cycle from space using the concept of a sensor-web of satellites that are linked to a data assimilation system. This topic is of increasing importance, due to the need for fresh water to support the growing human population, coupled with climate variability and change. The net effect is that water is an increasingly valuable commodity. The distribution of fresh water is highly uneven over the Earth, with both strong latitudinal distributions due to the atmospheric general circulation, and even larger variability due to landforms and the interaction of land with global weather systems. The annual global fresh water budget is largely a balance between evaporation, atmospheric transport, precipitation and runoff. Although the available volume of fresh water on land is small, the short residence time of water in these fresh water reservoirs causes the flux of fresh water - through evaporation, atmospheric transport, precipitation and runoff - to be large. With a total atmospheric water store of approx. 13 x 10(exp 12)cu m, and an annual flux of approx. 460 x 10(exp 12)cu m/y, the mean atmospheric residence time of water is approx. 10 days. River residence times are similar, biological are approx. 1 week, soil moisture is approx. 2 months, and lakes and aquifers are highly variable, extending from weeks to years. The hypothesized potential for redistribution and acceleration of the global hydrological cycle is therefore of concern. This hypothesized speed-up - thought to be associated with global warming - adds to the pressure placed upon water resources by the burgeoning human population, the variability of weather and climate, and concerns about anthropogenic impacts on global fresh water availability.

In this paper we examine the response of the ionospheric cross-polar cap potential to steady, purely northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) using the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the Earth's magnetosphere. The simulation produces the typical, high-latitude “reversed cell” convection that is associated with northward IMF, along with a two cell convection pattern at lower latitude that we interpret as being driven by the viscous interaction. The behavior of the potential can be divided into two basic regions: the viscous dominated region and the reconnection dominated region. The viscous dominated region is characterized by decreasing viscous potential with increasing northward IMF. The reconnection dominated region may be further subdivided into a linear region, where reconnection potential increases with increasing magnitude of northward IMF, and the saturation region, where the value of the reconnection potential is relatively insensitive to the magnitude of the northward IMF. The saturation of the cross-polar cap potential for northward IMF has recently been documented using observations and is here established as a feature of a global MHD simulation as well. The region at which the response of the potential transitions from the linear region to the saturation region is also the region in parameter space at which the magnetosheath transitions from being dominated by the plasma pressure to being dominated by the magnetic energy density. This result is supportive of the recent magnetosheath force balance model for the modulation of the reconnection potential. Within that framework, and including our current understanding of the viscous potential, we present a conceptual model for understanding the full variation of the polar cap potential for northward IMF, including the simulated dependencies of the potential on solar wind speed and ionospheric conductivity.

Although ozone appears in the Earth?s atmosphere in a small abundance, it plays a key role in the energy balance of the planet through its involvement in radiative processes. Its absorption of solar radiation leads to the temperature increase with height defining the tropopause and the stratosphere. Moreover, excluding water vapor, O3 is the third most important contributor (after CO2 and CH4) to the greenhouse radiative forcing. Thus, the total removal of O3 content in an Earth-like atmosphere may cause interesting response of the climate system that deserves further investigation. The present paper addresses this issue by means of a global climate model where the atmosphere is coupled with a passive ocean of a given depth. The model, after reaching the statistical equilibrium under prese...

In this paper a simplified two-parameter model of the greenhouse effect on the Earth is developed, starting from the well known two-layer model. It allows both the analysis of the temperatures of the inner planets, by focusing on the role of the greenhouse effect, and a comparison between the temperatures the planets should have in the absence of greenhouse effect and their actual ones. It may also be used to predict the average temperature of the Earth surface in the future, depending on the variations of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities. This model can promote an elementary understanding of global warming since it allows a simple formalization of the energy balance for the Earth in the stationary condition, in the presence of greenhouse gases. For these reasons it can be introduced in courses for undergraduate physics students and for teacher preparation. (Contains 6 footnotes, 3 tables, and 4 figures.)

The strong sensitivity of the Earth's radiation balance to variations in the lower stratospheric ozone-reported previously-is analysed here by the use of non-linear statistical methods. Our non-linear model of the land air temperature (T)-driven by the measured Arosa total ozone (TOZ)-explains 75% of total variability of Earth's T variations during the period 1926-2011. We have analysed also the factors which could influence the TOZ variability and found that the strongest impact belongs to the multi-decadal variations of galactic cosmic rays. Constructing a statistical model of the ozone variability, we have been able to predict the tendency in the land air T evolution till the end of the current decade. Results show that Earth is facing a weak cooling of the surface T by 0.05-0.25K (depe...

The new metastable binary silicides MSi(3) (M = Ca, Y, Lu) have been synthesized by high-pressure, high-temperature reactions at pressures between 12(2) and 15(2) GPa and temperatures from 900(100) to 1400(150) K. The atomic patterns comprise intricate silicon layers of condensed molecule-like Si(2) dimers. The alkaline-earth element adopts the oxidation state +2, while the rare-earth and transition metals realize +3. All of the compounds exhibit BCS-type superconductivity with weak electron-phonon coupling below critical temperatures of up to 7 K. PMID:22845167

We present in situ observations of hydrocarbon formation via carbonate reduction at upper mantle pressures and temperatures. Methane was formed from FeO, CaCO{sub 3}-calcite and water at pressures between 5 and 11 GPa and temperatures ranging from 500 to 1500 C. The results are shown to be consistent with thermodynamic calculations of the relevant chemical reactions based on the thermochemical models and ab initio theory. The study demonstrates the existence of abiogenic pathways for the formation of hydrocarbons in the Earth's interior and suggests that the hydrocarbon budget of the bulk Earth may be larger than conventionally assumed.

Reentry vehicles (RVs) carrying warheads from ballistic missiles must be carefully balanced with the warhead in situ to prevent wobble as the RVs enter the earth`s atmosphere to prevent inaccuracy or loss of the warhead. This balancing is performed on a dynamic balancing machine that rotates the RV at significant angular velocities. Seizure of the spindle shaft of the machine could result in rapid deceleration of the rotating assembly, which could over-stress and shear bolts or other structures that attach the RV to the balancing machine. This could result in undesired motions of the RV and impact of the RV on equipment or structures in the work area. This potential safety problem has long been recognized in a general way, but no systematic investigation of the possible accident sequences had been performed. The purpose of this paper is to describe an integrated set of systems analysis techniques that worked well in developing a set of accident sequences that describe the motions of the RV following a spindle-shaft seizure event.

After theoretical-experimental discovery of MgSiO3 post-perovskite [1,2], many other important mineral phases have been proposed in the deep Earth’s interior. We have developed [3] and further enhanced [4] an evolutionary method for predicting the most stable crystal structure at given thermodynamic conditions. Here, I will illustrate several examples from our recent works. For example, we have predicted new phases of CaCO3, MgCO3 and CO2 at Earth’s mantle pressures, and many of these phases have already found experimental support [5-7]. These results shed new light on the behavior of carbon in the Earth’s mantle [7]. More recently, we have studied the behavior of methane at high pressures and temperatures [8], and we confirm that indeed CH4 should break down under pressure - first, into hydrocarbons (ethane, butane) and hydrogen, and then into diamond and hydrogen. Crucial role here is played by lattice vibrations (zero-point vibrations and entropic factor). These vibrational effects are frequently neglected, but we have demonstrated that without them the decomposition into diamond and hydrogen would not be possible. Considering variable-composition systems, we have demonstrated [9] that FeSi with the CsCl-type structure is the only iron silicide stable at pressures of the Earth’s inner core. Similar studies can be performed also for Fe-O, Fe-S, Fe-O and Fe-H systems, addressing the common assumptions on their behavior at ultrahigh pressures of the inner core. REFERENCES: [1] Murakami M., et al., Science 304, 855-858 (2004). [2] Oganov A.R., Ono S., Nature 430, 445-448 (2004). [3] Oganov A.R., Glass C.W., J. Chem. Phys. 124, 244704 (2006). [4] Lyakhov A.O., Oganov A.R., Valle M. Comp. Phys. Comm. 181, 1623-1632 (2010). [5] Oganov A.R., Glass C.W., Ono S., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 241, 95-103 (2006). [6] Ono S., Kikegawa T., Ohishi Y. Am. Mineral. 92, 1246-1249 (2007). [7] Oganov A.R., et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 273, 38-47 (2008). [8] Gao G., Oganov A.R., et al., J. Chem. Phys., in press (2010). [9] Zhang F., Oganov A.R., Geophys. Res. Lett. 37, art. L02305 (2010).

Future human exploration of Mars will rely on local Martian resources to reduce the mass, cost, and risk of space exploration launched from Earth. NASA's In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Project seeks to produce mission consumables from local Martian resources, such as atmospheric gas. The Martian atmosphere, however, contains dust particles in the 2-to-10 -micrometer range. These dust particles must be removed before the Martian atmospheric gas can be processed. The low pressure of the Martian atmosphere, at 5 to 10 mbars, prevents the development of large voltages required for a standard electrostatic precipitator. If the voltage is increased too much, the corona transitions into a glow/streamer discharge unsuitable for the operation of a precipitator. If the voltage is not large enough, the dust particles are not sufficiently charged and the field is not strong enough to drive the particles to the collector. A method using electrostatic fields has been developed to collect dust from gaseous environments at low pressures, specifically carbon dioxide at pressures around 5 to 10 mbars. This method, commonly known as electrostatic precipitation, is a mature technology in air at one atmosphere. In this case, the high voltages required for the method to work can easily be achieved. However, in carbon dioxide at low pressures, such as those found on Mars, large voltages are not possible. The innovation reported here consists of two concentric cylindrical electrodes set at specific potential difference that generate an electric field that produces a corona capable of imparting an electrostatic charge to the incoming dust particles. The strength of the field is carefully balanced so as to produce a stable charging corona at 5 to 10 mbars, and is also capable of imparting a force to the particles that drives them to the collecting electrode. There are only two possible ways that dust can be removed from Martian atmospheric gas intakes: with this electrostatic precipitator design, and with the use of filters. However, filters require upstream compression of the gas to be treated because the atmospheric pressure on Mars is too close to vacuum to use a vacuum pump downstream to the filter to draw the gas through the filter. The electrostatic precipitator is the best and more efficient solution for this environment. No other precipitator designs have been developed for the environment of Mars due to the challenges of the low atmospheric pressure. Dust particles are charged using corona generation around the high-voltage discharge electrode, which ionizes gas molecules. Since the atmospheric gas intakes for the ISRU processing chambers will likely be cylindrical, cylindrical precipitator geometry was chosen. The electrostatic precipitator design presented here removes simulated Martian dust particles in the required range in a simulated Martian atmospheric environment. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curves taken for the nine precipitator configurations at 9 mbars of pressure showed that a cylindrical collecting electrode 7.0 cm in diameter with a concentric positive high voltage electrode 100 m thick provides the best range of voltage and charging corona current. This precipitator design is effective for the size of the dust particles expected in the Martian atmosphere. Mass determination, as well as microscopic images and particle size distributions of dust collected on a silicon wafer placed directly below the precipitator with the field on and off, showed excellent initial results.

The cryosphere has responded to recent climatic variability and change but the precise causes of glacier mass balance changes remain elusive. Predicting the response of relatively small glaciers and ice caps to future climate variability and change is particularly important, since these have contributed more water to eustatic sea level rise in the last 100 years than the larger ice sheets, and are likely to do so for the next 100 years (Arendt et al.2002; Raper and Braithwaite, 2006). Recent research has shown that accurate sea level rise predictions require a greater understanding of glacier response to rising air temperatures and changes in precipitation receipt (Raper and Braithwaite, 2006). The continued shrinkage of relatively small glaciers also has important impacts on the local hydrology and ecology of glacier-fed streams and for water resource management. A regional scale mass balance model based on energy balance at the Earth's surface was developed to calculate accumulation areas in the Jotunheimen, Norway. Spatially distributed modelling used simulated local climate and energy balance data to drive monthly mass balance calculations. Our mass balance model uses spatially distributed climate data derived from 30 year normals (for air temperature, wind speed, cloudiness, albedo and precipitation) with a local energy balance model to predict spatially distributed accumulation and ablation at a 100 m spatial resolution and monthly temporal resolution. The modelled spatial distribution of snow-cover showed good agreement (up to 86 % accuracy) for topographically constrained glaciers in the Jotunheimen, Norway, where aspect, gradient and altitude impose dominant controls on snow and ice accumulation. Melt within accumulation areas was found to be most sensitive to air temperature, especially spring temperatures and cloud cover. A key conclusion identifies several topographic controls on local climate and accumulation as critical for predicting observed spatial variability in glacier mass balance.

The outflow characteristics of a pressure medium during a sheet hydroforming process have been studied experimentally by directly measuring the hydraulic pressure distribution. Initial measurements of the outflow of the pressure medium though the gap between two clamped dies were carried out in order to verify the method for measuring the hydraulic pressure distribution employed in this study and to investigate the basic properties of the outflow. The upward forces were calculated by integrating the measured hydraulic pressure during the outflow and found to be in satisfactory balance with the clamping forces, which demonstrates the validity of this measurement method. Furthermore, we suggest that the critical outflow pressure can be predicted by considering the force equilibrium. An experimental investigation of a square-cup sheet-hydroforming process was then carried out. The upward forces were calculated by integrating the measured hydraulic pressure and again found to be in satisfactory balance with the forming forces at the beginning of the process, which shows that the critical outflow pressure can also be predicted for square-cup deep-drawing processes. The hydraulic pressure distributions in the flange area and the chamber change significantly as the sheet conforms to the die shoulder, and the friction loss of hydraulic pressure at the die shoulder becomes large. These results indicate that the magnitude of the fluid-lubrication effect on the drawability of the sheet can vary with the stage of sheet deformation.   

The pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) method of liquid quantity gauging in low-gravity is based on calculations assuming conservation of pressurant gas within the propellant tank and the pressurant supply bottle. This method is currently used to gauge the remaining amounts of storable propellants onboard the space shuttle s orbital maneuvering system and on Earth-orbiting communications satellites. There is interest in applying this method to cryogenic propellant tanks since it requires minimal additional hardware or instrumentation. Consequently, a PVT gauging experiment with liquid oxygen was completed at the NASA Glenn Research Center using a large-scale cryogenic test tank with an attached cold, high-pressure helium supply bottle.

A new experimental method of vapor–liquid equilibria at high pressures for binary systems which requires no analysis of phase compositions is proposed in the present study. The equilibrium vapor and liquid compositions can be evaluated by combining a couple of data at the same temperature and pressure, based on mass balance and the phase rule. A new apparatus for vapor–liquid equilibria at high pressures was constructed for use with the present experimental method. Vapor–liquid equilibria and saturated densities at high pressures were measured for the carbon dioxide–acetone system at 298.15 K. The experimental data obtained were correlated with the pseudocubic perturbed hard-sphere equation of state proposed previously.   

Part of early mantle evolution may include a magma ocean, where core formation began before the proto-Earth reached half of its present radius. Temperatures were high and bombardment and accretion were still occurring, suggesting that the proto-Earth consisted of a core and an at least partially liquid mantle, the magma ocean. As the Earth accreted, pressure near the core increased and the magma ocean decreased in volume and became shallower as it began to cool and solidify. As crystals settled, or floated, the composition of the magma ocean could change significantly and begin to crystallize different minerals from the residual liquid. Therefore, the mantle may be stratified following the P-T phase diagram for the bulk silicate Earth. To understand mantle evolution, it is necessary to know liquidus phase relations at high pressures and temperatures. In order to model the evolution of the magma ocean, high pressure and temperature experiments have been conducted to simulate the crystallization process using a range of materials that most likely resemble the bulk composition of the early Earth.

A well tool for developing measurements of pressure or temperature in a well bore comprising an elongated well tool which utilizes a coherent beam of light which is applied to the ends of separate fiber optics and the other ends of the fiber optics are detected to produce an electrical signal in response to differences between the outputs of the fiber optics to the detector. For measuring pressure, one fiber optic may be coiled in a temperature insulated chamber and sense a discrete sample from the earth formations while the other fiber optic is coiled in a temperature insulated reference pressure chamber. In another embodiment both fiber optics are subjected to pressure samples from longitudinally spaced locations of the earth formations. In still another embodiment, the fiber optics are subjected to the temperature in the bore hole at longitudinally spaced locations for obtaining a temperature gradient measurement.

From Earth compositional arguments suggested by indirect methods, such as the propagation of seismic waves, is possible to generate in the laboratory pressure and temperature conditions similar to those of the Earth or other planet interiors and to study how these conditions affect to a certain metal or mineral. These experiments are, therefore, windows to the Universe. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the huge power of the experimental high-pressure high-temperature techniques and give a global overview of their application to different geophysical fields. Finally, we will introduce the MALTA Consolider Team, which gather most of the Spanish high-pressure community, and present their available high-pressure facilities. (Author) 28 refs.

Super Earths (SE) are extrasolar planets with masses up to ten times greater than Earth's. Maximum pressure and temperature of oxides in Earth are ~130 GPa and ~3000 K. SEs experience substantially more extreme conditions, which implies dense oxides in SEs could melt, achieve low viscosities, minimum metallic conductivity (MMC), and convect. MMC depends weakly on material, and thus on oxide composition. Shock and static experiments on single-crystal sapphire (Al2O3) and GGG (Gd3Ga5O12) show or suggest these oxides reach MMC at 300-400 GPa under shock and quite possibly under static compression. MMC is a likely upper limit for electrical conductivity of convecting material that can sustain a dynamo (Stevenson, 2010). Metallization is also expected to reduce substantially oxide viscosities in the solid (Karato, 2011). Thus, SEs might produce significant magnetic fields by dynamos in oxides alone, as does Fe in Earth and metallic fluid H in Jupiter.

A novel type of complex rare-earth aluminum hydride was prepared by mechanochemical preparation. The crystal structure of the REAlH(6) (with RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd) compounds was calculated by DFT methods and confirmed by preliminary structure refinements. The trigonal crystal structure consists of isolated [AlH(6)](3-) octahedra bridged via [12] coordinated RE cations. The investigation of the rare-earth aluminum hydrides during thermolysis shows a decrease of thermal stability with increasing atomic number of the RE element. Rare-earth hydrides (REH(x)) are formed as primary dehydrogenation products; the final products are RE-aluminum alloys. The calculated decomposition enthalpies of the rare-earth aluminum hydrides are at the lower end for reversible hydrogenation under moderate conditions. Even though these materials may require somewhat higher pressures and/or lower temperatures for rehydrogenation, they are interesting examples of low-temperature metal hydrides for which reversibility might be reached. PMID:19886669

New classes of extrasolar planets with relatively small masses (?super-Earths?) located in low orbits near low luminosity stars possess moderately high temperature and atmospheric pressure at their surfaces. Such physical conditions and composition of an atmosphere is incompatible with the Earth?s aminonucleic acid form of life. But should they be considered as conditions incompatible with any form of life at all? Considering the conditions on Venus as a possible analogue of physical conditions on low-orbiting exoplanets of the ?super-Earths? type, a new analysis of Venusian surface panoramas? details has been made. These images were produced by the VENERA landers in 1975 and 1982. Also the images which had not been previously considered were included in the processing. A few relatively la...

Oxygen deficient perovskites of the system CaSiO3?CaAlO2.5 have been synthesised at high-pressure and -temperature conditions relevant to the Earth?s transition zone in order to investigate their stabilities in the Earth?s mantle and determine structural properties associated with vacancy incorporation. Two polysomes of thermodynamically stable defect perovskites with Ca(Al0.4Si0.6)O2.8?and Ca(Al0.5Si0.5)O2.75 stoichiometry have been identified. The ordering of oxygen defects into pseudo-cubic (111) layers results in well-ordered ten- or eightfold superstructures, respectively. At all other compositions examined, a metastable formation of perovskites has been observed instead, which are assumed to grow initially disordered. These are now characterised by tiny domains, formed due to subsequ...

Virtual Globes, such as NASA World Wind, Google Earth, Microsoft Virtual Earth, ESRI ArcGIS Explorer, is increasingly becoming a new virtual three-dimensional platform for scientific research. The NASA Goddard Earth Science (GES) Data and Information Service Center (DISC) has done work with Google Earth, such as: a) visualizing two-, three- and four-dimensional Earth science data; b) visualizing and synergizing analyzed results derived from GES DISC’s online analysis system Giovanni (e.g. A-Train Instance system); and c) visualizing results derived from other standard web services (e.g. OGC Web Map Service). Most of data are from A-Train satellite constellation. We improved our current online analysis system to provide combined KMZ for visualizing both vertical curtains and surface strips for the same temporal and spatial range obtained from the A-Train Giovanni. After selecting specific temporal/spatial range, KMZ files with vertical information for temperature, water vapor, clouds, aerosols, etc., are packaged together with horizontal layers of cloud pressure, cloud top temperature, cloud cover, rain rate, etc. for downloading and visualizing in Google Earth. Also, the performance of rendering vertical curtain of A-Train data in Google Earth was greatly improved.

The design, fabrication, and assembly of a new laboratory apparatus for the investigation of the behavior of compaction grouting in triaxial condition are presented in this paper. Using this laboratory apparatus, pressure-controlled compaction grouting tests were carried out in specimens of completely decomposed granite (CDG) in Hong Kong. Precisely controlled injection water into a specially designed latex balloon in the specimen was to simulate a compaction grouting process. In these tests, the effective confining pressure, lateral earth pressure coefficient (K), excess pore water pressure, back pressure, void ratio change, and vertical deformation of the specimen were measured. The main focus was to investigate the development of injection pressure, void ratio, and excess pore water pressure due to compaction grouting and subsequent consolidation of soils. In addition, both the compaction efficiency and the average strength enhancement ratio are defined to evaluate the effect of compaction grouting.   

An approximate solution for the pressure loading required to expand a spherical cavity in rock and soil targets is derived. A dual characterization of fracture and flow material model is used. Frictional resistance to flow is also included. Nonlinear volumetric strain hardening is modeled with bilinear curves and unloading is assumed to be nondilative. Applications of this solution form to the prediction of pressure loading on slender, convex-nosed earth penetrators and on spherically nosed water entry vehicles are discussed.

Caking coals are treated in a slurry including alkaline earth metal hydroxides at moderate pressures and temperatures in air to form noncaking carbonaceous material. Hydroxides such as calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide or barium hydroxide are contemplated for slurrying with the coal to interact with the agglomerating constituents. The slurry is subsequently dewatered and dried in air at atmospheric pressure to produce a nonagglomerating carbonaceous material that can be conveniently handled in various coal conversion and combustion processes.

Moore, Sterling, & Suess (2007, ApJ, 668, 1221) present evidence that (1) a CME is typically a magnetic bubble, a low-beta gplasmoid with legs h having roughly the 3D shape of a light bulb, and (2) in the outer corona the CME plasmoid is in lateral pressure equilibrium with the ambient magnetic field. They present three CMEs observed by SOHO/LASCO, each from a very different source located near the limb. One of these CMEs came from a compact ejective eruption from a small part of a sunspot active region, another came from a large quiet-region filament eruption, and the third CME, an extremely large and fast one, was produced in tandem with an X20 flare arcade that was centered on a huge delta sunspot. Each of these CMEs had more or less the classic lightbulb silhouette and attained a constant heliocentric angular width in the outer corona. This indicates that the CME plasmoid attained lateral magnetic pressure balance with the ambient radial magnetic field in the outer corona. This lateral pressure balance, together with the standard scenario for CME production by the eruption of a sheared-core magnetic arcade, yields the following simple estimate of the strength B(sub Flare) of the magnetic field in the flare arcade produced together with the CME: B(sub Flare) 1.4(theta CME/theta Flare)sup 2 G, where theta (sub CME) is the heliocentric angular width of the CME plasmoid in the outer corona and theta (sub Flare) is the heliocentric angular width of the full-grown flare arcade. Conversely, theta (sub CME) approximately equal to (R(sub Sun)sup -1(phi(sub Flare)/1.4)sup 1/2 radians, where Flare is the magnetic flux covered by the full-grown flare arcade. In addition to presenting the three CMEs of Moore, Sterling, & Suess (2007) and their agreement with this relation between CME and Flare, we present a further empirical test of this relation. For CMEs that erupt from active regions, the co-produced flare arcade seldom if ever covers the entire active region: if AR is the total magnetic flux of the active region, Flare . AR, and we predict that CME. (R(sub Sun))sup -1(theta AR/1.4)sup 1/2 radians. For a random sample of 31 CMEs that erupted from active regions within 30 of the limb, for each CME we have measured CME from LASCO/C3 and have measured AR from a SOHO/MDI magnetogram of the source active region when it was within 30 of disk center. We find that each CME obeys the above predicted inequality, none having width greater than half of the upper bound given by theta(sub AR). Thus, an active region's magnetic flux content, together with its location on the solar disk, largely determines whether the active region can possibly produce a CME that is wide enough to intercept the Earth.

Pressure point analysis is a different method developed to detect leaks in liquid, gas and some two-phase flow pipe lines. Descriptions of the system, how a leak is determined and how this method may interface with existing SCADA systems are given. PPA is based on research in the behavior of the energy and momentum balance on a pipe line (as represented by pressure and velocity measurements) before and after a leak occurs.

The phenomenon of shear-induced particle migration in viscous suspension flows is shown to lead to intrinsic concentration variations in inhomogeneous shear flow. A suspension balance mode is proposed that explains this migration as resulting from the requirement that the macroscopic suspension pressure be constant perpendicular to the direction of mean motion. The results of this model are shown to compare well with Stokesian Dynamics simulations of pressure-driven channel flow.

Depths of depressed surface of liquid gadolinium, cerium and copper during electron beam evaporation were measured by triangulation method using a CCD camera. The depression depths estimated from the balance of the vapor pressure and the hydrostatic pressure at the evaporation surface agreed with the measured values. The periodic fluctuation of atomic beam was observed when the depression of 3{approx}4 mm in depth was formed at the evaporation spot. (author)

The number of women entering the orthodontic profession over the past few decades has increased dramatically. A review of the literature revealed the lack of research on achieving a work-family balance among female dentists and dental specialists. Work-family balance has been researched more extensively in the field of medicine; however, despite some critical differences, parallels between these 2 professions exist. This study identified issues that Canadian female orthodontists face and strategies they use to achieve a work-family balance. A phenomenological qualitative study was used to analyze the results of semi-structured telephone interviews of a purposive sample of 13 Canadian female orthodontists. The results strongly support the role-conflict theory about the competing pressures of maternal and professional roles. Female orthodontists described their challenges and strategies to minimize role conflict in their attempt to achieve a work-family balance. The women defined balance as having success and satisfaction in both their family life and professional life. They identified specific challenges of achieving a work-family balance that are unique to orthodontic practice and strategies for adapting to their maternal and professional roles. Achieving a work-family balance is of paramount importance to female orthodontists, and the results of this study may be applied to other specialties in dentistry. PMID:22770247

In equilibrium, the climate system global net radiation at top of the atmosphere (TOA) is zero, and the amount of solar incoming energy received by Earth climate system is balanced by the sum of the emitted longwave energy and the reflected shortwave energy from the Earth. A warming Earth system, however, is not in exact equilibrium, and when combined with climate system natural variability, deviations will occur from year to year. These deviations will primarily depend on the state of the ocean heat storage. In a quasi-equilibrium state, the interannual variability in global net radiation should, in principle, equal to the interannual variability of global mean ocean heat storage since all other heat storage terms in the energy budget are a factor of ten or more smaller than the ocean heat storage. In this presentation, we will highlight the latest results of interannual variability of global net radiation from satellite observations deduced from NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) and NASA Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) missions for a 13-year period between 1993 and 2005. The 2004 and 2005 CERES data includes the period where recent ocean heat storage data imply a change from ocean heating to ocean cooling. The level of agreement between ocean heat storage and global net radiation will be discussed, including uncertainty estimates for the radiation data sets.

Understanding the composition of the Earth's core is integral to answering many questions in the Earth Sciences, including the conditions, mechanisms, and timing of core formation, as well as the interactions between the core and the mantle, which also has important implications for the composition of the Earth's mantle. Because of the remote nature of the core, seismic profiles of the Earth's interior must be relied upon to determine the velocity and density structure of the deep Earth, and these profiles must then be compared with experimental data on candidate core phases at extreme conditions. The work presented here will show the results of recent synchrotron-based ultrasonic interferometry experiments on iron/light-element alloy (ILEA) compounds at high pressures and temperatures; specifically compounds containing Si, S, and P. These experimental data were extrapolated to pressures and temperatures relevant to the Earth's inner core for direct comparison with seismic profiles. A density-velocity-compositional model was constructed for the solid inner core by accommodating for the recent evidence from these ultrasonic experiments that iron minerals may not follow a linear "Birch's Law" density-velocity relationship. By accounting for this non-linearity, the first model that is in good agreement with all aspects of the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) in the inner core, including shear velocities, has been generated. In addition, this model was then compared to existing cosmochemical and experimental data, as well as element partitioning studies, to form a more comprehensive model of the Earth's inner and outer cores. The results of this model are also in excellent agreement with geochemical constraints on light-element content of the core, and can begin to reconcile the density deficits observed in the liquid outer core. This is the first model to have good agreement with all the parameters of PREM in the inner core, including density, bulk sound speed, VP , VS, KS, and G, and it also resolves most of the density deficit in the liquid outer core.

Objectives To study postural and spinal static modifications associated with chronic low back pain in menopausal women. Methods Clinical appreciation of static spinal profile in sagittal plane; postural evaluation on the Balance Master Neurocom force platform by the modified clinical test for the sensory interaction on balance (modified CTSIB test); Radiological evaluation of spinal and pelvic parameters as well as the sagittal profile according to the Roussouly classification. Results Spinal curves clinical measurement and the sway velocity of the pressure center on the Balance Master Neurocom do not show significant difference between the two groups. While the pressure center position in the anteroposterior axis shows significant difference between the two groups (p=0.02) with a more bac...

Uutest heliplaatidest : Elton John "Songs From The West Coast". The Cranberries "Wake Up And Smell The Coffee". The White Stripes "White Blood Cells". Ozzy Osbourne "Down To Earth". Erinevad esitajad ". Hut Recordings 1991-2001". Freestylers "Pressure Point". David Bowie "Original Soundtrack: Christiane F. Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo"

A study of the formation of cubic boron nitride shows that ths alkali and alkaline earth metals and their nitrides are effective catalysts for converting hexagonal boron nitride into cubic. The pressure and temperature required vary with the catalyst, and a minimum of about 45,000 atm and 1500 deg C was found to be optimum. (auth)

Jul 13, 2008 ... Photo credit: Bill Hrybyk. Caption: .... Servicing Mission 4 flight hardware makes its way out of the truck dock in. Building 29 on July .... suits, including their gloves, are bulky and pressurized to protect them from the space .... the disappearance of the birds' missing food source to Earth's changing climate.

Stable superconductivity up to 114 K has been reproducibly detected in Bi-Al-Ca-Sr-Cu-O multiphase systems without any rare-earth elements. Pressure has only a slight positive effect on T(c). These observations provide an extra material base for the study of the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity and also the prospect of reduced material cost for future applications of superconductivity.

Radio occultation STDPs include temperature-pressure (T-p) profiles, occultation ... Gravity STDPs include spherical harmonic models, maps or images of those models, and ... tables of signal characteristics, and images of signals in time- frequency space. ... Drift associated with passage through solar plasma or the Earth's ...

Existing data for the pressure derivatives of critical temperatures Tc in the MBa2Cu3O7- y family are analyzed (M = Y, or rare earth). Using a two-dimensional BCS model, the electron-phonon coupling parameter is shown to be responsible for the increase of Tc, which varies with y in the same way as u...

Measurements were made of vapor pressure over molten LaCl--KCl, CeCl-- KCl, PrCl--KCl, and NdCl--KCl systems at 900 to 1200 deg C. The high content of rare earth chlorides indicates that binary chlorides transform into vapor by partial disintegration. (R.V.J.)

Jan 22, 2002 ... doing more effective and more fun.” O'Keefe reminded ... cial, physical and human resources man- agement ..... of argon gas under high pressure and are expended into ..... the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and ... and I' ve always wondered how the voice of the turtle might sound. However, I ...

disorder of a specific organ. It is usually an interaction of various physical and psychological factors, which, in the absence of gravity ... increase or decrease of otolith pressure on feelers of sensory cells occurs. .... selection process, then be sub- jected to a long ... apparatus is so adapted to the influence of the earth's gravity ...

Clouds play an important role in balancing the Earth's radiation budget. Hence, it is vital that cloud climatologies are produced that quantify cloud macro and micro physical parameters and the associated uncertainty. In this paper, we present an algorithm ORAC (Oxford-RAL retrieval of Aerosol and Cloud) which is based on fitting a physically consistent cloud model to satellite observations simultaneously from the visible to the mid-infrared, thereby ensuring that the resulting cloud properties provide both a good representation of the short-wave and long-wave radiative effects of the observed cloud. The advantages of the optimal estimation method are that it enables rigorous error propagation and the inclusion of all measurements and any a priori information and associated errors in a rigorous mathematical framework. The algorithm provides a measure of the consistency between retrieval representation of cloud and satellite radiances. The cloud parameters retrieved are the cloud top pressure, cloud optical depth, cloud effective radius, cloud fraction and cloud phase. The algorithm can be applied to most visible/infrared satellite instruments. In this paper, we demonstrate the applicability to the Along-Track Scanning Radiometers ATSR-2 and AATSR. Examples of applying the algorithm to ATSR-2 flight data are presented and the sensitivity of the retrievals assessed, in particular the algorithm is evaluated for a number of simulated single-layer and multi-layer conditions. The algorithm was found to perform well for single-layer cloud except when the cloud was very thin; i.e., less than 1 optical depths. For the multi-layer cloud, the algorithm was robust except when the upper ice cloud layer is less than five optical depths. In these cases the retrieved cloud top pressure and cloud effective radius become a weighted average of the 2 layers. The sum of optical depth of multi-layer cloud is retrieved well until the cloud becomes thick, greater than 50 optical depths, where the cloud begins to saturate. The cost proved a good indicator of multi-layer scenarios. Both the retrieval cost and the error need to be considered together in order to evaluate the quality of the retrieval. This algorithm in the configuration described here has been applied to both ATSR-2 and AATSR visible and infrared measurements in the context of the GRAPE (Global Retrieval and cloud Product Evaluation) project to produce a 14 yr consistent record for climate research.

We model the thermal evolution of a subsurface ocean of aqueous ammonium sulfate inside Titan using a parameterized convection scheme. The cooling and crystallization of such an ocean depends on its heat flux balance, and is governed by the pressure-dependent melting temperatures at the top and bott...

This study required a thorough analysis of the impact on the launch site and ..... lI' for,,,., ldd-,r etc must be provided for accc s ... required to maintain the thermal/ pressure balance until the .... insulation degradation, and cryogenic gas leakage.

A treatment challenge for patients with sacral pressure ulcers is balancing the need for adequate surgical debridement with appropriate anaesthesia management. We are functioning under the hypothesis that regional anaesthesia has advantages over general anaesthesia. We describe our regional anaesthesia protocol for perioperative and postoperative management.

The balance between angiotensin II (ANG II) and nitric oxide plays an important role in renal function and is thought to contribute to the progression of renal injury in experimental hypertension. In the present study, we investigated the extent of blood pressure (BP)-dependent and BP-independent pa...

... a healthy, balanced diet rich in fibers and low in fat. 4. Check the level of cholesterol in your blood. If it is high, get it under control. 5. Check your blood pressure regularly. If it is high, keep it under ...

Two-position shuttle valve simplifies valving arrangement and crank-shaft configuration in gas-balancing and Stirling-cycle refrigeration systems used to produce temperatures below 173 degrees K. It connects the displacer and regenerator alternately to the supply line or the return line of the compressor, and establishes constant pressure on the drive piston.

The kidneys play a vital role in the maintenance of extracellular fluid and electrolyte balance and blood pressure. Adenosine, acting through the adenosine A1-receptor (A1R), and nitric oxide have been implicated in several of the regulatory mechanisms in the kidney. The A

Soluble carbohydrates and nitrate in the cell sap of leafy vegetables act as complementary osmotic solutes to maintain the plant's turgor pressure. The implication is that nitrate at harvest time can be kept low by manipulating the source-sink balance. Pseudo-static calculations based on a model dev...

With increasing fineness of grinding, also the possibility of reducing energy consumption by the mill increases. Rebound crushers, which produce medium-fine grains, already have a favourable energy balance. In grinding mills, which are fully mechanized, pressure crushing will be introduced. Vibration grinding mills and planetary mills permit optimum adaptation of the crushing equipment.

The solubility of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) in solid (298 K) and melted (323 K) poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), in the pressure range (7 to 25) MPa, was measured using a magnetic suspension balance. The phase behavior of the CO2 + PEG system was modeled by using the Sanchez-Lacombe equation ...

The effect of guanfacine (2 mg once daily) on ambulatory blood pressure was studied with the Remler M 2000 recorder in 16 elderly hypertensive patients during a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced, cross-over study. Guanfacine significantly reduced heart rate and systolic and dias...

This volume of papers includes 21 of the 38 presentations given at the Forum on Global Change and Our Common Future. The objectives of the forum were threefold: (1) to present to the public a balanced and authoritative view of the wide range of global change issues, including the science of the earth system, the impacts of global change on society, and the implications for public policy; (2) to describe developments in the emerging interdisciplinary approach to the study of the earth system, aimed toward developing the knowledge base on which rational public policy decisions on global change can be pursued; and (3) to delineate the social, political, and economic framework within which the scientific and technological issues and the policy options need to be explored. Presentations include the following: (1) "Toward a Global Environmental Policy"; (2) "Global Change and Our Common Future: The Benjamin Franklin Lecture"; (3) "Global Change and Carrying Capacity: Implications for Life on Earth"; (4) "The Earth System"; (5) "Mission to Planet Earth Revisited"; (6) "Historical Perspectives: Climatic Changes Throughout the Millennia"; (7) "Mathematical Modeling of Greenhouse Warming: How Much Do We Know?"; (8) "The Earth's Fragile Ozone Shield"; (9) "Terrestrial Ecosystems"; (10) "Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change"; (11) "The Human Causes of Environmental Change"; (12) "What Does Global Change Mean for Society?"; (13) "Impacts of Future Sea Level Rise"; (14) "Threats to Biological Diversity as the Earth Warms"; (15) "Deforestation and Its Role in Possible Changes in the Brazilian Amazon"; (16) "Impacts of Global Change"; (17) "The Global Environment: A National Security Issue"; (18) "Implications for Public Policy: Options for Action"; (19) "View from the North"; (20) "View from the South"; (21) "Political Leadership and the Brundtland Report: What are the Implications for Public Policy?"; and (22) "Global Warming: Is It Real and Should It Be Part of a Global Change Program?". A copy of the program for the forum and a list of the committee members are appended. (KR)

High-pressure electrical measurements have a long history of use in the study of materials under ultra-high pressures. In recent years, electrical transport experiments have played a key role in the study of many interesting high pressure phenomena including pressure-induced superconductivity, insulator-to-metal transitions, and quantum critical behavior. High-pressure electrical transport experiments also play an important function in geophysics and the study of the Earth's interior. Besides electrical conductivity measurements, electrical transport experiments also encompass techniques for the study of the optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of materials under high pressures. In addition, electrical transport techniques, i.e., the ability to extend electrically conductive wires from outside instrumentation into the high pressure sample chamber have been utilized to perform other types of experiments as well, such as high-pressure magnetic susceptibility and de Haas-van Alphen Fermi surface experiments. Finally, electrical transport techniques have also been utilized for delivering significant amounts of electrical power to high pressure samples, for the purpose of performing high-pressure and -temperature experiments. Thus, not only do high-pressure electrical transport experiments provide much interesting and valuable data on the physical properties of materials extreme compression, but the underlying high-pressure electrical transport techniques can be used in a number of ways to develop additional diagnostic techniques and to advance high pressure capabilities.

Recent improvements in detection methods have allowed for the observation of terrestrial exoplanets with 1~10 times Earth's mass, so-called "super-Earths". However, their interior is currently highly unclear, because understanding of the ultrahigh-pressure phase relations of major Earth and planetary materials still remains quite limited. Those should be clarified before developing models of the internal structures of such objects. So we tried to establish the ultrahigh-pressure and temperature phase relations of SiO2 silica by means of ab initio techniques and successfully discovered a new phase change from the pyrite to an unexpected Fe2P form above 600 GPa with an intermediate cotunnite form only at high temperatures (Tsuchiya and Tsuchiya, PNAS, 2011). Since this transition pressure in SiO2 is quite high and almost unreachable experimentally, we searched for substitutable low-P analogs and succeeded in confirming the Fe2P phase in TiO2 both theoretically and experimentally (Dekura, Tsuchiya, Kuwayama, and Tsuchiya, PRL, 2011), which proves that this phase is the densest one currently identified in major dioxides. Further calculations elucidated that this phase is yielded by the dissociation of some important silicate compounds of MgSiO3 and CaSiO3 in the conditions relevant to the mantle of super-Earths and the core of giant planets. Although the Fe2P structure has not been inferred for the high-pressure phase of silica, we found a surprisingly simple structural relationship between this phase and lower-pressure phase connected via an intermediate form unreported in dioxides so far. Research supported by KAKENHI (20001005, 21740379, 23540560) and the Ehime Univ G-COE program "Deep Earth Mineralogy".

IWC regime was originally established as an institution to manage whaling in a sustainable manner. However, due to the intensive anti-whaling campaign conducted by activist NGOs such as Greenpeace and the Friends of Earth, a moratorium on commercial whaling was adopted in 1982. Since then, it has changed to be an institution to prohibit whaling for a humanitarian reason, and six whaling countries, fearing of the U. S. sanction, with-drew from commercial whaling tamely. To the contrary, Japan, Norway and Iceland became determined to continue whaling. However, when the moratorium was adopted, they had showed rather passive reaction to the prohibition norm and had not been determined to sustain whaling. Nevertheless, the three countries began to show a strong resentment to the prohibition norm, and went on to sustain whaling firmly.What caused such a difference in attitude among the whaling countries? The answer exists in the strategies that the activist NGOs adopted. To stop whaling, they took full advantage of physical pressure against the three countries where whaling has either cultural or economic importance without making substantial campaign efforts to persuade their citizens. According to the theory of psychological reactance, pressure as an imposition or proscription of a specific behavior, causes resistance to persuasion, provided the freedom of the behavior is regarded as important to a certain extent. However, pressure does not always cause a reactive response. This depends on the balance between pressure and persuasion. As a persuasive argument has power to effect consent, a psychological backlash will not happen when the power to effect consent exceeds the reactance force. However, the activist NGOs, not having run a campaign zealously in the three countries, consolidated a situation that the latter exceeds the former significantly. The result is a strong backlash by the three whaling countries.Then, why could the anti-whaling NGOs not conduct an active campaign in the three countries? It was because they were faced with financial constraints. To change the public opinion in the three countries, it seemingly requires more resource investment. Activist NGOs, if failed in costly campaign activity, will suffer from financial problem and may be forced to restructure its business toward downsizing. Therefore they tend to decide their campaign strategies based on the cost-benefit calculation. However, if they concentrate their campaign effort on countries where the issue does not have much importance while depending fully on physical pressure against those that appear to be more resisting to their normative project, activist NGOs are doomed to function as an agent of a global fragmentation of norm and faced with a serious democratic deficit. Thus Activist NGOs are faced with a difficult dilemma whether, in constructing campaign strategies, to choose predominantly easy countries for the sake of sustaining and expanding organization, or to get bravely involved in more resisting countries however risky such a choice is.   

Orthoenstatite is an abundant yet complex mineral in Earth's upper mantle. Despite its abundance, the properties of orthopyroxene at high pressure remain ambiguous (e.g., Zhang et al. 2011; Jahn 2008; Kung et al. 2004). We explored select properties of a synthetic powdered orthoenstatite (Mg0.8757Fe0.13)2Si2O6 sample by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear resonance inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS) as a function of pressure in a neon pressure medium at 300 K. The XRD measurements were carried out at beamline 12.2.2 of the Advanced Light Source (Berkeley, CA), and the sample was studied up to 34 GPa. NRIXS measurements were carried out at sector 3ID-B of the Advanced Photon Source (Chicago, IL) in the pressure range of 3 to 17 GPa. From the raw NRIXS data, the partial phonon density of states (DOS) was derived (e.g., Sturhahn 2004). The volume (or pressure) dependence of several properties, such as the Lamb-Mössbauer factor, mean force constant, specific heat, vibrational entropy, and vibrational kinetic energy were determined from the DOS. We will discuss our results from these combined studies and the implications for Earth's upper mantle. References Zhang, D., J.M. Jackson, W. Sturhahn, and Y. Xiao (2011): Local structure variations observed in orthoenstatite at high-pressures. American Mineralogist, in press. Jahn, S. (2008) High-pressure phase transitions in MgSiO3 orthoenstatite studied by atomistic computer simulation. American Mineralogist, 93(4), 528-532. Kung, J., Li, B., Uchida, T., Wang, Y., Neuville, D., and Liebermann, R. (2004) In situ measurements of sound velocities and densities across the orthopyroxene high-pressure clinopyroxene transition in MgSiO3 at high pressure. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 147(1), 27-44. Sturhahn, W. (2004): Nuclear Resonant Spectroscopy. J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 16, S497-S530.

Fluctuating static pressure is closely related with fluctuating velocity in a turbulent flow, and it plays an important role in the energy balance and anisotropy of turbulence. Thus, the measurement of the fluctuating static pressure is significantly effective for the clarification of the organized structure of the turbulent flow. In this study, a static probe that is less sensitive to the yaw angle and having a good frequency response was developed, and the simultaneous measurement of velocity and pressure field was performed in a two-dimensional jet flow by a combination of this static pressure probe and an I-type hot-wire probe. In the pressure spectrum, the ?-7/3 power law range could be clearly observed, and the distribution of the cross-correlation between streamwise velocity and static pressure is demonstrated to be consistent with the previous model of coherent vortex structure.   

Construction under server conditions such as large earth retaining excavation on the soft ground or in cities has been increasing recently. A computerized system that performs construction works while grasping the safety of an earth retaining structure or the effect on adjacent structures has also been increasing. In this system, the back analysis plays an important part. However, there are many problems to be examined such as matching with a measurement value, convergence characteristics of a solution, and estimated precision when measurement data is used. In this paper, a back analysis method was proposed to improve the fitting to an observation value and convergence characteristics when the coefficient of subgrade reaction and the earth pressure are estimated simultaneously. In this method, the moment obtained by differentiating the tilt angle of an earth retaining wall is treated as an observation value, and the side pressure as observation and state values. The way to easily evaluate the ground behavior during measurement by the estimation result was also proposed. It is used to evaluate the ground behavior in the earth retaining excavation stage from the simple measurement data for the tilt angle on a wall and the axial force of a strut. 19 refs., 9 figs., 6 tabs.

Magnetic reconnection allows a conversion of magnetic energy into particle motion and heat, and it plays an especially important role in regulating the exchange of plasma between the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind. Particularly when particle collisions are negligible, as in the space plasmas surrounding Earth, descriptions of reconnection must include kinetic effects. The phase space distribution of the electrons accounting for adiabatic magnetic and electrical trapping has been derived and verified using both spacecraft observations collected in Earth's magnetosphere and particle-in-cell simulations [1]. Based on this solution, the equations of state relevant to reconnection in the kinetic regime give the electron pressure components parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field [2]. The electron pressure anisotropy, which becomes large when the upstream electron beta (ratio of electron pressure to magnetic pressure) is low, governs the formation of elongated electron current sheets during reconnection [2,3]. Recent kinetic simulation runs that make full use of the present generation of petascale supercomputers have allowed tests of the equations of state in a broad range of parameter regimes in varied geometries. With appropriate generalizations, the electron pressure can be described when the ambient plasma conditions are asymmetric. The equations of state have proved fairly robust across geometries with different guide fields and, perhaps most significantly, even with fully 3D evolution. [1] J. Egedal J et al., Phys. of Plasmas 16, 050701 (2009). [2] A. Le et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 37, L03106 (2010). [3] J. Ng et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 065002 (2011).