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At least 127 records · Page 7

Effects of gravitational profiles on the rat's thermoregulatory response to cold

Unrestrained rats were subjected to a 1-h period of cold exposure during centrifugation to characterize their ability to regulate core temperature T(c) and to determine if this regulation was dependent on the amplitude of the hypergravic field before the cold exposure. T(c) was measured in unrestrained rats by the use of a thermistor implanted adjacent to the carotid artery. One hour of cold exposure applied over the last hour of either a 1-, 4-, 7-, 13-, 19-, 25-, or 37-h period at 3 G evoked a decrease in T(c) of about 3 C. This fall in T(c) was significantly greater than changes in T(c) in cold-exposed rats at 1 G. No significant differences were found between the measured decreases in T(c) observed for the 1-h cold exposures during the first 37 h at 3 G. However, when rats were subjected concurrently to cold and acceleration after eight days at 3 G, they exhibited a smaller fall in T(c) suggesting a partial recovery of the acceleration-induced impairment of temperature regulation. In another series of experiments, the gravitational field profile was changed in amplitude in three different ways during the 3-h period preceding the 1-h cold exposure at 3 G. Despite the different gravitational field profiles before cold, the magnitude of the fall in T(c) over the 1-h period of cold exposure was the same in all cases. These results suggest that the thermoregulatory impairment has a rapid onset, is a manifestation of an ongoing effect of hypergravity, and is not dependent on the prior G profile. The inability of rats to maintain T(c) when cold exposed may be transient as indicated by the partial recovery of regulation by the eighth day.

Schertel, E. R.

Gravitational lensing effects in a time-variable cosmological 'constant' cosmology

A scalar field phi with a potential V(phi) varies as phi exp -alpha(alpha is greater than 0) has an energy density, behaving like that of a time-variable cosmological 'constant', that redshifts less rapidly than the energy densities of radiation and matter, and so might contribute significantly to the present energy density. We compute, in this spatially flat cosmology, the gravitational lensing optical depth, and the expected lens redshift distribution for fixed source redshift. We find, for the values of alpha of about 4 and baryonic density parameter Omega of about 0.2 consistent with the classical cosmological tests, that the optical depth is significantly smaller than that in a constant-Lambda model with the same Omega. We also find that the redshift of the maximum of the lens distribution falls between that in the constant-Lambda model and that in the Einstein-de Sitter model.

Ratra, Bharat

Effect of gravitational lenses on the microwave background, and 1146+111B,C

A simple check of the proposal by Turner et al. (1986) that the pair of quasars 1146+111B,C are, in fact, two images of the same object lensed by an intervening object is suggested. If the lens is a cluster, either of normal galaxies or of dark matter, the microwave background seen through the cluster will be distorted by the Zeldovich-Sunyaev effect at the 0.001 level. The effects on the proposed check of the cluster not having the shape of an isothermal sphere, of containing no gas or only cold gas, and of having a low ratio of baryonic mass to total mass are considered.

Ostriker, J. P.

Collisional dynamics of perturbed particle disks in the solar system

Theoretical and computational studies were carried out on galactic and planetary disks. With the goal of addressing important open questions centered on galactic structure, the cloudy interstellar medium, giant molecular clouds, and star formation in galactic disks and the collisional dynamics of perturbed particulate matter in planetary disks, focus was largely on the self-gravitational effects, dissipative effects, and collisional dynamics of cloud-particle disks. N-body, 'cloud-particle' computational algorithms were developed for the purpose of isolating the role of gaseous self gravity from the roles of other dominant physical mechanisms and dynamical processes, e.g. the collisional dynamics and dissipative processes. The efforts focused largely on galactic disks show that observational constraints provide stringent tests of the numerical simulation techniques developed. Self gravitational effects of the galactic interstellar medium's gas clouds are included by means of Fourier Transform technique.

Roberts, William W., Jr.

Cosmic ship /1924/

Device for simulation of gravitational effects - Rocket technology

SIMULATOR

Experimental hypervelocity impact into quartz sand. II - Effects of gravitational acceleration

Experimental results for craters formed by aluminum spheres impacting at normal incidence against quartz sand targets in gravitational acceleration environments ranging from 0.073 to 1.0 g (g = 980 cm/sq sec) are reported. Impact velocities varied from 0.4 to 8.0 km/sec. Crater dimensions and formation times are compared with results from a simplified dimensional analysis of the cratering processes. Although the comparison indicates a dominant role of gravity relative to the target strength for craters formed in sand, the results serve primarily to emphasize that both gravity and strength are variables of fundamental significance to cratering processes.

Gault, D. E.

Effect of gravitational and inertial forces on vertical distribution of pulmonary blood flow

Vertical distribution of pulmonary blood flow (VDPBF) was studied, using radioactive microsphere emboli, in dogs without thoracotomy in the right decubitus position during exposure to lateral accelerations of 1, 2, 4, and 6 G. At all levels of force environment studied, an inverse linear relationship was observed between vertical height in the thorax and pulmonary blood flow (ml/min/ml lung tissue) with a decrease in flow to the most dependent region of the lung despite large increases in intravascular pressures at this site. Changes in blood flow were smallest at the mid-lung level, the hydrostatic 'balance point' for vascular and pleural pressures. These force environment-dependent changes in VDPBF are not readily explainable by the Starling resistor analog. Gravity-dependent regional differences in pleural and associated interstitial pressures, plus possible changes in vascular tone resulting from inadequate aeration of blood in the most dependent regions of the lung, probably also affect VDPBF.

Chevalier, P. A.

Effect of gravitation stress and hypokinesia on blood vessels of the testicle

Rabbits were exposed to single maximum endurable stresses of cranio-caudal direction, hypokinesia for periods of one to eight weeks, and hypokinesia followed by gravitation stresses. The stresses caused dilatation of vessels, greater sinuosity, and occasional ruptures of the walls and extravasation. The greater part of the capillaries were dilated; the greatest part constricted. In hypokinesia there was an increasing atrophy of the testes. Significant results are reported.

Palazhchenko, E. F.

Gravitational lens effects of a cosmological density of compact objects

Amplification of quasar light by a cosmological density of compact objects causes significant effects on many quasars in magnitude-limited samples. For lens masses solar mass less than 100,000 solar mass the continuum would be amplified by a magnitude or more but the line emission would not. Examination of the UV selected sample of Marshall et al. (1983) gives limits to more than 90 percent statistical confidence of Omega(c) less than 0.1 for a mass between 200 and 100,000 solar mass, where Omega(c) is the mean density of objects of mass M relative to the closure density. Preliminary results from an X-ray selected sample may probe to more than 0.1 solar mass and give a value for Omega(c) of less than one. These limits indicate that the remnants of an early population of massive stars cannot make a cosmologically significant contribution to the mass density of the universe. On a separate topic, recent work on the enhanced surface density of quasars near galaxies due to lensing by stars in the galaxy halos is reviewed.

Canizares, C. R.

Gravitational lensing effects of vacuum strings - Exact solutions

Exact interior and exterior solutions to Einstein's field equations are derived for vacuum strings. The exterior solution for a uniform density vacuum string corresponds to a conical space while the interior solution is that of a spherical cap. For Mu equals 0-1/4 the external metric is ds-squared = -dt-squared + dr-squared + (1-4 Mu)-squared r-squared dphi-squared + dz-squared, where Mu is the mass per unit length in the string in Planck masses per Planck length. A maximum mass per unit length for a string is 6.73 x 10 to the 27th g/cm. It is shown that strings cause temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background and produce equal brightness double QSO images separated by up to several minutes of arc. Formulae for lensing probabilities, image splittings, and time delays are derived for strings in a realistic cosmological setting. String searches using ST, the VLA, and the COBE satellite are discussed.

Gott, J. R., III

Decoupling the Role of Inertia and Gravity on Particle Dispersion

Turbulent gas flows laden with small, dense particles are encountered in a wide number of important applications in both industrial settings and aerodynamics applications. Particle interactions with the underlying turbulent flow are exceedingly complex and, consequently, difficult to accurately model. The difficulty arises primarily due to the fact that response of a particle to the local environment is dictated by turbulence properties in the reference frame moving with the particle (particle-Lagrangian). The particle-Lagrangian reference frame is in turn dependent upon the particle relaxation time (time constant) as well as gravitational drift. The combination of inertial and gravitational effects in this frame complicates our ability to accurately predict particle-laden flows since measurements in the particle-Lagrangian reference frame are difficult to obtain. Therefore, in this work we will examine separately the effects of inertia and gravitational drift on particle dispersion through a combination of physical and numerical experiments. In this study, particle-Lagrangian measurements will be obtained in physical experiments using stereo image velocimetry. Gravitational drift will be varied in the variable-g environments of the NASA DC-9 and in the zero-g environment at the drop tower at NASA-Lewis. Direct numerical simulations will be used to corroborate the measurements from the variable-g experiments. We expect that this work will generate new insight into the underlying physics of particle dispersion and will, in turn, lead to more accurate models of particle transport in turbulent flows.

Rogers, Chris

Gravitational Acceleration Effects on Macrosegregation: Experiment and Computational Modeling

Experiments were performed under terrestrial gravity (1g) and during parabolic flights (10-2 g) to study the solidification and macrosegregation patterns of Al-Cu alloys. Alloys having 2% and 5% Cu were solidified against a chill at two different cooling rates. Microscopic and Electron Microprobe characterization was used to produce microstructural and macrosegregation maps. In all cases positive segregation occurred next to the chill because shrinkage flow, as expected. This positive segregation was higher in the low-g samples, apparently because of the higher heat transfer coefficient. A 2-D computational model was used to explain the experimental results. The continuum formulation was employed to describe the macroscopic transports of mass, energy, and momentum, associated with the solidification phenomena, for a two-phase system. The model considers that liquid flow is driven by thermal and solutal buoyancy, and by solidification shrinkage. The solidification event was divided into two stages. In the first one, the liquid containing freely moving equiaxed grains was described through the relative viscosity concept. In the second stage, when a fixed dendritic network was formed after dendritic coherency, the mushy zone was treated as a porous medium. The macrosegregation maps and the cooling curves obtained during experiments were used for validation of the solidification and segregation model. The model can explain the solidification and macrosegregation patterns and the differences between low- and high-gravity results.

Leon-Torres, J.