| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Farrell, W. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Electron density dropout near Enceladus in the context of water-vapor and water-ice
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 36:10, s. L10203-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- On 12 March 2008, the Cassini spacecraft made a close encounter with the Saturnian moon Enceladus, passing within 52 km of the moon. The spacecraft trajectory was intentionally-oriented in a southerly direction to create a close alignment with the intense water-dominated plumes emitted from the south polar region. During the passage, the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave System (RPWS) detected two distinct radio signatures: 1) Impulses associated with small water-ice dust grain impacts and 2) an upper hybrid (UH) resonance emission that both intensified and displayed a sharp frequency decrease in the near-vicinity of the moon. The frequency decrease of the UH emission is associated with an unexpectedly sharp decrease in electron density from similar to 90 cl/cm(3) to below 20 cl/cm(3) that occurs on a time scale of a minute near the closest encounter with the moon. In this work, we consider a number of scenarios to explain this sharp electron dropout, but surmise that electron absorption by ice grains is the most likely process.
|
|
| 3. |
- Farrell, W. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Mass unloading along the inner edge of the Enceladus plasma torus
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 35:2, s. L02203-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major discovery made by the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn was the substantial mass ejection from the south pole of Enceladus. Previous studies show that this ejected gas can become ionized and subsequently load mass onto the connecting magnetic field lines near the moon. Radial diffusion then allows the mass-loaded field lines to move outward to similar to 15 R-s and inward to similar to 2 R-s, forming a plasma torus. We demonstrate herein that the mass is also '' unloaded '' along the inner edge of this plasma torus the edge incident with the plasma-absorbing A-ring. Interpreting down-drifting z-mode tones from active sites along the inner edge of the ion torus as emission near the local electron plasma frequency, f(pe), we can remotely-monitor this reduction in plasma density along the torus inner edge as a function time. We find that the down-drift of the z-mode tones corresponds typically to a plasma density change dn/dt similar to - 5x10(-4)/cm(3)-s and when integrated over an annulus defined by the outer edge of the A-ring, corresponds to a mass loss of similar to 40 kg/s. Using the z-mode tones, we also find locations where plasma mass from the ring-ionosphere is possibly loaded at 1 - 2 kg/s onto field lines near the Cassini gap.
|
|
| 4. |
- Lynch, Iseult, et al.
(författare)
-
Correlation of the adhesive properties of cells to N-isopropylacrylamide/N-tert-butylacrylamide copolymer surfaces with changes in surface structure using contact angle measurements, molecular simulations, and Raman spectroscopy
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Chemistry of Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0897-4756 .- 1520-5002. ; 17:15, s. 3889-3898
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of copolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and the more hydrophobic comonomer N-tert-butylacrylamide (NTBAM), with increasing NTBAM content (i.e., increasing hydrophobicity) were prepared. The adhesion of human epithelial cells on polymer films prepared from copolymers of NIPAM: NTBAM was observed to increase with increasing polymer hydrophobicity. However, in the absence of serum, cell adhesion to the different surfaces was statistically indistinguishable. Thus, it appears that the copolymer films differentially support cell adhesion due to selective adsorption of proteins from the physiological environment (the serum). Using contact angle measurements, molecular simulations, and Raman spectroscopy to characterize the different surfaces, we show evidence that the different behavior of cells on the films of increasing hydrophobicity is actually due to the different chemical properties of the surfaces with increasing content of NTBAM in the copolymers. As the NTBAM content is increased, the number of NH residues at the surface decreases, due to the additional steric hindrance of the bulkier NTBAM group, which results in decreased hydrogen bonding and thus decreased adsorption of proteins such as albumin. However, in some cases, the adsorption is driven by hydrophobic interactions, and proteins such as fibronectin were found to adsorb more to the films with a higher content of NTBAM. There appears, thus, to be a direct correlation between surface composition, i.e., the functional groups exposed at the surface, and protein binding and subsequent cell adhesion.
|
|
