Thin accretion disc with a corona in a central magnetic field

We study the steady-state structure of an accretion disc with a corona surrounding a central, rotating, magnetized star. We assume that the magneto-rotational instability is the dominant mechanism of angular momentum transport inside the disc and is responsible for producing magnetic tubes above the disc. In our model, a fraction of the dissipated energy inside the disc is transported to the corona via these magnetic tubes. This energy exchange from the disc to the corona which depends on the disc physical properties is modified because of the magnetic interaction between the stellar magnetic field and the accretion disc. According to our fully analytical solutions for such a system, the existence of a corona not only increases the surface density but reduces the temperature of the accretion disc. Also, the presence of a corona enhances the ratio of gas pressure to the total pressure. Our solutions show that when the strength of the magnetic field of the central neutron star is large or the star is rotating fast enough, profiles of the physical variables of the disc significantly modify due to the existence of a corona.     

Rock slope stability evaluation using kinematic and kinetic methods along the Kamyaran-Marivan road,west of Iran

Interest in rock slope stability in mountainous regions has increased greatly in recent years.This issue has become a topic of major interest for geoscientists and engineering professionals,as well as for private citizens and local administrators,in many parts of the world.This paper evaluates the stability of seven rock slopes along the KamyaranMarivan tourist road,Kurdistan province,Iran,using various methods.The two main reasons for performing this research were to determine whether different methods of stability analysis provide the same results,and to determine how different factors such as the presence of water,tension cracks,and seismic forces affect the stability of these rock slopes.Firstly,field investigations were performed to obtain the engineering characteristics of the rock masses,discontinuities,and intact rocks of the slopes.Secondly,laboratory tests were carried out on rock samples obtained from the slopes,to determine the engineering properties of the intact rocks.Then for each rock slope,the contour diagram of discontinuities and slope face was drawn in the Dips v.5.1 software environment,and the failure mechanism was determined based on the kinematic or stereographic method.Next,the factors of safety of the rock slopes were calculated using the limit equilibrium method,based on the failure mechanisms resulting from the kinematic method.The accuracy of the results obtained by these two methods was investigated using SWedge v.4.0 software.The results indicated that four rock slopes have a potential for plane,wedge,and toppling failure,and three others are stable.Also,it was found that the stability of the studied rock slopes decreases greatly in the presence of water,tension cracks,and seismic forces.     

Isolation, distribution and evaluation of cytotoxic and antioxidant activity of cultivable actinobacteria from the Oman Sea sediments

Screening bioactive natural products from bacteria is a determinative step in the drug discovery programs. The present study aim to isolate actinobacteria from the Oman Sea sediments for determining the effects of different culture media and treatments on the yield of the isolation process, and measure the DPPH radical scavenging and Artemia cytotoxic activity of culture extracts of the actinobacterial isolates. A total of 290 actinobacterial isolates were collected from 14 sediment samples. Heat treatment(40.68%) and M_4 medium(29.31%) exhibited the maximum isolation rates of actinobacteria. Streptomyces isolates were dominantly distributed in all of the investigated stations according to 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. The distribution pattern of Streptomyces followed a depth-dependent frequency trend, whereas the members of rare genera including Micromonospora, Nocardia Actinoplanes, Nocardiopsis, Saccharopolyspora and Crossiella were distributed in deeper stations. Approximately,25% of the examined isolates could scavenge 90% of 10~(–4) mol/L DPPH solutions at 1 250 μg/mL final concentration of their ethyl acetate culture extracts. Furthermore, the most potent extracts could scavenge DPPH radicals with IC50 ranges from 356.8 to 566.4 μg/mL. Brine shrimp cytotoxicity tests showed that 38.88% of the examined culture extracts exhibited LC_(50) lower than 1 000 μg/mL against the Artemia cells. Moreover, the most potent culture extracts exhibited LC_(50) range from 335.4 to 534.4 μg/mL. Phylogenetic analysis by 16 S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the OS 005, OS 263 and OS 157 closely related to Streptomyces djakartensis, Streptomyces olivaceus and Nocardiopsis dassonvillei respectively. These results suggested the widespread distribution of the antioxidant and cytotoxic producing actinobacteria in the Oman Sea sediments, which could be considered as promising candidates for the discovery of microbial bioactive compounds.     

Hydrogeochemistry of Groundwater and Its Suitability for Drinking and Agricultural Use in Nahavand,Western Iran

Groundwater is the major source of drinking water in Nahavand city. However, the groundwater quality at the agricultural areas has been deteriorating in recent years. Ground water quality monitoring is a tool which provides important information for water management and sustainable development of the water resources in Nahavand. Hydrochemical investigations were carried out in an agricultural area in Nahavand, western Iran, to assess chemical composition of groundwater. In this study, 64 representative groundwater samples were collected from different irrigation wells and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, major ions, and nitrate. The results of the chemical analysis of the groundwater showed that concentrations of ions vary widely and the most prevalent water type is Ca–Mg–HCO₃, followed by other water types: Ca–HCO₃, Ca–Na–HCO₃, and Na–Cl, which is in relation with their interactions with the geological formations of the basin, dissolution of feldspars and chloride and bicarbonate minerals, and anthropogenic activities. Thirty-seven percent of the water samples showed nitrate (NO₃ ⁻) concentrations above the human affected value (13 mg L⁻¹). The phosphorous (P) concentration in groundwater was between 0.11 and 0.90 mg L⁻¹, with an average value of 0.30 mg L⁻¹, with all of the samples over 0.05 mg L⁻¹. The most dominant class C2-S1 (76.5%) was found in the studied area, indicating that sodicity is very low and salinity is medium, and that these waters are suitable for irrigation in almost all soils. Agronomic practices, such as cultivation, cropping, and irrigation water management may decrease the average NO₃ ⁻ concentration in water draining from the soil zone.     

Hydrogeological aspects of groundwater drainage of the urban areas in Kuwait City

Residential areas in Kuwait City have witnessed a dramatic rise in subsurface water tables over the last three decades. This water rise phenomenon is attributed mainly to over irrigation practices of private gardens along with leakage from domestic and sewage networks. This paper presents a comprehensive study for urban drainage in two selected areas representing the two hydrogeological settings encountered in Kuwait City. In the first area, a vertical drainage scheme was applied successfully over an area of 1 km². The system has been under continuous operation and monitoring for more than 4 years without problems, providing a permanent solution for the water rise problem in this area. The hydrogeological system has approached steady state conditions and the water levels have dropped to about 3·5 m below the ground surface. In the second area a dual drainage scheme, composing of horizontal and vertical elements, is proposed. Horizontal elements are suggested in the areas where the deep groundwater contains hazardous gases that may pose environmental problems. The proposed drainage scheme in the second area has not yet been implemented. Field tests were conducted to assess the aquifer parameters in both areas and a numerical model has been developed to predict the long‐term response of the hydrogeological system in the two areas under consideration. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the presence of a radiation field

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamical role of a radiation field on the growth rate of the unstable Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) perturbations. As a first step toward this purpose, the analyze is done in a general way, irrespective of applying the model to a specific astronomical system. The transition zone between the two layers of the fluid is ignored. Then, we perform a linear analysis and by imposing suitable boundary conditions and considering a radiation field, we obtain appropriate dispersion relation. Unstable modes are studied by solving the dispersion equation numerically, and then growth rates of them are obtained. By analyzing our dispersion relation, we show that for a wide range of the input parameters, the radiation field has a destabilizing effect on KH instability. In eruptions of the galaxies or supermassive stars, the radiation field is dynamically important and because of the enhanced KH growth rates in the presence of the radiation; these eruptions can inject more momentum and energy into their environment and excite more turbulent motions.     

Thermal instability in ionized plasma

We study the magneto-thermal instability in ionized plasmas including the effects of Ohmic, ambipolar and Hall diffusion. The magnetic field in the single-fluid approximation does not allow for transverse thermal condensations; however, non-ideal effects highly diminish the stabilizing role of the magnetic field in thermally unstable plasmas. Therefore, the enhanced growth rate of thermal condensation modes in the presence of the diffusion mechanisms speed up the rate of structure formation.     

Hot accretion with outflow and thermal conduction

We present self-similar solutions for advection-dominated accretion flows with thermal conduction in the presence of outflows. Possible effects of outflows on the accretion flow are parametrized and a saturated form of thermal conduction, as is appropriate for the weakly-collisional regime of interest, is included in our model. While the cooling effect of outflows is noticeable, thermal conduction provides an extra heating source. In comparison to accretion flows without winds, we show that the disc rotates faster and becomes cooler because of the angular momentum and energy flux which are taking away by the winds. But thermal conduction opposes the effects of winds and not only decreases the rotational velocity, but increases the temperature. However, reduction of the surface density and the enhanced accretion velocity are amplified by both of the winds and the thermal conduction. We find that for stronger outflows, a higher level of saturated thermal conduction is needed to significantly modify the physical profiles of the accretion flow.     

The role of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in dusty and partially ionized outflows

We investigate the linear theory of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at the interface between a partially ionized dusty outflow and the ambient material analytically. We model the interaction as a multifluid system in a planar geometry. The unstable modes are independent from the charge polarity of the dust particles. Although our results show a stabilizing effect for charged dust particles, the growth time-scale of the growing modes gradually becomes independent of the mass or charge of the dust particles when the magnetic-field strength increases. We show that growth time-scale decreases with increasing the magnetic field. Also, as the mass of the dust particles increases, the growth time-scale of the unstable mode increases.