Measurements of the north polar cap of Mars and the Earth's northern hemisphere ice and snow cover

The boundaries of the polar caps of Mars have been measured on more than 3000 photographs since 1905 from the plate collection at the Lowell Observatory. For the Earth, the polar caps have been accurately mapped only since the mid 1960's when satellites were first available to synoptically view the polar regions. The polar caps of both planets wax and wane in response to changes in the seasons, and interannual differences in polar cap behavior on Mars as well as Earth are intimately linked to global energy balance. Data on the year to year variations in the extent of the north polar caps of Mars and Earth have been assembled and compared, although only 6 years of concurrent data were available for comparison.     

Mid-infrared observations of methanol maser sites and ultracompact H ii regions: signposts of high-mass star formation

N -band (10.5 μm) and/or Q -band (20.0 μm) images taken with MANIAC on the ESO/MPI 2.2-m telescope are presented for 31 methanol maser sites and 19 ultracompact (UC) H  ii regions. Most of the maser sites and UC H  ii regions are coincident with mid-infrared (MIR) sources to within the positional uncertainties of ∼ 3 arcsec, consistent with the maser emission being powered by the MIR source. The IRAS source positions, however, do not always coincide with the MIR sources.
Based on an average infrared spectral energy distribution, we deduce that the MIR objects are luminous enough that they should also produce a strong ionizing radiation. Some sources are consistent with stars of later spectral type, but not all can be. A number of maser sites show no detectable radio continuum emission associated with MIR emission, despite a powering source luminous enough potentially to produce an UC H  ii region. Since no signs of an UC H  ii region are detected here, these maser sites might be produced during a very early stage of stellar evolution.
We present objects that show evidence of outflow activity stemming from a maser site, exhibiting CO and/or CS line profiles indicative of outflows coincident with the MIR source. These cases are promising examples of maser sites signposting the earliest stages of high-mass star formation.     

Period changes in the pulsating extreme helium stars V652 Her and BX Cir

A new statement of the eigenvalue problem of studying small perturbations in arbitrary integrable self-gravitating systems is presented. An example of such a system, a 2D stellar disc, is considered in detail. The theory, based on the general equation for disc eigenmodes, reveals mechanisms for the formation and growth of global galactic structures. This new point of view specifies the limits of the unified theory of bar-like and spiral modes that was based on the assumption that global galactic structures could be understood in terms of low-frequency disc modes.     

Reliability assessment of serviceability performance of braced retaining walls using a neural network approach

In urban environments, one major concern with deep excavations in soft clay is the potentially large ground deformations in and around the excavation. Excessive movements can damage adjacent buildings and utilities. There are many uncertainties associated with the calculation of the ultimate or serviceability performance of a braced excavation system. These include the variabilities of the loadings, geotechnical soil properties, and engineering and geometrical properties of the wall. A risk‐based approach to serviceability performance failure is necessary to incorporate systematically the uncertainties associated with the various design parameters. This paper demonstrates the use of an integrated neural network–reliability method to assess the risk of serviceability failure through the calculation of the reliability index. By first performing a series of parametric studies using the finite element method and then approximating the non‐linear limit state surface (the boundary separating the safe and ‘failure’ domains) through a neural network model, the reliability index can be determined with the aid of a spreadsheet. Two illustrative examples are presented to show how the serviceability performance for braced excavation problems can be assessed using the reliability index. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Convection flow over a uniform-flux vertical surface with variable viscosity

A regular perturbation analysis is presented for natural convection flow over an uniform flux vertical surface with temperature dependent viscosity. Numerical calculations are presented forP _r=6.7 which show that the first-order correction to the local temperature difference and to the local skin-fraction are negative whereas it is positive for the local Nusselt number. The effects of variable viscosity on the temperature, velocity profiles, the local temperature difference, the local Nusselt number and the local skin fraction are discussed.     

Red-violet asymmetry in pearl satellites' birth

A high resolution numerical sonagram of Pc-1 magnetic record has shown that single narrow lines of Pc-1 spectra produce lower frequency (“red-shifted”) satellite lines more than twice as often as their higher frequency (“violet”) counterparts. The violet satellites usually emerge only when at least two ancestor lines are present simultaneously.