Sublethal abnormalities in embryos of winter flounder,Pseudopleuronectes americanus,from Long Island Sound

Sublethal abnormalities were examined in developing embryos of the winter flounder,Pseudopleuronectes americanus, as part of a study of its early reproductive success in Long Island Sound and two sites in Boston Harbor. These sites represented varying levels of anthropogenic contamination that were possibly affecting reproduction, as ascertained by chromosomal abnormalities and lowered developmental rates in the embryos. Effort was focused on examination of blastula and tail-bund embryos from field-captured females spawned at the laboratory. Abnormalities observed included evidence of cytotoxicity and chromosome damage. Embryos of fish from New Haven were usually the most aberrant, while embryos from other sites, notably Hempstead, Shoreham, and both Boston Harbor stations, showed subtle indications of abnormality.     

Implications of liouville's theorem on the apparent brightness temperatures of solar radio bursts

Liouville's theorem for radiation, of which the generalized étendue is a consequence, implies ² d² d² A = constant along the ray path, where is the refractive index and d² and d² A are the ranges, respectively, of solid angle and of area that define a ray (actually a bundle of rays). Implications of this concept on the propagation of radio waves from the actual to the apparent source in the solar corona (i.e., the scatter image of the true source) are discussed. The implications for sources of fundamental plasma radiation include: (1)The observed solid angle (defining the directivity) and apparent area A of the source are compatible with Liouville's theorem only if the apparent source (the scatter image of the true source) corresponds to the envelope of subsources with a small filling factor f. (2) The brightness temperature T _Bof the actual source is greater than that of the apparent source by f ^-1. (3) For sources of fundamental plasma radiation the factor f is very small ( 10^-2). (4) A long-standing discrepancy between the observed low value of T _B at meter/decameter wavelengths for the quiet Sun and the known coronal temperature may be resolved by noting that the implied coronal temperature is given by T _B f and that the factor f must be significantly less than unity.A brief discussion is included of the relation between Liouville's theorem, the generalized étendue, Milne's laws, occupation numbers, extension in phase, and suppression of emission by a medium with refractive index unequal to unity.     

The possible formation of a hydrogen coma around comets at large heliocentric distances

An observational test--the detection of a hydrogen coma around comets at large heliocentric distances--is proposed for determining whether comets were formed by the agglomeration of unaltered, ice-coated, interstellar grains. Laboratory experiments showed that amorphous water ice traps H2, D2, and Ne below 20 K and does not release them completely until the ice is heated to 150 K. Gas/ice ratios as high as 0.63 are obtainable. Thus, if the ice-coated interstellar grains were not heated above approximately 110 K, prior to their agglomeration into cometary nuclei, the inward propagating heat waves should release from the comets a continuous flux of molecular hydrogen. This flux would exceed that of water molecules at approximately 3 AU preperihelion and approximately 4 AU postperihelion.     

Tepev Mons on Venus: Morphology and elastic bending models

Tepev Mons is a large volcanic structure of about 250 km in diameter with an elevation of 5 km above the surroundings, located at the southwestern edge of Bell Regio. It is surrounded by a moat with a depth of about 0.5 km. If this moat is considered to be caused by bending of the lithosphere due to the load of the volcano, then elastic bending models give limits for the effective flexural rigidity FR and the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere L: 2 x 10²³ Nm FR 3 x 10²⁴ Nm and 30 km L 100 km. High flexural rigidities are associated with small depressions and large thicknesses of the lithosphere and vice versa.Contribution No 345, Institut für Geophysik der Universität Kiel, F.R.G.     

BV centauri: dwarf or classical nova?

The similarity in properties of GK Per and BV Cen suggests that the latter may be a classical nova remnant rather than a dwarf nova. Our H and V CCD photometry show no sign of a nova shell but disclose the presence of a close and probably physical companion. BV(RI) _c CCD photometry of the companion, assumed to be a dwarf, givesM _v =3.1±0.3 for BV Cen at quiescence. Even though half of the light in BV Cen comes from the secondary this is much brighter than expected for a dwarf nova and supports the conclusion that BV Cen was an unrecorded nova.     

Dynamical effects of dark matter in systems of galaxies

SeveralN-body experiments were performed in order to simulate the dynamical behaviour of systems of galaxies gravitationally dominated by a massive dark background.We discuss mass estimates from the dynamics of the luminous component (M _VT) under the influence of such a background, assuming a constant dark/luminous mass ratio (M _D/M _L) and plausible physical conditions. We extend in this way previous studies (Smith, 1980, 1984) about the dependence ofM _VT on the relative distributions of dark and luminous matter (Limber, 1959). We found that the observed ratio of the virial theorem mass to luminosity (M _VT/L) in systems of galaxies of different sizes could be the result of different stages of their post-virialisation evolution as was previously suggested by White and Rees (1978) and Barnes (1983). This evolution is mainly the result of the dynamical friction that dark matter exerts on the luminous component. Thus our results give support to the idea that compact groups of galaxies are dynamically more evolved than large clusters, which is expected from the hierarchical clustering picture for the formation of such structures.     

Effects of mass transfer on an oscillating free-convection flow in the Stokes's problem past an infinite porous vertical limiting surface with heat sources and variable suction

An analysis of the effects of the mass transfer on the unsteady free-convection flow of a viscous incompressible fluid, past an impulsively started infinite porous vertical limiting surface with heat sources is presented, when the free-stream velocity and the suction velocity, are oscillating in the time about constant mean values. Approximate solutions for the coupled nonlinear equations are derived for the mean velocity, the mean temperature, the mean skin-friction, and the mean rate of heat transfer. All the above quantities are shown graphically followed, by a discussion.     

Nature of the symbiotic binary V 1329 Cyg

The published photometric and spectroscopic data of the symbiotic binary V 1329 Cyg are interpreted. It is shown, that V 1329 Cyg is an eclipsing binary with an elliptical orbit orbit (e=0.28). The cooler component fills up the Roche-lobe at periastron. A model of moving gaseous structures in the system is proposed and their influence on the radial velocity curve is shown. The following characteristics of the system are derived: the cooler component is an M6 giant with mass 7.9M , radius 339R and luminosityM _bol=–5.42, the hot component is a white dwarf surrounded by an accretion disk. The mean distance between the components is 842R and in periastron it decreases to 605R .     

A spectroscopic study of the microorganism model of interstellar grains

The microorganism model of interstellar grains is investigated by spectroscopy from the infrared (IR), visible to the ultraviolet (UV) wave regions.E. coli, yeast and spores ofBacillus subtilis exhibit absorption bands at =3.1 and 9.7 m; they also exhibit several absorptions at 68 m which are in agreement with the observed IS extinction curves.To obtain the extinction curves in the visible and UV regions, dry films of microorganism are prepared on a MgF₂ plate or synthesized quartz plate and their spectra measured. In the wavelength region 190400 nm, conventional spectrophotometers are adopted for the measurement. The extinction curve of the film ofE. coli is similar to the observed IS curve.For the wave-range 100<<400 nm, a vacuum UV spectrometer is adopted to avoid absorptions due to O₂ in the atmosphere. The extinction spectra by this method are in agreement with the result obtained by the conventional method where comparison is possible. The extinction curves ofE. coli and yeast are such that they incrase towards the short wavelength and exhibit a peak at -190 nm, which is different from the well-known IS peak at =220 nm. It remains to be seen whether interstellar low temperatures (1040 K) can shift the peak position in the extinction curve of biochemical materials.     

Bianchi type-II perfect fluid solutions

It is shown that the recent new Bianchi type-II solutions of Hajj-Boutros (1986a, b) do not exist. We present a consistent method for perfect fluid solutions in this paper.