The production of light elements in unconventional cosmologies with VMOs

The abundances of light elements (deuterium, helium and lithium) are calculated in unconventional cosmologies in which these elements are produced by interaction of fast -particles ejected by massive pregalactic stars with a purely hydrogenous cosmological substrate. The number density and energetics of such stars needed for suitable production of light elements are estimated. It is shown that the models always lead to overproduction of lithium. The intensity of ultraviolet, X-ray, and -ray emission caused by explosions of pregalactic massive stars is calculated. The distortions of cosmic background radiation by Compton losses of electrons heated by explosive stars are also calculated.     

Premature mortality in the Republic of Ireland

Regional variations in the incidence of premature deaths between 1971 and 1981 arc examined by mapping standardised mortality ratios for deaths under the age of 65. Premature mortality is also examined with regards to the number of years of normal life lost by those who die prematurely, using a specially defined unfulfilled life index. Unfulfilled life and premature deaths arc found to have a higher incidence in the major urban areas and a lower incidence in western counties, although there are some interesting differences in their spatial distributions. Differences with regard to sex. age at death and cause of death are also examined.     

Magnetic reconnection in a high-temperature plasma of solar flares

A simple self-consistent model of a high-temperature turbulent current sheet (HTCS) is considered. The anomalous character of plasma conductivity in a sheet is assumed to be due to gradient instabilities. The possibility of a low threshold of their excitation is demonstrated by an example of temperature-drift instability.Application of the HTCS model to the hot or main phase of a solar flare is discussed. The model consistently explains many observed properties of this phase.     

An UV survey of the galactic plane

The present paper is the introduction to a systematic analysis of 123 6-degree fields near the galactic plane, recorded in the medium ultraviolet (2000 Å) by the ballon-borne experiment SCAP 2000 of the Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale, Marseille, and Geneva Observatory. The available data are presented and the general properties of the images are briefly discussed.It is shown that the high selectivity of the UV passband regarding spectral type, together with the strong interstellar extinction at that wavelength, provide the necessary conditions for an efficient application of Wolf's method to study the distribution of interstellar matter in the solar neighbourhood. The results of a fast analysis of the available data are presented here.     

Integrated magnitudes and colors of open clusters

The integratedUBV characteristics of 50 galactic clusters, computed for the clusters' physical members only (segregated on the basis of the proper motions or radial velocities) are discussed.On the basis of a comparison between the empirically-obtained dependences and their theoretical counterparts (Searleet al., 1973) a suggestion has been made that the number of the massive stars (with masses>10M ) in the initial mass function must be considerably greater.Evolutionary effects on integrated parameters and their dependences have been discussed. An attempt at an evolutionary interpretation of the integrated luminosity function for galactic clusters, obtained by Starikova (1962) in the light of the self-obtained dependences has been made.     

Analysis of a white-light flare spectrum

The continuum emission of an X₁ flare on 26 March, 1970 observed close to the solar limb (N 05 E 64) was analyzed by a photometric determination of the contrast I()/I ₀() in the wavelength range 3558–5920 Å. Two possible mechanisms for the emission were investigated, namely hydrogen Paschen and H^– continua. We show the unlikeness of the Paschen possibility and derive strong constraints on the temperature structure and energy deposition mechanism imposed by the H^– continuum process.We conclude that the emission must have originated in deep atmospheric layers. The relevance of this result with respect to flare energy release and transport processes is also discussed.     

Estimating proximate populations for an extensive set of locations in Australia

"The paper reports the use of Australian Resources Information System to calculate two proximate populations (people living within (i) 150 and (ii) 500 km) for the centroids of each of 3,000 half by half degree geodetic grid cells covering Australia. The use of proximate population data is exemplified by computing a map of the eighteen regions collectively containing a maximum fraction of the Australian population." The data used are from the 1981 census.     

Nonlinear wave conversion in electron-positron plasmas

Wave conversion mechanisms causing large-frequency shifts are considered for an electron-positron plasma in a strong magnetic field. In particular, we discuss the effects of the nonlinear erenkov as well as the cyclotron resonances in order to associate pulsar radio-emissions with our present model for nonlinear conversion of high-frequency radiation into the low-frequency region.     

Cascade processes in the surface layers of pulsars

The influence of the Landau-Pomeranchuk effect on the development of a shower generated by ultrarelativistic particles bombarding the surface of a pulsar is discussed. Because of this effect, the path length of the shower increases while low-energy photon generation is strongly suppressed. In view of this, the mechanism of pair production suggested by Cheng, Ruderman, and Jones for the pulsar magnetosphere, may be essential only for pulsars whose magnetic field intensity at the surface lies in a relatively narrow range of aroundB 10¹² G.     

The solar causes of geomagnetic disturbances

Geomagnetic disturbances have been identified with respect to their sources for 1977–1983. The disturbance level was found using the daily planetary index A _p. High-amplitude ( 50), mean-amplitude (24) and low-amplitude ( 12) disturbances are caused by solar flares of importance 1, coronal holes, and filament cavities, respectively. The ranges of probable amplitudes of disturbances of different nature and their relative number are found from Poisson random distributions of amplitudes.