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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed1992

Solar control of the upper atmosphere of Triton.

If the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Triton are controlled by precipitation of electrons from Neptune's magnetosphere as previously proposed, Triton could have the only ionosphere in the solar system not controlled by solar radiation. However, a new model of Triton's atmosphere, in which only solar radiation is present, predicts a large column of carbon atoms. With an assumed, but reasonable, rate of charge transfer between N2(+) and C, a peak C+ abundance results that is close to the peak electron densities measured by Voyager in Triton's ionosphere. These results suggest that Triton's upper atmospheric chemistry may thus be solar-controlled. Measurement of key reaction rate constants, currently unknown or highly uncertain at Triton's low temperatures, would help to clarify the chemical and physical processes occurring in Triton's atmosphere.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1997

Dissociation of methane into hydrocarbons at extreme (planetary) pressure and temperature.

Constant-pressure, first-principles molecular dynamic simulations were used to investigate the behavior of methane at high pressure and temperature. Contrary to the current interpretation of shock-wave experiments, the simulations suggest that, below 100 gigapascals, methane dissociates into a mixture of hydrocarbons, and it separates into hydrogen and carbon only above 300 gigapascals. The simulation conditions (100 to 300 gigapascals; 4000 to 5000 kelvin) were chosen to follow the isentrope in the middle ice layers of Neptune and Uranus. Implications on the physics of these planets are discussed.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1997

Surface composition of Kuiper belt object 1993SC.

The 1.42- to 2.40-micrometer spectrum of Kuiper belt object 1993SC was measured at the Keck Observatory in October 1996. It shows a strongly red continuum reflectance and several prominent infrared absorption features. The strongest absorptions in 1993SC's spectrum occur near 1.62, 1.79, 1.95, 2.20, and 2.32 micrometers in wavelength. Features near the same wavelengths in the spectra of Pluto and Neptune's satellite Triton are due to CH4 on their surfaces, suggesting the presence of a simple hydrocarbon ice such as CH4, C2H6, C2H4, or C2H2 on 1993SC. In addition, the red continuum reflectance of 1993SC suggests the presence of more complex hydrocarbons.

Acetylene↗

PubMed1999

Dissociation of CH4 at high pressures and temperatures: diamond formation in giant planet interiors?

Experiments using laser-heated diamond anvil cells show that methane (CH4) breaks down to form diamond at pressures between 10 and 50 gigapascals and temperatures of about 2000 to 3000 kelvin. Infrared absorption and Raman spectroscopy, along with x-ray diffraction, indicate the presence of polymeric hydrocarbons in addition to the diamond, which is in agreement with theoretical predictions. Dissociation of CH4 at high pressures and temperatures can influence the energy budgets of planets containing substantial amounts of CH4, water, and ammonia, such as Uranus and Neptune.

Diamond↗

PubMed1995

Condensation of methane, ammonia, and water and the inhibition of convection in giant planets.

The condensation of chemical species of high molecular mass such as methane, ammonia, and water can inhibit convection in the hydrogen-helium atmospheres of the giant planets. Convection is inhibited in Uranus and Neptune when methane reaches an abundance of about 15 times the solar value and in Jupiter and Saturn if the abundance of water is more than about five times the solar value. The temperature gradient consequently becomes superadiabatic, which is observed in temperature profiles inferred from radio-occultation measurements. The planetary heat flux is then likely to be transported by another mechanism, possibly radiation in Uranus, or diffusive convection.

Ammonia↗

PubMed2000

Stage III colon cancers: why adjuvant chemotherapy is not offered to elderly patients.

HYPOTHESIS: Adjuvant chemotherapy is not offered to elderly patients with stage III colon cancer. DESIGN: A retrospective review of hospital and office records. SETTING: A suburban community hospital. PATIENTS: The medical records of 69 patients with stage III colon cancer were reviewed. All identified from the Tumor Registry at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, were included in this study. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients (51%) did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. After adjusting for age, women were 5.8 times less likely to receive chemotherapy (P = .002). Patients not receiving chemotherapy were significantly older (78.7 vs 70.4 years; P = .003) than those who received adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no relation found between the year of diagnosis and the administration of chemotherapy. There were 4 major reasons for not receiving chemotherapy: (1) not offered (n = 12, 34%), (2) refused (n = 11, 31%), (3) too old (n = 7, 20%), and (4) significant concomitant disease (n = 5, 14%). CONCLUSIONS: A large group of elderly patients who had been surgically treated for colon cancer and who were eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy either were not referred for treatment or refused treatment. This suggests a bias on the part of surgeons, primary care physicians, and patients against the use of chemotherapy in elderly patients.

Age Distribution↗

PubMed2005

Zebrafish KLF4 is essential for anterior mesendoderm/pre-polster differentiation and hatching.

Gene knockout studies of Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) in mice have shown essential roles in organogenesis. A screen for KLF family members in zebrafish identified many KLFs. One of these, zebrafish KLF4 (zKLF4) is the homologue of neptune, a Xenopus laevis KLF. zKLF4 is expressed from approximately 80% epiboly a patch of dorsal/anterior mesendodermal cells called the pre-polster and, subsequently, in the polster and hatching gland. Here we investigate the function of zKLF4 using morpholino-based antisense oligonucleotides. Knockdown of zKLF4 resulted in complete absence of hatching gland formation and subsequent hatching in zebrafish. In addition, there was early knockdown of expression of the pre-polster/anterior mesendoderm markers CatL, cap1, and BMP4. These results indicate zKLF4 is expressed within the pre-polster, an early mesendodermal site, and that it plays a critical role in the differentiation of these cells into hatching gland cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Comets, impacts, and atmospheres.

We are proposing a model for the delivery of volatiles to the inner planets by icy planetesimals (comets). Laboratory studies of the trapping of gases in ice forming at low temperatures simulate the formation of comet nuclei at various distances from the Sun in the solar nebula. The total gas content as well as the relative proportions of gases trapped in the ice are strong functions of temperature. As they trap N2 inefficiently, all planetesimals formed interior to Neptune are deficient in nitrogen, acquiring values of C/N resembling those found in the inner planet volatile inventories. A mixture of three basic types of comets appears capable of accounting for the observed volatile inventories on Venus, Earth, and Mars, with the caveat that impact erosion is necessary to explain the present condition of the martian atmosphere. The model includes the possibility of several epochs of clement conditions on early Mars. Some tests of these ideas are suggested, including measurements in Jupiter's atmosphere by the Galileo probe.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1996

A matched filter method for ground-based sub-noise detection of terrestrial extrasolar planets in eclipsing binaries: application to CM Draconis.

The photometric detection of extrasolar planets by transits in eclipsing binary systems can be significantly improved by cross-correlating the observational light curves with synthetic models of possible planetary transit features, essentially a matched filter approach. We demonstrate the utility and application of this transit detection algorithm for ground-based detections of terrestrial-sized (Earth-to-Neptune radii) extrasolar planets in the dwarf M-star eclipsing binary system CM Draconis. Preliminary photometric observational data of this system demonstrate that the observational noise is well characterized as white and Gaussian at the observational time steps required for precision photometric measurements. Depending on planet formation scenarios, terrestrial-sized planets may form quite close to this low-luminosity system. We demonstrate, for example, that planets as small as 1.4 Earth radii with periods on the order of a few months in the CM Draconis system could be detected at the 99.9% confidence level in less than a year using 1-m class telescopes from the ground. This result contradicts commonly held assumptions limiting present ground-based efforts to, at best, detections of gas giant planets after several years of observation. This method can be readily extended to a number of other larger star systems with the utilization of larger telescopes and longer observing times. Its extension to spacecraft observations should also allow the determination of the presence of terrestrial-sized planets in nearly 100 other known eclipsing binary systems.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1994

Possible consequences of absence of "Jupiters" in planetary systems.

The formation of the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn probably required the growth of massive approximately 15 Earth-mass cores on a time scale shorter than the approximately 10(7) time scale for removal of nebular gas. Relatively minor variations in nebular parameters could preclude the growth of full-size gas giants even in systems in which the terrestrial planet region is similar to our own. Systems containing "failed Jupiters," resembling Uranus and Neptune in their failure to capture much nebular gas, would be expected to contain more densely populated cometary source regions. They will also eject a smaller number of comets into interstellar space. If systems of this kind were the norm, observation of hyperbolic comets would be unexpected. Monte Carlo calculations of the orbital evolution of region of such systems (the Kuiper belt) indicate that throughout Earth history the cometary impact flux in their terrestrial planet regions would be approximately 1000 times greater than in our Solar System. It may be speculated that this could frustrate the evolution of organisms that observe and seek to understand their planetary system. For this reason our observation of these planets in our Solar System may tell us nothing about the probability of similar gas giants occurring in other planetary systems. This situation can be corrected by observation of an unbiased sample of planetary systems.

Astronomy↗

PubMed2001

Fish retroposons related to the Penelope element of Drosophila virilis define a new group of retrotransposable elements.

Poseidon and Neptune are two ancient lineages of retroposons related to the Penelope element from Drosophila virilis. They have been identified in various teleost fish species, including the medakafish (Oryzias latipes), and the pufferfishes Fugu rubripes and Tetraodon nigroviridis, whose genomes are currently being sequenced. Some of these elements are highly reiterated in fish genomes. Penelope-related elements were also identified in blood fluke, shrimp, sea urchin, cichlid fish and frog, showing that they are widespread in animals. Penelope-related retroposons were not detected among sequences from the Drosophila melanogaster and human genome projects, suggesting that they have been lost from certain animal lineages. A sequence encoding a putative Uri (also called GIY-YIG) endonuclease domain was detected downstream from the gene for reverse transcriptase. To the best of our knowledge, this type of endonuclease sequence has previously been identified in group I introns and in genes for prokaryotic excinucleases but not in retrotransposable elements. Penelope-related elements are frequently truncated at their 5' ends and can also be flanked by long terminal repeat-like structures. Phylogenetic analysis of the reverse transcriptase domain failed to assign Penelope-related retroposons to one of the major groups of retroelements. Overall, therefore, the evidence strongly suggests that these sequences represent a new group of retrotransposable elements.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Impact-generated atmospheres over Titan, Ganymede, and Callisto.

The competition between impact erosion and impact supply of volatiles to planetary atmospheres can determine whether a planet or satellite accumulates an atmosphere. In the absence of other processes (e.g., outgassing), we find either that a planetary atmosphere should be thick, or that there should be no atmosphere at all. The boundary between the two extreme cases is set by the mass and velocity distributions and intrinsic volatile content of the impactors. We apply our model specifically to Titan, Callisto, and Ganymede. The impacting population is identified with comets, either in the form of stray Uranus-Neptune planetesimals or as dislodged Kuiper belt comets. Systematically lower impact velocities on Titan allow it to retain a thick atmosphere, while Callisto and Ganymede get nothing. Titan's atmosphere may therefore be an expression of a late-accreting, volatile-rich veneer. An impact origin for Titan's atmosphere naturally accounts for the high D/H ratio it shares with Earth, the carbonaceous meteorites, and Halley. It also accounts for the general similarity of Titan's atmosphere to those of Triton and Pluto, which is otherwise puzzling in view of the radically different histories and bulk compositions of these objects.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1993

Surface analysis of nickel-chromium dental alloys.

In this study, the surface compositions of four commercially available nickel-chromium alloys, Neptune, Rexalloy, Regalloy T, and Vera Bond, were compared and correlated to the alloys' corrosion behavior. The alloys were chosen to be representative of alloys with acceptable and unacceptable Cr levels, with and without Be additions. The results showed that the non-Be-containing alloys exhibited a homogeneous Cr-Mo oxide surface which resulted in more corrosion resistant alloys. The Be-containing alloys were shown to have non-uniform oxide surfaces. Areas on the surfaces of these alloys were low in Cr and O and enriched in Be. The oxide surfaces of these alloys were more easily disrupted and provided little resistance to accelerated corrosion processes. Thus, it was found that not only were the Cr and Mo content of the alloys important for corrosion resistance, but the composition of the surface oxide as well.

Aluminum↗

PubMed2005

Zinc stable isotope fractionation during its adsorption on oxides and hydroxides.

Adsorption of Zn on goethite, hematite, birnessite, pyrolusite, corundum, and gibbsite was studied using a batch adsorption technique as a function of pH, zinc concentration in solution, and time of exposure. Adsorption from 0.01 M NaNO3 solutions undersaturated with respect to zinc (hydr)oxide at 3 MeOZn+ complexes, where Me=Fe, Mn, and Al, was used to describe the dependence of adsorption equilibria on aqueous solution composition in a wide range of pH and Zn concentration. The logarithms of surface stability constant for Zn interaction with metal oxy(hydr)oxides (>MeOH0+Zn2+-->MeOZn+) vary from -2.5 to 0.5. They are higher for oxy(hydr)oxides than for anhydrous oxides. Stable isotopes of zinc in several filtrates were measured using an ICP-MS Neptune multicollector which made it possible, for the first time, to assess the degree of isotopic fractionation between 66Zn and 64Zn during zinc adsorption on mineral surfaces. The isotopic offset between aqueous solution and mineral surfaces (Delta(66/64)Zn(soln/solid)=delta((66/64)Zn)(solution)-delta((66/64)Zn)(surface)) was found to be weakly dependent on percentage of adsorbed metal and equals 0.20+/-0.03, 0.17+/-0.06, -0.10+/-0.03, -0.10+/-0.09, and -0.13+/-0.12 per thousand for goethite, birnessite, pyrolusite, corundum, and Al(OH)3. For hematite, Delta(66/64)Zn varies from -0.61+/-0.10 per thousand at pH 5.5 to -0.02+/-0.09 per thousand at 5.8 MeOZn(H2O)(n) complexes (available literature data on X-ray absorption spectroscopy). Apparently, the fine structure of surface complexes and the position and bond strength for second neighbors of zinc are likely to control its isotopic fractionation during adsorption on mineral surfaces. Our results strongly suggest that inorganic processes controlling zinc isotope adsorption on soil and sediment minerals should be of second-order importance compared to biological factors.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

The RN first assistant as OR concierge.

Managers and staff members in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, determined that surgeon and OR staff member problems were impeding their ability to function as a team. An RN first assistant was hired to act as OR concierge. Her primary role was to ensure smooth functioning of procedures performed in the facility. Physician complaints disappeared, OR staff members found the concierge supportive and adept at problem solving, and surgical volume increased significantly.

Humans↗

PubMed2000

Cretaceous (Late Albian) coniferales of Alexander Island, Antarctica. 1: Wood taxonomy: a quantitative approach.

Silicified conifer woods are very common in the mid-Cretaceous (Late Albian, 100Ma) Triton Point Member of the Neptune Glacier Formation (Fossil Bluff Group), SE Alexander Island, Antarctica. These occur as up to 7m high in situ tree trunks and stumps rooted in carbonaceous palaeosols and as allochthonous logs and wood fragments in fluvial channel and sheet sandstone facies. Sixty-eight wood samples were examined in this study and were classified in terms of five form taxa using a quantitative approach. Araucarioxylon (1.5% of specimens) is characterised by dominantly multiseriate, alternately arranged bordered pitting on radial tracheid walls and by 1-4 araucarioid cross-field pitting. Araucariopitys (11.8% of specimens) is characterised by dominantly uniseriate tracheid pitting with subordinate biseriate, alternate tracheid pitting and by 1-4 araucarioid cross-field pitting. Podocarpoxylon sp. 1 (63.1% of specimens) is characterised by contiguous, uniseriate tracheid pitting and 1-2 podocarpoid cross-field pits. Podocarpoxylon sp. 2 (22.1% of specimens) is similar to P. sp. 1, differing only in that ray height is lower, tracheid pits are dominantly spaced more than one pit diameter apart and abundant axial parenchyma is present. These first four taxa all possess growth rings with subtle boundaries. Taxodioxylon (1.5% of specimens) is characterised by 1-2 seriate, oppositely arranged, bordered tracheid pitting, 1-2 taxodioid cross-field pitting and very marked ring boundaries. These woods were derived from large trees with basal stump diameters of up to 0.5m and probable heights of up to 29m. Data from leaf traces suggest that Araucariopitys and Podocarpoxylon sp. 1 and sp. 2 (97% of specimens) were evergreen with leaf retention times of >5years. These predominantly evergreen conifer forests grew in a mild, high latitude (75 degrees S) environment during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse climate phase.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1995

Isotopic ratios in planetary atmospheres.

Recent progress on measurements of isotopic ratios in planetary or satellite atmospheres include measurements of the D/H ratio in the methane of Uranus, Neptune and Titan and in the water of Mars and Venus. Implications of these measurements on our understanding of the formation and evolution of the planets and satellite are discussed. Our current knowledge of the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotopic ratios in the atmospheres of these planets, as well as on Jupiter and Saturn, is also reviewed. We finally show what progress can be expected in the very near future due to some new ground-based instrumentation particularly well suited to such studies, and to forthcoming space missions.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1992

Titan: a laboratory for prebiological organic chemistry.

When we examine the atmospheres of the Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), the satellites in the outer solar system, comets, and even--through microwave and infrared spectroscopy--the cold dilute gas and grains between the stars, we find a rich organic chemistry, presumably abiological, not only in most of the solar system but throughout the Milky Way galaxy. In part because the composition and surface pressure of the Earth's atmosphere 4 x 10(9) years ago are unknown, laboratory experiments on prebiological organic chemistry are at best suggestive; but we can test our understanding by looking more closely at the observed extraterrestrial organic chemistry. The present Account is restricted to atmospheric organic chemistry, primarily on the large moon of Saturn. Titan is a test of our understanding of the organic chemistry of planetary atmospheres. Its atmospheric bulk composition (N2/CH4) is intermediate between the highly reducing (H2/He/CH4/NH3/H2O) atmospheres of the Jovian planets and the more oxidized (N2/CO2/H2O) atmospheres of the terrestrial planets Mars and Venus. It has long been recognized that Titan's organic chemistry may have some relevance to the events that led to the origin of life on Earth. But with Titan surface temperatures approximately equal to 94 K and pressures approximately equal to 1.6 bar, the oceans of the early Earth have no ready analogue on Titan. Nevertheless, tectonic events in the water ice-rich interior or impact melting and slow re-freezing may lead to an episodic availability of liquid water. Indeed, the latter process is the equivalent of a approximately 10(3)-year-duration shallow aqueous sea over the entire surface of Titan.

Amino Acids↗