Mapping Physical Parameters in Orion KL at High Spatial Resolution

The Orion Kleinmann-Low nebula (Orion KL) is notoriously complex and exhibits a range of physical and chemical components. We conducted high-angular-resolution (subarcsecond) observations of 13CH3OH ν = 0 (∼0.″3 and ∼0.″7) and CH3CN ν 8 = 1 (∼0.″2 and ∼0.″9) line emission with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate Orion KL’s structure on small spatial scales (≤350 au). Gas kinematics, excitation temperatures, and column densities were derived from the molecular emission via a pixel-by-pixel spectral line fitting of the image cubes, enabling us to examine the small-scale variation of these parameters. Subregions of the Hot Core have a higher excitation temperature in a 0.″2 beam than in a 0.″9 beam, indicative of possible internal sources of heating. Furthermore, the velocity field includes a bipolar ∼7–8 km s−1 feature with a southeast–northwest orientation against the surrounding ∼4–5 km s−1 velocity field, which may be due to an outflow. We also find evidence of a possible source of internal heating toward the Northwest Clump, since the excitation temperature there is higher in a smaller beam versus a larger beam. Finally, the region southwest of the Hot Core (Hot Core-SW) presents itself as a particularly heterogeneous region bridging the Hot Core and Compact Ridge. Additional studies to identify the (hidden) sources of luminosity and heating within Orion KL are necessary to better understand the nebula and its chemistry.

Axial uniformity diagnosis of coaxial surface wave linear plasma by optical emission spectroscopy

The coaxial surface wave linear plasma with preeminent axial uniformity is developed with the 2.45 GHz microwave generator. By optical emission spectroscopy, parameters of the argon linear plasma with a length over 600 mm are diagnosed under gas pressure of 30 Pa and 50 Pa and different microwave powers. The spectral lines of argon and Hβ (486.1 nm) atoms in excited state are observed for estimating electron excitation temperature and electron density. Spectrum bands in 305–310 nm of diatomic OH (A2 Σ+-X2 Πi) radicals are used to determine the molecule rotational temperature. Finally, the axial uniformity of electron density and electron excitation temperature are analyzed emphatically under various conditions. The results prove the distinct optimization of compensation from dual powers input, which can narrow the uniform coefficient of electron density and electron excitation temperature by around 40% and 22% respectively. With the microwave power increasing, the axial uniformity of both electron density and electron excitation temperature performs better. Nevertheless, the fluctuation of electron density along the axial direction appeared with higher gas pressure. The axial uniformity of coaxial surface wave linear plasma could be controlled by pressure and power for a better utilization in material processing.

Precise Measurements of CH Maser Emission and Its Abundance in Translucent Clouds

We present high-sensitivity CH 9 cm ON/OFF observations toward 18 extragalactic continuum sources that have been detected with OH 18 cm absorption in the Millennium survey with the Arecibo telescope. CH emission was detected toward 6 of the 18 sources. The excitation temperature of CH has been derived directly through analyzing all detected ON and OFF velocity components. The excitation temperature of CH 3335 MHz transition ranges from −54.5 to −0.4 K and roughly follows a log-normal distribution peaking within [−5, 0] K, which implies overestimation by 20% to more than 10 times during calculating CH column density by assuming the conventional value of −60 or −10 K. Furthermore, the column density of CH would be underestimated by a factor of 1.32 ± 0.03 when adopting local thermal equilibrium assumption instead of using the CH three hyperfine transitions. We found a correlation between the column density of CH and OH following log N(CH) = (1.80 ± 0.49) and log N(OH −11.59 ± 6.87. The linear correlation between the column density of CH and H2 is consistent with that derived from visible wavelengths studies, confirming that CH is one of the best tracers of H2 components in diffuse molecular gas.

A linear response theory based method for prediction of large scale protein conformational changes upon ligand binding

ABSTRACTPrediction of ligand-induced protein conformational transitions is a challenging task due to a large and rugged conformational space, and limited knowledge of probable direction(s) of structure change. These transitions can involve a large scale, global (at the level of entire protein molecule) structural change and occur on a timescale of milliseconds to seconds, rendering application of conventional molecular dynamics simulations prohibitive even for small proteins. We have developed a computational protocol to efficiently and accurately predict these ligand-induced structure transitions solely from the knowledge of protein apo structure and ligand binding site. Our method involves a series of small scale conformational change steps, where at each step linear response theory is used to predict the direction of small scale global response to ligand binding in the protein conformational space (dLRT) followed by construction of a linear combination of slow (low frequency) normal modes (calculated for the structure from the previous step) that best overlaps with dLRT. Protein structure is evolved along this direction using molecular dynamics with excited normal modes (MDeNM) wherein excitation energy along each normal mode is determined by excitation temperature, mode frequency, and its overlap with dLRT. We show that excitation temperature (ΔT) is a very important parameter that allows limiting the extent of structural change in any one step and develop a protocol for automated determination of its optimal value at each step. We have tested our protocol for three protein–ligand systems, namely, adenylate Kinase – di(adenosine-5’)pentaphosphate, ribose binding protein – β-D-ribopyranose, and DNA β-glucosyltransferase – uridine-5’-diphosphate, that incorporate important differences in type and range of structural changes upon ligand binding. We obtain very accurate prediction for not only the structure of final protein–ligand complex (holo-structure) having a large scale conformational change, but also for biologically relevant intermediates between the apo and the holo structures. Moreover, most relevant set of normal modes for conformational change at each step are an output from our method, which can be used as collective variables for determination of free energy barriers and transition timescales along the identified pathway.

A spectroscopical study of H$$_{2}$$ emission in a simply magnetized toroidal plasma

A noninvasive diagnostic technique relying on optical emission spectroscopy is used for studying plasma confined in a purely toroidal magnetic field. Visible emission lines of molecular hydrogen were specifically targeted. Bi-dimensional structures and poloidal plasma profiles were reconstructed from the emissivity distribution of hydrogen Fulcher system using a tomographic method. A few details concerning the methods employed to capture different emission viewlines, data reduction and tomographic reconstruction techniques are also addressed. We report also the first measurement of the excitation temperature of the $$\text {H}_2$$ H 2 [3c] level in the center of the plasma column, $$T_{\mathrm{exc}}=0.67 \pm 0.11$$ T exc = 0.67 ± 0.11 eV. Graphic Abstract

Spectral dynamics and gas-phase oxidation of laser-produced plutonium plasmas

Pu gas-phase oxidation and Pu oxide bands identified with Pu I spectral modeling and time-resolved excitation temperature of Pu plasma.

EXCITATION TEMPERATURES IN PLASMA OF UNDERWATER DISHARGES BETWEEN IRON GRANULES

This paper deals with development of optical emission spectroscopy techniques for diagnostic of underwater discharge plasma between iron granules. The difficulties in selection of iron spectral lines, as well as the approximation of their profiles for determination of excitation temperature are discussed. A method of spectral lines resolving with close wavelengths is considered. Simulation of a narrow rangeof the plasma emission spectrum is carried out to estimate the excitation temperatures in underwater discharge plasma.