ALBERT

Notes: Summary A tethered balloon sounder was used to collect vertical temperature and wind structure data in the Gore River Valley of Western Colorado during December, 1975. Observations taken on a clear morning in which a deep inversion was initially present in the valley showed that the inversion top descended at a steady rate of ∼120 m hr−1. reaching the valley bottom after approximately 4 hours. Weak down-valley winds were present within the inversion layer while stronger up-valley winds prevailed above. A hypothesis is presented to account for these observations. A case study is presented for afternoon and evening cooling in which a ground-based inversion developed to a depth of 175 m in less than 2 hours. Winds within the inversion became decoupled from the synoptic-scale winds and remained very weak during the night. The effect of cloud cover during a morning heating cycle was to make the temperature soundings approach isothermal while sensible heating continued throughout the valley volume.

Notes: Abstract Carbonic anhydrase IdMichigan, an electrophoretic variant of human red cell carbonic anhydrase I, was purified from erythrocytes obtained from an individual heterozygous for the trait. Primary structural analysis indicates that a lysine residue has exchanged for a threonine residue in the variant enzyme. After isolation, there was approximately 1.8 times as much normal as variant enzyme. Thermostability studies demonstrated that carbonic anhydrase Id was more thermolabile than the normal enzyme. The normal and variant enzymes showed no differences in specific carboxylesterase activity or CO2 hydratase activity. Utilizing the carboxylesterase activity toward β-naphthyl acetate, the normal and variant enzymes had similar Michaelis constants, pH profiles, and rates of inhibition by acetazolamide. Immunochemical studies did not demonstrate an antigenic difference for the variant enzyme.

Notes: Abstract The phosphoglucomutase (PGM) electrophoretic phenotype of the mouse (Mus musculus) consists of several distinct components which can be grouped into two major zones designated PGM-1 and PGM-2. Evidence presented here indicates that each zone is controlled by a single genetic locus denoted Pgm-1 and Pgm-2, respectively. Two variant forms segregated at the Pgm-1 locus. They were codominantly expressed and inherited as alleles at an autosomal locus. The alleles were termed Pgm-1 a (fast) and Pgm-1 b (slow). These alleles were separately fixed in a number of inbred strains of mice. Preliminary evidence based on wild mouse phenotypes indicates that variant forms also exist for PGM-2 which are inherited as alleles at an autosomal locus. Genetic linkage relationships have not been determined for these loci. PGM-1 variants and PGM-2 were expressed in mouse fibroblasts in vitro.

Notes: Abstract Erythrocyte and tissue lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) electrophoretic patterns of 26 rodent species from ten families were examined. The LDH B gene was observed to range in erythrocyte expression from species without detectable B subunits to those which predominantly expressed B subunits. However, the shift in erythrocyte B gene expression was not observed in the tissue LDH electrophoretic patterns between rodent species. Species which did not express erythrocyte B subunits, or only small quantities of B subunits, were restricted to the suborder Myomorpha. In erythrocytes of other rodent species, and most mammals, LDH B subunits are expressed equally or in excess of A subunits. The results suggest either structural differences in the LDH B gene between Myomorph and non-Myomorph rodents or a regulator gene which controls the expression of the B gene in Myomorph erythrocytes. Existing evidence favors the latter hypothesis.

Notes: Abstract The interpretation of diagnostic parameters in the spectral reflectance data for asteroids provides a means of characterizing the mineralogy and petrology of asteroid surface materials. An interpretive technique based on a quantitative understanding of the functional relationship between the optical properties of a mineral assemblage and its mineralogy, petrology and chemistry can provide a considerably more sophisticated characterization of a surface material than any matching or classification technique for those objects bright enough to allow spectral reflectance measurements. Albedos derived from radiometry and polarization data for individual asteroids can be used with spectral data to establish the spectral albedo, to define the optical density of the surface material and, in general, to constrain mineralogical interpretations. Mineral assemblages analogous to most meteorite types, with the exception of ordinary chondritic assemblages, have been found as surface materials of Main Belt asteroids. C1- and C2-like assemblages (unleached, oxidized meteoritic clay minerals plus opaques such as carbon) dominate the population (∼80%) throughout the Belt, especially in the outer Belt. A smaller population of asteroids exhibit surface materials similar to C3 (CO, CV) meteoritic assemblages (olivine plus opaque, probably carbon) and are also distributed throughout the Belt. The relative size (diameter) distributions for these two populations of objects are consistent with an origin by sequential accretion from a cooling nebula (‘C2’ as surface layers, ‘C3’ as interior layers or cores). Based on information from meteoritic analogues and on qualitative models for the behavior of these materials during a heating episode, it seems unlikely that these ‘C2’- and ‘C3’-like asteroidal bodies have experienced any significant post-accretionary heating event either near surface or in the deep interior. The majority of remaining studied asteroids (20) of 65 asteroids exhibit spectral reflectance curves dominated by the presence of metallic nickel-iron in their surface materials. These objects are most probably the several end products of an intense thermal event leading to the melting and differentiating of their protobodies. These thermalized bodies are concentrated toward the inner part of the Asteroid Belt but exist throughout the Belt. The size of the proto-asteroid has apparently exercised control over the post-accretionary thermal history of these bodies. The available evidence indicates that all asteroids larger than about 450 km in (present) diameter have undergone a significant heating episode since their formation. The post-accretionary thermal history of the asteroidal parent bodies was apparently affected by both distance from the Sun and body size. The C2-like materials which dominate the main asteroid belt population appear to be relatively rare on earth-approaching asteroids. This suggests that most of these Apollo-Amor objects are not randomly derived from the main belt, but (a) may derive from a single event in recent time (∼107 yr), (b) may derive from a favorably situated source body, (c) may derive from a particular, compositionally anomalous region of the belt, or (d) may derive from an alternate source (e.g. comets).

Notes: The temperature dependence of relative modulus observed in filled thermoset, thermoplastic, and polyelectrolyte salt matrices is explained on the basis of induced stresses produced by the differences in the thermal expansion coefficients of the constituent materials. The analysis is based on the assumption that the modulus of the matrix in a filled polymer is less than that of the unfilled polymer. The temperature dependence of relative modulus is expressed as a function of the difference in thermal expansion coefficients, the volume fraction, the relative modulus in the unstressed state, and mechanical properties of the phases. Agreement is good between the analysis and experimental results for three systems: epoxy and glass, polyethylene and wollastonite, and a polyelectrolyte salt with mica and asbestos.