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[1] We present a new data set of thermospheric O2 density profiles retrieved from solar occultation measurements made by the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM) instrument on board the UARS satellite. SUSIM is nominally a solar experiment whose mission was to measure the magnitude and variability of the UV solar irradiance. However, it was also capable of remotely sensing the Earth's upper atmosphere using occultation. SUSIM measurements of solar attenuation in the O2 Schumann Runge continuum are used to retrieve O2 density profiles between 110 and 240 km. Between October 1991 and February 2005, SUSIM performed solar occultation measurements up to one day per week, measuring full-disk solar extinction as a function of tangent altitude at three nominal wavelengths (144, 161 and 171 nm). These data have been inverted using an optimal estimation algorithm to produce altitude profiles of O2 density. This unique data set comprises approximately 1550 measurements, which span a wide range of solar and geomagnetic activity and latitudes up to 75° in each hemisphere. We present a discussion of the SUSIM instrument, the measurement technique employed for occultations, and the operational retrieval algorithm. A full error analysis and retrieval characterization study demonstrates that the SUSIM retrievals have uncertainties of 10–15% and a vertical resolution of 5–15 km, depending on altitude and measurement wavelength. The data thus have sufficient accuracy and resolution to provide scientifically useful constraints on the O2 abundance and variability, and initial comparisons show good overall agreement between the NRLMSIS-00 model and the SUSIM measurements.

We report on a multiwavelength campaign on the TeV gamma-ray blazar Mrk 421 performed during 2002 December and 2003 January. These target of opportunity observations were initiated by the detection of X-ray and TeV gamma-ray flares with the All Sky Monitor (ASM) on board the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and the 10 m Whipple gamma-ray telescope. The campaign included observational coverage in the radio (University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory), optical (Boltwood, La Palma KVA 0.6 m; WIYN 0.9 m), X-ray (RXTE pointed telescopes), and TeV gamma-ray (Whipple and HEGRA) bands. At TeV energies, the observations revealed several flares at intermediate flux levels, peaking between 1 and 1.5 times the flux from the Crab Nebula. While the time-averaged spectrum can be fitted with a single power law of photon index Gamma = 2.8 from dN gamma/dE proportional to E-Gamma, we find some evidence for spectral variability. Confirming earlier results, the campaign reveals a rather loose correlation between the X-ray and TeV gamma-ray fluxes. In one case, a very strong X-ray flare is not accompanied by a comparable TeV gamma-ray flare. Although the source flux was variable in the optical and radio bands, the sparse sampling of the optical and radio light curves does not allow us to study the correlation properties in detail. We present a simple analysis of the data with a synchrotron self-Compton model, emphasizing that models with very high Doppler factors and low magnetic fields can describe the data.

The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is the major next generation imaging atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope in the western hemisphere and will be located in southern Arizona nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory. The VERITAS observatory will provide unprecedented sensitivity to photon energies between 50 GeV and 50 TeV. The first stage is an array of four telescopes to be fully operational in early 2006, with an expansion to seven telescopes envisioned for 2008. The construction of a prototype telescope is underway, for which first light is expected in Fall 2003. The technical concept is outlined and a progress report is given. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

We present results from observations taken with the Whipple 10 m very high energy gamma-ray telescope with maximal sensitivity at 400 GeV during 39 hr between 2000 and 2003 in the direction of the giant radio galaxy M87. Using the entire data set, we derive a 99% confidence level upper limit on the flux of gamma-ray emission above 400 GeV from M87 to be less than or equal to 6: 9; 10(-1)2 cm(-2) s(-1). This suggests variability at the 90% confidence level when compared to the flux measured by the HEGRA collaboration in 1999 if the differential spectrum is steeper than a power law of index 3.75. Our search for a correlation between the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer all-sky monitor observation and a potential gamma-ray signal is inconclusive.

We present the first strong detection of very high energy gamma-rays from the close (z=0.048) X-ray-selected BL Lacertae object 1ES 1959+650. Observations were made with the Whipple 10 m telescope on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, using the atmospheric Cerenkov imaging technique. The flux between 2002 May and July was highly variable, with a mean of 0.64+/-0.03 times the steady flux from the Crab Nebula and reaching a maximum of 5 crab, with variability on timescales as short as 7 hr.

Responses of towers subjected to pressures from simulated wind records that vary with time are obtained by computer analysis. Parameters and variations include: Power-law vertical wind profile; mean yaw and standard deviation; horizontal zones to permit random velocity and yaw fluctuations; random normal deviates for wind fluctuations; foundation effect; frequency of velocity and yaw fluctuations; damping; rectangular or linearly varying wind pulses. An equivalent single-mass system, with two uncoupled degrees of freedom along mutually perpendicular planes, represents the mathematical model of the actual structure in the analysis. Results from the analyses of three different towers are presented.

Hypothesis presented is that residual lateral compressive stresses may suppress ductility across notch and permit cleavage fracture to occur; theoretical explanation is given; tests made at Brown Univ on precompressed notched plates tested in tension (and on comparable cylinders) are used to check this principle; they provide substantiation within range of specimen geometry used.

A method by which typical frames may be designed for minimum weight to resist ultimate loads on a collapse basis is presented. Simple plastic theory is assumed to apply, although the procedure is such that members subject to axial loads are included. There is no attempt to define an optimum design, except in the sense of minimum weight. Factors such as fabrication costs and deflection limitations have been subordinated to the requirements of minimum weight, although it is realized that minimum weight is not always the most important factor. The proposed method is unique, in that it is a procedure leading directly to the correct minimum weight design without recourse to trial mechanisms, load interaction curves, or design charts that characterize existing procedures.

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The results of this animal study confirm the induction of delayed hypersensitivity to a halothane metabolite, but the sensitization does not cause hepatic damage on subsequent halothane exposures. Before the hypothesis that hepatic necrosis following halothane has an immunologic basis can be accepted or rejected, more critical studies with different approaches must be made.