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At least 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Engineering a new-to-nature cascade for phosphate-dependent formate to formaldehyde conversion in vitro and in vivo

Formate can be envisioned at the core of a carbon-neutral bioeconomy, where it is produced from CO 2 by (electro-)chemical means and converted into value-added products by enzymatic cascades or engineered microbes. A key step in expanding synthetic formate assimilation is its thermodynamically challenging reduction to formaldehyde. Here, we develop a two-enzyme route in which formate is activated to formyl phosphate and subsequently reduced to formaldehyde. Exploiting the promiscuity of acetate kinase and N-acetyl-γ-glutamyl phosphate reductase, we demonstrate this phosphate (P i )-based route in vitro and in vivo. We further engineer a formyl phosphate reductase variant with improved formyl phosphate conversion in vivo by suppressing cross-talk with native metabolism and interface the P i route with a recently developed formaldehyde assimilation pathway to enable C2 compound formation from formate as the sole carbon source in Escherichia coli. The P i route therefore offers a potent tool in expanding the landscape of synthetic formate assimilation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ampere-level co-electrosynthesis of formate from CO 2 reduction paired with formaldehyde dehydrogenation reactions

Current catalysts face challenges with low formate selectivity at high current densities during the CO 2 electroreduction. Here, we showcase a versatile strategy to enhance the formate production on p-block metal-based catalysts by incorporating noble metal atoms on their surface, refining oxygen affinity, and tuning adsorption of the critical oxygen-bound *OCHO intermediate. The formate yield is observed to afford a volcano-like dependence on the *OCHO binding strength across a series of modified catalysts. The rhodium-dispersed indium oxide (Rh/In 2 O 3 ) catalyst exhibits impressive performances, achieving Faradaic efficiencies (FEs) of formate exceeding 90% across a broad current density range of 0.20 to 1.21 A cm −2 . In situ Raman spectroscopy and theoretical calculations reveal that the oxophilic Rh site facilitates *OCHO formation by optimizing its adsorption energy, placing Rh/In 2 O 3 near the volcano-shaped apex. A bipolar electrosynthesis system, coupling the CO 2 reduction at the cathode with the formaldehyde oxidative dehydrogenation at the anode, further boosts the FE of formate to nearly 190% with pure hydrogen generation under an ampere-level current density and a low cell voltage of 2.5 V in a membrane electrode assembly cell.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Selective triplet exciton formation in a single molecule

The formation of excitons in organic molecules by charge injection is an essential process in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). According to a simple model based on spin statistics, the injected charges form spin-singlet (S1) excitons and spin-triplet (T 1 ) excitons in a 1:3 ratio. After the first report of a highly efficient OLED based on phosphorescence, which is produced by the decay of T 1 excitons, more effective use of these excitons has been the primary strategy for increasing the energy efficiency of OLEDs. Another route to improving OLED energy efficiency is reduction of the operating voltage. Because T 1 excitons have lower energy than S 1 excitons (owing to the exchange interaction), use of the energy difference could—in principle—enable exclusive production of T 1 excitons at low OLED operating voltages. However, a way to achieve such selective and direct formation of these excitons has not yet been established. Here we report a single-molecule investigation of electroluminescence using a scanning tunnelling microscope and demonstrate a simple method of selective formation of T 1 excitons that utilizes a charged molecule. A 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylicdianhydride (PTCDA) molecule adsorbed on a three-monolayer NaCl film atop Ag(111) shows both phosphorescence and fluorescence signals at high applied voltage. In contrast, only phosphorescence occurs at low applied voltage, indicating selective formation of T 1 excitons without creating their S 1 counterparts. The bias voltage dependence of the phosphorescence, combined with differential conductance measurements, reveals that spin-selective electron removal from a negatively charged PTCDA molecule is the dominant formation mechanism of T 1 excitons in this system, which can be explained by considering the exchange interaction in the charged molecule. Our findings show that the electron transport process accompanying exciton formation can be controlled by manipulating an electron spin inside a molecule. We anticipate that designing a device taking into account the exchange interaction could realize an OLED with a lower operating voltage.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Mechanisms and time-resolved dynamics for trihydrogen cation (H 3 +) formation from organic molecules in strong laser fields

Strong-field laser-matter interactions often lead to exotic chemical reactions. Trihydrogen cation formation from organic molecules is one such case that requires multiple bonds to break and form. Here, we present evidence for the existence of two different reaction pathways for H 3 + formation from organic molecules irradiated by a strong-field laser. Assignment of the two pathways was accomplished through analysis of femtosecond time-resolved strong-field ionization and photoion-photoion coincidence measurements carried out on methanol isotopomers, ethylene glycol, and acetone. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations suggest the formation occurs via two steps: the initial formation of a neutral hydrogen molecule, followed by the abstraction of a proton from the remaining CHOH 2+ fragment by the roaming H 2 molecule. This reaction has similarities to the H 2 +H 2 + mechanism leading to formation of H 3 + in the universe. These exotic chemical reaction mechanisms, involving roaming H 2 molecules, are found to occur in the ~100 fs timescale. Roaming molecule reactions may help to explain unlikely chemical processes, involving dissociation and formation of multiple chemical bonds, occurring under strong laser fields.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2024

Basin-scale study of CO 2 storage in stacked sequence of geological formations

Commercial scale decarbonization through carbon capture and storage may likely involve many CO 2 storage projects located in close proximity. The close proximity could raise concerns over caprock integrity associated with reservoir pressure buildup and interference among adjacent projects. Commercial-scale injection will also require large prospective CO 2 storage resource and high injectivity in the targeted storage formations. To accommodate the need for both large resource and high injectivity, project operators could consider injecting CO 2 into a stacked sequence of formations. This analysis investigates the benefits of injecting CO 2 into a vertically stacked sequence of saline formations, over injecting the same amount of CO 2 into a single saline formation, in addressing these challenges. Our analysis shows that injecting into the stacked sequence mitigates the extent of pressure buildup among the stacked formations, while still achieving the same or greater target CO 2 storage volumes. Among cases modeled, the resulting pressure buildup front is most reduced when each storage site distributes injection volumes over several wells, each of which injects a portion of the total CO 2 mass across the stacked sequence. This favorable case not only results in the smallest CO 2 aerial footprint, but also shows the largest reduction in the pressure buildup at the top of perforation at the injection wells (upwards of approximately 46% compared to the single-formation storage), the result of which is crucial to maintain caprock integrity. This analysis provides insights into required decision-making when considering multi-project deployment in a shared basin.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Experimental formation enthalpies for intermetallic phases and other inorganic compounds

The standard enthalpy of formation of a compound is the energy associated with the reaction to form the compound from its component elements. The standard enthalpy of formation is a fundamental thermodynamic property that determines its phase stability, which can be coupled with other thermodynamic data to calculate phase diagrams. Calorimetry provides the only direct method by which the standard enthalpy of formation is experimentally measured. However, the measurement is often a time and energy intensive process. We present a dataset of enthalpies of formation measured by high-temperature calorimetry. The phases measured in this dataset include intermetallic compounds with transition metal and rare-earth elements, metal borides, metal carbides, and metallic silicides. These measurements were collected from over 50 years of calorimetric experiments. The dataset contains 1,276 entries on experimental enthalpy of formation values and structural information. Most of the entries are for binary compounds but ternary and quaternary compounds are being added as they become available. In conclusion, the dataset also contains predictions of enthalpy of formation from first-principles calculations for comparison.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Oxygen aggregation kinetics, thermal donors and carbon-oxygen defect formation in silicon containing carbon and tin

Localized vibrational mode spectroscopy measurements on Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) samples subjected to isothermal annealing at 450 °C are reported. First, we studied the effect of carbon (C) and tin (Sn) isovalent dopants on the aggregation kinetics of oxygen. It is determined that the reduction rate of oxygen is described by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation in accordance with previous reports. The activation energy related with the reaction rate constant of the process is calculated to increase from Cz-Si, to C-doped Cz-Si (CCz-Si), to Sn-doped Cz-Si contained C (SnCz-Si). This is attributed to the presence of the isovalent dopants that may impact both the kinetics of the oxygen atoms and also may lead to the formation of other oxygen-related clusters. Second, we studied the effect of Sn on the formation and evolution of carbon-oxygen (C-O) defects. It was determined that the presence of Sn suppresses the formation of the C-O defects as indicated by the reduction in the strength of the 683, 626, and 586 cm{sup −1} well-known bands of C{sub s}O{sub i} defect. The phenomenon is attributed to the association of Sn with C atoms that may prevent the pairing of O with C. Third, we investigated the effect of C and Sn on the formation of thermal donors (TDs). Regarding carbon our results verified previous reports that carbon suppresses the formation of TDs. Interestingly, when both C and Sn are present in Si, very weak bands of TDs were observed, although it is known that Sn alone suppress their formation. This may be attributed to the competing strains of C and Sn in the Si lattice.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Investigation of mechanism of anode plasma formation in ion diode with dielectric anode

The results of investigation of the anode plasma formation in a diode with a passive anode in magnetic insulation mode are presented. The experiments have been conducted using the BIPPAB-450 ion accelerator (350–400 kV, 6–8 kA, 80 ns) with a focusing conical diode with B{sub r} external magnetic field (a barrel diode). For analysis of plasma formation at the anode and the distribution of the ions beam energy density, infrared imaging diagnostics (spatial resolution of 1–2 mm) is used. For analysis of the ion beam composition, time-of-flight diagnostics (temporal resolution of 1 ns) were used. Our studies have shown that when the magnetic induction in the A-C gap is much larger than the critical value, the ion beam energy density is close to the one-dimensional Child-Langmuir limit on the entire working surface of the diode. Formation of anode plasma takes place only by the flashover of the dielectric anode surface. In this mode, the ion beam consists primarily of singly ionized carbon ions, and the delay of the start of formation of the anode plasma is 10–15 ns. By reducing the magnetic induction in the A-C gap to a value close to the critical one, the ion beam energy density is 3–6 times higher than that calculated by the one-dimensional Child-Langmuir limit, but the energy density of the ion beam is non-uniform in cross-section. In this mode, the anode plasma formation occurs due to ionization of the anode material with accelerated electrons. In this mode, also, the delay in the start of the formation of the anode plasma is much smaller and the degree of ionization of carbon ions is higher. In all modes occurred effective suppression of the electronic component of the total current, and the diode impedance was 20–30 times higher than the values calculated for the mode without magnetic insulation of the electrons. The divergence of the ion beam was 4.5°–6°.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Argon ion beam induced surface pattern formation on Si

The development of self-organized surface patterns on Si due to noble gas ion irradiation has been studied extensively in the past. In particular, Ar ions are commonly used and the pattern formation was analyzed as function of ion incidence angle, ion fluence, and ion energies between 250 eV and 140 keV. Very few results exist for the energy regime between 1.5 keV and 10 keV and it appears that pattern formation is completely absent for these ion energies. In this work, we present experimental data on pattern formation for Ar ion irradiation between 1 keV and 10 keV and ion incidence angles between 50° and 75°. We confirm the absence of patterns at least for ion fluences up to 10{sup 18} ions/cm{sup 2}. Using the crater function formalism and Monte Carlo simulations, we calculate curvature coefficients of linear continuum models of pattern formation, taking into account contribution due to ion erosion and recoil redistribution. The calculations consider the recently introduced curvature dependence of the erosion crater function as well as the dynamic behavior of the thickness of the ion irradiated layer. Only when taking into account these additional contributions to the linear theory, our simulations clearly show that that pattern formation is strongly suppressed between about 1.5 keV and 10 keV, most pronounced at 3 keV. Furthermore, our simulations are now able to predict whether or not parallel oriented ripple patterns are formed, and in case of ripple formation the corresponding critical angles for the whole experimentally studied energies range between 250 eV and 140 keV.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Droplet formation simulation using mixed finite elements

Droplet formation happens in finite time due to the surface tension force. The linear stability analysis is useful to estimate the size of a droplet but fails to approximate the shape of the droplet. This is due to a highly nonlinear flow description near the point where the first pinch-off happens. A one-dimensional axisymmetric mathematical model was first developed by Eggers and Dupont [“Drop formation in a one-dimensional approximation of the Navier–Stokes equation,” J. Fluid Mech. 262, 205–221 (1994)] using asymptotic analysis. This asymptotic approach to the Navier–Stokes equations leads to a universal scaling explaining the self-similar nature of the solution. Numerical models for the one-dimensional model were developed using the finite difference [Eggers and Dupont, “Drop formation in a one-dimensional approximation of the Navier–Stokes equation,” J. Fluid Mech. 262, 205–221 (1994)] and finite element method [Ambravaneswaran et al., “Drop formation from a capillary tube: Comparison of one-dimensional and two-dimensional analyses and occurrence of satellite drops,” Phys. Fluids 14, 2606–2621 (2002)]. The focus of this study is to provide a robust computational model for one-dimensional axisymmetric droplet formation using the Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation. The code is verified using the Method of Manufactured Solutions and validated using previous experimental studies done by Zhang and Basaran [“An experimental study of dynamics of drop formation,” Phys. Fluids 7, 1184–1203 (1995)]. The present model is used for simulating pendant drops of water, glycerol, and paraffin wax, with an aspiration of extending the application to simulate more complex pinch-off phenomena.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

STAR FORMATION IN TWO LUMINOUS SPIRAL GALAXIES

We examined star formation in two very luminous (M{sub V} = –22 to –23) Sc-type spiral galaxies, NGC 801 and UGC 2885, using ultra-deep Hα images. We combine these Hα images with UBV and Two-Micron All-Sky Survey JHK images and H I maps to explore the star formation characteristics of disk galaxies at high luminosity. Hα traces star formation in these galaxies to 4-6 disk scale lengths, but the lack of detection of Hα further out is likely due to the loss of Lyman continuum photons. Considering gravitational instabilities alone, we find that the gas and stars in the outer regions are marginally stable in an average sense, but considering dissipative gas and radial and azimuthal forcing, the outer regions are marginally unstable to forming spiral arms. Star formation is taking place in spiral arms, which are regions of locally higher gas densities. Furthermore, we have traced smooth exponential stellar disks over four magnitudes in V-band surface brightness and 4-6 disk scale lengths, in spite of a highly variable gravitational instability parameter. Thus, gravitational instability thresholds do not seem relevant to the stellar disk. One possibility for creating an exponential disk is that the molecular cloud densities and star formation rates have exponential profiles and this fact forces the stellar disk to build up such a profile. Another possibility is that the stellar disk is continuously adjusted to an exponential shape regardless of the star formation profile, for example, through global dynamical processes that scatter stars. However, such scattering processes are only known to operate in spiral systems, in which case they cannot explain the same dilemma of smooth exponential disks observed in dwarf irregular galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

FORMULATION OF NON-STEADY-STATE DUST FORMATION PROCESS IN ASTROPHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS

The non-steady-state formation of small clusters and the growth of grains accompanied by chemical reactions are formulated under the consideration that the collision of key gas species (key molecule) controls the kinetics of dust formation process. The formula allows us to evaluate the size distribution and condensation efficiency of dust formed in astrophysical environments. We apply the formulation to the formation of C and MgSiO{sub 3} grains in the ejecta of supernovae, as an example, to investigate how the non-steady effect influences the formation process, condensation efficiency f{sub con,{sub ∞}}, and average radius a{sub ave,{sub ∞}} of newly formed grains in comparison with the results calculated with the steady-state nucleation rate. We show that the steady-state nucleation rate is a good approximation if the collision timescale of key molecule τ{sub coll} is much smaller than the timescale τ{sub sat} with which the supersaturation ratio increases; otherwise the effect of the non-steady state becomes remarkable, leading to a lower f{sub con,{sub ∞}} and a larger a{sub ave,{sub ∞}}. Examining the results of calculations, we reveal that the steady-state nucleation rate is applicable if the cooling gas satisfies Λ ≡ τ{sub sat}/τ{sub coll} ∼> 30 during the formation of dust, and find that f{sub con,{sub ∞}} and a{sub ave,{sub ∞}} are uniquely determined by Λ{sub on} at the onset time t{sub on} of dust formation. The approximation formulae for f{sub con,{sub ∞}} and a{sub ave,{sub ∞}} as a function of Λ{sub on} could be useful in estimating the mass and typical size of newly formed grains from observed or model-predicted physical properties not only in supernova ejecta but also in mass-loss winds from evolved stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

The ACS LCID project. IX. Imprints of the early universe in the radial variation of the star formation history of dwarf galaxies

Based on Hubble Space Telescope observations from the Local Cosmology from Isolated Dwarfs project, we present the star formation histories, as a function of galactocentric radius, of four isolated Local Group dwarf galaxies: two dSph galaxies, Cetus and Tucana, and two transition galaxies (dTrs), LGS-3 and Phoenix. The oldest stellar populations of the dSphs and dTrs are, within the uncertainties, coeval (∼13 Gyr) at all galactocentric radii. We find that there are no significative differences between the four galaxies in the fundamental properties (such as the normalized star formation rate or age-metallicity relation) of their outer regions (radii greater than four exponential scale lengths); at large radii, these galaxies consist exclusively of old (≳ 10.5 Gyr) metal-poor stars. The duration of star formation in the inner regions varies from galaxy to galaxy, and the extended central star formation in the dTrs produces the dichotomy between dSph and dTr galaxy types. The dTr galaxies show prominent radial stellar population gradients: The centers of these galaxies host young (≲ 1 Gyr) populations, while the age of the last formation event increases smoothly with increasing radius. This contrasts with the two dSph galaxies. Tucana shows a similar, but milder, gradient, but no gradient in age is detected Cetus. For the three galaxies with significant stellar population gradients, the exponential scale length decreases with time. These results are in agreement with outside-in scenarios of dwarf galaxy evolution, in which a quenching of the star formation toward the center occurs as the galaxy runs out of gas in the outskirts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Star formation relations in nearby molecular clouds

We test some ideas for star formation relations against data on local molecular clouds. On a cloud by cloud basis, the relation between the surface density of star formation rate and surface density of gas divided by a free-fall time, calculated from the mean cloud density, shows no significant correlation. If a crossing time is substituted for the free-fall time, there is even less correlation. Within a cloud, the star formation rate volume and surface densities increase rapidly with the corresponding gas densities, faster than predicted by models using the free-fall time defined from the local density. A model in which the star formation rate depends linearly on the mass of gas above a visual extinction of 8 mag describes the data on these clouds, with very low dispersion. The data on regions of very massive star formation, with improved star formation rates based on free-free emission from ionized gas, also agree with this linear relation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Steadily increasing star formation rates in galaxies observed at 3 ≲ z ≲ 5 in the CANDELS/GOODS-S field

We investigate the star formation histories (SFHs) of high redshift (3 ≲ z ≲ 5) star-forming galaxies selected based on their rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) colors in the CANDELS/GOODS-S field. By comparing the results from the spectral-energy-distribution-fitting analysis with two different assumptions about the SFHs—i.e., exponentially declining SFHs as well as increasing ones, we conclude that the SFHs of high-redshift star-forming galaxies increase with time rather than exponentially decline. We also examine the correlations between the star formation rates (SFRs) and the stellar masses. When the galaxies are fit with rising SFRs, we find that the trend seen in the data qualitatively matches the expectations from a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. The mean specific SFR is shown to increase with redshift, also in agreement with the theoretical prediction. From the derived tight correlation between stellar masses and SFRs, we derive the mean SFH of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range of 3 ≤ z ≤ 5, which shows a steep power-law (with power α = 5.85) increase with time. We also investigate the formation timescales and mean stellar population ages of these star-forming galaxies. Our analysis reveals that UV-selected star-forming galaxies have a broad range of the formation redshift. The derived stellar masses and the stellar population ages show positive correlation in a sense that more massive galaxies are on average older, but with significant scatter. This large scatter implies that the galaxies' mass is not the only factor which affects the growth or star formation of high-redshift galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Shocks and star formation in Stephan's Quintet. I. Gemini spectroscopy of Hα-bright knots

We present a Gemini-GMOS spectroscopic study of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)-selected Hα-emitting regions in Stephan's Quintet (HCG 92), a nearby compact galaxy group, with the aim of disentangling the processes of shock-induced heating and star formation in its intra-group medium. The ≈40 sources are distributed across the system, but most densely concentrated in the ∼kiloparsec-long shock region. Their spectra neatly divide them into narrow- and broad-line emitters, and we decompose the latter into three or more emission peaks corresponding to spatial elements discernible in HST imaging. The emission-line ratios of the two populations of Hα-emitters confirm their nature as H II regions (90% of the sample) or molecular gas heated by a shock front propagating at ≲300 km s{sup –1}. Their redshift distribution reveals interesting three-dimensional structure with respect to gas-phase baryons, with no H II regions associated with shocked gas, no shocked regions in the intruder galaxy NGC 7318B, and a sharp boundary between shocks and star formation. We conclude that star formation is inhibited substantially, if not entirely, in the shock region. Attributing those H II regions projected against the shock to the intruder, we find a lopsided distribution of star formation in this galaxy, reminiscent of pileup regions in models of interacting galaxies. The Hα luminosities imply mass outputs, star formation rates, and efficiencies similar to nearby star-forming regions. Two large knots are an exception to this, being comparable in stellar output to the prolific 30 Doradus region. We also examine Stephan's Quintet in the context of compact galaxy group evolution, as a paradigm for intermittent star formation histories in the presence of a rich, X-ray-emitting intra-group medium. All spectra are provided as supplemental materials.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A tale of two feedbacks: Star formation in the host galaxies of radio AGNs

Several lines of argument support the existence of a link between activity at the nuclei of galaxies, in the form of an accreting supermassive black hole, and star formation activity in these galaxies. Radio jets have long been argued to be an ideal mechanism that allows active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to interact with their host galaxies and affect star formation. We use a sample of radio sources in the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) field to study the nature of this putative link, by means of spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. We employ the excellent spectral coverage of the AKARI infrared space telescope and the rich ancillary data available in the NEP to build SEDs extending from UV to far-IR wavelengths. We find a significant AGN component in our sample of relatively faint radio sources (<mJy). A positive correlation is found between the luminosity of the AGN component and that of star formation in the host galaxy, independent of the radio luminosity. In contrast, for narrow redshift and AGN luminosity ranges, we find that increasing radio luminosity leads to a decrease in the specific star formation rate. The most radio-loud AGNs are found to lie on the main sequence of star formation for their respective redshifts. For the first time, we potentially see such a two-sided feedback process in the same sample. We discuss the possible suppression of star formation, but not total quenching, in systems with strong radio jets, that supports the maintenance nature of feedback from radio AGN jets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The diskmass survey. VIII. On the relationship between disk stability and star formation

We study the relationship between the stability level of late-type galaxy disks and their star-formation activity using integral-field gaseous and stellar kinematic data. Specifically, we compare the two-component (gas+stars) stability parameter from Romeo and Wiegert (Q {sub RW}), incorporating stellar kinematic data for the first time, and the star-formation rate estimated from 21 cm continuum emission. We determine the stability level of each disk probabilistically using a Bayesian analysis of our data and a simple dynamical model. Our method incorporates the shape of the stellar velocity ellipsoid (SVE) and yields robust SVE measurements for over 90% of our sample. Averaging over this subsample, we find a meridional shape of σ{sub z}/σ{sub R}=0.51{sub −0.25}{sup +0.36} for the SVE and, at 1.5 disk scale lengths, a stability parameter of Q {sub RW} = 2.0 ± 0.9. We also find that the disk-averaged star-formation-rate surface density ( Σ-dot {sub e,∗}) is correlated with the disk-averaged gas and stellar mass surface densities (Σ {sub e,} {sub g} and Σ {sub e,} {sub *}) and anti-correlated with Q {sub RW}. We show that an anti-correlation between Σ-dot {sub e,∗} and Q {sub RW} can be predicted using empirical scaling relations, such that this outcome is consistent with well-established statistical properties of star-forming galaxies. Interestingly, Σ-dot {sub e,∗} is not correlated with the gas-only or star-only Toomre parameters, demonstrating the merit of calculating a multi-component stability parameter when comparing to star-formation activity. Finally, our results are consistent with the Ostriker et al. model of self-regulated star-formation, which predicts Σ-dot {sub e,∗}/Σ{sub e,g}∝Σ{sub e,∗}{sup 1/2}. Based on this and other theoretical expectations, we discuss the possibility of a physical link between disk stability level and star-formation rate in light of our empirical results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗