Technology utilization program report, 1974

The adaptation of various technological innovations from the NASA space program to industrial and domestic applications is summarized

Mytilus galloprovincialis Myticin C: A Chemotactic Molecule with Antiviral Activity and Immunoregulatory Properties

Previous research has shown that an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) of the myticin class C (Myt C) is the most abundantly expressed gene in cDNA and suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) libraries after immune stimulation of mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. However, to date, the expression pattern, the antimicrobial activities and the immunomodulatory properties of the Myt C peptide have not been determined. In contrast, it is known that Myt C mRNA presents an unusual and high level of polymorphism of unidentified biological significance. Therefore, to provide a better understanding of the features of this interesting molecule, we have investigated its function using four different cloned and expressed variants of Myt C cDNA and polyclonal anti-Myt C sera. The in vivo results suggest that this AMP, mainly present in hemocytes, could be acting as an immune system modulator molecule because its overexpression was able to alter the expression of mussel immune-related genes (as the antimicrobial peptides Myticin B and Mytilin B, the C1q domain-containing protein MgC1q, and lysozyme). Moreover, the in vitro results indicate that Myt C peptides have antimicrobial and chemotactic properties. Their recombinant expression in a fish cell line conferred protection against two different fish viruses (enveloped and non-enveloped). Cell extracts from Myt C expressing fish cells were also able to attract hemocytes. All together, these results suggest that Myt C should be considered not only as an AMP but also as the first chemokine/cytokine-like molecule identified in bivalves and one of the few examples in all of the invertebrates

Noise, artifact and the uncanny in large scale digital photographic practice.

This dissertation explores the question: why, when encountering the products of many new technologies delivering information via a new media, do I often experience a feeling of disquiet or estrangement? I use the example of laser-photographic printing to explore the issue through a program of practice-based research. The outcome of this line of enquiry includes an original contribution via three series of large-format digital photographic works: Presenting "The Amazing Kriels", Home At Last, and Pure. In this thesis, which supports the main body of the research, that is, the practice-based research, I will briefly review the case for artefact as noise within photographic printing, articulate a significant difference between the artefact levels of traditional analogue and Lambda prints, present original dialogical evidence for estrangement in the latter, and identify it via readings of Sigmund Freud's "The Uncanny" and McLuhan's "The Gadget Lover", as a function of the uncanny. I will propose an original rewriting of McLuhan's ideas of "hot" and "cool" media, as well as the cycles of irritation/mediation repression within McLuhan's media theory as a direction for future research, and relate them to a shift from large-scale analogue photographic printing to Lambda printing

Water color and circulation southern Chesapeake Bay, part 1

Satellite imagery from two EREP passes over the Rappahannock Estuary of the Chesapeake region is analyzed to chart colored water types, to delineate color boundaries and define circulatory patterns. Surface observations from boats and helicopters concurrent with Skylab overpass define the distributions of suspended sediment, transparency, temperature, salinity, phytoplankton, color of suspended material and optical ratio. Important features recorded by the imagery are a large-scale turbidity maximum and massive red tide blooms. Water movement is revealed by small-scale mixing patterns and tidal plumes of apparent sediment-laden water. The color patterns broadly reflect the bottom topography and the seaward gradient of suspended material between the river and the bay. Analyses of red, green and natural color photos by microdensitometry demonstrate the utility of charting water color types of potential use for managing estuarine water quality. The Skylab imagery is superior to aerial photography and surface observations for charting water color

Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence (SonicBAT): The Influence of Turbulence on Shaped Sonic Booms

The objectives of the Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence (SonicBAT) Program were to develop and validate, via research flight experiments under a range of realistic atmospheric conditions, one numeric turbulence model research code and one classic turbulence model research code using traditional N-wave booms in the presence of atmospheric turbulence, and to apply these models to assess the effects of turbulence on the levels of shaped sonic booms predicted from low boom aircraft designs. The SonicBAT program has successfully investigated sonic boom turbulence effects through the execution of flight experiments at two NASA centers, Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) and Kennedy Space Center (KSC), collecting a comprehensive set of acoustic and atmospheric turbulence data that were used to validate the numeric and classic turbulence models developed. The validated codes were incorporated into the PCBoom sonic boom prediction software and used to estimate the effect of turbulence on the levels of shaped sonic booms associated with several low boom aircraft designs. The SonicBAT program was a four year effort that consisted of turbulence model development and refinement throughout the entire period as well as extensive flight test planning that culminated with the two research flight tests being conducted in the second and third years of the program. The SonicBAT team, led by Wyle, includes partners from the Pennsylvania State University, Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream Aerospace, Boeing, Eagle Aeronautics, Technical & Business Systems, and the Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics (France). A number of collaborators, including the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, also participated by supporting the experiments with human and equipment resources at their own expense. Three NASA centers, AFRC, Langley Research Center (LaRC), and KSC were essential to the planning and conduct of the experiments. The experiments involved precision flight of either an F-18A or F-18B executing steady, level passes at supersonic airspeeds in a turbulent atmosphere to create sonic boom signatures that had been distorted by turbulence. The flights spanned a range of atmospheric turbulence conditions at NASA Armstrong and Kennedy in order to provide a variety of conditions for code validations. The SonicBAT experiments at both sites were designed to capture simultaneous F-18A or F-18B onboard flight instrumentation data, high fidelity ground based and airborne acoustic data, surface and upper air meteorological data, and additional meteorological data from ultrasonic anemometers and SODARs to determine the local atmospheric turbulence and boundary layer height

Method Development Using Laser Ablation And Solution Icpms And Their Application In Environmental Science And Forensic Provenance Studies

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) is an analytical technique that can be used to determine multiple elements and isotope ratios in a wide variety of samples. In this work, four projects are described that involve the method development using laser ablation (LA) and solution-based ICPMS and their application in environmental science and forensic (provenance) investigations. In the first project, plutonium (Pu) concentrations and 240Pu/ 239Pu atom ratios were measured in kelp, lichen, aquatic moss, and horse mussel collected on or near Amchitka Island, a former nuclear test in Alaska, and at a background site. The Pu in terrestrial and freshwater species had 240Pu/239Pu ratio signatures typical of northern hemisphere atmospheric fallout, whereas Pu ratios in marine species were elevated, which is characteristic of the northern Pacific Ocean. Potential sources of Pu to the marine species were identified, with high-yield tests conducted in the Marshall Islands being the most likely of these sources. The second project used LA-ICPMS for sourcing iron-rich pigments used in ancient pictographs in the Pecos River Archeological Region. Potential pigment materials (siltstone, ochre, quartzite, and rhyolite) were analyzed for elemental signatures and were compared to rock paint using multivariate statistics. Siltstone was identified as the most probable raw material used in the production of the paint. A pigment cake from near cave site 41VV74 was determined to have similar elemental patterns to siltstone. The third project studied the effect of glyphosate herbicide on the mineral levels in glyphosate-resistent (GR) soybeans. Results from both greenhouse and field studies shono statistical difference in mineral concentrations between glyphosate-treated soybean and the control. This work supports the claim that application of glyphosate should have no significant impact on mineral concentrations in GR soybeans. In the fourth project, a new analytical method using LA-ICPMS was developed for the rapid determination of select dietary minerals and trace elements in commercial herbal supplement capsules. The analytical results were comparable to that using conventional solution-nebulization ICPMS. Chemometrics was successfully applied to discriminate the different manufacturers of the same herbal supplements according to the chemical signatures

Optics in Our Time

Optics, Lasers, Photonics, Optical Devices; Quantum Optics; Popular Science in Physics; History and Philosophical Foundations of Physic