Perceptions college-bound seniors at Campbellsport high school have of technology education classes and factors influencing participation in those classes

Includes bibliographical references

Building a Practical Natural Laminar Flow Design Capability

A preliminary natural laminar flow (NLF) design method that has been developed and applied to supersonic and transonic wings with moderate-to-high leading-edge sweeps at flight Reynolds numbers is further extended and evaluated in this paper. The modular design approach uses a knowledge-based design module linked with different flow solvers and boundary layer stability analysis methods to provide a multifidelity capability for NLF analysis and design. An assessment of the effects of different options for stability analysis is included using pressures and geometry from an NLF wing designed for the Common Research Model (CRM). Several extensions to the design module are described, including multiple new approaches to design for controlling attachment line contamination and transition. Finally, a modification to the NLF design algorithm that allows independent control of Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) and cross flow (CF) modes is proposed. A preliminary evaluation of the TS-only option applied to the design of an NLF nacelle for the CRM is performed that includes the use of a low-fidelity stability analysis directly in the design module

Frequency doubling and tripling of ultrashort laser pulses in biological tissues

Structural proteins such as collagen and elastin are known to generate second harmonic at high laser intensities. Second and third harmonic generations (SHG, THG) of 0.4 ps Ti-Sapphire laser radiation at 800 nm were observed in various biological tissues. Dependence of SHG on laser pulse energy and pulse width was investigated. Reflected second harmonic yield was measured for animal tissue in vitro and human skin in vivo. The yield varies about a factor of 20 for various areas of the skin while the scattered laser radiation (diffuse reflectance) varies only by a factor of 2. In some cases the THG efficiency was comparable to the SHG. Possible applications of higher harmonic radiation for diagnostics and microscopy are discussed

Computational Design and Analysis of a Transonic Natural Laminar Flow Wing for a Wind Tunnel Model

A natural laminar flow (NLF) wind tunnel model has been designed and analyzed for a wind tunnel test in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at the NASA Langley Research Center. The NLF design method is built into the CDISC design module and uses a Navier-Stokes flow solver, a boundary layer profile solver, and stability analysis and transition prediction software. The NLF design method alters the pressure distribution to support laminar flow on the upper surface of wings with high sweep and flight Reynolds numbers. The method addresses transition due to attachment line contamination/transition, Gortler vortices, and crossflow and Tollmien-Schlichting modal instabilities. The design method is applied to the wing of the Common Research Model (CRM) at transonic flight conditions. Computational analysis predicts significant extents of laminar flow on the wing upper surface, which results in drag savings. A 5.2 percent scale semispan model of the CRM NLF wing will be built and tested in the NTF. This test will aim to validate the NLF design method, as well as characterize the laminar flow testing capabilities in the wind tunnel facility

Effects of acid deposition on calcium nutrition and health of Southern Appalachian spruce fir forests

The role of acid deposition in the health of spruce fir forests in the Southern Appalachian Mountains has been investigated by a wide variety of experimental approaches during the past 10 years. These studies have proceeded from initial dendroecological documentation of altered growth patterns of mature trees to increasingly more focused ecophysiological research on the causes and characteristics of changes in system function associated with increased acidic deposition. Field studies across gradients in deposition and soil chemistry have been located on four mountains spanning 85 km of latitude within the Southern Appalachians. The conclusion that calcium nutrition is an important component regulating health of red spruce in the Southern Appalachians and that acid deposition significantly reduces calcium availability in several ways has emerged as a consistent result from multiple lines or research. These have included analysis of trends in wood chemistry, soil solution chemistry, foliar nutrition, gas exchange physiology, root histochemistry, and controlled laboratory and field studies in which acid deposition and/or calcium nutrition has been manipulated and growth and nutritional status of saplings or mature red spruce trees measured. This earlier research has led us to investigate the broader implications and consequences of calcium deficiency for changing resistance of spruce-fir forests to natural stresses. Current research is exploring possible relationships between altered calcium nutrition and shifts in response of Fraser fir to insect attack by the balsam wooly adelgid. In addition, changes in wood ultrastructural properties in relation to altered wood chemistry is being examined to evaluate its possible role in canopy deterioration, under wind and ice stresses typical of high elevation forests

Ancient papillomavirus-host co-speciation in Felidae

The evolutionary rate of feline papillomaviruses is inferred from the phylogenetic analysis of their hosts, providing evidence for long-term virus-host co-speciatio

Progress in Classical and Quantum Variational Principles

We review the development and practical uses of a generalized Maupertuis least action principle in classical mechanics, in which the action is varied under the constraint of fixed mean energy for the trial trajectory. The original Maupertuis (Euler-Lagrange) principle constrains the energy at every point along the trajectory. The generalized Maupertuis principle is equivalent to Hamilton's principle. Reciprocal principles are also derived for both the generalized Maupertuis and the Hamilton principles. The Reciprocal Maupertuis Principle is the classical limit of Schr\"{o}dinger's variational principle of wave mechanics, and is also very useful to solve practical problems in both classical and semiclassical mechanics, in complete analogy with the quantum Rayleigh-Ritz method. Classical, semiclassical and quantum variational calculations are carried out for a number of systems, and the results are compared. Pedagogical as well as research problems are used as examples, which include nonconservative as well as relativistic systems

National Outbreak of Acanthamoeba Keratitis Associated with Use of a Contact Lens Solution, United States

Premarket standardized testing for Acanthamoeba spp. is warranted

Biomass Crop Production: Benefits for Soil Quality and Carbon Sequestration

Research at three locations in the southeastern US is quantifying changes in soil quality and soil carbon storage that occur during production of biomass crops compared with row crops. After three growing seasons, soil quality improved and soil carbon storage increased on plots planted to cottonwood, sycamore, sweetgum with a cover crop, switchgrass, and no-till corn. For tree crops, sequestered belowground carbon was found mainly in stumps and large roots. At the TN site, the coarse woody organic matter storage belowground was 1.3 Mg ha{sup {minus}1}yr{sup {minus}1}, of which 79% was stumps and large roots and 21% fine roots. Switchgrass at the AL site also stored considerable carbon belowground as coarse roots. Most of the carbon storage occurred mainly in the upper 30 cw although coarse roots were found to depths of greater than 60 cm. Biomass crops contributed to improvements in soil physical quality as well as increasing belowground carbon sequestration. The distribution and extent of carbon sequestration depends on the growth characteristics and age of the individual biomass crop species. Time and increasing crop maturity will determine the potential of these biomass crops to significantly contribute to the overall national goal of increasing carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions