High Accuracy Fuel Flowmeter, Phase 1

Technology related to aircraft fuel mass - flowmeters was reviewed to determine what flowmeter types could provide 0.25%-of-point accuracy over a 50 to one range in flowrates. Three types were selected and were further analyzed to determine what problem areas prevented them from meeting the high accuracy requirement, and what the further development needs were for each. A dual-turbine volumetric flowmeter with densi-viscometer and microprocessor compensation was selected for its relative simplicity and fast response time. An angular momentum type with a motor-driven, spring-restrained turbine and viscosity shroud was selected for its direct mass-flow output. This concept also employed a turbine for fast response and a microcomputer for accurate viscosity compensation. The third concept employed a vortex precession volumetric flowmeter and was selected for its unobtrusive design. Like the turbine flowmeter, it uses a densi-viscometer and microprocessor for density correction and accurate viscosity compensation

Photolysis frequencies in water droplets: Mie calculations and geometrical optics limit

International audiencePhotolysis of water-soluble components inside cloud droplets by ultraviolet/visible radiation may play an important role in atmospheric chemistry. Two earlier studies have suggested that the the actinic flux and hence the photolysis frequency within spherical droplets is enhanced relative to that in the surrounding air, but have given different values for this enhancement. Here, we reconcile these discrepancies by noting slight errors in both studies that, when corrected, lead to consistent results. Madronich (1987) examined the geometric (large droplet) limit and concluded that refraction leads to an enhancement factor, averaged over all incident directions, of 1.56. However, the physically relevant quantity is the enhancement of the average actinic flux (rather than the average enhancement factor) which we show here to be 1.26 in the geometric limit. Ruggaber et al. (1997) used Mie theory to derive energy density enhancements slightly larger than 2 for typical droplet sizes, and applied these directly to the calculation of photolysis rates. However, the physically relevant quantity is the actinic flux (rather than the energy density) which is obtained by dividing the energy density by the index of refraction of water, 1.33. Thus, the Mie-predicted enhancement for typical cloud droplet sizes is in the range 1.5, only coincidentally in agreement with the value originally given by Madronich. We also investigated the influence of resonances in the actinic flux enhancement. These narrow spikes which are resolved only by very high resolution calculations are orders of magnitude higher than the intermediate values but contribute only little to the actinic flux enhancement when averaged over droplet size distributions

Content and changes in Provitamin A carotenoids during ripening of fruit from four popular Musa cultivars consumed in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Poster presented at Nutrition Congress Africa 2012. Transforming the Nutrition Landscape in Africa. Bloemfontein (South Africa), 1-4 Oct 201

Long term variability of the cosmic ray intensity

In a previous paper Bhat, et al., assess the evidence for the continuing acceleration of cosmic rays in the Loop I supernova remnant. The enhanced gamma-ray emission is found consistent with the Blandford and Cowie model for particle acceleration at the remnant shock wave. The contributions of other supernovae remnants to the galactic cosmic ray energy density are now considered, paying anisotropy of cosmic rays accelerated by local supernovae ( 100 pc). The results are compared with geophysical data on the fluctuations in the cosmic ray intensity over the previous one billion years

Venture Capital in Japan: A Financial Instrument Supporting the Innovativeness of the Japanese Economy

Two factors: First, the relatively small number of new companies as well as the number of companies subject to liquidation over the year ("firm turnover") in Japan, and second, the insignificant prestige associated with the profession of entrepreneur do not foster growth in the dynamics of this form of financing ventures. The cited indicator for Japan in among the lowest in comparison with other highly developed countries1, while the profession of entrepreneur is not the foremost dream of college graduates. They would much rather prefer realizing their professional careers as members of the government bureaucracy or employees of a major corporation2. However, this mindset is slowly changing, if for no other reason then, in spite of popular conviction, because most small companies are not established during periods of prosperity, but near the end of the downward phase of the economic cycle. That is exactly the phase Japan has been dealing with for several years now. Young, creative people, recruited from the unemployed, are seeking self-employment, using all possible opportunities embedded in the "again starting up" machinery of the economy.Dwa czynniki: pierwszy - stosunkowo mała liczba nowych firm, a także firm likwidowanych w skali roku ("firm turnover") w Japonii oraz drugi - niewielki prestiż, jakim cieszy się zawód przedsiębiorcy, nie sprzyjają dynamizacji omawianej formy finansowania przedsięwzięć. Cytowany wskaźnik, dla Japonii należy do najniższych w porównaniu z innymi krajami wysoko rozwiniętymi (Grabowiecki 2000), zaś profesja przedsiębiorcy nie jest szczytem marzeń ludzi po studiach. Znacznie bardziej chcieliby oni swoją karierę zawodową realizować jako członkowie rządowej biurokracji lub pracownicy dużej korporacji (Corver 2008, s. 2). Ta świadomość ulega jednak stopniowej zmianie, chociażby dlatego, że wbrew popularnym przekonaniom, większość niewielkich przedsiębiorstw, powstaje nie w okresie prosperity, lecz pod koniec spadkowej fazy cyklu koniunkturalnego. Z taką fazą mamy do czynienia w Japonii od paru lat. Młodzi, kreatywni ludzie, rekrutujący się z bezrobotnych, poszukują samozatrudnienia, wykorzystują wszelakie szanse, tkwiące w "ruszającej na powrót" maszynerii gospodark (Yonekura, Lynskey 2003, s. 11)

Influence of atomic mixing and preferential sputtering on depth profiles and interfaces

Atomic mixing and preferential sputtering impose a depth resolution limit on the use of sputter sectioning to measure the composition of metal–semiconductor interfaces. Experimental evidence obtained with the Pt–Si system is used to demonstrate ion‐induced atomic mixing and then its effect on sputter etching and depth profiling. Starting with discrete layer structures, a relatively low ion dose (≳3×10^(15) cm^(−2)) first produced a mixed surface layer with thickness comparable to the ion range. Higher ion doses then result in successive sputter etching and continual atomic mixing over a constant surface layer thickness. A model is developed that is based on a sputter removal (including preferential sputtering) of atoms at the surface and a uniform mixing of atoms over a constant thickness. The model predicts the influences of atomic mixing and preferential sputtering on the depth profiling of thin‐film structures and interfaces