The JPL MSAT mobile laboratory and the pilot field experiments

A Mobile Laboratory/Propagation Measurement Van (PMV) was developed to support the field experiments of the Mobile Satellite Experiment (MSAT-X) Project. This van was designed to provide flexibility, self-sufficiency and data acquisition to allow for both measurement of equipment performance and the mobile environment. The design philosophy and implementation of the PMV are described. The Pilot Field Experiments and an overall description of the three experiments in which the PMV was used are described

The mechanical design of a vapor compressor for a heat pump to be used in space

A heat pump developed for use in Spacelab as a stand-alone refrigeration unit as well as within a fluid loop system is discussed. It will provide an active thermal control for payloads. Specifications for the heat pump were established: (1) heat removal rates at the source; (2) heat source temperatures from room temperature; (3) heat-sink fluid temperatures at condenser inlet; and (4) minimum power consumption. A reversed Carnot cycle heat pump using Freon 12 as working fluid incorporating a one-cylinder reciprocating compressor was selected. The maximum crankshaft speed was fixed relatively high at 100 rpm. The specified cooling rates then made it necessary to select a cylinder volume of 10 cu cm, which was obtained with a bore of 40 mm and a stroke of 8 mm

Dynamic splinting in wrist extension following distal radius fractures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Wrist flexion contracture is a common pathology which presents secondary to distal radius fractures. Joint stability, restoration and early mobilization are frequently achieved through surgical treatment after such an injury. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the initial effect of dynamic splinting on wrist extension (active range of motion), in both surgical and non-surgical patients following distal radius fractures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Records were obtained from 133 patients who were treated with a Wrist Extension Dynasplint (WED) following distal radius fractures, between May 2007 and May 2009. Forty-two of these patients received surgical treatment for their fractures. This study specifically examined the initial usage of the WED as a home therapy. The retrospective analysis included categorization of patients who received the WED exclusively vs. patients who received WED treatment with concurrent hand therapy; surgical categorization included surgical patients vs. nonsurgical patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a significant improvement in maximal active range of motion (AROM) for all patients (P < 0.0001) after a mean duration of 3.9 weeks of dynamic splinting. Patients showed a mean 62% increase in active extension. There was not a significant difference between patients who had received surgical treatment for the fracture vs. nonsurgical.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This dynamic splinting modality contributed 138 to 185 hours of stretching at the end range of motion for these patients in their first month following fracture. This unique regime is considered directly responsible for significant gains in AROM.</p

WEED FLORA IN A LONG-TERM REDUCED TILLAGE TRIAL, “TILMAN-ORG session”

Reduced tillage may improve the environmental and economic performance of organic farming. Reducing the intensity of soil tillage decreases the energy consumption and the emission of carbon dioxide, and could increase carbon sequestration (Holland 2004). Reduced tillage also may improve water retention and reduce soil erosion (Berner et al 2008). One of the main drawbacks of the reduced tillage practices is the potential increase of weed infestation and changes in weed species composition, sometimes to the benefit of species which are more difficult to control, such as perennial and grass species (Peigné et al 2007; Teasdale et al 2007; Sans et al 2011). Organic farmers commonly keep weeds under control by ploughing and by post-emergence mechanical methods, and by indirect means such as appropriate crop rotation including e.g. gras-clover. For this reason, weed management under reduced tillage conditions is expected to be more challenging in organics systems. In this study, we present the results on weed abundance and community composition in a nine-year old long-term experiment under conventional and reduced tillage

Raman and fluorescence contributions to resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering on LaAlO3_3/SrTiO3_3 heterostructures

We present a detailed study of the Ti 3$d$ carriers at the interface of LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ heterostructures by high-resolution resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS), with special focus on the roles of overlayer thickness and oxygen vacancies. Our measurements show the existence of interfacial Ti 3$d$ electrons already below the critical thickness for conductivity and an increase of the total interface charge up to a LaAlO$_3$ overlayer thickness of 6 unit cells before it levels out. By comparing stoichiometric and oxygen deficient samples we observe strong Ti 3$d$ charge carrier doping by oxygen vacancies. The RIXS data combined with photoelectron spectroscopy and transport measurements indicate the simultaneous presence of localized and itinerant charge carriers. However, it is demonstrated that the relative amount of localized and itinerant Ti $3d$ electrons in the ground state cannot be deduced from the relative intensities of the Raman and fluorescence peaks in excitation energy dependent RIXS measurements, in contrast to previous interpretations. Rather, we attribute the observation of either the Raman or the fluorescence signal to the spatial extension of the intermediate state reached in the RIXS excitation process.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

The measurement of primary productivity in a high-rate oxidation pond (HROP)

A high-rate oxidation pond is studied as a model system for comparing 14C and oxygen evolution methods as tools for measuring primary productivity in hypertrophic aquatic systems. Our results indicate that at very dense algal populations (up to 5 mg chl. a l−1) and high photosynthetic rates, 14C based results may severely underestimate primary productivity, unless a way is found to keep incubation times very short. Results obtained with our oxygen electrode were almost an order of magnitude higher than those obtained by all 14C procedures. These higher values correspond fairly well with a field-tested computer-simulation model, as well as with direct harvest data obtained at the same pond when operated under similar conditions. The examination of the size-fractionation of the photosynthetic activity underscored the important contribution of nannoplanktonic algae to the total production of the syste

Profiling the interface electron gas of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The conducting interface of LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ heterostructures has been studied by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. From the Ti~2$p$ signal and its angle-dependence we derive that the thickness of the electron gas is much smaller than the probing depth of 4 nm and that the carrier densities vary with increasing number of LaAlO$_3$ overlayers. Our results point to an electronic reconstruction in the LaAlO$_3$ overlayer as the driving mechanism for the conducting interface and corroborate the recent interpretation of the superconducting ground state as being of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Personal Genome Project-UK, an open access resource of human multi-omics data

Integrative analysis of multi-omics data is a powerful approach for gaining functional insights into biological and medical processes. Conducting these multifaceted analyses on human samples is often complicated by the fact that the raw sequencing output is rarely available under open access. The Personal Genome Project UK (PGP-UK) is one of few resources that recruits its participants under open consent and makes the resulting multi-omics data freely and openly available. As part of this resource, we describe the PGP-UK multi-omics reference panel consisting of ten genomic, methylomic and transcriptomic data. Specifically, we outline the data processing, quality control and validation procedures which were implemented to ensure data integrity and exclude sample mix-ups. In addition, we provide a REST API to facilitate the download of the entire PGP-UK dataset. The data are also available from two cloud-based environments, providing platforms for free integrated analysis. In conclusion, the genotype-validated PGP-UK multi-omics human reference panel described here provides a valuable new open access resource for integrated analyses in support of personal and medical genomics

Combinatorics of Open Covers VI: Selectors for Sequences of Dense Sets

We consider the following two selection principles for topological spaces: [Principle 1:] { For each sequence of dense subsets, there is a sequence of points from the space, the n-th point coming from the n-th dense set, such that this set of points is dense in the space; [Principle 2:]{ For each sequence of dense subsets, there is a sequence of finite sets, the n-th a subset of the n-th dense set, such that the union of these finite sets is dense in the space. We show that for separable metric space X one of these principles holds for the space C_p(X) of realvalued continuous functions equipped with the pointwise convergence topology if, and only if, a corresponding principle holds for a special family of open covers of X. An example is given to show that these equivalences do not hold in general for Tychonoff spaces. It is further shown that these two principles give characterizations for two popular cardinal numbers, and that these two principles are intimately related to an infinite game that was studied by Berner and Juhasz

Observation of individual molecules trapped on a nanostructured insulator

For the first time, ordered polar molecules confined in monolayer-deep rectangular pits produced on an alkali halide surface by electron irradiation have been resolved at room temperature by non-contact atomic force microscopy. Molecules self-assemble in a specific fashion inside pits of width smaller than 15 nm. By contrast no ordered aggregates of molecules are observed on flat terraces. Conclusions regarding nucleation and ordering mechanisms are drawn. Trapping in pits as small as 2 nm opens a route to address single molecules