A New Nearctic Triclistus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

[excerpt] When Townes and Townes (1959) revised the genus Triclistus along with the rest of the Nearctic Metopiinae, they decided not to describe what was thought likely to be an additional new species, because only one male specimen was known. More recently, additional specimens, both males and females, were collected. From the females, which are even more distinctive than the males, it was easily seen that the species described below is indeed a new one

Infinitesimal Variations of Hodge Structure at Infinity

By analyzing the local and infinitesimal behavior of degenerating polarized variations of Hodge structure the notion of infinitesimal variation of Hodge structure at infinity is introduced. It is shown that all such structures can be integrated to polarized variations of Hodge structure and that, conversely, all are limits of infinitesimal variations of Hodge structure (IVHS) at finite points. As an illustration of the rich information encoded in this new structure, some instances of the maximal dimension problem for this type of infinitesimal variation are presented and contrasted with the "classical" case of IVHS at finite points

A study of the sonic-boom characteristics of a blunt body at a Mach number of 4.14

An experimental and theoretical study has shown that the applicability of far-field sonic-boom theory previously demonstrated for more slender shapes may now be extended to bodies with ratios of diameter to length as great as 2 and to Mach numbers at least as high as 4.14. This finding is of special significance in view of the limitations to the use of existing methods for the extrapolation of close-in experimental data

Estimation of wing nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics at supersonic speeds

A computational system for estimation of nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics of wings at supersonic speeds was developed and was incorporated in a computer program. This corrected linearized theory method accounts for nonlinearities in the variation of basic pressure loadings with local surface slopes, predicts the degree of attainment of theoretical leading edge thrust, and provides an estimate of detached leading edge vortex loadings that result when the theoretical thrust forces are not fully realized

Energy efficient engine high pressure turbine ceramic shroud support technology report

This work represents the development and fabrication of ceramic HPT (high pressure turbine) shrouds for the Energy Efficient Engine (E3). Details are presented covering the work performed on the ceramic shroud development task of the NASA/GE Energy Efficient Engine (E3) component development program. The task consists of four phases which led to the selection of a ZrO2-BY2O3 ceramic shroud material system, the development of an automated plasma spray process to produce acceptable shroud structures, the fabrication of select shroud systems for evaluation in laboratory, component, and CF6-50 engine testing, and finally, the successful fabrication of ZrO2-8Y2O3/superpeg, engine quality shrouds for the E3 engine

Sm-Nd isotopic systematics of the ancient Gneiss complex, southern Africa

In order to shed some new light on the question of the absolute and relative ages of the Ancient Gneiss Complex and Onverwacht Group, a Sm-Nd whole-rock and mineral isochron study of the AGC was begun. At this point, the whole-rock study of samples from the Bimodal Suite selected from those studied for their geochemical characteristics by Hunter et al., is completed. These results and their implications for the chronologic evolution of the Kaapvaal craton and the sources of these ancient rocks are discussed

Supersonic wings with significant leading-edge thrust at cruise

Experimental/theoretical correlations are presented which show that significant levels of leading edge thrust are possible at supersonic speeds for certain planforms which match the theoretical thrust distribution potential with the supporting airfoil geometry. The analytical process employed spanwise distribution of both it and/or that component of full theoretical thrust which acts as vortex lift. Significantly improved aerodynamic performance in the moderate supersonic speed regime is indicated

Quantum Monte Carlo Calculations of A≤6A\leq6 Nuclei

The energies of $^{3}H$, $^{3}He$, and $^{4}He$ ground states, the ${\frac{3}{2}}^{-}$ and ${\frac{1}{2}}^{-}$ scattering states of $^{5}He$, the ground states of $^{6}He$, $^{6}Li$, and $^{6}Be$ and the $3^{+}$ and $0^{+}$ excited states of $^{6}Li$ have been accurately calculated with the Green's function Monte Carlo method using realistic models of two- and three-nucleon interactions. The splitting of the $A=3$ isospin $T=\frac{1}{2}$ and $A=6$ isospin $T=1$, $J^{\pi} = 0^{+}$ multiplets is also studied. The observed energies and radii are generally well reproduced, however, some definite differences between theory and experiment can be identified.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Lazarus ecology: Recovering the distribution and migratory patterns of the extinct Carolina parakeet.

The study of the ecology and natural history of species has traditionally ceased when a species goes extinct, despite the benefit to current and future generations of potential findings. We used the extinct Carolina parakeet as a case study to develop a framework investigating the distributional limits, subspecific variation, and migratory habits of this species as a means to recover important information about recently extinct species. We united historical accounts with museum collections to develop an exhaustive, comprehensive database of every known occurrence of this once iconic species. With these data, we combined species distribution models and ordinal niche comparisons to confront multiple conjectured hypotheses about the parakeet's ecology with empirical data on where and when this species occurred. Our results demonstrate that the Carolina parakeet's range was likely much smaller than previously believed, that the eastern and western subspecies occupied different climatic niches with broad geographical separation, and that the western subspecies was likely a seasonal migrant while the eastern subspecies was not. This study highlights the novelty and importance of collecting occurrence data from published observations on extinct species, providing a starting point for future investigations of the factors that drove the Carolina parakeet to extinction. Moreover, the recovery of lost autecological knowledge could benefit the conservation of other parrot species currently in decline and would be crucial to the success of potential de-extinction efforts for the Carolina parakeet

Estimation of attainable leading-edge thrust for wings at subsonic and supersonic speeds

The factors which place limits on the theoretical leading edge thrust are identified. An empirical method for the estimation of attainable thrust is presented. The method is based on the use of simple sweep theory to permit a two dimensional analysis, the use of theoretical airfoil programs to define thrust dependence on local geometric characteristics, and the examination of experimental two dimensional airfoil data to define limitations imposed by local Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers. Comparisons of theoretical and experimental aerodynamic characteristics for a series of wing body configurations are examined