Investigation of reactivity of launch vehicle materials with liquid oxygen Quarterly report, 23 Jul. - 22 Oct. 1968

Reactivity of launch vehicle organic materials with liquid oxyge

Advanced subsonic transport propulsion

A brief review of the current NASA Energy Efficient Engine (E(3)) Project is presented. Included in this review are the factors that influenced the design of these turbofan engines and the advanced technology incorporated in them to reduce fuel consumption and improve environmental characteristics. In addition, factors such as the continuing spiral in fuel cost, that could influence future aircraft propulsion systems beyond those represented by the E(3) engines, are also discussed. Advanced technologies that will address these influencing factors and provide viable future propulsion systems are described. The potential importance of other propulsion system types, such as geared fans and turboshaft engines, is presented

Investigation of Reactivity of Launch Vehicle Materials with Liquid Oxygen

Impact sensitivity and ignition mechanism of organic compounds in liquid oxygen correlated with chemical and physical propertie

The case for grazing dairy cows

The case for grazing dairy cows at pasture is reviewed in six categories: i) Optimal land use for food production; ii) Soil carbon sequestration; iii) Carbon footprint; iv) Animal health and welfare; v) Effects on human health of milk produced from grazed pasture; vi) Consumer demand for milk from grazed cows. Land best-suited to grazing is uncultivatable peaty soil receiving relatively low levels of fertilisation. With soil carbon sequestration, carbon footprint is lower for grazing than for other systems of milk production. Some indices of animal health and welfare (e.g. lameness, status of hock integument) are influenced positively by extent of grazing. Benefits to human health may accrue from higher levels of essential amino acids, carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid in milk from cows given pasture compared to diets based on silage and concentrates. Milk producers, processors and supermarkets are responding to consumer demand for milk and milk products from cows given access to pasture during the grazing season. The major constraint to milk production from grazing is energy intake. Research opportunities to address this constraint include application of remote sensing and artificial intelligence to grazing managemen

Do patient access schemes for high-cost cancer drugs deliver value to society?-lessons from the NHS Cancer Drugs Fund.

BACKGROUND: The NHS Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) was established in 2010 to reduce delays and improve access to cancer drugs, including those that had been previously appraised but not approved by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence). After 1.3 billion GBP expenditure, a UK parliamentary review in 2016 rationalized the CDF back into NICE. METHODS: This paper analyses the potential value delivered by the CDF according to six value criteria. This includes validated clinical benefits scales, cost-effectiveness criteria as defined by NICE and an assessment of real-world data. The analysis focuses on 29 cancer drugs approved for 47 indications that could be prescribed through the CDF in January 2015. RESULTS: Of the 47 CDF approved indications, only 18 (38%) reported a statistically significant OS benefit, with an overall median survival of 3.1 months (1.4-15.7 months). When assessed according to clinical benefit scales, only 23 (48%) and 9 (18%) of the 47 drug indications met ASCO and ESMO criteria, respectively. NICE had previously rejected 26 (55%) of the CDF approved indications because they did not meet cost-effectiveness thresholds. Four drugs-bevacizumab, cetuximab, everolimus and lapatinib-represented the bulk of CDF applications and were approved for a total of 18 separate indications. Thirteen of these indications were subsequently delisted by the CDF in January 2015 due to insufficient evidence for clinical benefit-data which were unchanged since their initial approval. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude the CDF has not delivered meaningful value to patients or society. There is no empirical evidence to support a 'drug only' ring fenced cancer fund relative to concomitant investments in other cancer domains such as surgery and radiotherapy, or other noncancer medicines. Reimbursement decisions for all drugs and interventions within cancer care should be made through appropriate health technology appraisal processes

Constraints on the Intergalactic Transport of Cosmic Rays

Motivated by recent experimental proposals to search for extragalactic cosmic rays (including anti-matter from distant galaxies), we study particle propagation through the intergalactic medium (IGM). We first use estimates of the magnetic field strength between galaxies to constrain the mean free path for diffusion of particles through the IGM. We then develop a simple analytic model to describe the diffusion of cosmic rays. Given the current age of galaxies, our results indicate that, in reasonable models, a completely negligible number of particles can enter our Galaxy from distances greater than $\sim 100$ Mpc for relatively low energies ($E$ $< 10^6$ GeV/n). We also find that particle destruction in galaxies along the diffusion path produces an exponential suppression of the possible flux of extragalactic cosmic rays. Finally, we use gamma ray constraints to argue that the distance to any hypothetical domains of anti-matter must be roughly comparable to the horizon scale.Comment: 24 pages, AAS LaTex, 1 figure, accepted to Ap

Space Use, Daily Movements, and Roosting Behavior of Male Wild Turkeys During Spring in Louisiana and Texas

Because wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are an important game species and turkey hunter numbers are increasing, the need for better information on how turkeys use their environment is critical. With the recent advent of GPS technology suitable for use on wild turkeys, we are now able to collect data on a scale not previously possible. We used backpack style GPS units to detail home range and core area sizes, daily movement distances, and roosting characteristics of male Eastern (M. g. silvestris) and Rio Grande (M. g. intermedia) wild turkeys in Louisiana and Texas. Mean home range size was larger in Louisiana (383 ha) than in Texas (270 ha), and mean distance between consecutive roost sites was farther in Louisiana (803 m) than in Texas (211 m). However, average daily distance traveled was shorter in Louisiana (3725 m) than in Texas (4608 m). The mean distance between consecutive roost sites was 803m in Louisiana and 211m in Texas. Our findings suggest that space use and daily movements of male wild turkeys vary little from Eastern to Rio Grande, but that roosting habits and movements associated with roosting differ strongly. Managers should recognize that availability of roost sites may greatly influence daily movements and behavior of Rio Grande wild turkeys but may have limited impacts on Eastern wild turkeys

Synorogenic evolution of large-scale drainage patterns: Isotope paleohydrology of sequential Laramide basins

In the past decade, we and others have compiled an extensive dataset of O, C and Sr isotope stratigraphies from sedimentary basins throughout the Paleogene North American Cordillera. In this study, we present new results from the Piceance Creek Basin of northwest Colorado, which record the evolving hydrology of the Eocene Green River Lake system. We then place the new data in the context of the broader Cordilleran dataset and summarize implications for understanding the synorogenic evolution of large-scale drainage patterns. The combined data reflect (1) a period of throughgoing foreland rivers heading in the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt and flowing east, (2) ponding of freshwater lakes in the foredeep as Laramide uplifts blocked drainage, (3) hydrologic closure that led to both intensive evaporation in the terminal sink of the Piceance Creek Basin and integration of catchments over length-scales \u3e1000 km, (4) infilling of basin accommodation by southward migrating magmatism in distal catchments, leading to the freshening and demise of intraforeland lakes that also stepped south over time

Highly efficient aqueous phase reduction of nitroarenes catalyzed by phosphine-decorated polymer immobilized ionic liquid stabilized PdNPs

Palladium nanoparticles stabilized by lightly cross-linked phosphine-decorated polymer immobilized ionic liquids (PIIL) and their PEGylated counterparts (PEGPIIL) are highly effective catalysts for the aqueous phase hydrogenation and sodium borohydride-based reduction of a wide range of nitroaromatic and heteroaromatic compounds under mild conditions with low catalyst loadings. Introduction of extensive cross-linking with tris(4-vinylphenyl)phosphine to isolate the phosphine-based heteroatom and limit the number of surface Pd⋯P interactions did not have a significant influence on catalyst performance. Comparative testing revealed PdNPs immobilized on lightly cross-linked phsophine-decoarted PEGylated polymer to be a highly efficient catalyst for the aqueous phase reduction of nitroarenes with a TON of 36 000 (TOF = 2580 h−1) for hydrogenation and a TON of 274 000 (TOF = 17 125 h−1) for transfer hydrogenation. Even though these reactions occur under diffusion control due the poor solubility of the substrate these values are the highest to be reported for the room temperature aqueous phase reduction of nitroarenes catalyzed by a nanoparticle-based system. A continuous flow reduction of nitrobenzene in a packed bed reactor operated over a period of 250 min with no sign of catalyst deactivation and the corresponding space-time-yield of 0.738 g L−1 min−1 is a marked improvement on that of 0.384 g L−1 min−1 obtained in batch. The same system also catalyzes a tandem Suzuki–Miyaura cross coupling-nitroarene reduction sequence to afford high yields of biaryl amine in an operationally straightforward single-pot procedure. This is a highly versatile protocol which will enable the aromatic nitro fragment to be introduced as a nitro-substituted aryl or heteroaryl halide and as such will lend itself to rapid diversification for the synthesis of a wide range of amines