Mechanical design of NASA Ames Research Center vertical motion simulator

NASA has designed and is constructing a new flight simulator with large vertical travel. Several aspects of the mechanical design of this Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) are discussed, including the multiple rack and pinion vertical drive, a pneumatic equilibration system, and the friction-damped rigid link catenaries used as cable supports

The Scrounge-atron: a phased approach to the Advanced Hydrotest Facility utilizing proton radiography

The Department of Energy has initiated its Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program (SSMP) to provide a single, integrated technical program for maintaining the continued safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of nuclear testing. Consistent with the SSMP, the Advanced Hydrotest Facility (AHF) has been conceived to provide improved radiographic imaging with multiple axes and multiple time frames. The AHF would be used to better understand the evolution of nuclear weapon primary implosion shape under normal and accident scenarios. There are three fundamental technologies currently under consideration for use on the AHF. These include linear induction acceleration, inductive-adder pulsed-power technology (both technologies using high current electron beams to produce an intense X-ray beam) and high-energy proton accelerators to produce a proton beam. The Scrounge-atron (a proton synchrotron) was conceived to be a relatively low cost demonstration of the viability of the third technology using bursts of energetic protons, magnetic lenses, and particle detectors to produce the radiographic image. In order for the Scrounge-atron to provide information useful for the AHF technology decision, the accelerator would have to be built as quickly and as economically as possible. These conditions can be met by "scrounging" parts from decommissioned accelerators across the country, especially the Main Ring at Fermilab. The Scrounge-atron is designed to meet the baseline parameters for single axis proton radiography: a 20 GeV proton beam of ten pulses, 10 degrees protons each, spaced 250 ns apart. (2 refs)

Cutting fluid study for single crystal silicon

An empirical study was conducted to evaluate cutting fluids for Single Point Diamond Turning (SPDT) of single crystal silicon. The pH of distilled waster was adjusted with various additives the examine the effect of pH on cutting operations. Fluids which seemed to promote ductile cutting appeared to increase tool wear as well, an undesirable tradeoff. High Ph sodium hydroxide solutions showed promise for further research, as they yielded the best combination of reduced tool wear and good surface finish in the ductile regime. Negative rake tools were verified to improve the surface finish, but the negative rake tools used in the experiments also showed much higher wear than conventional 0{degree} rake tools. Effects of crystallographic orientation on SPDT, such as star patterns of fracture damage forming near the center of the samples, were observed to decrease with lower feedrates. Silicon chips were observed and photographed, indicative of a ductile materials removal process

Wearable near-infrared optical probe for continuous monitoring during breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy infusions

We present a new continuous-wave wearable diffuse optical probe aimed at investigating the hemodynamic response of locally advanced breast cancer patients during neoadjuvant chemotherapy infusions. The system consists of a flexible printed circuit board that supports an array of six dual wavelength surface-mount LED and photodiode pairs. The probe is encased in a soft silicone housing that conforms to natural breast shape. Probe performance was evaluated using tissue-simulating phantoms and in vivo normal volunteer measurements. High SNR (71 dB), low source-detector crosstalk (−60  dB), high measurement precision (0.17%), and good thermal stability (0.22% Vrms/°C) were achieved in phantom studies. A cuff occlusion experiment was performed on the forearm of a healthy volunteer to demonstrate the ability to track rapid hemodynamic changes. Proof-of-principle normal volunteer measurements were taken to demonstrate the ability to collect continuous in vivo breast measurements. This wearable probe is a first of its kind tool to explore prognostic hemodynamic changes during chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

Circular waveguide systems for electron-cyclotron-resonant heating of the tandem mirror experiment-upgrade

Extensive use of electron cyclotron resonant heating (ECRH) in the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) requires continuous development of components to improve efficiency, increase reliability, and deliver power to new locations with respect to the plasma. We have used rectangular waveguide components on the experiment and have developed, tested, and installed circular waveguide components. We replaced the rectangular with the circular components because of the greater transmission efficiency and power-handling capability of the circular ones. Design, fabrication, and testing of all components are complete for all systems. In this paper we describe the design criteria for the system

Design and fabrication of circular and rectangular components for electron-cyclotron-resonant heating of tandem mirror experiment-upgrade

The electron-cyclotron-resonant heating (ECRH) systems of rectangular waveguides on Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) operated with a overall efficiency of 50%, each system using a 28-GHz, 200-kW pulsed gyrotron. We designed and built four circular-waveguide systems with greater efficiency and greater power-handling capabilities to replace the rectangular waveguides. Two of these circular systems, at the 5-kG second-harmonic heating locations, have a total transmission efficiency of >90%. The two systems at the 10-kG fundamental heating locations have a total transmission efficiency of 80%. The difference in efficiency is due to the additional components required to launch the microwaves in the desired orientation and polarization with respect to magnetic-field lines at the 10-kG points. These systems handle the total power available from each gyrotron but do not have the arcing limitation problem of the rectangular waveguide. Each system requires several complex components. The overall physical layout and the design considerations for the rectangular and circular waveguide components are described here

The scrounge-atron: a proton radiography demonstration accelerator

The Scrounge-atron is a concept that could provide a demonstration accelerator for proton radiography. As discussed here, the Scrounge-atron would be capable of providing a 20 GeV beam of ten pulses, 10{sup 11} protons each, spaced 250 ns apart. This beam could be delivered once every minute to a single-axis radiographic station centered at the BEEF facility of the Nevada Test Site. These parameters would be sufficient to demonstrate, in five years, the capabilities of a proton-based Advanced Hydrotest Facility, and could return valuable information to the stockpile program, information that could not be obtained in any other way. The Scrounge-atron could be built in two to three years for $50-100 million. To meet this schedule and cost, the Scrounge-atron would rely heavily on the availability of components from the decommissioned Fermilab Main Ring

Novel assay reveals a large, inducible, replication-competent HIV-1 reservoir in resting CD4+ T cells.

Although antiretroviral therapy can suppress HIV-1 infection to undetectable levels of plasma viremia, integrated latent HIV-1 genomes that encode replication-competent virus persist in resting CD4+ T cells. This latent HIV-1 reservoir represents a major barrier to a cure. Currently, there are substantial efforts to identify therapeutic approaches that will eliminate or reduce the size of this latent HIV-1 reservoir. In this regard, a sensitive assay that can accurately and rapidly quantify inducible, replication-competent latent HIV-1 from resting CD4+ T cells is essential for HIV-1 eradication studies. Here we describe a reporter cell-based assay to quantify inducible, replication-competent latent HIV-1. This assay has several advantages over existing technology in that it (i) is sensitive; (ii) requires only a small blood volume; (iii) is faster, less labor intensive, and less expensive; and (iv) can be readily adapted into a high-throughput format. Using this assay, we show that the size of the inducible latent HIV-1 reservoir in aviremic participants on therapy is approximately 70-fold larger than previous estimates