Fluid logic devices: a review

Background study of work connected with this report entailed the collection of a large number of specialised and general technical publications concerning the techniques and applications of fluid computing. General conclusions from these investigations are that, in Russia and America, this science is very advanced and considered to be of great significance, especially where pure fluid logic devices are concerned. The purpose of this survey is to enable the reader to assess the quality and magnitude of work done by other academic institutions, and also to show with what importance this science is viewed elsewhere. It must be realized, however, that general description and discussion of available bibliography is the only assessment possible, as work of a military nature has not been released

Position transducers for numerically controlled machine tools

The paper covers the basic text book theory of all forms of position transducer used on commercial numerically controlled machine tools. Some attempt is made to categorise and indicate the scope and usage of these devices. The descriptions deliberately set out to explain this essentially electrical topic in a manner not requiring expert electrical knowledge

Ammonia Imaging of the Disks in the NGC 1333 IRAS 4A Protobinary System

The NGC 1333 IRAS 4A protobinary was observed in the ammonia (2, 2) and (3, 3) lines and in the 1.3 cm continuum with a high resolution (about 1.0 arcsec). The ammonia maps show two compact sources, one for each protostar, and they are probably protostellar accretion disks. The disk associated with IRAS 4A2 is seen nearly edge-on and shows an indication of rotation. The A2 disk is brighter in the ammonia lines but dimmer in the dust continuum than its sibling disk, with the ammonia-to-dust flux ratios different by about an order of magnitude. This difference suggests that the twin disks have surprisingly dissimilar characters, one gas-rich and the other dusty. The A2 disk may be unusually active or hot, as indicated by its association with water vapor masers. The existence of two very dissimilar disks in a binary system suggests that the formation process of multiple systems has a controlling agent lacking in the isolated star formation process and that stars belonging to a multiple system do not necessarily evolve in phase with each other

Automatic assembly design project 1968/9: report of technical survey committee

An Industrial survey has been carried out to determine the desired features of an automatic as machine. A questionnaire was circulated to industry and the results of the 38% response obtained were analysed and plotted. From these, conclusions were drawn as to the industrial requirements of an assembly machine

Hydrogen Isocyanide in Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Fragment B)

We present a sensitive 3-sigma upper limit of 1.1% for the HNC/HCN abundance ratio in comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (Fragment B), obtained on May 10-11, 2006 using Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). This limit is a factor of ~7 lower than the values measured previously in moderately active comets at 1 AU from the Sun. Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann was depleted in most volatile species, except of HCN. The low HNC/HCN ratio thus argues against HNC production from polymers produced from HCN. However, thermal degradation of macromolecules, or polymers, produced from ammonia and carbon compounds, such as acetylene, methane, or ethane appears a plausible explanation for the observed variations of the HNC/HCN ratio in moderately active comets, including the very low ratio in comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann reported here. Similar polymers have been invoked previously to explain anomalous 14N/15N ratios measured in cometary CN.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Nitrogen superfractionation in dense cloud cores

We report new calculations of interstellar 15N fractionation. Previously, we have shown that large enhancements of 15N/14N can occur in cold, dense gas where CO is frozen out, but that the existence of an NH + N channel in the dissociative recombination of N2H+ severely curtails the fractionation. In the light of recent experimental evidence that this channel is in fact negligible, we have reassessed the 15N chemistry in dense cloud cores. We consider the effects of temperatures below 10 K, and of the presence of large amounts of atomic nitrogen. We also show how the temporal evolution of gas-phase isotope ratios is preserved as spatial heterogeneity in ammonia ice mantles, as monolayers deposited at different times have different isotopic compositions. We demonstrate that the upper layers of this ice may have 15N/14N ratios an order of magnitude larger than the underlying elemental value. Converting our ratios to delta-values, we obtain delta(15N) > 3,000 per mil in the uppermost layer, with values as high as 10,000 per mil in some models. We suggest that this material is the precursor to the 15N `hotspots' recently discovered in meteorites and IDPsComment: accepted by MNRA

Pathways to Meteoritic Glycine and Methylamine

Glycine and methylamine are meteoritic water-soluble organic compounds that provide insights into the processes that occurred before, during, and after the formation of the Solar System. Both glycine and methylamine and many of their potential synthetic precursors have been studied in astrophysical environments via observations, laboratory experiments, and modeling. Despite these studies, the synthetic mechanisms for their formation leading to their occurrence in meteorites remain poorly understood. Typical 13C-isotopic values (13C) of meteoritic glycine and methylamine are 13C-enriched relative to their terrestrial counterparts; thus, analyses of their stable carbon isotopic compositions (13C/12C) may be used not only to assess terrestrial contamination in meteorites but also to provide information about their synthetic routes inside the parent body. Here, we examine potential synthetic routes of glycine and methylamine from a common set of precursors present in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, using data from laboratory analyses of the well-studied CM2 Murchison meteorite. Several synthetic mechanisms for the origins of glycine and methylamine found in carbonaceous chondrites may be possible, and the prevalence of these mechanisms will largely depend on (a) the molecular abundance of the precursor molecules and (b) the levels of processing (aqueous and thermal) that occurred inside the parent body. In this work, we also aim to contextualize the current knowledge about gas-phase reactions and irradiated ice grain chemistry for the synthesis of these species through parent body processes. Our evaluation of various mechanisms for the origins of meteoritic glycine and methylamine from simple species shows what work is still needed to evaluate both the abundances and isotopic compositions of simpler precursor molecules from carbonaceous chondrites as well as the effects of parent body processes on those abundances and isotopic compositions. The analyses presented here combined with the indicated measurements will aid a better interpretation of quantitative analysis of reaction rates, molecular stability, and distribution of organic products from laboratory simulations of interstellar ices, astronomical observations, and theoretical modeling

Protection, interlocks and diagnostics

When designing any power converter it is essential to assess and incorporate adequate protection. The main objective is to offer a solution which is safe, reliable and repairable and that achieves its specification within budget. The level of protection found within each converter varies widely and will depend on the topology employed, its application and rating. This document is a guide to the types of protection engineers should consider mainly when designing power converters, as protection added during construction or after installation will always be expensive