Coal-rock interface detector

A coal-rock interface detector is presented which employs a radioactive source and radiation sensor. The source and sensor are separately and independently suspended and positioned against a mine surface of hydraulic pistons, which are biased from an air cushioned source of pressurized hydraulic fluid

Design study for lunar exploration hand tools first quarterly report

Design study of lunar exploration hand tools for lunar geological and environmental program - first quarterly design repor

Design study for lunar exploration hand tools second quarterly report

Design study of lunar exploration hand tools for lunar geological and environmental program - second quarterly design repor

Design study for lunar exploration hand tools Third quarterly report

Powered geologist tool and auxiliary geological sampling hand tools for use in lunar exploratio

Apollo Lunar Surface Drill (ALSD) Final Report

Design and development of Apollo lunar surface drill systems to be used for emplacement of lunar subsurface heat flow probe

Lunar rock coring device design study Final report

Lunar rock drilling device for extracting core sample

Collective Fluorescence Enhancement In Nanoparticle Clusters

Many nanoscale systems are known to emit light intermittently under continuous illumination. In the fluorescence of single semiconductor nanoparticles, the distributions of bright and dark periods (\u27on\u27 and \u27off\u27 times) follow Levy statistics. Although fluorescence from single-quantum dots and from macroscopic quantum dot ensembles has been studied, there has been little study of fluorescence from small ensembles. Here we show that blinking nanorods (NRs) interact with each other in a cluster, and the interactions affect the blinking statistics. The on-times in the fluorescence of a NR cluster increase dramatically; in a cluster with N NRs, the maximum on-time increases by a factor of N or more compared with the combined signal from N well-separated NRs. Our study emphasizes the use of statistical properties in identifying the collective dynamics. The scaling of this interaction-induced increase of on-times with number of NRs reveals a novel collective effect at the nanoscale

Regeneration of Old Ungrazed Old Man Saltbush (\u3ci\u3eAtriplex nummularia\u3c/i\u3e) Stands in South-West Australia

Many old man saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) stands were sown in the grainbelt of Western Australia for soil regeneration and salinity management up to 25 years ago, but have not been effectively grazed subsequently, such that the main feed available for sheep is above grazing height. The aim of the study was therefore to see if it was possible to return the old man saltbush stands to a productive grazing stand. Two sites were chosen that had been sown up to 25 years previously in Goomalling and Corrigin, in the south-west of Western Australia. The sites were split into four treatments that would reduce the height of the stands and bring all grazing material back to less than 1.2 m (the maximum grazing height for sheep in Australia); cutting to 0.5 m, cutting to 1 m, rolling to ground level, and a uncut control. Available feed above and below 1.2 m was assessed before cutting or rolling and then four times over the next two years. The results found that all three treatments removed feed above 1.2 m and that after 2 years the amount of feed below 1.2 m was increasing. The greatest feed available below 1.2 m was in the rolled treatment, followed by cutting to 0.5 m. Cutting old man saltbush stands to 1 m provides greater feed on the plants after cutting, but within one year of cutting some of the new feed is already above grazing height. It is concluded there is potential to return old established stands of old man saltbush to a productive grazing stand

Viral proteins expressed in the protozoan parasite Eimeria tenella are detected by the chicken immune system

BACKGROUND: Eimeria species are parasitic protozoa that cause coccidiosis, an intestinal disease commonly characterised by malabsorption, diarrhoea and haemorrhage that is particularly important in chickens. Vaccination against chicken coccidiosis is effective using wild-type or attenuated live parasite lines. The development of protocols to express foreign proteins in Eimeria species has opened up the possibility of using Eimeria live vaccines to deliver heterologous antigens and function as multivalent vaccine vectors that could protect chickens against a range of pathogens. RESULTS: In this study, genetic complementation was used to express immunoprotective virus antigens in Eimeria tenella. Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) causes Gumboro, an immunosuppressive disease that affects productivity and can interfere with the efficacy of poultry vaccination programmes. Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) causes a highly transmissible respiratory disease for which strong cellular immunity and antibody responses are required for effective vaccination. Genes encoding the VP2 protein from a very virulent strain of IBDV (vvVP2) and glycoprotein I from ILTV (gI) were cloned downstream of 5’Et-Actin or 5’Et-TIF promoter regions in plasmids that also contained a mCitrine fluorescent reporter cassette under control of the 5’Et-MIC1 promoter. The plasmids were introduced by nucleofection into E. tenella sporozoites, which were then used to infect chickens. Progeny oocysts were sorted by FACS and passaged several times in vivo until the proportion of fluorescent parasites in each transgenic population reached ~20 % and the number of transgene copies per parasite genome decreased to < 10. All populations were found to transcribe and express the transgene and induced the generation of low titre, transgene-specific antibodies when used to immunise chickens. CONCLUSIONS: E. tenella can express antigens of other poultry pathogens that are successfully recognised by the chicken immune system. Nonetheless, further work has to be done in order to improve the levels of expression for its future use as a multivalent vaccine vector. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1756-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Internal Flows in Free Drops (IFFD)

Within the framework of an Earth-based research task investigating the internal flows within freely levitated drops, a low-gravity technology development experiment has been designed and carried out within the NASA Glovebox facility during the STS-83 and STS-94 Shuttle flights (MSL-1 mission). The goal was narrowly defined as the assessment of the capabilities of a resonant single-axis ultrasonic levitator to stably position free drops in the Shuttle environment with a precision required for the detailed measurement of internal flows. The results of this entirely crew-operated investigation indicate that the approach is fundamentally sound, but also that the ultimate stability of the positioning is highly dependent on the residual acceleration characteristic of the Spacecraft, and to a certain extent, on the initial drop deployment of the drop. The principal results are: the measured dependence of the residual drop rotation and equilibrium drop shape on the ultrasonic power level, the experimental evaluation of the typical drop translational stability in a realistic low-gravity environment, and the semi-quantitative evaluation of background internal flows within quasi-isothermal drops. Based on these results, we conclude that the successful design of a full-scale Microgravity experiment is possible, and would allow accurate the measurement of thermocapillary flows within transparent drops. The need has been demonstrated, however, for the capability for accurately deploying the drop, for a quiescent environment, and for precise mechanical adjustments of the levitator