Adhesive coating eliminated in new honeycomb-core fabrication process

Technique eliminates use of silicone-based adhesive material as bonding medium. Adhesive requires precise time-temperature cure. Prepreg resin is used as bonding medium, and each layer is laminated together to form honeycomb billet. Process can be used in any application where nonmetallic honeycomb core is being fabricated

Energy efficient engine high-pressure turbine single crystal vane and blade fabrication technology report

The objective of the High-Pressure Turbine Fabrication Program was to demonstrate the application and feasibility of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft-developed two-piece, single crystal casting and bonding technology on the turbine blade and vane configurations required for the high-pressure turbine in the Energy Efficient Engine. During the first phase of the program, casting feasibility was demonstrated. Several blade and vane halves were made for the bonding trials, plus solid blades and vanes were successfully cast for materials evaluation tests. Specimens exhibited the required microstructure and chemical composition. Bonding feasibility was demonstrated in the second phase of the effort. Bonding yields of 75 percent for the vane and 30 percent for the blade were achieved, and methods for improving these yield percentages were identified. A bond process was established for PWA 1480 single crystal material which incorporated a transient liquid phase interlayer. Bond properties were substantiated and sensitivities determined. Tooling die materials were identified, and an advanced differential thermal expansion tooling concept was incorporated into the bond process

Quasi-Periodic Pulsations during the Impulsive and Decay phases of an X-class Flare

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) are often observed in X-ray emission from solar flares. To date, it is unclear what their physical origins are. Here, we present a multi-instrument investigation of the nature of QPP during the impulsive and decay phases of the X1.0 flare of 28 October 2013. We focus on the character of the fine structure pulsations evident in the soft X-ray time derivatives and compare this variability with structure across multiple wavelengths including hard X-ray and microwave emission. We find that during the impulsive phase of the flare, high correlations between pulsations in the thermal and non-thermal emissions are seen. A characteristic timescale of ~20s is observed in all channels and a second timescale of ~55s is observed in the non-thermal emissions. Soft X-ray pulsations are seen to persist into the decay phase of this flare, up to 20 minutes after the non-thermal emission has ceased. We find that these decay phase thermal pulsations have very small amplitude and show an increase in characteristic timescale from ~40s up to ~70s. We interpret the bursty nature of the co-existing multi-wavelength QPP during the impulsive phase in terms of episodic particle acceleration and plasma heating. The persistent thermal decay phase QPP are most likely connected with compressive MHD processes in the post-flare loops such as the fast sausage mode or the vertical kink mode.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Measurement of Resonance Driving Terms at SPS at 26 GeV

In 2001 a series of experiments has been performed at the SPS at an energy of 26 GeV to measure resonance driving terms. Theory predicts that these terms can be determined by harmonic analysis of BPM data recorded after applying single kicks. This analysis works equally well for linear and non–linear diagnostics of accelerators. Results of the experiments are presented, including a direct measurement of resonance driving terms and a comparison to the theory

Programmed schedule holds for improving launch vehicle holds

Baseline definition and system optimization are used for the analysis of programmed holds developed through prelaunch system analysis. Identification of design specifications for ground support equipment and maintenance concepts, and design specifications are used to describe the functional utilization of the overall flow process

The Sexual health of pupils in years 4 to 6 of primary schools in rural Tanzania

Background/objectives: There is an urgent need for effective interventions to improve the sexual and\ud reproductive health of adolescents. Reliable data on the sexual health of adolescents are needed to guide\ud the development of such interventions. The aim was to describe the sexual health of pupils in years 4 to 6 of\ud 121 rural primary schools in north western Tanzania, before the implementation of an innovative sexual\ud health intervention in 58 of the schools.\ud Methods: A cross sectional survey of primary school pupils in rural Tanzania was carried out. The study\ud population comprised pupils registered in years 4 to 6 of 121 primary schools in 20 rural communities in\ud 1998. Basic demographic information was collected from all pupils seen. Those born before 1 January\ud 1985 (aged approximately 14 years and over) were invited to participate in the survey, and asked about\ud their knowledge and attitudes towards sexual health issues, and their sexual experience. A urine specimen\ud was requested and tested for HIV, Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and, for\ud females, pregnancy.\ud Results: 9283 pupils born before 1 January 1985 were enrolled and provided demographic information\ud and a urine sample. Male pupils were significantly older than females (mean age 15.5 years v 14.8 years,\ud p,0.001), but all other demographic characteristics were similar between the sexes. 14 (0.2%) of the\ud enrolled pupils (four male and 10 female) were HIV positive, 83 (0.9%) were positive for CT, and 12\ud (0.1%) for NG. 32 female pupils (0.8%) were positive by pregnancy test. Sexual experience was reported\ud by one fifth of primary school girls, and by almost half of boys. Only 45/114 (39%) girls with biological\ud markers of sexual activity reported having had sex.\ud Conclusions: HIV, CT, NG, and pregnancy were present though at relatively low levels among pupils in\ud years 4 to 6 of primary school. A high proportion of pupils with a biological marker of sexual activity\ud denied ever having had sex. Alternative ways of collecting sensitive data about the sexual behaviour of\ud school pupils should be explored

Phase Transition in the Number Partitioning Problem

Number partitioning is an NP-complete problem of combinatorial optimization. A statistical mechanics analysis reveals the existence of a phase transition that separates the easy from the hard to solve instances and that reflects the pseudo-polynomiality of number partitioning. The phase diagram and the value of the typical ground state energy are calculated.Comment: minor changes (references, typos and discussion of results

Environmental factors influence both abundance and genetic diversity in a widespread bird species.

Genetic diversity is one of the key evolutionary variables that correlate with population size, being of critical importance for population viability and the persistence of species. Genetic diversity can also have important ecological consequences within populations, and in turn, ecological factors may drive patterns of genetic diversity. However, the relationship between the genetic diversity of a population and how this interacts with ecological processes has so far only been investigated in a few studies. Here, we investigate the link between ecological factors, local population size, and allelic diversity, using a field study of a common bird species, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). We studied sparrows outside the breeding season in a confined small valley dominated by dispersed farms and small-scale agriculture in southern France. Population surveys at 36 locations revealed that sparrows were more abundant in locations with high food availability. We then captured and genotyped 891 house sparrows at 10 microsatellite loci from a subset of these locations (N = 12). Population genetic analyses revealed weak genetic structure, where each locality represented a distinct substructure within the study area. We found that food availability was the main factor among others tested to influence the genetic structure between locations. These results suggest that ecological factors can have strong impacts on both population size per se and intrapopulation genetic variation even at a small scale. On a more general level, our data indicate that a patchy environment and low dispersal rate can result in fine-scale patterns of genetic diversity. Given the importance of genetic diversity for population viability, combining ecological and genetic data can help to identify factors limiting population size and determine the conservation potential of populations

MUSE-inspired view of the quasar Q2059-360, its Lyman alpha blob, and its neighborhood

The radio-quiet quasar Q2059-360 at redshift $z=3.08$ is known to be close to a small Lyman $\alpha$ blob (LAB) and to be absorbed by a proximate damped Ly$\alpha$ (PDLA) system. Here, we present the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) integral field spectroscopy follow-up of this quasi-stellar object (QSO). Our primary goal is to characterize this LAB in detail by mapping it both spatially and spectrally using the Ly$\alpha$ line, and by looking for high-ionization lines to constrain the emission mechanism. Combining the high sensitivity of the MUSE integral field spectrograph mounted on the Yepun telescope at ESO-VLT with the natural coronagraph provided by the PDLA, we map the LAB down to the QSO position, after robust subtraction of QSO light in the spectral domain. In addition to confirming earlier results for the small bright component of the LAB, we unveil a faint filamentary emission protruding to the south over about 80 pkpc (physical kpc); this results in a total size of about 120 pkpc. We derive the velocity field of the LAB (assuming no transfer effects) and map the Ly$\alpha$ line width. Upper limits are set to the flux of the N V $\lambda 1238-1242$, C IV $\lambda 1548-1551$, He II $\lambda 1640$, and C III] $\lambda 1548-1551$ lines. We have discovered two probable Ly$\alpha$ emitters at the same redshift as the LAB and at projected distances of 265 kpc and 207 kpc from the QSO; their Ly$\alpha$ luminosities might well be enhanced by the QSO radiation. We also find an emission line galaxy at $z=0.33$ near the line of sight to the QSO. This LAB shares the same general characteristics as the 17 others surrounding radio-quiet QSOs presented previously. However, there are indications that it may be centered on the PDLA galaxy rather than on the QSO.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; 16 pages, 19 figure

Thermal and dissipative effects in Casimir physics

We report on current efforts to detect the thermal and dissipative contributions to the Casimir force. For the thermal component, two experiments are in progress at Dartmouth and at the Institute Laue Langevin in Grenoble. The first experiment will seek to detect the Casimir force at the largest explorable distance using a cylinder-plane geometry which offers various advantages with respect to both sphere-plane and parallel-plane geometries. In the second experiment, the Casimir force in the parallel-plane configuration is measured with a dedicated torsional balance, up to 10 micrometers. Parallelism of large surfaces, critical in this configuration, is maintained through the use of inclinometer technology already implemented at Grenoble for the study of gravitationally bound states of ultracold neutrons, For the dissipative component of the Casimir force, we discuss detection techniques based upon the use of hyperfine spectroscopy of ultracold atoms and Rydberg atoms. Although quite challenging, this triad of experimental efforts, if successful, will give us a better knowledge of the interplay between quantum and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and of the nature of dissipation induced by the motion of objects in a quantum vacuum.Comment: Contribution to QFEXT'06, appeared in special issue of Journal of Physics