Analytical Investigation of the Reentry Behavior of the ''flying Wind Tunnel'' Test Vehicle, with Some Effects of Threshold and Torque Level of a Roll-rate Control System

Analytical investigation of reentry behavior of flying wind tunnel test vehicle with some effects of threshold and torque level of roll-rate control syste

A webometric analysis of Australian Universities using staff and size dependent web impact factors (WIF)

This study describes how search engines (SE) can be employed for automated, efficient data gathering for Webometric studies using predictable URLs. It then compares the usage of staffrelated Web Impact Factors (WIFs) to sizerelated impact factors for a ranking of Australian universities, showing that rankings based on staffrelated WIFs correlate much better with an established ranking from the Melbourne Institute than commonly used sizedependent WIFs. In fact sizedependent WIFs do not correlate with the Melbourne ranking at all. It also compares WIF data for Australian Universities provided by Smith (1999) for a longitudinal comparison of the WIF of Australian Universities over the last decade. It shows that sizedependent WIF values declined for most Australian universities over the last ten years, while staffdependent WIFs rose

A genome-wide investigation of the worldwide invader Sargassum muticum shows high success albeit (almost) no genetic diversity

Twenty years of genetic studies of marine invaders have shown that successful invaders are often characterized by native and introduced populations displaying similar levels of genetic diversity. This pattern is presumably due to high propagule pressure and repeated introductions. The opposite pattern is reported in this study of the brown seaweed, Sargassum muticum, an emblematic species for circumglobal invasions. Albeit demonstrating polymorphism in the native range, microsatellites failed to detect any genetic variation over 1,269 individuals sampled from 46 locations over the Pacific-Atlantic introduction range. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from ddRAD sequencing revealed some genetic variation, but confirmed severe founder events in both the Pacific and Atlantic introduction ranges. Our study thus exemplifies the need for extreme caution in interpreting neutral genetic diversity as a proxy for invasive potential. Our results confirm a previously hypothesized transoceanic secondary introduction from NE Pacific to Europe. However, the SNP panel unexpectedly revealed two additional distinct genetic origins of introductions. Also, conversely to scenarios based on historical records, southern rather than northern NE Pacific populations could have seeded most of the European populations. Finally, the most recently introduced populations showed the lowest selfing rates, suggesting higher levels of recombination might be beneficial at the early stage of the introduction process (i.e., facilitating evolutionary novelties), whereas uniparental reproduction might be favored later in sustainably established populations (i.e., sustaining local adaptation).Agence Nationale de la Recherche - ANR-10-BTBR-04; European Regional Development Fund; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia - SFRH/BPD/107878/2015, UID/Multi/04326/2016, UID/Multi/04326/2019; Brittany Region;info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Identifying the characteristics of effective teacher professional development: a critical review

Several influential reviews and two meta-reviews have converged on the position that teacher professional development (PD) is more effective when it is sustained, collaborative, subject specific, draws on external expertise, has buy-in from teachers, and is practice based. This consensus view has now been incorporated in government policy and official guidance in several countries. This paper reassesses the evidence underpinning the consensus, arguing that the reviews on which it is based have important methodological weaknesses, in that they employ inappropriate inclusion criteria and depend on an invalid inference method. The consensus view is therefore likely to be inaccurate. It is argued that researchers would make more progress identifying characteristics of effective professional development by looking for alignment between evidence from basic research on human skill acquisition and features of rigorously evaluated PD interventions

A dispersive wave pattern on Jupiter's fastest retrograde jet at 20∘20^\circS

A compact wave pattern has been identified on Jupiter's fastest retrograding jet at 20S (the SEBs) on the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt. The wave has been identified in both reflected sunlight from amateur observations between 2010 and 2015, thermal infrared imaging from the Very Large Telescope and near infrared imaging from the Infrared Telescope Facility. The wave pattern is present when the SEB is relatively quiescent and lacking large-scale disturbances, and is particularly notable when the belt has undergone a fade (whitening). It is generally not present when the SEB exhibits its usual large-scale convective activity ('rifts'). Tracking of the wave pattern and associated white ovals on its southern edge over several epochs have permitted a measure of the dispersion relationship, showing a strong correlation between the phase speed (-43.2 to -21.2 m/s) and the longitudinal wavelength, which varied from 4.4-10.0 deg. longitude over the course of the observations. Infrared imaging sensing low pressures in the upper troposphere suggest that the wave is confined to near the cloud tops. The wave is moving westward at a phase speed slower (i.e., less negative) than the peak retrograde wind speed (-62 m/s), and is therefore moving east with respect to the SEBs jet peak. Unlike the retrograde NEBn jet near 17N, which is a location of strong vertical wind shear that sometimes hosts Rossby wave activity, the SEBs jet remains retrograde throughout the upper troposphere, suggesting the SEBs pattern cannot be interpreted as a classical Rossby wave. Cassini-derived windspeeds and temperatures reveal that the vorticity gradient is dominated by the baroclinic term and becomes negative (changes sign) in a region near the cloud-top level (400-700 mbar) associated with the SEBs, suggesting a baroclinic origin for this meandering wave pattern. [Abr]Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, article accepted for publication in Icaru

Advances in Endophyte Research. Progress and Priorities in Temperate Areas

Fungal endophytes infect a large number of temperate grass species, genera and tribes (Leuchtmann and Clay, 1997). The majority of these systemic endophytes fall into the genus Epichloe or the closely related Neotyphodium genus. The asexual Neotyphodium endophytes are asymptomatic, never emerge from between the host grass cells, and are only transmitted vertically, via seed of the host plant. They are believed to have derived from the Epichloe endophytes, (Bacon and White, 2000; Schardl and Wilkinson, 2000) which do emerge from their intercellular habitat and form stromata around the emerging seedhead of their host. This is manifested as the choke disease seen in many grass species. Thus reproduction in the Epichloe can be sexual and transmission can be horizontal or vertical or a mix of both

Adaption of the ex vivo mycobacterial growth inhibition assay for use with murine lung cells.

In the absence of a correlate(s) of protection against human tuberculosis and a validated animal model of the disease, tools to facilitate vaccine development must be identified. We present an optimised ex vivo mycobacterial growth inhibition assay (MGIA) to assess the ability of host cells within the lung to inhibit mycobacterial growth, including Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Erdman. Growth of BCG was reduced by 0.39, 0.96 and 0.73 log10 CFU following subcutaneous (s.c.) BCG, intranasal (i.n.) BCG, or BCG s.c. + mucosal boost, respectively, versus naïve mice. Comparatively, a 0.49 (s.c.), 0.60 (i.n.) and 0.81 (s.c. + mucosal boost) log10 reduction in MTB CFU was found. A BCG growth inhibitor, 2-thiophenecarboxylic acid hydrazide (TCH), was used to prevent quantification of residual BCG from i.n. immunisation and allow accurate MTB quantification. Using TCH, a further 0.58 log10 reduction in MTB CFU was revealed in the i.n. group. In combination with existing methods, the ex vivo lung MGIA may represent an important tool for analysis of vaccine efficacy and the immune mechanisms associated with vaccination in the organ primarily affected by MTB disease

The Physicist's Guide to the Orchestra

An experimental study of strings, woodwinds (organ pipe, flute, clarinet, saxophone and recorder), and the voice was undertaken to illustrate the basic principles of sound production in music instruments. The setup used is simple and consists of common laboratory equipment. Although the canonical examples (standing wave on a string, in an open and closed pipe) are easily reproduced, they fail to explain the majority of the measurements. The reasons for these deviations are outlined and discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures (jpg files). Submitted to European Journal of Physic