Energetic Extremes in Aquatic Locomotion by Coral Reef Fishes

Underwater locomotion is challenging due to the high friction and resistance imposed on a body moving through water and energy lost in the wake during undulatory propulsion. While aquatic organisms have evolved streamlined shapes to overcome such resistance, underwater locomotion has long been considered a costly exercise. Recent evidence for a range of swimming vertebrates, however, has suggested that flapping paired appendages around a rigid body may be an extremely efficient means of aquatic locomotion. Using intermittent flow-through respirometry, we found exceptional energetic performance in the Bluelined wrasse Stethojulis bandanensis, which maintains tuna-like optimum cruising speeds (up to 1 metre s(-1)) while using 40% less energy than expected for their body size. Displaying an exceptional aerobic scope (22-fold above resting), streamlined rigid-body posture, and wing-like fins that generate lift-based thrust, S. bandanensis literally flies underwater to efficiently maintain high optimum swimming speeds. Extreme energetic performance may be key to the colonization of highly variable environments, such as the wave-swept habitats where S. bandanensis and other wing-finned species tend to occur. Challenging preconceived notions of how best to power aquatic locomotion, biomimicry of such lift-based fin movements could yield dramatic reductions in the power needed to propel underwater vehicles at high speed.Funding was provided by the Australian Research Council (to CJF) and the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (to JFS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Short-Pathlength, High-Pressure Flow Cell for Static and Time-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy Suitable for Supercritical Fluid Solutions Including Hydrothermal Systems

An optical flow cell for high pressures and temperatures is described. The use of a novel window design allows for a precise, fixed optical pathlength that can be varied by use of spacers that range from a few micrometers to several millimeters. The cell pathlength is not affected by changes in pressure or temperature. The novel window design may be applicable to other high-pressure spectroscopic cells. The flow-cell design has a minimal sample dead volume, which is important for kinetic studies. The design eliminates the need for brazing or for a soft-sealing material for the optical windows, thereby minimizing the number of materials in contact with the sample. Using only diamond and platinum or platinum alloys as the corrosion resistant materials, the design is optimized for the study of aqueous solutions at high temperatures. Infrared spectra of an aqueous sodium tungstate solution up to 400 °C and 380 bar pressure are presented. Time-resolved infrared data are also presented for the ultraviolet photolysis reaction of β-naphthoyl azide in supercritical carbon dioxide

Base heating methodology improvements, volume 1

This document is the final report for NASA MSFC Contract NAS8-38141. The contracted effort had the broad objective of improving the launch vehicles ascent base heating methodology to improve and simplify the determination of that environment for Advanced Launch System (ALS) concepts. It was pursued as an Advanced Development Plan (ADP) for the Joint DoD/NASA ALS program office with project management assigned to NASA/MSFC. The original study was to be completed in 26 months beginning Sep. 1989. Because of several program changes and emphasis on evolving launch vehicle concepts, the period of performance was extended to the current completion date of Nov. 1992. A computer code incorporating the methodology improvements into a quick prediction tool was developed and is operational for basic configuration and propulsion concepts. The code and its users guide are also provided as part of the contract documentation. Background information describing the specific objectives, limitations, and goals of the contract is summarized. A brief chronology of the ALS/NLS program history is also presented to provide the reader with an overview of the many variables influencing the development of the code over the past three years

Ecological condition of coastal ocean waters along the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Bight: 2006

In May 2006, the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS), in conjunction with the EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory (NHEERL), conducted an assessment of the status of ecological condition of soft-bottom habitat and overlying waters throughout the mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) portion of the eastern U.S. continental shelf. The study area encompassed the region from Cape Cod, MA and Nantucket Shoals in the northeast to Cape Hatteras in the south, and was defined using a one nautical mile buffer of the shoreline extended seaward to the shelf break (~100-m depth contour). A total of 50 stations were targeted for sampling using standard methods and indicators applied in prior NOAA coastal studies and EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) and National Coastal Assessment (NCA). A key feature adopted from these studies was the incorporation of a random probabilistic sampling design. Such a design provides a basis for making unbiased statistical estimates of the spatial extent of ecological condition relative to various measured indicators and corresponding thresholds of concern. Indicators included multiple measures of water quality, sediment quality, and biological condition (benthic fauna). Through coordination with the NOAA Fisheries Service/Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NFS/NEFSC), samples of summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) also were obtained from 30 winter 2007 bottom-trawl survey stations in overlapping portions of the study area and used for analysis of chemical-contaminant body burdens

Chemical Speciation of Inorganic Compounds under Hydrothermal Conditions

This project utilizes the high-intensity x-rays available at the Advance Photon Source (APS) to study the inorganic chemistry associated with tank waste vitrification. Although the chemical conversion of waste under high-temperature conditions is an integral part of these processing technologies, there is virtually no information in the published literature about the chemical speciation of inorganic compounds under actual processing conditions. This is primarily due to the lack of techniques that are capable of making in situ measurements of aqueous systems above 300 C. The ongoing x-ray-based studies are identifying the chemical species, oxidation states and ion pairing of inorganic compounds under extreme solvent conditions. It is imperative to make in situ measurements since we have shown that the chemical speciation is strongly dependent on temperature. Several complimentary techniques are being used in this study including x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), diffuse anomalous x-ray scattering (DAS) and vibrational (IR & Raman) spectroscopy. Thus, the results of this work are providing information critical to the calcining and vitrification of tank wastes. The results will also have a direct bearing on specific issues such as volatility of Tc (or Re) compounds and the complex chemistry of chromium compounds

Chemical Speciation of Inorganic Compounds under Hydrothermal Conditions

By employing XAFS spectroscopy we are seeking a better understanding of the high temperature aqueous chemistry and speciation of those components that are troublesome to the treatment of the Hanford tank wastes: namely Cr, Re (surrogate for Tc), Fe, Ru (surrogate for Pu), and NO3 -/NO2 -. After initial experiments revealed that the high corrosivity of some of these aqueous systems renders the original high-pressure/high-temperature XAFS flow cell unsuitable of these systems, we have quickly implemented a new XAFS flow cell design made from Pt/Ir alloy. Over the last 12 months we have been able to obtain a number of groundbreaking results with this new XAFS cell, which we will briefly highlight

KELT-1b: A Strongly Irradiated, Highly Inflated, Short Period, 27 Jupiter-mass Companion Transiting a mid-F Star

We present the discovery of KELT-1b, the first transiting low-mass companion from the wide-field Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope-North (KELT-North) survey. The V=10.7 primary is a mildly evolved, solar-metallicity, mid-F star. The companion is a low-mass brown dwarf or super-massive planet with mass of 27.23+/-0.50 MJ and radius of 1.110+0.037-0.024 RJ, on a very short period (P=1.21750007) circular orbit. KELT-1b receives a large amount of stellar insolation, with an equilibrium temperature assuming zero albedo and perfect redistribution of 2422 K. Upper limits on the secondary eclipse depth indicate that either the companion must have a non-zero albedo, or it must experience some energy redistribution. Comparison with standard evolutionary models for brown dwarfs suggests that the radius of KELT-1b is significantly inflated. Adaptive optics imaging reveals a candidate stellar companion to KELT-1, which is consistent with an M dwarf if bound. The projected spin-orbit alignment angle is consistent with zero stellar obliquity, and the vsini of the primary is consistent with tidal synchronization. Given the extreme parameters of the KELT-1 system, we expect it to provide an important testbed for theories of the emplacement and evolution of short-period companions, and theories of tidal dissipation and irradiated brown dwarf atmospheres.Comment: 30 pages, 19 figures. Submitted to Ap

Molecule Microscopy

Contains research objectives, summary of research on five research projects and reports on four research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 PO1 HL14322-03)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 SO5 RR07047-08)Environmental Measurements Project Laboratory grant from the Dean of Science, M.I.T.Boehringer Mannheim Gmb

A novel retinoblastoma therapy from genomic and epigenetic analyses.

Retinoblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancer of the developing retina that is initiated by the biallelic loss of RB1. Tumours progress very quickly following RB1 inactivation but the underlying mechanism is not known. Here we show that the retinoblastoma genome is stable, but that multiple cancer pathways can be epigenetically deregulated. To identify the mutations that cooperate with RB1 loss, we performed whole-genome sequencing of retinoblastomas. The overall mutational rate was very low; RB1 was the only known cancer gene mutated. We then evaluated the role of RB1 in genome stability and considered non-genetic mechanisms of cancer pathway deregulation. For example, the proto-oncogene SYK is upregulated in retinoblastoma and is required for tumour cell survival. Targeting SYK with a small-molecule inhibitor induced retinoblastoma tumour cell death in vitro and in vivo. Thus, retinoblastomas may develop quickly as a result of the epigenetic deregulation of key cancer pathways as a direct or indirect result of RB1 loss