Apollo Lunar Surfce Drill bore stem design

Martin Marietta Corporation has submitted the Bore Stem Structural Analysis Report (enclosure 1) for NASA's review and approval. Since redesigning the bore stem joint was your recommendation, we are requesting your office support us in the review and approval of this design. We would also like your concurrence prior to approval of this analysis report.... The Bore Stem Test Report (enclosure 2) is submitted for your information, since your office supported these tests at Martin Marietta.Apollo Lunar Surface Drill Bore Stem Structural Analysis Report. Document No. 467A8060907 / by John R. Lager -- Apollo Lunar Surface Drill Bore Stem Test Report. Document No. 467A806090

Surface motion prediction and mapping for road infrastructures management by PS-InSAR measurements and machine learning algorithms

This paper introduces a methodology for predicting and mapping surface motion beneath road pavement structures caused by environmental factors. Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PS-InSAR) measurements, geospatial analyses, and Machine Learning Algorithms (MLAs) are employed for achieving the purpose. Two single learners, i.e., Regression Tree (RT) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), and two ensemble learners, i.e., Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Random Forest (RF) are utilized for estimating the surface motion ratio in terms of mm/year over the Province of Pistoia (Tuscany Region, central Italy, 964 km2), in which strong subsidence phenomena have occurred. The interferometric process of 210 Sentinel-1 images from 2014 to 2019 allows exploiting the average displacements of 52,257 Persistent Scatterers as output targets to predict. A set of 29 environmental-related factors are preprocessed by SAGA-GIS, version 2.3.2, and ESRI ArcGIS, version 10.5, and employed as input features. Once the dataset has been prepared, three wrapper feature selection approaches (backward, forward, and bi-directional) are used for recognizing the set of most relevant features to be used in the modeling. A random splitting of the dataset in 70% and 30% is implemented to identify the training and test set. Through a Bayesian Optimization Algorithm (BOA) and a 10-Fold Cross-Validation (CV), the algorithms are trained and validated. Therefore, the Predictive Performance of MLAs is evaluated and compared by plotting the Taylor Diagram. Outcomes show that SVM and BRT are the most suitable algorithms; in the test phase, BRT has the highest Correlation Coefficient (0.96) and the lowest Root Mean Square Error (0.44 mm/year), while the SVM has the lowest difference between the standard deviation of its predictions (2.05 mm/year) and that of the reference samples (2.09 mm/year). Finally, algorithms are used for mapping surface motion over the study area. We propose three case studies on critical stretches of two-lane rural roads for evaluating the reliability of the procedure. Road authorities could consider the proposed methodology for their monitoring, management, and planning activities

A Powerful New Quantitative Genetics Platform, Combining Caenorhabditis elegans High-Throughput Fitness Assays with a Large Collection of Recombinant Strains.

The genetic variants underlying complex traits are often elusive even in powerful model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans with controlled genetic backgrounds and environmental conditions. Two major contributing factors are: (1) the lack of statistical power from measuring the phenotypes of small numbers of individuals, and (2) the use of phenotyping platforms that do not scale to hundreds of individuals and are prone to noisy measurements. Here, we generated a new resource of 359 recombinant inbred strains that augments the existing C. elegans N2xCB4856 recombinant inbred advanced intercross line population. This new strain collection removes variation in the neuropeptide receptor gene npr-1, known to have large physiological and behavioral effects on C. elegans and mitigates the hybrid strain incompatibility caused by zeel-1 and peel-1, allowing for identification of quantitative trait loci that otherwise would have been masked by those effects. Additionally, we optimized highly scalable and accurate high-throughput assays of fecundity and body size using the COPAS BIOSORT large particle nematode sorter. Using these assays, we identified quantitative trait loci involved in fecundity and growth under normal growth conditions and after exposure to the herbicide paraquat, including independent genetic loci that regulate different stages of larval growth. Our results offer a powerful platform for the discovery of the genetic variants that control differences in responses to drugs, other aqueous compounds, bacterial foods, and pathogenic stresses

Relating soil organic matter composition to soil water repellency for soil biopore surfaces different in history from two Bt horizons of a Haplic Luvisol

This study was funded by the “German Research Foundation (DFG),”Bonn, under Grant PAK 888. We thank Timo Kautz and the staff of the Institute of Organic Agriculture in Bonn for assistance with the field work. Thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. We sincerely thank Prof. Dr. MB Kirkham/USA for valuable comments and the final control of the English language.Peer reviewedPostprin

Measurement of the Mass and Stellar Population Distribution in M82 with the LBT

We present a K-band spectroscopic study of the stellar and gas kinematics, mass distribution, and stellar populations of the archetypical starburst galaxy M82. Our results are based on a single spectrum at a position angle of 67.5 degrees through the K-band nucleus. We used the CO stellar absorption band head at 2.29 {\mu}m (CO_2.29) to measure the rotation curve out to nearly 4 kpc radius on both the eastern and western sides of the galaxy. Our data show that the rotation curve is flat from 1 - 4 kpc. This stands in sharp contrast to some previous studies, which have interpreted H I and CO emission-line position-velocity diagrams as evidence for a declining rotation curve. The kinematics of the Br\gamma, H_2, and He I emission lines are consistent with, although characterized by slightly higher velocities than, the stellar kinematics. We derived M82's mass distribution from our stellar kinematic measurements and estimate its total dynamical mass is ~10^10 Msun. We measured the equivalent width of CO_2.29 (W_2.29) as a function of distance from the center of the galaxy to investigate the spatial extent of the red supergiant (RSG) population. The variation in W_2.29 with radius clearly shows that RSGs dominate the light inside 500 pc radius. M82's superwind is likely launched from this region, where we estimate the enclosed mass is <= 2 x 10^9 Msun.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to ApJ. For a brief video explaining the key result of this paper, see http://www.youtube.com/user/OSUAstronom

Measurement of the spatial distribution of mucilage around roots using infrared spectroscopy

Mucilage is a mixture of polysaccharides and some lipids which is secreted by the root tip. It facilitates plant nutrient acquisition, stabilizes aggregates, reduces lubrication during plant growth and may increase rhizosphere water content due to its high water holding capacity. So far there is no method to measure the spatial distribution of mucilage in soil around roots. The aim of this study was to test whether infrared spectroscopy can be applied to quantify gradients of mucilage around roots in soil. The C-H to C-O ratio obtained from infrared spectroscopy measurements is an indicator of soil hydrophobicity. As Mucilage turns hydrophobic after drying we hypothesized that mucilage can be detected by the C-H to C-O ratio measured with infrared spectroscopy. We grew maize plants in rhizoboxes filled with quartz silt. Before measurement the planted containers were dried and the roots were removed from soil. Infrared spectroscopy measurements were conducted with a spatial resolution of 50x50 µm a) radially with increasing distance from the root channel center and b) axially with increasing distance from the root channel tip. In parallel, the contact angle, which also indicates soil hydrophobicity, was quantified in the same locations. Both measurements were additionally conducted on glass slides covered with quartz silt mixed with given concentrations of mucilage. The measurements on the glass slides revealed that the C-H to C-O ratio and the contact angle measurements correlated well with the mucilage concentration in soil. Similarly, the infrared spectroscopy measurements in in the rhizoboxes revealed that radial profiles of mucilage around roots can be quantified: while the C-H to C-O ratio was highest inside the root channels, it decreased to the bulk soil values 0.7 mm in radial direction from the border of the root channel. In axial direction the C-H to C-O ratio did not change significantly, indicating that those compounds causing hydrophobicity of mucilage are not easily degraded by soil microorganisms. We showed that infrared spectroscopy can be applied to measure profiles of mucilage around roots in soil. The radial profiles of mucilage were narrower than those reported for other rhizodeposits which may be explained by the viscosity of mucilage

Science Objectives and Early Results of the DEEP2 Redshift Survey

The DEIMOS spectrograph has now been installed on the Keck-II telescope and commissioning is nearly complete. The DEEP2 Redshift Survey, which will take approximately 120 nights at the Keck Observatory over a three year period and has been designed to utilize the power of DEIMOS, began in the summer of 2002. The multiplexing power and high efficiency of DEIMOS enables us to target 1000 faint galaxies per clear night. Our goal is to gather high-quality spectra of \~60,000 galaxies with z>0.75 in order to study the properties and large scale clustering of galaxies at z ~ 1. The survey will be executed at high spectral resolution, $R=\lambda/\Delta \lambda \approx 5000$, allowing us to work between the bright OH sky emission lines and to infer linewidths for many of the target galaxies (for several thousand objects, we will obtain rotation curves as well). The linewidth data will facilitate the execution of the classical redshift-volume cosmological test, which can provide a precision measurement of the equation of state of the Universe. This talk reviews the project, summarizes our science goals and presents some early DEIMOS data.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, talk presented at SPIE conference, Aug. 200