Evaluation of low wing-loading fuel conservative, short-haul transports

Fuel conservation that could be attained with two technology advancements, Q fan propulsion system and active control technology (ACT) was studied. Aircraft incorporating each technology were sized for a Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) field length of 914 meters (3,000 feet), 148 passengers, and a 926 kilometer (500 nautical mile) mission. The cruise Mach number was .70 at 10100 meter (33,000 foot) altitude. The improvement resulting from application of the Q fan propulsion system was computed relative to an optimized fuel conservative transport design. The performance improvements resulting from application of ACT technology were relative to the optimized Q fan propulsion system configuration

Proactively and In the Heat of the Moment: Administrative Advice for Communication Instructors to Help Students Cope With Crisis

This article provides advice on helping students cope with crisis. The first section discusses communication research that is pertinent to helping students be prepared proactively to deal with relationship crises. Second, it focuses on strategies that teachers of interpersonal communication survey courses may use to deal with students who are already victims of these situations, and as a result, may be emotionally troubled, abusing drugs or alcohol, or have suicidal feelings. Although communication faculty often are perceived to be immediate and thus approached by troubled students, most are rarely qualified to dispense or perform counseling duties. Recommendations are made in the article to avoid the numerous problems that might result from their willingness to advise a student in trouble

Nanoscale Surface Plasmonics Sensor With Nanofluidic Control

Conventional quantitative protein assays of bodily fluids typically involve multiple steps to obtain desired measurements. Such methods are not well suited for fast and accurate assay measurements in austere environments such as spaceflight and in the aftermath of disasters. Consequently, there is a need for a protein assay technology capable of routinely monitoring proteins in austere environments. For example, there is an immediate need for a urine protein assay to assess astronaut renal health during spaceflight. The disclosed nanoscale surface plasmonics sensor provides a core detection method that can be integrated to a lab-on-chip device that satisfies the unmet need for such a protein assay technology. Assays based upon combinations of nanoholes, nanorings, and nanoslits with transmission surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are used for assays requiring extreme sensitivity, and are capable of detecting specific analytes at concentrations as low as picomole to femtomole level in well-controlled environments. The device operates in a transmission mode configuration in which light is directed at one planar surface of the array, which functions as an optical aperture. The incident light induces surface plasmon light transmission from the opposite surface of the array. The presence of a target analyte is detected by changes in the spectrum of light transmitted by the array when a target analyte induces a change in the refractive index of the fluid within the nanochannels. This occurs, for example, when a target analyte binds to a receptor fixed to the walls of the nanochannels in the array. Independent fluid handling capability for individual nanoarrays on a nanofluidic chip containing a plurality of nanochannel arrays allows each array to be used to sense a different target analyte and/or for paired arrays to analyze control and test samples simultaneously in parallel. The present invention incorporates transmission mode nanoplasmonics and nanofluidics into a single, microfluidically controlled device. The device comprises one or more arrays of aligned nanochannels that are in fluid communication with inflowing and outflowing fluid handling manifolds that control the flow of fluid through the arrays. The array acts as an aperture in a plasmonic sensor. Fluid, in the form of a liquid or a gas and comprising a sample for analysis, is moved from an inlet manifold through the nanochannel array, and out through an exit manifold. The fluid may also contain a reagent used to modify the interior surfaces of the nanochannels, and/or a reagent required for the detection of an analyte

Probing Electron Tunneling Pathways: Electrochemical Study of Rat Heart Cytochromecand Its Mutant on Pyridine-Terminated SAMs

The electron-transfer rates between gold electrodes and adsorbed cytochromes are compared for native cytochrome c and its mutant (K13A) using two different immobilization strategies. A recent study by Niki (Niki, K.; Hardy, W. R.; Hill, M. G.; Li, H.; Sprinkle, J. R.; Margoliash, E.; Fujita, K.; Tanimura, R.; Nakamura, N.; Ohno, H.; Richards, J. H.; Gray, H. B. J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 9947) showed that the electron-transfer rate for a particular mutant cytochrome c (K13A) is orders of magnitude slower than the native form when electrostatically adsorbed on SAM-coated gold electrodes. The current study directly “links” the protein's heme unit to the SAM, thereby “short circuiting” the electron tunneling pathway. These findings demonstrate that the immobilization strategy can modify the electron-transfer rate by changing the tunneling pathway

Chiral molecule adsorption on helical polymers

We present a lattice model for helicity induction on an optically inactive polymer due to the adsorption of exogenous chiral amine molecules. The system is mapped onto a one-dimensional Ising model characterized by an on-site polymer helicity variable and an amine occupancy one. The equilibrium properties are analyzed at the limit of strong coupling between helicity induction and amine adsorption and that of non-interacting adsorbant molecules. We discuss our results in view of recent experimental results

Spin-Dependent Enantioselective Electropolymerization

The electro-oxidative polymerization of an enantiopure chiral 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene monomer, performed using spin-polarized currents, is shown to depend on the electron spin orientation. The spin-polarized current is shown to influence the initial nucleation rate of the polymerization reaction. This observation is rationalized in the framework of the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect

MHz Unidirectional Rotation of Molecular Rotary Motors

A combination of cryogenic UV-vis and CD spectroscopy and transient absorption spectroscopy at ambient temperature is used to study a new class of unidirectional rotary molecular motors. Stabilization of unstable intermediates is achieved below 95 K in propane solution for the structure with the fastest rotation rate, and below this temperature measurements on the rate limiting step in the rotation cycle can be performed to obtain activation parameters. The results are compared to measurements at ambient temperature using transient absorption spectroscopy, which show that behavior of these motors is similar over the full temperature range investigated, thereby allowing a maximum rotation rate of 3 MHz at room temperature under suitable irradiation conditions

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Studies of Succinate:Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase from Paracoccus denitrificans

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies of succinate:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (SQR) from Paracoccus denitrificans have been undertaken in the purified and membrane-bound states. Spectroscopic “signatures” accounting for the three iron-sulfur clusters (2Fe-2S, 3Fe-4S, and 4Fe-4S), cytochromeb, flavin, and protein-bound ubisemiquinone radicals have been obtained in air-oxidized, succinate-reduced, and dithionite-reduced preparations at 4–10 K. Spectra obtained at 170 K in the presence of excess succinate showed a signal typical of that of a flavin radical, but superimposed with another signal. The superimposed signal originated from two bound ubisemiquinones, as shown by spectral simulations. Power saturation measurements performed on the air-oxidized enzyme provided evidence for a weak magnetic dipolar interaction operating between the oxidized 3Fe-4S cluster and the oxidized cytochrome b. Power saturation experiments performed on the succinate- and dithionite-reduced forms of the enzyme demonstrated that the 4Fe-4S cluster is coupled weakly to both the 2Fe-2S and the 3Fe-4S clusters. Quantitative interpretation of these power saturation experiments has been achieved through redox calculations. They revealed that a spin-spin interaction between the reduced 3Fe-4S cluster and the cytochrome b (oxidized) may also exist. These findings form the first direct EPR evidence for a close proximity (≤2 nm) of the high potential 3Fe-4S cluster, situated in the succinate dehydrogenase part of the enzyme, and the low potential, low spin b-heme in the membrane anchor of the enzyme