Experimental determination of airplane mass and inertial characteristics

Current practices are evaluated for experimentally determining airplane center of gravity, moments of inertia, and products of inertia. The techniques discussed are applicable to bodies other than airplanes. In pitching- and rolling-moment-of-inertia investigations with the airplane mounted on and pivoted about knife edges, the nonlinear spring moments that occur at large amplitudes of oscillation can be eliminated by using the proper spring configuration. The single-point suspension double-pendulum technique for obtaining yawing moments of inertia, products of inertia, and the inclination of the principal axis provides accurate results from yaw-mode oscillation data, provided that the sway-mode effects are minimized by proper suspension rig design. Rocking-mode effects in the data can be isolated

Comparisons of Predictions of the XB-70-1 Longitudinal Stability and Control Derivatives with Flight Results for Six Flight Conditions

Preliminary correlations of flight-determined and predicted stability and control characteristics of the XB-70-1 reported in NASA TN D-4578 were subject to uncertainties in several areas which necessitated a review of prediction techniques particularly for the longitudinal characteristics. Reevaluation and updating of the original predictions, including aeroelastic corrections, for six specific flight-test conditions resulted in improved correlations of static pitch stability with flight data. The original predictions for the pitch-damping derivative, on the other hand, showed better correlation with flight data than the updated predictions. It appears that additional study is required in the application of aeroelastic corrections to rigid model wind-tunnel data and the theoretical determination of dynamic derivatives for this class of aircraft

Co-evolution of proteins and solutions: Protein adaptation versus cytoprotective micromolecules and their roles in marine organisms

© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. Organisms experience a wide range of environmental factors such as temperature, salinity and hydrostatic pressure, which pose challenges to biochemical processes. Studies on adaptations to such factors have largely focused on macromolecules, especially intrinsic adaptations in protein structure and function. However, micromolecular cosolutes can act as cytoprotectants in the cellular milieu to affect biochemical function and they are now recognized as important extrinsic adaptations. These solutes, both inorganic and organic, have been best characterized as osmolytes, which accumulate to reduce osmotic water loss. Singly, and in combination, many cosolutes have properties beyond simple osmotic effects, e.g. altering the stability and function of proteins in the face of numerous stressors. A key example is the marine osmolyte trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), which appears to enhance water structure and is excluded from peptide backbones, favoring protein folding and stability and counteracting destabilizers like urea and temperature. Co-evolution of intrinsic and extrinsic adaptations is illustrated with high hydrostatic pressure in deep-living organisms. Cytosolic and membrane proteins and G-protein-coupled signal transduction in fishes under pressure show inhibited function and stability, while revealing a number of intrinsic adaptations in deep species. Yet, intrinsic adaptations are often incomplete, and those fishes accumulate TMAO linearly with depth, suggesting a role for TMAO as an extrinsic \u27piezolyte\u27 or pressure cosolute. Indeed, TMAO is able to counteract the inhibitory effects of pressure on the stability and function of many proteins. Other cosolutes are cytoprotective in other ways, such as via antioxidation. Such observations highlight the importance of considering the cellular milieu in biochemical and cellular adaptation

Cover slip external cavity diode laser

The design of a 671 nm diode laser with a mode-hop-free tuning range of 40 GHz is described. This long tuning range is achieved by simultaneously ramping the external cavity length with the laser injection current. The external cavity consists of a microscope cover slip mounted on piezoelectric actuators. In such a configuration the laser output pointing remains fixed, independent of its frequency. Using a diode with an output power of 5-7 mW, the laser linewidth was found to be smaller than 30 MHz. This cover slip cavity and feedforward laser current control system is simple, economical, robust, and easy to use for spectroscopy, as we demonstrate with lithium vapor and lithium atom beam experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Review of Scientific Instruments 7/29/0

An Observational Determination of the Proton to Electron Mass Ratio in the Early Universe

In an effort to resolve the discrepancy between two measurements of the fundamental constant mu, the proton to electron mass ratio, at early times in the universe we reanalyze the same data used in the earlier studies. Our analysis of the molecular hydrogen absorption lines in archival VLT/UVES spectra of the damped Lyman alpha systems in the QSOs Q0347-383 and Q0405-443 yields a combined measurement of a (Delta mu)/mu value of (-7 +/- 8) x 10^{-6}, consistent with no change in the value of mu over a time span of 11.5 gigayears. Here we define (Delta mu) as (mu_z - mu_0) where mu_z is the value of mu at a redshift of z and mu_0 is the present day value. Our null result is consistent with the recent measurements of King et al. 2009, (Delta mu)/u = (2.6 +/- 3.0) x 10^{-6}, and inconsistent with the positive detection of a change in mu by Reinhold et al. 2006. Both of the previous studies and this study are based on the same data but with differing analysis methods. Improvements in the wavelength calibration over the UVES pipeline calibration is a key element in both of the null results. This leads to the conclusion that the fundamental constant mu is unchanged to an accuracy of 10^{-5} over the last 80% of the age of the universe, well into the matter dominated epoch. This limit provides constraints on models of dark energy that invoke rolling scalar fields and also limits the parameter space of Super Symmetric or string theory models of physics. New instruments, both planned and under construction, will provide opportunities to greatly improve the accuracy of these measurements.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Trehalose Is A Chemical Attractant In The Establishment Of Coral Symbiosis

Coral reefs have evolved with a crucial symbiosis between photosynthetic dinoflagellates (genus Symbiodinium) and their cnidarian hosts (Scleractinians). Most coral larvae take up Symbiodinium from their environment; however, the earliest steps in this process have been elusive. Here we demonstrate that the disaccharide trehalose may be an important signal from the symbiont to potential larval hosts. Symbiodinium freshly isolated from Fungia scutaria corals constantly released trehalose (but not sucrose, maltose or glucose) into seawater, and released glycerol only in the presence of coral tissue. Spawning Fungia adults increased symbiont number in their immediate area by excreting pellets of Symbiodinium, and when these naturally discharged Symbiodinium were cultured, they also released trehalose. In Y-maze experiments, coral larvae demonstrated chemoattractant and feeding behaviors only towards a chamber with trehalose or glycerol. Concomitantly, coral larvae and adult tissue, but not symbionts, had significant trehalase enzymatic activities, suggesting the capacity to utilize trehalose. Trehalase activity was developmentally regulated in F. scutaria larvae, rising as the time for symbiont uptake occurs. Consistent with the enzymatic assays, gene finding demonstrated the presence of a trehalase enzyme in the genome of a related coral, Acropora digitifera, and a likely trehalase in the transcriptome of F. scutaria. Taken together, these data suggest that adult F. scutaria seed the reef with Symbiodinium during spawning and the exuded Symbiodinium release trehalose into the environment, which acts as a chemoattractant for F. scutaria larvae and as an initiator of feeding behavior- the first stages toward establishing the coral-Symbiodinium relationship. Because trehalose is a fixed carbon compound, this cue would accurately demonstrate to the cnidarian larvae the photosynthetic ability of the potential symbiont in the ambient environment. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a chemical cue attracting the motile coral larvae to the symbiont

Optical Guidance System /OGS/ for rendezvous and docking Final report

Optical guidance system for Apollo rendezvous and dockin

Marine fish may be biochemically constrained from inhabiting the deepest ocean depths

No fish have been found in the deepest 25% of the ocean (8,400-11,000 m). This apparent absence has been attributed to hydrostatic pressure, although direct evidence is wanting because of the lack of deepest-living species to study. The common osmolyte trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) stabilizes proteins against pressure and increases with depth, going from 40 to 261 mmol/kg in teleost fishes from 0 to 4,850 m. TMAO accumulation with depth results in increasing internal osmolality (typically 350 mOsmol/kg in shallow species compared with seawater\u27s 1,100 mOsmol/kg). Preliminary extrapolation of osmolalities of predicted isosmotic state at 8,000-8,500 m may indicate a possible physiological limit, as greater depths would require reversal of osmotic gradients and, thus, osmoregulatory systems. We tested this prediction by capturing five of the second-deepest known fish, the hadal snailfish (Notoliparis kermadecensis; Liparidae), from 7,000 m in the Kermadec Trench. We found theirmuscles to have a TMAOcontent of 386 ± 18 mmol/kg and osmolality of 991 ± 22 mOsmol/kg. These data fit previous extrapolations and, combined with new osmolalities from bathyal and abyssal fishes, predict isosmotic state at 8,200 m. This is previously unidentified evidence that biochemistry could constrain the depth of a large, complex taxonomic group