Efficient Tether Dynamic Model Formulation Using Recursive Rigid-Body Dynamics

A computationally efficient discrete model for low-strain tethers used in many engineering applications is developed without the use of elastic elements. The tether is modelled using N links, with each link treated as a body of revolution where it is assumed the tether spin is negligible to the dynamics, resulting in each link having only two degrees of freedom. A recursive algorithm is developed for the dynamic equations, with the solution procedure being an order N method requiring only a 2 x 2 matrix inversion, resulting in approximately half the computations of the general recursive algorithm. A comparison between the proposed efficient recursive rigid-body model and a lumped point mass model shows that the absence of stiff elastic elements eliminates high-frequency axial vibrations that appear in many lumped point mass tether models. The absence of high-frequency axial vibration facilitates numerical integration of the equations, providing further improvement in computational speed

Tethered Aerostat Modeling Using an Efficient Recursive Rigid-Body Dynamics Approach

A tethered aerostat model is developed using a computationally efficient recursive tether model. The recursive rigid-body tether model results in unconstrained ordinary differential equations and maintains much of the simplicity of simple lumped-mass tether models, while avoiding numerical difficulties associated with using many stiff elastic elements with low mass. Further efficiency is achieved by treating each tether link as a body of revolution and assuming that tether spin is negligible to the dynamics. The tether is attached to a six-degree-of-freedom aerostat model using a single viscoelastic element. The final recursive tethered aerostat model is well suited for a variety of trade studies required for design and analysis of such systems, due to its low computational cost and numerical robustness. Simulations are used to show how the proposed recursive model can be used to investigate the dynamic response and tether loads for a 17 m tethered aerostat in response to varying winds

The Nuremberg Trials: A Postmodern Justification of Natural Law

UMKC Honors Colleg

The Hancock Amendment: Missouri's Tax Limitation Measure

In 1980, a Springfield businessman began an initiative petition drive in support of a constitutional amendment that would limit state and local government taxation andspending. That amendment was adopted by the voters on November 4, 1980. It is generally known as the Hancock amendment, after the principal advocate Mel Hancock, and can be found in Article X Sections 18-24 of the Missouri Constitution. The amendment is modeled after a constitutional provision adopted by Michigan voters in 1978 known as the Headlee Amendment. Although Missouri courts have decided dozens of cases interpreting various provisions of the Hancock Amendment, none of the decisions have been based on the construction which Michigan courts have placed on the Headlee Amendment, which are at significant variance from Missouri decisions

Estradiol, Progesterone, and Transforming Growth Factor α Regulate Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 (IGFBP3) Expression in Mouse Endometrial Cells

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) Is Involved in the proliferation of mouse and rat endometrial cells in a paracrine or autocrine manner. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) modulates actions of IGFs directly or indirectly. The present study aimed to determine whether IGFBP3 is Involved In the regulation of proliferation of mouse endometrial cells. Mouse endometrial epithelial cells and stromal cells were isolated, and cultured In a serum free medium. IGF1 stimulated DNA synthesis by endometrial epithelial and stromal cells, and IGFBP3 Inhibited IGF1-induced DNA synthesis. Estradiol-17 beta (E2) decreased the Igfbp3 mRNA level in endometrial stromal cells, whereas It Increased the Igf1 mRNA level. Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) significantly decreased IGFBP3 expression at both the mRNA and secreted protein levels in endometrial stromal cells. Progesterone (134) did not affect the E2-induced down-regulation of Igfbp3 mRNA expression in endometrial stromal cells, although P4 alone increased Igfbp3 mRNA levels. The present findings suggest that in mouse endometrial stromal cells E2 enhances IGF1 action through enhancement of IGF1 synthesis and reduction of IGFBP3 synthesis, and that TGF alpha affects IGF1 actions through modulation of IGFBP3 levels

Symbolic Manipulators Affect Mathematical Mindsets

Symbolic calculators like Mathematica are becoming more commonplace among upper level physics students. The presence of such a powerful calculator can couple strongly to the type of mathematical reasoning students employ. It does not merely offer a convenient way to perform the computations students would have otherwise wanted to do by hand. This paper presents examples from the work of upper level physics majors where Mathematica plays an active role in focusing and sustaining their thought around calculation. These students still engage in powerful mathematical reasoning while they calculate but struggle because of the narrowed breadth of their thinking. Their reasoning is drawn into local attractors where they look to calculation schemes to resolve questions instead of, for example, mapping the mathematics to the physical system at hand. We model the influence of Mathematica as an integral part of the constant feedback that occurs in how students frame, and hence focus, their work

Spin effects in a confined 2DEG: Enhancement of the g-factor, spin-inversion states and their far-infrared absorption

We investigate several spin-related phenomena in a confined two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) using the Hartree-Fock approximation for the mutual Coulomb interaction of the electrons. The exchange term of the interaction causes a large splitting of the spin levels whenever the chemical potential lies within a Landau band (LB). This splitting can be reinterpreted as an enhancement of an effective g-factor, g*. The increase of g* when a LB is half filled can be accompanied by a spontaneous formation of a static spin-inversion state (SIS) whose details depend on the system sision state (SIS) whose details depend on the system size. The coupling of the states of higher LB's into the lowest band by the Coulomb interaction of the 2DEG is essential for the SIS to occur. The far-infrared absorption of the system, relatively insensitive to the spin splitting, develops clear signs of the SIS.Comment: 7 figure

An unusual occurrence of Nautilus macromphalus in a cenote in the Loyalty Islands (New Caledonia)

Exploration of a landlocked cenote on Lifou (Loyalty Islands) revealed 37 shells of the cephalopod Nautilus macromphalus Sowerby, 1849, in saltwater on the cenote floor, approximately 40 m below the water surface. The occurrence of these shells is unusual because N. macromphalus is restricted to the open marine waters surrounding the island. All of the shells are mature, and nearly all of them are unbroken, with faded red-brown color stripes. We analyzed seven shells to determine their age. Radiocarbon dating yielded ages of 6380¡30 to 7095¡30 y BP. The 238U-series radionuclides 210Pb (half-life 522.3 y) and 226Ra (half-life 51600 y) also were measured. Two of the samples showed radioactive equilibrium between the nuclides, consistent with the old radiocarbon dates, but the other five samples showed excess 210Pb. When corrected for radioactive decay, the 226Ra activities were much greater than those found in living Nautilus. We conclude that exposure to high activities of 222Rn and 226Ra in the salty groundwater of the cenote altered the activities originally incorporated into the shells. Human placement of the shells in the cavity is rejected based on their radiocarbon age and the geometry of the cenote. The most probable explanation is that the animals entered the flooded karstic system through a connection on the seaward side at approximately 7,000 y BP, during an interval of slowly rising sea level. Unable to find an exit and/or due to anoxic bottom waters, the animals were trapped and died inside. The open connection with the sea persisted for ,700 y, but after ,6400 y BP, the connection was lost, probably due to a roof collapse. This is a rare example of Nautilus in a karstic coastal basin and provides a minimum age for the appearance of N. macromphalus in the Loyalty Islands

Dose, exposure time, and resolution in Serial X-ray Crystallography

The resolution of X-ray diffraction microscopy is limited by the maximum dose that can be delivered prior to sample damage. In the proposed Serial Crystallography method, the damage problem is addressed by distributing the total dose over many identical hydrated macromolecules running continuously in a single-file train across a continuous X-ray beam, and resolution is then limited only by the available molecular and X-ray fluxes and molecular alignment. Orientation of the diffracting molecules is achieved by laser alignment. We evaluate the incident X-ray fluence (energy/area) required to obtain a given resolution from (1) an analytical model, giving the count rate at the maximum scattering angle for a model protein, (2) explicit simulation of diffraction patterns for a GroEL-GroES protein complex, and (3) the frequency cut off of the transfer function following iterative solution of the phase problem, and reconstruction of an electron density map in the projection approximation. These calculations include counting shot noise and multiple starts of the phasing algorithm. The results indicate counting time and the number of proteins needed within the beam at any instant for a given resolution and X-ray flux. We confirm an inverse fourth power dependence of exposure time on resolution, with important implications for all coherent X-ray imaging. We find that multiple single-file protein beams will be needed for sub-nanometer resolution on current third generation synchrotrons, but not on fourth generation designs, where reconstruction of secondary protein structure at a resolution of 0.7 nm should be possible with short exposures.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl