Shuttle Performance Augmentationwith the Titan Liquid Boost Module

The projected 24000 pound payload lift capability for the baseline Space Shuttle, with anticipated arbiter and external tank weight savings programs implemented, will not meet the 32000 pound payload requirements for the DOD Mission 4 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, NASA has selected the Titan Liquid Boost Module (LBM) to provide thrust augmentation during the boost phase sufficient to meet and provide margin for the defined Mission 4 requirements. The LBM will use Titan 34D Stage I engines and a cluster of four Titan derived 10 foot diameter tanks. The module will be attached to the aft end of the ET. This paper will provide a description of the LBM and discuss some of its advantages and capabilities

Theoretical investigation of finite size effects at DNA melting

We investigated how the finiteness of the length of the sequence affects the phase transition that takes place at DNA melting temperature. For this purpose, we modified the Transfer Integral method to adapt it to the calculation of both extensive (partition function, entropy, specific heat, etc) and non-extensive (order parameter and correlation length) thermodynamic quantities of finite sequences with open boundary conditions, and applied the modified procedure to two different dynamical models. We showed that rounding of the transition clearly takes place when the length of the sequence is decreased. We also performed a finite-size scaling analysis of the two models and showed that the singular part of the free energy can indeed be expressed in terms of an homogeneous function. However, both the correlation length and the average separation between paired bases diverge at the melting transition, so that it is no longer clear to which of these two quantities the length of the system should be compared. Moreover, Josephson's identity is satisfied for none of the investigated models, so that the derivation of the characteristic exponents which appear, for example, in the expression of the specific heat, requires some care

Riccati parameter modes from Newtonian free damping motion by supersymmetry

We determine the class of damped modes \tilde{y} which are related to the common free damping modes y by supersymmetry. They are obtained by employing the factorization of Newton's differential equation of motion for the free damped oscillator by means of the general solution of the corresponding Riccati equation together with Witten's method of constructing the supersymmetric partner operator. This procedure leads to one-parameter families of (transient) modes for each of the three types of free damping, corresponding to a particular type of %time-dependent angular frequency. %time-dependent, antirestoring acceleration (adding up to the usual Hooke restoring acceleration) of the form a(t)=\frac{2\gamma ^2}{(\gamma t+1)^{2}}\tilde{y}, where \gamma is the family parameter that has been chosen as the inverse of the Riccati integration constant. In supersymmetric terms, they represent all those one Riccati parameter damping modes having the same Newtonian free damping partner modeComment: 6 pages, twocolumn, 6 figures, only first 3 publishe

New CMB Power Spectrum Constraints from MSAMI

We present new cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy results from the combined analysis of the three flights of the first Medium Scale Anisotropy Measurement (MSAM1). This balloon-borne bolometric instrument measured about 10 square degrees of sky at half-degree resolution in 4 frequency bands from 5.2 icm to 20 icm with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Here we present an overview of our analysis methods, compare the results from the three flights, derive new constraints on the CMB power spectrum from the combined data and reduce the data to total-power Wiener-filtered maps of the CMB. A key feature of this new analysis is a determination of the amplitude of CMB fluctuations at $\ell \sim 400$. The analysis technique is described in a companion paper by Knox.Comment: 9 pages, 6 included figure

Pancreatic response to crystalloid resuscitation in experimental pancreatitis

Restoration and maintenance of intravascular volume is crucial in acute pancreatitis to prevent hypotension and ensure normal organ perfusion. This study evaluated the hemodynamic and metabolic effects of adequate versus inadequate fluid replacement on the pancreas in a canine model of acute experimental pancreatitis. Bile-trypsin pancreatitis (BTP) was induced in 14 conditioned mongrel dogs. Lactated Ringer's solution was administered intravenously at high (HIR) and low (LIR) infusion rates (6.5 and 1.75 ml/kg/hr, respectively) to 7 dogs each for 4 h. Seven sham-operated controls (CON) received lactated Ringer's at 6.5 ml/kg/hr for 3 hr. Mean arterial pressure remained unchanged in all groups. Central venous pressure decreased in the LIR group (P P QP) decreased in the LIR group (73%) to a significantly greater extent than in the HIR (23%) and CON (8%) groups, and in the HIR group significantly more than in the CON group. The fall in pancreatic oxygen consumption (O2CP) in both the pancreatitis groups was significant compared to the rise in the CON group. Final changes in QP and O2CP from baseline were significant only in the LIR group. We conclude that inadequate crystalloid replacement after BTP results in a progressive fall in QP and O2CP. Vigorous fluid replacement incompletely prevents these effects.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26524/1/0000063.pd

Refined model of incremental emplacement based on structural evidence from the granodioritic Newry igneous complex, Northern Ireland

Although many intrusions are now known to have been incrementally emplaced, the mechanisms through which this takes place are generally poorly understood. The Newry igneous complex was incrementally emplaced within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford terrane of Northern Ireland during late Caledonian sinistral transtension. This study uses a variety of new and existing data and techniques to provide a fuller and firmer understanding of incremental emplacement than has previously been available, addressing both deep-crustal processes and those operating within the emplacement site. Host-rock orientations suggest that some of the accommodation space for the Newry igneous complex was generated due to pull-apart tectonics operating within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford terrane. Local host-rock deflections, concentric igneous foliations, and concentric linear anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS)fabrics show that inflation due to magma overpressure also generated significant space. Strong AMS fabrics close to the boundaries of some magma pulses in turn suggest that inflation was accomplished by injection of individual magma pulses and was thus incremental. The dome-like orientations of mineral foliations within plutons and the truncation of steep local host-rock tracts by the Newry igneous complex imply that the complex consists of four laccolithic bodies. On a larger scale, it is suggested that the deep-seated Argyll and Newry lineaments represent faults that allowed magma generated at depth to ascend to the crustal level of the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford tract boundaries. It is also inferred that sinistral movement along the Argyll and Newry lineaments may have produced the releasing bend within the Southern Uplands-Down-Longford terrane. Higher in the crust, reduced confining pressure resulted in tectonic opening along this releasing bend. This local stress field induced horizontal magma flow and emplacement of the Newry igneous complex as laccolithic bodies. This study suggests that simplistic emplacement models should largely be abandoned in favor of holistic models incorporating the multiple interdependent processes operating during magma ascent and emplacement

Comparing Cosmic Microwave Background Datasets

To extract reliable cosmic parameters from cosmic microwave background datasets, it is essential to show that the data are not contaminated by residual non-cosmological signals. We describe general statistical approaches to this problem, with an emphasis on the case in which there are two datasets that can be checked for consistency. A first visual step is the Wiener filter mapping from one set of data onto the pixel basis of another. For more quantitative analyses we develop and apply both Bayesian and frequentist techniques. We define the ``contamination parameter'' and advocate the calculation of its probability distribution as a means of examining the consistency of two datasets. The closely related ``probability enhancement factor'' is shown to be a useful statistic for comparison; it is significantly better than a number of chi-squared quantities we consider. Our methods can be used: internally (between different subsets of a dataset) or externally (between different experiments); for observing regions that completely overlap, partially overlap or overlap not at all; and for observing strategies that differ greatly. We apply the methods to check the consistency (internal and external) of the MSAM92, MSAM94 and Saskatoon Ring datasets. From comparing the two MSAM datasets, we find that the most probable level of contamination is 12%, with no contamination only 1.05 times less probable, and 100% contamination strongly ruled out at over 2 X 10^5 times less probable. From comparing the 1992 MSAM flight with the Saskatoon data we find the most probable level of contamination to be 50%, with no contamination only 1.6 times less probable and 100% contamination 13 times less probable. [Truncated]Comment: LaTeX, 16 pages which include 16 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Prototype effect and the persuasiveness of generalizations

An argument that makes use of a generalization activates the prototype for the category used in the generalization. We conducted two experiments that investigated how the activation of the prototype affects the persuasiveness of the argument. The results of the experiments suggest that the features of the prototype overshadow and partly overwrite the actual facts of the case. The case is, to some extent, judged as if it had the features of the prototype instead of the features it actually has. This prototype effect increases the persuasiveness of the argument in situations where the audience finds the judgment more warranted for the prototype than for the actual case (positive prototype effect), but decreases persuasiveness in situations where the audience finds the judgment less warranted for the prototype than for the actual case (negative prototype effect)

Use of recombinant and synthetic peptides as attachment factors for cells on microcarriers

Polystyrene culture dishes and polystyrene microcarriers were coated with Pronectin-F and poly- l -lysine (polylysine), either alone or in combination. Pronectin-F is a recombinant peptide containing repeats of the RGD cell-attachment sequence from fibronectin. Polylysine is a polymer of l -lysine. Pronectin-F supported attachment of Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells at concentrations as low as 0.025 μg/cm 2 of surface area. The cells rapidly spread after attachment. Polylysine at concentrations of 0.05–0.5 μg/cm 2 also supported cell attachment but cells did not rapidly spread after attachment to this substrate. Higher concentrations of polylysine could not be used because of toxicity. When the two peptides were used in conjunction, MDCK cells attached and spread at lower peptide concentrations than they did when either substrate was used alone. These findings suggest that recombinant Pronectin-F alone or in conjunction with a cationic polymer could be a useful replacement for materials such as gelatin or collagen which are currently used as microcarrier surfaces.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42614/1/10616_2004_Article_BF00749935.pd

Low molecular weight dextran in experimental pancreatitis: Effects on pancreatic microcirculation

Although low molecular weight (LMW) dextran has been said to decrease the lethality of experimental acute pancreatitis (AP) by reversing stasis in the pancreatic microcirculation, the actual mechanism(s) of action is unknown. This investigation was designed to measure the effects of low molecular weight dextran on pancreatic capillary flow (QCAP) and arteriovenous shunt flow (QAVS), and on pancreatic oxygen consumption (O2CP) following bile-trypsin-induced AP in dogs. Total pancreatic blood flow (QT) was measured with an electromagnetic flow probe on the superior pancreaticoduodenal artery (SPDA). QAVS was measured by liver trapping of 99mTc-albumin microspheres after SPDA injection. QCAP was calculated as QT minus QAVS. Seventeen dogs were treated with lactated Ringer's (LR) solution at 6.5 ml/kg/hr; 10 dogs were treated with LMW dextran 10% in normal saline at 1.5 ml/kg/hr plus LR at 5.0 ml/kg/hr. Mean arterial and central venous pressures remained constant throughout the 4-hr experiment. In the dogs receiving LR only, QT decreased from 42.7 to 24.4 ml/min (P QAVS remained constant at 1.35 +/- 0.04 ml/min. During the first 30 min O2CP decreased from 1.17 to 0.76 ml O2/min (P QT and QCAP without altering QAVS. The decrease in O2CP in association with a constant QAVS suggests a metabolic block to oxygen uptake at the cellular level. Continuous infusion of LMW dextran at a dose of 1.5 ml/kg/hr in the dog does not reverse these abnormalities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25168/1/0000606.pd