Cargo Logistics Airlift Systems Study (CLASS). Volume 5: Summary

Findings and conclusions derived during the study of freighter aircraft requirements to the year 2008 are summarized. These results represent the stepping off point for the much needed coordinated planning efforts by government agencies, the airlines, the users, and the aircraft manufacturers. The methodology utilized in the investigations is shown. The analysis of the current system encompassed evaluations of the past and current cargo markets and on sight surveys of airport and cargo terminals. The findings that resulted provided the basis for formulating the case study procedures, developing the future scenario, and developing the future cargo market demand

Cargo Logistics Airlift Systems Study (CLASS). Volume 2: Case study approach and results

Models of transportation mode decision making were developed. The user's view of the present and future air cargo systems is discussed. Issues summarized include: (1) organization of the distribution function; (2) mode choice decision making; (3) air freight system; and (4) the future of air freight

Experimental investigation of jet-induced loads on a flat plate in hover out-of-ground effect

Effects of varying jet decay rate on jet-induced loads on a flat plate located in the plane of the jet exit perpendicular to the jet axis were investigated using a small-scale laboratory facility. Jet decay rate has been varied through use of two cylindrical centerbodies having either a flat or hemispherical tip, which were submerged various distances below the flat plate jet exit plane. Increased jet decay rate, caused by the presence of a center-body or plug in the jet nozzle, led to an increased jet-induced lift loss on the flat plate. Jet-induced lift losses reached 1 percent of the jet thrust for the quickest jet decay rates for plate areas equal to 100 times the effective jet exit area. The observed lift loss versus jet decay rate trend agreed well with results of previous investigations

Experimental investigation of effects of jet decay rate on jet-induced pressures on a flat plate: Tabulated data

Tabular data are presented for an experimental study of the effects of jet decay rate on the jet-induced pressure distribution on a flat plate for a single jet issuing at right angle to the flat plate into a uniform crossflow. The data are presented in four sections: (1) presents the static nozzle calibration data; (2) lists the plate surface static pressure data and integrated loads; (3) lists the jet centerline trajectory data; and (4) lists the centerline dynamic pressure data

Cargo Logistics Airlift Systems Study (CLASS). Volume 1: Analysis of current air cargo system

The material presented in this volume is classified into the following sections; (1) analysis of current routes; (2) air eligibility criteria; (3) current direct support infrastructure; (4) comparative mode analysis; (5) political and economic factors; and (6) future potential market areas. An effort was made to keep the observations and findings relating to the current systems as objective as possible in order not to bias the analysis of future air cargo operations reported in Volume 3 of the CLASS final report

Cargo Logistics Airlift Systems Study (CLASS). Volume 3: Cross impact between the 1990 market and the air physical distribution systems, book 1

The interrelations between the infrastructure and the forecast future market are discussed. Also, using forecasts of market growth for a base, future aircraft and air service concepts were evaluated

Passive Margin evolution and control on natural gas leakage in the Orange Basin South Africa

Throughout exploration Block 2 of the Orange Basin offshore the South African continental margin, different natural gas leakage features and the relationship between natural gas leakage with structural and stratigraphic elements were studied. This study also quantifies liquid/gas hydrocarbon generation, migration and seepage dynamics through the post-rift history of the basin. The interpretation of seismic data reveals two mega-sequences: Cretaceous and Cenozoic that are subdivided by major stratigraphic unconformities into 5 and 2 sub-units, respectively. The basin is also divided into 2 structural domains: 1. an extensional domain characterized by basinward dipping listric normal faults rooted at the Cenomanian/Turonian level identified between 500 to 1500 m of present-day depth, 2. a compressional domain that accommodates the up-dip extension on the lower slope, and which is characterized by landward dipping thrust faults. One hundred and thirteen observed gas chimneys are identified and classified into .stratigraphically-controlled (sa-c) and structurally-controlled (s-c) chimneys. The ratio of s-c versus s-ac chimneys is estimated as 2:5, which suggest a strong stratigraphic control on natural gas leakage. The chimneys either terminate at the seafloor where active leaking gas is manifested by pockmarks, or are sealed within the Miocene (14 Ma) sequence as paleo-pockmarks. The s-c chimneys are located along the normal faults in the extensional domain, and terminate as seafloor mounds up to 1500 m in diameter and with heights between 10 to 50 m. The sa-c pockmarks range between 100 to 400 m in diameter, and are linked to stratigraphic onlaps and pinch-outs within the Aptian sequence. Several giant chimneys, with diameters of more than 7 km, are also identified. At least one of these displays apparent internal gravitational collap.se structures. Bright spots indicative of gas presence within these large chimneys were identified, but there is no evidence of acoustic turbidity or seismic pull-downs within these large structures. This suggests the giant chimneys are inactive paleo-gas-escape structures. Modelling suggests that gas from the lower Aptian and the Barremian source rocks migrates laterally-updip to the proximal parts of the basin where it accumulates beneath the Cenomanian/Turonian sequence that acts as a regional seal. Across the shelf-break and the upper slope, chimneys and pockmarks are fed from younger Cenomanian/Turonian source rocks. The migration model also indicates that fluids are about 24 times more likely to flow out of the study area than to be preserved within it. Since methane gas escaping across the sea floor into the exosphere (combined hydrosphere and atmosphere) may contribute to Earth s climate fluctuations, and because escaping gas must have been cut off when at least half of identified s-c chimneys were sealed within the Mioeene .sequenee, deerease of gas escape along the southern African continental margin may have to be factored into global Neogene cooling models

Cellulose Acetate Replica Cleaning Study of Genesis Non-Flight Sample 3CZ00327

The Genesis mission collected solar wind and brought it back to Earth in order to provide precise knowledge of solar isotopic and elemental compositions. The ions in the solar wind were stopped in the collectors at depths on the order of 10 to a few hundred nanometers. This shallow implantation layer is critical for scientific analysis of the composition of the solar wind and must be preserved throughout sample handling, cleaning, processing, distribution, preparation and analysis. We are working interactively with the community of scientists analyzing Genesis samples, using our unique laboratory facilities -- and, where needed, our unique cleaning techniques -- to significantly enhance the science return from the Genesis mission. This work is motivated by the need to understand the submicron contamination on the collectors in the Genesis payload as recovered from the crash site in the Utah desert, and -- perhaps more importantly -- how to remove it. That is, we are evaluating the effectiveness of the wet-chemical "cleaning" steps used by various investigators, to enable them to design improved methods of stripping terrestrial contamination from surfaces while still leaving the solar-wind signal intact

A structural bioinformatics approach for identifying proteins predisposed to bind linear epitopes on pre-selected target proteins

We have developed a protocol for identifying proteins that are predisposed to bind linear epitopes on target proteins of interest. The protocol searches through the protein database for proteins (scaffolds) that are bound to peptides with sequences similar to accessible, linear epitopes on the target protein. The sequence match is considered more significant if residues calculated to be important in the scaffold–peptide interaction are present in the target epitope. The crystal structure of the scaffold–peptide complex is then used as a template for creating a model of the scaffold bound to the target epitope. This model can then be used in conjunction with sequence optimization algorithms or directed evolution methods to search for scaffold mutations that further increase affinity for the target protein. To test the applicability of this approach we targeted three disease-causing proteins: a tuberculosis virulence factor (TVF), the apical membrane antigen (AMA) from malaria, and hemagglutinin from influenza. In each case the best scoring scaffold was tested, and binders with Kds equal to 37 μM and 50 nM for TVF and AMA, respectively, were identified. A web server (http://rosettadesign.med.unc.edu/scaffold/) has been created for performing the scaffold search process with user-defined target sequences

Cleaning Study of Genesis Sample 60487

The Genesis mission collected solar wind and brought it back to Earth in order to provide precise knowledge of solar isotopic and elemental compositions. The ions in the solar wind were stopped in the collectors at depths on the order of 10 to a few hundred nanometers. This shallow implantation layer is critical for scientific analysis of the composition of the solar wind and must be preserved throughout sample handling, cleaning, processing, distribution, preparation and analysis. Particles of Genesis wafers, brine from the Utah Testing Range and an organic film have deleterious effects on many of the high-resolution instruments that have been developed to analyze the implanted solar wind. We have conducted a correlative microscopic study of the efficacy of cleaning Genesis samples with megasonically activated ultrapure water and UV/ozone cleaning. Sample 60487, the study sample, is a piece of float-zone silicon from the B/C array approximately 4.995mm x 4.145 mm in siz