RSRM-3 (360L003) Ballistics/Mass Properties Report

The propulsion performance and reconstructed mass properties data from Morton Thiokol's RSRM-3 motors which were assigned to the STS-29 launch are presented. The composite type solid propellant burn rates were close to predicted. The performance of the pair of motors were compared to some CEI Specifications. The performance from each motor as well as matched pair performance values were well within the CEI specification requirements. The nominal thrust time curve and impulse gate information is included. Post flight reconstructed Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) mass properties are within expected values for the lightweight configuration

Movement of Escherichia coli in soil as applied in irrigation water.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed that If irrigation water exceeds 235 colony-forming units (CFU) of E. coli /100 ml in any one sample or 126 CFU/100 ml in the average of any five consecutive samples, growers would have to cease using that water in any way that directly contacts the surface of fresh produce (FDA 2013). The FDA has proposed that these E. coli levels are an indication of high risk of bacterial contamination of fresh onion (Allium cepa L.) bulbs regardless of the irrigation system. If onion irrigation exceeds 235 CFU, it is not known whether the contaminated water applied by furrow or drip irrigation actually reaches the onion bulb. Soil could filter E. coli and other bacteria before irrigation water reaches onion bulbs. ?Vaquero? onions were grown on Owyhee silt loam. In our preliminary studies reported here, well water free of E. coli was applied to onions through drip irrigation or through furrow irrigation. A second water source was intentionally enriched with E. coli by being run across a pasture and recaptured prior to use. Furrow and drip irrigation were used to apply this water containing 218 to >2400 MPN/100ml for 11+ hours per irrigation. E. coli was monitored in the soil water at the end of irrigation cycles through direct sampling of the soil. Soil water was also sampled using sterile soil solution capsules (SSSC) to sample E. coli in the soil water that moved into place, to differentiate the movement of soil water from the soil water already in place. Soil water measurements were made adjacent to the water source, half way to the bulbs, and immediately adjacent to the onion bulbs. For furrow irrigation with ditch water the E. coli counts in the soil next to the onion bulbs was only 0% and 21% of the counts in the irrigation water following the first and second irrigations, respectively. During subsequent furrow irrigations, the E. coli counts in the soil water next to the onion bulbs exceeded the counts in the irrigation water. For drip irrigation with ditch water, the E. coli counts in the soil solution next to the onion bulbs remained very low. The soil water sampled by the SSSC adjacent to the onion bulbs drip-irrigated with ditch water also had very low E. coli counts

Survival of Escherichia coli on onion during field curing and packout.

The Food and Drug administration has expressed concern that Onions (Allium cepa) irrigated with water contaminated with high rates of Escherichia coli could harbor E. coli on their surface or interior. On the other hand, since onions contain antimicrobial compounds and field conditions may not be conducive to E. coli survival, the E. coli population on the surface of onions might become negligible through the course of field curing. Further, the relationship between the E. coli in the irrigation water to the E. coli on onion bulbs after field curing, harvest, and packout has not been studied. To determine if E. coli should be of concern in onion production, we sought to measure the die-off of E. coli on onions between the last irrigation and harvest and the presence of E. coli on onions after packout. Well water was tested and had no E. coli; ditch water intentionally run across a pasture prior to use had 218 to > 2400 MPN of E. coli/100ml. Onions were sampled from those furrow irrigated (ditch water) and those drip irrigated (well water) starting at lifting 3 September 2013 for four consecutive weeks. At 0 and 28 days after lifting, both interior and exterior of the onions were tested for E. coli. At 7, 14, and 21 days after lifting, only the exterior of the onions was tested. None of the onions contained E. coli internally at 0 or 28 days after lifting. At lifting E. coli was present on the exterior of both the drip and furrow irrigated onions and seemed to be largely unrelated to the irrigation water. The exterior E. coli contamination decreased rapidly after lifting. After harvest and packout on 14 October 2013, no E. coli was detected on the onion bulb exteriors from either irrigation treatment. E. coli introduced into the onion field through furrow irrigation was not present on or in the packed out onion bulbs

Photometric Redshifts of Quasars

We demonstrate that the design of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) filter system and the quality of the SDSS imaging data are sufficient for determining accurate and precise photometric redshifts (``photo-z''s) of quasars. Using a sample of 2625 quasars, we show that photo-z determination is even possible for z<=2.2 despite the lack of a strong continuum break that robust photo-z techniques normally require. We find that, using our empirical method on our sample of objects known to be quasars, approximately 70% of the photometric redshifts are correct to within delta z = 0.2; the fraction of correct photometric redshifts is even better for z>3. The accuracy of quasar photometric redshifts does not appear to be dependent upon magnitude to nearly 21st magnitude in i'. Careful calibration of the color-redshift relation to 21st magnitude may allow for the discovery of on the order of 10^6 quasars candidates in addition to the 10^5 quasars that the SDSS will confirm spectroscopically. We discuss the efficient selection of quasar candidates from imaging data for use with the photometric redshift technique and the potential scientific uses of a large sample of quasar candidates with photometric redshifts.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, submitted to A

Global Analysis of Extracytoplasmic Stress Signaling in Escherichia coli

The Bae, Cpx, Psp, Rcs, and σE pathways constitute the Escherichia coli signaling systems that detect and respond to alterations of the bacterial envelope. Contributions of these systems to stress response have previously been examined individually; however, the possible interconnections between these pathways are unknown. Here we investigate the dynamics between the five stress response pathways by determining the specificities of each system with respect to signal-inducing conditions, and monitoring global transcriptional changes in response to transient overexpression of each of the effectors. Our studies show that different extracytoplasmic stress conditions elicit a combined response of these pathways. Involvement of the five pathways in the various tested stress conditions is explained by our unexpected finding that transcriptional responses induced by the individual systems show little overlap. The extracytoplasmic stress signaling pathways in E. coli thus regulate mainly complementary functions whose discrete contributions are integrated to mount the full adaptive response

Visualization of Communication Patterns in Collaborative Innovation Networks: Analysis of some W3C working groups

Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs) are groups of self-motivated individuals from various parts of an organization or from multiple organizations, empowered by the Internet, who work together on a new idea, driven by a common vision. In this paper we report first results of a project that examines innovation networks by analyzing the e-mail archives of some W3C (WWW consortium) working groups. These groups exhibit ideal characteristics for our purpose, as they form truly global networks working together over the Internet to develop next generation technologies. We first describe the software tools we developed to visualize the temporal communication flow, which represent communication patterns as directed acyclic graphs. We then show initial results, which revealed significant variations between the communication patterns and network structures of the different groups. We were also able to identify distinctive communication patterns among group leaders, both those who were officially appointed and other who were assuming unofficial coordinating roles

Peter A. Gloor*, Rob Laubacher

This paper describes a visual social browser for exploring the evolution of social networks over time. We consider the exchange of e-mails between actors as an approximation of social ties. Our system analyzes the dynamic progression of communication patterns of e-mail traffic within groups of individuals. It combines a discrete visualization view, a continuous visualization view, and an adjacency matrix view. The goal of our work is to develop a framework of visual temporal communication patterns of different types of collaborative knowledge networks. As a first application, our tool is used to analyze communication patterns and make recommendations for improved productivity in innovation communities in an emerging management consulting practice