Long term integrity for space station power systems

A study was made of the High Temperature Design Codes ASME N47, British R5, and the French RCC-MR Rules. It is concluded that all these codes provide a good basis of design for space application. The new British R5 is the most complete since it deals with the problem of defects. The ASME N47 was subjected longer to practical application and scrutiny. A draft code is introduced, and a proposed draft for high temperature design in which attempts were made to identify gaps and improvements is suggested. The design is limited by creep characteristics. In these circumstances, life is strongly affected by the selected value of the factor of safety. The factor of safety of primary loads adopted in the codes is 1.5. Maybe a lower value of 1.25 is permissible for use in space. Long term creep rupture data for HAYNES 188 is deficient and it is suggested that extrapolation methods be investigated

Active, Small-Scale, Periglacial Features on the South Coast of Newfoundland

Small-scale, patterned ground is currently forming on the south coast of Newfoundland. Small, sorted circles and stripes form in the vicinity of the coast under the influence of marine climate with numerous, short duration, freeze-thaw cycles, high humidity, abundant rainfall and a thin snow cover throughout the winter, inland, no more than 15 to 25 km from the coast, the marine influence has decreased sufficiently that the patterned ground is no longer forming.On trouve présentement des sols structurés à petite échelle en formation sur la côte sud de Terre-Neuve. De petits cercles et des traînées minérales se développent près de la côte sous l'influence du climat maritime, caractérisé par plusieurs cycles de gel-dégel, une humidité relative élevée, des pluies abondantes et une mince couverture de neige, pendant l'hiver. À l'intérieur des terres, à 15-25 km de la côte tout au plus, l'influence maritime est suffisamment amoindrie pour qu'il n'y ait plus formation de sols structurés

Application of high-resolution airborne data using individual tree crowns in Japanese conifer plantations

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comArticleJOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH. 14(1):10-19 (2009)journal articl

Raised Shoreline Phenomena and Postglacial Emergence in South-Central Newfoundland

Two types of raised marine shoreline features occur in the Burin-Hermitage area of southern Newfoundland marine benches cut in bedrock, and terraces and beaches developed in unconsolidated materials. Most of the benches are older than Late Wisconsinan, and a horizontal rock shoreline at 4.5 ± 1.5 m, which occurs throughout the region, was probably formed in the last interglacial period. Raised deltas and coastal outwash deposits graded to former sea level positions, which define the Late Wisconsinan marine limit across the northern part of the study area, are correlated with terraces and raised beaches further south on the Burin Peninsula. The elevations of these features are used to define the regional pattern of postglacial emergence. More than 30 m of emergence has occurred in the northwest, but the extreme southern part of the region is undergoing submergence.Dans la région de Burin-Hermitage, au sud de Terre-Neuve, on retrouve deux types de lignes de rivage marines soulevées: des plates-formes marines entaillées dans la roche en place ainsi que des terrasses et des plages développées dans des matériaux meubles. La plupart des plates-formes datent d'avant le Wisconsinien inférieur. Une ligne de rivage rocheuse horizontale située à 4,5 ± 1,5 m, qu'on retrouve à travers la région, fut probablement formée au cours du dernier interglaciaire. Des deltas soulevés et des épandages fluvioglaciaires côtiers, associés à des plans d'eau marins qui marquent la limite marine du Wisconsinien inférieur dans la partie nord de la zone d'étude, sont mis en relation avec des terrasses et des plages soulevées existant plus au sud dans la péninsule de Burin. L'altitude de ces formes sert à établir le mode régional d'émersion post-glaciaire. Il s'est produit une emersion de plus de 30 m dans le nord-ouest, alors que l'extrême-sud de la région est en phase de submersion

Pathotypic diversity of Hyaloperonospora brassicae collected from Brassica oleracea

Downy mildew caused by Hyaloperonospora brassicae is an economically destructive disease of brassica crops in many growing regions throughout the world. Specialised pathogenicity of downy mildews from different Brassica species and closely related ornamental or wild relatives has been described from host range studies. Pathotypic variation amongst Hyaloperonospora brassicae isolates from Brassica oleracea has also been described; however, a standard set of B. oleracea lines that could enable reproducible classification of H. brassicae pathotypes was poorly developed. For this purpose, we examined the use of eight genetically refined host lines derived from our previous collaborative work on downy mildew resistance as a differential set to characterise pathotypes in the European population of H. brassicae. Interaction phenotypes for each combination of isolate and host line were assessed following drop inoculation of cotyledons and a spectrum of seven phenotypes was observed based on the level of sporulation on cotyledons and visible host responses. Two host lines were resistant or moderately resistant to the entire collection of isolates, and another was universally susceptible. Five lines showed differential responses to the H. brassicae isolates. A minimum of six pathotypes and five major effect resistance genes are proposed to explain all of the observed interaction phenotypes. The B. oleracea lines from this study can be useful for monitoring pathotype frequencies in H. brassicae populations in the same or other vegetable growing regions, and to assess the potential durability of disease control from different combinations of the predicted downy mildew resistance genes

Recent advances in in situ / operando characterization of lithium–sulfur batteries

The lithium–sulfur battery (LSB) is a next generation energy storage technology with potential to replace lithium-ion batteries, due to their larger specific capacity, cheaper and safer manufacturing materials, and superior energy density. LSBs are a rapidly progressing topic globally, with around 1800 publications each year and the market is expected to exceed 1.7 billion USD by 2028, as such many novel strategies are being explored to develop and commercialise devices. However, significant technical challenges must be solved to engineer LSBs with commercially viable cycle life, which requires a deeper understanding of the chemical mechanisms occurring within the battery structure. In recent years in situ/operando testing of LSBs has become a popular approach for deciphering the kinetics and mechanisms of their discharge process, which is notoriously complex, and visualising the effects of mass deposition onto the electrodes and how these factors affect the cell's performance. In this review, in situ and operando studies are discussed in the context of LSBs with particular focus on spectroscopic and morphological techniques in line with trends in the literature. Additionally, some techniques have been covered which have yet to be used widely in the literature but could prove to be invaluable tools for analysis in the future. These in situ/operando techniques are becoming more widely available, and a review is useful both for the research community and industry to help accelerate the commercialisation of this next-generation technology

History-sensitive accumulation rules for life-time prediction under variable loading

This is the post-print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 SpringerA general form of temporal strength conditions under variable creep loading is employed to formulate several new phenomenological accumulation rules based on the constant-loading durability diagram. Unlike the well-known Robinson rule of linear accumulation of partial life-times, the new rules allow to describe the life-time sensibility to the load sequence, observed in experiments. Comparison of the new rules with experimental data shows that they fit the data much more accurately than the Robinson rule

Surface complexation modeling of uranyl adsorption on corrensite from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Site

Corrensite is the dominant clay mineral in the Culebra Dolomite at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The surface characteristics of corrensite, a mixed chlorite/smectite clay mineral, have been studied. Zeta potential measurements and titration experiments suggest that the corrensite surface contains a mixture of permanent charge sites on the basal plane and SiOH and AlOH sites with a net pH-dependent charge at the edge of the clay platelets. Triple-layer model parameters were determined by the double extrapolation technique for use in chemical speciation calculations of adsorption reactions using the computer program HYDRAQL. Batch adsorption studies showed that corrensite is an effective adsorbent for uranyl. The pH-dependent adsorption behavior indicates that adsorption occurs at the edge sites. Adsorption studies were also conducted in the presence of competing cations and complexing ligands. The cations did not affect uranyl adsorption in the range studied. This observation lends support to the hypothesis that uranyl adsorption occurs at the edge sites. Uranyl adsorption was significantly hindered by carbonate. It is proposed that the formation of carbonate uranyl complexes inhibits uranyl adsorption and that only the carbonate-free species adsorb to the corrensite surface. The presence of the organic complexing agents EDTA and oxine also inhibits uranyl sorption

Injury-induced Foxm1 expression in the mouse kidney drives epithelial proliferation by a cyclin F-dependent mechanism

Acute kidney injury (AKI) strongly upregulates the transcription factor Foxm1 in the proximal tubule in vivo, and Foxm1 drives epithelial proliferation in vitro. Here, we report that deletion of Foxm1 either with a nephron-specific Cre driver or by inducible global deletion reduced proximal tubule proliferation after ischemic injury in vivo. Foxm1 deletion led to increased AKI to chronic kidney disease transition, with enhanced fibrosis and ongoing tubule injury 6 weeks after injury. We report ERK mediated FOXM1 induction downstream of the EGFR in primary proximal tubule cells. We defined FOXM1 genomic binding sites by cleavage under targets and release using nuclease (CUT&RUN) and compared the genes located near FOXM1 binding sites with genes downregulated in primary proximal tubule cells after FOXM1 knockdown. The aligned data sets revealed the cell cycle regulator cyclin F (CCNF) as a putative FOXM1 target. We identified 2 cis regulatory elements that bound FOXM1 and regulated CCNF expression, demonstrating that Ccnf is strongly induced after kidney injury and that Foxm1 deletion abrogates Ccnf expression in vivo and in vitro. Knockdown of CCNF also reduced proximal tubule proliferation in vitro. These studies identify an ERK/FOXM1/CCNF signaling pathway that regulates injury-induced proximal tubule cell proliferation

Childhood energy intake is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in adolescents

Background: Greater adiposity is an important risk factor for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Thus, it is likely that dietary intake is involved in the development of the disease. Prospective studies assessing the relation between childhood dietary intake and risk of NAFLD are lacking. Objective: This study was designed to explore associations between energy, carbohydrate, sugar, starch, protein, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, and total fat intake by youth at ages 3, 7, and 13 y and subsequent (mean age: 17.8 y) ultrasound scan (USS)–measured liver fat and stiffness and serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyltransferase. We assessed whether observed associations were mediated through fat mass at the time of outcome assessment. Methods: Participants were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Trajectories of energy and macronutrient intake from ages 3–13 y were obtained with linear-spline multilevel models. Linear and logistic regression models examined whether energy intake and absolute and energy-adjusted macronutrient intake at ages 3, 7, and 13 y were associated with liver outcomes. Results: Energy intake at all ages was positively associated with liver outcomes; for example, the odds of having a USS-measured liver fat per 100 kcal increase in energy intake at age 3 y were 1.79 (95% CI: 1.14, 2.79). Associations between absolute macronutrient intake and liver outcomes were inconsistent and attenuated to the null after adjustment for total energy intake. The majority of associations attenuated to the null after adjustment for fat mass at the time liver outcomes were assessed. Conclusion: Higher childhood and early adolescent energy intake is associated with greater NAFLD risk, and the macronutrients from which energy intake is derived are less important. These associations appear to be mediated, at least in part, by fat mass at the time of outcome assessment