A Study of the Internal Two-Phase Flow in Gas-Centered Swirl Coaxial Injectors

International audienceAn effective atomization of liquid is of importance in the performance of combustion engines. For liquid hydrocarbon rocket engines with a staged combustion cycle for high-power application, the Gas-Centered Swirl Coaxial (GCSC) injector is widely employed. Gaseous oxidizer at high velocity enters directly through the center of the injector and is surrounded by a swirled liquid film injected along the periphery of the injection element. The swirled liquid film is stripped and fragmented into drops by the high velocity gas stream. The understanding of the atomization characteristics of the injector should be improved for the design of more reliable and efficient injectors dedicated to liquid rocket engines. In order to effectively evaluate atomization performances, it is essential to precisely predict liquid film dynamics inside the injector. The liquid film thickness and length are a function of the injector recess length, and they affect the atomized drop size. Internal flow visualization with a LIF (Laser Induced Fluorescence) method was conducted to investigate the overall form and the interface corrugation of the liquid flow at various swirl strength conditions. The swirl strength is varied by changing the inlet angle of tangential entry holes. The experimental results show clearly that the intact liquid length increases with increasing the swirl strength at the same dynamic pressure ratio. We also measured the frequency of the surface perturbations with a spectral method. We find that this frequency increases steadily with gas velocity, and appears to be independent of the initial swirl number

Effects of transition metal substitutions on the incommensurability and spin fluctuations in BaFe2As2 by elastic and inelastic neutron scattering

The spin fluctuation spectra from nonsuperconducting Cu-substituted, and superconducting Co-substituted, BaFe2As2 are compared quantitatively by inelastic neutron scattering measurements and are found to be indis- tinguishable. Whereas diffraction studies show the appearance of incommensurate spin-density wave order in Co and Ni substituted samples, the magnetic phase diagram for Cu substitution does not display incommensu- rate order, demonstrating that simple electron counting based on rigid-band concepts is invalid. These results, supported by theoretical calculations, suggest that substitutional impurity effects in the Fe plane play a signifi- cant role in controlling magnetism and the appearance of superconductivity, with Cu distinguished by enhanced impurity scattering and split-band behavior.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Major change in the manuscrip

Deletion of cytosolic gating ring decreases gate and voltage sensor coupling in BK channels

Large conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels (BK channels) gate open in response to both membrane voltage and intracellular Ca(2+). The channel is formed by a central pore-gate domain (PGD), which spans the membrane, plus transmembrane voltage sensors and a cytoplasmic gating ring that acts as a Ca(2+) sensor. How these voltage and Ca(2+) sensors influence the common activation gate, and interact with each other, is unclear. A previous study showed that a BK channel core lacking the entire cytoplasmic gating ring (Core-MT) was devoid of Ca(2+) activation but retained voltage sensitivity (Budelli et al. 2013. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1313433110). In this study, we measure voltage sensor activation and pore opening in this Core-MT channel over a wide range of voltages. We record gating currents and find that voltage sensor activation in this truncated channel is similar to WT but that the coupling between voltage sensor activation and gating of the pore is reduced. These results suggest that the gating ring, in addition to being the Ca(2+) sensor, enhances the effective coupling between voltage sensors and the PGD. We also find that removal of the gating ring alters modulation of the channels by the BK channel’s β1 and β2 subunits

Intercomparisons of Nine Sky Brightness Detectors

Nine Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) have been intercompared during a night time measurement campaign held in the Netherlands in April 2011. Since then the nine SQMs have been distributed across the Netherlands and form the Dutch network for monitoring night sky brightness. The goal of the intercomparison was to infer mutual calibration factors and obtain insight into the variability of the SQMs under different meteorological situations. An ensemble average is built from the individual measurements and used as a reference to infer the mutual calibration factors. Data required additional synchronization prior to the calibration determination, because the effect of moving clouds combined with small misalignments emerges as time jitter in the measurements. Initial scatter of the individual instruments lies between ±14%. Individual night time sums range from −16% to +20%. Intercalibration reduces this to 0.5%, and −7% to +9%, respectively. During the campaign the smallest luminance measured was 0.657 ± 0.003 mcd/m2 on 12 April, and the largest value was 5.94 ± 0.03 mcd/m2 on 2 April. During both occurrences interfering circumstances like snow cover or moonlight were absent

Akt Stimulates the Transactivation Potential of the RelA/p65 Subunit of NF-κB through Utilization of the IκB Kinase and Activation of the Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase p38

The serine/threonine kinase Akt/PKB is a potent regulator of cell survival and has oncogenic transformation potential. Previously, it has been shown that Akt can activate the transcription factor NF-kappaB and that this functions to block apoptosis induced by certain stimuli. The mechanism whereby Akt activates NF-kappaB has been controversial, with evidence supporting induction of nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB via activation of IkappaB kinase activity and/or the stimulation of the transcription function of NF-kappaB. Here we demonstrate that Akt targets the transactivation function of NF-kappaB by stimulating the transactivation domain of RelA/p65 in a manner that is dependent on IkappaB kinase beta activity and on the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 (p38). Activation of RelA/p65 transactivation function requires serines 529 and 536, sites shown previously to be inducibly phosphorylated. Consistent with the requirement of p38 in the activation of NF-kappaB transcriptional function, expression of activated Akt induces p38 activity. Furthermore, the ability of IL-1beta to activate NF-kappaB is known to involve Akt, and we show here that IL-1beta induces p38 activity in manner dependent on Akt and IkappaB kinase activation. Interestingly, activated Akt and the transcriptional co-activators CBP/p300 synergize in the activation of the RelA/p65 transactivation domain, and this synergy is blocked by p38 inhibitors. These studies demonstrate that Akt, functioning through IkappaB kinase and p38, induces the transcription function of NF-kappaB by stimulating the RelA/p65 transactivation subunit of NF-kappaB