Response of a small-turboshaft-engine compression system to inlet temperature distortion

An experimental investigation was conducted into the response of a small-turboshaft-engine compression system to steady-state and transient inlet temperature distortions. Transient temperature ramps range from less than 100 K/sec to above 610 K/sec and generated instantaneous temperatures to 420 K above ambient. Steady-state temperature distortion levels were limited by the engine hardware temperature list. Simple analysis of the steady-state distortion data indicated that a particle separator at the engine inlet permitted higher levels of temperature distortion before onset of compressor surge than would be expected without the separator

Gravitational Instability in Collisionless Cosmological Pancakes

The gravitational instability of cosmological pancakes composed of collisionless dark matter in an Einstein-de Sitter universe is investigated numerically to demonstrate that pancakes are unstable with respect to fragmentation and the formation of filaments. A ``pancake'' is defined here as the nonlinear outcome of the growth of a 1D, sinusoidal, plane-wave, adiabatic density perturbation. We have used high resolution, 2D, N-body simulations by the Particle-Mesh (PM) method to study the response of pancakes to perturbation by either symmetric (density) or antisymmetric (bending or rippling) modes, with corresponding wavevectors k_s and k_a transverse to the wavevector k_p of the unperturbed pancake plane-wave. We consider dark matter which is initially ``cold'' (i.e. with no random thermal velocity in the initial conditions). We also investigate the effect of a finite, random, isotropic, initial velocity dispersion (i.e. initial thermal velocity) on the fate of pancake collapse and instability. Pancakes are shown to be gravitationally unstable with respect to all perturbations of wavelength l<l_p (where l_p= 2pi/k_p). These results are in contradiction with the expectations of an approximate, thin-sheet energy argument.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal (1997), accepted for publication 10/10/96, single postscript file, 61 pages, 19 figure

Microarcsecond Radio Imaging using Earth Orbit Synthesis

The observed interstellar scintillation pattern of an intra-day variable radio source is influenced by its source structure. If the velocity of the interstellar medium responsible for the scattering is comparable to the earth's, the vector sum of these allows an observer to probe the scintillation pattern of a source in two dimensions and, in turn, to probe two-dimensional source structure on scales comparable to the angular scale of the scintillation pattern, typically $\sim 10 \mu$as for weak scattering. We review the theory on the extraction of an ``image'' from the scintillation properties of a source, and show how earth's orbital motion changes a source's observed scintillation properties during the course of a year. The imaging process, which we call Earth Orbit Synthesis, requires measurements of the statistical properties of the scintillations at epochs spread throughout the course of a year.Comment: ApJ in press. 25 pages, 7 fig

Theoretical approach to oxygen atom degradation of silver

Based on available Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and ellipsometry data obtained on silver specimens subjected to atomic oxygen attack in low Earth orbit STS flight 41-G, a theory was developed to model the oxygen atom degradation of silver. The diffusion of atomic oxygen in a microscopically nonuniform medium is an essential constituent of the theory. The driving force for diffusion is the macroscopic electrochemical potential gradient developed between the specimen surface exposed to the ambient and the bulk of the silver specimen. The longitudinal electric effect developed parallel to the gradient is modified by space charge of the diffusing charged species. Lateral electric fields and concentration differences also exist due to the nonuniform nature of the medium. The lateral concentration differences are found to be more important than the lateral electric fields in modifying the diffusion rate. The model was evaluated numerically. Qualitative agreement exists between the kinetics predicted by the theory and kinetic data taken in ground-based experiments utilizing a plasma asher

High performance photonic microwave filters based on a 50GHz optical soliton crystal Kerr micro-comb

We demonstrate a photonic radio frequency (RF) transversal filter based on an integrated optical micro-comb source featuring a record low free spectral range of 49 GHz yielding 80 micro-comb lines across the C-band. This record-high number of taps, or wavelengths for the transversal filter results in significantly increased performance including a QRF factor more than four times higher than previous results. Further, by employing both positive and negative taps, an improved out-of-band rejection of up to 48.9 dB is demonstrated using Gaussian apodization, together with a tunable centre frequency covering the RF spectra range, with a widely tunable 3-dB bandwidth and versatile dynamically adjustable filter shapes. Our experimental results match well with theory, showing that our transversal filter is a competitive solution to implement advanced adaptive RF filters with broad operational bandwidths, high frequency selectivity, high reconfigurability, and potentially reduced cost and footprint. This approach is promising for applications in modern radar and communications systems.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 107 reference

Eyewear for rugby union: wearer characteristics and experience with rugby goggles

YesUnlike many other sports, Rugby Union has not permitted players to wear spectacles or eye protection. With an industrial partner, World Rugby developed goggles suitable for use while playing rugby for the purposes of growing participation amongst those that need to wear corrective lenses. This study reports on the profile and experiences of goggle wearers. 387 players received the goggles. Data were obtained from 188 (49 %) using an online, 75-item questionnaire. 87 % “strongly agreed/agreed” that goggles are beneficial and 75 % are happy with goggle performance. Common problems reported by 49.7 and 32.6 % of respondents were issues with fogging-up and getting dirty. 15 (8 %) players stopped wearing the goggles because of fogging-up, limits to peripheral vision and poor comfort/fit. Injuries were reported in 3 % of respondents. In none of these cases did the player stop wearing the goggles. From the positive experience of players in the trial, the goggles were adopted into the Laws of the game on July 1, 2019. As the need to correct vision with spectacles is common, and contact lenses are not worn by 80 % + of spectacle wearers, the new Rugby goggles will widen participation for those that need to wear refractive correction, or have an existing/increased risk of uniocular visual impairment

Four-Hundred-and-Ninety-Million-Year Record of Bacteriogenic Iron Oxide Precipitation at Sea-Floor Hydrothermal Vents

Fe oxide deposits are commonly found at hydrothermal vent sites at mid-ocean ridge and back-arc sea floor spreading centers, seamounts associated with these spreading centers, and intra-plate seamounts, and can cover extensive areas of the seafloor. These deposits can be attributed to several abiogenic processes and commonly contain micron-scale filamentous textures. Some filaments are cylindrical casts of Fe oxyhydroxides formed around bacterial cells and are thus unquestionably biogenic. The filaments have distinctive morphologies very like structures formed by neutrophilic Fe oxidizing bacteria. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Fe oxidizing bacteria have a significant role in the formation of Fe oxide deposits at marine hydrothermal vents. The presence of Fe oxide filaments in Fe oxides is thus of great potential as a biomarker for Fe oxidizing bacteria in modern and ancient marine hydrothermal vent deposits. The ancient analogues of modern deep-sea hydrothermal Fe oxide deposits are jaspers. A number of jaspers, ranging in age from the early Ordovician to late Eocene, contain abundant Fe oxide filamentous textures with a wide variety of morphologies. Some of these filaments are like structures formed by modern Fe oxidizing bacteria. Together with new data from the modern TAG site, we show that there is direct evidence for bacteriogenic Fe oxide precipitation at marine hydrothermal vent sites for at least the last 490 Ma of the Phanerozoic

Optical Detection of Melting Point Depression For Silver Nanoparticles Via In Situ Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

Silver nanoparticle films were deposited by sputtering at room temperature and were annealed while monitoring by real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The nanoparticle dielectric functions (0.75 eV-6.5 eV) obtained by SE were modeled using Lorentz and generalized oscillators for the nanoparticle plasmon polariton (NPP) and interband transitions, respectively. The nanoparticle melting point could be identified from variations in the oscillator parameters during annealing, and this identification was further confirmed after cooling through significant, irreversible changes in these parameters relative to the as-deposited film. The variation in melting point with physical thickness, and thus average nanoparticle diameter, as measured by SE enables calculation of the surface energy density