Transonic turbine blade cascade testing facility

NASA LeRC has designed and constructed a new state-of-the-art test facility. This facility, the Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade, is used to evaluate the aerodynamics and heat transfer characteristics of blade geometries for future turbine applications. The facility's capabilities make it unique: no other facility of its kind can combine the high degree of airflow turning, infinitely adjustable incidence angle, and high transonic flow rates. The facility air supply and exhaust pressures are controllable to 16.5 psia and 2 psia, respectively. The inlet air temperatures are at ambient conditions. The facility is equipped with a programmable logic controller with a capacity of 128 input/output channels. The data acquisition system is capable of scanning up to 1750 channels per sec. This paper discusses in detail the capabilities of the facility, overall facility design, instrumentation used in the facility, and the data acquisition system. Actual research data is not discussed

Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Clusters (SONYC) VIII: Substellar population in Lupus 3

SONYC -- Substellar Objects in Nearby Young Clusters -- is a survey program to investigate the frequency and properties of substellar objects in nearby star-forming regions. We present a new imaging and spectroscopic survey conducted in the young (~1 Myr), nearby (~200 pc) star-forming region Lupus 3. Deep optical and near-infrared images were obtained with MOSAIC-II and NEWFIRM at the CTIO-4m telescope, covering ~1.4 sqdeg on the sky. The i-band completeness limit of 20.3 mag is equivalent to 0.009-0.02 MSun, for Av \leq 5. Photometry and 11-12 yr baseline proper motions were used to select candidate low-mass members of Lupus 3. We performed spectroscopic follow-up of 123 candidates, using VIMOS at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and identify 7 probable members, among which 4 have spectral type later than M6.0 and Teff \leq 3000K, i.e. are probably substellar in nature. Two of the new probable members of Lupus 3 appear underluminous for their spectral class and exhibit emission line spectrum with strong Halpha or forbidden lines associated with active accretion. We derive a relation between the spectral type and effective temperature: Teff=(4120 +- 175) - (172 +- 26) x SpT, where SpT refers to the M spectral subtype between 1 and 9. Combining our results with the previous works on Lupus 3, we show that the spectral type distribution is consistent with that in other star forming regions, as well as is the derived star-to-BD ratio of 2.0-3.3. We compile a census of all spectroscopically confirmed low-mass members with spectral type M0 or later.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysical Journa

Implantation de Stradivarius à Genève

L’objectif principal de ce travail est de proposer un plan marketing pour l’implantation de Stradivarius, à Genève. Stradivarius est une entreprise espagnole de prêt-à-porter féminin qui compte sept-cent quatre-vingt points de vente dans quarante-cinq pays. Friande des magasins de prêt-à-porter et trouvant que Genève manque de diversité dans l’industrie du textile, j’ai trouvé intéressant de proposer ce projet. Ce projet s’adresse, principalement, à une clientèle féminine jeune, de classe moyenne, aimant s’habiller tendance et à la mode. Très soucieuse de leur apparence, l’implantation d’un nouveau concept, leur permettra d’agrandir leur collection personnelle et de s’approprier d’un nouveau style venu d’Espagne. Stradivarius proposera à sa clientèle une large gamme de produit à la pointe de la mode qui sera renouvelée toutes les deux semaines. La clientèle se rendra dans un magasin accueillant avec un personnel qui sera à l’écoute des demandes et conseilleront aux mieux la clientèle. Préalablement au plan marketing, une analyse de l’environnement externe, une analyse de la concurrence et une étude du marché du prêt-à-porter ont été effectué, afin d’analyser le secteur de l’industrie, ainsi que les coutumes d’achat et l’attractivité de Stradivarius sur le marché genevois. Puis, un plan marketing détaillé a été effectué, afin d’orienter la stratégie du projet. Les différentes recommandations qui ressortent de ce travail sont les suivants : Apporter une valeur ajoutée aux yeux de la clientèle par le service du personnel qui doit être irréprochable et à l’écoute de la clientèle la création d’une collection exclusive pour le marché genevois Communiquer l’implantation par le lieu d’implantation qui est très important pour le succès de Stradivarius la communication avant l’événement (publicité ciblée sur Facebook, petites affiches dans les magasins appartenant à Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka), annonces sur le site officiel de Stradivarius

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https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1294/thumbnail.jp

A Mechanism for Vertebrate Hedgehog Signaling: Recruitment to Cilia and Dissociation of SuFu-Gli Protein Complexes

In vertebrates, Hedgehog (Hh) signaling initiated in primary cilia activates the membrane protein Smoothened (Smo) and leads to activation of Gli proteins, the transcriptional effectors of the pathway. In the absence of signaling, Gli proteins are inhibited by the cytoplasmic protein Suppressor of Fused (SuFu). It is unclear how Hh activates Gli and whether it directly regulates SuFu. We find that Hh stimulation quickly recruits endogenous SuFu–Gli complexes to cilia, suggesting a model in which Smo activates Gli by relieving inhibition by SuFu. In support of this model, we find that Hh causes rapid dissociation of the SuFu–Gli complex, thus allowing Gli to enter the nucleus and activate transcription. Activation of protein kinase A (PKA), an inhibitor of Hh signaling, blocks ciliary localization of SuFu–Gli complexes, which in turn prevents their dissociation by signaling. Our results support a simple mechanism in which Hh signals at vertebrate cilia cause dissociation of inactive SuFu–Gli complexes, a process inhibited by PKA

Global discovery and characterization of small non-coding RNAs in marine microalgae

Background Marine phytoplankton are responsible for 50% of the CO2 that is fixed annually worldwide and contribute massively to other biogeochemical cycles in the oceans. Diatoms and coccolithophores play a significant role as the base of the marine food web and they sequester carbon due to their ability to form blooms and to biomineralise. To discover the presence and regulation of short non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) in these two important phytoplankton groups, we sequenced short RNA transcriptomes of two diatom species (Thalassiosira pseudonana, Fragilariopsis cylindrus) and validated them by Northern blots along with the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. Results Despite an exhaustive search, we did not find canonical miRNAs in diatoms. The most prominent classes of sRNAs in diatoms were repeat-associated sRNAs and tRNA-derived sRNAs. The latter were also present in E. huxleyi. tRNA-derived sRNAs in diatoms were induced under important environmental stress conditions (iron and silicate limitation, oxidative stress, alkaline pH), and they were very abundant especially in the polar diatom F. cylindrus (20.7% of all sRNAs) even under optimal growth conditions. Conclusions This study provides first experimental evidence for the existence of short non-coding RNAs in marine microalgae. Our data suggest that canonical miRNAs are absent from diatoms. However, the group of tRNA-derived sRNAs seems to be very prominent in diatoms and coccolithophores and maybe used for acclimation to environmental conditions

Cascaded multiplexed optical link on a telecommunication network for frequency dissemination

We demonstrate a cascaded optical link for ultrastable frequency dissemination comprised of two compensated links of 150 km and a repeater station. Each link includes 114 km of Internet fiber simultaneously carrying data traffic through a dense wavelength division multiplexing technology, and passes through two routing centers of the telecommunication network. The optical reference signal is inserted in and extracted from the communication network using bidirectional optical add-drop multiplexers. The repeater station operates autonomously ensuring noise compensation on the two links and the ultra-stable signal optical regeneration. The compensated link shows a fractional frequency instability of 3 \times 10-15 at one second measurement time and 5 \times 10-20 at 20 hours. This work paves the way to a wide dissemination of ultra-stable optical clock signals between distant laboratories via the Internet network

Smart energy regions - cost and value

Considering the high energy bill paid by developed countries when it comes to energy, especially that related with the built environment, it is not surprising that improving energy-efficiency in buildings is high on both the national and international political agenda. Unfortunately improving the energy- efficiency of buildings through applications such as installing double g or roof insulation or renewable energy devices such as solar water heaters or photovoltaic panels comes at a premium.peer-reviewe