Laser anemometer measurements in a transonic axial-flow fan rotor

Laser anemometer surveys were made of the 3-D flow field in NASA rotor 67, a low aspect ratio transonic axial-flow fan rotor. The test rotor has a tip relative Mach number of 1.38. The flowfield was surveyed at design speed at near peak efficiency and near stall operating conditions. Data is presented in the form of relative Mach number and relative flow angle distributions on surfaces of revolution at nine spanwise locations evenly spaced from hub to tip. At each spanwise location, data was acquired upstream, within, and downstream of the rotor. Aerodynamic performance measurements and detailed rotor blade and annulus geometry are also presented so that the experimental results can be used as a test case for 3-D turbomachinery flow analysis codes

Temporal changes in gamma dose rates in the Esk Estuary, UK

Over the last 30 years there has been a reduction in the radioactive discharges from the UK's Sellafield site. Radionuclide activity concentrations in the environment around Sellafield have declined as a result. However, routine monitoring results from the nearby Esk Estuary show a less clear trend, with fluctuations in gamma dose rate measurements being reported from year to year. A comprehensive survey (n = 576) of gamma dose rates in the Esk Estuary was undertaken in 2007 and the data compared to a similar survey carried out in 1989. There was a highly statistically significant decrease in the external gamma dose rates within the Esk Estuary between 1989 and 2007. The measured total gamma dose rate range in 2007 was 0.064 - 0.235 μGy h-1with a mean of 0.123 μGy h-1. This equates to a maximum exposure of 0.200 μSv h-1. There was no evidence of large-scale sediment redistribution under current conditions. However, there was limited evidence to suggest that part of the reason for the reduction in measured dose rates was the burial of contaminated sediment deposits by uncontaminated sediments transported by tidal processes

Speract induces calcium oscillations in the sperm tail

Sea urchin sperm motility is modulated by sperm-activating peptides. One such peptide, speract, induces changes in intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). High resolution imaging of single sperm reveals that speract-induced changes in [Ca2+]i have a complex spatiotemporal structure. [Ca2+]i increases arise in the tail as periodic oscillations; [Ca2+]i increases in the sperm head lag those in the tail and appear to result from the summation of the tail signal transduction events. The period depends on speract concentration. Infrequent spontaneous [Ca2+]i transients were also seen in the tail of unstimulated sperm, again with the head lagging the tail. Speract-induced fluctuations were sensitive to membrane potential and calcium channel blockers, and were potentiated by niflumic acid, an anion channel blocker. 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, which potentiates the cGMP/cAMP-signaling pathways, abolished the [Ca2+]i fluctuations in the tail, leading to a very delayed and sustained [Ca2+]i increase in the head. These data point to a model in which a messenger generated periodically in the tail diffuses to the head. Sperm are highly polarized cells. Our results indicate that a clear understanding of the link between [Ca2+]i and sperm motility will only be gained by analysis of [Ca2+]i signals at the level of the single sperm

A new paradigm for credibly administering placebo alcohol to underage drinkers

Background: The primary goal of this study was to establish a paradigm for credibly administering placebo alcohol to underage drinkers. We also sought to create a new, valid procedure for establishing placebo alcohol believability. Method: Participants were 138 American college students (66.7% female) predominantly (90.0%) under the legal drinking age. Groups of 2–3 participants and one same-sex confederate consumed mixed drinks, purportedly containing alcohol, ad-lib in a naturalistic bar-laboratory for 20 min. All beverages, however, were non-alcoholic but we used visual, olfactory, and taste cues to maximize placebo credibility. Also, the confederate made two scripted statements designed to increase the perception of drinking real alcohol. After the drinking portion, participants responded to survey items related to alcohol consumption and intoxication. Next, they were individually debriefed, with open-ended responses used to make a determination of whether the participant was deceived with respect to placebo alcohol. Results: All participants estimated consuming some amount of alcohol. However, using a more conservative criteria for estimating alcohol believability based on the debrief, 89.1% of participants were classified as deceived. Deceived participants were much more likely to estimate having a positive blood alcohol content and to say that their current level of intoxication was typical given the amount of alcohol consumed than non-deceived participants. Discussion: Credibly administering placebo alcohol to underage drinkers is possible. This approach carries great potential for future laboratory work. In addition, the methodology used here to classify participants as deceived or not deceived appears valid based on self-reported BAC estimation and intoxication levels

Functional and Biochemical Alterations of the Medial Frontal Cortex in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Context: The medial frontal cortex (MFC), including the dorsal anterior cingulate (dAC) and supplementary motor area (SMA), is critical for adaptive and inhibitory control of behaviour. Abnormally high MFC activity has been a consistent finding in functional neuroimaging studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the precise regions and the neural alterations associated with this abnormality remain unclear. Objective: To examine the functional and biochemical properties of the MFC in patients with OCD. Design: Cross-sectional design combining volume localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and functional MRI (fMRI) with an inhibitory control paradigm (the Multi-Source Interference Task; MSIT) designed to activate the MFC. Setting: Healthy control participants and OCD patients recruited from the general community. Participants: Nineteen OCD patients (10 male, and 9 female) and nineteen age, gender, education and intelligence-matched healthy control participants. Main Outcome Measures: Psychometric measures of symptom severity, MSIT behavioural performance, blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activation and 1H-MRS brain metabolite concentrations. Results: MSIT behavioural performance did not differ between OCD patients and control subjects. Reaction-time interference and response errors were correlated with BOLD activation in the dAC region in both groups. Relative to control subjects, OCD patients showed hyper- activation of the SMA during high response-conflict (incongruent > congruent) trials and hyper-activation of the rostral anterior cingulate (rAC) region during low response- conflict (incongruent < congruent) trials. OCD patients also showed reduced levels of neuronal N-acetylaspartate in the dAC region, which was negatively correlated with their BOLD activation of the region. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that hyper-activation of the medial frontal cortex in OCD patients may be a compensatory response to neural pathology in the region. This relationship may partly explain the nature of inhibitory control deficits that are frequently seen in this group and may serve as a focus of future treatment studies

Judicial Termination of Treaty Water Rights: The Snake River Case

This article criticized the Idaho district court\u27s resolution of the Nez Perce Tribe\u27s water rights in the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA). The scope of the tribe\u27s claims were considerable, since they included the right to maintain their fishing practices at the time of their 1855 treaty, The article examined the SRBA decision, the purposes of the 1855 treaty, the nature of the tribe\u27s off-reservation water rights, and the unprincipled termination of those rights by the 1999 SRBA court\u27s decision. The article\u27s call for a correction by the Idaho Supreme Court, which the epilogue to the article noted included a conflict-of-interest on the part of the SRBA court, was later obviated by a settlement between the tribe and the state