Performance of Partially Fluorinated Polyimide Insulation for Aerospace Applications

Polyimide has been used extensively as the primary wiring insulation in commercial planes, military aircraft, and space vehicles due to its low weight, high service temperature, and good dielectric strength. New failure modes, however, have been associated with the use of polyimide because of the susceptibility of the insulation to pyrolization and arc tracking. A new wiring construction utilizing partially fluorinated polyimide insulation has been tested and compared with the standard military polyimide wire. Electrical properties which were investigated include AC corona inception and extinction voltages (sea level and 60,000 feet), time/current to smoke, and wire fusing time. The two constructions were also characterized in terms of their mechanical properties including abrasion resistance, dynamic cut through, and notch propagation. These test efforts and the results obtained are presented and discussed

Evaluation of Wiring Constructions for Space Applications

A NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OS&MA) program to develop lightweight, reliable, and safe wiring insulations for aerospace applications is being performed by the NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC). As part of this effort, a new wiring construction utilizing high strength PTFE (poly tetrafluoroethylene) as the insulation has been tested and compared with the existing military standard polyimide-based MIL-W-81381 wire construction. Electrical properties which were investigated included ac corona inception and extinction voltages (sea level and 60,000 feet), time/current to smoke, and wire fusing time. The two constructions were also characterized in terms of their mechanical properties of flexural strength, abrasion resistance (23 C and 150 C), and dynamic cut-through (23 C and 200 C). The results obtained in this testing effort are presented and discussed in this paper

Surfactant Chain Length Effects on the Light Emission of Tris(2,2\u27-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)/Tripropylamine Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence

The effects of nonionic surfactant chain length on the properties of tris(2,2‘-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)32+ where bpy = 2,2‘-bipyridine) electrochemiluminescence (ECL) have been investigated. The electrochemistry, photophysics, and ECL of Ru(bpy)32+ in the presence of a series of nonionic surfactants are reported (Triton X-100, 114, 165, 405, 305, and 705-70). These surfactants differ in the number of poly(ethylene oxide) units incorporated into the surfactant molecule. The anodic oxidation of Ru(bpy)32+ produces ECL in the presence of tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) in aqueous surfactant solution. Increases in ECL efficiency (≥5-fold) and TPrA oxidation current (≥2-fold) have been observed in surfactant media. Slight decreases in ECL intensity are observed as the chain length of the nonionic surfactant increases. The data supports adsorption of surfactant on the electrode surface, thus facilitating TPrA and Ru(bpy)32+ oxidation and leading to higher ECL efficiencies

Evolutionary trends in host physiology outweigh dietary niche in structuring primate gut microbiomes

Over the past decade several studies have reported that the gut microbiomes of mammals with similar dietary niches exhibit similar compositional and functional traits. However, these studies rely heavily on samples from captive individuals and often confound host phylogeny, gut morphology, and diet. To more explicitly test the influence of host dietary niche on the mammalian gut microbiome we use 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics to compare the gut microbiota of 18 species of wild non-human primates classified as either folivores or closely related non-folivores, evenly distributed throughout the primate order and representing a range of gut morphological specializations. While folivory results in some convergent microbial traits, collectively we show that the influence of host phylogeny on both gut microbial composition and function is much stronger than that of host dietary niche. This pattern does not result from differences in host geographic location or actual dietary intake at the time of sampling, but instead appears to result from differences in host physiology. These findings indicate that mammalian gut microbiome plasticity in response to dietary shifts over both the lifespan of an individual host and the evolutionary history of a given host species is constrained by host physiological evolution. Therefore, the gut microbiome cannot be considered separately from host physiology when describing host nutritional strategies and the emergence of host dietary niches.NSF (HOMINID) [0935347]; Earth Microbiome Project (W.M. Keck Foundation) [DT061413]; John Templeton Foundation [44000]6 month embargo; published online: 11 July 2018This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]