A portable L-band voice transceiver for satellite communication

A portable L-band voice transceiver was developed as a feasibility model and can provide a half-duplex voice link to another terminal via the L-band transponder on the Applications Technology Satellite, ATS-6. The narrow band FM transceiver utilizes commercial subsystems including a UHF transceiver, provides an RF output power of 20 watts, weights less than 25 lbs., is housed in a plastic briefcase, can be powered by an automobile electrical system, and has been successfully operated with ATS-6 on numerous occasions. Design considerations and operation of the transceiver are described, along with alignment and testing procedures, packaging and cost considerations, subsystem performance requirements and overall transceiver performance characteristics

Traveling-wave tube circuit simplifies microwave relay

Circuit with a sawtooth-modulated traveling-wave tube, which acts as a frequency converter and as an amplifier, simplifies microwave transmission. Lower power losses and reduced size and weight are also realized in this circuit

The Alia musica and the Carolingian Conception of Mode

The Alia musica is perhaps the most idiosyncratic of the early treatises on the ecclesiastical modes. It is a composite made up of at least three independent treatises and additional commentary, and the majority of the scholarly attention that it has thus far received has been devoted to questions of dating and authorship, as well as to the place of the Alia musica in the development of the octave species paradigm of modality. However, the majority of the treatise is dedicated to the explanation of a complex harmonic numerology that applies the fundamental relation 12:9:8:6 (which generate the intervals of an octave, a fifth, and a fourth) in a unique way to each of the eight ecclesiastical modes to define a set of intervals thought to be particularly characteristic of the chants in each mode. This dissertation reviews the previous studies about the Alia musica, as well as the manuscript sources, examines the theoretical context within which the treatise was written, and analyzes the numerological system both from the evidence of the text of the Alia itself and from an analysis of the chants that the Alia cites as exemplifying the numerical relations proposed for each mode. The intervals represented by these numbers show only partial consistency and can generally be explained as being constructed from the simplest, or perhaps the most numerologically meaningful, multiples of the four base numbers from 12:9:8:6 that successfully filter out the intervals that are not considered to characterize a particular mode

Review of Optimization Problems in Wireless Sensor Networks

International audienc

HSV-NIS, an oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 encoding human sodium iodide symporter for preclinical prostate cancer radiovirotherapy

Several clinical trials have shown that oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 (oHSV-1) can be safely administered to patients. However, virus replication in tumor tissue has generally not been monitored in these oHSV clinical trials, and the data suggest that its oncolytic potency needs to be improved. To facilitate noninvasive monitoring of the in vivo spread of an oHSV and to increase its antitumor efficacy, the gene coding for human sodium iodide symporter (NIS) was incorporated into a recombinant oHSV genome and the corresponding virus (oHSV-NIS) rescued in our laboratory. Our data demonstrate that a human prostate cancer cell line, LNCap, efficiently concentrates radioactive iodine after the cells have been infected in vitro or in vivo. In vivo replication of oHSV-NIS in tumors was noninvasively monitored by computed tomography/single-photon emission computed tomography imaging of the biodistribution of pertechnetate and was confirmed. LNCap xenografts in nude mice were eradicated by intratumoral administration of oHSV-NIS. Systemic administration of oHSV-NIS prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice, and the therapeutic effect was further enhanced by administration of 131I after the intratumoral spread of the virus had peaked. oHSV-NIS has the potential to substantially enhance the outcomes of standard therapy for patients with prostate cancer

Breeding amphibians in captivity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73877/1/j.1748-1090.1977.tb00864.x.pd

Implementation of drift velocities and currents in SOLEDGE2D-EIRENE

International audienceIn order to improve cross-field transport description, drifts and currents have been implemented in SOLEDGE2D-EIRENE. The derivation of an equation for the electric potential is recalled. The resolution of current equation is tested in a simple slab case. WEST divertor simulations in forward-B and reverse-B fields are also discussed. A significant increase of ExB shear is observed in the forward-B configuration that could explain a favorable L-H transition in this case

The role of North Brazil Current transport in the paleoclimate of the Brazilian Nordeste margin and paleoceanography of the western tropical Atlantic during the late Quaternary

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 415 (2014): 3-13, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.05.030.Reconstructions of surface paleoceanographic conditions of the western equatorial Atlantic and past climates of the adjacent Northeast Brazilian (the "Nordeste") continental margin were undertaken by analyzing sediments from a piston core and associated gravity and box cores recovered from 3107 meter water depth at 0° 20’ N on the equatorial Brazilian continental slope. The record is dated by radiocarbon analysis and oxygen isotopic stratigraphy of planktonic foraminifers and spans from near- modern to approximately 110 Ka. High-resolution XRF analysis provides insight into the paleoclimate history of the Nordeste during the last glacial interval. Several large-amplitude and abrupt peaks are observed in the time series of Ti/Ca and are usually accompanied by peaks of Fe/K. Together these record periods of increased precipitation and intense weathering on the adjacent continent and increased terrestrial sediment discharge from Nordeste rivers into the Atlantic. Within the limits of dating accuracy, most Ti/Ca peaks correlate with Heinrich events in the North Atlantic. This record thus corroborates, and extends back in time, the previous record of Arz et al (1998) determined on sediment cores from farther southeast along the Nordeste margin. Stable oxygen isotopic analysis and Mg/Ca paleothermometry on the near- surface-dwelling planktonic foraminiferal species Globierinoides ruber find that mean sea-surface temperature (SST) during glacial time (20 to 55 Ka, n = 97) was 23.89 ± 0.79 °C and the mean SST during the late Holocene (0 to 5 Ka, n = 14) was 26.89 ± 0.33 °C. SSTs were 0.5 to 2 °C higher and inferred sea-surface salinities were lower during most of the periods of elevated Ti/Ca, thus, as observed in previous studies, the western equatorial Atlantic was warm (at least locally) and the adjacent southern tropical continent was wet at the same time that the high-latitude North Atlantic was cold. Using the SYNTRACE-CCSM3 fully coupled climate model with transient forcing for the period 22 Ka to present, we find that decreased transport of the North Brazil Current co-occurs with reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, and colder-than-normal SSTs in the North Atlantic region. These simulated conditions are invariably associated with significantly increased precipitation in the Nordeste region.Funding for the cruise and post-cruise science was provided to PAB by NSF-OCE-0823650

Human Challenge Pilot Study with Cyclospora cayetanensis

We describe a pilot study that attempted to infect human volunteers with Cyclospora cayetanensis. Seven healthy volunteers ingested an inoculum of Cyclospora oocysts (approximately 200–49,000 oocysts). The volunteers did not experience symptoms of gastroenteritis, and no oocysts were detected in any stool samples during the 16 weeks volunteers were monitored

Second generation 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[d]thiazoles as novel DNA gyrase inhibitors

Aim: DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV are essential bacterial enzymes, and in the fight against bacterial resistance, they are important targets for the development of novel antibacterial drugs. Results: Building from our first generation of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[d]thiazole-based DNA gyrase inhibitors, we designed and prepared an optimized series of analogs that show improved inhibition of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV from Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, with IC50 values in the nanomolar range. Importantly, these inhibitors also show improved antibacterial activity against Gram-positive strains. Conclusion: The most promising inhibitor, 29, is active against Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium and S. aureus wild-type and resistant strains, with minimum inhibitory concentrations between 4 and 8 mu g/ml, which represents good starting point for development of novel antibacterials. Graphical abstractPeer reviewe