A second-generation high speed civil transport: Stingray

The Stingray is the second-generation High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) designed for the 21st Century. This aircraft is designed to be economically viable and environmentally sound transportation competitive in markets currently dominated by subsonic aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and upcoming McDonnell Douglas MD-12. With the Stringray coming into service in 2005, a ticket price of 21 percent over current subsonic airlines will cover operational costs with a 10 percent return on investment. The cost per aircraft will be $202 million with the Direct Operating Cost equal to$0.072 per mile per seat. This aircraft has been designed to be a realistic aircraft that can be built within the next ten to fifteen years. There was only one main technological improvement factor used in the design, that being for the engine specific fuel consumption. The Stingray, therefore, does not rely on technology that does not exist. The Stingray will be powered by four mixed flow turbofans that meet both nitrous oxide emissions and FAR 36 Stage 3 noise regulations. It will carry 250 passengers a distance of 5200 nautical miles at a speed of Mach 2.4. The shape of the Stingray, while optimized for supersonic flight, is compatible with all current airline facilities in airports around the world. As the demand for economical, high-speed flight increases, the Stingray will be ready and able to meet those demands

iHabiMap: habitat mapping, monitoring and assessment using high-resolution imagery

Despite the ecological importance of natural habitats, they are facing threats of loss and degradation. The Habitats Directive requires EU countries to accurately map and monitor the condition of Annex I habitats. Ireland must report, map and monitor the conservation status of its Annex 1 habitats based on ecological field data every six years. This field-based mapping and assessment methodology, while desirable, is time-consuming and expensive. Thus, more efficient mapping approaches should be considered to supplement these traditional field-based methods. The use of remote sensing techniques to map, monitor and evaluate Irish habitats enables repeatable and cost-effective surveys. The advent of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) delivers new developments in the field of remote sensing by providing multi-sensor images with centimeter-level resolution. UAVs also offer flexible data acquisition suited for monitoring and change detection applications due to their independence from weather and cloud cover. The “Habitat Mapping, Assessment and Monitoring using High-Resolution Imagery” Project or iHabiMap is a part of Ireland’s initiative to produce detailed assessment of its habitats using ultra-high resolution images acquired from UAVs. Analytical approaches will be developed to map, assess, and monitor three habitats - upland, grasslands, and coastal zones, by utilizing UAV data and machine learning algorithms. This poster presentation will give an overview of the project. Multispectral data will be acquired and tested for each habitat. The methodology will provide a reproducible automated technique to enable frequent habitat mapping in Ireland. Field surveys will be conducted alongside the acquisition of UAV data at each study site. Overall, this study aims to develop and test a methodology that integrates remote sensing data and machine learning technologies to map and monitor these three Annex I habitats

The very large G-protein coupled receptor VLGR1: a component of the ankle link complex required for the normal development of auditory hair bundles

Sensory hair bundles in the inner ear are composed of stereocilia that can be interconnected by a variety of different link types, including tip links, horizontal top connectors, shaft connectors, and ankle links. The ankle link antigen is an epitope specifically associated with ankle links and the calycal processes of photoreceptors in chicks. Mass spectrometry and immunoblotting were used to identify this antigen as the avian ortholog of the very large G-protein-coupled receptor VLGR1, the product of the Usher syndrome USH2C (Mass1) locus. Like ankle links, Vlgr1 is expressed transiently around the base of developing hair bundles in mice. Ankle links fail to form in the cochleae of mice carrying a targeted mutation in Vlgr1 (Vlgr1/del7TM), and the bundles become disorganized just after birth. FM1-43 [N-(3-triethylammonium)propyl)-4-(4-(dibutylamino)styryl) pyridinium dibromide] dye loading and whole-cell recordings indicate mechanotransduction is impaired in cochlear, but not vestibular, hair cells of early postnatal Vlgr1/del7TM mutant mice. Auditory brainstem recordings and distortion product measurements indicate that these mice are severely deaf by the third week of life. Hair cells from the basal half of the cochlea are lost in 2-month-old Vlgr1/del7TM mice, and retinal function is mildly abnormal in aged mutants. Our results indicate that Vlgr1 is required for formation of the ankle link complex and the normal development of cochlear hair bundles

Tribocorrosion behavior of β-type Ti-Nb-Ga alloys in a physiological solution

Tribo-electrochemical behavior in physiological solution of two β-type (100-x)(Ti-45Nb)-xGa (x = 4, 8 wt%) alloys, alongside β-Ti-45Nb and medical grade Ti-6Al-4V ELI, was investigated. Microstructure and mechanical behavior were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, microhardness and ultrasonic method. Tribocorrosion tests (open circuit potential, anodic potentiostatic tests) were performed using a reciprocating pin-on-disk tribometer under constant load. Degradation mechanisms are similar for the alloys: plastic deformation, delamination, abrasive and adhesive wear. Among the β-Ti-Nb alloys, an improved wear resistance with lower damage was remarked for β-92(Ti-45Nb)-8Ga alloy, attributed to increased microhardness. Content of Ga3+ ions released in the test solutions were found to be in very low amounts (few ppb). Addition of Ga to Ti-45Nb resulted in improved corrosion resistance under mechanical loading

Large Conductance Variations in a Mechanosensitive Single-Molecule Junction

The appealing feature of molecular electronics is the possibility of exploiting functionality built within a single molecule. This functionality can be employed, for example, for sensing or switching purposes. Thus, ideally, the associated conductance changes should be sizable upon application of external stimuli. Here, we show that a molecular spring can be mechanically compressed or elongated to tune its conductance by up to an order of magnitude by controlling the quantum interference between electronic pathways. Oscillations in the conductance occur when the stress built up in the molecule is high enough to allow the anchoring groups to move along the surface in a stick-slip-like fashion. The mechanical control of quantum interference effects and the resulting large change in molecular conductance open the door for applications in, e.g., a minute mechanosensitive sensing device functional at room temperature.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

The adhesive properties of pyridine-terminated self-assembled monolayers

The atomic force microscopy (AFM) adhesion force behaviour and contact angle titration behaviour of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) presenting surface pyridine and substituted pyridine moieties has been investigated as a function of pH and electrolyte concentration. The pKas of the pyridine moieties were modified through the incorporation of fluorine, chlorine and bromine substituents in the pyridyl ring. Contact angle titration and AFM adhesion force measurements were performed using aqueous phosphate buffered saline solutions over the pH range 3–9, and at concentrations of 150 mM and 0.1 mM. AFM adhesion force measurements were performed using a clean Si3N4 pyramidal-tipped AFM cantilever

Reliability of KT1000 Knee Arthrometer Measures Obtained at Three Knee Joint Positions

Abstract: The reliability of KT1000 knee arthrometer measurements has been established at a flexion angle of 20° to 30°. However, no studies have assessed its reliability at multiple joint positions. This study was conducted in order to compare the displacement at three positions (20°, 45°, and 90°) and to determine the test-retest reliability at each position. Twenty subjects having no history of knee pathology participated in the study. A KT1000 knee arthrometer (MEDmetric Corporation, San Diego, CA) was positioned on the leg to measure anterior displacement of the proximal tibia at the three knee joint positions in random order. Post-hoc analysis indicated greater displacement at the 20° and 45° positions than at the 90° position. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the test-retest sessions were R=.92, .84 , and .90 for the 20°, 45°, and 90° positions, respectively. These findings suggest that the KT1000 is a reliable instrument for measurement of passive anterior displacement throughout the knee joint's range of motion. Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament may involve rupture of the entire ligament, or may be isolated to a particular portion of the ligament. As such, assessment of anterior displacement at multiple joint angles is recommended to most accurately evaluate the integrity of the anterior cruciate ligament. Article: The recent development of knee arthrometers has enabled objective measurement of knee joint displacement. The KT1000 arthrometer (MEDmetric Corporation, San Diego, CA), the Stryker knee laxity tester (Stryker, Kalamazoo, MI), and the Genucom knee analyzer (FARO Medical Tech. Inc., Montreal, Canada) are examples of instruments that have been designed to objectively measure laxity of the knee joint. These instruments appear to be correct 70 to 75% of the time in determining cruciate ligament integrity (1). The results of arthrometer measurements help to increase confidence in clinical diagnosis. Several investigators have examined the reliability of these instruments with the knee in a flexion angle of 20° to 30°. Highenboten et al. (8) found that the three previously-mentioned knee laxity testing devices provided reproducible quantitative measurements of knee laxity. Others have reported high correlation coefficients for the KT1000 with the knee in the standard 20° to 30° flexion angle (2,6). However, the reliability of measurement with this instrument at multiple joint positions has not been established

Digital Technology To Support Organic Growers ? Mesclun: A Web App To Help Designing Complex Organic Vegetable Production

For organic vegetable growers, combining long rotations involving a high level of plant diversity with intercropping can bring economic and ecological benefits but often increase management complexity and workload. To support the decision making of farmers facing such challenges, the research-action objective of the MESCLUN programme is to develop a web application based on the innovative computer technologies of knowledge graphs and semantic web. In this French transdisciplinary project, we articulate methods and frameworks from different fields (agronomy, economy, design, knowledge and computer engineering) with expertise of agricultural practitioners (organic growers, advisors, teachers, organic farming students). Through an iterative and participatory approach based on co-innovation workshops in 4 contrasted regions of France, we design, develop and test web app prototypes to help farmers to appropriate systemic thinking, explore and assess their “own” solutions in the organisation of complex organic vegetables systems. We will present functionalities/interface of the first web app prototype. We will for example show how the web app can help growers to plan their crops in space and time considering contrasted fertility and plants health strategies as well as marketing requirements. We will also illustrate how different simulations can be assessed from a socio-economic perspective (workload and income). Based on those first results, we will examine the specificities, added value and blind spots of our web app compared to other decision making tools in the organic agricultural sector. To feed a more general debate, we will provide critical discussion points on the potentialities and limitations of innovative digital solutions to support decision making in complex organic farming systems

The pH-dependent adhesion of nanoparticles to self-assembled monolayers on gold

The effect of pH on the adhesion of silica and polystyrene latex nanoparticles, presenting hydroxyl and carboxylic acid surface chemistries respectively, to self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) has been investigated. The SAMs studied were 1-dodecanethiol, 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid and an original pyridine-terminated SAM. Adhesion of nanoparticles to the SAMs was found to decrease with increasing pH due to increased repulsive forces between surfaces, as a result of the deprotonation of surface moieties on the nanoparticles. A range of surface morphologies for the adsorbed nanoparticles was observed for the systems studied