An inventory of aeronautical ground research facilities. Volume 3: Structural

An inventory of test facilities for conducting acceleration, environmental, impact, structural shock, load, heat, vibration, and noise tests is presented. The facility is identified with a description of the equipment, the testing capabilities, and cost of operation. Performance data for the facility are presented in charts and tables

An inventory of aeronautical ground research facilities. Volume 1: Wind tunnels

A survey of wind tunnel research facilities in the United States is presented. The inventory includes all subsonic, transonic, and hypersonic wind tunnels operated by governmental and private organizations. Each wind tunnel is described with respect to size, mechanical operation, construction, testing capabilities, and operating costs. Facility performance data are presented in charts and tables

A New Tool to Optimize ICE Performance and Emissions Via 1D Code Coupled with Gas

Abstract The aim of this paper is to propose a new strategy to optimize the performance and to reduce the emission levels of Internal Combustion Engines by varying intake valve lift profile and timing. The object of the study was an ICE – SI, GDI, 1.4 l, four cylinders, 16 V, turbocharged. It was equipped with an electrohydraulic VVA system which allows the intake valves to vary, at the same time, lift and timing in order to realize early IVC and/or late IVO. Thanks to this, the engine can always operate in the optimal fluid dynamics conditions in order to achieve the best performance and emission levels. A model of the engine was implemented in GT-Power™ for several operating conditions (partial load, full load, low and high engine speed), and then coupled with a single-objective genetic algorithm, evolved subsequently into a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Two different analysis were carried out: the first one for reducing CO2 emissions at partial load and low engine speed (single-objective optimization), and the second one for increasing the brake torque at full load (multi-objective optimization). The proposed model shows the possibility to quickly find optimal solutions for the test cases considered, and it let the opportunity to be further developed and improved in order to optimize many other parameters of the ICE

Transition turbulence model calibration for wind turbine airfoil characterization through the use of a Micro-Genetic Algorithm

Abstract The aerodynamic characterization of airfoils is of crucial importance for the design and optimization of wind turbines. The present paper tries to provide an engineering methodology for the improvement of the accuracy and reliability of 2D airfoil computational fluid dynamics models, by coupling the ANSYS Fluent solver and a Micro-Genetic Algorithm. The modeling strategy provided includes meshing optimization, solver settings, comparison between different turbulence models and, mainly, the calibration of the local correlation parameters of the transition turbulence model by Menter, which was found to be the most accurate model for the simulation of transitional flows. Specifically, the Micro-Genetic Algorithm works by generating populations of the missing local correlation parameters. In doing so, it is possible to search for the minimization of the error in lift calculations. For each specific Reynolds number, the calibration was carried out only at the Angle of Attack where the lift drop occurs and the airfoil completely stalls. This new idea allowed for a relatively rapid and good calibration as demonstrated by the experimental–numerical comparisons presented in this paper. Only the experimental stall angle and the relative lift coefficient were, therefore, necessary for obtaining a good calibration. The calibration was made using the widely known S809 profile data. The correlation parameters, obtained as so, were subsequently used for testing on the NACA 0018 airfoil with satisfactory results. Therefore, the calibration obtained using the S809 airfoil data appeared to be reliable and may be used for the simulation of other airfoils. This can be done without the need for further wind tunnel experimental data or recalibrations. The proposed methodology will, therefore, be of essential help in obtaining accurate aerodynamic coefficients data. This will drastically improve the capabilities of the 1D design codes at low Reynolds numbers thanks to the possibility of generating accurate databases of 2D airfoil aerodynamic coefficients. The advantages of the proposed calibration will be helpful in the generation of more accurate 3D wind turbine models as well. The final objective of the paper was thus to obtain a fine and reliable calibration of the transition turbulence model by Menter. This was specifically made for an accurate prediction of the aerodynamic coefficients of any airfoil at low Reynolds numbers and for the improvements of 3D rotor models

Exploring the G-quadruplex binding and unwinding activity of the bacterial FeS helicase DinG

Despite numerous reports on the interactions of G-quadruplexes (G4s) with helicases, systematic analysis addressing the selectivity and specificity of each helicase towards a variety of G4 topologies are scarce. Among the helicases able to unwind G4s are those containing an iron-sulphur (FeS) cluster, including both the bacterial DinG (found in E. coli and several pathogenic bacteria) and the medically important eukaryotic homologues (XPD, FancJ, DDX11 and RTEL1). We carried out a detailed study of the interactions between the E. coli DinG and a variety of G4s, by employing physicochemical and biochemical methodologies. A series of G4-rich sequences from different genomic locations (promoter and telomeric regions), able to form unimolecular G4 structures with diverse topologies, were analyzed (c-KIT1, KRAS, c-MYC, BCL2, Tel23, T30695, Zic1). DinG binds to most of the investigated G4s with little discrimination, while it exhibits a clear degree of unwinding specificity towards different G4 topologies. Whereas previous reports suggested that DinG was active only on bimolecular G4s, here we show that it is also able to bind to and resolve the more physiologically relevant unimolecular G4s. In addition, when the G4 structures were stabilized by ligands (Pyridostatin, PhenDC3, BRACO-19 or Netropsin), the DinG unwinding activity decreased and in most cases was abolished, with a pattern that is not simply explained by a change in binding affinity. Overall, these results have important implications for the biochemistry of helicases, strongly suggesting that when analysing the G4 unwinding property of an enzyme, it is necessary to investigate a variety of G4 substrates

Analysis of Movement Recursions to Detect Reproductive Events and Estimate Their Fate in Central Place Foragers

Background Recursive movement patterns have been used to detect behavioral structure within individual movement trajectories in the context of foraging ecology, home-ranging behavior, and predator avoidance. Some animals exhibit movement recursions to locations that are tied to reproductive functions, including nests and dens; while existing literature recognizes that, no method is currently available to explicitly target different types of revisited locations. Moreover, the temporal persistence of recursive movements to a breeding location can carry information regarding the fate of breeding attempts, but it has never been used as a metric to quantify recursive movement patterns. Here, we introduce a method to locate breeding attempts and estimate their fate from GPS-tracking data of central place foragers. We tested the performance of our method in three bird species differing in breeding ecology (wood stork (Mycteria americana), lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus)) and implemented it in the R package ‘nestR’. Methods We identified breeding sites based on the analysis of recursive movements within individual tracks. Using trajectories with known breeding attempts, we estimated a set of species-specific criteria for the identification of nest sites, which we further validated using non-reproductive individuals as controls. We then estimated individual nest survival as a binary measure of reproductive fate (success, corresponding to fledging of at least one chick, or failure) from nest-site revisitation histories during breeding attempts, using a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach that accounted for temporally variable revisitation patterns, probability of visit detection, and missing data. Results Across the three species, positive predictive value of the nest-site detection algorithm varied between 87 and 100% and sensitivity between 88 and 92%, and we correctly estimated the fate of 86–100% breeding attempts. Conclusions By providing a method to formally distinguish among revisited locations that serve different ecological functions and introducing a probabilistic framework to quantify temporal persistence of movement recursions, we demonstrated how the analysis of recursive movement patterns can be applied to estimate reproduction in central place foragers. Beyond avian species, the principles of our method can be applied to other central place foraging breeders such as denning mammals. Our method estimates a component of individual fitness from movement data and will help bridge the gap between movement behavior, environmental factors, and their fitness consequences

Combined platelet-rich plasma and lipofilling treatment provides great improvement in facial skin-induced lesion regeneration for scleroderma patients

Background: The use of stem cells, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), for regenerative medicine is gaining interest for the clinical benefits so far obtained in patients. This study investigates the use of adipose autologous tissue in combination with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to improve the clinical outcome of patients affected by systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) and PRPs were purified from healthy donors and SSc patients. The multilineage differentiation potential of AD-MSCs and their genotypic-phenotypic features were investigated. A cytokine production profile was evaluated on AD-MSCs and PRPs from both healthy subjects and SSc patients. The adipose tissue-derived cell fraction, the so-called stromal vascular fraction (SVF), was coinjected with PRP in the perioral area of SSc patients. Results: Histopathological and phenotypical analysis of adipose tissue from SSc patients revealed a disorganization of its distinct architecture coupled with an altered cell composition. Although AD-MSCs derived from SSc patients showed high multipotency, they failed to sustain a terminally differentiated progeny. Furthermore, SVFs derived from SSc patients differed from healthy donors in their MSC-like traits coupled with an aberrant cytokine production profile. Finally, the administration of PRP in combination with autologous SVF improved buccal's rhyme, skin elasticity and vascularization for all of the SSc patients enrolled in this study. Conclusions: This innovative regenerative therapy could be exploited for the treatment of chronic connective tissue diseases, including SSc