Airborne measurements of cloud forming nuclei and aerosol particles at Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Results of airborne measurements of the sizes and concentrations of aerosol particles, ice nuclei, and cloud condensation nuclei that were taken at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, are presented along with a detailed description of the instrumentation and measuring capabilities of the University of Washington airborne measuring facility (Douglas B-23). Airborne measurements made at Ft. Collins, Colorado, and Little Rock, Arkansas, during the ferry of the B-23 are presented. The particle concentrations differed significantly between the clean air over Ft. Collins and the hazy air over Little Rock and Kennedy Space Center. The concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei over Kennedy Space Center were typical of polluted eastern seaboard air. Three different instruments were used to measure ice nuclei: one used filters to collect the particles, and the others used optical and acoustical methods to detect ice crystals grown in portable cloud chambers. A comparison of the ice nucleus counts, which are in good agreement, is presented

The Development and Implementation of a Minimum Competency Testing Program for Treynor High School, Treynor, Iowa

Does completing a specific number of high school courses necessarily indicate that students have acquired the basic skills to function well in society after graduation? This is a concern being expressed by different groups in society

In situ measurements of ship tracks

It has long been known that cloud droplet concentrations are strongly influenced by cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and that anthropogenic sources of pollution can affect CCN concentrations. More recently it has been suggested that CCN may play an important role in climate through their effect on cloud albedo. A interesting example of the effect of anthropogenic CCN on cloud albedo is the so-called 'ship track' phenomenon. Ship tracks were first observed in satellite imagery when the ship's emissions were evidently needed for the formation of a visible cloud. However, they appear more frequently in satellite imagery as modifications to existing stratus and stratocumulus clouds. The tracks are seen most clearly in satellite imagery by comparing the radiance at 3.7 microns with that at 0.63 and 11 microns. To account for the observed change in radiance, droplet concentrations must be high, and the mean size of the droplets small, in ship tracks. Researchers describe what they believe to be the first in situ measurements in what appears to have been a ship track

Effects of Periodic Unsteady Wake Flow and Pressure Gradient on Boundary Layer Transition Along the Concave Surface of a Curved Plate

Boundary layer transition and development on a turbomachinery blade is subjected to highly periodic unsteady turbulent flow, pressure gradient in longitudinal as well as lateral direction, and surface curvature. To study the effects of periodic unsteady wakes on the concave surface of a turbine blade, a curved plate was utilized. On the concave surface of this plate, detailed experimental investigations were carried out under zero and negative pressure gradient. The measurements were performed in an unsteady flow research facility using a rotating cascade of rods positioned upstream of the curved plate. Boundary layer measurements using a hot-wire probe were analyzed by the ensemble-averaging technique. The results presented in the temporal-spatial domain display the transition and further development of the boundary layer, specifically the ensemble-averaged velocity and turbulence intensity. As the results show, the turbulent patches generated by the wakes have different leading and trailing edge velocities and merge with the boundary layer resulting in a strong deformation and generation of a high turbulence intensity core. After the turbulent patch has totally penetrated into the boundary layer, pronounced becalmed regions were formed behind the turbulent patch and were extended far beyond the point they would occur in the corresponding undisturbed steady boundary layer

TB1: Effect of Dietary Protein and Fat on the Deposition of C14 from Rhodospirillum rubrum in Rats Conditioned to a Low Protein-Fat Free Diet

The object of the experiments described in this publication was to gain information concerning the fate of a radioactive food fed to rats which had been made deficient in essential fatty acids (EFA). These experiments were designed to determine the effect of kinds and proportions of dietary fats and proteins on the distribution of a high protein C 14 -labeled food in rats that have been on a lo w-protein, fat-free diet and show the typical EFA deficiency symptoms.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1183/thumbnail.jp

TB21: Relationships of Proteins, Essential Fatty Acids and Cholesterol in the Rat and the Mouse

This report describes extensive experiments to search for effects of various types and levels of dietary protein and dietary fat, especially linoleic acid, on such parameters of well-being as growth, appearance, tissue moisture and lipid content, tissue and serum cholesterol levels and lipid iodine numbers. Inbred mice were used in initial experiments and inbred rats were used in later experiments.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1181/thumbnail.jp

Integration methods for enzymatic analysis response curves which show maxima, minima or inflections

Integration methods for enzymatic reactions were applied to transducer response vs. time curves which exhibit maxima, minima or inflections. The difference between the integral of the time dependent response and the initial response, often zero, is related to the initial enzyme activity or substrate concentration. Fluorescence response curves which exhibit a maximum due to pre- and postfilter effects at elevated concentrations of a time dependent fluorescence indicator species result in integrals which may not be unique to one analyte concentration. It was found that augmenting the integral data with the time of the maximum permitted correlation of each integral with a unique analyte concentration or enzyme activity. Integrals of response curves which exhibit minima also correlate with unique analyte concentrations. At increased concentration of analyte, however, the minimum may broaden into a minimum plateau and the time of the minimum may supplement the integral data as a more sensitive measure of analyte concentration. Integrals of enzymatic response curves with inflection points correlate with unique analyte concentrations. Integration methods were applied to both real and ideal systems. Theoretical rate equations were used to generate families of idealized response curves exhibiting maxima, minima and inflections. Curves were generated at either fixed initial substrate concentration with variable enzyme activity or at fixed initial enzyme activity with variable substrate concentration. Difference integrals were calculated and plotted as a function of initial substrate concentration or initial enzyme activity. Enzymatic analyses were also performed using systems which produce families of response curves exhibiting maxima, minima and inflections. Difference integrals were calculated for these curves and related to initial enzyme activity or substrate concentration

Of Mice and Men and Trillium: Cascading Effects of Forest Fragmentation

Cascading ecological effects of anthropogenic habitat fragmentation have been studied primarily in extreme cases (e.g., the isolation of habitat fragments in a novel habitat matrix such as suburban developments, reservoirs, or agricultural fields), with less attention to more subtle and widespread cases, such as habitat fragmentation due to timber harvest. Few studies have used rigorous demographic data to demonstrate the direct and indirect effects of habitat fragmentation. We trapped deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) at five sites over two years in southwest Oregon, USA, and used multi-state capture-recapture models to estimate deer mouse survival and movement in clearcuts; forest-fragment edges, forest-fragment interiors, and contiguous forests. We also estimated deer mouse densities in fragmented and unfragmented forests and combined deer mouse demographic studies with trillium (Trillium ovatum) seed predation trials to link deer mouse changes to reduced trillium recruitment previously observed at the same study sites. Mouse survival was highest in clearcuts, intermediate in forest fragments, and lowest in unfragmented.(control) forests. Mouse movement among clearcuts, forest edges, and forest interiors was common over short time intervals. Collectively, demographic rates led to mouse densities that were 3-4 times higher at forest-fragment sites than at unfragmented sites. Trillium seeds were similar to3 times more likely to be depredated in areas of elevated relative mouse abundance than in areas of lower relative abundance. Forest fragmentation has favored mouse populations, resulting in increased seed predation that may decrease recruitment rates and increase local extinction risks for trillium

Cactus Framework: Black Holes to Gamma Ray Bursts

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are intense narrowly-beamed flashes of gamma-rays of cosmological origin. They are among the most scientifically interesting astrophysical systems, and the riddle concerning their central engines and emission mechanisms is one of the most complex and challenging problems of astrophysics today. In this article we outline our petascale approach to the GRB problem and discuss the computational toolkits and numerical codes that are currently in use and that will be scaled up to run on emerging petaflop scale computing platforms in the near future. Petascale computing will require additional ingredients over conventional parallelism. We consider some of the challenges which will be caused by future petascale architectures, and discuss our plans for the future development of the Cactus framework and its applications to meet these challenges in order to profit from these new architectures