Supersonic shock wave/vortex interaction

Although shock wave/vortex interaction is a basic and important fluid dynamics problem, very little research has been conducted on this topic. Therefore, a detailed experimental study of the interaction between a supersonic streamwise turbulent vortex and a shock wave was carried out at the Penn State Gas Dynamics Laboratory. A vortex is produced by replaceable swirl vanes located upstream of the throat of various converging-diverging nozzles. The supersonic vortex is then injected into either a coflowing supersonic stream or ambient air. The structure of the isolated vortex is investigated in a supersonic wind tunnel using miniature, fast-response, five-hole and total temperature probes and in a free jet using laser Doppler velocimetry. The cases tested have unit Reynolds numbers in excess of 25 million per meter, axial Mach numbers ranging from 2.5 to 4.0, and peak tangential Mach numbers from 0 (i.e., a pure jet) to about 0.7. The results show that the typical supersonic wake-like vortex consists of a non-isentropic, rotational core, where the reduced circulation distribution is self similar, and an outer isentropic, irrotational region. The vortex core is also a region of significant turbulent fluctuations. Radial profiles of turbulent kinetic energy and axial-tangential Reynolds stress are presented. The interactions between the vortex and both oblique and normal shock waves are investigated using nonintrusive optical diagnostics (i.e. schlieren, planar laser scattering, and laser Doppler velocimetry). Of the various types, two Mach 2.5 overexpanded-nozzle Mach disc interactions are examined in detail. Below a certain vortex strength, a 'weak' interaction exists in which the normal shock is perturbed locally into an unsteady 'bubble' shock near the vortex axis, but vortex breakdown (i.e., a stagnation point) does not occur. For stronger vortices, a random unsteady 'strong' interaction results that causes vortex breakdown. The vortex core reforms downstream of the rear stagnation point, and the reduced circulation distribution once again becomes self-similar in this region. A-new model of this interaction is proposed. Finally, a curve defining the approximate limits of supersonic vortex breakdown is presented

Canine heartworm disease (2008)

Revised 3/08/3

Application of AA-PSP to hypersonic flows: the double ramp model

Anodized Aluminium Pressure Sensitive Paint (AA-PSP) is known for its rapid response characteristics, making it a highly desirable technique when studying high-speed phenomenon on a global scale. The current study examines the efficacy of the AA-PSP technique, which is prepared with a more practical approach than that reported in literature, in analysing the flow characteristics of a double ramp model placed in hypersonic flow of M = 5. Three different flow angles of 0°, −2°, and −4° are studied. Two-dimensional colour schlieren visualisation, using a colour wheel, is employed alongside high sensitivity Kulite pressure tap data to corroborate the AA-PSP findings. The AA-PSP results show good correlation between the qualitative schlieren and ±8.9% discrepency with the quantitative pressure tap data. The more practical AA-PSP preparation proposed in the current study, which uses aluminium alloy 6-series rather than pure aluminium, is proved to have the response time and the accuracy to be applied to unsteady high-speed flows

Large-scale analysis of antisense transcription in wheat using the Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are transcripts of the opposite DNA strand to the sense-strand either at the same locus (<it>cis</it>-encoded) or a different locus (<it>trans</it>-encoded). They can affect gene expression at multiple stages including transcription, RNA processing and transport, and translation. NATs give rise to sense-antisense transcript pairs and the number of these identified has escalated greatly with the availability of DNA sequencing resources and public databases. Traditionally, NATs were identified by the alignment of full-length cDNAs or expressed sequence tags to genome sequences, but an alternative method for large-scale detection of sense-antisense transcript pairs involves the use of microarrays. In this study we developed a novel protocol to assay sense- and antisense-strand transcription on the 55 K Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array, which is a 3' <it>in vitro </it>transcription (3'IVT) expression array. We selected five different tissue types for assay to enable maximum discovery, and used the 'Chinese Spring' wheat genotype because most of the wheat GeneChip probe sequences were based on its genomic sequence. This study is the first report of using a 3'IVT expression array to discover the expression of natural sense-antisense transcript pairs, and may be considered as proof-of-concept.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By using alternative target preparation schemes, both the sense- and antisense-strand derived transcripts were labeled and hybridized to the Wheat GeneChip. Quality assurance verified that successful hybridization did occur in the antisense-strand assay. A stringent threshold for positive hybridization was applied, which resulted in the identification of 110 sense-antisense transcript pairs, as well as 80 potentially antisense-specific transcripts. Strand-specific RT-PCR validated the microarray observations, and showed that antisense transcription is likely to be tissue specific. For the annotated sense-antisense transcript pairs, analysis of the gene ontology terms showed a significant over-representation of transcripts involved in energy production. These included several representations of ATP synthase, photosystem proteins and RUBISCO, which indicated that photosynthesis is likely to be regulated by antisense transcripts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrated the novel use of an adapted labeling protocol and a 3'IVT GeneChip array for large-scale identification of antisense transcription in wheat. The results show that antisense transcription is relatively abundant in wheat, and may affect the expression of valuable agronomic phenotypes. Future work should select potentially interesting transcript pairs for further functional characterization to determine biological activity.</p

A Probe of New Physics in Top Quark Pair Production at e−e+e^-e^+ Colliders

We describe how to probe new physics through examination of the form factors describing the Ztt couplings via the scattering process e^-e^+->t+tbar. We focus on experimental methods on how the top quark momentum can be determined and show how this can be applied to select polarized samples of $t\bar{t}$ pairs through the angular correlations in the final state leptons. We also study the dependence on the energy and luminosity of an \ee\ collider to probe a CP violating asymmetry at the $10^{-2}$ level.}Comment: 24 pages in TeXsis (figures available upon request) (revised July 1993

Apparatus to control and visualize the impact of a high-energy laser pulse on a liquid target

We present an experimental apparatus to control and visualize the response of a liquid target to a laser-induced vaporization. We use a millimeter-sized drop as target and present two liquid-dye solutions that allow a variation of the absorption coefficient of the laser light in the drop by seven orders of magnitude. The excitation source is a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at its frequency-doubled wavelength emitting nanosecond pulses with energy densities above the local vaporization threshold. The absorption of the laser energy leads to a large-scale liquid motion at timescales that are separated by several orders of magnitude, which we spatiotemporally resolve by a combination of ultra-high-speed and stroboscopic high-resolution imaging in two orthogonal views. Surprisingly, the large-scale liquid motion at upon laser impact is completely controlled by the spatial energy distribution obtained by a precise beam-shaping technique. The apparatus demonstrates the potential for accurate and quantitative studies of laser-matter interactions.Comment: Submitted to Review of Scientific Instrument

Draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas moraviensis R28-S

We report the draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas moraviensis R28-S, isolated from the municipal wastewater treatment plant of Moscow, ID. The strain carries a native mercury resistance plasmid, poorly maintains introduced IncP-1 antibiotic resistance plasmids, and has been useful for studying the evolution of plasmid host range and stability

Investigation of the double ramp in hypersonic flow using luminescent measurement systems

Compression ramp flows in supersonic and hypersonic environments present unique flow patterns for shock wave-boundary layer interaction studies. They also represent the generic geometry of two-dimensional inlets and deflected control surfaces for re-entry vehicles. Therefore, a detailed knowledge of the flow behaviour created by such geometries is critical for optimum design. The flow is made more complicated due to the presence of separation regions and streamwise Görtler vortices. The objective of the current research is to study the behaviour and characteristics of the flow over the double ramp model placed in hypersonic flow at freestream Mach number of 5. Three different incidence angles of 0°, −2°, and −4° are studied using colour Schlieren and luminescent paints consisting of anodized aluminium pressure-sensitive paint (AA-PSP) and the temperature-sensitive paint (TSP) technique. The colour Schlieren provides description of the external flow while the global surface pressure and temperature distribution is obtained through the AA-PSP and TSP methods. The TSP technique also proves that it is very effective in identifying the location and properties of the Görtler vortices; revealing the effect of incidence on the magnitude and pattern of Görtler vortices formed

Higgs signals and hard photons at the Next Linear Collider: the ZZZZ-fusion channel in the Standard Model

In this paper, we extend the analyses carried out in a previous article for $WW$-fusion to the case of Higgs production via $ZZ$-fusion within the Standard Model at the Next Linear Collider, in presence of electromagnetic radiation due real photon emission. Calculations are carried out at tree-level and rates of the leading order (LO) processes e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H \ar e^+e^- b\bar b and e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H \ar e^+e^- WW \ar e^+e^- \mathrm{jjjj} are compared to those of the next-to-leading order (NLO) reactions e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H (\gamma)\ar e^+e^- b\bar b \gamma and e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H (\gamma)\ar e^+e^- WW (\gamma) \ar e^+e^- \mathrm{jjjj}\gamma, in the case of energetic and isolated photons.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 5 PostScript figures embedded using epsfig and bitmapped at 100dpi, complete paper including high definition figures available at ftp://axpa.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/stefano/cavendish_9611.ps or at http://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/theory/papers