EOD systems and facilities workload requirements forecast

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Changing caseloads: macro influences and micro composition

Welfare ; Public welfare

From Pine Cones to Read Clouds: Rescaffolding the Megagenome of Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana).

We investigate the utility and scalability of new read cloud technologies to improve the draft genome assemblies of the colossal, and largely repetitive, genomes of conifers. Synthetic long read technologies have existed in various forms as a means of reducing complexity and resolving repeats since the outset of genome assembly. Recently, technologies that combine subhaploid pools of high molecular weight DNA with barcoding on a massive scale have brought new efficiencies to sample preparation and data generation. When combined with inexpensive light shotgun sequencing, the resulting data can be used to scaffold large genomes. The protocol is efficient enough to consider routinely for even the largest genomes. Conifers represent the largest reference genome projects executed to date. The largest of these is that of the conifer Pinus lambertiana (sugar pine), with a genome size of 31 billion bp. In this paper, we report on the molecular and computational protocols for scaffolding the P. lambertiana genome using the library technology from 10× Genomics. At 247,000 bp, the NG50 of the existing reference sequence is the highest scaffold contiguity among the currently published conifer assemblies; this new assembly's NG50 is 1.94 million bp, an eightfold increase

Accretion Disk Temperatures of QSOs: Constraints from the Emission Lines

QSO emission-line spectra are compared to predictions based on theoretical ionizing continua of accretion disks. Observed line intensities do not show the expected trend of higher ionization with higher accretion disk temperature as derived from the black hole mass and accretion rate. This suggests that, at least for accretion rates close to the Eddington limit, the inner disk does not reach temperatures as high as expected from standard disk theory. Modified radial temperature profiles, taking account of winds or advection in the inner disk, achieve better agreement with observation. This conclusion agrees with an earlier study of QSO continuum colors as a function of disk temperature. The emission lines of radio-detected and radio-undetected sources show different trends as a function of disk temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Ap

Internally coated air-cooled gas turbine blading

Ten candidate modified nickel-aluminide coatings were developed using the slip pack process. These coatings contain additives such as silicon, chromium and columbium in a nickel-aluminum coating matrix with directionally solidified MAR-M200 + Hf as the substrate alloy. Following a series of screening tests which included strain tolerance, dynamic oxidation and hot corrosion testing, the Ni-19A1-1Cb (nominal composition) coating was selected for application to the internal passages of four first-stage turbine blades. Process development results indicate that a dry pack process is suitable for internal coating application resulting in 18 percent or less reduction in air flow. Coating uniformity, based on coated air-cooled blades, was within + or - 20 percent. Test results show that the presence of additives (silicon, chromium or columbium) appeared to improve significantly the ductility of the NiA1 matrix. However, the environmental resistance of these modified nickel-aluminides were generally inferior to the simple aluminides

Is There a Sex Difference in the Age of Elite Marathon Runners?

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to determine i) if there is a sex difference in the age of the elite marathon runners and ii) if the sex difference in performance altered across the years that women have participated in the marathon. Methods: Age at time of competition and running times of the first five placed male and female runners who competed in the seven marathons of the World Marathon Majors Series were analyzed. Data from as many years as was available online were retrieved so that 410 men and 410 women were included in the analysis. The marathons and years included the Berlin (1999–2009), Boston (2000–2009), Chicago (1997–2009), London (2001–2009), New York City (1990–2009), International Athletic Association Federation World Championship (1983, 1987, and every 2 yr from 1991), and Olympic (every 4 yr since 1984) marathons. Results: Women were older than men (mean ± SD = 29.8 ± 4.2 vs 28.9 ± 3.8 yr), but for only two of the seven marathons, the Chicago and the London marathons (P \u3c 0.05): the sex difference in age was not consistent across the years. There was no sex difference in age for the Berlin, Boston, New York City, World Championship, and Olympic marathons. Men were faster than women (11.6% ± 1.8%). The sex difference in running velocity varied across marathons (least for the World Championships, 10.2%) and also across years, but not systematically. This sex difference in running velocity increased from first to fifth place across all marathons. Conclusions: These data indicate that men and women physiologically peak at a similar age in marathon running performance. The sex difference in performance of elite marathon runners varied across years but has not systemically decreased or varied since the 1980s

Differences in both prevalence and titre of specific immunoglobulin E among children with asthma in affluent and poor communities within a large town in Ghana.

Background Reports from several African countries have noted an increasing prevalence of asthma in areas of extensive urbanization. Objective To investigate the relevance of allergen-specific sensitization and body mass index (BMI) to asthma/wheezing and exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) among children from affluent and poorer communities within a large town in Ghana. Methods Children with physician-diagnosed asthma and/or current wheezing aged 9-16 years (n=99; cases) from three schools with differing socio-economic backgrounds [urban affluent (UA), urban poor (UP) or suburban/rural (SR)] were recruited from a cross-sectional study (n=1848) in Kumasi, Ghana, and matched according to age, sex and area of residence with non-asthmatic/non-wheezy controls. We assayed sera for IgE antibodies to mite, cat, dog, cockroach, Ascaris and galactose-α-1,3-galactose. Results Children from the UA school had the lowest total serum IgE. However, cases from the UA school had a higher prevalence and mean titre of sIgE to mite (71.4%, 21.2IU/mL) when compared with controls (14.3%, 0.8IU/mL) or cases from UP (30%, 0.8IU/mL) and SR community (47.8%, 1.6IU/mL). While similar findings were observed with EIB in the whole population, among cases there was no difference in IgE antibody prevalence or titre between children with or without EIB. BMI was higher among UA children with and without asthma; in UP and SR communities, children with EIB (n=14) had a significantly higher BMI compared with children with asthma/wheezing without EIB (n=38) (18.2 vs. 16.4, respectively, P<0.01). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance In the relatively affluent school, asthma/wheezing and EIB were associated with high titre IgE antibodies to mite, decreased total IgE, and increased BMI. This contrasted with children in the urban poor school and suggests that changes relevant to a Western model of childhood asthma can occur within a short geographical distance within a large city in Africa. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Asteroseismology of red giants: photometric observations of Arcturus by SMEI

We present new results on oscillations of the K1.5 III giant Arcturus (alpha Boo), from analysis of just over 2.5 yr of precise photometric observations made by the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) on board the Coriolis satellite. A strong mode of oscillation is uncovered by the analysis, having frequency 3.51+/-0.03 micro-Hertz. By fitting its mode peak, we are able offer a highly constrained direct estimate of the damping time (tau = 24+/-1 days). The data also hint at the possible presence of several radial-mode overtones, and maybe some non-radial modes. We are also able to measure the properties of the granulation on the star, with the characteristic timescale for the granulation estimated to be 0.50+/-0.05 days.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Environmental charging tests of spacecraft thermal control louvers

The environmental charging of spacecraft surfaces program consists, in part, of experimental evaluation of material response to the environmental charged particle flux. A flight type spacecraft thermal control louver assembly has been tested in an electron flux. The louver blade surface potential, the louver assembly currents, and the relatively high number of discharges observed in the electron environment are self-consistent results. The unexpected result of this testing was the flutter observed when the louvers were closed. The flutter is about 1 to 2 Hz in frequency and is probably electrostatically induced