3,620 research outputs found
Bonding Lexan and sapphire to form high-pressure, flame-resistant window
Flammable materials have been studied in normal gravity and microgravity for many years. Photography plays a major role in the study of the combustion process giving a permanent visual record that can be analyzed. When these studies are extended to manned spacecraft, safety becomes a primary concern. The need for a high-pressure, flame-resistant, shatter-resistant window permitting photographic recording of combustion experiments in manned spacecraft prompted the development of a method for bonding Lexan and sapphire. Materials that resist shattering (e.g., Lexan) are not compatible with combustion experiments; the material loses strength at combustion temperatures. Sapphire is compatible with combustion temperatures in oxygen-enriched atmospheres but is subject to shattering. Combining the two materials results in a shatter-resistant, flame-resistant window. Combustion in microgravity produces a low-visibility flame; however, flame propagation and flame characteristics are readily visible as long as there is no deterioration of the image. Since an air gap between the Lexan and the sapphire would reduce transmission, a method was developed for bonding these unlike materials to minimize light loss
Silicon micromachined waveguides for millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave frequencies
The development of micromachining techniques to create silicon-based waveguide circuits, which can operate up to high submillimeter-wave frequencies, is reported. As a first step, a WR-10 waveguide has been fabricated from (110) silicon wafers. Insertion loss measurements on a gold-plated silicon waveguide show performance comparable to that of standard metal waveguides. It is suggested that active devices and planar circuits can be integrated with the waveguides, solving the traditional mounting problems
Silicon micromachined waveguides for millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths
The majority of radio receivers, transmitters, and components operating at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths utilize rectangular waveguides in some form. However, conventional machining techniques for waveguides operating above a few hundred GHz are complicated and costly. This paper reports on the development of silicon micromachining techniques to create silicon-based waveguide circuits which can operate at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. As a first step, rectangular WR-10 waveguide structures have been fabricated from (110) silicon wafers using micromachining techniques. The waveguide is split along the broad wall. Each half is formed by first etching a channel completely through a wafer. Potassium hydroxide is used to etch smooth mirror-like vertical walls and LPCVD silicon nitride is used as a masking layer. This wafer is then bonded to another flat wafer using a polyimide bonding technique and diced into the U-shaped half wavelengths. Finally, a gold layer is applied to the waveguide walls. Insertion loss measurements show losses comparable to those of standard metal waveguides. It is suggested that active devices and planar circuits can be integrated with the waveguides, solving the traditional mounting problems. Potential applications in terahertz instrumentation technology are further discussed
Preliminary Investigation of the Occurrence and Distribution of Azotobacter on the Soils in Iowa
Berthelot in 1888 was the first to suggest that nitrogen may be added to field soils through the activity of microorganisms. In 1901 Beijerinck isolated a non-symbiotic, aerobic, nitrogen-fixing organism which he called Azotobacter chroococcum. Since this time five other species belonging to this genus have been isolated and likewise have been found capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen
Distinct roles for innexin gap junctions and hemichannels in mechanosensation.
Mechanosensation is central to a wide range of functions, including tactile and pain perception, hearing, proprioception, and control of blood pressure, but identifying the molecules underlying mechanotransduction has proved challenging. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the avoidance response to gentle body touch is mediated by six touch receptor neurons (TRNs), and is dependent on MEC-4, a DEG/ENaC channel. We show that hemichannels containing the innexin protein UNC-7 are also essential for gentle touch in the TRNs, as well as harsh touch in both the TRNs and the PVD nociceptors. UNC-7 and MEC-4 do not colocalize, suggesting that their roles in mechanosensory transduction are independent. Heterologous expression of unc-7 in touch-insensitive chemosensory neurons confers ectopic touch sensitivity, indicating a specific role for UNC-7 hemichannels in mechanosensation. The unc-7 touch defect can be rescued by the homologous mouse gene Panx1 gene, thus, innexin/pannexin proteins may play broadly conserved roles in neuronal mechanotransduction
Halting indigenous biodiversity decline: ambiguity, equity, and outcomes in RMA assessment of significance
In New Zealand, assessment of ‘significance’ is undertaken to give effect to a legal requirement for local authorities to provide for protection of significant sites under the Resource Management Act (1991). The ambiguity of the statute enables different interests to define significance according to their goals: vested interests (developers), local authorities, and non-vested interests in pursuit of protection of environmental public goods may advance different definitions. We examine two sets of criteria used for assessment of significance for biological diversity under the Act. Criteria adapted from the 1980s Protected Natural Areas Programme are inadequate to achieve the maintenance of biological diversity if ranking is used to identify only highest priority sites. Norton and Roper-Lindsay (2004) propose a narrow definition of significance and criteria that identify only a few high-quality sites as significant. Both sets are likely to serve the interests of developers and local authorities, but place the penalty of uncertainty on non-vested interests seeking to maintain biological diversity, and are likely to exacerbate the decline of biological diversity and the loss of landscape-scale processes required for its persistence. When adopting criteria for assessment of significance, we suggest local authorities should consider whose interests are served by different criteria sets, and who will bear the penalty of uncertainty regarding biological diversity outcomes. They should also ask whether significance criteria are adequate, and sufficiently robust to the uncertainty inherent in the assessment of natural values, to halt the decline of indigenous biological diversity
Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of the Inner M87 Jet
M87 is the best source in which to study a jet at high resolution in
gravitational units because it has a very high mass black hole and is nearby.
The angular size of the black hole is second only to Sgr A*, which does not
have a strong jet. The jet structure is edge brightened with a wide opening
angle base and a weak counterjet. We have roughly annual observations for 17
years plus intensive monitoring at three week intervals for a year and five day
intervals for 2.5 months made with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 43
GHz. The inner jet shows very complex dynamics, with apparent motions both
along and across the jet. Speeds from zero to over 2c are seen, with
acceleration observed over the first 3 milli-arcseconds. The counterjet
decreases in brightness much more rapidly than the main jet, as is expected
from relativistic beaming in an accelerating jet oriented near the
line-of-sight. Details of the structure and dynamics are discussed. The roughly
annual observations show side-to-side motion of the whole jet with a
characteristic time scale of about 9 years.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Published in a special issue of Galaxies which
is the proceedings of "Blazars through Sharp Multi-Wavelength Eyes" edited by
J. L. Gomez, A. P. Marscher, and S. G. Jorsta
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