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

Do Borders Matter? Soviet economic Reform after the Coup

macroeconomics, Soviet, borders, economic reform

Economic Feasibility of Ethanol Production from Sweet Sorghum Juice in Texas

The economic feasibility of producing ethanol from sweet sorghum juice is projected using Monte Carlo simulation models to estimate the price ethanol plants will likely have to pay for sweet sorghum and the uncertain returns for ethanol plants. Ethanol plants in high yielding regions will likely generate returns on assets of 11%-12% and in low yield areas the returns on assets will be less than 10%.Sweet Sorghum, Ethanol, Monte Carlo Simulation, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty, D20 G10 D81 C15,

Heating the outer heliosphere by pickup protons

There is a growing body of literature that demonstrates the ability of a turbulent cascade within the solar wind to heat the thermal protons. Several sources of energy are required to accomplish the observed heating. Wind shear and shocks originating with the multiple source of wind plasma heat the wind inside ∽AU. However, beyond this distance little is left of these sources and all that remains is the energy injected into the plasma by the pickup of newborn protons originating from interstellar neutrals. Recent advances in the theory of wave excitation by the newborn protons allows us to return to the published heating theory and remove a previously unexplained parameterization of the heating due to pickup protons. Furthermore, recent observational evidence suggests that large-scale correlations between the wind speed and the proton temperature exist into the distant outer heliosphere that motivate an attempt to connect the two within the structure of the heating theory

Highly Collimated Jets and Wide-Angle Outflows in HH46/47: New Evidence from Spitzer IR Images

We present new details of the structure and morphology of the jets and outflows in HH46/47 as seen in Spitzer infrared images from IRAC and MIPS, reprocessed using the ``HiRes'' deconvolution technique. HiRes improves the visualization of spatial morphology by enhancing resolution (to sub-arcsec levels in IRAC bands) and removing the contaminating side lobes from bright sources. In addition to sharper views of previously reported bow shocks, we have detected: (i) the sharply-delineated cavity walls of the wide-angle biconical outflow, seen in scattered light on both sides of the protostar, (ii) several very narrow jet features at distances 400 AU to 0.1 pc from the star, and, (iii) compact emissions at MIPS 24 micron coincident with the jet heads, tracing the hottest atomic/ionic gas in the bow shocks.Comment: 11 pages, 4 Figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ(Letters

Massive Quiescent Cores in Orion. -- II. Core Mass Function

We have surveyed submillimeter continuum emission from relatively quiescent regions in the Orion molecular cloud to determine how the core mass function in a high mass star forming region compares to the stellar initial mass function. Such studies are important for understanding the evolution of cores to stars, and for comparison to formation processes in high and low mass star forming regions. We used the SHARC II camera on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory telescope to obtain 350 \micron data having angular resolution of about 9 arcsec, which corresponds to 0.02 pc at the distance of Orion. Our analysis combining dust continuum and spectral line data defines a sample of 51 Orion molecular cores with masses ranging from 0.1 \Ms to 46 \Ms and a mean mass of 9.8 \Ms, which is one order of magnitude higher than the value found in typical low mass star forming regions, such as Taurus. The majority of these cores cannot be supported by thermal pressure or turbulence, and are probably supercritical.They are thus likely precursors of protostars. The core mass function for the Orion quiescent cores can be fitted by a power law with an index equal to -0.85$\pm$0.21. This is significantly flatter than the Salpeter initial mass function and is also flatter than the core mass function found in low and intermediate star forming regions. Thus, it is likely that environmental processes play a role in shaping the stellar IMF later in the evolution of dense cores and the formation of stars in such regions.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Ap

Epidrug mediated re-expression of miRNA targeting the HMGA transcripts in pituitary cells

Transgenic mice overexpressing the high mobility group A (HMGA) genes, Hmga1 or Hmga2 develop pituitary tumours and their overexpression is also a frequent finding in human pituitary adenomas. In some cases, increased expression of HMGA2 but not that of HMGA1 is consequent to genetic perturbations. However, recent studies show that down-regulation of microRNA (miRNA), that contemporaneously target the HMGA1 and HMGA2 transcripts, are associated with their overexpression. In a cohort of primary pituitary adenoma we determine the impact of epigenetic modifications on the expression of HMGA-targeting miRNA. For these miRNAs, chromatin immunoprecipitations showed that transcript down-regulation is correlated with histone tail modifications associated with condensed silenced genes. The functional impact of epigenetic modification on miRNA expression was determined in the rodent pituitary cell line, GH3. In these cells, histone tail, miRNA-associated, modifications were similar to those apparent in human adenoma and likely account for their repression. Indeed, challenge of GH3 cells with the epidrugs, zebularine and TSA, led to enrichment of the histone modification, H3K9Ac, associated with active genes, and depletion of the modification, H3K27me3, associated with silent genes and re-expression of HMGA-targeting miRNA. Moreover, epidrugs challenges were also associated with a concomitant decrease in hmga1 transcript and protein levels and concurrent increase in bmp-4 expression. These findings show that the inverse relationship between HMGA expression and targeting miRNA is reversible through epidrug interventions. In addition to showing a mechanistic link between epigenetic modifications and miRNA expression these findings underscore their potential as therapeutic targets in this and other diseases

TURBULENT HEATING OF THE DISTANT SOLAR WIND BY INTERSTELLAR PICKUP PROTONS IN A DECELERATING FLOW

Previous models of solar wind heating by interstellar pickup proton-driven turbulence have assumed that the wind speed is a constant in heliocentric radial position. However, the same pickup process, which is taken to provide the turbulent energy, must also decelerate the wind. In this paper, we extend our phenomenological turbulence model to include variable wind speed, and then incorporate the deceleration due to interstellar pickup protons into the model. We compare the model results with plasma and field data from Voyager 2, taking this opportunity to present an extended and improved data set of proton core temperature, magnetic field fluctuation intensity, and correlation length along the Voyager trajectory. A particular motivation for including the solar wind deceleration in this model is the expectation that a slower wind would reduce the resulting proton core temperature in the region beyond ~60 AU, where the previous model predictions were higher than the observed values. However, we find instead that the deceleration of the steady-state wind increases the energy input to the turbulence, causing even higher temperatures in that region. The increased heating is shown to result from the larger values of the ratio of Alfven speed to solar wind speed that develop in the decelerating wind.Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.) (NASA contract 959203)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA grant NNX08A147G)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Guest Investigator grant NNX07AH75G)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Guest Investigator grant NNX08AJ19G

Molecular characterization of chordoma xenografts generated from a novel primary chordoma cell source and two chordoma cell lines.

OBJECT: Chordoma cells can generate solid-like tumors in xenograft models that express some molecular characteristics of the parent tumor, including positivity for brachyury and cytokeratins. However, there is a dearth of molecular markers that relate to chordoma tumor growth, as well as the cell lines needed to advance treatment. The objective in this study was to isolate a novel primary chordoma cell source and analyze the characteristics of tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model for comparison with the established U-CH1 and U-CH2b cell lines. METHODS: Primary cells from a sacral chordoma, called "DVC-4," were cultured alongside U-CH1 and U-CH2b cells for more than 20 passages and characterized for expression of CD24 and brachyury. While brachyury is believed essential for driving tumor formation, CD24 is associated with healthy nucleus pulposus cells. Each cell type was subcutaneously implanted in NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ(null) mice. The percentage of solid tumors formed, time to maximum tumor size, and immunostaining scores for CD24 and brachyury (intensity scores of 0-3, heterogeneity scores of 0-1) were reported and evaluated to test differences across groups. RESULTS: The DVC-4 cells retained chordoma-like morphology in culture and exhibited CD24 and brachyury expression profiles in vitro that were similar to those for U-CH1 and U-CH2b. Both U-CH1 and DVC-4 cells grew tumors at rates that were faster than those for U-CH2b cells. Gross tumor developed at nearly every site (95%) injected with U-CH1 and at most sites (75%) injected with DVC-4. In contrast, U-CH2b cells produced grossly visible tumors in less than 50% of injected sites. Brachyury staining was similar among tumors derived from all 3 cell types and was intensely positive (scores of 2-3) in a majority of tissue sections. In contrast, differences in the pattern and intensity of staining for CD24 were noted among the 3 types of cell-derived tumors (p < 0.05, chi-square test), with evidence of intense and uniform staining in a majority of U-CH1 tumor sections (score of 3) and more than half of the DVC-4 tumor sections (scores of 2-3). In contrast, a majority of sections from U-CH2b cells stained modestly for CD24 (scores of 1-2) with a predominantly heterogeneous staining pattern. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report on xenografts generated from U-CH2b cells in which a low tumorigenicity was discovered despite evidence of chordoma-like characteristics in vitro. For tumors derived from a primary chordoma cell and U-CH1 cell line, similarly intense staining for CD24 was observed, which may correspond to their similar potential to grow tumors. In contrast, U-CH2b tumors stained less intensely for CD24. These results emphasize that many markers, including CD24, may be useful in distinguishing among chordoma cell types and their tumorigenicity in vivo