Cast segment evaluation

Evaluation program to determine feasibility of fabricating segmented rocket engine thrust chambers using low cost, lightweight castings extends state of the art in areas of casting size and complexity, and in ability to provide thin sections and narrow, deep, cooling channels. Related developments are discussed

Orbit transfer vehicle advanced expander cycle engine point design study. Volume 2: Study results

The design characteristics of the baseline engine configuration of the advanced expander cycle engine are described. Several aspects of engine optimization are considered which directly impact the design of the baseline thrust chamber. Four major areas of the power cycle optimization are emphasized: main turbine arrangement; cycle engine source; high pressure pump design; and boost pump drive

Linear aerospike engine study

Parametric data on split-combustor linear engine propulsion systems are presented for use in mixed-mode single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle studies. Preliminary design data for two selected engine systems are included. The split combustor was investigated for mixed-mode operations with oxygen/hydrogen propellants used in the inner combustor in Mode 2, and in conjunction with either oxygen/RP-1, oxygen/RJ-5, O2/CH4, or O2/H2 propellants in the outer combustor for Mode 1. Both gas generator and staged combustion power cycles were analyzed for providing power to the turbopumps of the inner and outer combustors. Numerous cooling circuits and cooling fluids (propellants) were analyzed and hydrogen was selected as the preferred coolant for both combustors and the linear aerospike nozzle. The maximum operating chamber pressure was determined to be limited by the availability of hydrogen coolant pressure drop in the coolant circuit

Tropical and subtropical actinorhizal plants

A maioria dos países tropicais enfrenta dois grandes problemas: o aumento constante da exploração das reservas florestais para extração de madeira ou lenha e a diminuição da fertilidade do solo para produção agrícola. O conceito geral é o de que plantas fixadoras de N2 podem evitar a propalada crise de madeira e alimentos. Juntas com um grande número de leguminosas fixadoras de N2, plantas actinorrízicas podem ter um papel importante na produção de madeira e recuperação de solos. As plantas actinorrízicas compreendem oito famílias de dicotiledôneas, todas elas representadas nos trópicos. Neste trabalho, as mais promissoras plantas actinorrízicas tropicais são brevemente apresentadas e a ênfase é dada principalmente à família Casuarinaceae. Esta família compreende quatro gêneros (Casuarina, Allocasuarina, Gymnostoma e gênero C), com 82 espécies, incluindo muitas árvores que podem produzir madeira de boa qualidade. As estirpes de Frankia que têm sido isoladas das Casuarinaceae crescem lentamente e são capazes de reduzir acetileno in vitro sob ar, o que indica uma capacidade de proteção contra o O2 muito mais eficiente do que no Rhizobium. Apenas as espécies do gênero Casuarina podem ser noduladas pela estirpe ORS 021001, isolada de Casuarina junghuhniana, o que sugere a existência de grupos de inoculação dentro da família Casuarinaceae. A fixação de N2 de Casuarina equisetifolia, crescida em microparcelas de 1 m2, na estação experimental de ORSTM, em Dakar, foi estimada através da comparação do N total em plantas não-inoculadas e plantas inoculadas com a estirpe ORS 021001. Extrapolando para um hectare, a fixação de N2 foi de 131 kg/N em um período de 6,5 meses. Usando o método de equivalência com adubo nitrogenado, a inoculação parece ser equivalente à aplicação de 288 kg de N/ha-1.Most tropical countries face two major problems: increasing overexploitation of wood reserves for timber or fuel wood and diminishing soil fertility for agricultural production. The present consensus is that N2 -fixing plants can help prevent the forthcoming wood and food crisis. Together with the vast group of N2 -fixing Leguminoseae, actinorhizal plants (AP) can play a major role in wood production and land regeneration. AP comprise eight families of dicotyledonous plants all of which are represented in the tropics. In this paper the most promising tropical AP are briefly presented and the emphasis is put mainly on Casuarinaceae. This family forms a group of four genera (Casuarina, Allocasuarina, Gymnostoma and genus C) with 82 species, including many trees that can yield wood of good quality. The Frankia strains that have been isolated from Casuarinaceae grow slowly and are able to reduce acetylene in vitro under air, which indicates that the protection against O2 is much more efficient in Frankia than in rhizobia. Only the species belonging to the Casuarina genus could be nodulated by strain ORS 021001, isolated from Casuarina junghuhniana, suggesting the existence of crossinoculation groups within the family Casuarinaceae. N2 fixation of Casuarina equisetifolia, grown in 1 m2 microplots at the ORSTOM experimental station of Dakar, was estimated by comparing total N in non-inoculated plants and plants inoculated with Frankia strain ORS 021001. Extrapolating to 1 hectare, N2 fixation was 131 kg for a 6.5-month period. Using the N fertilizer equivalence method, inoculation appeared to be equivalent to the application of 288 kg of N fertilizer per hectare

An effective strain of Frankia from Casuarina.

. . An effective strain of Frankia from Casuarina sp. Can. J. Bot. 61: A strain of Frankia, designated Cjl-82, from root nodules of a hybrid of Casuarina junghuhniana and C . equisetifolia has been isolated in pure culture. When grown under standard culture conditions, Cj 1-82 exhibited the following characteristics: cushionlike colonies with short, wide hyphae and, in addition to typical sporangia, intercalary elongated sporangialike structures (SLS) which could be disrupted into sporelike units. No vesicles were found. When inoculated into the rhizosphere of C. equisetifolia, Cj 1-82 produced vesicles. Reinfection of seedlings of C. equisetifolia was achieved repeatedly with inocula prepared from a suspension of Cjl-82. Sequences of infection of root hairs were described, Fourteen days after inoculation, nodules were apparent on the roots. Nodules were shown to be effective in nitrogen fixation as assessed by the 2815-2821.

Secure elliptic curves in cryptography

Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a branch of public-key cryptography based on the arithmetic of elliptic curves. In the short life of ECC, most standards have proposed curves defined over prime finite fields using the short Weierstrass form. However, some researchers have started to propose as a more secure alternative the use of Edwards and Montgomery elliptic curves, which could have an impact in current ECC deployments. This chapter presents the different types of elliptic curves used in Cryptography together with the best-known procedure for generating secure elliptic curves, Brainpool. The contribution is completed with the examination of the latest proposals regarding secure elliptic curves analyzed by the SafeCurves initiative.Acknowledgements: This work has been partly supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) under the project TIN2014-55325-C2-1-R (ProCriCiS), and by Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) under the project S2013/ICE-3095-CM (CIBERDINE), cofinanced with the European Union FEDER funds

Obesity and incidence of cancer: a large cohort study of over 145 000 adults in Austria

We investigated the relation of overweight and obesity with cancer in a population-based cohort of more than 145 000 Austrian adults over an average of 9.9 years. Incident cancers (n=6241) were identified through the state cancer registry. Using Cox proportional-hazards models adjusted for smoking and occupation, increases in relative body weight in men were associated with colon cancer (hazard rate (HR) ratio 2.48; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15, 5.39 for body mass index (BMI) ⩾35 kg m−2) and pancreatic cancer (HR 2.34, 95% CI: 1.17, 4.66 for BMI>30 kg m−2) compared to participants with normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg m−2). In women, there was a weak positive association between increasing BMI and all cancers combined, and strong associations with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (HR 2.86, 95% CI: 1.49, 5.49 for BMI⩾30 kg m−2) and cancers of the uterine corpus (HR 3.93, 95% CI: 2.35, 6.56 for BMI⩾35 kg m−2). Incidence of breast cancer was positively associated with high BMI only after age 65 years. These findings provide further evidence that overweight is associated with the incidence of several types of cancer

ACTH-Bestimmungen im Plasma aus dem Bulbus cranialis venae jugularis

Der Anstieg der Corticosteroninkretion in das Nebennierenvenenblut frisch hypophysektomierter Ratten diente zur Bestimmung von ACTH-Spiegeln in 1 ml nativen, menschlichen Plasma. Normale ACTH-Plasmaspiegel sind sowohl bei Punktion der Vena cubitalis als auch des Bulbus cranialis venae jugularis durch diese Methode nicht oder nur ungenau zu erfassen. Bei Patienten mit pathologisch erhöhten ACTH-Spiegeln in der Vena cubitalis sind die ACTH-Spiegel im Bulbus cranialis venae jugularis signifikant höher. Es ließ sich eine Beziehung zwischen ACTH-Spiegel in der Peripherie (Vena cubitalis), Differenz der ACTH-Spiegel zwischen Bulbus cranialis venae jugularis und Vena cubitalis und biologischer Halbwertszeit von endogenem ACTH aufstellen. Nach den Ergebnissen der Bestimmung von ACTH-Spiegeln bei Nebennierengesunden läßt sich folgern, daß die biologische Halbwertszeit von endogenem ACTH größer als 4 min sein muß. Bei Patienten mit erhöhten ACTH-Spiegeln ließ sich die biologische Halbwertszeit von endogenem ACTH größenordnungsmäßig mit ca. 40 min berechnen. Bei diesen Patienten betrug die mittlere tägliche ACTH-Inkretion ca. 100 E.ACTH-contents of 1 ml specimens of human plasma were assayed by measurement of increases of corticosterone output in the adrenal vein of acutely hypophysectomized rats. This procedure is not sensitive enough to measure normal ACTH-levels acurately, neither when blood was drawn from the bulbus cranialis venae jugularis, nor from the vena cubitalis. In patients having pathologically elevated ACTH-levels, the ACTH-content of plasma is significantly higher in the bulbus cranialis venae jugularis than in peripheral venous blood. An equation is presented formulating the relation of peripheral ACTH-levels, differences of ACTH-levels between bulbus cranialis venae jugularis and vena cubitalis, and of the biological halflife of endogenous ACTH. On the basis of the results of the determinations of socalled normal ACTH-levels it can be concluded, that the biological halflife of endogenous ACTH is longer than 4 min. From the data of patients with elevated ACTH-levels a halflife of approximately 40 min and a mean ACTH-secretion of approx. 100 units per day could be calculated