Lightweight composite reflector panels

The Hexel Corp. has produced additional composite panels, based on JPL designs, that: (1) have increased the panel size from 0.15 to 0.40 meters, (2) have improved the as-manufactured surface precision 3.0 to approx. 1.0 micron RMS, (3) have utilized different numbers of face sheet plys, (4) have improved face sheet fiber orientation, (5) have variations of aluminum honeycomb core cell size, (6) have combined graphite/epoxy (Gr/Ep) face sheets with E-glass honeycomb cores, and (7) have used standard aluminum core with face sheets composed of combinations of glass, Kevlar, and carbon fibers. Additionally, JPL has identified candidate alternate materials for the facesheets and core, modified the baseline polymer panel matrix material, and developed new concepts for panel composite cores. Dornier designed and fabricated three 0.6 meter Gr/Ep panels, that were evaluated by JPL. Results of both the Hexel and Dornier panel work were used to characterize the state-of-the-art for Gr/Ep mirrors

Sequoyah v. TVA, USDC Northern District of TN, Docket No. 3-79-418: TVA’s Brief in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss, or, for Summary Judgment, and in Opposition to Plaintiffs’’ Motion for restraining Order or Preliminary Injunction

Brief prepared by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the suit brought by Native American groups seeking an injunction on the Tellico Project. The brief is followed by extensive appendices, including sections of TVA annual reports, and affidavits by John E. Linn, Title Attorney, Tennessee Valley Authority, Ross O. Swimmer, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and Edward H. Lessne, Director of the Division of Water Resources in the Office of Natural Resources of the Tennessee Valley Authority

Intercomparison of ground-based ozone and NO2 measurements during the MANTRA 2004 campaign

The MANTRA (Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen TRend Assessment) 2004 campaign took place in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, Canada (52° N, 107° W) from 3 August to 15 September, 2004. In support of the main balloon launch, a suite of five zenith-sky and direct-Sun-viewing UV-visible ground-based spectrometers was deployed, primarily measuring ozone and NO2 total columns. Three Fourier transform spectrometers (FTSs) that were part of the balloon payload also performed ground-based measurements of several species, including ozone. Ground-based measurements of ozone and NO2 differential slant column densities from the zenith-viewing UV-visible instruments are presented herein. They are found to partially agree within NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) standards for instruments certified for process studies and satellite validation. Vertical column densities of ozone from the zenith-sky UV-visible instruments, the FTSs, a Brewer spectrophotometer, and ozonesondes are compared, and found to agree within the combined error estimates of the instruments (15%). NO2 vertical column densities from two of the UV-visible instruments are compared, and are also found to agree within combined error (15%)

Local edge modes in doped cuprates with checkerboard polaronic heterogeneity

We study a periodic polaronic system, which exhibits a nanoscale superlattice structure, as a model for hole-doped cuprates with checkerboard-like heterogeneity, as has been observed recently by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Within this model, the electronic and phononic excitations are investigated by applying an unrestricted Hartree-Fock and a random phase approximation (RPA) to a multiband Peierls-Hubbard Hamiltonian in two dimensions

Feline aminopeptidase N is not a functional receptor for avian infectious bronchitis virus

BACKGROUND: Coronaviruses are an important cause of infectious diseases in humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and have the continued potential for emergence from animal species. A major factor in the host range of a coronavirus is its receptor utilization on host cells. In many cases, coronavirus-receptor interactions are well understood. However, a notable exception is the receptor utilization by group 3 coronaviruses, including avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Feline aminopeptidase N (fAPN) serves as a functional receptor for most group 1 coronaviruses including feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), canine coronavirus, transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), and human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E). A recent report has also suggested a role for fAPN during IBV entry (Miguel B, Pharr GT, Wang C: The role of feline aminopeptidase N as a receptor for infectious bronchitis virus. Brief review. Arch Virol 2002, 147:2047–2056. RESULTS: Here we show that, whereas both transient transfection and constitutive expression of fAPN on BHK-21 cells can rescue FIPV and TGEV infection in non-permissive BHK cells, fAPN expression does not rescue infection by the prototype IBV strain Mass41. To account for the previous suggestion that fAPN could serve as an IBV receptor, we show that feline cells can be infected with the prototype strain of IBV (Mass 41), but with low susceptibility compared to primary chick kidney cells. We also show that BHK-21 cells are slightly susceptible to certain IBV strains, including Ark99, Ark_DPI, CA99, and Iowa97 (<0.01% efficiency), but this level of infection is not increased by fAPN expression. CONCLUSION: We conclude that fAPN is not a functional receptor for IBV, the identity of which is currently under investigation

A different appetite for sovereignty? Independence movements in subnational island jurisdictions

Local autonomy in a subnational jurisdiction is more likely to be gained, secured or enhanced where there are palpable movements or political parties agitating for independence in these smaller territories. A closer look at the fortunes, operations and dynamics of independence parties from subnational island jurisdictions can offer some interesting insights on the appetite for sovereignty and independence, but also the lack thereof, in the twenty-first century.peer-reviewe