An ultrasonic flowmeter for measuring dynamic liquid flow

A novel oscillating pipe system was developed to provide dynamic calibration wherein small sinusoidal signals with amplitudes of 0.5 to 10% of the steady-state flow were added to the steady-state flow by oscillating the flowmeter relative to the fixed pipes in the flow system. Excellent agreement was obtained between the dynamic velocities derived from an accelerometer mounted on the oscillating pipe system and those sensed by the flowmeter at frequencies of 7, 19, and 30 Hz. Also described were the signal processing techniques used to retrieve the small sinusoidal signals which were obscured by the fluid turbulence

A computer-controlled instrumentation system for third octave analysis

An instrumentation system is described which employs a minicomputer, a one-third octave band analyzer, and a time code/tape search unit for the automatic control and analysis of third-octave data. With this system the information necessary for data adjustment is formatted in such a way as to eliminate much operator interface, thereby substantially reducing the probability for error. A description of a program for the calculation of effective perceived noise level from aircraft noise data is included as an example of how this system can be used

Evaluation of an electro-optic remote displacement measuring system

An instrumentation system to provide a noncontact method for measurement of target positions was evaluated. The system employs two electro-optic camera units which give stereo information for use in determining three dimensional target locations. Specially developed, infrared sensitive photodetectors are used in the cameras to sense radiation from light emitting diode targets. Up to 30 of these targets can be monitored with a sampling rate of 312 Hz per target. An important part of the system is a minicomputer which is used to collect the camera data, sort it, make corrections for distortions in the electro-optic system, and perform the necesssary coordinate transformations. If target motions are restricted to locations in a plane which is perpendicular to a camera's optical axis, the system can be used with just one camera. Calibrations performed in this mode characterize accuracies in single camera operation. This information is also useful in determination of single camera contributions to total system errors. For this reason the system was tested in both the single camera and two camera (stereo) modes of operation

IPLIB (Image processing library) user's manual

IPLIB is a collection of HP FORTRAN 77 subroutines and functions that facilitate the use of a COMTAL image processing system driven by an HP-1000 computer. It is intended for programmers who want to use the HP 1000 to drive the COMTAL Vision One/20 system. It is assumed that the programmer knows HP 1000 FORTRAN 77 or at least one FORTRAN dialect. It is also assumed that the programmer has some familiarity with the COMTAL Vision One/20 system

Particulate and aerosol detector

A device is described for counting aerosols and sorting them according to either size, mass or energy. The component parts are an accelerator, a capacitor sensor and a readout. The accelerator is a means for accelerating the aerosols toward the face of the capacitor sensor with such force that they partially penetrate the capacitor sensor, momentarily discharging it. The readout device is a means for counting the number of discharges of the capacitor sensor and measuring the amplitudes of these different discharges. The aerosols are accelerated by the accelerator in the direction of the metal layer with such force that they penetrate the metal and damage the oxide layers, thereby allowing the electrical charge on the capacitor to discharge through the damaged region. Each incident aerosol initiates a discharge path through the capacitor in such a fashion as to vaporize the conducting path. Once the discharge action is complete, the low resistance path no longer exists between the two capacitor plates and the capacitor is again able to accept a charge. The active area of the capacitor is reduced in size by the damaged area each time a discharge occurs

Contrasting stomatal sensitivity to temperature and soil drought in mature alpine conifers

Conifers growing at high elevations need to optimize their stomatal conductance (g(s)) for maximizing photosynthetic yield while minimizing water loss under less favourable thermal conditions. Yet the ability of high-elevation conifers to adjust their g(s) sensitivity to environmental drivers remains largely unexplored. We used 4 years of sap flow measurements to elucidate intraspecific and interspecific variability of g(s) in Larix decidua Mill. and Picea abies (L.) Karst along an elevational gradient and contrasting soil moisture conditions. Site- and species-specific g(s) response to main environmental drivers were examined, including vapour pressure deficit, air temperature, solar irradiance, and soil water potential. Our results indicate that maximum g(s) of L. decidua is >2 times higher, shows a more plastic response to temperature, and down-regulates g(s) stronger during atmospheric drought compared to P. abies. These differences allow L. decidua to exert more efficient water use, adjust to site-specific thermal conditions, and reduce water loss during drought episodes. The stronger plasticity of g(s) sensitivity to temperature and higher conductance of L. decidua compared to P. abies provide new insights into species-specific water use strategies, which affect species' performance and should be considered when predicting terrestrial water dynamics under future climatic change

Borealscat: A tower experiment for understanding temporal changes in P- and L-band backscattering from a Boreal forest

This paper describes the tower-based radar BorealScat, which is being developed for polarimetric, tomographic and Doppler measurements at the hemi-boreal forest test site in Remningstorp, Sweden. The facility consists of a 50-m high tower equipped with an antenna array at the top of the tower, a 20-port vector network analyser (VNA), 20 low-loss cables for interconnection, and a calibration loop with a switching network. The first version of BorealScat will perform the full set of measurements in the frequency range 0.4-1.4 GHz, i.e. P-band and L-band. The tower is currently under construction at a forest stand dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). The mature stand has an above-ground dry biomass of 300 tons/ha. Data collections are planned to commence in autumn 2016

Aerosol and solar radiation in Britain

The irradiance of the solar beam was measured on cloudless days at Sutton Bonington in the English Midlands and at sites in north-west Scotland. Total and diffuse fluxes were also measured on some days. An attenuation coefficient for aerosol Ta was defined by S(Ta) = S(o) exp ( - Tam) relating the measured flux at normal incidence S(Ta) to the flux calculated for a. dust-free atmosphere when the air mass number is m. Changes of Ta from day to day were related to changes of air mass origin; local sources of aerosol were relatively unimportant. In maritime air, Ta ranged from 0·05 to 0·15, and in continental air, from 0·l to 0•5. In a tropical maritime air mass, Ta decreased from 0·13 at sea level to 0·07 at 1,340 m. The fraction of (ultra-violet + visible) to total radiation was (0·54 - 0·28 -ra) and the ratio of diffuse to total radiation (m < 2) was (0·l + 0·7 Ta), The ratio of total scattering to absorption by aerosol decreased from 4 at m = 1 ·1 to 0·5 at m = 2. Mean monthly values of Ta at four Meteorological Office stations were calculated from records of solar radiation and hours of sunshine and corresponding values of total and diffuse flux were tabulated for ' isolated ', ' rural ' and ' urban ' sites

Differential effects of two-pore channel protein 1 and 2 silencing in MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells

Two-pore channel proteins, TPC1 and TPC2, are calcium permeable ion channels found localized to the membranes of endolysosomal calcium stores. There is increasing interest in the role of TPC-mediated intracellular signaling in various pathologies; however their role in breast cancer has not been extensively evaluated. TPC1 and TPC2 mRNA was present in all non-tumorigenic and tumorigenic breast cell lines assessed. Silencing of TPC2 but not TPC1 attenuated epidermal growth factor-induced vimentin expression in MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells. This effect was not due to a general inhibition of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) as TPC2 silencing had no effect on epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced changes on E-cadherin expression. TPC1 and TPC2 were also shown to differentially regulate cyclopiazonic acid (CPA)-mediated changes in cytosolic free Ca. These findings indicate potential differential regulation of signaling processes by TPC1 and TPC2 in breast cancer cells

Shoot growth of woody trees and shrubs is predicted by maximum plant height and associated traits

1. The rate of elongation and thickening of individual branches (shoots) varies across plant species. This variation is important for the outcome of competition and other plant-plant interactions. Here we compared rates of shoot growth across 44 species from tropical, warm temperate, and cool temperate forests of eastern Australia.2. Shoot growth rate was found to correlate with a suite of traits including the potential height of the species, xylem-specific conductivity, leaf size, leaf area per xylem cross-section, twig diameter (at 40 cm length), wood density and modulus of elasticity.3. Within this suite of traits, maximum plant height was the clearest correlate of growth rates, explaining 50 to 67% of the variation in growth overall (p p 4. Growth rates were not strongly correlated with leaf nitrogen or leaf mass per unit leaf area.5. Correlations between growth and maximum height arose both across latitude (47%, p p p p < 0.0001), reflecting intrinsic differences across species and sites