Aircraft-sized anechoic chambers for electronic warfare, radar and other electromagnetic engineering evaluation

This paper considers capabilities and benefits of aircraft-sized radio/radar frequency anechoic chambers for Test and Evaluation (T&E) of Electronic Warfare (EW), radar and other electromagnetics aspects of air and ground platforms. There are few such chambers worldwide. Initially developed to reduce costs, timescales and risks associated with open-air range flight testing of EW systems, their utility has expanded to most areas of platforms’ electromagnetics’ T&E. A key feature is the ability to conduct T&E of nationally sensitive equipment and systems, fully installed on platforms, in absolute privacy. Chambers’ capabilities and uses are described, with emphasis on key infrastructure and instrumentation. Non-EW uses are identified and selected topics elaborated. Operation and maintenance are discussed, based on experiential knowledge from international use and the authors’ 30 years’ involvement with BAE Systems’ EW Test Facility. A view is provided of trends and challenges whose resolution could further increase chamber utility. National affordability challenges also suggest utility expansion to support continuing moves, from expensive and difficult to repeat flight test and operational evaluation trials, towards an affordability-driven optimal balance between modelling and simulation, and real-world testing of platforms

Guest Artist Series:Ian Haysted, Clarinet Momoko Gresham, Piano

Center for the Performing Arts Wednesday Evening February 16, 2005 8:00p.m

Resolution of Thylakoid Polyphenol Oxidase and a Protein Kinase

The predominant protein kinase activity in octylglucoside (OG) extracts of spinach thylakoids has been attributed to a 64-kDa protein, tp64. Recent work calls into question the relation between tp64 and protein kinase activity, which were fractionated apart using fluid phase IEF and hydroxylapatite chromatography. Hind et al. sequenced tp64 from the cDNA and showed it to be a polyphenol oxidase (PPO) homolog. Its transit peptide indicates a location for the mature protein within the thylakoid lumen, where there is presumably no ATP and where it is remote from the presumed kinase substrates: the stromally exposed regions of integral PS-II membrane proteins. Here the authors suggest that the kinase is a 64-kDa protein distinct from tp64

Effect of (in)organic additives on microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation

\ua9 The Author(s) 2023. Aim: This study aimed to understand the morphological effects of (in)organic additives on microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP). Methods and results: MICP was monitored in real time in the presence of (in)organic additives: bovine serum albumin (BSA), biofilm surface layer protein A (BslA), magnesium chloride (MgCl2), and poly-L-lysine. This monitoring was carried out using confocal microscopy to observe the formation of CaCO3 from the point of nucleation, in comparison to conditions without additives. Complementary methodologies, namely scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, were employed to assess the visual morphology, elemental composition, and crystalline structures of CaCO3, respectively, following the crystals’ formation. The results demonstrated that in the presence of additives, more CaCO3 crystals were produced at 100 min compared to the reaction without additives. The inclusion of BslA resulted in larger crystals than reactions containing other additives, including MgCl2. BSA induced a significant number of crystals from the early stages of the reaction (20 min) but did not have a substantial impact on crystal size compared to conditions without additives. All additives led to a higher content of calcite compared to vaterite after a 24-h reaction, with the exception of MgCl2, which produced a substantial quantity of magnesium calcite. Conclusions: The work demonstrates the effect of several (in)organic additives on MICP and sets the stage for further research to understand additive effects on MICP to achieve controlled CaCO3 precipitation

Utilizing ectopic Hsp90 expression to diagnose breast cancer at the point-of-care using fluorescence microscopy

Although pathological examination serves as the gold standard for breast cancer diagnosis, it requires labor-intensive sample preparation and time-consuming evaluation, resulting in long turn-around time and extensive infrastructure. We have developed a simple molecular imaging platform that can quickly assess patient’s samples and provide a molecular signal to reflect disease pathology as an alternative to traditional pathology, particularly for applications in low resource settings. We identified Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) as a molecular target to diagnose breast cancer as it is overexpressed on the surface of all breast cancer cell subtypes to orchestrate stress response to cancer formation. Based on this feature, we have established a non-invasive and rapid molecular imaging approach to quantify Hsp90 expression on breast tissue biopsies using a FITC tethered Hsp90 inhibitor (HS-27) that binds to surface Hsp90 of breast cancer cells. A wide-field, high resolution, handheld fluorescent microscope referred to as the Pocket Mammoscope has been developed to perform rapid non-contact Hsp90 fluorescent imaging of entire tissue biopsies at point of care. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation through CO₂ sequestration via an engineered <em>Bacillus subtilis</em>

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024. Background: Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation has been extensively researched for geoengineering applications as well as diverse uses within the built environment. Bacteria play a crucial role in producing calcium carbonate minerals, via enzymes including carbonic anhydrase—an enzyme with the capability to hydrolyse CO2, commonly employed in carbon capture systems. This study describes previously uncharacterised carbonic anhydrase enzyme sequences capable of sequestering CO2 and subsequentially generating CaCO3 biominerals and suggests a route to produce carbon negative cementitious materials for the construction industry. Results: Here, Bacillus subtilis was engineered to recombinantly express previously uncharacterised carbonic anhydrase enzymes from Bacillus megaterium and used as a whole cell catalyst allowing this novel bacterium to sequester CO2 and convert it to calcium carbonate. A significant decrease in CO2 was observed from 3800 PPM to 820 PPM upon induction of carbonic anhydrase and minerals recovered from these experiments were identified as calcite and vaterite using X-ray diffraction. Further experiments mixed the use of this enzyme (as a cell free extract) with Sporosarcina pasteurii to increase mineral production whilst maintaining a comparable level of CO2 sequestration. Conclusion: Recombinantly produced carbonic anhydrase successfully sequestered CO2 and converted it into calcium carbonate minerals using an engineered microbial system. Through this approach, a process to manufacture cementitious materials with carbon sequestration ability could be developed

Analysis of the Retinal and Choroidal Vasculature Using Ultrawidefield Fundus Imaging in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Normal Cognition

Purpose: To utilize ultrawidefield (UWF) imaging to evaluate retinal and choroidal vasculature and structure in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared with that of controls with normal cognition. Design: Prospective cross sectional study. Participants: One hundred thirty-one eyes of 82 MCI patients and 230 eyes of 133 cognitively normal participants from the Eye Multimodal Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disease Study. Methods: A scanning laser ophthalmoscope (California, Optos Inc) was used to obtain UWF fundus color images. Images were analyzed with the Vasculature Assessment Platform for Images of the Retina UWF (VAMPIRE-UWF 2.0, Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee) software. Main outcome measures: Imaging parameters included vessel width gradient, vessel width intercept, large vessel choroidal vascular density, vessel tortuosity, and vessel fractal dimension. Results: Both retinal artery and vein width gradients were less negative in MCI patients compared with controls, demonstrating decreased rates of vessel thinning at the periphery (P &lt; 0.001; P = 0.027). Retinal artery and vein width intercepts, a metric that extrapolates the width of the vessel at the center of the optic disc, were smaller in MCI patients compared with that of controls (P &lt; 0.001; P = 0.017). The large vessel choroidal vascular density, which quantifies the vascular area versus the total choroidal area, was greater in MCI patients compared with controls (P = 0.025). Conclusions: When compared with controls with normal cognition, MCI patients had thinner retinal vasculature manifested in both the retinal arteries and the veins. In MCI, these thinner arteries and veins attenuated at a lower rate when traveling toward the periphery. MCI patients also had increased choroidal vascular density. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.</p

Phosphorylation of telokin by cyclic nucleotide kinases and the identification of in vivo phosphorylation sites in smooth muscle

AbstractThe Ca2+-independent acceleration of dephosphorylation of the regulatory light chain of smooth muscle myosin and relaxation of smooth muscle by telokin are enhanced by cyclic nucleotide-activated protein kinase(s) [Wu et al. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 11362–11369]. The purpose of this study was to determine the in vivo site(s) and in vitro rates of telokin phosphorylation and to evaluate the possible effects of sequential phosphorylation by different kinases. The in vivo site(s) of phosphorylation of telokin were determined in rabbit smooth muscles of longitudinal ileum and portal vein. Following stimulation of ileum with forskolin (20 μM) the serine at position 13 was the only amino acid to exhibit increased phosphorylation. Rabbit portal vein telokin was phosphorylated on both Ser-13 and -19 as a result of forskolin and GTPγS stimulation in vivo. Point mutation of Ser-13 (to Ala or Asp) abolished in vitro phosphorylation by cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinases