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At least 415 records · Page 23

Study of supersonic intersection flowfield at modified wing-body junctions

The problem of supersonic flow control using fillets and sweep for a wing-body junction has been investigated numerically using a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code, which employs the MacCormack's time-split finite volume technique. An elliptic grid generation technique with direct control over spacing has been developed for constructing the grid at a filleted wing-body junction. The computed results for pressure distribution, particle paths, and limiting streamlines on the flat plate and fin surface for a swept fin show a decrease in the peak pressure on the fin leading edge and in the extent of the separated flow region. Moreover, the results for filleted juncture clearly show that the flow streamline patterns lose much of their vortical character with proper filleting. It has been demonstrated that fillets with a radius of three-and-one-half times the fin leading-edge diameter are required to weaken the vorticity in the horseshoe vortex by a factor of three for the Mach number and Reynolds number considered in the present study.

Lakshmanan, B.↗

Formation and eruption of Sun-aligned arcs at the polar cap-auroral oval boundary

This paper reports on results from a study of the poleward edge of the auroral oval in the morning sector using a comprehensive blend of in-situ and ground-based measurements. Three rockets, equipped to measure electric and magnetic fields, energetic particles, and plasma density flew into an auroral display whose dynamical features were reorded with a digital image into an auroral display intensified all-sky camera as well as with an incoherent scatter radar. In addition, a number of DMSP satellite measurements bracketed the launch time. Evidence is presented here that in a condition of declining magnetic activity Sun-aligned arcs are injected into the polar cap at velocities approximately 7 km/s from locations of periodic brightening along the morningside of the auroral oval. The multipoint in situ measurements allow some separation of temporal and spatial effects and strongly suggest a poleward contraction of the convention pattern of about 0.25 deg INVL in 70 s. The most equatorward of the two brightest arcs studied erupted into a region which already was characterized by strong sunward convection. The most poleward, however, pushed into a region that had been convecting in an antisunward direction at velocities exceeding 1 km/s less than 2 min earlier, and it is likely that sunward convection subsequently pertained poleward of that arc as well. We believe that these events mark the reconfiguration of the magnetosphere into a system characterized by a smaller polar cap.

Berg, G. A.↗

Spaceborne microwave remote sensing of seasonal freeze-thaw processes in theterrestrial high l atitudes : relationships with land-atmosphere CO2 exchange

Landscape transitions between seasonally frozen and thawed conditions occur each year over roughly 50 million square kilometers of Earth's Northern Hemisphere. These relatively abrupt transitions represent the closest analog to a biospheric and hydrologic on/off switch existing in nature, affecting surface meteorological conditions, ecological trace gas dynamics, energy exchange and hydrologic activity profoundly. We utilize time series satellite-borne microwave remote sensing measurements from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) to examine spatial and temporal variability in seasonal freeze/thaw cycles for the pan-Arctic basin and Alaska. Regional measurements of spring thaw timing are derived using daily brightness temperature measurements from the 19 GHz, horizontally polarized channel, separately for overpasses with 6 AM and 6 PM equatorial crossing times. Spatial and temporal patterns in regional freeze/thaw dynamics show distinct differences between North America and Eurasia, and boreal forest and Arctic tundra biomes. Annual anomalies in the timing of thawing in spring also correspond closely to seasonal atmospheric CO2 concentration anomalies derived from NOAA CMDL arctic and subarctic monitoring stations. Classification differences between AM and PM overpass data average approximately 5 days for the region, though both appear to be effective surrogates for monitoring annual growing seasons at high latitudes.

Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I)carbon cycle↗

Spaceborne Microwave Remote Sensing of Seasonal Freeze-Thaw Processes in the Terrestrial High Latitudes: Relationships with Land-Atmosphere CO2 exchange

Landscape transitions between seasonally frozen and thawed conditions occur each year over roughly 50 million square kilometers of Earth's Northern Hemisphere. These relatively abrupt transitions represent the closest analog to a biospheric and hydrologic on/off switch existing in nature, affecting surface meteorological conditions, ecological trace gas dynamics, energy exchange and hydrologic activity profoundly. We utilize time series satellite-borne microwave remote sensing measurements from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) to examine spatial and temporal variability in seasonal freeze/thaw cycles for the pan-Arctic basin and Alaska. Regional measurements of spring thaw timing are derived using daily brightness temperature measurements from the 19 GHz, horizontally polarized channel, separately for overpasses with 6 AM and 6 PM equatorial crossing times. Spatial and temporal patterns in regional freeze/thaw dynamics show distinct differences between North America and Eurasia, and boreal forest and Arctic tundra biomes. Annual anomalies in the timing of thawing in spring also correspond closely to seasonal atmospheric CO2 concentration anomalies derived from NOAA CMDL arctic and subarctic monitoring stations. Classification differences between AM and PM overpass data average approximately 5 days for the region, though both appear to be effective surrogates for monitoring annual growing seasons at high latitudes.

net primary products↗

Global Network of Slow Solar Wind

The streamer belt region surrounding the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) is generally treated as the primary or sole source of the slow solar wind. Synoptic maps of solar wind speed predicted by the Wang-Sheeley-Arge model during selected periods of solar cycle 23, however, show many areas of slow wind displaced from the streamer belt. These areas commonly have the form of an arc that is connected to the streamer belt at both ends. The arcs mark the boundaries between fields emanating from different coronal holes of the same polarity and thus trace the paths of belts of pseudostreamers, i.e., unipolar streamers that form over double arcades and lack current sheets. The arc pattern is consistent with the predicted topological mapping of the narrow open corridor or singular separator line that must connect the holes and, thus, consistent with the separatrix-web model of the slow solar wind. Near solar maximum, pseudostreamer belts stray far from the HCS-associated streamer belt and, together with it, form a global-wide web of slow wind. Recognition of pseudostreamer belts as prominent sources of slow wind provides a new template for understanding solar wind stream structure, especially near solar maximum.

solar wind↗

Event Reconstruction in the NOvA Experiment

The NOvA experiment observes oscillations in two channels (electron-neutrino appearance and muon-neutrino disappearance) using a predominantly muon-neutrino NuMI beam. The Near Detector records multiple overlapping neutrino interactions in each event and the Far Detector has a large background of cosmic rays due to being located on the surface. The oscillation analyses rely on the accurate reconstruction of neutrino interactions in order to precisely measure the neutrino energy and identify the neutrino flavor and interaction mode. Similarly, measurements of neutrino cross sections using the Near Detector require accurate identification of the particle content of each interaction. A series of pattern recognition techniques have been developed to split event records into individual spatially and temporally separated interactions, to estimate the interaction vertex, and to isolate and classify individual particles within the event. This combination of methods to achieve full event reconstruction in the NOvA detectors has discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Covisualization in living onion cells of putative integrin, putative spectrin, actin, putative intermediate filaments, and other proteins at the cell membrane and in an endomembrane sheath

Covisualizations with wide-field computational optical-sectioning microscopy of living epidermal cells of the onion bulb scale have evidenced two major new cellular features. First, a sheath of cytoskeletal elements clads the endomembrane system. Similar elements clad the inner faces of punctate plasmalemmal sites interpreted as plasmalemmal control centers. One component of the endomembrane sheath and plasmalemmal control center cladding is anti-genicity-recognized by two injected antibodies against animal spectrin. Immunoblots of separated epidermal protein also showed bands recognized by these antibodies. Injected phalloidin identified F-actin with the same cellular distribution pattern, as did antibodies against intermediate-filament protein and other cytoskeletal elements known from animal cells. Injection of general protein stains demonstrated the abundance of endomembrane sheath protein. Second, the endomembrane system, like the plasmalemmal puncta, contains antigen recognized by an anti-beta 1 integrin injected into the cytoplasm. Previously, immunoblots of separated epidermal protein were shown to have a major band recognized both by this antibody prepared against a peptide representing the cytosolic region of beta 1 integrin and an antibody against the matrix region of beta 1 integrin. The latter antiboby also identified puncta at the external face of protoplasts. It is proposed that integrin and associated transmembrane proteins secure the endomembrane sheath and transmit signals between it and the lumen or matrix of the endoplasmic reticulum and organellar matrices. This function is comparable to that proposed for such transmembrane linkers in the plasmalemmal control centers, which also appear to bind cytoskeleton and a host of related molecules and transmit signals between them and the wall matrix. It is at the plasmalemmal control centers that the endoplasmic reticulum, a major component of the endomembrane system, attaches to the plasma membrane.

Non-NASA Center↗

Component variations and their effects on bipolar nickel-hydrogen cell performance

A 50 cell bipolar nickel-hydrogen battery was assembled to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a high voltage stack of cells. Various component combinations were tested in this battery. The battery had approximately 1 ampere-hour of capacity and was constructed from components with an active area of 2" X 2". The components were parametrically varied to give a comparison of nickel electrodes, hydrogen electrodes, separators, fill procedures and electrolyte reservoir plate thicknesses. Groups of five cells were constructed using the same components; ten combinations were tested in all. The battery was thoroughly characterized at various change and discharge rates as well as with various pulse patterns and rates. Over a period of 1400 40% DOD LEO cycles some of the groups began to exhibit performance differences. In general, only separator variations had a significant effect on cell performance. It also appears that shunt currents may have been operating within the stack, resulting in electrolyte transfer from one cell to another, thus contributing to cell performance variations.

Manzo, Michelle A.↗

A Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Flow Separation Control over a Wall-Mounted Hump Model

Numerical simulations and wind tunnel experiments were performed to investigate flow separation and its control over a wall-mounted hump model. Three-dimensional, unsteady fluid dynamic simulations were used to capture the relevant flow physics of unsteady flow separation and its control via active and passive flow control methods. Surface pressure measurements and surface oilflow visualization were obtained in the experiments. Current measurements documented a considerably thinner incoming boundary layer, but similar pressure distribution, compared to the reference data reported in the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Validation (CFDVAL 2004) Experiments. Consistent with the data available in the literature, numerical simulations predicted a longer separation bubble, which manifested itself as a shift in the pressure distributions. Streamwise vortices generated by passive vortex generators increased the suction pressure and provided substantial pressure recovery. Numerical simulations of vortex generators qualitatively predicted the effects of control, and revealed patterns of attached/separated flow regions. On the other hand, active flow control using steady discrete jets reduced, but was not able to eliminate, flow separation for the tested configuration. Although the major disagreement between the numerical and experimental results was in the pressure recovery region due to the inaccurate prediction of separation bubbles, the relative pressure recoveries from the baselines were comparable. Surface oilflow visualization and simulated surface streamlines were qualitatively in good agreement revealing the key flow features.

Koklu, Mehti↗

Rapid Memory Footprint Access Diagnostics

Footprint and reuse distance measure temporal locality and therefore do not capture the significance of access patterns (spacial locality). A strided access pattern has the largest possible footprint but usually has the best performance. To highlight exposed memory latency, we separate footprint into strided (prefetchable) and irregular (non-prefetchable) access components and calculate the growth rate of each. To rapidly compute these footprint access diagnostics, we present two methods, whole-program and precise. Current footprint analyses can cause 200× or more slowdown with realistic inputs and are therefore impractical. Our whole-program method reduces the overhead to 10% by computing upper bounds, but still yields inter-procedural insight through a call path profile. Our precise method uses additional static analysis and profiling to refine the upper bounds for intra-procedural loop nests. We evaluate our approaches using benchmarks that vary access patterns (strided \vs unpredictable), sparsity (all words in a cache line \vs some), and reuse (varying and repeated accesses per element). Notably, for loop nests with unpredictable accesses, the precise method's accuracy is within 10% of ideal. The whole-program method has sufficient accuracy to diagnose bottlenecks.

data locality, memory footprint, footprint access ↗

Determining protein polarization proteome-wide using physical dissection of individual Stentor coeruleus cells

Cellular components are non-randomly arranged with respect to the shape and polarity of the whole cell. Patterning within cells can extend down to the level of individual proteins and mRNA. But how much of the proteome is actually localized with respect to cell polarity axes? Proteomics combined with cellular fractionation has shown that most proteins localize to one or more organelles but does not tell us how many proteins have a polarized localization with respect to the large-scale polarity axes of the intact cell. Genome-wide localization studies in yeast found that only a few percent of proteins have a localized position relative to the cell polarity axis defined by sites of polarized cell growth. Here, we describe an approach for analyzing protein distribution within a cell with a visibly obvious global patterning - the giant ciliate Stentor coeruleus. Ciliates, including Stentor, have highly polarized cell shapes with visible surface patterning. A Stentor cell is roughly 2mmlong, allowing a ‘‘proteomic dissection’’ in which microsurgery is used to separate cellular fragments along the anterior-posterior axis, followed by comparative proteomic analysis. In our analysis, 25% of the proteome, including signaling proteins, centrin/SFI proteins, and GAS2 orthologs, shows a polarized location along the cell’s anterior-posterior axis. We conclude that a large proportion of all proteins are polarized with respect to global cell polarity axes and that proteomic dissection provides a simple and effective approach for spatial proteomics.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Pollen Cell Wall Patterns Form from Modulated Phases

The ornately geometric walls of pollen grains have inspired scientists for decades. Here, we show that the evolved diversity of these patterns is entirely recapitulated by a biophysical model in which an initially uniform polysaccharide layer in the extracellular space, mechanically coupled to the cell membrane, phase separates to a spatially modulated state. Experiments reveal this process occurring in living cells. We observe that in ~10% of extant species, this phase separation reaches equilibrium during development such that individual pollen grains are identical and perfectly reproducible. About 90% of species undergo an arrest of this process prior to equilibrium such that individual grains are similar but inexact copies. Equilibrium patterns have appeared multiple times during the evolution of seed plants, but selection does not favor these states. This framework for pattern development provides a route to rationalizing the surface textures of other secreted structures, such as cell walls and insect cuticle.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Optical strain measurement system development, phase 1

A laser speckle, differential strain measurement system was built and tested for future applications in hostile environments. One dimensional electronic correlation of speckle pattern movement allows a quasi-real time measure of strain. The system was used successfully to measure uniaxial strain reaching into plastic deformation of a test specimen, at temperatures ranging to 450 C. A resolution of 16 microstrain is given by the photodiode array sensor pitch and the specimen to sensor separation. The strain measurement limit of the gauge is determined by air density perturbations causing decorrelation of the reference and shifted speckle patterns, and may be improved by limiting convective flow in the immediate vicinity of the test specimen.

Lant, Christian T.↗

An investigation to determine the producibility of a 3-D braider and bias direction weaving loom

The development of prototype machines for the production of generalized braid patterns is described. Mechanical operating principles and control strategies are presented for two prototype machines which were fabricated and evaluated. Both machines represent advances over current techniques for forming composite material preforms by enabling near ideal control of fiber orientation. Furthermore, they overcome both the lack of general control of produced fiber architectures and the complexity of other weaving processes that were produced for the same purpose. One prototype, the modified Farley braider, consists of an array of turntables which can be rotated 90 degrees and returned; hence, they can form tracks in the x and y axis. Yarn ends are transported about the surface formed by the turntables using motorized tractors. These tractors are controlled using an optical link with a control circuit and host computer. The tractors are powered through electrical contact with the turntables. The necessary relative motions are produced by a series of linear tractor moves combined with a sequence of turntable rotations. The movement of the tractors about the surface causes the yarns to produce the desired braiding pattern. The second device, the shuttle plate braider, consists of a braiding surface formed by an array of square elements, each separated from its neighbor by a gap. Beneath this surface lies a shuttle plate, which reciprocates first in one axis and then in the other. As this movement takes place, yarn carrying shuttles engage and disengage the plate by means of solenoid activated pins. By selective engagement and disengagement, the shuttles can move the yarn ends in any desired pattern, forming the desired braid. Control power, and control signals, are transmitted from the electronic interface circuit and host computer, via the braiding surface through electrical contact with the shuttles. Motive power is proved to the shuttles by motion of the shuttle plate, which is passively driven using pneumatic rams. Each shuttle is a simple device that uses only a solenoid to engage the plate and is a simple device that uses only a solenoid to engage the plate and is independently controllable. When compared with each other, the modified Farley braider has the advantage of speed, and the shuttle plate braider the advantage of mechanical control and simplicity.

Huey, Cecil O., Jr.↗

Component variations and their effects on bipolar nickel-hydrogen cell performance

A 50 cell bipolar nickel-hydrogen battery was assembled to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a high voltage stack of cells. Various component combinations were tested in this battery. The battery had approximately 1 ampere-hour of capacity and was constructed from components with an active area of 2 x 2 inches. The components were parametrically varied to give a comparison of nickel electrodes, hydrogen electrodes, separators, fill procedures and electrolyte reservoir plate thicknesses. Groups of five cells were constructed using the same components; ten combinations were tested in all. The battery was thoroughly characterized at various change and discharge rates as well as with various pulse patterns and rates. Over a period of 1400 40-percent DOD LEO cycles some of the groups began to exhibit performance differences. In general, only separator variations had a significant effect on cell performance. It also appears that shunt currents may have been operating within the stack, resulting in electrolyte transfer from one cell to another, thus contributing to cell performance variations.

Manzo, Michelle A.↗

Wire-cell 3D pattern recognition techniques for neutrino event reconstruction in large LArTPCs: algorithm description and quantitative evaluation with MicroBooNE simulation

Wire-Cell is a 3D event reconstruction package for liquid argon time projection chambers. Through geometry, time, and drifted charge from multiple readout wire planes, 3D space points with associated charge are reconstructed prior to the pattern recognition stage. Pattern recognition techniques, including track trajectory and dQ/dx (ionization charge per unit length) fitting, 3D neutrino vertex fitting, track and shower separation, particle-level clustering, and particle identification are then applied on these 3D space points as well as the original 2D projection measurements. A deep neural network is developed to enhance the reconstruction of the neutrino interaction vertex. Compared to traditional algorithms, the deep neural network boosts the vertex efficiency by a relative 30% for charged-current ν e interactions. Therefore, this pattern recognition achieves 80–90% reconstruction efficiencies for primary leptons, after a 65.8% (72.9%) vertex efficiency for charged-current ν e (ν μ ) interactions. Based on the resulting reconstructed particles and their kinematics, we also achieve 15-20% energy reconstruction resolutions for charged-current neutrino interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A Search for Giant Convection Cells on the Sun

Giant convection cells (slow, long-lived cellular flows in the Sun's convection zone with typical diameters greater than about 100,000 km) have been the subject of many searches over the last 30 years. If such flows exist, they should play a key role in structuring the Sun's large scale magnetic field and in driving the large scale axisymmetric flows: the differential rotation and meridional circulation. Detailed observations of the flows in these cells may also allow us to better predict future magnetic field configurations and the solar activity associated with them. Line-of-sight velocity data from the Michelson Doppler Interferometer on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory provides us with new opportunities to search for giant cells. This data is free of any atmospheric distortion and has been obtained continuously without any day/night gaps for more than two months at a time. These two-month datasets are important because giant cells are expected to have lifetimes somewhat longer that the Sun's 27 day rotation period. Any reappearance of a flow pattern after 27 days would be an important confirmation of the existence of these cells. The approach taken in this search is to separate the giant cell velocity signal from the other, stronger velocity signals by using a spherical harmonic representation of the spatial structures and a fourier decomposition of the temporal behavior. Any giant cell signal should be characterized by low spatial wavenumbers with temporal frequencies appropriate to the solar rotation of these patterns.

Hathaway, David H.↗

Estimating region-specific fuel economy in the United States from real-world driving cycles

Here we describe a method for estimating region-specific real-world light-duty vehicle fuel economy in the United States that is unique in both the size and representativeness of real-world driving that was considered, and for its ability to model regional variations in driving patterns. Over one million miles of national driving data were used to select real-world cycles representative of observed trip categories. The six cycles were compared to U.S. legislative cycles, revealing some key differences. Finally, a set of cycle weighting factors for 533 separate U.S. regions was derived from annual traffic statistics. Applying this method, it was found that regional fuel economy varies due to differences in driving patterns alone and that rural driving patterns lead to improved fuel economy (for conventional vehicles). The driving cycles and regional weighting factors described here are useful for testing and simulation studies, specifically those sensitive to regional variations in driving patterns.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗