Sooting and disruption in spherically symmetrical combustion of decane droplets in air

Results of experiments are reported on the burning of individual decane droplets, initially between 1.0 and 1.2 mm in dia, in air at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Use was made of the 2.2 s drop tower at the NASA Lewis Research Center and a newly designed droplet-combustion apparatus that promotes nearly spherically symmetrical combustion. Unanticipated disruptions were encountered and related to sooting behavior.     

The cataclysmic variable SS Cygni

In this work we will try to give the most general panorama, comparatively with the conciseness, on SS Cygni which is the brightest dwarf nova.The dwarf novae form a sub-class of the more vaste panorama of the Cataclysmic Variables (CVs). For this reason firstly we will describe in general the CVs and the current theories which attempt to describe their physical behaviour (Sections 2 and 3). The up-to-date observational properties of SS Cygni (Section 4) and a discussion on their explanation within the framework of theories (Section 5) will allow us to draw the conclusions (Section 6) and to argue the most convenient line of investigation (Section 7) both experimental and theoretical for a better understanding of the underlying physics of these systems.     

A novel way for the formation of alpha-amino acids and their derivatives in an aqueous medium.

In the course of a study of possible mechanism for chemical evolution in the primeval sea, we observed the formation of alpha-amino acids and N-acylamino acids from alpha-oxo acids and ammonia in an aqueous medium. Glyoxylic acid reacted with ammonia to form N-oxalylglycine, which gave glycine in a 5-39% yield after hydrolysis with 6N HCl. Similarly when glyoxylic acid was treated with methylamine it yielded N-oxalylsarcosine, which could be hydrolyzed to sarcosine with 17-25% overall yield upon hydrolysis. Pyruvic acid and ammonia reacted to give N-acetylalanine, which formed alanine in a 3-7% overall yield upon hydrolysis. The pH optima in these reactions were pH 3-4. These reactions were further extended to the formation of other amino acids. Glutamic acid, phenylalanine and serine were formed from alpha-ketoglutaric acid, phenylpyruvic acid and hydroxypyruvic acid, respectively, under similar conditions. N-Succinylglutamic acid was obtained as an intermediate for glutamic acid synthesis. Phenylacetylphenylalanineamide was also isolated as an intermediate for phenylalanine synthesis. Alanine, rather than aspartic acid, was produced from oxaloacetic acid. These reactions provide a novel route for the prebiotic synthesis of amino acids. A mechanism for the reactions is proposed.     

Proton flare and magnetic storm effect in the vicinity of the Earth.

We have developed a model and associated computational procedure for estimating energetic proton exposures during a major solar proton event that occur in combination with a large magnetic storm. Transmission functions for solar protons are computed using geomagnetic vertical cutoff data for quiescent and disturbed conditions. Predicted exposures in low altitude polar orbit are found to be orders of magnitude greater for severe magnetic storm conditions than are corresponding exposures in the absence of major disturbances. We examine the response scenario for the events of November 1960 as an example.     

Some practical strategies for reducing intermodulation in satellitecommunications

Various heuristic procedures for obtaining practical solutions to the general one-level carrier frequency assignment problem are described. The problem treated is general in the sense that it accommodates the case where L of the N slots may be explicitly designated as prohibited and unavailable for assignment. This problem occurs in satellite transmission with many small carriers accessing the same transponder where, due to multipath and TV interference from crosspolarized transponders of the same satellite and from copolarized transponders of the adjacent satellites, some portions of the bandwidth of the considered transponder cannot be used. To permit comparison with respect to the intermodulation advantage and central-processing-unit time required, the case without prohibited slots is considered. The sequential insertion procedure in which, starting with two carriers at the two end slots, one additional carrier at a time is optimally inserted into one of the unassigned slots is found best when the ratio between the available bandwidth and the total carrier bandwidth is greater than about 125%. All the heuristic procedures produced assignments whose intermodulation advantages are all greater than the bandwidth ratio     

Mixed graphic architecture for radar displays

The current state of the art in designing radar displays is first analyzed. An advanced architecture is proposed that overcomes the previous display limitations by using the mixed vector-raster concept. Design tradeoffs are identified, and feasible solutions are given. A simplified prototype that realizes these concepts is presented     

Algorithms for Power Converter Design Optimization

A practical optimization approach for power converters is established which allows conception of a design to meet all powercircuit performance requirements and concurrently to optimize a defined quantity such as weight or losses. In addition to facilitating a cost effective design, the computer-aided approach provides a means to readily assess a) the weight-efficiency tradeoff, b) impacts of converter requirements and component characteristics on a given design, and c) optimum power-system configurations. The following two popular algorithms for nonlinearly constrained optimization are utilized to design the power converter: 1) the sequential unconstrained minimization technique, SUMT Version 4; 2) the ALAG penalty function technique, ALAG5. These algorithms are compared, and suggestions are made for improving the efficiency of the optimization algorithms for power converter design.     

Composites for large space structures

A preliminary study of advanced composites and truss-type designs for application to large space structures is discussed. The benefits of advanced composite materials for large space structures and examples of large space structure design concepts and construction techniques are presented. Criteria are developed to guide the selection of structural elements, joints, and on-orbit fabrication techniques for truss-type structures and a ranking of candidate on-orbit fabrication techniques is accomplished in accordance with the criteria developed. On the basis of study results, recommended research and development goals for design, construction, and on-orbit fabrication of large space structures are established.     

Observation of X-ray spectrum of GX301-2

X-ray source GX301-2 was observed with scintillation proportional counters in binary phase 0.90 to 0.05. Intense iron fluorescent emission and sharp iron K absorption edge appeared in all spectrum including flare, which occured on JD 2445814.6. The equivalent width are linearly correlated with column density and this can be interpreted by a simple model that cold isotropic gas surround compact source. Pulse fraction also changed inversely correlated way with column density which suggest smearing by scattering of x-rays in the reprocessing medium. Averaged iron K absorption edge energy was 7.36±0.02 keV.     

Modified Savage and Modified Rank Squared Nonparametric Detectors

A modified form of the basic Savage statistic is considered and the performance of a modified Savage (MS) nonparametric detector using this modified statistic is derived. Also, a detector using a modified rank squared statistic (MRS) is introduced. The asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) of the detectors is determined for chisquare, Rician, and log-normal signal fluctuations when the background noise is assumed Gaussian. The ARE performance of the generalized sign (GS) and Mann-Whitney (MW) detectors is also determined for these families of fluctuations. The ARE performance of the various detectors is then compared, and the results of a computer simulation are presented in which, for a finite number of samples, the performance of the modified detectors is compared with the performance of the GS and MW detectors. It is shown that when using a large number of reference noise samples, the ARE of the GS and MW detectors, the MRS and RS detectors, and the MS and Savage detectors are 0.75, 0.868, and 1, respectively. It is also shown that when using a finite number of reference noise samples the MS and MRS detectors can give a superior performance to that obtained with the MW detector, and that this is particularly true in the cases in which the degree of signal fluctuation is high.