Understanding microbialite morphology using a comprehensive suite of three-dimensional analysis tools

Microbialites can have complex morphologies that preserve clues to ancient microbial ecology. However, extracting and interpreting these clues is challenging due to both the complexity of microbial structures and the difficulties of connecting morphology to microbial processes. Fenestrate microbialites from the 2521±3 Ma Gamohaan Formation, South Africa, have intricate structures composed of three distinct microbial structures: steeply dipping supports (surfaces defined by organic inclusions), more shallowly dipping supports with diffuse organic inclusions below them, and draping laminae. In polished slabs, shallowly dipping supports with diffuse organic inclusions show apparent dips from 27° to 60°, and supports without associated zones of diffuse inclusions dip 75° to 88°, which suggests a distinction between support types based on orientation. However, dips exposed in polished slabs are apparent dips, and three-dimensional analysis is required for analysis of true dips. Through the Keck Center for Active Visualization in Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES), we used locally developed software that controls a three-dimensional environment with head and hand tracking (an "immersive environment") to visualize and interpret virtual microbialite data sets. Immersive environments have not penetrated into standard scientific work processes ("workflows") due to their high costs, steep learning curves, and low productivity for users. By contrast, our suite of software tools allowed us to develop a personalized scientific workflow that provides a complete path from initial ideas to characterization of fenestrate microbialites' features. Results of three-dimensional analysis of fenestrate microbialites show that supports with inclusions dip 65° to 75°, whereas supports without inclusions dip 85° to 90°. These results demonstrate that all supports have very steep dips, and a 10° dip gap exists between supports with and without inclusions, which suggests they grew in fundamentally different ways. Results also emphasize how valuable three-dimensional analysis is when combined with a comprehensive workflow for understanding intricate structures such as fenestrate microbialites.     

The O/OREOS mission: first science data from the Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) payload

We report the first telemetered spaceflight science results from the orbiting Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment, executed by one of the two 10?cm cube-format payloads aboard the 5.5?kg Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) free-flying nanosatellite. The O/OREOS spacecraft was launched successfully to a 72° inclination, 650?km Earth orbit on 19 November 2010. This satellite provides access to the radiation environment of space in relatively weak regions of Earth's protective magnetosphere as it passes close to the north and south magnetic poles; the total dose rate is about 15 times that in the orbit of the International Space Station. The SESLO experiment measures the long-term survival, germination, and growth responses, including metabolic activity, of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to the microgravity, ionizing radiation, and heavy-ion bombardment of its high-inclination orbit. Six microwells containing wild-type (168) and six more containing radiation-sensitive mutant (WN1087) strains of dried B. subtilis spores were rehydrated with nutrient medium after 14 days in space to allow the spores to germinate and grow. Similarly, the same distribution of organisms in a different set of microwells was rehydrated with nutrient medium after 97 days in space. The nutrient medium included the redox dye Alamar blue, which changes color in response to cellular metabolic activity. Three-color transmitted intensity measurements of all microwells were telemetered to Earth within days of each of the 48?h growth experiments. We report here on the evaluation and interpretation of these spaceflight data in comparison to delayed-synchronous laboratory ground control experiments.     

实现机队的最大价值

KealizingtheGreatestValuefromYourFleet编者按：经营性租赁对于中国航空界来说已不是什么新概念，中国南方航空公司就曾在国内率先采用经营性租赁并收到了良好的效果。但是，与传统的购买飞机的航空公司运营方式相比，经营性租赁所占的比例仍较低。本文从经济学的角度详细论述了这种租赁方式的优点，它能令航空公司拥有一文灵活的机队，而无需占用过多的资金，应该说这对于那些新成立的航空公司，或急于占领市场的承运人来说无疑具有十分重要的意义。目前，在经历了1998年亚洲金融危机后，亚太地区，尤其是中国的航空公司普遍面临着效益…     

利用GPS确定方位

导航导全球定位系统是军队用于定位，导航和精确定时的一种工具，美国陆军测绘工程中心目前正在研究ＧＰＳ用于陆军装备的定向，这项研究是陆军空技术研究办公室资助的。     

支线运输机的发展

文章是根据2001年5月在多伦多举行的加拿大航空与航天研究所年会鲁珀特特恩布尔演讲大会整理的，文章主要论述了支线飞机从开始至今的发展情况，今天是支线喷气式飞机占主导地位的时期，文中强调了其成功的关键因素，并且讨论了当今交通拥挤，机且成本和适用条款范围的问题，对比了在研新支线喷气飞机与现役客机，同时还和将来的实际需求进行了对比。为了避免交通拥挤以及使支线服务不断扩大，此文认为下一代支线喷气机应该考虑小机场和降低噪音。     

高压涡轮工作叶片叶型设计研究

针对高压涡轮工作叶片叶栅型面特征,采用可压燃气黏性流2维计算方法对高压涡轮工作叶片叶型进行了气动研究,并通过试验验证了优化设计,得到了叶栅气动设计参数。经与初始叶型对比,优化叶型在各状态下损失特性变化更为平缓,在超临界状态下效率更高,在λ2is=1.20状态下的损失减少了2.8%。该方法缩短了设计时间,并且节省了平面叶栅吹风试验的成本。