Comparative metagenomics of two microbial mats at cuatro ciénegas basin I: ancient lessons on how to cope with an environment under severe nutrient stress

Abstract The Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB) is an oasis in the desert of Mexico characterized by low phosphorus availability and by its great diversity of microbial mats. We compared the metagenomes of two aquatic microbial mats from the CCB with different nutrient limitations. We observed that the red mat was P-limited and dominated by Pseudomonas, while the green mat was N-limited and had higher species richness, with Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria as the most abundant phyla. From their gene content, we deduced that both mats were very metabolically diverse despite their use of different strategies to cope with their respective environments. The red mat was found to be mostly heterotrophic, while the green mat was more autotrophic. The red mat had a higher number of transporters in general, including transporters of cellobiose and osmoprotectants. We suggest that generalists with plastic genomes dominate the red mat, while specialists with minimal genomes dominate the green mat. Nutrient limitation was a common scenario on the early planet; despite this, biogeochemical cycles were performed, and as a result the planet changed. The metagenomes of microbial mats from the CCB show the different strategies a community can use to cope with oligotrophy and persist. Key Words: Microbial mats-Metagenomics-Metabolism. Astrobiology 12, 648-658.     

EFOS1氢脉泽的初步测量

本文是一份大尺寸有源氢脉泽(EFOS1)的研制进度报告。这种氢脉泽作为一种工业产品目前正在ASULAB NEUCHATEL研制。本文将介绍脉泽的设计原理、物理部分、接收机和测量系统,并提供在与氢脉泽H_1和H_2的样机比较后得到的频率稳定度的初步成果。     

Active Aerothermoelastic Control of Hypersonic Double-wedge Lifting Surface

Designing re-entry space vehicles and high-speed aircraft requires special attention to the nonlinear thermoelastic and aerodynamic instability of their structural components. The thermal effects are important since temperature environment brings dramatic influences on the static and dynamic behaviors of flight structures in supersonic/hypersonic regimes and is likely to cause instability, catastrophic failure and oscillations resulting in structural failure due to fatigue. In order to understand the dynamic behaviors of these ＂hot＂ structures, a double-wedge lifting surface with combining freeplay and cubic structural nonlinearities in both plunging and pitching degrees-of-freedom operating in supersonic/hypersonic flight speed regimes has been analyzed. A third order piston theory aerodynamic is used to estimate the applied nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic loads. Also considered is the loss of torsional stiffness that may be incurred by lifting surfaces subject to axial stresses induced by aerodynamic heating. The aerodynamic heating effects are estimated based on the adiabatic wall temperature due to high speed airstreams. As a recently emerging technology, the active aerothermoelastic control is aimed at providing solutions to a large number of problems involving the aeronautical/aerospace flight vehicle structures. To prevent such damaging phenomena from occurring, an application of linear and nonlinear active control methods on both flutter boundary and post-flutter behavior has been fulfilled. In this paper, modeling issues as well as numerical simulation have been presented and pertinent conclusions outlined. It is evidenced that a serious loss of torsional stiffness may induce the dynamic instability; however active control can be used to expand the flutter boundary and convert unstable limit cycle oscillations （LCO） into the stable LCO and/or to shift the transition between these two states toward higher flight Mach numbers.     

Simulation Tools for a Fiber-Optic Based Structural Health Monitoring System

Probability of detection(POD)graphics allow for a change from qualitative to quantitative assessment for every damage detection system,and as such it is a main request for conventional non-destructive testing(NDT)techniques.Its availability can greatly help towards the industrialization of the corresponding Structural health monitoring(SHM)system.But having in mind that for SHM systems the sensors are at fixed positions,and the location of a potential damage would change its detectability.Consequently robust simulation tools are required to obtain the model assisted probability of detection(MAPOD)which is needed to validate the SHM system.This tool may also help for the optimization of the sensor distribution,and finally will allow a probabilistic risk management.INDEUS,simulation of ultrasonic waves SHM system,was a main milestone in this direction.This article deals with the simulation tools for a strain based SHM system,using fiber optic sensors(FOS).FOS are essentially strain/temperature sensors,either with multi-point or with distributed sensing.The simulation tool includes the finite element model(FEM)for the original and damaged structure,and algorithms to compare the strain data at the pre-established sensors locations,and from this comparison to extract information about damage occurrence and location.The study has been applied to the structure of an all-composite unmanned aircraft vehicle(UAV)now under construction,designed at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid for the inspection of electrical utilities networks.Distributed sensing optical fibers were internally bonded at the fuselage and wing.Routine inspection is planned to be done with the aircraft at the test bench by imposing known loads.From the acquired strain data,damage occurrence may be calculated as slight deviations from the baselines.This is a fast inspection procedure without requiring trained specialists,and it would allow for detection of hidden damages.Simulation indicates that stringer partial debondings are detected before they become critical,while small delaminations as those produced by barely visible impact damages would require a prohibited number of sensing lines.These simulation tools may easily be applied to any other complex structure,just by changing the FEM models.From these results it is shown how a fiber optic based SHM system may be used as a reliable damage detection procedure.     

Radio Heliographic Diagnostics of Solar Activity That Governs Space Weather

In this paper, the possibility and some results of radioheliographic study of space weather solar factors are shortly described.     

Spraying of Super Fine Powders With HVOF and Axial Plasma Thermal Spray Systems

The use of fine powders in thermal spray can lead to many advantages. These advantages include denser coatings, coatings with increased wear resistance, coatings with smoother surface finish, coatings that can be applied to internal surfaces, less expensive coatings. The use of fine powders also has an disadvantage that th ey can have poor flow characteristics. The paper will discuss a feeder that is able to feed fine powders to overcome this difficulty and the coating equipment, both axial plasma and HVOF systems, used to deposit these materials to produce smooth dense coatings.