SOLID3: a multiplex antibody microarray-based optical sensor instrument for in situ life detection in planetary exploration

The search for unequivocal signs of life on other planetary bodies is one of the major challenges for astrobiology. The failure to detect organic molecules on the surface of Mars by measuring volatile compounds after sample heating, together with the new knowledge of martian soil chemistry, has prompted the astrobiological community to develop new methods and technologies. Based on protein microarray technology, we have designed and built a series of instruments called SOLID (for "Signs Of LIfe Detector") for automatic in situ detection and identification of substances or analytes from liquid and solid samples (soil, sediments, or powder). Here, we present the SOLID3 instrument, which is able to perform both sandwich and competitive immunoassays and consists of two separate functional units: a Sample Preparation Unit (SPU) for 10 different extractions by ultrasonication and a Sample Analysis Unit (SAU) for fluorescent immunoassays. The SAU consists of five different flow cells, with an antibody microarray in each one (2000 spots). It is also equipped with an exclusive optical package and a charge-coupled device (CCD) for fluorescent detection. We demonstrated the performance of SOLID3 in the detection of a broad range of molecular-sized compounds, which range from peptides and proteins to whole cells and spores, with sensitivities at 1-2?ppb (ng?mL?1) for biomolecules and 10? to 103 spores per milliliter. We report its application in the detection of acidophilic microorganisms in the Río Tinto Mars analogue and report the absence of substantial negative effects on the immunoassay in the presence of 50?mM perchlorate (20 times higher than that found at the Phoenix landing site). Our SOLID instrument concept is an excellent option with which to detect biomolecules because it avoids the high-temperature treatments that may destroy organic matter in the presence of martian oxidants.     

高、低能扰动力函数对叶轮机阵发非定常气动力的影响(英文)

为了研究扰动力函数对多级叶轮机叶片排中基本的高、低能阵发非定常气动响应的影响,在研究用轴流压气机上进行了一系列的基础研究。      

飞行试验鉴定用的测量、控制和估计的新方法

现代导弹武器系统飞行试验鉴定中所用的制导系统的精度不断提高,促使西部导弹航天试验中心关心和要求采用新的测量、控制和精度估计方案。由于采用了在相位(即距离)域采集和处理雷达多卜勒测量值的方法,外测精度和估计精度比起传统的在频率(即距离变化率)域进行测量有了很大的提高。这种多卜勒技术已经用到了C波段雷达上,但也可以应用到其它系统,尤其是GPS系统。通过应用测量噪声去相关方法,消除了控制和估计功能间的相互影响,从而实现了每一种功能的各自独立优化。采用了在数字计算中具有极好数值特性的平方根估计算法,确保了充分发挥愈益精确的测量设备和制导系统的潜力。这里所介绍的已在西试验中心得到了检验的方法,预期在未来的试验鉴定工作中将发挥重大的作用。     

空间辐射对增韧环氧石墨复合材料尺寸稳定性的影响

本文讨论了模拟空间辐射环境对用弹性体增韧环氧石墨复合材料尺寸稳定性的影响。描述了该材料受辐照后(剂量相当于在地球同步轨道上6个月到30年受到的辐照剂量)的响应特性。其结果显示,辐照与环氧基体的相互作用使得复合材料在相当低的总剂量(10~7rads)下即发生脆化。在热交变期间,材料脆化导致热膨胀性能的变化并产生大量的层合板微裂纹。这些性能的变化,限制了这些材料在某些空间飞行器上的使用寿命。     

Meteors do not break exogenous organic molecules into high yields of diatomics

Meteoroids that dominate the Earth's extraterrestrial mass influx (50-300 microm size range) may have contributed a unique blend of exogenous organic molecules at the time of the origin of life. Such meteoroids are so large that most of their mass is ablated in the Earth's atmosphere. In the process, organic molecules are decomposed and chemically altered to molecules differently from those delivered to the Earth's surface by smaller (<50 microm) micrometeorites and larger (>10 cm) meteorites. The question addressed here is whether the organic matter in these meteoroids is fully decomposed into atoms or diatomic compounds during ablation. If not, then the ablation products made available for prebiotic organic chemistry, and perhaps early biology, might have retained some memory of their astrophysical nature. To test this hypothesis we searched for CN emission in meteor spectra in an airborne experiment during the 2001 Leonid meteor storm. We found that the meteor's light-emitting air plasma, which included products of meteor ablation, contained less than 1 CN molecule for every 30 meteoric iron atoms. This contrasts sharply with the nitrogen/iron ratio of 1:1.2 in the solid matter of comet 1P/Halley. Unless the nitrogen content or the abundance of complex organic matter in the Leonid parent body, comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, differs from that in comet 1P/Halley, it appears that very little of that organic nitrogen decomposes into CN molecules during meteor ablation in the rarefied flow conditions that characterize the atmospheric entry of meteoroids approximately 50 microm-10 cm in size. We propose that the organics of such meteoroids survive instead as larger compounds.     

Search for the OH (X(2)Pi) Meinel band emission in meteors as a tracer of mineral water in comets: detection of N(2)(+) (A-X)

We report the discovery of the N(2)(+) A-X Meinel band in the 780-840 nm meteor emission from two Leonid meteoroids that were ejected less than 1000 years ago by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Our analysis indicates that the N(2)(+) molecule is at least an order of magnitude less abundant than expected, possibly as a result of charge transfer reactions with meteoric metal atoms. This new band was found while searching for rovibrational transitions in the X(2)Pi electronic ground state of OH (the OH Meinel band), a potential tracer of water bound to minerals in cometary matter. The electronic A-X transition of OH has been identified in other Leonid meteors. We did not detect this OH Meinel band, which implies that the excited A state is not populated by thermal excitation but by a mechanism that directly produces OH in low vibrational levels of the excited A(2)Sigma state. Ultraviolet dissociation of atmospheric or meteoric water vapor is such a mechanism, as is the possible combustion of meteoric organics.     

下一代数字式GPS接收机

讨论由 collins 公司制造的下一代(NGR)数字化 GPS 接收机的结构和技术特点。该计划的目的是开发一种具有较高抗干扰能力的高级 GPS 接收机单片设备(chipset)。计划始于1985年,为不载人和载人飞行器提供小型化接收机技术。目前用于战术导弹的两通道接收机的研制工作已全面开展,用来替换标准高动态接收机 RCVR-3A 型的五通道接收机正在测试和评估中。NGR 设计是从国防高级研究计划机构(DARPA)开发手提式 GPS 接收机使用的数字信号处理体系结构入手的,改进后可提高抗干扰和信号捕获性能。使用可生产、合格及便宜的硅单片微波集成电路(MMIC)和半商品化的数字技术开发 GPS 核心单片设备。另外,所采用的系统设计方法允许重复使用成熟的和确认过的 GPS 软件。     

用于ERIS的GPS转发器处理系统

本文描述基于转发器处理系统(TPS)的全球定位系统(GPS)的要求、设计特点及其能力。该转发器处理系统是由爱格林空军基地的靶场应用联合工程办公室(RAJPO)为美军战略防御指挥(USASDC)的重返外大气层再入飞行器拦截器子系统(ERIS)计划而建立的。TPS 为 ERIS 实验计划提供目标和拦截飞行器的实时位置和速度信息。为了实现这一目的,弹载转发器提供 GPS C/A 码 L 波段到 S 波段的信号转换,并重发给地面 TPS。地面发射机(GT)网用于增加 GPS 卫星(SV)覆盖域。TPS 测量包括“伪距离和”与“伪距离和的变化率”并借助 GPS 参考接收机(RR)进行差分 GPS 修正。快速相关捕获和快速付里叶变换(FFT)技术用于满足相当严格的性能要求。设计用于动态的和弹道飞行的两种卡尔曼滤波器,来满足目标和拦截器的不同精度要求。TPS 还有其它一些功能,例如,检前记录器(用于事后分析)和动态模拟信号源(用于飞行前检查)。     

采用分集技术改善船载遥测接收的多径衰落

导弹试验中有多种分集技术可用来改善船载遥测数据接收中的多径衰落,这些技术包括极化分集、角度分集、高度分集和频率分集。本文使用双路径多径模型研究这些技术的优缺点,讨论可以使用的最佳方案。