Survival and death of the haloarchaeon Natronorubrum strain HG-1 in a simulated martian environment

Halophilic archaea are of interest to astrobiology due to their survival capabilities in desiccated and high salt environments. The detection of remnants of salty pools on Mars stimulated investigations into the response of haloarchaea to martian conditions. Natronorubrum sp. strain HG-1 is an extremely halophilic archaeon with unusual metabolic pathways, growing on acetate and stimulated by tetrathionate. We exposed Natronorubrum strain HG-1 to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, similar to levels currently prevalent on Mars. In addition, the effects of low temperature (4, −20, and −80 °C), desiccation, and exposure to a Mars soil analogue from the Atacama desert on the viability of Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cultures were investigated. The results show that Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cannot survive for more than several hours when exposed to UV radiation equivalent to that at the martian equator. Even when protected from UV radiation, viability is impaired by a combination of desiccation and low temperature. Desiccating Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cells when mixed with a Mars soil analogue impaired growth of the culture to below the detection limit. Overall, we conclude that Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cannot survive the environment currently present on Mars. Since other halophilic microorganisms were reported to survive simulated martian conditions, our results imply that survival capabilities are not necessarily shared between phylogenetically related species.     

Space Weather applications with CDPP/AMDA

AMDA (Automated Multi-Dataset Analysis), a new data analysis service, recently opened at the French Plasma Physics Data Center (CDPP). AMDA is developed according to the Virtual Observatory paradigm: it is a web-based facility for on-line analyses of space physics. Data may come from its own local database as well as remote ones. This tool allows the user to perform classical manipulations such as data visualization, parameter computation and data extraction. AMDA also offers innovative functionalities such as event searches on the content of the data in either visual or automated ways, generation, use and management of time tables (event lists). The general functionalities of AMDA are presented in the context of Space Weather with example scientific use cases.     

Magnetic Field Fluctuations in the Solar Wind, Foreshock and Magnetosheath： Cluster Data Analysis

46 magnetosheath crossing events from the two years (2001.2-2003.1) of Cluster magnetic field measurements are identified and used to investigate the characters of the magnetic field fluctuations in the regions of undisturbed solar wind, foreshock, magnetosheath. The preliminary results indicate the properties of the plasma turbulence in the magnetosheath are strongly controlled by IMF orientation with respect to the bow shock normal. The amplitude of the magnetic field magnitude and direction variations behind quasi-parallel bow shock are larger than those behind quasi-perpendicular bow shock. Almost purely compressional waves are found in quasi-perpendicular magnetosheath.     

Ionospheric Effects of Geomagnetic Storms in Different Longitude Sectors

This paper analyzes the state of the ionosphere during two geomagnetic storms of a different intensity evolving in different sectors of local time in different seasons. There were used the data from a network of ionospheric stations located in the opposite longitudinal sectors of 80°-150° E and 250°-310° E.This analysis has permitted us to conclude that the detected differences in the variations of the disturbances are likely to be determined by the local time difference of the geomagnetic storm development, its intensity and by the different illumination conditions of the ionosphere.     

The characteristics of sharp (small-scale) boundaries of solar wind plasma and magnetic field structures

We investigate properties of large (>20%) and sharp (<10 min) solar wind ion flux changes using INTERBALL-1 and WIND plasma and magnetic field measurements from 1996 to 1999. These ion flux changes are the boundaries of small-scale and middle-scale solar wind structures. We describe the behavior of the solar wind velocity, temperature and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) during these sudden flux changes. Many of the largest ion flux changes occur during periods when the solar wind velocity is nearly constant, so these are mainly plasma density changes. The IMF magnitude and direction changes at these events can be either large or small. For about 55% of the ion flux changes, the sum of the thermal and magnetic pressure are in balance across the boundary. In many of the other cases, the thermal pressure change is significantly more than the magnetic pressure change. We also attempted to classify the types of discontinuities observed.     

Interplanetary shocks and sudden impulses during solar maximum (2000) and solar minimum (1995–1996)

In this work a study is performed on the correlation between fast forward interplanetary shock parameters at 1 Astronomical Unit and sudden impulse (SI) amplitudes in the H-component of the geomagnetic field, for periods of solar activity maximum (year 2000) and minimum (year 1995–1996). Solar wind temperature, density and speed, and total magnetic field, were taken to calculate the static pressures (thermal and magnetic) both in the upstream and downstream sides of the shocks. The variations of the solar wind parameters and pressures were then correlated with SI amplitudes. The solar wind speed variations presented good correlations with sudden impulses, with correlation coefficients larger than 0.70 both in solar maximum and solar minimum, whereas the solar wind density presented very low correlation. The parameter better correlated with SI was the square root dynamic pressure variation, showing a larger correlation during solar maximum (r = 0.82) than during solar minimum (r = 0.77). The correlations of SI with square root thermal and magnetic pressure were smaller than with the dynamic pressure, but they also present a good correlation, with r > 0.70 during both solar maximum and minimum. Multiple linear correlation analysis of SI in terms of the three pressure terms have shown that 78% and 85% of the variance in SI during solar maximum and minimum, respectively, are explained by the three pressure variations. Average sudden impulse amplitude was 25 nT during solar maximum and 21 nT during solar minimum, while average square root dynamic pressure variation is 1.20 and 0.86 nPa^1/2 during solar maximum and minimum, respectively. Thus on average, fast forward interplanetary shocks are 33% stronger during solar maximum than during solar minimum, and the magnetospheric SI response has amplitude 20% higher during solar maximum than during solar minimum. A comparison with theoretical predictions (Tsyganenko’s model corrected by Earth’s induced currents) of the coefficient of sudden impulse change with solar wind dynamic pressure variation showed excellent agreement, with values around 17 nT/nPa^1/2.     

绳驱动机器人的解耦分析和位置控制仿真

为提高机器人的负载能力,基于几何分析和螺旋理论的基本原理,对绳驱动 拟人臂机器人的构型设计、钢绳传动方式和运动学控制问题进行了深入的分析.首先针对绳 驱动走线方式的多样性选择,设计了一种具有肘、腕关节耦合和肩、肘关节耦合的绳驱动传 动机构;然后以肩、肘、腕7-DOF关节为中间媒介对机器人末端和驱动钢绳间的运动学关系 进行了分析,即先考虑机器人末端位姿和各关节角度之间的关系,再研究各关节角度和其相 应的驱动钢绳绳长之间的关系,从而得到绳驱动机器人的运动学解;最后进行了仿真研究. 仿真结果显示机器人的关节角度和绳长变化曲线十分平滑,末端的实际轨迹跟踪理想轨迹的 误差非常微小,说明建议的算法正确,绳驱动机器人运行理想,可以有效克服常规机器 人自重过大带来的负面影响.      

车身逆向设计中点云多视拼合技术

针对整车车身点云空间尺寸较大,数据量庞大,还原精度要求高等特点,提出基于骨架点的点云拼合算法,算法的基本思想是构造整车模型的骨架点和分块点云的mark点,由全等三角形法则搜索骨架点与mark点的映射关系,应用加速迭代的改进ICP(Iterative Closest Point)算法拼合整车点云.某厂轻卡整车点云的拼合实例证明,该算法拼合精度高,运算速度快,是拼合整车点云行之有效的方法.      

基于设计特征模型的加工特征映射技术

为了实现数控编程过程中能够自动确定加工区域,对基于特征设计系统构建产品模型的方法、产品信息模型、信息模型间的关联关系、飞机结构件加工特征定义分类、设计特征与加工特征间的内在关系进行了深入的研究,提出了基于设计特征模型映射加工特征的方法.该方法通过遍历特征设计树,判断特征间的关系,查询特征组成面信息,从而构建出特征属性邻接图,进而采用基于图匹配的特征识别方法得到加工特征,并提取加工特征信息.该方法压缩了图匹配空间,大大提高了特征识别的速度,应用此方法实现了飞机壁板类零件的特征识别.