Ammonia Channeling in Plasmodium falciparum GMP Synthetase: Investigation by NMR Spectroscopy and Biochemical Assays

GMP synthetase, a class I amidotransferase, catalyzes the last step of the purine biosynthetic pathway, where ammonia from glutamine is incorporated into xanthosine 5'-monophospate to yield guanosine 5'-monnophosphate as the main product. Combined biochemical, structural, and computational studies of glutamine amidotransferases have revealed the existence of physically separate active sites connected by molecular tunnels that efficiently transfer ammonia from the glutaminase site to the synthetase site. Here, we have investigated aspects of ammonia channeling in P. falciparum GMP synthetase using biochemical assays in conjunction with N-15-edited proton NMR spectroscopy. Our results suggest that (1) ammonia released from glutamine is not equilibrated with the external medium (2) saturating concentrations of glutamine do not obliterate the incorporation of external ammonia into GMP, and (3) ammonia in the external medium can access the thioester intermediate when the ATPPase domain is bound to substrates. Further, mutation of Cys-102 to alanine confirmed its identity as the catalytic residue in the glutaminase domain, and ammonia-dependent assays on the mutant indicated glutamine to be a partial uncompetitive inhibitor of the enzyme.

Aerodynamic Load Measurements at Hypersonic Speeds Using Internally Mounted Fiber-Optic Balance System

This paper describes the measurement of aerodynamic loads using fiber-optic strain gauge sensors and associated signal processors at hypersonic speeds in the 300mm hypersonic wind tunnel. at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science. Fiber-optic sensors have been developed in USA since 1990, for variety of applications in experimental stress analysis, skin friction measurement in fluid flows, smart structures, smart materials, sensing of acoustic emission and more recently in the development of compact devices for measurement of displacement, stress/strain, pressure, temperature, acceleration etc. Our group at llSc has been playing a lead role in the use of these fiber - optic sensors for successful measurement of aerodynamic loads in wind tunnels and the first ever six-component wind tunnel strain gauge balance in the world based on fiber optic sensors was built at the Indian Institute of Science in the year 1999. We report here the results of our efforts in the development of an internal strain gauge balance for high-speed wind tunnel applications.

A novel free floating accelerometer force balance system for shock tunnel applications

In order to overcome the interference of the model mounting system with the external aerodynamics of the body during shock tunnel testing, a new free floating internally mountable balance system that ensures unrestrained model motion during testing has been designed, fabricated and tested. Minimal friction ball bearings are used for ensuring the free floating condition of the model during tunnel testing. The drag force acting on a blunt leading edge flat plate at hypersonic Mach number has been measured using the new balance system. Finite element model (FEM) and CFD are exhaustively used in the design as well as for calibrating the new balance system. The experimentally measured drag force on the blunt leading edge flat plate at stagnation enthalpy of 0.7 and 1.2 MJ/kg and nominal Mach number of 5.75 matches well with FEM results. The concept can also be extended for measuring all the three fundamental aerodynamic forces in short duration test facilities like free piston driven shock tunnels.

Shock tunnel measurements of surface pressures in shock induced separated flow field using MEMS sensor array

Characterized not just by high Mach numbers, but also high flow total enthalpies-often accompanied by dissociation and ionization of flowing gas itself-the experimental simulation of hypersonic flows requires impulse facilities like shock tunnels. However, shock tunnel simulation imposes challenges and restrictions on the flow diagnostics, not just because of the possible extreme flow conditions, but also the short run times-typically around 1 ms. The development, calibration and application of fast response MEMS sensors for surface pressure measurements in IISc hypersonic shock tunnel HST-2, with a typical test time of 600 mu s, for the complex flow field of strong (impinging) shock boundary layer interaction with separation close to the leading edge, is delineated in this paper. For Mach numbers 5.96 (total enthalpy 1.3 MJ kg(-1)) and 8.67 (total enthalpy 1.6 MJ kg(-1)), surface pressures ranging from around 200 Pa to 50 000 Pa, in various regions of the flow field, are measured using the MEMS sensors. The measurements are found to compare well with the measurements using commercial sensors. It was possible to resolve important regions of the flow field involving significant spatial gradients of pressure, with a resolution of 5 data points within 12 mm in each MEMS array, which cannot be achieved with the other commercial sensors. In particular, MEMS sensors enabled the measurement of separation pressure (at Mach 8.67) near the leading edge and the sharply varying pressure in the reattachment zone.

Smooth Path Planning for Passages with Heading and Curvature Discontinuities

The problem of continuous curvature path planning for passages is considered. This problem arises when an autonomous vehicle traverses between prescribed boundaries such as corridors, tunnels, channels, etc. Passage boundaries with curvature and heading discontinuities pose challenges for generating smooth paths passing through them. Continuous curvature half-S shaped paths derived from the Four Parameter Logistic Curve family are proposed as a prospective path planning solution. Analytic conditions are derived for generating continuous curvature paths confined within the passage boundaries. Zero end curvature highlights the scalability of the proposed solution and its compatibility with other path planners in terms of larger path planning domains. Various scenarios with curvature and heading discontinuities are considered presenting viability of the proposed solution.

正向爆轰驱动高焓激波风洞的数值模拟

对充满氢氧可燃气体、带扩容腔的正向爆轰驱动的激波风洞进行了数值模拟.计算采用了欧拉方程,频散可控耗散差分格式(DCD)和改进的二阶段化学反应模型.在扩容腔附近采用二维轴对称计算模型,而在驱动段和被驱动段的直管道部分则采用一维计算模型.本文分析了爆轰波在管道中的传播、反射和绕射过程.计算结果表明扩容腔的尺寸对爆轰波的传播、反射、汇聚等起着决定性的作用;带扩容腔的正向爆轰驱动的激波风洞能够得到平稳的持续时间较长的气流,提高了实验的精确度和可重复性.

脉冲风洞中新型自由天平探索

为解决常规天平在高焓高超声速脉冲风洞中测得信号无法识别，无法提取的问题，提出了一种全新的自由型天平，并设计了两种不同方案（分自由度自由型三分力天平和整体自由型三分力天平），实验表明这种加速度测力是可行的，并能很好地解决传统天平遇到的问题。

水中悬浮隧道研究进展

介绍了各国关于水中悬浮隧道的研究进展,主要包括：波浪和水流作用下水中悬浮隧道与流体相互作用的理论分析模型,波浪环境下水中悬浮隧道的锚固系统的涡激振动数值分析,地震激励下水中悬浮隧道的动力响应分析,水中悬浮隧道的结构问题,针对实际工程背景的波浪环境载荷下的模型试验及水流环境中水中悬浮隧道阻力系数、惯性力系数的试验研究。最后讨论了水中悬浮隧道尚需要进一步研究的问题：荷载的确定,结构分析和设计方法,针对性的模型试验,安全性研究等。

辛体系下曲线形水中悬浮隧道对波浪激励的动力响应研究

在哈密顿体系下建立曲线形水中悬浮隧道的运动方程,即哈密顿正则方程.用哈密顿混合能变分原理处理曲线形水中悬浮隧道的两端边界条件以及径向布设的张力腿弹性支承,建立满足边界条件的线性方程组,采用分离变量法和本征向量展开法求解哈密顿正则方程.为曲线形水中悬浮隧道的动力响应分析提供一类方法.最后结合案例,运用辛方法分析波浪作用下曲线形水中悬浮隧道的弯矩和扭矩,结果表明,可以忽略扭矩对弯矩的影响.

Direct initiation of detonation with ignition tube

Experiments of direct initiation of hydrogen-oxygen by means of a hot turbulent jet were made. Results indicate that the length of ignition tube is the dominant factor in determining the ignition capability of hot turbulent jet, and that the ignition capability of turbulence jet increases with the length of ignition tube. Because this ignition capability can meet the demands of a gas-detonation-driver shock tunnel and it doesn't require additional facilities, the hot turbulent jet initiation method can be applied to large hydrogen-oxygen detonation-driver shock tunnels. Influences of obstacles on the ignition capability were also studied. It was found that the presence of obstacles weakens the ignition capability of a hot turbulent jet.

Research progress on high-enthalpy and hypersonic flows

The research progress on high-enthalpy and hypersorlic flows having been achieved in the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is reported in this paper. The paper consists of three main parts: The first part is on the techniques to develop advanced hypersonic test facilities, in which the detonation-driven shock-reflected tunnel and the detonation-driven shock-expanded tube are introduced. The shock tunnel can be used for generating hypersonic flows of a Mach number ranging from 10 to 20, and the expansion tube is applicable to simulate the flows with a speed of 7 similar to 10km/s. The second part is dedicated to the shock tunnel nozzle flow diagnosis to examine properties of the hypersonic flows thus created. The third part is on experiments and numerical simulations. The experiments include measuring the aerodynamic pitching moment and heat transfer in hypersonic flows, and the numerical work reports nozzle flow simulations and flow non-equilibrium effects on the possible experiments that may be carried out on the above-mentioned hypersonic test facilities.

高超声速激波风洞研究进展

回顾了高超声速激波风洞的研制与发展,并依据高超声速实验研究对地面实验模拟技术的要求,分别介绍了应用轻气体、自由活塞和爆轰驱动技术研制的主要激波风洞的性能、特点和存在问题.重点介绍了爆轰驱动高焓激波风洞的3种主要运行模武:反向、正向爆轰驱动与双爆轰驱动.根据这些运行模式的工作原理,分析了应用这些驱动技术产生的高温、高压气源的特点,探讨了不同驱动技术可能影响激波风洞性能的关键问题与解决方法.目前发展的激波风洞已经能够用于开展马赫数3～30的高超声速流动的试验模拟研究,但是试验气流的品质还不能满足高超声速科技研究的需求.为了获得可靠的实验结果,通过不断改进、完善、提高激波风涧的性能,尽可能复现高超声速飞行条件是今后主要的研究方向.