Transducer for direct measurement of skin friction in hypervelocity impulse facilities

An acceleration compensated transducer was developed to enable the direct measurement of skin friction in hypervelocity impulse facilities. The gauge incorporated a measurement and acceleration element that employed direct shear of a piezoelectric ceramic. The design integrated techniques to maximize rise time and shear response while minimizing the affects of acceleration, pressure, heat transfer, and electrical interference. The arrangement resulted in a transducer natural frequency near 40 kHz. The transducer was calibrated for shear and acceleration in separate bench tests and was calibrated for pressure within an impulse facility. Uncertainty analyses identified only small experimental errors in the shear and acceleration calibration techniques. Although significant errors were revealed in the method of pressure calibration, total skin-friction measurement errors as low as +/-7-12% were established. The transducer was successfully utilized in a shock tunnel, and sample measurements are presented for flow conditions that simulate a flight Mach number near 8.

Ultra-high-temperature (UHT) treatment of milk: comparison of direct and indirect modes of heating

UHT processing of milk and its subsequent storage causes several changes which affect the shelf-life of UHT milk although it remains 'commercially sterile'. These changes include whey protein denaturation, protein-protein interaction, lactose-protein interaction, isomerisation of lactose, Maillard browning, sulphydryl compound formation, formation of a range of carbonyl and other flavoursome compounds, and formation of insoluble substances. They ultimately reduce the quality and limit the shelf life of UHT milk through development of off-flavours, fat separation, age gelation and sedimentation. The extent of these changes depends on many factors, a major one being the type of UHT heating. This review compares the effect heating milk by direct and indirect modes on various aspects of processing and quality of UHT milk.

Evaluating Australia's National Medicines Policy using geographical mapping

Background: There has been a proliferation of quality use of medicines activities in Australia since the 1990s. However, knowledge of the nature and extent of these activities was lacking. A mechanism was required to map the activities to enable their coordination. Aims: To develop a geographical mapping facility as an evaluative tool to assist the planning and implementation of Australia's policy on the quality use of medicines. Methods: A web-based database incorporating geographical mapping software was developed. Quality use of medicines projects implemented across the country was identified from project listings funded by the Quality Use of Medicines Evaluation Program, the National Health and Medical Research Council, Mental Health Strategy, Rural Health Support, Education and Training Program, the Healthy Seniors Initiative, the General Practice Evaluation Program and the Drug Utilisation Evaluation Network. In addition, projects were identified through direct mail to persons working in the field. Results: The Quality Use of Medicines Mapping Project (QUMMP) was developed, providing a Web-based database that can be continuously updated. This database showed the distribution of quality use of medicines activities by: (i) geographical region, (ii) project type, (iii) target group, (iv) stakeholder involvement, (v) funding body and (vi) evaluation method. At September 2001, the database included 901 projects. Sixty-two per cent of projects had been conducted in Australian capital cities, where approximately 63% of the population reside. Distribution of projects varied between States. In Western Australia and Queensland, 36 and 73 projects had been conducted, respectively, representing approximately two projects per 100 000 people. By comparison, in South Australia and Tasmania approximately seven projects per 100 000 people were recorded, with six per 100 000 people in Victoria and three per 100 000 people in New South Wales. Rural and remote areas of the country had more limited project activity. Conclusions: The mapping of projects by geographical location enabled easy identification of high and low activity areas. Analysis of the types of projects undertaken in each region enabled identification of target groups that had not been involved or services that had not yet been developed. This served as a powerful tool for policy planning and implementation and will be used to support the continued implementation of Australia's policy on the quality use of medicines.

Cadherin-directed actin assembly: E-cadherin physically associates with the Arp2/3 complex to direct actin assembly in nascent adhesive contacts

Cadherin cell adhesion molecules are major determinants of tissue patterning which function in cooperation with the actin cytoskeleton [1-4]. In the context of stable adhesion [1], cadherin/catenin complexes are often envisaged to passively scaffold onto cortical actin filaments. However, cadherins also form dynamic adhesive contacts during wound healing and morphogenesis [2]. Here actin polymerization has been proposed to drive cell surfaces together [5], although F-actin reorganization also occurs as cell contacts mature [6]. The interaction between cadherins and actin is therefore likely to depend on the functional state of adhesion. We sought to analyze the relationship between cadherin homophilic binding and cytoskeletal activity during early cadherin adhesive contacts. Dissecting the specific effect of cadherin ligation alone on actin regulation is difficult in native cell-cell contacts, due to the range of juxtacrine signals that can arise when two cell surfaces adhere [7]. We therefore activated homophilic ligation using a specific functional recombinant protein. We report the first evidence that E-cadherin associates with the Arp2/3 complex actin nucleator and demonstrate that cadherin binding can exert an active, instructive influence on cells to mark sites for actin assembly at the cell surface.

An audit tool for intellectual property management: IP management in the Queensland Department of Primary Industries

Smart State is a Queensland Government initiative that recognises the central role of knowledge-based economic growth. In this context, the management of intellectual property (IP) within Queensland and Australian government research and development agencies has changed dramatically over recent years. Increasing expectations have been placed on utilising public sector IP to both underpin economic development and augment taxes by generating new revenues. Public sector research and development (R&D) management has come under greater scrutiny to commercialise and/or corporatise their activities. In a study of IP management issues in the Queensland Public Sector we developed a framework to facilitate a holistic audit of IP management in government agencies. In this paper we describe this framework as it pertains to one large public sector Agriculture R&D Agency, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI). The four overlapping domains of the framework are: IP Generation; IP Rights; IP Uptake; and Corporate IP Support. The audit within QDPI, conducted in 2000 near the outset of Smart State, highlighted some well developed IP management practices within QDPI's traditional areas of focus of innovation (IP Generation) and IP ownership and licensing (IP Rights). However, further management practice developments are required to improve the domains of IP Uptake and Corporate IP Support.

Direct visualization of Ras proteins in spatially distinct cell surface microdomains

Localization of signaling complexes to specific micro-domains coordinates signal transduction at the plasma membrane. Using immunogold electron microscopy of plasma membrane sheets coupled with spatial point pattern analysis, we have visualized morphologically featureless microdomains including lipid rafts, in situ and at high resolution. We find that an inner-plasma membrane lipid raft marker displays cholesterol-dependent clustering in microdomains with a mean diameter of 44 nm that occupy 35% of the cell surface. Cross-linking an outer-leaflet raft protein results in the redistribution of inner leaflet rafts, but they retain their modular structure. Analysis of Ras microlocalization shows that inactive H-ras is distributed between lipid rafts and a cholesterol-independent micro-domain. Conversely, activated H-ras and K-ras reside predominantly in nonoverlapping, cholesterol-independent microdomains. Galectin-1 stabilizes the association of activated H-ras with these nonraft microdomains, whereas K-ras clustering is supported by farnesylation, but not geranylgeranylation. These results illustrate that the inner plasma membrane comprises a complex mosaic of discrete microdomains. Differential spatial localization within this framework can likely account for the distinct signal outputs from the highly homologous Ras proteins.

Numerical investigation of turbulent flow around a rotating stepped cylinder for corrosion study

Direct numerical simulation has been carried out for turbulent flow set up by a rotating cylinder with two backward-facing steps axisymmetrically mounted in the circumferential direction. This flow geometry creates a qualitatively similar flow pattern as observed near, a sudden, pipe expansion or a plane backward-facing step, characterized by flow separation and reattachment. A region of intense turbulence intensity and high wall-shear-stress fluctuations is formed in,the recirculating I region downstream of the step, where high mass-transfer capacity was also experimentally observed. Since, corrosion is frequently mass-transfer., controlled, our findings, put forward this apparatus as useful tool for future corrosion research.

Fast, scalable master equation solution algorithms. III. Direct time propagation accelerated by a diffusion approximation preconditioned iterative solver

In this paper we propose a novel fast and linearly scalable method for solving master equations arising in the context of gas-phase reactive systems, based on an existent stiff ordinary differential equation integrator. The required solution of a linear system involving the Jacobian matrix is achieved using the GMRES iteration preconditioned using the diffusion approximation to the master equation. In this way we avoid the cubic scaling of traditional master equation solution methods and maintain the low temperature robustness of numerical integration. The method is tested using a master equation modelling the formation of propargyl from the reaction of singlet methylene with acetylene, proceeding through long lived isomerizing intermediates. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Tool support for testing concurrent Java components

Concurrent programs are hard to test due to the inherent nondeterminism. This paper presents a method and tool support for testing concurrent Java components. Too[ support is offered through ConAn (Concurrency Analyser), a too] for generating drivers for unit testing Java classes that are used in a multithreaded context. To obtain adequate controllability over the interactions between Java threads, the generated driver contains threads that are synchronized by a clock. The driver automatically executes the calls in the test sequence in the prescribed order and compares the outputs against the expected outputs specified in the test sequence. The method and tool are illustrated in detail on an asymmetric producer-consumer monitor. Their application to testing over 20 concurrent components, a number of which are sourced from industry and were found to contain faults, is presented and discussed.

Direct electrochemistry of a bacterial sulfite dehydrogenase

Sulfite dehydrogenase from Starkeya novella is an alphabeta heterodimer comprising a 40.6 kDa subunit (containing the Mo cofactor) and a smaller 8.8 kDa heme c subunit. The enzyme catalyses the oxidation of sulfite to sulfate with the natural electron acceptor being cytochrome c(550). Its catalytic mechanism is thought to resemble that found in eukaryotic sulfite oxiclases. Using protein film voltammetry and redox potentiometry, we have identified both Mo- and heme-centered redox responses from the enzyme immobilized on a pyrolytic graphite working electrode: E-m,E-8 (Fe-III/II) +177 mV; E-m,E-8 (Mo-VI/V) +211 mV and E(m,)8 (Mo-V/IV) -118 mV vs NHE; Upon addition of sulfite to the electrochemical cell a steady-state voltammogram is observed and an apparent Michaelis constant (K-m) of 26(l) muM was determined for the enzyme immobilized on the working electrode surface, which is comparable with the value obtained from solution assays.

Bridgehead arylation: A direct route to advanced intermediates for the synthesis of C-20 diterpene alkaloids

[GRAPHICS] Rapid access to the ABCE ring system of the C-20 diterpene alkaloids was achieved by silver(I)-promoted intramolecular Friedel-Crafts arylation of a functional group-specific 5-bromo-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane derivative.