(Table 1) Statistics of size measurements of Lagenoeca antarctica sp. n. and Salpingoeca abyssalis sp. n. (floating form) sampled during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXII/2 and METEOR cruise M63/2

Despite their high abundance and their high importance for the oceanic matter flux, heterotrophic nanoflagellates are only poorly studied in the deep-sea regions. Studies on the choanoflagellate distribution during two deep-sea expeditions, to the South Atlantic (5038 m) and Antarctica (Weddell Sea, 2551 m), revealed the deepest records of choanoflagellates so far. A new species, (Lagenoeca antarctica) with a conspicuous spike structure on the theca is described from deep Antarctic waters. Lagenoeca antarctica sp. n. is a solitary unstalked free living salpingoecid-like choanoflagellate. The protoplast is surrounded by a typical theca with unique spikes only visible in SEM micrographs. The ovoid cell nearly fills the whole theca and ranges in size from 4 to 6 µm. The collar measures 2-3 µm and the flagellum 3-5 µm. A second species, Salpingoeca abyssalis sp. n., was isolated from the abyssal plain of the South Atlantic (5038 m depth). Floating and attached forms were observed. The protoplast ranges from to 2 to 4 µm in length and 1 to 2 µm in width. The collar is about the same length as the protoplast and the flagellum has 2 to 2.5 × the length of the protoplast. Phylogenetic analyses based on a fragment of SSU rDNA revealed Salpingoeca abyssalis to cluster together with a marine isolate of Salpingoeca infusionum while Lagenoeca antarctica clusters separately from the other codonosigid and salpingoecid taxa. Salpingoeca abyssalis and an undetermined Monosiga species seems to be the first choanoflagellate species recorded from the abyssal plain.

Liability dollarization and fear of floating

This paper explores the idea that fear of floating can be justified as an optimal discretionary monetary policy in a dollarized emerging economy. Specifically, I consider a small open economy in which intermediate goods importers borrow in foreign currency and face a credit constraint. In this economy, exchange rate depreciation not only worsens importers' net-worth but also increases the financing amount in domestic currency, therefore exaggerating their borrowing finance premium. Besides, because of high exchange rate pass-through into import prices, fluctuations in the exchange rate also have strong impacts on domestic prices and production. These effects, together, magnify the macroeconomic consequences of the floating exchange rate policy in response to external shocks. The paper shows that the floating exchange rate regime is dominated by the fixed exchange rate regime in the role of cushioning shocks and in welfare terms.

Microstructural and mechanical study of AL2O3/Er3Al5O12 eutectic rods grown by the laser floating zone method

Eutectic rods of Al2O3–Er3Al5O12 were grown by directional solidification using the laser-heated floating zone method at rates in the range 25–1500 mm/h. Their microstructure and mechanical properties (hardness, toughness and strength) were investigated as a function of the growth rate. A homogeneous and interpenetrated microstructure was found in most cases, and interphase spacing decreased with growth rate following the Hunt–Jackson law. Hardness increased slightly as the interphase spacing decreased while toughness was low and independent of the microstructure. The rods presented very high bending strength as a result of the homogeneous microstructure, and their strength increased rapidly as the interphase spacing decreased, reaching a maximum of 2.7 GPa for the rods grown at 750 mm/h. The bending strength remained constant up to 1300 K and decreased above this temperature. The relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical properties was established from the analysis of the microstructure and of the fracture mechanisms

Customizing floating-point units for FPGAs: Area-performance-standard trade-offs

The high integration density of current nanometer technologies allows the implementation of complex floating-point applications in a single FPGA. In this work the intrinsic complexity of floating-point operators is addressed targeting configurable devices and making design decisions providing the most suitable performance-standard compliance trade-offs. A set of floating-point libraries composed of adder/subtracter, multiplier, divisor, square root, exponential, logarithm and power function are presented. Each library has been designed taking into account special characteristics of current FPGAs, and with this purpose we have adapted the IEEE floating-point standard (software-oriented) to a custom FPGA-oriented format. Extended experimental results validate the design decisions made and prove the usefulness of reducing the format complexity

On the structure of the floating zone in melting

Floating zone melting is used in crystal growth and purification of high melting materials. The use of a reduced gravity environment will remove the constraint imposed on the length of the zone by the hydrostatic pressure. The equilibrium of the fioatmg zone may involve, (1)Hydrostatic forces, when the zone rotates as a whole. (2)Convective driving forces, when the zone is stationary but fluid property gradients appear.(3) Hydrodynamic forces, when some parts of the zone are set into motion with respect to others. The last effects are considered in this paper. The flow pattern of a floating zone held between two discs in relative motion is complicated, and thence the solution of the problem is difficult even assuming a constant property-newtonian liquid Nevertheless, when a small parameter appears m the problem, the complete flow field can be split into zones where simple solutions are found. To illustrate this approach, the spin up from rest of an initially cylindrical floating zone is considered with detail. Here the small parameter is the time elapsed from the impulsive starting of motion. Since the problem which has been considered, as well as some others which can be tackled by use of similar methods, concern the viscous layer close to either plate, they can be simulated experimentally in the ground laboratory with short floating zones. Procedures to produce these zones are indicated.

Impulsive motions of the floating zone

A set of problems concerning the behaviour of a suddenly disturbed ideal floating zone is considered. Mathematical techniques of asymptotic expansions arc used to solve these problems. It is seen that many already available solutions, most of them concerning liquids enclosed in cavities, will be regarded as starting approximations which are valid except in the proximity of the free surface which laterally bounds the floating zone. In particular, the problem of the linear spin-up of an initially cylindrical floating zone is considered in some detail. The presence of a recircuiating fluid pattern near the free surface is detected. This configuration is attributed to the interplay between Coriolis forces and the azimuthal component of the viscous forces.

Floating liquid zones

The aim of our experiment on the Spacelab Dl Mission was to study the stability of long liquid columns under microgravity. Nominal configuration was a cylindrical liquid bridge anchored at the edges of two equal solid discs, 35 mm in diameter. Mechanical stimuli were applied through the discs and the liquid outer shape recorded for analysis. Nominal experiment procedures [1] were similar to those proposed for Spacelab-1 (1983), where by wetting problems allowed only partial success [2]. The same Fluid Physics Module, but with corrected end discs and a manually operated syringe for liquid injection, was used.

Floating zone stability

The present state of de preparation of an experiment on floating liquid zones to be performed in the first Spacelab flight is presented. In this experiment,a liquid bridge is to be placed between two parallel coaxial disks (in the Fluid Physics Module)and subjected to very precise disturbances in order to check the theoretical predictions about its stability limits and behavior under mechanical inputs: stretching of the zone, filling or removing the liquid,axial vibration, rotation, disalignment, etc. Several aspects of the research are introduced:1) Relevance of the study. 2) Theoretical predictions of the liquid behavior regarding the floating-zone stability limits and the expected response to vibrational and rotational disturbances. 3) Ground support experiments using the Plateau technique or the small scale simulation. 4) Instrumental aspects of the experimentation: the Fluid Physics Module utilization and post-flight data analysis.5)Research program for future flights.

Floating car data augmentation based on infrastructure sensors and neural networks

The development of new-generation intelligent vehicle technologies will lead to a better level of road safety and CO2 emission reductions. However, the weak point of all these systems is their need for comprehensive and reliable data. For traffic data acquisition, two sources are currently available: 1) infrastructure sensors and 2) floating vehicles. The former consists of a set of fixed point detectors installed in the roads, and the latter consists of the use of mobile probe vehicles as mobile sensors. However, both systems still have some deficiencies. The infrastructure sensors retrieve information fromstatic points of the road, which are spaced, in some cases, kilometers apart. This means that the picture of the actual traffic situation is not a real one. This deficiency is corrected by floating cars, which retrieve dynamic information on the traffic situation. Unfortunately, the number of floating data vehicles currently available is too small and insufficient to give a complete picture of the road traffic. In this paper, we present a floating car data (FCD) augmentation system that combines information fromfloating data vehicles and infrastructure sensors, and that, by using neural networks, is capable of incrementing the amount of FCD with virtual information. This system has been implemented and tested on actual roads, and the results show little difference between the data supplied by the floating vehicles and the virtual vehicles.

Floating bare tether as upper atmosphere probe

Use of a conductive bare tape electrically floating in low Earth orbit as an effective electron beam source to produce artificial auroral effects, free of problems that mard tandard beams, is considered. Ambient ions impacting the tape with keV energies over most of its length liberate secondary electrons that race down the magnetic field, excite neutrals in the E layer, and result in auroral emissions. The tether would operate with both a power supply and a plasma contactor off at nighttime; power and contactor would be on at daytime for reboost. Tomographic analysis of auroral emissions from the footprint of the beam, as observed from the spacecraft, can provide density profiles of dominant neutral species in the E layer. A characteristic tether system, at altitude 300 km and moderate orbital inclination, would involve an aluminum tape with a length of 20 km, a width of 15 mm, and a thickness of 0.2 mm for a full-system mass around 1200 kg, with two thirds going into the power subsystem.

Use of a scrapped ship as a floating breakwater for shore protection

The purpose of this research is to assess the effectiveness of a ship used as a detached floating breakwater for coastal protection and forming salients of sand or tombolos. Floating breakwaters have been extensively used as port or coastal protection structures and display advantages in terms of construction and ecology, amongst others. However, the greatest problem these structures present is the limited range of wave heights and periods for which they are really effective. Furthermore, ships may be considered as floating structures which, used as breakwaters, would keep the advantages of floating breakwaters and would increase their range of applicability. The possibility of using ships at the conclusion of their useful life for this purpose would also involve greater economic and environmental advantages. Tests were carried out to assess the ship’s effectiveness as a detached floating breakwater using a scaled down physical model to determine the vessel’s transmission coefficient (Kt) as to regular waves with significant periods of 5 sec to 12 sec and significant wave heights of 1.5 m to 4 m at depths from 20 m to 35 m. The ship proves effective for waves up to 4 m significant height and significant periods up to 9 sec. Hanson and Kraus and Pilarzyk’s analytical models, which take transmission coefficients into account, were used to analyse the shore’s response to the breakwater protection. The results obtained show that salients form for waves with periods between 6 sec and 9 sec. It is also concluded that the depths tested are far different from the more usual shallow water involved in constructing detached breakwaters and the shore’s response is therefore scarce.

Variable Speed Limits. Review and development of an aggregate indicator based on floating car data.

Changing factors (mainly traffic intensity and weather conditions) affecting road conditions require a suitable optimal speed at any time. To solve this problem, variable speed limit systems (VSL) ? as opposed to fixed limits ? have been developed in recent decades. This term has included a number of speed management systems, most notably dynamic speed limits (DSL). In order to avoid the indiscriminate use of both terms in the literature, this paper proposes a simple classification and offers a review of some experiences, how their effects are evaluated and their results This study also presents a key indicator, which measures the speed homogeneity and a methodology to obtain the data based on floating cars and GPS technology applying it to a case study on a section of the M30 urban motorway in Madrid (Spain).

Floating-point exponentiation units for reconfigurable computing

The high performance and capacity of current FPGAs makes them suitable as acceleration co-processors. This article studies the implementation, for such accelerators, of the floating-point power function xy as defined by the C99 and IEEE 754-2008 standards, generalized here to arbitrary exponent and mantissa sizes. Last-bit accuracy at the smallest possible cost is obtained thanks to a careful study of the various subcomponents: a floating-point logarithm, a modified floating-point exponential, and a truncated floating-point multiplier. A parameterized architecture generator in the open-source FloPoCo project is presented in details and evaluated.