Nozzle design study for a quasi-axisymmetric scramjet-powered vehicle at Mach 7.9 flight conditions

A nozzle shape optimization study for a quasi-axisymmetric scramjet has been performed for a Mach 7.9 operating condition with hydrogen fuel, aiming at the application of a hypersonic airbreathing vehicle. In this study, the nozzle geometry which is parameterized by a set of design variables, is optimized for the single objective of maximum net thrust using an in-house CFD solver for inviscid flowfields with a simple force prediction methodology. The combustion is modelled using a simple chemical reaction code. The effects of the nozzle design on the overall vehicle performance are discussed. For the present geometry, net thrust is achieved for the optimized vehicle design. The results of the nozzle-optimization study show that performance is limited by the nozzle area ratio that can be incorporated into the vehicle without leading to too large a base diameter of the vehicle and increasing the external drag of the vehicle. This study indicates that it is very difficult to achieve positive thrust at Mach 7.9 using the basic geometry investigated.     

Polarized light transfer above a reflecting surface

The existence and uniqueness are established for the solution of the equation of transfer of polarized light in a homogeneous atmosphere of finite optical thickness, assuming reflection by the planetary surface. A general L_p-space formulation is adopted. The boundary value problem is first written as a vector-valued integral equation. Using monotonicity properties of the spectral radii of the integral operators involved as well as recent half-range completeness results for kinetic equations with reflective boundary conditions, the present results follow as a corollary.     

Dynamic calibration of force balances for impulse hypersonic facilities

This paper analyzes different techniques for the calibration of force balances for use in short-duration impulse hypersonic facilities such as shock tunnels. The background to how deconvolution can be used to infer aerodynamic forces on models in impulse hypersonic wind tunnels is presented along with the theory behind the different calibration techniques. Four calibration techniques are applied to a single-component stress-wave force balance. Experiments in the T4 shock tunnel using the balance demonstrate the suitability of the different calibrations for force measurements in an impulse facility. Cross checks between the calibration techniques are used to check their ranges of validity. It is shown that the impulse response derived from tests in which the model and force balance are suspended from a fine wire and the wire cut agree well with impulse responses derived from calibrations made using an impact hammer. The suitability of the balance for measuring dynamic forces is demonstrated by showing that the drag force on a model follows the history of Pitot pressure in the test section in the tunnel shots.Received: 17 May 2002, Accepted: 11 December 2002, Published online: 6 March 2003PACS: 47.40.Ki, 47.80.+v, 07.10.Pz     

Expanded polyglutamine-binding peptoid as a novel therapeutic agent for treatment of Huntington's disease

Polyglutamine(polyQ)-expanded proteins are potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of polyQ expansion disorders such as Huntington's disease (HD) and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3). Here, we used an amino-terminal fragment of a mutant Huntingtin protein (Htt-N-82Q) as bait in an unbiased screen of a 60,000 peptoid library. Peptoid HQP09 was selected from the isolated hits and confirmed as a specific ligand of Htt-N-82Q and Atxn3-77Q mutant proteins in biochemical experiments. We identified three critical residues in the HQP09 sequence that are important for its activity and generated a minimal?derivative, HQP09_9, which maintains the specific polyQ-binding activity. We demonstrated that HQP09 and HQP09_9 inhibited aggregation of Htt-N-53Q in?vitro and exerted Ca(2+)-stabilizing and neuroprotective effects in experiments with primary striatal neuronal cultures derived from HD mice. We further demonstrated that intracerebroventricular delivery of HQP09 to an HD mouse model resulted in reduced accumulation of mutant Huntingtin aggregates and improved motor behavioral outcomes. These results suggest that HQP09 and similar peptoids hold promise as novel therapeutics for developing treatments for HD, SCA3, and other polyglutamine expansion disorders.     

Explanation for main features of structure-genotoxicity relationships of aromatic amines by theoretical studies of their activation pathways in CYP1A2

Aromatic and heteroaromatic amines (ArNH(2)) represent a class of potential mutagens that after being metabolically activated covalently modify DNA. Activation of ArNH(2) in many cases starts with N-hydroxylation by P450 enzymes, primarily CYP1A2. Poor understanding of structure-mutagenicity relationships of ArNH(2) limits their use in drug discovery programs. Key factors that facilitate activation of ArNH(2) are revealed by exploring their reaction intermediates in CYP1A2 using DFT calculations. On the basis of these calculations and extensive analysis of structure-mutagenicity data, we suggest that mutagenic metabolites are generated by ferric peroxo intermediate, (CYP1A2)Fe(III)-OO(-), in a three-step heterolytic mechanism. First, the distal oxygen of the oxidant abstracts proton from H-bonded ArNH(2). The subsequent proximal protonation of the resulting (CYP1A2)Fe(III)-OOH weakens both the O-O and the O-H bonds of the oxidant. Heterolytic cleavage of the O-O bond leads to N-hydroxylation of ArNH(-) via S(N)2 mechanism, whereas cleavage of the O-H bond results in release of hydroperoxy radical. Thus, our proposed reaction offers a mechanistic explanation for previous observations that metabolism of aromatic amines could cause oxidative stress. The primary drivers for mutagenic potency of ArNH(2) are (i) binding affinity of ArNH(2) in the productive binding mode within the CYP1A2 substrate cavity, (ii) resonance stabilization of the anionic forms of ArNH(2), and (iii) exothermicity of proton-assisted heterolytic cleavage of N-O bonds of hydroxylamines and their bioconjugates. This leads to a strategy for designing mutagenicity free ArNH(2): Structural alterations in ArNH(2), which disrupt geometric compatibility with CYP1A2, hinder proton abstraction, or strongly destabilize the nitrenium ion, in this order of priority, prevent genotoxicity.     

Alkyl 4-chlorobenzoyloxycarbamates as highly effective nitrogen source reagents for the base-free, intermolecular aminohydroxylation reaction

Ethyl- (7), benzyl- (8), tert-butyl- (9), and fluorenylmethyl-4-chlorobenzoyloxycarbamates (10) have been prepared as storable and easy-to-prepare nitrogen sources for use in the intermolecular Sharpless aminohydroxylation reaction and its asymmetric variant. These reagents were found to be effective under base-free reaction conditions. The scope and limitations of these methods have been explored using a variety of alkenes, among which, trans-cinnamates, in particular, proved to be good substrates.     

Large chord turbine cascade testing at engine Mach and Reynolds numbers

A technique is presented for producing a flow through a linear cascade of turbine blades of large chord which gives the pressure distribution around a blade the same as that obtained in an infinite cascade for Mach and Reynolds numbers typical of gas turbine operating conditions. Results of experiments with a cascade of three blades of large chord are compared with results from a cascade of nine blades of smaller chord to confirm the validity of the technique. Experiments are performed on the large-chord cascade to examine surface phenomena with high spatial resolution. Boundary layer scales are also increased and profiles on both suction and pressure surfaces of the blade are obtained.