Effective Light Directed Assembly of Building Blocks with Microscale Control.

PubMed

Dinh, Ngoc-Duy; Luo, Rongcong; Christine, Maria Tankeh Asuncion; Lin, Weikang Nicholas; Shih, Wei-Chuan; Goh, James Cho-Hong; Chen, Chia-Hung

2017-06-01

Light-directed forces have been widely used to pattern micro/nanoscale objects with precise control, forming functional assemblies. However, a substantial laser intensity is required to generate sufficient optical gradient forces to move a small object in a certain direction, causing limited throughput for applications. A high-throughput light-directed assembly is demonstrated as a printing technology by introducing gold nanorods to induce thermal convection flows that move microparticles (diameter = 40 µm to several hundreds of micrometers) to specific light-guided locations, forming desired patterns. With the advantage of effective light-directed assembly, the microfluidic-fabricated monodispersed biocompatible microparticles are used as building blocks to construct a structured assembly (≈10 cm scale) in ≈2 min. The control with microscale precision is approached by changing the size of the laser light spot. After crosslinking assembly of building blocks, a novel soft material with wanted pattern is approached. To demonstrate its application, the mesenchymal stem-cell-seeded hydrogel microparticles are prepared as functional building blocks to construct scaffold-free tissues with desired structures. This light-directed fabrication method can be applied to integrate different building units, enabling the bottom-up formation of materials with precise control over their internal structure for bioprinting, tissue engineering, and advanced manufacturing. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Colloidal polymers with controlled sequence and branching constructed from magnetic field assembled nanoparticles.

PubMed

Bannwarth, Markus B; Utech, Stefanie; Ebert, Sandro; Weitz, David A; Crespy, Daniel; Landfester, Katharina

2015-03-24

The assembly of nanoparticles into polymer-like architectures is challenging and usually requires highly defined colloidal building blocks. Here, we show that the broad size-distribution of a simple dispersion of magnetic nanocolloids can be exploited to obtain various polymer-like architectures. The particles are assembled under an external magnetic field and permanently linked by thermal sintering. The remarkable variety of polymer-analogue architectures that arises from this simple process ranges from statistical and block copolymer-like sequencing to branched chains and networks. This library of architectures can be realized by controlling the sequencing of the particles and the junction points via a size-dependent self-assembly of the single building blocks.

The building blocks of a 'Liveable Neighbourhood': Identifying the key performance indicators for walking of an operational planning policy in Perth, Western Australia.

PubMed

Hooper, Paula; Knuiman, Matthew; Foster, Sarah; Giles-Corti, Billie

2015-11-01

Planning policy makers are requesting clearer guidance on the key design features required to build neighbourhoods that promote active living. Using a backwards stepwise elimination procedure (logistic regression with generalised estimating equations adjusting for demographic characteristics, self-selection factors, stage of construction and scale of development) this study identified specific design features (n=16) from an operational planning policy ("Liveable Neighbourhoods") that showed the strongest associations with walking behaviours (measured using the Neighbourhood Physical Activity Questionnaire). The interacting effects of design features on walking behaviours were also investigated. The urban design features identified were grouped into the "building blocks of a Liveable Neighbourhood", reflecting the scale, importance and sequencing of the design and implementation phases required to create walkable, pedestrian friendly developments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

C–H arylation of unsubstituted furan and thiophene with acceptor bromides: access to donor–acceptor–donor-type building blocks for organic electronics.

PubMed

Matsidik, Rukiya; Martin, Johannes; Schmidt, Simon; Obermayer, Johannes; Lombeck, Florian; Nübling, Fritz; Komber, Hartmut; Fazzi, Daniele; Sommer, Michael

2015-01-16

Pd-catalyzed direct arylation (DA) reaction conditions have been established for unsubstituted furan (Fu) and thiophene (Th) with three popular acceptor building blocks to be used in materials for organic electronics, namely 4,7-dibromo-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BTBr2), N,N′-dialkylated 2,6-dibromonaphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide) (NDIBr2), and 1,4-dibromotetrafluorobenzene (F4Br2). Reactions with BTBr2, F4Br2, and NDIBr2 require different solvents to obtain high yields. The use of dimethylacetamide (DMAc) is essential for the successful coupling of BTBr2 and F4Br2, but detrimental for NDIBr2, as the electron-deficient NDI core is prone to nucleophilic core substitution in DMAc as solvent but not in toluene. NDIFu2 is much more planar compared to NDITh2, resulting in an enhanced charge-transfer character, which makes it an interesting building block for conjugated systems designed for organic electronics. This study highlights direct arylation as a simple and inexpensive method to construct a series of important donor–acceptor–donor building blocks to be further used for the preparation of a variety of conjugated materials.

Versatile plasmid-based expression systems for Gram-negative bacteria--General essentials exemplified with the bacterium Ralstonia eutropha H16.

PubMed

Gruber, Steffen; Schwab, Helmut; Koefinger, Petra

2015-12-25

The Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli is currently the most efficient and widely used prokaryotic host for recombinant protein and metabolite production. However, due to some limitations and to various interesting features of other Gram-negative bacteria efficient vector systems applicable to a broad range are desired. Basic building blocks for plasmid-based vectors include besides the need for a suitable selection marker in the first line a proper replication and maintenance system. In addition to these basic requirements, further elements are needed for Gram-negative bacteria beyond E. coli, such as Pseudomonas pudita, Ralstonia eutropha, Burkholderia glumae or Acinetobacter sp.. Established building blocks have to be adapted and new building blocks providing the desired functions need to be identified and exploited. This minireview addresses so far described and used genetic elements for broad host range replication, efficient plasmid maintenance, and conjugative plasmid transfer as well as expression elements and protein secretion signals. The industrially important bacterium R. eutropha H16 was chosen as a model organism to provide specific data on the effectivity and utility of building blocks based on such genetic elements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Geospatial-enabled Data Exploration and Computation through Data Infrastructure Building Blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, C. X.; Biehl, L. L.; Merwade, V.; Villoria, N.

2015-12-01

Geospatial data are present everywhere today with the proliferation of location-aware computing devices and sensors. This is especially true in the scientific community where large amounts of data are driving research and education activities in many domains. Collaboration over geospatial data, for example, in modeling, data analysis and visualization, must still overcome the barriers of specialized software and expertise among other challenges. The GABBs project aims at enabling broader access to geospatial data exploration and computation by developing spatial data infrastructure building blocks that leverage capabilities of end-to-end application service and virtualized computing framework in HUBzero. Funded by NSF Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBS) initiative, GABBs provides a geospatial data architecture that integrates spatial data management, mapping and visualization and will make it available as open source. The outcome of the project will enable users to rapidly create tools and share geospatial data and tools on the web for interactive exploration of data without requiring significant software development skills, GIS expertise or IT administrative privileges. This presentation will describe the development of geospatial data infrastructure building blocks and the scientific use cases that help drive the software development, as well as seek feedback from the user communities.

Wind Movement Comparison Between Student Dormitory 2 and 3 ITERA and The Correlation Toward its Indoor Thermal Comfort

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdana Khidmat, Rendy; Donny Koerniawan, M.; Suhendri

2018-05-01

Student dormitory is a semi-private building that designated to occupies large number of habitats. This type of building mostly designated in simple type of vertical housing. In the context of utilization, dormitory surely requires indoor thermal comfort yet in the same way it requires the energy efficiency as well. Building in a tropical climate country is expected to be adequate to adopt a potention from its surrounding in order to switch air conditioner and gain efficiency in energy consume. One of its key factors is wind. This paper tries to describe and investigate wind movement that works on two different type of student dormitory in Sumatera Institute of Technology. The distinct difference between two blocks is one of the tower block utilizes void meanwhile the other are not. This research is conducted by using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) based software. This study is expected to provide an overview of the wind movement and its effect on air temperature and its correlation to the indoor thermal comfort in both buildings.

Systematic Evaluation of the Efficacy of Chlorine Dioxide in Decontamination of Building Interior Surfaces Contaminated with Anthrax Spores▿

PubMed Central

Rastogi, Vipin K.; Ryan, Shawn P.; Wallace, Lalena; Smith, Lisa S.; Shah, Saumil S.; Martin, G. Blair

2010-01-01

Efficacy of chlorine dioxide (CD) gas generated by two distinct generation systems, Sabre (wet system with gas generated in water) and ClorDiSys (dry system with gas generated in air), was evaluated for inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores on six building interior surfaces. The six building materials included carpet, acoustic ceiling tile, unpainted cinder block, painted I-beam steel, painted wallboard, and unpainted pinewood. There was no statistically significant difference in the data due to the CD generation technology at a 95% confidence level. Note that a common method of CD gas measurement was used for both wet and dry CD generation types. Doses generated by combinations of different concentrations of CD gas (500, 1,000, 1,500, or 3,000 parts per million of volume [ppmv]) and exposure times (ranging between 0.5 and 12 h) were used to evaluate the relative role of fumigant exposure period and total dose in the decontamination of building surfaces. The results showed that the time required to achieve at least a 6-log reduction in viable spores is clearly a function of the material type on which the spores are inoculated. The wood and cinder block coupons required a longer exposure time to achieve a 6-log reduction. The only material showing a clear statistical difference in rate of decay of viable spores as a function of concentration was cinder block. For all other materials, the profile of spore kill (i.e., change in number of viable spores with exposure time) was not dependent upon fumigant concentration (500 to 3,000 ppmv). The CD dose required for complete spore kill on biological indicators (typically, 1E6 spores of Bacillus atrophaeus on stainless steel) was significantly less than that required for decontamination of most of the building materials tested. PMID:20305025

Systematic evaluation of the efficacy of chlorine dioxide in decontamination of building interior surfaces contaminated with anthrax spores.

PubMed

Rastogi, Vipin K; Ryan, Shawn P; Wallace, Lalena; Smith, Lisa S; Shah, Saumil S; Martin, G Blair

2010-05-01

Efficacy of chlorine dioxide (CD) gas generated by two distinct generation systems, Sabre (wet system with gas generated in water) and ClorDiSys (dry system with gas generated in air), was evaluated for inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores on six building interior surfaces. The six building materials included carpet, acoustic ceiling tile, unpainted cinder block, painted I-beam steel, painted wallboard, and unpainted pinewood. There was no statistically significant difference in the data due to the CD generation technology at a 95% confidence level. Note that a common method of CD gas measurement was used for both wet and dry CD generation types. Doses generated by combinations of different concentrations of CD gas (500, 1,000, 1,500, or 3,000 parts per million of volume [ppmv]) and exposure times (ranging between 0.5 and 12 h) were used to evaluate the relative role of fumigant exposure period and total dose in the decontamination of building surfaces. The results showed that the time required to achieve at least a 6-log reduction in viable spores is clearly a function of the material type on which the spores are inoculated. The wood and cinder block coupons required a longer exposure time to achieve a 6-log reduction. The only material showing a clear statistical difference in rate of decay of viable spores as a function of concentration was cinder block. For all other materials, the profile of spore kill (i.e., change in number of viable spores with exposure time) was not dependent upon fumigant concentration (500 to 3,000 ppmv). The CD dose required for complete spore kill on biological indicators (typically, 1E6 spores of Bacillus atrophaeus on stainless steel) was significantly less than that required for decontamination of most of the building materials tested.

Building Trades. Block VIII. Interior Trim.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas A and M Univ., College Station. Vocational Instructional Services.

This curriculum for interior trim provides instructional materials for 18 informational and manipulative lessons. A list of 11 references precedes the course materials. The instructor's plan for each informational lesson begins by providing this information: subject, aim, required teaching aids, required materials, references, and prerequisite…

Properties of Clay for Ceramics with Rock Waste for Production Structural Block by Pressing and Firing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerqueira, N. A.; Choe, D.; Alexandre, J.; Azevedo, A. R. G.; Xavier, C. G.; Souza, V. B.

Building work requires optimization of materials and labor, so that the execution of its subsystems contribute to the quality, reduce costs, decrease waste in buildings, productivity, practicality and especially agility. Thus, the fitting blocks can contribute in this direction. This work therefore consists of physical characterization (determination of fitness levels, grain size and bulk density), chemical (EDX) and thermal (DTA and TGA) sample clay Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ and waste rock ornamental Cachoeiro de Itapemirim-ES, to verify potential for producing red ceramic blocks, pressed and burned, male and female type. The output of block will be with different pe rcentages of incorporation of residues of ornamental rocks (0%, 5% and 10%). With the results obtained, it was found that the raw materials under consideration has the potential for application in the production of ceramic articles.

Molecular Building Block-Based Electronic Charges for High-Throughput Screening of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Adsorption Applications.

PubMed

Argueta, Edwin; Shaji, Jeena; Gopalan, Arun; Liao, Peilin; Snurr, Randall Q; Gómez-Gualdrón, Diego A

2018-01-09

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials with attractive properties for gas separation and storage. Their remarkable tunability makes it possible to create millions of MOF variations but creates the need for fast material screening to identify promising structures. Computational high-throughput screening (HTS) is a possible solution, but its usefulness is tied to accurate predictions of MOF adsorption properties. Accurate adsorption simulations often require an accurate description of electrostatic interactions, which depend on the electronic charges of the MOF atoms. HTS-compatible methods to assign charges to MOF atoms need to accurately reproduce electrostatic potentials (ESPs) and be computationally affordable, but current methods present an unsatisfactory trade-off between computational cost and accuracy. We illustrate a method to assign charges to MOF atoms based on ab initio calculations on MOF molecular building blocks. A library of building blocks with built-in charges is thus created and used by an automated MOF construction code to create hundreds of MOFs with charges "inherited" from the constituent building blocks. The molecular building block-based (MBBB) charges are similar to REPEAT charges-which are charges that reproduce ESPs obtained from ab initio calculations on crystallographic unit cells of nanoporous crystals-and thus similar predictions of adsorption loadings, heats of adsorption, and Henry's constants are obtained with either method. The presented results indicate that the MBBB method to assign charges to MOF atoms is suitable for use in computational high-throughput screening of MOFs for applications that involve adsorption of molecules such as carbon dioxide.

SRA Real Math Building Blocks PreK. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2007

2007-01-01

"SRA Real Math Building Blocks PreK" (also referred to as "Building Blocks for Math") is a supplemental mathematics curriculum designed to develop preschool children's early mathematical knowledge through various individual and small- and large-group activities. It uses "Building Blocks for Math PreK" software,…

Digital Alchemy for Materials Design: Colloids and Beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Anders, Greg; Klotsa, Daphne; Karas, Andrew; Dodd, Paul; Glotzer, Sharon

Starting with the early alchemists, a holy grail of science has been to make desired materials by manipulating basic building blocks. Building blocks that show promise for assembling new complex materials can be synthesized at the nanoscale with attributes that would astonish the ancient alchemists in their versatility. However, this versatility means that connecting building-block attributes to bulk structure is both necessary for rationally engineering materials and difficult because building block attributes can be altered in many ways. We show how to exploit the malleability of colloidal nanoparticle ``elements'' to quantitatively link building-block attributes to bulk structure through a statistical thermodynamic framework we term ``digital alchemy''. We use this framework to optimize building blocks for a given target structure and to determine which building-block attributes are most important to control for self-assembly, through a set of novel thermodynamic response functions. We thereby establish direct links between the attributes of colloidal building blocks and the bulk structures they form. Moreover, our results give concrete solutions to the more general conceptual challenge of optimizing emergent behaviors in nature and can be applied to other types of matter.

Composability-Centered Convolutional Neural Network Pruning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shen, Xipeng; Guan, Hui; Lim, Seung-Hwan

This work studies the composability of the building blocks ofstructural CNN models (e.g., GoogleLeNet and Residual Networks) in thecontext of network pruning. We empirically validate that a networkcomposed of pre-trained building blocks (e.g. residual blocks andInception modules) not only gives a better initial setting fortraining, but also allows the training process to converge at asignificantly higher accuracy in much less time. Based on thatinsight, we propose a {\\em composability-centered} design for CNNnetwork pruning. Experiments show that this new scheme shortens theconfiguration process in CNN network pruning by up to 186.8X forResNet-50 and up to 30.2X for Inception-V3, and meanwhile, themore » modelsit finds that meet the accuracy requirement are significantly morecompact than those found by default schemes.« less

Synthetic fermentation of bioactive non-ribosomal peptides without organisms, enzymes or reagents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yi-Lin; Bode, Jeffrey W.

2014-10-01

Microbial fermentation can rapidly provide potent compounds that can be easily screened for biological activity, and the active components can be isolated. Its success in drug discovery has inspired extensive efforts to modulate and control the products. In this Article, we document a ‘synthetic fermentation’ of bioactive, unnatural peptides ‘grown’ from small building blocks in water using amide-forming ligations. No organisms, enzymes or reagents are needed. The sequences, structures and compositions of the products can be modulated by adjusting the building blocks and conditions. No specialized knowledge of organic chemistry or handling of toxic material is required to produce complex organic molecules. The ‘fermentations’ can be conducted in arrays and screened for biological activity without isolation or workup. As a proof-of-concept, about 6,000 unnatural peptides were produced from just 23 building blocks, from which a hepatitis C virus NS3/4A protease inhibitor with a half-maximum inhibitory concentration of 1.0 μM was identified and characterized.

Gaussian curvature analysis allows for automatic block placement in multi-block hexahedral meshing.

PubMed

Ramme, Austin J; Shivanna, Kiran H; Magnotta, Vincent A; Grosland, Nicole M

2011-10-01

Musculoskeletal finite element analysis (FEA) has been essential to research in orthopaedic biomechanics. The generation of a volumetric mesh is often the most challenging step in a FEA. Hexahedral meshing tools that are based on a multi-block approach rely on the manual placement of building blocks for their mesh generation scheme. We hypothesise that Gaussian curvature analysis could be used to automatically develop a building block structure for multi-block hexahedral mesh generation. The Automated Building Block Algorithm incorporates principles from differential geometry, combinatorics, statistical analysis and computer science to automatically generate a building block structure to represent a given surface without prior information. We have applied this algorithm to 29 bones of varying geometries and successfully generated a usable mesh in all cases. This work represents a significant advancement in automating the definition of building blocks.

Mapping from Space - Ontology Based Map Production Using Satellite Imageries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asefpour Vakilian, A.; Momeni, M.

2013-09-01

Determination of the maximum ability for feature extraction from satellite imageries based on ontology procedure using cartographic feature determination is the main objective of this research. Therefore, a special ontology has been developed to extract maximum volume of information available in different high resolution satellite imageries and compare them to the map information layers required in each specific scale due to unified specification for surveying and mapping. ontology seeks to provide an explicit and comprehensive classification of entities in all sphere of being. This study proposes a new method for automatic maximum map feature extraction and reconstruction of high resolution satellite images. For example, in order to extract building blocks to produce 1 : 5000 scale and smaller maps, the road networks located around the building blocks should be determined. Thus, a new building index has been developed based on concepts obtained from ontology. Building blocks have been extracted with completeness about 83%. Then, road networks have been extracted and reconstructed to create a uniform network with less discontinuity on it. In this case, building blocks have been extracted with proper performance and the false positive value from confusion matrix was reduced by about 7%. Results showed that vegetation cover and water features have been extracted completely (100%) and about 71% of limits have been extracted. Also, the proposed method in this article had the ability to produce a map with largest scale possible from any multi spectral high resolution satellite imagery equal to or smaller than 1 : 5000.

Mapping from Space - Ontology Based Map Production Using Satellite Imageries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asefpour Vakilian, A.; Momeni, M.

2013-09-01

Determination of the maximum ability for feature extraction from satellite imageries based on ontology procedure using cartographic feature determination is the main objective of this research. Therefore, a special ontology has been developed to extract maximum volume of information available in different high resolution satellite imageries and compare them to the map information layers required in each specific scale due to unified specification for surveying and mapping. ontology seeks to provide an explicit and comprehensive classification of entities in all sphere of being. This study proposes a new method for automatic maximum map feature extraction and reconstruction of high resolution satellite images. For example, in order to extract building blocks to produce 1 : 5000 scale and smaller maps, the road networks located around the building blocks should be determined. Thus, a new building index has been developed based on concepts obtained from ontology. Building blocks have been extracted with completeness about 83 %. Then, road networks have been extracted and reconstructed to create a uniform network with less discontinuity on it. In this case, building blocks have been extracted with proper performance and the false positive value from confusion matrix was reduced by about 7 %. Results showed that vegetation cover and water features have been extracted completely (100 %) and about 71 % of limits have been extracted. Also, the proposed method in this article had the ability to produce a map with largest scale possible from any multi spectral high resolution satellite imagery equal to or smaller than 1 : 5000.

Multi-shape memory polymers achieved by the spatio-assembly of 3D printable thermoplastic building blocks.

PubMed

Li, Hongze; Gao, Xiang; Luo, Yingwu

2016-04-07

Multi-shape memory polymers were prepared by the macroscale spatio-assembly of building blocks in this work. The building blocks were methyl acrylate-co-styrene (MA-co-St) copolymers, which have the St-block-(St-random-MA)-block-St tri-block chain sequence. This design ensures that their transition temperatures can be adjusted over a wide range by varying the composition of the middle block. The two St blocks at the chain ends can generate a crosslink network in the final device to achieve strong bonding force between building blocks and the shape memory capacity. Due to their thermoplastic properties, 3D printing was employed for the spatio-assembly to build devices. This method is capable of introducing many transition phases into one device and preparing complicated shapes via 3D printing. The device can perform a complex action via a series of shape changes. Besides, this method can avoid the difficult programing of a series of temporary shapes. The control of intermediate temporary shapes was realized via programing the shapes and locations of building blocks in the final device.

Fostering Inclusive, Sustainable Economic Growth and "Green" Skills Development in Learning Cities through Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pavlova, Margarita

2018-01-01

One of the requirements of building a learning city is working to ensure its sustainable development. In 2014, UNESCO developed a framework of the key features of learning cities, at the centre of which there are six pillars or "building blocks" which support sustainable development. This article focuses on the third of these pillars,…

Single-trabecula building block for large-scale finite element models of cancellous bone.

PubMed

Dagan, D; Be'ery, M; Gefen, A

2004-07-01

Recent development of high-resolution imaging of cancellous bone allows finite element (FE) analysis of bone tissue stresses and strains in individual trabeculae. However, specimen-specific stress/strain analyses can include effects of anatomical variations and local damage that can bias the interpretation of the results from individual specimens with respect to large populations. This study developed a standard (generic) 'building-block' of a trabecula for large-scale FE models. Being parametric and based on statistics of dimensions of ovine trabeculae, this building block can be scaled for trabecular thickness and length and be used in commercial or custom-made FE codes to construct generic, large-scale FE models of bone, using less computer power than that currently required to reproduce the accurate micro-architecture of trabecular bone. Orthogonal lattices constructed with this building block, after it was scaled to trabeculae of the human proximal femur, provided apparent elastic moduli of approximately 150 MPa, in good agreement with experimental data for the stiffness of cancellous bone from this site. Likewise, lattices with thinner, osteoporotic-like trabeculae could predict a reduction of approximately 30% in the apparent elastic modulus, as reported in experimental studies of osteoporotic femora. Based on these comparisons, it is concluded that the single-trabecula element developed in the present study is well-suited for representing cancellous bone in large-scale generic FE simulations.

The Impact of Individual Differences, Types of Model and Social Settings on Block Building Performance among Chinese Preschoolers.

PubMed

Tian, Mi; Deng, Zhu; Meng, Zhaokun; Li, Rui; Zhang, Zhiyi; Qi, Wenhui; Wang, Rui; Yin, Tingting; Ji, Menghui

2018-01-01

Children's block building performances are used as indicators of other abilities in multiple domains. In the current study, we examined individual differences, types of model and social settings as influences on children's block building performance. Chinese preschoolers ( N = 180) participated in a block building activity in a natural setting, and performance was assessed with multiple measures in order to identify a range of specific skills. Using scores generated across these measures, three dependent variables were analyzed: block building skills, structural balance and structural features. An overall MANOVA showed that there were significant main effects of gender and grade level across most measures. Types of model showed no significant effect in children's block building. There was a significant main effect of social settings on structural features, with the best performance in the 5-member group, followed by individual and then the 10-member block building. These findings suggest that boys performed better than girls in block building activity. Block building performance increased significantly from 1st to 2nd year of preschool, but not from second to third. The preschoolers created more representational constructions when presented with a model made of wooden rather than with a picture. There was partial evidence that children performed better when working with peers in a small group than when working alone or working in a large group. It is suggested that future study should examine other modalities rather than the visual one, diversify the samples and adopt a longitudinal investigation.

Monitoring Thermal Performance of Hollow Bricks with Different Cavity Fillers in Difference Climate Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlík, Zbyšek; Jerman, Miloš; Fořt, Jan; Černý, Robert

2015-03-01

Hollow brick blocks have found widespread use in the building industry during the last decades. The increasing requirements to the thermal insulation properties of building envelopes given by the national standards in Europe led the brick producers to reduce the production of common solid bricks. Brick blocks with more or less complex systems of internal cavities replaced the traditional bricks and became dominant on the building ceramics market. However, contrary to the solid bricks where the thermal conductivity can easily be measured by standard methods, the complex geometry of hollow brick blocks makes the application of common techniques impossible. In this paper, a steady-state technique utilizing a system of two climatic chambers separated by a connecting tunnel for sample positioning is used for the determination of the thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, and thermal transmittance ( U value) of hollow bricks with the cavities filled by air, two different types of mineral wool, polystyrene balls, and foam polyurethane. The particular brick block is provided with the necessary temperature- and heat-flux sensors and thermally insulated in the tunnel. In the climatic chambers, different temperatures are set. After steady-state conditions are established in the measuring system, the effective thermal properties of the brick block are calculated using the measured data. Experimental results show that the best results are achieved with hydrophilic mineral wool as a cavity filler; the worst performance exhibits the brick block with air-filled cavities.

Analog Building Blocks for Communications Modems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-01

x*—*- A0-A039 82b ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS INC ST PETERSBURG FLA F/6 9/5 ANALOG BUILDING BLOCKS FOR COMMUNICATIONS MODEMS .(U) JAN 77 B BLACK...F33615-7<t-C-1120 UNCLASSIFIED AFAL-TR-76-29 NL ANALOG BUILDING BLOCKS FOR COMMUNICATIONS MODEMS ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS INC. A SUBSIDIARY OF...Idantltr Or Mac* numb*,; Avionics Building-Block modules Frequency Synthesize* Costas Demodulator Amplifier Modem Frequency Multiplier ’ -^ « TRACT

Adolescent Boys' and Girls' Block Constructions Differ in Structural Balance: A Block-Building Characteristic Related to Math Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casey, Beth M.; Pezaris, Elizabeth E.; Bassi, Julie

2012-01-01

Two studies were conducted on block building in adolescents, assessing middle school (Study 1) and high school students (Study 2). Students were asked to build something interesting with blocks. In both samples, the same pattern of gender differences were found; boys built taller structures than girls, and balanced a larger number of blocks on a…

Aerial Imagery and LIDAR Data Fusion for Unambiguous Extraction of Adjacent Level-Buildings Footprints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mola Ebrahimi, S.; Arefi, H.; Rasti Veis, H.

2017-09-01

Our paper aims to present a new approach to identify and extract building footprints using aerial images and LiDAR data. Employing an edge detector algorithm, our method first extracts the outer boundary of buildings, and then by taking advantage of Hough transform and extracting the boundary of connected buildings in a building block, it extracts building footprints located in each block. The proposed method first recognizes the predominant leading orientation of a building block using Hough transform, and then rotates the block according to the inverted complement of the dominant line's angle. Therefore the block poses horizontally. Afterwards, by use of another Hough transform, vertical lines, which might be the building boundaries of interest, are extracted and the final building footprints within a block are obtained. The proposed algorithm is implemented and tested on the urban area of Zeebruges, Belgium(IEEE Contest,2015). The areas of extracted footprints are compared to the corresponding areas in the reference data and mean error is equal to 7.43 m2. Besides, qualitative and quantitative evaluations suggest that the proposed algorithm leads to acceptable results in automated precise extraction of building footprints.

Nonlinear Feedback Control of the Rotary Inverted Pendulum

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

equations executed in the S-functions were rebuilt using Simulink Math Operation blocks. Building these equations with Math Operations was not...difficult but required attention to detail in order to make sure all the correct operations took place. Simulation outputs using the Math Operations were...compared to those using an S- function to check for correctness. After the math blocks were confirmed to work correctly, the simulation was sent to

Composition of clusters and building blocks in amylopectins from maize mutants deficient in starch synthase III.

PubMed

Zhu, Fan; Bertoft, Eric; Seetharaman, Koushik

2013-12-18

Branches in amylopectin are distributed along the backbone. Units of the branches are building blocks (smaller) and clusters (larger) based on the distance between branches. In this study, composition of clusters and building blocks of amylopectins from dull1 maize mutants deficient in starch synthase III (SSIII) with a common genetic background (W64A) were characterized and compared with the wild type. Clusters were produced from amylopectins by partial hydrolysis using α-amylase of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and were subsequently treated with phosphorylase a and β-amylase to produce φ,β-limit dextrins. Clusters were further extensively hydrolyzed with the α-amylase to produce building blocks. Structures of clusters and building blocks were analyzed by diverse chromatographic techniques. The results showed that the dull1 mutation resulted in larger clusters with more singly branched building blocks. The average cluster contained ~5.4 blocks in dull1 mutants and ~4.2 blocks in the wild type. The results are compared with previous results from SSIII-deficient amo1 barley and suggest fundamental differences in the cluster structures.

Engineering the formation of secondary building blocks within hollow interiors.

PubMed

Li, Xiaobo; Liu, Xiao; Ma, Yi; Li, Mingrun; Zhao, Jiao; Xin, Hongchuan; Zhang, Lei; Yang, Yan; Li, Can; Yang, Qihua

2012-03-15

Secondary building blocks within the cavities of primary silica-architecture building blocks are successfully engineered. The immobilized surfactant directs the selective dissolution and reassembly of dissolved silicate species for the formation of secondary building blocks (hollow nanospheres/nanorods; see figure). Supported TiO(2) on nanostructures with multilevel interiors is shown to exhibit significantly enhanced activity in photocatalytic H(2) production. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Block clustering based on difference of convex functions (DC) programming and DC algorithms.

PubMed

Le, Hoai Minh; Le Thi, Hoai An; Dinh, Tao Pham; Huynh, Van Ngai

2013-10-01

We investigate difference of convex functions (DC) programming and the DC algorithm (DCA) to solve the block clustering problem in the continuous framework, which traditionally requires solving a hard combinatorial optimization problem. DC reformulation techniques and exact penalty in DC programming are developed to build an appropriate equivalent DC program of the block clustering problem. They lead to an elegant and explicit DCA scheme for the resulting DC program. Computational experiments show the robustness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm and its superiority over standard algorithms such as two-mode K-means, two-mode fuzzy clustering, and block classification EM.

Core-Shell Particles as Building Blocks for Systems with High Duality Symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahimzadegan, Aso; Rockstuhl, Carsten; Fernandez-Corbaton, Ivan

2018-05-01

Material electromagnetic duality symmetry requires a system to have equal electric and magnetic responses. Intrinsically dual materials that meet the duality conditions at the level of the constitutive relations do not exist in many frequency bands. Nevertheless, discrete objects like metallic helices and homogeneous dielectric spheres can be engineered to approximate the dual behavior. We exploit the extra degrees of freedom of a core-shell dielectric sphere in a particle optimization procedure. The duality symmetry of the resulting particle is more than 1 order of magnitude better than previously reported nonmagnetic objects. We use T -matrix-based multiscattering techniques to show that the improvement is transferred onto the duality symmetry of composite objects when the core-shell particle is used as a building block instead of homogeneous spheres. These results are relevant for the fashioning of systems with high duality symmetry, which are required for some technologically important effects.

Refining the GPS Space Service Volume (SSV) and Building a Multi-GNSS SSV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, Joel J. K.

2017-01-01

The GPS (Global Positioning System) Space Service Volume (SSV) was first defined to protect the GPS main lobe signals from changes from block to block. First developed as a concept by NASA in 2000, it has been adopted for the GPS III block of satellites, and is being used well beyond the current specification to enable increased navigation performance for key missions like GOES-R. NASA has engaged the US IFOR (Interagency Forum Operational Requirements) process to adopt a revised requirement to protect this increased and emerging use. Also, NASA is working through the UN International Committee on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to develop an interoperable multi-GNSS SSV in partnership with all of the foreign GNSS providers.

Rockfall vulnerability assessment for masonry buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mavrouli, Olga

2015-04-01

The methodologies for the quantitative risk assessment vary in function of the application scale and the available data. For fragmental rockfalls, risk calculation requires data for the expected damage of the exposed elements due to potential rock block impacts with a range of trajectories, magnitudes and intensities. Although the procedures for the quantification of the rock block characteristics in terms of magnitude-frequency relationships are well established, there are few methodologies for the calculation of the vulnerability, and these are usually empirical or judgmental. The response of buildings to rock block impacts using analytical methods has been mainly realised so far for reinforced concrete buildings, and some fragility curves have been calculated with the results, indicating the potential damage for a range of rock block characteristics. Masonry buildings, as a common structural typology in mountainous areas, are in many cases impacted by rock blocks during rockfalls. Their response presents some peculiarities in comparison with reinforced-concrete structures given the non-homogeneity and variability of the compound materials (blocks and mortar), their orthotropy, low strength in tension, the statically indeterminate load-bearing system and the non-monolithic connections. To this purpose, analytical procedures which are specifically adapted to masonry structures should be used for the evaluation of the expected damage due to rock impacts. In this contribution we discuss the application of the analytical approach for the assessment of the expected damage in rockfall prone areas and the simulation assumptions that can be made concerning the materials, geometry, loading and the relevant simplifications. The amount of uncertainties introduced during their analytical simulation is high due to the dispersion of the data for material mechanical properties and the construction techniques and quality and thus a probabilistic assessment is suggested. The random nature of the rockfall as far as it concerns the magnitude and the intensity of the rock blocks can also be introduced using parametric analyses.

The Impact of Individual Differences, Types of Model and Social Settings on Block Building Performance among Chinese Preschoolers

PubMed Central

Tian, Mi; Deng, Zhu; Meng, Zhaokun; Li, Rui; Zhang, Zhiyi; Qi, Wenhui; Wang, Rui; Yin, Tingting; Ji, Menghui

2018-01-01

Children’s block building performances are used as indicators of other abilities in multiple domains. In the current study, we examined individual differences, types of model and social settings as influences on children’s block building performance. Chinese preschoolers (N = 180) participated in a block building activity in a natural setting, and performance was assessed with multiple measures in order to identify a range of specific skills. Using scores generated across these measures, three dependent variables were analyzed: block building skills, structural balance and structural features. An overall MANOVA showed that there were significant main effects of gender and grade level across most measures. Types of model showed no significant effect in children’s block building. There was a significant main effect of social settings on structural features, with the best performance in the 5-member group, followed by individual and then the 10-member block building. These findings suggest that boys performed better than girls in block building activity. Block building performance increased significantly from 1st to 2nd year of preschool, but not from second to third. The preschoolers created more representational constructions when presented with a model made of wooden rather than with a picture. There was partial evidence that children performed better when working with peers in a small group than when working alone or working in a large group. It is suggested that future study should examine other modalities rather than the visual one, diversify the samples and adopt a longitudinal investigation. PMID:29441031

Using the World Health Organization health system building blocks through survey of healthcare professionals to determine the performance of public healthcare facilities.

PubMed

Manyazewal, Tsegahun

2017-01-01

Acknowledging the health system strengthening agenda, the World Health Organization (WHO) has formulated a health systems framework that describes health systems in terms of six building blocks. This study aimed to determine the current status of the six WHO health system building blocks in public healthcare facilities in Ethiopia. A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted in five public hospitals in central Ethiopia which were in a post-reform period. A self-administered, structured questionnaire which covered the WHO's six health system building blocks was used to collect data on healthcare professionals who consented. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20. The overall performance of the public hospitals was 60% when weighed against the WHO building blocks which, in this procedure, needed a minimum of 80% score. For each building block, performance scores were: information 53%, health workforce 55%, medical products and technologies 58%, leadership and governance 61%, healthcare financing 62%, and service delivery 69%. There existed a significant difference in performance among the hospitals ( p  < .001). The study proved that the WHO's health system building blocks are useful for assessing the process of strengthening health systems in Ethiopia. The six blocks allow identifying different improvement opportunities in each one of the hospitals. There was no contradiction between the indicators of the WHO building blocks and the health sustainable development goal (SDG) objectives. However, such SDG objectives should not be a substitute for strategies to strengthen health systems.

Modular high power diode lasers with flexible 3D multiplexing arrangement optimized for automated manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Könning, Tobias; Bayer, Andreas; Plappert, Nora; Faßbender, Wilhelm; Dürsch, Sascha; Küster, Matthias; Hubrich, Ralf; Wolf, Paul; Köhler, Bernd; Biesenbach, Jens

2018-02-01

A novel 3-dimensional arrangement of mirrors is used to re-arrange beams from 1-D and 2-D high power diode laser arrays. The approach allows for a variety of stacking geometries, depending on individual requirements. While basic building blocks, including collimating optics, always remain the same, most adaptations can be realized by simple rearrangement of a few optical components. Due to fully automated alignment processes, the required changes can be realized in software by changing coordinates, rather than requiring customized mechanical components. This approach minimizes development costs due to its flexibility, while reducing overall product cost by using similar building blocks for a variety of products and utilizing a high grade of automation. The modules can be operated with industrial grade water, lowering overall system and maintenance cost. Stackable macro coolers are used as the smallest building block of the system. Each cooler can hold up to five diode laser bars. Micro optical components, collimating the beam, are mounted directly to the cooler. All optical assembly steps are fully automated. Initially, the beams from all laser bars propagate in the same direction. Key to the concept is an arrangement of deflectors, which re-arrange the beams into a 2-D array of the desired shape and high fill factor. Standard multiplexing techniques like polarization- or wavelengths-multiplexing have been implemented as well. A variety of fiber coupled modules ranging from a few hundred watts of optical output power to multiple kilowatts of power, as well as customized laser spot geometries like uniform line sources, have been realized.

The Building Blocks of Geology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Betty O.

2001-01-01

Discusses teaching techniques for teaching about rocks, minerals, and the differences between them. Presents a model-building activity that uses plastic building blocks to build crystal and rock models. (YDS)

Toxicologic Pathology: The Basic Building Block of Risk Assessment

EPA Science Inventory

Human health risk assessment is a critical factor in many risk management decisions. Evaluation of human health risk requires research the provides information that appropriately characterizes potential hazards from exposure. Pathology endpoints are the central response around ...

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry method for basic building block analysis of low molecular weight heparins prepared through nitrous acid depolymerization.

PubMed

Sun, Xiaojun; Guo, Zhimou; Yu, Mengqi; Lin, Chao; Sheng, Anran; Wang, Zhiyu; Linhardt, Robert J; Chi, Lianli

2017-01-06

Low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) are important anticoagulant drugs that are prepared through depolymerization of unfractionated heparin. Based on the types of processing reactions and the structures of the products, LMWHs can be divided into different classifications. Enoxaparin is prepared by benzyl esterification and alkaline depolymerization, while dalteparin and nadroparin are prepared through nitrous acid depolymerization followed by borohydride reduction. Compositional analysis of their basic building blocks is an effective way to provide structural information on heparin and LMWHs. However, most current compositional analysis methods have been limited to heparin and enoxaparin. A sensitive and comprehensive approach is needed for detailed investigation of the structure of LMWHs prepared through nitrous acid depolymerization, especially their characteristic saturated non-reducing end (NRE) and 2,5-anhydro-d-mannitol reducing end (RE). A maltose modified hydrophilic interaction column offers improved separation of complicated mixtures of acidic disaccharides and oligosaccharides. A total of 36 basic building blocks were unambiguously identified by high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MS). Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) MS/MS quantification was developed and validated in the analysis of dalteparin and nadroparin samples. Each group of building blocks revealed different aspects of the properties of LMWHs, such as functional motifs required for anticoagulant activity, the structure of heparin starting materials, cleavage sites in the depolymerization reaction, and undesired structural modifications resulting from side reactions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modular and Orthogonal Synthesis of Hybrid Polymers and Networks

PubMed Central

Liu, Shuang; Dicker, Kevin T.; Jia, Xinqiao

2015-01-01

Biomaterials scientists strive to develop polymeric materials with distinct chemical make-up, complex molecular architectures, robust mechanical properties and defined biological functions by drawing inspirations from biological systems. Salient features of biological designs include (1) repetitive presentation of basic motifs; and (2) efficient integration of diverse building blocks. Thus, an appealing approach to biomaterials synthesis is to combine synthetic and natural building blocks in a modular fashion employing novel chemical methods. Over the past decade, orthogonal chemistries have become powerful enabling tools for the modular synthesis of advanced biomaterials. These reactions require building blocks with complementary functionalities, occur under mild conditions in the presence of biological molecules and living cells and proceed with high yield and exceptional selectivity. These chemistries have facilitated the construction of complex polymers and networks in a step-growth fashion, allowing facile modulation of materials properties by simple variations of the building blocks. In this review, we first summarize features of several types of orthogonal chemistries. We then discuss recent progress in the synthesis of step growth linear polymers, dendrimers and networks that find application in drug delivery, 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. Overall, orthogonal reactions and modulular synthesis have not only minimized the steps needed for the desired chemical transformations but also maximized the diversity and functionality of the final products. The modular nature of the design, combined with the potential synergistic effect of the hybrid system, will likely result in novel hydrogel matrices with robust structures and defined functions. PMID:25572255

Functionalized Helical Building Blocks for Nanoelectronics.

PubMed

Khokhlov, Khrystofor; Schuster, Nathaniel J; Ng, Fay; Nuckolls, Colin

2018-04-06

Molecular building blocks are designed and created for the cis- and trans-dibrominated perylenediimides. The syntheses are simple and provide these useful materials on the gram scale. To demonstrate their synthetic versatility, these building blocks were used to create new dimeric perylenediimide helixes. Two of these helical dimers are twistacenes, and one is a helicene. Crucially, each possesses regiochemically defined functionality that allows the dimer helix to be elaborated into higher oligomers. It would be very difficult to prepare these helical PDI building blocks regioselectively without the methods described.

The 10 building blocks of high-performing primary care.

PubMed

Bodenheimer, Thomas; Ghorob, Amireh; Willard-Grace, Rachel; Grumbach, Kevin

2014-01-01

Our experiences studying exemplar primary care practices, and our work assisting other practices to become more patient centered, led to a formulation of the essential elements of primary care, which we call the 10 building blocks of high-performing primary care. The building blocks include 4 foundational elements-engaged leadership, data-driven improvement, empanelment, and team-based care-that assist the implementation of the other 6 building blocks-patient-team partnership, population management, continuity of care, prompt access to care, comprehensiveness and care coordination, and a template of the future. The building blocks, which represent a synthesis of the innovative thinking that is transforming primary care in the United States, are both a description of existing high-performing practices and a model for improvement.

PUS Services Software Building Block Automatic Generation for Space Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Candia, S.; Sgaramella, F.; Mele, G.

2008-08-01

The Packet Utilization Standard (PUS) has been specified by the European Committee for Space Standardization (ECSS) and issued as ECSS-E-70-41A to define the application-level interface between Ground Segments and Space Segments. The ECSS-E- 70-41A complements the ECSS-E-50 and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) recommendations for packet telemetry and telecommand. The ECSS-E-70-41A characterizes the identified PUS Services from a functional point of view and the ECSS-E-70-31 standard specifies the rules for their mission-specific tailoring. The current on-board software design for a space mission implies the production of several PUS terminals, each providing a specific tailoring of the PUS services. The associated on-board software building blocks are developed independently, leading to very different design choices and implementations even when the mission tailoring requires very similar services (from the Ground operative perspective). In this scenario, the automatic production of the PUS services building blocks for a mission would be a way to optimize the overall mission economy and improve the robusteness and reliability of the on-board software and of the Ground-Space interactions. This paper presents the Space Software Italia (SSI) activities for the development of an integrated environment to support: the PUS services tailoring activity for a specific mission. the mission-specific PUS services configuration. the generation the UML model of the software building block implementing the mission-specific PUS services and the related source code, support documentation (software requirements, software architecture, test plans/procedures, operational manuals), and the TM/TC database. The paper deals with: (a) the project objectives, (b) the tailoring, configuration, and generation process, (c) the description of the environments supporting the process phases, (d) the characterization of the meta-model used for the generation, (e) the characterization of the reference avionics architecture and of the reference on- board software high-level architecture.

Two innovative solutions based on fibre concrete blocks designed for building substructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pazderka, J.; Hájek, P.

2017-09-01

Using of fibers in a high-strength concrete allows reduction of the dimensions of small precast concrete elements, which opens up new ways of solution for traditional construction details in buildings. The paper presents two innovative technical solutions for building substructure: The special shaped plinth block from fibre concrete and the fibre concrete elements for new technical solution of ventilated floor. The main advantages of plinth block from fibre concrete blocks (compared with standard plinth solutions) is: easier and faster assembly, higher durability and thanks to the air cavity between the vertical part of the block, the building substructure reduced moisture level of structures under the waterproofing layer and a comprehensive solution to the final surface of building plinth as well as the surface of adjacent terrain. The ventilated floor based on fibre concrete precast blocks is an attractive structural alternative for tackling the problem of increased moisture in masonry in older buildings, lacking a functional waterproof layer in the substructure.

Development of Test Article Building Block (TABB) for deployable platform systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenberg, H. S.; Barbour, R. T.

1984-01-01

The concept of a Test Article Building Block (TABB) is described. The TABB is a ground test article that is representative of a future building block that can be used to construct LEO and GEO deployable space platforms for communications and scientific payloads. This building block contains a main housing within which the entire structure, utilities, and deployment/retraction mechanism are stowed during launch. The end adapter secures the foregoing components to the housing during launch. The main housing and adapter provide the necessary building-block-to-building-block attachments for automatically deployable platforms. Removal from the shuttle cargo bay can be accomplished with the remote manipulator system (RMS) and/or the handling and positioning aid (HAPA). In this concept, all the electrical connections are in place prior to launch with automatic latches for payload attachment provided on either the end adapters or housings. The housings also can contain orbiter docking ports for payload installation and maintenance.

Biosynthesis of Modular Ascarosides in C. elegans

PubMed Central

Panda, Oishika; Akagi, Allison E.; Artyukhin, Alexander B.; Judkins, Joshua C.; Le, Henry H.; Mahanti, Parag; Cohen, Sarah M.; Sternberg, Paul W.

2017-01-01

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans uses simple building blocks from primary metabolism and a strategy of modular assembly to build a great diversity of signaling molecules, the ascarosides, which function as a chemical language in this model organism. In the ascarosides, the dideoxysugar ascarylose serves as a scaffold to which diverse moieties from lipid, amino acid, neurotransmitter, and nucleoside metabolism are attached. However, the mechanisms that underlie the highly specific assembly of ascarosides are not understood. We show that the acyl-CoA synthetase ACS-7, which localizes to lysosome-related organelles, is specifically required for the attachment of different building blocks to the 4′-position of ascr#9. We further show that mutants lacking lysosome-related organelles are defective in the production of all 4′-modified ascarosides, thus identifying the waste disposal system of the cell as a hotspot for ascaroside biosynthesis. PMID:28371259

Fault-tolerant building-block computer study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rennels, D. A.

1978-01-01

Ultra-reliable core computers are required for improving the reliability of complex military systems. Such computers can provide reliable fault diagnosis, failure circumvention, and, in some cases serve as an automated repairman for their host systems. A small set of building-block circuits which can be implemented as single very large integration devices, and which can be used with off-the-shelf microprocessors and memories to build self checking computer modules (SCCM) is described. Each SCCM is a microcomputer which is capable of detecting its own faults during normal operation and is described to communicate with other identical modules over one or more Mil Standard 1553A buses. Several SCCMs can be connected into a network with backup spares to provide fault-tolerant operation, i.e. automated recovery from faults. Alternative fault-tolerant SCCM configurations are discussed along with the cost and reliability associated with their implementation.

Where are lifesaving automated external defibrillators located and how hard is it to find them in a large urban city?

PubMed Central

Leung, Alison C.; Asch, David A.; Lozada, Kirkland N.; Saynisch, Olivia B.; Asch, Jeremy M.; Becker, Nora; Griffis, Heather M.; Shofer, Frances; Hershey, John C.; Hill, Shawndra; Branas, Charles C.; Nichol, Graham; Becker, Lance B.; Merchant, Raina M.

2013-01-01

Objectives Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are lifesaving, but little is known about where they are located or how to find them. We sought to locate AEDs in high employment areas of Philadelphia and characterize the process of door-to-door surveying to identify these devices. Methods Block groups representing approximately the top 3rd of total primary jobs in Philadelphia were identified using the US Census Local Employment Dynamics database. All buildings within these block groups were surveyed during regular working hours over six weeks during July-August 2011. Buildings were characterized as publically accessible or inaccessible. For accessible buildings, address, location type, and AED presence were collected. Total devices, location description and prior use were gathered in locations with AEDs. Process information (total people contacted, survey duration) was collected for all buildings. Results Of 1420 buildings in 17 block groups, 949 (67%) were accessible, but most 834 (88%) did not have an AED. 283 AEDs were reported in 115 buildings (12%). 81 (29%) were validated through visualization and 68 (24%) through photo because employees often refused access. In buildings with AEDs, several employees (median 2; range 1–8) were contacted to ascertain information, which required several minutes (mean 4; range 1–55). Conclusions Door-to-door surveying is a feasible, but time-consuming method for identifying AEDs in high employment areas. Few buildings reported having AEDs and few permitted visualization, which raises concerns about AED access. To improve cardiac arrest outcomes, efforts are needed to improve the availability of AEDs, awareness of their location and access to them. PMID:23357702

Where are lifesaving automated external defibrillators located and how hard is it to find them in a large urban city?

PubMed

Leung, Alison C; Asch, David A; Lozada, Kirkland N; Saynisch, Olivia B; Asch, Jeremy M; Becker, Nora; Griffis, Heather M; Shofer, Frances; Hershey, John C; Hill, Shawndra; Branas, Charles C; Nichol, Graham; Becker, Lance B; Merchant, Raina M

2013-07-01

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are lifesaving, but little is known about where they are located or how to find them. We sought to locate AEDs in high employment areas of Philadelphia and characterize the process of door-to-door surveying to identify these devices. Block groups representing approximately the top 3rd of total primary jobs in Philadelphia were identified using the US Census Local Employment Dynamics database. All buildings within these block groups were surveyed during regular working hours over six weeks during July-August 2011. Buildings were characterized as publically accessible or inaccessible. For accessible buildings, address, location type, and AED presence were collected. Total devices, location description and prior use were gathered in locations with AEDs. Process information (total people contacted, survey duration) was collected for all buildings. Of 1420 buildings in 17 block groups, 949 (67%) were accessible, but most 834 (88%) did not have an AED. 283 AEDs were reported in 115 buildings (12%). 81 (29%) were validated through visualization and 68 (24%) through photo because employees often refused access. In buildings with AEDs, several employees (median 2; range 1-8) were contacted to ascertain information, which required several minutes (mean 4; range 1-55). Door-to-door surveying is a feasible, but time-consuming method for identifying AEDs in high employment areas. Few buildings reported having AEDs and few permitted visualization, which raises concerns about AED access. To improve cardiac arrest outcomes, efforts are needed to improve the availability of AEDs, awareness of their location and access to them. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The pioneers of weather forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballard, Susan

2016-01-01

In The Weather Experiment author Peter Moore takes us on a compelling journey through the early history of weather forecasting, bringing to life the personalities, lives and achievements of the men who put in place the building blocks required for forecasts to be possible.

The Development of Spatial Skills through Interventions Involving Block Building Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casey, Beth M.; Andrews, Nicole; Schindler, Holly; Kersh, Joanne E.; Samper, Alexandra; Copley, Juanita

2008-01-01

This study investigated the use of block-building interventions to develop spatial-reasoning skills in kindergartners. Two intervention conditions and a control condition were included to determine, first, whether the block building activities themselves benefited children's spatial skills, and secondly, whether a story context further improved…

Buildings vs. ballistics: Quantifying the vulnerability of buildings to volcanic ballistic impacts using field studies and pneumatic cannon experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, G. T.; Kennedy, B. M.; Wilson, T. M.; Fitzgerald, R. H.; Tsunematsu, K.; Teissier, A.

2017-09-01

Recent casualties in volcanic eruptions due to trauma from blocks and bombs necessitate more rigorous, ballistic specific risk assessment. Quantitative assessments are limited by a lack of experimental and field data on the vulnerability of buildings to ballistic hazards. An improved, quantitative understanding of building vulnerability to ballistic impacts is required for informing appropriate life safety actions and other risk reduction strategies. We assessed ballistic impacts to buildings from eruptions at Usu Volcano and Mt. Ontake in Japan and compiled available impact data from eruptions elsewhere to identify common damage patterns from ballistic impacts to buildings. We additionally completed a series of cannon experiments which simulate ballistic block impacts to building claddings to investigate their performance over a range of ballistic projectile velocities, masses and energies. Our experiments provide new insights by quantifying (1) the hazard associated with post-impact shrapnel from building and rock fragments; (2) the effect of impact obliquity on damage; and (3) the additional impact resistance buildings possess when claddings are struck in areas directly supported by framing components. This was not well identified in previous work which may have underestimated building vulnerability to ballistic hazards. To improve assessment of building vulnerability to ballistics, we use our experimental and field data to develop quantitative vulnerability models known as fragility functions. Our fragility functions and field studies show that although unreinforced buildings are highly vulnerable to large ballistics (> 20 cm diameter), they can still provide shelter, preventing death during eruptions.

Designing an activity-based costing model for a non-admitted prisoner healthcare setting.

PubMed

Cai, Xiao; Moore, Elizabeth; McNamara, Martin

2013-09-01

To design and deliver an activity-based costing model within a non-admitted prisoner healthcare setting. Key phases from the NSW Health clinical redesign methodology were utilised: diagnostic, solution design and implementation. The diagnostic phase utilised a range of strategies to identify issues requiring attention in the development of the costing model. The solution design phase conceptualised distinct 'building blocks' of activity and cost based on the speciality of clinicians providing care. These building blocks enabled the classification of activity and comparisons of costs between similar facilities. The implementation phase validated the model. The project generated an activity-based costing model based on actual activity performed, gained acceptability among clinicians and managers, and provided the basis for ongoing efficiency and benchmarking efforts.

Incorporating GIS building data and census housing statistics for sub-block-level population estimation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wu, S.-S.; Wang, L.; Qiu, X.

2008-01-01

This article presents a deterministic model for sub-block-level population estimation based on the total building volumes derived from geographic information system (GIS) building data and three census block-level housing statistics. To assess the model, we generated artificial blocks by aggregating census block areas and calculating the respective housing statistics. We then applied the model to estimate populations for sub-artificial-block areas and assessed the estimates with census populations of the areas. Our analyses indicate that the average percent error of population estimation for sub-artificial-block areas is comparable to those for sub-census-block areas of the same size relative to associated blocks. The smaller the sub-block-level areas, the higher the population estimation errors. For example, the average percent error for residential areas is approximately 0.11 percent for 100 percent block areas and 35 percent for 5 percent block areas.

Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS)-based fault tolerant avionics architecture for launch vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lala, Jaynarayan H.; Harper, Richard E.; Jaskowiak, Kenneth R.; Rosch, Gene; Alger, Linda S.; Schor, Andrei L.

1990-01-01

An avionics architecture for the advanced launch system (ALS) that uses validated hardware and software building blocks developed under the advanced information processing system program is presented. The AIPS for ALS architecture defined is preliminary, and reliability requirements can be met by the AIPS hardware and software building blocks that are built using the state-of-the-art technology available in the 1992-93 time frame. The level of detail in the architecture definition reflects the level of detail available in the ALS requirements. As the avionics requirements are refined, the architecture can also be refined and defined in greater detail with the help of analysis and simulation tools. A useful methodology is demonstrated for investigating the impact of the avionics suite to the recurring cost of the ALS. It is shown that allowing the vehicle to launch with selected detected failures can potentially reduce the recurring launch costs. A comparative analysis shows that validated fault-tolerant avionics built out of Class B parts can result in lower life-cycle-cost in comparison to simplex avionics built out of Class S parts or other redundant architectures.

Phototransformation-Induced Aggregation of Functionalized Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: The Importance of Amorphous Carbon

EPA Science Inventory

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with proper functionalization are desirable for applications that require dispersion in aqueous and biological environments, and functionalized SWCNTs also serve as building blocks for conjugation with specific molecules in these applicatio...

Improved 3-D turbomachinery CFD algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janus, J. Mark; Whitfield, David L.

1988-01-01

The building blocks of a computer algorithm developed for the time-accurate flow analysis of rotating machines are described. The flow model is a finite volume method utilizing a high resolution approximate Riemann solver for interface flux definitions. This block LU implicit numerical scheme possesses apparent unconditional stability. Multi-block composite gridding is used to orderly partition the field into a specified arrangement. Block interfaces, including dynamic interfaces, are treated such as to mimic interior block communication. Special attention is given to the reduction of in-core memory requirements by placing the burden on secondary storage media. Broad applicability is implied, although the results presented are restricted to that of an even blade count configuration. Several other configurations are presently under investigation, the results of which will appear in subsequent publications.

Building Blocks: Enmeshing Technology and Creativity with Artistic Pedagogical Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janzen, Katherine J.; Perry, Beth; Edwards, Margaret

2017-01-01

Using the analogy of children's building blocks, the reader is guided through the results of a research study that explored the use of three Artistic Pedagogical Technologies (APTs). "Building blocks" was the major theme that emerged from the data. Sub-themes included developing community, enhancing creativity, and risk taking. The…

Integrating new Storage Technologies into EOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Andreas J.; van der Ster, Dan C.; Rocha, Joaquim; Lensing, Paul

2015-12-01

The EOS[1] storage software was designed to cover CERN disk-only storage use cases in the medium-term trading scalability against latency. To cover and prepare for long-term requirements the CERN IT data and storage services group (DSS) is actively conducting R&D and open source contributions to experiment with a next generation storage software based on CEPH[3] and ethernet enabled disk drives. CEPH provides a scale-out object storage system RADOS and additionally various optional high-level services like S3 gateway, RADOS block devices and a POSIX compliant file system CephFS. The acquisition of CEPH by Redhat underlines the promising role of CEPH as the open source storage platform of the future. CERN IT is running a CEPH service in the context of OpenStack on a moderate scale of 1 PB replicated storage. Building a 100+PB storage system based on CEPH will require software and hardware tuning. It is of capital importance to demonstrate the feasibility and possibly iron out bottlenecks and blocking issues beforehand. The main idea behind this R&D is to leverage and contribute to existing building blocks in the CEPH storage stack and implement a few CERN specific requirements in a thin, customisable storage layer. A second research topic is the integration of ethernet enabled disks. This paper introduces various ongoing open source developments, their status and applicability.

Top Value Added Chemicals From Biomass: I. Results of Screening for Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Werpy, Todd A.; Holladay, John E.; White, James F.

2004-11-01

This report identifies twelve building block chemicals that can be produced from sugars via biological or chemical conversions. The twelve building blocks can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials. Building block chemicals, as considered for this analysis, are molecules with multiple functional groups that possess the potential to be transformed into new families of useful molecules. The twelve sugar-based building blocks are 1,4-diacids (succinic, fumaric and malic), 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, 3-hydroxy propionic acid, aspartic acid, glucaric acid, glutamic acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, 3-hydroxybutyrolactone, glycerol, sorbitol, and xylitol/arabinitol. In addition to building blocks, themore » report outlines the central technical barriers that are preventing the widespread use of biomass for products and chemicals.« less

Professional Learning Communities That Initiate Improvement in Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Royer, Suzanne M.

2012-01-01

Quality teaching requires a strong practice of collaboration, an essential building block for educators to improve student achievement. Researchers have theorized that the implementation of a professional learning community (PLC) with resultant collaborative practices among teachers sustains academic improvement. The problem addressed specifically…

Biodegradable Polymeric Materials in Degradable Electronic Devices

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Biodegradable electronics have great potential to reduce the environmental footprint of devices and enable advanced health monitoring and therapeutic technologies. Complex biodegradable electronics require biodegradable substrates, insulators, conductors, and semiconductors, all of which comprise the fundamental building blocks of devices. This review will survey recent trends in the strategies used to fabricate biodegradable forms of each of these components. Polymers that can disintegrate without full chemical breakdown (type I), as well as those that can be recycled into monomeric and oligomeric building blocks (type II), will be discussed. Type I degradation is typically achieved with engineering and material science based strategies, whereas type II degradation often requires deliberate synthetic approaches. Notably, unconventional degradable linkages capable of maintaining long-range conjugation have been relatively unexplored, yet may enable fully biodegradable conductors and semiconductors with uncompromised electrical properties. While substantial progress has been made in developing degradable device components, the electrical and mechanical properties of these materials must be improved before fully degradable complex electronics can be realized. PMID:29632879

Biomedical research in a Digital Health Framework

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This article describes a Digital Health Framework (DHF), benefitting from the lessons learnt during the three-year life span of the FP7 Synergy-COPD project. The DHF aims to embrace the emerging requirements - data and tools - of applying systems medicine into healthcare with a three-tier strategy articulating formal healthcare, informal care and biomedical research. Accordingly, it has been constructed based on three key building blocks, namely, novel integrated care services with the support of information and communication technologies, a personal health folder (PHF) and a biomedical research environment (DHF-research). Details on the functional requirements and necessary components of the DHF-research are extensively presented. Finally, the specifics of the building blocks strategy for deployment of the DHF, as well as the steps toward adoption are analyzed. The proposed architectural solutions and implementation steps constitute a pivotal strategy to foster and enable 4P medicine (Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory) in practice and should provide a head start to any community and institution currently considering to implement a biomedical research platform. PMID:25472554

Low cost miniature data collection platform

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The development of the RF elements of a telecommunications package involved detailed study and analysis of concepts and techniques followed by laboratory testing and evaluation of designs. The design goals for a complete telecommunications package excluding antenna were a total weight of 300 grams, in a total volume of 400 cu cm with a capability of unattended operation for a period of six months. Of utmost importance is extremely low cost when produced in lots of 10,000. Early in the program it became apparent that a single Miniature Data Collection Platform would not satisfy all users. A single high efficiency system would not satisfy a user who had available a large battery capacity but required a low cost system. Conversely, the low cost system would not satisfy the end user who had a very limited battery capacity. A system design to satisfy these varied requirements was implemented by designing several versions of the system building blocks and then constructing three systems from these building blocks.

Intercultural Communication Activities in the Classroom: Turning Stumbling Blocks into Building Blocks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillon, Randy K.

This paper explores behavior patterns that inhibit effective communication in everyday, educational, and business cross-cultural settings. Opportunities to change these inhibiting patterns, metaphorically referred to as "stumbling blocks," into building blocks or tools for successful intercultural understandings are discussed in the…

Interlocking Toy Building Blocks as Hands-On Learning Modules for Blind and Visually Impaired Chemistry Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melaku, Samuel; Schreck, James O.; Griffin, Kameron; Dabke, Rajeev B.

2016-01-01

Interlocking toy building blocks (e.g., Lego) as chemistry learning modules for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students in high school and undergraduate introductory or general chemistry courses are presented. Building blocks were assembled on a baseplate to depict the relative changes in the periodic properties of elements. Modules depicting…

Approaching the design of a failsafe turbine monitor with simple microcontroller blocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zapolin, R.E.

1995-12-31

The proper approach to early instrumentation design for tasks like failsafe turbine monitoring permits meeting requirements without resorting to traditional complex special-purpose electronics. Instead a small network of basic microcontroller building blocks can split the effort with each block optimized for its portion of the overall system. This paper discusses approaching design by partitioning intricate system specifications to permit each block to be optimized to the safety level appropriate for its portion of the overall task while retaining and production and reliability advantages of having common simple modules. It illustrates that approach with a modular microcontroller-based speed monitor which metmore » user needs for the latest in power plant monitoring equipment.« less

The Building Blocks of Life Move from Ground to Tree to Animal and Back to Ground

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidson, E. A.

2015-12-01

I generally use combinations of big words to describe my science, such as biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, nutrient cycling, stoichiometry, tropical deforestation, land-use change, agricultural intensification, eutrophication, greenhouse gas emissions, and sustainable development. I didn't expect to use any of these words, but I was surprised that I couldn't use some others that seem simple enough to me, such as farm, plant, soil, and forest. I landed on "building blocks" as my metaphor for the forms of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements that I study as they cycle through and among ecosystems. I study what makes trees and other kinds of life grow. We all know that they need the sun and that they take up water from the ground, but what else do trees need from the ground? What do animals that eat leaves and wood get from the trees? Just as we need building blocks to grow our bodies, trees and animals also need building blocks for growing their bodies. Trees get part of their building blocks from the ground and animals get theirs from what they eat. When animals poop and when leaves fall, some of their building blocks return to the ground. When they die, their building blocks also go back to the ground. I also study what happens to the ground, the water, and the air when we cut down trees, kill or shoo away the animals, and make fields to grow our food. Can we grow enough food and still keep the ground, water, and air clean? I think the answer is yes, but it will take better understanding of how all of those building blocks fit together and move around, from ground to tree to animal and back to ground.

Building Curriculum during Block Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrews, Nicole

2015-01-01

Blocks are not just for play! In this article, Nicole Andrews describes observing the interactions of three young boys enthusiastically engaged in the kindergarten block center of their classroom, using blocks in a building project that displayed their ability to use critical thinking skills, physics exploration, and the development of language…

Microfluidic assembly blocks.

PubMed

Rhee, Minsoung; Burns, Mark A

2008-08-01

An assembly approach for microdevice construction using prefabricated microfluidic components is presented. Although microfluidic systems are convenient platforms for biological assays, their use in the life sciences is still limited mainly due to the high-level fabrication expertise required for construction. This approach involves prefabrication of individual microfluidic assembly blocks (MABs) in PDMS that can be readily assembled to form microfluidic systems. Non-expert users can assemble the blocks on glass slides to build their devices in minutes without any fabrication steps. In this paper, we describe the construction and assembly of the devices using the MAB methodology, and demonstrate common microfluidic applications including laminar flow development, valve control, and cell culture.

The 10 Building Blocks of High-Performing Primary Care

PubMed Central

Bodenheimer, Thomas; Ghorob, Amireh; Willard-Grace, Rachel; Grumbach, Kevin

2014-01-01

Our experiences studying exemplar primary care practices, and our work assisting other practices to become more patient centered, led to a formulation of the essential elements of primary care, which we call the 10 building blocks of high-performing primary care. The building blocks include 4 foundational elements—engaged leadership, data-driven improvement, empanelment, and team-based care—that assist the implementation of the other 6 building blocks—patient-team partnership, population management, continuity of care, prompt access to care, comprehensiveness and care coordination, and a template of the future. The building blocks, which represent a synthesis of the innovative thinking that is transforming primary care in the United States, are both a description of existing high-performing practices and a model for improvement. PMID:24615313

29 CFR 1926.250 - General requirements for storage.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... in tiers shall be stacked, racked, blocked, interlocked, or otherwise secured to prevent sliding, falling or collapse. (2) Maximum safe load limits of floors within buildings and structures, in pounds per..., tanks, and similar storage areas shall be equipped with personal fall arrest equipment meeting the...

The Conceptual Framework of Thematic Mapping in Case Conceptualization.

PubMed

Ridley, Charles R; Jeffrey, Christina E

2017-04-01

This article, the 3rd in a series of 5, introduces the conceptual framework for thematic mapping, a novel approach to case conceptualization. The framework is transtheoretical in that it is not constrained by the tenets or concepts of any one therapeutic orientation and transdiagnostic in that it conceptualizes clients outside the constraints of diagnostic criteria. Thematic mapping comprises 4 components: a definition, foundational principles, defining features, and core concepts. These components of the framework, deemed building blocks, are explained in this article. Like the foundation of any structure, the heuristic value of the method requires that the building blocks have integrity, coherence, and sound anchoring. We assert that the conceptual framework provides a solid foundation, making thematic mapping a potential asset in mental health treatment. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Using OpenMP vs. Threading Building Blocks for Medical Imaging on Multi-cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kegel, Philipp; Schellmann, Maraike; Gorlatch, Sergei

We compare two parallel programming approaches for multi-core systems: the well-known OpenMP and the recently introduced Threading Building Blocks (TBB) library by Intel®. The comparison is made using the parallelization of a real-world numerical algorithm for medical imaging. We develop several parallel implementations, and compare them w.r.t. programming effort, programming style and abstraction, and runtime performance. We show that TBB requires a considerable program re-design, whereas with OpenMP simple compiler directives are sufficient. While TBB appears to be less appropriate for parallelizing existing implementations, it fosters a good programming style and higher abstraction level for newly developed parallel programs. Our experimental measurements on a dual quad-core system demonstrate that OpenMP slightly outperforms TBB in our implementation.

Developing Verification Systems for Building Information Models of Heritage Buildings with Heterogeneous Datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chow, L.; Fai, S.

2017-08-01

The digitization and abstraction of existing buildings into building information models requires the translation of heterogeneous datasets that may include CAD, technical reports, historic texts, archival drawings, terrestrial laser scanning, and photogrammetry into model elements. In this paper, we discuss a project undertaken by the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) that explored the synthesis of heterogeneous datasets for the development of a building information model (BIM) for one of Canada's most significant heritage assets - the Centre Block of the Parliament Hill National Historic Site. The scope of the project included the development of an as-found model of the century-old, six-story building in anticipation of specific model uses for an extensive rehabilitation program. The as-found Centre Block model was developed in Revit using primarily point cloud data from terrestrial laser scanning. The data was captured by CIMS in partnership with Heritage Conservation Services (HCS), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), using a Leica C10 and P40 (exterior and large interior spaces) and a Faro Focus (small to mid-sized interior spaces). Secondary sources such as archival drawings, photographs, and technical reports were referenced in cases where point cloud data was not available. As a result of working with heterogeneous data sets, a verification system was introduced in order to communicate to model users/viewers the source of information for each building element within the model.

INFERENCE BUILDING BLOCKS

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-02-15

address the problem that probabilistic inference algorithms are diÿcult and tedious to implement, by expressing them in terms of a small number of...building blocks, which are automatic transformations on probabilistic programs. On one hand, our curation of these building blocks reflects the way human...reasoning with low-level computational optimization, so the speed and accuracy of the generated solvers are competitive with state-of-the-art systems. 15

Damage Tolerance of Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hodge, Andy

2007-01-01

Fracture control requirements have been developed to address damage tolerance of composites for manned space flight hardware. The requirements provide the framework for critical and noncritical hardware assessment and testing. The need for damage threat assessments, impact damage protection plans, and nondestructive evaluation are also addressed. Hardware intended to be damage tolerant have extensive coupon, sub-element, and full-scale testing requirements in-line with the Building Block Approach concept from the MIL-HDBK-17, Department of Defense Composite Materials Handbook.

1. John C. Garner, Jr., Photographer 1967 PRINCIPAL (NORTH) SIDE, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. John C. Garner, Jr., Photographer 1967 PRINCIPAL (NORTH) SIDE, FROM NORTHWEST. THE RIGHT END OF THE BLOCK IS THE E.S. WOOD BUILDING; THE BUILDING WITH A FIRE ESCAPE IS THE ROSENFIELD BUILDING; THE T.W. HOUSE BUILDING IS TO THE LEFT OF THE PRECEDING BUILDING; JOHN BERLOCHER BUILDING IS AT THE LEFT END OF THE BLOCK. - Strand Historic District, Wood-Rosenfield-House-Berlocher Buildings, 2213-2223 Strand, Galveston, Galveston County, TX

Working Memory Strategies during Rational Number Magnitude Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurst, Michelle; Cordes, Sara

2017-01-01

Rational number understanding is a critical building block for success in more advanced mathematics; however, how rational number magnitudes are conceptualized is not fully understood. In the current study, we used a dual-task working memory (WM) interference paradigm to investigate the dominant type of strategy (i.e., requiring verbal WM…

Using Social Media to Engage Students and Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nielsen, Lisa

2014-01-01

Using social media in education requires putting some building blocks for success in place. A strong foundation for successful use of social networking in education starts by securing parent/guardian and student agreements. Social networking provides a powerful platform for learning and connecting. Facebook is not just for sharing status updates…

Critical Building Blocks: Mandatory Prerequisite Registration Systems and Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soria, Krista M.; Mumpower, Lori

2012-01-01

Many colleges and universities require prerequisites prior to enrollment in introductory composition courses; however, enforcement of prerequisites is not consistent across institutions. In this study, we examine the impact of an automated, mandatory prerequisite enforcement system on students and advisors at a public comprehensive university.…

All Work and No PLA Makes Jack a Dull Boy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popova-Gonci, Viktoria

2009-01-01

In this article, the author presents an assortment of approaches--building blocks--commonly used in Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) practices (this list is certainly not comprehensive): (1) course matching (comparing course requirements to a student's prior learning experiences); (2) student's ability to articulate learning gained from…

Mathematical Building-Blocks in Engineering Mechanics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyajian, David M.

2007-01-01

A gamut of mathematical subjects and concepts are taught within a handful of courses formally required of the typical engineering student who so often questions the relevancy of being bound to certain lower-division prerequisites. Basic classes at the undergraduate level, in this context, include: Integral and Differential Calculus, Differential…

The Prospects for Collaboration between Schools and Universities To Improve American Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawley, Willis D.

Collaboration between schools and institutions of higher education (IHE) is usually effective only when values are shared and mutual dependencies are recognized. These conditions are uncommon. The foundation upon which such collaboration could be developed requires several building blocks: (1) developing shared goals regarding teacher learning;…

Solvent mediated hybrid 2D materials: black phosphorus - graphene heterostructured building blocks assembled for sodium ion batteries.

PubMed

Li, Mengya; Muralidharan, Nitin; Moyer, Kathleen; Pint, Cary L

2018-06-07

Here we demonstrate the broad capability to exploit interactions at different length scales in 2D materials to prepare macroscopic functional materials containing hybrid black phosphorus/graphene (BP/G) heterostructured building blocks. First, heterostructured 2D building blocks are self-assembled during co-exfoliation in the solution phase based on electrostatic attraction of different 2D materials. Second, electrophoretic deposition is used as a tool to assemble these building blocks into macroscopic films containing these self-assembled 2D heterostructures. Characterization of deposits formed using this technique elucidates the presence of stacked and sandwiched 2D heterostructures, and zeta potential measurements confirm the mechanistic interactions driving this assembly. Building on the exceptional sodium alloying capacity of BP, these materials were demonstrated as superior binder-free and additive-free anodes for sodium batteries with specific discharge capacity of 2365 mA h gP-1 and long stable cycling duration. This study demonstrates how controllable co-processing of 2D materials can enable material control for stacking and building block assembly relevant to broad future applications of 2D materials.

GABBs: Cyberinfrastructure for Self-Service Geospatial Data Exploration, Computation, and Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, C. X.; Zhao, L.; Biehl, L. L.; Merwade, V.; Villoria, N.

2016-12-01

Geospatial data are present everywhere today with the proliferation of location-aware computing devices. This is especially true in the scientific community where large amounts of data are driving research and education activities in many domains. Collaboration over geospatial data, for example, in modeling, data analysis and visualization, must still overcome the barriers of specialized software and expertise among other challenges. In addressing these needs, the Geospatial data Analysis Building Blocks (GABBs) project aims at building geospatial modeling, data analysis and visualization capabilities in an open source web platform, HUBzero. Funded by NSF's Data Infrastructure Building Blocks initiative, GABBs is creating a geospatial data architecture that integrates spatial data management, mapping and visualization, and interfaces in the HUBzero platform for scientific collaborations. The geo-rendering enabled Rappture toolkit, a generic Python mapping library, geospatial data exploration and publication tools, and an integrated online geospatial data management solution are among the software building blocks from the project. The GABBS software will be available through Amazon's AWS Marketplace VM images and open source. Hosting services are also available to the user community. The outcome of the project will enable researchers and educators to self-manage their scientific data, rapidly create GIS-enable tools, share geospatial data and tools on the web, and build dynamic workflows connecting data and tools, all without requiring significant software development skills, GIS expertise or IT administrative privileges. This presentation will describe the GABBs architecture, toolkits and libraries, and showcase the scientific use cases that utilize GABBs capabilities, as well as the challenges and solutions for GABBs to interoperate with other cyberinfrastructure platforms.

Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass - Volume I, Results of Screening for Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2004-08-01

This report identifies twelve building block chemicals that can be produced from sugars via biological or chemical conversions. The twelve building blocks can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials. Building block chemicals, as considered for this analysis, are molecules with multiple functional groups that possess the potential to be transformed into new families of useful molecules. The twelve sugar-based building blocks are 1,4-diacids (succinic, fumaric and malic), 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, 3-hydroxy propionic acid, aspartic acid, glucaric acid, glutamic acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, 3-hydroxybutyrolactone, glycerol, sorbitol, and xylitol/arabinitol.

Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass: Volume I -- Results of Screening for Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Werpy, T.; Petersen, G.

2004-08-01

This report identifies twelve building block chemicals that can be produced from sugars via biological or chemical conversions. The twelve building blocks can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials. Building block chemicals, as considered for this analysis, are molecules with multiple functional groups that possess the potential to be transformed into new families of useful molecules. The twelve sugar-based building blocks are 1,4-diacids (succinic, fumaric and malic), 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, 3-hydroxy propionic acid, aspartic acid, glucaric acid, glutamic acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, 3-hydroxybutyrolactone, glycerol, sorbitol, and xylitol/arabinitol.

Computational strategies for the automated design of RNA nanoscale structures from building blocks using NanoTiler.

PubMed

Bindewald, Eckart; Grunewald, Calvin; Boyle, Brett; O'Connor, Mary; Shapiro, Bruce A

2008-10-01

One approach to designing RNA nanoscale structures is to use known RNA structural motifs such as junctions, kissing loops or bulges and to construct a molecular model by connecting these building blocks with helical struts. We previously developed an algorithm for detecting internal loops, junctions and kissing loops in RNA structures. Here we present algorithms for automating or assisting many of the steps that are involved in creating RNA structures from building blocks: (1) assembling building blocks into nanostructures using either a combinatorial search or constraint satisfaction; (2) optimizing RNA 3D ring structures to improve ring closure; (3) sequence optimisation; (4) creating a unique non-degenerate RNA topology descriptor. This effectively creates a computational pipeline for generating molecular models of RNA nanostructures and more specifically RNA ring structures with optimized sequences from RNA building blocks. We show several examples of how the algorithms can be utilized to generate RNA tecto-shapes.

Computational strategies for the automated design of RNA nanoscale structures from building blocks using NanoTiler☆

PubMed Central

Bindewald, Eckart; Grunewald, Calvin; Boyle, Brett; O’Connor, Mary; Shapiro, Bruce A.

2013-01-01

One approach to designing RNA nanoscale structures is to use known RNA structural motifs such as junctions, kissing loops or bulges and to construct a molecular model by connecting these building blocks with helical struts. We previously developed an algorithm for detecting internal loops, junctions and kissing loops in RNA structures. Here we present algorithms for automating or assisting many of the steps that are involved in creating RNA structures from building blocks: (1) assembling building blocks into nanostructures using either a combinatorial search or constraint satisfaction; (2) optimizing RNA 3D ring structures to improve ring closure; (3) sequence optimisation; (4) creating a unique non-degenerate RNA topology descriptor. This effectively creates a computational pipeline for generating molecular models of RNA nanostructures and more specifically RNA ring structures with optimized sequences from RNA building blocks. We show several examples of how the algorithms can be utilized to generate RNA tecto-shapes. PMID:18838281

Synthesis of most polyene natural product motifs using just twelve building blocks and one coupling reaction

PubMed Central

Woerly, Eric M.; Roy, Jahnabi; Burke, Martin D.

2014-01-01

The inherent modularity of polypeptides, oligonucleotides, and oligosaccharides has been harnessed to achieve generalized building block-based synthesis platforms. Importantly, like these other targets, most small molecule natural products are biosynthesized via iterative coupling of bifunctional building blocks. This suggests that many small molecules also possess inherent modularity commensurate with systematic building block-based construction. Supporting this hypothesis, here we report that the polyene motifs found in >75% of all known polyene natural products can be synthesized using just 12 building blocks and one coupling reaction. Using the same general retrosynthetic algorithm and reaction conditions, this platform enabled the synthesis of a wide range of polyene frameworks covering all of this natural product chemical space, and first total syntheses of the polyene natural products asnipyrone B, physarigin A, and neurosporaxanthin β-D-glucopyranoside. Collectively, these results suggest the potential for a more generalized approach for making small molecules in the laboratory. PMID:24848233

COMPRESSOR BUILDING, TRA626. ELEVATIONS. WINDOWS. WALL SECTIONS. PUMICE BLOCK BUILDING ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

COMPRESSOR BUILDING, TRA-626. ELEVATIONS. WINDOWS. WALL SECTIONS. PUMICE BLOCK BUILDING HOUSED COMPRESSORS FOR AIRCRAFT NUCLEAR PROPULSION EXPERIMENTS. MTR-626-IDO-2S, 3/1952. INL INDEX NO. 531-0626-00-396-110535, REV. 2. - Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Test Reactor Area, Materials & Engineering Test Reactors, Scoville, Butte County, ID

Chiral thiazoline and thiazole building blocks for the synthesis of peptide-derived natural products.

PubMed

Just-Baringo, Xavier; Albericio, Fernando; Alvarez, Mercedes

2014-01-01

Thiazoline and thiazole heterocycles are privileged motifs found in numerous peptide-derived natural products of biological interest. During the last decades, the synthesis of optically pure building blocks has been addressed by numerous groups, which have developed a plethora of strategies to that end. Efficient and reliable methodologies that are compatible with the intricate and capricious architectures of natural products are a must to further develop their science. Structure confirmation, structure-activity relationship studies and industrial production are fields of paramount importance that require these robust methodologies in order to successfully bring natural products into the clinic. Today's chemist toolbox is assorted with many powerful methods for chiral thiazoline and thiazole synthesis. Ranging from biomimetic approaches to stereoselective alkylations, one is likely to find a suitable method for their needs.

Photoelectroreduction of Building-Block Chemicals.

PubMed

Chen, Fengjiao; Cui, Wei; Zhang, Jie; Wang, Yeyun; Zhou, Junhua; Hu, Yongpan; Li, Yanguang; Lee, Shuit-Tong

2017-06-12

Conventional photoelectrochemical cells utilize solar energy to drive the chemical conversion of water or CO 2 into useful chemical fuels. Such processes are confronted with general challenges, including the low intrinsic activities and inconvenient storage and transportation of their gaseous products. A photoelectrochemical approach is proposed to drive the reductive production of industrial building-block chemicals and demonstrate that succinic acid and glyoxylic acid can be readily synthesized on Si nanowire array photocathodes free of any cocatalyst and at room temperature. These photocathodes exhibit a positive onset potential, large saturation photocurrent density, high reaction selectivity, and excellent operation durability. They capitalize on the large photovoltage generated from the semiconductor/electrolyte junction to partially offset the required external bias, and thereby make this photoelectrosynthetic approach significantly more sustainable compared to traditional electrosynthesis. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Artificially Engineered Protein Polymers.

PubMed

Yang, Yun Jung; Holmberg, Angela L; Olsen, Bradley D

2017-06-07

Modern polymer science increasingly requires precise control over macromolecular structure and properties for engineering advanced materials and biomedical systems. The application of biological processes to design and synthesize artificial protein polymers offers a means for furthering macromolecular tunability, enabling polymers with dispersities of ∼1.0 and monomer-level sequence control. Taking inspiration from materials evolved in nature, scientists have created modular building blocks with simplified monomer sequences that replicate the function of natural systems. The corresponding protein engineering toolbox has enabled the systematic development of complex functional polymeric materials across areas as diverse as adhesives, responsive polymers, and medical materials. This review discusses the natural proteins that have inspired the development of key building blocks for protein polymer engineering and the function of these elements in material design. The prospects and progress for scalable commercialization of protein polymers are reviewed, discussing both technology needs and opportunities.

Efficient Imaging and Real-Time Display of Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy Based on Block Compressive Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Gongxin; Li, Peng; Wang, Yuechao; Wang, Wenxue; Xi, Ning; Liu, Lianqing

2014-07-01

Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy (SICM) is one kind of Scanning Probe Microscopies (SPMs), and it is widely used in imaging soft samples for many distinctive advantages. However, the scanning speed of SICM is much slower than other SPMs. Compressive sensing (CS) could improve scanning speed tremendously by breaking through the Shannon sampling theorem, but it still requires too much time in image reconstruction. Block compressive sensing can be applied to SICM imaging to further reduce the reconstruction time of sparse signals, and it has another unique application that it can achieve the function of image real-time display in SICM imaging. In this article, a new method of dividing blocks and a new matrix arithmetic operation were proposed to build the block compressive sensing model, and several experiments were carried out to verify the superiority of block compressive sensing in reducing imaging time and real-time display in SICM imaging.

Design and testing of the first 2D Prototype Vertically Integrated Pattern Recognition Associative Memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, T.; Deptuch, G.; Hoff, J.; Jindariani, S.; Joshi, S.; Olsen, J.; Tran, N.; Trimpl, M.

2015-02-01

An associative memory-based track finding approach has been proposed for a Level 1 tracking trigger to cope with increasing luminosities at the LHC. The associative memory uses a massively parallel architecture to tackle the intrinsically complex combinatorics of track finding algorithms, thus avoiding the typical power law dependence of execution time on occupancy and solving the pattern recognition in times roughly proportional to the number of hits. This is of crucial importance given the large occupancies typical of hadronic collisions. The design of an associative memory system capable of dealing with the complexity of HL-LHC collisions and with the short latency required by Level 1 triggering poses significant, as yet unsolved, technical challenges. For this reason, an aggressive R&D program has been launched at Fermilab to advance state of-the-art associative memory technology, the so called VIPRAM (Vertically Integrated Pattern Recognition Associative Memory) project. The VIPRAM leverages emerging 3D vertical integration technology to build faster and denser Associative Memory devices. The first step is to implement in conventional VLSI the associative memory building blocks that can be used in 3D stacking; in other words, the building blocks are laid out as if it is a 3D design. In this paper, we report on the first successful implementation of a 2D VIPRAM demonstrator chip (protoVIPRAM00). The results show that these building blocks are ready for 3D stacking.

Design and testing of the first 2D Prototype Vertically Integrated Pattern Recognition Associative Memory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, T.; Deptuch, G.; Hoff, J.

An associative memory-based track finding approach has been proposed for a Level 1 tracking trigger to cope with increasing luminosities at the LHC. The associative memory uses a massively parallel architecture to tackle the intrinsically complex combinatorics of track finding algorithms, thus avoiding the typical power law dependence of execution time on occupancy and solving the pattern recognition in times roughly proportional to the number of hits. This is of crucial importance given the large occupancies typical of hadronic collisions. The design of an associative memory system capable of dealing with the complexity of HL-LHC collisions and with the shortmore » latency required by Level 1 triggering poses significant, as yet unsolved, technical challenges. For this reason, an aggressive R&D program has been launched at Fermilab to advance state of-the-art associative memory technology, the so called VIPRAM (Vertically Integrated Pattern Recognition Associative Memory) project. The VIPRAM leverages emerging 3D vertical integration technology to build faster and denser Associative Memory devices. The first step is to implement in conventional VLSI the associative memory building blocks that can be used in 3D stacking, in other words, the building blocks are laid out as if it is a 3D design. In this paper, we report on the first successful implementation of a 2D VIPRAM demonstrator chip (protoVIPRAM00). The results show that these building blocks are ready for 3D stacking.« less

Encapsulation of an interpenetrated diamondoid inorganic building block in a metal-organic framework.

PubMed

Zhang, Huabin; Lin, Ping; Chen, Erxia; Tan, Yanxi; Wen, Tian; Aldalbahi, Ali; Alshehri, Saad M; Yamauchi, Yusuke; Du, Shaowu; Zhang, Jian

2015-03-23

The first example of an inorganic-organic composite framework with an interpenetrated diamondoid inorganic building block, featuring unique {InNa}n helices and {In12 Na16 } nano-rings, has been constructed and structurally characterized. This framework also represents a unique example of encapsulation of an interpenetrated diamondoid inorganic building block in a metal-organic framework. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

23. The Stroud Building beard the 'Temme Springs' advertisement. Westfacing ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

23. The Stroud Building beard the 'Temme Springs' advertisement. West-facing windows of the entire block are protected from the afternoon sun by awnings. The north-facing windows of the second-story restaurant were later blocked by an adjacent two-story building. Circa 1914. Credit PPL. - Stroud Building, 31-33 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ

Polymer-based platform for microfluidic systems

DOEpatents

Benett, William [Livermore, CA; Krulevitch, Peter [Pleasanton, CA; Maghribi, Mariam [Livermore, CA; Hamilton, Julie [Tracy, CA; Rose, Klint [Boston, MA; Wang, Amy W [Oakland, CA

2009-10-13

A method of forming a polymer-based microfluidic system platform using network building blocks selected from a set of interconnectable network building blocks, such as wire, pins, blocks, and interconnects. The selected building blocks are interconnectably assembled and fixedly positioned in precise positions in a mold cavity of a mold frame to construct a three-dimensional model construction of a microfluidic flow path network preferably having meso-scale dimensions. A hardenable liquid, such as poly (dimethylsiloxane) is then introduced into the mold cavity and hardened to form a platform structure as well as to mold the microfluidic flow path network having channels, reservoirs and ports. Pre-fabricated elbows, T's and other joints are used to interconnect various building block elements together. After hardening the liquid the building blocks are removed from the platform structure to make available the channels, cavities and ports within the platform structure. Microdevices may be embedded within the cast polymer-based platform, or bonded to the platform structure subsequent to molding, to create an integrated microfluidic system. In this manner, the new microfluidic platform is versatile and capable of quickly generating prototype systems, and could easily be adapted to a manufacturing setting.

IRM Concepts: Building Blocks for the 1990s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, Darrell E.

1989-01-01

Presents a conceptual overview of information resources management (IRM) by synthesizing concepts put forward during the 1980s and charts opportunities to move these concepts into practice. It is argued that the reorganization required by IRM is justified by better use of resources, better decision making, and an improved corporate structure. (21…

Drawing a representative sample from the NCSS soil database: Building blocks for the national wind erosion network

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Developing national wind erosion models for the continental United States requires a comprehensive spatial representation of continuous soil particle size distributions (PSD) for model input. While the current coverage of soil survey is nearly complete, the most detailed particle size classes have c...

How Fast Does a Building Fall?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denny, Mark

2010-01-01

In this paper, the time required for a tower block to collapse is calculated. The tower collapses progressively, with one floor falling onto the floor below, causing it to fall. The rate of collapse is found to be not much slower than freefall. The calculation is an engaging and relevant application of Newton's laws, suitable for undergraduate…

Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities: Assistance from Grantees

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA awarded Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grants to four nonprofit organizations with extensive expertise in community sustainability. These organizations deliver technical assistance to communities.

Block Play and Mathematics Learning in Preschool: The Effects of Building Complexity, Peer and Teacher Interactions in the Block Area, and Replica Play Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trawick-Smith, Jeffrey; Swaminathan, Sudha; Baton, Brooke; Danieluk, Courtney; Marsh, Samantha; Szarwacki, Monika

2017-01-01

Block play has been included in early childhood classrooms for over a century, yet few studies have examined its effects on learning. Several previous investigations indicate that the complexity of block building is associated with math ability, but these studies were often conducted in adult-guided, laboratory settings. In the present…

mySyntenyPortal: an application package to construct websites for synteny block analysis.

PubMed

Lee, Jongin; Lee, Daehwan; Sim, Mikang; Kwon, Daehong; Kim, Juyeon; Ko, Younhee; Kim, Jaebum

2018-06-05

Advances in sequencing technologies have facilitated large-scale comparative genomics based on whole genome sequencing. Constructing and investigating conserved genomic regions among multiple species (called synteny blocks) are essential in the comparative genomics. However, they require significant amounts of computational resources and time in addition to bioinformatics skills. Many web interfaces have been developed to make such tasks easier. However, these web interfaces cannot be customized for users who want to use their own set of genome sequences or definition of synteny blocks. To resolve this limitation, we present mySyntenyPortal, a stand-alone application package to construct websites for synteny block analyses by using users' own genome data. mySyntenyPortal provides both command line and web-based interfaces to build and manage websites for large-scale comparative genomic analyses. The websites can be also easily published and accessed by other users. To demonstrate the usability of mySyntenyPortal, we present an example study for building websites to compare genomes of three mammalian species (human, mouse, and cow) and show how they can be easily utilized to identify potential genes affected by genome rearrangements. mySyntenyPortal will contribute for extended comparative genomic analyses based on large-scale whole genome sequences by providing unique functionality to support the easy creation of interactive websites for synteny block analyses from user's own genome data.

Representation and matching of knowledge to design digital systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, J. U.; Shiva, S. G.

1988-01-01

A knowledge-based expert system is described that provides an approach to solve a problem requiring an expert with considerable domain expertise and facts about available digital hardware building blocks. To design digital hardware systems from their high level VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language) representation to their finished form, a special data representation is required. This data representation as well as the functioning of the overall system is described.

DNA-Templated Polymerization of Side-Chain-Functionalized Peptide Nucleic Acid Aldehydes

PubMed Central

Kleiner, Ralph E.; Brudno, Yevgeny; Birnbaum, Michael E.; Liu, David R.

2009-01-01

The DNA-templated polymerization of synthetic building blocks provides a potential route to the laboratory evolution of sequence-defined polymers with structures and properties not necessarily limited to those of natural biopolymers. We previously reported the efficient and sequence-specific DNA-templated polymerization of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) aldehydes. Here, we report the enzyme-free, DNA-templated polymerization of side-chain-functionalized PNA tetramer and pentamer aldehydes. We observed that the polymerization of tetramer and pentamer PNA building blocks with a single lysine-based side chain at various positions in the building block could proceed efficiently and sequence-specifically. In addition, DNA-templated polymerization also proceeded efficiently and in a sequence-specific manner with pentamer PNA aldehydes containing two or three lysine side chains in a single building block to generate more densely functionalized polymers. To further our understanding of side-chain compatibility and expand the capabilities of this system, we also examined the polymerization efficiencies of 20 pentamer building blocks each containing one of five different side-chain groups and four different side-chain regio- and stereochemistries. Polymerization reactions were efficient for all five different side-chain groups and for three of the four combinations of side-chain regio- and stereochemistries. Differences in the efficiency and initial rate of polymerization correlate with the apparent melting temperature of each building block, which is dependent on side-chain regio- and stereochemistry, but relatively insensitive to side-chain structure among the substrates tested. Our findings represent a significant step towards the evolution of sequence-defined synthetic polymers and also demonstrate that enzyme-free nucleic acid-templated polymerization can occur efficiently using substrates with a wide range of side-chain structures, functionalization positions within each building block, and functionalization densities. PMID:18341334

Total synthesis of TMG-chitotriomycin based on an automated electrochemical assembly of a disaccharide building block.

PubMed

Isoda, Yuta; Sasaki, Norihiko; Kitamura, Kei; Takahashi, Shuji; Manmode, Sujit; Takeda-Okuda, Naoko; Tamura, Jun-Ichi; Nokami, Toshiki; Itoh, Toshiyuki

2017-01-01

The total synthesis of TMG-chitotriomycin using an automated electrochemical synthesizer for the assembly of carbohydrate building blocks is demonstrated. We have successfully prepared a precursor of TMG-chitotriomycin, which is a structurally-pure tetrasaccharide with typical protecting groups, through the methodology of automated electrochemical solution-phase synthesis developed by us. The synthesis of structurally well-defined TMG-chitotriomycin has been accomplished in 10-steps from a disaccharide building block.

Big Questions: The Ultimate Building Blocks of Matter

ScienceCinema

Lincoln, Don

2018-01-16

The Standard Model of particle physics treats quarks and leptons as having no size at all. Quarks are found inside protons and neutrons and the most familiar lepton is the electron. While the best measurements to date support that idea, there is circumstantial evidence that suggests that perhaps the these tiny particles might be composed of even smaller building blocks. This video explains this circumstantial evidence and introduces some very basic ideas of what those building blocks might be.

Shaping Crystal-Crystal Phase Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Xiyu; van Anders, Greg; Dshemuchadse, Julia; Glotzer, Sharon

Previous computational and experimental studies have shown self-assembled structure depends strongly on building block shape. New synthesis techniques have led to building blocks with reconfigurable shape and it has been demonstrated that building block reconfiguration can induce bulk structural reconfiguration. However, we do not understand systematically how this transition happens as a function of building block shape. Using a recently developed ``digital alchemy'' framework, we study the thermodynamics of shape-driven crystal-crystal transitions. We find examples of shape-driven bulk reconfiguration that are accompanied by first-order phase transitions, and bulk reconfiguration that occurs without any thermodynamic phase transition. Our results suggest that for well-chosen shapes and structures, there exist facile means of bulk reconfiguration, and that shape-driven bulk reconfiguration provides a viable mechanism for developing functional materials.

Experimentally Tracing the Key Steps in the Origin of Life: The Aromatic World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ehrenfreund, Pascale; Rasmussen, Steen; Cleaves, James; Chen, Liaohai

2006-06-01

Life is generally believed to emerge on Earth, to be at least functionally similar to life as we know it today, and to be much simpler than modern life. Although minimal life is notoriously difficult to define, a molecular system can be considered alive if it turns resources into building blocks, replicates, and evolves. Primitive life may have consisted of a compartmentalized genetic system coupled with an energy-harvesting mechanism. How prebiotic building blocks self-assemble and transform themselves into a minimal living system can be broken into two questions: (1) How can prebiotic building blocks form containers, metabolic networks, and informational polymers? (2) How can these three components cooperatively organize to form a protocell that satisfies the minimal requirements for a living system? The functional integration of these components is a difficult puzzle that requires cooperation among all the aspects of protocell assembly: starting material, reaction mechanisms, thermodynamics, and the integration of the inheritance, metabolism, and container functionalities. Protocells may have been self-assembled from components different from those used in modern biochemistry. We propose that assemblies based on aromatic hydrocarbons may have been the most abundant flexible and stable organic materials on the primitive Earth and discuss their possible integration into a minimal life form. In this paper we attempt to combine current knowledge of the composition of prebiotic organic material of extraterrestrial and terrestrial origin, and put these in the context of possible prebiotic scenarios. We also describe laboratory experiments that might help clarify the transition from nonliving to living matter using aromatic material. This paper presents an interdisciplinary approach to interface state of the art knowledge in astrochemistry, prebiotic chemistry, and artificial life research.

Automate Your Physical Plant Using the Building Block Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michaelson, Matt

1998-01-01

Illustrates how Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax), by upgrading the control and monitoring of one building or section of the school at a time, could produce savings in energy and operating costs and improve the environment. Explains a gradual, "building block" approach to facility automation that provides flexibility without a…

Building Numbers from Primes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burkhart, Jerry

2009-01-01

Prime numbers are often described as the "building blocks" of natural numbers. This article shows how the author and his students took this idea literally by using prime factorizations to build numbers with blocks. In this activity, students explore many concepts of number theory, including the relationship between greatest common factors and…

2. OBLIQUE VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM 21ST STREET VIADUCT TOWARDS ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. OBLIQUE VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM 21ST STREET VIADUCT TOWARDS 2000 BLOCK OF MORRIS AVENUE WITH HEAVIEST CORNER ON EARTH BUILDINGS (TOP LEFT) AND COMER BUILDING (TOP RIGHT) - Morris Avenue Warehouse District, 2000-2400 blocks of Morris Avenue & 2100-2500 blocks of First Avenue, North, Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL

Automated electrochemical assembly of the protected potential TMG-chitotriomycin precursor based on rational optimization of the carbohydrate building block.

PubMed

Nokami, Toshiki; Isoda, Yuta; Sasaki, Norihiko; Takaiso, Aki; Hayase, Shuichi; Itoh, Toshiyuki; Hayashi, Ryutaro; Shimizu, Akihiro; Yoshida, Jun-ichi

2015-03-20

The anomeric arylthio group and the hydroxyl-protecting groups of thioglycosides were optimized to construct carbohydrate building blocks for automated electrochemical solution-phase synthesis of oligoglucosamines having 1,4-β-glycosidic linkages. The optimization study included density functional theory calculations, measurements of the oxidation potentials, and the trial synthesis of the chitotriose trisaccharide. The automated synthesis of the protected potential N,N,N-trimethyl-d-glucosaminylchitotriomycin precursor was accomplished by using the optimized building block.

Total synthesis of TMG-chitotriomycin based on an automated electrochemical assembly of a disaccharide building block

PubMed Central

Isoda, Yuta; Sasaki, Norihiko; Kitamura, Kei; Takahashi, Shuji; Manmode, Sujit; Takeda-Okuda, Naoko; Tamura, Jun-ichi

2017-01-01

The total synthesis of TMG-chitotriomycin using an automated electrochemical synthesizer for the assembly of carbohydrate building blocks is demonstrated. We have successfully prepared a precursor of TMG-chitotriomycin, which is a structurally-pure tetrasaccharide with typical protecting groups, through the methodology of automated electrochemical solution-phase synthesis developed by us. The synthesis of structurally well-defined TMG-chitotriomycin has been accomplished in 10-steps from a disaccharide building block. PMID:28684973

Scalable geocomputation: evolving an environmental model building platform from single-core to supercomputers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitz, Oliver; de Jong, Kor; Karssenberg, Derek

2017-04-01

There is an increasing demand to run environmental models on a big scale: simulations over large areas at high resolution. The heterogeneity of available computing hardware such as multi-core CPUs, GPUs or supercomputer potentially provides significant computing power to fulfil this demand. However, this requires detailed knowledge of the underlying hardware, parallel algorithm design and the implementation thereof in an efficient system programming language. Domain scientists such as hydrologists or ecologists often lack this specific software engineering knowledge, their emphasis is (and should be) on exploratory building and analysis of simulation models. As a result, models constructed by domain specialists mostly do not take full advantage of the available hardware. A promising solution is to separate the model building activity from software engineering by offering domain specialists a model building framework with pre-programmed building blocks that they combine to construct a model. The model building framework, consequently, needs to have built-in capabilities to make full usage of the available hardware. Developing such a framework providing understandable code for domain scientists and being runtime efficient at the same time poses several challenges on developers of such a framework. For example, optimisations can be performed on individual operations or the whole model, or tasks need to be generated for a well-balanced execution without explicitly knowing the complexity of the domain problem provided by the modeller. Ideally, a modelling framework supports the optimal use of available hardware whichsoever combination of model building blocks scientists use. We demonstrate our ongoing work on developing parallel algorithms for spatio-temporal modelling and demonstrate 1) PCRaster, an environmental software framework (http://www.pcraster.eu) providing spatio-temporal model building blocks and 2) parallelisation of about 50 of these building blocks using the new Fern library (https://github.com/geoneric/fern/), an independent generic raster processing library. Fern is a highly generic software library and its algorithms can be configured according to the configuration of a modelling framework. With manageable programming effort (e.g. matching data types between programming and domain language) we created a binding between Fern and PCRaster. The resulting PCRaster Python multicore module can be used to execute existing PCRaster models without having to make any changes to the model code. We show initial results on synthetic and geoscientific models indicating significant runtime improvements provided by parallel local and focal operations. We further outline challenges in improving remaining algorithms such as flow operations over digital elevation maps and further potential improvements like enhancing disk I/O.

Forensic intelligence framework. Part II: Study of the main generic building blocks and challenges through the examples of illicit drugs and false identity documents monitoring.

PubMed

Baechler, Simon; Morelato, Marie; Ribaux, Olivier; Beavis, Alison; Tahtouh, Mark; Kirkbride, K Paul; Esseiva, Pierre; Margot, Pierre; Roux, Claude

2015-05-01

The development of forensic intelligence relies on the expression of suitable models that better represent the contribution of forensic intelligence in relation to the criminal justice system, policing and security. Such models assist in comparing and evaluating methods and new technologies, provide transparency and foster the development of new applications. Interestingly, strong similarities between two separate projects focusing on specific forensic science areas were recently observed. These observations have led to the induction of a general model (Part I) that could guide the use of any forensic science case data in an intelligence perspective. The present article builds upon this general approach by focusing on decisional and organisational issues. The article investigates the comparison process and evaluation system that lay at the heart of the forensic intelligence framework, advocating scientific decision criteria and a structured but flexible and dynamic architecture. These building blocks are crucial and clearly lay within the expertise of forensic scientists. However, it is only part of the problem. Forensic intelligence includes other blocks with their respective interactions, decision points and tensions (e.g. regarding how to guide detection and how to integrate forensic information with other information). Formalising these blocks identifies many questions and potential answers. Addressing these questions is essential for the progress of the discipline. Such a process requires clarifying the role and place of the forensic scientist within the whole process and their relationship to other stakeholders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inquiring Minds

Science.gov Websites

and leptons seem to be the fundamental building blocks - but perhaps there is something even smaller properties of the fundamental building blocks of our universe, there are untold mysteries still to solve

Integrated prototyping environment for programmable automation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Costa, Francis; Hwang, Vincent S. S.; Khosla, Pradeep K.; Lumia, Ronald

1992-11-01

We propose a rapid prototyping environment for robotic systems, based on tenets of modularity, reconfigurability and extendibility that may help build robot systems `faster, better, and cheaper.' Given a task specification, (e.g., repair brake assembly), the user browses through a library of building blocks that include both hardware and software components. Software advisors or critics recommend how blocks may be `snapped' together to speedily construct alternative ways to satisfy task requirements. Mechanisms to allow `swapping' competing modules for comparative test and evaluation studies are also included in the prototyping environment. After some iterations, a stable configuration or `wiring diagram' emerges. This customized version of the general prototyping environment still contains all the hooks needed to incorporate future improvements in component technologies and to obviate unplanned obsolescence. The prototyping environment so described is relevant for both interactive robot programming (telerobotics) and iterative robot system development (prototyping).

A combinatorial code for pattern formation in Drosophila oogenesis.

PubMed

Yakoby, Nir; Bristow, Christopher A; Gong, Danielle; Schafer, Xenia; Lembong, Jessica; Zartman, Jeremiah J; Halfon, Marc S; Schüpbach, Trudi; Shvartsman, Stanislav Y

2008-11-01

Two-dimensional patterning of the follicular epithelium in Drosophila oogenesis is required for the formation of three-dimensional eggshell structures. Our analysis of a large number of published gene expression patterns in the follicle cells suggests that they follow a simple combinatorial code based on six spatial building blocks and the operations of union, difference, intersection, and addition. The building blocks are related to the distribution of inductive signals, provided by the highly conserved epidermal growth factor receptor and bone morphogenetic protein signaling pathways. We demonstrate the validity of the code by testing it against a set of patterns obtained in a large-scale transcriptional profiling experiment. Using the proposed code, we distinguish 36 distinct patterns for 81 genes expressed in the follicular epithelium and characterize their joint dynamics over four stages of oogenesis. The proposed combinatorial framework allows systematic analysis of the diversity and dynamics of two-dimensional transcriptional patterns and guides future studies of gene regulation.

Porous-Hybrid Polymers as Platforms for Heterogeneous Photochemical Catalysis.

PubMed

Haikal, Rana R; Wang, Xia; Hassan, Youssef S; Parida, Manas R; Murali, Banavoth; Mohammed, Omar F; Pellechia, Perry J; Fontecave, Marc; Alkordi, Mohamed H

2016-08-10

A number of permanently porous polymers containing Ru(bpy)n photosensitizer or a cobaloxime complex, as a proton-reduction catalyst, were constructed via one-pot Sonogashira-Hagihara (SH) cross-coupling reactions. This process required minimal workup to access porous platforms with control over the apparent surface area, pore volume, and chemical functionality from suitable molecular building blocks (MBBs) containing the Ru or Co complexes, as rigid and multitopic nodes. The cobaloxime molecular building block, generated through in situ metalation, afforded a microporous solid that demonstrated noticeable catalytic activity toward hydrogen-evolution reaction (HER) with remarkable recyclability. We further demonstrated, in two cases, the ability to affect the excited-state lifetime of the covalently immobilized Ru(bpy)3 complex attained through deliberate utilization of the organic linkers of variable dimensions. Overall, this approach facilitates construction of tunable porous solids, with hybrid composition and pronounced chemical and physical stability, based on the well-known Ru(bpy)nor the cobaloxime complexes.

Effective methodology to derive strategic decisions from ESA exploration technology roadmaps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cresto Aleina, Sara; Viola, Nicole; Fusaro, Roberta; Saccoccia, Giorgio

2016-09-01

Top priorities in future international space exploration missions regard the achievement of the necessary maturation of enabling technologies, thereby allowing Europe to play a role commensurate with its industrial, operational and scientific capabilities. As part of the actions derived from this commitment, ESA Technology Roadmaps for Exploration represent a powerful tool to prioritise R&D activities in technologies for space exploration and support the preparation of a consistent procurement plan for space exploration technologies in Europe. The roadmaps illustrate not only the technology procurement (to TRL-8) paths for specific missions envisaged in the present timeframe, but also the achievement for Europe of technological milestones enabling operational capabilities and building blocks, essential for current and future Exploration missions. Coordination of requirements and funding sources among all European stakeholders (ESA, EU, National, and Industry) is one of the objectives of these roadmaps, that show also possible application of the technologies beyond space exploration, both at ESA and outside. The present paper describes the activity that supports the work on-going at ESA on the elaboration and update of these roadmaps and related tools, in order to criticise the followed approach and to suggest methodologies of assessment of the Roadmaps, and to derive strategic decision for the advancement of Space Exploration in Europe. After a review of Technology Areas, Missions/Programmes and related building blocks (architectures) and operational capabilities, technology applicability analyses are presented. The aim is to identify if a specific technology is required, applicable or potentially a demonstrator in the building blocks of the proposed mission concepts. In this way, for each technology it is possible to outline one or more specific plans to increase TRL up to the required level. In practice, this translates into two possible solutions: on the one hand, approved mission concepts will be complemented with the required technologies if the latter can be considered as applicable or demo; on the other, if they are neither applicable nor demo, new missions, i.e. technology demonstrators based on multidisciplinary grouping of key technologies, shall be evaluated, so as to proceed through incremental steps. Finally, techniques to determine priorities in technology procurement are identified, and methodologies to rank the required technologies are proposed. In addition, a tool that estimates the percentage of technologies required for the final destination that are implementable in each intermediate destination of the incremental approach is presented.

Measuring health systems strength and its impact: experiences from the African Health Initiative.

PubMed

Sherr, Kenneth; Fernandes, Quinhas; Kanté, Almamy M; Bawah, Ayaga; Condo, Jeanine; Mutale, Wilbroad

2017-12-21

Health systems are essential platforms for accessible, quality health services, and population health improvements. Global health initiatives have dramatically increased health resources; however, funding to strengthen health systems has not increased commensurately, partially due to concerns about health system complexity and evidence gaps demonstrating health outcome improvements. In 2009, the African Health Initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation began supporting Population Health Implementation and Training Partnership projects in five sub-Saharan African countries (Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia) to catalyze significant advances in strengthening health systems. This manuscript reflects on the experience of establishing an evaluation framework to measure health systems strength, and associate measures with health outcomes, as part of this Initiative. Using the World Health Organization's health systems building block framework, the Partnerships present novel approaches to measure health systems building blocks and summarize data across and within building blocks to facilitate analytic procedures. Three Partnerships developed summary measures spanning the building blocks using principal component analysis (Ghana and Tanzania) or the balanced scorecard (Zambia). Other Partnerships developed summary measures to simplify multiple indicators within individual building blocks, including health information systems (Mozambique), and service delivery (Rwanda). At the end of the project intervention period, one to two key informants from each Partnership's leadership team were asked to list - in rank order - the importance of the six building blocks in relation to their intervention. Though there were differences across Partnerships, service delivery and information systems were reported to be the most common focus of interventions, followed by health workforce and leadership and governance. Medical products, vaccines and technologies, and health financing, were the building blocks reported to be of lower focus. The African Health Initiative experience furthers the science of evaluation for health systems strengthening, highlighting areas for further methodological development - including the development of valid, feasible measures sensitive to interventions in multiple contexts (particularly in leadership and governance) and describing interactions across building blocks; in developing summary statistics to facilitate testing intervention effects on health systems and associations with health status; and designing appropriate analytic models for complex, multi-level open health systems.

Systems thinking in practice: the current status of the six WHO building blocks for health system strengthening in three BHOMA intervention districts of Zambia: a baseline qualitative study.

PubMed

Mutale, Wilbroad; Bond, Virginia; Mwanamwenge, Margaret Tembo; Mlewa, Susan; Balabanova, Dina; Spicer, Neil; Ayles, Helen

2013-08-01

The primary bottleneck to achieving the MDGs in low-income countries is health systems that are too fragile to deliver the volume and quality of services to those in need. Strong and effective health systems are increasingly considered a prerequisite to reducing the disease burden and to achieving the health MDGs. Zambia is one of the countries that are lagging behind in achieving millennium development targets. Several barriers have been identified as hindering the progress towards health related millennium development goals. Designing an intervention that addresses these barriers was crucial and so the Better Health Outcomes through Mentorship (BHOMA) project was designed to address the challenges in the Zambia's MOH using a system wide approach. We applied systems thinking approach to describe the baseline status of the Six WHO building blocks for health system strengthening. A qualitative study was conducted looking at the status of the Six WHO building blocks for health systems strengthening in three BHOMA districts. We conducted Focus group discussions with community members and In-depth Interviews with key informants. Data was analyzed using Nvivo version 9. The study showed that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks which is an essential element of systems thinking. Challenges noted in service delivery were linked to human resources, medical supplies, information flow, governance and finance building blocks either directly or indirectly. Several barriers were identified as hindering access to health services by the local communities. These included supply side barriers: Shortage of qualified health workers, bad staff attitude, poor relationships between community and health staff, long waiting time, confidentiality and the gender of health workers. Demand side barriers: Long distance to health facility, cost of transport and cultural practices. Participating communities seemed to lack the capacity to hold health workers accountable for the drugs and services. The study has shown that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks. These linkages emphasised the need to use system wide approaches in assessing the performance of health system strengthening interventions.

Powered Explicit Guidance Modifications and Enhancements for Space Launch System Block-1 and Block-1B Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Von der Porten, Paul; Ahmad, Naeem; Hawkins, Matt; Fill, Thomas

2018-01-01

NASA is currently building the Space Launch System (SLS) Block-1 launch vehicle for the Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) test flight. NASA is also currently designing the next evolution of SLS, the Block-1B. The Block-1 and Block-1B vehicles will use the Powered Explicit Guidance (PEG) algorithm (of Space Shuttle heritage) for closed loop guidance. To accommodate vehicle capabilities and design for future evolutions of SLS, modifications were made to PEG for Block-1 to handle multi-phase burns, provide PEG updated propulsion information, and react to a core stage engine out. In addition, due to the relatively low thrust-to-weight ratio of the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) and EUS carrying out Lunar Vicinity and Earth Escape missions, certain enhancements to the Block-1 PEG algorithm are needed to perform Block-1B missions to account for long burn arcs and target translunar and hyperbolic orbits. This paper describes the design and implementation of modifications to the Block-1 PEG algorithm as compared to Space Shuttle. Furthermore, this paper illustrates challenges posed by the Block-1B vehicle and the required PEG enhancements. These improvements make PEG capable for use on the SLS Block-1B vehicle as part of the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) System.

Is There Space for the Objective Force?

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-04-07

force through the combination of precision weapons and knowledge-based warfare. Army forces will survive through information dominance , provided by a...Objective Forces. Space-based systems will be foundational building blocks for the Objective Force to achieve information dominance and satellite...communications required for information dominance across a distributed battlefield? Second, what exists to provide the Objective Force information

The history of the LHC

ScienceCinema

Evans, Lyn

2018-05-23

Abstract: From the civil engineering, to the manufacturing of the various magnet types, each building block of this extraordinary machine required ambitious leaps in innovation. This lecture will review the history of the LHC project, focusing on the many challenges -- scientific, technological, managerial -- that had to be met during the various phases of R&D, industrialization, construction, installation and commissioning.

SOA Governance: A Critical SOA Success Factor

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

Software Perspective Service Consumer Service Providers Interface Optimize tomorrow today. ® Building Blocks...of a SOA Service – Software implemented capability that is well-defined, self contained and does not depend on context or state of other services ... Service Consumer – Service , application or other software component that requires a specific service . – Located through registry – Initiates service

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-01-01

This chart provides a launch summary of the Saturn IB launch vehicle as of 1973. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the marned lunar missions.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-01-01

This 1968 chart depicts the various mission configurations for the Saturn IB launch vehicle. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the marned lunar missions.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-01-01

This 1968 chart illustrates the characteristics and proposed missions for the Saturn IB launch vehicle. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the marned lunar missions.

Rapid and annealing-free self-assembly of DNA building blocks for 3D hydrogel chaperoned by cationic comb-type copolymers.

PubMed

Zhang, Zheng; Wu, Yuyang; Yu, Feng; Niu, Chaoqun; Du, Zhi; Chen, Yong; Du, Jie

2017-10-01

The construction and self-assembly of DNA building blocks are the foundation of bottom-up development of three-dimensional DNA nanostructures or hydrogels. However, most self-assembly from DNA components is impeded by the mishybridized intermediates or the thermodynamic instability. To enable rapid production of complicated DNA objects with high yields no need for annealing process, herein different DNA building blocks (Y-shaped, L- and L'-shaped units) were assembled in presence of a cationic comb-type copolymer, poly (L-lysine)-graft-dextran (PLL-g-Dex), under physiological conditions. The results demonstrated that PLL-g-Dex not only significantly promoted the self-assembly of DNA blocks with high efficiency, but also stabilized the assembled multi-level structures especially for promoting the complicated 3D DNA hydrogel formation. This study develops a novel strategy for rapid and high-yield production of DNA hydrogel even derived from instable building blocks at relatively low DNA concentrations, which would endow DNA nanotechnology for more practical applications.

Environment‐Adaptive Coassembly/Self‐Sorting and Stimulus‐Responsiveness Transfer Based on Cholesterol Building Blocks

PubMed Central

Xing, Pengyao; Tham, Huijun Phoebe; Li, Peizhou; Chen, Hongzhong; Xiang, Huijing

2017-01-01

Abstract Manipulating the property transfer in nanosystems is a challenging task since it requires switchable molecular packing such as separate aggregation (self‐sorting) or synergistic aggregation (coassembly). Herein, a unique manipulation of self‐sorting/coassembly aggregation and the observation of switchable stimulus‐responsiveness transfer in a two component self‐assembly system are reported. Two building blocks bearing the same cholesterol group give versatile topological structures in polar and nonpolar solvents. One building block (cholesterol conjugated cynanostilbene, CCS) consists of cholesterol conjugated with a cynanostilbene unit, and the other one (C10CN) is comprised of cholesterol connected with a naphthalimide group having a flexible long alkyl chain. Their assemblies including gel, crystalline plates, and vesicles are obtained. In gel and crystalline plate phases, the self‐sorting behavior dominates, while synergistic coassembly occurs in vesicle phase. Since CCS having the cyanostilbene group can respond to the light irradiation, it undergoes light‐induced chiral amplification. C10CN is thermally responsive, whereby its supramolecular chirality is inversed upon heating. In coassembled vesicles, it is interestingly observed that their responsiveness can be transferred by each other, i.e., the C10CN segment is sensitive to the light irradiation, while CCS is thermoresponsive. This unprecedented behavior of the property transfer may shine a light to the precise fabrication of smart materials. PMID:29375976

Comparative analysis of three prehospital emergency medical services organizations in India and Pakistan.

PubMed

Sriram, V; Gururaj, G; Razzak, J A; Naseer, R; Hyder, A A

2016-08-01

Strengthened emergency medical services (EMS) are urgently required in South Asia to reduce needless death and disability. Several EMS models have been introduced in India and Pakistan, and research on these models can facilitate improvements to EMS in the region. Our objective was to conduct a cross-case comparative analysis of three EMS organizations in India and Pakistan - GVK EMRI, Aman Foundation and Rescue 1122 - in order to draw out similarities and differences in their models. Case study methodology was used to systematically explore the organizational models of GVK EMRI (Karnataka, India), Aman Foundation (Karachi, Pakistan), and Rescue 1122 (Punjab, Pakistan). Qualitative methods - interviews, document review and non-participant observation - were utilized, and using a process of constant comparison, data were analysed across cases according to the WHO health system 'building blocks'. Emergent themes under each health system 'building block' of service delivery, health workforce, medical products and technology, health information systems, leadership and governance, and financing were described. Cross-cutting issues not applicable to any single building block were further identified. This cross-case comparison, the first of its kind in low- and middle-income countries, highlights key innovations and lessons, and areas of further research across EMS organizations in India, Pakistan and other resource-poor settings. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New approach for teaching health promotion in the community: integration of three nursing courses.

PubMed

Moshe-Eilon, Yael; Shemy, Galia

2003-07-01

The complexity of the health care system and its interdisciplinary nature require that each component of the system redefine its professional framework, relative advantage, and unique contribution as an independent discipline. In choosing the most efficient and cost-effective work-force, each profession in the health care system must clarify its importance and contribution, otherwise functions will overlap and financial resources will be wasted. As rapid and wide-ranging changes occur in the health care system, the nursing profession must display a new and comprehensive vision that projects its values, beliefs, and relationships with and commitment to both patients and coworkers. The plans to fulfill this vision must be described clearly. This article presents part of a new professional paradigm developed by the nursing department of the University of Haifa, Israel. Three main topics are addressed: The building blocks of the new vision (i.e., community and health promotion, managerial skills, academic research). Integration of the building blocks into the 4-year baccalaureate degree program (i.e., how to practice health promotion with students in the community setting; managerial nursing skills at the baccalaureate level, including which to choose and to what depth and how to teach them; and academic nursing research, including the best way to teach basic research skills and implement them via a community project). Two senior student projects, demonstrating practical linking of the building blocks.

Time-varying metamaterials based on graphene-wrapped microwires: Modeling and potential applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salary, Mohammad Mahdi; Jafar-Zanjani, Samad; Mosallaei, Hossein

2018-03-01

The successful realization of metamaterials and metasurfaces requires the judicious choice of constituent elements. In this paper, we demonstrate the implementation of time-varying metamaterials in the terahertz frequency regime by utilizing graphene-wrapped microwires as building blocks and modulation of graphene conductivity through exterior electrical gating. These elements enable enhancement of light-graphene interaction by utilizing optical resonances associated with Mie scattering, yielding a large tunability and modulation depth. We develop a semianalytical framework based on transition-matrix formulation for modeling and analysis of periodic and aperiodic arrays of such time-varying building blocks. The proposed method is validated against full-wave numerical results obtained using the finite-difference time-domain method. It provides an ideal tool for mathematical synthesis and analysis of space-time gradient metamaterials, eliminating the need for computationally expensive numerical models. Moreover, it allows for a wider exploration of exotic space-time scattering phenomena in time-modulated metamaterials. We apply the method to explore the role of modulation parameters in the generation of frequency harmonics and their emerging wavefronts. Several potential applications of such platforms are demonstrated, including frequency conversion, holographic generation of frequency harmonics, and spatiotemporal manipulation of light. The presented results provide key physical insights to design time-modulated functional metadevices using various building blocks and open up new directions in the emerging paradigm of time-modulated metamaterials.

SSMNG Software Service Manager: A Scalable Building Blocks Architecture for PUS Services & FDIR Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lisio, Giovanni; Candia, Sante; Campolo, Giovanni; Pascucci, Dario

2011-08-01

Thales Alenia Space Italy has carried out the definition of a configurable (on mission basis) PUS ECSS-E_70- 41A see [3] Centralised Services Layer, characterised by:- a mission-independent set of 'classes' implementing the services logic.- a mission-dependent set of configuration data and selection flags.The software components belonging to this layer implement the PUS standard services ECSS-E_70-41A and a set of mission-specific services. The design of this layer has been performed by separating the services mechanisms (mission-independent execution logic) from the services configuration information (mission-dependent data). Once instantiated for a specific mission, the PUS Centralised Services Layer offers a large set of capabilities available to the CSCI's Applications Layer. This paper describes the building blocks PUS architectural solution developed by Thales Alenia Space Italy, emphasizing the mechanisms which allow easy configuration of the Scalable PUS library to fulfill the requirements of different missions. This paper also focus the Thales Alenia Space solution to automatically generate the mission-specific "PUS Services" flight software based on mission specific requirements. Building the PUS services mechanisms, which are configurable on mission basis is part of the PRIMA (Multipurpose Spacecraft Bus ) 'missionisation' process improvement. PRIMA Platform Avionics Software (ASW) is continuously evolving to improve modularity and standardization of interfaces and of SW components (see references in [1]).

An Approach for On-Board Software Building Blocks Cooperation and Interfaces Definition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascucci, Dario; Campolo, Giovanni; Candia, Sante; Lisio, Giovanni

2010-08-01

This paper provides an insight on the Avionic SW architecture developed by Thales Alenia Space Italy (TAS-I) to achieve structuring of the OBSW as a set of self-standing and re-usable building blocks. It is initially described the underlying framework for building blocks cooperation, which is based on ECSSE-70 packets forwarding (for services request to a building block) and standard parameters exchange for data communication. Subsequently it is discussed the high level of flexibility and scalability of the resulting architecture, reporting as example an implementation of the Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) function which exploits the proposed architecture. The presented approach evolves from avionic SW architecture developed in the scope of the project PRIMA (Mult-Purpose Italian Re-configurable Platform) and has been adopted for the Sentinel-1 Avionic Software (ASW).

Polymeric composites on the basis of Martian ground for building future mars stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukbaniani, O. V.; Aneli, J. N.; Markarashvili, E. G.; Tarasashvili, M. V.; Aleksidze, N. D.

2016-04-01

The colonization of Mars will require obtaining building materials which can be put in place and processed into buildings via various constructive technologies. We tried to use artificial Martian ground - AMG (GEO PAT 11-234 (2015)) and special resins for the preparation of building block prototypes. The composite material has been obtained based on the AMG as filler, epoxy resin (type ED-20) and tetraethoxysilane - TEOS. We have studied strengthening - softening temperatures and water absorption of the AMG polymer composites that are determined by epoxy resin and TEOS modification. Comparison of the experimental results shows that composites containing modified filler have higher values of the maximum ultimate strength, resistance and flexibility parameters than unmodified composites with definite loading. Modified composites also have a higher softening temperature and lower water absorption.

15. WEST SIDE OF 1900 BLOCK, PACIFIC AVE. FROM RIGHT; ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

15. WEST SIDE OF 1900 BLOCK, PACIFIC AVE. FROM RIGHT; 1920-22 PACIFIC AVE., WIEGAL COMPANY CANDY FACTORY (1904); 1924-26 PACIFIC AVE., CAMPBELL BUILDING (DAVIS BUILDING) (1890); 1928-30 PACIFIC AVE., REESE-CRANDALL & REDMAN BUILDING, (1890); 1932-36 PACIFIC AVE., MC DONALD & SMITH BUILDING (1890); 1938-48 PACIFIC AVE., F.S. HARMON COMPANY WAREHOUSE (1908), DESIGNED BY CARL AUGUST DARMER. - Union Depot Area Study, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

How Crossover Speeds up Building Block Assembly in Genetic Algorithms.

PubMed

Sudholt, Dirk

2017-01-01

We reinvestigate a fundamental question: How effective is crossover in genetic algorithms in combining building blocks of good solutions? Although this has been discussed controversially for decades, we are still lacking a rigorous and intuitive answer. We provide such answers for royal road functions and OneMax, where every bit is a building block. For the latter, we show that using crossover makes every ([Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]) genetic algorithm at least twice as fast as the fastest evolutionary algorithm using only standard bit mutation, up to small-order terms and for moderate [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Crossover is beneficial because it can capitalize on mutations that have both beneficial and disruptive effects on building blocks: crossover is able to repair the disruptive effects of mutation in later generations. Compared to mutation-based evolutionary algorithms, this makes multibit mutations more useful. Introducing crossover changes the optimal mutation rate on OneMax from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text]. This holds both for uniform crossover and k-point crossover. Experiments and statistical tests confirm that our findings apply to a broad class of building block functions.

Silicene Flowers: A Dual Stabilized Silicon Building Block for High-Performance Lithium Battery Anodes.

PubMed

Zhang, Xinghao; Qiu, Xiongying; Kong, Debin; Zhou, Lu; Li, Zihao; Li, Xianglong; Zhi, Linjie

2017-07-25

Nanostructuring is a transformative way to improve the structure stability of high capacity silicon for lithium batteries. Yet, the interface instability issue remains and even propagates in the existing nanostructured silicon building blocks. Here we demonstrate an intrinsically dual stabilized silicon building block, namely silicene flowers, to simultaneously address the structure and interface stability issues. These original Si building blocks as lithium battery anodes exhibit extraordinary combined performance including high gravimetric capacity (2000 mAh g -1 at 800 mA g -1 ), high volumetric capacity (1799 mAh cm -3 ), remarkable rate capability (950 mAh g -1 at 8 A g -1 ), and excellent cycling stability (1100 mA h g -1 at 2000 mA g -1 over 600 cycles). Paired with a conventional cathode, the fabricated full cells deliver extraordinarily high specific energy and energy density (543 Wh kg ca -1 and 1257 Wh L ca -1 , respectively) based on the cathode and anode, which are 152% and 239% of their commercial counterparts using graphite anodes. Coupled with a simple, cost-effective, scalable synthesis approach, this silicon building block offers a horizon for the development of high-performance batteries.

Modular Assembly of Hierarchically Structured Polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leophairatana, Porakrit

The synthesis of macromolecules with complex yet highly controlled molecular architectures has attracted significant attention in the past few decades due to the growing demand for specialty polymers that possess novel properties. Despite recent efforts, current synthetic routes lack the ability to control several important architectural variables while maintaining low polydispersity index. This dissertation explores a new synthetic scheme for the modular assembly of hierarchically structured polymers (MAHP) that allows virtually any complex polymer to be assembled from a few basic molecular building blocks using a single common coupling chemistry. Complex polymer structures can be assembled from a molecular toolkit consisting of (1) copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), (2) linear heterobifunctional macromonomers, (3) a branching heterotrifunctional molecule, (4) a protection/deprotection strategy, (5) "click" functional solid substrates, and (6) functional and responsive polymers. This work addresses the different challenges that emerged during the development of this synthetic scheme, and presents strategies to overcome those challenges. Chapter 3 investigates the alkyne-alkyne (i.e. Glaser) coupling side reactions associated with the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) synthesis of alkyne-functional macromonomers, as well as with the CuAAC reaction of alkyne functional building blocks. In typical ATRP synthesis of unprotected alkyne functional polymers, Glaser coupling reactions can significantly compromise the polymer functionality and undermine the success of subsequent click reactions in which the polymers are used. Two strategies are reported that effectively eliminate these coupling reactions: (1) maintaining low temperature post-ATRP upon exposure to air, followed by immediate removal of copper catalyst; and (2) adding excess reducing agents post-ATRP, which prevents the oxidation of Cu(I) catalyst required by the Glaser coupling mechanism. Post-ATRP Glaser coupling was also influenced by the ATRP synthesis ligand used. The order of ligand activity for catalyzing Glaser coupling was: linear bidentate > tridentate > tetradentate. Glaser coupling can also occur for alkynes held under CuAAC reaction conditions but again can be eliminated by adding appropriate reducing agents. With the strategy presented in Chapter 3, alkyne-terminated polymers of high-functionality were produced without the need for alkyne protecting groups. These "click" functional building blocks were employed to investigate the overall efficiency of the CuAAC "click" coupling reactions between alkyne- and azide-terminated macromonomers as discussed in Chapter 4. Quantitative convolution modeling of the entire molecular weight distribution post-CuAAC indicates a CuAAC efficiency of about 94% and an azide substitution efficiency of >99%. However, incomplete functionality of the azide-terminated macromonomer (˜92%) proves to be the largest factor compromising the overall efficacy of the coupling reactions, and is attributed primarily to the loss of bromine functionality during synthesis by ATRP. To address this issue, we discuss in Chapter 6 the development of a new set of molecular building blocks consisting of alkyne functional substrates and heterobifunctional degradable linkers that allow the growth and subsequent detachment of polymers from the solid substrate. Complex polymeric structures are created by progressive cycles of CuAAC and deprotection reactions that add building blocks to the growing polymer chain ends. We demonstrate that these building blocks were completely stable under both CuAAC and deprotection reaction conditions. Since the desired product is covalently bound to the solid surface, the unreacted monomers/macromonomers and by-products (i.e. non-functional building blocks) can be easily separated from the product via removal of the polymer-tethered solid substrate in one step. Chapter 5 discusses how MAHP was employed to prepare a variety of hierarchically structured polymers and copolymers with controlled branching architectures. alpha-azido,o-TIPS-alkyne-heterobifunctional and heterotrifunctional building blocks were first prepared via ATRP and organic synthesis. Preliminary NMR and SEC studies demonstrated that these building blocks all satisfied the criteria necessary for MAHP: (1) the TIPS protecting group is stable during ATRP and CuAAC, (2) the "click" functionality is completely regenerated during the deprotection step, and (3) the CuAAC reaction of branching macromonomers is quantitative (>94%). To demonstrate the concept, poly(n-butyl acrylate)-b-dipolystyrene- b-dipoly(tert-butyl acrylate) penta-block branching copolymacromer was prepared via MAHP and quantitively characterized with SEC and NMR. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Single molecule magnets from magnetic building blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroener, W.; Paretzki, A.; Cervetti, C.; Hohloch, S.; Rauschenbach, S.; Kern, K.; Dressel, M.; Bogani, L.; M&üLler, P.

2013-03-01

We provide a basic set of magnetic building blocks that can be rationally assembled, similar to magnetic LEGO bricks, in order to create a huge variety of magnetic behavior. Using rare-earth centers and multipyridine ligands, fine-tuning of intra and intermolecular exchange interaction is demonstrated. We have investigated a series of molecules with monomeric, dimeric and trimeric lanthanide centers using SQUID susceptometry and Hall bar magnetometry. A home-made micro-Hall-probe magnetometer was used to measure magnetic hysteresis loops at mK temperatures and fields up to 17 T. All compounds show hysteresis below blocking temperatures of 3 to 4 K. The correlation of the assembly of the building blocks with the magnetic properties will be discussed.

Embeddable Reconfigurable Neuroprocessors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daud, Taher; Duong, Tuan; Langenbacher, Harry; Tran, Mua; Thakoor, Anil

1993-01-01

Reconfigurable and cascadable building block neural network chips, fabricated using analog VLSI design tools, are interfaced to a PC. The building block chip designs, the cascadability and the hardware-in-the-loop supervised learning aspects of these chips are described.

Tops as building blocks for G 2 manifolds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, Andreas P.

2017-10-01

A large number of examples of compact G 2 manifolds, relevant to supersymmetric compactifications of M-Theory to four dimensions, can be constructed by forming a twisted connected sum of two building blocks times a circle. These building blocks, which are appropriate K3-fibred threefolds, are shown to have a natural and elegant construction in terms of tops, which parallels the construction of Calabi-Yau manifolds via reflexive polytopes. In particular, this enables us to prove combinatorial formulas for the Hodge numbers and other relevant topological data.

Origami-inspired building block and parametric design for mechanical metamaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Wei; Ma, Hua; Feng, Mingde; Yan, Leilei; Wang, Jiafu; Wang, Jun; Qu, Shaobo

2016-08-01

An origami-based building block of mechanical metamaterials is proposed and explained by introducing a mechanism model based on its geometry. According to our model, this origami mechanism supports response to uniaxial tension that depends on structure parameters. Hence, its mechanical properties can be tunable by adjusting the structure parameters. Experiments for poly lactic acid (PLA) samples were carried out, and the results are in good agreement with those of finite element analysis (FEA). This work may be useful for designing building blocks of mechanical metamaterials or other complex mechanical structures.

Large space erectable structures - building block structures study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, W. H.; Skoumal, D. E.; Straayer, J. W.

1977-01-01

A modular planar truss structure and a long slender boom concept identified as building block approaches to construction of large spacecraft configurations are described. The concepts are compatible in weight and volume goals with the Space Transportation System, use standard structural units, and represent high on-orbit productivity in terms of structural area or beam length. Results of structural trade studies involving static and dynamic analyses of a single module and rigid body deployment analyses to assess kinetics and kinematics of automatic deployment of the building block modules are presented.

Tunable Encapsulation Structure of Block Copolymer Coated Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in Aqueous Solution

DOE PAGES

Han, Youngkyu; Ahn, Suk-Kyun; Zhang, Zhe; ...

2015-05-15

The nano-sized and shape-tunable molecular building blocks can provide great opportunities for the fabrication of precisely controlled nanostructures. In this work, we have fabricated a molecular building block of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) coated by PPO-PEO-PPO block copolymers whose encapsulation structure can be controlled via temperature or addition of small molecules. The structure and optical properties of SWNT-block copolymers have been investigated by small angle neutron scattering (SANS), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The structure of the hydrated block copolymer layer surrounding SWNT can be controlled reversibly by varying temperature as well asmore » by irreversibly adding 5-methylsalicylic acid (5MS). Increasing hydrophobicity of the polymers with temperature and strong tendency of 5MS to interact with both block copolymers and orbitals of the SWNTs are likely to be responsible for the significant structural change of the block copolymer encapsulation layer, from loose corona shell to tightly encapsulating compact shell. These result shows an efficient and simple way to fabricate and manipulate carbon-based nano building blocks in aqueous systems with tunable structure.« less

Coding the Assembly of Polyoxotungstates with a Programmable Reaction System.

PubMed

Ruiz de la Oliva, Andreu; Sans, Victor; Miras, Haralampos N; Long, De-Liang; Cronin, Leroy

2017-05-01

Chemical transformations are normally conducted in batch or flow mode, thereby allowing the chemistry to be temporally or spatially controlled, but these approaches are not normally combined dynamically. However, the investigation of the underlying chemistry masked by the self-assembly processes that often occur in one-pot reactions and exploitation of the potential of complex chemical systems requires control in both time and space. Additionally, maintaining the intermediate constituents of a self-assembled system "off equilibrium" and utilizing them dynamically at specific time intervals provide access to building blocks that cannot coexist under one-pot conditions and ultimately to the formation of new clusters. Herein, we implement the concept of a programmable networked reaction system, allowing us to connect discrete "one-pot" reactions that produce the building block{W 11 O 38 } ≡ {W 11 } under different conditions and control, in real time, the assembly of a series of polyoxometalate clusters {W 12 O 42 } ≡ {W 12 }, {W 22 O 74 } ≡ {W 22 } 1a, {W 34 O 116 } ≡ {W 34 } 2a, and {W 36 O 120 } ≡ {W 36 } 3a, using pH and ultraviolet-visible monitoring. The programmable networked reaction system reveals that is possible to assemble a range of different clusters using {W 11 }-based building blocks, demonstrating the relationship between the clusters within the family of iso-polyoxotungstates, with the final structural motif being entirely dependent on the building block libraries generated in each separate reaction space within the network. In total, this approach led to the isolation of five distinct inorganic clusters using a "fixed" set of reagents and using a fully automated sequence code, rather than five entirely different reaction protocols. As such, this approach allows us to discover, record, and implement complex one-pot reaction syntheses in a more general way, increasing the yield and reproducibility and potentially giving access to nonspecialists.

Coding the Assembly of Polyoxotungstates with a Programmable Reaction System

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Chemical transformations are normally conducted in batch or flow mode, thereby allowing the chemistry to be temporally or spatially controlled, but these approaches are not normally combined dynamically. However, the investigation of the underlying chemistry masked by the self-assembly processes that often occur in one-pot reactions and exploitation of the potential of complex chemical systems requires control in both time and space. Additionally, maintaining the intermediate constituents of a self-assembled system “off equilibrium” and utilizing them dynamically at specific time intervals provide access to building blocks that cannot coexist under one-pot conditions and ultimately to the formation of new clusters. Herein, we implement the concept of a programmable networked reaction system, allowing us to connect discrete “one-pot” reactions that produce the building block{W11O38} ≡ {W11} under different conditions and control, in real time, the assembly of a series of polyoxometalate clusters {W12O42} ≡ {W12}, {W22O74} ≡ {W22} 1a, {W34O116} ≡ {W34} 2a, and {W36O120} ≡ {W36} 3a, using pH and ultraviolet–visible monitoring. The programmable networked reaction system reveals that is possible to assemble a range of different clusters using {W11}-based building blocks, demonstrating the relationship between the clusters within the family of iso-polyoxotungstates, with the final structural motif being entirely dependent on the building block libraries generated in each separate reaction space within the network. In total, this approach led to the isolation of five distinct inorganic clusters using a “fixed” set of reagents and using a fully automated sequence code, rather than five entirely different reaction protocols. As such, this approach allows us to discover, record, and implement complex one-pot reaction syntheses in a more general way, increasing the yield and reproducibility and potentially giving access to nonspecialists. PMID:28414229

View of the southwest guard tower, cell blocks seven and ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

View of the southwest guard tower, cell blocks seven and eight, administration building west tower, and Fairmount Avenue, looking from the administration building facing west - Eastern State Penitentiary, 2125 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Synthesis of most polyene natural product motifs using just 12 building blocks and one coupling reaction.

PubMed

Woerly, Eric M; Roy, Jahnabi; Burke, Martin D

2014-06-01

The inherent modularity of polypeptides, oligonucleotides and oligosaccharides has been harnessed to achieve generalized synthesis platforms. Importantly, like these other targets, most small-molecule natural products are biosynthesized via iterative coupling of bifunctional building blocks. This suggests that many small molecules also possess inherent modularity commensurate with systematic building block-based construction. Supporting this hypothesis, here we report that the polyene motifs found in >75% of all known polyene natural products can be synthesized using just 12 building blocks and one coupling reaction. Using the same general retrosynthetic algorithm and reaction conditions, this platform enabled both the synthesis of a wide range of polyene frameworks that covered all of this natural-product chemical space and the first total syntheses of the polyene natural products asnipyrone B, physarigin A and neurosporaxanthin b-D-glucopyranoside. Collectively, these results suggest the potential for a more generalized approach to making small molecules in the laboratory.

Synthesis of most polyene natural product motifs using just 12 building blocks and one coupling reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woerly, Eric M.; Roy, Jahnabi; Burke, Martin D.

2014-06-01

The inherent modularity of polypeptides, oligonucleotides and oligosaccharides has been harnessed to achieve generalized synthesis platforms. Importantly, like these other targets, most small-molecule natural products are biosynthesized via iterative coupling of bifunctional building blocks. This suggests that many small molecules also possess inherent modularity commensurate with systematic building block-based construction. Supporting this hypothesis, here we report that the polyene motifs found in >75% of all known polyene natural products can be synthesized using just 12 building blocks and one coupling reaction. Using the same general retrosynthetic algorithm and reaction conditions, this platform enabled both the synthesis of a wide range of polyene frameworks that covered all of this natural-product chemical space and the first total syntheses of the polyene natural products asnipyrone B, physarigin A and neurosporaxanthin β-D-glucopyranoside. Collectively, these results suggest the potential for a more generalized approach to making small molecules in the laboratory.

A VLSI decomposition of the deBruijn graph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, O.; Dolinar, S.; Mceliece, R.; Pollara, F.

1990-01-01

A new Viterbi decoder for convolutional codes with constraint lengths up to 15, called the Big Viterbi Decoder, is under development for the Deep Space Network. It will be demonstrated by decoding data from the Galileo spacecraft, which has a rate 1/4, constraint-length 15 convolutional encoder on board. Here, the mathematical theory underlying the design of the very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) chips that are being used to build this decoder is explained. The deBruijn graph B sub n describes the topology of a fully parallel, rate 1/v, constraint length n+2 Viterbi decoder, and it is shown that B sub n can be built by appropriately wiring together (i.e., connecting together with extra edges) many isomorphic copies of a fixed graph called a B sub n building block. The efficiency of such a building block is defined as the fraction of the edges in B sub n that are present in the copies of the building block. It is shown, among other things, that for any alpha less than 1, there exists a graph G which is a B sub n building block of efficiency greater than alpha for all sufficiently large n. These results are illustrated by describing a special hierarchical family of deBruijn building blocks, which has led to the design of the gate-array chips being used in the Big Viterbi Decoder.

76 FR 13078 - Airworthiness Directives; Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. Model EA500 Airplanes Equipped With a Pratt and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-10

... operating altitude of 37,000 feet into Section 2, Limitations, of the airplane flight manual (AFM). This AD requires you to incorporate operating limitations of maximum operating altitude of 30,000 feet into Section... due to hard carbon build up blocking the static vanes has continued to occur at 37,000 feet altitude...

49 CFR 393.118 - What are the rules for securing dressed lumber or similar building products?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Shifting and Falling Cargo Specific Securement Requirements by Commodity Type § 393.118 What are the rules... transported using no more than one tier. Bundles carried on one tier must be secured in accordance with the... one tier. Bundles carried in more than one tier must be either: (1) Blocked against lateral movement...

Development of deployable structures for large space platform systems, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Generic deployable spacecraft configurations and deployable platform systems concepts were identified. Sizing, building block concepts, orbiter packaging, thermal analysis, cost analysis, and mass properties analysis as related to platform systems integration are considered. Technology needs are examined and the major criteria used in concept selection are delineated. Requirements for deployable habitat modules, tunnels, and OTV hangars are considered.

Nanobiotechnology with S-layer proteins as building blocks.

PubMed

Sleytr, Uwe B; Schuster, Bernhard; Egelseer, Eva M; Pum, Dietmar; Horejs, Christine M; Tscheliessnig, Rupert; Ilk, Nicola

2011-01-01

One of the key challenges in nanobiotechnology is the utilization of self- assembly systems, wherein molecules spontaneously associate into reproducible aggregates and supramolecular structures. In this contribution, we describe the basic principles of crystalline bacterial surface layers (S-layers) and their use as patterning elements. The broad application potential of S-layers in nanobiotechnology is based on the specific intrinsic features of the monomolecular arrays composed of identical protein or glycoprotein subunits. Most important, physicochemical properties and functional groups on the protein lattice are arranged in well-defined positions and orientations. Many applications of S-layers depend on the capability of isolated subunits to recrystallize into monomolecular arrays in suspension or on suitable surfaces (e.g., polymers, metals, silicon wafers) or interfaces (e.g., lipid films, liposomes, emulsomes). S-layers also represent a unique structural basis and patterning element for generating more complex supramolecular structures involving all major classes of biological molecules (e.g., proteins, lipids, glycans, nucleic acids, or combinations of these). Thus, S-layers fulfill key requirements as building blocks for the production of new supramolecular materials and nanoscale devices as required in molecular nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, biomimetics, and synthetic biology. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Working Model of Protein Synthesis Using Lego(TM) Building Blocks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Templin, Mark A.; Fetters, Marcia K.

2002-01-01

Uses Lego building blocks to improve the effectiveness of teaching about protein synthesis. Provides diagrams and pictures for a 2-3 day student activity. Discusses mRNA, transfer RNA, and a protein synthesis model. (MVL)

Enantiopure heterobimetallic single-chain magnets from the chiral Ru(III) building block.

PubMed

Ru, Jing; Gao, Feng; Wu, Tao; Yao, Min-Xia; Li, Yi-Zhi; Zuo, Jing-Lin

2014-01-21

A pair of one-dimensional enantiomers based on the versatile chiral dicyanoruthenate(III) building block have been synthesized and they are chiral single-chain magnets with the effective spin-reversal barrier of 28.2 K.

Systems thinking in practice: the current status of the six WHO building blocks for health system strengthening in three BHOMA intervention districts of Zambia: a baseline qualitative study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The primary bottleneck to achieving the MDGs in low-income countries is health systems that are too fragile to deliver the volume and quality of services to those in need. Strong and effective health systems are increasingly considered a prerequisite to reducing the disease burden and to achieving the health MDGs. Zambia is one of the countries that are lagging behind in achieving millennium development targets. Several barriers have been identified as hindering the progress towards health related millennium development goals. Designing an intervention that addresses these barriers was crucial and so the Better Health Outcomes through Mentorship (BHOMA) project was designed to address the challenges in the Zambia’s MOH using a system wide approach. We applied systems thinking approach to describe the baseline status of the Six WHO building blocks for health system strengthening. Methods A qualitative study was conducted looking at the status of the Six WHO building blocks for health systems strengthening in three BHOMA districts. We conducted Focus group discussions with community members and In-depth Interviews with key informants. Data was analyzed using Nvivo version 9. Results The study showed that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks which is an essential element of systems thinking. Challenges noted in service delivery were linked to human resources, medical supplies, information flow, governance and finance building blocks either directly or indirectly. Several barriers were identified as hindering access to health services by the local communities. These included supply side barriers: Shortage of qualified health workers, bad staff attitude, poor relationships between community and health staff, long waiting time, confidentiality and the gender of health workers. Demand side barriers: Long distance to health facility, cost of transport and cultural practices. Participating communities seemed to lack the capacity to hold health workers accountable for the drugs and services. Conclusion The study has shown that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks. These linkages emphasised the need to use system wide approaches in assessing the performance of health system strengthening interventions. PMID:23902601

Dendronized Metal Nanoparticles-Self-Organizing Building Blocks for the Design of New Functional Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

characterization has just started.       The hybrids that we have synthesized are based on plasmonic gold and  silver   nanoparticles  (NPs) but  the concept  is...AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2016-0010 Dendronized metal nanoparticles - self-organizing building blocks for the design of new functional materials Bertrand...2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Dendronized metal nanoparticles - self-organizing building blocks for the design of new functional materials 5a. CONTRACT

A mixed molecular building block strategy for the design of nested polyhedron metal-organic frameworks.

PubMed

Tian, Dan; Chen, Qiang; Li, Yue; Zhang, Ying-Hui; Chang, Ze; Bu, Xian-He

2014-01-13

A mixed molecular building block (MBB) strategy for the synthesis of double-walled cage-based porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is presented. By means of this method, two isostructural porous MOFs built from unprecedented double-walled metal-organic octahedron were obtained by introducing two size-matching C3 -symmetric molecular building blocks with different rigidities. With their unique framework structures, these MOFs provide, to the best of our knowledge, the first examples of double-walled octahedron-based MOFs. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Three dimensional Origami-based metamaterial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamrava, Soroush; Mousanezhad, Davood; Ebrahimi, Hamid; Ghosh, Ranajay; Vaziri, Ashkan; High Performance Materials; Structures Labratory Team

We present a novel cellular metamaterial constructed from Origami building blocks based on Miura-ori fold. The proposed cellular metamaterial exhibits unusual properties some of which stemming from the inherent properties of its Origami building blocks, and others manifesting due to its unique geometrical construction and architecture. These properties include foldability with two fully-folded configurations, auxeticity (i.e., negative Poisson's ratio), bistability, and self-locking of Origami building blocks to construct load-bearing cellular metamaterials. The kinematics and force response of the cellular metamaterial during folding were studied to investigate the underlying mechanisms resulting in its unique properties using analytical modeling and experiments.

PERTS: A Prototyping Environment for Real-Time Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Jane W. S.; Lin, Kwei-Jay; Liu, C. L.

1991-01-01

We discuss an ongoing project to build a Prototyping Environment for Real-Time Systems, called PERTS. PERTS is a unique prototyping environment in that it has (1) tools and performance models for the analysis and evaluation of real-time prototype systems, (2) building blocks for flexible real-time programs and the support system software, (3) basic building blocks of distributed and intelligent real time applications, and (4) an execution environment. PERTS will make the recent and future theoretical advances in real-time system design and engineering readily usable to practitioners. In particular, it will provide an environment for the use and evaluation of new design approaches, for experimentation with alternative system building blocks and for the analysis and performance profiling of prototype real-time systems.

Transportable Payload Operations Control Center reusable software: Building blocks for quality ground data systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahmot, Ron; Koslosky, John T.; Beach, Edward; Schwarz, Barbara

1994-01-01

The Mission Operations Division (MOD) at Goddard Space Flight Center builds Mission Operations Centers which are used by Flight Operations Teams to monitor and control satellites. Reducing system life cycle costs through software reuse has always been a priority of the MOD. The MOD's Transportable Payload Operations Control Center development team established an extensive library of 14 subsystems with over 100,000 delivered source instructions of reusable, generic software components. Nine TPOCC-based control centers to date support 11 satellites and achieved an average software reuse level of more than 75 percent. This paper shares experiences of how the TPOCC building blocks were developed and how building block developer's, mission development teams, and users are all part of the process.

Application of large-area chromogenics to architectural glazings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selkowitz, Stephen E.

1990-03-01

Glass plays a significant role in the design of building envelopes today. Since its emergence during the last century as a major building material, glass has evolved into an ubiquitous and versatile building design element, performing functions today that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. The optical clarity and transparency of glass that we take for granted is one of its most unique features. Glass windows keep out the cold wind and rain without blocking the view, but also perform many more complex functions which require variable properties and tradeoffs between conflicting conditions. The glazing that provides view must also provide visual privacy at other times and must sometimes become totally opaque (for audiovisual shows, for example). Transparent glass admits daylight, providing good color rendition and offsetting electric lighting energy needs, but it can also create discomfort and disability glare conditions. The sun provides desirable warmth in winter but its heat is unwelcome in summer when it contributes to thermal discomfort and cooling energy requirements. And glass is an important element in the appearance and aesthetics of a building, both interior and exterior.

Nanostructured raspberry-like gelatin microspheres for local delivery of multiple biomolecules.

PubMed

Diba, Mani; Pape, Bram; Klymov, Alexey; Zhang, Yang; Song, Jiankang; Löwik, Dennis W P M; Seyednejad, Hajar; Leeuwenburgh, Sander C G

2017-08-01

Multicompartment particles, which are particles composed of smaller building units, have gained considerable interest during the past decade to facilitate simultaneous and differential delivery of several biomolecules in various applications. Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) processing is an industrial technology widely used for large-scale synthesis and processing of materials. However, the application of this technology for production of multicompartment particles from colloidal particles has not yet been explored. Here, we report the formation of raspberry-like gelatin (RLG) microparticles composed of gelatin nanoparticles as colloidal building blocks through supercritical CO 2 processing. We show that these RLG microparticles exhibit a high stability upon dispersion in aqueous media without requiring chemical cross-linking. We further demonstrate that these microparticles are cytocompatible and facilitate differential release of two different model compounds. The strategy presented here can be utilized as a cost-effective route for production of various types of multicompartment particles using colloidal particles with suitable interparticle interactions. Multicompartment particles have gained considerable interest during the past decade to facilitate simultaneous and differential delivery of multiple biomolecules in various biomedical applications. Nevertheless, common methods employed for the production of such particles are often complex and only offer small-scale production. Here, we report the formation of raspberry-like gelatin (RLG) microparticles composed of gelatin nanoparticles as colloidal building blocks through supercritical CO 2 processing. We show that these microparticles are cytocompatible and facilitate differential release of two model compounds with different molecular sizes, promising successful applications in various biomedical areas. Summarizing, this paper presents a novel strategy that can be utilized as a cost-effective route for production of various types of multicompartment particles using a wide range of colloidal building blocks. Copyright © 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering Change Management Method Framework in Mechanical Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stekolschik, Alexander

2016-11-01

Engineering changes make an impact on different process chains in and outside the company, and lead to most error costs and time shifts. In fact, 30 to 50 per cent of development costs result from technical changes. Controlling engineering change processes can help us to avoid errors and risks, and contribute to cost optimization and a shorter time to market. This paper presents a method framework for controlling engineering changes at mechanical engineering companies. The developed classification of engineering changes and accordingly process requirements build the basis for the method framework. The developed method framework comprises two main areas: special data objects managed in different engineering IT tools and process framework. Objects from both areas are building blocks that can be selected to the overall business process based on the engineering process type and change classification. The process framework contains steps for the creation of change objects (both for overall change and for parts), change implementation, and release. Companies can select singleprocess building blocks from the framework, depending on the product development process and change impact. The developed change framework has been implemented at a division (10,000 employees) of a big German mechanical engineering company.

Hydration effects on the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Assis Oliveira, Leonardo Bruno; Departamento de Física - CEPAE, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74690-900 Goiânia, GO; Escola de Ciências Exatas e da Computação, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, 74605-010 Goiânia, GO

2016-08-28

Theoretical results for the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks in the gas phase and water are presented. The building blocks presently investigated include the monomeric species DHI (5,6-dihydroxyindole) or hydroquinone (HQ), DHICA (5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid), indolequinone (IQ), quinone methide (MQ), two covalently bonded dimers [HM ≡ HQ + MQ and IM ≡ IQ + MQ], and two tetramers [HMIM ≡ HQ + IM, IMIM ≡ IM + IM]. The electronic properties in water were determined by carrying out sequential Monte Carlo/time dependent density functional theory calculations. The results illustrate the role played by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions in themore » electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks in a polar environment. In water, the dipole moments of monomeric species are significantly increased ([54–79]%) relative to their gas phase values. Recently, it has been proposed that the observed enhancement of the higher-energy absorption intensity in eumelanin can be explained by excitonic coupling among eumelanin protomolecules [C.-T. Chen et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 3859 (2014)]. Here, we are providing evidence that for DHICA, IQ, and HMIM, the electronic absorption toward the higher-energy end of the spectrum ([180–220] nm) is enhanced by long-range Coulombic interactions with the water environment. It was verified that by superposing the absorption spectra of different eumelanin building blocks corresponding to the monomers, dimers, and tetramers in liquid water, the behaviour of the experimental spectrum, which is characterised by a nearly monotonic decay from the ultraviolet to the infrared, is qualitatively reproduced. This result is in keeping with a “chemical disorder model,” where the broadband absorption of eumelanin pigments is determined by the superposition of the spectra associated with the monomeric and oligomeric building blocks.« less

Hydration effects on the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks.

PubMed

Assis Oliveira, Leonardo Bruno; L Fonseca, Tertius; Costa Cabral, Benedito J; Coutinho, Kaline; Canuto, Sylvio

2016-08-28

Theoretical results for the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks in the gas phase and water are presented. The building blocks presently investigated include the monomeric species DHI (5,6-dihydroxyindole) or hydroquinone (HQ), DHICA (5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid), indolequinone (IQ), quinone methide (MQ), two covalently bonded dimers [HM ≡ HQ + MQ and IM ≡ IQ + MQ], and two tetramers [HMIM ≡ HQ + IM, IMIM ≡ IM + IM]. The electronic properties in water were determined by carrying out sequential Monte Carlo/time dependent density functional theory calculations. The results illustrate the role played by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions in the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks in a polar environment. In water, the dipole moments of monomeric species are significantly increased ([54-79]%) relative to their gas phase values. Recently, it has been proposed that the observed enhancement of the higher-energy absorption intensity in eumelanin can be explained by excitonic coupling among eumelanin protomolecules [C.-T. Chen et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 3859 (2014)]. Here, we are providing evidence that for DHICA, IQ, and HMIM, the electronic absorption toward the higher-energy end of the spectrum ([180-220] nm) is enhanced by long-range Coulombic interactions with the water environment. It was verified that by superposing the absorption spectra of different eumelanin building blocks corresponding to the monomers, dimers, and tetramers in liquid water, the behaviour of the experimental spectrum, which is characterised by a nearly monotonic decay from the ultraviolet to the infrared, is qualitatively reproduced. This result is in keeping with a "chemical disorder model," where the broadband absorption of eumelanin pigments is determined by the superposition of the spectra associated with the monomeric and oligomeric building blocks.

Hydration effects on the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assis Oliveira, Leonardo Bruno; L. Fonseca, Tertius; Costa Cabral, Benedito J.; Coutinho, Kaline; Canuto, Sylvio

2016-08-01

Theoretical results for the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks in the gas phase and water are presented. The building blocks presently investigated include the monomeric species DHI (5,6-dihydroxyindole) or hydroquinone (HQ), DHICA (5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid), indolequinone (IQ), quinone methide (MQ), two covalently bonded dimers [HM ≡ HQ + MQ and IM ≡ IQ + MQ], and two tetramers [HMIM ≡ HQ + IM, IMIM ≡ IM + IM]. The electronic properties in water were determined by carrying out sequential Monte Carlo/time dependent density functional theory calculations. The results illustrate the role played by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions in the electronic properties of eumelanin building blocks in a polar environment. In water, the dipole moments of monomeric species are significantly increased ([54-79]%) relative to their gas phase values. Recently, it has been proposed that the observed enhancement of the higher-energy absorption intensity in eumelanin can be explained by excitonic coupling among eumelanin protomolecules [C.-T. Chen et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 3859 (2014)]. Here, we are providing evidence that for DHICA, IQ, and HMIM, the electronic absorption toward the higher-energy end of the spectrum ([180-220] nm) is enhanced by long-range Coulombic interactions with the water environment. It was verified that by superposing the absorption spectra of different eumelanin building blocks corresponding to the monomers, dimers, and tetramers in liquid water, the behaviour of the experimental spectrum, which is characterised by a nearly monotonic decay from the ultraviolet to the infrared, is qualitatively reproduced. This result is in keeping with a "chemical disorder model," where the broadband absorption of eumelanin pigments is determined by the superposition of the spectra associated with the monomeric and oligomeric building blocks.

Movement planning reflects skill level and age changes in toddlers

PubMed Central

Chen, Yu-ping; Keen, Rachel; Rosander, Kerstin; von Hofsten, Claes

2010-01-01

Kinematic measures of children’s reaching were found to reflect stable differences in skill level for planning for future actions. Thirty-five toddlers (18–21 months) were engaged in building block towers (precise task) and in placing blocks into an open container (imprecise task). Sixteen children were re-tested on the same tasks a year later. Longer deceleration as the hand approached the block for pickup was found in the tower task compared to the imprecise task, indicating planning for the second movement. More skillful toddlers who could build high towers had a longer deceleration phase when placing blocks on the tower than toddlers who built low towers. Kinematic differences between the groups remained a year later when all children could build high towers. PMID:21077868

Novel and Efficient Synthesis of the Promising Drug Candidate Discodermolide

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

stereotriad building blocks for discodermolide and related polyketide antibiotics could be obtained from variations on a short, scalable scheme that did...chains required for the chemical synthesis of the nonaromatic polyketides is usually based on the iterative lengthening of an acyclic substituted chain...burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense

Teacher Survey of the Accessibility and Text Features of the Computerized Oral Reading Evaluation (CORE). Technical Report #1601

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn, Josh; Nese, Joseph T.; Alonzo, Julie

2016-01-01

There is strong theoretical support for oral reading fluency (ORF) as an essential building block of reading proficiency. The current and standard ORF assessment procedure requires that students read aloud a grade-level passage (˜ 250 words) in a one-to-one administration, with the number of words read correctly in 60 seconds constituting their…

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-01-01

This 1968 cutaway drawing illustrates the Saturn IB launch vehicle with its two booster stages, the S-IB and S-IVB. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the marned lunar mission.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-04-15

This undated cutaway drawing illustrates the Saturn IB launch vehicle with its two booster stages, the S-IB and S-IVB. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the marned lunar missions.

Statistical Literacy in Data Revolution Era: Building Blocks and Instructional Dilemmas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prodromou, Theodosia; Dunne, Tim

2017-01-01

The data revolution has given citizens access to enormous large-scale open databases. In order to take into account the full complexity of data, we have to change the way we think in terms of the nature of data and its availability, the ways in which it is displayed and used, and the skills that are required for its interpretation. Substantial…

Advanced optical network architecture for integrated digital avionics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, D. Reed

1996-12-01

For the first time in the history of avionics, the network designer now has a choice in selecting the media that interconnects the sources and sinks of digital data on aircraft. Electrical designs are already giving way to photonics in application areas where the data rate times distance product is large or where special design requirements such as low weight or EMI considerations are critical. Future digital avionic architectures will increasingly favor the use of photonic interconnects as network data rates of one gigabit/second and higher are needed to support real-time operation of high-speed integrated digital processing. As the cost of optical network building blocks is reduced and as temperature-rugged laser sources are matured, metal interconnects will be forced to retreat to applications spanning shorter and shorter distances. Although the trend is already underway, the widespread use of digital optics will first occur at the system level, where gigabit/second, real-time interconnects between sensors, processors, mass memories and displays separated by a least of few meters will be required. The application of photonic interconnects for inter-printed wiring board signalling across the backplane will eventually find application for gigabit/second applications since signal degradation over copper traces occurs before one gigabit/second and 0.5 meters are reached. For the foreseeable future however, metal interconnects will continue to be used to interconnect devices on printed wiring boards since 5 gigabit/second signals can be sent over metal up to around 15 centimeters. Current-day applications of optical interconnects at the system level are described and a projection of how advanced optical interconnect technology will be driven by the use of high speed integrated digital processing on future aircraft is presented. The recommended advanced network for application in the 2010 time frame is a fiber-based system with a signalling speed of around 2-3 gigabits per second. This switch-based unified network will interconnect sensors, displays, mass memory and controls and displays to computer modules within the processing complex. The characteristics of required building blocks needed for the future are described. These building blocks include the fiber, an optical switch, a laser-based transceiver, blind-mate connectors and an optical backplane.

Real World of Industrial Chemistry: Ethylene: The Organic Chemical Industry's Most Important Building Block.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernelius, W. Conrad, Ed.; And Others

1979-01-01

The value of ethylene, as the organic chemical industry's most important building block, is discussed. The discussion focuses on the source of ethylene, its various forms and functions, and the ways in which the forms are made. (SA)

Two integrator loop quadrature oscillators: A review.

PubMed

Soliman, Ahmed M

2013-01-01

A review of the two integrator loop oscillator circuits providing two quadrature sinusoidal output voltages is given. All the circuits considered employ the minimum number of capacitors namely two except one circuit which uses three capacitors. The circuits considered are classified to four different classes. The first class includes floating capacitors and floating resistors and the active building blocks realizing these circuits are the Op Amp or the OTRA. The second class employs grounded capacitors and includes floating resistors and the active building blocks realizing these circuits are the DCVC or the unity gain cells or the CFOA. The third class employs grounded capacitors and grounded resistors and the active building blocks realizing these circuits are the CCII. The fourth class employs grounded capacitors and no resistors and the active building blocks realizing these circuits are the TA. Transformation methods showing the generation of different classes from each other is given in details and this is one of the main objectives of this paper.

Toward Generalization of Iterative Small Molecule Synthesis

PubMed Central

Lehmann, Jonathan W.; Blair, Daniel J.; Burke, Martin D.

2018-01-01

Small molecules have extensive untapped potential to benefit society, but access to this potential is too often restricted by limitations inherent to the customized approach currently used to synthesize this class of chemical matter. In contrast, the “building block approach”, i.e., generalized iterative assembly of interchangeable parts, has now proven to be a highly efficient and flexible way to construct things ranging all the way from skyscrapers to macromolecules to artificial intelligence algorithms. The structural redundancy found in many small molecules suggests that they possess a similar capacity for generalized building block-based construction. It is also encouraging that many customized iterative synthesis methods have been developed that improve access to specific classes of small molecules. There has also been substantial recent progress toward the iterative assembly of many different types of small molecules, including complex natural products, pharmaceuticals, biological probes, and materials, using common building blocks and coupling chemistry. Collectively, these advances suggest that a generalized building block approach for small molecule synthesis may be within reach. PMID:29696152

Engineering multifunctional protein nanoparticles by in vitro disassembling and reassembling of heterologous building blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unzueta, Ugutz; Serna, Naroa; Sánchez-García, Laura; Roldán, Mónica; Sánchez-Chardi, Alejandro; Mangues, Ramón; Villaverde, Antonio; Vázquez, Esther

2017-12-01

The engineering of protein self-assembling at the nanoscale allows the generation of functional and biocompatible materials, which can be produced by easy biological fabrication. The combination of cationic and histidine-rich stretches in fusion proteins promotes oligomerization as stable protein-only regular nanoparticles that are composed by a moderate number of building blocks. Among other applications, these materials are highly appealing as tools in targeted drug delivery once empowered with peptidic ligands of cell surface receptors. In this context, we have dissected here this simple technological platform regarding the controlled disassembling and reassembling of the composing building blocks. By applying high salt and imidazole in combination, nanoparticles are disassembled in a process that is fully reversible upon removal of the disrupting agents. By taking this approach, we accomplish here the in vitro generation of hybrid nanoparticles formed by heterologous building blocks. This fact demonstrates the capability to generate multifunctional and/or multiparatopic or multispecific materials usable in nanomedical applications.

Salt attack in parking garage in block of flats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beran, Pavel; Frankeová, Dita; Pavlík, Zbyšek

2017-07-01

In recent years many new block of flats with parking garages placed inside the buildings were constructed. This tendency brings beyond question benefits for residents and also for city planning, but it requires new design and structural approaches and advanced material and construction solutions. The analysis of plaster damage on partition wall in parking garage in one of these buildings is presented in the paper. The damage of studied plaster is caused by the salts which are transported together with snow on cars undercarriage into garage area during winter. The snow melts and water with dissolved salts is transported by the capillary suction from concrete floor into the rendered partition wall. Based on the interior temperature, adsorbed water with dissolved chlorides evaporates and from the over saturated pore solution are formed salt crystals that damages the surface plaster layers. This damage would not occur if the partition wall was correctly isolated from the floor finish layer in the parking garage.

Advanced Scientific Computing Research Exascale Requirements Review. An Office of Science review sponsored by Advanced Scientific Computing Research, September 27-29, 2016, Rockville, Maryland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Almgren, Ann; DeMar, Phil; Vetter, Jeffrey

The widespread use of computing in the American economy would not be possible without a thoughtful, exploratory research and development (R&D) community pushing the performance edge of operating systems, computer languages, and software libraries. These are the tools and building blocks — the hammers, chisels, bricks, and mortar — of the smartphone, the cloud, and the computing services on which we rely. Engineers and scientists need ever-more specialized computing tools to discover new material properties for manufacturing, make energy generation safer and more efficient, and provide insight into the fundamentals of the universe, for example. The research division of themore » U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Advanced Scientific Computing and Research (ASCR Research) ensures that these tools and building blocks are being developed and honed to meet the extreme needs of modern science. See also http://exascaleage.org/ascr/ for additional information.« less

PRoViScout: a planetary scouting rover demonstrator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paar, Gerhard; Woods, Mark; Gimkiewicz, Christiane; Labrosse, Frédéric; Medina, Alberto; Tyler, Laurence; Barnes, David P.; Fritz, Gerald; Kapellos, Konstantinos

2012-01-01

Mobile systems exploring Planetary surfaces in future will require more autonomy than today. The EU FP7-SPACE Project ProViScout (2010-2012) establishes the building blocks of such autonomous exploration systems in terms of robotics vision by a decision-based combination of navigation and scientific target selection, and integrates them into a framework ready for and exposed to field demonstration. The PRoViScout on-board system consists of mission management components such as an Executive, a Mars Mission On-Board Planner and Scheduler, a Science Assessment Module, and Navigation & Vision Processing modules. The platform hardware consists of the rover with the sensors and pointing devices. We report on the major building blocks and their functions & interfaces, emphasizing on the computer vision parts such as image acquisition (using a novel zoomed 3D-Time-of-Flight & RGB camera), mapping from 3D-TOF data, panoramic image & stereo reconstruction, hazard and slope maps, visual odometry and the recognition of potential scientifically interesting targets.

Deposition of Nanostructured Thin Film from Size-Classified Nanoparticles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Camata, Renato P.; Cunningham, Nicholas C.; Seol, Kwang Soo; Okada, Yoshiki; Takeuchi, Kazuo

2003-01-01

Materials comprising nanometer-sized grains (approximately 1_50 nm) exhibit properties dramatically different from those of their homogeneous and uniform counterparts. These properties vary with size, shape, and composition of nanoscale grains. Thus, nanoparticles may be used as building blocks to engineer tailor-made artificial materials with desired properties, such as non-linear optical absorption, tunable light emission, charge-storage behavior, selective catalytic activity, and countless other characteristics. This bottom-up engineering approach requires exquisite control over nanoparticle size, shape, and composition. We describe the design and characterization of an aerosol system conceived for the deposition of size classified nanoparticles whose performance is consistent with these strict demands. A nanoparticle aerosol is generated by laser ablation and sorted according to size using a differential mobility analyzer. Nanoparticles within a chosen window of sizes (e.g., (8.0 plus or minus 0.6) nm) are deposited electrostatically on a surface forming a film of the desired material. The system allows the assembly and engineering of thin films using size-classified nanoparticles as building blocks.

Charge splitters and charge transport junctions based on guanine quadruplexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sha, Ruojie; Xiang, Limin; Liu, Chaoren; Balaeff, Alexander; Zhang, Yuqi; Zhang, Peng; Li, Yueqi; Beratan, David N.; Tao, Nongjian; Seeman, Nadrian C.

2018-04-01

Self-assembling circuit elements, such as current splitters or combiners at the molecular scale, require the design of building blocks with three or more terminals. A promising material for such building blocks is DNA, wherein multiple strands can self-assemble into multi-ended junctions, and nucleobase stacks can transport charge over long distances. However, nucleobase stacking is often disrupted at junction points, hindering electric charge transport between the two terminals of the junction. Here, we show that a guanine-quadruplex (G4) motif can be used as a connector element for a multi-ended DNA junction. By attaching specific terminal groups to the motif, we demonstrate that charges can enter the structure from one terminal at one end of a three-way G4 motif, and can exit from one of two terminals at the other end with minimal carrier transport attenuation. Moreover, we study four-way G4 junction structures by performing theoretical calculations to assist in the design and optimization of these connectors.

A 50/50 electronic beam splitter in graphene nanoribbons as a building block for electron optics.

PubMed

Lima, Leandro R F; Hernández, Alexis R; Pinheiro, Felipe A; Lewenkopf, Caio

2016-12-21

Based on the investigation of the multi-terminal conductance of a system composed of two graphene nanoribbons, in which one is on top of the other and rotated by [Formula: see text], we propose a setup for a 50/50 electronic beam splitter that neither requires large magnetic fields nor ultra low temperatures. Our findings are based on an atomistic tight-binding description of the system and on the Green function method to compute the Landauer conductance. We demonstrate that this system acts as a perfect 50/50 electronic beam splitter, in which its operation can be switched on and off by varying the doping (Fermi energy). We show that this device is robust against thermal fluctuations and long range disorder, as zigzag valley chiral states of the nanoribbons are protected against backscattering. We suggest that the proposed device can be applied as the fundamental element of the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer, as well as a building block of many devices in electron optics.

An In Vitro Translation, Selection, and Amplification System for Peptide Nucleic Acids

PubMed Central

Brudno, Yevgeny; Birnbaum, Michael E.; Kleiner, Ralph E.; Liu, David R.

2009-01-01

Methods to evolve synthetic, rather than biological, polymers could significantly expand the functional potential of polymers that emerge from in vitro evolution. Requirements for synthetic polymer evolution include: (i) sequence-specific polymerization of synthetic building blocks on an amplifiable template; (ii) display of the newly translated polymer strand in a manner that allows it to adopt folded structures; (iii) selection of synthetic polymer libraries for desired binding or catalytic properties; and (iv) amplification of template sequences surviving selection in a manner that allows subsequent translation. Here we report the development of such a system for peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) using a set of twelve PNA pentamer building blocks. We validated the system by performing six iterated cycles of translation, selection, and amplification on a library of 4.3 × 108 PNA-encoding DNA templates and observed >1,000,000-fold overall enrichment of a template encoding a biotinylated (streptavidin-binding) PNA. These results collectively provide an experimental foundation for PNA evolution in the laboratory. PMID:20081830

Progress toward a reduced phage genetic code.

PubMed

Yao, Anzhi; Reed, Sean A; Koh, Minseob; Yu, Chenguang; Luo, Xiaozhou; Mehta, Angad P; Schultz, Peter G

2018-03-26

All known living organisms use at least 20 amino acids as the basic building blocks of life. Efforts to reduce the number of building blocks in a replicating system to below the 20 canonical amino acids have not been successful to date. In this work, we use filamentous phage as a model system to investigate the feasibility of removing methionine (Met) from the proteome. We show that all 24 elongation Met sites in the M13 phage genome can be replaced by other canonical amino acids. Most of these changes involve substitution of methionine by leucine (Leu), but in some cases additional compensatory mutations are required. Combining Met substituted sites in the proteome generally led to lower viability/infectivity of the mutant phages, which remains the major challenge in eliminating all methionines from the phage proteome. To date a total of 15 (out of all 24) elongation Mets have been simultaneously deleted from the M13 proteome, providing a useful foundation for future efforts to minimize the genetic code. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Using Container Structures in Architecture and Urban Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grębowski, Karol; Kałdunek, Daniel

2017-10-01

The paper presents the use of shipping containers in architecture and urban design. Even today, houses and apartments are still too expensive. Since 1923 architects have been improving the living conditions of citizens by building very simple, repeatable forms. With prefabrication technology it became possible to build quicker, causing house prices to decrease. Apartments in block of flats became affordable to more and more people. Modernism had great impact on the quality of living spaces, despite the detrimental effect of large panel technology on social life. It gave people their own bathrooms, and gifted them with simple solutions we now consider indispensable. The ambition to build cheaply but effectively is still here. The future of housing lies in prefabricated apartment modules. A well optimized creation process is the key, but taking into consideration the mistakes made by past generations should be the second most important factor. Studies show that large panel buildings were too monumental and solid for a housing structure, and offered no public spaces between them. Lack of urban design transformed a great idea into blocks that are considered to be ugly and unfriendly. Diversity is something that large panel structures were missing. While most block of flats were being constructed out of the same module (Model 770), differentiated architecture was difficult to achieve. Nowadays, increasing numbers of shipping containers are being used for housing purposes. These constructions show that it is possible to create astonishing housing with modules. Shipping containers were not designed to be a building material, but in contrast to large panel modules, there are many more possibilities of their transformation. In this paper the authors propose a set of rules that, if followed, would result in cheaper apartments, while keeping in consideration both tremendous architecture and friendly urban design. What is more, the proposed solution is designed to adapt to personalized requirements. In this paper the authors include information about design guidelines for structures made from shipping containers.

Building Quality Report Cards for Geriatric Care in The Netherlands: Using Concept Mapping to Identify the Appropriate "Building Blocks" from the Consumer's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Groenewoud, A. Stef; van Exel, N. Job A.; Berg, Marc; Huijsman, Robbert

2008-01-01

Purpose: This article reports on a study to identify "building blocks" for quality report cards for geriatric care. Its aim is to present (a) the results of the study and (b) the innovative step-by-step approach that was developed to arrive at these results. Design and Methods: We used Concept Mapping/Structured Conceptualization to…

Building blocks for subleading helicity operators

DOE PAGES

Kolodrubetz, Daniel W.; Moult, Ian; Stewart, Iain W.

2016-05-24

On-shell helicity methods provide powerful tools for determining scattering amplitudes, which have a one-to-one correspondence with leading power helicity operators in the Soft-Collinear Effective Theory (SCET) away from singular regions of phase space. We show that helicity based operators are also useful for enumerating power suppressed SCET operators, which encode subleading amplitude information about singular limits. In particular, we present a complete set of scalar helicity building blocks that are valid for constructing operators at any order in the SCET power expansion. In conclusion, we also describe an interesting angular momentum selection rule that restricts how these building blocks canmore » be assembled.« less

Origami-based cellular metamaterial with auxetic, bistable, and self-locking properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamrava, Soroush; Mousanezhad, Davood; Ebrahimi, Hamid; Ghosh, Ranajay; Vaziri, Ashkan

2017-04-01

We present a novel cellular metamaterial constructed from Origami building blocks based on Miura-ori fold. The proposed cellular metamaterial exhibits unusual properties some of which stemming from the inherent properties of its Origami building blocks, and others manifesting due to its unique geometrical construction and architecture. These properties include foldability with two fully-folded configurations, auxeticity (i.e., negative Poisson’s ratio), bistability, and self-locking of Origami building blocks to construct load-bearing cellular metamaterials. The kinematics and force response of the cellular metamaterial during folding were studied to investigate the underlying mechanisms resulting in its unique properties using analytical modeling and experiments.

Origami-based cellular metamaterial with auxetic, bistable, and self-locking properties

PubMed Central

Kamrava, Soroush; Mousanezhad, Davood; Ebrahimi, Hamid; Ghosh, Ranajay; Vaziri, Ashkan

2017-01-01

We present a novel cellular metamaterial constructed from Origami building blocks based on Miura-ori fold. The proposed cellular metamaterial exhibits unusual properties some of which stemming from the inherent properties of its Origami building blocks, and others manifesting due to its unique geometrical construction and architecture. These properties include foldability with two fully-folded configurations, auxeticity (i.e., negative Poisson’s ratio), bistability, and self-locking of Origami building blocks to construct load-bearing cellular metamaterials. The kinematics and force response of the cellular metamaterial during folding were studied to investigate the underlying mechanisms resulting in its unique properties using analytical modeling and experiments. PMID:28387345

Rapid formation of complexity in the total synthesis of natural products enabled by oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene building blocks.

PubMed

Schindler, Corinna S; Carreira, Erick M

2009-11-01

This critical review showcases examples of rapid formation of complexity in total syntheses starting from 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene derivatives. An overview of methods allowing synthetic access to these building blocks is provided and their application in recently developed synthetic transformations to structurally complex systems is illustrated. In addition, the facile access to a novel oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene derived building block is presented which significantly enlarges the possibilities of previously known chemical transformations and is highlighted in the enantioselective route to the core of the banyaside and suomilide natural products (107 references).

Recent advances in synthesis of bacterial rare sugar building blocks and their applications.

PubMed

Emmadi, Madhu; Kulkarni, Suvarn S

2014-07-01

Covering: 1964 to 2013. Bacteria have unusual glycans on their surfaces which distinguish them from the host cells. These unique structures offer avenues for targeting bacteria with specific therapeutics and vaccine. However, these rare sugars are not accessible in acceptable purity and amounts by isolation from natural sources. Thus, procurement of orthogonally protected rare sugar building blocks through efficient chemical synthesis is regarded as a crucial step towards the development of glycoconjugate vaccines. This Highlight focuses on recent advances in the synthesis of the bacterial deoxy amino hexopyranoside building blocks and their application in constructing various biologically important bacterial O-glycans.

Ae2Sb2X4F2 (Ae = Sr, Ba): new members of the homologous series Ae2M(1+n)X(3+n)F2 designed from rock salt and fluorite 2D building blocks.

PubMed

Kabbour, Houria; Cario, Laurent

2006-03-20

We have designed new compounds within the homologous series Ae2F2M(1+n)X(3+n) (Ae = Sr, Ba; M = main group metal; n = integer) built up from the stacking of 2D building blocks of rock salt and fluorite types. By incrementally increasing the size of the rock salt 2D building blocks, we have obtained two new n = 1 members of this homologous series, namely, Sr2F2Sb2Se4 and Ba2F2Sb2Se4. We then succeeded in synthesizing these compounds using a high-temperature ceramic method. The structure refinements from the powder or single-crystal X-ray diffraction data confirmed presence of the expected alternating stacking of fluorite [Ae2F2] (Ae = Sr, Ba) and rock salt [Sb2Se4] 2D building blocks. However the Ba derivative shows a strong distortion of the [Sb2Se4] block and a concomitant change of the Sb atom coordination likely related to the lone-pair activity.

Total synthesis of a CD-ring: side-chain building block for preparing 17-epi-calcitriol derivatives from the Hajos-Parrish dione.

PubMed

Michalak, Karol; Wicha, Jerzy

2011-08-19

An efficient synthesis of the key building block for 17-epi-calctriol from the Hajos-Parrish dione involving a sequence of diastereoselective transformation of the azulene core and the side-chain construction is presented.

Multiresonant Composite Optical Nanoantennas by Out-of-plane Plasmonic Engineering.

PubMed

Song, Junyeob; Zhou, Wei

2018-06-27

Optical nanoantennas can concentrate light and enhance light-matter interactions in subwavelength domain, which is useful for photodetection, light emission, optical biosensing, and spectroscopy. However, conventional optical nanoantennas operating at a single wavelength band are not suitable for multiband applications. Here, we propose and exploit an out-of-plane plasmonic engineering strategy to design and create composite optical nanoantennas that can support multiple nanolocalized modes at different resonant wavelengths. These multiresonant composite nanoantennas are composed of vertically stacked building blocks of metal-insulator-metal loop nanoantennas. Studies of multiresonant composite nanoantennas demonstrate that the number of supported modes depends on the number of vertically stacked building blocks and the resonant wavelengths of individual modes are tunable by controlling the out-of-plane geometries of their building blocks. In addition, numerical studies show that the resonant wavelengths of individual modes in composite nanoantennas can deviate from the optical response of building blocks due to hybridization of magnetic modes in neighboring building blocks. Using Au nanohole arrays as deposition masks to fabricate arrays of multilayered composite nanoantennas, we experimentally demonstrate their multiresonant optical properties in good agreement with theory predictions. These studies show that out-of-plane engineered multiresonant composite nanoantennas can provide new opportunities for fundamental nanophotonics research and practical applications involving optical multiband operations, such as multiphoton process, broadband solar energy conversion, and wavelength-multiplexed optical system.

Branching patterns in leaf starches from Arabidopsis mutants deficient in diverse starch synthases.

PubMed

Zhu, Fan; Bertoft, Eric; Szydlowski, Nicolas; d'Hulst, Christophe; Seetharaman, Koushik

2015-01-12

This is the first report on the cluster structure of transitory starch from Arabidopsis leaves. In addition to wild type, the molecular structures of leaf starch from mutants deficient in starch synthases (SS) including single enzyme mutants ss1-, ss2-, or ss3-, and also double mutants ss1-ss2- and ss1-ss3- were characterized. The mutations resulted in increased amylose content. Clusters from whole starch were isolated by partial hydrolysis using α-amylase of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The clusters were then further hydrolyzed with concentrated α-amylase of B. amyloliquefaciens to produce building blocks (α-limit dextrins). Structures of the clusters and their building blocks were characterized by chromatography of samples before and after debranching treatment. While the mutations increased the size of clusters, the reasons were different as reflected by the composition of their unit chains and building blocks. In general, all mutants contained more of a-chains that preferentially increased the number of small building blocks with only two chains. The clusters of the double mutant ss1-ss3- were very large and possessed also more of large building blocks with four or more chains. The results from transitory starch are compared with those from agriculturally important crops in the context that to what extent the Arabidopsis can be a true biotechnological reflection for starch modifications through genetic means. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solar Power Satellite Development: Advances in Modularity and Mechanical Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belvin, W. Keith; Dorsey, John T.; Watson, Judith J.

2010-01-01

Space solar power satellites require innovative concepts in order to achieve economically and technically feasible designs. The mass and volume constraints of current and planned launch vehicles necessitate highly efficient structural systems be developed. In addition, modularity and in-space deployment will be enabling design attributes. This paper reviews the current challenges of launching and building very large space systems. A building block approach is proposed in order to achieve near-term solar power satellite risk reduction while promoting the necessary long-term technology advances. Promising mechanical systems technologies anticipated in the coming decades including modularity, material systems, structural concepts, and in-space operations are described

Facet-controlled facilitation of PbS nanoarchitectures by understanding nanocrystal growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loc, Welley Siu; Quan, Zewei; Lin, Cuikun; Pan, Jinfong; Wang, Yuxuan; Yang, Kaikun; Jian, Wen-Bin; Zhao, Bo; Wang, Howard; Fang, Jiye

2015-11-01

Nanostructured lead sulphide is a significant component in a number of energy-related sustainable applications such as photovoltaic cells and thermoelectric components. In many micro-packaging processes, dimensionality-controlled nano-architectures as building blocks with unique properties are required. This study investigates different facet-merging growth behaviors through a wet-chemical synthetic strategy to produce high-quality controlled nanostructures of lead sulphide in various dimensionalities. It was found that 1D nanowires or 2D nanosheets can be obtained by the merging of reactive {111}- or {110}-facets, respectively, while promoting {100} facets in the early stages after nucleation leads to the growth of 0D nanocubes. The influence of temperature, capping ligands and co-solvent in facilitating the crystal facet growth of each intermediate seed is also demonstrated. The novelty of this work is characterized by the delicate manipulation of various PbS nanoarchitectures based on the comprehension of the facet-merging evolution. The synthesis of facet-controlled PbS nanostructures could provide novel building blocks with desired properties for use in many applications.Nanostructured lead sulphide is a significant component in a number of energy-related sustainable applications such as photovoltaic cells and thermoelectric components. In many micro-packaging processes, dimensionality-controlled nano-architectures as building blocks with unique properties are required. This study investigates different facet-merging growth behaviors through a wet-chemical synthetic strategy to produce high-quality controlled nanostructures of lead sulphide in various dimensionalities. It was found that 1D nanowires or 2D nanosheets can be obtained by the merging of reactive {111}- or {110}-facets, respectively, while promoting {100} facets in the early stages after nucleation leads to the growth of 0D nanocubes. The influence of temperature, capping ligands and co-solvent in facilitating the crystal facet growth of each intermediate seed is also demonstrated. The novelty of this work is characterized by the delicate manipulation of various PbS nanoarchitectures based on the comprehension of the facet-merging evolution. The synthesis of facet-controlled PbS nanostructures could provide novel building blocks with desired properties for use in many applications. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental section (chemicals, synthesis, characterization methods), synthesis conditions, AFM image of NSs, SEM and TEM images of NWs prepared without OAm, and TEM images of truncated NCbs grown for 7.5 min at 180 °C. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr04181c

Alq3 nanorods: promising building blocks for optical devices.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Peng, Qing; Li, Yadong

2008-07-17

Monodisperse Alq3 nanorods with hexagonal-prism-like morphology are produced via a facile, emulsion based synthesis route. The photoluminescence of individual nanorods differs from the bulk material. These nanorods are promising building blocks for novel optical devices. Copyright © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

From nonfinite to finite 1D arrays of origami tiles.

PubMed

Wu, Tsai Chin; Rahman, Masudur; Norton, Michael L

2014-06-17

CONSPECTUS: DNA based nanotechnology provides a basis for high-resolution fabrication of objects almost without physical size limitations. However, the pathway to large-scale production of large objects is currently unclear. Operationally, one method forward is to use high information content, large building blocks, which can be generated with high yield and reproducibility. Although flat DNA origami naturally invites comparison to pixels in zero, one, and two dimensions and voxels in three dimensions and has provided an excellent mechanism for generating blocks of significant size and complexity and a multitude of shapes, the field is young enough that a single "brick" has not become the standard platform used by the majority of researchers in the field. In this Account, we highlight factors we considered that led to our adoption of a cross-shaped, non-space-filling origami species, designed by Dr. Liu of the Seeman laboratory, as the building block ideal for use in the fabrication of finite one-dimensional arrays. Three approaches that can be employed for uniquely coding origami-origami linkages are presented. Such coding not only provides the energetics for tethering the species but also uniquely designates the relative orientation of the origami building blocks. The strength of the coding approach implemented in our laboratory is demonstrated using examples of oligomers ranging from finite multimers composed of four, six, and eight origami structures to semi-infinite polymers (100mers). Two approaches to finite array design and the series of assembly steps that each requires are discussed. The process of AFM observation for array characterization is presented as a critical case study. For these soft species, the array images do not simply present the solution phase geometry projected onto a two-dimensional surface. There are additional perturbations associated with fluidic forces associated with sample preparation. At this time, reconstruction of the "true" or average solution structures for blocks is more readily achieved using computer models than using direct imaging methods. The development of scalable 1D-origami arrays composed of uniquely addressable components is a logical, if not necessary, step in the evolution of higher order fully addressable structures. Our research into the fabrication of arrays has led us to generate a listing of several important areas of future endeavor. Of high importance is the re-enforcement of the mechanical properties of the building blocks and the organization of multiple arrays on a surface of technological importance. While addressing this short list of barriers to progress will prove challenging, coherent development along each of these lines of inquiry will accelerate the appearance of commercial scale molecular manufacturing.

Forecasting Maintenance Shortcomings of a Planned Equipment Density Listing in Support of Expeditionary Missions

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

importantly, it examines the methodology used to build the class IX block embarked on ship prior to deployment. The class IX block is defined as a repository...compared to historical data to evaluate model and simulation outputs. This thesis provides recommendations on improving the methodology implemented in...improving the level of organic support available to deployed units. More importantly, it examines the methodology used to build the class IX block

π-Extended Isoindigo-Based Derivative: A Promising Electron-Deficient Building Block for Polymer Semiconductors.

PubMed

Xu, Long; Zhao, Zhiyuan; Xiao, Mingchao; Yang, Jie; Xiao, Jian; Yi, Zhengran; Wang, Shuai; Liu, Yunqi

2017-11-22

The exploration of novel electron-deficient building blocks is a key task for developing high-performance polymer semiconductors in organic thin-film transistors. In view of the situation of the lack of strong electron-deficient building blocks, we designed two novel π-extended isoindigo-based electron-deficient building blocks, IVI and F 4 IVI. Owing to the strong electron-deficient nature and the extended π-conjugated system of the two acceptor units, their copolymers, PIVI2T and PF 4 IVI2T, containing 2,2'-bithiophene donor units, are endowed with deep-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels and strong intermolecular interactions. In comparison to PIVI2T, the fluorinated PF 4 IVI2T exhibits stronger intra- and intermolecular interactions, lower HOMO/LUMO energy levels up to -5.74/-4.17 eV, and more ordered molecular packing with a smaller π-π stacking distance of up to 3.53 Å, resulting in an excellent ambipolar transporting behavior and a promising application in logic circuits for PF 4 IVI2T in ambient with hole and electron mobilities of up to 1.03 and 1.82 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , respectively. The results reveal that F 4 IVI is a promising and strong electron-deficient building unit to construct high-performance semiconducting polymers, which provides an insight into the structure-property relationships for the exploration and molecular engineering of excellent electron-deficient building blocks in the field of organic electronics.

Letter of intent for KM3NeT 2.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adrián-Martínez, S.; Ageron, M.; Aharonian, F.; Aiello, S.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; Anassontzis, E.; Andre, M.; Androulakis, G.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Avgitas, T.; Barbarino, G.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.; Barrios-Martí, J.; Belhorma, B.; Belias, A.; Berbee, E.; van den Berg, A.; Bertin, V.; Beurthey, S.; van Beveren, V.; Beverini, N.; Biagi, S.; Biagioni, A.; Billault, M.; Bondì, M.; Bormuth, R.; Bouhadef, B.; Bourlis, G.; Bourret, S.; Boutonnet, C.; Bouwhuis, M.; Bozza, C.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Buis, E.; Busto, J.; Cacopardo, G.; Caillat, L.; Calamai, M.; Calvo, D.; Capone, A.; Caramete, L.; Cecchini, S.; Celli, S.; Champion, C.; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; Cherubini, S.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Classen, L.; Cocimano, R.; Coelho, J. A. B.; Coleiro, A.; Colonges, S.; Coniglione, R.; Cordelli, M.; Cosquer, A.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Cuttone, G.; D'Amico, A.; De Bonis, G.; De Rosa, G.; De Sio, C.; Di Capua, F.; Di Palma, I.; Díaz García, A. F.; Distefano, C.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Dorosti-Hasankiadeh, Q.; Drakopoulou, E.; Drouhin, D.; Drury, L.; Durocher, M.; Eberl, T.; Eichie, S.; van Eijk, D.; El Bojaddaini, I.; El Khayati, N.; Elsaesser, D.; Enzenhöfer, A.; Fassi, F.; Favali, P.; Fermani, P.; Ferrara, G.; Filippidis, C.; Frascadore, G.; Fusco, L. A.; Gal, T.; Galatà, S.; Garufi, F.; Gay, P.; Gebyehu, M.; Giordano, V.; Gizani, N.; Gracia, R.; Graf, K.; Grégoire, T.; Grella, G.; Habel, R.; Hallmann, S.; van Haren, H.; Harissopulos, S.; Heid, T.; Heijboer, A.; Heine, E.; Henry, S.; Hernández-Rey, J. J.; Hevinga, M.; Hofestädt, J.; Hugon, C. M. F.; Illuminati, G.; James, C. W.; Jansweijer, P.; Jongen, M.; de Jong, M.; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Katz, U. F.; Keller, P.; Kieft, G.; Kießling, D.; Koffeman, E. N.; Kooijman, P.; Kouchner, A.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lahmann, R.; Lamare, P.; Leisos, A.; Leonora, E.; Clark, M. Lindsey; Liolios, A.; Llorens Alvarez, C. D.; Lo Presti, D.; Löhner, H.; Lonardo, A.; Lotze, M.; Loucatos, S.; Maccioni, E.; Mannheim, K.; Margiotta, A.; Marinelli, A.; Mariş, O.; Markou, C.; Martínez-Mora, J. A.; Martini, A.; Mele, R.; Melis, K. W.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Migneco, E.; Mijakowski, P.; Miraglia, A.; Mollo, C. M.; Mongelli, M.; Morganti, M.; Moussa, A.; Musico, P.; Musumeci, M.; Navas, S.; Nicolau, C. A.; Olcina, I.; Olivetto, C.; Orlando, A.; Papaikonomou, A.; Papaleo, R.; Păvălaş, G. E.; Peek, H.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, C.; Pfutzner, M.; Piattelli, P.; Pikounis, K.; Poma, G. E.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Pratolongo, F.; Pühlhofer, G.; Pulvirenti, S.; Quinn, L.; Racca, C.; Raffaelli, F.; Randazzo, N.; Rapidis, P.; Razis, P.; Real, D.; Resvanis, L.; Reubelt, J.; Riccobene, G.; Rossi, C.; Rovelli, A.; Saldaña, M.; Salvadori, I.; Samtleben, D. F. E.; Sánchez García, A.; Sánchez Losa, A.; Sanguineti, M.; Santangelo, A.; Santonocito, D.; Sapienza, P.; Schimmel, F.; Schmelling, J.; Sciacca, V.; Sedita, M.; Seitz, T.; Sgura, I.; Simeone, F.; Siotis, I.; Sipala, V.; Spisso, B.; Spurio, M.; Stavropoulos, G.; Steijger, J.; Stellacci, S. M.; Stransky, D.; Taiuti, M.; Tayalati, Y.; Tézier, D.; Theraube, S.; Thompson, L.; Timmer, P.; Tönnis, C.; Trasatti, L.; Trovato, A.; Tsirigotis, A.; Tzamarias, S.; Tzamariudaki, E.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Vermeulen, J.; Vicini, P.; Viola, S.; Vivolo, D.; Volkert, M.; Voulgaris, G.; Wiggers, L.; Wilms, J.; de Wolf, E.; Zachariadou, K.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zúñiga, J.

2016-08-01

The main objectives of the KM3NeT Collaboration are (i) the discovery and subsequent observation of high-energy neutrino sources in the Universe and (ii) the determination of the mass hierarchy of neutrinos. These objectives are strongly motivated by two recent important discoveries, namely: (1) the high-energy astrophysical neutrino signal reported by IceCube and (2) the sizable contribution of electron neutrinos to the third neutrino mass eigenstate as reported by Daya Bay, Reno and others. To meet these objectives, the KM3NeT Collaboration plans to build a new Research Infrastructure consisting of a network of deep-sea neutrino telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea. A phased and distributed implementation is pursued which maximises the access to regional funds, the availability of human resources and the synergistic opportunities for the Earth and sea sciences community. Three suitable deep-sea sites are selected, namely off-shore Toulon (France), Capo Passero (Sicily, Italy) and Pylos (Peloponnese, Greece). The infrastructure will consist of three so-called building blocks. A building block comprises 115 strings, each string comprises 18 optical modules and each optical module comprises 31 photo-multiplier tubes. Each building block thus constitutes a three-dimensional array of photo sensors that can be used to detect the Cherenkov light produced by relativistic particles emerging from neutrino interactions. Two building blocks will be sparsely configured to fully explore the IceCube signal with similar instrumented volume, different methodology, improved resolution and complementary field of view, including the galactic plane. One building block will be densely configured to precisely measure atmospheric neutrino oscillations.

Global Dynamic Exposure and the OpenBuildingMap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schorlemmer, D.; Beutin, T.; Hirata, N.; Hao, K. X.; Wyss, M.; Cotton, F.; Prehn, K.

2015-12-01

Detailed understanding of local risk factors regarding natural catastrophes requires in-depth characterization of the local exposure. Current exposure capture techniques have to find the balance between resolution and coverage. We aim at bridging this gap by employing a crowd-sourced approach to exposure capturing focusing on risk related to earthquake hazard. OpenStreetMap (OSM), the rich and constantly growing geographical database, is an ideal foundation for us. More than 2.5 billion geographical nodes, more than 150 million building footprints (growing by ~100'000 per day), and a plethora of information about school, hospital, and other critical facility locations allow us to exploit this dataset for risk-related computations. We will harvest this dataset by collecting exposure and vulnerability indicators from explicitly provided data (e.g. hospital locations), implicitly provided data (e.g. building shapes and positions), and semantically derived data, i.e. interpretation applying expert knowledge. With this approach, we can increase the resolution of existing exposure models from fragility classes distribution via block-by-block specifications to building-by-building vulnerability. To increase coverage, we will provide a framework for collecting building data by any person or community. We will implement a double crowd-sourced approach to bring together the interest and enthusiasm of communities with the knowledge of earthquake and engineering experts. The first crowd-sourced approach aims at collecting building properties in a community by local people and activists. This will be supported by tailored building capture tools for mobile devices for simple and fast building property capturing. The second crowd-sourced approach involves local experts in estimating building vulnerability that will provide building classification rules that translate building properties into vulnerability and exposure indicators as defined in the Building Taxonomy 2.0 developed by the Global Earthquake Model (GEM). These indicators will then be combined with a hazard model using the GEM OpenQuake engine to compute a risk model. The free/open framework we will provide can be used on commodity hardware for local to regional exposure capturing and for communities to understand their earthquake risk.

Administrative Sanctions, Classroom Management, and Intervention Strategies: Building Blocks for School-Wide Discipline. CASE/CCBD Mini-Library Series on Safe, Drug-Free, and Effective Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Cal

Part of a series of monographs on safe, drug-free, and effective schools, this monograph discusses the new discipline requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the role of administrators in developing a range of intervention strategies to manage the behavior of students with behavior problems. Following an introductory…

Health systems and noncommunicable diseases in the Asia-Pacific region: a review of the published literature.

PubMed

Mannava, Priya; Abdullah, Asnawi; James, Chris; Dodd, Rebecca; Annear, Peter Leslie

2015-03-01

Addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in countries of the Asia-Pacific region requires well-functioning health systems. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, health systems are generally characterized by inadequate financial and human resources, unsuitable service delivery models, and weak information systems. The aims of this review were to identify (a) health systems interventions being implemented to deliver NCD programs and services and their outcomes and (b) the health systems bottlenecks impeding access to or delivery of these programs and services in LMICs of the Asia-Pacific region. A search of 4 databases for literature published between 1990 and 2010 retrieved 36 relevant studies. For each study, information on basic characteristics, type of health systems bottleneck/intervention, and outcome was extracted, and methodological quality appraised. Health systems interventions and bottlenecks were classified as per the World Health Organization health systems building blocks framework. The review identified interventions and bottlenecks in the building blocks of service delivery, health workforce, financing, health information systems, and medical products, vaccines, and technologies. Studies, however, were heterogeneous in methodologies used, and the overall quality was generally low. There are several gaps in the evidence base around NCDs in the Asia-Pacific region that require further investigation. © 2013 APJPH.

Comparative evaluation of structured oil systems: Shellac oleogel, HPMC oleogel, and HIPE gel.

PubMed

Patel, Ashok R; Dewettinck, Koen

2015-11-01

In lipid-based food products, fat crystals are used as building blocks for creating a crystalline network that can trap liquid oil into a 3D gel-like structure which in turn is responsible for the desirable mouth feel and texture properties of the food products. However, the recent ban on the use of trans-fat in the US, coupled with the increasing concerns about the negative health effects of saturated fat consumption, has resulted in an increased interest in the area of identifying alternative ways of structuring edible oils using non-fat-based building blocks. In this paper, we give a brief account of three alternative approaches where oil structuring was carried out using wax crystals (shellac), polymer strands (hydrophilic cellulose derivative), and emulsion droplets as structurants. These building blocks resulted in three different types of oleogels that showed distinct rheological properties and temperature functionalities. The three approaches are compared in terms of the preparation process (ease of processing), properties of the formed systems (microstructure, rheological gel strength, temperature response, effect of water incorporation, and thixotropic recovery), functionality, and associated limitations of the structured systems. The comparative evaluation is made such that the new researchers starting their work in the area of oil structuring can use this discussion as a general guideline. Various aspects of oil binding for three different building blocks were studied in this work. The practical significance of this study includes (i) information on the preparation process and the concentrations of structuring agents required for efficient gelation and (ii) information on the behavior of oleogels to temperature, applied shear, and presence of water. This information can be very useful for selecting the type of structuring agents keeping the final applications in mind. For detailed information on the actual edible applications (bakery, chocolate, and spreads) which are based on the oleogel systems described in this manuscript, the readers are advised to refer our recent papers published elsewhere. (Food & Function 2014, 5, 645-652 and Food & Function 2014, 5, 2833-2841).

LEGO® Bricks as Building Blocks for Centimeter-Scale Biological Environments: The Case of Plants

PubMed Central

Lind, Kara R.; Sizmur, Tom; Benomar, Saida; Miller, Anthony; Cademartiri, Ludovico

2014-01-01

LEGO bricks are commercially available interlocking pieces of plastic that are conventionally used as toys. We describe their use to build engineered environments for cm-scale biological systems, in particular plant roots. Specifically, we take advantage of the unique modularity of these building blocks to create inexpensive, transparent, reconfigurable, and highly scalable environments for plant growth in which structural obstacles and chemical gradients can be precisely engineered to mimic soil. PMID:24963716

LEGO® bricks as building blocks for centimeter-scale biological environments: the case of plants.

PubMed

Lind, Kara R; Sizmur, Tom; Benomar, Saida; Miller, Anthony; Cademartiri, Ludovico

2014-01-01

LEGO bricks are commercially available interlocking pieces of plastic that are conventionally used as toys. We describe their use to build engineered environments for cm-scale biological systems, in particular plant roots. Specifically, we take advantage of the unique modularity of these building blocks to create inexpensive, transparent, reconfigurable, and highly scalable environments for plant growth in which structural obstacles and chemical gradients can be precisely engineered to mimic soil.

Building Blocks and Cognitive Building Blocks: Playing to Know the World Mathematically

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarama, Julie; Clements, Douglas H.

2009-01-01

The authors explore how children's play can support the development of the foundations of mathematics learning and how adults can support children's representation of--and thus the "mathematization" of--their play. The authors review research about the amount and nature of mathematics found in the free play of children. They briefly…

Trainer's Guide to Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs [CD-ROM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joseph, Gail E.; Sandall, Susan R.; Schwartz, Ilene S.

2010-01-01

An essential teaching companion for instructors of pre-K educators, this convenient CD-ROM is a vivid blueprint for effective inclusive education using the popular "Building Blocks" approach. Following the structure of the bestselling textbook, this comprehensive guide helps teacher educators provide effective instruction on the three types of…

1. NORTHWEST FRONT AND SOUTHWEST SIDE, SHOWING LOCATION OF BUILDING ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. NORTHWEST FRONT AND SOUTHWEST SIDE, SHOWING LOCATION OF BUILDING 0520 WEST OF FIRING CONTOL BLOCK HOUSE (BLDG. 0545), BETWEEN SLED TRACK AND CAMERA ACCESS ROAD. - Edwards Air Force Base, South Base Sled Track, Observation Block House, Station "O" area, east end of Sled Track, Lancaster, Los Angeles County, CA

Building an Early Childhood Parent-Teacher Resource Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holloway, Mary A.

This manual is a guidebook to the development of the Project Enlightenment Parent-Teacher Resource Center and serves as a reference for the replication of this type of center in other communities. The manual consists of three chapters that are conceptualized as building blocks, because they are sequential, incremental, and independent. Block A…

Effects of a Preschool Mathematics Curriculum: Summative Research on the "Building Blocks" Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clements, Douglas H.; Sarama, Julie

2007-01-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of a preschool mathematics program based on a comprehensive model of developing research-based software and print curricula. Building Blocks, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a curriculum development project focused on creating research-based, technology-enhanced mathematics materials for pre-K…

PBF Reactor Building (PER620). Detail of arrangement of highdensity blocks ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

PBF Reactor Building (PER-620). Detail of arrangement of high-density blocks and other basement shielding. Date: February 1966. Ebasco Services 1205 PER/PBF 620-A-7. INEEL index no. 761-0620-00-205-123070 - Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, SPERT-I & Power Burst Facility Area, Scoville, Butte County, ID

University Education in Ontario: Shared Goals & Building Blocks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council of Ontario Universities, Toronto.

This brochure suggests five goals that are likely to be shared by the people of Ontario, their government, and the province's publicly funded universities for a strong university system, and identifies the building blocks and resource-related commitments that would enable Ontario universities to achieve these goals. The goals are: (1) all…

Stereoselective total synthesis of Oxylipin from open chain gluco-configured building block.

PubMed

Borkar, Santosh Ramdas; Aidhen, Indrapal Singh

2017-04-18

Total synthesis of naturally occurring Oxylipin has been achieved from open chain gluco-configured building block which is readily assembled from inexpensive and commercially available D-(+)-gluconolactone. Grignard reaction and Wittig olefination reactions are key steps for the requisite CC bond formation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Patterning nonisometric origami in nematic elastomer sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plucinsky, Paul; Kowalski, Benjamin A.; White, Timothy J.; Bhattacharya, Kaushik

Nematic elastomers dramatically change their shape in response to diverse stimuli including light and heat. In this paper, we provide a systematic framework for the design of complex three dimensional shapes through the actuation of heterogeneously patterned nematic elastomer sheets. These sheets are composed of \\textit{nonisometric origami} building blocks which, when appropriately linked together, can actuate into a diverse array of three dimensional faceted shapes. We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that: 1) the nonisometric origami building blocks actuate in the predicted manner, 2) the integration of multiple building blocks leads to complex multi-stable, yet predictable, shapes, 3) we can bias the actuation experimentally to obtain a desired complex shape amongst the multi-stable shapes. We then show that this experimentally realized functionality enables a rich possible design landscape for actuation using nematic elastomers. We highlight this landscape through theoretical examples, which utilize large arrays of these building blocks to realize a desired three dimensional origami shape. In combination, these results amount to an engineering design principle, which we hope will provide a template for the application of nematic elastomers to emerging technologies.

QWIP products and building blocks for high performance systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costard, E.; Bois, Ph.; Marcadet, X.; Nedelcu, A.

2005-10-01

Standard GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP) are coming out from the laboratory. In this paper we demonstrate that production and research cannot be dissociated in order to make the new generation of thermal imagers benefit as fast as possible from the building blocks developed by researchers. Since 2002, the THALES group has been manufacturing sensitive arrays using QWIP technology based on GaAs techniques through THALES Research and Technology Laboratory. This QWIP technology allows the realization of large staring arrays for thermal imagers (TI) working in the IR band III (8-12 μm). A review of the current QWIP products is presented. In the past researchers claimed many advantages of QWIPs. Uniformity was one of these and was the key parameter for the production initiation. Another advantage widely claimed also for QWIPs was the so-called band-gap engineering, allowing the custom design of quantum structure to fulfill the requirements of specific applications like very long wavelength or multispectral detection. In this paper, we present the performances for Middle Wavelength InfraRed (MWIR) detections and demonstrate the ability of QWIP's to cover the two spectral ranges (3-5 μm and 8-20 μm). Last but not least, the versatility of the GaAs processing appeared for QWIPs as an important gift. This assumption was well founded. We give here some results achieved on building blocks for two color QWIP pixels. We also report the expected performances of focal plane arrays that we are currently developing with the CEA-LETI-SLIR.

Structure of clusters and building blocks in amylopectin from African rice accessions.

PubMed

Gayin, Joseph; Abdel-Aal, El-Sayed M; Marcone, Massimo; Manful, John; Bertoft, Eric

2016-09-05

Enzymatic hydrolysis in combination with gel-permeation and anion-exchange chromatography techniques were employed to characterise the composition of clusters and building blocks of amylopectin from two African rice (Oryza glaberrima) accessions-IRGC 103759 and TOG 12440. The samples were compared with one Asian rice (Oryza sativa) sample (cv WITA 4) and one O. sativa×O. glaberrima cross (NERICA 4). The average DP of clusters from the African rice accessions (ARAs) was marginally larger (DP=83) than in WITA 4 (DP=81). However, regarding average number of chains, clusters from the ARAs represented both the smallest and largest clusters. Overall, the result suggested that the structure of clusters in TOG 12440 was dense with short chains and high degree of branching, whereas the situation was the opposite in NERICA 4. IRGC 103759 and WITA 4 possessed clusters with intermediate characteristics. The commonest type of building blocks in all samples was group 2 (single branched dextrins) representing 40.3-49.4% of the blocks, while groups 3-6 were found in successively lower numbers. The average number of building blocks in the clusters was significantly larger in NERICA 4 (5.8) and WITA 4 (5.7) than in IRGC 103759 and TOG 12440 (5.1 and 5.3, respectively). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of nanoparticle shape on the morphology and properties of porous CdSe assemblies (aerogels).

PubMed

Yu, Hongtao; Brock, Stephanie L

2008-08-01

We demonstrate the effect of differently shaped CdSe nanoscale building blocks (dots, rods, branched nanoparticles, and hyperbranched nanoparticles) on the morphologies, surface characteristics, and optical properties of resultant porous CdSe nanostructured aerogels. Monolithic CdSe aerogels were produced by controlled oxidative removal of surface thiolate ligands from differently shaped CdSe nanoparticles to yield a wet gel, followed by CO(2) supercritical drying. The X-ray diffraction data show that the resultant CdSe aerogels maintain the crystalline phase of the building blocks without significant grain growth. However, the transmission electron microscopy images indicate that the morphology of CdSe aerogels changes from a colloid-type morphology to a polymer-type morphology when the building block changes from dot to rod or the branched nanoparticle. The morphology of the CdSe aerogel assembled from hyperbranched nanoparticles appears to be intermediate between the colloid-type and the polymer-type. Nitrogen physisorption measurements suggest that the surface areas and porosity are a direct function of the shape of the primary building blocks, with aerogels formed from rods or branched particles exhibiting the greatest surface areas (>200 m(2)/g) and those prepared from hyperbranched nanoparticles exhibiting the least (<100 m(2)/g). Band gap measurements and photoluminescence studies show that the as-prepared CdSe aerogels retain to a large extent the intrinsic quantum confinement of the differently shaped building blocks, despite being connected into a 3D network.

Assembly of RNA nanostructures on supported lipid bilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabkowska, Aleksandra P.; Michanek, Agnes; Jaeger, Luc; Rabe, Michael; Chworos, Arkadiusz; Höök, Fredrik; Nylander, Tommy; Sparr, Emma

2014-12-01

The assembly of nucleic acid nanostructures with controlled size and shape has large impact in the fields of nanotechnology, nanomedicine and synthetic biology. The directed arrangement of nano-structures at interfaces is important for many applications. In spite of this, the use of laterally mobile lipid bilayers to control RNA three-dimensional nanostructure formation on surfaces remains largely unexplored. Here, we direct the self-assembly of RNA building blocks into three-dimensional structures of RNA on fluid lipid bilayers composed of cationic 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) or mixtures of zwitterionic 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and cationic sphingosine. We demonstrate the stepwise supramolecular assembly of discrete building blocks through specific and selective RNA-RNA interactions, based on results from quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), ellipsometry, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) experiments. The assembly can be controlled to give a densely packed single layer of RNA polyhedrons at the fluid lipid bilayer surface. We show that assembly of the 3D structure can be modulated by sequence specific interactions, surface charge and changes in the salt composition and concentration. In addition, the tertiary structure of the RNA polyhedron can be controllably switched from an extended structure to one that is dense and compact. The versatile approach to building up three-dimensional structures of RNA does not require modification of the surface or the RNA molecules, and can be used as a bottom-up means of nanofabrication of functionalized bio-mimicking surfaces.The assembly of nucleic acid nanostructures with controlled size and shape has large impact in the fields of nanotechnology, nanomedicine and synthetic biology. The directed arrangement of nano-structures at interfaces is important for many applications. In spite of this, the use of laterally mobile lipid bilayers to control RNA three-dimensional nanostructure formation on surfaces remains largely unexplored. Here, we direct the self-assembly of RNA building blocks into three-dimensional structures of RNA on fluid lipid bilayers composed of cationic 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) or mixtures of zwitterionic 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and cationic sphingosine. We demonstrate the stepwise supramolecular assembly of discrete building blocks through specific and selective RNA-RNA interactions, based on results from quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), ellipsometry, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) experiments. The assembly can be controlled to give a densely packed single layer of RNA polyhedrons at the fluid lipid bilayer surface. We show that assembly of the 3D structure can be modulated by sequence specific interactions, surface charge and changes in the salt composition and concentration. In addition, the tertiary structure of the RNA polyhedron can be controllably switched from an extended structure to one that is dense and compact. The versatile approach to building up three-dimensional structures of RNA does not require modification of the surface or the RNA molecules, and can be used as a bottom-up means of nanofabrication of functionalized bio-mimicking surfaces. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Table with sequences of tRNA units used in this study; schematic structures of the RNA polyhedron and its building blocks; gel electrophoresis characterization of the RNA polyhedron and squares; AFM characterization of RNA tectosquare; schematic structures of RNA-9 and RNA-10 and their association with lipid bilayers; QCM-D frequency and dissipation data (as function of time) for adsorption of RNA polyhedrons, RNA squares and RNA9-10 TIRF images of RNA with Gelstar after photobleaching with analysis; Correlation plot in change of shear viscosity for TS3 and TO3-4 models for the stoichiometry of TS; QCM-D dissipation data for the sequential experiment in Fig. 5a; QCM-D and for the assembly of building blocks at the bilayer scaffold at varying bulk concentrations; QCM-D of adsorption of TS3. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr05968a

Design of responsive materials using topologically interlocked elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molotnikov, A.; Gerbrand, R.; Qi, Y.; Simon, G. P.; Estrin, Y.

2015-02-01

In this work we present a novel approach to designing responsive structures by segmentation of monolithic plates into an assembly of topologically interlocked building blocks. The particular example considered is an assembly of interlocking osteomorphic blocks. The results of this study demonstrate that the constraining force, which is required to hold the blocks together, can be viewed as a design parameter that governs the bending stiffness and the load bearing capacity of the segmented structure. In the case where the constraining forces are provided laterally using an external frame, the maximum load the assembly can sustain and its stiffness increase linearly with the magnitude of the lateral load applied. Furthermore, we show that the segmented plate with integrated shape memory wires employed as tensioning cables can act as a smart structure that changes its flexural stiffness and load bearing capacity in response to external stimuli, such as heat generated by the switching on and off an electric current.

Acoustic buffeting by infrasound in a low vibration facility.

PubMed

MacLeod, B P; Hoffman, J E; Burke, S A; Bonn, D A

2016-09-01

Measurement instruments and fabrication tools with spatial resolution on the atomic scale require facilities that mitigate the impact of vibration sources in the environment. One approach to protection from vibration in a building's foundation is to place the instrument on a massive inertia block, supported on pneumatic isolators. This opens the questions of whether or not a massive floating block is susceptible to acoustic forces, and how to mitigate the effects of any such acoustic buffeting. Here this is investigated with quantitative measurements of vibrations and sound pressure, together with finite element modeling. It is shown that a particular concern, even in a facility with multiple acoustic enclosures, is the excitation of the lowest fundamental acoustic modes of the room by infrasound in the low tens of Hz range, and the efficient coupling of the fundamental room modes to a large inertia block centered in the room.

Building a Community Infrastructure for Scalable On-Line Performance Analysis Tools around Open|Speedshop

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miller, Barton

2014-06-30

Peta-scale computing environments pose significant challenges for both system and application developers and addressing them required more than simply scaling up existing tera-scale solutions. Performance analysis tools play an important role in gaining this understanding, but previous monolithic tools with fixed feature sets have not sufficed. Instead, this project worked on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a general, flexible tool infrastructure supporting the construction of performance tools as “pipelines” of high-quality tool building blocks. These tool building blocks provide common performance tool functionality, and are designed for scalability, lightweight data acquisition and analysis, and interoperability. For this project, wemore » built on Open|SpeedShop, a modular and extensible open source performance analysis tool set. The design and implementation of such a general and reusable infrastructure targeted for petascale systems required us to address several challenging research issues. All components needed to be designed for scale, a task made more difficult by the need to provide general modules. The infrastructure needed to support online data aggregation to cope with the large amounts of performance and debugging data. We needed to be able to map any combination of tool components to each target architecture. And we needed to design interoperable tool APIs and workflows that were concrete enough to support the required functionality, yet provide the necessary flexibility to address a wide range of tools. A major result of this project is the ability to use this scalable infrastructure to quickly create tools that match with a machine architecture and a performance problem that needs to be understood. Another benefit is the ability for application engineers to use the highly scalable, interoperable version of Open|SpeedShop, which are reassembled from the tool building blocks into a flexible, multi-user interface set of tools. This set of tools targeted at Office of Science Leadership Class computer systems and selected Office of Science application codes. We describe the contributions made by the team at the University of Wisconsin. The project built on the efforts in Open|SpeedShop funded by DOE/NNSA and the DOE/NNSA Tri-Lab community, extended Open|Speedshop to the Office of Science Leadership Class Computing Facilities, and addressed new challenges found on these cutting edge systems. Work done under this project at Wisconsin can be divided into two categories, new algorithms and techniques for debugging, and foundation infrastructure work on our Dyninst binary analysis and instrumentation toolkits and MRNet scalability infrastructure.« less

Circular RNA (circRNA) was an important bridge in the switch from the RNA world to the DNA world.

PubMed

Soslau, Gerald

2018-06-14

The concept that life on Earth began as an RNA world has been built upon extensive experimentation demonstrating that many of the building blocks required for living cells could be synthesized in the laboratory under conditions approximating our primordial world. Many of the building blocks for life have also been found in meteorites indicating that meteors may have been a source for these molecules, or more likely, that they represent the chemical library present in most/all bodies in the universe after the big bang. Perhaps the most important support for the concept comes from the fact that some RNA species possess catalytic activity, ribozymes, and that RNA could be reverse transcribe to DNA. The thrust of numerous papers on this topic has been to explore how the available molecules on Earth, at its birth, gave rise to life as we know it today. This paper focuses more on a reverse view of the topic. The "how" molecular building blocks were synthesized is not addressed nor how the "first" RNA molecules were synthesized. We can clearly speculate on the variable environmental conditions and chemistry available on Earth billions of years ago. However, we can never truly replicate the changing conditions or know the chemical composition of Earth at the beginning of time. We can, however, confirm that over millions, perhaps billions of years the basic building blocks for life accumulated sufficiently to initiate evolution to an RNA world followed by our RNA/DNA world. Here we are attempting to take the information from our current knowledge of biology and by inference and extrapolation work backward to hypothesize biological events in the march forward from RNA to DNA. It is proposed that the primordial replicating RNA cell, the ribocyte, evolved from liposomes encompassing required reactants and products for "life" and that ribonucleopeptide complexes formed membrane pores to support bidirectional ion and molecular transport to maintain biological functions and osmolarity. Circular RNA, circRNA, is proposed as a critical stable RNA molecule that served as the genetic precursor for the switch to DNA and the replication of circRNA by a rolling circle mechanism gave rise to the RNA complexity required for the genetic functions of the cell. The replicating ribocyte would have required protein synthesis as well as RNA replication and a model for non-coded and primordial coded protein synthesis is proposed. Finally, the switch from the RNA to the DNA world would have involved the synthesis of an RNA:DNA hybrid prior to the formation of dsDNA. If the hybrid was a circular molecule that ultimately yielded a circular dsDNA molecule, it could predict that the primordial DNA cell would evolve into a bacterial cell with a single circular chromosome. One would hope that continued speculation of the origin of life will spur new directions of research that may never fully answer the questions of the past but add to our ability to regulate potentially harmful biological events in the present and in the future. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The Phase I program and the design plan for the Phase II Experiment Integration wherein the AAI Corporation's 24/1 concentrating collector is used to produce hot water to cure concrete blocks is described. This concept has a tremendous potential since each block requires about 1500 Btu for curing at a temperature of 140/sup 0/F to 180/sup 0/F. To demonstrate this process, the solar hot water system will be installed at the new block fabricating plant being built by the York Building Products Co., Inc. at Harrisburg, Pa. A circular underground curing tank will be the storage tank for the solarmore » system. Since the plane is new, no retrofitting is required. The collectors will be mounted on the roof of the new block producing facility. A full-scale 256 ft/sup 2/ module of the 24/1 collector has been built and tested by AAI Corporation. A 9216 ft/sup 2/ array of collectors is required for this experiment. AAI Corporation is pursuing a development program planned to culminate in the marketing of the 24/1 collector at a selling price of $7 to $10 per square foot. The collector is built in 9 ft by 34 ft modules and is self-supporting with pads located at the four corners. It can be inclined at the most favorable angle for solar performance, and can be located on a roof, or as a separate unit on the ground. A final design and performance analysis and an economic analysis are presented. (WHK)« less

SimITK: rapid ITK prototyping using the Simulink visual programming environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickinson, A. W. L.; Mousavi, P.; Gobbi, D. G.; Abolmaesumi, P.

2011-03-01

The Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit (ITK) is a long-established, software package used for image analysis, visualization, and image-guided surgery applications. This package is a collection of C++ libraries, that can pose usability problems for users without C++ programming experience. To bridge the gap between the programming complexities and the required learning curve of ITK, we present a higher-level visual programming environment that represents ITK methods and classes by wrapping them into "blocks" within MATLAB's visual programming environment, Simulink. These blocks can be connected to form workflows: visual schematics that closely represent the structure of a C++ program. Due to the heavily C++ templated nature of ITK, direct interaction between Simulink and ITK requires an intermediary to convert their respective datatypes and allow intercommunication. We have developed a "Virtual Block" that serves as an intermediate wrapper around the ITK class and is responsible for resolving the templated datatypes used by ITK to native types used by Simulink. Presently, the wrapping procedure for SimITK is semi-automatic in that it requires XML descriptions of the ITK classes as a starting point, as this data is used to create all other necessary integration files. The generation of all source code and object code from the XML is done automatically by a CMake build script that yields Simulink blocks as the final result. An example 3D segmentation workflow using cranial-CT data as well as a 3D MR-to-CT registration workflow are presented as a proof-of-concept.

Foundations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harteveld, Casper

A building will more likely collapse if it does not have any proper foundations. Similarly, the design philosophy of Triadic Game Design (TGD) needs to reside on solid building blocks, otherwise the concept will collapse as well. In this level I will elaborate on these building blocks. First I will explain what the general idea of TGD is. It is a design philosophy, for sure, but one which stresses that an “optimum” needs to be found in a design space constituted by three different worlds: Reality, Meaning, and Play. Additionally, these worlds need to be considered simultaneously and be treated equally. The latter requires balancing the worlds which may result in different tensions, within and between two or three of the worlds. I continue by discussing each of the worlds and showing their perspective on the field of games with a meaningful purpose. From this, we clearly see that it is feasible to think of each world and that the idea makes sense. I substantiate this further by relating the notion of player and similar approaches to this framework. This level is quite a tough pill to swallow yet essential for finishing the other levels. Do not cheat or simply skip this level, but just take a big cup of coffee or tea and start reading it.

Building block extraction and classification by means of aerial images fused with super-resolution reconstructed elevation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panagiotopoulou, Antigoni; Bratsolis, Emmanuel; Charou, Eleni; Perantonis, Stavros

2017-10-01

The detailed three-dimensional modeling of buildings utilizing elevation data, such as those provided by light detection and ranging (LiDAR) airborne scanners, is increasingly demanded today. There are certain application requirements and available datasets to which any research effort has to be adapted. Our dataset includes aerial orthophotos, with a spatial resolution 20 cm, and a digital surface model generated from LiDAR, with a spatial resolution 1 m and an elevation resolution 20 cm, from an area of Athens, Greece. The aerial images are fused with LiDAR, and we classify these data with a multilayer feedforward neural network for building block extraction. The innovation of our approach lies in the preprocessing step in which the original LiDAR data are super-resolution (SR) reconstructed by means of a stochastic regularized technique before their fusion with the aerial images takes place. The Lorentzian estimator combined with the bilateral total variation regularization performs the SR reconstruction. We evaluate the performance of our approach against that of fusing unprocessed LiDAR data with aerial images. We present the classified images and the statistical measures confusion matrix, kappa coefficient, and overall accuracy. The results demonstrate that our approach predominates over that of fusing unprocessed LiDAR data with aerial images.

SynTrack: DNA Assembly Workflow Management (SynTrack) v2.0.1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MENG, XIANWEI; SIMIRENKO, LISA

2016-12-01

SynTrack is a dynamic, workflow-driven data management system that tracks the DNA build process: Management of the hierarchical relationships of the DNA fragments; Monitoring of process tasks for the assembly of multiple DNA fragments into final constructs; Creations of vendor order forms with selectable building blocks. Organizing plate layouts barcodes for vendor/pcr/fusion/chewback/bioassay/glycerol/master plate maps (default/condensed); Creating or updating Pre-Assembly/Assembly process workflows with selected building blocks; Generating Echo pooling instructions based on plate maps; Tracking of building block orders, received and final assembled for delivering; Bulk updating of colony or PCR amplification information, fusion PCR and chewback results; Updating with QA/QCmore » outcome with .csv & .xlsx template files; Re-work assembly workflow enabled before and after sequencing validation; and Tracking of plate/well data changes and status updates and reporting of master plate status with QC outcomes.« less

Building Trades. Block II. Foundations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas A and M Univ., College Station. Vocational Instructional Services.

Twelve informational lessons and eleven manipulative lessons are provided on foundations as applied to the building trades. Informational lessons cover land measurements; blueprint reading; level instruments; building and site planning; building site preparation; laying out building lines; soil preparation and special evacuation; concrete forms;…

The Building Blocks of Digital Media Literacy: Socio-Material Participation and the Production of Media Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dezuanni, Michael

2015-01-01

This article outlines the knowledge and skills students develop when they engage in digital media production and analysis in school settings. The metaphor of "digital building blocks" is used to describe the material practices, conceptual understandings and production of knowledge that lead to the development of digital media literacy.…

Plumbing Specialist II & III, 3-22. Military Curriculum Materials for Vocational and Technical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

These military-developed curriculum materials consist of a course description, course chart, plan of instruction, lesson plans, study guides, and workbooks for use in training plumbing specialists II and III. Covered in the course blocks are building waste systems and exterior and interior supply systems. Course block II, on building waste…

Using Interlocking Toy Building Blocks to Assess Conceptual Understanding in Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geyer, Michael J.

2017-01-01

A current emphasis on teaching conceptual chemistry via the particulate nature of matter has led to the need for new, effective ways to assess students' conceptual understanding of this view of chemistry. This article provides a simple, inexpensive way to use interlocking toy building blocks (e.g., LEGOs) in both formative and summative…

Functionalized coronenes: synthesis, solid structure, and properties.

PubMed

Wu, Di; Zhang, Hua; Liang, Jinhua; Ge, Haojie; Chi, Chunyan; Wu, Jishan; Liu, Sheng Hua; Yin, Jun

2012-12-21

The construction of coronenes using simple building blocks is a challenging task. In this work, triphenylene was used as a building block to construct functionalized coronenes, and their solid structures and optoelectronic properties were investigated. The single crystal structures showed that coronenes have different packing motifs. Their good solubility and photostability make them potential solution-processable candidates for organic devices.

The Development of Logico-Mathematical Knowledge in a Block-Building Activity at Ages 1-4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamii, Constance; Miyakawa, Yoko; Kato, Yasuhiko

2004-01-01

To study the developmental interrelationships among various aspects of logico-mathematical knowledge, 80 one- to 4-year-olds were individually asked to build "something tall" with 20 blocks. Percentages of new and significant behaviors increased with age and were analyzed in terms of the development of logico-mathematical relationships. It was…

Building Blocks of Contemporary HRD Research: A Citation Analysis on Human Resource Development Quarterly between 2007 and 2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehdiabadi, Amir Hedayati; Seo, Gaeun; Huang, Wenhao David; Han, Seung-hyun Caleb

2017-01-01

Human resource development is known to encapsulate a collection of social science disciplines including communications, psychology, and economics. Since these and other similar areas are the cornerstones of HRD, the changing nature of HRD demands constant reflections on the value and building blocks of contemporary HRD inquiries. This article…

Upgrading Basements for Combined Nuclear Weapons Effects: Expedient Options

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-05-01

reinforced concrete stairwell walls can be expected to be substantial in these cases, since they are supporting an axial load from higher floors. F...desirability) include: a. Stacked concrete block or brick b. Stacked timber * The latter situation is likely to occur only in load - bearing wall...concrete flat slab 4 Reinforced concrete flat plate 4 Load - bearing wall 3 The analysis of the floor systems for the 34 NSS buildings required the dynamic

Comment on "Bit-string oblivious transfer based on quantum state computational distinguishability"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Guang Ping

2015-10-01

We show that in the protocol proposed in Phys. Rev. A 91, 042306 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevA.91.042306, a dishonest sender can always ensure with certainty that the receiver fails to get the secret message. Thus the security requirement of oblivious transfer is not met. This security problem also makes the protocol unsuitable for serving as a building block for 1-out-of-2 oblivious transfer.

CFD validation experiments for hypersonic flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marvin, Joseph G.

1992-01-01

A roadmap for CFD code validation is introduced. The elements of the roadmap are consistent with air-breathing vehicle design requirements and related to the important flow path components: forebody, inlet, combustor, and nozzle. Building block and benchmark validation experiments are identified along with their test conditions and measurements. Based on an evaluation criteria, recommendations for an initial CFD validation data base are given and gaps identified where future experiments could provide new validation data.

Quantitative NMR Approach to Optimize the Formation of Chemical Building Blocks from Abundant Carbohydrates.

PubMed

Elliot, Samuel G; Tolborg, Søren; Sádaba, Irantzu; Taarning, Esben; Meier, Sebastian

2017-07-21

The future role of biomass-derived chemicals relies on the formation of diverse functional monomers in high yields from carbohydrates. Recently, it has become clear that a series of α-hydroxy acids, esters, and lactones can be formed from carbohydrates in alcohol and water solvents using tin-containing catalysts such as Sn-Beta. These compounds are potential building blocks for polyesters bearing additional olefin and alcohol functionalities. An NMR approach was used to identify, quantify, and optimize the formation of these building blocks in the Sn-Beta-catalyzed transformation of abundant carbohydrates. Record yields of the target molecules can be achieved by obstructing competing reactions through solvent selection. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of high-rise construction projects in the form of urban blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlov, Alexandr; Chubarkina, Irina

2018-03-01

The paper is dedicated to main modern trends in the area of high-rise construction. The classification of buildings and structures by height is given. Functional distribution by the height of buildings is presented. A review of positive and negative aspects of high-rise construction from the economic point of view is given. On the basis of the data obtained, it is proposed to build up residential microdistricts in the form of urban blocks. A plan of microdistricts development is presented. It takes into account urban blocks and includes their main characteristics. An economic and mathematical model was developed to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of high-rise construction projects.

Advances in metabolic pathway and strain engineering paving the way for sustainable production of chemical building blocks.

PubMed

Chen, Yun; Nielsen, Jens

2013-12-01

Bio-based production of chemical building blocks from renewable resources is an attractive alternative to petroleum-based platform chemicals. Metabolic pathway and strain engineering is the key element in constructing robust microbial chemical factories within the constraints of cost effective production. Here we discuss how the development of computational algorithms, novel modules and methods, omics-based techniques combined with modeling refinement are enabling reduction in development time and thus advance the field of industrial biotechnology. We further discuss how recent technological developments contribute to the development of novel cell factories for the production of the building block chemicals: adipic acid, succinic acid and 3-hydroxypropionic acid. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Ap-Structure with Finslerian Flavor I:. the Principal Idea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanas, M. I.

A geometric structure (FAP-structure), having both absolute parallelism and Finsler properties, is constructed. The building blocks of this structure are assumed to be functions of position and direction. A nonlinear connection emerges naturally and is defined in terms of the building blocks of the structure. Two linear connections, one of Berwald type and the other of the Cartan type, are defined using the nonlinear connection of the FAP. Both linear connections are nonsymmetric and consequently admit torsion. A metric tensor is defined in terms of the building blocks of the structure. The condition for this metric to be a Finslerian one is obtained. Also, the condition for an FAP-space to be an AP-one is given.

Standardized Modular Power Interfaces for Future Space Explorations Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oeftering, Richard

2015-01-01

Earlier studies show that future human explorations missions are composed of multi-vehicle assemblies with interconnected electric power systems. Some vehicles are often intended to serve as flexible multi-purpose or multi-mission platforms. This drives the need for power architectures that can be reconfigured to support this level of flexibility. Power system developmental costs can be reduced, program wide, by utilizing a common set of modular building blocks. Further, there are mission operational and logistics cost benefits of using a common set of modular spares. These benefits are the goals of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Modular Power System (AMPS) project. A common set of modular blocks requires a substantial level of standardization in terms of the Electrical, Data System, and Mechanical interfaces. The AMPS project is developing a set of proposed interface standards that will provide useful guidance for modular hardware developers but not needlessly constrain technology options, or limit future growth in capability. In 2015 the AMPS project focused on standardizing the interfaces between the elements of spacecraft power distribution and energy storage. The development of the modular power standard starts with establishing mission assumptions and ground rules to define design application space. The standards are defined in terms of AMPS objectives including Commonality, Reliability-Availability, Flexibility-Configurability and Supportability-Reusability. The proposed standards are aimed at assembly and sub-assembly level building blocks. AMPS plans to adopt existing standards for spacecraft command and data, software, network interfaces, and electrical power interfaces where applicable. Other standards including structural encapsulation, heat transfer, and fluid transfer, are governed by launch and spacecraft environments and bound by practical limitations of weight and volume. Developing these mechanical interface standards is more difficult but an essential part of defining physical building blocks of modular power. This presentation describes the AMPS projects progress towards standardized modular power interfaces.

Programming an Experiment Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lange, Stuart

2004-01-01

As NASA develops plans for more and more ambitious missions into space, it is the job of NASA's researchers to develop the technologies that will make those planed missions feasible. One such technology is energy conversion. Energy is all around us; it is in the light that we see in the chemical bonds that hold compounds together, and in mass itself.Energy is the fundamental building block of our universe, yet it has always been straggle for humans to convert this energy into useable forms, like electricity. For space-based applications, NASA requires efficient energy conversion method that require little or no fuel.

Blockbusters: Ideas for the Block Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Polly K.; Nesmith, Jaynie

1996-01-01

Goals of block building in early childhood classrooms focus on physical, social, cognitive, and emotional development. Reports survey results of the value teachers place on block play. Offers illustrations of task cards to use with blocks in math, language arts, social studies, and science. Discusses guidelines and suggests idea cards and sentence…

Facet-controlled facilitation of PbS nanoarchitectures by understanding nanocrystal growth.

PubMed

Loc, Welley Siu; Quan, Zewei; Lin, Cuikun; Pan, Jinfong; Wang, Yuxuan; Yang, Kaikun; Jian, Wen-Bin; Zhao, Bo; Wang, Howard; Fang, Jiye

2015-12-07

Nanostructured lead sulphide is a significant component in a number of energy-related sustainable applications such as photovoltaic cells and thermoelectric components. In many micro-packaging processes, dimensionality-controlled nano-architectures as building blocks with unique properties are required. This study investigates different facet-merging growth behaviors through a wet-chemical synthetic strategy to produce high-quality controlled nanostructures of lead sulphide in various dimensionalities. It was found that 1D nanowires or 2D nanosheets can be obtained by the merging of reactive {111}- or {110}-facets, respectively, while promoting {100} facets in the early stages after nucleation leads to the growth of 0D nanocubes. The influence of temperature, capping ligands and co-solvent in facilitating the crystal facet growth of each intermediate seed is also demonstrated. The novelty of this work is characterized by the delicate manipulation of various PbS nanoarchitectures based on the comprehension of the facet-merging evolution. The synthesis of facet-controlled PbS nanostructures could provide novel building blocks with desired properties for use in many applications.

Synthesis of heparin-like oligosaccharides on polymer supports.

PubMed

Ojeda, Rafael; Terentí, Olimpia; de Paz, José-Luis; Martín-Lomas, Manuel

2004-01-01

The biological functions of a variety of proteins are regulated by heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. In order to facilitate the elucidation of the molecular basis of glycosaminoglycan-protein interactions we have developed syntheses of heparin-like oligosaccharides on polymer supports. A completely stereoselective strategy previously developed by us for the synthesis of these oligosaccharides in solution has been extended to the solid phase using an acceptor-bound approach. Both a soluble polymer support and a polyethylene glycol-grafted polystyrene resin have been used and different strategies for the attachment of the acceptor to the support have been explored. The attachment of fully protected disaccharide building blocks to a soluble support through the carboxylic group of the uronic acid unit by a succinic ester linkage, the use of trichloroacetimidates as glycosylating agents and of a functionalized Merryfield type resin for the capping process allowed for the construction of hexasaccharide and octasaccharide fragments containing the structural motif of the regular region of heparin. This strategy may facilitate the synthesis of glycosaminoglycan oligosaccharides by using the required building blocks in the glycosylation sequence.

Generic Software Architecture for Launchers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carre, Emilien; Gast, Philippe; Hiron, Emmanuel; Leblanc, Alain; Lesens, David; Mescam, Emmanuelle; Moro, Pierre

2015-09-01

The definition and reuse of generic software architecture for launchers is not so usual for several reasons: the number of European launcher families is very small (Ariane 5 and Vega for these last decades); the real time constraints (reactivity and determinism needs) are very hard; low levels of versatility are required (implying often an ad hoc development of the launcher mission). In comparison, satellites are often built on a generic platform made up of reusable hardware building blocks (processors, star-trackers, gyroscopes, etc.) and reusable software building blocks (middleware, TM/TC, On Board Control Procedure, etc.). If some of these reasons are still valid (e.g. the limited number of development), the increase of the available CPU power makes today an approach based on a generic time triggered middleware (ensuring the full determinism of the system) and a centralised mission and vehicle management (offering more flexibility in the design and facilitating the long term maintenance) achievable. This paper presents an example of generic software architecture which could be envisaged for future launchers, based on the previously described principles and supported by model driven engineering and automatic code generation.

Evolution of sequence-defined highly functionalized nucleic acid polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhen; Lichtor, Phillip A.; Berliner, Adrian P.; Chen, Jonathan C.; Liu, David R.

2018-03-01

The evolution of sequence-defined synthetic polymers made of building blocks beyond those compatible with polymerase enzymes or the ribosome has the potential to generate new classes of receptors, catalysts and materials. Here we describe a ligase-mediated DNA-templated polymerization and in vitro selection system to evolve highly functionalized nucleic acid polymers (HFNAPs) made from 32 building blocks that contain eight chemically diverse side chains on a DNA backbone. Through iterated cycles of polymer translation, selection and reverse translation, we discovered HFNAPs that bind proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and interleukin-6, two protein targets implicated in human diseases. Mutation and reselection of an active PCSK9-binding polymer yielded evolved polymers with high affinity (KD = 3 nM). This evolved polymer potently inhibited the binding between PCSK9 and the low-density lipoprotein receptor. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed that specific side chains at defined positions in the polymers are required for binding to their respective targets. Our findings expand the chemical space of evolvable polymers to include densely functionalized nucleic acids with diverse, researcher-defined chemical repertoires.

Impact force as a scaling parameter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poe, Clarence C., Jr.; Jackson, Wade C.

1994-01-01

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAR PART 25) requires that a structure carry ultimate load with nonvisible impact damage and carry 70 percent of limit flight loads with discrete damage. The Air Force has similar criteria (MIL-STD-1530A). Both civilian and military structures are designed by a building block approach. First, critical areas of the structure are determined, and potential failure modes are identified. Then, a series of representative specimens are tested that will fail in those modes. The series begins with tests of simple coupons, progresses through larger and more complex subcomponents, and ends with a test on a full-scale component, hence the term 'building block.' In order to minimize testing, analytical models are needed to scale impact damage and residual strength from the simple coupons to the full-scale component. Using experiments and analysis, the present paper illustrates that impact damage can be better understood and scaled using impact force than just kinetic energy. The plate parameters considered are size and thickness, boundary conditions, and material, and the impact parameters are mass, shape, and velocity.

Statistical analysis of atmospheric turbulence about a simulated block building

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steely, S. L., Jr.

1981-01-01

An array of towers instrumented to measure the three components of wind speed was used to study atmospheric flow about a simulated block building. Two-point spacetime correlations of the longitudinal velocity component were computed along with two-point spatial correlations. These correlations are in good agreement with fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics. The two-point spatial correlations computed directly were compared with correlations predicted by Taylor's hypothesis and excellent agreement was obtained at the higher levels which were out of the building influence. The correlations fall off significantly in the building wake but recover beyond the wake to essentially the same values in the undisturbed, higher regions.

"Looking through the Eyes of the Learner": Implementation of Building Blocks for Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Annolfo, Suzanne Cordier; Schumann, Jeffrey A.

2012-01-01

The Building Blocks for Student Engagement (BBSE) protocol was designed to provide a consistent framework of common language and a visual point of reference shared among students, teachers and school leaders to keep a laser-like focus on the instructional core and student engagement. Grounded in brain-based learning and implemented in urban,…

Oligomers and Polymers Based on Pentacene Building Blocks

PubMed Central

Lehnherr, Dan; Tykwinski, Rik R.

2010-01-01

Functionalized pentacene derivatives continue to provide unique materials for organic semiconductor applications. Although oligomers and polymers based on pentacene building blocks remain quite rare, recent synthetic achievements have provided a number of examples with varied structural motifs. This review highlights recent work in this area and, when possible, contrasts the properties of defined-length pentacene oligomers to those of mono- and polymeric systems.

Public Opinion on Youth, Crime and Race: A Guide for Advocates. Building Blocks for Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soler, Mark

This guide summarizes public opinion research on youth and juvenile justice issues from the Building Blocks for Youth focus groups and various national polls. Overall, the public is less fearful about crime than in the past but believes juvenile crime is increasing. There is serious public concern about the effectiveness of the juvenile justice…

A “fullerene-carbon nanotube” structure with tunable mechanical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, W. M.; Zhang, L. W.; Liew, K. M.

2018-03-01

Carbon-based nanostructures have drawn tremendous research interest and become promising building blocks for the new generation of smart sensors and devices. Utilizing a bottom-up strategy, the chemical interconnecting sp 3 covalent bond between carbon building blocks is an efficient way to enhance its Young's modulus and ductility. The formation of sp 3 covalent bond, however, inevitably degrades its ultimate tensile strength caused by stress concentration at the junction. By performing a molecular dynamics simulation of tensile deformation for a fullerene-carbon nanotube (FCNT) structure, we propose a tunable strategy in which fullerenes with various angle energy absorption capacities are utilized as building blocks to tune their ductile behavior, while still maintaining a good ultimate tensile strength of the carbon building blocks. A higher ultimate tensile strength is revealed with the reduction of stress concentration at the junction. A brittle-to-ductile transition during the tensile deformation is detected through the structural modification. The development of ductile behavior is attributed to the improvement of energy propagation ability during the fracture initiation, in which the released energy from bonds fracture is mitigated properly, leading to the further development of mechanical properties.

De novo design of molecular architectures by evolutionary assembly of drug-derived building blocks.

PubMed

Schneider, G; Lee, M L; Stahl, M; Schneider, P

2000-07-01

An evolutionary algorithm was developed for fragment-based de novo design of molecules (TOPAS, TOPology-Assigning System). This stochastic method aims at generating a novel molecular structure mimicking a template structure. A set of approximately 25,000 fragment structures serves as the building block supply, which were obtained by a straightforward fragmentation procedure applied to 36,000 known drugs. Eleven reaction schemes were implemented for both fragmentation and building block assembly. This combination of drug-derived building blocks and a restricted set of reaction schemes proved to be a key for the automatic development of novel, synthetically tractable structures. In a cyclic optimization process, molecular architectures were generated from a parent structure by virtual synthesis, and the best structure of a generation was selected as the parent for the subsequent TOPAS cycle. Similarity measures were used to define 'fitness', based on 2D-structural similarity or topological pharmacophore distance between the template molecule and the variants. The concept of varying library 'diversity' during a design process was consequently implemented by using adaptive variant distributions. The efficiency of the design algorithm was demonstrated for the de novo construction of potential thrombin inhibitors mimicking peptide and non-peptide template structures.

Assessment of Micro-Basin Tillage as a Soil and Water Conservation Practice in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China.

PubMed

Sui, Yuanyuan; Ou, Yang; Yan, Baixing; Xu, Xiaohong; Rousseau, Alain N; Zhang, Yu

2016-01-01

Micro-basin tillage is a soil and water conservation practice that requires building individual earth blocks along furrows. In this study, plot experiments were conducted to assess the efficiency of micro-basin tillage on sloping croplands between 2012 and 2013 (5°and 7°). The conceptual, optimal, block interval model was used to design micro-basins which are meant to capture the maximum amount of water per unit area. Results indicated that when compared to the up-down slope tillage, micro-basin tillage could increase soil water content and maize yield by about 45% and 17%, and reduce runoff, sediment and nutrients loads by about 63%, 96% and 86%, respectively. Meanwhile, micro-basin tillage could reduce the peak runoff rates and delay the initial runoff-yielding time. In addition, micro-basin tillage with the optimal block interval proved to be the best one among all treatments with different intervals. Compared with treatments of other block intervals, the optimal block interval treatments increased soil moisture by around 10% and reduced runoff rate by around 15%. In general, micro-basin tillage with optimal block interval represents an effective soil and water conservation practice for sloping farmland of the black soil region.

Assessment of Micro-Basin Tillage as a Soil and Water Conservation Practice in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China

PubMed Central

Sui, Yuanyuan; Ou, Yang; Yan, Baixing; Xu, Xiaohong; Rousseau, Alain N.; Zhang, Yu

2016-01-01

Micro-basin tillage is a soil and water conservation practice that requires building individual earth blocks along furrows. In this study, plot experiments were conducted to assess the efficiency of micro-basin tillage on sloping croplands between 2012 and 2013 (5°and 7°). The conceptual, optimal, block interval model was used to design micro-basins which are meant to capture the maximum amount of water per unit area. Results indicated that when compared to the up-down slope tillage, micro-basin tillage could increase soil water content and maize yield by about 45% and 17%, and reduce runoff, sediment and nutrients loads by about 63%, 96% and 86%, respectively. Meanwhile, micro-basin tillage could reduce the peak runoff rates and delay the initial runoff-yielding time. In addition, micro-basin tillage with the optimal block interval proved to be the best one among all treatments with different intervals. Compared with treatments of other block intervals, the optimal block interval treatments increased soil moisture by around 10% and reduced runoff rate by around 15%. In general, micro-basin tillage with optimal block interval represents an effective soil and water conservation practice for sloping farmland of the black soil region. PMID:27031339

Style grammars for interactive visualization of architecture.

PubMed

Aliaga, Daniel G; Rosen, Paul A; Bekins, Daniel R

2007-01-01

Interactive visualization of architecture provides a way to quickly visualize existing or novel buildings and structures. Such applications require both fast rendering and an effortless input regimen for creating and changing architecture using high-level editing operations that automatically fill in the necessary details. Procedural modeling and synthesis is a powerful paradigm that yields high data amplification and can be coupled with fast-rendering techniques to quickly generate plausible details of a scene without much or any user interaction. Previously, forward generating procedural methods have been proposed where a procedure is explicitly created to generate particular content. In this paper, we present our work in inverse procedural modeling of buildings and describe how to use an extracted repertoire of building grammars to facilitate the visualization and quick modification of architectural structures and buildings. We demonstrate an interactive application where the user draws simple building blocks and, using our system, can automatically complete the building "in the style of" other buildings using view-dependent texture mapping or nonphotorealistic rendering techniques. Our system supports an arbitrary number of building grammars created from user subdivided building models and captured photographs. Using only edit, copy, and paste metaphors, the entire building styles can be altered and transferred from one building to another in a few operations, enhancing the ability to modify an existing architectural structure or to visualize a novel building in the style of the others.

13. A southeastward view of buildings #3 (on the right), ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

13. A southeastward view of buildings #3 (on the right), building #5 ( to the immediate left of building #3), and buildings #6-B (low building on the far left) and #6 ( to the immediate rear of #6-B). - American Chain & Cable Company, East Princess Street (400 Block), York, York County, PA

1. Historic American Buildings Survey E. W. Russell, Photographer, October ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. Historic American Buildings Survey E. W. Russell, Photographer, October 17, 1935 51-69 Government St. BLOCK OF BUILDINGS ON GOVERNMENT ST. (S. SIDE) BETWEEN WATER AND ROYAL STREETS - 51-69 Government Street (Commercial Building), Mobile, Mobile County, AL

Computational Design of Self-Assembling Protein Nanomaterials with Atomic Level Accuracy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, Neil P.; Sheffler, William; Sawaya, Michael R.

2015-09-17

We describe a general computational method for designing proteins that self-assemble to a desired symmetric architecture. Protein building blocks are docked together symmetrically to identify complementary packing arrangements, and low-energy protein-protein interfaces are then designed between the building blocks in order to drive self-assembly. We used trimeric protein building blocks to design a 24-subunit, 13-nm diameter complex with octahedral symmetry and a 12-subunit, 11-nm diameter complex with tetrahedral symmetry. The designed proteins assembled to the desired oligomeric states in solution, and the crystal structures of the complexes revealed that the resulting materials closely match the design models. The method canmore » be used to design a wide variety of self-assembling protein nanomaterials.« less

Expressivism, Relativism, and the Analytic Equivalence Test

PubMed Central

Frápolli, Maria J.; Villanueva, Neftalí

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to show that, pace (Field, 2009), MacFarlane’s assessment relativism and expressivism should be sharply distinguished. We do so by arguing that relativism and expressivism exemplify two very different approaches to context-dependence. Relativism, on the one hand, shares with other contemporary approaches a bottom–up, building block, model, while expressivism is part of a different tradition, one that might include Lewis’ epistemic contextualism and Frege’s content individuation, with which it shares an organic model to deal with context-dependence. The building-block model and the organic model, and thus relativism and expressivism, are set apart with the aid of a particular test: only the building-block model is compatible with the idea that there might be analytically equivalent, and yet different, propositions. PMID:26635690

Fast and Facile Synthesis of 4-Nitrophenyl 2-Azidoethylcarbamate Derivatives from N-Fmoc-Protected α-Amino Acids as Activated Building Blocks for Urea Moiety-Containing Compound Library.

PubMed

Chen, Ying-Ying; Chang, Li-Te; Chen, Hung-Wei; Yang, Chia-Ying; Hsin, Ling-Wei

2017-03-13

A fast and facile synthesis of a series of 4-nitrophenyl 2-azidoethylcarbamate derivatives as activated urea building blocks was developed. The N-Fmoc-protected 2-aminoethyl mesylates derived from various commercially available N-Fmoc-protected α-amino acids, including those having functionalized side chains with acid-labile protective groups, were directly transformed into 4-nitrophenyl 2-azidoethylcarbamate derivatives in 1 h via a one-pot two-step reaction. These urea building blocks were utilized for the preparation of a series of urea moiety-containing mitoxantrone-amino acid conjugates in 75-92% yields and parallel solution-phase synthesis of a urea compound library consisted of 30 members in 38-70% total yields.

Biocalcification using Ureolytic Bacteria (UB) for strengthening Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks (ICEB)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamer, M. M.; Irwan, J. M.; Othman, N.; Faisal, S. K.; Anneza, L. H.; Alshalif, A. F.; Teddy, T.

2018-02-01

Interlocking compressed earth blocks (ICEB) are soil based blocks that allows for mortarless construction. This characteristic resulted to faster the process of building walls and required less skilled labor as the blocks are laid dry and lock into place. Recently, implementation in using bacteria as construction material improvement is vigorously used in research in order pursuit the sustainable construction works. This paper provide the results of ureolytic bacteria (UB) throughout enrichment process in soil condition to acclimatize the ICEB environment, compressive strength of 1%, 3% and 5% UB and SEM analysis of ICEB. The bacteria were added as partial replacement of limestone water in ICEB. The results showed the optimal growth achieved based on the days and absorbance from optical density (OD) test which are in 12th days with absorbance of 0.55 whereas the results for strength shows the increment of 15.25% with 5% UB on 28th days of testing compared to control specimen. Therefore this study hopes that positive results from the UB as improving in strength of ICEB which will lead to improve others ICEB properties and others construction materials.

2. EXTERIOR VIEW OF BUILDING 25B (TEST CHAMBER BUILDING) AND ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. EXTERIOR VIEW OF BUILDING 25B (TEST CHAMBER BUILDING) AND WIND TUNNEL, LOOKING NORTHWEST (1991). - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Area B, Buildings 25 & 24,10-foot & 20-foot Wind Tunnel Complex, Northeast side of block bounded by K, G, Third, & Fifth Streets, Dayton, Montgomery County, OH

Photoelastic stress investigation in underground large hole in permafrost soil (statics, thermoelasticity, dynamics, photoelastic strain-gauges)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savostjanov, V. N.; Dvalishvili, V. V.; Sakharov, V. N.; Isajkin, A. S.; Frishter, L.; Starchevsky, A. V.

1991-12-01

The development of many-year-frost rock (MYFR) region hydrotechnic construction, the MYFR being quite a reliable construction based provided it is situated outside the seasonal temperature fluctuation layer, requires the rock stress-deformed state evaluating criteria working out with maximal possible account of static, dynamic, blast-hole drilling, and temperature effect on their properties. In estimating the hydroelectrical power station (HPS) underground building stress-deformed state the present work refers to experimental data and calculations, received by solving a linear task with further account of the building profile changing effect in the process of construction and the concrete and rock mechanic properties heterogeneity. The proposed order is justified, provided the rock mass defrosting depth value is small as compared to the rock separate block dimensions and it corresponds to the building construction period. The results are given for the Kolymskaya Hydroelectrical Power Station building cross-section, considered under flat deformation conditions.

Fullerene Derived Molecular Electronic Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menon, Madhu; Srivastava, Deepak; Saini, Subbash

1998-01-01

The carbon Nanotube junctions have recently emerged as excellent candidates for use as the building blocks in the formation of nanoscale electronic devices. While the simple joint of two dissimilar tubes can be generated by the introduction of a pair of heptagon-pentagon defects in an otherwise perfect hexagonal grapheme sheet, more complex joints require other mechanisms. In this work we explore structural and electronic properties of complex 3-point junctions of carbon nanotubes using a generalized tight-binding molecular-dynamics scheme.

Unified web-based network management based on distributed object orientated software agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djalalian, Amir; Mukhtar, Rami; Zukerman, Moshe

2002-09-01

This paper presents an architecture that provides a unified web interface to managed network devices that support CORBA, OSI or Internet-based network management protocols. A client gains access to managed devices through a web browser, which is used to issue management operations and receive event notifications. The proposed architecture is compatible with both the OSI Management reference Model and CORBA. The steps required for designing the building blocks of such architecture are identified.

High resolution frequency analysis techniques with application to the redshift experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decher, R.; Teuber, D.

1975-01-01

High resolution frequency analysis methods, with application to the gravitational probe redshift experiment, are discussed. For this experiment a resolution of .00001 Hz is required to measure a slowly varying, low frequency signal of approximately 1 Hz. Major building blocks include fast Fourier transform, discrete Fourier transform, Lagrange interpolation, golden section search, and adaptive matched filter technique. Accuracy, resolution, and computer effort of these methods are investigated, including test runs on an IBM 360/65 computer.

A CFD validation roadmap for hypersonic flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marvin, Joseph G.

1992-01-01

A roadmap for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code validation is developed. The elements of the roadmap are consistent with air-breathing vehicle design requirements and related to the important flow path components: forebody, inlet, combustor, and nozzle. Building block and benchmark validation experiments are identified along with their test conditions and measurements. Based on an evaluation criteria, recommendations for an initial CFD validation data base are given and gaps identified where future experiments would provide the needed validation data.

A CFD validation roadmap for hypersonic flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marvin, Joseph G.

1993-01-01

A roadmap for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code validation is developed. The elements of the roadmap are consistent with air-breathing vehicle design requirements and related to the important flow path components: forebody, inlet, combustor, and nozzle. Building block and benchmark validation experiments are identified along with their test conditions and measurements. Based on an evaluation criteria, recommendations for an initial CFD validation data base are given and gaps identified where future experiments would provide the needed validation data.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1971-01-01

This 1968 cutaway drawing illustrates the Saturn IB launch vehicle with its two booster stages, the S-IB (first stage) and S-IVB (second stage), and provides the vital statistics in metric units. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the marned lunar missions.

Digital Morphing Wing: Active Wing Shaping Concept Using Composite Lattice-Based Cellular Structures.

PubMed

Jenett, Benjamin; Calisch, Sam; Cellucci, Daniel; Cramer, Nick; Gershenfeld, Neil; Swei, Sean; Cheung, Kenneth C

2017-03-01

We describe an approach for the discrete and reversible assembly of tunable and actively deformable structures using modular building block parts for robotic applications. The primary technical challenge addressed by this work is the use of this method to design and fabricate low density, highly compliant robotic structures with spatially tuned stiffness. This approach offers a number of potential advantages over more conventional methods for constructing compliant robots. The discrete assembly reduces manufacturing complexity, as relatively simple parts can be batch-produced and joined to make complex structures. Global mechanical properties can be tuned based on sub-part ordering and geometry, because local stiffness and density can be independently set to a wide range of values and varied spatially. The structure's intrinsic modularity can significantly simplify analysis and simulation. Simple analytical models for the behavior of each building block type can be calibrated with empirical testing and synthesized into a highly accurate and computationally efficient model of the full compliant system. As a case study, we describe a modular and reversibly assembled wing that performs continuous span-wise twist deformation. It exhibits high performance aerodynamic characteristics, is lightweight and simple to fabricate and repair. The wing is constructed from discrete lattice elements, wherein the geometric and mechanical attributes of the building blocks determine the global mechanical properties of the wing. We describe the mechanical design and structural performance of the digital morphing wing, including their relationship to wind tunnel tests that suggest the ability to increase roll efficiency compared to a conventional rigid aileron system. We focus here on describing the approach to design, modeling, and construction as a generalizable approach for robotics that require very lightweight, tunable, and actively deformable structures.

Digital Morphing Wing: Active Wing Shaping Concept Using Composite Lattice-Based Cellular Structures

PubMed Central

Jenett, Benjamin; Calisch, Sam; Cellucci, Daniel; Cramer, Nick; Gershenfeld, Neil; Swei, Sean

2017-01-01

Abstract We describe an approach for the discrete and reversible assembly of tunable and actively deformable structures using modular building block parts for robotic applications. The primary technical challenge addressed by this work is the use of this method to design and fabricate low density, highly compliant robotic structures with spatially tuned stiffness. This approach offers a number of potential advantages over more conventional methods for constructing compliant robots. The discrete assembly reduces manufacturing complexity, as relatively simple parts can be batch-produced and joined to make complex structures. Global mechanical properties can be tuned based on sub-part ordering and geometry, because local stiffness and density can be independently set to a wide range of values and varied spatially. The structure's intrinsic modularity can significantly simplify analysis and simulation. Simple analytical models for the behavior of each building block type can be calibrated with empirical testing and synthesized into a highly accurate and computationally efficient model of the full compliant system. As a case study, we describe a modular and reversibly assembled wing that performs continuous span-wise twist deformation. It exhibits high performance aerodynamic characteristics, is lightweight and simple to fabricate and repair. The wing is constructed from discrete lattice elements, wherein the geometric and mechanical attributes of the building blocks determine the global mechanical properties of the wing. We describe the mechanical design and structural performance of the digital morphing wing, including their relationship to wind tunnel tests that suggest the ability to increase roll efficiency compared to a conventional rigid aileron system. We focus here on describing the approach to design, modeling, and construction as a generalizable approach for robotics that require very lightweight, tunable, and actively deformable structures. PMID:28289574

Ligand design for multidimensional magnetic materials: a metallosupramolecular perspective.

PubMed

Pardo, Emilio; Ruiz-García, Rafael; Cano, Joan; Ottenwaelder, Xavier; Lescouëzec, Rodrigue; Journaux, Yves; Lloret, Francesc; Julve, Miguel

2008-06-07

The aim and scope of this review is to show the general validity of the 'complex-as-ligand' approach for the rational design of metallosupramolecular assemblies of increasing structural and magnetic complexity. This is illustrated herein on the basis of our recent studies on oxamato complexes with transition metal ions looking for the limits of the research avenue opened by Kahn's pioneering research twenty years ago. The use as building blocks of mono-, di- and trinuclear metal complexes with a novel family of aromatic polyoxamato ligands allowed us to move further in the coordination chemistry-based approach to high-nuclearity coordination compounds and high-dimensionality coordination polymers. In order to do so, we have taken advantage of the new developments of metallosupramolecular chemistry and in particular, of the molecular-programmed self-assembly methods that exploit the coordination preferences of metal ions and specifically tailored ligands. The judicious choice of the oxamato metal building block (substitution pattern and steric requirements of the bridging ligand, as well as the electronic configuration and magnetic anisotropy of the metal ion) allowed us to control the overall structure and magnetic properties of the final multidimensional nD products (n = 0-3). These species exhibit interesting magnetic properties which are brand-new targets in the field of molecular magnetism, such as single-molecule or single-chain magnets, and the well-known class of molecule-based magnets. This unique family of molecule-based magnetic materials expands on the reported examples of nD species with cyanide and related oxalato and dithiooxalato analogues. Moreover, the development of new oxamato metal building blocks with potential photo or redox activity at the aromatic ligand counterpart will provide us with addressable, multifunctional molecular materials for future applications in molecular electronics and nanotechnology.

A Bandwidth-Efficient Dissemination Scheme of Non-Safety Information in Urban VANETs †

PubMed Central

Garcia-Lozano, Estrella; Campo, Celeste; Garcia-Rubio, Carlos; Rodriguez-Carrion, Alicia

2016-01-01

The recent release of standards for vehicular communications will hasten the development of smart cities in the following years. Many applications for vehicular networks, such as blocked road warnings or advertising, will require multi-hop dissemination of information to all vehicles in a region of interest. However, these networks present special features and difficulties that may require special measures. The dissemination of information may cause broadcast storms. Urban scenarios are especially sensitive to broadcast storms because of the high density of vehicles in downtown areas. They also present numerous crossroads and signal blocking due to buildings, which make dissemination more difficult than in open, almost straight interurban roadways. In this article, we discuss several options to avoid the broadcast storm problem while trying to achieve the maximum coverage of the region of interest. Specifically, we evaluate through simulations different ways to detect and take advantage of intersections and a strategy based on store-carry-forward to overcome short disconnections between groups of vehicles. Our conclusions are varied, and we propose two different solutions, depending on the requirements of the application. PMID:27355956

A Bandwidth-Efficient Dissemination Scheme of Non-Safety Information in Urban VANETs.

PubMed

Garcia-Lozano, Estrella; Campo, Celeste; Garcia-Rubio, Carlos; Rodriguez-Carrion, Alicia

2016-06-27

The recent release of standards for vehicular communications will hasten the development of smart cities in the following years. Many applications for vehicular networks, such as blocked road warnings or advertising, will require multi-hop dissemination of information to all vehicles in a region of interest. However, these networks present special features and difficulties that may require special measures. The dissemination of information may cause broadcast storms. Urban scenarios are especially sensitive to broadcast storms because of the high density of vehicles in downtown areas. They also present numerous crossroads and signal blocking due to buildings, which make dissemination more difficult than in open, almost straight interurban roadways. In this article, we discuss several options to avoid the broadcast storm problem while trying to achieve the maximum coverage of the region of interest. Specifically, we evaluate through simulations different ways to detect and take advantage of intersections and a strategy based on store-carry-forward to overcome short disconnections between groups of vehicles. Our conclusions are varied, and we propose two different solutions, depending on the requirements of the application.

III-V on silicon micro-photonic circuits for frequency downconversion of RF signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roelkens, G.; Keyvaninia, S.; Tassaert, M.; Latkowski, S.; Bente, E.; Mariën, J.; Thomassen, L.; Baets, R.

2017-11-01

RF frequency downconverters are of key importance in communication satellites. Classically, this is implemented using an electronic mixer. In this paper we explore the use of photonic technology to realize the same functionality. The potential advantages of such an approach compared to the classical microwave solutions are that it is lighter weight, has lower power consumption and can be made smaller if photonic technology is used. An additional advantage is the fact that the optical local oscillator (LO) reference can easily be transported over longer distances than the equivalent LO signal in the microwave domain due to the large bandwidth and low loss and dispersion of optical fiber. Another big advantage is that one can envision the use of short pulse trains as the LO - starting off from a sinusoidal RF reference - in order to exploit subsampling. Subsampling avoids the need for high frequency LO references, which is especially valuable if a downconversion over several 10s of GHz is required. In this paper we present the operation principle of such a photonic frequency downconverter and describe the performance of the developed micro-photonic building blocks required for this functionality. These micro-photonic building blocks are implemented on a III-V semiconductor-on-silicon photonic platform. The components include a micro-photonic hybridly modelocked laser, a 30GHz electroabsorption modulator and an intermediate frequency (1.5GHz) photodetector.

Block Play: Practical Suggestions for Common Dilemmas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tunks, Karyn Wellhousen

2009-01-01

Learning materials and teaching methods used in early childhood classrooms have fluctuated greatly over the past century. However, one learning tool has stood the test of time: Wood building blocks, often called unit blocks, continue to be a source of pleasure and learning for young children at play. Wood blocks have the unique capacity to engage…

Assessment of Environmental Flows for the Rivers of Western Ganges Delta with Special Reference to Indian Sundarban

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhadra, T.; Hazra, S.; Ghosh, S.; Barman, B. C.

2016-12-01

The Indian Sundarban, situated on the western tide-dominated part of the Ganges delta was formed by the sedimentation of the Ganges and its tributaries. Freshwater is a scarce resource in the Sundarban though it is traversed by rivers. Most of the rivers of Western Ganges Delta, which used to nourish the Sundarban, have become defunct with the passage of time. To ensure sustainable flow and to enhance the flow-dependent ecosystem services in this region, assessment of environmental flows within the system is required. A pilot assessment of environment flows, supported by IUCN has been carried out in some specific river reaches of Western Ganges Delta under the present study. The holistic Building Block Methodology (BBM) has been modified and used for the assessment of environmental flows. In the modified BBM, three distinctive blocks namely Hydro-Morphology, Ecology and Socio-Economy have been selected and indicators like Ganges Dolphin (Platanista gangetica), Sundari tree (Heritiera fomes) and Hilsa fish (Tenualosa ilisha) etc. have been determined to assess the environmental flows. As the discharge data of the selected rivers are restricted in the public domain, the SWAT model has been run to generate the discharge data of the classified rivers. The Hydraulic model, HEC-RAS has been calibrated in the selected River reaches to assess the habitat availability and its changes for indicator species under different flow condition. The study reveals that River Bhagirathi-Hugli requires 150-427 cumec additional water in monsoon and 850-1127 cumec additional water in post-monsoon months for Hilsa migration, whereas 327-486 cumec additional water in pre-monsoon and dry season and 227-386 cumec additional water in post-monsoon months are required for Dolphin movement. Flow requirement of river Ichhamati has also been estimated under the present study. The total required flow for the Sundarban ecosystem to reduce the salinity level from 30ppt to 14ppt during the dry and pre-monsoon months has been estimated as 1700 cumec. The pilot study observes that the present level of flow in the river systems is inadequate to sustain the ecosystem function and the in-stream flow requirement is more than the presently available flow. Keyword: Building Block Methodology, Environmental Flows, HEC-RAS, Indian Sundarban, SWAT.

A study of Schwarz converters for nuclear powered spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuart, Thomas A.; Schwarze, Gene E.

1987-01-01

High power space systems which use low dc voltage, high current sources such as thermoelectric generators, will most likely require high voltage conversion for transmission purposes. This study considers the use of the Schwarz resonant converter for use as the basic building block to accomplish this low-to-high voltage conversion for either a dc or an ac spacecraft bus. The Schwarz converter has the important assets of both inherent fault tolerance and resonant operation; parallel operation in modular form is possible. A regulated dc spacecraft bus requires only a single stage converter while a constant frequency ac bus requires a cascaded Schwarz converter configuration. If the power system requires constant output power from the dc generator, then a second converter is required to route unneeded power to a ballast load.

Molecular docking sites designed for the generation of highly crystalline covalent organic frameworks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ascherl, Laura; Sick, Torben; Margraf, Johannes

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) formed by connecting multidentate organic building blocks through covalent bonds provide a platform for designing multifunctional porous materials with atomic precision. As they are promising materials for applications in optoelectronics, they would benefit from a maximum degree of long-range order within the framework, which has remained a major challenge. We have developed a synthetic concept to allow consecutive COF sheets to lock in position during crystal growth, and thus minimize the occurrence of stacking faults and dislocations. Hereby, the three-dimensional conformation of propeller-shaped molecular building units was used to generate well-defined periodic docking sites, which guidedmore » the attachment of successive building blocks that, in turn, promoted long-range order during COF formation. This approach enables us to achieve a very high crystallinity for a series of COFs that comprise tri- and tetradentate central building blocks. We expect this strategy to be transferable to a broad range of customized COFs.« less

Molecular docking sites designed for the generation of highly crystalline covalent organic frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ascherl, Laura; Sick, Torben; Margraf, Johannes T.; Lapidus, Saul H.; Calik, Mona; Hettstedt, Christina; Karaghiosoff, Konstantin; Döblinger, Markus; Clark, Timothy; Chapman, Karena W.; Auras, Florian; Bein, Thomas

2016-04-01

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) formed by connecting multidentate organic building blocks through covalent bonds provide a platform for designing multifunctional porous materials with atomic precision. As they are promising materials for applications in optoelectronics, they would benefit from a maximum degree of long-range order within the framework, which has remained a major challenge. We have developed a synthetic concept to allow consecutive COF sheets to lock in position during crystal growth, and thus minimize the occurrence of stacking faults and dislocations. Hereby, the three-dimensional conformation of propeller-shaped molecular building units was used to generate well-defined periodic docking sites, which guided the attachment of successive building blocks that, in turn, promoted long-range order during COF formation. This approach enables us to achieve a very high crystallinity for a series of COFs that comprise tri- and tetradentate central building blocks. We expect this strategy to be transferable to a broad range of customized COFs.

Elfin: An algorithm for the computational design of custom three-dimensional structures from modular repeat protein building blocks.

PubMed

Yeh, Chun-Ting; Brunette, T J; Baker, David; McIntosh-Smith, Simon; Parmeggiani, Fabio

2018-02-01

Computational protein design methods have enabled the design of novel protein structures, but they are often still limited to small proteins and symmetric systems. To expand the size of designable proteins while controlling the overall structure, we developed Elfin, a genetic algorithm for the design of novel proteins with custom shapes using structural building blocks derived from experimentally verified repeat proteins. By combining building blocks with compatible interfaces, it is possible to rapidly build non-symmetric large structures (>1000 amino acids) that match three-dimensional geometric descriptions provided by the user. A run time of about 20min on a laptop computer for a 3000 amino acid structure makes Elfin accessible to users with limited computational resources. Protein structures with controlled geometry will allow the systematic study of the effect of spatial arrangement of enzymes and signaling molecules, and provide new scaffolds for functional nanomaterials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A generic method for projecting and valuing domestic water uses, application to the Mediterranean basin at the 2050 horizon.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neverre, Noémie; Dumas, Patrice

2014-05-01

The aim is to be able to assess future domestic water demands in a region with heterogeneous levels of economic development. This work offers an original combination of a quantitative projection of demands (similar to WaterGAP methodology) and an estimation of the marginal benefit of water. This method is applicable to different levels of economic development and usable for large-scale hydroeconomic modelling. The global method consists in building demand functions taking into account the impact of both the price of water and the level of equipment, proxied by economic development, on domestic water demand. Our basis is a 3-blocks inverse demand function: the first block consists of essential water requirements for food and hygiene; the second block matches intermediate needs; and the last block corresponds to additional water consumption, such as outdoor uses, which are the least valued. The volume of the first block is fixed to match recommended basic water requirements from the literature, but we assume that the volume limits of blocks 2 and 3 depend on the level of household equipment and therefore evolve with the level of GDP per capita (structural change), with a saturation. For blocks 1 and 2 we determine the value of water from elasticity, price and quantity data from the literature, using the point-extension method. For block 3, we use a hypothetical zero-cost demand and maximal demand with actual water costs to linearly interpolate the inverse demand function. These functions are calibrated on the 24 countries part of the Mediterranean basin using data from SIMEDD, and are used for the projection and valuation of domestic water demands at the 2050 horizon. They enable to project total water demand, and also the respective shares of the different categories of demand (basic demand, intermediate demand and additional uses). These projections are performed under different combined scenarios of population, GDP and water costs.

The Influence of Building Block Play on Mathematics Achievement and Logical and Divergent Thinking in Italian Primary School Mathematics Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pirrone, Concetta; Tienken, Christopher H.; Pagano, Tatiana; Di Nuovo, Santo

2018-01-01

In an experimental study to explain the effect of structured Building Block Play with LEGO™ bricks on 6-year-old student mathematics achievement and in the areas of logical thinking, divergent thinking, nonverbal reasoning, and mental imagery, students in the experimental group scored significantly higher (p = 0.05) in mathematics achievement and…

Novel single photon sources for new generation of quantum communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-13

be used as building blocks for quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution There were numerous important achievements for the projects in the...single photon sources that will be used as build- ing blocks for quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution There were numerous im- portant...and enable absolutely secured information transfer between distant nodes – key prerequisite for quantum cryptography . Experiment: the experimental

Building Blocks for Transport-Class Hybrid and Turboelectric Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jankovsky, Amy; Bowman, Cheryl; Jansen, Ralph

2016-01-01

NASA has been investing in research efforts to define potential vehicles that use hybrid and turboelectric propulsion to enable savings in fuel burn and carbon usage. This paper overviews the fundamental building blocks that have been derived from those studies and details what key performance parameters have been defined, what key ground and flight tests need to occur, and highlights progress toward each.

2016 Summer Series - Kenneth Cheung: Building Blocks for Aerospace Structures

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-06-16

Strong, ultra-lightweight materials are expected to play a key role in the design of future aircraft and space vehicles. Lower structural mass leads to improved performance, maneuverability, efficiency, range and payload capacity. Dr. Kenneth Cheung is developing cellular composite building blocks, or digital materials, to create transformable aerostructures. In his presentation, Dr. Cheung will discuss the implications of the digital materials and morphing structures.

Supramolecular Lego assembly towards three-dimensional multi-responsive hydrogels.

PubMed

Ma, Chunxin; Li, Tiefeng; Zhao, Qian; Yang, Xuxu; Wu, Jingjun; Luo, Yingwu; Xie, Tao

2014-08-27

Inspired by the assembly of Lego toys, hydrogel building blocks with heterogeneous responsiveness are assembled utilizing macroscopic supramolecular recognition as the adhesion force. The Lego hydrogel provides 3D transformation upon pH variation. After disassembly of the building blocks by changing the oxidation state, they can be re-assembled into a completely new shape. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

[Damage of modern building materials by microscopic fungi].

PubMed

Chuenko, A I; Karpenko, Iu V

2011-01-01

Resistance of three materials, produced on the basis of concrete compounds to the action of microscopic fungi, isolated from damaged living buildings, has been first investigated. It has been shown that samples of froth-block and thermoeffective block had low fungal resistance, in contrast to samples of cellular polystyrene concrete, which were resistant to fungal action, that can be associated with peculiarities of their component composition.

Building Blocks for Father Involvement: Building Block 1--Appreciating How Fathers Give Children a Head Start

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Bureau, 2004

2004-01-01

Nearly 30 years ago, leading child psychologist Michael E. Lamb reminded us that fathers are the "forgotten contributors to child development." Since then, much work has been done to explore the ways fathers uniquely contribute to the healthy development of their children. Scholars now know that boys and girls who grow up with an involved father,…

Highly crystalline covalent organic frameworks from flexible building blocks.

PubMed

Xu, Liqian; Ding, San-Yuan; Liu, Junmin; Sun, Junliang; Wang, Wei; Zheng, Qi-Yu

2016-03-28

Two novel 2D covalent organic frameworks (TPT-COF-1 and TPT-COF-2) were synthesized from the flexible 2,4,6-triaryloxy-1,3,5-triazine building blocks on a gram scale, which show high crystallinity and large surface area. The controllable formation of highly ordered frameworks is mainly attributed to the self-assembly Piedfort unit of 2,4,6-triaryloxy-1,3,5-triazine.

Functional Perfluoroalkyl Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (F-POSS): Building Blocks for Low Surface Energy Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-10-21

Technical Paper 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Functional Perfluoroalkyl Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (F...long chain fluorinated alkyl groups ranging from 6-12 carbon atoms in length. Herein, a disilanol perfluoroalkyl polyhedral oligomeric...FUNCTIONAL PERFLUOROALKYL POLYHEDRAL OLIGOMERIC SILSESQUIOXANES (F-POSS): BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LOW SURFACE ENERGY MATERIA LS Sean M Rami,.e:, Yvonne Dia

Dual-mode MOS SOI nanoscale transistor serving as a building block for optical communication between blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bendayan, Michael; Sabo, Roi; Zolberg, Roee; Mandelbaum, Yaakov; Chelly, Avraham; Karsenty, Avi

2017-02-01

We developed a new type of silicon MOSFET Quantum Well transistor, coupling both electronic and optical properties which should overcome the indirect silicon bandgap constraint, and serve as a future light emitting device in the range 0.8-2μm, as part of a new building block in integrated circuits allowing ultra-high speed processors. Such Quantum Well structure enables discrete energy levels for light recombination. Model and simulations of both optical and electric properties are presented pointing out the influence of the channel thickness and the drain voltage on the optical emission spectrum.

Photoresponsive liquid crystalline epoxy networks with shape memory behavior and dynamic ester bonds

DOE PAGES

Rios, Orlando; Chen, Jihua; Li, Yuzhan; ...

2016-06-01

Functional polymers are intelligent materials that can respond to a variety of external stimuli. However, these materials have not yet found widespread real world applications because of the difficulties in fabrication and the limited number of functional building blocks that can be incorporated into a material. Here, we demonstrate a simple route to incorporate three functional building blocks (azobenzene chromophores, liquid crystals, and dynamic covalent bonds) into an epoxy-based liquid crystalline network (LCN), in which an azobenzene-based epoxy monomer is polymerized with an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid to create exchangeable ester bonds that can be thermally activated. Lastly, all three functionalmore » building blocks exhibited good compatibility, and the resulting materials exhibits various photomechanical, shape memory, and self-healing properties because of the azobenzene molecules, liquid crystals, and dynamic ester bonds, respectively.« less

General synthesis of inorganic single-walled nanotubes

PubMed Central

Ni, Bing; Liu, Huiling; Wang, Peng-peng; He, Jie; Wang, Xun

2015-01-01

The single-walled nanotube (SWNT) is an interesting nanostructure for fundamental research and potential applications. However, very few inorganic SWNTs are available to date due to the lack of efficient fabrication methods. Here we synthesize four types of SWNT: sulfide; hydroxide; phosphate; and polyoxometalate. Each type of SWNT possesses essentially uniform diameters. Detailed studies illustrate that the formation of SWNTs is initiated by the self-coiling of the corresponding ultrathin nanostructure embryo/building blocks on the base of weak interactions between them, which is not limited to specific compounds or crystal structures. The interactions between building blocks can be modulated by varying the solvents used, thus multi-walled tubes can also be obtained. Our results reveal that the generalized synthesis of inorganic SWNTs can be achieved by the self-coiling of ultrathin building blocks under the proper weak interactions. PMID:26510862

Incorporating residual temperature and specific humidity in predicting weather-dependent warm-season electricity consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Huade; Beecham, Simon; Xu, Hanqiu; Ingleton, Greg

2017-02-01

Climate warming and increasing variability challenges the electricity supply in warm seasons. A good quantitative representation of the relationship between warm-season electricity consumption and weather condition provides necessary information for long-term electricity planning and short-term electricity management. In this study, an extended version of cooling degree days (ECDD) is proposed for better characterisation of this relationship. The ECDD includes temperature, residual temperature and specific humidity effects. The residual temperature is introduced for the first time to reflect the building thermal inertia effect on electricity consumption. The study is based on the electricity consumption data of four multiple-street city blocks and three office buildings. It is found that the residual temperature effect is about 20% of the current-day temperature effect at the block scale, and increases with a large variation at the building scale. Investigation of this residual temperature effect provides insight to the influence of building designs and structures on electricity consumption. The specific humidity effect appears to be more important at the building scale than at the block scale. A building with high energy performance does not necessarily have low specific humidity dependence. The new ECDD better reflects the weather dependence of electricity consumption than the conventional CDD method.

Characterization of asphaltene molecular structures by cracking under hydrogenation conditions and prediction of the viscosity reduction from visbreaking of heavy oils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rueda Velasquez, Rosa Imelda

The chemical building blocks that comprise petroleum asphaltenes were determined by cracking samples under conditions that minimized alterations to aromatic and cycloalkyl groups. Hydrogenation conditions that used tetralin as hydrogen-donor solvent, with an iron-based catalyst, allowed asphaltenes from different geological regions to yield 50-60 wt% of distillates (<538°C fraction), with coke yields below 10 wt%. Control experiments with phenanthrene and 5alpha-cholestane confirmed low hydrogenation catalytic activity, and preservation of the cycloalkyl structures. Quantitative recovery of cracking products and characterization of the distillates, by gas chromatography-field ionization--time of flight high resolution mass spectrometry, displayed remarkable similarity in molecular composition for the different asphaltenes. Paraffins and 1-3 ring aromatics were the most abundant building blocks. The diversity of molecules identified, and the high yield of paraffins were consistent with high heterogeneity and complexity of molecules, built up by smaller fragments attached to each other by bridges. The sum of material remaining as vacuum residue and coke was in the range of 35-45 wt%; this total represents the maximum amount of large clusters in asphaltenes that could not be converted to lighter compounds under the evaluated cracking conditions. These analytical data for Cold Lake asphaltenes were transformed into probability density functions that described the molecular weight distributions of the building blocks. These distributions were input for a Monte Carlo approach that allowed stochastic construction of asphaltenes and simulation of their cracking reactions to examine differences in the distributions of products associated to the molecular topology. The construction algorithm evidenced that a significant amount of asphaltenes would consist of 3-5 building blocks. The results did not show significant differences between linear and dendritic molecular architectures, but suggested that dendritic molecules would experience slower reaction rates as they required more breakages to reach a given yield of distillates. Thermal cracking of asphaltenes in heavy oils and bitumens can dramatically reduce viscosity, enabling pipeline transportation with less solvent addition. The viscosities of the products from visbreaking reactions of two different heavy oils were modeled with lumped kinetics based on boiling point pseudo-components, and with the estimation of their individual fluid properties. The model was tuned with experimental viscosity data, and provided estimations of viscosities at different temperatures with absolute average deviations lower than 31%.

7. Historic American Buildings Survey Verlin Berry, Photographer November 10, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. Historic American Buildings Survey Verlin Berry, Photographer November 10, 1977 FIRST FLOOR, VIEW OF PRESSED TIN CEILING WITH WOOD BLOCKING AT CROWN MOLDING - 111 West First Street (Commercial Building), Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, IN

Main-chain supramolecular block copolymers.

PubMed

Yang, Si Kyung; Ambade, Ashootosh V; Weck, Marcus

2011-01-01

Block copolymers are key building blocks for a variety of applications ranging from electronic devices to drug delivery. The material properties of block copolymers can be tuned and potentially improved by introducing noncovalent interactions in place of covalent linkages between polymeric blocks resulting in the formation of supramolecular block copolymers. Such materials combine the microphase separation behavior inherent to block copolymers with the responsiveness of supramolecular materials thereby affording dynamic and reversible materials. This tutorial review covers recent advances in main-chain supramolecular block copolymers and describes the design principles, synthetic approaches, advantages, and potential applications.

Use of wastes derived from earthquakes for the production of concrete masonry partition wall blocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiao Zhao; Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environment Engineering and Mechanics, Sichuan University; Ling, Tung-Chai

2011-08-15

Highlights: > Solved the scientific and technological challenges impeding use of waste rubble derived from earthquake, by providing an alternative solution of recycling the waste in moulded concrete block products. > Significant requirements for optimum integration on the utilization of the waste aggregates in the production of concrete blocks are investigated. > A thorough understanding of the mechanical properties of concrete blocks made with waste derived from earthquake is reported. - Abstract: Utilization of construction and demolition (C and D) wastes as recycled aggregates in the production of concrete and concrete products have attracted much attention in recent years. However,more » the presence of large quantities of crushed clay brick in some the C and D waste streams (e.g. waste derived collapsed masonry buildings after an earthquake) renders the recycled aggregates unsuitable for high grade use. One possibility is to make use of the low grade recycled aggregates for concrete block production. In this paper, we report the results of a comprehensive study to assess the feasibility of using crushed clay brick as coarse and fine aggregates in concrete masonry block production. The effects of the content of crushed coarse and fine clay brick aggregates (CBA) on the mechanical properties of non-structural concrete block were quantified. From the experimental test results, it was observed that incorporating the crushed clay brick aggregates had a significant influence on the properties of blocks. The hardened density and drying shrinkage of the block specimens decreased with an increase in CBA content. The use of CBA increased the water absorption of block specimens. The results suggested that the amount of crushed clay brick to be used in concrete masonry blocks should be controlled at less than 25% (coarse aggregate) and within 50-75% for fine aggregates.« less

GENERAL VIEW OF TYPE HB54s (BUILDINGS T1088 TO T1093) & ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

GENERAL VIEW OF TYPE HB-54s (BUILDINGS T-1088 TO T-1093) & CONVERTED TYPE HB-54S (BUILDINGS T-1094 TO T-1096), LOOKING SOUTHWEST; BUILDING T-1088 AT LEFT, BUILDING T-1096 AT RIGHT - Fort McCoy, Building No. T-1096, South side of South Ninth Avenue, Block 10, Sparta, Monroe County, WI

Flexible Fabrication of Shape-Controlled Collagen Building Blocks for Self-Assembly of 3D Microtissues.

PubMed

Zhang, Xu; Meng, Zhaoxu; Ma, Jingyun; Shi, Yang; Xu, Hui; Lykkemark, Simon; Qin, Jianhua

2015-08-12

Creating artificial tissue-like structures that possess the functionality, specificity, and architecture of native tissues remains a big challenge. A new and straightforward strategy for generating shape-controlled collagen building blocks with a well-defined architecture is presented, which can be used for self-assembly of complex 3D microtissues. Collagen blocks with tunable geometries are controllably produced and released via a membrane-templated microdevice. The formation of functional microtissues by embedding tissue-specific cells into collagen blocks with expression of specific proteins is described. The spontaneous self-assembly of cell-laden collagen blocks into organized tissue constructs with predetermined configurations is demonstrated, which are largely driven by the synergistic effects of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. This new strategy would open up new avenues for the study of tissue/organ morphogenesis, and tissue engineering applications. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

An easy access to 2-Amino-5,6-dihydro-3H-pyrimidin-4-one building blocks: the reaction under conventional and microwave conditions.

PubMed

Ostras, Konstantin S; Gorobets, Nikolay Yu; Desenko, Sergey M; Musatov, Vladimir I

2006-08-01

A new one-stage fast multicomponent synthesis of title compounds leads to products in 21-55% isolated yields under both conventional and microwave conditions. The primary amino group in the building blocks can be easily acylated by various usual electophilic agents that can be utilized in the synthesis of diverse heterocylic compounds libraries.

[Spatial distribution characteristics of urban potential population in Shenyang City based on QuickBird image and GIS].

PubMed

Li, Jun-Ying; Hu, Yuan-Man; Chen, Wei; Liu, Miao; Hu, Jian-Bo; Zhong, Qiao-Lin; Lu, Ning

2012-06-01

Population is the most active factor affecting city development. To understand the distribution characteristics of urban population is of significance for making city policy decisions and for optimizing the layout of various urban infrastructures. In this paper, the information of the residential buildings in Shenyang urban area was extracted from the QuickBird remote sensing images, and the spatial distribution characteristics of the population within the Third-Ring Road of the City were analyzed, according to the social and economic statistics data. In 2010, the population density in different types of residential buildings within the Third-Ring Road of the City decreased in the order of high-storey block, mixed block, mixed garden, old multi-storey building, high-storey garden, multi-storey block, multi-storey garden, villa block, shanty, and villa garden. The vacancy rate of the buildings within the Third-Ring Road was more than 30%, meaning that the real estate market was seriously overstocked. Among the five Districts of Shenyang City, Shenhe District had the highest potential population density, while Tiexi District and Dadong District had a lower one. The gravity center of the City and its five Districts was also analyzed, which could provide basic information for locating commercial facilities and planning city infrastructure.

Wrapping cytochrome c around single-wall carbon nanotube: engineered nanohybrid building blocks for infrared detection at high quantum efficiency

PubMed Central

Gong, Youpin; Liu, Qingfeng; Wilt, Jamie Samantha; Gong, Maogang; Ren, Shenqiang; Wu, Judy

2015-01-01

Biomolecule cytochrome c (Cty c), a small molecule of a chain of amino acids with extraordinary electron transport, was helically wrapped around a semiconductive single-wall carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) to form a molecular building block for uncooled infrared detection with two uniquely designed functionalities: exciton dissociation to free charge carriers at the heterojunction formed on the s-SWCNT/Cty c interface and charge transport along the electron conducting chain of Cty c (acceptor) and hole conducting channel through s-SWCNT (donor). Such a design aims at addressing the long-standing challenges in exciton dissociation and charge transport in an SWCNT network, which have bottlenecked development of photonic SWCNT-based infrared detectors. Using these building blocks, uncooled s-SWCNT/Cyt c thin film infrared detectors were synthesized and shown to have extraordinary photoresponsivity up to 0.77 A W−1 due to a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) in exceeding 90%, which represents a more than two orders of magnitude enhancement than the best previously reported on CNT-based infrared detectors with EQE of only 1.72%. From a broad perspective, this work on novel s-SWCNT/Cyt c nanohybrid infrared detectors has developed a successful platform of engineered carbon nanotube/biomolecule building blocks with superior properties for optoelectronic applications. PMID:26066737

Wrapping cytochrome c around single-wall carbon nanotube: engineered nanohybrid building blocks for infrared detection at high quantum efficiency.

PubMed

Gong, Youpin; Liu, Qingfeng; Wilt, Jamie Samantha; Gong, Maogang; Ren, Shenqiang; Wu, Judy

2015-06-11

Biomolecule cytochrome c (Cty c), a small molecule of a chain of amino acids with extraordinary electron transport, was helically wrapped around a semiconductive single-wall carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) to form a molecular building block for uncooled infrared detection with two uniquely designed functionalities: exciton dissociation to free charge carriers at the heterojunction formed on the s-SWCNT/Cty c interface and charge transport along the electron conducting chain of Cty c (acceptor) and hole conducting channel through s-SWCNT (donor). Such a design aims at addressing the long-standing challenges in exciton dissociation and charge transport in an SWCNT network, which have bottlenecked development of photonic SWCNT-based infrared detectors. Using these building blocks, uncooled s-SWCNT/Cyt c thin film infrared detectors were synthesized and shown to have extraordinary photoresponsivity up to 0.77 A W(-1) due to a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) in exceeding 90%, which represents a more than two orders of magnitude enhancement than the best previously reported on CNT-based infrared detectors with EQE of only 1.72%. From a broad perspective, this work on novel s-SWCNT/Cyt c nanohybrid infrared detectors has developed a successful platform of engineered carbon nanotube/biomolecule building blocks with superior properties for optoelectronic applications.

Intrinsic Folding Proclivities in Cyclic β-Peptide Building Blocks: Configuration and Heteroatom Effects Analyzed by Conformer-Selective Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemistry.

PubMed

Alauddin, Mohammad; Gloaguen, Eric; Brenner, Valérie; Tardivel, Benjamin; Mons, Michel; Zehnacker-Rentien, Anne; Declerck, Valérie; Aitken, David J

2015-11-09

This work describes the use of conformer-selective laser spectroscopy following supersonic expansion to probe the local folding proclivities of four-membered ring cyclic β-amino acid building blocks. Emphasis is placed on stereochemical effects as well as on the structural changes induced by the replacement of a carbon atom of the cycle by a nitrogen atom. The amide A IR spectra are obtained and interpreted with the help of quantum chemistry structure calculations. Results provide evidence that the building block with a trans-substituted cyclobutane ring has a predilection to form strong C8 hydrogen bonds. Nitrogen-atom substitution in the ring induces the formation of the hydrazino turn, with a related but distinct hydrogen-bonding network: the structure is best viewed as a bifurcated C8/C5 bond with the N heteroatom lone electron pair playing a significant acceptor role, which supports recent observations on the hydrazino turn structure in solution. Surprisingly, this study shows that the cis-substituted cyclobutane ring derivative also gives rise predominantly to a C8 hydrogen bond, although weaker than in the two former cases, a feature that is not often encountered for this building block. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microzonation of seismic risk in a low-rise Latin American city based on the macroseismic evaluation of the vulnerability of residential buildings: Colima city, México

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zobin, V. M.; Cruz-Bravo, A. A.; Ventura-Ramírez, F.

2010-06-01

A macroseismic methodology of seismic risk microzonation in a low-rise city based on the vulnerability of residential buildings is proposed and applied to Colima city, Mexico. The seismic risk microzonation for Colima consists of two elements: the mapping of residential blocks according to their vulnerability level and the calculation of an expert-opinion based damage probability matrix (DPM) for a given level of earthquake intensity and a given type of residential block. A specified exposure time to the seismic risk for this zonation is equal to the interval between two destructive earthquakes. The damage probability matrices were calculated for three types of urban buildings and five types of residential blocks in Colima. It was shown that only 9% of 1409 residential blocks are able to resist to the Modify Mercalli (MM) intensity VII and VIII earthquakes without significant damage. The proposed DPM-2007 is in good accordance with the experimental damage curves based on the macroseismic evaluation of 3332 residential buildings in Colima that was carried out after the 21 January 2003 intensity MM VII earthquake. This methodology and the calculated PDM-2007 curves may be applied also to seismic risk microzonation for many low-rise cities in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Making Your Own Hollow Blocks. What We Make. Science and Technology Education in Philippine Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Philippines Univ., Quezon City. Inst. for Science and Mathematics Education Development.

The procedures needed to make hollow blocks from palay hull, sawdust, soil, or sand are outlined in this module. Also outlined are the procedures needed to construct the wooden molds used to make the blocks. The hollow blocks can be used in building a one story house where the roof does not rest on the hollow block wall, an additional room to the…

Simscape Modeling Verification in the Simulink Development Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volle, Christopher E. E.

2014-01-01

The purpose of the Simulation Product Group of the Control and Data Systems division of the NASA Engineering branch at Kennedy Space Center is to provide a realtime model and simulation of the Ground Subsystems participating in vehicle launching activities. The simulation software is part of the Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) and is designed to support integrated launch operation software verification, and console operator training. Using Mathworks Simulink tools, modeling engineers currently build models from the custom-built blocks to accurately represent ground hardware. This is time consuming and costly due to required rigorous testing and peer reviews to be conducted for each custom-built block. Using Mathworks Simscape tools, modeling time can be reduced since there would be no custom-code developed. After careful research, the group came to the conclusion it is feasible to use Simscape's blocks in MatLab's Simulink. My project this fall was to verify the accuracy of the Crew Access Arm model developed using Simscape tools running in the Simulink development environment.

Peptoid nanosheets as soluble, two-dimensional templates for calcium carbonate mineralization.

PubMed

Jun, Joo Myung V; Altoe, M Virginia P; Aloni, Shaul; Zuckermann, Ronald N

2015-06-25

Nacre-mimetic materials are of great interest, but difficult to synthesize, because they require the ordering of organic and inorganic materials on several length scales. Here we introduce peptoid nanosheets as a versatile two-dimensional platform to develop nacre mimetic materials. Free-floating zwitterionic nanosheets were mineralized with thin films of amorphous calcium carbonate (of 2-20 nm thickness) on their surface to produce planar nacre synthons. These can serve as tunable building blocks to produce layered brick and mortar nanoarchitectures.

Synthesis of mucin-type O-glycan probes as aminopropyl glycosides.

PubMed

Benito-Alifonso, David; Jones, Rachel A; Tran, Anh-Tuan; Woodward, Hannah; Smith, Nichola; Galan, M Carmen

2013-01-01

The chemical synthesis of a series of mucin-type oligosaccharide fragments 1-7 containing an α-linked aminopropyl spacer ready for glycoarray attachment is reported. A highly convergent and stereoselective strategy that employs two different orthogonal protected galactosamine building blocks was used to access all of the targets. A tandem deprotection sequence, that did not require chromatography-based purification between steps, was employed to globally unmask all protecting groups and all final targets were isolated in good to excellent yields.

Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pitts, Felix L.

1993-01-01

Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS) is a computer systems philosophy, a set of validated hardware building blocks, and a set of validated services as embodied in system software. The goal of AIPS is to provide the knowledgebase which will allow achievement of validated fault-tolerant distributed computer system architectures, suitable for a broad range of applications, having failure probability requirements of 10E-9 at 10 hours. A background and description is given followed by program accomplishments, the current focus, applications, technology transfer, FY92 accomplishments, and funding.

Concise Access to 2-Aroylbenzothiazoles by Redox Condensation Reaction between o-Halonitrobenzenes, Acetophenones, and Elemental Sulfur.

PubMed

Nguyen, Thanh Binh; Pasturaud, Karine; Ermolenko, Ludmila; Al-Mourabit, Ali

2015-05-15

A wide range of 2-aroylbenzothiazoles 3 including some pharmacologically relevant derivatives can be obtained in high yields by simply heating o-halonitrobenzenes 1, acetophenones 2, elemental sulfur, and N-methylmorpholine. This three-component nitro methyl coupling was found to occur in an excellent atom-, step-, and redox-efficient manner in which elemental sulfur played the role of nucleophile building block and redox moderating agent to fulfill electronic requirements of the global reaction.

Recent advances in rational approaches for enzyme engineering

PubMed Central

Steiner, Kerstin; Schwab, Helmut

2012-01-01

Enzymes are an attractive alternative in the asymmetric syntheses of chiral building blocks. To meet the requirements of industrial biotechnology and to introduce new functionalities, the enzymes need to be optimized by protein engineering. This article specifically reviews rational approaches for enzyme engineering and de novo enzyme design involving structure-based approaches developed in recent years for improvement of the enzymes’ performance, broadened substrate range, and creation of novel functionalities to obtain products with high added value for industrial applications. PMID:24688651

n/a

NASA Image and Video Library

1967-11-01

Workmen at the Kennedy Space Center position the nose cone for the 204LM-1, an unmanned Apollo mission that tested the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) in Earth orbit. Also known as Apollo 5, the spacecraft was launched on the fourth Saturn IBC launch vehicle. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IBC utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine a larger booster and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the manned lunar missions.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1965-01-01

Workers at the Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Dynamic Test Stand install S-IB-200D, a dynamic test version of the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage, on January 11, 1965. MSFC Test Laboratory persornel assembled a complete Saturn IB to test the launch vehicle's structural soundness. Developed by the MSFC as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the manned lunar missions.

ALI (Autonomous Lunar Investigator): Revolutionary Approach to Exploring the Moon with Addressable Reconfigurable Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, P. E.; Curtis, S. A.; Rilee, M. L.; Floyd, S. R.

2005-01-01

Addressable Reconfigurable Technology (ART) based structures: Mission Concepts based on Addressable Reconfigurable Technology (ART), originally studied for future ANTS (Autonomous Nanotechnology Swarm) Space Architectures, are now being developed as rovers for nearer term use in lunar and planetary surface exploration. The architecture is based on the reconfigurable tetrahedron as a building block. Tetrahedra are combined to form space-filling networks, shaped for the required function. Basic structural components are highly modular, addressable arrays of robust nodes (tetrahedral apices) from which highly reconfigurable struts (tetrahedral edges), acting as supports or tethers, are efficiently reversibly deployed/stowed, transforming and reshaping the structures as required.

Astrobiological Significance of Definitive Mineralogical Analysis of Martian Surface Samples Using the CheMin XRD/XRF Instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feldman, S. M.; Blake, D. F.; Sarrazin, P.; Bish, D. L.; Chipera, S. J.; Vaniman, D. T.; Collins, S.

2004-01-01

The search for evidence of habitability, or of extant or extinct life on Mars, will initially be a search for evidence of past or present conditions supportive of life. The three key requirements for the emergence of life are thought to be liquid water; a suitable energy source; and chemical building blocks. CheMin is a miniaturized XRD/XRF (X-Ray diffraction / X-ray fluorescence) instrument which has been developed for definitive mineralogic analysis of soils and rocks on the Martian surface. The CheMin instrument can provide information that is highly relevant to each of these habitability requirements as summarized below.

17. A southward view of buildings #6B and #6 in ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

17. A southward view of buildings #6-B and #6 in the left background and buildings #5 (center) and #3 (right of center). - American Chain & Cable Company, East Princess Street (400 Block), York, York County, PA

Streambank Protection Guidelines,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-10-01

the types of rubble suitable for dumping on an eroding bank include broken pavement, bricks, building blocks , slag , and quarry waste. Large flat slabs...not provide any long-termn protection. blocks , and house brick. I rfbiae omrilgbo akt Completed gabion revetment made from prefabricated baskets...prevent pressure buildup that could cause revetment failure. BLOCKS . Precast cellular blocks can be ypi i .,, p no- , ,,, ,hag ,.,.,,,,t

Large Composite Structures Processing Technologies for Reusable Launch Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clinton, R. G., Jr.; Vickers, J. H.; McMahon, W. M.; Hulcher, A. B.; Johnston, N. J.; Cano, R. J.; Belvin, H. L.; McIver, K.; Franklin, W.; Sidwell, D.

2001-01-01

Significant efforts have been devoted to establishing the technology foundation to enable the progression to large scale composite structures fabrication. We are not capable today of fabricating many of the composite structures envisioned for the second generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV). Conventional 'aerospace' manufacturing and processing methodologies (fiber placement, autoclave, tooling) will require substantial investment and lead time to scale-up. Out-of-autoclave process techniques will require aggressive efforts to mature the selected technologies and to scale up. Focused composite processing technology development and demonstration programs utilizing the building block approach are required to enable envisioned second generation RLV large composite structures applications. Government/industry partnerships have demonstrated success in this area and represent best combination of skills and capabilities to achieve this goal.

SCOS 2: ESA's new generation of mission control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, M.; Head, N. C.; Keyte, K.; Howard, P.; Lynenskjold, S.

1994-01-01

New mission-control infrastructure is currently being developed by ESOC, which will constitute the second generation of the Spacecraft Control Operations system (SCOS 2). The financial, functional and strategic requirements lying behind the new development are explained. The SCOS 2 approach is described. The technological implications of these approaches is described: in particular it is explained how this leads to the use of object oriented techniques to provide the required 'building block' approach. The paper summarizes the way in which the financial, functional and strategic requirements have been met through this combination of solutions. Finally, the paper outlines the development process to date, noting how risk reduction was achieved in the approach to new technologies and summarizes the current status future plans.

Characteristics and requirements of robotic manipulators for space operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andary, James F.; Hewitt, Dennis R.; Spidaliere, Peter D.; Lambeck, Robert W.

1992-01-01

A robotic manipulator, DTF-1, developed as part of the Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) project at Goddard Space Flight Center is discussed focusing on the technical, operational, and safety requirements. The DTF-1 system design, which is based on the manipulator, gripper, cameras, computer, and an operator control station incorporates the fundamental building blocks of the original FTS, the end product of which was to have been a light-weight, dexterous telerobotic device. For the first time in the history of NASA, space technology and robotics were combined to find new and unique solutions to the demanding requirements of flying a sophisticated robotic manipulator in space. DTF-1 is considered to be the prototype for all future development in space robotics.

Design and synthesis of unnatural heparosan and chondroitin building blocks

PubMed Central

Bera, Smritilekha; Linhardt, Robert J.

2011-01-01

Triazole linked heparosan and chondroitin disaccharide and tetrasaccharide building blocks were synthesized in a stereoselective manner by applying a very efficient Copper Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloadditions (CuAAC) reaction of appropriately substituted azido-glucuronic acid and propargyluted N-acetyl glucosamine and N-acetyl galactosamine derivative respectively. The resulting suitably substituted tetrasaccharide analogs can be easily converted into azide and alkyne unit for further synthesis of higher oligosaccharide analogs. PMID:21438620

PBF Reactor Building (PER620). After lowering reactor vessel onto blocks, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

PBF Reactor Building (PER-620). After lowering reactor vessel onto blocks, it is rolled on logs into PBF. Metal framework under vessel is handling device. Various penetrations in reactor bottom were for instrumentation, poison injection, drains. Large one, below center "manhole" was for primary coolant. Photographer: Larry Page. Date: February 13, 1970. INEEL negative no. 70-736 - Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, SPERT-I & Power Burst Facility Area, Scoville, Butte County, ID

11. VIEW OF INTERIOR OF BUILDING 220 FIRST FLOOR, CELL ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

11. VIEW OF INTERIOR OF BUILDING 220 FIRST FLOOR, CELL BLOCK 'A' (SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL BLOCK), TYPICAL SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL. THE CELL SHOWN IN CENTER OF PHOTO, HAS A 2-1/2' THICK STEEL DOOR. THE CELL SHOWN IN THE LEFT OF PHOTO, HAS A 3/4' DIAMETER IRON GRILLE DOOR. - U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Brig, Neville Way near Ninth Street at Marine Barracks, Pearl City, Honolulu County, HI

Effector-Triggered Self-Replication in Coupled Subsystems.

PubMed

Komáromy, Dávid; Tezcan, Meniz; Schaeffer, Gaël; Marić, Ivana; Otto, Sijbren

2017-11-13

In living systems processes like genome duplication and cell division are carefully synchronized through subsystem coupling. If we are to create life de novo, similar control over essential processes such as self-replication need to be developed. Here we report that coupling two dynamic combinatorial subsystems, featuring two separate building blocks, enables effector-mediated control over self-replication. The subsystem based on the first building block shows only self-replication, whereas that based on the second one is solely responsive toward a specific external effector molecule. Mixing the subsystems arrests replication until the effector molecule is added, resulting in the formation of a host-effector complex and the liberation of the building block that subsequently engages in self-replication. The onset, rate and extent of self-replication is controlled by the amount of effector present. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Laboratory testing of a building envelope segment based on cellular concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fořt, Jan; Pavlík, Zbyšek; Černý, Robert

2016-07-01

Hygrothermal performance of a building envelope based on cellular concrete blocks is studied in the paper. Simultaneously, the strain fields induced by the heat and moisture changes are monitored. The studied wall is exposed to the climatic load corresponding to the winter climatic conditions of the moderate year for Prague. The winter climatic exposure is chosen in order to simulate the critical conditions of the building structure from the point of view of material performance and temperature and humidity loading. The evaluation of hygrothermal performance of a researched wall is done on the basis of relative humidity and temperature profiles measured along the cross section of the cellular concrete blocks. Strain gauges are fixed on the wall surface in expected orientation of the blocks expansion. The obtained results show a good hygrothermal function of the analyzed cellular concrete wall and its insignificant strain.

Synthesis of Triamino Acid Building Blocks with Different Lipophilicities

PubMed Central

Maity, Jyotirmoy; Honcharenko, Dmytro; Strömberg, Roger

2015-01-01

To obtain different amino acids with varying lipophilicity and that can carry up to three positive charges we have developed a number of new triamino acid building blocks. One set of building blocks was achieved by aminoethyl extension, via reductive amination, of the side chain of ortnithine, diaminopropanoic and diaminobutanoic acid. A second set of triamino acids with the aminoethyl extension having hydrocarbon side chains was synthesized from diaminobutanoic acid. The aldehydes needed for the extension by reductive amination were synthesized from the corresponding Fmoc-L-2-amino fatty acids in two steps. Reductive amination of these compounds with Boc-L-Dab-OH gave the C4-C8 alkyl-branched triamino acids. All triamino acids were subsequently Boc-protected at the formed secondary amine to make the monomers appropriate for the N-terminus position when performing Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis. PMID:25876040

Tandem Repeat Proteins Inspired By Squid Ring Teeth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pena-Francesch, Abdon

Proteins are large biomolecules consisting of long chains of amino acids that hierarchically assemble into complex structures, and provide a variety of building blocks for biological materials. The repetition of structural building blocks is a natural evolutionary strategy for increasing the complexity and stability of protein structures. However, the relationship between amino acid sequence, structure, and material properties of protein systems remains unclear due to the lack of control over the protein sequence and the intricacies of the assembly process. In order to investigate the repetition of protein building blocks, a recently discovered protein from squids is examined as an ideal protein system. Squid ring teeth are predatory appendages located inside the suction cups that provide a strong grasp of prey, and are solely composed of a group of proteins with tandem repetition of building blocks. The objective of this thesis is the understanding of sequence, structure and property relationship in repetitive protein materials inspired in squid ring teeth for the first time. Specifically, this work focuses on squid-inspired structural proteins with tandem repeat units in their sequence (i.e., repetition of alternating building blocks) that are physically cross-linked via beta-sheet structures. The research work presented here tests the hypothesis that, in these systems, increasing the number of building blocks in the polypeptide chain decreases the protein network defects and improves the material properties. Hence, the sequence, nanostructure, and properties (thermal, mechanical, and conducting) of tandem repeat squid-inspired protein materials are examined. Spectroscopic structural analysis, advanced materials characterization, and entropic elasticity theory are combined to elucidate the structure and material properties of these repetitive proteins. This approach is applied not only to native squid proteins but also to squid-inspired synthetic polypeptides that allow for a fine control of the sequence and network morphology. The results provided in this work establish a clear dependence between the repetitive building blocks, the network morphology, and the properties of squid-inspired repetitive protein materials. Increasing the number of tandem repeat units in SRT-inspired proteins led to more effective protein networks with superior properties. Through increasing tandem repetition and optimization of network morphology, highly efficient protein materials capable of withstanding deformations up to 400% of their original length, with MPa-GPa modulus, high energy absorption (50 MJ m-3), peak proton conductivity of 3.7 mS cm-1 (at pH 7, highest reported to date for biological materials), and peak thermal conductivity of 1.4 W m-1 K -1 (which exceeds that of most polymer materials) were developed. These findings introduce new design rules in the engineering of proteins based on tandem repetition and morphology control, and provide a novel framework for tailoring and optimizing the properties of protein-based materials.

Molecular Clusters: Nanoscale Building Blocks for Solid-State Materials.

PubMed

Pinkard, Andrew; Champsaur, Anouck M; Roy, Xavier

2018-04-17

The programmed assembly of nanoscale building blocks into multicomponent hierarchical structures is a powerful strategy for the bottom-up construction of functional materials. To develop this concept, our team has explored the use of molecular clusters as superatomic building blocks to fabricate new classes of materials. The library of molecular clusters is rich with exciting properties, including diverse functionalization, redox activity, and magnetic ordering, so the resulting cluster-assembled solids, which we term superatomic crystals (SACs), hold the promise of high tunability, atomic precision, and robust architectures among a diverse range of other material properties. Molecular clusters have only seldom been used as precursors for functional materials. Our team has been at the forefront of new developments in this exciting research area, and this Account focuses on our progress toward designing materials from cluster-based precursors. In particular, this Account discusses (1) the design and synthesis of molecular cluster superatomic building blocks, (2) their self-assembly into SACs, and (3) their resulting collective properties. The set of molecular clusters discussed herein is diverse, with different cluster cores and ligand arrangements to create an impressive array of solids. The cluster cores include octahedral M 6 E 8 and cubane M 4 E 4 (M = metal; E = chalcogen), which are typically passivated by a shell of supporting ligands, a feature upon which we have expanded upon by designing and synthesizing more exotic ligands that can be used to direct solid-state assembly. Building from this library, we have designed whole families of binary SACs where the building blocks are held together through electrostatic, covalent, or van der Waals interactions. Using single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) to determine the atomic structure, a remarkable range of compositional variability is accessible. We can also use this technique, in tandem with vibrational spectroscopy, to ascertain features about the constituent superatomic building blocks, such as the charge of the cluster cores, by analysis of bond distances from the SCXRD data. The combination of atomic precision and intercluster interactions in these SACs produces novel collective properties, including tunable electrical transport, crystalline thermal conductivity, and ferromagnetism. In addition, we have developed a synthetic strategy to insert redox-active guests into the superstructure of SACs via single-crystal-to-single-crystal intercalation. This intercalation process allows us to tune the optical and electrical transport properties of the superatomic crystal host. These properties are explored using a host of techniques, including Raman spectroscopy, SQUID magnetometry, electrical transport measurements, electronic absorption spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and frequency-domain thermoreflectance. Superatomic crystals have proven to be both robust and tunable, representing a new method of materials design and architecture. This Account demonstrates how precisely controlling the structure and properties of nanoscale building blocks is key in developing the next generation of functional materials; several examples are discussed and detailed herein.

Building a Case for Blocks as Kindergarten Mathematics Learning Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinzer, Cathy; Gerhardt, Kacie; Coca, Nicole

2016-01-01

Kindergarteners need access to blocks as thinking tools to develop, model, test, and articulate their mathematical ideas. In the current educational landscape, resources such as blocks are being pushed to the side and being replaced by procedural worksheets and academic "seat time" in order to address standards. Mathematics research…

Revisit Pattern Blocks to Develop Rational Number Sense

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Champion, Joe; Wheeler, Ann

2014-01-01

Pattern blocks are inexpensive wooden, foam, or plastic manipulatives developed in the 1960s to help students build an understanding of shapes, proportions, equivalence, and fractions (EDC 1968). The colorful collection of basic shapes in classic pattern block kits affords opportunities for amazing puzzle-like problem-solving tasks and for…

Building structural similarity database for metric learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Guoxin; Pappas, Thrasyvoulos N.

2015-03-01

We propose a new approach for constructing databases for training and testing similarity metrics for structurally lossless image compression. Our focus is on structural texture similarity (STSIM) metrics and the matched-texture compression (MTC) approach. We first discuss the metric requirements for structurally lossless compression, which differ from those of other applications such as image retrieval, classification, and understanding. We identify "interchangeability" as the key requirement for metric performance, and partition the domain of "identical" textures into three regions, of "highest," "high," and "good" similarity. We design two subjective tests for data collection, the first relies on ViSiProG to build a database of "identical" clusters, and the second builds a database of image pairs with the "highest," "high," "good," and "bad" similarity labels. The data for the subjective tests is generated during the MTC encoding process, and consist of pairs of candidate and target image blocks. The context of the surrounding image is critical for training the metrics to detect lighting discontinuities, spatial misalignments, and other border artifacts that have a noticeable effect on perceptual quality. The identical texture clusters are then used for training and testing two STSIM metrics. The labelled image pair database will be used in future research.

Concept of Operations for the NASA Weather Accident Prevention (WxAP) Project. Version 2.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Walter S.; Tsoucalas, George; Tanger, Thomas

2003-01-01

The Weather Accident Prevention Concept of Operations (CONOPS) serves as a decision-making framework for research and technology development planning. It is intended for use by the WxAP members and other related programs in NASA and the FAA that support aircraft accident reduction initiatives. The concept outlines the project overview for program level 3 elements-such as AWIN, WINCOMM, and TPAWS (Turbulence)-that develop the technologies and operating capabilities to form the building blocks for WxAP. Those building blocks include both retrofit of equipment and systems and development of new aircraft, training technologies, and operating infrastructure systems and capabilities. This Concept of operations document provides the basis for the WxAP project to develop requirements based on the operational needs ofthe system users. It provides the scenarios that the flight crews, airline operations centers (AOCs), air traffic control (ATC), and flight service stations (FSS) utilize to reduce weather related accidents. The provision to the flight crew of timely weather information provides awareness of weather situations that allows replanning to avoid weather hazards. The ability of the flight crew to locate and avoid weather hazards, such as turbulence and hail, contributes to safer flight practices.

Harnessing the power of microbial nanowires.

PubMed

Reguera, Gemma

2018-05-27

The reduction of iron oxide minerals and uranium in model metal reducers in the genus Geobacter is mediated by conductive pili composed primarily of a structurally divergent pilin peptide that is otherwise recognized, processed and assembled in the inner membrane by a conserved Type IVa pilus apparatus. Electronic coupling among the peptides is promoted upon assembly, allowing the discharge of respiratory electrons at rates that greatly exceed the rates of cellular respiration. Harnessing the unique properties of these conductive appendages and their peptide building blocks in metal bioremediation will require understanding of how the pilins assemble to form a protein nanowire with specialized sites for metal immobilization. Also important are insights into how cells assemble the pili to make an electroactive matrix and grow on electrodes as biofilms that harvest electrical currents from the oxidation of waste organic substrates. Genetic engineering shows promise to modulate the properties of the peptide building blocks, protein nanowires and current-harvesting biofilms for various applications. This minireview discusses what is known about the pilus material properties and reactions they catalyse and how this information can be harnessed in nanotechnology, bioremediation and bioenergy applications. © 2018 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Two new hybrid molybdenum arsenate derivative constructed from [As2Mo6O26]6- building: Synthesis, structural characterization and photocatalysis property

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiao; Luo, Xuan; Duan, Yuanling; Huang, Yanping; Zhang, Nanxi; Zhao, Liyan; Wu, Jie

2017-08-01

Two new inorganic-organic hybrid materials [Cu(enMe)2]2{(As2Mo6O26) [Cu(enMe)2]}·4H2O (1) and [As2Mo6(OH)2O24][Cu(H2O)2(phen)]2 (2) (enMe = 1,2'-propanediamine, phen = 1,10'-phenanthroline) based on [As2Mo6O26]6- building blocks, denoted as [As2Mo6], have been obtained by hydrothermal methods. 1 shows a 1-D straight chain structure constructed form [As2Mo6] building blocks and [Cu(enMe)2] complexes, and then extended to 3-D supramolecular network by lattice water via hydrogen bonds interactions. 2 exhibits a new 1-D covalent ribbon with large rectangular grids formed from [As2Mo6] building blocks connected by [Cu(H2O)2(phen)] complexes, then extended into 3-D supramolecular network via hydrogen bonds and π···π interactions. In additional, the photocatalytic activity for methylene blue degradation under visible-light irradiation of 2 was investigated.

Systems Engineering and Reusable Avionics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conrad, James M.; Murphy, Gloria

2010-01-01

One concept for future space flights is to construct building blocks for a wide variety of avionics systems. Once a unit has served its original purpose, it can be removed from the original vehicle and reused in a similar or dissimilar function, depending on the function blocks the unit contains. For example: Once a lunar lander has reached the moon's surface, an engine controller for the Lunar Decent Module would be removed and used for a lunar rover motor control unit or for a Environmental Control Unit for a Lunar Habitat. This senior design project included the investigation of a wide range of functions of space vehicles and possible uses. Specifically, this includes: (1) Determining and specifying the basic functioning blocks of space vehicles. (2) Building and demonstrating a concept model. (3) Showing high reliability is maintained. The specific implementation of this senior design project included a large project team made up of Systems, Electrical, Computer, and Mechanical Engineers/Technologists. The efforts were made up of several sub-groups that each worked on a part of the entire project. The large size and complexity made this project one of the more difficult to manage and advise. Typical projects only have 3-4 students, but this project had 10 students from five different disciplines. This paper describes the difference of this large project compared to typical projects, and the challenges encountered. It also describes how the systems engineering approach was successfully implemented so that the students were able to meet nearly all of the project requirements.

Self-assembly: Misfits unite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grason, Gregory M.

2017-12-01

The spontaneous assembly of particulate or molecular 'building blocks' into larger architectures underlies structure formation in many biological and synthetic materials. Shape frustration of ill-fitting blocks holds a surprising key to more regular assemblies.

Door in west wall of the center block, positioned near ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Door in west wall of the center block, positioned near the detached kitchen/bake house building. - Lazaretto Quarantine Station, Wanamaker Avenue and East Second Street, Essington, Delaware County, PA

A crown-like heterometallic unit as the building block for a 3D In-Ge-S framework.

PubMed

Han, Xiaohui; Wang, Zhenqing; Xu, Jin; Liu, Dan; Wang, Cheng

2015-12-14

Supertetrahedral clusters are the most common building blocks in constructing Group 13/14/16 microporous metal chalcogenide materials while other types of clusters are yet scarcely explored. Herein, a new crown-like building unit [In3Ge3S16] has been obtained. The units assemble into a 3D framework [C6H14NO]4[In6Ge3S17]·1.5H2O (1) via a dual-connection mode and a SrSi2 (srs)-type topology could be achieved by treating each unit as a tri-connected node.

PERTS: A Prototyping Environment for Real-Time Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Jane W. S.; Lin, Kwei-Jay; Liu, C. L.

1993-01-01

PERTS is a prototyping environment for real-time systems. It is being built incrementally and will contain basic building blocks of operating systems for time-critical applications, tools, and performance models for the analysis, evaluation and measurement of real-time systems and a simulation/emulation environment. It is designed to support the use and evaluation of new design approaches, experimentations with alternative system building blocks, and the analysis and performance profiling of prototype real-time systems.

VLSI architecture for a Reed-Solomon decoder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hsu, In-Shek (Inventor); Truong, Trieu-Kie (Inventor)

1992-01-01

A basic single-chip building block for a Reed-Solomon (RS) decoder system is partitioned into a plurality of sections, the first of which consists of a plurality of syndrome subcells each of which contains identical standard-basis finite-field multipliers that are programmable between 10 and 8 bit operation. A desired number of basic building blocks may be assembled to provide a RS decoder of any syndrome subcell size that is programmable between 10 and 8 bit operation.

Exploring endoperoxides as a new entry for the synthesis of branched azasugars

PubMed Central

Domeyer, Svenja; Bjerregaard, Mark; Johansson, Henrik

2017-01-01

A new class of nitrogen-containing endoperoxides were synthesised by a photochemical [4 + 2]-cycloaddition between a diene and singlet oxygen. The endoperoxides were dihydroxylated and protected to provide a series of endoperoxide building blocks for organic synthesis, with potential use as precursors for the synthesis of branched azasugars. Preliminary exploration of the chemistry of these building blocks provided access to a variety of derivatives including tetrahydrofurans, epoxides and protected amino-tetraols. PMID:28487758

Cascaded VLSI neural network architecture for on-line learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Anilkumar P. (Inventor); Duong, Tuan A. (Inventor); Daud, Taher (Inventor)

1992-01-01

High-speed, analog, fully-parallel, and asynchronous building blocks are cascaded for larger sizes and enhanced resolution. A hardware compatible algorithm permits hardware-in-the-loop learning despite limited weight resolution. A computation intensive feature classification application was demonstrated with this flexible hardware and new algorithm at high speed. This result indicates that these building block chips can be embedded as an application specific coprocessor for solving real world problems at extremely high data rates.

Fluorescence enhancement through the formation of a single-layer two-dimensional supramolecular organic framework and its application in highly selective recognition of picric acid.

PubMed

Zhang, Ying; Zhan, Tian-Guang; Zhou, Tian-You; Qi, Qiao-Yan; Xu, Xiao-Na; Zhao, Xin

2016-06-18

A two-dimensional (2D) supramolecular organic framework (SOF) has been constructed through the co-assembly of a triphenylamine-based building block and cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]). Fluorescence turn-on of the non-emissive building block was observed upon the formation of the 2D SOF, which displayed highly selective and sensitive recognition of picric acid over a variety of nitroaromatics.

Cascaded VLSI neural network architecture for on-line learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duong, Tuan A. (Inventor); Daud, Taher (Inventor); Thakoor, Anilkumar P. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

High-speed, analog, fully-parallel and asynchronous building blocks are cascaded for larger sizes and enhanced resolution. A hardware-compatible algorithm permits hardware-in-the-loop learning despite limited weight resolution. A comparison-intensive feature classification application has been demonstrated with this flexible hardware and new algorithm at high speed. This result indicates that these building block chips can be embedded as application-specific-coprocessors for solving real-world problems at extremely high data rates.

Building blocks for the development of an interface for high-throughput thin layer chromatography/ambient mass spectrometric analysis: a green methodology.

PubMed

Cheng, Sy-Chyi; Huang, Min-Zong; Wu, Li-Chieh; Chou, Chih-Chiang; Cheng, Chu-Nian; Jhang, Siou-Sian; Shiea, Jentaie

2012-07-17

Interfacing thin layer chromatography (TLC) with ambient mass spectrometry (AMS) has been an important area of analytical chemistry because of its capability to rapidly separate and characterize the chemical compounds. In this study, we have developed a high-throughput TLC-AMS system using building blocks to deal, deliver, and collect the TLC plate through an electrospray-assisted laser desorption ionization (ELDI) source. This is the first demonstration of the use of building blocks to construct and test the TLC-MS interfacing system. With the advantages of being readily available, cheap, reusable, and extremely easy to modify without consuming any material or reagent, the use of building blocks to develop the TLC-AMS interface is undoubtedly a green methodology. The TLC plate delivery system consists of a storage box, plate dealing component, conveyer, light sensor, and plate collecting box. During a TLC-AMS analysis, the TLC plate was sent to the conveyer from a stack of TLC plates placed in the storage box. As the TLC plate passed through the ELDI source, the chemical compounds separated on the plate would be desorbed by laser desorption and subsequently postionized by electrospray ionization. The samples, including a mixture of synthetic dyes and extracts of pharmaceutical drugs, were analyzed to demonstrate the capability of this TLC-ELDI/MS system for high-throughput analysis.

Mussel-inspired nano-building block assemblies for mimicking extracellular matrix microenvironments with multiple functions.

PubMed

Wang, Zhenming; Jia, Zhanrong; Jiang, Yanan; Li, Pengfei; Han, Lu; Lu, Xiong; Ren, Fuzeng; Wang, Kefeng; Yuan, Huiping

2017-08-03

The assembly of nano-building blocks is an effective way to produce artificial extracellular matrix microenvironments with hierarchical micro/nano structures. However, it is hard to assemble different types of nano-building blocks, to form composite coatings with multiple functions, by traditional layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly methods. Inspired by the mussel adhesion mechanism, we developed polydopamine (PDA)-decorated bovine serum albumin microspheres (BSA-MS) and nano-hydroxyapatite (nano-HA), and assembled them to form bioactive coatings with micro/nano structures encapsulating bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). First, PDA-decorated nano-HA (nano-pHA) was obtained by oxidative polymerization of dopamine on nano-HA. Second, BMP-2-encapsulated BSA microspheres were prepared through desolvation, and then were also decorated by PDA (pBSA-MS). Finally, the nano-pHA and pBSA-MS were assembled using the adhesive properties of PDA. Bone marrow stromal cell cultures and in vivo implantation, showed that the pHA/pBSA (BMP-2) coatings can promote cell adhesion, proliferation, and benefited for osteoinductivity. PDA decoration was also applied to assemble various functional nanoparticles, such as nano-HA, polystyrene, and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles. In summary, this study provides a novel strategy for the assembly of biofunctional nano-building blocks, which surpasses traditional LbL self-assembly of polyelectrolytes, and can find broad applications in bioactive agents delivery or multi-functional coatings.

Polymer waveguides for electro-optical integration in data centers and high-performance computers.

PubMed

Dangel, Roger; Hofrichter, Jens; Horst, Folkert; Jubin, Daniel; La Porta, Antonio; Meier, Norbert; Soganci, Ibrahim Murat; Weiss, Jonas; Offrein, Bert Jan

2015-02-23

To satisfy the intra- and inter-system bandwidth requirements of future data centers and high-performance computers, low-cost low-power high-throughput optical interconnects will become a key enabling technology. To tightly integrate optics with the computing hardware, particularly in the context of CMOS-compatible silicon photonics, optical printed circuit boards using polymer waveguides are considered as a formidable platform. IBM Research has already demonstrated the essential silicon photonics and interconnection building blocks. A remaining challenge is electro-optical packaging, i.e., the connection of the silicon photonics chips with the system. In this paper, we present a new single-mode polymer waveguide technology and a scalable method for building the optical interface between silicon photonics chips and single-mode polymer waveguides.

PCB remediation in schools: a review.

PubMed

Brown, Kathleen W; Minegishi, Taeko; Cummiskey, Cynthia Campisano; Fragala, Matt A; Hartman, Ross; MacIntosh, David L

2016-02-01

Growing awareness of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in legacy caulk and other construction materials of schools has created a need for information on best practices to control human exposures and comply with applicable regulations. A concise review of approaches and techniques for management of building-related PCBs is the focus of this paper. Engineering and administrative controls that block pathways of PCB transport, dilute concentrations of PCBs in indoor air or other exposure media, or establish uses of building space that mitigate exposure can be effective initial responses to identification of PCBs in a building. Mitigation measures also provide time for school officials to plan a longer-term remediation strategy and to secure the necessary resources. These longer-term strategies typically involve removal of caulk or other primary sources of PCBs as well as nearby masonry or other materials contaminated with PCBs by the primary sources. The costs of managing PCB-containing building materials from assessment through ultimate disposal can be substantial. Optimizing the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of remediation programs requires aligning a thorough understanding of sources and exposure pathways with the most appropriate mitigation and abatement methods.

Estimation of building-related construction and demolition waste in Shanghai.

PubMed

Ding, Tao; Xiao, Jianzhuang

2014-11-01

One methodology is proposed to estimate the quantification and composition of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) waste in a fast developing region like Shanghai, PR China. The varieties of structure types and building waste intensities due to the requirement of progressive building design and structure codes in different decades are considered in this regional C&D waste estimation study. It is concluded that approximately 13.71 million tons of C&D waste was generated in 2012 in Shanghai, of which more than 80% of this C&D waste was concrete, bricks and blocks. Analysis from this study can be applied to facilitate C&D waste governors and researchers the duty of formulating precise policies and specifications. As a matter of fact, at least a half of the enormous amount of C&D waste could be recycled if implementing proper recycling technologies and measures. The appropriate managements would be economically and environmentally beneficial to Shanghai where the per capita per year output of C&D waste has been as high as 842 kg in 2010. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monolithic THz Frequency Multipliers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erickson, N. R.; Narayanan, G.; Grosslein, R. M.; Martin, S.; Mehdi, I.; Smith, P.; Coulomb, M.; DeMartinez, G.

2001-01-01

Frequency multipliers are required as local oscillator sources for frequencies up to 2.7 THz for FIRST and airborne applications. Multipliers at these frequencies have not previously been demonstrated, and the object of this work was to show whether such circuits are really practical. A practical circuit is one which not only performs as well as is required, but also can be replicated in a time that is feasible. As the frequency of circuits is increased, the difficulties in fabrication and assembly increase rapidly. Building all of the circuit on GaAs as a monolithic circuit is highly desirable to minimize the complexity of assembly, but at the highest frequencies, even a complete monolithic circuit is extremely small, and presents serious handling difficulty. This is compounded by the requirement for a very thin substrate. Assembly can become very difficult because of handling problems and critical placement. It is very desirable to make the chip big enough to that it can be seen without magnification, and strong enough that it may be picked up with tweezers. Machined blocks to house the chips present an additional challenge. Blocks with complex features are very expensive, and these also imply very critical assembly of the parts. It would be much better if the features in the block were as simple as possible and non-critical to the function of the chip. In particular, grounding and other electrical interfaces should be done in a manner that is highly reproducible.

Structure to function: Spider silk and human collagen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabotyagova, Olena S.

Nature has the ability to assemble a variety of simple molecules into complex functional structures with diverse properties. Collagens, silks and muscles fibers are some examples of fibrous proteins with self-assembling properties. One of the great challenges facing Science is to mimic these designs in Nature to find a way to construct molecules that are capable of organizing into functional supra-structures by self-assembly. In order to do so, a construction kit consisting of molecular building blocks along with a complete understanding on how to form functional materials is required. In this current research, the focus is on spider silk and collagen as fibrous protein-based biopolymers that can shed light on how to generate nanostructures through the complex process of self-assembly. Spider silk in fiber form offers a unique combination of high elasticity, toughness, and mechanical strength, along with biological compatibility and biodegrability. Spider silk is an example of a natural block copolymer, in which hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks are linked together generating polymers that organize into functional materials with extraordinary properties. Since silks resemble synthetic block copolymer systems, we adopted the principles of block copolymer design from the synthetic polymer literature to build block copolymers based on spider silk sequences. Moreover, we consider spider silk to be an important model with which to study the relationships between structure and properties in our system. Thus, the first part of this work was dedicated to a novel family of spider silk block copolymers, where we generated a new family of functional spider silk-like block copolymers through recombinant DNA technology. To provide fundamental insight into relationships between peptide primary sequence, block composition, and block length and observed morphological and structural features, we used these bioengineered spider silk block copolymers to study secondary structure, morphological features and assembly. Aside from fundamental perspectives, we anticipate that these results will provide a blueprint for the design of precise materials for a range of potential applications such as controlled release devices, functional coatings, components of tissue regeneration materials and environmentally friendly polymers in future studies. In the second part of this work, human collagen type I was studied as another representative of the family of fibrous proteins. Collagen type I is the most abundant extracellular matrix protein in the human body, providing the basis for tissue structure and directing cellular functions. Collagen has a complex structural hierarchy, organized at different length scales, including the characteristic triple helical feature. In the present study we assessed the relationship between collagen structure (native vs. denatured) and sensitivity to UV radiation with a focus on changes in the primary structure, conformation, microstructure and material properties. Free radical reactions are involved in collagen degradation and a mechanism for UV-induced collagen degradation related to structure was proposed. The results from this study demonstrated the role of collagen supramolecular organization (triple helix) in the context of the effects of electromagnetic radiation on extracellular matrices. Owing to the fact that both silks and collagens are proteins that have found widespread interest for biomaterial related needs, we anticipate that the current studies will serve as a foundation for future biomaterial designs with controlled properties. Furthermore, fundamental insight into self-assembly and environmentally-2mediated degradation, will build a foundation for fundamental understanding of the remodeling and functions of these types of fibrous proteins in vivo and in vitro. This type of insight is essential for many areas of scientific inquiry, from drug delivery, to scaffolds for tissue engineering, and to the stability of materials in space.

ETR BUILDING, TRA642. SOUTH SIDE VIEW INCLUDES SOUTH SIDES OF ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

ETR BUILDING, TRA-642. SOUTH SIDE VIEW INCLUDES SOUTH SIDES OF ETR BUILDING (HIGH ROOF LINE); ELECTRICAL BUILDING (ONE-STORY, MADE OF PUMICE BLOCKS), TRA-648; AND HEAT EXCHANGER BUILDING (WITH BUILDING NUMBERS), TRA-644. NOTE PROJECTION OF ELECTRICAL BUILDING AT LEFT EDGE OF VIEW. CAMERA FACES NORTH. INL NEGATIVE NO. HD46-37-3. Mike Crane, Photographer, 4/2005 - Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Test Reactor Area, Materials & Engineering Test Reactors, Scoville, Butte County, ID

Microfibres and macroscopic films from the coordination-driven hierarchical self-assembly of cylindrical micelles

PubMed Central

Lunn, David J.; Gould, Oliver E. C.; Whittell, George R.; Armstrong, Daniel P.; Mineart, Kenneth P.; Winnik, Mitchell A.; Spontak, Richard J.; Pringle, Paul G.; Manners, Ian

2016-01-01

Anisotropic nanoparticles prepared from block copolymers are of growing importance as building blocks for the creation of synthetic hierarchical materials. However, the assembly of these structural units is generally limited to the use of amphiphilic interactions. Here we report a simple, reversible coordination-driven hierarchical self-assembly strategy for the preparation of micron-scale fibres and macroscopic films based on monodisperse cylindrical block copolymer micelles. Coordination of Pd(0) metal centres to phosphine ligands immobilized within the soluble coronas of block copolymer micelles is found to induce intermicelle crosslinking, affording stable linear fibres comprised of micelle subunits in a staggered arrangement. The mean length of the fibres can be varied by altering the micelle concentration, reaction stoichiometry or aspect ratio of the micelle building blocks. Furthermore, the fibres aggregate on drying to form robust, self-supporting macroscopic micelle-based thin films with useful mechanical properties that are analogous to crosslinked polymer networks, but on a longer length scale. PMID:27538877

Electrophoretic deposition of fluorescent Cu and Au sheets for light-emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jiale; Wu, Zhennan; Li, Tingting; Zhou, Ding; Zhang, Kai; Sheng, Yu; Cui, Jianli; Zhang, Hao; Yang, Bai

2015-12-01

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a conventional method for fabricating film materials from nanometer-sized building blocks, and exhibits the advantages of low-cost, high-efficiency, wide-range thickness adjustment, and uniform deposition. Inspired by the interest in the application of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, the EPD technique has been recently extended to building blocks with 2D features. However, the studies are mainly focused on simplex building blocks. The utilization of multiplex building blocks is rarely reported. In this work, we demonstrate a controlled EPD of Cu and Au sheets, which are 2D assemblies of luminescent Cu and Au nanoclusters. Systematic investigations reveal that both the deposition efficiency and the thickness are determined by the lateral size of the sheets. For Cu sheets with a large lateral size, a high ζ-potential and strong face-to-face van der Waals interactions facilitate the deposition with high efficiency. However, for Au sheets, the small lateral size and ζ-potential limit the formation of a thick film. To solve this problem, the deposition dynamics are controlled by increasing the concentration of the Au sheets and adding acetone. This understanding permits the fabrication of a binary EPD film by the stepwise deposition of Cu and Au sheets, thus producing a luminescent film with both Cu green emission and Au red emission. A white light-emitting diode prototype with color coordinates (x, y) = (0.31, 0.36) is fabricated by employing the EPD film as a color conversion layer on a 365 nm GaN clip and further tuning the amount of deposited Cu and Au sheets.Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a conventional method for fabricating film materials from nanometer-sized building blocks, and exhibits the advantages of low-cost, high-efficiency, wide-range thickness adjustment, and uniform deposition. Inspired by the interest in the application of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, the EPD technique has been recently extended to building blocks with 2D features. However, the studies are mainly focused on simplex building blocks. The utilization of multiplex building blocks is rarely reported. In this work, we demonstrate a controlled EPD of Cu and Au sheets, which are 2D assemblies of luminescent Cu and Au nanoclusters. Systematic investigations reveal that both the deposition efficiency and the thickness are determined by the lateral size of the sheets. For Cu sheets with a large lateral size, a high ζ-potential and strong face-to-face van der Waals interactions facilitate the deposition with high efficiency. However, for Au sheets, the small lateral size and ζ-potential limit the formation of a thick film. To solve this problem, the deposition dynamics are controlled by increasing the concentration of the Au sheets and adding acetone. This understanding permits the fabrication of a binary EPD film by the stepwise deposition of Cu and Au sheets, thus producing a luminescent film with both Cu green emission and Au red emission. A white light-emitting diode prototype with color coordinates (x, y) = (0.31, 0.36) is fabricated by employing the EPD film as a color conversion layer on a 365 nm GaN clip and further tuning the amount of deposited Cu and Au sheets. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional experimental information, and SEM images of Cu EPD films. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr06599b

Streambank Protection Guidelines for Landowners and Local Governments,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-10-01

building blocks , slag , and quarry waste. UNCHE SON / / Large flat slabs should be broken up into /smaller pieces. Garbage, vegetation, scrap lumber...concrete blocks , and house brick. but will not provide any long-term protection. Preabrfirated commercial gabion basket. Completed gabion revetment made...prevent pressure buildup that could cause revetment failure. BLOCKS . Precast cellular blocks can be *,-’e : Typi.tal sa.d- e, .t bag r ’etment

Identifying the Evolutionary Building Blocks of the Cardiac Conduction System

PubMed Central

Jensen, Bjarke; Boukens, Bastiaan J. D.; Postma, Alex V.; Gunst, Quinn D.; van den Hoff, Maurice J. B.; Moorman, Antoon F. M.; Wang, Tobias; Christoffels, Vincent M.

2012-01-01

The endothermic state of mammals and birds requires high heart rates to accommodate the high rates of oxygen consumption. These high heart rates are driven by very similar conduction systems consisting of an atrioventricular node that slows the electrical impulse and a His-Purkinje system that efficiently activates the ventricular chambers. While ectothermic vertebrates have similar contraction patterns, they do not possess anatomical evidence for a conduction system. This lack amongst extant ectotherms is surprising because mammals and birds evolved independently from reptile-like ancestors. Using conserved genetic markers, we found that the conduction system design of lizard (Anolis carolinensis and A. sagrei), frog (Xenopus laevis) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) adults is strikingly similar to that of embryos of mammals (mouse Mus musculus, and man) and chicken (Gallus gallus). Thus, in ectothermic adults, the slow conducting atrioventricular canal muscle is present, no fibrous insulating plane is formed, and the spongy ventricle serves the dual purpose of conduction and contraction. Optical mapping showed base-to-apex activation of the ventricles of the ectothermic animals, similar to the activation pattern of mammalian and avian embryonic ventricles and to the His-Purkinje systems of the formed hearts. Mammalian and avian ventricles uniquely develop thick compact walls and septum and, hence, form a discrete ventricular conduction system from the embryonic spongy ventricle. Our study uncovers the evolutionary building plan of heart and indicates that the building blocks of the conduction system of adult ectothermic vertebrates and embryos of endotherms are similar. PMID:22984480

Controllable Synthesis of Tunable Microstructures of Self-Supporting Graphene Films from Opened Bubble to Cube via in Situ Template-Modulating.

PubMed

Li, Na; Yang, Qiao; Liu, Xing; Huang, Xuankai; Zhang, Haiyan; Wang, Chengxin

2017-12-06

Three-dimensional (3D) microstructured building units have replaced layer-to-layer stacked designs in transparent graphene films to fully exploit the advantages of two-dimensional graphene. However, it is still challenging to precisely control the size and microstructures of these building blocks to develop multifunctional graphene-based materials that satisfy the performance requirements of diverse applications. In this study, we propose a controllable method to regulate the microstructures of building units to form structures ranging from opened bubbles and cubes, while the size decreased from 20 to 3 μm, via an in situ template-modulating technology. NaCl was used as either a liquid or solid template by changing the dc bias. The reduced size and dense arrangement of the building units not only provide an improved mass loading for the transparent films but also build multiple pathways for fast ion/electron transmission, enhancing their promise for various practical applications. Generally, we provide a convenient protocol for finely regulating the microstructure and size of these building units, resulting in multifunctional films with a controllable transmittance, which enables the use of these graphene-based architectures as transparent electrodes in various applications and extends the family of multifunctional materials that will present new possibilities for electronics and other devices.

44. RAILROAD TRACKS, WITH BISHOP'S BLOCK, MCFADDEN COFFEE AND SPICE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

44. RAILROAD TRACKS, WITH BISHOP'S BLOCK, MCFADDEN COFFEE AND SPICE COMPANY FACTORY AND WAREHOUSE AND DUBUQUE SEED COMPANY WAREHOUSE IN BACKGROUND. VIEW TO SOUTHWEST. - Dubuque Commercial & Industrial Buildings, Dubuque, Dubuque County, IA

43. RAILROAD TRACKS, WITH BISHOP'S BLOCK, MCFADDEN COFFEE AND SPICE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

43. RAILROAD TRACKS, WITH BISHOP'S BLOCK, MCFADDEN COFFEE AND SPICE COMPANY FACTORY AND WAREHOUSE AND DUBUQUE SEED COMPANY WAREHOUSE IN BACKGROUND. VIEW TO SOUTHWEST. - Dubuque Commercial & Industrial Buildings, Dubuque, Dubuque County, IA

42. RAILROAD TRACKS, WITH BISHOP'S BLOCK, MCFADDEN COFFEE AND SPICE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

42. RAILROAD TRACKS, WITH BISHOP'S BLOCK, MCFADDEN COFFEE AND SPICE COMPANY FACTORY AND WAREHOUSE AND DUBUQUE SEED COMPANY WAREHOUSE IN BACKGROUND. VIEW TO SOUTHWEST. - Dubuque Commercial & Industrial Buildings, Dubuque, Dubuque County, IA

12. SOUTHWEST VIEW OF BUILDING 25C (SUBSONIC AERODYNAMICS TEST FACILITY) ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

12. SOUTHWEST VIEW OF BUILDING 25C (SUBSONIC AERODYNAMICS TEST FACILITY) (1992). - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Area B, Buildings 25 & 24,10-foot & 20-foot Wind Tunnel Complex, Northeast side of block bounded by K, G, Third, & Fifth Streets, Dayton, Montgomery County, OH

Photogrammetric Recording and Reconstruction of Town Scale Models - the Case of the Plan-Relief of Strasbourg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macher, H.; Grussenmeyer, P.; Landes, T.; Halin, G.; Chevrier, C.; Huyghe, O.

2017-08-01

The French collection of Plan-Reliefs, scale models of fortified towns, constitutes a precious testimony of the history of France. The aim of the URBANIA project is the valorisation and the diffusion of this Heritage through the creation of virtual models. The town scale model of Strasbourg at 1/600 currently exhibited in the Historical Museum of Strasbourg was selected as a case study. In this paper, the photogrammetric recording of this scale model is first presented. The acquisition protocol as well as the data post-processing are detailed. Then, the modelling of the city and more specially building blocks is investigated. Based on point clouds of the scale model, the extraction of roof elements is considered. It deals first with the segmentation of the point cloud into building blocks. Then, for each block, points belonging to roofs are identified and the extraction of chimney point clouds as well as roof ridges and roof planes is performed. Finally, the 3D parametric modelling of the building blocks is studied by considering roof polygons and polylines describing chimneys as input. In a future works section, the semantically enrichment and the potential usage scenarios of the scale model are envisaged.

School's Out, Let's Eat: FRAC's Guide to Using the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to Expand Afterschool Opportunities for Children. The Building Blocks Project. Promoting Education and Child Development with Nutrition Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wierwille, Jennifer; Parker, Lynn; Henchy, Geraldine; Driscoll, Christin M.; Tingling-Clemmons, Michele

The provision of quality before- and after-school child care is a major challenge facing educators. This guide from the Food Research and Action Center's Building Blocks Project provides information to providers of before and after school programs on using the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to provide snacks and meals. Following…

Molecularly Defined Nanostructures Based on a Novel AAA-DDD Triple Hydrogen-Bonding Motif.

PubMed

Papmeyer, Marcus; Vuilleumier, Clément A; Pavan, Giovanni M; Zhurov, Konstantin O; Severin, Kay

2016-01-26

A facile and flexible method for the synthesis of a new AAA-DDD triple hydrogen-bonding motif is described. Polytopic supramolecular building blocks with precisely oriented AAA and DDD groups are thus accessible in few steps. These building blocks were used for the assembly of large macrocycles featuring four AAA-DDD interactions and a macrobicyclic complex with a total of six AAA-DDD interactions. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Enantioselective Copper-Catalyzed Oxy-Alkynylation of Diazo Compounds.

PubMed

Hari, Durga Prasad; Waser, Jerome

2017-06-28

Enantioselective catalytic methods allowing the addition of both a nucleophile and an electrophile onto diazo compounds give a fast access into important building blocks. Herein, we report the highly enantioselective oxyalkynylation of diazo compounds using ethynylbenziodoxol-(on)e reagents and a simple copper bisoxazoline catalyst. The obtained α-benzoyloxy propargylic esters are useful building blocks, which are difficult to synthesize in enantiopure form using other methods. The obtained products could be efficiently transformed into vicinal diols and α-hydroxy propargylic esters without loss in enantiopurity.

Single crystalline Ge(1-x)Mn(x) nanowires as building blocks for nanoelectronics.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Machteld I; Petkov, Nikolay; Morris, Michael A; Kazakova, Olga; Han, Xinhai; Wang, Kang L; Jacob, Ajey P; Holmes, Justin D

2009-01-01

Magnetically doped Si and Ge nanowires have potential application in future nanowire spin-based devices. Here, we report a supercritical fluid method for producing single crystalline Mn-doped Ge nanowires with a Mn-doping concentration of between 0.5-1.0 atomic % that display ferromagnetism above 300 K and a superior performance with respect to the hole mobility of around 340 cm(2)/Vs, demonstrating the potential of using these nanowires as building blocks for electronic devices.

Technology to Reduce Hypoglycemia

PubMed Central

Yeoh, Ester; Choudhary, Pratik

2015-01-01

Hypoglycemia is a major barrier toward achieving glycemic targets and is associated with significant morbidity (both psychological and physical) and mortality. This article reviews technological strategies, from simple to more advanced technologies, which may help prevent or mitigate exposure to hypoglycemia. More efficient insulin delivery systems, bolus advisor calculators, data downloads providing information on glucose trends, continuous glucose monitoring with alarms warning of hypoglycemia, predictive algorithms, and finally closed loop insulin delivery systems are reviewed. The building blocks to correct use and interpretation of this range of available technology require patient education and appropriate patient selection. PMID:25883167

MOEMs devices for future astronomical instrumentation in space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamkotsian, Frédéric; Liotard, Arnaud; Lanzoni, Patrick; ElHadi, Kacem; Waldis, Severin; Noell, Wilfried; de Rooij, Nico; Conedera, Veronique; Fabre, Norbert; Muratet, Sylvaine; Camon, Henri

2017-11-01

Based on the micro-electronics fabrication process, Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS) are under study in order to be integrated in next-generation astronomical instruments for ground-based and space telescopes. Their main advantages are their compactness, scalability, specific task customization using elementary building blocks, and remote control. At Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, we are engaged since several years in the design, realization and characterization of programmable slit masks for multi-object spectroscopy and micro-deformable mirrors for wavefront correction. First prototypes have been developed and show results matching with the requirements.

Evaluation of floating-point sum or difference of products in carry-save domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wahab, A.; Erdogan, S.; Premkumar, A. B.

1992-01-01

An architecture to evaluate a 24-bit floating-point sum or difference of products using modified sequential carry-save multipliers with extensive pipelining is described. The basic building block of the architecture is a carry-save multiplier with built-in mantissa alignment for the summation during the multiplication cycles. A carry-save adder, capable of mantissa alignment, correctly positions products with the current carry-save sum. Carry propagation in individual multipliers is avoided and is only required once to produce the final result.

On the complexity of turbulence near a wall

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moin, Parviz

1992-01-01

Some measures of the intrinsic complexity of the near wall turbulence are reviewed. The number of modes required in an 'optimal' eigenfunction expansion is compared with the dimension obtained from the calculation of Liapunov exponents. These measures are of the same order, but they are very large. It is argued that the basic building block element of the near wall turbulence can be isolated in a small region of space (minimal flow unit). When the size of the domain is taken into account, the dimension becomes more manageable.

Cancer Moonshot Data and Technology Team: Enabling a National Learning Healthcare System for Cancer to Unleash the Power of Data

PubMed Central

Hsu, ER; Klemm, JD; Kerlavage, AR; Kusnezov, D

2017-01-01

The Cancer Moonshot emphasizes the need to learn from the experiences of cancer patients to positively impact their outcomes, experiences, and qualities of life. To realize this vision, there has been a concerted effort to identify the fundamental building blocks required to establish a National Learning Healthcare System for Cancer, such that relevant data on all cancer patients is accessible, shareable, and contributing to the current state of knowledge of cancer care and outcomes. PMID:28139831

Public health systems research: the state of the field.

PubMed

Bagley, Prue; Lin, Vivian

2008-11-01

Public health infrastructure provides the building blocks required for the system to achieve public health goals. A systems approach to public health has been suggested as a means to tackle persistent and emerging problems. Systems and infrastructure are attracting increased research attention. A review of the Australian and international literature suggests an absence of empirical evidence about how the system and its component parts does, or should, work and highlights some of the difficulties associated with generating such evidence. It also indicates there is significant scope for further research.

Origin of Volatiles in Earth: Indigenous Versus Exogenous Sources Based on Highly Siderophile, Volatile Siderophile, and Light Volatile Elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Righter, K.; Danielson, L.; Pando, K. M.; Marin, N.; Nickodem, K.

2015-01-01

Origin of Earth's volatiles has traditionally been ascribed to late accretion of material after major differentiation events - chondrites, comets, ice or other exogenous sources. A competing theory is that the Earth accreted its volatiles as it was built, thus water and other building blocks were present early and during differentiation and core formation (indigenous). Here we discuss geochemical evidence from three groups of elements that suggests Earth's volatiles were acquired during accretion and did not require additional sources after differentiation.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1960-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) workers hoist a dynamic test version of the S-IVB stage, the Saturn IB launch vehicle's second stage, into the Center's Dynamic Test Stand on January 18, 1965. MSFC Test Laboratory persornel assembled a complete Saturn IB to test the launch vehicle's structural soundness. Developed by the MSFC as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the manned lunar missions.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1965-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) workers lower S-IB-200D, a dynamic test version of the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage (S-IB stage), into the Center's Dynamic Test Stand on January 12, 1965. Test Laboratory persornel assembled a complete Saturn IB to test the structural soundness of the launch vehicle. Developed by the MSFC as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine large boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the manned lunar missions.

n/a

NASA Image and Video Library

1967-11-01

Workmen at the Kennedy Space Center hoist the Saturn Lunar Module (LM) Adapter into position during assembly of the 204LM-1, an unmanned Apollo mission that tested the Apollo Lunar Module in Earth orbit. Also known as Apollo 5, the spacecraft was launched on the fourth Saturn IB launch vehicle. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine a larger booster and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the manned lunar missions.

4. Historic American Buildings Survey Nathaniel R. Ewan, Photographer January ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

4. Historic American Buildings Survey Nathaniel R. Ewan, Photographer January 6, 1939 INTERIOR - END CARRIAGE 'BLOCK AND DOGS' - McMurtry's Saw Mill, Hardscrabble Road, Basking Ridge, Somerset County, NJ

Historic American Buildings Survey PHOTOCOPY OF MEASURED DRAWING BY DIETER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Historic American Buildings Survey PHOTOCOPY OF MEASURED DRAWING BY DIETER SENGLER, 1964 CROSS SECTION AND ORIGINAL JACKSON BOULEVARD ELEVATION - Monadnock Block, 53 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Cook County, IL

Development of volume deposition on cast iron by additive manufacturing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sridharan, Niyanth; Dehoff, Ryan R.; Jordan, Brian H.

2016-11-10

ORNL partnered with Cummins to demonstrate the feasibility of using additive manufacturing techniques to help develop repair techniques for refurbished cast iron engine blocks. Cummins is interested in the refurbished engine business due to the increased cost savings and reduced emissions. It is expected that by refurbishing engines could help reduce the green house gas emissions by as much as 85%. Though such repair techniques are possible in principle there has been no major industry in the automotive sector that has deployed this technology. Therefore phase-1 would seek to evaluate the feasibility of using the laser directed energy deposition techniquemore » to repair cast iron engine blocks. The objective of the phase-1 would be to explore various strategies and understand the challenges involved. During phase-1 deposits were made using Inconel-718, Nickel, Nr-Cr-B braze filler. Inconel 718 builds showed significant cracking in the heat-affected zone in the cast iron. Nickel was used to reduce the cracking in the cast iron substrate, however the Ni builds did not wet the substrate sufficiently resulting in poor dimensional tolerance. In order to increase wetting the Ni was alloyed with the Ni-Cr-B braze to decrease the surface tension of Ni. This however resulted in significant cracks in the build due to shrinkage stresses associated with multiple thermal cycling. Hence to reduce the residual stresses in the builds the DMD-103D equipment was modified and the cast iron block was pre heated using cartridge heaters. Inconel-718 alloyed with Ni was deposited on the engine block. The pre-heated deposits showed a reduced susceptibility to cracking. If awarded the phase-2 of the project would aim to develop process parameters to achieve a crack free deposit engine block.« less

Evaluation of lunar regolith geopolymer binder as a radioactive shielding material for space exploration applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montes, Carlos; Broussard, Kaylin; Gongre, Matthew; Simicevic, Neven; Mejia, Johanna; Tham, Jessica; Allouche, Erez; Davis, Gabrielle

2015-09-01

Future manned missions to the moon will require the ability to build structures using the moon's natural resources. The geopolymer binder described in this paper (Lunamer) is a construction material that consists of up to 98% lunar regolith, drastically reducing the amount of material that must be carried from Earth in the event of lunar construction. This material could be used to fabricate structural panels and interlocking blocks that have radiation shielding and thermal insulation characteristics. These panels and blocks could be used to construct living quarters and storage facilities on the lunar surface, or as shielding panels to be installed on crafts launched from the moon surface to deep-space destinations. Lunamer specimens were manufactured in the laboratory and compressive strength results of up to 16 MPa when cast with conventional methods and 37 MPa when cast using uniaxial pressing were obtained. Simulation results have shown that the mechanical and chemical properties of Lunamer allow for adequate radiation shielding for a crew inside the lunar living quarters without additional requirements.

SKIRT: The design of a suite of input models for Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baes, M.; Camps, P.

2015-09-01

The Monte Carlo method is the most popular technique to perform radiative transfer simulations in a general 3D geometry. The algorithms behind and acceleration techniques for Monte Carlo radiative transfer are discussed extensively in the literature, and many different Monte Carlo codes are publicly available. On the contrary, the design of a suite of components that can be used for the distribution of sources and sinks in radiative transfer codes has received very little attention. The availability of such models, with different degrees of complexity, has many benefits. For example, they can serve as toy models to test new physical ingredients, or as parameterised models for inverse radiative transfer fitting. For 3D Monte Carlo codes, this requires algorithms to efficiently generate random positions from 3D density distributions. We describe the design of a flexible suite of components for the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT. The design is based on a combination of basic building blocks (which can be either analytical toy models or numerical models defined on grids or a set of particles) and the extensive use of decorators that combine and alter these building blocks to more complex structures. For a number of decorators, e.g. those that add spiral structure or clumpiness, we provide a detailed description of the algorithms that can be used to generate random positions. Advantages of this decorator-based design include code transparency, the avoidance of code duplication, and an increase in code maintainability. Moreover, since decorators can be chained without problems, very complex models can easily be constructed out of simple building blocks. Finally, based on a number of test simulations, we demonstrate that our design using customised random position generators is superior to a simpler design based on a generic black-box random position generator.

A molecular fragment cheminformatics roadmap for mesoscopic simulation.

PubMed

Truszkowski, Andreas; Daniel, Mirco; Kuhn, Hubert; Neumann, Stefan; Steinbeck, Christoph; Zielesny, Achim; Epple, Matthias

2014-12-01

Mesoscopic simulation studies the structure, dynamics and properties of large molecular ensembles with millions of atoms: Its basic interacting units (beads) are no longer the nuclei and electrons of quantum chemical ab-initio calculations or the atom types of molecular mechanics but molecular fragments, molecules or even larger molecular entities. For its simulation setup and output a mesoscopic simulation kernel software uses abstract matrix (array) representations for bead topology and connectivity. Therefore a pure kernel-based mesoscopic simulation task is a tedious, time-consuming and error-prone venture that limits its practical use and application. A consequent cheminformatics approach tackles these problems and provides solutions for a considerably enhanced accessibility. This study aims at outlining a complete cheminformatics roadmap that frames a mesoscopic Molecular Fragment Dynamics (MFD) simulation kernel to allow its efficient use and practical application. The molecular fragment cheminformatics roadmap consists of four consecutive building blocks: An adequate fragment structure representation (1), defined operations on these fragment structures (2), the description of compartments with defined compositions and structural alignments (3), and the graphical setup and analysis of a whole simulation box (4). The basis of the cheminformatics approach (i.e. building block 1) is a SMILES-like line notation (denoted f SMILES) with connected molecular fragments to represent a molecular structure. The f SMILES notation and the following concepts and methods for building blocks 2-4 are outlined with examples and practical usage scenarios. It is shown that the requirements of the roadmap may be partly covered by already existing open-source cheminformatics software. Mesoscopic simulation techniques like MFD may be considerably alleviated and broadened for practical use with a consequent cheminformatics layer that successfully tackles its setup subtleties and conceptual usage hurdles. Molecular Fragment Cheminformatics may be regarded as a crucial accelerator to propagate MFD and similar mesoscopic simulation techniques in the molecular sciences. Graphical abstractA molecular fragment cheminformatics roadmap for mesoscopic simulation.

Evaluation of Sunshine Duration around a Building in an Urban Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, J. E.; Kim, J.

2017-12-01

In this study, sunshine duration around a building in a building-congested district in Busan, Korea was analyzed using a numerical model. This model considers sunshine duration blocking caused by topography and buildings and it is properly applicable to evaluation of sunshine duration environment in urban areas. The 2 km Í 2 km area where the building with 45-m height was located at the center was selected as a target area. We selected the target period from December 21 to December 23, 2015, considering the winter solstice (December 22, 2015) when it is expected to have the largest effect of sunshine blocking due to buildings. We validated the calculated solar altitude and azimuth angles against those provided by Korea astronomy and space science institute (KASI) and the calculated results gave very good agreement with those provided by KASI. Topography and buildings used as the input data of the model were constructed using a geographic information system (GIS) data. In order to analyze, in detail, the change in sunshine duration caused by the construction of the building, the sunshine duration on the roof and walls (eastern, western, southern, northern side) were investigated before and after the construction.

A triaxial supramolecular weave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewandowska, Urszula; Zajaczkowski, Wojciech; Corra, Stefano; Tanabe, Junki; Borrmann, Ruediger; Benetti, Edmondo M.; Stappert, Sebastian; Watanabe, Kohei; Ochs, Nellie A. K.; Schaeublin, Robin; Li, Chen; Yashima, Eiji; Pisula, Wojciech; Müllen, Klaus; Wennemers, Helma

2017-11-01

Despite recent advances in the synthesis of increasingly complex topologies at the molecular level, nano- and microscopic weaves have remained difficult to achieve. Only a few diaxial molecular weaves exist—these were achieved by templation with metals. Here, we present an extended triaxial supramolecular weave that consists of self-assembled organic threads. Each thread is formed by the self-assembly of a building block comprising a rigid oligoproline segment with two perylene-monoimide chromophores spaced at 18 Å. Upon π stacking of the chromophores, threads form that feature alternating up- and down-facing voids at regular distances. These voids accommodate incoming building blocks and establish crossing points through CH-π interactions on further assembly of the threads into a triaxial woven superstructure. The resulting micrometre-scale supramolecular weave proved to be more robust than non-woven self-assemblies of the same building block. The uniform hexagonal pores of the interwoven network were able to host iridium nanoparticles, which may be of interest for practical applications.

Morphology-Controlled Synthesis and Metalation of Porphyrin Nanoparticles with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Jiefei; Zhong, Yong; Wang, Liang

The design and engineering of the size, shape, and chemistry of photoactive building blocks enables the fabrication of functional nanoparticles for applications in light harvesting, photocatalytic synthesis, water splitting, phototherapy, and photodegradation. Here, we report the synthesis of such nanoparticles through a surfactant-assisted interfacial self-assembly process using optically active porphyrin as a functional building block. The self-assembly process relies on specific interactions such as π–π stacking and metalation (metal atoms and ligand coordination) between individual porphyrin building blocks. Depending on the kinetic conditions and type of surfactants, resulting structures exhibit well-defined one- to three-dimensional morphologies such as nanowires, nanooctahedra, andmore » hierarchically ordered internal architectures. Specifically, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction results indicate that these nanoparticles exhibit stable single-crystalline and nanoporous frameworks. In conclusion, due to the hierarchical ordering of the porphyrins, the nanoparticles exhibit collective optical properties resulted from coupling of molecular porphyrins and photocatalytic activities such as photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) pollutants and hydrogen production.« less

Plasmid Vectors and Molecular Building Blocks for the Development of Genetic Manipulation Tools for Trypanosoma cruzi

PubMed Central

Bouvier, León A.; Cámara, María de los Milagros; Canepa, Gaspar E.; Miranda, Mariana R.; Pereira, Claudio A.

2013-01-01

The post genomic era revealed the need for developing better performing, easier to use and more sophisticated genetic manipulation tools for the study of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. In this work a series of plasmids that allow genetic manipulation of this protozoan parasite were developed. First of all we focused on useful tools to establish selection strategies for different strains and which can be employed as expression vectors. On the other hand molecular building blocks in the form of diverse selectable markers, modifiable fluorescent protein and epitope-tag coding sequences were produced. Both types of modules were harboured in backbone molecules conceived to offer multiple construction and sub-cloning strategies. These can be used to confer new properties to already available genetic manipulation tools or as starting points for whole novel designs. The performance of each plasmid and building block was determined independently. For illustration purposes, some simple direct practical applications were conducted. PMID:24205392

Robust excitons inhabit soft supramolecular nanotubes

PubMed Central

Eisele, Dörthe M.; Arias, Dylan H.; Fu, Xiaofeng; Bloemsma, Erik A.; Steiner, Colby P.; Jensen, Russell A.; Rebentrost, Patrick; Eisele, Holger; Tokmakoff, Andrei; Lloyd, Seth; Nelson, Keith A.; Nicastro, Daniela; Knoester, Jasper; Bawendi, Moungi G.

2014-01-01

Nature's highly efficient light-harvesting antennae, such as those found in green sulfur bacteria, consist of supramolecular building blocks that self-assemble into a hierarchy of close-packed structures. In an effort to mimic the fundamental processes that govern nature’s efficient systems, it is important to elucidate the role of each level of hierarchy: from molecule, to supramolecular building block, to close-packed building blocks. Here, we study the impact of hierarchical structure. We present a model system that mirrors nature’s complexity: cylinders self-assembled from cyanine-dye molecules. Our work reveals that even though close-packing may alter the cylinders’ soft mesoscopic structure, robust delocalized excitons are retained: Internal order and strong excitation-transfer interactions—prerequisites for efficient energy transport—are both maintained. Our results suggest that the cylindrical geometry strongly favors robust excitons; it presents a rational design that is potentially key to nature’s high efficiency, allowing construction of efficient light-harvesting devices even from soft, supramolecular materials. PMID:25092336

Biomimetic, Strong, Tough, and Self-Healing Composites Using Universal Sealant-Loaded, Porous Building Blocks.

PubMed

Hwang, Sung Hoon; Miller, Joseph B; Shahsavari, Rouzbeh

2017-10-25

Many natural materials, such as nacre and dentin, exhibit multifunctional mechanical properties via structural interplay between compliant and stiff constituents arranged in a particular architecture. Herein, we present, for the first time, the bottom-up synthesis and design of strong, tough, and self-healing composite using simple but universal spherical building blocks. Our composite system is composed of calcium silicate porous nanoparticles with unprecedented monodispersity over particle size, particle shape, and pore size, which facilitate effective loading and unloading with organic sealants, resulting in 258% and 307% increases in the indentation hardness and elastic modulus of the compacted composite. Furthermore, heating the damaged composite triggers the controlled release of the nanoconfined sealant into the surrounding area, enabling moderate recovery in strength and toughness. This work paves the path towards fabricating a novel class of biomimetic composites using low-cost spherical building blocks, potentially impacting bone-tissue engineering, insulation, refractory and constructions materials, and ceramic matrix composites.

Morphology-Controlled Synthesis and Metalation of Porphyrin Nanoparticles with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

DOE PAGES

Wang, Jiefei; Zhong, Yong; Wang, Liang; ...

2016-09-12

The design and engineering of the size, shape, and chemistry of photoactive building blocks enables the fabrication of functional nanoparticles for applications in light harvesting, photocatalytic synthesis, water splitting, phototherapy, and photodegradation. Here, we report the synthesis of such nanoparticles through a surfactant-assisted interfacial self-assembly process using optically active porphyrin as a functional building block. The self-assembly process relies on specific interactions such as π–π stacking and metalation (metal atoms and ligand coordination) between individual porphyrin building blocks. Depending on the kinetic conditions and type of surfactants, resulting structures exhibit well-defined one- to three-dimensional morphologies such as nanowires, nanooctahedra, andmore » hierarchically ordered internal architectures. Specifically, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction results indicate that these nanoparticles exhibit stable single-crystalline and nanoporous frameworks. In conclusion, due to the hierarchical ordering of the porphyrins, the nanoparticles exhibit collective optical properties resulted from coupling of molecular porphyrins and photocatalytic activities such as photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) pollutants and hydrogen production.« less

Templated Assembly of a Functional Ordered Protein Macromolecular Framework from P22 Virus-like Particles.

PubMed

McCoy, Kimberly; Uchida, Masaki; Lee, Byeongdu; Douglas, Trevor

2018-04-24

Bottom-up construction of mesoscale materials using biologically derived nanoscale building blocks enables engineering of desired physical properties using green production methods. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are exceptional building blocks due to their monodispersed sizes, geometric shapes, production ease, proteinaceous composition, and our ability to independently functionalize the interior and exterior interfaces. Here a VLP, derived from bacteriophage P22, is used as a building block for the fabrication of a protein macromolecular framework (PMF), a tightly linked 3D network of functional protein cages that exhibit long-range order and catalytic activity. Assembly of PMFs was electrostatically templated, using amine-terminated dendrimers, then locked into place with a ditopic cementing protein that binds to P22. Long-range order is preserved on removal of the dendrimer, leaving a framework material composed completely of protein. Encapsulation of β-glucosidase enzymes inside of P22 VLPs results in formation of stable, condensed-phase materials with high local concentration of enzymes generating catalytically active PMFs.

Designed synthesis of double-stage two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks

PubMed Central

Chen, Xiong; Addicoat, Matthew; Jin, Enquan; Xu, Hong; Hayashi, Taku; Xu, Fei; Huang, Ning; Irle, Stephan; Jiang, Donglin

2015-01-01

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of crystalline porous polymers in which organic building blocks are covalently and topologically linked to form extended crystalline polygon structures, constituting a new platform for designing π-electronic porous materials. However, COFs are currently synthesised by a few chemical reactions, limiting the access to and exploration of new structures and properties. The development of new reaction systems that avoid such limitations to expand structural diversity is highly desired. Here we report that COFs can be synthesised via a double-stage connection that polymerises various different building blocks into crystalline polygon architectures, leading to the development of a new type of COFs with enhanced structural complexity and diversity. We show that the double-stage approach not only controls the sequence of building blocks but also allows fine engineering of pore size and shape. This strategy is widely applicable to different polymerisation systems to yield hexagonal, tetragonal and rhombus COFs with predesigned pores and π-arrays. PMID:26456081

Engineering cell factories for producing building block chemicals for bio-polymer synthesis.

PubMed

Tsuge, Yota; Kawaguchi, Hideo; Sasaki, Kengo; Kondo, Akihiko

2016-01-21

Synthetic polymers are widely used in daily life. Due to increasing environmental concerns related to global warming and the depletion of oil reserves, the development of microbial-based fermentation processes for the production of polymer building block chemicals from renewable resources is desirable to replace current petroleum-based methods. To this end, strains that efficiently produce the target chemicals at high yields and productivity are needed. Recent advances in metabolic engineering have enabled the biosynthesis of polymer compounds at high yield and productivities by governing the carbon flux towards the target chemicals. Using these methods, microbial strains have been engineered to produce monomer chemicals for replacing traditional petroleum-derived aliphatic polymers. These developments also raise the possibility of microbial production of aromatic chemicals for synthesizing high-performance polymers with desirable properties, such as ultraviolet absorbance, high thermal resistance, and mechanical strength. In the present review, we summarize recent progress in metabolic engineering approaches to optimize microbial strains for producing building blocks to synthesize aliphatic and high-performance aromatic polymers.

Recurrence of 49-base decamers, nonomers, and octamers within mouse C mu gene of Ig heavy chain and its primordial building block.

PubMed Central

Yazaki, A; Ohno, S

1983-01-01

Within the published 2,168-base-long mouse C mu gene of Ig heavy chain consisting of four coding and four noncoding segments, 2 base decamers, 8 nonomers, and 39 octamers recurred. Recurring base heptamers (about 100) and hexamers (about 350) were simply too numerous to merit individual identification. In spite of extensive overlaps between these recurring base decamers to hexamers, they occupied nearly the entire length of mouse Ig C mu gene. As with other genes of the beta-sheet-forming beta 2-microglobulin family, the Ig C mu gene (flanking and intervening noncoding sequences included) is not a unique sequence but rather it is degenerate repeats of the 45-base-long primordial building-block sequence uniquely its own. This primordial building block must originally have specified the 15-amino-acid-residue-long primordial arm of beta-sheet-forming loops, the characteristics of the beta 2-microglobulin family of polypeptides. PMID:6403948

Exploring the building blocks of social cognition: spontaneous agency perception and visual perspective taking in autism.

PubMed

Zwickel, Jan; White, Sarah J; Coniston, Devorah; Senju, Atsushi; Frith, Uta

2011-10-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders have highly characteristic impairments in social interaction and this is true also for those with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome (AS). These social cognitive impairments are far from global and it seems likely that some of the building blocks of social cognition are intact. In our first experiment, we investigated whether high functioning adults who also had a diagnosis of AS would be similar to control participants in terms of their eye movements when watching animated triangles in short movies that normally evoke mentalizing. They were. Our second experiment using the same movies, tested whether both groups would spontaneously adopt the visuo-spatial perspective of a triangle protagonist. They did. At the same time autistic participants differed in their verbal accounts of the story line underlying the movies, confirming their specific difficulties in on-line mentalizing. In spite of this difficulty, two basic building blocks of social cognition appear to be intact: spontaneous agency perception and spontaneous visual perspective taking.

Fuel-Mediated Transient Clustering of Colloidal Building Blocks.

PubMed

van Ravensteijn, Bas G P; Hendriksen, Wouter E; Eelkema, Rienk; van Esch, Jan H; Kegel, Willem K

2017-07-26

Fuel-driven assembly operates under the continuous influx of energy and results in superstructures that exist out of equilibrium. Such dissipative processes provide a route toward structures and transient behavior unreachable by conventional equilibrium self-assembly. Although perfected in biological systems like microtubules, this class of assembly is only sparsely used in synthetic or colloidal analogues. Here, we present a novel colloidal system that shows transient clustering driven by a chemical fuel. Addition of fuel causes an increase in hydrophobicity of the building blocks by actively removing surface charges, thereby driving their aggregation. Depletion of fuel causes reappearance of the charged moieties and leads to disassembly of the formed clusters. This reassures that the system returns to its initial, equilibrium state. By taking advantage of the cyclic nature of our system, we show that clustering can be induced several times by simple injection of new fuel. The fuel-mediated assembly of colloidal building blocks presented here opens new avenues to the complex landscape of nonequilibrium colloidal structures, guided by biological design principles.

Appendices for the Space Applications program, 1974

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

To achieve truly low cost system design with direct evolution for inorbit shuttle resupply, a modular building block approach has been adopted. The heart of the modular building block concept lies in the ability to use a common set of nonoptimized subsystems in such a way that a wide variety of missions can be flown with no detrimental impact on performance. By standardizing the mechanical configurations and electrical interfaces of the subsystem modules, and by designing each of them to be structurally and thermally independent entities, it is possible to cluster these building blocks or modules about an instrument system so as to adequately perform the mission without the need for subsystem redevelopments for each mission. This system concept offers the following capabilities: (1) the ability to launch and orbit the observatory by either the Delta, the Titan, or the space shuttle. (2) the ability to completely reconfigure the spacecraft subsystems for different launch vehicles, and (3) the ability to perform in-orbit resupply and/or emergency retrieval of the observatory.

Elasticity-dependent fast underwater adhesion demonstrated by macroscopic supramolecular assembly.

PubMed

Ju, Guannan; Cheng, Mengjiao; Guo, Fengli; Zhang, Qian; Shi, Feng

2018-05-30

Macroscopic supramolecular assembly (MSA) is a recent progress in supramolecular chemistry to associate visible building blocks through non-covalent interactions in a multivalent manner. Although various substrates (e. g. hydrogels, rigid materials) have been used, a general design rule of building blocks in MSA systems and interpretation of the assembly mechanism are still lacking and urgently in demand. Here we design three model systems with varied modulus and correlated the MSA probability with the elasticity. Based on the effects of substrate deformability on multivalency, we have proposed an elastic-modulus-dependent rule that building blocks below a critical modulus of 2.5 MPa can achieve MSA for the used host/guest system. Moreover, this MSA rule applies well to the design of materials applicable for fast underwater adhesion: Soft substrates (0.5 MPa) can achieve underwater adhesion within 10 s with one magnitude higher strength than that of rigid substrates (2.5 MPa). © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

High-flexibility combinatorial peptide synthesis with laser-based transfer of monomers in solid matrix material.

PubMed

Loeffler, Felix F; Foertsch, Tobias C; Popov, Roman; Mattes, Daniela S; Schlageter, Martin; Sedlmayr, Martyna; Ridder, Barbara; Dang, Florian-Xuan; von Bojničić-Kninski, Clemens; Weber, Laura K; Fischer, Andrea; Greifenstein, Juliane; Bykovskaya, Valentina; Buliev, Ivan; Bischoff, F Ralf; Hahn, Lothar; Meier, Michael A R; Bräse, Stefan; Powell, Annie K; Balaban, Teodor Silviu; Breitling, Frank; Nesterov-Mueller, Alexander

2016-06-14

Laser writing is used to structure surfaces in many different ways in materials and life sciences. However, combinatorial patterning applications are still limited. Here we present a method for cost-efficient combinatorial synthesis of very-high-density peptide arrays with natural and synthetic monomers. A laser automatically transfers nanometre-thin solid material spots from different donor slides to an acceptor. Each donor bears a thin polymer film, embedding one type of monomer. Coupling occurs in a separate heating step, where the matrix becomes viscous and building blocks diffuse and couple to the acceptor surface. Furthermore, we can consecutively deposit two material layers of activation reagents and amino acids. Subsequent heat-induced mixing facilitates an in situ activation and coupling of the monomers. This allows us to incorporate building blocks with click chemistry compatibility or a large variety of commercially available non-activated, for example, posttranslationally modified building blocks into the array's peptides with >17,000 spots per cm(2).

Designed synthesis of double-stage two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiong; Addicoat, Matthew; Jin, Enquan; Xu, Hong; Hayashi, Taku; Xu, Fei; Huang, Ning; Irle, Stephan; Jiang, Donglin

2015-10-01

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of crystalline porous polymers in which organic building blocks are covalently and topologically linked to form extended crystalline polygon structures, constituting a new platform for designing π-electronic porous materials. However, COFs are currently synthesised by a few chemical reactions, limiting the access to and exploration of new structures and properties. The development of new reaction systems that avoid such limitations to expand structural diversity is highly desired. Here we report that COFs can be synthesised via a double-stage connection that polymerises various different building blocks into crystalline polygon architectures, leading to the development of a new type of COFs with enhanced structural complexity and diversity. We show that the double-stage approach not only controls the sequence of building blocks but also allows fine engineering of pore size and shape. This strategy is widely applicable to different polymerisation systems to yield hexagonal, tetragonal and rhombus COFs with predesigned pores and π-arrays.

Correlating the magic numbers of inorganic nanomolecular assemblies with a {Pd84} molecular-ring Rosetta Stone

PubMed Central

Xu, Feng; Miras, Haralampos N.; Scullion, Rachel A.; Long, De-Liang; Thiel, Johannes; Cronin, Leroy

2012-01-01

Molecular self-assembly has often been suggested as the ultimate route for the bottom-up construction of building blocks atom-by-atom for functional nanotechnology, yet structural design or prediction of nanomolecular assemblies is still far from reach. Whereas nature uses complex machinery such as the ribosome, chemists use painstakingly engineered step-by-step approaches to build complex molecules but the size and complexity of such molecules, not to mention the accessible yields, can be limited. Herein we present the discovery of a palladium oxometalate {Pd84}-ring cluster 3.3 nm in diameter; [Pd84O42(OAc)28(PO4)42]70- ({Pd84} ≡ {Pd12}7) that is formed in water just by mixing two reagents at room temperature, giving crystals of the compound in just a few days. The structure of the {Pd84}-ring has sevenfold symmetry, comprises 196 building blocks, and we also show, using mass spectrometry, that a large library of other related nanostructures is present in solution. Finally, by analysis of the symmetry and the building block library that construct the {Pd84} we show that the correlation of the symmetry, subunit number, and overall cluster nuclearity can be used as a “Rosetta Stone” to rationalize the “magic numbers” defining a number of other systems. This is because the discovery of {Pd84} allows the relationship between seemingly unrelated families of molecular inorganic nanosystems to be decoded from the overall cluster magic-number nuclearity, to the symmetry and building blocks that define such structures allowing the prediction of other members of these nanocluster families. PMID:22753516

Layer-by-layer assembly of two-dimensional materials into wafer-scale heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Kibum; Lee, Kan-Heng; Han, Yimo; Gao, Hui; Xie, Saien; Muller, David A.; Park, Jiwoong

2017-10-01

High-performance semiconductor films with vertical compositions that are designed to atomic-scale precision provide the foundation for modern integrated circuitry and novel materials discovery. One approach to realizing such films is sequential layer-by-layer assembly, whereby atomically thin two-dimensional building blocks are vertically stacked, and held together by van der Waals interactions. With this approach, graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides--which represent one- and three-atom-thick two-dimensional building blocks, respectively--have been used to realize previously inaccessible heterostructures with interesting physical properties. However, no large-scale assembly method exists at present that maintains the intrinsic properties of these two-dimensional building blocks while producing pristine interlayer interfaces, thus limiting the layer-by-layer assembly method to small-scale proof-of-concept demonstrations. Here we report the generation of wafer-scale semiconductor films with a very high level of spatial uniformity and pristine interfaces. The vertical composition and properties of these films are designed at the atomic scale using layer-by-layer assembly of two-dimensional building blocks under vacuum. We fabricate several large-scale, high-quality heterostructure films and devices, including superlattice films with vertical compositions designed layer-by-layer, batch-fabricated tunnel device arrays with resistances that can be tuned over four orders of magnitude, band-engineered heterostructure tunnel diodes, and millimetre-scale ultrathin membranes and windows. The stacked films are detachable, suspendable and compatible with water or plastic surfaces, which will enable their integration with advanced optical and mechanical systems.

Layer-by-layer assembly of two-dimensional materials into wafer-scale heterostructures.

PubMed

Kang, Kibum; Lee, Kan-Heng; Han, Yimo; Gao, Hui; Xie, Saien; Muller, David A; Park, Jiwoong

2017-10-12

High-performance semiconductor films with vertical compositions that are designed to atomic-scale precision provide the foundation for modern integrated circuitry and novel materials discovery. One approach to realizing such films is sequential layer-by-layer assembly, whereby atomically thin two-dimensional building blocks are vertically stacked, and held together by van der Waals interactions. With this approach, graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides-which represent one- and three-atom-thick two-dimensional building blocks, respectively-have been used to realize previously inaccessible heterostructures with interesting physical properties. However, no large-scale assembly method exists at present that maintains the intrinsic properties of these two-dimensional building blocks while producing pristine interlayer interfaces, thus limiting the layer-by-layer assembly method to small-scale proof-of-concept demonstrations. Here we report the generation of wafer-scale semiconductor films with a very high level of spatial uniformity and pristine interfaces. The vertical composition and properties of these films are designed at the atomic scale using layer-by-layer assembly of two-dimensional building blocks under vacuum. We fabricate several large-scale, high-quality heterostructure films and devices, including superlattice films with vertical compositions designed layer-by-layer, batch-fabricated tunnel device arrays with resistances that can be tuned over four orders of magnitude, band-engineered heterostructure tunnel diodes, and millimetre-scale ultrathin membranes and windows. The stacked films are detachable, suspendable and compatible with water or plastic surfaces, which will enable their integration with advanced optical and mechanical systems.

To Know, or Not to Know - Why it is Important to Understand Both What we Know, and What We Don't Know, When Studying Our Air and Sky

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown-Steiner, B.

2017-12-01

I study the air and the sky, which can get really, really confusing. When you cup your hands and catch some air, you are holding many hundreds of hundreds of hundreds (do this about ten more times) of really tiny building blocks that keep hitting (and changing) one another every second of every day. We need some of these tiny building blocks to live and breathe, but there are many tiny building blocks that can hurt us - or even kill us. Right now, the way we live - how we make power, how we make food, how we get from place to place - adds a lot of bad building blocks to our air and our sky, and is changing our world in ways we do not really understand. As we learn more about the air and the sky, we get better at knowing how things are changing, but it is also really important to think about the things we do not know, and the things we do not understand. I study our air and our sky by thinking hard not only about the things that we know, but also about the things we do not know, and I try to use what I learn to help us make more sense out of the really confusing stuff. I want to share some of what I have learned with you.

Mononuclear, trinuclear, and hetero-trinuclear supramolecular complexes containing a new tri-sulfonate ligand and cobalt(II)/copper(II)-(1,10-phenanthroline) 2 building blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yunfang; Wei, Yongqin; Broer, Ria; Sa, Rongjian; Wu, Kechen

2008-03-01

Novel mononuclear, trinuclear, and hetero-trinuclear supermolecular complexes, [Co(phen) 2(H 2O)(HTST)]·2H 2O ( 1), [Co 3(phen) 6(H 2O) 2(TST) 2]·7H 2O ( 2), and [Co 2Cu(phen) 6(H 2O) 2(TST) 2]·10H 2O ( 3), have been synthesized by the reactions of a new tri-sulfonate ligand (2,4,6-tris(4-sulfophenylamino)-1,3,5-triazine, H 3TST) with the M2+ ( M=Co, Cu) and the second ligand 1,10-phenanthroline (phen). Complex 1 contains a cis-Co(II)(phen) 2 building block and an HTST as monodentate ligand; complex 2 consists of two TST as bidentate ligands connecting one trans- and two cis-Co(II)(phen) 2 building blocks; complex 3 is formed by replacing the trans-Co(II)(phen) 2 in 2 with a trans-Cu(II)(phen) 2, which is the first reported hetero-trinuclear supramolecular complex containing both the Co(II)(phen) 2 and Cu(II)(phen) 2 as building blocks. The study shows the flexible multifunctional self-assembly capability of the H 3TST ligands presenting in these supramolecular complexes through coordinative, H-bonding and even π- π stacking interactions. The photoluminescent optical properties of these complexes are also investigated and discussed as well as the second-order nonlinear optical properties of 1.

The Building Blocks for JWST I and T (Integrations and Test) to Operations - From Simulator to Flight Units

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fatig, Curtis; Ochs, William; Johns, Alan; Seaton, Bonita; Adams, Cynthia; Wasiak, Francis; Jones, Ronald; Jackson, Wallace

2012-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Project has an extended integration and test (I&T) phase due to long procurement and development times of various components as well as recent launch delays. The JWST Ground Segment and Operations group has developed a roadmap of the various ground and flight elements and their use in the various JWST I&T test programs. The JWST Project s building block approach to the eventual operational systems, while not new, is complex and challenging; a large-scale mission like JWST involves international partners, many vendors across the United States, and competing needs for the same systems. One of the challenges is resource balancing so simulators and flight products for various elements congeal into integrated systems used for I&T and flight operations activities. This building block approach to an incremental buildup provides for early problem identification with simulators and exercises the flight operations systems, products, and interfaces during the JWST I&T test programs. The JWST Project has completed some early I&T with the simulators, engineering models and some components of the operational ground system. The JWST Project is testing the various flight units as they are delivered and will continue to do so for the entire flight and operational system. The JWST Project has already and will continue to reap the value of the building block approach on the road to launch and flight operations.

Spatial Characteristics of Small Green Spaces' Mitigating Effects on Microscopic Urban Heat Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J.; Lee, D. K.; Jeong, W.; Kim, J. H.; Huh, K. Y.

2015-12-01

The purpose of the study is to find small greens' disposition, types and sizes to reduce air temperature effectively in urban blocks. The research sites were six high developed blocks in Seoul, Korea. Air temperature was measured with mobile loggers in clear daytime during summer, from August to September, at screen level. Also the measurement repeated over three times a day during three days by walking and circulating around the experimental blocks and the control blocks at the same time. By analyzing spatial characteristics, the averaged air temperatures were classified with three spaces, sunny spaces, building-shaded spaces and small green spaces by using Kruskal-Wallis Test; and small green spaces in 6 blocks were classified into their outward forms, polygonal or linear and single or mixed. The polygonal and mixed types of small green spaces mitigated averaged air temperature of each block which they belonged with a simple linear regression model with adjusted R2 = 0.90**. As the area and volume of these types increased, the effect of air temperature reduction (ΔT; Air temperature difference between sunny space and green space in a block) also increased in a linear relationship. The experimental range of this research is 100m2 ~ 2,000m2 of area, and 1,000m3 ~ 10,000m3 of volume of small green space. As a result, more than 300m2 and 2,300m3 of polygonal green spaces with mixed vegetation is required to lower 1°C; 650m2 and 5,000m3 of them to lower 2°C; about 2,000m2 and about 10,000m3 of them to lower 4°C air temperature reduction in an urban block.

Renaissance architecture for Ground Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perkins, Dorothy C.; Zeigenfuss, Lawrence B.

1994-01-01

The Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate (MO&DSD) has embarked on a new approach for developing and operating Ground Data Systems (GDS) for flight mission support. This approach is driven by the goals of minimizing cost and maximizing customer satisfaction. Achievement of these goals is realized through the use of a standard set of capabilities which can be modified to meet specific user needs. This approach, which is called the Renaissance architecture, stresses the engineering of integrated systems, based upon workstation/local area network (LAN)/fileserver technology and reusable hardware and software components called 'building blocks.' These building blocks are integrated with mission specific capabilities to build the GDS for each individual mission. The building block approach is key to the reduction of development costs and schedules. Also, the Renaissance approach allows the integration of GDS functions that were previously provided via separate multi-mission facilities. With the Renaissance architecture, the GDS can be developed by the MO&DSD or all, or part, of the GDS can be operated by the user at their facility. Flexibility in operation configuration allows both selection of a cost-effective operations approach and the capability for customizing operations to user needs. Thus the focus of the MO&DSD is shifted from operating systems that we have built to building systems and, optionally, operations as separate services. Renaissance is actually a continuous process. Both the building blocks and the system architecture will evolve as user needs and technology change. Providing GDS on a per user basis enables this continuous refinement of the development process and product and allows the MO&DSD to remain a customer-focused organization. This paper will present the activities and results of the MO&DSD initial efforts toward the establishment of the Renaissance approach for the development of GDS, with a particular focus on both the technical and process implications posed by Renaissance to the MO&DSD.

Genetics Home Reference: phenylketonuria

MedlinePlus

... that increases the levels of a substance called phenylalanine in the blood. Phenylalanine is a building block of proteins ( an amino ... some artificial sweeteners. If PKU is not treated, phenylalanine can build up to harmful levels in the ...

Electrophoretic build-up of alternately multilayered films and micropatterns based on graphene sheets and nanoparticles and their applications in flexible supercapacitors.

PubMed

Niu, Zhiqiang; Du, Jianjun; Cao, Xuebo; Sun, Yinghui; Zhou, Weiya; Hng, Huey Hoon; Ma, Jan; Chen, Xiaodong; Xie, Sishen

2012-10-22

Graphene nanosheets and metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been used as nano-building-blocks for assembly into macroscale hybrid structures with promising performance in electrical devices. However, in most graphene and metal NP hybrid structures, the graphene sheets and metal NPs (e.g., AuNPs) do not enable control of the reaction process, orientation of building blocks, and organization at the nanoscale. Here, an electrophoretic layer-by-layer assembly for constructing multilayered reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/AuNP films and lateral micropatterns is presented. This assembly method allows easy control of the nano-architecture of building blocks along the normal direction of the film, including the number and thickness of RGO and AuNP layers, in addition to control of the lateral orientation of the resultant multilayered structures. Conductivity of multilayered RGO/AuNP hybrid nano-architecture shows great improvement caused by a bridging effect of the AuNPs along the out-of-plane direction between the upper and lower RGO layers. The results clearly show the potential of electrophoretic build-up in the fabrication of graphene-based alternately multilayered films and patterns. Finally, flexible supercapacitors based on multilayered RGO/AuNP hybrid films are fabricated, and excellent performance, such as high energy and power densities, are achieved. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Scheduling System Assessment, and Development and Enhancement of Re-engineered Version of GPSS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loganantharaj, Rasiah; Thomas, Bushrod; Passonno, Nicole

1996-01-01

The objective of this project is two-fold. First to provide an evaluation of a commercially developed version of the ground processing scheduling system (GPSS) for its applicability to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) ground processing problem. Second, to work with the KSC GPSS development team and provide enhancement to the existing software. Systems reengineering is required to provide a sustainable system for the users and the software maintenance group. Using the LISP profile prototype code developed by the GPSS reverse reengineering groups as a building block, we have implemented the resource deconfliction portion of GPSS in common LISP using its object oriented features. The prototype corrects and extends some of the deficiencies of the current production version, plus it uses and builds on the classes from the development team's profile prototype.

Holographic entanglement and Poincaré blocks in three-dimensional flat space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hijano, Eliot; Rabideau, Charles

2018-05-01

We propose a covariant prescription to compute holographic entanglement entropy and Poincaré blocks (Global BMS blocks) in the context of three-dimensional Einstein gravity in flat space. We first present a prescription based on worldline methods in the probe limit, inspired by recent analog calculations in AdS/CFT. Building on this construction, we propose a full extrapolate dictionary and use it to compute holographic correlators and blocks away from the probe limit.

Strategies to integrate patient and family education into patient care redesign.

PubMed

Yingling, L; Trocino, L

1997-05-01

This article discusses five strategies to effectively integrate patient and family education into patient care redesign. The strategies include building the plan, building a shared mission and vision, building involvement, building collaboration through initiatives, and building accountability. Each strategy or "building block" is vital to the resulting structure of patient and family education. Effective results of the strategies are discussed as milestones. The process must be ongoing to ensure continuous improvement in quality patient care outcomes, consumer satisfaction and cost-effectiveness.

8. Historic view of the building: 'Warren Street from State ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

8. Historic view of the building: 'Warren Street from State Street' ca. 1890. Courtesy of the Trenton Free Public Library. This shows the building before the True American's renovations of 1893. It is the three-story buildings, flanked by lower ones in the middle of the block. At the time of the photograph, the brick exterior was painted a light color and dark-colored louvered shutters flanked all the upper story windows. - 14 North Warren Street (Commercial Building), True American Building, Trenton, Mercer County, NJ

16. A southward view of buildings #6B, #6, #6A, #7, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

16. A southward view of buildings #6-B, #6, #6-A, #7, #8-A, and #8. The water tower is situated directly behind building #8. To the right ia the eastern wall of the five-storied building #5. In the center background is part of the north face of building #9. All structures to the north of building #9 are to be demolished. - American Chain & Cable Company, East Princess Street (400 Block), York, York County, PA

Results of Outdoor to Indoor Propagation Measurements from 5-32GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houts, Jacquelynne R.; McDonough, Ryan S.

2016-01-01

The demand for wireless services has increased exponentially in the last few years and shows no signs of slowing in the near future. In order for the next generation wireless to provide seamless access, whether the user is indoors or out, a thorough understanding and validation of models describing the impact of building entry loss (BEL) is required. This information is currently lacking and presents a challenge for most system designers. For this reason empirical data is needed to assess the impact of BEL at frequencies that are being explored for future mobile broadband applications This paper present the results of measurements of outdoor-to-indoor propagation from 5-32 GHz in three different buildings. The first is a newer building that is similar in construction to modern residential home. The second is an older commercial office building. The last building is a very new commercial office building built using modern green building techniques. These three buildings allow for the measurement of propagation losses through both modern and older materials; such as glass windows and exterior block and siding. Initial results found that at particular spatial locations the BEL could be less than 1dB or more than 70dB with free space losses discounted (this is likely influenced by multipath). Additionally, it was observed that the PDF distributions of a majority of the measurements trended toward log-normal with means and standard deviations ranging from 8-38dB and 6-14dB, respectively.

Field Trial of an Aerosol-Based Enclosure Sealing Technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrington, Curtis; Springer, David

2015-09-01

This report presents the results from several demonstrations of a new method for sealing building envelope air leaks using an aerosol sealing process developed by the Western Cooling Efficiency Center at UC Davis. The process involves pressurizing a building while applying an aerosol sealant to the interior. As air escapes through leaks in the building envelope, the aerosol particles are transported to the leaks where they collect and form a seal that blocks the leak. Standard blower door technology is used to facilitate the building pressurization, which allows the installer to track the sealing progress during the installation and automaticallymore » verify the final building tightness. Each aerosol envelope sealing installation was performed after drywall was installed and taped, and the process did not appear to interrupt the construction schedule or interfere with other trades working in the homes. The labor needed to physically seal bulk air leaks in typical construction will not be replaced by this technology. However, this technology is capable of bringing the air leakage of a building that was built with standard construction techniques and HERS-verified sealing down to levels that would meet DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes program requirements. When a developer is striving to meet a tighter envelope leakage specification, this technology could greatly reduce the cost to achieve that goal by providing a simple and relatively low cost method for reducing the air leakage of a building envelope with little to no change in their common building practices.« less

Dasymetric high resolution population distribution estimates for improved decision making, with a case study of sea-level rise vulnerability in Boca Raton, Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Hannes Moritz

Planners and managers often rely on coarse population distribution data from the census for addressing various social, economic, and environmental problems. In the analysis of physical vulnerabilities to sea-level rise, census units such as blocks or block groups are coarse relative to the required decision-making application. This study explores the benefits offered from integrating image classification and dasymetric mapping at the household level to provide detailed small area population estimates at the scale of residential buildings. In a case study of Boca Raton, FL, a sea-level rise inundation grid based on mapping methods by NOAA is overlaid on the highly detailed population distribution data to identify vulnerable residences and estimate population displacement. The enhanced spatial detail offered through this method has the potential to better guide targeted strategies for future development, mitigation, and adaptation efforts.

Properties of Concrete Paving Blocks and Hollow Tiles with Recycled Aggregate from Construction and Demolition Wastes.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Carlos; Miñano, Isabel; Aguilar, Miguel Ángel; Ortega, José Marcos; Parra, Carlos; Sánchez, Isidro

2017-11-30

In recent years there has been an increasing tendency to recycle the wastes generated by building companies in the construction industry, demolition wastes being the most important in terms of volume. The aim of this work is to study the possibility of using recycled aggregates from construction and demolition wastes in the preparation of precast non-structural concretes. To that purpose, two different percentages (15% and 30%) of natural aggregates were substituted by recycled aggregates in the manufacture of paving blocks and hollow tiles. Dosages used by the company have not been changed by the introduction of recycled aggregate. Precast elements have been tested by means of compressive and flexural strength, water absorption, density, abrasion, and slipping resistance. The results obtained show the possibility of using these wastes at an industrial scale, satisfying the requirements of the Spanish standards for these elements.

Properties of Concrete Paving Blocks and Hollow Tiles with Recycled Aggregate from Construction and Demolition Wastes

PubMed Central

Rodríguez, Carlos; Miñano, Isabel; Aguilar, Miguel Ángel; Parra, Carlos

2017-01-01

In recent years there has been an increasing tendency to recycle the wastes generated by building companies in the construction industry, demolition wastes being the most important in terms of volume. The aim of this work is to study the possibility of using recycled aggregates from construction and demolition wastes in the preparation of precast non-structural concretes. To that purpose, two different percentages (15% and 30%) of natural aggregates were substituted by recycled aggregates in the manufacture of paving blocks and hollow tiles. Dosages used by the company have not been changed by the introduction of recycled aggregate. Precast elements have been tested by means of compressive and flexural strength, water absorption, density, abrasion, and slipping resistance. The results obtained show the possibility of using these wastes at an industrial scale, satisfying the requirements of the Spanish standards for these elements. PMID:29189745

Thermal Bridge Effect of Aerated Concrete Block Wall in Cold Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Baochang; Guo, Lirong; Li, Yubao; Zhang, Tiantian; Tan, Yufei

2018-01-01

As a self-insulating building material which can meet the 65 percent energy-efficiency requirements in cold region of China, aerated concrete blocks often go moldy, frost heaving, or cause plaster layer hollowing at thermal bridge parts in the extremely cold regions due to the restrictions of environmental climate and construction technique. L-shaped part and T-shaped part of aerated concrete walls are the most easily influenced parts by thermal bridge effect. In this paper, a field test is performed to investigate the scope of the thermal bridge effect. Moreover, a heat transfer calculation model for L-shaped wall and T-shaped wall is developed. According to the simulation results, the temperature fields of the thermal bridge affected regions are simulated and analyzed. The research outputs can provide theoretical basis for the application of aerated concrete wall in extremely cold regions.

1. EXTERIOR VIEW OF BUILDING 25A (COLD CHAMBER), LOOKING NORTHEAST, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. EXTERIOR VIEW OF BUILDING 25A (COLD CHAMBER), LOOKING NORTHEAST, WITH WIND TUNNEL IN BACKGROUND (1991). - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Area B, Buildings 25 & 24,10-foot & 20-foot Wind Tunnel Complex, Northeast side of block bounded by K, G, Third, & Fifth Streets, Dayton, Montgomery County, OH

Building Our Children's Future: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Grades K-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mumma, Tracy; Gant, Shaun; Stone, Laura Armstrong; Harnish, Chris; Fowle, Abigail

This interdisciplinary curriculum provides students with the opportunity to learn about the connection between natural resources and buildings while practicing skills in language arts, math, science, social studies, and visual arts. The learning activities are divided by topic into 15 Building Blocks (units). These units cover such topics as…

The Master Clock Building at USNO Infrastructure

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

type finish on top of about 3.5 inches of foam insulation. This along with cinder block, fiber glass insulation, and 5/8-inch-X drywall provides a...keep the building on temperature. The outside surface of the building is an “Exterior Finish Insulation Systems” (EFIS). This is made up of a stucco

Dual-Component Gelatinous Peptide/Reactive Oligomer Formulations as Conduit Material and Luminal Filler for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

PubMed Central

Kohn-Polster, Caroline; Bhatnagar, Divya; Woloszyn, Derek J.; Richtmyer, Matthew; Starke, Annett; Springwald, Alexandra H.; Franz, Sandra; Schulz-Siegmund, Michaela; Kaplan, Hilton M.; Kohn, Joachim; Hacker, Michael C.

2017-01-01

Toward the next generation of nerve guidance conduits (NGCs), novel biomaterials and functionalization concepts are required to address clinical demands in peripheral nerve regeneration (PNR). As a biological polymer with bioactive motifs, gelatinous peptides are promising building blocks. In combination with an anhydride-containing oligomer, a dual-component hydrogel system (cGEL) was established. First, hollow cGEL tubes were fabricated by a continuous dosing and templating process. Conduits were characterized concerning their mechanical strength, in vitro and in vivo degradation and biocompatibility. Second, cGEL was reformulated as injectable shear thinning filler for established NGCs, here tyrosine-derived polycarbonate-based braided conduits. Thereby, the formulation contained the small molecule LM11A-31. The biofunctionalized cGEL filler was assessed regarding building block integration, mechanical properties, in vitro cytotoxicity, and growth permissive effects on human adipose tissue-derived stem cells. A positive in vitro evaluation motivated further application of the filler material in a sciatic nerve defect. Compared to the empty conduit and pristine cGEL, the functionalization performed superior, though the autologous nerve graft remains the gold standard. In conclusion, LM11A-31 functionalized cGEL filler with extracellular matrix (ECM)-like characteristics and specific biochemical cues holds great potential to support PNR. PMID:28531139

Switched-capacitor realization of presynaptic short-term-plasticity and stop-learning synapses in 28 nm CMOS.

PubMed

Noack, Marko; Partzsch, Johannes; Mayr, Christian G; Hänzsche, Stefan; Scholze, Stefan; Höppner, Sebastian; Ellguth, Georg; Schüffny, Rene

2015-01-01

Synaptic dynamics, such as long- and short-term plasticity, play an important role in the complexity and biological realism achievable when running neural networks on a neuromorphic IC. For example, they endow the IC with an ability to adapt and learn from its environment. In order to achieve the millisecond to second time constants required for these synaptic dynamics, analog subthreshold circuits are usually employed. However, due to process variation and leakage problems, it is almost impossible to port these types of circuits to modern sub-100nm technologies. In contrast, we present a neuromorphic system in a 28 nm CMOS process that employs switched capacitor (SC) circuits to implement 128 short term plasticity presynapses as well as 8192 stop-learning synapses. The neuromorphic system consumes an area of 0.36 mm(2) and runs at a power consumption of 1.9 mW. The circuit makes use of a technique for minimizing leakage effects allowing for real-time operation with time constants up to several seconds. Since we rely on SC techniques for all calculations, the system is composed of only generic mixed-signal building blocks. These generic building blocks make the system easy to port between technologies and the large digital circuit part inherent in an SC system benefits fully from technology scaling.

Reference Specifications for SAVOIR Avionics Elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hult, Torbjorn; Lindskog, Martin; Roques, Remi; Planche, Luc; Brunjes, Bernhard; Dellandrea, Brice; Terraillon, Jean-Loup

2012-08-01

Space industry and Agencies have been recognizing already for quite some time the need to raise the level of standardisation in the spacecraft avionics systems in order to increase efficiency and reduce development cost and schedule. This also includes the aspect of increasing competition in global space business, which is a challenge that European space companies are facing at all stages of involvement in the international markets.A number of initiatives towards this vision are driven both by the industry and ESA’s R&D programmes. However, today an intensified coordination of these activities is required in order to achieve the necessary synergy and to ensure they converge towards the shared vision. It has been proposed to federate these initiatives under the common Space Avionics Open Interface Architecture (SAVOIR) initiative. Within this initiative, the approach based on reference architectures and building blocks plays a key role.Following the principles outlined above, the overall goal of the SAVOIR is to establish a streamlined onboard architecture in order to standardize the development of avionics systems for space programmes. This reflects the need to increase efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the development process as well as account the trend towards more functionality implemented by the onboard building blocks, i.e. HW and SW components, and more complexity for the overall space mission objectives.

Experimental soft-matter science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagel, Sidney R.

2017-04-01

Soft materials consist of basic units that are significantly larger than an atom but much smaller than the overall dimensions of the sample. The label "soft condensed matter" emphasizes that the large basic building blocks of these materials produce low elastic moduli that govern a material's ability to withstand deformations. Aside from softness, there are many other properties that are also caused by the large size of the constituent building blocks. Soft matter is dissipative, disordered, far from equilibrium, nonlinear, thermal and entropic, slow, observable, gravity affected, patterned, nonlocal, interfacially elastic, memory forming, and active. This is only a partial list of how matter created from large component particles is distinct from "hard matter" composed of constituents at an atomic scale. Issues inherent in soft matter raise problems that are broadly important in diverse areas of science and require multiple modes of attack. For example, far-from-equilibrium behavior is confronted in biology, chemistry, geophysics, astrophysics, and nuclear physics. Similarly, issues dealing with disorder appear broadly throughout many branches of inquiry wherever rugged landscapes are invoked. This article reviews the discussions that occurred during a workshop held on 30-31 January 2016 in which opportunities in soft-matter experiment were surveyed. Soft matter has had an exciting history of discovery and continues to be a fertile ground for future research.

A modular assembling platform for manufacturing of microsystems by optical tweezers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ksouri, Sarah Isabelle; Aumann, Andreas; Ghadiri, Reza; Prüfer, Michael; Baer, Sebastian; Ostendorf, Andreas

2013-09-01

Due to the increased complexity in terms of materials and geometries for microsystems new assembling techniques are required. Assembling techniques from the semiconductor industry are often very specific and cannot fulfill all specifications in more complex microsystems. Therefore, holographic optical tweezers are applied to manipulate structures in micrometer range with highest flexibility and precision. As is well known non-spherical assemblies can be trapped and controlled by laser light and assembled with an additional light modulator application, where the incident laser beam is rearranged into flexible light patterns in order to generate multiple spots. The complementary building blocks are generated by a two-photon-polymerization process. The possibilities of manufacturing arbitrary microstructures and the potential of optical tweezers lead to the idea of combining manufacturing techniques with manipulation processes to "microrobotic" processes. This work presents the manipulation of generated complex microstructures with optical tools as well as a storage solution for 2PP assemblies. A sample holder has been developed for the manual feeding of 2PP building blocks. Furthermore, a modular assembling platform has been constructed for an `all-in-one' 2PP manufacturing process as a dedicated storage system. The long-term objective is the automation process of feeding and storage of several different 2PP micro-assemblies to realize an automated assembly process.

Logarithmic M(2,p) minimal models, their logarithmic couplings, and duality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathieu, Pierre; Ridout, David

2008-10-01

A natural construction of the logarithmic extension of the M(2,p) (chiral) minimal models is presented, which generalises our previous model of percolation ( p=3). Its key aspect is the replacement of the minimal model irreducible modules by reducible ones obtained by requiring that only one of the two principal singular vectors of each module vanish. The resulting theory is then constructed systematically by repeatedly fusing these building block representations. This generates indecomposable representations of the type which signify the presence of logarithmic partner fields in the theory. The basic data characterising these indecomposable modules, the logarithmic couplings, are computed for many special cases and given a new structural interpretation. Quite remarkably, a number of them are presented in closed analytic form (for general p). These are the prime examples of "gauge-invariant" data—quantities independent of the ambiguities present in defining the logarithmic partner fields. Finally, mere global conformal invariance is shown to enforce strong constraints on the allowed spectrum: It is not possible to include modules other than those generated by the fusion of the model's building blocks. This generalises the statement that there cannot exist two effective central charges in a c=0 model. It also suggests the existence of a second "dual" logarithmic theory for each p. Such dual models are briefly discussed.

Investigation into the development of computer aided design software for space based sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pender, C. W.; Clark, W. L.

1987-01-01

The described effort is phase one of the development of a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to be used to perform radiometric sensor design. The software package will be referred to as SCAD and is directed toward the preliminary phase of the design of space based sensor system. The approach being followed is to develop a modern, graphic intensive, user friendly software package using existing software as building blocks. The emphasis will be directed toward the development of a shell containing menus, smart defaults, and interfaces, which can accommodate a wide variety of existing application software packages. The shell will offer expected utilities such as graphics, tailored menus, and a variety of drivers for I/O devices. Following the development of the shell, the development of SCAD is planned as chiefly selection and integration of appropriate building blocks. The phase one development activities have included: the selection of hardware which will be used with SCAD; the determination of the scope of SCAD; the preliminary evaluation of a number of software packages for applicability to SCAD; determination of a method for achieving required capabilities where voids exist; and then establishing a strategy for binding the software modules into an easy to use tool kit.

Dual-Component Gelatinous Peptide/Reactive Oligomer Formulations as Conduit Material and Luminal Filler for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.

PubMed

Kohn-Polster, Caroline; Bhatnagar, Divya; Woloszyn, Derek J; Richtmyer, Matthew; Starke, Annett; Springwald, Alexandra H; Franz, Sandra; Schulz-Siegmund, Michaela; Kaplan, Hilton M; Kohn, Joachim; Hacker, Michael C

2017-05-21

Toward the next generation of nerve guidance conduits (NGCs), novel biomaterials and functionalization concepts are required to address clinical demands in peripheral nerve regeneration (PNR). As a biological polymer with bioactive motifs, gelatinous peptides are promising building blocks. In combination with an anhydride-containing oligomer, a dual-component hydrogel system (cGEL) was established. First, hollow cGEL tubes were fabricated by a continuous dosing and templating process. Conduits were characterized concerning their mechanical strength, in vitro and in vivo degradation and biocompatibility. Second, cGEL was reformulated as injectable shear thinning filler for established NGCs, here tyrosine-derived polycarbonate-based braided conduits. Thereby, the formulation contained the small molecule LM11A-31. The biofunctionalized cGEL filler was assessed regarding building block integration, mechanical properties, in vitro cytotoxicity, and growth permissive effects on human adipose tissue-derived stem cells. A positive in vitro evaluation motivated further application of the filler material in a sciatic nerve defect. Compared to the empty conduit and pristine cGEL, the functionalization performed superior, though the autologous nerve graft remains the gold standard. In conclusion, LM11A-31 functionalized cGEL filler with extracellular matrix (ECM)-like characteristics and specific biochemical cues holds great potential to support PNR.

Building an organic block storage service at CERN with Ceph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Ster, Daniel; Wiebalck, Arne

2014-06-01

Emerging storage requirements, such as the need for block storage for both OpenStack VMs and file services like AFS and NFS, have motivated the development of a generic backend storage service for CERN IT. The goals for such a service include (a) vendor neutrality, (b) horizontal scalability with commodity hardware, (c) fault tolerance at the disk, host, and network levels, and (d) support for geo-replication. Ceph is an attractive option due to its native block device layer RBD which is built upon its scalable, reliable, and performant object storage system, RADOS. It can be considered an "organic" storage solution because of its ability to balance and heal itself while living on an ever-changing set of heterogeneous disk servers. This work will present the outcome of a petabyte-scale test deployment of Ceph by CERN IT. We will first present the architecture and configuration of our cluster, including a summary of best practices learned from the community and discovered internally. Next the results of various functionality and performance tests will be shown: the cluster has been used as a backend block storage system for AFS and NFS servers as well as a large OpenStack cluster at CERN. Finally, we will discuss the next steps and future possibilities for Ceph at CERN.

LPT. Elevations of low power test building (TAN640 and 641). ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

LPT. Elevations of low power test building (TAN-640 and -641). West and south elevations show stepped shield wall. South and east elevations show pumice block passageway on south side. Reactor cell walls are concrete. One-story parts are pumice block. Metal rollup doors. Ralph M. Parsons 1229-12 ANP/GE-7-640-A-2. November 1956. Approved by INEEL Classification Office for public release. INEEL index code no. 038-0640-00-693-107275 - Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Test Area North, Scoville, Butte County, ID

A building block for hardware belief networks.

PubMed

Behin-Aein, Behtash; Diep, Vinh; Datta, Supriyo

2016-07-21

Belief networks represent a powerful approach to problems involving probabilistic inference, but much of the work in this area is software based utilizing standard deterministic hardware based on the transistor which provides the gain and directionality needed to interconnect billions of them into useful networks. This paper proposes a transistor like device that could provide an analogous building block for probabilistic networks. We present two proof-of-concept examples of belief networks, one reciprocal and one non-reciprocal, implemented using the proposed device which is simulated using experimentally benchmarked models.

Engineering of M13 Bacteriophage for Development of Tissue Engineering Materials.

PubMed

Jin, Hyo-Eon; Lee, Seung-Wuk

2018-01-01

M13 bacteriophages have several qualities that make them attractive candidates as building blocks for tissue regenerating scaffold materials. Through genetic engineering, a high density of functional peptides and proteins can be simultaneously displayed on the M13 bacteriophage's outer coat proteins. The resulting phage can self-assemble into nanofibrous network structures and can guide the tissue morphogenesis through proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. In this manuscript, we will describe methods to develop major coat-engineered M13 phages as a basic building block and aligned tissue-like matrices to develop regenerative nanomaterials.

A new dielectric metamaterial building block with a strong magnetic response in the sub-1.5-micrometer region: silicon colloid nanocavities.

PubMed

Shi, Lei; Tuzer, T Umut; Fenollosa, Roberto; Meseguer, Francisco

2012-11-20

A new dielectric metamaterial building block based on high refractive index silicon spherical nanocavities with Mie resonances appearing in the near infrared optical region is prepared and characterized. It is demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically that a single silicon nanocavity supports well-defined and robust magnetic resonances, even in a liquid medium environment, at wavelength values up to six times larger than the cavity radius. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Thiophene-based covalent organic frameworks

PubMed Central

Bertrand, Guillaume H. V.; Michaelis, Vladimir K.; Ong, Ta-Chung; Griffin, Robert G.; Dincă, Mircea

2013-01-01

We report the synthesis and characterization of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) incorporating thiophene-based building blocks. We show that these are amenable to reticular synthesis, and that bent ditopic monomers, such as 2,5-thiophenediboronic acid, are defect-prone building blocks that are susceptible to synthetic variations during COF synthesis. The synthesis and characterization of an unusual charge transfer complex between thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diboronic acid and tetracyanoquinodimethane enabled by the unique COF architecture is also presented. Together, these results delineate important synthetic advances toward the implementation of COFs in electronic devices. PMID:23479656

7. Historic American Buildings Survey, August, 1966 EXTERIOR STAIR TO ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. Historic American Buildings Survey, August, 1966 EXTERIOR STAIR TO SECOND FLOOR, SHOWING PASSAGE BETWEEN MAIN BLOCK AND REAR ELL. - Andrews-Taylor House, State Route 43, Farm Road 2862 Vicinity, Karnack, Harrison County, TX

ASBESTOS RELEASE DURING BUILDING DEMOLITION ACTIVITIES

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory (RREL) monitored block-wide building demolition and debris disposal activities at Santa Cruz and Watsonsville, California following the 1989 earthquake; an implosion demolition of a 26-story bu...

The Open System Interconnection as a building block in a health sciences information network.

PubMed Central

Boss, R W

1985-01-01

The interconnection of integrated health sciences library systems with other health sciences computer systems to achieve information networks will require either custom linkages among specific devices or the adoption of standards that all systems support. The most appropriate standards appear to be those being developed under the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model, which specifies a set of rules and functions that computers must follow to exchange information. The protocols have been modularized into seven different layers. The lowest three layers are generally available as off-the-shelf interfacing products. The higher layers require special development for particular applications. This paper describes the OSI, its application in health sciences networks, and specific tasks that remain to be undertaken. PMID:4052672

Preschoolers' Thinking during Block Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piccolo, Diana L.; Test, Joan

2010-01-01

Children build foundations for mathematical thinking in early play and exploration. During the preschool years, children enjoy exploring mathematical concepts--such as patterns, shape, spatial relationships, and measurement--leading them to spontaneously engage in mathematical thinking during play. Block play is one common example that engages…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The final design, performance analysis, and economic analysis of a solar hot water system for curing concrete blocks at the new Rotoclave block fabricating plant being built by the York Building Products Co. Inc. at Harrisburg, Pa. are presented. The system will use AAI Corporation's 24/1 concentrating collectors. (WHK)

Comparison of heat exchanger and solar block wall in a swine nursery

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, D.D.; Friday, W.H.; Thieme, R.H.

1984-01-01

A pig nursery building was divided into two equal rooms, one with a heat exchanger and one with a solar block wall. The average air inlet temperatures were 16.4/sup 0/C in the heat exchanger room and 11.9/sup 0/C in the solar heated room. Supplemental heating costs were 67% higher in the solar block wall room.

SiC Multi-Chip Power Modules as Power-System Building Blocks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lostetter, Alexander; Franks, Steven

2007-01-01

The term "SiC MCPMs" (wherein "MCPM" signifies "multi-chip power module") denotes electronic power-supply modules containing multiple silicon carbide power devices and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) control integrated-circuit chips. SiC MCPMs are being developed as building blocks of advanced expandable, reconfigurable, fault-tolerant power-supply systems. Exploiting the ability of SiC semiconductor devices to operate at temperatures, breakdown voltages, and current densities significantly greater than those of conventional Si devices, the designs of SiC MCPMs and of systems comprising multiple SiC MCPMs are expected to afford a greater degree of miniaturization through stacking of modules with reduced requirements for heat sinking. Moreover, the higher-temperature capabilities of SiC MCPMs could enable operation in environments hotter than Si-based power systems can withstand. The stacked SiC MCPMs in a given system can be electrically connected in series, parallel, or a series/parallel combination to increase the overall power-handling capability of the system. In addition to power connections, the modules have communication connections. The SOI controllers in the modules communicate with each other as nodes of a decentralized control network, in which no single controller exerts overall command of the system. Control functions effected via the network include synchronization of switching of power devices and rapid reconfiguration of power connections to enable the power system to continue to supply power to a load in the event of failure of one of the modules. In addition to serving as building blocks of reliable power-supply systems, SiC MCPMs could be augmented with external control circuitry to make them perform additional power-handling functions as needed for specific applications: typical functions could include regulating voltages, storing energy, and driving motors. Because identical SiC MCPM building blocks could be utilized in a variety of ways, the cost and difficulty of designing new, highly reliable power systems would be reduced considerably. Several prototype DC-to-DC power-converter modules containing SiC power-switching devices were designed and built to demonstrate the feasibility of the SiC MCPM concept. In anticipation of a future need for operation at high temperature, the circuitry in the modules includes high-temperature inductors and capacitors. These modules were designed to be stacked to construct a system of four modules electrically connected in series and/or parallel. The packaging of the modules is designed to satisfy requirements for series and parallel interconnection among modules, high power density, high thermal efficiency, small size, and light weight. Each module includes four output power connectors two for serial and two for parallel output power connections among the modules. Each module also includes two signal connectors, electrically isolated from the power connectors, that afford four zones for signal interconnections among the SOI controllers. Finally, each module includes two input power connectors, through which it receives power from an in-line power bus. This design feature is included in anticipation of a custom-designed power bus incorporating sockets compatible with snap-on type connectors to enable rapid replacement of failed modules.

A truly Lego®-like modular microfluidics platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vittayarukskul, Kevin; Lee, Abraham Phillip

2017-03-01

Ideally, a modular microfluidics platform should be simple to assemble and support 3D configurations for increased versatility. The modular building blocks should also be mass producible like electrical components. These are fundamental features of world-renowned Legos® and why Legos® inspire many existing modular microfluidics platforms. In this paper, a truly Lego®-like microfluidics platform is introduced, and its basic feasibility is demonstrated. Here, PDMS building blocks resembling 2  ×  2 Lego® bricks are cast from 3D-printed master molds. The blocks are pegged and stacked on a traditional Lego® plate to create simple, 3D microfluidic networks, such as a single basket weave. Characteristics of the platform, including reversible sealing and automatic alignment of channels, are also analyzed and discussed in detail.

Non-covalent synthesis of supermicelles with complex architectures using spatially confined hydrogen-bonding interactions

PubMed Central

Li, Xiaoyu; Gao, Yang; Boott, Charlotte E.; Winnik, Mitchell A.; Manners, Ian

2015-01-01

Nature uses orthogonal interactions over different length scales to construct structures with hierarchical levels of order and provides an important source of inspiration for the creation of synthetic functional materials. Here, we report the programmed assembly of monodisperse cylindrical block comicelle building blocks with crystalline cores to create supermicelles using spatially confined hydrogen-bonding interactions. We also demonstrate that it is possible to further program the self-assembly of these synthetic building blocks into structures of increased complexity by combining hydrogen-bonding interactions with segment solvophobicity. The overall approach offers an efficient, non-covalent synthesis method for the solution-phase fabrication of a range of complex and potentially functional supermicelle architectures in which the crystallization, hydrogen-bonding and solvophobic interactions are combined in an orthogonal manner. PMID:26337527

Assembly of RNA nanostructures on supported lipid bilayers

PubMed Central

Dabkowska, Aleksandra P.; Michanek, Agnes; Jaeger, Luc; Rabe, Michael; Chworos, Arkadiusz; Höök, Fredrik; Nylander, Tommy; Sparr, Emma

2014-01-01

The assembly of nucleic acid nanostructures with controlled size and shape has large impact in the fields of nanotechnology, nanomedicine and synthetic biology. The directed arrangement of nanostructures at interfaces is important for many applications. In spite of this, the use of laterally mobile lipid bilayers to control RNA three-dimensional nanostructure formation on surfaces remains largely unexplored. Here, we direct the self-assembly of RNA building blocks into three-dimensional structures of RNA on fluid lipid bilayers composed of cationic 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) or mixtures of zwitterionic 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and cationic sphingosine. We demonstrate the stepwise supramolecular assembly of discrete building blocks through specific and selective RNA-RNA interactions, based on results from quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), ellipsometry, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) experiments. The assembly can be controlled to give a densely packed single layer of RNA polyhedrons at the fluid lipid bilayer surface. We show that assembly of the 3D structure can be modulated by sequence specific interactions, surface charge and changes in the salt composition and concentration. In addition, the tertiary structure of the RNA polyhedron can be controllably switched from an extended structure to one that is dense and compact. The versatile approach to building up three-dimensional structures of RNA does not require modification of the surface or the RNA molecules, and can be used as a bottom-up means of nanofabrication of functionalized bio-mimicking surfaces. PMID:25417592

Biomarkers for optimal requirements of amino acids by animals and humans.

PubMed

Lin, Gang; Liu, Chuang; Wang, Taiji; Wu, Guoyao; Qiao, Shiyan; Li, Defa; Wang, Junjun

2011-06-01

Amino acids are building blocks of proteins and key regulators of nutrient metabolism in cells. However, excessive intake of amino acids can be toxic to the body. Therefore, it is important to precisely determine amino acid requirements by organisms. To date, none of the methods is completely satisfactory to generate comprehensive data on amino acid requirements of animals or humans. Because of many influencing factors, amino acid requirements remain a complex and controversial issue in nutrition that warrants further investigations. Benefiting from the rapid advances in the emerging omics technologies and bioinformatics, biomarker discovery shows great potential in obtaining in-depth understanding of regulatory networks in protein metabolism. This review summarizes the current approaches to assess amino acid requirements of animals and humans, as well as the recent development of biomarkers as potentially functional parameters for recommending requirements of individual amino acids in health and disease. Identification of biomarkers in plasma or serum, which is a noninvasive approach, holds great promise in rapidly advancing the field of protein nutrition.

Perspectives of the KM3NeT project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margiotta, A.; KM3NeT Collaboration

2016-10-01

KM3NeT is a large distributed research infrastructure that comprises a network of deep-sea neutrino telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea with user ports for Earth and Sea sciences. The main objectives of KM3NeT are the discovery and subsequent observation of high-energy neutrino sources in the Universe (ARCA) and the determination of the mass hierarchy of neutrinos (ORCA). Technically, the network of telescopes will consist of building blocks of 115 vertical detection units anchored at the seabed and connected to shore via a deep sea electro-optical cable. Each detection unit carries 18 optical modules equipped with 31 3; photomultipliers. Two configurations for the building blocks are defined to optimally detect neutrinos in different ranges of energy. The modular technical design of the KM3NeT telescope allows for a progressive implementation and for data taking even with an incomplete detector. The first phase of implementation has started. The next phase foresees the installation of three building blocks: two building blocks, for a total instrumented volume of 1 km3 (ARCA), at the KM3NeT-It site, at a depth of 3500 m, about 100 km offshore Capo Passero, Sicily. The main scientific goals of the ARCA detector is the exploration of the neutrino sky with unprecedented resolution, searching for neutrinos coming from defined sources or sky regions, like the Galactic Plane. It will also look for diffuse high energy neutrino fluxes following the indication provided by the IceCube signal. The third building block, with a more compact distribution of the optical modules, will be deployed at the KM3NeT-Fr site, 40 km offshore Toulon at a depth of 2500 m (ORCA). The main objective of ORCA is studying the neutrino mass-hierarchy problem and exploring the low energy region of the spectrum. The status of the first phase of the KM3NeT implementation is described and a survey of the physics potentiality of the telescope is given in this contribution, with particular emphasis on the high energy studies.

Building blocks for social accountability: a conceptual framework to guide medical schools.

PubMed

Preston, Robyn; Larkins, Sarah; Taylor, Judy; Judd, Jenni

2016-08-26

This paper presents a conceptual framework developed from empirical evidence, to guide medical schools aspiring towards greater social accountability. Using a multiple case study approach, seventy-five staff, students, health sector representatives and community members, associated with four medical schools, participated in semi-structured interviews. Two schools were in Australia and two were in the Philippines. These schools were selected because they were aspiring to be socially accountable. Data was collected through on-site visits, field notes and a documentary review. Abductive analysis involved both deductive and inductive iterative theming of the data both within and across cases. The conceptual framework for socially accountable medical education was built from analyzing the internal and external factors influencing the selected medical schools. These factors became the building blocks that might be necessary to assist movement to social accountability. The strongest factor was the demands of the local workforce situation leading to innovative educational programs established with or without government support. The values and professional experiences of leaders, staff and health sector representatives, influenced whether the organizational culture of a school was conducive to social accountability. The wider institutional environment and policies of their universities affected this culture and the resourcing of programs. Membership of a coalition of socially accountable medical schools created a community of learning and legitimized local practice. Communities may not have recognized their own importance but they were fundamental for socially accountable practices. The bedrock of social accountability, that is, the foundation for all building blocks, is shared values and aspirations congruent with social accountability. These values and aspirations are both a philosophical understanding for innovation and a practical application at the health systems and education levels. While many of these building blocks are similar to those conceptualized in social accountability theory, this conceptual framework is informed by what happens in practice - empirical evidence rather than prescriptions. Consequently it is valuable in that it puts some theoretical thinking around everyday practice in specific contexts; addressing a gap in the medical education literature. The building blocks framework includes guidelines for social accountable practice that can be applied at policy, school and individual levels.

Historic American Buildings Survey PHOTOCOPY OF MEASURED DRAWING BY DIETER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Historic American Buildings Survey PHOTOCOPY OF MEASURED DRAWING BY DIETER SENGLER, 1964 ELEVATION, PLAN AND SECTION OF TYPICAL BAY SHOWING SECOND, THIRD, FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH FLOORS - Monadnock Block, 53 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Cook County, IL

5. Within building #5, the forming of chain from wire, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. Within building #5, the forming of chain from wire, as well as other operations, was powered by such belt-driven wheels and shafts. - American Chain & Cable Company, East Princess Street (400 Block), York, York County, PA

626628 North Eutaw Street (Commercial Building), 626628 North Eutaw Street ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

626-628 North Eutaw Street (Commercial Building), 626-628 North Eutaw Street & 400-412 Druid Hill Avenue on a block bounded by North Eutaw Street, George Street, Jaspar Street, & Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore, Independent City, MD

Building America Case Study: Field Trial of an Aerosol-Based Enclosure Sealing Technology, Clovis, California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

This report presents the results from several demonstrations of a new method for sealing building envelope air leaks using an aerosol sealing process developed by the Western Cooling Efficiency Center at UC Davis. The process involves pressurizing a building while applying an aerosol sealant to the interior. As air escapes through leaks in the building envelope, the aerosol particles are transported to the leaks where they collect and form a seal that blocks the leak. Standard blower door technology is used to facilitate the building pressurization, which allows the installer to track the sealing progress during the installation and automaticallymore » verify the final building tightness. Each aerosol envelope sealing installation was performed after drywall was installed and taped, and the process did not appear to interrupt the construction schedule or interfere with other trades working in the homes. The labor needed to physically seal bulk air leaks in typical construction will not be replaced by this technology. However, this technology is capable of bringing the air leakage of a building that was built with standard construction techniques and HERS-verified sealing down to levels that would meet DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes program requirements. When a developer is striving to meet a tighter envelope leakage specification, this technology could greatly reduce the cost to achieve that goal by providing a simple and relatively low cost method for reducing the air leakage of a building envelope with little to no change in their common building practices.« less

Empty Tissue Boxes: Considering Poverty in Diversity Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuthrell, Kristen; Ledford, Carolyn; Stapleton, Joy

2007-01-01

A preservice teacher doing her internship overhears some of her students asking a classmate why he regularly takes home empty tissue boxes. The boy replies that he builds cities and bridges with his empty boxes. His classmates then ask why he does not just build a city with Legos or building blocks. The preservice teacher listens intently as the…

Building Blocks for Building Skills: An Inventory of Adult Learning Models and Innovations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein-Collins, Rebecca

2006-01-01

The skills of the workforce are an important contributor to the economic vitality of any region, leading economic developers to consider how to connect their efforts to workforce development and help to build the skills of adults generally. This report, produced for the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic…

Combining techniques for screening and evaluating interaction terms on high-dimensional time-to-event data.

PubMed

Sariyar, Murat; Hoffmann, Isabell; Binder, Harald

2014-02-26

Molecular data, e.g. arising from microarray technology, is often used for predicting survival probabilities of patients. For multivariate risk prediction models on such high-dimensional data, there are established techniques that combine parameter estimation and variable selection. One big challenge is to incorporate interactions into such prediction models. In this feasibility study, we present building blocks for evaluating and incorporating interactions terms in high-dimensional time-to-event settings, especially for settings in which it is computationally too expensive to check all possible interactions. We use a boosting technique for estimation of effects and the following building blocks for pre-selecting interactions: (1) resampling, (2) random forests and (3) orthogonalization as a data pre-processing step. In a simulation study, the strategy that uses all building blocks is able to detect true main effects and interactions with high sensitivity in different kinds of scenarios. The main challenge are interactions composed of variables that do not represent main effects, but our findings are also promising in this regard. Results on real world data illustrate that effect sizes of interactions frequently may not be large enough to improve prediction performance, even though the interactions are potentially of biological relevance. Screening interactions through random forests is feasible and useful, when one is interested in finding relevant two-way interactions. The other building blocks also contribute considerably to an enhanced pre-selection of interactions. We determined the limits of interaction detection in terms of necessary effect sizes. Our study emphasizes the importance of making full use of existing methods in addition to establishing new ones.

Metabolomics analysis: Finding out metabolic building blocks

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

In this paper we propose a new methodology for the analysis of metabolic networks. We use the notion of strongly connected components of a graph, called in this context metabolic building blocks. Every strongly connected component is contracted to a single node in such a way that the resulting graph is a directed acyclic graph, called a metabolic DAG, with a considerably reduced number of nodes. The property of being a directed acyclic graph brings out a background graph topology that reveals the connectivity of the metabolic network, as well as bridges, isolated nodes and cut nodes. Altogether, it becomes a key information for the discovery of functional metabolic relations. Our methodology has been applied to the glycolysis and the purine metabolic pathways for all organisms in the KEGG database, although it is general enough to work on any database. As expected, using the metabolic DAGs formalism, a considerable reduction on the size of the metabolic networks has been obtained, specially in the case of the purine pathway due to its relative larger size. As a proof of concept, from the information captured by a metabolic DAG and its corresponding metabolic building blocks, we obtain the core of the glycolysis pathway and the core of the purine metabolism pathway and detect some essential metabolic building blocks that reveal the key reactions in both pathways. Finally, the application of our methodology to the glycolysis pathway and the purine metabolism pathway reproduce the tree of life for the whole set of the organisms represented in the KEGG database which supports the utility of this research. PMID:28493998

49 CFR 387.301 - Surety bond, certificate of insurance, or other securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... in bulk. Cement, building blocks. Charcoal. Chemical fertilizer. Cinder blocks. Cinders, coal. Coal. Coke. Commercial fertilizer. Concrete materials and added mixtures. Corn cobs. Cottonseed hulls... nitrate of soda. Anhydrous ammonia—used as a fertilizer only. Ashes, wood or coal. Bituminous concrete...