Effect of ageing on phase evolution and mechanical properties of a high tungsten super-duplex stainless steel

Peer reviewedPostprin

Demographic composition and projections of car use in Austria

Understanding the factors driving demand for transportation in industrialised countries is important in addressing a range of environmental issues. Previous work has identified demographic factors as important influences on demand, in addition to economic factors. While some studies applied a detailed demographic composition to analyse past developments of transportation demand, or estimated parameters based on models that include demographic variables, projections for the future have never accounted for future compositional changes in the population. In this paper, we combine cross-sectional analysis of car use in Austria with detailed household projections to explore the sensitivity of projections of car use to the specific type of demographic disaggregation employed. We find that particular demographic characteristics of households can have important effects on aggregate demand through the combined effect of differences in demand across different types of households, and changes in the future composition of the population by household type. For example, the highest projected car use--an increase of about 20 per cent between 1996 and 2046--is obtained if we apply the value of car use per household to the projected numbers of households. However, if we apply a composition that differentiates households by size, age and sex of the household head, car use is projected to increase by less than 3 per cent during the same time period. These findings suggest that the inclusion of demographic factors in transportation demand modelling should extend beyond their use in historical decompositions and as controls in model parameter estimation to explicit consideration of future demographic changes.

Pan-STARRS1 Discovery of Two Ultraluminous Supernovae at z ≈ 0.9

We present the discovery of two ultraluminous supernovae (SNe) at z ≈ 0.9 with the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. These SNe, PS1-10ky and PS1-10awh, are among the most luminous SNe ever discovered, comparable to the unusual transients SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6. Like SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6, they show characteristic high luminosities (M_(bol) ≈ –22.5 mag), blue spectra with a few broad absorption lines, and no evidence for H or He. We have constructed a full multi-color light curve sensitive to the peak of the spectral energy distribution in the rest-frame ultraviolet, and we have obtained time series spectroscopy for these SNe. Given the similarities between the SNe, we combine their light curves to estimate a total radiated energy over the course of explosion of (0.9-1.4) × 10^(51) erg. We find photospheric velocities of 12,000-19,000 km s^(–1) with no evidence for deceleration measured across ~3 rest-frame weeks around light curve peak, consistent with the expansion of an optically thick massive shell of material. We show that, consistent with findings for other ultraluminous SNe in this class, radioactive decay is not sufficient to power PS1-10ky, and we discuss two plausible origins for these events: the initial spin-down of a newborn magnetar in a core-collapse SN, or SN shock breakout from the dense circumstellar wind surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star

Supernova 2009kf: An Ultraviolet Bright Type IIP Supernova Discovered with Pan-STARRS 1 and GALEX

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of a luminous Type IIP Supernova (SN) 2009kf discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) survey and also detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The SN shows a plateau in its optical and bolometric light curves, lasting approximately 70 days in the rest frame, with an absolute magnitude of M_V = -18.4 mag. The P-Cygni profiles of hydrogen indicate expansion velocities of 9000 km s^(-1) at 61 days after discovery which is extremely high for a Type IIP SN. SN 2009kf is also remarkably bright in the near-ultraviolet (NUV) and shows a slow evolution 10-20 days after optical discovery. The NUV and optical luminosity at these epochs can be modeled with a blackbody with a hot effective temperature (T ~ 16,000 K) and a large radius (R ~ 1 × 10^(15) cm). The bright bolometric and NUV luminosity, the light curve peak and plateau duration, the high velocities, and temperatures suggest that 2009kf is a Type IIP SN powered by a larger than normal explosion energy. Recently discovered high-z SNe (0.7 < z < 2.3) have been assumed to be IIn SNe, with the bright UV luminosities due to the interaction of SN ejecta with a dense circumstellar medium. UV-bright SNe similar to SN 2009kf could also account for these high-z events, and its absolute magnitude M_(NUV) = -21.5 ± 0.5 mag suggests such SNe could be discovered out to z ~ 2.5 in the PS1 survey

Orbital maneuvering end effectors

This invention relates to an end effector device for grasping and maneuvering objects such as berthing handles of a space telescope. The device includes a V-shaped capture window defined as inclined surfaces in parallel face plates which converge toward a retainer recess in which the handle is retained. A pivotal finger (30) meshes with a pair of pivoted fingers which rotate in counterrotation. The fingers rotate to pull a handle within the capture window into recess where latches lock handle in the recess. To align the capture window, plates may be cocked plus or minus five degrees on base. Drive means is included in the form of a motor coupled with a harmonic drive speed reducer, which provides for slow movement of the fingers at a high torque so that large articles may be handled. Novelty of the invention is believed to reside in the combined intermeshing finger structure, drive means and the harmonic drive speed reducer, which features provide the required maneuverability and strength

Survival strategies: a New Zealand hospitality habitual entrepreneur

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of case study research conducted in Auckland, New Zealand in 2010. This research examined the motivators prompting a habitual entrepreneur to engage within new venture start ups within the vibrant hospitality industry. This paper focuses on explaining how and why an entrepreneur within the highly competitive hospitality industry seeks business expansion via habitual entrepreneurship during economic recession. The research involves in-depth interviews of a successful hospitality habitual entrepreneur. This paper reports on the New Zealand entrepreneur’s personal and business profile, motivations that prompt entrepreneurship, business management strategies and the wider factors affecting his success. This study provides insights into the characteristics and behaviours of habitual entrepreneurs within a New Zealand hospitality context. Therefore, this paper contributes to entrepreneurship literature by demystifying New Zealand’s unique and innovative mindset the ‘number eight wire’ mentality

Endorepellin remodels the endothelial transcriptome toward a pro-autophagic and pro-mitophagic gene signature.

Regulation of autophagy by proteolytically cleaved fragments of heparan sulfate proteoglycans is a novel and current research focus in tumor biology. Endorepellin is the C-terminal angiostatic fragment of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan perlecan and induces autophagy in endothelial cells. To further investigate this property, we used NanoString, a digital PCR platform for measuring pre-defined transcripts in biological samples to analyze a custom subset of 95 autophagy-related genes in human umbilical vein endothelial cells treated with ultrapure human recombinant endorepellin. We discovered an endorepellin-evoked pro-autophagic and pro-mitophagic gene expression signatures, which included two coordinately up-regulated mitochondrial-associated genes encoding the E3 ubiquitin protein ligase Parkin and the tumor suppressor mitostatin. Induction of both proteins required the tyrosine kinase activity of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Furthermore, we discovered that endorepellin evoked mitochondrial depolarization in endothelial cells via a specific interaction between its two proximal LG1/2 domains and VEGFR2. We also found that following loss of membrane potential, mitostatin and parkin interact and that mitostatin associates with the established Parkin receptor mitofusin-2. In conclusion, we have identified a critical role for endorepellin in remodeling the autophagic transcriptome and influencing mitochondrial homeostasis