Thermochemical ablation of rocket nozzle insert materials Final report

Resistance of rocket nozzle throat insert materials to corrosion and meltin

Fagdidaktisk makeover. Om utviklingen av en integrert studiedesign i engelsk didaktikk i lærerutdanningen

ProTed utvikler integrerte studiedesign som ivaretar lærerstudentenes profesjonslæring i lærerutdanningen. I dette kapitlet viser vi hvordan man kan jobbe med integrasjon innad i et fag, ved å presentere arbeidet med en revitalisering av fagplanen for engelsk didaktikk ved Universitetet i Oslo (UiO). Målet med et slikt utviklingsarbeid, hvor integrasjon er et grunnleggende prinsipp, er å kunne tilby et fag som virker sammenhengende og relevant for lærerstudenter, og som dermed bidrar til å utdanne profesjonelle engelsklærere. Integrasjonen i dette utviklingsarbeidet er både vertikal og horisontal. Den vertikale dimensjonen handler om hele studieløpet, hvor vi integrerer overordnede temaer i lærerutdanningen med hovedområdene i Kunnskapsløftets læreplan i engelsk. Den horisontale dimensjonen handler om den enkelte undervisningsøkten, hvor vi i større grad enn tidligere supplerer tradisjonelle akademiske arbeidsformer med studentaktive arbeidsformer på universitetet, og kombinerer universitetsundervisningen med klasseromspraksis. Med dette bidrar vi med en modell for design av fagplaner som kan brukes i andre fagdidaktiske fag og ved andre lærerutdanningsinstitusjoner

Ablative response of a silica phenolic to simulated liquid propellant rocket engine operating conditions

Ablative response of silica phenolic to simulated liquid propellant rocket engine operating condition

Kapitaldekningsregelverket Basel II : implikasjoner for den norske banknæringen og konkurransesituasjonen i markedet

Temaet for denne utredningen er det nye kapitaldekningsregelverket Basel II, som ble innført i norske banker 1.januar 2007. Det forventes at regelverket vil medføre endringer i banknæringens rammebetingelser, og dette er motivasjonen bak vår problemstilling. Oppgaven søker svar på hvordan Basel II påvirker den norske banknæringen, og hvilke konsekvenser regelverket får for konkurransesituasjonen i markedet. Resultatene baseres på informasjon og data som innhentes gjennom spørreundersøkelse og dybdeintervjuer. Analysen viser at bankenes generelle oppfatning av Basel II er positiv, selv om det er ressurskrevende og har vært vanskelig å implementere. Regelverket fører til bedre risikovurdering i bankene, spesielt for banker som benytter mer avanserte metoder og dermed oppnår større reduksjon i kapitalkravet. Dette har betydning for pris, marginer og konkurranseintensitet, og tilsier at Basel II påvirker konkurransesituasjonen i markedet

Identifying cross country skiing techniques using power meters in ski poles

Power meters are becoming a widely used tool for measuring training and racing effort in cycling, and are now spreading also to other sports. This means that increasing volumes of data can be collected from athletes, with the aim of helping coaches and athletes analyse and understanding training load, racing efforts, technique etc. In this project, we have collaborated with Skisens AB, a company producing handles for cross country ski poles equipped with power meters. We have conducted a pilot study in the use of machine learning techniques on data from Skisens poles to identify which "gear" a skier is using (double poling or gears 2-4 in skating), based only on the sensor data from the ski poles. The dataset for this pilot study contained labelled time-series data from three individual skiers using four different gears recorded in varied locations and varied terrain. We systematically evaluated a number of machine learning techniques based on neural networks with best results obtained by a LSTM network (accuracy of 95% correctly classified strokes), when a subset of data from all three skiers was used for training. As expected, accuracy dropped to 78% when the model was trained on data from only two skiers and tested on the third. To achieve better generalisation to individuals not appearing in the training set more data is required, which is ongoing work.Comment: Presented at the Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Symposium 201

De novo formation of an aggregation pheromone precursor by an isoprenyl diphosphate synthase-related terpene synthase in the harlequin bug.

Insects use a diverse array of specialized terpene metabolites as pheromones in intraspecific interactions. In contrast to plants and microbes, which employ enzymes called terpene synthases (TPSs) to synthesize terpene metabolites, limited information from few species is available about the enzymatic mechanisms underlying terpene pheromone biosynthesis in insects. Several stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), among them severe agricultural pests, release 15-carbon sesquiterpenes with a bisabolene skeleton as sex or aggregation pheromones. The harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica, a specialist pest of crucifers, uses two stereoisomers of 10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol as a male-released aggregation pheromone called murgantiol. We show that MhTPS (MhIDS-1), an enzyme unrelated to plant and microbial TPSs but with similarity to trans-isoprenyl diphosphate synthases (IDS) of the core terpene biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes the formation of (1S,6S,7R)-1,10-bisaboladien-1-ol (sesquipiperitol) as a terpene intermediate in murgantiol biosynthesis. Sesquipiperitol, a so-far-unknown compound in animals, also occurs in plants, indicating convergent evolution in the biosynthesis of this sesquiterpene. RNAi-mediated knockdown of MhTPS mRNA confirmed the role of MhTPS in murgantiol biosynthesis. MhTPS expression is highly specific to tissues lining the cuticle of the abdominal sternites of mature males. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that MhTPS is derived from a trans-IDS progenitor and diverged from bona fide trans-IDS proteins including MhIDS-2, which functions as an (E,E)-farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) synthase. Structure-guided mutagenesis revealed several residues critical to MhTPS and MhFPPS activity. The emergence of an IDS-like protein with TPS activity in M. histrionica demonstrates that de novo terpene biosynthesis evolved in the Hemiptera in an adaptation for intraspecific communication

Western Blotting And Amido Black Characterization Of The Glycoprotein Nature Of A Melanoplus differentialis Lectin: GHA

The carbohydrate nature ofthe lectin GHA was studied using Western Blotting (Concanavalin A as a carbohydrate indicator) coupled with Amido Black staining (as a protein indicator). GHA is composed of two molecules: GHA la and GHA lb used in Western Blotting and Amido Black staining. In the presence of Concanavalin A, non-deglycosylated GHA la and lb produce bands. Upon cleavage by PNGase F, GHA la and lb show an Amido Black band and the absence of a Concanavalin A-sensitive band. These results show GHA to be an N-linked glycoprotein whose carbohydrate has a mass of ~ 2500 Da (~10 hexose units). Unexpected results indicated that reduced GHA la and lb contain a carbohydrate-rich doublet. This Concanavalin A-sensitive doublet disappeared upon deglycosylation, implying covalent linkage. Amido Black does not stain the doublet. Peak 3 and Pre a are not related to the GHA la and lb doublet. Peak 2 showed a carbohydrate-rich doublet that runs faster than the GHA la and lb doublet. The doublet found for Peak 2 is also not sensitive to Amido Black staining. Further data are needed to determine the source of the carbohydrate-rich GHA la and lb doublet and its effects

Cost-Optimization of the Safety Factor for Design of Mooring Lines with Bayesian Networks

The structural integrity of mooring lines is critical for the safety of offshore facilities. In recent years, concerns have been raised in the offshore industry about the high failure rates compared to the design expectations, in particular in the first years of service. This motivates a review of the design procedures and inspection and maintenance policies. Research is to be conducted to provide insight into the causes of failure as support for better decision-making. This Thesis investigates how aspects of mooring line design and integrity management of mooring lines can be coupled with decision theory and structural reliability methods to address the optimal safety factor based on risk-informed cost optimization. Three research objectives have been formulated to aid achieving the overarching objective: (1) to represent the current design practice as a decision graph; (2) to represent the current inspection and maintenance routines as a decision graph; (3) to assess the sensitivity of decision outcomes towards the various influencing variables, and estimate the gain of acquiring additional information. Relevant events, decision alternatives, consequences, random variables and their associated uncertainties have to be explored upfront as a prerequisite for the modeling. The software GeNIe is used to create decision graphs for the design phase. The resulting networks represent the ultimate and accidental limit state. The fatigue limit state is not addressed in this study. The series effect of the line components is neglected, and the decisions kept to a minimum, accounting only for the grade, diameter, and consequence class. Cost-optimization curves are derived from the decision graphs. Results show that the optimal safety factors, in general, are below the values provided by ISO 19901-7. It is attempted to model the inspection phase as dynamic decision graph in GeNIe. Since dynamic decision graphs are currently not supported in the software, two potential solutions are pursued. The first approach is to create an unrolled version of the network, and the second approach is to use chance nodes as proxies for the decision nodes and to subsequently compute the expected cost manually. It is concluded that both approaches are not feasible without considerable effort; therefore, further investigation of the topic is suspended. A sensitivity analysis with respect to the failure event is conducted for the design phase networks. Diameter is found to be the most influential parameter, followed by the loads, corrosion rates, and chosen grades. The value of information analysis shows a larger expected gain when the system effects are neglected. This may be due to the assumed independence for corrosion rates and service life between the mooring lines. When system effects are neglected, it is preferred to obtain perfect information on the loads or corrosion rates, while when accounted for, observing loads is the least preferred strategy

Beauty within destruction

Beauty within Destruction represents the culmination of my body of work for my Senior Honors Thesis. My paintings are an exploration of the environmental impact and visual beauty of petroleum. Petroleum is a versatile substance, and comes in many types serving a variety of applications. My thesis focuses on petroleum because of its impact on my childhood home, using acrylic paint (a petroleum byproduct). When I was a sophomore in High School, my family was notified that our neighbor’s oil tank had leaked 1,000 gallons of petroleum underneath our home. This incident turned into a five-year legal and emotional battle for our personal safety and well-being. Living through this experience I have developed an emotional fascination with the concept of oil spills. They create an immense amount of destruction, yet there is something beautiful about them