Design and performance characterization of a new LISA-like (laser interferometer space antenna-like) gravitational reference sensor and torsion pendulum testbed.

In this paper, we present the design and performance of the upgraded University of Florida torsion pendulum facility for testing inertial sensor technology related to space-based gravitational wave observatories and geodesy missions. In particular, much work has been conducted on inertial sensor technology related to the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) space gravitational wave observatory mission. A significant upgrade to the facility was the incorporation of a newly designed and fabricated LISA-like gravitational reference sensor (GRS) based on the LISA Pathfinder GRS.

Ricochets on Asteroids: Experimental study of low velocity grazing impacts into granular media.

Spin off events and impacts can eject boulders from an asteroid surface and rubble pile asteroids can accumulate from debris following a collision between large asteroids. These processes produce a population of gravitational bound objects in orbit that can impact an asteroid surface at low velocity and with a distribution of impact angles. We present laboratory experiments of low velocity spherical projectiles into a fine granular medium, sand.

NH2 terminus of serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 binds to phosphoinositides and is essential for isoform-specific physiological functions.

Serum and glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) has been identified as a key regulatory protein that controls a diverse set of cellular processes including sodium (Na(+)) homeostasis, osmoregulation, cell survival, and cell proliferation. Two other SGK isoforms, SGK2 and SGK3, have been identified, which differ most markedly from SGK1 in their NH(2)-terminal domains. We found that SGK1 and SGK3 are potent stimulators of epithelial Na(+) channel (ENaC)-dependent Na(+) transport, while SGK2, which has a short NH(2) terminus, is a weak stimulator of ENaC.