The propagation of nonlinear rayleigh waves in layered elastic half-space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmetolan, S.

2004-01-01

In this work, the propagation of small but finite amplitude generalized Rayleigh waves in an elastic half-space covered by a different elastic layer of uniform and finite thickness is considered. The constituent materials are assumed to be homogeneous, isotropic, compressible hyperelastic. Excluding the harmonic resonance phenomena, it is shown that the nonlinear self modulation of generalized Rayleigh waves is governed asymptotically by a nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation. The stability of the solutions and the existence of solitary wave-type solutions a NLS are strongly depend on the sign of the product of the coefficients of the nonlinear and dipersion terms of the equation.Therefore the analysis continues with the examination of dependence of these coefficients on the nonlinear material parameters. Three different models have been considered which are nonlinear layer-nonlinear half space, linear layer-nonlinear half space and nonlinear layer-linear half space. The behavior of the coefficients of the NLS equation was also analyzed the limit as h(thickness of the layer) goes to zero and k(the wave number) is constant. Then conclusions are drawn about the effect of nonlinear material parameters on the wave modulation. In the numerical investigations both hypothetical and real material models are used

Scattering by multiple parallel radially stratified infinite cylinders buried in a lossy half space.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Siu-Chun

2013-07-01

The theoretical solution for scattering by an arbitrary configuration of closely spaced parallel infinite cylinders buried in a lossy half space is presented in this paper. The refractive index and permeability of the half space and cylinders are complex in general. Each cylinder is radially stratified with a distinct complex refractive index and permeability. The incident radiation is an arbitrarily polarized plane wave propagating in the plane normal to the axes of the cylinders. Analytic solutions are derived for the electric and magnetic fields and the Poynting vector of backscattered radiation emerging from the half space. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the application of the scattering solution to calculate backscattering from a lossy half space containing multiple homogeneous and radially stratified cylinders at various depths and different angles of incidence.

Rearrangement of the layout of the welding equipment of a company in the metal mechanical sector using the Systematic Layout Planning method (SLP

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Silvio Alexsandro Turati

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The correct physical layout is relevant to the operational efficiency of the company. This study proposes rearranging the layout of the welding equipment of a company in the metal mechanical sector, which is located in Araras/SP, aiming to improve the production workflow. The Systematic Layout Planning method (SLP was used, with the field research divided into steps: obtaining detailed information about the process and the product; meetings with stakeholders; determining inter-related activities; analyzing space requirements; developing a new layout. The new layout has space allocated for the purchasing of new machinery, the existing machinery has been redistributed by specialty, and the unloading of raw materials has been transferred to the shed, maximizing the use of overhead cranes and keeping the stock close to the warehouse. In addition, forklift traffic flow has decreased; new movement corridors were demarcated; and painting areas were isolated. In conclusion, the SLP method proved efficient in creating a layout.

Propagation of plane waves at the interface of an elastic solid half-space and a microstretch thermoelastic diffusion solid half-space

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Rajneesh Kumar

Full Text Available The problem of reflection and refraction phenomenon due to plane waves incident obliquely at a plane interface between uniform elastic solid half-space and microstretch thermoelastic diffusion solid half-space has been studied. It is found that the amplitude ratios of various reflected and refracted waves are functions of angle of incidence, frequency of incident wave and are influenced by the microstretch thermoelastic diffusion properties of the media. The expressions of amplitude ratios and energy ratios are obtained in closed form. The energy ratios have been computed numerically for a particular model. The variations of energy ratios with angle of incidence are shown for thermoelastic diffusion media in the context of Lord-Shulman (L-S (1967 and Green-Lindsay (G-L (1972 theories. The conservation of energy at the interface is verified. Some particular cases are also deduced from the present investigation.

Normal Mode Analysis to a Poroelastic Half-Space Problem under Generalized Thermoelasticity

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Chunbao Xiong

Full Text Available Abstract The thermo-hydro-mechanical problems associated with a poroelastic half-space soil medium with variable properties under generalized thermoelasticity theory were investigated in this study. By remaining faithful to Biot’s theory of dynamic poroelasticity, we idealized the foundation material as a uniform, fully saturated, poroelastic half-space medium. We first subjected this medium to time harmonic loads consisting of normal or thermal loads, then investigated the differences between the coupled thermohydro-mechanical dynamic models and the thermo-elastic dynamic models. We used normal mode analysis to solve the resulting non-dimensional coupled equations, then investigated the effects that non-dimensional vertical displacement, excess pore water pressure, vertical stress, and temperature distribution exerted on the poroelastic half-space medium and represented them graphically.

The perceptions of students in the allied health professions towards stroke rehabilitation teams and the SLP's role.

Science.gov (United States)

Insalaco, Deborah; Ozkurt, Elcin; Santiago, Digna

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and knowledge of final-year speech-language pathology (SLP), physical and occupational therapy (PT, OT) students toward stroke rehabilitation teams and the SLPs' roles on them. The investigators adapted a survey developed by (Felsher & Ross, 1994) and administered it to 35 PT, 35 OT, and 35 SLP final year students (n=105). We found that the students preferred the transdisciplinary team approach and agreed that the advantages of teamwork were the exchange of ideas, opportunities for participatory learning, and holistic treatment. Communication problems, time-consuming meetings, and role confusion were chosen as disadvantages. The students had clear perceptions of the SLP's role in aphasia, apraxia of speech, dysarthria, dysphagia, and auditory agnosia, but fewer recognized the SLP's role in alexia and memory. Some thought SLPs had a role in dressing apraxia and proprioceptive disorders. Suggestions to maximize the advantages and minimize possible disadvantages of teamwork are provided. Learners will: (1) identify the perceived advantages and disadvantages of stroke rehabilitation teamwork; (2) discover some allied health students' perceptions of the SLP's roles in stroke rehabilitation; (3) infer methods to create positive perceptions of stroke rehabilitation team members.

Residual stresses relaxation in surface-hardened half-space under creep conditions

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Vladimir P. Radchenko

2015-09-01

Full Text Available We developed the method for solving the problem of residual stresses relaxation in surface-hardened layer of half-space under creep conditions. At the first stage we made the reconstruction of stress-strain state in half-space after plastic surface hardening procedure based on partial information about distribution for one residual stress tensor component experimentally detected. At the second stage using a numerical method we solve the problem of relaxation of self-balanced residual stresses under creep conditions. To solve this problem we introduce the following Cartesian system: x0y plane is aligned with hardened surface of half-space and 0z axis is directed to the depth of hardened layer. We also introduce the hypotheses of plane sections parallel to x0z and y0z planes. Detailed analysis of the problem has been done. Comparison of the calculated data with the corresponding test data was made for plane specimens (rectangular parallelepipeds made of EP742 alloy during T=650°C after the ultrasonic hardening with four hardening modes. We use half-space to model these specimens because penetration's depth of residual stresses is less than specimen general size in two digit exponent. There is enough correspondence of experimental and calculated data. It is shown that there is a decay (in modulus of pressing residual stresses under creep in 1.4–1.6 times.

Foundation plate on the elastic half-space, deterministic and probabilistic approach

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Tvrdá Katarína

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Interaction between the foundation plate and subgrade can be described by different mathematical - physical model. Elastic foundation can be modelled by different types of models, e.g. one-parametric model, two-parametric model and a comprehensive model - Boussinesque (elastic half-space had been used. The article deals with deterministic and probabilistic analysis of deflection of the foundation plate on the elastic half-space. Contact between the foundation plate and subsoil was modelled using contact elements node-node. At the end the obtained results are presented.

Fission yeast APC/C activators Slp1 and Fzr1 sequentially trigger two consecutive nuclear divisions during meiosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chikashige, Yuji; Yamane, Miho; Okamasa, Kasumi; Osakada, Hiroko; Tsutsumi, Chihiro; Nagahama, Yuki; Fukuta, Noriko; Haraguchi, Tokuko; Hiraoka, Yasushi

2017-04-01

In meiosis, two rounds of nuclear division occur consecutively without DNA replication between the divisions. We isolated a fission yeast mutant in which the nucleus divides only once to generate two spores, as opposed to four, in meiosis. In this mutant, we found that the initiation codon of the slp1 + gene is converted to ATA, producing a reduced amount of Slp1. As a member of the Fizzy family of anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) activators, Slp1 is essential for vegetative growth; however, the mutant allele shows a phenotype only in meiosis. Slp1 insufficiency delays degradation of maturation-promoting factor at the first meiotic division, and another APC/C activator, Fzr1, which acts late in meiosis, terminates meiosis immediately after the delayed first division to produce two viable spores. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

SLP-2 interacts with Parkin in mitochondria and prevents mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkin-deficient human iPSC-derived neurons and Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Zanon, Alessandra; Kalvakuri, Sreehari; Rakovic, Aleksandar; Foco, Luisa; Guida, Marianna; Schwienbacher, Christine; Serafin, Alice; Rudolph, Franziska; Trilck, Michaela; Grünewald, Anne; Stanslowsky, Nancy; Wegner, Florian; Giorgio, Valentina; Lavdas, Alexandros A; Bodmer, Rolf; Pramstaller, Peter P; Klein, Christine; Hicks, Andrew A; Pichler, Irene; Seibler, Philip

2017-07-01

Mutations in the Parkin gene (PARK2) have been linked to a recessive form of Parkinson's disease (PD) characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Deficiencies of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I activity have been observed in the substantia nigra of PD patients, and loss of Parkin results in the reduction of complex I activity shown in various cell and animal models. Using co-immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays on endogenous proteins, we demonstrate that Parkin interacts with mitochondrial Stomatin-like protein 2 (SLP-2), which also binds the mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin and functions in the assembly of respiratory chain proteins. SH-SY5Y cells with a stable knockdown of Parkin or SLP-2, as well as induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons from Parkin mutation carriers, showed decreased complex I activity and altered mitochondrial network morphology. Importantly, induced expression of SLP-2 corrected for these mitochondrial alterations caused by reduced Parkin function in these cells. In-vivo Drosophila studies showed a genetic interaction of Parkin and SLP-2, and further, tissue-specific or global overexpression of SLP-2 transgenes rescued parkin mutant phenotypes, in particular loss of dopaminergic neurons, mitochondrial network structure, reduced ATP production, and flight and motor dysfunction. The physical and genetic interaction between Parkin and SLP-2 and the compensatory potential of SLP-2 suggest a functional epistatic relationship to Parkin and a protective role of SLP-2 in neurons. This finding places further emphasis on the significance of Parkin for the maintenance of mitochondrial function in neurons and provides a novel target for therapeutic strategies. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Static elastic deformation in an orthotropic half-space with rigid ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Yogita Godara

2017-10-06

Oct 6, 2017 ... The solution of static elastic deformation of a homogeneous, orthotropic elastic uniform half-space with ... Faults are fractures in Earth's crust where rocks ...... Mavko G M 1981 Mechanics of motion on major faults; Ann. Rev.

From RLP to SLP: Two Different Approaches to Landscape Planning

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Federica Isola

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The concepts of governance and sustainable development are concepts related to complex systems and processes, in terms of problems and implications, with a variety of people involved in different ways and whose number has increased over time. In the processes of regional governance, the concept of sustainability interacts with the environment and to the territory. Since 2006, year of approval of its Regional Landscape Plan (RLP, the Region of Sardinia, has been experiencing a new era of regional governance characterisedcharacterized by a new understanding of environmental resources; and by a different relational approach among regional government bodies, as well as between them and local communities. In 2009 began the revision phase of the plan recently concluded with the approval of the Sardinia Landscape Plan (SLP. This paper will highlight a comparison between RLP and SLP focusing on three aspects: i the concept of protection and safeguarding of the territory; ii the institutional governance; iii the application of the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Hybrid task priority-based motion control of a redundant free-floating space robot

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Cheng ZHOU

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel hybrid task priority-based motion planning algorithm of a space robot. The satellite attitude control task is defined as the primary task, while the least-squares-based non-strict task priority solution of the end-effector plus the multi-constraint task is viewed as the secondary task. Furthermore, a null-space task compensation strategy in the joint space is proposed to derive the combination of non-strict and strict task-priority motion planning, and this novel combination is termed hybrid task priority control. Thus, the secondary task is implemented in the primary task’s null-space. Besides, the transition of the state of multiple constraints between activeness and inactiveness will only influence the end-effector task without any effect on the primary task. A set of numerical experiments made in a real-time simulation system under Linux/RTAI shows the validity and feasibility of the proposed methodology. Keywords: Base attitude control, Hybrid task-priority, Motion planning, Multiple constraints, Redundant space robot

Entropy of space-time outcome in a movement speed-accuracy task.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Tsung-Yu; Pacheco, Matheus Maia; Newell, Karl M

2015-12-01

The experiment reported was set-up to investigate the space-time entropy of movement outcome as a function of a range of spatial (10, 20 and 30 cm) and temporal (250-2500 ms) criteria in a discrete aiming task. The variability and information entropy of the movement spatial and temporal errors considered separately increased and decreased on the respective dimension as a function of an increment of movement velocity. However, the joint space-time entropy was lowest when the relative contribution of spatial and temporal task criteria was comparable (i.e., mid-range of space-time constraints), and it increased with a greater trade-off between spatial or temporal task demands, revealing a U-shaped function across space-time task criteria. The traditional speed-accuracy functions of spatial error and temporal error considered independently mapped to this joint space-time U-shaped entropy function. The trade-off in movement tasks with joint space-time criteria is between spatial error and timing error, rather than movement speed and accuracy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scattering of targets over layered half space using a semi-analytic method in conjunction with FDTD algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Le; Wei, Bing

2014-08-25

Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm with a new method of plane wave excitation is used to investigate the RCS (Radar Cross Section) characteristics of targets over layered half space. Compare with the traditional excitation plane wave method, the calculation memory and time requirement is greatly decreased. The FDTD calculation is performed with a plane wave incidence, and the RCS of far field is obtained by extrapolating the currently calculated data on the output boundary. However, methods available for extrapolating have to evaluate the half space Green function. In this paper, a new method which avoids using the complex and time-consuming half space Green function is proposed. Numerical results show that this method is in good agreement with classic algorithm and it can be used in the fast calculation of scattering and radiation of targets over layered half space.

Task-space sensory feedback control of robot manipulators

CERN Document Server

Cheah, Chien Chern

2015-01-01

This book presents recent advances in robot control theory on task space sensory feedback control of robot manipulators. By using sensory feedback information, the robot control systems are robust to various uncertainties in modelling and calibration errors of the sensors. Several sensory task space control methods that do not require exact knowledge of either kinematics or dynamics of robots, are presented. Some useful methods such as approximate Jacobian control, adaptive Jacobian control, region control and multiple task space regional feedback are included. These formulations and methods give robots a high degree of flexibility in dealing with unforeseen changes and uncertainties in its kinematics and dynamics, which is similar to human reaching movements and tool manipulation. It also leads to the solution of several long-standing problems and open issues in robot control, such as force control with constraint uncertainty, control of multi-fingered robot hand with uncertain contact points, singularity i...

Quasi-Rayleigh waves in transversely isotropic half-space with inclined axis of symmetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanovskaya, T.B.; Savina, L.S.

2003-09-01

A method for determination of characteristics of quasi-Rayleigh (qR) wave in a transversely isotropic homogeneous half-space with inclined axis of symmetry is outlined. The solution is obtained as a superposition of qP, qSV and qSH waves, and surface wave velocity is determined from the boundary conditions at the free surface and at infinity, as in the case of Rayleigh wave in isotropic half-space. Though the theory is simple enough, a numerical procedure for the calculation of surface wave velocity presents some difficulties. The difficulty is conditioned by necessity to calculate complex roots of a non-linear equation, which in turn contains functions determined as roots of nonlinear equations with complex coefficients. Numerical analysis shows that roots of the equation corresponding to the boundary conditions do not exist in the whole domain of azimuths and inclinations of the symmetry axis. The domain of existence of qR wave depends on the ratio of the elastic parameters: for some strongly anisotropic models the wave cannot exist at all. For some angles of inclination qR wave velocities deviate from those calculated on the basis of the perturbation method valid for weak anisotropy, though they have the same tendency of variation with azimuth. The phase of qR wave varies with depth unlike Rayleigh wave in isotropic half-space. Unlike Rayleigh wave in isotropic half-space, qR wave has three components - vertical, radial and transverse. Particle motion in horizontal plane is elliptic. Direction of the major axis of the ellipsis coincide with the direction of propagation only in azimuths 0 deg. (180 deg.) and 90 deg. (270 deg.). (author)

Converting boundary representation solid models to half-space representation models for Monte Carlo analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, J. E.; Eddy, M. J.; Sutton, T. M.; Altomari, T. J.

2007-01-01

Solid modeling computer software systems provide for the design of three-dimensional solid models used in the design and analysis of physical components. The current state-of-the-art in solid modeling representation uses a boundary representation format in which geometry and topology are used to form three-dimensional boundaries of the solid. The geometry representation used in these systems is cubic B-spline curves and surfaces - a network of cubic B-spline functions in three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate space. Many Monte Carlo codes, however, use a geometry representation in which geometry units are specified by intersections and unions of half-spaces. This paper describes an algorithm for converting from a boundary representation to a half-space representation. (authors)

Vibration of an Elastic Circular Plate on an Elastic Half Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krenk, Steen; Schmidt, H.

1981-01-01

The axisymmetric problem of a vibrating elastic plate on an elastic half space is solved by a direct method, in which the contact stresses and the normal displacements of the plate are taken as the unknown functions. First, the influence functions that give the displacements in terms...

Solution of the Korteweg--de Vries equation in a half-space bounded by a wall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moses, H.E.

1976-01-01

A solution of the Korteweg--de Vries equation in the half-space 0 less than r less than infinity with the boundary condition V(0) = 0 is given. The boundary condition may be interpreted as the requirement that the plane which bounds the half-space be a rigid wall. Aside from possible physical interest, this solution, which is obtained from one of the potentials for the radial Schroedinger equation which do not scatter, appears to indicate that the radial Schroedinger equation and the corresponding Gel'fand--Levitan equation play a role in the case of the half-space bounded by a wall similar to that of the one-dimensional Schroedinger equation (-- infinity less than x less than infinity) and its corresponding Gel'fand--Levitan equation in the more usual full space treatment of the KdV equation. A possible interpretation of the solution presented is that it corresponds to the reflection of a wave by a wall, in which the incident wave is singular and the reflected wave is nonsingular but highly dispersive

Transient Response of Thin Wire above a Layered Half-Space Using TDIE/FDTD Hybrid Method

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Bing Wei

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The TDIE/FDTD hybrid method is applied to calculate the transient responses of thin wire above a lossy layered half-space. The time-domain reflection of the layered half space is computed by one-dimensional modified FDTD method. Then, transient response of thin wire induced by two excitation sources (the incident wave and reflected wave is calculated by TDIE method. Finally numerical results are given to illustrate the feasibility and high efficiency of the presented scheme.

Differential Requirements for Src-Family Kinases in SYK or ZAP70-Mediated SLP-76 Phosphorylation in Lymphocytes

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Frank Fasbender

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In a synthetic biology approach using Schneider (S2 cells, we show that SLP-76 is directly phosphorylated at tyrosines Y113 and Y128 by SYK in the presence of ITAM-containing adapters such as CD3ζ, DAP12, or FcεRγ. This phosphorylation was dependent on at least one functional ITAM and a functional SH2 domain within SYK. Inhibition of Src-kinases by inhibitors PP1 and PP2 did not reduce SLP-76 phosphorylation in S2 cells, suggesting an ITAM and SYK dependent, but Src-kinase independent signaling pathway. This direct ITAM/SYK/SLP-76 signaling pathway therefore differs from previously described ITAM signaling. However, the SYK-family kinase ZAP70 required the additional co-expression of the Src-family kinases Fyn or Lck to efficiently phosphorylate SLP-76 in S2 cells. This difference in Src-family kinase dependency of SYK versus ZAP70-mediated ITAM-based signaling was further demonstrated in human lymphocytes. ITAM signaling in ZAP70-expressing T cells was dependent on the activity of Src-family kinases. In contrast, Src-family kinases were partially dispensable for ITAM signaling in SYK-expressing B cells or in natural killer cells, which express SYK and ZAP70. This demonstrates that SYK can signal using a Src-kinase independent ITAM-based signaling pathway, which may be involved in calibrating the threshold for lymphocyte activation.

A mutation within the SH2 domain of slp-76 regulates the tissue distribution and cytokine production of iNKT cells in mice

OpenAIRE

Danzer, Claudia; Koller, Anna; Baier, Julia; Arnold, Harald; Giessler, Claudia; Opoka, Robert; Schmidt, Stephanie; Willers, Maike; Mihai, Sidonia; Parsch, Hans; Wirtz, Stefan; Daniel, Christoph; Reinhold, Annegret; Engelmann, Swen; Kliche, Stefanie

2016-01-01

TCR ligation is critical for the selection, activation, and integrin expression of T lymphocytes. Here, we explored the role of the TCR adaptor protein slp-76 on iNKT-cell biology. Compared to B6 controls, slp-76ace/ace mice carrying a missense mutation (Thr428Ile) within the SH2-domain of slp-76 showed an increase in iNKT cells in the thymus and lymph nodes, but a decrease in iNKT cells in spleens and livers, along with reduced ADAP expression and cytokine response. A comparable reduct...

Functional Task Test: 3. Skeletal Muscle Performance Adaptations to Space Flight

Science.gov (United States)

Ryder, Jeffrey W.; Wickwire, P. J.; Buxton, R. E.; Bloomberg, J. J.; Ploutz-Snyder, L.

2011-01-01

The functional task test is a multi-disciplinary study investigating how space-flight induced changes to physiological systems impacts functional task performance. Impairment of neuromuscular function would be expected to negatively affect functional performance of crewmembers following exposure to microgravity. This presentation reports the results for muscle performance testing in crewmembers. Functional task performance will be presented in the abstract "Functional Task Test 1: sensory motor adaptations associated with postflight alternations in astronaut functional task performance." METHODS: Muscle performance measures were obtained in crewmembers before and after short-duration space flight aboard the Space Shuttle and long-duration International Space Station (ISS) missions. The battery of muscle performance tests included leg press and bench press measures of isometric force, isotonic power and total work. Knee extension was used for the measurement of central activation and maximal isometric force. Upper and lower body force steadiness control were measured on the bench press and knee extension machine, respectively. Tests were implemented 60 and 30 days before launch, on landing day (Shuttle crew only), and 6, 10 and 30 days after landing. Seven Space Shuttle crew and four ISS crew have completed the muscle performance testing to date. RESULTS: Preliminary results for Space Shuttle crew reveal significant reductions in the leg press performance metrics of maximal isometric force, power and total work on R+0 (pperformance metrics were observed in returning Shuttle crew and these adaptations are likely contributors to impaired functional tasks that are ambulatory in nature (See abstract Functional Task Test: 1). Interestingly, no significant changes in central activation capacity were detected. Therefore, impairments in muscle function in response to short-duration space flight are likely myocellular rather than neuromotor in nature.

An Adaptive Regulator for Space Teleoperation System in Task Space

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Chao Ge

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of the gravity information which can not be obtained in advance for bilateral teleoperation is studied. In outer space exploration, the gravity term changes with the position changing of the slave manipulator. So it is necessary to design an adaptive regulator controller to compensate for the unknown gravity signal. Moreover, to get a more accurate position tracking performance, the controller is designed in the task space instead of the joint space. Additionally, the time delay considered in this paper is not only time varying but also unsymmetrical. Finally, simulations are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A mutation within the SH2 domain of slp-76 regulates the tissue distribution and cytokine production of iNKT cells in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Danzer, Claudia; Koller, Anna; Baier, Julia; Arnold, Harald; Giessler, Claudia; Opoka, Robert; Schmidt, Stephanie; Willers, Maike; Mihai, Sidonia; Parsch, Hans; Wirtz, Stefan; Daniel, Christoph; Reinhold, Annegret; Engelmann, Swen; Kliche, Stefanie; Bogdan, Christian; Hoebe, Kasper; Mattner, Jochen

2016-09-01

TCR ligation is critical for the selection, activation, and integrin expression of T lymphocytes. Here, we explored the role of the TCR adaptor protein slp-76 on iNKT-cell biology. Compared to B6 controls, slp-76(ace/ace) mice carrying a missense mutation (Thr428Ile) within the SH2-domain of slp-76 showed an increase in iNKT cells in the thymus and lymph nodes, but a decrease in iNKT cells in spleens and livers, along with reduced ADAP expression and cytokine response. A comparable reduction in iNKT cells was observed in the livers and spleens of ADAP-deficient mice. Like ADAP(-/-) iNKT cells, slp-76(ace/ace) iNKT cells were characterized by enhanced CD11b expression, correlating with an impaired induction of the TCR immediate-early gene Nur77 and a decreased adhesion to ICAM-1. Furthermore, CD11b-intrinsic effects inhibited cytokine release, concanavalin A-mediated inflammation, and iNKT-cell accumulation in the liver. Unlike B6 and ADAP(-/-) mice, the expression of the transcription factors Id3 and PLZF was reduced, whereas NP-1-expression was enhanced in slp-76(ace/ace) mice. Blockade of NP-1 decreased the recovery of iNKT cells from peripheral lymph nodes, identifying NP-1 as an iNKT-cell-specific adhesion factor. Thus, slp-76 contributes to the regulation of the tissue distribution, PLZF, and cytokine expression of iNKT cells via ADAP-dependent and -independent mechanisms. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Plane strain deformation of a multi-layered poroelastic half-space by ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The Biot linearized quasi-static theory of fluid-infiltrated porous materials is used to formulate the problem of the two-dimensional plane strain deformation of a multi-layered poroelastic half-space by surface loads. The Fourier–Laplace transforms of the stresses, displacements, pore pressure and fluid flux in each ...

Diffraction of SH-waves by topographic features in a layered transversely isotropic half-space

Science.gov (United States)

Ba, Zhenning; Liang, Jianwen; Zhang, Yanju

2017-01-01

The scattering of plane SH-waves by topographic features in a layered transversely isotropic (TI) half-space is investigated by using an indirect boundary element method (IBEM). Firstly, the anti-plane dynamic stiffness matrix of the layered TI half-space is established and the free fields are solved by using the direct stiffness method. Then, Green's functions are derived for uniformly distributed loads acting on an inclined line in a layered TI half-space and the scattered fields are constructed with the deduced Green's functions. Finally, the free fields are added to the scattered ones to obtain the global dynamic responses. The method is verified by comparing results with the published isotropic ones. Both the steady-state and transient dynamic responses are evaluated and discussed. Numerical results in the frequency domain show that surface motions for the TI media can be significantly different from those for the isotropic case, which are strongly dependent on the anisotropy property, incident angle and incident frequency. Results in the time domain show that the material anisotropy has important effects on the maximum duration and maximum amplitudes of the time histories.

Space nonweaponization. An urgent task for arms control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Xiangwan; Pan Jusheng; Zhang Xinwei; Du Shuhua; Xu Changgen

1990-05-01

The authors attempt to expound the basic points of veiw and put forward a proposal on the space nonweaponization. The authors analyse the nature of space weaponry and its impact on arms race and point out that the space nonweaponization is an urgent task for arms control. The relations between prohibition of space and ASAT weapons, between prohibition of space weapons and reduction of nuclear weapons and between space weapon and nuclear test are all analysed. The inadequacy of the existing space treaties is made clear based on the evaluation. It is hoped that a verifiable treaty on the prohibition of space weapons should be made and international cooperation on peaceful use of outer space is necessary

Rab27a regulates epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity through synaptotagmin-like protein (SLP-5) and Munc13-4 effector mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saxena, Sunil K.; Horiuchi, Hisanori; Fukuda, Mitsunori

2006-01-01

Liddle's syndrome (excessive absorption of sodium ions) and PHA-1 (pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1) with decreased sodium absorption are caused by the mutations in the amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel ENaC. Rab proteins are small GTPases involved in vesicle transport, docking, and fusion. Earlier, we reported that Rab27a inhibits ENaC-mediated currents through protein-protein interaction in HT-29 cells. We hereby report that Rab27a-dependent inhibition is associated with the GTP/GDP status as constitutively active or GTPase-deficient mutant Q78L inhibits amiloride-sensitive currents whereas GDP-locked inactive mutant T23N showed no effect. In order to further explore the molecular mechanism of this regulation, we performed competitive assays with two Rab27a-binding proteins: synaptotagmin-like protein (SLP-5) and Munc13-4 (a putative priming factor for exocytosis). Both proteins eliminate negative modulation of Rab27a on ENaC function. The SLP-5 reversal of Rab27a effect was restricted to C-terminal C2A/C2B domains assigned for putative phospholipids-binding function while the Rab27a-binding SHD motif imparted higher inhibition. The ENaC-mediated currents remain unaffected by Rab27a though SLP-5 appears to strongly bind it. The immunoprecipitation experiments suggest that in the presence of excessive Munc13-4 and SLP-5 proteins, Rab27a interaction with ENaC is diminished. Munc13-4 and SLP-5 limit the Rab27a availability to ENaC, thus minimizing its effect on channel function. These observations decisively prove that Rab27a inhibits ENaC function through a complex mechanism that involves GTP/GDP status, and protein-protein interactions involving Munc13-4 and SLP-5 effector proteins

Rocking Rotation of a Rigid Disk Embedded in a Transversely Isotropic Half-Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Ahmadi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The asymmetric problem of rocking rotation of a circular rigid disk embedded in a finite depth of a transversely isotropic half-space is analytically addressed. The rigid disk is assumed to be in frictionless contact with the elastic half-space. By virtue of appropriate Green's functions, the mixed boundary value problem is written as a dual integral equation. Employing further mathematical techniques, the integral equation is reduced to a well-known Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The results related to the contact stress distribution across the disk region and the equivalent rocking stiffness of the system are expressed in terms of the solution of the obtained Fredholm  integral  equation. When the rigid disk is located on the surface or at the remote boundary, the exact closed-form solutions are presented. For verification purposes, the limiting case of an isotropic half-space is considered and the results are verified with those available in the literature. The jump behavior in the results at the edge of the rigid disk for the case of an infinitesimal embedment is highlighted analytically for the first time. Selected numerical results are depicted for the contact stress distribution across the disk region, rocking stiffness of the system, normal stress, and displacement components along the radial axis. Moreover, effects of anisotropy on the rocking stiffness factor are discussed in detail.

THERMAL CONSOLIDATION OF LAYERED POROUS HALF-SPACE TO VARIABLE THERMAL LOADING

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

BAI Bing

2006-01-01

An analytical method was derived for the thermal consolidation of layered,saturated porous half-space to variable thermal loading with time. In the coupled governing equations of linear thermoelastic media, the influences of thermo-osmosis effect and thermal filtration effect were introduced. Solutions in Laplace transform space were first obtained and then numerically inverted. The responses of a double-layered porous space subjected to exponential decaying thermal loading were studied. The influences of the differences between the properties of the two layers (e.g., the coefficient of thermal consolidation, elastic modulus) on thermal consolidation were discussed. The studies show that the coupling effects of displacement and stress fields on temperature field can be completely neglected, however, thc thermo-osmosis effect has an obvious influence on thermal responses.

When fast and slow interfaces grow together: Connection to the half-space problem of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang class

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Yasufumi; Takeuchi, Kazumasa A.

2018-04-01

We study height fluctuations of interfaces in the (1 +1 ) -dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) class, growing at different speeds in the left half and the right half of space. Carrying out simulations of the discrete polynuclear growth model with two different growth rates, combined with the standard setting for the droplet, flat, and stationary geometries, we find that the fluctuation properties at and near the boundary are described by the KPZ half-space problem developed in the theoretical literature. In particular, in the droplet case, the distribution at the boundary is given by the largest-eigenvalue distribution of random matrices in the Gaussian symplectic ensemble, often called the GSE Tracy-Widom distribution. We also characterize crossover from the full-space statistics to the half-space one, which arises when the difference between the two growth speeds is small.

Asymmetric Vibrations of a Circular Elastic Plate on an Elastic Half Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, H.; Krenk, Steen

1982-01-01

The asymmetric problem of a vibrating circular elastic plate in frictionless contact with an elastic half space is solved by an integral equation method, where the contact stress appears as the unknown function. By a trigonometric expansion, the problem is reduced to a number of uncoupled two...

Scattering of a pulse by a cavity in an elastic half-space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scandrett, C.L.; Kriegsmann, G.A.; Achienbach, J.D.

1986-01-01

The finite difference technique is employed to study plane strain scattering of pulses from finite anomalies embedded in an isotropic, homogeneous, elastic half-space. In particular, the scatterer is taken to by a cylindrical cavity. A new transmission boundary condition is developed which transmits energy conveyed by Rayleigh surface waves. This condition is successfully employed in reducing the domain of numerical calculations from a semi-infinite to a finite region. A test of the numerical scheme is given by considering a time harmonic pulse of infinite extent. The numerical technique is marched out in time until transients have radiated away and a steady state solution has been reached which is found to be in good agreement with results produced by a series type solution. Time domain solutions are given in terms of time histories of displacements at the half-space free surface; and by sequences of snapshots, taken of the entire numerical domain, which illustrate the scattering dynamics

Torsional surface waves in an inhomogeneous layer over a gravitating anisotropic porous half-space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Shishir; Pramanik, Abhijit

2015-01-01

The present work aims to deal with the propagation of torsional surface wave in an inhomogeneous layer over a gravitating anisotropic porous half space. The inhomogeneous layer exhibits the inhomogeneity of quadratic type. In order to show the effect of gravity the equation for the velocity of torsional wave has been obtained. It is also observed that for a layer over a homogeneous half space without gravity, the torsional surface wave does not propagate. An attempt is also made to assess the possible propagation of torsional surface waves in that medium in the absence of the upper layer. The effects of inhomogeneity factors and porosity on the phase velocity are depicted by means of graphs. (paper)

Muscle synergies in neuroscience and robotics: from input-space to task-space perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiano eAlessandro

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we review the works related to muscle synergies that have been carried-out in neuroscience and control engineering. In particular, we refer to the hypothesis that the central nervous system (CNS generates desired muscle contractions by combining a small number of predefined modules, called muscle synergies. We provide an overview of the methods that have been employed to test the validity of this scheme, and we show how the concept of muscle synergy has been generalized for the control of artificial agents. The comparison between these two lines of research, in particular their different goals and approaches, is instrumental to explain the computational implications of the hypothesized modular organization. Moreover, it clarifies the importance of assessing the functional role of muscle synergies: although these basic modules are defined at the level of muscle activations (input-space, they should result in the effective accomplishment of the desired task. This requirement is not always explicitly considered in experimental neuroscience, as muscle synergies are often estimated solely by analyzing recorded muscle activities. We suggest that synergy extraction methods should explicitly take into account task execution variables, thus moving from a perspective purely based on input-space to one grounded on task-space as well.

Deformation of two welded elastic half-spaces due to a long inclined ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2Department of Mathematics, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110 021, India. ∗e-mail: ... Airy stress function for a tensile line source in two welded half-spaces are first obtained. These expressions ... computing the displacement and stress fields around a long inclined tensile fault near an internal boundary. 1.

A two dimensional fibre reinforced micropolar thermoelastic problem for a half-space subjected to mechanical force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ailawalia Praveen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to study the two dimensional deformation of fibre reinforced micropolar thermoelastic medium in the context of Green-Lindsay theory of thermoelasticity. A mechanical force is applied along the interface of fluid half space and fibre reinforced micropolar thermoelastic half space. The normal mode analysis has been applied to obtain the exact expressions for displacement component, force stress, temperature distribution and tangential couple stress. The effect of anisotropy and micropolarity on the displacement component, force stress, temperature distribution and tangential couple stress has been depicted graphically.

A solution of the monoenergetic neutral particle transport equation for adjacent half-spaces with anisotropic scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganapol, B.D., E-mail: ganapol@cowboy.ame.arizona.edu [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Mostacci, D.; Previti, A. [Montecuccolino Laboratory, University of Bologna, Via dei Colli, 16, I-40136 Bologna (Italy)

2016-07-01

We present highly accurate solutions to the neutral particle transport equation in a half-space. While our initial motivation was in response to a recently published solution based on Chandrasekhar's H-function, the presentation to follow has taken on a more comprehensive tone. The solution by H-functions certainly did achieved high accuracy but was limited to isotropic scattering and emission from spatially uniform and linear sources. Moreover, the overly complicated nature of the H-function approach strongly suggests that its extension to anisotropic scattering and general sources is not at all practical. For this reason, an all encompassing theory for the determination of highly precise benchmarks, including anisotropic scattering for a variety of spatial source distributions, is presented for particle transport in a half-space. We illustrate the approach via a collection of cases including tables of 7-place flux benchmarks to guide transport methods developers. The solution presented can be applied to a considerable number of one and two half-space transport problems with variable sources and represents a state-of-the-art benchmark solution.

Expression, refolding and crystallizations of the Grb2-like (GADS) C-terminal SH3 domain complexed with a SLP-76 motif peptide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faravelli, Alessandro; Dimasi, Nazzareno

2005-01-01

Several crystals of the Grb2-like C-terminal SH3 domain in complex with a motif peptide from the SLP-76 protein were obtained and characterized. The Grb2-like adaptor protein GADS is composed of an N-terminal SH3 domain, an SH2 domain, a proline-rich region and a C-terminal SH3 domain. GADS interacts through its C-terminal SH3 domain with the adaptor protein SLP-76, thus recruiting this protein and other associated molecules to the linker for activation of T-cell (LAT) protein. The DNA encoding the C-terminal SH3 domain of GADS (GADS-cSH3) was assembled synthetically using a recursive PCR technique and the protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, refolded and purified. Several crystals of this domain in complex with the SLP-76 peptide were obtained and characterized

Satisfacción laboral y compromiso en las organizaciones de rio verde, S.L.P.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Gómez Sánchez

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study is to identify the relationship between job satisfaction comprising three dimensions (with supervision, with the physical work environment and benefits received and organizational commitment, also comprising three dimensions (affective, continuity and regulatory, sociodemographic consideration of workers' organizations Rioverde, S.L.P. It is a descriptive, correlational, cross focusing addition to quantitative research, statistical techniques were used Pearson's r, Spearman Rho, a single factor ANOVA for independent samples t. The sample was made up of 196 workers from different organizations Rioverde SLP, self-administered survey was implemented using the instrument of the questionnaire consists of 30 variables, divided into 12 variables to measure job satisfaction and 18 variables to measure organizational commitment, and type 7 sociodemographic variables. The results show that the correlation between job satisfaction and organizational commitment, as well as sociodemographic variables influence organizational commitment.

A three-finger multisensory hand for dexterous space robotic tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Murase, Yuichi; Komada, Satoru; Uchiyama, Takashi; Machida, Kazuo; Akita, Kenzo

1994-01-01

The National Space Development Agency of Japan will launch ETS-7 in 1997, as a test bed for next generation space technology of RV&D and space robot. MITI has been developing a three-finger multisensory hand for complex space robotic tasks. The hand can be operated under remote control or autonomously. This paper describes the design and development of the hand and the performance of a breadboard model.

The Effect of Magnetic Field and Initial Stress on Fractional Order Generalized Thermoelastic Half-Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunita Deswal

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to study magneto-thermoelastic interactions in an initially stressed isotropic homogeneous half-space in the context of fractional order theory of generalized thermoelasticity. State space formulation with the Laplace transform technique is used to obtain the general solution, and the resulting formulation is applied to the ramp type increase in thermal load and zero stress. Solutions of the problem in the physical domain are obtained by using a numerical method of the Laplace inverse transform based on the Fourier expansion technique, and the expressions for the displacement, temperature, and stress inside the half-space are obtained. Numerical computations are carried out for a particular material for illustrating the results. Results obtained for the field variables are displayed graphically. Some comparisons have been shown in figures to present the effect of fractional parameter, ramp parameter, magnetic field, and initial stress on the field variables. Some particular cases of special interest have been deduced from the present investigation.

Heating of a fully saturated darcian half-space: Pressure generation, fluid expulsion, and phase change

Science.gov (United States)

Delaney, P.

1984-01-01

Analytical solutions are developed for the pressurization, expansion, and flow of one- and two-phase liquids during heating of fully saturated and hydraulically open Darcian half-spaces subjected to a step rise in temperature at its surface. For silicate materials, advective transfer is commonly unimportant in the liquid region; this is not always the case in the vapor region. Volume change is commonly more important than heat of vaporization in determining the position of the liquid-vapor interface, assuring that the temperatures cannot be determined independently of pressures. Pressure increases reach a maximum near the leading edge of the thermal front and penetrate well into the isothermal region of the body. Mass flux is insensitive to the hydraulic properties of the half-space. ?? 1984.

Optimal SSN Tasking to Enhance Real-time Space Situational Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, J., III; Hussein, I.; Gerber, J.; Sivilli, R.

2016-09-01

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is currently constrained by an overwhelming number of resident space objects (RSOs) that need to be tracked and the amount of data these observations produce. The Joint Centralized Autonomous Tasking System (JCATS) is an autonomous, net-centric tool that approaches these SSA concerns from an agile, information-based stance. Finite set statistics and stochastic optimization are used to maintain an RSO catalog and develop sensor tasking schedules based on operator configured, state information-gain metrics to determine observation priorities. This improves the efficiency of sensors to target objects as awareness changes and new information is needed, not at predefined frequencies solely. A net-centric, service-oriented architecture (SOA) allows for JCATS integration into existing SSA systems. Testing has shown operationally-relevant performance improvements and scalability across multiple types of scenarios and against current sensor tasking tools.

Deformation of a layered half-space due to a very long tensile fault

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The problem of the coseismic deformation of an earth model consisting of an elastic layer of uniform thickness overlying an elastic half-space due to a very long tensile fault in the layer is solved analytically. Integral expressions for the surface displacements are obtained for a vertical tensile fault and a horizontal tensile fault.

Interior beam searchlight semi-analytical benchmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, Barry D.; Kornreich, Drew E.

2008-01-01

Multidimensional semi-analytical benchmarks to provide highly accurate standards to assess routine numerical particle transport algorithms are few and far between. Because of the well-established 1D theory for the analytical solution of the transport equation, it is sometimes possible to 'bootstrap' a 1D solution to generate a more comprehensive solution representation. Here, we consider the searchlight problem (SLP) as a multidimensional benchmark. A variation of the usual SLP is the interior beam SLP (IBSLP) where a beam source lies beneath the surface of a half space and emits directly towards the free surface. We consider the establishment of a new semi-analytical benchmark based on a new FN formulation. This problem is important in radiative transfer experimental analysis to determine cloud absorption and scattering properties. (authors)

Experimental measurements of the eddy current signal due to a flawed, conducting half space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, S.A.; Toomsawasdi, S.; Zaman, A.J.M.

1984-01-01

This chapter reports on an experimental investigation in which the change in impedance of a practical multi-turn eddy current coil near a conducting half space is measured as a function of the conductivity and the lift-off distance. The results are compared in a qualitative fashion with the analytical results for a single-turn coil. Measurements are also made of the change in impedance due to a small void in the conducting half space as a function of both its depth and radial position. The results indicate that, at least in a qualitative fashion, the precisely derived analytical solutions adequately predict the general behavior of the change in complex impedance of an eddy current coil above a conducting ground plane as a function of lift-off distance. It is determined that the effect of a sub-surface void on the change in inductance of the test coil correlates well with theoretical calculations

Impact of a half-space interface on the wireless link between tiny sensor nodes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Penkin, D.; Janssen, G.; Yarovoy, A.

2014-01-01

The power budget of a wireless link between two electrically small sensor nodes located close to an interface between two media is studied. The model includes both the propagation channel losses and input impedance of the radio frequency antennas. It is shown that a highly inductive half-space

The effect of VMP35 supplement ingredients encapsulated in a novel Phospholipid Prodosome SK713 SLP nutrient delivery technology on properties of live human blood.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Blum

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background: In North America digestive malfunction in terms of disintegration, dissolution, and absorption of food and nutrients, is a widespread malady. Malabsorption is also an exacerbating factor in most chronic degenerative diseases that might benefit from dietary supplementation. The purpose of this experiment was to determine, as shown by changes in properties of live blood, whether, a novel soy-lecithin-phospholipid-nutrient encapsulation technology could promote rapid bioavailability and bioactivity of a VMP35 nutraceutical formulation encapsulated within its clustoidal multilamellar Soy Lecithin Phospholipid (SLP liquid SK713 SLP structures. Method: Changes in peripheral blood smears from 38 subjects were measured utilizing peripheral live blood cell imaging (LBCI with phase contrast microscopy. Results: Compared to baseline and control, consistently and reproducibly, the SK713 SLP technology effected positive changes in the blood as demonstrated by observable morphological, hematological and rheological changes five minutes from intake and sustained for at least 30 minutes post intake. Conclusions: These results showed that the SK713 SLP system makes an important contribution by increasing the potential benefits of dietary supplementation to those patients with compromised digestive processes. We encourage additional research on this novel delivery system believing that it has potential impact on future therapy.

Shape differentiability of the Neumann problem of the Laplace equation in the half-space

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Amrouche, Ch.; Nečasová, Šárka; Sokolowski, J.

2008-01-01

Roč. 37, č. 4 (2008), s. 748-769 ISSN 0324-8569 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/05/0005; GA ČR GA201/08/0012 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : shape optimization * Neumann problem * half space * material derivative Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.689, year: 2008

Propagation of waves at the loosely bonded interface of two porous elastic half-spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajuddin, M.

1993-10-01

Employing Biot's theory for wave propagation in porous solids, the propagation of waves at the loosely bonded interface between two poroelastic half-spaces is examined theoretically. The analogous study of Stoneley waves for smooth interface and bonded interface form a limiting case. The results due to classical theory are shown as a special case. (author). 13 refs

Wigner-Kirkwood expansion of the phase-space density for half infinite nuclear matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durand, M.; Schuck, P.

1987-01-01

The phase space distribution of half infinite nuclear matter is expanded in a ℎ-series analogous to the low temperature expansion of the Fermi function. Besides the usual Wigner-Kirkwood expansion, oscillatory terms are derived. In the case of a Woods-Saxon potential, a smallness parameter is defined, which determines the convergence of the series and explains the very rapid convergence of the Wigner-Kirkwood expansion for average (nuclear) binding energies

Space station operations task force. Panel 4 report: Management integration

Science.gov (United States)

1987-01-01

The Management Integration Panel of the Space Station Operations Task Force was chartered to provide a structure and ground rules for integrating the efforts of the other three panels and to address a number of cross cutting issues that affect all areas of space station operations. Issues addressed include operations concept implementation, alternatives development and integration process, strategic policy issues and options, and program management emphasis areas.

Contact problem for a solid indenter and a viscoelastic half-space described by the spectrum of relaxation and retardation times

Science.gov (United States)

Stepanov, F. I.

2018-04-01

The mechanical properties of a material which is modeled by an exponential creep kernel characterized by a spectrum of relaxation and retardation times are studied. The research is carried out considering a contact problem for a solid indenter sliding over a viscoelastic half-space. The contact pressure, indentation depth of the indenter, and the deformation component of the friction coefficient are analyzed with respect to the case of half-space material modeled by single relaxation and retardation times.

Use of deuterium and oxygen-18 in hydrological problems at Villa de Reyes, S.L.P. Mexico

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morales, P.; Castillo C, R.

1983-01-01

A survey of an initial study in order to understand the general behaviour of ground water at Villa de Reyes, S.L.P. Mexico is presented. Deuterium and oxygen results are discussed and two geothermometers were used in order to search for a geothermal area. (author)

Cognitive demand of human sensorimotor performance during an extended space mission: a dual-task study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, Otmar; Weigelt, Cornelia; Bloomberg, Jacob J

2010-09-01

Two previous single-case studies found that the dual-task costs of manual tracking plus memory search increased during a space mission, and concluded that sensorimotor deficits during spaceflight may be related to cognitive overload. Since dual-task costs were insensitive to the difficulty of memory search, the authors argued that the overload may reflect stress-related problems of multitasking, rather than a scarcity of specific cognitive resources. Here we expand the available database and compare different types of concurrent task. Three subjects were repeatedly tested before, during, and after an extended mission on the International Space Station (ISS). They performed an unstable tracking task and four reaction-time tasks, both separately and concurrently. Inflight data could only be obtained during later parts of the mission. The tracking error increased from pre- to in flight by a factor of about 2, both under single- and dual-task conditions. The dual-task costs with a reaction-time task requiring rhythm production was 2.4 times higher than with a reaction-time task requiring visuo-spatial transformations, and 8 times higher than with a regular choice reaction-time task. Long-term sensorimotor deficits during spaceflight may reflect not only stress, but also a scarcity of resources related to complex motor programming; possibly those resources are tied up by sensorimotor adaptation to the space environment.

Short-distance expansion for the electromagnetic half-space Green's tensor: general results and an application to radiative lifetime computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panasyuk, George Y; Schotland, John C; Markel, Vadim A

2009-01-01

We obtain a short-distance expansion for the half-space, frequency domain electromagnetic Green's tensor. The small parameter of the theory is ωε 1 L/c, where ω is the frequency, ε 1 is the permittivity of the upper half-space, in which both the source and the point of observation are located, and which is assumed to be transparent, c is the speed of light in vacuum and L is a characteristic length, defined as the distance from the point of observation to the reflected (with respect to the planar interface) position of the source. In the case when the lower half-space (the substrate) is characterized by a complex permittivity ε 2 , we compute the expansion to third order. For the case when the substrate is a transparent dielectric, we compute the imaginary part of the Green's tensor to seventh order. The analytical calculations are verified numerically. The practical utility of the obtained expansion is demonstrated by computing the radiative lifetime of two electromagnetically interacting molecules in the vicinity of a transparent dielectric substrate. The computation is performed in the strong interaction regime when the quasi-particle pole approximation is inapplicable. In this regime, the integral representation for the half-space Green's tensor is difficult to use while its electrostatic limiting expression is grossly inadequate. However, the analytical expansion derived in this paper can be used directly and efficiently. The results of this study are also relevant to nano-optics and near-field imaging, especially when tomographic image reconstruction is involved

Gaze-informed, task-situated representation of space in primate hippocampus during virtual navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Wirth, Sylvia; Baraduc, Pierre; Planté, Aurélie; Pinède, Serge; Duhamel, Jean-René

2017-01-01

To elucidate how gaze informs the construction of mental space during wayfinding in visual species like primates, we jointly examined navigation behavior, visual exploration, and hippocampal activity as macaque monkeys searched a virtual reality maze for a reward. Cells sensitive to place also responded to one or more variables like head direction, point of gaze, or task context. Many cells fired at the sight (and in anticipation) of a single landmark in a viewpoint- or task-dependent manner, simultaneously encoding the animal’s logical situation within a set of actions leading to the goal. Overall, hippocampal activity was best fit by a fine-grained state space comprising current position, view, and action contexts. Our findings indicate that counterparts of rodent place cells in primates embody multidimensional, task-situated knowledge pertaining to the target of gaze, therein supporting self-awareness in the construction of space. PMID:28241007

Generalized Magneto-thermo-microstretch Response of a Half-space with Temperature-dependent Properties During Thermal Shock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi-lin Xiong

Full Text Available Abstract The generalized magneto-thermoelastic problem of an infinite homogeneous isotropic microstretch half-space with temperature-dependent material properties placed in a transverse magnetic field is investigated in the context of different generalized thermoelastic theories. The upper surface of the half-space is subjected to a zonal time-dependent heat shock. By solving finite element governing equations, the solution to the problem is obtained, from which the transient magneto-thermoelastic responses, including temperature, stresses, displacements, microstretch, microrotation, induced magnetic field and induced electric field are presented graphically. Comparisons are made in the results obtained under different generalized thermoelastic theories to show some unique features of generalized thermoelasticity, and comparisons are made in the results obtained under three forms of temperature dependent material properties (absolute temperature dependent, reference temperature dependent and temperature-independent to show the effects of absolute temperature and reference temperature. Weibull or Log-normal.

Potentiation of a p53-SLP vaccine by cyclophosphamide in ovarian cancer : A single-arm phase II study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermeij, Renee; Leffers, Ninke; Hoogeboom, Baukje-Nynke; Hamming, Ineke L. E.; Wolf, Rinze; Reyners, Anna K. L.; Molmans, Barbara H. W.; Hollema, Harry; Bart, Joost; Drijfhout, Jan W.; Oostendorp, Jaap; van der Zee, Ate G. J.; Melief, Cornelis J.; van der Burg, Sjoerd H.; Daemen, Toos; Nijman, Hans W.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the current phase II single-arm clinical trial was to evaluate whether pretreatment with low-dose cyclophosphamide improves immunogenicity of a p53-synthetic long peptide (SLP) vaccine in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Patients with ovarian cancer with elevated serum levels

Space station operations task force. Panel 3 report: User development and integration

Science.gov (United States)

1987-01-01

The User Development and Integration Panel of the Space Station Operations Task Force was chartered to develop concepts relating to the operations of the Space Station manned base and the platforms, user accommodation and integration activities. The needs of the user community are addressed in the context with the mature operations phase of the Space Station. Issues addressed include space station pricing options, marketing strategies, payload selection and resource allocation options, and manifesting techniques.

2-D Deformation analysis of a half-space due to a long dip-slip fault ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

tic deformation in a uniform half-space due to long faults has been attempted by a number of researchers. Singh and Rani (1996) presented step- by-step progress made in the direction of crustal deformation modeling associated with strike-slip and dip-slip faulting in the earth. Cohen (1996) gave convenient formulas for ...

The dipoles reach the half-way mark

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

With the positioning of the 616th magnet, installation of the LHC dipoles has reached the half-way mark. Only half the dipoles remain to be installed! The 616th dipole out of a total of 1232 was installed at 3 a.m on Wednesday 12 July. Night and day, the tunnel is the setting for a never-ending series of carefully choreographed installation operations. At a rate of around twenty per week, there has been a steady underground flow of dipole magnets, each measuring 15 metres in length and weighing 34 tonnes. 'In order to recover the accumulated delays, installation is proceeding three times faster than planned', confides Claude Hauviller, who is supervising LHC installation. Four dipoles can be transported underground at the same time. It is a real challenge, which the 65-man team responsible for this difficult task faces on a daily basis. This is because there is very little space in the tunnel and there are no passing places for the magnet transport vehicles. The room for manoeuvre can sometimes be measured ...

Task-space separation principle: a force-field approach to motion planning for redundant manipulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Tommasino, Paolo; Campolo, Domenico

2017-02-03

In this work, we address human-like motor planning in redundant manipulators. Specifically, we want to capture postural synergies such as Donders' law, experimentally observed in humans during kinematically redundant tasks, and infer a minimal set of parameters to implement similar postural synergies in a kinematic model. For the model itself, although the focus of this paper is to solve redundancy by implementing postural strategies derived from experimental data, we also want to ensure that such postural control strategies do not interfere with other possible forms of motion control (in the task-space), i.e. solving the posture/movement problem. The redundancy problem is framed as a constrained optimization problem, traditionally solved via the method of Lagrange multipliers. The posture/movement problem can be tackled via the separation principle which, derived from experimental evidence, posits that the brain processes static torques (i.e. posture-dependent, such as gravitational torques) separately from dynamic torques (i.e. velocity-dependent). The separation principle has traditionally been applied at a joint torque level. Our main contribution is to apply the separation principle to Lagrange multipliers, which act as task-space force fields, leading to a task-space separation principle. In this way, we can separate postural control (implementing Donders' law) from various types of tasks-space movement planners. As an example, the proposed framework is applied to the (redundant) task of pointing with the human wrist. Nonlinear inverse optimization (NIO) is used to fit the model parameters and to capture motor strategies displayed by six human subjects during pointing tasks. The novelty of our NIO approach is that (i) the fitted motor strategy, rather than raw data, is used to filter and down-sample human behaviours; (ii) our framework is used to efficiently simulate model behaviour iteratively, until it converges towards the experimental human strategies.

Production layout improvement by using line balancing and Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) at PT. XYZ

Science.gov (United States)

Buchari; Tarigan, U.; Ambarita, M. B.

2018-02-01

PT. XYZ is a wood processing company which produce semi-finished wood with production system is make to order. In the production process, it can be seen that the production line is not balanced. The imbalance of the production line is caused by the difference in cycle time between work stations. In addition, there are other issues, namely the existence of material flow pattern is irregular so it resulted in the backtracking and displacement distance away. This study aimed to obtain the allocation of work elements to specific work stations and propose an improvement of the production layout based on the result of improvements in the line balancing. The method used in the balancing is Ranked Positional Weight (RPW) or also known as Helgeson Birnie method. While the methods used in the improvement of the layout is the method of Systematic Layout Planning (SLP). By using Ranked Positional Weight (RPW) obtained increase in line efficiency becomes 84,86% and decreased balance delay becomes 15,14%. Repairing the layout using the method of Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) also give good results with a reduction in path length becomes 133,82 meters from 213,09 meters previously or a decrease of 37.2%.

2-D deformation of two welded half-spaces due to a blind dip-slip fault

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The solution of two-dimensional problem of an interface breaking long inclined dip-slip fault in two welded half-spaces is well known.The purpose of this note is to obtain the corresponding solution for a blind fault.The solution is valid for arbitrary values of the fault-depth and the dip angle.Graphs showing the variation of the ...

Concept definition for space station technology development experiments. Experiment definition, task 2

Science.gov (United States)

1986-01-01

The second task of a study with the overall objective of providing a conceptual definition of the Technology Development Mission Experiments proposed by LaRC on space station is discussed. During this task, the information (goals, objectives, and experiment functional description) assembled on a previous task was translated into the actual experiment definition. Although still of a preliminary nature, aspects such as: environment, sensors, data acquisition, communications, handling, control telemetry requirements, crew activities, etc., were addressed. Sketches, diagrams, block diagrams, and timeline analyses of crew activities are included where appropriate.

Space Archaeology: Attribute, Object, Task and Method

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xinyuan; Guo, Huadong; Luo, Lei; Liu, Chuansheng

2017-04-01

Archaeology takes the material remains of human activity as the research object, and uses those fragmentary remains to reconstruct the humanistic and natural environment in different historical periods. Space Archaeology is a new branch of the Archaeology. Its study object is the humanistic-natural complex including the remains of human activities and living environments on the earth surface. The research method, space information technologies applied to this complex, is an innovative process concerning archaeological information acquisition, interpretation and reconstruction, and to achieve the 3-D dynamic reconstruction of cultural heritages by constructing the digital cultural-heritage sphere. Space archaeology's attribute is highly interdisciplinary linking several areas of natural and social and humanities. Its task is to reveal the history, characteristics, and patterns of human activities in the past, as well as to understand the evolutionary processes guiding the relationship between human and their environment. This paper summarizes six important aspects of space archaeology and five crucial recommendations for the establishment and development of this new discipline. The six important aspects are: (1) technologies and methods for non-destructive detection of archaeological sites; (2) space technologies for the protection and monitoring of cultural heritages; (3) digital environmental reconstruction of archaeological sites; (4) spatial data storage and data mining of cultural heritages; (5) virtual archaeology, digital reproduction and public information and presentation system; and (6) the construction of scientific platform of digital cultural-heritage sphere. The five key recommendations for establishing the discipline of Space Archaeology are: (1) encouraging the full integration of the strengths of both archaeology and museology with space technology to promote the development of space technologies' application for cultural heritages; (2) a new

Modular Hamiltonians for deformed half-spaces and the averaged null energy condition

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, Thomas; Leigh, Robert G.; Parrikar, Onkar; Wang, Huajia

2016-09-01

We study modular Hamiltonians corresponding to the vacuum state for deformed half-spaces in relativistic quantum field theories on {{R}}^{1,d-1} . We show that in addition to the usual boost generator, there is a contribution to the modular Hamiltonian at first order in the shape deformation, proportional to the integral of the null components of the stress tensor along the Rindler horizon. We use this fact along with monotonicity of relative entropy to prove the averaged null energy condition in Minkowski space-time. This subsequently gives a new proof of the Hofman-Maldacena bounds on the parameters appearing in CFT three-point functions. Our main technical advance involves adapting newly developed perturbative methods for calculating entanglement entropy to the problem at hand. These methods were recently used to prove certain results on the shape dependence of entanglement in CFTs and here we generalize these results to excited states and real time dynamics. We also discuss the AdS/CFT counterpart of this result, making connection with the recently proposed gravitational dual for modular Hamiltonians in holographic theories.

A Space-Time Periodic Task Model for Recommendation of Remote Sensing Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiuhong Zhang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available With the rapid development of remote sensing technology, the quantity and variety of remote sensing images are growing so quickly that proactive and personalized access to data has become an inevitable trend. One of the active approaches is remote sensing image recommendation, which can offer related image products to users according to their preference. Although multiple studies on remote sensing retrieval and recommendation have been performed, most of these studies model the user profiles only from the perspective of spatial area or image features. In this paper, we propose a spatiotemporal recommendation method for remote sensing data based on the probabilistic latent topic model, which is named the Space-Time Periodic Task model (STPT. User retrieval behaviors of remote sensing images are represented as mixtures of latent tasks, which act as links between users and images. Each task is associated with the joint probability distribution of space, time and image characteristics. Meanwhile, the von Mises distribution is introduced to fit the distribution of tasks over time. Then, we adopt Gibbs sampling to learn the random variables and parameters and present the inference algorithm for our model. Experiments show that the proposed STPT model can improve the capability and efficiency of remote sensing image data services.

Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-dependent phosphorylation of SLP-76 by the lymphoma-associated ITK-SYK fusion-protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, Alamdar; Faryal, Rani; Nore, Beston F.; Mohamed, Abdalla J.; Smith, C.I. Edvard

2009-01-01

Recurrent chromosomal translocations have long been implicated in various types of lymphomas and other malignancies. Novel recurrent t(5;9)(q33;q22) has been recently discovered in un-specified peripheral T-cell lymphoma. To elucidate the role of this translocation, the corresponding fusion construct encoding the N-terminal portion of the ITK kinase and the C-terminal catalytic region of the SYK kinase was generated. We herein show that the ITK-SYK fusion-protein is constitutively active. Moreover, we demonstrate that ITK-SYK is phosphorylated on key tyrosine residues and is capable of potently phosphorylating the related adapter proteins BLNK and SLP-76. In transiently transfected cells, SYK was phosphorylated at Y352 but not detectably at the activation-loop tyrosines Y525/Y526. In contrast, ITK-SYK was phosphorylated both at Y212 and the activation-loop tyrosines Y385/Y386, corresponding to Y352 and Y525/Y526 in SYK, respectively. In resting primary lymphocytes, ITK-SYK predominantly localizes to the cell surface. In addition, we demonstrate that following stimulation, the ITK-SYK fusion-protein in cell lines translocates to the cell membrane and, moreover, that this phenomenon as well as SLP-76 phosphorylation are blocked upon phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3-kinase) inhibition.

Regularities of magnetic field penetration into half-space in type-II superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medvedev, Yu.V.; Krasnyuk, I.B.

2003-01-01

The equations, modeling the distributions of the magnetic field induction and current density in the half-space with an account of the exponential volt-ampere characteristics, are obtained. The velocity of the magnetization front propagation by the assigned average rate of the change by the time of the external magnetic field at the sample boundary is determined. The integral condition for the electric resistance, nonlinearly dependent on the magnetic field, by accomplishing whereof the magnetic flux penetrates into the sample with the finite velocity is indicated. The analytical representation of the equation with the exponential boundary mode, which models the change in the magnetic field at the area boundary, is pointed out [ru

The use of an equivalent homogeneous half-space in soil-structure interaction analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzloehner, U.

1979-01-01

In analyses of seismic soil-structure interaction, the soil often is assumed as an elastic body. The solution procedure is lengthy if the heterogeneity of the soil is considered strictly. If the soil is taken as a homogeneous elastic half-space, existing solutions can be used. There are solutions for some simple layered systems, too. However, it is often not easy to correlate the variation of the soil properties with depth as found by measurements to those of ideal systems. The purpose of the paper is to show how to make use of the existing solutions. (orig.)

Three-dimensional coupled thermoelastodynamic stress and flux induced wave propagation for isotropic half-space with scalar potential functions

Science.gov (United States)

Hayati, Yazdan; Eskandari-Ghadi, Morteza

2018-02-01

An asymmetric three-dimensional thermoelastodynamic wave propagation with scalar potential functions is presented for an isotropic half-space, in such a way that the wave may be originated from an arbitrary either traction or heat flux applied on a patch at the free surface of the half-space. The displacements, stresses and temperature are presented within the framework of Biot's coupled thermoelasticity formulations. By employing a complete representation for the displacement and temperature fields in terms of two scalar potential functions, the governing equations of coupled thermoelasticity are uncoupled into a sixth- and a second-order partial differential equation in cylindrical coordinate system. By virtue of Fourier expansion and Hankel integral transforms, the angular and radial variables are suppressed respectively, and a 6{th}- and a 2{nd}-order ordinary differential equation in terms of depth are received, which are solved readily, from which the displacement, stresses and temperature fields are derived in transformed space by satisfying both the regularity and boundary conditions. By applying the inverse Hankel integral transforms, the displacements and temperature are numerically evaluated to determine the solutions in the real space. The numerical evaluations are done for three specific cases of vertical and horizontal time-harmonic patch traction and a constant heat flux passing through a circular disc on the surface of the half-space. It has been previously proved that the potential functions used in this paper are applicable from elastostatics to thermoelastodynamics. Thus, the analytical solutions presented in this paper are verified by comparing the results of this study with two specific problems reported in the literature, which are an elastodynamic problem and an axisymmetric quasi-static thermoelastic problem. To show the accuracy of numerical results, the solution of this study is also compared with the solution for elastodynamics exists in

Numerical analysis of the propagation characteristics of Stoneley waves at an interface between microstretch thermoelastic diffusion solid half spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajneesh Kumar

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the study of propagation of Stoneley waves at the interface of two dissimilar isotropic microstretch thermoelastic diffusion medium in the context of generalized theories of thermoelasticity. The dispersion equation of Stoneley waves is derived in the form of a determinant by using the boundary conditions. The dispersion curves giving the phase velocity and attenuation coefficients with wave number are computed numerically. Numerically computed results are shown graphically to depict the diffusion effect alongwith the relaxation times in microstretch thermoelastic diffusion solid half spaces for thermally insulated and impermeable boundaries, respectively. The components of displacement, stress, couple stress, microstress, and temperature change are presented graphically for two dissimilar microstretch thermoelastic diffusion half-spaces. Several cases of interest under different conditions are also deduced and discussed.

Space Station data system analysis/architecture study. Task 1: Functional requirements definition, DR-5

Science.gov (United States)

1985-01-01

The initial task in the Space Station Data System (SSDS) Analysis/Architecture Study is the definition of the functional and key performance requirements for the SSDS. The SSDS is the set of hardware and software, both on the ground and in space, that provides the basic data management services for Space Station customers and systems. The primary purpose of the requirements development activity was to provide a coordinated, documented requirements set as a basis for the system definition of the SSDS and for other subsequent study activities. These requirements should also prove useful to other Space Station activities in that they provide an indication of the scope of the information services and systems that will be needed in the Space Station program. The major results of the requirements development task are as follows: (1) identification of a conceptual topology and architecture for the end-to-end Space Station Information Systems (SSIS); (2) development of a complete set of functional requirements and design drivers for the SSIS; (3) development of functional requirements and key performance requirements for the Space Station Data System (SSDS); and (4) definition of an operating concept for the SSIS. The operating concept was developed both from a Space Station payload customer and operator perspective in order to allow a requirements practicality assessment.

Heart Rate Response During Mission-Critical Tasks After Space Flight

Science.gov (United States)

Arzeno, Natalia M.; Lee, S. M. C.; Stenger, M. B.; Lawrence, E. L.; Platts, S. H.; Bloomberg, J. J.

2010-01-01

Adaptation to microgravity could impair crewmembers? ability to perform required tasks upon entry into a gravity environment, such as return to Earth, or during extraterrestrial exploration. Historically, data have been collected in a controlled testing environment, but it is unclear whether these physiologic measures result in changes in functional performance. NASA?s Functional Task Test (FTT) aims to investigate whether adaptation to microgravity increases physiologic stress and impairs performance during mission-critical tasks. PURPOSE: To determine whether the well-accepted postflight tachycardia observed during standard laboratory tests also would be observed during simulations of mission-critical tasks during and after recovery from short-duration spaceflight. METHODS: Five astronauts participated in the FTT 30 days before launch, on landing day, and 1, 6, and 30 days after landing. Mean heart rate (HR) was measured during 5 simulations of mission-critical tasks: rising from (1) a chair or (2) recumbent seated position followed by walking through an obstacle course (egress from a space vehicle), (3) translating graduated masses from one location to another (geological sample collection), (4) walking on a treadmill at 6.4 km/h (ambulation on planetary surface), and (5) climbing 40 steps on a passive treadmill ladder (ingress to lander). For tasks 1, 2, 3, and 5, astronauts were encouraged to complete the task as quickly as possible. Time to complete tasks and mean HR during each task were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and ANCOVA respectively, in which task duration was a covariate. RESULTS: Landing day HR was higher (P < 0.05) than preflight during the upright seat egress (7%+/-3), treadmill walk (13%+/-3) and ladder climb (10%+/-4), and HR remained elevated during the treadmill walk 1 day after landing. During tasks in which HR was not elevated on landing day, task duration was significantly greater on landing day (recumbent seat egress: 25

Operationally efficient propulsion system study (OEPSS) data book. Volume 6; Space Transfer Propulsion Operational Efficiency Study Task of OEPSS

Science.gov (United States)

Harmon, Timothy J.

1992-01-01

This document is the final report for the Space Transfer Propulsion Operational Efficiency Study Task of the Operationally Efficient Propulsion System Study (OEPSS) conducted by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International. This Study task studied, evaluated and identified design concepts and technologies which minimized launch and in-space operations and optimized in-space vehicle propulsion system operability.

Wave energy transfer in elastic half-spaces with soft interlayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Glushkov, Evgeny; Glushkova, Natalia; Fomenko, Sergey

2015-04-01

The paper deals with guided waves generated by a surface load in a coated elastic half-space. The analysis is based on the explicit integral and asymptotic expressions derived in terms of Green's matrix and given loads for both laminate and functionally graded substrates. To perform the energy analysis, explicit expressions for the time-averaged amount of energy transferred in the time-harmonic wave field by every excited guided or body wave through horizontal planes and lateral cylindrical surfaces have been also derived. The study is focused on the peculiarities of wave energy transmission in substrates with soft interlayers that serve as internal channels for the excited guided waves. The notable features of the source energy partitioning in such media are the domination of a single emerging mode in each consecutive frequency subrange and the appearance of reverse energy fluxes at certain frequencies. These effects as well as modal and spatial distribution of the wave energy coming from the source into the substructure are numerically analyzed and discussed.

The influence of pore-fluid in the soil on ground vibrations from a tunnel embedded in a layered half-space

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Zonghao; Cao, Zhigang; Boström, Anders; Cai, Yuanqiang

2018-04-01

A computationally efficient semi-analytical solution for ground-borne vibrations from underground railways is proposed and used to investigate the influence of hydraulic boundary conditions at the scattering surfaces and the moving ground water table on ground vibrations. The arrangement of a dry soil layer with varying thickness resting on a saturated poroelastic half-space, which includes a circular tunnel subject to a harmonic load at the tunnel invert, creates the scenario of a moving water table for research purposes in this paper. The tunnel is modelled as a hollow cylinder, which is made of viscoelastic material and buried in the half-space below the ground water table. The wave field in the dry soil layer consists of up-going and down-going waves while the wave field in the tunnel wall consists of outgoing and regular cylindrical waves. The complete solution for the saturated half-space with a cylindrical hole is composed of down-going plane waves and outgoing cylindrical waves. By adopting traction-free boundary conditions on the ground surface and continuity conditions at the interfaces of the two soil layers and of the tunnel and the surrounding soil, a set of algebraic equations can be obtained and solved in the transformed domain. Numerical results show that the moving ground water table can cause an uncertainty of up to 20 dB for surface vibrations.

Understanding the Effects of Long-duration Space Flight on Astronant Functional Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomberg, Jacob J.; Batson, Crystal D.; Buxton, Roxanne E.; Feiveson, Al H.; Kofman, Igor S.; Lee, Stuart M. C.; Miller, Chris A.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.; Peters, Brian T.; Phillips, Tiffany;

Singular perturbations with boundary conditions and the Casimir effect in the half space

Science.gov (United States)

Albeverio, S.; Cognola, G.; Spreafico, M.; Zerbini, S.

2010-06-01

We study the self-adjoint extensions of a class of nonmaximal multiplication operators with boundary conditions. We show that these extensions correspond to singular rank 1 perturbations (in the sense of Albeverio and Kurasov [Singular Perturbations of Differential Operaters (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000)]) of the Laplace operator, namely, the formal Laplacian with a singular delta potential, on the half space. This construction is the appropriate setting to describe the Casimir effect related to a massless scalar field in the flat space-time with an infinite conducting plate and in the presence of a pointlike "impurity." We use the relative zeta determinant (as defined in the works of Müller ["Relative zeta functions, relative determinants and scattering theory," Commun. Math. Phys. 192, 309 (1998)] and Spreafico and Zerbini ["Finite temperature quantum field theory on noncompact domains and application to delta interactions," Rep. Math. Phys. 63, 163 (2009)]) in order to regularize the partition function of this model. We study the analytic extension of the associated relative zeta function, and we present explicit results for the partition function and for the Casimir force.

Decoding Decoders: Finding Optimal Representation Spaces for Unsupervised Similarity Tasks

OpenAIRE

Zhelezniak, Vitalii; Busbridge, Dan; Shen, April; Smith, Samuel L.; Hammerla, Nils Y.

2018-01-01

Experimental evidence indicates that simple models outperform complex deep networks on many unsupervised similarity tasks. We provide a simple yet rigorous explanation for this behaviour by introducing the concept of an optimal representation space, in which semantically close symbols are mapped to representations that are close under a similarity measure induced by the model's objective function. In addition, we present a straightforward procedure that, without any retraining or architectura...

Quantum tasks in Minkowski space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kent, Adrian

2012-01-01

The fundamental properties of quantum information and its applications to computing and cryptography have been greatly illuminated by considering information-theoretic tasks that are provably possible or impossible within non-relativistic quantum mechanics. I describe here a general framework for defining tasks within (special) relativistic quantum theory and illustrate it with examples from relativistic quantum cryptography and relativistic distributed quantum computation. The framework gives a unified description of all tasks previously considered and also defines a large class of new questions about the properties of quantum information in relation to Minkowski causality. It offers a way of exploring interesting new fundamental tasks and applications, and also highlights the scope for a more systematic understanding of the fundamental information-theoretic properties of relativistic quantum theory. (paper)

Robot task space analyzer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.; Osborn, J.

1997-01-01

Many nuclear projects such as environmental restoration and waste management challenges involve radiation or other hazards that will necessitate the use of remote operations that protect human workers from dangerous exposures. Remote work is far more costly to execute than what workers could accomplish directly with conventional tools and practices because task operations are slow and tedious due to difficulties of remote manipulation and viewing. Decades of experience within the nuclear remote operations community show that remote tasks may take hundreds of times longer than hands-on work; even with state-of-the-art force- reflecting manipulators and television viewing, remote task performance execution is five to ten times slower than equivalent direct contact work. Thus the requirement to work remotely is a major cost driver in many projects. Modest improvements in the work efficiency of remote systems can have high payoffs by reducing the completion time of projects. Additional benefits will accrue from improved work quality and enhanced safety

The functional half-life of an mRNA depends on the ribosome spacing in an early coding region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Margit; Nissen, Søren; Mitarai, Namiko

2011-01-01

Bacterial mRNAs are translated by closely spaced ribosomes and degraded from the 5'-end, with half-lives of around 2 min at 37 °C in most cases. Ribosome-free or "naked" mRNA is known to be readily degraded, but the initial event that inactivates the mRNA functionally has not been fully described...

The birth of NASA the work of the Space Task Group, America's first true space pioneers

CERN Document Server

von Ehrenfried, Dutch

2016-01-01

This is the story of the work of the original NASA space pioneers; men and women who were suddenly organized in 1958 from the then National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) into the Space Task Group. A relatively small group, they developed the initial mission concept plans and procedures for the U. S. space program. Then they boldly built hardware and facilities to accomplish those missions. The group existed only three years before they were transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, in 1962, but their organization left a large mark on what would follow. Von Ehrenfried's personal experience with the STG at Langley uniquely positions him to describe the way the group was structured and how it reacted to the new demands of a post-Sputnik era. He artfully analyzes how the growing space program was managed and what techniques enabled it to develop so quickly from an operations perspective. The result is a fascinating window into history, amply backed up by first person documentation ...

Definition of technology development missions for early space stations orbit transfer vehicle serving. Phase 2, task 1: Space station support of operational OTV servicing

Science.gov (United States)

1983-01-01

Representative space based orbital transfer vehicles (OTV), ground based vehicle turnaround assessment, functional operational requirements and facilities, mission turnaround operations, a comparison of ground based versus space based tasks, activation of servicing facilities prior to IOC, fleet operations requirements, maintenance facilities, OTV servicing facilities, space station support requirements, and packaging for delivery are discussed.

Half-space albedo problem with modified F{sub N} method for linear and quadratic anisotropic scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tuereci, R.G. [Kirikkale Univ., Kirikkale (Turkey). Kirikkale Vocational School; Tuereci, D. [Ministry of Education, Ankara (Turkey). 75th year Anatolia High School

2017-05-15

One speed, time independent and homogeneous medium neutron transport equation can be solved with the anisotropic scattering which includes both the linear anisotropic and the quadratic anisotropic scattering properties. Having solved Case's eigenfunctions and the orthogonality relations among these eigenfunctions, some neutron transport problems such as albedo problem can be calculated as numerically by using numerical or semi-analytic methods. In this study the half-space albedo problem is investigated by using the modified F{sub N} method.

An Autonomous Sensor Tasking Approach for Large Scale Space Object Cataloging

Science.gov (United States)

Linares, R.; Furfaro, R.

The field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) has progressed over the last few decades with new sensors coming online, the development of new approaches for making observations, and new algorithms for processing them. Although there has been success in the development of new approaches, a missing piece is the translation of SSA goals to sensors and resource allocation; otherwise known as the Sensor Management Problem (SMP). This work solves the SMP using an artificial intelligence approach called Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). Stable methods for training DRL approaches based on neural networks exist, but most of these approaches are not suitable for high dimensional systems. The Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C) method is a recently developed and effective approach for high dimensional systems, and this work leverages these results and applies this approach to decision making in SSA. The decision space for the SSA problems can be high dimensional, even for tasking of a single telescope. Since the number of SOs in space is relatively high, each sensor will have a large number of possible actions at a given time. Therefore, efficient DRL approaches are required when solving the SMP for SSA. This work develops a A3C based method for DRL applied to SSA sensor tasking. One of the key benefits of DRL approaches is the ability to handle high dimensional data. For example DRL methods have been applied to image processing for the autonomous car application. For example, a 256x256 RGB image has 196608 parameters (256*256*3=196608) which is very high dimensional, and deep learning approaches routinely take images like this as inputs. Therefore, when applied to the whole catalog the DRL approach offers the ability to solve this high dimensional problem. This work has the potential to, for the first time, solve the non-myopic sensor tasking problem for the whole SO catalog (over 22,000 objects) providing a truly revolutionary result.

Warping similarity space in category learning by human subjects: the role of task difficulty

OpenAIRE

Pevtzow, Rachel; Harnad, Stevan

1997-01-01

In innate Categorical Perception (CP) (e.g., colour perception), similarity space is "warped," with regions of increased within-category similarity (compression) and regions of reduced between-category similarity (separation) enh ancing the category boundaries and making categorisation reliable and all-or-none rather than graded. We show that category learning can likewise warp similarity space, resolving uncertainty near category boundaries. Two Hard and two Easy texture learning tasks were ...

Report by the International Space Station (ISS) Management and Cost Evaluation (IMCE) Task Force

Science.gov (United States)

Young, A. Thomas; Kellogg, Yvonne (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) Management and Cost Evaluation Task Force (IMCE) was chartered to conduct an independent external review and assessment of the ISS cost, budget, and management. In addition, the Task Force was asked to provide recommendations that could provide maximum benefit to the U.S. taxpayers and the International Partners within the President's budget request. The Task Force has made the following principal findings: (1) The ISS Program's technical achievements to date, as represented by on-orbit capability, are extraordinary; (2) The Existing ISS Program Plan for executing the FY 02-06 budget is not credible; (3) The existing deficiencies in management structure, institutional culture, cost estimating, and program control must be acknowledged and corrected for the Program to move forward in a credible fashion; (4) Additional budget flexibility, from within the Office of Space Flight (OSF) must be provided for a credible core complete program; (5) The research support program is proceeding assuming the budget that was in place before the FY02 budget runout reduction of $1B; (6) There are opportunities to maximize research on the core station program with modest cost impact; (7) The U.S. Core Complete configuration (three person crew) as an end-state will not achieve the unique research potential of the ISS; (8) The cost estimates for the U.S.-funded enhancement options (e.g., permanent seven person crew) are not sufficiently developed to assess credibility. After these findings, the Task Force has formulated several primary recommendations which are published here and include: (1) Major changes must be made in how the ISS program is managed; (2) Additional cost reductions are required within the baseline program; (3) Additional funds must be identified and applied from the Human Space Flight budget; (4) A clearly defined program with a credible end-state, agreed to by all stakeholders, must be developed and implemented.

A coupled magneto-thermo-elastic problem in a perfectly conducting elastic half-space with thermal relaxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. Roy-Choudhuri

1990-01-01

Full Text Available In the present paper we consider the magneto-thermo-elastic wave produced by a thermal shock in a perfectly conducting elastic half-space. Here the Lord-Shulman theory of thermoelasticity [1] is used to account for the interaction between the elastic and thermal fields. The solution obtained in analytical form reduces to those of Kaliski and Nowacki [2] when the coupling between the temperature and strain fields and the relaxation time are neglected. The results also agree with those of Massalas and DaLamangas [3] in absence of the thermal relaxation time.

On the theory of inelastic scattering of slow electrons by surface excitations: 1. Half-space formalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nkoma, J.S.

1982-08-01

A quantum-mechanical theory for the inelastic scattering of slow electrons (ISSE) by surface excitations is developed within the half-space model. The process of transmission of incident electrons into the crystal is described by the homogeneous Schroedinger equation, while the scattering process inside the crystal is described by an inhomogeneous Schroedinger equation. The scattering cross-section for ISSE by surface excitations is derived and is found to be small since it is dependent on an inverse sum of wavevectors which is large. It is also dependent on the fluctuations in the scattering potential. (author)

Monrelativistic particle in a magnetic field in two-dimensional Lobachevsky space, the cylindrical coordinates and the Poincare half-plane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ovsiyu, E.M.

2012-01-01

Exact solutions of the Schrodinger equation in the two-dimensional Riemannian space of negative curvature, the hyperbolic Lobachevsky plane, in the presence of an external magnetic field, which is an analog of a uniform magnetic field in the Minkowski space, are constructed. The description uses the cylindrical and quasi-Cartesian coordinates. The quasi-Cartesian coordinates determine the Poincare half-plane. In the both coordinate systems, the Schrodinger equation is solved exactly, the wave functions are constructed. A generalized formula for energy levels is found, which describes the quantized motion of a particle in a magnetic field in the Lobachevsky plane. (authors)

Boundary Element Analysis of the Steady-state Response of an Elastic Half-Space to a Moving Force on its Surface

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Lars; Nielsen, Søren R. K.

2003-01-01

The paper deals with the boundary element method formulation of the steady-state wave propagation through elastic media due to a source moving with constant velocity. The Greens' function for the three-dimensional full-space is formulated in a local frame of reference following the source...... is approximated, but the error which is introduced in this way is insignificant. Numerical examples are given for a moving rectangular load on an elastic half-space. The result from a boundary element code based on the derived Green's function are compared with a semi-analytic solution....

Reflection and transmission of full-vector X-waves normally incident on dielectric half spaces

KAUST Repository

Salem, Mohamed

2011-08-01

The reflection and transmission of full-vector X-Waves incident normally on a planar interface between two lossless dielectric half-spaces are investigated. Full-vector X-Waves are obtained by superimposing transverse electric and magnetic polarization components, which are derived from the scalar X-Wave solution. The analysis of transmission and reflection is carried out via a straightforward but yet effective method: First, the X-Wave is decomposed into vector Bessel beams via the Bessel-Fourier transform. Then, the reflection and transmission coefficients of the beams are obtained in the spectral domain. Finally, the transmitted and reflected X-Waves are obtained via the inverse Bessel-Fourier transform carried out on the X-wave spectrum weighted with the corresponding coefficient. © 2011 IEEE.

A momentum-space formulation without partial wave decomposition for scattering of two spin-half particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fachruddin, Imam, E-mail: imam.fachruddin@sci.ui.ac.id; Salam, Agus [Departemen Fisika, Universitas Indonesia, Depok 16424 (Indonesia)

2016-03-11

A new momentum-space formulation for scattering of two spin-half particles, both either identical or unidentical, is formulated. As basis states the free linear-momentum states are not expanded into the angular-momentum states, the system’s spin states are described by the product of the spin states of the two particles, and the system’s isospin states by the total isospin states of the two particles. We evaluate the Lippmann-Schwinger equations for the T-matrix elements in these basis states. The azimuthal behavior of the potential and of the T-matrix elements leads to a set of coupled integral equations for the T-matrix elements in two variables only, which are the magnitude of the relative momentum and the scattering angle. Some symmetry relations for the potential and the T-matrix elements reduce the number of the integral equations to be solved. A set of six spin operators to express any interaction of two spin-half particles is introduced. We show the spin-averaged differential cross section as being calculated in terms of the solution of the set of the integral equations.

On the complexity of numerical analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miltersen, Peter Bro; Allender, Eric; Burgisser, Peter

2009-01-01

an integer N, decide whether N>0. • In the Blum-Shub-Smale model, polynomial time computation over the reals (on discrete inputs) is polynomial-time equivalent to PosSLP, when there are only algebraic constants. We conjecture that using transcendental constants provides no additional power, beyond nonuniform...... reductions to PosSLP, and we present some preliminary results supporting this conjecture. • The Generic Task of Numerical Computation is also polynomial-time equivalent to PosSLP. We prove that PosSLP lies in the counting hierarchy. Combining this with work of Tiwari, we obtain that the Euclidean Traveling......We study two quite different approaches to understanding the complexity of fundamental problems in numerical analysis: • The Blum-Shub-Smale model of computation over the reals. • A problem we call the “Generic Task of Numerical Computation,” which captures an aspect of doing numerical computation...

Surface Displacement Field of a Coated Elastic Half-Space Under the Influence of a Moving Distributional Load

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Onur Şahin

2017-04-01

Full Text Available An analysis of the distributed moving load along the surface of a coated half space is presented. The formulation of the problem depends on the hyperbolic-elliptic asymptotic model developed earlier by the authors. The integral solution of the longitudinal and transverse displacements along the surface for the sub and super-Rayleigh cases are obtained by using the uniform stationary phase method. Numerical comparisons of the exact and asymptotic solutions of the longitudinal displacement are illustrated for the certain cross-sections of the profile.

Reflection of Plane Waves in Generalized Thermoelastic Half Space under the Action of Uniform Magnetic Field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narottam Maity

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Reflection of longitudinal displacement waves in a generalized thermoelastic half space under the action of uniform magnetic field has been investigated. The magnetic field is applied in such a direction that the problem can be considered as a two-dimensional one. The discussion is based on the three theories of generalized thermoelasticity: Lord-Shulman (L-S, Green-Lindsay (G-L, and Green-Naghdi (G-N with energy dissipation. We compute the possible wave velocities for different models. Amplitude ratios have been presented. The effects of magnetic field on various subjects of interest are discussed and shown graphically.

Implications for space radiation environment models from CREAM and CREDO measurements over half a solar cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyer, C.S.; Truscott, P.R.; Peerless, C.L.; Watson, C.J.; Evans, H.E.; Knight, P.; Cosby, M.; Underwood, C.; Cousins, T.; Noulty, R.; Maag, C.

1999-01-01

Flight data obtained between 1990 and 1997 from the Cosmic Radiation Environment Monitors CREAM and CREDO carried on UoSAT-3, Space Shuttle, STRV-1a (Space Technology Research Vehicle) and APEX (Advanced Photovoltaic and Electronics Experiment Spacecraft) provide coverage over half a solar cycle. The modulation of cosmic rays and evolution of the South Atlantic Anomaly are observed, the former comprising a factor of three increase at high latitudes and the latter a general increase accompanied by a north-westward drift. Comparison of particle fluxes and linear energy transfer (LET) spectra is made with improved environment and radiation transport calculations which account for shield distributions and secondary particles. While there is an encouraging convergence between predictions and observations, significant improvements are still required, particularly in the treatment of locally produced secondary particles. Solar-particle events during this time period have LET spectra significantly below the October 1989 event which has been proposed as a worst case model

The part task of the part-spacing paradigm is not a pure measurement of part-based information of faces.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Zhu

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Faces are arguably one of the most important object categories encountered by human observers, yet they present one of the most difficult challenges to both the human and artificial visual systems. A variety of experimental paradigms have been developed to study how faces are represented and recognized, among which is the part-spacing paradigm. This paradigm is presumed to characterize the processing of both the featural and configural information of faces, and it has become increasingly popular for testing hypotheses on face specificity and in the diagnosis of face perception in cognitive disorders. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In two experiments we questioned the validity of the part task of this paradigm by showing that, in this task, measuring pure information about face parts is confounded by the effect of face configuration on the perception of those parts. First, we eliminated or reduced contributions from face configuration by either rearranging face parts into a non-face configuration or by removing the low spatial frequencies of face images. We found that face parts were no longer sensitive to inversion, suggesting that the previously reported inversion effect observed in the part task was due in fact to the presence of face configuration. Second, self-reported prosopagnosic patients who were selectively impaired in the holistic processing of faces failed to detect part changes when face configurations were presented. When face configurations were scrambled, however, their performance was as good as that of normal controls. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In sum, consistent evidence from testing both normal and prosopagnosic subjects suggests the part task of the part-spacing paradigm is not an appropriate task for either measuring how face parts alone are processed or for providing a valid contrast to the spacing task. Therefore, conclusions from previous studies using the part-spacing paradigm may need re-evaluation with

First Half Of CMS Hadron Calorimeter Completed

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

CMS HCAL electronics coordinator John Elias from Fermilab inspecting the assembled first half of the calorimeter. The first half barrel of the CMS hadron calorimeter was completed last month and assembly work on the elements of the second half commenced just last week. This is not a simple task considering the fact that the constructed half-barrel consists of eighteen 30 tonne segments each made with 0.15 mm tolerance. But through the work of everyone on the CMS hadron calorimeter team it is all moving forward. In the LHC, detection of particles produced in collisions of two proton beams requires measurement of their energy. To do this, the particle energy has to be changed into a form that can be easily measured. This is achieved by stopping the initial particles in a dense medium, where they create a shower of secondary particles. While particles that interact through electromagnetic forces (electrons and positrons) create relatively small showers, the size of showers created by hadrons, particles that i...

Analysis of Load-Carrying Capacity for Redundant Free-Floating Space Manipulators in Trajectory Tracking Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingxuan Jia

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze load-carrying capacity of redundant free-floating space manipulators (FFSM in trajectory tracking task. Combined with the analysis of influential factors in load-carrying process, evaluation of maximum load-carrying capacity (MLCC is described as multiconstrained nonlinear programming problem. An efficient algorithm based on repeated line search within discontinuous feasible region is presented to determine MLCC for a given trajectory of the end-effector and corresponding joint path. Then, considering the influence of MLCC caused by different initial configurations for the starting point of given trajectory, a kind of maximum payload initial configuration planning method is proposed by using PSO algorithm. Simulations are performed for a particular trajectory tracking task of the 7-DOF space manipulator, of which MLCC is evaluated quantitatively. By in-depth research of the simulation results, significant gap between the values of MLCC when using different initial configurations is analyzed, and the discontinuity of allowable load-carrying capacity is illustrated. The proposed analytical method can be taken as theoretical foundation of feasibility analysis, trajectory optimization, and optimal control of trajectory tracking task in on-orbit load-carrying operations.

Spontaneous radiation of a chiral molecule located near a half-space of a bi-isotropic material

Science.gov (United States)

Guzatov, D. V.; Klimov, V. V.; Poprukailo, N. S.

2013-04-01

Analytical expressions for the rate of spontaneous emission from a chiral (optically active) molecule located near a half-space occupied by a chiral (bi-isotropic) material have been obtained and analyzed in detail. It is established that the rates of spontaneous emission from the "right" and "left" enantiomers of molecules occurring near the chiral medium may significantly differ in cases of chiral materials with (i) both negative dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability (DNG metamaterial) and (ii) negative permeability and positive permittivity (MNG metamaterial). Based on this phenomenon, DMG and MNG metamaterials can be used to create devices capable of separating right and left enantiomers in racemic mixtures.

Spontaneous radiation of a chiral molecule located near a half-space of a bi-isotropic material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guzatov, D. V., E-mail: vklimov@sci.lebedev.ru [Yanka Kupala Grodno State University (Belarus); Klimov, V. V., E-mail: klimov256@gmail.com [Russian Academy of Sciences, Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Federation); Poprukailo, N. S. [Yanka Kupala Grodno State University (Belarus)

2013-04-15

Analytical expressions for the rate of spontaneous emission from a chiral (optically active) molecule located near a half-space occupied by a chiral (bi-isotropic) material have been obtained and analyzed in detail. It is established that the rates of spontaneous emission from the 'right' and 'left' enantiomers of molecules occurring near the chiral medium may significantly differ in cases of chiral materials with (i) both negative dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability (DNG metamaterial) and (ii) negative permeability and positive permittivity (MNG metamaterial). Based on this phenomenon, DMG and MNG metamaterials can be used to create devices capable of separating right and left enantiomers in racemic mixtures.

Spontaneous radiation of a chiral molecule located near a half-space of a bi-isotropic material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzatov, D. V.; Klimov, V. V.; Poprukailo, N. S.

2013-01-01

Analytical expressions for the rate of spontaneous emission from a chiral (optically active) molecule located near a half-space occupied by a chiral (bi-isotropic) material have been obtained and analyzed in detail. It is established that the rates of spontaneous emission from the “right” and “left” enantiomers of molecules occurring near the chiral medium may significantly differ in cases of chiral materials with (i) both negative dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability (DNG metamaterial) and (ii) negative permeability and positive permittivity (MNG metamaterial). Based on this phenomenon, DMG and MNG metamaterials can be used to create devices capable of separating right and left enantiomers in racemic mixtures.

Stereo visualization in the ground segment tasks of the science space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Korneva, Natalia; Nazarov, Vladimir; Mogilevsky, Mikhail; Nazirov, Ravil

The ground segment is one of the key components of any science space mission. Its functionality substantially defines the scientific effectiveness of the experiment as a whole. And it should be noted that its outstanding feature (in contrast to the other information systems of the scientific space projects) is interaction between researcher and project information system in order to interpret data being obtained during experiments. Therefore the ability to visualize the data being processed is essential prerequisite for ground segment's software and the usage of modern technological solutions and approaches in this area will allow increasing science return in general and providing a framework for new experiments creation. Mostly for the visualization of data being processed 2D and 3D graphics are used that is caused by the traditional visualization tools capabilities. Besides that the stereo data visualization methods are used actively in solving some tasks. However their usage is usually limited to such tasks as visualization of virtual and augmented reality, remote sensing data processing and suchlike. Low prevalence of stereo visualization methods in solving science ground segment tasks is primarily explained by extremely high cost of the necessary hardware. But recently appeared low cost hardware solutions for stereo visualization based on the page-flip method of views separation. In this case it seems promising to use the stereo visualization as an instrument for investigation of a wide range of problems, mainly for stereo visualization of complex physical processes as well as mathematical abstractions and models. The article is concerned with an attempt to use this approach. It describes the details and problems of using stereo visualization (page-flip method based on NVIDIA 3D Vision Kit, graphic processor GeForce) for display of some datasets of magnetospheric satellite onboard measurements and also in development of the software for manual stereo matching.

Prospective memory in young and older adults: the effects of task importance and ongoing task load.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Rebekah E; Hunt, R Reed

2014-01-01

Remembering to perform an action in the future, called prospective memory, often shows age-related differences in favor of young adults when tested in the laboratory. Recently Smith, Horn, and Bayen (2012; Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 19, 495) embedded a PM task in an ongoing color-matching task and manipulated the difficulty of the ongoing task by varying the number of colors on each trial of the task. Smith et al. found that age-related differences in PM performance (lower PM performance for older adults relative to young adults) persisted even when older adults could perform the ongoing task as well or better than the young adults. The current study investigates a possible explanation for the pattern of results reported by Smith et al. by including a manipulation of task emphasis: for half of the participants the prospective memory task was emphasize, while for the other half the ongoing color-matching task was emphasized. Older adults performed a 4-color version of the ongoing color-matching task, while young adults completed either the 4-color or a more difficult 6-color version of the ongoing task. Older adults failed to perform as well as the young adults on the prospective memory task regardless of task emphasis, even when older adults were performing as well or better than the young adults on the ongoing color-matching task. The current results indicate that the lack of an effect of ongoing task load on prospective memory task performance is not due to a perception that one or the other task is more important than the other.

THE STRESS-STRAIN STATE OF ELASTIC HALF-SPACE FROM RUNNING LINEAR LOAD ACTING ON THE LIMITED AND UNLIMITED EXTENT OVER ITS SURFACE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. K. Badalakha

2009-02-01

Full Text Available The article shows the result of solving the problem of stress-strain state of an elastic half-space because of the load action that uniformly distributed over the line, with the use of untraditional linear dependence of deformations on stressed state that is different from the generalized Hooke’s law.

Half-space problem of unsteady evaporation and condensation of polyatomic gas

Science.gov (United States)

Inaba, Masashi; Yano, Takeru

2016-11-01

On the basis of polyatomic version of the ellipsoidal-statistical Bhatnager-Gross-Krook (ES-BGK) model, we consider time-periodic gas flows in a semi-infinite expanse of an initially equilibrium polyatomic gas (methanol) bounded by its planar condensed phase. The kinetic boundary condition at the vapor-liquid interface is assumed to be the complete condensation condition with periodically time-varying macroscopic variables (temperature, saturated vapor density and velocity of the interface), and the boundary condition at infinity is the local equilibrium distribution function. The time scale of variation of macroscopic variables is assumed to be much larger than the mean free time of gas molecules, and the variations of those from a reference state are assumed to be sufficiently small. We numerically investigate thus formulated time-dependent half-space problem for the polyatomic version of linearized ES-BGK model equation with the finite difference method for the case of the Strouhal number Sh=0.01 and 0.1. It is shown that the amplitude of the mass flux at the interface is the maximum, and the phase difference in time between the mass flux and v∞ - vℓ (v∞: vapor velocity at infinity, vℓ: velocity of the vapor-liquid interface) is the minimum absolute value, when the phase difference in time between the liquid surface temperature (the saturated vapor density) and the velocity of interface is close to zero.

On the Far-Zone Electromagnetic Field of a Horizontal Electric Dipole Over an Imperfectly Conducting Half-Space With Extensions to Plasmonics

Science.gov (United States)

Michalski, Krzysztof A.; Lin, Hung-I.

2018-01-01

Second-order asymptotic formulas for the electromagnetic fields of a horizontal electric dipole over an imperfectly conducting half-space are derived using the modified saddle-point method. Application examples are presented for ordinary and plasmonic media, and the accuracy of the new formulation is assessed by comparisons with two alternative state-of-the-art theories and with the rigorous results of numerical integration.

Casimir friction between polarizable particle and half-space with radiation damping at zero temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Høye, J S; I Brevik; Milton, K A

2015-01-01

Casimir friction between a polarizable particle and a semi-infinite space is a delicate physical phenomenon, as it concerns the interaction between a microscopic quantum particle and a semi-infinite reservoir. Not unexpectedly, results obtained in the past about the friction force obtained via different routes are sometimes, at least apparently, wildly different from each other. Recently, we considered the Casimir friction force for two dielectric semi-infinite plates moving parallel to each other Høye and Brevik (2014 Eur. Phys. J. D 68 61), and managed to get essential agreement with results obtained by Pendry (1997 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 9 10301), Volokitin and Persson (2007 Rev. Mod. Phys. 79 1291), and Barton (2011 New J. Phys. 13 043023; 2011 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 23 335004). Our method was based upon use of the Kubo formalism. In the present paper we focus on the interaction between a polarizable particle and a dielectric half-space again, and calculate the friction force using the same basic method as before. The new ingredient in the present analysis is that we take into account radiative damping, and derive the modifications thereof. Some comparisons are also made with works from others. Essential agreement with the results of Intravaia, Behunin, and Dalvit can also be achieved using the modification of the atomic polarizability by the metallic plate. (paper)

Particle in the magnetic field: 2D Riemann spherical space and complex analogue of the Poincare half-plane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Red'kov, V.M.; Ovsiyuk, E.M.; Ishkhanyan, A.M.

2013-01-01

The Schrodinger particle on the background of the 2D space of the constant positive curvature S 2 , a sphere in the 3D Euclidean space, is considered in the external magnetic field. By analogy with the case of the hyperbolic Lobachevsky plane H 2 , where quasi-Cartesian coordinates exist with the realization of H 2 as the Poincare half-plane, a specific system of quasi-Cartesian coordinates (x, y) in S 2 is introduced. It turns out that it is possible only if the two coordinates are complex and obey an additional restriction in order to present a real 2D space. The Schrodinger equation is solved using the method of separation of the variables in the both coordinate systems, cylindrical and quasi-Cartesian, the energy spectrum is the same. For parametrization of the space S 2 , one can use the coordinates (x, x*) or (y, y*), however, in this case the separability of the variables in the wave functions is lost. Constructed solutions may be of interest for describing charged particles in magnetic fields in the context of cosmological models, and for simulating the behavior of the particles in a specific field-configuration in the nano-physics. (authors)

The energy spectrum of electromagnetic normal modes in dissipative media: modes between two metal half spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sernelius, Bo E

2008-01-01

The energy spectrum of electromagnetic normal modes plays a central role in the theory of the van der Waals and Casimir interaction. Here we study the modes in connection with the van der Waals interaction between two metal half spaces. Neglecting dissipation leads to distinct normal modes with real-valued frequencies. Including dissipation seems to have the effect that these distinct modes move away from the real axis into the complex frequency plane. The summation of the zero-point energies of these modes render a complex-valued result. Using the contour integration, resulting from the use of the generalized argument principle, gives a real-valued and different result. We resolve this contradiction and show that the spectrum of true normal modes forms a continuum with real frequencies

Idiosyncratic representation of peripersonal space depends on the success of one's own motor actions, but also the successful actions of others!

Science.gov (United States)

Coello, Yann; Quesque, François; Gigliotti, Maria-Francesca; Ott, Laurent; Bruyelle, Jean-Luc

2018-01-01

Peripersonal space is a multisensory representation of the environment around the body in relation to the motor system, underlying the interactions with the physical and social world. Although changing body properties and social context have been shown to alter the functional processing of space, little is known about how changing the value of objects influences the representation of peripersonal space. In two experiments, we tested the effect of modifying the spatial distribution of reward-yielding targets on manual reaching actions and peripersonal space representation. Before and after performing a target-selection task consisting of manually selecting a set of targets on a touch-screen table, participants performed a two-alternative forced-choice reachability-judgment task. In the target-selection task, half of the targets were associated with a reward (change of colour from grey to green, providing 1 point), the other half being associated with no reward (change of colour from grey to red, providing no point). In Experiment 1, the target-selection task was performed individually with the aim of maximizing the point count, and the distribution of the reward-yielding targets was either 50%, 25% or 75% in the proximal and distal spaces. In Experiment 2, the target-selection task was performed in a social context involving cooperation between two participants to maximize the point count, and the distribution of the reward-yielding targets was 50% in the proximal and distal spaces. Results showed that changing the distribution of the reward-yielding targets or introducing the social context modified concurrently the amplitude of self-generated manual reaching actions and the representation of peripersonal space. Moreover, a decrease of the amplitude of manual reaching actions caused a reduction of peripersonal space when resulting from the distribution of reward-yielding targets, while this effect was not observed in a social interaction context. In that case, the

The Half-Half Plot

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Einmahl, J.H.J.; Gantner, M.

2009-01-01

The Half-Half (HH) plot is a new graphical method to investigate qualitatively the shape of a regression curve. The empirical HH-plot counts observations in the lower and upper quarter of a strip that moves horizontally over the scatter plot. The plot displays jumps clearly and reveals further

The half-half plot

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Einmahl, J.H.J.; Gantner, M.

2012-01-01

The Half-Half (HH) plot is a new graphical method to investigate qualitatively the shape of a regression curve. The empirical HH-plot counts observations in the lower and upper quarter of a strip that moves horizontally over the scatterplot. The plot displays jumps clearly and reveals further

Diffraction of love waves by two staggered perfectly weak half-planes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asghar, S.; Zaman, F.D.; Sajida Asghar

1989-01-01

Love wave travelling in a layer of uniform thickness overlying a half-space is assumed to be incident on two parallel but staggered perfectly weak half-planes lying in the upper layer. The diffracted fields is calculated using the modified Wiener-Hopf technique and contour integration method. The diffracted waves satisfy the dispersion relations appropriate to different regions formed by the perfectly weak half-planes

Space space space

CERN Document Server

Trembach, Vera

2014-01-01

Space is an introduction to the mysteries of the Universe. Included are Task Cards for independent learning, Journal Word Cards for creative writing, and Hands-On Activities for reinforcing skills in Math and Language Arts. Space is a perfect introduction to further research of the Solar System.

Industrializing the near-earth asteroids: Speculations on human activities in space in the latter half of the 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Sercel, Joel C.

1990-01-01

The use of solar system resources for human industry can be viewed as a natural extension of the continual growth of our species' habitat. Motivations for human activities in space can be discussed in terms of five distinct areas: (1) information processing and collection; (2) materials processing; (3) energy production to meet terrestrial power needs; (4) the use of extraterrestrial materials; and (5) disaster avoidance. When considering 21st-Century activities in space, each of these basic motivations must be treated in light of issues likely to be relevant to the 21st-Century earth. Many of the problems facing 21st-Century earth may stem from the need to maintain the world population of 8 to 10 billion people as is projected from expected growth rates. These problems are likely to include managing the impact of industrial processes on the terrestrial biosphere while providing adequate energy production and material goods for the growing population. The most important human activities in space in the latter half of the 21st Century may be associated with harnessing the resources of the near-earth asteroids for industrial processes. These above topics are discussed with an emphasis on space industrialization.

Telerobotic control of a dextrous manipulator using master and six-DOF hand-controllers for space assembly and servicing tasks

Science.gov (United States)

O'Hara, John M.

1987-01-01

Two studies were conducted evaluating methods of controlling a telerobot; bilateral force reflecting master controllers and proportional rate six degrees of freedom (DOF) hand controllers. The first study compared the controllers on performance of single manipulator arm tasks, a peg-in-the-hole task, and simulated satellite orbital replacement unit changeout. The second study, a Space Station truss assembly task, required simultaneous operation of both manipulator arms (all 12 DOFs) and complex multiaxis slave arm movements. Task times were significantly longer and fewer errors were committed with the hand controllers. The hand controllers were also rated significantly higher in cognitive and manual control workload on the two-arm task. The master controllers were rated significantly higher in physical workload. There were no significant differences in ratings of manipulator control quality.

Steady sliding frictional contact problem for a 2d elastic half-space with a discontinuous friction coefficient and related stress singularities

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Patrick

2016-12-01

The steady sliding frictional contact problem between a moving rigid indentor of arbitrary shape and an isotropic homogeneous elastic half-space in plane strain is extensively analysed. The case where the friction coefficient is a step function (with respect to the space variable), that is, where there are jumps in the friction coefficient, is considered. The problem is put under the form of a variational inequality which is proved to always have a solution which, in addition, is unique in some cases. The solutions exhibit different kinds of universal singularities that are explicitly given. In particular, it is shown that the nature of the universal stress singularity at a jump of the friction coefficient is different depending on the sign of the jump.

Deformation of a flexible disk bonded to an elastic half space-application to the lung.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai-Fook, S J; Hajji, M A; Wilson, T A

1980-08-01

An analysis is presented of the deformation of a homogeneous, isotropic, elastic half space subjected to a constant radial strain in a circular area on the boundary. Explicit analytic expressions for the normal and radial displacements and the shear stress on the boundary are used to interpret experiments performed on inflated pig lungs. The boundary strain was induced by inflating or deflating the lung after bonding a flexible disk to the lung surface. The prediction that the surface bulges outward for positive boundary strain and inward for negative strain was observed in the experiments. Poisson's ratio at two transpulmonary pressures was measured, by use of the normal displacement equation evaluated at the surface. A direct estimate of Poisson's ratio was possible because the normal displacement of the surface depended uniquely on the compressibility of the material. Qualitative comparisons between theory and experiment support the use of continuum analyses in evaluating the behavior of the lung parenchyma when subjected to small local distortions.

Inverse scattering of a layered and dispersionless dielectric half-space - 1. reflection data from plane waves at normal incidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coen, S.

1981-01-01

The theory given by Moses and deRidder is modified so that the derivative of the solution of the Gelfand-Levitan integral equation is not required. Based on this modification, a numerical procedure is developed which approximately constructs the dielectric profile of the layered half-space from the impulse response. Moreover, an inverse scattering theory is developed for a Goupillaud-type dielectric medium, and a fast numerical procedure based on the Berryman and Greene algorithm is presented. The performance of the numerical algorithms is examined by applying them to pecise and imprecise artificial impulse response data. 11 refs

Diffraction of love waves by two parallel perfectly weak half planes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asghar, S.; Zaman, F.D.; Ayub, M.

1986-04-01

We consider the diffraction of Love waves by two parallel perfectly weak half planes in a layer overlying a half space. The problem is formulated in terms of the Wiener-Hopf equations in the transformed plane. The transmitted waves are then calculated using the Wiener-Hopf procedure and inverse transforms. (author)

Fast half-sibling population reconstruction: theory and algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Dexter, Daniel; Brown, Daniel G

2013-07-12

Kinship inference is the task of identifying genealogically related individuals. Kinship information is important for determining mating structures, notably in endangered populations. Although many solutions exist for reconstructing full sibling relationships, few exist for half-siblings. We consider the problem of determining whether a proposed half-sibling population reconstruction is valid under Mendelian inheritance assumptions. We show that this problem is NP-complete and provide a 0/1 integer program that identifies the minimum number of individuals that must be removed from a population in order for the reconstruction to become valid. We also present SibJoin, a heuristic-based clustering approach based on Mendelian genetics, which is strikingly fast. The software is available at http://github.com/ddexter/SibJoin.git+. Our SibJoin algorithm is reasonably accurate and thousands of times faster than existing algorithms. The heuristic is used to infer a half-sibling structure for a population which was, until recently, too large to evaluate.

Interaction between a punch and an arbitrary crack or inclusion in a transversely isotropic half-space

Science.gov (United States)

Fabrikant, I.; Karapetian, E.; Kalinin, S. V.

2018-02-01

We consider the problem of an arbitrary shaped rigid punch pressed against the boundary of a transversely isotropic half-space and interacting with an arbitrary flat crack or inclusion, located in the plane parallel to the boundary. The set of governing integral equations is derived for the most general conditions, namely the presence of both normal and tangential stresses under the punch, as well as general loading of the crack faces. In order to verify correctness of the derivations, two different methods were used to obtain governing integral equations: generalized method of images and utilization of the reciprocal theorem. Both methods gave the same results. Axisymmetric coaxial case of interaction between a rigid inclusion and a flat circular punch both centered along the z-axis is considered as an illustrative example. Most of the final results are presented in terms of elementary functions.

Endomorphisms on half-sided modular inclusions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svegstrup, Rolf Dyre

2006-01-01

In algebraic quantum field theory we consider nets of von Neumann algebras indexed over regions of the space time. Wiesbrock [''Conformal quantum field theory and half-sided modular inclusions of von Neumann algebras,'' Commun. Math. Phys. 158, 537-543 (1993)] has shown that strongly additive nets of von Neumann algebras on the circle are in correspondence with standard half-sided modular inclusions. We show that a finite index endomorphism on a half-sided modular inclusion extends to a finite index endomorphism on the corresponding net of von Neumann algebras on the circle. Moreover, we present another approach to encoding endomorphisms on nets of von Neumann algebras on the circle into half-sided modular inclusions. There is a natural way to associate a weight to a Moebius covariant endomorphism. The properties of this weight have been studied by Bertozzini et al. [''Covariant sectors with infinite dimension and positivity of the energy,'' Commun. Math. Phys. 193, 471-492 (1998)]. In this paper we show the converse, namely, how to associate a Moebius covariant endomorphism to a given weight under certain assumptions, thus obtaining a correspondence between a class of weights on a half-sided modular inclusion and a subclass of the Moebius covariant endomorphisms on the associated net of von Neumann algebras. This allows us to treat Moebius covariant endomorphisms in terms of weights on half-sided modular inclusions. As our aim is to provide a framework for treating endomorphisms on nets of von Neumann algebras in terms of the apparently simpler objects of weights on half-sided modular inclusions, we lastly give some basic results for manipulations with such weights

Wave propagation through a flexoelectric piezoelectric slab sandwiched by two piezoelectric half-spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, Fengyu; Wei, Peijun; Li, Yueqiu

2018-01-01

Reflection and transmission of plane waves through a flexoelectric piezoelectric slab sandwiched by two piezoelectric half-spaces are studied in this paper. The secular equations in the flexoelectric piezoelectric material are first derived from the general governing equation. Different from the classical piezoelectric medium, there are five kinds of coupled elastic waves in the piezoelectric material with the microstructure effects taken into consideration. The state vectors are obtained by the summation of contributions from all possible partial waves. The state transfer equation of flexoelectric piezoelectric slab is derived from the motion equation by the reduction of order, and the transfer matrix of flexoelectric piezoelectric slab is obtained by solving the state transfer equation. By using the continuous conditions at the interface and the approach of partition matrix, we get the resultant algebraic equations in term of the transfer matrix from which the reflection and transmission coefficients can be calculated. The amplitude ratios and further the energy flux ratios of various waves are evaluated numerically. The numerical results are shown graphically and are validated by the energy conservation law. Based on these numerical results, the influences of two characteristic lengths of microstructure and the flexoelectric coefficients on the wave propagation are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

RELOCATION OF HOME APPLIANCES FACTORY BY USING SYSTEMATICAL LAYOUT PLANNING (SLP COMBINED WITH FLOW ANALYSIS AND ASSEMBLY PROCESS DESIGN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yosef Adji Baskoro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Every manufacturing company must have experiencing building a layout. Fred.E Meyers has stated that only death and taxes are certain, there exist a third certainty-a plant layout will change, thus many methods to generate layout are established and each has its own purposes and benefits. This research focused on the design of manufacturing facilities supported by in-depth analysis of Assembly process design with a high stresses on the Systematical Layout Planning ( SLP and Flow Analysis method to facilitate an outcome of layout accordingly to the system needs. This is a real case study conducts with an objective of generating a recommendation layout for Home Appliances Company specifically for television plant

CETF Space Station payload pointing system design and analysis feasibility study. [Critical Evaluation Task Force

Science.gov (United States)

Smagala, Tom; Mcglew, Dave

1988-01-01

The expected pointing performance of an attached payload coupled to the Critical Evaluation Task Force Space Station via a payload pointing system (PPS) is determined. The PPS is a 3-axis gimbal which provides the capability for maintaining inertial pointing of a payload in the presence of disturbances associated with the Space Station environment. A system where the axes of rotation were offset from the payload center of mass (CM) by 10 in. in the Z axis was studied as well as a system having the payload CM offset by only 1 inch. There is a significant improvement in pointing performance when going from the 10 in. to the 1 in. gimbal offset.

Exploration of BEOL line-space patterning options at 12 nm half-pitch and below

Science.gov (United States)

Decoster, S.; Lazzarino, F.; Petersen Barbosa Lima, L.; Li, W.; Versluijs, J.; Halder, S.; Mallik, A.; Murdoch, G.

2018-03-01

While the semiconductor industry is almost ready for high-volume manufacturing of the 7 nm technology node, research centers are defining and troubleshooting the patterning options for the 5 nm technology node (N5) and below. The target dimension for imec's N5 BEOL applications is 20-24 nm Metal Pitch (MP), which requires Self-Aligned multiple (Double/Quadruple/Octuple) Patterning approaches (SAxP) in combination with EUV or immersion lithography at 193 nm. There are numerous technical challenges to enable gratings at the hard mask level such as good uniformity across wafer, low line edge/width roughness (LER/LWR), large process window, and all of this at low cost. An even greater challenge is to transfer these gratings into the dielectric material at such critical dimensions, where increased line edge roughness, line wiggling and even pattern collapse can be expected for materials with small mechanical stability such as highly porous low-k dielectrics. In this work we first compare three different patterning options for 12 nm half-pitch gratings at the hard mask level: EUV-based SADP and 193i-based SAQP and SAOP. This comparison will be based on process window, line edge/width roughness and cost. Next, the transfer of 12 nm line/space gratings in the dielectric material is discussed and presented. The LER of the dielectric lines is investigated as a function of the dielectric material, the trench depth, and the stress in the sacrificial hard mask. Finally, we elaborate on the different options to enable scaling down from 24 nm MP to 16 nm MP, and demonstrate 8 nm line/space gratings with 193i-based SAOP.

Dynamic Sensor Tasking for Space Situational Awareness via Reinforcement Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Linares, R.; Furfaro, R.

2016-09-01

This paper studies the Sensor Management (SM) problem for optical Space Object (SO) tracking. The tasking problem is formulated as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and solved using Reinforcement Learning (RL). The RL problem is solved using the actor-critic policy gradient approach. The actor provides a policy which is random over actions and given by a parametric probability density function (pdf). The critic evaluates the policy by calculating the estimated total reward or the value function for the problem. The parameters of the policy action pdf are optimized using gradients with respect to the reward function. Both the critic and the actor are modeled using deep neural networks (multi-layer neural networks). The policy neural network takes the current state as input and outputs probabilities for each possible action. This policy is random, and can be evaluated by sampling random actions using the probabilities determined by the policy neural network's outputs. The critic approximates the total reward using a neural network. The estimated total reward is used to approximate the gradient of the policy network with respect to the network parameters. This approach is used to find the non-myopic optimal policy for tasking optical sensors to estimate SO orbits. The reward function is based on reducing the uncertainty for the overall catalog to below a user specified uncertainty threshold. This work uses a 30 km total position error for the uncertainty threshold. This work provides the RL method with a negative reward as long as any SO has a total position error above the uncertainty threshold. This penalizes policies that take longer to achieve the desired accuracy. A positive reward is provided when all SOs are below the catalog uncertainty threshold. An optimal policy is sought that takes actions to achieve the desired catalog uncertainty in minimum time. This work trains the policy in simulation by letting it task a single sensor to "learn" from its performance

Walking and non-walking space in an equivalent virtual reality task: Sexual dimorphism and aging decline of spatial abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Tascón, Laura; Castillo, Joaquín; León, Irene; Cimadevilla, José Manuel

2018-07-16

Spatial memory enables us to locate places and objects in space, to determine our position and manage spatial relationships in our environment. Our operations are displayed in a space that sometimes is inaccessible. In this case, the impossibility of movement within the context forces individuals to rely on the information gathered from limited viewpoints. This study investigates the use of walking and non-walking spaces using two equivalent virtual reality tasks in which displacement is only permitted in one of them. One hundred and fifty participants were divided into three age groups: 50-59, 60-69 and 70-79 year-old subjects. The starting position changed pseudo-randomly and two difficulty levels were set, with one and three positions to be found. Results provided evidence for 70-79 year-old people impairment of their spatial abilities compared with 50-59 and 60-69 year-old groups. In both difficulty conditions, participants made more errors in the non-walking space than in the walking space. All participants showed an improvement in the last trials of the task. Moreover, sexual dimorphism was registered in the high level of difficulty, in which men outperformed women. This study supports the idea that aging impairs the organization of spatial representations of the environment, and that this aspect is more noticeable in conditions where displacement is limited. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scattering of electromagnetic waves from a half-space of randomly distributed discrete scatterers and polarized backscattering ratio law

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, P. Y.

1991-01-01

The effective-medium approximation is applied to investigate scattering from a half-space of randomly and densely distributed discrete scatterers. Starting from vector wave equations, an approximation, called effective-medium Born approximation, a particular way, treating Green's functions, and special coordinates, of which the origin is set at the field point, are used to calculate the bistatic- and back-scatterings. An analytic solution of backscattering with closed form is obtained and it shows a depolarization effect. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements in the cases of snow, multi- and first-year sea-ice. The root product ratio of polarization to depolarization in backscattering is equal to 8; this result constitutes a law about polarized scattering phenomena in the nature.

Indentation theory on a half-space of transversely isotropic multi-ferroic composite medium: sliding friction effect

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, F.; Wu, T.-H.; Li, X.-Y.

2018-03-01

This article aims to present a systematic indentation theory on a half-space of multi-ferroic composite medium with transverse isotropy. The effect of sliding friction between the indenter and substrate is taken into account. The cylindrical flat-ended indenter is assumed to be electrically/magnetically conducting or insulating, which leads to four sets of mixed boundary-value problems. The indentation forces in the normal and tangential directions are related to the Coulomb friction law. For each case, the integral equations governing the contact behavior are developed by means of the generalized method of potential theory, and the corresponding coupling field is obtained in terms of elementary functions. The effect of sliding on the contact behavior is investigated. Finite element method (FEM) in the context of magneto-electro-elasticity is developed to discuss the validity of the analytical solutions. The obtained analytical solutions may serve as benchmarks to various simplified analyses and numerical codes and as a guide for future experimental studies.

A Potential Method for Body and Surface Wave Propagation in Transversely Isotropic Half- and Full-Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Raoofian Naeeni

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The problem of propagation of plane wave including body and surface waves propagating in a transversely isotropic half-space with a depth-wise axis of material symmetry is investigated in details. Using the advantage of representation of displacement fields in terms of two complete scalar potential functions, the coupled equations of motion are uncoupled and reduced to two independent equations for potential functions. In this paper, the secular equations for determination of body and surface wave velocities are derived in terms of both elasticity coefficients and the direction of propagation. In particular, the longitudinal, transverse and Rayleigh wave velocities are determined in explicit forms. It is also shown that in transversely isotropic materials, a Rayleigh wave may propagate in different manner from that of isotropic materials. Some numerical results for synthetic transversely isotropic materials are also illustrated to show the behavior of wave motion due to anisotropic nature of the problem.

Half-maximal supersymmetry from exceptional field theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malek, Emanuel [Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Department fuer Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany)

2017-10-15

We study D ≥ 4-dimensional half-maximal flux backgrounds using exceptional field theory. We define the relevant generalised structures and also find the integrability conditions which give warped half-maximal Minkowski{sub D} and AdS{sub D} vacua. We then show how to obtain consistent truncations of type II / 11-dimensional SUGRA which break half the supersymmetry. Such truncations can be defined on backgrounds admitting exceptional generalised SO(d - 1 - N) structures, where d = 11 - D, and N is the number of vector multiplets obtained in the lower-dimensional theory. Our procedure yields the most general embedding tensors satisfying the linear constraint of half-maximal gauged SUGRA. We use this to prove that all D ≥ 4 half-maximal warped AdS{sub D} and Minkowski{sub D} vacua of type II / 11-dimensional SUGRA admit a consistent truncation keeping only the gravitational supermultiplet. We also show to obtain heterotic double field theory from exceptional field theory and comment on the M-theory / heterotic duality. In five dimensions, we find a new SO(5, N) double field theory with a (6 + N)-dimensional extended space. Its section condition has one solution corresponding to 10-dimensional N = 1 supergravity and another yielding six-dimensional N = (2, 0) SUGRA. (copyright 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Exploring Interaction Space as Abstraction Mechanism for Task-Based User Interface Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, C. M.; Overgaard, M.; Pedersen, M. B.

2007-01-01

Designing a user interface is often a complex undertaking. Model-based user interface design is an approach where models and mappings between them form the basis for creating and specifying the design of a user interface. Such models usually include descriptions of the tasks of the prospective user......, but there is considerable variation in the other models that are employed. This paper explores the extent to which the notion of interaction space is useful as an abstraction mechanism to reduce the complexity of creating and specifying a user interface design. We present how we designed a specific user interface through...... mechanism that can help user interface designers exploit object-oriented analysis results and reduce the complexity of designing a user interface....

Half-and-Half Palatoplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Hyun Ho; Kang, In Sook; Rhie, Jong Won

2014-08-01

A 14-month-old child was diagnosed with a Veau Class II cleft palate. Von Langenbeck palatoplasty was performed for the right palate, and V-Y pushback palatoplasty was performed for the left palate. The child did not have a special problem during the surgery, and the authors were able to elongate the cleft by 10 mm. Contrary to preoperative concerns regarding the hybrid use of palatoplasties, the uvula and midline incisions remained balanced in the middle. The authors named this combination method "half-and-half palatoplasty" and plan to conduct a long-term follow up study as a potential solution that minimizes the complications of palatoplasty.

Propagation of waves in micropolar generalized thermoelastic materials with two temperatures bordered with layers or half-spaces of inviscid liquid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajneesh Kumar

Full Text Available The aim of the present paper is to study the propagation of Lamb waves in micropolar generalized thermoelastic solids with two temperatures bordered with layers or half-spaces of inviscid liquid subjected to stress-free boundary conditions in the context of Green and Lindsay (G-L theory. The secular equations for governing the symmetric and skew-symmetric leaky and nonleaky Lamb wave modes of propagation are derived. The computer simulated results with respect to phase velocity, attenuation coefficient, amplitudes of dilatation, microrotation vector and heat flux in case of symmetric and skew-symmetric modes have been depicted graphically. Moreover, some particular cases of interest have also been discussed.

Functional Task Test (FTT)

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomberg, Jacob J.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Peters, Brian T.; Rescheke, Millard F.; Wood, Scott; Lawrence, Emily; Koffman, Igor; Ploutz-Snyder, Lori; Spiering, Barry A.; Feeback, Daniel L.;

Reverse control for humanoid robot task recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Hak, Sovannara; Mansard, Nicolas; Stasse, Olivier; Laumond, Jean Paul

2012-12-01

Efficient methods to perform motion recognition have been developed using statistical tools. Those methods rely on primitive learning in a suitable space, for example, the latent space of the joint angle and/or adequate task spaces. Learned primitives are often sequential: A motion is segmented according to the time axis. When working with a humanoid robot, a motion can be decomposed into parallel subtasks. For example, in a waiter scenario, the robot has to keep some plates horizontal with one of its arms while placing a plate on the table with its free hand. Recognition can thus not be limited to one task per consecutive segment of time. The method presented in this paper takes advantage of the knowledge of what tasks the robot is able to do and how the motion is generated from this set of known controllers, to perform a reverse engineering of an observed motion. This analysis is intended to recognize parallel tasks that have been used to generate a motion. The method relies on the task-function formalism and the projection operation into the null space of a task to decouple the controllers. The approach is successfully applied on a real robot to disambiguate motion in different scenarios where two motions look similar but have different purposes.

Design course in space astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dean, A J; Perez-Fournon, I

2003-01-01

The aim of this course is to provide direct experience of collaboration with other European astronomy/space science students and to gain an insight into the establishment of ESA space science programmes. The first half of the course takes place in Southampton. The Southampton students work as a team to track a past ESA space science mission from initial conception through to final realization and operations. This is achieved through the study of the high quality documentation available in the form of ESA reports. Each student has well defined responsibilities within the team. The second half of the course takes place in Tenerife, at the University of La Laguna. Again the students are expected to complete a team study of a space science mission. This time, however, there are important differences: the study teams are now international, approximately half Southampton and half University of La Laguna students; and this time they are expected to design a completely new space astronomy mission with clearly specified scientific objectives and operational constraints

Using ADA Tasks to Simulate Operating Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

DeAcetis, Louis A.; Schmidt, Oron; Krishen, Kumar

1990-01-01

A method of simulating equipment using ADA tasks is discussed. Individual units of equipment are coded as concurrently running tasks that monitor and respond to input signals. This technique has been used in a simulation of the space-to-ground Communications and Tracking subsystem of Space Station Freedom.

Space engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Harold L.

1991-01-01

Human productivity was studied for extravehicular tasks performed in microgravity, particularly including in-space assembly of truss structures and other large objects. Human factors research probed the anthropometric constraints imposed on microgravity task performance and the associated workstation design requirements. Anthropometric experiments included reach envelope tests conducted using the 3-D Acoustic Positioning System (3DAPS), which permitted measuring the range of reach possible for persons using foot restraints in neutral buoyancy, both with and without space suits. Much neutral buoyancy research was conducted using the support of water to simulate the weightlessness environment of space. It became clear over time that the anticipated EVA requirement associated with the Space Station and with in-space construction of interplanetary probes would heavily burden astronauts, and remotely operated robots (teleoperators) were increasingly considered to absorb the workload. Experience in human EVA productivity led naturally to teleoperation research into the remote performance of tasks through human controlled robots.

Second AIAA/NASA USAF Symposium on Automation, Robotics and Advanced Computing for the National Space Program

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Dale

1987-01-01

An introduction is given to NASA goals in the development of automation (expert systems) and robotics technologies in the Space Station program. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been identified as a means to lowering ground support costs. Telerobotics will enhance space assembly, servicing and repair capabilities, and will be used for an estimated half of the necessary EVA tasks. The general principles guiding NASA in the design, development, ground-testing, interactions with industry and construction of the Space Station component systems are summarized. The telerobotics program has progressed to a point where a telerobot servicer is a firm component of the first Space Station element launch, to support assembly, maintenance and servicing of the Station. The University of Wisconsin has been selected for the establishment of a Center for the Commercial Development of Space, specializing in space automation and robotics.

Task-related modulation of visual neglect in cancellation tasks

OpenAIRE

Sarri, Margarita; Greenwood, Richard; Kalra, Lalit; Driver, Jon

2008-01-01

Unilateral neglect involves deficits of spatial exploration and awareness that do not always affect a fixed portion of extrapersonal space, but may vary with current stimulation and possibly with task demands. Here, we assessed any ‘top-down’, task-related influences on visual neglect, with novel experimental variants of the cancellation test. Many different versions of the cancellation test are used clinically, and can differ in the extent of neglect revealed, though the exact factors determ...

Managing the space sciences

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In April 1994 the National Research Council received a request from NASA that the NRC's Space Studies Board provide guidance on questions relating to the management of NASA's programs in the space sciences. The issues raised in the request closely reflect questions posed in the agency's fiscal year 1994 Senate appropriations report. These questions included the following: Should all the NASA space science programs be gathered into a 'National Institute for Space Science'? What other organizational changes might be made to improve the coordination and oversight of NASA space science programs? What processes should be used for establishing interdisciplinary science priorities based on scientific merit and other criteria, while ensuring opportunities for newer fields and disciplines to emerge? And what steps could be taken to improve utilization of advanced technologies in future space scienc missions? This report details the findings of the Committee on the Future of Space Science (FOSS) and its three task groups: the Task Group on Alternative Organizations, Task Group on Research Prioritization, and the Task Group on Technology.

70Z/3 Cbl induces PLC gamma 1 activation in T lymphocytes via an alternate Lat- and Slp-76-independent signaling mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Laurie J; Verí, Maria-Concetta; DeBell, Karen E; Noviello, Cristiana; Rawat, Rashmi; Jen, Sandy; Bonvini, Ezio; Rellahan, Barbara

2003-04-24

The oncoprotein 70Z/3 Cbl signals in an autonomous fashion or through blockade of endogenous c-Cbl, a negative regulator of signaling. The mechanism of 70Z/3 Cbl-induced signaling was investigated by comparing the molecular requirements for 70Z/3 Cbl- and TCR-induced phospholipase C gamma 1 (PLC gamma 1) activation. 70Z/3 Cbl-induced PLC gamma 1 tyrosine phosphorylation required, in addition to the PLC gamma 1 N-terminal SH2 domain, the C-terminal SH2 and SH3 domains that were dispensable for TCR-induced phosphorylation. Deletion of the leucine zipper of 70Z/3 Cbl did not eliminate 70Z/3 Cbl-induced PLC gamma 1 phosphorylation, suggesting that blockage of c-Cbl via dimerization with 70Z/3 Cbl cannot fully explain 70Z/3 Cbl activating characteristics. The complete elimination of PLC gamma 1 phosphorylation required deleting the SH3 domain-binding region of 70Z/3 Cbl, consistent with 70Z/3 Cbl binding the PLC gamma 1 SH3 domain. 70Z/3 Cbl-induced PLC gamma 1 phosphorylation required Zap-70, as for the TCR, and the tyrosine kinase binding domain of 70Z/3 Cbl, which binds Zap-70, but did not require PLC gamma 1 binding to Lat, a crucial interaction in TCR-induced PLC gamma 1 phosphorylation. Furthermore, 70Z/3 Cbl-induced activation of NFAT, a PLC gamma 1/Ca(2+)-dependent transcriptional event, required Zap-70, but was independent of Slp-76, an adapter required for TCR-induced NFAT activation. These results suggest that 70Z/3 Cbl and PLC gamma 1 form a TCR-, Lat- and Slp-76-independent complex that leads to PLC gamma 1 phosphorylation and activation.

Quasi-Stationary Temperature Field of Two-Layer Half-Space with Moving Boundary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. A. Vlasov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Due to intensive introduction of mathematical modeling methods into engineering practice, analytical methods for solving problems of heat conduction theory along with computational methods become increasingly important. Despite the well-known limitations of the analytical method applicability, this trend is caused by many reasons. In particular, solutions of the appropriate problems presented in analytically closed form can be used to test the new efficient computational algorithms, to carry out a parametric study of the temperature field of the analyzed system and to explore specific features of its formation, to formulate and solve optimization problems. In addition, these solutions allow us to explore the possibility for simplifying mathematical model with retaining its adequacy to the studied process.The main goal of the conducted research is to provide an analytically closed-form solution to the problem of finding the quasi-stationary temperature field of the system, which is simulated by isotropic half-space with isotropic coating of constant thickness. The outer boundary of this system is exposed to the Gaussian-type heat flux and uniformly moves in parallel with itself.A two-dimensional mathematical model that takes into account the axial symmetry of the studied process has been used. After the transition to a moving coordinate system rigidly associated with a moving boundary the Hankel integral transform of zero order (with respect to the radial variable and the Laplace transform (with respect to the temporal variable were used. Next, the image of the Hankel transform for the stationary temperature field of the system with respect to the moving coordinate system was found using a limit theorem of operational calculus. This allowed representing the required quasi-stationary field in the form of an improper integral of the first kind, which depends on the parameters. This result obtained can be used to conduct a parametric study and solve

Effects of two-temperature parameter and thermal nonlocal parameter on transient responses of a half-space subjected to ramp-type heating

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Zhang-Na; Yu, Ya-Jun; Tian, Xiao-Geng

2017-07-01

Based upon the coupled thermoelasticity and Green and Lindsay theory, the new governing equations of two-temperature thermoelastic theory with thermal nonlocal parameter is formulated. To more realistically model thermal loading of a half-space surface, a linear temperature ramping function is adopted. Laplace transform techniques are used to get the general analytical solutions in Laplace domain, and the inverse Laplace transforms based on Fourier expansion techniques are numerically implemented to obtain the numerical solutions in time domain. Specific attention is paid to study the effect of thermal nonlocal parameter, ramping time, and two-temperature parameter on the distributions of temperature, displacement and stress distribution.

Measurement of the topological charge and index of vortex vector optical fields with a space-variant half-wave plate.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Gui-Geng; Wang, Ke; Lee, Yun-Han; Wang, Dan; Li, Ping-Ping; Gou, Fangwang; Li, Yongnan; Tu, Chenghou; Wu, Shin-Tson; Wang, Hui-Tian

2018-02-15

Vortex vector optical fields (VVOFs) refer to a kind of vector optical field with an azimuth-variant polarization and a helical phase, simultaneously. Such a VVOF is defined by the topological index of the polarization singularity and the topological charge of the phase vortex. We present a simple method to measure the topological charge and index of VVOFs by using a space-variant half-wave plate (SV-HWP). The geometric phase grating of the SV-HWP diffracts a VVOF into ±1 orders with orthogonally left- and right-handed circular polarizations. By inserting a polarizer behind the SV-HWP, the two circular polarization states project into the linear polarization and then interfere with each other to form the interference pattern, which enables the direct measurement of the topological charge and index of VVOFs.

Development of the Plastic Melt Waste Compactor- Design and Fabrication of the Half-Scale Prototype

Science.gov (United States)

Pace, Gregory S.; Fisher, John

2005-01-01

A half scale version of a device called the Plastic Melt Waste Compactor prototype has been developed at NASA Ames Research Center to deal with plastic based wastes that are expected to be encountered in future human space exploration scenarios such as Lunar or Martian Missions. The Plastic Melt Waste Compactor design was based on the types of wastes produced on the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, MIR and Skylab missions. The half scale prototype unit will lead to the development of a full scale Plastic Melt Waste Compactor prototype that is representative of flight hardware that would be used on near and far term space missions. This report details the progress of the Plastic Melt Waste Compactor Development effort by the Solid Waste Management group at NASA Ames Research Center.

Heimdall System for MSSS Sensor Tasking

Science.gov (United States)

Herz, A.; Jones, B.; Herz, E.; George, D.; Axelrad, P.; Gehly, S.

In Norse Mythology, Heimdall uses his foreknowledge and keen eyesight to keep watch for disaster from his home near the Rainbow Bridge. Orbit Logic and the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR) at the University of Colorado (CU) have developed the Heimdall System to schedule observations of known and uncharacterized objects and search for new objects from the Maui Space Surveillance Site. Heimdall addresses the current need for automated and optimized SSA sensor tasking driven by factors associated with improved space object catalog maintenance. Orbit Logic and CU developed an initial baseline prototype SSA sensor tasking capability for select sensors at the Maui Space Surveillance Site (MSSS) using STK and STK Scheduler, and then added a new Track Prioritization Component for FiSST-inspired computations for predicted Information Gain and Probability of Detection, and a new SSA-specific Figure-of-Merit (FOM) for optimized SSA sensor tasking. While the baseline prototype addresses automation and some of the multi-sensor tasking optimization, the SSA-improved prototype addresses all of the key elements required for improved tasking leading to enhanced object catalog maintenance. The Heimdall proof-of-concept was demonstrated for MSSS SSA sensor tasking for a 24 hour period to attempt observations of all operational satellites in the unclassified NORAD catalog, observe a small set of high priority GEO targets every 30 minutes, make a sky survey of the GEO belt region accessible to MSSS sensors, and observe particular GEO regions that have a high probability of finding new objects with any excess sensor time. This Heimdall prototype software paves the way for further R&D that will integrate this technology into the MSSS systems for operational scheduling, improve the software's scalability, and further tune and enhance schedule optimization. The Heimdall software for SSA sensor tasking provides greatly improved performance over manual tasking, improved

Vision of Space Exploration Possibilities and limits of a human space conquest.

Science.gov (United States)

Zelenyi, Lev

Few generations of a schoolboys, which later become active and productive space researchers, have been brought up on a science fiction books. These books told us about travels to other Galaxies with velocities larger then velocity of light, meetings with friendly aliens (necessarily with communistic mentalities in Soviet Union books), star wars with ugly space monsters (in the western hemisphere books), etc. Beginning of Space age (4/10/1957) opened the door to a magic box, full of scientific discoveries, made mostly by robotic satellites and spacecraft. However, already the first human space trips clearly demonstrated that space is vigorously hostile to a human beings. Space medicine during the years since Gagarin flight, made an outstanding progress in supporting human presence at orbital stations, but the radiation hazards and problem of hypomagnetism are still opened and there is no visible path to their solution. So the optimistic slogan of 60-ies “Space is Our Place” is not supported by an almost half a century practice. Space never will be a comfortable place for soft and vulnerable humans? There is a general consensus that man will be on Mars during this century (or even its first part). This is very difficult but task it seems to be realistic after the significant advance of modern technologies will be made. But, is there any real need for humans to travel beyond the Mars orbit or to the inner regions of the Solar system? Will the age of Solar system exploration comes to its logical as it was described by Stanislav Lem in his famous book “Return from stars”? The author of this talk has more questions than answers, and thinks that PEX1 Panel on Exploration is just a right place to discuss these usually by passed topics.

Project Half Double

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svejvig, Per; Gerstrøm, Anna; Frederiksen, Signe Hedeboe

The Half Double mission: Project Half Double has a clear mission. We want to succeed in finding a project methodology that can increase the success rate of our projects while increasing the development speed of new products and services. We are convinced that by doing so we can strengthen...... the competitiveness of Denmark and play an important role in the battle for jobs and future welfare. The overall goal is to deliver “Projects in half the time with double the impact” where projects in half the time should be understood as half the time to impact (benefit realization, effect is achieved......) and not as half the time for project execution. The Half Double project journey: It all began in May 2013 when we asked ourselves: How do we create a new and radical project paradigm that can create successful projects? Today we are a movement of hundreds of passionate project people, and it grows larger...

Gap Task Force

CERN Multimedia

Lissuaer, D

One of the more congested areas in the ATLAS detector is the GAP region (the area between the Barrel Calorimeter and the End Cap calorimeter) where Inner Detector services, LAr Services and some Tile services all must co-habitat in a very limited area. It has been clear for some time that the space in the GAP region is not sufficient to accommodate all that is needed. In the last few month additional problems of routing all the services to Z=0 have been encountered due to the very limited space between the Tile Calorimeter and the first layer of Muon chambers. The Technical Management Board (TMB) and the Executive Board (EB) decided in the middle of March to establish a Task Force to look at this problem and come up with a solution within well-specified guidelines. The task force consisted of experts from the ID, Muon, Liquid Argon and Tile systems in addition to experts from the Technical Coordination team and the Physics coordinator. The task force held many meetings and in general there were some very l...

Functional Task Test: 1. Sensorimotor changes Associated with Postflight Alterations in Astronaut Functional Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomberg, J. J.; Arzeno, N. H.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Miller, C. A.; Mulavara, A. P.; Platts, S. H.; Peters, B. T.;

OTIMIZAÇÃO DE LAYOUT UTILIZANDO-SE O SLP COMBINADO COM TEORIA DAS FILAS: UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM UMA OFICINA DE RODAS E FREIOS DE AERONAVES

OpenAIRE

Marujo, Lino G.; Carvalho, Diego; Leitão, Mauricio N.

2010-01-01

Este trabalho analisa a aplicação do SLP – systematic planning layout em conjunto com a teoria das filas como forma de complementar uma metodologia já consagrada. Foi desenvolvido um projeto de readequação do layout de uma oficina de rodas e freios de equipamentos de transporte de massa, buscando avaliar a aplicabilidade da metodologia em conjunto com técnicas de modelagem de teoria de filas. A partir do estudo de caso real foi possível identificar os recursos que limitam a capacidade de entr...

Development of flight experiment task requirements. Volume 2: Technical Report. Part 2: Appendix H: Tasks-skills data series

Science.gov (United States)

Hatterick, G. R.

1972-01-01

The data sheets presented contain the results of the task analysis portion of the study to identify skill requirements of space shuttle crew personnel. A comprehensive data base is provided of crew functions, operating environments, task dependencies, and task-skills applicable to a representative cross section of earth orbital research experiments.

The effects of task difficulty, novelty and the size of the search space on intrinsically motivated exploration.

Science.gov (United States)

Baranes, Adrien F; Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves; Gottlieb, Jacqueline

2014-01-01

Devising efficient strategies for exploration in large open-ended spaces is one of the most difficult computational problems of intelligent organisms. Because the available rewards are ambiguous or unknown during the exploratory phase, subjects must act in intrinsically motivated fashion. However, a vast majority of behavioral and neural studies to date have focused on decision making in reward-based tasks, and the rules guiding intrinsically motivated exploration remain largely unknown. To examine this question we developed a paradigm for systematically testing the choices of human observers in a free play context. Adult subjects played a series of short computer games of variable difficulty, and freely choose which game they wished to sample without external guidance or physical rewards. Subjects performed the task in three distinct conditions where they sampled from a small or a large choice set (7 vs. 64 possible levels of difficulty), and where they did or did not have the possibility to sample new games at a constant level of difficulty. We show that despite the absence of external constraints, the subjects spontaneously adopted a structured exploration strategy whereby they (1) started with easier games and progressed to more difficult games, (2) sampled the entire choice set including extremely difficult games that could not be learnt, (3) repeated moderately and high difficulty games much more frequently than was predicted by chance, and (4) had higher repetition rates and chose higher speeds if they could generate new sequences at a constant level of difficulty. The results suggest that intrinsically motivated exploration is shaped by several factors including task difficulty, novelty and the size of the choice set, and these come into play to serve two internal goals-maximize the subjects' knowledge of the available tasks (exploring the limits of the task set), and maximize their competence (performance and skills) across the task set.

The effects of task difficulty, novelty and the size of the search space on intrinsically motivated exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrien Fredj Baranes

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Devising efficient strategies for exploration in large open-ended spaces is one of the most difficult computational problems of intelligent organisms. Because the available rewards are ambiguous or unknown during the exploratory phase, subjects must act in intrinsically motivated fashion. However, a vast majority of behavioral and neural studies to date have focused on decision making in reward-based tasks, and the rules guiding intrinsically motivated exploration remain largely unknown. To examine this question we developed a paradigm for systematically testing the choices of human observers in a free play context. Adult subjects played a series of short computer games of variable difficulty, and freely choose which game they wished to sample without external guidance or physical rewards. Subjects performed the task in three distinct conditions where they sampled from a small or a large choice set (7 vs 64 possible levels of difficulty, and where they did or did not have the possibility to sample new games at a constant level of difficulty. We show that despite the absence of external constraints, the subjects spontaneously adopted a structured exploration strategy whereby they (1 started with easier games and progressed to more difficult games, (2 sampled the entire choice set including extremely difficult games that could not be learnt, (3 repeated moderately and high difficulty games much more frequently than was predicted by chance, and (4 had higher repetition rates and chose higher speeds if they could generate new sequences at a constant level of difficulty. The results suggest that intrinsically motivated exploration is shaped by several factors including task difficulty, novelty and the size of the choice set, and these come into play to serve two internal goals - maximize the subjects’ knowledge of the available tasks (exploring the limits of the task set, and maximize their competence (performance and skills across the task set.

Experimental evaluation of the influence of various rests on task performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagasaka, Akihiko; Hirose, Ayako

2000-01-01

This report deals with the result of the experiment that 8 subjects had executed adding task and search task. They executed each task in 80 minutes under 5 conditions: (1) with no rest, and with 4 kinds of 20 minutes rests, in which they (2) opened eyes, (3) closed eyes, (4) closed eyes with listening classic music and (5) closed eyes with feet massage, in the middle of the task. The results of analysis of variance with the task performance in the latter half, there were significant differences between each condition with every subject in adding task, and with 6 subjects in search task. However, the orders of the task performance with each condition were not the same by each subject. It was suggested that transition of the arousal levels under the rest was related to the effects of the rest rather than the subjects' taste in rests. In the rest, the percentage of α wave of electroencephalogram and the coefficient of variation of R-R interval (time interval of heart beats) were increased than in executing task. The mean Kendall's rank correlation of coefficient with the order of increase rate of α/β wave and the task performance in the latter half was slightly negative in adding task, but was about 0.4 in search task. From these results, about six requirements for 'an effective rest' were able to be mentioned, for example, 'the devices that raises the arousal levels is carried out just before a rest end'. (author)

Experimental evaluation of the influence of various rests on task performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagasaka, Akihiko; Hirose, Ayako [Central Research Inst. of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan)

2000-01-01

This report deals with the result of the experiment that 8 subjects had executed adding task and search task. They executed each task in 80 minutes under 5 conditions: (1) with no rest, and with 4 kinds of 20 minutes rests, in which they (2) opened eyes, (3) closed eyes, (4) closed eyes with listening classic music and (5) closed eyes with feet massage, in the middle of the task. The results of analysis of variance with the task performance in the latter half, there were significant differences between each condition with every subject in adding task, and with 6 subjects in search task. However, the orders of the task performance with each condition were not the same by each subject. It was suggested that transition of the arousal levels under the rest was related to the effects of the rest rather than the subjects' taste in rests. In the rest, the percentage of {alpha} wave of electroencephalogram and the coefficient of variation of R-R interval (time interval of heart beats) were increased than in executing task. The mean Kendall's rank correlation of coefficient with the order of increase rate of {alpha}/{beta} wave and the task performance in the latter half was slightly negative in adding task, but was about 0.4 in search task. From these results, about six requirements for 'an effective rest' were able to be mentioned, for example, 'the devices that raises the arousal levels is carried out just before a rest end'. (author)

How and Why Do Number-Space Associations Co-Vary in Implicit and Explicit Magnitude Processing Tasks?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carrie Georges

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Evidence for number-space associations in implicit and explicit magnitude processing tasks comes from the parity and magnitude SNARC effect respectively. Different spatial accounts were suggested to underlie these spatial-numerical associations (SNAs with some inconsistencies in the literature. To determine whether the parity and magnitude SNAs arise from a single predominant account or task-dependent coding mechanisms, we adopted an individual differences approach to study their correlation and the extent of their association with arithmetic performance, spatial visualization ability and visualization profile. Additionally, we performed moderation analyses to determine whether the relation between these SNAs depended on individual differences in those cognitive factors. The parity and magnitude SNAs did not correlate and were differentially predicted by arithmetic performance and visualization profile respectively. These variables, however, also moderated the relation between the SNAs. While positive correlations were observed in object-visualizers with lower arithmetic performances, correlations were negative in spatial-visualizers with higher arithmetic performances. This suggests the predominance of a single account for both implicit and explicit SNAs in the two types of visualizers. However, the spatial nature of the account differs between object- and spatial-visualizers. No relation occurred in mixed-visualizers, indicating the activation of task-dependent coding mechanisms. Individual differences in arithmetic performance and visualization profile thus determined whether SNAs in implicit and explicit tasks co-varied and supposedly relied on similar or unrelated spatial coding mechanisms. This explains some inconsistencies in the literature regarding SNAs and highlights the usefulness of moderation analyses for understanding how the relation between different numerical concepts varies between individuals.

The Dual Half-Arc data structure: towards the universal B-rep data structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anton, François; Bugoslawski, P.; Mioc, Darka

2014-01-01

, or more generally, the topology of any topological space. For this purpose, we generalize an existing data structure from 2D to 3D and design a new 3D data structure that realizes the synthesis between an existing 3D data structure (the Dual Half-Edge (See Footonote 1) data structure) and the generalized...... 3D Quad-Arc data structure, (See Footonote 2) and at the same time, improves the Dual Half-Edge towards a simpler and more effective representation of cell complexes through B-rep structures. We generalize the idea of the Quad-Arc data structure from 2D to 3D, but instead of transforming a simple...... edge of the Quad-Edge data structure to an arc with multiple points along it, we group together primal edges of the Dual Half-Edge that have the same dual Half-Edge vertex tags (volume tags) into one Dual Half-Arc whose dual is the common Dual Half-Edge and primal faces corresponding to dual...

Musical space synesthesia: automatic, explicit and conceptual connections between musical stimuli and space.

Science.gov (United States)

Akiva-Kabiri, Lilach; Linkovski, Omer; Gertner, Limor; Henik, Avishai

2014-08-01

In musical-space synesthesia, musical pitches are perceived as having a spatially defined array. Previous studies showed that symbolic inducers (e.g., numbers, months) can modulate response according to the inducer's relative position on the synesthetic spatial form. In the current study we tested two musical-space synesthetes and a group of matched controls on three different tasks: musical-space mapping, spatial cue detection and a spatial Stroop-like task. In the free mapping task, both synesthetes exhibited a diagonal organization of musical pitch tones rising from bottom left to the top right. This organization was found to be consistent over time. In the subsequent tasks, synesthetes were asked to ignore an auditory or visually presented musical pitch (irrelevant information) and respond to a visual target (i.e., an asterisk) on the screen (relevant information). Compatibility between musical pitch and the target's spatial location was manipulated to be compatible or incompatible with the synesthetes' spatial representations. In the spatial cue detection task participants had to press the space key immediately upon detecting the target. In the Stroop-like task, they had to reach the target by using a mouse cursor. In both tasks, synesthetes' performance was modulated by the compatibility between irrelevant and relevant spatial information. Specifically, the target's spatial location conflicted with the spatial information triggered by the irrelevant musical stimulus. These results reveal that for musical-space synesthetes, musical information automatically orients attention according to their specific spatial musical-forms. The present study demonstrates the genuineness of musical-space synesthesia by revealing its two hallmarks-automaticity and consistency. In addition, our results challenge previous findings regarding an implicit vertical representation for pitch tones in non-synesthete musicians. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Far-field dynamic behavior of a half-space under an inertial strip foundation subjected to a time-harmonic force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Dehestani

Full Text Available Recent research works demonstrated that the interaction between the loads and the carrying structure's boundary which is related to the inertia of the load is an influential factor on the dynamic response of the structure. Although effects of the inertia in moving loads were considered in many works, very few papers can be found on the inertial effects of the stationary loads on structures. In this paper, an elastodynamic formulation was employed to investigate the dynamic response of a homogeneous isotropic elastic half-space under an inertial strip foundation subjected to a time-harmonic force. Fourier integral transformation was used to solve the system of Poisson-type partial differential equation considering the boundary conditions and the inertial effects. Steepest descent method was employed to obtain the approximate far-field displacements and stresses. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the methodology and typical results.

Putin's and Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union: A hybrid half-economics and half-political “Janus Bifrons”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno S. Sergi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Eurasian Economic Union is an institution formalized in January 2015 for the purpose of regional economic integration; it includes five countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, and may include Mongolia and Tajikistan in the future. With a GDP of $1.59 trillion in 2015, an industrial production of $1.3 trillion in 2014, and population of almost 200 million as of 2016, the EEAU could represent a geopolitical success that supports both Putin's ambitious political agenda and the Union's economic prospects. Although the efforts of this Union are ongoing and long-term success is not certain, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union can be considered a hybrid half-economics and half-political “Janus Bifrons” that serves as a powerful illustration of what Putin envisions for the post-Soviet space. Despite promising steps so far, more should be done toward the achievement of economic development and balanced opportunity for all Eurasian countries. Russia's longstanding role within the Union, as well as its power and political motivations, are all considerations that must be accounted for.

Orbitofrontal cortex as a cognitive map of task space.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Robert C; Takahashi, Yuji K; Schoenbaum, G; Niv, Yael

2014-01-22

Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has long been known to play an important role in decision making. However, the exact nature of that role has remained elusive. Here, we propose a unifying theory of OFC function. We hypothesize that OFC provides an abstraction of currently available information in the form of a labeling of the current task state, which is used for reinforcement learning (RL) elsewhere in the brain. This function is especially critical when task states include unobservable information, for instance, from working memory. We use this framework to explain classic findings in reversal learning, delayed alternation, extinction, and devaluation as well as more recent findings showing the effect of OFC lesions on the firing of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area (VTA) in rodents performing an RL task. In addition, we generate a number of testable experimental predictions that can distinguish our theory from other accounts of OFC function. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EEG Frequency Changes Prior to Making Errors in an Easy Stroop Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Atchley

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Mind-wandering is a form of off-task attention that has been associated with negative affect and rumination. The goal of this study was to assess potential electroencephalographic markers of task-unrelated thought, or mind-wandering state, as related to error rates during a specialized cognitive task. We used EEG to record frontal frequency band activity while participants completed a Stroop task that was modified to induce boredom, task-unrelated thought, and therefore mind-wandering.Methods: A convenience sample of 27 older adults (50–80 years completed a computerized Stroop matching task. Half of the Stroop trials were congruent (word/color match, and the other half were incongruent (mismatched. Behavioral data and EEG recordings were assessed. EEG analysis focused on the 1-s epochs prior to stimulus presentation in order to compare trials followed by correct versus incorrect responses.Results: Participants made errors on 9% of incongruent trials. There were no errors on congruent trials. There was a decrease in alpha and theta band activity during the epochs followed by error responses.Conclusion: Although replication of these results is necessary, these findings suggest that potential mind-wandering, as evidenced by errors, can be characterized by a decrease in alpha and theta activity compared to on-task, accurate performance periods.

Cho decomposition of electrically charged one-half monopole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ng, Ban-Loong; Teh, Rosy; Wong, Khai-Ming [School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Penang (Malaysia)

2014-03-05

Recently we have carried out some work on the Cho decomposition of the electrically neutral, finite energy one-half monopole solution of the SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs field theory. In this paper, we performed the decomposition of the electrically charged solution using the same numerical procedure. The gauge potential of the one-half dyon solution is decomposed into Abelian and non-Abelian components. The semi-infinite string singularity in the gauge potential is a contribution of the Higgs field and hence topological in nature. The string singularity cannot be cancelled by the non-Abelian components of the gauge potential. However, the string singularity is integrable and the energy of the solution is finite. By decomposing the magnetic fields and covariant derivatives of the Higgs field into three isospin space directions, we are able to provide conclusive evidence that the constructed one-half dyon is certainly a non-BPS solution even in the limit of vanishing Higgs self-coupling constant and electric charge. Furthermore, we found that the time component of gauge function is parallel to the Higgs field in isospace only at large distances, elsewhere they are non-parallel.

Comparing observer models and feature selection methods for a task-based statistical assessment of digital breast tomsynthesis in reconstruction space

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Subok; Zhang, George Z.; Zeng, Rongping; Myers, Kyle J.

2014-03-01

A task-based assessment of image quality1 for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) can be done in either the projected or reconstructed data space. As the choice of observer models and feature selection methods can vary depending on the type of task and data statistics, we previously investigated the performance of two channelized- Hotelling observer models in conjunction with 2D Laguerre-Gauss (LG) and two implementations of partial least squares (PLS) channels along with that of the Hotelling observer in binary detection tasks involving DBT projections.2, 3 The difference in these observers lies in how the spatial correlation in DBT angular projections is incorporated in the observer's strategy to perform the given task. In the current work, we extend our method to the reconstructed data space of DBT. We investigate how various model observers including the aforementioned compare for performing the binary detection of a spherical signal embedded in structured breast phantoms with the use of DBT slices reconstructed via filtered back projection. We explore how well the model observers incorporate the spatial correlation between different numbers of reconstructed DBT slices while varying the number of projections. For this, relatively small and large scan angles (24° and 96°) are used for comparison. Our results indicate that 1) given a particular scan angle, the number of projections needed to achieve the best performance for each observer is similar across all observer/channel combinations, i.e., Np = 25 for scan angle 96° and Np = 13 for scan angle 24°, and 2) given these sufficient numbers of projections, the number of slices for each observer to achieve the best performance differs depending on the channel/observer types, which is more pronounced in the narrow scan angle case.

Effects of cues in a binary categorization task on dual-task performance, mental workload, and effort.

Science.gov (United States)

Botzer, Assaf; Meyer, Joachim; Parmet, Yisrael

2016-09-01

Binary cues help operators perform binary categorization tasks, such as monitoring for system failures. They may also allow them to attend to other tasks they concurrently perform. If the time saved by using cues is allocated to other concurrent tasks, users' overall effort may remain unchanged. In 2 experiments, participants performed a simulated quality control task, together with a tracking task. In half the experimental blocks cues were available, and participants could use them in their decisions about the quality of products (intact or faulty). In Experiment 1, the difficulty of tracking was constant, while in Experiment 2, tracking difficulty differed in the 2 halves of the experiment. In both experiments, participants reported on the NASA Task Load Index that cues improved their performance and reduced their frustration. Consequently, their overall score on mental workload (MWL) was lower with cues. They also reported, however, that cues did not reduce their effort. We conclude that cues and other forms of automation may support task performance and reduce overall MWL, but this will not necessarily mean that users will work less hard. Thus, effort and overall MWL should be evaluated separately, if one wants to obtain a full picture of the effects of automation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Visual scanning training for neglect after stroke with and without a computerized lane tracking dual task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.E. eVan Kessel

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Neglect patients typically fail to explore the contralesional half-space. During visual scanning training, these patients learn to consciously pay attention to contralesional target stimuli. It has been suggested that combining scanning training with methods addressing non-spatial attention might enhance training results. In the present study, a dual task training component was added to a visual scanning training (i.e. Training di Scanning Visuospaziale – TSVS; Pizzamiglio et al., 1990. Twenty-nine subacute right hemisphere stroke patients were semi-randomly assigned to an experimental (N=14 or a control group (N=15. Patients received 30 training sessions during six weeks. TSVS consisted of four standardized tasks (digit detection, reading/copying, copying drawings and figure description. Moreover, a driving simulator task was integrated in the training procedure. Control patients practiced a single lane tracking task for two days a week during six weeks. The experimental group was administered the same training schedule, but in weeks 4-6 of the training, the TSVS digit detection task was combined with lane tracking on the same projection screen, so as to create a dual task (CVRT-TR. Various neglect tests and driving simulator tasks were administered before and after training. No significant group and interaction effects were found that might reflect additional positive effects of dual task training. Significant improvements after training were observed in both groups taken together on most assessment tasks. Ameliorations were generally not correlated to post onset time, but spontaneous recovery, test-retest variability and learning effects could not be ruled out completely, since these were not controlled for. Future research might focus on increasing the amount of dual task training, the implementation of progressive difficulty levels in the driving simulator tasks and further exploration of relationships between dual task training and daily

Electromagnetic diffraction by an impedance cylinder buried halfway between two half-spaces

KAUST Repository

Salem, Mohamed; Kamel, Aladin Hassan

2011-01-01

We consider the problem of electromagnetic diffraction from a cylinder with impedance surface and half-buried between two dielectric media. An arbitrary located electric dipole provides the excitation. The harmonic solution is presented as a series sum over a spectrum of a discrete-index Hankel transform, and the spectral amplitudes are determined by solving an infinite linear system of equations, which is constructed by applying the orthogonality relation of the 1D Green's function. © 2011 IEEE.

Electromagnetic diffraction by an impedance cylinder buried halfway between two half-spaces

KAUST Repository

Salem, Mohamed

2011-08-01

We consider the problem of electromagnetic diffraction from a cylinder with impedance surface and half-buried between two dielectric media. An arbitrary located electric dipole provides the excitation. The harmonic solution is presented as a series sum over a spectrum of a discrete-index Hankel transform, and the spectral amplitudes are determined by solving an infinite linear system of equations, which is constructed by applying the orthogonality relation of the 1D Green\\'s function. © 2011 IEEE.

Direct current electric potential in an anisotropic half-space with vertical contact containing a conductive 3D body

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Ping

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Detailed studies of anomalous conductors in otherwise homogeneous media have been modelled. Vertical contacts form common geometries in galvanic studies when describing geological formations with different electrical conductivities on either side. However, previous studies of vertical discontinuities have been mainly concerned with isotropic environments. In this paper, we deal with the effect on the electric potentials, such as mise-à-la-masse anomalies, due to a conductor near a vertical contact between two anisotropic regions. We also demonstrate the interactive effects when the conductive body is placed across the vertical contact. This problem is normally very difficult to solve by the traditional numerical methods. The integral equations for the electric potential in anisotropic half-spaces are established. Green's function is obtained using the reflection and transmission image method in which five images are needed to fit the boundary conditions on the vertical interface and the air-earth surface. The effects of the anisotropy of the environments and the conductive body on the electric potential are illustrated with the aid of several numerical examples.

5D Task Analysis Visualization Tool, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The creation of a five-dimensional task analysis visualization (5D-TAV) software tool for Task Analysis and Workload Planning using multi-dimensional visualization...

Project Half Double

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svejvig, Per; Ehlers, Michael; Adland, Karoline Thorp

activities carried out within the framework of the projects. The formal part of Project Half Double was initiated in June 2015. We started out by developing, refining and testing the Half Double methodology on seven pilot projects in the first phase of the project, which will end June 2016. The current......Project Half Double has a clear mission to succeed in finding a project methodology that can increase the success rate of our projects while increasing the speed at which we generate new ideas and develop new products and services. Chaos and complexity should be seen as a basic condition...... and as an opportunity rather than a threat and a risk. We are convinced that by doing so, we can strengthen Denmark’s competitiveness and play an important role in the battle for jobs and future welfare. The overall goal is to deliver “projects in half the time with double the impact”, where projects in half the time...

Space applications of Automation, Robotics and Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS). Volume 2: Space projects overview

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, R. H.; Minsky, M. L.; Smith, D. B. S.

1982-01-01

Applications of automation, robotics, and machine intelligence systems (ARAMIS) to space activities, and their related ground support functions are studied so that informed decisions can be made on which aspects of ARAMIS to develop. The space project breakdowns, which are used to identify tasks ('functional elements'), are described. The study method concentrates on the production of a matrix relating space project tasks to pieces of ARAMIS.

Magnetic Half-Monopole Solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teh, Rosy; Lim, Kok-Geng; Koh, Pin-Wai

2009-01-01

We present exact SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs monopole solutions of one half topological charge. These non-Abelian solutions possess gauge potentials which are singular along either the positive or the negative z-axis and common magnetic fields that are singular only at the origin where the half-monopole is located. These half-monopoles are actually a half Wu-Yang monopole and they can possess a finite point electric charge and become half-dyons. They do not necessarily satisfy the first order Bogomol'nyi equations and they possess infinite energy density at r = 0.

Space station data system analysis/architecture study. Task 2: Options development, DR-5. Volume 2: Design options

Science.gov (United States)

1985-01-01

The primary objective of Task 2 is the development of an information base that will support the conduct of trade studies and provide sufficient data to make key design/programmatic decisions. This includes: (1) the establishment of option categories that are most likely to influence Space Station Data System (SSDS) definition; (2) the identification of preferred options in each category; and (3) the characterization of these options with respect to performance attributes, constraints, cost and risk. This volume contains the options development for the design category. This category comprises alternative structures, configurations and techniques that can be used to develop designs that are responsive to the SSDS requirements. The specific areas discussed are software, including data base management and distributed operating systems; system architecture, including fault tolerance and system growth/automation/autonomy and system interfaces; time management; and system security/privacy. Also discussed are space communications and local area networking.

Half-width at half-maximum, full-width at half-maximum analysis

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

addition to the well-defined parameter full-width at half-maximum (FWHM). The distribution of ... optical side-lobes in the diffraction pattern resulting in steep central maxima [6], reduc- tion of effects of ... and broad central peak. The idea of.

The roles of stimulus repetition and hemispheric activation in visual half-field asymmetries.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, K F; McKeever, W F

1985-10-01

Hardyck, Tzeng, and Wang (1978, Brain and Language, 5, 56-71) hypothesized that ample repetition of a small number of stimuli is required in order to obtain VHF differences in tachistoscopic tasks. Four experiments, with varied levels of repetition, were conducted to test this hypothesis. Three experiments utilized the general task of object-picture naming and one utilized a word-naming task. Naming latencies constituted the dependent measure. The results demonstrate that for the object-naming paradigm repetition is required for RVF superiority to emerge. Repetition was found to be unnecessary for RVF superiority in the word-naming paradigm, with repetition actually reducing RVF superiority. Experiment I suggested the possibility that RVF superiority developed for the second half of the trials as a function of practice or hemispheric activation, regardless of repetition level. Subsequent experiments, better designed to assess this possibility, clearly refuted it. It was concluded that the effect of repetition depends on the processing requirements of the task. We propose that, for tasks which can be processed efficiently by one hemisphere, the effect of repetition will be to reduce VHF asymmetries; but tasks requiring substantial processing by both hemispheres will show shifts to RVF superiority as a function of repetition.

Automation and robotics for the Space Exploration Initiative: Results from Project Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, D.; Criswell, D.; Heer, E.

1991-01-01

A total of 52 submissions were received in the Automation and Robotics (A&R) area during Project Outreach. About half of the submissions (24) contained concepts that were judged to have high utility for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and were analyzed further by the robotics panel. These 24 submissions are analyzed here. Three types of robots were proposed in the high scoring submissions: structured task robots (STRs), teleoperated robots (TORs), and surface exploration robots. Several advanced TOR control interface technologies were proposed in the submissions. Many A&R concepts or potential standards were presented or alluded to by the submitters, but few specific technologies or systems were suggested.

Three examples of quantum dynamics on the half-line with smooth bouncing

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, C. R.; Bergeron, H.; Gazeau, J.-P.; Scardua, A. C.

2018-05-01

This article is an introductory presentation of the quantization of the half-plane based on affine coherent states (ACS). The half-plane carries a natural affine symmetry, i.e. it is a homogeneous space for the 1d-affine group, and it is viewed as the phase space for the dynamics of a positive physical quantity evolving with time. Its affine symmetry is preserved due to the covariance of this type of quantization. We promote the interest of such a procedure for transforming a classical model into a quantum one, since the singularity at the origin is systematically removed, and the arbitrariness of boundary conditions for the Schrödinger operator can be easily overcome. We explain some important mathematical aspects of the method. Three elementary examples of applications are presented, the quantum breathing of a massive sphere, the quantum smooth bouncing of a charged sphere, and a smooth bouncing of "dust" sphere as a simple model of quantum Newtonian cosmology.

High variability impairs motor learning regardless of whether it affects task performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardis, Marco; Casadio, Maura; Ranganathan, Rajiv

2018-01-01

Motor variability plays an important role in motor learning, although the exact mechanisms of how variability affects learning are not well understood. Recent evidence suggests that motor variability may have different effects on learning in redundant tasks, depending on whether it is present in the task space (where it affects task performance) or in the null space (where it has no effect on task performance). We examined the effect of directly introducing null and task space variability using a manipulandum during the learning of a motor task. Participants learned a bimanual shuffleboard task for 2 days, where their goal was to slide a virtual puck as close as possible toward a target. Critically, the distance traveled by the puck was determined by the sum of the left- and right-hand velocities, which meant that there was redundancy in the task. Participants were divided into five groups, based on both the dimension in which the variability was introduced and the amount of variability that was introduced during training. Results showed that although all groups were able to reduce error with practice, learning was affected more by the amount of variability introduced rather than the dimension in which variability was introduced. Specifically, groups with higher movement variability during practice showed larger errors at the end of practice compared with groups that had low variability during learning. These results suggest that although introducing variability can increase exploration of new solutions, this may adversely affect the ability to retain the learned solution. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We examined the role of introducing variability during motor learning in a redundant task. The presence of redundancy allows variability to be introduced in different dimensions: the task space (where it affects task performance) or the null space (where it does not affect task performance). We found that introducing variability affected learning adversely, but the amount of

Task Complexity Modulates Sleep-Related Offline Learning in Sequential Motor Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klaus Blischke

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Recently, a number of authors have advocated the introduction of gross motor tasks into research on sleep-related motor offline learning. Such tasks are often designed to be more complex than traditional key-pressing tasks. However, until now, little effort has been undertaken to scrutinize the role of task complexity in any systematic way. Therefore, the effect of task complexity on the consolidation of gross motor sequence memory was examined by our group in a series of three experiments. Criterion tasks always required participants to produce unrestrained arm movement sequences by successively fitting a small peg into target holes on a pegboard. The sequences always followed a certain spatial pattern in the horizontal plane. The targets were visualized prior to each transport movement on a computer screen. The tasks differed with respect to sequence length and structural complexity. In each experiment, half of the participants initially learned the task in the morning and were retested 12 h later following a wake retention interval. The other half of the subjects underwent practice in the evening and was retested 12 h later following a night of sleep. The dependent variables were the error rate and total sequence execution time (inverse to the sequence execution speed. Performance generally improved during acquisition. The error rate was always low and remained stable during retention. The sequence execution time significantly decreased again following sleep but not after waking when the sequence length was long and structural complexity was high. However, sleep-related offline improvements were absent when the sequence length was short or when subjects performed a highly regular movement pattern. It is assumed that the occurrence of sleep-related offline performance improvements in sequential motor tasks is associated with a sufficient amount of motor task complexity.

Cloud Computing Task Scheduling Based on Cultural Genetic Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Jian-Wen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The task scheduling strategy based on cultural genetic algorithm(CGA is proposed in order to improve the efficiency of task scheduling in the cloud computing platform, which targets at minimizing the total time and cost of task scheduling. The improved genetic algorithm is used to construct the main population space and knowledge space under cultural framework which get independent parallel evolution, forming a mechanism of mutual promotion to dispatch the cloud task. Simultaneously, in order to prevent the defects of the genetic algorithm which is easy to fall into local optimum, the non-uniform mutation operator is introduced to improve the search performance of the algorithm. The experimental results show that CGA reduces the total time and lowers the cost of the scheduling, which is an effective algorithm for the cloud task scheduling.

Au-Interaction of Slp1 Polymers and Monolayer from Lysinibacillus sphaericus JG-B53 - QCM-D, ICP-MS and AFM as Tools for Biomolecule-metal Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Suhr, Matthias; Raff, Johannes; Pollmann, Katrin

2016-01-01

In this publication the gold sorption behavior of surface layer (S-layer) proteins (Slp1) of Lysinibacillus sphaericus JG-B53 is described. These biomolecules arrange in paracrystalline two-dimensional arrays on surfaces, bind metals, and are thus interesting for several biotechnical applications, such as biosorptive materials for the removal or recovery of different elements from the environment and industrial processes. The deposition of Au(0) nanoparticles on S-layers, either by S-layer directed synthesis 1 or adsorption of nanoparticles, opens new possibilities for diverse sensory applications. Although numerous studies have described the biosorptive properties of S-layers 2-5, a deeper understanding of protein-protein and protein-metal interaction still remains challenging. In the following study, inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used for the detection of metal sorption by suspended S-layers. This was correlated to measurements of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), which allows the online detection of proteinaceous monolayer formation and metal deposition, and thus, a more detailed understanding on metal binding. The ICP-MS results indicated that the binding of Au(III) to the suspended S-layer polymers is pH dependent. The maximum binding of Au(III) was obtained at pH 4.0. The QCM-D investigations enabled the detection of Au(III) sorption as well as the deposition of Au(0)-NPs in real-time during the in situ experiments. Further, this method allowed studying the influence of metal binding on the protein lattice stability of Slp1. Structural properties and protein layer stability could be visualized directly after QCM-D experiment using atomic force microscopy (AFM). In conclusion, the combination of these different methods provides a deeper understanding of metal binding by bacterial S-layer proteins in suspension or as monolayers on either bacterial cells or recrystallized surfaces. PMID:26863150

Left neglected, but only in far space: Spatial biases in healthy participants revealed in a visually-guided grasping task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalie ede Bruin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Hemispatial neglect is a common outcome of stroke that is characterised by the inability to orient towards, and attend to stimuli in contralesional space. It is established that hemispatial neglect has a perceptual component, however, the presence and severity of motor impairments is controversial. Establishing the nature of space use and spatial biases during visually-guided actions amongst healthy individuals is critical to understanding the presence of visuomotor deficits in patients with neglect. Accordingly, three experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of object spatial location on patterns of grasping. Experiment 1 required right-handed participants to reach and grasp for blocks in order to construct 3D models. The blocks were scattered on a tabletop divided into equal size quadrants: left near, left far, right near, and right far. Identical sets of building blocks were available in each quadrant. Space use was dynamic, with participants initially grasping blocks from right near space and tending to ‘neglect’ left far space until the final stages of the task. Experiment 2 repeated the protocol with left-handed participants. Remarkably, left-handed participants displayed a similar pattern of space use to right-handed participants. In Experiment 3 eye movements were examined to investigate whether ‘neglect’ for grasping in left far reachable space had its origins in attentional biases. It was found that patterns of eye movements mirrored patterns of reach-to-grasp movements. We conclude that there are spatial biases during visually-guided grasping, specifically, a tendency to neglect left far reachable space, and that this ‘neglect’ is attentional in origin. The results raise the possibility that visuomotor impairments reported among patients with right hemisphere lesions when working in contralesional space may result in part from this inherent tendency to ‘neglect’ left far space irrespective of the presence

Visual half-field presentations of incongruent color words: effects of gender and handedness.

Science.gov (United States)

Franzon, M; Hugdahl, K

1986-09-01

Right-handed (dextral) and left-handed (sinistral) males and females (N = 15) were compared for language lateralization in a visual half-field (VHF) incongruent color-words paradigm. The paradigm consists of repeated brief (less than 200 msec) presentations of color-words written in an incongruent color. Presentations are either to the right or to the left of center fixation. The task of the subject is to report the color the word is written in on each trial, ignoring the color-word. Color-bars and congruent color-words were used as control stimuli. Vocal reaction time (VRT) and error frequency were used as dependent measures. The logic behind the paradigm is that incongruent color-words should lead to a greater cognitive conflict when presented in the half-field contralateral to the dominant hemisphere. The results showed significantly longer VRTs in the right half-field for the dextral subjects. Furthermore, significantly more errors were observed in the male dextral group when the incongruent stimuli were presented in the right half-field. There was a similar trend in the data for the sinistral males. No differences between half-fields were observed for the female groups. It is concluded that the present results strengthen previous findings from our laboratory (Hugdahl and Franzon, 1985) that the incongruent color-words paradigm is a useful non-invasive technique for the study of lateralization in the intact brain.

75 FR 32186 - Task Force on Community Preventive Services

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-07

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Task Force on Community Preventive Services Name: Task Force on Community Preventive Services meeting. Times and Dates: 8... by space available. Purpose: The mission of the Task Force is to develop and publish the Guide to...

75 FR 4402 - Task Force on Community Preventive Services

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-27

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Task Force on Community Preventive Services Name: Task Force on Community Preventive Services meeting. Times and Dates: 8..., limited only by space available. Purpose: The mission of the Task Force is to develop and publish the...

Gravity duals of half-BPS Wilson loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Hoker, Eric; Estes, John; Gutperle, Michael

2007-01-01

We explicitly construct the fully back-reacted half-BPS solutions in Type IIB supergravity which are dual to Wilson loops with 16 supersymmetries in N = 4 super Yang-Mills. In a first part, we use the methods of a companion paper to derive the exact general solution of the half-BPS equations on the space AdS 2 x S 2 x S 4 x Σ, with isometry group SO(2, 1) x SO(3) x SO(5) in terms of two locally harmonic functions on a Riemann surface Σ with boundary. These solutions, generally, have varying dilaton and axion, and non-vanishing 3-form fluxes. In a second part, we impose regularity and topology conditions. These non-singular solutions may be parametrized by a genus g ≥ 0 hyperelliptic surface Σ, all of whose branch points lie on the real line. Each genus g solution has only a single asymptotic AdS 5 x S 5 region, but exhibits g homology 3-spheres, and an extra g homology 5-spheres, carrying respectively RR 3-form and RR 5-form charges. For genus 0, we recover AdS 5 x S 5 with 3 free parameters, while for genus g ≥ 1, the solution has 2g+5 free parameters. The genus 1 case is studied in detail. Numerical analysis is used to show that the solutions are regular throughout the g = 1 parameter space. Collapse of a branch cut on Σ subtending either a homology 3-sphere or a homology 5-sphere is non-singular and yields the genus g-1 solution. This behavior is precisely expected of a proper dual to a Wilson loop in gauge theory

Instabilities in dynamic anti-plane sliding of an elastic layer on a dissimilar elastic half-space

Science.gov (United States)

Kunnath, R.

2012-12-01

The stability of dynamic anti-plane sliding at an interface between an elastic layer and an elastic half-space with dissimilar elastic properties is studied. Friction at the interface is assumed to follow a rate- and state-dependent law, with a positive instantaneous dependence on slip velocity and a rate weakening behavior in the steady state. The perturbations are of the form exp(ikx+pt), where k is the wavenumber, x is the coordinate along the interface, p is the time response to the perturbation and t is time. The results of the stability analysis are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with the velocity weakening parameter b/a=5, shear wave speed ratio cs'/cs=1.2, shear modulus ratio μ'/μ=1.2 and non-dimensional layer thickness H=100. The normalized instability growth rate and normalized phase velocity are plotted as a function of wavenumber. Fig.1 is for a non-dimensional unperturbed slip velocity ɛ=5 (rapid sliding) while Fig. 2 is for ɛ=0.05 (slow sliding). The results show the destabilization of interfacial waves. For slow sliding, destabilization of interfacial waves is still seen, indicating that the quasi-static approximation to slow sliding is not valid. This is in agreement with the result of Ranjith (Int. J. Solids and Struct., 2009, 46, 3086-3092) who predicted an instability of long-wavelength Love waves in slow sliding.

Energy Efficient Task Light

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Logadottir, Asta; Ardkapan, Siamak Rahimi; Johnsen, Kjeld

2014-01-01

The objectives of this work is to develop a task light for office lighting that fulfils the minimum requirements of the European standard EN12464 - 1 : Light and lighting – Lighting of work places, Part 1: Indoor workplaces and the Danish standard DS 700 : Lys og belysning I arbejdsrum , or more...... specifically the requirements that apply to the work area and the immediate surrounding area. By providing a task light that fulfils the requirements for task lighting and the immediate surrounding area, the general lighting only needs to provide the illuminance levels required for background lighting...... and thereby a reduction in installed power for general lighting of about 40 % compared to the way illuminance levels are designed in an office environment in Denmark today. This lighting strategy is useful when the placement of the task area is not defined in the space before the lighting is design ed...

An explicit asymptotic model for the surface wave in a viscoelastic half-space based on applying Rabotnov's fractional exponential integral operators

Science.gov (United States)

Wilde, M. V.; Sergeeva, N. V.

2018-05-01

An explicit asymptotic model extracting the contribution of a surface wave to the dynamic response of a viscoelastic half-space is derived. Fractional exponential Rabotnov's integral operators are used for describing of material properties. The model is derived by extracting the principal part of the poles corresponding to the surface waves after applying Laplace and Fourier transforms. The simplified equations for the originals are written by using power series expansions. Padè approximation is constructed to unite short-time and long-time models. The form of this approximation allows to formulate the explicit model using a fractional exponential Rabotnov's integral operator with parameters depending on the properties of surface wave. The applicability of derived models is studied by comparing with the exact solutions of a model problem. It is revealed that the model based on Padè approximation is highly effective for all the possible time domains.

Green's functions for spin half field theory in Rindler space

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iyer, B R; Kumar, Arvind [Birla Inst. of Tech., Ranchi (India). Dept. of Physics

1977-11-01

The solutions of Dirac equation in different regions of the complete extension of Rindler space are obtained near the event horizons and in the asymptotic limits. Continuity of these solutions across the event horizons is established. The Green's functions are written down in the two casually disconnected regions, continued in the future (F) and past (P) regions using the techniques a la Boulware and a consistent scheme of Green's functions in all regions is exhibited.

GPM Level 3 IMERG Half Hourly 0.1 x 0.1 degree V03

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This Directory Interchange Format (DIF) describes a collection of fields for the GPM Level 3 IMERG Final Half Hourly 0.1 x 0.1 degree V03 (GPM_3IMERGHH) at the NASA...

Vacancy induced half-metallicity in half-Heusler semiconductors

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Zhiyong

2011-09-28

First-principles calculations are performed to investigate the effect of vacancies on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the two prototypical half-Heusler semiconductors NiTiSn and CoTiSb. The spin degeneracy of the host materials is broken for all types of isolated vacancies under consideration, except for Ni-deficient NiTiSn. A half-metallic character is identified in Sn-deficient NiTiSn and Co/Ti/Sb-deficient CoTiSb. We can explain our findings by introducing an extending Slater-Pauling rule for systems with defects. A ferromagnetic ordering of the local moments due to double exchange appears to be likely.

Green's functions for spin half field theory in Rindler space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyer, B.R.; Kumar, Arvind

1977-01-01

The solutions of Dirac equation in different regions of the complete extension of Rindler space are obtained near the event horizons and in the asymptotic limits. Continuity of these solutions across the event horizons is established. The Green's functions are written down in the two casually disconnected regions, continued in the future (F) and past (P) regions using the techniques a la Boulware and a consistent scheme of Green's functions in all regions is exhibited. (author)

Singing numbers…in cognitive space--a dual-task study of the link between pitch, space, and numbers.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Martin H; Riello, Marianna; Giordano, Bruno L; Rusconi, Elena

2013-04-01

We assessed the automaticity of spatial-numerical and spatial-musical associations by testing their intentionality and load sensitivity in a dual-task paradigm. In separate sessions, 16 healthy adults performed magnitude and pitch comparisons on sung numbers with variable pitch. Stimuli and response alternatives were identical, but the relevant stimulus attribute (pitch or number) differed between tasks. Concomitant tasks required retention of either color or location information. Results show that spatial associations of both magnitude and pitch are load sensitive and that the spatial association for pitch is more powerful than that for magnitude. These findings argue against the automaticity of spatial mappings in either stimulus dimension. Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Surface half-metallicity of half-Heusler compound FeCrSe and interface half-metallicity of FeCrSe/GaP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khalaf Al-zyadi, Jabbar M., E-mail: jabbar_alzyadi@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, College of Education for Pure Sciences, University of Basrah (Iraq); Jolan, Mudhahir H. [Department of Physics, College of Education for Pure Sciences, University of Basrah (Iraq); Yao, Kai-Lun, E-mail: klyao@mail.hust.edu.cn [School of Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); International Center of Materials Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110015 (China)

2016-04-01

Recent studies showed that half-Heusler FeCrSe exhibits half-metallic ferromagnetism (Huang et al. [20]). In this paper, we investigate extensively the electronic, magnetic, and half-metallic properties of the half-Heusler alloy FeCrSe (111) and (001) surfaces and the interface with GaP (111) substrate by using the first-principles calculations within the density functional theory. The atomic density of states demonstrates that the half-me tallicity verified in the bulk FeCrSe is maintained at the CrSe-terminated (001) and Se-terminated (111) surfaces, but lost at both Cr- and Fe-terminated (111) surfaces and the Fe-terminated (001) surface. Alternatively, for the interface of FeCrSe/GaP (111), the bulk half-metallicity is destroyed at Se–P configuration while Se–Ga interface and subinterface show nearly 100% spin polarization. Moreover, the calculated interfacial adhesion energies exhibit that Se–Ga shape is more stable than the Se–P one. The calculated magnetic moments of Se, Ga at the Se–Ga (111) interface and P at the Se–P (111) interface increase with respect to the corresponding bulk values while the atomic magnetic moment of Se atom at the Se–P (111) interface decreases. We also notice that the magnetic moments of subinterface Fe at both Se–Ga and Se–P (111) interfaces decrease compared to the bulk values. - Highlights: • The half-metallicity verified in the bulk FeCrSe is kept at the CrSe-terminated (001) and Se-terminated (111) surfaces. • The calculated interfacial adhesion energies exhibit that Se–Ga shape is more stable than Se–P. • The magnetic moments of Se, Ga and P atoms at the interface increase. • The Se–Ga interface shows nearly 100% spin polarization.

Space-Time Crystal and Space-Time Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Shenglong; Wu, Congjun

2018-03-02

Crystal structures and the Bloch theorem play a fundamental role in condensed matter physics. We extend the static crystal to the dynamic "space-time" crystal characterized by the general intertwined space-time periodicities in D+1 dimensions, which include both the static crystal and the Floquet crystal as special cases. A new group structure dubbed a "space-time" group is constructed to describe the discrete symmetries of a space-time crystal. Compared to space and magnetic groups, the space-time group is augmented by "time-screw" rotations and "time-glide" reflections involving fractional translations along the time direction. A complete classification of the 13 space-time groups in one-plus-one dimensions (1+1D) is performed. The Kramers-type degeneracy can arise from the glide time-reversal symmetry without the half-integer spinor structure, which constrains the winding number patterns of spectral dispersions. In 2+1D, nonsymmorphic space-time symmetries enforce spectral degeneracies, leading to protected Floquet semimetal states. We provide a general framework for further studying topological properties of the (D+1)-dimensional space-time crystal.

A Validated Set of MIDAS V5 Task Network Model Scenarios to Evaluate Nextgen Closely Spaced Parallel Operations Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Gore, Brian Francis; Hooey, Becky Lee; Haan, Nancy; Socash, Connie; Mahlstedt, Eric; Foyle, David C.

2013-01-01

The Closely Spaced Parallel Operations (CSPO) scenario is a complex, human performance model scenario that tested alternate operator roles and responsibilities to a series of off-nominal operations on approach and landing (see Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013). The model links together the procedures, equipment, crewstation, and external environment to produce predictions of operator performance in response to Next Generation system designs, like those expected in the National Airspaces NextGen concepts. The task analysis that is contained in the present report comes from the task analysis window in the MIDAS software. These tasks link definitions and states for equipment components, environmental features as well as operational contexts. The current task analysis culminated in 3300 tasks that included over 1000 Subject Matter Expert (SME)-vetted, re-usable procedural sets for three critical phases of flight; the Descent, Approach, and Land procedural sets (see Gore et al., 2011 for a description of the development of the tasks included in the model; Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013 for a description of the model, and its results; Hooey, Gore, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013 for a description of the guidelines that were generated from the models results; Gore, Hooey, Foyle, 2012 for a description of the models implementation and its settings). The rollout, after landing checks, taxi to gate and arrive at gate illustrated in Figure 1 were not used in the approach and divert scenarios exercised. The other networks in Figure 1 set up appropriate context settings for the flight deck.The current report presents the models task decomposition from the tophighest level and decomposes it to finer-grained levels. The first task that is completed by the model is to set all of the initial settings for the scenario runs included in the model (network 75 in Figure 1). This initialization process also resets the CAD graphic files contained with MIDAS, as well as the embedded

5D Task Analysis Visualization Tool Phase II, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The creation of a five-dimensional task analysis visualization (5D-TAV) software tool for Task Analysis and Workload Planning using multi-dimensional visualization...

Working memory representations persist in the face of unexpected task alterations.

Science.gov (United States)

Swan, Garrett; Wyble, Brad; Chen, Hui

2017-07-01

It is well known that information can be held in memory while performing other tasks concurrently, such as remembering a color or number during a separate visual search task. However, it is not clear what happens to stored information in the face of unexpected tasks, such as the surprise questions that are often used in experiments related to inattentional and change blindness. Does the unpredicted shift in task context cause memory representations to be cleared in anticipation of new information? To answer this question, we ran two experiments where the task unexpectedly switched partway through the experiment with a surprise question. Half of the participants were asked to report the same attribute (Exp. 1 = Identity, Exp. 2 = Color) of a target stimulus in both presurprise and postsurprise trials, while for the other half, the reported attribute switched from identity to color (Exp. 1) or vice versa (Exp. 2). Importantly, all participants had to read an unexpected set of instructions and respond differently on the surprise trial. Accuracy on the surprise trial was higher for the same-attribute groups than the different-attribute groups. Furthermore, there was no difference in reaction time on the surprise trial between the two groups. These results suggest that information participants expected to report can survive an encounter with an unexpected task. The implication is that failures to report information on a surprise trial in many experiments reflect genuine differences in memory encoding, rather than forgetting or overwriting induced by the surprise question.

Vision-21: Space Travel for the Next Millennium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landis, G.A.

1990-04-01

The papers from this symposium, that was held at the NASA Lewis Research Center on April 3-4, 1990, are presented. The theme selected for the symposium was space travel for the next millennium. It was hoped that the participants would allow their focus to consider possible advances in technologies for space travel not just for currently envisioned projects, but for possibilities beyond the next generation and the next thousand years. About half of the contributed papers focussed on propulsion and the other half on other issues related to space travel

Task Analysis data Processing and Enhanced Representations (TAPER), Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Task Analysis (TA) is a fundamental part of NASA system design and validation. TAs are used to produce Master Task Lists that support engineering teams and...

75 FR 24781 - Task Force on Space Industry Workforce and Economic Development

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-06

... economic and workforce-development efforts through a Task Force composed of senior-level Administration... officials on existing committees or task forces addressing technological development, research, or aerospace... Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (c) This...

Simultaneous Budget and Buffer Size Computation for Throughput-Constrained Task Graphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiggers, M.H.; Bekooij, Marco Jan Gerrit; Geilen, Marc C.W.; Basten, Twan

Modern embedded multimedia systems process multiple concurrent streams of data processing jobs. Streams often have throughput requirements. These jobs are implemented on a multiprocessor system as a task graph. Tasks communicate data over buffers, where tasks wait on sufficient space in output

Half-Space Temperature Field with a Movable Thermally Thin-Coated Boundary Under External Heat Flux

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. A. Vlasov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In engineering practice analytical methods of the mathematical theory of heat conduction hold a special place. This is due to many reasons, in particular, because of the fact that the solutions of the relevant problems represented in analytically closed form, can be used not only for a parametric analysis of the studied temperature field and to explore the specific features of its formation, but also to test the developed computational algorithms, which are aimed at solving real-world application heat and mass transfer problems. Difficulties arising when using the analytical mathematical theory methods of heat conduction in practice are well known. Also they are significantly exacerbated if the boundaries of the system under study are movable, even in the simplest case, when the law of motion is known.The main goal of the conducted research is to have an analytically closed-form problem solution for finding the orthotropic half-space temperature field, a boundary of which has thermally thin coating exposed to extremely concentrated stationary external heat flux and uniformly moves parallel to itself.The assumption that the covering of the boundary is thermally thin, allowed to realize the idea of \\concentrated capacity", that is to accept the hypothesis that the mean-thickness coating temperature is equal to the temperature of its boundaries. This assumption allowed us to reduce the problem under consideration to a mixed problem for a parabolic equation with a specific boundary condition.The Hankel integral transform of zero order with respect to the radial variable and the Laplace transform with respect to the temporal variable were used to solve the reduced problem. These techniques have allowed us to submit the required solution as an iterated integral.

Spontaneous formation and dynamics of half-skyrmions in a chiral liquid-crystal film

Science.gov (United States)

Nych, Andriy; Fukuda, Jun-Ichi; Ognysta, Uliana; Žumer, Slobodan; Muševič, Igor

2017-12-01

Skyrmions are coreless vortex-like excitations emerging in diverse condensed-matter systems, and real-time observation of their dynamics is still challenging. Here we report the first direct optical observation of the spontaneous formation of half-skyrmions. In a thin film of a chiral liquid crystal, depending on experimental conditions including film thickness, they form a hexagonal lattice whose lattice constant is a few hundred nanometres, or appear as isolated entities with topological defects compensating their charge. These half-skyrmions exhibit intriguing dynamical behaviour driven by thermal fluctuations. Numerical calculations of real-space images successfully corroborate the experimental observations despite the challenge because of the characteristic scale of the structures close to the optical resolution limit. A thin film of a chiral liquid crystal thus offers an intriguing platform that facilitates a direct investigation of the dynamics of topological excitations such as half-skyrmions and their manipulation with optical techniques.

Analysis of human-in-the-loop tele-operated maintenance inspection tasks using VR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boessenkool, H.; Abbink, D.A.; Heemskerk, C.J.M.; Steinbuch, M.; Baar, M.R. de; Wildenbeest, J.G.W.; Ronden, D.; Koning, J.F.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Execution of tele-operated inspection tasks for ITER maintenance was analyzed. ► Human factors experiments using Virtual Reality showed to be a valuable approach. ► A large variation in time performance and number of collisions was found. ► Results indicate significant room for improvement for teleoperated free space tasks. ► A promising solution is haptic shared control: assist operator with guiding forces. -- Abstract: One of the challenges in future fusion plants such as ITER is the remote maintenance of the plant. Foreseen human-in-the-loop tele-operation is characterized by limited visual and haptic feedback from the environment, which results in degraded task performance and increased operator workload. For improved tele-operated task performance it is required to get insight in the expected tasks and problems during maintenance at ITER. By means of an exploratory human factor experiment, this paper analyses problems and bottlenecks during the execution of foreseen tele-operated maintenance at ITER, identifying most promising areas of improvement. The focus of this paper is on free space (sub)tasks where contact with the environment needs to be avoided. A group of 5 subjects was asked to carry-out an ITER related free space task (visual inspection), using a six degree of freedom master device connected to a simulated hot cell environment. The results show large variation in time performance between subjects and an increasing number of collisions for more difficult tasks, indicating room for improvement for free space (sub)tasks. The results will be used in future research on the haptic guidance strategies in the ITER Remote Handling framework

Analysis of human-in-the-loop tele-operated maintenance inspection tasks using VR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boessenkool, H., E-mail: h.boessenkool@differ.nl [FOM Institute DIFFER (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research), Association EURATOM-FOM, Partner in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control Group, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Abbink, D.A. [Delft University of Technology, Faculty of 3mE, BioMechanical Engineering Department, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Heemskerk, C.J.M. [Heemskerk Innovative Technology B.V., Jonckerweg 12, 2201 DZ Noordwijk (Netherlands); Steinbuch, M. [Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control Group, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Baar, M.R. de [FOM Institute DIFFER (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research), Association EURATOM-FOM, Partner in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Control Group, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Wildenbeest, J.G.W. [Delft University of Technology, Faculty of 3mE, BioMechanical Engineering Department, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Heemskerk Innovative Technology B.V., Jonckerweg 12, 2201 DZ Noordwijk (Netherlands); Ronden, D. [FOM Institute DIFFER (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research), Association EURATOM-FOM, Partner in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster, PO Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Koning, J.F. [Heemskerk Innovative Technology B.V., Jonckerweg 12, 2201 DZ Noordwijk (Netherlands)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► Execution of tele-operated inspection tasks for ITER maintenance was analyzed. ► Human factors experiments using Virtual Reality showed to be a valuable approach. ► A large variation in time performance and number of collisions was found. ► Results indicate significant room for improvement for teleoperated free space tasks. ► A promising solution is haptic shared control: assist operator with guiding forces. -- Abstract: One of the challenges in future fusion plants such as ITER is the remote maintenance of the plant. Foreseen human-in-the-loop tele-operation is characterized by limited visual and haptic feedback from the environment, which results in degraded task performance and increased operator workload. For improved tele-operated task performance it is required to get insight in the expected tasks and problems during maintenance at ITER. By means of an exploratory human factor experiment, this paper analyses problems and bottlenecks during the execution of foreseen tele-operated maintenance at ITER, identifying most promising areas of improvement. The focus of this paper is on free space (sub)tasks where contact with the environment needs to be avoided. A group of 5 subjects was asked to carry-out an ITER related free space task (visual inspection), using a six degree of freedom master device connected to a simulated hot cell environment. The results show large variation in time performance between subjects and an increasing number of collisions for more difficult tasks, indicating room for improvement for free space (sub)tasks. The results will be used in future research on the haptic guidance strategies in the ITER Remote Handling framework.

Toward a Learning Science for Complex Crowdsourcing Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Doroudi, Shayan; Kamar, Ece; Brunskill, Emma; Horvitz, Eric

2016-01-01

We explore how crowdworkers can be trained to tackle complex crowdsourcing tasks. We are particularly interested in training novice workers to perform well on solving tasks in situations where the space of strategies is large and workers need to discover and try different strategies to be successful. In a first experiment, we perform a comparison…

Short-term memory and dual task performance

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, J. E.

1982-01-01

Two hypotheses concerning the way in which short-term memory interacts with another task in a dual task situation are considered. It is noted that when two tasks are combined, the activity of controlling and organizing performance on both tasks simultaneously may compete with either task for a resource; this resource may be space in a central mechanism or general processing capacity or it may be some task-specific resource. If a special relationship exists between short-term memory and control, especially if there is an identity relationship between short-term and a central controlling mechanism, then short-term memory performance should show a decrement in a dual task situation. Even if short-term memory does not have any particular identity with a controlling mechanism, but both tasks draw on some common resource or resources, then a tradeoff between the two tasks in allocating resources is possible and could be reflected in performance. The persistent concurrence cost in memory performance in these experiments suggests that short-term memory may have a unique status in the information processing system.

Multi-task Vector Field Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Binbin; Yang, Sen; Zhang, Chiyuan; Ye, Jieping; He, Xiaofei

2012-01-01

Multi-task learning (MTL) aims to improve generalization performance by learning multiple related tasks simultaneously and identifying the shared information among tasks. Most of existing MTL methods focus on learning linear models under the supervised setting. We propose a novel semi-supervised and nonlinear approach for MTL using vector fields. A vector field is a smooth mapping from the manifold to the tangent spaces which can be viewed as a directional derivative of functions on the manifold. We argue that vector fields provide a natural way to exploit the geometric structure of data as well as the shared differential structure of tasks, both of which are crucial for semi-supervised multi-task learning. In this paper, we develop multi-task vector field learning (MTVFL) which learns the predictor functions and the vector fields simultaneously. MTVFL has the following key properties. (1) The vector fields MTVFL learns are close to the gradient fields of the predictor functions. (2) Within each task, the vector field is required to be as parallel as possible which is expected to span a low dimensional subspace. (3) The vector fields from all tasks share a low dimensional subspace. We formalize our idea in a regularization framework and also provide a convex relaxation method to solve the original non-convex problem. The experimental results on synthetic and real data demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach.

Vacancy induced half-metallicity in half-Heusler semiconductors

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Zhiyong; Cheng, Yingchun; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

2011-01-01

First-principles calculations are performed to investigate the effect of vacancies on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the two prototypical half-Heusler semiconductors NiTiSn and CoTiSb. The spin degeneracy of the host materials

7 CFR 51.2295 - Half kernel.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Half kernel. 51.2295 Section 51.2295 Agriculture... Standards for Shelled English Walnuts (Juglans Regia) Definitions § 51.2295 Half kernel. Half kernel means the separated half of a kernel with not more than one-eighth broken off. ...

An Efficient Numerical Method for Computing Synthetic Seismograms for a Layered Half-space with Sources and Receivers at Close or Same Depths

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, H.-m.; Chen, X.-f.; Chang, S.

- It is difficult to compute synthetic seismograms for a layered half-space with sources and receivers at close to or the same depths using the generalized R/T coefficient method (Kennett, 1983; Luco and Apsel, 1983; Yao and Harkrider, 1983; Chen, 1993), because the wavenumber integration converges very slowly. A semi-analytic method for accelerating the convergence, in which part of the integration is implemented analytically, was adopted by some authors (Apsel and Luco, 1983; Hisada, 1994, 1995). In this study, based on the principle of the Repeated Averaging Method (Dahlquist and Björck, 1974; Chang, 1988), we propose an alternative, efficient, numerical method, the peak-trough averaging method (PTAM), to overcome the difficulty mentioned above. Compared with the semi-analytic method, PTAM is not only much simpler mathematically and easier to implement in practice, but also more efficient. Using numerical examples, we illustrate the validity, accuracy and efficiency of the new method.

Decision Making in Concurrent Multitasking : Do People Adapt to Task Interference?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijboer, Menno; Taatgen, Niels A.; Brands, Annelies; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik

2013-01-01

While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the

A reliability analysis tool for SpaceWire network

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qiang; Zhu, Longjiang; Fei, Haidong; Wang, Xingyou

2017-04-01

A SpaceWire is a standard for on-board satellite networks as the basis for future data-handling architectures. It is becoming more and more popular in space applications due to its technical advantages, including reliability, low power and fault protection, etc. High reliability is the vital issue for spacecraft. Therefore, it is very important to analyze and improve the reliability performance of the SpaceWire network. This paper deals with the problem of reliability modeling and analysis with SpaceWire network. According to the function division of distributed network, a reliability analysis method based on a task is proposed, the reliability analysis of every task can lead to the system reliability matrix, the reliability result of the network system can be deduced by integrating these entire reliability indexes in the matrix. With the method, we develop a reliability analysis tool for SpaceWire Network based on VC, where the computation schemes for reliability matrix and the multi-path-task reliability are also implemented. By using this tool, we analyze several cases on typical architectures. And the analytic results indicate that redundancy architecture has better reliability performance than basic one. In practical, the dual redundancy scheme has been adopted for some key unit, to improve the reliability index of the system or task. Finally, this reliability analysis tool will has a directive influence on both task division and topology selection in the phase of SpaceWire network system design.

Dynamic half-rate connections in GSM

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winands, E.M.M.; Wieland, J.; Sanders, B.

2006-01-01

Dynamic half-rate is an optional feature that allows a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) cell to switch new incoming half-rate capable calls to half-rate speech coding, when the cell is nearly congested. Since two half-rate speech calls can be put together in one single-time slot, dynamic

The geometry of the Pareto front in biological phenotype space

Science.gov (United States)

Sheftel, Hila; Shoval, Oren; Mayo, Avi; Alon, Uri

2013-01-01

When organisms perform a single task, selection leads to phenotypes that maximize performance at that task. When organisms need to perform multiple tasks, a trade-off arises because no phenotype can optimize all tasks. Recent work addressed this question, and assumed that the performance at each task decays with distance in trait space from the best phenotype at that task. Under this assumption, the best-fitness solutions (termed the Pareto front) lie on simple low-dimensional shapes in trait space: line segments, triangles and other polygons. The vertices of these polygons are specialists at a single task. Here, we generalize this finding, by considering performance functions of general form, not necessarily functions that decay monotonically with distance from their peak. We find that, except for performance functions with highly eccentric contours, simple shapes in phenotype space are still found, but with mildly curving edges instead of straight ones. In a wide range of systems, complex data on multiple quantitative traits, which might be expected to fill a high-dimensional phenotype space, is predicted instead to collapse onto low-dimensional shapes; phenotypes near the vertices of these shapes are predicted to be specialists, and can thus suggest which tasks may be at play. PMID:23789060

Elastic Wave Control Beyond Band-Gaps: Shaping the Flow of Waves in Plates and Half-Spaces with Subwavelength Resonant Rods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Colombi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In metamaterial science, local resonance and hybridization are key phenomena strongly influencing the dispersion properties; the metasurface discussed in this article created by a cluster of resonators, subwavelength rods, atop an elastic surface being an exemplar with these features. On this metasurface, band-gaps, slow or fast waves, negative refraction, and dynamic anisotropy can all be observed by exploring frequencies and wavenumbers from the Floquet–Bloch problem and by using the Brillouin zone. These extreme characteristics, when appropriately engineered, can be used to design and control the propagation of elastic waves along the metasurface. For the exemplar we consider, two parameters are easily tuned: rod height and cluster periodicity. The height is directly related to the band-gap frequency and, hence, to the slow and fast waves, while the periodicity is related to the appearance of dynamic anisotropy. Playing with these two parameters generates a gallery of metasurface designs to control the propagation of both flexural waves in plates and surface Rayleigh waves for half-spaces. Scalability with respect to the frequency and wavelength of the governing physical laws allows the application of these concepts in very different fields and over a wide range of lengthscales.

Space Environmental Effects on Materials and Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Sabbann, Leslie M.

2009-01-01

The Materials and Processes (M&P) Branch of the Structural Engineering Division at Johnson Space Center (JSC) seeks to uphold the production of dependable space hardware through materials research, which fits into NASA's purpose of advancing human exploration, use, and development of space. The Space Environmental Effects projects fully support these Agency goals. Two tasks were assigned to support M&P. Both assignments were to further the research of material behavior outside of Earth's atmosphere in order to determine which materials are most durable and safe to use in space for mitigating risks. One project, the Materials on International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) task, was to compile data from International Space Station (ISS) experiments to pinpoint beneficial space hardware. The other project was researching the effects on composite materials of exposure to high doses of radiation for a Lunar habitat project.

Cooperating expert systems for space station power distribution management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, T.A.; Chiou, W.C.

1986-01-01

In a complex system such as the manned Space Station, it is deemed necessary that many expert systems must perform tasks in a concurrent and cooperative manner. An important question to arise is: what cooperative-task-performing models are appropriate for multiple expert systems to jointly perform tasks. The solution to this question will provide a crucial automation design criteria for the Space Station complex systems architecture. Based on a client/server model for performing tasks, the authors have developed a system that acts as a front-end to support loosely-coupled communications between expert systems running on multiple Symbolics machines. As an example, they use the two ART*-based expert systems to demonstrate the concept of parallel symbolic manipulation for power distribution management and dynamic load planner/scheduler in the simulated Space Station environment. This on-going work will also explore other cooperative-task-performing models as alternatives which can evaluate inter and intra expert system communication mechanisms. It will serve as a testbed and a bench-marking tool for other Space Station expert subsystem communication and information exchange

Cooperating Expert Systems For Space Station Power Distribution Management

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, T. A.; Chiou, W. C.

1987-02-01

In a complex system such as the manned Space Station, it is deem necessary that many expert systems must perform tasks in a concurrent and cooperative manner. An important question arise is: what cooperative-task-performing models are appropriate for multiple expert systems to jointly perform tasks. The solution to this question will provide a crucial automation design criteria for the Space Station complex systems architecture. Based on a client/server model for performing tasks, we have developed a system that acts as a front-end to support loosely-coupled communications between expert systems running on multiple Symbolics machines. As an example, we use two ART*-based expert systems to demonstrate the concept of parallel symbolic manipulation for power distribution management and dynamic load planner/scheduler in the simulated Space Station environment. This on-going work will also explore other cooperative-task-performing models as alternatives which can evaluate inter and intra expert system communication mechanisms. It will be served as a testbed and a bench-marking tool for other Space Station expert subsystem communication and information exchange.

Space applications of Automation, Robotics and Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS). Volume 4: Application of ARAMIS capabilities to space project functional elements

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, R. H.; Minsky, M. L.; Smith, D. B. S.

1982-01-01

Applications of automation, robotics, and machine intelligence systems (ARAMIS) to space activities and their related ground support functions are studied, so that informed decisions can be made on which aspects of ARAMIS to develop. The specific tasks which will be required by future space project tasks are identified and the relative merits of these options are evaluated. The ARAMIS options defined and researched span the range from fully human to fully machine, including a number of intermediate options (e.g., humans assisted by computers, and various levels of teleoperation). By including this spectrum, the study searches for the optimum mix of humans and machines for space project tasks.

Validation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index as a tool to evaluate the learning curve for endoscopy training.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Rachid; Raman, Maitreyi; Anderson, John; McLaughlin, Kevin; Rostom, Alaa; Coderre, Sylvain

2014-03-01

Although workplace workload assessments exist in different fields, an endoscopy-specific workload assessment tool is lacking. To validate such a workload tool and use it to map the progression of novice trainees in gastroenterology in performing their first endoscopies. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) workload assessment tool was completed by eight novice trainees in gastroenterology and 10 practicing gastroenterologists⁄surgeons. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to construct a streamlined endoscopy-specific task load index, which was subsequently validated. The 'Endoscopy Task Load Index' was used to monitor progression of trainee exertion and self-assessed performance over their first 40 procedures. From the factor analysis of the NASA-TLX, two principal components emerged: a measure of exertion and a measure of self-efficacy. These items became the components of the newly validated Endoscopy Task Load Index. There was a steady decline in self-perceived exertion over the training period, which was more rapid for gastroscopy than colonoscopy. The self-efficacy scores for gastroscopy rapidly increased over the first few procedures, reaching a plateau after this period of time. For colonoscopy, there was a progressive increase in reported self-efficacy over the first three quartiles of procedures, followed by a drop in self-efficacy scores over the final quartile. The present study validated an Endoscopy Task Load Index that can be completed in <1 min. Practical implications of such a tool in endoscopy education include identifying periods of higher perceived exertion among novice endoscopists, facilitating appropriate levels of guidance from trainers.

Campground marketing: the heavy-half strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Wilbur F. LaPage

1969-01-01

When we arrayed camping frequencies in order from the lowest to the highest number of days spent camping per year we found that half of the campers do much more than half of the camping. Campers in this heavy half consistently camp more, year after year, and are increasing their annual participation as well. Heavy-half campers have larger investments in camping...

Autonomous Task Primitives for Complex Manipulation Operations

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The goal of this research effort is to enable robots to autonomously perform the complex manipulation tasks that are necessary to maintain a spacecraft. Robots, like...

Determinants of the half-turn with the ball in sub-elite youth soccer players.

Science.gov (United States)

Zago, Matteo; Codari, Marina; Grilli, Massimo; Bellistri, Giuseppe; Lovecchio, Nicola; Sforza, Chiarella

2016-06-01

We explored the biomechanics of the 180° change-of-direction with the ball (half-turn) in soccer. We aimed at identifying movement strategies which enhance the players' half-turning performance, by characterising technique kinematics and understanding the structure of biomechanical and anthropometrics variables. Ten Under-13 sub-elite male players were recorded with an optoelectronic motion analyser while performing a 5-m straight dribbling followed by a half-turn with the sole. Joints kinematics differences between faster and slower trials were found in support-side hip rotation, driving-side hip adduction, trunk flexion and rotation, and arms abduction. To unveil the data-set structure, a principal component (PC) analysis and a stepwise linear discriminant analysis were performed using 30 biomechanical parameters and four anthropometric variables for each trial. Seven retained PCs explained 79% of the overall variability, featuring combinations of original variables that help in understanding the factors facilitating fast half-turns: keeping short steps, minimising lateral and forward body movements, and centre-of-mass lowering, even with ample lower limbs ranges of motion (RoM); abducting the upper limbs while limiting trunk flexion and pelvic inclination RoM. Balance and task-constrained exercises may be proposed to improve this technique. Moreover, a quantitative knowledge of the movement structure could give coaches objective insights to better instruct young players.

Shuttle Ground Support Equipment (GSE) T-0 Umbilical to Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Flight Elements Consultation

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Timmy R.; Kichak, Robert A.; McManamen, John P.; Kramer-White, Julie; Raju, Ivatury S.; Beil, Robert J.; Weeks, John F.; Elliott, Kenny B.

2009-01-01

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) was tasked with assessing the validity of an alternate opinion that surfaced during the investigation of recurrent failures at the Space Shuttle T-0 umbilical interface. The most visible problem occurred during the Space Transportation System (STS)-112 launch when pyrotechnics used to separate Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Hold-Down Post (HDP) frangible nuts failed to fire. Subsequent investigations recommended several improvements to the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) and processing changes were implemented, including replacement of ground-half cables and connectors between flights, along with wiring modifications to make critical circuits quad-redundant across the interface. The alternate opinions maintained that insufficient data existed to exonerate the design, that additional data needed to be gathered under launch conditions, and that the interface should be further modified to ensure additional margin existed to preclude failure. The results of the assessment are contained in this report.

Planar half-cell shaped precursor body

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2015-01-01

The invention relates to a half-cell shaped precursor body of either anode type or cathode type, the half-cell shaped precursor body being prepared to be free sintered to form a sintered or pre-sintered half-cell being adapted to be stacked in a solid oxide fuel cell stack. The obtained half......-cell has an improved planar shape, which remains planar also after a sintering process and during temperature fluctuations....

Decision Making in Concurrent Multitasking: Do People Adapt to Task Interference?

Science.gov (United States)

Nijboer, Menno; Taatgen, Niels A.; Brands, Annelies; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik

2013-01-01

While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the trials. This primary task had to be combined with a secondary task requiring either working memory or visual attention, resulting in different types of interference. Before each trial, participants were asked to choose which secondary task they wanted to perform concurrently with the primary task. We predicted that if people seek to maximize performance or minimize effort required to perform the dual task, they choose task combinations that minimize interference. While performance data showed that the predicted optimal task combinations indeed resulted in minimal interference between tasks, the preferential choice data showed that a third of participants did not show any adaptation, and for the remainder it took a considerable number of trials before the optimal task combinations were chosen consistently. On the basis of these results we argue that, while in principle people are able to adapt their behavior according to multitasking demands, selection of the most efficient combination of strategies is not an automatic process. PMID:24244527

Decision making in concurrent multitasking: do people adapt to task interference?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Menno Nijboer

Full Text Available While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the trials. This primary task had to be combined with a secondary task requiring either working memory or visual attention, resulting in different types of interference. Before each trial, participants were asked to choose which secondary task they wanted to perform concurrently with the primary task. We predicted that if people seek to maximize performance or minimize effort required to perform the dual task, they choose task combinations that minimize interference. While performance data showed that the predicted optimal task combinations indeed resulted in minimal interference between tasks, the preferential choice data showed that a third of participants did not show any adaptation, and for the remainder it took a considerable number of trials before the optimal task combinations were chosen consistently. On the basis of these results we argue that, while in principle people are able to adapt their behavior according to multitasking demands, selection of the most efficient combination of strategies is not an automatic process.

Quantifying tasks and roles in insect societies

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1991-05-15

May 15, 1991 ... ergonomic selection, and was associated with the evolution of increasing behavioural ... The sequence in which tasks are perfonned by workers, .... space, providing a pictorial representation of the association between the ...

Space Focus Lead Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reeves, Geoffrey D. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-08-10

The Space Focus team is tasked with the definition of the Space Focused Science Topics, and with the review and ranking of the CSES proposals received in all the program areas. This is achieved by dedicated meetings or a series of informal discussions and/or e-mail reviews.

Projection of the rotation form Navier-Stokes equation onto the half-staggered grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Ji Ryong [Inje University, Kimhae (Korea, Republic of)

2016-07-15

A projection method for computing incompressible fluid flow is proposed. For the method, the rotation form Navier-Stokes equation (NSE), for which the velocity and the total pressure are employed, is discretized on the half-staggered, finite difference spatial grid. The total pressure couples the static pressure gradient and the convection of momentum in the continuous NSE while the half-staggered grid provides weak pressure-velocity coupling in discrete space. These two features interact synergistically for the discretized NSE to produce smooth pressure fields without additional numerical artifacts such as the momentum interpolation. The method preserves the kinetic energy at the inviscid limit condition. Numerical solutions of the decaying Taylor vortex, the inviscid Taylor vortex, the sudden expansion channel and the square-prism wake are presented.

Half-time strategies to enhance second-half performance in team-sports players: a review and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Mark; West, Daniel J; Harper, Liam D; Cook, Christian J; Kilduff, Liam P

2015-03-01

A number of intermittent team sports require that two consecutive periods of play (lasting for ~30-45 min) are separated by a 10-20 min half-time break. The half-time practices employed by team-sports players generally include returning to the changing rooms, temporarily relaxing from the cognitive and physical demands of the first half, rehydration and re-fuelling strategies, addressing injury or equipment concerns, and receiving tactical instruction and coach feedback. However, the typically passive nature of these actions has been associated with physiological changes that impair performance during the second half. Both physical and cognitive performances have been found to decline in the initial stages of subsequent exercise that follows half-time. An increased risk of injury has also been observed during this period. Therefore, half-time provides sports scientists and strength and conditioning coaches with an opportunity to optimise second-half performance. An overview of strategies thought to benefit team-sports athletes is presented; specifically, the efficacy of heat maintenance strategies (including passive and active methods), post-activation potentiation, hormonal priming, and modified hydro-nutritional practices are discussed. A theoretical model of applying these strategies in a manner that compliments current practice is also offered.

Synchronous Half-Wave Rectifier

Science.gov (United States)

Rippel, Wally E.

1989-01-01

Synchronous rectifying circuit behaves like diode having unusually low voltage drop during forward-voltage half cycles. Circuit particularly useful in power supplies with potentials of 5 Vdc or less, where normal forward-voltage drops in ordinary diodes unacceptably large. Fabricated as monolithic assembly or as hybrid. Synchronous half-wave rectifier includes active circuits to attain low forward voltage drop and high rectification efficiency.

A Constructivist Connectionist Model of Transitions on False-Belief Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Berthiaume, Vincent G.; Shultz, Thomas R.; Onishi, Kristine H.

2013-01-01

How do children come to understand that others have mental representations, e.g., of an object's location? Preschoolers go through two transitions on verbal false-belief tasks, in which they have to predict where an agent will search for an object that was moved in her absence. First, while three-and-a-half-year-olds usually fail at approach…

Evolutionary space platform concept study. Volume 2, part B: Manned space platform concepts

Science.gov (United States)

1982-01-01

Logical, cost-effective steps in the evolution of manned space platforms are investigated and assessed. Tasks included the analysis of requirements for a manned space platform, identifying alternative concepts, performing system analysis and definition of the concepts, comparing the concepts and performing programmatic analysis for a reference concept.

Differential Effects of Aging on Autobiographical Memory Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katinka Dijkstra

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study examined the role of aging in the recall and recognition of autobiographical memories. Young and older adults submitted personal events during a period of 3 months to an Internet diary. After this period, they performed a cued-recall test based on what, who, and where retrieval cues. Three months later, participants completed a recognition test in which the descriptions of half the entries were altered. The results indicated no age differences on the cued-recall task, but several age differences on the recognition task. Older adults were more susceptible to accept altered entries as authentic, particularly when these changes had been subtle. However, despite their lower performance, older adults were more confident with the accuracy of their decisions. The results suggest that different mechanisms underlie the recall and recognition of autobiographical memories, and that only tasks that subtly tap into source monitoring abilities are affected by cognitive aging processes.

Validation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index as a tool to evaluate-the learning curve for endoscopy training

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Rachid; Raman, Maitreyi; Anderson, John; McLaughlin, Kevin; Rostom, Alaa; Coderre, Sylvain

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Although workplace workload assessments exist in different fields, an endoscopy-specific workload assessment tool is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To validate such a workload tool and use it to map the progression of novice trainees in gastroenterology in performing their first endoscopies. METHODS: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) workload assessment tool was completed by eight novice trainees in gastroenterology and 10 practicing gastroenterologists/surgeons. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to construct a streamlined endoscopy-specific task load index, which was subsequently validated. The ‘Endoscopy Task Load Index’ was used to monitor progression of trainee exertion and self-assessed performance over their first 40 procedures. RESULTS: From the factor analysis of the NASA-TLX, two principal components emerged: a measure of exertion and a measure of self-efficacy. These items became the components of the newly validated Endoscopy Task Load Index. There was a steady decline in self-perceived exertion over the training period, which was more rapid for gastroscopy than colonoscopy. The self-efficacy scores for gastroscopy rapidly increased over the first few procedures, reaching a plateau after this period of time. For colonoscopy, there was a progressive increase in reported self-efficacy over the first three quartiles of procedures, followed by a drop in self-efficacy scores over the final quartile. DISCUSSION: The present study validated an Endoscopy Task Load Index that can be completed in <1 min. Practical implications of such a tool in endoscopy education include identifying periods of higher perceived exertion among novice endoscopists, facilitating appropriate levels of guidance from trainers. PMID:24619638

Priming can affect naming colours using the study-test procedure. Revealing the role of task conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Dinkar

2016-11-14

The Stroop paradigm has been widely used to study attention whilst its use to explore implicit memory have been mixed. Using the non-colour word Stroop task we tested contrasting predictions from the proactive-control/task-conflict model (Kalanthroff, Avnit, Henik, Davelaar & Usher, 2015) that implicate response conflict and task conflict for the priming effects. Using the study-test procedure 60 native English speakers were tested to determine whether priming effects from words that had previously been studied would cause interference when presented in a colour naming task. The results replicate a finding by MacLeod (1996) who showed no differences between the response latencies to studied and unstudied words. However, this pattern was predominately in the first half of the study where it was also found that both studied and unstudied words in a mixed block were slower to respond to than a block of pure unstudied words. The second half of the study showed stronger priming interference effects as well as a sequential modulation effect in which studied words slowed down the responses of studied words on the next trial. We discuss the role of proactive and reactive control processes and conclude that task conflict best explains the pattern of priming effects reported. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Autonomous Assembly of Structures in Space

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — In-orbit assembly of structures is a task that must be performed by space-walking humans, and yet it is costly, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous. Assembly...

Space stations systems and utilization

CERN Document Server

Messerschmid, Ernst

1999-01-01

The design of space stations like the recently launched ISS is a highly complex and interdisciplinary task. This book describes component technologies, system integration, and the potential usage of space stations in general and of the ISS in particular. It so adresses students and engineers in space technology. Ernst Messerschmid holds the chair of space systems at the University of Stuttgart and was one of the first German astronauts.

Half-liter supernatant sampler system engineering work plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritter, G.A.

1995-01-01

The Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) pretreatment facility project W-236B, known as the Initial Pretreatment Module (IPM), requires samples of supernatants and sludges from 200 Area tank farms for planned hot testing work in support of IPM design. The IPM project has proposed the development of several new sampler systems. These systems include a 0.5-l supernatant sampler, 3-l and 25-l supernatant and sludge samplers, and a 4,000-l sampler system. The 0.5-l sampler will support IPM sampling needs in the 1 to 3 l range starting in late fiscal year 1995. This sampler is intended to be used in conjunction with the existing 100 ml bottle-on-a-string. The 3-l and 25-l systems will be based on the Savannah River Site's sampler system and will support IPM sampling needs in the 3 to 100 liter range. Most of the hot testing required for design of the IPM must be accomplished in the next 3 years. This work plan defines the tasks associated with the development of a 0.5-l sampler system. This system will be referred to as the Half-Liter Supernatant Sampler System (HLSSS). Specifically, this work plan will define the scope of work, identify organizational responsibilities, identify major technical requirements, describe configuration control and verification requirements, and provide estimated costs and schedule. The sampler system will be fully operational, including trained staff and operating procedures, upon completion of this task

Inferring biological tasks using Pareto analysis of high-dimensional data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Yuval; Sheftel, Hila; Hausser, Jean; Szekely, Pablo; Ben-Moshe, Noa Bossel; Korem, Yael; Tendler, Avichai; Mayo, Avraham E; Alon, Uri

2015-03-01

We present the Pareto task inference method (ParTI; http://www.weizmann.ac.il/mcb/UriAlon/download/ParTI) for inferring biological tasks from high-dimensional biological data. Data are described as a polytope, and features maximally enriched closest to the vertices (or archetypes) allow identification of the tasks the vertices represent. We demonstrate that human breast tumors and mouse tissues are well described by tetrahedrons in gene expression space, with specific tumor types and biological functions enriched at each of the vertices, suggesting four key tasks.

Haptic spatial matching in near peripersonal space.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaas, Amanda L; Mier, Hanneke I van

2006-04-01

Research has shown that haptic spatial matching at intermanual distances over 60 cm is prone to large systematic errors. The error pattern has been explained by the use of reference frames intermediate between egocentric and allocentric coding. This study investigated haptic performance in near peripersonal space, i.e. at intermanual distances of 60 cm and less. Twelve blindfolded participants (six males and six females) were presented with two turn bars at equal distances from the midsagittal plane, 30 or 60 cm apart. Different orientations (vertical/horizontal or oblique) of the left bar had to be matched by adjusting the right bar to either a mirror symmetric (/ \\) or parallel (/ /) position. The mirror symmetry task can in principle be performed accurately in both an egocentric and an allocentric reference frame, whereas the parallel task requires an allocentric representation. Results showed that parallel matching induced large systematic errors which increased with distance. Overall error was significantly smaller in the mirror task. The task difference also held for the vertical orientation at 60 cm distance, even though this orientation required the same response in both tasks, showing a marked effect of task instruction. In addition, men outperformed women on the parallel task. Finally, contrary to our expectations, systematic errors were found in the mirror task, predominantly at 30 cm distance. Based on these findings, we suggest that haptic performance in near peripersonal space might be dominated by different mechanisms than those which come into play at distances over 60 cm. Moreover, our results indicate that both inter-individual differences and task demands affect task performance in haptic spatial matching. Therefore, we conclude that the study of haptic spatial matching in near peripersonal space might reveal important additional constraints for the specification of adequate models of haptic spatial performance.

Half-life measurement of 89Rb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Xiaoqing; Yuan Daqing; Xu Lijun; Chen Kesheng; Wu Yongle; Zheng Yanming; Yao Shunhe

2013-01-01

89 Rb is an important fission product used for monitoring possible release of fission products from fuel element. The half-life is one of important nuclear parameters. The half-life of 89 Rb was determined using reference source method with two sets of HPGe detectors by place-relay way. In reference source method, the ratio of net full- energy peak areas from the measure nuclide and the reference source was used to avoid the count correction caused by dead time and pileup. For the very short half-life of 89 Rb, the half-life iterative method was used in data analysis and the translation method was used in data unification. Finally, the measured half-life of 89 Rb is (14.41±0.04) min. (authors)

Task-induced frequency modulation features for brain-computer interfacing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaram, Vinay; Hohmann, Matthias; Just, Jennifer; Schölkopf, Bernhard; Grosse-Wentrup, Moritz

2017-10-01

Task-induced amplitude modulation of neural oscillations is routinely used in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) for decoding subjects' intents, and underlies some of the most robust and common methods in the field, such as common spatial patterns and Riemannian geometry. While there has been some interest in phase-related features for classification, both techniques usually presuppose that the frequencies of neural oscillations remain stable across various tasks. We investigate here whether features based on task-induced modulation of the frequency of neural oscillations enable decoding of subjects' intents with an accuracy comparable to task-induced amplitude modulation. We compare cross-validated classification accuracies using the amplitude and frequency modulated features, as well as a joint feature space, across subjects in various paradigms and pre-processing conditions. We show results with a motor imagery task, a cognitive task, and also preliminary results in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as using common spatial patterns and Laplacian filtering. The frequency features alone do not significantly out-perform traditional amplitude modulation features, and in some cases perform significantly worse. However, across both tasks and pre-processing in healthy subjects the joint space significantly out-performs either the frequency or amplitude features alone. This result only does not hold for ALS patients, for whom the dataset is of insufficient size to draw any statistically significant conclusions. Task-induced frequency modulation is robust and straight forward to compute, and increases performance when added to standard amplitude modulation features across paradigms. This allows more information to be extracted from the EEG signal cheaply and can be used throughout the field of BCIs.

Task-induced frequency modulation features for brain-computer interfacing

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaram, Vinay; Hohmann, Matthias; Just, Jennifer; Schölkopf, Bernhard; Grosse-Wentrup, Moritz

2017-10-01

Objective. Task-induced amplitude modulation of neural oscillations is routinely used in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) for decoding subjects’ intents, and underlies some of the most robust and common methods in the field, such as common spatial patterns and Riemannian geometry. While there has been some interest in phase-related features for classification, both techniques usually presuppose that the frequencies of neural oscillations remain stable across various tasks. We investigate here whether features based on task-induced modulation of the frequency of neural oscillations enable decoding of subjects’ intents with an accuracy comparable to task-induced amplitude modulation. Approach. We compare cross-validated classification accuracies using the amplitude and frequency modulated features, as well as a joint feature space, across subjects in various paradigms and pre-processing conditions. We show results with a motor imagery task, a cognitive task, and also preliminary results in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as using common spatial patterns and Laplacian filtering. Main results. The frequency features alone do not significantly out-perform traditional amplitude modulation features, and in some cases perform significantly worse. However, across both tasks and pre-processing in healthy subjects the joint space significantly out-performs either the frequency or amplitude features alone. This result only does not hold for ALS patients, for whom the dataset is of insufficient size to draw any statistically significant conclusions. Significance. Task-induced frequency modulation is robust and straight forward to compute, and increases performance when added to standard amplitude modulation features across paradigms. This allows more information to be extracted from the EEG signal cheaply and can be used throughout the field of BCIs.

HUMAN SPACE FLIGHTS: FACTS AND DREAMS

OpenAIRE

Mariano Bizzarri; Enrico Saggese

2011-01-01

Manned space flight has been the great human and technological adventure of the past half-century. By putting people into places and situations unprecedented in history, it has stirred the imagination while expanding and redefining the human experience. However, space exploration obliges men to confront a hostile environment of cosmic radiation, microgravity, isolation and changes in the magnetic field. Any space traveler is therefore submitted to relevant health threats. In the twenty-first ...

Mechanical Design of the LHC Standard Half-Cell

Science.gov (United States)

Poncet, A.; Brunet, J. C.; Cruikshank, P.; Genet, M.; Parma, V.; Rohmig, P.; Saban, R.; Tavian, L.; Veness, R.; Vlogaert, J.; Williams, L. R.

1997-05-01

The LHC Conceptual Design Report issued on 20th October 1995 (CERN/AC/95-05 (LHC) - nicknamed "Yellow Book") introduced significant changes to some fundamental features of the LHC standard half-cell, composed of one quadrupole, 3 dipoles and a set of corrector magnets. A separate cryogenic distribution line was introduced, which was previously inside the main cryostat. The dipole length has been increased from 10 to 15 m and independent powering of the focusing and defocusing quadrupole magnets was chosen. Individual quench protection diodes were introduced in magnets interconnects and many auxiliary bus bars were added to feed in series the various families of correcting superconducting magnets. The various highly intricate basic systems such as: cryostats and cryogenics feeders, superconducting magnets and their electrical feeding and protection, vacuum beam screen and its cooling, support and alignment devices have been redesigned, taking into account the very tight space available. These space constraints are given by the necessity to have maximum integral bending field strength for maximum LHC energy, and the existing LHC tunnel. Finally, cryogenic and vacuum sectorisation have been introduced to reduce downtimes and facilitate commissioning.

7 CFR 51.1441 - Half-kernel.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Half-kernel. 51.1441 Section 51.1441 Agriculture... Standards for Grades of Shelled Pecans Definitions § 51.1441 Half-kernel. Half-kernel means one of the separated halves of an entire pecan kernel with not more than one-eighth of its original volume missing...

PREFACE: Half Metallic Ferromagnets

Science.gov (United States)

Dowben, Peter

2007-08-01

Since its introduction by de Groot and colleagues in the early 1980s [1], the concept of half metallic ferromagnetism has attracted great interest. Idealized, half-metals have only one spin channel for conduction: the spin-polarized band structure exhibits metallic behavior for one spin channel, while the other spin band structure exhibits a gap at the Fermi level. Due to the gap for one spin direction, the density of states at the Fermi level has, theoretically, 100 & spin polarization. This gap in the density of states in one spin at the Fermi level, for example ↓ so N↓ (EF) = 0, also causes the resistance of that channel to go to infinity. At zero or low temperatures, the nonquasiparticle density of states (electron correlation effects), magnons and spin disorder reduce the polarization from the idealized 100 & polarization. At higher temperatures magnon-phonon coupling and irreversible compositional changes affect polarization further. Strategies for assessing and reducing the effects of finite temperatures on the polarization are now gaining attention. The controversies surrounding the polarization stability of half metallic ferromagnets are not, however, limited to the consideration of finite temperature effects alone. While many novel half metallic materials have been predicted, materials fabrication can be challenging. Defects, surface and interface segregation, and structural stability can lead to profound decreases in polarization, but can also suppress long period magnons. There is a 'delicate balance of energies required to obtain half metallic behaviour: to avoid spin flip scattering, tiny adjustments in atomic positions might occur so that a gap opens up in the other spin channel' [2]. When considering 'spintronics' devices, a common alibi for the study of half metallic systems, surfaces and interfaces become important. Free enthalpy differences between the surface and the bulk will lead to spin minority surface and interface states, as well as

Task decomposition for a multilimbed robot to work in reachable but unorientable space

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Chau; Zheng, Yuan F.

1991-01-01

Robot manipulators installed on legged mobile platforms are suggested for enlarging robot workspace. To plan the motion of such a system, the arm-platform motion coordination problem is raised, and a task decomposition is proposed to solve the problem. A given task described by the destination position and orientation of the end effector is decomposed into subtasks for arm manipulation and for platform configuration, respectively. The former is defined as the end-effector position and orientation with respect to the platform, and the latter as the platform position and orientation in the base coordinates. Three approaches are proposed for the task decomposition. The approaches are also evaluated in terms of the displacements, from which an optimal approach can be selected.

Cognitive Modeling for Closed-Loop Task Mitigation, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — As flightdeck equipment becomes more sophisticated and complex, operations become significantly more cognitively demanding. When tasks demands exceed the operator's...

Lasers in space.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Michaelis, MM

2008-04-01

Full Text Available cube, laser beam reflectors, placed on the Moon half a century ago. These early achievements will soon be followed by a plethora of experiments involving lasers in low earth orbit (LEO) or at Lagrange points. And not much later, laser communications... will stretch out as far as Mars and beyond. One important low Earth orbit (LEO) application is the removal of space debris by Earth based or LEO relayed lasers as promoted by Phipps et al.3. Another is military communication. The prominent L1 laser space...

Right hemisphere control of visuospatial attention in near space.

Science.gov (United States)

Longo, Matthew R; Trippier, Sarah; Vagnoni, Eleonora; Lourenco, Stella F

2015-04-01

Traditionally, the right cerebral hemisphere has been considered to be specialized for spatial attention and orienting. A large body of research has demonstrated dissociable representations of the near space immediately surrounding the body and the more distance far space. In this study, we investigated whether right hemisphere activations commonly reported for tasks involving spatial attention (such as the line bisection and landmark tasks) are specific to stimuli presented in near space. In separate blocks of trials, participants judged either whether a vertical transector was to the left or right of the centre of a line (landmark task) or whether the line was red or blue (colour task). Stimuli were seen from four distances (30, 60, 90, 120 cm). We used EEG to measure an ERP component (the 'line-bisection effect') specific to the direction of spatial attention (i.e., landmark minus colour). Consistent with previous results, spatial attention produced a right-lateralized negativity over occipito-parietal channels. The magnitude of this negativity was inversely related to viewing distance, being largest in near space and reduced in far space. These results suggest that the right occipito-temporal cortex may be specialized not just for the orientation of spatial attention generally, but specifically for orienting attention in the near space immediately surrounding the body. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching Grammar through Task-Based Language Teaching to Young EFL Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Yildiz, Mustafa; Senel, Mufit

2017-01-01

The present study investigates the effects of Task-Based Language Teaching on students' grammar knowledge in the field of teaching grammar. It has been studied with 32 students from 8th grade during a two-and-a-half-month process. Throughout this process, students firstly are applied a pre-test to examine their level and to confirm whether there…

A Global Space Control Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

ASAT testing and development before significant pushback is enacted. Further, a growing body of literature suggests that space-based intelligence...management process must be the foundation of plan- ning space operations and responses. Second, we must realize that in order to conduct effective space...end state where commanders considering multiple courses of action have a sensor architecture and a tasking, collection, processing , exploitation, and

Task decomposition for multilimbed robots to work in the reachable-but-unorientable space

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Chao; Zheng, Yuan F.

1990-01-01

Multilimbed industrial robots that have at least one arm and two or more legs are suggested for enlarging robot workspace in industrial automation. To plan the motion of a multilimbed robot, the arm-leg motion-coordination problem is raised and task decomposition is proposed to solve the problem; that is, a given task described by the destination position and orientation of the end-effector is decomposed into subtasks for arm manipulation and for leg locomotion, respectively. The former is defined as the end-effector position and orientation with respect to the legged main body, and the latter as the main-body position and orientation in the world coordinates. Three approaches are proposed for the task decomposition. The approaches are further evaluated in terms of energy consumption, from which an optimal approach can be selected.

Brain activation in teenagers with isolated spelling disorder during tasks involving spelling assessment and comparison of pseudowords. fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Borkowska, Aneta Rita; Francuz, Piotr; Soluch, Paweł; Wolak, Tomasz

2014-10-01

The present study aimed at defining the specific traits of brain activation in teenagers with isolated spelling disorder in comparison with good spellers. fMRI examination was performed where the subject's task involved taking a decision 1/whether the visually presented words were spelled correctly or not (the orthographic decision task), and 2/whether the two presented letters strings (pseudowords) were identical or not (the visual decision task). Half of the displays showing meaningful words with an orthographic difficulty contained pairs with both words spelled correctly, and half of them contained one misspelled word. Half of the pseudowords were identical, half of them were not. The participants of the study included 15 individuals with isolated spelling disorder and 14 good spellers, aged 13-15. The results demonstrated that the essential differences in brain activation between teenagers with isolated spelling disorder and good spellers were found in the left inferior frontal gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus and right cerebellum posterior lobe, i.e. structures important for language processes, working memory and automaticity of behaviour. Spelling disorder is not only an effect of language dysfunction, it could be a symptom of difficulties in learning and automaticity of motor and visual shapes of written words, rapid information processing as well as automating use of orthographic lexicon. Copyright © 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech-language pathology research in the Philippines in retrospect: Perspectives from a developing country.

Science.gov (United States)

Bondoc, Ivan Paul; Mabag, Viannery; Dacanay, Clarisse Anne; Macapagal, Natasha Daryle

2017-12-01

There is a need for speech-language pathology (SLP) research in the Philippines, in order to fill in knowledge gaps relevant to the local context. Information about the local SLP research status remains inadequate. This study describes local SLP research done over the almost past four decades. Using a descriptive retrospective design, a search was made for all empirical research articles completed by Filipino SLPs from 1978 to 2015. A total of 250 research articles were identified and described along several parameters. A predominant number were authored by the SLPs in the academe (97.20%). There was a focus on language (27.60%) and the nature of communication/swallowing disorders (20.80%). More than half utilised quantitative exploratory research designs (69.20%). Several used survey forms to generate data (38.41%). Nearly all were unpublished (93.60%) and were unfunded (94.80%). The current study revealed a dearth of research studies, limited diversity of research articles, limited research dissemination and funding concerns. It is suggested that the results of the current study can serve as a reference point to restructure research systems in the Philippines and in other developing countries, and offer data that can be used to develop a research agenda for the profession.

AN EFFECTIVE MULTI-CLUSTERING ANONYMIZATION APPROACH USING DISCRETE COMPONENT TASK FOR NON-BINARY HIGH DIMENSIONAL DATA SPACES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.V. Arun Shalin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Clustering is a process of grouping elements together, designed in such a way that the elements assigned to similar data points in a cluster are more comparable to each other than the remaining data points in a cluster. During clustering certain difficulties related when dealing with high dimensional data are ubiquitous and abundant. Works concentrated using anonymization method for high dimensional data spaces failed to address the problem related to dimensionality reduction during the inclusion of non-binary databases. In this work we study methods for dimensionality reduction for non-binary database. By analyzing the behavior of dimensionality reduction for non-binary database, results in performance improvement with the help of tag based feature. An effective multi-clustering anonymization approach called Discrete Component Task Specific Multi-Clustering (DCTSM is presented for dimensionality reduction on non-binary database. To start with we present the analysis of attribute in the non-binary database and cluster projection identifies the sparseness degree of dimensions. Additionally with the quantum distribution on multi-cluster dimension, the solution for relevancy of attribute and redundancy on non-binary data spaces is provided resulting in performance improvement on the basis of tag based feature. Multi-clustering tag based feature reduction extracts individual features and are correspondingly replaced by the equivalent feature clusters (i.e. tag clusters. During training, the DCTSM approach uses multi-clusters instead of individual tag features and then during decoding individual features is replaced by corresponding multi-clusters. To measure the effectiveness of the method, experiments are conducted on existing anonymization method for high dimensional data spaces and compared with the DCTSM approach using Statlog German Credit Data Set. Improved tag feature extraction and minimum error rate compared to conventional anonymization

Influence of initial stress, irregularity and heterogeneity on Love-type wave propagation in double pre-stressed irregular layers lying over a pre-stressed half-space

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Abhishek Kumar; Das, Amrita; Parween, Zeenat; Chattopadhyay, Amares

2015-10-01

The present paper deals with the propagation of Love-type wave in an initially stressed irregular vertically heterogeneous layer lying over an initially stressed isotropic layer and an initially stressed isotropic half-space. Two different types of irregularities, viz., rectangular and parabolic, are considered at the interface of uppermost initially stressed heterogeneous layer and intermediate initially stressed isotropic layer. Dispersion equations are obtained in closed form for both cases of irregularities, distinctly. The effect of size and shape of irregularity, horizontal compressive initial stress, horizontal tensile initial stress, heterogeneity of the uppermost layer and width ratio of the layers on phase velocity of Love-type wave are the major highlights of the study. Comparative study has been made to identify the effects of different shapes of irregularity, presence of heterogeneity and initial stresses. Numerical computations have been carried out and depicted by means of graphs for the present study.

Task-Based Method for Designing Underactuated Mechanisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shoichiro Kamada

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper we introduce a task-based method for designing underactuated multi-joint prosthetic hands for specific grasping tasks. The designed robotic hands or prosthetic hands contain fewer independent actuators than joints. We chose a few specific grasping tasks that are frequently repeated in everyday life and analysed joint motions of the hand during the completion of each task and the level of participation of each joint. The information was used for the synthesis of dedicated underactuated mechanisms that can operate in a low dimensional task coordinate space. We propose two methods for reducing the actuators' number. The kinematic parameters of the synthesized mechanism are determined by using a numerical approach. In this study the joint angles of the synthesized hand are considered as linearly dependent on the displacements of the actuators. We introduced a special error index that allowed us to compare the original trajectory and the trajectory performed by the synthesized mechanism, and to select the kinematic parameters of the new kinematic structure as a way to reduce the error. The approach allows the design of simple gripper mechanisms with good accuracy for the preliminary defined tasks.

Amputation and prosthesis implantation shape body and peripersonal space representations

OpenAIRE

Canzoneri, Elisa; Marzolla, Marilena; Amoresano, Amedeo; Verni, Gennaro; Serino, Andrea

2013-01-01

Little is known about whether and how multimodal representations of the body (BRs) and of the space around the body (Peripersonal Space, PPS) adapt to amputation and prosthesis implantation. In order to investigate this issue, we tested BR in a group of upper limb amputees by means of a tactile distance perception task and PPS by means of an audio-tactile interaction task. Subjects performed the tasks with stimulation either on the healthy limb or the stump of the amputated limb, while wearin...

Areva. 2005 half year report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

With manufacturing facilities in over 40 countries and a sales network in over 100, AREVA offers customers technological solutions for nuclear power generation and electricity transmission and distribution. The group also provides interconnect systems to the telecommunications, computer and automotive markets. This half-year report of Areva group presents the key financial data of the group for the first half of 2005: 1 - Highlights of the period; 2 - Transition to the International Financial Reporting Standards: Group's application of IFRS, Impact of IAS 32 and 39 adoption on the Group's financial statements; 3 - Key data: summary data, summary data by business Division, backlog, income statement, review by business Division, cash flow statement, balance sheet items; 4 - events subsequent to the half-year-end; 5 - consolidated financial statements: statutory Auditors' report on the 2005 half-year financial statements - period from January 1 to June 30, 2005, consolidated income statement, consolidated balance sheet, consolidated cash flow statement, change in consolidated shareholders' equity, data by business Division and region, notes to the consolidated financial statements; 6 - Outlook

Low-dose cone-beam CT via raw counts domain low-signal correction schemes: Performance assessment and task-based parameter optimization (Part II. Task-based parameter optimization).

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez-Cardona, Daniel; Hayes, John W; Zhang, Ran; Li, Ke; Cruz-Bastida, Juan Pablo; Chen, Guang-Hong

2018-05-01

Different low-signal correction (LSC) methods have been shown to efficiently reduce noise streaks and noise level in CT to provide acceptable images at low-radiation dose levels. These methods usually result in CT images with highly shift-variant and anisotropic spatial resolution and noise, which makes the parameter optimization process highly nontrivial. The purpose of this work was to develop a local task-based parameter optimization framework for LSC methods. Two well-known LSC methods, the adaptive trimmed mean (ATM) filter and the anisotropic diffusion (AD) filter, were used as examples to demonstrate how to use the task-based framework to optimize filter parameter selection. Two parameters, denoted by the set P, for each LSC method were included in the optimization problem. For the ATM filter, these parameters are the low- and high-signal threshold levels p l and p h ; for the AD filter, the parameters are the exponents δ and γ in the brightness gradient function. The detectability index d' under the non-prewhitening (NPW) mathematical observer model was selected as the metric for parameter optimization. The optimization problem was formulated as an unconstrained optimization problem that consisted of maximizing an objective function d'(P), where i and j correspond to the i-th imaging task and j-th spatial location, respectively. Since there is no explicit mathematical function to describe the dependence of d' on the set of parameters P for each LSC method, the optimization problem was solved via an experimentally measured d' map over a densely sampled parameter space. In this work, three high-contrast-high-frequency discrimination imaging tasks were defined to explore the parameter space of each of the LSC methods: a vertical bar pattern (task I), a horizontal bar pattern (task II), and a multidirectional feature (task III). Two spatial locations were considered for the analysis, a posterior region-of-interest (ROI) located within the noise streaks region

RBC-/Cr-51/ half-life and albumin turnover in growing Beagle dogs during chronic radial acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Beckman, D. A.; Evans, J. W.; Oyama, J.

1979-01-01

The effects of chronic centrifugation on growing Beagle dogs exposed to -2 or -2.6 Gx on albumin and RBC turnover rates, albumin concentration and space, and total blood volume were determined and compared with caged and run control of animals. Albumin-(I-125) and autologous RBC-(Cr-51) preparations were injected into all dogs at day 82 of the centrifugation periods, and the disappearance curves were determined by successive bleedings of the animals over the next 35 d, during which the centrifugation was continued. There were no differences in albumin turnover rates or space. Two populations of RBCs were found in both centrifugated groups, one with a normal half-life of 27 + or - 1 S.E.M. d, and one with a significantly (p less than 0.01) shorter half-life of 15 + or - 2 S.E.M. d. An absolute polycythemia was also observed in both centrifuged groups. The results suggest that chronic centrifugation acts through some as-yet unknown mechanism to affect RBC population kinetics.

A virtual work space for both hands manipulation with coherency between kinesthetic and visual sensation

Science.gov (United States)

Ishii, Masahiro; Sukanya, P.; Sato, Makoto

1994-01-01

This paper describes the construction of a virtual work space for tasks performed by two handed manipulation. We intend to provide a virtual environment that encourages users to accomplish tasks as they usually act in a real environment. Our approach uses a three dimensional spatial interface device that allows the user to handle virtual objects by hand and be able to feel some physical properties such as contact, weight, etc. We investigated suitable conditions for constructing our virtual work space by simulating some basic assembly work, a face and fit task. We then selected the conditions under which the subjects felt most comfortable in performing this task and set up our virtual work space. Finally, we verified the possibility of performing more complex tasks in this virtual work space by providing simple virtual models and then let the subjects create new models by assembling these components. The subjects can naturally perform assembly operations and accomplish the task. Our evaluation shows that this virtual work space has the potential to be used for performing tasks that require two-handed manipulation or cooperation between both hands in a natural manner.

Reduced Pseudoneglect for Physical Space, but Not Mental Representations of Space, for Adults with Autistic Traits

Science.gov (United States)

English, Michael C.; Maybery, Murray T.; Visser, Troy A.

2017-01-01

Neurotypical individuals display a leftward attentional bias, called pseudoneglect, for physical space (e.g. landmark task) and mental representations of space (e.g. mental number line bisection). However, leftward bias is reduced in autistic individuals viewing faces, and neurotypical individuals with autistic traits viewing "greyscale"…

Automated Task Monitoring, Feedback and Training for Critical Missions

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Engineers and astronauts on NASA missions must frequently follow lengthy and complex sets of directions to perform the tasks required of them. Missing or not...

Analysis of the moments of the sensitivity function for resistivity over a homogeneous half-space: Rules of thumb for pseudoposition, offline sensitivity and resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, S. L.

2017-08-01

It is instructive to consider the sensitivity function for a homogeneous half space for resistivity since it has a simple mathematical formula and it does not require a priori knowledge of the resistivity of the ground. Past analyses of this function have allowed visualization of the regions that contribute most to apparent resistivity measurements with given array configurations. The horizontally integrated form of this equation gives the sensitivity function for an infinitesimally thick horizontal slab with a small resistivity contrast and analysis of this function has admitted estimates of the depth of investigation for a given electrode array. Recently, it has been shown that the average of the vertical coordinate over this function yields a simple formula that can be used to estimate the depth of investigation. The sensitivity function for a vertical inline slab has also been previously calculated. In this contribution, I show that the sensitivity function for a homogeneous half-space can also be integrated so as to give sensitivity functions to semi-infinite vertical slabs that are perpendicular to the array axis. These horizontal sensitivity functions can, in turn, be integrated over the spatial coordinates to give the mean horizontal positions of the sensitivity functions. The mean horizontal positions give estimates for the centres of the regions that affect apparent resistivity measurements for arbitrary array configuration and can be used as horizontal positions when plotting pseudosections even for non-collinear arrays. The mean of the horizontal coordinate that is perpendicular to a collinear array also gives a simple formula for estimating the distance over which offline resistivity anomalies will have a significant effect. The root mean square (rms) widths of the sensitivity functions are also calculated in each of the coordinate directions as an estimate of the inverse of the resolution of a given array. For depth and in the direction perpendicular

Shielding voices: The modulation of binding processes between voice features and response features by task representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogon, Johanna; Eisenbarth, Hedwig; Landgraf, Steffen; Dreisbach, Gesine

2017-09-01

Vocal events offer not only semantic-linguistic content but also information about the identity and the emotional-motivational state of the speaker. Furthermore, most vocal events have implications for our actions and therefore include action-related features. But the relevance and irrelevance of vocal features varies from task to task. The present study investigates binding processes for perceptual and action-related features of spoken words and their modulation by the task representation of the listener. Participants reacted with two response keys to eight different words spoken by a male or a female voice (Experiment 1) or spoken by an angry or neutral male voice (Experiment 2). There were two instruction conditions: half of participants learned eight stimulus-response mappings by rote (SR), and half of participants applied a binary task rule (TR). In both experiments, SR instructed participants showed clear evidence for binding processes between voice and response features indicated by an interaction between the irrelevant voice feature and the response. By contrast, as indicated by a three-way interaction with instruction, no such binding was found in the TR instructed group. These results are suggestive of binding and shielding as two adaptive mechanisms that ensure successful communication and action in a dynamic social environment.

Setting priorities for space research: An experiment in methodology

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In 1989, the Space Studies Board created the Task Group on Priorities in Space Research to determine whether scientists should take a role in recommending priorities for long-term space research initiatives and, if so, to analyze the priority-setting problem in this context and develop a method by which such priorities could be established. After answering the first question in the affirmative in a previous report, the task group set out to accomplish the second task. The basic assumption in developing a priority-setting process is that a reasoned and structured approach for ordering competing initiatives will yield better results than other ways of proceeding. The task group proceeded from the principle that the central criterion for evaluating a research initiative must be its scientific merit -- the value of the initiative to the proposing discipline and to science generally. The group developed a two-stage methodology for priority setting and constructed a procedure and format to support the methodology. The first of two instruments developed was a standard format for structuring proposals for space research initiatives. The second instrument was a formal, semiquantitative appraisal procedure for evaluating competing proposals. This report makes available complete templates for the methodology, including the advocacy statement and evaluation forms, as well as an 11-step schema for a priority-setting process. From the beginning of its work, the task group was mindful that the issue of priority setting increasingly pervades all of federally supported science and that its work would have implications extending beyond space research. Thus, although the present report makes no recommendations for action by NASA or other government agencies, it provides the results of the task group's work for the use of others who may study priority-setting procedures or take up the challenge of implementing them in the future.

Changes in step-width during dual-task walking predicts falls.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordin, E; Moe-Nilssen, R; Ramnemark, A; Lundin-Olsson, L

2010-05-01

The aim was to evaluate whether gait pattern changes between single- and dual-task conditions were associated with risk of falling in older people. Dual-task cost (DTC) of 230 community living, physically independent people, 75 years or older, was determined with an electronic walkway. Participants were followed up each month for 1 year to record falls. Mean and variability measures of gait characteristics for 5 dual-task conditions were compared to single-task walking for each participant. Almost half (48%) of the participants fell at least once during follow-up. Risk of falling increased in individuals where DTC for performing a subtraction task demonstrated change in mean step-width compared to single-task walking. Risk of falling decreased in individuals where DTC for carrying a cup and saucer demonstrated change compared to single-task walking in mean step-width, mean step-time, and step-length variability. Degree of change in gait characteristics related to a change in risk of falling differed between measures. Prognostic guidance for fall risk was found for the above DTCs in mean step-width with a negative likelihood ratio of 0.5 and a positive likelihood ratio of 2.3, respectively. Findings suggest that changes in step-width, step-time, and step-length with dual tasking may be related to future risk of falling. Depending on the nature of the second task, DTC may indicate either an increased risk of falling, or a protective strategy to avoid falling. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Half-life determination of 125I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Felice, P.; Ientile, P.; Zicari, C.

1990-01-01

The half-life of 125 I was determined by measuring the activity of an initial 3 kBq source at several times. Over a period of two months, 96 absolute measurements were performed, using the sum-peak method to give a half-life of (59.38±0.03) d. A discussion is presented on the effect of correcting for accidental coincidences on the half-life measurements by comparing the results with and without this correction. (orig.)

Role of S-layer proteins in the biosorption capacity of lead by Lactobacillus kefir.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerbino, Esteban; Carasi, Paula; Araujo-Andrade, Cuauhtémoc; Tymczyszyn, E Elizabeth; Gómez-Zavaglia, Andrea

2015-04-01

The role of S-layer proteins (SLP) on the Pb(2+) sequestrant capacity by Lactobacillus kefir CIDCA 8348 and JCM 5818 was investigated. Cultures in the stationary phase were treated with proteinase K. A dot blot assay was carried out to assess the removal of SLP. Strains with and without SLP were exposed to 0-0.5 mM Pb(NO3)2. The maximum binding capacity (q max ) and the affinity coefficient (b) were calculated using the Langmuir equation. The structural effect of Pb(2+) on microorganisms with and without SLP was determined using Raman spectroscopy. The bacterial interaction with Pb(2+) led to a broadening in the phosphate bands (1,300-1,200 cm(-1) region) and strong alterations on amide and carboxylate-related bands (νCOO(-) as and νCOO(-) s). Microorganisms without SLP removed higher percentages of Pb(2+) and had higher q max than those bearing SLP. Isolated SLP had much lower q max and also removed lower percentages of Pb(2+) than the corresponding whole microorganisms. The hydrofobicity of both strains dramatically dropped when removing SLP. When bearing SLP, strains do not expose a large amount of charged groups on their surfaces, thus making less efficient the Pb(2+) removal. On the contrary, the extremely low hydrofobicity of microorganisms without SLP (and consequently, their higher capacity to remove Pb(2+)) can be explained on the basis of a greater exposure of charged chemical groups for the interaction with Pb(2+). The viability of bacteria without SLP was not significantly lower than that of bacteria bearing SLP. However, microorganisms without SLP were more prone to the detrimental effect of Pb(2+), thus suggesting that SLP acts as a protective rather than as a sequestrant layer.

Stuttering attitudes of students: Professional, intracultural, and international comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

St Louis, Kenneth O; Przepiorka, Aneta M; Beste-Guldborg, Ann; Williams, Mandy J; Blachnio, Agata; Guendouzi, Jacqueline; Reichel, Isabella K; Ware, Mercedes B

2014-03-01

The study sought to identify major-specific, training, and cultural factors affecting attitudes toward stuttering of speech-language pathology (SLP) students. Eight convenience samples of 50 students each from universities in the USA and Poland filled out the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) in English or Polish, respectively. USA samples included undergraduate and graduate students in SLP majors or non-SLP majors as well as a sample of non-SLP students who were Native Americans. Polish samples included SLP (logopedics), psychology, and mixed majors. SLP students held more positive attitudes than non-SLP students in both countries. Graduate students held more positive attitudes than undergraduate students in the USA, and this effect was stronger for SLP than for non-SLP students. Native American students' stuttering attitudes were similar to other American non-SLP students' attitudes. Polish student attitudes were less positive overall than those of their American student counterparts. SLP students' attitudes toward stuttering are affected by a "halo effect" of being in that major, by specific training in fluency disorders, and by various cultural factors, yet to be clearly understood. The reader will be able to: (a) describe major factors affecting SLP students' attitudes toward stuttering; (b) describe similarities and differences in attitudes toward stuttering of students from the USA and Poland; (c) describe similarities and differences in attitudes toward stuttering of Native American students from the USA and non-Native American students. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of normal fetal brain by MRI with a half-Fourier rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Meilan; Liu Xuejun; Wang Jianhong; Zhao Cheng; Li Xiang

2006-01-01

Objective: To evaluate normal maturation of the fetal brain with half-Fourier rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) MRI. Methods: The normal brains of 25 fetuses of 12-38 weeks gestational age were examined in utero with half-Fourier RARE imaging. Gyrus maturation, gray and white matter differentiation, ventricle-to-brain diameter ratio, and subarachnoid space size were evaluated with respect to gestational age. Results: At 12-23 weeks, the brain had a smooth surface, and two or three layers were differentiated in the cerebral cortex. At 24-26 weeks, only a few shallow grooves were seen in the central sulcus, and three layers, including the immature cortex, intermediate zone, and germinal matrix, were differentiated in all fetuses. At 27-29 weeks, sulcus formation was observed in various regions of the brain parenchyma, and the germinal matrix became invisible. Sulcation was seen in the whole cerebral cortex from 30 weeks on. However, the cortex did not undergo infolding, and opercular formation was not seen before 33 weeks. At 23 weeks and earlier, the cerebral ventricles were large; thereafter, they gradually became smaller. The subarachnoid space overlying the cortical convexities was slightly dilated at all gestational ages, most markedly at 21-26 weeks. Conclusion: Changes in brain maturation proceed through stages in an orderly and predictable fashion and can be evaluated reliably with half-Fourier RARE MRI. (authors)

Half-life of 230Th

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meadows, J.W.; Armani, R.J.; Callis, E.L.; Essling, A.M.

1980-01-01

The half-life of 230 Th was measured by the specific activity method. Alpha counting was done in a low geometry counter whose geometry factor was calculated from its dimensions. Sample weights were determined by isotopic dilution. Measurements were made on four isotopic mixtures ranging from 0.383 to 99.52% 230 Th. The half-life is 75381 +- 295 years

Comparison Of Planar And Wound Transformers For Flyback Forward And Half-Bridge Space Power Converters

Science.gov (United States)

Bjorklund, Thomas; Andreasen, John; Brosen, Finn; Matthiesen, Erik; Poulsen, Ole

2011-10-01

Planar technology has now entered the space domain. The big advantages of planar technology are; - Low profile - Excellent repeatability - Economical assembly - Mechanical integrity - Superior thermal characteristics This is why the general power industries increasingly are using planar magnetics in more and more applications, and therefore also why we see a rising demand for the usability of the planar technology among space application developers. The differences between wound and planar transformers have been mapped with a detailed look on the various parasitic component values, such as DC- and AC- resistance, Leakage Inductance and stray capacitance, and revealed the magnitude of the advantages of planar technology. This technical solution is proven in prototypes that have been built in different combination of PCB's and copper foil, with more or less interleaving of windings. Furthermore the transformers have been designed with several outputs stacked together with a fairly high number of primary turns, in order to have planar transformers similar to the wound types that are generally used for space applications.

Advanced Fire Detector for Space Applications, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — New sensor technology is required to face the challenging tasks associated with future space exploration involving missions to the Moon and Mars. The safety and...

Half Double Methodology – Leading projects to impact in half the time with double the impact

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ehlers, Michael; Svejvig, Per

this presentation to learn about the three core elements of the half-double methodology so that you can lead your projects to double the impact in half the time. Objectives: Summarize the half-double methodology and core elements of impact, flow, and leadership; explain how PMI’s project management tools can......Despite developments in agile methodologies over the last 20 years, the potential for optimization in projects is still significant. Current research shows that there are methodologies that can be used to reduce lead time and increase value creation of projects by 30% or more. Join...

Fingerprints in compressed strings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bille, Philip; Gørtz, Inge Li; Cording, Patrick Hagge

2017-01-01

In this paper we show how to construct a data structure for a string S of size N compressed into a context-free grammar of size n that supports efficient Karp–Rabin fingerprint queries to any substring of S. That is, given indices i and j, the answer to a query is the fingerprint of the substring S......[i,j]. We present the first O(n) space data structures that answer fingerprint queries without decompressing any characters. For Straight Line Programs (SLP) we get O(log⁡N) query time, and for Linear SLPs (an SLP derivative that captures LZ78 compression and its variations) we get O(log⁡log⁡N) query time...

Incorporating Data Link Features into a Multi-Function Display to Support Self-Separation and Spacing Tasks for General Aviation Pilots

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Catherine A.; Murdoch, Jennifer L.; Consiglio, Maria C.; WIlliams, Daniel M.

2005-01-01

One objective of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) Higher Volume Operations (HVO) project is to increase the capacity and utilization of small non-towered, non-radar equipped airports by transferring traffic management activities to an automated Airport Management Module (AMM) and separation responsibilities to general aviation (GA) pilots. Implementation of this concept required the development of a research Multi-Function Display (MFD) to support the interactive communications between pilots and the AMM. The interface also had to accommodate traffic awareness, self-separation, and spacing tasks through dynamic messaging and symbology for flight path conformance and conflict detection and alerting (CDA). The display served as the mechanism to support the examination of the viability of executing instrument operations designed for SATS designated airports. Results of simulation and flight experiments conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Langley Research Center indicate that the concept, as facilitated by the research MFD, did not increase pilots subjective workload levels or reduce their situation awareness (SA). Post-test usability assessments revealed that pilots preferred using the enhanced MFD to execute flight procedures, reporting improved SA over conventional instrument flight rules (IFR) procedures.

The half-metallic ferromagnet NiMnSb; a positron-annihilation study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanssen, K.

1988-04-01

The electronic structure of NiMnSb is investigated by means of spin-polarized measurements of the angular correlation of annihilation radiation. NiMnSb is predicted to be a half-metallic ferromagnet. The experimental set-up and the application of the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) method to the calculation of the two-photon momentum density are discussed. To interpret the experimental data, the electronic structure, the Fermi surface and the two-photon momentum density have been calculated according to the KKR method. The calculations, based on self-consistent potentials evaluated according to the augmented-spherical-wave method, were performed scalar-relativistically. From the measured distribution the sum and difference of the spin-dependent momentum densities are obtained once integrated along three different directions in p(over→) space, namely , and . The distributions show a clear impression of the majority-spin Fermi-surface. A good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment is established. From this analysis a value for the 'three-photon-difference effect' in NiMnSb is established of (8.4±0.1).10 -3 . To test in particular the half-metallic nature of the band structure the experimental distributions are compared with theoretical ones obtained from modelled band structures in which small numbers of electrons near the Fermi level are transferred from one spin population to the other. The best agreement is obtained for a band occupation in which no electrons are transferred, i.e. for the half-metallic state

Stomatin-like protein 2 is overexpressed in epithelial ovarian cancer and predicts poor patient survival

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Fei; Ding, Wen; He, Jie-Hua; Wang, Xiao-Jing; Ma, Ze-Biao; Li, Yan-Fang

2015-01-01

Stomatin-like protein 2 (SLP-2, also known as STOML2) is a stomatin homologue of uncertain function. SLP-2 overexpression has been suggested to be associated with cancer progression, resulting in adverse clinical outcomes in patients. Our study aim to investigate SLP-2 expression in epithelial ovarian cancer cells and its correlation with patient survival. SLP-2 mRNA and protein expression levels were analysed in five epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines and normal ovarian epithelial cells using real-time PCR and western blotting analysis. SLP-2 expression was investigated in eight matched-pair samples of epithelial ovarian cancer and adjacent noncancerous tissues from the same patients. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined the protein expression of paraffin-embedded specimens from 140 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, 20 cases with borderline ovarian tumours, 20 cases with benign ovarian tumours, and 20 cases with normal ovarian tissues. Statistical analyses were applied to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of SLP-2 expression. SLP-2 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly up-regulated in epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines and cancer tissues compared with normal ovarian epithelial cells and adjacent noncancerous ovarian tissues. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that the relative overexpression of SLP-2 was detected in 73.6 % (103/140) of the epithelial ovarian cancer specimens, 45.0 % (9/20) of the borderline ovarian specimens, 30.0 % (6/20) of the benign ovarian specimens and none of the normal ovarian specimens. SLP-2 protein expression in epithelial ovarian cancer was significantly correlated with the tumour stage (P < 0.001). Epithelial ovarian cancer patients with higher SLP-2 protein expression levels had shorter progress free survival and overall survival times compared to patients with lower SLP-2 protein expression levels. Multivariate analyses showed that SLP-2 expression levels were an independent prognostic

77 FR 33203 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Innovation and Improvement; School Leadership...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-05

...; School Leadership Program (SLP) Annual Performance Report SUMMARY: The School Leadership Program (SLP... to this notice will be considered public records. Title of Collection: School Leadership Program (SLP... Leadership Program. There are two GPRA performance objectives and six performance measures for SLP grantees...

7 CFR 51.2296 - Three-fourths half kernel.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Three-fourths half kernel. 51.2296 Section 51.2296 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards...-fourths half kernel. Three-fourths half kernel means a portion of a half of a kernel which has more than...

Systematic approach to the application of automation, robotics, and machine intelligence systems (aramis) to future space projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, D B.S.

1983-01-01

The potential applications of automation, robotics and machine intelligence systems (ARAMIS) to space projects are investigated, through a systematic method. In this method selected space projects are broken down into space project tasks, and 69 of these tasks are selected for study. Candidate ARAMIS options are defined for each task. The relative merits of these options are evaluated according to seven indices of performance. Logical sequences of ARAMIS development are also defined. Based on this data, promising applications of ARAMIS are identified for space project tasks. General conclusions and recommendations for further study are also presented. 6 references.

Areva - first half 2007 financial results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This document presents the financial statements of Areva group for the first half of 2007 as submitted by the Executive Board: Sales revenue: euro 5.373 billion, up by 6.7%; Operating income: euro 207 million, i.e. 3.9% operating margin, up 1.6 point compared with H1 2006; Consolidated net income: euro 295 million, i.e. euro 8.31 per share in H1 2007 against euro 6.92 per share in H1 2006, a 20% increase. All Group performance indicators were up the first half of 2007. Growth was robust and profitability strengthened significantly in terms of both operating income and net income. Consolidated sales revenue rose 6.7% for the first half of 2007 alone, after growth of more than 7% in 2006. This positive trend will continue: the backlog grew by 31% in the first half to more than euro 33 billion, compared with euro 26 billion six months ago and euro 21 billion at year-end 2005. Business is up sharply in the Transmission and Distribution division, which had operating margin of 8.7% in the first half of the year

Dual Vector Spaces and Physical Singularities

Science.gov (United States)

Rowlands, Peter

Though we often refer to 3-D vector space as constructed from points, there is no mechanism from within its definition for doing this. In particular, space, on its own, cannot accommodate the singularities that we call fundamental particles. This requires a commutative combination of space as we know it with another 3-D vector space, which is dual to the first (in a physical sense). The combination of the two spaces generates a nilpotent quantum mechanics/quantum field theory, which incorporates exact supersymmetry and ultimately removes the anomalies due to self-interaction. Among the many natural consequences of the dual space formalism are half-integral spin for fermions, zitterbewegung, Berry phase and a zero norm Berwald-Moor metric for fermionic states.

Half-marathoners are younger and slower than marathoners.

Science.gov (United States)

Knechtle, Beat; Nikolaidis, Pantelis T; Zingg, Matthias A; Rosemann, Thomas; Rüst, Christoph A

2016-01-01

Age and performance trends of elite and recreational marathoners are well investigated, but not for half-marathoners. We analysed age and performance trends in 508,108 age group runners (125,894 female and 328,430 male half-marathoners and 10,205 female and 43,489 male marathoners) competing between 1999 and 2014 in all flat half-marathons and marathons held in Switzerland using single linear regression analyses, mixed-effects regression analyses and analyses of variance. The number of women and men increased across years in both half-marathons and marathons. There were 12.3 times more female half-marathoners than female marathoners and 7.5 times more male half-marathoners than male marathoners. For both half-marathons and marathons, most of the female and male finishers were recorded in age group 40-44 years. In half-marathons, women (10.29 ± 3.03 km/h) were running 0.07 ± 0.06 km/h faster (p marathon, women (14.77 ± 4.13 km/h) were running 0.28 ± 0.16 km/h faster (p marathon, women (42.18 ± 10.63 years) were at the same age than men (42.06 ± 10.45 years) (p > 0.05). Also in half-marathon, women (41.40 ± 10.63 years) were at the same age than men (41.31 ± 10.30 years) (p > 0.05). However, women and men marathon runners were older than their counterpart half-marathon runners (p marathons than in marathons, (2) women were running faster than men, (3) half-marathoners were running slower than marathoners, and (4) half-marathoners were younger than marathoners.

Communication spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Coiera, Enrico

2014-01-01

Annotations to physical workspaces such as signs and notes are ubiquitous. When densely annotated, work areas become communication spaces. This study aims to characterize the types and purpose of such annotations. A qualitative observational study was undertaken in two wards and the radiology department of a 440-bed metropolitan teaching hospital. Images were purposefully sampled; 39 were analyzed after excluding inferior images. Annotation functions included signaling identity, location, capability, status, availability, and operation. They encoded data, rules or procedural descriptions. Most aggregated into groups that either created a workflow by referencing each other, supported a common workflow without reference to each other, or were heterogeneous, referring to many workflows. Higher-level assemblies of such groupings were also observed. Annotations make visible the gap between work done and the capability of a space to support work. Annotations are repairs of an environment, improving fitness for purpose, fixing inadequacy in design, or meeting emergent needs. Annotations thus record the missing information needed to undertake tasks, typically added post-implemented. Measuring annotation levels post-implementation could help assess the fit of technology to task. Physical and digital spaces could meet broader user needs by formally supporting user customization, 'programming through annotation'. Augmented reality systems could also directly support annotation, addressing existing information gaps, and enhancing work with context sensitive annotation. Communication spaces offer a model of how work unfolds. Annotations make visible local adaptation that makes technology fit for purpose post-implementation and suggest an important role for annotatable information systems and digital augmentation of the physical environment.

The unique N-terminal zinc finger of synaptotagmin-like protein 4 reveals FYVE structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyamoto, Kazuhide; Nakatani, Arisa; Saito, Kazuki

2017-12-01

Synaptotagmin-like protein 4 (Slp4), expressed in human platelets, is associated with dense granule release. Slp4 is comprised of the N-terminal zinc finger, Slp homology domain, and C2 domains. We synthesized a compact construct (the Slp4N peptide) corresponding to the Slp4 N-terminal zinc finger. Herein, we have determined the solution structure of the Slp4N peptide by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Furthermore, experimental, chemical modification of Cys residues revealed that the Slp4N peptide binds two zinc atoms to mediate proper folding. NMR data showed that eight Cys residues coordinate zinc atoms in a cross-brace fashion. The Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool database predicted the structure of Slp4N as a RING finger. However, the actual structure of the Slp4N peptide adopts a unique C 4 C 4 -type FYVE fold and is distinct from a RING fold. To create an artificial RING finger (ARF) with specific ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2)-binding capability, cross-brace structures with eight zinc-ligating residues are needed as the scaffold. The cross-brace structure of the Slp4N peptide could be utilized as the scaffold for the design of ARFs. © 2017 The Protein Society.

Recommendations for space reactor R ampersand D tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiley, R.L.; Marshall, A.C.

1995-01-01

A rationale was developed to determine which technologies a space nuclear reactor technology based program pursue based on the fact that budgets would be limited. A preliminary evaluation was conducted to identify key technical issues and to recommend a prioritized set of candidate research projects that could be undertaken as part of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) program in the near term. The recommendations made have not been adopted formally by the DNA's Topaz International Program process. (TIP), but serve as inputs to the program plannin process

The Candida albicans stress response gene Stomatin-Like Protein 3 is implicated in ROS-induced apoptotic-like death of yeast phase cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen A Conrad

Full Text Available The ubiquitous presence of SPFH (Stomatin, Prohibitin, Flotillin, HflK/HflC proteins in all domains of life suggests that their function would be conserved. However, SPFH functions are diverse with organism-specific attributes. SPFH proteins play critical roles in physiological processes such as mechanosensation and respiration. Here, we characterize the stomatin ORF19.7296/SLP3 in the opportunistic human pathogen Candida albicans. Consistent with the localization of stomatin proteins, a Slp3p-Yfp fusion protein formed visible puncta along the plasma membrane. We also visualized Slp3p within the vacuolar lumen. Slp3p primary sequence analyses identified four putative S-palmitoylation sites, which may facilitate membrane localization and are conserved features of stomatins. Plasma membrane insertion sequences are present in mammalian and nematode SPFH proteins, but are absent in Slp3p. Strikingly, Slp3p was present in yeast cells, but was absent in hyphal cells, thus categorizing it as a yeast-phase specific protein. Slp3p membrane fluorescence significantly increased in response to cellular stress caused by plasma membrane, cell wall, oxidative, or osmotic perturbants, implicating SLP3 as a general stress-response gene. A slp3Δ/Δ homozygous null mutant had no detected phenotype when slp3Δ/Δ mutants were grown in the presence of a variety of stress agents. Also, we did not observe a defect in ion accumulation, filamentation, endocytosis, vacuolar structure and function, cell wall structure, or cytoskeletal structure. However, SLP3 over-expression triggered apoptotic-like death following prolonged exposure to oxidative stress or when cells were induced to form hyphae. Our findings reveal the cellular localization of Slp3p, and for the first time associate Slp3p function with the oxidative stress response.

Setting Priorities for Space Research: Opportunities and Imperatives

Science.gov (United States)

Dutton, John A.; Abelson, Philip H.; Beckwith, Steven V. W.; Bishop, William P.; Byerly, Radford, Jr.; Crowe, Lawson; Dews, Peter; Garriott, Owen K.; Lunine, Jonathan; Macauley, Molly K.

1992-01-01

This report represents the first phase of a study by a task group convened by the Space Studies Board to ascertain whether it should attempt to develop a methodology for recommending priorities among the various initiatives in space research (that is, scientific activities concerned with phenomena in space or utilizing observations from space). The report argues that such priority statements by the space research community are both necessary and desirable and would contribute to the formulation and implementation of public policy. The report advocates the establishment of priorities to enhance effective management of the nation's scientific research program in space. It argues that scientific objectives and purposes should determine how and under what circumstances scientific research should be done. The report does not take a position on the controversy between advocates of manned space exploration and those who favor the exclusive use of unmanned space vehicles. Nor does the report address questions about the value or appropriateness of Space Station Freedom or proposals to establish a permanent manned Moon base or to undertake a manned mission to Mars. These issues lie beyond the charge to the task group.

Fingerprints in Compressed Strings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bille, Philip; Cording, Patrick Hagge; Gørtz, Inge Li

2013-01-01

The Karp-Rabin fingerprint of a string is a type of hash value that due to its strong properties has been used in many string algorithms. In this paper we show how to construct a data structure for a string S of size N compressed by a context-free grammar of size n that answers fingerprint queries...... derivative that captures LZ78 compression and its variations) we get O(loglogN) query time. Hence, our data structures has the same time and space complexity as for random access in SLPs. We utilize the fingerprint data structures to solve the longest common extension problem in query time O(logNlogℓ) and O....... That is, given indices i and j, the answer to a query is the fingerprint of the substring S[i,j]. We present the first O(n) space data structures that answer fingerprint queries without decompressing any characters. For Straight Line Programs (SLP) we get O(logN) query time, and for Linear SLPs (an SLP...

Geometry of the Gene Expression Space of Individual Cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yael Korem

2015-07-01

Full Text Available There is a revolution in the ability to analyze gene expression of single cells in a tissue. To understand this data we must comprehend how cells are distributed in a high-dimensional gene expression space. One open question is whether cell types form discrete clusters or whether gene expression forms a continuum of states. If such a continuum exists, what is its geometry? Recent theory on evolutionary trade-offs suggests that cells that need to perform multiple tasks are arranged in a polygon or polyhedron (line, triangle, tetrahedron and so on, generally called polytopes in gene expression space, whose vertices are the expression profiles optimal for each task. Here, we analyze single-cell data from human and mouse tissues profiled using a variety of single-cell technologies. We fit the data to shapes with different numbers of vertices, compute their statistical significance, and infer their tasks. We find cases in which single cells fill out a continuum of expression states within a polyhedron. This occurs in intestinal progenitor cells, which fill out a tetrahedron in gene expression space. The four vertices of this tetrahedron are each enriched with genes for a specific task related to stemness and early differentiation. A polyhedral continuum of states is also found in spleen dendritic cells, known to perform multiple immune tasks: cells fill out a tetrahedron whose vertices correspond to key tasks related to maturation, pathogen sensing and communication with lymphocytes. A mixture of continuum-like distributions and discrete clusters is found in other cell types, including bone marrow and differentiated intestinal crypt cells. This approach can be used to understand the geometry and biological tasks of a wide range of single-cell datasets. The present results suggest that the concept of cell type may be expanded. In addition to discreet clusters in gene-expression space, we suggest a new possibility: a continuum of states within a

Half bead welding technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canonico, D.A.; Holz, P.P.

1978-05-01

The ORNL has employed the Section XI half-bead procedure for six repair welds. Table 2 identifies the repairs and the components upon which they were accomplished. The weld repairs were performed to permit us to evaluate material properties, residual stresses, weld repair procedures, and structural behavior of repaired pressure vessels. As a consequence of our study we concluded that when the half bead procedure is correctly applied: (1) there is no metallurgical degradation of the base material, (2) residual stresses of yield point magnitude will be present, and (3) the structural integrity of the pressure vessel is not impaired at Charpy V-notch upper shelf temperatures

Areva first half 2008 financial results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Operating income: 539 million euros; net income attributable to equity holders of the parent: up 465 million euros to 760 million euros, i.e. 21.45 euros per share; net debt of 2.385 billion euros, i.e. 30.1% of equity (26.2% at 12/31/2007). For 2008 as a whole, the group confirms its outlook for a sharp increase in backlog and in revenue and rising operating income. The backlog rose to 38.123 billion euros at June 30, 2008, up 13.6% compared with the 33.553 billion euros recognized at June 30, 2007. In Nuclear, contributors to growth were the Reactors and Services division (+36%) and the Front End division (+11%). The Transmission and Distribution division posted growth of 41%. First half 2008 revenue rose to 6.168 billion euros, for 14.8% reported growth and 16.0% organic growth. In the nuclear businesses, organic growth was 18.6%, including 31.3% growth in Reactors and Services as new power plant construction projects moved forward and 12.0% growth in Transmission and Distribution business. The group's operating income rose to 539 million euros in the first half of 2008, for a margin rate of 8.7%, compared with 207 million euros in the first half of 2007 and a margin rate of 3.9%. This 332 million euro increase includes: - the strong volume increase in our commercial and industrial operations and the positive impact this had on profitability for all of our divisions; - a substantial operational gain in the Front End division, including a significant dilution gain related to acquisition by Suez of an equity interest in the GB II enrichment plant; - an additional provision on the OL3 contract, made necessary by: cost overruns generated by the use of additional resources needed to meet the schedule and offset the customer's operating practices; and the difficulties and risks on operations managed by some subcontractors. Operating income for the Back End division rose to 400 million euros, an increase of 177 million euros compared with the first half of 2007. The

Task force on resource development and the economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mansell, R.L.; Staples, L.B.

2011-02-01

In Alberta, the development and growth of the economy relies heavily on the resource sectors, which drive half of all employment. In 2009, the Alberta Chamber of Resources commissioned a task force, comprising groups from the 9 resource sectors in Alberta, to examine resource development and the economy. The aim of this team was to present the impact that the resource sectors had on Alberta's economy in the past, the impact it could have in the future, and to make recommendations on how to meet the full potential of resource development in the province. This reports states that considerable resources of bitumen and coal are present in Alberta and that forestry and diamonds could also play important roles in future resource development. The task force believes that the resource sectors will continue lead gross domestic product growth in Alberta and 16 recommendations for meeting the province's full potential are provided.

Quantum Optics in Phase Space

Science.gov (United States)

Schleich, Wolfgang P.

2001-04-01

Quantum Optics in Phase Space provides a concise introduction to the rapidly moving field of quantum optics from the point of view of phase space. Modern in style and didactically skillful, Quantum Optics in Phase Space prepares students for their own research by presenting detailed derivations, many illustrations and a large set of workable problems at the end of each chapter. Often, the theoretical treatments are accompanied by the corresponding experiments. An exhaustive list of references provides a guide to the literature. Quantum Optics in Phase Space also serves advanced researchers as a comprehensive reference book. Starting with an extensive review of the experiments that define quantum optics and a brief summary of the foundations of quantum mechanics the author Wolfgang P. Schleich illustrates the properties of quantum states with the help of the Wigner phase space distribution function. His description of waves ala WKB connects semi-classical phase space with the Berry phase. These semi-classical techniques provide deeper insight into the timely topics of wave packet dynamics, fractional revivals and the Talbot effect. Whereas the first half of the book deals with mechanical oscillators such as ions in a trap or atoms in a standing wave the second half addresses problems where the quantization of the radiation field is of importance. Such topics extensively discussed include optical interferometry, the atom-field interaction, quantum state preparation and measurement, entanglement, decoherence, the one-atom maser and atom optics in quantized light fields. Quantum Optics in Phase Space presents the subject of quantum optics as transparently as possible. Giving wide-ranging references, it enables students to study and solve problems with modern scientific literature. The result is a remarkably concise yet comprehensive and accessible text- and reference book - an inspiring source of information and insight for students, teachers and researchers alike.

243Cm half-life determinaton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timofeev, G.A.; Kalygin, V.V.; Privalova, P.A.

1986-01-01

By molar ratios of 243 Cm mixture with 244 Cm and Pu nuclides formed as a result of Cm nuclides α-decay the 243 Cm half-life T α243 is determined. The 244 Cm half-life is measured earlier with high accuracy. The 243 Cm/ 244 Cm ratio measured by means of a mass spectrometer equals 0.989+-0.004. The obtained value T α243 =29.20+-0.14 years

Evaluation of respiratory dynamics by volumetric capnography during submaximal exercise protocol of six minutes on treadmill in cystic fibrosis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Parazzi, Paloma L F; Marson, Fernando A L; Ribeiro, Maria A G O; Schivinski, Camila I S; Ribeiro, José D

2017-11-29

Volumetric capnography provides the standard CO 2 elimination by the volume expired per respiratory cycle and is a measure to assess pulmonary involvement. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the respiratory dynamics of healthy control subjects and those with cystic fibrosis in a submaximal exercise protocol for six minutes on the treadmill, using volumetric capnography parameters (slope 3 [Slp3], Slp3/tidal volume [Slp3/TV], and slope 2 [Slp2]). This was a cross-sectional study with 128 subjects (cystic fibrosis, 64 subjects; controls, 64 subjects]. Participants underwent volumetric capnography before, during, and after six minutes on the treadmill. Statistical analysis was performed using the Friedman, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, considering age and sex. An alpha=0.05 was considered. Six minutes on the treadmill evaluation: in cystic fibrosis, volumetric capnography parameters were different before, during, and after six minutes on the treadmill; the same was observed for the controls, except for Slp2. Regarding age, an Slp3 difference was observed in cystic fibrosis patients regardless of age, at all moments, and in controls for age≥12 years; a difference in Slp3/TV was observed in cystic fibrosis and controls, regardless of age; and an Slp2 difference in the cystic fibrosis, regardless of age. Regarding sex, Slp3 and Slp3/TV differences were observed in cystic fibrosis regardless of sex, and in controls in male participants; an Slp2 difference was observed in the cystic fibrosis and female participants. The analysis between groups (cystic fibrosis and controls) indicated that Slp3 and Slp3/TV has identified the CF, regardless of age and sex, while the Slp2 showed the CF considering age. Cystic fibrosis showed greater values of the parameters before, during, and after exercise, even when stratified by age and sex, which may indicate ventilation inhomogeneity in the peripheral pathways in the cystic fibrosis. Copyright © 2017

Half Life Measurements in 155Gd

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malmskog, S.G.

1966-08-01

In the literature there exists a definite difference for the half life of the 86.5 keV level in Gd depending on whether 155 Eu or 155 Tb sources have been used. Using a good energy resolution electron-electron coincidence spectrometer and a 155 Eu source, a half life of 6.48 ± 0.26 nsec was obtained for the 86.5 keV level. This is in agreement with the values previously measured with 155 Tb sources. The half life of the 105.4 keV level was measured to be 1.12 ± 0.05 nsec

A Taxonomy and Comparison of Haptic Actions for Disassembly Tasks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bloomfield, Aaron; Deng, Yu; Wampler, Jeff; Rondot, Pascale; Harth, Dina; McManus, Mary; Badler, Norman

2003-01-01

.... We conducted a series of human subject experiments to compare user performance and preference on a disassembly task with and without haptic feedback using CyberGlove, Phantom, and SpaceMouse interfaces...

Management of outer space

Science.gov (United States)

Perek, Lubos

1993-10-01

Various aspects of space-environment management are discussed. Attention is called to the fact that, while space radio communications are already under an adequate management by the International Communications Union, the use of nuclear power sources is regulated by the recently adopted set of principles, and space debris will be discussed in the near future at the UN COPUOS, other aspects of management of outer space received little or no attention of the international community. These include the competency of crews and technical equipment of spacecraft launched by newcomers to space exploration; monitoring of locations and motions of space objects (now in national hands), with relevant data made accessible through a computer network; and the requirement to use space only for beneficial purposes and not for promoting narrow and debatable interests damaging the outer space environment and impeding on astronomical observations. It is suggested that some of these tasks would be best performed by an international space agency within the UN system of organizations.

New dimensions for man. [human functions in future space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Louviere, A. J.

1978-01-01

The functions of man in space have been in a state of constant change since the first manned orbital flight. Initially, the onboard crewmen performed those tasks essential to piloting and navigating the spacecraft. The time devoted to these tasks has steadily decreased and the crewman's time is being allotted to functions other than orbital operations. The evolving functions include added orbital operational capabilities, experimentation, spacecraft maintenance, and fabrication of useful end items. The new functions will include routine utilization of the crewman to extend mission life, satellite retrieval and servicing, remote manipulator systems operations, and piloting of free-flying teleoperator systems. The most demanding tasks are anticipated to be associated with construction of large space structures. The projected changes will introduce innovative designs and revitalize the concepts for utilizing man in space.

PNST: half-course colloquium - Hendaye, 14-16 March 2016. Summaries and list of participants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aboudarham, Jean; Alexandrova, Olga; Amsif, Kader; Andre, Nicolas; Astafyeva, Elvira; Auchere, Frederic; Aunai, Nicolas; Baudin, Frederic; Belmont, Gerard; Benacquista, Remi; Berthomier, Matthieu; Biree, Lionel; Blanc, Michel; Bommier, Veronique; Bourdarie, Sebastien; Breuillard, Hugo; Brun, Allan Sacha; Buchlin, Eric; Canu, Patrick; Cara, Antoine; Carley, Eoin; Cecconi, Baptiste; Celestin, Sebastien; Chane-Yook, Martine; Chaufray, Jean-Yves; Cherniak, Iurii; Chevalier, Christiane; Coisson, Pierdavide; Corbard, Thierry; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, Nicole; Dalmasse, Kevin; Dandouras, Iannis; Dargent, Jeremy; Delcourt, Dominique; Dintrans, Boris; Dubau, Jacques; Dudok De Wit, Thierry; Emeriau-Viard, Constance; Esteban Hernandez, Rosa; Fabbro, Vincent; Farges, Thomas; Faurobert, Marianne; Fontaine, Dominique; Froment, Clara; Fruit, Gabriel; Gabriel, Alan; Galmiche, Aurelien; Galtier, Sebastien; Gelly, Bernard; Genot, Vincent; Gordino, Miguel; Grappin, Roland; Gravet, Romanic; Griton, Lea; Gruet, Marina; Guennou, Chloe; Guillemant, Stanislas; Hassler, Don; Henri, Pierre; Herrera, Damien; Hulot, Gauthier; Hung, Ching Pui; Ihaddadene, Kevin; Janvier, Miho; Jouve, Laurene; Kacem, Issaad; Klein, Karl-Ludwig; Koutroumpa, Dimitra; Krasnosselskikh, Vladimir; Kretzschmar, Matthieu; Lamy, Laurent; Lavraud, Benoit; Lazaro, Didier; Le Chat, Gaetan; Le Contel, Olivier; Leblanc, Francois; Leclercq, Ludivine; Lembege, Bertrand; Lemorton, Joel; Lilensten, Jean; Lion, Sonny; Lopez Ariste, Arturo; Louis, Corentin; Maksimovic, Milan; Marchaudon, Aurelie; Masson, Sophie; Mazelle, Christian; Mirioni, Laurent; Moncuquet, Michel; Montagud, Victor; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Mottez, Fabrice; Musset, Sophie; Nicolas, Loic; Oza, Apurva; Palin, Laurianne; Pariat, Etienne; Perrone, Denise; Pincon, Jean-Louis; Pinto, Rui; Pitout, Frederic; Plotnikov, Illya; Prado, Jean-Yves; Quemerais, Eric; Renaud, Catherine; Retino, Alessandro; Reville, Victor; Roudier, Thierry; Rouillard, Alexis; Rozelot, Jean-Pierre; Sahraoui, Fouad; Salas Matamoros, Carolina; Sanchez-Diaz, Eduardo; Sarria, David; Savoini, Philippe; Schmieder, Brigitte; Sicard-Piet, Angelica; Solomon, Jacques; Steckiewicz, Morgane; Strugarek, Antoine; Turc, Lucile; Varela, Jacobo; Verdini, Andrea; Vernisse, Yoann; Vial, Jean-Claude; Vilmer, Nicole; Zakharenkova, Irina; Zaouar, Naima; Zarka, Philippe; Zucca, Pietro; Zuccarello, Francesco

2016-03-01

This colloquium was organized at the half-course of the French 'Sun-Earth' national programme (PNST); it was intended for all researchers and students in the domain of magnetized plasmas in solar and terrestrial environments. It also concerns solar and stellar magnetism and planetary plasmas which are at the interfaces between PNST, stellar physics and planetology. The colloquium is organized around 7 main themes: simulations and numerical tools; new missions and instrumentation (ground and space); couplings between plasma envelopes (i.e. interior/corona/solar wind, solar wind/magnetosphere, magnetosphere/ionosphere/high atmosphere); multi-scale energy transport and turbulence (i.e. Sun, solar wind, magnetospheres, ion and electronic scales, dynamo); particle acceleration mechanisms and plasma heating (i.e. corona and solar winds, magnetospheres, energetic particles); eruptive or impulsive activity in plasmas (i.e. corona, terrestrial and planetary magnetospheres); Sun-Earth relations and space meteorology (i.e. observation/forecasting of solar activity, space environment, geomagnetic conditions, irradiance variability)

Dynamic sensor tasking and IMM EKF estimation for tracking impulsively maneuvering satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Lace, Arthur A.

In order to efficiently maintain space situational awareness, care must be taken to optimally allocate expensive observation resources. In most situations the available sensors capable of tracking spacecraft have their time split between many different monitoring responsibilities. Tracking maneuvering spacecraft can be especially difficult as the schedule of maneuvers may not be known and will often throw off previous orbital models. Effectively solving this tasking problem is an ongoing focus of research in the area of space situational awareness. Most methods of automated tasking do not make use of interacting multiple model extended Kalman filter techniques to better track satellites during maneuvers. This paper proposes a modification to a Fisher information gain and estimated state covariance based sensor tasking method to take maneuver probability and multiple model dynamics into account. By incorporating the probabilistic maneuvering model, sensor tasking can be improved during satellite maneuvers using constrained resources. The proposed methods are verified through the use of numerical simulations with multiple maneuvering satellites and both orbital and ground-based sensors.

A Case: Eight-and-A-Half Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cennet Nalan Kuş

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Scientific BACKGROUND: The combination of clinical one-and-a-half syndrome together with cranial nerve VII palsy is known to as eight-and-a-half syndrome. It localized the pathology to the pons. OBJECTIVE: To report a case having clinical and radiologic findings typical of eight-and-a-half syndrome. CASE: 65 year old man with hypertension presented with sudden onset of binocular diplopia left facial weakness. Magnetic resonance imaging demostrated a small lesion in the left paramedian pontine tegmentum. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a case of eight-and-a-half syndrome in Turkish literature

Power of QTL detection by either fixed or random models in half-sib designs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schaeffer Lawrence R

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract The aim of this study was to compare the variance component approach for QTL linkage mapping in half-sib designs to the simple regression method. Empirical power was determined by Monte Carlo simulation in granddaughter designs. The factors studied (base values in parentheses included the number of sires (5 and sons per sire (80, ratio of QTL variance to total genetic variance (λ = 0.1, marker spacing (10 cM, and QTL allele frequency (0.5. A single bi-allelic QTL and six equally spaced markers with six alleles each were simulated. Empirical power using the regression method was 0.80, 0.92 and 0.98 for 5, 10, and 20 sires, respectively, versus 0.88, 0.98 and 0.99 using the variance component method. Power was 0.74, 0.80, 0.93, and 0.95 using regression versus 0.77, 0.88, 0.94, and 0.97 using the variance component method for QTL variance ratios (λ of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3, respectively. Power was 0.79, 0.85, 0.80 and 0.87 using regression versus 0.80, 0.86, 0.88, and 0.85 using the variance component method for QTL allele frequencies of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.8, respectively. The log10 of type I error profiles were quite flat at close marker spacing (1 cM, confirming the inability to fine-map QTL by linkage analysis in half-sib designs. The variance component method showed slightly more potential than the regression method in QTL mapping.

Evaluation of a well-established task-shifting initiative: the lay counselor cadre in Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Ledikwe, Jenny H; Kejelepula, Mable; Maupo, Kabelo; Sebetso, Siwulani; Thekiso, Mothwana; Smith, Monica; Mbayi, Bagele; Houghton, Nankie; Thankane, Kabo; O'Malley, Gabrielle; Semo, Bazghina-Werq

2013-01-01

Evidence supports the implementation of task shifting to address health worker shortages that are common in resource-limited settings. However, there is need to learn from established programs to identify ways to achieve the strongest, most sustainable impact. This study examined the Botswana lay counselor cadre, a task shifting initiative, to explore effectiveness and contribution to the health workforce. This evaluation used multiple methods, including a desk review, a national lay counselor survey (n = 385; response = 94%), in-depth interviews (n = 79), lay counselors focus group discussions (n = 7), lay counselors observations (n = 25), and client exit interviews (n = 47). Interview and focus group data indicate that lay counselors contribute to essentially all HIV-related programs in Botswana and they conduct the majority of HIV tests and related counseling at public health facilities throughout the country. Interviews showed that the lay counselor cadre is making the workload of more skilled health workers more manageable and increasing HIV acceptance in communities. The average score on a work-related knowledge test was 74.5%. However for 3 questions, less than half answered correctly. During observations, lay counselors demonstrated average competence for most skills assessed and clients (97.9%) were satisfied with services received. From the survey, lay counselors generally reported being comfortable with their duties; however, some reported clinical duties that extended beyond their training and mandate. Multiple factors affecting the performance of the lay counselors were identified, including insufficient resources, such as private counseling space and HIV test kits; and technical, administrative, and supervisory support. Lay counselors are fulfilling an important role in Botswana's healthcare system, serving as the entry point into HIV care, support, and treatment services. For this and other similar task shifting initiatives

The impact of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation on the frequency of spring dust storms over Tarim Basin in northwest China in the past half-century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Yong; Huang Anning; Zhou Yang; Huang Ying; Zhu Xinsheng

2013-01-01

The relationship between the frequency of spring dust storms over Tarim Basin in northwest China and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is investigated by using the observed dust storm frequency (DSF) and the 10 m wind velocity at 36 stations in Tarim Basin and the National Centers for Environment Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data for the period 1961–2007. The spring DSF (winter NAO) index shows a clear decreasing (increasing) linear trend over 1961–2007. The winter NAO correlates well with the subsequent spring DSF over Tarim Basin on both interannual and interdecadal time scales and its interannual to interdecadal variation plays an important role in the spring DSF. Two possible physical mechanisms are identified. One is related to the large scale anomalous circulations in spring in the middle to high troposphere modulated by the winter NAO, providing the background of dynamical conditions for the dust storm occurrences. The other is related to the shifts in the local horizontal sea level pressure (SLP) gradients and 10 m wind speed, corresponding to changes in the large scale circulations in spring. The decrease in the local 10 m wind speed due to the reduced horizontal SLP gradients over Tarim Basin during the strong winter NAO years contributes to the decline of the DSF in the subsequent spring. (letter)

Space Handbook,

Science.gov (United States)

1985-01-01

thle early life * of" the system. Figure 4-2 shows the variation in power output for polonium - 210 (Po- 210 ) with a 138-day half-life, curium-242 (Cm...miles above the earth’s surface. Above this altitude they must take everything they need with them. The environment will supply them with neither food ...can move large payloads through space. The radioisotope heat cycle engines use high-energy particle sources such as plutonium and polonium . The walls

Tutorial: Speech Assessment for Multilingual Children Who Do Not Speak the Same Language(s) as the Speech-Language Pathologist.

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, Sharynne; Verdon, Sarah

2017-08-15

The aim of this tutorial is to support speech-language pathologists (SLPs) undertaking assessments of multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders, particularly children who speak languages that are not shared with their SLP. The tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech, which comprises 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a 1-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing this tutorial, and 34 members contributed to revising this tutorial online (some members contributed to more than 1 task). This tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders. This overview addresses referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting and the SLP's cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers and dealing with organizational and government barriers to and facilitators of culturally competent practice. The issues raised in this tutorial are applied in a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP's assessment of a multilingual Cantonese- and English-speaking 4-year-old boy. Resources are listed throughout the tutorial.

Task path planning, scheduling and learning for free-ranging robot systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wakefield, G. Steve

1987-01-01

The development of robotics applications for space operations is often restricted by the limited movement available to guided robots. Free ranging robots can offer greater flexibility than physically guided robots in these applications. Presented here is an object oriented approach to path planning and task scheduling for free-ranging robots that allows the dynamic determination of paths based on the current environment. The system also provides task learning for repetitive jobs. This approach provides a basis for the design of free-ranging robot systems which are adaptable to various environments and tasks.

The role of rehabilitation specialists in Canadian NICUs: a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Limperopoulos, Catherine; Majnemer, Annette

2002-01-01

Rehabilitation specialists are an integral part of the team in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A national survey was conducted to elucidate the current roles of rehabilitation specialists. Occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech and language pathology (SLP) departments in all Canadian health care institutions with tertiary level NICUs (n = 38) were surveyed by telephone. Results indicate that 16% have no rehabilitation coverage, while 11% receive very limited external services (< 1/month). Over half of the OT and PT departments provide weekly services whereas only 5/38 provide SLP coverage. Service delivery includes assessment and a number of therapeutic interventions. Splinting and feeding are predominantly performed by OT, whereas chest physiotherapy and ROM are carried out primarily by PT. Rehabilitation specialists are actively involved in education and case management. The extent of involvement of rehabilitation specialists was discrepant, and highly associated with the type of facility. Rehabilitation services, when provided, are comprehensive and include evaluation, treatment, teaching, decision-making, and family support.

Quantitative evaluation of muscle synergy models: a single-trial task decoding approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Delis, Ioannis; Berret, Bastien; Pozzo, Thierry; Panzeri, Stefano

2013-01-01

Muscle synergies, i.e., invariant coordinated activations of groups of muscles, have been proposed as building blocks that the central nervous system (CNS) uses to construct the patterns of muscle activity utilized for executing movements. Several efficient dimensionality reduction algorithms that extract putative synergies from electromyographic (EMG) signals have been developed. Typically, the quality of synergy decompositions is assessed by computing the Variance Accounted For (VAF). Yet, little is known about the extent to which the combination of those synergies encodes task-discriminating variations of muscle activity in individual trials. To address this question, here we conceive and develop a novel computational framework to evaluate muscle synergy decompositions in task space. Unlike previous methods considering the total variance of muscle patterns (VAF based metrics), our approach focuses on variance discriminating execution of different tasks. The procedure is based on single-trial task decoding from muscle synergy activation features. The task decoding based metric evaluates quantitatively the mapping between synergy recruitment and task identification and automatically determines the minimal number of synergies that captures all the task-discriminating variability in the synergy activations. In this paper, we first validate the method on plausibly simulated EMG datasets. We then show that it can be applied to different types of muscle synergy decomposition and illustrate its applicability to real data by using it for the analysis of EMG recordings during an arm pointing task. We find that time-varying and synchronous synergies with similar number of parameters are equally efficient in task decoding, suggesting that in this experimental paradigm they are equally valid representations of muscle synergies. Overall, these findings stress the effectiveness of the decoding metric in systematically assessing muscle synergy decompositions in task space.

Performance of an Additional Task During Level 2 Automated Driving: An On-Road Study Comparing Drivers With and Without Experience With Partial Automation.

Science.gov (United States)

Solís-Marcos, Ignacio; Ahlström, Christer; Kircher, Katja

2018-05-01

To investigate the influence of prior experience with Level 2 automation on additional task performance during manual and Level 2 partially automated driving. Level 2 automation is now on the market, but its effects on driver behavior remain unclear. Based on previous studies, we could expect an increase in drivers' engagement in secondary tasks during Level 2 automated driving, but it is yet unknown how drivers will integrate all the ongoing demands in such situations. Twenty-one drivers (12 without, 9 with Level 2 automation experience) drove on a highway manually and with Level 2 automation (exemplified by Volvo Pilot Assist generation 2; PA2) while performing an additional task. In half of the conditions, the task could be interrupted (self-paced), and in the other half, it could not (system-paced). Drivers' visual attention, additional task performance, and other compensatory strategies were analyzed. Driving with PA2 led to decreased scores in the additional task and more visual attention to the dashboard. In the self-paced condition, all drivers looked more to the task and perceived a lower mental demand. The drivers experienced with PA2 used the system and the task more than the novice group and performed more overtakings. The additional task interfered more with Level 2 automation than with manual driving. The drivers, particularly the automation novice drivers, used some compensatory strategies. Automation designers need to consider these potential effects in the development of future automated systems.

The perception of peripersonal space in right and left brain damage hemiplegic patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angela eBartolo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Peripersonal space, as opposed to extrapersonal space, is the space that contains reachable objects and in which multisensory and sensorimotor integration is enhanced. Thus, the perception of peripersonal space requires combining information on the spatial properties of the environment with information on the current capacity to act. In support of this, recent studies have provided converging evidences that perceiving objects in peripersonal space activates a neural network overlapping with that subtending voluntary motor action and motor imagery. Other studies have also underlined the dominant role of the right hemisphere in motor planning and of the left hemisphere in on-line motor guiding, respectively. In the present study, we investigated the effect of a right or left hemiplegia in the perception of peripersonal space. 16 hemiplegic patients with brain damage to the left (LH or right (RH hemisphere and 8 matched healthy controls (HC performed a colour discrimination, a motor imagery and a reachability judgment task. Analyses of response times and accuracy revealed no variation among the three groups in the colour discrimination task, suggesting the absence of any specific perceptual or decisional deficits in the patient groups. In contrast, the patient groups revealed longer response times in the motor imagery task when performed in reference to the hemiplegic arm (RH and LH or to the healthy arm (RH. Moreover, RH group showed longer response times in the reachability judgement task, but only for stimuli located at the boundary of peripersonal space, which was furthermore significantly reduced in size. Considered together, these results confirm the crucial role of the motor system in motor imagery task and the perception of peripersonal space. They also revealed that right hemisphere damage has a more detrimental effect on reachability estimates, suggesting that motor planning processes contribute specifically to the perception of

Systematics of half-lives for proton radioactivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medeiros, E.L.; Rodrigues, M.M.N.; Duarte, S.B.; Tavares, O.A.P.

2007-01-01

Half-life measurements for both ground-state and isomeric transitions in proton radioactivity are systematized by using a semiempirical, one-parameter model based on tunneling through a potential barrier, where the centrifugal and overlapping effects are taken into account within the spherical nucleus approximation. This approach, which has been successfully applied to alpha decay cases covering ∼ 30 orders of magnitude in half-life, has shown, in addition, very adequate at fitting all existing data on partial half-life, T 1/2p , of proton emission from nuclei. Nearly 70 measured half-life values have been analysed, and the data could be described by two straight lines relating the pure Coulomb contribution to half life with the quantity Z d (μ 0 /Q p ) 1/2 (Z d is the atomic number of the daughter nucleus, μ 0 is the reduced mass, and Q p is the total nuclear energy available for decay). These straight lines are shown to correspond to different degrees of deformation, namely, very prolate (δ> approx. 0.1), and other shaped (delta < approx. 0.1) parent nuclei. The goodness in reproducing the data attained in the present systematics allows for half-life predictions for a few possible cases of proton radioactivity not yet experimentally accessed. (author)

Human capabilities in space. [man machine interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Nicogossian, A. E.

1984-01-01

Man's ability to live and perform useful work in space was demonstrated throughout the history of manned space flight. Current planning envisions a multi-functional space station. Man's unique abilities to respond to the unforeseen and to operate at a level of complexity exceeding any reasonable amount of previous planning distinguish him from present day machines. His limitations, however, include his inherent inability to survive without protection, his limited strength, and his propensity to make mistakes when performing repetitive and monotonous tasks. By contrast, an automated system does routine and delicate tasks, exerts force smoothly and precisely, stores, and recalls large amounts of data, and performs deductive reasoning while maintaining a relative insensitivity to the environment. The establishment of a permanent presence of man in space demands that man and machines be appropriately combined in spaceborne systems. To achieve this optimal combination, research is needed in such diverse fields as artificial intelligence, robotics, behavioral psychology, economics, and human factors engineering.

Development of a Space Station Operations Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Brandli, A. E.; McCandless, W. T.

To enhance the productivity of operations aboard the Space Station, a means must be provided to augment, and frequently to supplant, human effort in support of mission operations and management, both on the ground and onboard. The Operations Management System (OMS), under development at the Johnson Space Center, is one such means. OMS comprises the tools and procedures to facilitate automation of station monitoring, control, and mission planning tasks. OMS mechanizes, and hence rationalizes, execution of tasks traditionally performed by mission planners, the mission control center team, onboard System Management software, and the flight crew.

Development of a Space Station Operations Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Brandli, A. E.; Mccandless, W. T.

1988-01-01

To enhance the productivity of operations aboard the Space Station, a means must be provided to augment, and frequently to supplant, human effort in support of mission operations and management, both on the ground and onboard. The Operations Management System (OMS), under development at the Johnson Space Center, is one such means. OMS comprises the tools and procedures to facilitate automation of station monitoring, control, and mission planning tasks. OMS mechanizes, and hence rationalizes, execution of tasks traditionally performed by mission planners, the mission control center team, onboard System Management software, and the flight crew.

Reliabilities of mental rotation tasks: limits to the assessment of individual differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirschfeld, Gerrit; Thielsch, Meinald T; Zernikow, Boris

2013-01-01

Mental rotation tasks with objects and body parts as targets are widely used in cognitive neuropsychology. Even though these tasks are well established to study between-groups differences, the reliability on an individual level is largely unknown. We present a systematic study on the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of individual differences in mental rotation tasks comparing different target types and orders of presentations. In total n = 99 participants (n = 63 for the retest) completed the mental rotation tasks with hands, feet, faces, and cars as targets. Different target types were presented in either randomly mixed blocks or blocks of homogeneous targets. Across all target types, the consistency (split-half reliability) and stability (test-retest reliabilities) were good or acceptable both for intercepts and slopes. At the level of individual targets, only intercepts showed acceptable reliabilities. Blocked presentations resulted in significantly faster and numerically more consistent and stable responses. Mental rotation tasks-especially in blocked variants-can be used to reliably assess individual differences in global processing speed. However, the assessment of the theoretically important slope parameter for individual targets requires further adaptations to mental rotation tests.

Fact retrieval and memory consolidation for a movement sequence: bidirectional effects of 'unrelated' cognitive tasks on procedural memory.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Tibi

Full Text Available The generation of long-term memory for motor skills can be modulated by subsequent motor experiences that interfere with the consolidation process. Recent studies suggest that even a non-motor task may adversely affect some aspects of motor sequence memory. Here we show that motor sequence memory can be either enhanced or reduced, by different cognitive tasks. Participants were trained in performing finger movement sequences. Fully explicit instructions about the target sequence were given before practice. The buildup of procedural knowledge was tested at three time-points: immediately before training (T1, after practice (T2, and 24 hours later (T3. Each participant performed the task on two separate occasions; training on a different movement sequence on each occasion. In one condition, interference, participants performed a non-motor task immediately after T2. Half the participants solved simple math problems and half performed a simple semantic judgment task. In the baseline condition there was no additional task. All participants improved significantly between T1 and T2 (within-session gains. In addition, in the baseline condition, performance significantly improved between T2 and T3 (delayed 'off-line' gains. Solving math problems significantly enhanced these delayed gains in motor performance, whereas performing semantic decisions significantly reduced delayed gains compared to baseline. Thus, procedural motor memory consolidation can be either enhanced or inhibited by subsequent cognitive experiences. These effects do not require explicit or implicit new learning. The retrieval of unrelated, non-motor, well established knowledge can modulate procedural memory.

Purification, characterization and immunomodulatory activity of polysaccharides from stem lettuce.

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Chenzhipeng; Zhu, Peilei; Ma, Shuping; Wang, Mingchun; Hu, Youdong

2018-05-15

Stem lettuce has a long history of cultivation in China and possesses high nutritional and medicinal value. In our previous studies, extraction optimization, characterization, and bioactivities of stem lettuce polysaccharides (SLP) were investigated. In this study, SLP were further separated into two purified polysaccharides, SLP-1 and SLP-2, by anion exchange chromatography followed by size exclusion chromatography. SLP-1, with a molecular weight of 90 KDa, was mainly composed of galacturonic acid, galactose and arabinose in a molar ratio of 17.6:41.7:33.9. SLP-2, with a molecular weight of 44 KDa, was mainly composed of mannose, galacturonic acid, galactose and arabinose in a molar ratio of 11.5:69.5:9.3:8.2. In addition, both purified polysaccharides contain sulphate radicals, have triple helical structures and can promote macrophage proliferation without cytotoxicity. SLP-2 was better able to stimulate phagocytic and nitric oxide production than SLP-1. The results suggest that polysaccharides from stem lettuce could be explored as immunomodulatory agents in the field of pharmaceuticals and functional foods. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating biodegradation half-lives for use in chemical screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Aronson, Dallas; Boethling, Robert; Howard, Philip; Stiteler, William

2006-06-01

Biodegradation half-lives are needed for many applications in chemical screening, but these data are not available for most chemicals. To address this, in phase one of this work we correlated the much more abundant ready and inherent biodegradation test data with measured half-lives for water and soil. In phase two, we explored the utility of the BIOWIN models (in EPI Suite) and molecular fragments for predicting half-lives. BIOWIN model output was correlated directly with measured half-lives, and new models were developed by re-regressing the BIOWIN fragments against the half-lives. All of these approaches gave the best results when used for binary (fast/slow) classification of half-lives, with accuracy generally in the 70-80% range. In the last phase, we used the collected half-life data to examine the default half-lives assigned by EPI Suite and the PBT Profiler for use as input to their level III multimedia models. It is concluded that estimated half-lives should not be used for purposes other than binning or prioritizing chemicals unless accuracy improves significantly.

Space-based visual attention: a marker of immature selective attention in toddlers?

Science.gov (United States)

Rivière, James; Brisson, Julie

2014-11-01

Various studies suggested that attentional difficulties cause toddlers' failure in some spatial search tasks. However, attention is not a unitary construct and this study investigated two attentional mechanisms: location selection (space-based attention) and object selection (object-based attention). We investigated how toddlers' attention is distributed in the visual field during a manual search task for objects moving out of sight, namely the moving boxes task. Results show that 2.5-year-olds who failed this task allocated more attention to the location of the relevant object than to the object itself. These findings suggest that in some manual search tasks the primacy of space-based attention over object-based attention could be a marker of immature selective attention in toddlers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Areva half-year report june 30, 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Information provided in this document concerns the AREVA group as a whole. It presents the highlights and Key data of the first half of 2007, the outlook, the events subsequent to half-year closing, and the Consolidated financial statements. Contents: 1 - Highlights of the period; 2 - Key data: Summary data, Segment reporting, Backlog, Income statement, Review by division, Cash flow, Balance sheet data; 3 - Outlook; 4 - Events subsequent to half-year closing; 5 - Consolidated financial statements: Statutory Auditors' report on half-year information for the period January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007, Consolidated income statement, Consolidated balance sheet, Consolidated cash flow statement, Consolidated statement of change in equity, Segment reporting, Notes to the consolidated financial statements for the period ending June 30, 2007

Projecting one’s own spatial bias onto others during a theory-of-mind task

Science.gov (United States)

Bio, Branden J.; Webb, Taylor W.; Graziano, Michael S. A.

2018-01-01

Many people show a left-right bias in visual processing. We measured spatial bias in neurotypical participants using a variant of the line bisection task. In the same participants, we measured performance in a social cognition task. This theory-of-mind task measured whether each participant had a processing-speed bias toward the right of, or left of, a cartoon agent about which the participant was thinking. Crucially, the cartoon was rotated such that what was left and right with respect to the cartoon was up and down with respect to the participant. Thus, a person’s own left-right bias could not align directly onto left and right with respect to the cartoon head. Performance on the two tasks was significantly correlated. People who had a natural bias toward processing their own left side of space were quicker to process how the cartoon might think about objects to the left side of its face, and likewise for a rightward bias. One possible interpretation of these results is that the act of processing one’s own personal space shares some of the same underlying mechanisms as the social cognitive act of reconstructing someone else’s processing of their space. PMID:29339513

Space Environmental Effects Knowledgebase

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, B. E.

2007-01-01

This report describes the results of an NRA funded program entitled Space Environmental Effects Knowledgebase that received funding through a NASA NRA (NRA8-31) and was monitored by personnel in the NASA Space Environmental Effects (SEE) Program. The NASA Project number was 02029. The Satellite Contamination and Materials Outgassing Knowledgebase (SCMOK) was created as a part of the earlier NRA8-20. One of the previous tasks and part of the previously developed Knowledgebase was to accumulate data from facilities using QCMs to measure the outgassing data for satellite materials. The main object of this current program was to increase the number of material outgassing datasets from 250 up to approximately 500. As a part of this effort, a round-robin series of materials outgassing measurements program was also executed that allowed comparison of the results for the same materials tested in 10 different test facilities. Other programs tasks included obtaining datasets or information packages for 1) optical effects of contaminants on optical surfaces, thermal radiators, and sensor systems and 2) space environmental effects data and incorporating these data into the already existing NASA/SEE Knowledgebase.

Life Sciences Program Tasks and Bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

1996-01-01

This document includes information on all peer reviewed projects funded by the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division during fiscal year 1995. Additionally, this inaugural edition of the Task Book includes information for FY 1994 programs. This document will be published annually and made available to scientists in the space life sciences field both as a hard copy and as an interactive Internet web page

Transfer of skill engendered by complex task training under conditions of variable priority.

Science.gov (United States)

Boot, Walter R; Basak, Chandramallika; Erickson, Kirk I; Neider, Mark; Simons, Daniel J; Fabiani, Monica; Gratton, Gabriele; Voss, Michelle W; Prakash, Ruchika; Lee, HyunKyu; Low, Kathy A; Kramer, Arthur F

2010-11-01

We explored the theoretical underpinnings of a commonly used training strategy by examining issues of training and transfer of skill in the context of a complex video game (Space Fortress, Donchin, 1989). Participants trained using one of two training regimens: Full Emphasis Training (FET) or Variable Priority Training (VPT). Transfer of training was assessed with a large battery of cognitive and psychomotor tasks ranging from basic laboratory paradigms measuring reasoning, memory, and attention to complex real-world simulations. Consistent with previous studies, VPT accelerated learning and maximized task mastery. However, the hypothesis that VPT would result in broader transfer of training received limited support. Rather, transfer was most evident in tasks that were most similar to the Space Fortress game itself. Results are discussed in terms of potential limitations of the VPT approach. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Compound Half-Backed Weave Design For Digital Jacquard Fabric

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Meng; Zhou, Jiu

2017-12-01

Based on layered-combination design mode and compound structure, this paper presents a design method, named compound half-backed weave in order to achieve innovating weave structure and surface effect of fabric. This design method includes primary weaves chosen, half-backed technical points set up and half-backed weave databases established. The fabric produced using compound half-backed weave designed by this method can exhibit a unique half-backed effect that only half of the threads on the fabric surface remain in a state of being covered by adjacent wefts. Compound half-backed weave can not only meets the design need of jacquard fabric with different digital images and effectively improves the efficiency of structural design, but also puts forward new theory and method for innovative design of digital jacquard fabric.

Half-life of Xe120

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, A. A.; Andreoiu, C.; Ball, G. C.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Behr, J. A.; Chupp, T. E.; Finlay, P.; Garrett, P. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Hayden, M. E.; Hyland, B.; Nuss-Warren, S. R.; Pearson, M. R.; Schumaker, M. A.; Smith, M. B.; Svensson, C. E.; Tardiff, E. R.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.; Warner, T.

2006-08-01

We have measured the half-life of Xe120 using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector to monitor the 176, 178, and 762 keV γ rays from Xe120 β+ decay. The result, 46±0.6 min, differs significantly from the value 40±1 min reported by Andersson [Ark. Fys. 28, 37 (1964)]. We have also measured the half-lives of Cs120 and I120 to be 60±0.7 s and 82.1±0.6 min, respectively, both of which are consistent with previous measurements.

Persistence motives in irrational decisions to complete a boring task.

Science.gov (United States)

Halkjelsvik, Torleif; Rise, Jostein

2015-01-01

We explored a novel task paradigm where participants from the online work marketplace Amazon Mechanical Turk were given the choice to quit or continue an unfinished boring task for identical economic rewards. In Studies 1a and 1b, about half the participants chose to continue (corresponding to an average of 55 and 35 cents in foregone earnings). Participants' self-reported reasons for continuing involved various types of persistence motives, reflecting a desire to persist or complete per se. Studies 2, 3a, 3b, and 3c ruled out the possibility that people continued because they enjoyed the task or believed there were additional rewards for continuing. Study 4 showed that the choice to quit/continue was associated with the manner in which the choice was presented (persistence test vs. decision-making test) and individual differences in dispositional persistence motives. The present data indicate that motivational forces independent of the focal reward may affect intertemporal decisions. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Our Future in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Impey, Chris David

2017-06-01

The Space Age is half a century old. Its early successes were driven by a fierce superpower rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States, which tended to obscure the fact that exploration and risk-taking is built into human DNA. Decades after we last set foot on the Moon, and years after the Space Shuttle was retired, the space activity is finally leaving the doldrums. A vibrant private sector led by SpaceX, Blue Origins, and Virgin Galactic plans to launch supplies cheaply into Earth orbit and give anyone the chance of a sub-orbital joy ride. New materials are being developed that could lead to space elevators and transform the economics of space travel. Fighting gravity will always be difficult but engineers are rethinking rockets and developing new propulsion technologies. Permanent bases on the Moon and Mars are now within reach, and a new Space Race is brewing, with China ascendant. Medical advances might even allow us to reach for the stars. The talk will review the history and landmarks of the international space program, give a snapshot of the current dynamic situation, and plot the trajectory of the future of space travel. The time has come to envision our future off-Earth.

Nonimaging concentrators for photovoltaic arrays in space

Science.gov (United States)

Winston, R.; Greenman, P.; Rockey, D.

1981-01-01

Two stage concentrators are studied in order to design an optimum concentrator for photovoltaic arrays in space. The study is directed at designs with two-dimensional geometries because they are better suited to moderate concentrations of about 10 X to 50 X, and because the instantaneous flux distribution is more uniform. It is found that with an f/0.5 primary, where f is the focal length of the primary, the flux distribution is very smooth regardless of the angle of incidence of the radiation. As the focal ratio is increased, peaks in the distribution begin to appear. The nonuniformities can be reduced by introducing small, closely spaced distortions into the reflecting surfaces, and practical arrays can achieve a concentration of 10 when the acceptance half angle is 4.25 deg or 50 when the acceptance half angle is + or - 1 deg.

Radiation: behavioral implications in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogo, V.

1988-01-01

Since future space missions are likely to be beyond Earth's protective atmosphere, a potentially significant hazard is radiation. The following behavioural situations are addressed in this paper: (1) space radiations are more effective at disrupting behaviour; (2) task demands can aggravate the radiation-disruption; (3) efforts to mitigate disruption with drugs or shielding are not satisfactory and the drugs can be behaviourally toxic; and (4) space- and radiation-induced emesis combined may be synergistic. Thus future space travel will be a demanding, exciting time for behavioral toxicologists, and while the circumstances may seem insurmountable at first, creative application of scientific expertise should illicit solutions, similar to demanding situations confronted before. (author)

Measurement of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in eyes with optic disc swelling by using scanning laser polarimetry and optical coherence tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Hata, Masayuki; Miyamoto, Kazuaki; Oishi, Akio; Kimura, Yugo; Nakagawa, Satoko; Horii, Takahiro; Yoshimura, Nagahisa

2014-01-01

The retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in patients with optic disc swelling of different etiologies was compared using scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Forty-seven patients with optic disc swelling participated in the cross-sectional study. Both GDx SLP (enhanced corneal compensation) and Spectralis spectral-domain OCT measurements of RNFLT were made in 19 eyes with papilledema (PE), ten eyes with optic neuritis (ON), and 18 eyes with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) at the neuro-ophthalmology clinic at Kyoto University Hospital. Differences in SLP (SLP-RNFLT) and OCT (OCT-RNFLT) measurements among different etiologies were investigated. No statistical differences in average OCT-RNFLT among PE, ON, and NAION patients were noted. Average SLP-RNFLT in NAION patients was smaller than in PE (P<0.01) or ON (P=0.02) patients. When RNFLT in each retinal quadrant was compared, no difference among etiologies was noted on OCT, but on SLP, the superior quadrant was thinner in NAION than in PE (P<0.001) or ON (P=0.001) patients. Compared with age-adjusted normative data of SLP-RNFLT, average SLP-RNFLT in PE (P<0.01) and ON (P<0.01) patients was greater. Superior SLP-RNFLT in NAION patients was smaller (P=0.026). The ratio of average SLP-RNFLT to average OCT-RNFLT was smaller in NAION than in PE (P=0.001) patients. In the setting of RNFL thickening, despite increased light retardance in PE and ON eyes, SLP revealed that NAION eyes have less retardance, possibly associated with ischemic axonal loss.

Glaucoma progression detection by retinal nerve fiber layer measurement using scanning laser polarimetry: event and trend analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Byung Gil; Sung, Kyung Rim; Cho, Jung Woo; Kang, Sung Yong; Yun, Sung-Cheol; Na, Jung Hwa; Lee, Youngrok; Kook, Michael S

2012-06-01

To evaluate the use of scanning laser polarimetry (SLP, GDx VCC) to measure the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in order to evaluate the progression of glaucoma. Test-retest measurement variability was determined in 47 glaucomatous eyes. One eye each from 152 glaucomatous patients with at least 4 years of follow-up was enrolled. Visual field (VF) loss progression was determined by both event analysis (EA, Humphrey guided progression analysis) and trend analysis (TA, linear regression analysis of the visual field index). SLP progression was defined as a reduction of RNFL exceeding the predetermined repeatability coefficient in three consecutive exams, as compared to the baseline measure (EA). The slope of RNFL thickness change over time was determined by linear regression analysis (TA). Twenty-two eyes (14.5%) progressed according to the VF EA, 16 (10.5%) by VF TA, 37 (24.3%) by SLP EA and 19 (12.5%) by SLP TA. Agreement between VF and SLP progression was poor in both EA and TA (VF EA vs. SLP EA, k = 0.110; VF TA vs. SLP TA, k = 0.129). The mean (±standard deviation) progression rate of RNFL thickness as measured by SLP TA did not significantly differ between VF EA progressors and non-progressors (-0.224 ± 0.148 µm/yr vs. -0.218 ± 0.151 µm/yr, p = 0.874). SLP TA and EA showed similar levels of sensitivity when VF progression was considered as the reference standard. RNFL thickness as measurement by SLP was shown to be capable of detecting glaucoma progression. Both EA and TA of SLP showed poor agreement with VF outcomes in detecting glaucoma progression.

Harmonic analysis on symmetric spaces

CERN Document Server

Terras, Audrey

This text explores the geometry and analysis of higher rank analogues of the symmetric spaces introduced in volume one. To illuminate both the parallels and differences of the higher rank theory, the space of positive matrices is treated in a manner mirroring that of the upper-half space in volume one. This concrete example furnishes motivation for the general theory of noncompact symmetric spaces, which is outlined in the final chapter. The book emphasizes motivation and comprehensibility, concrete examples and explicit computations (by pen and paper, and by computer), history, and, above all, applications in mathematics, statistics, physics, and engineering. The second edition includes new sections on Donald St. P. Richards’s central limit theorem for O(n)-invariant random variables on the symmetric space of GL(n, R), on random  matrix theory, and on advances in the theory of automorphic forms on arithmetic groups.

Automation and Robotics for Space-Based Systems, 1991

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Robert L., II (Editor)

1992-01-01

The purpose of this in-house workshop was to assess the state-of-the-art of automation and robotics for space operations from an LaRC perspective and to identify areas of opportunity for future research. Over half of the presentations came from the Automation Technology Branch, covering telerobotic control, extravehicular activity (EVA) and intra-vehicular activity (IVA) robotics, hand controllers for teleoperation, sensors, neural networks, and automated structural assembly, all applied to space missions. Other talks covered the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) active damping augmentation, space crane work, modeling, simulation, and control of large, flexible space manipulators, and virtual passive controller designs for space robots.

The Functional Task Test (FTT): An Interdisciplinary Testing Protocol to Investigate the Factors Underlying Changes in Astronaut Functional Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomberg, J. J.; Lawrence, E. L.; Arzeno, N. M.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts. S. H.;

The effect of decreased interletter spacing on orthographic processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Montani, Veronica; Facoetti, Andrea; Zorzi, Marco

2015-06-01

There is growing interest in how perceptual factors such as the spacing between letters within words modulate performance in visual word recognition and reading aloud. Extra-large letter spacing can strongly improve the reading performance of dyslexic children, and a small increase with respect to the standard spacing seems beneficial even for skilled word recognition in adult readers. In the present study we examined the effect of decreased letter spacing on perceptual identification and lexical decision tasks. Identification in the decreased spacing condition was slower than identification of normally spaced strings, thereby confirming that the reciprocal interference among letters located in close proximity (crowding) poses critical constraints on visual word processing. Importantly, the effect of spacing was not modulated by string length, suggesting that the locus of the spacing effect is at the level of letter detectors. Moreover, the processing of crowded letters was facilitated by top-down support from orthographic lexical representation as indicated by the fact that decreased spacing affected pseudowords significantly more than words. Conversely, in the lexical decision task only word responses were affected by the spacing manipulation. Overall, our findings support the hypothesis that increased crowding is particularly harmful for phonological decoding, thereby adversely affecting reading development in dyslexic children.

Haloacyl complexes of boron, [(CF3)3BC(O)Hal]- (Hal=F, Cl, Br, I).

Science.gov (United States)

Finze, Maik; Bernhardt, Eduard; Willner, Helge; Lehmann, Christian W

2005-11-04

The haloacyltris(trifluoromethyl)borate anions [(CF3)3BC(O)Hal]- (Hal=F, Cl, Br, I) have been synthesized by reacting (CF3)3BCO with either MHal (M=K, Cs; Hal=F) in SO2 or MHal (M=[nBu4N]+, [Et4N]+, [Ph4P]+; Hal=Cl, Br, I) in dichloromethane. Metathesis reactions of the fluoroacyl complex with Me3SiHal (Hal=Cl, Br, I) led to the formation of its higher homologues. The thermal stabilities of the haloacyltris(trifluoromethyl)borates decrease from the fluorine to the iodine derivative. The chemical reactivities decrease in the same order as demonstrated by a series of selected reactions. The new [(CF3)3BC(O)Hal]- (Hal=F, Cl, Br) salts are used as starting materials in the syntheses of novel compounds that contain the (CF3)3B-C fragment. All borate anions [(CF3)3BC(O)Hal]- (Hal=F, Cl, Br, I) have been characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (11B, 13C, 17O, 19F) and vibrational spectroscopy. [PPh4][(CF3)3BC(O)Br] crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2/c (no. 13) and the bond parameters are compared with those of (CF3)3BCO and K[(CF3)3BC(O)F]. The interpretation of the spectroscopic and structural data are supported by DFT calculations [B3LYP/6-311+G(d)].

The Application of the Human Engineering Modeling and Performance Laboratory for Space Vehicle Ground Processing Tasks at Kennedy Space Center

Science.gov (United States)

Woodbury, Sarah K.

2008-01-01

The introduction of United Space Alliance's Human Engineering Modeling and Performance Laboratory began in early 2007 in an attempt to address the problematic workspace design issues that the Space Shuttle has imposed on technicians performing maintenance and inspection operations. The Space Shuttle was not expected to require the extensive maintenance it undergoes between flights. As a result, extensive, costly resources have been expended on workarounds and modifications to accommodate ground processing personnel. Consideration of basic human factors principles for design of maintenance is essential during the design phase of future space vehicles, facilities, and equipment. Simulation will be needed to test and validate designs before implementation.

STMD Laser Lifetest Program Space Gradiometer

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Design and initiate lifetest activities on laser transmitter for the Cold Atom Gravity Gradiometer (CAGG) with funding from NASA STMD.This proposed task is to...

Sex Differences in Spatial Memory in Brown-Headed Cowbirds: Males Outperform Females on a Touchscreen Task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mélanie F Guigueno

Full Text Available Spatial cognition in females and males can differ in species in which there are sex-specific patterns in the use of space. Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites that show a reversal of sex-typical space use often seen in mammals. Female cowbirds, search for, revisit and parasitize hosts nests, have a larger hippocampus than males and have better memory than males for a rewarded location in an open spatial environment. In the current study, we tested female and male cowbirds in breeding and non-breeding conditions on a touchscreen delayed-match-to-sample task using both spatial and colour stimuli. Our goal was to determine whether sex differences in spatial memory in cowbirds generalizes to all spatial tasks or is task-dependant. Both sexes performed better on the spatial than on the colour touchscreen task. On the spatial task, breeding males outperformed breeding females. On the colour task, females and males did not differ, but females performed better in breeding condition than in non-breeding condition. Although female cowbirds were observed to outperform males on a previous larger-scale spatial task, males performed better than females on a task testing spatial memory in the cowbirds' immediate visual field. Spatial abilities in cowbirds can favour males or females depending on the type of spatial task, as has been observed in mammals, including humans.

Sex Differences in Spatial Memory in Brown-Headed Cowbirds: Males Outperform Females on a Touchscreen Task

Science.gov (United States)

Guigueno, Mélanie F.; MacDougall-Shackleton, Scott A.; Sherry, David F.

2015-01-01

Spatial cognition in females and males can differ in species in which there are sex-specific patterns in the use of space. Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites that show a reversal of sex-typical space use often seen in mammals. Female cowbirds, search for, revisit and parasitize hosts nests, have a larger hippocampus than males and have better memory than males for a rewarded location in an open spatial environment. In the current study, we tested female and male cowbirds in breeding and non-breeding conditions on a touchscreen delayed-match-to-sample task using both spatial and colour stimuli. Our goal was to determine whether sex differences in spatial memory in cowbirds generalizes to all spatial tasks or is task-dependant. Both sexes performed better on the spatial than on the colour touchscreen task. On the spatial task, breeding males outperformed breeding females. On the colour task, females and males did not differ, but females performed better in breeding condition than in non-breeding condition. Although female cowbirds were observed to outperform males on a previous larger-scale spatial task, males performed better than females on a task testing spatial memory in the cowbirds’ immediate visual field. Spatial abilities in cowbirds can favour males or females depending on the type of spatial task, as has been observed in mammals, including humans. PMID:26083573

Automated entry technologies for confined space work activities: A survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Botti, Lucia; Ferrari, Emilio; Mora, Cristina

2017-04-01

Work in confined spaces poses a significant risk to workers and rescuers involved in the emergency response when an accident occurs. Despite several standards and regulations define the safety requirements for such activities, injuries, and fatalities still occur. Furthermore, the on-site inspections after accidents often reveal that both employers and employees fail to implement safe entry procedures. Removing the risk is possible by avoiding the worker entry, but many activities require the presence of the operator inside the confined space to perform manual tasks. The following study investigates the available technologies for hazardous confined space work activities, e.g., cleaning, inspecting, and maintenance tasks. The aim is to provide a systematic review of the automated solutions for high-risk activities in confined spaces, considering the non-man entry as the most effective confined space safety strategy. Second, this survey aims to provide suggestions for future research addressing the design of new technologies. The survey consists of about 60 papers concerning innovative technologies for confined space work activities. The document review shows that several solutions have been developed and automation can replace the workers for a limited number of hazardous tasks. Several activities still require the manual intervention due to the complex characteristics of confined spaces, e.g., to remove the remains of the automatic cleaning process from the bottom of a tank. The results show that available technologies require more flexibility to adapt to such occupational environments and further research is needed.

Engineering task plan for Tanks 241-AN-103, 104, 105 color video camera systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohlman, E.H.

1994-01-01

This Engineering Task Plan (ETP) describes the design, fabrication, assembly, and installation of the video camera systems into the vapor space within tanks 241-AN-103, 104, and 105. The one camera remotely operated color video systems will be used to observe and record the activities within the vapor space. Activities may include but are not limited to core sampling, auger activities, crust layer examination, monitoring of equipment installation/removal, and any other activities. The objective of this task is to provide a single camera system in each of the tanks for the Flammable Gas Tank Safety Program

The International Active Learning Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manners, Ian James

2015-01-01

-Danish students receive the basic international and intercultural skills and knowledge they need in current society. The English-language masters’ seminars I teach at the Department of Political Science are international in terms of students and teacher, but they are also Active Learning seminars......-Danish students (and sometimes teachers) rarely speak to each other or learn each other’s names. In the international AL spaces I create, students must work together on joint tasks which require interaction to address tasks and integration in order to benefit from the multinational activity groups. Planning AL...... that complete the seminar soon become vocal advocates of international AL. Ultimately, enriching student learning through immersing Danish and international students in an international AL space is, for me, the best way of ensuring an internationalised learning outcome, rather than just international mobility....

High performance p-type half-Heusler thermoelectric materials

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Junjie; Xia, Kaiyang; Zhao, Xinbing; Zhu, Tiejun

2018-03-01

Half-Heusler compounds, which possess robust mechanical strength, good high temperature thermal stability and multifaceted physical properties, have been verified as a class of promising thermoelectric materials. During the last two decades, great progress has been made in half-Heusler thermoelectrics. In this review, we summarize some representative work of p-type half-Heusler materials, the thermoelectric performance of which has been remarkably enhanced in recent years. We introduce the features of the crystal and electronic structures of half-Heusler compounds, and successful strategies for optimizing electrical and thermal transport in the p-type RFeSb (R  =  V, Nb, Ta) and MCoSb (M  =  Ti, Zr, Hf) based systems, including band engineering, the formation of solid solutions and hierarchical phonon scattering. The outlook for future research directions of half-Heusler thermoelectrics is also presented.

Are two spaces better than one? The effect of spacing following periods and commas during reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Rebecca L; Bui, Becky; Schmitt, Lindsay L

2018-04-24

The most recent edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Manual states that two spaces should follow the punctuation at the end of a sentence. This is in contrast to the one-space requirement from previous editions. However, to date, there has been no empirical support for either convention. In the current study, participants performed (1) a typing task to assess spacing usage and (2) an eye-tracking experiment to assess the effect that punctuation spacing has on reading performance. Although comprehension was not affected by punctuation spacing, the eye movement record suggested that initial processing of the text was facilitated when periods were followed by two spaces, supporting the change made to the APA Manual. Individuals' typing usage also influenced these effects such that those who use two spaces following a period showed the greatest overall facilitation from reading with two spaces.

The influence of tactile cognitive maps on auditory space perception in sighted persons.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessia Tonelli

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We have recently shown that vision is important to improve spatial auditory cognition. In this study we investigate whether touch is as effective as vision to create a cognitive map of a soundscape. In particular we tested whether the creation of a mental representation of a room, obtained through tactile exploration of a 3D model, can influence the perception of a complex auditory task in sighted people. We tested two groups of blindfolded sighted people – one experimental and one control group – in an auditory space bisection task. In the first group the bisection task was performed three times: specifically, the participants explored with their hands the 3D tactile model of the room and were led along the perimeter of the room between the first and the second execution of the space bisection. Then, they were allowed to remove the blindfold for a few minutes and look at the room between the second and third execution of the space bisection. Instead, the control group repeated for two consecutive times the space bisection task without performing any environmental exploration in between. Considering the first execution as a baseline, we found an improvement in the precision after the tactile exploration of the 3D model. Interestingly, no additional gain was obtained when room observation followed the tactile exploration, suggesting that no additional gain was obtained by vision cues after spatial tactile cues were internalized. No improvement was found between the first and the second execution of the space bisection without environmental exploration in the control group, suggesting that the improvement was not due to task learning. Our results show that tactile information modulates the precision of an ongoing space auditory task as well as visual information. This suggests that cognitive maps elicited by touch may participate in cross-modal calibration and supra-modal representations of space that increase implicit knowledge about sound

Task Selection is Critical for the Demonstration of Reciprocal Patterns of Sex Differences in Hand/Arm Motor Control and Near/Far Visual Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geoff Sanders

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Women have been reported to perform better with hand rather than arm movements (Sanders and Walsh, 2007 and with visual stimuli in near rather than far space (Sanders, Sinclair and Walsh, 2007. Men performed better with the arm and in far space. These reciprocal patterns of sex differences appear as Muscle*Sex and Space*Sex interactions. We investigated these claims using target cancellation tasks in which task difficulty was manipulated by varying target size or the number of distracters. In Study 1 we did not find the Muscle*Sex or the Space*Sex interaction. We argue that ballistic movement was too simple to reveal the Muscle*Sex interaction. However, a trend for the Space*Sex interaction suggested task difficulty was set too high. Study 2 introduced easier levels of difficulty and the overall Space*Sex interaction narrowly failed to reach significance (p = 0.051. In Study 3 the Space*Sex interaction was significant (p = 0.001. A review of the present, and four previously published, studies indicates that task selection is critical if the Space*Sex interaction and its associated reciprocal within-sex differences are to be demonstrated without the obscuring effects of Space and Difficulty. These sex differences are compatible with predictions from the hunter-gatherer hypothesis. Implications for two-visual-system-models are considered.

Electrical Power Systems for NASA's Space Transportation Program

Science.gov (United States)

Lollar, Louis F.; Maus, Louis C.

1998-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) lead center for space transportation systems development. These systems include earth to orbit launch vehicles, as well as vehicles for orbital transfer and deep space missions. The tasks for these systems include research, technology maturation, design, development, and integration of space transportation and propulsion systems. One of the key elements in any transportation system is the electrical power system (EPS). Every transportation system has to have some form of electrical power and the EPS for each of these systems tends to be as varied and unique as the missions they are supporting. The Preliminary Design Office (PD) at MSFC is tasked to perform feasibility analyses and preliminary design studies for new projects, particularly in the space transportation systems area. All major subsystems, including electrical power, are included in each of these studies. Three example systems being evaluated in PD at this time are the Liquid Fly Back Booster (LFBB) system, the Human Mission to Mars (HMM) study, and a tether based flight experiment called the Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS). These three systems are in various stages of definition in the study phase.

HBV-Derived Synthetic Long Peptide Can Boost CD4+ and CD8+ T-Cell Responses in Chronic HBV Patients Ex Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Yingying; van Montfoort, Nadine; van den Bosch, Aniek; de Man, Robert A; Zom, Gijs G; Krebber, Willem-Jan; Melief, Cornelis J M; Buschow, Sonja I; Woltman, Andrea M

2018-02-14

Vaccination with synthetic long peptides (SLP) is a promising new treatment strategy for chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB). SLP can induce broad T-cell responses for all HLA types. Here we investigated the ability of a prototype HBV-core (HBc)-sequence-derived SLP to boost HBV-specific T cells in CHB patients ex vivo. HBc-SLP was used to assess cross-presentation by monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC) and BDCA1+ blood myeloid DC (mDC) to engineered HBV-specific CD8+ T cells. Autologous SLP-loaded and toll-like receptor (TLR)-stimulated DC were used to activate patient HBc-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. HBV-SLP was cross-presented by moDC, which was further enhanced by adjuvants. Patient-derived SLP-loaded moDC significantly increased autologous HBcAg18-27-specific CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells ex vivo. HBV-specific T cells were functional as they synthesized tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma. In 6/7 of patients blockade of PD-L1 further increased SLP effects. Also, importantly, patient-derived BDCA1+ mDC cross-presented and activated autologous T-cell responses ex vivo. As a proof of concept, we showed a prototype HBc-SLP can boost T-cell responses in patients ex vivo. These results pave the way for the development of a therapeutic SLP-based vaccine to induce effective HBV-specific adaptive immune responses in CHB patients. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Knowledge about, attitude toward, and practice of skin lightening products use and its social correlates among university students in five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Peltzer, Karl; Pengpid, Supa

2017-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge about, attitude toward, and use of skin lightening products (SLP) and its social and psychological correlates among university students from five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. In a cross sectional survey, 3259 undergraduate university students (Mean age = 20.5 years, SD = 1.6) from five ASEAN countries responded to an anonymous questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify associations between sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, poor mental health, and SLP use. Overall, 79.1% of the students were aware that the use of SLP can harm the skin, and 30.1% knew the active ingredients of SLP. Most students had a positive perception of having a lighter skin tone and SLP. Overall, the prevalence of SLP use over the past 12 months was 30.7%, 16.7% of male, and 30.0% of female students, ranging from 13.4% in Myanmar to 69.4% in Thailand. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, among women, older age, coming from a poorer family, residing in an upper middle income country, awareness of active skin lightening ingredients, and poor mental health were associated with SLP, while among men, not aware of the negative effects of SLP and awareness of active skin lightening ingredients and poor mental health were associated with SLP use. A high prevalence of SLP use was found in a large sample of ASEAN university students, and several social and mental health-related risk factors were found that may help in guiding interventions. © 2017 The International Society of Dermatology.

On Uniform Exponential Trichotomy in Banach Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kovacs Monteola Ilona

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper we consider three concepts of uniform exponential trichotomy on the half-line in the general framework of evolution operators in Banach spaces. We obtain a systematic classification of uniform exponential trichotomy concepts and the connections between them.

Distractor interference during a choice limb reaching task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Ray

Full Text Available According to action-centered models of attention, the patterns of distractor interference that emerge in selective reaching tasks are related to the time and effort required to resolve a race for activation between competing target and non-target response producing processes. Previous studies have only used unimanual aiming tasks and, as such, only examined the effects of competition that occurs within a limb. The results of studies using unimanual aiming movements often reveal an "ipsilateral effect"--distractors on the same side of space as the effector cause greater interference than distractors on the opposite side of space. The cost of the competition when response selection is between the limbs has yet to be addressed. Participants in the present study executed reaching movements to 1 of 4 (2 left, 2 right possible target locations with and without a distractor. Participants made ipsilateral reaches (left hand to left targets, right hand to right targets. In contrast to studies using unimanual aiming movements, a "contralateral effect" was observed; distractors affording responses for the other hand (in contralateral space caused more interference than distractors affording responses for the same hand. The findings from the present research demonstrate that when certain portions of response planning must be resolved prior to response initiation, distractors that code for that dimension cause the greatest interference.

Half Life Measurements in {sup 155}Gd

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malmskog, S G

1966-08-15

In the literature there exists a definite difference for the half life of the 86.5 keV level in Gd depending on whether {sup 155}Eu or {sup 155}Tb sources have been used. Using a good energy resolution electron-electron coincidence spectrometer and a {sup 155}Eu source, a half life of 6.48 {+-} 0.26 nsec was obtained for the 86.5 keV level. This is in agreement with the values previously measured with {sup 155}Tb sources. The half life of the 105.4 keV level was measured to be 1.12 {+-} 0.05 nsec.

Areva half-year report June 30, 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

This document is the half-year financial report of the Areva group for 2008. It presents: 1 - the highlights of the period: key data (Summary data, Segment reporting, Backlog, Income statement, Review by division, Cash flow, Balance sheet data); Outlook; 2 - the events subsequent to half-year closing; 3 - the consolidated financial statements: Statutory Auditors' report on half-year 2008 information for the period January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2008, Consolidated income statement, Consolidated balance sheet, Consolidated cash flow statement, Consolidated statement of change in equity, Segment reporting, Notes to the consolidated financial statements for the period ending June 30, 2008

Automatic motor task selection via a bandit algorithm for a brain-controlled button

Science.gov (United States)

Fruitet, Joan; Carpentier, Alexandra; Munos, Rémi; Clerc, Maureen

2013-02-01

Objective. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) based on sensorimotor rhythms use a variety of motor tasks, such as imagining moving the right or left hand, the feet or the tongue. Finding the tasks that yield best performance, specifically to each user, is a time-consuming preliminary phase to a BCI experiment. This study presents a new adaptive procedure to automatically select (online) the most promising motor task for an asynchronous brain-controlled button. Approach. We develop for this purpose an adaptive algorithm UCB-classif based on the stochastic bandit theory and design an EEG experiment to test our method. We compare (offline) the adaptive algorithm to a naïve selection strategy which uses uniformly distributed samples from each task. We also run the adaptive algorithm online to fully validate the approach. Main results. By not wasting time on inefficient tasks, and focusing on the most promising ones, this algorithm results in a faster task selection and a more efficient use of the BCI training session. More precisely, the offline analysis reveals that the use of this algorithm can reduce the time needed to select the most appropriate task by almost half without loss in precision, or alternatively, allow us to investigate twice the number of tasks within a similar time span. Online tests confirm that the method leads to an optimal task selection. Significance. This study is the first one to optimize the task selection phase by an adaptive procedure. By increasing the number of tasks that can be tested in a given time span, the proposed method could contribute to reducing ‘BCI illiteracy’.

Half-life determination for 27Mg

Science.gov (United States)

Zahn, G. S.; Genezini, F. A.

2015-07-01

In this work, the half-life of the short-lived magnesium radionuclide 27Mg was measured by following the activity of samples after they were irradiated in the IEA-R1 reactor. An exponential decay function was then fitted to the results using the counts from a 60Co source as livetime chronometer; the individual half-life values obtained for each irradiation were compiled using both the usual unweighted and σ-2-weighted averages, as well as the robust averages obtained using the Normalized Residuals and the Rajeval techniques. The final halflive values obtained aren't compatible with the ENSDF compilation values, but have a similar uncertainty; analysis of the experimental literature values, all from the 50’s-60’s, show that further measurements should be undertaken in order to achieve a more robust consensus value for this half-life.

Space Product Development: Bringing the Benefits of Space Down to Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Rosalie W.; Tygielski, Andrew; Gabris, Edward A.

1997-01-01

The newly developed microgravity Research Program Office was created to consolidate and integrate NASA's microgravity research efforts, comprised of the microgravity Science and Applications Program and Space Product Development Program. This resulted in an integrated agency program serving the science and industrial research communities, providing leadership, management, direction and overview of all agency microgravity research activities. This paper provides an overview of NASA's microgravity Research Program, with particular emphasis on the Space Product Development Program activities, the potential economic impact and quality of life improvements resulting from this research, and future plans for commercial microgravity research in space. The goal of the Space Product Development Program is to facilitate the use of space for commercial products and services. The unique attributes of space are exploited to conduct industry driven research in the areas of crystallography, bio-systems, agriculture, electronic and non-electronic materials. Industry uses the knowledge gained from focused space research to create new products and processes, to gain economic competitive advantages, to create new jobs and improve the quality of life on earth. The objectives of the program are implemented through NASA's Commercial Space Centers, non-profit consortia of industry, academia and government, that provide the mechanism for communication and technical expert exchange between NASA and industry. Over 200 commercial research activities have been conducted by the Commercial Space Centers and their industrial affiliates over the last four and one-half years during Space Shuttle mission, as well as sounding rocket flights. The results of this research will have a significant impact on competitive products, jobs and quality of life improvements.

Task parameters affecting ergonomic demands and productivity of HVAC duct installation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitropoulos, Panagiotis; Hussain, Sanaa; Guarascio-Howard, Linda; Memarian, Babak

2014-01-01

Mechanical installation workers experience work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) at high rates. (1) Quantify the ergonomic demands during HVAC installation, (2) identify the tasks and task parameters that generated extreme ergonomic demands, and (3) propose improvements to reduce the WMSDs among mechanical workers. The study focused on installation of rectangular ductwork components using ladders, and analyzed five operations by two mechanical contractors. Using continuous time observational assessment, the videotaped operations were analyzed along two dimensions: (1) the production tasks and durations, and (2) the ergonomic demands for four body regions (neck, arms/shoulders, back, and knees). The analysis identified tasks with low portion of productive time and high portion of extreme postures, and task parameters that generated extreme postures. Duct alignment was the task with the highest portion of extreme postures. The position of the ladder (angle and distance from the duct) was a task parameter that strongly influenced the extreme postures for back, neck and shoulders. Other contributing factors included the difficulty to reach the hand tools when working on the ladder, the congestion of components in the ceiling, and the space between the duct and the ceiling. The identified tasks and factors provide directions for improvement.

Half-life of samarium-147

CERN Document Server

Kinoshita, N; Nakanishi, T

2003-01-01

The alpha-decay half-life of sup 1 sup 4 sup 7 Sm has been reevaluated. Known amounts of natural Sm and an alpha-emitter standard ( sup 2 sup 1 sup 0 Po, sup 2 sup 3 sup 8 U, or sup 2 sup 4 sup 1 Am) were mixed well to prepare thin sources for the simultaneous counting of sup 1 sup 4 sup 7 Sm and the alpha-emitter standard by means of an alpha-spectrometer using a silicon surface barrier detector. The alpha-disintegration rate of known amounts of sup 1 sup 4 sup 7 Sm was determined by reference to the alpha activity of the standard. The source preparation and counting were repeated to establish the reproducibility of the present half-life determination, and supplementary alpha spectrometry was carried out by a liquid-scintillation spectrometer. The arithmetic mean of the experimental half-life values was obtained to be (1.17 +- 0.02) x 10 sup 1 sup 1 y. This value is about 10% longer than the currently adopted value, (1.06 +- 0.02) x 10 sup 1 sup 1 y, and the possible factors for this difference are discussed...

Training improves laparoscopic tasks performance and decreases operator workload.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jesse S L; Lu, Jirong; Tan, Wee Boon; Lomanto, Davide

2016-05-01

It has been postulated that increased operator workload during task performance may increase fatigue and surgical errors. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) is a validated tool for self-assessment for workload. Our study aims to assess the relationship of workload and performance of novices in simulated laparoscopic tasks of different complexity levels before and after training. Forty-seven novices without prior laparoscopic experience were recruited in a trial to investigate whether training improves task performance as well as mental workload. The participants were tested on three standard tasks (ring transfer, precision cutting and intracorporeal suturing) in increasing complexity based on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) curriculum. Following a period of training and rest, participants were tested again. Test scores were computed from time taken and time penalties for precision errors. Test scores and NASA-TLX scores were recorded pre- and post-training and analysed using paired t tests. One-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyse differences in NASA-TLX scores between the three tasks. NASA-TLX score was lowest with ring transfer and highest with intracorporeal suturing. This was statistically significant in both pre-training (p NASA-TLX scores mirror the changes in test scores for the three tasks. Workload scores decreased significantly after training for all three tasks (ring transfer = 2.93, p NASA-TLX score is an accurate reflection of the complexity of simulated laparoscopic tasks in the FLS curriculum. This also correlates with the relationship of test scores between the three tasks. Simulation training improves both performance score and workload score across the tasks.

A Milestone in Commercial Space Weather: USTAR Center for Space Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Tobiska, W.; Schunk, R. W.; Sojka, J. J.; Thompson, D. C.; Scherliess, L.; Zhu, L.; Gardner, L. C.

2009-12-01

As of 2009, Utah State University (USU) hosts a new organization to develop commercial space weather applications using funding that has been provided by the State of Utah’s Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative. The USTAR Center for Space Weather (UCSW) is located on the USU campus in Logan, Utah and is developing innovative applications for mitigating adverse space weather effects in technological systems. Space weather’s effects upon the near-Earth environment are due to dynamic changes in the Sun’s photons, particles, and fields. Of the space environment domains that are affected by space weather, the ionosphere is the key region that affects communication and navigation systems. The UCSW has developed products for users of systems that are affected by space weather-driven ionospheric changes. For example, on September 1, 2009 USCW released, in conjunction with Space Environment Technologies, the world’s first real-time space weather via an iPhone app. Space WX displays the real-time, current global ionosphere total electron content along with its space weather drivers; it is available through the Apple iTunes store and is used around the planet. The Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurements (GAIM) system is now being run operationally in real-time at UCSW with the continuous ingestion of hundreds of global data streams to dramatically improve the ionosphere’s characterization. We discuss not only funding and technical advances that have led to current products but also describe the direction for UCSW that includes partnering opportunities for moving commercial space weather into fully automated specification and forecasting over the next half decade.

Life Sciences Research Facility automation requirements and concepts for the Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Daryl N.

1986-01-01

An evaluation is made of the methods and preliminary results of a study on prospects for the automation of the NASA Space Station's Life Sciences Research Facility. In order to remain within current Space Station resource allocations, approximately 85 percent of planned life science experiment tasks must be automated; these tasks encompass specimen care and feeding, cage and instrument cleaning, data acquisition and control, sample analysis, waste management, instrument calibration, materials inventory and management, and janitorial work. Task automation will free crews for specimen manipulation, tissue sampling, data interpretation and communication with ground controllers, and experiment management.

Gaz de France: first half 2007 results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2007-07-01

Paris, 29 August 2007, Gaz de France Group presents its first half 2007 results (billion euros): Sales revenue 13.78 (-11% with respect to 2006), EBITDA 3.11 (-4.9%), Operating income 2.33 ( -8.7%), Net income Group share 1.51 (-11%), Net income Group share per share 1.53 euro (-11%). The half-year results are attributable primarily to three factors: - A very difficult environment with exceptionally mild climate conditions in the first half, impacting nearly all of the businesses, and unfavourable market conditions, reflected in particular in the low gas prices on the markets; - A tariff context which did not negatively impact the sales margins following a very difficult year 2006; - Good performance in international activities. Despite the environment, the Group is maintaining its financial target for 2007, as announced in March this year: 2007 will be a year of consolidation. EBITDA is expected to be in line with that of 2006. This target assumes average climate conditions during the second half 2007.

Gaz de France: first half 2007 results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

Paris, 29 August 2007, Gaz de France Group presents its first half 2007 results (billion euros): Sales revenue 13.78 (-11% with respect to 2006), EBITDA 3.11 (-4.9%), Operating income 2.33 ( -8.7%), Net income Group share 1.51 (-11%), Net income Group share per share 1.53 euro (-11%). The half-year results are attributable primarily to three factors: - A very difficult environment with exceptionally mild climate conditions in the first half, impacting nearly all of the businesses, and unfavourable market conditions, reflected in particular in the low gas prices on the markets; - A tariff context which did not negatively impact the sales margins following a very difficult year 2006; - Good performance in international activities. Despite the environment, the Group is maintaining its financial target for 2007, as announced in March this year: 2007 will be a year of consolidation. EBITDA is expected to be in line with that of 2006. This target assumes average climate conditions during the second half 2007

Does compliance to patient safety tasks improve and sustain when radiotherapy treatment processes are standardized?

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Pascale A M; Houben, Ruud; Benders, Jos; Pijls-Johannesma, Madelon; Vandijck, Dominique; Marneffe, Wim; Backes, Huub; Groothuis, Siebren

2014-10-01

To realize safe radiotherapy treatment, processes must be stabilized. Standard operating procedures (SOP's) were expected to stabilize the treatment process and perceived task importance would increase sustainability in compliance. This paper presents the effects on compliance to safety related tasks of a process redesign based on lean principles. Compliance to patient safety tasks was measured by video recording of actual radiation treatment, before (T0), directly after (T1) and 1.5 years after (T2) a process redesign. Additionally, technologists were surveyed on perceived task importance and reported incidents were collected for three half-year periods between 2007 and 2009. Compliance to four out of eleven tasks increased at T1, of which improvements on three sustained (T2). Perceived importance of tasks strongly correlated (0.82) to compliance rates at T2. The two tasks, perceived as least important, presented low base-line compliance, improved (T1), but relapsed at T2. The reported near misses (patient-level not reached) on accelerators increased (P improvements sustained after 1.5 years, indicating increased stability. Perceived importance of tasks correlated positively to compliance and sustainability. Raising the perception of task importance is thus crucial to increase compliance. The redesign resulted in increased willingness to report incidents, creating opportunities for patient safety improvement in radiotherapy treatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The half-yellow man

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The half-yellow man. BJ Merwitza* and FJ Raala. aFaculty of Health Sciences, Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism Research Unit, University of the Witswaterand, Johannesburg, South Africa. *Corresponding author, emails: bmerwitz@hotmail.com, brad.merwitz@gmail.com. Keywords: diffuse normolipaemic planar ...

Half-metallic zinc-blende pnictides in real environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Lijie; Liu Banggui

2005-01-01

The structural stability of half-metallic zinc-blende pnictides and the robustness of their half-metallic ferromagnetism in the presence of tetragonal and orthorhombic crystalline deformations are studied using a full-potential linear augmented plane wave method within the density-functional theory. The total energies of zinc-blende MnAs, CrAs, and CrSb are proved to increase with deformation increase, in contrast to those of other zinc-blende half-metallic pnictides, and therefore these three are stable against the deformations but the others are not. This is consistent with the experimental fact that only these three have been fabricated. On the other hand, the half-metallic ferromagnetism of the latter two is proved to be robust enough to survive large crystal deformations. This implies that half-metallic ferromagnetism may be achieved experimentally even in substantially deformed zinc-blende ultrathin films or layers of CrAs and CrSb in real environments

Visual scan-path analysis with feature space transient fixation moments

Science.gov (United States)

Dempere-Marco, Laura; Hu, Xiao-Peng; Yang, Guang-Zhong

2003-05-01

The study of eye movements provides useful insight into the cognitive processes underlying visual search tasks. The analysis of the dynamics of eye movements has often been approached from a purely spatial perspective. In many cases, however, it may not be possible to define meaningful or consistent dynamics without considering the features underlying the scan paths. In this paper, the definition of the feature space has been attempted through the concept of visual similarity and non-linear low dimensional embedding, which defines a mapping from the image space into a low dimensional feature manifold that preserves the intrinsic similarity of image patterns. This has enabled the definition of perceptually meaningful features without the use of domain specific knowledge. Based on this, this paper introduces a new concept called Feature Space Transient Fixation Moments (TFM). The approach presented tackles the problem of feature space representation of visual search through the use of TFM. We demonstrate the practical values of this concept for characterizing the dynamics of eye movements in goal directed visual search tasks. We also illustrate how this model can be used to elucidate the fundamental steps involved in skilled search tasks through the evolution of transient fixation moments.

Amputation and prosthesis implantation shape body and peripersonal space representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Canzoneri, Elisa; Marzolla, Marilena; Amoresano, Amedeo; Verni, Gennaro; Serino, Andrea

2013-10-03

Little is known about whether and how multimodal representations of the body (BRs) and of the space around the body (Peripersonal Space, PPS) adapt to amputation and prosthesis implantation. In order to investigate this issue, we tested BR in a group of upper limb amputees by means of a tactile distance perception task and PPS by means of an audio-tactile interaction task. Subjects performed the tasks with stimulation either on the healthy limb or the stump of the amputated limb, while wearing or not wearing their prosthesis. When patients performed the tasks on the amputated limb, without the prosthesis, the perception of arm length shrank, with a concurrent shift of PPS boundaries towards the stump. Conversely, wearing the prosthesis increased the perceived length of the stump and extended the PPS boundaries so as to include the prosthetic hand, such that the prosthesis partially replaced the missing limb.

Task-dependent vestibular feedback responses in reaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Keyser, Johannes; Medendorp, W Pieter; Selen, Luc P J

2017-07-01

When reaching for an earth-fixed object during self-rotation, the motor system should appropriately integrate vestibular signals and sensory predictions to compensate for the intervening motion and its induced inertial forces. While it is well established that this integration occurs rapidly, it is unknown whether vestibular feedback is specifically processed dependent on the behavioral goal. Here, we studied whether vestibular signals evoke fixed responses with the aim to preserve the hand trajectory in space or are processed more flexibly, correcting trajectories only in task-relevant spatial dimensions. We used galvanic vestibular stimulation to perturb reaching movements toward a narrow or a wide target. Results show that the same vestibular stimulation led to smaller trajectory corrections to the wide than the narrow target. We interpret this reduced compensation as a task-dependent modulation of vestibular feedback responses, tuned to minimally intervene with the task-irrelevant dimension of the reach. These task-dependent vestibular feedback corrections are in accordance with a central prediction of optimal feedback control theory and mirror the sophistication seen in feedback responses to mechanical and visual perturbations of the upper limb. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Correcting limb movements for external perturbations is a hallmark of flexible sensorimotor behavior. While visual and mechanical perturbations are corrected in a task-dependent manner, it is unclear whether a vestibular perturbation, naturally arising when the body moves, is selectively processed in reach control. We show, using galvanic vestibular stimulation, that reach corrections to vestibular perturbations are task dependent, consistent with a prediction of optimal feedback control theory. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Mathematical aspects of the discrete space-time hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sardanashvili, G.A.

1979-01-01

A hypothesis of a microcosm space discreteness is considered from the theoretical-mathematical point of view. The type of topological spaces, which formalizes representations on the discrete space-time, is determined. It is explained, how these spaces arise in physical models. The physical task, in which the discrete space could arise as a version of its solution, is considered. It is shown that the discrete structure of space can arise with a certain interaction type in the system, for example, with its considerable self-shielding, which can take place, in particular, in the particles or in the cosmological and astrophysical singularities

Maps of space in human frontoparietal cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Jerde, Trenton A; Curtis, Clayton E

2013-12-01

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) are neural substrates for spatial cognition. We here review studies in which we tested the hypothesis that human frontoparietal cortex may function as a priority map. According to priority map theory, objects or locations in the visual world are represented by neural activity that is proportional to their attentional priority. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we first identified topographic maps in PFC and PPC as candidate priority maps of space. We then measured fMRI activity in candidate priority maps during the delay periods of a covert attention task, a spatial working memory task, and a motor planning task to test whether the activity depended on the particular spatial cognition. Our hypothesis was that some, but not all, candidate priority maps in PFC and PPC would be agnostic with regard to what was being prioritized, in that their activity would reflect the location in space across tasks rather than a particular kind of spatial cognition (e.g., covert attention). To test whether patterns of delay period activity were interchangeable during the spatial cognitive tasks, we used multivariate classifiers. We found that decoders trained to predict the locations on one task (e.g., working memory) cross-predicted the locations on the other tasks (e.g., covert attention and motor planning) in superior precentral sulcus (sPCS) and in a region of intraparietal sulcus (IPS2), suggesting that these patterns of maintenance activity may be interchangeable across the tasks. Such properties make sPCS in frontal cortex and IPS2 in parietal cortex viable priority map candidates, and suggest that these areas may be the human homologs of the monkey frontal eye field (FEF) and lateral intraparietal area (LIP). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A systematic approach to the application of Automation, Robotics, and Machine Intelligence Systems /ARAMIS/ to future space projects

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, D. B. S.

1982-01-01

The potential applications of Automation, Robotics, and Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS) to space projects are investigated, through a systematic method. In this method selected space projects are broken down into space project tasks, and 69 of these tasks are selected for study. Candidate ARAMIS options are defined for each task. The relative merits of these options are evaluated according to seven indices of performance. Logical sequences of ARAMIS development are also defined. Based on this data, promising applications of ARAMIS are

Half-body irradiation-experience of size cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrade Carvalho, H. de; Aguilar, P.B.; Nadalin, W.; Weissberger, Y.; Scaff, L.A.M.; Lins, J.R.B.

1990-01-01

From 1983 to 1989, six patients with disseminated neoplastic disease non-responsive to conventional therapy were treated with palliative antialgic means. Three patients with breast cancer, two with prostate and one with Ewing's sarcoma received a total of eight treatments. The irradiation was first administered to the half-body presenting worst symptomatology. Total single dose of 800 cGy was delivered to the lower half-body and 600 cGy to the upper half-body. Pain relief was observed 24 to 48 hours after the irradiation in all patients. The haematological tolerance was good and deaths of these patients were not related to complications due to the radiation therapy. (author)

A solar combi-system based on a heat exchanger between the collector loop and space-heating loop (IEA task 26 generic system 2). A report of IEA SHC - task 26 solar combisystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellehauge, K.

2002-12-01

The most common Danish solar combi-system is theoretically investigated in the report. The principle in the system is that in a normal solar hot water system a heat exchanger is added to deliver solar energy from the collector loop directly to the space heating loop. In this way solar energy for space heating is not stored which is expected to decrease the performance. On the other hand the system is relatively inexpensive, which can compensate for a reduced performance. A TRNSYS model of the system is developed and sensitivity analyses of parameters are performed by simulation. The analyses show no major improvements of the system. Special emphasis has been put on investigating the control strategy and to investigate if the thermal mass of radiators of floor could act as buffer for the solar energy delivered to space heating and in this way improve the performance. The analyses show that this is possible and has advantages at larger collector areas. However the improvements are not as large as expected. An economic optimisation gives and optimum solar collector area of approximately 10 m 2 . However the optimum curve is quite flat for areas above 7 m 2 , and collector areas up to 15 m 2 are also feasible. The calculated performacnes have been the basis for comparisons with the other systems modelled in the task 26. The comparison shows that the performance is not among the best, but however probably not as bad as expected. Furthermore the inexpensive design compensates to some extent for the lower performance. Furthermore the material use of the system and the energy used to produce the materials has been estimated. The energy demand is in a range that gives energy pay back times of 1.9-2.5 years. (au)

AMTD: update of engineering specifications derived from science requirements for future UVOIR space telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Postman, Marc; Mosier, Gary; Smith, W. Scott; Blaurock, Carl; Ha, Kong; Stark, Christopher C.

2014-08-01

The Advance Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) project is in Phase 2 of a multiyear effort, initiated in FY12, to mature by at least a half TRL step six critical technologies required to enable 4 meter or larger UVOIR space telescope primary mirror assemblies for both general astrophysics and ultra-high contrast observations of exoplanets. AMTD uses a science-driven systems engineering approach. We mature technologies required to enable the highest priority science AND provide a high-performance low-cost low-risk system. To give the science community options, we are pursuing multiple technology paths. A key task is deriving engineering specifications for advanced normal-incidence monolithic and segmented mirror systems needed to enable both general astrophysics and ultra-high contrast observations of exoplanets missions as a function of potential launch vehicles and their mass and volume constraints. A key finding of this effort is that the science requires an 8 meter or larger aperture telescope.

Immunological half-life of porcine proinsulin C-peptide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oyama, H; Horino, M; Matsumura, S [Kawasaki Medical Coll., Kurashiki (Japan). Div. of Endocrinology; Kobayshi, K; Suetsugu, N [Yamaguchi Univ., Ube (Japan). School of Medicine

1975-11-01

Immunological half-lifes of injected porcine C-peptide and insulin with RIA were studied and calculated as 9.8 and 8.0 minutes. Higher circulating levels of C-peptide as compared to insulin in normal young swines lead to speculation about a longer half-life of C-peptide. This hypothesis was verified in this study. Immunological half-lifes of porcine proinsulin and insulin in the pig were 20 and 6 minutes, respectively.

Designing Interaction Spaces for Rich Internet Applications with UML

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dolog, Peter; Stage, Jan

2007-01-01

In this paper, we propose a new method for designing rich internet applications. The design process uses results from an object-oriented analysis and employs interaction spaces as the basic abstraction mechanism. State diagrams are employed as refinements of interaction spaces and task models...

Effects of task structure on category priming in patients with Parkinson's disease and in healthy individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Gregory G; Brown, Sandra J; Christenson, Gina; Williams, Rebecca E; Kindermann, Sandra S; Loftis, Christopher; Olsen, Ryan; Siple, Patricia; Shults, Clifford; Gorell, Jay M

2002-05-01

Lexical decision tasks have been used to study both shifts of attention and semantic processing in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Whereas other laboratories have reported normal levels of semantic priming among PD patients, our laboratory has reported abnormally large levels. In this study, two experiments were performed to determine the influence of task structure on the extent of semantic priming during lexical decision-making and pronunciation tasks among PD patients and neurologically healthy controls. In Experiment 1, the effect of Prime Dominance (the ratio of category to neutral trials) on lexical decision-making was studied. Although equal numbers of word and nonword trials were presented, half of the PD patients and controls were studied under Category Prime Dominance (category : neutral prime ratio of 2:1) and half were studied under Neutral Prime Dominance (category : neutral prime ratio of 1:2). In Experiment 2, PD and control participants were studied on lexical decision-making and pronunciation tasks where twice as many words as nonword trials were presented, consistent with other studies from our laboratory. In Experiment 1, we found no group differences in the magnitude of priming and no effect of Prime Dominance. Moreover, the findings were similar in pattern and magnitude to results published by Neely (1977). In Experiment 2, we observed larger priming effects among PD patients than among controls, but only on the lexical decision (LD) task. These results support the hypothesis that abnormally large category-priming effects appear in LD studies of PD patients when the number of word trials exceeds the number of nonword trials. Furthermore, increased lexical priming in PD appears to be due to processes operating during the decision-making period that follows presentation of the lexical target.

Exploration of joint redundancy but not task space variability facilitates supervised motor learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Puneet; Jana, Sumitash; Ghosal, Ashitava; Murthy, Aditya

2016-12-13

The number of joints and muscles in a human arm is more than what is required for reaching to a desired point in 3D space. Although previous studies have emphasized how such redundancy and the associated flexibility may play an important role in path planning, control of noise, and optimization of motion, whether and how redundancy might promote motor learning has not been investigated. In this work, we quantify redundancy space and investigate its significance and effect on motor learning. We propose that a larger redundancy space leads to faster learning across subjects. We observed this pattern in subjects learning novel kinematics (visuomotor adaptation) and dynamics (force-field adaptation). Interestingly, we also observed differences in the redundancy space between the dominant hand and nondominant hand that explained differences in the learning of dynamics. Taken together, these results provide support for the hypothesis that redundancy aids in motor learning and that the redundant component of motor variability is not noise.

ISABELLE half-cell control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buxton, W.; Frankel, R.; Humphrey, J.W.

1977-01-01

The primary function of the ISABELLE half-cell control system is to monitor and control the magnet power supplies of the half-cell. In addition, the control system must be flexible enough that it can be expanded to become involved in additional areas such as vacuum and magnetic measurements. A control system based upon AGS control standards, but modified into a development tool for research and electrical engineering support was constructed. Special attention was given to the inherent differences between controlling an ISABELLE and a conventional fast cycling accelerator. The use of FORTRAN and BASIC networks, and microprocessors is reviewed insofar as they pertain to this system. Some general opinions on model control systems, based upon experience, are presented

14th SpaceOps Conference

CERN Document Server

Schmidhuber, Michael; Lee, Young; Kim, Bangyeop

2017-01-01

This book includes a selection of 30 reviewed and enhanced manuscripts published during the 14th SpaceOps Conference held in May 2016 in Daejeon, South Korea. The selection was driven by their quality and relevance to the space operations community. The papers represent a cross-section of three main subject areas: · Mission Management – management tasks for designing, preparing and operating a particular mission. · Spacecraft Operations – preparation and implementation of all activities to operate a space vehicle (crewed and uncrewed) under all conditions. · Ground Operations – preparation, qualification, and operations of a mission dedicated ground segment and appropriate infrastructure including antennas, control centers, and communication means and interfaces. This book promotes the SpaceOps Committee’s mission to foster the technical interchange on all aspects of space mission operations and ground data systems while promoting and maintaining an international community of space operations exper...

Decision Making in Reinforcement Learning Using a Modified Learning Space Based on the Importance of Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasutaka Kishima

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Many studies have been conducted on the application of reinforcement learning (RL to robots. A robot which is made for general purpose has redundant sensors or actuators because it is difficult to assume an environment that the robot will face and a task that the robot must execute. In this case, -space on RL contains redundancy so that the robot must take much time to learn a given task. In this study, we focus on the importance of sensors with regard to a robot’s performance of a particular task. The sensors that are applicable to a task differ according to the task. By using the importance of the sensors, we try to adjust the state number of the sensors and to reduce the size of -space. In this paper, we define the measure of importance of a sensor for a task with the correlation between the value of each sensor and reward. A robot calculates the importance of the sensors and makes the size of -space smaller. We propose the method which reduces learning space and construct the learning system by putting it in RL. In this paper, we confirm the effectiveness of our proposed system with an experimental robot.

A neuronal model of a global workspace in effortful cognitive tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Dehaene, S; Kerszberg, M; Changeux, J P

1998-11-24

A minimal hypothesis is proposed concerning the brain processes underlying effortful tasks. It distinguishes two main computational spaces: a unique global workspace composed of distributed and heavily interconnected neurons with long-range axons, and a set of specialized and modular perceptual, motor, memory, evaluative, and attentional processors. Workspace neurons are mobilized in effortful tasks for which the specialized processors do not suffice. They selectively mobilize or suppress, through descending connections, the contribution of specific processor neurons. In the course of task performance, workspace neurons become spontaneously coactivated, forming discrete though variable spatio-temporal patterns subject to modulation by vigilance signals and to selection by reward signals. A computer simulation of the Stroop task shows workspace activation to increase during acquisition of a novel task, effortful execution, and after errors. We outline predictions for spatio-temporal activation patterns during brain imaging, particularly about the contribution of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate to the workspace.

Half Sinful Words: Disguised Grief in "Ulysses."

Science.gov (United States)

Hobbs, Michael

As a shrewd technician of the language, A. L. Tennyson rightly understood that words are not controllable; they do not always obey rules. As Tennyson said, words "half reveal and half conceal the soul within." In "Ulysses," the title character's speech to his fellow mariners--where he attempts to explain why he has decided to…

Effects of noise and task loading on a communication task loading on a communication task

Science.gov (United States)

Orrell, Dean H., II

Previous research had shown the effect of noise on a single communication task. This research has been criticized as not being representative of a real world situation since subjects allocated all of their attention to only one task. In the present study, the effect of adding a loading task to a standard noise-communication paradigm was investigated. Subjects performed both a communication task (Modified Rhyme Test; House et al. 1965) and a short term memory task (Sternberg, 1969) in simulated levels of aircraft noise (95, 105 and 115 dB overall sound pressure level (OASPL)). Task loading was varied with Sternberg's task by requiring subjects to memorize one, four, or six alphanumeric characters. Simulated aircraft noise was varied between levels of 95, 105 and 115 dB OASPL using a pink noise source. Results show that the addition of Sternberg's task and little effect on the intelligibility of the communication task while response time for the communication task increased.

Who multi-tasks and why? Multi-tasking ability, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanbonmatsu, David M; Strayer, David L; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M

2013-01-01

The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants' perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation--high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking--reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control--low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity--tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity.

Who multi-tasks and why? Multi-tasking ability, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David M Sanbonmatsu

Full Text Available The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants' perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation--high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking--reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control--low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity--tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity.

Who Multi-Tasks and Why? Multi-Tasking Ability, Perceived Multi-Tasking Ability, Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking

Science.gov (United States)

Sanbonmatsu, David M.; Strayer, David L.; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M.

2013-01-01

The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants’ perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation – high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking – reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control - low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity - tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity. PMID:23372720

Task demand, task management, and teamwork

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braarud, Per Oeivind; Brendryen, Haavar

2001-03-15

The current approach to mental workload assessment in process control was evaluated in 3 previous HAMMLAB studies, by analysing the relationship between workload related measures and performance. The results showed that subjective task complexity rating was related to team's control room performance, that mental effort (NASA-TLX) was weakly related to performance, and that overall activity level was unrelated to performance. The results support the argument that general cognitive measures, i.e., mental workload, are weakly related to performance in the process control domain. This implies that other workload concepts than general mental workload are needed for valid assessment of human reliability and for valid assessment of control room configurations. An assessment of task load in process control suggested that how effort is used to handle task demand is more important then the level of effort invested to solve the task. The report suggests two main workload related concepts with a potential as performance predictors in process control: task requirements, and the work style describing how effort is invested to solve the task. The task requirements are seen as composed of individual task demand and team demand. In a similar way work style are seen as composed of individual task management and teamwork style. A framework for the development of the concepts is suggested based on a literature review and experiences from HAMMLAB research. It is suggested that operational definitions of workload concepts should be based on observable control room behaviour, to assure a potential for developing performance-shaping factors. Finally an explorative analysis of teamwork measures and performance in one study indicated that teamwork concepts are related to performance. This lends support to the suggested development of team demand and teamwork style as elements of a framework for the analysis of workload in process control. (Author)

Uranium half-lives: a critical review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holden, N.E.

1981-01-01

The experimental data are evaluated and values for the spontaneous fission half-life of 238 U and the total half-lives for 232 U, 233 U, 234 U, 235 U, 236 U, and 238 U are recommended. Also the variation of the isotopic abundance of 234 U in nature and the error involved in the assumption of secular equilibrium between 234 U and 238 U in the determination of the specific activity of natural uranium samples are discussed. The recommended half-life values and 95% confidence limits are: 238 U spontaneous fission: 8.09 +- 0.26 x 10 15 years; 232 U total: 69.8 +- 1.0 years; 233 U total: 1.592 +- 0.002 x 10 5 years; 234 U total: 2.454 +- 0.006 x 10 5 years; 235 U total: 7.037 +- 0.011 x 10 8 years; 236 U total: 2.342 +- 0.003 x 10 7 years 238 U total: 4.468 +- 0.005 x 10 9 years

Advanced automation for in-space vehicle processing

Science.gov (United States)

Sklar, Michael; Wegerif, D.

1990-01-01

The primary objective of this 3-year planned study is to assure that the fully evolved Space Station Freedom (SSF) can support automated processing of exploratory mission vehicles. Current study assessments show that required extravehicular activity (EVA) and to some extent intravehicular activity (IVA) manpower requirements for required processing tasks far exceeds the available manpower. Furthermore, many processing tasks are either hazardous operations or they exceed EVA capability. Thus, automation is essential for SSF transportation node functionality. Here, advanced automation represents the replacement of human performed tasks beyond the planned baseline automated tasks. Both physical tasks such as manipulation, assembly and actuation, and cognitive tasks such as visual inspection, monitoring and diagnosis, and task planning are considered. During this first year of activity both the Phobos/Gateway Mars Expedition and Lunar Evolution missions proposed by the Office of Exploration have been evaluated. A methodology for choosing optimal tasks to be automated has been developed. Processing tasks for both missions have been ranked on the basis of automation potential. The underlying concept in evaluating and describing processing tasks has been the use of a common set of 'Primitive' task descriptions. Primitive or standard tasks have been developed both for manual or crew processing and automated machine processing.

SiC MOSFETs based split output half bridge inverter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Helong; Munk-Nielsen, Stig; Beczkowski, Szymon

2014-01-01

output. The double pulse test shows the devices' current during commutation process and the reduced switching losses of SiC MOSFETs compared to that of the traditional half bridge. The efficiency comparison is presented with experimental results of half bridge power inverter with split output...... and traditional half bridge inverter, from switching frequency 10 kHz to 100 kHz. The experimental results comparison shows that the half bridge with split output has an efficiency improvement of more than 0.5% at 100 kHz switching frequency....

The task-to-task communication between computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Shuzi; Zhang Bingyun; Zhao Weiren

1992-01-01

The task-to-task communication is used in the Institute of High Energy Physics. The BES (Beijing Spectrometer) uses the communication mode to take some of the BEPC (Beijing Electron Positron Collider) running parameters needed by BES experiments in a periodic time. The authors describe the principle of transparent task-to-task communication and how to use it in BES on-line data acquisition system

Half esters and coating compositions comprising reactions products of half esters and polyepoxides

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blaauw, R.; Mulder, W.J.; Koelewijn, R.; Boswinkel, G.

2006-01-01

The present invention relates to half esters based on dicarboxylic acid derivatives and dimer fatty diols, wherein the dimer fatty dio ls are based on dimerised and/or trimerised and/or oligomerised unsaturated fatty acids. The present invention further relates to resin compositions based on the

Assessment of Joystick control during the performance of powered wheelchair driving tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Routhier François

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Powered wheelchairs are essential for many individuals who have mobility impairments. Nevertheless, if operated improperly, the powered wheelchair poses dangers to both the user and to those in its vicinity. Thus, operating a powered wheelchair with some degree of proficiency is important for safety, and measuring driving skills becomes an important issue to address. The objective of this study was to explore the discriminate validity of outcome measures of driving skills based on joystick control strategies and performance recorded using a data logging system. Methods We compared joystick control strategies and performance during standardized driving tasks between a group of 10 expert and 13 novice powered wheelchair users. Driving tasks were drawn from the Wheelchair Skills Test (v. 4.1. Data from the joystick controller were collected on a data logging system. Joystick control strategies and performance outcome measures included the mean number of joystick movements, time required to complete tasks, as well as variability of joystick direction. Results In simpler tasks, the expert group's driving skills were comparable to those of the novice group. Yet, in more difficult and spatially confined tasks, the expert group required fewer joystick movements for task completion. In some cases, experts also completed tasks in approximately half the time with respect to the novice group. Conclusions The analysis of joystick control made it possible to discriminate between novice and expert powered wheelchair users in a variety of driving tasks. These results imply that in spatially confined areas, a greater powered wheelchair driving skill level is required to complete tasks efficiently. Based on these findings, it would appear that the use of joystick signal analysis constitutes an objective tool for the measurement of powered wheelchair driving skills. This tool may be useful for the clinical assessment and training of powered

The Austrian Space Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Pseiner, K.; Balogh, W.

2002-01-01

After several years of preparation and discussion among the involved players, the Austrian Space Plan was approved for implementation in November 2001. Based on careful benchmarking and analysis of the capabilities of the Austrian space sector it aims to create excellent conditions for the sector's further development. The new space strategy embraces Austria's participation in the mandatory and optional programmes of the European Space Agency and establishes a National Space Programme supported by separate funding opportunities. A set of clearly-defined indicators ensures that the progress in implementing the Space Plan can be objectively judged through independent, annual reviews. The National Space Programme promotes international cooperation in space research and space activities with the aim to strengthen the role of space science and to better prepare Austrian space industry for the commercial space market. In the framework of the Space Plan the Austrian Space Agency has been tasked with integrating the industry's growing involvement in aeronautics activities to better utilize synergies with the space sector. This paper reviews the various steps leading to the approval of the new space strategy and discusses the hurdles mastered in this process. It reports on the Space Plan's first results, specifically taking into account projects involving international cooperation. For the first the Austria aerospace-sector can rely on an integrated strategy for aeronautics- and space activities which is firmly rooted in the efforts to enhance the country's R&D activities. It may also act as a useful example for other small space- using countries planning to enhance their involvement in space activities.

Cognitive Styles, Demographic Attributes, Task Performance and Affective Experiences: An Empirical Investigation into Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Core Users

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Rong

As a primary digital library portal for astrophysics researchers, SAO/NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System) 2.0 interface features several visualization tools such as Author Network and Metrics. This research study involves 20 ADS long term users who participated in a usability and eye tracking research session. Participants first completed a cognitive test, and then performed five tasks in ADS 2.0 where they explored its multiple visualization tools. Results show that over half of the participants were Imagers and half of the participants were Analytic. Cognitive styles were found to have significant impacts on several efficiency-based measures. Analytic-oriented participants were observed to spent shorter time on web pages and apps, made fewer web page changes than less-Analytic-driving participants in performing common tasks, whereas AI (Analytic-Imagery) participants also completed their five tasks faster than non-AI participants. Meanwhile, self-identified Imagery participants were found to be more efficient in their task completion through multiple measures including total time on task, number of mouse clicks, and number of query revisions made. Imagery scores were negatively associated with frequency of confusion and the observed counts of being surprised. Compared to those who did not claimed to be a visual person, self-identified Imagery participants were observed to have significantly less frequency in frustration and hesitation during their task performance. Both demographic variables and past user experiences were found to correlate with task performance; query revision also correlated with multiple time-based measurements. Considered as an indicator of efficiency, query revisions were found to correlate negatively with the rate of complete with ease, and positively with several time-based efficiency measures, rate of complete with some difficulty, and the frequency of frustration. These results provide rich insights into the cognitive styles of ADS' core

Magnetic Weyl Semimetal in Quasi Two-dimensional Half Metallic Co$_3$Sn$_2$Se$_2$

OpenAIRE

Xu, Qiunan; Liu, Enke; Shi, Wujun; Muechler, Lukas; Felser, Claudia; Sun, Yan

2017-01-01

We have found a ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal (WSM) in half metallic Co$_3$Sn$_2$Se$_2$. The three pairs of Weyl points near Fermi level (E$_F$) are derived from nodal lines gapped by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Though the Weyl points are 0.11 eV above the charge neutral point, Fermi arc related states in the cleaved surface can range from E$_F$ -0.15 to E$_F$ +0.11 eV in energy space, due to the surface bands dispersion. Hence, Weyl points related physics should be detected by surface measurem...

An expert systems application to space base data processing

Science.gov (United States)

Babb, Stephen M.

1988-01-01

The advent of space vehicles with their increased data requirements are reflected in the complexity of future telemetry systems. Space based operations with its immense operating costs will shift the burden of data processing and routine analysis from the space station to the Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV). A research and development project is described which addresses the real time onboard data processing tasks associated with a space based vehicle, specifically focusing on an implementation of an expert system.

Translational Entanglement and Teleportation of Matter Wavepackets by Collisions and Half-Collisions

Science.gov (United States)

Fisch, L.; Tal, A.; Kurizki, G.

To date, the translationally-entangled state originally proposed by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) in 1935 has not been experimentally realized for massive particles. Opatrný and Kurizki [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3180 (2000)] have suggested the creation of a position- and momentum-correlated, i.e., translationally-entangled, pair of particles approximating the EPR state by dissociation of cold diatomic molecules, and further manipulation of the EPR pair effecting matter-wave teleportation. Here we aim at setting the principles of and quantifying translational entanglement by collisions and half-collisions. In collisions, the resonance width s and the initial phase-space distributions are shown to determine the degree of post-collisional momentum entanglement. Half-collisions (dissociation) are shown to yield different types of approximate EPR states. We analyse a feasible realization of translational EPR entanglement and teleportation via cold-molecule Raman dissociation and subsequent collisions, resolving both practical and conceptual difficulties it has faced so far: How to avoid entanglement loss due to the wavepacket spreading of the dissociation fragments? How to measure both position and momentum correlations of the dissociation fragments with sufficient accuracy to verify their EPR correlations? How to reliably perform two-particle (Bell) position and momentum measurements on one of the fragments and the wavepacket to be teleported?

Diagnostic capability of scanning laser polarimetry with and without enhanced corneal compensation and optical coherence tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Benítez-del-Castillo, Javier; Martinez, Antonio; Regi, Teresa

2011-01-01

To compare the abilities of the current commercially available versions of scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), SLP-variable corneal compensation (VCC), SLP-enhanced corneal compensation (ECC), and high-definition (HD) OCT, in discriminating between healthy eyes and those with early-to-moderate glaucomatous visual field loss. Healthy volunteers and patients with glaucoma who met the eligibility criteria were consecutively enrolled in this prospective, cross-sectional, observational study. Subjects underwent complete eye examination, automated perimetry, SLP-ECC, SLP-VCC, and HD-OCT. Scanning laser polarimetry parameters were recalculated in 90-degree segments (quadrants) in the calculation circle to be compared. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCs) were calculated for every parameter in order to compare the ability of each imaging modality to differentiate between normal and glaucomatous eyes. Fifty-five normal volunteers (mean age 59.1 years) and 33 patients with glaucoma (mean age 63.8 years) were enrolled. Average visual field mean deviation was -6.69 dB (95% confidence interval -8.07 to -5.31) in the glaucoma group. The largest AUROCs were associated with nerve fiber indicator (0.880 and 0.888) for the SLP-VCC and SLP-ECC, respectively, and with the average thickness in the HD-OCT (0.897). The best performing indices for the SLP-VCC, SLP-ECC, and HD OCT gave similar AUROCs, showing moderate diagnostic accuracy in patients with early to moderate glaucoma. Further studies are needed to evaluate the ability of these technologies to discriminate between normal and glaucomatous eyes.

Scanning laser polarimetry, but not optical coherence tomography predicts permanent visual field loss in acute nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kupersmith, Mark J; Anderson, Susan; Durbin, Mary; Kardon, Randy

2013-08-15

Scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) reveals abnormal retardance of birefringence in locations of the edematous peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), which appear thickened by optical coherence tomography (OCT), in nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). We hypothesize initial sector SLP RNFL abnormalities will correlate with long-term regional visual field loss due to ischemic injury. We prospectively performed automated perimetry, SLP, and high definition OCT (HD-OCT) of the RNFL in 25 eyes with acute NAION. We grouped visual field threshold and RNFL values into Garway-Heath inferior/superior disc sectors and corresponding superior/inferior field regions. We compared sector SLP RNFL thickness with corresponding visual field values at presentation and at >3 months. At presentation, 12 eyes had superior sector SLP reduction, 11 of which had inferior field loss. Six eyes, all with superior field loss, had inferior sector SLP reduction. No eyes had reduced OCT-derived RNFL acutely. Eyes with abnormal field regions had corresponding SLP sectors thinner (P = 0.003) than for sectors with normal field regions. During the acute phase, the SLP-derived sector correlated with presentation (r = 0.59, P = 0.02) and with >3-month after presentation (r = 0.44, P = 0.02) corresponding superior and inferior field thresholds. Abnormal RNFL birefringence occurs in sectors corresponding to regional visual field loss during acute NAION when OCT-derived RNFL shows thickening. Since the visual field deficits show no significant recovery, SLP can be an early marker for axonal injury, which may be used to assess recovery potential at RNFL locations with respect to new treatments for acute NAION.

Bragg peak prediction from quantitative proton computed tomography using different path estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dongxu; Mackie, T Rockwell; Tome, Wolfgang A

2011-01-01

This paper characterizes the performance of the straight-line path (SLP) and cubic spline path (CSP) as path estimates used in reconstruction of proton computed tomography (pCT). The GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit is employed to simulate the imaging phantom and proton projections. SLP, CSP and the most-probable path (MPP) are constructed based on the entrance and exit information of each proton. The physical deviations of SLP, CSP and MPP from the real path are calculated. Using a conditional proton path probability map, the relative probability of SLP, CSP and MPP are calculated and compared. The depth dose and Bragg peak are predicted on the pCT images reconstructed using SLP, CSP, and MPP and compared with the simulation result. The root-mean-square physical deviations and the cumulative distribution of the physical deviations show that the performance of CSP is comparable to MPP while SLP is slightly inferior. About 90% of the SLP pixels and 99% of the CSP pixels lie in the 99% relative probability envelope of the MPP. Even at an imaging dose of ∼0.1 mGy the proton Bragg peak for a given incoming energy can be predicted on the pCT image reconstructed using SLP, CSP, or MPP with 1 mm accuracy. This study shows that SLP and CSP, like MPP, are adequate path estimates for pCT reconstruction, and therefore can be chosen as the path estimation method for pCT reconstruction, which can aid the treatment planning and range prediction of proton radiation therapy.

Bragg peak prediction from quantitative proton computed tomography using different path estimates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Dongxu; Mackie, T Rockwell; Tome, Wolfgang A, E-mail: tome@humonc.wisc.edu [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705 (United States)

2011-02-07

This paper characterizes the performance of the straight-line path (SLP) and cubic spline path (CSP) as path estimates used in reconstruction of proton computed tomography (pCT). The GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit is employed to simulate the imaging phantom and proton projections. SLP, CSP and the most-probable path (MPP) are constructed based on the entrance and exit information of each proton. The physical deviations of SLP, CSP and MPP from the real path are calculated. Using a conditional proton path probability map, the relative probability of SLP, CSP and MPP are calculated and compared. The depth dose and Bragg peak are predicted on the pCT images reconstructed using SLP, CSP, and MPP and compared with the simulation result. The root-mean-square physical deviations and the cumulative distribution of the physical deviations show that the performance of CSP is comparable to MPP while SLP is slightly inferior. About 90% of the SLP pixels and 99% of the CSP pixels lie in the 99% relative probability envelope of the MPP. Even at an imaging dose of {approx}0.1 mGy the proton Bragg peak for a given incoming energy can be predicted on the pCT image reconstructed using SLP, CSP, or MPP with 1 mm accuracy. This study shows that SLP and CSP, like MPP, are adequate path estimates for pCT reconstruction, and therefore can be chosen as the path estimation method for pCT reconstruction, which can aid the treatment planning and range prediction of proton radiation therapy.

Bragg peak prediction from quantitative proton computed tomography using different path estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dongxu; Mackie, T Rockwell

2015-01-01

This paper characterizes the performance of the straight-line path (SLP) and cubic spline path (CSP) as path estimates used in reconstruction of proton computed tomography (pCT). The GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit is employed to simulate the imaging phantom and proton projections. SLP, CSP and the most-probable path (MPP) are constructed based on the entrance and exit information of each proton. The physical deviations of SLP, CSP and MPP from the real path are calculated. Using a conditional proton path probability map, the relative probability of SLP, CSP and MPP are calculated and compared. The depth dose and Bragg peak are predicted on the pCT images reconstructed using SLP, CSP, and MPP and compared with the simulation result. The root-mean-square physical deviations and the cumulative distribution of the physical deviations show that the performance of CSP is comparable to MPP while SLP is slightly inferior. About 90% of the SLP pixels and 99% of the CSP pixels lie in the 99% relative probability envelope of the MPP. Even at an imaging dose of ~0.1 mGy the proton Bragg peak for a given incoming energy can be predicted on the pCT image reconstructed using SLP, CSP, or MPP with 1 mm accuracy. This study shows that SLP and CSP, like MPP, are adequate path estimates for pCT reconstruction, and therefore can be chosen as the path estimation method for pCT reconstruction, which can aid the treatment planning and range prediction of proton radiation therapy. PMID:21212472

Payload maintenance cost model for the space telescope

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