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Sample records for horizontal forward-facing step

  1. Investigation of turbulent boundary layer over forward-facing step via direct numerical simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hattori, Hirofumi; Nagano, Yasutaka

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents observations and investigations of the detailed turbulent structure of a boundary layer over a forward-facing step. The present DNSs are conducted under conditions with three Reynolds numbers based on step height, or three Reynolds numbers based on momentum thickness so as to investigate the effects of step height and inlet boundary layer thickness. DNS results show the quantitative turbulent statistics and structures of boundary layers over a forward-facing step, where pronounced counter-gradient diffusion phenomena (CDP) are especially observed on the step near the wall. Also, a quadrant analysis is conducted in which the results indicate in detail the turbulence motion around the step.

  2. Effects of Forward- and Backward-Facing Steps on the Crossflow Receptivity and Stability in Supersonic Boundary Layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balakumar, P.; King, Rudolph A.; Eppink, Jenna L.

    2014-01-01

    The effects of forward- and backward-facing steps on the receptivity and stability of three-dimensional supersonic boundary layers over a swept wing with a blunt leading edge are numerically investigated for a freestream Mach number of 3 and a sweep angle of 30 degrees. The flow fields are obtained by solving the full Navier-Stokes equations. The evolution of instability waves generated by surface roughness is simulated with and without the forward- and backward-facing steps. The separation bubble lengths are about 5-10 step heights for the forward-facing step and are about 10 for the backward-facing step. The linear stability calculations show very strong instability in the separated region with a large frequency domain. The simulation results show that the presence of backward-facing steps decreases the amplitude of the stationary crossflow vortices with longer spanwise wavelengths by about fifty percent and the presence of forward-facing steps does not modify the amplitudes noticeably across the steps. The waves with the shorter wavelengths grow substantially downstream of the step in agreement with the linear stability prediction.

  3. Investigation of turbulent separation in a forward-facing step flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pearson, D S; Goulart, P J; Ganapathisubramani, B

    2011-01-01

    The relation between the upstream and downstream regions of separation of the flow over a forward-facing step is investigated using experimental data. High-speed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data is used to show a correlation between the wall shear stress of the oncoming boundary layer and the streamwise location of reverse flow upstream of the step. The time delay associated with the correlation is consistent with average convection velocities in the lower boundary layer. This suggests that appropriate addition of momentum into the boundary layer could be used to control the spatial extent of the separation upstream of the step. In addition, low-speed PIV data is used to show statistical relations between the flow characteristics of the recirculation regions in the vicinity of the step face. It is shown that a slower than average flow velocity above the step face is associated with an increase in the wall-normal extent of upstream reverse flow, an increase in the inclination of the flow above the step and an increase in downstream vorticity.

  4. The Effect of Forward-Facing Steps on Stationary Crossflow Instability Growth and Breakdown

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eppink, Jenna L.

    2018-01-01

    The e?ect of a forward-facing step on stationary cross?ow transition was studied using standard stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV) and time-resolved PIV. Step heights ranging from 53 to 71% of the boundary-layer thickness were studied in detail. The steps above a critical step height of approximately 60% of the boundary-layer thickness had a signi?cant impact on the stationary cross?ow growth downstream of the step. For the critical cases, the stationary cross?ow amplitude grew suddenly downstream of the step, decayed for a short region, then grew again. The adverse pressure gradient upstream of the step resulted in a region of cross?ow reversal. A secondary set of vortices, rotating in the opposite direction to the primary vortices, developed underneath the uplifted primary vortices. The wall-normal velocity disturbance (V' ) created by these secondary vortices impacted the step, and is believed to feed into the strong vortex that developed downstream of the step. A large but very short negative cross?ow region formed for a short region downstream of the step due to a sharp inboard curvature of the streamlines near the wall. For the larger step height cases, a cross?ow-reversal region formed just downstream of the strong negative cross?ow region. This cross?ow reversal region is believed to play an important role in the growth of the stationary cross?ow vortices downstream of the step, and may be a good indication of the critical forward-facing step height.

  5. On the impacts of coarse-scale models of realistic roughness on a forward-facing step turbulent flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Yanhua; Ren, Huiying

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Discrete wavelet transform was used to produce coarse-scale models of roughness. ► PIV were performed in a forward-facing step flow with roughness of different scales. ► Impacts of roughness scales on various turbulence statistics were studied. -- Abstract: The present work explores the impacts of the coarse-scale models of realistic roughness on the turbulent boundary layers over forward-facing steps. The surface topographies of different scale resolutions were obtained from a novel multi-resolution analysis using discrete wavelet transform. PIV measurements are performed in the streamwise–wall-normal (x–y) planes at two different spanwise positions in turbulent boundary layers at Re h = 3450 and δ/h = 8, where h is the mean step height and δ is the incoming boundary layer thickness. It was observed that large-scale but low-amplitude roughness scales had small effects on the forward-facing step turbulent flow. For the higher-resolution model of the roughness, the turbulence characteristics within 2h downstream of the steps are observed to be distinct from those over the original realistic rough step at a measurement position where the roughness profile possesses a positive slope immediately after the step’s front. On the other hand, much smaller differences exist in the flow characteristics at the other measurement position whose roughness profile possesses a negative slope following the step’s front

  6. Hybrid mesh finite volume CFD code for studying heat transfer in a forward-facing step

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jayakumar, J S; Kumar, Inder [Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai (India); Eswaran, V, E-mail: jsjayan@gmail.com, E-mail: inderk@barc.gov.in, E-mail: eswar@iitk.ac.in [Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India)

    2010-12-15

    Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods employ two types of grid: structured and unstructured. Developing the solver and data structures for a finite-volume solver is easier than for unstructured grids. But real-life problems are too complicated to be fitted flexibly by structured grids. Therefore, unstructured grids are widely used for solving real-life problems. However, using only one type of unstructured element consumes a lot of computational time because the number of elements cannot be controlled. Hence, a hybrid grid that contains mixed elements, such as the use of hexahedral elements along with tetrahedral and pyramidal elements, gives the user control over the number of elements in the domain, and thus only the domain that requires a finer grid is meshed finer and not the entire domain. This work aims to develop such a finite-volume hybrid grid solver capable of handling turbulence flows and conjugate heat transfer. It has been extended to solving flow involving separation and subsequent reattachment occurring due to sudden expansion or contraction. A significant effect of mixing high- and low-enthalpy fluid occurs in the reattached regions of these devices. This makes the study of the backward-facing and forward-facing step with heat transfer an important field of research. The problem of the forward-facing step with conjugate heat transfer was taken up and solved for turbulence flow using a two-equation model of k-{omega}. The variation in the flow profile and heat transfer behavior has been studied with the variation in Re and solid to fluid thermal conductivity ratios. The results for the variation in local Nusselt number, interface temperature and skin friction factor are presented.

  7. Hybrid mesh finite volume CFD code for studying heat transfer in a forward-facing step

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayakumar, J. S.; Kumar, Inder; Eswaran, V.

    2010-12-01

    Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods employ two types of grid: structured and unstructured. Developing the solver and data structures for a finite-volume solver is easier than for unstructured grids. But real-life problems are too complicated to be fitted flexibly by structured grids. Therefore, unstructured grids are widely used for solving real-life problems. However, using only one type of unstructured element consumes a lot of computational time because the number of elements cannot be controlled. Hence, a hybrid grid that contains mixed elements, such as the use of hexahedral elements along with tetrahedral and pyramidal elements, gives the user control over the number of elements in the domain, and thus only the domain that requires a finer grid is meshed finer and not the entire domain. This work aims to develop such a finite-volume hybrid grid solver capable of handling turbulence flows and conjugate heat transfer. It has been extended to solving flow involving separation and subsequent reattachment occurring due to sudden expansion or contraction. A significant effect of mixing high- and low-enthalpy fluid occurs in the reattached regions of these devices. This makes the study of the backward-facing and forward-facing step with heat transfer an important field of research. The problem of the forward-facing step with conjugate heat transfer was taken up and solved for turbulence flow using a two-equation model of k-ω. The variation in the flow profile and heat transfer behavior has been studied with the variation in Re and solid to fluid thermal conductivity ratios. The results for the variation in local Nusselt number, interface temperature and skin friction factor are presented.

  8. Hybrid mesh finite volume CFD code for studying heat transfer in a forward-facing step

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jayakumar, J S; Kumar, Inder; Eswaran, V

    2010-01-01

    Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods employ two types of grid: structured and unstructured. Developing the solver and data structures for a finite-volume solver is easier than for unstructured grids. But real-life problems are too complicated to be fitted flexibly by structured grids. Therefore, unstructured grids are widely used for solving real-life problems. However, using only one type of unstructured element consumes a lot of computational time because the number of elements cannot be controlled. Hence, a hybrid grid that contains mixed elements, such as the use of hexahedral elements along with tetrahedral and pyramidal elements, gives the user control over the number of elements in the domain, and thus only the domain that requires a finer grid is meshed finer and not the entire domain. This work aims to develop such a finite-volume hybrid grid solver capable of handling turbulence flows and conjugate heat transfer. It has been extended to solving flow involving separation and subsequent reattachment occurring due to sudden expansion or contraction. A significant effect of mixing high- and low-enthalpy fluid occurs in the reattached regions of these devices. This makes the study of the backward-facing and forward-facing step with heat transfer an important field of research. The problem of the forward-facing step with conjugate heat transfer was taken up and solved for turbulence flow using a two-equation model of k-ω. The variation in the flow profile and heat transfer behavior has been studied with the variation in Re and solid to fluid thermal conductivity ratios. The results for the variation in local Nusselt number, interface temperature and skin friction factor are presented.

  9. CFD Simulation of Heat Transfer and Turbulent Fluid Flow over a Double Forward-Facing Step

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hussein Togun

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Heat transfer and turbulent water flow over a double forward-facing step were investigated numerically. The finite volume method was used to solve the corresponding continuity, momentum, and energy equations using the K-ε model. Three cases, corresponding to three different step heights, were investigated for Reynolds numbers ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 and temperatures ranging from 313 to 343 K. The bottom of the wall was heated, whereas the top was insulated. The results show that the Nusselt number increased with the Reynolds number and step height. The maximum Nusselt number was observed for case 3, with a Reynolds number of 100,000 and temperature of 343 K, occurring at the second step. The behavior of the Nusselt number was similar for all cases at a given Reynolds number and temperature. A recirculation zone was observed before and after the first and second steps in the contour maps of the velocity field. In addition, the results indicate that the coefficient pressure increased with increasing Reynolds number and step height. ANSYS FLUENT 14 (CFD software was employed to run the simulations.

  10. Flow control of micro-ramps on supersonic forward-facing step flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Qing-Hu; Zhu Tao; Wu Anping; Yi Shihe

    2016-01-01

    The effects of the micro-ramps on supersonic turbulent flow over a forward-facing step (FFS) was experimentally investigated in a supersonic low-noise wind tunnel at Mach number 3 using nano-tracer planar laser scattering (NPLS) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques. High spatiotemporal resolution images and velocity fields of supersonic flow over the testing model were captured. The fine structures and their spatial evolutionary characteristics without and with the micro-ramps were revealed and compared. The large-scale structures generated by the micro-ramps can survive the downstream FFS flowfield. The micro-ramps control on the flow separation and the separation shock unsteadiness was investigated by PIV results. With the micro-ramps, the reduction in the range of the reversal flow zone in streamwise direction is 50% and the turbulence intensity is also reduced. Moreover, the reduction in the average separated region and in separation shock unsteadiness are 47% and 26%, respectively. The results indicate that the micro-ramps are effective in reducing the flow separation and the separation shock unsteadiness. (paper)

  11. Horizontal information drives the behavioural signatures of face processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valerie Goffaux

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent psychophysical evidence indicates that the vertical arrangement of horizontal information is particularly important for encoding facial identity. In this paper we extend this notion to examine the role that information at different (particularly cardinal orientations might play in a number of established phenomena each a behavioural “signature” of face processing. In particular we consider (a the face inversion effect (FIE, (b the facial identity after-effect, (c face-matching across viewpoint, and (d interactive, so-called holistic, processing of face parts. We report that filtering faces to remove all but the horizontal information largely preserves these effects but conversely, retaining vertical information generally diminishes or abolishes them. We conclude that preferential processing of horizontal information is a central feature of human face processing that supports many of the behavioural signatures of this critical visual operation.

  12. Face perception is tuned to horizontal orientation in the N170 time window.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacques, Corentin; Schiltz, Christine; Goffaux, Valerie

    2014-02-07

    The specificity of face perception is thought to reside both in its dramatic vulnerability to picture-plane inversion and its strong reliance on horizontally oriented image content. Here we asked when in the visual processing stream face-specific perception is tuned to horizontal information. We measured the behavioral performance and scalp event-related potentials (ERP) when participants viewed upright and inverted images of faces and cars (and natural scenes) that were phase-randomized in a narrow orientation band centered either on vertical or horizontal orientation. For faces, the magnitude of the inversion effect (IE) on behavioral discrimination performance was significantly reduced for horizontally randomized compared to vertically or nonrandomized images, confirming the importance of horizontal information for the recruitment of face-specific processing. Inversion affected the processing of nonrandomized and vertically randomized faces early, in the N170 time window. In contrast, the magnitude of the N170 IE was much smaller for horizontally randomized faces. The present research indicates that the early face-specific neural representations are preferentially tuned to horizontal information and offers new perspectives for a description of the visual information feeding face-specific perception.

  13. A face detection bias for horizontal orientations develops in middle childhood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin J Balas

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Faces are complex stimuli that can be described via intuitive facial features like the eyes, nose, and mouth, configural features like the distances between facial landmarks, and features that correspond to computations performed in the early visual system (e.g. oriented edges. With regard to this latter category of descriptors, adult face recognition relies disproportionately on information in specific spatial frequency and orientation bands: Many recognition tasks are performed more accurately when adults have access to mid-range spatial frequencies (8-16 cycles/face and horizontal orientations (Dakin & Watt, 2009. In the current study, we examined how this information bias develops in middle childhood. We recruited children between the ages of 5-10 years old to participate in a simple categorization task that required them to label images according to whether they depicted a face or a house. Critically, children were presented with face and house images comprised either of primarily horizontal orientation energy, primarily vertical orientation energy, or both horizontal and vertical orientation energy. We predicted that any bias favoring horizontal information over vertical should be more evident in faces than in houses, and also that older children would be more likely to show such a bias than younger children. We designed our categorization task to be sufficiently easy that children would perform at near-ceiling accuracy levels, but with variation in response times that would reflect how they rely on different orientations as a function of age and object category. We found that horizontal bias for face detection (but not house detection correlated significantly with age, suggesting an emergent category-specific bias for horizontal orientation energy that develops during middle childhood. These results thus suggest that the tuning of high-level recognition to specific low-level visual features takes take place over several years of visual

  14. An own-age bias in recognizing faces with horizontal information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Schaich

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Horizontal information, as a result of a selective filtering process, are essential in younger adults’ (YA ability to recognize human faces. Obermeyer, Kolling, Schaich, and Knopf (2012 recently reported impaired recognition of faces with horizontal information in older adults (OA suggesting age-variant processing. Two yet unconsidered factors (stimulus age and exposure duration that may have influenced previous results, were investigated in this study. Forty-seven YA (18-35yrs and 49 OA (62-83yrs were tested in a 2x2x2x2 mixed design with the between-subjects factors age group (YA vs OA and stimulus age (young faces vs older faces and the within-subjects factors filter (filtered (HF faces vs unfiltered faces (UF and exposure duration (0.8s vs 8s. Subjects were presented morph videos between pairs of faces: A starting face gradually merged into either the previously encoded target face or a control face. As expected, results showed an increase in recognition sensitivity (d’ with longer exposure duration in YA with both younger and older HF faces. OA however were unable to recognize filtered young faces not even with increased exposure duration. Furthermore, only elderly participants showed more accurate recognition with faces of their own age relative to other-age faces (own-age bias, OAB. For YA no OAB was observed. Filtered face recognition was significantly correlated with unfiltered recognition in YA but not in OA. It is concluded, that processing of horizontal information changes at a higher age. Presenting filtered or unfiltered faces both targets convergent face-specific processing only in YA but not in OA.

  15. Oscillations in a Forward-Facing Cavity Measured Using Laser-Differential Interferometry in a Hypersonic Quiet Tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-12-11

    Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel BFL Back Focal Length xvi CCA Constant Current Anemometer EFL Effective Focal Length FFC Forward Facing Cavity LDI Laser...step in the nozzle throat. This tunnel is currently used for teaching as well as for research. Some years ago, a group of students separated the

  16. Self-sustained oscillations with acoustic feedback in flows over a backward-facing step with a small upstream step

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yokoyama, Hiroshi; Tsukamoto, Yuichi; Kato, Chisachi; Iida, Akiyoshi

    2007-10-01

    Self-sustained oscillations with acoustic feedback take place in a flow over a two-dimensional two-step configuration: a small forward-backward facing step, which we hereafter call a bump, and a relatively large backward-facing step (backstep). These oscillations can radiate intense tonal sound and fatigue nearby components of industrial products. We clarify the mechanism of these oscillations by directly solving the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. The results show that vortices are shed from the leading edge of the bump and acoustic waves are radiated when these vortices pass the trailing edge of the backstep. The radiated compression waves shed new vortices by stretching the vortex formed by the flow separation at the leading edge of the bump, thereby forming a feedback loop. We propose a formula based on a detailed investigation of the phase relationship between the vortices and the acoustic waves for predicting the frequencies of the tonal sound. The frequencies predicted by this formula are in good agreement with those measured in the experiments we performed.

  17. Arousal and exposure duration affect forward step initiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniëlle eBouman

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Emotion influences parameters of goal-directed whole-body movements in several ways. For instance, previous research has shown that approaching (moving toward pleasant stimuli is easier compared to approaching unpleasant stimuli. However, some studies found that when emotional pictures are viewed for a longer time, approaching unpleasant stimuli may in fact be facilitated. The effect of viewing duration may modulate whole-body approach movement in previous research but this has not been investigated before. In the current study, participants initiated a step forward after viewing neutral, high-arousal pleasant and high-arousal unpleasant stimuli. The viewing duration of the stimuli was set to 7 different durations, varying from 100 to 4000ms. Valence and arousal scores were collected for all stimuli.The results indicate that both viewing duration and the arousal of the stimuli influence kinematic parameters in forward gait initiation. Specifically, longer viewing duration, compared to shorter viewing duration, (a diminished the step length and peak velocity in both neutral and emotional stimuli, (b increased reaction time in neutral stimuli and, (c decreased reaction time in pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. Strikingly, no differences were found between high-arousal pleasant and high-arousal unpleasant stimuli. In other words, the valence of the stimuli did not influence kinematic parameters of forward step initiation. In contrast, the arousal level (neutral: low; pleasant and unpleasant: high explained the variance found in the results. The kinematics of forward gait initiation seemed to be reflected in the subjective arousal scores, but not the valence scores. So it seems arousal affects forward gait initiation parameters more strongly than valence. In addition, longer viewing duration seemed to cause diminished alertness, affecting GI parameters. These results shed new light on the prevailing theoretical interpretations regarding approach

  18. Whole-Motion Model of Perception during Forward- and Backward-Facing Centrifuge Runs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holly, Jan E.; Vrublevskis, Arturs; Carlson, Lindsay E.

    2009-01-01

    Illusory perceptions of motion and orientation arise during human centrifuge runs without vision. Asymmetries have been found between acceleration and deceleration, and between forward-facing and backward-facing runs. Perceived roll tilt has been studied extensively during upright fixed-carriage centrifuge runs, and other components have been studied to a lesser extent. Certain, but not all, perceptual asymmetries in acceleration-vs-deceleration and forward-vs-backward motion can be explained by existing analyses. The immediate acceleration-deceleration roll-tilt asymmetry can be explained by the three-dimensional physics of the external stimulus; in addition, longer-term data has been modeled in a standard way using physiological time constants. However, the standard modeling approach is shown in the present research to predict forward-vs-backward-facing symmetry in perceived roll tilt, contradicting experimental data, and to predict perceived sideways motion, rather than forward or backward motion, around a curve. The present work develops a different whole-motion-based model taking into account the three-dimensional form of perceived motion and orientation. This model predicts perceived forward or backward motion around a curve, and predicts additional asymmetries such as the forward-backward difference in roll tilt. This model is based upon many of the same principles as the standard model, but includes an additional concept of familiarity of motions as a whole. PMID:19208962

  19. Kinetics analysis of step and jump forward lunge among badminton ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was conducted to determine and compare the kinetics during step forward lunge (SFL) and jump forward lunge (JFL) in badminton. Fifteen university badminton players (mean age = 22.07 ± 1.39 years old) were recruited and were assigned to perform SFL and JFL while holding a badminton racquet using their ...

  20. Preparation for Compensatory Forward Stepping in Parkinson’s Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Laurie A.; St George, Rebecca J.; Carlson-Kuhta, Patricia; Nutt, John G.; Horak, Fay B.

    2010-01-01

    Objective To characterize preparation for compensatory stepping in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) compared with healthy control subjects, and to determine whether levodopa medication improves preparation or the execution phases of the step. Design Observational study. Setting Outpatient neuroscience laboratory. Participants Nineteen participants with idiopathic PD tested both in the on and off levodopa states and 17 healthy subjects. Intervention Moveable platform with posterior translations of 24cm at 56cm/s. Main Outcome Measures Compensatory steps forward, in response to a backward surface translation (24cm amplitude at 56cm/s), were categorized according to the presence of an anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) before stepping: no APA, single APA, or multiple APAs. The following step parameters were calculated: step latency, step length, center of mass (CoM) average velocity, and CoM displacement at the step initiation. Results Lateral APAs were evident in 57% and 42% of trials for people with PD in the off and on medication states, respectively, compared with only 10% of trials for control subjects. Compared with subjects with PD who did not have APAs, those subjects with PD who did make an APA prior to stepping had significantly later (mean ± SEM, 356 ± 16ms vs 305 ± 8ms) and shorter (mean ± SEM, 251 ± 27mm vs 300 ± 16mm) steps, their CoM was significantly farther forward (185 ± 7mm vs 171 ± 5mm) at foot-off, and they took significantly more steps to regain equilibrium. Levodopa did not affect the preparation or execution phase of compensatory stepping. Poor axial scores and reports of freezing in the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale were associated with use of 1 or more APAs before compensatory stepping. Conclusions Lateral postural preparation prior to compensatory stepping in subjects with PD was associated with inefficient balance recovery from external perturbations. PMID:20801249

  1. Forward Osmosis Process

    KAUST Repository

    Duan, Jintang

    2013-12-05

    A process that can alleviate the internal concentration polarization and can enhance membrane performance of a forward osmosis system includes the steps of passing a fluid in a forward osmosis system from a feed solution with a first osmotic pressure, through a membrane into a draw solution comprising a draw solute with a second osmotic pressure, where the first osmotic pressure is lower than the second osmotic pressure, the membrane includes an active layer and a support layer, and the membrane is oriented such that the active layer of the membrane faces a draw side, and the support layer faces a feed side; and applying an external force to the fluid on the feed side of the membrane.

  2. Forward Osmosis Process

    KAUST Repository

    Duan, Jintang; Pinnau, Ingo; Litwiller, Eric

    2013-01-01

    A process that can alleviate the internal concentration polarization and can enhance membrane performance of a forward osmosis system includes the steps of passing a fluid in a forward osmosis system from a feed solution with a first osmotic pressure, through a membrane into a draw solution comprising a draw solute with a second osmotic pressure, where the first osmotic pressure is lower than the second osmotic pressure, the membrane includes an active layer and a support layer, and the membrane is oriented such that the active layer of the membrane faces a draw side, and the support layer faces a feed side; and applying an external force to the fluid on the feed side of the membrane.

  3. Taking oral health in Tanzania a step forward | Rugarabamu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Taking oral health in Tanzania a step forward. Paschalis Ntome Rugarabamu. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's ...

  4. Use of top tethers with forward-facing child restraints: observations and driver interviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eichelberger, Angela H; Decina, Lawrence E; Jermakian, Jessica S; McCartt, Anne T

    2014-02-01

    Despite the safety benefits, many parents do not use top tethers with forward-facing child restraints. Detailed information was collected about why parents are not using tethers. The sample included 479 drivers who had forward-facing child restraints installed in passenger vehicles equipped with tether anchors. The survey was conducted primarily at shopping centers, recreation facilities, child care facilities, car seat check events, and health care facilities in mostly suburban areas surrounding Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Fredericksburg (VA), and Seattle. Drivers were surveyed about their knowledge and use of tethers and experience with child restraints. Tether use was observed to verify whether tethers were being used correctly. Fifty-six percent of forward-facing child restraints were installed with the tether; 39% were installed with the tether used correctly. The tether was used with 71% of LATCH lower anchor installations and 33% of seat belt installations. Drivers who installed child restraints without tethers most often said they did not know about the tether or how to use it. Although the tether use rate was slightly higher in the current research than in previous studies, many parents and caregivers still use forward-facing child restraints without attaching the tether. Because the main problem is lack of awareness of the tether or how to use it, public education should focus specifically on the safety benefits of tethers and how to use them. Information about why caregivers fail to use top tethers is potentially useful to child restraint manufacturers, child passenger safety technicians, and others who work with parents to improve motor vehicle safety. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

  5. Recovery of forward stepping in spinal cord injured patients does not transfer to untrained backward stepping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grasso, Renato; Ivanenko, Yuri P; Zago, Myrka; Molinari, Marco; Scivoletto, Giorgio; Lacquaniti, Francesco

    2004-08-01

    Six spinal cord injured (SCI) patients were trained to step on a treadmill with body-weight support for 1.5-3 months. At the end of training, foot motion recovered the shape and the step-by-step reproducibility that characterize normal gait. They were then asked to step backward on the treadmill belt that moved in the opposite direction relative to standard forward training. In contrast to healthy subjects, who can immediately reverse the direction of walking by time-reversing the kinematic waveforms, patients were unable to step backward. Similarly patients were unable to perform another untrained locomotor task, namely stepping in place on the idle treadmill. Two patients who were trained to step backward for 2-3 weeks were able to develop control of foot motion appropriate for this task. The results show that locomotor improvement does not transfer to untrained tasks, thus supporting the idea of task-dependent plasticity in human locomotor networks.

  6. Face Inversion Disproportionately Disrupts Sensitivity to Vertical over Horizontal Changes in Eye Position

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crookes, Kate; Hayward, William G.

    2012-01-01

    Presenting a face inverted (upside down) disrupts perceptual sensitivity to the spacing between the features. Recently, it has been shown that this disruption is greater for vertical than horizontal changes in eye position. One explanation for this effect proposed that inversion disrupts the processing of long-range (e.g., eye-to-mouth distance)…

  7. Natural convection in a water tank with a heated horizontal plate facing downward

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Sun Kyoo; Jung, Moon Kee; Helmut Hoffmann

    1995-01-01

    Experimental and computational studies were carried out to investigate the natural convection of the single phase flow in a tank with a heated horizontal plate facing downward. This is a simplified model for investigations of the influence of a core melt at the bottom of a reactor vessel on the thermal hydraulic behavior in a water filled cavity surrounding the vessel. In this case the vessel is simulated by a hexahedron insulated box with a heated plate horizontally mounted at the bottom of the box. The box with the heated plate is installed in a water filled hexahedron tank. Coolers are immersed in the U-type water volume between the box and the tank. Although the multicomponent flows exist more probably below the heated plate in reality, present study concentrates on the single phase flow in a first step prior to investigating the complicated multicomponent thermal hydraulic phenomena. In the present study, in order to get a better understanding for the natural convection characteristics below the heated plate, the velocity and temperature are measured by LDA(Laser Doppler Anemometry) and thermocouples, respectively. And flow fields are visualized by taking pictures of the flow region with suspended particles. The results show the occurrence of a very effective circulation of the fluid in the whole flow area as the heater and coolers are put into operation. In the remote region below the heated plate the flow is nearly stagnant, and a remarkable temperature stratification can be observed with very thin thermal boundary. Analytical predictions using the FLUTAN code show a reasonable matching of the measured velocity fields. 18 figs., 2 tabs., 18 refs. (Author)

  8. Forward-backward rapidity correlations in a two-step scenario

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brogueira, P.; Dias de Deus, J.

    2007-01-01

    We argue that two-step models, like String and Glasma models, with creation first of sources extended in rapidity that after locally decay into particles, lead to long range forward-backward correlations due to fluctuations in the number or the colour of the sources, and to a similar expression for the F-B correlation parameter b. In the simplest String percolation scenario, b increases with centrality or the number of participating nucleons. However, asymptotically it decreases with energy. This is different from the Glasma model where b increases with both, centrality and energy

  9. Mixed convection flow and heat transfer over different geometries of backward-facing step

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    BADER SHABEEB ALSHURAIAAN

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Mixed convective flow and heat transfer characteristics for two-dimensional laminar flow in a channel with different geometries of a backward-facing step are presented for various Grashof numbers. The wall downstream of the step was maintained at a constant temperature; TH, while the upper wall was considered isothermal at TC. The wall upstream of the step and the backward-facing step were considered as adiabatic surfaces. Navier-Stokes equations were employed to represent the transport phenomena in the channel. Further, the governing equations were solved using a finite element formulation based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. The numerical results of the reattachement lengths for recirculation region in a vertical channel with a backward-facing step (Re = 100 were validated by comparing them against documented studies in the literature. The results of this investigation show that the local skin friction coefficient increases with an increase in Grashof numbers. The results of this investigation show that configuration II of the backward-facing step (inclined exhibited an absence of vortices for all values of Grashof numbers and consequently the minimum skin friction coefficient. However, configuration I is found to have the largest local skin friction coefficient.

  10. Stepped Care Versus Direct Face-to-Face Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder: A Randomized Effectiveness Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordgreen, Tine; Haug, Thomas; Öst, Lars-Göran; Andersson, Gerhard; Carlbring, Per; Kvale, Gerd; Tangen, Tone; Heiervang, Einar; Havik, Odd E

    2016-03-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) stepped care model (psychoeducation, guided Internet treatment, and face-to-face CBT) compared with direct face-to-face (FtF) CBT. Patients with panic disorder or social anxiety disorder were randomized to either stepped care (n=85) or direct FtF CBT (n=88). Recovery was defined as meeting two of the following three criteria: loss of diagnosis, below cut-off for self-reported symptoms, and functional improvement. No significant differences in intention-to-treat recovery rates were identified between stepped care (40.0%) and direct FtF CBT (43.2%). The majority of the patients who recovered in the stepped care did so at the less therapist-demanding steps (26/34, 76.5%). Moderate to large within-groups effect sizes were identified at posttreatment and 1-year follow-up. The attrition rates were high: 41.2% in the stepped care condition and 27.3% in the direct FtF CBT condition. These findings indicate that the outcome of a stepped care model for anxiety disorders is comparable to that of direct FtF CBT. The rates of improvement at the two less therapist-demanding steps indicate that stepped care models might be useful for increasing patients' access to evidence-based psychological treatments for anxiety disorders. However, attrition in the stepped care condition was high, and research regarding the factors that can improve adherence should be prioritized. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. A Study of Laminar Backward-Facing Step Flow

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davidson, Lars; Nielsen, Peter V.

    The laminar flow for a backwards facing step is studied. This work was initially part of the work presented in. In that work low-Reynolds number effects was studied, and the plan was also to include laminar flow. However, it turned out that when the numerical predictions of the laminar flow (Re...

  12. MANAGEMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: EUROPEAN EXPERIENCES AND STEPS FORWARD

    OpenAIRE

    Andreea Ileana Zamfir

    2011-01-01

    The issues of the renewable energy and regional development have become major priorities for public policymakers across the globe. Therefore, this study explores some European experiences and steps forward in the field of the management of renewable energy and regional development. Firstly, an overview of renewable energy issues in European regions is revealed, and secondly, some measures and actions for managing regional development of renewable energy in Romania taking into account the fina...

  13. Multiple Information Fusion Face Recognition Using Key Feature Points

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LIN Kezheng

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available After years of face recognition research,due to the effect of illumination,noise and other conditions have led to the recognition rate is relatively low,2 d face recognition technology has couldn’t keep up with the pace of The Times the forefront,Although 3 d face recognition technology is developing step by step,but it has a higher complexity. In order to solve this problem,based on the traditional depth information positioning method and local characteristic analysis methods LFA,puts forward an improved 3 d face key feature points localization algorithm, and on the basis of the trained sample which obtained by complete cluster,further put forward the global and local feature extraction algorithm of weighted fusion. Through FRGC and BU-3DFE experiment data comparison and analysis of the two face library,the method in terms of 3 d face recognition effect has a higher robustness.

  14. User-Dependent CFD Predictions of a Backward-Facing Step Flow

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Peng, Lei; Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm; Wang, Xiaoxue

    2015-01-01

    The backward-facing step flow with an expansion ratio of 5 has been modelled by 19 teams without benchmark solution or experimental data. Different CFD codes, turbulence models, boundary conditions, numerical schemes and convergent criteria are adopted based on the participants’ own experience...

  15. Heavy crude production from shallow formations: long horizontal wells versus horizontal fractures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valko, P.; Economides, M. J. [Texas A and M Univ., TX (United States)

    1998-12-31

    The feasibility of producing heavy oil from shallow formations using either horizontal wells or short horizontal wells fractured horizontally is demonstrated. The problem of optimum proppant placement is solved in two steps. In step one, the finite productivity performance is considered in general terms showing that the performance is a function of two dimensionless parameters. Following derivation of optimum conditions, the solution is applied to the horizontal fracture consideration. The limiting factor is that to create an effective finite conductivity fracture, the dimensionless fracture conductivity must be on the order of unity, a fracture that is difficult to realize in higher permeability formations. The best candidates for the suggested configuration are shallow or moderate formations, or formations otherwise proven to accept horizontal fractures, and formations with low permeability/viscosity ratio. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 10 figs., 2 appendices.

  16. Two-step calibration method for multi-algorithm score-based face recognition systems by minimizing discrimination loss

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Susyanto, N.; Veldhuis, R.N.J.; Spreeuwers, L.J.; Klaassen, C.A.J.; Fierrez, J.; Li, S.Z.; Ross, A.; Veldhuis, R.; Alonso-Fernandez, F.; Bigun, J.

    2016-01-01

    We propose a new method for combining multi-algorithm score-based face recognition systems, which we call the two-step calibration method. Typically, algorithms for face recognition systems produce dependent scores. The two-step method is based on parametric copulas to handle this dependence. Its

  17. Large eddy simulation of turbulent premixed combustion flows over backward facing step

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Nam Seob [Yuhan University, Bucheon (Korea, Republic of); Ko, Sang Cheol [Jeju National University, Jeju (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-03-15

    Large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent premixed combustion flows over backward facing step has been performed using a dynamic sub-grid G-equation flamelet model. A flamelet model for the premixed flame is combined with a dynamic sub-grid combustion model for the filtered propagation of flame speed. The objective of this study is to investigate the validity of the dynamic sub-grid G-equation model in a complex turbulent premixed combustion flow. For the purpose of validating the LES combustion model, the LES of isothermal and reacting shear layer formed at a backward facing step is carried out. The calculated results are compared with the experimental results, and a good agreement is obtained.

  18. Large eddy simulation of turbulent premixed combustion flows over backward facing step

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Nam Seob; Ko, Sang Cheol

    2011-01-01

    Large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent premixed combustion flows over backward facing step has been performed using a dynamic sub-grid G-equation flamelet model. A flamelet model for the premixed flame is combined with a dynamic sub-grid combustion model for the filtered propagation of flame speed. The objective of this study is to investigate the validity of the dynamic sub-grid G-equation model in a complex turbulent premixed combustion flow. For the purpose of validating the LES combustion model, the LES of isothermal and reacting shear layer formed at a backward facing step is carried out. The calculated results are compared with the experimental results, and a good agreement is obtained

  19. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences: A Step Forward towards an International Journal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghazli, Nur Farahin; Che Annual, Norfatiha; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

    2015-01-01

    In 1986, the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) began as the small and newly established journal Diagnosa, established by the Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Medicine. After 28 years in the publishing industry, we have received the honor of a listing as a local journal in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) created by Thomson Reuters (TR) to spotlight emerging high-quality scientific publications. The editorial team of MJMS looks forward to the next step in the march of progress toward the status of an international journal. PMID:28223878

  20. One step forward, two steps back? The GMC, the common law and 'informed' consent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fovargue, Sara; Miola, José

    2010-08-01

    Until 2008, if doctors followed the General Medical Council's (GMC's) guidance on providing information prior to obtaining a patient's consent to treatment, they would be going beyond what was technically required by the law. It was hoped that the common law would catch up with this guidance and encourage respect for patients' autonomy by facilitating informed decision-making. Regrettably, this has not occurred. For once, the law's inability to keep up with changing medical practice and standards is not the problem. The authors argue that while the common law has moved forward and started to recognise the importance of patient autonomy and informed decision-making, the GMC has taken a step back in their 2008 guidance on consent. Indeed, doctors are now required to tell their patients less than they were in 1998 when the last guidance was produced. This is an unfortunate development and the authors urge the GMC to revisit their guidance.

  1. Economical Optimization of the Mechanized Longwall Faces with Top Coal Caving Mining, In Horizontal Slices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onica, Ilie; Mihăilescu, Viorel; Andrioni, Felicia

    2016-09-01

    To increase the economic and technical performances of the Jiu Valley hard coal mines, the top coal caving, in horizontal slices, mining methods (Bourbaki methods) were introduced, adapted to the local geo-mining conditions. This mining was successfully experimented by using classical technology, using the individual supports and coal blasting. In the future, it is planned to adopt the mechanized technology, with frame supports and shearers. The mechanized longwall faces with top coal caving mining, in horizontal slices, of coal seam no. 3 could be efficient only if the sizes of the top coal height and the panel length determine a minimum cost of production. Therefore, the goal of this paper is the optimization of these parameters, from a technical and economic point of view, taking into account the general model of the cost function, at the panel level. For that, it was necessary to make a certain sequence of analysis involving: technological unit establishment, purpose function and optimizing model. Thus, there attaining to the mathematical model of the unit cost, after determination of all the individual calculation articles, regarding the preparatory workings, coal face equipments, materials, energy, workforce, etc. Because of the complexity of the obtained technical and economic model, to determine the optimum sizes of the panel length and top coal height, it was necessary to archive a sensitivity analysis of the unit cost function to the main parameters implied into this mathematical model.

  2. Investigation of the Effects of Tire Inflation Pressure and Forward Speed of Driven Wheel on Horizontal Impact of Passing Rectangular Obstacle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Mohammadzadeh

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The tire-mechanics models have been developed for the study of wheel movement on the road or soil surface while these models are unlikely to describe the motion of wheels on uneven surfaces. Due to dynamical complexity of this phenomena and the importance of this subject for farm conditions and the wheel carrier devices, the present research aimed to investigate the effects of several parameters on the wheel passing the obstacle. The experiments were carried out using single wheel tester in soil bin condition. The results indicated a relatively linear relationship between the impact force applied on tire and forward speed of wheel and also the height of rectangular obstacle. The effect of inflation pressure was inversed in the range of complete formed tire’s body on impact force and in low levels of tire inflation pressure; tire’s body damps the maximum impact forces. The medium levels of pressure (about 150-200 kPa resulted in less horizontal force that applied on the wheel for different levels of forward speed and obstacle’s height. Tractive force for passing obstacle was increased by raising forward speed and the obstacle’s height.

  3. Numerical simulation of complex turbulent Flow over a backward-facing step

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silveira Neto, A.

    1991-06-01

    A statistical and topological study of a complex turbulent flow over a backward-facing step is realized by means of Direct and Large-Eddy Simulations. Direct simulations are performed in an isothermal and in a stratified two-dimensional case. In the isothermal case coherent structures have been obtained by the numerical simulation in the mixing layer downstream of the step. In a second step a thermal stratification is imposed on this flow. The coherent structures are in this case produced in the immediate vicinity of the step and disappear dowstream for increasing stratification. Afterwards, large-eddy simulations are carried out in the three-dimensional case. The subgrid-scale model is a local adaptation to the physical space of the spectral eddy-viscosity concept. The statistics of turbulence are in good agreement with the experimental data, corresponding to a small step configuration. Furthermore, calculations at higher step configuration show that the eddy structure of the flow presents striking analogies with the plane shear layers, with large billows shed behind the step, and intense longitudinal vortices strained between these billows [fr

  4. Flow over back-facing step in a narrow channel

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Uruba, Václav; Jonáš, Pavel

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 12, č. 1 (2012), s. 501-502 ISSN 1617-7061. [Annual Meeting of the International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics /83./. Darmstadt, 26.03.2012-30.03.2012] R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP101/10/1230; GA ČR GA101/08/1112 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : channel flow * backward facing step * PIV Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1617-7061

  5. Aerodynamic Impact of an Aft-Facing Slat-Step on High Re Airfoils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kibble, Geoffrey; Petrin, Chris; Jacob, Jamey; Elbing, Brian; Ireland, Peter; Black, Buddy

    2016-11-01

    Typically, the initial aerodynamic design and subsequent testing and simulation of an aircraft wing assumes an ideal wing surface without imperfections. In reality, however the surface of an in-service aircraft wing rarely matches the surface characteristics of the test wings used during the conceptual design phase and certification process. This disconnect is usually deemed negligible or overlooked entirely. Specifically, many aircraft incorporate a leading edge slat; however, the mating between the slat and the top surface of the wing is not perfectly flush and creates a small aft-facing step behind the slat. In some cases, the slat can create a step as large as one millimeter tall, which is entirely submerged within the boundary layer. This abrupt change in geometry creates a span-wise vortex behind the step and in transonic flow causes a shock to form near the leading edge. This study investigates both experimentally and computationally the implications of an aft-facing slat-step on an aircraft wing and is compared to the ideal wing surface for subsonic and transonic flow conditions. The results of this study are useful for design of flow control modifications for aircraft currently in service and important for improving the next generation of aircraft wings.

  6. The Nigerian Economy in the Face of Socio-Political Challenges: A Retrospective View and Ways Forward

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomola M Obamuyi

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the Nigerian economy and the tendency for its growth in the face of several socio-political challenges facing the country, which have hampered the rate of economic development in spite of the tremendous human and material resources inherent. The paper identifies the socio-political challenges to include corruption, poverty, unemployment, insecurity, politics and governance, among others. The central argument of the paper is that steady economic growth can be achieved and financial crisis mitigated in Nigeria, if the effects of socio-political challenges, which are the key factors that have contributed to the high poverty, unemployment and economic instability in the country, are minimised. To ensure economic growth and move the country forward politically and economically, government must be more accountable in managing the nation’s resources in order to avoid wastage, poverty and unemployment. Close attention should be given to those socio-political challenges in the formulation of policies that aimed at maintaining economic growth at a level commensurate with the country’s growth rate. This study put forward that government must be proactive in all issues relating to the socio-political challenges to prevent resource mismanagement, poverty, unemployment, insecurity and slow economic growth in future.

  7. On the solution of fluid flow and heat transfer problem in a 2D channel with backward-facing step

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A. Fomin

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The stable stationary solutions of the test problem of hydrodynamics and heat transfer in a plane channel with the backward-facing step have been considered in the work for extremely high Reynolds numbers and expansion ratio of the stream $ER$. The problem has been solved by numerical integration of the 2D Navier–Stokes equations in ‘velocity-pressure’ formulation and the heat equation in the range of Reynolds number $500 \\leqslant \\mathrm{ Re} \\leqslant 3000$ and expansion ratio $1.43 \\leqslant ER \\leqslant 10$ for Prandtl number $\\mathrm{ Pr} = 0.71$. Validity of the results has been confirmed by comparing them with literature data. Detailed flow patterns, fields of stream overheating, and profiles of horizontal component of velocity and relative overheating of flow in the cross section of the channel have been presented. Complex behaviors of the coefficients of friction, hydrodynamic resistance and heat transfer (Nusselt number along the channel depending on the problem parameters have been analyzed.

  8. IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK FOR FACE RECOGNITION USING GABOR FEATURE EXTRACTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muthukannan K

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Face detection and recognition is the first step for many applications in various fields such as identification and is used as a key to enter into the various electronic devices, video surveillance, and human computer interface and image database management. This paper focuses on feature extraction in an image using Gabor filter and the extracted image feature vector is then given as an input to the neural network. The neural network is trained with the input data. The Gabor wavelet concentrates on the important components of the face including eye, mouth, nose, cheeks. The main requirement of this technique is the threshold, which gives privileged sensitivity. The threshold values are the feature vectors taken from the faces. These feature vectors are given into the feed forward neural network to train the network. Using the feed forward neural network as a classifier, the recognized and unrecognized faces are classified. This classifier attains a higher face deduction rate. By training more input vectors the system proves to be effective. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the experimental results.

  9. Heat-transfer and pressure distributions for laminar separated flows downstream of rearward-facing steps with and without mass suction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, R. D.; Jakubowski, A. K.

    1974-01-01

    Heat-transfer and pressure distributions were measured for laminar separated flows downstream of rearward-facing steps with and without mass suction. The flow conditions were such that the boundary-layer thickness was comparable to or larger than the step height. For both suction and no-suction cases, an increase in the step height resulted in a sharp decrease in the initial heat-transfer rates behind the step. Downstream, however, the heat transfer gradually recovered back to less than or near attached-flow values. Mass suction from the step base area increased the local heat-transfer rates; however, this effect was relatively weak for the laminar flows considered. Even removal of the entire approaching boundary layer raised the post-step heat-transfer rates only about 10 percent above the flatplate values. Post-step pressure distributions were found to depend on the entrainment conditions at separation. In the case of the solid-faced step, a sharp pressure drop behind the step was followed by a very short plateau and relatively fast recompression. For the slotted-step connected to a large plenum but without suction, the pressure drop at the base was much smaller and the downstream recompression more gradual than that for solid-faced step.

  10. Experimental investigation of a cavitating backward-facing step flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maurice, G; Djeridi, H; Barre, S

    2014-01-01

    The present study is the first part of global experimental work which is intended to produce a refined database of liquid and vapor phases and to improve CFD modeling of turbulent cavitating flows which can occur in rocket engine turbo-pump inducers. The purpose of the present experimental study is to get a better understanding of the dynamics of the liquid phase in a cavitating backward facing step flow and provide a refined database for the physical analysis of interaction between turbulence and cavitation. The backward facing step flow provides us a well-known test case to compare vortex dynamics and a realistic industrial configuration such as backflow in turbo machinery. Experiments were conducted in the hydrodynamic tunnel of CREMHyG at Grenoble,which was especially designed to study cavitating shear flows at high Reynolds numbers. To highlight the liquid phase topology and dynamics such as large vortex structures, free shear layer instability, reattachment wall interaction and reverse flow, the flow is characterized by Laser Induced Fluoresence Particles Image Velocimetry (PIV-LIF) measurements techniques and by Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) techniques using spectral analysis to characterize the vortex shedding dynamics. The liquid phase was analyzed at different cavitation levels corresponding to 1% to 45% of void ratio range inside the shear layer, recirculation area and reattachment zone. The mean and fluctuating liquid velocities are clearly modified by the vapor phase and the scale of the vortical structures tends to be smaller inducing a destructuration of turbulence by cavitation

  11. Why the long face? The importance of vertical image structure for biological "barcodes" underlying face recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spence, Morgan L; Storrs, Katherine R; Arnold, Derek H

    2014-07-29

    Humans are experts at face recognition. The mechanisms underlying this complex capacity are not fully understood. Recently, it has been proposed that face recognition is supported by a coarse-scale analysis of visual information contained in horizontal bands of contrast distributed along the vertical image axis-a biological facial "barcode" (Dakin & Watt, 2009). A critical prediction of the facial barcode hypothesis is that the distribution of image contrast along the vertical axis will be more important for face recognition than image distributions along the horizontal axis. Using a novel paradigm involving dynamic image distortions, a series of experiments are presented examining famous face recognition impairments from selectively disrupting image distributions along the vertical or horizontal image axes. Results show that disrupting the image distribution along the vertical image axis is more disruptive for recognition than matched distortions along the horizontal axis. Consistent with the facial barcode hypothesis, these results suggest that human face recognition relies disproportionately on appropriately scaled distributions of image contrast along the vertical image axis. © 2014 ARVO.

  12. Small Steps Forward Through Critical Appraisal (Editorial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Koufogiannakis

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available As a vocal proponent of evidence based information practice, I have actively encouraged my co‐workers and anyone else who might listen, to take small steps in order to move towards incorporating research evidence into their decision making. I prompt colleagues to search in databases for research articles that may be useful, gather these articles and incorporate research results as part of their decision making process. I am often told of the difficulties faced despite one’s best attempts to make their practice more evidence‐based. A major difficulty is access to the research itself since librarians and information professionals often lack access to databases and journals in our field, particularly those of us working outside of academic libraries. An even more daunting question is how to critically read the existing research to determine whether it is valuable in a specific situation. Not all research is good, and how do we sort out the good from the bad? This inaugural issue of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice brings us one small step closer to addressing some of these concerns by equipping practitioners with information to help in their decision making process. Every issue of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice will incorporate approximately 10 evidence summaries to help readers sort through recently published research and determine if that research was done well. Evidence summaries provide a critical appraisal synthesis for a specific research article, so that practitioners may more readily determine if the evidence in that research study is valid and reliable, and whether they can apply it to their own practice. Evidence summaries are indeed a small step, but an important one. Published in an open‐access forum, these summaries will address three barriers to evidence based practice that we have faced in the past. First of all, they will bring awareness of previously published research to readers who may

  13. COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF BACKWARD-FACING STEP FLOW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erhan PULAT

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, backward-facing step flow that are encountered in electronic systems cooling, heat exchanger design, and gas turbine cooling are investigated computationally. Steady, incompressible, and two-dimensional air flow is analyzed. Inlet velocity is assumed uniform and it is obtained from parabolic profile by using maximum velocity. In the analysis, the effects of channel expansion ratio and Reynolds number to reattachment length are investigated. In addition, pressure distribution throughout the channel length is also obtained and flow is analyzed for the Reynolds number values of 50 and 150 and channel expansion ratios of 1.5 and 2. Governing equations are solved by using Galerkin finite element mothod of ANSYS-FLOTRAN code. Obtained results are compared with the solutions of lattice BGK method that is relatively new method in fluid dynamics and other numerical and experimental results. It is concluded that reattachment length increases with increasing Reynolds number and at the same Reynolds number it decreases with increasing channel expansion ratio.

  14. Dynamics of flow behind backward-facing step in a narrow channel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uruba V.

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The results and their analysis from experiments obtained by TR-PIV are presented on the model of backward-facing step in a narrow channel. The recirculation zone is studied in details. Mean structures are evaluated from fluctuating velocity fields. Then dynamics of the flow is characterized with help of POD (BOD technique. Substantial differences in high energy dynamical structures behaviour within the back-flow region and further downstream behind the flow reattachment have been found.

  15. Effect of the Backward-Facing Step Location on the Aerodynamics of a Morphing Wing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fadi Mishriky

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Over the last decade, aircraft morphing technology has drawn a lot of attention in the aerospace community, because it is likely to improve the aerodynamic performance and the versatility of aircraft at different flight regimes. With the fast paced advancements in this field, a parallel stream of research is studying different materials and designs to develop reliable morphing skins. A promising candidate for a viable morphing skin is the sliding skin, where two or more rigid surfaces remain in contact and slide against each other during morphing. The overlapping between each two panels create a backward-facing step on the airfoil surface which has a critical effect on the aerodynamics of the wing. This paper presents a numerical study of the effect of employing a backward-facing step on the suction side of a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA 2412 airfoil at a high Reynolds number of 5.9 × 106. The effects of the step location on the lift coefficient, drag coefficient and critical angle of attack are studied to find a favorable location for the step along the chord-wise direction. Results showed that employing a step on the suction side of the NACA 2412 airfoil can adversely affect the aforementioned aerodynamic properties. A drop of 21.1% in value of the lift coefficient and an increase of 120.8% in the drag coefficient were observed in case of a step located at 25% of the chord length. However, these effects are mitigated by shifting the step location towards the trailing edge. Introducing a step on the airfoil caused the airfoil’s thickness to change, which in turn has affected the transition point of the viscous boundary layer from laminar to turbulent. The location of the step, prior or post the transition point, has a noteworthy effect on the pressure and shear stress distribution, and consequently on the values of the lift and drag coefficients.

  16. Dynamics of reattachment region behind backward-facing step in a narrow channel

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Uruba, Václav

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 1 (2014), s. 641-642 ISSN 1617-7061. [Annual Meeting of the International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics /85./. Erlangen, 10.03.2014-14.03.2014] R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP101/10/1230 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : backward facing step * reattachment * channel flow Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pamm.201410305/abstract

  17. Tolerance of geometric distortions in infant's face recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, Wakayo; Kanazawa, So; Yamaguchi, Masami K

    2014-02-01

    The aim of the current study is to reveal the effect of global linear transformations (shearing, horizontal stretching, and vertical stretching) on the recognition of familiar faces (e.g., a mother's face) in 6- to 7-month-old infants. In this experiment, we applied the global linear transformations to both the infants' own mother's face and to a stranger's face, and we tested infants' preference between these faces. We found that only 7-month-old infants maintained preference for their own mother's face during the presentation of vertical stretching, while the preference for the mother's face disappeared during the presentation of shearing or horizontal stretching. These findings suggest that 7-month-old infants might not recognize faces based on calculating the absolute distance between facial features, and that the vertical dimension of facial features might be more related to infants' face recognition rather than the horizontal dimension. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Numerical simulation in a two dimensional turbulent flow over a backward-facing step

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silveira Neto, A. da; Grand, D.

    1991-01-01

    Numerical simulations of turbulent flows in complex geometries are generally restricted to the prediction of the mean flow and use semi-empirical turbulence models. The present study is devoted to the simulation of the coherence structures which develop in a flow submitted to a velocity change, downstream of a backward facing step. Two aspect ratios (height of the step over height of the channel) have been explored and the values of the Reynolds number vary from (6000 to 90000). In the isothermal case coherent structures have been obtained by the numerical simulation in the mixing layer downstream of the step. The numerical simulations provides results in fairly good agreement with available experimental results. In a second step a thermal stratification is imposed on this flow for one value of Richardson number (0.5) the coherent structures disappear downstream for increasing values of Richardson number. (author)

  19. Network dynamics of human face perception.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cihan Mehmet Kadipasaoglu

    Full Text Available Prevailing theories suggests that cortical regions responsible for face perception operate in a serial, feed-forward fashion. Here, we utilize invasive human electrophysiology to evaluate serial models of face-processing via measurements of cortical activation, functional connectivity, and cortico-cortical evoked potentials. We find that task-dependent changes in functional connectivity between face-selective regions in the inferior occipital (f-IOG and fusiform gyrus (f-FG are bidirectional, not feed-forward, and emerge following feed-forward input from early visual cortex (EVC to both of these regions. Cortico-cortical evoked potentials similarly reveal independent signal propagations between EVC and both f-IOG and f-FG. These findings are incompatible with serial models, and support a parallel, distributed network underpinning face perception in humans.

  20. Stability of spanwise-modulated flows behind backward-facing steps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boiko, A. V.; Dovgal, A. V.; Sorokin, A. M.

    2017-10-01

    An overview and synthesis of researches on development of local vortical disturbances in laminar separated flows downstream of backward-facing steps, in which the velocity field depends essentially on two variables are given. Peculiarities of transition to turbulence in such spatially inhomogeneous separated zones are discussed. The experimental data are supplemented by the linear stability characteristics of model velocity profiles of the separated flow computed using both the classical local formulation and the nonlocal approach based on the Floquet theory for partial differential equations with periodic coefficients. The results clarify the response of the local separated flows to their modulation with stationary geometrical and temperature inhomogeneities. The results can be useful for the development of new methods of laminar separation control.

  1. Vertical and horizontal proportions of the face and their correlation to phi among Indians in Moradabad population: A survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anand, Shruti; Tripathi, Siddhi; Chopra, Anubhav; Khaneja, Karan; Agarwal, Swatantra

    2015-01-01

    The purpose was to examine the existence of divine proportions among the Indian faces in Moradabad population. Totally, 100 patients (50 males; 50 females) aged 25-45 years were selected for the study. All facial photographs were analyzed based on the method of Ricketts assessing the divine proportions in vertical and transverse facial planes. Six horizontal and seven vertical ratios were determined, which were then compared with the phi ratio. The horizontal ratio results showed that three male and female ratios were not significantly different from each other (P > 0.05), and interchilion/nose width ratio was highly significant (P phi ratio (P 0.05) for males. The vertical ratio results showed that there was a highly significant difference (P 0.05) for the male group. Although, the golden proportion is a prominent and recurring theme in esthetics, it should not be embraced as the only method by which human beauty is measured to the exclusion of others factors.

  2. A new omnidirectional shear horizontal wave transducer using face-shear (d24) piezoelectric ring array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miao, Hongchen; Huan, Qiang; Wang, Qiangzhong; Li, Faxin

    2017-02-01

    The non-dispersive fundamental shear horizontal (SH 0 ) wave in plate-like structures is of practical importance in non-destructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM). Theoretically, an omnidirectional SH 0 transducer phased array system can be used to inspect defects in a large plate in the similar manner to the phased array transducers used in medical B-scan ultrasonics. However, very few omnidirectional SH 0 transducers have been proposed so far. In this work, an omnidirectional SH 0 wave piezoelectric transducer (OSH-PT) was proposed, which consists of a ring array of twelve face-shear (d 24 ) trapezoidal PZT elements. Each PZT element can produce face-shear deformation under applied voltage, resulting in circumferential shear deformation in the OSH-PT and omnidirectional SH 0 waves in the hosting plate. Both finite element simulations and experiments were conducted to examine the performance of the proposed OSH-PT. Experimental testing shows that the OSH-PT exhibits good omnidirectional properties, no matter it is used as a SH 0 wave transmitter or a SH 0 wave receiver. This work may greatly promote the applications of SH 0 waves in NDT and SHM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Numerical simulation of 2 D laminar flow subjected to the Lorentz force effect in a channel with backward facing step

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farahbakhsh, Iman; Paknejad, Amin; Ghassemi, Hassan [Amirkabir Univ. of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2012-10-15

    This paper presents the numerical solutions of a two dimensional laminar flow over a backward facing step in the presence of the Lorentz body force. The Navier Stokes equations in a vorticity stream function formulation are numerically solved using a uniform grid mesh of 2001 {Chi} 51 points. A second order central difference approximation is used for spatial derivatives. The solutions progress in time with a fourth order Runge Kutta method. The unsteady backward facing step flow solution is computed for Reynolds numbers 100 to 800. The size and genesis of the recirculating regions are dramatically affected by applying the Lorentz force. The results demonstrate that using an appropriate configuration for applying the Lorentz force can make it an essential tool for controlling the flow in channels with a backward facing step.

  4. Experimental investigation of turbulent flow in a channel with the backward-facing inclined step

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uruba Václav

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The work deals with the experimental investigation of turbulent flow in a closed channel with the backward-facing inclined step. Experiments were carried by means of the PIV optical measuring method in the channel of the rectangular cross-section in the inlet part and with inclined steps of the constant height H mm and various inclination angles for a wide range of the Reynolds number. The attention was paid especially to the separation region behind the step and to the relaxation of the shear layer after the reattachment in the outlet part of the channel. The dependence of the length of the separation region on the Reynolds number was obtained for various step angles. Optical measurements were completed by the measurement of static pressure distribution in the inlet and outlet part of the channel to estimate energy losses.

  5. Two-step superresolution approach for surveillance face image through radial basis function-partial least squares regression and locality-induced sparse representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Junjun; Hu, Ruimin; Han, Zhen; Wang, Zhongyuan; Chen, Jun

    2013-10-01

    Face superresolution (SR), or face hallucination, refers to the technique of generating a high-resolution (HR) face image from a low-resolution (LR) one with the help of a set of training examples. It aims at transcending the limitations of electronic imaging systems. Applications of face SR include video surveillance, in which the individual of interest is often far from cameras. A two-step method is proposed to infer a high-quality and HR face image from a low-quality and LR observation. First, we establish the nonlinear relationship between LR face images and HR ones, according to radial basis function and partial least squares (RBF-PLS) regression, to transform the LR face into the global face space. Then, a locality-induced sparse representation (LiSR) approach is presented to enhance the local facial details once all the global faces for each LR training face are constructed. A comparison of some state-of-the-art SR methods shows the superiority of the proposed two-step approach, RBF-PLS global face regression followed by LiSR-based local patch reconstruction. Experiments also demonstrate the effectiveness under both simulation conditions and some real conditions.

  6. The Effect of Backward-Facing Step Height on Instability Growth and Breakdown in Swept Wing Boundary-Layer Transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eppink, Jenna L.; Wlezien, Richard W.; King, Rudolph A.; Choudhari, Meelan

    2015-01-01

    A low-speed experiment was performed on a swept at plate model with an imposed pressure gradient to determine the effect of a backward-facing step on transition in a stationary-cross flow dominated flow. Detailed hot-wire boundary-layer measurements were performed for three backward-facing step heights of approximately 36, 45, and 49% of the boundary-layer thickness at the step. These step heights correspond to a subcritical, nearly-critical, and critical case. Three leading-edge roughness configurations were tested to determine the effect of stationary-cross flow amplitude on transition. The step caused a local increase in amplitude of the stationary cross flow for the two larger step height cases, but farther downstream the amplitude decreased and remained below the baseline amplitude. The smallest step caused a slight local decrease in amplitude of the primary stationary cross flow mode, but the amplitude collapsed back to the baseline case far downstream of the step. The effect of the step on the amplitude of the primary cross flow mode increased with step height, however, the stationary cross flow amplitudes remained low and thus, stationary cross flow was not solely responsible for transition. Unsteady disturbances were present downstream of the step for all three step heights, and the amplitudes increased with increasing step height. The only exception is that the lower frequency (traveling crossflow-like) disturbance was not present in the lowest step height case. Positive and negative spikes in instantaneous velocity began to occur for the two larger step height cases and then grew in number and amplitude downstream of reattachment, eventually leading to transition. The number and amplitude of spikes varied depending on the step height and cross flow amplitude. Despite the low amplitude of the disturbances in the intermediate step height case, breakdown began to occur intermittently and the flow underwent a long transition region.

  7. The Transitional Backward-Facing Step Flow in a Water Channel with Variable Expansion Geometry

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Tihon, Jaroslav; Pěnkavová, Věra; Havlica, Jaromír; Šimčík, Miroslav

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 40, JUL (2012), s. 112-125 ISSN 0894-1777 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA104/07/1110; GA ČR GAP101/11/0806 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : backward-facing step flow * wall shear stress * flow forcing Subject RIV: CI - Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Impact factor: 1.595, year: 2012

  8. Force measurements of flexible tandem wings in hovering and forward flights

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Yingying; Wu, Yanhua; Tang, Hui

    2015-01-01

    Aerodynamic forces, power consumptions and efficiencies of flexible and rigid tandem wings undergoing combined plunging/pitching motion were measured in a hovering flight and two forward flights with Strouhal numbers of 0.6 and 0.3. Three flexible dragonfly-like tandem wing models termed Wing I, Wing II, and Wing III which are progressively less flexible, as well as a pair of rigid wings as the reference were operated at three phase differences of 0°, 90° and 180°. The results showed that both the flexibility and phase difference have significant effects on the aerodynamic performances. In both hovering and forward flights at a higher oscillation frequency of 1 Hz (St = 0.6), the Wing III model outperformed the other wing models with larger total horizontal force coefficient and efficiency. In forward flight at the lower frequency of 0.5 Hz (St = 0.3), Wing III, rigid wings and Wing II models performed best at 0°, 90° and 180° phase difference, respectively. From the time histories of force coefficients of fore- and hind-wings, different peak values, phase lags, and secondary peaks were found to be the important reasons to cause the differences in the average horizontal force coefficients. Particle image velocimetry and deformation measurements were performed to provide the insights into how the flexibility affects the aerodynamic performance of the tandem wings. The spanwise bending deformation was found to contribute to the horizontal force, by offering a more beneficial position to make LEV more attached to the wing model in both hovering and forward flights, and inducing a higher-velocity region in forward flight. (paper)

  9. Real-time horizontal position control for Aditya-upgrade tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Rohit; Ghosh, Joydeep; Tanna, Rakesh L.

    2015-01-01

    Position of plasma column is required to be controlled in real time for improved operation of any tokamak. A PID based system for real-time horizontal plasma position control has been designed for Aditya Upgrade tokamak. Modelling of transfer functions of actuators, plasma and diagnostic system are carried out for ADITYA-U tokamak. The PID controller is optimized using MATLAB-SIMULINK for horizontal position control. Further feed-forward loop is implemented where disturbance due to density variation is suppressed, which results in improved performance as compared to conventional PID operation. In this paper the detailed design of the whole system for real time control of plasma horizontal position in Aditya Upgrade tokamak is presented. (author)

  10. Stepped care versus face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for panic disorder and social anxiety disorder: Predictors and moderators of outcome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haug, Thomas; Nordgreen, Tine; Öst, Lars-Göran; Kvale, Gerd; Tangen, Tone; Andersson, Gerhard; Carlbring, Per; Heiervang, Einar R; Havik, Odd E

    2015-08-01

    To investigate predictors and moderators of treatment outcome by comparing immediate face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy (FtF-CBT) to a Stepped Care treatment model comprising three steps: Psychoeducation, Internet-delivered CBT, and FtF-CBT for panic disorder (PD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). Patients (N = 173) were recruited from nine public mental health out-patient clinics and randomized to immediate FtF-CBT or Stepped Care treatment. Characteristics related to social functioning, impairment from the anxiety disorder, and comorbidity was investigated as predictors and moderators by treatment format and diagnosis in multiple regression analyses. Lower social functioning, higher impairment from the anxiety disorder, and a comorbid cluster C personality disorder were associated with significantly less improvement, particularly among patients with PD. Furthermore, having a comorbid anxiety disorder was associated with a better treatment outcome among patients with PD but not patients with SAD. Patients with a comorbid depression had similar outcomes from the different treatments, but patients without comorbid depression had better outcomes from immediate FtF-CBT compared to guided self-help. In general, the same patient characteristics appear to be associated with the treatment outcome for CBT provided in low- and high-intensity formats when treated in public mental health care clinics. The findings suggest that patients with lower social functioning and higher impairment from their anxiety disorder benefit less from these treatments and may require more adapted and extensive treatment. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: Identifier: NCT00619138. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Stepping out: dare to step forward, step back, or just stand still and breathe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waisman, Mary Sue

    2012-01-01

    It is important to step out and make a difference. We have one of the most unique and diverse professions that allows for diversity in thought and practice, permitting each of us to grow in our unique niches and make significant contributions. I was frightened to 'step out' to go to culinary school at the age of 46, but it changed forever the way I look at my profession and I have since experienced the most enjoyable and innovative career. There are also times when it is important to 'step back' to relish the roots of our profession; to help bring food back into nutrition; to translate all of our wonderful science into a language of food that Canadians understand. We all need to take time to 'just stand still and breathe': to celebrate our accomplishments, reflect on our actions, ensure we are heading toward our vision, keep the profession vibrant and relevant, and cherish one another.

  12. Extended forward sensitivity analysis of one-dimensional isothermal flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, M.; Zhao, H.

    2013-01-01

    Sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification is an important part of nuclear safety analysis. In this work, forward sensitivity analysis is used to compute solution sensitivities on 1-D fluid flow equations typical of those found in system level codes. Time step sensitivity analysis is included as a method for determining the accumulated error from time discretization. The ability to quantify numerical error arising from the time discretization is a unique and important feature of this method. By knowing the relative sensitivity of time step with other physical parameters, the simulation is allowed to run at optimized time steps without affecting the confidence of the physical parameter sensitivity results. The time step forward sensitivity analysis method can also replace the traditional time step convergence studies that are a key part of code verification with much less computational cost. One well-defined benchmark problem with manufactured solutions is utilized to verify the method; another test isothermal flow problem is used to demonstrate the extended forward sensitivity analysis process. Through these sample problems, the paper shows the feasibility and potential of using the forward sensitivity analysis method to quantify uncertainty in input parameters and time step size for a 1-D system-level thermal-hydraulic safety code. (authors)

  13. The relationship between forward head posture and temporomandibular disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, W Y; Okeson, J P; Lindroth, J

    1995-01-01

    This study investigated the relationship between forward head posture and temporomandibular disorder symptoms. Thirty-three temporomandibular disorder patients with predominant complaints of masticatory muscle pain were compared with an age- and gender-matched control group. Head position was measured from photographs taken with a plumb line drawn from the ceiling to the lateral malleolus of the ankle and with a horizontal plane that was perpendicular to the plumb line and that passed through the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra. The distances from the plumb line to the ear, to the seventh vertebra, and to the shoulder were measured. Two angles were also measured: (1) ear-seventh cervical vertebra-horizontal plane and (2) eye-ear-seventh cervical vertebra. The only measurement that revealed a statistically significant difference was angle ear-seventh cervical vertebra-horizontal plane. This angle was smaller in the patients with temporomandibular disorders than in the control subjects. In other words, when evaluating the ear position with respect to the seventh cervical vertebra, the head was positioned more forward in the group with temporomandibular disorders than in the control group (P < .05).

  14. Numerical simulation of flows over 2D and 3D backward-facing inclined steps

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Louda, Petr; Příhoda, Jaromír; Kozel, K.; Sváček, P.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 43, October (2013), s. 268-276 ISSN 0142-727X R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP101/10/1230; GA ČR GA103/09/0977 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : backward-facing step * EARSM turbulence model * one-sided diffuser Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics Impact factor: 1.777, year: 2013 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142727X13001409

  15. Experimental and numerical modelling of turbulent flow over an inclined backward-facing step in an open channel

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Příhoda, Jaromír; Zubík, P.; Šulc, J.; Sedlář, M.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 14, 4a (2012), s. 6-12 ISSN 1335-4205 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA103/09/0977 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : open channel flow * inclined backward-facing step Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics

  16. Thin-plate spline analysis of the effects of face mask treatment in children with maxillary retrognathism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Jenny Zwei-Chieng; Liu, Pao-Hsin; Chen, Yi-Jane; Yao, Jane Chung-Chen; Chang, Hong-Po; Chang, Chih-Han; Chang, Frank Hsin-Fu

    2006-02-01

    Face mask therapy is indicated for growing patients who suffer from maxillary retrognathia. Most previous studies used conventional cephalometric analysis to evaluate the effects of face mask treatment. Cephalometric analysis has been shown to be insufficient for complex craniofacial configurations. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the craniofacial structure of children with maxillary retrognathism following face mask treatment by means of thin-plate spline analysis. Thirty children with skeletal Class III malocclusions who had been treated with face masks were compared with a group of 30 untreated gender-matched, age-matched, observation period-matched, and craniofacial configuration-matched subjects. Average geometries, scaled to an equivalent size, were generated by means of Procrustes analysis. Thin-plate spline analysis was then performed for localization of the shape changes. Face mask treatment induced a forward displacement of the maxilla, a counterclockwise rotation of the palatal plane, a horizontal compression of the anterior border of the symphysis and the condylar region, and a downward deformation of the menton. The cranial base exhibited a counterclockwise deformation as a whole. We conclude that thin-plate spline analysis is a valuable supplement to conventional cephalometric analysis.

  17. A Study of Low-Reynolds Number Effects in Backward-Facing Step Flow Using Large Eddy Simulations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davidson, Lars; Nielsen, Peter V.

    The flow in ventilated rooms is often not fully turbulent, but in some regions the flow can be laminar. Problems have been encountered when simulating this type of flow using RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) methods. Restivo carried out experiment on the flow after a backward-facing step...

  18. POD analysis of flow over a backward-facing step forced by right-angle-shaped plasma actuator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Bin; Li, Huaxing

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to present flow control over the backward-facing step with specially designed right-angle-shaped plasma actuator and analyzed the influence of various scales of flow structures on the Reynolds stress through snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). 2D particle image velocimetry measurements were conducted on region (x/h = 0-2.25) and reattachment zone in the x-y plane over the backward-facing step at a Reynolds number of Re h  = 27,766 (based on step height [Formula: see text] and free stream velocity [Formula: see text]. The separated shear layer was excited by specially designed right-angle-shaped plasma actuator under the normalized excitation frequency St h  ≈ 0.345 along the 45° direction. The spatial distribution of each Reynolds stress component was reconstructed using an increasing number of POD modes. The POD analysis indicated that the flow dynamic downstream of the step was dominated by large-scale flow structures, which contributed to streamwise Reynolds stress and Reynolds shear stress. The intense Reynolds stress localized to a narrow strip within the shear layer was mainly affected by small-scale flow structures, which were responsible for the recovery of the Reynolds stress peak. With plasma excitation, a significant increase was obtained in the vertical Reynolds stress peak. Under the dimensionless frequencies St h  ≈ 0.345 and [Formula: see text] which are based on the step height and momentum thickness, the effectiveness of the flow control forced by the plasma actuator along the 45° direction was ordinary. Only the vertical Reynolds stress was significantly affected.

  19. Definition of a visuospatial dimension as a step forward in the diagnostic puzzle of nonverbal learning disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poletti, Michele

    2017-01-01

    Although clinically recognized for almost 50 years, the categorical distinction of specific learning disabilities due to an impairment of the nonverbal domain (nonverbal learning disability [NLD]) is still debated and controversial. Unsolved issues involve theoretical models, diagnostic criteria, rehabilitative interventions, and moderator factors. These issues are briefly overviewed to sustain the need for a shift toward dimensional approaches, as suggested by research domain criteria, as a step forward in the diagnostic puzzle of NLD. With this aim, a visuospatial dimension, or spectrum, is proposed, and then clinical conditions that may fit with its impaired side are systemized, while specifying in which conditions a visuospatial impairment may be considered an NLD.

  20. Similar muscles contribute to horizontal and vertical acceleration of center of mass in forward and backward walking: implications for neural control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, Karen; De Groote, Friedl; Massaad, Firas; Meyns, Pieter; Jonkers, Ilse

    2012-01-01

    Leg kinematics during backward walking (BW) are very similar to the time-reversed kinematics during forward walking (FW). This suggests that the underlying muscle activation pattern could originate from a simple time reversal, as well. Experimental electromyography studies have confirmed that this is the case for some muscles. Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that muscles showing a time reversal should also exhibit a reversal in function [from accelerating the body center of mass (COM) to decelerating]. However, this has not yet been verified in simulation studies. In the present study, forward simulations were used to study the effects of muscles on the acceleration of COM in FW and BW. We found that a reversal in function was indeed present in the muscle control of the horizontal movement of COM (e.g., tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius). In contrast, muscles' antigravity contributions maintained their function for both directions of movement. An important outcome of the present study is therefore that similar muscles can be used to achieve opposite functional demands at the level of control of the COM when walking direction is reversed. However, some muscles showed direction-specific contributions (i.e., dorsiflexors). We concluded that the changes in muscle contributions imply that a simple time reversal would be insufficient to produce BW from FW. We therefore propose that BW utilizes extra elements, presumably supraspinal, in addition to a common spinal drive. These additions are needed for propulsion and require a partial reconfiguration of lower level common networks. PMID:22423005

  1. The evolution of a horizontal scale for oscillatory magnetoconvection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murphy, J O [Monash Univ., Clayton (Australia). Dept. of Mathematics; Lopez, J M [Aeronautical Research Labs., Port Melbourne (Australia). Aerodynamics Div.

    1989-01-01

    Oscillatory convective motions have been observed in the umbrae of sunspots and, in the past, the linear theory of overstability has been used for sunspot models. Here a non-linear model for oscillatory convection has been used to investigate the possibility of a preferred horizontal cell size for these motions, in the presence of a magnetic field. The integration forward in time, from the conductive state, of the non-linear multimode equations governing magnetoconvection when the magnetic Prandtl number is less than one portrays a complex interaction between the evolving magnetic and vertical velocity horizontal scales. Preferred horizontal scales for the convective cells have been established by identifying the modes that substantially contribute to the overall convective heat transport. All other modes, although initially perturbed, in time essentially decay to zero through self interaction. 8 refs., 5 figs.

  2. A Study on the Defensive Stance and Position of Handball Goalkeepers: Facing a Forward Jump Shot Made from 9 Meters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jong Hyun; Lee, Young Suk

    2016-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to find the defensive stance and calculate an optimal defense position for goalkeepers while blocking forward jump shots made from a distance of 9 m. Nine men's handball matches were recorded and 78 video clips were selected for analysis. These are the top class goalkeepers, which included players from the national team and reserve team of Korea. The goalkeeper's actual defensive position was significantly different from instructional suggestions; the width of both feet of the goalkeeper was approximately 2.5 times the width of the shoulders, and the hands were at waist height. The goalkeeper's actual defense position was about 1.10 (± 0.3) m from the goal line and also significantly different than instructional material (0.75 m). The optimal defense position, which was calculated from the goalkeeper's actual movement, was 1.44 m from the goal line, because the ratio of goalkeeper's defensive area in relation to the total area to be defended is highest at this point. In summary, we recommended that handball goalkeepers move forward, about a half step (0.34 m), when defending a forward jump shot made from 9 m, and instructional material should be modified according to the findings from this study.

  3. Numerical simulation of 3D backward facing step flows at various Reynolds numbers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louda Petr

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The work deals with the numerical simulation of 3D turbulent flow over backward facing step in a narrow channel. The mathematical model is based on the RANS equations with an explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model (EARSM. The numerical method uses implicit finite volume upwind discretization. While the eddy viscosity models fail in predicting complex 3D flows, the EARSM model is shown to provide results which agree well with experimental PIV data. The reference experimental data provide the 3D flow field. The simulations are compared with experiment for 3 values of Reynolds number.

  4. [Coding in general practice-Will the ICD-11 be a step forward?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kühlein, Thomas; Virtanen, Martti; Claus, Christoph; Popert, Uwe; van Boven, Kees

    2018-07-01

    Primary care physicians in Germany don't benefit from coding diagnoses-they are coding for the needs of others. For coding, they mostly are using either the thesaurus of the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) or self-made cheat-sheets. Coding quality is low but seems to be sufficient for the main use case of the resulting data, which is the morbidity adjusted risk compensation scheme that distributes financial resources between the many German health insurance companies.Neither the International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems (ICD-10) nor the German thesaurus as an interface terminology are adequate for coding in primary care. The ICD-11 itself will not recognizably be a step forward from the perspective of primary care. At least the browser database format will be advantageous. An implementation into the 182 different electronic health records (EHR) on the German market would probably standardize the coding process and make code finding easier. This method of coding would still be more cumbersome than the current coding with self-made cheat-sheets.The first steps towards a useful official cheat-sheet for primary care have been taken, awaiting implementation and evaluation. The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2) already provides an adequate classification standard for primary care that can also be used in combination with ICD-10. A new version of ICPC (ICPC-3) is under development. As the ICPC-2 has already been integrated into the foundation layer of ICD-11 it might easily become the future standard for coding in primary care. Improving communication between the different EHR would make taking over codes from other healthcare providers possible. Another opportunity to improve the coding quality might be creating use cases for the resulting data for the primary care physicians themselves.

  5. The horizontal and vertical cervico-ocular reflexes of the rabbit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barmack, N H; Nastos, M A; Pettorossi, V E

    1981-11-16

    Horizontal and vertical cervico-ocular reflexes of the rabbit (HCOR, VCOR) were evoked by sinusoidal oscillation of the body about the vertical and longitudinal axes while the head was fixed. These reflexes were studied over a frequency range of 0.005-0.800 Hz and at stimulus amplitudes of +/- 10 degrees. When the body of the rabbit was rotated horizontally clockwise around the fixed head, clockwise conjugate eye movements were evoked. When the body was rotated about the longitudinal axis onto the right side, the right eye rotated down and the left eye rotated up. The mean gain of the HCOR (eye velocity/body velocity) rose from 0.21 and 0.005 Hz to 0.27 at 0.020 Hz and then declined to 0.06 at 0.3Hz. The gain of the VCOR was less than the gain of the HCOR by a factor of 2-3. The HCOR was measured separately and in combination with the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (HVOR). These reflexes combine linearly. The relative movements of the first 3 cervical vertebrae during stimulation of the HCOR and VCOR were measured. For the HCOR, the largest angular displacement (74%) occurs between C1 and C2. For the VCOR, the largest relative angular displacement (45%) occurs between C2 and C3. Step horizontal clockwise rotation of the head and body (HVOR) evoked low velocity counterclockwise eye movements followed by fast clockwise (resetting) eye movements. Step horizontal clockwise rotation of the body about the fixed head (HCOR) evoked low velocity clockwise eye movements which were followed by fast clockwise eye movements. Step horizontal clockwise rotation of the head about the fixed body (HCOR + HVOR) evoked low velocity counterclockwise eye movements which were not interrupted by fast clockwise eye movements. These data provide further evidence for a linear combination of independent HCOR and HVOR signals.

  6. Two-step rating-based 'double-faced applicability' test for sensory analysis of spread products as an alternative to descriptive analysis with trained panel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, In-Ah; den-Hollander, Elyn; Lee, Hye-Seong

    2018-03-01

    Descriptive analysis with a trained sensory panel has thus far been the most well defined methodology to characterize various products. However, in practical terms, intensive training in descriptive analysis has been recognized as a serious defect. To overcome this limitation, various novel rapid sensory profiling methodologies have been suggested in the literature. Among these, attribute-based methodologies such as check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions showed results comparable to those of conventional sensory descriptive analysis. Kim, Hopkinson, van Hout, and Lee (2017a, 2017b) have proposed a novel attribute-based methodology termed the two-step rating-based 'double-faced applicability' test with a novel output measure of applicability magnitude (d' A ) for measuring consumers' product usage experience throughout various product usage stages. In this paper, the potential of the two-step rating-based 'double-faced applicability' test with d' A was investigated as an alternative to conventional sensory descriptive analysis in terms of sensory characterization and product discrimination. Twelve commercial spread products were evaluated using both conventional sensory descriptive analysis with a trained sensory panel and two-step rating-based 'double-faced applicability' test with an untrained sensory panel. The results demonstrated that the 'double-faced applicability' test can be used to provide a direct measure of the applicability magnitude of sensory attributes of the samples tested in terms of d' A for sensory characterization of individual samples and multiple sample comparisons. This suggests that when the appropriate list of attributes to be used in the questionnaire is already available, the two-step rating-based 'double-faced applicability' test with d' A can be used as a more efficient alternative to conventional descriptive analysis, without requiring any intensive training process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Numerical Investigation of Transitional Flow over a Backward Facing Step Using a Low Reynolds Number k-ε Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skovgaard, M.; Nielsen, Peter V.

    In this paper it is investigated if it is possible to simulate and capture some of the low Reynolds number effects numerically using time averaged momentum equations and a low Reynolds number k-f model. The test case is the larninar to turbulent transitional flow over a backward facing step...

  8. SIMULATION OF TURBULENT FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER OVER A BACKWARD -FACING STEP WITH RIBS TURBULATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khudheyer S Mushatet

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Simulation is presented for a backward facing step flow and heat transfer inside a channel with ribs turbulators. The problem was investigated for Reynolds numbers up to 32000. The effect of a step height, the number of ribs and the rib thickness on the flow and thermal field were investigated. The computed results are presented as streamlines counters, velocity vectors and graphs of Nusselt number and turbulent kinetic energy variation. A control volume method employing a staggered grid techniques was imposed to discretize the governing continuity, full Navier Stockes and energy equations. A computer program using a SIMPLE algorithm was developed to handle the considered problem. The effect of turbulence was modeled by using a k-є model with its wall function formulas. The obtained results show that the strength and size of the re-circulation zones behind the step are increased with the increase of contraction ratio(i.e. with the increase of a step height. The size of recirculation regions and the reattachment length after the ribs are decreased with increasing of the contraction ratio. Also the results show that the Reynolds number and contraction ratio have a significant effect on the variation of turbulent kinetic energy and Nusselt number

  9. A horizontal gene transfer at the origin of phenylpropanoid metabolism: a key adaptation of plants to land.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emiliani, Giovanni; Fondi, Marco; Fani, Renato; Gribaldo, Simonetta

    2009-02-16

    The pioneering ancestor of land plants that conquered terrestrial habitats around 500 million years ago had to face dramatic stresses including UV radiation, desiccation, and microbial attack. This drove a number of adaptations, among which the emergence of the phenylpropanoid pathway was crucial, leading to essential compounds such as flavonoids and lignin. However, the origin of this specific land plant secondary metabolism has not been clarified. We have performed an extensive analysis of the taxonomic distribution and phylogeny of Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase (PAL), which catalyses the first and essential step of the general phenylpropanoid pathway, leading from phenylalanine to p-Coumaric acid and p-Coumaroyl-CoA, the entry points of the flavonoids and lignin routes. We obtained robust evidence that the ancestor of land plants acquired a PAL via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) during symbioses with soil bacteria and fungi that are known to have established very early during the first steps of land colonization. This horizontally acquired PAL represented then the basis for further development of the phenylpropanoid pathway and plant radiation on terrestrial environments. Our results highlight a possible crucial role of HGT from soil bacteria in the path leading to land colonization by plants and their subsequent evolution. The few functional characterizations of sediment/soil bacterial PAL (production of secondary metabolites with powerful antimicrobial activity or production of pigments) suggest that the initial advantage of this horizontally acquired PAL in the ancestor of land plants might have been either defense against an already developed microbial community and/or protection against UV.

  10. Modelling of subcritical free-surface flow over an inclined backward-facing step in a water channel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Šulc Jan

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The contribution deals with the experimental and numerical modelling of subcritical turbulent flow in an open channel with an inclined backward-facing step. The step with the inclination angle α = 20° was placed in the water channel of the cross-section 200×200 mm. Experiments were carried out by means of the PIV and LDA measuring techniques. Numerical simulations were executed by means of the commercial software ANSYS CFX 12.0. Numerical results obtained for twoequation models and EARSM turbulence model completed by transport equations for turbulent energy and specific dissipation rate were compared with experimental data. The modelling was concentrated particularly on the development of the flow separation and on the corresponding changes of free surface.

  11. A Preliminary List of Horizontally Transferred Genes in Prokaryotes Determined by Tree Reconstruction and Reconciliation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyeonsoo Jeong

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Genome-wide global detection of genes involved in horizontal gene transfer (HGT remains an active area of research in medical microbiology and evolutionary genomics. Utilizing the explicit evolutionary method of comparing topologies of a total of 154,805 orthologous gene trees against corresponding 16S rRNA “reference” trees, we previously detected a total of 660,894 candidate HGT events in 2,472 completely-sequenced prokaryotic genomes. Here, we report an HGT-index for each individual gene-reference tree pair reconciliation, representing the total number of detected HGT events on the gene tree divided by the total number of genomes (taxa member of that tree. HGT-index is thus a simple measure indicating the sensitivity of prokaryotic genes to participate (or not participate in HGT. Our preliminary list provides HGT-indices for a total of 69,365 genes (detected in >10 and <50% available prokaryotic genomes that are involved in a wide range of biological processes such as metabolism, information, and bacterial response to environment. Identification of horizontally-derived genes is important to combat antibiotic resistance and is a step forward toward reconstructions of improved phylogenies describing the history of life. Our effort is thus expected to benefit ongoing research in the fields of clinical microbiology and evolutionary biology.

  12. Moving forward with prisms: Sensory-motor adaptation improves gait initiation in Parkinson’s disease.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janet Helen Bultitude

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available It is postulated that the decreased walking speed; small, shuffling steps; and ‘freezing’ shown by patients with Parkinson’s disease could stem from an inability to tilt the body forward enough to provide sufficient forward propulsion. In two repeated-measures studies we examined whether adaptation to upward-shifting prisms, resulting in a downward after-effect, could improve gait initiation in healthy participants and patients with Parkinson’s disease. Faster forward stepping followed a brief (5 min exposure period for patients, and a longer (20 min exposure period for age-matched controls. Backward stepping was unchanged, and adaptation to downward-shifting prisms with control participants showed no effect on forward or backward stepping. These results suggest that adaptation of arm proprioception in the vertical plane may generalise to anterior-posterior postural control, presenting new possibilities for the treatment of gait disturbance in basal ganglia disorders.

  13. Contrasting vertical and horizontal representations of affect in emotional visual search.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damjanovic, Ljubica; Santiago, Julio

    2016-02-01

    Independent lines of evidence suggest that the representation of emotional evaluation recruits both vertical and horizontal spatial mappings. These two spatial mappings differ in their experiential origins and their productivity, and available data suggest that they differ in their saliency. Yet, no study has so far compared their relative strength in an attentional orienting reaction time task that affords the simultaneous manifestation of both types of mapping. Here, we investigated this question using a visual search task with emotional faces. We presented angry and happy face targets and neutral distracter faces in top, bottom, left, and right locations on the computer screen. Conceptual congruency effects were observed along the vertical dimension supporting the 'up = good' metaphor, but not along the horizontal dimension. This asymmetrical processing pattern was observed when faces were presented in a cropped (Experiment 1) and whole (Experiment 2) format. These findings suggest that the 'up = good' metaphor is more salient and readily activated than the 'right = good' metaphor, and that the former outcompetes the latter when the task context affords the simultaneous activation of both mappings.

  14. A multi-view face recognition system based on cascade face detector and improved Dlib

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Hongjun; Chen, Pei; Shen, Wei

    2018-03-01

    In this research, we present a framework for multi-view face detect and recognition system based on cascade face detector and improved Dlib. This method is aimed to solve the problems of low efficiency and low accuracy in multi-view face recognition, to build a multi-view face recognition system, and to discover a suitable monitoring scheme. For face detection, the cascade face detector is used to extracted the Haar-like feature from the training samples, and Haar-like feature is used to train a cascade classifier by combining Adaboost algorithm. Next, for face recognition, we proposed an improved distance model based on Dlib to improve the accuracy of multiview face recognition. Furthermore, we applied this proposed method into recognizing face images taken from different viewing directions, including horizontal view, overlooks view, and looking-up view, and researched a suitable monitoring scheme. This method works well for multi-view face recognition, and it is also simulated and tested, showing satisfactory experimental results.

  15. Key motion characteristics of side-step movements in hip-hop dance and their effect on the evaluation by judges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Nahoko; Nunome, Hiroyuki; Ikegami, Yasuo

    2016-06-01

    In hip-hop dance, the elements of motion that discriminate the skill levels of dancers and that influence the evaluations by judges have not been clearly identified. This study set out to extract these motion characteristics from the side-step movements of hip-hop dancing. Eight expert and eight non-expert dancers performed side-step movements, which were recorded using a motion capture system. Nine experienced judges evaluated the dancers' performances. Several parameters, including the range of motion (ROM) of the joint angles (neck, trunk, hip, knee, and face inclination) and phase delays between these angular motions were calculated. A quarter-cycle phase delay between the neck motion and other body parts, seen only in the expert dancers, is highlighted as an element that can distinguish dancers' skill levels. This feature of the expert dancers resulted in a larger ROM during the face inclination than that for the non-expert dancers. In addition, the experts exhibited a bottom-to-top segmental sequence in the horizontal direction while the non-experts did not demonstrate any such sequential motion. Of these kinematic parameters, only the ROM of the face inclination was highly correlated to the judging score and is regarded as being the most appealing element of the side-step movement.

  16. Space shuttle orbiter guidance, naviagation and control software functional requirements: Horizontal flight operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    1972-01-01

    The shuttle GN&C software functions for horizontal flight operations are defined. Software functional requirements are grouped into two categories: first horizontal flight requirements and full mission horizontal flight requirements. The document privides the intial step in the shuttle GN&C software design process. It also serves as a management tool to identify analyses which are required to define requirements.

  17. Health Promoting Schools: A Way Forward for Bayelsa State, Nigeria

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Using documentary analysis, face-to-face interaction with school health desk officers and the author's work among schools the paper examines the concept of health promoting school (HPS) and discusses its way forward for Bayelsa State. The paper observes that despite the HPS concept signifying a school that constantly ...

  18. [Healthy eating and the difficulties faced in making it a reality: perceptions of parents/guardians of pre-school children in Belo Horizonte/MG, Brazil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bento, Isabel Cristina; Esteves, Juliana Maria de Melo; França, Thaís Elias

    2015-08-01

    A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted to establish the perceptions of 77 guardians of preschool children enrolled in a Child Day Care Center in Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais State, regarding what is a healthy diet and the difficulties faced in having a healthy diet. The instrument used was a pretested semi-structured questionnaire containing leading questions obtained in face-to-face interviews. For data analysis, the Collective Subject Discourse technique was used, which elicited data organization of a verbal nature. It was revealed that the guardians have a notion of what healthy diet is, however their answers implied inadequate eating habits. They attributed insufficient financial resources, lack of time and ingrained eating habits as being the main difficulties in having a healthy diet. These three difficulties are the reasons given by some guardians who do not believe they have a healthy diet. The conclusion drawn is that the guardians need to have a better diet, because their eating habits influence their children's eating habits. These findings revealed the need for food and nutrition education strategies to enable the guardians to recognize and have a healthy diet.

  19. Forward rectification: spatial image normalization for a video from a forward facing vehicle camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prun, Viktor; Polevoy, Dmitri; Postnikov, Vassiliy

    2017-03-01

    The work in this paper is focused around visual ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). We introduce forward rectification - a technique for making computer vision algorithms more robust against camera mount point and mount angles. Using the technique can increase the quality of recognition as well as lower the dimensionality for algorithm invariance, making it possible to apply simpler affine-invariant algorithms for applications that require projective invariance. Providing useful results this rectification requires thorough calibration of the camera, which can be done automatically or semi-automatically. The technique is of general nature and can be applied to different algorithms, such as pattern matching detectors, convolutional neural networks. The applicability of the technique is demonstrated on HOG-based car detector detection rate.

  20. PrimeFaces beginner's guide

    CERN Document Server

    Reddy, K Siva Prasad

    2013-01-01

    A guide for beginner's with step-by-step instructions and an easy-to-follow approach.PrimeFaces Beginners Guide is a simple and effective guide for beginners, wanting to learn and implement PrimeFaces in their JSF-based applications. Some basic JSF and jQuery skills are required before you start working through the book.

  1. Forward planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fontenla, D.P.

    2008-01-01

    By definition, forward planning is a process where input consists of conditions on beam configurations and parameters and output consists of dose distributions on target and critical structures, in contrast to inverse planning, where the opposite is true. For forward planning IMRT, criteria are as follows: (i) Plans created as an extension of standard 3D conformational planning; (ii) No significant increase in the complexity of the treatment planning or treatment delivery process; (3) Treatment verification using standard QA procedures; and process consists of the following steps: (i) Create a standard 3D conformational treatment plan; (ii) Copy one of the existing beams; (iii) Create control points: design new beam segments, blocking high dose areas; (iv) Repeat for all beams; (v) Re-compute dose; and (vi) Adjust control points weights to achieve desired dose distribution. A detailed exposition, with many clinical examples, is given for the breast, lung, and brain (P.A.)

  2. Calculation of One-dimensional Forward Modelling of Helicopter-borne Electromagnetic Data and a Sensitivity Matrix Using Fast Hankel Transforms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abolfazl Asadian

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM frequency-domain exploration method is an airborne electromagnetic (AEM technique that is widely used for vast and rough areas for resistivity imaging. The vast amount of digitized data flowing from the HEM method requires an efficient and accurate inversion algorithm. Generally, the inverse modelling of HEM data in the first step requires a precise and efficient technique provided by a forward modelling algorithm. The exact calculation of the sensitivity matrix or Jacobian is also of the utmost importance. As such, the main objective of this study is to design an efficient algorithm for the forward modelling of HEM frequency-domain data for the configuration of horizontal coplanar (HCP coils using fast Hankel transforms (FHTs. An attempt is also made to use an analytical approach to derive the required equations for the Jacobian matrix. To achieve these goals, an elaborated algorithm for the simultaneous calculation of the forward computation and sensitivity matrix is provided. Finally, using two synthetic models, the accuracy of the calculations of the proposed algorithm is verified. A comparison indicates that the obtained results of forward modelling are highly consistent with those reported in Simon et al. (2009 for a four-layer model. Furthermore, the comparison of the results for the sensitivity matrix for a two-layer model with those obtained from software is being used by the BGR Centre in Germany, showing that the proposed algorithm enjoys a high degree of accuracy in calculating this matrix.

  3. Face Image Quality and its Improvement in a Face Detection System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kamal, Nasrollahi; Moeslund, Thomas B.

    2008-01-01

    When a person passes by a surveillance camera a sequence of images is obtained. Most of these images are redundant and usually keeping some of them which have better quality is sufficient. So before performing any analysis on the face of a person, the face at the first step needs to be detected...... we are trying to develop a system to deal with the video sequences in these 3 steps....

  4. A biomechanical investigation of right-forward lunging step among badminton players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mei, Qichang; Gu, Yaodong; Fu, Fengqin; Fernandez, Justin

    2017-03-01

    This study presents the kinematics and plantar pressure characteristics of eight elite national-level badminton athletes and eight recreational college-level badminton players while performing a right-forward lunge movement in a laboratory-simulated badminton court. The hypothesis was that recreational players would be significantly different from elite players in kinematics and plantar pressure measures. Vicon ® motion capture and Novel ® insole plantar pressure measurement were simultaneously taken to record the lower extremity kinematics and foot loading during stance. Recreational players showed significantly higher peak pressure in the lateral forefoot (P = 0.002) and force time integral in the lateral forefoot (P = 0.013) and other toes (P = 0.005). Elite athletes showed higher peak pressure in the medial forefoot (P = 0.003), hallux (P = 0.037) and force time integral in the medial forefoot (P = 0.009). The difference in landing techniques for the lunge step between elite athletes and recreational players was observed with peak ankle eversion (-38.2°±2.4° for athletes and -11.1°±3.9° for players, P = 0.015); smaller knee range of motion in the coronal and transverse planes, with differences in peak knee adduction (28.9°±6.8° for athletes and 15.7°±6.2° for players, P = 0.031); peak knee internal rotation (20.3°±1.3° for athletes and 11.8°±3.2° for players, P = 0.029) and peak hip flexion (77.3°±4.1° for athletes and 91.3°±9.3° for players, P = 0.037).

  5. MASS TRANSFER CONTROL OF A BACKWARD-FACING STEP FLOW BY LOCAL FORCING- EFFECT OF REYNOLDS NUMBER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zouhaier MEHREZ

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The control of fluid mechanics and mass transfer in separated and reattaching flow over a backward-facing step by a local forcing, is studied using Large Eddy Simulation (LES.To control the flow, the local forcing is realized by a sinusoidal oscillating jet at the step edge. The Reynolds number is varied in the range 10000 ≤ Re≤ 50000 and the Schmidt number is fixed at 1.The found results show that the flow structure is modified and the local mass transfer is enhanced by the applied forcing. The observed changes depend on the Reynolds number and vary with the frequency and amplitude of the local forcing. For the all Reynolds numbers, the largest recirculation zone size reduction is obtained at the optimum forcing frequency St = 0.25. At this frequency the local mass transfer enhancement attains the maximum.

  6. Transverse injection into Mach 2 flow behind a rearward-facing step - A 3-D, compressible flow test case for hypersonic combustor CFD validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcdaniel, James C.; Fletcher, Douglas G.; Hartfield, Roy J.; Hollo, Steven D.

    1991-01-01

    A spatially-complete data set of the important primitive flow variables is presented for the complex, nonreacting, 3D unit combustor flow field employing transverse injection into a Mach 2 flow behind a rearward-facing step. A unique wind tunnel facility providing the capability for iodine seeding was built specifically for these measurements. Two optical techniques based on laser-induced-iodine fluorescence were developed and utilized for nonintrusive, in situ flow field measurements. LDA provided both mean and fluctuating velocity component measurements. A thermographic phosphor wall temperature measurement technique was developed and employed. Data from the 2D flow over a rearward-facing step and the complex 3D mixing flow with injection are reported.

  7. Comparison of vortex-element and finite-volume simulations of low Reynolds number flow over a confined backward-facing step

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barber, R.W.; Fonty, A.

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes a novel vortex element method for simulating incompressible laminar flow over a two-dimensional backward-facing step. The model employs an operator-splitting technique to compute the evolution of the vorticity field downstream of abrupt changes in flow geometry. During the advective stage of the computation, a semi-Lagrangian scheme is used to update the positions of the vortex elements, whilst an analytical diffusion algorithm employing Oseen vortices is implemented during the diffusive time step. Redistributing the vorticity analytically instead of using the more traditional random-walk method enables the numerical model to simulate steady flows directly and avoids the need to filter the results to remove the oscillations created by the random-walk procedure. Model validation has been achieved by comparing the length of the recirculating eddy behind a confined backward-facing step against data from experimental and alternative numerical investigations. In addition, results from the vortex element method are compared against predictions obtained using the commercial finite-volume computational fluid dynamics code, CFD-ACE+. The results show that the vortex element scheme marginally overpredicts the length of the downstream recirculating eddy, implying that the method may be associated with an artificial reduction in the vorticity diffusion rate. Nevertheless the results demonstrate that the proposed vortex redistribution scheme provides a practical alternative to traditional random-walk discrete vortex algorithms. (author)

  8. Facial fractures: a 1-year retrospective study in a hospital in Belo Horizonte Fraturas de face: um estudo retrospectivo de 1 ano em um hospital de Belo Horizonte

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Ramos Chrcanovic

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available A retrospective study was performed to assess facial fractures in patients treated at a public hospital in Belo Horizonte, in 2000. The data collected included age, gender, etiology, distribution of maxillofacial trauma considering day of the week and month, anatomic site of the fracture, and treatment. The analyses involved descriptive statistics and chi-squared test, Bonferroni test and analysis of variance. A total of 1,326 facial fractures were found in 911 patients. Most fractures occurred in adults with age ranging from 21 to 30 years. Men were more affected than women, with a male-female ratio of 4.69:1. Accidents causing facial fractures occurred predominantly on weekends. Bicycle and motorcycle accidents were the major cause of trauma, followed by interpersonal violence, automobile accidents, and falls. When the relation between the gender and the etiology of facial fractures was analyzed, a significant relation was noted between these variables (p Um estudo retrospectivo foi realizado para avaliar fraturas faciais em pacientes atendidos no ano de 2000 em um hospital público de Belo Horizonte. As informações coletadas incluíam idade, sexo, etiologia, distribuição do trauma de acordo com o dia da semana e o mês, o local anatômico da fratura e o tratamento. As análises envolveram estatísticas descritivas, teste qui-quadrado, teste Bonferroni e análise de variância. Foram encontradas 1.326 fraturas de face em 911 pacientes. A maioria das fraturas ocorreu em adultos na faixa etária de 21 a 30 anos. Os homens foram mais acometidos do que as mulheres, numa proporção homem:mulher de 4,69:1. Os traumas causadores de fraturas faciais ocorreram predominantemente nos fins de semana. Os acidentes de moto e bicicleta foram a maior causa de trauma, seguidos por violência interpessoal, acidentes automobilísticos e quedas. Quando analisada a relação entre o gênero e a etiologia das fraturas de face, observou-se uma associa

  9. Passive control of coherent structures in a modified backwards-facing step flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormonde, Pedro C.; Cavalieri, André V. G.; Silva, Roberto G. A. da; Avelar, Ana C.

    2018-05-01

    We study a modified backwards-facing step flow, with the addition of two different plates; one is a baseline, impermeable plate and the second a perforated one. An experimental investigation is carried out for a turbulent reattaching shear layer downstream of the two plates. The proposed setup is a model configuration to study how the plate characteristics affect the separated shear layer and how turbulent kinetic energies and large-scale coherent structures are modified. Measurements show that the perforated plate changes the mean flow field, mostly by reducing the intensity of reverse flow close to the bottom wall. Disturbance amplitudes are significantly reduced up to five step heights downstream of the trailing edge of the plate, more specifically in the recirculation region. A loudspeaker is then used to introduce phase-locked, low-amplitude perturbations upstream of the plates, and phase-averaged measurements allow a quantitative study of large-scale structures in the shear-layer. The evolution of such coherent structures is evaluated in light of linear stability theory, comparing the eigenfunction of the Kelvin-Helmholtz mode to the experimental results. We observe a close match of linear-stability eigenfunctions with phase-averaged amplitudes for the two tested Strouhal numbers. The perforated plate is found to reduce the amplitude of the Kelvin-Helmholtz coherent structures in comparison to the baseline, impermeable plate, a behavior consistent with the predicted amplification trends from linear stability.

  10. First-arrival Tomography Using the Double-square-root Equation Solver Stepping in Subsurface Offset

    KAUST Repository

    Serdyukov, A.S.

    2013-01-01

    Double-square-root (DSR) equation can be viewed as a Hamilton-Jacobi equation describing kinematics of downward data continuation in depth. It describes simultaneous propagation of source and receiver rays assuming that they are nowhere horizontal. Thus it is not suitable for describing diving waves. This equation can be rewritten in a new form when stepping is made in subsurface offset instead of depth. In this form it can be used for describing traveltimes of diving waves in prestack seismic data. This equation can be solved using WENO-RK numerical scheme. Prestack traveltimes (for multiple sources) can be computed in one run thus speeding up solution of the forward problem. We derive linearized version of this new DSR equation that can be used for tomographic inversion of first-arrival traveltimes. Here we used a ray-based tomographic inversion consisting of the following steps: get numerical solution of the offset DSR equation in the background velocity model, back trace DSR rays connecting receivers to sources, update velocity model using truncated SVD pseudoinverse. This approach was tested on a synthetic model generating diving waves.

  11. Neurons responsive to face-view in the primate ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romanski, L M; Diehl, M M

    2011-08-25

    Studies have indicated that temporal and prefrontal brain regions process face and vocal information. Face-selective and vocalization-responsive neurons have been demonstrated in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and some prefrontal cells preferentially respond to combinations of face and corresponding vocalizations. These studies suggest VLPFC in nonhuman primates may play a role in communication that is similar to the role of inferior frontal regions in human language processing. If VLPFC is involved in communication, information about a speaker's face including identity, face-view, gaze, and emotional expression might be encoded by prefrontal neurons. In the following study, we examined the effect of face-view in ventrolateral prefrontal neurons by testing cells with auditory, visual, and a set of human and monkey faces rotated through 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and -30°. Prefrontal neurons responded selectively to either the identity of the face presented (human or monkey) or to the specific view of the face/head, or to both identity and face-view. Neurons which were affected by the identity of the face most often showed an increase in firing in the second part of the stimulus period. Neurons that were selective for face-view typically preferred forward face-view stimuli (0° and 30° rotation). The neurons which were selective for forward face-view were also auditory responsive compared to other neurons which responded to other views or were unselective which were not auditory responsive. Our analysis showed that the human forward face (0°) was decoded better and also contained the most information relative to other face-views. Our findings confirm a role for VLPFC in the processing and integration of face and vocalization information and add to the growing body of evidence that the primate ventrolateral prefrontal cortex plays a prominent role in social communication and is an important model in understanding the cellular mechanisms of communication

  12. Identification of a horizontal gauge boson in hadronic collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagneid, A.A.

    2002-01-01

    We compare distributions of leptons produced in hadronic collisions, by a horizontal neutral gauge boson, Z ' , suggested by the Sp(6) L x U(1) Y model, to those produced by other theoretically motivated neutral gauge bosons occurring in left-right symmetric models and in superstring-inspired E 6 models. Forward-backward asymmetries in the gauge boson leptonic decay are found to be sensitive to specific forms of the couplings. The asymmetries are expected to be maximal for Z ' , distinguishing it from the other Z's. (orig.)

  13. A horizontal gene transfer at the origin of phenylpropanoid metabolism: a key adaptation of plants to land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gribaldo Simonetta

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The pioneering ancestor of land plants that conquered terrestrial habitats around 500 million years ago had to face dramatic stresses including UV radiation, desiccation, and microbial attack. This drove a number of adaptations, among which the emergence of the phenylpropanoid pathway was crucial, leading to essential compounds such as flavonoids and lignin. However, the origin of this specific land plant secondary metabolism has not been clarified. Results We have performed an extensive analysis of the taxonomic distribution and phylogeny of Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase (PAL, which catalyses the first and essential step of the general phenylpropanoid pathway, leading from phenylalanine to p-Coumaric acid and p-Coumaroyl-CoA, the entry points of the flavonoids and lignin routes. We obtained robust evidence that the ancestor of land plants acquired a PAL via horizontal gene transfer (HGT during symbioses with soil bacteria and fungi that are known to have established very early during the first steps of land colonization. This horizontally acquired PAL represented then the basis for further development of the phenylpropanoid pathway and plant radiation on terrestrial environments. Conclusion Our results highlight a possible crucial role of HGT from soil bacteria in the path leading to land colonization by plants and their subsequent evolution. The few functional characterizations of sediment/soil bacterial PAL (production of secondary metabolites with powerful antimicrobial activity or production of pigments suggest that the initial advantage of this horizontally acquired PAL in the ancestor of land plants might have been either defense against an already developed microbial community and/or protection against UV. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Purificación López-García, Janet Siefert, and Eugene Koonin.

  14. Proposal for a forward spectrometer at the 4π detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berdermann, E.; Luehning, J.; Lynen, U.; Milkau, U.; Mueller, K.; Sann, H.; Stelzer, H.; Trautmann, W.; Kreutz, P.; Kuehmichel, A.; Pinkenburg, C.; Pochodzalla, J.; Moretto, L.; Mueller, W.F.J.; Wozniak, G.; Imme, G.; Raciti, G.; Adloff, G.C.; Bilwes, B.; Bilwes, R.; Michel, M.; Masse, C.; Rudolf, G.; Scheibling, F.; Stuttge, L.

    1988-03-01

    We propose to complement the 4π detector to be installed at the SIS-ESR facility with a forward spectrometer (ALADiN) capable of detecting and identifying nuclear fragments up to the largest masses and momenta expected at SIS. Positioned behind the time-of-flight wall of the 4π detector the spectrometer should subtend an angular range of approximately ±5 0 in horizontal and at least ±2 0 in vertical direction and thus cover a sufficiently large part of the forward region. In order to satisfy these requirements and to obtain the necessary resolution in mass and momentum the dipole magnet needs, at least, a gap height of 0.5 m, a horizontal acceptance of 1.5 m and a bending power of 2 Tm. The following sections of this proposal start out with a more detailed presentation of the physics motivation which will concentrate on multifragmentation as a new and hitherto unexplored decay mode of nuclear matter under extreme conditions. The description of the spectrometer divides into three sections containing the description of the magnet and the vacuum system, of the detectors needed to track and to identify the fragments, and of the performance of the spectrometer. (orig./HSI)

  15. Store and forward teledermatology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kanthraj Garehatty

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Store and forward and real time or videoconferences are the two types of teledermatology services practiced. Dermatology and radio-diagnosis are visual specialties suited for store-and-forward teledermatology (SAFT. Advances in information technology, electronic instruments and biotechnology have revolutionized and brought changes in SAFT. Cellular phone, digital camera, personal digital assistants, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max and computer- aided-design software are incorporated to deliver the quality health care to remote geographic regions. Complete SAFT care equivalent to face-to-face consultation (Gold standard is essential. Health care providers in rural areas are the ′eyes′ for the consultants. Consultants to guide them should have a rapid periodic audit of visual parameters and dimensions of lesions. Given this background, this article reviews advances in 1 capture, store and transfer of images. 2 Computer Aided measurements of generalized and localized lesions and 3 the integration model to meet all the above two requirements in a centralized location. This process enables diagnosis, management, periodic assessment and complete follow-up care to achieve patient and physician satisfaction. Preservation of privacy and confidentiality of digital images is important. Uniform rules and regulations are required. Indian space research organization (ISRO, Government of India has demonstrated telemedicine pilot projects utilizing the satellite communication and mobile telemedicine units to be useful in meeting the health care needs of remote and rural India. we have to join hands with them to meet dermatology problems in rural areas.

  16. Human vertical eye movement responses to earth horizontal pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wall, C. 3rd; Petropoulos, A. E.

    1993-01-01

    The vertical eye movements in humans produced in response to head-over-heels constant velocity pitch rotation about a horizontal axis resemble those from other species. At 60 degrees/s these are persistent and tend to have non-reversing slow components that are compensatory to the direction of rotation. In most, but not all subjects, the slow component velocity was well characterized by a rapid build-up followed by an exponential decay to a non-zero baseline. Super-imposed was a cyclic or modulation component whose frequency corresponded to the time for one revolution and whose maximum amplitude occurred during a specific head orientation. All response components (exponential decay, baseline and modulation) were larger during pitch backward compared to pitch forward runs. Decay time constants were shorter during the backward runs, thus, unlike left to right yaw axis rotation, pitch responses display significant asymmetries between paired forward and backward runs.

  17. Alignment-related Effects in Forward Proton Experiments at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Staszewski, R.; Korcyl, K.; Trzebiński, M.

    2015-11-21

    The activity in the field of difractive physics at the Large Hadron Collider has been constantly increasing. This includes the planning for additional dedicated apparatus -- horizontal forward proton detectors. This work focusses on the problems related to the alignment of such detectors. The effects of the misalignment of the detectors on their geometric acceptance and the proton kinematics reconstruction is studied. The requirements for the alignment precision is inferred for different types of possible measurements.

  18. Attention Misplaced: The Role of Diagnostic Features in the Face-Inversion Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hills, Peter J.; Ross, David A.; Lewis, Michael B.

    2011-01-01

    Inversion disproportionately impairs recognition of face stimuli compared to nonface stimuli arguably due to the holistic manner in which faces are processed. A qualification is put forward in which the first point fixated on is different for upright and inverted faces and this carries some of the face-inversion effect. Three experiments explored…

  19. High precision automated face localization in thermal images: oral cancer dataset as test case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, M.; Raman, S. K.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Patsa, S.; Anjum, N.; Ray, J. G.

    2017-02-01

    Automated face detection is the pivotal step in computer vision aided facial medical diagnosis and biometrics. This paper presents an automatic, subject adaptive framework for accurate face detection in the long infrared spectrum on our database for oral cancer detection consisting of malignant, precancerous and normal subjects of varied age group. Previous works on oral cancer detection using Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging(DITI) reveals that patients and normal subjects differ significantly in their facial thermal distribution. Therefore, it is a challenging task to formulate a completely adaptive framework to veraciously localize face from such a subject specific modality. Our model consists of first extracting the most probable facial regions by minimum error thresholding followed by ingenious adaptive methods to leverage the horizontal and vertical projections of the segmented thermal image. Additionally, the model incorporates our domain knowledge of exploiting temperature difference between strategic locations of the face. To our best knowledge, this is the pioneering work on detecting faces in thermal facial images comprising both patients and normal subjects. Previous works on face detection have not specifically targeted automated medical diagnosis; face bounding box returned by those algorithms are thus loose and not apt for further medical automation. Our algorithm significantly outperforms contemporary face detection algorithms in terms of commonly used metrics for evaluating face detection accuracy. Since our method has been tested on challenging dataset consisting of both patients and normal subjects of diverse age groups, it can be seamlessly adapted in any DITI guided facial healthcare or biometric applications.

  20. Modeling human faces with multi-image photogrammetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Apuzzo, Nicola

    2002-03-01

    Modeling and measurement of the human face have been increasing by importance for various purposes. Laser scanning, coded light range digitizers, image-based approaches and digital stereo photogrammetry are the used methods currently employed in medical applications, computer animation, video surveillance, teleconferencing and virtual reality to produce three dimensional computer models of the human face. Depending on the application, different are the requirements. Ours are primarily high accuracy of the measurement and automation in the process. The method presented in this paper is based on multi-image photogrammetry. The equipment, the method and results achieved with this technique are here depicted. The process is composed of five steps: acquisition of multi-images, calibration of the system, establishment of corresponding points in the images, computation of their 3-D coordinates and generation of a surface model. The images captured by five CCD cameras arranged in front of the subject are digitized by a frame grabber. The complete system is calibrated using a reference object with coded target points, which can be measured fully automatically. To facilitate the establishment of correspondences in the images, texture in the form of random patterns can be projected from two directions onto the face. The multi-image matching process, based on a geometrical constrained least squares matching algorithm, produces a dense set of corresponding points in the five images. Neighborhood filters are then applied on the matching results to remove the errors. After filtering the data, the three-dimensional coordinates of the matched points are computed by forward intersection using the results of the calibration process; the achieved mean accuracy is about 0.2 mm in the sagittal direction and about 0.1 mm in the lateral direction. The last step of data processing is the generation of a surface model from the point cloud and the application of smooth filters. Moreover, a

  1. Conjugate Heat Transfer Characteristics of Laminar Flows Through a Backward Facing Step Duct

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bayram CELİK

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Present study investigates the effects of solid to fluid conductivity ratio, Prandtl and Reynolds numbers, and solid wall thickness on conjugate heat transfer for a backward facing step duct with a conductive solid bottom wall. Although Kanna and Das performed a case study in 2006 for the same problem, the benchmark studies conducted later including the present one revealed that their results are arguable. Ramsak states in a study “Professor Kanna has confirmed in personal communication that their results are probably wrong”. The temperature and Nusselt number variations along the solid-fluid interface presented here are in excellent agreement with those obtained by Ramsak. The analyses presented here reveal that even though the decrease in Pr and the increase in solid to fluid conductivity ratio have similar global influence with the thinning wall on the interface temperature, the influence of the former parameters are limited in recirculation zone.

  2. Alignment-related effects in forward proton experiments at the LHC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Staszewski, R., E-mail: Rafal.Staszewski@ifj.edu.pl; Chwastowski, J., E-mail: Janusz.Chwastowski@ifj.edu.pl; Korcyl, K., E-mail: Krzysztof.Korcyl@ifj.edu.pl; Trzebiński, M., E-mail: Maciej.Trzebinski@ifj.edu.pl

    2015-11-21

    The activity in the field of diffractive physics at the Large Hadron Collider has been constantly increasing. This includes the planning for additional dedicated apparatus – horizontal forward proton detectors. This work focuses on the problems related to the alignment of such devices. The effects of the misalignment of the detectors on their geometric acceptance and on the reconstruction of the proton kinematics are studied. The requirements for the alignment precision are inferred for different types of possible measurements.

  3. Step edge influence on barrier height and contact area in vertical heterojunctions between epitaxial graphene and n-type 4H-SiC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tadjer, M. J.; Nyakiti, L. O.; Robinson, Z.; Anderson, T. J.; Myers-Ward, R. L.; Wheeler, V. D.; Eddy, C. R.; Gaskill, D. K.; Koehler, A. D.; Hobart, K. D.; Kub, F. J.

    2014-01-01

    Vertical rectifying contacts of epitaxial graphene grown by Si sublimation on the Si-face of 4H-SiC epilayers were investigated. Forward bias preferential conduction through the step edges was correlated by linear current density normalization. This phenomenon was observed on samples with 2.7–5.8 monolayers of epitaxial graphene as determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A modified Richardson plot was implemented to extract the barrier height (0.81 eV at 290 K, 0.99 eV at 30 K) and the electrically dominant SiC step length of a Ti/Al contact overlapping a known region of approximately 0.52 μm wide SiC terraces

  4. Numerical simulation of a backward-facing step flow in a microchannel with external electric field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing-He Yao

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A backward-facing step flow in the microchannel with external electric field was investigated numerically by a high-order accuracy upwind compact difference scheme in this work. The Poisson–Boltzmann and Navier–Stokes equations were computed by the high-order scheme, and the results confirmed the ability of the new solver in simulation of micro-scale electric double layer effects. The flow fields were displayed for different Reynolds numbers; the positions of the vortex saddle point of model with external electric field and model without external electric field were compared. The average velocity increases linearly with the electric field intensity; however, the Joule heating effects cannot be neglected when the electric field intensity increases to a certain level.

  5. A special purpose knowledge-based face localization method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassanat, Ahmad; Jassim, Sabah

    2008-04-01

    This paper is concerned with face localization for visual speech recognition (VSR) system. Face detection and localization have got a great deal of attention in the last few years, because it is an essential pre-processing step in many techniques that handle or deal with faces, (e.g. age, face, gender, race and visual speech recognition). We shall present an efficient method for localization human's faces in video images captured on mobile constrained devices, under a wide variation in lighting conditions. We use a multiphase method that may include all or some of the following steps starting with image pre-processing, followed by a special purpose edge detection, then an image refinement step. The output image will be passed through a discrete wavelet decomposition procedure, and the computed LL sub-band at a certain level will be transformed into a binary image that will be scanned by using a special template to select a number of possible candidate locations. Finally, we fuse the scores from the wavelet step with scores determined by color information for the candidate location and employ a form of fuzzy logic to distinguish face from non-face locations. We shall present results of large number of experiments to demonstrate that the proposed face localization method is efficient and achieve high level of accuracy that outperforms existing general-purpose face detection methods.

  6. A causal relationship between face-patch activity and face-detection behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadagopan, Srivatsun; Zarco, Wilbert; Freiwald, Winrich A

    2017-04-04

    The primate brain contains distinct areas densely populated by face-selective neurons. One of these, face-patch ML, contains neurons selective for contrast relationships between face parts. Such contrast-relationships can serve as powerful heuristics for face detection. However, it is unknown whether neurons with such selectivity actually support face-detection behavior. Here, we devised a naturalistic face-detection task and combined it with fMRI-guided pharmacological inactivation of ML to test whether ML is of critical importance for real-world face detection. We found that inactivation of ML impairs face detection. The effect was anatomically specific, as inactivation of areas outside ML did not affect face detection, and it was categorically specific, as inactivation of ML impaired face detection while sparing body and object detection. These results establish that ML function is crucial for detection of faces in natural scenes, performing a critical first step on which other face processing operations can build.

  7. Phylogenetic detection of horizontal gene transfer during the step-wise genesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Turenne Christine

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the past decade, the availability of complete genome sequence data has greatly facilitated comparative genomic research aimed at addressing genetic variability within species. More recently, analysis across species has become feasible, especially in genera where genome sequencing projects of multiple species have been initiated. To understand the genesis of the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis within a genus where the majority of species are harmless environmental organisms, we have used genome sequence data from 16 mycobacteria to look for evidence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT associated with the emergence of pathogenesis. First, using multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA of 20 housekeeping genes across these species, we derived a phylogeny that serves as the basis for HGT assignments. Next, we performed alignment searches for the 3989 proteins of M. tuberculosis H37Rv against 15 other mycobacterial genomes, generating a matrix of 59835 comparisons, to look for genetic elements that were uniquely found in M. tuberculosis and closely-related pathogenic mycobacteria. To assign when foreign genes were likely acquired, we designed a bioinformatic program called mycoHIT (mycobacterial homologue investigation tool to analyze these data in conjunction with the MLSA-based phylogeny. Results The bioinformatic screen predicted that 137 genes had been acquired by HGT at different phylogenetic strata; these included genes coding for metabolic functions and modification of mycobacterial lipids. For the majority of these genes, corroborating evidence of HGT was obtained, such as presence of phage or plasmid, and an aberrant GC%. Conclusion M. tuberculosis emerged through vertical inheritance along with the step-wise addition of genes acquired via HGT events, a process that may more generally describe the evolution of other pathogens.

  8. Learning PrimeFaces extensions development

    CERN Document Server

    Jonna, Sudheer

    2014-01-01

    This book provides a step by step approach that explains the most important extension components and their features. All the major features are explained by using the JobHub application with supporting screenshots.If you are an intermediate to advanced level user (or developer) who already has a basic working knowledge of PrimeFaces, then this book is for you.The only thing you need to know is Java Server Faces(JSF).

  9. The influence of air-filled structures on wave propagation and beam formation of a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) in horizontal and vertical planes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Zhongchang; Zhang, Yu; Thornton, Steven W; Li, Songhai; Dong, Jianchen

    2017-10-01

    The wave propagation, sound field, and transmission beam pattern of a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) were investigated in both the horizontal and vertical planes. Results suggested that the signals obtained at both planes were similarly characterized with a high peak frequency and a relatively narrow bandwidth, close to the ones recorded from live animals. The sound beam measured outside the head in the vertical plane was narrower than that of the horizontal one. Cases with different combinations of air-filled structures in both planes were used to study the respective roles in controlling wave propagation and beam formation. The wave propagations and beam patterns in the horizontal and vertical planes elucidated the important reflection effect of the spermaceti and vocal chambers on sound waves, which was highly significant in forming intensive forward sound beams. The air-filled structures, the forehead soft tissues and skull structures formed wave guides in these two planes for emitted sounds to propagate forward.

  10. Position Paper: Moving Task-Based Language Teaching Forward

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Rod

    2017-01-01

    The advocacy of task-based language teaching (TBLT) has met with resistance. The critiques of TBLT and the misconceptions that underlie them have already been addressed in Ellis (2009) and Long (2016). The purpose of this article is to move forward by examining a number of real problems that TBLT faces--such as how a "task" should be…

  11. Influences of mechanical pretreatment on the non-biological treatment of municipal wastewater by forward osmosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hey, Tobias; Zarebska, Agata; Bajraktari, Niada; Vogel, Jörg; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus; la Cour Jansen, Jes; Jönsson, Karin

    2017-09-01

    Municipal wastewater treatment involves mechanical, biological and chemical treatment steps for protecting the environment from adverse effects. The biological treatment step consumes the most energy and can create greenhouse gases. This study investigates municipal wastewater treatment without the biological treatment step, including the effects of different pretreatment configurations, for example, direct membrane filtration before forward osmosis. Forward osmosis was tested using raw wastewater and wastewater subjected to different types of mechanical pretreatment, for example, microsieving and microfiltration permeation, as a potential technology for municipal wastewater treatment. Forward osmosis was performed using Aquaporin Inside™ and Hydration Technologies Inc. (HTI) membranes with NaCl as the draw solution. Both types of forward osmosis membranes were tested in parallel for the different types of pretreated feed and evaluated in terms of water flux and solute rejection, that is, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 7 ) and total and soluble phosphorus contents. The Aquaporin and HTI membranes achieved a stable water flux with rejection rates of more than 96% for BOD 7 and total and soluble phosphorus, regardless of the type of mechanical pretreated wastewater considered. This result indicates that forward osmosis membranes can tolerate exposure to municipal waste water and that the permeate can fulfil the Swedish discharge limits.

  12. Patellar tendon properties distinguish elite from non-elite soccer players and are related to peak horizontal but not vertical power.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murtagh, Conall F; Stubbs, Michael; Vanrenterghem, Jos; O'Boyle, Andrew; Morgans, Ryland; Drust, Barry; Erskine, Robert M

    2018-06-02

    To investigate potential differences in patellar tendon properties between elite and non-elite soccer players, and to establish whether tendon properties were related to power assessed during unilateral jumps performed in different directions. Elite (n = 16; age 18.1 ± 1.0 years) and non-elite (n = 13; age 22.3 ± 2.7 years) soccer players performed vertical, horizontal-forward and medial unilateral countermovement jumps (CMJs) on a force plate. Patellar tendon (PT) cross-sectional area, elongation, strain, stiffness, and Young's modulus (measured at the highest common force interval) were assessed with ultrasonography and isokinetic dynamometry. Elite demonstrated greater PT elongation (6.83 ± 1.87 vs. 4.92 ± 1.88 mm, P = 0.011) and strain (11.73 ± 3.25 vs. 8.38 ± 3.06%, P = 0.009) than non-elite soccer players. Projectile range and peak horizontal power during horizontal-forward CMJ correlated positively with tendon elongation (r = 0.657 and 0.693, P < 0.001) but inversely with Young's modulus (r = - 0.376 and - 0.402; P = 0.044 and 0.031). Peak medial power during medial CMJ correlated positively with tendon elongation (r = 0.658, P < 0.001) but inversely with tendon stiffness (r = - 0.368, P = 0.050). Not only does a more compliant patellar tendon appear to be an indicator of elite soccer playing status but it may also facilitate unilateral horizontal-forward and medial, but not vertical CMJ performance. These findings should be considered when prescribing talent selection and development protocols related to direction-specific power in elite soccer players.

  13. Air stepping in response to optic flows that move Toward and Away from the neonate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbu-Roth, Marianne; Anderson, David I; Desprès, Adeline; Streeter, Ryan J; Cabrol, Dominique; Trujillo, Michael; Campos, Joseph J; Provasi, Joëlle

    2014-07-01

    To shed further light on the perceptual regulation of newborn stepping, we compared neonatal air stepping in response to optic flows simulating forward or backward displacement with stepping forward on a surface. Twenty-two 3-day-olds performed four 60 s trials in which they stepped forward on a table (Tactile) or in the air in response to a pattern that moved toward (Toward) or away (Away) from them or was static (Static). Significantly more steps were taken in the Tactile and Toward conditions than the Static condition. The Away condition was intermediate to the other conditions. The knee joint activity across the entire trial was significantly greater in the Toward than the Away condition. Within-limb kinematics and between-limb coordination were very similar for steps taken in the air and on the table, particularly in the Toward and Tactile conditions. These findings highlight that visual and tactile stimulation can equally elicit neonatal stepping. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Method for explosive expansion toward horizontal free faces for forming an in situ oil shale retort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricketts, Thomas E.

    1980-01-01

    Formation is excavated from within a retort site in formation containing oil shale for forming a plurality of vertically spaced apart voids extending horizontally across different levels of the retort site, leaving a separate zone of unfragmented formation between each pair of adjacent voids. Explosive is placed in each zone, and such explosive is detonated in a single round for forming an in situ retort containing a fragmented permeable mass of formation particles containing oil shale. The same amount of formation is explosively expanded upwardly and downwardly toward each void. A horizontal void excavated at a production level has a smaller horizontal cross-sectional area than a void excavated at a lower level of the retort site immediately above the production level void. Explosive in a first group of vertical blast holes is detonated for explosively expanding formation downwardly toward the lower void, and explosive in a second group of vertical blast holes is detonated in the same round for explosively expanding formation upwardly toward the lower void and downwardly toward the production level void for forming a generally T-shaped bottom of the fragmented mass.

  15. Dissociation of face-selective cortical responses by attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furey, Maura L; Tanskanen, Topi; Beauchamp, Michael S; Avikainen, Sari; Uutela, Kimmo; Hari, Riitta; Haxby, James V

    2006-01-24

    We studied attentional modulation of cortical processing of faces and houses with functional MRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG). MEG detected an early, transient face-selective response. Directing attention to houses in "double-exposure" pictures of superimposed faces and houses strongly suppressed the characteristic, face-selective functional MRI response in the fusiform gyrus. By contrast, attention had no effect on the M170, the early, face-selective response detected with MEG. Late (>190 ms) category-related MEG responses elicited by faces and houses, however, were strongly modulated by attention. These results indicate that hemodynamic and electrophysiological measures of face-selective cortical processing complement each other. The hemodynamic signals reflect primarily late responses that can be modulated by feedback connections. By contrast, the early, face-specific M170 that was not modulated by attention likely reflects a rapid, feed-forward phase of face-selective processing.

  16. Effects of Current Forward Market Intervention in the Korean Currency Crisis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Woosik Moon

    2001-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the effect of the exchange market interventions of the Bank of Korea on the exchange rate of Korean won vis-a-vis US dollar during the 1997 currency crisis. In particular, this paper tests the effects of spot and forward market interventions, using daily intervention data of the Bank of Korea. During the 1997 period, Korea faced two series of crisis in January-March and September-November. It turns out that the spot market intervention was effective in stabilizing the spot market exchange rate at least during the first crisis period. In contrast, there seemed no effect of the forward market intervention. Forward market intervention was rather destabilizing through forward exchange rate during the second crisis period. This implies that even though the forward and sterilized spot market interventions are equivalent in their effect on exchange rate, these two instruments can widely diverge from each other under the circumstances of exchange rate volatility and speculation.

  17. Do lightning positive leaders really "step"?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, D.

    2015-12-01

    It has been known for some time that positive leaders exhibit impulsive charge motion and optical emissions as they extend. However, laboratory and field observations have not produced any evidence of a process analogous to the space leader mechanism of negative leader extension. Instead, observations have suggested that the positive leader tip undergoes a continuous to intermittent series of corona streamer bursts, each burst resulting in a small forward extension of the positive leader channel. Traditionally, it has been held that lightning positive leaders extend in a continuous or quasi-continuous fashion. Lately, however, many have become concerned that this position is incongruous with observations of impulsive activity during lightning positive leader extension. It is increasingly suggested that this impulsive activity is evidence that positive leaders also undergo "stepping". There are two issues that must be addressed. The first issue concerns whether or not the physical processes underlying impulsive extension in negative and positive leaders are distinct. We argue that these processes are in fact physically distinct, and offer new high-speed video evidence to support this position. The second issue regards the proper use of the term "step" as an identifier for the impulsive forward extension of a leader. Traditional use of this term has been applied only to negative leaders, due primarily to their stronger impulsive charge motions and photographic evidence of clearly discontinuous forward progression of the luminous channel. Recently, due to the increasing understanding of the distinct "space leader" process of negative leader extension, the term "step" has increasingly come to be associated with the space leader process itself. Should this emerging association, "step" = space leader attachment, be canonized? If not, then it seems reasonable to use the term "step" to describe impulsive positive leader extension. If, however, we do wish to associate the

  18. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management

    CERN Document Server

    Verzuh, Eric

    2011-01-01

    An updated and revised edition of the bestselling guide to managing projects For any professional responsible for coordinating projects among different departments, across executive levels, or with technical complexity, The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management offers comprehensive instruction on how to deliver on time and on budget. Get the step-by-step advice you need to find the right sponsor, clarify objectives, and set realistic schedules and budget projections. This Fourth Edition of the 200,000-copy bestseller now covers critical new topics including: software and IT projects, agile te

  19. Transfer-Efficient Face Routing Using the Planar Graphs of Neighbors in High Density WSNs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eun-Seok Cho

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Face routing has been adopted in wireless sensor networks (WSNs where topological changes occur frequently or maintaining full network information is difficult. For message forwarding in networks, a planar graph is used to prevent looping, and because long edges are removed by planarization and the resulting planar graph is composed of short edges, and messages are forwarded along multiple nodes connected by them even though they can be forwarded directly. To solve this, face routing using information on all nodes within 2-hop range was adopted to forward messages directly to the farthest node within radio range. However, as the density of the nodes increases, network performance plunges because message transfer nodes receive and process increased node information. To deal with this problem, we propose a new face routing using the planar graphs of neighboring nodes to improve transfer efficiency. It forwards a message directly to the farthest neighbor and reduces loads and processing time by distributing network graph construction and planarization to the neighbors. It also decreases the amount of location information to be transmitted by sending information on the planar graph nodes rather than on all neighboring nodes. Simulation results show that it significantly improves transfer efficiency.

  20. Validity, Sensitivity, and Responsiveness of the 11-Face Faces Pain Scale to Postoperative Pain in Adult Orthopedic Surgery Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Giang, Nguyen; Chiu, Hsiao-Yean; Thai, Duong Hong; Kuo, Shu-Yu; Tsai, Pei-Shan

    2015-10-01

    Pain is common in patients after orthopedic surgery. The 11-face Faces Pain Scale has not been validated for use in adult patients with postoperative pain. To assess the validity of the 11-face Faces Pain Scale and its ability to detect responses to pain medications, and to determine whether the sensitivity of the 11-face Faces Pain Scale for detecting changes in pain intensity over time is associated with gender differences in adult postorthopedic surgery patients. The 11-face Faces Pain Scale was translated into Vietnamese using forward and back translation. Postoperative pain was assessed using an 11-point numerical rating scale and the 11-face Faces Pain Scale on the day of surgery, and before (Time 1) and every 30 minutes after (Times 2-5) the patients had taken pain medications on the first postoperative day. The 11-face Faces Pain Scale highly correlated with the numerical rating scale (r = 0.78, p Scale is appropriate for measuring acute postoperative pain in adults. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Comprehensive Approach to Verification and Validation of CFD Simulations Applied to Backward Facing Step-Application of CFD Uncertainty Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groves, Curtis E.; LLie, Marcel; Shallhorn, Paul A.

    2012-01-01

    There are inherent uncertainties and errors associated with using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to predict the flow field and there is no standard method for evaluating uncertainty in the CFD community. This paper describes an approach to -validate the . uncertainty in using CFD. The method will use the state of the art uncertainty analysis applying different turbulence niodels and draw conclusions on which models provide the least uncertainty and which models most accurately predict the flow of a backward facing step.

  2. Fundamental changes to EPA's research enterprise: the path forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anastas, Paul T

    2012-01-17

    Environmental protection in the United States has reached a critical juncture. It has become clear that to address the complex and interrelated environmental challenges we face, we must augment our traditional approaches. The scientific community must build upon its deep understanding of risk assessment, risk management, and reductionism with tools, technologies, insights and approaches to pursue sustainability. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized this need for systemic change by implementing a new research paradigm called "The Path Forward." This paper outlines the principles of the Path Forward and the actions taken since 2010 to align EPA's research efforts with the goal of sustainability.

  3. Accuracy of Single Periapical Radiography in Diagnosis of Horizontal Root Fracture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fazlolah Soleymani Najafabadi

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Radiographic examination is a necessary step in diagnosis of horizontal root fracture. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of single radiograph for detection of horizontal root fracture. Materials and Methods: In this analytical-descriptive study, 30 human freshly extracted teeth were used. Using a hammer and clamp, the teeth were divided into two sections accidentally and then sections were attached together by cyanoacrylate glue. Two radiographs were taken; with and without a piece of human mandibular bone. Afterward, radiographs were analyzed by three expert dentists using a slide show device. Results: The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of single radiograph for detection of horizontal root fracture without bone was 100%, but in radiographs of teeth with bone was 82.7% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, in most cases, the horizontal root fractures can be detected by a single periapical radiograph.

  4. Single-step digital backpropagation for nonlinearity mitigation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Secondini, Marco; Rommel, Simon; Meloni, Gianluca

    2015-01-01

    Nonlinearity mitigation based on the enhanced split-step Fourier method (ESSFM) for the implementation of low-complexity digital backpropagation (DBP) is investigated and experimentally demonstrated. After reviewing the main computational aspects of DBP and of the conventional split-step Fourier...... in the computational complexity, power consumption, and latency with respect to a simple feed-forward equalizer for bulk dispersion compensation....

  5. PIMS (Positioning In Macular hole Surgery) trial - a multicentre interventional comparative randomised controlled clinical trial comparing face-down positioning, with an inactive face-forward position on the outcome of surgery for large macular holes: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasu, Saruban; Bunce, Catey; Hooper, Richard; Thomson, Ann; Bainbridge, James

    2015-11-17

    Idiopathic macular holes are an important cause of blindness. They have an annual incidence of 8 per 100,000 individuals, and prevalence of 0.2 to 3.3 per 1000 individuals with visual impairment. The condition occurs more frequently in adults aged 75 years or older. Macular holes can be repaired by surgery in which the causative tractional forces in the eye are released and a temporary bubble of gas is injected. To promote successful hole closure individuals may be advised to maintain a face-down position for up to 10 days following surgery. The aim of this study is to determine whether advice to position face-down improves the surgical success rate of closure of large (>400 μm) macular holes, and thereby reduces the need for further surgery. This will be a multicentre interventional, comparative randomised controlled clinical trial comparing face-down positioning with face-forward positioning. At the conclusion of standardised surgery across all sites, participants still eligible for inclusion will be allocated randomly 1:1 to 1 of the 2 treatment arms stratified by site, using random permuted blocks of size 4 or 6 in equal proportions. We will recruit 192 participants having surgery for large macular holes (>400 μm); 96 in each of the 2 arms of the study. The primary objective is to determine the impact of face-down positioning on the likelihood of closure of large (≥400 μm) full-thickness macular holes following surgery. This will be the first multicentre randomised control trial to investigate the value of face-down positioning following macular hole standardised surgery. UK CRN: 17966 (date of registration 26 November 2014).

  6. Kinematic Adaptations of Forward and Backward Walking on Land and in Water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cadenas-Sanchez Cristina

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to compare sagittal plane lower limb kinematics during walking on land and submerged to the hip in water. Eight healthy adults (age 22.1 ± 1.1 years, body height 174.8 ± 7.1 cm, body mass 63.4 ± 6.2 kg were asked to cover a distance of 10 m at comfortable speed with controlled step frequency, walking forward or backward. Sagittal plane lower limb kinematics were obtained from three dimensional video analysis to compare spatiotemporal gait parameters and joint angles at selected events using two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Key findings were a reduced walking speed, stride length, step length and a support phase in water, and step length asymmetry was higher compared to the land condition (p<0.05. At initial contact, knees and hips were more flexed during walking forward in water, whilst, ankles were more dorsiflexed during walking backward in water. At final stance, knees and ankles were more flexed during forward walking, whilst the hip was more flexed during backward walking. These results show how walking in water differs from walking on land, and provide valuable insights into the development and prescription of rehabilitation and training programs.

  7. An autostratigraphic view of the long-term dynamics of delta distributary channels: A new step forward with the grade index model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naruse, H.; Muto, T.

    2017-12-01

    Autostratigraphy is the stratigraphy that is generated by large-scale, deterministic autogenic processes of depositional systems, based on the full recognition of non-equilibrium behavior in response to steady external forcing. Recent experimental studies to explore the effects of basin water depth on the dynamics of distributary channels have brought a new geometrical scheme, here referred to as the grade index model, which is expected to make a significant step forward for development of the autostratigraphy of river deltas. Grade index (0 ≤ Gindex ≤1) is a dimensionless number that describes how close the alluvial river is to a graded state and is given as the ratio of subaerial allocation of the supplied sediment to both subaerial and subaqueous allocation of the sediment, in the form of a function of dimensionless basin water depth (h*). The grade index model for a particular geometrical setting suggests that as h* increase toward +∞, all of dimensionless magnitudes of delta progradation rate (Rpro*), alluvial aggradation rate (Ragg*), channel migration rate (Rmig*), avulsion frequency decrease toward 0, and all of dimensionless timescales of channel shifting (τs*), recurrence of channels (τr*), channel avulsion (τA*) increase toward +∞, and also that Rpro* = Ragg* = Rmig* = fA* = (τs*)-1 = (τr*)-1 = (τA* )-1 = Gindex. This grade index model, despite its simple structure, offers deep insight into the rationale of shoreline autoretreat, a typical large-scale, deterministic autogenic process that is realized by non-equilibrium response to steady base level rise. A simple geometrical modeling leads to a finding that Ppro* = (1 - Ab*) Gindex, where Ab* is a dimensionless form of the bottom surface of the deltaic deposit (Ab) given by dividing Ab with the square of autostratigraphic length scale (Λ). As the delta grows with base level rise, Ab progressively increases and then inevitably meets an event that Ab* exceeds 1 (i.e. Ab exceeds Λ2). We also

  8. Research Data Management at the University of Warwick: recent steps towards a joined-up approach at a UK university

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenny Delasalle

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper charts the steps taken and possible ways forward for the University of Warwick in its approach to research data management, providing a typical example of a UK research university’s approach in two strands: requirements and support. The UK government approach and funding landscape in relation to research data management provided drivers for the University of Warwick to set requirements and provide support, and examples of good practice at other institutions, support from a central national body (the UK Digital Curation Centre and learning from other universities’ experiences all proved valuable to the University of Warwick. Through interviews with researchers at Warwick, various issues and challenges are revealed: perhaps the biggest immediate challenges for Warwick going forward are overcoming scepticism amongst researchers, overcoming costs, and understanding the implications of involving third party companies in research data management. Building technical infrastructure could sit alongside and beyond those immediate steps and beyond the challenges that face one University are those that affect academia as a whole. Researchers and university administrators need to work together to address the broader challenges, such as the accessibility of data for future use and the reward for researchers who practice data management in exemplary ways, and indeed it may be that a wider, national or international but disciplinary technical infrastructure affects what an individual university needs to achieve. As we take these steps, universities and institutions are all learning from each other.

  9. Real-time teleophthalmology versus face-to-face consultation: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Irene J; Dobson, Lucy P; Bartnik, Stephen; Muir, Josephine; Turner, Angus W

    2017-08-01

    Introduction Advances in imaging capabilities and the evolution of real-time teleophthalmology have the potential to provide increased coverage to areas with limited ophthalmology services. However, there is limited research assessing the diagnostic accuracy of face-to-face teleophthalmology consultation. This systematic review aims to determine if real-time teleophthalmology provides comparable accuracy to face-to-face consultation for the diagnosis of common eye health conditions. Methods A search of PubMed, Embase, Medline and Cochrane databases and manual citation review was conducted on 6 February and 7 April 2016. Included studies involved real-time telemedicine in the field of ophthalmology or optometry, and assessed diagnostic accuracy against gold-standard face-to-face consultation. The revised quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2) tool assessed risk of bias. Results Twelve studies were included, with participants ranging from four to 89 years old. A broad number of conditions were assessed and include corneal and retinal pathologies, strabismus, oculoplastics and post-operative review. Quality assessment identified a high or unclear risk of bias in patient selection (75%) due to an undisclosed recruitment processes. The index test showed high risk of bias in the included studies, due to the varied interpretation and conduct of real-time teleophthalmology methods. Reference standard risk was overall low (75%), as was the risk due to flow and timing (75%). Conclusion In terms of diagnostic accuracy, real-time teleophthalmology was considered superior to face-to-face consultation in one study and comparable in six studies. Store-and-forward image transmission coupled with real-time videoconferencing is a suitable alternative to overcome poor internet transmission speeds.

  10. Face-to-face handoff: improving transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit after cardiac surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vergales, Jeffrey; Addison, Nancy; Vendittelli, Analise; Nicholson, Evelyn; Carver, D Jeannean; Stemland, Christopher; Hoke, Tracey; Gangemi, James

    2015-01-01

    The goal was to develop and implement a comprehensive, primarily face-to-face handoff process that begins in the operating room and concludes at the bedside in the intensive care unit (ICU) for pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart surgery. Involving all stakeholders in the planning phase, the framework of the handoff system encompassed a combination of a formalized handoff tool, focused process steps that occurred prior to patient arrival in the ICU, and an emphasis on face-to-face communication at the conclusion of the handoff. The final process was evaluated by the use of observer checklists to examine quality metrics and timing for all patients admitted to the ICU following cardiac surgery. The process was found to improve how various providers view the efficiency of handoff, the ease of asking questions at each step, and the overall capability to improve patient care regardless of overall surgical complexity. © 2014 by the American College of Medical Quality.

  11. One-dimensional, forward-forward mean-field games with congestion

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.; Sedjro, Marc

    2017-01-01

    forward-forward MFGs. Finally, we construct traveling-wave solutions, which settles in a negative way the convergence problem for forward-forward MFGs. A similar technique gives the existence of time-periodic solutions for non-monotonic MFGs.

  12. Blood donor incentives: A step forward or backward

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abolghasemi Hassan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Dramatic increase in blood usage and critical seasonal blood shortages are faced by various countries. Countries which previously reached 100% voluntary nonremunerated donation have been led to offer different kinds of incentives to recruit blood donors and meet their blood demands. In some cases, these incentives are considered monetary and are in complete contrast with International standards like World Health Organization (WHO. It seems that attitudes toward sole dependency on nonremunerated voluntary blood donation have been changed in recent years and experts in some developed countries are reevaluating partial reliance on paid donation. On the other hand, besides the effects of such incentives on blood safety, several economic and psychological studies have shown that incentives have discouraging effects on pro-social behaviors like blood donation and will reduce the number of blood donors in long term. With regard to the results of such studies, it seems that implementing incentive-based blood donor recruitment programs to meet blood requirements by some countries is becoming a challenge for blood banks.

  13. Factors affecting forward pricing behaviour: implications of alternative regression model specifications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henry Jordaan

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Price risk associated with maize production became a reason for concern in South Africa only after the deregulation of the agricultural commodities markets in the mid-1990s, when farmers became responsible for marketing their own crops. Although farmers can use, inter alia, the cash forward contracting and/or the derivatives market to manage price risk, few farmers actually participate in forward pricing. A similar reluctance to use forward pricing methods is also found internationally. A number of different model specifications have been used in previous research to model forward pricing behaviour which is based on the assumption that the same variables influence both the adoption and the quantity decision. This study compares the results from a model specification which models forward pricing behaviour in a single-decision framework with the results from modelling the quantity decision conditional to the adoption decision in a two-step approach. The results suggest that substantially more information is obtained by modelling forward pricing behaviour as two separate decisions rather than a single decision. Such information may be valuable in educational material compiled to educate farmers in the effective use of forward pricing methods in price risk management. Modelling forward pricing behaviour as two separate decisions  is thus a more effective means of modelling forward pricing behaviour than modelling it as a single decision.

  14. Detection of Horizontal Gene Transfers from Phylogenetic Comparisons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pylro, Victor Satler; Vespoli, Luciano de Souza; Duarte, Gabriela Frois; Yotoko, Karla Suemy Clemente

    2012-01-01

    Bacterial phylogenies have become one of the most important challenges for microbial ecology. This field started in the mid-1970s with the aim of using the sequence of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (16S) tool to infer bacterial phylogenies. Phylogenetic hypotheses based on other sequences usually give conflicting topologies that reveal different evolutionary histories, which in some cases may be the result of horizontal gene transfer events. Currently, one of the major goals of molecular biology is to understand the role that horizontal gene transfer plays in species adaptation and evolution. In this work, we compared the phylogenetic tree based on 16S with the tree based on dszC, a gene involved in the cleavage of carbon-sulfur bonds. Bacteria of several genera perform this survival task when living in environments lacking free mineral sulfur. The biochemical pathway of the desulphurization process was extensively studied due to its economic importance, since this step is expensive and indispensable in fuel production. Our results clearly show that horizontal gene transfer events could be detected using common phylogenetic methods with gene sequences obtained from public sequence databases. PMID:22675653

  15. Natural convection heat transfer of water in a horizontal circular gap

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    SU Guanghui; Kenichiro Sugiyama; WU Yingwei

    2007-01-01

    An experimental study on the natural convection heat transfer on a horizontal downward facing heated surface in a water gap was carried out under atmospheric pressure conditions. A total of 700 experimental data points were correlated using Rayleigh versus Nusselt number in various forms, based on different independent variables. The effects of different characteristic lengths and film temperatures were discussed. The results show that the buoyancy force acts as a resistance force for natural convecti on beat transfer ona downward facing horizontal heated surface in a confined space. For the estimation of the natural convection heat transfer under the present conditions, empirical correlations in which Nusselt number is expressed as a function of the Rayleigh number, or both Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers, may be used. When it is accurately predicted, the Nusselt number is expressed as a function of the Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers, as well as the gap width-to-heated surface diameter ratio; and uses the temperature difference between the heated surface and the ambient fluid in the definition of Rayleigh number. The characteristic length is the gap size and the film temperature is the average fluid temperature.

  16. Alternative face models for 3D face registration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salah, Albert Ali; Alyüz, Neşe; Akarun, Lale

    2007-01-01

    3D has become an important modality for face biometrics. The accuracy of a 3D face recognition system depends on a correct registration that aligns the facial surfaces and makes a comparison possible. The best results obtained so far use a one-to-all registration approach, which means each new facial surface is registered to all faces in the gallery, at a great computational cost. We explore the approach of registering the new facial surface to an average face model (AFM), which automatically establishes correspondence to the pre-registered gallery faces. Going one step further, we propose that using a couple of well-selected AFMs can trade-off computation time with accuracy. Drawing on cognitive justifications, we propose to employ category-specific alternative average face models for registration, which is shown to increase the accuracy of the subsequent recognition. We inspect thin-plate spline (TPS) and iterative closest point (ICP) based registration schemes under realistic assumptions on manual or automatic landmark detection prior to registration. We evaluate several approaches for the coarse initialization of ICP. We propose a new algorithm for constructing an AFM, and show that it works better than a recent approach. Finally, we perform simulations with multiple AFMs that correspond to different clusters in the face shape space and compare these with gender and morphology based groupings. We report our results on the FRGC 3D face database.

  17. Moving faces, looking places: validation of the Amsterdam Dynamic Facial Expression Set (ADFES)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Schalk, J.; Hawk, S.T.; Fischer, A.H.; Doosje, B.

    2011-01-01

    We report two studies validating a new standardized set of filmed emotion expressions, the Amsterdam Dynamic Facial Expression Set (ADFES). The ADFES is distinct from existing datasets in that it includes a face-forward version and two different head-turning versions (faces turning toward and away

  18. Influence of facing vertical stiffness on reinforced soil wall design

    OpenAIRE

    Puig Damians, Ivan; Bathurst, Richard; Josa Garcia-Tornel, Alejandro; Lloret Morancho, Antonio

    2013-01-01

    Current design practices for reinforced soil walls typically ignore the influence of facing type and foundation compressibility on the magnitude and distribution of reinforcement loads in steel reinforced soil walls under operational conditions. In this paper, the effect of the facing vertical stiffness (due to elastomeric bearing pads placed in the horizontal joints between panels) on load capacity of steel reinforced soil walls is examined in a systematic manner using a numerical modelli...

  19. Horizontal well geosteering: planning, monitoring and geosteering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mottahedeh, R.

    2008-11-15

    The geosteering process should not be seen as a process solely designated for the most expensive or highest profile horizontal wells. It can be regarded as another tool for improving the odds of success by remaining in the productive zone for longer periods of drilling. Also, it can be used to optimize the positioning of a horizontal wellbore in the sweet spots within the reservoir. The current process has been successfully applied to large infill drilling programs at over 40 wells for heavy oil, tight gas, conventional oil and gas plays and for Mannville coalbed methane (CBM) in Alberta. The service has been provided irrespective of location, as long as the Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language (WITSML)/Pason Satellite service is available. Exploration and production (E&P) companies are continuously being driven to reduce the cost per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE). E&P needs and technologies related to advanced and accurate directional drilling, communication of vital data in real-time through the internet, as well as reduced cycle time associated with advanced forward-looking 3D geo-modelling and visualization technologies, are currently converging. The motivation to reduce costs has been responsible for advancing the horizontal well geosteering process by incorporating the Measurement While Drilling (MWD) tool into mainstream drilling practices. The universal economic benefits gained can be found in all resource play types (conventional oil and gas, heavy oil, tight gas and coalbed methane). It is important to note that the process described here is essentially collaborative. For best results, there must be cooperation between the E&P operational geologist, wellsite geologist, directional driller and geo-modelling staff, as well as the engineering consultants involved in the project (i.e. the team as a whole).

  20. Facilitated orienting underlies fearful face-enhanced gaze cueing of spatial location

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua M. Carlson

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Faces provide a platform for non-verbal communication through emotional expression and eye gaze. Fearful facial expressions are salient indicators of potential threat within the environment, which automatically capture observers’ attention. However, the degree to which fearful facial expressions facilitate attention to others’ gaze is unresolved. Given that fearful gaze indicates the location of potential threat, it was hypothesized that fearful gaze facilitates location processing. To test this hypothesis, a gaze cueing study with fearful and neutral faces assessing target localization was conducted. The task consisted of leftward, rightward, and forward/straight gaze trials. The inclusion of forward gaze trials allowed for the isolation of orienting and disengagement components of gaze-directed attention. The results suggest that both neutral and fearful gaze modulates attention through orienting and disengagement components. Fearful gaze, however, resulted in quicker orienting than neutral gaze. Thus, fearful faces enhance gaze cueing of spatial location through facilitated orienting.

  1. Influences of mechanical pre-treatment on the non-biological treatment of municipal wastewater by forward osmosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hey, Tobias; Zarebska, Agata; Bajraktari, Niada

    2016-01-01

    municipal wastewater treatment without the biological treatment step, including the effects of different pre-treatment configurations, e.g., direct membrane filtration before forward osmosis. Forward osmosis was tested using raw wastewater and wastewater subjected to different types of mechanical pre-treatment......, e.g., microsieving and microfiltration permeation, as a potential technology for municipal wastewater treatment. Forward osmosis was performed using thin-film-composite, Aquaporin Inside(TM) and HTI membranes with NaCl as the draw solution. Both types of forward osmosis membranes were tested......-sized wastewater treatment plants....

  2. Planar microlens with front-face angle: design, fabrication, and characterization

    KAUST Repository

    Hafiz, Md Abdullah Al

    2016-07-08

    This paper studies the effect of microlens front-face angle on the performance of an optical system consisting of a planar-graded refractive index (GRIN) lens pair facing each other separated by a free-space region. The planar silica microlens pairs are designed to facilitate low-loss optical signal propagation in the free-space region between the opposing optical waveguides. The planar lens is fabricated from a 38-μm-thick fluorine-doped silica layer on a silicon substrate. It has a parabolic refractive index profile in the vertical direction, which is achieved by controlled fluorine incorporation in the silica film to collimate the optical beam in the vertical direction. Horizontal beam collimation is achieved by incorporating a horizontal curvature at the front face of the lens defined by deep oxide etch. A generalized 3×3ABCDGH transformation matrix method has been derived to compute the coupling efficiency of such microlens pairs to take front-face angles that may be present due to fabrication variations or limitations and possible input/output optical fiber offset/tilt into considerations. Pairs of such planar GRIN lens with various free-space propagation distances between them ranging from 75 to 2500  μm and with front-face angles of 1.5 deg, 2 deg, and 4 deg have been fabricated and characterized. Beam propagation method simulations have been carried out to substantiate the theoretical and experimental results. The results indicate that the optical loss is reasonably low up to 1.5 deg of front-face angles and increases significantly with further increase in the front-face angle. Analysis shows that for a given system with specific microlens front-face angle, the optical loss can be significantly reduced by properly compensating the vertical position of the input and output fibers.

  3. Planar microlens with front-face angle: design, fabrication, and characterization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Hafiz, Md. Abdullah; Michael, Aron; Kwok, Chee-Yee

    2016-07-01

    This paper studies the effect of microlens front-face angle on the performance of an optical system consisting of a planar-graded refractive index (GRIN) lens pair facing each other separated by a free-space region. The planar silica microlens pairs are designed to facilitate low-loss optical signal propagation in the free-space region between the opposing optical waveguides. The planar lens is fabricated from a 38-μm-thick fluorine-doped silica layer on a silicon substrate. It has a parabolic refractive index profile in the vertical direction, which is achieved by controlled fluorine incorporation in the silica film to collimate the optical beam in the vertical direction. Horizontal beam collimation is achieved by incorporating a horizontal curvature at the front face of the lens defined by deep oxide etch. A generalized 3×3 ABCDGH transformation matrix method has been derived to compute the coupling efficiency of such microlens pairs to take front-face angles that may be present due to fabrication variations or limitations and possible input/output optical fiber offset/tilt into considerations. Pairs of such planar GRIN lens with various free-space propagation distances between them ranging from 75 to 2500 μm and with front-face angles of 1.5 deg, 2 deg, and 4 deg have been fabricated and characterized. Beam propagation method simulations have been carried out to substantiate the theoretical and experimental results. The results indicate that the optical loss is reasonably low up to 1.5 deg of front-face angles and increases significantly with further increase in the front-face angle. Analysis shows that for a given system with specific microlens front-face angle, the optical loss can be significantly reduced by properly compensating the vertical position of the input and output fibers.

  4. Planar microlens with front-face angle: design, fabrication, and characterization

    KAUST Repository

    Hafiz, Md Abdullah Al; Michael, Aron; Kwok, Chee-Yee

    2016-01-01

    This paper studies the effect of microlens front-face angle on the performance of an optical system consisting of a planar-graded refractive index (GRIN) lens pair facing each other separated by a free-space region. The planar silica microlens pairs are designed to facilitate low-loss optical signal propagation in the free-space region between the opposing optical waveguides. The planar lens is fabricated from a 38-μm-thick fluorine-doped silica layer on a silicon substrate. It has a parabolic refractive index profile in the vertical direction, which is achieved by controlled fluorine incorporation in the silica film to collimate the optical beam in the vertical direction. Horizontal beam collimation is achieved by incorporating a horizontal curvature at the front face of the lens defined by deep oxide etch. A generalized 3×3ABCDGH transformation matrix method has been derived to compute the coupling efficiency of such microlens pairs to take front-face angles that may be present due to fabrication variations or limitations and possible input/output optical fiber offset/tilt into considerations. Pairs of such planar GRIN lens with various free-space propagation distances between them ranging from 75 to 2500  μm and with front-face angles of 1.5 deg, 2 deg, and 4 deg have been fabricated and characterized. Beam propagation method simulations have been carried out to substantiate the theoretical and experimental results. The results indicate that the optical loss is reasonably low up to 1.5 deg of front-face angles and increases significantly with further increase in the front-face angle. Analysis shows that for a given system with specific microlens front-face angle, the optical loss can be significantly reduced by properly compensating the vertical position of the input and output fibers.

  5. One-dimensional, forward-forward mean-field games with congestion

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2017-03-29

    Here, we consider one-dimensional forward-forward mean-field games (MFGs) with congestion, which were introduced to approximate stationary MFGs. We use methods from the theory of conservation laws to examine the qualitative properties of these games. First, by computing Riemann invariants and corresponding invariant regions, we develop a method to prove lower bounds for the density. Next, by combining the lower bound with an entropy function, we prove the existence of global solutions for parabolic forward-forward MFGs. Finally, we construct traveling-wave solutions, which settles in a negative way the convergence problem for forward-forward MFGs. A similar technique gives the existence of time-periodic solutions for non-monotonic MFGs.

  6. Short faces, big tongues: developmental origin of the human chin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Coquerelle

    Full Text Available During the course of human evolution, the retraction of the face underneath the braincase, and closer to the cervical column, has reduced the horizontal dimension of the vocal tract. By contrast, the relative size of the tongue has not been reduced, implying a rearrangement of the space at the back of the vocal tract to allow breathing and swallowing. This may have left a morphological signature such as a chin (mental prominence that can potentially be interpreted in Homo. Long considered an autopomorphic trait of Homo sapiens, various extinct hominins show different forms of mental prominence. These features may be the evolutionary by-product of equivalent developmental constraints correlated with an enlarged tongue. In order to investigate developmental mechanisms related to this hypothesis, we compare modern 34 human infants against 8 chimpanzee fetuses, whom development of the mandibular symphysis passes through similar stages. The study sets out to test that the shared ontogenetic shape changes of the symphysis observed in both species are driven by the same factor--space restriction at the back of the vocal tract and the associated arrangement of the tongue and hyoid bone. We apply geometric morphometric methods to extensive three-dimensional anatomical landmarks and semilandmarks configuration, capturing the geometry of the cervico-craniofacial complex including the hyoid bone, tongue muscle and the mandible. We demonstrate that in both species, the forward displacement of the mental region derives from the arrangement of the tongue and hyoid bone, in order to cope with the relative horizontal narrowing of the oral cavity. Because humans and chimpanzees share this pattern of developmental integration, the different forms of mental prominence seen in some extinct hominids likely originate from equivalent ontogenetic constraints. Variations in this process could account for similar morphologies.

  7. The comparative analysis of rocks' resistance to forward-slanting disc cutters and traditionally installed disc cutters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhao-Huang; Fei, Sun; Liang, Meng

    2016-08-01

    At present, disc cutters of a full face rock tunnel boring machine are mostly mounted in the traditional way. Practical use in engineering projects reveals that this installation method not only heavily affects the operation life of disc cutters, but also increases the energy consumption of a full face rock tunnel boring machine. To straighten out this issue, therefore, a rock-breaking model is developed for disc cutters' movement after the research on the rock breaking of forward-slanting disc cutters. Equations of its displacement are established based on the analysis of velocity vector of a disc cutter's rock-breaking point. The functional relations then are brought forward between the displacement parameters of a rock-breaking point and its coordinate through the analysis of micro displacement of a rock-breaking point. Thus, the geometric equations of rock deformation are derived for the forward-slanting installation of disc cutters. With a linear relationship remaining between the acting force and its deformation either before or after the leap breaking, the constitutive relation of rock deformation can be expressed in the form of generalized Hooke law, hence the comparative analysis of the variation in the resistance of rock to the disc cutters mounted in the forward-slanting way with that in the traditional way. It is discovered that with the same penetration, strain of the rock in contact with forward-slanting disc cutters is apparently on the decline, in other words, the resistance of rock to disc cutters is reduced. Thus wear of disc cutters resulted from friction is lowered and energy consumption is correspondingly decreased. It will be useful for the development of installation and design theory of disc cutters, and significant for the breakthrough in the design of full face rock tunnel boring machine.

  8. Gender differences in BOLD activation to face photographs and video vignettes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fine, Jodene Goldenring; Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret; Zhu, David C

    2009-07-19

    Few neuroimaging studies have reported gender differences in response to human emotions, and those that have examined such differences have utilized face photographs. This study presented not only human face photographs of positive and negative emotions, but also video vignettes of positive and negative social human interactions in an attempt to provide a more ecologically appropriate stimuli paradigm. Ten male and 10 female healthy right-handed young adults were shown positive and negative affective social human faces and video vignettes to elicit gender differences in social/emotional perception. Conservative ROI (region of interest) analysis indicated greater male than female activation to positive affective photos in the anterior cingulate, medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus, all in the right hemisphere. No significant ROI gender differences were observed to negative affective photos. Male greater than female activation was seen in ROIs of the left posterior cingulate and the right inferior temporal gyrus to positive social videos. Male greater than female activation occurred in only the left middle temporal ROI for negative social videos. Consistent with previous findings, males were more lateralized than females. Although more activation was observed overall to video compared to photo conditions, males and females appear to process social video stimuli more similarly to one another than they do for photos. This study is a step forward in understanding the social brain with more ecologically valid stimuli that more closely approximates the demands of real-time social and affective processing.

  9. Effect of turbulence intensity on cross-injection film cooling at a stepped or smooth endwall of a gas turbine vane passage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Pey-Shey; Tsai, Shen-Ta; Jhuo, Yue-Hua

    2014-01-01

    This study is concerned with a film cooling technique applicable to the protection of the endwalls of a gas turbine vane. In the experiments, cross-injection coolant flow from two-row, paired, inclined holes with nonintersecting centerlines was utilized. The test model is a scaled two-half vane. The levels of turbulence intensity used in the experiments are T.I. = 1.8%, 7%, and 12%. Other parameters considered in the film cooling experiments include three inlet Reynolds numbers (9.20 × 10(4), 1.24 × 10(5), and 1.50 × 10(5)), three blowing ratios (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0), and three endwall conditions (smooth endwall and stepped endwall with forward-facing or backward-facing step). Thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC) technique with steady-state heat transfer experiments was used to obtain the whole-field film cooling effectiveness. Results show that, at low turbulence intensity, increasing Reynolds number decreases the effectiveness in most of the vane passage. There is no monotonic trend of influence by Reynolds number at high turbulence intensity. The effect of blowing ratio on the effectiveness has opposite trends at low and high turbulence levels. Increasing turbulent intensity decreases the effectiveness, especially near the inlet of the vane passage. With a stepped endwall, turbulence intensity has only mild effect on the film cooling effectiveness.

  10. Effect of Turbulence Intensity on Cross-Injection Film Cooling at a Stepped or Smooth Endwall of a Gas Turbine Vane Passage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pey-Shey Wu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This study is concerned with a film cooling technique applicable to the protection of the endwalls of a gas turbine vane. In the experiments, cross-injection coolant flow from two-row, paired, inclined holes with nonintersecting centerlines was utilized. The test model is a scaled two-half vane. The levels of turbulence intensity used in the experiments are T.I.=1.8%, 7%, and 12%. Other parameters considered in the film cooling experiments include three inlet Reynolds numbers (9.20×104 , 1.24×105, and  1.50×105, three blowing ratios (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0, and three endwall conditions (smooth endwall and stepped endwall with forward-facing or backward-facing step. Thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC technique with steady-state heat transfer experiments was used to obtain the whole-field film cooling effectiveness. Results show that, at low turbulence intensity, increasing Reynolds number decreases the effectiveness in most of the vane passage. There is no monotonic trend of influence by Reynolds number at high turbulence intensity. The effect of blowing ratio on the effectiveness has opposite trends at low and high turbulence levels. Increasing turbulent intensity decreases the effectiveness, especially near the inlet of the vane passage. With a stepped endwall, turbulence intensity has only mild effect on the film cooling effectiveness.

  11. Case study : a real-time collaborative workflow for geosteering a horizontal well offshore eastern Canada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cutler, M.; Pineda, G. [Halliburton Energy Services, Bakersfield, CA (United States)

    2002-06-01

    A horizontal well can be geologically steered using a forward modelling geosteering software that helps determine the stratigraphic position of the drillstring and interpret the well in the reservoir. The software shows reservoir engineers how to maximize the pay zone, optimize the well path, characterize reservoir properties and avoid entering undesired beds or fluid contacts. The best way to maximize the pay zone is to use an integrated arrangement of formation evaluation tools, software and reservoir engineering expertise. This paper presents a series of measurements while drilling and logging. Drilling (MWD/LWD) tools obtain real-time data and forward modelling while drilling software. When interpreted by a trained specialist, these tools help in decision making processes regarding reservoir depletion. The paper presents a case study from offshore eastern Canada in which a well was drilled horizontally from a semi-submersible mobile drilling unit. StrataSteer {sup TM}, a software tool developed by Halliburton Energy Services, was used to interpret the LWD data. The software is compatible with other downhole tools and the INSITE information system which provides real-time data. The objective of the study is to demonstrate the capabilities of the forward modelling tool while drilling the well. A computer was set up at the client's office and at the offshore rig site. The geological model which was constructed using the acquired data was then used to make real-time collaborative decisions to land the well correctly in the reservoir, maximize the productive interval, optimize the well path, and analyze the reservoir properties. However, it was noted that due to geological uncertainty, the objectives in this well were not achieved. 6 figs.

  12. Performance of a Horizontal Triple Cylinder Type Pulping Machine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukrisno Widyotomo

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Pulping is one important step in wet coffee processing method. Pulping process usually uses a machine which constructed by wood or metal materials. A horizontal single cylinder type of fresh coffee cherries pulping machine is the most popular machine in coffee processing. One of the weaknesses of a horizontal single cylinder type of fresh coffee cherries pulping machine is higher in broken beans. Broken bean is one of mayor aspects in defect system that contribute to low quality. Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute has designed and tested a horizontal double cylinder type of fresh coffee cherries pulping machine which resulted in 12.6—21.4% of broken beans. To reduce percentage of broken beans, Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute has developed and tested a horizontal triple cylinder type of fresh coffee cherries pulping machine. Material tested was fresh mature Robusta coffee cherries, 60—65% (wet basis moisture content; has classified on 3 levels i.e. unsorted, small and medium, and clean from metal and foreign materials. The result showed that the machine produced 6,340 kg/h in optimal capacity for operational conditions, 1400 rpm rotor rotation speed for unsorted coffee cherries with composition 55.5% whole parchment coffee, 3.66% broken beans, and 1% beans in wet skin.Key words : coffee, pulp, pulper, cylinder, quality.

  13. Stepping forward together: Could walking facilitate interpersonal conflict resolution?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Christine E; Rossignac-Milon, Maya; Higgins, E Tory

    2017-01-01

    Walking has myriad benefits for the mind, most of which have traditionally been explored and explained at the individual level of analysis. Much less empirical work has examined how walking with a partner might benefit social processes. One such process is conflict resolution-a field of psychology in which movement is inherent not only in recent theory and research, but also in colloquial language (e.g., "moving on"). In this article, we unify work from various fields pointing to the idea that walking together can facilitate both the intra- and interpersonal pathways to conflict resolution. Intrapersonally, walking supports various psychological mechanisms for reconciliation, including creativity, locomotion motivation, and embodied notions of forward progress. Both alone and in combination with its effects on mood and stress, walking can encourage individual mindsets conducive to resolving conflict (e.g., divergent thinking). Interpersonally, walking can allow partners to reap the cognitive, affective, and behavioral advantages of synchronous movement, such as increased positive rapport, empathy, and prosociality. Walking partners naturally adopt cooperative (as opposed to competitive) postural stances, experience shared attention, and can benefit from discussions in novel environments. Overall, despite its prevalence in conflict resolution theory, little is known about how movement influences conflict resolution practice. Such knowledge has direct implications for a range of psychological questions and approaches within negotiation and alternative mediation techniques, clinical settings, and the study of close relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Rapid transformation of two libraries using Kotter's Eight Steps of Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Terrie R; Holmes, Kristi L

    2017-07-01

    Two new directors were each charged by their institutions to catalyze transformational change in their libraries and to develop dynamic and evolving information ecosystems ready for the information challenges of the future. The directors approached this transformational change using a strategic, forward-looking approach. This paper presents examples of actions that served as catalysts for change at the two libraries using Kotter's Eight Steps of Change as a framework. Small and large changes are critical for successfully transforming library services, resources, and personnel. Libraries are faced with incredible pressure to adapt to meet emerging and intensifying information needs on today's academic medical campuses. These pressures offer an opportunity for libraries to accelerate their evolution at the micro and macro levels. This commentary reports the expansion of new services and areas of support, enhancement of professional visibility of the libraries on their campuses, and overall, a more positive and productive environment at the respective institutions.

  15. [Hearing loss in urban transportation workers in Greater Metropolitan Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medeiros, Adriane Mesquita de; Assunção, Ada Ávila; Santos, Juliana Nunes

    2015-09-01

    This study analyzed the association between self-reported diagnosis of hearing loss and individual and occupational factors among urban transportation workers in Greater Metropolitan Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The sample size was calculated by quotas and stratified by occupation (drivers and fare collectors) in the urban transportation companies in Belo Horizonte, Betim, and Contagem. Data were collected with face-to-face interviews and recorded by the interviewers on netbooks. The dependent variable was defined as an affirmative response to the question on prevailing medical diagnosis of hearing loss. The independent variables were organized in three blocks: social and demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and work aspects. Diagnosis of hearing loss was reported by 213 of the 1,527 workers and was associated with age and diagnosis of tinnitus. At the occupational level, hearing loss was associated with history of sick leave, time-on-the-job, and two environmental risks, unbearable noise and whole-body vibration. Measures to prevent hearing loss are needed for urban transportation workers.

  16. Multiple zone power forwards. A value at risk framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Demers, Jean-Guy

    2009-01-01

    Over the 1990s, deregulated power markets in New-England provided zones with fluctuating spot prices. Such prices have a notoriously high volatility, owing to the difficulty of storing electrical energy and the delays needed to adjust generation levels. In this context, forward contracts have become increasingly popular and understanding their dynamic is a problem facing many market players. This paper proposes a parsimonious parametric model, based on the price series of all n-month forward contracts (n = 1,2,3..), encompassing multiple zones. The model is then used for value at risk forecasts, which are backtested and compared with the ones in use by the risk management unit of an important electricity producer. Extensions to include natural gas and power-relevant oil-based future markets are discussed. (author)

  17. Comparison of crossover and jab step start techniques for base stealing in baseball.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyanishi, Tomohisa; Endo, So; Nagahara, Ryu

    2017-11-01

    Base stealing is an important tactic for increasing the chance of scoring in baseball. This study aimed to compare the crossover step (CS) and jab step (JS) starts for base stealing start performance and to clarify the differences between CS and JS starts in terms of three-dimensional lower extremity joint kinetics. Twelve male baseball players performed CS and JS starts, during which their motion and the force they applied to the ground were simultaneously recorded using a motion-capture system and two force platforms. The results showed that the normalised average forward external power, the average forward-backward force exerted by the left leg, and the forward velocities of the whole body centre of gravity generated by both legs and the left leg were significantly higher for the JS start than for the CS start. Moreover, the positive work done by hip extension during the left leg push-off was two-times greater for the JS start than the CS start. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that the jab step start may be the better technique for a base stealing start and that greater positive work produced by left hip extension is probably responsible for producing its larger forward ground reaction force.

  18. High accuracy step gauge interferometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byman, V.; Jaakkola, T.; Palosuo, I.; Lassila, A.

    2018-05-01

    Step gauges are convenient transfer standards for the calibration of coordinate measuring machines. A novel interferometer for step gauge calibrations implemented at VTT MIKES is described. The four-pass interferometer follows Abbe’s principle and measures the position of the inductive probe attached to a measuring head. The measuring head of the instrument is connected to a balanced boom above the carriage by a piezo translation stage. A key part of the measuring head is an invar structure on which the inductive probe and the corner cubes of the measuring arm of the interferometer are attached. The invar structure can be elevated so that the probe is raised without breaking the laser beam. During probing, the bending of the probe and the interferometer readings are recorded and the measurement face position is extrapolated to zero force. The measurement process is fully automated and the face positions of the steps can be measured up to a length of 2 m. Ambient conditions are measured continuously and the refractive index of air is compensated for. Before measurements the step gauge is aligned with an integrated 2D coordinate measuring system. The expanded uncertainty of step gauge calibration is U=\\sqrt{{{(64 nm)}2}+{{(88× {{10}-9}L)}2}} .

  19. Moving forward in treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: innovations to exposure-based therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nijdam, Mirjam J; Vermetten, Eric

    2018-01-01

    The field of treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been a pacesetter for the changing face of psychotherapy, as is illustrated in the introduction of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy. This paper outlines a novel approach that builds on a cognitive-motor interaction in a virtual interactive environment. It is based on the theory of memory reconsolidation and the embodiment of cognition. The framework we envision allows the patient to 'step into the past' by using forward motion as an essential ingredient to augment the impact of exposure to traumatic events. The behavioural response of approaching that is the exact opposite from the avoidance usually applied by patients and the enhancement of divergent thinking are the most prominent hypothesized mechanisms of action. This can contribute to strengthening of personal efficacy and self-reflection that is generated by high emotional engagement, as well as a sense of accomplishment and enhanced recovery as illustrated by a clinical case example. We argue that innovations with personalized virtual reality and motion need to be further investigated and implemented in current therapy settings.

  20. Remediation of the Faultless Underground Nuclear Test: Moving Forward in the Face of Model Uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chapman, J. B.; Pohlmann, K.; Pohll, G.; Hassan, A.; Sanders, P.; Sanchez, M.; Jaunarajs, S.

    2002-01-01

    The Faultless underground nuclear test, conducted in central Nevada, is the site of an ongoing environmental remediation effort that has successfully progressed through numerous technical challenges due to close cooperation between the U.S. Department of Energy, (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration and the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). The challenges faced at this site are similar to those of many other sites of groundwater contamination: substantial uncertainties due to the relative lack of data from a highly heterogeneous subsurface environment. Knowing when, where, and how to devote the often enormous resources needed to collect new data is a common problem, and one that can cause remediators and regulators to disagree and stall progress toward closing sites. For Faultless, a variety of numerical modeling techniques and statistical tools are used to provide the information needed for DOE and NDEP to confidently move forward along the remediation path to site closure. A general framework for remediation was established in an agreement and consent order between DOE and the State of Nevada that recognized that no cost-effective technology currently exists to remove the source of contaminants in nuclear cavities. Rather, the emphasis of the corrective action is on identifying the impacted groundwater resource and ensuring protection of human health and the environment from the contamination through monitoring. As a result, groundwater flow and transport modeling is the linchpin in the remediation effort. An early issue was whether or not new site data should be collected via drilling and testing prior to modeling. After several iterations of the Corrective Action Investigation Plan, all parties agreed that sufficient data existed to support a flow and transport model for the site. Though several aspects of uncertainty were included in the subsequent modeling work, concerns remained regarding uncertainty in individual

  1. A color based face detection system using multiple templates

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王涛; 卜佳俊; 陈纯

    2003-01-01

    A color based system using multiple templates was developed and implemented for detecting human faces in color images. The algorithm consists of three image processing steps. The first step is human skin color statistics. Then it separates skin regions from non-skin regions. After that, it locates the frontal human face(s) within the skin regions. In the first step, 250 skin samples from persons of different ethnicities are used to determine the color distribution of human skin in chromatic color space in order to get a chroma chart showing likelihoods of skin colors. This chroma chart is used to generate, from the original color image, a gray scale image whose gray value at a pixel shows its likelihood of representing the skin. The algorithm uses an adaptive thresholding process to achieve the optimal threshold value for dividing the gray scale image into separate skin regions from non skin regions. Finally, multiple face templates matching is used to determine if a given skin region represents a frontal human face or not. Test of the system with more than 400 color images showed that the resulting detection rate was 83%, which is better than most color-based face detection systems. The average speed for face detection is 0.8 second/image (400×300 pixels) on a Pentium 3 (800MHz) PC.

  2. A color based face detection system using multiple templates

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王涛; 卜佳酸; 陈纯

    2003-01-01

    A color based system using multiple templates was developed and implemented for detecting hu-man faces in color images.The algorithm comsists of three image processing steps.The first step is human skin color statistics.Then it separates skin regions from non-skin regions.After that,it locates the frontal human face(s) within the skin regions.In the first step,250 skin samples from persons of different ethnicities are used to determine the color distribution of human skin in chromatic color space in order to get a chroma chart showing likelihoods of skin colors.This chroma chart is used to generate,from the original color image,a gray scale image whose gray value at a pixel shows its likelihood of representing the shin,The algorithm uses an adaptive thresholding process to achieve the optimal threshold value for dividing the gray scale image into sep-arate skin regions from non skin regions.Finally,multiple face templates matching is used to determine if a given skin region represents a frontal human face or not.Test of the system with more than 400 color images showed that the resulting detection rate was 83%,which is better than most colou-based face detection sys-tems.The average speed for face detection is 0.8 second/image(400×300pixels) on a Pentium 3(800MHz) PC.

  3. Moving Forward - Progress on Forward Detectors

    CERN Multimedia

    Grafstrom, P.

    2006-01-01

    You might have been sitting in some meeting hearing about the ATLAS forward detectors. Coming back to your office wanting to learn more you look in the ATLAS TDR’s and disappointingly you find nothing about forward detectors. The explanation is of course that the forward detectors are newcomers in the ATLAS detector arsenal. ATLAS is designed to measure high Pt particles with pseudo rapidities up to 5 which in terms of angles means angles bigger than one degree (0.8 degree to be more accurate). Particles produced with smaller angles close to the beam escape detection. The hole in the forward direction will now partly be filled. Several new detectors have recently been proposed. These detectors are designed for various luminosity measurements but they also have a physics potential in themselves. Closest to the IP there is LUCID (LUminosity measurement using Cerenkov Integrating Detector). LUCID comprises some 170 Cerenkov tubes sitting around the beam pipe at about 17 m away from the IP. The tubes are 1.5 ...

  4. Does my step look big in this? A visual illusion leads to safer stepping behaviour.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David B Elliott

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tripping is a common factor in falls and a typical safety strategy to avoid tripping on steps or stairs is to increase foot clearance over the step edge. In the present study we asked whether the perceived height of a step could be increased using a visual illusion and whether this would lead to the adoption of a safer stepping strategy, in terms of greater foot clearance over the step edge. The study also addressed the controversial question of whether motor actions are dissociated from visual perception. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 21 young, healthy subjects perceived the step to be higher in a configuration of the horizontal-vertical illusion compared to a reverse configuration (p = 0.01. During a simple stepping task, maximum toe elevation changed by an amount corresponding to the size of the visual illusion (p<0.001. Linear regression analyses showed highly significant associations between perceived step height and maximum toe elevation for all conditions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The perceived height of a step can be manipulated using a simple visual illusion, leading to the adoption of a safer stepping strategy in terms of greater foot clearance over a step edge. In addition, the strong link found between perception of a visual illusion and visuomotor action provides additional support to the view that the original, controversial proposal by Goodale and Milner (1992 of two separate and distinct visual streams for perception and visuomotor action should be re-evaluated.

  5. From local pixel structure to global image super-resolution: a new face hallucination framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yu; Lam, Kin-Man; Qiu, Guoping; Shen, Tingzhi

    2011-02-01

    We have developed a new face hallucination framework termed from local pixel structure to global image super-resolution (LPS-GIS). Based on the assumption that two similar face images should have similar local pixel structures, the new framework first uses the input low-resolution (LR) face image to search a face database for similar example high-resolution (HR) faces in order to learn the local pixel structures for the target HR face. It then uses the input LR face and the learned pixel structures as priors to estimate the target HR face. We present a three-step implementation procedure for the framework. Step 1 searches the database for K example faces that are the most similar to the input, and then warps the K example images to the input using optical flow. Step 2 uses the warped HR version of the K example faces to learn the local pixel structures for the target HR face. An effective method for learning local pixel structures from an individual face, and an adaptive procedure for fusing the local pixel structures of different example faces to reduce the influence of warping errors, have been developed. Step 3 estimates the target HR face by solving a constrained optimization problem by means of an iterative procedure. Experimental results show that our new method can provide good performances for face hallucination, both in terms of reconstruction error and visual quality; and that it is competitive with existing state-of-the-art methods.

  6. Forward and Spot Prices in Multi-Settlement Wholesale Electricity Markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larrieu, Jeremy

    In organized wholesale electricity markets, power is sold competitively in a multi-unit multi-settlement single-price auction comprised of a forward and a spot market. This dissertation attempts to understand the structure of the forward premium in these markets, and to identify the factors that may lead forward and spot prices to converge or diverge. These markets are unique in that the forward demand is price-sensitive, while spot residual demand is perfectly inelastic and must be met in full, a crucial design feature the literature often glosses over. An important contribution of this dissertation is the explicit modeling of each market separately in order to understand how generation and load choose to act in each one, and the consequences of these actions on equilibrium prices and quantities given that firms maximize joint profits over both markets. In the first essay, I construct a two-settlement model of electricity prices in which firms that own asymmetric capacity-constrained units facing convex costs compete to meet demand from consumers, first in quantities, then in prices. I show that the forward premium depends on the costliness of spot production relative to firms' ability to exercise market power by setting quantities in the forward market. In the second essay, I test the model from the first essay with unit-level capacity and marginal cost data from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). I show that the model closely replicates observed price formation in the CAISO. In the third essay, I estimate a time series model of the CAISO forward premium in order to measure the impact that virtual bidding has had on forward and spot price convergence in California between April 2009 and March 2014. I find virtual bidding to have caused forward and spot prices to diverge due to the large number of market participants looking to hedge against - or speculate on - the occurrence of infrequent but large spot price spikes by placing virtual demand bids.

  7. On the Role of Chemical Kinetics Modeling in the LES of Premixed Bluff Body and Backward-Facing Step Combustors

    KAUST Repository

    Chakroun, Nadim W.

    2017-01-05

    Recirculating flows in the wake of a bluff body, behind a sudden expansion or down-stream of a swirler, are pivotal for anchoring a flame and expanding the stability range. The size and structure of these recirculation zones and the accurate prediction of the length of these zones is a very important characteristic that computational simulations should have. Large eddy simulation (LES) techniques with an appropriate combustion model and reaction mechanism afford a balance between computational complexity and predictive accuracy. In this study, propane/air mixtures were simulated in a bluff-body stabilized combustor based on the Volvo test case and also in a backward-facing step combustor. The main goal is to investigate the role of the chemical mechanism and the accuracy of estimating the extinction strain rate on the prediction of important ow features such as recirculation zones. Two 2-step mechanisms were employed, one which gave reasonable extinction strain rates and another modi ed 2-step mechanism where it grossly over-predicted the values. This modified mechanism under-predicted recirculation zone lengths compared to the original mechanism and had worse agreement with experiments in both geometries. While the recirculation zone lengths predicted by both reduced mechanisms in the step combustor scale linearly with the extinction strain rate, the scaling curves do not match experimental results as none of the simpli ed mechanisms produce extinction strain rates that are consistent with those predicted by the comprehensive mechanisms. We conclude that it is very important that a chemical mechanism is able to correctly predict extinction strain rates if it is to be used in CFD simulations.

  8. Rock burst governance of working face under igneous rock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Zhenxing; Yu, Yue

    2017-01-01

    As a typical failure phenomenon, rock burst occurs in many mines. It can not only cause the working face to cease production, but also cause serious damage to production equipment, and even result in casualties. To explore how to govern rock burst of working face under igneous rock, the 10416 working face in some mine is taken as engineering background. The supports damaged extensively and rock burst took place when the working face advanced. This paper establishes the mechanical model and conducts theoretical analysis and calculation to predict the fracture and migration mechanism and energy release of the thick hard igneous rock above the working face, and to obtain the advancing distance of the working face when the igneous rock fractures and critical value of the energy when rock burst occurs. Based on the specific conditions of the mine, this paper put forward three kinds of governance measures, which are borehole pressure relief, coal seam water injection and blasting pressure relief.

  9. A new viewpoint on the evolution of sexually dimorphic human faces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, Darren; Sulikowski, Danielle

    2010-10-21

    Human faces show marked sexual shape dimorphism, and this affects their attractiveness. Humans also show marked height dimorphism, which means that men typically view women's faces from slightly above and women typically view men's faces from slightly below. We tested the idea that this perspective difference may be the evolutionary origin of the face shape dimorphism by having males and females rate the masculinity/femininity and attractiveness of male and female faces that had been manipulated in pitch (forward or backward tilt), simulating viewing the face from slightly above or below. As predicted, tilting female faces upwards decreased their perceived femininity and attractiveness, whereas tilting them downwards increased their perceived femininity and attractiveness. Male faces tilted up were judged to be more masculine, and tilted down judged to be less masculine. This suggests that sexual selection may have embodied this viewpoint difference into the actual facial proportions of men and women.

  10. Natural R parity conservation with horizontal symmetries: A four generation model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berezhiani, Z.; Nardi, E.

    1995-01-01

    In most supersymmetric models the stability of the proton is ensured by invoking R parity. A necessary ingredient to enforce R parity is the possibility of distinguishing the lepton superfields from the Higgs ones. This is generally achieved either by assuming different charges under some matter parity, or by assigning the superfields to different representations of a unified gauge group. We want to put forward the idea that the replica of the fermion generations, which constitute an intrinsic difference between the fermions and the Higgs superfields, can give a clue to understanding R parity as an accidental symmetry. More ambitiously, we suggest a possible relation between proton stability and the actual number of fermion generations. We carry out our investigation in the framework of non-Abelian horizontal gauge symmetries. We identify SU(4) H as the only acceptable horizontal gauge group which can naturally ensure the absence of R-parity-violating operators, without conflicting with other theoretical and phenomenological constraints. We analyze a version of the supersymmetric standard model equipped with a gauged horizontal SU(4) H , in which R parity is accidental. The model predicts four families of fermions, it allows for the dynamical generation of a realistic hierarchy of fermion masses without any ad hoc choice of small Yukawa couplings; it ensures in a natural way the heaviness of all the fourth family fermions (including the neutrino), and it predicts a lower limit for the τ-neutrino mass of a few eV. The scale of the breaking of the horizontal symmetry can be constrained rather precisely in a narrow window around ∼10 11 GeV. Some interesting astrophysical and cosmological implications of the model are addressed as well

  11. Essays in forward looking behavior in strategic interactions

    OpenAIRE

    Mantovani, Marco

    2013-01-01

    The general topic of our thesis is forward looking behavior in strategic situations. Mixing theoretical and experimental analysis, we document how strategic thinking is affected by the specific features of a dynamic interaction. The overarching result is that the information regarding decisions that are close to the current one, receive a qualitatively different consideration, with respect to distant ones. That is, the actual decisions are based on reasoning over a limited number of steps, cl...

  12. Differences in muscle activation patterns during step recovery in elderly women with and without a history of falls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochi, Akira; Yokoyama, Shinya; Abe, Tomokazu; Yamada, Kazumasa; Tateuchi, Hiroshige; Ichihashi, Noriaki

    2014-04-01

    This study aimed at comparing the patterns of muscle activation used in stepping to regain balance during a forward fall between subjects with and without a history of falling and at identifying the causes of functional deficits in recovery stepping. Elderly women with and without a history of falling (fallers: n = 12, mean age ± SD = 82.8 ± 4.5 years; non-fallers: n = 17, age = 81.4 ± 3.4 years) participated in the study. The subjects were suspended in a forward-leaning position by a lean-control cable with a load of 15 % of body weight and instructed to regain standing balance upon release by taking a single step forward. Electromyography (EMG) data were obtained from five lower extremity muscles on the stepping side, and the muscle activation patterns were compared between fallers and non-fallers. Fallers had a shorter step length and slower step velocity than non-fallers. The EMG time-to-peak for the gastrocnemius muscle, which provides push-off prior to foot lift-off, was slower for fallers than for non-fallers, whereas the EMG onset times of the biceps femoris and gastrocnemius muscles were similar between the groups. The fallers exhibited significantly delayed muscle deactivation of the upper leg and increased co-contraction between the rectus femoris and biceps femoris during the stepping phase than did the non-fallers. These findings suggest that the muscle activation pattern during the regain balance may reflect an inability to step forward rapidly in elderly women with a history of falls.

  13. Entrainment effects in periodic forcing of the flow over a backward-facing step

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berk, T.; Medjnoun, T.; Ganapathisubramani, B.

    2017-07-01

    The effect of the Strouhal number on periodic forcing of the flow over a backward-facing step (height, H ) is investigated experimentally. Forcing is applied by a synthetic jet at the edge of the step at Strouhal numbers ranging from 0.21

  14. Effect of horizontal reinforcement in strengthening of masonry members

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farooq, S.H.; Ilyas, M.; Ggaffar, A.

    2008-01-01

    An experimental research program was undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of a new technique for strengthening masonry wall panels using steel strips on compressive and shear strength enhancement. The experimental work includes eight wall panels, four each for compressive and shear strength evaluation. This work was the phase I of extensive research project which include testing of strengthened masonry wall panels under monotonic load (Phase-I), static cyclic load (Phase-2) and dynamic load (Phase-3). The wall panels were strengthened with different steel strip arrangements, which consist of single/double face application of coarse and fine steel strip mesh with reduced spacing of horizontal strips. This paper investigates only the effectiveness of horizontal steel strips on strength enhancement. Four masonry wall panels are considered in two groups and in each group, one wall was retrofitted with coarse steel mesh on single face and on second wall fine steel mesh was applied on one side. Furthermore, test results of strengthened specimens are also compared with the un-strengthened specimen (REFE). The mechanisms by which load was carried were observed, varying from the initial, uncracked state, and the final, fully cracked state. The results demonstrate a quite significant increase in the compressive and shear capacity of strengthened panels as compared to REFE-panel. However, increase in the compressive strength of fine mesh above that of coarse mesh is negligible. The technique/approach is found quite viable for strengthening of masonry walls, for rehabilitation of old deteriorated buildings and unreinforced masonry structures in seismic zones. (author)

  15. Application of Photocurrent Model on Polymer Solar Cells Under Forward Bias Stress

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rizzo, Antonio; Torto, Lorenzo; Wrachien, Nicola

    2017-01-01

    We performed a constant current stress at forward bias on organic heterojunction solar cells. We measured current voltage curves in both dark and light at each stress step to calculate the photocurrent. An existing model applied to photocurrent experimental data allows the estimation of several...

  16. A Horizontal Tilt Correction Method for Ship License Numbers Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Baolong; Zhang, Sanyuan; Hong, Zhenjie; Ye, Xiuzi

    2018-02-01

    An automatic ship license numbers (SLNs) recognition system plays a significant role in intelligent waterway transportation systems since it can be used to identify ships by recognizing the characters in SLNs. Tilt occurs frequently in many SLNs because the monitors and the ships usually have great vertical or horizontal angles, which decreases the accuracy and robustness of a SLNs recognition system significantly. In this paper, we present a horizontal tilt correction method for SLNs. For an input tilt SLN image, the proposed method accomplishes the correction task through three main steps. First, a MSER-based characters’ center-points computation algorithm is designed to compute the accurate center-points of the characters contained in the input SLN image. Second, a L 1- L 2 distance-based straight line is fitted to the computed center-points using M-estimator algorithm. The tilt angle is estimated at this stage. Finally, based on the computed tilt angle, an affine transformation rotation is conducted to rotate and to correct the input SLN horizontally. At last, the proposed method is tested on 200 tilt SLN images, the proposed method is proved to be effective with a tilt correction rate of 80.5%.

  17. Grand Challenges facing Storage Systems

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2004-01-01

    In this talk, we will discuss the future of storage systems. In particular, we will focus on several big challenges which we are facing in storage, such as being able to build, manage and backup really massive storage systems, being able to find information of interest, being able to do long-term archival of data, and so on. We also present ideas and research being done to address these challenges, and provide a perspective on how we expect these challenges to be resolved as we go forward.

  18. A New Viewpoint on the Evolution of Sexually Dimorphic Human Faces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darren Burke

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Human faces show marked sexual shape dimorphism, and this affects their attractiveness. Humans also show marked height dimorphism, which means that men typically view women's faces from slightly above and women typically view men's faces from slightly below. We tested the idea that this perspective difference may be the evolutionary origin of the face shape dimorphism by having males and females rate the masculinity/femininity and attractiveness of male and female faces that had been manipulated in pitch (forward or backward tilt, simulating viewing the face from slightly above or below. As predicted, tilting female faces upwards decreased their perceived femininity and attractiveness, whereas tilting them downwards increased their perceived femininity and attractiveness. Male faces tilted up were judged to be more masculine, and tilted down judged to be less masculine. This suggests that sexual selection may have embodied this viewpoint difference into the actual facial proportions of men and women.

  19. Face recognition from unconstrained three-dimensional face images using multitask sparse representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bentaieb, Samia; Ouamri, Abdelaziz; Nait-Ali, Amine; Keche, Mokhtar

    2018-01-01

    We propose and evaluate a three-dimensional (3D) face recognition approach that applies the speeded up robust feature (SURF) algorithm to the depth representation of shape index map, under real-world conditions, using only a single gallery sample for each subject. First, the 3D scans are preprocessed, then SURF is applied on the shape index map to find interest points and their descriptors. Each 3D face scan is represented by keypoints descriptors, and a large dictionary is built from all the gallery descriptors. At the recognition step, descriptors of a probe face scan are sparsely represented by the dictionary. A multitask sparse representation classification is used to determine the identity of each probe face. The feasibility of the approach that uses the SURF algorithm on the shape index map for face identification/authentication is checked through an experimental investigation conducted on Bosphorus, University of Milano Bicocca, and CASIA 3D datasets. It achieves an overall rank one recognition rate of 97.75%, 80.85%, and 95.12%, respectively, on these datasets.

  20. Netherlands : An ‘Echternach’ Procession in Different Directions: Oscillating Steps Towards Reform

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Westerheijden, Donald F.; de Boer, Harry F.; Enders, Jürgen; Paradeise, C.; Reale, E.; Bleiklie, I.; Ferlie, E.

    2009-01-01

    The annual procession in the Luxemburg town of Echternach is famous for its laborious manner of reaching its end: two steps forward, one step back. In this paper, we will maintain that the policy of the Dutch government over the period of c.1982–2007 resembles an Echternach procession in reverse:

  1. Moving backwards, moving forward: the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to life in New Zealand

    OpenAIRE

    Montayre, Jed; Neville, Stephen; Holroyd, Eleanor

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to living permanently in New Zealand. Method: The qualitative descriptive approach taken in this study involved 17 individual face-to-face interviews of older Filipino migrants in New Zealand. Results: Three main themes emerged from the data. The first theme was ?moving backwards and moving forward?, which described how these older Filipino migrants adjusted to challenges they experienced with migration. The sec...

  2. One Step Solution to the Local Tie Vectors of GNSS/SLR in ITRF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MA Xiaping

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a one-step solution of local tie vectors,the solution takes RP (Reference Point and axes offsets of SLR telescope as unknown parameters,GNSS baselines network and conventional terrestrial observation (horizontal,vertical angle and distance are combined in ITRF (International Terrestrial Reference Frame,and multiply constraint conditions are established between RP and observation marks and two axes offsets.Local tie vectors and related covariance matrices of the 3 co-located sites in Beijing,Kunming,Xi'an of CMONOC (Crustal Movement Observation Network of China are solved with the proposed one step solution.The results show that the RMS (root mean square error of local tie vectors is less than 2.0 mm.Besides,the differences are less than 2.0 mm compared with the traditional step by step solution,and the offsets and corresponding RMS between the horizontal axis and vertical axis are 3.8 mm,0.7 mm,3.6 mm and 1.3 mm,1.2 mm,1.3 mm,respectively.

  3. NEGOTIATING COMMON GROUND IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED VERSUS FACE-TO-FACE DISCUSSIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilona Vandergriff

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available To explore the impact of the communication medium on building common ground, this article presents research comparing learner use of reception strategies in traditional face-to-face (FTF and in synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC.Reception strategies, such as reprises, hypothesis testing and forward inferencing provide evidence of comprehension and thus serve to establish common ground among participants. A number of factors, including communicative purpose or medium are hypothesized to affect the use of such strategies (Clark & Brennan, 1991. In the data analysis, I 1 identify specific types of reception strategies, 2 compare their relative frequencies by communication medium, by task, and by learner and 3 describe how these reception strategies function in the discussions. The findings of the quantitative analysis show that the medium alone seems to have little impact on grounding as indicated by use of reception strategies. The qualitative analysis provides evidence that participants adapted the strategies to the goals of the communicative interaction as they used them primarily to negotiate and update common ground on their collaborative activity rather than to compensate for L2 deficiencies.

  4. A LITERATURE SURVEY ON VARIOUS ILLUMINATION NORMALIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR FACE RECOGNITION WITH FUZZY K NEAREST NEIGHBOUR CLASSIFIER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Thamizharasi

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The face recognition is popular in video surveillance, social networks and criminal identifications nowadays. The performance of face recognition would be affected by variations in illumination, pose, aging and partial occlusion of face by Wearing Hats, scarves and glasses etc. The illumination variations are still the challenging problem in face recognition. The aim is to compare the various illumination normalization techniques. The illumination normalization techniques include: Log transformations, Power Law transformations, Histogram equalization, Adaptive histogram equalization, Contrast stretching, Retinex, Multi scale Retinex, Difference of Gaussian, DCT, DCT Normalization, DWT, Gradient face, Self Quotient, Multi scale Self Quotient and Homomorphic filter. The proposed work consists of three steps. First step is to preprocess the face image with the above illumination normalization techniques; second step is to create the train and test database from the preprocessed face images and third step is to recognize the face images using Fuzzy K nearest neighbor classifier. The face recognition accuracy of all preprocessing techniques is compared using the AR face database of color images.

  5. Characteristics of Plantar Loads in Maximum Forward Lunge Tasks in Badminton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Xiaoyue; Li, Jing Xian; Hong, Youlian; Wang, Lin

    2015-01-01

    Badminton players often perform powerful and long-distance lunges during such competitive matches. The objective of this study is to compare the plantar loads of three one-step maximum forward lunges in badminton. Fifteen right-handed male badminton players participated in the study. Each participant performed five successful maximum lunges at three directions. For each direction, the participant wore three different shoe brands. Plantar loading, including peak pressure, maximum force, and contact area, was measured by using an insole pressure measurement system. Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was employed to determine the effects of the different lunge directions and different shoes, as well as the interaction of these two variables, on the measurements. The maximum force (MF) on the lateral midfoot was lower when performing left-forward lunges than when performing front-forward lunges (p = 0.006, 95% CI = -2.88 to -0.04%BW). The MF and peak pressures (PP) on the great toe region were lower for the front-forward lunge than for the right-forward lunge (MF, p = 0.047, 95% CI = -3.62 to -0.02%BW; PP, p = 0.048, 95% CI = -37.63 to -0.16 KPa) and left-forward lunge (MF, p = 0.015, 95% CI = -4.39 to -0.38%BW; PP, p = 0.008, 95% CI = -47.76 to -5.91 KPa). These findings indicate that compared with the front-forward lunge, left and right maximum forward lunges induce greater plantar loads on the great toe region of the dominant leg of badminton players. The differences in the plantar loads of the different lunge directions may be potential risks for injuries to the lower extremities of badminton players.

  6. Two steps forward, one step back

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2003-01-01

    The most important events in the world nuclear power engineering from June, 2001, are reviewed. Problems and achievements in the nuclear energetics of Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Great Britain, Germany, India, Canada, China, Lithuania, North Korea, USA, Taiwan, Ukraine, Finland, France, Czech, Sweden, South Africa and Japan are discussed. Among the discussed questions are MOX-fuel, nuclear waste storage, prospects in nuclear energetics, safety, spent fuel [ru

  7. USAID Forward

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — The USAID Forward reform initiative ran from 2010-2016. USAID Forward improved the way that the Agency delivers foreign assistance by embracing new partnerships,...

  8. Lower limb muscle moments and power during recovery from forward loss of balance in male and female single and multiple steppers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carty, Christopher P; Cronin, Neil J; Lichtwark, Glen A; Mills, Peter M; Barrett, Rod S

    2012-12-01

    Studying recovery responses to loss of balance may help to explain why older adults are susceptible to falls. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether male and female older adults, that use a single or multiple step recovery strategy, differ in the proportion of lower limb strength used and power produced during the stepping phase of balance recovery. Eighty-four community-dwelling older adults (47 men, 37 women) participated in the study. Isometric strength of the ankle, knee and hip joint flexors and extensors was assessed using a dynamometer. Loss of balance was induced by releasing participants from a static forward lean (4 trials at each of 3 forward lean angles). Participants were instructed to recover with a single step and were subsequently classified as using a single or multiple step recovery strategy for each trial. (1) Females were weaker than males and the proportion of females that were able to recover with a single step were lower than for males at each lean magnitude. (2) Multiple compared to single steppers used a significantly higher proportion of their hip extension strength and produced less knee and ankle joint peak power during stepping, at the intermediate lean angle. Strength deficits in female compared to male participants may explain why a lower proportion of female participants were able to recover with a single step. The inability to generate sufficient power in the stepping limb appears to be a limiting factor in single step recovery from forward loss of balance. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Influence of a Horizontal Approach on the Mechanical Output during Drop Jumps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruan, Mianfang; Li, Li

    2008-01-01

    This study investigated the influence of a horizontal approach to mechanical output during drop jumps. Participants performed drop jumps from heights of 15, 30, 45, and 60 cm with zero, one, two, and three approach steps. The peak summed power during the push-off phase changed quadratically across heights (6.2 [plus or minus] 0.3, 6.7 [plus or…

  10. Horizontal wells in subsurface remediation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Losonsky, G.; Beljin, M.S.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports on horizontal wells which offer an effective alternative to vertical wells in various environmental remediation technologies. Hydrogeological advantages of horizontal wells over vertical wells include a larger zone of influence, greater screen length, higher specific capacity and lower groundwater screen entrance velocity. Because of these advantages, horizontal wells can reduce treatment time and costs of groundwater recovery (pump-and-treat), in situ groundwater aeration (sparging) and soil gas extraction (vacuum extraction). Horizontal wells are also more effective than vertical wells in landfill leachate collection (under-drains), bioremediation, and horizontal grout injection

  11. Ejection of a rear facing, golf cart passenger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schau, Kyle; Masory, Oren

    2013-10-01

    The following report details the findings of a series of experiments and simulations performed on a commercially available, shuttle style golf cart during several maneuvers involving rapid accelerations of the vehicle. It is determined that the current set of passive restraints on these types of golf carts are not adequate in preventing ejection of a rear facing passenger during rapid accelerations in the forward and lateral directions. Experimental data and simulations show that a hip restraint must be a minimum of 13 in. above the seat in order to secure a rear facing passenger during sharp turns, compared to the current restraint height of 5 in. Furthermore, it is determined that a restraint directly in front of the rear facing passenger is necessary to prevent ejection. In addressing these issues, golf cart manufacturers could greatly reduce the likelihood of injury due to ejection of a rear facing, golf cart passenger. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Global, direct and diffuse solar radiation on horizontal and tilted surfaces in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Sebaii, A.A.; Al-Hazmi, F.S.; Al-Ghamdi, A.A.; Yaghmour, S.J.

    2010-01-01

    The measured data of global and diffuse solar radiation on a horizontal surface, the number of bright sunshine hours, mean daily ambient temperature, maximum and minimum ambient temperatures, relative humidity and amount of cloud cover for Jeddah (lat. 21 o 42'37''N, long. 39 o 11'12''E), Saudi Arabia, during the period (1996-2007) are analyzed. The monthly averages of daily values for these meteorological variables have been calculated. The data are then divided into two sets. The sub-data set I (1996-2004) are employed to develop empirical correlations between the monthly average of daily global solar radiation fraction (H/H 0 ) and the various weather parameters. The sub-data set II (2005-2007) are then used to evaluate the derived correlations. Furthermore, the total solar radiation on horizontal surfaces is separated into the beam and diffuses components. Empirical correlations for estimating the diffuse solar radiation incident on horizontal surfaces have been proposed. The total solar radiation incident on a tilted surface facing south H t with different tilt angles is then calculated using both Liu and Jordan isotropic model and Klucher's anisotropic model. It is inferred that the isotropic model is able to estimate H t more accurate than the anisotropic one. At the optimum tilt angle, the maximum value of H t is obtained as ∼36 (MJ/m 2 day) during January. Comparisons with 22 years average data of NASA SSE Model showed that the proposed correlations are able to predict the total annual energy on horizontal and tilted surfaces in Jeddah with a reasonable accuracy. It is also found that at Jeddah, the solar energy devices have to be tilted to face south with a tilt angle equals the latitude of the place in order to achieve the best performance all year round.

  13. Interpretation of deep directional resistivity measurements acquired in high-angle and horizontal wells using 3-D inversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puzyrev, Vladimir; Torres-Verdín, Carlos; Calo, Victor

    2018-05-01

    The interpretation of resistivity measurements acquired in high-angle and horizontal wells is a critical technical problem in formation evaluation. We develop an efficient parallel 3-D inversion method to estimate the spatial distribution of electrical resistivity in the neighbourhood of a well from deep directional electromagnetic induction measurements. The methodology places no restriction on the spatial distribution of the electrical resistivity around arbitrary well trajectories. The fast forward modelling of triaxial induction measurements performed with multiple transmitter-receiver configurations employs a parallel direct solver. The inversion uses a pre-conditioned gradient-based method whose accuracy is improved using the Wolfe conditions to estimate optimal step lengths at each iteration. The large transmitter-receiver offsets, used in the latest generation of commercial directional resistivity tools, improve the depth of investigation to over 30 m from the wellbore. Several challenging synthetic examples confirm the feasibility of the full 3-D inversion-based interpretations for these distances, hence enabling the integration of resistivity measurements with seismic amplitude data to improve the forecast of the petrophysical and fluid properties. Employing parallel direct solvers for the triaxial induction problems allows for large reductions in computational effort, thereby opening the possibility to invert multiposition 3-D data in practical CPU times.

  14. Detached Eddy Simulation of a Flow over a Backward-Facing Step

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Seong Hoon; Kim, Young In; Park, Chun Tae; Seo, Jae Kwang

    2007-01-01

    Turbulence models are essential ingredients for a successful flow field simulation. The turbulence models that have been generally adopted for the industry are based on the eddy viscosity assumption such as the standard k-ω model. The Boussinesq approximation, which is the linear relationship between the strain rate and the Reynolds stress, has been known to have a limitation when additional effects such as curvature, buoyancy and rotation are added to the flow field. To overcome these shortcomings, more sophisticated turbulence models such as the Reynolds Stress Model and the Algebraic Stress Model has been developed by many researchers. Even though the complexity of models is increased, it is difficult to overcome an inherent defect coming from an averaging process. The averaging process in the model development is required to determine the averaged effect of turbulence to the mean flow field. The defect comes from the fact that the averaging is conducted over a full range of turbulence length scales and removes the direct effect of unsteady large eddy motions. Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) takes an opposite approach, in which it solves all turbulence scales down to the smallest scale using very fine grids. But, this method has a serious problem for an industrial usage. The simulation cost is enormous and because of that, the possible range of the Reynolds number is limited to be very low. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) that models only small scales of turbulence has been a candidate for filling the gap between DNS and RANS. Unfortunately, LES also has a limitation of the possible Reynolds number. The detached eddy simulation (DES) is a hybrid method between RANS and LES. The grid requirement near boundary is a main obstacle for an LES usage. DES uses RANS near the wall and LES outside of it. The backward-facing step flow is simulated to show the DES capability. The near wall models of DES are the SST-kω model and the Spalart-Allmaras model. DES results are

  15. The Effect of Midline Corset Platysmaplasty on Degree of Face-lift Flap Elevation During Concomitant Deep-Plane Face-lift: A Cadaveric Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacono, Andrew A; Malone, Melanie H

    2016-05-01

    The evaluation of the effects of midline platysmaplasty concomitant with rhytidectomy. To determine whether midline platysmaplasty limits the degree of lift during deep-plane face-lift. Deep-plane rhytidectomy was performed on 10 cadaveric hemifaces. The redundant skin for excision after performing the face-lift was measured with and without midline platymaplasty. Deep-plane rhytidectomy. The redundant skin was measured preauricularly in the vertical and horizontal dimension, and postauricularly after deep-plane face-lift and after adding a midline platysmaplasty. Concomitant midline platysmaplasty significantly reduced the amount of lift during concomitant deep-plane rhytidectomy preauricularly in the vertical dimension by 40.5% (from 37.0 mm excess skin redraped to 22.0 mm) and postauricularly by 23.9% (from 40.6 mm excess skin redraped to 30.9 mm) (P jawline and midface during rhytidectomy. NA.

  16. Flow behaviour in a CANDU horizontal fuel channel from stagnant subcooled initial conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caplan, M.Z.; Gulshani, P.; Holmes, R.W.; Wright, A.C.D.

    1984-01-01

    The flow behaviour in a CANDU primary system with horizontal fuel channels is described following a small inlet header break. With the primary pumps running, emergency coolant injection is in the forward direction so that the channel outlet feeders remain warmer than the inlet thereby promoting forward natural circulation. However, the break force opposes the forward driving force. Should the primary pumps run down after the circuit has refilled, there is a break size for which the natural circulation force is balanced by the break force and channels could, theoretically, stagnate. Result of visualization and of full-size channel tests on channel flow behaviour from an initially stagnant channel condition are discussed. After a channel stagnation, the decay power heats the coolant to saturation. Steam is then formed and the coolant stratifies. The steam expands into the subcooled water in the end fitting in a chugging type of flow regime due to steam condensation. After the end fitting reaches the saturation temperature, steam is able to penetrate into the vertical feeder thereby initiating a large buoyancy induced flow which refills the channel. The duration of stagnation is shown to be sensitive to small asymmetries in the initial conditions. A small initial flow can significantly shorten the occurrence and/or duration of boiling as has been confirmed by reactor experience. (author)

  17. Impact picture for near-forward elastic scattering up to LHC energies

    CERN Document Server

    Soffer, Jacques; Wu, Tai Tsun

    2015-01-01

    We will recall the main feaatures of an accurate phenomenological model to describe successfully near-forward elastic scattering in a wide energy range, including ISR, SPS and Tevatron colliders. A large step in energy domain is accomplished with the LHC collider, presently running, giving the opportunity to confront the new data with the predictions of our theoretical approach.

  18. Institutionalizing policy-level health impact assessment in Europe: is coupling health impact assessment with strategic environmental assessment the next step forward?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, John; Parry, Jayne; Scully, Edward

    2005-06-01

    European Union (EU) Member States are interested in using health impact assessment (HIA) as a means of safeguarding their obligations to protect human health under the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam. However, several have encountered difficulties institutionalizing HIA with the policy-making process. As a consequence, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has suggested coupling HIA with strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Traditionally, the incorporation of HIA into other forms of impact assessment has been resisted, for fear of losing its focus on health issues to environmental concerns, and compromising its social model of health with the introduction of biophysical indicators. But can these fears be substantiated? In this paper, we investigate the grounds for such concerns by reviewing the relevant policy documents and departmental guidelines of four non-European countries that have considered the use of integrated assessment. We found that the case for associating HIA with SEA in Europe is strong, and offers potential solutions to problems of screening, theoretical framework, causal pathways and ready entry to the policy process. Coupling HIA with SEA may thus be the next step forward in a longer journey towards institutionalizing HIA as an independent policy-linked device.

  19. RELIABILITY OF KINEMATICS AND KINETICS ASSOCIATED WITH HORIZONTAL SINGLE LEG DROP JUMP ASSESSMENT. A BRIEF REPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus Stålbom

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Determining the reliability of a unilateral horizontal drop jump for displacement provided the focus for this research. Eighteen male subjects were required to step off a 20cm box and land on a force plate with one leg and thereafter jump for maximal horizontal displacement on two different days. Dependent variables from the jump assessment included mean and peak vertical (V and horizontal (H ground reaction forces (GRF and impulses, horizontal displacement and contact time. The between-trial variability of all kinematic and kinetic measures was less than 7%. The most consistent measure over both trials was the horizontal displacement jumped (1.2 to 1.4% and the most variable were the contact time the first day (6.5% and peak HGRF the second day (4.3%. In all cases there was less variation associated with the second rather than the first day. In terms of test-retest variability the percent changes in the means and coefficient of variations (CVs were all under 10%. The smallest changes in the mean (0.43 %, least variation (< 2.26 % and second highest intraclass correlation co-efficient (ICC = 0.95 were found for horizontal displacement jumped. The highest ICC (0.96 was found for horizontal impulse. Given the reliability of the single leg drop jump, it may offer better prognostic and diagnostic information than that obtained with bilateral vertical jumps

  20. Toward fast feature adaptation and localization for real-time face recognition systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zuo, F.; With, de P.H.N.; Ebrahimi, T.; Sikora, T.

    2003-01-01

    In a home environment, video surveillance employing face detection and recognition is attractive for new applications. Facial feature (e.g. eyes and mouth) localization in the face is an essential task for face recognition because it constitutes an indispensable step for face geometry normalization.

  1. Characteristics of Plantar Loads in Maximum Forward Lunge Tasks in Badminton.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoyue Hu

    Full Text Available Badminton players often perform powerful and long-distance lunges during such competitive matches. The objective of this study is to compare the plantar loads of three one-step maximum forward lunges in badminton.Fifteen right-handed male badminton players participated in the study. Each participant performed five successful maximum lunges at three directions. For each direction, the participant wore three different shoe brands. Plantar loading, including peak pressure, maximum force, and contact area, was measured by using an insole pressure measurement system. Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was employed to determine the effects of the different lunge directions and different shoes, as well as the interaction of these two variables, on the measurements.The maximum force (MF on the lateral midfoot was lower when performing left-forward lunges than when performing front-forward lunges (p = 0.006, 95% CI = -2.88 to -0.04%BW. The MF and peak pressures (PP on the great toe region were lower for the front-forward lunge than for the right-forward lunge (MF, p = 0.047, 95% CI = -3.62 to -0.02%BW; PP, p = 0.048, 95% CI = -37.63 to -0.16 KPa and left-forward lunge (MF, p = 0.015, 95% CI = -4.39 to -0.38%BW; PP, p = 0.008, 95% CI = -47.76 to -5.91 KPa.These findings indicate that compared with the front-forward lunge, left and right maximum forward lunges induce greater plantar loads on the great toe region of the dominant leg of badminton players. The differences in the plantar loads of the different lunge directions may be potential risks for injuries to the lower extremities of badminton players.

  2. Ferrofluid meniscus in a horizontal or vertical magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosensweig, R.E.; Elborai, S.; Lee, S.-H.; Zahn, M.

    2005-01-01

    An optical system using reflections of a narrow laser beam to measure the height and shape of a ferrofluid meniscus in response to uniform applied magnetic fields finds that meniscus height on a vertical flat wall decreases in horizontal applied field and increases in vertical applied field. An approximate energy minimization analysis predicts meniscus height in directional agreement with measurements. This study is a first step in calculating the tangential surface force acting in flows where magnetization magnitude and direction lag a changing magnetic field direction, and the meniscus shape is magnetically perturbed

  3. Forward optical glory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nussenzveig, H.M.

    Forward optical glory effects in Mie scattering are displayed here for the first time. These effects include regular oscillations in Mie efficiency factors and characteristic deviations from zero polarization in near-forward scattering which are observable for real refractive indices near √2 and 2. Complex angular momentum theory predicts the period of oscillation correctly and shows the important role played by surface waves with shortcuts through the sphere. three possible types of experiments for detecting the forward glory are proposed, involving measurements of extinction, radiation pressure, and polarization in near-forward scattering. (Author) [pt

  4. Mixed convection-radiation interaction in boundary-layer flow over horizontal surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibrahim, F. S.; Hady, F. M.

    1990-06-01

    The effect of buoyancy forces and thermal radiation on the steady laminar plane flow over an isothermal horizontal flat plate is investigated within the framework of first-order boundary-layer theory, taking into account the hydrostatic pressure variation normal to the plate. The fluid considered is a gray, absorbing-emitting but nonscattering medium, and the Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. Both a hot surface facing upward and a cold surface facing downward are considered in the analysis. Numerical results for the local Nusselt number, the local wall shear stress, the local surface heat flux, as well as the velocity and temperature distributions are presented for gases with a Prandtl number of 0.7 for various values of the radiation-conduction parameter, the buoyancy parameter, and the temperature ratio parameter.

  5. Food safety measurement issues. Way forward

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Venkatesh Iyengar

    2013-01-01

    Ensuring food safety (FS) is a persistent concern frequently faced by many countries. Safeguarding the quality of food that is fit for human consumption is the primary responsibility of the governmental regulatory agencies. For most part, agro-industries and food processors assume voluntary leadership for producing safe food. However, in the event of FS breach, the regulatory responsibility kicks into identify and rectify the situation. Notwithstanding whether it is the regulator or the industry that institutes the remedial action (e.g. improved hygiene and refined agricultural and manufacturing practices), the role of laboratory measurements is central in safeguarding the integrity of a functioning FS system. There are many analytical tools available to implement this task, such as validated analytical methods, natural matrix reference materials, field tested monitoring systems (proactive assessment) and effective surveillance systems (constant vigilance to prevent repeat safety violations). Way forward: existing FS tools are insufficient and should be strengthened with innovative approaches. Examples are: assembling swift intervention logistics to face FS breaches; rapid response systems including communication; robust metrology based measurement systems located at strategic locations in the country; and inter-disciplinary human resource to match the need for capacity development. These issues are discussed. (author)

  6. Adaptive management of social-ecological systems: the path forward

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Craig R.

    2015-01-01

    Adaptive management remains at the forefront of environmental management nearly 40 years after its original conception, largely because we have yet to develop other methodologies that offer the same promise. Despite the criticisms of adaptive management and the numerous failed attempts to implement it, adaptive management has yet to be replaced with a better alternative. The concept persists because it is simple, allows action despite uncertainty, and fosters learning. Moving forward, adaptive management of social-ecological systems provides policymakers, managers and scientists a powerful tool for managing for resilience in the face of uncertainty.

  7. Prediction of 3D chip formation in the facing cutting with lathe machine using FEM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasetyo, Yudhi; Tauviqirrahman, Mohamad; Rusnaldy

    2016-04-01

    This paper presents the prediction of the chip formation at the machining process using a lathe machine in a more specific way focusing on facing cutting (face turning). The main purpose is to propose a new approach to predict the chip formation with the variation of the cutting directions i.e., the backward and forward direction. In addition, the interaction between stress analysis and chip formation on cutting process was also investigated. The simulations were conducted using three dimensional (3D) finite element method based on ABAQUS software with aluminum and high speed steel (HSS) as the workpiece and the tool materials, respectively. The simulation result showed that the chip resulted using a backward direction depicts a better formation than that using a conventional (forward) direction.

  8. Vertical and horizontal subsidiarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan V. Daniluk

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available This article makes an attempt to analyze the principle of subsidiarity in its two main manifestations, namely vertical and horizontal, to outline the principles of relations between the state and regions within the vertical subsidiarity, and features a collaboration of the government and civil society within the horizontal subsidiarity. Scientists identify two types, or two levels of the subsidiarity principle: vertical subsidiarity and horizontal subsidiarity. First, vertical subsidiarity (or territorial concerning relations between the state and other levels of subnational government, such as regions and local authorities; second, horizontal subsidiarity (or functional concerns the relationship between state and citizen (and civil society. Vertical subsidiarity expressed in the context of the distribution of administrative responsibilities to the appropriate higher level lower levels relative to the state structure, ie giving more powers to local government. However, state intervention has subsidiary-lower action against local authorities in cases of insolvency last cope on their own, ie higher organisms intervene only if the duties are less authority is insufficient to achieve the goals. Horizontal subsidiarity is within the relationship between power and freedom, and is based on the assumption that the concern for the common good and the needs of common interest community, able to solve community members (as individuals and citizens’ associations and role of government, in accordance horizontal subsidiarity comes to attracting features subsidiarity assistance, programming, coordination and possibly control.

  9. Development of face recognition: Dynamic causal modelling of MEG data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei He

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Electrophysiological studies of adults indicate that brain activity is enhanced during viewing of repeated faces, at a latency of about 250 ms after the onset of the face (M250/N250. The present study aimed to determine if this effect was also present in preschool-aged children, whose brain activity was measured in a custom-sized pediatric MEG system. The results showed that, unlike adults, face repetition did not show any significant modulation of M250 amplitude in children; however children’s M250 latencies were significantly faster for repeated than non-repeated faces. Dynamic causal modelling (DCM of the M250 in both age groups tested the effects of face repetition within the core face network including the occipital face area (OFA, the fusiform face area (FFA, and the superior temporal sulcus (STS. DCM revealed that repetition of identical faces altered both forward and backward connections in children and adults; however the modulations involved inputs to both FFA and OFA in adults but only to OFA in children. These findings suggest that the amplitude-insensitivity of the immature M250 may be due to a weaker connection between the FFA and lower visual areas. Keywords: MEG, Face recognition, Repetition, DCM, M250, M170

  10. Rapid decay of vacancy islands at step edges on Ag(111): step orientation dependence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Mingmin; Thiel, P A; Jenks, Cynthia J; Evans, J W

    2010-01-01

    Previous work has established that vacancy islands or pits fill much more quickly when they are in contact with a step edge, such that the common boundary is a double step. The present work focuses on the effect of the orientation of that step, with two possibilities existing for a face centered cubic (111) surface: A- and B-type steps. We find that the following features can depend on the orientation: (1) the shapes of islands while they shrink; (2) whether the island remains attached to the step edge; and (3) the rate of filling. The first two effects can be explained by the different rates of adatom diffusion along the A- and B-steps that define the pit, enhanced by the different filling rates. The third observation-the difference in the filling rate itself-is explained within the context of the concerted exchange mechanism at the double step. This process is facile at all regular sites along B-steps, but only at kink sites along A-steps, which explains the different rates. We also observe that oxygen can greatly accelerate the decay process, although it has no apparent effect on an isolated vacancy island (i.e. an island that is not in contact with a step).

  11. Moving backwards, moving forward: the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to life in New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montayre, Jed; Neville, Stephen; Holroyd, Eleanor

    2017-12-01

    To explore the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to living permanently in New Zealand. The qualitative descriptive approach taken in this study involved 17 individual face-to-face interviews of older Filipino migrants in New Zealand. Three main themes emerged from the data. The first theme was "moving backwards and moving forward", which described how these older Filipino migrants adjusted to challenges they experienced with migration. The second theme was "engaging with health services" and presented challenges relating to the New Zealand healthcare system, including a lack of knowledge of the nature of health services, language barriers, and differences in cultural views. The third theme, "new-found home", highlighted establishing a Filipino identity in New Zealand and adjusting to the challenges of relocation. Adjustment to life in New Zealand for these older Filipino migrants meant starting over again by building new values through learning the basics and then moving forward from there.

  12. Improved waterflooding efficiency by horizontal wells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Popa, C. G. [Petroleum and Gas Univ., Ploesti (Romania); Clipea, M. [SNP Petrom SA, ICPT Campina (Romania)

    1998-12-31

    The influence of well pattern involving the use of horizontal wells on the overall efficiency of the waterflooding process was analyzed. Three different scenarios were examined: (1) a pattern of using two parallel horizontal wells, one for injection, the other for production, (2) a pattern of one horizontal well for water injection and several vertical wells for production, and (3) a pattern of using vertical wells for injection and one horizontal well for production. In each case, the waterflooding process was simulated using a two phase two dimensional numerical model. Results showed that the pressure loss along the horizontal section had a large influence on the sweep efficiency whether the horizontal well was used for injection or production. Overall, the most successful combination appeared to be using vertical wells for injection and horizontal wells for production. 4 refs., 1 tab., 15 figs.

  13. Response of Voronezh reactor type to horizontal ground motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pecinka, L.

    1983-01-01

    For the purposes of vibration monitoring of PWR's the well known 'double pendulum model' has been developed and experimentally verified. It is shown, that this model is possible to use for response calculations of Voronezh reactor pressure vessel and its internals to horizontal ground motion. The equation of motion is given in usual matrix form, the damping matrix is calculated by Rayleigh formula. Driving force is given by vector of ground motion in horizontal direction. For the numerical integration of equation of motion is possible to use following methods - matrix exponential in state space; - modal analysis; - one-step direct integration. For our purposes the last one has been chosen and related computer code TRANS has been developed. The results of calculations are given in the graphically form using generalized angular coordinates and its second derivatives, which describes the displacement or acceleration of reactor pressure vessel to ground and the core barrel to reactor pressure vessel. The driving vector is given in the form of artificially generated accelerogram. (orig./HP)

  14. Development of face recognition: Dynamic causal modelling of MEG data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Wei; Johnson, Blake W

    2018-04-01

    Electrophysiological studies of adults indicate that brain activity is enhanced during viewing of repeated faces, at a latency of about 250 ms after the onset of the face (M250/N250). The present study aimed to determine if this effect was also present in preschool-aged children, whose brain activity was measured in a custom-sized pediatric MEG system. The results showed that, unlike adults, face repetition did not show any significant modulation of M250 amplitude in children; however children's M250 latencies were significantly faster for repeated than non-repeated faces. Dynamic causal modelling (DCM) of the M250 in both age groups tested the effects of face repetition within the core face network including the occipital face area (OFA), the fusiform face area (FFA), and the superior temporal sulcus (STS). DCM revealed that repetition of identical faces altered both forward and backward connections in children and adults; however the modulations involved inputs to both FFA and OFA in adults but only to OFA in children. These findings suggest that the amplitude-insensitivity of the immature M250 may be due to a weaker connection between the FFA and lower visual areas. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. How academics face the world: a study of 5829 homepage pictures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Churches, Owen; Callahan, Rebecca; Michalski, Dana; Brewer, Nicola; Turner, Emma; Keage, Hannah Amy Diane; Thomas, Nicole Annette; Nicholls, Mike Elmo Richard

    2012-01-01

    It is now standard practice, at Universities around the world, for academics to place pictures of themselves on a personal profile page maintained as part of their University's web-site. Here we investigated what these pictures reveal about the way academics see themselves. Since there is an asymmetry in the degree to which emotional information is conveyed by the face, with the left side being more expressive than the right, we hypothesised that academics in the sciences would seek to pose as non-emotional rationalists and put their right cheek forward, while academics in the arts would express their emotionality and pose with the left cheek forward. We sourced 5829 pictures of academics from their University websites and found that, consistent with the hypotheses, there was a significant difference in the direction of face posing between science academics and English academics with English academics showing a more leftward orientation. Academics in the Fine Arts and Performing Arts however, did not show the expected left cheek forward bias. We also analysed profile pictures of psychology academics and found a greater bias toward presenting the left check compared to science academics which makes psychologists appear more like arts academics than scientists. These findings indicate that the personal website pictures of academics mirror the cultural perceptions of emotional expressiveness across disciplines.

  16. Face Recognition in Humans and Machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Toole, Alice; Tistarelli, Massimo

    The study of human face recognition by psychologists and neuroscientists has run parallel to the development of automatic face recognition technologies by computer scientists and engineers. In both cases, there are analogous steps of data acquisition, image processing, and the formation of representations that can support the complex and diverse tasks we accomplish with faces. These processes can be understood and compared in the context of their neural and computational implementations. In this chapter, we present the essential elements of face recognition by humans and machines, taking a perspective that spans psychological, neural, and computational approaches. From the human side, we overview the methods and techniques used in the neurobiology of face recognition, the underlying neural architecture of the system, the role of visual attention, and the nature of the representations that emerges. From the computational side, we discuss face recognition technologies and the strategies they use to overcome challenges to robust operation over viewing parameters. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a look at some recent studies that compare human and machine performances at face recognition.

  17. Digital project management the complete step-by-step guide to a successful launch

    CERN Document Server

    Olson, Taylor

    2016-01-01

    The digital world is growing and changing at a rate that can seem overwhelming to those project managers who have to keep up with it to build customer-facing solutions and applications. It's rare for project managers working in this field to be provided with much direction or a process by which to carry out a project, and there has been next to nothing available specific to these types of projects in the literary marketplace. Digital Project Management: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Launch was developed to fill this gap by providing the knowledge, best practices and proven steps to consistently managing these types of project successfully from end-to-end now, and in the future with just minor adjustments to adapt to changes in technology.

  18. Experimental study of evaporation of horizontal films of water–salt solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elistratov S.L.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The present studies were carried out for the horizontal films (thin layers of water and water solutions of NaCl, CaCl2, LiCl, and LiBr with different solubility characteristics, as well as with specific features of formation and decay of water hydrates. Required volume of solution Vo of given weight concentration ξo, preliminary heated to the working surface temperature, was put in one step on the horizontal bottom of the bowl, heated to working temperature tCT, by means of volume batchers Thermo Scientific. After evaporation completion, the final mass of solution and form of their residue were registered. At the final stage of evaporation formation of NaCl crystals and water hydrates of CaCl2 · 2H2O, LiCl · H2O, and LiBr · 2H2O occurred.

  19. High-speed linear optics quantum computing using active feed-forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prevedel, Robert; Walther, Philip; Tiefenbacher, Felix; Böhi, Pascal; Kaltenbaek, Rainer; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton

    2007-01-04

    As information carriers in quantum computing, photonic qubits have the advantage of undergoing negligible decoherence. However, the absence of any significant photon-photon interaction is problematic for the realization of non-trivial two-qubit gates. One solution is to introduce an effective nonlinearity by measurements resulting in probabilistic gate operations. In one-way quantum computation, the random quantum measurement error can be overcome by applying a feed-forward technique, such that the future measurement basis depends on earlier measurement results. This technique is crucial for achieving deterministic quantum computation once a cluster state (the highly entangled multiparticle state on which one-way quantum computation is based) is prepared. Here we realize a concatenated scheme of measurement and active feed-forward in a one-way quantum computing experiment. We demonstrate that, for a perfect cluster state and no photon loss, our quantum computation scheme would operate with good fidelity and that our feed-forward components function with very high speed and low error for detected photons. With present technology, the individual computational step (in our case the individual feed-forward cycle) can be operated in less than 150 ns using electro-optical modulators. This is an important result for the future development of one-way quantum computers, whose large-scale implementation will depend on advances in the production and detection of the required highly entangled cluster states.

  20. NATO, Libya operations and intelligence co-operation – a step forward?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svendsen, Adam David Morgan

    2011-01-01

    developments can be opened up for some further analysis, forming the main focus of this article. Ultimately, this article concludes that, over time and albeit while gradual, we have seen what can be regarded as ‘a step forward’ in co-operative intelligence activities in Libya. Although several pressing......"With the ‘fall’ of Tripoli towards the end of August 2011, it has become increasingly apparent that the intelligence co-operation witnessed in Libya during the NATO campaign performed an increasingly important role in realizing operational and strategic ‘successes’. These recent intelligence...

  1. Qupe--a Rich Internet Application to take a step forward in the analysis of mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albaum, Stefan P; Neuweger, Heiko; Fränzel, Benjamin; Lange, Sita; Mertens, Dominik; Trötschel, Christian; Wolters, Dirk; Kalinowski, Jörn; Nattkemper, Tim W; Goesmann, Alexander

    2009-12-01

    The goal of present -omics sciences is to understand biological systems as a whole in terms of interactions of the individual cellular components. One of the main building blocks in this field of study is proteomics where tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in combination with isotopic labelling techniques provides a common way to obtain a direct insight into regulation at the protein level. Methods to identify and quantify the peptides contained in a sample are well established, and their output usually results in lists of identified proteins and calculated relative abundance values. The next step is to move ahead from these abstract lists and apply statistical inference methods to compare measurements, to identify genes that are significantly up- or down-regulated, or to detect clusters of proteins with similar expression profiles. We introduce the Rich Internet Application (RIA) Qupe providing comprehensive data management and analysis functions for LC-MS/MS experiments. Starting with the import of mass spectra data the system guides the experimenter through the process of protein identification by database search, the calculation of protein abundance ratios, and in particular, the statistical evaluation of the quantification results including multivariate analysis methods such as analysis of variance or hierarchical cluster analysis. While a data model to store these results has been developed, a well-defined programming interface facilitates the integration of novel approaches. A compute cluster is utilized to distribute computationally intensive calculations, and a web service allows to interchange information with other -omics software applications. To demonstrate that Qupe represents a step forward in quantitative proteomics analysis an application study on Corynebacterium glutamicum has been carried out. Qupe is implemented in Java utilizing Hibernate, Echo2, R and the Spring framework. We encourage the usage of the RIA in the sense of the 'software as a

  2. A step forward towards understanding the severe accident evolution in Fukushima: Parametric analyses of Unit-I with MELCOR 2.I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herranz, L. E.; Garcia Martin, M.; Lopez del Pra, C.

    2013-01-01

    The Fukushima accident on March 11 2011, largely affected nuclear community all over the world. Immediately, many R and D organizations and companies drew their attention to the facts that were being released by Japanese authorities, so that the most through understanding of the situation could be gained at the moment. This paper synthesizes the major progress achieved by CIEMAT in this international environment. The specific target pursued is the comprehension of the severe accident evolution, particularly the progression followed in the unit 1 of Fukushima Daiichi. To do so, the MELCOR 2.1 code has been used to model 6 Fukushima-like SBO sequences in a BWR-Mark I reactor. Particular emphasis has been given to understand the potential impact of systems like the isolation condenser (IC) and the over-pressure protection system. As expected, availability of AC power from a diesel would have drastically changed the scenario, particularly in the containment, due to actuation of DW (Dry-Well) sprays. IC actuation might have delayed the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) failure for hours, if they had performed according to their design. Contrarily, a stuck-open safety relief valve would have resulted in an earlier PRV failure. A definitive picture of the scenario is still far away; however, these results may be seen as a step forward. (Author)

  3. A step forward towards understanding the severe accident evolution in Fukushima: Parametric analyses of Unit-I with MELCOR 2.I

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herranz, L. E.; Garcia Martin, M.; Lopez del Pra, C.

    2013-03-01

    The Fukushima accident on March 11 2011, largely affected nuclear community all over the world. Immediately, many R and D organizations and companies drew their attention to the facts that were being released by Japanese authorities, so that the most through understanding of the situation could be gained at the moment. This paper synthesizes the major progress achieved by CIEMAT in this international environment. The specific target pursued is the comprehension of the severe accident evolution, particularly the progression followed in the unit 1 of Fukushima Daiichi. To do so, the MELCOR 2.1 code has been used to model 6 Fukushima-like SBO sequences in a BWR-Mark I reactor. Particular emphasis has been given to understand the potential impact of systems like the isolation condenser (IC) and the over-pressure protection system. As expected, availability of AC power from a diesel would have drastically changed the scenario, particularly in the containment, due to actuation of DW (Dry-Well) sprays. IC actuation might have delayed the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) failure for hours, if they had performed according to their design. Contrarily, a stuck-open safety relief valve would have resulted in an earlier PRV failure. A definitive picture of the scenario is still far away; however, these results may be seen as a step forward. (Author)

  4. Distribution of spinal neuronal networks controlling forward and backward locomotion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merkulyeva, Natalia; Veshchitskii, Aleksandr; Gorsky, Oleg; Pavlova, Natalia; Zelenin, Pavel V; Gerasimenko, Yury; Deliagina, Tatiana G; Musienko, Pavel

    2018-04-20

    Higher vertebrates, including humans, are capable not only of forward (FW) locomotion but also of walking in other directions relative to the body axis [backward (BW), sideways, etc.]. While the neural mechanisms responsible for controlling FW locomotion have been studied in considerable detail, the mechanisms controlling steps in other directions are mostly unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of spinal neuronal networks controlling FW and BW locomotion. First, we applied electrical epidural stimulation (ES) to different segments of the spinal cord from L2 to S2 to reveal zones triggering FW and BW locomotion in decerebrate cats of either sex. Second, to determine the location of spinal neurons activated during FW and BW locomotion, we used c-fos immunostaining. We found that the neuronal networks responsible for FW locomotion were distributed broadly in the lumbosacral spinal cord and could be activated by ES of any segment from L3 to S2. By contrast, networks generating BW locomotion were activated by ES of a limited zone from the caudal part of L5 to the caudal part of L7. In the intermediate part of the gray matter within this zone, a significantly higher number of c- fos -positive interneurons was revealed in BW-stepping cats compared with FW-stepping cats. We suggest that this region of the spinal cord contains the network that determines the BW direction of locomotion. Significance Statement Sequential and single steps in various directions relative to the body axis [forward (FW), backward (BW), sideways, etc.] are used during locomotion and to correct for perturbations, respectively. The mechanisms controlling step direction are unknown. In the present study, for the first time we compared the distributions of spinal neuronal networks controlling FW and BW locomotion. Using a marker to visualize active neurons, we demonstrated that in the intermediate part of the gray matter within L6 and L7 spinal segments

  5. Horizontal drilling assessment in Western Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Catania, Peter; Wilson, Malcolm

    1999-01-01

    The first horizontal well was drilled in Saskatchewan in 1987. Since then, the number of horizontal wells drilled has escalated rapidly, averaging approximately 500 per year since 1993. When combined with horizontal wells drilled in Alberta, the major Canadian oil-producing province, the total number drilled in 1995 was 978. This total exceeds the National Energy Board (NEB) projected maximum of 816 wells per year. The NEB projections were based on a break-even point for the drilling of horizontal wells of a return of CDN $285,000 using a discount rate of 15%. This corresponded to a cumulative production from each individual well of some 11,000 m 3 . The introduction of a royalty-free production volume of 12,000 m 3 per horizontal well in Saskatchewan was instrumental in stimulating the rapid expansion in the use of horizontal wells and helping Canada to exceed the forecasted drilling level. Within Saskatchewan, daily production from 1964 active horizontal wells is in excess of 20,000 m 3 . Comparative analysis indicates that the average daily production per well has increased from approximately by 40% with the advent of horizontal wells. In total production terms, provincial production has increased from 11.7 million cubic metres in 1989 to 20.9 million m 3 in 1996. This represents an increase of almost 79% based primarily on the extensive use of horizontal wells. In 1996, horizontal wells produced 36% of the province's oil from 12% of the active wells. In the southeastern producing areas of Saskatchewan, the Williston Basin, declining oil-production has jumped 100%, with horizontal wells accounting for approximately 50% of total regional production. Pay zones in this areas, as in most of the province, tend to be relatively thin, with net pay frequently less that 5 m. The modest investment of some CDN $5 million in government research funding 10 years ago to stimulate the development of horizontal wells, combined with a favourable royalty structure, has been at

  6. The influence of banner advertisements on attention and memory: human faces with averted gaze can enhance advertising effectiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sajjacholapunt, Pitch; Ball, Linden J

    2014-01-01

    Research suggests that banner advertisements used in online marketing are often overlooked, especially when positioned horizontally on webpages. Such inattention invariably gives rise to an inability to remember advertising brands and messages, undermining the effectiveness of this marketing method. Recent interest has focused on whether human faces within banner advertisements can increase attention to the information they contain, since the gaze cues conveyed by faces can influence where observers look. We report an experiment that investigated the efficacy of faces located in banner advertisements to enhance the attentional processing and memorability of banner contents. We tracked participants' eye movements when they examined webpages containing either bottom-right vertical banners or bottom-center horizontal banners. We also manipulated facial information such that banners either contained no face, a face with mutual gaze or a face with averted gaze. We additionally assessed people's memories for brands and advertising messages. Results indicated that relative to other conditions, the condition involving faces with averted gaze increased attention to the banner overall, as well as to the advertising text and product. Memorability of the brand and advertising message was also enhanced. Conversely, in the condition involving faces with mutual gaze, the focus of attention was localized more on the face region rather than on the text or product, weakening any memory benefits for the brand and advertising message. This detrimental impact of mutual gaze on attention to advertised products was especially marked for vertical banners. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of human faces with averted gaze in banner advertisements provides a promising means for marketers to increase the attention paid to such adverts, thereby enhancing memory for advertising information.

  7. The influence of banner advertisements on attention and memory: Human faces with averted gaze can enhance advertising effectiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pitch eSajjacholapunt

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Research suggests that banner advertisements used in online marketing are often overlooked, especially when positioned horizontally on webpages. Such inattention invariably gives rise to an inability to remember advertising brands and messages, undermining the effectiveness of this marketing method. Recent interest has focused on whether human faces within banner advertisements can increase attention to the information they contain, since the gaze cues conveyed by faces can influence where observers look. We report an experiment that investigated the efficacy of faces located in banner advertisements to enhance the attentional processing and memorability of banner contents. We tracked participants’ eye movements when they examined webpages containing either bottom-right vertical banners or bottom-centre horizontal banners. We also manipulated facial information such that banners either contained no face, a face with mutual gaze or a face with averted gaze. We additionally assessed people’s memories for brands and advertising messages. Results indicated that relative to other conditions, the condition involving faces with averted gaze increased attention to the banner overall, as well as to the advertising text and product. Memorability of the brand and advertising message was also enhanced. Conversely, in the condition involving faces with mutual gaze, the focus of attention was localised more on the face region rather than on the text or product, weakening any memory benefits for the brand and advertising message. This detrimental impact of mutual gaze on attention to advertised products was especially marked for vertical banners. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of human faces with averted gaze in banner advertisements provides a promising means for marketers to increase the attention paid to such adverts, thereby enhancing memory for advertising information.

  8. The neuropsychology of face perception: beyond simple dissociations and functional selectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkinson, Anthony P; Adolphs, Ralph

    2011-06-12

    Face processing relies on a distributed, patchy network of cortical regions in the temporal and frontal lobes that respond disproportionately to face stimuli, other cortical regions that are not even primarily visual (such as somatosensory cortex), and subcortical structures such as the amygdala. Higher-level face perception abilities, such as judging identity, emotion and trustworthiness, appear to rely on an intact face-processing network that includes the occipital face area (OFA), whereas lower-level face categorization abilities, such as discriminating faces from objects, can be achieved without OFA, perhaps via the direct connections to the fusiform face area (FFA) from several extrastriate cortical areas. Some lesion, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings argue against a strict feed-forward hierarchical model of face perception, in which the OFA is the principal and common source of input for other visual and non-visual cortical regions involved in face perception, including the FFA, face-selective superior temporal sulcus and somatosensory cortex. Instead, these findings point to a more interactive model in which higher-level face perception abilities depend on the interplay between several functionally and anatomically distinct neural regions. Furthermore, the nature of these interactions may depend on the particular demands of the task. We review the lesion and TMS literature on this topic and highlight the dynamic and distributed nature of face processing.

  9. Decision-Oriented Health Technology Assessment: One Step Forward in Supporting the Decision-Making Process in Hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritrovato, Matteo; Faggiano, Francesco C; Tedesco, Giorgia; Derrico, Pietro

    2015-06-01

    This article outlines the Decision-Oriented Health Technology Assessment: a new implementation of the European network for Health Technology Assessment Core Model, integrating the multicriteria decision-making analysis by using the analytic hierarchy process to introduce a standardized methodological approach as a valued and shared tool to support health care decision making within a hospital. Following the Core Model as guidance (European network for Health Technology Assessment. HTA core model for medical and surgical interventions. Available from: http://www.eunethta.eu/outputs/hta-core-model-medical-and-surgical-interventions-10r. [Accessed May 27, 2014]), it is possible to apply the analytic hierarchy process to break down a problem into its constituent parts and identify priorities (i.e., assigning a weight to each part) in a hierarchical structure. Thus, it quantitatively compares the importance of multiple criteria in assessing health technologies and how the alternative technologies perform in satisfying these criteria. The verbal ratings are translated into a quantitative form by using the Saaty scale (Saaty TL. Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. Int J Serv Sci 2008;1:83-98). An eigenvectors analysis is used for deriving the weights' systems (i.e., local and global weights' system) that reflect the importance assigned to the criteria and the priorities related to the performance of the alternative technologies. Compared with the Core Model, this methodological approach supplies a more timely as well as contextualized evidence for a specific technology, making it possible to obtain data that are more relevant and easier to interpret, and therefore more useful for decision makers to make investment choices with greater awareness. We reached the conclusion that although there may be scope for improvement, this implementation is a step forward toward the goal of building a "solid bridge" between the scientific evidence and the final decision

  10. Measurement of the very-forward photon production in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Makino, Yuya

    A key to resolving the mystery of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays is the measurement of the mass composition by air shower experiments. However, the interpretation of the observed data strongly relies on the choice of the hadronic interaction models used in the air shower simulations to compare with the data. The uncertainty arising from the interaction models has been one of the largest systematic uncertainties in the mass composition measurements. The Large Hadron Collider forward experiment (LHCf) measures the very forward rapidity region of hadron collisions at the LHC. Since the bulk of the energy flow concentrates on the forward rapidity region, LHCf has the capability to verify the interaction models in the phase space relevant to the air shower development. In particular, at $\\sqrt{s}=$13~TeV, the peak of the energy flow moves forward in the pseudorapidity range covered by LHCf in contrast to previous runs at the LHC owing to Lorentz boost. The detectors, conversely, have to face the serious radiation p...

  11. Relative Effects of Forward and Backward Planning on Goal Pursuit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Jooyoung; Lu, Fang-Chi; Hedgcock, William M

    2017-11-01

    Considerable research has shown that planning plays an important role in goal pursuit. But how does the way people plan affect goal pursuit? Research on this question is scarce. In the current research, we examined how planning the steps required for goal attainment in chronological order (i.e., forward planning) and reverse chronological order (i.e., backward planning) influences individuals' motivation for and perceptions of goal pursuit. Compared with forward planning, backward planning not only led to greater motivation, higher goal expectancy, and less time pressure but also resulted in better goal-relevant performance. We further demonstrated that this motivational effect occurred because backward planning allowed people to think of tasks required to reach their goals more clearly, especially when goals were complex to plan. These findings suggest that the way people plan matters just as much as whether or not they plan.

  12. Discrete adjoint of fractional step Navier-Stokes solver in generalized coordinates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Mengze; Mons, Vincent; Zaki, Tamer

    2017-11-01

    Optimization and control in transitional and turbulent flows require evaluation of gradients of the flow state with respect to the problem parameters. Using adjoint approaches, these high-dimensional gradients can be evaluated with a similar computational cost as the forward Navier-Stokes simulations. The adjoint algorithm can be obtained by discretizing the continuous adjoint Navier-Stokes equations or by deriving the adjoint to the discretized Navier-Stokes equations directly. The latter algorithm is necessary when the forward-adjoint relations must be satisfied to machine precision. In this work, our forward model is the fractional step solution to the Navier-Stokes equations in generalized coordinates, proposed by Rosenfeld, Kwak & Vinokur. We derive the corresponding discrete adjoint equations. We also demonstrate the accuracy of the combined forward-adjoint model, and its application to unsteady wall-bounded flows. This work has been partially funded by the Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-16-1-2542).

  13. Inspiration from role models and advice for moving forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Michelle G; McGinn, Lata K

    2012-12-01

    This Behavior Therapy series on overcoming the glass ceiling followed from a highly attended panel at ABCT on the same topic. The current paper summarizes the common themes across the various papers in this series with respect to obstacles prominent women have faced, and how we can learn from their stories to help inform the future. These themes include the importance of role models, messages from a supportive environment, difficulties balancing careers with children, coordinating careers with family, importance of taking charge of one's career, moving forward despite negative internal and external messages, and questions about whether things have changed substantially. In addition, this paper contains a summary of the helpful advice from accomplished women in academia for navigating the academic waters. It is our aspiration that going forward this series will stimulate other conversations as well as increase thought, behavior, solidarity, and awareness about this topic so that we can continue to work toward a future when things will continue to improve for women. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Similar muscles contribute to horizontal and vertical acceleration of center of mass in forward and backward walking: implications for neural control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, K.; Groote, F. De; Massaad, F.; Meyns, P.; Duysens, J.E.J.; Jonkers, I.

    2012-01-01

    Leg kinematics during backward walking (BW) are very similar to the time-reversed kinematics during forward walking (FW). This suggests that the underlying muscle activation pattern could originate from a simple time reversal, as well. Experimental electromyography studies have confirmed that this

  15. A smart technique for attendance system to recognize faces through parallelism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabhavathi, B.; Tanuja, V.; Madhu Viswanatham, V.; Rajashekhara Babu, M.

    2017-11-01

    Major part of recognising a person is face with the help of image processing techniques we can exploit the physical features of a person. In the old approach method that is used in schools and colleges it is there that the professor calls the student name and then the attendance for the students marked. Here in paper want to deviate from the old approach and go with the new approach by using techniques that are there in image processing. In this paper we presenting spontaneous presence for students in classroom. At first classroom image has been in use and after that image is kept in data record. For the images that are stored in the database we apply system algorithm which includes steps such as, histogram classification, noise removal, face detection and face recognition methods. So by using these steps we detect the faces and then compare it with the database. The attendance gets marked automatically if the system recognizes the faces.

  16. Forward tracking detectors

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Abstract. Forward tracking is an essential part of a detector at the international linear collider (ILC). The requirements for forward tracking are explained and the proposed solutions in the detector concepts are shown.

  17. Erosion characteristics and horizontal variability for small erosion depths in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoellhamer, David H.; Manning, Andrew J.; Work, Paul A.

    2017-01-01

    Erodibility of cohesive sediment in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) was investigated with an erosion microcosm. Erosion depths in the Delta and in the microcosm were estimated to be about one floc diameter over a range of shear stresses and times comparable to half of a typical tidal cycle. Using the conventional assumption of horizontally homogeneous bed sediment, data from 27 of 34 microcosm experiments indicate that the erosion rate coefficient increased as eroded mass increased, contrary to theory. We believe that small erosion depths, erosion rate coefficient deviation from theory, and visual observation of horizontally varying biota and texture at the sediment surface indicate that erosion cannot solely be a function of depth but must also vary horizontally. We test this hypothesis by developing a simple numerical model that includes horizontal heterogeneity, use it to develop an artificial time series of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) in an erosion microcosm, then analyze that time series assuming horizontal homogeneity. A shear vane was used to estimate that the horizontal standard deviation of critical shear stress was about 30% of the mean value at a site in the Delta. The numerical model of the erosion microcosm included a normal distribution of initial critical shear stress, a linear increase in critical shear stress with eroded mass, an exponential decrease of erosion rate coefficient with eroded mass, and a stepped increase in applied shear stress. The maximum SSC for each step increased gradually, thus confounding identification of a single well-defined critical shear stress as encountered with the empirical data. Analysis of the artificial SSC time series with the assumption of a homogeneous bed reproduced the original profile of critical shear stress, but the erosion rate coefficient increased with eroded mass, similar to the empirical data. Thus, the numerical experiment confirms the small-depth erosion hypothesis. A linear

  18. A P2P Query Algorithm for Opportunistic Networks Utilizing betweenness Centrality Forwarding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianwei Niu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available With the proliferation of high-end mobile devices that feature wireless interfaces, many promising applications are enabled in opportunistic networks. In contrary to traditional networks, opportunistic networks utilize the mobility of nodes to relay messages in a store-carry-forward paradigm. Thus, the relay process in opportunistic networks faces several practical challenges in terms of delay and delivery rate. In this paper, we propose a novel P2P Query algorithm, namely Betweenness Centrality Forwarding (PQBCF, for opportunistic networking. PQBCF adopts a forwarding metric called Betweenness Centrality (BC, which is borrowed from social network, to quantify the active degree of nodes in the networks. In PQBCF, nodes with a higher BC are preferable to serve as relays, leading to higher query success rate and lower query delay. A comparison with the state-of-the-art algorithms reveals that PQBCF can provide better performance on both the query success Ratio and query delay, and approaches the performance of Epidemic Routing (ER with much less resource consumption.

  19. One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zinner Henriksen, Helle

    2018-01-01

    A central goal of e-government policy is to increase efficiency in public administration, and one way to increase efficiency is via the increased use of automation and rule-based decision making. The use of data to streamline processes also has a prominent role in public policy today. This chapte...

  20. Forward Jets and Forward-Central Jets at CMS

    CERN Document Server

    INSPIRE-00176215

    2012-01-01

    We report on cross section measurements for inclusive forward jet production and for the simultaneous production of a forward and a central jet in sqrt{s} = 7 TeV pp-collisions. Data collected in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.14 pb^{-1}, is used for the measurements. Jets in the transverse momentum range pT = 35 - 140 GeV/c are reconstructed with the anti-kT (R = 0.5) algorithm. The extended coverage of large pseudo-rapidities is provided by the Hadronic Forward calorimeter (3.2 < \\eta < 4.7), while central jets are limited to \\eta < 2.8, covered by the main detector components. The two differential cross sections are presented as a function of the jet transverse momentum. Comparisons to next-to-leading order perturbative calculations, and predictions from event generators based on different parton showering mechanisms (PYTHIA and HERWIG) and parton dynamics (CASCADE) are shown.

  1. External and internal facial features modulate processing of vertical but not horizontal spatial relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinhardt, Günter; Kurbel, David; Meinhardt-Injac, Bozana; Persike, Malte

    2018-03-22

    Some years ago an asymmetry was reported for the inversion effect for horizontal (H) and vertical (V) relational face manipulations (Goffaux & Rossion, 2007). Subsequent research examined whether a specific disruption of long-range relations underlies the H/V inversion asymmetry (Sekunova & Barton, 2008). Here, we tested how detection of changes in interocular distance (H) and eye height (V) depends on cardinal internal features and external feature surround. Results replicated the H/V inversion asymmetry. Moreover, we found very different face cue dependencies for both change types. Performance and inversion effects did not depend on the presence of other face cues for detecting H changes. In contrast, accuracy for detecting V changes strongly depended on internal and external features, showing cumulative improvement when more cues were added. Inversion effects were generally large, and larger with external feature surround. The cue independence in detecting H relational changes indicates specialized local processing tightly tuned to the eyes region, while the strong cue dependency in detecting V relational changes indicates a global mechanism of cue integration across different face regions. These findings suggest that the H/V asymmetry of the inversion effect rests on an H/V anisotropy of face cue dependency, since only the global V mechanism suffers from disruption of cue integration as the major effect of face inversion. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  2. Near‐surface void detection using a seismic landstreamer and horizontal velocity and attenuation tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, Sean F.; Lane, John W.

    2012-01-01

    The detection and characterization of subsurface voids plays an important role in the study of karst formations and clandestine tunnels. Horizontal velocity and attenuation tomography (HVAT) using offset‐fan shooting and a towed seismic land streamer is a simple, rapid, minimally invasive method that shows promise for detecting near‐surface voids and providing information on the orientation of linear voids. HVAT surveys were conducted over a known subsurface steam tunnel on the University of Connecticut Depot Campus, Storrs, Connecticut. First‐arrival travel‐time and amplitude data were used to produce two‐dimensional (2D) horizontal (map view) velocity and attenuation tomograms. In addition, attenuation tomograms were produced based on normalized total trace energy (TTE). Both the velocity and TTE attenuation tomograms depict an anomaly consistent with the location and orientation of the known tunnel; the TTE method, however, requires significantly less processing time, and therefore may provide a path forward to semi‐automated, near real‐time detection of near‐surface voids. Further study is needed to assess the utility of the HVAT method to detect deeper voids and the effects of a more complex geology on HVAT results.

  3. Problems in the development of high-rank CBM horizontal wells in the Fanzhuang–Zhengzhuang Block in the Qinshui Basin and countermeasures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongping Zhang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Coal reservoirs in the Qinshui Basin are characterized by high thermal evolution degree, low permeability, low reservoir pressure, lower gas saturation and strong heterogeneity, so its coalbed methane (CBM development is quite difficult. In this paper, the development practice of high-rank CBM horizontal wells in the Fanzhuang–Zhengzhuang Block was analyzed in terms of geological and engineering factors to clarify the productivity influencing factors, suitable geological conditions and potential tapping countermeasures of multi-lateral horizontal wells. It is shown that the reasons for the low development efficiency of multi-lateral horizontal wells are divided into three types. The first one is geological factor, such as encountering low CBM content areas or faults. The second is engineering factor, such as drilling fluid plugging, drilling collapse, drainage collapse and dust coal blockage. The third is the combination of both factors. It is concluded that encountering low CBM content areas and faults, collapse and blockage are the main reasons for the low production of multi-lateral horizontal wells in the Zhengzhuang–Fanzhuang Block, with the CBM content higher than 20 m3/t, the ratio of critical desorption pressure and reservoir pressure higher than 0.7 and vitrinite reflectance (Ro higher than 3.8. The prerequisite for an open-hole horizontal well in this area to produce CBM at a high rate is that the well lies in the tensile stress zone. Finally, the countermeasures to tap the potential of some inefficient wells were put forward. First, the inefficient wells which are blocked with dust coal or collapsed in the later stage should be stimulated based on classifications. And second, it is necessary to explore new types of horizontal wells so as to deal with borehole collapse and continue the operation in the later stage by using tree-like roof horizontal wells, single-lateral horizontal wells with casing or screen completion and fish

  4. Horizontal Accelerator

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Horizontal Accelerator (HA) Facility is a versatile research tool available for use on projects requiring simulation of the crash environment. The HA Facility is...

  5. A forward bias method for lag correction of an a-Si flat panel detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Starman, Jared; Tognina, Carlo; Partain, Larry; Fahrig, Rebecca

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Digital a-Si flat panel (FP) x-ray detectors can exhibit detector lag, or residual signal, of several percent that can cause ghosting in projection images or severe shading artifacts, known as the radar artifact, in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) reconstructions. A major contributor to detector lag is believed to be defect states, or traps, in the a-Si layer of the FP. Software methods to characterize and correct for the detector lag exist, but they may make assumptions such as system linearity and time invariance, which may not be true. The purpose of this work is to investigate a new hardware based method to reduce lag in an a-Si FP and to evaluate its effectiveness at removing shading artifacts in CBCT reconstructions. The feasibility of a novel, partially hardware based solution is also examined. Methods: The proposed hardware solution for lag reduction requires only a minor change to the FP. For pulsed irradiation, the proposed method inserts a new operation step between the readout and data collection stages. During this new stage the photodiode is operated in a forward bias mode, which fills the defect states with charge. A Varian 4030CB panel was modified to allow for operation in the forward bias mode. The contrast of residual lag ghosts was measured for lag frames 2 and 100 after irradiation ceased for standard and forward bias modes. Detector step response, lag, SNR, modulation transfer function (MTF), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) measurements were made with standard and forward bias firmware. CBCT data of pelvic and head phantoms were also collected. Results: Overall, the 2nd and 100th detector lag frame residual signals were reduced 70%-88% using the new method. SNR, MTF, and DQE measurements show a small decrease in collected signal and a small increase in noise. The forward bias hardware successfully reduced the radar artifact in the CBCT reconstruction of the pelvic and head phantoms by 48%-81%. Conclusions: Overall, the

  6. Electron work function of stepped tungsten surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krahl-Urban, B.

    1976-03-01

    The electron work function of tungsten (110) vicinal faces was measured with the aid of thermionic emission, and its dependence on the crystallographic orientation and the surface structure was investigated. The thermionic measurements were evaluated with the aid of the Richardson plot. The real temperature of the emitting tungsten faces was determined with an accuracy of +- 0.5% in the range between 2,200 and 2,800 K. The vicinal faces under investigation have been prepared with an orientation exactness of +- 15'. In the tungsten (110) vicinal faces under investigation, a strong dependence of the temperature coefficient d PHI/dT of the work function on the crystallographic orientation was found. A strong influence of the edge structure as well as of the step density on the temperature coefficient was observed. (orig./HPOE) [de

  7. Long Maturity Forward Rates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Charlotte

    2001-01-01

    The paper aims to improve the knowledge of the empirical properties of the long maturity region of the forward rate curve. Firstly, the theoretical negative correlation between the slope at the long end of the forward rate curve and the term structure variance is recovered empirically and found...... to be statistically significant. Secondly, the expectations hypothesis is analyzed for the long maturity region of the forward rate curve using "forward rate" regressions. The expectations hypothesis is numerically close to being accepted but is statistically rejected. The findings provide mixed support...... for the affine term structure model....

  8. Structural behaviour of masonry arch with no-horizontal springing settlement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Zampieri

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a calculation procedure for assessing the structural integrity of a masonry arch with non-horizontal springing settlement. By applying the Principle of Virtual Work (PVW to the deformed arch system, the procedure proposed herein details the reaction forces and thrust lines for each step of imposed settlement of the support. The procedure can also be used estimate the final displacement that causes complete failure of arch structural capacity. The results of the analysis procedure were compared against those obtained by experimental testing so as to validate the proposed calculation method

  9. A study of Two-Phase Flow Regime Maps in Vertical and Horizontal Pipes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kyung Doo; Kang, Doo Hyuk

    2007-10-01

    A safety analysis code to design a pressurized water reactor and to obtain the licences including entire proprietary rights is under development in domestic research and development project. The purpose and scope of this report is to develop the flow regimes related models for inter-phase friction, wall frictions, wall heat transfer, and inter-phase heat and mass transfer in two-phase three-field equations. In order to choose choose the flow regime criteria, we have investigated various exiting best-estimate T/H codes in this chapter 2. They are the RELAP5-3D, TRAC-M, CATHARE, MARS codes. Around 500 references used in these codes have been collected and reviewed. Also we have investigated eleven papers in detail. In chapter 3, based on the selected flow regimes, the flow regime maps for a gas-liquid flow in horizontal and vertical tubes have decided including the mechanisms of flow regime transition regions. Conclusively, the process will be presented for choosing the best flow regime maps which occur in gas-liquid two-phase flow in horizontal and vertical pipes. We will look forward to decide the constitutive relations based upon the flow regime maps that are determined in this works. The constitutive relations will be used for the code under development

  10. Different Approaches for Face Authentication as Part of a Multimodal Biometrics System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaromir Tovarek

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes different approaches for the face authentication from the features and classification abilities point of view. Authors compare two types of features - Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG and Local Binary Patterns (LBP including their combination. These parameters are classified using Multilayer Neural Network (MLNN and Support Vector Machines (SVM. Face authentication consists of several steps. The first step contains Viola-Jones algorithm for face detection. Authors resize the detected face for a fixed vector and afterwards, it is converted into grayscale. Next, feature extraction with a simple Min-Max normalization is applied. Obtained parameters are evaluated by classifiers and for each detected face, authors get posterior probability as the output of the classifier. Different approaches for face authentication are compared with each other using False Acceptance Rate (FAR, False Rejection Rate (FRR, Equal Error Rate (EER, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC and Detection Error Tradeoff (DET curves. The results are verified with AR Face Database and elaborated in a feature extraction and classifier design point of view. Best results were achieved by HOG feature for SVM classifier. Detailed results are listed in the text below.

  11. Forward osmosis applied to evaporative cooling make-up water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nicoll, Peter; Thompson, Neil; Gray, Victoria [Modern Water plc, Guildford (United Kingdom)

    2012-11-15

    Modern Water is in the process of developing a number of forward osmosis based technologies, ranging from desalination to power generation. This paper outlines the progress made to date on the development and commercial deployment of a forward osmosis based process for the production of evaporative cooling tower make-up water from impaired water sources, including seawater. Evaporative cooling requires significant amounts of good quality water to replace the water lost by evaporation, drift and blowdown. This water can be provided by conventional desalination processes or by the use of tertiary treated sewage effluent. The conventional processes are well documented and understood in terms of operation and power consumption. A new process has been successfully developed and demonstrated that provides make-up water directly, using a core platform 'forward osmosis' technology. This new technology shows significant promise in allowing various raw water sources, such as seawater, to be used directly in the forward osmosis step, thus releasing the use of scarce and valuable high grade water for other more important uses. The paper presents theoretical and operational results for the process, where it is shown that the process can produce make-up water at a fraction of the operational expenditure when compared to conventional processes, in particular regarding power consumption, which in some cases may be as low as 15 % compared to competing processes. Chemical additives to the cooling water (osmotic agent) are retained within the process, thus reducing their overall consumption. Furthermore the chemistry of the cooling water does not support the growth of Legionella pneumophila. Corrosion results are also reported. (orig.)

  12. A finite element model for analyzing horizontal well BHA behavior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akgun, F. [Petroleum Engineering, The Petroleum Institute, P.O. Box 17555, Al-Ain (United Arab Emirates)

    2004-04-01

    Horizontal wells are proven to be better producers because they can be extended for a long distance in the pay zone. Engineers have the technical means to forecast the well productivity for a given horizontal length. However, experiences have shown that the actual production rate is often significantly less than that of forecasted. There are a number of reasons for the discrepancy of predicted to actual production rates in horizontal wells. However, it is a difficult task, if not impossible, to identify the real reason why a horizontal well is not producing what was forecasted. Often, the source of problem lies in the drilling of horizontal section such as permeability reduction in the pay zone due to mud invasion or snaky well patterns created during drilling. Although drillers aim to drill a constant inclination hole once in the pay zone, the more frequent outcome is a sinusoidal wellbore trajectory. Logging while drilling (LWD) and real time measurement of resistivity at bit help drill in the pay zone by constant monitoring of borehole trajectory and formation boundaries. Rotary steerable tools (RTS) allow spontaneous intervention to drilling direction and inclination if run with LWD tools. Nevertheless, there are still many cases where LWD cannot be deployed due to technical difficulties. One such case was noticed in the Middle East where LWD sensors were worn out completely during 1 h run time due to extreme formation abrasiveness. In the absence of LWD and RTS, it becomes a challenging task to drill a constant inclination borehole which will be addressed in this paper. The two factors, which play an important role in wellbore tortuosity, are the inclination and side force at bit. A constant inclination horizontal well can only be drilled if the bit face is maintained perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of bottom hole assembly (BHA) while keeping the side force nil at the bit. This approach assumes that there exists no formation force at bit. Hence, an

  13. Horizontal drilling under Lake Erie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meller, R.

    2001-07-01

    Drilling oil wells under Lake Erie calls for horizontal drilling wells to be drilled from shore out into the pay-zone under the lake. The nature and characteristics of horizontal wells as compared to vertical wells are explored. Considerations that have to be taken into account in drilling horizontal wells are explained (the degree of curvature, drilling fluid quality, geosteering in the pay-zone, steering instrumentation, measurements while drilling (MWD), logging while drilling (LWD)). The concept and reasons for extended reach wells are outlined, along with characteristic features of multilateral wells.

  14. Estimativas das componentes da radiação solar incidente em superfícies inclinadas baseadas na radiação global horizontal Estimates of solar radiation components on a tilted surface based on global horizontal radiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adilson P. Souza

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Foram avaliadas equações estatísticas de estimativas com agrupamentos de dados anuais e mensais e suas respectivas validações, para as componentes global, direta e difusa da radiação solar incidente em superfícies inclinadas a 12,85, 22,85 e 32,85º, com face para o Norte, nas condições climáticas e geográficas de Botucatu, SP. Empregou-se as frações das três componentes da radiação a do topo da atmosfera em correlação com o coeficiente de transmissividade atmosférica do plano horizontal, em uma base de dados de abril/1998 a dezembro/2007, cujas medidas nas três inclinações ocorreram em diferentes períodos, todavia concomitantes ao plano horizontal. O aumento do ângulo de inclinação da superfície propiciou aumento do espalhamento dos valores diários do índice de claridade para superfícies inclinada e horizontal. Nos agrupamentos anuais os piores desempenhos foram verificados na estimativa da radiação difusa diária para superfície inclinada, com valores máximos de espalhamentos iguais a 3,89 MJ m-2 d-1 (43,65% e ajustamento em torno de 62%. Na estimativa das componentes global e direta da radiação solar nos planos inclinados, podem ser aplicadas, tanto as equações anuais como as mensais, com desempenhos dependentes das condições climáticas.Statistics equations and validations with groups of annual and monthly data were evaluated for global, direct and diffuse solar radiation components incident on the tilted surface to 12.85, 22.85 and 32.85° with the face North, in climate and geographical conditions of Botucatu, SP. It was employed the fractions of three components of extraterrestrial radiation in correlation with the coefficient clearness index horizontal plane, in a database of April/1998 to December/2007, whose measures at different periods in three inclinations, however concomitant to the horizontal plane. Increasing the angle of the surface led to increased scattering of the daily values of

  15. Students’ understanding of forces: Force diagrams on horizontal and inclined plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirait, J.; Hamdani; Mursyid, S.

    2018-03-01

    This study aims to analyse students’ difficulties in understanding force diagrams on horizontal surfaces and inclined planes. Physics education students (pre-service physics teachers) of Tanjungpura University, who had completed a Basic Physics course, took a Force concept test which has six questions covering three concepts: an object at rest, an object moving at constant speed, and an object moving at constant acceleration both on a horizontal surface and on an inclined plane. The test is in a multiple-choice format. It examines the ability of students to select appropriate force diagrams depending on the context. The results show that 44% of students have difficulties in solving the test (these students only could solve one or two items out of six items). About 50% of students faced difficulties finding the correct diagram of an object when it has constant speed and acceleration in both contexts. In general, students could only correctly identify 48% of the force diagrams on the test. The most difficult task for the students in terms was identifying the force diagram representing forces exerted on an object on in an inclined plane.

  16. The two faces of plan repair

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van der Krogt, R.P.J.; De Weerdt, M.M.

    2004-01-01

    Plan repair has two faces. Alternately, a plan repair method looks like a planning method, or looks like a method that does exactly the opposite, i.e., removing actions from a plan. We propose a general framework for plan repair that shows the relation between these two alternating steps. Any plan

  17. Differentiation between solid-ankle cushioned heel and energy storage and return prosthetic foot based on step-to-step transition cost.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wezenberg, Daphne; Cutti, Andrea G; Bruno, Antonino; Houdijk, Han

    2014-01-01

    Decreased push-off power by the prosthetic foot and inadequate roll-over shape of the foot have been shown to increase the energy dissipated during the step-to-step transition in human walking. The aim of this study was to determine whether energy storage and return (ESAR) feet are able to reduce the mechanical energy dissipated during the step-to-step transition. Fifteen males with a unilateral lower-limb amputation walked with their prescribed ESAR foot (Vari-Flex, Ossur; Reykjavik, Iceland) and with a solid-ankle cushioned heel foot (SACH) (1D10, Ottobock; Duderstadt, Germany), while ground reaction forces and kinematics were recorded. The positive mechanical work on the center of mass performed by the trailing prosthetic limb was larger (33%, p = 0.01) and the negative work performed by the leading intact limb was lower (13%, p = 0.04) when walking with the ESAR foot compared with the SACH foot. The reduced step-to-step transition cost coincided with a higher mechanical push-off power generated by the ESAR foot and an extended forward progression of the center of pressure under the prosthetic ESAR foot. Results can explain the proposed improvement in walking economy with this kind of energy storing and return prosthetic foot.

  18. ACCURATELY CALCULATING THE SOLAR ORIENTATION OF THE TIANGONG-2 ULTRAVIOLET FORWARD SPECTROMETER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Liu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The Ultraviolet Forward Spectrometer is a new type of spectrometer for monitoring the vertical distribution of atmospheric trace gases in the global middle atmosphere. It is on the TianGong-2 space laboratory, which was launched on 15 September 2016. The spectrometer uses a solar calibration mode to modify its irradiance. Accurately calculating the solar orientation is a prerequisite of spectral calibration for the Ultraviolet Forward Spectrometer. In this paper, a method of calculating the solar orientation is proposed according to the imaging geometric characteristics of the spectrometer. Firstly, the solar orientation in the horizontal rectangular coordinate system is calculated based on the solar declination angle algorithm proposed by Bourges and the solar hour angle algorithm proposed by Lamm. Then, the solar orientation in the sensor coordinate system is achieved through several coordinate system transforms. Finally, we calculate the solar orientation in the sensor coordinate system and evaluate its calculation accuracy using actual orbital data of TianGong-2. The results show that the accuracy is close to the simulation method with STK (Satellite Tool Kit, and the error is not more than 2 %. The algorithm we present does not need a lot of astronomical knowledge, but only needs some observation parameters provided by TianGong-2.

  19. 'The right direction'. Primary-care docs see promise in CMS' proposed pay for non face-to-face work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robeznieks, Andis

    2013-07-15

    The CMS has proposed paying physicians for managing patients apart from face-to-face office visits. Among the details under consideration are requiring practices to use an electronic health-record system that supports access to care, care coordination, care management and communications. "It's a step in the right direction. The devil will be in the details and, if the burden of documentation is so high, people may choose not to spend their time doing it," says Dr. Matt Handley, physician and medical director for quality at the Group Health Cooperative.

  20. Penetrating particles in horizontal air showers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wohlenberg, J.; Boehm, E.

    1975-01-01

    Particle density and arrival time of muons has been measured in Horizontal Air Showers. 5,600 showers have been recorded in 7,800 hours. Using stringent selection criteria 155 showers have been found horizontal (zenith angle larger 70 0 ) in the size range 4.1 > lg N > 5.5. The muons observed in these showers can be explained by purely electromagnetic origin of horizontal showers. (orig.) [de

  1. Purifying fluoride-contaminated water by a novel forward osmosis design with enhanced flux under reduced concentration polarization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, Madhubonti; Chakrabortty, Sankha; Pal, Parimal; Linnanen, Lassi

    2015-08-01

    For purifying fluoride-contaminated water, a new forward osmosis scheme in horizontal flat-sheet cross flow module was designed and investigated. Effects of pressure, cross flow rate, draw solution and alignment of membrane module on separation and flux were studied. Concentration polarization and reverse salt diffusion got significantly reduced in the new hydrodynamic regime. This resulted in less membrane fouling, better solute separation and higher pure water flux than in a conventional module. The entire scheme was completed in two stages-an upstream forward osmosis for separating pure water from contaminated water and a downstream nanofiltration operation for continuous recovery and recycle of draw solute. Synchronization of these two stages of operation resulted in a continuous, steady-state process. From a set of commercial membranes, two polyamide composite membranes were screened out for the upstream and downstream filtrations. A 0.3-M NaCl solution was found to be the best one for forward osmosis draw solution. Potable water with less than 1% residual fluoride could be produced at a high flux of 60-62 L m(-2) h(-1) whereas more than 99% draw solute could be recovered and recycled in the downstream nanofiltration stage from where flux was 62-65 L m(-2) h(-1).

  2. Development of an omni-directional shear horizontal mode magnetostrictive patch transducer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zenghua; Hu, Yanan; Xie, Muwen; Fan, Junwei; He, Cunfu; Wu, Bin

    2018-04-01

    The fundamental shear horizontal wave, SH0 mode, has great potential in defect detection and on-line monitoring with large scale and high efficiency in plate-like structures because of its non-dispersive characteristics. Aiming at consistently exciting single SH0 mode in plate-like structures, an omni-directional shear horizontal mode magnetostrictive patch transducer (OSHM-MPT) is developed on the basis of magnetostrictive effect. It consists of four fan-shaped array elements and corresponding plane solenoid array (PSA) coils, four fan-shaped permanent magnets and a circular nickel patch. The experimental results verify that the developed transducer can effectively produce the single SH0 mode in an aluminum plate. The frequency response characteristics of this developed transducer are tested. The results demonstrate that the proposed OSHM-MPT has a center frequency of 300kHz related to the distance between adjacent arc-shaped steps of the PSA coils. Furthermore, omni-directivity of this developed transducer is tested. The results demonstrate that the developed transducer has a high omnidirectional consistency.

  3. Forward, Forward Option and No Hedging Which One is the Best for Managing Currency Risk?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riko Hendrawan

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Bank Indonesia Regulation No.18/18/PBI/2016 concerning foreign exchange transactions against rupiah between banks and domestic parties, indicates that the importance of hedging for business actors in Indonesia. Based on the data of the rupiah exchange rate movement against the dollar from January 2006 to December 2016 shows that the fluctuation of the rupiah against the US dollar tends to weaken, although at some point the observation shows the strengthening of the rupiah against the US dollar. The purpose of this research is to assess impact of Forward, Forward Option and No Hedging Strategy for managing currency exposure between IDR to USD. Using data from January 2006–December 2016 taken from website of Bank Indonesia and Federal Reserve. Total 396 simulations,consists of 132 using Forward simulations, 132 using Forward Option simulations and 132 using No Hedging simulations. Findings from this research show that Forward Option was has no positive contribution in managing currency exposure, No Hedging Strategy has 36,36 percent positive contribution and forward contract has 72,73 percent positive contribution in managing currency exposure. Its means Forward Contract was better than Forward Option and No Hedging Strategies in managing currency exposure.

  4. Horizontal violence in Nursing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsimoulaki Evangelia

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available One’s effort to clarify the definition of horizontal labour violence is of great importance, due to the variety of definitions that are mentioned in the worldwide scientific literature. Furthermore, the reference of multiple forms of such violence herein the nurse professional group is challenging, as well. Another fact of great importance is that, any form of professional violence (horizontal violence, horizontal mobbing in the work place environment can be possibly escalated and include even physical abuse (Bullying, besides the psychological and emotional impact for the victim. The definitions of Horizontal violence, Mobbing and Bullying, include a repeated negative behaviour emanating from at least one “predator” towards at least one “victim”, with work status differences and the existence or lack of physical abuse (Bullying. Horizontal violence is a hostile, aggressive and harmful behaviour which is either overt or concealed and is pointed from an individual to another individual of the same working rank and causes intense emotional pain at the victim. The manifestations vary from humiliating tasks assignment or the victim’s efforts undermining to clearly aggressive behaviors (criticism, intimidation, sarcasm etc.. The reason behind this phenomenon is multifactorial extended not only towards the working environment but also to the personal characteristics of the “predator” as well as the possible “victim”. The researchers emphasize the high incidence of the phenomenon, as well as the cost that is induced by the violent behaviors to both the health professionals and the hospital. Finally, they point out the paradox of the presence of violence inside a system that is designed to promote health.

  5. Direct observation of the myosin Va recovery stroke that contributes to unidirectional stepping along actin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katsuyuki Shiroguchi

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Myosins are ATP-driven linear molecular motors that work as cellular force generators, transporters, and force sensors. These functions are driven by large-scale nucleotide-dependent conformational changes, termed "strokes"; the "power stroke" is the force-generating swinging of the myosin light chain-binding "neck" domain relative to the motor domain "head" while bound to actin; the "recovery stroke" is the necessary initial motion that primes, or "cocks," myosin while detached from actin. Myosin Va is a processive dimer that steps unidirectionally along actin following a "hand over hand" mechanism in which the trailing head detaches and steps forward ∼72 nm. Despite large rotational Brownian motion of the detached head about a free joint adjoining the two necks, unidirectional stepping is achieved, in part by the power stroke of the attached head that moves the joint forward. However, the power stroke alone cannot fully account for preferential forward site binding since the orientation and angle stability of the detached head, which is determined by the properties of the recovery stroke, dictate actin binding site accessibility. Here, we directly observe the recovery stroke dynamics and fluctuations of myosin Va using a novel, transient caged ATP-controlling system that maintains constant ATP levels through stepwise UV-pulse sequences of varying intensity. We immobilized the neck of monomeric myosin Va on a surface and observed real time motions of bead(s attached site-specifically to the head. ATP induces a transient swing of the neck to the post-recovery stroke conformation, where it remains for ∼40 s, until ATP hydrolysis products are released. Angle distributions indicate that the post-recovery stroke conformation is stabilized by ≥ 5 k(BT of energy. The high kinetic and energetic stability of the post-recovery stroke conformation favors preferential binding of the detached head to a forward site 72 nm away. Thus, the recovery

  6. Normal Range of Head-to-body Delivery Interval by Two-step Delivery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-Yu Zhang

    2016-01-01

    Conclusions: The average time of head-to-body delivery interval was longer than 60 s by two-step delivery. Majority shoulders were delivered at the first contraction. Majority shoulders emerged from perineum rather from under pubic arch. The routine one-step method of shoulder delivery where the downward force applied is not necessary and is not the right direction. Baby's breath, making faces, sucking, bubble from noses and mouth, and the light blue color of the faces, all those signs during shoulder delivery indicated a normal live birth.

  7. Horizontal steam generator thermal-hydraulics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ubra, O. [SKODA Praha Company, Prague (Czechoslovakia); Doubek, M. [Czech Technical Univ., Prague (Czechoslovakia)

    1995-09-01

    Horizontal steam generators are typical components of nuclear power plants with pressure water reactor type VVER. Thermal-hydraulic behavior of horizontal steam generators is very different from the vertical U-tube steam generator, which has been extensively studied for several years. To contribute to the understanding of the horizontal steam generator thermal-hydraulics a computer program for 3-D steady state analysis of the PGV-1000 steam generator has been developed. By means of this computer program, a detailed thermal-hydraulic and thermodynamic study of the horizontal steam generator PGV-1000 has been carried out and a set of important steam generator characteristics has been obtained. The 3-D distribution of the void fraction and 3-D level profile as functions of load and secondary side pressure have been investigated and secondary side volumes and masses as functions of load and pressure have been evaluated. Some of the interesting results of calculations are presented in the paper.

  8. Stepwise strategy to improve Cervical Cancer Screening Adherence (SCAN-CC): automated text messages, phone calls and face-to-face interviews: protocol of a population-based randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Firmino-Machado, João; Mendes, Romeu; Moreira, Amélia; Lunet, Nuno

    2017-10-05

    Screening is highly effective for cervical cancer prevention and control. Population-based screening programmes are widely implemented in high-income countries, although adherence is often low. In Portugal, just over half of the women adhere to cervical cancer screening, contributing for greater mortality rates than in other European countries. The most effective adherence raising strategies are based on patient reminders, small/mass media and face-to-face educational programmes, but sequential interventions targeting the general population have seldom been evaluated. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a stepwise approach, with increasing complexity and cost, to improve adherence to organised cervical cancer screening: step 1a-customised text message invitation; step 1b-customised automated phone call invitation; step 2-secretary phone call; step 3-family health professional phone call and face-to-face appointment. A population-based randomised controlled trial will be implemented in Portuguese urban and rural areas. Women eligible for cervical cancer screening will be randomised (1:1) to intervention and control. In the intervention group, women will be invited for screening through text messages, automated phone calls, manual phone calls and health professional appointments, to be applied sequentially to participants remaining non-adherent after each step. Control will be the standard of care (written letter). The primary outcome is the proportion of women adherent to screening after step 1 or sequences of steps from 1 to 3. The secondary outcomes are: proportion of women screened after each step (1a, 2 and 3); proportion of text messages/phone calls delivered; proportion of women previously screened in a private health institution who change to organised screening. The intervention and control groups will be compared based on intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Northern Health

  9. Forward tracking detectors

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    At the ILC many of the most important physics reactions are central, so that the forward region, which is suppressed by the cos θ phase space factor often is a bit neglected. However, many processes at the ILC are peaked in the forward region like Bhabha scattering or W-pair production [1]. Fermion pair production has its.

  10. Study of the Local Horizon. (Spanish Title: Estudio del Horizonte Local.) Estudo do Horizonte Local

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ros, Rosa M.

    2009-12-01

    The study of the horizon is fundamental to easy the first observations of the students at any education center. A simple model, to be developed in each center, allows to easy the study and comprehension of the rudiments of astronomy. The constructed model is presented in turn as a simple equatorial clock, other models (horizontal and vertical) may be constructed starting from it. El estudio del horizonte es fundamental para poder facilitar las primeras observaciones de los alumnos en un centro educativo. Un simple modelo, que debe realizarse para cada centro, nos permite facilitar el estudio y la comprensión de los primeros rudimentos astronómicos. El modelo construido se presenta a su vez como un sencillo modelo de reloj ecuatorial y a partir de él se pueden construir otros modelos (horizontal y vertical). O estudo do horizonte é fundamental para facilitar as primeiras observações dos alunos num centro educativo. Um modelo simples, que deve ser feito para cada centro, permite facilitar o estudo e a compreensão dos primeiros rudimentos astronômicos. O modelo construído apresenta-se, por sua vez, como um modelo simples de relógio equatorial e a partir dele pode-se construir outros modelos (horizontal e vertical)

  11. Forward impact extrusion of surface textured steel blanks using coated tooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hild, Rafael; Feuerhack, Andreas; Trauth, Daniel; Arghavani, Mostafa; Kruppe, Nathan C.; Brögelmann, Tobias; Bobzin, Kirsten; Klocke, Fritz

    2017-10-01

    A method to enable dry metal forming by the means of a self-lubricating coating and surface textures was researched using an innovative Pin-On-Cylinder-Tribometer. The experimental analysis was complemented by a numerical model of the complex contact conditions between coated tools and the surface textured specimen at the micro-level. Based on the results, the explanation of the tribological interactions between surface textured specimens and the tool in dry full forward extrusion is the objective of this work. Therefore, experimental dry extrusion tests were performed using a tool system. The extruded specimens were evaluated regarding their geometry as well as by the required punch force. Thereby, the effectiveness and the feasibility of dry metal forming on the example of full forward extrusion was evaluated. Thus, one more step towards the technical realization of dry metal forming of low alloy steels under industrial conditions was realized.

  12. The Effect of Acoustic Forcing on Instabilities and Breakdown in Swept-Wing Flow over a Backward-Facing Step

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eppink, Jenna L.; Shishkov, Olga; Wlezien, Richard W.; King, Rudolph A.; Choudhari, Meelan

    2016-01-01

    Instability interaction and breakdown were experimentally investigated in the flow over a swept backward-facing step. Acoustic forcing was used to excite the Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) instability and to acquire phase-locked results. The phase-averaged results illustrate the complex nature of the interaction between the TS and stationary cross flow instabilities. The weak stationary cross flow disturbance causes a distortion of the TS wavefront. The breakdown process is characterized by large positive and negative spikes in velocity. The positive spikes occur near the same time and location as the positive part of the TS wave. Higher-order spectral analysis was used to further investigate the nonlinear interactions between the TS instability and the traveling cross flow disturbances. The results reveal that a likely cause for the generation of the spikes corresponds to nonlinear interactions between the TS, traveling cross flow, and stationary cross flow disturbances. The spikes begin at low amplitudes of the unsteady and steady disturbances (2-4% U (sub e) (i.e. boundary layer edge velocity)) but can achieve very large amplitudes (20-30 percent U (sub e) (i.e. boundary layer edge velocity)) that initiate an early, though highly intermittent, breakdown to turbulence.

  13. Multiple dual mode counter-current chromatography with variable duration of alternating phase elution steps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostanyan, Artak E; Erastov, Andrey A; Shishilov, Oleg N

    2014-06-20

    The multiple dual mode (MDM) counter-current chromatography separation processes consist of a succession of two isocratic counter-current steps and are characterized by the shuttle (forward and back) transport of the sample in chromatographic columns. In this paper, the improved MDM method based on variable duration of alternating phase elution steps has been developed and validated. The MDM separation processes with variable duration of phase elution steps are analyzed. Basing on the cell model, analytical solutions are developed for impulse and non-impulse sample loading at the beginning of the column. Using the analytical solutions, a calculation program is presented to facilitate the simulation of MDM with variable duration of phase elution steps, which can be used to select optimal process conditions for the separation of a given feed mixture. Two options of the MDM separation are analyzed: 1 - with one-step solute elution: the separation is conducted so, that the sample is transferred forward and back with upper and lower phases inside the column until the desired separation of the components is reached, and then each individual component elutes entirely within one step; 2 - with multi-step solute elution, when the fractions of individual components are collected in over several steps. It is demonstrated that proper selection of the duration of individual cycles (phase flow times) can greatly increase the separation efficiency of CCC columns. Experiments were carried out using model mixtures of compounds from the GUESSmix with solvent systems hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water. The experimental results are compared to the predictions of the theory. A good agreement between theory and experiment has been demonstrated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Two steps forward, one step back: the intricacies of engaging with e-portfolios in nursing undergraduate education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Tulsa; Cole, Clare

    2015-04-01

    To share the experience of implementing and refining the use of e-portfolios into an undergraduate nursing degree. This is a reflective piece that explores the hurdles experienced in introducing and maintaining e-portfolio's into higher education, particularly in undergraduate nursing curricula. Nil Review of the literature, and comparing and contrasting this against the experience of the authors. Hurdles included access to computer and quality internet connections, along with the levels of IT literacy of staff, and the common misconception that all students are IT savvy. What was also evident was how the need for both pedagogical and technical support to both staff and students was paramount in achieving an understanding of the software, and the scope and perspective of e-portfolio pedagogy. With each of these hurdles, staff reluctance to engage in e-portfolio use in the tertiary sector was evident. On reflection of each of these challenges, the authors identified that their experience mirrored other tertiary institutions in that a single hurdle alone is not responsible for fragmented e-portfolio implementation, but a combination of factors. Through exploring recommendations from other tertiary institutions, the authors recognize the limitations within their own working environment that contributed to the pitfalls experienced. Despite e-portfolios being introduced into higher education for over a decade, its successful implementation into undergraduate nursing curricula continues to be fraught with pitfalls, creating the sense of moving backwards more so than forwards. As with any new learning tool, careful consideration needs to be given to comprehensive planning, implementation, review and evaluation to either prevent the hurdles identified, or limit their impact on the quality of the portfolio produced and the learning attained from the process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Discriminative Projection Selection Based Face Image Hashing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karabat, Cagatay; Erdogan, Hakan

    Face image hashing is an emerging method used in biometric verification systems. In this paper, we propose a novel face image hashing method based on a new technique called discriminative projection selection. We apply the Fisher criterion for selecting the rows of a random projection matrix in a user-dependent fashion. Moreover, another contribution of this paper is to employ a bimodal Gaussian mixture model at the quantization step. Our simulation results on three different databases demonstrate that the proposed method has superior performance in comparison to previously proposed random projection based methods.

  16. A droplet entrainment model for horizontal segregated flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Höhne, Thomas, E-mail: T.Hoehne@hzdr.de [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) – Institute of Fluid Dynamics, P.O. Box 510119, D-01314 Dresden (Germany); Hänsch, Susann [Imperial College, Department of Mechanical Engineering, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

    2015-05-15

    Highlights: • We further developed the flow morphology detection model AIAD. • An advanced droplet entrainment model was introduced. • The new approach is applied against HAWAC experiments. - Abstract: One limitation in simulating horizontal segregated flows is that there is no treatment of droplet formation mechanisms at wavy surfaces. For self-generating waves and slugs, the interfacial momentum exchange and the turbulence parameters have to be modeled correctly. Furthermore, understanding the mechanism of droplet entrainment for heat and mass transfer processes is of great importance in the chemical and nuclear industry. The development of general computational fluid dynamics models is an essential precondition for the application of CFD codes to the modeling of flow related phenomena. The new formulation for the interfacial drag at the free surface and turbulence parameters within the algebraic interfacial area density model (AIAD) represents one step toward a more physical description of free surface flows including less empiricism. The AIAD approach allows the use of different physical models depending on the local fluid morphology inside a macro-scale multi-fluid framework. A further step of improving the modeling of free interfaces lies within the consideration of droplet entrainment mechanisms. In this paper a new sub-grid entrainment model is proposed, which assumes that due to liquid turbulence the interface gets rough and wavy leading to the formation of droplets. Therefore, the droplet entrainment model requires the consideration of an additional droplet phase, which is described with an own set of balance equations in the spirit of the particle model. Two local key factors determine the rate of droplet entrainment: the liquid turbulent kinetic energy as well as the outward velocity gradient of the liquid relative to the interface motion. The new droplet entrainment approach is included into CFD simulations for attempting to reproduce existing

  17. Errors in Postural Preparation Lead to Increased Choice Reaction Times for Step Initiation in Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nutt, John G.; Horak, Fay B.

    2011-01-01

    Background. This study asked whether older adults were more likely than younger adults to err in the initial direction of their anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) prior to a step (indicating a motor program error), whether initial motor program errors accounted for reaction time differences for step initiation, and whether initial motor program errors were linked to inhibitory failure. Methods. In a stepping task with choice reaction time and simple reaction time conditions, we measured forces under the feet to quantify APA onset and step latency and we used body kinematics to quantify forward movement of center of mass and length of first step. Results. Trials with APA errors were almost three times as common for older adults as for younger adults, and they were nine times more likely in choice reaction time trials than in simple reaction time trials. In trials with APA errors, step latency was delayed, correlation between APA onset and step latency was diminished, and forward motion of the center of mass prior to the step was increased. Participants with more APA errors tended to have worse Stroop interference scores, regardless of age. Conclusions. The results support the hypothesis that findings of slow choice reaction time step initiation in older adults are attributable to inclusion of trials with incorrect initial motor preparation and that these errors are caused by deficits in response inhibition. By extension, the results also suggest that mixing of trials with correct and incorrect initial motor preparation might explain apparent choice reaction time slowing with age in upper limb tasks. PMID:21498431

  18. Power forward curves: a managerial perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagarajan, Shankar

    1999-01-01

    This chapter concentrates on managerial application of power forward curves, and examines the determinants of electricity prices such as transmission constraints, its inability to be stored in a conventional way, its seasonality and weather dependence, the generation stack, and the swing risk. The electricity forward curve, classical arbitrage, constructing a forward curve, volatilities, and electricity forward curve models such as the jump-diffusion model, the mean-reverting heteroscedastic volatility model, and an econometric model of forward prices are examined. A managerial perspective of the applications of the forward curve is presented covering plant valuation, capital budgeting, performance measurement, product pricing and structuring, asset optimisation, valuation of transmission options, and risk management

  19. Numerical Simulation on the Partition of Gas-Rich Region in Overlying Strata

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Wang

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In the background of Kongzhuang coal mine 7433 working face, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are adopted. The partition method of gas-rich region in overlying strata based on the key stratum is proposed. Overlying stratas are divided into low concentration and easy for gas drainage area, high concentration and easy for drainage area, primary stress zone according to the control action of key stratum in overlying stratas. The numerical simulation shows that fissure development range is gradually scaling up ,and the development range of bed separated fissures and vertical fissures extend to the second inferior key stratum step-by-step with the working face moving forward The fissure development range stabilizes as the roof periodic motion and moves forward with the working face moving forward. Compared to traditional empirical formula calculation result, the top boundary of high concentration and easy for drainage area according to this method is higher than the calculated limit of water flowing fractured zone. The design of gas drainage can be more accurately guided. Better gas drainage effect is obtained by the design of gas drainage in 7433 working face which is based on this method and the numerical simulation result. The effectiveness and rationality of this method are verified.

  20. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back; Xeno-MicroRNAs Reported in Breast Milk Are Artifacts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caner Bağcı

    Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRNAs are short RNA sequences that guide post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression via complementarity to their target mRNAs. Discovered only recently, miRNAs have drawn a lot of attention. Multiple protein complexes interact to first cleave a hairpin from nascent RNA, export it into the cytosol, trim its loop, and incorporate it into the RISC complex which is important for binding its target mRNA. This process works within one cell, but circulating miRNAs have been described suggesting a role in cell-cell communication.Viruses and intracellular parasites like Toxoplasma gondii use miRNAs to manipulate host gene expression from within the cellular environment. However, recent research has claimed that a rice miRNA may regulate human gene expression. Despite ongoing debates about these findings and general reluctance to accept them, a recent report claimed that foodborne plant miRNAs pass through the digestive tract, travel through blood to be incorporated by alveolar cells excreting milk. The miRNAs are then said to have some immune-related function in the newborn.We acquired the data that supports their claim and performed further analyses. In addition to the reported miRNAs, we were able to detect almost complete mRNAs and found that the foreign RNA expression profiles among samples are exceedingly similar. Inspecting the source of the data helped understand how RNAs could contaminate the samples.Viewing these findings in context with the difficulties foreign RNAs face on their route into breast milk and the fact that many identified foodborne miRNAs are not from actual food sources, we can conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the original claims and evidence presented may be due to artifacts. We report that the study claiming their existence is more likely to have detected RNA contamination than miRNAs.

  1. Proper orthogonal decomposition-based estimations of the flow field from particle image velocimetry wall-gradient measurements in the backward-facing step flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, Thien Duy; Wells, John Craig; Mokhasi, Paritosh; Rempfer, Dietmar

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, particle image velocimetry (PIV) results from the recirculation zone of a backward-facing step flow, of which the Reynolds number is 2800 based on bulk velocity upstream of the step and step height (h = 16.5 mm), are used to demonstrate the capability of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD)-based measurement models. Three-component PIV velocity fields are decomposed by POD into a set of spatial basis functions and a set of temporal coefficients. The measurement models are built to relate the low-order POD coefficients, determined from an ensemble of 1050 PIV fields by the 'snapshot' method, to the time-resolved wall gradients, measured by a near-wall measurement technique called stereo interfacial PIV. These models are evaluated in terms of reconstruction and prediction of the low-order temporal POD coefficients of the velocity fields. In order to determine the estimation coefficients of the measurement models, linear stochastic estimation (LSE), quadratic stochastic estimation (QSE), principal component regression (PCR) and kernel ridge regression (KRR) are applied. We denote such approaches as LSE-POD, QSE-POD, PCR-POD and KRR-POD. In addition to comparing the accuracy of measurement models, we introduce multi-time POD-based estimations in which past and future information of the wall-gradient events is used separately or combined. The results show that the multi-time estimation approaches can improve the prediction process. Among these approaches, the proposed multi-time KRR-POD estimation with an optimized window of past wall-gradient information yields the best prediction. Such a multi-time KRR-POD approach offers a useful tool for real-time flow estimation of the velocity field based on wall-gradient data

  2. HORIZONTAL WELL DRILL-IN FLUIDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nediljka Gaurina-Međimurec

    1998-12-01

    Full Text Available Main objective of horizontal driling is to place a drain-hole for a long distance within the pay zone to enhance productivity or injectivity. In drilling horizontal wells, more serious problems appear than in drilling vertical wells. These problems are: poor hole cleaning, excessive torque and drag, hole filling, pipe stucking, wellbore instability, loss of circulation, formation damage, poor cement job, and difficulties at logging jobs. From that reason, successful drilling and production of horizontal well depends largely on the fluid used during drilling and completion phases. Several new fluids, that fulfill some or all of required properties (hole cleaning, cutting suspension, good lubrication, and relative low formation damage, are presented in this paper.

  3. ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK AND WAVELET DECOMPOSITION IN THE FORECAST OF GLOBAL HORIZONTAL SOLAR RADIATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Albino Teixeira Júnior

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a method (denoted by WD-ANN that combines the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN and the Wavelet Decomposition (WD to generate short-term global horizontal solar radiation forecasting, which is an essential information for evaluating the electrical power generated from the conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. The WD-ANN method consists of two basic steps: firstly, it is performed the decomposition of level p of the time series of interest, generating p + 1 wavelet orthonormal components; secondly, the p + 1 wavelet orthonormal components (generated in the step 1 are inserted simultaneously into an ANN in order to generate short-term forecasting. The results showed that the proposed method (WD-ANN improved substantially the performance over the (traditional ANN method.

  4. Biomechanical characteristics of adults walking forward and backward in water at different stride frequencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadenas-Sánchez, Cristina; Arellano, Raúl; Taladriz, Sonia; López-Contreras, Gracia

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine spatiotemporal characteristics and joint angles during forward and backward walking in water at low and high stride frequency. Eight healthy adults (22.1 ± 1.1 years) walked forward and backward underwater at low (50 pulses) and high frequency (80 pulses) at the xiphoid process level with arms crossed at the chest. The main differences observed were that the participants presented a greater speed (0.58 vs. 0.85 m/s) and more asymmetry of the step length (1.24 vs. 1.48) at high frequency whilst the stride and step length (0.84 vs. 0.7 m and 0.43 vs. 0.35 m, respectively) were lower compared to low frequency (P hip presented more flexion than during backward walking (ankle: 84.0 vs. 91.8º and hip: 22.8 vs. 8.0º; P hip were more flexed at low frequency than at high frequency (knee: 150.0 vs. 157.0º and hip: -12.2 vs. -14.5º; P water at different frequencies differ and contribute to a better understanding of this activity in training and rehabilitation.

  5. Pulse simulations and heat flow measurements for the ATLAS Forward Calorimeter under high-luminosity conditions

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)758133; Zuber, Kai

    The high luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is an important step for further and more detailed studies of the Standard Model of particle physics as well as searches for new physics. The necessary upgrade of the ATLAS detector is a challenging task as the increased luminosity entails many problems for the different detector parts. The liquid-argon Forward Calorimeter suffers signal-degradation effects and a high voltage drop of the supply potential under high-luminosity conditions. It is possible that the argon starts to boil due to the large energy depositions. The effect of the high-luminosity environment on the liquid-argon Forward Calorimeter has been simulated in order to investigate the level of signal degradation. The results show a curvature of the triangular pulse shape that appears prolonged when increasing the energy deposit. This effect is caused by the drop in the electric potential that produces a decrease in the electric field across the liquid-argon gap in the Forward Calorim...

  6. LHC production of forward-center and forward-forward di-jets in the kt-factorization and transverse dependent unintegrated parton distribution frameworks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Modarres, M.; Masouminia, M. R.; Aminzadeh Nik, R.; Hosseinkhani, H.; Olanj, N.

    2017-09-01

    The present work is devoted to study the high-energy QCD events, such as the di-jet productions from proton-proton inelastic collisions at the LHC in the forward-center and the forward-forward configurations. This provides us with much valuable case study, since such phenomena can provide a direct glimpse into the partonic behavior of a hadron in a dominant gluonic region. We use the unintegrated parton distribution functions (UPDF) in the kt-factorization framework. The UPDF of Kimber et al. (KMR) and Martin et al. (MRW) are generated in the leading order (LO) and next-to-leading order (NLO), using the Harland-Lang et al. (MMHT2014) PDF libraries. While working in the forward-center and the forward-forward rapidity sectors, one can probe the parton densities at very low longitudinal momentum fractions (x). Such a model computation can provide simpler analytic description of data with respect to existing formalisms such as perturbative QCD. The differential cross-section calculations are performed at the center of mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to CMS collaboration measurement. It is shown that the gluonic jet productions are dominant and a good description of data as well as other theoretical attempts (i.e. KS-linear, KS-nonlinear and rcBK) is obtained. The uncertainty of the calculations is derived by manipulating the hard scale of the processes by a factor of two. This conclusion is achieved, due to the particular visualization of the angular ordering constraint (AOC), that is incorporated in the definition of these UPDF.

  7. Unconstrained steps of myosin VI appear longest among known molecular motors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, M Yusuf; Homma, Kazuaki; Iwane, Atsuko Hikikoshi; Adachi, Kengo; Itoh, Hiroyasu; Kinosita, Kazuhiko; Yanagida, Toshio; Ikebe, Mitsuo

    2004-06-01

    Myosin VI is a two-headed molecular motor that moves along an actin filament in the direction opposite to most other myosins. Previously, a single myosin VI molecule has been shown to proceed with steps that are large compared to its neck size: either it walks by somehow extending its neck or one head slides along actin for a long distance before the other head lands. To inquire into these and other possible mechanism of motility, we suspended an actin filament between two plastic beads, and let a single myosin VI molecule carrying a bead duplex move along the actin. This configuration, unlike previous studies, allows unconstrained rotation of myosin VI around the right-handed double helix of actin. Myosin VI moved almost straight or as a right-handed spiral with a pitch of several micrometers, indicating that the molecule walks with strides slightly longer than the actin helical repeat of 36 nm. The large steps without much rotation suggest kinesin-type walking with extended and flexible necks, but how to move forward with flexible necks, even under a backward load, is not clear. As an answer, we propose that a conformational change in the lifted head would facilitate landing on a forward, rather than backward, site. This mechanism may underlie stepping of all two-headed molecular motors including kinesin and myosin V.

  8. Productivity and injectivity of horizontal wells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aziz, Khalid

    2000-03-06

    One of the key issues addressed was pressure drop in long horizontal wells and its influence on well performance. Very little information is available in the literature on flow in pipes with influx through pipe walls. Virtually all of this work has been in small diameter pipes and with single-phase flow. In order to address this problem new experimental data on flow in horizontal and near horizontal wells have been obtained. Experiments were conducted at an industrial facility on typical 6 1/8 ID, 100 feet long horizontal well model. The new data along with available information in the literature have been used to develop new correlations and mechanistic models. Thus it is now possible to predict, within reasonable accuracy, the effect of influx through the well on pressure drop in the well.

  9. Experimental and numerical study on premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation in a horizontal rectangular closed duct

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiao, Huahua; Wang, Qingsong; He, Xuechao; Sun, Jinhua; Yao, Liyin [State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China)

    2010-02-15

    Hydrogen is a promising energy in the future, and it is desirable to characterize the combustion behavior of its blends with air. The premixed hydrogen/air flame microstructure and propagation in a horizontal rectangular closed duct were recorded using high-speed video and Schlieren device. Numerical simulation was also performed on Fluent CFD code to compare with the experimental result. A tulip flame is formed during the flame propagating, and then the tulip flame formation mechanism was proposed based on the analysis. The induced reverse flow and vortex motion were observed both in experiment and simulation. The interactions among the flame, reverse flow and vortices in the burned gas change the flame shape and ultimately it develops into a tulip flame. During the formation of the tulip flame, the tulip cusp slows down and stops moving after its slightly forward moving, and then, it starts to move backward and keeps on a longer time, after that, it moves forward again. The structure of the tulip flame is becoming less stable with its length decreasing in flame propagation direction. The flame thickness increases gradually which is due to turbulence combustion. (author)

  10. Power deposition to the facing components in Tore-Supra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guilhem, D.; Chatelier, M.; Chappuis, P.; Koski, J.; Watkins, J.

    1990-01-01

    The modifications of the power scrape-off length, λ q and power deposition are studied for various configurations in ohmic Tore-Supra plasmas. The plasma is either touching the horizontal limiter alone, the full set of six pump limiters or the inner bumper limiter. All configurations are with and without the ergodic divertor system energized. From a comparison of the infrared images of the limiter we derived that the λ q for power deposition was slightly less than 9±1 mm in ohmic plasmas which is in agreement with the predicted design value of 10 mm. Using the six limiters, instead of one, does not modify λ q significantly, but leads to small asymmetries. The power is shared by all the limiters and the maximum surface temperature on the horizontal limiter decreases. These λ q values have been independently determined by calorimetric measurements on the integrated energy deposition on the horizontal limiter and other internal structures 5 cm into the scrape-off layer. These values agree with the infrared measurements in the two cases. In the presence of the ergodic divertor we observe a broadening of the scrape-off layer, the e-folding length for power deposition reaching 2.5 cm. Large asymmetries in the power deposition can be seen on the front face of the limiter, leading to the formation of hot spots at the leading edges. (orig.)

  11. Power deposition to the facing components in Tore-Supra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guilhem, D.; Chatelier, M.; Chappuis, P.

    1990-01-01

    The modification of power scrape-off-length, λq, and power deposition are studied during various configurations in ohmic TORE-SUPRA plasmas. The plasma is either leaning on the horizontal limiter alone, on the full set of 6 pump limiters or on the inner bumper limiter, all configurations with and without the ergodic divertor system energised. From comparison of the infrared images of the limiter we derived that the λq for power deposition was slightly less than 9 mm (±1 mm) in ohmic plasma which is in agreement with the predicted design value of 10 mm. Inserting the 6 limiters, instead of 1, does not modify significantly λq, but lead to small asymmetries. The power is shared by all the limiters and the maximum surface temperature on the horizontal limiter decreased. These λq values have been independently determined by calorimetric measurements done on the integrated energy deposition on the horizontal limiter and other internal structures 5 cm into the scrape-off layer. These values agree with the infrared measurements in the two cases. In the presence of the ergodic divertor we observe a broadening of the scrape off layer, the e-folding length for power deposition reaching 2.5 cm. Large asymmetries on power deposition can be seen on the front face of the limiter leading to the formation of hot spots at the leading edges

  12. Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hans Supèr

    Full Text Available Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

  13. Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Supèr, Hans; Romeo, August; Keil, Matthias

    2010-05-19

    Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

  14. Conservation laws arising in the study of forward-forward Mean-Field Games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.; Nurbekyan, Levon; Sedjro, Marc

    2017-01-01

    We consider forward-forward Mean Field Game (MFG) models that arise in numerical approximations of stationary MFGs. First, we establish a link between these models and a class of hyperbolic conservation laws as well as certain nonlinear wave equations. Second, we investigate existence and long-time behavior of solutions for such models.

  15. Conservation laws arising in the study of forward-forward Mean-Field Games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2017-04-24

    We consider forward-forward Mean Field Game (MFG) models that arise in numerical approximations of stationary MFGs. First, we establish a link between these models and a class of hyperbolic conservation laws as well as certain nonlinear wave equations. Second, we investigate existence and long-time behavior of solutions for such models.

  16. Influence of electrical boundary conditions on profiles of acoustic field and electric potential of shear-horizontal acoustic waves in potassium niobate plates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuznetsova, I E; Nedospasov, I A; Kolesov, V V; Qian, Z; Wang, B; Zhu, F

    2018-05-01

    The profiles of an acoustic field and electric potential of the forward and backward shear-horizontal (SH) acoustic waves of a higher order propagating in X-Y potassium niobate plate have been theoretically investigated. It has been shown that by changing electrical boundary conditions on a surface of piezoelectric plates, it is possible to change the distributions of an acoustic field and electric potential of the forward and backward acoustic waves. The dependencies of the distribution of a mechanical displacement and electrical potential over the plate thickness for electrically open and electrically shorted plates have been plotted. The influence of a layer with arbitrary conductivity placed on a one or on the both plate surfaces on the profiles under study, phase and group velocities of the forward and backward acoustic waves in X-Y potassium niobate has been also investigated. The obtained results can be useful for development of the method for control of a particle or electrical charge movement inside the piezoelectric plates, as well a sensor for definition of the thin film conductivity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. CHARACTERIZATION OF SURFACE OF THE (010 FACE OF BORAX CRYSTALS USING EX SITU ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY (AFM:

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suharso Suharso

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The surface topology of borax crystals grown at a relative supersaturation of 0.21 has been investigated using ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM. It was found that the cleavage of borax crystals along the (010 face planes has features of the cleavage of layered compounds, exhibiting cleavage steps of low heights. The step heights of the cleavage of the (010 face of borax crystal are from one unit cell to three unit cells of this face.   Keywords: AFM, cleavage, borax.

  18. Performance of horizontal versus vertical vapor extraction wells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birdsell, K.H.; Roseberg, N.D.; Edlund, K.M.

    1994-06-01

    Vapor extraction wells used for site remediation of volatile organic chemicals in the vadose zone are typically vertical wells. Over the past few years, there has been an increased interest in horizontal wells for environmental remediation. Despite the interest and potential benefits of horizontal wells, there has been little study of the relative performance of horizontal and vertical vapor extraction wells. This study uses numerical simulations to investigate the relative performance of horizontal versus vertical vapor extraction wells under a variety of conditions. The most significant conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that in a homogeneous medium, a single, horizontal vapor extraction well outperforms a single, vertical vapor extraction well (with surface capping) only for long, linear plumes. Guidelines are presented regarding the use of horizontal wells

  19. Simulation Results of Double Forward Converter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Vijaya KUMAR

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This work aims to find a better forward converter for DC to DC conversion.Simulation of double forward converter in SMPS system is discussed in this paper. Aforward converter with RCD snubber to synchronous rectifier and/or to current doubleris also discussed. The evolution of the forward converter is first reviewed in a tutorialfashion. Performance parameters are discussed including operating principle, voltageconversion ratio, efficiency, device stress, small-signal dynamics, noise and EMI. Itscircuit operation and its performance characteristics of the forward converter with RCDsnubber and double forward converter are described and the simulation results arepresented.

  20. Dust deposit in recirculation regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griemert, R.

    1985-03-01

    The present report shows investigations, which have been carried out in a closed duct at forward and backward facing steps. Distribution of fluid velocity and fluid fluctuations in and normal to main flow direction as well as the distribution of Reynolds shear stress have been measured. The mass transfer downstream of a backward facing step has been investigated as well. By using graphite-, copper-, tin- and rubber dust, conditions of deposition have been defined experimentally. A serie of photos shows the filling of a recirculation region downstream of a backward facing step with graphite dust. The present investigations allow to avoid deposition of dust in recirculation regions by selecting the fluid numbers in an appropriate way. (orig.) [de

  1. The own-age face recognition bias is task dependent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Proietti, Valentina; Macchi Cassia, Viola; Mondloch, Catherine J

    2015-08-01

    The own-age bias (OAB) in face recognition (more accurate recognition of own-age than other-age faces) is robust among young adults but not older adults. We investigated the OAB under two different task conditions. In Experiment 1 young and older adults (who reported more recent experience with own than other-age faces) completed a match-to-sample task with young and older adult faces; only young adults showed an OAB. In Experiment 2 young and older adults completed an identity detection task in which we manipulated the identity strength of target and distracter identities by morphing each face with an average face in 20% steps. Accuracy increased with identity strength and facial age influenced older adults' (but not younger adults') strategy, but there was no evidence of an OAB. Collectively, these results suggest that the OAB depends on task demands and may be absent when searching for one identity. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

  2. Implications of Nash Bargaining for Horizontal Industry Integration

    OpenAIRE

    Richard E. Just; Siddhartha Mitra; Sinaia Netanyahu

    2005-01-01

    This article shows how horizontal industry integration can arise from transferable asymmetry of technologies and endowments. The Nash bargaining solution suggests that greater technological diversity among coordinating parties yields greater gains from horizontal integration. The framework fits the case where a firm with a superior technology franchises the technology by horizontal integration. The results appear to fit hog production where integration has been primarily horizontal and, in pa...

  3. KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF KNEE VALGUS DURING DROP VERTICAL JUMP AND FORWARD STEP-UP IN YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYERS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paz, Gabriel Andrade; Maia, Marianna de Freitas; Farias, Déborah; Santana, Haroldo; Miranda, Humberto; Lima, Vicente; Herrington, Lee

    2016-04-01

    Lower limb asymmetry between dominant and nondominant limbs is often associated with injuries. However, there is a lack of evidence about frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) of the knee joint (knee valgus) during drop vertical jump (DVJ) and forward step-up tasks (FSUP) in young basketball players. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the FPPA (i.e., dynamic knee valgus) via 2D video analysis during DVJ and FSUP tasks in the dominant and nondominant limbs of young male basketball players. Twenty seven young male basketball players (age 14.5 ± 1.3 y, height 161.1 ± 4.1 cm, weight 64.2 ± 10.2 kg) participated in this study. The participants were asked to perform a bilateral DVJ and unilateral FSUP tasks. Kinematic analysis of FPPA was completed via a two-dimensional (2D) examination in order to evaluate the knee valgus alignment during the beginning of the concentric phase of each task. Knee valgus alignment was computed considering the angle between the line formed between the markers at the anterior superior iliac spine and middle of the tibiofemoral joint and the line formed from the markers on the middle of the tibiofemoral joint to the middle of the ankle mortise. Paired t-tests were used to evaluate differences in tasks. Standard error of measurement (SEM) was calculated to establish random error scores. There was no difference in knee valgus angle during the DVJ task between dominant (20.2 ± 4.4 º) and nondominant legs (20 ± 4.1 º; p = 0.067). However, a significant difference was noted during FSUP between the non-dominant limb (18.7 ± 3.4 º) when compared to the dominant (21.7 ± 3.5 º; p = 0.001) limb. Two dimensional kinematic analysis of knee FPPA may help coaches and other professionals to detect asymmetries between dominant and nondominant limbs, and to develop training programs with the goal of reducing overall lower extremity injury risk. 2b.

  4. Forward energy measurement with CMS

    CERN Document Server

    Kheyn, Lev

    2016-01-01

    Energy flow is measured in the forward region of CMS at pseudorapidities up to 6.6 in pp interactions at 13 TeV with forward (HF) and very forward (CASTOR) calorimeters. The results are compared to model predictions. The CMS results at different center-of-mass energies are intercompared using pseudorapidity variable shifted by beam rapidity, thus studying applicability of hypothesis of limiting fragmentation.

  5. Tritium Removal from Carbon Plasma Facing Components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skinner, C.H.; Coad, J.P.; Federici, G.

    2003-01-01

    Tritium removal is a major unsolved development task for next-step devices with carbon plasma-facing components. The 2-3 order of magnitude increase in duty cycle and associated tritium accumulation rate in a next-step tokamak will place unprecedented demands on tritium removal technology. The associated technical risk can be mitigated only if suitable removal techniques are demonstrated on tokamaks before the construction of a next-step device. This article reviews the history of codeposition, the tritium experience of TFTR (Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor) and JET (Joint European Torus) and the tritium removal rate required to support ITER's planned operational schedule. The merits and shortcomings of various tritium removal techniques are discussed with particular emphasis on oxidation and laser surface heating

  6. Yaw dynamics of horizontal axis wind turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hansen, A.C. (Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT (United States))

    1992-05-01

    Designers of a horizontal axis wind turbine yaw mechanism are faced with a difficult decision. They know that if they elect to use a yaw- controlled rotor then the system will suffer increased initial cost and increased inherent maintenance and reliability problems. On the other hand, if they elect to allow the rotor to freely yaw they known they will have to account for unknown and random, though bounded, yaw rates. They will have a higher-risk design to trade-off against the potential for cost savings and reliability improvement. The risk of a yaw-free system could be minimized if methods were available for analyzing and understanding yaw behavior. The complexity of yaw behavior has, until recently, discouraged engineers from developing a complete yaw analysis method. The objectives of this work are to (1) provide a fundamental understanding of free-yaw mechanics and the design concepts most effective at eliminating yaw problems, and (2) provide tested design tools and guidelines for use by free-yaw wind systems manufacturers. The emphasis is on developing practical and sufficiently accurate design methods.

  7. A test section design to simulate horizontal two-phase air-water flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faccini, Jose Luiz H.; Cesar, Silvia B.G.; Coutinho, Jorge A.; Freitas, Sergio Carlos; Addor, Pedro N.

    2002-01-01

    In this work an air-water two-phase flow horizontal test section assembling at Nuclear Engineering Institute (IEN) is presented. The test section was designed to allow four-phase flow patterns to be simulated: bubble flow, stratified flow, wave flow and slug flow. These flow patterns will be identified by non-conventional ultrasonic techniques which have been developed to meet this particular application. Based on the separated flow and drift-flux models the test section design steps are shown. A description of the test section and its instrumentation and data acquisition system is also provided. (author)

  8. Horizontal transfer of GM DNA - why is almost no one looking? Open letter to Kaare Nielsen in his capacity as a member of the European Food Safety Authority GMO panel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Mae-Wan

    2014-01-01

    A culture of denial over the horizontal spread of genetically modified nucleic acids prevails in the face of direct evidence that it has occurred widely when appropriate methods and molecular probes are used for detection.

  9. Study on Strata Behavior Regularity of 1301 Face in Thick Bedrock of Wei - qiang Coal Mine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Shuancheng; Yao, Boyu

    2017-09-01

    In order to ensure the safe and efficient production of the thick bedrock face, the rule of the strata behavior of the thick bedrock face is discussed through the observation of the strata pressure of the 1301 first mining face in Wei qiang coal mine. The initial face is to press the average distance of 50.75m, the periodic weighting is to press the average distance of 12.1m; during the normal mining period, although the upper roof can not be broken at the same time, but the pressure step is basically the same; the working face for the first weighting and periodical weighting is more obvious to the change of pressure step change, when the pressure of the working face is coming, the stent force increased significantly, but there are still part of the stent work resistance exceeds the rated working resistance, low stability, still need to strengthen management.

  10. Spatial But Not Oculomotor Information Biases Perceptual Memory: Evidence From Face Perception and Cognitive Modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wantz, Andrea L; Lobmaier, Janek S; Mast, Fred W; Senn, Walter

    2017-08-01

    Recent research put forward the hypothesis that eye movements are integrated in memory representations and are reactivated when later recalled. However, "looking back to nothing" during recall might be a consequence of spatial memory retrieval. Here, we aimed at distinguishing between the effect of spatial and oculomotor information on perceptual memory. Participants' task was to judge whether a morph looked rather like the first or second previously presented face. Crucially, faces and morphs were presented in a way that the morph reactivated oculomotor and/or spatial information associated with one of the previously encoded faces. Perceptual face memory was largely influenced by these manipulations. We considered a simple computational model with an excellent match (4.3% error) that expresses these biases as a linear combination of recency, saccade, and location. Surprisingly, saccades did not play a role. The results suggest that spatial and temporal rather than oculomotor information biases perceptual face memory. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  11. Advantages and application of forward osmosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    This month's Processing column explores the use of forward osmosis to dewater and concentrate. Forward osmosis is performed with specially designed membranes and requires very little energy. Where thermal evaporation and reverse osmosis may damage or alter products, forward osmosis preserves the s...

  12. The upright posture improves plantar stepping and alters responses to serotonergic drugs in spinal rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sławińska, Urszula; Majczyński, Henryk; Dai, Yue; Jordan, Larry M

    2012-04-01

    Recent studies on the restoration of locomotion after spinal cord injury have employed robotic means of positioning rats above a treadmill such that the animals are held in an upright posture and engage in bipedal locomotor activity. However, the impact of the upright posture alone, which alters hindlimb loading, an important variable in locomotor control, has not been examined. Here we compared the locomotor capabilities of chronic spinal rats when placed in the horizontal and upright postures. Hindlimb locomotor movements induced by exteroceptive stimulation (tail pinching) were monitored with video and EMG recordings. We found that the upright posture alone significantly improved plantar stepping. Locomotor trials using anaesthesia of the paws and air stepping demonstrated that the cutaneous receptors of the paws are responsible for the improved plantar stepping observed when the animals are placed in the upright posture.We also tested the effectiveness of serotonergic drugs that facilitate locomotor activity in spinal rats in both the horizontal and upright postures. Quipazine and (±)-8-hydroxy-2-(dipropylamino)tetralin hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT) improved locomotion in the horizontal posture but in the upright posture either interfered with or had no effect on plantar walking. Combined treatment with quipazine and 8-OH-DPAT at lower doses dramatically improved locomotor activity in both postures and mitigated the need to activate the locomotor CPG with exteroceptive stimulation. Our results suggest that afferent input from the paw facilitates the spinal CPG for locomotion. These potent effects of afferent input from the paw should be taken into account when interpreting the results obtained with rats in an upright posture and when designing interventions for restoration of locomotion after spinal cord injury.

  13. A new deterministic Ensemble Kalman Filter with one-step-ahead smoothing for storm surge forecasting

    KAUST Repository

    Raboudi, Naila

    2016-01-01

    KF-OSA exploits the observation twice. The incoming observation is first used to smooth the ensemble at the previous time step. The resulting smoothed ensemble is then integrated forward to compute a "pseudo forecast" ensemble, which is again updated with the same

  14. Going forward with genetics: recent technological advances and forward genetics in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moresco, Eva Marie Y; Li, Xiaohong; Beutler, Bruce

    2013-05-01

    Forward genetic analysis is an unbiased approach for identifying genes essential to defined biological phenomena. When applied to mice, it is one of the most powerful methods to facilitate understanding of the genetic basis of human biology and disease. The speed at which disease-causing mutations can be identified in mutagenized mice has been markedly increased by recent advances in DNA sequencing technology. Creating and analyzing mutant phenotypes may therefore become rate-limiting in forward genetic experimentation. We review the forward genetic approach and its future in the context of recent technological advances, in particular massively parallel DNA sequencing, induced pluripotent stem cells, and haploid embryonic stem cells. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. The ATLAS Forward Physics Program

    OpenAIRE

    Royon, C

    2010-01-01

    After a brief review of the approved ATLAS forward detector system we describe the main ATLAS forward physics program. This program currently includes such topics as soft and hard diffraction, double pomeron exchange, central exclusive production, rapidity gap survival, two photon physics, the determination of the total cross-section and the determination of the absolute luminosity A possible high luminosity upgrade program involving new forward proton detectors is also briefly reviewed. This...

  16. An RGB-D Database Using Microsoft’s Kinect for Windows for Face Detection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Idskou Høg, Rasmus; Jasek, Petr; Rofidal, Clement

    2012-01-01

    The very first step in many facial analysis systems is face detection. Though face detection has been studied for many years, there is not still a benchmark public database to be widely accepted among researchers for which both color and depth information are obtained by the same sensor. Most...

  17. Small horizontal emittance in the TESLA damping ring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Decking, W.

    2001-01-01

    The present TESLA damping ring is designed for a normalized horizontal emittance of 8x10 -6 m. γ-γ collisions at the TESLA linear collider will benefit from a further decrease of the horizontal emittance. This paper reviews the processes which limit the horizontal emittance in the damping ring. Preliminary estimates on the smallest horizontal emittance for the present TESLA damping ring design as well as an ultimate limit of the emittance reachable with the TESLA damping ring concept will be given

  18. Impaired Air Conditioning within the Nasal Cavity in Flat-Faced Homo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takeshi Nishimura

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available We are flat-faced hominins with an external nose that protrudes from the face. This feature was derived in the genus Homo, along with facial flattening and reorientation to form a high nasal cavity. The nasal passage conditions the inhaled air in terms of temperature and humidity to match the conditions required in the lung, and its anatomical variation is believed to be evolutionarily sensitive to the ambient atmospheric conditions of a given habitat. In this study, we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD with three-dimensional topology models of the nasal passage under the same simulation conditions, to investigate air-conditioning performance in humans, chimpanzees, and macaques. The CFD simulation showed a horizontal straight flow of inhaled air in chimpanzees and macaques, contrasting with the upward and curved flow in humans. The inhaled air is conditioned poorly in humans compared with nonhuman primates. Virtual modifications to the human external nose topology, in which the nasal vestibule and valve are modified to resemble those of chimpanzees, change the airflow to be horizontal, but have little influence on the air-conditioning performance in humans. These findings suggest that morphological variation of the nasal passage topology was only weakly sensitive to the ambient atmosphere conditions; rather, the high nasal cavity in humans was formed simply by evolutionary facial reorganization in the divergence of Homo from the other hominin lineages, impairing the air-conditioning performance. Even though the inhaled air is not adjusted well within the nasal cavity in humans, it can be fully conditioned subsequently in the pharyngeal cavity, which is lengthened in the flat-faced Homo. Thus, the air-conditioning faculty in the nasal passages was probably impaired in early Homo members, although they have survived successfully under the fluctuating climate of the Plio-Pleistocene, and then they moved "Out of Africa" to explore the more

  19. Die Face Engineering based Springback Compensation Strategy and Implementation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, Arthur; Lee Wing; He, Jeanne; Xu Jinbo; Liu Kesu; Chen Chinchun

    2005-01-01

    Springback or shape change has been one of the major challenges in sheet metal fabrication, particularly with increase application of high strength steel (HSS) and aluminum alloys in automotive stamping. Springback, an elastic material recovery after the unloading of stamping tools, causes variations and inconsistencies of final part dimensions. Minor or mild springback usually can be corrected in the re-strike process. Excessive springback must be corrected so the part will be produced within the given design tolerance and dimension. The commonly used Spring Forward approaches and shape compensations such as over-crown and over-bending are proven effective to alleviate excessive springback. To enhance these approaches, a new strategy of Die Face Engineering (DFE) based processing is proposed to quickly and easily to achieve the maximum allowable compensation using the under cut (or die lock) as the primary criteria. The implementation of the die face compensation through iterative FEA calculation, automatic surface mapping, projection and manual morphing are crucial to meet production environment requirements in terms of generating NC quality CAD surfaces of the compensated or morphed die face. In this paper, the strategy of the die face compensation with the consideration of the under cut criteria is presented. The implementation of various processes to enable user to perform the die face compensation task in a production environment is also discussed. Finally, two examples are shown to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed springback compensation scheme based on the combined CAE/CAD methodology

  20. Mathematical simulation of processes in horizontal steam generator and the program of calculation of its characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Titov, V.F.; Zorin, V.M.; Gorburov, V.I. [OKB Gidropress, Moscow Energy Inst. (Russian Federation)

    1995-12-31

    On the basis of mathematical models describing the processes in horizontal steam generator (SG) the code giving the possibility to calculate the hydrodynamical characteristics in any point of water volume, has been developed. The code simulates the processes in SG in the stationary (or quasi-stationary) mode or operation only. The code may be used as a next step to calculations of the SG characteristics in the non-stationary modes of operation.

  1. Mathematical simulation of processes in horizontal steam generator and the program of calculation of its characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Titov, V F; Zorin, V M; Gorburov, V I [OKB Gidropress, Moscow Energy Inst. (Russian Federation)

    1996-12-31

    On the basis of mathematical models describing the processes in horizontal steam generator (SG) the code giving the possibility to calculate the hydrodynamical characteristics in any point of water volume, has been developed. The code simulates the processes in SG in the stationary (or quasi-stationary) mode or operation only. The code may be used as a next step to calculations of the SG characteristics in the non-stationary modes of operation.

  2. Support for Business R&D in Budget 2012: Two Steps Forward and One Back

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Lester

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The federal budget contains some sensible changes to the SR&ED investment tax credit, but the decision to reduce support for large firms to provide additional support for small firms is a step in the wrong direction. The Jenkins Panel* expressed concern about excessive subsidization of small and medium-sized firms and recommended cutting back on the enhanced SR&ED credit in order to finance more targeted support for these firms. Following that advice would have improved the social return on support for R&D; in contrast, the budget measures marginally reduce the benefits to society from subsidizing R&D. The budget also announced $400 million in additional funding for risk capital. Returns in the venture capital industry are very low and the additional funding is unlikely to be successfully deployed until returns improve. There is abundant evidence that the tax credit for investment in Labour-Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations is crowding out private investment and contributing to low rates of return; eliminating the credit is therefore an essential first step in restoring the financial health of the venture capital industry.

  3. Spondylolysis and the sacro-horizontal angle in athletes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swaerd, L.; Hellstroem, M.; Jacobsson, B.; Peterson, L.; Sahlgrenska Sjukhuset, Goeteborg; King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh

    1989-01-01

    The frequency of spondylolysis and the relationship between spondylolysis and the sacro-horizontal angle in 143 athletes and 30 non-athletes is reported. Athletes had a larger sacro-horizontal angle than non-athletes. The sacro-horizontal angle was larger in athletes with spondylolysis as compared with those without. An increased incidence of spondylolysis with an increased angle was demonstrated. It is suggested that an increased sacro-horizontal angle may predispose to spondylolysis, especially in combination with the high mechanical loads sustained in certain sports. (orig.)

  4. Spondylolysis and the sacro-horizontal angle in athletes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Swaerd, L.; Hellstroem, M.; Jacobsson, B.; Peterson, L. (Oestra Sjukhuset, Goeteborg (Sweden). Dept. of Orthopaedics; Sahlgrenska Sjukhuset, Goeteborg (Sweden). Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology; King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). Dept. of Radiology)

    The frequency of spondylolysis and the relationship between spondylolysis and the sacro-horizontal angle in 143 athletes and 30 non-athletes is reported. Athletes had a larger sacro-horizontal angle than non-athletes. The sacro-horizontal angle was larger in athletes with spondylolysis as compared with those without. An increased incidence of spondylolysis with an increased angle was demonstrated. It is suggested that an increased sacro-horizontal angle may predispose to spondylolysis, especially in combination with the high mechanical loads sustained in certain sports. (orig.).

  5. ASKI: A modular toolbox for scattering-integral-based seismic full waveform inversion and sensitivity analysis utilizing external forward codes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Schumacher

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to increasing computational resources, the development of new numerically demanding methods and software for imaging Earth’s interior remains of high interest in Earth sciences. Here, we give a description from a user’s and programmer’s perspective of the highly modular, flexible and extendable software package ASKI–Analysis of Sensitivity and Kernel Inversion–recently developed for iterative scattering-integral-based seismic full waveform inversion. In ASKI, the three fundamental steps of solving the seismic forward problem, computing waveform sensitivity kernels and deriving a model update are solved by independent software programs that interact via file output/input only. Furthermore, the spatial discretizations of the model space used for solving the seismic forward problem and for deriving model updates, respectively, are kept completely independent. For this reason, ASKI does not contain a specific forward solver but instead provides a general interface to established community wave propagation codes. Moreover, the third fundamental step of deriving a model update can be repeated at relatively low costs applying different kinds of model regularization or re-selecting/weighting the inverted dataset without need to re-solve the forward problem or re-compute the kernels. Additionally, ASKI offers the user sensitivity and resolution analysis tools based on the full sensitivity matrix and allows to compose customized workflows in a consistent computational environment. ASKI is written in modern Fortran and Python, it is well documented and freely available under terms of the GNU General Public License (http://www.rub.de/aski.

  6. 3D Face modeling using the multi-deformable method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Jinkyu; Yu, Sunjin; Kim, Joongrock; Lee, Sangyoun

    2012-09-25

    In this paper, we focus on the problem of the accuracy performance of 3D face modeling techniques using corresponding features in multiple views, which is quite sensitive to feature extraction errors. To solve the problem, we adopt a statistical model-based 3D face modeling approach in a mirror system consisting of two mirrors and a camera. The overall procedure of our 3D facial modeling method has two primary steps: 3D facial shape estimation using a multiple 3D face deformable model and texture mapping using seamless cloning that is a type of gradient-domain blending. To evaluate our method's performance, we generate 3D faces of 30 individuals and then carry out two tests: accuracy test and robustness test. Our method shows not only highly accurate 3D face shape results when compared with the ground truth, but also robustness to feature extraction errors. Moreover, 3D face rendering results intuitively show that our method is more robust to feature extraction errors than other 3D face modeling methods. An additional contribution of our method is that a wide range of face textures can be acquired by the mirror system. By using this texture map, we generate realistic 3D face for individuals at the end of the paper.

  7. Horizontal alveolar bone loss: A periodontal orphan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayakumar, A.; Rohini, S.; Naveen, A.; Haritha, A.; Reddy, Krishnanjeneya

    2010-01-01

    Background: Attempts to successfully regenerate lost alveolar bone have always been a clinician’s dream. Angular defects, at least, have a fairer chance, but the same cannot be said about horizontal bone loss. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of horizontal alveolar bone loss and vertical bone defects in periodontal patients; and later, to correlate it with the treatment modalities available in the literature for horizontal and vertical bone defects. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in two parts. Part I was the radiographic evaluation of 150 orthopantomographs (OPGs) (of patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis and seeking periodontal care), which were digitized and read using the AutoCAD 2006 software. All the periodontitis-affected teeth were categorized as teeth with vertical defects (if the defect angle was ≤45° and defect depth was ≥3 mm) or as having horizontal bone loss. Part II of the study comprised search of the literature on treatment modalities for horizontal and vertical bone loss in four selected periodontal journals. Results: Out of the 150 OPGs studied, 54 (36%) OPGs showed one or more vertical defects. Totally, 3,371 teeth were studied, out of which horizontal bone loss was found in 3,107 (92.2%) teeth, and vertical defects were found only in 264 (7.8%) of the teeth, which was statistically significant (P<.001). Search of the selected journals revealed 477 papers have addressed the treatment modalities for vertical and horizontal types of bone loss specifically. Out of the 477 papers, 461 (96.3%) have addressed vertical bone loss, and 18 (3.7%) have addressed treatment options for horizontal bone loss. Two papers have addressed both types of bone loss and are included in both categories. Conclusion: Horizontal bone loss is more prevalent than vertical bone loss but has been sidelined by researchers as very few papers have been published on the subject of regenerative treatment modalities for

  8. Computer aided virtual manufacturing using Creo parametric easy to learn step by step guide

    CERN Document Server

    Kanife, Paul Obiora

    2016-01-01

    Providing a step-by-step guide for the implementation of virtual manufacturing using Creo Parametric software (formerly known as Pro-Engineer), this book creates an engaging and interactive learning experience for manufacturing engineering students. Featuring graphic illustrations of simulation processes and operations, and written in accessible English to promote user-friendliness, the book covers key topics in the field including: the engraving machining process, face milling, profile milling, surface milling, volume rough milling, expert machining, electric discharge machining (EDM), and area turning using the lathe machining process. Maximising reader insights into how to simulate material removal processes, and how to generate cutter location data and G-codes data, this valuable resource equips undergraduate, postgraduate, BTech and HND students in the fields of manufacturing engineering, computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE) with transferable skills and knowledge. This book is...

  9. Familiar face + novel face = familiar face? Representational bias in the perception of morphed faces in chimpanzees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshi-Taka Matsuda

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Highly social animals possess a well-developed ability to distinguish the faces of familiar from novel conspecifics to induce distinct behaviors for maintaining society. However, the behaviors of animals when they encounter ambiguous faces of familiar yet novel conspecifics, e.g., strangers with faces resembling known individuals, have not been well characterised. Using a morphing technique and preferential-looking paradigm, we address this question via the chimpanzee’s facial–recognition abilities. We presented eight subjects with three types of stimuli: (1 familiar faces, (2 novel faces and (3 intermediate morphed faces that were 50% familiar and 50% novel faces of conspecifics. We found that chimpanzees spent more time looking at novel faces and scanned novel faces more extensively than familiar or intermediate faces. Interestingly, chimpanzees looked at intermediate faces in a manner similar to familiar faces with regards to the fixation duration, fixation count, and saccade length for facial scanning, even though the participant was encountering the intermediate faces for the first time. We excluded the possibility that subjects merely detected and avoided traces of morphing in the intermediate faces. These findings suggest a bias for a feeling-of-familiarity that chimpanzees perceive familiarity with an intermediate face by detecting traces of a known individual, as 50% alternation is sufficient to perceive familiarity.

  10. comparative evaluation of pressure distribution between horizontal

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    This paper presents comparative analysis between the pressure behavior of ... Green and source function were used to evaluate the performance of horizontal well and ..... Superscript. ' derivative. D = dimensionless. h = horizontal. = change.

  11. Estimation of permeability and permeability anisotropy in horizontal wells through numerical simulation of mud filtrate invasion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pereira, Nelson [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Exploracao e Producao; Altman, Raphael; Rasmus, John; Oliveira, Jansen [Schlumberger Servicos de Petroleo Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    This paper describes how permeability and permeability anisotropy is estimated in horizontal wells using LWD (logging-while-drilling) laterolog resistivity data. Laterolog-while-drilling resistivity passes of while-drilling and timelapse (while reaming) were used to capture the invasion process. Radial positions of water based mud invasion fronts were calculated from while-drilling and reaming resistivity data. The invasion process was then recreated by constructing forward models with a fully implicit, near-wellbore numerical simulation such that the invasion front at a given time was consistent with the position of the front predicted by resistivity inversions. The radial position of the invasion front was shown to be sensitive to formation permeability. The while-drilling environment provides a fertile scenario to investigate reservoir dynamic properties because mud cake integrity and growth is not fully developed which means that the position of the invasion front at a particular point in time is more sensitive to formation permeability. The estimation of dynamic formation properties in horizontal wells is of particular value in marginal fields and deep-water offshore developments where running wireline and obtaining core is not always feasible, and where the accuracy of reservoir models can reduce the risk in field development decisions. (author)

  12. Forward contract - minimize the exchange risk

    OpenAIRE

    Martin Maršík; František Vebr

    1998-01-01

    How can a Czech export (import) company hedge exchange risk? Some of the possibilities are these: 1/ use only CZK for foreign contracts; 2/ matching payments in the same or a parallel currency; 3/ use the products of the money markets; 4/ use the products of the forward market - FORWARD CONTRACT The forward market offers a forward contract to buy or sell a fixed amount of currency at a fixed price on a specific date in the future. The settlement of the contract is in more than two days. The e...

  13. Forward Jet Vertex Tagging: A new technique for the identification and rejection of forward pileup jets

    CERN Document Server

    The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    The suppression of pileup forward jets is crucial for a variety of physics analyses at the LHC, ranging from VBF Higgs production to SUSY searches. A novel forward pileup tagging technique that exploits the correlation between central and forward jets originating from pileup interactions is presented. Tracking and vertex information in the central $\\eta$ region is used to indirectly tag and reject forward pileup jets that are back-to-back to central pileup jets. The pileup suppression power observed in Pythia8 simulated events increases with jet \\pt and ranges between a 30\\% and 60\\% pileup jet removal for 90\\% jet selection efficiency for jets between 20 and 50 GeV.

  14. The development of Canadian leadership in horizontal drilling technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hawkins, J R

    1989-01-01

    Horizontal wells are of increasing interest in the oil and gas industry, as is evident from the increase in the numbers of such wells being drilled. Horizontal well technology is used to improve production rates, notably in low permeability formations; to capture reserves if a reservoir is not economic using non-horizontal wells; to manage breakthrough of sweep fluids and increase sweep efficiency; and to extend the areal reach from a single surface location, especially in offshore production. The types of horizontal wells, differentiated on the basis of how quickly the well becomes horizontal, are briefly outlined and a short history of horizontal wells is presented. Canadian accomplishments in this field are then described, including steerable drilling systems, measurement-while-drilling systems, management of hole drag and torque, and well completion techniques. About 25 horizontal wells are forecast to be drilled in Canada in 1989, indicating the favorable future of this technology. 2 figs., 5 tabs.

  15. Field measurements of horizontal forward motion velocities of terrestrial dust devils: Towards a proxy for ambient winds on Mars and Earth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balme, M. R.; Pathare, A.; Metzger, S. M.; Towner, M. C.; Lewis, S. R.; Spiga, A.; Fenton, L. K.; Renno, N. O.; Elliott, H. M.; Saca, F. A.; Michaels, T. I.; Russell, P.; Verdasca, J.

    2012-11-01

    Dust devils - convective vortices made visible by the dust and debris they entrain - are common in arid environments and have been observed on Earth and Mars. Martian dust devils have been identified both in images taken at the surface and in remote sensing observations from orbiting spacecraft. Observations from landing craft and orbiting instruments have allowed the dust devil translational forward motion (ground velocity) to be calculated, but it is unclear how these velocities relate to the local ambient wind conditions, for (i) only model wind speeds are generally available for Mars, and (ii) on Earth only anecdotal evidence exists that compares dust devil ground velocity with ambient wind velocity. If dust devil ground velocity can be reliably correlated to the ambient wind regime, observations of dust devils could provide a proxy for wind speed and direction measurements on Mars. Hence, dust devil ground velocities could be used to probe the circulation of the martian boundary layer and help constrain climate models or assess the safety of future landing sites. We present results from a field study of terrestrial dust devils performed in the southwest USA in which we measured dust devil horizontal velocity as a function of ambient wind velocity. We acquired stereo images of more than a 100 active dust devils and recorded multiple size and position measurements for each dust devil. We used these data to calculate dust devil translational velocity. The dust devils were within a study area bounded by 10 m high meteorology towers such that dust devil speed and direction could be correlated with the local ambient wind speed and direction measurements. Daily (10:00-16:00 local time) and 2-h averaged dust devil ground speeds correlate well with ambient wind speeds averaged over the same period. Unsurprisingly, individual measurements of dust devil ground speed match instantaneous measurements of ambient wind speed more poorly; a 20-min smoothing window applied to

  16. Face antispoofing based on frame difference and multilevel representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benlamoudi, Azeddine; Aiadi, Kamal Eddine; Ouafi, Abdelkrim; Samai, Djamel; Oussalah, Mourad

    2017-07-01

    Due to advances in technology, today's biometric systems become vulnerable to spoof attacks made by fake faces. These attacks occur when an intruder attempts to fool an established face-based recognition system by presenting a fake face (e.g., print photo or replay attacks) in front of the camera instead of the intruder's genuine face. For this purpose, face antispoofing has become a hot topic in face analysis literature, where several applications with antispoofing task have emerged recently. We propose a solution for distinguishing between real faces and fake ones. Our approach is based on extracting features from the difference between successive frames instead of individual frames. We also used a multilevel representation that divides the frame difference into multiple multiblocks. Different texture descriptors (local binary patterns, local phase quantization, and binarized statistical image features) have then been applied to each block. After the feature extraction step, a Fisher score is applied to sort the features in ascending order according to the associated weights. Finally, a support vector machine is used to differentiate between real and fake faces. We tested our approach on three publicly available databases: CASIA Face Antispoofing database, Replay-Attack database, and MSU Mobile Face Spoofing database. The proposed approach outperforms the other state-of-the-art methods in different media and quality metrics.

  17. Establishment of Measurement Techniques for Sliding Bubble on a Horizontal Tube

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yu-Na Kim; Park, Goon-Cherl; Cho, Hyoung-Kyu

    2015-01-01

    The mechanistic wall boiling model includes many parameters relevant with bubble behaviors, such as the bubble departure diameter, bubble lift-off diameter, bubble waiting time, etc. Although there have been a large number of studies investigating bubble behavior, the subjects of observation are almost bubbles on a plane or vertical tube. Since the bubble motion is highly influenced by the directions of gravitational force and the heating surfaces, it is expected that the bubble behavior on a horizontal tube is largely different from those on the other geometry. The heat exchanger of APR+ has horizontal U-tube configuration installed in a water pool, of which diameter is 50mm. The study aims to establish measurement techniques for sliding bubbles on a horizontal tube. The measurement parameters include the diameter, interface area, volume, and velocity of the bubble. Additionally, in order to analyze the force acting on the bubble, liquid velocity measurement method was proposed. This paper presents the procedure of the measurement; the phase separation technique, 3-D reconstruction technique, and velocity measurement techniques. For visualization of the sliding bubble behavior, bubble and liquid velocity measurement methods were established which use two high speed cameras and a continuous LASER for the PTV and PIV. Three steps for the bubble shape and velocity measurement (the phase separation, 3-D reconstruction, and velocity calculation), were successfully set up and verified. A PIV technique which uses two different time duration for two regions where the velocity difference is huge was proposed and tested. Using these methods, various information regarding a sliding bubble can be obtained such as bubble and liquid velocities, shape, volume, surface area etc

  18. Non-Uniform Dose Mapping Controlled by Modulated Vertical and Horizontal Scans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ninomiya, S.; Kimura, Y.; Kudo, T.; Ochi, A.; Toda, R.; Tsukihara, M.; Sato, F.; Fuse, G.; Ueno, K.; Sugitani, M.

    2008-01-01

    Since geometries of semi-conductor devices continue to shrink, the requirement for each process becomes severer to keep uniformity of electrical parameters of the semi-conductor devices. A larger wafer also causes larger variations. Thus it has been strongly required for ion implantation process to compensate for the variations from other processes because of its good dose controllability. A newly developed mapping of intentional non-uniform dosage system, which is named 'MIND system', is implemented in SEN's single-wafer-type implanters. The MIND system controls both horizontal and vertical scan speed simultaneously. Intentional two-dimensional non-uniform profiles of sheet resistance, such as concentric and eccentric profiles, are obtained only by single-step ion implantation.

  19. The horizontal plane appearances of scoliosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Illés, Tamás S.; Burkus, Máté; Somoskeőy, Szabolcs

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: A posterior-anterior vertebral vector is proposed to facilitate visualization and understanding of scoliosis. The aim of this study was to highlight the interest of using vertebral vectors, especially in the horizontal plane, in clinical practice. Methods: We used an EOS two-/three-dimen......Purpose: A posterior-anterior vertebral vector is proposed to facilitate visualization and understanding of scoliosis. The aim of this study was to highlight the interest of using vertebral vectors, especially in the horizontal plane, in clinical practice. Methods: We used an EOS two...... cases of a normal spine and a thoracic scoliosis are presented. Results: For a normal spine, vector projections in the transverse plane are aligned with the posterior-anterior anatomical axis. For a scoliotic spine, vector projections in the horizontal plane provide information on the lateral...... decompensation of the spine and the lateral displacement of vertebrae. In the horizontal plane view, vertebral rotation and projections of the sagittal curves can also be analyzed simultaneously. Conclusions: The use of posterior-anterior vertebral vector facilitates the understanding of the 3D nature...

  20. Comparison of high-latitude line-of-sight ozone column density with derived ozone fields and the effects of horizontal inhomogeneity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. H. Swartz

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Extensive ozone measurements were made during the second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II. We compare high-latitude line-of-sight (LOS slant column ozone measurements from the NASA DC-8 to ozone simulated by forward integration of measurement-derived ozone fields constructed both with and without the assumption of horizontal homogeneity. The average bias and rms error of the simulations assuming homogeneity are relatively small (−6 and 10%, respectively in comparison to the LOS measurements. The comparison improves significantly (−2% bias; 8% rms error using forward integrations of three-dimensional proxy ozone fields reconstructed from potential vorticity-O3 correlations. The comparisons provide additional verification of the proxy fields and quantify the influence of large-scale ozone inhomogeneity. The spatial inhomogeneity of the atmosphere is a source of error in the retrieval of trace gas vertical profiles and column abundance from LOS measurements, as well as a complicating factor in intercomparisons that include LOS measurements at large solar zenith angles.

  1. Performance and ergonomic characteristics of expert surgeons using a face-mounted display during virtual reality-simulated laparoscopic surgery: an electromyographically based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, D W; Bush, R W; Earle, D B; Seymour, N E

    2007-07-01

    Display positions for laparoscopy in current operating rooms may not be optimal for surgeon comfort or task performance, and face-mounted displays (FMDs) have been forwarded as a potential ergonomic solution. Little is known concerning expert use characteristics of these devices that might help define their role in future surgical care. The authors report the performance and ergonomic characterization of an FMD using virtual reality simulation technology to recreate the surgical environment. An FMD was studied in short- and long-duration trials of validated virtual reality-simulated surgical tasks. For the short-duration phase 7, expert surgeons were familiarized with a task on a conventional monitor, then returned on two separate occasions to repeat the task with the FMD while digital photos were taken during task performance and at the end in a standardized fashion. For the long-duration phase 5, expert surgeons performed two separate trials with repetitive groups of validated tasks for a minimum of 30 min while electromyelogram and performance data were measured. Photos of their gaze angle during and at the end of the trial were taken. All the participants consistently assumed a gaze angle slightly below horizontal during task performance. Performance scores on the FMD did not differ from those obtained with a conventional display, and remained stable with repetitive task performance. No participant had electromyelogram signals that exceeded the established thresholds for fatigue, but some had values within the threshold range. The natural gaze angle during simulated surgery was consistently a bit below horizontal during rigorous virtual reality-simulated tasks. Performance was not compromised during expert surgeons' use of an FMD, nor did muscle fatigue characteristics arise under these conditions. The findings suggest that these devices may represent a viable alternative to conventional displays for minimally invasive surgery, but definition of specific roles

  2. Tritium Issues in Next Step Devices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    C.H. Skinner; G. Federici

    2001-09-05

    Tritium issues will play a central role in the performance and operation of next-step deuterium-tritium (DT) burning plasma tokamaks and the safety aspects associated with tritium will attract intense public scrutiny. The orders-of-magnitude increase in duty cycle and stored energy will be a much larger change than the increase in plasma performance necessary to achieve high fusion gain and ignition. Erosion of plasma-facing components will scale up with the pulse length from being barely measurable on existing machines to centimeter scale. Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE) devices with carbon plasma-facing components will accumulate tritium by co-deposition with the eroded carbon and this will strongly constrain plasma operations. We report on a novel laser-based method to remove co-deposited tritium from carbon plasma-facing components in tokamaks. A major fraction of the tritium trapped in a co-deposited layer during the deuterium-tritium (DT) campaign on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) was released by heating with a scanning laser beam. This technique offers the potential for tritium removal in a next-step DT device without the use of oxidation and the associated deconditioning of the plasma-facing surfaces and expense of processing large quantities of tritium oxide. The operational lifetime of alternative materials such as tungsten has significant uncertainties due to melt layer loss during disruptions. Production of dust and flakes will need careful monitoring and minimization, and control and accountancy of the tritium inventory will be critical issues. Many of the tritium issues in Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) are similar to MFE, but some, for example those associated with the target factory, are unique to IFE. The plasma-edge region in a tokamak has greater complexity than the core due to lack of poloidal symmetry and nonlinear feedback between the plasma and wall. Sparse diagnostic coverage and low dedicated experimental run time has hampered the

  3. Tritium Issues in Next Step Devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    C.H. Skinner; G. Federici

    2001-01-01

    Tritium issues will play a central role in the performance and operation of next-step deuterium-tritium (DT) burning plasma tokamaks and the safety aspects associated with tritium will attract intense public scrutiny. The orders-of-magnitude increase in duty cycle and stored energy will be a much larger change than the increase in plasma performance necessary to achieve high fusion gain and ignition. Erosion of plasma-facing components will scale up with the pulse length from being barely measurable on existing machines to centimeter scale. Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE) devices with carbon plasma-facing components will accumulate tritium by co-deposition with the eroded carbon and this will strongly constrain plasma operations. We report on a novel laser-based method to remove co-deposited tritium from carbon plasma-facing components in tokamaks. A major fraction of the tritium trapped in a co-deposited layer during the deuterium-tritium (DT) campaign on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) was released by heating with a scanning laser beam. This technique offers the potential for tritium removal in a next-step DT device without the use of oxidation and the associated deconditioning of the plasma-facing surfaces and expense of processing large quantities of tritium oxide. The operational lifetime of alternative materials such as tungsten has significant uncertainties due to melt layer loss during disruptions. Production of dust and flakes will need careful monitoring and minimization, and control and accountancy of the tritium inventory will be critical issues. Many of the tritium issues in Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) are similar to MFE, but some, for example those associated with the target factory, are unique to IFE. The plasma-edge region in a tokamak has greater complexity than the core due to lack of poloidal symmetry and nonlinear feedback between the plasma and wall. Sparse diagnostic coverage and low dedicated experimental run time has hampered the

  4. Horizontal transfer of GM DNA – why is almost no one looking? Open letter to Kaare Nielsen in his capacity as a member of the European Food Safety Authority GMO panel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mae-Wan Ho

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available A culture of denial over the horizontal spread of genetically modified nucleic acids prevails in the face of direct evidence that it has occurred widely when appropriate methods and molecular probes are used for detection.

  5. Forward Scattering of Loaded and Unloaded Antennas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gustafsson, Mats; Andersen, Jørgen Bach; Kristensson, Gerhard

    2012-01-01

    Forward scattering of antennas is related to antenna performance via the forward-scattering sum rule. The forward-scattering sum rule is an integral identity that shows that a weighted integral of the extinction cross section over all spectrum is proportional to the static polarizability...... of the antenna structure. Here, the forward-scattering sum rule is experimentally verified for loaded, short-circuit, and open-circuit cylindrical dipole antennas. It is also shown that the absorption efficiency cannot be greater than 1/2 for reciprocal linearly polarized lossless matched antennas...... with a symmetric radiation pattern in the forward and backward directions....

  6. Viewing pain and happy faces elicited similar changes in postural body sway.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Gea

    Full Text Available Affective facial expressions are potent social cues that can induce relevant physiological changes, as well as behavioral dispositions in the observer. Previous studies have revealed that angry faces induced significant reductions in body sway as compared with neutral and happy faces, reflecting an avoidance behavioral tendency as freezing. The expression of pain is usually considered an unpleasant stimulus, but also a relevant cue for delivering effective care and social support. Nevertheless, there are few data about behavioral dispositions elicited by the observation of pain expressions in others. The aim of the present research was to evaluate approach-avoidance tendencies by using video recordings of postural body sway when participants were standing and observing facial expressions of pain, happy and neutral. We hypothesized that although pain faces would be rated as more unpleasant than the other faces, they would provoke significant changes in postural body sway as compared to neutral facial expressions. Forty healthy female volunteers (mean age 25 participated in the study. Amplitude of forward movements and backward movements in the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes were obtained. Statistical analyses revealed that pain faces were the most unpleasant stimuli, and that both happy and pain faces were more arousing than neutral ones. Happy and pain faces also elicited greater amplitude of body sway in the anterior-posterior axes as compared with neutral faces. In addition, significant positive correlations were found between body sway elicited by pain faces and pleasantness and empathic ratings, suggesting that changes in postural body sway elicited by pain faces might be associated with approach and cooperative behavioral responses.

  7. Horizontal drilling in Miocene thin sand of Lake Maracaibo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Partidas, C. [PDVSA Exploration and Production (Venezuela)

    1998-12-31

    Horizontal drilling in the mature Lake Maracaibo field in Venezuela as a means of stimulating production are discussed. The Miocene sand where the horizontal well technology was applied, presented a number of intervals of unconsolidated sand of varied continuity, pay intervals at ten to twenty feet thickness, and reservoir pressures mostly at hydrostatic or below hydrostatic values. This paper evaluates a horizontal drilling program in the Lagunallis Lago Production Unit of Maracaibo, involving 91 wells to date (since 1995). When assessed in economic terms, results indicate that horizontal wells are a better economic alternative than vertical wells. The same results also showed that drainage from thin sand reservoirs resulted in better production with horizontal well technology than production from vertical wells. Payout was less than two years for 50 per cent of the horizontal wells while 40 per cent had payouts of between two and four years. Profit to investment ratio was greater than two in the case of about 70 per cent of the horizontal wells drilled in 1996. 2 tabs., 10 figs.

  8. Performance characteristics of a horizontal axis turbine with fusion winglet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Bing; Sun, Xiaojing; Wang, Ying; Huang, Diangui

    2017-01-01

    Any technique or method that can improve the efficiency in exploiting renewable wind or marine current energy has got a great significance today. It has been reported that adding a winglet at the tip of the rotor blades on a horizontal axis wind turbine can increase its power performance. The purpose of this paper is to adopt a numerical method to investigate the effects of different winglet configurations on turbine performance, especially focusing on the direction for the winglet tip to point towards (the suction side, pressure side or both sides of the main blade). The results show that the new design of an integrated fusion winglet proposed in this paper can generally improve the main blade's power producing ability, which is further enhanced with the increase of turbine's tip speed ratio with a maximum power augmentation of about 3.96%. No matter which direction the winglet tip faces, the installation angle of the winglet should match well with the real angle of incoming flow. As a whole, the turbine with winglet of two tips facing to both sides of the main blade can produce much more power than the one of winglet configuration whose tip faces only one side for different blade hub pitch angles and vast majority of tip speed ratios. The working principle behind the winglet in improving turbine performance may be that it can block the downwash fluid easily flowing around the tip section of the main blade from the pressure side to suction side, and hence diffuse and spread out the tip vortex. As a result, it finally decreases the energy loss. Besides, the relative projected rotor area in incoming flow direction will also be reduced due to the addition of the winglet, which is also helpful to turbine's power coefficient. - Highlights: • Added winglet generally increase the turbine energy extraction performance. • Winglet facing blade both sides is usually superior to that of facing one side. • Winglet can isolate downwash fluid easily flowing

  9. III-nitrides on oxygen- and zinc-face ZnO substrates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Namkoong, Gon; Burnham, Shawn; Lee, Kyoung-Keun; Trybus, Elaissa; Doolittle, W. Alan; Losurdo, Maria; Capezzuto, Pio; Bruno, Giovanni; Nemeth, Bill; Nause, Jeff

    2005-01-01

    The characteristics of III-nitrides grown on zinc- and oxygen-face ZnO by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy were investigated. The reflection high-energy electron diffraction pattern indicates formation of a cubic phase at the interface between III-nitride and both Zn- and O-face ZnO. The polarity indicates that Zn-face ZnO leads to a single polarity, while O-face ZnO forms mixed polarity of III-nitrides. Furthermore, by using a vicinal ZnO substrate, the terrace-step growth of GaN was realized with a reduction by two orders of magnitude in the dislocation-related etch pit density to ∼10 8 cm -2 , while a dislocation density of ∼10 10 cm -2 was obtained on the on-axis ZnO substrates

  10. A method for evaluating horizontal well pumping tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langseth, David E; Smyth, Andrew H; May, James

    2004-01-01

    Predicting the future performance of horizontal wells under varying pumping conditions requires estimates of basic aquifer parameters, notably transmissivity and storativity. For vertical wells, there are well-established methods for estimating these parameters, typically based on either the recovery from induced head changes in a well or from the head response in observation wells to pumping in a test well. Comparable aquifer parameter estimation methods for horizontal wells have not been presented in the ground water literature. Formation parameter estimation methods based on measurements of pressure in horizontal wells have been presented in the petroleum industry literature, but these methods have limited applicability for ground water evaluation and are based on pressure measurements in only the horizontal well borehole, rather than in observation wells. This paper presents a simple and versatile method by which pumping test procedures developed for vertical wells can be applied to horizontal well pumping tests. The method presented here uses the principle of superposition to represent the horizontal well as a series of partially penetrating vertical wells. This concept is used to estimate a distance from an observation well at which a vertical well that has the same total pumping rate as the horizontal well will produce the same drawdown as the horizontal well. This equivalent distance may then be associated with an observation well for use in pumping test algorithms and type curves developed for vertical wells. The method is shown to produce good results for confined aquifers and unconfined aquifers in the absence of delayed yield response. For unconfined aquifers, the presence of delayed yield response increases the method error.

  11. Benefits of a horizontal well in sandstone waterflood

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, K.L.

    1992-01-01

    This is a case study which describes the planning and results of a horizontal well in a shallow Wilcox sandstone waterflood unit in central Louisiana. The Tremont H-13-1 was OXY USA Inc.'s first horizontal well. Analysis will include examination of the selection criteria, planning, execution, completion, and production. A variety of well and field data is presented and reviewed to access the value of this information as it applies towards other applications. The Cruse Waterflood Unit is a 2100 ft. Wilcox formation in central Louisiana. Production improvements have been 500% or greater for the horizontal well versus adjacent vertical wells. The horizontal well paid out in less than 4 months Results from this well indicate that not only was this project an economic success, but that other fields will similar conditions can be produced in a more profitable manner with horizontal wells

  12. The Process of Horizontal Differentiation: Two Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daft, Richard L.; Bradshaw, Patricia J.

    1980-01-01

    Explores the process of horizontal differentiation by examining events leading to the establishment of 30 new departments in five universities. Two types of horizontal differentiation processes--administrative and academic--were observed and each was associated with different organizational conditions. (Author/IRT)

  13. Physical modeling of vortical cross-step flow in the American paddlefish, Polyodon spathula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Hannah; Haines, Grant E.; Lin, M. Carly

    2018-01-01

    Vortical cross-step filtration in suspension-feeding fish has been reported recently as a novel mechanism, distinct from other biological and industrial filtration processes. Although crossflow passing over backward-facing steps generates vortices that can suspend, concentrate, and transport particles, the morphological factors affecting this vortical flow have not been identified previously. In our 3D-printed models of the oral cavity for ram suspension-feeding fish, the angle of the backward-facing step with respect to the model’s dorsal midline affected vortex parameters significantly, including rotational, tangential, and axial speed. These vortices were comparable to those quantified downstream of the backward-facing steps that were formed by the branchial arches of preserved American paddlefish in a recirculating flow tank. Our data indicate that vortices in cross-step filtration have the characteristics of forced vortices, as the flow of water inside the oral cavity provides the external torque required to sustain forced vortices. Additionally, we quantified a new variable for ram suspension feeding termed the fluid exit ratio. This is defined as the ratio of the total open pore area for water leaving the oral cavity via spaces between branchial arches that are not blocked by gill rakers, divided by the total area for water entering through the gape during ram suspension feeding. Our experiments demonstrated that the fluid exit ratio in preserved paddlefish was a significant predictor of the flow speeds that were quantified anterior of the rostrum, at the gape, directly dorsal of the first ceratobranchial, and in the forced vortex generated by the first ceratobranchial. Physical modeling of vortical cross-step filtration offers future opportunities to explore the complex interactions between structural features of the oral cavity, vortex parameters, motile particle behavior, and particle morphology that determine the suspension, concentration, and

  14. Neural synchronization during face-to-face communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Jing; Dai, Bohan; Peng, Danling; Zhu, Chaozhe; Liu, Li; Lu, Chunming

    2012-11-07

    Although the human brain may have evolutionarily adapted to face-to-face communication, other modes of communication, e.g., telephone and e-mail, increasingly dominate our modern daily life. This study examined the neural difference between face-to-face communication and other types of communication by simultaneously measuring two brains using a hyperscanning approach. The results showed a significant increase in the neural synchronization in the left inferior frontal cortex during a face-to-face dialog between partners but none during a back-to-back dialog, a face-to-face monologue, or a back-to-back monologue. Moreover, the neural synchronization between partners during the face-to-face dialog resulted primarily from the direct interactions between the partners, including multimodal sensory information integration and turn-taking behavior. The communicating behavior during the face-to-face dialog could be predicted accurately based on the neural synchronization level. These results suggest that face-to-face communication, particularly dialog, has special neural features that other types of communication do not have and that the neural synchronization between partners may underlie successful face-to-face communication.

  15. Bubble growth in a narrow horizontal space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stutz, Benoit; Goulet, Remi; Passos, Julio Cesar

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to develop an axis-symmetric two-phase flow model describing the growth of a single bubble squeezed between a horizontal heated upward-facing disc and an insulating surface placed parallel to the heated surface. Heat transfers at the liquid-vapour interfaces are predicted by the kinetic limit of vaporisation. The depths of the liquid films deposed on the surfaces (heated surface and confinement space) are determined using the Moriyama and Inoue correlation (1996). Transient heat transfers within the heated wall are taken into account. The model is applied to pentane bubble growth. The influence of the gap size, the initial temperature of the system, the thermal effusivity of the heated wall and the kinetic limit of vaporisation are studied. The results show that the expansion of the bubbles strongly depends on the gap size and can be affected by the effusivity of the material. Mechanical inertia effects are mainly dominant at the beginning of the bubble expansion. Pressure drop induced by viscous effects have to be taken into account for high capillary numbers. Heat transfers at the meniscus are negligible except at the early stages of the bubble growth. (author)

  16. Bubble growth in a narrow horizontal space

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stutz, Benoit; Goulet, Remi [CETHIL, UMR5008, CNRS, INSA-Lyon, Universite Lyon1 (France); Passos, Julio Cesar [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica. LABSOLAR

    2009-07-01

    The purpose of this work is to develop an axis-symmetric two-phase flow model describing the growth of a single bubble squeezed between a horizontal heated upward-facing disc and an insulating surface placed parallel to the heated surface. Heat transfers at the liquid-vapour interfaces are predicted by the kinetic limit of vaporisation. The depths of the liquid films deposed on the surfaces (heated surface and confinement space) are determined using the Moriyama and Inoue correlation (1996). Transient heat transfers within the heated wall are taken into account. The model is applied to pentane bubble growth. The influence of the gap size, the initial temperature of the system, the thermal effusivity of the heated wall and the kinetic limit of vaporisation are studied. The results show that the expansion of the bubbles strongly depends on the gap size and can be affected by the effusivity of the material. Mechanical inertia effects are mainly dominant at the beginning of the bubble expansion. Pressure drop induced by viscous effects have to be taken into account for high capillary numbers. Heat transfers at the meniscus are negligible except at the early stages of the bubble growth. (author)

  17. The urban violence against children and adolescents in Belo Horizonte: a story told through the maxillofacial traumas

    OpenAIRE

    Silva, Carlos José de Paula; Ferreira, Efigênia Ferreira e; Paula, Liliam Pacheco Pinto de; Naves, Marcelo Drummond; Vargas, Andreia Maria Duarte; Zarzar, Patricia Maria Pereira Araujo

    2011-01-01

    Os traumas maxilofaciais decorrentes da violência contra crianças e adolescentes impactam suas vidas, física e psiquicamente, pelas deformidades que podem provocar e pela exposição da lesão na face das vítimas. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar a prevalência dos traumas maxilofaciais em crianças e adolescentes decorrentes da violência urbana em Belo Horizonte- Brasil. O estudo foi conduzido no Hospital Municipal Odilon Behrens, único hospital municipal de referência nesse tipo de atendi...

  18. Light particles emitted with very forward quasi-projectiles and the mechanism in the fragmentation of 44 MeV/a.m.u. 40Ar

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roussel, P.; Bacri, Ch.O.; Borrel, V.; Stephan, C.; Tassan-Got, L.; Beaumel, D.; Bernas, M.; Clapier, F.; Mirea, M.

    1998-01-01

    The mechanism of projectile fragmentation in the Fermi-energy region has been investigated for fragments emitted in the incident beam direction by detecting fast protons and neutrons evaporated by the projectile-like fragments. The proton coincidence rate is shown to increase with fragment velocity loss. This increase is also correlated to the decrease of the fragment yield, with the coincident rate doubling when the yield decreases by a factor of 10. The coincidence rate is found to be also proportional to the fragment mass loss for fragments with the beam velocity. A two-step mechanism is sketched out to interpret these results. For fragments with the beam velocity, the projectile nucleon removal is equally shared between a first fast step and the second evaporative step, while for fragments at the tenth of the maximum yield, the nucleons are removed by evaporation. Finally, the experimental observation that the most probable velocity for forward fragments is very close to that of the beam may be the result of a strong forward/backward momentum asymmetry in a Goldhaber-type analysis. (author)

  19. The Importance of Splat Events to the Spatiotemporal Structure of Near-Bed Fluid Velocity and Bed Load Motion Over Bed Forms: Laboratory Experiments Downstream of a Backward Facing Step

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leary, K. C. P.; Schmeeckle, M. W.

    2017-12-01

    Flow separation/reattachment on the lee side of alluvial bed forms is known to produce a complex turbulence field, but the spatiotemporal details of the associated patterns of bed load sediment transported remain largely unknown. Here we report turbulence-resolving, simultaneous measurements of bed load motion and near-bed fluid velocity downstream of a backward facing step in a laboratory flume. Two synchronized high-speed video cameras simultaneously observed bed load motion and the motion of neutrally buoyant particles in a laser light sheet 6 mm above the bed at 250 frames/s downstream of a 3.8 cm backward facing step. Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) and Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV) were used to characterize fluid turbulent patterns, while manual particle tracking techniques were used to characterize bed load transport. Octant analysis, conducted using ADV data, coupled with Markovian sequence probability analysis highlights differences in the flow near reattachment versus farther downstream. Near reattachment, three distinct flow patterns are apparent. Farther downstream we see the development of a dominant flow sequence. Localized, intermittent, high-magnitude transport events are more apparent near flow reattachment. These events are composed of streamwise and cross-stream fluxes of comparable magnitudes. Transport pattern and fluid velocity data are consistent with the existence of permeable "splat events," wherein a volume of fluid moves toward and impinges on the bed (sweep) causing a radial movement of fluid in all directions around the point of impingement (outward interaction). This is congruent with flow patterns, identified with octant analysis, proximal to flow reattachment.

  20. Multi-step processes in the (d, t) and (d, 3He) reactions on 116Sn and 208Pb targets at Ed = 200 MeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Langevin-Joliot, H.; Van de Wiele, J.; Guillot, J.; Koning, A.J.

    2000-01-01

    The role of multi-step processes in the reactions 116 Sn(d,t), 208 Pb(d,t) and 116 Sn(d, 3 He), previously studied at E d = 200 MeV at forward angles and for relatively low energy transfers, has been investigated. We have performed for the first time multi-step calculations taking into account systematically collective excitations in the second and higher order step inelastic transitions. A calculation code based on the Feshbach, Kerman and Koonin model has been modified to handle explicitly these collective excitations, most important in the forward angle domain. One step double differential pick-up cross sections were built from finite range distorted wave results spread in energy using known or estimated hole state characteristics. It is shown that two-step cross sections calculated using the above method compare rather well with those deduced via coupled channel calculations for the same collective excitations. The multi-step calculations performed up to 6 steps reproduce reasonably well the 115 Sn, 207 Pb and 115 In experimental spectra measured up to E x ∼- 40 MeV and 15 deg. The relative contributions of steps of increasing order to pick-up cross sections at E d = 200 MeV and 150 MeV are discussed. (authors)

  1. Robot-Applied Resistance Augments the Effects of Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training on Stepping and Synaptic Plasticity in a Rodent Model of Spinal Cord Injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinahon, Erika; Estrada, Christina; Tong, Lin; Won, Deborah S; de Leon, Ray D

    2017-08-01

    The application of resistive forces has been used during body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) to improve walking function after spinal cord injury (SCI). Whether this form of training actually augments the effects of BWSTT is not yet known. To determine if robotic-applied resistance augments the effects of BWSTT using a controlled experimental design in a rodent model of SCI. Spinally contused rats were treadmill trained using robotic resistance against horizontal (n = 9) or vertical (n = 8) hind limb movements. Hind limb stepping was tested before and after 6 weeks of training. Two control groups, one receiving standard training (ie, without resistance; n = 9) and one untrained (n = 8), were also tested. At the terminal experiment, the spinal cords were prepared for immunohistochemical analysis of synaptophysin. Six weeks of training with horizontal resistance increased step length, whereas training with vertical resistance enhanced step height and movement velocity. None of these changes occurred in the group that received standard (ie, no resistance) training or in the untrained group. Only standard training increased the number of step cycles and shortened cycle period toward normal values. Synaptophysin expression in the ventral horn was highest in rats trained with horizontal resistance and in untrained rats and was positively correlated with step length. Adding robotic-applied resistance to BWSTT produced gains in locomotor function over BWSTT alone. The impact of resistive forces on spinal connections may depend on the nature of the resistive forces and the synaptic milieu that is present after SCI.

  2. Forward Osmosis in Wastewater Treatment Processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korenak, Jasmina; Basu, Subhankar; Balakrishnan, Malini; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus; Petrinic, Irena

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, membrane technology has been widely used in wastewater treatment and water purification. Membrane technology is simple to operate and produces very high quality water for human consumption and industrial purposes. One of the promising technologies for water and wastewater treatment is the application of forward osmosis. Essentially, forward osmosis is a process in which water is driven through a semipermeable membrane from a feed solution to a draw solution due to the osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane. The immediate advantage over existing pressure driven membrane technologies is that the forward osmosis process per se eliminates the need for operation with high hydraulic pressure and forward osmosis has low fouling tendency. Hence, it provides an opportunity for saving energy and membrane replacement cost. However, there are many limitations that still need to be addressed. Here we briefly review some of the applications within water purification and new developments in forward osmosis membrane fabrication.

  3. Forward physics with CMS

    CERN Document Server

    Grothe, Monika

    2008-01-01

    Forward physics with CMS at the LHC covers a wide range of physics subjects, including very low-x_Bj QCD, underlying event and multiple interactions characteristics, gamma-mediated processes, shower development at the energy scale of primary cosmic ray interactions with the atmosphere, diffraction in the presence of a hard scale and even MSSM Higgs discovery in central exclusive production. Selected feasibility studies to illustrate the forward physics potential of CMS are presented.

  4. Variability of the inclination of anatomic horizontal reference planes of the craniofacial complex in relation to the true horizontal line in orthognathic patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zebeib, Ameen M; Naini, Farhad B

    2014-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of the Frankfort horizontal (FH), sella-nasion horizontal, and optic planes in terms of their variabilities in relation to a true horizontal line in orthognathic surgery patients. Thirty-six consecutive presurgical orthognathic patients (13 male, 23 female; age range, 16-35 years; 30 white, 6 African Caribbean) had lateral cephalometric radiographs taken in natural head position, with a plumb line orientating the true vertical line, and the true horizontal line perpendicular to the true vertical. The inclinations of the anatomic reference planes were compared with the true horizontal. The FH plane was found to be on average closest to the true horizontal, with a mean of -1.6° (SD, 3.4°), whereas the sella-nasion horizontal and the optic plane had means of 2.1° (SD, 5.1°) and 3.2° (SD, 4.7°), respectively. The FH showed the least variability of the 3 anatomic planes. The ranges of variability were high for all anatomic planes: -8° to 8° for the FH, -8° to 15° for the sella-nasion horizontal, and -6° to 13° for the optic plane. No significant differences were found in relation to patients' sex, skeletal patterns, or ethnic backgrounds. The clinically significant variability in the inclinations of anatomic reference planes in relation to the true horizontal plane makes their use unreliable in orthognathic patients. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Deliberative Rhetoric as a Step in Organizational Crisis Management: Exxon as a Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Darrin; Sellnow, Timothy

    1995-01-01

    Explains that when organizations face crises, their rhetorical response often follows two steps: assessment of causes leading to the crisis, and a search for potential solutions and preventive measures for the future. States that epideictic rhetoric designed to sustain or regain the organization's reputation is effective in both steps. Examines…

  6. Horizontal well impact on heavy oil supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bowers, B.; Bielecki, J.; Hu, J.; Wall, B.; Drummond, K.

    1993-01-01

    Horizontal wells can take advantage of gravity drainage mechanisms, which can be important in conventional heavy oil and bitumen recovery. Horizontal drilling will impact on the development of established conventional heavy oil pools by infill drilling and application of enhanced recovery techniques. There will also be an impact on the development of extensions to established and newly discovered heavy oil pools, as well as a major impact on development of bitumen resources. To assess the impact of horizontal drilling on heavy oil supply, high-impact and low-impact scenarios were evaluated under specified oil-price assumptions for four heavy oil areas in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Horizontal well potential for infill drilling, waterflood projects, and thermal projects was assessed and estimates were made of such developments as reserves additions and heavy oil development wells under the two scenarios. In the low case, projected supply of conventional heavy oil and bitumen stabilizes at a level in the 90,000-94,000 m 3 /d after 1994. In the high case, overall supply continuously grows from 80,000 m 3 /d in 1992 to 140,000 m 3 /d in 2002. Through application of horizontal drilling, reserves additions in western Canada could be improved by ca 100 million m 3 by 2002. 14 figs., 6 tabs

  7. The ALICE forward multiplicity detector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holm Christensen, Christian; Gulbrandsen, Kristjan; Sogaard, Carsten

    2007-01-01

    The ALICE Forward Multiplicity Detector (FMD) is a silicon strip detector with 51,200 strips arranged in 5 rings, covering the range $-3.4......The ALICE Forward Multiplicity Detector (FMD) is a silicon strip detector with 51,200 strips arranged in 5 rings, covering the range $-3.4...

  8. New horizontal global solar radiation estimation models for Turkey based on robust coplot supported genetic programming technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Demirhan, Haydar; Kayhan Atilgan, Yasemin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Precise horizontal global solar radiation estimation models are proposed for Turkey. • Genetic programming technique is used to construct the models. • Robust coplot analysis is applied to reduce the impact of outlier observations. • Better estimation and prediction properties are observed for the models. - Abstract: Renewable energy sources have been attracting more and more attention of researchers due to the diminishing and harmful nature of fossil energy sources. Because of the importance of solar energy as a renewable energy source, an accurate determination of significant covariates and their relationships with the amount of global solar radiation reaching the Earth is a critical research problem. There are numerous meteorological and terrestrial covariates that can be used in the analysis of horizontal global solar radiation. Some of these covariates are highly correlated with each other. It is possible to find a large variety of linear or non-linear models to explain the amount of horizontal global solar radiation. However, models that explain the amount of global solar radiation with the smallest set of covariates should be obtained. In this study, use of the robust coplot technique to reduce the number of covariates before going forward with advanced modelling techniques is considered. After reducing the dimensionality of model space, yearly and monthly mean daily horizontal global solar radiation estimation models for Turkey are built by using the genetic programming technique. It is observed that application of robust coplot analysis is helpful for building precise models that explain the amount of global solar radiation with the minimum number of covariates without suffering from outlier observations and the multicollinearity problem. Consequently, over a dataset of Turkey, precise yearly and monthly mean daily global solar radiation estimation models are introduced using the model spaces obtained by robust coplot technique and

  9. Horizontal bridges in polar dielectric liquids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woisetschläger, Jakob; Wexler, Adam D.; Holler, Gert; Eisenhut, Mathias; Gatterer, Karl; Fuchs, Elmar C.

    2012-01-01

    When a high-voltage direct-current is applied to two beakers filled with polar liquid dielectrica like water or methanol, a horizontal bridge forms between the two beakers. By repeating a version of Pellat's experiment, it is shown that a horizontal bridge is stable by the action of electrohydrodynamic pressure. Thus, the static and dynamic properties of the phenomenon called a `floating water bridge' can be explained by the gradient of Maxwell pressure, replenishing the liquid within the bridge against any drainage mechanism. It is also shown that a number of liquids can form stable and long horizontal bridges. The stability of such a connection, and the asymmetry in mass flow through such bridges caused by the formation of ion clouds in the vicinity of the electrodes, is also discussed by two further experiments.

  10. Decoding of faces and face components in face-sensitive human visual cortex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David F Nichols

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available A great challenge to the field of visual neuroscience is to understand how faces are encoded and represented within the human brain. Here we show evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI for spatially distributed processing of the whole face and its components in face-sensitive human visual cortex. We used multi-class linear pattern classifiers constructed with a leave-one-scan-out verification procedure to discriminate brain activation patterns elicited by whole faces, the internal features alone, and the external head outline alone. Furthermore, our results suggest that whole faces are represented disproportionately in the fusiform cortex (FFA whereas the building blocks of faces are represented disproportionately in occipitotemporal cortex (OFA. Faces and face components may therefore be organized with functional clustering within both the FFA and OFA, but with specialization for face components in the OFA and the whole face in the FFA.

  11. Perturbed Strong Stability Preserving Time-Stepping Methods For Hyperbolic PDEs

    KAUST Repository

    Hadjimichael, Yiannis

    2017-09-30

    A plethora of physical phenomena are modelled by hyperbolic partial differential equations, for which the exact solution is usually not known. Numerical methods are employed to approximate the solution to hyperbolic problems; however, in many cases it is difficult to satisfy certain physical properties while maintaining high order of accuracy. In this thesis, we develop high-order time-stepping methods that are capable of maintaining stability constraints of the solution, when coupled with suitable spatial discretizations. Such methods are called strong stability preserving (SSP) time integrators, and we mainly focus on perturbed methods that use both upwind- and downwind-biased spatial discretizations. Firstly, we introduce a new family of third-order implicit Runge–Kuttas methods with arbitrarily large SSP coefficient. We investigate the stability and accuracy of these methods and we show that they perform well on hyperbolic problems with large CFL numbers. Moreover, we extend the analysis of SSP linear multistep methods to semi-discretized problems for which different terms on the right-hand side of the initial value problem satisfy different forward Euler (or circle) conditions. Optimal perturbed and additive monotonicity-preserving linear multistep methods are studied in the context of such problems. Optimal perturbed methods attain augmented monotonicity-preserving step sizes when the different forward Euler conditions are taken into account. On the other hand, we show that optimal SSP additive methods achieve a monotonicity-preserving step-size restriction no better than that of the corresponding non-additive SSP linear multistep methods. Furthermore, we develop the first SSP linear multistep methods of order two and three with variable step size, and study their optimality. We describe an optimal step-size strategy and demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods on various one- and multi-dimensional problems. Finally, we establish necessary conditions

  12. Experimental study of the kinetics of dry, forward combustion. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas, G.W.; Buthod, A.P.; Allag, O.

    1979-02-01

    Results are presented of an experimental investigation of dry, forward combustion with two main objectives, viz, (1) to develop a method for determining the kinetic perameters of fuel laydown and burnoff from combustion tube data, and (2) to evaluate them for a particular crude-sand mixture. In the light of past experimental work, a two-step chain reaction model is postulated in which fuel laydown and burnoff are considered as competitive kinetic reactions. Laboratory equipment consisting of a combustion tube assembly and sampling probe, a flow control system, an electronic control assembly, and a fluid analysis system are described in detail. The sampling probe provides a novel method for taking fluid samples at selected interior points within the combustion cell. Six experimental runs were performed using a 27/sup 0/ API Prudhoe Bay crude. Analyses of the data indicte that, in addition to the coke residue, some light ends of the crude enter into the total fuel consumed by the burning zone. The use of the moveable sampling probe permitted the reconstruction of CO + CO/sub 2/ production rate curves as functions of time and distance. A technique is presented for solving the integral equation and estimating the activation energies, pre-exponential factors, and some associated constants for fuel deposition and combustion. It was found that operating pressure has essentially no effect on the exponential energy, but it does affect the preexponential (or frequency) factor. It is concluded that the essential phenomena of forward combustion can be adequately depicted by the two-step chain reaction concept, and that kinetic data,or their bounds, can be determined from combustion tube data.

  13. Embedded Face Detection and Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Göksel Günlü

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The need to increase security in open or public spaces has in turn given rise to the requirement to monitor these spaces and analyse those images on-site and on-time. At this point, the use of smart cameras – of which the popularity has been increasing – is one step ahead. With sensors and Digital Signal Processors (DSPs, smart cameras generate ad hoc results by analysing the numeric images transmitted from the sensor by means of a variety of image-processing algorithms. Since the images are not transmitted to a distance processing unit but rather are processed inside the camera, it does not necessitate high-bandwidth networks or high processor powered systems; it can instantaneously decide on the required access. Nonetheless, on account of restricted memory, processing power and overall power, image processing algorithms need to be developed and optimized for embedded processors. Among these algorithms, one of the most important is for face detection and recognition. A number of face detection and recognition methods have been proposed recently and many of these methods have been tested on general-purpose processors. In smart cameras – which are real-life applications of such methods – the widest use is on DSPs. In the present study, the Viola-Jones face detection method – which was reported to run faster on PCs – was optimized for DSPs; the face recognition method was combined with the developed sub-region and mask-based DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform. As the employed DSP is a fixed-point processor, the processes were performed with integers insofar as it was possible. To enable face recognition, the image was divided into sub-regions and from each sub-region the robust coefficients against disruptive elements – like face expression, illumination, etc. – were selected as the features. The discrimination of the selected features was enhanced via LDA (Linear Discriminant Analysis and then employed for recognition. Thanks to its

  14. A status report on artificial lift systems and challenges in North Dakota horizontal completions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fangmeier, K. [Amerada Hess Corp., ND (United States)

    2005-07-01

    Partially pressure depleted reservoirs and unfavorable horizontal flow geometries can impact artificial lift designs and diagnostics. In addition, terrain slugging, drilling fines, high gas volume fractions, H{sub 2}S gas and high bottom hole temperatures also pose challenges. This paper provides an overview of various systems utilized by Amerada Hess, a company which examines methods of reducing gas lift gas volumes to achieve maximum flow. A description of naturally fractured reservoirs and limited natural fractures was provided. A comparison was presented between the original conditions at Beaver Lodge Madison and existing conditions with horizontal development. Various artificial lift challenges were examined. It was suggested that high volume lift utilizing gas lift was the preferred artificial lift system for high volume wells. It was noted that downhole sensors can be used as an indicator of potential run life. However, reliability is limited by downhole operating temperatures and electrical ground faults. A comparison of friendly and unfriendly flow systems was presented, as well as a gas lift pressure chart. A summary of average gas volume systems was provided as well as an example of a response to increase drawdown. Examples of downhole Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) sensors were provided, as well as possible flowing pressure profiles in horizontal completion because of the constraints of lift capacity. It was concluded that a single point injection and proven gas lift system is the next step in high volume lift strategy. 2 tabs, 16 figs.

  15. After total knee replacement younger patients demonstrate superior balance control compared to older patients when recovering from a forward fall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Street, Brian D; Gage, William

    2017-05-01

    National joint replacement registries have reported a substantial growth in younger knee osteoarthritic patients (controlled perturbation have shown age-related differences between younger and older healthy adults, whether similar age-related differences exist among total knee replacement patients is unknown. A total of 59 participants, including 29 unilateral total knee replacement patients (six-months post-surgery) made up the four experimental groups: 1) younger patient (54.3 (SD 7.9) years), 2) younger control (55.2 (SD 4.0) years), 3) older patient (76.9 (SD 4.7) years), and 4) older control (77.7 (SD 4.1) years). Using a tether-release method to perturb balance and simulate a forward fall, center of mass and stepping characteristics were analyzed. Younger patients recovered following the perturbation with a significantly smaller center of mass displacement compared to the older patients (14.85 (SD 0.01) v. 18.13 (SD 0.02) %ht, p=0.02); utilizing a longer (0.43 (SD 0.02) v. 0.39 (SD 0.03) m, pcontrols in center of mass displacement or recovery step characteristics (p>0.05). The younger patients demonstrated superior center of mass control in response to a forward perturbation, suggesting that younger patients would be at a reduced risk of falling when recovering from a forward-directed postural perturbation compared to older patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Famous face recognition, face matching, and extraversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lander, Karen; Poyarekar, Siddhi

    2015-01-01

    It has been previously established that extraverts who are skilled at interpersonal interaction perform significantly better than introverts on a face-specific recognition memory task. In our experiment we further investigate the relationship between extraversion and face recognition, focusing on famous face recognition and face matching. Results indicate that more extraverted individuals perform significantly better on an upright famous face recognition task and show significantly larger face inversion effects. However, our results did not find an effect of extraversion on face matching or inverted famous face recognition.

  17. RHIC forward experiment to study √s dependence of forward particle production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sako T.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider forward experiment is ready to take data in the RHIC Run2017 √s = 510 GeV p-p collisions using the LHCf Arm1 detector. New accelerator data are valuable to verify the Feynman scaling of FX1 production and to study the evolution of the break of scaling in neutron production. Using the transversely polarized proton beam, asymmetric production of forward neutrons is precisely measured. That is useful to understand the fundamental meson exchange in the proton-proton collisions.

  18. Very forward measurements at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Berretti, Mirko

    2017-01-01

    In this talk we present a selection of forward physics results recently obtained with the run-1 and run-2 LHC data by the CMS, LHCf and TOTEM experiments. The status of the very forward LHC proton spectrometer, CT-PPS, is discussed: emphasis is given to the physics potential of CT-PPS and to the analyses that are currently ongoing with the data collected in 2016. Very recent forward measurements obtained with the LHCf and the CMS-CASTOR calorimeter are then addressed. In particular, CMS measured the inclusive energy spectrum in the very forward direction for proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and the jet cross sections for p+Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV. The LHCf experiment has instead recently published the inclusive energy spectra of forward photons for pp collisions at 13 TeV. Finally, the new measurements of the total, elastic and inelastic cross sections obtained by the TOTEM collaboration at 2.76 and 13 TeV center of mass energy are presented.

  19. Vertical-horizontal wells for depletion and sweep

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muraikhi, A. J.; Pham, T. R.; Liu, J. S.; Khatib, M. R.; Muhaish, A. S. [Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)

    1998-12-31

    A well completion scheme currently in use in a thick, large, elongated carbonate anticline Middle-East oil reservoir is described. This method of well completion calls for a combination of an open hole horizontal section penetrating the top 10 feet of the reservoir and a cased or undisturbed vertical segment through the thick formation. The horizontal section is used for producing and the vertical segment is used for monitoring purposes. Field experience and supported reservoir simulation exercises have shown that the horizontal application is superior to conventional vertical completion both from the economic and from the sweep point of view. 4 refs., 12 figs.

  20. Horizontal bridges in polar dielectric liquids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woisetschlaeger, Jakob [Graz University of Technology, Experimental Turbomachinery Research and Optical Measurement Group, Institute for Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics, Graz (Austria); Wexler, Adam D.; Fuchs, Elmar C. [Wetsus, Center of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Leeuwarden (Netherlands); Holler, Gert [Graz University of Technology, Institute of Electrical Measurement and Measurement Signal Processing, Graz (Austria); Eisenhut, Mathias [Graz University of Technology, Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Graz (Austria); Gatterer, Karl [Graz University of Technology, Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Graz (Austria)

    2012-01-15

    When a high-voltage direct-current is applied to two beakers filled with polar liquid dielectrica like water or methanol, a horizontal bridge forms between the two beakers. By repeating a version of Pellat's experiment, it is shown that a horizontal bridge is stable by the action of electrohydrodynamic pressure. Thus, the static and dynamic properties of the phenomenon called a 'floating water bridge' can be explained by the gradient of Maxwell pressure, replenishing the liquid within the bridge against any drainage mechanism. It is also shown that a number of liquids can form stable and long horizontal bridges. The stability of such a connection, and the asymmetry in mass flow through such bridges caused by the formation of ion clouds in the vicinity of the electrodes, is also discussed by two further experiments. (orig.)

  1. Assessing the removal of organic micro-pollutants from anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent by fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Youngjin

    2017-03-23

    In this study, the behavior of organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) transport including membrane fouling was assessed in fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) during treatment of the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) effluent. The flux decline was negligible when the FO membrane was oriented with active layer facing feed solution (AL-FS) while severe flux decline was observed with active layer facing draw solution (AL-DS) with di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer as DS due to struvite scaling inside the membrane support layer. DAP DS however exhibited the lowest OMPs forward flux or higher OMPs rejection rate compared to other two fertilizers (i.e., mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP) and KCl). MAP and KCl fertilizer DS had higher water fluxes that induced higher external concentration polarization (ECP) and enhanced OMPs flux through the FO membrane. Under the AL-DS mode of membrane orientation, OMPs transport was further increased with MAP and KCl as DS due to enhanced concentrative internal concentration polarization while with DAP the internal scaling enhanced mass transfer resistance thereby lowering OMPs flux. Physical or hydraulic cleaning could successfully recover water flux for FO membranes operated under the AL-FS mode but only partial flux recovery was observed for membranes operated under AL-DS mode because of internal scaling and fouling in the support layer. Osmotic backwashing could however significantly improve the cleaning efficiency.

  2. Bubble shape in horizontal and near horizontal intermittent flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu, Hanyang; Guo, Liejin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The bubble shapes in intermittent flows are presented experimentally. • The nose-tail inversion phenomenon appears at a low Froude number in downward pipe. • Transition from plug to slug flow occurs when the bubble tail changes from staircase pattern to hydraulic jump. - Abstract: This paper presents an experimental study of the shape of isolated bubbles in horizontal and near horizontal intermittent flows. It is found that the shapes of the nose and body of bubble depend on the Froude number defined by gas/liquid mixture velocity in a pipe, whereas the shape of the back of bubble region depends on both the Froude number and bubble length. The photographic studies show that the transition from plug to slug flow occurs when the back of the bubble changes from staircase pattern to hydraulic jump with the increase of the Froude number and bubble length. The effect of pipe inclination on characteristics of bubble is significant: The bubble is inversely located in a downwardly inclined pipe when the Froude number is low, and the transition from plug flow to slug flow in an upward inclined pipe is more ready to occur compared with that in a downwardly inclined pipe

  3. White papers on freight efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-05-31

    A number of stakeholders met with the ultimate goal of identifying inefficiencies faced by the freight system and putting forward a set of : strategies to achieve a more efficient freight system. In doing so, a key first step was to provide insight a...

  4. Cell cycle regulation by feed-forward loops coupling transcription and phosphorylation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Csikász-Nagy, Attila; Kapuy, Orsolya; Tóth, Attila

    2009-01-01

    of these EPs. From genome-scale data sets of budding yeast, we identify 126 EPs that are regulated by Cdk1 both through direct phosphorylation of the EP and through phosphorylation of the transcription factors that control expression of the EP, so that each of these EPs is regulated by a feed-forward loop (FFL......) from Cdk1. By mathematical modelling, we show that such FFLs can activate EPs at different phases of the cell cycle depending of the effective signs (+ or -) of the regulatory steps of the FFL. We provide several case studies of EPs that are controlled by FFLs exactly as our models predict. The signal...

  5. Perception of Sexual Orientation from Facial Structure: A Study with Artificial Face Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Álvarez, Julio

    2017-07-01

    Research has shown that lay people can perceive sexual orientation better than chance from face stimuli. However, the relation between facial structure and sexual orientation has been scarcely examined. Recently, an extensive morphometric study on a large sample of Canadian people (Skorska, Geniole, Vrysen, McCormick, & Bogaert, 2015) identified three (in men) and four (in women) facial features as unique multivariate predictors of sexual orientation in each sex group. The present study tested the perceptual validity of these facial traits with two experiments based on realistic artificial 3D face models created by manipulating the key parameters and presented to Spanish participants. Experiment 1 included 200 White and Black face models of both sexes. The results showed an overall accuracy (0.74) clearly above chance in a binary hetero/homosexual judgment task and significant differences depending on the race and sex of the face models. Experiment 2 produced five versions of 24 artificial faces of both sexes varying the key parameters in equal steps, and participants had to rate on a 1-7 scale how likely they thought that the depicted person had a homosexual sexual orientation. Rating scores displayed an almost perfect linear regression as a function of the parameter steps. In summary, both experiments demonstrated the perceptual validity of the seven multivariate predictors identified by Skorska et al. and open up new avenues for further research on this issue with artificial face models.

  6. Constructing forward price curves in electricity markets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fleten, S.-E.; Lemming, Jørgen Kjærgaard

    2003-01-01

    We present and analyze a method for constructing approximated high-resolution forward price curves in electricity markets. Because a limited number of forward or futures contracts are traded in the market, only a limited picture of the theoretical continuous forward price curve is available...... to the analyst. Our method combines the information contained in observed bid and ask prices with information from the forecasts generated by bottom-up models. As an example, we use information concerning the shape of the seasonal variation from a bottom-up model to improve the forward price curve quoted...

  7. Combining or Separating Forward and Reverse Logistics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herbert-Hansen, Zaza Nadja Lee; Larsen, Samuel; Nielsen, Anders

    2018-01-01

    Purpose – While forward logistics handles and manages the flow of goods downstream in the supply chain from suppliers to customers, reverse logistics (RL) manages the flow of returned goods upstream. A firm can combine reverse logistics with forward logistics, keep the flows separated, or choose......-research addresses intra-RL issues while the relationship between forward and reverse logistics is under-researched. This paper contributes to RL-theory by identifying the contextual factors that determine the most advantageous relationship between forward and reverse logistics, and proposes a novel decision making...

  8. Widespread of horizontal gene transfer in the human genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Wenze; Tsai, Lillian; Li, Yulong; Hua, Nan; Sun, Chen; Wei, Chaochun

    2017-04-04

    A fundamental concept in biology is that heritable material is passed from parents to offspring, a process called vertical gene transfer. An alternative mechanism of gene acquisition is through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which involves movement of genetic materials between different species. Horizontal gene transfer has been found prevalent in prokaryotes but very rare in eukaryote. In this paper, we investigate horizontal gene transfer in the human genome. From the pair-wise alignments between human genome and 53 vertebrate genomes, 1,467 human genome regions (2.6 M bases) from all chromosomes were found to be more conserved with non-mammals than with most mammals. These human genome regions involve 642 known genes, which are enriched with ion binding. Compared to known horizontal gene transfer regions in the human genome, there were few overlapping regions, which indicated horizontal gene transfer is more common than we expected in the human genome. Horizontal gene transfer impacts hundreds of human genes and this study provided insight into potential mechanisms of HGT in the human genome.

  9. The forwarding indices of graphs - a survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun-Ming Xu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available A routing \\(R\\ of a connected graph \\(G\\ of order \\(n\\ is a collection of \\(n(n-1\\ simple paths connecting every ordered pair of vertices of \\(G\\. The vertex-forwarding index \\(\\xi(G,R\\ of \\(G\\ with respect to a routing \\(R\\ is defined as the maximum number of paths in \\(R\\ passing through any vertex of \\(G\\. The vertex-forwarding index \\(\\xi(G\\ of \\(G\\ is defined as the minimum \\(\\xi(G,R\\ over all routings \\(R\\ of \\(G\\. Similarly, the edge-forwarding index \\(\\pi(G,R\\ of \\(G\\ with respect to a routing \\(R\\ is the maximum number of paths in \\(R\\ passing through any edge of \\(G\\. The edge-forwarding index \\(\\pi(G\\ of \\(G\\ is the minimum \\(\\pi(G,R\\ over all routings \\(R\\ of \\(G\\. The vertex-forwarding index or the edge-forwarding index corresponds to the maximum load of the graph. Therefore, it is important to find routings minimizing these indices and thus has received much research attention for over twenty years. This paper surveys some known results on these forwarding indices, further research problems and several conjectures, also states some difficulty and relations to other topics in graph theory.

  10. A look back and a look forward

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonald, J. C.

    2012-01-01

    Roman mythology described Janus as the god of beginnings and transitions. Janus was depicted as having two heads facing in opposite directions that could be thought of as the future and the past. Therefore, it is altogether appropriate that the first month of our calendar should be named after Janus because it is a time of passage from the old to the new year. There were a number of significant events and developments during the past year, and one can look forward to a number of new and, perhaps, unexpected developments during the year to come. The year 2011 saw the tragedy of a major earthquake and Tsunami in Japan resulting in a disastrous series of explosions at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Releases of radionuclides to the atmosphere and depositions in the immediate vicinity of the plant have required remediation efforts on the part of the Japanese government, with help from a number of other nations. This accident was classified as Level 7, the highest level, on the International Nuclear Event Scale. (author)

  11. Control Software for Piezo Stepping Actuators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Joel F.

    2013-01-01

    A control system has been developed for the Space Interferometer Mission (SIM) piezo stepping actuator. Piezo stepping actuators are novel because they offer extreme dynamic range (centimeter stroke with nanometer resolution) with power, thermal, mass, and volume advantages over existing motorized actuation technology. These advantages come with the added benefit of greatly reduced complexity in the support electronics. The piezo stepping actuator consists of three fully redundant sets of piezoelectric transducers (PZTs), two sets of brake PZTs, and one set of extension PZTs. These PZTs are used to grasp and move a runner attached to the optic to be moved. By proper cycling of the two brake and extension PZTs, both forward and backward moves of the runner can be achieved. Each brake can be configured for either a power-on or power-off state. For SIM, the brakes and gate of the mechanism are configured in such a manner that, at the end of the step, the actuator is in a parked or power-off state. The control software uses asynchronous sampling of an optical encoder to monitor the position of the runner. These samples are timed to coincide with the end of the previous move, which may consist of a variable number of steps. This sampling technique linearizes the device by avoiding input saturation of the actuator and makes latencies of the plant vanish. The software also estimates, in real time, the scale factor of the device and a disturbance caused by cycling of the brakes. These estimates are used to actively cancel the brake disturbance. The control system also includes feedback and feedforward elements that regulate the position of the runner to a given reference position. Convergence time for smalland medium-sized reference positions (less than 200 microns) to within 10 nanometers can be achieved in under 10 seconds. Convergence times for large moves (greater than 1 millimeter) are limited by the step rate.

  12. Horizontal biases in rats’ use of three-dimensional space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jovalekic, Aleksandar; Hayman, Robin; Becares, Natalia; Reid, Harry; Thomas, George; Wilson, Jonathan; Jeffery, Kate

    2011-01-01

    Rodent spatial cognition studies allow links to be made between neural and behavioural phenomena, and much is now known about the encoding and use of horizontal space. However, the real world is three dimensional, providing cognitive challenges that have yet to be explored. Motivated by neural findings suggesting weaker encoding of vertical than horizontal space, we examined whether rats show a similar behavioural anisotropy when distributing their time freely between vertical and horizontal movements. We found that in two- or three-dimensional environments with a vertical dimension, rats showed a prioritization of horizontal over vertical movements in both foraging and detour tasks. In the foraging tasks, the animals executed more horizontal than vertical movements and adopted a “layer strategy” in which food was collected from one horizontal level before moving to the next. In the detour tasks, rats preferred the routes that allowed them to execute the horizontal leg first. We suggest three possible reasons for this behavioural bias. First, as suggested by Grobety and Schenk [5], it allows minimisation of energy expenditure, inasmuch as costly vertical movements are minimised. Second, it may be a manifestation of the temporal discounting of effort, in which animals value delayed effort as less costly than immediate effort. Finally, it may be that at the neural level rats encode the vertical dimension less precisely, and thus prefer to bias their movements in the more accurately encoded horizontal dimension. We suggest that all three factors are related, and all play a part. PMID:21419172

  13. Radioproteção, dose e risco em exames radiográficos nos seios da face de crianças, em hospitais de Belo Horizonte, MG Radioprotection, doses and risks in the radiological assessment of paranasal sinuses in children, in hospitals of Belo Horizonte, MG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Aurélio de Sousa Lacerda

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Avaliar a freqüência das incidências radiográficas realizadas nos seios da face de pacientes pediátricos em hospitais de Belo Horizonte, MG, as condições de radioproteção, as técnicas radiográficas empregadas, o kerma no ar de entrada e as doses nos órgãos mais expostos. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Foram coletados os dados dos pacientes e parâmetros de técnica radiográfica empregados em exames de crianças de 1 a 16 anos de idade, em cinco salas de quatro hospitais da cidade, observando, também, aspectos de proteção radiológica. O kerma no ar de entrada foi estimado a partir dos rendimentos dos tubos de raios-x e as doses nos órgãos utilizando o software PCXMC. RESULTADOS: Os valores médios do kerma no ar de entrada para as cinco salas foram, respectivamente, 1.398 µGy, 829 µGy, 877 µGy, 1.168 µGy e 3.886 µGy para pacientes entre 1 e 5 anos de idade. CONCLUSÃO: Foi constatado que as incidências mento-naso e fronto-naso são comumente solicitadas em conjunto, na maioria dos hospitais, o que confere dose significativa para os pacientes. Os riscos para os pacientes podem ser diminuídos mediante a utilização de cilindros de colimação, a não-utilização de grades antiespalhamento, o emprego de altos valores de tensão e baixos valores de tempo.OBJECTIVE: The present study was aimed at evaluating the frequency of radiographic assessment of paranasal sinuses in pediatric patients in hospitals of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Additionally, aspects regarding radiation protection conditions and radiographic parameters were evaluated, and entrance air kerma and organ doses were estimated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients' data and parameters of radiographic technique employed in the assessment of children in the age range between 1 and 16 years were collected in five examination rooms of four hospitals in Belo Horizonte, also taking into consideration the radiation protection aspects. Entrance air kerma calculation was

  14. Numerical Investigation of Laminar Diffusion Flames Established on a Horizontal Flat Plate in a Parallel Air Stream

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. D. Gopalakrishnan

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Numerical investigation of laminar diffusion flames established on a flat plate in a parallel air stream is presented. A numerical model with a multi-step chemical kinetics mechanism, variable thermo-physical properties, multi-component species diffusion and a radiation sub-model is employed for this purpose. Both upward and downward injection of fuel has been considered in a normal gravity environment. The thermal and aerodynamic structure of the flame has been explained with the help of temperature and species contours, net reaction rate of fuel and streamlines. Flame characteristics and stability aspects for several air and fuel velocity combinations have been studied. An important characteristic of a laminar boundary layer diffusion flame with upward injection of fuel is the velocity overshoot that occurs near the flame zone. This is not observed when the fuel is injected in the downward direction. The flame standoff distance is slightly higher for the downward injection of fuel due to increase in displacement thickness of boundary layer. Influence of an obstacle, namely the backward facing step, on the flame characteristics and stability aspects is also investigated. Effects of air and fuel velocities, size and location of the step are studied in detail. Based on the air and fuel velocities, different types of flames are predicted. The use of a backward-facing step as a flame holding mechanism for upward injection of fuel, results in increased stability limits due to the formation of a recirculation zone behind the step. The predicted stability limits match with experimentally observed limits. The step location is seen to play a more important role as compared to the step height in influencing the stability aspects of flames.

  15. Horizontal and Vertical Networks for Innovation in the Traditional Food Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xavier Gellynck

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available The locus of innovation is not the individual firm anymore but increasingly the network in which the firm is embedded. Hence, in this paper innovation is investigated in the broader context of networks and applied to the traditional food sector. Networking refers to a process of identifying and acting on complementary interests with or without formal means of cooperation and plays an important role for the diffusion and adoption of innovations, because they increase the flow of information. Two main types of networks exist. Vertical networks relate to cooperation of partners belonging to the same chain. Meanwhile, horizontal networks refer to coopereation among firms which are primarily competitors. Data were collected during focus groups and in-depths interviews in three European contries: Belgium, Hungary, and Italy.In each country, data are collected from retailers/wholesalers, food manufacturers and suppliers in the beer, hard and half hard cheese, ham, sausage, or white paprika chain. In the investigated countries both vertical and horizontal networks exist. However, the intensity of using the network differs. On the one hand vertical networks are well developed based on quality assurance schemes and traceability, though these networks often face difficulties due to high lack of trust. On the other hand, horizontal networks are well developed when a producer consortium is involved. However, these networks can be inhibited through strong competition. The partners in traditional food networks focus mainly on innovation related to product characteristics such as new size, form and packaging without changing the traditional character of the product. The main barriers for innovation in the traditional food networks are the lack of understanding the benefits of networking activities for innovation, the lack of trust, the lack of knowledge of appropriate methods and skills, and the lack of financial and physical resources. Our study points out

  16. Bistatic Forward Scattering Radar Detection and Imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Cheng

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Forward Scattering Radar (FSR is a special type of bistatic radar that can implement image detection, imaging, and identification using the forward scattering signals provided by the moving targets that cross the baseline between the transmitter and receiver. Because the forward scattering effect has a vital significance in increasing the targets’ Radar Cross Section (RCS, FSR is quite advantageous for use in counter stealth detection. This paper first introduces the front line technology used in forward scattering RCS, FSR detection, and Shadow Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (SISAR imaging and key problems such as the statistical characteristics of forward scattering clutter, accurate parameter estimation, and multitarget discrimination are then analyzed. Subsequently, the current research progress in FSR detection and SISAR imaging are described in detail, including the theories and experiments. In addition, with reference to the BeiDou navigation satellite, the results of forward scattering experiments in civil aircraft detection are shown. Finally, this paper considers future developments in FSR target detection and imaging and presents a new, promising technique for stealth target detection.

  17. Towards Horizontal Architecture for Autonomic M2M Service Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juhani Latvakoski

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Today, increasing number of industrial application cases rely on the Machine to Machine (M2M services exposed from physical devices. Such M2M services enable interaction of physical world with the core processes of company information systems. However, there are grand challenges related to complexity and “vertical silos” limiting the M2M market scale and interoperability. It is here expected that horizontal approach for the system architecture is required for solving these challenges. Therefore, a set of architectural principles and key enablers for the horizontal architecture have been specified in this work. A selected set of key enablers called as autonomic M2M manager, M2M service capabilities, M2M messaging system, M2M gateways towards energy constrained M2M asset devices and creation of trust to enable end-to-end security for M2M applications have been developed. The developed key enablers have been evaluated separately in different scenarios dealing with smart metering, car sharing and electric bike experiments. The evaluation results shows that the provided architectural principles, and developed key enablers establish a solid ground for future research and seem to enable communication between objects and applications, which are not initially been designed to communicate together. The aim as the next step in this research is to create a combined experimental system to evaluate the system interoperability and performance in a more detailed manner.

  18. Characteristics of Buoyancy Driven Natural Ventilation through Horizontal Openings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Zhigang

    through horizontal openings. Two cases of full-scale measurements of buoyancy driven natural ventilation through horizontal openings are performed: one horizontal opening and one horizontal opening combined with one vertical opening. For the case of one horizontal opening, the measurements are made....... Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are used to study these two air flow cases. The air flow rate and air flow pattern are predicted and compared with the full-scale measurements. The measurement data are used to compare two CFD models: standard k- ε model and large eddy simulation (LES) model. The cases...... transient, unstable and complex, and the air flow rates oscillate with time. Correlations between the Froude number Fr and the opening ratio L/D are obtained, which is reasonable agreement with Epstein's formula derived from brine-water measurements, but the obtained Fr values show considerable deviations...

  19. Face-to-Face Activities in Blended Learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Annemette

    While blended learning combines online and face-to-face teaching, research on blended learning has primarily focused on the role of technology and the opportunities it creates for engaging students. Less focus has been put on face-to-face activities in blended learning. This paper argues...... that it is not only the online activities in blended learning that provide new opportunities for rethinking pedagogy in higher education, it is also imperative to reconsider the face-to-face activities when part of the learning is provided online. Based on a review of blended learning in business and management...... education, we identify what forms of teaching and learning are suggested to take place face-to-face when other activities are moved online. We draw from the Community of Inquiry framework to analyze how face-to-face activities contribute to a blended learning pedagogy and discuss the implications...

  20. MIDAS robust trend estimator for accurate GPS station velocities without step detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blewitt, Geoffrey; Kreemer, Corné; Hammond, William C.; Gazeaux, Julien

    2016-03-01

    Automatic estimation of velocities from GPS coordinate time series is becoming required to cope with the exponentially increasing flood of available data, but problems detectable to the human eye are often overlooked. This motivates us to find an automatic and accurate estimator of trend that is resistant to common problems such as step discontinuities, outliers, seasonality, skewness, and heteroscedasticity. Developed here, Median Interannual Difference Adjusted for Skewness (MIDAS) is a variant of the Theil-Sen median trend estimator, for which the ordinary version is the median of slopes vij = (xj-xi)/(tj-ti) computed between all data pairs i > j. For normally distributed data, Theil-Sen and least squares trend estimates are statistically identical, but unlike least squares, Theil-Sen is resistant to undetected data problems. To mitigate both seasonality and step discontinuities, MIDAS selects data pairs separated by 1 year. This condition is relaxed for time series with gaps so that all data are used. Slopes from data pairs spanning a step function produce one-sided outliers that can bias the median. To reduce bias, MIDAS removes outliers and recomputes the median. MIDAS also computes a robust and realistic estimate of trend uncertainty. Statistical tests using GPS data in the rigid North American plate interior show ±0.23 mm/yr root-mean-square (RMS) accuracy in horizontal velocity. In blind tests using synthetic data, MIDAS velocities have an RMS accuracy of ±0.33 mm/yr horizontal, ±1.1 mm/yr up, with a 5th percentile range smaller than all 20 automatic estimators tested. Considering its general nature, MIDAS has the potential for broader application in the geosciences.

  1. Inter-RMO Key Comparison EUROMET.L-K5.2004: Calibration of a step gauge

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Prieto, Emilio; Brown, Nicholas; Lassila, Antti

    2012-01-01

    The results of the inter-RMO key comparison EUROMET.L-K5.2004 on the calibration of a step gauge are reported. Eighteen National Metrology Institutes and one Designated Institute from four different metrological regions all over the world participated in this comparison which lasted three years...... value. Due to the significant instability of the step it was also considered an artefact uncertainty. The reported uncertainties ranged from 0.045 µm to 1.2 µm (k = 1). The uncertainty of the artefact ranged from 0.018 µm (for the 20 mm face) to 0.176 µm (for the 400 mm face). The compatibility of all...... participants for measuring step gauges was demonstrated with the only exception of a participant showing very high systematic (both positive and negative) errors. Five participants communicated higher uncertainties than the corresponding approved CMCs. A set of Recommendations and Actions were agreed therefore...

  2. Hanford spent nuclear fuel project recommended path forward, volume III: Alternatives and path forward evaluation supporting documentation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fulton, J.C.

    1994-10-01

    Volume I of the Hanford Spent Nuclear Fuel Project - Recommended Path Forward constitutes an aggressive series of projects to construct and operate systems and facilities to safely retrieve, package, transport, process, and store K Basins fuel and sludge. Volume II provided a comparative evaluation of four Alternatives for the Path Forward and an evaluation for the Recommended Path Forward. Although Volume II contained extensive appendices, six supporting documents have been compiled in Volume III to provide additional background for Volume II

  3. Characteristic Value Method of Well Test Analysis for Horizontal Gas Well

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiao-Ping Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a study of characteristic value method of well test analysis for horizontal gas well. Owing to the complicated seepage flow mechanism in horizontal gas well and the difficulty in the analysis of transient pressure test data, this paper establishes the mathematical models of well test analysis for horizontal gas well with different inner and outer boundary conditions. On the basis of obtaining the solutions of the mathematical models, several type curves are plotted with Stehfest inversion algorithm. For gas reservoir with closed outer boundary in vertical direction and infinite outer boundary in horizontal direction, while considering the effect of wellbore storage and skin effect, the pseudopressure behavior of the horizontal gas well can manifest four characteristic periods: pure wellbore storage period, early vertical radial flow period, early linear flow period, and late horizontal pseudoradial flow period. For gas reservoir with closed outer boundary both in vertical and horizontal directions, the pseudopressure behavior of the horizontal gas well adds the pseudosteady state flow period which appears after the boundary response. For gas reservoir with closed outer boundary in vertical direction and constant pressure outer boundary in horizontal direction, the pseudopressure behavior of the horizontal gas well adds the steady state flow period which appears after the boundary response. According to the characteristic lines which are manifested by pseudopressure derivative curve of each flow period, formulas are developed to obtain horizontal permeability, vertical permeability, skin factor, reservoir pressure, and pore volume of the gas reservoir, and thus the characteristic value method of well test analysis for horizontal gas well is established. Finally, the example study verifies that the new method is reliable. Characteristic value method of well test analysis for horizontal gas well makes the well test analysis

  4. Horizontal and vertical seismic isolation of a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikonomou, A.S.

    1983-01-01

    This paper presents a study for the horizontal and vertical seismic isolation of a nuclear power plant with a base isolation system, developed by the author, called the Alexisismon. This system -- which comprises different schemes for horizontal or vertical or both horizontal and vertical isolation -- is a linear system based on the principle of separation of functions. That is, horizontal and vertical isolation are realized through different components and act independently from each other. As far as horizontal isolation is concerned, the role of transmitting vertical loads is uncoupled from the role of inducing horizontal restoring forces so that both functions can be performed without instability. It is possible either to provide both horizontal and vertical isolation to the whole nuclear plant or to isolate the whole plant horizontally and to provide vertical isolation to sensitive and costly equipment only. When the fundamental period of the plant or equipment is 2 seconds and when the vertical displacements are of the order of + or - 20 inches, the structure or equipment are protected against earthquakes up to 1.10 and 1.30 g for actual and 0.60 and 1.50 g for artificial accelerograms. In both cases all the isolation elements behave elastically up to these acceleration limits as well as the superstructure and equipment

  5. Analysis of the interaction of participants freight forwarding system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavlo Popovych

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Main goal of this work is the analysis of the interaction of participants of freight forwarding activities. Research methods included analysis of scientific literature, theory of systems and systems analysis, methods of induction and deduction. As sources of information used and applied work of fundamental importance known foreign and local scientists and regulatory and legislative documents of Ukraine for the state transport policy. In the article the basic interactions of participants of freight forwarding activities. Classified components freight forwarding services. Assign the concept freight forwarding system and its aim. Established element and forms of cooperation in the freight forwarding system. The main task of forwarding companies are organizing, coordinating and ensuring the delivery from shipper to consignee. Freight forwarding company responsible for the timely delivery of the goods on the condition of preservation of the quantity and quality specified time conditions. Currently used methods are uneffective decision-making, leading to losses. These circumstances require improvement methodology management of freight forwarding companies. This is possible only using modern mathematical methods and information technologies that will improve the operation of freight forwarding companies. The article presents a theoretical exposition of the basic processes of interaction between participants in freight forwarding system. The article may be of interest to specialists of freight forwarding companies.

  6. Topological properties of the limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph family

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Minggang; Vilela, André L. M.; Du, Ruijin; Zhao, Longfeng; Dong, Gaogao; Tian, Lixin; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2018-05-01

    The limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph algorithm was recently introduced to map time series in complex networks. In this work, we extend this algorithm to create a directed-limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph and an image-limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph. We define two algorithms and provide theoretical results on the topological properties of these graphs associated with different types of real-value series. We perform several numerical simulations to check the accuracy of our theoretical results. Finally, we present an application of the directed-limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph to measure real-value time series irreversibility and an application of the image-limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph that discriminates noise from chaos. We also propose a method to measure the systematic risk using the image-limited penetrable horizontal visibility graph, and the empirical results show the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms.

  7. Face recognition system and method using face pattern words and face pattern bytes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yufeng

    2014-12-23

    The present invention provides a novel system and method for identifying individuals and for face recognition utilizing facial features for face identification. The system and method of the invention comprise creating facial features or face patterns called face pattern words and face pattern bytes for face identification. The invention also provides for pattern recognitions for identification other than face recognition. The invention further provides a means for identifying individuals based on visible and/or thermal images of those individuals by utilizing computer software implemented by instructions on a computer or computer system and a computer readable medium containing instructions on a computer system for face recognition and identification.

  8. Constructing forward price curves in electricity markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fleten, Stein-Erik; Lemming, Jacob

    2003-01-01

    We present and analyze a method for constructing approximated high-resolution forward price curves in electricity markets. Because a limited number of forward or futures contracts are traded in the market, only a limited picture of the theoretical continuous forward price curve is available to the analyst. Our method combines the information contained in observed bid and ask prices with information from the forecasts generated by bottom-up models. As an example, we use information concerning the shape of the seasonal variation from a bottom-up model to improve the forward price curve quoted on the Nordic power exchange

  9. Engagement techniques and playing level impact the biomechanical demands on rugby forwards during machine-based scrummaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preatoni, Ezio; Stokes, Keith A; England, Michael E; Trewartha, Grant

    2015-04-01

    This cross-sectional study investigated the factors that may influence the physical loading on rugby forwards performing a scrum by studying the biomechanics of machine-based scrummaging under different engagement techniques and playing levels. 34 forward packs from six playing levels performed repetitions of five different types of engagement techniques against an instrumented scrum machine under realistic training conditions. Applied forces and body movements were recorded in three orthogonal directions. The modification of the engagement technique altered the load acting on players. These changes were in a similar direction and of similar magnitude irrespective of the playing level. Reducing the dynamics of the initial engagement through a fold-in procedure decreased the peak compression force, the peak downward force and the engagement speed in excess of 30%. For example, peak compression (horizontal) forces in the professional teams changed from 16.5 (baseline technique) to 8.6 kN (fold-in procedure). The fold-in technique also reduced the occurrence of combined high forces and head-trunk misalignment during the absorption of the impact, which was used as a measure of potential hazard, by more than 30%. Reducing the initial impact did not decrease the ability of the teams to produce sustained compression forces. De-emphasising the initial impact against the scrum machine decreased the mechanical stresses acting on forward players and may benefit players' welfare by reducing the hazard factors that may induce chronic degeneration of the spine. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  10. Vertical vs. Horizontal Integration: Pre-emptive Merging.

    OpenAIRE

    Colangelo, Giuseppe

    1995-01-01

    Preemption plays a crucial role in arms merger decisions. The author studies whether and under which circumstances preemptive merging occurs in vertically related industries. He finds that vertical mergers often preempt horizontal mergers and are dominant outcomes. Preempting the threat of a detrimental horizontal integration may be the main reason for vertically integrating. Copyright 1995 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Management Accounting in freight-forwarding companies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jens Ocksen; Lynggaard, Peter

    2002-01-01

    The article describes the internal business management processes in a freight forwarding compagny on the operative/tactical level. This is done as an explorative study of how these processes are organized in two medium-sized Danish freight-forwarding compagnies....

  12. Accessory stimulus modulates executive function during stepping task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Tatsunori; Koyama, Soichiro; Tanabe, Shigeo; Nojima, Ippei

    2015-07-01

    When multiple sensory modalities are simultaneously presented, reaction time can be reduced while interference enlarges. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of task-irrelevant acoustic accessory stimuli simultaneously presented with visual imperative stimuli on executive function during stepping. Executive functions were assessed by analyzing temporal events and errors in the initial weight transfer of the postural responses prior to a step (anticipatory postural adjustment errors). Eleven healthy young adults stepped forward in response to a visual stimulus. We applied a choice reaction time task and the Simon task, which consisted of congruent and incongruent conditions. Accessory stimuli were randomly presented with the visual stimuli. Compared with trials without accessory stimuli, the anticipatory postural adjustment error rates were higher in trials with accessory stimuli in the incongruent condition and the reaction times were shorter in trials with accessory stimuli in all the task conditions. Analyses after division of trials according to whether anticipatory postural adjustment error occurred or not revealed that the reaction times of trials with anticipatory postural adjustment errors were reduced more than those of trials without anticipatory postural adjustment errors in the incongruent condition. These results suggest that accessory stimuli modulate the initial motor programming of stepping by lowering decision threshold and exclusively under spatial incompatibility facilitate automatic response activation. The present findings advance the knowledge of intersensory judgment processes during stepping and may aid in the development of intervention and evaluation tools for individuals at risk of falls. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  13. Determinants of limb preference for initiating compensatory stepping poststroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansfield, Avril; Inness, Elizabeth L; Lakhani, Bimal; McIlroy, William E

    2012-07-01

    To investigate the determinants of limb preference for initiating compensatory stepping poststroke. Retrospective chart review. Inpatient rehabilitation. Convenience sample of individuals admitted to inpatient rehabilitation with poststroke hemiparesis. Not applicable. Compensatory stepping responses were evoked using a lean-and-release postural perturbation. The limb used to initiate compensatory stepping was determined. The relationships between stepping with the paretic limb and premorbid limb dominance, weight bearing on the paretic limb in quiet standing, ability to bear weight on the paretic limb, preperturbation weight bearing on the paretic limb, and lower-limb motor recovery scores were determined. The majority (59.1%) of responses were steps initiated with the nonparetic limb. Increased lower-limb motor recovery scores and preperturbation weight bearing on the nonparetic limb were significantly related to increased frequency of stepping with the paretic limb. When the preferred limb was physically blocked, an inappropriate response was initiated in 21% of trials (ie, nonstep responses or an attempt to step with the blocked limb). This study reveals the challenges that individuals with poststroke hemiparesis face when executing compensatory stepping responses to prevent a fall after a postural perturbation. The inability or challenges to executing a compensatory step with the paretic limb may increase the risk for falls poststroke. Copyright © 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Starting a new residency program: a step-by-step guide for institutions, hospitals, and program directors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle Barajaz

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Although our country faces a looming shortage of doctors, constraints of space, funding, and patient volume in many existing residency programs limit training opportunities for medical graduates. New residency programs need to be created for the expansion of graduate medical education training positions. Partnerships between existing academic institutions and community hospitals with a need for physicians can be a very successful means toward this end. Baylor College of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of San Antonio were affiliated in 2012, and subsequently, we developed and received accreditation for a new categorical pediatric residency program at that site in 2014. We share below a step-by-step guide through the process that includes building of the infrastructure, educational development, accreditation, marketing, and recruitment. It is our hope that the description of this process will help others to spur growth in graduate medical training positions.

  15. Virtual & Real Face to Face Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teneqexhi, Romeo; Kuneshka, Loreta

    2016-01-01

    In traditional "face to face" lessons, during the time the teacher writes on a black or white board, the students are always behind the teacher. Sometimes, this happens even in the recorded lesson in videos. Most of the time during the lesson, the teacher shows to the students his back not his face. We do not think the term "face to…

  16. Why do firms engage in forward-looking search?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jissink, Tymen; Rohrbeck, René; Huizingh, Eelko K.R.E.

    firms with a low level of slack resources engage to a much lower extent into forward-looking search, if they operate in high-competitive-intensity environments. Our findings not only carry important implications for predicting a firm’s engagement in forward-looking search, but also potentially...... performed below aspirations are less likely to engage in forward-looking search, suggesting that forward-looking search is not a form of problemistic search. In contrast, firms that have abundant uncommitted (slack) resources as well as firms expecting to outperform in the near future are engaging more...... into forward-looking search. We also find interaction effect between performance feedback and environmental characteristics. Interestingly firms with a high level of slack resources are only surpassing their less rich peers in forward-looking search, if they are in technologically turbulent environments. Also...

  17. GABA sensitivity of spectrally classified horizontal cells in goldfish retina

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verweij, J.; Kamermans, M.; Negishi, K.; Spekreijse, H.

    1998-01-01

    We studied the GABA sensitivity of horizontal cells in the isolated goldfish retina. After the glutamatergic input to the horizontal cells was blocked with DNQX, GABA depolarized the monophasic and biphasic horizontal cells. The pharmacology of these GABA-induced depolarizations was tested with the

  18. Kinetic Mechanism of OMP Synthase:  A Slow Physical Step Following

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, G.P.; Lundegaard, Claus; Jensen, Kaj Frank

    1999-01-01

    medium was increased with sucrose, the forward kcat decreased in proportion to ¿rel with a slope of 0.8. In the reverse reaction a more limited dependence of kcat (slope = 0.3) was observed. On the basis of the known structures of OPRTase, we propose that a highly conserved, catalytically important......, solvent-exposed loop descends during catalysis to shield the active site. In the accompanying paper, the slow product release step is shown to relate to movement of the solvent-exposed loop....

  19. Computational modeling of a forward lunge

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alkjær, Tine; Wieland, Maja Rose; Andersen, Michael Skipper

    2012-01-01

    during forward lunging. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to establish a musculoskeletal model of the forward lunge to computationally investigate the complete mechanical force equilibrium of the tibia during the movement to examine the loading pattern of the cruciate ligaments. A healthy female...... was selected from a group of healthy subjects who all performed a forward lunge on a force platform, targeting a knee flexion angle of 90°. Skin-markers were placed on anatomical landmarks on the subject and the movement was recorded by five video cameras. The three-dimensional kinematic data describing...... the forward lunge movement were extracted and used to develop a biomechanical model of the lunge movement. The model comprised two legs including femur, crus, rigid foot segments and the pelvis. Each leg had 35 independent muscle units, which were recruited according to a minimum fatigue criterion...

  20. Invertible propagator for plane wave illumination of forward-scattering structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samelsohn, Gregory

    2017-05-10

    Propagation of directed waves in forward-scattering media is considered. It is assumed that the evolution of the wave field is governed by the standard parabolic wave equation. An efficient one-step momentum-space propagator, suitable for a tilted plane wave illumination of extended objects, is derived. It is expressed in terms of a propagation operator that transforms (the complex exponential of) a linogram of the illuminated object into a set of its diffraction patterns. The invertibility of the propagator is demonstrated, which permits a multiple-shot scatter correction to be performed, and makes the solution especially attractive for either projective or tomographic imaging. As an example, high-resolution tomograms are obtained in numerical simulations implemented for a synthetic phantom, with both refractive and absorptive inclusions.

  1. Face Gear Technology for Aerospace Power Transmission Progresses

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-01-01

    The use of face gears in an advanced rotorcraft transmission design was first proposed by the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company during their contracted effort with the U.S. Army under the Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission (ART) program. Face gears would be used to turn the corner between the horizontal gas turbine engine and the vertical output rotor shaft--a function currently done by spiral bevel gears. This novel gearing arrangement would substantially lower the drive system weight partly because a face gear mesh would be used to split the input power between two output gears. However, the use of face gears and their ability to operate successfully at the speeds and loads required for an aerospace environment was unknown. Therefore a proof-of-concept phase with an existing test stand at the NASA Lewis Research Center was pursued. Hardware was designed that could be tested in Lewis' Spiral Bevel Gear Test Rig. The initial testing indicated that the face gear mesh was a feasible design that could be used at high speeds and load. Surface pitting fatigue was the typical failure mode, and that could lead to tooth fracture. An interim project was conducted to see if slight modifications to the gear tooth geometry or an alternative heat treating process could overcome the surface fatigue problems. From the initial and interim tests, it was apparent that for the surface fatigue problems to be overcome the manufacturing process used for this component would have to be developed to the level used for spiral bevel gears. The current state of the art for face gear manufacturing required using less than optimal gear materials and manufacturing techniques because the surface of the tooth form does not receive final finishing after heat treatment as it does for spiral bevel gears. This resulted in less than desirable surface hardness and manufacturing tolerances. An Advanced Research and Projects Agency (ARPA) Technology Reinvestment Project has been funded to investigate

  2. Incorporation of Three-dimensional Radiative Transfer into a Very High Resolution Simulation of Horizontally Inhomogeneous Clouds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishida, H.; Ota, Y.; Sekiguchi, M.; Sato, Y.

    2016-12-01

    A three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer calculation scheme is developed to estimate horizontal transport of radiation energy in a very high resolution (with the order of 10 m in spatial grid) simulation of cloud evolution, especially for horizontally inhomogeneous clouds such as shallow cumulus and stratocumulus. Horizontal radiative transfer due to inhomogeneous clouds seems to cause local heating/cooling in an atmosphere with a fine spatial scale. It is, however, usually difficult to estimate the 3D effects, because the 3D radiative transfer often needs a large resource for computation compared to a plane-parallel approximation. This study attempts to incorporate a solution scheme that explicitly solves the 3D radiative transfer equation into a numerical simulation, because this scheme has an advantage in calculation for a sequence of time evolution (i.e., the scene at a time is little different from that at the previous time step). This scheme is also appropriate to calculation of radiation with strong absorption, such as the infrared regions. For efficient computation, this scheme utilizes several techniques, e.g., the multigrid method for iteration solution, and a correlated-k distribution method refined for efficient approximation of the wavelength integration. For a case study, the scheme is applied to an infrared broadband radiation calculation in a broken cloud field generated with a large eddy simulation model. The horizontal transport of infrared radiation, which cannot be estimated by the plane-parallel approximation, and its variation in time can be retrieved. The calculation result elucidates that the horizontal divergences and convergences of infrared radiation flux are not negligible, especially at the boundaries of clouds and within optically thin clouds, and the radiative cooling at lateral boundaries of clouds may reduce infrared radiative heating in clouds. In a future work, the 3D effects on radiative heating/cooling will be able to be

  3. Reading faces and Facing words

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Robotham, Julia Emma; Lindegaard, Martin Weis; Delfi, Tzvetelina Shentova

    unilateral lesions, we found no patient with a selective deficit in either reading or face processing. Rather, the patients showing a deficit in processing either words or faces were also impaired with the other category. One patient performed within the normal range on all tasks. In addition, all patients......It has long been argued that perceptual processing of faces and words is largely independent, highly specialised and strongly lateralised. Studies of patients with either pure alexia or prosopagnosia have strongly contributed to this view. The aim of our study was to investigate how visual...... perception of faces and words is affected by unilateral posterior stroke. Two patients with lesions in their dominant hemisphere and two with lesions in their non-dominant hemisphere were tested on sensitive tests of face and word perception during the stable phase of recovery. Despite all patients having...

  4. Performance of a Horizontal Double Cylinder Type of Fresh Coffee Cherries Pulping Machine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukrisno Widyotomo

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Pulping is one important step in wet coffee processing method. Usually, pulping process uses a machine which constructed using wood or metal materials. A horizontal single cylinder type coffee pulping machine is the most popular machine in coffee processor and market. One of the weakness of a horizontal single cylinder type coffee pulping machine is high of broken beans. Broken beans is one of major aspect in defect system that result in low quality. Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute has designed and tested a horizontal double cylinder type coffee pulping machine. Material tested is Robusta cherry, mature, 60—65% (wet basis moisture content, which size compostition of coffee cherries was 50.8% more than 15 mm diameter, 32% more than 10 mm diameter, and 16.6% to get through 10 mm hole diameter; 690—695 kg/m3 bulk density, and clean from methal and foreign materials. The result showed that this machine has 420 kg/h optimal capacity in operational conditions, 1400 rpm rotor rotation speed for unsorted coffee cherries with composition 53.08% whole parchment coffee, 16.92% broken beans, and 30% beans in the wet skin. For small size coffee cherries, 603 kg/h optimal capacity in operational conditions, 1600 rpm rotor rotation speed with composition 51.30% whole parchment coffee, 12.59% broken beans, and 36.1% beans in the wet skin. Finally, for medium size coffee cherries, 564 kg/h optimal capacity in operational conditions, 1800 rpm rotor rotation speed with composition 48.64% whole parchment coffee, 18.5% broken beans, and 32.86% beans in the wet skin.Key words : coffee, pulp, pulper, cylinder, quality.

  5. Asymptotic analysis of the Forward Search

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Søren; Nielsen, Bent

    The Forward Search is an iterative algorithm concerned with detection of outliers and other unsuspected structures in data. This approach has been suggested, analysed and applied for regression models in the monograph Atkinson and Riani (2000). An asymptotic analysis of the Forward Search is made...

  6. DLA Forward Stocking

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Flory, John

    2007-01-01

    .... This study evaluates the feasibility of forward stocking in terms of DoD savings. The performance of DLA's criteria is evaluated and a new criteria using a cost and demand threshold is proposed...

  7. Using forward markets to improve electricity market design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ausubel, Lawrence M.; Cramton, Peter

    2010-01-01

    Forward markets, both medium term and long term, complement the spot market for wholesale electricity. The forward markets reduce risk, mitigate market power, and coordinate new investment. In the medium term, a forward energy market lets suppliers and demanders lock in energy prices and quantities for one to three years. In the long term, a forward reliability market assures adequate resources are available when they are needed most. The forward markets reduce risk for both sides of the market, since they reduce the quantity of energy that trades at the more volatile spot price. Spot market power is mitigated by putting suppliers and demanders in a more balanced position at the time of the spot market. The markets also reduce transaction costs and improve liquidity and transparency. Recent innovations to the Colombia market illustrate the basic elements of the forward markets and their beneficial role. (author)

  8. Using forward markets to improve electricity market design

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ausubel, Lawrence M.; Cramton, Peter [University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

    2010-12-15

    Forward markets, both medium term and long term, complement the spot market for wholesale electricity. The forward markets reduce risk, mitigate market power, and coordinate new investment. In the medium term, a forward energy market lets suppliers and demanders lock in energy prices and quantities for one to three years. In the long term, a forward reliability market assures adequate resources are available when they are needed most. The forward markets reduce risk for both sides of the market, since they reduce the quantity of energy that trades at the more volatile spot price. Spot market power is mitigated by putting suppliers and demanders in a more balanced position at the time of the spot market. The markets also reduce transaction costs and improve liquidity and transparency. Recent innovations to the Colombia market illustrate the basic elements of the forward markets and their beneficial role. (author)

  9. Storage and the electricity forward premium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Douglas, Stratford; Popova, Julia

    2008-01-01

    We develop and test a model describing the influence of natural gas storage inventories on the electricity forward premium. The model is constructed by linking the effect of gas storage constraints on the higher moments of the distribution of electricity prices to an established model of the effect of those moments on the forward premium. The model predicts a sharply negative effect of gas storage inventories on the electricity forward premium when demand for electricity is high and space-heating demand for gas is low. Empirical results, based on PJM data, strongly support the model. (author)

  10. Risk premium in the UK natural gas forward market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hobaek Haff, Ingrid; Lindqvist, Ola; Loeland, Anders

    2008-01-01

    This report investigates the UK natural gas market, and tests whether it is a fair-game efficient forward market, using forward contracts ranging from one to five months time to delivery. The forward and spot price series are separately non-stationary, but cointegrated. Furthermore, the forward prices are biased predictors of both the future spot and the 1-month-ahead forward price. The risk premium on the forward prices is positive, as opposed to the US gas market, where the risk premium was found to be negative in similar work. Moreover, the analysis reveals that the storage model is an incomplete model for the relationship between the spot and forward prices. However, storage has a clear effect on this relationship, an effect that appears to be non-linear. (author)

  11. Electroluminescence from completely horizontally oriented dye molecules

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Komino, Takeshi [Education Center for Global Leaders in Molecular System for Devices, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Japan Science and Technology Agency, ERATO, Adachi Molecular Exciton Engineering Project, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Sagara, Yuta [Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Tanaka, Hiroyuki [Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601 (Japan); Oki, Yuji [Japan Science and Technology Agency, ERATO, Adachi Molecular Exciton Engineering Project, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Department of Electronics, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Nakamura, Nozomi [Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Fujimoto, Hiroshi [Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Fukuoka i" 3-Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (i3-OPERA), Fukuoka 819-0388 (Japan); and others

    2016-06-13

    A complete horizontal molecular orientation of a linear-shaped thermally activated delayed fluorescent guest emitter 2,6-bis(4-(10Hphenoxazin-10-yl)phenyl)benzo[1,2-d:5,4-d′] bis(oxazole) (cis-BOX2) was obtained in a glassy host matrix by vapor deposition. The orientational order of cis-BOX2 depended on the combination of deposition temperature and the type of host matrix. Complete horizontal orientation was obtained when a thin film with cis-BOX2 doped in a 4,4′-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1′-biphenyl (CBP) host matrix was fabricated at 200 K. The ultimate orientation of guest molecules originates from not only the kinetic relaxation but also the kinetic stability of the deposited guest molecules on the film surface during film growth. Utilizing the ultimate orientation, a highly efficient organic light-emitting diode with the external quantum efficiency of 33.4 ± 2.0% was realized. The thermal stability of the horizontal orientation of cis-BOX2 was governed by the glass transition temperature (T{sub g}) of the CBP host matrix; the horizontal orientation was stable unless the film was annealed above T{sub g}.

  12. One-Dimensional Forward–Forward Mean-Field Games

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gomes, Diogo A., E-mail: diogo.gomes@kaust.edu.sa; Nurbekyan, Levon; Sedjro, Marc [King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), CEMSE Division (Saudi Arabia)

    2016-12-15

    While the general theory for the terminal-initial value problem for mean-field games (MFGs) has achieved a substantial progress, the corresponding forward–forward problem is still poorly understood—even in the one-dimensional setting. Here, we consider one-dimensional forward–forward MFGs, study the existence of solutions and their long-time convergence. First, we discuss the relation between these models and systems of conservation laws. In particular, we identify new conserved quantities and study some qualitative properties of these systems. Next, we introduce a class of wave-like equations that are equivalent to forward–forward MFGs, and we derive a novel formulation as a system of conservation laws. For first-order logarithmic forward–forward MFG, we establish the existence of a global solution. Then, we consider a class of explicit solutions and show the existence of shocks. Finally, we examine parabolic forward–forward MFGs and establish the long-time convergence of the solutions.

  13. Coronal Magnetism and Forward Solarsoft Idl Package

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, S. E.

    2014-12-01

    The FORWARD suite of Solar Soft IDL codes is a community resource for model-data comparison, with a particular emphasis on analyzing coronal magnetic fields. FORWARD may be used both to synthesize a broad range of coronal observables, and to access and compare to existing data. FORWARD works with numerical model datacubes, interfaces with the web-served Predictive Science Inc MAS simulation datacubes and the Solar Soft IDL Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) package, and also includes several analytic models (more can be added). It connects to the Virtual Solar Observatory and other web-served observations to download data in a format directly comparable to model predictions. It utilizes the CHIANTI database in modeling UV/EUV lines, and links to the CLE polarimetry synthesis code for forbidden coronal lines. FORWARD enables "forward-fitting" of specific observations, and helps to build intuition into how the physical properties of coronal magnetic structures translate to observable properties.

  14. One-Dimensional Forward–Forward Mean-Field Games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.; Nurbekyan, Levon; Sedjro, Marc

    2016-01-01

    While the general theory for the terminal-initial value problem for mean-field games (MFGs) has achieved a substantial progress, the corresponding forward–forward problem is still poorly understood—even in the one-dimensional setting. Here, we consider one-dimensional forward–forward MFGs, study the existence of solutions and their long-time convergence. First, we discuss the relation between these models and systems of conservation laws. In particular, we identify new conserved quantities and study some qualitative properties of these systems. Next, we introduce a class of wave-like equations that are equivalent to forward–forward MFGs, and we derive a novel formulation as a system of conservation laws. For first-order logarithmic forward–forward MFG, we establish the existence of a global solution. Then, we consider a class of explicit solutions and show the existence of shocks. Finally, we examine parabolic forward–forward MFGs and establish the long-time convergence of the solutions.

  15. One-Dimensional Forward–Forward Mean-Field Games

    KAUST Repository

    Gomes, Diogo A.

    2016-11-01

    While the general theory for the terminal-initial value problem for mean-field games (MFGs) has achieved a substantial progress, the corresponding forward–forward problem is still poorly understood—even in the one-dimensional setting. Here, we consider one-dimensional forward–forward MFGs, study the existence of solutions and their long-time convergence. First, we discuss the relation between these models and systems of conservation laws. In particular, we identify new conserved quantities and study some qualitative properties of these systems. Next, we introduce a class of wave-like equations that are equivalent to forward–forward MFGs, and we derive a novel formulation as a system of conservation laws. For first-order logarithmic forward–forward MFG, we establish the existence of a global solution. Then, we consider a class of explicit solutions and show the existence of shocks. Finally, we examine parabolic forward–forward MFGs and establish the long-time convergence of the solutions.

  16. Internal reflection of interstitial atoms from close-packed tungsten faces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dranova, Zh.I.; Mikhajlovskij, I.M.

    1981-01-01

    Use of field-ion microscopy methods has shown that changes in microtopography of tungsten specimens irradiated with 2-5 keV helium atoms are mainly related to the liberation of interstitial atoms on the surface. It is established that the atom liberation on the surface is considerably anisotropic: maximum quantity of atoms is observed in the vicinity of faces (100), (111) and (211) along the sections of zone lines (110) oriented along the edge of the first Brillouin zone. The atom liberation on plane sections of the most dense-packed face (110) was not observed as a rule; atomic steps of the face are interstitial atom sinks. It is concluded on the basis of the results obtained that there is the predominant inner reflection of interstitial atoms from the dense-packed faces and a possible contribution of inner reflection to the surface migration processes activated with the ion bombardment as well as material swelling have been analyzed [ru

  17. Numerical Investigation on the Heat Extraction Capacity of Dual Horizontal Wells in Enhanced Geothermal Systems Based on the 3-D THM Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhixue Sun

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS constructs an artificial thermal reservoir by hydraulic fracturing to extract heat economically from hot dry rock. As the core element of the EGS heat recovery process, mass and heat transfer of working fluid mainly occurs in fractures. Since the direction of the natural and induced fractures are generally perpendicular to the minimum principal stress in the formation, as an effective stimulation approach, horizontal well production could increase the contact area with the thermal reservoir significantly. In this paper, the thermal reservoir is developed by a dual horizontal well system and treated as a fractured porous medium composed of matrix rock and discrete fracture network. Using the local thermal non-equilibrium theory, a coupled THM mathematical model and an ideal 3D numerical model are established for the EGS heat extraction process. EGS heat extraction capacity is evaluated in the light of thermal recovery lifespan, average outlet temperature, heat production, electricity generation, energy efficiency and thermal recovery rate. The results show that with certain reservoir and production parameters, the heat production, electricity generation and thermal recovery lifespan can achieve the commercial goal of the dual horizontal well system, but the energy efficiency and overall thermal recovery rate are still at low levels. At last, this paper puts forward a series of optimizations to improve the heat extraction capacity, including production conditions and thermal reservoir construction design.

  18. Face Attention Network: An Effective Face Detector for the Occluded Faces

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Jianfeng; Yuan, Ye; Yu, Gang

    2017-01-01

    The performance of face detection has been largely improved with the development of convolutional neural network. However, the occlusion issue due to mask and sunglasses, is still a challenging problem. The improvement on the recall of these occluded cases usually brings the risk of high false positives. In this paper, we present a novel face detector called Face Attention Network (FAN), which can significantly improve the recall of the face detection problem in the occluded case without comp...

  19. Naval Forward Presence

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Keledei, Raymond F

    2006-01-01

    .... Forward deployed Naval forces have consistently been stationed in the world s hotspots and are usually the first on the scene for emergent crises giving credence to the oft quoted line Where are the...

  20. Widespread of horizontal gene transfer in the human genome

    OpenAIRE

    Huang, Wenze; Tsai, Lillian; Li, Yulong; Hua, Nan; Sun, Chen; Wei, Chaochun

    2017-01-01

    Background A fundamental concept in biology is that heritable material is passed from parents to offspring, a process called vertical gene transfer. An alternative mechanism of gene acquisition is through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which involves movement of genetic materials between different species. Horizontal gene transfer has been found prevalent in prokaryotes but very rare in eukaryote. In this paper, we investigate horizontal gene transfer in the human genome. Results From the pa...

  1. An investigation into the efficiency of disposable face masks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, K B

    1980-01-01

    Disposable face masks used in hospitals have been assessed for the protection afforded the patient and the wearer by challenges of simulated natural conditions of stress. Operating theatre masks made of synthetic materials allow the wearer to breathe through the masks, and these have been shown to protect the patient well but the wearer slightly less. Cheaper paper masks are worn for ward duties, and of these only the Promask protected in area in front of the wearer: air does not pass through this mask, expired air is prevented from passing forward, and the wearer breathes unfiltered air. All the other paper masks tested allowed many bacteria-laden particles to pass through them. PMID:7440756

  2. The Logistical Aspects of Freight Transportation and Forwarding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zimina Anna I.

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The article substantiates the theoretical and practical aspects of freight transportation and forwarding services based on the principles of logistics. The indicators of dynamics of freight transportation in Ukraine compared to last year and the structure by types of transport have been provided. The indicators of the foreign trade performance of Ukraine have been presented, including the counter-current export and import flows, as well as the external trade balance, which directly impacts the volume and dynamics of freight transportation and forwarding services. The main parameters of the transportation and forwarding logistics system were systematized, taking into consideration the technical and operational characteristics of the rolling stock, the route of communication, and the terminals. The role and features of the functions of the inter/multimodal transportation operators – freight forwarders of the «tonnage customers» have been considered. The article determines principles for the organization of work of freight forwarders, as well as the terms of agreement of the parties when the freight forwarding contract is concluded. The conditions for developing a logistics approach to the implementation of freight transportation and forwarding services have been generalized.

  3. How Well Do Computer-Generated Faces Tap Face Expertise?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate Crookes

    Full Text Available The use of computer-generated (CG stimuli in face processing research is proliferating due to the ease with which faces can be generated, standardised and manipulated. However there has been surprisingly little research into whether CG faces are processed in the same way as photographs of real faces. The present study assessed how well CG faces tap face identity expertise by investigating whether two indicators of face expertise are reduced for CG faces when compared to face photographs. These indicators were accuracy for identification of own-race faces and the other-race effect (ORE-the well-established finding that own-race faces are recognised more accurately than other-race faces. In Experiment 1 Caucasian and Asian participants completed a recognition memory task for own- and other-race real and CG faces. Overall accuracy for own-race faces was dramatically reduced for CG compared to real faces and the ORE was significantly and substantially attenuated for CG faces. Experiment 2 investigated perceptual discrimination for own- and other-race real and CG faces with Caucasian and Asian participants. Here again, accuracy for own-race faces was significantly reduced for CG compared to real faces. However the ORE was not affected by format. Together these results signal that CG faces of the type tested here do not fully tap face expertise. Technological advancement may, in the future, produce CG faces that are equivalent to real photographs. Until then caution is advised when interpreting results obtained using CG faces.

  4. ATLAS Forward Proton Detector

    CERN Document Server

    Grieco, Chiara; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The aim of the ATLAS Forward Proton (AFP) detector system is the measurement of protons scattered diffractively or electromagnetically at very small angles. The full two-arm setup was installed during the 2016/2017 EYETS. This allows measurements of processes with two forward protons: central diffraction, exclusive production, and two-photon processes. In 2017, AFP participated in the ATLAS high-luminosity data taking on the day-by-day basis. In addition, several special runs with reduced luminosity were taken. The poster will present the AFP detectors and the lessons learned from the last year operation and some performance from 2016 and 2017.

  5. Forward coronary flow normally seen in systole is the result of both forward and concealed back flow

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spaan, J. A.; Breuls, N. P.; Laird, J. D.

    1981-01-01

    Normally systolic coronary blood flow is almost entirely forward. As perfusion pressure was lowered through the autoregulatory range in open-chest dogs, net systolic back flow appeared at approximately 70 mm Hg. Imposing a series resistance (Rs), which impedes both forward and back flow, abolished

  6. Effect of time step size and turbulence model on the open water hydrodynamic performance prediction of contra-rotating propellers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhan-zhi; Xiong, Ying

    2013-04-01

    A growing interest has been devoted to the contra-rotating propellers (CRPs) due to their high propulsive efficiency, torque balance, low fuel consumption, low cavitations, low noise performance and low hull vibration. Compared with the single-screw system, it is more difficult for the open water performance prediction because forward and aft propellers interact with each other and generate a more complicated flow field around the CRPs system. The current work focuses on the open water performance prediction of contra-rotating propellers by RANS and sliding mesh method considering the effect of computational time step size and turbulence model. The validation study has been performed on two sets of contra-rotating propellers developed by David W Taylor Naval Ship R & D center. Compared with the experimental data, it shows that RANS with sliding mesh method and SST k-ω turbulence model has a good precision in the open water performance prediction of contra-rotating propellers, and small time step size can improve the level of accuracy for CRPs with the same blade number of forward and aft propellers, while a relatively large time step size is a better choice for CRPs with different blade numbers.

  7. Sidewall containment of liquid metal with horizontal alternating magnetic fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pareg, Walter F.

    1990-01-01

    An apparatus for confining molten metal with a horizontal alternating magnetic field. In particular, this invention employs a magnet that can produce a horizontal alternating magnetic field to confine a molten metal at the edges of parallel horizontal rollers as a solid metal sheet is cast by counter-rotation of the rollers.

  8. Neural synchronization during face-to-face communication

    OpenAIRE

    Jiang, J.; Dai, B.; Peng, D.; Zhu, C.; Liu, L.; Lu, C.

    2012-01-01

    Although the human brain may have evolutionarily adapted to face-to-face communication, other modes of communication, e.g., telephone and e-mail, increasingly dominate our modern daily life. This study examined the neural difference between face-to-face communication and other types of communication by simultaneously measuring two brains using a hyperscanning approach. The results showed a significant increase in the neural synchronization in the left inferior frontal cortex during a face-to-...

  9. Emotional face recognition in adolescent suicide attempters and adolescents engaging in non-suicidal self-injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seymour, Karen E; Jones, Richard N; Cushman, Grace K; Galvan, Thania; Puzia, Megan E; Kim, Kerri L; Spirito, Anthony; Dickstein, Daniel P

    2016-03-01

    Little is known about the bio-behavioral mechanisms underlying and differentiating suicide attempts from non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents. Adolescents who attempt suicide or engage in NSSI often report significant interpersonal and social difficulties. Emotional face recognition ability is a fundamental skill required for successful social interactions, and deficits in this ability may provide insight into the unique brain-behavior interactions underlying suicide attempts versus NSSI in adolescents. Therefore, we examined emotional face recognition ability among three mutually exclusive groups: (1) inpatient adolescents who attempted suicide (SA, n = 30); (2) inpatient adolescents engaged in NSSI (NSSI, n = 30); and (3) typically developing controls (TDC, n = 30) without psychiatric illness. Participants included adolescents aged 13-17 years, matched on age, gender and full-scale IQ. Emotional face recognition was evaluated using the diagnostic assessment of nonverbal accuracy (DANVA-2). Compared to TDC youth, adolescents with NSSI made more errors on child fearful and adult sad face recognition while controlling for psychopathology and medication status (ps face recognition between NSSI and SA groups. Secondary analyses showed that compared to inpatients without major depression, those with major depression made fewer errors on adult sad face recognition even when controlling for group status (p recognition errors on adult happy faces even when controlling for group status (p face recognition than TDC, but not inpatient adolescents who attempted suicide. Further results suggest the importance of psychopathology in emotional face recognition. Replication of these preliminary results and examination of the role of context-dependent emotional processing are needed moving forward.

  10. A horizontal well analysis from a view of its productivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucia Sciranková

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available The 1990s may become known in the oil field as the decade of the horizontal well. Horizontal wells can increase the production rate and the ultimate recovery, and can reduce the number of platforms on wells required to develop a reservoir.An empirical equation to calculate the inflow performance of two-phase flow for a vertical and a horizontal well in regime of dissolved gas presented by Vogel in 1968. His equation was based on the results of reservoir simulation. The created model whore result (output is the ratio of the productivity of a horizontal well to the productivity of a vertical well for a given area expressed by anumber of vertical wells the replaced by one horizontal well. The model is applied for a concrete ideological model.

  11. Calculation method of water injection forward modeling and inversion process in oilfield water injection network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Long; Liu, Wei

    2018-04-01

    A forward modeling and inversion algorithm is adopted in order to determine the water injection plan in the oilfield water injection network. The main idea of the algorithm is shown as follows: firstly, the oilfield water injection network is inversely calculated. The pumping station demand flow is calculated. Then, forward modeling calculation is carried out for judging whether all water injection wells meet the requirements of injection allocation or not. If all water injection wells meet the requirements of injection allocation, calculation is stopped, otherwise the demand injection allocation flow rate of certain step size is reduced aiming at water injection wells which do not meet requirements, and next iterative operation is started. It is not necessary to list the algorithm into water injection network system algorithm, which can be realized easily. Iterative method is used, which is suitable for computer programming. Experimental result shows that the algorithm is fast and accurate.

  12. Efficient packet forwarding using cyber-security aware policies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ros-Giralt, Jordi

    2017-10-25

    For balancing load, a forwarder can selectively direct data from the forwarder to a processor according to a loading parameter. The selective direction includes forwarding the data to the processor for processing, transforming and/or forwarding the data to another node, and dropping the data. The forwarder can also adjust the loading parameter based on, at least in part, feedback received from the processor. One or more processing elements can store values associated with one or more flows into a structure without locking the structure. The stored values can be used to determine how to direct the flows, e.g., whether to process a flow or to drop it. The structure can be used within an information channel providing feedback to a processor.

  13. Horizontal and Vertical Rule Bases Method in Fuzzy Controllers

    OpenAIRE

    Aminifar, Sadegh; bin Marzuki, Arjuna

    2013-01-01

    Concept of horizontal and vertical rule bases is introduced. Using this method enables the designers to look for main behaviors of system and describes them with greater approximations. The rules which describe the system in first stage are called horizontal rule base. In the second stage, the designer modulates the obtained surface by describing needed changes on first surface for handling real behaviors of system. The rules used in the second stage are called vertical rule base. Horizontal...

  14. Neural Control and Adaptive Neural Forward Models for Insect-like, Energy-Efficient, and Adaptable Locomotion of Walking Machines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manoonpong, Poramate; Parlitz, Ulrich; Wörgötter, Florentin

    2013-01-01

    such natural properties with artificial legged locomotion systems by using different approaches including machine learning algorithms, classical engineering control techniques, and biologically-inspired control mechanisms. However, their levels of performance are still far from the natural ones. By contrast...... on sensory feedback and adaptive neural forward models with efference copies. This neural closed-loop controller enables a walking machine to perform a multitude of different walking patterns including insect-like leg movements and gaits as well as energy-efficient locomotion. In addition, the forward models...... allow the machine to autonomously adapt its locomotion to deal with a change of terrain, losing of ground contact during stance phase, stepping on or hitting an obstacle during swing phase, leg damage, and even to promote cockroach-like climbing behavior. Thus, the results presented here show...

  15. Forward Osmosis in Wastewater Treatment Processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korenak, Jasmina; Basu, Subhankar; Balakrishnan, Malini

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, membrane technology has been widely used in wastewater treatment and water purification. Membrane technology is simple to operate and produces very high quality water for human consumption and industrial purposes. One of the promising technologies for water and wastewater treatment...... is the application of forward osmosis. Essentially, forward osmosis is a process in which water is driven through a semipermeable membrane from a feed solution to a draw solution due to the osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane. The immediate advantage over existing pressure driven membrane technologies...... briefly review some of the applications within water purification and new developments in forward osmosis membrane fabrication....

  16. Formation of oxygen related donors in step-annealed CZ–silicon

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The effect of step-annealing necessitated by the difficulties being faced in the long duration annealing treatments to be given to CZ–silicon has been studied. One pre-anneal of 10 h followed by annealing of 10 h causes a decrease in the absorption coefficient for carbon (c). Oxygen and carbon both accelerate thermal ...

  17. The effects of strength and power training on single-step balance recovery in older adults: a preliminary study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pamukoff, Derek N; Haakonssen, Eric C; Zaccaria, Joseph A; Madigan, Michael L; Miller, Michael E; Marsh, Anthony P

    2014-01-01

    Improving muscle strength and power may mitigate the effects of sarcopenia, but it is unknown if this improves an older adult's ability to recover from a large postural perturbation. Forward tripping is prevalent in older adults and lateral falls are important due to risk of hip fracture. We used a forward and a lateral single-step balance recovery task to examine the effects of strength training (ST) or power (PT) training on single-step balance recovery in older adults. Twenty older adults (70.8±4.4 years, eleven male) were randomly assigned to either a 6-week (three times/week) lower extremity ST or PT intervention. Maximum forward (FLean(max)) and lateral (LLean(max)) lean angle and strength and power in knee extension and leg press were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Fifteen participants completed the study (ST =7, PT =8). Least squares means (95% CI) for ΔFLean(max) (ST: +4.1° [0.7, 7.5]; PT: +0.6° [-2.5, 3.8]) and ΔLLean(max) (ST: +2.2° [0.4, 4.1]; PT: +2.6° [0.9, 4.4]) indicated no differences between groups following training. In exploratory post hoc analyses collapsed by group, ΔFLean(max) was +2.4° (0.1, 4.7) and ΔLLean(max) was +2.4° (1.2, 3.6). These improvements on the balance recovery tasks ranged from ~15%-30%. The results of this preliminary study suggest that resistance training may improve balance recovery performance, and that, in this small sample, PT did not lead to larger improvements in single-step balance recovery compared to ST.

  18. Condensation Analysis of Steam/Air Mixtures in Horizontal Tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kwon Yeong; Bae, Sung Won; Kim, Moo Hwan

    2008-01-01

    Perhaps the most common flow configuration in which a convective condensation occurs is a flow in a horizontal circular tube. This configuration is encountered in air-conditioning and refrigeration condensers as well as condensers in Rankine power cycles. Although a convective condensation is also sometimes contrived to occur in a co-current vertical downward flow, a horizontal flow is often preferred because the flow can be repeatedly passed through the heat exchanger core in a serpentine fashion without trapping liquid or vapor in the return bends. Many researchers have investigated a in-tube condensation for horizontal heat exchangers. However, almost all of them obtained tube section-averaged data without a noncondensable gas. Recently, Wu and Vierow have experimentally studied the condensation of steam in a horizontal heat exchanger with air present. In order to measure the condenser tube inner surface temperatures and to calculate the local heat fluxes, they developed an innovative thermocouple design that allowed for nonintrusive measurements. Here we developed a theoretical model using the heat and mass analogy to analyze a steam condensation with a noncondensable gas in horizontal tubes

  19. 47 CFR 51.505 - Forward-looking economic cost.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Forward-looking economic cost. 51.505 Section... (CONTINUED) INTERCONNECTION Pricing of Elements § 51.505 Forward-looking economic cost. (a) In general. The forward-looking economic cost of an element equals the sum of: (1) The total element long-run incremental...

  20. On a novel strategy for water recovery and recirculation in biorefineries through application of forward osmosis membranes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kalafatakis, Stavros; Braekevelt, Sylvie; Carlsen, Vilhelmsen

    2017-01-01

    A great amount of research has been performed during the last 10 years focusing on forward osmosis (FO)processes. The main driving force is to find an effective and low energy demanding methodology for water recovery as well as up-concentration of valuable products. Nevertheless, the energetic...... and financial benefits of this technology can be undermined from the fact that FO should be usually coupled with reverse osmosis (RO) for subsequent water purification and draw solution regeneration. Hence, a different approach was applied in order to omit the RO step. Crude glycerol and enzymatically...... pretreated wheat straw, which are common 2nd generation biorefinery feedstocks, have been evaluated as possible draw solution. In this way, water can be directly recovered and transferred back into the fermentation loop without further purification. Applying the Aquaporin InsideTM Forward Osmosis system...

  1. Forward calorimetry in the upgraded UA1 experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez-Taviel, F.J.; Diez-Hedo, F.; Doncel, P.; Marquina, M.A.; Rodrigo, T.; Bacci, C.; Petrolo, E.; Tusi, A.; Ferrando, A.; Givernaud, A.; Rubbia, C.; Vuillemin, V.

    1989-01-01

    The major improvement in the upgraded UA1 calorimetry at the Santi ppS is the general use of ionization chambers filled with tetramethylpentane (TMP) as a detection medium interspersed with uranium plates as absorber. To achieve overall uniformity of detection down to very small angles, an identical solution is proposed for the forward calorimetry. Forward calorimetry is essential for good total and missing energy measurement at high luminosity in view of the increasing rate of multiple collisions. Both designs for forward and very forward calorimeters are presented along with expected resolutions. (orig.)

  2. Facing aggression: cues differ for female versus male faces.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shawn N Geniole

    Full Text Available The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio, is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F(1,36 = 7.43, p = 0.01. In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively and masculinity (negatively ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as "honest signals".

  3. Facing aggression: cues differ for female versus male faces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geniole, Shawn N; Keyes, Amanda E; Mondloch, Catherine J; Carré, Justin M; McCormick, Cheryl M

    2012-01-01

    The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F(1,36) = 7.43, p = 0.01). In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait) and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively) and masculinity (negatively) ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as "honest signals".

  4. Facing Aggression: Cues Differ for Female versus Male Faces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geniole, Shawn N.; Keyes, Amanda E.; Mondloch, Catherine J.; Carré, Justin M.; McCormick, Cheryl M.

    2012-01-01

    The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F1,36 = 7.43, p = 0.01). In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait) and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively) and masculinity (negatively) ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as “honest signals”. PMID:22276184

  5. Experimental investigation on a 0.35 MWth coal-fired horizontal circulating fluidized bed boiler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meng, Aihong; Li, Qinghai; Zhang, Yanguo; Wang, Zhaojun; Dang, Wenda [Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); Ministry of Education, Beijing (China). Key Lab. for Thermal Science and Power Engineering

    2013-07-01

    The capacities of industrial coal-fired boilers are normally less than 20-30 MWe. And these coal-fired boilers of low capacity are facing the severe situation of low efficiency and heavy environmental pollution. Hence, an innovative horizontal circulating fluidized bed (HCFB) boiler was developed to enhance heat efficiency and reduce pollutant emission of industrial boilers in China. The chamber in the HCFB boiler consists of primary combustion chamber, secondary combustion chamber and burnout chamber, which were combined horizontally side by side. To verify the conception of horizontal fluidized circulation and to obtain the characteristic data, a 0.35 MWth coal-combustion HCFB boiler was designed and installed to perform some experiments of combustion and mass circulation. In the boiler there were two mass circulating paths, one is inner circulating through the inertia separator and another was external circulating through the cyclone separator. The connection bottom of the secondary chamber and the burnout chamber was designed as an inertia separator, in which separated and collected solid materials were returned to the primary combustion. In fact the secondary separator was a small cyclone separator connecting to the exit of the burnout chamber. Heat efficiency and separating efficiency of the experimental boiler were measured and analyzed. Furthermore, mass and temperature distribution along the chambers height were also investigated. The results showed that the heat efficiency of the bare boiler was 82%. The mass balance based on ash content was measured and analyzed. Separating efficiency of the inertia separator and cyclone separator was 60 and 99.9%, respectively. It showed that the two stage material separation and circulation enhanced coal combustion in the HCFB boiler and help to minimize the height of the furnace.

  6. Communication, compassion, and computers: Adolescents' and adults' evaluations of online and face-to-face deception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Rourke, Sean; Eskritt, Michelle; Bosacki, Sandra

    2018-06-01

    We explored Canadian adolescents', emergent adults', and adults' understandings of deception in computer mediated communication (CMC) compared to face to face (FtF). Participants between 13 and 50 years read vignettes of different types of questionable behaviour that occurred online or in real life, and were asked to judge whether deception was involved, and the acceptability of the behaviour. Age groups evaluated deception similarly; however, adolescents held slightly different views from adults about what constitutes deception, suggesting that the understanding of deception continues to develop into adulthood. Furthermore, CMC behaviour was rated as more deceptive than FtF in general, and participants scoring higher on compassion perceived vignettes to be more deceptive. This study is a step towards better understanding the relationships between perceptions of deception across adolescence into adulthood, mode of communication, and compassion, and may have implications for how adults communicate with youth about deception in CMC and FtF contexts. Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Optimization of a Radiative Transfer Forward Operator for Simulating SMOS Brightness Temperatures over the Upper Mississippi Basin, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lievens, H.; Verhoest, N. E. C.; Martens, B.; VanDenBerg, M. J.; Bitar, A. Al; Tomer, S. Kumar; Merlin, O.; Cabot, F.; Kerr, Y.; DeLannoy, G. J. M.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission is routinely providing global multi-angular observations of brightness temperature (TB) at both horizontal and vertical polarization with a 3-day repeat period. The assimilation of such data into a land surface model (LSM) may improve the skill of operational flood forecasts through an improved estimation of soil moisture (SM). To accommodate for the direct assimilation of the SMOS TB data, the LSM needs to be coupled with a radiative transfer model (RTM), serving as a forward operator for the simulation of multi-angular and multi-polarization top of atmosphere TBs. This study investigates the use of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) LSM coupled with the Community Microwave Emission Modelling platform (CMEM) for simulating SMOS TB observations over the Upper Mississippi basin, USA. For a period of 2 years (2010-2011), a comparison between SMOS TBs and simulations with literature-based RTM parameters reveals a basin averaged bias of 30K. Therefore, time series of SMOS TB observations are used to investigate ways for mitigating these large biases. Specifically, the study demonstrates the impact of the LSM soil moisture climatology in the magnitude of TB biases. After CDF matching the SM climatology of the LSM to SMOS retrievals, the average bias decreases from 30K to less than 5K. Further improvements can be made through calibration of RTM parameters related to the modeling of surface roughness and vegetation. Consequently, it can be concluded that SM rescaling and RTM optimization are efficient means for mitigating biases and form a necessary preparatory step for data assimilation.

  8. Influence of pavement condition on horizontal curve safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buddhavarapu, Prasad; Banerjee, Ambarish; Prozzi, Jorge A

    2013-03-01

    Crash statistics suggest that horizontal curves are the most vulnerable sites for crash occurrence. These crashes are often severe and many involve at least some level of injury due to the nature of the collisions. Ensuring the desired pavement surface condition is one potentially effective strategy to reduce the occurrence of severe accidents on horizontal curves. This study sought to develop crash injury severity models by integrating crash and pavement surface condition databases. It focuses on developing a causal relationship between pavement condition indices and severity level of crashes occurring on two-lane horizontal curves in Texas. In addition, it examines the suitability of the existing Skid Index for safety maintenance of two-lane curves. Significant correlation is evident between pavement condition and crash injury severity on two-lane undivided horizontal curves in Texas. Probability of a crash becoming fatal is appreciably sensitive to certain pavement indices. Data suggested that road facilities providing a smoother and more comfortable ride are vulnerable to severe crashes on horizontal curves. In addition, the study found that longitudinal skid measurement barely correlates with injury severity of crashes occurring on curved portions. The study recommends exploring the option of incorporating lateral friction measurement into Pavement Management System (PMS) databases specifically at curved road segments. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Compensatory stepping responses in individuals with stroke: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lakhani, Bimal; Mansfield, Avril; Inness, Elizabeth L; McIlroy, William E

    2011-05-01

    Impaired postural control and a high incidence of falls are commonly observed following stroke. Compensatory stepping responses are critical to reactive balance control. We hypothesize that, following a stroke, individuals with unilateral limb dyscontrol will be faced with the unique challenge of controlling such rapid stepping reactions that may eventually be linked to the high rate of falling. The objectives of this exploratory pilot study were to investigate compensatory stepping in individuals poststroke with regard to: (1) choice of initial stepping limb (paretic or non-paretic); (2) step characteristics; and (3) differences in step characteristics when the initial step is taken with the paretic vs. the non-paretic limb. Four subjects following stroke (38-165 days post) and 11 healthy young adults were recruited. Anterior and posterior perturbations were delivered by using a weight drop system. Force plates recorded centre-of-pressure excursion prior to the onset of stepping and step timing. Of the four subjects, three only attempted to step with their non-paretic limb and one stepped with either limb. Time to foot-off was generally slow, whereas step onset time and swing time were comparable to healthy controls. Two of the four subjects executed multistep responses in every trial, and attempts to force stepping with the paretic limb were unsuccessful in three of the four subjects. Despite high clinical balance scores, these individuals with stroke demonstrated impaired compensatory stepping responses, suggesting that current clinical evaluations might not accurately reflect reactive balance control in this population.

  10. zipHMMlib: a highly optimised HMM library exploiting repetitions in the input to speed up the forward algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sand, Andreas; Kristiansen, Martin; Pedersen, Christian N S; Mailund, Thomas

    2013-11-22

    Hidden Markov models are widely used for genome analysis as they combine ease of modelling with efficient analysis algorithms. Calculating the likelihood of a model using the forward algorithm has worst case time complexity linear in the length of the sequence and quadratic in the number of states in the model. For genome analysis, however, the length runs to millions or billions of observations, and when maximising the likelihood hundreds of evaluations are often needed. A time efficient forward algorithm is therefore a key ingredient in an efficient hidden Markov model library. We have built a software library for efficiently computing the likelihood of a hidden Markov model. The library exploits commonly occurring substrings in the input to reuse computations in the forward algorithm. In a pre-processing step our library identifies common substrings and builds a structure over the computations in the forward algorithm which can be reused. This analysis can be saved between uses of the library and is independent of concrete hidden Markov models so one preprocessing can be used to run a number of different models.Using this library, we achieve up to 78 times shorter wall-clock time for realistic whole-genome analyses with a real and reasonably complex hidden Markov model. In one particular case the analysis was performed in less than 8 minutes compared to 9.6 hours for the previously fastest library. We have implemented the preprocessing procedure and forward algorithm as a C++ library, zipHMM, with Python bindings for use in scripts. The library is available at http://birc.au.dk/software/ziphmm/.

  11. Surgical treatment for paralytic horizontal strabismus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feng Zhou*

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To observe the effect of surgery for paralytic horizontal strabismus and the paralytic horizontal strabismus performed by Jensen procedure with antagonist muscle of paralytic muscle recession and medial or lateral rectus extra large resection/recession.METHODS: Fifteen cases(17 eyeswith complete or nearly complete paralytic horizontal strabismus from January 2005 to August. 2014 in our hospital were assessed retrospectively,7 eyes of 7 cases with treatment group A were performed Jensen procedure combined antagonist muscle of paralytic muscle recession, 10 eyes of 8 cases with treatment group B were performed medial or lateral rectus extra large resection/recession. seventeen eyes of 15 cases with an average of 21±8.71mo follow-up were observed.RESULTS: All 17 eyes of 15 cases after the operation obtained satisfied effects, 16 eyes of 14 cases obtained ideal long-term effect. One eye of a patient with a 6mo follow-up was undercorrected of 30△. We found a varying degree of postoperative improvement in visual function. There was a significant reduction in the strabismus angle for distance and near(t=28.71, Pt=36.21, Pt=17.96, Pt=9.20,PCONCLUSION: Jensen procedure combined antagonist muscle of paralytic muscle recession and medial or lateral rectus extra large resection/recession is a safe and successful method of treatment in complete or nearly complete paralysis horizontal strabismus. Patients achieve orthophoria, improvement of the motor ability, and larger field of binocular single vision for long time.

  12. Boron removal in radioactive liquid waste by forward osmosis membrane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doo Seong Hwang; Hei Min Choi; Kune Woo Lee; Jei Kwon Moon [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-07-01

    This study investigated the treatment of boric acid contained in liquid radioactive waste using a forward osmosis membrane. The boron permeation through the membrane depends on the type of membrane, membrane orientation, pH of the feed solution, salt and boron concentration in the feed solution, and osmotic pressure of the draw solution. The boron flux begins to decline from pH 7 and increases with an increase of the osmotic driving force. The boron flux decreases slightly with the salt concentration, but is not heavily influenced by a low salt concentration. The boron flux increases linearly with the concentration of boron. No element except for boron was permeated through the FO membrane in the multi-component system. The maximum boron flux is obtained in an active layer facing a draw solution orientation of the CTA-ES membrane under conditions of less than pH 7 and high osmotic pressure. (authors)

  13. Theoretical modeling for optimizing horizontal production well placement in thermal recovery environments to maximize recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bourgeois, D.J. [Schlumberger Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-07-01

    Heavy oil has a high viscosity and a low API gravity rating. Since it is difficult to get a fluid of this nature to flow, enhanced oil recovery techniques are required to extract the oil from the reservoir. Thermal recovery strategies such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and cyclic steam injection stimulation (CSS) can be used. These techniques involve injecting steam into a formation which heats up the fluid in place decreasing its viscosity and allowing it to flow into the producing well bore. In order to maximize hydrocarbon recovery from this type of geological environment, the placement of the horizontal production well bore relative to the base of the reservoir is important. In conventional oil and gas plays, well placement methods involving directional deep resistivity logging while drilling (DDR-LWD) measurements to map formation contacts while drilling have enabled wells to be placed relative to formation boundaries. This paper discussed a study that presented some theoretical resistivity inversion and forward modeling results generated from a three-dimensional geocellular model to confirm that this evolving DDR-LWD technology may be applicable to western Canada's Athabasca heavy oil drilling environments. The paper discussed the effect of well bore position, thermal recovery, and pro-active well placement. Resistivity modeling work flow was also presented. It was concluded that being able to drill a horizontal production well relative to the base of the formation could help minimize abandoned oil ultimately leading to better recovery. 4 refs., 8 figs.

  14. Horizontal drilling in a natural gas storage horizon of 4 m thickness using reservoir navigation technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bastert, Thomas [E.ON Gas Storage GmbH, Essen (Germany); Liewert, Mathias; Rohde, Uwe [Baker Hughes INTEQ GmbH, Celle (Germany); Haberland, Joachim

    2010-09-15

    With a working gas capacity of 1,44 billion m{sup 3} (Vn) the natural gas storage facility at Bierwang is one of the largest storage facilities of E.ON Gas Storage (in Germany) and also one of the largest porous rock storages in Germany. The natural gas is stored in the tertiary storage horizons of the Chattian Hauptsand and Nebensand. To increase the storage capacity a second development well was planned for the Chattian Nebensand II (approx. 1680 m below ground). Following a comprehensive technical investigation the BW 502 well was planned as a horizontal well intended to provide a 300 m exposed section length through the reservoir. In a first step a pilot well was drilled to examine the Nebensand II which had been explored only to a limited extent before; the pilot well was also to provide accurate data on depth, thickness and dip. The results obtained indicated that the Nebensand II was only 4 m thick instead of 6 m as originally assumed. An azimuthal LWD resistivity tool was therefore used for reservoir navigation to allow horizontal drilling despite the lower thickness found. The technology allowed drilling of the horizontal well over its entire length of 315 m within a max. 1.5 m corridor relative to the reservoir top. Drilling confirmed that the actual formation found corresponded to the reservoir formation plan. Drilling operations were completed successfully. The well has been commissioned in the spring of 2010. (orig.)

  15. Forward Detectors in ATLAS: ALFA, ZDC and LUCID

    CERN Document Server

    Fabbri, L; The ATLAS collaboration

    2009-01-01

    In order to determine the experimental cross sections for the observed physics processes, an estimation of the absolute luminosity is needed. In fact a careful study of “well known” processes will be one of the first steps of the LHC experiments as it can provide possible signatures of new physics which consist in deviations with respect to the Standard Model (SM) predictions. The methodologies for luminosity monitoring and total cross section estimation at the LHC will be reviewed in this talk along with the dedicated detectors of the ATLAS experiment. ATLAS will make extensive usage of the detectors in the forward region each one with a different task: LUCID (LUminosity measurement using Cherenkov Integrating Detector) is a system of 40 (2 x 20) Cherenkov tubes, surrounding the beam pipe at about 17 m from the interaction region. It will be able to monitor the collision-by-collision luminosity by detecting and counting the number of charged particles coming from the impact point. ALFA (Absolute Luminosi...

  16. Experimental device, corresponding forward model and processing of the experimental data using wavelet analysis for tomographic image reconstruction applied to eddy current nondestructive evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joubert, P.Y.; Madaoui, N.

    1999-01-01

    In the context of eddy current non destructive evaluation using a tomographic image reconstruction process, the success of the reconstruction depends not only on the choice of the forward model and of the inversion algorithms, but also on the ability to extract the pertinent data from the raw signal provided by the sensor. We present in this paper, an experimental device designed for imaging purposes, the corresponding forward model, and a pre-processing of the experimental data using wavelet analysis. These three steps implemented with an inversion algorithm, will allow in the future to perform image reconstruction of 3-D flaws. (authors)

  17. Demonstration of a utility industry horizontal drilling system: Horizontal well AMH-5 installation report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-01-01

    The Department of Energy's Office of Technology Development initiated an integrated demonstration of innovative technologies and systems for cleanup of VOCs in soils and groundwater at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in 1989. The overall goal of the program is demonstration of multiple technologies and systems in the fields of drilling, characterization, monitoring, and remediation at a single test bed. Innovative technologies are compared to one another and to baseline technologies in terms of technical performance and cost effectiveness. Transfer of successfully demonstrated technologies and systems to DOE environmental restoration organizations, to other government agencies, and to industry is a critical part of the program. Directional drilling has been shown to be a successful technique for enhancing access to the subsurface, thus improving remediation systems, especially remediation systems which perform in situ. Demonstration of an innovative directional drilling system at the Integrated Demonstration Site at the SRS, was initiated in June of 1992. The directional drilling system was designed to install an in situ remediation system. The drilling system is an experimental compaction/dry drilling technique developed by Charles Machine Works (Ditch Witch reg-sign) of Perry, Oklahoma. A horizontal well was installed in the M Area of the SRS below and parallel to an abandoned tile process sewer line. The installation of the horizontal well was a two-part process. Part one consisted of drilling the borehole, and part two was the horizontal well completion

  18. Feasibility studies for the Forward Spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biernat, Jacek

    2015-01-01

    The Forward Spectrometer designed for the P-barANDA detector will consist of many different detector systems allowing for precise track reconstruction and particle identification. Feasibility studies for Forward Spectrometer done by means of specific reactions will be presented. In the first part of the paper, results of simulations focussing on rate estimates of the tracking stations based on straw tubes will be presented. Next, the importance of the Forward Tracker will be demonstrated through the reconstruction of the ψ(4040) → DD-bar decay. Finally, results from the analysis of the experimental data collected with a straw tube prototype designed and constructed at the Research Center in Juelich will be discussed. (paper)

  19. Unsteady free surface flow in porous media: One-dimensional model equations including vertical effects and seepage face

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Nucci, Carmine

    2018-05-01

    This note examines the two-dimensional unsteady isothermal free surface flow of an incompressible fluid in a non-deformable, homogeneous, isotropic, and saturated porous medium (with zero recharge and neglecting capillary effects). Coupling a Boussinesq-type model for nonlinear water waves with Darcy's law, the two-dimensional flow problem is solved using one-dimensional model equations including vertical effects and seepage face. In order to take into account the seepage face development, the system equations (given by the continuity and momentum equations) are completed by an integral relation (deduced from the Cauchy theorem). After testing the model against data sets available in the literature, some numerical simulations, concerning the unsteady flow through a rectangular dam (with an impermeable horizontal bottom), are presented and discussed.

  20. Vacuum horizontal drainage for depressurization of uranium tailings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pakalnis, R.; Chedsey, G.; Robertson, A.M.; Follin, S.

    1985-01-01

    A recent advance in tailings slope depressurization is the application of vacuum assist horizontal drainage. Horizontal drains have been used for several decades to reduce water pressures in slopes in order to improve stability. The benefit from vacuum assist arises from an increased hydraulic gradient caused by induced negative atmospheric pressures. The vacuum assist system has, since its inception in 1982, been successfully employed at two soil and four rock slope projects located in Western Canada. This paper describes the first application of this system in the United States. The technical feasibility of employing vacuum assisted horizontal drains to depressurize a uranium tailings dam near Riverton, Wyoming has been evaluated. Two horizontal drains (300 ft.) were installed and their effect monitored by nine piezometers. The study was conducted over a three-week internal with vacuum being applied for three and four day periods. The drawdowns achieved through vacuum drainage was found to be approximately double that obtained by gravity alone. The volume of water exhausted under vacuum during the seven day interval was approximately double that obtained by gravity alone