First Operational Experience With a High-Energy Physics Run Control System Based on Web Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Gerry; Beccati, Barbara; Behrens, Ulf; Biery, Kurt; Branson, James; Bukowiec, Sebastian; Cano, Eric; Cheung, Harry; Ciganek, Marek; Cittolin, Sergio; Coarasa Perez, Jose Antonio; Deldicque, Christian; Erhan, Samim; Gigi, Dominique; Glege, Frank; Gomez-Reino, Robert; Gulmini, Michele; Hatton, Derek; Hwong, Yi Ling; Loizides, Constantin; Ma, Frank; Masetti, Lorenzo; Meijers, Frans; Meschi, Emilio; Meyer, Andreas; Mommsen, Remigius K.; Moser, Roland; O'Dell, Vivian; Oh, Alexander; Orsini, Luciano; Paus, Christoph; Petrucci, Andrea; Pieri, Marco; Racz, Attila; Raginel, Olivier; Sakulin, Hannes; Sani, Matteo; Schieferdecker, Philipp; Schwick, Christoph; Shpakov, Dennis; Simon, Michal; Sumorok, Konstanty; Yoon, Andre Sungho

2012-08-01

Run control systems of modern high-energy particle physics experiments have requirements similar to those of today's Internet applications. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) collaboration at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) therefore decided to build the run control system for its detector based on web technologies. The system is composed of Java Web Applications distributed over a set of Apache Tomcat servlet containers that connect to a database back-end. Users interact with the system through a web browser. The present paper reports on the successful scaling of the system from a small test setup to the production data acquisition system that comprises around 10.000 applications running on a cluster of about 1600 hosts. We report on operational aspects during the first phase of operation with colliding beams including performance, stability, integration with the CMS Detector Control System and tools to guide the operator.

Experience with the CAIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tighe, Michael F.

1986-01-01

Intermetrics' experience is that the Ada package construct, which allows separation of specification and implementation allows specification of a CAIS that is transportable across varying hardware and software bases. Additionally, the CAIS is an excellent basis for providing operating system functionality to Ada applications. By allowing the Byron APSE to be moved easily from system to system, and allowing significant re-writes of underlying code. Ada and the CAIS provide portability as well as transparency to change at the application operating system interface level.

Terminal-area STOL operating systems experiments program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, D. W.; Watson, D.; Christensen, J. V.

1972-01-01

A system study to determine the application of short takeoff aircraft for a high speed, short haul air transportation service was conducted. The study focused on developing information which will aid in choosing system concepts, design criteria, operating procedures, landing guidance systems, air traffic control systems, and airborne avionics and flight control systems. A terminal area STOL operating system experiments program was developed. The objectives, program approach, program schedule, typical experiments, research facilities to be used, and program status are discussed.

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite - Performance, Reliability and Lessons Learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krawczyk, Richard J.; Ignaczak, Louis R.

2000-01-01

The Advanced Communications Satellite (ACTS) was conceived and developed in the mid- 1980s as an experimental satellite to demonstrate unproven Ka-band technology, and potential new commercial applications and services. Since launch into geostationary orbit in September 1993. ACTS has accumulated almost seven years of essentially trouble-free operation and met all program objectives. The unique technology, service experiments. and system level demonstrations accomplished by ACTS have been reported in many forums over the past several years. As ACTS completes its final experiments activity, this paper will relate the top-level program goals that have been achieved in the design, operation, and performance of the particular satellite subsystems. Pre-launch decisions to ensure satellite reliability and the subsequent operational experiences contribute to lessons learned that may be applicable to other comsat programs.

STS-4 test mission simulates operational flight: President terms success golden spike in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

The fourth Space Shuttle flight is summarized. STS certification as operational, applications experiments, experiments involving crew, the first Getaway Special, a lightning survey. Shuttle environment measurement, prelaunch rain and hail, loss of solid rocket boosters, and modification of the thermal test program are reviewed.

Development of flight experiment work performance and workstation interface requirements, part 1. Technical report and appendices A through G

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hatterick, R. G.

1973-01-01

A skill requirement definition method was applied to the problem of determining, at an early stage in system/mission definition, the skills required of on-orbit crew personnel whose activities will be related to the conduct or support of earth-orbital research. The experiment data base was selected from proposed experiments in NASA's earth orbital research and application investigation program as related to space shuttle missions, specifically those being considered for Sortie Lab. Concepts for two integrated workstation consoles for Sortie Lab experiment operations were developed, one each for earth observations and materials sciences payloads, utilizing a common supporting subsystems core console. A comprehensive data base of crew functions, operating environments, task dependencies, task-skills and occupational skills applicable to a representative cross section of earth orbital research experiments is presented. All data has been coded alphanumerically to permit efficient, low cost exercise and application of the data through automatic data processing in the future.

Database usage and performance for the Fermilab Run II experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bonham, D.; Box, D.; Gallas, E.

2004-12-01

The Run II experiments at Fermilab, CDF and D0, have extensive database needs covering many areas of their online and offline operations. Delivering data to users and processing farms worldwide has represented major challenges to both experiments. The range of applications employing databases includes, calibration (conditions), trigger information, run configuration, run quality, luminosity, data management, and others. Oracle is the primary database product being used for these applications at Fermilab and some of its advanced features have been employed, such as table partitioning and replication. There is also experience with open source database products such as MySQL for secondary databasesmore » used, for example, in monitoring. Tools employed for monitoring the operation and diagnosing problems are also described.« less

An evaluation of SEASAT-A candidate ocean industry economic verification experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

A description of the candidate economic verification experiments which could be performed with SEASAT is provided. Experiments have been identified in each of the areas of ocean-based activity that are expected to show an economic impact from the use of operational SEASAT data. Experiments have been identified in the areas of Arctic operations, the ocean fishing industry, the offshore oil and natural gas industry, as well as ice monitoring and coastal zone applications.

MSFC Doppler Lidar Science experiments and operations plans for 1981 airborne test flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fichtl, G. H.; Bilbro, J. W.; Kaufman, J. W.

1981-01-01

The flight experiment and operations plans for the Doppler Lidar System (DLS) are provided. Application of DLS to the study of severe storms and local weather penomena is addressed. Test plans involve 66 hours of flight time. Plans also include ground based severe storm and local weather data acquisition.

Electrophoresis operations in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richman, D. W.

1982-01-01

Application of electrophoresis in space processing is described. Spaceborne experiments in areas such as biological products and FDA approved drugs are discussed. These experiments will be carried on shuttle payloads.

Synthetic Vision Enhanced Surface Operations With Head-Worn Display for Commercial Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Bailey, Randall E.; Norman, R. M.

2007-01-01

Experiments and flight tests have shown that airport surface operations can be enhanced by using synthetic vision and associated technologies, employed on a Head-Up Display (HUD) and head-down display electronic moving maps (EMM). Although HUD applications have shown the greatest potential operational improvements, the research noted that two major limitations during ground operations were its monochrome form and limited, fixed field-of-regard. A potential solution to these limitations may be the application of advanced Head Worn Displays (HWDs) particularly during low-visibility operations wherein surface movement is substantially limited because of the impaired vision of pilots and air traffic controllers. The paper describes the results of ground simulation experiments conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center. The results of the experiments showed that the fully integrated HWD concept provided significantly improved path performance compared to using paper charts alone. When comparing the HWD and HUD concepts, there were no statistically-significant differences in path performance or subjective ratings of situation awareness and workload. Implications and directions for future research are described.

SEASAT - A candidate ocean industry economic verification experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, B. P.

1976-01-01

The economic benefits of an operational SEASAT system are discussed in the areas of marine transportation, offshore oil and natural gas exploration and development, ocean fishing, and Arctic operations. A description of the candidate economic verification experiments which could be performed with SEASAT-A is given. With the exception of the area of Arctic operations, experiments have been identified in each of the areas of ocean based activity that are expected to show an economic impact from the use of operational SEASAT data. Experiments have been identified in the areas of the offshore oil and natural gas industry, as well as ice monitoring and coastal zone applications. Emphasis has been placed on the identification and the development of those experiments which meet criteria for: (1) end user participation; (2) SEASAT-A data utility; (3) measurability of operational parameters to demonstrate economic effect; and (4) non-proprietary nature of results.

Dynamic System Simulation of the KRUSTY Experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klein, Steven Karl; Kimpland, Robert Herbert

2016-05-09

The proposed KRUSTY experiment is a demonstration of a reactor operating at power. The planned experimental configuration includes a highly enriched uranium (HEU) reflected core, cooled by multiple heat pipes leading to Stirling engines for primary heat rejection. Operating power is expected to be approximately four (4) to five (5) kilowatts with a core temperature above 1,000 K. No data is available on any historical reactor employing HEU metal that operated over the temperature range required for the KRUSTY experiment. Further, no reactor has operated with heat pipes as the primary cooling mechanism. Historic power reactors have employed either naturalmore » or forced convection so data on their operation is not directly applicable to the KRUSTY experiment. The primary purpose of the system model once developed and refined by data from these component experiments, will be used to plan the KRUSTY experiment. This planning will include expected behavior of the reactor from start-up, through various transient conditions where cooling begins to become present and effective, and finally establishment of steady-state. In addition, the model can provide indicators of anticipated off-normal events and appropriate operator response to those conditions. This information can be used to develop specific experiment operating procedures and aids to guide the operators in conduct of the experiment.« less

Experimenting with C2 Applications and Federated Infrastructures for Integrated Full-Spectrum Operational Environments in Support of Collaborative Planning and Interoperable Execution

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

Situation Understanding) Common Operational Pictures Planning & Decision Support Capabilities Message & Order Processing Common Operational...Pictures Planning & Decision Support Capabilities Message & Order Processing Common Languages & Data Models Modeling & Simulation Domain

Open-set speaker identification with diverse-duration speech data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karadaghi, Rawande; Hertlein, Heinz; Ariyaeeinia, Aladdin

2015-05-01

The concern in this paper is an important category of applications of open-set speaker identification in criminal investigation, which involves operating with short and varied duration speech. The study presents investigations into the adverse effects of such an operating condition on the accuracy of open-set speaker identification, based on both GMMUBM and i-vector approaches. The experiments are conducted using a protocol developed for the identification task, based on the NIST speaker recognition evaluation corpus of 2008. In order to closely cover the real-world operating conditions in the considered application area, the study includes experiments with various combinations of training and testing data duration. The paper details the characteristics of the experimental investigations conducted and provides a thorough analysis of the results obtained.

Earth Viewing Applications Laboratory (EVAL). Instrument catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

There were 87 instruments described that are used in earth observation, with an additional 51 instruments containing references to programs and their major functions. These instruments were selected from such sources as: (1) earth observation flight program, (2) operational satellite improvement programs, (3) advanced application flight experiment program, (4) shuttle experiment definition program, and (5) earth observation aircraft program.

ERTS-C (Landsat 3) cryogenic heat pipe experiment definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brennan, P. J.; Kroliczek, E. J.

1975-01-01

A flight experiment designed to demonstrate current cryogenic heat pipe technology was defined and evaluated. The experiment package developed is specifically configured for flight aboard an ERTS type spacecraft. Two types of heat pipes were included as part of the experiment package: a transporter heat pipe and a thermal diode heat pipe. Each was tested in various operating modes. Performance data obtained from the experiment are applicable to the design of cryogenic systems for detector cooling, including applications where periodic high cooler temperatures are experienced as a result of cyclic energy inputs.

Shuttle free-flying teleoperator system experiment definition. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The applicability and utility of a free-flying teleoperator system were evaluated to support future earth orbital missions, specific emphasis on the early missions of the space shuttle. In-flight experiments and tests were specified, which will provide sufficient experience and data applicable to the development of future operational systems. The difinition of a useful early experimental system is presented, which will be checked out and used with early shuttle missions.

Development of display design and command usage guidelines for Spacelab experiment computer applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dodson, D. W.; Shields, N. L., Jr.

1979-01-01

Individual Spacelab experiments are responsible for developing their CRT display formats and interactive command scenarios for payload crew monitoring and control of experiment operations via the Spacelab Data Display System (DDS). In order to enhance crew training and flight operations, it was important to establish some standardization of the crew/experiment interface among different experiments by providing standard methods and techniques for data presentation and experiment commanding via the DDS. In order to establish optimum usage guidelines for the Spacelab DDS, the capabilities and limitations of the hardware and Experiment Computer Operating System design had to be considered. Since the operating system software and hardware design had already been established, the Display and Command Usage Guidelines were constrained to the capabilities of the existing system design. Empirical evaluations were conducted on a DDS simulator to determine optimum operator/system interface utilization of the system capabilities. Display parameters such as information location, display density, data organization, status presentation and dynamic update effects were evaluated in terms of response times and error rates.

Skylab: A chronology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newkirk, R. W.; Ertel, I. D.; Brooks, C. G.

1977-01-01

The Skylab Program was specifically designed to conduct a series of experiments from beyond the earth's atmosphere. Since the number and types of experiments conducted during the operational phase of Skylab were constantly changing, rather than encumber the body of the chronology with these changes, a lengthy appendix on experiments is included in this document. This appendix identifies the principle investigators and coinvestigators; gives the types, numbers, and descriptions of the experiments; explains the purpose of the various experiments; and, where possible, gives the results or findings of the experiments. The body of the Skylab chronology is divided into three parts; early space station activities, Apollo applications, and Skylab development and operations.

ORATOS: ESA's future flight dynamics operations system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dreger, Frank; Fertig, Juergen; Muench, Rolf

The Orbit and Attitude Operations System (ORATOS -- the European Space Agency's future orbit and attitude operations system -- will be in use from the mid-nineties until well beyond the year 2000. The ORATOS design is based on the experience from flight dynamics support to all past ESA missions. The ORATOS computer hardware consists of a network of powerful UNIX workstations. ORATOS resides on several hardware platforms, each comprising one or more fileservers, several client workstations and the associated communications interface hardware. The ORATOS software is structured into three layers. The flight dynamics applications layer, the support layer and the operating system layer. This architectural design separates the flight dynamics application software from the support tools and operating system facilities. It allows upgrading and replacement of operating system facilities with a minimum (or no) effect on the application layer.

Mobile Computing for Aerospace Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alena, Richard; Swietek, Gregory E. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

The use of commercial computer technology in specific aerospace mission applications can reduce the cost and project cycle time required for the development of special-purpose computer systems. Additionally, the pace of technological innovation in the commercial market has made new computer capabilities available for demonstrations and flight tests. Three areas of research and development being explored by the Portable Computer Technology Project at NASA Ames Research Center are the application of commercial client/server network computing solutions to crew support and payload operations, the analysis of requirements for portable computing devices, and testing of wireless data communication links as extensions to the wired network. This paper will present computer architectural solutions to portable workstation design including the use of standard interfaces, advanced flat-panel displays and network configurations incorporating both wired and wireless transmission media. It will describe the design tradeoffs used in selecting high-performance processors and memories, interfaces for communication and peripheral control, and high resolution displays. The packaging issues for safe and reliable operation aboard spacecraft and aircraft are presented. The current status of wireless data links for portable computers is discussed from a system design perspective. An end-to-end data flow model for payload science operations from the experiment flight rack to the principal investigator is analyzed using capabilities provided by the new generation of computer products. A future flight experiment on-board the Russian MIR space station will be described in detail including system configuration and function, the characteristics of the spacecraft operating environment, the flight qualification measures needed for safety review, and the specifications of the computing devices to be used in the experiment. The software architecture chosen shall be presented. An analysis of the performance characteristics of wireless data links in the spacecraft environment will be discussed. Network performance and operation will be modeled and preliminary test results presented. A crew support application will be demonstrated in conjunction with the network metrics experiment.

High-power S-band experiment study: Objectives, description, planning and operation of experiment for ATS-G spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walp, R. M.

1972-01-01

The results of a study to develop and define requirements for the high power S-band experiment for the ATS-G are summarized. The objectives of the experiment are: (1) to demonstrate high power technology at S-band frequencies in orbiting spacecraft, (2) to employ high power carrier from the spacecraft for conducting interference measurements with Instructional Television Fixed Service systems, and (3) to provide means for performing educationally oriented applications experiments. Experiment organization and operation, and hardware for flight on the ATS-G spacecraft are described. Earth stations designed for the experiment as well as other special ground equipment are also described.

High speed systems for time-resolved experiments with synchrotron radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koziol, Anna; Maj, Piotr

2018-02-01

The UFXC32k is a single photon counting hybrid pixel detector with 75 μm pixel pitch. It was designed to cope with high X-ray intensities and therefore it is a very good candiate for synchrotron applications. In order to use this detector in an application, a dedicated setup must be designed and built allowing proper operation of the detector within the experiment. The paper presents two setups built for the purpose of Pump-Probe-Probe experiments at the Synchrotron SOLEIL and XPCS experiments at the APS.

Use of a FORTH-based PROLOG for real-time expert systems. 1: Spacelab life sciences experiment application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paloski, William H.; Odette, Louis L.; Krever, Alfred J.; West, Allison K.

1987-01-01

A real-time expert system is being developed to serve as the astronaut interface for a series of Spacelab vestibular experiments. This expert system is written in a version of Prolog that is itself written in Forth. The Prolog contains a predicate that can be used to execute Forth definitions; thus, the Forth becomes an embedded real-time operating system within the Prolog programming environment. The expert system consists of a data base containing detailed operational instructions for each experiment, a rule base containing Prolog clauses used to determine the next step in an experiment sequence, and a procedure base containing Prolog goals formed from real-time routines coded in Forth. In this paper, we demonstrate and describe the techniques and considerations used to develop this real-time expert system, and we conclude that Forth-based Prolog provides a viable implementation vehicle for this and similar applications.

Modular space station Phase B extension preliminary performance specification. Volume 2: Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The four systems of the modular space station project are described, and the interfaces between this project and the shuttle project, the tracking and data relay satellite project, and an arbitrarily defined experiment project are defined. The experiment project was synthesized from internal experiments, detached research and application modules, and attached research and application modules to derive a set of interface requirements which will support multiple combinations of these elements expected during the modular space station mission. The modular space station project element defines a 6-man orbital program capable of growth to a 12-man orbital program capability. The modular space station project element specification defines the modular space station system, the premission operations support system, the mission operations support system, and the cargo module system and their interfaces.

5 CFR 890.203 - Application for approval of, and proposal of amendments to, health benefit plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 20415. Application letters must be accompanied by any descriptive material, financial data, or other... operating experience to enable OPM to realistically evaluate the plan's past and expected future performance...

5 CFR 890.203 - Application for approval of, and proposal of amendments to, health benefit plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 20415. Application letters must be accompanied by any descriptive material, financial data, or other... operating experience to enable OPM to realistically evaluate the plan's past and expected future performance...

5 CFR 890.203 - Application for approval of, and proposal of amendments to, health benefit plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 20415. Application letters must be accompanied by any descriptive material, financial data, or other... operating experience to enable OPM to realistically evaluate the plan's past and expected future performance...

5 CFR 890.203 - Application for approval of, and proposal of amendments to, health benefit plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 20415. Application letters must be accompanied by any descriptive material, financial data, or other... operating experience to enable OPM to realistically evaluate the plan's past and expected future performance...

5 CFR 890.203 - Application for approval of, and proposal of amendments to, health benefit plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 20415. Application letters must be accompanied by any descriptive material, financial data, or other... operating experience to enable OPM to realistically evaluate the plan's past and expected future performance...

Application of Computers for Experiment Design, Data Acquisition, and Analysis in the Chemistry Laboratory

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-05-01

Obtain Thermistor Operating Characteristics ................................. 82 25. Ag+/Ci" Thermometric Titration ........................... 85 26...Experiment Program for Thermometric Titrations ............... 85 27. Appearance of the Spreadsheet in the Analysis Mode ............ 86 28...rate experiments, carbon dioxide exhalation monitoring, stream turbidity measurement, photosynthesis monitoring, pendulum timing, thermometric titrations

Space Processing Applications Rocket project, SPAR 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Experiment objectives, design/operational concepts, and final results are summarized for six materials science experiments conducted during the second space processing applications rocket mission flown by NASA. The individual experiments discussed are: (1) solidification of Pb-Sb eutectic; (2) feasibility of producing closed-cell metal foams; (3) direct observation of dendrite remelting and macrosegregation in castings; (4) agglomeration in immiscible liquids; (5) casting dispersion - strengthened composites at zero gravity; and (6) solidification behavior of Al-In alloys under zero gravity conditions.

Space Processing Applications Rocket project SPAR III

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reeves, F.

1978-01-01

This document presented the engineering report and science payload III test report and summarized the experiment objectives, design/operational concepts, and final results of each of five scientific experiments conducted during the third Space Processing Applications Rocket (SPAR) flight flown by NASA in December 1976. The five individual SPAR experiments, covering a wide and varied range of scientific materials processing objectives, were entitled: Liquid Mixing, Interaction of Bubbles with Solidification Interfaces, Epitaxial Growth of Single Crystal Film, Containerless Processing of Beryllium, and Contact and Coalescence of Viscous Bodies.

EVAL mission requirements, phase 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The aspects of NASA's applications mission were enhanced by utilization of shuttle/spacelab, and payload groupings which optimize the cost of achieving the mission goals were defined. Preliminary Earth Viewing Application Laboratory (EVAL) missions, experiments, sensors, and sensor groupings were developed. The major technological EVAL themes and objectives which NASA will be addressing during the 1980 to 2,000 time period were investigated. Missions/experiments which addressed technique development, sensor development, application development, and/or operational data collection were considered as valid roles for EVAL flights.

Industrial Application Experiments on the Neutron Imaging Instrument DINGO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garbe, Ulf; Ahuja, Yogita; Ibrahim, Ralph; Li, Huijun; Aldridge, Laurie; Salvemini, Filomena; Paradowska, Anna Ziara

The new neutron radiography / tomography / imaging instrument DINGO is operational since October 2014 to support the area of neutron imaging research at ANSTO. The instrument is designed for a diverse community in areas like defense, industrial, cultural heritage and archaeology applications. In the field of industrial application it provides a useful tool for studying cracking and defects in concrete or other structural material. Since being operational we gathered experience with industrial applications and commercial customers demanding beam time on DINGO. The instrument is a high flux facility with is 5.3 × 107 [n/(cm2s)] (confirmed by gold foil activation) for an L/D of approximately 500 at HB-2. A special feature of DINGO is the in-pile collimator position in front of the main shutter at HB-2. The collimator offers two pinholes with a possible L/D of 500 and 1000. A secondary collimator separates the two beams by blocking one and positions another aperture for the other beam. The neutron beam size can be adjusted to the sample size from 50 × 50 mm2 to 200 × 200 mm2 with a resulting pixel size from 27 μm to ∼100 μm. The whole instrument operates in two different positions, one for high resolution and one for high speed. We would like to present our first experience with commercial customers, scientific proposals with industrial applications and how to be customer ready.

ACTS Ka-Band Earth Stations: Technology, Performance, and Lessons Learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reinhart, Richard C.; Struharik, Steven J.; Diamond, John J.; Stewart, David

2000-01-01

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Project invested heavily in prototype Ka-band satellite ground terminals to conduct an experiments program with the ACTS satellite. The ACTS experiment's program proposed to validate Ka-band satellite and ground station technology. demonstrate future telecommunication services. demonstrate commercial viability and market acceptability of these new services, evaluate system networking and processing technology, and characterize Ka-band propagation effects, including development of techniques to mitigate signal fading. This paper will present a summary of the fixed ground terminals developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center and its industry partners, emphasizing the technology and performance of the terminals (Part 1) and the lessons learned throughout their six year operation including the inclined orbit phase of operations (Full Report). An overview of the Ka-band technology and components developed for the ACTS ground stations is presented. Next. the performance of the ground station technology and its evolution during the ACTS campaign are discussed to illustrate the technical tradeoffs made during the program and highlight technical advances by industry to support the ACTS experiments program and terminal operations. Finally. lessons learned during development and operation of the user terminals are discussed for consideration of commercial adoption into future Ka-band systems. The fixed ground stations used for experiments by government, academic, and commercial entities used reflector based offset-fed antenna systems ranging in size from 0.35m to 3.4m antenna diameter. Gateway earth stations included two systems, referred to as the NASA Ground Station (NGS) and the Link Evaluation Terminal (LET). The NGS provides tracking, telemetry, and control (TT&C) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network control functions. The LET supports technology verification and high data rate experiments. The ground stations successfully demonstrated many services and applications at Ka-band in three different modes of operation: circuit switched TDMA using the satellite on-board processor, satellite switched SS-TDMA applications using the on-board Microwave Switch Matrix (MSM), and conventional transponder (bent-pipe) operation. Data rates ranged from 4.8 kbps up to 622 Mbps. Experiments included: 1) low rate (4.8- 1 00's kbps) remote data acquisition and control using small earth stations, 2) moderate rate (1-45 Mbps) experiments included full duplex voice and video conferencing and both full duplex and asymmetric data rate protocol and network evaluation using mid-size ground stations, and 3) link characterization experiments and high data rate (155-622 Mbps) terrestrial and satellite interoperability application experiments conducted by a consortium of experimenters using the large transportable ground stations.

Space processing applications rocket project SPAR 4, engineering report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reeves, F. (Compiler)

1980-01-01

The materials processing experiments in space, conducted on the SPAR 4 Black Brant VC rocket, are described and discussed. The SPAR 4 payload configuration, the rocket performance, and the flight sequence are reported. The results, analyses, and anomalies of the four experiments are discussed. The experiments conducted were the uniform dispersions of crystallization processing, the contained polycrstalline solidification in low gravity, the containerless processing of ferromagnetic materials, and the containerless processing technology. The instrumentation operations, payload power relay anomaly, relay postflight operational test, and relay postflight shock test are reported.

Experience with ActiveX control for simple channel access

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Timossi, C.; Nishimura, H.; McDonald, J.

2003-05-15

Accelerator control system applications at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS) are typically deployed on operator consoles running Microsoft Windows 2000 and utilize EPICS[2]channel access for data access. In an effort to accommodate the wide variety of Windows based development tools and developers with little experience in network programming, ActiveX controls have been deployed on the operator stations. Use of ActiveX controls for use in the accelerator control environment has been presented previously[1]. Here we report on some of our experiences with the use and development of these controls.

The embedded operating system project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, R. H.

1984-01-01

This progress report describes research towards the design and construction of embedded operating systems for real-time advanced aerospace applications. The applications concerned require reliable operating system support that must accommodate networks of computers. The report addresses the problems of constructing such operating systems, the communications media, reconfiguration, consistency and recovery in a distributed system, and the issues of realtime processing. A discussion is included on suitable theoretical foundations for the use of atomic actions to support fault tolerance and data consistency in real-time object-based systems. In particular, this report addresses: atomic actions, fault tolerance, operating system structure, program development, reliability and availability, and networking issues. This document reports the status of various experiments designed and conducted to investigate embedded operating system design issues.

Application of satellite pictures to census operations. Bolivian experience in census-taking of population and residences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The use of photographs from satellites to assist in census operations is discussed. Principles of selecting the sources of cartographic information are outlined, and the use of LANDSAT pictures in census cartography is examined.

Applied Operations Research: Augmented Reality in an Industrial Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cole, Stuart K.

2015-01-01

Augmented reality is the application of computer generated data or graphics onto a real world view. Its use provides the operator additional information or a heightened situational awareness. While advancements have been made in automation and diagnostics of high value critical equipment to improve readiness, reliability and maintenance, the need for assisting and support to Operations and Maintenance staff persists. AR can improve the human machine interface where computer capabilities maximize the human experience and analysis capabilities. NASA operates multiple facilities with complex ground based HVCE in support of national aerodynamics and space exploration, and the need exists to improve operational support and close a gap related to capability sustainment where key and experienced staff consistently rotate work assignments and reach their expiration of term of service. The initiation of an AR capability to augment and improve human abilities and training experience in the industrial environment requires planning and establishment of a goal and objectives for the systems and specific applications. This paper explored use of AR in support of Operation staff in real time operation of HVCE and its maintenance. The results identified include identification of specific goal and objectives, challenges related to availability and computer system infrastructure.

46 CFR 11.467 - Endorsement as operators of uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 gross tons.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...-months experience in the operation of vessels, including at least three-months service on vessels... waters, an applicant must have 12-months service on Great Lakes or inland waters, including at least three-months service operating vessels on Great Lakes waters. (e) For an endorsement as OUPV on inland...

NASA/ESA CV-990 spacelab simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Due to interest in the application of simplified techniques used to conduct airborne science missions at NASA's Ames Research Center, a joint NASA/ESA endeavor was established to conduct an extensive Spacelab simulation using the NASA CV-990 airborne laboratory. The scientific payload was selected to perform studies in upper atmospheric physics and infrared astronomy with principal investigators from France, the Netherlands, England, and several groups from the United States. Communication links between the 'Spacelab' and a ground based mission operations center were limited consistent with Spacelab plans. The mission was successful and provided extensive data relevant to Spacelab objectives on overall management of a complex international payload; experiment preparation, testing, and integration; training for proxy operation in space; data handling; multiexperimenter use of common experimenter facilities (telescopes); multiexperiment operation by experiment operators; selection criteria for Spacelab experiment operators; and schedule requirements to prepare for such a Spacelab mission.

A cyclic ground test of an ion auxiliary propulsion system: Description and operational considerations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ling, Jerri S.; Kramer, Edward H.

1988-01-01

The Ion Auxiliary Propulsion System (IAPS) experiment is designed for launch on an Air Force Space Test Program satellite (NASA-TM-78859; AIAA Paper No. 78-647). The primary objective of the experiment is to flight qualify the 8 cm mercury ion thruster system for stationkeeping applications. Secondary objectives are measuring the interactions between operating ion thruster systems and host spacecraft, and confirming the design performance of the thruster systems. Two complete 8 cm mercury ion thruster subsystems will be flown. One of these will be operated for 2557 on and off cycles and 7057 hours at full thrust. Tests are currently under way in support of the IAPS flight experiment. In this test an IAPS thruster is being operated through a series of startup/run/shut-down cycles which simulate thruster operation during the planned flight experiment. A test facility description and operational considerations of this testing using an engineering model 8 cm thruster (S/N 905) is the subject of this paper. Final results will be published at a later date when the ground test has been concluded.

Surface electrical properties experiment, part 1. [flown on Apollo 17

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strangway, D. W.; Annan, A. P.; Redman, J. D.; Rossiter, J. R.; Rylaarsdam, J. A.; Watts, R. D.

1974-01-01

The work is reported which was performed on the Surface Electrical Properties Experiment Data Acquisition System. Areas discussed include: data handling and processing, installation and external signal application, operation of the equipment, and digital output. Detailed circuit descriptions are included.

Satellite-aided mobile communications, experiments, applications and prospects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, R. E.; Frey, R. L.; Lewis, J. R.; Milton, R. T.

1980-01-01

NASA's ATS-series of satellites were used in a series of communications and position fixing experiments with automotive vehicles, ships and aircraft. Applications of the communications were demonstrated and evaluated for public services including law enforcement, search and rescue, and medical emergency, and for commercial uses in the land and maritime transportation industries. The technical success of the experiments and the demonstrated potential value of the communications prompted a study that concluded an operational satellite-aided system would be a valuable augmentation of planned trunking or cellular type terrestrial mobile radio telephone systems.

NASTRAN: User's Experiences. [conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Papers given at the colloquium are presented. Topics discussed include NASTRAN status and plans, computer operations, thermal analysis, NASTRAN applications, vibrations, dynamics, and finite element analysis.

Solar thermal storage applications program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peila, W. C.

1982-12-01

The efforts of the Storage Applications Program are reviewed. The program concentrated on the investigation of storage media and evaluation of storage methods. Extensive effort was given to experimental and analytical investigations of nitrate salts. Two tasks are the preliminary design of a 1200 MW/sub th/ system and the design, construction, operation, and evaluation of a subsystem research experiment, which utilized the same design. Some preliminary conclusions drawn from the subsystem research experiment are given.

Operation of a Radar Altimeter over the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grund, Matthew D.

1996-01-01

This thesis presents documentation for the Advanced Application Flight Experiment (AAFE) pulse compression radar altimeter and its role in the NASA Multisensor Airborne Altimetry Experiment over Greenland in 1993. The AAFE Altimeter is a Ku-band microwave radar which has demonstrated 14 centimeter range precision in operation over arctic ice. Recent repairs and improvements were required to make the Greenland missions possible. Transmitter, receiver and software modifications, as well as the integration of a GPS receiver are thoroughly documented. Procedures for installation, and operation of the radar are described. Finally, suggestions are made for further system improvements.

Managing Algorithmic Skeleton Nesting Requirements in Realistic Image Processing Applications: The Case of the SKiPPER-II Parallel Programming Environment's Operating Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coudarcher, Rémi; Duculty, Florent; Serot, Jocelyn; Jurie, Frédéric; Derutin, Jean-Pierre; Dhome, Michel

2005-12-01

SKiPPER is a SKeleton-based Parallel Programming EnviRonment being developed since 1996 and running at LASMEA Laboratory, the Blaise-Pascal University, France. The main goal of the project was to demonstrate the applicability of skeleton-based parallel programming techniques to the fast prototyping of reactive vision applications. This paper deals with the special features embedded in the latest version of the project: algorithmic skeleton nesting capabilities and a fully dynamic operating model. Throughout the case study of a complete and realistic image processing application, in which we have pointed out the requirement for skeleton nesting, we are presenting the operating model of this feature. The work described here is one of the few reported experiments showing the application of skeleton nesting facilities for the parallelisation of a realistic application, especially in the area of image processing. The image processing application we have chosen is a 3D face-tracking algorithm from appearance.

Space Environments Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leucht, David K.; Koslosky, Marie J.; Kobe, David L.; Wu, Jya-Chang C.; Vavra, David A.

2011-01-01

The Space Environments Testbed (SET) is a flight controller data system for the Common Carrier Assembly. The SET-1 flight software provides the command, telemetry, and experiment control to ground operators for the SET-1 mission. Modes of operation (see dia gram) include: a) Boot Mode that is initiated at application of power to the processor card, and runs memory diagnostics. It may be entered via ground command or autonomously based upon fault detection. b) Maintenance Mode that allows for limited carrier health monitoring, including power telemetry monitoring on a non-interference basis. c) Safe Mode is a predefined, minimum power safehold configuration with power to experiments removed and carrier functionality minimized. It is used to troubleshoot problems that occur during flight. d) Operations Mode is used for normal experiment carrier operations. It may be entered only via ground command from Safe Mode.

European dry cooling tower operating experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

DeSteese, J.G.; Simhan, K.

1976-03-01

Interviews were held with representatives of major plants and equipment manufacturers to obtain current information on operating experience with dry cooling towers in Europe. The report documents the objectives, background, and organizational details of the study, and presents an itemized account of contacts made to obtain information. Plant selection was based on a merit index involving thermal capacity and length of service. A questionnaire was used to organize operational data, when available, into nine major categories of experience. Information was also solicited concerning the use of codes and standards to ensure the achievement of cooling tower performance. Several plant operatorsmore » provided finned-tube samples for metallographic analysis. Additionally, information on both operating experience and developing technology was supplied by European technical societies and research establishments. Information obtained from these contacts provides an updated and representative sample of European experience with dry cooling towers, which supplements some of the detailed reviews already available in the literature. In addition, the study presents categorized operating experience with installations which have not been reviewed so extensively, but nevertheless, have significant operational histories when ranked by the merit index. The contacts and interviews reported in the survey occurred between late March and October 1975. The study was motivated by the expressed interest of U.S. utility industry representatives who expect European experience to provide a basis of confidence that dry cooling is a reliable technology, applicable when necessary, to U.S. operating requirements.« less

Department of Defense Space Technology Guide

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

Projected Applications, which summarizes a more detailed range of near -term experiments , demonstrations and developmental activities – Opportunities for...upon new, even smaller classes of spacecraft known generically as microsatellites. Near -term microsat experiments and technology demonstrations are...Additional projects with sensors hosted on both operational and experimental spacecraft to measure and characterize the upper atmosphere Experiment ACTD

Preliminary analysis of WL experiment number 701: Space environment effects on operating fiber optic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, E. W.; Padden, R. J.; Berry, J. N.; Sanchez, A. D.; Chapman, S. P.

1991-01-01

A brief overview of the analysis performed on WL Experiment number 701 is presented, highlighting the successful operation of the first know active fiber optic links orbited in space. Four operating fiber optic links were exposed to the space environment for a period exceeding five years, situated aboard and external to the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Despite the prolonged space exposure to radiation, wide temperature extremums, atomic oxygen interactions, and micrometeorite and debris impacts, the optical data links performed well within specification limits. Early Phillips Laboratory tests and analyses performed on the experiment and its recovered magnetic tape data strongly indicate that fiber optic application in space will have a high success rate.

49 CFR 380.301 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...-Training Program must be for the operation of CMVs representative of the subject matter that he/she will... instructor; (3) Possess a valid Class A CDL with all endorsements necessary to operate the CMVs applicable to...' CMV driving experience in a vehicle representative of the type of driver training to be provided (LCV...

49 CFR 380.301 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-Training Program must be for the operation of CMVs representative of the subject matter that he/she will... instructor; (3) Possess a valid Class A CDL with all endorsements necessary to operate the CMVs applicable to...' CMV driving experience in a vehicle representative of the type of driver training to be provided (LCV...

49 CFR 380.301 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...-Training Program must be for the operation of CMVs representative of the subject matter that he/she will... instructor; (3) Possess a valid Class A CDL with all endorsements necessary to operate the CMVs applicable to...' CMV driving experience in a vehicle representative of the type of driver training to be provided (LCV...

49 CFR 380.301 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...-Training Program must be for the operation of CMVs representative of the subject matter that he/she will... instructor; (3) Possess a valid Class A CDL with all endorsements necessary to operate the CMVs applicable to...' CMV driving experience in a vehicle representative of the type of driver training to be provided (LCV...

47 CFR 13.201 - Qualifying for a commercial operator license or endorsement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... satisfactory knowledge of FCC rules and must have the ability to send correctly and receive correctly spoken...) Applicant must have one year of experience in sending and receiving public correspondence by radiotelegraph at a public coast station, a ship station, or both. (2) Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator's...

Immersive environment technologies for planetary exploration with applications for mixed reality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, J.; Hartman, F.; Cooper, B.

2002-01-01

Immersive environments are successfully being used to support mission operations at JPL. This technology contributed to the Mars Pathfinder Mission in planning sorties for the Sojourner rover. Results and operational experiences with these tools are being incorporated into the development of the second generation of mission planning tools.

47 CFR 13.201 - Qualifying for a commercial operator license or endorsement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... satisfactory knowledge of FCC rules and must have the ability to send correctly and receive correctly spoken...) Applicant must have one year of experience in sending and receiving public correspondence by radiotelegraph at a public coast station, a ship station, or both. (2) Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator's...

Research Issues in Image Registration for Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eastman, Roger D.; LeMoigne, Jacqueline; Netanyahu, Nathan S.

2007-01-01

Image registration is an important element in data processing for remote sensing with many applications and a wide range of solutions. Despite considerable investigation the field has not settled on a definitive solution for most applications and a number of questions remain open. This article looks at selected research issues by surveying the experience of operational satellite teams, application-specific requirements for Earth science, and our experiments in the evaluation of image registration algorithms with emphasis on the comparison of algorithms for subpixel accuracy. We conclude that remote sensing applications put particular demands on image registration algorithms to take into account domain-specific knowledge of geometric transformations and image content.

10 CFR 39.13 - Specific licenses for well logging.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... applicant will use to demonstrate the logging supervisor's knowledge and understanding of and ability to... and understanding of and ability to comply with the applicant's operating and emergency procedures. (c... performing the analysis; and (3) Pertinent experience of the person who will analyze the wipe samples. ...

Red vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) for consumer applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duggan, Geoffrey; Barrow, David A.; Calvert, Tim; Maute, Markus; Hung, Vincent; McGarvey, Brian; Lambkin, John D.; Wipiejewski, Torsten

2008-02-01

There are many potential applications of visible, red (650nm - 690nm) vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) including high speed (Gb) communications using plastic optical fiber (POF), laser mouse sensors, metrology, position sensing. Uncertainty regarding the reliability of red VCSELs has long been perceived as the most significant roadblock to their commercialization. In this paper we will present data on red VCSELs optimized for performance and reliability that will allow exploitation of this class of VCSEL in a wide range of high volume consumer, communication and medical applications. VCSELs operating at ~665nm have been fabricated on 4" GaAs substrates using MOCVD as the growth process and using standard VCSEL processing technology. The active region is AlGaInP-based and the DBR mirrors are made from AlGaAs. Threshold currents are typically less than 2mA, the devices operate up to >60C and the light output is polarized in a stable, linear characteristic over all normal operating conditions. The 3dB modulation bandwidth of the devices is in excess of 3GHz and we have demonstrated the operation of a transceiver module operating at 1.25Gb/s over both SI-POF and GI-POF. Ageing experiments carried out using a matrix of current and temperature stress conditions allows us to estimate that the time to failure of 1% of devices (TT1%F) is over 200,000h for reasonable use conditions - making these red VCSELs ready for commercial exploitation in a variety of consumer-type applications. Experiments using appropriate pulsed driving conditions have resulted in operation of 665nm VCSELs at a temperature of 85°C whilst still offering powers useable for eye-safe free space and POF communications.

Laboratory for Computer Science Progress Report 19, 1 July 1981-30 June 1982.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-05-01

Multiprocessor Architectures 202 4. TRIX Operating System 209 5. VLSI Tools 212 ’SYSTEMATIC PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, 221 1. Introduction 222 2. Specification...exploring distributed operating systems and the architecture of single-user powerful computers that are interconnected by communication networks. The...to now. In particular, we expect to experiment with languages, operating systems , and applications that establish the feasibility of distributed

Development of an on-line aqueous particle sensor to study the performance of inclusions in a 12 tonne, delta shaped full scale water model tundish

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Abhishek

Detection of particulate matter thinly dispersed in a fluid medium with the aid of the difference in electrical conductivity between the pure fluid and the particles has been practiced at least since the last 50 to 60 years. The first such instruments were employed to measure cell counts in samples of biological fluid. Following a detailed study of the physics and principles operating within the device, called the Electric Sensing Zone (ESZ) principle, a new device called the Liquid Metal Cleanliness Analyzer (LiMCA) was invented which could measure and count particles of inclusions in molten metal. It provided a fast and fairly accurate tool to make online measurement of the quality of steel during refining and casting operations. On similar lines of development as the LiMCA, a water analogue of the device called, the Aqueous Particle Sensor (APS) was developed for physical modeling experiments of metal refining operations involving water models. The APS can detect and measure simulated particles of inclusions added to the working fluid (water). The present study involves the designing, building and final application of a new and improved APS in water modeling experiments to study inclusion behavior in a tundish operation. The custom built instrument shows superior performance and applicability in experiments involving physical modeling of metal refining operations, compared to its commercial counterparts. In addition to higher accuracy and range of operating parameters, its capability to take real-time experimental data for extended periods of time helps to reduce the total number of experiments required to reach a result, and makes it suitable for analyzing temporal changes occurring in unsteady systems. With the modern impetus on the quality of the final product of metallurgical operations, the new APS can prove to be an indispensable research tool to study and put forward innovative design and parametric changes in industrially practised metallurgical operations.

Understanding Integrated STEM Science Instruction through Experiences of Teachers and Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, Margery

2017-01-01

Integrated STEM education comprises an exploration of the interconnections between science, technology, engineering and mathematics in order to reflect on how each discipline operates within real world contexts. Students benefit from the integrated STEM approach because it values students' real-life experiences and hands-on applications that…

Digital Libraries--Methods and Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Kuo Hung, Ed.

2011-01-01

Digital library is commonly seen as a type of information retrieval system which stores and accesses digital content remotely via computer networks. However, the vision of digital libraries is not limited to technology or management, but user experience. This book is an attempt to share the practical experiences of solutions to the operation of…

10 CFR 39.13 - Specific licenses for well logging.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... applicant will use to demonstrate the logging supervisor's knowledge and understanding of and ability to... and understanding of and ability to comply with the applicant's operating and emergency procedures. (c... performing the analysis; and (3) Pertinent experience of the person who will analyze the wipe samples. [52 FR...

10 CFR 39.13 - Specific licenses for well logging.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... applicant will use to demonstrate the logging supervisor's knowledge and understanding of and ability to... and understanding of and ability to comply with the applicant's operating and emergency procedures. (c... performing the analysis; and (3) Pertinent experience of the person who will analyze the wipe samples. [52 FR...

10 CFR 39.13 - Specific licenses for well logging.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... applicant will use to demonstrate the logging supervisor's knowledge and understanding of and ability to... and understanding of and ability to comply with the applicant's operating and emergency procedures. (c... performing the analysis; and (3) Pertinent experience of the person who will analyze the wipe samples. [52 FR...

75 FR 51239 - Application(s) for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instruments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-19

... electrically conduction as well as insulation nanostructures prepared by in situ deposition onto clean surfaces. In-situ capacities allow the preparation of clean and well-defined nanostructures on pristine... these experiments. The instrument also has in-situ preparation capability and the ability to operate in...

Testing Done for Lorentz Force Accelerators and Electrodeless Propulsion Technology Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pencil, Eric J.; Gilland, James H.; Arrington, Lynn A.; Kamhawi, Hani

2004-01-01

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing Lorentz force accelerators and electrodeless plasma propulsion for a wide variety of space applications. These applications range from precision control of formation-flying spacecraft to primary propulsion for very high power interplanetary spacecraft. The specific thruster technologies being addressed are pulsed plasma thrusters, magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters, and helicon-electron cyclotron resonance acceleration thrusters. The pulsed plasma thruster mounted on the Earth Observing-1 spacecraft was operated successfully in orbit in 2002. The two-axis thruster system is fully incorporated in the attitude determination and control system and is being used to automatically counteract disturbances in the pitch axis of the spacecraft. Recent on-orbit operations have focused on extended operations to add flight operation time to the total accumulated thruster life. The results of the experiments pave the way for electric propulsion applications on future Earth-imaging satellites.

Rationale, Scenarios, and Profiles for the Application of the Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) in Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benbenek, Daniel B.; Walsh, William

2010-01-01

This greenbook captures some of the current, planned and possible future uses of the Internet Protocol (IP) as part of Space Operations. It attempts to describe how the Internet Protocol is used in specific scenarios. Of primary focus is low-earth-orbit space operations, which is referred to here as the design reference mission (DRM). This is because most of the program experience drawn upon derives from this type of mission. Application profiles are provided. This includes parameter settings programs have proposed for sending IP datagrams over CCSDS links, the minimal subsets and features of the IP protocol suite and applications expected for interoperability between projects, and the configuration, operations and maintenance of these IP functions. Of special interest is capturing the lessons learned from the Constellation Program in this area, since that program included a fairly ambitious use of the Internet Protocol.

Establishing and running a trauma and dissociation unit: a contemporary experience.

PubMed

Middleton, Warwick; Higson, David

2004-12-01

To evaluate the functioning of a trauma and dissociation unit that has run for the past 8 years in a private hospital, with particular regard to operating philosophy, operating parameters, challenges encountered, research and educational initiatives, and the applicability of the treatment model to other settings. Despite the challenges associated with significant difficulties in the corporate management of a private health-care system, it has been possible to operate an inpatient and day hospital programme tailored to the needs of patients in the dissociative spectrum, and the lessons learnt from this experience are valid considerations in the future planning of mental health services overall.

Water-cooled, high-intensity ultrasound surgical applicators with frequency tracking.

PubMed

Martin, Roy W; Vaezy, Shahram; Proctor, Andrew; Myntti, Terrence; Lee, Janelle B J; Crum, Lawrence A

2003-10-01

High-intensity, focused ultrasound (HIFU) applicators have been developed for arresting bleeding with the ultimate intent of use in surgery. The design uses a tapered titanium component for transmission coupling of the ultrasound energy from a spherically curved transducer to biological tissues. The nominal operating frequency is 5.5 MHz, in a highly resonant mode (quality factor of 327 with water load). Liquid cooling is used to remove energy loss important at net applied power greater than 18 W/cm2 at the surface of the piezoelectric element. A downward resonance frequency shift (>20 kHz) occurs, even with cooling, as the applicator warms with normal operation. A feedback technique is used for maintaining the excitation near optimum resonance. Standing wave ratios of the applied power of 1.6 or less are thus sustained. The system and applicators have been found to be highly robust, effective in achieving hemostasis in the hemorrhaging liver, spleen, lung, or blood vessels in rabbit and pig experiments. One unit has been operated for over 1.7 hours in treating organ hemorrhage in blunt trauma experiments with nine swine with electrical net power of up to 158 W (31 W/cm2 across the transducer) and intensity of 2560 W/cm2 at focus.

Implementation issues for a compact 6 degree of freedom force reflecting handcontroller with cueing of modes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobus, Heidi; Riggs, Alan J.; Jacobus, Charles; Weinstein, Yechiel

1991-01-01

Teleoperated control requires a master human interface device that can provide haptic input and output which reflect the responses of a slave robotic system. The effort reported in this paper addresses the design and prototyping of a six degree-of-freedom (DOF) Cartesian coordinate hand controller for this purpose. The device design recommended is an XYZ stage attached to a three-roll wrist which positions a flight-type handgrip. Six degrees of freedom are transduced and control brushless DC motor servo electronics similar in design to those used in computer controlled robotic manipulators. This general approach supports scaled force, velocity, and position feedback to aid an operator in achieving telepresence. The generality of the device and control system characteristics allow the use of inverse dynamics robotic control methodology to project slave robot system forces and inertias to the operator (in scaled form) and at the same time to reduce the apparent inertia of the robotic handcontroller itself. The current control design, which is not multiple fault tolerant, can be extended to make flight control or space use possible. The proposed handcontroller will have advantages in space-based applications where an operator must control several robot arms in a simultaneous and coordinated fashion. It will also have applications in intravehicular activities (within the Space Station) such as microgravity experiments in metallurgy and biological experiments that require isolation from the astronauts' environment. For ground applications, the handcontroller will be useful in underwater activities where the generality of the proposed handcontroller becomes an asset for operation of many different manipulator types. Also applications will emerge in the Military, Construction, and Maintenance/Manufacturing areas including ordnance handling, mine removal, NBC (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological) operations, control of vehicles, and operating strength and agility enhanced machines. Future avionics applications including advanced helicopter and aircraft control may also become important.

Experimental operation of a sodium heat pipe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holtz, R. E.; McLennan, G. A.; Koehl, E. R.

1985-05-01

This report documents the operation of a 28 in. long sodium heat pipe in the Heat Pipe Test Facility (HPTF) installed at Argonne National Laboratory. Experimental data were collected to simulate conditions prototypic of both a fluidized bed coal combustor application and a space environment application. Both sets of experiment data show good agreement with the heat pipe analytical model. The heat transfer performance of the heat pipe proved reliable over a substantial period of operation and over much thermal cycling. Additional testing of longer heat pipes under controlled laboratory conditions will be necessary to determine performance limitations and to complete the design code validation.

Problem-Based Learning for Production and Operations Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanet, John J.; Barut, Mehmet

2003-01-01

In this paper, we describe our application of "problem-based learning" in the teaching of production/operations management. We describe a study of the effectiveness of this approach and present the results and analysis of this study. We provide a collection of our experiences in using this method and conclude with some general…

Exploiting analytics techniques in CMS computing monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonacorsi, D.; Kuznetsov, V.; Magini, N.; Repečka, A.; Vaandering, E.

2017-10-01

The CMS experiment has collected an enormous volume of metadata about its computing operations in its monitoring systems, describing its experience in operating all of the CMS workflows on all of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid Tiers. Data mining efforts into all these information have rarely been done, but are of crucial importance for a better understanding of how CMS did successful operations, and to reach an adequate and adaptive modelling of the CMS operations, in order to allow detailed optimizations and eventually a prediction of system behaviours. These data are now streamed into the CERN Hadoop data cluster for further analysis. Specific sets of information (e.g. data on how many replicas of datasets CMS wrote on disks at WLCG Tiers, data on which datasets were primarily requested for analysis, etc) were collected on Hadoop and processed with MapReduce applications profiting of the parallelization on the Hadoop cluster. We present the implementation of new monitoring applications on Hadoop, and discuss the new possibilities in CMS computing monitoring introduced with the ability to quickly process big data sets from mulltiple sources, looking forward to a predictive modeling of the system.

Head and neck trauma in Iraq and Afghanistan: different war, different surgery, lessons learned.

PubMed

Brennan, Joseph

2013-10-01

The objectives are to compare and contrast the head and neck trauma experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and to identify trauma lessons learned that are applicable to civilian practice. A retrospective review of one head and neck surgeon's operative experience in Iraq and Afghanistan was performed using operative logs and medical records. The surgeon's daily operative log book with patient demographic data and operative reports was reviewed. Also, patient medical records were examined to identify the preoperative and postoperative course of care. The head and neck trauma experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan were very different, with a higher percentage of emergent cases performed in Iraq. In Iraq, only 10% of patients were pretreated at a facility with surgical capabilities. In Afghanistan, 93% of patients were pretreated at such facilities. Emergent neck exploration for penetrating neck trauma and emergent airway surgery were more common in Iraq, which most likely accounted for the increased perioperative mortality also seen in Iraq (5.3% in Iraq vs. 1.3% in Afghanistan). Valuable lessons regarding soft tissue trauma repair, midface fracture repair, and mandible fracture repair were learned. The head and neck trauma experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan were very different, and the future training for mass casualty trauma events should reflect these differences. Furthermore, valuable head and neck trauma lessons learned in both war zones are applicable to the civilian practice of trauma. Level 4. Copyright © 2013 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Phase 1 of the First Small Power System Experiment (engineering Experiment No. 1). Volume 4: Commercial System Definition. [development and testing of a solar thermal power plant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holl, R. J.

1979-01-01

The development and design of a modular solar thermal power system for application in the 1 to 10 MWe range is described. The system is used in remote utility applications, small communities, rural areas, and for industrial uses. The operational reliability, the minimum risk of failure, and the maintenance and repair characteristics are determined and the commercial system design is defined.

Object library for a new generation of experiment-controlling applications under the UNIX operating system.

PubMed

Gaponov, Y A; Ito, K; Amemiya, Y

1998-05-01

The Interface Object Library based on the Motif extension of the X Windows system and on the ESONE SVIC-VCC Library is presented. Some features of the applications for controlling a synchrotron radiation experiment are discussed. The Interface Object Library is written in the object-oriented C++ language. The library class-hierarchy structure is presented and discussed. Several interfaces were realized in the Interface Object Library: the Windows interface, the CAMAC interface and the interface for supporting the experiment. The behaviour of the objects describing the CAMAC crate and CAMAC block is discussed. The application of these protocols for controlling the fast one-coordinate position-sensitive X-ray detector OD3 is presented.

[APPLICATION OF COMPRESSION MINI-SCREWS IN TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH INJURY OF ELBOW JOINT BONES].

PubMed

Neverov, V A; Egorov, K S

2015-01-01

A case report presents the experience of application of compression pileateless mini-screws (Gerbert's screws) in treatment of intra-articular fractures, which formed the elbow joint (44 cases). There were performed 32 operations concerning fracture of head of radius, 10 operations on the occasion of fractures of distal section of the humerus and 2 operations on the coronoid process. Long-term treatment results were followed-up in 31 patients during more than 6 months. On basis of analysis of treatment results the authors made a conclusion that the application of mini-screws in case of bone fractures, which formed the elbow joint, allowed realization of stable osteosynthesis after anatomic reposition of articular surfaces, obtaining good anatomical and functional result and shortened the terms of patient's treatment.

Comparative Performance Analysis of Intel Xeon Phi, GPU, and CPU: A Case Study from Microscopy Image Analysis

PubMed Central

Teodoro, George; Kurc, Tahsin; Kong, Jun; Cooper, Lee; Saltz, Joel

2014-01-01

We study and characterize the performance of operations in an important class of applications on GPUs and Many Integrated Core (MIC) architectures. Our work is motivated by applications that analyze low-dimensional spatial datasets captured by high resolution sensors, such as image datasets obtained from whole slide tissue specimens using microscopy scanners. Common operations in these applications involve the detection and extraction of objects (object segmentation), the computation of features of each extracted object (feature computation), and characterization of objects based on these features (object classification). In this work, we have identify the data access and computation patterns of operations in the object segmentation and feature computation categories. We systematically implement and evaluate the performance of these operations on modern CPUs, GPUs, and MIC systems for a microscopy image analysis application. Our results show that the performance on a MIC of operations that perform regular data access is comparable or sometimes better than that on a GPU. On the other hand, GPUs are significantly more efficient than MICs for operations that access data irregularly. This is a result of the low performance of MICs when it comes to random data access. We also have examined the coordinated use of MICs and CPUs. Our experiments show that using a performance aware task strategy for scheduling application operations improves performance about 1.29× over a first-come-first-served strategy. This allows applications to obtain high performance efficiency on CPU-MIC systems - the example application attained an efficiency of 84% on 192 nodes (3072 CPU cores and 192 MICs). PMID:25419088

Remote sensing in operational range management programs in Western Canada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, M. D.

1977-01-01

A pilot program carried out in Western Canada to test remote sensing under semi-operational conditions and display its applicability to operational range management programs was described. Four agencies were involved in the program, two in Alberta and two in Manitoba. Each had different objectives and needs for remote sensing within its range management programs, and each was generally unfamiliar with remote sensing techniques and their applications. Personnel with experience and expertise in the remote sensing and range management fields worked with the agency personnel through every phase of the pilot program. Results indicate that these agencies have found remote sensing to be a cost effective tool and will begin to utilize remote sensing in their operational work during ensuing seasons.

The development and manufacture of wood composite wind turbine rotors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zuteck, M. D.

1982-01-01

The physical properties, operational experience, and construction methods of the wood/epoxy composite MOD 0A wind turbine blades are considered. Blades of this type have accumulated over 10,000 hours of successful operation at the Kahuku, Hawaii and Block Island, Rhode Island test sites. That body of experience is summarized and related to the structural concepts and design drivers which motivated the original design and choice of interior layout. Actual manufacturing experience and associated low first unit costs for these blades, as well as projections for high production rates, are presented. Application of these construction techniques to a wide range of other blade sizes is also considered.

Case studies from Oman for coiled tubing deployed completion techniques

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Taylor, R.W.; Conrad, B.

1996-09-01

Although the use of ultra-large coiled tubing to complete wells is relatively new, it is gaining widespread industry application. This paper will detail the equipment necessary to perform an operation of this type and will present information from several case studies in Oman in which an operator has successfully deployed completion equipment on 3-1/2-inch-OD coiled tubing. In addition to a discussion of the equipment required to perform the necessary operations, the trial parameters that were established by this operator will be given. The information presented has been selected to allow an initial evaluation to be made of coiled tubing completionsmore » in general and will help to determine whether this method can prove to be less expensive than traditional rig-based completions. The topics presented have been chosen to provide the reader with a thorough understanding of the techniques and preparation needed to execute a coiled tubing completion. The summary of experiences will conclude that this innovative completion technique can be a viable method for completing wells. Although long-term advantages regarding production and well maintenance cannot yet be determined, the operator`s experiences to date have confirmed his initial belief that use of coiled tubing in ultra-large continuous-pipe applications can be cost effective.« less

User's guide for the IEBT application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartoletti, T

INFOSEC Experience-Based Training (IEBT) is a simulation and modeling approach to education in the arena of information security issues and its application to system-specific operations. The IEBT philosophy is that ''Experience is the Best Teacher''. This approach to computer-based training aims to bridge the gap between unappealing ''read the text, answer the questions'' types of training (largely a test of short-term memory), and the far more costly, time-consuming and inconvenient ''real hardware'' laboratory experience. Simulation and modeling supports this bridge by allowing the critical or salient features to be exercised while avoiding those aspects of a real world experience unrelatedmore » to the training goal.« less

Compendium of Applications Technology Satellite user experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engler, N. A.; Strange, J. D.; Hein, G. F.

1976-01-01

The achievements of the user experiments performed with ATS satellites from 1967 to 1973 are summarized. Included are fixed and mobile point to point communications experiments involving voice, teletype and facsimile transmissions. Particular emphasis is given to the Alaska and Hawaii satellite communications experiments. The use of the ATS satellites for ranging and position fixing of ships and aircraft is also covered. The structure and operating characteristics of the various ATS satellite are briefly described.

Operating manual for the Bulk Shielding Reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1983-04-01

The BSR is a pool-type reactor. It has the capabilities of continuous operation at a power level of 2 MW or at any desired lower power level. This manual presents descriptive and operational information. The reactor and its auxillary facilities are described from physical and operational viewpoints. Detailed operating procedures are included which are applicable from source-level startup to full-power operation. Also included are procedures relative to the safety of personnel and equipment in the areas of experiments, radiation and contamination control, emergency actions, and general safety. This manual supercedes all previous operating manuals for the BSR.

Operating manual for the Bulk Shielding Reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1987-03-01

The BSR is a pool-type reactor. It has the capabilities of continuous operation at a power level of 2 MW or at any desired lower power level. This manual presents descriptive and operational information. The reactor and its auxiliary facilities are described from physical and operational viewpoints. Detailed operating procedures are included which are applicable from source-level startup to full-power operation. Also included are procedures relative to the safety of personnel and equipment in the areas of experiments, radiation and contamination control, emergency actions, and general safety. This manual supersedes all previous operating manuals for the BSR.

An evaluation on CT image acquisition method for medical VR applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Seong-wook; Ko, Junho; Yoo, Yon-sik; Kim, Yoonsang

2017-02-01

Recent medical virtual reality (VR) applications to minimize re-operations are being studied for improvements in surgical efficiency and reduction of operation error. The CT image acquisition method considering three-dimensional (3D) modeling for medical VR applications is important, because the realistic model is required for the actual human organ. However, the research for medical VR applications has focused on 3D modeling techniques and utilized 3D models. In addition, research on a CT image acquisition method considering 3D modeling has never been reported. The conventional CT image acquisition method involves scanning a limited area of the lesion for the diagnosis of doctors once or twice. However, the medical VR application is required to acquire the CT image considering patients' various postures and a wider area than the lesion. A wider area than the lesion is required because of the necessary process of comparing bilateral sides for dyskinesia diagnosis of the shoulder, pelvis, and leg. Moreover, patients' various postures are required due to the different effects on the musculoskeletal system. Therefore, in this paper, we perform a comparative experiment on the acquired CT images considering image area (unilateral/bilateral) and patients' postures (neutral/abducted). CT images are acquired from 10 patients for the experiments, and the acquired CT images are evaluated based on the length per pixel and the morphological deviation. Finally, by comparing the experiment results, we evaluate the CT image acquisition method for medical VR applications.

DARLA: Data Assimilation and Remote Sensing for Littoral Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-30

measurements from the Surf Zone Optics (SZO) experiment in September, 2011. Since optical reflectance saturates for surf zone bubble depths greater than...Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents...pilot experiment at Duck, NC during the Surf Zone Optics DRI Experiment in September, 2010 and participated in planning of the upcoming RIVET DRI

Recent Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine aerodynamical experiments at Sandia National Laboratories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimas, P. C.

1981-01-01

Experiments contributing to the understanding of the aerodynamics of airfoils operating in the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) environment are described. These experiments are ultimately intended to reduce VAWT cost of energy and increase system reliability. They include chordwise pressure surveys, circumferential blade acceleration surveys, effects of blade camber, pitch and offset, blade blowing, and use of sections designed specifically for VAWT application.

Advanced Alarm Systems: Revision of Guidance and Its Technical Basis

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-11-01

was required to generalize from the unique aspects of individual experiments and studies to actual applications in the workplace . This is because...types of equipment used). For example , laboratory experiments often do not involve tasks of the complexity of NPP operations, and most experiments do...Cognitive Compatibility, Situation Awareness, Task Compatibility, and Timeliness. Figure 3.3 Example of an alarm system design review guideline Each

Development of IS2100: An Information Systems Laboratory.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-01

systems for digital logic; hardware architecture; machine, assembly, and high order language programming; and application packages such as database... applications and limitations. They should be able to define, demonstrate and/or discuss how computers are used, how they do their work, how to use them, and...limitations. Hands on operation of the hardware and software provides experience that aids in future selection of hardware systems and applications

Toward continuous glucose monitoring with planar modified biosensors and microdialysis. Study of temperature, oxygen dependence and in vivo experiment.

PubMed

Ricci, Francesco; Caprio, Felice; Poscia, Alessandro; Valgimigli, Francesco; Messeri, Dimitri; Lepori, Elena; Dall'Oglio, Giorgio; Palleschi, Giuseppe; Moscone, Danila

2007-04-15

Glucose biosensors based on the use of planar screen-printed electrodes modified with an electrochemical mediator and with glucose oxidase have been optimised for their application in the continuous glucose monitoring in diabetic patients. A full study of their operative stability and temperature dependence has been accomplished, thus giving useful information for in vivo applications. The effect of dissolved oxygen concentration in the working solution was also studied in order to evaluate its effect on the linearity of the sensors. Glucose monitoring performed with serum samples was performed to evaluate the effect of matrix components on operative stability and demonstrated an efficient behaviour for 72 h of continuous monitoring. Finally, these studies led to a sensor capable of detecting glucose at concentrations as low as 0.04 mM and with a good linearity up to 2.0 mM (at 37 degrees C) with an operative stability of ca. 72 h, thus demonstrating the possible application of these sensors for continuous glucose monitoring in conjunction with a microdialysis probe. Moreover, preliminary in vivo experiments for ca. 20 h have demonstrated the feasibility of this system.

Results of ultra-low level 71ge counting for application in the Gallex-solar neutrino experiment at the Gran Sasso Underground Physics Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hampel, W.; Heusser, G.; Huebner, M.; Kiko, J.; Kirsten, T.; Schneider, K.; Schlotz, R.

1985-01-01

It has been experimentally verified that the Ultra-Low-Level Counting System for the Gallex solar neutrino experiment is capable of measuring the expected solar up silon-flux to plus or minus 12% during two years of operation.

Parallel Electrochemical Treatment System and Application for Identifying Acid-Stable Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts

DOE PAGES

Jones, Ryan J. R.; Shinde, Aniketa; Guevarra, Dan; ...

2015-01-05

There are many energy technologies require electrochemical stability or preactivation of functional materials. Due to the long experiment duration required for either electrochemical preactivation or evaluation of operational stability, parallel screening is required to enable high throughput experimentation. We found that imposing operational electrochemical conditions to a library of materials in parallel creates several opportunities for experimental artifacts. We discuss the electrochemical engineering principles and operational parameters that mitigate artifacts int he parallel electrochemical treatment system. We also demonstrate the effects of resistive losses within the planar working electrode through a combination of finite element modeling and illustrative experiments. Operationmore » of the parallel-plate, membrane-separated electrochemical treatment system is demonstrated by exposing a composition library of mixed metal oxides to oxygen evolution conditions in 1M sulfuric acid for 2h. This application is particularly important because the electrolysis and photoelectrolysis of water are promising future energy technologies inhibited by the lack of highly active, acid-stable catalysts containing only earth abundant elements.« less

STS-26 MS Nelson operates controls for PVTOS-2 experiment on aft middeck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

STS-26 Mission Specialist (MS) George D. Nelson operates generic electronics module for the Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids 2 (PVTOS-2) experiment on Discovery's, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103's, aft middeck. PVTOS-2 consists of nine independent experimental cells about 12 inches long and 3 inches in diameter. They are mounted in a circular base plate inside the drum-like experimental apparatus container (EAC). PVTOS-2 is sponsored by NASA's Office of Commercial Programs and is being conducted by 3M's Space Research and Applications Laboratory.

Combined quantity management and biological treatment of sludge liquor at Hamburg's wastewater treatment plants--first experience in operation with the Store and Treat process.

PubMed

Laurich, F

2004-01-01

Store and Treat (SAT) is a new concept for the management of ammonium-rich process waste waters at wastewater treatment plants. It combines the advantages of quantity management and separate biological treatment, whereby both operations are carried out in the same tank. Now the first full-scale application of that method was realized in Hamburg. As first experience shows the process can help to increase nitrogen removal and to reduce energy consumption.

Interaction of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Water Resources Applications Project (WRAP) and Coordinated Enhanced Observing Project (CEOP) in Support of Water Resource Management and Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martz, L.

2004-05-01

The Water Resources Applications Project (WRAP) has been developed within the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) to facilitate the testing of GEWEX products and their transfer to operational water managers. The WRAP activity builds upon projects within the GEWEX Continental Scale Experiments (CSEs), and facilitates dialogue between these CSEs and their local water management communities regarding their information needs and opportunities for GEWEX products to meet those needs. Participating Continental Scale Experiments are located in the United States, the Mackenzie River Basin in Canada, the Amazon River Basin in Brazil, the Baltic Sea drainage area, eastern Asia and the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia. In addition, the development of WRAP is facilitating the transfer of techniques and demonstration projects to other areas through collaboration with IAHS, UNESCO/WMO HELP, WMO Hydrology and WWAP. The initiation of CEOP presents a significant new opportunity for collaborations to support the application of global hydro-climatological scientific data and techniques to water resource management. Some important scientific and operational issues identified by water resource management professionals in earlier workshops will be reviewed, some scientific initiatives needed to address these issues will be presented, and some case study examples of the application of GEWEX knowledge to water resource problems will be presented. Against this background, the unique opportunities that CEOP provides to improve our use and management of water resources globally will be discussed.

Applied Virtual Reality in Reusable Launch Vehicle Design, Operations Development, and Training

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hale, Joseph P.

1997-01-01

Application of Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers much promise to enhance and accelerate the development of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) infrastructure and operations while simultaneously reducing developmental and operational costs. One of the primary cost areas in the RLV concept that is receiving special attention is maintenance and refurbishment operations. To produce and operate a cost effective RLV, turnaround cost must be minimized. Designing for maintainability is a necessary requirement in developing RLVs. VR can provide cost effective methods to design and evaluate components and systems for maintenance and refurbishment operations. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is beginning to utilize VR for design, operations development, and design analysis for RLVs. A VR applications program has been under development at NASA/MSFC since 1989. The objectives of the MSFC VR Applications Program are to develop, assess, validate, and utilize VR in hardware development, operations development and support, mission operations training and science training. The NASA/MSFC VR capability has also been utilized in several applications. These include: 1) the assessment of the design of the late Space Station Freedom Payload Control Area (PCA), the control room from which onboard payload operations are managed; 2) a viewing analysis of the Tethered Satellite System's (TSS) "end-of-reel" tether marking options; 3) development of a virtual mockup of the International Space Welding Experiment for science viewing analyses from the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System elbow camera and as a trainer for ground controllers; and 4) teleoperations using VR. This presentation will give a general overview of the MSFC VR Applications Program and describe the use of VR in design analyses, operations development, and training for RLVs.

Proceedings of the conference on Coal Feeding Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Development of coal feed systems for coal gasification, fluidized bed combustion, and magnetohydrodynamic applications is discussed. Process operations experience, energy conversion efficiency, and environment effects are among the factors considered.

On the hitchhiker Robot Operated Materials Processing System: Experiment data system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kizhner, Semion; Jenstrom, Del

1995-01-01

The Space Shuttle Discovery STS-64 mission carried the first American autonomous robot into space, the Robot Operated Materials Processing System (ROMPS). On this mission ROMPS was the only Hitchhiker experiment and had a unique opportunity to utilize all Hitchhiker space carrier capabilities. ROMPS conducted rapid thermal processing of the one hundred semiconductor material samples to study how micro gravity affects the resulting material properties. The experiment was designed, built and operated by a small GSFC team in cooperation with industry and university based principal investigators who provided the material samples and data interpretation. ROMPS' success presents some valuable lessons in such cooperation, as well as in the utilization of the Hitchhiker carrier for complex applications. The motivation of this paper is to share these lessons with the scientific community interested in attached payload experiments. ROMPS has a versatile and intelligent material processing control data system. This paper uses the ROMPS data system as the guiding thread to present the ROMPS mission experience. It presents an overview of the ROMPS experiment followed by considerations of the flight and ground data subsystems and their architecture, data products generation during mission operations, and post mission data utilization. It then presents the lessons learned from the development and operation of the ROMPS data system as well as those learned during post-flight data processing.

Modified Petri net model sensitivity to workload manipulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, S. A.; Mackinnon, D. P.; Lyman, J.

1986-01-01

Modified Petri Nets (MPNs) are investigated as a workload modeling tool. The results of an exploratory study of the sensitivity of MPNs to work load manipulations in a dual task are described. Petri nets have been used to represent systems with asynchronous, concurrent and parallel activities (Peterson, 1981). These characteristics led some researchers to suggest the use of Petri nets in workload modeling where concurrent and parallel activities are common. Petri nets are represented by places and transitions. In the workload application, places represent operator activities and transitions represent events. MPNs have been used to formally represent task events and activities of a human operator in a man-machine system. Some descriptive applications demonstrate the usefulness of MPNs in the formal representation of systems. It is the general hypothesis herein that in addition to descriptive applications, MPNs may be useful for workload estimation and prediction. The results are reported of the first of a series of experiments designed to develop and test a MPN system of workload estimation and prediction. This first experiment is a screening test of MPN model general sensitivity to changes in workload. Positive results from this experiment will justify the more complicated analyses and techniques necessary for developing a workload prediction system.

FDNS CFD Code Benchmark for RBCC Ejector Mode Operation: Continuing Toward Dual Rocket Effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

West, Jeff; Ruf, Joseph H.; Turner, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis results are compared with benchmark quality test data from the Propulsion Engineering Research Center's (PERC) Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) experiments to verify fluid dynamic code and application procedures. RBCC engine flowpath development will rely on CFD applications to capture the multi -dimensional fluid dynamic interactions and to quantify their effect on the RBCC system performance. Therefore, the accuracy of these CFD codes must be determined through detailed comparisons with test data. The PERC experiments build upon the well-known 1968 rocket-ejector experiments of Odegaard and Stroup by employing advanced optical and laser based diagnostics to evaluate mixing and secondary combustion. The Finite Difference Navier Stokes (FDNS) code [2] was used to model the fluid dynamics of the PERC RBCC ejector mode configuration. Analyses were performed for the Diffusion and Afterburning (DAB) test conditions at the 200-psia thruster operation point, Results with and without downstream fuel injection are presented.

Space Processing Applications Rocket project, SPAR 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reeves, F. (Compiler); Chassay, R. (Compiler)

1976-01-01

The experiment objectives, design/operational concepts, and final results of each of nine scientific experiments conducted during the first Space Processing Applications Rocket (SPAR) flight are summarized. The nine individual SPAR experiments, covering a wide and varied range of scientific materials processing objectives, were entitled: solidification of Pb-Sb eutectic, feasibility of producing closed-cell metal foams, characterization of rocket vibration environment by measurement of mixing of two liquids, uniform dispersions of crystallization processing, direct observation of solidification as a function of gravity levels, casting thoria dispersion-strengthened interfaces, contained polycrystalline solidification, and preparation of a special alloy for manufacturing of magnetic hard superconductor under zero-g environment.

White Cliffs: Operating Experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaneff, S.

1984-01-01

The fourteen dish white cliffs solar power station area is remote and subject to extreme environmental conditions, solution of the associated problems required careful and thoughtful attention and the application of resources. Notwithstanding the wide range and harshness of conditions, the difficulties caused by remoteness and the lack of a technological base and the need for relatively rapid demonstration of success, the project has had a very positive outcome. Qualitative and quantitative information and lessons are now available to enable considerable simplifications to be made for a new system, reducing both hardware and operation and maintenance costs. Experience and lessons are presented, particularly in relation to: system performance in various environmental conditions; design philosophies for collectors, the array, control systems, engine and plant; operation and maintenance strategies and cost reducing possibilities. Experience so far gives encouragement for the future of such paraboloidal dish systems in appropriate areas.

Software Transition Project Retrospectives and the Application of SEL Effort Estimation Model and Boehm's COCOMO to Complex Software Transition Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNeill, Justin

1995-01-01

The Multimission Image Processing Subsystem (MIPS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has managed transitions of application software sets from one operating system and hardware platform to multiple operating systems and hardware platforms. As a part of these transitions, cost estimates were generated from the personal experience of in-house developers and managers to calculate the total effort required for such projects. Productivity measures have been collected for two such transitions, one very large and the other relatively small in terms of source lines of code. These estimates used a cost estimation model similar to the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) Effort Estimation Model. Experience in transitioning software within JPL MIPS have uncovered a high incidence of interface complexity. Interfaces, both internal and external to individual software applications, have contributed to software transition project complexity, and thus to scheduling difficulties and larger than anticipated design work on software to be ported.

Development of NASA's Accident Precursor Analysis Process Through Application on the Space Shuttle Orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maggio, Gaspare; Groen, Frank; Hamlin, Teri; Youngblood, Robert

2010-01-01

Accident Precursor Analysis (APA) serves as the bridge between existing risk modeling activities, which are often based on historical or generic failure statistics, and system anomalies, which provide crucial information about the failure mechanisms that are actually operative in the system. APA docs more than simply track experience: it systematically evaluates experience, looking for under-appreciated risks that may warrant changes to design or operational practice. This paper presents the pilot application of the NASA APA process to Space Shuttle Orbiter systems. In this effort, the working sessions conducted at Johnson Space Center (JSC) piloted the APA process developed by Information Systems Laboratories (ISL) over the last two years under the auspices of NASA's Office of Safety & Mission Assurance, with the assistance of the Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) Shuttle & Exploration Analysis Branch. This process is built around facilitated working sessions involving diverse system experts. One important aspect of this particular APA process is its focus on understanding the physical mechanism responsible for an operational anomaly, followed by evaluation of the risk significance of the observed anomaly as well as consideration of generalizations of the underlying mechanism to other contexts. Model completeness will probably always be an issue, but this process tries to leverage operating experience to the extent possible in order to address completeness issues before a catastrophe occurs.

Optimization of identity operation in NMR spectroscopy via genetic algorithm: Application to the TEDOR experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manu, V. S.; Veglia, Gianluigi

2016-12-01

Identity operation in the form of π pulses is widely used in NMR spectroscopy. For an isolated single spin system, a sequence of even number of π pulses performs an identity operation, leaving the spin state essentially unaltered. For multi-spin systems, trains of π pulses with appropriate phases and time delays modulate the spin Hamiltonian to perform operations such as decoupling and recoupling. However, experimental imperfections often jeopardize the outcome, leading to severe losses in sensitivity. Here, we demonstrate that a newly designed Genetic Algorithm (GA) is able to optimize a train of π pulses, resulting in a robust identity operation. As proof-of-concept, we optimized the recoupling sequence in the transferred-echo double-resonance (TEDOR) pulse sequence, a key experiment in biological magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR for measuring multiple carbon-nitrogen distances. The GA modified TEDOR (GMO-TEDOR) experiment with improved recoupling efficiency results in a net gain of sensitivity up to 28% as tested on a uniformly 13C, 15N labeled microcrystalline ubiquitin sample. The robust identity operation achieved via GA paves the way for the optimization of several other pulse sequences used for both solid- and liquid-state NMR used for decoupling, recoupling, and relaxation experiments.

Application of AI techniques to blast furnace operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Iida, Osamu; Ushijima, Yuichi; Sawada, Toshiro

1995-10-01

It was during the first stages of application of artificial intelligence (AI) to industrial fields, that the ironmaking division of Mizushima works at Kawasaki Steel recognized its potential. Since that time, the division has sought applications for these techniques to solve various problems. AI techniques applied to control the No. 3 blast furnace operations at the Mizushima works include: Blast furnace control by a diagnostic type of expert system that gives guidance to the actions required for blast furnace operation as well as control of furnace heat by automatically setting blast temperature; Hot stove combustion control by a combination ofmore » fuzzy inference and a physical model to insure good thermal efficiency of the stove; and blast furnace burden control using neural networks makes it possible to connect the pattern of gas flow distribution with the condition of the furnace. Experience of AI to control the blast furnace and other ironmaking operations has proved its capability for achieving automation and increased operating efficiency. The benefits are very high. For these reasons, the applications of AI techniques will be extended in the future and new techniques studied to further improve the power of AI.« less

First down and goal to go. [Washington State resource applications for LANDSAT data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Little, G.

1981-01-01

A 10 year game plan for transition to the operational system was developed in the State of Washington. The plan is to: examine the results of past demonstration projects to identify successful operational applications, take advantage of geographic information systems, and work toward reducing/eliminating constraints of the present system which inhibit operational use. Support for the LANDSAT program was demonstrated by sending a user representative to NOAA working in the development of a user oriented system. It is suggested that the state should reassess its position, by taking advantage of the past 8 years' experience, and coordinate efforts to enhance LANDSAT' advantages in a cost effective manner.

Precision Cleaning and Verification Processes Used at Marshall Space Flight Center for Critical Hardware Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caruso, Salvadore V.; Cox, Jack A.; McGee, Kathleen A.

1999-01-01

This presentation discuss the Marshall Space Flight Center Operations and Responsibilities. These are propulsion, microgravity experiments, international space station, space transportation systems, and advance vehicle research.

SPAR electrophoretic separation experiments, part 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cosmi, F. M.

1978-01-01

The opportunity to use a sounding rocket for separation experiments is a logical continuation of earlier electrophoresis demonstrations and experiments. A free-flow electrophoresis system, developed under the Advanced Applications Flight Experiment (AAFE) Program, was designed so that it would fit into a rocket payload. The SPAR program provides a unique opportunity to complete the intial stages of microgravity testing prior to any Shuttle applications. The objective of the work described in this report was to ensure proper operating parameters for the defined experimental samples to be used in the SPAR Electrophoretic Separation Experiment. Ground based experiments were undertaken not only to define flight parameters but also to serve as a point of comparison for flight results. Possible flight experiment problem areas were also studied such as sample interaction due to sedimentation, concentration effects and storage effects. Late in the program anomalies of field strengths and buffer conductivities were also investigated.

Apollo experience report: The cryogenic storage system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chandler, W. A.; Rice, R. R.; Allgeier, R. K., Jr.

1973-01-01

A review of the design, development, and flight history of the Apollo cryogenic storage system and of selected components within the system is presented. Discussions are presented on the development history of the pressure vessels, heaters, insulation, and selected components. Flight experience and operational difficulties are reported in detail to provide definition of the problems and applicable corrective actions.

Biogas Technology Application in Western Kenya-A Field Investigation in Nandi and Bomet Counties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venort, Taisha

The integration of biogas technology into Kenyan farming systems is becoming more common since the launch of the Kenya National Biogas Programme (KENDBIP). A comprehensive assessment of the status, operation of biogas plants constructed through KENDBIP, and their role within rural farming systems, is undertaken in two important dairy herds of Kenya (i.e., Nandi and Bomet counties), towards understanding factors affecting applications, for energy and agronomic use. Data on farming systems, operation and application were collected from 242 farm households in both counties. A Binary Linear Regression model was developed to pinpoint constraint factors most influential to plants operation. Descriptive statistics were used to compare users' experiences, and capture farm households' trends in energy and fertilizer use. Higher operational rate in Bomet (77%) than Nandi (59%), reveal that plants' viability are impacted by subsidies 'liability schemes of local supporting programs. Records of partial substitution to biogas and bio-slurry seem to contribute to the reinforcement of local agro-forestry traditions through an increase in the adoption of zero-grazing practices, wood/tree lots retention, and more efficient agricultural land attribution in the smallholder context. These changes are all having a positive impact on farm households' livelihoods and food security. Key recommendations to biogas programs stakeholders are that local subsidy schemes take better account of liability towards local technicians, Quality Control responsibilities are decentralized to local enterprises, and Research & Development strategies further investigate biogas technology application in agriculture, and its role in directly impacted value chains (i.e., Dairy, African Leafy vegetables, Feed & Fodder), for better experiences by farmers.

Levitation or suspension: Which one is better for the heavy-load HTS maglev transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Kang, Dong; Yang, X. F.; Wang, Fei; Peng, G. H.; Zheng, Jun; Ma, G. T.; Wang, J. S.

2015-09-01

Because of the limitation of permanent magnet (PM), the efficient of bulk high-Tc superconductor (HTSC) in a high-Tc superconducting (HTS) maglev system is not very high. It is better to magnetize the bulk HTSC with a high trapped field to increase the force density. The different application type of magnetized bulk HTSC in a maglev system, namely, levitation or suspension type, will bring quite different operation performance. This paper discusses the influence of application type on operation performance of magnetized bulk HTSC by experiments and simulations. From the discussion, it can be found which application type is better for the heavy-load HTS maglev system.

A system for a multiframing interferometry and its application to a plasma focus experiment.

PubMed

Hirano, K; Shimoda, K; Emori, S

1979-10-01

A four-framing Mach-Zehnder interferometer system which has variable intervals from frame to frame is developed. TEA N(2) lasers that are operated with atmospheric-pressure N(2) gas are employed as light sources. Applicability of the system is demonstrated for a rapidly changing plasma in the plasma focus discharge.

Experiences in teleoperation of land vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgovern, Douglas E.

1989-01-01

Teleoperation of land vehicles allows the removal of the operator from the vehicle to a remote location. This can greatly increase operator safety and comfort in applications such as security patrol or military combat. The cost includes system complexity and reduced system performance. All feedback on vehicle performance and on environmental conditions must pass through sensors, a communications channel, and displays. In particular, this requires vision to be transmitted by close-circuit television with a consequent degradation of information content. Vehicular teleoperation, as a result, places severe demands on the operator. Teleoperated land vehicles have been built and tested by many organizations, including Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The SNL fleet presently includes eight vehicles of varying capability. These vehicles have been operated using different types of controls, displays, and visual systems. Experimentation studying the effects of vision system characteristics on off-road, remote driving was performed for conditions of fixed camera versus steering-coupled camera and of color versus black and white video display. Additionally, much experience was gained through system demonstrations and hardware development trials. The preliminary experimental findings and the results of the accumulated operational experience are discussed.

Study on the steady operating state of a micro-pulse electron gun.

PubMed

Kui, Zhou; Xiangyang, Lu; Shengwen, Quan; Jifei, Zhao; Xing, Luo; Ziqin, Yang

2014-09-01

Micro-pulse electron gun (MPG) employs the basic concept of multipacting to produce high-current and short-pulse electron beams from a radio-frequency (RF) cavity. The concept of MPG has been proposed for more than two decades. However, the unstable operating state of MPG vastly obstructs its practical applications. This paper presents a study on the steady operating state of a micro-pulse electron gun with theory and experiments. The requirements for the steady operating state are proposed through the analysis of the interaction between the RF cavity and the beam load. Accordingly, a MPG cavity with the frequency of 2856 MHz has been designed, constructed, and tested. Some primary experiments have been finished. Both the unstable and stable operating states of the MPG have been observed. The stable output beam current has been detected at about 3.8 mA. Further experimental study is under way now.

The Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment /LACIE/ - An assessment after one year of operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macdonald, R. B.; Hall, F. G.; Erb, R. B.

1975-01-01

A Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) has been undertaken jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the Department of Commerce and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to prove out an economically important application of remote sensing from space. The first phase of the Experiment, which focused upon determinations of wheat area in the U.S. Great Plains and upon the development and testing of yield models, is now nearing completion. The system implemented to handle and analyze the Landsat and meteorological data has generally worked well and met operational goals. A very preliminary assessment of results to date indicates that the accuracy goals of the experiment can be met.

Sodium-sulfur Cell Technology Flight Experiment (SSCT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halbach, Carl R.

1992-01-01

The sodium-sulfur battery is emerging as a prime high-temperature energy storage technology for space flight applications. A Na-S cell demonstration is planned for a 1995-96 NASA Space Shuttle flight which focuses on the microgravity effects on individual cells. The experiment is not optimized for battery performance as such. Rather, it maximizes the variety of operating conditions which the Na-S cell is capable of in a relatively short 5-day flight. The demonstration is designed to reveal the effects of microgravity by comparison with ground test control cells experiencing identical test conditions but with gravity. Specifically, limitations of transport dynamics and associated cell performance characteristics should be revealed. The Na-S Cell Technology Flight Experiment consists of three separate experiments designed to determine cell operating characteristics, detailed electrode kinetics and reactant distributions.

Operational experiences with Bt in the Eastern United States

Treesearch

Henry, Jr. Trial

1985-01-01

Bacillus thuringiensis (B. t.) has been used operationally in the eastern U. S. since 1978 with most applications occurring in Maine. Changes in B. t. dosage rates, volume, cost, spray aircraft, and use patterns will be discussed. Evaluation of B. t. dosage in the east has consisted of variable results with 8 B.I.U. treatments in 1978 through 1980,...

Digital Holographic Logic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Preston, K., Jr.

1972-01-01

The characteristics of the holographic logic computer are discussed. The holographic operation is reviewed from the Fourier transform viewpoint, and the formation of holograms for use in performing digital logic are described. The operation of the computer with an experiment in which the binary identity function is calculated is discussed along with devices for achieving real-time performance. An application in pattern recognition using neighborhood logic is presented.

Exploiting Analytics Techniques in CMS Computing Monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bonacorsi, D.; Kuznetsov, V.; Magini, N.

The CMS experiment has collected an enormous volume of metadata about its computing operations in its monitoring systems, describing its experience in operating all of the CMS workflows on all of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid Tiers. Data mining efforts into all these information have rarely been done, but are of crucial importance for a better understanding of how CMS did successful operations, and to reach an adequate and adaptive modelling of the CMS operations, in order to allow detailed optimizations and eventually a prediction of system behaviours. These data are now streamed into the CERN Hadoop data cluster formore » further analysis. Specific sets of information (e.g. data on how many replicas of datasets CMS wrote on disks at WLCG Tiers, data on which datasets were primarily requested for analysis, etc) were collected on Hadoop and processed with MapReduce applications profiting of the parallelization on the Hadoop cluster. We present the implementation of new monitoring applications on Hadoop, and discuss the new possibilities in CMS computing monitoring introduced with the ability to quickly process big data sets from mulltiple sources, looking forward to a predictive modeling of the system.« less

Research and application of multi-agent genetic algorithm in tower defense game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Shaohua

2018-04-01

In this paper, a new multi-agent genetic algorithm based on orthogonal experiment is proposed, which is based on multi-agent system, genetic algorithm and orthogonal experimental design. The design of neighborhood competition operator, orthogonal crossover operator, Son and self-learning operator. The new algorithm is applied to mobile tower defense game, according to the characteristics of the game, the establishment of mathematical models, and finally increases the value of the game's monster.

In-Flight Thermal Performance of the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roettker, William

1995-01-01

The Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) was developed at NASA s Langley Research Center to explore the applications of lidar operated from an orbital platform. As a technology demonstration experiment, LITE was developed to gain experience designing and building future operational orbiting lidar systems. Since LITE was the first lidar system to be flown in space, an important objective was to validate instrument design principles in such areas as thermal control, laser performance, instrument alignment and control, and autonomous operations. Thermal and structural analysis models of the instrument were developed during the design process to predict the behavior of the instrument during its mission. In order to validate those mathematical models, extensive engineering data was recorded during all phases of LITE's mission. This inflight engineering data was compared with preflight predictions and, when required, adjustments to the thermal and structural models were made to more accurately match the instrument s actual behavior. The results of this process for the thermal analysis and design of LITE are presented in this paper.

Preliminary analyses of WL experiment No. 701, space environment effects on operating fiber optic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, E. W.; Berry, J. N.; Sanchez, A. D.; Padden, R. J.; Chapman, S. P.

1992-01-01

A brief overview of the analyses performed to date on WL Experiment-701 is presented. Four active digital fiber optic links were directly exposed to the space environment for a period of 2114 days. The links were situated aboard the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) with the cabled, single fiber windings atop an experimental tray containing instrumentation for exercising the experiment in orbit. Despite the unplanned and prolonged exposure to trapped and galactic radiation, wide temperature extremes, atomic oxygen interactions, and micro-meteorite and debris impacts, in most instances the optical data links performed well within the experimental limits. Analysis of the recorded orbital data clearly indicates that fiber optic applications in space will meet with success. Ongoing tests and analysis of the experiment at the Phillips Laboratory's Optoelectronics Laboratory will expand this premise, and establish the first known and extensive database of active fiber optic link performance during prolonged space exposure. WL Exp-701 was designed as a feasibility demonstration for fiber optic technology in space applications, and to study the performance of operating fiber systems exposed to space environmental factors such as galactic radiation, and wide temperature cycling. WL Exp-701 is widely acknowledged as a benchmark accomplishment that clearly demonstrates, for the first time, that fiber optic technology can be successfully used in a variety of space applications.

Niobium Application, Metallurgy and Global Trends in Pressure Vessel Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansto, Steven G.

Niobium-containing high strength steel materials have been developed for a variety of pressure vessel applications. Through the application of these Nb-bearing steels in demanding applications, the designer and end user experience improved toughness at low temperature, excellent fatigue resistance and fracture toughness and excellent weldability. These enhancements provide structural engineers the opportunity to further improve the pressure vessel design and performance. The Nb-microalloy alloy designs also result in reduced operational production cost at the steel operation, thereby embracing the value-added attribute Nb provides to both the producer and the end user throughout the supply chain. For example, through the adoption of these Nb-containing structural materials, several design-manufacturing companies are considering improved designs which offer improved manufacturability, lower overall cost and better life cycle performance.

Intra-operative fiducial-based CT/fluoroscope image registration framework for image-guided robot-assisted joint fracture surgery.

PubMed

Dagnino, Giulio; Georgilas, Ioannis; Morad, Samir; Gibbons, Peter; Tarassoli, Payam; Atkins, Roger; Dogramadzi, Sanja

2017-08-01

Joint fractures must be accurately reduced minimising soft tissue damages to avoid negative surgical outcomes. To this regard, we have developed the RAFS surgical system, which allows the percutaneous reduction of intra-articular fractures and provides intra-operative real-time 3D image guidance to the surgeon. Earlier experiments showed the effectiveness of the RAFS system on phantoms, but also key issues which precluded its use in a clinical application. This work proposes a redesign of the RAFS's navigation system overcoming the earlier version's issues, aiming to move the RAFS system into a surgical environment. The navigation system is improved through an image registration framework allowing the intra-operative registration between pre-operative CT images and intra-operative fluoroscopic images of a fractured bone using a custom-made fiducial marker. The objective of the registration is to estimate the relative pose between a bone fragment and an orthopaedic manipulation pin inserted into it intra-operatively. The actual pose of the bone fragment can be updated in real time using an optical tracker, enabling the image guidance. Experiments on phantom and cadavers demonstrated the accuracy and reliability of the registration framework, showing a reduction accuracy (sTRE) of about [Formula: see text] (phantom) and [Formula: see text] (cadavers). Four distal femur fractures were successfully reduced in cadaveric specimens using the improved navigation system and the RAFS system following the new clinical workflow (reduction error [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. Experiments showed the feasibility of the image registration framework. It was successfully integrated into the navigation system, allowing the use of the RAFS system in a realistic surgical application.

Automated space processing payloads study. Volume 2, book 2: Technical report, appendices A through E. [instrument packages and space shuttles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Experiment hardware and operational requirements for space shuttle experiments are discussed along with payload and system concepts. Appendixes are included in which experiment data sheets, chamber environmental control and monitoring, method for collection and storage of electrophoretically-separated samples, preliminary thermal evaluation of electromagnetic levitation facilities L1, L2, and L3, and applicable industrial automation equipment are discussed.

Toward the establishment of design guidelines for effective 3D perspective interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitzhugh, Elisabeth; Dixon, Sharon; Aleva, Denise; Smith, Eric; Ghrayeb, Joseph; Douglas, Lisa

2009-05-01

The propagation of information operation technologies, with correspondingly vast amounts of complex network information to be conveyed, significantly impacts operator workload. Information management research is rife with efforts to develop schemes to aid operators to identify, review, organize, and retrieve the wealth of available data. Data may take on such distinct forms as intelligence libraries, logistics databases, operational environment models, or network topologies. Increased use of taxonomies and semantic technologies opens opportunities to employ network visualization as a display mechanism for diverse information aggregations. The broad applicability of network visualizations is still being tested, but in current usage, the complexity of densely populated abstract networks suggests the potential utility of 3D. Employment of 2.5D in network visualization, using classic perceptual cues, creates a 3D experience within a 2D medium. It is anticipated that use of 3D perspective (2.5D) will enhance user ability to visually inspect large, complex, multidimensional networks. Current research for 2.5D visualizations demonstrates that display attributes, including color, shape, size, lighting, atmospheric effects, and shadows, significantly impact operator experience. However, guidelines for utilization of attributes in display design are limited. This paper discusses pilot experimentation intended to identify potential problem areas arising from these cues and determine how best to optimize perceptual cue settings. Development of optimized design guidelines will ensure that future experiments, comparing network displays with other visualizations, are not confounded or impeded by suboptimal attribute characterization. Current experimentation is anticipated to support development of cost-effective, visually effective methods to implement 3D in military applications.

Experience with integrally-cast compressor and turbine components for a small, low-cost, expendable-type turbojet engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dengler, R. P.

1975-01-01

Experiences with integrally-cast compressor and turbine components during fabrication and testing of four engine assemblies of a small (29 cm (11 1/2 in.) maximum diameter) experimental turbojet engine design for an expendable application are discussed. Various operations such as metal removal, welding, and re-shaping of these components were performed in preparation of full-scale engine tests. Engines with these components were operated for a total of 157 hours at engine speeds as high as 38,000 rpm and at turbine inlet temperatures as high as 1256 K (1800 F).

A High Resolution Radar Altimeter to Measure the Topography of Ice Sheets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pawul, Rudolf A.

1997-01-01

This thesis is a reference for the Advanced Application Flight Experiment (AAFE) altimeter. The transmitter and receiver subsections are described and measurements of their current state is provided. During the 1994 NASA Greenland Experiment, the altimeter experienced several hardware malfunctions. The process of returning the radar to its fully operational state is presented in detail and necessary design modifications are explained. An updated radar user's manual is included along with various circuit designs which need to be implemented. The thesis is intended to provide an incoming graduate student with a solid foundation of the fundamentals of AAFE altimeter operation.

Studies in Support of the Application of Statistical Theory to Design and Evaluation of Operational Tests. Annex D. An Application of Bayesian Statistical Methods in the Determination of Sample Size for Operational Testing in the U.S. Army

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-07-01

SIZE C XNI. C UE2 - UTILITY OF EXPERIMENT OF SIZE C XN2. C ICHECK - VARIABLE USLD TO CHECK FOR C TERMINATION, C~C DIMENSION SUBLIM{20),UPLIM(20),UEI(20...1J=UPLIM(K4-I)-XNI (K+1)+SU8LIt1(K+i*. C CHECK FOR TERMINATION. 944 ICHECK =SUBLIM(K)+2 IFIICHECK.GEUPLiHMK.,OR.K.G1.20’ GO TO 930 GO TO 920 930

Latest results and developments from the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizkallah, Rabel; Andruczyk, Daniel; Jeckell, Zachary Jon; Shone, Andrew John; Johnson, Daniel Scott; Allain, Jean Paul; Curreli, Davide; Ruzic, David N.; The Hidra Team

2017-10-01

The Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA) is a five-period, l = 2, m = 5, toroidal fusion device operated at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). It has a major radius R0 = 0.72 m and minor radius a = 0.19 m. Initial heating is achieved with 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) at an on-axis magnetic field of B0 = 0.087 T which can go as high as B0 = 0.5 T. HIDRA will mainly be used as a classical stellarator, but can also run as a tokamak. This allows for both steady-state and transient regime operations. Experiments on HIDRA will primarily tackle the issue of plasma-material interactions (PMI) in fusion, and focus on developing innovative plasma facing component (PFC) technologies. Currently, research on flowing liquid lithium PFCs meant to be tested inside the machine in real-time operation, is being carried on. The first experiments run on HIDRA started in early 2016 in the low field region. Now, HIDRA is also capable of running in the high field zone, allowing for more interesting experiments and meaningful outcomes. Here, we present some of the initial results coming from the machine.

Space Environments and Effects Concept: Transitioning Research to Operations and Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, David L.; Spann, James; Burns, Howard D.; Schumacher, Dan

2012-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is embarking on a course to expand human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) while expanding its mission to explore the solar system. Destinations such as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), Mars and its moons, and the outer planets are but a few of the mission targets. NASA has established numerous offices specializing in specific space environments disciplines that will serve to enable these missions. To complement these existing discipline offices, a concept focusing on the development of space environment and effects application is presented. This includes space climate, space weather, and natural and induced space environments. This space environment and effects application is composed of 4 topic areas; characterization and modeling, engineering effects, prediction and operation, and mitigation and avoidance. These topic areas are briefly described below. Characterization and modeling of space environments will primarily focus on utilization during Program mission concept, planning, and design phases. Engineering effects includes materials testing and flight experiments producing data to be used in mission planning and design phases. Prediction and operation pulls data from existing sources into decision-making tools and empirical data sets to be used during the operational phase of a mission. Mitigation and avoidance will develop techniques and strategies used in the design and operations phases of the mission. The goal of this space environment and effects application is to develop decision-making tools and engineering products to support the mission phases of mission concept through operations by focusing on transitioning research to operations. Products generated by this space environments and effects application are suitable for use in anomaly investigations. This paper will outline the four topic areas, describe the need, and discuss an organizational structure for this space environments and effects application.

A Rapid Protoyping Approach for the Evaluation of Potential GPM-Era Precipitation Products for Water Resources Management Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anantharaj, V. G.; Houser, P. R.; Turk, F. J.; Peterson, C. A.; Hossain, F.; Moorhead, R. J.; Toll, D. L.; Mostovoy, G.

2009-04-01

In order to facilitate the operational transition of satellite data, research products and advances in numerical modeling, the NASA Applied Sciences Program (ASP) had adopted a systems engineering approach to help identify and advanced and basic research capabilities that may be further developed for operational applications. This novel approach was envisioned to accelerate the harvesting of NASA's investment in research for societal benefits. International programs such as the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) could benefit from such systematic and integrated approaches to identify and extend the results of earth and environmental sciences for the benefits of global society. This new approach by the ASP was based on three phases of implementation, namely: (a) "Solutions Networks" for systematically examining data products, capabilities, and results from NASA Earth science research in order to find identify and prioritize candidate research activities that have the potential for societal benefits; (b) "Rapid Prototyping Capability (RPC)" experiments to further develop and tailor basic research and further evaluate and quantify their potential impacts for applications and decision support; and (c) "Integrated System Solutions (ISS)" to fully execute the transition the research to operational implementation and benchmark the performance resulting from integrating NASA Earth observations and science results. The RPC science experiments can be rapidly prototyped in order to evaluate the suitability of data, algorithms and models. They are designed to characterize uncertainties involved in the data, models, and decision making process while maintaining scientific rigor through the entire process. This approach helps identify scientific and logistical risks earlier in the process so that they can be appropriately addressed in a timely manner to minimize risk. GPM is promoted as "a science mission with broad societal applications," that will address societal benefits related to human health (soil moisture, climate and disease outbreak), homeland security (removal of chemical/biological/nuclear agents), flooding potential and warning, water availability, water quality, and agriculture and food security. In 2006, the NASA ASP sponsored two RPC experiments to evaluate potential GPM-era high resolution satellite precipitation products for water management applications. One of the current uncertainties involved in the GPM missions is the nature of the exact configuration of the constellations of satellites and hence the potential for the dynamic error characteristics over time of the precipitation estimates. For the RPC evaluations, we needed a satellite precipitation product that would be analogous to the GPM-era products. Our solution was to develop a suite of high resolution precipitation products, based on the NRL-Blend algorithm. We created a set of 10 different satellite precipitation estimates (hereafter referred to as the "GPM-proxy data"), using the currently available IR and microwave sensors. However, in each product we systematically left out sets of observations and/or sensors, such as AM orbits. The geographical focus of our study was the operational domain of the Arkansas Basin River Forecast Center (ABRFC) of the U.S. National Weather Service. We have evaluated the GPM-proxy data against the operational product (radar and gauge based) used by ABRFC. Further, we also performed a set of soil water content (SWC) sensitivity experiments using the Noah and Mosaic Land Surface Models (LSM) to quantify the impacts on water management applications involving land surface hydrology. Both the LSMs were forced with the same set of GPM-proxy data. Though the overall spatial patterns for both the models were similar, there were subtle differences in the respective model sensitivities to the different precipitation forcings. These experimental results illustrate the need for comprehensive pre-evaluations of applications, in order quantify and minimize the risks involved in applications with the introduction of new precipitation products, before making extensive investments in operational transitions. Besides the SWC sensitivity experiments, we have also evaluated precipitation merging and downscaling techniques using various other precipitation products, including IR-based estimates, NRL-Blend and CMORPH. During the presentation, we will outline systems engineering approach used by ASP, summarize the results of the GPM RPC experiments, and discuss the lessons learned in prototyping applications for GPM-era high resolution precipitation products.

A Parylene MEMS Electrothermal Valve

PubMed Central

Li, Po-Ying; Givrad, Tina K.; Holschneider, Daniel P.; Maarek, Jean-Michel I.; Meng, Ellis

2011-01-01

The first microelectromechanical-system normally closed electrothermal valve constructed using Parylene C is described, which enables both low power (in milliwatts) and rapid operation (in milliseconds). This low-power valve is well suited for applications in wirelessly controlled implantable drug-delivery systems. The simple design was analyzed using both theory and modeling and then characterized in benchtop experiments. Operation in air (constant current) and water (current ramping) was demonstrated. Valve-opening powers of 22 mW in air and 33 mW in water were obtained. Following integration of the valve with catheters, our valve was applied in a wirelessly operated microbolus infusion pump, and the in vivo functionality for the appropriateness of use of this pump for future brain mapping applications in small animals was demonstrated. PMID:21350679

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hatterick, G. R.

1972-01-01

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

Skylab mission report, third visit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

An evaluation is presented of the operational and engineering aspects of the third Skylab visit, including information on the performance of the command and service module and the experiment hardware, the crew's evaluation of the visit, and other visit-related areas of interest such as biomedical observations. The specific areas discussed are contained in the following: (1) solar physics and astrophysics investigations; (2) Comet Kohoutek experiments; (3) medical experiments; (4) earth observations, including data for the multispectral photographic facility, the earth terrain camera, and the microwave radiometer/scattermometer and altimeter; (5) engineering and technology experiments; (6) food and medical operational equipment; (7) hardware and experiment anomalies; and (8) mission support, mission objectives, flight planning, and launch phase summary. Conclusions discussed as a result of the third visit to Skylab involve the advancement of the sciences, practical applications, the durability of man and systems in space, and spaceflight effectiveness and economy.

Head-Worn Display Concepts for Surface Operations for Commerical Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Norman, Robert M.

2008-01-01

Experiments and flight tests have shown that a Head-Up Display (HUD) and a head-down electronic moving map (EMM) can be enhanced with Synthetic Vision for airport surface operations. While great success in ground operations was demonstrated with a HUD, the research noted that two major HUD limitations during ground operations were its monochrome form and limited, fixed field-of-regard. A potential solution to these limitations found with HUDs may be emerging with Head Worn Displays (HWDs). HWDs are small display devices that may be worn without significant encumbrance to the user. By coupling the HWD with a head tracker, unlimited field-of-regard may be realized. The results of three ground simulation experiments conducted at NASA Langley Research Center are summarized. The experiments evaluated the efficacy of head-worn display applications of Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision technology to improve transport aircraft surface operations. The results of the experiments showed that the fully integrated HWD provided greater pilot performance with respect to staying on the path compared to using paper charts alone. Further, when comparing the HWD with the HUD concept, there were no differences in path performance. In addition, the HWD and HUD concepts were rated via paired-comparisons the same in terms of situation awareness and workload.

Basic surgical training in Ireland: the impact of operative experience, training program allocation and mentorship on trainee satisfaction.

PubMed

O'Sullivan, K E; Byrne, J S; Walsh, T N

2013-12-01

Application to the Irish basic surgical training (BST) program in Ireland has decreased progressively over the past 5 years. We hypothesised that this decline was secondary to dissatisfaction with training correlated with reduced operative experience and lack of mentorship among BSTs. An anonymous 15 question electronic survey was circulated to all BSTs appraising their impression of the operative experience available to them, their mentorship and their opinions of critical aspects of training. Fifty trainees responded to the survey. At the commencement of training 98 % (n = 43) intended to stay in surgery, decreasing to 79 % (n = 34) during the BST. Trainees who felt they had a mentor were three times more likely to be content in surgical training (OR 3.11; 95 % CI 0.94-10.25, P = 0.06). Trainees satisfied with their allocated rotation were more likely to be content in surgical training (OR 4.5; 95 % CI 1.03-19.6, P = 0.045). Individual trainee comments revealed dissatisfaction with operative exposure. Mentorship and satisfaction with allocated training rotation had a positive impact on trainee satisfaction and correlated with contentedness in surgical training. Operative experience is the main element that trainees report as lacking. This highlights the need for reform of the training system to improve current levels of mentorship and increase operative exposure to enhance its attractiveness to the best quality medical graduates.

EUTELTRACS: The European experience on mobile satellite services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colcy, Jean-Noel; Steinhaeuser, Rafael

1993-01-01

EUTELTRACS is Europe's first commercially operated Mobile Satellite Service. Under the overall network operation of EUTELSAT, the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization, EUTELTRACS provides an integrated message exchange and position reporting service. This paper describes the EUTELTRACS system architecture, the message exchange and the position reporting services, including the result of recent analysis of message delivery time and positioning accuracy. It also provides an overview of the commercial deployment, the regulatory situation for its operation within Europe and new applications outside its target market, the international road transportation.

Materials selection guidelines for geothermal energy utilization systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ellis, P.F. II; Conover, M.F.

1981-01-01

This manual includes geothermal fluid chemistry, corrosion test data, and materials operating experience. Systems using geothermal energy in El Salvador, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United States are described. The manual provides materials selection guidelines for surface equipment of future geothermal energy systems. The key chemical species that are significant in determining corrosiveness of geothermal fluids are identified. The utilization modes of geothermal energy are defined as well as the various physical fluid parameters that affect corrosiveness. Both detailed and summarized results of materials performance tests and applicable operating experiences from forty sites throughout the world aremore » presented. The application of various non-metal materials in geothermal environments are discussed. Included in appendices are: corrosion behavior of specific alloy classes in geothermal fluids, corrosion in seawater desalination plants, worldwide geothermal power production, DOE-sponsored utilization projects, plant availability, relative costs of alloys, and composition of alloys. (MHR)« less

Coherent phonon optics in a chip with an electrically controlled active device.

PubMed

Poyser, Caroline L; Akimov, Andrey V; Campion, Richard P; Kent, Anthony J

2015-02-05

Phonon optics concerns operations with high-frequency acoustic waves in solid media in a similar way to how traditional optics operates with the light beams (i.e. photons). Phonon optics experiments with coherent terahertz and sub-terahertz phonons promise a revolution in various technical applications related to high-frequency acoustics, imaging, and heat transport. Previously, phonon optics used passive methods for manipulations with propagating phonon beams that did not enable their external control. Here we fabricate a phononic chip, which includes a generator of coherent monochromatic phonons with frequency 378 GHz, a sensitive coherent phonon detector, and an active layer: a doped semiconductor superlattice, with electrical contacts, inserted into the phonon propagation path. In the experiments, we demonstrate the modulation of the coherent phonon flux by an external electrical bias applied to the active layer. Phonon optics using external control broadens the spectrum of prospective applications of phononics on the nanometer scale.

Cavity control as a new quantum algorithms implementation treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

AbuGhanem, M.; Homid, A. H.; Abdel-Aty, M.

2018-02-01

Based on recent experiments [ Nature 449, 438 (2007) and Nature Physics 6, 777 (2010)], a new approach for realizing quantum gates for the design of quantum algorithms was developed. Accordingly, the operation times of such gates while functioning in algorithm applications depend on the number of photons present in their resonant cavities. Multi-qubit algorithms can be realized in systems in which the photon number is increased slightly over the qubit number. In addition, the time required for operation is considerably less than the dephasing and relaxation times of the systems. The contextual use of the photon number as a main control in the realization of any algorithm was demonstrated. The results indicate the possibility of a full integration into the realization of multi-qubit multiphoton states and its application in algorithm designs. Furthermore, this approach will lead to a successful implementation of these designs in future experiments.

Expert Systems on Multiprocessor Architectures. Phase 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-01

great rate) as early experience indicates what alternative aspect of system operation should have been monitored in any given completed run. The... system operation should have been monitored in any given completed run. The design goals that emerged then were (1) that the simulation system should...ORGANIZATION 6b OFFICE SYMBOL 7a. NAME OF MONITORING ORGANIZATION Stanford University (If applicable) Knowledge Systems Laboratory Rome Air Development

Seven Experiment Designs Addressing Problems of Safety and Capacity on Two-Lane Rural Highways : Volume 3. Experimental Design to Evaluate MUTCD and Other Traffic Controls for Highway Construction and Maintenance Operations on Two-Lane Highways

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-11-01

The purpose of Task A was to conduct a literature review of human factors-applicable articles associated with Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and ATIS-related commercial vehicle operations (CVO) systems. Specifically, Task A was to asses...

High temperature superconductors for magnetic suspension applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcmichael, C. K.; Cooley, R. S.; Chen, Q. Y.; Ma, K. B.; Lamb, M. A.; Meng, R. L.; Chu, C. W.; Chu, W. K.

1994-01-01

High temperature superconductors (HTS) hold the promise for applications in magnetic levitation bearings, vibration damping, and torque coupling. Traditional magnetic suspension systems require active feedback and vibration controls in which power consumption and low frequency vibration are among the major engineering concerns. HTS materials have been demonstrated to be an enabling approach towards such problems due to their flux trapping properties. In our laboratory at TCSUH, we have been conducting a series of experiments to explore various mechanical applications using HTS. We have constructed a 30 lb. model flywheel levitated by a hybrid superconducting magnetic bearing (HSMB). We are also developing a levitated and vibration-dampled platform for high precision instrumentation. These applications would be ideal for space usages where ambient temperature is adequate for HTS to operate properly under greatly reduced cryogenic requirements. We will give a general overview of these potential applications and discuss the operating principles of the HTS devices we have developed.

Flexible and Accessible Automated Operation of Miniature Chromatography Columns on a Liquid Handling Station.

PubMed

Konstantinidis, Spyridon; Goh, Hai-Yuan; Martin Bufájer, José M; de Galbert, Paul; Parau, Maria; Velayudhan, Ajoy

2018-03-01

The High Throughput (HT) investigation of chromatographic separations is an important element of downstream bioprocess development due to the importance of chromatography as a technique for achieving stringent regulatory requirements on product purity. Various HT formats for chromatography exist, but the miniature column approach has characteristics resembling large scale packed bed column chromatography the most. The operation of such columns on robotic stations can be automated, but this is not always a straightforward procedure; the robotic manipulations are highly dependent on the settings of each experiment and the standard commands of the supporting software may not provide readily the required flexibility and accessibility for "plug and play" functionality. These can limit the potential of this technique in laboratories engaging on HT activities. In this work, we present an application which aims to overcome this challenge by providing end-users with a flexible operation of the miniature column technique on an automated liquid handler. The application includes a script which is written on Freedom EVOware, and is supplemented by custom compiled executables. Here, the manipulations carried out by the application are described in detail and its functionality is demonstrated through typical experiments based on bind and elute miniature column chromatography. The application is shown to allow for the unsupervised "on-the-fly" programming of the robotic station and to ultimately make the technique accessible to non-automation experts. This application is therefore well suited to simplifying development activities based on the robotic deployment of the miniature column chromatography technique. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

[The rational application of Da Vinci surgical system in thyroidectomy].

PubMed

He, Q Q

2017-08-01

Da Vinci surgical system is the most advanced minimally invasive surgical platform in the world, and this system has been widely used in cardiac surgery, urology surgery, gynecologic surgery and general surgery. Although the application of this system was relatively late in thyroid surgery, the number of thyroidectomy with Da Vinci surgical system is increasing quickly. Having reviewed recent studies and summarized clinical experience, compared with traditional open operation, the robotic thyroidectomy has the same surgical safety and effectiveness in selective patients with thyroid cancer. In this paper, several aspects on this novel operation were demonstrated, including surgical indications and contraindications, the approaches, surgical procedures and postoperative complications, in order to promote the rational application of Da Vinci surgical system in thyroidectomy.

The Mailbox Computer System for the IAEA verification experiment on HEU downlending at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aronson, A.L.; Gordon, D.M.

IN APRIL 1996, THE UNITED STATES (US) ADDED THE PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT TO THE LIST OF FACILITIES ELIGIBLE FOR THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) SAFEGUARDS. AT THAT TIME, THE US PROPOSED THAT THE IAEA CARRY OUT A ''VERIFICATION EXPERIMENT'' AT THE PLANT WITH RESPECT TO DOOWNBLENDING OF ABOUT 13 METRIC TONS OF HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) IN THE FORM OF URANIUM HEXAFLUROIDE (UF6). DURING THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1997 THROUGH JULY 1998, THE IAEA CARRIED OUT THE REQUESTED VERIFICATION EXPERIMENT. THE VERIFICATION APPROACH USED FOR THIS EXPERIMENT INCLUDED, AMONG OTHER MEASURES, THE ENTRY OF PROCESS-OPERATIONAL DATA BYmore » THE FACILITY OPERATOR ON A NEAR-REAL-TIME BASIS INTO A ''MAILBOX'' COMPUTER LOCATED WITHIN A TAMPER-INDICATING ENCLOSURE SEALED BY THE IAEA.« less

Overview of long-term field experiments in Germany - metadata visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muqit Zoarder, Md Abdul; Heinrich, Uwe; Svoboda, Nikolai; Grosse, Meike; Hierold, Wilfried

2017-04-01

BonaRes ("soil as a sustainable resource for the bioeconomy") is conducting to collect data and metadata of agricultural long-term field experiments (LTFE) of Germany. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the umbrella of the National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030. BonaRes consists of ten interdisciplinary research project consortia and the 'BonaRes - Centre for Soil Research'. BonaRes Data Centre is responsible for collecting all LTFE data and regarding metadata into an enterprise database upon higher level of security and visualization of the data and metadata through data portal. In the frame of the BonaRes project, we are compiling an overview of long-term field experiments in Germany that is based on a literature review, the results of the online survey and direct contacts with LTFE operators. Information about research topic, contact person, website, experiment setup and analyzed parameters are collected. Based on the collected LTFE data, an enterprise geodatabase is developed and a GIS-based web-information system about LTFE in Germany is also settled. Various aspects of the LTFE, like experiment type, land-use type, agricultural category and duration of experiment, are presented in thematic maps. This information system is dynamically linked to the database, which means changes in the data directly affect the presentation. An easy data searching option using LTFE name, -location or -operators and the dynamic layer selection ensure a user-friendly web application. Dispersion and visualization of the overlapping LTFE points on the overview map are also challenging and we make it automatized at very zoom level which is also a consistent part of this application. The application provides both, spatial location and meta-information of LTFEs, which is backed-up by an enterprise geodatabase, GIS server for hosting map services and Java script API for web application development.

A comparison of dehydration effects of V2-antagonist (OPC-31260) on the inner ear between systemic and round window applications.

PubMed

Takeda, Taizo; Takeda, Setsuko; Kakigi, Akinobu; Okada, Teruhiko; Nishioka, Rie; Taguchi, Daizo

2006-08-01

V2-antagonist (OPC-31260 (OPC)) application to the scala tympani reduced endolymphatic hydrops. In the present study, we investigated whether systemic administration or local infusion via the round window (RW application) of OPC would be more suitable for clinical use. In Experiment 1, the increase ratios of the cross-sectional area of the scala media of experimentally induced endolymphatic hydrops were quantitatively assessed among four groups of non-OPC application, RW application of xanthan gum, systemic application of OPC and RW application of OPC. In Experiment 2, the effects of systemic and RW applications of OPC on plasma vasopressin (p-VP) concentrations and plasma osmolality (p-OSM) were investigated. In Experiment 3, endocochlear DC potential (EP) was measured in guinea pigs with the RW application of OPC. Electron microscopic observations of the stria vascularis and the hair cells were also made. Both systemic and RW applications of OPC significantly reduced endolymphatic hydrops. However, systemic application resulted in the distension of the Reissner's membrane in the non-operated ear, which seemed to be caused by elevated p-VP levels resulting from the systemic application of OPC. In contrast, RW application of OPC produced no apparent toxic effects in the inner ear, as indicated electrophysiological or morphological changes. Thus, drug delivery via the round window is more useful for the clinical application of OPC for medical decompression.

Role-play games, experiments, workshops, blog posts: how community activities in HEPEX contribute to advance hydrologic ensemble prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramos, Maria-Helena; Wetterhall, Fredrik; Wood, Andy; Wang, Qj; Pappenberger, Florian; Verkade, Jan

2017-04-01

Since 2004, HEPEX (Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment) has been fostering a community of researchers and practitioners around the world. Through the years, it has contributed to establish a more integrative view of hydrological forecasting, where data assimilation, hydro-meteorological modelling chains, post-processing techniques, expert knowledge, and decision support systems are connected to enhance operational systems and water management applications. Here we present the community activities in HEPEX that have contributed to strengthening this unfunded/volunteer effort for more than a decade. It includes the organization of workshops, conference sessions, testbeds and inter-comparison experiments. More recently, HEPEX has also prompted the development of several publicly available role-play games and, since 2013, it has been running a blog portal (www.hepex.org), which is used as an intersection point for members. Through this website, members can continuously share their research, make announcements, report on workshops, projects and meetings, and hear about related research and operational challenges. It also creates a platform for early career scientists to become increasingly involved in hydrological forecasting science and applications.

Delta clipper lessons learned for increased operability in reusable space vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charette, Ray O.; Steinmeyer, Don A.; Smiljanic, Ray R.

1998-01-01

Important lessons were learned from the design, development, and test (DD&T), and operation of the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X/XA) Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) which apply to increased operability for the operational Reusable Space Vehicles (RSVs). Boeing maintains a continuous process improvement program that provides the opportunity to ``institutionalize'' the results from projects such as Delta Clipper for application to product improvement in future programs. During the design phase, operations and supportability (O&S) were emphasized to ensure aircraft-like operations, traceable to an operational RSV. The operations personnel, flight, and ground crew and crew chief were actively involved in the design, manufacture, and checkout of the systems. Changes and additions to capability were implemented as they evolved from knowledge gained in each phase of development. This paper presents key lessons learned with respect to design and implementation of flight systems, propulsion, airframe, hydraulics, avionics, and ground operations. Information was obtained from discussions with personnel associated with this program concerning their experience and lessons learned. Additionally, field process records and operations timelines were evaluated for applicability to RSVs. The DC-X program pursued reusability in all aspects of the design, a unique approach in rocket system development.

Operational performance of the photovoltaic-powered grain mill and water pump at Tangaye, Upper Volta

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martz, J.E.; Ratajczak, A.F.; Delombard, R.

1982-02-01

The first two years of operation of a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) power system for the village of Tangaye, Upper Volta in West Africa are described. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate that PV systems could provide reliable electrical power for multiple use applications in remote areas where local technical expertise is limited. The 1.8 kW (peak) power system supplies 120-V (d.c.) electrical power to operate a grain mill, a water pump, and mill building lights for the village. The system was initially sized to pump a part of the village water requirements from an existing improved well,more » and to meet a portion of the village grain grinding requirements. The data, observations, experiences, and conclusions developed during the first two years of operation are discussed. Reports of tests of the mills used in the project are included.« less

Operational performance of the photovoltaic-powered grain mill and water pump at Tangaye, Upper Volta

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martz, J. E.; Ratajczak, A. F.; Delombard, R.

1982-01-01

The first two years of operation of a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) power system for the village of Tangaye, Upper Volta in West Africa are described. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate that PV systems could provide reliable electrical power for multiple use applications in remote areas where local technical expertise is limited. The 1.8 kW (peak) power system supplies 120-V (d.c.) electrical power to operate a grain mill, a water pump, and mill building lights for the village. The system was initially sized to pump a part of the village water requirements from an existing improved well, and to meet a portion of the village grain grinding requirements. The data, observations, experiences, and conclusions developed during the first two years of operation are discussed. Reports of tests of the mills used in the project are included.

Designing for Humans in Autonomous Systems: Military Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

attentional control, and gaming experience are important determinants of how well humans interact with agents supervising multiple assets . 6 4...mission performance, operator workload, trust, SA, and, most important , how they affected human safety. The initial experiments were conducted in a...that humans can also play an important role by being able to identify these objects (perception by proxy). Therefore, human involvement is useful

A posteriori operation detection in evolving software models

PubMed Central

Langer, Philip; Wimmer, Manuel; Brosch, Petra; Herrmannsdörfer, Markus; Seidl, Martina; Wieland, Konrad; Kappel, Gerti

2013-01-01

As every software artifact, also software models are subject to continuous evolution. The operations applied between two successive versions of a model are crucial for understanding its evolution. Generic approaches for detecting operations a posteriori identify atomic operations, but neglect composite operations, such as refactorings, which leads to cluttered difference reports. To tackle this limitation, we present an orthogonal extension of existing atomic operation detection approaches for detecting also composite operations. Our approach searches for occurrences of composite operations within a set of detected atomic operations in a post-processing manner. One major benefit is the reuse of specifications available for executing composite operations also for detecting applications of them. We evaluate the accuracy of the approach in a real-world case study and investigate the scalability of our implementation in an experiment. PMID:23471366

Compact, Automated, Frequency-Agile Microspectrofluorimeter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandez, Salvador M.; Guignon, Ernest F.

1995-01-01

Compact, reliable, rugged, automated cell-culture and frequency-agile microspectrofluorimetric apparatus developed to perform experiments involving photometric imaging observations of single live cells. In original application, apparatus operates mostly unattended aboard spacecraft; potential terrestrial applications include automated or semiautomated diagnosis of pathological tissues in clinical laboratories, biomedical instrumentation, monitoring of biological process streams, and portable instrumentation for testing biological conditions in various environments. Offers obvious advantages over present laboratory instrumentation.

A Single Institution Review of Initial Application of a 5-mm Stapler.

PubMed

Rogers, Andrew P; Zens, Tiffany J; Kohler, Jonathan E; Le, Hau D; Nichol, Peter F; Leys, Charles M

2016-08-01

Operating in small spaces presents physical constraints that can be even more challenging in minimally invasive operations. Recently, a 5-mm stapler was approved for use in general surgery and pediatric surgery. Here, we present our initial experience using the 5-mm stapler in pediatric general surgery. A retrospective chart review was conducted to identify cases using the 5-mm stapler at our institution. Demographic data included age (in months) and weight (in kilograms). Operative data included indication for use, number of loads used, complications related to 5-mm stapler use, and interventions to address complications. A second review focused on patients undergoing the same operations, but using a 10-mm stapler. A total of 60 staple loads were deployed in 32 procedures. There were four adverse outcomes, all recognized intraoperatively. One bleed resulted from application on irradiated tissue and another bleed from application to a small noninflamed mesoappendix. A bronchial staple line leak resulted from improper stapler loading, and a bowel anastomosis leak was oversewn with a single stitch. When compared with 32 matched cases using a 10-mm stapler, there was no difference in age (5-mm = 39.11 months, 10-mm = 50.21 months, P = .49) or weight (5-mm = 16.34 kg, 10-mm = 19.93 kg, P = .51). A total of 60 staple applications were used, with one bleed noted. There was no significant difference in overall complication rate (5-mm rate = 4/60, 10-mm rate = 1/60; P = .36). Our initial experience suggests that although there were more complications with the 5-mm stapler, there is no statistically significant difference in complication rates when compared with the 10-mm stapler. Furthermore, the 5-mm stapler complications can be corrected with device training and proper patient selection. In appropriately selected pediatric surgery cases with size limitations, the 5-mm stapler can be used to minimize the invasiveness of the operation.

The BIMDA shuttle flight mission - A low cost MPS payload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holemans, Jaak; Cassanto, John M.; Morrison, Dennis; Rose, Alan; Luttges, Marvin

1990-01-01

The design, operation, and experimental protocol of the Bioserve-ITA Materials Dispersion Apparatus Payload (BIMDA) to be flown on the Space Shuttle on STS-37 are described. The aim of BIMDA is to investigate the methods and commercial potential of biomedical and fluid science applications in the microgravity environment. The BIMDA payload operations are diagrammed, and the payload components and experiments are listed, including the investigators and sponsoring institutions.

A comparison of low-pressure and supercharged operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell systems for aircraft applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werner, C.; Preiß, G.; Gores, F.; Griebenow, M.; Heitmann, S.

2016-08-01

Multifunctional fuel cell systems are competitive solutions aboard future generations of civil aircraft concerning energy consumption, environmental issues, and safety reasons. The present study compares low-pressure and supercharged operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with respect to performance and efficiency criteria. This is motivated by the challenge of pressure-dependent fuel cell operation aboard aircraft with cabin pressure varying with operating altitude. Experimental investigations of low-pressure fuel cell operation use model-based design of experiments and are complemented by numerical investigations concerning supercharged fuel cell operation. It is demonstrated that a low-pressure operation is feasible with the fuel cell device under test, but that its range of stable operation changes between both operating modes. Including an external compressor, it can be shown that the power demand for supercharging the fuel cell is about the same as the loss in power output of the fuel cell due to low-pressure operation. Furthermore, the supercharged fuel cell operation appears to be more sensitive with respect to variations in the considered independent operating parameters load requirement, cathode stoichiometric ratio, and cooling temperature. The results indicate that a pressure-dependent self-humidification control might be able to exploit the potential of low-pressure fuel cell operation for aircraft applications to the best advantage.

Delivering spacecraft control centers with embedded knowledge-based systems: The methodology issue

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ayache, S.; Haziza, M.; Cayrac, D.

1994-01-01

Matra Marconi Space (MMS) occupies a leading place in Europe in the domain of satellite and space data processing systems. The maturity of the knowledge-based systems (KBS) technology, the theoretical and practical experience acquired in the development of prototype, pre-operational and operational applications, make it possible today to consider the wide operational deployment of KBS's in space applications. In this perspective, MMS has to prepare the introduction of the new methods and support tools that will form the basis of the development of such systems. This paper introduces elements of the MMS methodology initiatives in the domain and the main rationale that motivated the approach. These initiatives develop along two main axes: knowledge engineering methods and tools, and a hybrid method approach for coexisting knowledge-based and conventional developments.

[Virtual surgical education: experience with medicine and surgery students].

PubMed

Bonavina, Luigi; Mozzi, Enrico; Peracchia, Alberto

2003-01-01

The use of virtual reality simulation is currently being proposed within programs of postgraduate surgical education. The simple tasks that make up an operative procedure can be repeatedly performed until satisfactory execution is achieved, and the errors can be corrected by means of objective assessment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability and the results of structured practice with the LapSim laparoscopic simulator used by undergraduate medical students. A significant reduction in operative time and errors was noted in several tasks (navigation, clipping, etc.). Although the transfer of technical skills to the operating room environment remains to be demonstrated, our research shows that this type of teaching is applicable to undergraduate medical students and in future may become a useful tool for selecting individuals for surgical residency programs.

Multinational Experiment 7. Outcome 3 - Cyber Domain Objective 3.1: Threats and Vulnerability Methodology Version 1.0

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-09

often  operators  of command and control  systems  within critical infrastructures, and  can in some ways be considered critical assets themselves. The...application layer makes up the  command and control  system  for the critical infrastructure. That includes  operating   systems  and  applications for users and...Determine how to achieve secure synchronization between primary and secondary  systems .  • Ensure alternatives are  operating , trained for, and practiced

Study on the steady operating state of a micro-pulse electron gun

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kui, Zhou; Xing, Luo; Institute of Applied Electronics, Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900

Micro-pulse electron gun (MPG) employs the basic concept of multipacting to produce high-current and short-pulse electron beams from a radio-frequency (RF) cavity. The concept of MPG has been proposed for more than two decades. However, the unstable operating state of MPG vastly obstructs its practical applications. This paper presents a study on the steady operating state of a micro-pulse electron gun with theory and experiments. The requirements for the steady operating state are proposed through the analysis of the interaction between the RF cavity and the beam load. Accordingly, a MPG cavity with the frequency of 2856 MHz has been designed,more » constructed, and tested. Some primary experiments have been finished. Both the unstable and stable operating states of the MPG have been observed. The stable output beam current has been detected at about 3.8 mA. Further experimental study is under way now.« less

Driver response to unexpected situations when using and in-vehicle information system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-12-01

This investigation is one of a series of studies aimed at investigating Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO) applications and their effect on driver behavior and performance. A field experiment was cond...

Human factors phase IV : risk analysis tool for new train control technology.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-01-31

This report covers the theoretical development of the safety state model for railroad operations. Using data from a train control technology experiment, experimental application of the model is demonstrated. A stochastic model of system behavior is d...

Human factors phase IV : risk analysis tool for new train control technology

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-01-01

This report covers the theoretical development of the safety state model for railroad operations. Using data from a train control technology experiment, experimental application of the model is demonstrated. A stochastic model of system behavior is d...

STS-66 Space Shuttle mission report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.

1995-01-01

The primary objective of this flight was to accomplish complementary science objectives by operating the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) and the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS). The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations of the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A) payload, the Experiment of the Sun Complementing the Atlas Payload and Education-II (ESCAPE-II) payload, the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment/National Institutes of Health Rodents (PARE/NIH-R) payload, the Protein Crystal Growth-Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-TES) payload, the Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES), the Space Tissue/National Institutes of Health Cells STL/N -A payload, the Space Acceleration Measurement Systems (SAMS) Experiment, and Heat Pipe Performance Experiment (HPPE) payload. The 11-day plus 2 contingency day STS-66 mission was flown as planned, with no contingency days used for weather avoidance or Orbiter contingency operations. Appendix A lists the sources of data from which this report was prepared, and Appendix B defines all acronyms and abbreviations used in the report.

STS-66 Space Shuttle mission report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.

1995-02-01

The primary objective of this flight was to accomplish complementary science objectives by operating the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) and the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS). The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations of the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A) payload, the Experiment of the Sun Complementing the Atlas Payload and Education-II (ESCAPE-II) payload, the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment/National Institutes of Health Rodents (PARE/NIH-R) payload, the Protein Crystal Growth-Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-TES) payload, the Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-STES), the Space Tissue/National Institutes of Health Cells STL/N -A payload, the Space Acceleration Measurement Systems (SAMS) Experiment, and Heat Pipe Performance Experiment (HPPE) payload. The 11-day plus 2 contingency day STS-66 mission was flown as planned, with no contingency days used for weather avoidance or Orbiter contingency operations. Appendix A lists the sources of data from which this report was prepared, and Appendix B defines all acronyms and abbreviations used in the report.

The effect of air entrapment on the performance of squeeze film dampers: Experiments and analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diaz Briceno, Sergio Enrique

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) are an effective means to introduce the required damping in rotor-bearing systems. They are a standard application in jet engines and are commonly used in industrial compressors. Yet, lack of understanding of their operation has confined the design of SFDs to a costly trial and error process based on prior experience. The main factor deterring the success of analytical models for the prediction of SFDs' performance lays on the modeling of the dynamic film rupture. Usually, the cavitation models developed for journal bearings are applied to SFDs. Yet, the characteristic motion of the SFD results in the entrapment of air into the oil film, thus producing a bubbly mixture that can not be represented by these models. In this work, an extensive experimental study establishes qualitatively and---for the first time---quantitatively the differences between operation with vapor cavitation and with air entrainment. The experiments show that most operating conditions lead to air entrainment and demonstrate the paramount effect it has on the performance of SFDs, evidencing the limitation of currently available models. Further experiments address the operation of SFDs with controlled bubbly mixtures. These experiments bolster the possibility of modeling air entrapment by representing the lubricant as a homogeneous mixture of air and oil and provide a reliable data base for benchmarking such a model. An analytical model is developed based on a homogeneous mixture assumption and where the bubbles are described by the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. Good agreement is obtained between this model and the measurements performed in the SFD operating with controlled mixtures. A complementary analytical model is devised to estimate the amount of air entrained from the balance of axial flows in the film. A combination of the analytical models for prediction of the air volume fraction and of the hydrodynamic pressures renders promising results for prediction of the performance of SFDs with freely entrained air. The results of this work are of immediate engineering applicability. Furthermore, they represent a firm step to advance the understanding on the effects of air entrapment in the performance of SFD.

Application of World Wide Web (W3) Technologies in Payload Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sun, Charles; Windrem, May; Picinich, Lou

1996-01-01

World Wide Web (W3) technologies are considered in relation to their application to space missions. It is considered that such technologies, including the hypertext transfer protocol and the Java object-oriented language, offer a powerful and relatively inexpensive framework for distributed application software development. The suitability of these technologies for payload monitoring systems development is discussed, and the experience gained from the development of an insect habitat monitoring system based on W3 technologies is reported.

Risk analysis theory applied to fishing operations: A new approach on the decision-making problem

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cunha, J.C.S.

1994-12-31

In the past the decisions concerning whether to continue or interrupt a fishing operation were based primarily on the operator`s previous experience. This procedure often led to wrong decisions and unnecessary loss of money and time. This paper describes a decision-making method based on risk analysis theory and previous operation results from a field under study. The method leads to more accurate decisions on a daily basis allowing the operator to verify each day of the operation if the decision being carried out is the one with the highest probability to conduct to the best economical result. An example ofmore » the method application is provided at the end of the paper.« less

SDR/STRS Flight Experiment and the Role of SDR-Based Communication and Navigation Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reinhart, Richard C.

2008-01-01

This presentation describes an open architecture SDR (software defined radio) infrastructure, suitable for space-based radios and operations, entitled Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS). SDR technologies will endow space and planetary exploration systems with dramatically increased capability, reduced power consumption, and less mass than conventional systems, at costs reduced by vigorous competition, hardware commonality, dense integration, minimizing the impact of parts obsolescence, improved interoperability, and software re-use. To advance the SDR architecture technology and demonstrate its applicability in space, NASA is developing a space experiment of multiple SDRs each with various waveforms to communicate with NASA s TDRSS satellite and ground networks, and the GPS constellation. An experiments program will investigate S-band and Ka-band communications, navigation, and networking technologies and operations.

Comparative study of a learning fuzzy PID controller and a self-tuning controller.

PubMed

Kazemian, H B

2001-01-01

The self-organising fuzzy controller is an extension of the rule-based fuzzy controller with an additional learning capability. The self-organising fuzzy (SOF) is used as a master controller to readjust conventional PID gains at the actuator level during the system operation, copying the experience of a human operator. The application of the self-organising fuzzy PID (SOF-PID) controller to a 2-link non-linear revolute-joint robot-arm is studied using path tracking trajectories at the setpoint. For the purpose of comparison, the same experiments are repeated by using the self-tuning controller subject to the same data supplied at the setpoint. For the path tracking experiments, the output trajectories of the SOF-PID controller followed the specified path closer and smoother than the self-tuning controller.

Operating single quantum emitters with a compact Stirling cryocooler

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schlehahn, A.; Krüger, L.; Gschrey, M.

2015-01-15

The development of an easy-to-operate light source emitting single photons has become a major driving force in the emerging field of quantum information technology. Here, we report on the application of a compact and user-friendly Stirling cryocooler in the field of nanophotonics. The Stirling cryocooler is used to operate a single quantum emitter constituted of a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) at a base temperature below 30 K. Proper vibration decoupling of the cryocooler and its surrounding enables free-space micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy to identify and analyze different charge-carrier states within a single quantum dot. As an exemplary application in quantum optics, wemore » perform a Hanbury-Brown and Twiss experiment demonstrating a strong suppression of multi-photon emission events with g{sup (2)}(0) < 0.04 from this Stirling-cooled single quantum emitter under continuous wave excitation. Comparative experiments performed on the same quantum dot in a liquid helium (LHe)-flow cryostat show almost identical values of g{sup (2)}(0) for both configurations at a given temperature. The results of this proof of principle experiment demonstrate that low-vibration Stirling cryocoolers that have so far been considered exotic to the field of nanophotonics are an attractive alternative to expensive closed-cycle cryostats or LHe-flow cryostats, which could pave the way for the development of high-quality table-top non-classical light sources.« less

Operating single quantum emitters with a compact Stirling cryocooler.

PubMed

Schlehahn, A; Krüger, L; Gschrey, M; Schulze, J-H; Rodt, S; Strittmatter, A; Heindel, T; Reitzenstein, S

2015-01-01

The development of an easy-to-operate light source emitting single photons has become a major driving force in the emerging field of quantum information technology. Here, we report on the application of a compact and user-friendly Stirling cryocooler in the field of nanophotonics. The Stirling cryocooler is used to operate a single quantum emitter constituted of a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) at a base temperature below 30 K. Proper vibration decoupling of the cryocooler and its surrounding enables free-space micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy to identify and analyze different charge-carrier states within a single quantum dot. As an exemplary application in quantum optics, we perform a Hanbury-Brown and Twiss experiment demonstrating a strong suppression of multi-photon emission events with g((2))(0) < 0.04 from this Stirling-cooled single quantum emitter under continuous wave excitation. Comparative experiments performed on the same quantum dot in a liquid helium (LHe)-flow cryostat show almost identical values of g((2))(0) for both configurations at a given temperature. The results of this proof of principle experiment demonstrate that low-vibration Stirling cryocoolers that have so far been considered exotic to the field of nanophotonics are an attractive alternative to expensive closed-cycle cryostats or LHe-flow cryostats, which could pave the way for the development of high-quality table-top non-classical light sources.

Ergonomic task analysis of ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block: a pilot study.

PubMed

Ajmal, Muhammad; Power, Susan; Smith, Tim; Shorten, George D

2011-02-01

To apply ergonomic task analysis to the performance of ultrasound-guided (US-guided) femoral nerve block (FNB) in an acute hospital setting. Pilot prospective observational study. Orthopedic operating room of a regional trauma hospital. 15 anesthesiologists of various levels of experience in US-guided FNB (estimated minimum experience < 10 procedures; maximum about 50 procedures, and from basic trainees to consultants); and 15 patients (5 men and 10 women), aged 77 ± 15 (mean ± SD yrs) years. MEASUREMENTS/OBSERVATIONS: A data capture "tool", which was modified from one previously developed for ergonomic study of spinal anesthesia, was studied. Patient, operator, and heterogeneous environmental factors related to ergonomic performance of US-guided FNB were identified. The observation period started immediately before commencement of positioning the patient and ended on completion of perineural injection. Data were acquired using direct observations, photography, and application of a questionnaire. The quality of ergonomic performance was generally suboptimal and varied greatly among operators. Eight (experience < 10 procedures) of 15 operators excessively rotated their head, neck, and/or back to visualize the image on the ultrasound machine. Eight operators (experience < 10 procedures) performed the procedure with excessive thoracolumbar flexion. Performance of US-guided FNB presents ergonomic challenges and was suboptimal during most of the procedures observed. Formal training in US-guided peripheral nerve blockade should include reference to ergonomic factors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Developments and applications of accelerator system at the Wakasa Wan Energy Research Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatori, S.; Kurita, T.; Hayashi, Y.; Yamada, M.; Yamada, H.; Mori, J.; Hamachi, H.; Kimura, S.; Shimoda, T.; Hiroto, M.; Hashimoto, T.; Shimada, M.; Yamamoto, H.; Ohtani, N.; Yasuda, K.; Ishigami, R.; Sasase, M.; Ito, Y.; Hatashita, M.; Takagi, K.; Kume, K.; Fukuda, S.; Yokohama, N.; Kagiya, G.; Fukumoto, S.; Kondo, M.

2005-12-01

At the Wakasa Wan Energy Research Center (WERC), an accelerator system with a 5 MV tandem accelerator and a 200 MeV proton synchrotron is used for ion beam analyses and irradiation experiments. The study of cancer therapy with a proton beam is also performed. Therefore, the stable operation and efficient sharing of beam time of the system are required, based on the treatment standard. Recent developments and the operation status of the system put stress on the tandem accelerator operation, magnifying the problems.

Enhancing GIS Capabilities for High Resolution Earth Science Grids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koziol, B. W.; Oehmke, R.; Li, P.; O'Kuinghttons, R.; Theurich, G.; DeLuca, C.

2017-12-01

Applications for high performance GIS will continue to increase as Earth system models pursue more realistic representations of Earth system processes. Finer spatial resolution model input and output, unstructured or irregular modeling grids, data assimilation, and regional coordinate systems present novel challenges for GIS frameworks operating in the Earth system modeling domain. This presentation provides an overview of two GIS-driven applications that combine high performance software with big geospatial datasets to produce value-added tools for the modeling and geoscientific community. First, a large-scale interpolation experiment using National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) catchments, a high resolution rectilinear CONUS grid, and the Earth System Modeling Framework's (ESMF) conservative interpolation capability will be described. ESMF is a parallel, high-performance software toolkit that provides capabilities (e.g. interpolation) for building and coupling Earth science applications. ESMF is developed primarily by the NOAA Environmental Software Infrastructure and Interoperability (NESII) group. The purpose of this experiment was to test and demonstrate the utility of high performance scientific software in traditional GIS domains. Special attention will be paid to the nuanced requirements for dealing with high resolution, unstructured grids in scientific data formats. Second, a chunked interpolation application using ESMF and OpenClimateGIS (OCGIS) will demonstrate how spatial subsetting can virtually remove computing resource ceilings for very high spatial resolution interpolation operations. OCGIS is a NESII-developed Python software package designed for the geospatial manipulation of high-dimensional scientific datasets. An overview of the data processing workflow, why a chunked approach is required, and how the application could be adapted to meet operational requirements will be discussed here. In addition, we'll provide a general overview of OCGIS's parallel subsetting capabilities including challenges in the design and implementation of a scientific data subsetter.

Stapled haemorrhoidopexy: a consensus position paper by an international working party - indications, contra-indications and technique.

PubMed

Corman, M L; Gravié, J-F; Hager, T; Loudon, M A; Mascagni, D; Nyström, P-O; Seow-Choen, F; Abcarian, H; Marcello, P; Weiss, E; Longo, A

2003-07-01

An international working party with experience in the performance of an alternative haemorrhoid operation through the use of the circular stapler was convened for the purpose of developing a consensus as to the criteria for undertaking this procedure. The agenda consisted of first, naming the operation; second, the indications and contra-indications for its performance; and third, the preferred surgical technique. Among the recommendations for individuals who plan to embark on this surgery are that experience with anorectal surgery and an understanding of anorectal anatomy are requisites; experience with circular stapling devices is essential; and the surgeon must attend a formal course which should include lectures, videos, the application of the instrument in models, and observation of the operation as performed by a surgeon recognized by his or her peers-leading ultimately to undertaking the procedure while being observed by an experienced surgeon. Following satisfactory completion of the above, independent responsibility should be determined by an individual's department of surgery.

Nuclear Criticality Experimental Research Center (NCERC) Overview

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goda, Joetta Marie; Grove, Travis Justin; Hayes, David Kirk

The mission of the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) is to conduct experiments and training with critical assemblies and fissionable material at or near criticality in order to explore reactivity phenomena, and to operate the assemblies in the regions from subcritical through delayed critical. One critical assembly, Godiva-IV, is designed to operate above prompt critical. The Nuclear Criticality Experimental Research Center (NCERC) is our nation’s only general-purpose critical experiments facility and is only one of a few that remain operational throughout the world. This presentation discusses the history of NCERC, the general activitiesmore » that makeup work at NCERC, and the various government programs and missions that NCERC supports. Recent activities at NCERC will be reviewed, with a focus on demonstrating how NCERC meets national security mission goals using engineering fundamentals. In particular, there will be a focus on engineering theory and design and applications of engineering fundamentals at NCERC. NCERC activities that relate to engineering education will also be examined.« less

Early tracking would improve the operative experience of general surgery residents.

PubMed

Stain, Steven C; Biester, Thomas W; Hanks, John B; Ashley, Stanley W; Valentine, R James; Bass, Barbara L; Buyske, Jo

2010-09-01

High surgical complexity and individual career goals has led most general surgery (GS) residents to pursue fellowship training, resulting in a shortage of surgeons who practice broad-based general surgery. We hypothesize that early tracking of residents would improve operative experience of residents planning to be general surgeons, and could foster greater interest and confidence in this career path. Surgical Operative Log data from GS and fellowship bound residents (FB) applying for the 2008 American Board of Surgery Qualifying Examination (QE) were used to construct a hypothetical training model with 6 months of early specialization (ESP) for FB residents in 4 specialties (cardiac, vascular, colorectal, pediatric); and presumed these cases would be available to GS residents within the same program. A total of 142 training programs had both FB residents (n = 237) and GS residents (n = 402), and represented 70% of all 2008 QE applicants. The mean numbers of operations by FB and GS residents were 1131 and 1091, respectively. There were a mean of 252 cases by FB residents in the chief year, theoretically making 126 cases available for each GS resident. In 9 defined categories, the hypothetical model would result in an increase in the 5-year operative experience of GS residents (mastectomy 6.5%; colectomy 22.8%; gastrectomy 23.4%; antireflux procedures 23.4%; pancreatic resection 37.4%; liver resection 29.3%; endocrine procedures 19.6%; trauma operations 13.3%; GI endoscopy 6.5%). The ESP model improves operative experience of GS residents, particularly for complex gastrointestinal procedures. The expansion of subspecialty ESP should be considered.

Rooftop applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kern, E.

1982-01-01

Research on residential photovoltaic power systems based upon the experience of MIT-LL in implementing the DOE Residential Demonstration Project, especially the Northeast Residential Experiment Station (NE RES) is discussed. There is an immediate need for improved power-conditioner operational and reliability capabilities. Continuing evaluation of photovoltaic power systems is required to verify long-term performance, reliability, and utility interface effects. In the long term, the price of photovoltaic power systems must decrease, especially of modules.

Computational fluid dynamics and aerothermodynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, Leland A.

1989-01-01

The primary objective was the development of nonequilibrium radiation and chemistry models suitable for engineering applications associated with the flow fields about aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles (AOTVs), the aero-assisted flight experiment vehicle (AFE), and other vehicles operating at superorbital velocities and very high attitudes.

Chemical Instrumentation for the Visually Handicapped.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, James L.

1982-01-01

Describes a simple, relatively inexpensive, and easily implemented approach for introducing visually handicapped students to chemical instrumentation via experiments on operational amplifiers as examples of some of the electronic building blocks of chemical instrumentation. The approach is applicable to other chemical instruments having electrical…

Design criteria monograph on transmission seals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayden, T. S.; Keller, C. H., Jr.

1975-01-01

Guide is based on experience obtained in wide variety of applications using lip, circumferential, and face seals. Particular attention is given to capabilities and lubrication of various seal types. Special limitations as a result of storage requirements, quality control, installation, operation, and removal are discussed.

Opportunities for Combined Heat and Power at Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Market Analysis and Lessons from the Field

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This report presents the opportunities for combined heat and power (CHP) applications in the municipal wastewater treatment sector, and it documents the experiences of the wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) operators who have employed CHP.

A Cloud-Based Car Parking Middleware for IoT-Based Smart Cities: Design and Implementation

PubMed Central

Ji, Zhanlin; Ganchev, Ivan; O'Droma, Máirtín; Zhao, Li; Zhang, Xueji

2014-01-01

This paper presents the generic concept of using cloud-based intelligent car parking services in smart cities as an important application of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. This type of services will become an integral part of a generic IoT operational platform for smart cities due to its pure business-oriented features. A high-level view of the proposed middleware is outlined and the corresponding operational platform is illustrated. To demonstrate the provision of car parking services, based on the proposed middleware, a cloud-based intelligent car parking system for use within a university campus is described along with details of its design, implementation, and operation. A number of software solutions, including Kafka/Storm/Hbase clusters, OSGi web applications with distributed NoSQL, a rule engine, and mobile applications, are proposed to provide ‘best’ car parking service experience to mobile users, following the Always Best Connected and best Served (ABC&S) paradigm. PMID:25429416

A cloud-based car parking middleware for IoT-based smart cities: design and implementation.

PubMed

Ji, Zhanlin; Ganchev, Ivan; O'Droma, Máirtín; Zhao, Li; Zhang, Xueji

2014-11-25

This paper presents the generic concept of using cloud-based intelligent car parking services in smart cities as an important application of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. This type of services will become an integral part of a generic IoT operational platform for smart cities due to its pure business-oriented features. A high-level view of the proposed middleware is outlined and the corresponding operational platform is illustrated. To demonstrate the provision of car parking services, based on the proposed middleware, a cloud-based intelligent car parking system for use within a university campus is described along with details of its design, implementation, and operation. A number of software solutions, including Kafka/Storm/Hbase clusters, OSGi web applications with distributed NoSQL, a rule engine, and mobile applications, are proposed to provide 'best' car parking service experience to mobile users, following the Always Best Connected and best Served (ABC&S) paradigm.

A 40-kW fuel cell field test summary utilities activities report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Racine, W. C.; Londos, T. C.

1987-07-01

Forty six 40 kW fuel cell power plants were field tested by 37 host participants at 42 sites in a variety of commercial, light industrial and multifamily residential applications. The participants obtained over 300,000 hours of operating experience with the power plants covering a diverse range of applications for power plant electricity and heat utilization in both single and multiple unit installations.

Formalizing procedures for operations automation, operator training and spacecraft autonomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lecouat, Francois; Desaintvincent, Arnaud

1994-01-01

The generation and validation of operations procedures is a key task of mission preparation that is quite complex and costly. This has motivated the development of software applications providing support for procedures preparation. Several applications have been developed at MATRA MARCONI SPACE (MMS) over the last five years. They are presented in the first section of this paper. The main idea is that if procedures are represented in a formal language, they can be managed more easily with a computer tool and some automatic verifications can be performed. One difficulty is to define a formal language that is easy to use for operators and operations engineers. From the experience of the various procedures management tools developed in the last five years (including the POM, EOA, and CSS projects), MMS has derived OPSMAKER, a generic tool for procedure elaboration and validation. It has been applied to quite different types of missions, ranging from crew procedures (PREVISE system), ground control centers management procedures (PROCSU system), and - most relevant to the present paper - satellite operation procedures (PROCSAT developed for CNES, to support the preparation and verification of SPOT 4 operation procedures, and OPSAT for MMS telecom satellites operation procedures).

Inverter performance comparison at PVUSA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farmer, Brian K.; Stolte, Walter J.; Reyes, Antonio B.

1996-01-01

The paper is a summary of the Photovoltaics for Utility Scale Applications (PVUSA) Project's experience with procurement, testing, operation and maintenance of photovoltaic (PV) power conditioning units (PCUs) at the PVUSA Davis and Kerman sites. Brief descriptions of each of five different PCU models are included to explain tests and operational characteristics. A comparison of the PCUs' performances is presented, and conclusions are offered. Further details are in a forthcoming PVUSA report on PCUs and Power Quality [1].

Function of university reactors in operator licensing training for nuclear utilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wicks, F.

1985-11-01

The director of the Division of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in generic letter 84-10, dated April 26, 1984, spoke the requirement that applicants for senior reactor operator licenses for power reactors shall have performed then reactor startups. Simulator startups were not acknowledged. Startups performed on a university reactor are acceptable. The content and results of a five-day program combining instruction and experiments with the Rensselaer reactor are summarized.

Airborne lidar experiments at the Savannah River Plant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krabill, William B.; Swift, Robert N.

1985-01-01

The results of remote sensing experiments at the Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Nuclear Facility utilizing the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) are presented. The flights were conducted in support of the numerous environmental monitoring requirements associated with the operation of the facility and for the purpose of furthering research and development of airborne lidar technology. Areas of application include airborne laser topographic mapping, hydrologic studies using fluorescent tracer dye, timber volume estimation, baseline characterization of wetlands, and aquatic chlorophyll and photopigment measurements. Conclusions relative to the usability of airborne lidar technology for the DOE for each of these remote sensing applications are discussed.

Experience of Application of Liquid Lubricating Materials during Wide Strip Hot Rolling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Platov, S. I.; Dema, R. R.; Kharchenko, M. V.; Amirov, R. N.

2017-12-01

The paper presents the results of the scientific and practical research of roller systems operation at feed of liquid lubricating materials through the example of the wide strip hot rolling Mill-2000 at PAO MMK. The experiments proved that application of lubricating materials leads to decrease of energy-power parameters of the process by 12 to 15 %, and reduction of work roll wear by 10 to 12%. The practical results of the study are developed recommendations on determination of consumption-volumetric parameters of the supplied lubricating material depending on rheological and geometrical parameters of the rolled strip and current wear of work rolls.

[Application of self-developed moxibustion thermometer in experiment teaching].

PubMed

Zhang, Jing; Sun, Yan; Zhang, Yongchen; Lu, Yan

2017-04-12

In order to improve the teaching quality of moxibustion experiment, a moxibustion thermometer was self-developed to monitor the real-time and continuous data of moxibustion temperature at different time points during the experiment. After teacher's explanation and demonstration of experiment process, the students used the moxibustion thermometer to monitor the change of temperature data and extended the experiment design. In the process of experiment class, the students found the temperature of the object tested increased rapidly, arrived at the highest temperature and slowly reduced. In addition, with learned knowledge, the students were able to design the feasible experiment scheme. The self-developed moxibustion thermometer operates smoothly in actual teaching, with stable experiment data and less experiment error, which obtained satisfactory teaching effect.

New technology innovations with potential for space applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishen, Kumar

2008-07-01

Human exploration and development of space is being pursued by spacefaring nations to explore, use, and enable the development of space and expand the human experience there. The goals include: increasing human knowledge of nature's processes using the space environment; exploring and settling the solar system; achieving routine space travel; and enriching life on Earth through living and working in space. A crucial aspect of future space missions is the development of infrastructure to optimize safety, productivity, and costs. A major component of mission execution is operations management. NASA's International Space Station is providing extensive experience in both infrastructure and operations. In view of this, a vigorously organized approach is needed to implement successful space-, planet-, and ground-based research and operations that entails wise and efficient use of technical and human resources. Many revolutionary technologies being pursued by researchers and technologists may be vital in making space missions safe, reliable, cost-effective, and productive. These include: ionic polymer-metal composite technology; solid-state lasers; time-domain sensors and communication systems; high-temperature superconductivity; nanotechnology; variable specific impulse magneto plasma rocket; fuzzy logic; wavelet technology; and neural networks. An overview of some of these will be presented, along with their application to space missions.

An improved task-role-based access control model for G-CSCW applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Chaoying; Chen, Jun; Jiang, Jie; Han, Gang

2005-10-01

Access control is an important and popular security mechanism for multi-user applications. GIS-based Computer Supported Cooperative Work (G-CSCW) application is one of such applications. This paper presents an improved Task-Role-Based Access Control (X-TRBAC) model for G-CSCW applications. The new model inherits the basic concepts of the old ones, such as role and task. Moreover, it has introduced two concepts, i.e. object hierarchy and operation hierarchy, and the corresponding rules to improve the efficiency of permission definition in access control models. The experiments show that the method can simplify the definition of permissions, and it is more applicable for G-CSCW applications.

Usability Operations on Touch Mobile Devices for Users with Autism.

PubMed

Quezada, Angeles; Juárez-Ramírez, Reyes; Jiménez, Samantha; Noriega, Alan Ramírez; Inzunza, Sergio; Garza, Arnulfo Alanis

2017-10-14

The Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a cognitive disorder that affects the cognitive and motor skills; due that, users cannot perform digital and fine motor tasks. It is necessary to create software applications that adapt to the abilities of these users. In recent years has been an increase in the research of the use of technology to support autistic users to develop their communication skills and to improve learning. However, the applications' usability for disable users is not assessed objectively as the existing models do not consider interaction operators for disable users. This article focuses on identifying the operations that can easily be performed by autistic users following the metrics of KML-GOMS, TLM and FLM. In addition, users of typical development were included in order to do a comparison between both types of users. The experiment was carried out using four applications designed for autistic users. Participants were subjects divided in two groups: level 1 and level 2 autistic users, and a group of users of typical development. During the experimentation, users performed a use case for each application; the time needed to perform each task was measured. Results show that the easiest operations for autistic users are K (Keystroke), D (Drag), Initial Act (I) and Tapping (T).

Software solutions manage the definition, operation, maintenance and configuration control of the National Ignition Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dobson, D; Churby, A; Krieger, E

2011-07-25

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world's largest laser composed of millions of individual parts brought together to form one massive assembly. Maintaining control of the physical definition, status and configuration of this structure is a monumental undertaking yet critical to the validity of the shot experiment data and the safe operation of the facility. The NIF business application suite of software provides the means to effectively manage the definition, build, operation, maintenance and configuration control of all components of the National Ignition Facility. State of the art Computer Aided Design software applications are used to generate a virtualmore » model and assemblies. Engineering bills of material are controlled through the Enterprise Configuration Management System. This data structure is passed to the Enterprise Resource Planning system to create a manufacturing bill of material. Specific parts are serialized then tracked along their entire lifecycle providing visibility to the location and status of optical, target and diagnostic components that are key to assessing pre-shot machine readiness. Nearly forty thousand items requiring preventive, reactive and calibration maintenance are tracked through the System Maintenance & Reliability Tracking application to ensure proper operation. Radiological tracking applications ensure proper stewardship of radiological and hazardous materials and help provide a safe working environment for NIF personnel.« less

Retention and application of Skylab experiment experiences to future programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Milly, N.; Gillespie, V. G.

1974-01-01

Problems encountered on Skylab Experiments are listed in order that these experiences and associated recommendations might help to prevent similar problems on future programs. The criteria for selection of the data to be utilized was to identify the problem areas within the Skylab Program which would be of major significance with respect to future programs. Also, the problem had to be unique in that it would help identify to a designer/manufacturer an unforeseen or unanticipated occurrence which could cause failures, delays, or additional cost. Only those unexpected problems that may occur due to the nature of aerospace experiment environmental and operational requirements are included.

Ultrastable, Zerodur-based optical benches for quantum gas experiments.

PubMed

Duncker, Hannes; Hellmig, Ortwin; Wenzlawski, André; Grote, Alexander; Rafipoor, Amir Jones; Rafipoor, Mona; Sengstock, Klaus; Windpassinger, Patrick

2014-07-10

Operating ultracold quantum gas experiments outside of a laboratory environment has so far been a challenging goal, largely due to the lack of sufficiently stable optical systems. In order to increase the thermal stability of free-space laser systems, the application of nonstandard materials such as glass ceramics is required. Here, we report on Zerodur-based optical systems which include single-mode fiber couplers consisting of multiple components jointed by light-curing adhesives. The thermal stability is thoroughly investigated, revealing excellent fiber-coupling efficiencies between 0.85 and 0.92 in the temperature range from 17°C to 36°C. In conjunction with successfully performed vibration tests, these findings qualify our highly compact systems for atom interferometry experiments aboard a sounding rocket as well as various other quantum information and sensing applications.

IDSP- INTERACTIVE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mish, W. H.

1994-01-01

The Interactive Digital Signal Processor, IDSP, consists of a set of time series analysis "operators" based on the various algorithms commonly used for digital signal analysis work. The processing of a digital time series to extract information is usually achieved by the application of a number of fairly standard operations. However, it is often desirable to "experiment" with various operations and combinations of operations to explore their effect on the results. IDSP is designed to provide an interactive and easy-to-use system for this type of digital time series analysis. The IDSP operators can be applied in any sensible order (even recursively), and can be applied to single time series or to simultaneous time series. IDSP is being used extensively to process data obtained from scientific instruments onboard spacecraft. It is also an excellent teaching tool for demonstrating the application of time series operators to artificially-generated signals. IDSP currently includes over 43 standard operators. Processing operators provide for Fourier transformation operations, design and application of digital filters, and Eigenvalue analysis. Additional support operators provide for data editing, display of information, graphical output, and batch operation. User-developed operators can be easily interfaced with the system to provide for expansion and experimentation. Each operator application generates one or more output files from an input file. The processing of a file can involve many operators in a complex application. IDSP maintains historical information as an integral part of each file so that the user can display the operator history of the file at any time during an interactive analysis. IDSP is written in VAX FORTRAN 77 for interactive or batch execution and has been implemented on a DEC VAX-11/780 operating under VMS. The IDSP system generates graphics output for a variety of graphics systems. The program requires the use of Versaplot and Template plotting routines and IMSL Math/Library routines. These software packages are not included in IDSP. The virtual memory requirement for the program is approximately 2.36 MB. The IDSP system was developed in 1982 and was last updated in 1986. Versaplot is a registered trademark of Versatec Inc. Template is a registered trademark of Template Graphics Software Inc. IMSL Math/Library is a registered trademark of IMSL Inc.

The Experience of Co-operation in Education for and between the Microstates of the Pacific: Is It Applicable Elsewhere?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higginson, Peter

1991-01-01

Discusses international cooperative efforts on educational improvement in small Pacific Ocean nations. Identifies problems in working with small nations with limited financial resources. Describes successful programs of teacher education and textbook development. (CFR)

Space storable propellant performance program coaxial injector characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burick, R. J.

1972-01-01

An experimental program was conducted to characterize the circular coaxial injector concept for application with the space-storable gas/liquid propellant combination FLOX(82.6% F2)/CH4(g) at high pressure. The primary goal of the program was to obtain high characteristic velocity efficiency in conjunction with acceptable injector/chamber compatibility. A series of subscale (single element) cold flow and hot fire experiments was employed to establish design criteria for a 3000-lbf (sea level) engine operating at 500 psia. The subscale experiments characterized both high performance core elements and peripheral elements with enhanced injector/chamber compatibility. The full-scale injector which evolved from the study demonstrated a performance level of 99 percent of the theoretical shifting characteristic exhaust velocity with low chamber heat flux levels. A 44-second-duration firing demonstrated the durability of the injector. Parametric data are presented that are applicable for the design of circular, coaxial injectors that operate with injection dynamics (fuel and oxidizer velocity, etc.) similar to those employed in the work reported.

Applications of graphics to support a testbed for autonomous space vehicle operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmeckpeper, K. R.; Aldridge, J. P.; Benson, S.; Horner, S.; Kullman, A.; Mulder, T.; Parrott, W.; Roman, D.; Watts, G.; Bochsler, Daniel C.

1989-01-01

Researchers describe their experience using graphics tools and utilities while building an application, AUTOPS, that uses a graphical Machintosh (TM)-like interface for the input and display of data, and animation graphics to enhance the presentation of results of autonomous space vehicle operations simulations. AUTOPS is a test bed for evaluating decisions for intelligent control systems for autonomous vehicles. Decisions made by an intelligent control system, e.g., a revised mission plan, might be displayed to the user in textual format or he can witness the effects of those decisions via out of window graphics animations. Although a textual description conveys essentials, a graphics animation conveys the replanning results in a more convincing way. Similarily, iconic and menu-driven screen interfaces provide the user with more meaningful options and displays. Presented here are experiences with the SunView and TAE Plus graphics tools used for interface design, and the Johnson Space Center Interactive Graphics Laboratory animation graphics tools used for generating out out of the window graphics.

Assessment of the SonixGPS system for its application in real-time ultrasonography navigation-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy for the treatment of complex kidney stones.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Long, Qingzhi; Chen, Xingfa; He, Dalin; He, Hui

2017-04-01

SonixGPS is a novel real-time ultrasonography navigation technology, which has been demonstrated to promote accuracy of puncture in surgical operations. The aim of this study is to evaluate its application in guiding the puncture during percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). We retrospectively reviewed our experience in treating a total of 74 patients with complex kidney stones with PCNL, in which puncture in 37 cases were guided by SonixGPS system, while the other 37 by conventional ultrasound. The effectiveness of operation was evaluated in terms of stone clearance rate, operation time, time to successful puncture, number of attempts for successful puncture and hospital stay. The safety of operation was examined by evaluating postoperative complications. Our retrospective review showed that although there were no significant differences in stone clearance rates between the groups, SonixGPS guidance resulted in more puncture accuracy with shorter puncture time and higher successful puncture rate. Under the help of SonixGPS, most patients (92 %) had no or just mild complications, compared to that (73 %) in conventional ultrasound group. Post-operative decrease of hemoglobin in SonixGPS group was 13.79 (7-33) mg/dl, significantly lower than that 20.97 (8-41) mg/dl in conventional ultrasound group. Our experience demonstrates that SonixGPS is superior to conventional ultrasound in guiding the puncture in PCNL for the treatment of complex kidney stone.

Warm white LEDs lighting over Ra=95 and its applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobashi, Katsuya; Taguchi, Tsunemasa

2007-02-01

We have for the first time developed warm white LEDs lighting using a combination of near ultraviolet LED and three-band (red, green and blue) white phosphors. This LED has the average color-rendering index Ra=96. Moreover, special color-rendering index R9 (red) and R15 (face color of Japanese) are estimated to be 95 and 97, respectively. We will describe the results of evaluation on the medical lighting applications such as operation, treatment and endoscope experiments, application to the LED fashions and application to the Japanese antique art (ink painting) lighting.

Characterization of good teleoperators - What aptitudes, interests, and experience correlate with measures of teleoperator performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yorchak, J. P.; Hartley, C. S.; Hinman, E.

1985-01-01

The use of aptitude tests and questionnaries to evaluate an individuals aptitude for teleoperation is studied. The Raven Progressive Matrices Test and Differential Aptitude Tests, and a 16-item questionnaire for assessing the subject's interests, academic background, and previous experience are described. The Proto-Flight Manipulator Arm, cameras, console, hand controller, and task board utilized by the 17 engineers are examined. The correlation between aptitude scores and questionnaire responses, and operator performance is investigated. Multiple regression data reveal that the eight predictor variables are not individually significant for evaluating operator performance; however, the complete test battery is applicable for predicting 49 percent of subject variance on the criterion task.

A memory module for experimental data handling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Blois, J.

1985-02-01

A compact CAMAC memory module for experimental data handling was developed to eliminate the need of direct memory access in computer controlled measurements. When using autonomous controllers it also makes measurements more independent of the program and enlarges the available space for programs in the memory of the micro-computer. The memory module has three modes of operation: an increment-, a list- and a fifo mode. This is achieved by connecting the main parts, being: the memory (MEM), the fifo buffer (FIFO), the address buffer (BUF), two counters (AUX and ADDR) and a readout register (ROR), by an internal 24-bit databus. The time needed for databus operations is 1 μs, for measuring cycles as well as for CAMAC cycles. The FIFO provides temporary data storage during CAMAC cycles and separates the memory part from the application part. The memory is variable from 1 to 64K (24 bits) by using different types of memory chips. The application part, which forms 1/3 of the module, will be specially designed for each application and is added to the memory chian internal connector. The memory unit will be used in Mössbauer experiments and in thermal neutron scattering experiments.

Carpool incentives: evaluation of operational experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1976-03-01

The report reviews both the published and unpublished literature with respect to various incentives that could increase carpooling and to determine, where possible, the effects of these incentives on carpooling. The coverage included theoretical and analytical work, as well as empirical observations of programs in operation both in this country and abroad. The primary focus is on the identification of actual examples of possible carpooling incentives, their description and implementation characteristics, applicability, institutional/legal barriers, public acceptability, and their effects on travel behavior and energy use. The relevant literature, applications, and existing data sources were canvassed and used to evaluate bothmore » the technical potential and the feasibility of implementation of the various policies selected for study.« less

Application of quality by design principles to the development and technology transfer of a major process improvement for the manufacture of a recombinant protein.

PubMed

Looby, Mairead; Ibarra, Neysi; Pierce, James J; Buckley, Kevin; O'Donovan, Eimear; Heenan, Mary; Moran, Enda; Farid, Suzanne S; Baganz, Frank

2011-01-01

This study describes the application of quality by design (QbD) principles to the development and implementation of a major manufacturing process improvement for a commercially distributed therapeutic protein produced in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture. The intent of this article is to focus on QbD concepts, and provide guidance and understanding on how the various components combine together to deliver a robust process in keeping with the principles of QbD. A fed-batch production culture and a virus inactivation step are described as representative examples of upstream and downstream unit operations that were characterized. A systematic approach incorporating QbD principles was applied to both unit operations, involving risk assessment of potential process failure points, small-scale model qualification, design and execution of experiments, definition of operating parameter ranges and process validation acceptance criteria followed by manufacturing-scale implementation and process validation. Statistical experimental designs were applied to the execution of process characterization studies evaluating the impact of operating parameters on product quality attributes and process performance parameters. Data from process characterization experiments were used to define the proven acceptable range and classification of operating parameters for each unit operation. Analysis of variance and Monte Carlo simulation methods were used to assess the appropriateness of process design spaces. Successful implementation and validation of the process in the manufacturing facility and the subsequent manufacture of hundreds of batches of this therapeutic protein verifies the approaches taken as a suitable model for the development, scale-up and operation of any biopharmaceutical manufacturing process. Copyright © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Rotary Ni-Ti profile systems for preparing curved canals in resin blocks: influence of operator on instrument breakage.

PubMed

Mandel, E; Adib-Yazdi, M; Benhamou, L M; Lachkar, T; Mesgouez, C; Sobel, M

1999-11-01

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of fracture of ProFile 0.4 and 0.6 taper Series 29 nickel-titanium instruments with respect to operator experience. A total of 125 simulated root canals in resin blocks with the same geometrical shape in terms of angle and radius of curvature and coronal and apical orifice diameter were used. Five operators prepared all the specimens using an identical step-down instrument sequence, each one preparing 25 canals. The operators included two endodontists and three general practitioners. Statistical data concerning the incidence of instrument failure was compiled using Statlab and Fisher's partial least square difference analysis of variance. A total of 21 (16.8%) instruments fractured, all had 0.04 tapers. Nine size 25 instruments failed, 9 size 20 instruments failed and 3 size 15. During the study, the Binary Tree analysis of instrument failure revealed two operator populations belonging to two different study periods. The first period, which represented the first 13 root canal preparations, was called the 'learning period', and the second period, which represented the next 12 sample preparations, was called the 'application period'. A greater number of instruments failed during the first period than during the second. In the 'learning period', both groups of operators learned the same way. In the 'application period', two groups could be distinguished; the first group consisted of a general practitioner who produced worse results, and the second group consisted of the other four operators. The results indicate the necessity of mastering this rotary canal preparation technique, and the importance of improving competence through learning and experience.

Historical data and analysis for the first five years of KSC STS payload processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ragusa, J. M.

1986-01-01

General and specific quantitative and qualitative results were identified from a study of actual operational experience while processing 186 science, applications, and commercial payloads for the first 5 years of Space Transportation System (STS) operations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). All non-Department of Defense payloads from STS-2 through STS-33 were part of the study. Historical data and cumulative program experiences from key personnel were used extensively. Emphasis was placed on various program planning and events that affected KSC processing, payload experiences and improvements, payload hardware condition after arrival, services to customers, and the impact of STS operations and delays. From these initial considerations, operational drivers were identified, data for selected processing parameters collected and analyzed, processing criteria and options determined, and STS payload results and conclusions reached. The study showed a significant reduction in time and effort needed by STS customers and KSC to process a wide variety of payload configurations. Also of significance is the fact that even the simplest payloads required more processing resources than were initially assumed. The success to date of payload integration, testing, and mission operations, however, indicates the soundness of the approach taken and the methods used.

Long distance cell communication using spherical tether balloons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manchanda, R. K.; Rajagopalan, Vasudevan; Vasudevan, Rajagopalan; Mehrotra, R. K.; Sreenivasan, S.; Pawaskar, M.; Subba Rao Jonnalagadda, Venkata; Buduru, Suneelkumar; Kulkarni, P. M.

A proof-of-concept experiment was conducted for long-range cell communication for rural tele-phony and internet. We designed and fabricated a spherical tether balloon to carry the con-ventional micro base transceiver station (BTS) along with three slotted antenna to cover 2-pi radius. AC power and optical fiber were anchored along with the tether line. A special fre-quency license was obtained from Wireless Planning Commission (WPC) wing of Department of Telecommunication (DoT), India for the period of experiment so as not to affect the opera-tional networks. The experiments were carried out for different BTS heights up to 500 meter. Signal measurement both in data mode and voice quality were done in different quadrant using mobile vans. This paper describes the methodology (under patenting) and utility of technique for operational application.

Experiments in autonomous robotics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamel, W.R.

1987-01-01

The Center for Engineering Systems Advanced Research (CESAR) is performing basic research in autonomous robotics for energy-related applications in hazardous environments. The CESAR research agenda includes a strong experimental component to assure practical evaluation of new concepts and theories. An evolutionary sequence of mobile research robots has been planned to support research in robot navigation, world sensing, and object manipulation. A number of experiments have been performed in studying robot navigation and path planning with planar sonar sensing. Future experiments will address more complex tasks involving three-dimensional sensing, dexterous manipulation, and human-scale operations.

Traveling-wave tube reliability estimates, life tests, and space flight experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lalli, V. R.; Speck, C. E.

1977-01-01

Infant mortality, useful life, and wearout phase of twt life are considered. The performance of existing developmental tubes, flight experience, and sequential hardware testing are evaluated. The reliability history of twt's in space applications is documented by considering: (1) the generic parts of the tube in light of the manner in which their design and operation affect the ultimate reliability of the device, (2) the flight experience of medium power tubes, and (3) the available life test data for existing space-qualified twt's in addition to those of high power devices.

Experiment S-191 visible and infrared spectrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linnell, E. R.

1974-01-01

The design, development, fabrication test, and utilization of the visible and infrared spectrometer portion of the S-191 experiment, part of the Earth Resources Experiment Package, on board Skylab is discussed. The S-191 program is described, as well as conclusions and recommendations for improvement of this type of instrument for future applications. Design requirements, instrument design approaches, and the test verification program are presented along with test results, including flight hardware calibration data. A brief discussion of operation during the Skylab mission is included. Documentation associated with the program is listed.

Instrumentation for Mars Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landis, Geoffrey A.

1997-01-01

The main portion of the project was to support the "MAE" experiment on the Mars Pathfinder mission and to design instrumentation for future space missions to measure dust deposition on Mars and to characterize the properties of the dust. A second task was to analyze applications for photovoltaics in new space environments, and a final task was analysis of advanced applications for solar power, including planetary probes, photovoltaic system operation on Mars, and satellite solar power systems.

Application of confocal laser microscopy for monitoring mesh implants in herniology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zakharov, V P; Belokonev, V I; Bratchenko, I A

2011-04-30

The state of the surface of mesh implants and their encapsulation region in herniology is investigated by laser confocal microscopy. A correlation between the probability of developing relapses and the size and density of implant microdefects is experimentally shown. The applicability limits of differential reverse scattering for monitoring the post-operation state of implant and adjacent tissues are established based on model numerical experiments. (optical technologies in biophysics and medicine)

Research and Technology annual report FY-1981

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Space transportation systems are summarized: space shuttle enhancement, a space operations center, the space platform, and geostationary activites are discussed. Aeronautics and space technology are summarized: experiments, energy systems, propulsion technology, synthetic aperture radar, large space systems, and shuttle-launched vehicles are discussed. Space sciences are summarized: lunar, planetary, and life sciences are discussed. Space and terrestrial applications are summarized. The AgRISTARS program, forest and wildland resource, and Texas LANDSAT applications are discussed.

Enhancing the Art of Space Operations - Progress in JHU/APL Ultra-Stable Oscillator Capabilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

solution for robust extraterrestrial clocks with an operational life requirement greater than 10 years. Disciplined USO systems could be placed in very...USO) has been demonstrated in nearly 50 years of space applications to be a strategic asset to the space timekeeping and signal technologies of the...while also providing flight USO hardware to missions such as the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and JHU/APL’s New Horizons

A web-based solution to visualize operational monitoring data in the Trigger and Data Acquisition system of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avolio, G.; D'Ascanio, M.; Lehmann-Miotto, G.; Soloviev, I.

2017-10-01

The Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) system of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is composed of a large number of distributed hardware and software components (about 3000 computers and more than 25000 applications) which, in a coordinated manner, provide the data-taking functionality of the overall system. During data taking runs, a huge flow of operational data is produced in order to constantly monitor the system and allow proper detection of anomalies or misbehaviours. In the ATLAS trigger and data acquisition system, operational data are archived and made available to applications by the P-BEAST (Persistent Back-End for the Atlas Information System of TDAQ) service, implementing a custom time-series database. The possibility to efficiently visualize both realtime and historical operational data is a great asset facilitating both online identification of problems and post-mortem analysis. This paper will present a web-based solution developed to achieve such a goal: the solution leverages the flexibility of the P-BEAST archiver to retrieve data, and exploits the versatility of the Grafana dashboard builder to offer a very rich user experience. Additionally, particular attention will be given to the way some technical challenges (like the efficient visualization of a huge amount of data and the integration of the P-BEAST data source in Grafana) have been faced and solved.

Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Cholecystectomy: First Experiences with a New Standardized Technique Replicating the Four-Port Technique.

PubMed

Morales-Conde, Salvador; Cañete-Gómez, Jesús; Gómez, Virginia; Socas Macías, María; Moreno, Antonio Barranco; Del Agua, Isaias Alarcón; Ruíz, Francisco Javier Padillo

2016-10-01

After reports on laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) cholecystectomy, concerns have been raised over the level of difficulty and a potential increase in complications when moving away from conventional gold standard multiport laparoscopy due to incomplete exposure and larger umbilical incisions. With continued development of technique and technology, it has now become possible to fully replicate this gold standard procedure through an LESS approach. First experiences with the newly developed technique and instrument are reported. Fifteen patients presenting with cholelithiasis without signs of inflammation were operated using all surgical steps considered appropriate for the conventional four-port laparoscopic approach, but applied through a single access device. Operation-centered outcomes are presented. There were no peri- or postoperative complications. Mean operating time was 32.3 minutes. No conversion to regular laparoscopy was required. The critical view of safety was achieved in all cases. Mean skin incision length was 2.2 cm. The application of a standardized technique combined with the use of a four-port LESS device allows us to perform LESS cholecystectomy, giving us a correct exposure of the structures and without increasing the mean operating time combining previously reported advantages of LESS. A universal trait of any new technique should be safety and reproducibility. This will enhance its applicability by large number of surgeons and to large number of patients requiring cholecystectomy.

Evolution of INMARSAT systems and applications: The land mobile experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Staffa, Eugene; Subramaniam, Ram

1993-01-01

Inmarsat has provided mobile satellite communication services for land mobile applications for well over a decade. Having started with the Inmarsat-A voice and telex system, Inmarsat is committed to the evolution of services towards a global personal, handheld satellite communicator. Over the years, users have benefitted from the evolution of technologies, increased user friendliness and portability of terminals and ever decreasing cost of operations. This paper describes the various present systems, their characteristics and applications, and outlines their contributions in the evolution towards the personal global communicator.

Laser communication experiment. Volume 1: Design study report: Spacecraft transceiver. Part 2: Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1970-01-01

The application of a carbon dioxide laser for optical communication with ATS satellites is discussed. The following elements of the laser communication equipment are reported: (1) operational ground equipment, (2) data acquisition plan, and (3) data processing, reduction, and analysis plan.

14 CFR 61.1 - Applicability and definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... of this part: (1) Aeronautical experience means pilot time obtained in an aircraft, flight simulator... simulator, or flight training device; or (iii) Gives training as an authorized instructor in an aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device. (16) Practical test means a test on the areas of operations...

14 CFR 61.1 - Applicability and definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... of this part: (1) Aeronautical experience means pilot time obtained in an aircraft, flight simulator... simulator, or flight training device; or (iii) Gives training as an authorized instructor in an aircraft, flight simulator, or flight training device. (16) Practical test means a test on the areas of operations...

NASTRAN: User's Experiences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The application of NASTRAN to a wide variety of static and dynamic structural problems is discussed. The following topics are focused upon: (1) methods of analysis; (2) hydroelastic methods; (3) complete analysis of structures; (4) elements and material studies; (5) critical comparisons with other programs; and (6) pre- and post-processor operations.

Short-term Operation of Multi-purpose Reservoir using Model Predictive Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uysal, Gokcen; Schwanenberg, Dirk; Alvarado Montero, Rodolfo; Sensoy, Aynur; Arda Sorman, Ali

2017-04-01

Operation of water structures especially with conflicting water supply and flood mitigation objectives is under more stress attributed to growing water demand and changing hydro-climatic conditions. Model Predictive Control (MPC) based optimal control solutions has been successfully applied to different water resources applications. In this study, Feedback Control (FBC) and MPC get combined and an improved joint optimization-simulation operating scheme is proposed. Water supply and flood control objectives are fulfilled by incorporating the long term water supply objectives into a time-dependent variable guide curve policy whereas the extreme floods are attenuated by means of short-term optimization based on MPC. A final experiment is carried out to assess the lead time performance and reliability of forecasts in a hindcasting experiment with imperfect, perturbed forecasts. The framework is tested in Yuvacık Dam reservoir where the main water supply reservoir of Kocaeli City in the northwestern part of Turkey (the Marmara region) and it requires a challenging gate operation due to restricted downstream flow conditions.

Space Software Defined Radio Characterization to Enable Reuse

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mortensen, Dale J.; Bishop, Daniel W.; Chelmins, David

2012-01-01

NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Testbed is beginning operations on the International Space Station this year. The objective is to promote new software defined radio technologies and associated software application reuse, enabled by this first flight of NASA's Space Telecommunications Radio System architecture standard. The Space Station payload has three software defined radios onboard that allow for a wide variety of communications applications; however, each radio was only launched with one waveform application. By design the testbed allows new waveform applications to be uploaded and tested by experimenters in and outside of NASA. During the system integration phase of the testbed special waveform test modes and stand-alone test waveforms were used to characterize the SDR platforms for the future experiments. Characterization of the Testbed's JPL SDR using test waveforms and specialized ground test modes is discussed in this paper. One of the test waveforms, a record and playback application, can be utilized in a variety of ways, including new satellite on-orbit checkout as well as independent on-board testbed experiments.

Doing accelerator physics using SDDS, UNIX, and EPICS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borland, M.; Emery, L.; Sereno, N.

1995-12-31

The use of the SDDS (Self-Describing Data Sets) file protocol, together with the UNIX operating system and EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Controls System), has proved powerful during the commissioning of the APS (Advanced Photon Source) accelerator complex. The SDDS file protocol has permitted a tool-oriented approach to developing applications, wherein generic programs axe written that function as part of multiple applications. While EPICS-specific tools were written for data collection, automated experiment execution, closed-loop control, and so forth, data processing and display axe done with the SDDS Toolkit. Experiments and data reduction axe implemented as UNIX shell scripts that coordinatemore » the execution of EPICS specific tools and SDDS tools. Because of the power and generic nature of the individual tools and of the UNIX shell environment, automated experiments can be prepared and executed rapidly in response to unanticipated needs or new ideas. Examples are given of application of this methodology to beam motion characterization, beam-position-monitor offset measurements, and klystron characterization.« less

Active magnetic bearings: As applied to centrifugal pumps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelik, Lev; Cooper, Paul; Jones, Graham; Galecki, Dennis; Pinckney, Frank; Kirk, Gordon

1992-01-01

Application of magnetic bearings to boiler feed pumps presents various attractive features, such as longer bearing life, lower maintenance costs, and improved operability through control of the rotordynamics. Magnetic bearings were fitted to an eight-stage, 600 hp boiler feed pump, which generates 2600 ft of heat at 680 gpm and 3560 rpm. In addition to the varied and severe operating environment in steady state operation of this pump in a power plant, it is also subjected to transient loads during frequent starts and stops. These loads can now be measured by the in-built instrumentation of the magnetic bearings. Following site installation, a follow-up bearing tune-up was performed, and pump transient response testing was conducted. The bearing response was completely satisfactory, ensuring trouble-free pump operation even in the range of reduced load. The experience gained so far through design and testing proves feasibility of magnetic bearings for boiler feed pumps, which sets the stage for application of even higher energy centrifugal pumps equipped with magnetic bearings.

Active magnetic bearings: As applied to centrifugal pumps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelik, Lev; Cooper, Paul; Jones, Graham; Galecki, Dennis; Pinckney, Frank; Kirk, Gordon

1992-05-01

Application of magnetic bearings to boiler feed pumps presents various attractive features, such as longer bearing life, lower maintenance costs, and improved operability through control of the rotordynamics. Magnetic bearings were fitted to an eight-stage, 600 hp boiler feed pump, which generates 2600 ft of heat at 680 gpm and 3560 rpm. In addition to the varied and severe operating environment in steady state operation of this pump in a power plant, it is also subjected to transient loads during frequent starts and stops. These loads can now be measured by the in-built instrumentation of the magnetic bearings. Following site installation, a follow-up bearing tune-up was performed, and pump transient response testing was conducted. The bearing response was completely satisfactory, ensuring trouble-free pump operation even in the range of reduced load. The experience gained so far through design and testing proves feasibility of magnetic bearings for boiler feed pumps, which sets the stage for application of even higher energy centrifugal pumps equipped with magnetic bearings.

Subsea approach to work systems development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gernhardt, M. L.; Frisbie, F. R.; Brown, C. E.

1988-01-01

Self-contained undersea working environments with applications to space station EVA environments are discussed. Physiological limitations include decompression, inert gas narcosis, high-pressure nervous system, gas toxicity, and thermal limitations. Work task requirements include drilling support, construction, inspection, and repair. Work systems include hyperbaric diving, atmospheric work systems, tele-operated work systems, and hybrid systems. Each type of work system is outlined in terms of work capabilities, special interface requirements, and limitations. Various operational philosophies are discussed. The evolution of work systems in the subsea industry has been the result of direct operational experience in a competitive market.

A review of the Z2-FET 1T-DRAM memory: Operation mechanisms and key parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristoloveanu, S.; Lee, K. H.; Parihar, M. S.; El Dirani, H.; Lacord, J.; Martinie, S.; Le Royer, C.; Barbe, J.-Ch.; Mescot, X.; Fonteneau, P.; Galy, Ph.; Gamiz, F.; Navarro, C.; Cheng, B.; Duan, M.; Adamu-Lema, F.; Asenov, A.; Taur, Y.; Xu, Y.; Kim, Y.-T.; Wan, J.; Bawedin, M.

2018-05-01

The band-modulation and sharp-switching mechanisms in Z2-FET device operated as a capacitorless 1T-DRAM memory are reviewed. The main parameters that govern the memory performance are discussed based on detailed experiments and simulations. This 1T-DRAM memory does not suffer from super-coupling effect and can be integrated in sub-10 nm thick SOI films. It offers low leakage current, high current margin, long retention, low operating voltage especially for programming, and high speed. The Z2-FET is suitable for embedded memory applications.

Operational Analysis in the Launch Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, George; Kaouk, Mo; Cao, Tim; Fogt, Vince; Rocha, Rodney; Schultz, Ken; Tucker, Jon-Michael; Rayos, Eli; Bell,Jeff; Alldredge, David;

Lorentz and CPT Tests with Atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vargas Silva, Arnaldo J.

The prospects for using atomic-spectroscopy experiments to test Lorentz and CPT symmetry are investigated. Phenomenological models for Lorentz violation studied in this work include ones with contributions from all quadratic operators for a Dirac fermion in the Lagrange density of the Standard-Model Extension (SME), without restriction on the operator mass dimension. The systems considered include atoms composed of conventional matter, antimatter, and second-generation particles. Generic expressions for the Lorentz-violating energy shifts applicable to a broad range of atomic transitions are obtained. Signals for Lorentz violation that can in principle be studied in spectroscopic experiments are identified from the theoretical corrections to the spectrum. Some of these signals include sidereal and annual variations of atomic transition frequencies measured in a laboratory on the surface of the Earth. Other possibilities include effects produced by changing the orientation of the applied magnetic field or by realizing space-based experiments. Discrepancies in the experimental values for fundamental constants and energy levels based on self-consistent predictions from the Standard Model also offer potential signals for Lorentz violation. The sensitivities of different experiments to distinct sets of coefficients for Lorentz violation are considered. Using atoms composed of different particle species allows measurements of coefficients for Lorentz violation in different fermion sectors of the SME. Experiments comparing hydrogen and antihydrogen can discriminate between coefficients for Lorentz violation that are associated with CPT-odd or CPT-even operators. Additionally, certain systems and transitions are more sensitive to nonminimal operators, while others are particularly sensitive to minimal ones.

Applications of fuzzy logic to control and decision making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lea, Robert N.; Jani, Yashvant

1991-01-01

Long range space missions will require high operational efficiency as well as autonomy to enhance the effectivity of performance. Fuzzy logic technology has been shown to be powerful and robust in interpreting imprecise measurements and generating appropriate control decisions for many space operations. Several applications are underway, studying the fuzzy logic approach to solving control and decision making problems. Fuzzy logic algorithms for relative motion and attitude control have been developed and demonstrated for proximity operations. Based on this experience, motion control algorithms that include obstacle avoidance were developed for a Mars Rover prototype for maneuvering during the sample collection process. A concept of an intelligent sensor system that can identify objects and track them continuously and learn from its environment is under development to support traffic management and proximity operations around the Space Station Freedom. For safe and reliable operation of Lunar/Mars based crew quarters, high speed controllers with ability to combine imprecise measurements from several sensors is required. A fuzzy logic approach that uses high speed fuzzy hardware chips is being studied.

Overview of the High Performance Antiproton Trap (HiPAT) Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, James; Chakrabarti, Suman; Pearson, Boise; Sims, W. Herbert; Lewis, Raymond; Fant, Wallace; Rodgers, Stephen (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A general overview of the High Performance Antiproton Trap (HiPAT) Experiment is presented. The topics include: 1) Why Antimatter? 2) HiPAT Applicability; 3) Approach-Goals; 4) HiPAT General Layout; 5) Sizing For Containment; 6) Laboratory Operations; 7) Vacuum System Cleaning; 8) Ion Production Via Electron Gun; 9) Particle Capture Via Ion Sources; 10) Ion Beam Steering/Focusing; 11) Ideal Ion Stacking Sequence; 12) Setup For Dynamic Capture; 13) Dynamic Capture of H(+) Ions; 14) Dynamic Capture; 15) Radio Frequency Particle Detection; 16) Radio Frequency Antenna Modeling; and 17) R.F. Stabilization-Low Frequencies. A short presentation of propulsion applications of Antimatter is also given. This paper is in viewgraph form.

Use of indocyanine green angiography in microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy - lessons learned from our initial experience.

PubMed

Cho, Chak-Lam; Ho, Kwan-Lun; Chan, Wayne Kwun-Wai; Chu, Ringo Wing-Hong; Law, In-Chak

2017-01-01

Microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy (MSV) is generally considered the gold standard nowadays in view of the lower risk of complications and recurrence. To achieve complete ligation of veins while preserving testicular artery (TA) during the procedure remains challenging despite the application of high power optical magnification and micro-Doppler ultrasonography. The use of intraoperative indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) with infrared fluorescence operative micro-scope in MSV potentially lowers the incidence of TA injury and shortens the learning curve of nov-ice surgeons. We present our initial experience in the application of the technique in nine patients and explore the potential of the new adjunct. Copyright® by the International Brazilian Journal of Urology.

Real-time data collection in Linux: a case study.

PubMed

Finney, S A

2001-05-01

Multiuser UNIX-like operating systems such as Linux are often considered unsuitable for real-time data collection because of the potential for indeterminate timing latencies resulting from preemptive scheduling. In this paper, Linux is shown to be fully adequate for precisely controlled programming with millisecond resolution or better. The Linux system calls that subserve such timing control are described and tested and then utilized in a MIDI-based program for tapping and music performance experiments. The timing of this program, including data input and output, is shown to be accurate at the millisecond level. This demonstrates that Linux, with proper programming, is suitable for real-time experiment software. In addition, the detailed description and test of both the operating system facilities and the application program itself may serve as a model for publicly documenting programming methods and software performance on other operating systems.

A quantum Fredkin gate.

PubMed

Patel, Raj B; Ho, Joseph; Ferreyrol, Franck; Ralph, Timothy C; Pryde, Geoff J

2016-03-01

Minimizing the resources required to build logic gates into useful processing circuits is key to realizing quantum computers. Although the salient features of a quantum computer have been shown in proof-of-principle experiments, difficulties in scaling quantum systems have made more complex operations intractable. This is exemplified in the classical Fredkin (controlled-SWAP) gate for which, despite theoretical proposals, no quantum analog has been realized. By adding control to the SWAP unitary, we use photonic qubit logic to demonstrate the first quantum Fredkin gate, which promises many applications in quantum information and measurement. We implement example algorithms and generate the highest-fidelity three-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states to date. The technique we use allows one to add a control operation to a black-box unitary, something that is impossible in the standard circuit model. Our experiment represents the first use of this technique to control a two-qubit operation and paves the way for larger controlled circuits to be realized efficiently.

Joint operations planning for space surveillance missions on the MSX satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stokes, Grant; Good, Andrew

1994-01-01

The Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite, sponsored by BMDO, is intended to gather broad-band phenomenology data on missiles, plumes, naturally occurring earthlimb backgrounds and deep space backgrounds. In addition the MSX will be used to conduct functional demonstrations of space-based space surveillance. The JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), located in Laurel, MD, is the integrator and operator of the MSX satellite. APL will conduct all operations related to the MSX and is charged with the detailed operations planning required to implement all of the experiments run on the MSX except the space surveillance experiments. The non-surveillance operations are generally amenable to being defined months ahead of time and being scheduled on a monthly basis. Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (LL), located in Lexington, MA, is the provider of one of the principle MSX instruments, the Space-Based Visible (SBV) sensor, and the agency charged with implementing the space surveillance demonstrations on the MSX. The planning timelines for the space surveillance demonstrations are fundamentally different from those for the other experiments. They are generally amenable to being scheduled on a monthly basis, but the specific experiment sequence and pointing must be refined shortly before execution. This allocation of responsibilities to different organizations implies the need for a joint mission planning system for conducting space surveillance demonstrations. This paper details the iterative, joint planning system, based on passing responsibility for generating MSX commands for surveillance operations from APL to LL for specific scheduled operations. The joint planning system, including the generation of a budget for spacecraft resources to be used for surveillance events, has been successfully demonstrated during ground testing of the MSX and is being validated for MSX launch within the year. The planning system developed for the MSX forms a model possibly applicable to developing distributed mission planning systems for other multi-use satellites.

New Frontiers in Networking with Emphasis on Defense Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

through its own experiences. d. The presence of “ elephants ” in the network is triggered partly by big data and partly by high resolution videos...transporting elephants and found even for this very limited mode of operation, good architectures with orders of magnitude rate and cost improvements are

Audio Teleconferencing: Low Cost Technology for External Studies Networking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Bill

1987-01-01

This discussion of the benefits of audio teleconferencing for distance education programs and for business and government applications focuses on the recent experience of Canadian educational users. Four successful operating models and their costs are reviewed, and it is concluded that audio teleconferencing is cost efficient and educationally…

46 CFR 11.205 - Requirements for original officer endorsements and STCW endorsements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... United States by birth. (3) Experience and service acquired on foreign vessels is creditable for... endorsement as offshore installation manager, barge supervisor, or ballast control operator, at least one...) Where an applicant qualifies for an endorsement through an approved training school or program, one of...

46 CFR 11.205 - Requirements for original officer endorsements and STCW endorsements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... United States by birth. (3) Experience and service acquired on foreign vessels is creditable for... endorsement as offshore installation manager, barge supervisor, or ballast control operator, at least one...) Where an applicant qualifies for an endorsement through an approved training school or program, one of...

Evaluation of Alternative Programs, 1982-83.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stolar, Maxine

In the 1982-83 school year, the Cincinnati Public Schools operated 21 alternative programs designed to provide specialized learning experiences along with the traditional academic curricula. Since balanced racial composition is a primary goal of these programs, applications are received from students regardless of where they reside in Cincinnati,…

46 CFR 11.205 - Requirements for original officer endorsements and STCW endorsements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... United States by birth. (3) Experience and service acquired on foreign vessels is creditable for... endorsement as offshore installation manager, barge supervisor, or ballast control operator, at least one...) Where an applicant qualifies for an endorsement through an approved training school or program, one of...

46 CFR 11.205 - Requirements for original officer endorsements and STCW endorsements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... United States by birth. (3) Experience and service acquired on foreign vessels is creditable for... endorsement as offshore installation manager, barge supervisor, or ballast control operator, at least one...) Where an applicant qualifies for an endorsement through an approved training school or program, one of...

Undergraduate Laboratory Module on Skin Diffusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norman, James J.; Andrews, Samantha N.; Prausnitz, Mark R.

2011-01-01

To introduce students to an application of chemical engineering directly related to human health, we developed an experiment for the unit operations laboratory at Georgia Tech examining diffusion across cadaver skin in the context of transdermal drug delivery. In this laboratory module, students prepare mouse skin samples, set up diffusion cells…

77 FR 52587 - Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Peach Crop Insurance Provisions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-30

... review process of good farming practices as applicable, must be exhausted before any action against FCIC... insurance program are the same for all producers regardless of the size of their farming operation. For... have the experience to grow and to follow cultural practices appropriate to produce fresh peaches...

Apollo experience report: Evolution of the attitude time line

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, R. D.

1973-01-01

The evolution of the attitude time line is discussed. Emphasis is placed on the operational need for and constraints on the time line and on how these factors were involved in the time line generation procedure. Examples of constraints on and applications of the complete time line are given.

Experiences issues with plastic parts at cold temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sandor, Mike; Agarwal, Shri

2005-01-01

Missions to MARS/planets/asteroids require electronic parts to operate and survive at extreme cold conditions. At extreme cold temperatures many types of cold related failures can occur. Office 514 is currently evaluating plastic parts under various cold temperature conditions and applications. Evaluations, screens, and qualifications are conducted on flight parts.

An Internet-Based Distributed Laboratory for Interactive Chemical Engineering Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Jing; Kettler, David J.; Al-Dahhan, Muthanna

2007-01-01

A common undergraduate chemical engineering experiment has been modified for on-line operation over the Internet. By adopting rapidly changing Internet and object component technologies, we developed a novel approach combining the Internet and regular laboratory equipment. The client-server applications use a Visual Basic and Labtech programming…

Cultivating Leadership Development: A Comprehensive Program for Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenleaf, Justin P.; Klaus, Kaley; Arensdorf, Jill

2017-01-01

The Voss Advanced Undergraduate Leadership Experience (VALUE), is a student cohort program with a competitive application process. Students must have a prerequisite level of leadership education and self-select into one of three designated tracks. Students are paired with faculty and community mentors to learn about operations and collaboration in…

High power VCSEL devices for atomic clock applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watkins, L. S.; Ghosh, C.; Seurin, J.-F.; Zhou, D.; Xu, G.; Xu, B.; Miglo, A.

2015-09-01

We are developing VCSEL technology producing >100mW in single frequency at wavelengths 780nm, 795nm and 850nm. Small aperture VCSELs with few mW output have found major applications in atomic clock experiments. Using an external cavity three-mirror configuration we have been able to operate larger aperture VCSELs and obtain >70mW power in single frequency operation. The VCSEL has been mounted in a fiber pigtailed package with the external mirror mounted on a shear piezo. The package incorporates a miniature Rb cell locker to lock the VCSEL wavelength. This VCSEL operates in single frequency and is tuned by a combination of piezo actuator, temperature and current. Mode-hop free tuning over >30GHz frequency span is obtained. The VCSEL has been locked to the Rb D2 line and feedback control used to obtain line-widths of <100kHz.

Application and systems software in Ada: Development experiences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuschill, Jim

1986-01-01

In its most basic sense software development involves describing the tasks to be solved, including the given objects and the operations to be performed on those objects. Unfortunately, the way people describe objects and operations usually bears little resemblance to source code in most contemporary computer languages. There are two ways around this problem. One is to allow users to describe what they want the computer to do in everyday, typically imprecise English. The PRODOC methodology and software development environment is based on a second more flexible and possibly even easier to use approach. Rather than hiding program structure, PRODOC represents such structure graphically using visual programming techniques. In addition, the program terminology used in PRODOC may be customized so as to match the way human experts in any given application area naturally describe the relevant data and operations. The PRODOC methodology is described in detail.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krishnamurthy, Dheepak

This paper is an overview of Power System Simulation Toolbox (psst). psst is an open-source Python application for the simulation and analysis of power system models. psst simulates the wholesale market operation by solving a DC Optimal Power Flow (DCOPF), Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) and a Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED). psst also includes models for the various entities in a power system such as Generator Companies (GenCos), Load Serving Entities (LSEs) and an Independent System Operator (ISO). psst features an open modular object oriented architecture that will make it useful for researchers to customize, expand, experiment beyond solvingmore » traditional problems. psst also includes a web based Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows for user friendly interaction and for implementation on remote High Performance Computing (HPCs) clusters for parallelized operations. This paper also provides an illustrative application of psst and benchmarks with standard IEEE test cases to show the advanced features and the performance of toolbox.« less

Advanced Biasing Experiments on the C-2 Field-Reversed Configuration Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Matthew; Korepanov, Sergey; Garate, Eusebio; Yang, Xiaokang; Gota, Hiroshi; Douglass, Jon; Allfrey, Ian; Valentine, Travis; Uchizono, Nolan; TAE Team

2014-10-01

The C-2 experiment seeks to study the evolution, heating and sustainment effects of neutral beam injection on field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas. Recently, substantial improvements in plasma performance were achieved through the application of edge biasing with coaxial plasma guns located in the divertors. Edge biasing provides rotation control that reduces instabilities and E × B shear that improves confinement. Typically, the plasma gun arcs are run at ~ 10 MW for the entire shot duration (~ 5 ms), which will become unsustainable as the plasma duration increases. We have conducted several advanced biasing experiments with reduced-average-power plasma gun operating modes and alternative biasing cathodes in an effort to develop an effective biasing scenario applicable to steady state FRC plasmas. Early results show that several techniques can potentially provide effective, long-duration edge biasing.

Proceedings of Technical Sessions, Volumes 1 and 2: the LACIE Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The technical design of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment is examined and data acquired over 3 global crop years is analyzed with respect to (1) sampling and aggregation; (2) growth size estimation; (3) classification and mensuration; (4) yield estimation; and (5) accuracy assessment. Seventy-nine papers delivered at conference sessions cover system implementation and operation; data processing systems; experiment results and accuracy; supporting research and technology; and the USDA application test system.

A Single Institution Review of Initial Application of a 5-mm Stapler

PubMed Central

Zens, Tiffany J.; Kohler, Jonathan E.; Le, Hau D.; Nichol, Peter F.; Leys, Charles M.

2016-01-01

Abstract Background: Operating in small spaces presents physical constraints that can be even more challenging in minimally invasive operations. Recently, a 5-mm stapler was approved for use in general surgery and pediatric surgery. Here, we present our initial experience using the 5-mm stapler in pediatric general surgery. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to identify cases using the 5-mm stapler at our institution. Demographic data included age (in months) and weight (in kilograms). Operative data included indication for use, number of loads used, complications related to 5-mm stapler use, and interventions to address complications. A second review focused on patients undergoing the same operations, but using a 10-mm stapler. Results: A total of 60 staple loads were deployed in 32 procedures. There were four adverse outcomes, all recognized intraoperatively. One bleed resulted from application on irradiated tissue and another bleed from application to a small noninflamed mesoappendix. A bronchial staple line leak resulted from improper stapler loading, and a bowel anastomosis leak was oversewn with a single stitch. When compared with 32 matched cases using a 10-mm stapler, there was no difference in age (5-mm = 39.11 months, 10-mm = 50.21 months, P = .49) or weight (5-mm = 16.34 kg, 10-mm = 19.93 kg, P = .51). A total of 60 staple applications were used, with one bleed noted. There was no significant difference in overall complication rate (5-mm rate = 4/60, 10-mm rate = 1/60; P = .36). Conclusion: Our initial experience suggests that although there were more complications with the 5-mm stapler, there is no statistically significant difference in complication rates when compared with the 10-mm stapler. Furthermore, the 5-mm stapler complications can be corrected with device training and proper patient selection. In appropriately selected pediatric surgery cases with size limitations, the 5-mm stapler can be used to minimize the invasiveness of the operation. PMID:27398952

Robotics applied in laparoscopic kidney surgery: the Yonsei University experience of 127 cases.

PubMed

Lorenzo, Enrique Ian S; Jeong, Wooju; Oh, Cheol Kyu; Chung, Byung Ha; Choi, Young Deuk; Rha, Koon Ho

2011-01-01

We report our experience on 127 kidney surgeries with the da Vinci surgical system and show the feasibility of a robotics application in a variety of kidney surgeries by both a laparoscopically-trained and a laparoscopically-naïve surgeon. Clinical data of patients who underwent kidney surgery with the da Vinci surgical system from September 2006 to April 2009 were reviewed. Data acquired from medical records included patient demographics, operative time, estimated blood loss (EBL), incidence of intraoperative complication, duration of hospital stay, blood transfusion rate, oncological outcomes, and follow-up results. One-hundred twenty-seven kidney surgeries have been conducted with the da Vinci surgical system at our institution. Three urologists--1 with formal endourology training, 1 with laparoscopic experience, and 1 laparoscopically naïve--have used it for a variety of procedures involving the kidney. The cases include 65 partial nephrectomies (RPN), 38 radical nephrectomies (RRN), and 24 nephroureterectomies with bladder cuff (RNU). Results on operative time, EBL, incidence of intraoperative injury, duration of hospital stay, and blood transfusion rate are comparable with contemporary studies. Robotics application in kidney surgery is a viable option for various procedures. Our experience shows it can be safely and effectively conducted by both laparoscopically-trained and laparoscopically-naïve surgeons once they are accustomed to the robotics system. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design Requirements for Communication-Intensive Interactive Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolchini, Davide; Garzotto, Franca; Paolini, Paolo

Online interactive applications call for new requirements paradigms to capture the growing complexity of computer-mediated communication. Crafting successful interactive applications (such as websites and multimedia) involves modeling the requirements for the user experience, including those leading to content design, usable information architecture and interaction, in profound coordination with the communication goals of all stakeholders involved, ranging from persuasion to social engagement, to call for action. To face this grand challenge, we propose a methodology for modeling communication requirements and provide a set of operational conceptual tools to be used in complex projects with multiple stakeholders. Through examples from real-life projects and lessons-learned from direct experience, we draw on the concepts of brand, value, communication goals, information and persuasion requirements to systematically guide analysts to master the multifaceted connections of these elements as drivers to inform successful communication designs.

Highly flexible pulse programmer for NMR applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dart, J.; Burum, D. P.; Rhim, W. K.

1980-01-01

A pulse generator for NMR application is described. Eighteen output channels are provided to allow use in single and double resonance experiments. Complex pulse sequences may be generated by loading instructions into a 256-word by 16-bit program memory. Features of the pulse generator include programmable time delays from 0.5 micros to 1000 s, branching and looping instructions, and the ability to be loaded and operated either manually or from a PDP-11/10 computer.

Process control systems at Homer City coal preparation plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shell, W.P.

1983-03-01

An important part of process control engineering is the implementation of the basic control system design through commissioning to routine operation. This is a period when basic concepts can be reviewed and improvements either implemented or recorded for application in future systems. The experience of commissioning the process control systems in the Homer City coal cleaning plant are described and discussed. The current level of operating control performance in individual sections and the overall system are also reported and discussed.

SYNCHROTRON RADIATION, FREE ELECTRON LASER, APPLICATION OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY, ETC.: Operating the SDUV-FEL with the echo-enabled harmonic generation scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jian-Hui; Deng, Hai-Xiao; Gu, Qiang; Li, Dong-Guo; Wang, Dong; Zhang, Meng; Zhao, Zhen-Tang

2009-08-01

Using the recently proposed echo-enabled harmonic generation (EEHG) free-electron laser (FEL) scheme, it is shown that operating the Shanghai deep ultraviolet FEL (SDUV-FEL) with single-stage to higher harmonics is very promising, with higher frequency up-conversion efficiency, higher harmonic selectivity and lower power requirement of the seed laser. The considerations on a proof-of-principle experiment and expected performance in SDUV-FEL are given.

PI-in-a-box: An expert system to advise astronauts during experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Laurence R.

1990-01-01

Perhaps the scarcest resource for manned flight experiments - on Spacelab or on Space Station Freedom - will continue to be crew time. To maximize the efficiency of the crew, and to make use of their abilities to work as scientist collaborators as well as equipment operators, normally requires more training in a wide variety of disciplines than is practical. The successful application of on-board expert systems, as envisioned by the 'Principal Investigator (PI)-in-a-Box' program, should alleviate the training bottleneck and provide the astronaut with the guidance and coaching needed to permit him or her to operate an experiment according to the desires and knowledge of the PI, despite changes in conditions. In addition to the functions of providing expert devise concerning scheduling and repair, the program should bring the astronaut into the scientific evaluation phase of an experiment by sharing with him the guidance and observations regarding the relevance and importance of data as it is being generated. Initial reaction from the astronaut community has been positive.

Leveraging Existing Mission Tools in a Re-Usable, Component-Based Software Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greene, Kevin; Grenander, Sven; Kurien, James; z,s (fshir. z[orttr); z,scer; O'Reilly, Taifun

2006-01-01

Emerging methods in component-based software development offer significant advantages but may seem incompatible with existing mission operations applications. In this paper we relate our positive experiences integrating existing mission applications into component-based tools we are delivering to three missions. In most operations environments, a number of software applications have been integrated together to form the mission operations software. In contrast, with component-based software development chunks of related functionality and data structures, referred to as components, can be individually delivered, integrated and re-used. With the advent of powerful tools for managing component-based development, complex software systems can potentially see significant benefits in ease of integration, testability and reusability from these techniques. These benefits motivate us to ask how component-based development techniques can be relevant in a mission operations environment, where there is significant investment in software tools that are not component-based and may not be written in languages for which component-based tools even exist. Trusted and complex software tools for sequencing, validation, navigation, and other vital functions cannot simply be re-written or abandoned in order to gain the advantages offered by emerging component-based software techniques. Thus some middle ground must be found. We have faced exactly this issue, and have found several solutions. Ensemble is an open platform for development, integration, and deployment of mission operations software that we are developing. Ensemble itself is an extension of an open source, component-based software development platform called Eclipse. Due to the advantages of component-based development, we have been able to vary rapidly develop mission operations tools for three surface missions by mixing and matching from a common set of mission operation components. We have also had to determine how to integrate existing mission applications for sequence development, sequence validation, and high level activity planning, and other functions into a component-based environment. For each of these, we used a somewhat different technique based upon the structure and usage of the existing application.

AC application of second generation HTS wire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thieme, C. L. H.; Gagnon, K.; Voccio, J.; Aized, D.; Claassen, J.

2008-02-01

For the production of Second Generation (2G) YBCO High Temperature Superconductor wire American Superconductor uses a wide-strip MOD-YBCO/RABiTSTM process, a low-cost approach for commercial manufacturing. It can be engineered with a high degree of flexibility to manufacture practical 2G conductors with architectures and properties tailored for specific applications and operating conditions. For ac applications conductor and coil design can be geared towards low hysteretic losses. For applications which experience high frequency ac fields, the stabilizer needs to be adjusted for low eddy current losses. For these applications a stainless-steel laminate is used. An example is a Low Pass Filter Inductor which was developed and built in this work.

Pico Reentry Probes: Affordable Options for Reentry Measurements and Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ailor, William H.; Kapoor, Vinod B.; Allen, Gay A., Jr.; Venkatapathy, Ethiraj; Arnold, James O.; Rasky, Daniel J.

2005-01-01

It is generally very costly to perform in-space and atmospheric entry experiments. This paper presents a new platform - the Pico Reentry Probe (PREP) - that we believe will make targeted flight-tests and planetary atmospheric probe science missions considerably more affordable. Small, lightweight, self-contained, it is designed as a "launch and forget" system, suitable for experiments that require no ongoing communication with the ground. It contains a data recorder, battery, transmitter, and user-customized instrumentation. Data recorded during reentry or space operations is returned at end-of-mission via transmission to Iridium satellites (in the case of earth-based operations) or a similar orbiting communication system for planetary missions. This paper discusses possible applications of this concept for Earth and Martian atmospheric entry science. Two well-known heritage aerodynamic shapes are considered as candidates for PREP: the shape developed for the Planetary Atmospheric Experiment Test (PAET) and that for the Deep Space II Mars Probe.

Performance evaluation of a distance learning program.

PubMed

Dailey, D J; Eno, K R; Brinkley, J F

1994-01-01

This paper presents a performance metric which uses a single number to characterize the response time for a non-deterministic client-server application operating over the Internet. When applied to a Macintosh-based distance learning application called the Digital Anatomist Browser, the metric allowed us to observe that "A typical student doing a typical mix of Browser commands on a typical data set will experience the same delay if they use a slow Macintosh on a local network or a fast Macintosh on the other side of the country accessing the data over the Internet." The methodology presented is applicable to other client-server applications that are rapidly appearing on the Internet.

Thermal Vacuum Testing of a Multi-Evaporator Miniature Loop Heat Pipe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ku, Jentung; Ottenstein, Laura; Nagano, Hosei

2008-01-01

Under NASA's New Millennium Program Space Technology 8 Project, four experiments are being developed for future small system applications requiring low mass, low power, and compactness. GSFC is responsible for developing the Thermal Loop experiment, which is an advanced thermal control system consisting of a miniature loop heat pipe (MLHP) with multiple evaporators and condensers. The objective is to validate the operation of an MLHP, including reliable start-ups, steady operation, heat load sharing, and tight temperature control over the range of 273K to 308K. An MLHP Breadboard has been built and tested for 1200 hours under the laboratory environment and 500 hours in a thermal vacuum chamber. Results of the TV tests are presented here.

Skylab materials processing facility experiment developer's report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parks, P. G.

1975-01-01

The development of the Skylab M512 Materials Processing Facility is traced from the design of a portable, self-contained electron beam welding system for terrestrial applications to the highly complex experiment system ultimately developed for three Skylab missions. The M512 experiment facility was designed to support six in-space experiments intended to explore the advantages of manufacturing materials in the near-zero-gravity environment of Earth orbit. Detailed descriptions of the M512 facility and related experiment hardware are provided, with discussions of hardware verification and man-machine interfaces included. An analysis of the operation of the facility and experiments during the three Skylab missions is presented, including discussions of the hardware performance, anomalies, and data returned to earth.

Maintenance Free Fluidic Transfer and Mixing Devices for Highly Radioactive Applications - Design, Development, Deployment and Operational Experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Phillips, C.; Richardson, J. E.; Fallows, P.

2006-07-01

Power Fluidics is the generic name for a range of maintenance-free fluid transfer and mixing devices, capable of handling a wide range of highly radioactive fluids, jointly developed by British Nuclear Group, its US-based subsidiary BNG America, and AEA Technology. Power Fluidic devices include Reverse Flow Diverters (RFDs), Vacuum Operated Slug Lifts (VOSLs), and Air Lifts, all of which have an excellent proven record for pumping radioactive liquids and sludges. Variants of the RFD, termed Pulse Jet Mixers (PJMs) are used to agitate and mix tank contents, where maintenance-free equipment is desirable, and where a high degree of homogenization ismore » necessary. The equipment is designed around the common principle of using compressed air to provide the motive force to transfer liquids and sludges. These devices have no moving parts in contact with the radioactive medium and therefore require no maintenance in radioactive areas of processing plants. Once commissioned, Power Fluidic equipment has been demonstrated to operate for the life of the facility. Over 800 fluidic devices continue to operate safely and reliably in British Nuclear Group's nuclear facilities at the Sellafield site in the United Kingdom, and some of these have done so for almost 40 years. More than 400 devices are being supplied by AEA Technology and BNG America for the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State, USA. This paper discusses: - Principles of operation of fluidic pumps and mixers. - Selection criteria and design of fluidic pumps and mixers. - Operational experience of fluidic pumps and mixers in the United Kingdom. - Applications of fluidic pumps and mixers at the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear sites. (authors)« less

Evaluation of Head-Worn Display Concepts for Commercial Aircraft Taxi Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.

2007-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that a Head-Up Display (HUD) can be used to enable more capacity and safer aircraft surface operations. This previous research also noted that the HUD exhibited two major limitations which hindered the full potential of the display concept: 1) the monochrome HUD format; and, 2) a limited, fixed field of regard. Full-color Head Worn Displays (HWDs) with very small sizes and weights are emerging to the extent that this technology may be practical for commercial and business aircraft operations. By coupling the HWD with a head tracker, full-color, out-the-window display concepts with an unlimited field-of-regard may be realized to improve efficiency and safety in surface operations. A ground simulation experiment was conducted at NASA Langley to evaluate the efficacy of head-worn display applications which may directly address the limitations of the HUD while retaining all of its advantages in surface operations. The simulation experiment used airline crews to evaluate various displays (HUD, HWD) and display concepts in an operationally realistic environment by using a Chicago, O Hare airport database. The results pertaining to the implications of HWDs for commercial business and transport aviation applications are presented herein. Overall HWD system latency was measured and found to be acceptable, but not necessarily optimal. A few occurrences of simulator sickness were noted while wearing the HWD, but overall there appears to be commercial pilot acceptability and usability to the concept. Many issues were identified which need to be addressed in future research including continued reduction in user encumbrance due to the HWD, and improvement in image alignment, accuracy, and boresighting.

TASAR Certification and Operational Approval Requirements - Analyses and Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koczo, Stefan, Jr.

2015-01-01

This report documents the results of research and development work performed by Rockwell Collins in addressing the Task 1 objectives under NASA Contract NNL12AA11C. Under this contract Rockwell Collins provided analytical support to the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) in NASA's development of a Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) flight deck Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) application for technology transition into operational use. The two primary objectives of this contract were for Rockwell Collins and the University of Iowa OPL to 1) perform an implementation assessment of TASAR toward early certification and operational approval of TASAR as an EFB application (Task 1 of this contract), and 2) design, develop and conduct two Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) simulation experiments that evaluate TASAR and the associated Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) software application to determine the situational awareness and workload impacts of TASAR in the flight deck, while also assessing the level of comprehension, usefulness, and usability of the features of TAP (Task 2 of this contract). This report represents the Task 1 summary report. The Task 2 summary report is provided in [0].

Application of the H-Mode, a Design and Interaction Concept for Highly Automated Vehicles, to Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodrich, Kenneth H.; Flemisch, Frank O.; Schutte, Paul C.; Williams, Ralph A.

2006-01-01

Driven by increased safety, efficiency, and airspace capacity, automation is playing an increasing role in aircraft operations. As aircraft become increasingly able to autonomously respond to a range of situations with performance surpassing human operators, we are compelled to look for new methods that help us understand their use and guide their design using new forms of automation and interaction. We propose a novel design metaphor to aid the conceptualization, design, and operation of highly-automated aircraft. Design metaphors transfer meaning from common experiences to less familiar applications or functions. A notable example is the "Desktop metaphor" for manipulating files on a computer. This paper describes a metaphor for highly automated vehicles known as the H-metaphor and a specific embodiment of the metaphor known as the H-mode as applied to aircraft. The fundamentals of the H-metaphor are reviewed followed by an overview of an exploratory usability study investigating human-automation interaction issues for a simple H-mode implementation. The envisioned application of the H-mode concept to aircraft is then described as are two planned evaluations.

LWS/SET End-to-End Data System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giffin, Geoff; Sherman, Barry; Colon, Gilberto (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper describes the concept for the End-to-End Data System that will support NASA's Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed missions. NASA has initiated the Living With a Star (LWS) Program to develop a better scientific understanding to address the aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that affect life and society. A principal goal of the program is to bridge the gap.between science, engineering, and user application communities. The Space Environment Testbed (SET) Project is one element of LWS. The Project will enable future science, operational, and commercial objectives in space and atmospheric environments by improving engineering approaches to the accommodation and/or mitigation of the effects of solar variability on technological systems. The End-to-end data system allows investigators to access the SET control center, command their experiments, and receive data from their experiments back at their home facility, using the Internet. The logical functioning of major components of the end-to-end data system are described, including the GSFC Payload Operations Control Center (POCC), SET Payloads, the GSFC SET Simulation Lab, SET Experiment PI Facilities, and Host Systems. Host Spacecraft Operations Control Centers (SOCC) and the Host Spacecraft are essential links in the end-to-end data system, but are not directly under the control of the SET Project. Formal interfaces will be established between these entities and elements of the SET Project. The paper describes data flow through the system, from PI facilities connecting to the SET operations center via the Internet, communications to SET carriers and experiments via host systems, to telemetry returns to investigators from their flight experiments. It also outlines the techniques that will be used to meet mission requirements, while holding development and operational costs to a minimum. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

An operational amplifier B1404UD1A-1 in the patch-clamp current-to-voltage converter.

PubMed

Korzun, A M; Rozinov, S V; Abashin, G I

1997-01-01

The applicability of the home-made operational amplifier B1404UD1A-1 in a patch-clamp current-to-voltage converter was analyzed. Its parameters (background noise, input bias current, and gain-bandwidth product) were estimated. Schematic solutions and practical recommendations for the use of this amplifier in a current-to-voltage converter were given. Based on the background noise and frequency parameters of the converter, we found that this device can be used for measuring ion channel currents with a high sensitivity and within a broad frequency range (0.055 pA, to 1 kHz; 0.4 pA, to 10 kHz). An example of the converter application in experiments is given.

Residential Fuel Cell Demonstration Handbook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torrero, E.; McClelland, R.

2002-07-01

This report is a guide for rural electric cooperatives engaged in field testing of equipment and in assessing related application and market issues. Dispersed generation and its companion fuel cell technology have attracted increased interest by rural electric cooperatives and their customers. In addition, fuel cells are a particularly interesting source because their power quality, efficiency, and environmental benefits have now been coupled with major manufacturer development efforts. The overall effort is structured to measure the performance, durability, reliability, and maintainability of these systems, to identify promising types of applications and modes of operation, and to assess the related prospect for future use. In addition, technical successes and shortcomings will be identified by demonstration participants and manufacturers using real-world experience garnered under typical operating environments.

Risk-based analysis and decision making in multi-disciplinary environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feather, Martin S.; Cornford, Steven L.; Moran, Kelly

2003-01-01

A risk-based decision-making process conceived of and developed at JPL and NASA, has been used to help plan and guide novel technology applications for use on spacecraft. These applications exemplify key challenges inherent in multi-disciplinary design of novel technologies deployed in mission-critical settings. 1) Cross-disciplinary concerns are numerous (e.g., spacecraft involve navigation, propulsion, telecommunications). These concems are cross-coupled and interact in multiple ways (e.g., electromagnetic interference, heat transfer). 2) Time and budget pressures constrain development, operational resources constrain the resulting system (e.g., mass, volume, power). 3) Spacecraft are critical systems that must operate correctly the first time in only partially understood environments, with no chance for repair. 4) Past experience provides only a partial guide: New mission concepts are enhanced and enabled by new technologies, for which past experience is lacking. The decision-making process rests on quantitative assessments of the relationships between three classes of information - objectives (the things the system is to accomplish and constraints on its operation and development), risks (whose occurrence detracts from objectives), and mitigations (options for reducing the likelihood and or severity of risks). The process successfully guides experts to pool their knowledge, using custom-built software to support information gathering and decision-making.

The Deep Impact Network Experiment Operations Center Monitor and Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Shin-Ywan (Cindy); Torgerson, J. Leigh; Schoolcraft, Joshua; Brenman, Yan

2009-01-01

The Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) software at JPL is an implementation of Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) which has been proposed as an interplanetary protocol to support space communication. The JPL Deep Impact Network (DINET) is a technology development experiment intended to increase the technical readiness of the JPL implemented ION suite. The DINET Experiment Operations Center (EOC) developed by JPL's Protocol Technology Lab (PTL) was critical in accomplishing the experiment. EOC, containing all end nodes of simulated spaces and one administrative node, exercised publish and subscribe functions for payload data among all end nodes to verify the effectiveness of data exchange over ION protocol stacks. A Monitor and Control System was created and installed on the administrative node as a multi-tiered internet-based Web application to support the Deep Impact Network Experiment by allowing monitoring and analysis of the data delivery and statistics from ION. This Monitor and Control System includes the capability of receiving protocol status messages, classifying and storing status messages into a database from the ION simulation network, and providing web interfaces for viewing the live results in addition to interactive database queries.

Dcs Data Viewer, an Application that Accesses ATLAS DCS Historical Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsarouchas, C.; Schlenker, S.; Dimitrov, G.; Jahn, G.

2014-06-01

The ATLAS experiment at CERN is one of the four Large Hadron Collider experiments. The Detector Control System (DCS) of ATLAS is responsible for the supervision of the detector equipment, the reading of operational parameters, the propagation of the alarms and the archiving of important operational data in a relational database (DB). DCS Data Viewer (DDV) is an application that provides access to the ATLAS DCS historical data through a web interface. Its design is structured using a client-server architecture. The pythonic server connects to the DB and fetches the data by using optimized SQL requests. It communicates with the outside world, by accepting HTTP requests and it can be used stand alone. The client is an AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) interactive web application developed under the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) framework. Its web interface is user friendly, platform and browser independent. The selection of metadata is done via a column-tree view or with a powerful search engine. The final visualization of the data is done using java applets or java script applications as plugins. The default output is a value-over-time chart, but other types of outputs like tables, ascii or ROOT files are supported too. Excessive access or malicious use of the database is prevented by a dedicated protection mechanism, allowing the exposure of the tool to hundreds of inexperienced users. The current configuration of the client and of the outputs can be saved in an XML file. Protection against web security attacks is foreseen and authentication constrains have been taken into account, allowing the exposure of the tool to hundreds of users world wide. Due to its flexible interface and its generic and modular approach, DDV could be easily used for other experiment control systems.

CTS /Hermes/ - United States experiments and operations summary. [Communications Technology Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donoughe, P. L.; Hunczak, H. R.

1977-01-01

The U.S. experiments conducted with the Communications Technology Satellite, a joint Canadian-U.S. venture launched in 1976, are discussed. The 14/12 GHz frequencies employed by the 200-W transmitter on board the satellite provide two-way television and voice communications. Applications of the satellite in the categories of health care, community services and education are considered; experiments have also made use of the special properties of the super-high frequency band (e.g. link characterization and digital communications). Time-sharing of the 14/12 GHz communication between the U.S. and Canada has functioned well.

DOE FES FY2017 Joint Research Target Fourth Quarter Milestone Report for theNational Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Soukhanovskii, V. A.

2017-09-13

A successful high-performance plasma operation with a radiative divertor has been demonstrated on many tokamak devices, however, significant uncertainty remains in accurately modeling detachment thresholds, and in how detachment depends on divertor geometry. Whereas it was originally planned to perform dedicated divertor experiments on the National Spherical Tokamak Upgrade to address critical detachment and divertor geometry questions for this milestone, the experiments were deferred due to technical difficulties. Instead, existing NSTX divertor data was summarized and re-analyzed where applicable, and additional simulations were performed.

NASA Lewis Research Center photovoltaic application experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ratajczak, A.; Bifano, W.; Martz, J.; Odonnell, P.

1978-01-01

The NASA Lewis Research Center has installed 16 geographically dispersed terrestrial photovoltaic systems as part of the DOE National Photovoltaic Program. Four additional experiments are in progress. Currently, operating systems are powering refrigerators, a highway warning sign, forest lookout towers, remote weather stations, a water chiller and insect survey traps. Experiments in progress include the world's first village power system, an air pollution monitor and seismic sensors. Under a separate activity, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, a PV-powered water pump and grain grinder is being prepared for an African village. System descriptions and status are included in this report.

The small community solar thermal power experiment. Parabolic dish technology for industrial process heat application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polzien, R. E.; Rodriguez, D.

1981-01-01

Aspects of incorporating a thermal energy transport system (ETS) into a field of parabolic dish collectors for industrial process heat (IPH) applications were investigated. Specific objectives are to: (1) verify the mathematical optimization of pipe diameters and insulation thicknesses calculated by a computer code; (2) verify the cost model for pipe network costs using conventional pipe network construction; (3) develop a design and the associated production costs for incorporating risers and downcomers on a low cost concentrator (LCC); (4) investigate the cost reduction of using unconventional pipe construction technology. The pipe network design and costs for a particular IPH application, specifically solar thermally enhanced oil recovery (STEOR) are analyzed. The application involves the hybrid operation of a solar powered steam generator in conjunction with a steam generator using fossil fuels to generate STEOR steam for wells. It is concluded that the STEOR application provides a baseline pipe network geometry used for optimization studies of pipe diameter and insulation thickness, and for development of comparative cost data, and operating parameters for the design of riser/downcomer modifications to the low cost concentrator.

APGEN Scheduling: 15 Years of Experience in Planning Automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maldague, Pierre F.; Wissler, Steve; Lenda, Matthew; Finnerty, Daniel

2014-01-01

In this paper, we discuss the scheduling capability of APGEN (Activity Plan Generator), a multi-mission planning application that is part of the NASA AMMOS (Advanced Multi- Mission Operations System), and how APGEN scheduling evolved over its applications to specific Space Missions. Our analysis identifies two major reasons for the successful application of APGEN scheduling to real problems: an expressive DSL (Domain-Specific Language) for formulating scheduling algorithms, and a well-defined process for enlisting the help of auxiliary modeling tools in providing high-fidelity, system-level simulations of the combined spacecraft and ground support system.

A Modular Pipelined Processor for High Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veiga, Alejandro; Grunfeld, Christian

2016-02-01

The design of a digital signal processor for gamma-ray applications is presented in which a single ADC input can simultaneously provide temporal and energy characterization of gamma radiation for a wide range of applications. Applying pipelining techniques, the processor is able to manage and synchronize very large volumes of streamed real-time data. Its modular user interface provides a flexible environment for experimental design. The processor can fit in a medium-sized FPGA device operating at ADC sampling frequency, providing an efficient solution for multi-channel applications. Two experiments are presented in order to characterize its temporal and energy resolution.

Photovoltaic test and demonstration project. [residential energy program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forestieri, A. F.; Brandhorst, H. W., Jr.; Deyo, J. N.

1976-01-01

The considered project consists of three subprojects related to applications, device performance and diagnostics, and endurance testing. The objectives of the applications subproject include the determination of the operating characteristics for a variety of photovoltaic conversion systems. A system test facility is being constructed in this connection and a prototype residence experiment is to be conducted. Market demand for solar cells is to be stimulated by demonstrating suitability of solar cells for specific near-term applications. Activities conducted in connection with device performance studies and diagnostics are also discussed along with developments in the area of endurance testing.

Optical monitoring of scoliosis by 3D medical laser scanner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez-Quiñonez, Julio C.; Sergiyenko, Oleg Yu.; Preciado, Luis C. Basaca; Tyrsa, Vera V.; Gurko, Alexander G.; Podrygalo, Mikhail A.; Lopez, Moises Rivas; Balbuena, Daniel Hernandez

2014-03-01

Three dimensional recording of the human body surface or anatomical areas have gained importance in many medical applications. In this paper, our 3D Medical Laser Scanner is presented. It is based on the novel principle of dynamic triangulation. We analyze the method of operation, medical applications, orthopedically diseases as Scoliosis and the most common types of skin to employ the system the most proper way. It is analyzed a group of medical problems related to the application of optical scanning in optimal way. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the performance of the proposed system and its method uncertainty.

Entangled γ-photons—classical laboratory exercise with modern detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hetfleiš, Jakub; Lněnička, Jindřich; Šlégr, Jan

2018-03-01

This paper describes the application of modern semiconductor detectors of γ and β radiation, which can be used in undergraduate laboratory experiments and lecture demonstrations as a replacement for Geiger-Müller (GM) tubes. Unlike GM tubes, semiconductor detectors do not require a high voltage power source or shaping circuits. The principle of operation of semiconductor detectors is discussed briefly, and classical experiments from nuclear physics are described, ranging from the measurements of linear and mass attenuation coefficient to a demonstration of entangled γ-photons.

Research on active imaging information transmission technology of satellite borne quantum remote sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Siwen; Zhen, Ming; Yang, Song; Lin, Xuling; Wu, Zhiqiang

2017-08-01

According to the development and application needs of Remote Sensing Science and technology, Prof. Siwen Bi proposed quantum remote sensing. Firstly, the paper gives a brief introduction of the background of quantum remote sensing, the research status and related researches at home and abroad on the theory, information mechanism and imaging experiments of quantum remote sensing and the production of principle prototype.Then, the quantization of pure remote sensing radiation field, the state function and squeezing effect of quantum remote sensing radiation field are emphasized. It also describes the squeezing optical operator of quantum light field in active imaging information transmission experiment and imaging experiments, achieving 2-3 times higher resolution than that of coherent light detection imaging and completing the production of quantum remote sensing imaging prototype. The application of quantum remote sensing technology can significantly improve both the signal-to-noise ratio of information transmission imaging and the spatial resolution of quantum remote sensing .On the above basis, Prof.Bi proposed the technical solution of active imaging information transmission technology of satellite borne quantum remote sensing, launched researches on its system composition and operation principle and on quantum noiseless amplifying devices, providing solutions and technical basis for implementing active imaging information technology of satellite borne Quantum Remote Sensing.

Reference earth orbital research and applications investigations (blue book). Volume 4: Earth observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The earth observations capability of the space station and space shuttle program definition is discussed. The stress in the functional program element has been to update the sensor specifications and to shift some of the emphasis from sensors to experiments to be done aboard the facility. The earth observations facility will include provisions for data acquisition, sensor control and display, data analysis, and maintenance and repair. The facility is research and development in nature with a potential for operational applications.

Introducing new technologies into Space Station subsystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiskerchen, Michael J.; Mollakarimi, Cindy L.

1989-01-01

A new systems engineering technology has been developed and applied to Shuttle processing. The new engineering approach emphasizes the identification, quantitative assessment, and management of system performance and risk related to the dynamic nature of requirements, technology, and operational concepts. The Space Shuttle Tile Automation System is described as an example of the first application of the new engineering technology. Lessons learned from the Shuttle processing experience are examined, and concepts are presented which are applicable to the design and development of the Space Station Freedom.

A maritime decision support system to assess risk in the presence of environmental uncertainties: the REP10 experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grasso, Raffaele; Cococcioni, Marco; Mourre, Baptiste; Chiggiato, Jacopo; Rixen, Michel

2012-03-01

The aim of this work is to report on an activity carried out during the 2010 Recognized Environmental Picture experiment, held in the Ligurian Sea during summer 2010. The activity was the first at-sea test of the recently developed decision support system (DSS) for operation planning, which had previously been tested in an artificial experiment. The DSS assesses the impact of both environmental conditions (meteorological and oceanographic) and non-environmental conditions (such as traffic density maps) on people and assets involved in the operation and helps in deciding a course of action that allows safer operation. More precisely, the environmental variables (such as wind speed, current speed and significant wave height) taken as input by the DSS are the ones forecasted by a super-ensemble model, which fuses the forecasts provided by multiple forecasting centres. The uncertainties associated with the DSS's inputs (generally due to disagreement between forecasts) are propagated through the DSS's output by using the unscented transform. In this way, the system is not only able to provide a traffic light map ( run/ not run the operation), but also to specify the confidence level associated with each action. This feature was tested on a particular type of operation with underwater gliders: the glider surfacing for data transmission. It is also shown how the availability of a glider path prediction tool provides surfacing options along the predicted path. The applicability to different operations is demonstrated by applying the same system to support diver operations.

Satellite communications for disaster relief operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sivo, J. N.

1979-01-01

The use of existing and planned communication satellite systems to provide assistance in the implementation of disaster relief operations on a global basis was discussed along with satellite communications system implications and their potential impact on field operations in disaster situations. Consideration are given to the utilization of both INTELSAT and MARISAT systems operating at frequencies ranging from 1.5 to 4 GHz and to the size and type of ground terminals necessary for satellite access. Estimates of communication requirements for a global system are given. Some discussion of cost estimates for satellite services to support operations are included. Studies of communication satellites for both pre and post disaster applications conducted for NOAA are included as well as recent experiments conducted in conjunction with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the Agency for International Development.

Towards an operational ERTS - requirements for implementing cartographic applications of an operational ERTS type satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colvocoresses, A. P.

1974-01-01

After nearly 18 months of successful operation of the first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1), a careful look at the future in order. Judging from the results of ERTS-1 experiments, public sales of ERTS-1 products and overall worldwide response it is believed that ERTS-1 has demonstrated an earth sensing mode that should become operational. It is recognized that several studies leading to the definition of an operational ERTS have been made. However cartographic requirements are generally more basic and demanding than those of the earth science disciplines and are therefore treated separately in this report. One assumption made is that the configuration of ERTS, particularly with respect to the multispectral scanner and data transmission rates cannot be materially altered.

Officer Education and Training in Oceanography for ASW and Other Naval Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waterman, Larry Wayne

The study into the knowledge and experience required for optimum performance by officers assigned to operational, R & D, and managerial duties in Anti-submarine Warfare concludes that oceanography should receive the major emphasis on an interdisciplinary graduate level program of the contributing disciplines in ASW. In planning education and…

Psycho-Pedagogical Measuring Bases of Educational Competences of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenzhegaliev, Kulush K.; Shayakhmetova, Aisulu A.; Zulkarnayeva, Zhamila A.; Iksatova, Balzhan K.; Shonova, Bakytgul A.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the research problem is conditioned by the weak development of measurement, assessment of educational competences at an operational level, at the level of actions, by insufficient applications of psycho-pedagogical theories and methods of mathematical statistics. The aim of the work is to develop through teaching experiments the…

[Comparative description and retrospective analisis of modern methods of surgical wounds closure for intraoperative prophylaxis of development of pathologic cutaneous cicatrices].

PubMed

Stavyts'kyĭ, S O; Avetikov, D S; Lokes, K P; Rozkolupa, O O; Boĭko, I V

2014-05-01

The experience of application of various methods of closure was presented for the head and neck cutaneous wound surfaces after elective operative interventions. The variant of the postoperative results estimation and optimization of the wounds healing by primary closure was proposed.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 3. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during May at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental for (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report, for September 1982. Volume 5. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during September 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Thermo-responsive in-situ forming hydrogels as barriers to prevent post-operative peritendinous adhesion.

PubMed

Chou, Pang-Yun; Chen, Shih-Heng; Chen, Chih-Hao; Chen, Shih-Hsien; Fong, Yi Teng; Chen, Jyh-Ping

2017-11-01

In this study, we aimed to assess whether thermo-responsive in-situ forming hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) could prevent post-operative peritendinous adhesion. The clinical advantages of the thermo-responsive hydrogels are acting as barrier material to block penetration of fibroblasts, providing mobility and flexibility during application and enabling injection through a small opening to fill spaces of any shape after surgery. The thermo-responsiveness of hydrogels was determined to ensure their clinic uses. By grafting hydrophilic biopolymers chitosan (CS) and hyaluronic acid (HA) to PNIPAM, the copolymer hydrogels show enhanced water retention and lubrication, while reduced volume shrinkage during phase transition. In cell culture experiments, the thermo-responsive hydrogel has good biocompatibility and reduces fibroblast penetration. In animal experiments, the effectiveness of preventing post-operative peritendinous adhesion was studied in a rabbit deep flexor tendon model. From gross examination, histology, bending angles of joints, tendon gliding excursion and pull-out force, HA-CS-PNIPAM (HACPN) was confirmed to be the best barrier material to prevent post-operative peritendinous adhesion compared to PNIPAM and CS-PNIPAM (CPN) hydrogels and a commercial barrier film Seprafilm®. There was no significant difference in the breaking strength of HACPN-treated tendons and spontaneously healed ones, indicating HACPN hydrogel application did not interfere with normal tendon healing. We conclude that HACPN hydrogel can provide the best functional outcomes to significantly prevent post-operative tendon adhesion in vivo. We prepared thermo-responsive in-situ forming hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) to prevent post-operative peritendinous adhesion. The injectable barrier hydrogel could have better anti-adhesive properties than current commercial products by acting as barrier material to block penetration of fibroblasts, providing mobility and flexibility during application and enabling injection through a small opening to fill spaces of any shape after surgery. The effectiveness of preventing post-operative peritendinous adhesion was studied in a rabbit deep flexor tendon model. From gross examination, histology, bending angles of joints, tendon gliding excursion and pull-out force, HA-CS-PNIPAM (HACPN) was confirmed to be the best barrier material to prevent post-operative peritendinous adhesion compared to PNIPAM and CS-PNIPAM (CPN) hydrogels and a commercial barrier film Seprafilm®. Copyright © 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diamond detectors for high-temperature transactinide chemistry experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinegger, Patrick; Dressler, Rugard; Eichler, Robert; Piguet, Dave; Streuli, Silvan; Türler, Andreas

2017-04-01

Here, we present the fabrication details and functional tests of diamond-based α-spectroscopic sensors, dedicated for high-temperature experiments, targeting the chemistry of transactinide elements. Direct heating studies with this sensor material, revealed a current upper temperature threshold for a safe α-spectroscopic operation of Tdet = 453 K . Up to this temperature, the diamond sensor could be operated in a stable manner over long time periods of the order of days. A satisfying resolution of ≈ 50 keVFWHM was maintained throughout all conducted measurements. However, exceeding the mentioned temperature limit led to a pronounced spectroscopic degradation in the range of 453 - 473 K , thereby preventing any further α-spectroscopic application. These findings are in full agreement with available literature data. The presented detector development generally enables the chemical investigation of more short-lived and less volatile transactinide elements and their compounds, yet unreachable with the currently employed silicon-based solid state sensors. In a second part, the design, construction, and α-spectroscopic performance of a 4-segmented diamond detector, dedicated and used for transactinide element research, is given as an application example.

Polarimetric Multispectral Imaging Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, L.-J.; Chao, T.-H.; Dowdy, M.; Mahoney, C.; Reyes, G.

1993-01-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a remote sensing technology on which a new generation of compact, lightweight, high-resolution, low-power, reliable, versatile, programmable scientific polarimetric multispectral imaging instruments can be built to meet the challenge of future planetary exploration missions. The instrument is based on the fast programmable acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) of tellurium dioxide (TeO2) that operates in the wavelength range of 0.4-5 microns. Basically, the AOTF multispectral imaging instrument measures incoming light intensity as a function of spatial coordinates, wavelength, and polarization. Its operation can be in either sequential, random access, or multiwavelength mode as required. This provides observation flexibility, allowing real-time alternation among desired observations, collecting needed data only, minimizing data transmission, and permitting implementation of new experiments. These will result in optimization of the mission performance with minimal resources. Recently we completed a polarimetric multispectral imaging prototype instrument and performed outdoor field experiments for evaluating application potentials of the technology. We also investigated potential improvements on AOTF performance to strengthen technology readiness for applications. This paper will give a status report on the technology and a prospect toward future planetary exploration.

A six-degree-of-freedom passive arm with dynamic constraints (PADyC) for cardiac surgery application: preliminary experiments.

PubMed

Schneider, O; Troccaz, J

2001-01-01

The purpose of Computer-Assisted Surgery (CAS) is to help physicians and surgeons plan and execute optimal strategies from multimodal image data. The execution of such planned strategies may be assisted by guidance systems. Some of these systems, called synergistic systems, are based on the cooperation of a robotic device with a human operator. We have developed such a synergistic device: PADyC (Passive Arm with Dynamic Constraints). The basic principle of PADyC is to have a manually actuated arm that dynamically constrains the authorized motions of the surgical tool held by the human operator during a planned task. Dynamic constraints are computed from the task definition, and are implemented by a patented mechanical system. In this paper, we first introduce synergistic systems and then focus on modeling and algorithmic issues related to the dynamic constraints. Finally, we describe a 6-degree-of-freedom prototype robot designed for a clinical application (cardiac surgery) and report on preliminary experiments to date. The experimental results are then discussed, and future work is proposed. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Superconducting bearings for application in cryogenic experiments in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Everitt, C. W. F.; Worden, P. W., Jr.

1980-01-01

Linear superconducting magnetic bearings suitable for use in a proposed orbital equivalence principle experiment and for general application in space were developed and tested. Current flows in opposite directions in adjacent superconducting wires arranged parallel to the axis of a cylinder. This configuration provides maximum stiffness radially while allowing the test mass to move freely along the cylinder axis. In a space application, the wires are extended to cover the entire perimeter of the cylinder: for the earth-based tests it was desirable to use only the bottom half. Control of the axial position of the test mass is by small control coils which may be positioned inside or outside the main bearing. The design is suitable for application to other geometries where maximum stiffness is desired. A working model scaled to operate in a 1-g environment was perfected approximate solutions for the bearings were developed. A superconducting transformer method of charging the magnets for the bearing, and a position detector based on a SQUID magnetometer and associated superconducting circuit were also investigated.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lukhanin, Gennadiy; Biery, Kurt; Foulkes, Stephen

In the NO A experiment, the Detector Controls System (DCS) provides a method for controlling and monitoring important detector hardware and environmental parameters. It is essential for operating the detector and is required to have access to roughly 370,000 independent programmable channels via more than 11,600 physical devices. In this paper, we demonstrate an application of Control System Studio (CSS), developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for the NO A experiment. The application of CSS for the DCS of the NO A experiment has been divided into three phases: (1) user requirements and concept prototype on a test-stand, (2) smallmore » scale deployment at the prototype Near Detector on the Surface, and (3) a larger scale deployment at the Far Detector. We also give an outline of the CSS integration with the NO A online software and the alarm handling logic for the Front-End electronics.« less

FDNS CFD Code Benchmark for RBCC Ejector Mode Operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holt, James B.; Ruf, Joe

1999-01-01

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis results are compared with benchmark quality test data from the Propulsion Engineering Research Center's (PERC) Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) experiments to verify fluid dynamic code and application procedures. RBCC engine flowpath development will rely on CFD applications to capture the multi-dimensional fluid dynamic interactions and to quantify their effect on the RBCC system performance. Therefore, the accuracy of these CFD codes must be determined through detailed comparisons with test data. The PERC experiments build upon the well-known 1968 rocket-ejector experiments of Odegaard and Stroup by employing advanced optical and laser based diagnostics to evaluate mixing and secondary combustion. The Finite Difference Navier Stokes (FDNS) code was used to model the fluid dynamics of the PERC RBCC ejector mode configuration. Analyses were performed for both Diffusion and Afterburning (DAB) and Simultaneous Mixing and Combustion (SMC) test conditions. Results from both the 2D and the 3D models are presented.

User experience with on-road electric vehicles in the U.S.A. and Canada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sandberg, J. J.; Leschly, K.

1978-01-01

Approximately 3000 on-road electric passenger cars and delivery vans are now in use in the U.S.A. and Canada. The owners and operators of almost one-third of these vehicles have been surveyed directly in an attempt to determine the suitability of commercially sold electric vehicles for real on-road jobs. This paper is primarily concerned with the analysis of the engineering aspects of the user experience with electric vehicles, i.e., mileage and application, failure modes and rates, energy economy, maintenance requirements, life cycle costs, and vehicle performance characteristics. It is concluded that existing electric vehicles can perform satisfactorily in applications that have limited performance requirements, particularly in terms of range.

10-year experience of CO2-laser application in ambulance gynecology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stachanov, Michael L.; Masychev, Victor I.; Velsher, Leonid Z.; Kirkin, Vladimir V.; Zhashkov, Roman V.; Kocharian, Emilia A.

2000-10-01

CO2-laser surgical systems have come to stay in everyday practice of modern physicians and are successfully used in colposcopic and laparoscopic surgery. Results, obtained in ambulance gynecology are especially impressing. CO2- laser provides high medical- and cost-effective treatment. Presented work describes many-years experience of CO2- laser application. 439 patients with various vulvaric and cervix diseases were operated within this period. Laser beam parameters were selected according to requirements ((tau) =4 J/cm2) treatment without carbonization. Analyses of the results showed that the laser successfully destructs uterine cervix erosion, endocervicosis, dysplasia, leukoplakia, eritoplakia of uterine cervix, various benignant pathologies and focus degenerative process in ambulate conditions.

Applications and Innovations for Use of High Definition and High Resolution Digital Motion Imagery in Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grubbs, Rodney

2016-01-01

The first live High Definition Television (HDTV) from a spacecraft was in November, 2006, nearly ten years before the 2016 SpaceOps Conference. Much has changed since then. Now, live HDTV from the International Space Station (ISS) is routine. HDTV cameras stream live video views of the Earth from the exterior of the ISS every day on UStream, and HDTV has even flown around the Moon on a Japanese Space Agency spacecraft. A great deal has been learned about the operations applicability of HDTV and high resolution imagery since that first live broadcast. This paper will discuss the current state of real-time and file based HDTV and higher resolution video for space operations. A potential roadmap will be provided for further development and innovations of high-resolution digital motion imagery, including gaps in technology enablers, especially for deep space and unmanned missions. Specific topics to be covered in the paper will include: An update on radiation tolerance and performance of various camera types and sensors and ramifications on the future applicability of these types of cameras for space operations; Practical experience with downlinking very large imagery files with breaks in link coverage; Ramifications of larger camera resolutions like Ultra-High Definition, 6,000 [pixels] and 8,000 [pixels] in space applications; Enabling technologies such as the High Efficiency Video Codec, Bundle Streaming Delay Tolerant Networking, Optical Communications and Bayer Pattern Sensors and other similar innovations; Likely future operations scenarios for deep space missions with extreme latency and intermittent communications links.

Fault tolerant operation of switched reluctance machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei

The energy crisis and environmental challenges have driven industry towards more energy efficient solutions. With nearly 60% of electricity consumed by various electric machines in industry sector, advancement in the efficiency of the electric drive system is of vital importance. Adjustable speed drive system (ASDS) provides excellent speed regulation and dynamic performance as well as dramatically improved system efficiency compared with conventional motors without electronics drives. Industry has witnessed tremendous grow in ASDS applications not only as a driving force but also as an electric auxiliary system for replacing bulky and low efficiency auxiliary hydraulic and mechanical systems. With the vast penetration of ASDS, its fault tolerant operation capability is more widely recognized as an important feature of drive performance especially for aerospace, automotive applications and other industrial drive applications demanding high reliability. The Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM), a low cost, highly reliable electric machine with fault tolerant operation capability, has drawn substantial attention in the past three decades. Nevertheless, SRM is not free of fault. Certain faults such as converter faults, sensor faults, winding shorts, eccentricity and position sensor faults are commonly shared among all ASDS. In this dissertation, a thorough understanding of various faults and their influence on transient and steady state performance of SRM is developed via simulation and experimental study, providing necessary knowledge for fault detection and post fault management. Lumped parameter models are established for fast real time simulation and drive control. Based on the behavior of the faults, a fault detection scheme is developed for the purpose of fast and reliable fault diagnosis. In order to improve the SRM power and torque capacity under faults, the maximum torque per ampere excitation are conceptualized and validated through theoretical analysis and experiments. With the proposed optimal waveform, torque production is greatly improved under the same Root Mean Square (RMS) current constraint. Additionally, position sensorless operation methods under phase faults are investigated to account for the combination of physical position sensor and phase winding faults. A comprehensive solution for position sensorless operation under single and multiple phases fault are proposed and validated through experiments. Continuous position sensorless operation with seamless transition between various numbers of phase fault is achieved.

Upgrades for the CMS simulation

DOE PAGES

Lange, D. J.; Hildreth, M.; Ivantchenko, V. N.; ...

2015-05-22

Over the past several years, the CMS experiment has made significant changes to its detector simulation application. The geometry has been generalized to include modifications being made to the CMS detector for 2015 operations, as well as model improvements to the simulation geometry of the current CMS detector and the implementation of a number of approved and possible future detector configurations. These include both completely new tracker and calorimetry systems. We have completed the transition to Geant4 version 10, we have made significant progress in reducing the CPU resources required to run our Geant4 simulation. These have been achieved throughmore » both technical improvements and through numerical techniques. Substantial speed improvements have been achieved without changing the physics validation benchmarks that the experiment uses to validate our simulation application for use in production. As a result, we will discuss the methods that we implemented and the corresponding demonstrated performance improvements deployed for our 2015 simulation application.« less

Glovebox and Experiment Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maas, Gerard

2005-12-01

Human spaceflight hardware and operations must comply with NSTS 1700.7. This paper discusses how a glovebox can help.A short layout is given on the process according NSTS/ISS 13830, explaining the responsibility of the payload organization, the approval authority of the PSRP and the defined review phases (0 till III).Amongst others, the following requirement has to be met:"200.1 Design to Tolerate Failures. Failure tolerance is the basic safety requirement that shall be used to control most payload hazards. The payload must tolerate a minimum number of credible failures and/or operator errors determined by the hazard level. This criterion applies when the loss of a function or the inadvertent occurrence of a function results in a hazardous event.200.1a Critical Hazards. Critical hazards shall be controlled such that no single failure or operator error can result in damage to STS/ISS equipment, a nondisabling personnel injury, or the use of unscheduled safing procedures that affect operations of the Orbiter/ISS or another payload.200.1b Catastrophic Hazards. Catastrophic hazards shall be controlled such that no combination of two failures or operator errors can result in the potential for a disabling or fatal personnel injury or loss of the Orbiter/ISS, ground facilities or STS/ISS equipment."For experiments in material science, biological science and life science that require real time operator manipulation, the above requirement may be hard or impossible to meet. Especially if the experiment contains substances that are considered hazardous when released into the habitable environment. In this case operation of the experiment in a glovebox can help to comply.A glovebox provides containment of the experiment and at the same time allows manipulation and visibility to the experiment.The containment inside the glovebox provides failure tolerance because the glovebox uses a negative pressure inside the working volume (WV). The level of failure tolerance is dependent of: the identified failure case and the hazardous substance being released (chemical, biological or different).The principle of the glovebox operation is explained, including: mechanical enclosure, air circulation, air filtration and operational modes.Limitations of the glovebox are presented: inability of an experiment fire to be detected by the ASDA, containment only with respect to specified substances, etc. There are requirements induced by the glovebox that the experiment must comply with: Compatibility with the glovebox filter system, thermal limitations, safe without glovebox services, parameter monitoring when a fire hazard is credible, sufficient containment when entering the glovebox and after the experiment, etc.Experiments that are using a glovebox to be operated in shall assess this integrated set-up and the associated operations for compliance to the safety requirements. During this assessment the PSRP shall determine if the provided failure tolerance is sufficient.The gloveboxes that Bradford Engineering (co-) built for human space flight are: USML-1 and 2, MGBX (STS and MIR), MSG, PGBX, LSG-WVA, BGB and PGB. Some of the evolutions are pointed out (experiment services added without compromising safety levels). The major differences of the gloveboxes are presented. For the gloveboxes that are in operation at this time (MSG) or in the near future (BGB, LSG- WVA and PGB) the specific applications are presented.

Applications of advanced data analysis and expert system technologies in the ATLAS Trigger-DAQ Controls framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avolio, G.; Corso Radu, A.; Kazarov, A.; Lehmann Miotto, G.; Magnoni, L.

2012-12-01

The Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) system of the ATLAS experiment is a very complex distributed computing system, composed of more than 20000 applications running on more than 2000 computers. The TDAQ Controls system has to guarantee the smooth and synchronous operations of all the TDAQ components and has to provide the means to minimize the downtime of the system caused by runtime failures. During data taking runs, streams of information messages sent or published by running applications are the main sources of knowledge about correctness of running operations. The huge flow of operational monitoring data produced is constantly monitored by experts in order to detect problems or misbehaviours. Given the scale of the system and the rates of data to be analyzed, the automation of the system functionality in the areas of operational monitoring, system verification, error detection and recovery is a strong requirement. To accomplish its objective, the Controls system includes some high-level components which are based on advanced software technologies, namely the rule-based Expert System and the Complex Event Processing engines. The chosen techniques allow to formalize, store and reuse the knowledge of experts and thus to assist the shifters in the ATLAS control room during the data-taking activities.

Diesel fuel to dc power: Navy & Marine Corps Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bloomfield, D.P.

1996-12-31

During the past year Analytic Power has tested fuel cell stacks and diesel fuel processors for US Navy and Marine Corps applications. The units are 10 kW demonstration power plants. The USN power plant was built to demonstrate the feasibility of diesel fueled PEM fuel cell power plants for 250 kW and 2.5 MW shipboard power systems. We designed and tested a ten cell, 1 kW USMC substack and fuel processor. The complete 10 kW prototype power plant, which has application to both power and hydrogen generation, is now under construction. The USN and USMC fuel cell stacks have beenmore » tested on both actual and simulated reformate. Analytic Power has accumulated operating experience with autothermal reforming based fuel processors operating on sulfur bearing diesel fuel, jet fuel, propane and natural gas. We have also completed the design and fabrication of an advanced regenerative ATR for the USMC. One of the significant problems with small fuel processors is heat loss which limits its ability to operate with the high steam to carbon ratios required for coke free high efficiency operation. The new USMC unit specifically addresses these heat transfer issues. The advances in the mill programs have been incorporated into Analytic Power`s commercial units which are now under test.« less

Inter-Disciplinary Collaboration in Support of the Post-Standby TREAT Mission

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

DeHart, Mark; Baker, Benjamin; Ortensi, Javier

Although analysis methods have advanced significantly in the last two decades, high fidelity multi- physics methods for reactors systems have been under development for only a few years and are not presently mature nor deployed. Furthermore, very few methods provide the ability to simulate rapid transients in three dimensions. Data for validation of advanced time-dependent multi- physics is sparse; at TREAT, historical data were not collected for the purpose of validating three-dimensional methods, let alone multi-physics simulations. Existing data continues to be collected to attempt to simulate the behavior of experiments and calibration transients, but it will be insufficient formore » the complete validation of analysis methods used for TREAT transient simulations. Hence, a 2018 restart will most likely occur without the direct application of advanced modeling and simulation methods. At present, the current INL modeling and simulation team plans to work with TREAT operations staff in performing reactor simulations with MAMMOTH, in parallel with the software packages currently being used in preparation for core restart (e.g., MCNP5, RELAP5, ABAQUS). The TREAT team has also requested specific measurements to be performed during startup testing, currently scheduled to run from February to August of 2018. These startup measurements will be crucial in validating the new analysis methods in preparation for ultimate application for TREAT operations and experiment design. This document describes the collaboration between modeling and simulation staff and restart, operations, instrumentation and experiment development teams to be able to effectively interact and achieve successful validation work during restart testing.« less

CIB: an improved communication architecture for real-time monitoring of aerospace materials, instruments, and sensors on the ISS.

PubMed

Krasowski, Michael J; Prokop, Norman F; Flatico, Joseph M; Greer, Lawrence C; Jenkins, Phillip P; Neudeck, Philip G; Chen, Liangyu; Spina, Danny C

2013-01-01

The Communications Interface Board (CIB) is an improved communications architecture that was demonstrated on the International Space Station (ISS). ISS communication interfaces allowing for real-time telemetry and health monitoring require a significant amount of development. The CIB simplifies the communications interface to the ISS for real-time health monitoring, telemetry, and control of resident sensors or experiments. With a simpler interface available to the telemetry bus, more sensors or experiments may be flown. The CIB accomplishes this by acting as a bridge between the ISS MIL-STD-1553 low-rate telemetry (LRT) bus and the sensors allowing for two-way command and telemetry data transfer. The CIB was designed to be highly reliable and radiation hard for an extended flight in low Earth orbit (LEO) and has been proven with over 40 months of flight operation on the outside of ISS supporting two sets of flight experiments. Since the CIB is currently operating in flight on the ISS, recent results of operations will be provided. Additionally, as a vehicle health monitoring enabling technology, an overview and results from two experiments enabled by the CIB will be provided. Future applications for vehicle health monitoring utilizing the CIB architecture will also be discussed.

CIB: An Improved Communication Architecture for Real-Time Monitoring of Aerospace Materials, Instruments, and Sensors on the ISS

PubMed Central

Krasowski, Michael J.; Prokop, Norman F.; Flatico, Joseph M.; Greer, Lawrence C.; Jenkins, Phillip P.; Neudeck, Philip G.; Chen, Liangyu; Spina, Danny C.

2013-01-01

The Communications Interface Board (CIB) is an improved communications architecture that was demonstrated on the International Space Station (ISS). ISS communication interfaces allowing for real-time telemetry and health monitoring require a significant amount of development. The CIB simplifies the communications interface to the ISS for real-time health monitoring, telemetry, and control of resident sensors or experiments. With a simpler interface available to the telemetry bus, more sensors or experiments may be flown. The CIB accomplishes this by acting as a bridge between the ISS MIL-STD-1553 low-rate telemetry (LRT) bus and the sensors allowing for two-way command and telemetry data transfer. The CIB was designed to be highly reliable and radiation hard for an extended flight in low Earth orbit (LEO) and has been proven with over 40 months of flight operation on the outside of ISS supporting two sets of flight experiments. Since the CIB is currently operating in flight on the ISS, recent results of operations will be provided. Additionally, as a vehicle health monitoring enabling technology, an overview and results from two experiments enabled by the CIB will be provided. Future applications for vehicle health monitoring utilizing the CIB architecture will also be discussed. PMID:23983621

High-Performance Scalable Information Service for the ATLAS Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolos, S.; Boutsioukis, G.; Hauser, R.

2012-12-01

The ATLAS[1] experiment is operated by a highly distributed computing system which is constantly producing a lot of status information which is used to monitor the experiment operational conditions as well as to assess the quality of the physics data being taken. For example the ATLAS High Level Trigger(HLT) algorithms are executed on the online computing farm consisting from about 1500 nodes. Each HLT algorithm is producing few thousands histograms, which have to be integrated over the whole farm and carefully analyzed in order to properly tune the event rejection. In order to handle such non-physics data the Information Service (IS) facility has been developed in the scope of the ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ)[2] project. The IS provides a high-performance scalable solution for information exchange in distributed environment. In the course of an ATLAS data taking session the IS handles about a hundred gigabytes of information which is being constantly updated with the update interval varying from a second to a few tens of seconds. IS provides access to any information item on request as well as distributing notification to all the information subscribers. In the latter case IS subscribers receive information within a few milliseconds after it was updated. IS can handle arbitrary types of information, including histograms produced by the HLT applications, and provides C++, Java and Python API. The Information Service is a unique source of information for the majority of the online monitoring analysis and GUI applications used to control and monitor the ATLAS experiment. Information Service provides streaming functionality allowing efficient replication of all or part of the managed information. This functionality is used to duplicate the subset of the ATLAS monitoring data to the CERN public network with a latency of a few milliseconds, allowing efficient real-time monitoring of the data taking from outside the protected ATLAS network. Each information item in IS has an associated URL which can be used to access that item online via HTTP protocol. This functionality is being used by many online monitoring applications which can run in a WEB browser, providing real-time monitoring information about the ATLAS experiment over the globe. This paper describes the design and implementation of the IS and presents performance results which have been taken in the ATLAS operational environment.

Skylab

NASA Image and Video Library

1972-01-01

This image depicts a layout of the Skylab workshop 1-G trainer crew quarters. At left, in the sleep compartment, astronauts slept strapped to the walls of cubicles and showered at the center. Next right was the waste management area where wastes were processed and disposed. Upper right was the wardroom where astronauts prepared their meals and foods were stored. In the experiment operation area, upper left, against the far wall, was the lower-body negative-pressure device (Skylab Experiment M092) and the Ergometer for the vectorcardiogram experiment (Skylab Experiment M063). The trainers and mockups were useful in the developmental phase, while engineers and astronauts were still working out optimum designs. They provided much data applicable to the manufacture of the flight articles.

Welding in Space: Lessons Learned for Future In Space Repair Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, C. K.; Nunes, A. C.; Zimmerman, F. R.

2005-01-01

Welds have been made in the harsh environment of space only twice in the history of manned space flight. The United States conducted the M5 12 experiment on Skylab and the former Soviet Union conducted an Extravehicular Activity. Both experiments demonstrated electron beam welding. A third attempt to demonstrate and advance space welding was made by the Marshall Space Flight Center in the 90's but the experiment was demanifested as a Space Shuttle payload. This presentation summarizes the lessons learned from these three historical experiences in the areas of safety, design, operations and implementation so that welding in space can become an option for in space repair applications.

The French Space Operation Act: Technical Regulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinchero, J. P.; Lazare, B.

2010-09-01

The French Space Operation Act(FSOA) stipulates that a prime objective of the National technical regulations is to protect people, property, public health and the environment. Compliance with these technical regulations is mandatory as of 10 December 2010 for space operations by French space operators and for space operations from French territory. The space safety requirements and regulations governing procedures are based on national and international best practices and experience. A critical design review of the space system and procedures shall be carried out by the applicant, in order to verify compliance with the Technical Regulations. An independent technical assessment of the operation is delegated to CNES. The principles applied when drafting technical regulations are as follows: requirements must as far as possible establish the rules according to the objective to be obtained, rather than how it is to be achieved; requirements must give preference to international standards recognised as being the state of the art; requirements must take previous experience into account. Technical regulations are divided into three sections covering common requirements for the launch, control and return of a space object. A dedicated section will cover specific rules to be applied at the Guiana Space Centre. The main topics addressed by the technical regulations are: operator safety management system; study of risks to people, property, public health and the Earth’s environment; impact study on the outer space environment: space debris generated by the operation; planetary protection.

Satellite-aided mobile communications limited operational test in the trucking industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, R. E.; Frey, R. L.; Lewis, J. R.

1980-01-01

An experiment with NASA's ATS-6 satellite, that demonstrates the practicality of satellite-aided land mobile communications is described. Satellite communications equipment for the experiment was designed so that it would be no more expensive, when mass produced, than conventional two-way mobile radio equipment. It embodied the operational features and convenience of present day mobile radios. Vehicle antennas 75 cm tall and 2 cm in diameter provided good commercial quality signals to and from trucks and jeeps. Operational applicability and usage data were gathered by installing the radio equipment in five long-haul tractor-trailer trucks and two Air Force search and rescue jeeps. Channel occupancy rates are reported. Air Force personnel found the satellite radio system extremely valuable in their search and rescue mission during maneuvers and actual rescue operations. Propagation data is subjectively analyzed and over 4 hours of random data is categorized and graded as to signal quality on a second by second basis. Trends in different topographic regions are reported. An overall communications reliability of 93% was observed despite low satellite elevation angles ranging from 9 to 24 degrees.

Taking things apart: ovario-hysterectomy--textbook knowledge and actual practice in veterinary surgery.

PubMed

Woodgate, Dawn

2006-06-01

Veterinary surgery provides an interesting context in which to address important questions about the links between formal 'book' learning and actual, personal experience of the phenomena in question, and to examine the processes through which these links are forged. Participant observation of surgical procedures suggests that surgeons initially learn about anatomy from books, pictures and demonstrations, and become skilled 'operators' through the application of enhancement and reduction procedures that have the effect of transforming the living body into something more closely resembling anatomical pictures of it. Some of these procedures can be seen as a set of formalized 'rules' for performing operations, and like most rules, they appear to decrease in importance as a surgeon gains experience. They may, however, regain importance when a practitioner meets with an anatomical variant that he or she has not previously encountered. Other practices appear to be less formalized, requiring creative, constructive use of visual aids or language practices outside formal textbook knowledge. The links between actual bodies (and operations) and textbook representations of them are thus formed within a community of 'operators'.

Investigation on sense of control parameters for joystick interface in remote operated container crane application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdullah, U. N. N.; Handroos, H.

2017-09-01

Introduction: This paper presents the study of sense of control parameters to improve the lack of direct motion feeling through remote operated container crane station (ROCCS) joystick interface. The investigations of the parameters in this study are important to develop the engineering parameters related to the sense of control goal in the next design process. Methodology: Structured interviews and observations were conducted to obtain the user experience data from thirteen remote container crane operators from two international terminals. Then, interview analysis, task analysis, activity analysis and time line analysis were conducted to compare and contrast the results from interviews and observations. Results: Four experience parameters were identified to support the sense of control goal in the later design improvement of the ROCC joystick interface. The significance of difficulties to control, unsynchronized movements, facilitate in control and decision making in unexpected situation as parameters to the sense of control goal were validated by' feedbacks from operators as well as analysis. Contribution: This study provides feedback directly from end users towards developing a sustainable control interface for ROCCS in specific and remote operated off-road vehicles in general.

Recent Niobium Developments for High Strength Steel Energy Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansto, Steven G.

Niobium-containing high strength steel materials have been developed for oil and gas pipelines, offshore platforms, nuclear plants, boilers and alternative energy applications. Recent research and the commercialization of alternative energy applications such as windtower structural supports and power transmission gear components provide enhanced performance. Through the application of these Nb-bearing steels in demanding energy-related applications, the designer and end user experience improved toughness at low temperature, excellent fatigue resistance and fracture toughness and excellent weldability. These enhancements provide structural engineers the opportunity to further improve the structural design and performance. For example, through the adoption of these Nb-containing structural materials, several design-manufacturing companies are initiating new windtower designs operating at higher energy efficiency, lower cost, and improved overall material design performance.

850-nm implanted and oxide VCSELs in multigigabit data communication application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Jin-Shan; Lin, Yung-Sen; Li, Chao-Fang A.; Lai, Horng-Ching; Wu, Chang-Cherng; Huang, Kai-Feng

2001-10-01

In this paper, we will present the results of the 850nm implanted and oxide-confined vertical cavity surface emitting lasers in multi-Gigabit application. In TrueLight, we have a lot of experience in manufacturing VCSEL with ion-implantation and wet-oxidation technologies for single device Gigabit data transmission application. The ion-implanted VCSEL is reliable with the Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) up to 108 hours at room temperature operation. For the gigabit Ethernet data communication, it provides a very promising solution in short haul application. In transmission experiment we demonstrated the devices could be modulated up to 2.5Gbps and 3.2Gbps data rate. For oxide-confined VCSEL devices, we use wet oxidation technology to approach the device processing and get very good result to achieve the mutli-gigabit data communication application in single device form. The VCSEL device with oxide aperture around 12um could be modulated up to 2.5Gbps and 3.2Gbps. A data of employing VCSEL in high data rate POF transmission is also presented.

Proposal for a United Nations Basic Space Technology Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balogh, Werner

Putting space technology and its applications to work for sustainable economic and social development is the primary objective of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications, launched in 1971. A specific goal for achieving this objective is to establish a sustainable national space capacity. The traditional line of thinking has supported a logical progression from building capacity in basic space science, to using space applications and finally - possibly - to establishing indigenous space technology capabilities. The experience in some countries suggests that such a strict line of progression does not necessarily hold true and that priority given to the establishment of early indigenous space technology capabilities may contribute to promoting the operational use of space applications in support of sustainable economic and social development. Based on these findings and on the experiences with the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI) as well as on a series of United Nations/International Academy of Astronautics Workshops on Small Satellites in the Service of Developing Countries, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is considering the launch of a dedicated United Nations Basic Space Technology Initiative (UNBSTI). The initiative would aim to contribute to capacity building in basic space technology and could include, among other relevant fields, activities related to the space and ground segments of small satellites and their applications. It would also provide an international framework for enhancing cooperation between all interested actors, facilitate the exchange of information on best practices, and contribute to standardization efforts. It is expected that these activities would advance the operational use of space technology and its applications in an increasing number of space-using countries and emerging space nations. The paper reports on these initial considerations and on the potential value-adding role the United Nations could play with such an initiative.

CCSDS telemetry systems experience at the Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carper, Richard D.; Stallings, William H., III

1990-01-01

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) designs, builds, manages, and operates science and applications spacecraft in near-earth orbit, and provides data capture, data processing, and flight control services for these spacecraft. In addition, GSFC has the responsibility of providing space-ground and ground-ground communications for near-earth orbiting spacecraft, including those of the manned spaceflight programs. The goal of reducing both the developmental and operating costs of the end-to-end information system has led the GSFC to support and participate in the standardization activities of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), including those for packet telemetry. The environment in which such systems function is described, and the GSFC experience with CCSDS packet telemetry in the context of the Gamma-Ray Observatory project is discussed.

Models for 31-Mode PVDF Energy Harvester for Wearable Applications

PubMed Central

Zhao, Jingjing; You, Zheng

2014-01-01

Currently, wearable electronics are increasingly widely used, leading to an increasing need of portable power supply. As a clean and renewable power source, piezoelectric energy harvester can transfer mechanical energy into electric energy directly, and the energy harvester based on polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) operating in 31-mode is appropriate to harvest energy from human motion. This paper established a series of theoretical models to predict the performance of 31-mode PVDF energy harvester. Among them, the energy storage one can predict the collected energy accurately during the operation of the harvester. Based on theoretical study and experiments investigation, two approaches to improve the energy harvesting performance have been found. Furthermore, experiment results demonstrate the high accuracies of the models, which are better than 95%. PMID:25114981

Centrifuge advances using HTS magnetic bearings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werfel, F. N.; Flögel-Delor, U.; Rothfeld, R.; Wippich, D.; Riedel, T.

2001-05-01

Passive magnetic bearings are of increasing technical interest. We performed experiments with centrifugal rotors to analyze gyroscopic forces in terms imbalance, rotor elasticity and damping. Centrifuge rotors need to be operated soft and stable without whirling the sediments. In order to evaluate optimal parameters critical and resonance behaviors are investigated. Eccentricities up 2 mm are safely passed by accelerating test wheels. In a simple model we describe the effect of passing critical rotational speeds. Measurements of bearing properties and wheel performance are presented. We have constructed a first prototype centrifuge designed with a HTS double bearing which operates a titanium rotor safely up to 30 000 rpm. A 15 W Stirling cooler serves cryogenics of the YBCO stators. From the experiments design guidelines for centrifugal applications with HTS bearings are given.

Recent technology products from Space Human Factors research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenkins, James P.

1991-01-01

The goals of the NASA Space Human Factors program and the research carried out concerning human factors are discussed with emphasis given to the development of human performance models, data, and tools. The major products from this program are described, which include the Laser Anthropometric Mapping System; a model of the human body for evaluating the kinematics and dynamics of human motion and strength in microgravity environment; an operational experience data base for verifying and validating the data repository of manned space flights; the Operational Experience Database Taxonomy; and a human-computer interaction laboratory whose products are the display softaware and requirements and the guideline documents and standards for applications on human-computer interaction. Special attention is given to the 'Convoltron', a prototype version of a signal processor for synthesizing the head-related transfer functions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gallarno, George; Rogers, James H; Maxwell, Don E

The high computational capability of graphics processing units (GPUs) is enabling and driving the scientific discovery process at large-scale. The world s second fastest supercomputer for open science, Titan, has more than 18,000 GPUs that computational scientists use to perform scientific simu- lations and data analysis. Understanding of GPU reliability characteristics, however, is still in its nascent stage since GPUs have only recently been deployed at large-scale. This paper presents a detailed study of GPU errors and their impact on system operations and applications, describing experiences with the 18,688 GPUs on the Titan supercom- puter as well as lessons learnedmore » in the process of efficient operation of GPUs at scale. These experiences are helpful to HPC sites which already have large-scale GPU clusters or plan to deploy GPUs in the future.« less

Creating Impact with Operations Research in Health: Making Room for Practice in Academia

PubMed Central

Brandeau, Margaret L.

2015-01-01

Operations research (OR)-based analyses have the potential to improve decision making for many important, real-world health care problems. However, junior scholars often avoid working on practical applications in health because promotion and tenure processes tend to value theoretical studies more highly than applied studies. This paper discusses the author's experiences in using OR to inform and influence decisions in health and provides a blueprint for junior researchers who wish to find success by taking a similar path. This involves selecting good problems to study, forming productive collaborations with domain experts, developing appropriate models, identifying the most salient results from an analysis, and effectively disseminating findings to decision makers. The paper then suggests how journals, funding agencies, and senior academics can encourage such work by taking a broader and more informed view of the potential role and contributions of OR to solving health care problems. Making room in academia for the application of OR in health follows in the tradition begun by the founders of operations research: to work on important real-world problems where operations research can contribute to better decision making. PMID:26003321

Development, deployment and operations of ATLAS databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaniachine, A. V.; Schmitt, J. G. v. d.

2008-07-01

In preparation for ATLAS data taking, a coordinated shift from development towards operations has occurred in ATLAS database activities. In addition to development and commissioning activities in databases, ATLAS is active in the development and deployment (in collaboration with the WLCG 3D project) of the tools that allow the worldwide distribution and installation of databases and related datasets, as well as the actual operation of this system on ATLAS multi-grid infrastructure. We describe development and commissioning of major ATLAS database applications for online and offline. We present the first scalability test results and ramp-up schedule over the initial LHC years of operations towards the nominal year of ATLAS running, when the database storage volumes are expected to reach 6.1 TB for the Tag DB and 1.0 TB for the Conditions DB. ATLAS database applications require robust operational infrastructure for data replication between online and offline at Tier-0, and for the distribution of the offline data to Tier-1 and Tier-2 computing centers. We describe ATLAS experience with Oracle Streams and other technologies for coordinated replication of databases in the framework of the WLCG 3D services.

Characterization of RPC operation with new environmental friendly mixtures for LHC application and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guida, R.; Capeans, M.; Mandelli, B.

2016-07-01

The large muon trigger systems based on Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) at the LHC experiments are currently operated with R134a based mixture. Unfortunately R134a is considered a greenhouse gas with high impact on the enviroment and therefore will be subject to regulations aiming in strongly reducing the available quantity on the market. The immediat effects might be instability on the price and incertitude in the product availability. Alternative gases (HFO-1234yf and HFO-1234ze) have been already identified by industry for specific applications as replacement of R134a. Moreover, HFCs similar to the R134a but with lower global warming potential (GWP) are already available (HFC-245fa, HFC-32, HFC-152a). The present contribution describes the results obtained with RPCs operated with new enviromemtal friendly gases. A particular attention has been addressed to the possibility of maintening the current operation conditions (i.e. currently used applied voltage and front-end electronics) in order to be able to use a new mixture for RPC systems even where the common infrastructure (i.e. high voltage and detector components) cannot be replaced for operation at higher applied voltages.

Optical application of electrowetting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Mei; Peng, Runling; Chen, Jiabi

2017-02-01

Since electrowetting has been proposed, researchers began to apply eletrowetting into different fields, such as lab-on-chip systems, display technologies, printings and optics etc. This paper mainly introduced structure, theory and application of optical devices based on electrowetting. The optical devices include liquid optical prism, liquid optical lens and display. The paper introduced their principle, specific application and many advantages in optical applications. When they are applied to optical system, production and experiment, they can reduce mechanical moving parts, simplify the structure, operate easily, decrease manufacturing cost and energy consumption, improve working efficiency, and so on. We learn and research them in detail that will contribute to research and develop optical eletrowetting in the future.

Tantalum-182 Therapy of Vulva Carcinomas. Physical Data, Dosimetry Applications and Techniques, and Results (in German)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jakob, A.

1963-04-01

Experiences with Ta-182 therapy of vulva carcinoma are described. A description is given of the spectrum, the half-value-layer of Ta 182 in water and lead, the dose distribution in tissue, dosimetry, technique of application, and protection of the attending personnel. The results are discussed which were obtained so far on 31 patients since 1955. Radio-tantalum is particularly indicated on old patients or those with heart and circulation troubles, on whom an operation cannot be risked. The strain on the patient is small; the operation is quick, simple and without danger; rest in bed is not always required; no mutilation occurs;more » the costs are low; and the radiation burden for therapist and nursing personnel is small.« less

Strategy Plan A Methodology to Predict the Uniformity of Double-Shell Tank Waste Slurries Based on Mixing Pump Operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J.A. Bamberger; L.M. Liljegren; P.S. Lowery

This document presents an analysis of the mechanisms influencing mixing within double-shell slurry tanks. A research program to characterize mixing of slurries within tanks has been proposed. The research program presents a combined experimental and computational approach to produce correlations describing the tank slurry concentration profile (and therefore uniformity) as a function of mixer pump operating conditions. The TEMPEST computer code was used to simulate both a full-scale (prototype) and scaled (model) double-shell waste tank to predict flow patterns resulting from a stationary jet centered in the tank. The simulation results were used to evaluate flow patterns in the tankmore » and to determine whether flow patterns are similar between the full-scale prototype and an existing 1/12-scale model tank. The flow patterns were sufficiently similar to recommend conducting scoping experiments at 1/12-scale. Also, TEMPEST modeled velocity profiles of the near-floor jet were compared to experimental measurements of the near-floor jet with good agreement. Reported values of physical properties of double-shell tank slurries were analyzed to evaluate the range of properties appropriate for conducting scaled experiments. One-twelfth scale scoping experiments are recommended to confirm the prioritization of the dimensionless groups (gravitational settling, Froude, and Reynolds numbers) that affect slurry suspension in the tank. Two of the proposed 1/12-scale test conditions were modeled using the TEMPEST computer code to observe the anticipated flow fields. This information will be used to guide selection of sampling probe locations. Additional computer modeling is being conducted to model a particulate laden, rotating jet centered in the tank. The results of this modeling effort will be compared to the scaled experimental data to quantify the agreement between the code and the 1/12-scale experiment. The scoping experiment results will guide selection of parameters to be varied in the follow-on experiments. Data from the follow-on experiments will be used to develop correlations to describe slurry concentration profile as a function of mixing pump operating conditions. This data will also be used to further evaluate the computer model applications. If the agreement between the experimental data and the code predictions is good, the computer code will be recommended for use to predict slurry uniformity in the tanks under various operating conditions. If the agreement between the code predictions and experimental results is not good, the experimental data correlations will be used to predict slurry uniformity in the tanks within the range of correlation applicability.« less

Experience of creating a multifunctional safety system at the coal mining enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reshetnikov, V. V.; Davkaev, K. S.; Korolkov, M. V.; Lyakhovets, M. V.

2018-05-01

The principles of creating multifunctional safety systems (MFSS) based on mathematical models with Markov properties are considered. The applicability of such models for the analysis of the safety of the created systems and their effectiveness is substantiated. The method of this analysis and the results of its testing are discussed. The variant of IFSB implementation in the conditions of the operating coal-mining enterprise is given. The functional scheme, data scheme and operating modes of the MFSS are given. The automated workplace of the industrial safety controller is described.

Experimenting with Sensor Webs Using Earth Observing 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandl, Dan

2004-01-01

The New Millennium Program (NMP) Earth Observing 1 ( EO-1) satellite was launched November 21, 2000 as a one year technology validation mission. After an almost flawless first year of operations, EO-1 continued to operate in a test bed d e to validate additional technologies and concepts that will be applicable to future sensor webs. A sensor web is a group of sensors, whether space-based, ground-based or air plane-based which act in a collaborative autonomous manner to produce more value than would otherwise result from the individual observations.

OECD/NEA study on the economics of the long-term operation of nuclear power plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lokhov, A.; Cameron, R.

2012-07-01

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) established the Ad hoc expert group on the Economics of Long-term Operation (LTO) of Nuclear Power Plants. The primary aim of this group is to collect and analyse technical and economic data on the upgrade and lifetime extension experience in OECD countries, and to assess the likely applications for future extensions. This paper describes the key elements of the methodology of economic assessment of LTO and initial findings for selected NEA member countries. (authors)

Highly angular dependent high-contrast grating mirror and its application for transverse-mode control of VCSELs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inoue, Shunya; Kashino, Junichi; Matsutani, Akihiro; Ohtsuki, Hideo; Miyashita, Takahiro; Koyama, Fumio

2014-09-01

We report on the design and fabrication of a highly angular dependent high contrast grating (HCG) mirror. The modeling and experiment on amorphous-Si/SiO2 HCG clearly show the large angular dependence of reflectivity, which enables single transverse-mode operations of large-area VCSELs. We fabricate 980 nm VCSELs with the angular dependent HCG functioning as a spatial frequency filter. We obtained the single transverse mode operation of the fabricated device in contrast to conventional VCSELs with semiconductor multilayer mirrors.

Diatomite filtration of water for injection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Olmsted, B.C. Jr.; Bell, G.R.

1966-01-01

A discussion is presented of the capabilities, problems, and answers, in the performance of diatomite filters. The discussion includes a description of diatomite filtration, new developments, design criteria, and some case histories. Diatomite filters, when properly designed and installed, and when properly applied, can provide effective clarification of waters for injection at low capital and operating costs. Design, installation, and proper application, effectiveness, and capital and operating costs can be placed in the proper perspective in the light of general experience and recent pilot plant tests in the southern California area. (30 refs.)

Numerical solution of the stochastic parabolic equation with the dependent operator coefficient

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ashyralyev, Allaberen; Department of Mathematics, ITTU, Ashgabat; Okur, Ulker

2015-09-18

In the present paper, a single step implicit difference scheme for the numerical solution of the stochastic parabolic equation with the dependent operator coefficient is presented. Theorem on convergence estimates for the solution of this difference scheme is established. In applications, this abstract result permits us to obtain the convergence estimates for the solution of difference schemes for the numerical solution of initial boundary value problems for parabolic equations. The theoretical statements for the solution of this difference scheme are supported by the results of numerical experiments.

Design, Development and Operational Experience of Demonstration Facility for Cs-137 Source Pencil Production at Trombay - 13283

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patil, S.B.; Srivastava, P.; Mishra, S.K.

2013-07-01

Radioactive waste management is a vital aspect of any nuclear program. The commercial feasibility of the nuclear program largely depends on the efficiency of the waste management techniques. One of such techniques is the separation of high yield radio-nuclides from the waste and making it suitable for medical and industrial applications. This will give societal benefit in addition to revenue generation. Co-60, the isotope presently being used for medical applications, needs frequent replacement because of its short half life. Cs-137, the major constituent of the nuclear waste, is a suitable substitute for Co-60 as a radioactive source because of itsmore » longer half life (28 years). Indian nuclear waste management program has given special emphasis on utilization of Cs-137 for such applications. In view of this a demonstration facility has been designed for vitrification of Cs-137 in borosilicate glass, cast in stainless steel pencils, to be used as source pencils of 300 Ci strength for blood irradiation. An induction heated metallic melter of suitable capacity has been custom designed for the application and employed for the Cs-137 pencil fabrication facility. This article describes various systems, design features, experiments and resulting modifications, observations and remote handling features necessary for the actual operation of such facility. The layout of the facility has been planned in such a way that the same can be adopted in a hot cell for commercial production of source pencils. (authors)« less

Acceleration of atmospheric Cherenkov telescope signal processing to real-time speed with the Auto-Pipe design system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyson, Eric J.; Buckley, James; Franklin, Mark A.; Chamberlain, Roger D.

2008-10-01

The imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique for high-energy gamma-ray astronomy is emerging as an important new technique for studying the high energy universe. Current experiments have data rates of ≈20TB/year and duty cycles of about 10%. In the future, more sensitive experiments may produce up to 1000 TB/year. The data analysis task for these experiments requires keeping up with this data rate in close to real-time. Such data analysis is a classic example of a streaming application with very high performance requirements. This class of application often benefits greatly from the use of non-traditional approaches for computation including using special purpose hardware (FPGAs and ASICs), or sophisticated parallel processing techniques. However, designing, debugging, and deploying to these architectures is difficult and thus they are not widely used by the astrophysics community. This paper presents the Auto-Pipe design toolset that has been developed to address many of the difficulties in taking advantage of complex streaming computer architectures for such applications. Auto-Pipe incorporates a high-level coordination language, functional and performance simulation tools, and the ability to deploy applications to sophisticated architectures. Using the Auto-Pipe toolset, we have implemented the front-end portion of an imaging Cherenkov data analysis application, suitable for real-time or offline analysis. The application operates on data from the VERITAS experiment, and shows how Auto-Pipe can greatly ease performance optimization and application deployment of a wide variety of platforms. We demonstrate a performance improvement over a traditional software approach of 32x using an FPGA solution and 3.6x using a multiprocessor based solution.

Trajectory-based morphological operators: a model for efficient image processing.

PubMed

Jimeno-Morenilla, Antonio; Pujol, Francisco A; Molina-Carmona, Rafael; Sánchez-Romero, José L; Pujol, Mar

2014-01-01

Mathematical morphology has been an area of intensive research over the last few years. Although many remarkable advances have been achieved throughout these years, there is still a great interest in accelerating morphological operations in order for them to be implemented in real-time systems. In this work, we present a new model for computing mathematical morphology operations, the so-called morphological trajectory model (MTM), in which a morphological filter will be divided into a sequence of basic operations. Then, a trajectory-based morphological operation (such as dilation, and erosion) is defined as the set of points resulting from the ordered application of the instant basic operations. The MTM approach allows working with different structuring elements, such as disks, and from the experiments, it can be extracted that our method is independent of the structuring element size and can be easily applied to industrial systems and high-resolution images.

EOS: A project to investigate the design and construction of real-time distributed embedded operating systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, R. H.; Essick, R. B.; Grass, J.; Johnston, G.; Kenny, K.; Russo, V.

1986-01-01

The EOS project is investigating the design and construction of a family of real-time distributed embedded operating systems for reliable, distributed aerospace applications. Using the real-time programming techniques developed in co-operation with NASA in earlier research, the project staff is building a kernel for a multiple processor networked system. The first six months of the grant included a study of scheduling in an object-oriented system, the design philosophy of the kernel, and the architectural overview of the operating system. In this report, the operating system and kernel concepts are described. An environment for the experiments has been built and several of the key concepts of the system have been prototyped. The kernel and operating system is intended to support future experimental studies in multiprocessing, load-balancing, routing, software fault-tolerance, distributed data base design, and real-time processing.

Williams works with LOCAD-PTS Experiment Hardware in the US Lab during Expedition 15

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-05-05

ISS015-E-06773 (5 May 2007) --- Astronaut Sunita L. Williams, Expedition 15 flight engineer, sets up a video camera inside a flame resistant covering to film a chip during Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) Swab Operations in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report for Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts for June, July, and August 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during June, July, and August at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental for (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 10. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, February-March 1983

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This report presents the data accumulated during February and March 1983 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report for Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for November 1982. Volume 7

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The data accumulated during November 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma are presented. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 9. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for January 1983

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This report presents the data accumulated during January 1983 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 8. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for December 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during December 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

Intermediate photovoltaic system application experiment operational performance report. Volume 6. For Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, OK for October 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

Presented are the data accumulated during October 1982 at the intermediate photovoltaic project at Oklahoma Center for Science and Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Generated energy and environmental (weather) data are presented graphically. Explanations of irregularities not attributable to weather are provided.

48 CFR 970.2204-1-1 - Administrative controls and criteria for application of the Davis-Bacon Act in operational or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... designed for use in a succession of experimental programs over a longer period of time. Examples of loop...) Experimental development of equipment, processes, or devices, including assembly, fitting, installation... for the purpose of conducting a test or experiment. The design may be only conceptual in character...

48 CFR 970.2204-1-1 - Administrative controls and criteria for application of the Davis-Bacon Act in operational or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... designed for use in a succession of experimental programs over a longer period of time. Examples of loop...) Experimental development of equipment, processes, or devices, including assembly, fitting, installation... for the purpose of conducting a test or experiment. The design may be only conceptual in character...

48 CFR 970.2204-1-1 - Administrative controls and criteria for application of the Davis-Bacon Act in operational or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... designed for use in a succession of experimental programs over a longer period of time. Examples of loop...) Experimental development of equipment, processes, or devices, including assembly, fitting, installation... for the purpose of conducting a test or experiment. The design may be only conceptual in character...

48 CFR 970.2204-1-1 - Administrative controls and criteria for application of the Davis-Bacon Act in operational or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... designed for use in a succession of experimental programs over a longer period of time. Examples of loop...) Experimental development of equipment, processes, or devices, including assembly, fitting, installation... for the purpose of conducting a test or experiment. The design may be only conceptual in character...

48 CFR 970.2204-1-1 - Administrative controls and criteria for application of the Davis-Bacon Act in operational or...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... designed for use in a succession of experimental programs over a longer period of time. Examples of loop...) Experimental development of equipment, processes, or devices, including assembly, fitting, installation... for the purpose of conducting a test or experiment. The design may be only conceptual in character...

Integration of Weather Data into Airspace and Traffic Operations Simulation (ATOS) for Trajectory- Based Operations Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters, Mark; Boisvert, Ben; Escala, Diego

2009-01-01

Explicit integration of aviation weather forecasts with the National Airspace System (NAS) structure is needed to improve the development and execution of operationally effective weather impact mitigation plans and has become increasingly important due to NAS congestion and associated increases in delay. This article considers several contemporary weather-air traffic management (ATM) integration applications: the use of probabilistic forecasts of visibility at San Francisco, the Route Availability Planning Tool to facilitate departures from the New York airports during thunderstorms, the estimation of en route capacity in convective weather, and the application of mixed-integer optimization techniques to air traffic management when the en route and terminal capacities are varying with time because of convective weather impacts. Our operational experience at San Francisco and New York coupled with very promising initial results of traffic flow optimizations suggests that weather-ATM integrated systems warrant significant research and development investment. However, they will need to be refined through rapid prototyping at facilities with supportive operational users We have discussed key elements of an emerging aviation weather research area: the explicit integration of aviation weather forecasts with NAS structure to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of weather impact mitigation plans. Our insights are based on operational experiences with Lincoln Laboratory-developed integrated weather sensing and processing systems, and derivative early prototypes of explicit ATM decision support tools such as the RAPT in New York City. The technical components of this effort involve improving meteorological forecast skill, tailoring the forecast outputs to the problem of estimating airspace impacts, developing models to quantify airspace impacts, and prototyping automated tools that assist in the development of objective broad-area ATM strategies, given probabilistic weather forecasts. Lincoln Laboratory studies and prototype demonstrations in this area are helping to define the weather-assimilated decision-making system that is envisioned as a key capability for the multi-agency Next Generation Air Transportation System [1]. The Laboratory's work in this area has involved continuing, operations-based evolution of both weather forecasts and models for weather impacts on the NAS. Our experience has been that the development of usable ATM technologies that address weather impacts must proceed via rapid prototyping at facilities whose users are highly motivated to participate in system evolution.

A quantum Fredkin gate

PubMed Central

Patel, Raj B.; Ho, Joseph; Ferreyrol, Franck; Ralph, Timothy C.; Pryde, Geoff J.

2016-01-01

Minimizing the resources required to build logic gates into useful processing circuits is key to realizing quantum computers. Although the salient features of a quantum computer have been shown in proof-of-principle experiments, difficulties in scaling quantum systems have made more complex operations intractable. This is exemplified in the classical Fredkin (controlled-SWAP) gate for which, despite theoretical proposals, no quantum analog has been realized. By adding control to the SWAP unitary, we use photonic qubit logic to demonstrate the first quantum Fredkin gate, which promises many applications in quantum information and measurement. We implement example algorithms and generate the highest-fidelity three-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states to date. The technique we use allows one to add a control operation to a black-box unitary, something that is impossible in the standard circuit model. Our experiment represents the first use of this technique to control a two-qubit operation and paves the way for larger controlled circuits to be realized efficiently. PMID:27051868

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue? Reviewing the evidence on commissioning and health services.

PubMed

Robinson, Suzanne; Dickinson, Helen; Durrington, Learne

2016-01-01

The concept of commissioning is starting to gain traction in the Australian health system. Primary Care Networks began operations in July 2015 with a remit around commissioning health services. Despite the centrality of this concept, we know relatively little about commissioning in Australia. Other systems have experimented with it for some time, and this paper reviews the evidence and lessons inherent within the international literature. The study defines commissioning, and explores experiences of others who have adopted commissioning approaches and the evidence concerning the outcomes of these experiments. Commissioning is a difficult topic in many senses and its application to a complex area such as health reform can make it even more challenging. Ultimately, this evidence suggests that commissioning is more than simply a technical or operational process, but one that is value-based and relational. This is not to downplay the technical aspects, which in many jurisdictions have resulted in explicit and evidenced-based approaches to planning and priority setting. However, if new commissioning organisations, such as Primary Health Networks, are to have an impact, they need to balance the operational and relational elements of commissioning.

Adaptive servo control for umbilical mating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zia, Omar

1988-01-01

Robotic applications at Kennedy Space Center are unique and in many cases require the fime positioning of heavy loads in dynamic environments. Performing such operations is beyond the capabilities of an off-the-shelf industrial robot. Therefore Robotics Applications Development Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center has put together an integrated system that coordinates state of the art robotic system providing an excellent easy to use testbed for NASA sensor integration experiments. This paper reviews the ways of improving the dynamic response of the robot operating under force feedback with varying dynamic internal perturbations in order to provide continuous stable operations under variable load conditions. The goal is to improve the stability of the system with force feedback using the adaptive control feature of existing system over a wide range of random motions. The effect of load variations on the dynamics and the transfer function (order or values of the parameters) of the system has been investigated, more accurate models of the system have been determined and analyzed.

Wireless data transmission for high energy physics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dittmeier, Sebastian; Brenner, Richard; Dancila, Dragos; Dehos, Cedric; De Lurgio, Patrick; Djurcic, Zelimir; Drake, Gary; Gonzalez Gimenez, Jose Luis; Gustafsson, Leif; Kim, Do-Won; Locci, Elizabeth; Pfeiffer, Ullrich; Röhrich, Dieter; Rydberg, Anders; Schöning, André; Siligaris, Alexandre; Soltveit, Hans Kristian; Ullaland, Kjetil; Vincent, Pierre; Rodriguez Vazquez, Pedro; Wiedner, Dirk; Yang, Shiming

2017-08-01

Silicon tracking detectors operated at high luminosity collider experiments pose a challenge for current and future readout systems regarding bandwidth, radiation, space and power constraints. With the latest developments in wireless communications, wireless readout systems might be an attractive alternative to commonly used wired optical and copper based readout architectures. The WADAPT group (Wireless Allowing Data and Power Transmission) has been formed to study the feasibility of wireless data transmission for future tracking detectors. These proceedings cover current developments focused on communication in the 60 GHz band. This frequency band offers a high bandwidth, a small form factor and an already mature technology. Motivation for wireless data transmission for high energy physics application and the developments towards a demonstrator prototype are summarized. Feasibility studies concerning the construction and operation of a wireless transceiver system have been performed. Data transmission tests with a transceiver prototype operating at even higher frequencies in the 240 GHz band are described. Data transmission at rates up to 10 Gb/s have been obtained successfully using binary phase shift keying.

TERSSE. Definition of the total earth resources system for the shuttle era. Volume 10: (TOSS) TERSSE operational system study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stow, W. K.; Cheeseman, C.; Dallam, W.; Dietrich, D.; Dorfman, G.; Fleming, R.; Fries, R.; Guard, W.; Jackson, F.; Jankowski, H.

1975-01-01

Economic benefits studies regarding the application of remote sensing to resource management and the Total Earth Resources for the Shuttle Era (TERSSE) study to outline the structure and development of future systems are used, along with experience from LANDSAT and LACIE, to define the system performance and economics of an operational Earth Resources system. The system is to be based on current (LANDSAT follow-on) technology and its application to high priority resource management missions, such as global crop inventory. The TERSSE Operational System Study (TOSS) investigated system-level design alternatives using economic performance as the evaluation criterion. As such, the TOSS effort represented a significant step forward in the systems engineering and economic analysis of Earth Resources programs. By parametrically relating engineering design parameters, such as sensor performance details, to the economic benefit mechanisms a new level of confidence in the conclusions concerning the implementation of such systems can be reached.

Integral approaches to wastewater treatment plant upgrading for odor prevention: Activated Sludge and Oxidized Ammonium Recycling.

PubMed

Estrada, José M; Kraakman, N J R; Lebrero, R; Muñoz, R

2015-11-01

Traditional physical/chemical end-of-the-pipe technologies for odor abatement are relatively expensive and present high environmental impacts. On the other hand, biotechnologies have recently emerged as cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives but are still limited by their investment costs and land requirements. A more desirable approach to odor control is the prevention of odorant formation before being released to the atmosphere, but limited information is available beyond good design and operational practices of the wastewater treatment process. The present paper reviews two widely applicable and economic alternatives for odor control, Activated Sludge Recycling (ASR) and Oxidized Ammonium Recycling (OAR), by discussing their fundamentals, key operating parameters and experience from the available pilot and field studies. Both technologies present high application potential using readily available plant by-products with a minimum plant upgrading, and low investment and operating costs, contributing to the sustainability and economic efficiency of odor control at wastewater treatment facilities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of harsh environment operation of flexible ferroelectric memory integrated with PZT and silicon fabric

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghoneim, M. T.; Hussain, M. M.

2015-08-01

Flexible memory can enable industrial, automobile, space, and smart grid centered harsh/extreme environment focused electronics application(s) for enhanced operation, safety, and monitoring where bent or complex shaped infrastructures are common and state-of-the-art rigid electronics cannot be deployed. Therefore, we report on the physical-mechanical-electrical characteristics of a flexible ferroelectric memory based on lead zirconium titanate as a key memory material and flexible version of bulk mono-crystalline silicon (100). The experimented devices show a bending radius down to 1.25 cm corresponding to 0.16% nominal strain (high pressure of ˜260 MPa), and full functionality up to 225 °C high temperature in ambient gas composition (21% oxygen and 55% relative humidity). The devices showed unaltered data retention and fatigue properties under harsh conditions, still the reduced memory window (20% difference between switching and non-switching currents at 225 °C) requires sensitive sense circuitry for proper functionality and is the limiting factor preventing operation at higher temperatures.

Architectures Toward Reusable Science Data Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, J. F.

2014-12-01

Science Data Systems (SDS) comprise an important class of data processing systems that support product generation from remote sensors and in-situ observations. These systems enable research into new science data products, replication of experiments and verification of results. NASA has been building ground systems for satellite data processing since the first Earth observing satellites launched and is continuing development of systems to support NASA science research, NOAA's weather satellites and USGS's Earth observing satellite operations. The basic data processing workflows and scenarios continue to be valid for remote sensor observations research as well as for the complex multi-instrument operational satellite data systems being built today. System functions such as ingest, product generation and distribution need to be configured and performed in a consistent and repeatable way with an emphasis on scalability. This paper will examine the key architectural elements of several NASA satellite data processing systems currently in operation and under development that make them suitable for scaling and reuse. Examples of architectural elements that have become attractive include virtual machine environments, standard data product formats, metadata content and file naming, workflow and job management frameworks, data acquisition, search, and distribution protocols. By highlighting key elements and implementation experience the goal is to recognize architectures that will outlast their original application and be readily adaptable for new applications. Concepts and principles are explored that lead to sound guidance for SDS developers and strategists.

Architectures Toward Reusable Science Data Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moses, John

2015-01-01

Science Data Systems (SDS) comprise an important class of data processing systems that support product generation from remote sensors and in-situ observations. These systems enable research into new science data products, replication of experiments and verification of results. NASA has been building systems for satellite data processing since the first Earth observing satellites launched and is continuing development of systems to support NASA science research and NOAAs Earth observing satellite operations. The basic data processing workflows and scenarios continue to be valid for remote sensor observations research as well as for the complex multi-instrument operational satellite data systems being built today. System functions such as ingest, product generation and distribution need to be configured and performed in a consistent and repeatable way with an emphasis on scalability. This paper will examine the key architectural elements of several NASA satellite data processing systems currently in operation and under development that make them suitable for scaling and reuse. Examples of architectural elements that have become attractive include virtual machine environments, standard data product formats, metadata content and file naming, workflow and job management frameworks, data acquisition, search, and distribution protocols. By highlighting key elements and implementation experience we expect to find architectures that will outlast their original application and be readily adaptable for new applications. Concepts and principles are explored that lead to sound guidance for SDS developers and strategists.

Design and Testing of an Unlimited Field-of-regard Synthetic Vision Head-worn Display for Commercial Aircraft Surface Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Bailey, Randall E.; Norman, Robert M.

2007-01-01

Experiments and flight tests have shown that a Head-Up Display (HUD) and a head-down, electronic moving map (EMM) can be enhanced with Synthetic Vision for airport surface operations. While great success in ground operations was demonstrated with a HUD, the research noted that two major HUD limitations during ground operations were their monochrome form and limited, fixed field of regard. A potential solution to these limitations found with HUDs may be emerging Head Worn Displays (HWDs). HWDs are small, lightweight full color display devices that may be worn without significant encumbrance to the user. By coupling the HWD with a head tracker, unlimited field-of-regard may be realized for commercial aviation applications. In the proposed paper, the results of two ground simulation experiments conducted at NASA Langley are summarized. The experiments evaluated the efficacy of head-worn display applications of Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision technology to enhance transport aircraft surface operations. The two studies tested a combined six display concepts: (1) paper charts with existing cockpit displays, (2) baseline consisting of existing cockpit displays including a Class III electronic flight bag display of the airport surface; (3) an advanced baseline that also included displayed traffic and routing information, (4) a modified version of a HUD and EMM display demonstrated in previous research; (5) an unlimited field-of-regard, full color, head-tracked HWD with a conformal 3-D synthetic vision surface view; and (6) a fully integrated HWD concept. The fully integrated HWD concept is a head-tracked, color, unlimited field-of-regard concept that provides a 3-D conformal synthetic view of the airport surface integrated with advanced taxi route clearance, taxi precision guidance, and data-link capability. The results of the experiments showed that the fully integrated HWD provided greater path performance compared to using paper charts alone. Further, when comparing the HWD with the HUD concept, there were no differences in path performance. In addition, the HWD and HUD concepts were rated via paired-comparisons the same in terms of situational awareness and workload. However, there were over twice as many taxi incursion events with the HUD than the HWD.

The Transition from Spacecraft Development Ot Flight Operation: Human Factor Considerations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basilio, Ralph R.

2000-01-01

In the field of aeronautics and astronautics, a paradigm shift has been witnessed by those in academia, research and development, and private industry. Long development life cycles and the budgets to support such programs and projects has given way to aggressive task schedules and leaner resources to draw from all the while challenging assigned individuals to create and produce improved products of processes. however, this "faster, better, cheaper" concept cannot merely be applied to the design, development, and test of complex systems such as earth-orbiting of interplanetary robotic spacecraft. Full advantage is not possible without due consideration and application to mission operations planning and flight operations, Equally as important as the flight system, the mission operations system consisting of qualified personnel, ground hardware and software tools, and verified and validated operational processes, should also be regarded as a complex system requiring personnel to draw upon formal education, training, related experiences, and heuristic reasoning in engineering an effective and efficient system. Unquestionably, qualified personnel are the most important elements of a mission operations system. This paper examines the experiences of the Deep Space I Project, the first in a series of new technology in-flight validation missions sponsored by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), specifically, in developing a subsystems analysis and technology validation team comprised of former spacecraft development personnel. Human factor considerations are investigated from initial concept/vision formulation; through operational process development; personnel test and training; to initial uplink product development and test support. Emphasis has been placed on challenges and applied or recommended solutions, so as to provide opportunities for future programs and projects to address and disposition potential issues and concerns as early as possible to reap the benefits associated with learning from other's past experiences.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Finley, V.L.; Wieczorek, M.A.

This report gives the results of the environmental activities and monitoring programs at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) for CY94. The report is prepared to provide the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and nonradioactive pollutants, if any, added to the environment as a result of PPPL operations, as well as environmental initiatives, assessments, and programs that were undertaken in 1994. The objective of the Annual Site Environmental Report is to document evidence that PPPL`s environmental protection programs adequately protect the environment and the public health. The Princeton Plasma Physicsmore » Laboratory has engaged in fusion energy research since 195 1. The long-range goal of the US Magnetic Fusion Energy Research Program is to develop and demonstrate the practical application of fusion power as an alternate energy source. In 1994, PPPL had one of its two large tokamak devices in operation-the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification or PBX-M completed its modifications and upgrades and resumed operation in November 1991 and operated periodically during 1992 and 1993; it did not operate in 1994 for funding reasons. In December 1993, TFTR began conducting the deuterium-tritium (D-T) experiments and set new records by producing over ten @on watts of energy in 1994. The engineering design phase of the Tokamak Physics Experiment (T?X), which replaced the cancelled Burning Plasma Experiment in 1992 as PPPL`s next machine, began in 1993 with the planned start up set for the year 2001. In December 1994, the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the TFTR Shutdown and Removal (S&R) and TPX was submitted to the regulatory agencies, and a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) was issued by DOE for these projects.« less

Energy-efficient sensing in wireless sensor networks using compressed sensing.

PubMed

Razzaque, Mohammad Abdur; Dobson, Simon

2014-02-12

Sensing of the application environment is the main purpose of a wireless sensor network. Most existing energy management strategies and compression techniques assume that the sensing operation consumes significantly less energy than radio transmission and reception. This assumption does not hold in a number of practical applications. Sensing energy consumption in these applications may be comparable to, or even greater than, that of the radio. In this work, we support this claim by a quantitative analysis of the main operational energy costs of popular sensors, radios and sensor motes. In light of the importance of sensing level energy costs, especially for power hungry sensors, we consider compressed sensing and distributed compressed sensing as potential approaches to provide energy efficient sensing in wireless sensor networks. Numerical experiments investigating the effectiveness of compressed sensing and distributed compressed sensing using real datasets show their potential for efficient utilization of sensing and overall energy costs in wireless sensor networks. It is shown that, for some applications, compressed sensing and distributed compressed sensing can provide greater energy efficiency than transform coding and model-based adaptive sensing in wireless sensor networks.

Optoelectronics technologies for Virtual Reality systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piszczek, Marek; Maciejewski, Marcin; Pomianek, Mateusz; Szustakowski, Mieczysław

2017-08-01

Solutions in the field of virtual reality are very strongly associated with optoelectronic technologies. This applies to both process design and operation of VR applications. Technologies such as 360 cameras and 3D scanners significantly improve the design work. What is more, HMD displays with high field of view or optoelectronic Motion Capture systems and 3D cameras guarantee an extraordinary experience in immersive VR applications. This article reviews selected technologies from the perspective of their use in a broadly defined process of creating and implementing solutions for virtual reality. There is also the ability to create, modify and adapt new approaches that show team own work (SteamVR tracker). Most of the introduced examples are effectively used by authors to create different VR applications. The use of optoelectronic technology in virtual reality is presented in terms of design and operation of the system as well as referring to specific applications. Designers and users of VR systems should take a close look on new optoelectronics solutions, as they can significantly contribute to increased work efficiency and offer completely new opportunities for virtual world reception.

An expert system to advise astronauts during experiments: The protocol manager module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haymann-Haber, Guido; Colombano, Silvano P.; Groleau, Nicolas; Rosenthal, Don; Szolovits, Peter; Young, Laurence R.

1990-01-01

Perhaps the scarcest resource for manned flight experiments - on Spacelab or on the Space Station Freedom - will continue to be crew time. To maximize the efficiency of the crew and to make use of their abilities to work as scientist collaborators as well as equipment operators, normally requires more training in a wide variety of disciplines than is practical. The successful application of on-board expert systems, as envisioned by the Principal Investigator in a Box program, should alleviate the training bottleneck and provide the astronaut with the guidance and coaching needed to permit him or her to operate an experiment according to the desires and knowledge of the PI, despite changes in conditions. The Protocol Manager module of the system is discussed. The Protocol Manager receives experiment data that has been summarized and categorized by the other modules. The Protocol Manager acts on the data in real-time, by employing expert system techniques. Its recommendations are based on heuristics provided by the Principal Investigator in charge of the experiment. This prototype was developed on a Macintosh II by employing CLIPS, a forward-chaining rule-based system, and HyperCard as an object-oriented user interface builder.

Challenges and lessons learned in the application of autonomy to space operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forrest, David J.; Statman, Joseph I.

2001-01-01

NASA's Space Operations Management Office (SOMO) is working toward a goal of providing an integrated infrastructure of mission and data services for space missions undertaken by NASA enterprises. A significant portion of this effort is focused on reducing the cost of these services. We are interested in the potential of autonomy to reduce operations costs. Some attempts have already been made to apply autonomy and automation in these areas in the past with varying degrees of success. We present brief case histories and the lessons inferred from them. Combining this past experience with anticipated future needs, we attempt to clarify the challenges that must be met in order to realize the benefits of autonomy.

The application of artificial intelligent techniques to accelerator operations at McMaster University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poehlman, W. F. S.; Garland, Wm. J.; Stark, J. W.

1993-06-01

In an era of downsizing and a limited pool of skilled accelerator personnel from which to draw replacements for an aging workforce, the impetus to integrate intelligent computer automation into the accelerator operator's repertoire is strong. However, successful deployment of an "Operator's Companion" is not trivial. Both graphical and human factors need to be recognized as critical areas that require extra care when formulating the Companion. They include interactive graphical user's interface that mimics, for the operator, familiar accelerator controls; knowledge of acquisition phases during development must acknowledge the expert's mental model of machine operation; and automated operations must be seen as improvements to the operator's environment rather than threats of ultimate replacement. Experiences with the PACES Accelerator Operator Companion developed at two sites over the past three years are related and graphical examples are given. The scale of the work involves multi-computer control of various start-up/shutdown and tuning procedures for Model FN and KN Van de Graaff accelerators. The response from licensing agencies has been encouraging.

Application and research of artificial water mist on photoelectric interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yuejun; Ren, Baolin

2018-04-01

Water mist is a new type of photoelectric interfering material. It can exert a strong interference and shielding effect on infrared light, laser and radar wave through scattering, reflection, refraction and absorption. Based on this, this paper illustrates the application of an artificial high pressure water mist technology in infrared interference system. First, the operating principle of the infrared interference system is introduced. Next, the design principle of self-excited rotary vortex nozzle, the key part of the system, is elaborated. Then, the calculation of the main control parameters of the system is clarified. In the end, the paper verifies interference and shielding effect of the system by experiment. Experiment shows that the interference system can significantly reduce infrared signature of the target, featuring excellent infrared interference performance and high practical value.

A General Fluctuation-Response Relation for Noise Variations and its Application to Driven Hydrodynamic Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yolcu, Cem; Bérut, Antoine; Falasco, Gianmaria; Petrosyan, Artyom; Ciliberto, Sergio; Baiesi, Marco

2017-04-01

The effect of a change of noise amplitudes in overdamped diffusive systems is linked to their unperturbed behavior by means of a nonequilibrium fluctuation-response relation. This formula holds also for systems with state-independent nontrivial diffusivity matrices, as we show with an application to an experiment of two trapped and hydrodynamically coupled colloids, one of which is subject to an external random forcing that mimics an effective temperature. The nonequilibrium susceptibility of the energy to a variation of this driving is an example of our formulation, which improves an earlier version, as it does not depend on the time-discretization of the stochastic dynamics. This scheme holds for generic systems with additive noise and can be easily implemented numerically, thanks to matrix operations.

Study into penetration speed during laser cutting of brain tissues.

PubMed

Yilbas, Z; Sami, M; Patiroglu, T

1998-01-01

The applications of CO2 continuous-wave lasers in neurosurgery have become important in recent years. Theoretical considerations of laser applicability in medicine are subsequently confirmed experimentally. To obtain precision operation in the laser cutting process, further theoretical developments and experimental studies need to be conducted. Consequently, in the present study, the heat transfer mechanism taking place during laser-tissue interaction is introduced using Fourier theory. The results obtained from the theoretical model are compared with the experimental results. In connection with this, an experiment is designed to measure the penetration speed during the laser cutting process. The measurement is carried out using an optical method. It is found that both results for the penetration speed obtained from the theory and experiment are in a good agreement.

Godiva, a European Project for Ozone and Trace Gas Measurements from GOME

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goede, A. P. H.; Tanzi, C. P.; Aben, I.; Burrows, J. P.; Weber, M.; Perner, D.; Monks, P. S.; Llewellyn-Jones, D.; Corlett, G. K.; Arlander, D. W.; Platt, U.; Wagner, T.; Pfeilsticker, K.; Taalas, P.; Kelder, H.; Piters, A.

GODIVA (GOME Data Interpretation, Validation and Application) is a European Commission project aimed at the improvement of GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment) data products. Existing data products include global ozone, NO2 columns and (ir)radiances. Advanced data products include O3 profiles, BrO, HCHO and OCIO columns. These data are validated by ground-based and balloon borne instruments. Calibration issues are investigated by in-flight monitoring using several complementary calibration sources, as well as an on-ground replica of the GOME instrument. The results will lead to specification of operational processing of the EUMETSAT ozone Satellite Application Facility as well as implementation of the improved and new GOME data products in the NILU database for use in the European THESEO (Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone) campaign of 1999

Lightweight Modular Instrumentation for Planetary Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joshi, P. B.

1993-01-01

An instrumentation, called Space Active Modular Materials ExperimentS (SAMMES), is developed for monitoring the spacecraft environment and for accurately measuring the degradation of space materials in low earth orbit (LEO). The SAMMES architecture concept can be extended to instrumentation for planetary exploration, both on spacecraft and in situ. The operating environment for planetary application will be substantially different, with temperature extremes and harsh solar wind and cosmic ray flux on lunar surfaces and temperature extremes and high winds on venusian and Martian surfaces. Moreover, instruments for surface deployment, which will be packaged in a small lander/rover (as in MESUR, for example), must be extremely compact with ultralow power and weight. With these requirements in mind, the SAMMES concept was extended to a sensor/instrumentation scheme for the lunar and Martian surface environment.

User's guide to the LLL BASIC interpreter. [For 8080-based MCS-80 microcomputer system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allison, T.; Eckard, R.; Barber, J.

1977-06-09

Scientists are finding increased applications for microcomputers as process controllers in their experiments. However, while microcomputers are small and inexpensive, they are difficult to program in machine or assembly language. A high-level language is needed to enable scientists to develop their own microcomputer programs for their experiments on location. Recognizing this need, LLL contracted to have such a language developed. This report describes the result--the LLL BASIC interpreter, which operates with LLL's 8080-based MCS-80 microcomputer system. 4 tables.

Transparent Alloys Operation

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-26

iss055e005543 (March 26, 2018) --- Expedition 55 Flight Engineer and astronaut Scott Tingle is pictured conducting the Transparent Alloys experiment inside the Destiny lab module's Microgravity Science Glovebox. The Transparent Alloys study is a set of five experiments that seeks to improve the understanding of melting-solidification processes in plastics without the interference of Earth's gravity environment. Results may impact the development of new light-weight, high-performance structural materials for space applications. Observations may also impact fuel efficiency, consumption and recycling of materials on Earth potentially reducing costs and increasing industrial competitiveness.

A study experiment of auto idle application in the excavator engine performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purwanto, Wawan; Maksum, Hasan; Putra, Dwi Sudarno; Azmi, Meri; Wahyudi, Retno

2016-03-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of applying auto idle to excavator engine performance, such as machine unitization and fuel consumption in Excavator. Steps to be done are to modify the system JA 44 and 67 in Vehicle Electronic Control Unit (V-ECU). The modifications will be obtained from the pattern of the engine speed. If the excavator attachment is not operated, the engine speed will return to the idle speed automatically. From the experiment results the auto idle reduces fuel consumption in excavator engine.

A study experiment of auto idle application in the excavator engine performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Purwanto, Wawan, E-mail: wawan5527@gmail.com; Maksum, Hasan; Putra, Dwi Sudarno, E-mail: dwisudarnoputra@ft.unp.ac.id

2016-03-29

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of applying auto idle to excavator engine performance, such as machine unitization and fuel consumption in Excavator. Steps to be done are to modify the system JA 44 and 67 in Vehicle Electronic Control Unit (V-ECU). The modifications will be obtained from the pattern of the engine speed. If the excavator attachment is not operated, the engine speed will return to the idle speed automatically. From the experiment results the auto idle reduces fuel consumption in excavator engine.

AGIS: The ATLAS Grid Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anisenkov, Alexey; Belov, Sergey; Di Girolamo, Alessandro; Gayazov, Stavro; Klimentov, Alexei; Oleynik, Danila; Senchenko, Alexander

2012-12-01

ATLAS is a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The experiment produces petabytes of data annually through simulation production and tens petabytes of data per year from the detector itself. The ATLAS Computing model embraces the Grid paradigm and a high degree of decentralization and computing resources able to meet ATLAS requirements of petabytes scale data operations. In this paper we present ATLAS Grid Information System (AGIS) designed to integrate configuration and status information about resources, services and topology of whole ATLAS Grid needed by ATLAS Distributed Computing applications and services.

NASA Instep/mdmsc Jitter Suppression Experiment (JITTER)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Edward V.

1992-01-01

The objectives are the following: (1) to develop and demonstrate in-space performance of both passive and active damping systems for suppression of micro-amplitude vibration on an actual application structure and operate despite uncertain dynamics and uncertain disturbance characteristics; and (2) to correlate ground and in-space performance - the performance metric is vibration attenuation. The goals are to achieve vibration suppression equivalent to 5 percent passive damping in selected models and 15 percent active damping in selected modes. Various aspects of this experiment are presented in viewgraph form.

The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Traon, P.; Smith, N.

The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) will conduct its main demonstration phase from 2003 to 2005. From 2003 to 2005, operational and research institutions from Australia, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, France and Norway will be performing global oceanic data assimilation and ocean forecast in order to provide regular and comprehensive descriptions of ocean fields such as temperature, salinity and currents at high temporal and spatial resolution. A central objective of GODAE is to provide an integrated description that combines remote sensing data, in-situ data and models through data assimilation. Climate and seasonal forecasting, navy applications, marine safety, fisheries, the offshore industry and management of shelf/coastal areas are among the expected beneficiaries of GODAE. The integrated description of the ocean that GODAE will provide will also be highly beneficial to the research community. An overview of GODAE will be given; we will detail the GODAE objectives and strategy and the way it is implemented as an international experiment. Results from first pre-operational or prototype systems will finally be shown.

Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodard, Mark (Editor); Stengle, Tom (Editor)

2007-01-01

Topics include: Measuring Image Navigation and Registration Performance at the 3-Sigma Level Using Platinum Quality Landmarks; Flight Dynamics Performances of the MetOp A Satellite during the First Months of Operations; Visual Navigation - SARE Mission; Determining a Method of Enabling and Disabling the Integral Torque in the SDO Science and Inertial Mode Controllers; Guaranteeing Pointing Performance of the SDO Sun-Pointing Controllers in Light of Nonlinear Effects; SDO Delta H Mode Design and Analysis; Observing Mode Attitude Controller for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter; Broken-Plane Maneuver Applications for Earth to Mars Trajectories; ExoMars Mission Analysis and Design - Launch, Cruise and Arrival Analyses; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Aerobraking Daily Operations and Collision Avoidance; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Interplanetary Cruise Navigation; Motion Parameters Determination of the SC and Phobos in the Project Phobos-Grunt; GRAS NRT Precise Orbit Determination: Operational Experience; Orbit Determination of LEO Satellites for a Single Pass through a Radar: Comparison of Methods; Orbit Determination System for Low Earth Orbit Satellites; Precise Orbit Determination for ALOS; Anti-Collision Function Design and Performances of the CNES Formation Flying Experiment on the PRISMA Mission; CNES Approaching Guidance Experiment within FFIORD; Maneuver Recovery Analysis for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission; SIMBOL-X: A Formation Flying Mission on HEO for Exploring the Universe; Spaceborne Autonomous and Ground Based Relative Orbit Control for the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X Formation; First In-Orbit Experience of TerraSAR-X Flight Dynamics Operations; Automated Target Planning for FUSE Using the SOVA Algorithm; Space Technology 5 Post-Launch Ground Attitude Estimation Experience; Standardizing Navigation Data: A Status Update; and A Study into the Method of Precise Orbit Determination of a HEO Orbiter by GPS and Accelerometer.

Recent Achievements of the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, D. D.; Liukis, M.; Werner, M. J.; Schorlemmer, D.; Yu, J.; Maechling, P. J.; Zechar, J. D.; Jordan, T. H.

2015-12-01

Maria Liukis, SCEC, USC; Maximilian Werner, University of Bristol; Danijel Schorlemmer, GFZ Potsdam; John Yu, SCEC, USC; Philip Maechling, SCEC, USC; Jeremy Zechar, Swiss Seismological Service, ETH; Thomas H. Jordan, SCEC, USC, and the CSEP Working Group The Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) supports a global program to conduct prospective earthquake forecasting experiments. CSEP testing centers are now operational in California, New Zealand, Japan, China, and Europe with 435 models under evaluation. The California testing center, operated by SCEC, has been operational since Sept 1, 2007, and currently hosts 30-minute, 1-day, 3-month, 1-year and 5-year forecasts, both alarm-based and probabilistic, for California, the Western Pacific, and worldwide. We have reduced testing latency, implemented prototype evaluation of M8 forecasts, and are currently developing formats and procedures to evaluate externally-hosted forecasts and predictions. These efforts are related to CSEP support of the USGS program in operational earthquake forecasting and a DHS project to register and test external forecast procedures from experts outside seismology. A retrospective experiment for the 2010-2012 Canterbury earthquake sequence has been completed, and the results indicate that some physics-based and hybrid models outperform purely statistical (e.g., ETAS) models. The experiment also demonstrates the power of the CSEP cyberinfrastructure for retrospective testing. Our current development includes evaluation strategies that increase computational efficiency for high-resolution global experiments, such as the evaluation of the Global Earthquake Activity Rate (GEAR) model. We describe the open-source CSEP software that is available to researchers as they develop their forecast models (http://northridge.usc.edu/trac/csep/wiki/MiniCSEP). We also discuss applications of CSEP infrastructure to geodetic transient detection and how CSEP procedures are being adapted to ground motion prediction experiments.

First Clinical Applications of a High-Definition Three-Dimensional Exoscope in Pediatric Neurosurgery

PubMed Central

Munoz-Bendix, Christopher; Beseoglu, Kerim; Steiger, Hans-Jakob; Ahmadi, Sebastian A

2018-01-01

The ideal visualization tools in microneurosurgery should provide magnification, illumination, wide fields of view, ergonomics, and unobstructed access to the surgical field. The operative microscope was the predominant innovation in modern neurosurgery. Recently, a high-definition three-dimensional (3D) exoscope was developed. We describe the first applications in pediatric neurosurgery. The VITOM 3D exoscope (Karl Storz GmbH, Tuttlingen, Germany) was used in pediatric microneurosurgical operations, along with an OPMI PENTERO operative microscope (Carl Zeiss AG, Jena, Germany). Experiences were retrospectively evaluated with five-level Likert items regarding ease of preparation, image definition, magnification, illumination, field of view, ergonomics, accessibility of the surgical field, and general user-friendliness. Three operations were performed: supratentorial open biopsy in the supine position, infratentorial brain tumor resection in the park bench position, and myelomeningocele closure in the prone position. While preparation and image definition were rated equal for microscope and exoscope, the microscope’s field of view, illumination, and user-friendliness were considered superior, while the advantages of the exoscope were seen in ergonomics and the accessibility of the surgical field. No complications attributed to visualization mode occurred. In our experience, the VITOM 3D exoscope is an innovative visualization tool with advantages over the microscope in ergonomics and the accessibility of the surgical field. However, improvements were deemed necessary with regard to field of view, illumination, and user-friendliness. While the debate of a “perfect” visualization modality is influenced by personal preference, this novel visualization device has the potential to become a valuable tool in the neurosurgeon’s armamentarium. PMID:29581920

First Clinical Applications of a High-Definition Three-Dimensional Exoscope in Pediatric Neurosurgery.

PubMed

Beez, Thomas; Munoz-Bendix, Christopher; Beseoglu, Kerim; Steiger, Hans-Jakob; Ahmadi, Sebastian A

2018-01-24

The ideal visualization tools in microneurosurgery should provide magnification, illumination, wide fields of view, ergonomics, and unobstructed access to the surgical field. The operative microscope was the predominant innovation in modern neurosurgery. Recently, a high-definition three-dimensional (3D) exoscope was developed. We describe the first applications in pediatric neurosurgery. The VITOM 3D exoscope (Karl Storz GmbH, Tuttlingen, Germany) was used in pediatric microneurosurgical operations, along with an OPMI PENTERO operative microscope (Carl Zeiss AG, Jena, Germany). Experiences were retrospectively evaluated with five-level Likert items regarding ease of preparation, image definition, magnification, illumination, field of view, ergonomics, accessibility of the surgical field, and general user-friendliness. Three operations were performed: supratentorial open biopsy in the supine position, infratentorial brain tumor resection in the park bench position, and myelomeningocele closure in the prone position. While preparation and image definition were rated equal for microscope and exoscope, the microscope's field of view, illumination, and user-friendliness were considered superior, while the advantages of the exoscope were seen in ergonomics and the accessibility of the surgical field. No complications attributed to visualization mode occurred. In our experience, the VITOM 3D exoscope is an innovative visualization tool with advantages over the microscope in ergonomics and the accessibility of the surgical field. However, improvements were deemed necessary with regard to field of view, illumination, and user-friendliness. While the debate of a "perfect" visualization modality is influenced by personal preference, this novel visualization device has the potential to become a valuable tool in the neurosurgeon's armamentarium.

Experimental realization of a highly secure chaos communication under strong channel noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Weiping; Dai, Qionglin; Wang, Shihong; Lu, Huaping; Kuang, Jinyu; Zhao, Zhenfeng; Zhu, Xiangqing; Tang, Guoning; Huang, Ronghuai; Hu, Gang

2004-09-01

A one-way coupled spatiotemporally chaotic map lattice is used to construct cryptosystem. With the combinatorial applications of both chaotic computations and conventional algebraic operations, our system has optimal cryptographic properties much better than the separative applications of known chaotic and conventional methods. We have realized experiments to practice duplex voice secure communications in realistic Wired Public Switched Telephone Network by applying our chaotic system and the system of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), respectively, for cryptography. Our system can work stably against strong channel noise when AES fails to work.

Usability analysis of indoor map application in a shopping centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewi, R. S.; Hadi, R. K.

2018-04-01

Although indoor navigation is still new in Indonesia, its future development is very promising. Similar to the outdoor one, the indoor navigation technology provides several important functions to support route and landmark findings. Furthermore, there is also a need that indoor navigation can support the public safety especially during disaster evacuation process in a building. It is a common that the indoor navigation technologies are built as applications where users can access this technology using their smartphones, tablets, or personal computers. Therefore, a usability analysis is important to ensure the indoor navigation applications can be operated by users with highest functionality. Among several indoor map applications which were available in the market, this study chose to analyse indoor Google Maps due to its availability and popularity in Indonesia. The experiments to test indoor Google Maps was conducted in one of the biggest shopping centre building in Surabaya, Indonesia. The usability was measured by employing System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. The result showed that the SUS score of indoor Google Maps was below the average score of other cellular applications to indicate the users still had high difficulty in operating and learning the features of indoor Google Maps.

Health education telecommunications experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whalen, A. A.

1975-01-01

The Health/Education Telecommunications Experiment (HET) was conducted jointly by NASA and HEW on NASA's ATS-6 communications satellite. This experiment actually consisted of six experiments testing health and education applications of a communication spacecraft producing a broadcast of color television directly from space to over 120 low-cost receivers located in remote rural areas throughout the U.S. (including Alaska). The experiments were conducted over the period from 2 July 1974 to 20 May 1975 and operated on an almost daily basis. The overall telecommunications system to support these experiments consisted of many elements: The ATS-6 spacecraft; five different types of earth stations consisting of 120 video receive terminals, 51 telephony tranceivers and eight video originating terminals of three different types. Actual performance of the equipment as measured in the field was shown to equal or exceed predicted values.

An overview of developments and applications of oceanographic radar networks in Asia and Oceania countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, Satoshi; Heron, Malcolm L.; Kim, Kuh; Lai, Jian-Wu; Lee, Sang-Ho; Wu, Xiangbai; Wu, Xiongbin; Wyatt, Lucy R.; Yang, Wen-Chang

2013-03-01

More than 110 radar stations are in operation at the present time in Asia and Oceania countries, which is nearly half of all the existing radar stations in the world, for purposes related to marine safety, oil spill response, tsunami warning, coastal zone management and understanding of ocean current dynamics, depending mainly on each country's coastal sea characteristics. This paper introduces the oceanographic radar networks of Australia, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, presented at the 1st Ocean Radar Conference for Asia (ORCA) held in May 2012, Seoul, Korea, to share information about the radar network developments and operations, knowledge and experiences of data management, and research activity and application of the radar-derived data of neighbouring countries. We hope this overview paper may contribute as the first step to promotion of regional collaborations in the radar observations and data usages and applications in order to efficiently monitor the coastal and marginal sea waters along the western Pacific Ocean periphery.

Status and Roadmap of CernVM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berzano, D.; Blomer, J.; Buncic, P.; Charalampidis, I.; Ganis, G.; Meusel, R.

2015-12-01

Cloud resources nowadays contribute an essential share of resources for computing in high-energy physics. Such resources can be either provided by private or public IaaS clouds (e.g. OpenStack, Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine) or by volunteers computers (e.g. LHC@Home 2.0). In any case, experiments need to prepare a virtual machine image that provides the execution environment for the physics application at hand. The CernVM virtual machine since version 3 is a minimal and versatile virtual machine image capable of booting different operating systems. The virtual machine image is less than 20 megabyte in size. The actual operating system is delivered on demand by the CernVM File System. CernVM 3 has matured from a prototype to a production environment. It is used, for instance, to run LHC applications in the cloud, to tune event generators using a network of volunteer computers, and as a container for the historic Scientific Linux 5 and Scientific Linux 4 based software environments in the course of long-term data preservation efforts of the ALICE, CMS, and ALEPH experiments. We present experience and lessons learned from the use of CernVM at scale. We also provide an outlook on the upcoming developments. These developments include adding support for Scientific Linux 7, the use of container virtualization, such as provided by Docker, and the streamlining of virtual machine contextualization towards the cloud-init industry standard.

Internal Arrangement of Skylab Workshop Crew Quarters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

This image depicts a layout of the Skylab workshop 1-G trainer crew quarters. At left, in the sleep compartment, astronauts slept strapped to the walls of cubicles and showered at the center. Next right was the waste management area where wastes were processed and disposed. Upper right was the wardroom where astronauts prepared their meals and foods were stored. In the experiment operation area, upper left, against the far wall, was the lower-body negative-pressure device (Skylab Experiment M092) and the Ergometer for the vectorcardiogram experiment (Skylab Experiment M063). The trainers and mockups were useful in the developmental phase, while engineers and astronauts were still working out optimum designs. They provided much data applicable to the manufacture of the flight articles.

A monitoring tool for performance improvement in plastic surgery at the individual level.

PubMed

Maruthappu, Mahiben; Duclos, Antoine; Orgill, Dennis; Carty, Matthew J

2013-05-01

The assessment of performance in surgery is expanding significantly. Application of relevant frameworks to plastic surgery, however, has been limited. In this article, the authors present two robust graphic tools commonly used in other industries that may serve to monitor individual surgeon operative time while factoring in patient- and surgeon-specific elements. The authors reviewed performance data from all bilateral reduction mammaplasties performed at their institution by eight surgeons between 1995 and 2010. Operative time was used as a proxy for performance. Cumulative sum charts and exponentially weighted moving average charts were generated using a train-test analytic approach, and used to monitor surgical performance. Charts mapped crude, patient case-mix-adjusted, and case-mix and surgical-experience-adjusted performance. Operative time was found to decline from 182 minutes to 118 minutes with surgical experience (p < 0.001). Cumulative sum and exponentially weighted moving average charts were generated using 1995 to 2007 data (1053 procedures) and tested on 2008 to 2010 data (246 procedures). The sensitivity and accuracy of these charts were significantly improved by adjustment for case mix and surgeon experience. The consideration of patient- and surgeon-specific factors is essential for correct interpretation of performance in plastic surgery at the individual surgeon level. Cumulative sum and exponentially weighted moving average charts represent accurate methods of monitoring operative time to control and potentially improve surgeon performance over the course of a career.

Modeling of high efficiency solar cells under laser pulse for power beaming applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jain, Raj K.; Landis, Geoffrey A.

1994-01-01

Solar cells have been used to convert sunlight to electrical energy for many years and also offer great potential for non-solar energy conversion applications. Their greatly improved performance under monochromatic light compared to sunlight, makes them suitable as photovoltaic (PV) receivers in laser power beaming applications. Laser beamed power to a PV array receiver could provide power to satellites, an orbital transfer vehicle, or a lunar base. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP) solar cells have calculated efficiencies of more than 50 percent under continuous illumination at the optimum wavelength. Currently high power free-electron lasers are being developed which operate in pulsed conditions. Understanding cell behavior under a laser pulse is important in the selection of the solar cell material and the laser. An experiment by NAsA lewis and JPL at the AVLIS laser facility in Livermore, CA presented experimental data on cell performance under pulsed laser illumination. Reference 5 contains an overview of technical issues concerning the use of solar cells for laser power conversion, written before the experiments were performed. As the experimental results showed, the actual effects of pulsed operation are more complicated. Reference 6 discusses simulations of the output of GaAs concentrator solar cells under pulsed laser illumination. The present paper continues this work, and compares the output of Si and GaAs solar cells.

Primary School Teachers' Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahali, Edy H. M.; Halim, Lilia; Treagust, David F.; Won, Mihye; Chandrasegaran, A. L.

2017-04-01

This study investigated the understanding of science process skills (SPS) of 329 science teachers from 52 primary schools selected by random sampling. The understanding of SPS was measured in terms of conceptual and operational aspects of SPS using an instrument called the Science Process Skills Questionnaire (SPSQ) with a Cronbach's alpha reliability of 0.88. The findings showed that the teachers' conceptual understanding of SPS was much weaker than their practical application of SPS. The teachers' understanding of SPS differed by their teaching qualifications but not so much by their teaching experience. Emphasis needs to be given to both conceptual and operational understanding of SPS during pre-service and in-service teacher education to enable science teachers to use the skills and implement inquiry-based lessons in schools.

Gas mixture studies for streamer operated Resistive Plate Chambers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paoloni, A.; Longhin, A.; Mengucci, A.; Pupilli, F.; Ventura, M.

2016-06-01

Resistive Plate Chambers operated in streamer mode are interesting detectors in neutrino and astro-particle physics applications (like OPERA and ARGO experiments). Such experiments are typically characterized by large area apparatuses with no stringent requirements on detector aging and rate capabilities. In this paper, results of cosmic ray tests performed on a RPC prototype using different gas mixtures are presented, the principal aim being the optimization of the TetraFluoroPropene concentration in Argon-based mixtures. The introduction of TetraFluoroPropene, besides its low Global Warming Power, is helpful because it simplifies safety requirements allowing to remove also isobutane from the mixture. Results obtained with mixtures containing SF6, CF4, CO2, N2 and He are also shown, presented both in terms of detectors properties (efficiency, multiple-streamer probability and time resolution) and in terms of streamer characteristics.

Technology study of quantum remote sensing imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Siwen; Lin, Xuling; Yang, Song; Wu, Zhiqiang

2016-02-01

According to remote sensing science and technology development and application requirements, quantum remote sensing is proposed. First on the background of quantum remote sensing, quantum remote sensing theory, information mechanism, imaging experiments and prototype principle prototype research situation, related research at home and abroad are briefly introduced. Then we expounds compress operator of the quantum remote sensing radiation field and the basic principles of single-mode compression operator, quantum quantum light field of remote sensing image compression experiment preparation and optical imaging, the quantum remote sensing imaging principle prototype, Quantum remote sensing spaceborne active imaging technology is brought forward, mainly including quantum remote sensing spaceborne active imaging system composition and working principle, preparation and injection compression light active imaging device and quantum noise amplification device. Finally, the summary of quantum remote sensing research in the past 15 years work and future development are introduced.

MISSE 5 Thin Films Space Exposure Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harvey, Gale A.; Kinard, William H.; Jones, James L.

2007-01-01

The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a set of space exposure experiments using the International Space Station (ISS) as the flight platform. MISSE 5 is a co-operative endeavor by NASA-LaRC, United Stated Naval Academy, Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST), NASA-GRC, NASA-MSFC, Boeing, AZ Technology, MURE, and Team Cooperative. The primary experiment is performance measurement and monitoring of high performance solar cells for U.S. Navy research and development. A secondary experiment is the telemetry of this data to ground stations. A third experiment is the measurement of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) low-Sun-exposure space effects on thin film materials. Thin films can provide extremely efficacious thermal control, designation, and propulsion functions in space to name a few applications. Solar ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen are major degradation mechanisms in LEO. This paper is an engineering report of the MISSE 5 thm films 13 months space exposure experiment.

Assessment of a 40-kilowatt stirling engine for underground mining applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cairelli, J. E.; Kelm, G. G.; Slaby, J. G.

1982-01-01

An assessment of alternative power souces for underground mining applications was performed. A 40-kW Stirling research engine was tested to evaluate its performance and emission characteristics when operated with helium working gas and diesel fuel. The engine, the test facility, and the test procedures are described. Performance and emission data for the engine operating with helium working gas and diesel fuel are reported and compared with data obtained with hydrogen working gas and unleaded gasoline fuel. Helium diesel test results are compared with the characteristics of current diesel engines and other Stirling engines. External surface temperature data are also presented. Emission and temperature results are compared with the Federal requirements for diesel underground mine engines. The durability potential of Stirling engines is discussed on the basis of the experience gaind during the engine tests.

Space platforms - A cost effective evolution of Spacelab operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stofan, A. J.

1981-01-01

The capabilities added to the Shuttle/Spacelab configuration by the addition of the Power Extension Package (PEP), the Power System (PS), and the Science and Applications Space Platforms (SASP) are reviewed with an emphasis on SASP. SASP are intended for placement in orbit by the Shuttle to test new instruments and systems, for clustering of instrumentation, and for servicing, refurbishment, repair, or augmentation by the Shuttle. The PEP permits extended stays in orbit (30 days), and the PS is an orbital solar array and energy storage system acting as a free flying spacecraft. The Shuttle can deliver payloads to the PS or attach to it for extension of the Spacelab operations. Applications of SASP for long term space-based biological experiments are outlined, and the fact that SASP do not increase the required Shuttle in-orbit time is stressed.

14 CFR 121.434 - Operating experience, operating cycles, and consolidation of knowledge and skills.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Operating experience, operating cycles, and... Qualifications § 121.434 Operating experience, operating cycles, and consolidation of knowledge and skills. (a... position, the operating experience, operating cycles, and the line operating flight time for consolidation...

Inhalational and dermal exposures during spray application of biocides.

PubMed

Berger-Preiss, Edith; Boehncke, Andrea; Könnecker, Gustav; Mangelsdorf, Inge; Holthenrich, Dagmar; Koch, Wolfgang

2005-01-01

Data on inhalational and potential dermal exposures during spray application of liquid biocidal products were generated. On the one hand, model experiments with different spraying devices using fluorescent tracers were carried out to investigate the influence of parameters relevant to the exposure (e.g. spraying equipment, nozzle size, direction of application). On the other hand, measurements were performed at selected workplaces (during disinfection operations in food and feed areas; pest control operations for private, public and veterinary hygiene; wood protection and antifouling applications) after application of biocidal products such as Empire 20, Responsar SC, Omexan-forte, Actellic, Perma-forte; Fendona SC, Pyrethrum mist; CBM 8, Aldekol Des 03, TAD CID, Basileum, Basilit. The measurements taken in the model rooms demonstrated dependence of the inhalation exposure on the type of spraying device used, in the following order: "spraying with low pressure" < "airless spraying" < "fogging" indicating that the particle diameter of the released spray droplets is the most important parameter. In addition inhalation exposure was lowest when the spraying direction was downward. Also for the potential dermal exposure, the spraying direction was of particular importance: overhead spraying caused the highest contamination of body surfaces. The data of inhalational and potential dermal exposures gained through workplace measurements showed considerable variation. During spraying procedures with low-pressure equipments, dose rates of active substances inhaled by the operators ranged from 7 to 230 microg active substance (a.s.)/h. An increase in inhaled dose rates (6-33 mg a.s./h) was observed after use of high application volumes/time unit during wood protection applications indoors. Spraying in the veterinary sector using medium-pressure sprayers led to inhaled dose rates between 2 and 24mga.s./h. The highest inhaled dose rates were measured during fogging (114 mg a.s./h) and after-high-pressure applications in the antifouling sector (110-300 mg a.s./h). The potential dermal exposure of spray operators was lowest (dose rates from 0.2 to 7 mg a.s./h) in the areas of food and feed disinfection and private and public hygiene during spraying with low-pressure devices. During fogging, wood protection and antifouling applications, high-potential dermal exposures of the operators were determined. Dermal dose rates varied between 100 and 34,000 mg a.s./h.

Seven Experiment Designs Addressing Problems of Safety and Capacity on Two-Lane Rural Highways : Volume 7. Experimental Design to Develop and Evaluate Measures for Reducing the Effects of Roadside Friction on Traffic Flow

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1994-04-01

This operational test case study is one of six performed in response to a Volpe National Transportation Systems Center technical task directive (TTD) to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) entitled, "IVHS Institutional Issues and Ca...

COED Transactions, Vol. XI, No. 7 & 8, July/August 1979. A Miniature Automated Warehouse: A Laboratory Teaching Device.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Eugene E., Ed.

A do-it-yourself laboratory course in automated systems designed at the University of Florida is described. Using a working model of a warehouse interfaced with a minicomputer as a working laboratory, the student gains hands-on experience in operations programing and applications of scheduling, materials handling, and heuristic optimization. (BT)

Seven Experiment Designs Addressing Problems of Safety and Capacity on Two-Lane Rural Highways : Volume 4. Experimental Design to Develop and Evaluate Remedial Aids to Urban Drivers of Slow Moving Vehicles on a Grade

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1994-04-01

This operational test case study is one of six performed in response to a Volpe National Transportation Systems Center technical task directive (TTD) to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) entitled, IVHS Institutional Issues and ...

Toward improving our application and understanding of crown fire behavior

Treesearch

Martin E. Alexander; Miguel G. Cruz; Nicole M. Vaillant

2014-01-01

The suggestion has been made that most wildland fire operations personnel base their expectations of how a fire will behave largely on experience and, to a lesser extent, on guides to predicting fire behavior (Burrows 1984). Experienced judgment is certainly needed in any assessment of wildland fire potential but it does have its limitations. The same can be said for...

Dredging Operations Technical Support Program. General Decisionmaking Framework for Management of Dredged Material: Example Application to Commencement Bay, Washington.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

Figure 4) and was used to predict surface runoff water quality from dredged material as part of the CE/EPA FVP ( Westerdahl and Skogerboe 1981; Lee and...Sedimrnts," Miscellaneous Paper D-83-1, US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS. Westerdahl , H. E., and Skogerboe, J. G. 1981

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Skibo, A.

SRNL has considerable experience in designing, engineering, and operating systems for removing iodine-129 (I-129) and ruthenium-106 (Ru-106) from waste streams that are directly analogous to the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) waste streams. SRNL proposes to provide the technical background and design and engineering support for an improved I-129 and Ru-106 removal system for application to ALPS on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

Land 125 - Power Technologies Review

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

Metal Hydride (Battery) PEMFC Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory RF Radio Frequency SLA Sealed Lead...battery experiences physical or electrical abuse [ 11 ]. Despite their safety issues, Li/SO2 batteries have been used in military communications ...batteries designed for high rate operation are used in military applications (TRL 9 [1]), including powering radios [1, 11 ]. 3.2.1.5 Lithium Iron

"Learning Shock" and Student Veterans: Bridging the Learning Environments of the Military and the Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blaauw-Hara, Mark

2017-01-01

In this article, I provide an overview of student veterans' experiences learning in the military, from the ways the armed forces operate as a community of practice to how they build the competence of their service-members through application of andragogical principles. I then contrast the learning environment of the military to that of college,…

A study of cylindrical Hall thruster for low power space applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Y. Raitses; N.J. Fisch; K.M. Ertmer

2000-07-27

A 9 cm cylindrical thruster with a ceramic channel exhibited performance comparable to the state-of-the-art Hall thrusters at low and moderate power levels. Significantly, its operation is not accompanied by large amplitude discharge low frequency oscillations. Preliminary experiments on a 2 cm cylindrical thruster suggest the possibility of a high performance micro Hall thruster.

Space Station as a vital focus for advancing the technologies of automation and robotics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Varsi, G.; Herman, D. H.

1986-01-01

The application of robotics and automation technologies to the Space Station design is examined. Experiments being conducted in the fields of autonomy and robotics, and the benefits provided by these technologies are discussed. The use of automation and robotics in the operation management, the power system, and telerobot of the Space Station is described.

The Measure of a Good School. A Guide to Evaluation of School Systems Adapted Particularly for Use in Kentucky School Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kentucky Univ., Lexington. Coll. of Education.

Comments on school evaluation are divided into the following categories--(1) program goals and objectives of the schools, (2) staff--age, sex, experience, preparation, and problem of retaining good teachers, (3) administration and their application to district organization, (4) finance--an outline of how a foundation program operates, and comments…

Fundamental results from microgravity cell experiments with possible commericial applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winget, Charles M.; Fast, Thomas N.; Hinds, Williams E.; Schaefer, R. L.; Callahan, Paul X.

1989-01-01

Some of the major milestones are presented for studies in cell biology that were conducted by the Soviet Union and the United States in the upper layers of the atmosphere and in outer space for more than thirty-five years. The goals have changed as new knowledge is acquired and the priorities for the use of microgravity have shifted toward basic research and commercial applications. Certain details concerning the impact of microgravity on cell systems is presented. However, it needs to be emphasized that in planning and conducting microgravity experiments, there are some important prerequisites not normally taken into account. Apart from the required background knowledge of previous microgravity and ground-based experiments, the investigator should have the understanding of the hardware as a physical unit, the complete knowledge of its operation, the range of its capabilities and the anticipation of problems that may occur. Moreover, if the production of commercial products in space is to be manifested, data obtained from previous microgravity experiments must be used to optimize the design of flight hardware.

A real-time visual inspection method of fastening bolts in freight car operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nan, Guo; Yao, JunEn

2015-10-01

A real-time inspection of the key components is necessary for ensuring safe operation of freight car. While traditional inspection depends on the trained human inspectors, which is time-consuming and lower efficient. With the development of machine vision, vision-based inspection methods get more railway on-spot applications. The cross rod end fastening bolts are important components on both sides of the train body that fixing locking plates together with the freight car main structure. In our experiment, we get the images containing fastening bolt components, and accurately locate the locking plate position using a linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) locating model trained with Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) features. Then we extract the straight line segment using the Line Segment Detector (LSD) and encoding them in a range, which constitute a straight line segment dataset. Lastly we determine the locking plate's working state by the linear pattern. The experiment result shows that the localization accurate rate is over 99%, the fault detection rate is over 95%, and the module implementation time is 2f/s. The overall performance can completely meet the practical railway safety assurance application.

Effects of transmembrane hydraulic pressure on performance of forward osmosis membranes.

PubMed

Coday, Bryan D; Heil, Dean M; Xu, Pei; Cath, Tzahi Y

2013-03-05

Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging membrane separation process that continues to be tested and implemented in various industrial water and wastewater treatment applications. The growing interests in the technology have prompted laboratories and manufacturers to adopt standard testing methods to ensure accurate comparison of membrane performance under laboratory-controlled conditions; however, standardized methods might not capture specific operating conditions unique to industrial applications. Experiments with cellulose triacetate (CTA) and polyamide thin-film composite (TFC) FO membranes demonstrated that hydraulic transmembrane pressure (TMP), common in industrial operation of FO membrane elements, could affect membrane performance. Experiments were conducted with three FO membranes and with increasing TMP up to a maximum of 50 psi (3.45 bar). The feed solution was a mixture of salts and the draw solution was either a NaCl solution or concentrated seawater at similar osmotic pressure. Results revealed that TMP minimally affected water flux, reverse salt flux (RSF), and solute rejection of the CTA membrane. However, water flux through TFC membranes might slightly increase with increasing TMP, and RSF substantially declines with increasing TMP. It was observed that rejection of feed constituents was influenced by TMP and RSF.

Arianespace Launch Service Operator Policy for Space Safety (Regulations and Standards for Safety)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jourdainne, Laurent

2013-09-01

Since December 10, 2010, the French Space Act has entered into force. This French Law, referenced as LOS N°2008-518 ("Loi relative aux Opérations Spatiales"), is compliant with international rules. This French Space Act (LOS) is now applicable for any French private company whose business is dealing with rocket launch or in orbit satellites operations. Under CNES leadership, Arianespace contributed to the consolidation of technical regulation applicable to launch service operators.Now for each launch operation, the operator Arianespace has to apply for an authorization to proceed to the French ministry in charge of space activities. In the files issued for this purpose, the operator is able to justify a high level of warranties in the management of risks through robust processes in relation with the qualification maintenance, the configuration management, the treatment of technical facts and relevant conclusions and risks reduction implementation when needed.Thanks to the historic success of Ariane launch systems through its more than 30 years of exploitation experience (54 successes in a row for latest Ariane 5 launches), Arianespace as well as European public and industrial partners developed key experiences and knowledge as well as competences in space security and safety. Soyuz-ST and Vega launch systems are now in operation from Guiana Space Center with identical and proved risks management processes. Already existing processes have been slightly adapted to cope with the new roles and responsibilities of each actor contributing to the launch preparation and additional requirements like potential collision avoidance with inhabited space objects.Up to now, more than 12 Ariane 5 launches and 4 Soyuz-ST launches have been authorized under the French Space Act regulations. Ariane 5 and Soyuz- ST generic demonstration of conformity have been issued, including exhaustive danger and impact studies for each launch system.This article will detail how Arianespace succeeded to contribute to the maturation of the LOS. How Arianespace managed to demonstrate t he full compliance to the technical regulation for the two launch systems under exploitation (Ariane 5 andSoyuz-ST). Up to now, Vega launch system organization is still in an intermediate transition phase between development and exploitation prior to its second flight. Vega launch system will benefit of Arianespace experience capitalized through Ariane and Soyuz."Safet y is not an option". For our company regarding the mid and long term interest of space business of the launch operations and associated customers, it is a must!

A new mechatronic assistance system for the neurosurgical operating theatre: implementation, assessment of accuracy and application concepts.

PubMed

Rachinger, Jens; Bumm, Klaus; Wurm, Jochen; Bohr, Christopher; Nissen, Urs; Dannenmann, Tim; Buchfelder, Michael; Iro, Heinrich; Nimsky, Christopher

2007-01-01

To introduce a new robotic system to the field of neurosurgery and report on a preliminary assessment of accuracy as well as on envisioned application concepts. Based on experience with another system (Evolution 1, URS Inc., Schwerin, Germany), technical advancements are discussed. The basic module is an industrial 6 degrees of freedom robotic arm with a modified control element. The system combines frameless stereotaxy, robotics, and endoscopy. The robotic reproducibility error and the overall error were evaluated. For accuracy testing CT markers were placed on a cadaveric head and pinpointed with the robot's tool tip, both fully automated and telemanipulatory. Applicability in a clinical setting, user friendliness, safety and flexibility were assessed. The new system is suitable for use in the neurosurgical operating theatre. Hard- and software are user-friendly and flexible. The mean reproducibility error was 0.052-0.062 mm, the mean overall error was 0.816 mm. The system is less cumbersome and much easier to use than the Evolution 1. With its user-friendly interface and reliable safety features, its high application accuracy and flexibility, the new system is a versatile robotic platform for various neurosurgical applications. Adaptations for different applications are currently being realized. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Gas-driven pump for ground-water samples

USGS Publications Warehouse

Signor, Donald C.

1978-01-01

Observation wells installed for artificial-recharge research and other wells used in different ground-water programs are frequently cased with small-diameter steel pipe. To obtain samples from these small-diameter wells in order to monitor water quality, and to calibrate solute-transport models, a small-diameter pump with unique operating characteristics is required that causes a minimum alternation of samples during field sampling. A small-diameter gas-driven pump was designed and built to obtain water samples from wells of two-inch diameter or larger. The pump is a double-piston type with the following characteristics: (1) The water sample is isolated from the operating gas, (2) no source of electricity is ncessary, (3) operation is continuous, (4) use of compressed gas is efficient, and (5) operation is reliable over extended periods of time. Principles of operation, actual operation techniques, gas-use analyses and operating experience are described. Complete working drawings and a component list are included. Recent modifications and pump construction for high-pressure applications also are described. (Woodard-USGS)

Advanced power system protection and incipient fault detection and protection of spaceborne power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, B. Don

1989-01-01

This research concentrated on the application of advanced signal processing, expert system, and digital technologies for the detection and control of low grade, incipient faults on spaceborne power systems. The researchers have considerable experience in the application of advanced digital technologies and the protection of terrestrial power systems. This experience was used in the current contracts to develop new approaches for protecting the electrical distribution system in spaceborne applications. The project was divided into three distinct areas: (1) investigate the applicability of fault detection algorithms developed for terrestrial power systems to the detection of faults in spaceborne systems; (2) investigate the digital hardware and architectures required to monitor and control spaceborne power systems with full capability to implement new detection and diagnostic algorithms; and (3) develop a real-time expert operating system for implementing diagnostic and protection algorithms. Significant progress has been made in each of the above areas. Several terrestrial fault detection algorithms were modified to better adapt to spaceborne power system environments. Several digital architectures were developed and evaluated in light of the fault detection algorithms.

CCSDS Spacecraft Monitor and Control Mission Operations Interoperability Prototype

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lucord, Steve; Martinez, Lindolfo

2009-01-01

We are entering a new era in space exploration. Reduced operating budgets require innovative solutions to leverage existing systems to implement the capabilities of future missions. Custom solutions to fulfill mission objectives are no longer viable. Can NASA adopt international standards to reduce costs and increase interoperability with other space agencies? Can legacy systems be leveraged in a service oriented architecture (SOA) to further reduce operations costs? The Operations Technology Facility (OTF) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is collaborating with Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) to answer these very questions. The Mission Operations and Information Management Services Area (MOIMS) Spacecraft Monitor and Control (SM&C) Working Group within the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) is developing the Mission Operations standards to address this problem space. The set of proposed standards presents a service oriented architecture to increase the level of interoperability among space agencies. The OTF and DLR are developing independent implementations of the standards as part of an interoperability prototype. This prototype will address three key components: validation of the SM&C Mission Operations protocol, exploration of the Object Management Group (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS), and the incorporation of legacy systems in a SOA. The OTF will implement the service providers described in the SM&C Mission Operation standards to create a portal for interaction with a spacecraft simulator. DLR will implement the service consumers to perform the monitor and control of the spacecraft. The specifications insulate the applications from the underlying transport layer. We will gain experience with a DDS transport layer as we delegate responsibility to the middleware and explore transport bridges to connect disparate middleware products. A SOA facilitates the reuse of software components. The prototype will leverage the capabilities of existing legacy systems. Various custom applications and middleware solutions will be combined into one system providing the illusion of a set of homogenous services. This paper will document our journey as we implement the interoperability prototype. The team consists of software engineers with experience on the current command, telemetry and messaging systems that support the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle programs. Emphasis will be on the objectives, results and potential cost saving benefits.

[The "martin-arm" system for abdominal wall fixation for many applications - experience from its use of gynaecology (author's transl)].

PubMed

Müller, H G

1979-01-01

The "martin-arm"-System meets the demand for optimal fixation of outer edges of the wound cavity and exact positioning of organs in a three dimensional manner at abdominal operations. The four joints of each arm individually connected to the Op-table make this possible. They are fixed in position by a central joint with a lever which can be tightened. An adequate assortment of exchangeable retractors, specula and spatulas offers the possibility of a clear view of the operation. All instruments are ready for use even without the "martin-Arm". This system is especially suitable for emergency surgery, for small gynaecology wards or during staff shortages e.g. at night. The operation setting, according to requirements, remains in position for the duration of the whole operation. In the case of long operations, fatigue symptoms of the assistant are no longer present with this instrumentation.

Design and validation of an improved graphical user interface with the 'Tool ball'.

PubMed

Lee, Kuo-Wei; Lee, Ying-Chu

2012-01-01

The purpose of this research is introduce the design of an improved graphical user interface (GUI) and verifies the operational efficiency of the proposed interface. Until now, clicking the toolbar with the mouse is the usual way to operate software functions. In our research, we designed an improved graphical user interface - a tool ball that is operated by a mouse wheel to perform software functions. Several experiments are conducted to measure the time needed to operate certain software functions with the traditional combination of "mouse click + tool button" and the proposed integration of "mouse wheel + tool ball". The results indicate that the tool ball design can accelerate the speed of operating software functions, decrease the number of icons on the screen, and enlarge the applications of the mouse wheel. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

SINQ layout, operation, applications and R&D to high power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, G. S.; Dai, Y.; Wagner, W.

2002-09-01

Since 1997, the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) is operating a 1 MW class research spallation neutron source, named SINQ. SINQ is driven by a cascade of three accelerators, the final stage being a 590 MeV isochronous ring cyclotron which delivers a beam current of 1.8 mA at an rf-frequency of 51 MHz. Since for neutron production this is essentially a dc-device, SINQ is a continuous neutron source and is optimized in its design for high time average neutron flux. This makes the facility similar to a research reactor in terms of utilization, but, in terms of beam power, it is, by a large margin, the most powerful spallation neutron source currently in operation world wide. As a consequence, target load levels prevail in SINQ which are beyond the realm of existing experience, demanding a careful approach to the design and operation of a high power target. While the best neutronic performance of the source is expected for a liquid lead-bismuth eutectic target, no experience with such systems exists. For this reason a staged approach has been embarked upon, starting with a heavy water cooled rod target of Zircaloy-2 and proceeding via steel clad lead rods towards the final goal of a target optimised in both, neutronic performance and service life time. Experience currently accruing with a test target containing sample rods with different materials specimens will help to select the proper structural material and make dependable life time estimates accounting for the real operating conditions that prevail in the facility. In parallel, both theoretical and experimental work is going on within the MEGAPIE (MEGAwatt Pilot Experiment) project, a joint initiative by six European research institutions and JAERI (Japan), DOE (USA) and KAERI (Korea), to design, build, operate and explore a liquid lead-bismuth spallation target for 1MW of beam power, taking advantage of the existing spallation neutron facility SINQ.

Improving OBS operations in ultra-deep ocean during the Southern Mariana Trench expeditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, X.; Lin, J.; Xu, M.; Zhou, Z.

2017-12-01

The Mariana Trench Research Initiative, led by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and through international collaboration, focuses on investigating the deep and shallow lithospheric structure, earthquake characteristics, extreme geological environments, and the controlling geodynamic mechanisms for the formation of Earth's deepest basins in the southern Mariana Trench. Two multidisciplinary research expeditions were executed during December 2016 and June 2017, respectively, on board R/V Shiyan 3. A main task of the Mariana Initiative is to conduct the Southern Mariana OBS Experiment (SMOE), the first OBS seismic experiment across the Challenger Deep. The SMOE expeditions include both active and passive source seismic experiments and employed a large number of broadband OBS instruments. Due to the deep water, rough weather, strong winds, and other unfavorable factors, it was challenging to deploy/recover the OBSs. During the two expeditions we developed and experimented with a number of ways to improve the success rate of OBS operations in the harsh ultra-deep ocean environment of the Southern Mariana Trench. All newly acquired OBSs underwent a series of uniquely designed deep-ocean tests to improve the instrument performance and maximize reliability during their deployment under the ultra-high pressure conditions. The OBS deployment and recovery followed a unified standard operation procedure and aided by an instrumental checklist, which were specifically designed and strictly enforced for operation during the expeditions. Furthermore, an advanced ship-based radio positioning system was developed to rapidly and accurately locate the OBS instruments when they reached the sea surface; the system proved its effectiveness even under extreme weather conditions. Through the development and application of the novel methods for operation in deep oceans, we overcame the rough sea and other unfavorable factors during the first two expeditions to the southern Mariana Trench and achieved a highly successful OBS operation program.

Evolution of the SOFIA tracking control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiebig, Norbert; Jakob, Holger; Pfüller, Enrico; Röser, Hans-Peter; Wiedemann, Manuel; Wolf, Jürgen

2014-07-01

The airborne observatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is undergoing a modernization of its tracking system. This included new, highly sensitive tracking cameras, control computers, filter wheels and other equipment, as well as a major redesign of the control software. The experiences along the migration path from an aged 19" VMbus based control system to the application of modern industrial PCs, from VxWorks real-time operating system to embedded Linux and a state of the art software architecture are presented. Further, the concept is presented to operate the new camera also as a scientific instrument, in parallel to tracking.

Optimization of the Brillouin operator on the KNL architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dürr, Stephan

2018-03-01

Experiences with optimizing the matrix-times-vector application of the Brillouin operator on the Intel KNL processor are reported. Without adjustments to the memory layout, performance figures of 360 Gflop/s in single and 270 Gflop/s in double precision are observed. This is with Nc = 3 colors, Nv = 12 right-hand-sides, Nthr = 256 threads, on lattices of size 323 × 64, using exclusively OMP pragmas. Interestingly, the same routine performs quite well on Intel Core i7 architectures, too. Some observations on the much harderWilson fermion matrix-times-vector optimization problem are added.

Flight control system design factors for applying automated testing techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sitz, Joel R.; Vernon, Todd H.

1990-01-01

Automated validation of flight-critical embedded systems is being done at ARC Dryden Flight Research Facility. The automated testing techniques are being used to perform closed-loop validation of man-rated flight control systems. The principal design features and operational experiences of the X-29 forward-swept-wing aircraft and F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) automated test systems are discussed. Operationally applying automated testing techniques has accentuated flight control system features that either help or hinder the application of these techniques. The paper also discusses flight control system features which foster the use of automated testing techniques.

Dashboard Task Monitor for Managing ATLAS User Analysis on the Grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargsyan, L.; Andreeva, J.; Jha, M.; Karavakis, E.; Kokoszkiewicz, L.; Saiz, P.; Schovancova, J.; Tuckett, D.; Atlas Collaboration

2014-06-01

The organization of the distributed user analysis on the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) infrastructure is one of the most challenging tasks among the computing activities at the Large Hadron Collider. The Experiment Dashboard offers a solution that not only monitors but also manages (kill, resubmit) user tasks and jobs via a web interface. The ATLAS Dashboard Task Monitor provides analysis users with a tool that is independent of the operating system and Grid environment. This contribution describes the functionality of the application and its implementation details, in particular authentication, authorization and audit of the management operations.

Cryogenic motion performances of a piezoelectric single crystal micromotor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaotian; Wu, Yuting; Chen, Zhijiang; Wei, Xiaoyong; Luo, Haosu; Dong, Shuxiang

2014-04-01

This study investigates the cryogenic performances of a millimeter-size piezoelectric ultrasonic linear micromotor. The piezoelectric vibrator of the micromotor is made of Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3 -Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-PbTiO3 single crystal and operated in first-bending wobbling mode. Experiments show that the piezoelectric single crystal micromotor works effectively even at extremely low temperature of -175 °C, although its resonance peaks vary with temperature significantly. This work confirms the feasibility of cryogenic operation of the piezo-micromotor, which is meaningful for aerospace or superconducting microwave application.

Characterisation of Vanilla—A novel active pixel sensor for radiation detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blue, A.; Bates, R.; Laing, A.; Maneuski, D.; O'Shea, V.; Clark, A.; Prydderch, M.; Turchetta, R.; Arvanitis, C.; Bohndiek, S.

2007-10-01

Novel features of a new monolithic active pixel sensor, Vanilla, with 520×520 pixels ( 25 μm square) has been characterised for the first time. Optimisation of the sensor operation was made through variation of frame rates, integration times and on-chip biases and voltages. Features such as flushed reset operation, ROI capturing and readout modes have been fully tested. Stability measurements were performed to test its suitablility for long-term applications. These results suggest the Vanilla sensor—along with bio-medical and space applications—is suitable for use in particle physics experiments.

Hollow-Cathode Source Generates Plasma

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deininger, W. D.; Aston, G.; Pless, L. C.

1989-01-01

Device generates argon, krypton, or xenon plasma via thermionic emission and electrical discharge within hollow cathode and ejects plasma into surrounding vacuum. Goes from cold start up to full operation in less than 5 s after initial application of power. Exposed to moist air between operations without significant degradation of starting and running characteristics. Plasma generated by electrical discharge in cathode barrel sustained and aided by thermionic emission from emitter tube. Emitter tube does not depend on rare-earth oxides, making it vulnerable to contamination by exposure to atmosphere. Device modified for use as source of plasma in laboratory experiments or industrial processes.

A data transmission method for particle physics experiments based on Ethernet physical layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Xi-Ru; Cao, Ping; Zheng, Jia-Jun

2015-11-01

Due to its advantages of universality, flexibility and high performance, fast Ethernet is widely used in readout system design for modern particle physics experiments. However, Ethernet is usually used together with the TCP/IP protocol stack, which makes it difficult to implement readout systems because designers have to use the operating system to process this protocol. Furthermore, TCP/IP degrades the transmission efficiency and real-time performance. To maximize the performance of Ethernet in physics experiment applications, a data readout method based on the physical layer (PHY) is proposed. In this method, TCP/IP is replaced with a customized and simple protocol, which makes it easier to implement. On each readout module, data from the front-end electronics is first fed into an FPGA for protocol processing and then sent out to a PHY chip controlled by this FPGA for transmission. This kind of data path is fully implemented by hardware. From the side of the data acquisition system (DAQ), however, the absence of a standard protocol causes problems for the network related applications. To solve this problem, in the operating system kernel space, data received by the network interface card is redirected from the traditional flow to a specified memory space by a customized program. This memory space can easily be accessed by applications in user space. For the purpose of verification, a prototype system has been designed and implemented. Preliminary test results show that this method can meet the requirements of data transmission from the readout module to the DAQ with an efficient and simple manner. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11005107) and Independent Projects of State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics (201301)

Automated Long-Term Monitoring of Parallel Microfluidic Operations Applying a Machine Vision-Assisted Positioning Method

PubMed Central

Yip, Hon Ming; Li, John C. S.; Cui, Xin; Gao, Qiannan; Leung, Chi Chiu

2014-01-01

As microfluidics has been applied extensively in many cell and biochemical applications, monitoring the related processes is an important requirement. In this work, we design and fabricate a high-throughput microfluidic device which contains 32 microchambers to perform automated parallel microfluidic operations and monitoring on an automated stage of a microscope. Images are captured at multiple spots on the device during the operations for monitoring samples in microchambers in parallel; yet the device positions may vary at different time points throughout operations as the device moves back and forth on a motorized microscopic stage. Here, we report an image-based positioning strategy to realign the chamber position before every recording of microscopic image. We fabricate alignment marks at defined locations next to the chambers in the microfluidic device as reference positions. We also develop image processing algorithms to recognize the chamber positions in real-time, followed by realigning the chambers to their preset positions in the captured images. We perform experiments to validate and characterize the device functionality and the automated realignment operation. Together, this microfluidic realignment strategy can be a platform technology to achieve precise positioning of multiple chambers for general microfluidic applications requiring long-term parallel monitoring of cell and biochemical activities. PMID:25133248

Mobile robotics application in the nuclear industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, S.L.; White, J.R.

1995-03-01

Mobile robots have been developed to perform hazardous operations in place of human workers. Applications include nuclear plant inspection/maintenance, decontamination and decommissioning police/military explosive ordinance disposal (EOD), hostage/terrorist negotiations and fire fighting. Nuclear facilities have proven that robotic applications can be cost-effective solutions to reducing personnel exposure and plant downtime. The first applications of mobile robots in the nuclear industry began in the early 1980`s, with the first vehicles being one of a kind machines or adaptations of commercial EOD robots. These activities included efforts by numerous commercial companies, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, EPRI, and several national laboratories. Somemore » of these efforts were driven by the recovery and cleanup activities at TMI which demonstrated the potential and need for a remote means of performing surveillance and maintenance tasks in nuclear plants. The use of these machines is now becoming commonplace in nuclear facilities throughout the world. The hardware maturity and the confidence of the users has progressed to the point where the applications of mobile robots is not longer considered a novelty. These machines are being used in applications where the result is to help achieve more aggressive goals for personnel radiation exposure and plant availability, perform tasks more efficiently, and allow plant operators to retrieve information from areas previously considered inaccessible. Typical examples include surveillance in high radiation areas (during operation and outage activities), radiation surveys, waste handling, and decontamination evolutions. This paper will discuss this evolution including specific applications experiences, examples of currently available technology, and the benefits derived from the use of mobile robotic vehicles in commercial nuclear power facilities.« less

A learning controller for nonrepetitive robotic operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, W. T., III

1987-01-01

A practical learning control system is described which is applicable to complex robotic and telerobotic systems involving multiple feedback sensors and multiple command variables. In the controller, the learning algorithm is used to learn to reproduce the nonlinear relationship between the sensor outputs and the system command variables over particular regions of the system state space, rather than learning the actuator commands required to perform a specific task. The learned information is used to predict the command signals required to produce desired changes in the sensor outputs. The desired sensor output changes may result from automatic trajectory planning or may be derived from interactive input from a human operator. The learning controller requires no a priori knowledge of the relationships between the sensor outputs and the command variables. The algorithm is well suited for real time implementation, requiring only fixed point addition and logical operations. The results of learning experiments using a General Electric P-5 manipulator interfaced to a VAX-11/730 computer are presented. These experiments involved interactive operator control, via joysticks, of the position and orientation of an object in the field of view of a video camera mounted on the end of the robot arm.

The Selfish Goal

PubMed Central

Bargh, John A.; Green, Michelle; Fitzsimons, Gráinne

2008-01-01

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that consciously intended goal pursuits have unintended consequences for social judgment and behavior. From evolutionary theory (Dawkins 1976/2006) and empirical evidence of a nonconscious mode of goal pursuit (Bargh, 2005) we derive the hypothesis that most human goal pursuits are open-ended in nature: Once active, goals will operate on goal-relevant content in the environment, even if that content is not the intended focus of the conscious goal. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that goals to evaluate a job applicant for either a waiter or crime reporter position also shape impressions of incidental bystanders in the situation, such that the bystander is later liked or disliked not on his own merits, but on how well his behavior matches the criteria consciously applied in evaluating the job applicant. Experiment 3 finds that a goal to help a specific target person spills over to influence actions toward incidental bystanders, but only while active. Implications of these findings for goal pursuit in everyday life are discussed. PMID:19081795

Automated space processing payloads study. Volume 2, book 1: Technical report. [instrument packages and space shuttles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The extent was investigated to which experiment hardware and operational requirements can be met by automatic control and material handling devices; payload and system concepts that make extensive use of automation technology are defined. Hardware requirements for each experiment were established and tabulated, and investigations of applicable existing hardware were documented. The capabilities and characteristics of industrial automation equipment, controls, and techniques are presented in the form of a summary of applicable equipment characteristics in three basic mutually-supporting formats. Facilities for performing groups of experiments are defined along with four levitation groups and three furnace groups; major hardware elements required to implement them were identified. A conceptual design definition of ten different automated processing facilities is presented along with the specific equipment to implement each facility and the design layouts of the different units. Constraints and packaging, weight, and power requirements for six payloads postulated for shuttle missions in the 1979 to 1982 time period were examined.

High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter Generation, Characterization, and Disposal Experiences at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coffey, D. E.

2002-02-28

High Efficiency Particulate Air filtration is an essential component of the containment and ventilation systems supporting the research and development activities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. High Efficiency Particulate Air filters range in size from 7.6cm (3 inch) by 10.2 cm (4 inch) cylindrical shape filters to filter array assemblies up to 2.1 m (7 feet) high by 1.5 m (5 feet) wide. Spent filters are grouped by contaminates trapped in the filter media and become one of the components in the respective waste stream. Waste minimization and pollution prevention efforts are applied for both radiological and non-radiological applications.more » Radiological applications include laboratory hoods, glove boxes, and hot cells. High Efficiency Particulate Air filters also are generated from intake or pre-filtering applications, decontamination activities, and asbestos abatement applications. The disposal avenues include sanitary/industrial waste, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Toxic Substance Control Act, regulated waste, solid low-level waste, contact handled transuranic, and remote handled transuranic waste. This paper discusses characterization and operational experiences associated with the disposal of the spent filters across multiple applications.« less

Dynamic Analyses of Result Quality in Energy-Aware Approximate Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

RIngenburg, Michael F.

Energy efficiency is a key concern in the design of modern computer systems. One promising approach to energy-efficient computation, approximate computing, trades off output precision for energy efficiency. However, this tradeoff can have unexpected effects on computation quality. This thesis presents dynamic analysis tools to study, debug, and monitor the quality and energy efficiency of approximate computations. We propose three styles of tools: prototyping tools that allow developers to experiment with approximation in their applications, online tools that instrument code to determine the key sources of error, and online tools that monitor the quality of deployed applications in real time. Our prototyping tool is based on an extension to the functional language OCaml. We add approximation constructs to the language, an approximation simulator to the runtime, and profiling and auto-tuning tools for studying and experimenting with energy-quality tradeoffs. We also present two online debugging tools and three online monitoring tools. The first online tool identifies correlations between output quality and the total number of executions of, and errors in, individual approximate operations. The second tracks the number of approximate operations that flow into a particular value. Our online tools comprise three low-cost approaches to dynamic quality monitoring. They are designed to monitor quality in deployed applications without spending more energy than is saved by approximation. Online monitors can be used to perform real time adjustments to energy usage in order to meet specific quality goals. We present prototype implementations of all of these tools and describe their usage with several applications. Our prototyping, profiling, and autotuning tools allow us to experiment with approximation strategies and identify new strategies, our online tools succeed in providing new insights into the effects of approximation on output quality, and our monitors succeed in controlling output quality while still maintaining significant energy efficiency gains.

The time-frequency method of signal analysis in internal combustion engine diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avramchuk, V. S.; Kazmin, V. P.; Faerman, V. A.; Le, V. T.

2017-01-01

The paper presents the results of the study of applicability of time-frequency correlation functions to solving the problems of internal combustion engine fault diagnostics. The proposed methods are theoretically justified and experimentally tested. In particular, the method’s applicability is illustrated by the example of specially generated signals that simulate the vibration of an engine both during the normal operation and in the case of a malfunction in the system supplying fuel to the cylinders. This method was confirmed during an experiment with an automobile internal combustion engine. The study offers the main findings of the simulation and the experiment and highlights certain characteristic features of time-frequency autocorrelation functions that allow one to identify malfunctions in an engine’s cylinder. The possibility in principle of using time-frequency correlation functions in function testing of the internal combustion engine is demonstrated. The paper’s conclusion proposes further research directions including the application of the method to diagnosing automobile gearboxes.

Neural networks for simultaneous classification and parameter estimation in musical instrument control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Michael; Freed, Adrian; Wessel, David

1992-08-01

In this report we present our tools for prototyping adaptive user interfaces in the context of real-time musical instrument control. Characteristic of most human communication is the simultaneous use of classified events and estimated parameters. We have integrated a neural network object into the MAX language to explore adaptive user interfaces that considers these facets of human communication. By placing the neural processing in the context of a flexible real-time musical programming environment, we can rapidly prototype experiments on applications of adaptive interfaces and learning systems to musical problems. We have trained networks to recognize gestures from a Mathews radio baton, Nintendo Power GloveTM, and MIDI keyboard gestural input devices. In one experiment, a network successfully extracted classification and attribute data from gestural contours transduced by a continuous space controller, suggesting their application in the interpretation of conducting gestures and musical instrument control. We discuss network architectures, low-level features extracted for the networks to operate on, training methods, and musical applications of adaptive techniques.

Chemical exposure among professional ski waxers--characterization of individual work operations.

PubMed

Freberg, Baard Ingegerdsson; Olsen, Raymond; Thorud, Syvert; Ellingsen, Dag G; Daae, Hanne Line; Hersson, Merete; Molander, Paal

2013-04-01

Preparation of skis prior to skiing competitions involves several individual work operations and the use of a wide variety of chemically based ski waxing products to improve the performance of the skis, including products used after skiing for wax removal and ski sole cleaning. Modern ski waxes consist mainly of petroleum-derived straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, perfluoro-n-alkanes or polyfluorinated n-alkanes. The wax cleaning products contain solvents such as neat aliphatic hydrocarbons (aliphates) or a mixture with limonene. Different ski waxing work operations can result in contaminated workroom atmospheres. The aim of this study was to assess the chemical exposures related to the individual ski waxing work operations by investigating the specific work operations in controlled model experiments. Four main work operations with potential exposures were identified: (i) application of glider waxes, (ii) scraping and brushing of applied glider waxes, (iii) application of base/grip waxes, and (iv) ski sole cleaning. Aerosol particle masses were sampled using conical samplers equipped with 37-mm PVC, 5-µm pore size filters and cyclones equipped with 37-mm PVC, 0.8-µm pore size filters for the inhalable and the respirable aerosol mass fractions, respectively. For measurements of particle number concentrations, a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer was used. Mean aerosol particle mass concentrations of 18.6 mg m(-3) and 32.2 mg m(-3) were measured during application of glider wax powders in the respirable and in the inhalable aerosol mass fractions, respectively. Particle number concentration of ~900 000 particles cm(-3) was measured during application of glider wax powder products. Ski sole cleaning with products containing aliphates displayed solvent air concentrations up to 62.5 p.p.m. This study shows that the potential exposure to generated particles during ski waxing and ski preparation is considerable, especially during work using glide wax powders.

SAMS Acceleration Measurements on Mir from June to November 1995

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLombard, Richard; Hrovat, Ken; Moskowitz, Milton; McPherson, Kevin

1996-01-01

The NASA Microgravity Science and Applications Division (MSAD) sponsors science experiments on a variety of microgravity carriers, including sounding rockets, drop towers, parabolic aircraft, and Orbiter missions. The MSAD sponsors the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) to support microgravity science experiments with acceleration measurements to characterize the microgravity environment to which the experiments were exposed. The Principal Investigator Microgravity Services project at the NASA Lewis Research Center supports principal investigators of microgravity experiments as they evaluate the effects of varying acceleration levels on their experiments. In 1993, a cooperative effort was started between the United States and Russia involving science utilization of the Russian Mir space station by scientists from the United States and Russia. MSAD is currently sponsoring science experiments participating in the Shuttle-Mir Science Program in cooperation with the Russians on the Mir space station. Included in the complement of MSAD experiments and equipment is a SAMS unit In a manner similar to Orbiter mission support, the SAMS unit supports science experiments from the U.S. and Russia by measuring the microgravity environment during experiment operations. The initial SAMS supported experiment was a Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment from June to November 1995. SAMS data were obtained during the PCG operations on Mir in accordance with the PCG Principal Investigator's requirements. This report presents an overview of the SAMS data recorded to support this PCG experiment. The report contains plots of the SAMS 100 Hz sensor head data as an overview of the microgravity environment, including the STS-74 Shuttle-Mir docking.

Application of CUSA Excel ultrasonic aspiration system in resection of skull base meningiomas.

PubMed

Tang, Hailiang; Zhang, Haishi; Xie, Qing; Gong, Ye; Zheng, Mingzhe; Wang, Daijun; Zhu, Hongda; Chen, Xiancheng; Zhou, Liangfu

2014-12-01

Here, we introduced our short experience on the application of a new CUSA Excel ultrasonic aspiration system, which was provided by Integra Lifesciences corporation, in skull base meningiomas resection. Ten patients with anterior, middle skull base and sphenoid ridge meningioma were operated using the CUSA Excel ultrasonic aspiration system at the Neurosurgery Department of Shanghai Huashan Hospital from August 2014 to October 2014. There were six male and four female patients, aged from 38 to 61 years old (the mean age was 48.5 years old). Five cases with tumor located at anterior skull base, three cases with tumor on middle skull base, and two cases with tumor on sphenoid ridge. All the patents received total resection of meningiomas with the help of this new tool, and the critical brain vessels and nerves were preserved during operations. All the patients recovered well after operation. This new CUSA Excel ultrasonic aspiration system has the advantage of preserving vital brain arteries and cranial nerves during skull base meningioma resection, which is very important for skull base tumor operations. This key step would ensure a well prognosis for patients. We hope the neurosurgeons would benefit from this kind of technique.

Software for MR image overlay guided needle insertions: the clinical translation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ungi, Tamas; U-Thainual, Paweena; Fritz, Jan; Iordachita, Iulian I.; Flammang, Aaron J.; Carrino, John A.; Fichtinger, Gabor

2013-03-01

PURPOSE: Needle guidance software using augmented reality image overlay was translated from the experimental phase to support preclinical and clinical studies. Major functional and structural changes were needed to meet clinical requirements. We present the process applied to fulfill these requirements, and selected features that may be applied in the translational phase of other image-guided surgical navigation systems. METHODS: We used an agile software development process for rapid adaptation to unforeseen clinical requests. The process is based on iterations of operating room test sessions, feedback discussions, and software development sprints. The open-source application framework of 3D Slicer and the NA-MIC kit provided sufficient flexibility and stable software foundations for this work. RESULTS: All requirements were addressed in a process with 19 operating room test iterations. Most features developed in this phase were related to workflow simplification and operator feedback. CONCLUSION: Efficient and affordable modifications were facilitated by an open source application framework and frequent clinical feedback sessions. Results of cadaver experiments show that software requirements were successfully solved after a limited number of operating room tests.

Zero Gravity Research Facility User's Guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Dennis M.

1999-01-01

The Zero Gravity Research Facility (ZGF) is operated by the Space Experiments Division of the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center (GRC) for investigators sponsored by the Microgravity Science and Applications Division of NASA Headquarters. This unique facility has been utilized by scientists and engineers for reduced gravity experimentation since 1966. The ZGF has provided fundamental scientific information, has been used as an important test facility in the space flight hardware design, development, and test process, and has also been a valuable source of data in the flight experiment definition process. The purpose of this document is to provide information and guidance to prospective researchers regarding the design, buildup, and testing of microgravity experiments.

Knowledge, Experience, and Training in Incentive Contracting for the Department of Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-30

to include information on both the development and application of objective incentives to achieve program outcomes while rewarding the contractor...qÜáêíÉÉåíÜ=^ååì~ä= ^Åèìáëáíáçå=oÉëÉ~êÅÜ= póãéçëáìã= qÜìêëÇ~ó=pÉëëáçåë= sçäìãÉ=ff= = Knowledge, Experience, and Training in Incentive Contracting for the...Professor of Operations Management, Ivey Business School Knowledge, Experience, and Training in Incentive Contracting for the Department of Defense Kevin

The photoelectric effect and study of the diffraction of light: Two new experiments in UNILabs virtual and remote laboratories network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedro Sánchez, Juan; Sáenz, Jacobo; de la Torre, Luis; Carreras, Carmen; Yuste, Manuel; Heradio, Rubén; Dormido, Sebastián

2016-05-01

This work describes two experiments: "study of the diffraction of light: Fraunhofer approximation" and "the photoelectric effect". Both of them count with a virtual, simulated, version of the experiment as well as with a real one which can be operated remotely. The two previous virtual and remote labs (built using Easy Java(script) Simulations) are integrated in UNILabs, a network of online interactive laboratories based on the free Learning Management System Moodle. In this web environment, students can find not only the virtual and remote labs but also manuals with related theory, the user interface description for each application, and so on.

Thermal and orbital analysis of Earth monitoring Sun-synchronous space experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Killough, Brian D.

1990-01-01

The fundamentals of an Earth monitoring Sun-synchronous orbit are presented. A Sun-synchronous Orbit Analysis Program (SOAP) was developed to calculate orbital parameters for an entire year. The output from this program provides the required input data for the TRASYS thermal radiation computer code, which in turn computes the infrared, solar and Earth albedo heat fluxes incident on a space experiment. Direct incident heat fluxes can be used as input to a generalized thermal analyzer program to size radiators and predict instrument operating temperatures. The SOAP computer code and its application to the thermal analysis methodology presented, should prove useful to the thermal engineer during the design phases of Earth monitoring Sun-synchronous space experiments.

General Purpose Data-Driven Monitoring for Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iverson, David L.; Martin, Rodney A.; Schwabacher, Mark A.; Spirkovska, Liljana; Taylor, William McCaa; Castle, Joseph P.; Mackey, Ryan M.

2009-01-01

As modern space propulsion and exploration systems improve in capability and efficiency, their designs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Determining the health state of these systems, using traditional parameter limit checking, model-based, or rule-based methods, is becoming more difficult as the number of sensors and component interactions grow. Data-driven monitoring techniques have been developed to address these issues by analyzing system operations data to automatically characterize normal system behavior. System health can be monitored by comparing real-time operating data with these nominal characterizations, providing detection of anomalous data signatures indicative of system faults or failures. The Inductive Monitoring System (IMS) is a data-driven system health monitoring software tool that has been successfully applied to several aerospace applications. IMS uses a data mining technique called clustering to analyze archived system data and characterize normal interactions between parameters. The scope of IMS based data-driven monitoring applications continues to expand with current development activities. Successful IMS deployment in the International Space Station (ISS) flight control room to monitor ISS attitude control systems has led to applications in other ISS flight control disciplines, such as thermal control. It has also generated interest in data-driven monitoring capability for Constellation, NASA's program to replace the Space Shuttle with new launch vehicles and spacecraft capable of returning astronauts to the moon, and then on to Mars. Several projects are currently underway to evaluate and mature the IMS technology and complementary tools for use in the Constellation program. These include an experiment on board the Air Force TacSat-3 satellite, and ground systems monitoring for NASA's Ares I-X and Ares I launch vehicles. The TacSat-3 Vehicle System Management (TVSM) project is a software experiment to integrate fault and anomaly detection algorithms and diagnosis tools with executive and adaptive planning functions contained in the flight software on-board the Air Force Research Laboratory TacSat-3 satellite. The TVSM software package will be uploaded after launch to monitor spacecraft subsystems such as power and guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C). It will analyze data in real-time to demonstrate detection of faults and unusual conditions, diagnose problems, and react to threats to spacecraft health and mission goals. The experiment will demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of integrated system health management (ISHM) technologies with both ground and on-board experiments.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the Fast-SAGD process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Hyundon

The SAGD process has been tested in the field, and is now in a commercial stage in Western Canadian oil sands areas. The Fast-SAGD method can partly solve the drilling difficulty and reduce costs in a SAGD operation requiring paired parallel wells one above the other. This method also enhances the thermal efficiency in the reservoir. In this research, the reservoir parameters and operating conditions for the SAGD and Fast-SAGD processes are investigated by numerical simulation in the three Alberta oil sands areas. Scaled physical model experiments, which are operated by an automated process control system, are conducted under high temperature and high pressure conditions. The results of the study indicate that the shallow Athabasca-type reservoir, which is thick with high permeability (high kxh), is a good candidate for SAGD application, whereas Cold Lake- and Peace River-type reservoirs, which are thin with low permeability, are not as good candidates for conventional SAGD implementation. The simulation results indicate improved energy efficiency and productivity in most cases for the Fast-SAGD process; in those cases, the project economics were enhanced compared to the SAGD process. Both Cold Lake- and Peace River-type reservoirs are good candidates for a Fast-SAGD application rather than a conventional SAGD application. This new process demonstrates improved efficiency and lower costs for extracting heavy oil from these important reservoirs. A new economic indicator, called simple thermal efficiency parameter (STEP), was developed and validated to evaluate the performance of a SAGD project. STEP is based on cumulative steam-oil ratio (CSOR), calendar day oil rate (CDOR) and recovery factor (RF) for the time prior to the steam-oil ratio (SOR) attaining 4. STEP can be used as a financial metric quantitatively as well as qualitatively for this type of thermal project. An automated process control system was set-up and validated, and has the capability of controlling and handling steam injection processes like the steam-assisted gravity drainage process. The results of these preliminary experiments showed the overall cumulative oil production to be larger in the Fast-SAGD case, but end-point CSOR to be lower in the SAGD case. History matching results indicated that the steam quality was as low as 0.3 in the SAGD experiments, and even lower in the Fast-SAGD experiments after starting the CSS.

RoboLab and virtual environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giarratano, Joseph C.

1994-01-01

A useful adjunct to the manned space station would be a self-contained free-flying laboratory (RoboLab). This laboratory would have a robot operated under telepresence from the space station or ground. Long duration experiments aboard RoboLab could be performed by astronauts or scientists using telepresence to operate equipment and perform experiments. Operating the lab by telepresence would eliminate the need for life support such as food, water and air. The robot would be capable of motion in three dimensions, have binocular vision TV cameras, and two arms with manipulators to simulate hands. The robot would move along a two-dimensional grid and have a rotating, telescoping periscope section for extension in the third dimension. The remote operator would wear a virtual reality type headset to allow the superposition of computer displays over the real-time video of the lab. The operators would wear exoskeleton type arms to facilitate the movement of objects and equipment operation. The combination of video displays, motion, and the exoskeleton arms would provide a high degree of telepresence, especially for novice users such as scientists doing short-term experiments. The RoboLab could be resupplied and samples removed on other space shuttle flights. A self-contained RoboLab module would be designed to fit within the cargo bay of the space shuttle. Different modules could be designed for specific applications, i.e., crystal-growing, medicine, life sciences, chemistry, etc. This paper describes a RoboLab simulation using virtual reality (VR). VR provides an ideal simulation of telepresence before the actual robot and laboratory modules are constructed. The easy simulation of different telepresence designs will produce a highly optimum design before construction rather than the more expensive and time consuming hardware changes afterwards.

Utilization of Internet Protocol-Based Voice Systems in Remote Payload Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chamberlain, jim; Bradford, Bob; Best, Susan; Nichols, Kelvin

2002-01-01

Due to limited crew availability to support science and the large number of experiments to be operated simultaneously, telescience is key to a successful International Space Station (ISS) science program. Crew, operations personnel at NASA centers, and researchers at universities and companies around the world must work closely together to per orm scientific experiments on-board ISS. The deployment of reliable high-speed Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks promises to greatly enhance telescience capabilities. These networks are now being used to cost-effectively extend the reach of remote mission support systems. They reduce the need for dedicated leased lines and travel while improving distributed workgroup collaboration capabilities. NASA has initiated use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to supplement the existing mission voice communications system used by researchers at their remote sites. The Internet Voice Distribution System (IVoDS) connects remote researchers to mission support "loopsll or conferences via NASA networks and Internet 2. Researchers use NODS software on personal computers to talk with operations personnel at NASA centers. IVoDS also has the ;capability, if authorized, to allow researchers to communicate with the ISS crew during experiment operations. NODS was developed by Marshall Space Flight Center with contractors & Technology, First Virtual Communications, Lockheed-Martin, and VoIP Group. NODS is currently undergoing field-testing with full deployment for up to 50 simultaneous users expected in 2002. Research is being performed in parallel with IVoDS deployment for a next-generation system to qualitatively enhance communications among ISS operations personnel. In addition to the current voice capability, video and data/application-sharing capabilities are being investigated. IVoDS technology is also being considered for mission support systems for programs such as Space Launch Initiative and Homeland Defense.

Robot map building based on fuzzy-extending DSmT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinde; Huang, Xinhan; Wu, Zuyu; Peng, Gang; Wang, Min; Xiong, Youlun

2007-11-01

With the extensive application of mobile robots in many different fields, map building in unknown environments has been one of the principal issues in the field of intelligent mobile robot. However, Information acquired in map building presents characteristics of uncertainty, imprecision and even high conflict, especially in the course of building grid map using sonar sensors. In this paper, we extended DSmT with Fuzzy theory by considering the different fuzzy T-norm operators (such as Algebraic Product operator, Bounded Product operator, Einstein Product operator and Default minimum operator), in order to develop a more general and flexible combinational rule for more extensive application. At the same time, we apply fuzzy-extended DSmT to mobile robot map building with the help of new self-localization method based on neighboring field appearance matching( -NFAM), to make the new tool more robust in very complex environment. An experiment is conducted to reconstruct the map with the new tool in indoor environment, in order to compare their performances in map building with four T-norm operators, when Pioneer II mobile robot runs along the same trace. Finally, a conclusion is reached that this study develops a new idea to extend DSmT, also provides a new approach for autonomous navigation of mobile robot, and provides a human-computer interactive interface to manage and manipulate the robot remotely.

Application of star identification using pattern matching to space ground systems at GSFC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fink, D.; Shoup, D.

1994-01-01

This paper reports the application of pattern recognition techniques for star identification based on those proposed by Van Bezooijen to space ground systems for near-real-time attitude determination. A prototype was developed using these algorithms, which was used to assess the suitability of these techniques for support of the X-Ray Timing Explorer (XTE), Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) missions. Experience with the prototype was used to refine specifications for the operational system. Different geometry tests appropriate to the mission requirements of XTE, SWAS, and SOHO were adopted. The applications of these techniques to upcoming mission support of XTE, SWAS, and SOHO are discussed.

Twenty and thirty GHz millimeter wave experiments with the ATS-6 satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ippolito, L. J.

1976-01-01

Studies at 11 locations in the continental United States were directed at an evaluation of rain attenuation effects, scintillations, depolarization, site diversity, coherence bandwidth, and analog and digital communications techniques using the Applications Technology Satellite-6(ATS-6). In addition to direct measurements on the 20- and 30-GHz links, methods of attenuation prediction with radars, rain gages, and radiometers were developed and compared with the directly measured attenuation. Initial data results of the ATS-6 millimeter wave experiment were presented. The first section describes the experiment objectives, flight hardware, and modes of operation. The remaining six sections present papers prepared by the major participating organizations in the experiment. The papers present a comprehensive summary of the significant results of the initial 11 months of ATS-6 experiment measurements and related radiometric, radar, and radio-meteorology studies.