On the Stability of Pick-up Ion Ring Distributions in the Outer Heliosheath

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Summerlin, Errol J.; Viñas, Adolfo F.; Moore, Thomas E.; Christian, Eric R.; Cooper, John F.

2014-10-01

The "secondary energetic neutral atom (ENA)" hypothesis for the ribbon feature observed by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) posits that the neutral component of the solar wind continues beyond the heliopause and charge exchanges with interstellar ions in the Outer Heliosheath (OHS). This creates pick-up ions that gyrate about the draped interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) lines at pitch angles near 90° on the locus where the ISMF lies tangential to the heliopause and perpendicular to the heliocentric radial direction. This location closely coincides with the location of the ribbon feature according to the prevailing inferences of the ISMF orientation and draping. The locally gyrating ions undergo additional charge exchange and escape as free-flying neutral atoms, many of which travel back toward the inner solar system and are imaged by IBEX as a ribbon tracing out the locus described above. For this mechanism to succeed, the pick-up ions must diffuse in pitch angle slowly enough to permit secondary charge exchange before their pitch angle distribution substantially broadens away from 90°. Previous work using linear Vlasov dispersion analysis of parallel propagating waves has suggested that the ring distribution in the OHS is highly unstable, which, if true, would make the secondary ENA hypothesis incapable of rendering the observed ribbon. In this paper, we extend this earlier work to more realistic ring distribution functions. We find that, at the low densities necessary to produce the observed IBEX ribbon via the secondary ENA hypothesis, growth rates are highly sensitive to the temperature of the beam and that even very modest temperatures of the ring beam corresponding to beam widths of <1° are sufficient to damp the self-generated waves associated with the ring beam. Thus, at least from the perspective of linear Vlasov dispersion analysis of parallel propagating waves, there is no reason to expect that the ring distributions necessary to produce the observed IBEX ENA flux via the secondary ENA hypothesis will be unstable to their own self-generated turbulence.

Pellet inspection apparatus

DOEpatents

Wilks, Robert S.; Taleff, Alexander; Sturges, Jr., Robert H.

1982-01-01

Apparatus for inspecting nuclear fuel pellets in a sealed container for diameter, flaws, length and weight. The apparatus includes, in an array, a pellet pick-up station, four pellet inspection stations and a pellet sorting station. The pellets are delivered one at a time to the pick-up station by a vibrating bowl through a vibrating linear conveyor. Grippers each associated with a successive pair of the stations are reciprocable together to pick up a pellet at the upstream station of each pair and to deposit the pellet at the corresponding downstream station. The gripper jaws are opened selectively depending on the state of the pellets at the stations and the particular cycle in which the apparatus is operating. Inspection for diameter, flaws and length is effected in each case by a laser beam projected on the pellets by a precise optical system while each pellet is rotated by rollers. Each laser and its optical system are mounted in a container which is free standing on a precise surface and is provided with locating buttons which engage locating holes in the surface so that each laser and its optical system is precisely set. The roller stands are likewise free standing and are similarly precisely positioned. The diameter optical system projects a thin beam of light which scans across the top of each pellet and is projected on a diode array. The fl GOVERNMENT CONTRACT CLAUSE The invention herein described was made in the course of or under a contract or subcontract thereunder with the Department of Energy bearing No. EY-67-14-C-2170.

Signal coupling to embedded pitch adapters in silicon sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artuso, M.; Betancourt, C.; Bezshyiko, I.; Blusk, S.; Bruendler, R.; Bugiel, S.; Dasgupta, R.; Dendek, A.; Dey, B.; Ely, S.; Lionetto, F.; Petruzzo, M.; Polyakov, I.; Rudolph, M.; Schindler, H.; Steinkamp, O.; Stone, S.

2018-01-01

We have examined the effects of embedded pitch adapters on signal formation in n-substrate silicon microstrip sensors with data from beam tests and simulation. According to simulation, the presence of the pitch adapter metal layer changes the electric field inside the sensor, resulting in slowed signal formation on the nearby strips and a pick-up effect on the pitch adapter. This can result in an inefficiency to detect particles passing through the pitch adapter region. All these effects have been observed in the beam test data.

A configurable electronics system for the ESS-Bilbao beam position monitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muguira, L.; Belver, D.; Etxebarria, V.; Varnasseri, S.; Arredondo, I.; del Campo, M.; Echevarria, P.; Garmendia, N.; Feuchtwanger, J.; Jugo, J.; Portilla, J.

2013-09-01

A versatile and configurable system has been developed in order to monitorize the beam position and to meet all the requirements of the future ESS-Bilbao Linac. At the same time the design has been conceived to be open and configurable so that it could eventually be used in different kinds of accelerators, independent of the charged particle, with minimal change. The design of the Beam Position Monitors (BPMs) system includes a test bench both for button-type pick-ups (PU) and striplines (SL), the electronic units and the control system. The electronic units consist of two main parts. The first part is an Analog Front-End (AFE) unit where the RF signals are filtered, conditioned and converted to base-band. The second part is a Digital Front-End (DFE) unit which is based on an FPGA board where the base-band signals are sampled in order to calculate the beam position, the amplitude and the phase. To manage the system a Multipurpose Controller (MC) developed at ESSB has been used. It includes the FPGA management, the EPICS integration and Archiver Instances. A description of the system and a comparison between the performance of both PU and SL BPM designs measured with this electronics system are fully described and discussed.

Automatic detection of lift-off and touch-down of a pick-up walker using 3D kinematics.

PubMed

Grootveld, L; Thies, S B; Ogden, D; Howard, D; Kenney, L P J

2014-02-01

Walking aids have been associated with falls and it is believed that incorrect use limits their usefulness. Measures are therefore needed that characterize their stable use and the classification of key events in walking aid movement is the first step in their development. This study presents an automated algorithm for detection of lift-off (LO) and touch-down (TD) events of a pick-up walker. For algorithm design and initial testing, a single user performed trials for which the four individual walker feet lifted off the ground and touched down again in various sequences, and for different amounts of frame loading (Dataset_1). For further validation, ten healthy young subjects walked with the pick-up walker on flat ground (Dataset_2a) and on a narrow beam (Dataset_2b), to challenge balance. One 88-year-old walking frame user was also assessed. Kinematic data were collected with a 3D optoelectronic camera system. The algorithm detected over 93% of events (Dataset_1), and 95% and 92% in Dataset_2a and b, respectively. Of the various LO/TD sequences, those associated with natural progression resulted in up to 100% correctly identified events. For the 88-year-old walking frame user, 96% of LO events and 93% of TD events were detected, demonstrating the potential of the approach. Copyright © 2013 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mass-loading, pile-up, and mirror-mode waves at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volwerk, M.; Richter, I.; Tsurutani, B.; Götz, C.; Altwegg, K.; Broiles, T.; Burch, J.; Carr, C.; Cupido, E.; Delva, M.; Dósa, M.; Edberg, N. J. T.; Eriksson, A.; Henri, P.; Koenders, C.; Lebreton, J.-P.; Mandt, K. E.; Nilsson, H.; Opitz, A.; Rubin, M.; Schwingenschuh, K.; Stenberg Wieser, G.; Szegö, K.; Vallat, C.; Vallieres, X.; Glassmeier, K.-H.

2016-01-01

The data from all Rosetta plasma consortium instruments and from the ROSINA COPS instrument are used to study the interaction of the solar wind with the outgassing cometary nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During 6 and 7 June 2015, the interaction was first dominated by an increase in the solar wind dynamic pressure, caused by a higher solar wind ion density. This pressure compressed the draped magnetic field around the comet, and the increase in solar wind electrons enhanced the ionization of the outflow gas through collisional ionization. The new ions are picked up by the solar wind magnetic field, and create a ring/ring-beam distribution, which, in a high-β plasma, is unstable for mirror mode wave generation. Two different kinds of mirror modes are observed: one of small size generated by locally ionized water and one of large size generated by ionization and pick-up farther away from the comet.

Mass-loading, pile-up, and mirror-mode waves at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volwerk, Martin

2016-04-01

The data from all Rosetta Plasma Consortium instruments and from the ROSINA COPS instrument are used to study the interaction of the solar wind with the outgassing cometary nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During 6 and 7 June 2015, the interaction was first dominated by an increase in the solar wind dynamic pressure, caused by a higher solar wind ion density. This pressure compressed the draped magnetic field around the comet, and the increase in solar wind electrons enhanced the ionization of the outflow gas through collisional ionization. The new ions are picked up by the solar wind magnetic field, and create a ring/ring-beam distribution, which, in a high-β plasma, is unstable for mirror mode wave generation. Two different kinds of mirror modes are observed: one of small size generated by locally ionized water and one of large size generated by ionization and pick-up farther away from the comet.

MgB2 magnetometer with a directly coupled pick-up loop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portesi, C.; Mijatovic, D.; Veldhuis, D.; Brinkman, A.; Monticone, E.; Gonnelli, R. S.

2006-05-01

In this work, we show the results obtained in the fabrication and characterization of an MgB2 magnetometer with a directly coupled pick-up loop. We used an all in situ technique for fabricating magnesium diboride films, which consists of the co-evaporation of B and Mg by means of an e-gun and a resistive heater respectively. Consequently, we realized the superconducting device, which incorporates two nanobridges as weak links in a superconducting loop. The nanobridges were realized by focused ion beam milling; they were 240 nm wide and had a critical current density of 107 A cm-2. The magnetometer was characterized at different temperatures and also measurements of the noise levels have been performed. The device shows Josephson quantum interference up to 20 K and the calculated effective area at low temperatures was 0.24 mm2. The transport properties of the magnetometer allow determining fundamental materials properties of the MgB2 thin films, such as the penetration depth.

A compact spin-exchange optical pumping system for 3He polarization based on a solenoid coil, a VBG laser diode, and a cosine theta RF coil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sungman; Kim, Jongyul; Moon, Myung Kook; Lee, Kye Hong; Lee, Seung Wook; Ino, Takashi; Skoy, Vadim R.; Lee, Manwoo; Kim, Guinyun

2013-02-01

For use as a neutron spin polarizer or analyzer in the neutron beam lines of the HANARO (High-flux Advanced Neutron Application ReactOr) nuclear research reactor, a 3He polarizer was designed based on both a compact solenoid coil and a VBG (volume Bragg grating) diode laser with a narrow spectral linewidth of 25 GHz. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signal was measured and analyzed using both a built-in cosine radio-frequency (RF) coil and a pick-up coil. Using a neutron transmission measurement, we estimated the polarization ratio of the 3He cell as 18% for an optical pumping time of 8 hours.

Primary adherence to antidepressant prescriptions in primary health care: a population-based study in Sweden.

PubMed

Freccero, Carl; Sundquist, Kristina; Sundquist, Jan; Ji, Jianguang

2016-01-01

Medical adherence is important in the treatment of depression. Primary medical adherence, i.e. patients collecting their newly prescribed medications from pharmacies, is very different depending on the drug prescribed To assess the rate of primary medical adherence in patients prescribed antidepressants and to identify characteristics that make patients less likely to pick up prescriptions. An observational study was performed using primary health care data from Sweden on patients who were prescribed antidepressants. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to determine differences in pick-up rate according to patient characteristics. Pick-up rate, defined as collection of a prescription within 30 days. A total of 11 624 patients received an antidepressant prescription during the study period, and the overall pick-up rate was 85.1%. The pick-up rate differed according to country of birth: individuals born in the Middle East and other countries outside Europe had lower primary medical adherence than Swedes, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 0.58 and 0.67, respectively. Patients at ages 64-79 years had a higher pick-up rate compared with those aged 25-44 years (OR 1.71). Divorced patients had a lower rate compared with married patients (OR 0.80). Immigrants from the Middle East and other countries outside Europe and younger and divorced patients had lower primary medical adherence, which calls for clinical attention and preventive measures. KEY POINTS Primary medical adherence is important in the treatment of depression. Are patient characteristics associated with primary medical adherence? The overall primary medical adherence rate was 85%. The rate differed by country of birth, age at diagnosis of depression, and marital status. Clinical attention is needed in patients who do not pick up their antidepressants.

Primary adherence to antidepressant prescriptions in primary health care: a population-based study in Sweden

PubMed Central

Freccero, Carl; Sundquist, Kristina; Sundquist, Jan; Ji, Jianguang

2016-01-01

Background Medical adherence is important in the treatment of depression. Primary medical adherence, i.e. patients collecting their newly prescribed medications from pharmacies, is very different depending on the drug prescribed Objective To assess the rate of primary medical adherence in patients prescribed antidepressants and to identify characteristics that make patients less likely to pick up prescriptions. Methods An observational study was performed using primary health care data from Sweden on patients who were prescribed antidepressants. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to determine differences in pick-up rate according to patient characteristics. Main outcome Pick-up rate, defined as collection of a prescription within 30 days. Results A total of 11 624 patients received an antidepressant prescription during the study period, and the overall pick-up rate was 85.1%. The pick-up rate differed according to country of birth: individuals born in the Middle East and other countries outside Europe had lower primary medical adherence than Swedes, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 0.58 and 0.67, respectively. Patients at ages 64–79 years had a higher pick-up rate compared with those aged 25–44 years (OR 1.71). Divorced patients had a lower rate compared with married patients (OR 0.80). Conclusion Immigrants from the Middle East and other countries outside Europe and younger and divorced patients had lower primary medical adherence, which calls for clinical attention and preventive measures. Key pointsPrimary medical adherence is important in the treatment of depression.Are patient characteristics associated with primary medical adherence?The overall primary medical adherence rate was 85%.The rate differed by country of birth, age at diagnosis of depression, and marital status.Clinical attention is needed in patients who do not pick up their antidepressants. PMID:26828942

Time-to-space mapping of a continuous light wave with picosecond time resolution based on an electrooptic beam deflection.

PubMed

Hisatake, S; Kobayashi, T

2006-12-25

We demonstrate a time-to-space mapping of an optical signal with a picosecond time resolution based on an electrooptic beam deflection. A time axis of the optical signal is mapped into a spatial replica by the deflection. We theoretically derive a minimum time resolution of the time-to-space mapping and confirm it experimentally on the basis of the pulse width of the optical pulses picked out from the deflected beam through a narrow slit which acts as a temporal window. We have achieved the minimum time resolution of 1.6+/-0.2 ps.

Sound radiation from randomly vibrating beams of finite circular cross section

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sutterlin, M. W.; Pierce, A. D.

1976-01-01

The radiation of sound from vibrating cylindrical beams is analyzed based on the frequency of the beam vibrations and the physical characteristics of the beam and its surroundings. A statistical analysis of random beam vibrations allows this result to be independent of the boundary conditions at the ends of the beam. The acoustic power radiated by the beam can be determined from a knowledge of the frequency band vibration data without a knowledge of the individual modal vibration amplitudes. A practical example of the usefulness of this technique is provided by the application of the theoretical calculations to the prediction of the octave band acoustic power output of the picking sticks of an automatic textile loom. Calculations are made of the expected octave band sound pressure levels based on measured acceleration data. These theoretical levels are subsequently compared with actual sound pressure level measurements of loom noise.

Investigations of Nuclear Structure

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

Sarantites, Demetrios; Reviol, W.

The proposal addresses studies of nuclear structure at low-energies and development of instrumentation for that purpose. The structure studies deal with features of neutron-rich nuclei with unexplored shapes (football- or pear-shaped nuclei). The regions of interest are: neutron rich nuclei like 132-138Sn, or 48-54Ca, and the Zr, Mo, and Ru isotopes. The tools used can be grouped as follows: either Gammasphere or Gretina multi-gamma detector arrays and auxiliary detectors (Microball, Neutron Shell, and the newly completed Phoswich Wall).The neutron-rich nuclei are accessed by radioactive-beam binary reactions or by 252Cf spontaneous fission. The experiments with heavy radioactive beams aim at excitingmore » the beam nuclei by pick-up or transfer a neutron or a proton from a light target like 13C, 9Be, 11B or 14N .For these binary-reaction studies the Phoswich Wall detector system is essential. It is based on four multi-anode photomultiplier tubes on which CsI and thin fast-timing plastic scintillators are attached. Their signals are digitized with a high density microchip system.« less

Electronically transmitted prescriptions not picked up at pharmacies in Sweden.

PubMed

Ax, Fredrik; Ekedahl, Anders

2010-03-01

Electronically transmitted prescriptions (ETPs) became common after 1995 in Sweden; however, it is accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of prescriptions not picked up at pharmacies. To investigate the "no pick-up" rates of ETPs at pharmacies across type of drug and patient age and gender and the reasons patients' report for no pick-up. A cross-sectional study examining no pick-up of ETPs transmitted during 3 months in 2002, and a mail survey of patients to determine the reasons for failure to pick-up in the county of Sörmland, Sweden, with a population of 261,000, and 21 pharmacies. Chi-square tests were used for calculations of frequency differences among groups. The overall no pick-up rate of ETPs was 2.5%; men had consistently higher rates than women. The highest rates were seen for adolescents and young adults. Rates were higher than average for antibiotics. About 60% of the answers indicated that prescriptions not picked up were duplicate prescriptions or not needed. "Unintentional nonadherence" was reported by one-fifth of patients. No pick-up rate in general was low (2.5%), but there were differences across patient age and gender, the rates being higher among adolescents and young adults. Duplicate prescriptions may explain a significant share of the abandoned prescriptions. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of die quench forming on sheet thinning and 3-point bend testing of AA7075-T6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Samuel; Omer, Kaab; Rahmaan, Taamjeed; Butcher, Clifford; Worswick, Michael

2017-10-01

Lab-scaled AA7075 aluminum side impact beams were manufactured using the die quenching technique in which the sheet was solutionized and then quenched in-die during forming to a super saturated solid state. Sheet thinning measurements were taken at various locations throughout the length of the part and the effect of lubricant on surface scoring and material pick-up on the die was evaluated. The as-formed beams were subjected to a T6 aging treatment and then tested in three-point bending. Simulations were performed of the forming and mechanical testing experiments using the LS-DYNA finite element code. The thinning and mechanical response was predicted well.

Normative values and the effects of age, gender, and handedness on the Moberg Pick-Up Test.

PubMed

Amirjani, Nasim; Ashworth, Nigel L; Gordon, Tessa; Edwards, David C; Chan, K Ming

2007-06-01

The Moberg Pick-Up Test is a standardized test for assessing hand dexterity. Although reduction of sensation in the hand occurs with aging, the effect of age on a subject's performance of the Moberg Pick-Up Test has not been examined. The primary goal of this study was to examine the impact of aging and, secondarily, the impact of gender and handedness, on performance of the Moberg Pick-Up Test in 116 healthy subjects. The average time to complete each of the four subsets of the test was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The results show that hand dexterity of the subjects was significantly affected by age, with young subjects being the fastest and elderly subjects the slowest. Women accomplished the test faster than men, and task performance with the dominant hand was faster than with the non-dominant hand. Use of normative values established based on age and gender is a valuable objective tool to gauge hand function in patients with different neurologic disorders.

Final implementation, commissioning, and performance of embedded collimator beam position monitors in the Large Hadron Collider

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valentino, Gianluca; Baud, Guillaume; Bruce, Roderik; Gasior, Marek; Mereghetti, Alessio; Mirarchi, Daniele; Olexa, Jakub; Redaelli, Stefano; Salvachua, Belen; Valloni, Alessandra; Wenninger, Jorg

2017-08-01

During Long Shutdown 1, 18 Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collimators were replaced with a new design, in which beam position monitor (BPM) pick-up buttons are embedded in the collimator jaws. The BPMs provide a direct measurement of the beam orbit at the collimators, and therefore can be used to align the collimators more quickly than using the standard technique which relies on feedback from beam losses. Online orbit measurements also allow for reducing operational margins in the collimation hierarchy placed specifically to cater for unknown orbit drifts, therefore decreasing the β* and increasing the luminosity reach of the LHC. In this paper, the results from the commissioning of the embedded BPMs in the LHC are presented. The data acquisition and control software architectures are reviewed. A comparison with the standard alignment technique is provided, together with a fill-to-fill analysis of the measured orbit in different machine modes, which will also be used to determine suitable beam interlocks for a tighter collimation hierarchy.

Multivariate Statistics Applied to Seismic Phase Picking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velasco, A. A.; Zeiler, C. P.; Anderson, D.; Pingitore, N. E.

2008-12-01

The initial effort of the Seismogram Picking Error from Analyst Review (SPEAR) project has been to establish a common set of seismograms to be picked by the seismological community. Currently we have 13 analysts from 4 institutions that have provided picks on the set of 26 seismograms. In comparing the picks thus far, we have identified consistent biases between picks from different institutions; effects of the experience of analysts; and the impact of signal-to-noise on picks. The institutional bias in picks brings up the important concern that picks will not be the same between different catalogs. This difference means less precision and accuracy when combing picks from multiple institutions. We also note that depending on the experience level of the analyst making picks for a catalog the error could fluctuate dramatically. However, the experience level is based off of number of years in picking seismograms and this may not be an appropriate criterion for determining an analyst's precision. The common data set of seismograms provides a means to test an analyst's level of precision and biases. The analyst is also limited by the quality of the signal and we show that the signal-to-noise ratio and pick error are correlated to the location, size and distance of the event. This makes the standard estimate of picking error based on SNR more complex because additional constraints are needed to accurately constrain the measurement error. We propose to extend the current measurement of error by adding the additional constraints of institutional bias and event characteristics to the standard SNR measurement. We use multivariate statistics to model the data and provide constraints to accurately assess earthquake location and measurement errors.

Implant Impression Techniques for the Edentulous Jaw: A Summary of Three Studies.

PubMed

Stimmelmayr, Michael; Beuer, Florian; Edelhoff, Daniel; Güth, Jan-Frederik

2016-02-01

Precise implant-supported restorations require accurate impressions. Transfer, pick-up, and splinted pick-up are commonly used techniques. Several in vitro studies have compared these impression techniques; however, all studies used mechanical evaluation methods. The purpose of this study was to compare the discrepancies of these impression techniques digitally in vitro and in vivo. Four dental implants were inserted in ten polymer mandibular models bilaterally in the regions of the first molars and canines. Three different impressions were made of each model and the models (original and stone casts) were scanned and digitized. Clinically, four implants were inserted in ten edentulous jaws; transfer and splinted pick-up impressions were made. With inspection software, discrepancies between the different impressions were calculated. The mean discrepancies in the in vitro study of the original polymer model to stone casts were 124 ± 34 μm for the transfer type, 116 ± 46 μm for the pick-up type, and 80 ± 25 μm for the splinted pick-up type, resulting in a mean discrepancy between the transfer and splinted pick-up type of 44 μm (124 - 80 μm). Clinically, the mean discrepancy between these two impression techniques was 280 μm. The differing results between the transfer and splinted pick-up techniques of in vitro and in vivo data showed the need for clinical data; however, splinted pick-up impressions seemed to produce the most precise results. © 2015 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

Vector sensor for scanning SQUID microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Vu The; Toji, Masaki; Thanh Huy, Ho; Miyajima, Shigeyuki; Shishido, Hiroaki; Hidaka, Mutsuo; Hayashi, Masahiko; Ishida, Takekazu

2017-07-01

We plan to build a novel 3-dimensional (3D) scanning SQUID microscope with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. In the system, a vector sensor consists of three SQUID sensors and three pick-up coils realized on a single chip. Three pick-up coils are configured in orthogonal with each other to measure the magnetic field vector of X, Y, Z components. We fabricated some SQUID chips with one uniaxial pick-up coil or three vector pick-up coils and carried out fundamental measurements to reveal the basic characteristics. Josephson junctions (JJs) of sensors are designed to have the critical current density J c of 320 A/cm2, and the critical current I c becomes 12.5 μA for the 2.2μm × 2.2μm JJ. We carefully positioned the three pickup coils so as to keep them at the same height at the centers of all three X, Y and Z coils. This can be done by arranging them along single line parallel to a sample surface. With the aid of multilayer technology of Nb-based fabrication, we attempted to reduce an inner diameter of the pickup coils to enhance both sensitivity and spatial resolution. The method for improving a spatial resolution of a local magnetic field image is to employ an XYZ piezo-driven scanner for controlling the positions of the pick-up coils. The fundamental characteristics of our SQUID sensors confirmed the proper operation of our SQUID sensors and found a good agreement with our design parameters.

Unified heuristics to solve routing problem of reverse logistics in sustainable supply chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anbuudayasankar, S. P.; Ganesh, K.; Lenny Koh, S. C.; Mohandas, K.

2010-03-01

A reverse logistics problem, motivated by many real-life applications, is examined where bottles/cans in which products are delivered from a processing depot to customers in one period are available for return to the depot in the following period. The picked-up bottles/cans need to be adjusted in the place of delivery load. This problem is termed as simultaneous delivery and pick-up problem with constrained capacity (SDPC). We develop three unified heuristics based on extended branch and bound heuristic, genetic algorithm and simulated annealing to solve SDPC. These heuristics are also designed to solve standard travelling salesman problem (TSP) and TSP with simultaneous delivery and pick-up (TSDP). We tested the heuristics on standard, derived and randomly generated datasets of TSP, TSDP and SDPC and obtained satisfying results with high convergence in reasonable time.

Superconductive imaging surface magnetometer

DOEpatents

Overton, Jr., William C.; van Hulsteyn, David B.; Flynn, Edward R.

1991-01-01

An improved pick-up coil system for use with Superconducting Quantum Interference Device gradiometers and magnetometers involving the use of superconducting plates near conventional pick-up coil arrangements to provide imaging of nearby dipole sources and to deflect environmental magnetic noise away from the pick-up coils. This allows the practice of gradiometry and magnetometry in magnetically unshielded environments. One embodiment uses a hemispherically shaped superconducting plate with interior pick-up coils, allowing brain wave measurements to be made on human patients. another embodiment using flat superconducting plates could be used in non-destructive evaluation of materials.

Emission of positronium in a nanometric PMMA film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palacio, C. A.; De Baerdemaeker, J.; Van Thourhout, D.; Dauwe, C.

2008-10-01

Positron beam experiments have been performed for the first time on a self-supporting polymethyl metacrylate (PMMA) film of 310 nm-thick made by spin coating. The positronium (Ps) emission from the PMMA surface is studied as a function of the positron implantation energy by using Doppler profile spectroscopy and Compton-to-peak ratio analysis. When the sample and the Ge-detector are perpendicular to the positron beam, the emission of para-positronium ( p-Ps) is detected as a narrow central peak. By rotating the sample 45° with respect to the beam, the emission of p-Ps is detected as a blue-shifted fly-away peak. The bulk Ps fraction, the efficiency for the emission of Ps by picking up an electron from the surface, and the diffusion lengths of positrons (thermal and or epithermal), p-Ps and ortho-positronium ( o-Ps) are obtained.

Hyperspectral Imaging and Obstacle Detection for Robotics Navigation

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

anatomy and diffraction process. 17 3.3 Technical Specifications of the System A. Brimrose AOTF Video Adaptor Specifications: Material TeO2 Active...sampled from glass case on person 2’s belt 530 pixels 20 pick-up white sampled from body panels of pick-up 600 pixels 21 pick-up blue sampled from

Comparison of magnetosonic wave and water group ion energy densities at Comet Giacobini-Zinner

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Staines, K.; Balogh, A.; Cowley, S. W. H.; Forster, P. M. De F.; Hynds, R. J.; Yates, T. S.; Sanderson, T. R.; Wenzel, K.-P.; Tsurutani, B. T.

1991-01-01

Measurements of the Comet Giacobini-Zinner (GZ) are presented to determine to what extent wave-particle scattering redistributed the initial pick-up energy of the ion population. Also examined is the difference between the ion thermal energy and the energy in the magnetic fields of the waves. In spite of uncertainty of about a factor of 2 noted in the pick-up and mass-loaded regions, it is shown that less than approximately 50 percent of the pick-up energy is converted into wave magnetic energy in the inbound pick-up region.

17 CFR 240.17Ad-1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... or mails the item to, or the item is awaiting pick-up by, the presentor or a person designated by the... transfer agent dispatches or mails the item to, or the item is awaiting pick-up by, the outside registrar... registrar dispatches or mails the item to, or the item is awaiting pick-up by, the presenting transfer agent...

17 CFR 240.17Ad-1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... or mails the item to, or the item is awaiting pick-up by, the presentor or a person designated by the... transfer agent dispatches or mails the item to, or the item is awaiting pick-up by, the outside registrar... registrar dispatches or mails the item to, or the item is awaiting pick-up by, the presenting transfer agent...

Space chimp Enos returns to Patrick Air Force Base

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1961-01-01

Enos the chimpanzee that orbited the earth twice in a Mercury spacecraft arrives back at Patrick Air Force Base. Enos landed some 220 nautical miles south of Bermuda and was picked up up by the U.S.S. Stormes.

Laser system for testing radiation imaging detector circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zubrzycka, Weronika; Kasinski, Krzysztof

2015-09-01

Performance and functionality of radiation imaging detector circuits in charge and position measurement systems need to meet tight requirements. It is therefore necessary to thoroughly test sensors as well as read-out electronics. The major disadvantages of using radioactive sources or particle beams for testing are high financial expenses and limited accessibility. As an alternative short pulses of well-focused laser beam are often used for preliminary tests. There are number of laser-based devices available on the market, but very often their applicability in this field is limited. This paper describes concept, design and validation of laser system for testing silicon sensor based radiation imaging detector circuits. The emphasis is put on keeping overall costs low while achieving all required goals: mobility, flexible parameters, remote control and possibility of carrying out automated tests. The main part of the developed device is an optical pick-up unit (OPU) used in optical disc drives. The hardware includes FPGA-controlled circuits for laser positioning in 2 dimensions (horizontal and vertical), precision timing (frequency and number) and amplitude (diode current) of short ns-scale (3.2 ns) light pulses. The system is controlled via USB interface by a dedicated LabVIEW-based application enabling full manual or semi-automated test procedures.

High-performance integrated pick-up circuit for SPAD arrays in time-correlated single photon counting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acconcia, Giulia; Cominelli, Alessandro; Peronio, Pietro; Rech, Ivan; Ghioni, Massimo

2017-05-01

The analysis of optical signals by means of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) has been subject to a widespread interest in recent years. The development of multichannel high-performance Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) acquisition systems has undergone a fast trend. Concerning the detector performance, best in class results have been obtained resorting to custom technologies leading also to a strong dependence of the detector timing jitter from the threshold used to determine the onset of the photogenerated current flow. In this scenario, the avalanche current pick-up circuit plays a key role in determining the timing performance of the TCSPC acquisition system, especially with a large array of SPAD detectors because of electrical crosstalk issues. We developed a new current pick-up circuit based on a transimpedance amplifier structure able to extract the timing information from a 50-μm-diameter custom technology SPAD with a state-of-art timing jitter as low as 32ps and suitable to be exploited with SPAD arrays. In this paper we discuss the key features of this structure and we present a new version of the pick-up circuit that also provides quenching capabilities in order to minimize the number of interconnections required, an aspect that becomes more and more crucial in densely integrated systems.

Design and construction of a telescope simulator for LISA optical bench testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogenstahl, J.; Tröbs, M.; d'Arcio, L.; Diekmann, C.; Fitzsimons, E. D.; Hennig, J. S.; Hey, F. G.; Killow, C. J.; Lieser, M.; Lucarelli, S.; Perreur-Lloyd, M.; Pijnenburg, J.; Robertson, D. I.; Taylor, A.; Ward, H.; Weise, D.; Heinzel, G.; Danzmann, K.

2017-11-01

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a proposed space-based instrument for astrophysical observations via the measurement of gravitational waves at mHz frequencies. The triangular constellation of the three LISA satellites will allow interferometric measurement of the changes in distance along the arms. On board each LISA satellite there will be two optical benches, one for each testmass, that measure the distance to the local test mass and to the remote optical bench on the distant satellite. For technology development, an Optical Bench Elegant Bread Board (OB EBB) is currently under construction. To verify the performance of the EBB, another optical bench - the so-called telescope simulator bench - will be constructed to simulate the beam coming from the far spacecraft. The optical beam from the telescope simulator will be superimposed with the light on the LISA OB, in order to simulate the link between two LISA satellites. Similarly in reverse, the optical beam from the LISA OB will be picked up and measured on the telescope simulator bench. Furthermore, the telescope simulator houses a test mass simulator. A gold coated mirror which can be manipulated by an actuator simulates the test mass movements. This paper presents the layout and design of the bench for the telescope simulator and test mass simulator.

Depth-encoded dual beam phase-resolved Doppler OCT for Doppler-angle-independent flow velocity measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Jie; Cheng, Wei; Cao, Zhaoyuan; Chen, Xinjian; Mo, Jianhua

2017-02-01

Phase-resolved Doppler optical coherence tomography (PR-D-OCT) is a functional OCT imaging technique that can provide high-speed and high-resolution depth-resolved measurement on flow in biological materials. However, a common problem with conventional PR-D-OCT is that this technique often measures the flow motion projected onto the OCT beam path. In other words, it needs the projection angle to extract the absolute velocity from PR-D-OCT measurement. In this paper, we proposed a novel dual-beam PR-D-OCT method to measure absolute flow velocity without separate measurement on the projection angle. Two parallel light beams are created in sample arm and focused into the sample at two different incident angles. The images produced by these two beams are encoded to different depths in single B-scan. Then the Doppler signals picked up by the two beams together with the incident angle difference can be used to calculate the absolute velocity. We validated our approach in vitro on an artificial flow phantom with our home-built 1060 nm swept source OCT. Experimental results demonstrated that our method can provide an accurate measurement of absolute flow velocity with independency on the projection angle.

Skills and offensive tactics used in pick-up basketball games.

PubMed

Wang, Jianyu; Liu, Wenhao; Moffit, Jeffrey

2009-10-01

The purpose of this study was to describe skills and offensive tactics frequently used in pick-up basketball games. 65 participants were recruited from public basketball courts. An observational instrument was developed to analyze the performances of pick-up games. Participants' performances were videotaped and coded. Results indicated that the passing skills most frequently observed in the games were chest pass, overhead pass, and bounce pass. For dribbling, crossover dribble and change-of-pace dribble were frequently observed. Jump shot, set shot, and layup were also frequently used. The offensive tactics frequently used included drive, cut, and set screen. The study may be beneficial for helping young people prepare to play pick-up basketball games.

Radially Focused Eddy Current Sensor for Detection of Longitudinal Flaws in Metallic Tubes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wincheski, Russell A. (Inventor); Simpson, John W. (Inventor); Fulton, James P. (Inventor); Nath, Shridhar C. (Inventor); Todhunter, Ronald G. (Inventor); Namkung, Min (Inventor)

1999-01-01

A radially focused eddy current sensor detects longitudinal flaws in a metal tube. A drive coil induces eddy currents within the wall of the metal tube. A pick-up cod is spaced apart from the drive coil along the length of the metal tube. The pick@up coil is positioned with one end thereof lying adjacent the wall of the metal tube such that the pick-up coil's longitudinal axis is perpendicular to the wall of the metal tube. To isolate the pick-up coil from the magnetic flux of the drive coil and the flux from the induced eddy currents. except the eddy currents diverted by a longitudinal flaw. an electrically conducting material high in magnetic permeability surrounds all of the pick-up coil except its one end that is adjacent the walls of the metal tube. The electrically conducting material can extend into and through the drive coil in a coaxial relationship therewith.

Towards Automated Nanomanipulation under Scanning Electron Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Xutao

Robotic Nanomaterial Manipulation inside scanning electron microscopes (SEM) is useful for prototyping functional devices and characterizing one-dimensional nanomaterial's properties. Conventionally, manipulation of nanowires has been performed via teleoperation, which is time-consuming and highly skill-dependent. Manual manipulation also has the limitation of low success rates and poor reproducibility. This research focuses on a robotic system capable of automated pick-place of single nanowires. Through SEM visual detection and vision-based motion control, the system transferred individual silicon nanowires from their growth substrate to a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device that characterized the nanowires' electromechanical properties. The performances of the nanorobotic pick-up and placement procedures were quantified by experiments. The system demonstrated automated nanowire pick-up and placement with high reliability. A software system for a load-lock-compatible nanomanipulation system is also designed and developed in this research.

Hand and Grasp Selection in a Preferential Reaching Task: The Effects of Object Location, Orientation, and Task Intention.

PubMed

Scharoun, Sara M; Scanlan, Kelly A; Bryden, Pamela J

2016-01-01

As numerous movement options are available in reaching and grasping, of particular interest are what factors influence an individual's choice of action. In the current study a preferential reaching task was used to assess the propensity for right handers to select their preferred hand and grasp a coffee mug by the handle in both independent and joint action object manipulation contexts. Mug location (right-space, midline, and left-space) and handle orientation (toward, away, to left, and to right of the participant) varied in four tasks that differed as a function of intention: (1) pick-up (unimanual, independent); (2) pick-up and pour (bimanual, independent); (3) pick-up and pass (unimanual, joint action); and (4) pick-up, pour and pass (bimanual, joint action). In line with previous reports, a right-hand preference for unimanual tasks was observed. Furthermore, extending existing literature to a preferential reaching task, role differentiation between the hands in bimanual tasks (i.e., preferred hand mobilizing, non-preferred hand stabilizing) was displayed. Finally, right-hand selection was greatest in right space, albeit lower in bimanual tasks compared to what is typically reported in unimanual tasks. Findings are attributed to the desire to maximize biomechanical efficiency in reaching. Grasp postures were also observed to reflect consideration of efficiency. More specifically, within independent object manipulation (pick-up; pick-up and pour) participants only grasped the mug by the handle when it afforded a comfortable posture. Furthermore, in joint action (pick-up and pass; pick-up, pour and pass), the confederate was only offered the handle if the intended action of the confederate was similar or required less effort than that of the participant. Together, findings from the current study add to our knowledge of hand and grasp selection in unimanual and bimanual object manipulation, within the context of both independent and joint action tasks.

Accurate identification of microseismic P- and S-phase arrivals using the multi-step AIC algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Mengbo; Wang, Liguan; Liu, Xiaoming; Zhao, Jiaxuan; Peng, Ping'an

2018-03-01

Identification of P- and S-phase arrivals is the primary work in microseismic monitoring. In this study, a new multi-step AIC algorithm is proposed. This algorithm consists of P- and S-phase arrival pickers (P-picker and S-picker). The P-picker contains three steps: in step 1, a preliminary P-phase arrival window is determined by the waveform peak. Then a preliminary P-pick is identified using the AIC algorithm. Finally, the P-phase arrival window is narrowed based on the above P-pick. Thus the P-phase arrival can be identified accurately by using the AIC algorithm again. The S-picker contains five steps: in step 1, a narrow S-phase arrival window is determined based on the P-pick and the AIC curve of amplitude biquadratic time-series. In step 2, the S-picker automatically judges whether the S-phase arrival is clear to identify. In step 3 and 4, the AIC extreme points are extracted, and the relationship between the local minimum and the S-phase arrival is researched. In step 5, the S-phase arrival is picked based on the maximum probability criterion. To evaluate of the proposed algorithm, a P- and S-picks classification criterion is also established based on a source location numerical simulation. The field data tests show a considerable improvement of the multi-step AIC algorithm in comparison with the manual picks and the original AIC algorithm. Furthermore, the technique is independent of the kind of SNR. Even in the poor-quality signal group which the SNRs are below 5, the effective picking rates (the corresponding location error is <15 m) of P- and S-phase arrivals are still up to 80.9% and 76.4% respectively.

Cometary water-group ions in the region surrounding Comet Giacobini-Zinner - Distribution functions and bulk parameter estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staines, K.; Balogh, A.; Cowley, S. W. H.; Hynds, R. J.; Yates, T. S.; Richardson, I. G.; Sanderson, T. R.; Wenzel, K. P.; McComas, D. J.; Tsurutani, B. T.

1991-03-01

The bulk parameters (number density and thermal energy density) of cometary water-group ions in the region surrounding Comet Giacobini-Zinner have been derived using data from the EPAS instrument on the ICE spacecraft. The derivation is based on the assumption that the pick-up ion distribution function is isotropic in the frame of the bulk flow, an approximation which has previously been shown to be reasonable within about 400,000 km of the comet nucleus along the spacecraft trajectory. The transition between the pick-up and mass-loaded regions occurs at the cometary shock, which was traversed at a cometocentric distance of about 100,000 km along the spacecraft track. Examination of the ion distribution functions in this region, transformed to the bulk flow frame, indicates the occurrence of a flattened distribution in the vicinity of the local pick-up speed, and a steeply falling tail at speeds above, which may be approximated as an exponential in ion speed.

Mechanical manipulation of magnetic nanoparticles by magnetic force microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jinyun; Zhang, Wenxiao; Li, Yiquan; Zhu, Hanxing; Qiu, Renxi; Song, Zhengxun; Wang, Zuobin; Li, Dayou

2017-12-01

A method has been developed in this work for the mechanical manipulation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). A helical curve was designed as the capture path to pick up and remove the target nanoparticle on a mica surface by a magnetic probe based on the magnetic force microscope (MFM). There were magnetic, tangential and pushing forces acting on the target particle during the approaching process when the tip followed the helical curve as the capture path. The magnetic force was significant when the tip was closer to the particle. The target particle can be attached on the surface of the magnetic probe tip and then be picked up after the tip retracted from the mica surface. Theoretical analysis and experimental results were presented for the pick-up and removal of MNPs. With this method, the precision and flexibility of manipulation of MNPs were improved significantly compared to the pushing or sliding of the target object away from the corresponding original location following a planned path.

Linear and nonlinear properties of the ULF waves driven by ring-beam distribution functions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Killen, K.; Omidi, N.; Krauss-Varban, D.; Karimabadi, H.

1995-01-01

The problem of the exitation of obliquely propagating magnetosonic waves which can steepen up (also known as shocklets) is considered. Shocklets have been observed upstream of the Earth's bow shock and at comets Giacobini-Zinner and Grigg-Skjellerup. Linear theory as well as two-dimensional (2-D) hybrid (fluid electrons, particle ions) simulations are used to determine the properties of waves generated by ring-beam velocity distributions in great detail. The effects of both proton and oxygen ring-beams are considered. The study of instabilities excited by a proton ring-beam is relevant to the region upstream of the Earth's bow shock, whereas the oxygen ring-beam corresponds to cometary ions picked up by the solar wind. Linear theory has shown that for a ring-beam, four instabilities are found, one on the nonresonant mode, one on the Alfven mode, and two along the magnetosonic/whistler branch. The relative growth rate of these instabilities is a sensitive function of parameters. Although one of the magnetosonic instabilities has maximum growth along the magnetic field, the other has maximum growth in oblique directions. We have studied the competition of these instabilities in the nonlinear regime using 2-D simulations. As in the linear limit, the nonlinear results are a function of beam density and distribution function. By performing the simulations as both initial value and driven systems, we have found that the outcome of the simulations can vary, suggesting that the latter type simulations is needed to address the observations. A general conclusion of the simulation results is that field-aligned beams do not result in the formation of shocklets, whereas ring-beam distributions can.

Embodied intersubjective engagement in mother–infant tactile communication: a cross-cultural study of Japanese and Scottish mother–infant behaviors during infant pick-up

PubMed Central

Negayama, Koichi; Delafield-Butt, Jonathan T.; Momose, Keiko; Ishijima, Konomi; Kawahara, Noriko; Lux, Erin J.; Murphy, Andrew; Kaliarntas, Konstantinos

2015-01-01

This study examines the early development of cultural differences in a simple, embodied, and intersubjective engagement between mothers putting down, picking up, and carrying their infants between Japan and Scotland. Eleven Japanese and ten Scottish mothers with their 6- and then 9-month-old infants participated. Video and motion analyses were employed to measure motor patterns of the mothers’ approach to their infants, as well as their infants’ collaborative responses during put-down, pick-up, and carry phases. Japanese and Scottish mothers approached their infants with different styles and their infants responded differently to the short duration of separation during the trial. A greeting-like behavior of the arms and hands was prevalent in the Scottish mothers’ approach, but not in the Japanese mothers’ approach. Japanese mothers typically kneeled before making the final reach to pick-up their children, giving a closer, apparently gentler final approach of the torso than Scottish mothers, who bent at the waist with larger movements of the torso. Measures of the gap closure between the mothers’ hands to their infants’ heads revealed variably longer duration and distance gap closures with greater velocity by the Scottish mothers than by the Japanese mothers. Further, the sequence of Japanese mothers’ body actions on approach, contact, pick-up, and hold was more coordinated at 6 months than at 9 months. Scottish mothers were generally more variable on approach. Measures of infant participation and expressivity indicate more active participation in the negotiation during the separation and pick-up phases by Scottish infants. Thus, this paper demonstrates a culturally different onset of development of joint attention in pick-up. These differences reflect cultures of everyday interaction. PMID:25774139

Embodied intersubjective engagement in mother-infant tactile communication: a cross-cultural study of Japanese and Scottish mother-infant behaviors during infant pick-up.

PubMed

Negayama, Koichi; Delafield-Butt, Jonathan T; Momose, Keiko; Ishijima, Konomi; Kawahara, Noriko; Lux, Erin J; Murphy, Andrew; Kaliarntas, Konstantinos

2015-01-01

This study examines the early development of cultural differences in a simple, embodied, and intersubjective engagement between mothers putting down, picking up, and carrying their infants between Japan and Scotland. Eleven Japanese and ten Scottish mothers with their 6- and then 9-month-old infants participated. Video and motion analyses were employed to measure motor patterns of the mothers' approach to their infants, as well as their infants' collaborative responses during put-down, pick-up, and carry phases. Japanese and Scottish mothers approached their infants with different styles and their infants responded differently to the short duration of separation during the trial. A greeting-like behavior of the arms and hands was prevalent in the Scottish mothers' approach, but not in the Japanese mothers' approach. Japanese mothers typically kneeled before making the final reach to pick-up their children, giving a closer, apparently gentler final approach of the torso than Scottish mothers, who bent at the waist with larger movements of the torso. Measures of the gap closure between the mothers' hands to their infants' heads revealed variably longer duration and distance gap closures with greater velocity by the Scottish mothers than by the Japanese mothers. Further, the sequence of Japanese mothers' body actions on approach, contact, pick-up, and hold was more coordinated at 6 months than at 9 months. Scottish mothers were generally more variable on approach. Measures of infant participation and expressivity indicate more active participation in the negotiation during the separation and pick-up phases by Scottish infants. Thus, this paper demonstrates a culturally different onset of development of joint attention in pick-up. These differences reflect cultures of everyday interaction.

Evaluation of impression accuracy for a four-implant mandibular model--a digital approach.

PubMed

Stimmelmayr, Michael; Erdelt, Kurt; Güth, Jan-Frederik; Happe, Arndt; Beuer, Florian

2012-08-01

Implant-supported prosthodontics requires precise impressions to achieve a passive fit. Since the early 1990s, in vitro studies comparing different implant impression techniques were performed, capturing the data mostly mechanically. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of three different impression techniques digitally. Dental implants were inserted bilaterally in ten polymer lower-arch models at the positions of the first molars and canines. From each original model, three different impressions (A, transfer; B, pick-up; and C, splinted pick-up) were taken. Scan-bodies were mounted on the implants of the polymer and on the lab analogues of the stone models and digitized. The scan-body in position 36 (FDI) of the digitized original and master casts were each superimposed, and the deviations of the remaining three scan-bodies were measured three-dimensionally. The systematic error of digitizing the models was 13 μm for the polymer and 5 μm for the stone model. The mean discrepancies of the original model to the stone casts were 124 μm (±34) μm for the transfer technique, 116 (±46) μm for the pick-up technique, and 80 (±25) μm for the splinted pick-up technique. There were statistically significant discrepancies between the evaluated impression techniques (p ≤ 0.025; ANOVA test). The splinted pick-up impression showed the least deviation between original and stone model; transfer and pick-up techniques showed similar results. For better accuracy of implant-supported prosthodontics, the splinted pick-up technique should be used for impressions of four implants evenly spread in edentulous jaws.

Recyclability study on Inconel 718 and Ti-6Al-4V powders for use in electron beam melting

DOE PAGES

Nandwana, Peeyush; Peter, William H.; Lowe, Larry E.; ...

2015-10-20

In this study, powder bed based additive manufacturing technologies offer a big advantage in terms of reusability of the powders over multiple cycles that result in cost savings. However, currently there are no standards to determine the factors that govern the powder reuse times. This work presents the results from a recyclability study conducted on Inconel 718 and Ti-6Al-4V powders. It has been found that the Inconel 718 powders are chemically stable over a large number of cycles and their reuse time is limited by physical characteristics of powders such as flowability. Ti-6Al-4V, on the other hand, finds its reusemore » time governed by the oxygen pick up that occurs during and in between build cycles. The detailed results have been presented.« less

A DISTANT QUASAR'S BRILLIANT LIGHT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

The arrow in this image, taken by a ground-based telescope, points to a distant quasar, the brilliant core of an active galaxy residing billions of light-years from Earth. As light from this faraway object travels across space, it picks up information on galaxies and the vast clouds of material between galaxies as it moves through them. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope decoded the quasar's light to find the spectral 'fingerprints' of highly ionized (energized) oxygen, which had mixed with invisible clouds of hydrogen in intergalactic space. The quasar's brilliant beam pierced at least four separate filaments of the invisible hydrogen laced with the telltale oxygen. The presence of oxygen between the galaxies implies there are huge quantities of hydrogen in the universe. Credits: WIYN Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. The telescope is owned and operated by the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatories.

Accurate simulations of helium pick-up experiments using a rejection-free Monte Carlo method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutra, Matthew; Hinde, Robert

2018-04-01

In this paper, we present Monte Carlo simulations of helium droplet pick-up experiments with the intention of developing a robust and accurate theoretical approach for interpreting experimental helium droplet calorimetry data. Our approach is capable of capturing the evaporative behavior of helium droplets following dopant acquisition, allowing for a more realistic description of the pick-up process. Furthermore, we circumvent the traditional assumption of bulk helium behavior by utilizing density functional calculations of the size-dependent helium droplet chemical potential. The results of this new Monte Carlo technique are compared to commonly used Poisson pick-up statistics for simulations that reflect a broad range of experimental parameters. We conclude by offering an assessment of both of these theoretical approaches in the context of our observed results.

HIV Drug Resistance Early Warning Indicators in Namibia with Updated World Health Organization Guidance

PubMed Central

Jonas, Anna; Sumbi, Victor; Mwinga, Samson; DeKlerk, Michael; Tjituka, Francina; Penney, Scott; Jordan, Michael R.; Desta, Tiruneh; Tang, Alice M.; Hong, Steven Y.

2014-01-01

Background In response to concerns about the emergence of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR), the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a comprehensive set of early warning indicators (EWIs) to monitor HIV drug resistance and good programme practice at antiretroviral therapy (ART) sites. Methods In 2012, Namibia utilized the updated WHO EWI guidance and abstracted data from adult and pediatric patients from 50 ART sites for the following EWIs: 1. On-time Pill Pick-up, 2. Retention in Care, 3. Pharmacy Stock-outs, 4. Dispensing Practices, and 5. Virological Suppression. Results Data for EWIs one through four were abstracted and validated. EWI 5 – Virological Suppression was not included due to poor data entry at many sites. On-time Pill Pick-up national estimate was 87.9% (87.2–88.7) of patients picking up pills on time for adults and 90.0% (88.9–90.9) picking up pills on time for pediatrics. Retention in Care national estimate was 82% of patients retained on ART after 12 months for adults and 83% for pediatrics. Pharmacy Stock-outs national estimate was 99% of months without a stock-out for adults and 97% for pediatrics. Dispensing Practices national estimate was 0.01% (0.003–0.064) of patients dispensed mono- or dual-therapy for adults and 0.25% (0.092–0.653) for pediatrics. Conclusions The successful 2012 EWI exercise provides Namibia a solid evidence base, which can be used to make national statements about programmatic functioning and possible HIVDR. This evidence base will serve to contextualize results from Namibia's surveys of HIVDR, which involves genotype testing. EWI abstraction has prompted the national program and its counterparts to engage sites in dialogue regarding the need to strengthen adherence and retention of patients on ART. The EWI collection process and EWI results will serve to optimize patient care and support Namibia in making evidence-based recommendations and take action to minimize the emergence of preventable HIVDR. PMID:24988387

Estimating dermal transfer from PCB-contaminated porous surfaces.

PubMed

Slayton, T M; Valberg, P A; Wait, A D

1998-06-01

Health risks posed by dermal contact with PCB-contaminated porous surfaces have not been directly demonstrated and are difficult to estimate indirectly. Surface contamination by organic compounds is commonly assessed by collecting wipe samples with hexane as the solvent. However, for porous surfaces, hexane wipe characterization is of limited direct use when estimating potential human exposure. Particularly for porous surfaces, the relationship between the amount of organic material collected by hexane and the amount actually picked up by, for example, a person's hand touch is unknown. To better mimic PCB pickup by casual hand contact with contaminated concrete surfaces, we used alternate solvents and wipe application methods that more closely mimic casual dermal contact. Our sampling results were compared to PCB pickup using hexane-wetted wipes and the standard rubbing protocol. Dry and oil-wetted samples, applied without rubbing, picked up less than 1% of the PCBs picked up by the standard hexane procedure; with rubbing, they picked up about 2%. Without rubbing, saline-wetted wipes picked up 2.5%; with rubbing, they picked up about 12%. While the nature of dermal contact with a contaminated surface cannot be perfectly reproduced with a wipe sample, our results with alternate wiping solvents and rubbing methods more closely mimic hand contact than the standard hexane wipe protocol. The relative pickup estimates presented in this paper can be used in conjunction with site-specific PCB hexane wipe results to estimate dermal pickup rates at sites with PCB-contaminated concrete.

Thermal diffusivity measurement of GaAs/AlGaAs thin-film structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, G.; Tien, C. L.; Wu, X.; Smith, J. S.

1994-05-01

This work develops a new measurement technique that determines the thermal diffusivity of thin films in both parallel and perpendicular directions, and presents experimental results on the thermal diffusivity of GaAs/AlGaAs-based thin-film structures. In the experiment, a modulated laser source heats up the sample and a fast-response temperature sensor patterned directly on the sample picks up the thermal response. From the phase delay between the heating source and the temperature sensor, the thermal diffusivity in either the parallel or perpendicular direction is obtained depending on the experimental configuration. The experiment is performed on a molecular-beam-epitaxy grown vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) structure. The substrates of the samples are etched away to eliminate the effects of the interface between the film and the substrate. The results show that the thermal diffusivity of the VCSEL structure is 5-7 times smaller than that of its corresponding bulk media. The experiments also provide evidence on the anisotropy of thermal diffusivity caused solely by the effects of interfaces and boundaries of thin films.

A Novel High Sensitivity Sensor for Remote Field Eddy Current Non-Destructive Testing Based on Orthogonal Magnetic Field

PubMed Central

Xu, Xiaojie; Liu, Ming; Zhang, Zhanbin; Jia, Yueling

2014-01-01

Remote field eddy current is an effective non-destructive testing method for ferromagnetic tubular structures. In view of conventional sensors' disadvantages such as low signal-to-noise ratio and poor sensitivity to axial cracks, a novel high sensitivity sensor based on orthogonal magnetic field excitation is proposed. Firstly, through a three-dimensional finite element simulation, the remote field effect under orthogonal magnetic field excitation is determined, and an appropriate configuration which can generate an orthogonal magnetic field for a tubular structure is developed. Secondly, optimized selection of key parameters such as frequency, exciting currents and shielding modes is analyzed in detail, and different types of pick-up coils, including a new self-differential mode pick-up coil, are designed and analyzed. Lastly, the proposed sensor is verified experimentally by various types of defects manufactured on a section of a ferromagnetic tube. Experimental results show that the proposed novel sensor can largely improve the sensitivity of defect detection, especially for axial crack whose depth is less than 40% wall thickness, which are very difficult to detect and identify by conventional sensors. Another noteworthy advantage of the proposed sensor is that it has almost equal sensitivity to various types of defects, when a self-differential mode pick-up coil is adopted. PMID:25615738

SNS Emittance Scanner, Increasing Sensitivity and Performance through Noise Mitigation ,Design, Implementation and Results

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

Pogge, J.

2006-11-20

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) accelerator systems will deliver a 1.0 GeV, 1.4 MW proton beam to a liquid mercury target for neutron scattering research. The SNS MEBT Emittance Harp consists of 16 X and 16 Y wires, located in close proximity to the RFQ, Source, and MEBT Choppers. Beam Studies for source and LINAC commissioning required an overall increase in sensitivity for halo monitoring and measurement, and at the same time several severe noise sources had to be effectively removed from the harp signals. This paper is an overview of the design approach and techniques used in increasing gainmore » and sensitivity while maintaining a large signal to noise ratio for the emittance scanner device. A brief discussion of the identification of the noise sources, the mechanism for transmission and pick up, how the signals were improved and a summary of results.« less

Detection of singly ionized energetic lunar pick-up ions upstream of earth's bow shock

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilchenbach, M.; Hovestadt, D.; Klecker, B.; Moebius, E.

1992-01-01

Singly ionized suprathermal ions upstream of the earth's bow shock have been detected by using the time-of-flight spectrometer SULEICA on the AMPTE/IRM satellite. The data were collected between August and December 1985. The flux of the ions in the mass range between 23 and 37 amu is highly anisotropic towards the earth. The ions are observed with a period of about 29 days around new moon (+/- 3 days). The correlation of the energy of the ions with the solar wind speed and the interplanetary magnetic field orientation indicates the relation to the pick-up process. We conclude that the source of these pick-up ions is the moon. We argue that due to the impinging solar wind, atoms are sputtered off the lunar surface, ionized in the sputtering process or by ensuing photoionization and picked up by the solar wind.

Thermal Decoherence of a Nonequilibrium Polariton Fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klembt, Sebastian; Stepanov, Petr; Klein, Thorsten; Minguzzi, Anna; Richard, Maxime

2018-01-01

Exciton polaritons constitute a unique realization of a quantum fluid interacting with its environment. Using selenide-based microcavities, we exploit this feature to warm up a polariton condensate in a controlled way and monitor its spatial coherence. We determine directly the amount of heat picked up by the condensate by measuring the phonon-polariton scattering rate and comparing it with the loss rate. We find that, upon increasing the heating rate, the spatial coherence length decreases markedly, while localized phase structures vanish, in good agreement with a stochastic mean-field theory. From the thermodynamical point of view, this regime is unique, as it involves a nonequilibrium quantum fluid with no well-defined temperature but which is nevertheless able to pick up heat with dramatic effects on the order parameter.

Fast lifetime measurements of stored e/sup +//e/sup -/ single bunches in PETRA and DORIS II utilizing the ac-signals of simple beam current transformers

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

Radloff, W.; Kriens, W.

1983-08-01

A monitor for fast lifetime measurements has been developed and successfully tested. The monitor pick-up consists of a standard broadband transformer device in a ring position with equidistant bunch spacing. It has an upper cut-off frequency of about 4 MHz which allows to measure simultaneously the lifetimes of up to 8 individual bunches in PETRA (2 in DORIS II). In the electronic section the ac-signals are separated, baseline-restored, stretched and finally digitized in a highly stable 16 bit ad-converter. The output data are fed then into a microprocessor that computes the average currents and their time derivatives. As a resultmore » lifetimes of up to 5X10/sup 4/ s can be measured in less than 2 seconds. Some measurements are reported.« less

Efficient gas-separation process to upgrade dilute methane stream for use as fuel

DOEpatents

Wijmans, Johannes G [Menlo Park, CA; Merkel, Timothy C [Menlo Park, CA; Lin, Haiqing [Mountain View, CA; Thompson, Scott [Brecksville, OH; Daniels, Ramin [San Jose, CA

2012-03-06

A membrane-based gas separation process for treating gas streams that contain methane in low concentrations. The invention involves flowing the stream to be treated across the feed side of a membrane and flowing a sweep gas stream, usually air, across the permeate side. Carbon dioxide permeates the membrane preferentially and is picked up in the sweep air stream on the permeate side; oxygen permeates in the other direction and is picked up in the methane-containing stream. The resulting residue stream is enriched in methane as well as oxygen and has an EMC value enabling it to be either flared or combusted by mixing with ordinary air.

Sodium Pick-Up Ion Observations in the Solar Wind Upstream of Mercury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jasinski, J. M.; Raines, J. M.; Slavin, J. A.; Regoli, L. R.; Murphy, N.

2018-05-01

We present the first observations of sodium pick-up ions upstream of Mercury’s magnetosphere. From these observations we infer properties of Mercury’s sodium exosphere and implications for the solar wind interaction with Mercury’s magnetosphere.

To develop a flying fish egg inspection system by a digital imaging base system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chun-Jen; Jywe, Wenyuh; Hsieh, Tung-Hsien; Chen, Chien Hung

2015-07-01

This paper develops an automatic optical inspection system for flying fish egg quality inspection. The automatic optical inspection system consists of a 2-axes stage, a digital camera, a lens, a LED light source, a vacuum generator, a tube and a tray. This system can automatically find the particle on the flying egg tray and used stage to driver the tube onto the particle. Then use straw and vacuum generator to pick up the particle. The system pick rate is about 30 particles per minute.

41 CFR 102-37.60 - How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus property from holding agency...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT REGULATION PERSONAL PROPERTY 37-DONATION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY General Provisions Donation Overview § 102-37.60 How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus...

41 CFR 102-37.60 - How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus property from holding agency...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT REGULATION PERSONAL PROPERTY 37-DONATION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY General Provisions Donation Overview § 102-37.60 How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus...

41 CFR 102-37.60 - How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus property from holding agency...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT REGULATION PERSONAL PROPERTY 37-DONATION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY General Provisions Donation Overview § 102-37.60 How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus...

41 CFR 102-37.60 - How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus property from holding agency...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT REGULATION PERSONAL PROPERTY 37-DONATION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY General Provisions Donation Overview § 102-37.60 How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus...

41 CFR 102-37.60 - How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus property from holding agency...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT REGULATION PERSONAL PROPERTY 37-DONATION OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY General Provisions Donation Overview § 102-37.60 How much time does a transferee have to pick up or remove surplus...

Precise Reproduction of Soft Tissue Structure around the Pontic Area Using Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing.

PubMed

Lee, Hyeonjong; Paek, Janghyun; Noh, Kwantae; Kwon, Kung-Rock

2017-08-21

Reproducing soft tissue contours around a pontic area is important for the fabrication of an esthetic prosthesis, especially in the anterior area. A gingival model that precisely replicates the soft tissue structure around the pontic area can be easily obtained by taking a pick-up impression of an interim fixed dental prosthesis. After a working cast is fabricated using the customary technique, the pick-up model is superimposed onto the working model for the pontic area using computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM). A definitive restoration using this technique would be well adapted to the pontic base, which is formed by the interim prosthesis. © 2017 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

Non-destructive single-pass low-noise detection of ions in a beamline

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

Schmidt, Stefan; Institut für Kernchemie, Johannes Gutenberg–Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz; Murböck, Tobias

2015-11-15

We have conceived, built, and operated a device for the non-destructive single-pass detection of charged particles in a beamline. The detector is based on the non-resonant pick-up and subsequent low-noise amplification of the image charges induced in a cylindrical electrode surrounding the particles’ beam path. The first stage of the amplification electronics is designed to be operated from room temperature down to liquid helium temperature. The device represents a non-destructive charge counter as well as a sensitive timing circuit. We present the concept and design details of the device. We have characterized its performance and show measurements with low-energy highlymore » charged ions (such as Ar{sup 13+}) passing through one of the electrodes of a cylindrical Penning trap. This work demonstrates a novel approach of non-destructive, low noise detection of charged particles which is, depending on the bunch structure, suitable, e.g., for ion traps, low-energy beamlines or accelerator transfer sections.« less

29 CFR 551.8 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... as picking up and returning the delivery vehicle at the beginning and end of the workday, cleaning... in loading or unloading the goods, and picking up empty containers or other goods from customers for... local deliveries. (f) A plan of compensation on the basis of trip rates or other delivery payment plan...

Visual Persistence and Information Pick-up in Learning Disabled Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazer, Suzanne R.; And Others

1983-01-01

Two experiments tested possible explanations for previous research demonstrating lower span of apprehension for learning disabled students. In experiment 1, the length of visual persistence was less for LD subjects, while in experiment 2, the rate of information pick-up was slower for LD subjects. (CL)

77 FR 36017 - Regulatory Guide 7.3, Procedures for Picking Up and Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-15

... Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of... Guide (RG) 7.3, ``Procedures for Picking Up and Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material.'' The guide..., ``Administrative Guide for Verifying Compliance with Packaging Requirements for Shipment and Receipt of Radioactive...

Better delivery/pick up routes in the presence of uncertainty.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-08-01

We consider the Courier Delivery Problem, a variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem with : time windows in which customers appear probabilistically and their service times are uncertain. : We use scenario-based stochastic optimization with recourse fo...

Relationship of strength of turbulence to received power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rottger, J.

1983-01-01

Because of contributions due to reflection, the determination of the turbulence refractive index structure constant may be affected. For pure scattering from turbulence in the inertial subrange, the radar echo power can be used to calculate the refractive index structure constant. The radar power is determined by a convolution integral. If the antenna beam is swung to sufficiently large off-zenith angles ( 12.5 deg) so that a quasi-isotropic response from the tail ends of the Gaussian angular distribution can be anticipated, the evaluation of the convolution integral depends only on the known antenna pattern of the radar. This procedure, swinging the radar beam to attenuate the reflected component, may be called angular or direction filtering. The tilted antenna also may be pick up reflected components from near the zenith through the sidelobes. This can be tested by the evaluation of the correlation function. This method applies a time domain filtering of the intensity time series but needs a very careful selection of the high pass filters.

46 CFR 185.512 - Recommended emergency instructions format.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... flooding. (i) Close all watertight and weathertight doors, hatches, and airports to prevent taking water aboard or further flooding in the vessel. (ii) Keep bilges dry to prevent loss of stability due to water... pick up person in the water, or maneuver the vessel to pick up the person in the water. (iv) Have crew...

77 FR 40385 - Withdrawal of Regulatory Guide 7.3; Procedures for Picking Up and Receiving Packages of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-09

... Picking Up and Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION... Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material.'' The RG is being withdrawn because it is outdated and the..., ``Administrative Guide for Verifying Compliance with Packaging Requirements for Shipment and Receipt of Radioactive...

41 CFR 101-28.306-2 - Use of customer supply centers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... proper identification. Telephone orders placed in the morning may be picked up in the afternoon of the same day provided that the individual picking up the order possesses proper identification and the... DISTRIBUTION 28.3-Customer Supply Centers § 101-28.306-2 Use of customer supply centers. (a) Orders are...

"Micro-robots" pick up a glass bead

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

None

2011-01-01

"Micro-robots", which are really collections of particles animated by magnetic fields, pick up a glass bead and move it around the screen. Each movement is precisely controlled. The "asters" were designed by Alexey Snezkho and Igor Aronson at Argonne National Laboratory. Video courtesy Nature Materials. Read the full story at http://go.usa.gov/KAT

RF Telemetry System for an Implantable Bio-MEMS Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, Rainee N.; Hall, David G.; Miranda, Felix A.

2004-01-01

In this paper, a novel miniature inductor and a pick-up antenna for contact less powering and RF telemetry from implantable bio-MEMS sensors are presented. The design of the inductor and the pick-up antenna are discussed. In addition, the measured characteristics at the design frequency of 330 MHz have been shown.

Capacitively readout multi-element sensor array with common-mode cancellation

DOEpatents

Britton, Jr., Charles L.; Warmack, Robert J.; Bryan, William L.; Jones, Robert L.; Oden, Patrick Ian; Thundat, Thomas

2001-01-01

An improved multi-element apparatus for detecting the presence of at least one chemical, biological or physical component in a monitored area comprising an array or single set of the following elements: a capacitive transducer having at least one cantilever spring element secured thereto, the cantilever element having an area thereof coated with a chemical having an affinity for the component to be detected; a pick-up plate positioned adjacent to the cantilever element at a distance such that a capacitance between the cantilever element and the pick-up plate changes as the distance between the cantilever element and the pick-up plate varies, the change in capacitance being a measurable variation; a detection means for measuring the measurable variation in the capacitance between the cantilever element and the pick-up plate that forms a measurement channel signal; and at least one feedback cantilever spring element positioned apart from the coated cantilever element, the cantilever element substantially unaffected by the component being monitored and providing a reference channel signal to the detection means that achieves a common mode cancellation between the measurement channel signal and reference channel signal.

Pick-up and impact of flexible bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, H.; Hanna, J. A.

2017-09-01

Picking up, laying down, colliding, rolling, and peeling are partial-contact interactions involving moving discontinuities. We examine the balances of momentum and energy across a moving discontinuity in a string, with allowance for injection or dissipation by singular supplies. We split the energy dissipation according to its invariance properties, discuss analogies with systems of particles and connections with the literature on shocks and phase transition fronts in various bodies, and derive a compatibility relation between supplies of momentum and translation-invariant energy. For a moving contact discontinuity between a string and a smooth rigid plane in the presence of gravity, we find a surprising asymmetry between the processes of picking up and laying down, such that steady-state kinks in geometry and associated jumps in tension are not admissible during pick-up. This prediction is consistent with experimental observations. We briefly discuss related problems including the falling folded chain, peeling of an adhesive tape, and the "chain fountain". Our approach is applicable to the study of impact and locomotion, and to systems such as moored floating structures and some musical instruments that feature vibrating string and cable elements interacting with a surface.

Flightfax: Army Aviation Risk-Management Information. Volume 28, Number 3, March 2000. Message from the Chief of Staff

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-03-01

Saturday nights carnauba wax , mineral oil, lanolin, up your life. Use only the Army talc, and colorants, supplied version for aircrew duties...ceresin wax , caster based face paint you might be Two-lane rural roads wax , mineral oil, talc, and pigments. tempted to pick up from local Time: ( NSN

On the inlet vortex system. [preventing jet engine damage caused by debris pick-up

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bissinger, N. C.; Braun, G. W.

1974-01-01

The flow field of a jet engine with an inlet vortex, which can pick up heavy debris from the ground and damage the engine, was simulated in a small water tunnel by means of the hydrogen bubble technique. It was found that the known engine inlet vortex is accompained by a vortex system, consisting of two inlet vortices (the ground based and the trailing one), secondary vortices, and ground vortices. Simulation of the ground effect by an inlet image proved that the inlet vortex feeds on free stream vorticity and can exist without the presence of a ground boundary layer. The structural form of the inlet vortex system was explained by a simple potential flow model, which showed the number, location, and the importance of the stagnation points. A retractable horizontal screen or an up-tilt of the engine is suggested as countermeasure against debris ingestion.

Expertise and the spatio-temporal characteristics of anticipatory information pick-up from complex movement patterns.

PubMed

Müller, Sean; Abernethy, Bruce; Eid, Michael; McBean, Rohan; Rose, Matthew

2010-01-01

Groups of high- (n = 14), intermediate- (n = 12), and low-skilled (n = 15) cricket batsmen participated in two experiments to examine expertise-related differences in anticipatory information pick-up that combined temporal and spatial occlusion methodologies. In experiment 1 participants were shown video displays of a bowler delivering one of three different types of delivery with the display manipulated so that only selected local features of the bowler's movement pattern (bowling hand, bowling hand and arm, trunk, lower body, or whole body) were visible and then only for specific time periods prior to ball release. Only the highly-skilled players were able to produce better-than-chance predictions of ball type and then only under a limited set of display conditions. Information from bowling hand and arm cues was particularly critical although continuous visibility of these cues was apparently not essential for information pick-up. In experiment 2 the order in which particular features were made visible throughout the bowler's movement pattern was varied in an attempt to find the sequence of cues that was most favourable for effective information pick-up. The necessity in this experiment to switch vision between different features eliminated the highly-skilled players' capability to anticipate. Expert anticipation is dependent on sensitivity to information arising from a select set of local cues, and forced attentional switches between different cues negate effective information pick-up and, with it, the expert advantage.

Autoimmune abnormality affects ovulation and oocyte-pick-up in MRL/MpJ-Fas lpr/lpr mice.

PubMed

Hosotani, M; Ichii, O; Nakamura, T; Kanazawa, S O; Elewa, Y Hosny Ali; Kon, Y

2018-01-01

Ovulation and oocyte-pick-up are essential processes in fertilization. Herein, we found associations between autoimmune disease and the aforementioned processes in mice. At three and six months, along with the evaluation of autoimmune disease indices, the ovary, mesosalpinx, and oviducts were histologically examined in C57BL/6, MRL/MpJ, and MRL/MpJ-Fas lpr/lpr mice as healthy control, mild and severe models of autoimmune disease, respectively. In superovulated mice, the number of "oocyte cumulus complexes" found in the ampulla was macroscopically counted, and that of "ovulated oocytes" was histologically evaluated, as indicated by ruptured follicles or corpora hemorrhagica in ovaries. Finally, the oocyte-pick-up rate was calculated. In MRL/MpJ-Fas lpr/lpr mice, the oocyte-pick-up rate decreased with disease-related deterioration, unlike in other mouse strains. Further, more ovulated oocytes were found in MRL/MpJ mice than in C57BL/6 mice, and this number significantly decreased with aging in MRL/MpJ-Fas lpr/lpr mice. Numerous T-cells infiltrated into the infundibulum or a part of the mesosalpinx in aged MRL/MpJ-Fas lpr/lpr mice, and their infundibulum showed swelling and fewer ciliated epithelial cells compared to that of C57BL/6 mice. In conclusion, the progression of severe autoimmune disease affected the oocyte-pick-up process through histopathological changes in the infundibulum. These results provide important insights into female infertility associated with autoimmune disease.

Identification of barriers to medication adherence in a Latino population.

PubMed

Compton, Sheryl; Haack, Sally; Phillips, Charles R

2010-12-01

Barriers to medication adherence may present differently in diverse patient populations. Because of changing U.S. demographics, health care providers will be required to identify alternative strategies for managing increasingly diverse patient populations. This pilot project identified barriers that may hinder medication adherence in a Latino population. The results of the survey may identify trends in barriers allowing for the development of interventions aimed at improving medication adherence. The study used a convenience sample of Spanish-labeled prescriptions that had not been picked up from a community pharmacy after a 2-week period to identify study subjects. Patients were contacted by phone and surveyed regarding reasons for not picking up their prescription medication. The 24-item survey instrument consisted of demographic and medication-related questions, reasons for, and associated barriers with failure to pick up medications. The most common classes of medications patients failed to pick up were chronic medications. More than 90% of the patients thought that the medication in question was helpful to them, and nearly 80% thought that the medicine was still needed. Patients cited communication issues (ie, content matter, such as when the prescription was ready), logistics, and limited hours of pharmacy operation as the primary barriers in picking up their medications, whereas nearly 40% failed to identify any barriers. Barriers identified by patients that could be improved included confusion regarding when their prescription was ready and limited hours of pharmacy operation. Most of the patients were comfortable using the American health care system. The barriers to medication adherence identified did not appear to be the result of cultural influences. This could be because the community pharmacy had bilingual staff and interpreters available for patient education and prescription processing. Alternative methods are needed to further identify reasons for failure to pick up medications before medication adherence programs can be designed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Optical Device for Converting a Laser Beam into Two Co-aligned but Oppositely Directed Beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennings, Donald

2013-01-01

Optical systems consisting of a series of optical elements require alignment from the input end to the output end. The optical elements can be mirrors, lenses, sources, detectors, or other devices. Complex optical systems are often difficult to align from end-to-end because the alignment beam must be inserted at one end in order for the beam to traverse the entire optical path to the other end. The ends of the optical train may not be easily accessible to the alignment beam. Typically, when a series of optical elements is to be aligned, an alignment laser beam is inserted into the optical path with a pick-off mirror at one end of the series of elements. But it may be impossible to insert the beam at an end-point. It can be difficult to locate the pick-off mirror at the desired position because there is not enough space, there is no mounting surface, or the location is occupied by a source, detector, or other component. Alternatively, the laser beam might be inserted at an intermediate location (not at an end-point) and sent, first in one direction and then the other, to the opposite ends of the optical system for alignment. However, in this case, alignment must be performed in two directions and extra effort is required to co-align the two beams to make them parallel and coincident, i.e., to follow the same path as an end-to-end beam. An optical device has been developed that accepts a laser beam as input and produces two co-aligned, but counter-propagating beams. In contrast to a conventional alignment laser placed at one end of the optical path, this invention can be placed at a convenient position within the optical train and aligned to send its two beams simultaneously along precisely opposite paths that, taken together, trace out exactly the same path as the conventional alignment laser. This invention allows the user the freedom to choose locations within the optical train for placement of the alignment beam. It is also self-aligned by design and requires almost no adjustment.

Bearing monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Roger; Stevenson, Mark W.; Kwan, Chi-Man; Haynes, Leonard S.

2001-07-01

At Ford Motor Company, thrust bearing in drill motors is often damaged by metal chips. Since the vibration frequency is several Hz only, it is very difficult to use accelerometers to pick up the vibration signals. Under the support of Ford and NASA, we propose to use a piezo film as a sensor to pick up the slow vibrations of the bearing. Then a neural net based fault detection algorithm is applied to differentiate normal bearing from bad bearing. The first step involves a Fast Fourier Transform which essentially extracts the significant frequency components in the sensor. Then Principal Component Analysis is used to further reduce the dimension of the frequency components by extracting the principal features inside the frequency components. The features can then be used to indicate the status of bearing. Experimental results are very encouraging.

HOM identification by bead pulling in the Brookhaven ERL cavity

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

Hahn H.; Calaga, R.; Jain, P.

2012-06-25

Several past measurements of the Brookhaven ERL at superconducting temperature produced a long list of higher order modes (HOMs). The Niobium 5-cell cavity is terminated with HOM ferrite dampers that successfully reduce the Q-factors to tolerable levels. However, a number of undamped resonances with Q {ge} 10{sup 6} were found at 4 K and their mode identification remained as a goal for this paper. The approach taken here consists in taking different S{sub 21} measurements on a copper cavity replica of the ERL which can be compared with the actual data and also with Microwave Studio computer simulations. Several differentmore » S{sub 21} transmission measurements are used, including those taken from the fundamental input coupler to the pick-up probe across the cavity, between probes in a single cell, and between beam-position monitor probes in the beam tubes. Mode identification is supported by bead pulling with a metallic needle or a dielectric sphere that are calibrated in the fundamental mode. This paper presents results for HOMs in the first two dipole bands with the prototypical 958 MHz trapped mode, the lowest beam tube resonances, and high-Q modes in the first quadrupole band and beyond.« less

Develop and pilot test smart phone/tablet app for paratransit demand-response passenger pick-up alerts to assist passengers with disabilities and reduce no-shows and dwell times.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-01

This research produced an arrival notification system for paratransit passengers with disabilities. Almost all existing curb-to-curb paratransit services have significantly large pick-up time window ranging from 20 to 40 minutes from the scheduled ti...

What Skills and Tactics Are Needed to Play Adult Pick-Up Basketball Games?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Jianyu; Liu, Wenhao; Moffit, Jeffrey

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine skill levels and performance patterns of regular players of pick-up basketball games. By a survey, 65 participants were identified as regular players and participated in the study. An observational instrument used to analyze game performance of the participants was developed and both content and construct…

A Model Recycling Program: UNC Takes Action as Landfill Space Shrinks and Costs Rise.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Rhonda L.

1991-01-01

The University of North Carolina responded to escalating waste disposal costs and shrinking landfill space with a structured program of recycling, including a mobile recycling drop, student family housing recycling, a newspaper drop-off site, high-volume glass pick-up, high-volume newspaper pick-up, and cardboard recycling. Campus-wide cooperation…

41 CFR 102-41.230 - May SASPs pick up or store donated drug paraphernalia in their distribution centers?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false May SASPs pick up or store donated drug paraphernalia in their distribution centers? 102-41.230 Section 102-41.230 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) FEDERAL...

Improved Simulation of the Pre-equilibrium Triton Emission in Nuclear Reactions Induced by Nucleons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konobeyev, A. Yu.; Fischer, U.; Pereslavtsev, P. E.; Blann, M.

2014-04-01

A new approach is proposed for the calculation of non-equilibrium triton energy distributions in nuclear reactions induced by nucleons of intermediate energies. It combines models describing the nucleon pick-up, the coalescence and the triton knock-out processes. Emission and absorption rates for excited particles are represented by the pre-equilibrium hybrid model. The model of Sato, Iwamoto, Harada is used to describe the nucleon pick-up and the coalescence of nucleons from exciton configurations starting from (2p,1h) states. The contribution of the direct nucleon pick-up is described phenomenologically. Multiple pre-equilibrium emission of tritons is accounted for. The calculated triton energy distributions are compared with available experimental data.

Breakaway phenomenon of Zr-based alloys during a high-temperature oxidation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baek, Jong Hyuk; Jeong, Yong Hwan

2008-01-01

The breakaway oxidation phenomena in Zr-based alloys were studied in the temperature range of 950-1200 °C for up to 36 000 s by using a modified thermo-gravimetric analyzer. After the oxidation tests, the oxidation behaviors, breakaway oxidation time, hydrogen pick-up contents, and oxidation rate constants of the alloys were systematically evaluated in this study. The breakaway oxidation time was shortened with an increase of the Sn content in the Zr alloys. A breakaway oxidation phenomenon could be caused by the transition of a tetragonal oxide phase into a monoclinic one, and the oxide transition could lead to form the oxide cracks in both the lateral and radial directions. The cracks within the oxide layer could result in catastrophic increase in the weight gain rates and rapid increase the hydrogen pick-up within the oxygen-stabilized α-Zr and prior β-Zr layers. The oxidation rate constants calculated from the post-breakaway data in the Zr alloys with breakaway oxidation behaviors matched well with the values from both the Baker-Just and Cathcart-Pawel correlations.

A dynamic agent-based analysis for the environmental impacts of conventional and novel book retailing.

PubMed

Xu, Ming; Allenby, Braden; Kim, Junbeum; Kahhat, Ramzy

2009-04-15

The dynamics of an e-commerce market and the associated environmental impacts from a bottom-up perspective using an agent-based model is explored. A conceptual meta-theory from psychology is adopted to form the behavioral rules of artificial consumers choosing different methods of buying a book, including conventional bookstores, e-commerce, and a proposed self-pick-up option. Given the energy and emissions savings that result from a shift to e-commerce from bookstore purchase, it appears that reductions in environmental impacts are relatively probable. Additionally, our results suggest that the shift to e-commerce is mainly due to the growth of Internet users, which ties energy and emissions savings to Internet penetration. Moreover, under any scenario, the energy and emissions savings will be provided by the introduction of the proposed self-pick-up option. Our model thus provides insights into market behaviors and related environmental impacts of the growing use of e-commerce systems at the retail level, and provides a basis for the development and implementation of more sustainable policies and practices.

Instrumented Pick Detects Coal/Rock Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, T.; Erkes, J. W.

1983-01-01

Instrumented pick installed on cutting drum of coal shearer for longwall mining measures cutting force with strain-gage-bridge load cell. Force signal transmitted to remote recorder. Transmitter located in base of pick assembly. Antenna located in shadow of rotating pick. Changes in characteristics of force signals from pick used to determine whether pick is cutting coal or rock.

The directional dependence of cometary magnetic energy density in the quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular regimes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, R. H.; Gombosi, T. I.; Gary, S. P.; Winske, D.

1991-01-01

The direction of propagation of low frequency magnetic fluctuations generated by cometary ion pick-up is examined by means of 1D electromagnetic hybrid simulations. The newborn ions are injected at a constant rate, and the helicity and direction of propagation of magnetic fluctuations are explored for cometary ion injection angles of 0 and 90 deg relative to the solar wind magnetic field. The parameter eta represents the relative contribution of wave energy propagating in the direction away from the comet, parallel to the beam. For small (quasi-parallel) injection angles eta was found to be of order unity, while for larger (quasi-perpendicular) angles eta was found to be of order 0.5.

Accelerator boom hones China's engineering expertise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Normile, Dennis

2018-02-01

In raising the curtain on the China Spallation Neutron Source, China has joined just four other nations in having mastered the technology of accelerating and controlling beams of protons. The $277 million facility, set to open to users this spring in Dongguan, is expected to yield big dividends in materials science, chemistry, and biology. More world class machines are on the way, as China this year starts construction on four other major accelerator facilities. The building boom is prompting a scramble to find enough engineers and technicians to finish the projects. But if they all come off as planned, the facilities would position China to tackle the next global megaproject: a giant accelerator that would pick up where Europe's Large Hadron Collider leaves off.

Hazardous Waste and Wastewater Characterization Survey, Columbus AFB, Mississippi

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-01

behind bldg 322 (Liquid Fuels Maintenance Branch). These wastes are then picked up by a waste oil contractor. All other drummed wastes are disposed of...is responsible for custody of the waste until a contractor (currently, Chemical Waste Management) comes to pick up the waste. Prior to disposal...chemicals are used up in the process. Any leftover chemicals are drained and stored in containers for use at a later time. All empty containers are

Enhancing seismic P phase arrival picking based on wavelet denoising and kurtosis picker

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Xueyi; Li, Xibing; Weng, Lei

2018-01-01

P phase arrival picking of weak signals is still challenging in seismology. A wavelet denoising is proposed to enhance seismic P phase arrival picking, and the kurtosis picker is applied on the wavelet-denoised signal to identify P phase arrival. It has been called the WD-K picker. The WD-K picker, which is different from those traditional wavelet-based pickers on the basis of a single wavelet component or certain main wavelet components, takes full advantage of the reconstruction of main detail wavelet components and the approximate wavelet component. The proposed WD-K picker considers more wavelet components and presents a better P phase arrival feature. The WD-K picker has been evaluated on 500 micro-seismic signals recorded in the Chinese Yongshaba mine. The comparison between the WD-K pickings and manual pickings shows the good picking accuracy of the WD-K picker. Furthermore, the WD-K picking performance has been compared with the main detail wavelet component combining-based kurtosis (WDC-K) picker, the single wavelet component-based kurtosis (SW-K) picker, and certain main wavelet component-based maximum kurtosis (MMW-K) picker. The comparison has demonstrated that the WD-K picker has better picking accuracy than the other three-wavelet and kurtosis-based pickers, thus showing the enhanced ability of wavelet denoising.

Detecting dysplasia using white light endoscopy or chromoendoscopy in ulcerative colitis patients without primary sclerosing cholangitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Azizi, Saeed; Al-Rubaye, Hussein; Turki, Mohammed Adil A; Siddiqui, Muhammad R Sameem; Shanmuganandan, Arun P; Ehsanullah, Bushra; Brar, Ranjeet; Abulafi, Al-Mutaz

2018-04-01

Endoscopic examinations are a vital diagnostic tool for dysplasia. Establishing the precision of different modes of examination is essential due to the disparate pick-up rates of dysplasia. The aim of this article was to establish the pick-up rates of dysplastic or cancerous lesions using white light endoscopy (WLE) and random/targeted biopsies, or chromoendoscopy (CE), in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) without primary sclerosing (PSC) or Crohn's disease (CD). A systematic review to identify all studies up to November 2017, without language restriction, was conducted from PubMed, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (1960-2017), MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE (1981-2017). MeSH and text word terms used included "ulcerative colitis", "dysplasia", "random biopsy", "targeted biopsy", "colonoscopy", "white light", and "chromoendoscopy". Further searches were performed using the bibliographies of these articles. All studies reporting on colonoscopy detection rates of dysplasia and cancers in UC without involvement of PSC or CD were included. There was no age restriction to include patients. Outcome data were extracted by 2 authors independently using outcome measures defined a priori. Quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scales. Data were extracted and analysed according to meta-analytical techniques using comprehensive meta-analysis. The pooled overall pick-up rate of dysplastic/cancerous lesions on WLE random biopsies was 5.6% [Event rate 0.06 (0.01, 0.23), df = 4, I2 = 94%]. Using a combined random and targeted approach with WLE the incidence was 5.1% [Event rate 0.05 (0.03, 0.09), df = 4, I2 = 96%]. One study reported on CE and found a 7% pick-up rate for dysplastic lesions. Endoscopic examination of UC patients without PSC identifies dysplastic or cancerous lesions in 5-7% of cases. WLE and random biopsies may pick-up a similar number of lesions to targeted biopsies, however the number of biopsies may need to be greater to achieve this equivalence. CE has a slightly higher pick-up rate. Further comparative studies are required to strengthen the body of evidence. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Habit Reversal as a Treatment for Chronic Skin Picking: A Pilot Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teng, Ellen J.; Woods, Douglas W.; Twohig, Michael P.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of habit reversal (HR) to a wait-list control as a treatment for chronic skin picking in adults. Twenty-five adults with a chronic skin-picking problem were randomly assigned to a wait-list control or HR group. At pretreatment, posttreatment, and a 3-month follow-up, self-reported skin…

Optimization of an Offset Receiver Optics for Radio Telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeap, Kim Ho; Tham, Choy Yoong

2018-01-01

The latest generation of Cassegrain radio astronomy antennas is designed for multiple frequency bands with receivers for individual bands offset from the antenna axis. The offset feed arrangement typically has two focusing elements in the form of ellipsoidal mirrors in the optical path between the feed horn and the antenna focus. This arrangement aligns the beam from the offset feed horn to illuminate the subreflector. The additional focusing elements increase the number of design variables, namely the distances between the horn aperture and the first mirror and that between the two mirrors, and their focal lengths. There are a huge number of possible combinations of these four variables in which the optics system can take on. The design aim is to seek the combination that will give the optimum antenna efficiency, not only at the centre frequency of the particular band but also across its bandwidth. To pick the optimum combination of the variables, it requires working through, by computational mean, a continuum range of variable values at different frequencies which will fit the optics system within the allocated physical space. Physical optics (PO) is a common technique used in optics design. However, due to the repeated iteration of the huge number of computation involved, the use of PO is not feasible. We present a procedure based on using multimode Gaussian optics to pick the optimum design and using PO for final verification of the system performance. The best antenna efficiency is achieved when the beam illuminating the subreflector is truncated with the optimum edge taper. The optimization procedure uses the beam's edge taper at the subreflector as the iteration target. The band 6 receiver optics design for the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) antenna is used to illustrate the optimization procedure.

Pick Your Pick Me Up

Cancer.gov

Mood changes are common after you quit. You might be irritable, restless, or feel down or blue. If you’re experiencing these feelings after quitting smoking, there are many things you can do to help lift your mood.

Picking Up the Mantle of "Expert": Assigned Roles, Assertion of Identity, and Peer Recognition within a Programming Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fields, Deborah; Enyedy, Noel

2013-01-01

Changing an established role in a classroom is difficult. It involves constructing a new set of relations within a community. In this article we investigate how students with newly developed interest and experience in programming developed outside the classroom pick up and establish their roles as experts in programming within the classroom…

PROTON HEATING BY PICK-UP ION DRIVEN CYCLOTRON WAVES IN THE OUTER HELIOSPHERE: HYBRID EXPANDING BOX SIMULATIONS

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

Hellinger, Petr; Trávníček, Pavel M., E-mail: petr.hellinger@asu.cas.cz

Using a one-dimensional hybrid expanding box model, we investigate properties of the solar wind in the outer heliosphere. We assume a proton–electron plasma with a strictly transverse ambient magnetic field and, aside from the expansion, we take into account the influence of a continuous injection of cold pick-up protons through the charge-exchange process between the solar wind protons and hydrogen of interstellar origin. The injected cold pick-up protons form a ring distribution function, which rapidly becomes unstable, and generate Alfvén cyclotron waves. The Alfvén cyclotron waves scatter pick-up protons to a spherical shell distribution function that thickens over that timemore » owing to the expansion-driven cooling. The Alfvén cyclotron waves heat solar wind protons in the perpendicular direction (with respect to the ambient magnetic field) through cyclotron resonance. At later times, the Alfvén cyclotron waves become parametrically unstable and the generated ion-acoustic waves heat protons in the parallel direction through Landau resonance. The resulting heating of the solar wind protons is efficient on the expansion timescale.« less

Development and use of a spherical microphone array for measurement of spatial properties of reverberant sound fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gover, Bradford Noel

The problem of hands-free speech pick-up is introduced, and it is identified how details of the spatial properties of the reverberant field may be useful for enhanced design of microphone arrays. From this motivation, a broadly-applicable measurement system has been developed for the analysis of the directional and spatial variations in reverberant sound fields. Two spherical, 32-element arrays of microphones are used to generate narrow beams over two different frequency ranges, together covering 300--3300 Hz. Using an omnidirectional loudspeaker as excitation in a room, the pressure impulse response in each of 60 steering directions is measured. Through analysis of these responses, the variation of arriving energy with direction is studied. The system was first validated in simple sound fields in an anechoic chamber and in a reverberation chamber. The system characterizes these sound fields as expected, both quantitatively through numerical descriptors and qualitatively from plots of the arriving energy versus direction. The system was then used to measure the sound fields in several actual rooms. Through both qualitative and quantitative output, these sound fields were seen to be highly anisotropic, influenced greatly by the direct sound and early-arriving reflections. Furthermore, the rate of sound decay was not independent of direction, sound being absorbed more rapidly in some directions than in others. These results are discussed in the context of the original motivation, and methods for their application to enhanced speech pick-up using microphone arrays are proposed.

Improvements on the accuracy of beam bugs

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

Chen, Y.J.; Fessenden, T.

1998-08-17

At LLNL resistive wall monitors are used to measure the current and position used on ETA-II show a droop in signal due to a fast redistribution time constant of the signals. This paper presents the analysis and experimental test of the beam bugs used for beam current and position measurements in and after the fast kicker. It concludes with an outline of present and future changes that can be made to improve the accuracy of these beam bugs. of intense electron beams in electron induction linacs and beam transport lines. These, known locally as ''beam bugs'', have been used throughoutmore » linear induction accelerators as essential diagnostics of beam current and location. Recently, the development of a fast beam kicker has required improvement in the accuracy of measuring the position of beams. By picking off signals at more than the usual four positions around the monitor, beam position measurement error can be greatly reduced. A second significant source of error is the mechanical variation of the resistor around the bug.« less

Improvements on the accuracy of beam bugs

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

Chen, Y J; Fessenden, T

1998-09-02

At LLNL resistive wall monitors are used to measure the current and position used on ETA-II show a droop in signal due to a fast redistribution time constant of the signals. This paper presents the analysis and experimental test of the beam bugs used for beam current and position measurements in and after the fast kicker. It concludes with an outline of present and future changes that can be made to improve the accuracy of these beam bugs. of intense electron beams in electron induction linacs and beam transport lines. These, known locally as "beam bugs", have been used throughoutmore » linear induction accelerators as essential diagnostics of beam current and location. Recently, the development of a fast beam kicker has required improvement in the accuracy of measuring the position of beams. By picking off signals at more than the usual four positions around the monitor, beam position measurement error can be greatly reduced. A second significant source of error is the mechanical variation of the resistor around the bug.« less

Kinematics of mechanical and adhesional micromanipulation under a scanning electron microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Shigeki; Miyazaki, Hideki T.; Sato, Tomomasa; Takahashi, Kunio

2002-11-01

In this paper, the kinematics of mechanical and adhesional micromanipulation using a needle-shaped tool under a scanning electron microscope is analyzed. A mode diagram is derived to indicate the possible micro-object behavior for the specified operational conditions. Based on the diagram, a reasonable method for pick and place operation is proposed. The keys to successful analysis are to introduce adhesional and rolling-resistance factors into the kinematic system consisting of a sphere, a needle-shaped tool, and a substrate, and to consider the time dependence of these factors due to the electron-beam (EB) irradiation. Adhesional force and the lower limit of maximum rolling resistance are evaluated quantitatively in theoretical and experimental ways. This analysis shows that it is possible to control the fracture of either the tool-sphere or substrate-sphere interface of the system selectively by the tool-loading angle and that such a selective fracture of the interfaces enables reliable pick or place operation even under EB irradiation. Although the conventional micromanipulation was not repeatable because the technique was based on an empirically effective method, this analysis should provide us with a guideline to reliable micromanipulation.

A Laser Stabilization System for Rydberg Atom Physics

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-06

offset locking method which we did. For each system, a small amount of light from a 852 nm (780 nm) diode laser is picked off from the output beam ...this way, tunable sidebands, from 1-10 GHz, that are themselves modulated at .05-5 MHz, can be generated on the input laser beam . The light from the...phase modulation signal. This signal is fed back into the fast (10 MHz bandwidth) locking electronics of the diode laser system to lock the laser to

Uncovering urban human mobility from large scale taxi GPS data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jinjun; Liu, Fang; Wang, Yinhai; Wang, Hua

2015-11-01

Taxi GPS trajectories data contain massive spatial and temporal information of urban human activity and mobility. Taking taxi as mobile sensors, the information derived from taxi trips benefits the city and transportation planning. The original data used in study are collected from more than 1100 taxi drivers in Harbin city. We firstly divide the city area into 400 different transportation districts and analyze the origin and destination distribution in urban area on weekday and weekend. The Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm is used to cluster pick-up and drop-off locations. Furthermore, four spatial interaction models are calibrated and compared based on trajectories in shopping center of Harbin city to study the pick-up location searching behavior. By extracting taxi trips from GPS data, travel distance, time and average speed in occupied and non-occupied status are then used to investigate human mobility. Finally, we use observed OD matrix of center area in Harbin city to model the traffic distribution patterns based on entropy-maximizing method, and the estimation performance verify its effectiveness in case study.

49 CFR 375.605 - How must I notify an individual shipper of any service delays?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... during the periods specified in the order for service and as soon as the delay becomes apparent to you... you expect to be able to pick up and/or deliver the shipment. You must consider the needs of the... your amended date or period for pick-up or delivery. (3) You must retain these records as a part of...

49 CFR 375.605 - How must I notify an individual shipper of any service delays?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... during the periods specified in the order for service and as soon as the delay becomes apparent to you... you expect to be able to pick up and/or deliver the shipment. You must consider the needs of the... your amended date or period for pick-up or delivery. (3) You must retain these records as a part of...

Somatic symptoms, sleep disturbance and psychological distress among women undergoing oocyte pick-up and in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer.

PubMed

Lin, Ya-Hui; Chueh, Ke-Hsin; Lin, Jia-Ling

2016-06-01

This study investigated the relationship between somatic symptoms, sleep disturbance and psychological distress in women who underwent oocyte pick-up and in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer. According to worldwide research, women receiving assisted reproductive technologies may suffer from somatic and psychological symptoms and even experience sleep disturbance. Apparently, the guilt of infecundity forces Asian women to conceal this scenario and delay the time at which they accept medical assistance and mental support. A longitudinal study. The subjects in this study were infertile female patients who received oocyte pick-up and in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer therapies in a hospital in northern Taiwan. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire, including somatic symptoms, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a five-item brief symptom rating scale. Data were analysed using the McNemar's test, Wilcoxon Sign Rank and fully entered multiple regression with spss version 20.0 software. The mean age of 100 participants was 34·54 (SD = 3·94) years old. They experienced abdominal distention, breast engorgement, nausea, faintness, diarrhoea, sleep disturbance and psychological distress when they received in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer; these results were apparently higher than those receiving oocyte pick-up. In addition, sleep disturbance was the most significant factor involved in psychological distress during oocyte pick-up and in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer therapies. The most serious indicator of the women's psychological distress during oocyte pick-up and in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer treatment is anxiety. Sleep disturbance was the most significant factor involved in the psychological distress of women having problems with conception. Assisted reproductive technologies nurses can assess women's psychological distress by caring for their sleep disturbance without directly exploring their mood state. Moreover, these medical personnel should understand infertile female patients' psychological distress is mainly associated with their sleep disturbance. Developing various strategies to improve both sleep quality and psychological distress for infertile female patients should be recognised in future studies. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography using magnetic field measurements.

PubMed

Zengin, Reyhan; Gençer, Nevzat Güneri

2016-08-21

In this study, magnetic field measurement technique is investigated to image the electrical conductivity properties of biological tissues using Lorentz forces. This technique is based on electrical current induction using ultrasound together with an applied static magnetic field. The magnetic field intensity generated due to induced currents is measured using two coil configurations, namely, a rectangular loop coil and a novel xy coil pair. A time-varying voltage is picked-up and recorded while the acoustic wave propagates along its path. The forward problem of this imaging modality is defined as calculation of the pick-up voltages due to a given acoustic excitation and known body properties. Firstly, the feasibility of the proposed technique is investigated analytically. The basic field equations governing the behaviour of time-varying electromagnetic fields are presented. Secondly, the general formulation of the partial differential equations for the scalar and magnetic vector potentials are derived. To investigate the feasibility of this technique, numerical studies are conducted using a finite element method based software. To sense the pick-up voltages a novel coil configuration (xy coil pairs) is proposed. Two-dimensional numerical geometry with a 16-element linear phased array (LPA) ultrasonic transducer (1 MHz) and a conductive body (breast fat) with five tumorous tissues is modeled. The static magnetic field is assumed to be 4 Tesla. To understand the performance of the imaging system, the sensitivity matrix is analyzed. The sensitivity matrix is obtained for two different locations of LPA transducer with eleven steering angles from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] at intervals of [Formula: see text]. The characteristics of the imaging system are shown with the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the sensitivity matrix. The images are reconstructed with the truncated SVD algorithm. The signal-to-noise ratio in measurements is assumed 80 dB. Simulation studies based on the sensitivity matrix analysis reveal that perturbations with [Formula: see text] mm size can be detected up to a 3.5 cm depth.

Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography using magnetic field measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zengin, Reyhan; Güneri Gençer, Nevzat

2016-08-01

In this study, magnetic field measurement technique is investigated to image the electrical conductivity properties of biological tissues using Lorentz forces. This technique is based on electrical current induction using ultrasound together with an applied static magnetic field. The magnetic field intensity generated due to induced currents is measured using two coil configurations, namely, a rectangular loop coil and a novel xy coil pair. A time-varying voltage is picked-up and recorded while the acoustic wave propagates along its path. The forward problem of this imaging modality is defined as calculation of the pick-up voltages due to a given acoustic excitation and known body properties. Firstly, the feasibility of the proposed technique is investigated analytically. The basic field equations governing the behaviour of time-varying electromagnetic fields are presented. Secondly, the general formulation of the partial differential equations for the scalar and magnetic vector potentials are derived. To investigate the feasibility of this technique, numerical studies are conducted using a finite element method based software. To sense the pick-up voltages a novel coil configuration (xy coil pairs) is proposed. Two-dimensional numerical geometry with a 16-element linear phased array (LPA) ultrasonic transducer (1 MHz) and a conductive body (breast fat) with five tumorous tissues is modeled. The static magnetic field is assumed to be 4 Tesla. To understand the performance of the imaging system, the sensitivity matrix is analyzed. The sensitivity matrix is obtained for two different locations of LPA transducer with eleven steering angles from -{{25}\\circ} to {{25}\\circ} at intervals of {{5}\\circ} . The characteristics of the imaging system are shown with the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the sensitivity matrix. The images are reconstructed with the truncated SVD algorithm. The signal-to-noise ratio in measurements is assumed 80 dB. Simulation studies based on the sensitivity matrix analysis reveal that perturbations with 5~\\text{mm}× 5 mm size can be detected up to a 3.5 cm depth.

Route optimization as an instrument to improve animal welfare and economics in pre-slaughter logistics.

PubMed

Frisk, Mikael; Jonsson, Annie; Sellman, Stefan; Flisberg, Patrik; Rönnqvist, Mikael; Wennergren, Uno

2018-01-01

Each year, more than three million animals are transported from farms to abattoirs in Sweden. Animal transport is related to economic and environmental costs and a negative impact on animal welfare. Time and the number of pick-up stops between farms and abattoirs are two key parameters for animal welfare. Both are highly dependent on efficient and qualitative transportation planning, which may be difficult if done manually. We have examined the benefits of using route optimization in cattle transportation planning. To simulate the effects of various planning time windows and transportation time regulations and number of pick-up stops along each route, we have used data that represent one year of cattle transport. Our optimization model is a development of a model used in forestry transport that solves a general pick-up and delivery vehicle routing problem. The objective is to minimize transportation costs. We have shown that the length of the planning time window has a significant impact on the animal transport time, the total driving time and the total distance driven; these parameters that will not only affect animal welfare but also affect the economy and environment in the pre-slaughter logistic chain. In addition, we have shown that changes in animal transportation regulations, such as minimizing the number of allowed pick-up stops on each route or minimizing animal transportation time, will have positive effects on animal welfare measured in transportation hours and number of pick-up stops. However, this leads to an increase in working time and driven distances, leading to higher transportation costs for the transport and negative environmental impact.

Patient request for pharmacist counseling and satisfaction: Automated prescription delivery system versus regular pick-up counter.

PubMed

Hirsch, Jan D; Oen, Austin; Robertson, Suzie; Nguyen, Nancy; Daniels, Charles

2009-01-01

To assess the rate of patient-requested pharmacist counseling for refill prescriptions and satisfaction with pick-up process for patients using an automated prescription delivery system (APDS) versus those using a regular pick-up counter and to explore patient willingness to use an APDS as a tool for pharmacist monitoring of medication therapy outcomes. In this uncontrolled, cross-sectional, survey study, we assessed use of APDS or the regular counter by 116 patients picking up refill prescriptions at two community pharmacies. The main outcome measures were number of patients requesting pharmacist counseling for refill prescriptions, patient satisfaction with pick-up process, and patient willingness to use an APDS to report medication therapy outcomes. None of the regular counter users and only two APDS users (3.7%) requested counseling for their refill prescription (P = 0.126). Almost all patients agreed that they were able to talk to a pharmacist about their prescription if they wanted to do so (95.1% regular counter and 92.3% APDS; P = 0.268). The majority (75%) of patients using APDS indicated that they would be willing to use the system to answer questions or perform simple tests to provide information that the pharmacist could use to improve medication effectiveness or reduce adverse effects. Very few patients (ADPS or regular counter) asked to speak to a pharmacist about their refill medications, although it appeared that no perceived barriers to pharmacist access existed. Most APDS patients were willing to use this new technology to provide information about therapy outcomes to the pharmacist. Further exploration and testing of the APDS as a data collection tool to enhance pharmacist access to therapy outcomes is warranted.

Route optimization as an instrument to improve animal welfare and economics in pre-slaughter logistics

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Each year, more than three million animals are transported from farms to abattoirs in Sweden. Animal transport is related to economic and environmental costs and a negative impact on animal welfare. Time and the number of pick-up stops between farms and abattoirs are two key parameters for animal welfare. Both are highly dependent on efficient and qualitative transportation planning, which may be difficult if done manually. We have examined the benefits of using route optimization in cattle transportation planning. To simulate the effects of various planning time windows and transportation time regulations and number of pick-up stops along each route, we have used data that represent one year of cattle transport. Our optimization model is a development of a model used in forestry transport that solves a general pick-up and delivery vehicle routing problem. The objective is to minimize transportation costs. We have shown that the length of the planning time window has a significant impact on the animal transport time, the total driving time and the total distance driven; these parameters that will not only affect animal welfare but also affect the economy and environment in the pre-slaughter logistic chain. In addition, we have shown that changes in animal transportation regulations, such as minimizing the number of allowed pick-up stops on each route or minimizing animal transportation time, will have positive effects on animal welfare measured in transportation hours and number of pick-up stops. However, this leads to an increase in working time and driven distances, leading to higher transportation costs for the transport and negative environmental impact. PMID:29513704

Laboratory simulation of energetic flows of magnetospheric planetary plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaikhislamov, I. F.; Posukh, V. G.; Melekhov, A. V.; Boyarintsev, E. L.; Zakharov, Yu P.; Prokopov, P. A.; Ponomarenko, A. G.

2017-01-01

Dynamic interaction of super-sonic counter-streaming plasmas moving in dipole magnetic dipole is studied in laboratory experiment. First, a quasi-stationary flow is produced by plasma gun which forms a magnetosphere around the magnetic dipole. Second, explosive plasma expanding from inner dipole region outward is launch by laser beams focused at the surface of the dipole cover. Laser plasma is energetic enough to disrupt magnetic field and to sweep through the background plasma for large distances. Probe measurements showed that far from the initially formed magnetosphere laser plasma carries within itself a magnetic field of the same direction but order of magnitude larger in value than the vacuum dipole field at considered distances. Because no compression of magnetic field at the front of laser plasma was observed, the realized interaction is different from previous experiments and theoretical models of laser plasma expansion into uniform magnetized background. It was deduced based on the obtained data that laser plasma while expanding through inner magnetosphere picks up a magnetized shell formed by background plasma and carries it for large distances beyond previously existing magnetosphere.

Pediatric prescription pick-up rates after ED visits.

PubMed

Kajioka, Eric H; Itoman, Erick M; Li, M Lily; Taira, Deborah A; Li, Gaylyn G; Yamamoto, Loren G

2005-07-01

To determine the compliance rate in filling outpatient medication prescriptions written upon discharge from the emergency department (ED). Emergency department records of children during a 3-month period were examined along with pharmacy claim data obtained in cooperation with the largest insurance carrier in the community (private and Medicaid). Pharmacy claim data were used to validate the prescription pick-up date. Overall, 65% of high-urgency prescriptions were filled. The prescription pick-up rate in the 0-to 3-year age group (75%) was significantly higher than in the rest of the cohort (55%) ( P < .001). Children with private insurance were more likely to fill their prescriptions (68%) compared to children with Medicaid insurance (57%) ( P = .03). This study demonstrates that filling a prescription after discharge from an ED represents a substantial barrier to medication compliance.

Report on LEReC Recombination Monitor APEX Study on June 15th 2016

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

Drees, A.; Bruno, D.; Curcio, T.

2016-12-21

During the prospective Low Energy RHIC electron Cooling (LEReC) operation, the electron beam will overlap and interact with the low energy ion beam to provide transverse cooling. Cooling is needed to facilitate reaching the BES-2 (Beam Energy Scan 2) program goals of an average store luminosity of 5 × 10 24 cm -2 s -1 at 3.85 GeV/n and 17.3 × 10 24 cm -2 s -1 at 9.1 GeV/n. The RHIC phase of BES-2 is currently planned for the RHIC runs in 2019 and 2020. Effective cooling will depend on the accuracy of velocity matching between the two beams.more » Another process, the rate of ion-electron recombination, is also maximized when the velocities are matched, but the exact matching requirement is less stringent. Therefore, as suggested by one of us, detecting and maximizing recombination signals should be helpful in finding the narrow velocity matching window conducive to cooling. When 197Au 79+ RHIC ions pick up an electron from the LEREeC electron beam they are converted into 197Au 78+ ions with nearly the same momentum while having about 1.3% higher magnetic rigidity than the original 197Au 79+ particles. The detection of the recombined ions can be done by driving the 197Au 78+ beam into the beam pipe wall, creating showers of secondary particles which then can be detected outside the cryostat by using appropriately positioned detectors. For the purpose of forcing losses of the expected off-momentum particles a dedicated lattice with large horizontal dispersion in one arc was proposed and designed.« less

GEONETCast Americas - Architecture

Science.gov Websites

service uses the commercial Intelsat-9 (IS-9) satellite to broadcast environmental and other observation found here. Users throughout the region can pick up the broadcast using inexpensive satellite receiver stations based on Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) standards (Digital Video Broadcast – Satellite or DVB-S

Development of multi-layer crystal detector and related front end electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardarelli, R.; Di Ciaccio, A.; Paolozzi, L.

2014-05-01

A crystal (diamond) particle detector has been developed and tested, whose constitute elements are a multi-layer polycrystalline diamond and a pick-up system capable of collecting in parallel the charge produced in the layers. The charge is read with a charge-to-voltage amplifier (5-6 mV/fC) realized with bipolar junction transistors in order to minimize the effect of the detector capacitance. The tests performed with cosmic rays and at the beam test facility of Frascati with 500 MeV electrons in single electron mode operation have shown that a detector with 4-5 layers of 250 μm thickness each and 9 mm2 active area exhibits an upper limit of 150 ps time resolution for minimum ionizing particles at an operating voltage of about 350 V.

Structural power flow measurement

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

Falter, K.J.; Keltie, R.F.

Previous investigations of structural power flow through beam-like structures resulted in some unexplained anomalies in the calculated data. In order to develop structural power flow measurement as a viable technique for machine tool design, the causes of these anomalies needed to be found. Once found, techniques for eliminating the errors could be developed. Error sources were found in the experimental apparatus itself as well as in the instrumentation. Although flexural waves are the carriers of power in the experimental apparatus, at some frequencies longitudinal waves were excited which were picked up by the accelerometers and altered power measurements. Errors weremore » found in the phase and gain response of the sensors and amplifiers used for measurement. A transfer function correction technique was employed to compensate for these instrumentation errors.« less

Automatic P-S phase picking procedure based on Kurtosis: Vanuatu region case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baillard, C.; Crawford, W. C.; Ballu, V.; Hibert, C.

2012-12-01

Automatic P and S phase picking is indispensable for large seismological data sets. Robust algorithms, based on short term and long term average ratio comparison (Allen, 1982), are commonly used for event detection, but further improvements can be made in phase identification and picking. We present a picking scheme using consecutively Kurtosis-derived Characteristic Functions (CF) and Eigenvalue decompositions on 3-component seismic data to independently pick P and S arrivals. When computed over a sliding window of the signal, a sudden increase in the CF reveals a transition from a gaussian to a non-gaussian distribution, characterizing the phase onset (Saragiotis, 2002). One advantage of the method is that it requires much fewer adjustable parameters than competing methods. We modified the Kurtosis CF to improve pick precision, by computing the CF over several frequency bandwidths, window sizes and smoothing parameters. Once phases were picked, we determined the onset type (P or S) using polarization parameters (rectilinearity, azimuth and dip) calculated using Eigenvalue decompositions of the covariance matrix (Cichowicz, 1993). Finally, we removed bad picks using a clustering procedure and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The pick quality index was also assigned based on the SNR value. Amplitude calculation is integrated into the procedure to enable automatic magnitude calculation. We applied this procedure to data from a network of 30 wideband seismometers (including 10 oceanic bottom seismometers) in Vanuatu that ran for 10 months from May 2008 to February 2009. We manually picked the first 172 events of June, whose local magnitudes range from 0.7 to 3.7. We made a total of 1601 picks, 1094 P and 507 S. We then applied our automatic picking to the same dataset. 70% of the manually picked onsets were picked automatically. For P-picks, the difference between manual and automatic picks is 0.01 ± 0.08 s overall; for the best quality picks (quality index 0: 64% of the P-picks) the difference is -0.01 ± 0.07 s. For S-picks, the difference is -0.09 ± 0.26 s overall and -0.06 ± 0.14 s for good quality picks (index 1: 26% of the S-picks). Residuals showed no dependence on the event magnitudes. The method independently picks S and P waves with good precision and only a few parameters to adjust for relatively small earthquakes (mostly ≤ 2 Ml). The automatic procedure was then applied to the whole dataset. Earthquake locations obtained by inverting onset arrivals revealed clustering and lineations that helped us to constrain the subduction plane. Those key parameters will be integrated to a 3D finite-difference modeling and compared to GPS data in order to better understand the complex geodynamics behavior of the Vanuatu region.

Contributions for the next generation of 3D metal printing machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, M.; Thombansen, U.

2015-03-01

The 3D metal printing processes are key technologies for the new industry manufacturing requirements, as small lot production associated with high design complexity and high flexibility are needed towards personalization and customization. The main challenges for these processes are associated to increasing printing volumes, maintaining the relative accuracy level and reducing the global manufacturing time. Through a review on current technologies and solutions proposed by global patents new design solutions for 3D metal printing machines can be suggested. This paper picks up current technologies and trends in SLM and suggests some design approaches to overcome these challenges. As the SLM process is based on laser scanning, an increase in printing volume requires moving the scanner over the work surface by motion systems if printing accuracy has to be kept constant. This approach however does not contribute to a reduction in manufacturing time, as only one laser source will be responsible for building the entire work piece. With given technology limits in galvo based laser scanning systems, the most obvious solution consists in using multiple beam delivery systems in series, in parallel or both. Another concern is related to the weight of large work pieces. A new powder recoater can control the layer thickness and uniformity and eliminate or diminish fumes. To improve global accuracy, the use of a pair of high frequency piezoelectric actuators can help in positioning the laser beam. The implementation of such suggestions can contribute to SLM productivity. To do this, several research activities need to be accomplished in areas related to design, control, software and process fundamentals.

Study on store-space assignment based on logistic AGV in e-commerce goods to person picking pattern

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Lijuan; Zhu, Jie

2017-10-01

This paper studied on the store-space assignment based on logistic AGV in E-commerce goods to person picking pattern, and established the store-space assignment model based on the lowest picking cost, and design for store-space assignment algorithm after the cluster analysis based on similarity coefficient. And then through the example analysis, compared the picking cost between store-space assignment algorithm this paper design and according to item number and storage according to ABC classification allocation, and verified the effectiveness of the design of the store-space assignment algorithm.

High Fidelity Tape Transfer Printing Based On Chemically Induced Adhesive Strength Modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sim, Kyoseung; Chen, Song; Li, Yuhang; Kammoun, Mejdi; Peng, Yun; Xu, Minwei; Gao, Yang; Song, Jizhou; Zhang, Yingchun; Ardebili, Haleh; Yu, Cunjiang

2015-11-01

Transfer printing, a two-step process (i.e. picking up and printing) for heterogeneous integration, has been widely exploited for the fabrication of functional electronics system. To ensure a reliable process, strong adhesion for picking up and weak or no adhesion for printing are required. However, it is challenging to meet the requirements of switchable stamp adhesion. Here we introduce a simple, high fidelity process, namely tape transfer printing(TTP), enabled by chemically induced dramatic modulation in tape adhesive strength. We describe the working mechanism of the adhesion modulation that governs this process and demonstrate the method by high fidelity tape transfer printing several types of materials and devices, including Si pellets arrays, photodetector arrays, and electromyography (EMG) sensors, from their preparation substrates to various alien substrates. High fidelity tape transfer printing of components onto curvilinear surfaces is also illustrated.

Development of a screening system for cystic fibrosis.

PubMed

Coury, A J; Fogt, E J; Norenberg, M S; Untereker, D F

1983-09-01

We have developed a simple method for detecting high concentrations of chloride in sweat from ambulatory subjects, a measurement useful in the detection of cystic fibrosis. The method is based on the standard approach of stimulating sweat generation through iontophoresis of pilocarpine nitrate into the skin, followed by collection and analysis of the sweat for chloride concentration. The sweat-stimulating reagents are contained in polymeric gel pads, which are used in conjunction with a small battery-powered stimulator. The chloride analysis is subsequently done on the stimulated site by use of a thin test patch that picks up a fixed amount of sweat and changes color if the chloride concentration is higher than a predetermined value. The successful completion of a test is indicated by a fill tab, which changes color when the appropriate amount of sweat has been picked up by the chloride test patch.

Automatic first-arrival picking based on extended super-virtual interferometry with quality control procedure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Shengpei; Hu, Tianyue; Liu, Yimou; Peng, Gengxin; Liang, Xianghao

2017-12-01

Static correction is a crucial step of seismic data processing for onshore play, which frequently has a complex near-surface condition. The effectiveness of the static correction depends on an accurate determination of first-arrival traveltimes. However, it is difficult to accurately auto-pick the first arrivals for data with low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), especially for those measured in the area of the complex near-surface. The technique of the super-virtual interferometry (SVI) has the potential to enhance the SNR of first arrivals. In this paper, we develop the extended SVI with (1) the application of the reverse correlation to improve the capability of SNR enhancement at near-offset, and (2) the usage of the multi-domain method to partially overcome the limitation of current method, given insufficient available source-receiver combinations. Compared to the standard SVI, the SNR enhancement of the extended SVI can be up to 40%. In addition, we propose a quality control procedure, which is based on the statistical characteristics of multichannel recordings of first arrivals. It can auto-correct the mispicks, which might be spurious events generated by the SVI. This procedure is very robust, highly automatic and it can accommodate large data in batches. Finally, we develop one automatic first-arrival picking method to combine the extended SVI and the quality control procedure. Both the synthetic and the field data examples demonstrate that the proposed method is able to accurately auto-pick first arrivals in seismic traces with low SNR. The quality of the stacked seismic sections obtained from this method is much better than those obtained from an auto-picking method, which is commonly employed by the commercial software.

Service dogs in the province of Quebec: sociodemographic profile of users and the dogs' impact on functional ability.

PubMed

Vincent, Claude; Gagnon, Dany; Routhier, François; Leblond, Jean; Boucher, Pascale; Blanchet, Marie; Martin-Lemoyne, Valérie

2015-03-01

The objectives of this study were to (1) describe the sociodemographic profile of service dog users, their physical disabilities, main occupations, living environment, and use of technical aids in daily life and (2) evaluate the impact of service dogs on wheelchair travel and picking up objects. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected and various mobility tests were conducted in the service dog users' home environment (n = 199). The service dog users had injuries to the central or peripheral nervous system (55%), spinal cord (33%), or musculoskeletal or orthopedic system (12%). In the wheelchair travel on flat terrain test (n = 67), users travelled a longer distance in a shorter time, improving their average speed to 1.28 m/s with the service dog compared to 0.75 m/s without (p < 0.001). In a wheelchair propelling up a slope, 42% improved with the service dog (n = 60). Mounting a threshold/curb in a wheelchair, 41% improved with the service dog (n = 39). In a test where walkers and wheelchair users picked up three objects off the ground, 44% improved with the service dog (n = 164). Service dogs significantly improved wheelchair travel speed and distance on flat and ascending terrain, mounting a threshold/curb and picking up objects off the ground. Implications for Rehabilitation For people with motor impairments: Service dogs are most often used as a technical aid to pick up objects (96%), open doors (36%) and pull the wheelchair during travel (34%). Clients' performance in significant travel in a wheelchair (on flat terrain, on an upslope, mounting a threshold) improved with the service dog compared to their own performance without the dog. Clients' grasping performance (picking up three significant objects off the ground) improved with the service dog compared to their own performance without the dog.

41 CFR 102-36.135 - How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Excess Personal Property For Our Agency Processing Transfers § 102-36.135 How much time do we have to... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer? 102-36.135 Section 102-36...

41 CFR 102-36.135 - How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Excess Personal Property For Our Agency Processing Transfers § 102-36.135 How much time do we have to... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer? 102-36.135 Section 102-36...

41 CFR 102-36.135 - How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Excess Personal Property For Our Agency Processing Transfers § 102-36.135 How much time do we have to... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer? 102-36.135 Section 102-36...

41 CFR 102-36.135 - How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Excess Personal Property For Our Agency Processing Transfers § 102-36.135 How much time do we have to... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer? 102-36.135 Section 102-36...

41 CFR 102-36.135 - How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Excess Personal Property For Our Agency Processing Transfers § 102-36.135 How much time do we have to... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false How much time do we have to pick up excess personal property that has been approved for transfer? 102-36.135 Section 102-36...

What predicts successful literacy acquisition in a second language?

PubMed Central

Frost, Ram; Siegelman, Noam; Narkiss, Alona; Afek, Liron

2013-01-01

We examined whether success (or failure) in assimilating the structure of a second language could be predicted by general statistical learning abilities that are non-linguistic in nature. We employed a visual statistical learning (VSL) task, monitoring our participants’ implicit learning of the transitional probabilities of visual shapes. A pretest revealed that performance in the VSL task is not correlated with abilities related to a general G factor or working memory. We found that native speakers of English who picked up the implicit statistical structure embedded in the continuous stream of shapes, on average, better assimilated the Semitic structure of Hebrew words. Our findings thus suggest that languages and their writing systems are characterized by idiosyncratic correlations of form and meaning, and these are picked up in the process of literacy acquisition, as they are picked up in any other type of learning, for the purpose of making sense of the environment. PMID:23698615

Raman fiber optic probe assembly for use in hostile environments

DOEpatents

Schmucker, John E.; Falk, Jon C.; Archer, William B.; Blasi, Raymond J.

2000-01-01

This invention provides a device for Raman spectroscopic measurement of composition and concentrations in a hostile environment by the use of a first fiber optic as a means of directing high intensity monochromatic light from a laser to the hostile environment and a second fiber optic to receive the lower intensity scattered light for transmittal to a monochromator for analysis. To avoid damage to the fiber optics, they are protected from the hostile environment. A preferred embodiment of the Raman fiber optic probe is able to obtain Raman spectra of corrosive gases and solutions at temperatures up to 600.degree. F. and pressures up to 2000 psi. The incident exciting fiber optic cable makes an angle of substantially 90.degree. with the collecting fiber optic cable. This 90.degree. geometry minimizes the Rayleigh scattering signal picked up by the collecting fiber, because the intensity of Rayleigh scattering is lowest in the direction perpendicular to the beam path of the exciting light and therefore a 90.degree. scattering geometry optimizes the signal to noise ratio.

10 High Fliers on Twitter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Jeffrey R.

2009-01-01

Twitter is quickly becoming a global faculty lounge. Sure, it's easy to waste a lot of time on the Internet-based microblogging service reading mundane details about people's days. But one can also pick up some great higher-education gossip, track down colleagues to collaborate with, or get advice on how to improve one's teaching or research. In…

Rhetorics of Professional Change: Assembling the Means to Act Differently?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reeves, Jenny; I'Anson, John

2014-01-01

In an earlier study of learning on a practice-based postgraduate programme participants indicated that certain artefacts were critically important in enabling them to gain "permission" to act differently in their schools. Picking up on this suggestion, this study begins to explore how looking at the composition of texts by teachers as a…

Picking up the Threads. Languaging in a Swedish Mainstream Preschool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Puskás, Tünde

2017-01-01

This paper examines the strategies monolingual teachers use to scaffold meaning and encourage and enhance verbal communication with emergent bilingual children in a Swedish mainstream preschool. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork in a preschool group in which seven of twelve children spoke Swedish as their second, additional language.…

Picking up the shield: Incorporating defense into strategic nuclear doctrine. Research report

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

Ruotsala, M.G.

Picking up the Shield is an interesting and enlightening account of the evolution of strategic nuclear doctrine. It puts the offense-defense relationship into a historical perspective that lends important insight into the ongoing debate over strategic defenses. Although this debate centers on the active defenses contemplated by the strategic defense initiative, Lt Col Michael G. Ruotsala makes the point that passive defenses are also an important component of strategic defense. He sees the inherent passive defenses of the Triad as being a key to maintaining offense-oriented deterrence, and he makes a good case for survivable Peacekeeper basing and a smallmore » mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to enhance deterrence and pave the way for active defense. Although the future may hold a strategic defense with new, even revolutionary, weapons, any future program will embody old concepts of offense and defense. For the foreseeable future, offensive strategic forces will continue to play a dominant role in US defense policy. However, strategic defenses are consistent with US strategic doctrine. More important for deterrence, defenses are consistent with Soviet doctrine. Clearly, complementing roles for both the offense and defense are critical for developing a doctrine that enhances deterrence of a nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is also clear that Picking up the Shield makes a significant contribution to understanding the challenge we face as we incorporate defense into strategic nuclear doctrine.« less

Computer vision-based automated peak picking applied to protein NMR spectra.

PubMed

Klukowski, Piotr; Walczak, Michal J; Gonczarek, Adam; Boudet, Julien; Wider, Gerhard

2015-09-15

A detailed analysis of multidimensional NMR spectra of macromolecules requires the identification of individual resonances (peaks). This task can be tedious and time-consuming and often requires support by experienced users. Automated peak picking algorithms were introduced more than 25 years ago, but there are still major deficiencies/flaws that often prevent complete and error free peak picking of biological macromolecule spectra. The major challenges of automated peak picking algorithms is both the distinction of artifacts from real peaks particularly from those with irregular shapes and also picking peaks in spectral regions with overlapping resonances which are very hard to resolve by existing computer algorithms. In both of these cases a visual inspection approach could be more effective than a 'blind' algorithm. We present a novel approach using computer vision (CV) methodology which could be better adapted to the problem of peak recognition. After suitable 'training' we successfully applied the CV algorithm to spectra of medium-sized soluble proteins up to molecular weights of 26 kDa and to a 130 kDa complex of a tetrameric membrane protein in detergent micelles. Our CV approach outperforms commonly used programs. With suitable training datasets the application of the presented method can be extended to automated peak picking in multidimensional spectra of nucleic acids or carbohydrates and adapted to solid-state NMR spectra. CV-Peak Picker is available upon request from the authors. gsw@mol.biol.ethz.ch; michal.walczak@mol.biol.ethz.ch; adam.gonczarek@pwr.edu.pl Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An embedded real-time red peach detection system based on an OV7670 camera, ARM cortex-M4 processor and 3D look-up tables.

PubMed

Teixidó, Mercè; Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Nogués, Miquel; Palacín, Jordi

2012-10-22

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second.

An Embedded Real-Time Red Peach Detection System Based on an OV7670 Camera, ARM Cortex-M4 Processor and 3D Look-Up Tables

PubMed Central

Teixidó, Mercè; Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Nogués, Miquel; Palacín, Jordi

2012-01-01

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second. PMID:23202040

7 CFR 1001.13 - Producer milk.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... and Orders; Milk), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE NORTHEAST MARKETING AREA Order Regulating... is picked up from the producer's farm in a tank truck under the control of the operator of a pool... month shall be considered as having been received by the handler during the month in which it is picked...

7 CFR 1001.13 - Producer milk.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... and Orders; Milk), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE NORTHEAST MARKETING AREA Order Regulating... is picked up from the producer's farm in a tank truck under the control of the operator of a pool... month shall be considered as having been received by the handler during the month in which it is picked...

Optical elements design of optical pick-up with characteristics of read-out spot for high density optical storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Lihua; Ma, Jianshe; Liu, Lin; Pan, Longfa; Zhang, Jianyong; Lu, Junhui

2005-09-01

It is well known that the optical pick-up (OPU) plays a very important role in optical storage system. And the quality of OPU can be measured by the characteristics of OPU read-out spot for high density optical storage. Therefore this paper mainly designs an OPU model for high density optical storage to study the characteristics of OPU read-out spot. Firstly it analyses the optical read-out principle in OPU and contrives an optical read-out system based on the hereinbefore theory. In this step it chiefly designs the grating, splitter, collimator lens and objective lens. Secondly based on the aberrations analysis and theory involved by the splitter, the collimator lens and the optical lens, the paper uses the software CODE V to calculate the aberrations and to optimize the optical read-out system. Then the author can receive an ideal OPU read-out spot for high density optical storage and obtain the characteristics of the ideal OPU read-out spot. At the same time this paper analyses some influence factors which can directly affect the characteristics of the OPU read-out spot. Thirdly according to the up data the author practically manufactures a real optical pick-up to validate the hereinbefore designed optical read-out system. And it uses the Optical Spot Analyzer to get the image of the read-out spot. Comparing the ideal image to the actual image of the designed optical read-out system, the author finds out that the upwards analyses and design is suitable for high density storage and can be used in the actual production. And the author also receives the conclusion that the mostly influences on characteristics of OPU read-out spot for high density optical storage factors is not only the process of designing the grating, splitter, collimator lens and objective lens, but also the assembling work precision

A Semiautomated Multilayer Picking Algorithm for Ice-sheet Radar Echograms Applied to Ground-Based Near-Surface Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Onana, Vincent De Paul; Koenig, Lora Suzanne; Ruth, Julia; Studinger, Michael; Harbeck, Jeremy P.

2014-01-01

Snow accumulation over an ice sheet is the sole mass input, making it a primary measurement for understanding the past, present, and future mass balance. Near-surface frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radars image isochronous firn layers recording accumulation histories. The Semiautomated Multilayer Picking Algorithm (SAMPA) was designed and developed to trace annual accumulation layers in polar firn from both airborne and ground-based radars. The SAMPA algorithm is based on the Radon transform (RT) computed by blocks and angular orientations over a radar echogram. For each echogram's block, the RT maps firn segmented-layer features into peaks, which are picked using amplitude and width threshold parameters of peaks. A backward RT is then computed for each corresponding block, mapping the peaks back into picked segmented-layers. The segmented layers are then connected and smoothed to achieve a final layer pick across the echogram. Once input parameters are trained, SAMPA operates autonomously and can process hundreds of kilometers of radar data picking more than 40 layers. SAMPA final pick results and layer numbering still require a cursory manual adjustment to correct noncontinuous picks, which are likely not annual, and to correct for inconsistency in layer numbering. Despite the manual effort to train and check SAMPA results, it is an efficient tool for picking multiple accumulation layers in polar firn, reducing time over manual digitizing efforts. The trackability of good detected layers is greater than 90%.

[Pit-picking surgery for pilonidal disease].

PubMed

Iesalnieks, I; Deimel, S; Kienle, K; Schlitt, H J; Zülke, C

2011-10-01

The pit-picking method was first described by J. Bascom in 1980, however, this minimally invasive technique is used only by a minority of surgeons yet. Surgery was performed under local anesthesia. All primary pits in the midline were removed by excising a border of skin of <1 mm and a 1 cm long incision was made parallel to one side of the cleft to open the chronic abscess cavity. No specific postoperative wound care was given. Pit-picking surgery was carried out 157 times in a total of 153 patients (126 males) between June 2007 and November 2010. Follow-up information was available in 123 cases and 21 patients (17%) developed disease recurrence after a mean follow-up time of 7.1 months. By multivariate analysis, a body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m(2) (p=0.019) and duration of the disease of ≥6 months (p=0.017) were statistically significantly associated with disease recurrence after pit-picking surgery. The recurrence occurred more often in male than in female patients (20% versus 4.5%, p=0.12) Patients with pilonidal disease can be successfully treated by the pit-picking procedure in more than 80% of selected cases. Female patients and non-overweight male patients with short-term disease benefit most from this treatment method.

Higher order mode couplers for normal conducting DORIS 5-cell cavities

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

Dewersteg, B.; Seesselberg, E.; Zolfaghari, A.

1985-10-01

The beam intensity of the DORIS e -e storage ring is limited to about 100 mA average circulation current as a result of instabilities driven by higher order rf cavity modes. Thus an investigation has been made of the higher order mode impedances of the DORIS rf accelerator cavities. These cavities are the same as the normally conducting inductively coupled 500 MHz 5-cell structures used in PETRA. The results of the investigation were applied for the construction of inductive and capacitive attenuation antennae corresponding to specific mode spectra and mode impedances. The antennae must fit into the existing 35 mmmore » pick up flanges of the cavities and in spite of these size and position limitations they must be efficient in reducing the shunt impedances of the dangerous modes.« less

49 CFR 395.1 - Scope of rules in this part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... to drive a commercial motor vehicle for not more than 2 additional hours in order to complete that... transportation of oilfield equipment, including the stringing and picking up of pipe used in pipelines, and... 150 air-mile radius of where the grapes were picked or distributed; and (4) Is during the harvest...

A Preliminary Analysis of the Phenomenology of Skin-Picking in Prader-Willi Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Jessica R.; Storch, Eric A.; Woods, Douglas W.; Bodzin, Danielle; Lewin, Adam B.; Murphy, Tanya K.

2010-01-01

To examine the nature and psychosocial correlates of skin-picking behavior in youth with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). Parents of 67 youth (aged 5-19 years) with PWS were recruited to complete an internet-based survey that included measures of: skin-picking behaviors, the automatic and/or focused nature of skin-picking, severity of skin-picking…

Capillary-Force-Assisted Clean-Stamp Transfer of Two-Dimensional Materials.

PubMed

Ma, Xuezhi; Liu, Qiushi; Xu, Da; Zhu, Yangzhi; Kim, Sanggon; Cui, Yongtao; Zhong, Lanlan; Liu, Ming

2017-11-08

A simple and clean method of transferring two-dimensional (2D) materials plays a critical role in the fabrication of 2D electronics, particularly the heterostructure devices based on the artificial vertical stacking of various 2D crystals. Currently, clean transfer techniques rely on sacrificial layers or bulky crystal flakes (e.g., hexagonal boron nitride) to pick up the 2D materials. Here, we develop a capillary-force-assisted clean-stamp technique that uses a thin layer of evaporative liquid (e.g., water) as an instant glue to increase the adhesion energy between 2D crystals and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for the pick-up step. After the liquid evaporates, the adhesion energy decreases, and the 2D crystal can be released. The thin liquid layer is condensed to the PDMS surface from its vapor phase, which ensures the low contamination level on the 2D materials and largely remains their chemical and electrical properties. Using this method, we prepared graphene-based transistors with low charge-neutral concentration (3 × 10 10 cm -2 ) and high carrier mobility (up to 48 820 cm 2 V -1 s -1 at room temperature) and heterostructure optoelectronics with high operation speed. Finally, a capillary-force model is developed to explain the experiment.

Barbie Princesses and Dinosaur Dragons: Narration as a Way of Doing Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anggard, Eva

2005-01-01

In this article, young children's narration in words and pictures is discussed from a gender perspective. The article is based on a project in which eight pre-school children made their own books. In their stories, the children reused narratives picked up from different media, both traditional fairytales and popular cultural products. The reuse of…

How Children with Autism Reason about Other's Intentions: False-Belief and Counterfactual Inferences.

PubMed

Rasga, Célia; Quelhas, Ana Cristina; Byrne, Ruth M J

2017-06-01

We examine false belief and counterfactual reasoning in children with autism with a new change-of-intentions task. Children listened to stories, for example, Anne is picking up toys and John hears her say she wants to find her ball. John goes away and the reason for Anne's action changes-Anne's mother tells her to tidy her bedroom. We asked, 'What will John believe is the reason that Anne is picking up toys?' which requires a false-belief inference, and 'If Anne's mother hadn't asked Anne to tidy her room, what would have been the reason she was picking up toys?' which requires a counterfactual inference. We tested children aged 6, 8 and 10 years. Children with autism made fewer correct inferences than typically developing children at 8 years, but by 10 years there was no difference. Children with autism made fewer correct false-belief than counterfactual inferences, just like typically developing children.

Action understanding in the superior temporal sulcus region.

PubMed

Wyk, Brent C Vander; Hudac, Caitlin M; Carter, Elizabeth J; Sobel, David M; Pelphrey, Kevin A

2009-06-01

The posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) region plays an important role in the perception of social acts, although its full role has not been completely clarified. This functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment examined activity in the STS region as participants viewed actions that were congruent or incongruent with intentions established by a previous emotional context. Participants viewed an actress express either a positive or a negative emotion toward one of two objects and then subsequently pick up one of them. If the object that was picked up had received positive regard, or if the object that was not picked up had received negative regard, the action was congruent; otherwise, the action was incongruent. Activity in the right posterior STS region was sensitive to the congruency between the action and the actress's emotional expression (i.e., STS activity was greater on incongruent than on congruent trials). These findings suggest that the posterior STS represents not only biological motion, but also how another person's motion is related to his or her intentions.

Pick-up, transport and release of a molecular cargo using a small-molecule robotic arm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kassem, Salma; Lee, Alan T. L.; Leigh, David A.; Markevicius, Augustinas; Solà, Jordi

2016-02-01

Modern-day factory assembly lines often feature robots that pick up, reposition and connect components in a programmed manner. The idea of manipulating molecular fragments in a similar way has to date only been explored using biological building blocks (specifically DNA). Here, we report on a wholly artificial small-molecule robotic arm capable of selectively transporting a molecular cargo in either direction between two spatially distinct, chemically similar, sites on a molecular platform. The arm picks up/releases a 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide cargo by formation/breakage of a disulfide bond, while dynamic hydrazone chemistry controls the cargo binding to the platform. Transport is controlled by selectively inducing conformational and configurational changes within an embedded hydrazone rotary switch that steers the robotic arm. In a three-stage operation, 79-85% of 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide molecules are transported in either (chosen) direction between the two platform sites, without the cargo at any time fully dissociating from the machine nor exchanging with other molecules in the bulk.

Pick-up, transport and release of a molecular cargo using a small-molecule robotic arm.

PubMed

Kassem, Salma; Lee, Alan T L; Leigh, David A; Markevicius, Augustinas; Solà, Jordi

2016-02-01

Modern-day factory assembly lines often feature robots that pick up, reposition and connect components in a programmed manner. The idea of manipulating molecular fragments in a similar way has to date only been explored using biological building blocks (specifically DNA). Here, we report on a wholly artificial small-molecule robotic arm capable of selectively transporting a molecular cargo in either direction between two spatially distinct, chemically similar, sites on a molecular platform. The arm picks up/releases a 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide cargo by formation/breakage of a disulfide bond, while dynamic hydrazone chemistry controls the cargo binding to the platform. Transport is controlled by selectively inducing conformational and configurational changes within an embedded hydrazone rotary switch that steers the robotic arm. In a three-stage operation, 79-85% of 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide molecules are transported in either (chosen) direction between the two platform sites, without the cargo at any time fully dissociating from the machine nor exchanging with other molecules in the bulk.

Seasonal variation of Martian pick-up ions: Evidence of breathing exosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamauchi, M.; Hara, T.; Lundin, R.; Dubinin, E.; Fedorov, A.; Sauvaud, J.-A.; Frahm, R. A.; Ramstad, R.; Futaana, Y.; Holmstrom, M.; Barabash, S.

2015-12-01

The Mars Express (MEX) Ion Mass Analyser (IMA) found that the detection rate of the ring-like distribution of protons in the solar wind outside of the bow shock to be quite different between Mars orbital summer (around perihelion) and orbital winter (around aphelion) for four Martian years, while the north-south asymmetry is much smaller than the perihelion-aphelion difference. Further analyses using eight years of MEX/IMA solar wind data between 2005 and 2012 has revealed that the detection frequency of the pick-up ions originating from newly ionized exospheric hydrogen with certain flux strongly correlates with the Sun-Mars distance, which changes approximately every two years. Variation due to the solar cycle phase is not distinguishable partly because this effect is masked by the seasonal variation under the MEX capability of plasma measurements. This finding indicates that the variation in solar UV has a major effect on the formation of the pick-up ions, but this is not the only controlling factor.

A non-parametric method for automatic determination of P-wave and S-wave arrival times: application to local micro earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawles, Christopher; Thurber, Clifford

2015-08-01

We present a simple, fast, and robust method for automatic detection of P- and S-wave arrivals using a nearest neighbours-based approach. The nearest neighbour algorithm is one of the most popular time-series classification methods in the data mining community and has been applied to time-series problems in many different domains. Specifically, our method is based on the non-parametric time-series classification method developed by Nikolov. Instead of building a model by estimating parameters from the data, the method uses the data itself to define the model. Potential phase arrivals are identified based on their similarity to a set of reference data consisting of positive and negative sets, where the positive set contains examples of analyst identified P- or S-wave onsets and the negative set contains examples that do not contain P waves or S waves. Similarity is defined as the square of the Euclidean distance between vectors representing the scaled absolute values of the amplitudes of the observed signal and a given reference example in time windows of the same length. For both P waves and S waves, a single pass is done through the bandpassed data, producing a score function defined as the ratio of the sum of similarity to positive examples over the sum of similarity to negative examples for each window. A phase arrival is chosen as the centre position of the window that maximizes the score function. The method is tested on two local earthquake data sets, consisting of 98 known events from the Parkfield region in central California and 32 known events from the Alpine Fault region on the South Island of New Zealand. For P-wave picks, using a reference set containing two picks from the Parkfield data set, 98 per cent of Parkfield and 94 per cent of Alpine Fault picks are determined within 0.1 s of the analyst pick. For S-wave picks, 94 per cent and 91 per cent of picks are determined within 0.2 s of the analyst picks for the Parkfield and Alpine Fault data set, respectively. For the Parkfield data set, our method picks 3520 P-wave picks and 3577 S-wave picks out of 4232 station-event pairs. For the Alpine Fault data set, the method picks 282 P-wave picks and 311 S-wave picks out of a total of 344 station-event pairs. For our testing, we note that the vast majority of station-event pairs have analyst picks, although some analyst picks are excluded based on an accuracy assessment. Finally, our tests suggest that the method is portable, allowing the use of a reference set from one region on data from a different region using relatively few reference picks.

Movement coordination of the lumbar spine and hip during a picking up activity in low back pain subjects.

PubMed

Shum, Gary L K; Crosbie, Jack; Lee, Raymond Y W

2007-06-01

The effect of low back pain, with or without nerve root signs, on the joint coordination and kinematics of the lumbar spine and hips during everyday activities, such as picking up an object from the floor, are largely unknown. An experimental study was designed to compare lumbar spine and hip joint kinematics and coordination in subjects with and without sub-acute low back pain, while picking up an object in a sitting position. A three-dimensional real-time electromagnetic tracking device was used to measure movements of the lumbar spine and hips. Sixty participants with subacute low back pain, with or without straight leg raise signs, and twenty healthy asymptomatic participants were recruited. The ranges of motions of lumbar spine and hips were determined. Movement coordination between the two regions was examined by cross-correlation. Results showed that mobility was significantly reduced in subjects with back pain, who compensated for limited motion through various strategies. The contribution of the lumbar spine relative to that of the hip was, however, found to be similar in all groups. The lumbar spine-hip joint coordination was substantially altered in subjects with back pain, in particular, those with a positive straight leg raise sign. We conclude that changes in the lumbar and hip kinematics were related to back pain and limitation in straight leg raise. Lumbar-hip coordination was mainly affected by the presence of positive straight leg raise sign when picking up an object in a sitting position.

[Current program of in-vitro fertilization at the Erasmus Hospital: initial results and original ethical aspects].

PubMed

Englert, Y; Van den Bergh, M; Rodesch, C; Van der Vorst, P; Berberoglugil, P; Laruelle, C; Biramane, J; Gervy, C; Schwers, J

1991-10-01

The clinical results including all in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles with oocyte pick-up in 1990 are presented. Different types of treatment including classical IVF and embryo transfer, laparoscopic replacement of zygotes in the fallopian tube (ZIFT), IVF with donor sperm (IVF-D), cross fertilization test, embryo freezing, oocyte donation and IVF with epididymal sperm were performed. The total pregnancy rate obtained reaches 38% per oocyte pick-up, 30% of clinical pregnancies (including 4 pregnancies obtained with frozen and thawed embryos). The anticipated "Take Home Baby Rate" will be around 25% per oocyte pick-up, 26 of these 40 pregnancies being today over 20 weeks of gestation. Particular ethical aspects of the program are presented: a study on couple's attitudes regarding embryo freezing as well as the final destination of possibly remaining supernumerary embryos will stress the importance of a precise clear decision on that matter before entering IVF treatment. Indeed the couple's idea on embryo destiny were very precise but also very different. The oocyte donation program has the originality of preserving the donor's anonymity by exchanging the donors recruited by the patients. It will be stressed that this kind of approach combines higher pregnancy chances for the patients, respect of ethical principles linked to gamete donation and gives satisfaction to the patients. The global normalized pregnancy cumulative curve shows that 60% of the couples entering IVF treatment will obtain a child within the first three pick-up cycles.

An ultra-sensitive and wideband magnetometer based on a superconducting quantum interference device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Storm, Jan-Hendrik; Hömmen, Peter; Drung, Dietmar; Körber, Rainer

2017-02-01

The magnetic field noise in superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) used for biomagnetic research such as magnetoencephalography or ultra-low-field nuclear magnetic resonance is usually limited by instrumental dewar noise. We constructed a wideband, ultra-low noise system with a 45 mm diameter superconducting pick-up coil inductively coupled to a current sensor SQUID. Thermal noise in the liquid helium dewar is minimized by using aluminized polyester fabric as superinsulation and aluminum oxide strips as heat shields. With a magnetometer pick-up coil in the center of the Berlin magnetically shielded room 2 (BMSR2), a noise level of around 150 aT Hz-1/2 is achieved in the white noise regime between about 20 kHz and the system bandwidth of about 2.5 MHz. At lower frequencies, the resolution is limited by magnetic field noise arising from the walls of the shielded room. Modeling the BMSR2 as a closed cube with continuous μ-metal walls, we can quantitatively reproduce its measured field noise.

A Clinical Comparative Study of 3-Dimensional Accuracy between Digital and Conventional Implant Impression Techniques.

PubMed

Alsharbaty, Mohammed Hussein M; Alikhasi, Marzieh; Zarrati, Simindokht; Shamshiri, Ahmed Reza

2018-02-09

To evaluate the accuracy of a digital implant impression technique using a TRIOS 3Shape intraoral scanner (IOS) compared to conventional implant impression techniques (pick-up and transfer) in clinical situations. Thirty-six patients who had two implants (Implantium, internal connection) ranging in diameter between 3.8 and 4.8 mm in posterior regions participated in this study after signing a consent form. Thirty-six reference models (RM) were fabricated by attaching two impression copings intraorally, splinted with autopolymerizing acrylic resin, verified by sectioning through the middle of the index, and rejoined again with freshly mixed autopolymerizing acrylic resin pattern (Pattern Resin) with the brush bead method. After that, the splinted assemblies were attached to implant analogs (DANSE) and impressed with type III dental stone (Gypsum Microstone) in standard plastic die lock trays. Thirty-six working casts were fabricated for each conventional impression technique (i.e., pick-up and transfer). Thirty-six digital impressions were made with a TRIOS 3Shape IOS. Eight of the digitally scanned files were damaged; 28 digital scan files were retrieved to STL format. A coordinate-measuring machine (CMM) was used to record linear displacement measurements (x, y, and z-coordinates), interimplant distances, and angular displacements for the RMs and conventionally fabricated working casts. CATIA 3D evaluation software was used to assess the digital STL files for the same variables as the CMM measurements. CMM measurements made on the RMs and conventionally fabricated working casts were compared with 3D software measurements made on the digitally scanned files. Data were statistically analyzed using the generalized estimating equation (GEE) with an exchangeable correlation matrix and linear method, followed by the Bonferroni method for pairwise comparisons (α = 0.05). The results showed significant differences between the pick-up and digital groups in all of the measured variables (p < 0.001). Concerning the transfer and digital groups, the results were statistically significant in angular displacement (p < 0.001), distance measurements (p = 0.01), and linear displacement (p = 0.03); however, between the pick-up and transfer groups, there was no statistical significance in all of the measured variables (interimplant distance deviation, linear displacement, and angular displacement deviations). According to the results of this study, the digital implant impression technique had the least accuracy. Based on the study outcomes, distance and angulation errors associated with the intraoral digital implant impressions were too large to fabricate well-fitting restorations for partially edentulous patients. The pick-up implant impression technique was the most accurate, and the transfer technique revealed comparable accuracy to it. © 2018 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

Morbidity and mortality in type B Niemann-Pick disease.

PubMed

McGovern, Margaret M; Lippa, Natalie; Bagiella, Emilia; Schuchman, Edward H; Desnick, Robert J; Wasserstein, Melissa P

2013-08-01

The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic evaluation of morbidity and mortality in type B Niemann-Pick disease. A total of 103 patients with Niemann-Pick disease (49 males, 54 females, age range: 1-72 years) participated in natural history studies through Mount Sinai's International Center for Types A and B Niemann-Pick Disease between 1992 and 2012. Serious morbidities included significant neurological, hepatic, and cardiac disease. Thirteen patients had some degree of neurological impairment. Nine patients had cirrhosis or liver failure requiring transplantation. Coronary artery and valvular heart disease were present in nine patients. Of note, only four patients were oxygen dependent, although progressive pulmonary disease is a well-described feature of Niemann-Pick disease. During the follow-up period, 18 deaths occurred. The median age of death was 15.5 years (range 1-72). Causes of death included pneumonia, liver failure, and hemorrhage. The majority of deaths (12 of 18) occurred in patients <21 years, yielding a mortality rate of 19% in the pediatric population. This study demonstrates that Niemann-Pick disease is a life-threatening disorder with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the pediatric population. The information collected in this series highlights the need for safe, effective therapy for Niemann-Pick disease.

Cometary kilometric radio waves and plasma waves correlated with ion pick-up effect at Comet Halley

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oya, H.; Morioka, A.; Miyake, W.; Smith, E. J.; Tsurutani, B. T.

1985-01-01

Bow-shock movements at Comet Halley are inferred from the discrete spectra of the cometary kilometric radiation (30-195 kHz); the observed emissions can be interpreted as being generated and propagating from the moving shock. The shock motion is possibly associated with the time variation of the solar wind and cometary outgassing. It is concluded that these plasma wave phenomena are manifestations of ion pick-up processes, which occur even in a remote region 7 million to 10 million km from the cometary nucleus.

[The monodigital recognition test (MRT)--a sensitivity-specific variant of Moberg's pick-up test].

PubMed

Clemens, R

1979-01-01

The Test for Mono-digital Recognition (MRT) is a procedure specifically designed for the measurement of gnostic performance. The new test was derived from MOBERG's Pick-up Test with the aim of eliminating its shortcomings. Additional injuries do not restrict the applicability of the MRT and the test is not confined to the skin area supplied by the median nerve. The MRT expresses the degree of gnostic disturbances by means of a point system. For testing a patient only two to four minutes are needed.

Energy Beam Highways Through the Skies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myrabo, Leik N.

1996-01-01

The emergence of Energy Beam Flight Transportation Systems could dramatically change the way we travel in the 21st Century. A framework for formulating 'Highways of Light' and the top level architectures that invoke radically new Space Power Grid infrastructure, are introduced. Basically, such flight systems, hereafter called Lightcraft, would employ off-board energy beam sources (either laser or microwave) to energize on-board dependent 'motors' -- instead of the traditional autonomous 'engines' with their on-board energy sources (e.g., chemical fuels). Extreme reductions in vehicle dry mass appear feasible with the use of off-board power and a high degree of on-board artificial intelligence. Such vehicles may no longer need airports for refueling (since they require no propellant), and could possibly pick up travelers at their homes -- before motoring over to one of many local boost stations, for the flight out. With off-board power, hyper-energetic acceleration performance and boost-glide trajectories become feasible. Hypersonic MS airbreathing propulsion can enable boosts up to twice escape velocity, which will cut trip times to the moon down to 5.5 hours. The predominant technological, environmental and social factors that will result from such transportation systems will be stressed. This presentation first introduces the remote source siting options for the space power system infrastructure, and then provides three representative laser/microwave Lightcraft options (derived from historical Case Studies): i.e., 'Acorn', 'Toy Top', and 'Disc.' Next the gamut of combined-cycle engine options developed for these Lightcraft are examined -- to illuminate the 'emerging technologies' that must be harnessed to produce flight hardware. Needed proof-of concept experiments are identified, along with the Macro-Level Issues that can springboard these revolutionary concepts into hardware reality.

Lift-Off for Early Literacy: Directed Reading Opportunities for Struggling Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iannone-Campbell, Charlene; Lattimore, Susan Lloyd

2011-01-01

As early as preschool, children who struggle with emergent literacy skills can benefit from effective response to intervention. Don't wait until later grades when they've already fallen behind--improve their literacy skills now with this evidence-based Tier 2 RTI curriculum, ready for any pre-K educator to pick up and use right away. Created by…

[A quick algorithm of dynamic spectrum photoelectric pulse wave detection based on LabVIEW].

PubMed

Lin, Ling; Li, Na; Li, Gang

2010-02-01

Dynamic spectrum (DS) detection is attractive among the numerous noninvasive blood component detection methods because of the elimination of the main interference of the individual discrepancy and measure conditions. DS is a kind of spectrum extracted from the photoelectric pulse wave and closely relative to the artery blood. It can be used in a noninvasive blood component concentration examination. The key issues in DS detection are high detection precision and high operation speed. The precision of measure can be advanced by making use of over-sampling and lock-in amplifying on the pick-up of photoelectric pulse wave in DS detection. In the present paper, the theory expression formula of the over-sampling and lock-in amplifying method was deduced firstly. Then in order to overcome the problems of great data and excessive operation brought on by this technology, a quick algorithm based on LabVIEW and a method of using external C code applied in the pick-up of photoelectric pulse wave were presented. Experimental verification was conducted in the environment of LabVIEW. The results show that by the method pres ented, the speed of operation was promoted rapidly and the data memory was reduced largely.

Picking Deep Filter Responses for Fine-Grained Image Recognition (Open Access Author’s Manuscript)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-16

stages. Our method explores a unified framework based on two steps of deep filter response picking. The first picking step is to find distinctive... filters which respond to specific patterns significantly and consistently, and learn a set of part detectors via iteratively alternating between new...positive sample mining and part model retraining. The second picking step is to pool deep filter responses via spatially weighted combination of Fisher

Use of communication tool within electronic medical record to improve primary nonadherence.

PubMed

Kerner, Daniel E; Knezevich, Emily L

The primary objective of this study was to determine if an online reminder decreased the rate of primary nonadherence for antihypertensive medications in patients seen in 2 primary care clinics in Omaha, NE. The secondary objectives were to determine if patients receiving the intervention achieved lower blood pressure values at follow-up visits and to determine if the intervention decreased the number of days between prescribing and prescription pick-up. A report was generated in an electronic health record to identify patients prescribed a new antihypertensive medication from a physician at one of the primary care clinics. Patients that failed to pick up this new prescription from the pharmacy within 7 days were sent an electronic reminder via an online patient portal. A baseline comparator group was created with the use of retrospective chart reviews for the 6 months before prospective data collection. Primary nonadherence rate and blood pressure values at follow-up visits were compared between the prospective and baseline comparator groups. The primary nonadherence rate decreased from 65.5% to 22.2% when comparing the baseline and prospective groups, respectively. The mean days to prescription pick-up decreased from 24.5 to 12.56 in the baseline and prospective groups. The prospective group showed a larger decrease in systolic blood pressure (17.33 mm Hg vs. 0.75 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (6.56 mm Hg vs. 2.25 mm Hg) compared with the baseline group. An online reminder through the electronic medical record appears to improve patient primary nonadherence, number of days between prescribing and prescription pick-up, and blood pressure measurements at follow-up visits. This research shows that an online reminder may be a valuable tool to improve patient primary adherence and health outcomes. Further research is needed with the use of a larger sample population to support any hypotheses about the effectiveness of the intervention. Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Imaging RF Phased Array Receivers using Optically-Coherent Up-conversion for High Beam-Bandwidth Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

It does so by using an optical lens to perform an inverse spatial Fourier Transform on the up-converted RF signals, thereby rendering a real-time... simultaneous beams or other engineered beam patterns. There are two general approaches to array-based beam forming: digital and analog. In digital beam...of significantly limiting the number of beams that can be formed simultaneously and narrowing the operational bandwidth. An alternate approach that

Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA and the United Parcel Service (UPS) have developed a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle to explore and demonstrate the environmental benefits of the hydraulic hybrid for urban pick-up and delivery fleets.

Controlling Atomic, Solid-State and Hybrid Systems for Quantum Information Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-04

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAMES AND ADDRESSES 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT NUMBER 77 Massachusetts...for the graphene macro-atom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 4.3 Performance of the graphene based single photon switch. . . . . . . . 68 5.1 All-optical...community of scientists, as well as the occasional pick up basketball, softball , volleyball, hockey and tennis team. Both past and present members have

Boundary element analysis of the directional sensitivity of the concentric EMG electrode.

PubMed

Henneberg, K A; Plonsey, R

1993-07-01

Assessment of the motor unit architecture based on concentric electrode motor unit potentials requires a thorough understanding of the recording characteristics of the concentric EMG electrode. Previous simulation studies have attempted to include the effect of EMG electrodes on the recorded waveforms by uniformly averaging the tissue potential at the coordinates of one- or two-dimensional electrode models. By employing the boundary element method, this paper improves earlier models of the concentric EMG electrode by including an accurate geometric representation of the electrode, as well as the mutual electrical influence between the electrode surfaces. A three-dimensional sensitivity function is defined from which information about the preferential direction of sensitivity, blind spots, phase changes, rate of attenuation, and range of pick-up radius can be derived. The study focuses on the intrinsic features linked to the geometry of the electrode. The results show that the cannula perturbs the potential distribution significantly. The core and the cannula electrodes measure potentials of the same order of magnitude in all of the pick-up range, except adjacent to the central wire, where the latter dominates the sensitivity function. The preferential directions of sensitivity are determined by the amount of geometric offset between the individual sensitivity functions of the core and the cannula. The sensitivity function also reveals a complicated pattern of phase changes in the pick-up range. Potentials from fibers located behind the tip or along the cannula are recorded with reversed polarity compared to those located in front of the tip. Rotation of the electrode about its axis was found to alter the duration, the peak-to-peak amplitude, and the rise time of waveforms recorded from a moving dipole.

Adapter for mounting a microphone flush with the external surface of the skin of a pressurized aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohn, R. B. (Inventor)

1983-01-01

A mounting device for securing a microphone pick up head flush with respect to the external surfaces of the skin of an aircraft for detecting shock waves passing thereover is described. The mount includes a sleeve mounted internally of the aircraft for capturing and supporting an electronics package having the microphone pick up head attached thereto in a manner such that the head is flush with the external surface of the aircraft skin and a pressure seal is established between the internal and external surfaces of the aircraft skin.

Cometary pick-up ions observed near Giacobini-Zinner

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gloeckler, G.; Hovestadt, D.; Ipavich, F. M.; Scholer, M.; Klecker, B.

1986-01-01

The number and energy density of cometary water-group ions observed near Comet Giacobini-Zinner are derived using the rest-frame distribution functions. The data reveal that density profiles of inbound and outbound passes and their shape correlate with pick-up ion production model predictions. The lose rate and production rate of water-group cometary molecules calculated from predicted and measured density profiles are 2 x 10 to the -6th/sec and 2.6 x 10 to the 28th/sec respectively. The shapes of the distribution functions are examined to study the solar wind/cometary ions interaction process.

Cometary pick-up ions observed near Giacobini-Zinner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gloeckler, G.; Hovestadt, D.; Ipavich, F. M.; Scholer, M.; Klecker, B.; Galvin, A. B.

1986-03-01

The number and energy density of cometary water-group ions observed near Comet Giacobini-Zinner are derived using the rest-frame distribution functions. The data reveal that density profiles of inbound and outbound passes and their shape correlate with pick-up ion production model predictions. The lose rate and production rate of water-group cometary molecules calculated from predicted and measured density profiles are 2 x 10 to the -6th/sec and 2.6 x 10 to the 28th/sec respectively. The shapes of the distribution functions are examined to study the solar wind/cometary ions interaction process.

The pick-up of cometary protons by the solar wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neugebauer, M.; Goldstein, B. E.; Goldstein, R.; Lazarus, A. J.; Altwegg, K.; Balsiger, H.

1987-01-01

The HERS detector of the Ion Mass Spectrometer on the Giotto spacecraft measured the 3-dimensional distribution of picked-up cometary protons over a distance of about 8 million km upstream of the bow shock of comet P/Hally. The protons were observed to be elastically scattered out of their original cycloidal trajectories such that they were nonuniformly distributed over a spherical shell in velocity space. The shell radius (relative to its expected radius) and thickness increased as the bow shock was approached. Down-stream of the shock, the cometary protons could not be distinguished from the heated solar wind protons.

The Anti-Resonance Criterion in Selecting Pick Systems for Fully Operational Cutting Machinery Used in Mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheluszka, Piotr

2017-12-01

This article discusses the issue of selecting a pick system for cutting mining machinery, concerning the reduction of vibrations in the cutting system, particularly in a load-carrying structure at work. Numerical analysis was performed on a telescopic roadheader boom equipped with transverse heads. A frequency range of the boom's free vibrations with a set structure and dynamic properties were determined based on a dynamic model. The main components excited by boom vibrations, generated through the process of cutting rock, were identified. This was closely associated with the stereometry of the cutting heads. The impact on the pick system (the number of picks and their arrangement along the side of the cutting head) was determined by the intensity of the external boom load elements, especially in resonance zones. In terms of the anti-resonance criterion, an advantageous system of cutting head picks was determined as a result of the analysis undertaken. The correct selection of the pick system was ascertained based on a computer simulation of the dynamic loads and vibrations of a roadheader telescopic boom.

Intrauterine instillation of diluted seminal plasma at oocyte pick-up does not increase the IVF pregnancy rate: a double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized study.

PubMed

von Wolff, M; Rösner, S; Germeyer, A; Jauckus, J; Griesinger, G; Strowitzki, T

2013-12-01

Does intrauterine application of diluted seminal plasma (SP) at the time of ovum pick-up improve the pregnancy rate by ≥14% in IVF treatment? Intrauterine instillation of diluted SP at the time of ovum pick-up is unlikely to increase the pregnancy rate by ≥14% in IVF. SP modulates endometrial function, and sexual intercourse around the time of embryo transfer has been suggested to increase the likelihood of pregnancy. A previous randomized double-blind pilot study demonstrated a strong trend towards increased pregnancy rates following the intracervical application of undiluted SP. As this study was not conclusive and as the finding could have been confounded by sexual intercourse, the intrauterine application of diluted SP was investigated in the present trial. A single-centre, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, superiority trial on women undergoing IVF was conducted from April 2007 until February 2012 at the University Department of Gynaecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany. The study was powered to detect an 14% increase in the clinical pregnancy rate and two sequential tests were planned using the Pocock spending function. At the first interim analysis, 279 women had been randomly assigned to intrauterine diluted SP (20% SP in saline from the patients' partner) (n = 138) or placebo (n = 141) at the time of ovum pick-up. The clinical pregnancy rate per randomized patient was 37/138 (26.8%) in the SP group and 41/141 (29.1%) in the placebo group (difference: -2.3%, 95% confidence interval of the difference: -12.7 to +8.2%; P = 0.69). The live birth rate per randomized patient was 28/138 (20.3%) in the SP group and 33/141 (23.4%) in the placebo group (difference: -3.1%, 95% confidence interval of the difference: -12.7 to +6.6%; P = 0.56). It was decided to terminate the trial due to futility at the first interim analysis, at a conditional power of 62%. The confidence interval of the difference remains wide, thus clinically relevant differences cannot reliably be excluded based on this single study. The results of this study cast doubt on the validity of the concept that SP increases endometrial receptivity and thus implantation in humans. Funding was provided by the department's own research facilities. DRKS00004615.

PhasePApy: A robust pure Python package for automatic identification of seismic phases

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chen, Chen; Holland, Austin

2016-01-01

We developed a Python phase identification package: the PhasePApy for earthquake data processing and near‐real‐time monitoring. The package takes advantage of the growing number of Python libraries including Obspy. All the data formats supported by Obspy can be supported within the PhasePApy. The PhasePApy has two subpackages: the PhasePicker and the Associator, aiming to identify phase arrival onsets and associate them to phase types, respectively. The PhasePicker and the Associator can work jointly or separately. Three autopickers are implemented in the PhasePicker subpackage: the frequency‐band picker, the Akaike information criteria function derivative picker, and the kurtosis picker. All three autopickers identify picks with the same processing methods but different characteristic functions. The PhasePicker triggers the pick with a dynamic threshold and can declare a pick with false‐pick filtering. Also, the PhasePicker identifies a pick polarity and uncertainty for further seismological analysis, such as focal mechanism determination. Two associators are included in the Associator subpackage: the 1D Associator and 3D Associator, which assign phase types to picks that can best fit potential earthquakes by minimizing root mean square (rms) residuals of the misfits in distance and time, respectively. The Associator processes multiple picks from all channels at a seismic station and aggregates them to increase computational efficiencies. Both associators use travel‐time look up tables to determine the best estimation of the earthquake location and evaluate the phase type for picks. The PhasePApy package has been used extensively for local and regional earthquakes and can work for active source experiments as well.

Protein Interacting with C Kinase 1 (PICK1) Reduces Reinsertion Rates of Interaction Partners Sorted to Rab11-dependent Slow Recycling Pathway*

PubMed Central

Madsen, Kenneth L.; Thorsen, Thor S.; Rahbek-Clemmensen, Troels; Eriksen, Jacob; Gether, Ulrik

2012-01-01

The scaffolding protein PICK1 (protein interacting with C kinase 1) contains an N-terminal PSD-95/Discs large/ZO-1 (PDZ) domain and a central lipid-binding Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) domain. PICK1 is thought to regulate trafficking of its PDZ binding partners but different and even opposing functions have been suggested. Here, we apply ELISA-based assays and confocal microscopy in HEK293 cells with inducible PICK1 expression to assess in an isolated system the ability of PICK1 to regulate trafficking of natural and engineered PDZ binding partners. The dopamine transporter (DAT), which primarily sorts to degradation upon internalization, did not form perinuclear clusters with PICK1, and PICK1 did not affect DAT internalization/recycling. However, transfer of the PICK1-binding DAT C terminus to the β2-adrenergic receptor, which sorts to recycling upon internalization, led to formation of PICK1 co-clusters in Rab11-positive compartments. Furthermore, PICK1 inhibited Rab11-mediated recycling of the receptor in a BAR and PDZ domain-dependent manner. In contrast, transfer of the DAT C terminus to the δ-opioid receptor, which sorts to degradation, did not result in PICK1 co-clusters or any change in internalization/recycling. Further support for a role of PICK1 determined by its PDZ cargo was obtained for the PICK1 interaction partner prolactin-releasing peptide receptor (GPR10). GPR10 co-localized with Rab11 and clustered with PICK1 upon constitutive internalization but co-localized with the late endosomal marker Rab7 and did not cluster with PICK1 upon agonist-induced internalization. Our data suggest a selective role of PICK1 in clustering and reducing the recycling rates of PDZ domain binding partners sorted to the Rab11-dependent recycling pathway. PMID:22303009

Application of MEMS-based x-ray optics as tuneable nanosecond choppers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Pice; Walko, Donald A.; Jung, Il Woong; Li, Zhilong; Gao, Ya; Shenoy, Gopal K.; Lopez, Daniel; Wang, Jin

2017-08-01

Time-resolved synchrotron x-ray measurements often rely on using a mechanical chopper to isolate a set of x-ray pulses. We have started the development of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS)-based x-ray optics, as an alternate method to manipulate x-ray beams. In the application of x-ray pulse isolation, we recently achieved a pulse-picking time window of half a nanosecond, which is more than 100 times faster than mechanical choppers can achieve. The MEMS device consists of a comb-drive silicon micromirror, designed for efficiently diffracting an x-ray beam during oscillation. The MEMS devices were operated in Bragg geometry and their oscillation was synchronized to x-ray pulses, with a frequency matching subharmonics of the cycling frequency of x-ray pulses. The microscale structure of the silicon mirror in terms of the curvature and the quality of crystallinity ensures a narrow angular spread of the Bragg reflection. With the discussion of factors determining the diffractive time window, this report showed our approaches to narrow down the time window to half a nanosecond. The short diffractive time window will allow us to select single x-ray pulse out of a train of pulses from synchrotron radiation facilities.

The end-state comfort effect in bimanual grip selection.

PubMed

Fischman, Mark G; Stodden, David F; Lehman, Davana M

2003-03-01

During a unimanual grip selection task in which people pick up a lightweight dowel and place one end against targets at variable heights, the choice of hand grip (overhand vs. underhand) typically depends on the perception of how comfortable the arm will be at the end of the movement: an end-state comfort effect. The two experiments reported here extend this work to bimanual tasks. In each experiment, 26 right-handed participants used their left and right hands to simultaneously pick up two wooden dowels and place either the right or left end against a series of 14 targets ranging from 14 to 210 cm above the floor. These tasks were performed in systematic ascending and descending orders in Experiment 1 and in random order in Expiment 2. Results were generally consistent with predictions of end-state comfort in that, for the extreme highest and lowest targets, participants tended to select opposite grips with each hand. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the concept of constraint hierarchies within a posture-based motion-planning model.

A differential detection scheme of spectral shifts in long-period fiber gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhelyazkova, Katerina; Eftimov, Tinko; Smietana, Mateusz; Bock, Wojtek

2010-10-01

In this work we present an analysis of the response of a compact, simple and inexpensive optoelectronic sensor system intended to detect spectral shifts of a long-period fiber grating (LPG). The system makes use of a diffraction grating and a couple of receiving optical fibers that pick up signals at two different wavelengths. This differential detection system provides the same useful information from an LPG-based sensor as with a conventional laboratory system using optical spectrum analyzers for monitoring the minimum offset of LPG. The design of the fiber detection pair as a function of the parameters of the dispersion grating, the pick-up fiber and the LPG parameters, is presented in detail. Simulation of the detection system responses is presented using real from spectral shifts in nano-coated LPGs caused by the evaporation of various liquids such as water, ethanol and acetone, which are examples of corrosive, flammable and hazardous substances. Fiber optic sensors with similar detection can find applications in structural health monitoring for moisture detection, monitoring the spillage of toxic and flammable substances in industry etc.

Robust automated classification of first-motion polarities for focal mechanism determination with machine learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, Z. E.; Meier, M. A.; Hauksson, E.

2017-12-01

Accurate first-motion polarities are essential for determining earthquake focal mechanisms, but are difficult to measure automatically because of picking errors and signal to noise issues. Here we develop an algorithm for reliable automated classification of first-motion polarities using machine learning algorithms. A classifier is designed to identify whether the first-motion polarity is up, down, or undefined by examining the waveform data directly. We first improve the accuracy of automatic P-wave onset picks by maximizing a weighted signal/noise ratio for a suite of candidate picks around the automatic pick. We then use the waveform amplitudes before and after the optimized pick as features for the classification. We demonstrate the method's potential by training and testing the classifier on tens of thousands of hand-made first-motion picks by the Southern California Seismic Network. The classifier assigned the same polarity as chosen by an analyst in more than 94% of the records. We show that the method is generalizable to a variety of learning algorithms, including neural networks and random forest classifiers. The method is suitable for automated processing of large seismic waveform datasets, and can potentially be used in real-time applications, e.g. for improving the source characterizations of earthquake early warning algorithms.

The association between maternal-reported responses to infant crying at 4 weeks and 6 months and offspring depression at 18: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Williams, Catherine J; Kessler, David; Fernyhough, Charles; Lewis, Glyn; Pearson, Rebecca M

2016-04-01

The purpose of the present study is to examine the association between maternal response to infant crying and the psychological health of the child in later life. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort, consisting of 15,247 pregnancies, 10,278 with exposure variables and 3201 complete cases were identified as having exposure, covariate and outcome data. Using a postal questionnaire, mothers were asked regarding their infant at 4 weeks and 6 months, 'If they cry what do you do?': (a) pick them up immediately; (b) if they cry, leave them for a while, and if they do not stop, pick them up; or (c) never pick them up until you are ready. Outcome was an International Statistical Classification-10th revision criteria (ICD-10) diagnosis of depression at 18 years for the infant. Offspring of mothers who at 4 weeks reported that they never picked their infants up until they were ready were more likely to have depression at 18 years (OR = 2.06, CI 0.95-4.47, adjusted for sociodemographic confounding variables). There was no evidence for an association at 6 months. Including adjustment variables reduced the strength of our association; an observed objective measure of maternal response rather than a self-report may have more accurately determined the mother's actual responses. There is some evidence for an association between maternal reporting of responses to infant crying at 4 weeks and risk of developing depression at 18 years. If this association is found to be causal, interventions encouraging mothers to represent and respond to their infants' emotional states may help prevent offspring depression.

Normal calves produced after transfer of embryos cultured in a chemically defined medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization in Japanese black cows.

PubMed

Sakagami, Nobutada; Umeki, Hidenobu; Nishino, Osamu; Uchiyama, Hiroko; Ichikawa, Kyoko; Takeshita, Kazuhisa; Kaneko, Etsushi; Akiyama, Kiyoshi; Kobayashi, Shuji; Tamada, Hiromichi

2012-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine whether high concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and/or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) would have a beneficial effect on bovine embryo development in vitro and to obtain normal calves by using an ovum pick up method and embryo culture in a chemically defined medium. When compared with controls, EGF (100 or 200 ng/ml) or IGF-I (50 or 100 ng/ml) significantly increased the rate of embryos that developed into blastocysts during an 8-day culture after the in vitro fertilization of oocytes obtained from ovaries from a slaughterhouse. IGF-I induced a dose-dependent increase in cell number in both the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm, whereas EGF stimulated proliferation only in the inner cell mass. A combination of EGF (100 ng/ml) and IGF-I (50 ng/ml) produced an additive effect, and embryos developed into blastocysts at a comparatively high rate (27.9%) compared with controls (12.0%). A similar rate of development was achieved using a combination of EGF and IGF-I in the culture of embryos following ovum pick up by ultrasound-guided transvaginal follicular aspiration and in vitro fertilization, and 5 blastocysts that developed after the culture were transferred into uteri; two embryos implanted, and normal calves were born. These results suggest that the combined use of EGF and IGF-I makes bovine embryo culture in a chemically defined medium a practical and useful procedure for producing blastocysts, and its application to embryo culture following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization could be useful for producing normal calves.

Pickup Ions in the Plasma Environments of Mars, Comets, and Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cravens, T.; Rahmati, A.; Sakai, S.; Madanian, H.; Larson, D. E.; Lillis, R. J.; Halekas, J. S.; Goldstein, R.; Burch, J. L.; Clark, G. B.; Jakosky, B. M.

2015-12-01

Ions created within a flowing plasma by ionization of neutrals respond to the electric and magnetic fields associated with the flow becoming what are called pick-up ions (PUI). PUI play an important role in many solar system plasma environments and affect the energy and momentum balance of the plasma flow. PUI have been observed during several recent space missions and PUI data will be compared and interpreted using models. Pick-up oxygen ions were observed in the solar wind upstream of Mars by the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) and Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA) instruments on NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft. The pick-up oxygen ions are created when atoms in the hot corona are ionized by solar radiation and charge exchange with solar wind protons. The ion fluxes measured by SEP can constrain the oxygen escape rate from Mars. PUI were also been detected at distances of 10 - 100 km from the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko (67P/CG) by plasma instruments (IES and ICA) onboard the Rosetta Orbiter when the comet was at 3 AU. The newly-born cometary ions are accelerated by the solar wind motional electric field but remain un-magnetized, as suggested by pre-encounter models (Rubin et al., 2014). The inner magnetosphere of Saturn and the water plume of the icy satellite Enceladus provide a third example of PUI. H2O+ ions created by ionization of neutral water producing ions that are picked-up by the co-rotating magnetospheric plasma flow. These ions then undergo a complex interaction with the plume gas including collisions that convert most H2O+ ions to H3O+, as measured by the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft.

Black Hole Simulation

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-11-30

This graphic shows the computer simulation of a black hole from start to finish. Plasma is falling slowly toward the black hole in a (at the upper left). The plasma has a magnetic field, shown by the white lines. It picks up speed as it falls toward the hole in b (at the upper right), c (lower left) and d (lower right). However, the rotating black hole twists up space itself (and the magnetic field lines) and ejects electromagnetic power along the north and south poles above the black hole. The red and white color shows the immense electromagnetic power output, which eventually will pick up particles and form squirting jets. This simulation was conducted using supercomputers at Japan's National Institute for Fusion Science. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04206

Beam Size Measurement by Optical Diffraction Radiation and Laser System for Compton Polarimeter (in Chinese)

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

Liu, Chuyu

2012-12-31

Beam diagnostics is an essential constituent of any accelerator, so that it is named as "organs of sense" or "eyes of the accelerator." Beam diagnostics is a rich field. A great variety of physical effects or physical principles are made use of in this field. Some devices are based on electro-magnetic influence by moving charges, such as faraday cups, beam transformers, pick-ups; Some are related to Coulomb interaction of charged particles with matter, such as scintillators, viewing screens, ionization chambers; Nuclear or elementary particle physics interactions happen in some other devices, like beam loss monitors, polarimeters, luminosity monitors; Some measuremore » photons emitted by moving charges, such as transition radiation, synchrotron radiation monitors and diffraction radiation-which is the topic of the first part of this thesis; Also, some make use of interaction of particles with photons, such as laser wire and Compton polarimeters-which is the second part of my thesis. Diagnostics let us perceive what properties a beam has and how it behaves in a machine, give us guideline for commissioning, controlling the machine and indispensable parameters vital to physics experiments. In the next two decades, the research highlight will be colliders (TESLA, CLIC, JLC) and fourth-generation light sources (TESLA FEL, LCLS, Spring 8 FEL) based on linear accelerator. These machines require a new generation of accelerator with smaller beam, better stability and greater efficiency. Compared with those existing linear accelerators, the performance of next generation linear accelerator will be doubled in all aspects, such as 10 times smaller horizontal beam size, more than 10 times smaller vertical beam size and a few or more times higher peak power. Furthermore, some special positions in the accelerator have even more stringent requirements, such as the interaction point of colliders and wigglor of free electron lasers. Higher performance of these accelerators increases the difficulty of diagnostics. For most cases, intercepting measurements are no longer acceptable, and nonintercepting method like synchrotron radiation monitor can not be applied to linear accelerators. The development of accelerator technology asks for simutanous diagnostics innovations, to expand the performance of diagnostic tools to meet the requirements of the next generation accelerators. Diffraction radiation and inverse Compton scattering are two of the most promising techniques, their nonintercepting nature avoids perturbance to the beam and damage to the instrumentation. This thesis is divided into two parts, beam size measurement by optical diffraction radiation and Laser system for Compton polarimeter. Diffraction radiation, produced by the interaction between the electric field of charged particles and the target, is related to transition radiation. Even though the theory of diffraction radiation has been discussed since 1960s, there are only a few experimental studies in recent years. The successful beam size measurement by optical diffraction radiation at CEBAF machine is a milestone: First of all, we have successfully demonstrated diffraction radiation as an effective nonintercepting diagnostics; Secondly, the simple linear relationship between the diffraction radiation image size and the actual beam size improves the reliability of ODR measurements; And, we measured the polarized components of diffraction radiation for the first time and I analyzed the contribution from edge radiation to diffraction radiation.« less

Identification of losses to follow-up in a community-based antiretroviral therapy clinic in South Africa using a computerized pharmacy tracking system.

PubMed

Nglazi, Mweete D; Kaplan, Richard; Wood, Robin; Bekker, Linda-Gail; Lawn, Stephen D

2010-11-15

High rates of loss to follow-up (LTFU) are undermining rapidly expanding antiretroviral treatment (ART) services in sub-Saharan Africa. The intelligent dispensing of ART (iDART) is an open-source electronic pharmacy system that provides an efficient means of generating lists of patients who have failed to pick-up medication. We determined the duration of pharmacy delay that optimally identified true LTFU. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of a community-based ART cohort in Cape Town, South Africa. We used iDART to identify groups of patients known to be still enrolled in the cohort on the 1st of April 2008 that had failed to pick-up medication for periods of ≥ 6, ≥ 12, ≥ 18 and ≥ 24 weeks. We defined true LTFU as confirmed failure to pick up medication for 3 months since last attendance. We then assessed short-term and long-term outcomes using a prospectively maintained database and patient records. On the date of the survey, 2548 patients were registered as receiving ART but of these 85 patients (3.3%) were found to be true LTFU. The numbers of individuals (proportion of the cohort) identified by iDART as having failed to collect medication for periods of ≥ 6, ≥ 12, ≥ 18 and ≥ 24 weeks were 560 (22%), 194 (8%), 117 (5%) and 80 (3%), respectively. The sensitivities of these pharmacy delays for detecting true LTFU were 100%, 100%, 62.4% and 47.1%, respectively. The corresponding specificities were 80.7%, 95.6%, 97.4% and 98.4%. Thus, the optimal delay was ≥ 12 weeks since last attendance at this clinic (equivalent to 8 weeks since medication ran out). Pharmacy delays were also found to be significantly associated with LTFU and death one year later. The iDART electronic pharmacy system can be used to detect patients potentially LTFU and who require recall. Using a short a cut-off period was too non-specific for LTFU and would require the tracing of very large numbers of patients. Conversely prolonged delays were too insensitive. Of the periods assessed, a ≥ 12 weeks delay appeared optimal. This system requires prospective evaluation to further refine its utility.

Identification of losses to follow-up in a community-based antiretroviral therapy clinic in South Africa using a computerized pharmacy tracking system

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background High rates of loss to follow-up (LTFU) are undermining rapidly expanding antiretroviral treatment (ART) services in sub-Saharan Africa. The intelligent dispensing of ART (iDART) is an open-source electronic pharmacy system that provides an efficient means of generating lists of patients who have failed to pick-up medication. We determined the duration of pharmacy delay that optimally identified true LTFU. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of a community-based ART cohort in Cape Town, South Africa. We used iDART to identify groups of patients known to be still enrolled in the cohort on the 1st of April 2008 that had failed to pick-up medication for periods of ≥ 6, ≥ 12, ≥ 18 and ≥ 24 weeks. We defined true LTFU as confirmed failure to pick up medication for 3 months since last attendance. We then assessed short-term and long-term outcomes using a prospectively maintained database and patient records. Results On the date of the survey, 2548 patients were registered as receiving ART but of these 85 patients (3.3%) were found to be true LTFU. The numbers of individuals (proportion of the cohort) identified by iDART as having failed to collect medication for periods of ≥6, ≥12, ≥18 and ≥24 weeks were 560 (22%), 194 (8%), 117 (5%) and 80 (3%), respectively. The sensitivities of these pharmacy delays for detecting true LTFU were 100%, 100%, 62.4% and 47.1%, respectively. The corresponding specificities were 80.7%, 95.6%, 97.4% and 98.4%. Thus, the optimal delay was ≥12 weeks since last attendance at this clinic (equivalent to 8 weeks since medication ran out). Pharmacy delays were also found to be significantly associated with LTFU and death one year later. Conclusions The iDART electronic pharmacy system can be used to detect patients potentially LTFU and who require recall. Using a short a cut-off period was too non-specific for LTFU and would require the tracing of very large numbers of patients. Conversely prolonged delays were too insensitive. Of the periods assessed, a ≥12 weeks delay appeared optimal. This system requires prospective evaluation to further refine its utility. PMID:21078148

Minimizing the Risk of Infection and Bleeding at Trans-Vaginal Ultrasound-Guided Ovum Pick-up: Results of a Prospective Web-Based World-Wide Survey.

PubMed

Bhandari, Harish; Agrawal, Rina; Weissman, Ariel; Shoham, Gon; Leong, Milton; Shoham, Zeev

2015-12-01

The objective of this study was to identify clinical practices worldwide, which would help in recognizing women at risk of excessive bleeding or of developing pelvic infection following trans-vaginal ovum pick-up (TV-OPU), measures taken to minimize risks and their management. A prospective, web-based questionnaire with distinct questions related to the practice of TV-OPU. A total of 155 units from 55 countries performing 97,200 IVF cycles annually responded to this web-based survey. A majority (65 %) responded that they would routinely carry out full blood count, while 35 % performed coagulation profile. Less than a third agreed screening women for vaginal infections. About a third used both sterile water and antiseptic to minimize ascending infection, and 52 % used antibiotics for prophylaxis. Doppler ultrasound was routinely used by 20 % of clinicians. 73 % of the clinicians preferred conservative management as their first line management for patients diagnosed with intra-abdominal bleeding. The study has identified a wide variation in the practices of minimizing infection and bleeding complications. The dearth of good quality evidence may be responsible for the lack of published guidelines, and therefore a lack of consensus on the optimum practice for minimizing the risk of infection and bleeding during TV-OPU.

Inspection Correlation Study of Ultrasonic-Based In Situ Structural Health Monitoring Monthly Report for December 2014-January 2015

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

fatigue an induced ultrasonic elastic vibration (via piezoelectric transducers [ PZTs ]) propagates through the dogbone specimen. A receiver PZT picks up...inspection of fatigue crack growth in aluminum 7075-T6 dogbone specimens. Acellent Technologies, Inc., is supporting this project through providing...January 2015. 15. SUBJECT TERMS structural health monitoring, probabilistics, fatigue damage, guided waves, Lamb waves 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF

Dynamic Network Formation Using Ant Colony Optimization

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

backhauls, VRP with pick-up and delivery, VRP with satellite facilities, and VRP with time windows (Murata & Itai , 2005). The general vehicle...given route is only visited once. The objective of the basic problem is to minimize a total cost as follows (Murata & Itai , 2005): M m mc 1 min...Problem based on Ant Colony System. Second Internation Workshop on Freight Transportation and Logistics. Palermo, Italy. Murata, T., & Itai , R. (2005

A simple crunching of the AGS 'bare' machine ORM data - February 2007 - to extract some aspects of AGS transverse coupling at injection and extraction

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

Ahrens, L.

2010-11-01

The objective of this note is to (once again) explore the AGS 'ORM' (orbit response matrix) data taken (by Operations) early during the 2007 run with an AGS bare machine and gold beam. Indeed the present motivation is to extract as much information about the AGS inherent transverse coupling as possible - from general arguments and the copious ORM data. And taking this one step further, (though not accomplished yet) the goal really should be to tell the model how to describe this coupling. 'Bare' as used here means the AGS with no quadrupole, sextupole or octupole magnets powered. Onlymore » the main (combined-function) magnet string and dipole bumps necessary to optimize beam survival are powered. 'ORM data' means the systematic recording of the equilibrium orbit beam position monitor response to powering individual dipole corrector magnets. The 'matrix' results from looking at the effect of each of the (12 superperiods X 4 dipoles per superperiod) 'kicks' on each of the (12 X 6) pick up electrodes (pues) in each transverse plane. So then we have two (48 X 72) matrices of numbers from the ORM data. (Though 'pue' usually refers to the hardware in the vacuum chamber and 'bpm' to the beam position monitoring system, the two labels will be used casually here.) The exercise is carried out at two magnet rigidities, injection (AGS field {approx}434 Gauss) and extraction to RHIC ({approx}9730 Gauss), - a ratio of rigidities of about 22.4. Since we stick with a bare machine, we are also stuck with the bare tunes which means the tunes are rather close together and near 8.75. Injection: (h,v) {approx} (8.73, 8.76).« less

Innovative design of parabolic reflector light guiding structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whang, Allen J.; Tso, Chun-Hsien; Chen, Yi-Yung

2008-02-01

Due to the idea of everlasting green architecture, it is of increasing importance to guild natural light into indoors. The advantages are multifold - to have better color rendering index, excellent energy savings from environments viewpoints and make humans more healthy, etc. Our search is to design an innovative structure, to convert outdoor sun light impinges on larger surfaces, into near linear light beam sources, later convert this light beam into near point sources which enters the indoor spaces then can be used as lighting sources indoors. We are not involved with the opto-electrical transformation, to the guild light into to the building, to perform the illumination, as well as the imaging function. Because non-imaging optics, well known for apply to the solar concentrators, that can use non-imaging structures to fulfill our needs, which can also be used as energy collectors in solar energy devices. Here, we have designed a pair of large and small parabolic reflector, which can be used to collect daylight and change area from large to small. Then we make a light-guide system that is been designed by us use of this parabolic reflector to guide the collection light, can pick up the performance for large surface source change to near linear source and a larger collection area.

Comparison of picked-up protons and water group ions upstream of Comet Halley's bow shock

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neugebauer, M.; Coates, A. J.; Neubauer, F. M.

1990-01-01

The similarities and differences between the picked-up cometary protons and water-group (WG) ions upstream of the bow shock of Comet Halley are examined using measurements obtained by the ion mass spectrometer and plasma analyzer experiments on board Giotto. It was found that the dependencies of the pitch angle and the energy diffusion rates of the cometary protons and WG ions on the ion densities and on the angle alpha between the interplanetary field and the solar wind velocity vector were very different. This finding could not be explained in terms of presently available theories and models.

Design and evaluation of pick-up truck mounted boom for elevation of a multiband radiometer system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, M. E. (Principal Investigator); Tsuchida, R.

1981-01-01

Three concepts were considered for the boom design: a one-piece boom with a trolley, a folding boom, and a telescoping boom. The telescoping boom was selected over the other two concepts because of its easy manual operation. The boom is designed to mount on the bed of a pick-up truck and elevate the radiometer system 8 meters above the ground and 4 meters away from the truck. The selection of the boom components is discussed with justification of the final choice. Results of performance tests and one season's operation of the completed boom are reported.

Should patients with asymmetrical noise-induced hearing loss be screened for vestibular schwannomas?

PubMed

Baker, R; Stevens-King, A; Bhat, N; Leong, P

2003-08-01

The Peterborough ENT department receives many referrals for MoD personnel who have suffered hearing loss from occupational noise exposure. Those patients with asymmetrical sensorineural hearing loss are routinely screened for vestibular schwannomas by MRI scanning. Scan reports from the past 5 years have been reviewed and out of 152 scans, four revealed vestibular schwannomas giving a pick-up rate of 2.5%, which compares favourably with other published pick-up rates. Review of the audiograms in these cases suggests that they can be misleading in this context. The conclusion is that patients with noise-induced asymmetrical hearing loss should be screened for acoustic neuromas.

MAGNETIC DENSITOMETER

DOEpatents

McCann, J.A.; Jones, R.H.

1961-08-15

A magnetic densitometer for locating defects and metallic inclusions in materials is described. The apparatus consists of two primary coils connected in series opposition and adapted te be placed in inductive relation to the material under test, a source of constant frequency alternating current coupled across the primary coil combination, a pick-up coil disposed in symmetrical inductive relationship with said primary coils, a phase-shifter coupled to the output of the energizing source. The output of the phase-shifter is coupled in series with the pick-up coil. An amplifier is provided selective to the third harmonic of the energizing source frequency. The series combination of the pick-up coil and the phase-shifter output are connected across the input of the amplifier, and an amplitude comparitor is coupled to the output of the amplifier and the energizing source for comparing the instantaneous amplitude of the amplifier output and the instantaneous output of the energizing source and producing an output proportional to the difference in amplitude. A recorder is coupled to the output of the amplitude comparison means to give an indication of the amplitude difference, thereby providing a permanent presentation of the character of the changes in characteristics exhibited by the material under test. (AEC)

PIXE analysis of cystic fibrosis sweat samples with an external proton beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sommer, F.; Massonnet, B.

1987-03-01

PIXE analysis with an external proton beam is used to study, in four control and five cystic fibrosis children, the elemental composition of sweat samples collected from different parts of the body during entire body hyperthermia. We observe no significant difference of sweat rates and of temperature variations between the two groups during sweat test. The statistical study of results obtained by PIXE analysis allows us to pick out amongst 8 elements studied, 6 elements (Na, Cl, Ca, Mn, Cu, Br) significatively different between the two groups of subjects. Using regression analysis, Na, Cl and Br concentrations could be used in a predictive equation of the state of health.

PICKY: a novel SVD-based NMR spectra peak picking method.

PubMed

Alipanahi, Babak; Gao, Xin; Karakoc, Emre; Donaldson, Logan; Li, Ming

2009-06-15

Picking peaks from experimental NMR spectra is a key unsolved problem for automated NMR protein structure determination. Such a process is a prerequisite for resonance assignment, nuclear overhauser enhancement (NOE) distance restraint assignment, and structure calculation tasks. Manual or semi-automatic peak picking, which is currently the prominent way used in NMR labs, is tedious, time consuming and costly. We introduce new ideas, including noise-level estimation, component forming and sub-division, singular value decomposition (SVD)-based peak picking and peak pruning and refinement. PICKY is developed as an automated peak picking method. Different from the previous research on peak picking, we provide a systematic study of the proposed method. PICKY is tested on 32 real 2D and 3D spectra of eight target proteins, and achieves an average of 88% recall and 74% precision. PICKY is efficient. It takes PICKY on average 15.7 s to process an NMR spectrum. More important than these numbers, PICKY actually works in practice. We feed peak lists generated by PICKY to IPASS for resonance assignment, feed IPASS assignment to SPARTA for fragments generation, and feed SPARTA fragments to FALCON for structure calculation. This results in high-resolution structures of several proteins, for example, TM1112, at 1.25 A. PICKY is available upon request. The peak lists of PICKY can be easily loaded by SPARKY to enable a better interactive strategy for rapid peak picking.

Phenomenological characteristics, social problems, and the economic impact associated with chronic skin picking.

PubMed

Flessner, Christopher A; Woods, Douglas W

2006-11-01

In this study, the authors collected data on the demographic characteristics, phenomenology, and social and economic impact of skin picking. A total of 92 participants completed an anonymous, Internet-based survey through a link to the Trichotillomania Learning Center's home page. Results indicated that skin pickers experienced social, occupational, and academic impairment, a number of medical or mental health concerns, and financial burdens, which they attributed to skin picking. Results also revealed moderate, statistically significant relationships between skin picking severity and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and experiential avoidance. Subsequent mediational analyses demonstrated that the relationship between skin picking severity and symptoms of anxiety and depression was partially mediated by experiential avoidance. Implications, conclusions, and future areas of research are discussed.

Continuous Access to Competing Stimulation as Intervention for Self-Injurious Skin Picking in a Child with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladd, Mara V.; Luiselli, James K.; Baker, Lorianne

2009-01-01

Children with autism frequently display self-injurious behavior (SIB), but skin picking--a less severe topography of SIB--has not been the focus of much clinical research. The present study evaluated a home-based intervention that was implemented with a 9-year-old girl who had autism and picked her fingers with resulting tissue damage. The…

Touch Spray Mass Spectrometry for In Situ Analysis of Complex Samples

PubMed Central

Kerian, Kevin S.; Jarmusch, Alan K.; Cooks, R. Graham

2014-01-01

Touch spray, a spray-based ambient in-situ ionization method, uses a small probe, e.g. a teasing needle to pick up sample and the application of voltage and solvent to cause field-induced droplet emission. Compounds extracted from the microsample are incorporated into the sprayed micro droplets. Performance tests include disease state of tissue, microorganism identification, and therapeutic drug quantitation. Chemical derivatization is performed simultaneously with ionization. PMID:24756256

Possible origin and roles of nano-porosity in ZrO2 scales for hydrogen pick-up in Zr alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindgren, Mikaela; Geers, Christine; Panas, Itai

2017-08-01

A mechanistic understanding of Wagnerian build-up and subsequent non-Wagnerian break-down of barrier oxide upon oxidation of zirconium alloys by water is reiterated. Hydrogen assisted build-up of nano-porosity is addressed. Growth of sub-nanometer wide stalactitic pores owing to increasing aggregation of neutral oxygen vacancies offering a means to permeate hydrogen into the alloy is explored by density functional theory. The Wagnerian channel utilizes charge separation allowing charged oxygen vacancies and electrons to move separately from nominal anode to nominal cathode. This process becomes increasingly controlled by the charging of the barrier oxide resulting in sub-parabolic rate law for oxide growth. The break-down of the barrier oxide is understood to be preceded by avalanching hydrogen pick-up in the alloy. Pore mediated diffusion allows water to effectively short circuit the barrier oxide.

Crumb Rubber-Concrete Panels Under Blast Loads

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

and the samples were labeled. Samples were picked up with an overhead crane and a form spreader connected to two points on the sample, each outside...uniform loading. Shortly after test started 8 to 9 cracks developed within quarter points and 2 cracks developed through pick points where form spreader ...dynamic behaviour of recycled tyre rubber-filled concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 32, 1587–1596. Huang, B., Li, G., Pang, S. S., and Eggers, J. (2004

PICKY: a novel SVD-based NMR spectra peak picking method

PubMed Central

Alipanahi, Babak; Gao, Xin; Karakoc, Emre; Donaldson, Logan; Li, Ming

2009-01-01

Motivation: Picking peaks from experimental NMR spectra is a key unsolved problem for automated NMR protein structure determination. Such a process is a prerequisite for resonance assignment, nuclear overhauser enhancement (NOE) distance restraint assignment, and structure calculation tasks. Manual or semi-automatic peak picking, which is currently the prominent way used in NMR labs, is tedious, time consuming and costly. Results: We introduce new ideas, including noise-level estimation, component forming and sub-division, singular value decomposition (SVD)-based peak picking and peak pruning and refinement. PICKY is developed as an automated peak picking method. Different from the previous research on peak picking, we provide a systematic study of the proposed method. PICKY is tested on 32 real 2D and 3D spectra of eight target proteins, and achieves an average of 88% recall and 74% precision. PICKY is efficient. It takes PICKY on average 15.7 s to process an NMR spectrum. More important than these numbers, PICKY actually works in practice. We feed peak lists generated by PICKY to IPASS for resonance assignment, feed IPASS assignment to SPARTA for fragments generation, and feed SPARTA fragments to FALCON for structure calculation. This results in high-resolution structures of several proteins, for example, TM1112, at 1.25 Å. Availability: PICKY is available upon request. The peak lists of PICKY can be easily loaded by SPARKY to enable a better interactive strategy for rapid peak picking. Contact: mli@uwaterloo.ca PMID:19477998

An ultrahigh-speed color video camera operating at 1,000,000 fps with 288 frame memories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitamura, K.; Arai, T.; Yonai, J.; Hayashida, T.; Kurita, T.; Maruyama, H.; Namiki, J.; Yanagi, T.; Yoshida, T.; van Kuijk, H.; Bosiers, Jan T.; Saita, A.; Kanayama, S.; Hatade, K.; Kitagawa, S.; Etoh, T. Goji

2008-11-01

We developed an ultrahigh-speed color video camera that operates at 1,000,000 fps (frames per second) and had capacity to store 288 frame memories. In 2005, we developed an ultrahigh-speed, high-sensitivity portable color camera with a 300,000-pixel single CCD (ISIS-V4: In-situ Storage Image Sensor, Version 4). Its ultrahigh-speed shooting capability of 1,000,000 fps was made possible by directly connecting CCD storages, which record video images, to the photodiodes of individual pixels. The number of consecutive frames was 144. However, longer capture times were demanded when the camera was used during imaging experiments and for some television programs. To increase ultrahigh-speed capture times, we used a beam splitter and two ultrahigh-speed 300,000-pixel CCDs. The beam splitter was placed behind the pick up lens. One CCD was located at each of the two outputs of the beam splitter. The CCD driving unit was developed to separately drive two CCDs, and the recording period of the two CCDs was sequentially switched. This increased the recording capacity to 288 images, an increase of a factor of two over that of conventional ultrahigh-speed camera. A problem with the camera was that the incident light on each CCD was reduced by a factor of two by using the beam splitter. To improve the light sensitivity, we developed a microlens array for use with the ultrahigh-speed CCDs. We simulated the operation of the microlens array in order to optimize its shape and then fabricated it using stamping technology. Using this microlens increased the light sensitivity of the CCDs by an approximate factor of two. By using a beam splitter in conjunction with the microlens array, it was possible to make an ultrahigh-speed color video camera that has 288 frame memories but without decreasing the camera's light sensitivity.

Order Batching in Warehouses by Minimizing Total Tardiness: A Hybrid Approach of Weighted Association Rule Mining and Genetic Algorithms

PubMed Central

Taheri, Shahrooz; Mat Saman, Muhamad Zameri; Wong, Kuan Yew

2013-01-01

One of the cost-intensive issues in managing warehouses is the order picking problem which deals with the retrieval of items from their storage locations in order to meet customer requests. Many solution approaches have been proposed in order to minimize traveling distance in the process of order picking. However, in practice, customer orders have to be completed by certain due dates in order to avoid tardiness which is neglected in most of the related scientific papers. Consequently, we proposed a novel solution approach in order to minimize tardiness which consists of four phases. First of all, weighted association rule mining has been used to calculate associations between orders with respect to their due date. Next, a batching model based on binary integer programming has been formulated to maximize the associations between orders within each batch. Subsequently, the order picking phase will come up which used a Genetic Algorithm integrated with the Traveling Salesman Problem in order to identify the most suitable travel path. Finally, the Genetic Algorithm has been applied for sequencing the constructed batches in order to minimize tardiness. Illustrative examples and comparisons are presented to demonstrate the proficiency and solution quality of the proposed approach. PMID:23864823

Order batching in warehouses by minimizing total tardiness: a hybrid approach of weighted association rule mining and genetic algorithms.

PubMed

Azadnia, Amir Hossein; Taheri, Shahrooz; Ghadimi, Pezhman; Saman, Muhamad Zameri Mat; Wong, Kuan Yew

2013-01-01

One of the cost-intensive issues in managing warehouses is the order picking problem which deals with the retrieval of items from their storage locations in order to meet customer requests. Many solution approaches have been proposed in order to minimize traveling distance in the process of order picking. However, in practice, customer orders have to be completed by certain due dates in order to avoid tardiness which is neglected in most of the related scientific papers. Consequently, we proposed a novel solution approach in order to minimize tardiness which consists of four phases. First of all, weighted association rule mining has been used to calculate associations between orders with respect to their due date. Next, a batching model based on binary integer programming has been formulated to maximize the associations between orders within each batch. Subsequently, the order picking phase will come up which used a Genetic Algorithm integrated with the Traveling Salesman Problem in order to identify the most suitable travel path. Finally, the Genetic Algorithm has been applied for sequencing the constructed batches in order to minimize tardiness. Illustrative examples and comparisons are presented to demonstrate the proficiency and solution quality of the proposed approach.

Influence of impression technique and material on the accuracy of multiple implant impressions.

PubMed

Wöstmann, Bernd; Rehmann, Peter; Balkenhol, Markus

2008-01-01

This study aimed to analyze the influence of impression technique (pick-up versus reposition) and material on the accuracy of the working cast. Sixty impressions were made with 3 materials from a master cast with 4 XiVE implants. The changes in the implant axis direction, rotation, and 3-dimensional shift were assessed. The pick-up technique showed significantly (P < .05, U test) lower values for axis direction and 3D shift but higher values for rotation than the reposition technique. The differences between the materials were not significant (P > .05, H test). It can be concluded that the impression technique-in contrast to the impression material-has a significant influence on transfer accuracy.

All-Optical Cantilever-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy in the Open Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Wei; Zhu, Yong; Lin, Cheng; Tian, Li; Xu, Zhuwen; Nong, Jinpeng

2015-06-01

A novel all-optical cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy technique for trace gas detection in the open environment is proposed. A cantilever is set off-beam to "listen to" the photoacoustic signal, and an improved quadrature-point stabilization Fabry-Perot demodulation unit is used to pick up the vibration signal of the acoustic transducer instead of a complicated Michelson interferometer. The structure parameters of the cantilever are optimized to make the sensing system work more stably and reliably using a finite element method, which is then fabricated by surface micro-machining technology. Finally, related experiments are carried out to detect the absorption of water vapor at one atmosphere in the open environment. It was found that the normalized noise-equivalent absorption coefficient obtained by a traditional Fabry-Perot demodulation unit is , while that by a quadrature- point stabilization Fabry-Perot demodulation unit is , which indicates that the sensitivity is increased by a factor of 3.1 using improved cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy.

Pick- and waveform-based techniques for real-time detection of induced seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigoli, Francesco; Scarabello, Luca; Böse, Maren; Weber, Bernd; Wiemer, Stefan; Clinton, John F.

2018-05-01

The monitoring of induced seismicity is a common operation in many industrial activities, such as conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbon production or mining and geothermal energy exploitation, to cite a few. During such operations, we generally collect very large and strongly noise-contaminated data sets that require robust and automated analysis procedures. Induced seismicity data sets are often characterized by sequences of multiple events with short interevent times or overlapping events; in these cases, pick-based location methods may struggle to correctly assign picks to phases and events, and errors can lead to missed detections and/or reduced location resolution and incorrect magnitudes, which can have significant consequences if real-time seismicity information are used for risk assessment frameworks. To overcome these issues, different waveform-based methods for the detection and location of microseismicity have been proposed. The main advantages of waveform-based methods is that they appear to perform better and can simultaneously detect and locate seismic events providing high-quality locations in a single step, while the main disadvantage is that they are computationally expensive. Although these methods have been applied to different induced seismicity data sets, an extensive comparison with sophisticated pick-based detection methods is still missing. In this work, we introduce our improved waveform-based detector and we compare its performance with two pick-based detectors implemented within the SeiscomP3 software suite. We test the performance of these three approaches with both synthetic and real data sets related to the induced seismicity sequence at the deep geothermal project in the vicinity of the city of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Maintenance practices for stormwater runoff - phase 2 : [summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-11-01

As rainfall moves across or through the ground, it picks up and transfers pollutants, which : eventually end up in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers. Pollutants can be directly : impact receiving waters, or they can promote excess vegeta...

Application of Plasma Waveguides to High Energy Accelerators

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

Milchberg, Howard M

2013-03-30

The eventual success of laser-plasma based acceleration schemes for high-energy particle physics will require the focusing and stable guiding of short intense laser pulses in reproducible plasma channels. For this goal to be realized, many scientific issues need to be addressed. These issues include an understanding of the basic physics of, and an exploration of various schemes for, plasma channel formation. In addition, the coupling of intense laser pulses to these channels and the stable propagation of pulses in the channels require study. Finally, new theoretical and computational tools need to be developed to aid in the design and analysismore » of experiments and future accelerators. Here we propose a 3-year renewal of our combined theoretical and experimental program on the applications of plasma waveguides to high-energy accelerators. During the past grant period we have made a number of significant advances in the science of laser-plasma based acceleration. We pioneered the development of clustered gases as a new highly efficient medium for plasma channel formation. Our contributions here include theoretical and experimental studies of the physics of cluster ionization, heating, explosion, and channel formation. We have demonstrated for the first time the generation of and guiding in a corrugated plasma waveguide. The fine structure demonstrated in these guides is only possible with cluster jet heating by lasers. The corrugated guide is a slow wave structure operable at arbitrarily high laser intensities, allowing direct laser acceleration, a process we have explored in detail with simulations. The development of these guides opens the possibility of direct laser acceleration, a true miniature analogue of the SLAC RF-based accelerator. Our theoretical studies during this period have also contributed to the further development of the simulation codes, Wake and QuickPIC, which can be used for both laser driven and beam driven plasma based acceleration schemes. We will continue our development of advanced simulation tools by modifying the QuickPIC algorithm to allow for the simulation of plasma particle pick-up by the wake fields. We have also performed extensive simulations of plasma slow wave structures for efficient THz generation by guided laser beams or accelerated electron beams. We will pursue experimental studies of direct laser acceleration, and THz generation by two methods, ponderomotive-induced THz polarization, and THz radiation by laser accelerated electron beams. We also plan to study both conventional and corrugated plasma channels using our new 30 TW in our new lab facilities. We will investigate production of very long hydrogen plasma waveguides (5 cm). We will study guiding at increasing power levels through the onset of laser-induced cavitation (bubble regime) to assess the role played by the preformed channel. Experiments in direct acceleration will be performed, using laser plasma wakefields as the electron injector. Finally, we will use 2-colour ionization of gases as a high frequency THz source (<60 THz) in order for femtosecond measurements of low plasma densities in waveguides and beams.« less

Modal Parameter Identification and Numerical Simulation for Self-anchored Suspension Bridges Based on Ambient Vibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bing; Sun, Li Guo

2018-06-01

This paper chooses the Nanjing-Hangzhou high speed overbridge, a self-anchored suspension bridge, as the research target, trying to identify the dynamic characteristic parameters of the bridge by using the peak-picking method to analyze the velocity response data under ambient excitation collected by 7 vibration pickup sensors set on the bridge deck. The ABAQUS is used to set up a three-dimensional finite element model for the full bridge and amends the finite element model of the suspension bridge based on the identified modal parameter, and suspender force picked by the PDV100 laser vibrometer. The study shows that the modal parameter can well be identified by analyzing the bridge vibration velocity collected by 7 survey points. The identified modal parameter and measured suspender force can be used as the basis of the amendment of the finite element model of the suspension bridge. The amended model can truthfully reflect the structural physical features and it can also be the benchmark model for the long-term health monitoring and condition assessment of the bridge.

Humanoid Mobile Manipulation Using Controller Refinement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Platt, Robert; Burridge, Robert; Diftler, Myron; Graf, Jodi; Goza, Mike; Huber, Eric; Brock, Oliver

2006-01-01

An important class of mobile manipulation problems are move-to-grasp problems where a mobile robot must navigate to and pick up an object. One of the distinguishing features of this class of tasks is its coarse-to-fine structure. Near the beginning of the task, the robot can only sense the target object coarsely or indirectly and make gross motion toward the object. However, after the robot has located and approached the object, the robot must finely control its grasping contacts using precise visual and haptic feedback. This paper proposes that move-to-grasp problems are naturally solved by a sequence of controllers that iteratively refines what ultimately becomes the final solution. This paper introduces the notion of a refining sequence of controllers and characterizes this type of solution. The approach is demonstrated in a move-to-grasp task where Robonaut, the NASA/JSC dexterous humanoid, is mounted on a mobile base and navigates to and picks up a geological sample box. In a series of tests, it is shown that a refining sequence of controllers decreases variance in robot configuration relative to the sample box until a successful grasp has been achieved.

Humanoid Mobile Manipulation Using Controller Refinement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Platt, Robert; Burridge, Robert; Diftler, Myron; Graf, Jodi; Goza, Mike; Huber, Eric

2006-01-01

An important class of mobile manipulation problems are move-to-grasp problems where a mobile robot must navigate to and pick up an object. One of the distinguishing features of this class of tasks is its coarse-to-fine structure. Near the beginning of the task, the robot can only sense the target object coarsely or indirectly and make gross motion toward the object. However, after the robot has located and approached the object, the robot must finely control its grasping contacts using precise visual and haptic feedback. In this paper, it is proposed that move-to-grasp problems are naturally solved by a sequence of controllers that iteratively refines what ultimately becomes the final solution. This paper introduces the notion of a refining sequence of controllers and characterizes this type of solution. The approach is demonstrated in a move-to-grasp task where Robonaut, the NASA/JSC dexterous humanoid, is mounted on a mobile base and navigates to and picks up a geological sample box. In a series of tests, it is shown that a refining sequence of controllers decreases variance in robot configuration relative to the sample box until a successful grasp has been achieved.

Ischaemic heart disease mortality and years of work in trucking industry workers.

PubMed

Hart, Jaime E; Garshick, Eric; Smith, Thomas J; Davis, Mary E; Laden, Francine

2013-08-01

Evidence from general population-based studies and occupational cohorts has identified air pollution from mobile sources as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In a cohort of US trucking industry workers, with regular exposure to vehicle exhaust, the authors previously observed elevated standardised mortality ratios for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) compared with members of the general US population. Therefore, the authors examined the association of increasing years of work in jobs with vehicle exhaust exposure and IHD mortality within the cohort. The authors calculated years of work in eight job groups for 30,758 workers using work records from four nationwide companies. Proportional hazard regression was used to examine relationships between IHD mortality, 1985-2000, and employment duration in each job group. HRs for at least 1 year of work in each job were elevated for dockworkers, long haul drivers, pick-up and delivery drivers, combination workers, hostlers, and shop workers. There was a suggestion of an increased risk of IHD mortality with increasing years of work as a long haul driver, pick-up and delivery driver, combination worker, and dockworker. These results suggest an elevated risk of IHD mortality in workers with a previous history of regular exposure to vehicle exhaust.

Portable guided-mode resonance biosensor platform for point-of-care testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sung, Gun Yong; Kim, Wan-Joong; Ko, Hyunsung; Kim, Bong K.; Kim, Kyung-Hyun; Huh, Chul; Hong, Jongcheol

2012-10-01

It represents a viable solution for the realization of a portable biosensor platform that could screen/diagnose acute myocardial infarction by measuring cardiac marker concentrations such as cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), and myoglobin (MYO) for application to u-health monitoring system. The portable biosensor platform introduced in this presentation has a more compact structure and a much higher measuring resolution than a conventional spectrometer system. Portable guided-mode resonance (GMR) biosensor platform was composed of a biosensor chip stage, an optical pick-up module, and a data display panel. Disposable plastic GMR biosensor chips with nano-grating patterns were fabricated by injection-molding. Whole blood filtration and label-free immunoassay were performed on these single chips, automatically. Optical pick-up module was fabricated by using the miniaturized bulk optics and the interconnecting optical fibers and a tunable VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser). The reflectance spectrum from the GMR biosensor was measured by the optical pick-up module. Cardiac markers in human serum with concentrations less than 0.1ng/mL were analyzed using a GMR biosensor. Analysis time was 30min, which is short enough to meet clinical requirements. Our results show that the GMR biosensor will be very useful in developing lowcost portable biosensors that can screen for cardiac diseases.

Shifty: A Weight-Shifting Dynamic Passive Haptic Proxy to Enhance Object Perception in Virtual Reality.

PubMed

Zenner, Andre; Kruger, Antonio

2017-04-01

We define the concept of Dynamic Passive Haptic Feedback (DPHF) for virtual reality by introducing the weight-shifting physical DPHF proxy object Shifty. This concept combines actuators known from active haptics and physical proxies known from passive haptics to construct proxies that automatically adapt their passive haptic feedback. We describe the concept behind our ungrounded weight-shifting DPHF proxy Shifty and the implementation of our prototype. We then investigate how Shifty can, by automatically changing its internal weight distribution, enhance the user's perception of virtual objects interacted with in two experiments. In a first experiment, we show that Shifty can enhance the perception of virtual objects changing in shape, especially in length and thickness. Here, Shifty was shown to increase the user's fun and perceived realism significantly, compared to an equivalent passive haptic proxy. In a second experiment, Shifty is used to pick up virtual objects of different virtual weights. The results show that Shifty enhances the perception of weight and thus the perceived realism by adapting its kinesthetic feedback to the picked-up virtual object. In the same experiment, we additionally show that specific combinations of haptic, visual and auditory feedback during the pick-up interaction help to compensate for visual-haptic mismatch perceived during the shifting process.

Sealed vacuum canister and method for pick-up and containment of material

DOEpatents

Stoutenburgh, Roger R.

1996-01-01

A vacuum canister including a housing with a sealed vacuum chamber having a predetermined vacuum pressure therein and a valve having a first port for fluid communication with the vacuum chamber and a second port for receiving at least one of a fluid and a particulate material. The valve is operable between a first position to seal the vacuum chamber and retain the predetermined vacuum within the vacuum chamber, and a second position to access the vacuum chamber to permit vacuum fluid flow through the valve from the second port into the vacuum chamber. In operation of the vacuum canister to pick up material with the valve in the second position, when the second port is located adjacent at least one of a fluid and a particulate material, is effective to displace through the valve at least one of a fluid and a particulate material into the housing. The vacuum canister is desirably suitable for picking up and containing hazardous material such as radioactive material, in which the vacuum canister includes a protective layer of lead having a predetermined thickness that is effective to shield radiation emitted from the radioactive material contained within the housing. Advantageously, the vacuum canister includes a vacuum means for establishing a predetermined vacuum pressure within the vacuum chamber.

Sealed vacuum canister and method for pick-up and containment of material

DOEpatents

Stoutenburgh, R.R.

1996-02-13

A vacuum canister is described including a housing with a sealed vacuum chamber having a predetermined vacuum pressure therein and a valve having a first port for fluid communication with the vacuum chamber and a second port for receiving at least one of a fluid and a particulate material. The valve is operable between a first position to seal the vacuum chamber and retain the predetermined vacuum within the vacuum chamber, and a second position to access the vacuum chamber to permit vacuum fluid flow through the valve from the second port into the vacuum chamber. The vacuum canister, in the operation to pick up material with the valve in the second position, when the second port is located adjacent at least one of a fluid and a particulate material, is effective to displace through the valve at least one of a fluid and a particulate material into the housing. The vacuum canister is desirably suitable for picking up and containing hazardous material such as radioactive material, in which the vacuum canister includes a protective layer of lead having a predetermined thickness that is effective to shield radiation emitted from the radioactive material contained within the housing. Advantageously, the vacuum canister includes a vacuum means for establishing a predetermined vacuum pressure within the vacuum chamber. 6 figs.

A study of the relative responsiveness of five sensibility tests for assessment of recovery after median nerve injury and repair.

PubMed

Jerosch-Herold, Christina

2003-06-01

A longitudinal dynamic cohort study was conducted on patients with median nerve injuries to evaluate the relative responsiveness of five sensibility tests: touch threshold using the WEST (monofilaments), static two-point discrimination, locognosia, a pick-up test and an object recognition test. Repeated assessments were performed starting at 6 months after surgery. In order to compare the relative responsiveness of each test, effect size and the standard response mean were calculated for sensibility changes occurring between 6 and 18 months after repair. Large effect sizes (>0.8) and standard response means (>0.8) were obtained for the WEST, locognosia, pick-up and object recognition tests. Two-point discrimination was hardly measurable at any time point and exhibited strong flooring effects. Further analysis of all time points was undertaken to assess the strength of the monotonic relationship between test scores and time elapsed since surgery. Comparison of monotonicity between the five tests indicated that the WEST performed best, whereas two-point discrimination performed worst. These results suggest that the monofilament test (WEST), locognosia test, Moberg pick-up test and tactile gnosis test capture sensibility changes over time well and should be considered for inclusion in the outcome assessment of patients with median nerve injury.

Solar wind composition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ogilvie, K. W.; Coplan, M. A.

1995-01-01

Advances in instrumentation have resulted in the determination of the average abundances of He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe in the solar wind to approximately 10%. Comparisons with solar energetic particle (SEP) abundances and galactic cosmic ray abundances have revealed many similarities, especially when compared with solar photospheric abundances. It is now well established that fractionation in the corona results in an overabundance (with respect to the photosphere) of elements with first ionization potentials less than 10 eV. These observations have in turn led to the development of fractionation models that are reasonably successful in reproducing the first ionization (FIP) effect. Under some circumstances it has been possible to relate solar wind observations to particular source regions in the corona. The magnetic topologies of the source regions appear to have a strong influence on the fractionation of elements. Comparisons with spectroscopic data are particularly useful in classifying the different topologies. Ions produced from interstellar neutral atoms are also found in the solar wind. These ions are picked up by the solar wind after ionization by solar radiation or charge exchange and can be identified by their velocity in the solar wind. The pick-up ions provide most of the pressure in the interplanetary medium at large distances. Interstellar abundances can be derived from the observed fluxes of solar wind pick-up ions.

49 CFR 375.501 - Must I write up an order for service?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Must I write up an order for service? 375.501... TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Pick Up of Shipments of Household Goods Before Loading § 375.501 Must I write up an order for service? (a) Before you receive a...

Enhancing micro-seismic P-phase arrival picking: EMD-cosine function-based denoising with an application to the AIC picker

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Xueyi; Li, Xibing; Morales-Esteban, A.; Dong, Longjun

2018-03-01

Micro-seismic P-phase arrival picking is an elementary step into seismic event location, source mechanism analysis, and seismic tomography. However, a micro-seismic signal is often mixed with high frequency noises and power frequency noises (50 Hz), which could considerably reduce P-phase picking accuracy. To solve this problem, an Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD)-cosine function denoising-based Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) picker (ECD-AIC picker) is proposed for picking the P-phase arrival time. Unlike traditional low pass filters which are ineffective when seismic data and noise bandwidths overlap, the EMD adaptively separates the seismic data and the noise into different Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs). Furthermore, the EMD-cosine function-based denoising retains the P-phase arrival amplitude and phase spectrum more reliably than any traditional low pass filter. The ECD-AIC picker was tested on 1938 sets of micro-seismic waveforms randomly selected from the Institute of Mine Seismology (IMS) database of the Chinese Yongshaba mine. The results have shown that the EMD-cosine function denoising can effectively estimate high frequency and power frequency noises and can be easily adapted to perform on signals with different shapes and forms. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons show that the combined ECD-AIC picker provides better picking results than both the ED-AIC picker and the AIC picker, and the comparisons also show more reliable source localization results when the ECD-AIC picker is applied, thus showing the potential of this combined P-phase picking technique.

Subsampled open-reference clustering creates consistent, comprehensive OTU definitions and scales to billions of sequences.

PubMed

Rideout, Jai Ram; He, Yan; Navas-Molina, Jose A; Walters, William A; Ursell, Luke K; Gibbons, Sean M; Chase, John; McDonald, Daniel; Gonzalez, Antonio; Robbins-Pianka, Adam; Clemente, Jose C; Gilbert, Jack A; Huse, Susan M; Zhou, Hong-Wei; Knight, Rob; Caporaso, J Gregory

2014-01-01

We present a performance-optimized algorithm, subsampled open-reference OTU picking, for assigning marker gene (e.g., 16S rRNA) sequences generated on next-generation sequencing platforms to operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for microbial community analysis. This algorithm provides benefits over de novo OTU picking (clustering can be performed largely in parallel, reducing runtime) and closed-reference OTU picking (all reads are clustered, not only those that match a reference database sequence with high similarity). Because more of our algorithm can be run in parallel relative to "classic" open-reference OTU picking, it makes open-reference OTU picking tractable on massive amplicon sequence data sets (though on smaller data sets, "classic" open-reference OTU clustering is often faster). We illustrate that here by applying it to the first 15,000 samples sequenced for the Earth Microbiome Project (1.3 billion V4 16S rRNA amplicons). To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest OTU picking run ever performed, and we estimate that our new algorithm runs in less than 1/5 the time than would be required of "classic" open reference OTU picking. We show that subsampled open-reference OTU picking yields results that are highly correlated with those generated by "classic" open-reference OTU picking through comparisons on three well-studied datasets. An implementation of this algorithm is provided in the popular QIIME software package, which uses uclust for read clustering. All analyses were performed using QIIME's uclust wrappers, though we provide details (aided by the open-source code in our GitHub repository) that will allow implementation of subsampled open-reference OTU picking independently of QIIME (e.g., in a compiled programming language, where runtimes should be further reduced). Our analyses should generalize to other implementations of these OTU picking algorithms. Finally, we present a comparison of parameter settings in QIIME's OTU picking workflows and make recommendations on settings for these free parameters to optimize runtime without reducing the quality of the results. These optimized parameters can vastly decrease the runtime of uclust-based OTU picking in QIIME.

Recent achievements in MgB 2 physics and applications: A large-area SQUID magnetometer and point-contact spectroscopy measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonnelli, R. S.; Daghero, D.; Calzolari, A.; Ummarino, G. A.; Tortello, M.; Stepanov, V. A.; Zhigadlo, N. D.; Rogacki, K.; Karpinski, J.; Portesi, C.; Monticone, E.; Mijatovic, D.; Veldhuis, D.; Brinkman, A.

2006-03-01

In the first part of the present paper we discuss the fabrication and the characterization of an MgB2-based SQUID magnetometer with a directly coupled large-area pick-up loop, made on an MgB2 film deposited by an all in situ technique. The coarse structure of the SQUID was defined by optical lithography and Ar-ion milling, while the two nanobridges acting as weak links in the superconducting loop were made by focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The device was characterized at different temperatures and showed Josephson quantum interference up to 20 K as well as a noise level already compatible with the recording of an adult magnetocardiogram. In the second part, concerning the fundamental physics of MgB2, we present the results of very recent point-contact measurements on Mg1-xMnxB2 single crystals with 34.1 ⩾ Tc ⩾ 13.3 K (i.e. 0.37% ⩽ x ⩽ 1.5%). The experimental conductance curves were fitted with the generalized two-band BTK model and their behaviour in magnetic fields was studied to check if both the order parameters (OPs) of the σ and π bands were present in the whole doping range. The dependence of the OPs (evaluated through the fit) on the Andreev critical temperature of the junctions is analyzed in the framework of the two-band Eliashberg theory by including the effects of magnetic impurities. The results give an evidence of a dominant effect of the magnetic impurities on the σ-band channel.

Investor Outlook: Gene Therapy Picking up Steam; At a Crossroads.

PubMed

Schimmer, Joshua; Breazzano, Steven

2016-09-01

The gene therapy field continues to pick up steam with recent successes in a number of different therapeutic indications that highlight the potential for the platform. As the field continues to make progress, a growing data set of long-term safety and efficacy data will continue to define gene therapy's role, determining ultimately how widely it may be used beyond rare, serious diseases with high unmet needs. New technologies often take unanticipated twists and turns as patient exposure accumulates, and gene therapy may be no exception. That said, with many diseases that have no other treatment options beyond gene therapy and that present considerable morbidity and mortality, the field appears poised to withstand some minor and even major bumps in the road should they emerge.

Properties of induced seismicity at the geothermal reservoir Insheim, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olbert, Kai; Küperkoch, Ludger; Thomas, Meier

2017-04-01

Within the framework of the German MAGS2 Project the processing of induced events at the geothermal power plant Insheim, Germany, has been reassessed and evaluated. The power plant is located close to the western rim of the Upper Rhine Graben in a region with a strongly heterogeneous subsurface. Therefore, the location of seismic events particularly the depth estimation is challenging. The seismic network consisting of up to 50 stations has an aperture of approximately 15 km around the power plant. Consequently, the manual processing is time consuming. Using a waveform similarity detection algorithm, the existing dataset from 2012 to 2016 has been reprocessed to complete the catalog of induced seismic events. Based on the waveform similarity clusters of similar events have been detected. Automated P- and S-arrival time determination using an improved multi-component autoregressive prediction algorithm yields approximately 14.000 P- and S-arrivals for 758 events. Applying a dataset of manual picks as reference the automated picking algorithm has been optimized resulting in a standard deviation of the residuals between automated and manual picks of about 0.02s. The automated locations show uncertainties comparable to locations of the manual reference dataset. 90 % of the automated relocations fall within the error ellipsoid of the manual locations. The remaining locations are either badly resolved due to low numbers of picks or so well resolved that the automatic location is outside the error ellipsoid although located close to the manual location. The developed automated processing scheme proved to be a useful tool to supplement real-time monitoring. The event clusters are located at small patches of faults known from reflection seismic studies. The clusters are observed close to both the injection as well as the production wells.

In Vivo Assessment of Neurodegeneration in Type C Niemann-Pick Disease by IDEAL-IQ.

PubMed

Guo, Ruo-Mi; Li, Qing-Ling; Luo, Zhong-Xing; Tang, Wen; Jiao, Ju; Wang, Jin; Kang, Zhuang; Chen, Shao-Qiong; Zhang, Yong

2018-01-01

To noninvasively assess the neurodegenerative changes in the brain of patients with Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease by measuring the lesion tissue with the iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least square estimation-iron quantification (IDEAL-IQ). Routine brain MRI, IDEAL-IQ and 1 H-proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS, served as control) were performed on 12 patients with type C Niemann-Pick disease (4 males and 8 females; age range, 15-61 years; mean age, 36 years) and 20 healthy subjects (10 males and 10 females; age range, 20-65 years; mean age, 38 years). The regions with lesion and the normal appearing regions (NARs) of patients were measured and analyzed based on the fat/water signal intensity on IDEAL-IQ and the lipid peak on 1 H-MRS. Niemann-Pick type C patients showed a higher fat/water signal intensity ratio with IDEAL-IQ on T2 hyperintensity lesions and NARs (3.7-4.9%, p < 0.05 and 1.8-3.0%, p < 0.05, respectively), as compared to healthy controls (HCs) (1.2-2.3%). After treatment, the fat/water signal intensity ratio decreased (2.2-3.4%), but remained higher than in the HCs ( p < 0.05). The results of the 1 H-MRS measurements showed increased lipid peaks in the same lesion regions, and the micro-lipid storage disorder of NARs in NPC patients was detectable by IDEAL-IQ instead of 1 H-MRS. The findings of this study suggested that IDEAL-IQ may be useful as a noninvasive and objective method in the evaluation of patients with NPC; additionally, IDEAL-IQ can be used to quantitatively measure the brain parenchymal adipose content and monitor patient follow-up after treatment of NPC.

Arithmetic of five-part of leukocytes based on image process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yian; Wang, Guoyou; Liu, Jianguo

2007-12-01

This paper apply computer image processing and pattern recognizition methods to solve the problem of auto classification and counting of leukocytes (white blood cell) in peripheral blood. In this paper a new leukocyte arithmetic of five-part based on image process and pattern recognizition is presented, which relized auto classify of leukocyte. The first aim is detect the leukocytes . A major requirement of the whole system is to classify these leukocytes to 5 classes. This arithmetic bases on notability mechanism of eyes, process image by sequence, divides up leukocytes and pick up characters. Using the prior kwonledge of cells and image shape information, this arithmetic divides up the probable shape of Leukocyte first by a new method based on Chamfer and then gets the detail characters. It can reduce the mistake judge rate and the calculation greatly. It also has the learning fuction. This paper also presented a new measurement of karyon's shape which can provide more accurate information. This algorithm has great application value in clinical blood test .

Icy Hydra

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-06

The surface of Hydra, Pluto outermost small moon, is dominated by nearly pristine water ice confirming hints that scientists picked up in NASA New Horizons images showing Hydra highly reflective surface.

Interference, focusing and excitation of ultracold atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kandes, M. C.; Fahy, B. M.; Williams, S. R.; Tally, C. H., IV; Bromley, M. W. J.

2011-05-01

One of the pressing technological challenges in atomic physics is to go orders-of-magnitude beyond the limits of photon-based optics by harnessing the wave-nature of dilute clouds of ultracold atoms. We have developed parallelised algorithms to perform numerical calculations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in up to three dimensions and with up to three components to simulate Bose-Einstein condensates. A wide-ranging array of the physics associated with atom optics-based systems will be presented including BEC-based Sagnac interferometry in circular waveguides, the focusing of BECs using Laguerre-Gauss beams, and the interactions between BECs and Ince-Gaussian laser beams and their potential applications. One of the pressing technological challenges in atomic physics is to go orders-of-magnitude beyond the limits of photon-based optics by harnessing the wave-nature of dilute clouds of ultracold atoms. We have developed parallelised algorithms to perform numerical calculations of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation in up to three dimensions and with up to three components to simulate Bose-Einstein condensates. A wide-ranging array of the physics associated with atom optics-based systems will be presented including BEC-based Sagnac interferometry in circular waveguides, the focusing of BECs using Laguerre-Gauss beams, and the interactions between BECs and Ince-Gaussian laser beams and their potential applications. Performed on computational resources via NSF grants PHY-0970127, CHE-0947087 and DMS-0923278.

Interaction between the glutamate transporter GLT1b and the synaptic PDZ domain protein PICK1

PubMed Central

Bassan, Merav; Liu, Hongguang; Madsen, Kenneth L.; Armsen, Wencke; Zhou, Jiayi; DeSilva, Tara; Chen, Weizhi; Paradise, Allison; Brasch, Michael A.; Staudinger, Jeff; Gether, Ulrik; Irwin, Nina; Rosenberg, Paul A.

2015-01-01

Synaptic plasticity is implemented by the interaction of glutamate receptors with PDZ domain proteins. Glutamate transporters provide the only known mechanism of clearance of glutamate from excitatory synapses, and GLT1 is the major glutamate transporter. We show here that GLT1 interacts with the PDZ domain protein PICK1, which plays a critical role in regulating the expression of glutamate receptors at excitatory synapses. A yeast two-hybrid screen of a neuronal library using the carboxyl tail of GLT1b yielded clones expressing PICK1. The GLT1b C-terminal peptide bound to PICK1 with high affinity (Ki = 6.5 ± 0.4 μm) in an in vitro fluorescence polarization assay. We also tested peptides based on other variants of GLT1 and other glutamate transporters. GLT1b co-immunoprecipitated with PICK1 from rat brain lysates and COS7 cell lysates derived from cells transfected with plasmids expressing PICK1 and GLT1b. In addition, expression of GLT1b in COS7 cells changed the distribution of PICK1, bringing it to the surface. GLT1b and PICK1 co-localized with each other and with synaptic markers in hippocampal neurons in culture. Phorbol ester, an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), a known PICK1 interactor, had no effect on glutamate transport in rat forebrain neurons in culture. However, we found that exposure of neurons to a myristolated decoy peptide with sequence identical to the C-terminal sequence of GLT1b designed to block the PICK1–GLT1b interaction rendered glutamate transport into neurons responsive to phorbol ester. These results suggest that the PICK1–GLT1b interaction regulates the modulation of GLT1 function by PKC. PMID:18184314

A New First Break Picking for Three-Component VSP Data Using Gesture Sensor and Polarization Analysis

PubMed Central

Li, Huailiang; Tuo, Xianguo; Shen, Tong; Wang, Ruili; Courtois, Jérémie; Yan, Minhao

2017-01-01

A new first break picking for three-component (3C) vertical seismic profiling (VSP) data is proposed to improve the estimation accuracy of first arrivals, which adopts gesture detection calibration and polarization analysis based on the eigenvalue of the covariance matrix. This study aims at addressing the problem that calibration is required for VSP data using the azimuth and dip angle of geophones, due to the direction of geophones being random when applied in a borehole, which will further lead to the first break picking possibly being unreliable. Initially, a gesture-measuring module is integrated in the seismometer to rapidly obtain high-precision gesture data (including azimuth and dip angle information). Using re-rotating and re-projecting using earlier gesture data, the seismic dataset of each component will be calibrated to the direction that is consistent with the vibrator shot orientation. It will promote the reliability of the original data when making each component waveform calibrated to the same virtual reference component, and the corresponding first break will also be properly adjusted. After achieving 3C data calibration, an automatic first break picking algorithm based on the autoregressive-Akaike information criterion (AR-AIC) is adopted to evaluate the first break. Furthermore, in order to enhance the accuracy of the first break picking, the polarization attributes of 3C VSP recordings is applied to constrain the scanning segment of AR-AIC picker, which uses the maximum eigenvalue calculation of the covariance matrix. The contrast results between pre-calibration and post-calibration using field data show that it can further improve the quality of the 3C VSP waveform, which is favorable to subsequent picking. Compared to the obtained short-term average to long-term average (STA/LTA) and the AR-AIC algorithm, the proposed method, combined with polarization analysis, can significantly reduce the picking error. Applications of actual field experiments have also confirmed that the proposed method may be more suitable for the first break picking of 3C VSP. Test using synthesized 3C seismic data with low SNR indicates that the first break is picked with an error between 0.75 ms and 1.5 ms. Accordingly, the proposed method can reduce the picking error for 3C VSP data. PMID:28925981

Lymph node pick up by separate stations: Option or necessity.

PubMed

Morgagni, Paolo; Nanni, Oriana; Carretta, Elisa; Altini, Mattia; Saragoni, Luca; Falcini, Fabio; Garcea, Domenico

2015-05-27

To evaluate whether lymph node pick up by separate stations could be an indicator of patients submitted to appropriate surgical treatment. One thousand two hundred and three consecutive gastric cancer patients submitted to radical resection in 7 general hospitals and for whom no information was available on the extension of lymphatic dissection were included in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group A, where the stomach specimen was directly formalin-fixed and sent to the pathologist, and group B, where lymph nodes were picked up after surgery and fixed for separate stations. Sixty-two point three percent of group A patients showed < 16 retrieved lymph nodes compared to 19.4% of group B (P < 0.0001). Group B (separate stations) patients had significantly higher survival rates than those in group A [46.1 mo (95%CI: 36.5-56.0) vs 27.7 mo (95%CI: 21.3-31.9); P = 0.0001], independently of T or N stage. In multivariate analysis, group A also showed a higher risk of death than group B (HR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.05-1.46). Separate lymphatic station dissection increases the number of retrieved nodes, leads to better tumor staging, and permits verification of the surgical dissection. The number of dissected stations could potentially be used as an index to evaluate the quality of treatment received.

Tick (Ixodes ricinus) abundance and seasonality at recreational sites in the UK: hazards in relation to fine-scale habitat types revealed by complementary sampling methods.

PubMed

Dobson, Andrew D M; Taylor, Jennifer L; Randolph, Sarah E

2011-06-01

The seasonal risk to humans of picking up Ixodes ricinus ticks in different habitats at 3 recreational sites in the UK was assessed. A comprehensive range of vegetation types was sampled at 3-weekly intervals for 2 years, using standard blanket-dragging complemented by woollen leggings and square 'heel flags'. Ticks were found in all vegetation types sampled, including short grass close to car parks, but highest densities were consistently found in plots with trees present. Blankets picked up the greatest number of ticks, but heel flags provided important complementary counts of the immature stages in bracken plots; they showed clearly that the decline in tick numbers on blankets in early summer was due to the seasonal growth of vegetation that lifted the blanket clear of the typical questing height, but in reality ticks remained abundant through the summer. Leggings picked up only 11% of the total nymphs and 22% of total adults counted, but this still represented a significant hazard to humans. These results should prompt a greater awareness of the fine-scale distribution of this species in relation to human activities that determines the most likely zones of contact between humans and ticks. Risk communication may then be designed accordingly. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Loss of Water from Saturn's E-Ring Through Ion Pick-Up

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leisner, J. S.; Russell, C. T.; Dougherty, M. K.; Blanco-Cano, X.; Smith, E. J.; Tsurutani, B. T.

2005-01-01

One of the possible loss processes for Saturn s E-ring is ionization followed by acceleration by the electric field associated with the corotating magnetized plasma. It is possible to determine if this process is occurring by detecting electromagnetic waves at the gyrofrequency of water group ions. If the energy the particle gains in this pick-up process is sufficiently great, the picked up ions will generate ion cyclotron waves. Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 both observed intervals of such waves associated with water group ions during their passes through Saturn s E-ring. Presently the magnetometer onboard the Cassini spacecraft is also seeing water group ion cyclotron oscillations. The Cassini data allow the spatial and temporal behavior of the waves to be mapped in ways not possible during the previous flybys. Analyses of these waves allow us to study the rate of mass loading and its latitudinal and local time variation. In conjunction with previous data, we can then determine the variation as the inclination of the ring to the Sun changes, in accordance with Saturn's seasons. These waves may be the clue to how Saturn powers its magnetosphere as the newly born ions could be the driver for the radial motion of the plasma and to how the E-ring may play the equivalent role to that of Io in the jovian magnetosphere.

Simulated orbits of heavy planetary ions at Mars for different IMF configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curry, Shannon; Luhmann, Janet; Livi, Roberto; Hara, Takuya; Dong, Chuanfei; Ma, Yingjuan; McFadden, James; Bougher, Stephen

2014-11-01

We present simulated detections of O+, O2+ and CO2+ ions at Mars along a virtual orbit in the Mars space environment. Planetary pick-up ions are formed through the direct interaction of the solar wind with the neutral upper atmosphere, causing the newly created ions to be picked up and accelerated by the background convective electric field. Because previous missions such as Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Express (MEX) have not been able to measure the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) components simultaneously with plasma measurements, the response of heavy planetary pick-up ions to changes in the IMF has not been well characterized. Using a steady-state multi-species MHD model to provide the background electric and magnetic fields, the Mars Test Particle (MTP) simulation can trace each of these particles along field lines in near-Mars space and construct virtual ion detections from a spacecraft orbit. Specifically, we will present energy-time spectrograms and velocity space distributions (VSDs) for a selection of orbits during different IMF configurations and solar cycle conditions. These simulated orbits have broader implications for how to measure ion escape. Using individual particle traces, the origin and trajectories of different ion populations can be analyzed in order to assess how and where they contribute to the total atmospheric escape rate, which is a major objective of the upcoming MAVEN mission.

Explosion Source Location Study Using Collocated Acoustic and Seismic Networks in Israel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinsky, V.; Gitterman, Y.; Arrowsmith, S.; Ben-Horin, Y.

2013-12-01

We explore a joined analysis of seismic and infrasonic signals for improvement in automatic monitoring of small local/regional events, such as construction and quarry blasts, military chemical explosions, sonic booms, etc. using collocated seismic and infrasonic networks recently build in Israel (ISIN) in the frame of the project sponsored by the Bi-national USA-Israel Science Foundation (BSF). The general target is to create an automatic system, which will provide detection, location and identification of explosions in real-time or close-to-real time manner. At the moment the network comprises 15 stations hosting a microphone and seismometer (or accelerometer), operated by the Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII), plus two infrasonic arrays, operated by the National Data Center, Soreq: IOB in the South (Negev desert) and IMA in the North of Israel (Upper Galilee),collocated with the IMS seismic array MMAI. The study utilizes a ground-truth data-base of numerous Rotem phosphate quarry blasts, a number of controlled explosions for demolition of outdated ammunitions and experimental surface explosions for a structure protection research, at the Sayarim Military Range. A special event, comprising four military explosions in a neighboring country, that provided both strong seismic (up to 400 km) and infrasound waves (up to 300 km), is also analyzed. For all of these events the ground-truth coordinates and/or the results of seismic location by the Israel Seismic Network (ISN) have been provided. For automatic event detection and phase picking we tested the new recursive picker, based on Statistically optimal detector. The results were compared to the manual picks. Several location techniques have been tested using the ground-truth event recordings and the preliminary results obtained have been compared to the ground-truth locations: 1) a number of events have been located as intersection of azimuths estimated using the wide-band F-K analysis technique applied to the infrasonic phases of the two distant arrays; 2) a standard robust grid-search location procedure based on phase picks and a constant celerity for a phase (tropospheric or stratospheric) was applied; 3) a joint coordinate grid-search procedure using array waveforms and phase picks was tested, 4) the Bayesian Infrasonic Source Localization (BISL) method, incorporating semi-empirical model-based prior information, was modified for array+network configuration and applied to the ground-truth events. For this purpose we accumulated data of the former observations of the air-to-ground infrasonic phases to compute station specific ground-truth Celerity-Range Histograms (ssgtCRH) and/or model-based CRH (mbCRH), which allow to essentially improve the location results. For building the mbCRH the local meteo-data and the ray-tracing modeling in 3 available azimuth ranges, accounting seasonal variations of winds directivity (quadrants North:315-45, South: 135-225, East 45-135) have been used.

Next Generation H- Ion Sources for the SNS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welton, R. F.; Stockli, M. P.; Murray, S. N.; Crisp, D.; Carmichael, J.; Goulding, R. H.; Han, B.; Tarvainen, O.; Pennisi, T.; Santana, M.

2009-03-01

The U.S. Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is the leading accelerator-based, pulsed neutron-scattering facility, currently in the process of ramping up neutron production. In order to insure meeting operational requirements as well as providing for future facility beam power upgrades, a multifaceted H- ion source development program is ongoing. This work discusses several aspects of this program, specifically the design and first beam measurements of an RF-driven, external antenna H- ion source based on an A1N ceramic plasma chamber, elemental and chromate Cs-systems, and plasma ignition gun. Unanalyzed beam currents of up to ˜100 mA (60 Hz, 1 ms) have been observed and sustained currents >60 mA (60 Hz, 1 ms) have been demonstrated on the test stand. Accelerated beam currents of ˜40 mA have also been demonstrated into the SNS front end. Data are also presented describing the first H- beam extraction experiments from a helicon plasma generator based on the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) engine design.

Positron annihilation lifetime and Doppler broadening spectroscopy at the ELBE facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Andreas; Butterling, Maik; Liedke, Maciej O.; Potzger, Kay; Krause-Rehberg, Reinhard

2018-05-01

The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf operates a superconducting linear accelerator for electrons with energies up to 35 MeV and average beam currents up to 1.6 mA with bunch charges up to 120 pC. The electron beam is employed to produce several secondary beams including X-rays from bremsstrahlung production, coherent IR light in a Free Electron Laser, superradiant THz radiation, neutrons, and positrons. The secondary positron beam after moderation feeds the Monoenergetic Positron Source (MePS) where positron annihilation lifetime (PALS) and positron annihilation Doppler-broadening experiments in materials science are performed. The adjustable repetition rate of the continuous-wave electron beams allows matching of the pulse separation to the positron lifetime in the sample under study. The energy of the positron beam can be set between 0.5 keV and 20 keV to perform depth resolved defect spectroscopy and porosity studies especially for thin films. Bulk materials, fluids, gases, and even radioactive samples can be studied at the unique Gamma-induced Positron Source (GiPS) where an intense bremsstrahlung source generates positrons directly inside the material under study. A 22Na-based monoenergetic positron beam serves for offline experiments and additional depth-resolved Doppler-broadening studies complementing both accelerator-based sources.

Mucolipidoses

MedlinePlus

... materials within cells. In ML, abnormal amounts of carbohydrates and fatty materials (lipids) accumulate in cells. Because ... roles is to pick up substances such as carbohydrates and lipids and break them down into smaller ...

The last large pelletron accelerator of the Herb era

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

Chopra, S.; Narayanan, M. M.; Joshi, R.

1999-04-26

Prof. Ray Herb pioneered the concept and design of the tandem Pelletron accelerator in the late sixties at NEC. The 15UD Pelletron at Nuclear Science Centre (NSC), upgraded for 16MV operation using compressed geometry accelerating tubes is the last such large Pelletron. It has unique features like offset and matching quadrupoles after the stripper for charge state selection inside the high voltage terminal and consequently the option of further stripping the ion species of the selected charge states at high energy dead section, and elaborate pulsing system in the pre-acceleration region consisting of a beam chopper, a travelling wave deflector,more » a light ion buncher (1-80 amu) and a heavy ion buncher (>80 amu). NSC was established as a heavy ion accelerator based inter university centre in 1985. It became operational in July 1991 to cater to the research requirements of a large user community which at present includes about fifty universities, twenty-eight colleges and a dozen other academic institutes and research laboratories. The number of users in Materials and allied sciences is about 500. Various important modifications have been made to improve the performance of the accelerator in the last seven years. These include replacement of the corona voltage grading system by a resistor based one, a pick-up loop to monitor charging system performance, conversion from basic double unit structure to singlet, installation of a spiral cavity based phase detector system with post-accelerator stripper after the analyzing magnet, and a high efficiency multi harmonic buncher. Installation of a turbo pump based stripper gas recirculation system in the terminal is also planned. A brief description of utilization of the machine will be given.« less

MatSeis and the GNEM R&E regional seismic anaylsis tools.

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

Chael, Eric Paul; Hart, Darren M.; Young, Christopher John

2003-08-01

To improve the nuclear event monitoring capability of the U.S., the NNSA Ground-based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Engineering (GNEM R&E) program has been developing a collection of products known as the Knowledge Base (KB). Though much of the focus for the KB has been on the development of calibration data, we have also developed numerous software tools for various purposes. The Matlab-based MatSeis package and the associated suite of regional seismic analysis tools were developed to aid in the testing and evaluation of some Knowledge Base products for which existing applications were either not available or ill-suited. This presentationmore » will provide brief overviews of MatSeis and each of the tools, emphasizing features added in the last year. MatSeis was begun in 1996 and is now a fairly mature product. It is a highly flexible seismic analysis package that provides interfaces to read data from either flatfiles or an Oracle database. All of the standard seismic analysis tasks are supported (e.g. filtering, 3 component rotation, phase picking, event location, magnitude calculation), as well as a variety of array processing algorithms (beaming, FK, coherency analysis, vespagrams). The simplicity of Matlab coding and the tremendous number of available functions make MatSeis/Matlab an ideal environment for developing new monitoring research tools (see the regional seismic analysis tools below). New MatSeis features include: addition of evid information to events in MatSeis, options to screen picks by author, input and output of origerr information, improved performance in reading flatfiles, improved speed in FK calculations, and significant improvements to Measure Tool (filtering, multiple phase display), Free Plot (filtering, phase display and alignment), Mag Tool (maximum likelihood options), and Infra Tool (improved calculation speed, display of an F statistic stream). Work on the regional seismic analysis tools (CodaMag, EventID, PhaseMatch, and Dendro) began in 1999 and the tools vary in their level of maturity. All rely on MatSeis to provide necessary data (waveforms, arrivals, origins, and travel time curves). CodaMag Tool implements magnitude calculation by scaling to fit the envelope shape of the coda for a selected phase type (Mayeda, 1993; Mayeda and Walter, 1996). New tool features include: calculation of a yield estimate based on the source spectrum, display of a filtered version of the seismogram based on the selected band, and the output of codamag data records for processed events. EventID Tool implements event discrimination using phase ratios of regional arrivals (Hartse et al., 1997; Walter et al., 1999). New features include: bandpass filtering of displayed waveforms, screening of reference events based on SNR, multivariate discriminants, use of libcgi to access correction surfaces, and the output of discrim{_}data records for processed events. PhaseMatch Tool implements match filtering to isolate surface waves (Herrin and Goforth, 1977). New features include: display of the signal's observed dispersion and an option to use a station-based dispersion surface. Dendro Tool implements agglomerative hierarchical clustering using dendrograms to identify similar events based on waveform correlation (Everitt, 1993). New features include: modifications to include arrival information within the tool, and the capability to automatically add/re-pick arrivals based on the picked arrivals for similar events.« less

Toxoplasmosis

MedlinePlus

... People who have an organ transplant or a blood transfusion can also get toxoplasmosis if the organ or ... not pick up the toxoplasmosis parasite from the animals it hunts. If possible, have someone else take ...

The density of cometary protons upstream of Comet Halley's bow shock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neugebauer, M.; Goldstein, B. E.; Balsiger, H.; Neubauer, F. M.; Schwenn, R.; Shelley, E. G.

1989-02-01

Cometary protons picked up by the solar wind were detected by the high energy range spectrometer of the Giotto ion mass spectrometer starting at a cometocentric distance of about 12 million km. On the average, the density of cometary protons varied approximately as the inverse square of the cometocentric distance, reaching a value of 0.11/cu cm just outside the bow shock. The data can be successfully fit to models that include substantial amounts of both slow (1 km/s) and fast (8 km/s or greater) H atoms beyond the bow shock. Large local variations in the density of picked-up protons can be explained on the basis of variations in the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field in upstream regions where pitch angle scattering was weak.

Simulator for beam-based LHC collimator alignment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valentino, Gianluca; Aßmann, Ralph; Redaelli, Stefano; Sammut, Nicholas

2014-02-01

In the CERN Large Hadron Collider, collimators need to be set up to form a multistage hierarchy to ensure efficient multiturn cleaning of halo particles. Automatic algorithms were introduced during the first run to reduce the beam time required for beam-based setup, improve the alignment accuracy, and reduce the risk of human errors. Simulating the alignment procedure would allow for off-line tests of alignment policies and algorithms. A simulator was developed based on a diffusion beam model to generate the characteristic beam loss signal spike and decay produced when a collimator jaw touches the beam, which is observed in a beam loss monitor (BLM). Empirical models derived from the available measurement data are used to simulate the steady-state beam loss and crosstalk between multiple BLMs. The simulator design is presented, together with simulation results and comparison to measurement data.

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

St James, S; Bloch, C; Saini, J

Purpose: Proton pencil beam scanning is used clinically across the United States. There are no current guidelines on tolerances for daily QA specific to pencil beam scanning, specifically related to the individual spot properties (spot width). Using a stochastic method to determine tolerances has the potential to optimize tolerances on individual spots and decrease the number of false positive failures in daily QA. Individual and global spot tolerances were evaluated. Methods: As part of daily QA for proton pencil beam scanning, a field of 16 spots (corresponding to 8 energies) is measured using an array of ion chambers (Matrixx, IBA).more » Each individual spot is fit to two Gaussian functions (x,y). The spot width (σ) in × and y are recorded (32 parameters). Results from the daily QA were retrospectively analyzed for 100 days of data. The deviations of the spot widths were histogrammed and fit to a Gaussian function. The stochastic spot tolerance was taken to be the mean ± 3σ. Using these results, tolerances were developed and tested against known deviations in spot width. Results: The individual spot tolerances derived with the stochastic method decreased in 30/32 instances. Using the previous tolerances (± 20% width), the daily QA would have detected 0/20 days of the deviation. Using a tolerance of any 6 spots failing the stochastic tolerance, 18/20 days of the deviation would have been detected. Conclusion: Using a stochastic method we have been able to decrease daily tolerances on the spot widths for 30/32 spot widths measured. The stochastic tolerances can lead to detection of deviations that previously would have been picked up on monthly QA and missed by daily QA. This method could be easily extended for evaluation of other QA parameters in proton spot scanning.« less

Recording of electrohysterogram laplacian potential.

PubMed

Alberola-Rubio, J; Garcia-Casado, J; Ye-Lin, Y; Prats-Boluda, G; Perales, A

2011-01-01

Preterm birth is the main cause of the neonatal morbidity. Noninvasive recording of uterine myoelectrical activity (electrohysterogram, EHG) could be an alternative to the monitoring of uterine dynamics which are currently based on tocodynamometers (TOCO). The analysis of uterine electromyogram characteristics could help the early diagnosis of preterm birth. Laplacian recordings of other bioelectrical signals have proved to enhance spatial selectivity and to reduce interferences in comparison to monopolar and bipolar surface recordings. The main objective of this paper is to check the feasibility of the noninvasive recording of uterine myoelectrical activity by means of laplacian techniques. Four bipolar EHG signals, discrete laplacian obtained from five monopolar electrodes and the signals picked up by two active concentric-ringed-electrodes were recorded on 5 women with spontaneous or induced labor. Intrauterine pressure (IUP) and TOCO were also simultaneously recorded. To evaluate the uterine contraction detectability of the different noninvasive methods in comparison to IUP the contractions consistency index (CCI) was calculated. Results show that TOCO is less consistent (83%) than most EHG bipolar recording channels (91%, 83%, 87%, and 76%) to detect the uterine contractions identified in IUP. Moreover laplacian EHG signals picked up by ringed-electrodes proved to be as consistent (91%) as the best bipolar recordings in addition to significantly reduce ECG interference.

Solar cycle variation of interstellar neutral He, Ne, O density and pick-up ions along the Earth's orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokół, Justyna M.; Bzowski, Maciej; Kubiak, Marzena A.; Möbius, Eberhard

2016-06-01

We simulated the modulation of the interstellar neutral (ISN) He, Ne, and O density and pick-up ion (PUI) production rate and count rate along the Earth's orbit over the solar cycle (SC) from 2002 to 2013 to verify if SC-related effects may modify the inferred ecliptic longitude of the ISN inflow direction. We adopted the classical PUI model with isotropic distribution function and adiabatic cooling, modified by time- and heliolatitude-dependent ionization rates and non-zero injection speed of PUIs. We found that the ionization losses have a noticeable effect on the derivation of the ISN inflow longitude based on the Gaussian fit to the crescent and cone peak locations. We conclude that the non-zero radial velocity of the ISN flow and the energy range of the PUI distribution function that is accumulated are of importance for a precise reproduction of the PUI count rate along the Earth orbit. However, the temporal and latitudinal variations of the ionization in the heliosphere, and particularly their variation on the SC time-scale, may significantly modify the shape of PUI cone and crescent and also their peak positions from year to year and thus bias by a few degrees the derived longitude of the ISN gas inflow direction.

INTERSTELLAR PICK-UP IONS OBSERVED BETWEEN 11 AND 22 AU BY NEW HORIZONS

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

Randol, B. M.; McComas, D. J.; Schwadron, N. A., E-mail: brentrandol@gmail.com

We report new observations by the Solar Wind Around Pluto instrument on the New Horizons spacecraft, which measures energy per charge (E/q) spectra of solar wind and interstellar pick-up ions (PUIs) between 11 AU and 22 AU from the Sun. The data provide an unprecedented look at PUIs as there have been very few measurements of PUIs beyond 10 AU. We analyzed the PUI part of the spectra by comparing them to the classic Vasyliunas and Siscoe PUI model. Our analysis indicates that PUIs are usually well-described by this distribution. We derive parameters relevant to PUI studies, such as themore » ionization rate normalized to 1 AU. Our result for the average ionization rate between 11 and 12 AU agrees with an independently derived average value found during the same time. Later, we find a general increase in the ionization rate, which is consistent with the increase in solar activity. We also calculate the PUI thermal pressure, which appears to be roughly consistent with previous results. Through fitting of the solar wind proton peaks in our spectra, we derive solar wind thermal pressures. Based on our analysis, we predict a ratio of PUI thermal pressure to solar wind thermal pressure just inside the termination shock to be between 100 and >1000.« less

Picking Up the Pieces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robelen, Erik W.

2005-01-01

A school devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which struck southeastern Louisiana on August 29, reopens--but for teachers, the real work is just beginning. First, there was the storm. Roofing was ripped off some of the beige, block like buildings that make up Bonnabel High's nondescript campus nestled in a suburban neighborhood near the New Orleans…

"Micro-robots" team up to act like vacuum cleaner

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

Snezhko, Alexey and Aronson, Igor

2011-01-01

"Micro-robots" designed by Argonne National Laboratory physicists Alexey Snezhko and Igor Aronson pick up free-floating particles. The competing hydrodynamic flows created by the four-aster assembly trap the particles. This video is courtesy of Nature Materials. Read more about the bots at http://go.usa.gov/KAT

Nail Fungal Infections

MedlinePlus

... your toenails. If you often walk barefoot in locker rooms, you can pick up a fungus from ... Avoid walking barefoot in public areas, such as locker rooms. Questions Questions to Ask Your Doctor My ...

47 CFR 74.631 - Permissible service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... transmission of program material, orders concerning such program material, and related communications necessary... 6875-7125 MHz may be used by broadcast network-entities only for television pick-up stations. [28 FR...

47 CFR 74.631 - Permissible service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... transmission of program material, orders concerning such program material, and related communications necessary... 6875-7125 MHz may be used by broadcast network-entities only for television pick-up stations. [28 FR...

Automatic microseismic event picking via unsupervised machine learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yangkang

2018-01-01

Effective and efficient arrival picking plays an important role in microseismic and earthquake data processing and imaging. Widely used short-term-average long-term-average ratio (STA/LTA) based arrival picking algorithms suffer from the sensitivity to moderate-to-strong random ambient noise. To make the state-of-the-art arrival picking approaches effective, microseismic data need to be first pre-processed, for example, removing sufficient amount of noise, and second analysed by arrival pickers. To conquer the noise issue in arrival picking for weak microseismic or earthquake event, I leverage the machine learning techniques to help recognizing seismic waveforms in microseismic or earthquake data. Because of the dependency of supervised machine learning algorithm on large volume of well-designed training data, I utilize an unsupervised machine learning algorithm to help cluster the time samples into two groups, that is, waveform points and non-waveform points. The fuzzy clustering algorithm has been demonstrated to be effective for such purpose. A group of synthetic, real microseismic and earthquake data sets with different levels of complexity show that the proposed method is much more robust than the state-of-the-art STA/LTA method in picking microseismic events, even in the case of moderately strong background noise.

Traumatic ventricular septal defect following a stab wound to the chest.

PubMed

Ito, Hideki; Saito, Shunei; Miyahara, Ken; Takemura, Haruki; Sawaki, Sadanari; Matsuura, Akio

2009-03-01

A 51-year-old man who had been suffering from depression stabbed himself in the chest with an ice pick. At presentation, an ice pick lodged in the left fifth intercostal space was moving synchronously with his heartbeat. Echocardiography revealed that the tip was penetrating the anterior wall of the right ventricle. Because the patient was tamponading, an emergency operation was carried out. The ice pick was removed following the establishment of a cardiopulmonary bypass and pericardiotomy. The perforation of the right ventricle was closed with a pledget-reinforced mattress stitch. On postoperative day 12, a holosystolic murmur was detected on auscultation. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a ventricular septal defect 5 mm in diameter located near the apex. The pulmonary-tosystemic flow ratio was 1.1 by echocardiographic measurement. No sign of heart failure was present. Although it was agreed to manage the ventricular septal defect conservatively, careful echocardiographic follow-up is mandatory.

Hierarchical planning for a surface mounting machine placement.

PubMed

Zeng, You-jiao; Ma, Deng-ze; Jin, Ye; Yan, Jun-qi

2004-11-01

For a surface mounting machine (SMM) in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly line, there are four problems, e.g. CAD data conversion, nozzle selection, feeder assignment and placement sequence determination. A hierarchical planning for them to maximize the throughput rate of an SMM is presented here. To minimize set-up time, a CAD data conversion system was first applied that could automatically generate the data for machine placement from CAD design data files. Then an effective nozzle selection approach implemented to minimize the time of nozzle changing. And then, to minimize picking time, an algorithm for feeder assignment was used to make picking multiple components simultaneously as much as possible. Finally, in order to shorten pick-and-place time, a heuristic algorithm was used to determine optimal component placement sequence according to the decided feeder positions. Experiments were conducted on a four head SMM. The experimental results were used to analyse the assembly line performance.

In vitro oocyte maturation, fertilization and culture after ovum pick-up in an endangered gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr).

PubMed

Berlinguer, F; González, R; Succu, S; del Olmo, A; Garde, J J; Espeso, G; Gomendio, M; Ledda, S; Roldan, E R S

2008-02-01

The recovery of immature oocytes followed by in vitro maturation, fertilization and culture (IVMFC) allows the rescue of biological material of great genetic value for the establishment of genetic resource banks of endangered species. Studies exist on sperm cryopreservation of endangered Mohor gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr), but no work has been carried out yet on oocyte collection, fertilization and culture in this or related species. The purpose of this study was to develop a protocol for ovarian stimulation for the recovery of oocytes and subsequent IVMFC in the Mohor gazelle using frozen-thawed spermatozoa. Ovum pick-up was performed after ovarian stimulation with a total dose of 5.28 mg of ovine FSH. A total of 35 oocytes were recovered from 56 punctured follicles (62%) (N=6 females). Out of 29 cumulus-oocyte complexes matured in vitro, 3% were found at germinal vesicle stage, 7% at metaphase I, 21% were degenerated, and 69% advanced to metaphase II. Fertilization and cleavage rates of matured oocytes were 40 and 30%, respectively. Embryos cleaved in vitro up to the 6-8 cell stage but none progressed to the blastocyst stage, suggesting the existence of a developmental block and the need to improve culture conditions. Although more studies are needed to improve hormonal stimulation and oocyte harvesting, as well as IVMFC conditions, this study demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of in vitro fertilization with frozen-thawed semen of in vitro matured oocytes collected by ovum pick-up from FSH-stimulated endangered gazelles.

Curve Set Feature-Based Robust and Fast Pose Estimation Algorithm

PubMed Central

Hashimoto, Koichi

2017-01-01

Bin picking refers to picking the randomly-piled objects from a bin for industrial production purposes, and robotic bin picking is always used in automated assembly lines. In order to achieve a higher productivity, a fast and robust pose estimation algorithm is necessary to recognize and localize the randomly-piled parts. This paper proposes a pose estimation algorithm for bin picking tasks using point cloud data. A novel descriptor Curve Set Feature (CSF) is proposed to describe a point by the surface fluctuation around this point and is also capable of evaluating poses. The Rotation Match Feature (RMF) is proposed to match CSF efficiently. The matching process combines the idea of the matching in 2D space of origin Point Pair Feature (PPF) algorithm with nearest neighbor search. A voxel-based pose verification method is introduced to evaluate the poses and proved to be more than 30-times faster than the kd-tree-based verification method. Our algorithm is evaluated against a large number of synthetic and real scenes and proven to be robust to noise, able to detect metal parts, more accurately and more than 10-times faster than PPF and Oriented, Unique and Repeatable (OUR)-Clustered Viewpoint Feature Histogram (CVFH). PMID:28771216

Types of Hearing Aids

MedlinePlus

... hearing impairment. Most hearing aids share several similar electronic components, including a microphone that picks up sound; ... the ear canal; and batteries that power the electronic parts. Hearing aids differ by: design technology used ...

19 CFR 128.1 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... operations must be sufficiently integrated at both ends of the service (i.e., pick-up and delivery) so that... franchise arrangement). (g) Reimbursable. “Reimbursable” means all normal costs incurred at an express...

24 CFR 891.435 - Security deposits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... payments on security deposits. (2) Household (or family, as applicable) notification requirement. In order... Owner (or Borrower, as applicable) with a forwarding address or arrange to pick up the refund. (3) Use...

49 CFR 375.519 - Must I obtain weight tickets?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Pick Up of Shipments of... shipment weight in order to collect any shipment charges dependent upon the weight transported. ...

24 CFR 891.435 - Security deposits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... payments on security deposits. (2) Household (or family, as applicable) notification requirement. In order... Owner (or Borrower, as applicable) with a forwarding address or arrange to pick up the refund. (3) Use...

49 CFR 375.519 - Must I obtain weight tickets?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Pick Up of Shipments of... shipment weight in order to collect any shipment charges dependent upon the weight transported. ...

Relapsing fever

MedlinePlus

... and are often picked up in cabins in forests. The risk may now extend into the southeastern United States. LBRF is mainly a disease of the developing world. It is currently seen in Ethiopia and Sudan. ...

Burping Your Baby

MedlinePlus

... baby. Sometimes your baby may awaken because of gas — simply picking your little one up to burp ... a day of continued crying) might also have gas from swallowing too much air during crying spells, ...

Embryo quality is the main factor affecting cumulative live birth rate after elective single embryo transfer in fresh stimulation cycles.

PubMed

Niinimäki, Maarit; Veleva, Zdravka; Martikainen, Hannu

2015-11-01

The study was aimed to evaluate which factors affect the cumulative live birth rate after elective single embryo transfer in women younger than 36 years. Additionally, number of children in women with more than one delivery per ovum pick-up after fresh elective single embryo transfer and subsequent frozen embryo transfers was assessed. Retrospective cohort study analysing data of a university hospital's infertility clinic in 2001-2010. A total of 739 IVF/ICSI cycles with elective single embryo transfer were included. Analyses were made per ovum pick-up including fresh and subsequent frozen embryo transfers. Factors affecting cumulative live birth rates were examined in uni- and multivariate analyses. A secondary endpoint was the number of children born after all treatments. In the fresh cycles, the live birth rate was 29.2% and the cumulative live birth rate was 51.3%, with a twin rate of 3.4%. In the multivariate analysis, having two (odds ratio (OR) 1.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12-2.67) or ≥3 top embryos (OR 2.66; 95% CI 1.79-3.95) was associated with higher odds for live birth after fresh and frozen embryo cycles. Age, body mass index, duration of infertility, diagnosis or total gonadotropin dose were not associated with the cumulative live birth rate. In cycles with one top embryo, the cumulative live birth rate was 40.2%, whereas it was 64.1% in those with at least three top embryos. Of women who had a live birth in the fresh cycle, 20.4% had more than one child after all frozen embryo transfers. Among women with three or more top embryos after ovum pick-up, 16.1% gave birth to more than one child. The cumulative live birth rate in this age group varies from 40% to 64% and is dependent on the quality of embryos. Women with three or more top embryos have good chance of having more than one child per ovum pick-up without elevated risk of multiple pregnancies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Single-pulse picking at kHz repetition rates using a Ge plasma switch at the free-electron laser FELBE.

PubMed

Schmidt, J; Winnerl, S; Seidel, W; Bauer, C; Gensch, M; Schneider, H; Helm, M

2015-06-01

We demonstrate a system for picking of mid-infrared and terahertz (THz) radiation pulses from the free-electron laser (FEL) FELBE operating at a repetition rate of 13 MHz. Single pulses are reflected by a dense electron-hole plasma in a Ge slab that is photoexcited by amplified near-infrared (NIR) laser systems operating at repetition rates of 1 kHz and 100 kHz, respectively. The peak intensity of picked pulses is up to 400 times larger than the peak intensity of residual pulses. The required NIR fluence for picking pulses at wavelengths in the range from 5 μm to 30 μm is discussed. In addition, we show that the reflectivity of the plasma decays on a time scale from 100 ps to 1 ns dependent on the wavelengths of the FEL and the NIR laser. The plasma switch enables experiments with the FEL that require high peak power but lower average power. Furthermore, the system is well suited to investigate processes with decay times in the μs to ms regime, i.e., much longer than the 77 ns long pulse repetition period of FELBE.

Single-pulse picking at kHz repetition rates using a Ge plasma switch at the free-electron laser FELBE

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

Schmidt, J., E-mail: j.schmidt@hzdr.de; Helm, M.; Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden

2015-06-15

We demonstrate a system for picking of mid-infrared and terahertz (THz) radiation pulses from the free-electron laser (FEL) FELBE operating at a repetition rate of 13 MHz. Single pulses are reflected by a dense electron-hole plasma in a Ge slab that is photoexcited by amplified near-infrared (NIR) laser systems operating at repetition rates of 1 kHz and 100 kHz, respectively. The peak intensity of picked pulses is up to 400 times larger than the peak intensity of residual pulses. The required NIR fluence for picking pulses at wavelengths in the range from 5 μm to 30 μm is discussed. Inmore » addition, we show that the reflectivity of the plasma decays on a time scale from 100 ps to 1 ns dependent on the wavelengths of the FEL and the NIR laser. The plasma switch enables experiments with the FEL that require high peak power but lower average power. Furthermore, the system is well suited to investigate processes with decay times in the μs to ms regime, i.e., much longer than the 77 ns long pulse repetition period of FELBE.« less

Mouse handling limits the impact of stress on metabolic endpoints.

PubMed

Ghosal, Sriparna; Nunley, Amanda; Mahbod, Parinaz; Lewis, Alfor G; Smith, Eric P; Tong, Jenny; D'Alessio, David A; Herman, James P

2015-10-15

Studies focused on end-points that are confounded by stress are best performed under minimally stressful conditions. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the impact of handling designed to reduce animal stress on measurements of glucose tolerance. A cohort of mice (CD1.C57BL/6) naïve to any specific handling was subjected to either a previously described "cup" handling method, or a "tail-picked" method in which the animals were picked up by the tail (as is common for metabolic studies). Following training, an elevated plus maze (EPM) test was performed followed by measurement of blood glucose and plasma corticosterone. A second cohort (CD1.C57BL/6) was rendered obese by exposure to a high fat diet, handled with either the tail-picked or cup method and subjected to an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. A third cohort of C57BL/6 mice was exposed to a cup regimen that included a component of massage and was subjected to tests of anxiety-like behavior, glucose homeostasis, and corticosterone secretion. We found that the cup mice showed reduced anxiety-like behaviors in the EPM coupled with a reduction in blood glucose levels compared to mice handled by the tail-picked method. Additionally, cup mice on the high fat diet exhibited improved glucose tolerance compared to tail-picked controls. Finally, we found that the cup/massage group showed lower glucose levels following an overnight fast, and decreased anxiety-like behaviors associated with lower stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentration compared to tail-picked controls. These data demonstrate that application of handling methods that reduce anxiety-like behaviors in mice mitigates the confounding contribution of stress to interpretation of metabolic endpoints (such as glucose tolerance). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Picking Up Artifacts: Storyboarding as a Gateway to Reuse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahid, Shahtab; Branham, Stacy M.; Cairco, Lauren; McCrickard, D. Scott; Harrison, Steve

Storyboarding offers designers the opportunity to illustrate a visual narrative of use. Because designers often refer to past ideas, we argue storyboards can be constructed by reusing shared artifacts. We present a study in which we explore how designers reuse artifacts consisting of images and rationale during storyboard construction. We find images can aid in accessing rationale and that connections among features aid in deciding what to reuse, creating new artifacts, and constructing. Based on requirements derived from our findings, we present a storyboarding tool, PIC-UP, to facilitate artifact sharing and reuse and evaluate its use in an exploratory study. We conclude with remarks on facilitating reuse and future work.

Arrival-time picking method based on approximate negentropy for microseismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yue; Ni, Zhuo; Tian, Yanan

2018-05-01

Accurate and dependable picking of the first arrival time for microseismic data is an important part in microseismic monitoring, which directly affects analysis results of post-processing. This paper presents a new method based on approximate negentropy (AN) theory for microseismic arrival time picking in condition of much lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). According to the differences in information characteristics between microseismic data and random noise, an appropriate approximation of negentropy function is selected to minimize the effect of SNR. At the same time, a weighted function of the differences between maximum and minimum value of AN spectrum curve is designed to obtain a proper threshold function. In this way, the region of signal and noise is distinguished to pick the first arrival time accurately. To demonstrate the effectiveness of AN method, we make many experiments on a series of synthetic data with different SNR from -1 dB to -12 dB and compare it with previously published Akaike information criterion (AIC) and short/long time average ratio (STA/LTA) methods. Experimental results indicate that these three methods can achieve well picking effect when SNR is from -1 dB to -8 dB. However, when SNR is as low as -8 dB to -12 dB, the proposed AN method yields more accurate and stable picking result than AIC and STA/LTA methods. Furthermore, the application results of real three-component microseismic data also show that the new method is superior to the other two methods in accuracy and stability.

7 CFR 1230.629 - Registration and voting procedures for importers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF.... Brown, P.O. Box 44366, Washington, DC 20026-4366. Importers may pick up the voting materials in-person...

7 CFR 1230.629 - Registration and voting procedures for importers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF.... Brown, P.O. Box 44366, Washington, DC 20026-4366. Importers may pick up the voting materials in-person...

Developmental milestones record - 6 months

MedlinePlus

Normal childhood growth milestones - 6 months; Childhood growth milestones - 6 months; Growth milestones for children - 6 months ... the weight on hands (often occurs by 4 months) Able to pick up a dropped object Able ...

Landau-Zener interferometry in a Cooper pair box

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sillanpää, Mika; Lehtinen, Teijo; Paila, Antti; Makhlin, Yuriy; Hakonen, Pertti

2006-03-01

Quantum-mechanical systems having two crossing energy levels are ubiquitous in nature. The rate v = d (E1- E0)/dt at which such levels in a driven system approach each other determines the probability PLZ of a Landau-Zener (LZ) tunneling between them. The traditional treatment of the LZ process, however, ignores quantum-mechanical interference. Here we report an observation of phase-sensitive interference between consecutive LZ tunneling attempts in an artificial two-state system, a superconducting charge qubit. We interpret the experiment in terms of a multi-pass analog to the optical Mach- Zehnder interferometer: The beam splitting occurs by LZ tunneling at the charge degeneracy, while the arms of the Mach- Zehnder interferometer in energy space are represented by the ground and excited state. In accord with theory, we observe constructive interference when the Stokes phase φS picked up during the LZ interaction, and the dynamical phase of one drive period φ= (E1- E0) dt satisfy the condition: (φ- 2 φS) = m .2π. Our LZ interferometer can be used as a high-resolution detector for phase and charge owing to interferometric sensitivity- enhancement.

Performance of timing resistive plate chambers with relativistic neutrons from 300 to 1500 MeV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanco, A.; Adamczewski-Musch, J.; Boretzky, K.; Cabanelas, P.; Cartegni, L.; Ferreira Marques, R.; Fonte, P.; Fruehauf, J.; Galaviz, D.; Heil, M.; Henriques, A.; Ickert, G.; Körper, D.; Lopes, L.; Palka, M.; Pereira, A.; Rossi, D.; Simon, H.; Teubig, P.; Traxler, M.; Velho, P.; Altstadt, S.; Atar, L.; Aumann, T.; Bemmerer, D.; Caesar, C.; Charpy, A.; Elekes, Z.; Fiori, E.; Gasparic, I.; Gerbig, J.; Göbel, K.; Heftrich, T.; Heine, M.; Heinz, A.; Holl, M.; Ignatov, A.; Isaak, J.; Johansson, H.; Kelic-Heil, A.; Lederer, C.; Lindberg, S.; Löher, B.; Machado, J.; Marganiec, J.; Martensson, M.; Nilsson, T.; Panin, V.; Paschalis, S.; Petri, M.; Plag, R.; Pohl, M.; Rastrepina, G.; Reifarth, R.; Reinhardt, T. P.; Röder, M.; Savran, D.; Scheit, H.; Schrock, P.; Silva, J.; Stach, D.; Strannerdahl, F.; Thies, R.; Wagner, A.; Wamers, F.; Weigand, M.

2015-02-01

A prototype composed of four resistive plate chamber layers has been exposed to quasi-monoenergetic neutrons produced from a deuteron beam of varying energy (300 to 1500 AMeV) in experiment S406 at GSI, Darmstad, Germany. Each layer, with an active area of about 2000 × 500 mm2, is made of modules containing the active gaps, all in multigap construction. Each gap is defined by 0.3 mm nylon mono-filaments positioned between 2.85 mm thick float glass electrodes. The modules are operated in avalanche mode with a non-flammable gas mixture composed of 90% C2H2F4 and 10% SF6. The signals are readout by a pick-up electrode formed by 15 copper strips (per layer), spaced at a pitch of 30 mm, connected at both sides to timing front end electronics. Measurements of the time of flight jitter of neutrons, in the mentioned energy range, point to a contribution of the resistive plate chamber in the order of 150 ps, independent of the neutron energy.

Multi-object medium resolution optical spectroscopy at the E-ELT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spanò, Paolo; Bonifacio, Piercarlo

2008-07-01

We present the design of a compact medium resolution spectrograph (R~15,000-20,000), intended to operate on a 42m telescope in seeing-limited mode. Our design takes full advantage of some new technology optical components, like volume phase holographic (VPH) gratings. At variance with the choice of complex large echelle spectrographs, which have been the standard on 8m class telescopes, we selected an efficient VPH spectrograph with a limited beam diameter, in order to keep overall dimensions and costs low, using proven available technologies. To obtain such a resolution, we need to moderately slice the telescope image plane onto the spectrograph entrance slit (5-6 slices). Then, standard telescope AO-mode (GLAO, Ground Layer Adaptive Optics) can be used over a large field of view (~10 arcmin), without loosing efficiency. Multiplex capabilities can greatly increase the observing efficiency. A robotic pick-up mirror system can be implemented, within conventional environmental conditions (temperature, pressure, gravity, size), demanding only standard mechanical and optical tolerances. A modular approach allows us scaling multiplex capabilities on overall costs and available space.

Developmental milestones record - 3 years

MedlinePlus

... as helping set the table or picking up toys. Encourage play with other children to help develop ... the A.D.A.M. Editorial team. Toddler Development Read more NIH MedlinePlus Magazine Read more Health ...

23 CFR 650.707 - Rating factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Average Daily Truck Traffic in thousands (Pick up trucks and light delivery trucks not included). For load... restricted. The ADTT should be the annual average volume, not peak or seasonal; (4) N is National Highway...

23 CFR 650.707 - Rating factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... Average Daily Truck Traffic in thousands (Pick up trucks and light delivery trucks not included). For load... restricted. The ADTT should be the annual average volume, not peak or seasonal; (4) N is National Highway...

23 CFR 650.707 - Rating factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... Average Daily Truck Traffic in thousands (Pick up trucks and light delivery trucks not included). For load... restricted. The ADTT should be the annual average volume, not peak or seasonal; (4) N is National Highway...

23 CFR 650.707 - Rating factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Average Daily Truck Traffic in thousands (Pick up trucks and light delivery trucks not included). For load... restricted. The ADTT should be the annual average volume, not peak or seasonal; (4) N is National Highway...

23 CFR 650.707 - Rating factor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Average Daily Truck Traffic in thousands (Pick up trucks and light delivery trucks not included). For load... restricted. The ADTT should be the annual average volume, not peak or seasonal; (4) N is National Highway...

Infections That Pets Carry (For Parents)

MedlinePlus

... urine, and feces. Limit young kids' contact with outdoor pets that hunt and kill for food because ... free of waste. If your pet eliminates waste outdoors, pick up waste regularly and don't allow ...

7 CFR 1230.625 - Time and place of registration and voting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... facsimile, or pick up an absentee ballot in-person. The absentee voting period shall be from August 18, 2000...

29 CFR 570.110 - “In or about”.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... REGULATIONS, ORDERS AND STATEMENTS OF INTERPRETATION General Statements of Interpretation of the Child Labor... purpose of picking up or delivering a message or other small article. (b) If, in the light of the...

7 CFR 1230.625 - Time and place of registration and voting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... facsimile, or pick up an absentee ballot in-person. The absentee voting period shall be from August 18, 2000...

29 CFR 570.110 - “In or about”.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... REGULATIONS, ORDERS AND STATEMENTS OF INTERPRETATION General Statements of Interpretation of the Child Labor... purpose of picking up or delivering a message or other small article. (b) If, in the light of the...

Numerical analysis of nonminimum phase zero for nonuniform link design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Girvin, Douglas L.; Book, Wayne J.

1991-01-01

As the demand for light-weight robots that can operate in a large workspace increases, the structural flexibility of the links becomes more of an issue in control. When the objective is to accurately position the tip while the robot is actuated at the base, the system is nonminimum phase. One important characteristic of nonminimum phase systems is system zeros in the right half of the Laplace plane. The ability to pick the location of these nonminimum phase zeros would give the designer a new freedom similar to pole placement. This research targets a single-link manipulator operating in the horizontal plane and modeled as a Euler-Bernoulli beam with pinned-free end conditions. Using transfer matrix theory, one can consider link designs that have variable cross-sections along the length of the beam. A FORTRAN program was developed to determine the location of poles and zeros given the system model. The program was used to confirm previous research on nonminimum phase systems, and develop a relationship for designing linearly tapered links. The method allows the designer to choose the location of the first pole and zero and then defines the appropriate taper to match the desired locations. With the pole and zero location fixed, the designer can independently change the link's moment of inertia about its axis of rotation by adjusting the height of the beam. These results can be applied to the inverse dynamic algorithms that are currently under development.

Numerical analysis of nonminimum phase zero for nonuniform link design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girvin, Douglas L.; Book, Wayne J.

1991-11-01

As the demand for light-weight robots that can operate in a large workspace increases, the structural flexibility of the links becomes more of an issue in control. When the objective is to accurately position the tip while the robot is actuated at the base, the system is nonminimum phase. One important characteristic of nonminimum phase systems is system zeros in the right half of the Laplace plane. The ability to pick the location of these nonminimum phase zeros would give the designer a new freedom similar to pole placement. This research targets a single-link manipulator operating in the horizontal plane and modeled as a Euler-Bernoulli beam with pinned-free end conditions. Using transfer matrix theory, one can consider link designs that have variable cross-sections along the length of the beam. A FORTRAN program was developed to determine the location of poles and zeros given the system model. The program was used to confirm previous research on nonminimum phase systems, and develop a relationship for designing linearly tapered links. The method allows the designer to choose the location of the first pole and zero and then defines the appropriate taper to match the desired locations. With the pole and zero location fixed, the designer can independently change the link's moment of inertia about its axis of rotation by adjusting the height of the beam. These results can be applied to the inverse dynamic algorithms that are currently under development.

Pulsed Eddy Current Probe Design Based on Transient Circuit Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cadeau, Trevor J.; Krause, Thomas W.

2009-03-01

Probe design parameters affecting depth of penetration of pulsed eddy currents in multi-layer aluminum 2024-T3 were examined. Several probe designs were evaluated for their ability to detect a discontinuity at the bottom of a stack of aluminum plates. The reflection type probes, consisting of pick-up coil and encircling drive coil, were characterized based on their transient response to a square pulse excitation. Probes with longer fundamental time constants, equivalent to a lower driving frequency, generated greater depth of penetration. However, additional factors such as inductive and resistive load, and excessive coil heating were also factors that limited signal-to-noise response with increasing layer thickness.

Assembly of optical fibers for the connection of polymer-based waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansel, Yannick; Grau, Daniel; Holzki, Markus; Kraus, Silvio; Neumann, Frank; Reinhard, Carsten; Schmitz, Felix

2003-03-01

This paper describes the realization of polymer-based optical structures and the assembly and packaging strategy to connect optical fiber ribbons to the waveguides. For that a low cost fabrication process using the SU-8TM thick photo-resist is presented. This process consists in the deposition of two photo-structurized resist layers filled up with epoxy glue realising the core waveguide. For the assembly, a new modular vacuum gripper was realised and installed on an automatic pick and place assembly robot to mount precisely and efficiently the optical fibers in the optical structures. First results have shown acceptable optical propagation loss for the complete test structure.

KSC-2009-1617

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-02-13

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the turn basin at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a tug boat keeps the barge in place for the offloading of the girder for the new mobile launcher. The new mobile launcher will be the base for the Ares rockets to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the cargo vehicle. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the added load of the 345-foot tower and taller rocket. When the structural portion of the new mobile launcher is complete, umbilicals, access arms, communications equipment and command/control equipment will be installed. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Pluto's interaction with the solar wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bagenal, Fran; Mcnutt, Ralph L., Jr.

1989-01-01

If Pluto's atmospheric escape rate is significantly greater than 1.5 x 10 to the 27th molecules/s then the interaction with the tenuous solar wind at 30 A.U. will be like that of a comet. There will be extensive ion pick-up upstream and the size of the interaction region will vary directly with variations in the solar wind flux. If the escape flux is much less, then one expects that the solar wind will be deflected around Pluto's ionosphere in a Venus-like interaction. In either case, the weak interplanetary magnetic field at 30 A.U. results in very large gyroradii for the picked-up ions and a thick bow shock, necessitating a kinetic treatment of the interaction. Strong variations in the size of the interaction region are expected on time scales of days due to changes in the solar wind.

The design and construction of a module to demonstrate a method for transmission of data from a medical implant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, I.; Benjamin, J. D.

1985-08-01

Methods of powering devices to which only ac contact can be made and receiving data transmitted back from them are described. Such devices include medical implants which communicate with the external environment via ultrasound or rf links. Two breadboard systems were built to demonstrate the techniques. In both the device is powered by picking up an ac input and rectifying it. A signal voltage detected by the device is encoded as a frequency, transmitted and decoded. In one case this is performed on a separate channel from that used to power the device. In the other only one channel is used for both signals, and data is transmitted by modulating the impedance presented by the device. The resulting modulation of the input signal is picked up by the external circuit and decoded.

Dynamics of intracellular phospholipid membrane organization during oocyte maturation and successful vitrification of immature oocytes retrieved by ovum pick-up in cattle.

PubMed

Aono, Akira; Nagatomo, Hiroaki; Takuma, Tetsuya; Nonaka, Rika; Ono, Yoshitaka; Wada, Yasuhiko; Abe, Yasuyuki; Takahashi, Masashi; Watanabe, Tomomasa; Kawahara, Manabu

2013-05-01

The objective was to determine if immature bovine oocytes with cumulus cells at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage could be vitrified by aluminum sheets (AS; pieces of sheet-like aluminum foil). Cleavage rates in fertilized oocytes previously vitrified by the AS procedure were higher than those vitrified by a nylon-mesh holder (NM) procedure (89.3 ± 2.1% vs. 65.0 ± 3.7%). Cleaved embryos derived from the AS but not from the NM procedures developed to blastocysts. Furthermore, to investigate the effects of vitrifying GV oocytes on cytoplasmic structure and on the ability to undergo cytoplasmic changes, the intracellular phospholipid membrane (IM) was stained with the lipophilic fluorescent dye, 3,3'-dioctadecyloxa-carbocyanine perchlorate. After vitrification by AS, the IM remained intact relative to that of oocytes vitrified by NM. During in vitro maturation, reorganization of the IM was also undamaged in oocytes vitrified by AS before oocyte maturation, and the IM within oocytes vitrified by the NM procedure was evidently impaired. Finally, vitrification (AS) was used for GV oocytes collected using the ovum pick-up method. A bull calf was born after in vitro production and subsequent embryo transfer. The vitrification techniques described herein should facilitate generation of viable in vitro production bovine blastocysts using oocytes recovered using the ovum pick-up method. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thermomechanical Characterization and Modeling of Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Beams and Frames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watkins, Ryan

Of existing applications, the majority of shape memory alloy (SMA) devices consist of beam (orthodontic wire, eye glasses frames, catheter guide wires) and framed structures (cardiovascular stents, vena cava filters). Although uniaxial tension data is often sufficient to model basic beam behavior (which has been the main focus of the research community), the tension-compression asymmetry and complex phase transformation behavior of SMAs suggests more information is necessary to properly model higher complexity states of loading. In this work, SMA beams are experimentally characterized under general loading conditions (including tension, compression, pure bending, and buckling); furthermore, a model is developed with respect to general beam deformation based on the relevant phenomena observed in the experimental characterization. Stress induced phase transformation within superelastic SMA beams is shown to depend on not only the loading mode, but also kinematic constraints imposed by beam geometry (such as beam cross-section and length). In the cases of tension and pure bending, the structural behavior is unstable and corresponds to phase transformation localization and propagation. This unstable behavior is the result of a local level up--down--up stress/strain response in tension, which is measured here using a novel composite-based experimental technique. In addition to unstable phase transformation, intriguing post-buckling straightening is observed in short SMA columns during monotonic loading (termed unbuckling here). Based on this phenomenological understanding of SMA beam behavior, a trilinear based material law is developed in the context of a Shanley column model and is found to capture many of the relevant features of column buckling, including the experimentally observed unbuckling behavior. Due to the success of this model, it is generalized within the context of beam theory and, in conjunction with Bloch wave stability analysis, is used to model and design SMA honeycombs.

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

Pal, Sambit Bikas; Haldar, Arijit; Roy, Basudev

A photonic force microscope comprises of an optically trapped micro-probe and a position detection system to track the motion of the probe. Signal collection for motion detection is often carried out using the backscattered light off the probe-however, this mode has problems of low S/N due to the small backscattering cross sections of the micro-probes typically used. The position sensors often used in these cases are quadrant photodetectors. To ensure maximum sensitivity of such detectors, it would help if the detector size matched with the detection beam radius after the condenser lens (which for backscattered detection would be the trappingmore » objective itself). To suit this condition, we have used a miniature displacement sensor whose dimensions makes it ideal to work with 1:1 images of micrometer-sized trapped probes in the backscattering detection mode. The detector is based on the quadrant photo-integrated chip in the optical pick-up head of a compact disc player. Using this detector, we measured absolute displacements of an optically trapped 1.1 {mu}m probe with a resolution of {approx}10 nm for a bandwidth of 10 Hz at 95% significance without any sample or laser stabilization. We characterized our optical trap for different sized probes by measuring the power spectrum for each probe to 1% accuracy, and found that for 1.1 {mu}m diameter probes, the noise in our position measurement matched the thermal resolution limit for averaging times up to 10 ms. We also achieved a linear response range of around 385 nm with cross talk between axes {approx_equal}4% for 1.1 {mu}m diameter probes. The detector has extremely high bandwidth (few MHz) and low optical power threshold-other factors that can lead to its widespread use in photonic force microscopy.« less

Phenomenological Characteristics, Social Problems, and the Economic Impact Associated with Chronic Skin Picking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flessner, Christopher A.; Woods, Douglas W.

2006-01-01

In this study, the authors collected data on the demographic characteristics, phenomenology, and social and economic impact of skin picking. A total of 92 participants completed an anonymous, Internet-based survey through a link to the Trichotillomania Learning Center's home page. Results indicated that skin pickers experienced social,…

Anti-Shock Garment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Ames Research Center developed a prototype pressure suit for hemophiliac children, based on research of astronauts' physiological responses in microgravity. Zoex Corporation picked up the design and patents and developed an anti-shock garment for paramedic use. Marketed by Dyna Med, the suit reverses the effect of shock on the body's blood distribution by applying counterpressure to the legs and abdomen, returning blood to vital organs and stabilizing body pressure until the patient reaches a hospital. The DMAST (Dyna Med Anti-Shock Trousers) employ lower pressure than other shock garments, and are non-inflatable.

Expert System Enhancement to the Resource Allocation Modules of the NCS Emergency Preparedness Management Information System (EPMIS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

after the MYCIN expert system. Host Computer PC+ is available on both symbolic and numeric computers. It operates on: the IBM PC AT, TI Bus- Pro (IBM PC...suppose that the data baseTool picks up pace contains 100 motors, and in only one case does a lightweight motor pro . duce more power than heavier units...every sor, ART 2.0. In the bargain it con - the figure). decision point takes time. More sub- sumes 10 times less storage. ART 3.0 reduces the comparison

Peak picking NMR spectral data using non-negative matrix factorization.

PubMed

Tikole, Suhas; Jaravine, Victor; Rogov, Vladimir; Dötsch, Volker; Güntert, Peter

2014-02-11

Simple peak-picking algorithms, such as those based on lineshape fitting, perform well when peaks are completely resolved in multidimensional NMR spectra, but often produce wrong intensities and frequencies for overlapping peak clusters. For example, NOESY-type spectra have considerable overlaps leading to significant peak-picking intensity errors, which can result in erroneous structural restraints. Precise frequencies are critical for unambiguous resonance assignments. To alleviate this problem, a more sophisticated peaks decomposition algorithm, based on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), was developed. We produce peak shapes from Fourier-transformed NMR spectra. Apart from its main goal of deriving components from spectra and producing peak lists automatically, the NMF approach can also be applied if the positions of some peaks are known a priori, e.g. from consistently referenced spectral dimensions of other experiments. Application of the NMF algorithm to a three-dimensional peak list of the 23 kDa bi-domain section of the RcsD protein (RcsD-ABL-HPt, residues 688-890) as well as to synthetic HSQC data shows that peaks can be picked accurately also in spectral regions with strong overlap.

R & D of a Gas-Filled RF Beam Profile Monitor for Intense Neutrino Beam Experiments

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

Yonehara, K.; Backfish, M.; Moretti, A.

We report the R&D of a novel radiation-robust hadron beam profile monitor based on a gas-filled RF cavity for intense neutrino beam experiments. An equivalent RF circuit model was made and simulated to optimize the RF parameter in a wide beam intensity range. As a result, the maximum acceptable beam intensity in the monitor is significantly increased by using a low-quality factor RF cavity. The plan for the demonstration test is set up to prepare for future neutrino beam experiments.

CONEDEP: COnvolutional Neural network based Earthquake DEtection and Phase Picking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Y.; Huang, Y.; Yue, H.; Zhou, S.; An, S.; Yun, N.

2017-12-01

We developed an automatic local earthquake detection and phase picking algorithm based on Fully Convolutional Neural network (FCN). The FCN algorithm detects and segments certain features (phases) in 3 component seismograms to realize efficient picking. We use STA/LTA algorithm and template matching algorithm to construct the training set from seismograms recorded 1 month before and after the Wenchuan earthquake. Precise P and S phases are identified and labeled to construct the training set. Noise data are produced by combining back-ground noise and artificial synthetic noise to form the equivalent scale of noise set as the signal set. Training is performed on GPUs to achieve efficient convergence. Our algorithm has significantly improved performance in terms of the detection rate and precision in comparison with STA/LTA and template matching algorithms.

Characterisation of flash X-ray source generated by Kali-1000 Pulse Power System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satyanarayana, N.; Durga Prasada Rao, A.; Mittal, K. C.

2016-02-01

The electron beam-driven Rod Pinch Diode (RPD) is presently fielded on KALI-1000 Pulse Power System at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Visakhapatnam and is a leading candidate for future flash X-ray radiographic sources. The diode is capable of producing less than 2-mm radiation spot sizes and greater than 350 milli rads of dose measured at 1 m from the X-ray source. KALI-1000 Pulse Power Source is capable of delivering up to 600 kV using a Tesla Transformer with Demineralized Insulated Transmission Line (DITL), the diode typically operates between 250-330 kV . Since the radiation dose has a power-law dependence on diode voltage, this limits the dose production on KALI-1000 system. Radiation dose with angular variation is measured using thermoluminescent detectors (TLD's) and the X-ray spot size is measured using pin hole arrangement with image plate (IP) to obtain the time-integrated source profile as well as a time-resolved spot diagnostic. An X-ray pinhole camera was used to pick out where the energetic e-beam connects to the anode. Ideally the diode should function such that the radiation is emitted from the tip. The camera was mounted perpendicular to the machine's axis to view the radiation from the tip. Comparison of the spot sizes of the X-ray sources obtained by the pin hole and rolled edge arrangements was carried and results obtained by both the techniques are with in ± 10% of the average values.

Pick's disease: a modern approach.

PubMed

Dickson, D W

1998-04-01

Pick's disease is a rare dementing disorder that is sometimes familial. The cardinal features are circumscribed cortical atrophy most often affecting the frontal and temporal poles and argyrophilic, round intraneuronal inclusions (Pick bodies). Clinical manifestations reflect the distribution of cortical degeneration, and personality deterioration and memory deficits are often more severe than visuospatial and apraxic disorders that are common in Alzheimer's disease, but clinical overlap with other non-Alzheimer degenerative disorders is increasingly recognized. Neuronal loss and degeneration are usually maximal in the limbic system, including hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and amygdala. Numerous Pick bodies are often present in the dentate fascia of the hippocampus. Less specific features include leukoencephalopathy and ballooned cortical neurons (Pick cells). Glial reaction is often pronounced in affected cerebral gray and white matter. Tau-immunoreactive glial inclusions are a recently recognized finding in Pick's disease, and neuritic changes have also recently been described. Variable involvement of the deep gray matter and the brainstem is typical, with a predilection for the monoaminergic nuclei and nuclei of the pontine base. Neurochemical studies demonstrate deficits in intrinsic cortical neurotransmitter systems (e.g., somatostatin), but inconsistent loss of transmitters in systems projecting to the cortex (e.g., cholinergic neurons of the basal nucleus). Biochemical and immunocytochemical studies have demonstrated that abnormal tau proteins are the major structural components of Pick bodies. A specific tau protein immunoblotting pattern different from that seen in Alzheimer's disease and certain other disorders has been suggested in some studies. A specific molecular marker and a genetic locus for familial cases are not known.

Effect of frequency of clinic visits and medication pick-up on antiretroviral treatment outcomes: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Mutasa-Apollo, Tsitsi; Ford, Nathan; Wiens, Matthew; Socias, Maria Eugenia; Negussie, Eyerusalem; Wu, Ping; Popoff, Evan; Park, Jay; Mills, Edward J; Kanters, Steve

2017-07-21

Expanding and sustaining antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage may require simplified HIV service delivery strategies that concomitantly reduce the burden of care on the health system and patients while ensuring optimal outcomes. We conducted a systematic review to assess the impact of reduced frequency of clinic visits and drug dispensing on patient outcomes. As part of the development process of the World Health Organization antiretroviral (ARV) guidelines, we systematically searched medical literature databases for publications up to 30 August 2016. Information was extracted on trial characteristics, patient characteristics and the following outcomes: mortality, morbidity, treatment adherence, retention, patient and provider acceptability, cost and patients exiting the programme. When feasible, conventional pairwise meta-analyses were conducted. Results and discussion Of 6443 identified citations, 21 papers, pertaining to 16 studies, were included in this review, with 11 studies contributing to analyses. Although analyses were feasible, they were limited by the sparse evidence base, despite the importance of the research area, and relatively low quality. Comparative analyses of eight studies reporting on frequency of clinic visits showed that less frequent clinic visits led to higher odds of being retained in care (odds ratio [OR]: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.21-2.99). No differences were found with respect to viral failure, morbidity or mortality; however, most estimates were favourable to reduced clinic visits. Reduced frequency of ARVs pick-ups showed a trend towards better retention (OR: 1.93; 95% CI: 0.62-6.04). Strategies using community support tended to have better outcomes; however, their implementation varied, particularly by location. External validity may be questionable. Our systematic review suggests that reduction of clinical visits (and likely ARVs pick-ups) may improve clinical outcomes, and that they are a viable option to relieve health systems and reduce burden of care for PLHIV. Strategies aimed at reducing clinic visits or drug refill services should focus on stable patients who are virally suppressed, tolerant to their drug regimen and fully adherent. These strategies may be critical to the current changes taking place in HIV treatment policy; thus, due to the data limitations, further high quality research is needed to inform policy and programmatic interventions.

Remembering Fukushima: PNNL Monitors Radiation from Nuclear Disaster

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

Miley, Harry

Senior Scientist Harry Miley describes how his work in ultra-trace, nuclear detection technology picked up the first reading of radiological materials over the U.S. following the nuclear power plant explosion in Japan.

Lighting up a Dead Star Layers

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-10-26

This image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the scattered remains of an exploded star named Cassiopeia A. Spitzer infrared detectors picked through these remains and found that much of the star original layering had been preserved.

Crying Baby: What to Do When Your Newborn Cries

MedlinePlus

... might be a sudden, long, high-pitched shriek. Picking up on any patterns can help you better ... baby. Remember that it's temporary. Crying spells often peak at about six to eight weeks and then ...

49 CFR 374.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... provided by or for a carrier at or near which buses pick up or discharge passengers. (d) Terminal means a..., and peak morning and evening operations. (h) Baggage means property a passenger takes with him for his...

49 CFR 374.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... provided by or for a carrier at or near which buses pick up or discharge passengers. (d) Terminal means a..., and peak morning and evening operations. (h) Baggage means property a passenger takes with him for his...

49 CFR 374.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... provided by or for a carrier at or near which buses pick up or discharge passengers. (d) Terminal means a..., and peak morning and evening operations. (h) Baggage means property a passenger takes with him for his...

49 CFR 374.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... provided by or for a carrier at or near which buses pick up or discharge passengers. (d) Terminal means a..., and peak morning and evening operations. (h) Baggage means property a passenger takes with him for his...

49 CFR 374.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... provided by or for a carrier at or near which buses pick up or discharge passengers. (d) Terminal means a..., and peak morning and evening operations. (h) Baggage means property a passenger takes with him for his...

Polluted Runoff: Nonpoint Source Pollution

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Nonpoint Source (NPS) pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground, it picks up and carries natural and human-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.

Remembering Fukushima: PNNL Monitors Radiation from Nuclear Disaster

ScienceCinema

Miley, Harry

2018-02-07

Senior Scientist Harry Miley describes how his work in ultra-trace, nuclear detection technology picked up the first reading of radiological materials over the U.S. following the nuclear power plant explosion in Japan.

Hearing Aids: How to Choose the Right One

MedlinePlus

... and all are powered with a hearing aid battery. Small microphones collect sounds from the environment. A ... to pick up wind noise Uses very small batteries, which have shorter life and can be difficult ...

Kids Follow the Leader

Cancer.gov

Kids are like sponges—they seem to absorb everything around them. They notice what you’re wearing, what you say, and what you do. You might not even realize how much your kids pick up from you every day.

24 CFR 880.608 - Security deposits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... security deposits. (c) In order to be considered for the return of the security deposit, a family which vacates its unit will provide the owner with its forwarding address or arrange to pick up the refund. (d...

24 CFR 880.608 - Security deposits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... security deposits. (c) In order to be considered for the return of the security deposit, a family which vacates its unit will provide the owner with its forwarding address or arrange to pick up the refund. (d...

78 FR 16472 - Deposit of Biological Materials

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-15

... and upon issuance as a patent that all restriction to public access is permanently removed. In order... by FedEx ``Domestic Overnight'' is estimated to be $75. If the shipment requires pick-up by FedEx...

Accurate wavelength measurements of a putative standard for near-infrared diffuse reflection spectrometry.

PubMed

Isaksson, Tomas; Yang, Husheng; Kemeny, Gabor J; Jackson, Richard S; Wang, Qian; Alam, M Kathleen; Griffiths, Peter R

2003-02-01

The diffuse reflection (DR) spectrum of a sample consisting of a mixture of rare earth oxides and talc was measured at 2 cm-1 resolution, using five different accessories installed on five different Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectrometers from four manufacturers. Peak positions for 37 peaks were determined using two peak-picking algorithms: center-of-mass and polynomial fitting. The wavenumber of the band center reported by either of these techniques was sensitive to the slope of the baseline, and so the baseline of the spectra was corrected using either a polynomial fit or conversion to the second derivative. Significantly different results were obtained with one combination of spectrometer and accessory than the others. Apparently, the beam path through the interferometer and DR accessory was different for this accessory than for any of the other measurements, causing a severe degradation of the resolution. Spectra measured on this instrument were removed as outliers. For measurements made on FT-NIR spectrometers, it is shown that it is important to check the resolution at which the spectrum has been measured using lines in the vibration-rotation spectrum of atmospheric water vapor and to specify the peak-picking and baseline-correction algorithms that are used to process the measured spectra. The variance between the results given by the four different methods of peak-picking and baseline correction was substantially larger than the variance between the remaining five measurements. Certain bands were found to be more suitable than others for use as wavelength standards. A band at 5943.13 cm-1 (1682.62 nm) was found to be the most stable band between the four methods and the six measurements. A band at 5177.04 cm-1 (1931.61 nm) has the highest precision between different measurements when polynomial baseline correction and polynomial peak-picking algorithms are used.

SU-C-201-07: Towards Clinical Cherenkov Emission Dosimetry: Stopping Power-To-Cherenkov Power Ratios and Beam Quality Specification of Clinical Electron Beams

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

Zlateva, Y; Seuntjens, J; El Naqa, I

Purpose: We propose a Cherenkov emission (CE)-based reference dosimetry method, which in contrast to ionization chamber-based dosimetry, employs spectrum-averaged electron restricted mass collision stopping power-to-Cherenkov power ratios (SCRs), and we examine Monte Carlo-calculated SCRs and beam quality specification of clinical electron beams. Methods: The EGSnrc user code SPRRZnrc was modified to compute SCRs instead of stopping-power ratios (single medium: water; cut-off: CE threshold (observing Spencer-Attix conditions); CE power: Frank-Tamm). SCRs are calculated with BEAMnrc for realistic electron beams with nominal energies of 6–22 MeV from three Varian accelerators (TrueBeam Clinac 21EX, Clinac 2100C/D) and for mono-energetic beams of energies equalmore » to the mean electron energy at the water surface. Sources of deviation between clinical and mono-energetic SCRs are analyzed quantitatively. A universal fit for the beam-quality index R{sub 50} in terms of the depth of 50% CE C{sub 50} is carried out. Results: SCRs at reference depth are overestimated by mono-energetic values by up to 0.2% for a 6-MeV beam and underestimated by up to 2.3% for a 22-MeV beam. The variation is mainly due to the clinical beam spectrum and photon contamination. Beam angular spread has a small effect across all depths and energies. The influence of the electron spectrum becomes increasingly significant at large depths, while at shallow depths and high beam energies photon contamination is predominant (up to 2.0%). The universal data fit reveals a strong linear correlation between R{sub 50} and C{sub 50} (ρ > 0.99999). Conclusion: CE is inherent to radiotherapy beams and can be detected outside the beam with available optical technologies, which makes it an ideal candidate for out-of-beam high-resolution 3D dosimetry. Successful clinical implementation of CE dosimetry hinges on the development of robust protocols for converting measured CE to radiation dose. Our findings constitute a key step towards clinical CE dosimetry.« less

Monte Carlo simulation of MOSFET detectors for high-energy photon beams using the PENELOPE code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panettieri, Vanessa; Amor Duch, Maria; Jornet, Núria; Ginjaume, Mercè; Carrasco, Pablo; Badal, Andreu; Ortega, Xavier; Ribas, Montserrat

2007-01-01

The aim of this work was the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of the response of commercially available dosimeters based on metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) for radiotherapeutic photon beams using the PENELOPE code. The studied Thomson&Nielsen TN-502-RD MOSFETs have a very small sensitive area of 0.04 mm2 and a thickness of 0.5 µm which is placed on a flat kapton base and covered by a rounded layer of black epoxy resin. The influence of different metallic and Plastic water™ build-up caps, together with the orientation of the detector have been investigated for the specific application of MOSFET detectors for entrance in vivo dosimetry. Additionally, the energy dependence of MOSFET detectors for different high-energy photon beams (with energy >1.25 MeV) has been calculated. Calculations were carried out for simulated 6 MV and 18 MV x-ray beams generated by a Varian Clinac 1800 linear accelerator, a Co-60 photon beam from a Theratron 780 unit, and monoenergetic photon beams ranging from 2 MeV to 10 MeV. The results of the validation of the simulated photon beams show that the average difference between MC results and reference data is negligible, within 0.3%. MC simulated results of the effect of the build-up caps on the MOSFET response are in good agreement with experimental measurements, within the uncertainties. In particular, for the 18 MV photon beam the response of the detectors under a tungsten cap is 48% higher than for a 2 cm Plastic water™ cap and approximately 26% higher when a brass cap is used. This effect is demonstrated to be caused by positron production in the build-up caps of higher atomic number. This work also shows that the MOSFET detectors produce a higher signal when their rounded side is facing the beam (up to 6%) and that there is a significant variation (up to 50%) in the response of the MOSFET for photon energies in the studied energy range. All the results have shown that the PENELOPE code system can successfully reproduce the response of a detector with such a small active area.

Monte Carlo simulation of MOSFET detectors for high-energy photon beams using the PENELOPE code.

PubMed

Panettieri, Vanessa; Duch, Maria Amor; Jornet, Núria; Ginjaume, Mercè; Carrasco, Pablo; Badal, Andreu; Ortega, Xavier; Ribas, Montserrat

2007-01-07

The aim of this work was the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of the response of commercially available dosimeters based on metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) for radiotherapeutic photon beams using the PENELOPE code. The studied Thomson&Nielsen TN-502-RD MOSFETs have a very small sensitive area of 0.04 mm(2) and a thickness of 0.5 microm which is placed on a flat kapton base and covered by a rounded layer of black epoxy resin. The influence of different metallic and Plastic water build-up caps, together with the orientation of the detector have been investigated for the specific application of MOSFET detectors for entrance in vivo dosimetry. Additionally, the energy dependence of MOSFET detectors for different high-energy photon beams (with energy >1.25 MeV) has been calculated. Calculations were carried out for simulated 6 MV and 18 MV x-ray beams generated by a Varian Clinac 1800 linear accelerator, a Co-60 photon beam from a Theratron 780 unit, and monoenergetic photon beams ranging from 2 MeV to 10 MeV. The results of the validation of the simulated photon beams show that the average difference between MC results and reference data is negligible, within 0.3%. MC simulated results of the effect of the build-up caps on the MOSFET response are in good agreement with experimental measurements, within the uncertainties. In particular, for the 18 MV photon beam the response of the detectors under a tungsten cap is 48% higher than for a 2 cm Plastic water cap and approximately 26% higher when a brass cap is used. This effect is demonstrated to be caused by positron production in the build-up caps of higher atomic number. This work also shows that the MOSFET detectors produce a higher signal when their rounded side is facing the beam (up to 6%) and that there is a significant variation (up to 50%) in the response of the MOSFET for photon energies in the studied energy range. All the results have shown that the PENELOPE code system can successfully reproduce the response of a detector with such a small active area.

P and S automatic picks for 3D earthquake tomography in NE Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lovisa, L.; Bragato, P.; Gentili, S.

2006-12-01

Earthquake tomography is useful to study structural and geological features of the crust. In particular, it uses P and S arrival times for reconstructing weaves velocity fields and locating earthquakes hypocenters. However, tomography needs a large effort to provide a high number of manual picks. On the other side, many automatic picking methods have been proposed, but they are usually applied to preliminary elaboration of the data (fast alert and automatic bulletin generation); they are generally considered not reliable for tomography. In this work, we present and discuss the results of Vp, Vs and Vp/Vs tomographies obtained using automatic picks generated by the system TAPNEI (Gentili and Bragato 2006), applied in the NE Italy. Preliminarily, in order to estimate the error in comparison with the unknown true arrival times, an analysis on the picking quality is done. The tests have been performed using two dataset: the first is made up by 240 earthquakes automatically picked by TAPNEI; the second counts in the same earthquakes but manually picked (OGS database). The grid and the software used to perform tomography (Sim28, Michelini and Mc Evilly, 1991) are the same in the two cases. Vp, Vs and Vp/Vs fields of the two tomographies and their differences are shown on vertical sections. In addiction, the differences in earthquakes locations are studied; in particular, the quality of the accuracy of the localizations has been analyzed by estimating the distance of the hypocenter distributions with respect to the manual locations. The analysis include also a qualitative comparison with an independent tomography (Gentile et al., 2000) performed using Simulps (Evans et al, 1994) on a set of 224 earthquakes accurately selected and manually relocated. The quality of the pickings and the comparison with the tomography obtained by manual data suggest that earthquake tomography with automatic data can provide reliable results. We suggest the use of such data when a large quantity of recordings must by quickly analyzed to provide some preliminary results (e.g., to decide about further data acquisition when using temporary networks) or when a sort of "real-time tomography" is required (e.g., continuous imaging of volcanoes during their activity). References Evans J.R., Eberhart-Phillips D., and Thurber C.H. (1994). User's manual for simulps12 for imaging vp and vp/vs: a derivative of the Thurber tomographic inversion simul3 for local earthquakes locations and explosions, U.S.Geol. Surv. Open File Report, 7 pp. Gentile, G. F., Bressan, G., Burlini, L., De Franco, R., 2000, Three - dimensional Vp and Vp/Vs models of the upper crust in the Friuli area (Northeastern Italy)., Geophys. Journ. Int., 141, 457-478. Gentili S. and Bragato P. L., 2006,"A neural-tree-based system for automatic location of earthquakes in Northeastern Italy" Journal of Seismology, Volume 10, Number 1, pp.73-89. Michelini, A., Mcevilly, T. V., 1991, "Seismological studies at Parkfield; I, Simultaneous inversion for velocity structure and hypocenters using cubic B-splines parameterization.", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 81, 2, 524-552.

Neutron measurements from beam-target reactions at the ELISE neutral beam test facility

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

Xufei, X., E-mail: xiexufei@pku.edu.cn; Fan, T.; Nocente, M.

2014-11-15

Measurements of 2.5 MeV neutron emission from beam-target reactions performed at the ELISE neutral beam test facility are presented in this paper. The measurements are used to study the penetration of a deuterium beam in a copper dump, based on the observation of the time evolution of the neutron counting rate from beam-target reactions with a liquid scintillation detector. A calculation based on a local mixing model of deuterium deposition in the target up to a concentration of 20% at saturation is used to evaluate the expected neutron yield for comparison with data. The results are of relevance to understandmore » neutron emission associated to beam penetration in a solid target, with applications to diagnostic systems for the SPIDER and MITICA Neutral Beam Injection prototypes.« less

Round and Round

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Damonte, Kathleen

2004-01-01

A tornado is a rotating, funnel-shaped column of air, which extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. The winds of a tornado can reach up to 480 km per hour. This is about five times faster than a car driving on a highway. Tornadoes can be almost invisible until they pick up dust and debris. This article describes an activity that stimulates…

77 FR 24558 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel STEPPIN UP; Invitation for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-24

..., pick up and discharge passengers at same ports.'' Geographic Region: ``New York, New Jersey, Delaware... not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order... 19477-78). By Order of the Maritime Administrator. Dated: April 19, 2012 Julie P. Agarwal, Secretary...

49 CFR 375.505 - Must I write up a bill of lading?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Pick Up of Shipments of... combined with an order for service to include all the items required by § 375.501 of this subpart. You must... that was entered on the estimate and order for service. (5) When you transport on a collect-on-delivery...

Taking the "Next Great Step" for Maryland Public Schools: State of Education Report, 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maryland State Department of Education, 2010

2010-01-01

Maryland public schools continue to pick up honors and receive recognition for the work going on in their classrooms. For the second straight year, Maryland's education system has been ranked as number one in the nation by "Education Week", the nation's leading education publication. The "College Board" followed that up by…

Natural history of Niemann-Pick disease type C in a multicentre observational retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Wraith, J E; Guffon, N; Rohrbach, M; Hwu, W L; Korenke, G C; Bembi, B; Luzy, C; Giorgino, R; Sedel, F

2009-11-01

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C) is a devastating genetic disorder characterised by progressive neurological deterioration. However, data on the progression of neurological manifestations, particularly across different patient age-of-disease onsets, are limited. This is an observational retrospective cohort study designed to assess the progression of neurological disease in patients with NP-C. Physicians were asked to retrospectively complete a web-based questionnaire for each patient, at diagnosis and at up to three follow-up visits. An NP-C-specific disability scale was used to measure disease progression. The scale comprised four key parameters of neurological disease progression; ambulation, manipulation, language and swallowing. Disease progression was evaluated based on the annual rate of change in each parameter and the composite score using a linear mixed model analysis, and by classifying patients according to the number of worsened parameters during the observation period. Data were collected from 57 patients. The rate of deterioration was similar across the four individual parameters of the disability scale. The mean (95% CI) annual disease progression was +0.12 (0.09, 0.15) units. Among patients with a time interval of at least 1 year between diagnosis and last visit (n=49), 42 (86%) patients had progressed disease and 7 (14%) patients had stable disease. Disease progression was consistently more rapid in patients diagnosed in early childhood, compared with those diagnosed in late childhood, or with juvenile or adult presentation. In conclusion, our findings showed a progression in all four parameters of the disability scale, representing a continuous, unbroken progression of neurological manifestations.

Eddy Current Method for Fatigue Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simpson, John W. (Inventor); Fulton, James P. (Inventor); Wincheski, Russell A. (Inventor); Todhunter, Ronald G. (Inventor); Namkung, Min (Inventor); Nath, Shridhar C. (Inventor)

1997-01-01

Flux-focusing electromagnetic sensor using a ferromagnetic flux-focusing lens simplifies inspections and increases detectability of fatigue cracks and material loss in high conductivity material. A ferrous shield isolates a high-turn pick-up coil from an excitation coil. Use of the magnetic shield produces a null voltage output across the receiving coil in presence of an unflawed sample. Redistribution of the current flow in the sample caused by the presence of flaws. eliminates the shielding condition and a large output voltage is produced, yielding a clear unambiguous flaw signal. Maximum sensor output is obtained when positioned symmetrically above the crack. By obtaining position of maximum sensor output, it is possible to track the fault and locate the area surrounding its tip. Accuracy of tip location is enhanced by two unique features of the sensor; a very high signal-to-noise ratio of the probe's output resulting in an extremely smooth signal peak across the fault, and a rapidly decaying sensor output outside a small area surrounding the crack tip enabling the search region to be clearly defined. Under low frequency operation, material thinning due to corrosion causes incomplete shielding of the pick-up coil. Low frequency output voltage of the probe is therefore a direct indicator of thickness of the test sample. Fatigue testing a conductive material is accomplished by applying load to the material, applying current to the sensor, scanning the material with the sensor, monitoring the sensor output signal, adjusting material load based on the sensor output signal of the sensor, and adjusting position of the sensor based on its output signal.

48 CFR 2052.214-73 - Timely receipt of bids.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... should allow extra time for internal mail distribution or for pick up of hand-carried deliveries. The NRC... hand-carried offers during normal working hours, 7:30 AM-3:30 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding...

Where this occurs: Ground Water and Drinking Water

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

As ground water works its way through the soil, it can pick up excess nutrients and transport them to the water table. When polluted groundwater reaches drinking water systems it can pose serious public health threats.

Research notes : monitoring water quality along highways.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-12-01

Runoff from highways typically picks up a variety of pollutants from the roadway. These pollutants include sediment, trash, residue from petroleum products, and heavy metals. Depending on the highway and its geographic setting, highway runoff can eva...

Kids and the Bomb: Apocalyptic Anxieties?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bower, Bruce

1985-01-01

Examines what it means when youngsters tell researchers they are concerned about the nuclear arms race. The nuclear concerns picked up in surveys may be deep or they may indicate a superficial awareness of a hot political topic. (JN)

Safety Picks up "STEAM"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roy, Ken

2016-01-01

This column shares safety information for the classroom. STEAM subjects--science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics--are essential for fostering students' 21st-century skills. STEAM promotes critical-thinking skills, including analysis, assessment, categorization, classification, interpretation, justification, and prediction, and are…

A Kindergartner's Environmental Workweek.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burgie, Patricia S.

1991-01-01

Described are ways in which children with the help of their parents and community can get involved with recycling, energy conservation, composting, and picking up litter. Environmental student projects on water conservation, planting trees, and Earth Day pledges are included. (KR)

Dawn-dusk asymmetry induced by the Parker spiral angle in the plasma dynamics around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behar, E.; Tabone, B.; Nilsson, H.

2018-05-01

When interacting, the solar wind and the ionised atmosphere of a comet exchange energy and momentum. Our aim is to understand the influence of the average Parker spiral configuration of the solar wind magnetic field on this interaction. We compare the theoretical expectations of an analytical generalised gyromotion with Rosetta observations at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. A statistical approach allows one to overcome the lack of upstream solar wind measurement. We find that additionally to their acceleration along (for cometary pick-up ions) or against (for solar wind ions) the upstream electric field orientation and sense, the cometary pick-up ions are drifting towards the dawn side of the coma, while the solar wind ions are drifting towards the dusk side of the coma, independent of the heliocentric distance. The dynamics of the interaction is not taking place in a plane, as often assumed in previous works.

In vitro biodegradation testing of Mg-alloy EZK400 and manufacturing of implant prototypes using PM (powder metallurgy) methods.

PubMed

Wolff, M; Luczak, M; Schaper, J G; Wiese, B; Dahms, M; Ebel, T; Willumeit-Römer, R; Klassen, T

2018-09-01

The study is focussing towards Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) of Mg-alloys for biomedical implant applications. Especially the influence of the sintering processing necessary for the consolidation of the finished part is in focus of this study. In doing so, the chosen high strength EZK400 Mg-alloy powder material was sintered using different sintering support bottom plate materials to evaluate the possibility of iron impurity pick up during sintering. It can be shown that iron pick up took place from the steel bottom plate into the specimen. Despite the fact that a separating boron nitrite (BN) barrier layer was used and the Mg-Fe phase diagram is not predicting any significant solubility to each other. As a result of this study a new bottom plate material not harming the sintering and the biodegradation performance of the as sintered material, namely a carbon plate material, was found.

Detection of magnetic moment in thin films with a home-made vibrating sample magnetometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordán, D.; González-Chávez, D.; Laura, D.; León Hilario, L. M.; Monteblanco, E.; Gutarra, A.; Avilés-Félix, L.

2018-06-01

This paper explores the optimization of an array of pick-up coils in a home-made vibrating sample magnetometer for the detection of magnetic moment in thin films. Sensitivity function of a 4-coils Mallinson configuration was numerically studied for the determination of the physical dimensions that enhance the sensitivity of the magnetometer. By performing numerical simulations using the Biot-Savart law combined with the principle of reciprocity we were able to determine the maximum values of sensitivity and the influence of the separation of the coils on the sensitivity function. After the optimization of the pick-up coils, the vibrating sample magnetometer was able to detect the magnetic moment of a 100 nm-thickness Fe19 Ni81 magnetic thin film along and perpendicular to the in-plane anisotropy easy axis. The implemented vibrating sample magnetometer is able to detect changes in the magnetic moment of ∼ 2 × 10-4 emu.

Development of autonomous grasping and navigating robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kudoh, Hiroyuki; Fujimoto, Keisuke; Nakayama, Yasuichi

2015-01-01

The ability to find and grasp target items in an unknown environment is important for working robots. We developed an autonomous navigating and grasping robot. The operations are locating a requested item, moving to where the item is placed, finding the item on a shelf or table, and picking the item up from the shelf or the table. To achieve these operations, we designed the robot with three functions: an autonomous navigating function that generates a map and a route in an unknown environment, an item position recognizing function, and a grasping function. We tested this robot in an unknown environment. It achieved a series of operations: moving to a destination, recognizing the positions of items on a shelf, picking up an item, placing it on a cart with its hand, and returning to the starting location. The results of this experiment show the applicability of reducing the workforce with robots.

Dr. Garry Latham studies seismometer tracings from the moon

NASA Image and Video Library

1969-07-22

S69-39587 (20 July 1969) --- Dr. Garry Latham (left) with the Lamont Geological Observatory, studies seismometer tracings in the Mission Control Center's (MCC) ALSEP control room. The electronic data was coming from the Passive Seismic Experiments Package (PSEP) which the Apollo 11 astronauts had just deployed on the surface of the moon. Dr. Lamont is the principal investigator for the PSEP, a component of the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP). PSEP uses three long-period seismometers and one short-period vertical seismometer for measuring meteoroid impacts and moonquakes. Such data will be useful in determining the interior structure of the moon; for example, does the moon have a core and mantle like Earth? Here, the flapping of the PSEP's solar panels is picked up and registered as a tracing. The PSEP was sensitive enough to pick up the footsteps of astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., as they walked on the moon.

Adaptive Data Gathering in Mobile Sensor Networks Using Speedy Mobile Elements

PubMed Central

Lai, Yongxuan; Xie, Jinshan; Lin, Ziyu; Wang, Tian; Liao, Minghong

2015-01-01

Data gathering is a key operator for applications in wireless sensor networks; yet it is also a challenging problem in mobile sensor networks when considering that all nodes are mobile and the communications among them are opportunistic. This paper proposes an efficient data gathering scheme called ADG that adopts speedy mobile elements as the mobile data collector and takes advantage of the movement patterns of the network. ADG first extracts the network meta-data at initial epochs, and calculates a set of proxy nodes based on the meta-data. Data gathering is then mapped into the Proxy node Time Slot Allocation (PTSA) problem that schedules the time slots and orders, according to which the data collector could gather the maximal amount of data within a limited period. Finally, the collector follows the schedule and picks up the sensed data from the proxy nodes through one hop of message transmissions. ADG learns the period when nodes are relatively stationary, so that the collector is able to pick up the data from them during the limited data gathering period. Moreover, proxy nodes and data gathering points could also be timely updated so that the collector could adapt to the change of node movements. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed scheme outperforms other data gathering schemes on the cost of message transmissions and the data gathering rate, especially under the constraint of limited data gathering period. PMID:26389903

Ovum pick up, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and somatic cell nuclear transfer in cattle, buffalo and horses: from the research laboratory to clinical practice.

PubMed

Galli, Cesare; Duchi, Roberto; Colleoni, Silvia; Lagutina, Irina; Lazzari, Giovanna

2014-01-01

Assisted reproductive techniques developed for cattle in the last 25 years, like ovum pick up (OPU), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and somatic cell nuclear transfer, have been transferred and adapted to buffalo and horses. The successful clinical applications of these techniques require both the clinical skills specific to each animal species and an experienced laboratory team to support the in vitro phase of the work. In cattle, OPU can be considered a consolidated technology that is rapidly outpacing conventional superovulation for embryo transfer. In buffalo, OPU represents the only possibility for embryo production to advance the implementation of embryo-based biotechnologies in that industry, although it is still mainly in the developmental phase. In the horse, OPU is now an established procedure for breeding from infertile and sporting mares throughout the year. It requires ICSI that in the horse, contrary to what happens in cattle and buffalo, is very efficient and the only option because conventional IVF does not work. Somatic cell nuclear transfer is destined to fill a very small niche for generating animals of extremely high commercial value. The efficiency is low, but because normal animals can be generated it is likely that advancing our knowledge in that field might improve the technology and reduce its cost. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An automatic microseismic or acoustic emission arrival identification scheme with deep recurrent neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Jing; Lu, Jiren; Peng, Suping; Jiang, Tianqi

2018-02-01

The conventional arrival pick-up algorithms cannot avoid the manual modification of the parameters for the simultaneous identification of multiple events under different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Therefore, in order to automatically obtain the arrivals of multiple events with high precision under different SNRs, in this study an algorithm was proposed which had the ability to pick up the arrival of microseismic or acoustic emission events based on deep recurrent neural networks. The arrival identification was performed using two important steps, which included a training phase and a testing phase. The training process was mathematically modelled by deep recurrent neural networks using Long Short-Term Memory architecture. During the testing phase, the learned weights were utilized to identify the arrivals through the microseismic/acoustic emission data sets. The data sets were obtained by rock physics experiments of the acoustic emission. In order to obtain the data sets under different SNRs, this study added random noise to the raw experiments' data sets. The results showed that the outcome of the proposed method was able to attain an above 80 per cent hit-rate at SNR 0 dB, and an approximately 70 per cent hit-rate at SNR -5 dB, with an absolute error in 10 sampling points. These results indicated that the proposed method had high selection precision and robustness.

Evaluation of peak-picking algorithms for protein mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Bauer, Chris; Cramer, Rainer; Schuchhardt, Johannes

2011-01-01

Peak picking is an early key step in MS data analysis. We compare three commonly used approaches to peak picking and discuss their merits by means of statistical analysis. Methods investigated encompass signal-to-noise ratio, continuous wavelet transform, and a correlation-based approach using a Gaussian template. Functionality of the three methods is illustrated and discussed in a practical context using a mass spectral data set created with MALDI-TOF technology. Sensitivity and specificity are investigated using a manually defined reference set of peaks. As an additional criterion, the robustness of the three methods is assessed by a perturbation analysis and illustrated using ROC curves.

Niemann–Pick type C disease – the tip of the iceberg? A review of neuropsychiatric presentation, diagnosis and treatment

PubMed Central

Evans, William R. H.; Hendriksz, Chris J.

2017-01-01

Niemann–Pick type C (NP-C) disease is a rare neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder. It is highly heterogeneous, and there is limited awareness of a substantial subgroup that has an attenuated adolescent/adult-onset disease. In these patients psychiatric features, often a psychosis, may dominate the initial impression, although often there is an associated ataxia and cognitive impairment. Typically, patients experience a substantial diagnostic delay. In this review we highlight the importance of early recognition and discuss the pathophysiology, neuropsychiatric presentation and recent changes in the investigation and work-up of these patients, and treatment options. PMID:28400970

SU-E-T-238: Monte Carlo Estimation of Cerenkov Dose for Photo-Dynamic Radiotherapy

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

Chibani, O; Price, R; Ma, C

Purpose: Estimation of Cerenkov dose from high-energy megavoltage photon and electron beams in tissue and its impact on the radiosensitization using Protoporphyrine IX (PpIX) for tumor targeting enhancement in radiotherapy. Methods: The GEPTS Monte Carlo code is used to generate dose distributions from 18MV Varian photon beam and generic high-energy (45-MV) photon and (45-MeV) electron beams in a voxel-based tissueequivalent phantom. In addition to calculating the ionization dose, the code scores Cerenkov energy released in the wavelength range 375–425 nm corresponding to the pick of the PpIX absorption spectrum (Fig. 1) using the Frank-Tamm formula. Results: The simulations shows thatmore » the produced Cerenkov dose suitable for activating PpIX is 4000 to 5500 times lower than the overall radiation dose for all considered beams (18MV, 45 MV and 45 MeV). These results were contradictory to the recent experimental studies by Axelsson et al. (Med. Phys. 38 (2011) p 4127), where Cerenkov dose was reported to be only two orders of magnitude lower than the radiation dose. Note that our simulation results can be corroborated by a simple model where the Frank and Tamm formula is applied for electrons with 2 MeV/cm stopping power generating Cerenkov photons in the 375–425 nm range and assuming these photons have less than 1mm penetration in tissue. Conclusion: The Cerenkov dose generated by high-energy photon and electron beams may produce minimal clinical effect in comparison with the photon fluence (or dose) commonly used for photo-dynamic therapy. At the present time, it is unclear whether Cerenkov radiation is a significant contributor to the recently observed tumor regression for patients receiving radiotherapy and PpIX versus patients receiving radiotherapy only. The ongoing study will include animal experimentation and investigation of dose rate effects on PpIX response.« less

A consistent and uniform research earthquake catalog for the AlpArray region: preliminary results.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molinari, I.; Bagagli, M.; Kissling, E. H.; Diehl, T.; Clinton, J. F.; Giardini, D.; Wiemer, S.

2017-12-01

The AlpArray initiative (www.alparray.ethz.ch) is a large-scale European collaboration ( 50 institutes involved) to study the entire Alpine orogen at high resolution with a variety of geoscientific methods. AlpArray provides unprecedentedly uniform station coverage for the region with more than 650 broadband seismic stations, 300 of which are temporary. The AlpArray Seismic Network (AASN) is a joint effort of 25 institutes from 10 nations, operates since January 2016 and is expected to continue until the end of 2018. In this study, we establish a uniform earthquake catalogue for the Greater Alpine region during the operation period of the AASN with a aimed completeness of M2.5. The catalog has two main goals: 1) calculation of consistent and precise hypocenter locations 2) provide preliminary but uniform magnitude calculations across the region. The procedure is based on automatic high-quality P- and S-wave pickers, providing consistent phase arrival times in combination with a picking quality assessment. First, we detect all events in the region in 2016/2017 using an STA/LTA based detector. Among the detected events, we select 50 geographically homogeneously distributed events with magnitudes ≥2.5 representative for the entire catalog. We manually pick the selected events to establish a consistent P- and S-phase reference data set, including arrival-time time uncertainties. The reference data, are used to adjust the automatic pickers and to assess their performance. In a first iteration, a simple P-picker algorithm is applied to the entire dataset, providing initial picks for the advanced MannekenPix (MPX) algorithm. In a second iteration, the MPX picker provides consistent and reliable automatic first arrival P picks together with a pick-quality estimate. The derived automatic P picks are then used as initial values for a multi-component S-phase picking algorithm. Subsequently, automatic picks of all well-locatable earthquakes will be considered to calculate final minimum 1D P and S velocity models for the region with appropriate stations corrections. Finally, all the events are relocated with the NonLinLoc algorithm in combination with the updated 1D models. The proposed procedure represents the first step towards uniform earthquake catalog for the entire greater Alpine region using the AASN.

Parameters optimization for magnetic resonance coupling wireless power transmission.

PubMed

Li, Changsheng; Zhang, He; Jiang, Xiaohua

2014-01-01

Taking maximum power transmission and power stable transmission as research objectives, optimal design for the wireless power transmission system based on magnetic resonance coupling is carried out in this paper. Firstly, based on the mutual coupling model, mathematical expressions of optimal coupling coefficients for the maximum power transmission target are deduced. Whereafter, methods of enhancing power transmission stability based on parameters optimal design are investigated. It is found that the sensitivity of the load power to the transmission parameters can be reduced and the power transmission stability can be enhanced by improving the system resonance frequency or coupling coefficient between the driving/pick-up coil and the transmission/receiving coil. Experiment results are well conformed to the theoretical analysis conclusions.

An automated framework for NMR resonance assignment through simultaneous slice picking and spin system forming.

PubMed

Abbas, Ahmed; Guo, Xianrong; Jing, Bing-Yi; Gao, Xin

2014-06-01

Despite significant advances in automated nuclear magnetic resonance-based protein structure determination, the high numbers of false positives and false negatives among the peaks selected by fully automated methods remain a problem. These false positives and negatives impair the performance of resonance assignment methods. One of the main reasons for this problem is that the computational research community often considers peak picking and resonance assignment to be two separate problems, whereas spectroscopists use expert knowledge to pick peaks and assign their resonances at the same time. We propose a novel framework that simultaneously conducts slice picking and spin system forming, an essential step in resonance assignment. Our framework then employs a genetic algorithm, directed by both connectivity information and amino acid typing information from the spin systems, to assign the spin systems to residues. The inputs to our framework can be as few as two commonly used spectra, i.e., CBCA(CO)NH and HNCACB. Different from the existing peak picking and resonance assignment methods that treat peaks as the units, our method is based on 'slices', which are one-dimensional vectors in three-dimensional spectra that correspond to certain ([Formula: see text]) values. Experimental results on both benchmark simulated data sets and four real protein data sets demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods while using a less number of spectra than those methods. Our method is freely available at http://sfb.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/Software.aspx.

Peak picking NMR spectral data using non-negative matrix factorization

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Simple peak-picking algorithms, such as those based on lineshape fitting, perform well when peaks are completely resolved in multidimensional NMR spectra, but often produce wrong intensities and frequencies for overlapping peak clusters. For example, NOESY-type spectra have considerable overlaps leading to significant peak-picking intensity errors, which can result in erroneous structural restraints. Precise frequencies are critical for unambiguous resonance assignments. Results To alleviate this problem, a more sophisticated peaks decomposition algorithm, based on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), was developed. We produce peak shapes from Fourier-transformed NMR spectra. Apart from its main goal of deriving components from spectra and producing peak lists automatically, the NMF approach can also be applied if the positions of some peaks are known a priori, e.g. from consistently referenced spectral dimensions of other experiments. Conclusions Application of the NMF algorithm to a three-dimensional peak list of the 23 kDa bi-domain section of the RcsD protein (RcsD-ABL-HPt, residues 688-890) as well as to synthetic HSQC data shows that peaks can be picked accurately also in spectral regions with strong overlap. PMID:24511909

Generalized Jeans' Escape of Pick-Up Ions in Quasi-Linear Relaxation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, T. E.; Khazanov, G. V.

2011-01-01

Jeans escape is a well-validated formulation of upper atmospheric escape that we have generalized to estimate plasma escape from ionospheres. It involves the computation of the parts of particle velocity space that are unbound by the gravitational potential at the exobase, followed by a calculation of the flux carried by such unbound particles as they escape from the potential well. To generalize this approach for ions, we superposed an electrostatic ambipolar potential and a centrifugal potential, for motions across and along a divergent magnetic field. We then considered how the presence of superthermal electrons, produced by precipitating auroral primary electrons, controls the ambipolar potential. We also showed that the centrifugal potential plays a small role in controlling the mass escape flux from the terrestrial ionosphere. We then applied the transverse ion velocity distribution produced when ions, picked up by supersonic (i.e., auroral) ionospheric convection, relax via quasi-linear diffusion, as estimated for cometary comas [1]. The results provide a theoretical basis for observed ion escape response to electromagnetic and kinetic energy sources. They also suggest that super-sonic but sub-Alfvenic flow, with ion pick-up, is a unique and important regime of ion-neutral coupling, in which plasma wave-particle interactions are driven by ion-neutral collisions at densities for which the collision frequency falls near or below the gyro-frequency. As another possible illustration of this process, the heliopause ribbon discovered by the IBEX mission involves interactions between the solar wind ions and the interstellar neutral gas, in a regime that may be analogous [2].

Optimization of a constrained linear monochromator design for neutral atom beams.

PubMed

Kaltenbacher, Thomas

2016-04-01

A focused ground state, neutral atom beam, exploiting its de Broglie wavelength by means of atom optics, is used for neutral atom microscopy imaging. Employing Fresnel zone plates as a lens for these beams is a well established microscopy technique. To date, even for favorable beam source conditions a minimal focus spot size of slightly below 1μm was reached. This limitation is essentially given by the intrinsic spectral purity of the beam in combination with the chromatic aberration of the diffraction based zone plate. Therefore, it is important to enhance the monochromaticity of the beam, enabling a higher spatial resolution, preferably below 100nm. We propose to increase the monochromaticity of a neutral atom beam by means of a so-called linear monochromator set-up - a Fresnel zone plate in combination with a pinhole aperture - in order to gain more than one order of magnitude in spatial resolution. This configuration is known in X-ray microscopy and has proven to be useful, but has not been applied to neutral atom beams. The main result of this work is optimal design parameters based on models for this linear monochromator set-up followed by a second zone plate for focusing. The optimization was performed for minimizing the focal spot size and maximizing the centre line intensity at the detector position for an atom beam simultaneously. The results presented in this work are for, but not limited to, a neutral helium atom beam. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Medical beam monitor—Pre-clinical evaluation and future applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frais-Kölbl, Helmut; Griesmayer, Erich; Schreiner, Thomas; Georg, Dietmar; Pernegger, Heinz

2007-10-01

Future medical ion beam applications for cancer therapy which are based on scanning technology will require advanced beam diagnostics equipment. For a precise analysis of beam parameters we want to resolve time structures in the range of microseconds to nanoseconds. A prototype of an advanced beam monitor was developed by the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt and its research subsidiary Fotec in co-operation with CERN RD42, Ohio State University and the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana. The detector is based on polycrystalline Chemical Vapor Deposition (pCVD) diamond substrates and is equipped with readout electronics up to 2 GHz analog bandwidth. In this paper we present the design of the pCVD-detector system and results of tests performed in various particle accelerator based facilities. Measurements performed in clinical high energy photon beams agreed within 1.2% with results obtained by standard ionization chambers.

48 CFR 2052.215-72 - Timely receipt of proposals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-I-2. All offerors should allow extra time for internal mail distribution or for pick up of hand... available to receive hand-carried offers during normal working hours, 7:30 AM—3:30 PM, Monday through Friday...

The Mars Exploration Rover Project : 2005 surface operations results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erickson, James K.; Callas, John L.; Haldemann, Albert F. C.

2005-01-01

The intent of this paper is to provide the aerospace community a status report of the progress of the Mars Rovers exploration of the Martian surface, picking up after the landings and continuing through fiscal year 2005.

Dream Chaser ALT-2 Free Flight

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-11-11

Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser crew attached the wires that the helicopter would use to pick it up from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California in preparation for its successful approach and landing test Nov. 11, 2017.

Dream Chaser ALT-2 Free Flight

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-11-07

A lift device was attached to Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser for a helicopter to pick it up to drop for its successful approach and landing test at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California on Nov. 11, 2017.

49 CFR 375.513 - Must I give the individual shipper an opportunity to observe the weighing?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Pick Up of Shipments of Household Goods Weighing the Shipment § 375.513 Must I give...

Induction logging device

DOEpatents

Koelle, A.R.; Landt, J.A.

An instrument is disclosed for mapping vertical conductive fractures in a resistive bedrock, magnetically inducing eddy currents by a pair of vertically oriented, mutually perpendicular, coplanar coils. The eddy currents drive magnetic fields which are picked up by a second, similar pair of coils.

41 CFR 101-28.306-5 - Safeguards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... these access codes that orders are accepted by the CSC and these codes determine the ship-to points for all orders filled by the CSC with the exception of orders picked up at the CSC by the customer. GSA...

12 CFR 1202.7 - How will FHFA respond to my FOIA request?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... order in which they are received. If FHFA determines while processing your Standard Track request, that... expedited delivery service fees or to pick up records at our office. (f) Extensions of Time. In unusual...

18 CFR 367.4160 - Account 416, Costs and expenses of merchandising, jobbing and contract work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Receiving and handling customer orders for merchandise or for jobbing services. (7) Cleaning and tidying... sales rooms or of equipment. (10) Transportation expense in delivery and pick-up of appliances by the...

12 CFR 1202.7 - How will FHFA respond to my FOIA request?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... order in which they are received. If FHFA determines while processing your Standard Track request, that... expedited delivery service fees or to pick up records at our office. (f) Extensions of Time. In unusual...

41 CFR 101-28.306-5 - Safeguards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... these access codes that orders are accepted by the CSC and these codes determine the ship-to points for all orders filled by the CSC with the exception of orders picked up at the CSC by the customer. GSA...

Eisenmenger syndrome (or complex) (image)

MedlinePlus

... hole allows blood that has already picked up oxygen from the lungs to flow back into the lungs, instead of going out to the rest of the body. The increased blood flow and high pressure damages the small blood vessels in the ...

Treatability Aspects of Urban Stormwater Stressors

EPA Science Inventory

Eleven years into the 21st century, pollution from diffuse sources (pollution from contaminants picked up and carried into surface waters by stormwater runoff) remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. Scientists and engineers still seek solutions that will ...

China Dust

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-04-16

... SpectroRadiometer (MISR) nadir-camera images of eastern China compare a somewhat hazy summer view from July 9, 2000 (left) with a ... arid and sparsely vegetated surfaces of Mongolia and western China pick up large quantities of yellow dust. Airborne dust clouds from the ...

Coronal mass ejection (CME) activity of low mass M stars as an important factor for the habitability of terrestrial exoplanets. II. CME-induced ion pick up of Earth-like exoplanets in close-in habitable zones.

PubMed

Lammer, Helmut; Lichtenegger, Herbert I M; Kulikov, Yuri N; Griessmeier, Jean-Mathias; Terada, N; Erkaev, Nikolai V; Biernat, Helfried K; Khodachenko, Maxim L; Ribas, Ignasi; Penz, Thomas; Selsis, Franck

2007-02-01

Atmospheric erosion of CO2-rich Earth-size exoplanets due to coronal mass ejection (CME)-induced ion pick up within close-in habitable zones of active M-type dwarf stars is investigated. Since M stars are active at the X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation (XUV) wave-lengths over long periods of time, we have applied a thermal balance model at various XUV flux input values for simulating the thermospheric heating by photodissociation and ionization processes due to exothermic chemical reactions and cooling by the CO2 infrared radiation in the 15 microm band. Our study shows that intense XUV radiation of active M stars results in atmospheric expansion and extended exospheres. Using thermospheric neutral and ion densities calculated for various XUV fluxes, we applied a numerical test particle model for simulation of atmospheric ion pick up loss from an extended exosphere arising from its interaction with expected minimum and maximum CME plasma flows. Our results indicate that the Earth-like exoplanets that have no, or weak, magnetic moments may lose tens to hundreds of bars of atmospheric pressure, or even their whole atmospheres due to the CME-induced O ion pick up at orbital distances

Optical assembly of microsnap-fits fabricated by two-photon polymerization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köhler, Jannis; Kutlu, Yunus; Zyla, Gordon; Ksouri, Sarah I.; Esen, Cemal; Gurevich, Evgeny L.; Ostendorf, Andreas

2017-10-01

To respond to current demands of nano- and microtechnologies, e.g., miniaturization and integration, different bottom-up strategies have been developed. These strategies are based on picking, placing, and assembly of multiple components to produce microsystems with desired features. This paper covers the fabrication of arbitrary-shaped microcomponents by two-photon polymerization and the trapping, moving, and aligning of these structures by the use of a holographic optical tweezer. The main focus is on the assembly technique based on a cantilever microsnap-fit. More precisely, mechanical properties are characterized by optical forces and a suitable geometry of the snap-fit is designed. As a result of these investigations, a fast and simple assembly technique is developed. Furthermore, disassembly is provided by an optimized design. These findings suggest that the microsnap-fit is suitable for the assembly of miniaturized systems and could broaden the application opportunities of bottom-up strategies.

An automatic P‐Phase arrival‐time picker

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kalkan, Erol

2016-01-01

Presented is a new approach for picking P‐phase arrival time in single‐component acceleration or broadband velocity records without requiring detection interval or threshold settings. The algorithm PPHASEPICKER transforms the signal into a response domain of a single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) oscillator with viscous damping and then tracks the rate of change of dissipated damping energy to pick P‐wave phases. The SDOF oscillator has a short natural period and a correspondingly high resonant frequency, which is higher than most frequencies in a seismic wave. It also has a high damping ratio (60% of critical). At this damping level, the frequency response approaches the Butterworth maximally flat magnitude filter, and phase angles are preserved. The relative input energy imparted to the oscillator by the input signal is converted to elastic strain energy and then dissipated by the damping element as damping energy. The damping energy yields a smooth envelope over time; it is zero in the beginning of the signal, zero or near zero before theP‐phase arrival, and builds up rapidly with the P wave. Because the damping energy function changes considerably at the onset of the P wave, it is used as a metric to track and pick the P‐phase arrival time. The PPHASEPICKER detects P‐phase onset using the histogram method. Its performance is compared with picking techniques using short‐term‐average to long‐term‐average ratio, and a picking method that finds the first P‐phase arrival time using the Akaike information criterion. A large set of records with various intensities and signal‐to‐noise ratios is used for testing the PPHASEPICKER, and it is demonstrated thatPPHASEPICKER is able to more accurately pick the onset of genuine signals against the background noise and to correctly distinguish between whether the first arrival is a P wave (emergent or impulsive) or whether the signal is from a faulty sensor.

Picosecond laser with 11 W output power at 1342 nm based on composite multiple doping level Nd:YVO4 crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodin, Aleksej M.; Grishin, Mikhail; Michailovas, Andrejus

2016-01-01

We report results of design and optimization of high average output power picosecond and nanosecond laser operating at 1342 nm wavelength. Developed for selective micromachining, this DPSS laser is comprised of master oscillator, regenerative amplifier and output pulse control module. Passively mode-locked by means of semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and pumped with 808 nm wavelength Nd:YVO4 master oscillator emits 12.5 ps pulses at repetition rate of 55 MHz with average output power of ∼100 mW. The four-pass confocal delay line forms a longest part of the oscillator cavity in order to suppress thermo-mechanical misalignment. Picked from the train seed pulses were injected to the cavity of regenerative amplifier based on composite Nd:YVO4 crystal with diffusion-bonded segments of multiple Nd doping concentration end-pumped at 880 nm wavelength. Laser produces pulses of ∼13 ps duration at 300 kHz repetition rate with average output power of 11 W and nearly diffraction limited beam quality of M2∼1.03. Attained high peak power ∼2.8 MW facilitates conversion to the 2nd, 3rd and 6th harmonics at 671 nm, 447 nm and 224 nm wavelengths with 80%, 50% and 15% efficiency respectively. Without seeding the regenerative amplifier transforms to electro-optically cavity-dumped Q-switched laser providing 10 ns output pulses at high repetition rates with beam propagation factor of M2∼1.06.

STATUS OF VARIOUS SNS DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS

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

Blokland, Willem; Purcell, J David; Patton, Jeff

2007-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) accelerator systems are ramping up to deliver a 1.0 GeV, 1.4 MW proton beam to a liquid mercury target for neutron scattering research. Enhancements or additions have been made to several instrument systems to support the ramp up in intensity, improve reliability, and/or add functionality. The Beam Current Monitors now support increased rep rates, the Harp system now includes charge density calculations for the target, and a new system has been created to collect data for the beam accounting and present the data over the web and to the operator consoles. The majority of themore » SNS beam instruments are PC-based and their configuration files are now managed through the Oracle relational database. A new version for the wire scanner software was developed to add features to correlate the scan with beam loss, parking in the beam, and measuring the longitudinal beam current. This software is currently being tested. This paper also includes data from the selected instruments.« less

Prevalence of unclaimed prescriptions at military pharmacies.

PubMed

Esposito, Dominick; Schone, Eric; Williams, Thomas; Liu, Su; CyBulski, Karen; Stapulonis, Rita; Clusen, Nancy

2008-01-01

Prescriptions that are ordered by physicians but not picked up by patients represent a potential quality improvement opportunity in health systems. Previous research has demonstrated that anywhere from as little as 0.28% to as much as 30.0% of prescriptions are unclaimed, and that 0.45% to 22.0% of patients fail to claim prescriptions. In the Military Health System (MHS), prescriptions filled at military pharmacies are dispensed with no copayment, providing an opportunity to examine the factors that contribute to unclaimed prescriptions other than out-of-pocket cost. To estimate the prevalence of unclaimed prescriptions in the MHS, investigate reasons for unclaimed prescriptions, and compare self-reported noncompliance, defined as the failure to pick up at least 1 prescription in a 12-month period, with evidence from an administrative database of prescription orders and dispensings. Research methods included pharmacy staff interviews at 6 military pharmacies, a telephone survey of beneficiaries who filled prescriptions at these pharmacies, descriptive analysis of survey data, and comparison of administrative pharmacy data with self-reported survey data. Beneficiary interviews, conducted from May through July 2004, covered background characteristics, medical conditions, and unclaimed prescriptions, relying on 12 months of recall regarding noncompliance. Interviews with pharmacy staff covered day-to-day operations, factors that alleviate or exacerbate noncompliance, and the burden that noncompliance places on pharmacies. Administrative data from the Pharmacy Data Transaction Service (pharmacy claims) and Composite Health Care System (CHCS: prescription orders and dispensings) databases were used to select a random sample for the beneficiary survey. Survey respondents' CHCS data were matched to their responses to determine the degree of agreement between self-reports and administrative data. Pharmacy interviews were completed with 30 staff members at 6 military pharmacies, and telephone interviews were completed with 1,214 beneficiaries (60.6% response rate). Beneficiary respondents filled an average of 7 prescriptions in the 5 months approximately surrounding the survey administration time frame (from March to July 2004). More than half (56.8%) of respondents were female, and nearly 60.6% were retired military or their dependents. Among all respondents at all study pharmacies, 8.0% reported failing to claim at least 1 prescription during the prior 12 months. Among survey respondents deemed compliant by CHCS data, 93.8% correctly identified themselves as compliant. However, among patients identified as noncompliant using CHCS data, only 16.0% selfidentified as noncompliant. The administrative data were not concordant with self-report data: of 105 survey respondents identifying themselves as noncompliant in the prior year and matched to administrative data (CHCS), only 58.1% were noncompliant per administrative data, and of 1,065 selfidentifying as compliant, only 61.1% were compliant per administrative data. The most common reasons cited by respondents for not picking up their prescriptions were: no perceived need for the prescription (18.5% of the noncompliant), forgot to pick it up (17.3%), the prescription was not in stock (14.8%), long wait time (11.1%), the prescription was not yet available (10.5%), was out of town (9.9%), and was too busy to pick up the prescription (6.2%). Factors associated with unclaimed prescriptions were: younger age, active duty military status, lower educational levels, and the absence of certain chronic medical conditions (i.e., no claims for cardiovascular medications, no self-reported arthritis). The present study's survey findings of an 8.0% selfreported noncompliance rate fall in the midrange of noncompliance rates reported in previous literature: between 0.45% and 22.0% in nonmilitary populations. Although reported reasons for noncompliance were generally consistent with those identified in previously published studies, they were only partially consistent with previous military pharmacy literature, which also found that patients did not know they had a prescription waiting or had some of the prescribed medicine at home. Concordance between measures of noncompliance, comparing administrative data with patient self-report based on 12-month recall, was poor.

DeepPicker: A deep learning approach for fully automated particle picking in cryo-EM.

PubMed

Wang, Feng; Gong, Huichao; Liu, Gaochao; Li, Meijing; Yan, Chuangye; Xia, Tian; Li, Xueming; Zeng, Jianyang

2016-09-01

Particle picking is a time-consuming step in single-particle analysis and often requires significant interventions from users, which has become a bottleneck for future automated electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM). Here we report a deep learning framework, called DeepPicker, to address this problem and fill the current gaps toward a fully automated cryo-EM pipeline. DeepPicker employs a novel cross-molecule training strategy to capture common features of particles from previously-analyzed micrographs, and thus does not require any human intervention during particle picking. Tests on the recently-published cryo-EM data of three complexes have demonstrated that our deep learning based scheme can successfully accomplish the human-level particle picking process and identify a sufficient number of particles that are comparable to those picked manually by human experts. These results indicate that DeepPicker can provide a practically useful tool to significantly reduce the time and manual effort spent in single-particle analysis and thus greatly facilitate high-resolution cryo-EM structure determination. DeepPicker is released as an open-source program, which can be downloaded from https://github.com/nejyeah/DeepPicker-python. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The assessment of skin picking in adolescence: psychometric properties of the Skin Picking Scale-Revised (German version).

PubMed

Gallinat, Christina; Keuthen, Nancy J; Stefini, Annette; Backenstrass, Matthias

2017-02-01

Skin picking disorder has received growing attention since the release of DSM-5, yet there are no evidence-based assessment instruments for adolescent samples. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Skin Picking Scale-Revised (SPS-R, German version) in adolescents. A total of 76 adolescents (96% female) completed the SPS-R, the Clinical Psychological Diagnostic System (KPD-38), and a questionnaire assessing demographics and clinical characteristics online. The SPS-R had high internal consistency (α = 0.89) and significant small-to-medium correlations with reduced competence skills, psychological impairment, general life satisfaction, social support, and social problems on the KPD-38. Similar to prior findings for adults, an exploratory factor analysis suggested a two-factor model for the SPS-R in adolescents. Group comparisons failed to show significant differences on SPS-R scores between participants with and without dermatological conditions. The current results suggest that the SPS-R can be useful in adolescent samples as a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of skin picking severity. Future research investigating scale validity and factor structure in a clinical sample of adolescent skin pickers is warranted.

The End-State Comfort Effect in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adalbjornsson, Carola F.; Fischman, Mark G.; Rudisill, Mary E.

2008-01-01

The end-state comfort effect has been observed in recent studies of grip selection in adults. The present study investigated whether young children also exhibit sensitivity to end-state comfort. The task was to pick up an overturned cup from a table, turn the cup right side up, and pour water into it. Two age groups (N = 20 per group) were…

On Mars' atmospheric sputtering after MAVEN first two years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leblanc, F.; Modolo, R.; Curry, S.; Luhmann, J. G.; Lillis, R.; Chaufray, J. Y.; Hara, T.; McFadden, J.; Halekas, J.; Eparvier, F.; Larson, D.; Connerney, J.; Jakosky, B.

2017-09-01

Mars may have lost a significant part of its atmosphere into space along its history, in particular since the end of its internal dynamo, 4.1 Gyr ago. The sputtering of the atmosphere by precipitating planetary picked up ions accelerated by the solar wind is one of the processes that could have significantly contributed to this atmospheric escape. We here present a two years base analysis of MAVEN observation of the precipitating flux, in particular the dependency of the precipitating intensity with solar zenith angle and used this measurement to model the expected escape rate and exosphere induced by this precipitation.

KSC-2010-1367

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-19

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to install the ninth tower segment of a new mobile launcher, or ML, being constructed to support the Constellation Program, on the top of the growing tower. When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. Its base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket. For information on the Constellation Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/constellation. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Optics pioneers scoop Nobel prize

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banks, Michael

2009-11-01

Three physicists who carried out pioneering work in former industrial research labs have picked up this year's Nobel Prize for Physics. One half of the SEK 10m prize has been awarded to Charles Kao, 75, for his work at the UK-based Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) on the transmission of light in optical fibres, which underpinned the telecommunications revolution. The other half of the prize is shared between Willard Boyle, 85, and George Smith, 79, of Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, US, for inventing the charge-coupled device (CCD) - an imaging semiconductor circuit that forms the basis of most digital cameras.

An intelligent identification algorithm for the monoclonal picking instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Hua; Zhang, Rongfu; Yuan, Xujun; Wang, Qun

2017-11-01

The traditional colony selection is mainly operated by manual mode, which takes on low efficiency and strong subjectivity. Therefore, it is important to develop an automatic monoclonal-picking instrument. The critical stage of the automatic monoclonal-picking and intelligent optimal selection is intelligent identification algorithm. An auto-screening algorithm based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) is proposed in this paper, which uses the supervised learning method, which combined with the colony morphological characteristics to classify the colony accurately. Furthermore, through the basic morphological features of the colony, system can figure out a series of morphological parameters step by step. Through the establishment of maximal margin classifier, and based on the analysis of the growth trend of the colony, the selection of the monoclonal colony was carried out. The experimental results showed that the auto-screening algorithm could screen out the regular colony from the other, which meets the requirement of various parameters.

UNDULATOR-BASED LASER WAKEFIELD ACCELERATOR ELECTRON BEAM DIAGNOSTIC

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

Bakeman, M.S.; Fawley, W.M.; Leemans, W. P.

to couple the THUNDER undulator to the LOASIS Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA). Currently the LWFA has achieved quasi-monoenergetic electron beams with energies up to 1 GeV. These ultra-short, high-peak-current, electron beams are ideal for driving a compact XUV free electron laser (FEL). Understanding the electron beam properties such as the energy spread and emittance is critical for achieving high quality light sources with high brightness. By using an insertion device such as an undulator and observing changes in the spontaneous emission spectrum, the electron beam energy spread and emittance can be measured with high precision.more » The initial experiments will use spontaneous emission from 1.5 m of undulator. Later experiments will use up to 5 m of undulator with a goal of a high gain, XUV FEL.« less

Dosimetric characteristics of electron beams produced by a mobile accelerator for IORT.

PubMed

Pimpinella, M; Mihailescu, D; Guerra, A S; Laitano, R F

2007-10-21

Energy and angular distributions of electron beams with different energies were simulated by Monte Carlo calculations. These beams were generated by the NOVAC7 system (Hitesys, Italy), a mobile electron accelerator specifically dedicated to intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT). The electron beam simulations were verified by comparing the measured dose distributions with the corresponding calculated distributions. As expected, a considerable difference was observed in the energy and angular distributions between the IORT beams studied in the present work and the electron beams produced by conventional accelerators for non-IORT applications. It was also found that significant differences exist between the IORT beams used in this work and other IORT beams with different collimation systems. For example, the contribution from the scattered electrons to the total dose was found to be up to 15% higher in the NOVAC7 beams. The water-to-air stopping power ratios of the IORT beams used in this work were calculated on the basis of the beam energy distributions obtained by the Monte Carlo simulations. These calculated stopping power ratios, s(w,air), were compared with the corresponding s(w,air) values recommended by the TRS-381 and TRS-398 IAEA dosimetry protocols in order to estimate the deviations between a dosimetry based on generic parameters and a dosimetry based on parameters specifically obtained for the actual IORT beams. The deviations in the s(w,air) values were found to be as large as up to about 1%. Therefore, we recommend that a preliminary analysis should always be made when dealing with IORT beams in order to assess to what extent the possible differences in the s(w,air) values have to be accounted for or may be neglected on the basis of the specific accuracy needed in clinical dosimetry.

Database of multi-parametric geophysical data from the TOMO-DEC experiment on Deception Island, Antarctica.

PubMed

Ibáñez, Jesús M; Díaz-Moreno, Alejandro; Prudencio, Janire; Zandomeneghi, Daria; Wilcock, William; Barclay, Andrew; Almendros, Javier; Benítez, Carmen; García-Yeguas, Araceli; Alguacil, Gerardo

2017-09-12

Deception Island volcano (Antarctica) is one of the most closely monitored and studied volcanoes on the region. In January 2005, a multi-parametric international experiment was conducted that encompassed both Deception Island and its surrounding waters. We performed this experiment from aboard the Spanish oceanographic vessel 'Hespérides', and from five land-based locations on Deception Island (the Spanish scientific Antarctic base 'Gabriel de Castilla' and four temporary camps). This experiment allowed us to record active seismic signals using a large network of seismic stations that were deployed both on land and on the seafloor. In addition, other geophysical data were acquired, including bathymetric high precision multi-beam data, and gravimetric and magnetic profiles. To date, the seismic and bathymetric data have been analysed but the magnetic and gravimetric data have not. We provide P-wave arrival-time picks and seismic tomography results in velocity and attenuation. In this manuscript, we describe the main characteristics of the experiment, the instruments, the data, and the repositories from which data and information can be obtained.

Database of multi-parametric geophysical data from the TOMO-DEC experiment on Deception Island, Antarctica

PubMed Central

Ibáñez, Jesús M.; Díaz-Moreno, Alejandro; Prudencio, Janire; Zandomeneghi, Daria; Wilcock, William; Barclay, Andrew; Almendros, Javier; Benítez, Carmen; García-Yeguas, Araceli; Alguacil, Gerardo

2017-01-01

Deception Island volcano (Antarctica) is one of the most closely monitored and studied volcanoes on the region. In January 2005, a multi-parametric international experiment was conducted that encompassed both Deception Island and its surrounding waters. We performed this experiment from aboard the Spanish oceanographic vessel ‘Hespérides’, and from five land-based locations on Deception Island (the Spanish scientific Antarctic base ‘Gabriel de Castilla’ and four temporary camps). This experiment allowed us to record active seismic signals using a large network of seismic stations that were deployed both on land and on the seafloor. In addition, other geophysical data were acquired, including bathymetric high precision multi-beam data, and gravimetric and magnetic profiles. To date, the seismic and bathymetric data have been analysed but the magnetic and gravimetric data have not. We provide P-wave arrival-time picks and seismic tomography results in velocity and attenuation. In this manuscript, we describe the main characteristics of the experiment, the instruments, the data, and the repositories from which data and information can be obtained. PMID:28895947

Excavation on the Moon: Regolith Collection for Oxygen Production and Outpost Site Preparation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caruso, John J.; Spina, Dan C.; Greer, Lawrence C.; John, Wentworth T.; Michele, Clem; Krasowski, Mike J.; Prokop, Norman F.

2008-01-01

The development of a robust regolith moving system for lunar and planetary processing and construction is critical to the NASA mission to the Moon and Mars. Oxygen production may require up to 200 metric tons of regolith collection per year; outpost site development may require several times this amount. This paper describes progress in the small vehicle implement development and small excavation system development. Cratos was developed as a platform for the ISRU project to evaluate the performance characteristics of a low center of gravity, small (0.75m x 0.75m x 0.3m), low-power, tracked vehicle performing excavation, load, haul, and dump operations required for lunar ISRU. It was tested on loose sand in a facility capable of producing level and inclined surfaces, and demonstrated the capability to pick up, carry, and dump sand, allowing it to accomplish the delivery of material to a site. Cratos has demonstrated the capability to pick up and deliver simulant to a bury an inflatable habitat, to supply an oxygen production plant, and to build a ramp.

Optimization of pick-up coils for weakly damped SQUID gradiometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Kang; Wang, Jialei; Kong, Xiangyan; Yang, Ruihu; Chen, Hua

2018-05-01

Not Available Project supported by the Key Project of Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone of the Special Development Fund, China (Grant No. 2015-JD-C104-060) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61741122).

Talking to Your Partner about Condoms

MedlinePlus

... t know how to put it on." This one's easy: "Here, let me show you." Timing After you've familiarized yourself with condoms and practiced your routine, you'll want to pick the right time to bring up the subject with your ...

Locating Portable Stations to Support the Operation of Bike Sharing Systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-12-26

Redistributing bikes has been a major challenge for the daily operation of bike sharing system around the world. Existing literature explore solution strategies that rely on pick-up-and-delivery routing as well as user incentivization approaches. The...

65. September 1913 "No. 100. Sprinkling dirt over oil surface ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

65. September 1913 "No. 100. Sprinkling dirt over oil surface of dirt roads preparatory to rolling. This was necessary in order to keep roller from picking up asphaltic oils." - Crater Lake National Park Roads, Klamath Falls, Klamath County, OR

49 CFR 375.511 - May I use an alternative method for shipments weighing 3,000 pounds or less?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS Pick Up of Shipments of Household Goods Weighing the Shipment § 375.511 May I use an...

Treatability Aspects of Urban Stormwater Stressors - journal

EPA Science Inventory

Eleven years into the 21st century, pollution from diffuse sources (pollution from contaminants picked up and carried into surface waters by stormwater runoff) remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. Scientists and engineers still seek solutions that will a...

Leadership Magazine. Volume 34, Number 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leadership, 2005

2005-01-01

Every month, "Leadership" features articles written in an informal, conversational style that provide practical information for school administrators. This issue of "Leadership" contains the following titles: (1) "A Better Approach to Testing" (Smith, Franklin); (2) "Accelerating Learning: Time to Pick up the…

75 FR 49015 - Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC); Notice of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-12

... (CTA) Blue Line River Road, Rosemont exit. PACE Bus Service, Route 230, picks up from River Road... [cir] U.S. Citizen (Y/N) [cir] E-mail address in order for us to confirm your registration The Federal...

Treatability Aspects of Urban Stormwater Stressors - paper

EPA Science Inventory

Eleven years into the 21st century, pollution from diffuse sources (pollution from contaminants picked up and carried into surface waters by stormwater runoff) remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. Scientists and engineers still seek solutions that will a...

NASA Space Astronomy Update 6: Unconventional Windows on the Universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Professor Stu Bowyer (University of California at Berkeley) explains the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer and its telescope in this video. Both instrument and satellite are kept in perfect working condition. The satellite picks up extra galactic objects outside our galaxy.

Peripheral neuropathy in type A Niemann-Pick disease. A morphological study.

PubMed

Landrieu, P; Saïd, G

1984-01-01

A black boy had a severe neuropathic form of Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) with a pronounced sphingomyelinase deficiency in the fibroblasts. Nerve conduction velocities were diminished, and a nerve biopsy was performed. Isolated fibers showed segmental demyelination and numerous dense bodies in the Schwann cells (SC). Electron microscopy revealed two categories of inclusions: the first was made up of lysosomal inclusions usually described in NPD. The second comprised myelin inclusions--sometimes still connected to the original myelin sheath--indicating severe myelinopathy. Both myelin debris and NPD inclusions were found in axoplasms and probably came from SC cytoplasm through axolemma lesions. NPD is a unique example of myelinopathy due to sphingomyelinase deficiency.

OMEGA System Performance Assessment and Coverage Evaluation (PACE) Workstation Design and Implementation. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-02-15

picked, Ce11Pop" .xmonth, CeliPcpUpA .hour’ . Phase kND $80) = 0 ELSE IF (stationinfol36’ [stations. picked, CellIP-- CpA .n=nh, CeSUP pP.hour . Phiase...CellGrid, irt (322,24. 281,314, RightCeliGridAction, ShoCe11~ta, DcNot-hingPr-oc, bJii ne (lfepnIi lfs t.Xj05,efIghplit. Y4, 60,16,white, blak , black...8217.Hilite(oc,yy); with CellPI~p do begin if (SubCells (Hcnth,Hr] .X < (Get~4axX - RightsideStatsA .width - SubCellIs (Month, Hour) Width - SubCellP~ cpA

Mouse Handling Limits the Impact of Stress on Metabolic Endpoints

PubMed Central

Ghosal, Sriparna; Nunley, Amanda; Mahbod, Parinaz; Lewis, Alfor G.; Smith, Eric P.; Tong, Jenny; D’Alessio, David A.; Herman, James P.

2015-01-01

Studies focused on end-points that are confounded by stress are best performed under minimally stressful conditions. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the impact of handling designed to reduce animal stress on measurements of glucose tolerance. A cohort of mice (CD1.C57BL/6) naïve to any specific handling were subjected to either a previously described “cup” handling method, or a “tail-picked” method in which the animals were picked up by the tail (as is common for metabolic studies). Following training, an elevated plus maze (EPM) test was performed followed by measurement of blood glucose and plasma corticosterone. A second cohort (CD1.C57BL/6) was rendered obese by exposure to a high fat diet, handled with either the tail-picked or cup method and subjected to an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. A third cohort of C57BL/6 mice was exposed to a cup regimen that included a component of massage and was subjected to tests of anxiety-like behavior, glucose homeostasis, and corticosterone secretion. We found that the cup mice showed reduced anxiety-like behaviors in the EPM coupled with a reduction in blood glucose levels compared to mice handled by the tail-picked method. Additionally, cup mice on the high fat diet exhibited improved glucose tolerance compared to tail-picked controls. Finally, we found that the cup/massage group showed lower glucose levels following an overnight fast, and decreased anxiety-like behaviors associated with lower stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentration compared to tail-picked controls. These data demonstrate that application of handling methods that reduce anxiety-like behaviors in mice mitigates the confounding contribution of stress to interpretation of metabolic endpoints (such as glucose tolerance). PMID:26079207

Electron Beam Charge Diagnostics for Laser Plasma Accelerators

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

Nakamura, Kei; Gonsalves, Anthony; Lin, Chen

2011-06-27

A comprehensive study of charge diagnostics is conducted to verify their validity for measuring electron beams produced by laser plasma accelerators (LPAs). First, a scintillating screen (Lanex) was extensively studied using subnanosecond electron beams from the Advanced Light Source booster synchrotron, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Lanex was cross calibrated with an integrating current transformer (ICT) for up to the electron energy of 1.5 GeV, and the linear response of the screen was confirmed for charge density and intensity up to 160 pC/mm{sup 2} and 0.4 pC/(ps mm{sup 2}), respectively. After the radio-frequency accelerator based cross calibration, amore » series of measurements was conducted using electron beams from an LPA. Cross calibrations were carried out using an activation-based measurement that is immune to electromagnetic pulse noise, ICT, and Lanex. The diagnostics agreed within {+-}8%, showing that they all can provide accurate charge measurements for LPAs.« less

The design and implementation of a broadband digital low-level RF control system for the cyclotron accelerators at iThemba LABS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duckitt, W. D.; Conradie, J. L.; van Niekerk, M. J.; Abraham, J. K.; Niesler, T. R.

2018-07-01

iThemba LABS has successfully designed a new broadband digital low-level RF control system for cyclotrons, that operates over the wide frequency range of 2-100 MHz and can achieve peak-peak amplitude and phase stabilities of 0.01% and 0.01°, respectively. The presented system performs direct digital synthesis (DDS) to directly convert the digital RF signals to analog RF and local-oscillator (LO) signals with 16-bit amplitude accuracy, programmable in steps of 1 μHz and 0.0001°. Down-conversion of the RF pick-up signals to an optimal intermediate frequency (IF) of 1 MHz and sampling of the IF channels by 16-bit, single sample-latency 10 MHz ADCs was implemented to allow digital high-speed low-latency in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) demodulation of the IF channels within the FPGA. This in turn allows efficient real-time digital closed-loop control of the amplitude and phase of the RF drive-signal to be achieved. The systems have been successfully integrated at iThemba LABS into the K = 8 and K = 10 injector cyclotrons (SPC1, and SPC2), the K = 200 separated sector cyclotron (SSC), the SSC flat-topping system, the pulse-selector system and the AX , J, and K-line RF bunchers. The systems have led to a substantial improvement in the beam quality of the SSC at iThemba LABS with a reduction in beam losses by more than 90%. The design, implementation and performance is discussed.

Fragile X-Associated Disorders (FXD): A Handbook for Families, Health Care Providers, Counselors, and Educators

MedlinePlus

... females with a full mutation include difficulty with math, reading maps and graphs, picking up “social cues,” ... with any type of ovarian insufficiency) blood hormone levels may be helpful in assessing those at risk ...

Astronaut John Glenn checks the Friendship 7 spacecraft after landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1962-01-01

Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. checks the Friendship 7 spacecraft after completing three orbits around the earth. The destroyer Noa picked up Glenn and the spacecraft 21 minutes after landing. A technician inside the spacecraft checks the interior for any damage.

12 CFR 723.7 - What are the collateral and security requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... complying with the loan-to-value ratios in this section, provided that the vehicle is a car, van, pick-up truck, or sports utility vehicle and not part of a fleet of vehicles. [68 FR 56551, Oct. 1, 2003, as...

12 CFR 723.7 - What are the collateral and security requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... complying with the loan-to-value ratios in this section, provided that the vehicle is a car, van, pick-up truck, or sports utility vehicle and not part of a fleet of vehicles. [68 FR 56551, Oct. 1, 2003, as...

12 CFR 723.7 - What are the collateral and security requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... complying with the loan-to-value ratios in this section, provided that the vehicle is a car, van, pick-up truck, or sports utility vehicle and not part of a fleet of vehicles. [68 FR 56551, Oct. 1, 2003, as...

12 CFR 723.7 - What are the collateral and security requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... complying with the loan-to-value ratios in this section, provided that the vehicle is a car, van, pick-up truck, or sports utility vehicle and not part of a fleet of vehicles. [68 FR 56551, Oct. 1, 2003, as...

12 CFR 723.7 - What are the collateral and security requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... complying with the loan-to-value ratios in this section, provided that the vehicle is a car, van, pick-up truck, or sports utility vehicle and not part of a fleet of vehicles. [68 FR 56551, Oct. 1, 2003, as...

KSC00pp1078

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-08-08

A NASA helicopter dips its fire-fighting bucket into the river to pick up and deliver a cargo of water to a wildfire at KSC. Before being extinguished, the fire burned about 20 acres at a site near gate 2C on Kennedy Parkway North (route 3)

KSC-00pp1078

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-08-08

A NASA helicopter dips its fire-fighting bucket into the river to pick up and deliver a cargo of water to a wildfire at KSC. Before being extinguished, the fire burned about 20 acres at a site near gate 2C on Kennedy Parkway North (route 3)

Final Rule for Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Tier 2 Motor Vehicle Emissions Standards and Gasoline Sulfur Control Requirements

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing more protective tailpipe emissions standards for all passenger vehicles, including sport utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, vans and pick-up trucks.

20 CFR 345.302 - Definition of terms and phrases used in experience-rating.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... pooled charge ratio thus picks up the cost of benefits paid to employees of employers whose rate of... raised in order to bring that rate to the minimum rate of zero is multiplied by the employer's 1-year...

29 CFR 794.128 - Sales made to out-of-State customers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... made to an out-of-State customer is a question of fact. In order for a customer to be considered an out... exist, for example, where an out-of-State company in the regular course of dealing picks up the...

Designing a machine for picking up litter along Minnesota highways : technical summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-29

Collecting trash by hand along grassy highway shoulders and medians in the Twin Cities : metropolitan area costs about $2 million per year. Harvesting trash in this manner is : a time-consuming task that also presents serious safety hazards for...

Bonder for Solar-Cell Strings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garwood, G.; Frasch, W.

1982-01-01

String bonder for solar-cell arrays eliminates tedious manual assembly procedure that could damage cell face. Vacuum arm picks up face-down cell from cell-inverting work station and transfers it to string conveyor without changing cell orientation. Arm is activated by signal from microprocessor.

Reverse Logistics

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-05-01

reverse logistics was to pick up the damage or obsolete items from the vendor and discard them into a land fill. Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. dumped as...Quality Center, Benchmarking and Leveraging “Best Practices” Strategies , Houston, TX, AQPC, 1995. 2. Brauner, Marygail, “Evaluating Five Proposed Price

Sensemaking Handoffs: Why? How? and When?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharma, Nikhil

2010-01-01

Sensemaking tasks are challenging and typically involve collecting, organizing and understanding information. Sensemaking often involves a handoff where a subsequent recipient picks up work done by a provider. Sensemaking handoffs are very challenging because handoffs introduce discontinuity in sensemaking. This dissertation attempts to explore…

Chemists Clean Up: A History and Exploration of the Craft of Soapmaking--How Soap Came To Be Common in America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kostka, Kimberly L.; McKay, David D.

2002-01-01

Explores the confluence of cultural and technological changes that led to the transformation of soap into a ubiquitous and well-used object. Picks up the timeline for the development of soap in the early American republic when soapmaking was a householder's task. Traces the rise of the American cleanliness movement and correlates the rise to…

A multiple gap plasma cathode electron gun and its electron beam analysis in self and trigger breakdown modes.

PubMed

Kumar, Niraj; Pal, Dharmendra Kumar; Jadon, Arvind Singh; Pal, Udit Narayan; Rahaman, Hasibur; Prakash, Ram

2016-03-01

In the present paper, a pseudospark discharge based multiple gap plasma cathode electron gun is reported which has been operated separately in self and trigger breakdown modes using two different gases, namely, argon and hydrogen. The beam current and beam energy have been analyzed using a concentric ring diagnostic arrangement. Two distinct electron beams are clearly seen with hollow cathode and conductive phases. The hollow cathode phase has been observed for ∼50 ns where the obtained electron beam is having low beam current density and high energy. While in conductive phase it is high current density and low energy electron beam. It is inferred that in the hollow cathode phase the beam energy is more for the self breakdown case whereas the current density is more for the trigger breakdown case. The tailor made operation of the hollow cathode phase electron beam can play an important role in microwave generation. Up to 30% variation in the electron beam energy has been achieved keeping the same gas and by varying the breakdown mode operations. Also, up to 32% variation in the beam current density has been achieved for the trigger breakdown mode at optimized trigger position by varying the gas type.

A multiple gap plasma cathode electron gun and its electron beam analysis in self and trigger breakdown modes

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

Kumar, Niraj; Pal, Udit Narayan; Prakash, Ram

In the present paper, a pseudospark discharge based multiple gap plasma cathode electron gun is reported which has been operated separately in self and trigger breakdown modes using two different gases, namely, argon and hydrogen. The beam current and beam energy have been analyzed using a concentric ring diagnostic arrangement. Two distinct electron beams are clearly seen with hollow cathode and conductive phases. The hollow cathode phase has been observed for ∼50 ns where the obtained electron beam is having low beam current density and high energy. While in conductive phase it is high current density and low energy electronmore » beam. It is inferred that in the hollow cathode phase the beam energy is more for the self breakdown case whereas the current density is more for the trigger breakdown case. The tailor made operation of the hollow cathode phase electron beam can play an important role in microwave generation. Up to 30% variation in the electron beam energy has been achieved keeping the same gas and by varying the breakdown mode operations. Also, up to 32% variation in the beam current density has been achieved for the trigger breakdown mode at optimized trigger position by varying the gas type.« less

Pseudo ribbon metal ion beam source.

PubMed

Stepanov, Igor B; Ryabchikov, Alexander I; Sivin, Denis O; Verigin, Dan A

2014-02-01

The paper describes high broad metal ion source based on dc macroparticle filtered vacuum arc plasma generation with the dc ion-beam extraction. The possibility of formation of pseudo ribbon beam of metal ions with the parameters: ion beam length 0.6 m, ion current up to 0.2 A, accelerating voltage 40 kV, and ion energy up to 160 kV has been demonstrated. The pseudo ribbon ion beam is formed from dc vacuum arc plasma. The results of investigation of the vacuum arc evaporator ion-emission properties are presented. The influence of magnetic field strength near the cathode surface on the arc spot movement and ion-emission properties of vacuum-arc discharge for different cathode materials are determined. It was shown that vacuum-arc discharge stability can be reached when the magnetic field strength ranges from 40 to 70 G on the cathode surface.

A pilot study of direct delivery of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin to the lung by the nasal route in a mouse model of Niemann-Pick C1 disease: motor performance is unaltered and lung disease is worsened.

PubMed

Erickson, Robert P; Deutsch, Gail; Patil, Ruturaj

2018-05-01

We have tested the efficacy of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) delivered by the nasal route in the mouse model of juvenile Niemann-Pick C1 disease (NPC1), as pulmonary disease has not responded to systemic therapy with this drug. Since mice have no gag reflex, coating of the nasal cavity, with possible access to the brain, would be followed by delivery of HPBCD to the lung. While foamy macrophages, containing stored cholesterol, were found in the Npc1 nmf164 homozygous mice, a marked inflammatory response was found with inhaled HPBCD, both in mutant and wild-type animals. Slight inflammation also occasionally occurred with saline inhalation. There was no difference between the saline-treated, HPBCD-treated, and untreated Npc1 nmf164 homozygous mice for weight, balance beam performance, or coat hanger performance. Interestingly, there was a trend to longer survival in the HPBCD-treated Npc1 nmf164 homozygous mice, which, when combined with the survival times of the saline-treated survivals (each of which was not different), became significant.

Performance of timing Resistive Plate Chambers with protons from 200 to 800 MeV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machado, J.; Adamczewski-Musch, J.; Blanco, A.; Boretzky, K.; Cabanelas, P.; Cartegni, L.; Ferreira Marques, R.; Fonte, P.; Fruehauf, J.; Galaviz, D.; Heil, M.; Henriques, A.; . Ickert, G.; Körper, D.; Lopes, L.; Palka, M.; Pereira, A.; Rossi, D.; Simon, H.; Teubig, P.; Traxler, M.; Velho, P.; Altstadt, S.; Atar, L.; Aumann, T.; Bemmerer, D.; Caesar, C.; Charpy, A.; Elekes, Z.; Fiori, E.; Gasparic, I.; Gerbig, J.; Göbel, K.; Heftrich, T.; Heine, M.; Heinz, A.; Holl, M.; Ignatov, A.; Isaak, J.; Johansson, H.; Kelic-Heil, A.; Lederer, C.; Lindberg, S.; Löher, B.; Marganiec, J.; Martensson, M.; Nilsson, T.; Panin, V.; Paschalis, S.; Petri, M.; Plag, R.; Pohl, M.; Rastrepina, G.; Reifarth, R.; Reinhardt, T. P.; Röder, M.; Savran, D.; Scheit, H.; Schrock, P.; Silva, J.; Stach, D.; Strannerdahl, F.; Thies, R.; Wagner, A.; Wamers, F.; Weigand, M.

2015-01-01

A prototype composed of four resistive plate chamber layers has been exposed to quasi-monoenergetic protons produced from a deuteron beam of varying energy (200 to 800 AMeV) in experiment S406 at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany. The aim of the experiment is to characterize the response of the prototype to protons in this energy range, which deposit from 1.75 to 6 times more energy than minimum ionizing particles. Each layer, with an active area of about 2000 × 500 mm2, is made of modules containing the active gaps, all in multigap construction. Each gap is defined by 0.3 mm nylon mono-filaments positioned between 2.85 mm thick float glass electrodes. The modules are operated in avalanche mode with a non-flammable gas mixture composed of 90% C2H2F4 and 10% SF6. The signals are readout by a pick-up electrode formed by 15 copper strips (per layer), spaced at a pitch of 30 mm, connected at both sides to timing front end electronics. Results show an uniform efficiency close to 100% along with a timing resolution of around 60 ps on the entire 2000 × 500 mm2 area.

Optical design of a robotic TV camera probe for minimally invasive abdominal surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Todaro, Susanna; He, Weiyi; Killinger, Dennis

2011-03-01

Minimally invasive techniques are a promising new field of surgery; however, they limit the surgeon's access points and maneuverability. In order to increase the number of access points in minimally invasive abdominal surgery, a proposed implantable medical probe braces to the abdominal wall and provides illumination and video signal. The probe is cylindrical, about 25 mm long and 10 mm in diameter. A ring of LEDs on the end of the probe illuminates the tissue, and the resulting image is focused onto an HD video detector. It was necessary to apply beam-shaping reflectors to collimate the light onto a small target area, to avoid illuminating areas not picked up by the video. These reflectors were designed and simulated using the optical ray tracing software TracePro. Two LED chip geometries and three types of reflector geometries were analyzed, and the parameters for each geometry were optimized. For the straight-edged reflectors, the intensity patterns and optimization were compared to experimental results. Although parabolic reflectors produced the best collimation, cone reflectors with a 20-degree half-angle produced significant collimation at a much cheaper price. This work was supported by NSF REU program (award No DMR-1004873).

Interactions between the Space Station and the environment: A preliminary assessment of EMI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, G. B.; Garrett, Henry B.

1990-01-01

A review of the interactions between proposed Space Station systems/payloads and the environment that contribute to electromagnetic interference was performed. Seven prime sources of interference have been identified. These are: The Space Station power system; active experiments such as beam injection; ASTROMAG; ram and wake density gradients; pick up ions produced by vented or offgassed clouds; waves produced by current loops that include the plasma and structure; arcing from high voltage solar arrays (or possible ESD in polar orbit). This review indicates that: minimizing leakage current from the 20 kHz power system to the structure; keeping the surfaces of the Space Station structure, arrays, and radiators nonconducting; minimizing venting of payloads or systems to non-operational periods; careful placement of payloads sensitive to magnetic field perturbations or wake noise; and designing an operational timeline compatible with experiment requirement are the most effective means of minimizing the effects of this interference. High degrees of uncertainty exist in the estimates of magnitudes of gas emission induced EMI, radiation of 20 kHz and harmonics, ASTROMAG induced interference, and arc threshold/frequency of the solar array. These processes demand further attention so that mitigation efforts are properly calibrated.

Application of relativistic electrons for the quantitative analysis of trace elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, D. H. H.; Brendel, C.; Genz, H.; Löw, W.; Richter, A.

1984-04-01

Particle induced X-ray emission methods (PIXE) have been extended to relativistic electrons to induce X-ray emission (REIXE) for quantitative trace-element analysis. The electron beam (20 ≤ E0≤ 70 MeV) was supplied by the Darmstadt electron linear accelerator DALINAC. Systematic measurements of absolute K-, L- and M-shell ionization cross sections revealed a scaling behaviour of inner-shell ionization cross sections from which X-ray production cross sections can be deduced for any element of interest for a quantitative sample investigation. Using a multielemental mineral monazite sample from Malaysia the sensitivity of REIXE is compared to well established methods of trace-element analysis like proton- and X-ray-induced X-ray fluorescence analysis. The achievable detection limit for very heavy elements amounts to about 100 ppm for the REIXE method. As an example of an application the investigation of a sample prepared from manganese nodules — picked up from the Pacific deep sea — is discussed, which showed the expected high mineral content of Fe, Ni, Cu and Ti, although the search for aliquots of Pt did not show any measurable content within an upper limit of 250 ppm.

Visual recognition system of cherry picking robot based on Lab color model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qirong; Zuo, Jianjun; Yu, Tingzhong; Wang, Yan

2017-12-01

This paper designs a visual recognition system suitable for cherry picking. First, the system deals with the image using the vector median filter. And then it extracts a channel of Lab color model to divide the cherries and the background. The cherry contour was successfully fitted by the least square method, and the centroid and radius of the cherry were extracted. Finally, the cherry was successfully extracted.

Dynamics and Biodiversity of Populations of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Acetic Acid Bacteria Involved in Spontaneous Heap Fermentation of Cocoa Beans in Ghana▿

PubMed Central

Camu, Nicholas; De Winter, Tom; Verbrugghe, Kristof; Cleenwerck, Ilse; Vandamme, Peter; Takrama, Jemmy S.; Vancanneyt, Marc; De Vuyst, Luc

2007-01-01

The Ghanaian cocoa bean heap fermentation process was studied through a multiphasic approach, encompassing both microbiological and metabolite target analyses. A culture-dependent (plating and incubation, followed by repetitive-sequence-based PCR analyses of picked-up colonies) and culture-independent (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE] of 16S rRNA gene amplicons, PCR-DGGE) approach revealed a limited biodiversity and targeted population dynamics of both lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and acetic acid bacteria (AAB) during fermentation. Four main clusters were identified among the LAB isolated: Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides, and Enterococcus casseliflavus. Other taxa encompassed, for instance, Weissella. Only four clusters were found among the AAB identified: Acetobacter pasteurianus, Acetobacter syzygii-like bacteria, and two small clusters of Acetobacter tropicalis-like bacteria. Particular strains of L. plantarum, L. fermentum, and A. pasteurianus, originating from the environment, were well adapted to the environmental conditions prevailing during Ghanaian cocoa bean heap fermentation and apparently played a significant role in the cocoa bean fermentation process. Yeasts produced ethanol from sugars, and LAB produced lactic acid, acetic acid, ethanol, and mannitol from sugars and/or citrate. Whereas L. plantarum strains were abundant in the beginning of the fermentation, L. fermentum strains converted fructose into mannitol upon prolonged fermentation. A. pasteurianus grew on ethanol, mannitol, and lactate and converted ethanol into acetic acid. A newly proposed Weissella sp., referred to as “Weissella ghanaensis,” was detected through PCR-DGGE analysis in some of the fermentations and was only occasionally picked up through culture-based isolation. Two new species of Acetobacter were found as well, namely, the species tentatively named “Acetobacter senegalensis” (A. tropicalis-like) and “Acetobacter ghanaensis” (A. syzygii-like). PMID:17277227

An electrode polarization impedance based flow sensor for low water flow measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Tinghu; Sabic, Darko

2013-06-01

This note describes an electrode polarization impedance based flow sensor for low water flow measurement. It consists of two pairs of stainless steel electrodes set apart and inserted into a non-conductive flow tube with each pair of electrodes placed diametrically at the opposite sides. The flow sensor is modeled as a typical four-electrode system of which two electrodes are current-carrying and the other two serve as output pick ups. The polarization impedances of the two current carrying electrodes are affected by water flows resulting in changes of differential potential between the two pick-up electrodes which are separated by the same fluid. The interrogation of the two excitation electrodes with dc biased ac signals offers significantly higher sensor sensitivities to flow. The prototype flow sensor constructed for a 20 mm diameter pipeline was able to measure water flow rate as low as tested at 1.06 l h-1 and remained sensitive at a flow rate of 25.18 l h-1 when it was driven with a sinusoidal voltage at 1000 Hz with a peak ac amplitude of 2 V and a dc offset of +8 V. The nonlinear characteristics of the sensor response indicate that the sensor is more sensitive at low flows and will not be able to measure at very high flows. Additional experiments are needed to evaluate the influences of impurities, chemical species, ions constituents, conductivity and temperature over a practical range of residential water conditions, the effects of fluctuating ground signals, measurement uncertainty, power consumption, compensation of effects and practical operations. The flow sensor (principle) presented may be used as (in) a secondary sensor in combination with an existing electronic water meter to extend the low end of measurement range in residential water metering.

The formation of nanostructured carbon material on a ferrocene-containing polymer surface induced by a high-power ion beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovivchak, V. S.; Kryazhev, Yu. G.; Zapevalova, E. S.

2016-02-01

The surface morphology and the composition of polymer layers based on chlorinated polyvinylchloride with addition of ferrocene (up to 10% of the polymer mass) subject to the action of a nanosecond high-power ion beam are studied. It is demonstrated that carbon material in the form of nanofibers with an average diameter of 80 nm and a length of up to 10 μm is formed on a surface singly irradiated by such beam with a current density of ˜100 A/cm2. A possible mechanism of the observed phenomenon is discussed.

The PEPPo method for polarized positrons and PEPPo II

DOE PAGES

Cardman, Lawrence S.

2018-05-01

The Polarized Electrons for Polarized Positrons (PEPPo) experiment at the injector of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility demonstrated for the first time the efficient transfer of polarization from electrons to positrons via a two-step process: polarized bremsstrahlung radiation is induced by a polarized electron beam in a high-Z target; then the polarized bremsstrahlung produces polarized positrons via the pair-production process in the same target. Positron polarization up to 82% was measured for an initial electron beam momentum of 8.19 MeV/c, limited only by the electron beam polarization of 85%. This technique extends polarized positron capabilities from GeV to MeVmore » electron beams, and opens access to polarized positron beam physics to a wide community. We present the results of the PEPPo experiment and outline tentative plans for a follow-up experiment that would investigate key aspects of an approach based on PEPPo as a polarized positron source for the 12 GeV Upgrade of CEBAF.« less

Transverse emittance-preserving arc compressor for high-brightness electron beam-based light sources and colliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Mitri, S.; Cornacchia, M.

2015-03-01

Bunch length magnetic compression is used in high-brightness linacs driving free-electron lasers (FELs) and particle colliders to increase the peak current of the injected beam. To date, it is performed in dedicated insertions made of few degrees bending magnets and the compression factor is limited by the degradation of the beam transverse emittance owing to emission of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR). We reformulate the known concept of CSR-driven optics balance for the general case of varying bunch length and demonstrate, through analytical and numerical results, that a 500 pC charge beam can be time-compressed in a periodic 180 deg arc at 2.4 GeV beam energy and lower, by a factor of up to 45, reaching peak currents of up to 2 kA and with a normalized emittance growth at the 0.1 μ \\text{m} rad level. The proposed solution offers new schemes of beam longitudinal gymnastics; an application to an energy recovery linac driving FEL is discussed.

Self-sampling to increase participation in cervical cancer screening: an RCT comparing home mailing, distribution in pharmacies, and recall letter.

PubMed

Giorgi Rossi, P; Fortunato, C; Barbarino, P; Boveri, S; Caroli, S; Del Mistro, A; Ferro, A; Giammaria, C; Manfredi, M; Moretto, T; Pasquini, A; Sideri, M; Tufi, M C; Cogo, C; Altobelli, E

2015-02-17

We performed a multicentre randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effect on participation in organised screening programmes of a self-sampling device mailed home or picked up at a pharmacy compared with the standard recall letter. Women aged 30-64 non-responding to screening invitation were eligible. Response rate to first invitation ranged from 30% to 60% between centres. The control was the standard reminder letter to undergo the test used by the programme (Pap test in three centres and HPV DNA test in three other centres). Home mailing of the self-sampler was preceded by a letter with a leaflet about HPV. The analysis was intention-to-treat. In all, 14 041 women were randomised and recruited: 5012 in the control arm, 4516 to receive the self-sampler at home, and 4513 to pick up the self-sampler at a pharmacy. Participation was 11.9% in the control, 21.6% (relative participation: 1.75; 95% CI 1.60-1.93) in home, and 12.0% (relative participation: 0.96; 95% CI 0.86-1.07) in the pharmacy arms, respectively. The heterogeneity between centres was high (excess heterogeneity of that expected due to chance, i.e., I(2), 94.9% and 94.1% for home and pharmacy arm, respectively). The estimated impact on the overall coverage was +4.3% for home mail self-sampling compared with +2.2% for standard reminder. Home mailing of self-sampler proved to be an effective way to increase participation in screening programmes, even in those with HPV as primary testing. Picking up at pharmacies showed effects varying from centre to centre.

Reducing Mouse Anxiety during Handling: Effect of Experience with Handling Tunnels

PubMed Central

Gouveia, Kelly; Hurst, Jane L.

2013-01-01

Handling stress is a well-recognised source of variation in animal studies that can also compromise the welfare of research animals. To reduce background variation and maximise welfare, methods that minimise handling stress should be developed and used wherever possible. Recent evidence has shown that handling mice by a familiar tunnel that is present in their home cage can minimise anxiety compared with standard tail handling. As yet, it is unclear whether a tunnel is required in each home cage to improve response to handling. We investigated the influence of prior experience with home tunnels among two common strains of laboratory mice: ICR(CD-1) and C57BL/6. We compared willingness to approach the handler and anxiety in an elevated plus maze test among mice picked up by the tail, by a home cage tunnel or by an external tunnel shared between cages. Willingness to interact with the handler was much greater for mice handled by a tunnel, even when this was unfamiliar, compared to mice picked up by the tail. Once habituated to handling, C57BL/6 mice were most interactive towards a familiar home tunnel, whereas the ICR strain showed strong interaction with all tunnel handling regardless of any experience of a home cage tunnel. Mice handled by a home cage or external tunnel showed less anxiety in an elevated plus maze than those picked up by the tail. This study shows that using a tunnel for routine handling reduces anxiety among mice compared to tail handling regardless of prior familiarity with tunnels. However, as home cage tunnels can further improve response to handling in some mice, we recommend that mice are handled with a tunnel provided in their home cage where possible as a simple practical method to minimise handling stress. PMID:23840458

Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels.

PubMed

Gouveia, Kelly; Hurst, Jane L

2013-01-01

Handling stress is a well-recognised source of variation in animal studies that can also compromise the welfare of research animals. To reduce background variation and maximise welfare, methods that minimise handling stress should be developed and used wherever possible. Recent evidence has shown that handling mice by a familiar tunnel that is present in their home cage can minimise anxiety compared with standard tail handling. As yet, it is unclear whether a tunnel is required in each home cage to improve response to handling. We investigated the influence of prior experience with home tunnels among two common strains of laboratory mice: ICR(CD-1) and C57BL/6. We compared willingness to approach the handler and anxiety in an elevated plus maze test among mice picked up by the tail, by a home cage tunnel or by an external tunnel shared between cages. Willingness to interact with the handler was much greater for mice handled by a tunnel, even when this was unfamiliar, compared to mice picked up by the tail. Once habituated to handling, C57BL/6 mice were most interactive towards a familiar home tunnel, whereas the ICR strain showed strong interaction with all tunnel handling regardless of any experience of a home cage tunnel. Mice handled by a home cage or external tunnel showed less anxiety in an elevated plus maze than those picked up by the tail. This study shows that using a tunnel for routine handling reduces anxiety among mice compared to tail handling regardless of prior familiarity with tunnels. However, as home cage tunnels can further improve response to handling in some mice, we recommend that mice are handled with a tunnel provided in their home cage where possible as a simple practical method to minimise handling stress.

Short communication: Follicle superstimulation before ovum pick-up for in vitro embryo production in Holstein cows.

PubMed

Oliveira, Louise H; Sanches, Carlos P; Seddon, Adriano S; Veras, Marcio B; Lima, Flávio A; Monteiro, Pedro L J; Wiltbank, Milo C; Sartori, Roberto

2016-11-01

The objective was to evaluate in vitro embryo production (IVEP) in nonlactating Holstein cows after ovarian superstimulation. Cows were randomly assigned in a crossover design to 1 of 2 groups: control (n=35), which was not synchronized and not treated with hormones before ovum pick-up (OPU), or hormone-treated (n=35), in which wave emergence was synchronized and animals treated with porcine (p)-FSH in the presence of norgestomet before OPU. In the hormone-treated group, all follicles ≥7mm in diameter were aspirated for synchronization of wave emergence and cows received a norgestomet ear implant. After 36h, treatment with p-FSH (6 doses of 40mg each, 12h apart, i.m.) started. Ovum pick-up from follicles >2mm in diameter was performed 44h after the last p-FSH (coasting). Then, IVEP was performed. The total number of cumulus-oocyte complexes recovered (16.0 vs. 20.5±2.2) and number of grades I to III (viable) oocytes (10.7 vs. 12.3±1.6) did not differ between hormone-treated and control groups Additionally, no differences were found in the number of blastocysts per cow per OPU (3.0 vs. 2.6±0.5) or in blastocyst rates (17.1 vs. 12.2±2.4%) between hormone-treated and control, respectively. Thus, in this study, ovarian follicle superstimulation with p-FSH followed by coasting in nonlactating Holstein cows that had synchronization of wave emergence and progestin supplementation did not improve oocyte quality or IVEP compared to no hormonal treatment. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prescribing injectable and oral methadone to opiate addicts: results from the 1995 national postal survey of community pharmacies in England and Wales.

PubMed Central

Strang, J.; Sheridan, J.; Barber, N.

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVE--To establish the extent of prescribing injectable and oral methadone to opiate addicts and the practice characteristics and dispensing arrangements attached to these prescriptions. DESIGN--National survey of 25% random sample of community (high street) pharmacies through postal questionnaire, with four mailings. SETTING--England and Wales. SUBJECTS--1 in 4 sample of all 10,616 community pharmacies, stratified by family health services authority. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Data were collected on each prescription for controlled drugs currently being dispensed by pharmacies to misusers, describing the drug, form, dose, source (general practice or hospital; and NHS or private), and numbers of dispensing pick ups a week. RESULTS--Methadone was the opiate most commonly dispensed to misusers (96.0% of 3846 opiate prescriptions). 79.6% of methadone prescriptions were for the oral liquid form, 11.0% for tablet, and 9.3% for injectable ampoules. More than one third of all methadone prescriptions were for weekly or fortnightly pick up, with a further third being for daily pick up. Tablets and ampoules were even less likely to be dispensed on a daily basis. Private prescriptions were significantly more likely than NHS ones to be for tablets or ampoules, to be for substantially higher daily doses, and to be collected on a weekly or fortnightly basis. CONCLUSIONS--The distinctively British practice of prescribing injectable methadone was found to be widespread and, contrary to guidance, to be as prevalent in non-specialist as specialist settings. In view of the frequent crushing and injecting of methadone tablets, clearer more authoritative guidance is needed on the contexts in which injectable methadone (tablets as well as ampoules) should be prescribed and on the responsibilities for monitoring and supervision which should be attached. PMID:8704540

Validation of the TOPEX rain algorithm: Comparison with ground-based radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMillan, A. C.; Quartly, G. D.; Srokosz, M. A.; Tournadre, J.

2002-02-01

Recently developed algorithms have shown the potential recovery of rainfall information from spaceborne dual-frequency altimeters. Given the long mission achieved with TOPEX and the prospect of several other dual-frequency altimeters, we need to validate the altimetrically derived values so as to foster their integration with rain information from different sensors. Comparison with some alternative climatologies shows the bimonthly means for TOPEX to be low. Rather than apply a bulk correction we investigate individual rain events to understand the cause of TOPEX's underestimation. In this paper we compare TOPEX with near-simultaneous ground-based rain radars based at a number of locations, examining both the detection of rain and the quantitative values inferred. The altimeter-only algorithm is found to flag false rain events in very low wind states (<3.8 m s-1) the application of an extra test, involving the liquid water path as sensed by the microwave radiometer, removes the spurious detections. Some false detections of rain also occur at high wind speeds (>20 m s-1), where the empirical dual-frequency relationship is less well defined. In the intermediate range of wind speeds, the TOPEX detections are usually good, with the instrument picking up small-scale variations that cannot be recovered from infrared or passive microwave techniques. The magnitude of TOPEX's rain retrievals can differ by a factor of 2 from the ground-based radar, but this may reflect the uncertainties in the validation data. In general, over these individual point comparisons TOPEX values appear to exceed the ``ground truth.'' Taking account of all the factors affecting the comparisons, we conclude that the TOPEX climatology could be improved by, in the first instance, incorporating the radiometric test and employing a better estimate of the melting layer height. Appropriate corrections for nonuniform beam filling and drizzle fraction are harder to define globally.

Improved method for peak picking in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Kempka, Martin; Sjödahl, Johan; Björk, Anders; Roeraade, Johan

2004-01-01

A method for peak picking for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) is described. The method is based on the assumption that two sets of ions are formed during the ionization stage, which have Gaussian distributions but different velocity profiles. This gives rise to a certain degree of peak skewness. Our algorithm deconvolutes the peak and utilizes the fast velocity, bulk ion distribution for peak picking. Evaluation of the performance of the new method was conducted using peptide peaks from a bovine serum albumin (BSA) digest, and compared with the commercial peak-picking algorithms Centroid and SNAP. When using the new two-Gaussian algorithm, for strong signals the mass accuracy was equal to or marginally better than the results obtained from the commercial algorithms. However, for weak, distorted peaks, considerable improvement in both mass accuracy and precision was obtained. This improvement should be particularly useful in proteomics, where a lack of signal strength is often encountered when dealing with weakly expressed proteins. Finally, since the new peak-picking method uses information from the entire signal, no adjustments of parameters related to peak height have to be made, which simplifies its practical use. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hands-free device control using sound picked up in the ear canal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chhatpar, Siddharth R.; Ngia, Lester; Vlach, Chris; Lin, Dong; Birkhimer, Craig; Juneja, Amit; Pruthi, Tarun; Hoffman, Orin; Lewis, Tristan

2008-04-01

Hands-free control of unmanned ground vehicles is essential for soldiers, bomb disposal squads, and first responders. Having their hands free for other equipment and tasks allows them to be safer and more mobile. Currently, the most successful hands-free control devices are speech-command based. However, these devices use external microphones, and in field environments, e.g., war zones and fire sites, their performance suffers because of loud ambient noise: typically above 90dBA. This paper describes the development of technology using the ear as an output source that can provide excellent command recognition accuracy even in noisy environments. Instead of picking up speech radiating from the mouth, this technology detects speech transmitted internally through the ear canal. Discreet tongue movements also create air pressure changes within the ear canal, and can be used for stealth control. A patented earpiece was developed with a microphone pointed into the ear canal that captures these signals generated by tongue movements and speech. The signals are transmitted from the earpiece to an Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) through a wired connection. The UMPC processes the signals and utilizes them for device control. The processing can include command recognition, ambient noise cancellation, acoustic echo cancellation, and speech equalization. Successful control of an iRobot PackBot has been demonstrated with both speech (13 discrete commands) and tongue (5 discrete commands) signals. In preliminary tests, command recognition accuracy was 95% with speech control and 85% with tongue control.

An innovative, highly sensitive receiver system for the Square Kilometre Array Mid Radio Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Gie Han; Lehmensiek, Robert; Billade, Bhushan; Caputa, Krzysztof; Gauffre, Stéphane; Theron, Isak P.; Pantaleev, Miroslav; Ljusic, Zoran; Quertier, Benjamin; Peens-Hough, Adriaan

2016-07-01

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project is a global science and engineering project realizing the next-generation radio telescopes operating in the metre and centimetre wavelengths regions. This paper addresses design concepts of the broadband, exceptionally sensitive receivers and reflector antennas deployed in the SKA1-Mid radio telescope to be located in South Africa. SKA1-Mid (350 MHz - 13.8 GHz with an option for an upper limit of 24 GHz) will consist of 133 reflector antennas using an unblocked aperture, offset Gregorian configuration with an effective diameter of 15 m. Details on the unblocked aperture Gregorian antennas, low noise front ends and advanced direct digitization receivers, are provided from a system design perspective. The unblocked aperture results in increased aperture efficiency and lower side-lobe levels compared to a traditional on-axis configuration. The low side-lobe level reduces the noise contribution due to ground pick-up but also makes the antenna less susceptible to ground-based RFI sources. The addition of extra shielding on the sub-reflector provides a further reduction of ground pick-up. The optical design of the SKA1-Mid reflector antenna has been tweaked using advanced EM simulation tools in combination with sophisticated models for sky, atmospheric and ground noise contributions. This optimal antenna design in combination with very low noise, partially cryogenic, receivers and wide instantaneous bandwidth provide excellent receiving sensitivity in combination with instrumental flexibility to accommodate a wide range of astronomical observation modes.

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors Reduce Prandial Insulin Doses in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Treated With the Intensive Insulin Therapy.

PubMed

Hakoshima, Mariko; Yanai, Hidekatsu; Kakuta, Kouki; Adachi, Hiroki

2018-06-01

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are anti-diabetic drugs which improve blood glucose control by blocking reabsorption of glucose from the proximal tubule of kidney. Anti-atherosclerotic properties and cardiovascular protective effects of SGLT2i have been demonstrated by recent studies; however, the efficacy and safety of addition of SGLT2i to the intensive insulin therapy remain largely unknown. We retrospectively picked up patients hospitalized for treatment of type 2 diabetes, who had been treated by the intensive insulin therapy and whose treatment using by SGLT2i started during their hospitalization. Such patients were picked up between June 2014 and May 2017 based on medical charts. We found 12 eligible patients. Observation period was 10.2 ± 4.7 days, and SGLT2i was started at 12.2 ± 12.9 days after the admission. During observation period, nobody developed hypoglycemia. In spite of showing decrease of blood glucose (non-significant) before each meal, the addition of SGLT2i significantly reduced daily prandial insulin doses by approximately 4.6 units/day (-66%). The SGLT2i addition also decreased body weight by approximately 1.3 kg. Present study demonstrated that the addition of SGLT2i to intensive insulin therapy reduced prandial insulin doses and body weight, without the development of hypoglycemia. This result may be due to SGLT2i-mediated improvement of postprandial hyperglycemia by increasing urinary glucose excretion not via insulin secretion.

Design and experimental verification of an improved magnetostrictive energy harvester

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Germer, M.; Marschner, U.; Flatau, A. B.

2017-04-01

This paper summarizes and extends the modeling state of the art of magnetostrictive energy harvesters with a focus on the pick-up coil design. The harvester is a one-sided clamped galfenol unimorph loaded with two brass pieces each containing a permanent magnet to create a biased magnetic field. Measurements on different pick-up coils were conducted and compared with results from an analytic model. Resistance, mass and inductance were formulated and proved by measurements. Both the length for a constant number of turns and the number of turns for a constant coil length were also modeled and varied. The results confirm that the output voltage depends on the coil length for a constant number of turns and is higher for smaller coils. In contrast to a uniform magnetic field, the maximal output voltage is gained if the coil is placed not directly at but near the fixation. Two effects explain this behavior: Due to the permanent magnet next to the fixation, the magnetic force is higher and orientates the magnetic domains stronger. The clamping locally increases the stress and forces the magnetic domains to orientate, too. For that reason the material is stiffer and therefore the strain smaller. The tradeoff between a higher induced voltage in the coil and an increasing inductance and resistance for every additional turn are presented together with an experimental validation of the models. Based on the results guidelines are given to design an optimal coil which maximizes the output power for a given unimorph.

The relationship between emotion regulation strategies, personality traits and skin picking behaviours in a non-clinical sample of Polish adults.

PubMed

Prochwicz, Katarzyna; Kłosowska, Joanna; Kałużna-Wielobób, Alina

2018-06-01

Although skin-picking is a relatively common behaviour, data concerning factors which underlie skin-picking severity and functional impairment caused by picking are still limited. In the present study we examined whether some emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and personality features influence skin-picking in a university sample; the moderating role of personality traits in the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and skin-picking was also considered. A total sample of 252 adults (mean age 24.03; SD = 5.66) completed the Skin-Picking Scale-Revised, Temperament and Character Inventory and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. The linear regression analyses indicated that the use of cognitive reappraisal as emotion regulation strategy decrease skin-picking severity. Reduced novelty seeking and reduced self-directedness were identified as significant predictors of skin-picking severity, whereas decreased self-directedness and elevated cooperativeness predicted functional impairment caused by skin-picking. Further moderation analysis revealed that cognitive reappraisal decreases skin-picking severity only among individuals with low and moderate novelty seeking, however, not among those with high novelty seeking. These results indicate that emotion regulation strategies and specific personality traits are important factors associated with skin-picking behaviours in a university sample. Further research is needed to establish the link between emotion regulation strategies and personality traits in clinical sample. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relationship between adolescents' academic stress, impulsivity, anxiety, and skin picking behavior.

PubMed

Yeo, Sun Kyung; Lee, Woo Kyeong

2017-08-01

Skin picking behavior involves an individual picking or biting their skin repeatedly. Although this behavior commonly occurs at a young age, little research has addressed its harmful effects among the Korean population. Therefore, we examined the characteristics of South Korean adolescents who reported skin picking behavior. South Korean students aged 12-16 years participated (N=410, females=52.2%). They completed questionnaires that addressed skin picking behavior, academic stress, impulsivity, and anxiety. The survey was conducted in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do from February-March 2016. Among participants, 66.8% reported that they had picked their skin and 15.4% did so currently. Skin picking was positively correlated with academic stress, impulsivity, and anxiety. Students who picked their skin more often displayed more anxiety, academic stress, and impulsivity. Future studies should address skin picking adolescents' characteristics, especially regarding anxiety and academic stress. Educational programs should be implemented to help adolescents decrease their anxiety and academic stress and prevent the worsening of skin picking behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measured Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keating, Tom

2009-01-01

Many students think custodians are hired to pick up after them. And sometimes adult workers voice similarly negative impressions. What can education institutions do about this negative and improper thinking? Because of heightened concerns about invisible pathogens such as MRSA and swine flu, improved technologies are available to measure bacteria…

The Albatros L 72A : a German Newspaper Carrier with Slotted Wings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1926-01-01

The Albatros 72A is a normal tractor biplane specifically designed to deliver newspapers by dropping them overboard in bundles for ground transport to pick up. It has a 42 ft. wingspan, and a 220 HP B.M.W. engine.

CMOS active pixel sensor type imaging system on a chip

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fossum, Eric R. (Inventor); Nixon, Robert (Inventor)

2011-01-01

A single chip camera which includes an .[.intergrated.]. .Iadd.integrated .Iaddend.image acquisition portion and control portion and which has double sampling/noise reduction capabilities thereon. Part of the .[.intergrated.]. .Iadd.integrated .Iaddend.structure reduces the noise that is picked up during imaging.

77 FR 61477 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Hawaii; Regional Haze Federal...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-09

... Maui is subjected to strong trade winds on many days, and plantation practices of clearing and tilling... harvest, the cane fields are left bare and the loose topsoil is picked up by the trade winds and carried...

The University of Georgia Chemical Waste Disposal Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dreesen, David W.; Pohlman, Thomas J.

1980-01-01

Describes a university-wide program directed at reducing the improper storage and disposal of toxic chemical wastes from laboratories. Specific information is included on the implementation of a waste pick-up service, safety equipment, materials and methods for packaging, and costs of the program. (CS)

Multiple Gauges Best for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawchuk, Stephen

2013-01-01

Student feedback, test-score growth calculations, and observations of practice appear to pick up different but complementary information that, combined, can provide a balanced and accurate picture of teacher performance, according to research recently released from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A composite measure on teacher effectiveness…

Topical Backgrounder: Chemical Safety in Your Community: EPA's New Risk Management Program

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This May 1999 document is part of a series of publications on the RMP and issues related to chemical emergency management. Explains how the RMP requirements pick up where the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act left off.

Cratos: A Simple Low Power Excavation and Hauling System for Lunar Oxygen Production and General Excavation Tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caruso, John J.; Greer, Lawrence C.; John, Wentworth T.; Spina, Dan C.; Krasowski, Mike J.; Abel, Phillip B.; Prokop, Norman F.; Flatico, Joseph M.; Sacksteder, Kurt R.

2007-01-01

The development of a robust excavating and hauling system for lunar and planetary excavation is critical to the NASA mission to the Moon and Mars. Cratos was developed as a low center of gravity, small (.75m x .75m x 0.3m), low power tracked test vehicle. The vehicle was modified to excavate and haul because it demonstrated good performance capabilities in a laboratory and field testing. Tested on loose sand in the SLOPE facility, the vehicle was able to pick up, carry, and dump sand, allowing it to accomplish the standard requirements delivery of material to a lunar oxygen production site. Cratos can pick up and deliver raw material to a production plant, as well as deliver spent tailings to a disposal site. The vehicle can complete many other In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) excavation chores and in conjunction with another vehicle or with additional attachments may be able to accomplish all needed ISRU tasks.

Probable Diagnosis of a Patient with Niemann-Pick Disease Type C: Managing Pitfalls of Exome Sequencing.

PubMed

Zeiger, William A; Jamal, Nasheed I; Scheuner, Maren T; Pittman, Patricia; Raymond, Kimiyo M; Morra, Massimo; Mishra, Shri K

2018-02-17

Here, we present a case of a 31-year-old man with progressive cognitive decline, ataxia, and dystonia. Extensive laboratory, radiographic, and targeted genetic studies over the course of several years failed to yield a diagnosis. Initial whole exome sequencing through a commercial laboratory identified several variants of uncertain significance; however, follow-up clinical examination and testing ruled each of these out. Eventually, repeat whole exome sequencing identified a known pathogenic intronic variant in the NPC1 gene (NM_000271.4, c.1554-1009G>A) and an additional heterozygous exonic variant of uncertain significance in the NPC1 gene (NM_000271.4, c.2524T>C). Follow-up biochemical testing was consistent with a diagnosis of probable Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NP-C). This case illustrates the potential of whole exome sequencing for diagnosing rare complex neurologic diseases. It also identifies several potential common pitfalls that must be navigated by clinicians when interpreting commercial whole exome sequencing results.

The Comet Giacobini-Zinner magnetotail: Axial stresses and inferred near-nucleus properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccomas, D. J.; Gosling, J. T.; Bame, S. J.; Slavin, J. A.; Smith, E. J.; Steinberg, J. L.

1986-01-01

Utilizing the electron and magnetic field data from the ICE tail traversal of comet Giacobini-Zinner along with the MHD equations, a steady state, stress balance model of the cometary magnetotail was developed, and used to infer important but unmeasured ion properties within the magnetotail at ICE and upstream at the average point along each streamline where cometary ions are picked-up. The derived tailward ion flow speed at ICE is quite constant at approx. -20 to -30 km/sec across the entire tail. The flow velocity, ion temperature, density, and ion source rates upstream from the lobes (current sheet) at the average pick-up locations are approx. -75 km/sec (approx. -12), approx. 4 million K (approx. 100,000), approx. 20 cc (approx. 400), and approx. 15 cu cm/sec. Gradients in the plasma properties between the two regions are quite strong. Implications of inferred plasma properties for the near-nucleus region and for cometary magnetotail formation are examined.

The interaction of heavy ions from Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner with the solar wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanderson, T. R.; Wenzel, K.-P.; Daly, P.; Cowley, S. W. H.; Hynds, R. J.; Smith, E. J.; Bame, S. J.; Zwickl, R. D.

1986-04-01

The encounter between the ICE spacecraft and Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner was characterized in the solar wind by intense fluxes of heavy ions, measurable over a region 6 x 10 to the 6th km in extent. The ions are observed with highly anisotropic angular distributions, steep energy spectra, and a change in the energy spectrum at around 80 keV, consistent with a composition predominantly of the water group. Flux versus time profiles follow a general fall off with increasing distance from the comet, but with a marked inbound/outbound asymmetry. This asymmetry is due to the higher solar wind velocity on the outbound pass, giving rise to an increased energy gain of the pick-up ions. The flux versus time profiles are strongly modulated by the rapid changes in the direction of interplanetary magnetic field. Correlated observations of energetic ions, the interplanetary magnetic field and the solar wind are presented, and these observations are compared with theoretical predictions of the ion pick-up process.

Evaluating the Magnitude and Duration of Cold Load Pick-up on Residential Distribution Feeders Using Multi-State Load Models

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

Schneider, Kevin P.; Sortomme, Eric; Venkata, S. S.

The increased level of demand that is associated with the restoration of service after an outage, Cold Load Pick-Up (CLPU), can be significantly higher than pre-outage levels, even exceeding the normal distribution feeder peak demand. These high levels of demand can delay restoration efforts and in extreme cases damage equipment. The negative impacts of CLPU can be mitigated with strategies that restore the feeder in sections, minimizing the load current. The challenge for utilities is to manage the current level on critical equipment while minimizing the time to restore service to all customers. Accurately modeling CLPU events is the firstmore » step in developing improved restoration strategies that minimize restoration times. This paper presents a new method for evaluating the magnitude of the CLPU peak, and its duration, using multi-state load models. The use of multi-state load models allows for a more accurate representation of the end-use loads that are present on residential distribution feeders.« less

Case of ovarian hyperstimulation and oocyte pick-up during very early period of unnoticed pregnancy followed by ongoing normal pregnancy.

PubMed

Takenaka, Hiroshi; Nakao, Kazuki; Horikawa, Michiharu; Negishi, Hiroaki

2016-04-01

We report a case of unnoticed pregnancy that was maintained during low estrogen and progesterone circumstances, that showed menses-like bleeding, and was then discovered after ovarian hyperstimulation during the next period. The patient was 39 years old and primigravid. She underwent intrauterine insemination, followed by luteal support with human chorionic gonadotrophin and progestin; however, she experienced menstruation-like bleeding 15 days later. As low estradiol and progesterone levels were confirmed on the 2nd day of bleeding, ovarian hyperstimulation of short protocol for in vitro fertilization was commenced. Although 13 mature follicles were observed, only six oocytes were retrieved and one developed into a blastocyst. Four days after oocyte pick-up, a gestational sac was seen in utero. The fetus is currently growing uneventfully. This case suggests that pregnancy can be maintained during ovarian hyperstimulation, even if menstruation-like bleeding is shown in low-progesterone circumstances. © 2016 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Anti-Muellerian hormone levels in plasma of Holstein-Friesian heifers as a predictive parameter for ovum pick-up and embryo production outcomes

PubMed Central

VERNUNFT, Andreas; SCHWERHOFF, Mona; VIERGUTZ, Torsten; DIEDERICH, Mike; KUWER, Andreas

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether plasma anti-Muellerian hormone (AMH) levels of Holstein-Friesian heifers could be used to predict ovum pick-up (OPU) and embryo production outcomes. Plasma samples and data were collected from 64 heifers, which underwent repeated OPU with subsequent in vitro embryo production followed by embryo flushing after superovulation. AMH levels were significantly positively correlated with the number of follicles aspirated per OPU session (r = 0.45), recovered oocytes per OPU (r =0.43) and in vitro produced embryos per OPU (r = 0.28). No significant correlations between AMH and in vivo produced embryos were ascertained. Our results suggest that correlations between AMH and outcomes of an OPU-IVF program are too low to use AMH as a precise predictive parameter for the success of a particular OPU procedure in Holstein-Friesian heifers. However, AMH can help to identify groups of very good or very poor oocyte donors. PMID:25482112

Instabilities and Turbulence Generation by Pick-Up Ion Distributions in the Outer Heliosheath

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weichman, K.; Roytershteyn, V.; Delzanno, G. L.; Pogorelov, N.

2017-12-01

Pick-up ions (PUIs) play a significant role in the dynamics of the heliosphere. One problem that has attracted significant attention is the stability of ring-like distributions of PUIs and the electromagnetic fluctuations that could be generated by PUI distributions. For example, PUI stability is relevant to theories attempting to identify the origins of the IBEX ribbon. PUIs have previously been investigated by linear stability analysis of model (e.g. Gaussian) rings and corresponding computer simulations. The majority of these simulations utilized particle-in-cell methods which suffer from accuracy limitations imposed by the statistical noise associated with representing the plasma by a relatively small number of computational particles. In this work, we utilize highly accurate spectral Vlasov simulations conducted using the fully kinetic implicit code SPS (Spectral Plasma Solver) to investigate the PUI distributions inferred from a global heliospheric model (Heerikhuisen et al., 2016). Results are compared with those obtained by hybrid and fully kinetic particle-in-cell methods.

Lead identification and optimization of novel collagenase inhibitors; pharmacophore and structure based studies

PubMed Central

Kalva, Sukesh; Vadivelan, S; Sanam, Ramadevi; Jagarlapudi, Sarma ARP; Saleena, Lilly M

2012-01-01

In this study, chemical feature based pharmacophore models of MMP-1, MMP-8 and MMP-13 inhibitors have been developed with the aid of HypoGen module within Catalyst program package. In MMP-1 and MMP-13, all the compounds in the training set mapped HBA and RA, while in MMP-8, the training set mapped HBA and HY. These features revealed responsibility for the high molecular bioactivity, and this is further used as a three dimensional query to screen the knowledge based designed molecules. These pharmacophore models for collagenases picked up some potent and novel inhibitors. Subsequently, docking studies were performed for the potent molecules and novel hits were suggested for further studies based on the docking score and active site interactions in MMP-1, MMP-8 and MMP-13. PMID:22553386

TRACTOGRAPHY DENSITY AND NETWORK MEASURES IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.

PubMed

Prasad, Gautam; Nir, Talia M; Toga, Arthur W; Thompson, Paul M

2013-04-01

Brain connectivity declines in Alzheimer's disease (AD), both functionally and structurally. Connectivity maps and networks derived from diffusion-based tractography offer new ways to track disease progression and to understand how AD affects the brain. Here we set out to identify (1) which fiber network measures show greatest differences between AD patients and controls, and (2) how these effects depend on the density of fibers extracted by the tractography algorithm. We computed brain networks from diffusion-weighted images (DWI) of the brain, in 110 subjects (28 normal elderly, 56 with early and 11 with late mild cognitive impairment, and 15 with AD). We derived connectivity matrices and network topology measures, for each subject, from whole-brain tractography and cortical parcellations. We used an ODF lookup table to speed up fiber extraction, and to exploit the full information in the orientation distribution function (ODF). This made it feasible to compute high density connectivity maps. We used accelerated tractography to compute a large number of fibers to understand what effect fiber density has on network measures and in distinguishing different disease groups in our data. We focused on global efficiency, transitivity, path length, mean degree, density, modularity, small world, and assortativity measures computed from weighted and binary undirected connectivity matrices. Of all these measures, the mean nodal degree best distinguished diagnostic groups. High-density fiber matrices were most helpful for picking up the more subtle clinical differences, e.g. between mild cognitively impaired (MCI) and normals, or for distinguishing subtypes of MCI (early versus late). Care is needed in clinical analyses of brain connectivity, as the density of extracted fibers may affect how well a network measure can pick up differences between patients and controls.

United States Navy - Canadian forces solid state flight data recorder/crash position locator experiment on the B-720 controlled impact demonstration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watters, D. M.

1986-01-01

The operation of a radio beacon position locator during and after the remotely controlled transport aircraft is discussed. The radio beacon transmission was actuated and was picked up by the Navy P-3A chase aircraft for a short time, after which reception was lost. The pilot reported that he received a signal on both 121.5 MHz and 243 MHz for a period of approximately 5 seconds. Five minutes after the crash a portable direction finding unit located on the roof of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, 4 miles distant from the crash, was unable to pick up the beacon transmission. The fire crews started fighting the fires approximately 90 seconds after the time of impact. Navy personnel access to the crash site was allowed on the morning of December 2, 1984. Radio beacon locator was found resting top side up, 15 feet forward and 13 feet perpendicular from the tray location the starboard side of the aircraft. An immediate inspection indicated the airfoil suffered moderate fire damage with paint peeling but not intumescing. The visual marker strobe lamp housings were intact but extensively burned such that it was impossible to see if the lamps had survived. The airfoil suffered minor structural damage, with assorted dents, etc. The extended plunger on the ARU-21 release unit indicated that the pyrotechnic deployment system operated. The radio beacon base (tray) suffered some heat and fire damage, and was charred and blackened by smoke. The frangible switch in the nose survived and the switch in the belly was recovered and found to have actuated. It is assumed that this switch fired the ARU-21 squib. There were no other release switches installed in the normally open system in the aircraft.

Wind profiling based on the optical beam intensity statistics in a turbulent atmosphere.

PubMed

Banakh, Victor A; Marakasov, Dimitrii A

2007-10-01

Reconstruction of the wind profile from the statistics of intensity fluctuations of an optical beam propagating in a turbulent atmosphere is considered. The equations for the spatiotemporal correlation function and the spectrum of weak intensity fluctuations of a Gaussian beam are obtained. The algorithms of wind profile retrieval from the spatiotemporal intensity spectrum are described and the results of end-to-end computer experiments on wind profiling based on the developed algorithms are presented. It is shown that the developed algorithms allow retrieval of the wind profile from the turbulent optical beam intensity fluctuations with acceptable accuracy in many practically feasible laser measurements set up in the atmosphere.