Modeling of the Modulation by Buffers of Ca2+ Release through Clusters of IP3 Receptors

PubMed Central

Zeller, S.; Rüdiger, S.; Engel, H.; Sneyd, J.; Warnecke, G.; Parker, I.; Falcke, M.

2009-01-01

Abstract Intracellular Ca2+ release is a versatile second messenger system. It is modeled here by reaction-diffusion equations for the free Ca2+ and Ca2+ buffers, with spatially discrete clusters of stochastic IP3 receptor channels (IP3Rs) controlling the release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum. IP3Rs are activated by a small rise of the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration and inhibited by large concentrations. Buffering of cytosolic Ca2+ shapes global Ca2+ transients. Here we use a model to investigate the effect of buffers with slow and fast reaction rates on single release spikes. We find that, depending on their diffusion coefficient, fast buffers can either decouple clusters or delay inhibition. Slow buffers have little effect on Ca2+ release, but affect the time course of the signals from the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator mainly by competing for Ca2+. At low [IP3], fast buffers suppress fluorescence signals, slow buffers increase the contrast between bulk signals and signals at open clusters, and large concentrations of buffers, either fast or slow, decouple clusters. PMID:19686646

Biomechanics of the incudo-malleolar-joint - Experimental investigations for quasi-static loads.

PubMed

Ihrle, S; Gerig, R; Dobrev, I; Röösli, C; Sim, J H; Huber, A M; Eiber, A

2016-10-01

Under large quasi-static loads, the incudo-malleolar joint (IMJ), connecting the malleus and the incus, is highly mobile. It can be classified as a mechanical filter decoupling large quasi-static motions while transferring small dynamic excitations. This is presumed to be due to the complex geometry of the joint inducing a spatial decoupling between the malleus and incus under large quasi-static loads. Spatial Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) displacement measurements on isolated malleus-incus-complexes (MICs) were performed. With the malleus firmly attached to a probe holder, the incus was excited by applying quasi-static forces at different points. For each force application point the resulting displacement was measured subsequently at different points on the incus. The location of the force application point and the LDV measurement points were calculated in a post-processing step combining the position of the LDV points with geometric data of the MIC. The rigid body motion of the incus was then calculated from the multiple displacement measurements for each force application point. The contact regions of the articular surfaces for different load configurations were calculated by applying the reconstructed motion to the geometry model of the MIC and calculate the minimal distance of the articular surfaces. The reconstructed motion has a complex spatial characteristic and varies for different force application points. The motion changed with increasing load caused by the kinematic guidance of the articular surfaces of the joint. The IMJ permits a relative large rotation around the anterior-posterior axis through the joint when a force is applied at the lenticularis in lateral direction before impeding the motion. This is part of the decoupling of the malleus motion from the incus motion in case of large quasi-static loads. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Announcement/Subscription/Publication: Message Based Communication for Heterogeneous Mobile Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ristau, Henry

Many tasks in smart environments can be implemented using message based communication paradigms that decouple applications in time, space, synchronization and semantics. Current solutions for decoupled message based communication either do not support message processing and thus semantic decoupling or rely on clearly defined network structures. In this paper we present ASP, a novel concept for such communication that can directly operate on neighbor relations between brokers and does not rely on a homogeneous addressing scheme or anymore than simple link layer communication. We show by simulation that ASP performs well in a heterogeneous scenario with mobile nodes and decreases network or processor load significantly compared to message flooding.

Indirectly detected chemical shift correlation NMR spectroscopy in solids under fast magic angle spinning

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

Mao, Kanmi

The development of fast magic angle spinning (MAS) opened up an opportunity for the indirect detection of insensitive low-γ nuclei (e.g., 13C and 15N) via the sensitive high-{gamma} nuclei (e.g., 1H and 19F) in solid-state NMR, with advanced sensitivity and resolution. In this thesis, new methodology utilizing fast MAS is presented, including through-bond indirectly detected heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) spectroscopy, which is assisted by multiple RF pulse sequences for 1H- 1H homonuclear decoupling. Also presented is a simple new strategy for optimization of 1H- 1H homonuclear decoupling. As applications, various classes of materials, such as catalytic nanoscale materials, biomolecules, and organic complexes, are studied by combining indirect detection and other one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR techniques. Indirectly detected through-bond HETCOR spectroscopy utilizing refocused INEPT (INEPTR) mixing was developed under fast MAS (Chapter 2). The time performance of this approach in 1H detected 2D 1H{l_brace} 13C{r_brace} spectra was significantly improved, by a factor of almost 10, compared to the traditional 13C detected experiments, as demonstrated by measuring naturally abundant organic-inorganic mesoporous hybrid materials. The through-bond scheme was demonstrated as a new analytical tool, which provides complementary structural information in solid-state systems in addition to through-space correlation. To further benefit the sensitivity of the INEPT transfer in rigid solids, the combined rotation and multiple-pulse spectroscopy (CRAMPS) was implemented for homonuclear 1H decoupling under fast MAS (Chapter 3). Several decoupling schemes (PMLG5 m more » $$\\bar{x}$$, PMLG5 mm $$\\bar{x}$$x and SAM3) were analyzed to maximize the performance of through-bond transfer based on decoupling efficiency as well as scaling factors. Indirect detection with assistance of PMLG m $$\\bar{x}$$ during INEPTR transfer proved to offer the highest sensitivity gains of 3-10. In addition, the CRAMPS sequence was applied under fast MAS to increase the 1H resolution during t 1 evolution in the traditional, 13C detected HETCOR scheme. Two naturally abundant solids, tripeptide N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (f-MLF-OH) and brown coal, with well ordered and highly disordered structures, respectively, are studied to confirm the capabilities of these techniques. Concomitantly, a simple optimization of 1H homonuclear dipolar decoupling at MAS rates exceeding 10 kHz was developed (Chapter 4). The fine-tuned decoupling efficiency can be obtained by minimizing the signal loss due to transverse relaxation in a simple spin-echo experiment, using directly the sample of interest. The excellent agreement between observed decoupling pattern and earlier theoretical predictions confirmed the utility of this strategy. The properties of naturally abundant surface-bound fluorocarbon groups in mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were investigated by the above-mentioned multidimensional solid-state NMR experiments and theoretical modeling (Chapter 5). Two conformations of (pentafluorophenyl)propyl groups (abbreviated as PFP) were determined as PFP-prone and PFP-upright, whose aromatic rings are located above the siloxane bridges and in roughly upright position, respectively. Several 1D and 2D NMR techniques were implemented in the characterizations, including indirectly detected 1H{l_brace} 13C{r_brace} and 19F{l_brace} 13C{r_brace} 2D HETCOR, Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) assisted 29Si direct polarization and 29Si 19F 2D experiments, 2D double-quantum (DQ) 19F MAS NMR spectra and spin-echo measurements. Furthermore, conformational details of two types of PFP were confirmed by theoretical calculation, operated by Dr. Takeshi Kobayashi. Finally, the arrangement of two surfactants, cetyltrimetylammoium bromide (CTAB) and cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB), mixed inside the MSN pores, was studied by solid-state NMR (Chapter 6). By analyzing the 1H- 1H DQMAS and NOESY correlation spectra, the CTAB and CPB molecules were shown to co-exist inside the pores without forming significant monocomponent domains. A 'folded-over' conformation of CPB headgroups was proposed according to the results from 1H- 29Si 2D HETCOR.« less

Modal space three-state feedback control for electro-hydraulic servo plane redundant driving mechanism with eccentric load decoupling.

PubMed

Zhao, Jinsong; Wang, Zhipeng; Zhang, Chuanbi; Yang, Chifu; Bai, Wenjie; Zhao, Zining

2018-06-01

The shaking table based on electro-hydraulic servo parallel mechanism has the advantage of strong carrying capacity. However, the strong coupling caused by the eccentric load not only affects the degree of freedom space control precision, but also brings trouble to the system control. A novel decoupling control strategy is proposed, which is based on modal space to solve the coupling problem for parallel mechanism with eccentric load. The phenomenon of strong dynamic coupling among degree of freedom space is described by experiments, and its influence on control design is discussed. Considering the particularity of plane motion, the dynamic model is built by Lagrangian method to avoid complex calculations. The dynamic equations of the coupling physical space are transformed into the dynamic equations of the decoupling modal space by using the weighted orthogonality of the modal main mode with respect to mass matrix and stiffness matrix. In the modal space, the adjustments of the modal channels are independent of each other. Moreover, the paper discusses identical closed-loop dynamic characteristics of modal channels, which will realize decoupling for degree of freedom space, thus a modal space three-state feedback control is proposed to expand the frequency bandwidth of each modal channel for ensuring their near-identical responses in a larger frequency range. Experimental results show that the concept of modal space three-state feedback control proposed in this paper can effectively reduce the strong coupling problem of degree of freedom space channels, which verify the effectiveness of the proposed model space state feedback control strategy for improving the control performance of the electro-hydraulic servo plane redundant driving mechanism. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamics of Marine Zooplankton: Social Behavior, Ecological Interactions, and Physically-Induced Variability

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

97 3.3.2 Steady-state solutions ..... ........................ 100 3.4 Ecosystem dynamics ...... ............................. 102 3.4.1 Fast ...zooplankton motion is decoupled from biological ac- tivities, as calculated in Flier] et al. (1999). When the diffusion rate is fast compared to phytoplankton...homogenize the zooplankton distribution, which remains spatially more intermit - tent than a passive scalar field. The last panel shows the index for

Decoupling suspension controller based on magnetic flux feedback.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenqing; Li, Jie; Zhang, Kun; Cui, Peng

2013-01-01

The suspension module control system model has been established based on MIMO (multiple input and multiple output) state feedback linearization. We have completed decoupling between double suspension points, and the new decoupling method has been applied to CMS04 magnetic suspension vehicle in national mid-low-speed maglev experiment field of Tangshan city in China. Double suspension system model is very accurate for investigating stability property of maglev control system. When magnetic flux signal is taken back to the suspension control system, the suspension module's antijamming capacity for resisting suspension load variety has been proved. Also, the external force interference has been enhanced. As a result, the robustness and stability properties of double-electromagnet suspension control system have been enhanced.

Decoupling Suspension Controller Based on Magnetic Flux Feedback

PubMed Central

Zhang, Wenqing; Li, Jie; Zhang, Kun; Cui, Peng

2013-01-01

The suspension module control system model has been established based on MIMO (multiple input and multiple output) state feedback linearization. We have completed decoupling between double suspension points, and the new decoupling method has been applied to CMS04 magnetic suspension vehicle in national mid-low-speed maglev experiment field of Tangshan city in China. Double suspension system model is very accurate for investigating stability property of maglev control system. When magnetic flux signal is taken back to the suspension control system, the suspension module's antijamming capacity for resisting suspension load variety has been proved. Also, the external force interference has been enhanced. As a result, the robustness and stability properties of double-electromagnet suspension control system have been enhanced. PMID:23844415

Two-degrees-of-freedom piezo-driven fast steering mirror with cross-axis decoupling capability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Shubao; Tian, Zheng; Song, Siyang; Xu, Minglong

2018-05-01

Because mechanical cross coupling between its axes would lead to degradation of the scanning precision of a piezo-driven fast steering mirror (PFSM), a two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DoF) PFSM with a cross-axis decoupling capability, in which 2-DoF flexure hinges are used, is proposed in this work. The overall structure of the proposed PFSM is first introduced and then both static and dynamic models are established analytically; in addition, the decoupling mechanism is described in detail and the low dynamic cross coupling ratios that occur between the two DoFs are shown. Because of the decoupling property of the PFSM, the 2-DoF motion is treated as a combination of two independent one-degree-of-freedom (1-DoF) motions and two independent proportional-integral-derivative controllers are thus used separately in the control of the two DoFs. Based on this control strategy, experiments involving both 1-DoF trajectory tracking and 2-DoF trajectory tracking are implemented. The test results show that the proposed PFSM can achieve the tilt range of ±7 mrad for both axes with the low coupling ratios that are less than 2% (-34 dB), and the bandwidths of both axes are higher than 810 Hz; in addition, the maximal tracking full scale range errors for 1-DoF trajectory tracking and 2-DoF trajectory tracking are less than 0.2% and 1%, respectively, where the larger error of 2-DoF trajectory tracking is mainly caused by the remaining cross coupling between axes.

Synthesis and operation of an FFT-decoupled fixed-order reversed-field pinch plasma control system based on identification data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olofsson, K. Erik J.; Brunsell, Per R.; Witrant, Emmanuel; Drake, James R.

2010-10-01

Recent developments and applications of system identification methods for the reversed-field pinch (RFP) machine EXTRAP T2R have yielded plasma response parameters for decoupled dynamics. These data sets are fundamental for a real-time implementable fast Fourier transform (FFT) decoupled discrete-time fixed-order strongly stabilizing synthesis as described in this work. Robustness is assessed over the data set by bootstrap calculation of the sensitivity transfer function worst-case H_{\\infty} -gain distribution. Output tracking and magnetohydrodynamic mode m = 1 tracking are considered in the same framework simply as two distinct weighted traces of a performance channel output-covariance matrix as derived from the closed-loop discrete-time Lyapunov equation. The behaviour of the resulting multivariable controller is investigated with dedicated T2R experiments.

Two-time scale fatigue modelling: application to damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devulder, Anne; Aubry, Denis; Puel, Guillaume

2010-05-01

A temporal multiscale modelling applied to fatigue damage evolution in cortical bone is presented. Microdamage accumulation in cortical bone, ensued from daily activities, leads to impaired mechanical properties, in particular by reducing the bone stiffness and inducing fatigue. However, bone damage is also known as a stimulus to bone remodelling, whose aim is to repair and generate new bone, adapted to its environment. This biological process by removing fatigue damage seems essential to the skeleton lifetime. As daily activities induce high frequency cycles (about 10,000 cycles a day), identifying two-time scale is very fruitful: a fast one connected with the high frequency cyclic loading and a slow one related to a quasi-static loading. A scaling parameter is defined between the intrinsic time (bone lifetime of several years) and the high frequency loading (few seconds). An asymptotic approach allows to decouple the two scales and to take into account history effects (Guennouni and Aubry in CR Acad Sci Paris Ser II 20:1765-1767, 1986). The method is here applied to a simple case of fatigue damage and a real cortical bone microstructure. A significant reduction in the amount of computation time in addition to a small computational error between time homogenized and non homogenized models are obtained. This method seems thus to give new perspectives to assess fatigue damage and, with regard to bone, to give a better understanding of bone remodelling.

Band-selective excited ultrahigh resolution PSYCHE-TOCSY: fast screening of organic molecules and complex mixtures.

PubMed

Kakita, Veera Mohana Rao; Vemulapalli, Sahithya Phani Babu; Bharatam, Jagadeesh

2016-04-01

Precise assignments of (1) H atomic sites and establishment of their through-bond COSY or TOCSY connectivity are crucial for molecular structural characterization by using (1) H NMR spectroscopy. However, this exercise is often hampered by signal overlap, primarily because of (1) H-(1) H scalar coupling multiplets, even at typical high magnetic fields. The recent developments in homodecoupling strategies for effectively suppressing the coupling multiplets into nice singlets (pure-shift), particularly, Morris's advanced broadband pure-shift yielded by chirp excitation (PSYCHE) decoupling and ultrahigh resolution PSYCHE-TOCSY schemes, have shown new possibilities for unambiguous structural elucidation of complex organic molecules. The superior broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY exhibits enhanced performance over the earlier TOCSY methods, which however warrants prolonged experimental times due to the requirement of large number of dwell increments along the indirect dimension. Herein, we present fast and band-selective analog of the broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY, which is useful for analyzing complex organic molecules that exhibit characteristic yet crowded spectral regions. The simple pulse scheme relies on band-selective excitation (BSE) followed by PSYCHE homodecoupling in the indirect dimension. The BSE-PSYCHE-TOCSY has been exemplified for Estradiol and a complex carbohydrate mixture comprised of six constituents of closely comparable molecular weights. The experimental times are greatly reduced viz., ~20 fold for Estradiol and ~10 fold for carbohydrate mixture, with respect to the broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY. Furthermore, unlike the earlier homonuclear band-selective decoupling, the BSE-PSYCHE-decoupling provides fully decoupled pure-shift spectra for all the individual chemical sites within the excited band. The BSE-PSYCHE-TOCSY is expected to have significant potential for quick screening of complex organic molecules and mixtures at ultrahigh resolution. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Virtual decoupling flight control via real-time trajectory synthesis and tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xuefu

The production of the General Aviation industry has declined in the past 25 years. Ironically, however, the increasing demand for air travel as a fast, safe, and high-quality mode of transportation has been far from satisfied. Addressing this demand shortfall with personal air transportation necessitates advanced systems for navigation, guidance, control, flight management, and flight traffic control. Among them, an effective decoupling flight control system will not only improve flight quality, safety, and simplicity, and increase air space usage, but also reduce expenses on pilot initial and current training, and thus expand the current market and explore new markets. Because of the formidable difficulties encountered in the actual decoupling of non-linear, time-variant, and highly coupled flight control systems through traditional approaches, a new approach, which essentially converts the decoupling problem into a real-time trajectory synthesis and tracking problem, is employed. Then, the converted problem is solved and a virtual decoupling effect is achieved. In this approach, a trajectory in inertial space can be predefined and dynamically modified based on the flight mission and the pilot's commands. A feedforward-feedback control architecture is constructed to guide the airplane along the trajectory as precisely as possible. Through this approach, the pilot has much simpler, virtually decoupled control of the airplane in terms of speed, flight path angle and horizontal radius of curvature. To verify and evaluate this approach, extensive computer simulation is performed. A great deal of test cases are designed for the flight control under different flight conditions. The simulation results show that our decoupling strategy is satisfactory and promising, and therefore the research can serve as a consolidated foundation for future practical applications.

Decoupling control of a five-phase fault-tolerant permanent magnet motor by radial basis function neural network inverse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Qian; Liu, Guohai; Xu, Dezhi; Xu, Liang; Xu, Gaohong; Aamir, Nazir

2018-05-01

This paper proposes a new decoupled control for a five-phase in-wheel fault-tolerant permanent magnet (IW-FTPM) motor drive, in which radial basis function neural network inverse (RBF-NNI) and internal model control (IMC) are combined. The RBF-NNI system is introduced into original system to construct a pseudo-linear system, and IMC is used as a robust controller. Hence, the newly proposed control system incorporates the merits of the IMC and RBF-NNI methods. In order to verify the proposed strategy, an IW-FTPM motor drive is designed based on dSPACE real-time control platform. Then, the experimental results are offered to verify that the d-axis current and the rotor speed are successfully decoupled. Besides, the proposed motor drive exhibits strong robustness even under load torque disturbance.

The role of stress waves in thoracic visceral injury from blast loading: modification of stress transmission by foams and high-density materials.

PubMed

Cooper, G J; Townend, D J; Cater, S R; Pearce, B P

1991-01-01

Materials have been applied to the thoracic wall of anaesthetised experimental animals exposed to blast overpressure to investigate the coupling of direct stress waves into the thorax and the relative contribution of compressive stress waves and gross thoracic compression to lung injury. The ultimate purpose of the work is to develop effective personal protection from the primary effects of blast overpressure--efficient protection can only be achieved if the injury mechanism is identified and characterized. Foam materials acted as acoustic couplers and resulted in a significant augmentation of the visceral injury; decoupling and elimination of injury were achieved by application of a high acoustic impedance layer on top of the foam. In vitro experiments studying stress wave transmission from air through various layers into an anechoic water chamber showed a significant increase in power transmitted by the foams, principally at high frequencies. Material such as copper or resin bonded Kevlar incorporated as a facing upon the foam achieved substantial decoupling at high frequencies--low frequency transmission was largely unaffected. An acoustic transmission model replicated the coupling of the blast waves into the anechoic water chamber. The studies suggest that direct transmission of stress waves plays a dominant role in lung parenchymal injury from blast loading and that gross thoracic compression is not the primary injury mechanism. Acoustic decoupling principles may therefore be employed to reduce the direct stress coupled into the body and thus reduce the severity of lung injury--the most simple decoupler is a high acoustic impedance material as a facing upon a foam, but decoupling layers may be optimized using acoustic transmission models. Conventional impacts producing high body wall velocities will also lead to stress wave generation and transmission--stress wave effects may dominate the visceral response to the impact with direct compression and shear contributing little to the aetiology of the injury.

Decoupling the structure from the ground motion during earthquakes by employing friction pendulums

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillich, G. R.; Iancu, V.; Gillich, N.; Korka, Z. I.; Chioncel, C. P.; Hatiegan, C.

2018-01-01

Avoiding dynamic loads on structures during earthquakes is an actual issue since seismic actions can harm or destroy the built environment. Several attempts to prevent this are possible, the essence being to decouple the structure from the ground motion during earthquakes and preventing in this way large deflections and high accelerations. A common approach is the use of friction pendulums, with cylindrical or spherical surfaces but not limited to that, inserted between the ground and the structure, respectively between the pillar and the superstructure. This type of bearings permits small pendulum motion and in this way, earthquake-induced displacements that occur in the bearings are not integrally transmitted to the structure. The consequence is that the structure is subject to greatly reduced lateral loads and shaking movements. In the experiments, conducted to prove the efficiency of the friction pendulums, we made use of an own designed and manufactured shaking table. Two types of sliding surfaces are analyzed, one polynomial of second order (i.e. circular) and one of a superior order. For both pendulum types, analytical models were developed. The results have shown that the structure is really decoupled from the ground motion and has a similar behaviour as that described by the analytic model.

Decoupling Principle Analysis and Development of a Parallel Three-Dimensional Force Sensor

PubMed Central

Zhao, Yanzhi; Jiao, Leihao; Weng, Dacheng; Zhang, Dan; Zheng, Rencheng

2016-01-01

In the development of the multi-dimensional force sensor, dimension coupling is the ubiquitous factor restricting the improvement of the measurement accuracy. To effectively reduce the influence of dimension coupling on the parallel multi-dimensional force sensor, a novel parallel three-dimensional force sensor is proposed using a mechanical decoupling principle, and the influence of the friction on dimension coupling is effectively reduced by making the friction rolling instead of sliding friction. In this paper, the mathematical model is established by combining with the structure model of the parallel three-dimensional force sensor, and the modeling and analysis of mechanical decoupling are carried out. The coupling degree (ε) of the designed sensor is defined and calculated, and the calculation results show that the mechanical decoupling parallel structure of the sensor possesses good decoupling performance. A prototype of the parallel three-dimensional force sensor was developed, and FEM analysis was carried out. The load calibration and data acquisition experiment system are built, and then calibration experiments were done. According to the calibration experiments, the measurement accuracy is less than 2.86% and the coupling accuracy is less than 3.02%. The experimental results show that the sensor system possesses high measuring accuracy, which provides a basis for the applied research of the parallel multi-dimensional force sensor. PMID:27649194

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

Yu, Bingbin; Karr, Dale G.; Song, Huimin

It is a fact that developing offshore wind energy has become more and more serious worldwide in recent years. Many of the promising offshore wind farm locations are in cold regions that may have ice cover during wintertime. The challenge of possible ice loads on offshore wind turbines raises the demand of modeling capacity of dynamic wind turbine response under the joint action of ice, wind, wave, and current. The simulation software FAST is an open source computer-aided engineering (CAE) package maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In this paper, a new module of FAST for assessing the dynamicmore » response of offshore wind turbines subjected to ice forcing is presented. In the ice module, several models are presented which involve both prescribed forcing and coupled response. For conditions in which the ice forcing is essentially decoupled from the structural response, ice forces are established from existing models for brittle and ductile ice failure. For conditions in which the ice failure and the structural response are coupled, such as lock-in conditions, a rate-dependent ice model is described, which is developed in conjunction with a new modularization framework for FAST. In this paper, analytical ice mechanics models are presented that incorporate ice floe forcing, deformation, and failure. For lower speeds, forces slowly build until the ice strength is reached and ice fails resulting in a quasi-static condition. For intermediate speeds, the ice failure can be coupled with the structural response and resulting in coinciding periods of the ice failure and the structural response. A third regime occurs at high speeds of encounter in which brittle fracturing of the ice feature occurs in a random pattern, which results in a random vibration excitation of the structure. An example wind turbine response is simulated under ice loading of each of the presented models. This module adds to FAST the capabilities for analyzing the response of wind turbines subjected to forces resulting from ice impact on the turbine support structure. The conditions considered in this module are specifically addressed in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 19906:2010 for arctic offshore structures design consideration. Special consideration of lock-in vibrations is required due to the detrimental effects of such response with regard to fatigue and foundation/soil response. Finally, the use of FAST for transient, time domain simulation with the new ice module is well suited for such analyses.« less

Neural network based load and price forecasting and confidence interval estimation in deregulated power markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Li

With the deregulation of the electric power market in New England, an independent system operator (ISO) has been separated from the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL). The ISO provides a regional spot market, with bids on various electricity-related products and services submitted by utilities and independent power producers. A utility can bid on the spot market and buy or sell electricity via bilateral transactions. Good estimation of market clearing prices (MCP) will help utilities and independent power producers determine bidding and transaction strategies with low risks, and this is crucial for utilities to compete in the deregulated environment. MCP prediction, however, is difficult since bidding strategies used by participants are complicated and MCP is a non-stationary process. The main objective of this research is to provide efficient short-term load and MCP forecasting and corresponding confidence interval estimation methodologies. In this research, the complexity of load and MCP with other factors is investigated, and neural networks are used to model the complex relationship between input and output. With improved learning algorithm and on-line update features for load forecasting, a neural network based load forecaster was developed, and has been in daily industry use since summer 1998 with good performance. MCP is volatile because of the complexity of market behaviors. In practice, neural network based MCP predictors usually have a cascaded structure, as several key input factors need to be estimated first. In this research, the uncertainties involved in a cascaded neural network structure for MCP prediction are analyzed, and prediction distribution under the Bayesian framework is developed. A fast algorithm to evaluate the confidence intervals by using the memoryless Quasi-Newton method is also developed. The traditional back-propagation algorithm for neural network learning needs to be improved since MCP is a non-stationary process. The extended Kalman filter (EKF) can be used as an integrated adaptive learning and confidence interval estimation algorithm for neural networks, with fast convergence and small confidence intervals. However, EKF learning is computationally expensive because it involves high dimensional matrix manipulations. A modified U-D factorization within the decoupled EKF (DEKF-UD) framework is developed in this research. The computational efficiency and numerical stability are significantly improved.

E-beam high voltage switching power supply

DOEpatents

Shimer, Daniel W.; Lange, Arnold C.

1997-01-01

A high power, solid state power supply is described for producing a controllable, constant high voltage output under varying and arcing loads suitable for powering an electron beam gun or other ion source. The present power supply is most useful for outputs in a range of about 100-400 kW or more. The power supply is comprised of a plurality of discrete switching type dc-dc converter modules, each comprising a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, and an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module. The inputs to the converter modules are fed from a common dc rectifier/filter and are linked together in parallel through decoupling networks to suppress high frequency input interactions. The outputs of the converter modules are linked together in series and connected to the input of the transmission line to the load through a decoupling and line matching network. The dc-dc converter modules are phase activated such that for n modules, each module is activated equally 360.degree./n out of phase with respect to a successive module. The phased activation of the converter modules, combined with the square current waveforms out of the step up transformers, allows the power supply to operate with greatly reduced output capacitance values which minimizes the stored energy available for discharge into an electron beam gun or the like during arcing. The present power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle using simulated voltage feedback signals and voltage feedback loops. Circuitry is also provided for sensing incipient arc currents reflected at the output of the power supply and for simultaneously decoupling the power supply circuitry from the arcing load.

E-beam high voltage switching power supply

DOEpatents

Shimer, D.W.; Lange, A.C.

1997-03-11

A high power, solid state power supply is described for producing a controllable, constant high voltage output under varying and arcing loads suitable for powering an electron beam gun or other ion source. The present power supply is most useful for outputs in a range of about 100-400 kW or more. The power supply is comprised of a plurality of discrete switching type dc-dc converter modules, each comprising a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, and an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module. The inputs to the converter modules are fed from a common dc rectifier/filter and are linked together in parallel through decoupling networks to suppress high frequency input interactions. The outputs of the converter modules are linked together in series and connected to the input of the transmission line to the load through a decoupling and line matching network. The dc-dc converter modules are phase activated such that for n modules, each module is activated equally 360{degree}/n out of phase with respect to a successive module. The phased activation of the converter modules, combined with the square current waveforms out of the step up transformers, allows the power supply to operate with greatly reduced output capacitance values which minimizes the stored energy available for discharge into an electron beam gun or the like during arcing. The present power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle using simulated voltage feedback signals and voltage feedback loops. Circuitry is also provided for sensing incipient arc currents reflected at the output of the power supply and for simultaneously decoupling the power supply circuitry from the arcing load. 7 figs.

A surface ice module for wind turbine dynamic response simulation using FAST

DOE PAGES

Yu, Bingbin; Karr, Dale G.; Song, Huimin; ...

2016-06-03

It is a fact that developing offshore wind energy has become more and more serious worldwide in recent years. Many of the promising offshore wind farm locations are in cold regions that may have ice cover during wintertime. The challenge of possible ice loads on offshore wind turbines raises the demand of modeling capacity of dynamic wind turbine response under the joint action of ice, wind, wave, and current. The simulation software FAST is an open source computer-aided engineering (CAE) package maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In this paper, a new module of FAST for assessing the dynamicmore » response of offshore wind turbines subjected to ice forcing is presented. In the ice module, several models are presented which involve both prescribed forcing and coupled response. For conditions in which the ice forcing is essentially decoupled from the structural response, ice forces are established from existing models for brittle and ductile ice failure. For conditions in which the ice failure and the structural response are coupled, such as lock-in conditions, a rate-dependent ice model is described, which is developed in conjunction with a new modularization framework for FAST. In this paper, analytical ice mechanics models are presented that incorporate ice floe forcing, deformation, and failure. For lower speeds, forces slowly build until the ice strength is reached and ice fails resulting in a quasi-static condition. For intermediate speeds, the ice failure can be coupled with the structural response and resulting in coinciding periods of the ice failure and the structural response. A third regime occurs at high speeds of encounter in which brittle fracturing of the ice feature occurs in a random pattern, which results in a random vibration excitation of the structure. An example wind turbine response is simulated under ice loading of each of the presented models. This module adds to FAST the capabilities for analyzing the response of wind turbines subjected to forces resulting from ice impact on the turbine support structure. The conditions considered in this module are specifically addressed in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 19906:2010 for arctic offshore structures design consideration. Special consideration of lock-in vibrations is required due to the detrimental effects of such response with regard to fatigue and foundation/soil response. Finally, the use of FAST for transient, time domain simulation with the new ice module is well suited for such analyses.« less

An Investigation in the Ames 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel of a YT-56A Turboprop Engine Incorporating a Decoupler and a Controlled-Feathering Device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogallo, Vernon L.; Yaggy, Paul F.; McCloud, John L., III

1954-01-01

An investigation of a decoupler and a controlled-feathering device incorporated with the YT-56A turboprop engine has been made to determine the effectiveness of these devices in reducing the high negative thrust (drag) which accompanies power failure of this type of engine. Power failures were simulated by fuel cut-off, both without either device free to operate, and with each device free to operate singly. The investigation was made through an airspeed range from 50 to 230 mph. It was found that with neither device free to operate, the drag levels realized after power failures at airspeeds above 170 mph would impose vertical tail loads higher than those allowable for the YC-130, the airplane for which the test power package was designed. These levels were reached in approximately one second. The maximum drag realized after power failure was not appreciably altered by the use of the decoupler although the decoupler did put a limit on the duration of the peak drag. The controlled-feathering device maintained a level of essentially zero drag after power failure. The use of the decoupler in the YT-56A engine complicates windmilling air-starting procedures and makes it necessary to place operating restrictions on the engine to assure safe flight at low-power conditions,

Robust Crossfeed Design for Hovering Rotorcraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Catapang, David R.

1993-01-01

Control law design for rotorcraft fly-by-wire systems normally attempts to decouple angular responses using fixed-gain crossfeeds. This approach can lead to poor decoupling over the frequency range of pilot inputs and increase the load on the feedback loops. In order to improve the decoupling performance, dynamic crossfeeds may be adopted. Moreover, because of the large changes that occur in rotorcraft dynamics due to small changes about the nominal design condition, especially for near-hovering flight, the crossfeed design must be 'robust'. A new low-order matching method is presented here to design robust crossfeed compensators for multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) systems. The technique identifies degrees-of-freedom that can be decoupled using crossfeeds, given an anticipated set of parameter variations for the range of flight conditions of concern. Cross-coupling is then reduced for degrees-of-freedom that can use crossfeed compensation by minimizing off-axis response magnitude average and variance. Results are presented for the analysis of pitch, roll, yaw and heave coupling of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in near-hovering flight. Robust crossfeeds are designed that show significant improvement in decoupling performance and robustness over nominal, single design point, compensators. The design method and results are presented in an easily used graphical format that lends significant physical insight to the design procedure. This plant pre-compensation technique is an appropriate preliminary step to the design of robust feedback control laws for rotorcraft.

Continental sedimentary processes decouple Nd and Hf isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garçon, Marion; Chauvel, Catherine; France-Lanord, Christian; Huyghe, Pascale; Lavé, Jérôme

2013-11-01

The neodymium and hafnium isotopic compositions of most crustal and mantle rocks correlate to form the "Terrestrial Array". However, it is now well established that whereas coarse detrital sediments follow this trend, fine-grained oceanic sediments have high Hf ratios relative to their Nd isotopic ratios. It remains uncertain whether this "decoupling" of the two isotopic systems only occurs in the oceanic environment or if it is induced by sedimentary processes in continental settings. In this study, the hafnium and neodymium isotopic compositions of sediments in large rivers is expressly used to constrain the behavior of the two isotopic systems during erosion and sediment transport from continent to ocean. We report major and trace element concentrations together with Nd and Hf isotopic compositions of bedloads, suspended loads and river banks from the Ganges River and its tributaries draining the Himalayan Range i.e. the Karnali, the Narayani, the Kosi and the Marsyandi Rivers. The sample set includes sediments sampled within the Himalayan Range in Nepal, at the Himalayan mountain front, and also downstream on the floodplain and at the outflow of the Ganges in Bangladesh. Results show that hydrodynamic sorting of minerals explains the entire Hf isotopic range, i.e. more than 10 εHf units, observed in the river sediments but does not affect the Nd isotopic composition. Bedloads and bank sediments have systematically lower εHf values than suspended loads sampled at the same location. Coarse-grained sediments lie below or on the Terrestrial Array in an εHf vs. εNd diagram. In contrast, fine-grained sediments, including most of the suspended loads, deviate from the Terrestrial Array toward higher εHf relative to their εNd, as is the case for oceanic terrigenous clays. The observed Nd-Hf decoupling is explained by mineralogical sorting processes that enrich bottom sediments in coarse and dense minerals, including unradiogenic zircons, while surface sediments are enriched in fine material with radiogenic Hf signatures. The data also show that Nd-Hf isotopic decoupling increases with sediment transport in the floodplain to reach its maximum at the river mouth. This implies that the Nd-Hf isotopic decoupling observed in worldwide oceanic clays and river sediments is likely to have the same origin. Finally, we estimated the Nd-Hf isotopic composition of the present-day mantle if oceanic sediments had never been subducted and conclude that the addition of oceanic sediments with their anomalous Nd-Hf isotopic compositions has slowly shifted the composition of the Earth's mantle towards more radiogenic Hf values through time.

Fast and simultaneous determination of 1 H-1 H and 1 H-19 F scalar couplings in complex spin systems: Application of PSYCHE homonuclear broadband decoupling.

PubMed

Kakita, Veera Mohana Rao; Rachineni, Kavitha; Hosur, Ramakrishna V

2017-07-21

The present manuscript focuses on fast and simultaneous determination of 1 H- 1 H and 1 H- 19 F scalar couplings in fluorinated complex steroid molecules. Incorporation of broadband PSYCHE homonuclear decoupling in the indirect dimension of zero-quantum filtered diagonal experiments (F1-PSYCHE-DIAG) suppresses 1 H- 1 H scalar couplings; however, it retains 1 H- 19 F scalar couplings (along F1 dimension) for the 19 F coupled protons while preserving the pure-shift nature for 1 H resonances uncoupled to 19 F. In such cases, along the direct dimensions, 1 H- 1 H scalar coupling multiplets deconvolute and they appear as duplicated multiplets for the 19 F coupled protons, which facilitates unambiguous discrimination of 19 F coupled 1 H chemical sites from the others. Further, as an added advantage, data acquisition has been accelerated by invoking the known ideas of spectral aliasing in the F1-PSYCHE-DIAG scheme and experiments demand only ~10 min of spectrometer times. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An efficient model for coupling structural vibrations with acoustic radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frendi, Abdelkader; Maestrello, Lucio; Ting, LU

1993-01-01

The scattering of an incident wave by a flexible panel is studied. The panel vibration is governed by the nonlinear plate equations while the loading on the panel, which is the pressure difference across the panel, depends on the reflected and transmitted waves. Two models are used to calculate this structural-acoustic interaction problem. One solves the three dimensional nonlinear Euler equations for the flow-field coupled with the plate equations (the fully coupled model). The second uses the linear wave equation for the acoustic field and expresses the load as a double integral involving the panel oscillation (the decoupled model). The panel oscillation governed by a system of integro-differential equations is solved numerically and the acoustic field is then defined by an explicit formula. Numerical results are obtained using the two models for linear and nonlinear panel vibrations. The predictions given by these two models are in good agreement but the computational time needed for the 'fully coupled model' is 60 times longer than that for 'the decoupled model'.

High intensity, pulsed thermal neutron source

DOEpatents

Carpenter, J.M.

1973-12-11

This invention relates to a high intensity, pulsed thermal neutron source comprising a neutron-producing source which emits pulses of fast neutrons, a moderator block adjacent to the last neutron source, a reflector block which encases the fast neutron source and the moderator block and has a thermal neutron exit port extending therethrough from the moderator block, and a neutron energy- dependent decoupling reflector liner covering the interior surfaces of the thermal neutron exit port and surrounding all surfaces of the moderator block except the surface viewed by the thermal neutron exit port. (Official Gazette)

On-Demand Microwave Generator of Shaped Single Photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forn-Díaz, P.; Warren, C. W.; Chang, C. W. S.; Vadiraj, A. M.; Wilson, C. M.

2017-11-01

We demonstrate the full functionality of a circuit that generates single microwave photons on demand, with a wave packet that can be modulated with a near-arbitrary shape. We achieve such a high tunability by coupling a superconducting qubit near the end of a semi-infinite transmission line. A dc superconducting quantum interference device shunts the line to ground and is employed to modify the spatial dependence of the electromagnetic mode structure in the transmission line. This control allows us to couple and decouple the qubit from the line, shaping its emission rate on fast time scales. Our decoupling scheme is applicable to all types of superconducting qubits and other solid-state systems and can be generalized to multiple qubits as well as to resonators.

Fast calculation of the line-spread-function by transversal directions decoupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parravicini, Jacopo; Tartara, Luca; Hasani, Elton; Tomaselli, Alessandra

2016-07-01

We propose a simplified method to calculate the optical spread function of a paradigmatic system constituted by a pupil-lens with a line-shaped illumination (‘line-spread-function’). Our approach is based on decoupling the two transversal directions of the beam and treating the propagation by means of the Fourier optics formalism. This requires simpler calculations with respect to the more usual Bessel-function-based method. The model is discussed and compared with standard calculation methods by carrying out computer simulations. The proposed approach is found to be much faster than the Bessel-function-based one (CPU time ≲ 5% of the standard method), while the results of the two methods present a very good mutual agreement.

Robust crossfeed design for hovering rotorcraft. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Catapang, David R.

1993-01-01

Control law design for rotorcraft fly-by-wire systems normally attempts to decouple angular responses using fixed-gain crossfeeds. This approach can lead to poor decoupling over the frequency range of pilot inputs and increase the load on the feedback loops. In order to improve the decoupling performance, dynamic crossfeeds may be adopted. Moreover, because of the large changes that occur in rotorcraft dynamics due to small changes about the nominal design condition, especially for near-hovering flight, the crossfeed design must be 'robust.' A new low-order matching method is presented here to design robost crossfeed compensators for multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) systems. The technique identifies degrees-of-freedom that can be decoupled using crossfeeds, given an anticipated set of parameter variations for the range of flight conditions of concern. Cross-coupling is then reduced for degrees-of-freedom that can use crossfeed compensation by minimizing off-axis response magnitude average and variance. Results are presented for the analysis of pitch, roll, yaw, and heave coupling of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in near-hovering flight. Robust crossfeeds are designed that show significant improvement in decoupling performance and robustness over nominal, single design point, compensators. The design method and results are presented in an easily-used graphical format that lends significant physical insight to the design procedure. This plant pre-compensation technique is an appropriate preliminary step to the design of robust feedback control laws for rotorcraft.

Quadrature transmit coil for breast imaging at 7 tesla using forced current excitation for improved homogeneity.

PubMed

McDougall, Mary Preston; Cheshkov, Sergey; Rispoli, Joseph; Malloy, Craig; Dimitrov, Ivan; Wright, Steven M

2014-11-01

To demonstrate the use of forced current excitation (FCE) to create homogeneous excitation of the breast at 7 tesla, insensitive to the effects of asymmetries in the electrical environment. FCE was implemented on two breast coils: one for quadrature (1) H imaging and one for proton-decoupled (13) C spectroscopy. Both were a Helmholtz-saddle combination, with the saddle tuned to 298 MHz for imaging and 75 MHz for spectroscopy. Bench measurements were acquired to demonstrate the ability to force equal currents on elements in the presence of asymmetric loading to improve homogeneity. Modeling and temperature measurements were conducted per safety protocol. B1 mapping, imaging, and proton-decoupled (13) C spectroscopy were demonstrated in vivo. Using FCE to ensure balanced currents on elements enabled straightforward tuning and maintaining of isolation between quadrature elements of the coil. Modeling and bench measurements confirmed homogeneity of the field, which resulted in images with excellent fat suppression and in broadband proton-decoupled carbon-13 spectra. FCE is a straightforward approach to ensure equal currents on multiple coil elements and a homogeneous excitation field, insensitive to the effects of asymmetries in the electrical environment. This enabled effective breast imaging and proton-decoupled carbon-13 spectroscopy at 7T. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Robust control of seismically excited cable stayed bridges with MR dampers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

YeganehFallah, Arash; Khajeh Ahamd Attari, Nader

2017-03-01

In recent decades active and semi-active structural control are becoming attractive alternatives for enhancing performance of civil infrastructures subjected to seismic and winds loads. However, in order to have reliable active and semi-active control, there is a need to include information of uncertainties in design of the controller. In real world for civil structures, parameters such as loading places, stiffness, mass and damping are time variant and uncertain. These uncertainties in many cases model as parametric uncertainties. The motivation of this research is to design a robust controller for attenuating the vibrational responses of civil infrastructures, regarding their dynamical uncertainties. Uncertainties in structural dynamic’s parameters are modeled as affine uncertainties in state space modeling. These uncertainties are decoupled from the system through Linear Fractional Transformation (LFT) and are assumed to be unknown input to the system but norm bounded. The robust H ∞ controller is designed for the decoupled system to regulate the evaluation outputs and it is robust to effects of uncertainties, disturbance and sensors noise. The cable stayed bridge benchmark which is equipped with MR damper is considered for the numerical simulation. The simulated results show that the proposed robust controller can effectively mitigate undesired uncertainties effects on systems’ responds under seismic loading.

Trusted measurement model based on multitenant behaviors.

PubMed

Ning, Zhen-Hu; Shen, Chang-Xiang; Zhao, Yong; Liang, Peng

2014-01-01

With a fast growing pervasive computing, especially cloud computing, the behaviour measurement is at the core and plays a vital role. A new behaviour measurement tailored for Multitenants in cloud computing is needed urgently to fundamentally establish trust relationship. Based on our previous research, we propose an improved trust relationship scheme which captures the world of cloud computing where multitenants share the same physical computing platform. Here, we first present the related work on multitenant behaviour; secondly, we give the scheme of behaviour measurement where decoupling of multitenants is taken into account; thirdly, we explicitly explain our decoupling algorithm for multitenants; fourthly, we introduce a new way of similarity calculation for deviation control, which fits the coupled multitenants under study well; lastly, we design the experiments to test our scheme.

Trusted Measurement Model Based on Multitenant Behaviors

PubMed Central

Ning, Zhen-Hu; Shen, Chang-Xiang; Zhao, Yong; Liang, Peng

2014-01-01

With a fast growing pervasive computing, especially cloud computing, the behaviour measurement is at the core and plays a vital role. A new behaviour measurement tailored for Multitenants in cloud computing is needed urgently to fundamentally establish trust relationship. Based on our previous research, we propose an improved trust relationship scheme which captures the world of cloud computing where multitenants share the same physical computing platform. Here, we first present the related work on multitenant behaviour; secondly, we give the scheme of behaviour measurement where decoupling of multitenants is taken into account; thirdly, we explicitly explain our decoupling algorithm for multitenants; fourthly, we introduce a new way of similarity calculation for deviation control, which fits the coupled multitenants under study well; lastly, we design the experiments to test our scheme. PMID:24987731

Singular perturbation and time scale approaches in discrete control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naidu, D. S.; Price, D. B.

1988-01-01

After considering a singularly perturbed discrete control system, a singular perturbation approach is used to obtain outer and correction subsystems. A time scale approach is then applied via block diagonalization transformations to decouple the system into slow and fast subsystems. To a zeroth-order approximation, the singular perturbation and time-scale approaches are found to yield equivalent results.

Towards a heralded eigenstate-preserving measurement of multi-qubit parity in circuit QED

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huembeli, Patrick; Nigg, Simon E.

2017-07-01

Eigenstate-preserving multi-qubit parity measurements lie at the heart of stabilizer quantum error correction, which is a promising approach to mitigate the problem of decoherence in quantum computers. In this work we explore a high-fidelity, eigenstate-preserving parity readout for superconducting qubits dispersively coupled to a microwave resonator, where the parity bit is encoded in the amplitude of a coherent state of the resonator. Detecting photons emitted by the resonator via a current biased Josephson junction yields information about the parity bit. We analyze theoretically the measurement back action in the limit of a strongly coupled fast detector and show that in general such a parity measurement, while approximately quantum nondemolition is not eigenstate preserving. To remediate this shortcoming we propose a simple dynamical decoupling technique during photon detection, which greatly reduces decoherence within a given parity subspace. Furthermore, by applying a sequence of fast displacement operations interleaved with the dynamical decoupling pulses, the natural bias of this binary detector can be efficiently suppressed. Finally, we introduce the concept of a heralded parity measurement, where a detector click guarantees successful multi-qubit parity detection even for finite detection efficiency.

Inertia coupling analysis of a self-decoupled wheel force transducer under multi-axis acceleration fields.

PubMed

Feng, Lihang; Lin, Guoyu; Zhang, Weigong; Dai, Dong

2015-01-01

Wheel force transducer (WFT), which measures the three-axis forces and three-axis torques applied to the wheel, is an important instrument in the vehicle testing field and has been extremely promoted by researchers with great interests. The transducer, however, is typically mounted on the wheel of a moving vehicle, especially on a high speed car, when abruptly accelerating or braking, the mass/inertia of the transducer/wheel itself will have an extra effect on the sensor response so that the inertia/mass loads will also be detected and coupled into the signal outputs. The effect which is considered to be inertia coupling problem will decrease the sensor accuracy. In this paper, the inertia coupling of a universal WFT under multi-axis accelerations is investigated. According to the self-decoupling approach of the WFT, inertia load distribution is solved based on the principle of equivalent mass and rotary inertia, thus then inertia impact can be identified with the theoretical derivation. The verification is achieved by FEM simulation and experimental tests. Results show that strains in simulation agree well with the theoretical derivation. The relationship between the applied acceleration and inertia load for both wheel force and moment is the approximate linear, respectively. All the relative errors are less than 5% which are within acceptable and the inertia loads have the maximum impact on the signal output about 1.5% in the measurement range.

Inertia Coupling Analysis of a Self-Decoupled Wheel Force Transducer under Multi-Axis Acceleration Fields

PubMed Central

Feng, Lihang; Lin, Guoyu; Zhang, Weigong; Dai, Dong

2015-01-01

Wheel force transducer (WFT), which measures the three-axis forces and three-axis torques applied to the wheel, is an important instrument in the vehicle testing field and has been extremely promoted by researchers with great interests. The transducer, however, is typically mounted on the wheel of a moving vehicle, especially on a high speed car, when abruptly accelerating or braking, the mass/inertia of the transducer/wheel itself will have an extra effect on the sensor response so that the inertia/mass loads will also be detected and coupled into the signal outputs. The effect which is considered to be inertia coupling problem will decrease the sensor accuracy. In this paper, the inertia coupling of a universal WFT under multi-axis accelerations is investigated. According to the self-decoupling approach of the WFT, inertia load distribution is solved based on the principle of equivalent mass and rotary inertia, thus then inertia impact can be identified with the theoretical derivation. The verification is achieved by FEM simulation and experimental tests. Results show that strains in simulation agree well with the theoretical derivation. The relationship between the applied acceleration and inertia load for both wheel force and moment is the approximate linear, respectively. All the relative errors are less than 5% which are within acceptable and the inertia loads have the maximum impact on the signal output about 1.5% in the measurement range. PMID:25723492

A COAXIAL MAGIC-T

DTIC Science & Technology

Three different designs of coaxial hybrid junctions having perf ormance analogous to a wave-guide magic -T are discussed. The experimental results...loads, decoupling greater than 70 db can be obtained. An application of the magic -T in phase measurement is described which is independent of the signal amplitude and is similar to the homodyne system of phase measurement.

Spatial decoupling of light absorption and catalytic activity of Ni-Mo-loaded high-aspect-ratio silicon microwire photocathodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vijselaar, Wouter; Westerik, Pieter; Veerbeek, Janneke; Tiggelaar, Roald M.; Berenschot, Erwin; Tas, Niels R.; Gardeniers, Han; Huskens, Jurriaan

2018-03-01

A solar-driven photoelectrochemical cell provides a promising approach to enable the large-scale conversion and storage of solar energy, but requires the use of Earth-abundant materials. Earth-abundant catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction, for example nickel-molybdenum (Ni-Mo), are generally opaque and require high mass loading to obtain high catalytic activity, which in turn leads to parasitic light absorption for the underlying photoabsorber (for example silicon), thus limiting production of hydrogen. Here, we show the fabrication of a highly efficient photocathode by spatially and functionally decoupling light absorption and catalytic activity. Varying the fraction of catalyst coverage over the microwires, and the pitch between the microwires, makes it possible to deconvolute the contributions of catalytic activity and light absorption to the overall device performance. This approach provided a silicon microwire photocathode that exhibited a near-ideal short-circuit photocurrent density of 35.5 mA cm-2, a photovoltage of 495 mV and a fill factor of 62% under AM 1.5G illumination, resulting in an ideal regenerative cell efficiency of 10.8%.

Wavefront coding for fast, high-resolution light-sheet microscopy (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olarte, Omar E.; Licea-Rodriguez, Jacob; Loza-Alvarez, Pablo

2017-02-01

Some biological experiments demand the observation of dynamics processes in 3D with high spatiotemporal resolution. The use of wavefront coding to extend the depth-of-field (DOF) of the collection arm of a light-sheet microscope is an interesting alternative for fast 3D imaging. Under this scheme, the 3D features of the sample are captured at high volumetric rates while the light sheet is swept rapidly within the extended DOF. The DOF is extended by coding the pupil function of the imaging lens by using a custom-designed phase mask. A posterior restoration step is required to decode the information of the captured images based on the applied phase mask [1]. This hybrid optical-digital approach is known as wavefront coding (WFC). Previously, we have demonstrated this method for performing fast 3D imaging of biological samples at medium resolution [2]. In this work, we present the extension of this approach for high-resolution microscopes. Under these conditions, the effective DOF of a standard high NA objective is of a few micrometers. Here we demonstrate that by the use of WFC, we can extend the DOF more than one order of magnitude keeping the high-resolution imaging. This is demonstrated for two designed phase masks using Zebrafish and C. elegans samples. [1] Olarte, O.E., Andilla, J., Artigas, D., and Loza-Alvarez, P., "Decoupled Illumination-Detection Microscopy. Selected Optics in Year 2105," in Optics and Photonics news 26, p. 41 (2015). [2] Olarte, O.E., Andilla, J., Artigas, D., and Loza-Alvarez, P., "Decoupled illumination detection in light sheet microscopy for fast volumetric imaging," Optica 2(8), 702 (2015).

Automated data processing of { 1H-decoupled} 13C MR spectra acquired from human brain in vivo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shic, Frederick; Ross, Brian

2003-06-01

In clinical 13C infusion studies, broadband excitation of 200 ppm of the human brain yields 13C MR spectra with a time resolution of 2-5 min and generates up to 2000 metabolite peaks over 2 h. We describe a fast, automated, observer-independent technique for processing { 1H-decoupled} 13C spectra. Quantified 13C spectroscopic signals, before and after the administration of [1- 13C]glucose and/or [1- 13C]acetate in human subjects are determined. Stepwise improvements of data processing are illustrated by examples of normal and pathological results. Variation in analysis of individual 13C resonances ranged between 2 and 14%. Using this method it is possible to reliably identify subtle metabolic effects of brain disease including Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.

Sensitivity enhancement in whole-body natural abundance 13C spectroscopy using 13C/1H double-resonance techniques at 4 tesla.

PubMed

Bomsdorf, H; Röschmann, P; Wieland, J

1991-11-01

In vivo 13C spectroscopy experiments were performed using a whole-body MR system at a static field of 4 T. The main goal of the investigations was to evaluate the sensitivity increase achievable by means of 13C/1H double-resonance techniques at 4 T. Spectra from subcutaneous fat as well as muscle glycogen from the lower leg were acquired using frequency selective proton decoupling and the polarization transfer method SINEPT. With respect to measurements on subcutaneous fat, polarization transfer turned out to be more efficient than selective decoupling. About a fourfold enhancement in spectral peak intensity for the C = C line doublet of the unsaturated fatty acid chain was obtained. Combining polarization transfer with decoupling yielded a factor of 6 in signal amplitude. In contrast to that, the signal enhancement observed in measurements on the glycogen C-1 resonance was only around twofold. The lower efficiency is explained by fast T2 relaxation of the proton transition. A T2 value of about 3 ms was derived from the experimental data. Acquisition times as low as 3 min were realized for normal level glycogen in human calf muscle, enabling a time resolution adequate for dynamic studies on muscle glycogen depletion. Aspects of RF power absorption in tissue and the generally higher efficiency make polarization transfer methods preferable to selective decoupling in whole-body 13C spectroscopy at 4 T.

Use of continuous monitoring to assess stream nitrate flux and transformation patterns.

PubMed

Jones, Christopher; Kim, Sea-Won; Schilling, Keith

2017-01-01

Delivery of nitrogen from farmed fields to the stream network is an ongoing water quality issue in central North America and other parts of the world. Although fertilization and other farming practices have been refined to produce environmental improvements, stemming loss of nitrogen, especially in the soluble nitrate form, is a problem that has seemingly defied solution. The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is a policy initiative designed to implement conservation and other farm management practices to produce reductions in nitrate loading. The strategy does not focus on how the streams themselves may or may not be processing nitrogen and reducing downstream loading. We used continuous high-frequency nitrate and discharge monitoring over 3 years at two sites separated by 18 km in a low-order, agricultural stream in eastern Iowa to estimate how nitrogen is processed, and whether or not these processes are reducing downstream loading. We conclude that the upstream to downstream nitrate concentration decline between the two sites was not driven by denitrification. These data also show that nitrate concentrations are closely coupled to discharge during periods of adequate moisture, but decoupling of concentration from discharge occurs during dry periods. This decoupling is a possible indicator of in-stream nitrate processing. Finally, nitrate concentrations are likely diluted by water sourced from non-row crop land covers in the lower reaches of the watershed.

Optimization study on inductive-resistive circuit for broadband piezoelectric energy harvesters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Ting; Yan, Zhimiao

2017-03-01

The performance of cantilever-beam piezoelectric energy harvester is usually analyzed with pure resistive circuit. The optimal performance of such a vibration-based energy harvesting system is limited by narrow bandwidth around its modified natural frequency. For broadband piezoelectric energy harvesting, series and parallel inductive-resistive circuits are introduced. The electromechanical coupled distributed parameter models for such systems under harmonic base excitations are decoupled with modified natural frequency and electrical damping to consider the coupling effect. Analytical solutions of the harvested power and tip displacement for the electromechanical decoupled model are confirmed with numerical solutions for the coupled model. The optimal performance of piezoelectric energy harvesting with inductive-resistive circuits is revealed theoretically as constant maximal power at any excitation frequency. This is achieved by the scenarios of matching the modified natural frequency with the excitation frequency and equating the electrical damping to the mechanical damping. The inductance and load resistance should be simultaneously tuned to their optimal values, which may not be applicable for very high electromechanical coupling systems when the excitation frequency is higher than their natural frequencies. With identical optimal performance, the series inductive-resistive circuit is recommended for relatively small load resistance, while the parallel inductive-resistive circuit is suggested for relatively large load resistance. This study provides a simplified optimization method for broadband piezoelectric energy harvesters with inductive-resistive circuits.

1H NMR investigation of thermally triggered insulin release from poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels.

PubMed

Nolan, Christine M; Gelbaum, Leslie T; Lyon, L Andrew

2006-10-01

We describe investigations of insulin release from thermoresponsive microgels using variable temperature (1)H NMR. Microgel particles composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) were loaded with the peptide via a swelling technique, and this method was compared to simple equilibrium partitioning. Variable temperature (1)H NMR studies suggest that the swelling loading method results in enhanced entrapment of the peptide versus equilibrium partitioning. A centrifugation-loading assay supports this finding. Pseudo-temperature jump (1)H NMR measurements suggest that the insulin release rate is partially decoupled from microgel collapse. These types of direct release investigations could prove to be useful methods in the future design of controlled macromolecule drug delivery devices.

Frequency Support of PMSG-WTG Based on Improved Inertial Control: Preprint

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

Wu, Z.; Wang, X.; Gao, W.

2016-03-15

With increasing integrations of large-scale systems based on permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine generators (PMSG-WTGs), the overall inertial response of a power system will tend to deteriorate as a result of the decoupling of rotor speed and grid frequency through the power converter as well as the scheduled retirement of conventional synchronous generators. Thus, PMSG-WTGs can provide value to an electric grid by contributing to the system's inertial response by utilizing the inherent kinetic energy stored in their rotating masses and fast power control. In this work, an improved inertial control method based on the maximum power point trackingmore » operation curve is introduced to enhance the overall frequency support capability of PMSG-WTGs in the case of large supply-demand imbalances. Moreover, this method is implemented in the CART2-PMSG integrated model in MATLAB/Simulink to investigate its impact on the wind turbine's structural loads during the inertial response process. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method can effectively reduce the frequency nadir, arrest the rate of change of frequency, and mitigate the secondary frequency drop while imposing no negative impact on the major mechanical components of the wind turbine.« less

Frequency Support of PMSG-WTG Based on Improved Inertial Control

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

Wu, Z.; Wang, X.; Gao, W.

2016-11-14

With increasing integrations of large-scale systems based on permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine generators (PMSG-WTGs), the overall inertial response of a power system will tend to deteriorate as a result of the decoupling of rotor speed and grid frequency through the power converter as well as the scheduled retirement of conventional synchronous generators. Thus, PMSG-WTGs can provide value to an electric grid by contributing to the system's inertial response by utilizing the inherent kinetic energy stored in their rotating masses and fast power control. In this work, an improved inertial control method based on the maximum power point trackingmore » operation curve is introduced to enhance the overall frequency support capability of PMSG-WTGs in the case of large supply-demand imbalances. Moreover, this method is implemented in the CART2-PMSG integrated model in MATLAB/Simulink to investigate its impact on the wind turbine's structural loads during the inertial response process. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method can effectively reduce the frequency nadir, arrest the rate of change of frequency, and mitigate the secondary frequency drop while imposing no negative impact on the major mechanical components of the wind turbine.« less

Improved inertial control for permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine generators

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

Wu, Ziping; Gao, Wenzhong; Wang, Xiao

With increasing integrations of large-scale systems based on permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine generators (PMSG-WTGs), the overall inertial response of a power system will tend to deteriorate as a result of the decoupling of rotor speed and grid frequency through the power converter as well as the scheduled retirement of conventional synchronous generators. Thus, PMSG-WTGs can provide value to an electric grid by contributing to the system's inertial response through the inherent kinetic energy stored in their rotating masses and fast power converter control. In this study, an improved inertial control method based on the maximum power point trackingmore » operation curve is introduced to enhance the overall frequency support capability of PMSG-WTGs in the case of large supply-demand imbalances. Moreover, this method is implemented in the CART2-PMSG integrated model in MATLAB/Simulink to investigate its impact on the wind turbine's structural loads during the inertial response process. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method can effectively reduce the frequency nadir, arrest the rate of change of frequency, and alleviate the secondary frequency dip while imposing no negative impact on the major mechanical components of the wind turbine.« less

A Fast and Self-Acting Release-Caging-Mechanism for Actively Driven Drop Tower Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gierse, Andreas; Kaczmarczik, Ulrich; Greif, Andreas; Selig, Hanns; von Kampen, Peter; Könemann, Thorben; Lämmerzahl, Claus

2017-10-01

Today's and future scientific research programs ask for high quality microgravity conditions of 10-6 g on ground combined with high repetition rates of 100 flights per day or more. Accordingly, a new type of drop tower, the GraviTower Bremen, (GTB), has been suggested and is currently under development. As a first stage of development, a GTB-Prototype (GTB-Pro) has been designed which uses an active rope drive to accelerate a slider/drag shield and an experiment therein on a vertical parabola. During the free fall phase, the experiment is decoupled from the slider by a self-acting Release-Caging-Mechanism (RCM). Our prototype will provide 2.5 s of microgravity for experiments of up to 500 kg for at least 100 times per day. In this article, the final concept of the engineering of the active rope drive and the RCM are presented in detail. Based on extensive simulations aiming at an optimization of the whole system we developed a hydraulic rope drive system with minimized vibrational amplitude and low number of eigenfrequencies. The RCM achieves a very fast (≤ 0.1 s) self-acting release of the experiment from the slider by making use of the dynamics of the hydraulic rope drive. Furthermore, passive hydraulic stop dampers in the RCM build a passive and self-acting recoupling mechanism. This system is optimized for a fast decoupling to compensate for the time limitation posed by the chosen drive technology. The simulations included a comparison of different drive technologies, physical effects like the Coriolis force, and the dynamics of the RCM system itself.

Mechanism design and optimization of a bionic kangaroo jumping robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y. H.; Zheng, L.; Ge, W. J.; Zou, Z. H.

2018-03-01

Hopping robots have broad application prospects in the fields of military reconnaissance, field search or life rescue. However, current hopping robots still face the problems of weak jumping ability and load bearing. Inspired by the jumping of kangaroo, we design a Kangaroo hopping robot “Zbot”, which has two degrees of freedom and three joints. The geared five-bar mechanism is used to decouple the knee and ankle joints of the robot. In order to get a bionic performance, the coupling mechanism parameters are optimized. The simulation and experiments show that the robot has an excellent jumping ability and load capacity.

Polysilicon planarization and plug recess etching in a decoupled plasma source chamber using two endpoint techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaplita, George A.; Schmitz, Stefan; Ranade, Rajiv; Mathad, Gangadhara S.

1999-09-01

The planarization and recessing of polysilicon to form a plug are processes of increasing importance in silicon IC fabrication. While this technology has been developed and applied to DRAM technology using Trench Storage Capacitors, the need for such processes in other IC applications (i.e. polysilicon studs) has increased. Both planarization and recess processes usually have stringent requirements on etch rate, recess uniformity, and selectivity to underlying films. Additionally, both processes generally must be isotropic, yet must not expand any seams that might be present in the polysilicon fill. These processes should also be insensitive to changes in exposed silicon area (pattern factor) on the wafer. A SF6 plasma process in a polysilicon DPS (Decoupled Plasma Source) reactor has demonstrated the capability of achieving the above process requirements for both planarization and recess etch. The SF6 process in the decoupled plasma source reactor exhibited less sensitivity to pattern factor than in other types of reactors. Control of these planarization and recess processes requires two endpoint systems to work sequentially in the same recipe: one for monitoring the endpoint when blanket polysilicon (100% Si loading) is being planarized and one for monitoring the recess depth while the plug is being recessed (less than 10% Si loading). The planarization process employs an optical emission endpoint system (OES). An interferometric endpoint system (IEP), capable of monitoring lateral interference, is used for determining the recess depth. The ability of using either or both systems is required to make these plug processes manufacturable. Measuring the recess depth resulting from the recess process can be difficult, costly and time- consuming. An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) can greatly alleviate these problems and can serve as a critical tool in the development of recess processes.

CGILS Phase 2 LES intercomparison of response of subtropical marine low cloud regimes to CO 2 quadrupling and a CMIP3 composite forcing change: Large eddy simulation of cloud feedbacks

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

Blossey, Peter N.; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Cheng, Anning

We extended Phase 1 of the CGILS large-eddy simulation (LES) intercomparison in order to understand if subtropical marine boundary-layer clouds respond to idealized climate perturbations consistently in six LES models. Here the responses to quadrupled carbon dioxide (“fast adjustment”) and to a composite climate perturbation representative of CMIP3 multimodel mean 2×CO 2 near-equilibrium conditions are analyzed. As in Phase 1, the LES is run to equilibrium using specified steady summertime forcings representative of three locations in the Northeast Pacific Ocean in shallow well-mixed stratocumulus, decoupled stratocumulus, and shallow cumulus cloud regimes. Our results are generally consistent with a single-LES studymore » of Bretherton et al. (2013) on which this intercomparison was based. Both quadrupled CO 2 and the composite climate perturbation result in less cloud and a shallower boundary layer for all models in well-mixed stratocumulus and for all but a single LES in decoupled stratocumulus and shallow cumulus, corroborating similar findings from global climate models (GCMs). For both perturbations, the amount of cloud reduction varies across the models, but there is less intermodel scatter than in GCMs. Furthermore, the cloud radiative effect changes are much larger in the stratocumulus-capped regimes than in the shallow cumulus regime, for which precipitation buffering may damp the cloud response. In the decoupled stratocumulus and cumulus regimes, both the CO 2 increase and CMIP3 perturbations reduce boundary-layer decoupling, due to the shallowing of inversion height.« less

CGILS Phase 2 LES intercomparison of response of subtropical marine low cloud regimes to CO 2 quadrupling and a CMIP3 composite forcing change: Large eddy simulation of cloud feedbacks

DOE PAGES

Blossey, Peter N.; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Cheng, Anning; ...

2016-10-27

We extended Phase 1 of the CGILS large-eddy simulation (LES) intercomparison in order to understand if subtropical marine boundary-layer clouds respond to idealized climate perturbations consistently in six LES models. Here the responses to quadrupled carbon dioxide (“fast adjustment”) and to a composite climate perturbation representative of CMIP3 multimodel mean 2×CO 2 near-equilibrium conditions are analyzed. As in Phase 1, the LES is run to equilibrium using specified steady summertime forcings representative of three locations in the Northeast Pacific Ocean in shallow well-mixed stratocumulus, decoupled stratocumulus, and shallow cumulus cloud regimes. Our results are generally consistent with a single-LES studymore » of Bretherton et al. (2013) on which this intercomparison was based. Both quadrupled CO 2 and the composite climate perturbation result in less cloud and a shallower boundary layer for all models in well-mixed stratocumulus and for all but a single LES in decoupled stratocumulus and shallow cumulus, corroborating similar findings from global climate models (GCMs). For both perturbations, the amount of cloud reduction varies across the models, but there is less intermodel scatter than in GCMs. Furthermore, the cloud radiative effect changes are much larger in the stratocumulus-capped regimes than in the shallow cumulus regime, for which precipitation buffering may damp the cloud response. In the decoupled stratocumulus and cumulus regimes, both the CO 2 increase and CMIP3 perturbations reduce boundary-layer decoupling, due to the shallowing of inversion height.« less

What makes us think? A three-stage dual-process model of analytic engagement.

PubMed

Pennycook, Gordon; Fugelsang, Jonathan A; Koehler, Derek J

2015-08-01

The distinction between intuitive and analytic thinking is common in psychology. However, while often being quite clear on the characteristics of the two processes ('Type 1' processes are fast, autonomous, intuitive, etc. and 'Type 2' processes are slow, deliberative, analytic, etc.), dual-process theorists have been heavily criticized for being unclear on the factors that determine when an individual will think analytically or rely on their intuition. We address this issue by introducing a three-stage model that elucidates the bottom-up factors that cause individuals to engage Type 2 processing. According to the model, multiple Type 1 processes may be cued by a stimulus (Stage 1), leading to the potential for conflict detection (Stage 2). If successful, conflict detection leads to Type 2 processing (Stage 3), which may take the form of rationalization (i.e., the Type 1 output is verified post hoc) or decoupling (i.e., the Type 1 output is falsified). We tested key aspects of the model using a novel base-rate task where stereotypes and base-rate probabilities cued the same (non-conflict problems) or different (conflict problems) responses about group membership. Our results support two key predictions derived from the model: (1) conflict detection and decoupling are dissociable sources of Type 2 processing and (2) conflict detection sometimes fails. We argue that considering the potential stages of reasoning allows us to distinguish early (conflict detection) and late (decoupling) sources of analytic thought. Errors may occur at both stages and, as a consequence, bias arises from both conflict monitoring and decoupling failures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stiffness modeling of compliant parallel mechanisms and applications in the performance analysis of a decoupled parallel compliant stage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Yao; Li, Tie-Min; Wang, Li-Ping

2015-09-01

This paper investigates the stiffness modeling of compliant parallel mechanism (CPM) based on the matrix method. First, the general compliance matrix of a serial flexure chain is derived. The stiffness modeling of CPMs is next discussed in detail, considering the relative positions of the applied load and the selected displacement output point. The derived stiffness models have simple and explicit forms, and the input, output, and coupling stiffness matrices of the CPM can easily be obtained. The proposed analytical model is applied to the stiffness modeling and performance analysis of an XY parallel compliant stage with input and output decoupling characteristics. Then, the key geometrical parameters of the stage are optimized to obtain the minimum input decoupling degree. Finally, a prototype of the compliant stage is developed and its input axial stiffness, coupling characteristics, positioning resolution, and circular contouring performance are tested. The results demonstrate the excellent performance of the compliant stage and verify the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical model. The general stiffness models provided in this paper will be helpful for performance analysis, especially in determining coupling characteristics, and the structure optimization of the CPM.

Controlled Wake of a Moving Axisymmetric Bluff Body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, E.; Vukasinovic, B.; Glezer, A.

2017-11-01

The aerodynamic loads exerted on a wire-mounted axisymmetric bluff body in prescribed rigid motion are controlled by fluidic manipulation of its near wake. The body is supported by a six-degree of freedom eight-wire traverse and its motion is controlled using a dedicated servo actuator and inline load cell for each wire. The instantaneous aerodynamic forces and moments on the moving body are manipulated by controlled interactions of an azimuthal array of integrated synthetic jet actuators with the cross flow to induce localized flow attachment over the body's aft end and thereby alter the symmetry of the wake. The coupled interactions between the wake structure and the effected aerodynamic loads during prescribed time-periodic and transitory (gust like) motions are investigated with emphasis on enhancing or diminishing the loads for maneuver control, and decoupling the body's motion from its far wake.

Surgical model-view-controller simulation software framework for local and collaborative applications

PubMed Central

Sankaranarayanan, Ganesh; Halic, Tansel; Arikatla, Venkata Sreekanth; Lu, Zhonghua; De, Suvranu

2010-01-01

Purpose Surgical simulations require haptic interactions and collaboration in a shared virtual environment. A software framework for decoupled surgical simulation based on a multi-controller and multi-viewer model-view-controller (MVC) pattern was developed and tested. Methods A software framework for multimodal virtual environments was designed, supporting both visual interactions and haptic feedback while providing developers with an integration tool for heterogeneous architectures maintaining high performance, simplicity of implementation, and straightforward extension. The framework uses decoupled simulation with updates of over 1,000 Hz for haptics and accommodates networked simulation with delays of over 1,000 ms without performance penalty. Results The simulation software framework was implemented and was used to support the design of virtual reality-based surgery simulation systems. The framework supports the high level of complexity of such applications and the fast response required for interaction with haptics. The efficacy of the framework was tested by implementation of a minimally invasive surgery simulator. Conclusion A decoupled simulation approach can be implemented as a framework to handle simultaneous processes of the system at the various frame rates each process requires. The framework was successfully used to develop collaborative virtual environments (VEs) involving geographically distributed users connected through a network, with the results comparable to VEs for local users. PMID:20714933

Surgical model-view-controller simulation software framework for local and collaborative applications.

PubMed

Maciel, Anderson; Sankaranarayanan, Ganesh; Halic, Tansel; Arikatla, Venkata Sreekanth; Lu, Zhonghua; De, Suvranu

2011-07-01

Surgical simulations require haptic interactions and collaboration in a shared virtual environment. A software framework for decoupled surgical simulation based on a multi-controller and multi-viewer model-view-controller (MVC) pattern was developed and tested. A software framework for multimodal virtual environments was designed, supporting both visual interactions and haptic feedback while providing developers with an integration tool for heterogeneous architectures maintaining high performance, simplicity of implementation, and straightforward extension. The framework uses decoupled simulation with updates of over 1,000 Hz for haptics and accommodates networked simulation with delays of over 1,000 ms without performance penalty. The simulation software framework was implemented and was used to support the design of virtual reality-based surgery simulation systems. The framework supports the high level of complexity of such applications and the fast response required for interaction with haptics. The efficacy of the framework was tested by implementation of a minimally invasive surgery simulator. A decoupled simulation approach can be implemented as a framework to handle simultaneous processes of the system at the various frame rates each process requires. The framework was successfully used to develop collaborative virtual environments (VEs) involving geographically distributed users connected through a network, with the results comparable to VEs for local users.

Rayleigh-wave dispersion reveals crust-mantle decoupling beneath eastern Tibet.

PubMed

Legendre, Cédric P; Deschamps, Frédéric; Zhao, Li; Chen, Qi-Fu

2015-11-09

The Tibetan Plateau results from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plates during the Cenozoic, which produced at least 2,000 km of convergence. Its tectonics is dominated by an eastward extrusion of crustal material that has been explained by models implying either a mechanical decoupling between the crust and the lithosphere, or lithospheric deformation. Discriminating between these end-member models requires constraints on crustal and lithospheric mantle deformations. Distribution of seismic anisotropy may be inferred from the mapping of azimuthal anisotropy of surface waves. Here, we use data from the CNSN to map Rayleigh-wave azimuthal anisotropy in the crust and lithospheric mantle beneath eastern Tibet. Beneath Tibet, the anisotropic patterns at periods sampling the crust support an eastward flow up to 100°E in longitude, and a southward bend between 100°E and 104°E. At longer periods, sampling the lithospheric mantle, the anisotropic structures are consistent with the absolute plate motion. By contrast, in the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons, the direction of fast propagation remains unchanged throughout the period range sampling the crust and lithospheric mantle. These observations suggest that the crust and lithospheric mantle are mechanically decoupled beneath eastern Tibet, and coupled beneath the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons.

Attentional decoupling while pursuing intentions: a form of mind wandering?

PubMed

Cohen, Anna-Lisa

2013-01-01

In the current study, participants performed an ongoing lexical decision task (LDT) in which they had to classify letter strings as words or non-words. In intention conditions, they also had to encode a postponed intention to remember to make a different response if a pre-specified cue appeared. Attempting to replicate an important finding from Cohen et al. (2008), the interest was in examining how varying cognitive load associated with an intention influences attention to the ongoing task (measured by reaction times). Typically, disengaging from a primary task is perceived as negative as it can lead to performance decrements, however, if disengaging from a primary task helps one to accomplish a desired future goal, then these attentional shifts may in fact be constructive. Results replicated those of Cohen et al. (2008) and showed that participants were very flexible in how they managed attention in the ongoing LDT. Reaction time costs emerged when cognitive load was high and solely for word trials (i.e., not for non-word trials). The implications for mind wandering are that, while our attention may wander when stimuli are present that trigger a suspended or unfulfilled goal, we are better able to stay on task when the stimuli are less goal relevant. Therefore, the decoupling process (e.g., Schooler et al., 2011) might be initiated when postponed goals are accompanied by a high degree of cognitive load and when external stimuli are present that relate to that goal.

Simulating Biomass Fast Pyrolysis at the Single Particle Scale

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

Ciesielski, Peter; Wiggins, Gavin; Daw, C Stuart

2017-07-01

Simulating fast pyrolysis at the scale of single particles allows for the investigation of the impacts of feedstock-specific parameters such as particle size, shape, and species of origin. For this reason particle-scale modeling has emerged as an important tool for understanding how variations in feedstock properties affect the outcomes of pyrolysis processes. The origins of feedstock properties are largely dictated by the composition and hierarchical structure of biomass, from the microstructural porosity to the external morphology of milled particles. These properties may be accounted for in simulations of fast pyrolysis by several different computational approaches depending on the level ofmore » structural and chemical complexity included in the model. The predictive utility of particle-scale simulations of fast pyrolysis can still be enhanced substantially by advancements in several areas. Most notably, considerable progress would be facilitated by the development of pyrolysis kinetic schemes that are decoupled from transport phenomena, predict product evolution from whole-biomass with increased chemical speciation, and are still tractable with present-day computational resources.« less

Hafnium and neodymium isotopes and REY distribution in the truly dissolved, nanoparticulate/colloidal and suspended loads of rivers in the Amazon Basin, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merschel, Gila; Bau, Michael; Schmidt, Katja; Münker, Carsten; Dantas, Elton L.

2017-09-01

Radiogenic isotopes in river sediments and river waters have been widely used in provenance studies, as these samples naturally integrate the geology/chemistry of the entire catchment. While the Hf and Nd isotope systems are coupled during igneous processes, they are decoupled during supergene processes at the Earth's surface, which is reflected by the isotope composition of riverine sediments. We present the first data for both Hf and Nd isotope compositions of the dissolved (0.2 μm-filtrates rich in nanoparticles and colloids, NPCs) and the truly dissolved (1 kDa-ultrafiltrates) load of rivers. Hafnium and Nd isotope compositions and concentrations of the Rare Earths and Yttrium (REY) and Hf were determined for suspended particles (>0.2 μm) as well as for the dissolved and the truly dissolved load of the Rio Solimões, the Amazon's largest tributary draining the Andes, and of the Rio Negro, an organic NPC- and particle-rich river draining the rainforest of northern Amazonia. We also analyzed the Nd isotope compositions of suspended sediments and 0.2 μm-filtered water samples from the Amazon River and its tributaries Rio Tapajos, Rio Xingu and Rio Jari. Our novel results clearly show that the decoupling of the Hf and Nd isotope systems is related to incongruent weathering processes on the continent, as this decoupling can already be observed in the different Hf and Nd pools, i.e. in the particulate, the NPC-dominated dissolved and the truly dissolved load of rivers. In the Rio Negro and Rio Solimões, a strong particle size-dependent difference in Hf isotope composition is observed. Values of εHf become more radiogenic as filter poresize decreases, which can be related to the density- and size-dependent distribution of Hf-rich minerals, e.g. zircons, and their absence from the truly dissolved pool. In contrast, the Nd isotope composition of Amazonian river waters reflects that of their catchment geology. Tributaries draining the Precambrian Brazilian and Guyana shields show very unradiogenic εNd values of -19 to -25 in their dissolved load, whereas the Rio Solimões draining the Andes yields a more radiogenic εNd signal of only -7. The dissolved Nd isotope composition of the Amazon is dominated by its Andean tributaries and averages at -8. Although Nd isotope compositions are thought to not being fractionated by Earth surface processes, significant differences of 1.3-1.9 ε-units can be observed between the dissolved and suspended loads in the Amazon River and its main tributary, the Rio Solimões. In these rivers, the dissolved load is more radiogenic than the suspended sediment, which is likely due to incongruent weathering and related mineral sorting in the Andean headwaters. In contrast, the organic-rich and mineral-poor shield rivers do not show a difference between the truly dissolved, dissolved and suspended load, as the Nd in all these pools is controlled by surface- and solution-complexation and hence isotopically homogenized by continuous exchange and re-equilibration.

Preservation of the gut by preoperative carbohydrate loading improves postoperative food intake.

PubMed

Luttikhold, Joanna; Oosting, Annemarie; van den Braak, Claudia C M; van Norren, Klaske; Rijna, Herman; van Leeuwen, Paul A M; Bouritius, Hetty

2013-08-01

A carbohydrate (CHO) drink given preoperatively changes the fasted state into a fed state. The ESPEN guidelines for perioperative care include preoperative CHO loading and re-establishment of oral feeding as early as possible after surgery. An intestinal ischaemia reperfusion (IR) animal model was used to investigate whether preoperative CHO loading increases spontaneous postoperative food intake, intestinal barrier function and the catabolic response. Male Wistar rats (n = 65) were subjected to 16 h fasting with ad libitum water and: A) sham laparotomy (Sham fasted, n = 24); B) intestinal ischaemia (IR fasted, n = 27); and C) intestinal ischaemia with preoperatively access to a CHO drink (IR CHO, n = 14). Spontaneous food intake, intestinal barrier function, insulin sensitivity, intestinal motility and plasma amino acids were measured after surgery. The IR CHO animals started eating significantly earlier and also ate significantly more than the IR fasted animals. Furthermore, preoperative CHO loading improved the intestinal barrier function, functional enterocyte metabolic mass measured by citrulline and reduced muscle protein catabolism, as indicated by normalization of the biomarker 3-methylhistidine. Preoperative CHO loading improves food intake, preserves the GI function and reduces the catabolic response in an IR animal model. These findings suggest that preoperative CHO loading preserves the intestinal function in order to accelerate recovery and food intake. If this effect is caused by overcoming the fasted state or CHO loading remains unclear. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

Revealing the fast atomic motion of network glasses.

PubMed

Ruta, B; Baldi, G; Chushkin, Y; Rufflé, B; Cristofolini, L; Fontana, A; Zanatta, M; Nazzani, F

2014-05-19

Still very little is known on the relaxation dynamics of glasses at the microscopic level due to the lack of experiments and theories. It is commonly believed that glasses are in a dynamical arrested state, with relaxation times too large to be observed on human time scales. Here we provide the experimental evidence that glasses display fast atomic rearrangements within a few minutes, even in the deep glassy state. Following the evolution of the structural relaxation in a sodium silicate glass, we find that this fast dynamics is accompanied by the absence of any detectable aging, suggesting a decoupling of the relaxation time and the viscosity in the glass. The relaxation time is strongly affected by the network structure with a marked increase at the mesoscopic scale associated with the ion-conducting pathways. Our results modify the conception of the glassy state and asks for a new microscopic theory.

Predictive momentum management for the Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hatis, P. D.

1986-01-01

Space station control moment gyro momentum management is addressed by posing a deterministic optimization problem with a performance index that includes station external torque loading, gyro control torque demand, and excursions from desired reference attitudes. It is shown that a simple analytic desired attitude solution exists for all axes with pitch prescription decoupled, but roll and yaw coupled. Continuous gyro desaturation is shown to fit neatly into the scheme. Example results for pitch axis control of the NASA power tower Space Station are shown based on predictive attitude prescription. Control effector loading is shown to be reduced by this method when compared to more conventional momentum management techniques.

orbit-estimation: Fast orbital parameters estimator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackereth, J. Ted; Bovy, Jo

2018-04-01

orbit-estimation tests and evaluates the Stäckel approximation method for estimating orbit parameters in galactic potentials. It relies on the approximation of the Galactic potential as a Stäckel potential, in a prolate confocal coordinate system, under which the vertical and horizontal motions decouple. By solving the Hamilton Jacobi equations at the turning points of the horizontal and vertical motions, it is possible to determine the spatial boundary of the orbit, and hence calculate the desired orbit parameters.

Binding Free Energies of Host-Guest Systems by Nonequilibrium Alchemical Simulations with Constrained Dynamics: Theoretical Framework.

PubMed

Giovannelli, Edoardo; Procacci, Piero; Cardini, Gianni; Pagliai, Marco; Volkov, Victor; Chelli, Riccardo

2017-12-12

The fast-switching decoupling method is a powerful nonequilibrium technique to compute absolute binding free energies of ligand-receptor complexes (Sandberg et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2014, 11, 423-435). Inspired by the theory of noncovalent binding association of Gilson and co-workers (Biophys. J. 1997, 72, 1047-1069), we develop two approaches, termed binded-domain and single-point alchemical-path schemes (BiD-AP and SiP-AP), based on the possibility of performing alchemical trajectories during which the ligand is constrained to fixed positions relative to the receptor. The BiD-AP scheme exploits a recent generalization of nonequilibrium work theorems to estimate the free energy difference between the coupled and uncoupled states of the ligand-receptor complex. With respect to the fast-switching decoupling method without constraints, BiD-AP prevents the ligand from leaving the binding site, but still requires an estimate of the positional binding-site volume, which may not be a simple task. On the other side, the SiP-AP scheme allows avoidance of the calculation of the binding-site volume by introducing an additional equilibrium simulation of ligand and receptor in the bound state. In the companion article (DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00595), we show that the extra computational effort required by SiP-AP leads to a significant improvement of accuracy in the free energy estimates.

E-beam high voltage switching power supply

DOEpatents

Shimer, D.W.; Lange, A.C.

1996-10-15

A high-power power supply produces a controllable, constant high voltage output under varying and arcing loads. The power supply includes a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module, and a current sensor for sensing output current. The power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle and circuitry is provided for sensing incipient arc currents at the output of the power supply to simultaneously decouple the power supply circuitry from the arcing load. The power supply includes a plurality of discrete switching type dc--dc converter modules. 5 figs.

E-beam high voltage switching power supply

DOEpatents

Shimer, Daniel W.; Lange, Arnold C.

1996-01-01

A high-power power supply produces a controllable, constant high voltage put under varying and arcing loads. The power supply includes a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module, and a current sensor for sensing output current. The power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle and circuitry is provided for sensing incipient arc currents at the output of the power supply to simultaneously decouple the power supply circuitry from the arcing load. The power supply includes a plurality of discrete switching type dc--dc converter modules.

Leukocyte telomere length is inversely associated with post-load but not with fasting plasma glucose levels.

PubMed

Khalangot, Mykola; Krasnienkov, Dmytro; Vaiserman, Alexander; Avilov, Ivan; Kovtun, Volodymir; Okhrimenko, Nadia; Koliada, Alexander; Kravchenko, Victor

2017-04-01

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by shorter leukocyte telomere length, but the relationship between leukocyte telomere length and type 2 diabetes mellitus development is rather questioned. Fasting and post-load glycaemia associated with different types of insulin resistance and their relation with leukocyte telomere length remains unknown. We compared leukocyte telomere length and fasting or post-load glucose levels in persons who do not receive glucose lowering treatment. For 82 randomly selected rural residents of Ukraine, aged 45+, not previously diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the WHO oral glucose tolerance test and anthropometric measurements were performed. Leukocyte telomere length was measured by standardized method of quantitative monochrome multiplex polymerase chain reaction in real time. Spearman's or Pearson's rank correlation was used for correlation analysis between fasting plasma glucose or 2-h post-load plasma glucose levels and leukocyte telomere length. Logistical regression models were used to evaluate risks of finding short or long telomeres associated with fasting plasma glucose or 2-h post-load plasma glucose levels. No association of fasting plasma glucose and leukocyte telomere length was revealed, whereas 2-h post-load plasma glucose levels demonstrated a negative correlation ( P < 0.01) with leukocyte telomere length. Waist circumference and systolic blood pressure were negatively related ( P = 0.03) with leukocyte telomere length in men. Oral glucose tolerance test result-based glycemic categories did not show differences between mean leukocyte telomere length in categories of normal fasting plasma glucose and 2-h post-load plasma glucose (NGT, n = 33); diabetes mellitus (DM), n = 18 and impaired fasting glucose/tolerance (IFG/IGT, n = 31) levels. A correlation relationship between leukocyte telomere length and 2-h post-load plasma glucose level in NGT; IFG/IGT and DM groups ( P = 0.027; 0.029 and 0.049, respectively) was revealed; the association between leukocyte telomere length and fasting plasma glucose was confirmed in DM group only ( P = 0.009). Increase of 2-h post-load plasma glucose (but not fasting plasma glucose) level improves the chances of revealing short telomeres: OR 1.52 (95% CI 1.04-2.22), P = 0.03. After the adjustment for age, gender, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and fasting plasma glucose, these phenomena remain significant. We conclude that 2-h post-load plasma glucose but not fasting plasma glucose is inversely associated with leukocyte telomere length. Impact statement • Contradictory epidemiologic data have been obtained about the link between the leucocyte telomere length (LTL) and diabetes. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is likely to be pathophysiologically heterogeneous, but comparison of the association of LTL separately with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-h post-load plasma glucose (2hPG) levels has not been done before. Thus, the study of LTL changes associated with different types of hyperglycaemia, that largely determine the heterogenity of T2D is important. • In a population-based study of rural Ukrainians, we were the first to demonstrate that the increase of 2hPG (but not FPG) level increases the chances of revealing short telomeres. • The obtained data can help to clarify the relationship between the LTL shortening and different conditions of the insulin resistance (mainly liver resistance in high FPG and mostly muscle and adipose tissue resistance in high 2hPG).

Advanced Concepts Theory Annual Report 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-29

kinetic energy to x-ray conversion and are being evaluated using nickel array implosion calculations. iv o Maxwell Laboratory aluminum array implosion...general, we need to evaluate the degree of machine PRS decoupling produced by runaway electrons, and the existence of a corona may be a relevant aspect of...the tools necessary to carry out data analysis and interpretation and (4) promote the design and evaluation of new experiments and new improved loads

Control of hierarchical polymer mechanics with bioinspired metal-coordination dynamics

PubMed Central

Grindy, Scott C.; Learsch, Robert; Mozhdehi, Davoud; Cheng, Jing; Barrett, Devin G.; Guan, Zhibin; Messersmith, Phillip B.; Holten-Andersen, Niels

2015-01-01

In conventional polymer materials, mechanical performance is traditionally engineered via material structure, using motifs such as polymer molecular weight, polymer branching, or copolymer-block design1. Here, by means of a model system of 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels crosslinked with multiple, kinetically distinct dynamic metal-ligand coordinate complexes, we show that polymer materials with decoupled spatial structure and mechanical performance can be designed. By tuning the relative concentration of two types of metal-ligand crosslinks, we demonstrate control over the material’s mechanical hierarchy of energy-dissipating modes under dynamic mechanical loading, and therefore the ability to engineer a priori the viscoelastic properties of these materials by controlling the types of crosslinks rather than by modifying the polymer itself. This strategy to decouple material mechanics from structure may inform the design of soft materials for use in complex mechanical environments. PMID:26322715

Feedback linearizing control of a MIMO power system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilyes, Laszlo

Prior research has demonstrated that either the mechanical or electrical subsystem of a synchronous electric generator may be controlled using single-input single-output (SISO) nonlinear feedback linearization. This research suggests a new approach which applies nonlinear feedback linearization to a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) model of the synchronous electric generator connected to an infinite bus load model. In this way, the electrical and mechanical subsystems may be linearized and simultaneously decoupled through the introduction of a pair of auxiliary inputs. This allows well known, linear, SISO control methods to be effectively applied to the resulting systems. The derivation of the feedback linearizing control law is presented in detail, including a discussion on the use of symbolic math processing as a development tool. The linearizing and decoupling properties of the control law are validated through simulation. And finally, the robustness of the control law is demonstrated.

New nonlinear control algorithms for multiple robot arms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarn, T. J.; Bejczy, A. K.; Yun, X.

1988-01-01

Multiple coordinated robot arms are modeled by considering the arms as closed kinematic chains and as a force-constrained mechanical system working on the same object simultaneously. In both formulations, a novel dynamic control method is discussed. It is based on feedback linearization and simultaneous output decoupling technique. By applying a nonlinear feedback and a nonlinear coordinate transformation, the complicated model of the multiple robot arms in either formulation is converted into a linear and output decoupled system. The linear system control theory and optimal control theory are used to design robust controllers in the task space. The first formulation has the advantage of automatically handling the coordination and load distribution among the robot arms. In the second formulation, it was found that by choosing a general output equation it became possible simultaneously to superimpose the position and velocity error feedback with the force-torque error feedback in the task space.

Fiber optic thermal/fast neutron and gamma ray scintillation detector

DOEpatents

Neal, John S.; Mihalczo, John T.

2006-11-28

A detector system that combines a .sup.6Li loaded glass fiber scintillation thermal neutron detector with a fast scintillation detector in a single layered structure. Detection of thermal and fast neutrons and ionizing electromagnetic radiation is achieved in the unified detector structure. The fast scintillator replaces the polyethelene moderator layer adjacent the .sup.6Li loaded glass fiber panel of the neutron detector and acts as the moderator for the glass fibers. Fast neutrons, x-rays and gamma rays are detected in the fast scintillator. Thermal neutrons, x-rays and gamma rays are detected in the glass fiber scintillator.

Enhanced recovery after surgery-Preoperative fasting and glucose loading-A review.

PubMed

Sarin, Ankit; Chen, Lee-Lynn; Wick, Elizabeth C

2017-10-01

In this review, we explore the rationale and history behind the practice of preoperative fasting in elective surgery including the gradual move toward longer fasting and the more recent change in direction of practice. Gastric emptying physiology and the metabolic effects of prolonged fasting and carbohydrate loading are examined. Most recent guidelines related to these topics are discussed and practical recommendations for implementing these guidelines are suggested. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integrated Chassis Control of Active Front Steering and Yaw Stability Control Based on Improved Inverse Nyquist Array Method

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

An integrated chassis control (ICC) system with active front steering (AFS) and yaw stability control (YSC) is introduced in this paper. The proposed ICC algorithm uses the improved Inverse Nyquist Array (INA) method based on a 2-degree-of-freedom (DOF) planar vehicle reference model to decouple the plant dynamics under different frequency bands, and the change of velocity and cornering stiffness were considered to calculate the analytical solution in the precompensator design so that the INA based algorithm runs well and fast on the nonlinear vehicle system. The stability of the system is guaranteed by dynamic compensator together with a proposed PI feedback controller. After the response analysis of the system on frequency domain and time domain, simulations under step steering maneuver were carried out using a 2-DOF vehicle model and a 14-DOF vehicle model by Matlab/Simulink. The results show that the system is decoupled and the vehicle handling and stability performance are significantly improved by the proposed method. PMID:24782676

Integrated chassis control of active front steering and yaw stability control based on improved inverse nyquist array method.

PubMed

Zhu, Bing; Chen, Yizhou; Zhao, Jian

2014-01-01

An integrated chassis control (ICC) system with active front steering (AFS) and yaw stability control (YSC) is introduced in this paper. The proposed ICC algorithm uses the improved Inverse Nyquist Array (INA) method based on a 2-degree-of-freedom (DOF) planar vehicle reference model to decouple the plant dynamics under different frequency bands, and the change of velocity and cornering stiffness were considered to calculate the analytical solution in the precompensator design so that the INA based algorithm runs well and fast on the nonlinear vehicle system. The stability of the system is guaranteed by dynamic compensator together with a proposed PI feedback controller. After the response analysis of the system on frequency domain and time domain, simulations under step steering maneuver were carried out using a 2-DOF vehicle model and a 14-DOF vehicle model by Matlab/Simulink. The results show that the system is decoupled and the vehicle handling and stability performance are significantly improved by the proposed method.

Crust-mantle mechanical coupling in Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Turkey

PubMed Central

Sinan Özeren, M.

2012-01-01

Present-day crust-mantle coupling in the Eastern Mediterranean and eastern Turkey is studied using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and seismic anisotropy data. The general trend of the shear wave fast-splitting directions in NE Turkey and Lesser Caucaus align well with the geodetic velocities in an absolute plate motion frame of reference pointing to an effective coupling in this part of the region of weak surface deformation. Farther south, underneath the Bitlis Suture, however, there are significant Pn delays with E-W anisotropy axes indicating significant lateral escape. Meanwhile, the GPS reveals very little surface deformation. This mismatch possibly suggests a decoupling along the suture. In the Aegean, the shear wave anisotropy and the Pn anisotropy directions agree with the extensional component of the right-lateral shear strains except under the Crete Basin and other parts of the southern Aegean Sea. This extensional direction matches perfectly also with the southward pulling force vectors across the Hellenic trench; however, the maximum right-lateral shear directions obtained from the GPS data in the Aegean do not match either of these anisotropies. Seismic anisotropy from Rayleigh waves sampled at 15 s, corresponding to the lower crust, match the maximum right-lateral maximum shear directions from the GPS indicating decoupling between the crust and the mantle. This decoupling most likely results from the lateral variations of the gravitational potential energies and the slab-pull forces. PMID:22592788

Crust-mantle mechanical coupling in Eastern Mediterranean and eastern Turkey.

PubMed

Özeren, M Sinan

2012-05-29

Present-day crust-mantle coupling in the Eastern Mediterranean and eastern Turkey is studied using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and seismic anisotropy data. The general trend of the shear wave fast-splitting directions in NE Turkey and Lesser Caucaus align well with the geodetic velocities in an absolute plate motion frame of reference pointing to an effective coupling in this part of the region of weak surface deformation. Farther south, underneath the Bitlis Suture, however, there are significant Pn delays with E-W anisotropy axes indicating significant lateral escape. Meanwhile, the GPS reveals very little surface deformation. This mismatch possibly suggests a decoupling along the suture. In the Aegean, the shear wave anisotropy and the Pn anisotropy directions agree with the extensional component of the right-lateral shear strains except under the Crete Basin and other parts of the southern Aegean Sea. This extensional direction matches perfectly also with the southward pulling force vectors across the Hellenic trench; however, the maximum right-lateral shear directions obtained from the GPS data in the Aegean do not match either of these anisotropies. Seismic anisotropy from Rayleigh waves sampled at 15 s, corresponding to the lower crust, match the maximum right-lateral maximum shear directions from the GPS indicating decoupling between the crust and the mantle. This decoupling most likely results from the lateral variations of the gravitational potential energies and the slab-pull forces.

A Flywheel Energy Storage System Demonstration for Space Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kenny, Barbara H.; Kascak, Peter E.; Jansen, Ralph; Dever, Timothy

2003-01-01

A novel control algorithm for the charge and discharge modes of operation of a flywheel energy storage system for space applications is presented. The motor control portion of the algorithm uses sensorless field oriented control with position and speed estimates determined from a signal injection technique at low speeds and a back EMF technique at higher speeds. The charge and discharge portion of the algorithm use command feed-forward and disturbance decoupling, respectively, to achieve fast response with low gains. Simulation and experimental results are presented.

Structure design and characteristic analysis of micro-nano probe based on six dimensional micro-force measuring principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hong-tao; Cai, Chun-mei; Fang, Chuan-zhi; Wu, Tian-feng

2013-10-01

In order to develop micro-nano probe having error self-correcting function and good rigidity structure, a new micro-nano probe system was developed based on six-dimensional micro-force measuring principle. The structure and working principle of the probe was introduced in detail. The static nonlinear decoupling method was established with BP neural network to do the static decoupling for the dimension coupling existing in each direction force measurements. The optimal parameters of BP neural network were selected and the decoupling simulation experiments were done. The maximum probe coupling rate after decoupling is 0.039% in X direction, 0.025% in Y direction and 0.027% in Z direction. The static measurement sensitivity of the probe can reach 10.76μɛ / mN in Z direction and 14.55μɛ / mN in X and Y direction. The modal analysis and harmonic response analysis under three dimensional harmonic load of the probe were done by using finite element method. The natural frequencies under different vibration modes were obtained and the working frequency of the probe was determined, which is higher than 10000 Hz . The transient response analysis of the probe was done, which indicates that the response time of the probe can reach 0.4 ms. From the above results, it is shown that the developed micro-nano probe meets triggering requirements of micro-nano probe. Three dimension measuring force can be measured precisely by the developed probe, which can be used to predict and correct the force deformation error and the touch error of the measuring ball and the measuring rod.

Pressure-overload-induced angiotensin-mediated early remodeling in mouse heart

PubMed Central

Kim, Jeremy H.; Jiang, Ya-Ping; Cohen, Ira S.; Lin, Richard Z.; Mathias, Richard T.

2017-01-01

Our previous work on angiotensin II-mediated electrical-remodeling in canine left ventricle, in connection with a long history of other studies, suggested the hypothesis: increases in mechanical load induce autocrine secretion of angiotensin II (A2), which coherently regulates a coterie of membrane ion transporters in a manner that increases contractility. However, the relation between load and A2 secretion was correlative. We subsequently showed a similar or identical system was present in murine heart. To investigate whether the relation between mechanical load and A2-mediated electrical remodeling was causal, we employed transverse aortic constriction in mice to subject the left ventricle to pressure overload for short-term (1 to 2 days) or long-term (1 to 2 weeks) periods. Heart-to-body weight ratios and cell capacitance measurements were used to determine hypertrophy. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings of the predominant repolarization currents Ito,fast and IK,slow were used to assess electrical remodeling. Hearts or myocytes subjected to long-term load displayed significant hypertrophy, which was not evident in short-term load. However, short-term load induced significant reductions in Ito,fast and IK,slow. Incubation of these myocytes with the angiotensin II type 1 receptor inhibitor saralasin for 2 hours restored Ito,fast and IK,slow to control levels. The number of Ito.fast or IK,slow channels did not change with A2 or long-term load, however the hypertrophic increase in membrane area reduced the current densities for both channels. For Ito,fast but not IK,slow there was an additional reduction that was reversed by inhibition of angiotensin receptors. These results suggest increased load activates an endogenous renin angiotensin system that initially reduces Ito,fast and IK,slow prior to the onset of hypertrophic growth. However, there are functional interactions between electrical and anatomical remodeling. First, hypertrophy tends to reduce all current densities. Second, the hypertrophic program can modify signaling between the angiotensin receptor and target current. PMID:28464037

Consumption of fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, artificially-sweetened beverages and allostatic load among young adults.

PubMed

van Draanen, Jenna; Prelip, Michael; Upchurch, Dawn M

2018-06-01

This study investigates the associations between recent consumption of fast foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and artificially-sweetened beverages on level of allostatic load, a measure of cumulative biological risk, in young adults in the US. Data from Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health were analyzed. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the associations between consumption of fast foods, sugar-sweetened, and artificially-sweetened beverages and allostatic load. Poisson and logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between these diet parameters and combined biomarkers of physiological subsystems that comprise our measure of allostatic load. All analyses were weighted and findings are representative of young adults in the US, ages 24-34 in 2008 (n = 11,562). Consumption of fast foods, sugar-sweetened, and artificially-sweetened beverages were associated with higher allostatic load at a bivariate level. Accounting for demographics and medication use, only artificially-sweetened beverages remained significantly associated with allostatic load. When all three dietary components were simultaneously included in a model, both sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverage consumption were associated with higher allostatic load. Differences in allostatic load emerge early in the life course and young adults consuming sugar- or artificially-sweetened beverages have higher allostatic load, net of demographics and medication use. Public health messages to young adults may need to include cautions about both sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages.

Study on Impact of Electric Vehicles Charging Models on Power Load

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Chen; Hui-mei, Yuan

2017-05-01

With the rapid increase in the number of electric vehicles, which will lead the power load on grid increased and have an adversely affect. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the following factors, such as scale of the electric cars, charging mode, initial charging time, initial state of charge, charging power and other factors. Monte Carlo simulation method is used to compare the two charging modes, which are conventional charging and fast charging, and MATLAB is used to model and simulate the electric vehicle charging load. The results show that compared with the conventional charging mode, fast charging mode can meet the requirements of fast charging, but also bring great load to the distribution network which will affect the reliability of power grid.

Flip Chip on Organic Substrates: A Feasibility Study for Space Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

scheme, a 1752 I/O land grid array (LGA) package with decoupling capacitors, heat sink and optional column attach [1] as shown in Figure 1...investigated the effect of moisture and current loading on the Class Y flip chip on ceramic reliability [ 2 ]. The UT1752FC Class Y technology has...chip assembly to ceramic test substrates, the FA10 die are assembled to build-up organic test substrates as shown in Figure 2 . These assemblies

Analytical and numerical analysis of frictional damage in quasi brittle materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Q. Z.; Zhao, L. Y.; Shao, J. F.

2016-07-01

Frictional sliding and crack growth are two main dissipation processes in quasi brittle materials. The frictional sliding along closed cracks is the origin of macroscopic plastic deformation while the crack growth induces a material damage. The main difficulty of modeling is to consider the inherent coupling between these two processes. Various models and associated numerical algorithms have been proposed. But there are so far no analytical solutions even for simple loading paths for the validation of such algorithms. In this paper, we first present a micro-mechanical model taking into account the damage-friction coupling for a large class of quasi brittle materials. The model is formulated by combining a linear homogenization procedure with the Mori-Tanaka scheme and the irreversible thermodynamics framework. As an original contribution, a series of analytical solutions of stress-strain relations are developed for various loading paths. Based on the micro-mechanical model, two numerical integration algorithms are exploited. The first one involves a coupled friction/damage correction scheme, which is consistent with the coupling nature of the constitutive model. The second one contains a friction/damage decoupling scheme with two consecutive steps: the friction correction followed by the damage correction. With the analytical solutions as reference results, the two algorithms are assessed through a series of numerical tests. It is found that the decoupling correction scheme is efficient to guarantee a systematic numerical convergence.

Lateral variations of thermo-rheological structure in SE Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, X.; Gong, W.

2017-12-01

The structure and geodynamics in SE Tibet is important to developing a full understanding of tectonic evolution of the Tibetan plateau. To investigate the lithospheric structure and deformation, we present thermo-rheological models for two transects across SE Tibet. The thermal models are determined by the heat flow and P-wave velocity models. Based on thermal models, the rheological models are constructed in the weak and strong cases where the lower crust is felsic or mafic granulite and the lithospheric mantle is wet or dry peridotite. The thermal models show an obvious high-temperature anomaly within the lithosphere beneath the Chuandian block. Strong lateral heterogeneity is present in the rheological modeling and corresponds to variations of thermal models. The Chuandian block demonstrates a lower level of lithospheric strength than its neighboring regions, which is in accord with the seismogenic layer distribution. Combining with a joint analysis of SKS splitting and GPS data, the crust and mantle is decoupled at a depth below the topmost mantle in SE Tibet. The strong crust beneath the South China plate and Indochina block has two brittle load-bearing layers in the crust, indicating the system is mechanically coupled. The crust beneath the Emeishan igneous province also has two brittle load-bearing layers, but the brittle deformation is restricted to the topmost 10 km of the upper and lower crust. In contrast, only one brittle load-bearing layer resides in the upper crust with the lower crust contributing little to the lithospheric strength at the location where low-velocity-high-conductivity zones have been recognized within the crust in the Chuandian block. This indicates that the crust beneath the Chuandian block becomes decoupled, as evidenced by the crustal anisotropy pattern.

Field Testing of Telemetry for Demand Response Control of Small Loads

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

Lanzisera, Steven; Weber, Adam; Liao, Anna

The electricity system in California, from generation through loads, must be prepared for high renewable penetration and increased electrification of end uses while providing increased resilience and lower operating cost. California has an aggressive renewable portfolio standard that is complemented by world-leading greenhouse gas goals. The goal of this project was to evaluate methods of enabling fast demand response (DR) signaling to small loads for low-cost site enablement. We used OpenADR 2.0 to meet telemetry requirements for providing ancillary services, and we used a variety of low-cost devices coupled with open-source software to enable an end-to-end fast DR. The devices,more » architecture, implementation, and testing of the system is discussed in this report. We demonstrate that the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Home movements provide an opportunity for diverse small loads to provide fast, low-cost demand response. We used Internet-connected lights, thermostats, load interruption devices, and water heaters to demonstrate an ecosystem of controllable devices. The system demonstrated is capable of providing fast load shed for between 20 dollars and $300 per kilowatt (kW) of available load. The wide range results from some loads may have very low cost but also very little shed capability (a 10 watt [W] LED light can only shed a maximum of 10 W) while some loads (e.g., water heaters or air conditioners) can shed several kilowatts but have a higher initial cost. These costs, however, compare well with other fast demand response costs, with typically are over $100/kilowatt of shed. We contend these loads are even more attractive than their price suggests because many of them will be installed for energy efficiency or non-energy benefits (e.g., improved lighting quality or controllability), and the ability to use them for fast DR is a secondary benefit. Therefore the cost of enabling them for DR may approach zero if a software-only solution can be deployed to enable fast DR after devices are installed for other reasons. We recommend that the DR research community continue to engage with the IoT community to encourage the use of documented and open development interfaces. A library of device drivers and machine-readable interface specifications would significantly reduce the burden on users or system integrators for deploying systems in large numbers of buildings in California.« less

The Very Specific Vortex Shedding Test on VEGA Launch Vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leofanti, Jose Luis; Fotio, Domenico; Grillenbeck, Anton; Dillinger, Stephan; Scaccia, Aldo

2012-07-01

When tall structures are subjected to lateral wind flow, under certain conditions, vortices are shed from alternate sides of the structure inducing periodic cross wind loads on the structure. The periodic loads, in a relatively narrow and stable frequency band, can couple with the structure’s natural frequencies. To avoid this effect the VEGA Launch System (LS) comprised a decoupling device at the launch vehicle (LV) base called Anti Vortex Shedding (AVS). During the LV-Ground Segment combined test campaign in Kourou, the LV mounted on AVS was experimentally verified, including a modal characterization test, a verification under artificial operational loads and finally tested under real wind environment. The paper gives an overview on the particular aspects of test planning, the test setup preparation inside the launch pad gantry, the test performance, test results and the conclusion for the VEGA launch system’s operational readiness.

Temperature dependent mechanical property of PZT film: an investigation by nanoindentation.

PubMed

Li, Yingwei; Feng, Shangming; Wu, Wenping; Li, Faxin

2015-01-01

Load-depth curves of an unpoled Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) film composite as a function of temperature were measured by nanoindentation technique. Its reduce modulus and hardness were calculated by the typical Oliver-Pharr method. Then the true modulus and hardness of the PZT film were assessed by decoupling the influence of substrate using methods proposed by Zhou et al. and Korsunsky et al., respectively. Results show that the indentation depth and modulus increase, but the hardness decreases at elevated temperature. The increasing of indentation depth and the decreasing of hardness are thought to be caused by the decreasing of the critical stress needed to excite dislocation initiation at high temperature. The increasing of true modulus is attributed to the reducing of recoverable indentation depth induced by back-switched domains. The influence of residual stress on the indentation behavior of PZT film composite was also investigated by measuring its load-depth curves with pre-load strains.

Self-doped molecular composite battery electrolytes

DOEpatents

Harrup, Mason K.; Wertsching, Alan K.; Stewart, Frederick F.

2003-04-08

This invention is in solid polymer-based electrolytes for battery applications. It uses molecular composite technology, coupled with unique preparation techniques to render a self-doped, stabilized electrolyte material suitable for inclusion in both primary and secondary batteries. In particular, a salt is incorporated in a nano-composite material formed by the in situ catalyzed condensation of a ceramic precursor in the presence of a solvated polymer material, utilizing a condensation agent comprised of at least one cation amenable to SPE applications. As such, the counterion in the condensation agent used in the formation of the molecular composite is already present as the electrolyte matrix develops. This procedure effectively decouples the cation loading levels required for maximum ionic conductivity from electrolyte physical properties associated with condensation agent loading levels by utilizing the inverse relationship discovered between condensation agent loading and the time domain of the aging step.

Transient Reactivation of a Deep-Seated Landslide by Undrained Loading Captured With Repeat Airborne and Terrestrial Lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Booth, Adam M.; McCarley, Justin; Hinkle, Jason; Shaw, Susan; Ampuero, Jean-Paul; Lamb, Michael P.

2018-05-01

Landslides reactivate due to external environmental forcing or internal mass redistribution, but the process is rarely documented quantitatively. We capture the three-dimensional, 1-m resolution surface deformation field of a transiently reactivated landslide with image correlation of repeat airborne lidar. Undrained loading by two debris flows in the landslide's head, rather than external forcing, triggered reactivation. After that loading, the lower 2 km of the landslide advanced by up to 14 m in 2 years before completely stopping. The displacement field over those 2 years implies that the slip surface gained 1 kPa of shear strength, which was likely accomplished by a negative dilatancy-pore pressure feedback as material deformed around basal roughness elements. Thus, landslide motion can be decoupled from external environmental forcing in cases, motivating the need to better understand internal perturbations to the stress field to predict hazards and sediment fluxes as landscapes evolve.

The effect of switchgrass loadings on feedstock solubilization and biofuel production by Clostridium thermocellum

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

Verbeke, Tobin J.; Garcia, Gabriela M.; Elkins, James G.

High solids loading fermentations are necessary for the industrialization of lignocellulosic ethanol. To date, only a few studies have investigated the effect of solids loadings on microorganisms of interest for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). Here, the effect that various switchgrass loadings have on Clostridium thermocellum solubilization and bioconversion are investigated. C. thermocellum was grown for ten days on 10, 25 or 50 g/L switchgrass or Avicel at equivalent glucan loadings. Avicel was completely consumed at all loadings, but total cellulose solubilization decreased from 63% to 37% as switchgrass loadings increased from 10 g/L to 50 g/L. Washed, spent switchgrass could bemore » additionally hydrolyzed and fermented in second-round fermentations suggesting access to fermentable substrates was not the limiting factor at higher feedstock loadings. Fermentations of Avicel or cellobiose using culture medium supplemented with 50% spent fermentation broth identified that compounds present in the samples collected from the 25 or 50 g/L switchgrass loadings were the most inhibitory to continued fermentation. Finally, recalcitrance alone cannot fully account for differences in solubilization and end-production formation between switchgrass and Avicel at increased substrate loadings. Effort to decouple metabolic inhibition from inhibition of hydrolysis suggest that C. thermocellum’s hydrolytic machinery is more vulnerable to inhibition from switchgrass-derived inhibitors than is the bacterium’s metabolism.« less

The effect of switchgrass loadings on feedstock solubilization and biofuel production by Clostridium thermocellum

DOE PAGES

Verbeke, Tobin J.; Garcia, Gabriela M.; Elkins, James G.

2017-11-30

High solids loading fermentations are necessary for the industrialization of lignocellulosic ethanol. To date, only a few studies have investigated the effect of solids loadings on microorganisms of interest for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). Here, the effect that various switchgrass loadings have on Clostridium thermocellum solubilization and bioconversion are investigated. C. thermocellum was grown for ten days on 10, 25 or 50 g/L switchgrass or Avicel at equivalent glucan loadings. Avicel was completely consumed at all loadings, but total cellulose solubilization decreased from 63% to 37% as switchgrass loadings increased from 10 g/L to 50 g/L. Washed, spent switchgrass could bemore » additionally hydrolyzed and fermented in second-round fermentations suggesting access to fermentable substrates was not the limiting factor at higher feedstock loadings. Fermentations of Avicel or cellobiose using culture medium supplemented with 50% spent fermentation broth identified that compounds present in the samples collected from the 25 or 50 g/L switchgrass loadings were the most inhibitory to continued fermentation. Finally, recalcitrance alone cannot fully account for differences in solubilization and end-production formation between switchgrass and Avicel at increased substrate loadings. Effort to decouple metabolic inhibition from inhibition of hydrolysis suggest that C. thermocellum’s hydrolytic machinery is more vulnerable to inhibition from switchgrass-derived inhibitors than is the bacterium’s metabolism.« less

Fast reactor core concepts to improve transmutation efficiency

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

Fujimura, Koji; Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Itooka, Satoshi

Fast Reactor (FR) core concepts to improve transmutation efficiency were conducted. A heterogeneous MA loaded core was designed based on the 1000MWe-ABR breakeven core. The heterogeneous MA loaded core with Zr-H loaded moderated targets had a better transmutation performance than the MA homogeneous loaded core. The annular pellet rod design was proposed as one of the possible design options for the MA target. It was shown that using annular pellet MA rods mitigates the self-shielding effect in the moderated target so as to enhance the transmutation rate.

Modeling of the UAE Wind Turbine for Refinement of FAST{_}AD

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

Jonkman, J. M.

The Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment (UAE) research wind turbine was modeled both aerodynamically and structurally in the FAST{_}AD wind turbine design code, and its response to wind inflows was simulated for a sample of test cases. A study was conducted to determine why wind turbine load magnitude discrepancies-inconsistencies in aerodynamic force coefficients, rotor shaft torque, and out-of-plane bending moments at the blade root across a range of operating conditions-exist between load predictions made by FAST{_}AD and other modeling tools and measured loads taken from the actual UAE wind turbine during the NASA-Ames wind tunnel tests. The acquired experimental test data representmore » the finest, most accurate set of wind turbine aerodynamic and induced flow field data available today. A sample of the FAST{_}AD model input parameters most critical to the aerodynamics computations was also systematically perturbed to determine their effect on load and performance predictions. Attention was focused on the simpler upwind rotor configuration, zero yaw error test cases. Inconsistencies in input file parameters, such as aerodynamic performance characteristics, explain a noteworthy fraction of the load prediction discrepancies of the various modeling tools.« less

Nonlinear Theory of The Geostrophic Adjustment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeitlin, V.

Nonlinear geostrophic adjustment and splitting of the fast and slow dynamical vari- ables are analysed in the framework of multi-layer and continuously stratified prim- itive equations by means of the multi-scale perturbation theory in the Rossby num- ber applied to localized initial disturbances. Two basic dynamical regimes: the quasi- geostrophic (QG) and the frontal geostrophic (FG) with small and large deviations of the isopycnal surfaces, respectively, are considered and differences in corresponding adjustment scenarios are displayed. Decoupling of the fast component of the flow is proven up to the third order in Rossby number and long-time corrections to the stan- dard balanced QG and FG models are found. Peculiarities of splitting in the FG regime due to the quasi-inertial oscillations are displayed and a Schrodinger-like modulation equations for the envelope of these latter are derived.

Determination of the geometric corrugation of graphene on SiC(0001) by grazing incidence fast atom diffraction

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

Zugarramurdi, A.; Debiossac, M.; Lunca-Popa, P.

2015-03-09

We present a grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD) study of monolayer graphene on 6H-SiC(0001). This system shows a Moiré-like 13 × 13 superlattice above the reconstructed carbon buffer layer. The averaging property of GIFAD results in electronic and geometric corrugations that are well decoupled; the graphene honeycomb corrugation is only observed with the incident beam parallel to the zigzag direction while the geometric corrugation arising from the superlattice is revealed along the armchair direction. Full-quantum calculations of the diffraction patterns show the very high GIFAD sensitivity to the amplitude of the surface corrugation. The best agreement between the calculated and measuredmore » diffraction intensities yields a corrugation height of 0.27 ± 0.03 Å.« less

Real-time multi-DSP control of three-phase current-source unity power factor PWM rectifier

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

Xiao Wang; Boon-Teck Ooi

1993-07-01

The design of a real-time multi-DSP controller for a high-quality six-valve three-phase current-source unity power factor PWM rectifier is discussed in this paper. With the decoupler preprocessor and the dynamic trilogic PWM trigger scheme, each of the three input currents can be controlled independently. Based on the a-b-c frame system model and the fast parallel computer control, the pole-placement control method is implemented successfully to achieve fast response in the ac currents. The low-frequency resonance in the ac filter L-C networks has been damped effectively. The experimental results are obtained from a 1-kVA bipolar transistor current-source PWM rectifier with amore » real-time controller using three TMS320C25 DSP's.« less

Iterative reconstruction methods in atmospheric tomography: FEWHA, Kaczmarz and Gradient-based algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramlau, R.; Saxenhuber, D.; Yudytskiy, M.

2014-07-01

The problem of atmospheric tomography arises in ground-based telescope imaging with adaptive optics (AO), where one aims to compensate in real-time for the rapidly changing optical distortions in the atmosphere. Many of these systems depend on a sufficient reconstruction of the turbulence profiles in order to obtain a good correction. Due to steadily growing telescope sizes, there is a strong increase in the computational load for atmospheric reconstruction with current methods, first and foremost the MVM. In this paper we present and compare three novel iterative reconstruction methods. The first iterative approach is the Finite Element- Wavelet Hybrid Algorithm (FEWHA), which combines wavelet-based techniques and conjugate gradient schemes to efficiently and accurately tackle the problem of atmospheric reconstruction. The method is extremely fast, highly flexible and yields superior quality. Another novel iterative reconstruction algorithm is the three step approach which decouples the problem in the reconstruction of the incoming wavefronts, the reconstruction of the turbulent layers (atmospheric tomography) and the computation of the best mirror correction (fitting step). For the atmospheric tomography problem within the three step approach, the Kaczmarz algorithm and the Gradient-based method have been developed. We present a detailed comparison of our reconstructors both in terms of quality and speed performance in the context of a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system for the E-ELT setting on OCTOPUS, the ESO end-to-end simulation tool.

Enhanced method of fast re-routing with load balancing in software-defined networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemeshko, Oleksandr; Yeremenko, Oleksandra

2017-11-01

A two-level method of fast re-routing with load balancing in a software-defined network (SDN) is proposed. The novelty of the method consists, firstly, in the introduction of a two-level hierarchy of calculating the routing variables responsible for the formation of the primary and backup paths, and secondly, in ensuring a balanced load of the communication links of the network, which meets the requirements of the traffic engineering concept. The method provides implementation of link, node, path, and bandwidth protection schemes for fast re-routing in SDN. The separation in accordance with the interaction prediction principle along two hierarchical levels of the calculation functions of the primary (lower level) and backup (upper level) routes allowed to abandon the initial sufficiently large and nonlinear optimization problem by transiting to the iterative solution of linear optimization problems of half the dimension. The analysis of the proposed method confirmed its efficiency and effectiveness in terms of obtaining optimal solutions for ensuring balanced load of communication links and implementing the required network element protection schemes for fast re-routing in SDN.

The impact of the fast ion fluxes and thermal plasma loads on the design of the ITER fast ion loss detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kocan, M.; Garcia-Munoz, M.; Ayllon-Guerola, J.; Bertalot, L.; Bonnet, Y.; Casal, N.; Galdon, J.; Garcia-Lopez, J.; Giacomin, T.; Gonzalez-Martin, J.; Gunn, J. P.; Rodriguez-Ramos, M.; Reichle, R.; Rivero-Rodriguez, J. F.; Sanchis-Sanchez, L.; Vayakis, G.; Veshchev, E.; Vorpahl, C.; Walsh, M.; Walton, R.

2017-12-01

Thermal plasma loads to the ITER Fast Ion Loss Detector are studied for QDT = 10 burning plasma equilibrium using the 3D field line tracing. The simulations are performed for a FILD insertion 9-13 cm past the port plasma facing surface, optimized for fast ion measurements, and include the worst-case perturbation of the plasma boundary and the error in the magnetic reconstruction. The FILD head is exposed to superimposed time-averaged ELM heat load, static inter-ELM heat flux and plasma radiation. The study includes the estimate of the instantaneous temperature rise due to individual 0.6 MJ controlled ELMs. The maximum time-averaged surface heat load is lesssim 12 MW/m2 and will lead to increase of the FILD surface temperature well below the melting temperature of the materials considered here, for the FILD insertion time of 0.2 s. The worst-case instantaneous temperature rise during controlled 0.6 MJ ELMs is also significantly smaller than the melting temperature of e.g. Tungsten or Molybdenum, foreseen for the FILD housing.

Fasting glycaemia to simplify screening for gestational diabetes.

PubMed

Ryser Rüetschi, J; Jornayvaz, F R; Rivest, R; Huhn, E A; Irion, O; Boulvain, M

2016-12-01

Recommendations in Switzerland on screening for gestational diabetes endorse the International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group consensus. As universal testing is time consuming and glucose loading is unpleasant, the recommendations include a simplification, not performing the glucose loading in women with fasting glycaemia <4.4 mmol/l. Our objective was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of this simplified strategy, compared with the complete test, in our population with a low prevalence of gestational diabetes. We collected 2298 complete 75-g glucose tolerance tests. We simulated stopping the test, so avoiding the glucose loading and further glycaemia, if fasting glycaemia was <4.4 or ≥5.1 mmol/l. Unselected pregnant women from Geneva and Basel, at 24-28 weeks of gestation. We calculated the sensitivity, and the percentage of women who would avoid the complete test with the strategy based on fasting glycaemia. The prevalence of gestational diabetes was 10.9% in our population. Among 251 women with gestational diabetes, fasting glycaemia was ≥5.1 mmol/l in 119 women (47.4%), between 4.4 and <5.1 mmol/l in 78 women (31.1%) and <4.4 mmol/l in 54 women (21.5%). Proceeding with the complete test only in women with fasting glycaemia between 4.4 and <5.1 mmol/l will result in a sensitivity of 78.5%. This strategy would avoid glucose loading in 63.8% of women. Screening with fasting glycaemia is an attractive alternative to universal screening with the complete 75-g glucose tolerance test. This strategy is, however, slightly less sensitive than previously reported in higher-risk populations. Fasting glycaemia can be considered as an alternative to the complete test for gestational diabetes screening. © 2016 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Efficient parallelization for AMR MHD multiphysics calculations; implementation in AstroBEAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll-Nellenback, Jonathan J.; Shroyer, Brandon; Frank, Adam; Ding, Chen

2013-03-01

Current adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) simulations require algorithms that are highly parallelized and manage memory efficiently. As compute engines grow larger, AMR simulations will require algorithms that achieve new levels of efficient parallelization and memory management. We have attempted to employ new techniques to achieve both of these goals. Patch or grid based AMR often employs ghost cells to decouple the hyperbolic advances of each grid on a given refinement level. This decoupling allows each grid to be advanced independently. In AstroBEAR we utilize this independence by threading the grid advances on each level with preference going to the finer level grids. This allows for global load balancing instead of level by level load balancing and allows for greater parallelization across both physical space and AMR level. Threading of level advances can also improve performance by interleaving communication with computation, especially in deep simulations with many levels of refinement. While we see improvements of up to 30% on deep simulations run on a few cores, the speedup is typically more modest (5-20%) for larger scale simulations. To improve memory management we have employed a distributed tree algorithm that requires processors to only store and communicate local sections of the AMR tree structure with neighboring processors. Using this distributed approach we are able to get reasonable scaling efficiency (>80%) out to 12288 cores and up to 8 levels of AMR - independent of the use of threading.

Density-matrix description of heteronuclear decoupling in A mX n systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClung, R. E. D.; John, Boban K.

A detailed investigation of the effects of ordinary noise decoupling and spherical randomization decoupling on the elements of the density matrix for A mX n spin systems is presented. The elements are shown to reach steady-state values in the rotating frame of the decoupled nuclei when the decoupling field is strong and is applied for a sufficient time interval. The steady-state values are found to be linear combinations of the density-matrix elements at the beginning of the decoupling period, and often involve mixing of populations with multiple-quantum coherences, and mixing of the perpendicular components of the magnetization with higher coherences. This description of decoupling is shown to account for the "illusions" of spin decoupling in 2D gated-decoupler 13C J-resolved spectra reported by Levitt et al.

Feasibility study of solid oxide fuel cell engines integrated with sprinter gas turbines: Modeling, design and control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Zhenzhong; Sun, Jing; Dobbs, Herb; King, Joel

2015-02-01

Conventional recuperating solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)/gas turbine (GT) system suffers from its poor dynamic capability and load following performance. To meet the fast, safe and efficient load following requirements for mobile applications, a sprinter SOFC/GT system concept is proposed in this paper. In the proposed system, an SOFC stack operating at fairly constant temperature provides the baseline power with high efficiency while the fast dynamic capability of the GT-generator is fully explored for fast dynamic load following. System design and control studies have been conducted by using an SOFC/GT system model consisting of experimentally-verified component models. In particular, through analysis of the steady-state simulation results, an SOFC operation strategy is proposed to maintain fairly constant SOFC power (less than 2% power variation) and temperature (less than 2 K temperature variation) over the entire load range. A system design procedure well-suited to the proposed system has also been developed to help determining component sizes and the reference steady-state operation line. In addition, control analysis has been studied for both steady-state and transient operations. Simulation results suggest that the proposed system holds the promise to achieve fast and safe transient operations by taking full advantage of the fast dynamics of the GT-generator.

Verification of a three-dimensional FEM model for FBGs in PANDA fibers by transversal load experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Bennet; Hopf, Barbara; Lindner, Markus; Koch, Alexander W.; Roths, Johannes

2017-04-01

A 3D FEM model of an FBG in a PANDA fiber with an extended fiber length of 25.4 mm is presented. Simulating long fiber lengths with limited computer power is achieved by using an iterative solver and by optimizing the FEM mesh. For verification purposes, the model is adapted to a configuration with transversal loads on the fiber. The 3D FEM model results correspond with experimental data and with the results of an additional 2D FEM plain strain model. In further studies, this 3D model shall be applied to more sophisticated situations, for example to study the temperature dependence of surface-glued or embedded FBGs in PANDA fibers that are used for strain-temperature decoupling.

Fuzzy decoupling controller based on multimode control algorithm of PI-single neuron and its application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xianxia; Wang, Jian; Qin, Tinggao

2003-09-01

Intelligent control algorithms are introduced into the control system of temperature and humidity. A multi-mode control algorithm of PI-Single Neuron is proposed for single loop control of temperature and humidity. In order to remove the coupling between temperature and humidity, a new decoupling method is presented, which is called fuzzy decoupling. The decoupling is achieved by using a fuzzy controller that dynamically modifies the static decoupling coefficient. Taking the control algorithm of PI-Single Neuron as the single loop control of temperature and humidity, the paper provides the simulated output response curves with no decoupling control, static decoupling control and fuzzy decoupling control. Those control algorithms are easily implemented in singlechip-based hardware systems.

Task-irrelevant memory load induces inattentional blindness without temporo-parietal suppression.

PubMed

Matsuyoshi, Daisuke; Ikeda, Takashi; Sawamoto, Nobukatsu; Kakigi, Ryusuke; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Osaka, Naoyuki

2010-08-01

We often fail to consciously detect an unexpected object when we are engaged in an attention-demanding task (inattentional blindness). The inattentional blindness which is induced by visual short-term memory (VSTM) load has been proposed to result from a suppression of temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) activity that involves stimulus-driven attention. However, the fact that, inversely proportional to TPJ activity, intraparietal sulcus (IPS) activity correlates with VSTM load renders questionable the account of inattentional blindness based only on TPJ activity. Here, we investigated whether the TPJ is solely responsible for inattentional blindness by decoupling IPS and TPJ responses to VSTM load and then using the same manipulation to test the behavioral inattentional blindness performance. Experiment 1 showed that TPJ activity was not suppressed by task-irrelevant load while the IPS responded to both task-relevant and task-irrelevant load. Although the TPJ account of inattentional blindness predicts that the degree of inattentional blindness should track TPJ activity, we found in Experiment 2 that inattentional blindness was induced not only by task-relevant load but also by task-irrelevant load, showing inconsistency between the extent of inattentional blindness and TPJ response. These findings suggest that inattentional blindness can be induced without suppression of TPJ activity and seem to offer the possibility that the IPS contributes to conscious perception. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulating Vibrations in a Complex Loaded Structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cao, Tim T.

2005-01-01

The Dynamic Response Computation (DIRECT) computer program simulates vibrations induced in a complex structure by applied dynamic loads. Developed to enable rapid analysis of launch- and landing- induced vibrations and stresses in a space shuttle, DIRECT also can be used to analyze dynamic responses of other structures - for example, the response of a building to an earthquake, or the response of an oil-drilling platform and attached tanks to large ocean waves. For a space-shuttle simulation, the required input to DIRECT includes mathematical models of the space shuttle and its payloads, and a set of forcing functions that simulates launch and landing loads. DIRECT can accommodate multiple levels of payload attachment and substructure as well as nonlinear dynamic responses of structural interfaces. DIRECT combines the shuttle and payload models into a single structural model, to which the forcing functions are then applied. The resulting equations of motion are reduced to an optimum set and decoupled into a unique format for simulating dynamics. During the simulation, maximum vibrations, loads, and stresses are monitored and recorded for subsequent analysis to identify structural deficiencies in the shuttle and/or payloads.

Research on the parallel load sharing principle of a novel self-decoupled piezoelectric six-dimensional force sensor.

PubMed

Li, Ying-Jun; Yang, Cong; Wang, Gui-Cong; Zhang, Hui; Cui, Huan-Yong; Zhang, Yong-Liang

2017-09-01

This paper presents a novel integrated piezoelectric six-dimensional force sensor which can realize dynamic measurement of multi-dimensional space load. Firstly, the composition of the sensor, the spatial layout of force-sensitive components, and measurement principle are analyzed and designed. There is no interference of piezoelectric six-dimensional force sensor in theoretical analysis. Based on the principle of actual work and deformation compatibility coherence, this paper deduces the parallel load sharing principle of the piezoelectric six-dimensional force sensor. The main effect factors which affect the load sharing ratio are obtained. The finite element model of the piezoelectric six-dimensional force sensor is established. In order to verify the load sharing principle of the sensor, a load sharing test device of piezoelectric force sensor is designed and fabricated. The load sharing experimental platform is set up. The experimental results are in accordance with the theoretical analysis and simulation results. The experiments show that the multi-dimensional and heavy force measurement can be realized by the parallel arrangement of the load sharing ring and the force sensitive element in the novel integrated piezoelectric six-dimensional force sensor. The ideal load sharing effect of the sensor can be achieved by appropriate size parameters. This paper has an important guide for the design of the force measuring device according to the load sharing mode. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ELECTRON BEAM SHAPING AND ITS APPLICATIONS

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

Halavanau, Aliaksei

Transverse and longitudinal electron beam shaping is a crucial part of high-brightness electron accelerator operations. In this dissertation, we report on the corresponding beam dynamics research conducted at Fermilab Accelerator Science and Technology facility (FAST) and Argonne Wakeeld Accelerator (AWA). We demonstrate an experimental method for spatial laser and electron beam shaping using microlens arrays (MLAs) at a photoinjector facility. Such a setup was built at AWA and resulted in transverse emittance reduction by a factor of 2. We present transverse emittance partitioning methods that were recently employed at FAST facility. A strongly coupled electron beam was generated in anmore » axial magnetic eld and accelerated in 1.3 GHz SRF cavities to 34 MeV. It was then decoupled in Round-To-Flat beam transformer and beams with emittance asymmetry ratio of 100 were generated. We introduce the new methods of measuring electron beam canonical angular momentum, beam transformer optimization and beam image analysis. We also describe a potential longitudinal space-charge amplier setup for FAST high-energy beamline. As an outcome, a broadband partially coherent radiation in the UV range could be generated.« less

Runaway of energetic test ions in a toroidal plasma

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

Eilerman, S., E-mail: eilerman@wisc.edu; Anderson, J. K.; Sarff, J. S.

2015-02-15

Ion runaway in the presence of a large-scale, reconnection-driven electric field has been conclusively measured in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed-field pinch (RFP). Measurements of the acceleration of a beam of fast ions agree well with test particle and Fokker-Planck modeling of the runaway process. However, the runaway mechanism does not explain all measured ion heating in the RFP, particularly previous measurements of strong perpendicular heating. It is likely that multiple energization mechanisms occur simultaneously and with differing significance for magnetically coupled thermal ions and magnetically decoupled tail and beam ions.

Numerical Solution of the Electron Transport Equation in the Upper Atmosphere

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

Woods, Mark Christopher; Holmes, Mark; Sailor, William C

A new approach for solving the electron transport equation in the upper atmosphere is derived. The problem is a very stiff boundary value problem, and to obtain an accurate numerical solution, matrix factorizations are used to decouple the fast and slow modes. A stable finite difference method is applied to each mode. This solver is applied to a simplifieed problem for which an exact solution exists using various versions of the boundary conditions that might arise in a natural auroral display. The numerical and exact solutions are found to agree with each other to at least two significant digits.

The effectiveness of 1H decoupling in the 13C MAS NMR of paramagnetic solids: An experimental case study incorporating copper(II) amino acid complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willans, Mathew J.; Sears, Devin N.; Wasylishen, Roderick E.

2008-03-01

The use of continuous-wave (CW) 1H decoupling has generally provided little improvement in the 13C MAS NMR spectroscopy of paramagnetic organic solids. Recent solid-state 13C NMR studies have demonstrated that at rapid magic-angle spinning rates CW decoupling can result in reductions in signal-to-noise and that 1H decoupling should be omitted when acquiring 13C MAS NMR spectra of paramagnetic solids. However, studies of the effectiveness of modern 1H decoupling sequences are lacking, and the performance of such sequences over a variety of experimental conditions must be investigated before 1H decoupling is discounted altogether. We have studied the performance of several commonly used advanced decoupling pulse sequences, namely the TPPM, SPINAL-64, XiX, and eDROOPY sequences, in 13C MAS NMR experiments performed under four combinations of the magnetic field strength (7.05 or 11.75 T), rotor frequency (15 or 30 kHz), and 1H rf-field strength (71, 100, or 140 kHz). The effectiveness of these sequences has been evaluated by comparing the 13C signal intensity, linewidth at half-height, LWHH, and coherence lifetimes, T2', of the methine carbon of copper(II) bis( DL-alanine) monohydrate, Cu(ala) 2·H 2O, and methylene carbon of copper(II) bis( DL-2-aminobutyrate), Cu(ambut) 2, obtained with the advanced sequences to those obtained without 1H decoupling, with CW decoupling, and for fully deuterium labelled samples. The latter have been used as model compounds with perfect 1H decoupling and provide a measure of the efficiency of the 1H decoupling sequence. Overall, the effectiveness of 1H decoupling depends strongly on the decoupling sequence utilized, the experimental conditions and the sample studied. Of the decoupling sequences studied, the XiX sequence consistently yielded the best results, although any of the advanced decoupling sequences strongly outperformed the CW sequence and provided improvements over no 1H decoupling. Experiments performed at 7.05 T demonstrate that the XiX decoupling sequence is the least sensitive to changes in the 1H transmitter frequency and may explain the superior performance of this decoupling sequence. Overall, the most important factor in the effectiveness of 1H decoupling was the carbon type studied, with the methylene carbon of Cu(ambut) 2 being substantially more sensitive to 1H decoupling than the methine carbon of Cu(ala) 2·H 2O. An analysis of the various broadening mechanisms contributing to 13C linewidths has been performed in order to rationalize the different sensitivities of the two carbon sites under the four experimental conditions.

Self isolating high frequency saturable reactor

DOEpatents

Moore, James A.

1998-06-23

The present invention discloses a saturable reactor and a method for decoupling the interwinding capacitance from the frequency limitations of the reactor so that the equivalent electrical circuit of the saturable reactor comprises a variable inductor. The saturable reactor comprises a plurality of physically symmetrical magnetic cores with closed loop magnetic paths and a novel method of wiring a control winding and a RF winding. The present invention additionally discloses a matching network and method for matching the impedances of a RF generator to a load. The matching network comprises a matching transformer and a saturable reactor.

Miniaturization of electromagnetic band gap structures for mobile applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goussetis, G.; Feresidis, A. P.; Palikaras, G. K.; Kitra, M.; Vardaxoglou, J. C.

2005-12-01

It is well known that interference of the human body affects the performance of the antennas in mobile phone handsets. In this contribution, we investigate the use of miniaturized metallodielectric electromagnetic band gap (MEBG) structures embedded in the case of a mobile handset as a means of decoupling the antenna from the user's hand. The closely coupled MEBG concept is employed to achieve miniaturization of the order of 15:1. Full wave dispersion relations for planar closely coupled MEBG arrays are presented and are validated experimentally. The performance of a prototype handset with an embedded conformal MEBG is assessed experimentally and is compared to a similar prototype without the MEBG. Reduction in the detuning of the antenna because of the human hand by virtue of the MEBG is demonstrated. Moreover, the efficiency of the handset when loaded with a human hand model is shown to improve when the MEBG is in place. The improvements are attributed to the decoupling of the antenna from the user's hand, which is achieved by means of suppressing the fields in the locality of the hand.

A single-stage optical load-balanced switch for data centers.

PubMed

Huang, Qirui; Yeo, Yong-Kee; Zhou, Luying

2012-10-22

Load balancing is an attractive technique to achieve maximum throughput and optimal resource utilization in large-scale switching systems. However current electronic load-balanced switches suffer from severe problems in implementation cost, power consumption and scaling. To overcome these problems, in this paper we propose a single-stage optical load-balanced switch architecture based on an arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR) in conjunction with fast tunable lasers. By reuse of the fast tunable lasers, the switch achieves both functions of load balancing and switching through the AWGR. With this architecture, proof-of-concept experiments have been conducted to investigate the feasibility of the optical load-balanced switch and to examine its physical performance. Compared to three-stage load-balanced switches, the reported switch needs only half of optical devices such as tunable lasers and AWGRs, which can provide a cost-effective solution for future data centers.

Temperature Dependent Mechanical Property of PZT Film: An Investigation by Nanoindentation

PubMed Central

Li, Yingwei; Feng, Shangming; Wu, Wenping; Li, Faxin

2015-01-01

Load-depth curves of an unpoled Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) film composite as a function of temperature were measured by nanoindentation technique. Its reduce modulus and hardness were calculated by the typical Oliver-Pharr method. Then the true modulus and hardness of the PZT film were assessed by decoupling the influence of substrate using methods proposed by Zhou et al. and Korsunsky et al., respectively. Results show that the indentation depth and modulus increase, but the hardness decreases at elevated temperature. The increasing of indentation depth and the decreasing of hardness are thought to be caused by the decreasing of the critical stress needed to excite dislocation initiation at high temperature. The increasing of true modulus is attributed to the reducing of recoverable indentation depth induced by back-switched domains. The influence of residual stress on the indentation behavior of PZT film composite was also investigated by measuring its load-depth curves with pre-load strains. PMID:25768957

Design and Test of Magnetic Wall Decoupling for Dipole Transmit/Receive Array for MR Imaging at the Ultrahigh Field of 7T.

PubMed

Yan, Xinqiang; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Wei, Long; Xue, Rong

2015-01-01

Radio-frequency coil arrays using dipole antenna technique have been recently applied for ultrahigh field magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to obtain the better signal-noise-ratio (SNR) gain at the deep area of human tissues. However, the unique structure of dipole antennas makes it challenging to achieve sufficient electromagnetic decoupling among the dipole antenna elements. Currently, there is no decoupling methods proposed for dipole antenna arrays in MR imaging. The recently developed magnetic wall (MW) or induced current elimination decoupling technique has demonstrated its feasibility and robustness in designing microstrip transmission line arrays, L/C loop arrays and monopole arrays. In this study, we aim to investigate the possibility and performance of MW decoupling technique in dipole arrays for MR imaging at the ultrahigh field of 7T. To achieve this goal, a two-channel MW decoupled dipole array was designed, constructed and analyzed experimentally through bench test and MR imaging. Electromagnetic isolation between the two dipole elements was improved from about -3.6 dB (without any decoupling treatments) to -16.5 dB by using the MW decoupling method. MR images acquired from a water phantom using the MW decoupled dipole array and the geometry factor maps were measured, calculated and compared with those acquired using the dipole array without decoupling treatments. The MW decoupled dipole array demonstrated well-defined image profiles from each element and had better geometry factor over the array without decoupling treatments. The experimental results indicate that the MW decoupling technique might be a promising solution to reducing the electromagnetic coupling of dipole arrays in ultrahigh field MRI, consequently improving their performance in SNR and parallel imaging.

Neutron assay in mixed radiation fields with a 6Li-loaded plastic scintillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balmer, M. J. I.; Gamage, K. A. A.; Taylor, G. C.

2015-08-01

A novel technique for assay of thermal and fast neutrons in a 6Li-loaded plastic scintillator is presented. Existing capture-gated thermal neutron detection techniques were evaluated with the 6Li-loaded plastic scintillator studied in this work. Using simulations and experimental work, shortcomings in its performance were highlighted. As a result, it was proposed that by separating the combined fast and thermal neutron events from gamma events, using established pulse shape discrimination techniques, the thermal neutron events could then be assayed. Experiments were conducted at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, performing neutron assays with seven different neutron fields using the proposed technique. For each field, thermal and fast neutron content was estimated and were shown to corroborate with the seven synthesised fields.

Refocused continuous-wave decoupling: a new approach to heteronuclear dipolar decoupling in solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Vinther, Joachim M; Nielsen, Anders B; Bjerring, Morten; van Eck, Ernst R H; Kentgens, Arno P M; Khaneja, Navin; Nielsen, Niels Chr

2012-12-07

A novel strategy for heteronuclear dipolar decoupling in magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is presented, which eliminates residual static high-order terms in the effective Hamiltonian originating from interactions between oscillating dipolar and anisotropic shielding tensors. The method, called refocused continuous-wave (rCW) decoupling, is systematically established by interleaving continuous wave decoupling with appropriately inserted rotor-synchronized high-power π refocusing pulses of alternating phases. The effect of the refocusing pulses in eliminating residual effects from dipolar coupling in heteronuclear spin systems is rationalized by effective Hamiltonian calculations to third order. In some variants the π pulse refocusing is supplemented by insertion of rotor-synchronized π/2 purging pulses to further reduce the residual dipolar coupling effects. Five different rCW decoupling sequences are presented and their performance is compared to state-of-the-art decoupling methods. The rCW decoupling sequences benefit from extreme broadbandedness, tolerance towards rf inhomogeneity, and improved potential for decoupling at relatively low average rf field strengths. In numerical simulations, the rCW schemes clearly reveal superior characteristics relative to the best decoupling schemes presented so far, which we to some extent also are capable of demonstrating experimentally. A major advantage of the rCW decoupling methods is that they are easy to set up and optimize experimentally.

A unified heteronuclear decoupling strategy for magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy

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

Equbal, Asif; Bjerring, Morten; Nielsen, Niels Chr., E-mail: madhu@tifr.res.in, E-mail: ncn@inano.au.dk

2015-05-14

A unified strategy of two-pulse based heteronuclear decoupling for solid-state magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance is presented. The analysis presented here shows that different decoupling sequences like two-pulse phase-modulation (TPPM), X-inverse-X (XiX), and finite pulse refocused continuous wave (rCW{sup A}) are basically specific solutions of a more generalized decoupling scheme which incorporates the concept of time-modulation along with phase-modulation. A plethora of other good decoupling conditions apart from the standard, TPPM, XiX, and rCW{sup A} decoupling conditions are available from the unified decoupling approach. The importance of combined time- and phase-modulation in order to achieve the best decoupling conditions ismore » delineated. The consequences of different indirect dipolar interactions arising from cross terms comprising of heteronuclear and homonuclear dipolar coupling terms and also those between heteronuclear dipolar coupling and chemical-shift anisotropy terms are presented in order to unfold the effects of anisotropic interactions under different decoupling conditions. Extensive numerical simulation results are corroborated with experiments on standard amino acids.« less

Fasting Insulin is Better Partitioned according to Family History of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus than Post Glucose Load Insulin of Oral Glucose Tolerance Test in Young Adults.

PubMed

Francis, Saritha; Chandran, Sindhu Padinjareveedu; Nesheera, K K; Jacob, Jose

2017-05-01

Hyperinsulinemia is contributed by insulin resistance, hepatic insulin uptake, insulin secretion and rate of insulin degradation. Family history of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been reported to cause hyperinsulinemia. Correlation of fasting insulin with post glucose load Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) insulin in young adults and their partitioning according to family history of type 2 diabetes. In this observational cross-sectional study, clinical evaluation and biochemical assays of insulin and diabetes related parameters, and secondary clinical influences on type 2 diabetes in volunteers were done for inclusion as participants (n=90) or their exclusion. Cut off levels of quantitative biochemical variables were fixed such that they included the effects of insulin resistance, but excluded other secondary clinical influences. Distribution was analysed by Shapiro-Wilk test; equality of variances by Levene's test; Log 10 transformations for conversion of groups to Gaussian distribution and for equality of variances in the groups compared. When the groups compared had Gaussian distribution and there was equality of variance, parametric methods were used. Otherwise, non parametric methods were used. Fasting insulin was correlating significantly with 30, 60 and 120 minute OGTT insulin showing that hyperinsulinemia in the fasting state was related to hyperinsulinemia in the post glucose load states. When fasting and post glucose load OGTT insulin were partitioned into those without and with family history of type 2 diabetes, maximum difference was seen in fasting insulin (p<0.001), followed by 120 (p=0.001) and 60 (p= 0.002) minute OGTT insulin. The 30 minute insulin could not be partitioned (p=0.574). Fasting, 60 and 120 minute OGTT insulin can be partitioned according to family history of type 2 diabetes, demonstrating stratification and heterogeneity in the insulin sample. Of these, fasting insulin was better partitioned and could be used for baseline reference interval calculations.

Reduction of characteristic RL time for fast, efficient magnetic levitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yuqing; Feng, Guosheng; Wang, Xiaofeng; Wu, Jizhou; Ma, Jie; Xiao, Liantuan; Jia, Suotang

2017-09-01

We demonstrate the reduction of characteristic time in resistor-inductor (RL) circuit for fast, efficient magnetic levitation according to Kirchhoff's circuit laws. The loading time is reduced by a factor of ˜4 when a high-power resistor is added in series with the coils. By using the controllable output voltage of power supply and voltage of feedback circuit, the loading time is further reduced by ˜ 3 times. The overshoot loading in advance of the scheduled magnetic field gradient is equivalent to continuously adding a resistor without heating. The magnetic field gradient with the reduced loading time is used to form the upward magnetic force against to the gravity of the cooled Cs atoms, and we obtain an effectively levitated loading of the Cs atoms to a crossed optical dipole trap.

An optimized BP neural network based on genetic algorithm for static decoupling of a six-axis force/torque sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Liyue; Song, Aiguo

2018-02-01

In order to improve the measurement precision of 6-axis force/torque sensor for robot, BP decoupling algorithm optimized by GA (GA-BP algorithm) is proposed in this paper. The weights and thresholds of a BP neural network with 6-10-6 topology are optimized by GA to develop decouple a six-axis force/torque sensor. By comparison with other traditional decoupling algorithm, calculating the pseudo-inverse matrix of calibration and classical BP algorithm, the decoupling results validate the good decoupling performance of GA-BP algorithm and the coupling errors are reduced.

Decoupling the influence of biological and physical processes on the dissolved oxygen in the Chesapeake Bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Jiabi; Shen, Jian

2015-01-01

is instructive and essential to decouple the effects of biological and physical processes on the dissolved oxygen condition, in order to understand their contribution to the interannual variability of hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay since the 1980s. A conceptual bottom DO budget model is applied, using the vertical exchange time scale (VET) to quantify the physical condition and net oxygen consumption rate to quantify biological activities. By combining observed DO data and modeled VET values along the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay, the monthly net bottom DO consumption rate was estimated for 1985-2012. The DO budget model results show that the interannual variations of physical conditions accounts for 88.8% of the interannual variations of observed DO. The high similarity between the VET spatial pattern and the observed DO suggests that physical processes play a key role in regulating the DO condition. Model results also show that long-term VET has a slight increase in summer, but no statistically significant trend is found. Correlations among southerly wind strength, North Atlantic Oscillation index, and VET demonstrate that the physical condition in the Chesapeake Bay is highly controlled by the large-scale climate variation. The relationship is most significant during the summer, when the southerly wind dominates throughout the Chesapeake Bay. The seasonal pattern of the averaged net bottom DO consumption rate (B'20) along the main stem coincides with that of the chlorophyll-a concentration. A significant correlation between nutrient loading and B'20 suggests that the biological processes in April-May are most sensitive to the nutrient loading.

Design and control of a decoupled two degree of freedom translational parallel micro-positioning stage.

PubMed

Lai, Lei-Jie; Gu, Guo-Ying; Zhu, Li-Min

2012-04-01

This paper presents a novel decoupled two degrees of freedom (2-DOF) translational parallel micro-positioning stage. The stage consists of a monolithic compliant mechanism driven by two piezoelectric actuators. The end-effector of the stage is connected to the base by four independent kinematic limbs. Two types of compound flexure module are serially connected to provide 2-DOF for each limb. The compound flexure modules and mirror symmetric distribution of the four limbs significantly reduce the input and output cross couplings and the parasitic motions. Based on the stiffness matrix method, static and dynamic models are constructed and optimal design is performed under certain constraints. The finite element analysis results are then given to validate the design model and a prototype of the XY stage is fabricated for performance tests. Open-loop tests show that maximum static and dynamic cross couplings between the two linear motions are below 0.5% and -45 dB, which are low enough to utilize the single-input-single-out control strategies. Finally, according to the identified dynamic model, an inversion-based feedforward controller in conjunction with a proportional-integral-derivative controller is applied to compensate for the nonlinearities and uncertainties. The experimental results show that good positioning and tracking performances are achieved, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism and controller design. The resonant frequencies of the loaded stage at 2 kg and 5 kg are 105 Hz and 68 Hz, respectively. Therefore, the performance of the stage is reasonably good in term of a 200 N load capacity. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Non-Gaussian effects, space-time decoupling, and mobility bifurcation in glassy hard-sphere fluids and suspensions.

PubMed

Saltzman, Erica J; Schweizer, Kenneth S

2006-12-01

Brownian trajectory simulation methods are employed to fully establish the non-Gaussian fluctuation effects predicted by our nonlinear Langevin equation theory of single particle activated dynamics in glassy hard-sphere fluids. The consequences of stochastic mobility fluctuations associated with the space-time complexities of the transient localization and barrier hopping processes have been determined. The incoherent dynamic structure factor was computed for a range of wave vectors and becomes of an increasingly non-Gaussian form for volume fractions beyond the (naive) ideal mode coupling theory (MCT) transition. The non-Gaussian parameter (NGP) amplitude increases markedly with volume fraction and is well described by a power law in the maximum restoring force of the nonequilibrium free energy profile. The time scale associated with the NGP peak becomes much smaller than the alpha relaxation time for systems characterized by significant entropic barriers. An alternate non-Gaussian parameter that probes the long time alpha relaxation process displays a different shape, peak intensity, and time scale of its maximum. However, a strong correspondence between the classic and alternate NGP amplitudes is predicted which suggests a deep connection between the early and final stages of cage escape. Strong space-time decoupling emerges at high volume fractions as indicated by a nondiffusive wave vector dependence of the relaxation time and growth of the translation-relaxation decoupling parameter. Displacement distributions exhibit non-Gaussian behavior at intermediate times, evolving into a strongly bimodal form with slow and fast subpopulations at high volume fractions. Qualitative and semiquantitative comparisons of the theoretical results with colloid experiments, ideal MCT, and multiple simulation studies are presented.

DecouplingModes: Passive modes amplitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, J. Richard; Lewis, Antony

2018-01-01

DecouplingModes calculates the amplitude of the passive modes, which requires solving the Einstein equations on superhorizon scales sourced by the anisotropic stress from the magnetic fields (prior to neutrino decoupling), and the magnetic and neutrino stress (after decoupling). The code is available as a Mathematica notebook.

An FMM-FFT Accelerated SIE Simulator for Analyzing EM Wave Propagation in Mine Environments Loaded With Conductors

PubMed Central

Sheng, Weitian; Zhou, Chenming; Liu, Yang; Bagci, Hakan; Michielssen, Eric

2018-01-01

A fast and memory efficient three-dimensional full-wave simulator for analyzing electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation in electrically large and realistic mine tunnels/galleries loaded with conductors is proposed. The simulator relies on Muller and combined field surface integral equations (SIEs) to account for scattering from mine walls and conductors, respectively. During the iterative solution of the system of SIEs, the simulator uses a fast multipole method-fast Fourier transform (FMM-FFT) scheme to reduce CPU and memory requirements. The memory requirement is further reduced by compressing large data structures via singular value and Tucker decompositions. The efficiency, accuracy, and real-world applicability of the simulator are demonstrated through characterization of EM wave propagation in electrically large mine tunnels/galleries loaded with conducting cables and mine carts. PMID:29726545

High Field In Vivo 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Brain by Random Radiofrequency Heteronuclear Decoupling and Data Sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ningzhi; Li, Shizhe; Shen, Jun

2017-06-01

In vivo 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a unique and effective tool for studying dynamic human brain metabolism and the cycling of neurotransmitters. One of the major technical challenges for in vivo 13C-MRS is the high radio frequency (RF) power necessary for heteronuclear decoupling. In the common practice of in vivo 13C-MRS, alkanyl carbons are detected in the spectra range of 10-65ppm. The amplitude of decoupling pulses has to be significantly greater than the large one-bond 1H-13C scalar coupling (1JCH=125-145 Hz). Two main proton decoupling methods have been developed: broadband stochastic decoupling and coherent composite or adiabatic pulse decoupling (e.g., WALTZ); the latter is widely used because of its efficiency and superb performance under inhomogeneous B1 field. Because the RF power required for proton decoupling increases quadratically with field strength, in vivo 13C-MRS using coherent decoupling is often limited to low magnetic fields (<= 4 Tesla (T)) to keep the local and averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) under the safety guidelines established by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Alternately, carboxylic/amide carbons are coupled to protons via weak long-range 1H-13C scalar couplings, which can be decoupled using low RF power broadband stochastic decoupling. Recently, the carboxylic/amide 13C-MRS technique using low power random RF heteronuclear decoupling was safely applied to human brain studies at 7T. Here, we review the two major decoupling methods and the carboxylic/amide 13C-MRS with low power decoupling strategy. Further decreases in RF power deposition by frequency-domain windowing and time-domain random under-sampling are also discussed. Low RF power decoupling opens the possibility of performing in vivo 13C experiments of human brain at very high magnetic fields (such as 11.7T), where signal-to-noise ratio as well as spatial and temporal spectral resolution are more favorable than lower fields.

Is there any relationship between coronary artery disease and postprandial triglyceride levels?

PubMed

Atar, Inci Aslı; Atar, Ilyas; Aydınalp, Alp; Ertan, Cağatay; Bozbaş, Hüseyin; Ozin, Bülent; Yıldırır, Aylin; Müderrisoğlu, Haldun

2011-05-01

We aimed to evaluate the relationship between postprandial triglyceride (PPTG) levels and coronary artery disease (CAD). A total of 80 patients were included in this prospective cohort study. Oral lipid loading was used in order to measure PPTG levels. In the fasting state and after the high fat breakfast, triglyceride levels were measured by enzymatic methods at 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th hours. We made subgroup analysis to show the effects of lipid loading on triglyceride levels in patients with and without fasting hypertriglyceridemia. We evaluated triglyceride levels and changes of triglyceride levels in percentages after lipid loading using a general linear model for repeated measures. Sample size analysis was performed. Baseline clinical, demographic and laboratory characteristics of both groups were similar. The peak triglyceride levels were seen at the 4th hour in both groups. Triglyceride levels were significantly increased after lipid-rich-breakfast loading compared to baseline levels in both groups (p<0.001) but these changes were not significant (p=0.279). In patients with elevated fasting triglyceride levels, the area under the plasma triglyceride concentration curve was significantly larger in CAD group than control group (334±103 vs. 233±58 mg/dl, p=0.02). Our data show that in patients who have a high fasting triglyceride level, high levels of PPTG may be related to CAD, however high PPTG levels are not related to CAD in patients with normal fasting levels of triglyceride.

Precompetition taper and nutritional strategies: special reference to training during Ramadan intermittent fast.

PubMed

Mujika, Iñigo; Chaouachi, Anis; Chamari, Karim

2010-06-01

A marked reduction in the training load in the lead-up to major competitions allows athletes to reduce the fatigue induced by intense training and improve competition performance. This tapered training phase is based on the reduction in training volume while maintaining pretaper training intensity and frequency. In parallel to training load reductions, nutritional strategies characterised by lowered energy intakes need to be implemented to match lowered energy expenditure. The Ramadan intermittent fast imposes constrained nutritional practices on Muslim athletes, inducing a shift to a greater reliance on fat oxidation to meet energy needs and a possible increase in protein breakdown. The training load is often reduced during Ramadan to match the absence of energy and fluid intake during daylight, which implies a risk of losing training induced adaptations. Should coaches and athletes decide to reduce the training load during Ramadan, the key role of training intensity in retaining training induced adaptations should be kept in mind. However, experienced elite Muslim athletes are able to maintain their usual training load during this month of intermittent fasting without decrements in measures of fitness and with only minor adverse effects.

Empirical Research on Decoupling Relationship between Energy-Related Carbon Emission and Economic Growth in Guangdong Province Based on Extended Kaya Identity

PubMed Central

Wang, Wenxiu; Huang, Ningsheng; Zhao, Daiqing

2014-01-01

The decoupling elasticity decomposition quantitative model of energy-related carbon emission in Guangdong is established based on the extended Kaya identity and Tapio decoupling model for the first time, to explore the decoupling relationship and its internal mechanism between energy-related carbon emission and economic growth in Guangdong. Main results are as follows. (1) Total production energy-related carbon emissions in Guangdong increase from 4128 × 104 tC in 1995 to 14396 × 104 tC in 2011. Decoupling elasticity values of energy-related carbon emission and economic growth increase from 0.53 in 1996 to 0.85 in 2011, and its decoupling state turns from weak decoupling in 1996–2004 to expansive coupling in 2005–2011. (2) Land economic output and energy intensity are the first inhibiting factor and the first promoting factor to energy-related carbon emission decoupling from economic growth, respectively. The development speeds of land urbanization and population urbanization, especially land urbanization, play decisive roles in the change of total decoupling elasticity values. (3) Guangdong can realize decoupling of energy-related carbon emission from economic growth effectively by adjusting the energy mix and industrial structure, coordinating the development speed of land urbanization and population urbanization effectively, and strengthening the construction of carbon sink. PMID:24782666

Empirical research on decoupling relationship between energy-related carbon emission and economic growth in Guangdong province based on extended Kaya identity.

PubMed

Wang, Wenxiu; Kuang, Yaoqiu; Huang, Ningsheng; Zhao, Daiqing

2014-01-01

The decoupling elasticity decomposition quantitative model of energy-related carbon emission in Guangdong is established based on the extended Kaya identity and Tapio decoupling model for the first time, to explore the decoupling relationship and its internal mechanism between energy-related carbon emission and economic growth in Guangdong. Main results are as follows. (1) Total production energy-related carbon emissions in Guangdong increase from 4128 × 10⁴ tC in 1995 to 14396 × 10⁴ tC in 2011. Decoupling elasticity values of energy-related carbon emission and economic growth increase from 0.53 in 1996 to 0.85 in 2011, and its decoupling state turns from weak decoupling in 1996-2004 to expansive coupling in 2005-2011. (2) Land economic output and energy intensity are the first inhibiting factor and the first promoting factor to energy-related carbon emission decoupling from economic growth, respectively. The development speeds of land urbanization and population urbanization, especially land urbanization, play decisive roles in the change of total decoupling elasticity values. (3) Guangdong can realize decoupling of energy-related carbon emission from economic growth effectively by adjusting the energy mix and industrial structure, coordinating the development speed of land urbanization and population urbanization effectively, and strengthening the construction of carbon sink.

Control of a High Speed Flywheel System for Energy Storage in Space Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kenny, Barbara H.; Kascak, Peter E.; Jansen, Ralph; Dever, Timothy; Santiago, Walter

2004-01-01

A novel control algorithm for the charge and discharge modes of operation of a flywheel energy storage system for space applications is presented. The motor control portion of the algorithm uses sensorless field oriented control with position and speed estimates determined from a signal injection technique at low speeds and a back EMF technique at higher speeds. The charge and discharge portion of the algorithm use command feed-forward and disturbance decoupling, respectively, to achieve fast response with low gains. Simulation and experimental results are presented demonstrating the successful operation of the flywheel control up to the rated speed of 60,000 rpm.

Simulations of Coulomb systems confined by polarizable surfaces using periodic Green functions.

PubMed

Dos Santos, Alexandre P; Girotto, Matheus; Levin, Yan

2017-11-14

We present an efficient approach for simulating Coulomb systems confined by planar polarizable surfaces. The method is based on the solution of the Poisson equation using periodic Green functions. It is shown that the electrostatic energy arising from the surface polarization can be decoupled from the energy due to the direct Coulomb interaction between the ions. This allows us to combine an efficient Ewald summation method, or any other fast method for summing over the replicas, with the polarization contribution calculated using Green function techniques. We apply the method to calculate density profiles of ions confined between the charged dielectric and metal surfaces.

Development of novel fast-dissolving tacrolimus solid dispersion-loaded prolonged release tablet.

PubMed

Cho, Jung Hyun; Kim, Yong-Il; Kim, Dong-Wuk; Yousaf, Abid Mehmood; Kim, Jong Oh; Woo, Jong Soo; Yong, Chul Soon; Choi, Han-Gon

2014-04-11

The goal of this research was to develop a novel prolonged release tablet bioequivalent to the commercial sustained release capsule. A number of tacrolimus-loaded fast-dissolving solid dispersions containing various amounts of DOSS were prepared using the spray drying technique. Their solubility, dissolution and pharmacokinetics in rats were studied. DOSS increased drug solubility and dissolution in the solid dispersions. Compared with the drug powder, the solubility, dissolution and bioavailability of tacrolimus with the fast-dissolving solid dispersion containing tacrolimus/HP-β-CD/DOSS in the weight ratio of 5:40:4 were boosted by approximately 700-, 30- and 2-fold, respectively. Several tablet formulations were accomplished with this solid dispersion in combination with various ratios of HPMC/ethylcellulose. The release behaviour and pharmacokinetic studies in beagle dogs were assessed compared with the commercial prolonged release capsule. A decrease in HPMC/ethylcellulose ratios reduced the dissolution of tacrolimus from the tablets. Particularly, the tacrolimus-loaded prolonged release tablet consisting of fast-dissolving tacrolimus solid dispersion, HPMC, ethylcellulose and talc at the weight ratio of 20:66:112:2 exhibited a dissolution profile similar to that produced by the commercial prolonged release capsule. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the AUC, Cmax, Tmax and MRT values between them in beagle dogs. Consequently, this tacrolimus-loaded prolonged release tablet might be bioequivalent to the tacrolimus-loaded commercial capsule. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Verification of the New FAST v8 Capabilities for the Modeling of Fixed-Bottom Offshore Wind Turbines: Preprint

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

Barahona, B.; Jonkman, J.; Damiani, R.

2014-12-01

Coupled dynamic analysis has an important role in the design of offshore wind turbines because the systems are subject to complex operating conditions from the combined action of waves and wind. The aero-hydro-servo-elastic tool FAST v8 is framed in a novel modularization scheme that facilitates such analysis. Here, we present the verification of new capabilities of FAST v8 to model fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines. We analyze a series of load cases with both wind and wave loads and compare the results against those from the previous international code comparison projects-the International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task 23 Subtask 2 Offshoremore » Code Comparison Collaboration (OC3) and the IEA Wind Task 30 OC3 Continued (OC4) projects. The verification is performed using the NREL 5-MW reference turbine supported by monopile, tripod, and jacket substructures. The substructure structural-dynamics models are built within the new SubDyn module of FAST v8, which uses a linear finite-element beam model with Craig-Bampton dynamic system reduction. This allows the modal properties of the substructure to be synthesized and coupled to hydrodynamic loads and tower dynamics. The hydrodynamic loads are calculated using a new strip theory approach for multimember substructures in the updated HydroDyn module of FAST v8. These modules are linked to the rest of FAST through the new coupling scheme involving mapping between module-independent spatial discretizations and a numerically rigorous implicit solver. The results show that the new structural dynamics, hydrodynamics, and coupled solutions compare well to the results from the previous code comparison projects.« less

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

Lopez, A.L.; Kohrs, M.B.; Horwitz, D.L.

To determine the effect of glucose loading on serum zinc concentrations, 34 elderly subjects aged 60-86 y were studied. Anthropometric data, medical and dietary histories were obtained. Serum zinc and glucose concentrations were obtained fasting and 1/2, 1, 1 1/2, 2 and 3 h after 75 g oral glucose load; glycohemoglobin and fasting serum lipids were also determined. For comparison, the subjects were categorized as: normal or low serum zinc concentrations; normal or high body mass index BMI; normal or high sum of skinfolds and normal or high serum cholesterol. Results showed that low serum zinc concentrations increased significantly overmore » baseline values after the glucose load and did not return to fasting levels. On the other hand, mean serum zinc concentrations significantly declined without recovery for those with normal zinc values. For the total group, no significant differences were noted between fasting values and subsequent time periods. No correlations were noted between fasting serum zinc and area under the curve for zinc except in the high BMI group (positive correlation observed). For the high BMI group, fasting serum zinc differed significantly from the succeeding measurements except for 30 min. For the group as a whole, mean serum zinc concentration was within normal limits (76.9 +/- 2.8 mcg/ml): mean zinc intake was less than 2/3rds the RDA. They conclude that glucose ingestion may alter serum zinc and should be considered in interpreting these levels.« less

A new semiclassical decoupling scheme for electronic transitions in molecular collisions - Application to vibrational-to-electronic energy transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, H.-W.; Lam, K. S.; Devries, P. L.; George, T. F.

1980-01-01

A new semiclassical decoupling scheme (the trajectory-based decoupling scheme) is introduced in a computational study of vibrational-to-electronic energy transfer for a simple model system that simulates collinear atom-diatom collisions. The probability of energy transfer (P) is calculated quasiclassically using the new scheme as well as quantum mechanically as a function of the atomic electronic-energy separation (lambda), with overall good agreement between the two sets of results. Classical mechanics with the new decoupling scheme is found to be capable of predicting resonance behavior whereas an earlier decoupling scheme (the coordinate-based decoupling scheme) failed. Interference effects are not exhibited in P vs lambda results.

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

Cobb, Corie L.; Solberg, Scott E.

3-dimensional (3D) electrode architectures have been explored as a means to decouple power and energy trade-offs in thick battery electrodes. Limited work has been published which systematically examines the impact of these architectures at the pouch cell level. This paper conducts an analysis on the potential capacity gains that can be realized with thick co-extruded electrodes in a pouch cell. Moreover, our findings show that despite lower active material composition for each cathode layer, the effective gain in thickness and active material loading enables pouch cell capacity gains greater than 10% with a Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) materialsmore » system.« less

Mechanisms to deploy the two-stage IUS from the shuttle cargo bay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haynie, H. T.

1980-01-01

The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) is a two-stage or three-stage booster used to transport spacecraft from the space shuttle orbit to synchronous orbit or on an interplanetary trajectory. The mechanisms which were designed specifically to perform the two-stage IUS required functions while contained within the cargo bay of the space shuttle during the boost phase and while in a low Earth orbit are discussed. The requirements, configuration, and operation of the mechanisms are described, with particular emphasis on the tilt actuator and the mechanism for decoupling the actuators during boost to eliminate redundant load paths.

Robust control of a parallel hybrid drivetrain with a CVT

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

Mayer, T.; Schroeder, D.

1996-09-01

In this paper the design of a robust control system for a parallel hybrid drivetrain is presented. The drivetrain is based on a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and is therefore a highly nonlinear multiple-input-multiple-output system (MIMO-System). Input-Output-Linearization offers the possibility of linearizing and of decoupling the system. Since for example the vehicle mass varies with the load and the efficiency of the gearbox depends strongly on the actual working point, an exact linearization of the plant will mostly fail. Therefore a robust control algorithm based on sliding mode is used to control the drivetrain.

Decoupled macro/micro-manipulator for fast and precise assembly operations: design and experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodac, Agathe; Siegwart, Roland Y.

1999-08-01

This paper presents a high performance single arm robot configuration, based on a macro-manipulator coupled with a micro-manipulator. The system is well suited to fast and precise positioning tasks for repetitive pick and place applications in the manufacturing industry. Firstly, the paper focuses on the design of the micro-manipulator, particularly on the selection of the proper micro-actuator type and location. We show that the micro-manipulator's design with an actuator placed between endpoint and ground and with a flexible suspension system can reduce the dynamic coupling between the macro-manipulator and the micro- manipulator. The overall system performance can then be improved. We describe two different designs of compact and fast micro-manipulators composed of voice coil actuators and a monolithic flexure suspension with notch hinges. Secondly, the paper presents a control strategy that allows both correction of possible misalignments of the end-effector relative to the target and compensation of tip oscillations. The dynamic interaction is analyzed and stability is verified. Finally, experimental results demonstrate significant improvements in acceleration, endpoint accuracy and settling time achieved by the novel configuration of the macro/micro-manipulator.

Further perspective on the theory of heteronuclear decoupling.

PubMed

Skinner, Thomas E

2014-11-01

An exact general theory of heteronuclear decoupling is presented for spin-1/2 IS systems. RF irradiation applied to the I spins both modifies and generates additional couplings between states of the system. The recently derived equivalence between the dynamics of any N-level quantum system and a system of classical coupled harmonic oscillators makes explicit the exact physical couplings between states. Decoupling is thus more properly viewed as a complex intercoupling. The sign of antiphase magnetization plays a fundamental role in decoupling. A one-to-one correspondence is demonstrated between ±2SyIz and the sense of the S-spin coupling evolution. Magnetization Sx is refocused to obtain the desired decoupled state when ∫2SyIzdt=0. The exact instantaneous coupling at any time during the decoupling sequence is readily obtained in terms of the system states, showing that the creation of two-spin coherence is crucial for reducing the effective scalar coupling, as required for refocusing to occur. Representative examples from new aperiodic sequences as well as standard cyclic, periodic composite-pulse and adiabatic decoupling sequences illustrate the decoupling mechanism. The more general aperiodic sequences, obtained using optimal control, realize the potential inherent in the theory for significantly improved decoupling. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modelling and Simulation on Multibody Dynamics for Vehicular Cold Launch Systems Based on Subsystem Synthesis Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panyun, YAN; Guozhu, LIANG; Yongzhi, LU; Zhihui, QI; Xingdou, GAO

2017-12-01

The fast simulation of the vehicular cold launch system (VCLS) in the launch process is an essential requirement for practical engineering applications. In particular, a general and fast simulation model of the VCLS will help the designer to obtain the optimum scheme in the initial design phase. For these purposes, a system-level fast simulation model was established for the VCLS based on the subsystem synthesis method. Moreover, a comparison of the load of a seven-axis VCLS on the rigid ground through both theoretical calculations and experiments was carried out. It was found that the error of the load of the rear left outrigger is less than 7.1%, and the error of the total load of all the outriggers is less than 2.8%. Moreover, time taken for completion of the simulation model is only 9.5 min, which is 5% of the time taken by conventional algorithms.

Extension of Viscoplasticity Based on Overstress to Capture the Effects of Prior Aging on the Time Dependent Deformation Behavior of a High-Temperature Polymer: Experiments and Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

the standard model characterization procedure is based on creep and recovery tests, where loading and unloading occurs at a fast rate of 1.0 MPa/s...σ − g[ǫ] and on d̊g[ǫ] dǫ = E, where g̊ is defined as the equilibrium stress g[ ] for extremely fast loading. For this case, the stress-strain curves...Strain S tr es s Strain Rate Slow Strain Rate Medium Strain Rate Fast Plastic Flow Fully Established Figure 2.10: Stress Strain Curve Schematic

Design of an Internal Model Control strategy for single-phase grid-connected PWM inverters and its performance analysis with a non-linear local load and weak grid.

PubMed

Chaves, Eric N; Coelho, Ernane A A; Carvalho, Henrique T M; Freitas, Luiz C G; Júnior, João B V; Freitas, Luiz C

2016-09-01

This paper presents the design of a controller based on Internal Model Control (IMC) applied to a grid-connected single-phase PWM inverter. The mathematical modeling of the inverter and the LCL output filter, used to project the 1-DOF IMC controller, is presented and the decoupling of grid voltage by a Feedforward strategy is analyzed. A Proportional - Resonant Controller (P+Res) was used for the control of the same plant in the running of experimental results, thus moving towards the discussion of differences regarding IMC and P+Res performances, which arrived at the evaluation of the proposed control strategy. The results are presented for typical conditions, for weak-grid and for non-linear local load, in order to verify the behavior of the controller against such situations. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Submerged electricity generation plane with marine current-driven motors

DOEpatents

Dehlsen, James G.P.; Dehlsen, James B.; Fleming, Alexander

2014-07-01

An underwater apparatus for generating electric power from ocean currents and deep water tides. A submersible platform including two or more power pods, each having a rotor with fixed-pitch blades, with drivetrains housed in pressure vessels that are connected by a transverse structure providing buoyancy, which can be a wing depressor, hydrofoil, truss, or faired tube. The platform is connected to anchors on the seafloor by forward mooring lines and a vertical mooring line that restricts the depth of the device in the water column. The platform operates using passive, rather than active, depth control. The wing depressor, along with rotor drag loads, ensures the platform seeks the desired operational current velocity. The rotors are directly coupled to a hydraulic pump that drives at least one constant-speed hydraulic-motor generator set and enables hydraulic braking. A fluidic bearing decouples non-torque rotor loads to the main shaft driving the hydraulic pumps.

Feedback linearization based control of a variable air volume air conditioning system for cooling applications.

PubMed

Thosar, Archana; Patra, Amit; Bhattacharyya, Souvik

2008-07-01

Design of a nonlinear control system for a Variable Air Volume Air Conditioning (VAVAC) plant through feedback linearization is presented in this article. VAVAC systems attempt to reduce building energy consumption while maintaining the primary role of air conditioning. The temperature of the space is maintained at a constant level by establishing a balance between the cooling load generated in the space and the air supply delivered to meet the load. The dynamic model of a VAVAC plant is derived and formulated as a MIMO bilinear system. Feedback linearization is applied for decoupling and linearization of the nonlinear model. Simulation results for a laboratory scale plant are presented to demonstrate the potential of keeping comfort and maintaining energy optimal performance by this methodology. Results obtained with a conventional PI controller and a feedback linearizing controller are compared and the superiority of the proposed approach is clearly established.

Optimal charge control strategies for stationary photovoltaic battery systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiahao; Danzer, Michael A.

2014-07-01

Battery systems coupled to photovoltaic (PV) modules for example fulfill one major function: they locally decouple PV generation and consumption of electrical power leading to two major effects. First, they reduce the grid load, especially at peak times and therewith reduce the necessity of a network expansion. And second, they increase the self-consumption in households and therewith help to reduce energy expenses. For the management of PV batteries charge control strategies need to be developed to reach the goals of both the distribution system operators and the local power producer. In this work optimal control strategies regarding various optimization goals are developed on the basis of the predicted household loads and PV generation profiles using the method of dynamic programming. The resulting charge curves are compared and essential differences discussed. Finally, a multi-objective optimization shows that charge control strategies can be derived that take all optimization goals into account.

Performance of homeostasis model assessment and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein for prediction of isolated post-load hyperglycaemia.

PubMed

Lai, Y-C; Li, H-Y; Hung, C-S; Lin, M-S; Shih, S-R; Ma, W-Y; Hua, C-H; Chuang, L-M; Sung, F-C; Wei, J-N

2013-03-01

To evaluate whether homeostasis model assessment and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein improve the prediction of isolated post-load hyperglycaemia. The subjects were 1458 adults without self-reported diabetes recruited between 2006 and 2010. Isolated post-load hyperglycaemia was defined as fasting plasma glucose < 7 mmol/l and 2-h post-load plasma glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/l. Risk scores of isolated post-load hyperglycaemia were constructed by multivariate logistic regression. An independent group (n = 154) was enrolled from 2010 to 2011 to validate the models' performance. One hundred and twenty-three subjects (8.28%) were newly diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus. Among those with undiagnosed diabetes, 64 subjects (52%) had isolated post-load hyperglycaemia. Subjects with isolated post-load hyperglycaemia were older, more centrally obese and had higher blood pressure, HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and lower homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function than those without diabetes. The risk scores included age, gender, BMI, homeostasis model assessment, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and HbA(1c). The full model had high sensitivity (84%) and specificity (87%) and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.91), with a cut-off point of 23.81; validation in an independent data set showed 88% sensitivity, 77% specificity and an area under curve of 0.89. Over half of those with undiagnosed diabetes had isolated post-load hyperglycaemia. Homeostasis model assessment and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein are useful to identify subjects with isolated post-load hyperglycaemia, with improved performance over fasting plasma glucose or HbA(1c) alone. © 2012 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2012 Diabetes UK.

Effects of Combined Foot/Ankle Electromyostimulation and Resistance Training on the In-Shoe Plantar Pressure Patterns during Sprint in Young Athletes.

PubMed

Fourchet, François; Kuitunen, Sami; Girard, Olivier; Beard, Adam J; Millet, Grégoire P

2011-01-01

Several studies have already reported that specific foot/ankle muscle reinforcement strategies induced strength and joint position sense performance enhancement. Nevertheless the effects of such protocols on sprint performance and plantar loading distribution have not been addressed yet. The objective of the study is to investigate the influence of a 5-wk foot/ankle strength training program on plantar loading characteristics during sprinting in adolescent males. Sixteen adolescent male athletes of a national training academy were randomly assigned to either a combined foot/ankle electromyostimulation and resistance training (FAST) or a control (C) group. FAST consisted of foot medial arch and extrinsic ankle muscles reinforcement exercises, whereas C maintained their usual training routine. Before and after training, in-shoe loading patterns were measured during 30-m running sprints using pressure sensitive insoles (right foot) and divided into nine regions for analysis. Although sprint times remained unchanged in both groups from pre- to post- training (3.90 ± 0.32 vs. 3.98 ± 0.46 s in FAST and 3.83 ± 0.42 vs. 3.81 ± 0.44 s in C), changes in force and pressure appeared from heel to forefoot between FAST and C. In FAST, mean pressure and force increased in the lateral heel area from pre- to post- training (67.1 ± 44.1 vs. 82.9 ± 28.6 kPa [p = 0.06]; 25.5 ± 17.8 vs. 34.1 ± 14.3 N [p = 0.05]) and did not change in the medial forefoot (151.0 ± 23.2 vs. 146.1 ± 30.0 kPa; 142.1 ± 29.4 vs. 136.0 ± 33.8; NS). Mean area increased in FAST under the lateral heel from pre- to post- (4.5 ± 1.3 vs. 5.7 ± 1.6 cm(2) [p < 0.05]) and remained unchanged in C (5.5 ± 2.8 vs. 5.0 ± 3.0 cm(2)). FAST program induced significant promising lateral and unwanted posterior transfer of the plantar loads without affecting significantly sprinting performance. Key pointsWe have evaluated the effects of a foot/ankle strength training program on sprint performance and on related plantar loading characteristics in teenage athletes, and this have not been examined previously.Our results showed no significant pre- to post- changes in sprint performance.This study revealed initially a lateral transfer and secondly a posterior transfer of the plantar loads after the foot/ankle strength training program.

Effects of Combined Foot/Ankle Electromyostimulation and Resistance Training on the In-Shoe Plantar Pressure Patterns during Sprint in Young Athletes

PubMed Central

Fourchet, François; Kuitunen, Sami; Girard, Olivier; Beard, Adam J.; Millet, Grégoire P.

2011-01-01

Several studies have already reported that specific foot/ankle muscle reinforcement strategies induced strength and joint position sense performance enhancement. Nevertheless the effects of such protocols on sprint performance and plantar loading distribution have not been addressed yet. The objective of the study is to investigate the influence of a 5-wk foot/ankle strength training program on plantar loading characteristics during sprinting in adolescent males. Sixteen adolescent male athletes of a national training academy were randomly assigned to either a combined foot/ankle electromyostimulation and resistance training (FAST) or a control (C) group. FAST consisted of foot medial arch and extrinsic ankle muscles reinforcement exercises, whereas C maintained their usual training routine. Before and after training, in-shoe loading patterns were measured during 30-m running sprints using pressure sensitive insoles (right foot) and divided into nine regions for analysis. Although sprint times remained unchanged in both groups from pre- to post- training (3.90 ± 0.32 vs. 3.98 ± 0.46 s in FAST and 3.83 ± 0.42 vs. 3.81 ± 0.44 s in C), changes in force and pressure appeared from heel to forefoot between FAST and C. In FAST, mean pressure and force increased in the lateral heel area from pre- to post- training (67.1 ± 44.1 vs. 82.9 ± 28.6 kPa [p = 0.06]; 25.5 ± 17.8 vs. 34.1 ± 14.3 N [p = 0.05]) and did not change in the medial forefoot (151.0 ± 23.2 vs. 146.1 ± 30.0 kPa; 142.1 ± 29.4 vs. 136.0 ± 33.8; NS). Mean area increased in FAST under the lateral heel from pre- to post- (4.5 ± 1.3 vs. 5.7 ± 1.6 cm2 [p < 0.05]) and remained unchanged in C (5.5 ± 2.8 vs. 5.0 ± 3.0 cm2). FAST program induced significant promising lateral and unwanted posterior transfer of the plantar loads without affecting significantly sprinting performance. Key points We have evaluated the effects of a foot/ankle strength training program on sprint performance and on related plantar loading characteristics in teenage athletes, and this have not been examined previously. Our results showed no significant pre- to post- changes in sprint performance. This study revealed initially a lateral transfer and secondly a posterior transfer of the plantar loads after the foot/ankle strength training program. PMID:24149874

Polylactide-based polyurethane shape memory nanocomposites (Fe3O4/PLAUs) with fast magnetic responsiveness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Shu-Ying; Jin, Sheng-Peng; Gao, Xie-Feng; Mu, Jian

2016-05-01

Polylactide-based polyurethane shape memory nanocomposites (Fe3O4/PLAUs) with fast magnetic responsiveness are presented. For the purpose of fast response and homogeneous dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles, oleic acid was used to improve the dispersibility of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. A homogeneous distribution of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix was obtained for nanocomposites with low Fe3O4 loading content. A small agglomeration was observed for nanocomposites with 6 wt% and 9 wt% loading content, leading to a small decline in the mechanical properties. PLAU and its nanocomposites have glass transition around 52 °C, which can be used as the triggering temperature. PLAU and its nanocomposites have shape fixity ratios above 99%, shape recovery ratios above 82% for the first cycle and shape recovery ratios above 91% for the second cycle. PLAU and its nanocomposites also exhibit a fast water bath or magnetic responsiveness. The magnetic recovery time decreases with an increase in the loading content of Fe3O4 nanoparticles due to an improvement in heating performance for increased weight percentage of fillers. The nanocomposites have fast responses in an alternating magnetic field and have potential application in biomedical areas such as intravascular stent.

Protecting solid-state spins from a strongly coupled environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Mo; Calvin Sun, Won Kyu; Saha, Kasturi; Jaskula, Jean-Christophe; Cappellaro, Paola

2018-06-01

Quantum memories are critical for solid-state quantum computing devices and a good quantum memory requires both long storage time and fast read/write operations. A promising system is the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, where the NV electronic spin serves as the computing qubit and a nearby nuclear spin as the memory qubit. Previous works used remote, weakly coupled 13C nuclear spins, trading read/write speed for long storage time. Here we focus instead on the intrinsic strongly coupled 14N nuclear spin. We first quantitatively understand its decoherence mechanism, identifying as its source the electronic spin that acts as a quantum fluctuator. We then propose a scheme to protect the quantum memory from the fluctuating noise by applying dynamical decoupling on the environment itself. We demonstrate a factor of 3 enhancement of the storage time in a proof-of-principle experiment, showing the potential for a quantum memory that combines fast operation with long coherence time.

Fast Segmentation From Blurred Data in 3D Fluorescence Microscopy.

PubMed

Storath, Martin; Rickert, Dennis; Unser, Michael; Weinmann, Andreas

2017-10-01

We develop a fast algorithm for segmenting 3D images from linear measurements based on the Potts model (or piecewise constant Mumford-Shah model). To that end, we first derive suitable space discretizations of the 3D Potts model, which are capable of dealing with 3D images defined on non-cubic grids. Our discretization allows us to utilize a specific splitting approach, which results in decoupled subproblems of moderate size. The crucial point in the 3D setup is that the number of independent subproblems is so large that we can reasonably exploit the parallel processing capabilities of the graphics processing units (GPUs). Our GPU implementation is up to 18 times faster than the sequential CPU version. This allows to process even large volumes in acceptable runtimes. As a further contribution, we extend the algorithm in order to deal with non-negativity constraints. We demonstrate the efficiency of our method for combined image deconvolution and segmentation on simulated data and on real 3D wide field fluorescence microscopy data.

Droplet trapping and fast acoustic release in a multi-height device with steady-state flow.

PubMed

Rambach, Richard W; Linder, Kevin; Heymann, Michael; Franke, Thomas

2017-10-11

We demonstrate a novel multilayer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) device for selective storage and release of single emulsion droplets. Drops are captured in a microchannel cavity and can be released on-demand through a triggered surface acoustic wave pulse. The surface acoustic wave (SAW) is excited by a tapered interdigital transducer (TIDT) deposited on a piezoelectric lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ) substrate and inverts the pressure difference across the cavity trap to push a drop out of the trap and back into the main flow channel. Droplet capture and release does not require a flow rate change, flow interruption, flow inversion or valve action and can be achieved in as fast as 20 ms. This allows both on-demand droplet capture for analysis and monitoring over arbitrary time scales, and continuous device operation with a high droplet rate of 620 drops per s. We hence decouple long-term droplet interrogation from other operations on the chip. This will ease integration with other microfluidic droplet operations and functional components.

Study of the generator/motor operation of induction machines in a high frequency link space power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lipo, Thomas A.; Sood, Pradeep K.

1987-01-01

Static power conversion systems have traditionally utilized dc current or voltage source links for converting power from one ac or dc form to another since it readily achieves the temporary energy storage required to decouple the input from the output. Such links, however, result in bulky dc capacitors and/or inductors and lead to relatively high losses in the converters due to stresses on the semiconductor switches. The feasibility of utilizing a high frequency sinusoidal voltage link to accomplish the energy storage and decoupling function is examined. In particular, a type of resonant six pulse bridge interface converter is proposed which utilizes zero voltage switching principles to minimize switching losses and uses an easy to implement technique for pulse density modulation to control the amplitude, frequency, and the waveshape of the synthesized low frequency voltage or current. Adaptation of the proposed topology for power conversion to single-phase ac and dc voltage or current outputs is shown to be straight forward. The feasibility of the proposed power circuit and control technique for both active and passive loads are verified by means of simulation and experiment.

Effects of Second-Order Hydrodynamics on a Semisubmersible Floating Offshore Wind Turbine: Preprint

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

Bayati, I.; Jonkman, J.; Robertson, A.

2014-07-01

The objective of this paper is to assess the second-order hydrodynamic effects on a semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine. Second-order hydrodynamics induce loads and motions at the sum- and difference-frequencies of the incident waves. These effects have often been ignored in offshore wind analysis, under the assumption that they are significantly smaller than first-order effects. The sum- and difference-frequency loads can, however, excite eigenfrequencies of the system, leading to large oscillations that strain the mooring system or vibrations that cause fatigue damage to the structure. Observations of supposed second-order responses in wave-tank tests performed by the DeepCwind consortium at themore » MARIN offshore basin suggest that these effects might be more important than originally expected. These observations inspired interest in investigating how second-order excitation affects floating offshore wind turbines and whether second-order hydrodynamics should be included in offshore wind simulation tools like FAST in the future. In this work, the effects of second-order hydrodynamics on a floating semisubmersible offshore wind turbine are investigated. Because FAST is currently unable to account for second-order effects, a method to assess these effects was applied in which linearized properties of the floating wind system derived from FAST (including the 6x6 mass and stiffness matrices) are used by WAMIT to solve the first- and second-order hydrodynamics problems in the frequency domain. The method has been applied to the OC4-DeepCwind semisubmersible platform, supporting the NREL 5-MW baseline wind turbine. The loads and response of the system due to the second-order hydrodynamics are analysed and compared to first-order hydrodynamic loads and induced motions in the frequency domain. Further, the second-order loads and induced response data are compared to the loads and motions induced by aerodynamic loading as solved by FAST.« less

A polymeric fastener can easily functionalize liposome surfaces with gadolinium for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Smith, Cartney E; Shkumatov, Artem; Withers, Sarah G; Yang, Binxia; Glockner, James F; Misra, Sanjay; Roy, Edward J; Wong, Chun-Ho; Zimmerman, Steven C; Kong, Hyunjoon

2013-11-26

Common methods of loading magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents into nanoparticles often suffer from challenges related to particle formation, complex chemical modification/purification steps, and reduced contrast efficiency. This study presents a simple, yet advanced process to address these issues by loading gadolinium, an MRI contrast agent, exclusively on a liposome surface using a polymeric fastener. The fastener, so named for its ability to physically link the two functional components together, consisted of chitosan substituted with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) to chelate gadolinium, as well as octadecyl chains to stabilize the modified chitosan on the liposome surface. The assembly strategy, mimicking the mechanisms by which viruses and proteins naturally anchor to a cell, provided greater T1 relaxivity than liposomes loaded with gadolinium in both the interior and outer leaflet. Gadolinium-coated liposomes were ultimately evaluated in vivo using murine ischemia models to highlight the diagnostic capability of the system. Taken together, this process decouples particle assembly and functionalization and, therefore, has considerable potential to enhance imaging quality while alleviating many of the difficulties associated with multifunctional particle fabrication.

Control method of Three-phase Four-leg converter based on repetitive control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, Wang

2018-03-01

The research chose the magnetic levitation force of wind power generation system as the object. In order to improve the power quality problem caused by unbalanced load in power supply system, we combined the characteristics and repetitive control principle of magnetic levitation wind power generation system, and then an independent control strategy for three-phase four-leg converter was proposed. In this paper, based on the symmetric component method, the second order generalized integrator was used to generate the positive and negative sequence of signals, and the decoupling control was carried out under the synchronous rotating reference frame, in which the positive and negative sequence voltage is PI double closed loop, and a PI regulator with repetitive control was introduced to eliminate the static error regarding the fundamental frequency fluctuation characteristic of zero sequence component. The simulation results based on Matlab/Simulink show that the proposed control project can effectively suppress the disturbance caused by unbalanced loads and maintain the load voltage balance. The project is easy to be achieved and remarkably improves the quality of the independent power supply system.

Automatic control of a helicopter with a hanging load. [development and evaluation of automatic pilot for use with S-61 helicopter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, N. K.; Bryson, A. E., Jr.

1973-01-01

An autopilot logic is designed here for controlling a helicopter with a hanging load. A 16th order model for the system is decoupled into four subsystems: (1) a second order system for yawing motion, (2) a second order system for vertical motion, (3) a sixth order system for longitudinal motion, and (4) a sixth order system for lateral motion. A measuring scheme, which could be used in remote areas, is developed and filters are designed to estimate the state variables from these measurements. The autopilot can be used to move the load over short distances without retracting the cables. This is done by automatically shifting the autopilot modes from position-hold (hover) to acceleration-hold to velocity-hold (cruise) to deceleration-hold to velocity-hold (near hover) to position-hold (hover). Use of such an autopilot might save considerable turnaround time. The Sikorsky S-61 helicopter is chosen as an example vehicle. The performance of the controlled system is studied in the presence of longitudinal and lateral winds.

A Polymeric Fastener can Easily Functionalize Liposome Surfaces with Gadolinium for Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PubMed Central

Smith, Cartney E.; Shkumatov, Artem; Withers, Sarah G.; Glockner, James F.; Misra, Sanjay; Roy, Edward J.; Wong, Chun-Ho; Zimmerman, Steven C.; Kong, Hyunjoon

2013-01-01

Common methods of loading magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents into nanoparticles often suffer from challenges related to particle formation, complex chemical modification/purification steps, and reduced contrast efficiency. This study presents a simple, yet advanced process to address these issues by loading gadolinium, an MRI contrast agent, exclusively on a liposome surface using a polymeric fastener. The fastener, so named for its ability to physically link the two functional components together, consisted of chitosan substituted with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) to chelate gadolinium, as well as octadecyl chains to stabilize the modified chitosan on the liposome surface. The assembly strategy, mimicking the mechanisms by which viruses and proteins naturally anchor to a cell, provided greater T1 relaxivity than liposomes loaded with gadolinium in both the interior and outer leaflet. Gadolinium-coated liposomes were ultimately evaluated in vivo using murine ischemia models to highlight the diagnostic capability of the system. Taken together, this process decouples particle assembly and functionalization, and therefore has considerable potential to enhance imaging quality while alleviating many of the difficulties associated with multifunctional particle fabrication. PMID:24083377

Fasting Lipoprotein Lipase Protein Levels Can Predict a Postmeal Increment of Triglyceride Levels in Fasting Normohypertriglyceridemic Subjects.

PubMed

Tsuzaki, Kokoro; Kotani, Kazuhiko; Yamada, Kazunori; Sakane, Naoki

2016-09-01

Although a postprandial increment in triglyceride (TG) levels is considered to be a risk factor for atherogenesis, tests (e.g., fat load) to assess postprandial changes in TG levels cannot be easily applied to clinical practice. Therefore, fasting markers that predict postprandial TG states are needed to be developed. One current candidate is lipoprotein lipase (LPL) protein, a molecule that hydrides TGs. This study investigated whether fasting LPL levels could predict postprandial TG levels. A total of 17 subjects (11 men, 6 women, mean age 52 ± 11 years) with normotriglyceridemia during fasting underwent the meal test. Several fasting parameters, including LPL, were measured for the area under the curve of postprandial TGs (AUC-TG). The subjects' mean fasting TG level was 1.30 mmol/l, and their mean LPL level was 41.6 ng/ml. The subjects' TG levels increased after loading (they peaked after two postprandial hours). Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that fasting TG levels were a predictor of the AUC-TG. In addition, fasting LPL mass levels were found to be a predictor of the AUC-TG (β = 0.65, P < 0.01), and this relationship was independent of fasting TG levels. Fasting LPL levels may be useful to predict postprandial TG increment in this population. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Research on parallel load sharing principle of piezoelectric six-dimensional heavy force/torque sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Li, Ying-jun; Jia, Zhen-yuan; Zhang, Jun; Qian, Min

2011-01-01

In working process of huge heavy-load manipulators, such as the free forging machine, hydraulic die-forging press, forging manipulator, heavy grasping manipulator, large displacement manipulator, measurement of six-dimensional heavy force/torque and real-time force feedback of the operation interface are basis to realize coordinate operation control and force compliance control. It is also an effective way to raise the control accuracy and achieve highly efficient manufacturing. Facing to solve dynamic measurement problem on six-dimensional time-varying heavy load in extremely manufacturing process, the novel principle of parallel load sharing on six-dimensional heavy force/torque is put forward. The measuring principle of six-dimensional force sensor is analyzed, and the spatial model is built and decoupled. The load sharing ratios are analyzed and calculated in vertical and horizontal directions. The mapping relationship between six-dimensional heavy force/torque value to be measured and output force value is built. The finite element model of parallel piezoelectric six-dimensional heavy force/torque sensor is set up, and its static characteristics are analyzed by ANSYS software. The main parameters, which affect load sharing ratio, are analyzed. The experiments for load sharing with different diameters of parallel axis are designed. The results show that the six-dimensional heavy force/torque sensor has good linearity. Non-linearity errors are less than 1%. The parallel axis makes good effect of load sharing. The larger the diameter is, the better the load sharing effect is. The results of experiments are in accordance with the FEM analysis. The sensor has advantages of large measuring range, good linearity, high inherent frequency, and high rigidity. It can be widely used in extreme environments for real-time accurate measurement of six-dimensional time-varying huge loads on manipulators.

Multifunctional High Drug Loading Nanocarriers for Cancer Drug Delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Erlei

2011-12-01

Most anticancer drugs have poor water-solubility, rapid blood clearance, low tumor-selectivity and severe systemic toxicity to healthy tissues. Thus, polymeric nanocarriers have been widely explored for anticancer drugs to solve these problems. However, polymer nanocarriers developed to date still suffer drawbacks including low drug loading contents, premature drug release, slow cellular internalization, slow intracellular drug release and thereby low therapeutic efficiency in cancer thermotherapy. Accordingly, in this dissertation, functional nanocapsules and nanoparticles including high drug loading liposome-like nanocapsules, high drug loading phospholipid-mimic nanocapsules with fast intracellular drug release, high drug loading charge-reversal nanocapsules, TAT based long blood circulation nanoparticles and charge-reversal nuclear targeted nanoparticles are designed and synthesized. These functional carriers have advantages such as high drug loading contents without premature drug release, fast cellular internalization and intracellular drug release, nuclear targeted delivery and long blood circulation. As a result, all these drug carriers show much higher in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer activities.

Transverse load sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer constructed by a bowknot type taper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Weimin; Shentu, Fengying; Wang, Youqing; Shen, Changyu; Dong, Xinyong

2018-01-01

A transverse load fiber sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer constructed by a Bowknot-type taper between a single mode fiber (SMF) and a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) was proposed. Due to the polarization maintaining fiber's birefringence, intensities of the two peaks which are corresponding to the fast and slow axis modes changed with the transverse load applied on the PMF. The experimental results showed that the structure with a 2 cm-long PMF has the sensitivities of 104.52 and -102.94 dB/(N/mm) for the fast and slow axis spectral dip wavelengths of 1485 and 1545 nm in the interference pattern, respectively, which are almost 7 times higher than that of the current similar existing transverse load sensor.

Resonant Inductive Decoupling (RID) for Transceiver Arrays to Compensate for both Reactive and Resistive Components of the Mutual Impedance

PubMed Central

Avdievich, Nikolai I.; Pan, Jullie W.; Hetherington, Hoby P.

2013-01-01

Transceiver surface coil arrays improve transmit performance (B1/√kW) and B1 homogeneity for head imaging up to 9.4 T. To further improve reception performance and parallel imaging the number of array elements has to be increased with correspondent decrease of their size. With a large number of small interacting antennas decoupling is one of the most challenging aspects in the design and construction of transceiver arrays. Previously described decoupling techniques using geometric overlap, inductive or capacitive decoupling have focused on eliminating only the reactance of the mutual impedance, which can limit the obtainable decoupling to −10 dB due to residual mutual resistance. A novel resonant inductive decoupling (RID) method, which allows compensation for both reactive and resistive components of the mutual impedance between the adjacent surface coils, has been developed and experimentally verified. This method provides an easy way to adjust the decoupling remotely by changing the resonance frequency of the RID circuit through adjustment of a variable capacitor. As an example a single row (1×16) 7T transceiver head array of n=16 small overlapped surface coils using RID decoupling between adjacent coils was built. In combination with overlapped coils the RID technique achieved better than −24 dB of decoupling for all adjacent coils. PMID:23775840

Research on virtual network load balancing based on OpenFlow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Rong; Ding, Lei

2017-08-01

The Network based on OpenFlow technology separate the control module and data forwarding module. Global deployment of load balancing strategy through network view of control plane is fast and of high efficiency. This paper proposes a Weighted Round-Robin Scheduling algorithm for virtual network and a load balancing plan for server load based on OpenFlow. Load of service nodes and load balancing tasks distribution algorithm will be taken into account.

Integration of Fire Control, Flight Control and Propulsion Control Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-01

process of preparation to a degree imocmpatible with fast moving technology. Undoubtedly something can be done to see that US authors produce papers...PDU provide a true "Up Front" system controller. Fast selection of Air to Air Mode is provided by 2 pushbuttons on the throttle. Pushing one or both...nature of the load snd its effect on the generation system. This calculation will include Load Power, Reactance, Nature - continuous or intermittent

Fast-acting valve actuator

DOEpatents

Cho, Nakwon

1980-01-01

A fast-acting valve actuator utilizes a spring driven pneumatically loaded piston to drive a valve gate. Rapid exhaust of pressurized gas from the pneumatically loaded side of the piston facilitates an extremely rapid piston stroke. A flexible selector diaphragm opens and closes an exhaust port in response to pressure differentials created by energizing and de-energizing a solenoid which controls the pneumatic input to the actuator as well as selectively providing a venting action to one side of the selector diaphragm.

Simulation comparison of a decoupled longitudinal control system and a velocity vector control wheel steering system during landings in wind shear

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kimball, G., Jr.

1980-01-01

A simulator comparison of the velocity vector control wheel steering (VCWS) system and a decoupled longitudinal control system is presented. The piloting task was to use the electronic attitude direction indicator (EADI) to capture and maintain a 3 degree glide slope in the presence of wind shear and to complete the landing using the perspective runway included on the EADI. The decoupled control system used constant prefilter and feedback gains to provide steady state decoupling of flight path angle, pitch angle, and forward velocity. The decoupled control system improved the pilots' ability to control airspeed and flight path angle during the final stages of an approach made in severe wind shear. The system also improved their ability to complete safe landings. The pilots preferred the decoupled control system in severe winds and, on a pilot rating scale, rated the approach and landing task with the decoupled control system as much as 3 to 4 increments better than use of the VCWS system.

Does implant coating with antibacterial-loaded hydrogel reduce bacterial colonization and biofilm formation in vitro?

PubMed

Drago, Lorenzo; Boot, Willemijn; Dimas, Kostantinos; Malizos, Kostantinos; Hänsch, Gertrud M; Stuyck, Jos; Gawlitta, Debby; Romanò, Carlo L

2014-11-01

Implant-related infections represent one of the most severe complications in orthopaedics. A fast-resorbable, antibacterial-loaded hydrogel may reduce or prevent bacterial colonization and biofilm formation of implanted biomaterials. We asked: (1) Is a fast-resorbable hydrogel able to deliver antibacterial compounds in vitro? (2) Can a hydrogel (alone or antibacterial-loaded) coating on implants reduce bacterial colonization? And (3) is intraoperative coating feasible and resistant to press-fit implant insertion? We tested the ability of Disposable Antibacterial Coating (DAC) hydrogel (Novagenit Srl, Mezzolombardo, Italy) to deliver antibacterial agents using spectrophotometry and a microbiologic assay. Antibacterial and antibiofilm activity were determined by broth microdilution and a crystal violet assay, respectively. Coating resistance to press-fit insertion was tested in rabbit tibias and human femurs. Complete release of all tested antibacterial compounds was observed in less than 96 hours. Bactericidal and antibiofilm effect of DAC hydrogel in combination with various antibacterials was shown in vitro. Approximately 80% of the hydrogel coating was retrieved on the implant after press-fit insertion. Implant coating with an antibacterial-loaded hydrogel reduces bacterial colonization and biofilm formation in vitro. A fast-resorbable, antibacterial-loaded hydrogel coating may help prevent implant-related infections in orthopaedics. However, further validation in animal models and properly controlled human studies is required.

Are dietary choline and betaine intakes determinants of total homocysteine concentration?

PubMed

Lee, Jung Eun; Jacques, Paul F; Dougherty, Lauren; Selhub, Jacob; Giovannucci, Edward; Zeisel, Steven H; Cho, Eunyoung

2010-05-01

Elevated homocysteine concentrations are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a decline in cognitive function. Intakes of choline and betaine, as methyl donors, may affect homocysteine concentrations. The objective was to examine whether choline and betaine intakes, assessed from food-frequency questionnaires, are associated with total plasma homocysteine concentrations under both fasting and post-methionine-load conditions in both pre- and post-folic acid fortification periods in the United States. We assessed the association between choline and betaine intakes and fasting and post-methionine-load homocysteine concentrations using the US Department of Agriculture revised food-composition tables and evaluated whether the associations varied by folic acid fortification periods in 1325 male and 1407 female participants in the sixth examination (1995-1998) of the Framingham Offspring Study. A higher choline-plus-betaine intake was associated with lower concentrations of post-methionine-load homocysteine; the multivariate geometric means were 24.1 micromol/L (95% CI: 23.4, 24.9 micromol/L) in the top quintile of intake and 25.0 micromol/L (95% CI: 24.2, 25.7 micromol/L) in the bottom quintile (P for trend = 0.01). We found an inverse association between choline-plus-betaine intake and fasting homocysteine concentrations; the multivariate geometric mean fasting homocysteine concentrations were 9.6 micromol/L (95% CI: 9.3, 9.9 micromol/L) in the top quintile and 10.1 micromol/L (95% CI: 9.8, 10.4 micromol/L) in the bottom quintile (P for trend < 0.001). When we stratified by plasma folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations, the inverse association was limited to participants with low plasma folate or vitamin B-12 concentrations. In the postfortification period, the inverse association between choline-plus-betaine intake and either fasting or post-methionine-load homocysteine was no longer present. Choline and betaine intakes were associated with both fasting and post-methionine-load total homocysteine concentrations, especially in participants with low folate and vitamin B-12 status. The inverse association between choline and betaine intakes and homocysteine concentrations was no longer present in the postfortification period.

Control of finger forces during fast, slow and moderate rotational hand movements.

PubMed

Kazemi, Hamed; Kearney, Robert E; Milner, Theodore E

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of speed on patterns of grip forces during twisting movement involving forearm supination against a torsional load (combined elastic and inertial load). For slow and moderate speed rotations, the grip force increased linearly with load torque. However, for fast rotations in which the contribution of the inertia to load torque was significantly greater than slower movements, the grip force-load torque relationship could be segmented into two phases: a linear ascending phase corresponding to the acceleration part of the movement followed by a plateau during deceleration. That is, during the acceleration phase, the grip force accurately tracked the combined elastic and inertial load. However, the coupling between grip force and load torque was not consistent during the deceleration phase of the movement. In addition, as speed increased, both the position and the force profiles became smoother. No differences in the baseline grip force, safety margin to secure the grasp during hold phase or the overall change in grip force were observed across different speeds.

Hollow-Structured Graphene-Silicone-Composite-Based Piezoresistive Sensors: Decoupled Property Tuning and Bending Reliability.

PubMed

Luo, Ningqi; Huang, Yan; Liu, Jing; Chen, Shih-Chi; Wong, Ching Ping; Zhao, Ni

2017-10-01

A versatile flexible piezoresistive sensor should maintain high sensitivity in a wide linear range, and provide a stable and repeatable pressure reading under bending. These properties are often difficult to achieve simultaneously with conventional filler-matrix composite active materials, as tuning of one material component often results in change of multiple sensor properties. Here, a material strategy is developed to realize a 3D graphene-poly(dimethylsiloxane) hollow structure, where the electrical conductivity and mechanical elasticity of the composite can be tuned separately by varying the graphene layer number and the poly(dimethylsiloxane) composition ratio, respectively. As a result, the sensor sensitivity and linear range can be easily improved through a decoupled tuning process, reaching a sensitivity of 15.9 kPa -1 in a 60 kPa linear region, and the sensor also exhibits fast response (1.2 ms rising time) and high stability. Furthermore, by optimizing the density of the graphene percolation network and thickness of the composite, the stability and repeatability of the sensor output under bending are improved, achieving a measurement error below 6% under bending radius variations from -25 to +25 mm. Finally, the potential applications of these sensors in wearable medical devices and robotic vision are explored. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Modal kinematics for multisection continuum arms.

PubMed

Godage, Isuru S; Medrano-Cerda, Gustavo A; Branson, David T; Guglielmino, Emanuele; Caldwell, Darwin G

2015-05-13

This paper presents a novel spatial kinematic model for multisection continuum arms based on mode shape functions (MSF). Modal methods have been used in many disciplines from finite element methods to structural analysis to approximate complex and nonlinear parametric variations with simple mathematical functions. Given certain constraints and required accuracy, this helps to simplify complex phenomena with numerically efficient implementations leading to fast computations. A successful application of the modal approximation techniques to develop a new modal kinematic model for general variable length multisection continuum arms is discussed. The proposed method solves the limitations associated with previous models and introduces a new approach for readily deriving exact, singularity-free and unique MSF's that simplifies the approach and avoids mode switching. The model is able to simulate spatial bending as well as straight arm motions (i.e., pure elongation/contraction), and introduces inverse position and orientation kinematics for multisection continuum arms. A kinematic decoupling feature, splitting position and orientation inverse kinematics is introduced. This type of decoupling has not been presented for these types of robotic arms before. The model also carefully accounts for physical constraints in the joint space to provide enhanced insight into practical mechanics and impose actuator mechanical limitations onto the kinematics thus generating fully realizable results. The proposed method is easily applicable to a broad spectrum of continuum arm designs.

Decoupling, situated cognition and immersion in art.

PubMed

Reboul, Anne

2015-09-01

Situated cognition seems incompatible with strong decoupling, where representations are deployed in the absence of their targets and are not oriented toward physical action. Yet, in art consumption, the epitome of a strongly decoupled cognitive process, the artwork is a physical part of the environment and partly controls the perception of its target by the audience, leading to immersion. Hence, art consumption combines strong decoupling with situated cognition.

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

Gropler, R.J.; Siegel, B.A.; Lee, K.J.

In initial studies using fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in normal fasted subjects, we observed disparities in the regional myocardial accumulation of this tracer. Accordingly, we systematically evaluated regional myocardial FDG accumulation in comparison with regional myocardial perfusion assessed with oxygen-15-water and oxidative metabolism assessed with carbon-11-acetate in nine normal subjects (four studied after a 5-hr fast and five studied both fasted and following glucose loading). Under fasting conditions, myocardial accumulation of FDG in the septum and anterior wall averaged 80% of that in the lateral and posterior walls (p less than 0.03). In contrast, after glucose loading the regional distribution of myocardialmore » FDG accumulation became more homogeneous. Regional myocardial perfusion, oxidative metabolism, and accumulation of carbon-11-acetate were homogeneous under both conditions. Thus, under fasting conditions there are regional variations in myocardial accumulation of FDG, which are visually apparent, are not associated with concomitant changes in oxidative metabolism or perfusion, and cannot be attributed to partial-volume effects. This significant heterogeneity may limit the specificity of PET with FDG for detecting myocardial ischemia in fasting subjects.« less

Linear Vector Quantisation and Uniform Circular Arrays based decoupled two-dimensional angle of arrival estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ndaw, Joseph D.; Faye, Andre; Maïga, Amadou S.

2017-05-01

Artificial neural networks (ANN)-based models are efficient ways of source localisation. However very large training sets are needed to precisely estimate two-dimensional Direction of arrival (2D-DOA) with ANN models. In this paper we present a fast artificial neural network approach for 2D-DOA estimation with reduced training sets sizes. We exploit the symmetry properties of Uniform Circular Arrays (UCA) to build two different datasets for elevation and azimuth angles. Linear Vector Quantisation (LVQ) neural networks are then sequentially trained on each dataset to separately estimate elevation and azimuth angles. A multilevel training process is applied to further reduce the training sets sizes.

Multiscale Relaxation Dynamics in Ultrathin Metallic Glass-Forming Films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Q. L.; Lü, Y. J.; Wang, W. H.

2018-04-01

The density layering phenomenon originating from a free surface gives rise to the layerlike dynamics and stress heterogeneity in ultrathin Cu-Zr glassy films, which facilitates the occurrence of multistep relaxations in the timescale of computer simulations. Taking advantage of this condition, we trace the relaxation decoupling and evolution with temperature simply via the intermediate scattering function. We show that the β relaxation hierarchically follows fast and slow modes in films, and there is a β -relaxation transition as the film is cooled close to the glass transition. We provide the direct observation of particle motions responsible for the β relaxation and reveal the dominant mechanism varying from the thermal activated to the cooperative jumps across the transition.

Fast method for reactor and feature scale coupling in ALD and CVD

DOEpatents

Yanguas-Gil, Angel; Elam, Jeffrey W.

2017-08-08

Transport and surface chemistry of certain deposition techniques is modeled. Methods provide a model of the transport inside nanostructures as a single-particle discrete Markov chain process. This approach decouples the complexity of the surface chemistry from the transport model, thus allowing its application under general surface chemistry conditions, including atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Methods provide for determination of determine statistical information of the trajectory of individual molecules, such as the average interaction time or the number of wall collisions for molecules entering the nanostructures as well as to track the relative contributions to thin-film growth of different independent reaction pathways at each point of the feature.

Fast and Versatile Fabrication of PMMA Microchip Electrophoretic Devices by Laser Engraving

PubMed Central

Gabriel, Ellen Flávia Moreira; Coltro, Wendell Karlos Tomazelli; Garcia, Carlos D.

2014-01-01

This paper describes the effects of different modes and engraving parameters on the dimensions of microfluidic structures produced in PMMA using laser engraving. The engraving modes included raster and vector while the explored engraving parameters included power, speed, frequency, resolution, line-width and number of passes. Under the optimum conditions, the technique was applied to produce channels suitable for CE separations. Taking advantage of the possibility to cut-through the substrates, the laser was also used to define solution reservoirs (buffer, sample, and waste) and a PDMS-based decoupler. The final device was used to perform the analysis of a model mixture of phenolic compounds within 200 s with baseline resolution. PMID:25113407

An active target for the accelerator-based transmutation system

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

Grebyonkin, K.F.

1995-10-01

Consideration is given to the possibility of radical reduction in power requirements to the proton accelerator of the electronuclear reactor due to neutron multiplication both in the blanket and the target of an active material. The target is supposed to have the fast-neutron spectrum, and the blanket-the thermal one. The blanket and the target are separated by the thermal neutrons absorber, which is responsible for the neutron decoupling of the active target and blanket. Also made are preliminary estimations which illustrate that the realization of the idea under consideration can lead to significant reduction in power requirements to the protonmore » beam and, hence considerably improve economic characteristics of the electronuclear reactor.« less

Pilot usage of decoupled flight path and pitch controls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berkhout, J.; Osgood, R.; Berry, D.

1985-01-01

Data from decoupled flight maneuvers have been collected and analyzed for four AFTI-F-16 pilots operating this aircraft's highly augmented fly-by-wire control system, in order to obtain spectral density, cross spectra, and Bode amplitude data, as well as coherences and phase angles for the two longitudinal axis control functions of each of 50 20-sec epochs. The analysis of each epoch yielded five distinct plotted parameters for the left hand twist grip and right hand sidestick controller output time series. These two control devices allow the left hand to generate vertical translation, direct lift, or pitch-pointing commands that are decoupled from those of the right hand. Attention is given to the control patterns obtained for decoupled normal flight, air-to-air gun engagement decoupled maneuvering, and decoupled air-to-surface bombing run maneuvering.

A generalized theoretical framework for the description of spin decoupling in solid-state MAS NMR: Offset effect on decoupling performance

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

Tan, Kong Ooi; Meier, Beat H., E-mail: beme@ethz.ch, E-mail: maer@ethz.ch; Ernst, Matthias, E-mail: beme@ethz.ch, E-mail: maer@ethz.ch

2016-09-07

We present a generalized theoretical framework that allows the approximate but rapid analysis of residual couplings of arbitrary decoupling sequences in solid-state NMR under magic-angle spinning conditions. It is a generalization of the tri-modal Floquet analysis of TPPM decoupling [Scholz et al., J. Chem. Phys. 130, 114510 (2009)] where three characteristic frequencies are used to describe the pulse sequence. Such an approach can be used to describe arbitrary periodic decoupling sequences that differ only in the magnitude of the Fourier coefficients of the interaction-frame transformation. It allows a ∼100 times faster calculation of second-order residual couplings as a function ofmore » pulse sequence parameters than full spin-dynamics simulations. By comparing the theoretical calculations with full numerical simulations, we show the potential of the new approach to examine the performance of decoupling sequences. We exemplify the usefulness of this framework by analyzing the performance of commonly used high-power decoupling sequences and low-power decoupling sequences such as amplitude-modulated XiX (AM-XiX) and its super-cycled variant SC-AM-XiX. In addition, the effect of chemical-shift offset is examined for both high- and low-power decoupling sequences. The results show that the cross-terms between the dipolar couplings are the main contributions to the line broadening when offset is present. We also show that the SC-AM-XIX shows a better offset compensation.« less

A generalized theoretical framework for the description of spin decoupling in solid-state MAS NMR: Offset effect on decoupling performance.

PubMed

Tan, Kong Ooi; Agarwal, Vipin; Meier, Beat H; Ernst, Matthias

2016-09-07

We present a generalized theoretical framework that allows the approximate but rapid analysis of residual couplings of arbitrary decoupling sequences in solid-state NMR under magic-angle spinning conditions. It is a generalization of the tri-modal Floquet analysis of TPPM decoupling [Scholz et al., J. Chem. Phys. 130, 114510 (2009)] where three characteristic frequencies are used to describe the pulse sequence. Such an approach can be used to describe arbitrary periodic decoupling sequences that differ only in the magnitude of the Fourier coefficients of the interaction-frame transformation. It allows a ∼100 times faster calculation of second-order residual couplings as a function of pulse sequence parameters than full spin-dynamics simulations. By comparing the theoretical calculations with full numerical simulations, we show the potential of the new approach to examine the performance of decoupling sequences. We exemplify the usefulness of this framework by analyzing the performance of commonly used high-power decoupling sequences and low-power decoupling sequences such as amplitude-modulated XiX (AM-XiX) and its super-cycled variant SC-AM-XiX. In addition, the effect of chemical-shift offset is examined for both high- and low-power decoupling sequences. The results show that the cross-terms between the dipolar couplings are the main contributions to the line broadening when offset is present. We also show that the SC-AM-XIX shows a better offset compensation.

Decreasing high postprandial stearic acid in impaired fasting glucose by dietary regulation.

PubMed

Liu, L; Chu, X; Na, L; Yuan, F; Li, Y; Sun, C

2016-07-01

The objective of this study was to determine the postprandial change in free fatty acid (FFA) profiles in subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and to evaluate the effect of low glycemic index (GI) load on postprandial FFA profiles and inflammation. First, 50 IFG and 50 healthy subjects were recruited; and 2 -h postprandial changes in FFA profiles were determined. Second, the 50 IFG subjects then received three different loads: glucose load (GL), high glycemic index (HGI) load and low glycemic index (LGI) load, respectively. FFA profile, glucose, insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and inflammatory biomarkers were assayed at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. Postprandial stearic acid (C18:0) increased compared with baseline in all subjects, whereas the change in postprandial C18:0 was more marked in IFG subjects than in healthy subjects. Compared with subjects who received the GL and HGI load, the area under the curve for insulin, GLP-1, C18:0 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha significantly decreased and adiponectin increased in subjects who received the LGI load. The rise in postprandial C18:0 in IFG subjects was inhibited by LGI load.

Analog synthesized fast-variable linear load

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Niedra, Janis M.

1991-01-01

A several kilowatt power level, fast-variable linear resistor was synthesized by using analog components to control the conductance of power MOSFETs. Risetimes observed have been as short as 500 ns with respect to the control signal and 1 to 2 microseconds with respect to the power source voltage. A variant configuration of this load that dissipates a constant power set by a control signal is indicated. Replacement of the MOSFETs by static induction transistors (SITs) to increase power handling, speed and radiation hardness is discussed.

Effects of front-loading and stagger angle on endwall losses of high lift low pressure turbine vanes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyall, M. Eric

Past efforts to reduce the airfoil count in low pressure turbines have produced high lift profiles with unacceptably high endwall loss. The purpose of the current work is to suggest alternative approaches for reducing endwall losses. The effects of the fluid mechanics and high lift profile geometry are considered. Mixing effects of the mean flow and turbulence fields are decoupled to show that mean flow shear in the endwall wake is negligible compared to turbulent shear, indicating that turbulence dissipation is the primary cause of total pressure loss. The mean endwall flow field does influence total pressure loss by causing excessive wake growth and perhaps outright separation on the suction surface. For equivalent stagger angles, a front-loaded high lift profile will produce less endwall loss than one aft-loaded, primarily by suppressing suction surface flow separation. Increasing the stagger setting, however, increases the endwall loss due to the static pressure field generating a stronger blockage relative to the incoming endwall boundary layer flow and causing a larger mass of fluid to become entrained in the horseshoe vortex. In short, front-loading the pressure distribution suppresses suction surface separation whereas limiting the stagger angle suppresses inlet boundary layer separation. Results of this work suggest that a front-loaded low stagger profile be used at the endwall to reduce the endwall loss.

(13)C MRS of human brain at 7 Tesla using [2-(13)C]glucose infusion and low power broadband stochastic proton decoupling.

PubMed

Li, Shizhe; An, Li; Yu, Shao; Ferraris Araneta, Maria; Johnson, Christopher S; Wang, Shumin; Shen, Jun

2016-03-01

Carbon-13 ((13)C) MR spectroscopy (MRS) of the human brain at 7 Tesla (T) may pose patient safety issues due to high radiofrequency (RF) power deposition for proton decoupling. The purpose of present work is to study the feasibility of in vivo (13)C MRS of human brain at 7 T using broadband low RF power proton decoupling. Carboxylic/amide (13)C MRS of human brain by broadband stochastic proton decoupling was demonstrated on a 7 T scanner. RF safety was evaluated using the finite-difference time-domain method. (13)C signal enhancement by nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) and proton decoupling was evaluated in both phantoms and in vivo. At 7 T, the peak amplitude of carboxylic/amide (13)C signals was increased by a factor of greater than 4 due to the combined effects of NOE and proton decoupling. The 7 T (13)C MRS technique used decoupling power and average transmit power of less than 35 watts (W) and 3.6 W, respectively. In vivo (13)C MRS studies of human brain can be performed at 7 T, well below the RF safety threshold, by detecting carboxylic/amide carbons with broadband stochastic proton decoupling. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

13C MRS of Human Brain at 7 Tesla Using [2-13C]Glucose Infusion and Low Power Broadband Stochastic Proton Decoupling

PubMed Central

Li, Shizhe; An, Li; Yu, Shao; Araneta, Maria Ferraris; Johnson, Christopher S.; Wang, Shumin; Shen, Jun

2015-01-01

Purpose 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of human brain at 7 Tesla (T) may pose patient safety issues due to high RF power deposition for proton decoupling. The purpose of present work is to study the feasibility of in vivo 13C MRS of human brain at 7 T using broadband low RF power proton decoupling. Methods Carboxylic/amide 13C MRS of human brain by broadband stochastic proton decoupling was demonstrated on a 7 T scanner. RF safety was evaluated using the finite-difference time-domain method. 13C signal enhancement by nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) and proton decoupling was evaluated in both phantoms and in vivo. Results At 7 T, the peak amplitude of carboxylic/amide 13C signals was increased by a factor of greater than 4 due to the combined effects of NOE and proton decoupling. The 7 T 13C MRS technique used decoupling power and average transmit power of less than 35 W and 3.6 W, respectively. Conclusion In vivo 13C MRS studies of human brain can be performed at 7 T well below the RF safety threshold by detecting carboxylic/amide carbons with broadband stochastic proton decoupling. PMID:25917936

Probabilistic structural analysis using a general purpose finite element program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riha, D. S.; Millwater, H. R.; Thacker, B. H.

1992-07-01

This paper presents an accurate and efficient method to predict the probabilistic response for structural response quantities, such as stress, displacement, natural frequencies, and buckling loads, by combining the capabilities of MSC/NASTRAN, including design sensitivity analysis and fast probability integration. Two probabilistic structural analysis examples have been performed and verified by comparison with Monte Carlo simulation of the analytical solution. The first example consists of a cantilevered plate with several point loads. The second example is a probabilistic buckling analysis of a simply supported composite plate under in-plane loading. The coupling of MSC/NASTRAN and fast probability integration is shown to be orders of magnitude more efficient than Monte Carlo simulation with excellent accuracy.

Pulsed power accelerator for material physics experiments

DOE PAGES

Reisman, D.  B.; Stoltzfus, B.  S.; Stygar, W.  A.; ...

2015-09-01

We have developed the design of Thor: a pulsed power accelerator that delivers a precisely shaped current pulse with a peak value as high as 7 MA to a strip-line load. The peak magnetic pressure achieved within a 1-cm-wide load is as high as 100 GPa. Thor is powered by as many as 288 decoupled and transit-time isolated bricks. Each brick consists of a single switch and two capacitors connected electrically in series. The bricks can be individually triggered to achieve a high degree of current pulse tailoring. Because the accelerator is impedance matched throughout, capacitor energy is delivered tomore » the strip-line load with an efficiency as high as 50%. We used an iterative finite element method (FEM), circuit, and magnetohydrodynamic simulations to develop an optimized accelerator design. When powered by 96 bricks, Thor delivers as much as 4.1 MA to a load, and achieves peak magnetic pressures as high as 65 GPa. When powered by 288 bricks, Thor delivers as much as 6.9 MA to a load, and achieves magnetic pressures as high as 170 GPa. We have developed an algebraic calculational procedure that uses the single brick basis function to determine the brick-triggering sequence necessary to generate a highly tailored current pulse time history for shockless loading of samples. Thor will drive a wide variety of magnetically driven shockless ramp compression, shockless flyer plate, shock-ramp, equation of state, material strength, phase transition, and other advanced material physics experiments.« less

Design of the annular suspension and pointing system /ASPS/ through decoupling and pole placement. [for Space Shuttle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuo, B. C.; Lin, W. C. W.

1980-01-01

A decoupling and pole-placement technique has been developed for the Annular Suspension and Pointing System (ASPS) of the Space Shuttle which uses bandwidths as performance criteria. The dynamics of the continuous-data ASPS allows the three degrees of freedom to be totally decoupled by state feedback through constant gains, so that the bandwidth of each degree of freedom can be independently specified without interaction. Although it is found that the digital ASPS cannot be completely decoupled, the bandwidth requirements are satisfied by pole placement and a trial-and-error method based on approximate decoupling.

Fiber optic thermal/fast neutron and gamma ray scintillation detector

DOEpatents

Neal, John S.; Mihalczo, John T

2007-10-30

A system for detecting fissile and fissionable material originating external to the system includes: a .sup.6Li loaded glass fiber scintillator for detecting thermal neutrons, x-rays and gamma rays; a fast scintillator for detecting fast neutrons, x-rays and gamma rays, the fast scintillator conjoined with the glass fiber scintillator such that the fast scintillator moderates fast neutrons prior to their detection as thermal neutrons by the glass fiber scintillator; and a coincidence detection system for processing the time distributions of arriving signals from the scintillators.

Oil-free transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lovins, Amory B.

2015-03-01

Automotive efficiency can be cost-effectively improved ˜2-3× by integrated reductions in mass, drag, and rolling resistance. (Mass is the key because it causes two-thirds of tractive load.) These improvements make affordable a variety of electrified advanced powertrain options that can raise efficiency by a further ˜2×, achieving ˜1-2 L-gasoline-equivalent per 100 km. These innovations are starting to enter the market. They could spread more by competition than by regulation. So will 3× gains in truck and 3-6× gains in airplane efficiency. Such superefficient vehicles can profitably eliminate oil use and decouple mobility from climate change and pollution.

Environmental response of an Irish estuary to changing land management practices.

PubMed

Ní Longphuirt, Sorcha; O'Boyle, Shane; Stengel, Dagmar Brigitte

2015-07-15

Anthropogenic pressures have led to problems of nutrient over-enrichment and eutrophication in estuarine and coastal systems on a global scale. Recent improvements in farming practices, specifically a decrease in fertiliser application rates, have reduced nutrient loadings in Ireland. In line with national and European Directives, monitoring of Irish estuarine systems has been conducted for the last 30years, allowing a comparison of the effectiveness of measures undertaken to improve water quality and chemical and biological trends. The Blackwater Estuary, which drains a large agricultural catchment on the south coast of Ireland, has experienced a decrease in calculated nitrogen (N) (17%) and phosphorus (P) (20%) loads in the last decade. Monitored long-term river inputs reflect the reductions while estuarine P concentrations, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen saturation show concurrent improvement. Consistently high N concentrations suggest a decoupling between N loads and estuarine responses. This highlights the complex interaction between N and P load reductions, and biochemical processes relating to remineralisation and primary production which can alter the effectiveness of the estuarine filter in reducing nutrient transport to the coastal zone. Effective management and reduction of both diffuse and point nutrient sources to surface waters require a consideration of the processes which may alter the effectiveness of measures in estuarine and coastal waters. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Relationships between the decoupled and coupled transfer functions: Theoretical studies and experimental validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zengwei; Zhu, Ping; Liu, Zhao

2018-01-01

A generalized method for predicting the decoupled transfer functions based on in-situ transfer functions is proposed. The method allows predicting the decoupled transfer functions using coupled transfer functions, without disassembling the system. Two ways to derive relationships between the decoupled and coupled transfer functions are presented. Issues related to immeasurability of coupled transfer functions are also discussed. The proposed method is validated by numerical and experimental case studies.

Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?

PubMed

Ward, James D; Sutton, Paul C; Werner, Adrian D; Costanza, Robert; Mohr, Steve H; Simmons, Craig T

2016-01-01

The argument that human society can decouple economic growth-defined as growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-from growth in environmental impacts is appealing. If such decoupling is possible, it means that GDP growth is a sustainable societal goal. Here we show that the decoupling concept can be interpreted using an easily understood model of economic growth and environmental impact. The simple model is compared to historical data and modelled projections to demonstrate that growth in GDP ultimately cannot be decoupled from growth in material and energy use. It is therefore misleading to develop growth-oriented policy around the expectation that decoupling is possible. We also note that GDP is increasingly seen as a poor proxy for societal wellbeing. GDP growth is therefore a questionable societal goal. Society can sustainably improve wellbeing, including the wellbeing of its natural assets, but only by discarding GDP growth as the goal in favor of more comprehensive measures of societal wellbeing.

Deep-subwavelength Decoupling for MIMO Antennas in Mobile Handsets with Singular Medium.

PubMed

Xu, Su; Zhang, Ming; Wen, Huailin; Wang, Jun

2017-09-22

Decreasing the mutual coupling between Multi-input Multi-output (MIMO) antenna elements in a mobile handset and achieving a high data rate is a challenging topic as the 5 th -generation (5G) communication age is coming. Conventional decoupling components for MIMO antennas have to be re-designed when the geometries or frequencies of antennas have any adjustment. In this paper, we report a novel metamaterial-based decoupling strategy for MIMO antennas in mobile handsets with wide applicability. The decoupling component is made of subwavelength metal/air layers, which can be treated as singular medium over a broad frequency band. The flexible applicable property of the decoupling strategy is verified with different antennas over different frequency bands with the same metamaterial decoupling element. Finally, 1/100-wavelength 10-dB isolation is demonstrated for a 24-element MIMO antenna in mobile handsets over the frequency band from 4.55 to 4.75 GHz.

The ratio of (18)F-FDG activity uptake between the right and left ventricle in patients with pulmonary hypertension correlates with the right ventricular function.

PubMed

Yang, Tao; Wang, Lei; Xiong, Chang-Ming; He, Jian-Guo; Zhang, Yan; Gu, Qing; Zhao, Zhi-Hui; Ni, Xin-Hai; Fang, Wei; Liu, Zhi-Hong

2014-05-01

It is known that patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) can have elevated F-FDG uptake in the right ventricle (RV) on PET imaging. This study was designed to assess possible relationship between FDG uptake of ventricles and the function/hemodynamics of the RV in patients with PH. Thirty-eight patients with PH underwent FDG PET imaging in both fasting and glucose-loading conditions. The standard uptake value (SUVs) corrected for partial volume effect in both RV and left ventricle (LV) were measured. The ratio of FDG uptake between RV to LV (SUVR/L) was calculated. Right heart catheterization and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) were performed in all patients within 1 week. The FDG uptake levels by the ventricles were compared with the result form the right heart catheterization and CMR. The SUV of RV (SUVR) and SUV of LV were significantly higher in glucose-loading condition than in fasting condition. In both fasting and glucose-loading conditions, SUVR and SUVR/L showed reverse correlation with right ventricular ejection fraction derived from CMR. In addition, in both fasting and glucose-loading conditions, SUVR and SUVR/L showed positive correlations with pulmonary vascular resistance. However, only SUVR/L in glucose-loading condition could independently predict right ventricular ejection fraction after adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, mean right atrial pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, and pulmonary vascular resistance (P = 0.048). The FDG uptake of RV increases with decreased right ventricular function in patients with PH. Increased FDG uptake ratio between RV and LV might be useful to assess the right ventricular function.

Fast Reliability Assessing Method for Distribution Network with Distributed Renewable Energy Generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Fan; Huang, Shaoxiong; Ding, Jinjin; Ding, Jinjin; Gao, Bo; Xie, Yuguang; Wang, Xiaoming

2018-01-01

This paper proposes a fast reliability assessing method for distribution grid with distributed renewable energy generation. First, the Weibull distribution and the Beta distribution are used to describe the probability distribution characteristics of wind speed and solar irradiance respectively, and the models of wind farm, solar park and local load are built for reliability assessment. Then based on power system production cost simulation probability discretization and linearization power flow, a optimal power flow objected with minimum cost of conventional power generation is to be resolved. Thus a reliability assessment for distribution grid is implemented fast and accurately. The Loss Of Load Probability (LOLP) and Expected Energy Not Supplied (EENS) are selected as the reliability index, a simulation for IEEE RBTS BUS6 system in MATLAB indicates that the fast reliability assessing method calculates the reliability index much faster with the accuracy ensured when compared with Monte Carlo method.

Thermal control systems for low-temperature heat rejection on a lunar base

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sridhar, K. R.; Gottmann, Matthias

1992-01-01

In this report, Rankine-cycle heat pumps and absorption heat pumps (ammonia-water and lithium bromide-water) have been analyzed and optimized for a lunar base cooling load of 100 kW. For the Rankine cycle, a search of several commonly used commercial refrigerants provided R11 and R717 as possible working fluids. Hence, the Rankine-cycle analysis has been performed for both R11 and R717. Two different configurations were considered for the system--one in which the heat pump is directly connected to the rejection loop and another in which a heat exchanger connects the heat pump to the rejection loop. For a marginal increase in mass, the decoupling of the rejection loop and the radiator from the heat pump provides greater reliability of the system and better control. Hence, the decoupled system is the configuration of choice. The optimal TCS mass for a 100 kW cooling load at 270 K was 5940 kg at a radiator temperature of 362 K. R11 was the working fluid in the heat pump, and R717 was the transport fluid in the rejection loop. Two TCS's based on an absorption-cycle heat pump were considered, one with an ammonia-water mixture and the other with a lithium bromide-water mixture as the working fluid. A complete cycle analysis was performed for these systems. The system components were approximated as heat exchangers with no internal pressure drop for the mass estimate. This simple approach underpredicts the mass of the systems, but is a good 'optimistic' first approximation to the TCS mass in the absence of reliable component mass data. The mass estimates of the two systems reveal that, in spite of this optimistic estimate, the absorption heat pumps are not competitive with the Rankine-cycle heat pumps. Future work at the systems level will involve similar analyses for the Brayton- and Stirling-cycle heat pumps. The analyses will also consider the operation of the pump under partial-load conditions. On the component level, a capillary evaporator will be designed, built, and tested in order to investigate its suitability in lunar base TCS and microgravity two-phase applications.

Long-term records reveal decoupling of nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in a large, urban lake in response to an extreme rainfall event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corman, J. R.; Loken, L. C.; Oliver, S. K.; Collins, S.; Butitta, V.; Stanley, E. H.

2017-12-01

Extreme events can play powerful roles in shifting ecosystem processes. In lakes, heavy rainfall can transport large amounts of particulates and dissolved nutrients into the water column and, potentially, alter biogeochemical cycling. However, the impacts of extreme rainfall events are often difficult to study due to a lack of long-term records. In this paper, we combine daily discharge records with long-term lake water quality information collected by the North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research (NTL LTER) site to investigate the impacts of extreme events on nutrient cycling in lakes. We focus on Lake Mendota, an urban lake within the Yahara River Watershed in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, where nutrient data are available at least seasonally from 1995 - present. In June 2008, precipitation amounts in the Yahara watershed were 400% above normal values, triggering the largest discharge event on record for the 40 years of monitoring at the streamgage station; hence, we are able to compare water quality records before and after this event as a case study of how extreme rain events couple or decouple lake nutrient cycling. Following the extreme event, the lake-wide mass of nitrogen and phosphorus increased in the summer of 2008 by 35% and 21%, respectively, shifting lake stoichiometry by increasing N:P ratios (Figure 1). Nitrogen concentrations remained elevated longer than phosphorus, suggesting (1) that nitrogen inputs into the lake were sustained longer than phosphorus (i.e., a "smear" versus "pulse" loading of nitrogen versus phosphorus, respectively, in response to the extreme event) and/or (2) that in-lake biogeochemical processing was more efficient at removing phosphorus compared to nitrogen. While groundwater loading data are currently unavailable to test the former hypothesis, preliminary data from surficial nitrogen and phosphorus loading to Lake Mendota (available for 2011 - 2013) suggest that nitrogen removal efficiency is less than phosphorus, supporting the latter hypothesis. As climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme events, continued monitoring of lakes is needed to understand biogeochemical responses and when and how water quality threats may occur.

Evaluation of Type II Fast Packs for Electrostatic Discharge Properties.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-01

34 x 8" x 1 3/4") consisting of a reclosable cushioned carrier which mates into an outer fiberboard sleeve. A cushioning insert is used consisting of a... RECLOSABLE CUSHIONED CARRIER TEST LOAD FIGURE 1: Cancel Caddy Pack * CONVOLUTED 4* CUSHIONED I FIGURE 2: Type II Fast Pack (PPP-B-1672) TYPE II FAST PACK

Proceedings of the 1st Army Installation Energy Security and Independence Conference

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

robustness of Transmission and Distribution system, and that pro- motes the use of demand response, CHP, and use of renewable intermit - ERDC/CERL TR...charged during low load periods. • Generation is run at optimum level during high loads. • Storage follows load and provides fast power balance during

Harmonic force spectroscopy measures load-dependent kinetics of individual human β-cardiac myosin molecules.

PubMed

Sung, Jongmin; Nag, Suman; Mortensen, Kim I; Vestergaard, Christian L; Sutton, Shirley; Ruppel, Kathleen; Flyvbjerg, Henrik; Spudich, James A

2015-08-04

Molecular motors are responsible for numerous cellular processes from cargo transport to heart contraction. Their interactions with other cellular components are often transient and exhibit kinetics that depend on load. Here, we measure such interactions using 'harmonic force spectroscopy'. In this method, harmonic oscillation of the sample stage of a laser trap immediately, automatically and randomly applies sinusoidally varying loads to a single motor molecule interacting with a single track along which it moves. The experimental protocol and the data analysis are simple, fast and efficient. The protocol accumulates statistics fast enough to deliver single-molecule results from single-molecule experiments. We demonstrate the method's performance by measuring the force-dependent kinetics of individual human β-cardiac myosin molecules interacting with an actin filament at physiological ATP concentration. We show that a molecule's ADP release rate depends exponentially on the applied load, in qualitative agreement with cardiac muscle, which contracts with a velocity inversely proportional to external load.

Harmonic force spectroscopy measures load-dependent kinetics of individual human β-cardiac myosin molecules

PubMed Central

Sung, Jongmin; Nag, Suman; Mortensen, Kim I.; Vestergaard, Christian L.; Sutton, Shirley; Ruppel, Kathleen; Flyvbjerg, Henrik; Spudich, James A.

2015-01-01

Molecular motors are responsible for numerous cellular processes from cargo transport to heart contraction. Their interactions with other cellular components are often transient and exhibit kinetics that depend on load. Here, we measure such interactions using ‘harmonic force spectroscopy'. In this method, harmonic oscillation of the sample stage of a laser trap immediately, automatically and randomly applies sinusoidally varying loads to a single motor molecule interacting with a single track along which it moves. The experimental protocol and the data analysis are simple, fast and efficient. The protocol accumulates statistics fast enough to deliver single-molecule results from single-molecule experiments. We demonstrate the method's performance by measuring the force-dependent kinetics of individual human β-cardiac myosin molecules interacting with an actin filament at physiological ATP concentration. We show that a molecule's ADP release rate depends exponentially on the applied load, in qualitative agreement with cardiac muscle, which contracts with a velocity inversely proportional to external load. PMID:26239258

Faithful Solid State Optical Memory with Dynamically Decoupled Spin Wave Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lovrić, Marko; Suter, Dieter; Ferrier, Alban; Goldner, Philippe

2013-07-01

We report a high fidelity optical memory in which dynamical decoupling is used to extend the storage time. This is demonstrated in a rare-earth doped crystal in which optical coherences were transferred to nuclear spin coherences and then protected against environmental noise by dynamical decoupling, leading to storage times of up to 4.2 ms. An interference experiment shows that relative phases of input pulses are preserved through the whole storage and retrieval process with a visibility ≈1, demonstrating the usefulness of dynamical decoupling for extending the storage time of quantum memories. We also show that dynamical decoupling sequences insensitive to initial spin coherence increase retrieval efficiency.

Faithful solid state optical memory with dynamically decoupled spin wave storage.

PubMed

Lovrić, Marko; Suter, Dieter; Ferrier, Alban; Goldner, Philippe

2013-07-12

We report a high fidelity optical memory in which dynamical decoupling is used to extend the storage time. This is demonstrated in a rare-earth doped crystal in which optical coherences were transferred to nuclear spin coherences and then protected against environmental noise by dynamical decoupling, leading to storage times of up to 4.2 ms. An interference experiment shows that relative phases of input pulses are preserved through the whole storage and retrieval process with a visibility ≈1, demonstrating the usefulness of dynamical decoupling for extending the storage time of quantum memories. We also show that dynamical decoupling sequences insensitive to initial spin coherence increase retrieval efficiency.

Decoupling of Solid 4He Layers under the Superfluid Overlayer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishibashi, Kenji; Hiraide, Jo; Taniguchi, Junko; Suzuki, Masaru

2018-03-01

It has been reported that in a large oscillation amplitude, the mass decoupling of multilayer 4He films adsorbed on graphite results from the depinning of the second solid atomic layer. This decoupling suddenly vanishes below a certain low temperature TD due to the cancellation of mass decoupling by the superfluid counterflow of the the overylayer. We studied the relaxation of the depinned state at various temperatures, after reduction of oscillation amplitude below TD . It was found that above the superfluid transition temperature the mass decoupling revives with a relaxation time of several 100 s. It strongly supports that the depinned state of the second solid atomic layer remains underneath the superfluid overlayer.

The effects of interstimulus interval on event-related indices of attention: an auditory selective attention test of perceptual load theory.

PubMed

Gomes, Hilary; Barrett, Sophia; Duff, Martin; Barnhardt, Jack; Ritter, Walter

2008-03-01

We examined the impact of perceptual load by manipulating interstimulus interval (ISI) in two auditory selective attention studies that varied in the difficulty of the target discrimination. In the paradigm, channels were separated by frequency and target/deviant tones were softer in intensity. Three ISI conditions were presented: fast (300ms), medium (600ms) and slow (900ms). Behavioral (accuracy and RT) and electrophysiological measures (Nd, P3b) were observed. In both studies, participants evidenced poorer accuracy during the fast ISI condition than the slow suggesting that ISI impacted task difficulty. However, none of the three measures of processing examined, Nd amplitude, P3b amplitude elicited by unattended deviant stimuli, or false alarms to unattended deviants, were impacted by ISI in the manner predicted by perceptual load theory. The prediction based on perceptual load theory, that there would be more processing of irrelevant stimuli under conditions of low as compared to high perceptual load, was not supported in these auditory studies. Task difficulty/perceptual load impacts the processing of irrelevant stimuli in the auditory modality differently than predicted by perceptual load theory, and perhaps differently than in the visual modality.

Using lagged dependence to identify (de)coupled surface and subsurface soil moisture values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carranza, Coleen D. U.; van der Ploeg, Martine J.; Torfs, Paul J. J. F.

2018-04-01

Recent advances in radar remote sensing popularized the mapping of surface soil moisture at different spatial scales. Surface soil moisture measurements are used in combination with hydrological models to determine subsurface soil moisture values. However, variability of soil moisture across the soil column is important for estimating depth-integrated values, as decoupling between surface and subsurface can occur. In this study, we employ new methods to investigate the occurrence of (de)coupling between surface and subsurface soil moisture. Using time series datasets, lagged dependence was incorporated in assessing (de)coupling with the idea that surface soil moisture conditions will be reflected at the subsurface after a certain delay. The main approach involves the application of a distributed-lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to simultaneously represent both the functional relation and the lag structure in the time series. The results of an exploratory analysis using residuals from a fitted loess function serve as a posteriori information to determine (de)coupled values. Both methods allow for a range of (de)coupled soil moisture values to be quantified. Results provide new insights into the decoupled range as its occurrence among the sites investigated is not limited to dry conditions.

Validation of Hydrodynamic Load Models Using CFD for the OC4-DeepCwind Semisubmersible: Preprint

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

Benitz, M. A.; Schmidt, D. P.; Lackner, M. A.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out on the OC4-DeepCwind semi-submersible to obtain a better understanding of how to set hydrodynamic coefficients for the structure when using an engineering tool such as FAST to model the system. The focus here was on the drag behavior and the effects of the free-surface, free-ends and multi-member arrangement of the semi-submersible structure. These effects are investigated through code-to-code comparisons and flow visualizations. The implications on mean load predictions from engineering tools are addressed. The work presented here suggests that selection of drag coefficients should take into consideration a variety of geometric factors.more » Furthermore, CFD simulations demonstrate large time-varying loads due to vortex shedding, which FAST's hydrodynamic module, HydroDyn, does not model. The implications of these oscillatory loads on the fatigue life needs to be addressed.« less

Data characteristic analysis of air conditioning load based on fast Fourier transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Min; Zhang, Yanchi; Xie, Da

2018-04-01

With the development of economy and the improvement of people's living standards, air conditioning equipment is more and more popular. The influence of air conditioning load for power grid is becoming more and more serious. In this context it is necessary to study the characteristics of air conditioning load. This paper analyzes the data of air conditioning power consumption in an office building. The data is used for Fast Fourier Transform by data analysis software. Then a series of maps are drawn for the transformed data. The characteristics of each map were analyzed separately. The hidden rules of these data are mined from the angle of frequency domain. And these rules are hard to find in the time domain.

High-speed extended-term time-domain simulation for online cascading analysis of power system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Chuan

A high-speed extended-term (HSET) time domain simulator (TDS), intended to become a part of an energy management system (EMS), has been newly developed for use in online extended-term dynamic cascading analysis of power systems. HSET-TDS includes the following attributes for providing situational awareness of high-consequence events: (i) online analysis, including n-1 and n-k events, (ii) ability to simulate both fast and slow dynamics for 1-3 hours in advance, (iii) inclusion of rigorous protection-system modeling, (iv) intelligence for corrective action ID, storage, and fast retrieval, and (v) high-speed execution. Very fast on-line computational capability is the most desired attribute of this simulator. Based on the process of solving algebraic differential equations describing the dynamics of power system, HSET-TDS seeks to develop computational efficiency at each of the following hierarchical levels, (i) hardware, (ii) strategies, (iii) integration methods, (iv) nonlinear solvers, and (v) linear solver libraries. This thesis first describes the Hammer-Hollingsworth 4 (HH4) implicit integration method. Like the trapezoidal rule, HH4 is symmetrically A-Stable but it possesses greater high-order precision (h4 ) than the trapezoidal rule. Such precision enables larger integration steps and therefore improves simulation efficiency for variable step size implementations. This thesis provides the underlying theory on which we advocate use of HH4 over other numerical integration methods for power system time-domain simulation. Second, motivated by the need to perform high speed extended-term time domain simulation (HSET-TDS) for on-line purposes, this thesis presents principles for designing numerical solvers of differential algebraic systems associated with power system time-domain simulation, including DAE construction strategies (Direct Solution Method), integration methods(HH4), nonlinear solvers(Very Dishonest Newton), and linear solvers(SuperLU). We have implemented a design appropriate for HSET-TDS, and we compare it to various solvers, including the commercial grade PSSE program, with respect to computational efficiency and accuracy, using as examples the New England 39 bus system, the expanded 8775 bus system, and PJM 13029 buses system. Third, we have explored a stiffness-decoupling method, intended to be part of parallel design of time domain simulation software for super computers. The stiffness-decoupling method is able to combine the advantages of implicit methods (A-stability) and explicit method(less computation). With the new stiffness detection method proposed herein, the stiffness can be captured. The expanded 975 buses system is used to test simulation efficiency. Finally, several parallel strategies for super computer deployment to simulate power system dynamics are proposed and compared. Design A partitions the task via scale with the stiffness decoupling method, waveform relaxation, and parallel linear solver. Design B partitions the task via the time axis using a highly precise integration method, the Kuntzmann-Butcher Method - order 8 (KB8). The strategy of partitioning events is designed to partition the whole simulation via the time axis through a simulated sequence of cascading events. For all strategies proposed, a strategy of partitioning cascading events is recommended, since the sub-tasks for each processor are totally independent, and therefore minimum communication time is needed.

Detecting fast and thermal neutrons with a boron loaded liquid scintillator, EJ-339A.

PubMed

Pino, F; Stevanato, L; Cester, D; Nebbia, G; Sajo-Bohus, L; Viesti, G

2014-09-01

A commercial boron-loaded liquid scintillator EJ-339 A was studied, using a (252)Cf source with/without polyethylene moderator, to examine the possibility of discriminating slow-neutron induced events in (10)B from fast-neutron events, resulting from proton recoils, and gamma-ray events. Despite the strong light quenching associated with neutron induced events in (10)B, correct classification of these events is shown to be possible with the aid of digital signal processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of solid-state NMR techniques for the characterisation of pharmaceutical compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tatton, Andrew S.

Structural characterisation in the solid state is an important step in understanding the physical and chemical properties of a material. Solid-state NMR techniques applied to solid delivery forms are presented as an alternative to more established structural characterisation methods. The effect of homonuclear decoupling upon heteronuclear couplings is investigated using a combination of experimental and density-matrix simulation results acquired from a 13C-1H spinecho pulse sequence, modulated by scalar couplings. It is found that third-order cross terms under MAS and homonuclear decoupling contribute to strong dephasing effects in the NMR signal. Density-matrix simulations allow access to parameters currently unattainable in experiment, and demonstrate that higher homonuclear decoupling rf nutation frequencies reduce the magnitude of third-order cross terms. 15N-1H spinecho experiments were applied to pharmaceutically relevant samples to differentiate between the number of directly attached protons. Using this method, proton transfer in an acid-base reaction is proven in pharmaceutical salts. The indirect detection of 14N lineshapes via protons obtained using 2D 14N-1H HMQC experiments is presented, where coherence transfer is achieved via heteronuclear through-space dipolar couplings. The importance of fast MAS frequencies is demonstrated, and it is found that increasing the recoupling duration reveals longer range NH proximities. The 2D 14N-1H HMQC method is used to demonstrate the presence of specific hydrogen bonding interactions, and thus aid in identifying molecular association in a cocrystal and an amorphous dispersion. In addition, hydrogen bonding motifs were identified by observing the changes in the 14N quadrupolar parameters between individual molecular components relative to the respective solid delivery form. First-principles calculations of NMR chemical shifts and quadrupolar parameters using the GIPAW method were combined with 14N-1H experimental results to assist with spectral assignment and the identification of the hydrogen bonding interactions.

Optimal digital dynamical decoupling for general decoherence via Walsh modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Haoyu; Dowling, Jonathan P.; Viola, Lorenza

2017-11-01

We provide a general framework for constructing digital dynamical decoupling sequences based on Walsh modulation—applicable to arbitrary qubit decoherence scenarios. By establishing equivalence between decoupling design based on Walsh functions and on concatenated projections, we identify a family of optimal Walsh sequences, which can be exponentially more efficient, in terms of the required total pulse number, for fixed cancellation order, than known digital sequences based on concatenated design. Optimal sequences for a given cancellation order are highly non-unique—their performance depending sensitively on the control path. We provide an analytic upper bound to the achievable decoupling error and show how sequences within the optimal Walsh family can substantially outperform concatenated decoupling in principle, while respecting realistic timing constraints.

A novel voice coil motor-driven compliant micropositioning stage based on flexure mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Jiangkun; Tian, Yanling; Li, Zheng; Wang, Fujun; Cai, Kunhai

2015-09-01

This paper presents a 2-degrees of freedom flexure-based micropositioning stage with a flexible decoupling mechanism. The stage is composed of an upper planar stage and four vertical support links to improve the out-of-plane stiffness. The moving platform is driven by two voice coil motors, and thus it has the capability of large working stroke. The upper stage is connected with the base through six double parallel four-bar linkages mechanisms, which are orthogonally arranged to implement the motion decoupling in the x and y directions. The vertical support links with serially connected hook joints are utilized to guarantee good planar motion with heavy-loads. The static stiffness and the dynamic resonant frequencies are obtained based on the theoretical analyses. Finite element analysis is used to investigate the characteristics of the developed stage. Experiments are carried out to validate the established models and the performance of the developed stage. It is noted that the developed stage has the capability of translational motion stroke of 1.8 mm and 1.78 mm in working axes. The maximum coupling errors in the x and y directions are 0.65% and 0.82%, respectively, and the motion resolution is less than 200 nm. The experimental results show that the developed stage has good capability for trajectory tracking.

Implementation of a new fuzzy vector control of induction motor.

PubMed

Rafa, Souad; Larabi, Abdelkader; Barazane, Linda; Manceur, Malik; Essounbouli, Najib; Hamzaoui, Abdelaziz

2014-05-01

The aim of this paper is to present a new approach to control an induction motor using type-1 fuzzy logic. The induction motor has a nonlinear model, uncertain and strongly coupled. The vector control technique, which is based on the inverse model of the induction motors, solves the coupling problem. Unfortunately, in practice this is not checked because of model uncertainties. Indeed, the presence of the uncertainties led us to use human expertise such as the fuzzy logic techniques. In order to maintain the decoupling and to overcome the problem of the sensitivity to the parametric variations, the field-oriented control is replaced by a new block control. The simulation results show that the both control schemes provide in their basic configuration, comparable performances regarding the decoupling. However, the fuzzy vector control provides the insensitivity to the parametric variations compared to the classical one. The fuzzy vector control scheme is successfully implemented in real-time using a digital signal processor board dSPACE 1104. The efficiency of this technique is verified as well as experimentally at different dynamic operating conditions such as sudden loads change, parameter variations, speed changes, etc. The fuzzy vector control is found to be a best control for application in an induction motor. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evidence of extensive plasma glucose recycling following a glucose load in seabass.

PubMed

Rito, João; Viegas, Ivan; Pardal, Miguel A; Jones, John G

2017-09-01

Seabass and other carnivorous fish are highly dependent on gluconeogenesis from dietary amino acids to maintain glycemia. Glucose recycling (glucose→C3-intermediate→glucose) may potentiate the effects of glucose administration in sparing amino acid gluconeogenesis. To date, very few measurements of glucose recycling have been reported in fish. Thus, to determine the extent of glucose recycling following a glycemic challenge, juvenile seabass were given an intraperitoneal glucose load (2gkg -1 ) enriched with [U- 13 C]glucose. 13 C NMR analysis of plasma glucose 13 C-isotopomers was used to determine the fractional contributions of glucose derived directly from the load versus that from glucose recycling at 48h after the load. Both fed and 21-day fasted fish (20 per condition) were studied. In fasted fish, 18±4% of plasma glucose was directly derived from the load while 13±2% was derived from glucose recycling. In fed fish, the load accounted for 6±1% of plasma glucose levels while glucose recycling contributed 16±4%. 13 C NMR analysis of plasma lactate revealed 13 C-isotopomers corresponding to the expected C3-intermediates of peripheral [U- 13 C]glucose catabolism indicating that circulating lactate was a key intermediate in glucose carbon recycling under these conditions. In conclusion, glucose recycling was shown to contribute a significant portion of plasma glucose levels in both fed and fasted seabass 48h after an intraperitoneal glucose challenge and circulating lactate was shown to be an intermediate of this pathway. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?

PubMed Central

Sutton, Paul C.; Werner, Adrian D.; Costanza, Robert; Mohr, Steve H.; Simmons, Craig T.

2016-01-01

The argument that human society can decouple economic growth—defined as growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—from growth in environmental impacts is appealing. If such decoupling is possible, it means that GDP growth is a sustainable societal goal. Here we show that the decoupling concept can be interpreted using an easily understood model of economic growth and environmental impact. The simple model is compared to historical data and modelled projections to demonstrate that growth in GDP ultimately cannot be decoupled from growth in material and energy use. It is therefore misleading to develop growth-oriented policy around the expectation that decoupling is possible. We also note that GDP is increasingly seen as a poor proxy for societal wellbeing. GDP growth is therefore a questionable societal goal. Society can sustainably improve wellbeing, including the wellbeing of its natural assets, but only by discarding GDP growth as the goal in favor of more comprehensive measures of societal wellbeing. PMID:27741300

Preserving electron spin coherence in solids by optimal dynamical decoupling.

PubMed

Du, Jiangfeng; Rong, Xing; Zhao, Nan; Wang, Ya; Yang, Jiahui; Liu, R B

2009-10-29

To exploit the quantum coherence of electron spins in solids in future technologies such as quantum computing, it is first vital to overcome the problem of spin decoherence due to their coupling to the noisy environment. Dynamical decoupling, which uses stroboscopic spin flips to give an average coupling to the environment that is effectively zero, is a particularly promising strategy for combating decoherence because it can be naturally integrated with other desired functionalities, such as quantum gates. Errors are inevitably introduced in each spin flip, so it is desirable to minimize the number of control pulses used to realize dynamical decoupling having a given level of precision. Such optimal dynamical decoupling sequences have recently been explored. The experimental realization of optimal dynamical decoupling in solid-state systems, however, remains elusive. Here we use pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance to demonstrate experimentally optimal dynamical decoupling for preserving electron spin coherence in irradiated malonic acid crystals at temperatures from 50 K to room temperature. Using a seven-pulse optimal dynamical decoupling sequence, we prolonged the spin coherence time to about 30 mus; it would otherwise be about 0.04 mus without control or 6.2 mus under one-pulse control. By comparing experiments with microscopic theories, we have identified the relevant electron spin decoherence mechanisms in the solid. Optimal dynamical decoupling may be applied to other solid-state systems, such as diamonds with nitrogen-vacancy centres, and so lay the foundation for quantum coherence control of spins in solids at room temperature.

The effects of exercise on human articular cartilage

PubMed Central

Eckstein, F; Hudelmaier, M; Putz, R

2006-01-01

The effects of exercise on articular hyaline articular cartilage have traditionally been examined in animal models, but until recently little information has been available on human cartilage. Magnetic resonance imaging now permits cartilage morphology and composition to be analysed quantitatively in vivo. This review briefly describes the methodological background of quantitative cartilage imaging and summarizes work on short-term (deformational behaviour) and long-term (functional adaptation) effects of exercise on human articular cartilage. Current findings suggest that human cartilage deforms very little in vivo during physiological activities and recovers from deformation within 90 min after loading. Whereas cartilage deformation appears to become less with increasing age, sex and physical training status do not seem to affect in vivo deformational behaviour. There is now good evidence that cartilage undergoes some type of atrophy (thinning) under reduced loading conditions, such as with postoperative immobilization and paraplegia. However, increased loading (as encountered by elite athletes) does not appear to be associated with increased average cartilage thickness. Findings in twins, however, suggest a strong genetic contribution to cartilage morphology. Potential reasons for the inability of cartilage to adapt to mechanical stimuli include a lack of evolutionary pressure and a decoupling of mechanical competence and tissue mass. PMID:16637874

The effects of exercise on human articular cartilage.

PubMed

Eckstein, F; Hudelmaier, M; Putz, R

2006-04-01

The effects of exercise on articular hyaline articular cartilage have traditionally been examined in animal models, but until recently little information has been available on human cartilage. Magnetic resonance imaging now permits cartilage morphology and composition to be analysed quantitatively in vivo. This review briefly describes the methodological background of quantitative cartilage imaging and summarizes work on short-term (deformational behaviour) and long-term (functional adaptation) effects of exercise on human articular cartilage. Current findings suggest that human cartilage deforms very little in vivo during physiological activities and recovers from deformation within 90 min after loading. Whereas cartilage deformation appears to become less with increasing age, sex and physical training status do not seem to affect in vivo deformational behaviour. There is now good evidence that cartilage undergoes some type of atrophy (thinning) under reduced loading conditions, such as with postoperative immobilization and paraplegia. However, increased loading (as encountered by elite athletes) does not appear to be associated with increased average cartilage thickness. Findings in twins, however, suggest a strong genetic contribution to cartilage morphology. Potential reasons for the inability of cartilage to adapt to mechanical stimuli include a lack of evolutionary pressure and a decoupling of mechanical competence and tissue mass.

WE-AB-303-09: Rapid Projection Computations for On-Board Digital Tomosynthesis in Radiation Therapy

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

Iliopoulos, AS; Sun, X; Pitsianis, N

2015-06-15

Purpose: To facilitate fast and accurate iterative volumetric image reconstruction from limited-angle on-board projections. Methods: Intrafraction motion hinders the clinical applicability of modern radiotherapy techniques, such as lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). The LIVE system may impact clinical practice by recovering volumetric information via Digital Tomosynthesis (DTS), thus entailing low time and radiation dose for image acquisition during treatment. The DTS is estimated as a deformation of prior CT via iterative registration with on-board images; this shifts the challenge to the computational domain, owing largely to repeated projection computations across iterations. We address this issue by composing efficient digitalmore » projection operators from their constituent parts. This allows us to separate the static (projection geometry) and dynamic (volume/image data) parts of projection operations by means of pre-computations, enabling fast on-board processing, while also relaxing constraints on underlying numerical models (e.g. regridding interpolation kernels). Further decoupling the projectors into simpler ones ensures the incurred memory overhead remains low, within the capacity of a single GPU. These operators depend only on the treatment plan and may be reused across iterations and patients. The dynamic processing load is kept to a minimum and maps well to the GPU computational model. Results: We have integrated efficient, pre-computable modules for volumetric ray-casting and FDK-based back-projection with the LIVE processing pipeline. Our results show a 60x acceleration of the DTS computations, compared to the previous version, using a single GPU; presently, reconstruction is attained within a couple of minutes. The present implementation allows for significant flexibility in terms of the numerical and operational projection model; we are investigating the benefit of further optimizations and accurate digital projection sub-kernels. Conclusion: Composable projection operators constitute a versatile research tool which can greatly accelerate iterative registration algorithms and may be conducive to the clinical applicability of LIVE. National Institutes of Health Grant No. R01-CA184173; GPU donation by NVIDIA Corporation.« less

Design considerations of CareWindows, a Windows 3.0-based graphical front end to a Medical Information Management System using a pass-through-requester architecture.

PubMed Central

Ward, R. E.; Purves, T.; Feldman, M.; Schiffman, R. M.; Barry, S.; Christner, M.; Kipa, G.; McCarthy, B. D.; Stiphout, R.

1991-01-01

The Care Windows development project demonstrated the feasibility of an approach designed to add the benefits of an event-driven, graphically-oriented user interface to an existing Medical Information Management System (MIMS) without overstepping economic and logistic constraints. The design solution selected for the Care Windows project incorporates three important design features: (1) the effective de-coupling of severs from requesters, permitting the use of an extensive pre-existing library of MIMS servers, (2) the off-loading of program control functions of the requesters to the workstation processor, reducing the load per transaction on central resources and permitting the use of object-oriented development environments available for microcomputers, (3) the selection of a low end, GUI-capable workstation consisting of a PC-compatible personal computer running Microsoft Windows 3.0, and (4) the development of a highly layered, modular workstation application, permitting the development of interchangeable modules to insure portability and adaptability. PMID:1807665

Unified Generic Geometric-Decompositions for Consensus or Flocking Systems of Cooperative Agents and Fast Recalculations of Decomposed Subsystems Under Topology-Adjustments.

PubMed

Li, Wei

2016-06-01

This paper considers a unified geometric projection approach for: 1) decomposing a general system of cooperative agents coupled via Laplacian matrices or stochastic matrices and 2) deriving a centroid-subsystem and many shape-subsystems, where each shape-subsystem has the distinct properties (e.g., preservation of formation and stability of the original system, sufficiently simple structures and explicit formation evolution of agents, and decoupling from the centroid-subsystem) which will facilitate subsequent analyses. Particularly, this paper provides an additional merit of the approach: considering adjustments of coupling topologies of agents which frequently occur in system design (e.g., to add or remove an edge, to move an edge to a new place, and to change the weight of an edge), the corresponding new shape-subsystems can be derived by a few simple computations merely from the old shape-subsystems and without referring to the original system, which will provide further convenience for analysis and flexibility of choice. Finally, such fast recalculations of new subsystems under topology adjustments are provided with examples.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Graphene based quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, H. G.; Hu, H.; Pan, Y.; Mao, J. H.; Gao, M.; Guo, H. M.; Du, S. X.; Greber, T.; Gao, H.-J.

2010-08-01

Laterally localized electronic states are identified on a single layer of graphene on ruthenium by low temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). The individual states are separated by 3 nm and comprise regions of about 90 carbon atoms. This constitutes a highly regular quantum dot-array with molecular precision. It is evidenced by quantum well resonances (QWRs) with energies that relate to the corrugation of the graphene layer. The dI/dV conductance spectra are modeled by a layer height dependent potential-well with a delta-function potential that describes the barrier for electron penetration into graphene. The resulting QWRs are strongest and lowest in energy on the isolated 'hill' regions with a diameter of 2 nm, where the graphene is decoupled from the surface.

Fast and versatile fabrication of PMMA microchip electrophoretic devices by laser engraving.

PubMed

Moreira Gabriel, Ellen Flávia; Tomazelli Coltro, Wendell Karlos; Garcia, Carlos D

2014-08-01

This paper describes the effects of different modes and engraving parameters on the dimensions of microfluidic structures produced in PMMA using laser engraving. The engraving modes included raster and vector, while the explored engraving parameters included power, speed, frequency, resolution, line-width, and number of passes. Under the optimum conditions, the technique was applied to produce channels suitable for CE separations. Taking advantage of the possibility to cut-through the substrates, the laser was also used to define solution reservoirs (buffer, sample, and waste) and a PDMS-based decoupler. The final device was used to perform the analysis of a model mixture of phenolic compounds within 200 s with baseline resolution. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Preparation and characterization of fast dissolving pullulan films containing BCS class II drug nanoparticles for bioavailability enhancement.

PubMed

Krull, Scott M; Ma, Zhelun; Li, Meng; Davé, Rajesh N; Bilgili, Ecevit

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess pullulan as a novel steric stabilizer during the wet-stirred media milling (WSMM) of griseofulvin, a model poorly water-soluble drug, and as a film-former in the preparation of strip films via casting-drying the wet-milled drug suspensions for dissolution and bioavailability enhancement. To this end, pullulan films, with xanthan gum (XG) as thickening agent and glycerin as plasticizer, were loaded with griseofulvin nanoparticles prepared by WSMM using pullulan in combination with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an ionic stabilizer. The effects of drug loading and milling time on the particle size and suspension stability were investigated, as well as XG concentration and casting thickness on film properties and dissolution rate. The nanosuspensions prepared with pullulan-SDS combination were relatively stable over 7 days; hence, this combination was used for the film preparation. All pullulan-based strip films exhibited excellent content uniformity (most <3% RSD) despite containing only 0.3-1.3 mg drug, which was ensured by the use of precursor suspensions with >5000 cP viscosity. USP IV dissolution tests revealed fast/immediate drug release (t80 < 30 min) from films <120 μm thick. Thinner films, films with lower XG loading, or smaller drug particles led to faster drug dissolution, while drug loading had no discernible effect. Overall, these results suggest that pullulan may serve as an acceptable stabilizer for media milling in combination with surfactant as well as a fast-dissolving film former for the fast release of poorly water-soluble drug nanoparticles.

Research on the application of a decoupling algorithm for structure analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denman, E. D.

1980-01-01

The mathematical theory for decoupling mth-order matrix differential equations is presented. It is shown that the decoupling precedure can be developed from the algebraic theory of matrix polynomials. The role of eigenprojectors and latent projectors in the decoupling process is discussed and the mathematical relationships between eigenvalues, eigenvectors, latent roots, and latent vectors are developed. It is shown that the eigenvectors of the companion form of a matrix contains the latent vectors as a subset. The spectral decomposition of a matrix and the application to differential equations is given.

Ventricular filling slows epicardial conduction and increases action potential duration in an optical mapping study of the isolated rabbit heart.

PubMed

Sung, Derrick; Mills, Robert W; Schettler, Jan; Narayan, Sanjiv M; Omens, Jeffrey H; McCulloch, Andrew D

2003-07-01

Mechanical stimulation can induce electrophysiologic changes in cardiac myocytes, but how mechanoelectric feedback in the intact heart affects action potential propagation remains unclear. Changes in action potential propagation and repolarization with increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure from 0 to 30 mmHg were investigated using optical mapping in isolated perfused rabbit hearts. With respect to 0 mmHg, epicardial strain at 30 mmHg in the anterior left ventricle averaged 0.040 +/- 0.004 in the muscle fiber direction and 0.032 +/- 0.006 in the cross-fiber direction. An increase in ventricular loading increased average epicardial activation time by 25%+/- 3% (P < 0.0001) and correspondingly decreased average apparent surface conduction velocity by 16%+/- 7% (P = 0.007). Ventricular loading did not significantly alter action potential duration at 20% repolarization (APD20) but did at 80% repolarization (APD80), from 179 +/- 7 msec to 207 +/- 5 msec (P < 0.0001). The dispersion of APD20 was decreased with loading from 19 +/- 2 msec to 13 +/- 2 msec (P = 0.024), whereas the dispersion of APD80 was not significantly changed. These electrophysiologic changes with ventricular loading were not affected by the nonspecific stretch-activated channel blocker streptomycin (200 microM) and were not attributable to changes in myocardial perfusion or the presence of an electromechanical decoupling agent (butanedione monoxime) during optical mapping. Acute loading of the left ventricle of the isolated rabbit heart decreased apparent epicardial conduction velocity and increased action potential duration by a load-dependent mechanism that may not involve stretch-activated channels.

An Inviscid Decoupled Method for the Roe FDS Scheme in the Reacting Gas Path of FUN3D

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Kyle B.; Gnoffo, Peter A.

2016-01-01

An approach is described to decouple the species continuity equations from the mixture continuity, momentum, and total energy equations for the Roe flux difference splitting scheme. This decoupling simplifies the implicit system, so that the flow solver can be made significantly more efficient, with very little penalty on overall scheme robustness. Most importantly, the computational cost of the point implicit relaxation is shown to scale linearly with the number of species for the decoupled system, whereas the fully coupled approach scales quadratically. Also, the decoupled method significantly reduces the cost in wall time and memory in comparison to the fully coupled approach. This work lays the foundation for development of an efficient adjoint solution procedure for high speed reacting flow.

2009 NJDOT FWD procedures manual.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-01-01

A falling weight deflectometer (FWD) is a device designed to simulate deflection of a pavement surface caused by a fast-moving truck. The FWD generates a load pulse by dropping a weight onto the pavement surface. This load pulse is transmitted to the...

Effect of acute and chronic moderate red or white wine consumption on fasted and postprandial lipemia in the rat.

PubMed

Daher, Costantine F; Slaiby, Rita; Haddad, Najib; Boustany, Karim; Baroody, George M

2006-06-01

The effects of acute and chronic (10 wk) red or white wine consumption on fasted and postprandial lipemia in the rat model are reported. Fasted rats, in the acute study, were loaded intragastrically with 5 ml of an olive oil emulsion (30% w/v) in the presence or absence of wine (8% v/v ethanol), and either mesenteric lymph or blood was collected 3 h postprandially. Animals in the chronic study received either red or white wine in drinking water for a period of 10 wk (3% v/v ethanol). Blood samples were collected from animals in either the fasted state or after fat-wine loading. Postprandially, wine delayed gastric emptying, reduced lymph triacylglycerol (TAG) secretion concomitantly with increased number and decreased chylomicron (CM) size, and increased plasma TAG and CM concentrations. Phospholipid and cholesterol contents of CM, but not very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), were increased, indicating enhanced liver bile secretion; however, a significant increase in plasma VLDL concentration was observed. In the chronic study, a wine-fat load resulted in increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration and less pronounced postprandial hypertriglyceridemia and hyperchylomicronemia. In the fasted state, plasma TAG and total apolipoprotein B concentrations were not modified in these animals, and an increase in HDL and a decrease in low-density lipoprotein (LDL)/HDL cholesterol ratios were observed. No liver function or intestinal lipid absorption impairment was observed. In conclusion, unlike binge drinking, chronic moderate wine consumption appears to have a cardioprotective effect in the fasted state, an effect attenuated by the observed temporary postprandial hyperchylomicronemia and hypertriglyceridemia resulting from a direct effect of alcohol on CM size and number.

Use of vacuum tubes in test instrumentation for measuring characteristics of fast high-voltage semiconductor devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berning, D.

1981-01-01

Circuits are described that permit measurement of fast events occurring in power semiconductors. These circuits were developed for the dynamic characterization of transistors used in inductive-load switching applications. Fast voltage clamping using vacuum diodes is discussed, and reference is made to a unique circuit that was built for performing nondestructive, reverse-bias, second-breakdown tests on transistors.

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

Prowell, I.; Elgamal, A.; Romanowitz, H.

Demand parameters for turbines, such as tower moment demand, are primarily driven by wind excitation and dynamics associated with operation. For that purpose, computational simulation platforms have been developed, such as FAST, maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). For seismically active regions, building codes also require the consideration of earthquake loading. Historically, it has been common to use simple building code approaches to estimate the structural demand from earthquake shaking, as an independent loading scenario. Currently, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) design requirements include the consideration of earthquake shaking while the turbine is operating. Numerical and analytical tools usedmore » to consider earthquake loads for buildings and other static civil structures are not well suited for modeling simultaneous wind and earthquake excitation in conjunction with operational dynamics. Through the addition of seismic loading capabilities to FAST, it is possible to simulate earthquake shaking in the time domain, which allows consideration of non-linear effects such as structural nonlinearities, aerodynamic hysteresis, control system influence, and transients. This paper presents a FAST model of a modern 900-kW wind turbine, which is calibrated based on field vibration measurements. With this calibrated model, both coupled and uncoupled simulations are conducted looking at the structural demand for the turbine tower. Response is compared under the conditions of normal operation and potential emergency shutdown due the earthquake induced vibrations. The results highlight the availability of a numerical tool for conducting such studies, and provide insights into the combined wind-earthquake loading mechanism.« less

WindPACT Reference Wind Turbines

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

Dykes, Katherine L; Rinker, Jennifer

To fully understand how loads and turbine cost scale with turbine size, it is necessary to have identical turbine models that have been scaled to different rated powers. The report presents the WindPACT baseline models, which are a series of four baseline models that were designed to facilitate investigations into the scalings of loads and turbine cost with size. The models have four different rated powers (750 kW, 1.5 MW, 3.0 MW, and 5.0 MW), and each model was designed to its specified rated power using the same design methodology. The models were originally implemented in FAST_AD, the predecessor tomore » NREL's open-source wind turbine simulator FAST, but have yet to be implemented in FAST. This report contains the specifications for all four WindPACT baseline models - including structural, aerodynamic, and control specifications - along with the inherent assumptions and equations that were used to calculate the model parameters. It is hoped that these baseline models will serve as extremely useful resources for investigations into the scalings of costs, loads, or optimization routines.« less

Magnetic Bead Actuation of Saccular Hair Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowland, David; Ramunno-Johnson, Damien; Lee, Jae-Hyun; Cheon, Jinwoo; Bozovic, Dolores

2011-11-01

When decoupled from the overlying membrane, hair bundles of the amphibian sacculus exhibit spontaneous oscillation. To explore the dynamics of this innate motility without an imposed external load, we recorded their oscillations with a high-speed CMOS camera, and applied mechanical manipulation that minimally alters the geometry of an individual hair bundle. We present a technique that utilizes micron-sized magnetic particles to actuate the stereociliary bundle with a magnetized probe. Quasi-steady-state displacements were imposed on freely oscillating bundles. Our data indicate that deflection of the bundle affects both the frequency and the amplitude of the oscillations, with a crossing of the bifurcation that is dependent on the direction and speed of the applied offset.

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

Unseren, M.A.

A rigid body model for the entire system which accounts for the load distribution scheme proposed in Part 1 as well as for the dynamics of the manipulators and the kinematic constraints is derived in the joint space. A technique is presented for expressing the object dynamics in terms of the joint variables of both manipulators which leads to a positive definite and symmetric inertia matrix. The model is then transformed to obtain reduced order equations of motion and a separate set of equations which govern the behavior of the internal contact forces. The control architecture is applied to themore » model which results in the explicit decoupling of the position and internal contact force-controlled degrees of freedom (DOF).« less

Communication—Analysis of Thick Co-Extruded Cathodes for Higher-Energy-and-Power Lithium-Ion Batteries

DOE PAGES

Cobb, Corie L.; Solberg, Scott E.

2017-04-29

3-dimensional (3D) electrode architectures have been explored as a means to decouple power and energy trade-offs in thick battery electrodes. Limited work has been published which systematically examines the impact of these architectures at the pouch cell level. This paper conducts an analysis on the potential capacity gains that can be realized with thick co-extruded electrodes in a pouch cell. Moreover, our findings show that despite lower active material composition for each cathode layer, the effective gain in thickness and active material loading enables pouch cell capacity gains greater than 10% with a Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) materialsmore » system.« less

Magnetic actuation of hair cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowland, David; Roongthumskul, Yuttana; Lee, Jae-Hyun; Cheon, Jinwoo; Bozovic, Dolores

2011-11-01

The bullfrog sacculus contains mechanically sensitive hair cells whose stereociliary bundles oscillate spontaneously when decoupled from the overlying membrane. Steady-state offsets on the resting position of a hair bundle can suppress or modulate this native motility. To probe the dynamics of spontaneous oscillation in the proximity of the critical point, we describe here a method for mechanical actuation that avoids loading the bundles or contributing to the viscous drag. Magnetite beads were attached to the tips of the stereocilia, and a magnetic probe was used to impose deflections. This technique allowed us to observe the transition from multi-mode to single-mode state in freely oscillating bundles, as well as the crossover from the oscillatory to the quiescent state.

Inverse load calculation procedure for offshore wind turbines and application to a 5-MW wind turbine support structure: Inverse load calculation procedure for offshore wind turbines

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

Pahn, T.; Rolfes, R.; Jonkman, J.

A significant number of wind turbines installed today have reached their designed service life of 20 years, and the number will rise continuously. Most of these turbines promise a more economical performance if they operate for more than 20 years. To assess a continued operation, we have to analyze the load-bearing capacity of the support structure with respect to site-specific conditions. Such an analysis requires the comparison of the loads used for the design of the support structure with the actual loads experienced. This publication presents the application of a so-called inverse load calculation to a 5-MW wind turbine supportmore » structure. The inverse load calculation determines external loads derived from a mechanical description of the support structure and from measured structural responses. Using numerical simulations with the software fast, we investigated the influence of wind-turbine-specific effects such as the wind turbine control or the dynamic interaction between the loads and the support structure to the presented inverse load calculation procedure. fast is used to study the inverse calculation of simultaneously acting wind and wave loads, which has not been carried out until now. Furthermore, the application of the inverse load calculation procedure to a real 5-MW wind turbine support structure is demonstrated. In terms of this practical application, setting up the mechanical system for the support structure using measurement data is discussed. The paper presents results for defined load cases and assesses the accuracy of the inversely derived dynamic loads for both the simulations and the practical application.« less

Proton-decoupled, Overhauser-enhanced, spatially localized carbon-13 spectroscopy in humans.

PubMed

Bottomley, P A; Hardy, C J; Roemer, P B; Mueller, O M

1989-12-01

Spatially localized, natural abundance, carbon (13C) NMR spectroscopy has been combined with proton (1H) decoupling and nuclear Overhauser enhancement to improve 13C sensitivity up to five-fold in the human leg, liver, and heart. Broadhand-decoupled 13C spectra were acquired in 1 s to 17 min with a conventional 1.5-T imaging/spectroscopy system, an auxiliary 1H decoupler, an air-cooled dual-coil coplanar surface probe, and both depth-resolved surface coil spectroscopy (DRESS) and one-dimensional phase-encoding gradient NMR pulse sequences. The surface coil probe comprised circular and figure-eight-shaped coils to eliminate problems with mutual coupling of coils at high decoupling power levels applied during 13C reception. Peak decoupler RF power deposition in tissue was computed numerically from electromagnetic theory assuming a semi-infinite plane of uniform biological conductor. Peak values at the surface were calculated at 4 to 6 W/kg in any gram of tissue for each watt of decoupler power input excluding all coil and cable losses, warning of potential local RF heating problems in these and related experiments. The average power deposition was about 9 mW/kg per watt input, which should present no systemic hazard. At 3 W input, human 13C spectra were decoupled to a depth of about 5 cm while some Overhauser enhancement was sustained up to about 3 cm depth, without ill effect. The observation of glycogen in localized natural abundance 13C spectra of heart and muscle suggests that metabolites in the citric acid cycle should be observable noninvasively using 13C-labeled substrates.

Decoupling Polymer Properties to Elucidate Mechanisms Governing Cell Behavior

PubMed Central

Wang, Xintong; Boire, Timothy C.; Bronikowski, Christine; Zachman, Angela L.; Crowder, Spencer W.

2012-01-01

Determining how a biomaterial interacts with cells (“structure-function relationship”) reflects its eventual clinical applicability. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of how individual material properties modulate cell-biomaterial interactions is pivotal to improving the efficacy and safety of clinically translatable biomaterial systems. However, due to the coupled nature of material properties, their individual effects on cellular responses are difficult to understand. Structure-function relationships can be more clearly understood by the effective decoupling of each individual parameter. In this article, we discuss three basic decoupling strategies: (1) surface modification, (2) cross-linking, and (3) combinatorial approaches (i.e., copolymerization and polymer blending). Relevant examples of coupled material properties are briefly reviewed in each section to highlight the need for improved decoupling methods. This follows with examples of more effective decoupling techniques, mainly from the perspective of three primary classes of synthetic materials: polyesters, polyethylene glycol, and polyacrylamide. Recent strides in decoupling methodologies, especially surface-patterning and combinatorial techniques, offer much promise in further understanding the structure-function relationships that largely govern the success of future advancements in biomaterials, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. PMID:22536977

Transient Performance Improvement Circuit (TPIC)s for DC-DC converter applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Sungkeun

Gordon Moore famously predicted the exponential increase in transistor integration and computing power that has been witnessed in recent decades [1]. In the near future, it is expected that more than one billion transistors will be integrated per chip, and advanced microprocessors will require clock speeds in excess of several GHz. The increasing number of transistors and high clock speeds will necessitate the consumption of more power. By 2014, it is expected that the maximum power consumption of the microprocessor will reach approximately 150W, and the maximum load current will be around 150A. Today's trend in power and thermal management is to reduce supply voltage as low as possible to reduce delivered power. It is anticipated that the Intel cores will operate on 0.8V of supply voltage by 2014 [2]. A significant challenge in Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) development for next generation microprocessors is to regulate the supply voltage within a certain tolerance band during high slew rate load transitions, since the required supply voltage tolerance band will be much narrower than the current requirement. If VR output impedance is maintained at a constant value from DC to high frequency, large output voltage spikes can be avoided during load cur- rent transients. Based on this, the Adaptive Voltage Position (AVP) concept was developed to achieve constant VR output impedance to improve transient response performance [3]. However, the VR output impedance can not be made constant over the entire frequency range with AVP design, because the AVP design makes the VR output impedance constant only at low frequencies. To make the output impedance constant at high frequencies, many bulk capacitors and ceramic capacitors are required. The tight supply voltage tolerance for the next generation of microprocessors during high slew rate load transitions requires fast transient response power supplies. A VRM can not follow the high slew rate load current transients, because of the slow inductor current slew rate which is determined by the input voltage, output voltage, and the inductance. The remaining inductor current in the power delivery path will charge the output capacitors and develop a voltage across the ESR. As a result, large output voltage spikes occur during load current transients. Due to their limited control bandwidth, traditional VRs can not sufficiently respond rapidly to certain load transients. As a result, a large output voltage spike can occur during load transients, hence requiring a large amount of bulk capacitance to decouple the VR from the load [2]. If the remaining inductor current is removed from the power stage or the inductor current slew rate is changed, the output voltage spikes can be clamped, allowing the output capacitance to be reduced. A new design methodology for a Transient Performance Improvement Circuit(TPIC) based on controlling the output impedance of a regulator is presented. The TPIC works in parallel with a voltage regulator (VR)'s ceramic capacitors to achieve faster voltage regulation without the need for a large bulk capacitance, and can serve as a replacement for bulk capacitors. The specific function of the TPIC is to mimic the behavior of the bulk capacitance in a traditional VRM by sinking and sourcing large currents during transients, allowing the VR to respond quickly to current transients without the need for a large bulk capacitance. This will allow fast transient response without the need for a large bulk capacitor. The main challenge in applying the TPIC is creating a design which will not interfere with VR operation. A TPIC for a 4 Switch Buck-Boost (4SBB) converter is presented which functions by con- trolling the inductor current slew rate during load current transients. By increasing the inductor current slew rate, the remaining inductor current can be removed from the 4SBB power delivery path and the output voltage spike can be clamped. A second TPIC is presented which is designed to improve the performance of an LDO regulator during output current transients. A TPIC for a LDO regulator is proposed to reduce the over voltage spike settling time. During a load current step down transient, the only current discharging path is a light load current. However, it takes a long time to discharge the current charged in the output capacitors with the light load current. The proposed TPIC will make an additional current discharging path to reduce the long settling time. By reducing the settling time, the load current transient frequency of the LDO regulator can be increased. A Ripple Cancellation Circuit (RCC) is proposed to reduce the output voltage ripple. The RCC has a very similar concept with the TPIC which is sinking or injecting additional current to the power stage to compensate the inductor ripple current. The proposed TPICs and RCC have been implemented with a 0.6m CMOS process. A single-phase VR, a 4SBB converter, and a LDO regulator have been utilized with the proposed TPIC to evaluate its performance. The theoretical analysis will be confirmed by Cadence simulation results and experimental results.

The Processing of Airspace Concept Evaluations Using FASTE-CNS as a Pre- or Post-Simulation CNS Analysis Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mainger, Steve

2004-01-01

As NASA speculates on and explores the future of aviation, the technological and physical aspects of our environment increasing become hurdles that must be overcome for success. Research into methods for overcoming some of these selected hurdles have been purposed by several NASA research partners as concepts. The task of establishing a common evaluation environment was placed on NASA's Virtual Airspace Simulation Technologies (VAST) project (sub-project of VAMS), and they responded with the development of the Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES). As one examines the ACES environment from a communication, navigation or surveillance (CNS) perspective, the simulation parameters are built with assumed perfection in the transactions associated with CNS. To truly evaluate these concepts in a realistic sense, the contributions/effects of CNS must be part of the ACES. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has supported the Virtual Airspace Modeling and Simulation (VAMS) project through the continued development of CNS models and analysis capabilities which supports the ACES environment. NASA GRC initiated the development a communications traffic loading analysis tool, called the Future Aeronautical Sub-network Traffic Emulator for Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (FASTE-CNS), as part of this support. This tool allows for forecasting of communications load with the understanding that, there is no single, common source for loading models used to evaluate the existing and planned communications channels; and that, consensus and accuracy in the traffic load models is a very important input to the decisions being made on the acceptability of communication techniques used to fulfill the aeronautical requirements. Leveraging off the existing capabilities of the FASTE-CNS tool, GRC has called for FASTE-CNS to have the functionality to pre- and post-process the simulation runs of ACES to report on instances when traffic density, frequency congestion or aircraft spacing/distance violations have occurred. The integration of these functions require that the CNS models used to characterize these avionic system be of higher fidelity and better consistency then is present in FASTE-CNS system. This presentation will explore the capabilities of FASTE-CNS with renewed emphasis on the enhancements being added to perform these processing functions; the fidelity and reliability of CNS models necessary to make the enhancements work; and the benchmarking of FASTE-CNS results to improve confidence for the results of the new processing capabilities.

Resolution enhancement in 13C and 15N magic-angle turning experiments with TPPM decoupling.

PubMed

McGeorge, G; Alderman, D W; Grant, D M

1999-03-01

Many solid-state spectra have been shown to have problems related to the poor proton decoupling of carbon nuclei in methylene groups under conditions of slow magic-angle turning. Two-pulse phase-modulation (TPPM) decoupling during the 2D PHORMAT chemical shift separation experiment is shown to be more effective in comparison to that obtainable at much higher spin rates using conventional CW decoupling. TPPM decoupling can also alleviate similar inadequacies when observing the 15N nucleus, particularly with NH2 groups. This is demonstrated in the 15N resonances of fully labeled l-arginine hydrochloride, where a line narrowing of about a factor of two was observed at moderate rotation rates. This significant advantage was also obtained at turning frequencies as low as 500 Hz. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Microfluidic enhancement of intramedullary pressure increases interstitial fluid flow and inhibits bone loss in hindlimb suspended mice.

PubMed

Kwon, Ronald Y; Meays, Diana R; Tang, W Joyce; Frangos, John A

2010-08-01

Interstitial fluid flow (IFF) has been widely hypothesized to mediate skeletal adaptation to mechanical loading. Although a large body of in vitro evidence has demonstrated that fluid flow stimulates osteogenic and antiresorptive responses in bone cells, there is much less in vivo evidence that IFF mediates loading-induced skeletal adaptation. This is due in large part to the challenges associated with decoupling IFF from matrix strain. In this study we describe a novel microfluidic system for generating dynamic intramedullary pressure (ImP) and IFF within the femurs of alert mice. By quantifying fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) within individual lacunae, we show that microfluidic generation of dynamic ImP significantly increases IFF within the lacunocanalicular system. In addition, we demonstrate that dynamic pressure loading of the intramedullary compartment for 3 minutes per day significantly eliminates losses in trabecular and cortical bone mineral density in hindlimb suspended mice, enhances trabecular and cortical structural integrity, and increases endosteal bone formation rate. Unlike previously developed modalities for enhancing IFF in vivo, this is the first model that allows direct and dynamic modulation of ImP and skeletal IFF within mice. Given the large number of genetic tools for manipulating the mouse genome, this model is expected to serve as a powerful investigative tool in elucidating the role of IFF in skeletal adaptation to mechanical loading and molecular mechanisms mediating this process.

Aeroelastic Modeling of Offshore Turbines and Support Structures in Hurricane-Prone Regions (Poster)

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

Damiani, R.

US offshore wind turbines (OWTs) will likely have to contend with hurricanes and the associated loading conditions. Current industry standards do not account for these design load cases (DLCs), thus a new approach is required to guarantee that the OWTs achieve an appropriate level of reliability. In this study, a sequentially coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic modeling technique was used to address two design approaches: 1.) The ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) approach; and 2.) The Hazard Curve or API (American Petroleum Institute) approach. The former employs IEC partial load factors (PSFs) and 100-yr return-period (RP) metocean events. The latter allows setting PSFsmore » and RP to a prescribed level of system reliability. The 500-yr RP robustness check (appearing in [2] and [3] upcoming editions) is a good indicator of the target reliability for L2 structures. CAE tools such as NREL's FAST and Bentley's' SACS (offshore analysis and design software) can be efficiently coupled to simulate system loads under hurricane DLCs. For this task, we augmented the latest FAST version (v. 8) to include tower aerodynamic drag that cannot be ignored in hurricane DLCs. In this project, a 6 MW turbine was simulated on a typical 4-legged jacket for a mid-Atlantic site. FAST-calculated tower base loads were fed to SACS at the interface level (transition piece); SACS added hydrodynamic and wind loads on the exposed substructure, and calculated mudline overturning moments, and member and joint utilization. Results show that CAE tools can be effectively used to compare design approaches for the design of OWTs in hurricane regions and to achieve a well-balanced design, where reliability levels and costs are optimized.« less

Hypoglycaemic action of stevioside and a barley and brewer’s yeast based preparation in the experimental model on mice

PubMed Central

Cekic, Vlada; Vasovic, Velibor; Jakovljevic, Vida; Mikov, Momir; Sabo, Ana

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate influence of the preparation based on barley and brewer’s yeast extracts with chromium (BBCr) and stevioside (S) on fasting glycaemia and glycaemia in mice after glucose, adrenalin and alloxan application. The animals were divided into three groups: glucose 500 mgkg-1 (I); adrenalin 0.2 mgkg-1(II) and alloxan 100 mg kg-1 (III) and into subgroups according to the substance they received: stevioside 20 mg kg-1 (I-S, II-S, III-S); BBCr 750 mg kg-1(I-BBCr, II-BBCr, III-BBCr) and saline 1ml/100g (III-placebo). Glycaemia was measured before and after 7-day treatment with stevioside or BBCr in the following conditions: fasting, 30min after glucose load (I) or 45min after adrenaline load (II). In group III glycaemia was measured before and after 12-day treatment with S, BBCr or placebo and alloxan application (7th, 8th and 10th days of treatment ). BBCr significantly reduced fasting glycaemia in I and II groups and glycaemia values after the glucose load (I-BBCr: 9.20 ± 0.61 vs. 7.42 ± 0.59 mmol/L, p = 0.01). Stevioside significantly reduced glycaemia after the adrenalin load (II-S: 13.45 ± 0.71 vs. 11.65 ± 1.19 mmol/L; p = 0.03). In the III-BBCr glycaemia values did not indicate the development of alloxan-induced diabetes and were significantly lower than in the III-placebo (8.6 ± 3.16 vs. 18.8 ± 5.53 mmol/L; p < 0.05). In conclusion, BBCr caused a significant decrease of fasting glycaemia, significant reduction of glycaemia after glucose load and prevented onset of alloxan-induced diabetes. Stevioside caused the decrease of adrenalin-induced hyperglycaemia. PMID:21342135

Developmental decoupling of alternative phenotypes: insights from the transcriptomes of horn-polyphenic beetles

PubMed Central

Snell-Rood, Emilie C.; Cash, Amy; Han, Mira V.; Kijimoto, Teiya; Andrews, Justen; Moczek, Armin P.

2010-01-01

Developmental mechanisms play an important role in determining the costs, limits, and evolutionary consequences of phenotypic plasticity. One issue central to these claims is the hypothesis of developmental decoupling, where alternate morphs result from evolutionarily independent developmental pathways. We address this assumption through a microarray study that tests whether differences in gene expression between alternate morphs are as divergent as those between sexes, a classic example of developmental decoupling. We then examine whether genes with morph-biased expression are less conserved than genes with shared expression between morphs, as predicted if developmental decoupling relaxes pleiotropic constraints on divergence. We focus on the developing horns and brains of two species of horned beetles with spectacular sexual- and morph-dimorphism in the expression of horns and fighting behavior. We find that patterns of gene expression were as divergent between morphs as they were between sexes. However, overall patterns of gene expression were also highly correlated across morphs and sexes. Morph-biased genes were more evolutionarily divergent, suggesting a role of relaxed pleiotropic constraints or relaxed selection. Together these results suggest that alternate morphs are to some extent developmentally decoupled, and that this decoupling has significant evolutionary consequences. However, alternative morphs may not be as developmentally decoupled as sometimes assumed and such hypotheses of development should be revisited and refined. PMID:20731717

FRF decoupling of nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalaycıoğlu, Taner; Özgüven, H. Nevzat

2018-03-01

Structural decoupling problem, i.e. predicting dynamic behavior of a particular substructure from the knowledge of the dynamics of the coupled structure and the other substructure, has been well investigated for three decades and led to several decoupling methods. In spite of the inherent nonlinearities in a structural system in various forms such as clearances, friction and nonlinear stiffness, all decoupling studies are for linear systems. In this study, decoupling problem for nonlinear systems is addressed for the first time. A method, named as FRF Decoupling Method for Nonlinear Systems (FDM-NS), is proposed for calculating FRFs of a substructure decoupled from a coupled nonlinear structure where nonlinearity can be modeled as a single nonlinear element. Depending on where nonlinear element is, i.e., either in the known or unknown subsystem, or at the connection point, the formulation differs. The method requires relative displacement information between two end points of the nonlinear element, in addition to point and transfer FRFs at some points of the known subsystem. However, it is not necessary to excite the system from the unknown subsystem even when the nonlinear element is in that subsystem. The validation of FDM-NS is demonstrated with two different case studies using nonlinear lumped parameter systems. Finally, a nonlinear experimental test structure is used in order to show the real-life application and accuracy of FDM-NS.

Mechanisms of High-Temperature Fatigue Failure in Alloy 800H

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

BhanuSankaraRao, K.; Schuster, H.; Halford, G. R.

1996-01-01

The damage mechanisms influencing the axial strain-controlled Low-Cycle Fatigue (LCF) behavior of alloy 800H at 850 C have been evaluated under conditions of equal tension/compression ramp rates (Fast-Fast (F-F): 4 X 10(sup -3)/s and Slow-Slow (S-S): 4 X 10(sup -5)/s) and asymmetrical ramp rates (Fast-Slow (F-S): 4 x 10(sup -3)/s / 4 X 10(sup -5/s and Slow-Fast (S-F): 4 X 10(sup -5) / 4 X 10(sup -3)/s) in tension and compression. The fatigue life, cyclic stress response, and fracture modes were significantly influenced by the waveform shape. The fatigue lives displayed by different loading conditions were in the following order: F-F greater than S-S greater than F-S greater than S-F. The fracture mode was dictated by the ramp rate adopted in the tensile direction. The fast ramp rate in the tensile direction led to the occurrence of transgranular crack initiation and propagation, whereas the slow ramp rate caused intergranular initiation and propagation. The time-dependent processes and their synergistic interactions, which were at the basis of observed changes in cyclic stress response and fatigue life, were identified. Oxidation, creep damage, dynamic strain aging, massive carbide precipitation, time-dependent creep deformation, and deformation ratcheting were among the several factors influencing cyclic life. Irrespective of the loading condition, the largest effect on life was exerted by oxidation processes. Deformation ratcheting had its greatest influence on life under asymmetrical loading conditions. Creep damage accumulated the greatest amount during the slow tensile ramp under S-F conditions.

Decoupling in linear time-varying multivariable systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sankaran, V.

1973-01-01

The necessary and sufficient conditions for the decoupling of an m-input, m-output, linear time varying dynamical system by state variable feedback is described. The class of feedback matrices which decouple the system are illustrated. Systems which do not satisfy these results are described and systems with disturbances are considered. Some examples are illustrated to clarify the results.

The Fall and Rise of Experiential Construction and Engineering Education: Decoupling and Recoupling Practice and Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forster, Alan Mark; Pilcher, Nick; Tennant, Stuart; Murray, Mike; Craig, Nigel; Copping, Alex

2017-01-01

From the mid-20th C., construction and engineering pedagogy and curricula have moved from long-held traditional experiential apprenticeship approaches to one ostensibly decoupling practice and theory. This paper traces this decoupling and explores modern-day opportunities and challenges for recoupling university education with industry practice.…

Low Probability Tail Event Analysis and Mitigation in BPA Control Area: Task 2 Report

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

Lu, Shuai; Makarov, Yuri V.; McKinstry, Craig A.

Task report detailing low probability tail event analysis and mitigation in BPA control area. Tail event refers to the situation in a power system when unfavorable forecast errors of load and wind are superposed onto fast load and wind ramps, or non-wind generators falling short of scheduled output, causing the imbalance between generation and load to become very significant.

Effects of chewing rate and reactive hyperemia on blood flow in denture-supporting mucosa during simulated chewing.

PubMed

Ogino, Takamichi; Ueda, Takayuki; Ogami, Koichiro; Koike, Takashi; Sakurai, Kaoru

2017-01-01

We examined how chewing rate and the extent of reactive hyperemia affect the blood flow in denture-supporting mucosa during chewing. The left palatal mucosa was loaded under conditions of simulated chewing or simulated clenching for 30s, and the blood flow during loading was recorded. We compared the relative blood flow during loading under conditions that recreated different chewing rates by combining duration of chewing cycle (DCC) and occlusal time (OT): fast chewing group, typical chewing group, slow chewing group and clenching group. The relationship between relative blood flow during simulated chewing and the extent of reactive hyperemia was also analyzed. When comparing the different chewing rate, the relative blood flow was highest in fast chewing rate, followed by typical chewing rate and slow chewing rate. Accordingly, we suggest that fast chewing increases the blood flow more than typical chewing or slow chewing. There was a significant correlation between the amount of blood flow during simulated chewing and the extent of reactive hyperemia. Within the limitations of this study, we concluded that slow chewing induced less blood flow than typical or fast chewing in denture-supporting mucosa and that people with less reactive hyperemia had less blood flow in denture-supporting mucosa during chewing. Copyright © 2016 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contrasting cloud composition between coupled and decoupled marine boundary layer clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Mora Ramirez, Marco; Dadashazar, Hossein; MacDonald, Alex B.; Crosbie, Ewan; Bates, Kelvin H.; Coggon, Matthew M.; Craven, Jill S.; Lynch, Peng; Campbell, James R.; Azadi Aghdam, Mojtaba; Woods, Roy K.; Jonsson, Haflidi; Flagan, Richard C.; Seinfeld, John H.; Sorooshian, Armin

2016-10-01

Marine stratocumulus clouds often become decoupled from the vertical layer immediately above the ocean surface. This study contrasts cloud chemical composition between coupled and decoupled marine stratocumulus clouds for dissolved nonwater substances. Cloud water and droplet residual particle composition were measured in clouds off the California coast during three airborne experiments in July-August of separate years (Eastern Pacific Emitted Aerosol Cloud Experiment 2011, Nucleation in California Experiment 2013, and Biological and Oceanic Atmospheric Study 2015). Decoupled clouds exhibited significantly lower air-equivalent mass concentrations in both cloud water and droplet residual particles, consistent with reduced cloud droplet number concentration and subcloud aerosol (Dp > 100 nm) number concentration, owing to detachment from surface sources. Nonrefractory submicrometer aerosol measurements show that coupled clouds exhibit higher sulfate mass fractions in droplet residual particles, owing to more abundant precursor emissions from the ocean and ships. Consequently, decoupled clouds exhibited higher mass fractions of organics, nitrate, and ammonium in droplet residual particles, owing to effects of long-range transport from more distant sources. Sodium and chloride dominated in terms of air-equivalent concentration in cloud water for coupled clouds, and their mass fractions and concentrations exceeded those in decoupled clouds. Conversely, with the exception of sea-salt constituents (e.g., Cl, Na, Mg, and K), cloud water mass fractions of all species examined were higher in decoupled clouds relative to coupled clouds. Satellite and Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System-based reanalysis data are compared with each other, and the airborne data to conclude that limitations in resolving boundary layer processes in a global model prevent it from accurately quantifying observed differences between coupled and decoupled cloud composition.

Moving-base visual simulation study of decoupled controls during approach and landing of a STOL transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, G. K., Jr.; Deal, P. L.

1975-01-01

The simulation employed all six rigid-body degrees of freedom and incorporated aerodynamic characteristics based on wind-tunnel data. The flight instrumentation included a localizer and a flight director which was used to capture and to maintain a two-segment glide slope. A closed-circuit television display of a STOLport provided visual cues during simulations of the approach and landing. The decoupled longitudinal controls used constant prefilter and feedback gains to provide steady-state decoupling of flight-path angle, pitch angle, and forward velocity. The pilots were enthusiastic about the decoupled longitudinal controls and believed that the simulator motion was an aid in evaluating the decoupled controls, although a minimum turbulence level with root-mean-square gust intensity of 0.3 m/sec (1 ft/sec) was required to mask undesirable characteristics of the moving-base simulator.

Characterization of heteronuclear decoupling through proton spin dynamics in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Paëpe, Gaël; Eléna, Bénédicte; Emsley, Lyndon

2004-08-01

The work presented here aims at understanding the performance of phase modulated heteronuclear decoupling sequences such as Cosine Modulation or Two Pulse Phase Modulation. To that end we provide an analytical description of the intrinsic behavior of Cosine Modulation decoupling with respect to radio-frequency-inhomogeneity and the proton-proton dipolar coupling network. We discover through a Modulation Frame average Hamiltonian analysis that best decoupling is obtained under conditions where the heteronuclear interactions are removed but notably where homonuclear couplings are recoupled at a homonuclear Rotary Resonance (HORROR) condition in the Modulation Frame. These conclusions are supported by extensive experimental investigations, and notably through the introduction of proton nutation experiments to characterize spin dynamics in solids under decoupling conditions. The theoretical framework presented in this paper allows the prediction of the optimum parameters for a given set of experimental conditions.

Improved heteronuclear dipolar decoupling sequences for liquid-crystal NMR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thakur, Rajendra Singh; Kurur, Narayanan D.; Madhu, P. K.

2007-04-01

Recently we introduced a radiofrequency pulse scheme for heteronuclear dipolar decoupling in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance under magic-angle spinning [R.S. Thakur, N.D. Kurur, P.K. Madhu, Swept-frequency two-pulse phase modulation for heteronuclear dipolar decoupling in solid-state NMR, Chem. Phys. Lett. 426 (2006) 459-463]. Variants of this sequence, swept-frequency TPPM, employing frequency modulation of different types have been further tested to improve the efficiency of heteronuclear dipolar decoupling. Among these, certain sequences that were found to perform well at lower spinning speeds are demonstrated here on a liquid-crystal sample of MBBA for application in static samples. The new sequences are compared with the standard TPPM and SPINAL schemes and are shown to perform better than them. These modulated schemes perform well at low decoupler radiofrequency power levels and are easy to implement on standard spectrometers.

Crustal Stretching Style and Lower Crust Flow of the South China Sea Northern Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Y.; Dong, D.; Runlin, D.

2017-12-01

There is a controversy about crustal stretching style of the South China Sea (SCS) northern margin mainly due to considerable uncertainty of stretching factor estimation, for example, as much as 40% of upper crust extension (Walsh et al., 1991) would be lost by seismic profiles due to poor resolution. To discover and understand crustal stretching style and lower crustal flow on the whole, we map the Moho and Conrad geometries based on gravity inversion constrained by deep seismic profiles, then according to the assumption of upper and lower crust initial thickness, upper and lower crust stretching factors are estimated. According to the comparison between upper and lower crust stretching factors, the SCS northern margin could be segmented into three parts, (1) sediment basins where upper crust is stretched more than lower crust, (2) COT regions where lower crust is stretched more than upper crust, (3) other regions where the two layers have similar stretching factors. Stretching factor map shows that lower crust flow happened in both of COT and sediment basin regions where upper crust decouples with lower crust due to high temperature. Pressure contrast by sediment loading in basins and erosion in sediment-source regions will lead to lower crust flow away from sediment sink to source. Decoupled and fractured upper crust is stretched further by sediment loading and the following compensation would result in relatively thick lower crust than upper crust. In COT regions with thin sediment coverage, low-viscosity lower crust is easier to thin in extensional environment, also the lower crust tends to flow away induced by magma upwelling. Therefore, continental crust on the margin is not stretching in a constant way but varies with the tectonic setting changes. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41506055, 41476042) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities China (No.17CX02003A).

Comparison of Hydrodynamic Load Predictions Between Engineering Models and Computational Fluid Dynamics for the OC4-DeepCwind Semi-Submersible: Preprint

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

Benitz, M. A.; Schmidt, D. P.; Lackner, M. A.

Hydrodynamic loads on the platforms of floating offshore wind turbines are often predicted with computer-aided engineering tools that employ Morison's equation and/or potential-flow theory. This work compares results from one such tool, FAST, NREL's wind turbine computer-aided engineering tool, and the computational fluid dynamics package, OpenFOAM, for the OC4-DeepCwind semi-submersible analyzed in the International Energy Agency Wind Task 30 project. Load predictions from HydroDyn, the offshore hydrodynamics module of FAST, are compared with high-fidelity results from OpenFOAM. HydroDyn uses a combination of Morison's equations and potential flow to predict the hydrodynamic forces on the structure. The implications of the assumptionsmore » in HydroDyn are evaluated based on this code-to-code comparison.« less

Black Tea Lowers Blood Pressure and Wave Reflections in Fasted and Postprandial Conditions in Hypertensive Patients: A Randomised Study

PubMed Central

Grassi, Davide; Draijer, Richard; Desideri, Giovambattista; Mulder, Theo; Ferri, Claudio

2015-01-01

Hypertension and arterial stiffening are independent predictors of cardiovascular mortality. Flavonoids may exert some vascular protection. We investigated the effects of black tea on blood pressure (BP) and wave reflections before and after fat load in hypertensives. According to a randomized, double-blind, controlled, cross-over design, 19 patients were assigned to consume black tea (129 mg flavonoids) or placebo twice a day for eight days (13 day wash-out period). Digital volume pulse and BP were measured before and 1, 2, 3 and 4 h after tea consumption. Measurements were performed in a fasted state and after a fat load. Compared to placebo, reflection index and stiffness index decreased after tea consumption (p < 0.0001). Fat challenge increased wave reflection, which was counteracted by tea consumption (p < 0.0001). Black tea decreased systolic and diastolic BP (−3.2 mmHg, p < 0.005 and −2.6 mmHg, p < 0.0001; respectively) and prevented BP increase after a fat load (p < 0.0001). Black tea consumption lowers wave reflections and BP in the fasting state, and during the challenging haemodynamic conditions after a fat load in hypertensives. Considering lipemia-induced impairment of arterial function may occur frequently during the day, our findings suggest regular consumption of black tea may be relevant for cardiovascular protection. PMID:25658240

Investigation of marine stratocumulus under coupled and decoupled conditions over the arm Azores site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwantes, Adam Christopher

Stratocumuli are a type of low clouds composed of individual convective elements that together form a continuous layer of clouds. Stratocumuli cover large regions of the Earth's surface, which make them important components in the Earth's radiation budget. Stratocumuli strongly reflect solar shortwave radiation, while weakly affecting outgoing longwave radiation. This leads to a strong radiative cooling effect that affects the Earth's radiation budget. Therefore it is important to investigate the mechanisms that affect the longevity of stratocumuli, so that their impact on the Earth's radiation budget can be fully understood. One mechanism that is currently being studied as influencing the lifetime of such cloud layers is boundary layer/surface coupling. It has been shown than in some regions (i.e. the west coast of South America) stratocumuli tend to break up when the boundary layer is decoupled with the surface, because they are cut off from their moisture source. This study will investigate the macro- and micro-physical properties of stratocumuli when boundary layers are either coupled to or decoupled from the surface. This will help advance understanding of the effects these macro- and micro-physical properties have on the lifetime of stratocumuli under different boundary layer conditions. This study used the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM) mobile measurements facility (AMF) at the Azores site from June 2009 to December 2010. The measurements that were used include temperature profiles from radiosondes, cloud liquid water path (LWP) retrieved from the Microwave radiometer, and cloud base and top heights derived from W-band ARM Cloud Radar and lidar. Satellite images provided by the NASA Langley Research Center were also used to visually decipher cloud types over the region so that only single-layered stratocumuli cases are used in the study. To differentiate between coupled and decoupled cloud layers, two methods are used. The first method compares cloud base height and lifting condensation level (LCL) for surface air parcels. The second method uses potential temperature profiles to indicate whether a boundary layer is coupled or decoupled from the surface. The results from these two methods were then compared using select cases/samples when both methods classified a sample as coupled or decoupled. In this study, a total of seven coupled or decoupled cases (2-3 days long each) have been selected from the 19 month AMF dataset. Characteristics of the coupled and decoupled cases have been studied to identify similarities and differences. Furthermore, comparison results from this study have shown that there are similarities and differences between drizzling/non-drizzling stratocumulus clouds and decoupled/coupled stratocumulus clouds. Drizzling/decoupled stratocumuli tend to have higher LWP, cloud-droplet effective radius (re), cloud-top height, and cloud thickness values while non-drizzling/coupled stratocumuli have higher cloud-droplet number concentration (Nd) and cloud condensation nuclei concentration (NCCN) values. It was also determined that during daytime hours when stratocumuli are decoupled, they tend to be open cells, while coupled stratocumuli tend to be closed cells. Finally, decoupled nighttime stratocumuli were found to have higher LWPs compared to decoupled daytime stratocumuli, which resulted in the significant amount of heavy drizzle events occurring at night.

STELLAR KINEMATICS AND STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF VIRGO CLUSTER DWARF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES FROM THE SMAKCED PROJECT. III. ANGULAR MOMENTUM AND CONSTRAINTS ON FORMATION SCENARIOS

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

Toloba, E.; Guhathakurta, P.; Boselli, A.

2015-02-01

We analyze the stellar kinematics of 39 dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in the Virgo Cluster. Based on the specific stellar angular momentum λ{sub Re} and the ellipticity, we find 11 slow rotators and 28 fast rotators. The fast rotators in the outer parts of the Virgo Cluster rotate significantly faster than fast rotators in the inner parts of the cluster. Moreover, 10 out of the 11 slow rotators are located in the inner 3° (D < 1 Mpc) of the cluster. The fast rotators contain subtle disk-like structures that are visible in high-pass filtered optical images, while the slow rotatorsmore » do not exhibit these structures. In addition, two of the dEs have kinematically decoupled cores and four more have emission partially filling in the Balmer absorption lines. These properties suggest that Virgo Cluster dEs may have originated from late-type star-forming galaxies that were transformed by the environment after their infall into the cluster. The correlation between λ{sub Re} and the clustercentric distance can be explained by a scenario where low luminosity star-forming galaxies fall into the cluster, their gas is rapidly removed by ram-pressure stripping, although some of it can be retained in their core, their star formation is quenched but their stellar kinematics are preserved. After a long time in the cluster and several passes through its center, the galaxies are heated up and transformed into slow rotating dEs.« less

Gastrointestinal and renal responses to variable water intake in whitebellied sunbirds and New Holland honeyeaters.

PubMed

Purchase, Cromwell; Napier, Kathryn R; Nicolson, Susan W; McWhorter, Todd J; Fleming, Patricia A

2013-05-01

Nectarivores face a constant challenge in terms of water balance, experiencing water loading or dehydration when switching between food plants or between feeding and fasting. To understand how whitebellied sunbirds and New Holland honeyeaters meet the challenges of varying preformed water load, we used the elimination of intramuscular-injected [(14)C]-l-glucose and (3)H2O to quantify intestinal and renal water handling on diets varying in sugar concentration. Both sunbirds and honeyeaters showed significant modulation of intestinal water absorption, allowing excess water to be shunted through the intestine when on dilute diets. Despite reducing their fractional water absorption, both species showed linear increases in water flux and fractional body water turnover as water intake increased (both afternoon and morning), suggesting that the modulation of fractional water absorption was not sufficient to completely offset dietary water loads. In both species, glomerular filtration rate was independent of water gain (but was higher for the afternoon), as was renal fractional water reabsorption (measured in the afternoon). During the natural overnight fast, both sunbirds and honeyeaters arrested whole kidney function. Evaporative water loss in sunbirds was variable but correlated with water gain. Both sunbirds and honeyeaters appear to modulate intestinal water absorption as an important component of water regulation to help deal with massive preformed water loads. Shutting down glomerular filtration rate during the overnight fast is another way of saving energy for osmoregulatory function. Birds maintain osmotic balance on diets varying markedly in preformed water load by varying both intestinal water absorption and excretion through the intestine and kidneys.

Evaluating Decoupling Process in OECD Countries: Case Study of Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Nazan; Şengün Ucal, Meltem; Kurnaz, M. Levent

2017-04-01

Climate change is at the top of the present and future problems facing humanity. Climate change is now largely attributed to human activities and economic activities are the source of human activities that cause climate change by creating pressure on the environment. Providing the sustainability of resources for the future seems possible by reducing the pressure of these economic activities on the environment. Given the increasing population pressure and growth-focused economies, it is possible to say that achieving decoupling is not so easy on a global basis. It is known that there are some problems in developing countries especially in terms of accessing reliable data in transition and implementation process of decoupling. Developed countries' decoupling practices and proper calculation methods can also be a guide for developing countries. In this study, we tried to calculate the comparative decoupling index for OECD countries and Turkey in terms of data suitability, and we showed the differences between them. We tried to indicate the level of decoupling (weak, stable, strong) for each country. We think that the comparison of Turkey can be an example in terms of developing countries. Acknowledgement: This research has been supported by Bogazici University Research Fund Grant Number 12220.

Resolution enhancement using a new multiple-pulse decoupling sequence for quadrupolar nuclei.

PubMed

Delevoye, L; Trébosc, J; Gan, Z; Montagne, L; Amoureux, J-P

2007-05-01

A new decoupling composite pulse sequence is proposed to remove the broadening on spin S=1/2 magic-angle spinning (MAS) spectra arising from the scalar coupling with a quadrupolar nucleus I. It is illustrated on the (31)P spectrum of an aluminophosphate, AlPO(4)-14, which is broadened by the presence of (27)Al/(31)P scalar couplings. The multiple-pulse (MP) sequence has the advantage over the continuous wave (CW) irradiation to efficiently annul the scalar dephasing without reintroducing the dipolar interaction. The MP decoupling sequence is first described in a rotor-synchronised version (RS-MP) where one parameter only needs to be adjusted. It clearly avoids the dipolar recoupling in order to achieve a better resolution than using the CW sequence. In a second improved version, the MP sequence is experimentally studied in the vicinity of the perfect rotor-synchronised conditions. The linewidth at half maximum (FWHM) of 65 Hz using (27)Al CW decoupling decreases to 48 Hz with RS-MP decoupling and to 30 Hz with rotor-asynchronised MP (RA-MP) decoupling. The main phenomena are explained using both experimental results and numerical simulations.

Decoupling of a tight-fit transceiver phased array for human brain imaging at 9.4T: Loop overlapping rediscovered.

PubMed

Avdievich, Nikolai I; Giapitzakis, Ioannis-Angelos; Pfrommer, Andreas; Henning, Anke

2018-02-01

To improve the decoupling of a transceiver human head phased array at ultra-high fields (UHF, ≥ 7T) and to optimize its transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) performance, a single-row eight-element (1 × 8) tight-fit transceiver overlapped loop array was developed and constructed. Overlapping the loops increases the RF field penetration depth but can compromise decoupling by generating substantial mutual resistance. Based on analytical modeling, we optimized the loop geometry and relative positioning to simultaneously minimize the resistive and inductive coupling and constructed a 9.4T eight-loop transceiver head phased array decoupled entirely by overlapping loops. We demonstrated that both the magnetic and electric coupling between adjacent loops is compensated at the same time by overlapping and nearly perfect decoupling (below -30 dB) can be obtained without additional decoupling strategies. Tx-efficiency and SNR of the overlapped array outperformed that of a common UHF gapped array of similar dimensions. Parallel Rx-performance was also not compromised due to overlapping the loops. As a proof of concept we developed and constructed a 9.4T (400 MHz) overlapped transceiver head array based on results of the analytical modeling. We demonstrated that at UHF overlapping loops not only provides excellent decoupling but also improves both Tx- and Rx-performance. Magn Reson Med 79:1200-1211, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Contrasting Cloud Composition Between Coupled and Decoupled Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

WANG, Z.; Mora, M.; Dadashazar, H.; MacDonald, A.; Crosbie, E.; Bates, K. H.; Coggon, M. M.; Craven, J. S.; Xian, P.; Campbell, J. R.; AzadiAghdam, M.; Woods, R. K.; Jonsson, H.; Flagan, R. C.; Seinfeld, J.; Sorooshian, A.

2016-12-01

Marine stratocumulus clouds often become decoupled from the vertical layer immediately above the ocean surface. This study contrasts cloud chemical composition between coupled and decoupled marine stratocumulus clouds. Cloud water and droplet residual particle composition were measured in clouds off the California coast during three airborne experiments in July-August of separate years (E-PEACE 2011, NiCE 2013, BOAS 2015). Decoupled clouds exhibited significantly lower overall mass concentrations in both cloud water and droplet residual particles, consistent with reduced cloud droplet number concentration and sub-cloud aerosol (Dp > 100 nm) number concentration, owing to detachment from surface sources. Non-refractory sub-micrometer aerosol measurements show that coupled clouds exhibit higher sulfate mass fractions in droplet residual particles, owing to more abundant precursor emissions from the ocean and ships. Consequently, decoupled clouds exhibited higher mass fractions of organics, nitrate, and ammonium in droplet residual particles, owing to effects of long-range transport from more distant sources. Total cloud water mass concentration in coupled clouds was dominated by sodium and chloride, and their mass fractions and concentrations exceeded those in decoupled clouds. Conversely, with the exception of sea salt constituents (e.g., Cl, Na, Mg, K), cloud water mass fractions of all species examined were higher in decoupled clouds relative to coupled clouds. These results suggest that an important variable is the extent to which clouds are coupled to the surface layer when interpreting microphysical data relevant to clouds and aerosol particles.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION Tuning the spin state of iron phthalocyanine by ligand adsorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isvoranu, C.; Wang, B.; Schulte, K.; Ataman, E.; Knudsen, J.; Andersen, J. N.; Bocquet, M. L.; Schnadt, J.

2010-12-01

The future use of single-molecule magnets in applications will require the ability to control and manipulate the spin state and magnetization of the magnets by external means. There are different approaches to this control, one being the modification of the magnets by adsorption of small ligand molecules. In this paper we use iron phthalocyanine supported by an Au(111) surface as a model compound and demonstrate, using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory, that the spin state of the molecule can be tuned to different values (S ~ 0, \\case {1}{2} , 1) by adsorption of ammonia, pyridine, carbon monoxide or nitric oxide on the iron ion. The interaction also leads to electronic decoupling of the iron phthalocyanine from the Au(111) support.

Ventricular filling slows epicardial conduction and increases action potential duration in an optical mapping study of the isolated rabbit heart

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sung, Derrick; Mills, Robert W.; Schettler, Jan; Narayan, Sanjiv M.; Omens, Jeffrey H.; McCulloch, Andrew D.; McCullough, A. D. (Principal Investigator)

2003-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Mechanical stimulation can induce electrophysiologic changes in cardiac myocytes, but how mechanoelectric feedback in the intact heart affects action potential propagation remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: Changes in action potential propagation and repolarization with increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure from 0 to 30 mmHg were investigated using optical mapping in isolated perfused rabbit hearts. With respect to 0 mmHg, epicardial strain at 30 mmHg in the anterior left ventricle averaged 0.040 +/- 0.004 in the muscle fiber direction and 0.032 +/- 0.006 in the cross-fiber direction. An increase in ventricular loading increased average epicardial activation time by 25%+/- 3% (P < 0.0001) and correspondingly decreased average apparent surface conduction velocity by 16%+/- 7% (P = 0.007). Ventricular loading did not significantly alter action potential duration at 20% repolarization (APD20) but did at 80% repolarization (APD80), from 179 +/- 7 msec to 207 +/- 5 msec (P < 0.0001). The dispersion of APD20 was decreased with loading from 19 +/- 2 msec to 13 +/- 2 msec (P = 0.024), whereas the dispersion of APD80 was not significantly changed. These electrophysiologic changes with ventricular loading were not affected by the nonspecific stretch-activated channel blocker streptomycin (200 microM) and were not attributable to changes in myocardial perfusion or the presence of an electromechanical decoupling agent (butanedione monoxime) during optical mapping. CONCLUSION: Acute loading of the left ventricle of the isolated rabbit heart decreased apparent epicardial conduction velocity and increased action potential duration by a load-dependent mechanism that may not involve stretch-activated channels.

Evaluation of radiation loading on finite cylindrical shells using the fast Fourier transform: A comparison with direct numerical integration.

PubMed

Liu, S X; Zou, M S

2018-03-01

The radiation loading on a vibratory finite cylindrical shell is conventionally evaluated through the direct numerical integration (DNI) method. An alternative strategy via the fast Fourier transform algorithm is put forward in this work based on the general expression of radiation impedance. To check the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method, a comparison with DNI is presented through numerical cases. The results obtained using the present method agree well with those calculated by DNI. More importantly, the proposed calculating strategy can significantly save the time cost compared with the conventional approach of straightforward numerical integration.

Ultra High Strain Rate Nanoindentation Testing.

PubMed

Sudharshan Phani, Pardhasaradhi; Oliver, Warren Carl

2017-06-17

Strain rate dependence of indentation hardness has been widely used to study time-dependent plasticity. However, the currently available techniques limit the range of strain rates that can be achieved during indentation testing. Recent advances in electronics have enabled nanomechanical measurements with very low noise levels (sub nanometer) at fast time constants (20 µs) and high data acquisition rates (100 KHz). These capabilities open the doors for a wide range of ultra-fast nanomechanical testing, for instance, indentation testing at very high strain rates. With an accurate dynamic model and an instrument with fast time constants, step load tests can be performed which enable access to indentation strain rates approaching ballistic levels (i.e., 4000 1/s). A novel indentation based testing technique involving a combination of step load and constant load and hold tests that enables measurement of strain rate dependence of hardness spanning over seven orders of magnitude in strain rate is presented. A simple analysis is used to calculate the equivalent uniaxial response from indentation data and compared to the conventional uniaxial data for commercial purity aluminum. Excellent agreement is found between the indentation and uniaxial data over several orders of magnitude of strain rate.

The relationship between control, kinematic and electromyographic variables in fast single-joint movements in humans.

PubMed

Feldman, A G; Adamovich, S V; Levin, M F

1995-01-01

Two versions of the hypothesis that discrete movements are produced by shifts in the system's equilibrium point are considered. The first suggests that shifts are monotonic and end near the peak velocity of movement, and the second presumes that they are nonmonotonic ("N-shaped") and proceed until the end of movement. The first version, in contrast to the second, predicts that movement time may be significantly reduced by opposing loads without changes in the control pattern. The purpose of the present study was to test the two hypotheses about the duration and shape of the shift in the equilibrium point based on their respective predictions concerning the effects of perturbations on kinematic and EMG patterns in fast elbow flexor movements. Subjects performed unopposed flexions of about 55-70 degrees (control trials) and, in random test trials, movements were opposed by spring-like loads generated by a torque motor. Subjects had no visual feedback and were instructed not to correct arm deflections in case of perturbations. After the end of the movement, the load was removed leading to a secondary movement to the same final position as that in control trials (equifinality). When the load was varied, the static arm positions before unloading and associated joint torques (ranging from 0 to 80-90% of maximum voluntary contraction) had a monotonic relationship. Test movements opposed by a high load (80-90% of maximal voluntary contraction) ended near the peak velocity of control movements. Phasic and tonic electromyographic patterns were load-dependent. In movements opposed by high loads, the first agonist burst was significantly prolonged and displayed a high level of tonic activity for as long as the load was maintained. In the same load conditions, the antagonist burst was suppressed during the dynamic and static phases of movement. The findings of suppression of the antagonist burst does not support the hypothesis of an N-shaped control signal. Equally, the substantial reduction in movement time by the introduction of an opposing load cannot be reconciled in this model. Instead, our data indicate that the shifts in the equilibrium point underlying fast flexor movements are of short duration, ending near the peak velocity of unopposed movement. This suggests that kinematic and electromyographic patterns represent a long-lasting oscillatory response of the system to the short-duration monotonic control pattern, external forces and proprioceptive feedback.

Parachute Swivel Mechanism for planetary entry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birner, R.; Kaese, J.; Koller, F.; Muehlner, E.; Luhmann, H.-J.

1993-01-01

A parachute swivel mechanism (PSM) for planetary entry missions such as a Mars probe (MARSNET) or return of cometary material samples (ROSETTA mission) has been developed. The purpose of the PSM is to decouple the spin of the probe from the parachute, with low friction torque, during both the deployment and descent phases. Critical requirements are high shock loads, low friction, low temperatures, and several years of storage in the deep space environment (during the cruise phase of the probe, prior to operation). The design uses a main thrust ball bearing to cope with the load requirement and a smaller thrust ball bearing for guiding of the shaft. Except for use on the Viking and Galileo swivels, it appears that this type of bearing has very rarely been employed in space mechanisms, so that little is known of its friction behavior with dry lubrication. A slip ring assembly allows the transfer of electrical power for post-reefing of the parachute. A test program has been conducted covering the environmental conditions of Mars entry and Earth reentry. This paper describes requirement constraints, model missions of planetary entries, a bearing trade-off, analyses performed, design details, the lubrication system, and test results (friction torque versus load/spin rate). In addition, the design of the test rig is addressed.

Design of high temperature ceramic components against fast fracture and time-dependent failure using cares/life

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

Jadaan, O.M.; Powers, L.M.; Nemeth, N.N.

1995-08-01

A probabilistic design methodology which predicts the fast fracture and time-dependent failure behavior of thermomechanically loaded ceramic components is discussed using the CARES/LIFE integrated design computer program. Slow crack growth (SCG) is assumed to be the mechanism responsible for delayed failure behavior. Inert strength and dynamic fatigue data obtained from testing coupon specimens (O-ring and C-ring specimens) are initially used to calculate the fast fracture and SCG material parameters as a function of temperature using the parameter estimation techniques available with the CARES/LIFE code. Finite element analysis (FEA) is used to compute the stress distributions for the tube as amore » function of applied pressure. Knowing the stress and temperature distributions and the fast fracture and SCG material parameters, the life time for a given tube can be computed. A stress-failure probability-time to failure (SPT) diagram is subsequently constructed for these tubes. Such a diagram can be used by design engineers to estimate the time to failure at a given failure probability level for a component subjected to a given thermomechanical load.« less

Efficient heteronuclear decoupling in MAS solid-state NMR using non-rotor-synchronized rCW irradiation.

PubMed

Equbal, Asif; Paul, Subhradip; Mithu, Venus Singh; Madhu, P K; Nielsen, Niels Chr

2014-09-01

We present new non-rotor-synchronized variants of the recently introduced refocused continuous wave (rCW) heteronuclear decoupling method significantly improving the performance relative to the original rotor-synchronized variants. Under non-rotor-synchronized conditions the rCW decoupling sequences provide more efficient decoupling, are easier to setup, and prove more robust towards experimental parameters such as radio frequency (rf) field amplitude and spinning frequency. This is demonstrated through numerical simulations substantiated with experimental results under different sample spinning and rf field amplitude conditions for powder samples of U-(13)C-glycine and U-(13)C-L-histidine·HCl·H2O. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Mild preeclampsia and serum insulin values in the third pregnancy trimester].

PubMed

Martínez-Abundis, E; González-Ortíz, M; Cardona-Muñoz, E G; Hernández-Chávez, A

1998-06-01

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the baseline insulin level in sera during fasting and after an oral glucose load in patients with mild preeclampsia and compare these values with those obtained from pregnant women with normal arterial pressure during the third trimester of their pregnancy. A cross-sectional study was realized in 38 patients with mild preeclamsia and 39 patients with normal arterial pressure values, both groups in their third trimester of pregnancy. We determined baseline arterial pressure, serum glucose and insulin, and the insulin/glucose ratio with at least 6 hours of fasting, and one hour after 50 g of glucose PO. The hypertensive group was under treatment with alfametildopa and/or hidralazine, patients with known coexistent conditions that would alter glucose or insulin levels were not included. The glucose was measured with the glucose oxidase method and the insulin levels by radioimmunoanalysis. The insulin/glucose ratio was obtained as the coefficient of insulin/glucose. Both patient groups had similar ages, number of pregnancies, gestational age and pre-pregnancy body mass index. We found no difference in glucose levels during fasting nor glucose post-load between groups. Insulin fasting levels were lower in the preeclampsia group compared with the normotensive one (7.1 +/- 3.8 vs 10.6 +/- 8.7 microU/mL, p = 0.02), however there was no difference in either group after the glucose load was administered (66.8 +/- 46.5 vs 71.0 +/- 51.9, p = N.S.). The insulin/glucose ratio had the same behavior than insulin. The hypertensive group showed a lower fasting insulin levels compared with the normotensive group. We suggest further research be done on this matter with strict selection criteria in order to emit final conclusions.

Decoupled Modulation Control

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

Wang, Shaobu; Huang, Renke; Huang, Zhenyu

The objective of this research work is to develop decoupled modulation control methods for damping inter-area oscillations with low frequencies, so the damping control can be more effective and easier to design with less interference among different oscillation modes in the power system. A signal-decoupling algorithm was developed that can enable separation of multiple oscillation frequency contents and extraction of a “pure” oscillation frequency mode that are fed into Power System Stabilizers (PSSs) as the modulation input signals. As a result, instead of introducing interferences between different oscillation modes from the traditional approaches, the output of the new PSS modulationmore » control signal mainly affects only one oscillation mode of interest. The new decoupled modulation damping control algorithm has been successfully developed and tested on the standard IEEE 4-machine 2-area test system and a minniWECC system. The results are compared against traditional modulation controls, which demonstrates the validity and effectiveness of the newly-developed decoupled modulation damping control algorithm.« less

Noise-resilient quantum evolution steered by dynamical decoupling

PubMed Central

Liu, Gang-Qin; Po, Hoi Chun; Du, Jiangfeng; Liu, Ren-Bao; Pan, Xin-Yu

2013-01-01

Realistic quantum computing is subject to noise. Therefore, an important frontier in quantum computing is to implement noise-resilient quantum control over qubits. At the same time, dynamical decoupling can protect the coherence of qubits. Here we demonstrate non-trivial quantum evolution steered by dynamical decoupling control, which simultaneously suppresses noise effects. We design and implement a self-protected controlled-NOT gate on the electron spin of a nitrogen-vacancy centre and a nearby carbon-13 nuclear spin in diamond at room temperature, by employing an engineered dynamical decoupling control on the electron spin. Final state fidelity of 0.91(1) is observed in preparation of a Bell state using the gate. At the same time, the qubit coherence time is elongated at least 30 fold. The design scheme does not require the dynamical decoupling control to commute with the qubit interaction and therefore works for general qubit systems. This work marks a step towards implementing realistic quantum computing systems. PMID:23912335

Decoupling of ion conductivity from segmental dynamics in oligomeric ethylene oxide functionalized oxanorbornene dicarboximide homopolymers

DOE PAGES

Adams, Marisa; Richmond, Victoria; Smith, Douglas; ...

2017-03-24

Here, in order to design more effective solid polymer electrolytes, it is important to decouple ion conductivityfrom polymer segmental motion. To that end, novel polymers based on oxanorbornene dicarboximidemonomers with varying lengths of oligomeric ethylene oxide side chains have been synthesized usingring opening metathesis polymerization. These unique polymers have a fairly rigid and bulky backboneand were used to investigate the decoupling of ion motion from polymer segmental dynamics. Ionconductivity was measured using broadband dielectric spectroscopy for varying levels of added lithiumsalt. The conductivity data demonstrate six to seven orders of separation in timescale of ion conductivityfrom polymer segmental motion formore » polymers with shorter ethylene oxide side chains. However,commensurate changes in the glass transition temperatures T g reduce the effect of decoupling in ionconductivity and lead to lower conductivity at ambient conditions. These results suggest that both anincrease in decoupling and a reduction in T g might be required to develop solid polymer electrolytes withhigh ion conductivity at room temperature.« less

Human impacts decouple a fundamental ecological relationship-The positive association between host diversity and parasite diversity.

PubMed

Wood, Chelsea L; Zgliczynski, Brian J; Haupt, Alison J; Guerra, Ana Sofía; Micheli, Fiorenza; Sandin, Stuart A

2018-05-20

Human impacts on ecosystems can decouple the fundamental ecological relationships that create patterns of diversity in free-living species. Despite the abundance, ubiquity, and ecological importance of parasites, it is unknown whether the same decoupling effects occur for parasitic species. We investigated the influence of fishing on the relationship between host diversity and parasite diversity for parasites of coral reef fishes on three fished and three unfished islands in the central equatorial Pacific. Fishing was associated with a shallowing of the positive host-diversity-parasite-diversity relationship. This occurred primarily through negative impacts of fishing on the presence of complex life-cycle parasites, which created a biologically impoverished parasite fauna of directly transmitted parasites resilient to changes in host biodiversity. Parasite diversity appears to be decoupled from host diversity by fishing impacts in this coral reef ecosystem, which suggests that such decoupling might also occur for parasites in other ecosystems affected by environmental change. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Residual fluctuations in the matter and radiation distribution after the decoupling epoch. [of early universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silk, J.; Wilson, M. L.

1980-01-01

The residual spectra of matter and radiation fluctuations in the early universe are investigated, and the evolution of primordial adiabatic and isothermal fluctuations through the decoupling epoch is studied. Amplification of adiabatic density fluctuations during decoupling, or velocity 'overshoot', is largely suppressed by Compton drag. Consequently, the amplitude of density fluctuations entering the horizon prior to decoupling is larger than hitherto assumed in the adiabatic theory. Damping of primordial adiabatic density fluctuations by an order of magnitude occurs on mass-scales of 3 x 10 to the 13th solar masses (Omega = 1) or 10 to the 14th solar masses (Omega = 0.2). Comparison of the residual radiation fluctuations with observational limits indicates that the adiabatic theory is only acceptable if re-ionization of the intergalactic medium results in additional scattering of the radiation after decoupling. Primordial isothermal fluctuations are found to yield radiation fluctuations which are insensitive to the assumed spectrum and lie a factor of about 5 below current limits

Noise-resilient quantum evolution steered by dynamical decoupling.

PubMed

Liu, Gang-Qin; Po, Hoi Chun; Du, Jiangfeng; Liu, Ren-Bao; Pan, Xin-Yu

2013-01-01

Realistic quantum computing is subject to noise. Therefore, an important frontier in quantum computing is to implement noise-resilient quantum control over qubits. At the same time, dynamical decoupling can protect the coherence of qubits. Here we demonstrate non-trivial quantum evolution steered by dynamical decoupling control, which simultaneously suppresses noise effects. We design and implement a self-protected controlled-NOT gate on the electron spin of a nitrogen-vacancy centre and a nearby carbon-13 nuclear spin in diamond at room temperature, by employing an engineered dynamical decoupling control on the electron spin. Final state fidelity of 0.91(1) is observed in preparation of a Bell state using the gate. At the same time, the qubit coherence time is elongated at least 30 fold. The design scheme does not require the dynamical decoupling control to commute with the qubit interaction and therefore works for general qubit systems. This work marks a step towards implementing realistic quantum computing systems.

A fully on-chip fast-transient NMOS low dropout voltage regulator with quasi floating gate pass element

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Han; Gou, Chao; Luo, Kai

2017-04-01

This paper presents a fully on-chip NMOS low-dropout regulator (LDO) for portable applications with quasi floating gate pass element and fast transient response. The quasi floating gate structure makes the gate of the NMOS transistor only periodically charged or refreshed by the charge pump, which allows the charge pump to be a small economical circuit with small silicon area. In addition, a variable reference circuit is introduced enlarging the dynamic range of error amplifier during load transient. The proposed LDO has been implemented in a 0.35 μm BCD process. From experimental results, the regulator can operate with a minimum dropout voltage of 250 mV at a maximum 1 A load and {I}{{Q}} of 395 μA. Under full-range load current step, the voltage undershoot and overshoot of the proposed LDO are reduced to 50 and 26 mV, respectively.

Cationic cure kinetics of a polyoxometalate loaded epoxy nanocomposite

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

Anderson, Benjamin J.

2012-08-06

The reaction cure kinetics of a novel polyoxometalate (POM) loaded epoxy nanocomposite is described. The POM is dispersed in the epoxy resin up to volume fractions of 0.1. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements show the cure of the epoxy resin to be sensitive to the POM loading. A kinetics study of the cure exotherm confirms that POM acts as a catalyst promoting cationic homopolymerization of the epoxy resin. The cure reaction is shown to propagate through two cure regimes. A fast cure at short time is shown to be propagation by the activated chain end (ACE) mechanism. A slow cure atmore » long time is shown to be propagation by the activated monomer (AM) mechanism. The activation energies for the fast and slow cure regimes agree well with other epoxy based systems that have been confirmed to propagate by the ACE and AM mechanisms.« less

Plasma opening switch

DOEpatents

Savage, Mark E.; Mendel, Jr., Clifford W.

2001-01-01

A command triggered plasma opening switch assembly using an amplification stage. The assembly surrounds a coaxial transmission line and has a main plasma opening switch (POS) close to the load and a trigger POS upstream from the main POS. The trigger POS establishes two different current pathways through the assembly depended on whether it has received a trigger current pulse. The initial pathway has both POS's with plasma between their anodes and cathodes to form a short across the transmission line and isolating the load. The final current pathway is formed when the trigger POS receives a trigger current pulse which energizes its fast coil to push the conductive plasma out from between its anode and cathode, allowing the main transmission line current to pass to the fast coil of the main POS, thus pushing its plasma out the way so as to establish a direct current pathway to the load.

FAST Spacecraft Battery Design and Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jung, David S.; Rao, Gopalakrishna; Ahmad, Anisa

1997-01-01

The Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) Explorer spacecraft is to study the physical processes that produce the aurora borealis and aurora australis. It is a unique plasma physics experiment that will take fundamental measurements of the magnetic and electrical fields. This investigation will add significantly to our understanding of the near-earth space environments and its effect. The FAST has a 1 year requirement and 3-year goal for its mission life in low earth orbit. The FAST power power system topology is a Direct Energy Transfer (DET) system based on the SAMPEX design. The FAST flight battery supplies power to the satellite during pre-launch operations, the launch phase, the eclipse periods for all mission phases, and when the load is about 50 watts.

Poorer Intermittent Sprints Performance in Ramadan-Fasted Muslim Footballers despite Controlling for Pre-Exercise Dietary Intake, Sleep and Training Load

PubMed Central

Aziz, Abdul Rashid; Che Muhamad, Ahmad Munir; Roslan, Siti Raifana; Ghulam Mohamed, Nazirah; Singh, Rabindarjeet; Chia, Michael Yong Hwa

2017-01-01

This study examines the effects of Ramadan fasting on sprint performance during prolonged intermittent exercise in trained Muslim footballers, under controlled pre-exercise conditions. A within-group, cross-over study design with two non-fasted or Control trials performed before (i.e., CON1) and after (CON2) the Ramadan month, and with the Ramadan-fasted (RAM) trials performed within the Ramadan month. After familiarization, 14 players completed a modified 60-min (4 × 15-min exercise blocks interspersed with 3-min intervals) of the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (mLIST) of fixed speeds of walking, jogging, running, but with all-out effort sprints. During the interval periods, capillary blood glucose and blood lactate measures were taken, rectal and skin temperatures were recorded and maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) of the dominant leg and hand-grip were performed to provide some indication to the cause(s) of ‘fatigue’ during exercise. Players were provided with standardized 24-h pre-packed meals prior to all trials. Sleep hours were objectively assessed and perceived training loads were monitored and these were equivalent between RAM and CON trials. Sprint times throughout mLIST were significantly faster in both CON1 and CON2 as compared to RAM trials (all P < 0.017; d = small to moderate), and this poorer performance in RAM was observed as early as during the first 15-min of the mLIST. Blood markers, MVIC and thermoregulatory results were not substantially different between both CON and RAM trials. In conclusion, despite similarities in dietary intake, sleeping hours and training loads between conditions, results still indicate that Ramadan fasting had an adverse effect on prolonged intermittent performance. Nocebo effects plays a dominant role during exercise in the Ramadan-fasted state. PMID:29910364

A Comparison of Methods for Decoupling Tongue and Lower Lip from Jaw Movements in 3D Articulography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henriques, Rafael Neto; van Lieshout, Pascal

2013-01-01

Purpose: One popular method to study the motion of oral articulators is 3D electromagnetic articulography. For many studies, it is important to use an algorithm to decouple the motion of the tongue and the lower lip from the motion of the mandible. In this article, the authors describe and compare 4 methods for decoupling jaw motion by using 3D…

Mass-transport deposits controlling fault propagation, reactivation and structural decoupling on continental margins (Espírito Santo Basin, SE Brazil)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omosanya, Kamal'deen O.; Alves, Tiago M.

2014-07-01

This work uses high-quality 3D seismic data to assess the importance of mass-transport deposits (MTDs) as markers of fault propagation. We mapped three distinct MTDs and several fault families on the continental slope of Espírito Santo, SE Brazil. Fault mapping was based on seismic attributes such as seismic coherence and structural smoothing, and was further completed using ant tracking algorithms. Genetically related fault families were analysed in terms of their throw-depth (t-z) and throw-distance (t-x) gradient curves. A key result in this paper is that vertical fault propagation can be hindered by MTDs, as demonstrated for Eocene to Early Miocene faults in parts of the study area. Throw-depth variations in faults affected by MTDs are associated with: a) lithologic controls resulting from the presence of MTDs, b) local fault segmentation and c) reactivation by dip linkage. Based on their orientation and degree of interaction with MTDs, interpreted faults can be classified as decoupled and non-decoupled. Importantly, faults decoupled by MTDs have quasi-elliptical t-x profiles and show smaller cumulative throw values and fault propagation rates when compared to their non-decoupled counterparts. Recurrent MTDs can therefore be used as markers to estimate structural decoupling between distinct fault families.

Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought.

PubMed

Smallwood, Jonathan; Brown, Kevin S; Tipper, Christine; Giesbrecht, Barry; Franklin, Michael S; Mrazek, Michael D; Carlson, Jean M; Schooler, Jonathan W

2011-03-25

Accumulating evidence suggests that the brain can efficiently process both external and internal information. The processing of internal information is a distinct "offline" cognitive mode that requires not only spontaneously generated mental activity; it has also been hypothesized to require a decoupling of attention from perception in order to separate competing streams of internal and external information. This process of decoupling is potentially adaptive because it could prevent unimportant external events from disrupting an internal train of thought. Here, we use measurements of pupil diameter (PD) to provide concrete evidence for the role of decoupling during spontaneous cognitive activity. First, during periods conducive to offline thought but not during periods of task focus, PD exhibited spontaneous activity decoupled from task events. Second, periods requiring external task focus were characterized by large task evoked changes in PD; in contrast, encoding failures were preceded by episodes of high spontaneous baseline PD activity. Finally, high spontaneous PD activity also occurred prior to only the slowest 20% of correct responses, suggesting high baseline PD indexes a distinct mode of cognitive functioning. Together, these data are consistent with the decoupling hypothesis, which suggests that the capacity for spontaneous cognitive activity depends upon minimizing disruptions from the external world.

Erosion and landscape development decouple strontium and sulfur in the transition to dominance by atmospheric inputs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bern, C.R.; Porder, S.; Townsend, A.R.

2007-01-01

Weathering and leaching can progressively deplete the pools of soluble, rock-derived elements in soils and ecosystems over millennial time-scales, such that productivity increasingly relies on inputs from atmospheric deposition. This transition has been explored using strontium isotopes, which have been widely assumed to be a proxy for the provenance of other rock-derived elements. We compared rock versus atmospheric proportions of strontium to those for sulfur, a plant macronutrient, at several tropical forest sites in Hawaii and Costa Rica. Isotopic analyses reveal that sulfur is often decoupled from strontium in the transition to atmospheric dependence. Decoupling is likely the result of differences in chemical factors such as atmospheric input rates, mobility in the soil environment, and mineral weathering susceptibility. Strontium and sulfur decoupling appears to be accentuated by the physical process of erosion. Erosion rates are presumed to be high on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, where the recent onset of rapid tectonic uplift has placed the landscape in a transient state. Decoupling is strong there, as erosion has rejuvenated the supply of rock-derived strontium but not sulfur. The landscape response to changes in tectonic uplift on the Osa Peninsula has produced decoupling at the landscape scale. Decoupling is more variable along a Hawaiian catena, presumably due to smaller scale variations in erosion rates and their influence on rejuvenation of rock-strontium inputs. These results illustrate how chemical and physical processes can interact to produce contrasting origins for different nutrient elements in soils and the ecosystems they support. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigation of the marine boundary layer cloud and CCN properties under coupled and decoupled conditions over the Azores

DOE PAGES

Dong, Xiquan; Schwantes, Adam C.; Xi, Baike; ...

2015-06-10

Here, six coupled and decoupled marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds were chosen from the 19 month Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility data set over the Azores. Thresholds of liquid water potential temperature difference Δθ L < 0.5 K (>0.5 K) and total water mixing ratio difference Δq t < 0.5 g/kg (>0.5 g/kg) below the cloud base were used for selecting the coupled (decoupled) cases. A schematic diagram was given to demonstrate the coupled and decoupled MBL vertical structures and how they associate with nondrizzle, virga, and rain drizzle events. Out of a total of 2676 5 min samples, 34.5%more » were classified as coupled and 65.5% as decoupled, 36.2% as nondrizzle and 63.8% as drizzle (47.7% as virga and 16.1% as rain), and 33.4% as daytime and 66.6% as nighttime. The decoupled cloud layer is deeper (0.406 km) than coupled cloud layer (0.304 km), and its liquid water path and cloud droplet effective radius (r e) values (122.1 gm -2 and 13.0 µm) are higher than coupled ones (83.7 gm -2 and 10.4 µm). Conversely, decoupled stratocumuli have lower cloud droplet number concentration (N d) and surface cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) concentration (N CCN) (74.5 cm -3 and 150.9 cm -3) than coupled stratocumuli (111.7 cm -3 and 216.4 cm -3). The linear regressions between r e and N d with N CCN have demonstrated that coupled r e and N d strongly depend on N CCN and have higher correlations (-0.56 and 0.59) with N CCN than decoupled results (-0.14 and 0.25). The MBL cloud properties under nondrizzle and virga drizzle conditions are similar to each other but significantly different to those of rain drizzle.« less

Improving the resolution in proton-detected through-space heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Shen, Ming; Trébosc, J; Lafon, O; Pourpoint, F; Hu, Bingwen; Chen, Qun; Amoureux, J-P

2014-08-01

Connectivities and proximities between protons and low-gamma nuclei can be probed in solid-state NMR spectroscopy using two-dimensional (2D) proton-detected heteronuclear correlation, through Heteronuclear Multiple Quantum Correlation (HMQC) pulse sequence. The indirect detection via protons dramatically enhances the sensitivity. However, the spectra are often broadened along the indirect F1 dimension by the decay of heteronuclear multiple-quantum coherences under the strong (1)H-(1)H dipolar couplings. This work presents a systematic comparison of the performances of various decoupling schemes during the indirect t1 evolution period of dipolar-mediated HMQC (D-HMQC) experiment. We demonstrate that (1)H-(1)H dipolar decoupling sequences during t1, such as symmetry-based schemes, phase-modulated Lee-Goldburg (PMLG) and Decoupling Using Mind-Boggling Optimization (DUMBO), provide better resolution than continuous wave (1)H irradiation. We also report that high resolution requires the preservation of (1)H isotropic chemical shifts during the decoupling sequences. When observing indirectly broad spectra presenting numerous spinning sidebands, the D-HMQC sequence must be fully rotor-synchronized owing to the rotor-synchronized indirect sampling and dipolar recoupling sequence employed. In this case, we propose a solution to reduce artefact sidebands caused by the modulation of window delays before and after the decoupling application during the t1 period. Moreover, we show that (1)H-(1)H dipolar decoupling sequence using Smooth Amplitude Modulation (SAM) minimizes the t1-noise. The performances of the various decoupling schemes are assessed via numerical simulations and compared to 2D (1)H-{(13)C} D-HMQC experiments on [U-(13)C]-L-histidine⋅HCl⋅H2O at various magnetic fields and Magic Angle spinning (MAS) frequencies. Great resolution and sensitivity enhancements resulting from decoupling during t1 period enable the detection of heteronuclear correlation between aliphatic protons and ammonium (14)N sites in L-histidine⋅HCl⋅H2O. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stuck in default mode: inefficient cross-frequency synchronization may lead to age-related short-term memory decline.

PubMed

Pinal, Diego; Zurrón, Montserrat; Díaz, Fernando; Sauseng, Paul

2015-04-01

Aging-related decline in short-term memory capacity seems to be caused by deficient balancing of task-related and resting state brain networks activity; however, the exact neural mechanism underlying this deficit remains elusive. Here, we studied brain oscillatory activity in healthy young and old adults during visual information maintenance in a delayed match-to-sample task. Particular emphasis was on long range phase:amplitude coupling of frontal alpha (8-12 Hz) and posterior fast oscillatory activity (>30 Hz). It is argued that through posterior fast oscillatory activity nesting into the excitatory or the inhibitory phase of frontal alpha wave, long-range networks can be efficiently coupled or decoupled, respectively. On the basis of this mechanism, we show that healthy, elderly participants exhibit a lack of synchronization in task-relevant networks while maintaining synchronized regions of the resting state network. Lacking disconnection of this resting state network is predictive of aging-related short-term memory decline. These results support the idea of inefficient orchestration of competing brain networks in the aging human brain and identify the neural mechanism responsible for this control breakdown. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Construction, characterization, and environmental testing of a Laue lens prototype using Fe and Al crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wade, C.; Barrière, N. M.; Tomsick, J. A.; Hanlon, L.; Boggs, S. E.; Lowell, A.; von Ballmoos, P.; Massahi, S.

2018-07-01

Laue lenses use Bragg diffraction to concentrate soft γ-rays onto a detector. This decoupling of the collecting area from the detector volume can generate a significant increase in sensitivity for applications in astrophysics and nuclear medicine. A demonstrator lens was constructed at the UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory in 2014 by gluing 48 Fe and Al diffracting crystals to an aluminium substrate. The goal was to demonstrate a fast and accurate assembly technique that is compatible with the large number of crystals required to fabricate a Laue lens telescope for astronomical observations. We present here the lens design, the assembly technique we used, and the results of measurements of the angular misalignments before and after curing of the glue and during environmental testing (thermal, vacuum, and vibration). We conclude that our alignment technique is fast enough to assemble a full lens made of several thousand crystals. The achieved alignment accuracy had an average of 32.7‧‧ and a standard deviation of 44.1‧‧. The accuracy could be improved by using an alternative glue or by having better control over the asymmetry angle resulting from the crystal cut.

An anisotropic numerical model for thermal hydraulic analyses: application to liquid metal flow in fuel assemblies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vitillo, F.; Vitale Di Maio, D.; Galati, C.; Caruso, G.

2015-11-01

A CFD analysis has been carried out to study the thermal-hydraulic behavior of liquid metal coolant in a fuel assembly of triangular lattice. In order to obtain fast and accurate results, the isotropic two-equation RANS approach is often used in nuclear engineering applications. A different approach is provided by Non-Linear Eddy Viscosity Models (NLEVM), which try to take into account anisotropic effects by a nonlinear formulation of the Reynolds stress tensor. This approach is very promising, as it results in a very good numerical behavior and in a potentially better fluid flow description than classical isotropic models. An Anisotropic Shear Stress Transport (ASST) model, implemented into a commercial software, has been applied in previous studies, showing very trustful results for a large variety of flows and applications. In the paper, the ASST model has been used to perform an analysis of the fluid flow inside the fuel assembly of the ALFRED lead cooled fast reactor. Then, a comparison between the results of wall-resolved conjugated heat transfer computations and the results of a decoupled analysis using a suitable thermal wall-function previously implemented into the solver has been performed and presented.

Dipteran insect flight dynamics. Part 1 Longitudinal motion about hover.

PubMed

Faruque, Imraan; Sean Humbert, J

2010-05-21

This paper presents a reduced-order model of longitudinal hovering flight dynamics for dipteran insects. The quasi-steady wing aerodynamics model is extended by including perturbation states from equilibrium and paired with rigid body equations of motion to create a nonlinear simulation of a Drosophila-like insect. Frequency-based system identification tools are used to identify the transfer functions from biologically inspired control inputs to rigid body states. Stability derivatives and a state space linear system describing the dynamics are also identified. The vehicle control requirements are quantified with respect to traditional human pilot handling qualities specification. The heave dynamics are found to be decoupled from the pitch/fore/aft dynamics. The haltere-on system revealed a stabilized system with a slow (heave) and fast subsidence mode, and a stable oscillatory mode. The haltere-off (bare airframe) system revealed a slow (heave) and fast subsidence mode and an unstable oscillatory mode, a modal structure in agreement with CFD studies. The analysis indicates that passive aerodynamic mechanisms contribute to stability, which may help explain how insects are able to achieve stable locomotion on a very small computational budget. Copyright (c) 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Reusable fast opening switch

DOEpatents

Van Devender, J.P.; Emin, D.

1983-12-21

A reusable fast opening switch for transferring energy, in the form of a high power pulse, from an electromagnetic storage device such as an inductor into a load. The switch is efficient, compact, fast and reusable. The switch comprises a ferromagnetic semiconductor which undergoes a fast transition between conductive and metallic states at a critical temperature and which undergoes the transition without a phase change in its crystal structure. A semiconductor such as europium rich europhous oxide, which undergoes a conductor to insulator transition when it is joule heated from its conductor state, can be used to form the switch.

Reusable fast opening switch

DOEpatents

Van Devender, John P.; Emin, David

1986-01-01

A reusable fast opening switch for transferring energy, in the form of a high power pulse, from an electromagnetic storage device such as an inductor into a load. The switch is efficient, compact, fast and reusable. The switch comprises a ferromagnetic semiconductor which undergoes a fast transition between conductive and insulating states at a critical temperature and which undergoes the transition without a phase change in its crystal structure. A semiconductor such as europium rich europhous oxide, which undergoes a conductor to insulator transition when it is joule heated from its conductor state, can be used to form the switch.

A displacement pump procedure to load extracts for automated gel permeation chromatography.

PubMed

Daft, J; Hopper, M; Hensley, D; Sisk, R

1990-01-01

Automated gel permeation chromatography (GPC) effectively separates lipids from pesticides in sample extracts that contain fat. Using a large syringe to load sample extracts manually onto GPC models having 5 mL holding loops is awkward, slow, and potentially hazardous. Loading with a small-volume displacement pump, however, is convenient and fast (ca 1 loop every 20 s). And more importantly, the analyst is not exposed to toxic organic vapors because the loading pump and its connecting lines do not leak in the way that a syringe does.

Radial current high power dummy load for characterizing the high power laser triggered transformer-type accelerator.

PubMed

Yin, Yi; Zhong, Hui-Huang; Liu, Jin-Liang; Ren, He-Ming; Yang, Jian-Hua; Zhang, Xiao-Ping; Hong, Zhi-qiang

2010-09-01

A radial-current aqueous resistive solution load was applied to characterize a laser triggered transformer-type accelerator. The current direction in the dummy load is radial and is different from the traditional load in the axial. Therefore, this type of dummy load has smaller inductance and fast response characteristic. The load was designed to accommodate both the resistance requirement of accelerator and to allow optical access for the laser. Theoretical and numerical calculations of the load's inductance and capacitance are given. The equivalent circuit of the dummy load is calculated in theory and analyzed with a PSPICE code. The simulation results agree well with the theoretical analysis. At last, experiments of the dummy load applied to the high power spiral pulse forming line were performed; a quasisquare pulse voltage is obtained at the dummy load.

Radial current high power dummy load for characterizing the high power laser triggered transformer-type accelerator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Yi; Zhong, Hui-Huang; Liu, Jin-Liang; Ren, He-Ming; Yang, Jian-Hua; Zhang, Xiao-Ping; Hong, Zhi-qiang

2010-09-01

A radial-current aqueous resistive solution load was applied to characterize a laser triggered transformer-type accelerator. The current direction in the dummy load is radial and is different from the traditional load in the axial. Therefore, this type of dummy load has smaller inductance and fast response characteristic. The load was designed to accommodate both the resistance requirement of accelerator and to allow optical access for the laser. Theoretical and numerical calculations of the load's inductance and capacitance are given. The equivalent circuit of the dummy load is calculated in theory and analyzed with a PSPICE code. The simulation results agree well with the theoretical analysis. At last, experiments of the dummy load applied to the high power spiral pulse forming line were performed; a quasisquare pulse voltage is obtained at the dummy load.

Exploring Optimization Opportunities in Four-Point Suspension Wind Turbine Drivetrains Through Integrated Design Approaches: Preprint

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

Sethuraman, Latha; Quick, Julian; Guo, Yi

Drivetrain design has significant influence on the costs of wind power generation. Current industry practices usually approach the drivetrain design with loads and system requirements defined by the turbine manufacturer. Several different manufacturers are contracted to supply individual components from the low-speed shaft to the generator - each receiving separate design specifications from the turbine manufacturer. Increasingly, more integrated approaches to turbine design have shown promise for blades and towers. Yet, integrated drivetrain design is a challenging task owing to the complex physical behavior of the important load-bearing components, namely the main bearings, gearbox, and the generator. In this papermore » we combine two of NREL's systems engineering design tools, DriveSE and GeneratorSE, to enable a comprehensive system-level drivetrain optimization for the IEAWind reference turbine for land-based applications. We compare a more traditional design with integrated approaches employing decoupled and coupled design optimization. It is demonstrated that both approaches have the potential to realize notable mass savings with opportunities to lower the costs of energy.« less

Exploring Optimization Opportunities in Four-Point Suspension Wind Turbine Drivetrains through Integrated Design Approaches

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

Sethuraman, Latha; Quick, Julian; Guo, Yi

Drivetrain design has significant influence on the costs of wind power generation. Current industry practices usually approach the drivetrain design with loads and system requirements defined by the turbine manufacturer. Several different manufacturers are contracted to supply individual components from the low-speed shaft to the generator - each receiving separate design specifications from the turbine manufacturer. Increasingly, more integrated approaches to turbine design have shown promise for blades and towers. Yet, integrated drivetrain design is a challenging task owing to the complex physical behavior of the important load-bearing components, namely the main bearings, gearbox, and the generator. In this papermore » we combine two of NREL's systems engineering design tools, DriveSE and GeneratorSE, to enable a comprehensive system-level drivetrain optimization for the IEAWind reference turbine for land-based applications. We compare a more traditional design with integrated approaches employing decoupled and coupled design optimization. It is demonstrated that both approaches have the potential to realize notable mass savings with opportunities to lower the costs of energy.« less

Ultra-low output impedance RF power amplifier for parallel excitation.

PubMed

Chu, Xu; Yang, Xing; Liu, Yunfeng; Sabate, Juan; Zhu, Yudong

2009-04-01

Inductive coupling between coil elements of a transmit array is one of the key challenges faced by parallel RF transmission. An ultra-low output impedance RF power amplifier (PA) concept was introduced to address this challenge. In an example implementation, an output-matching network was designed to transform the drain-source impedance of the metallic oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) into a very low value for suppressing interelement coupling effect, and meanwhile, to match the input impedance of the coil to the optimum load of the MOSFET for maximizing the available output power. Two prototype amplifiers with 500-W output rating were developed accordingly, and were further evaluated with a transmit array in phantom experiments. Compared to the conventional 50-Omega sources, the new approach exhibited considerable effectiveness suppressing the effects of interelement coupling. The experiments further indicated that the isolation performance was comparable to that achieved by optimized overlap decoupling. The new approach, benefiting from a distinctive current-source characteristic, also exhibited a superior robustness against load variation. Feasibility of the new approach in high-field MR was demonstrated on a 3T clinical scanner.

Optimum Design of a Helicopter Rotor for Low Vibration Using Aeroelastic Analysis and Response Surface Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganguli, R.

2002-11-01

An aeroelastic analysis based on finite elements in space and time is used to model the helicopter rotor in forward flight. The rotor blade is represented as an elastic cantilever beam undergoing flap and lag bending, elastic torsion and axial deformations. The objective of the improved design is to reduce vibratory loads at the rotor hub that are the main source of helicopter vibration. Constraints are imposed on aeroelastic stability, and move limits are imposed on the blade elastic stiffness design variables. Using the aeroelastic analysis, response surface approximations are constructed for the objective function (vibratory hub loads). It is found that second order polynomial response surfaces constructed using the central composite design of the theory of design of experiments adequately represents the aeroelastic model in the vicinity of the baseline design. Optimization results show a reduction in the objective function of about 30 per cent. A key accomplishment of this paper is the decoupling of the analysis problem and the optimization problems using response surface methods, which should encourage the use of optimization methods by the helicopter industry.

Microfluidic Enhancement of Intramedullary Pressure Increases Interstitial Fluid Flow and Inhibits Bone Loss in Hindlimb Suspended Mice

PubMed Central

Kwon, Ronald Y; Meays, Diana R; Tang, W Joyce; Frangos, John A

2010-01-01

Interstitial fluid flow (IFF) has been widely hypothesized to mediate skeletal adaptation to mechanical loading. Although a large body of in vitro evidence has demonstrated that fluid flow stimulates osteogenic and antiresorptive responses in bone cells, there is much less in vivo evidence that IFF mediates loading-induced skeletal adaptation. This is due in large part to the challenges associated with decoupling IFF from matrix strain. In this study we describe a novel microfluidic system for generating dynamic intramedullary pressure (ImP) and IFF within the femurs of alert mice. By quantifying fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) within individual lacunae, we show that microfluidic generation of dynamic ImP significantly increases IFF within the lacunocanalicular system. In addition, we demonstrate that dynamic pressure loading of the intramedullary compartment for 3 minutes per day significantly eliminates losses in trabecular and cortical bone mineral density in hindlimb suspended mice, enhances trabecular and cortical structural integrity, and increases endosteal bone formation rate. Unlike previously developed modalities for enhancing IFF in vivo, this is the first model that allows direct and dynamic modulation of ImP and skeletal IFF within mice. Given the large number of genetic tools for manipulating the mouse genome, this model is expected to serve as a powerful investigative tool in elucidating the role of IFF in skeletal adaptation to mechanical loading and molecular mechanisms mediating this process. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. PMID:20200992

Never Say No … How the Brain Interprets the Pregnant Pause in Conversation

PubMed Central

Bögels, Sara; Kendrick, Kobin H.; Levinson, Stephen C.

2015-01-01

In conversation, negative responses to invitations, requests, offers, and the like are more likely to occur with a delay–conversation analysts talk of them as dispreferred. Here we examine the contrastive cognitive load ‘yes’ and ‘no’ responses make, either when relatively fast (300 ms after question offset) or delayed (1000 ms). Participants heard short dialogues contrasting in speed and valence of response while having their EEG recorded. We found that a fast ‘no’ evokes an N400-effect relative to a fast ‘yes’; however, this contrast disappeared in the delayed responses. 'No' responses, however, elicited a late frontal positivity both if they were fast and if they were delayed. We interpret these results as follows: a fast ‘no’ evoked an N400 because an immediate response is expected to be positive–this effect disappears as the response time lengthens because now in ordinary conversation the probability of a ‘no’ has increased. However, regardless of the latency of response, a ‘no’ response is associated with a late positivity, since a negative response is always dispreferred. Together these results show that negative responses to social actions exact a higher cognitive load, but especially when least expected, in immediate response. PMID:26699335

High-harmonic fast magnetosonic wave coupling, propagation, and heating in a spherical torus plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menard, J.; Majeski, R.; Kaita, R.; Ono, M.; Munsat, T.; Stutman, D.; Finkenthal, M.

1999-05-01

A novel rotatable two-strap antenna has been installed in the current drive experiment upgrade (CDX-U) [T. Jones, Ph.D. thesis, Princeton University (1995)] in order to investigate high-harmonic fast wave coupling, propagation, and electron heating as a function of strap angle and strap phasing in a spherical torus plasma. Radio-frequency-driven sheath effects are found to fit antenna loading trends at very low power and become negligible above a few kilowatts. At sufficiently high power, the measured coupling efficiency as a function of strap angle is found to agree favorably with cold plasma wave theory. Far-forward microwave scattering from wave-induced density fluctuations in the plasma core tracks the predicted fast wave loading as the antenna is rotated. Signs of electron heating during rf power injection have been observed in CDX-U with central Thomson scattering, impurity ion spectroscopy, and Langmuir probes. While these initial results appear promising, damping of the fast wave on thermal ions at high ion-cyclotron-harmonic number may compete with electron damping at sufficiently high ion β—possibly resulting in a significantly reduced current drive efficiency and production of a fast ion population. Preliminary results from ray-tracing calculations which include these ion damping effects are presented.

Role of the Yakutat collision and upper mantle dynamics in the present-day tectonics of the North America Northern Cordillera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzotti, S.; Tarayoun, A.; Marechal, A.; Audet, P.

2017-12-01

The Northern Cordillera of North America is a type example of present-day strain distribution across a wide orogeny. Several geodynamic models are proposed to explain this large-scale tectonic activity, with two main end-members: strain transfer from the Yakutat collision zone (orogenic float) and strain transfer from upper mantle convection (lithosphere basal traction). One of the main differences between these is the lithosphere vertical rheology profile: the former requires significant crust - mantle decoupling to allow far field strain transfer, whereas the latter requires a vertically coupled lithosphere. Here we combine recent data across the eastern region of the Northern Cordillera (eastern Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories) to characterize its states of strain rate, stress, and crustal and lithospheric structure, in order to test the role of the Yakutat collision and upper mantle convection in its present-day tectonics. Recent GPS data confirm the radial, east- to northeastward motion of the central Yukon and foreland belt (Mackenzie and Richardson Mountains), albeit at a much lower velocity than previously proposed. This motion is primarily accommodated by E-W to NE-SW shortening, mainly in the foreland belt, and small to near-zero lateral motion on the major Denali and Tintina strike-slip faults. Seismic anisotropy data further suggest that these two major faults, like most of the Yukon Cordillera, have kept their early Cenozoic crustal and upper mantle structures, as shown by the fault-parallel (NW-SE) fast anisotropy orientation. We use these new data, combined with numerical models of strain distribution under various boundary conditions, to provide constraints on the respective role of the Yakutat collision and upper mantle convection in the present-day tectonics. Preliminary results suggest that, whichever the driving mechanism (or combination thereof), the total strain associated with the present-day tectonics must remain small in order to preserve the inherited crustal and mantle fabrics. Such small cumulative strain appears in contradiction with a thin decoupling layer (such as lower crust decoupling in the orogenic float model) and seems more suggestive of distributed shear across a large part of the lithosphere.

Influence of Fault Surface Heterogeneity on Apparent Frictional Strength, Slip Mode and Rupture Mode: Insights from Meter-Scale Rock Friction Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, S.; Fukuyama, E.; Yamashita, F.; Mizoguchi, K.; Takizawa, S.; Kawakata, H.

2016-12-01

Influence of fault zone heterogeneity on the behavior of fault motion has been studied in many aspects, such as strain partitioning, heat generation, slip mode, rupture mode, and effective friction law. However, a multi-scale investigation of fault behavior due to heterogeneity was difficult in nature, because of the limited access to natural fault zones at the seismogenic depth and the lack of in situ high-resolution observations. To overcome these difficulties, we study the behavior of a meter-scale synthetic fault made of Indian metagabbro during laboratory direct shear experiments, utilizing high-density arrays of strain gauges mounted close to the fault. We focus on two target experiments that are loaded under the same normal stress of 6.7 MPa and loading rate of 0.01 mm/s, but with different initial surface conditions. To change the surface condition, we applied a fast loading experiment under a rate of 1 mm/s between the two target experiments. It turned out the fast loading activated many foreshocks before the mainshock and caused a roaming of the mainshock nucleation site. These features were closely related to the re-distribution of the real contact area and surface wear, which together reflected a more heterogeneous state of the surface condition. During the first target experiment before the fast loading, the synthetic fault moved in a classic stick-slip fashion and the typical rupture mode was subshear within the range of the fault length. However, during the second target experiment, the synthetic fault inherited the heterogeneous features generated from the previous fast loading, showing a macroscopic creep-like behavior that actually consisted of many small stick-slip events. The apparent frictional strength increased while the recurrence interval and the stress drop decreased, compared to the levels seen in the first target experiment. The rupture mode became more complicated; supershear phases sometimes emerged but may only exist transiently. Their occurrence or termination showed a strong correlation with the local stress field characterized by short-range coherence. These observations highlight the role of surface heterogeneity in influencing fault motion, both macroscopically and locally, and have important implications for understanding the behavior of natural faults.

Quantum Liouville theory and BTZ black hole entropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yujun

In this thesis I give an explicit conformal field theory description of (2+1)-dimensional BTZ black hole entropy. In the boundary Liouville field theory I investigate the reducible Verma modules in the elliptic sector, which correspond to certain irreducible representations of the quantum algebra Uq(sl2) ⊙ Uq̂(sl2). I show that there are states that decouple from these reducible Verma modules in a similar fashion to the decoupling of null states in minimal models. Because of the nonstandard form of the Ward identity for the two-point correlation functions in quantum Liouville field theory, these decoupling states have positive-definite norms. The unitary representations built on these decoupling states give the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the BTZ black hole.

Probing neutrino physics with a self-consistent treatment of the weak decoupling, nucleosynthesis, and photon decoupling epochs

DOE PAGES

Grohs, E.; Fuller, George M.; Kishimoto, Chad T.; ...

2015-05-11

In this study, we show that a self-consistent and coupled treatment of the weak decoupling, big bang nucleosynthesis, and photon decoupling epochs can be used to provide new insights and constraints on neutrino sector physics from high-precision measurements of light element abundances and Cosmic Microwave Background observables. Implications of beyond-standard-model physics in cosmology, especially within the neutrino sector, are assessed by comparing predictions against five observables: the baryon energy density, helium abundance, deuterium abundance, effective number of neutrinos, and sum of the light neutrino mass eigenstates. We give examples for constraints on dark radiation, neutrino rest mass, lepton numbers, andmore » scenarios for light and heavy sterile neutrinos.« less

One-Shot Decoupling and Page Curves from a Dynamical Model for Black Hole Evaporation.

PubMed

Brádler, Kamil; Adami, Christoph

2016-03-11

One-shot decoupling is a powerful primitive in quantum information theory and was hypothesized to play a role in the black hole information paradox. We study black hole dynamics modeled by a trilinear Hamiltonian whose semiclassical limit gives rise to Hawking radiation. An explicit numerical calculation of the discretized path integral of the S matrix shows that decoupling is exact in the continuous limit, implying that quantum information is perfectly transferred from the black hole to radiation. A striking consequence of decoupling is the emergence of an output radiation entropy profile that follows Page's prediction. We argue that information transfer and the emergence of Page curves is a robust feature of any multilinear interaction Hamiltonian with a bounded spectrum.

AGARD Flight Test Techniques Series. Volume 14. Introduction to Flight Test Engineering (Introduction a la Technique d’essais en vol)

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-09-01

path and aircraft attitude and other flight or aircraft parameters • Calculations in the frequency domain ( Fast Fourier Transform) • Data analysis...Signal filtering Image processing of video and radar data Parameter identification Statistical analysis Power spectral density Fast Fourier Transform...airspeeds both fast and slow, altitude, load factor both above and below 1g, centers of gravity (fore and aft), and with system/subsystem failures. Whether

Bi-functional ion exchangers for enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cells.

PubMed

Kong, Eui-Hyun; Chang, Yong-June; Lim, Jongchul; Kim, Back-Hyun; Lee, Jung-Hoon; Kwon, Do-Kyun; Park, Taiho; Jang, Hyun Myung

2013-07-28

Ion exchange using aerosol OT (AOT) offers dye adsorption twice as fast as known methods. Moreover, it suppresses the dye-agglomeration that may cause insufficient dye-coverage on the photoelectrode surface. Consequently, its dual function of fast dye-loading and higher dye-coverage significantly improves the power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells.

Selected Contribution: Skeletal muscle focal adhesion kinase, paxillin, and serum response factor are loading dependent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gordon, S. E.; Fluck, M.; Booth, F. W.

2001-01-01

This investigation examined the effect of mechanical loading state on focal adhesion kinase (FAK), paxillin, and serum response factor (SRF) in rat skeletal muscle. We found that FAK concentration and tyrosine phosphorylation, paxillin concentration, and SRF concentration are all lower in the lesser load-bearing fast-twitch plantaris and gastrocnemius muscles compared with the greater load-bearing slow-twitch soleus muscle. Of these three muscles, 7 days of mechanical unloading via tail suspension elicited a decrease in FAK tyrosine phosphorylation only in the soleus muscle and decreases in FAK and paxillin concentrations only in the plantaris and gastrocnemius muscles. Unloading decreased SRF concentration in all three muscles. Mechanical overloading (via bilateral gastrocnemius ablation) for 1 or 8 days increased FAK and paxillin concentrations in the soleus and plantaris muscles. Additionally, whereas FAK tyrosine phosphorylation and SRF concentration were increased by < or =1 day of overloading in the soleus muscle, these increases did not occur until somewhere between 1 and 8 days of overloading in the plantaris muscle. These data indicate that, in the skeletal muscles of rats, the focal adhesion complex proteins FAK and paxillin and the transcription factor SRF are generally modulated in association with the mechanical loading state of the muscle. However, the somewhat different patterns of adaptation of these proteins to altered loading in slow- vs. fast-twitch skeletal muscles indicate that the mechanisms and time course of adaptation may partly depend on the prior loading state of the muscle.

Polyurethane foam loaded with SDS for the adsorption of cationic dyes from aqueous medium: Multivariate optimization of the loading process.

PubMed

Robaina, Nicolle F; Soriano, Silvio; Cassella, Ricardo J

2009-08-15

This paper reports the development of a new procedure for the adsorption of four cationic dyes (Rhodamine B, Methylene Blue, Crystal Violet and Malachite Green) from aqueous medium employing polyurethane foam (PUF) loaded with sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) as solid phase. PUF loading process was based on the stirring of 200mg PUF cylinders with acidic solutions containing SDS. The conditions for loading were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) using a Doehlert design with three variables that were SDS and HCl concentrations and stirring time. Results obtained in the optimization process showed that the stirring time is not a relevant parameter in the PUF loading, evidencing that the transport of SDS from solution to PUF surface is fast. On the other hand, both SDS and HCl concentrations were important parameters causing significant variation in the efficiency of the resulting solid phase for the removal of dyes from solution. At optimized conditions, SDS and HCl concentrations were 4.0 x 10(-4) and 0.90 mol L(-1), respectively. The influence of stirring time was evaluated by univariate methodology. A 20 min stirring time was established in order to make the PUF loading process fast and robust without losing efficiency. The procedure was tested for the removal of the four cationic dyes from aqueous solutions and removal efficiencies always better than 90% were achieved for the two concentrations tested (2.0 x 10(-5) and 1.0 x 10(-4)mol L(-1)).

Advanced Offshore Wind Turbine/Foundation Concept for the Great Lakes

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

Afjeh, Abdollah A.; Windpower, Nautica; Marrone, Joseph

2013-08-29

This project investigated a conceptual 2-bladed rotor wind turbine design and assessed its feasibility for installation in the Great Lakes. The levelized cost of energy was used for this purpose. A location in Lake Erie near the coast of Cleveland, Ohio was selected as the application site. The loading environment was defined using wind and wave data collected at a weather station in Lake Erie near Cleveland. In addition, the probability distributions of the annual significant wave height and wind speed were determined. A model of the dependence of the above two quantities was also developed and used in themore » study of wind turbine system loads. Loads from ice floes and ridges were also included.The NREL 5 MW 3-bladed rotor wind turbine concept was used as the baseline design. The proposed turbine design employs variable pitch blade control with tip-brakes and a teeter mechanism. The rotor diameter, rated power and the tower dimensions were selected to closely match those of the NREL 5 MW wind turbine.A semi-floating gravity base foundation was designed for this project primarily to adapt to regional logistical constraints to transport and install the gravity base foundation. This foundation consists of, from bottom to top, a base plate, a buoyancy chamber, a taper zone, a column (with ice cone), and a service platform. A compound upward-downward ice cone was selected to secure the foundation from moving because of ice impact.The turbine loads analysis was based on International ElectroTechnical Committee (IEC) Standard 61400-1, Class III winds. The NREL software FAST was the primary computational tool used in this study to determine all design load cases. An initial set of studies of the dynamics of wind turbines using Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems (ADAMS) demonstrated that FAST and ADAMS load predictions were comparable. Because of its relative simplicity and short run times, FAST was selected for this study. For ice load calculations, a method was developed and implemented in FAST to extend its capability for ice load modeling.Both upwind and downwind 2-bladed rotor wind turbine designs were developed and studied. The new rotor blade uses a new twist angle distribution design and a new pitch control algorithm compared with the baseline model. The coning and tilt angles were selected for both the upwind and downwind configurations to maximize the annual energy production. The risk of blade-tower impact is greater for the downwind design, particularly under a power grid fault; however, this risk was effectively reduced by adjusting the tilt angle for the downwind configuration.« less

Siderosomal ferritin. The missing link between ferritin and haemosiderin?

PubMed Central

Andrews, S C; Treffry, A; Harrison, P M

1987-01-01

A minor electrophoretically fast component was found in ferritin from iron-loaded rat liver in addition to a major electrophoretically slow ferritin similar to that observed in control rats. The electrophoretically fast ferritin showed immunological identity with the slow component, but on electrophoresis in SDS it gave a peptide of 17.3 kDa, in contrast with the electrophoretically slow ferritin, which gave a major band corresponding to the L-subunit (20.7 kDa). Thus the electrophoretically fast ferritin resembles that reported by Massover [(1985) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 829, 377-386] in livers of mice with short-term parenteral iron overload. The electrophoretically fast ferritin had a lower iron content (2000 Fe atoms/molecule) than the electrophoretically slow ferritin (3000 Fe atoms/molecule). Removal and re-incorporation of iron was possible without effect on the electrophoretic mobility of either ferritin species. On subcellular fractionation the electrophoretically fast ferritin was enriched in pellet fractions and was the sole soluble ferritin isolated from iron-laden secondary lysosomes (siderosomes). The amount and relative proportion of the electrophoretically fast species increased with iron loading. Haemosiderin isolated from siderosomes was found to contain a peptide reactive to anti-ferritin serum and corresponding to the 17.3 kDa peptide of the electrophoretically fast ferritin species. Unlike the electrophoretically slow ferritin, the electrophoretically fast ferritin did not become significantly radioactive in a 1 h biosynthetic labelling experiment. We conclude that the minor ferritin is not, as has been suggested for mouse liver ferritin, 'a completely new species of smaller holoferritin that represents a shift in the ferritin phenotype' in response to siderosis, but a precursor of haemosiderin, in agreement with the proposal by Richter [(1984) Lab. Invest. 50, 26-35] concerning siderosomal ferritin. Images Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. PMID:3663170

Decoupling analysis for a powertrain mounting system with a combination of hydraulic mounts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Jinfang; Chen, Wuwei; Huang, He

2013-07-01

The existing torque roll axis(TRA) decoupling theories for a powertrain mounting system assume that the stiffness and viscous damping properties are constant. However, real-life mounts exhibit considerable spectrally varying stiffness and damping characteristics, and the influence of the spectrally-varying properties of the hydraulic mounts on the powertrain system cannot be ignored. To overcome the deficiency, an analytical quasi-linear model of the hydraulic mount and the coupled properties of the powertrain and hydraulic mounts system are formulated. The influence of the hydraulic mounts on the TRA decoupling of a powertrain system is analytically examined in terms of eigensolutions, frequency, and impulse responses, and then a new analytical axiom is proposed based on the TRA decoupling indices. With the experimental setup of a fixed decoupler hydraulic mount in the context of non-resonant dynamic stiffness testing procedure, the quasi-linear model of the hydraulic mount is verified by comparing the predictions with the measurement. And the quasi-linear formulation of the coupled system is also verified by comparing the frequency responses with the numerical results obtained by the direct inversion method. Finally, the mounting system with a combination of hydraulic mounts is redesigned in terms of the stiffness, damping and mount locations by satisfying the new axiom. The frequency and time domain results of the redesigned system demonstrate that the torque roll axis of the redesigned powertrain mounting system is indeed decoupled in the presence of hydraulic mounts (given oscillating torque or impulsive torque excitation). The proposed research provides an important basis and method for the research on a powertrain system with spectrally-varying mount properties, especially for the TRA decoupling.

Transcription factor assisted loading and enhancer dynamics dictate the hepatic fasting response

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Ido; Baek, Songjoon; Presman, Diego M.; Paakinaho, Ville; Swinstead, Erin E.; Hager, Gordon L.

2017-01-01

Fasting elicits transcriptional programs in hepatocytes leading to glucose and ketone production. This transcriptional program is regulated by many transcription factors (TFs). To understand how this complex network regulates the metabolic response to fasting, we aimed at isolating the enhancers and TFs dictating it. Measuring chromatin accessibility revealed that fasting massively reorganizes liver chromatin, exposing numerous fasting-induced enhancers. By utilizing computational methods in combination with dissecting enhancer features and TF cistromes, we implicated four key TFs regulating the fasting response: glucocorticoid receptor (GR), cAMP responsive element binding protein 1 (CREB1), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARA), and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (CEBPB). These TFs regulate fuel production by two distinctly operating modules, each controlling a separate metabolic pathway. The gluconeogenic module operates through assisted loading, whereby GR doubles the number of sites occupied by CREB1 as well as enhances CREB1 binding intensity and increases accessibility of CREB1 binding sites. Importantly, this GR-assisted CREB1 binding was enhancer-selective and did not affect all CREB1-bound enhancers. Single-molecule tracking revealed that GR increases the number and DNA residence time of a portion of chromatin-bound CREB1 molecules. These events collectively result in rapid synergistic gene expression and higher hepatic glucose production. Conversely, the ketogenic module operates via a GR-induced TF cascade, whereby PPARA levels are increased following GR activation, facilitating gradual enhancer maturation next to PPARA target genes and delayed ketogenic gene expression. Our findings reveal a complex network of enhancers and TFs that dynamically cooperate to restore homeostasis upon fasting. PMID:28031249

Symmetry breaking, mixing, instability, and low-frequency variability in a minimal Lorenz-like system.

PubMed

Lucarini, Valerio; Fraedrich, Klaus

2009-08-01

Starting from the classical Saltzman two-dimensional convection equations, we derive via a severe spectral truncation a minimal 10 ODE system which includes the thermal effect of viscous dissipation. Neglecting this process leads to a dynamical system which includes a decoupled generalized Lorenz system. The consideration of this process breaks an important symmetry and couples the dynamics of fast and slow variables, with the ensuing modifications to the structural properties of the attractor and of the spectral features. When the relevant nondimensional number (Eckert number Ec) is different from zero, an additional time scale of O(Ec(-1)) is introduced in the system, as shown with standard multiscale analysis and made clear by several numerical evidences. Moreover, the system is ergodic and hyperbolic, the slow variables feature long-term memory with 1/f(3/2) power spectra, and the fast variables feature amplitude modulation. Increasing the strength of the thermal-viscous feedback has a stabilizing effect, as both the metric entropy and the Kaplan-Yorke attractor dimension decrease monotonically with Ec. The analyzed system features very rich dynamics: it overcomes some of the limitations of the Lorenz system and might have prototypical value in relevant processes in complex systems dynamics, such as the interaction between slow and fast variables, the presence of long-term memory, and the associated extreme value statistics. This analysis shows how neglecting the coupling of slow and fast variables only on the basis of scale analysis can be catastrophic. In fact, this leads to spurious invariances that affect essential dynamical properties (ergodicity, hyperbolicity) and that cause the model losing ability in describing intrinsically multiscale processes.

Crust-mantle coupling mechanism in Cameroon, West Africa, revealed by 3D S-wave velocity and azimuthal anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojo, Adebayo Oluwaseun; Ni, Sidao; Chen, Haopeng; Xie, Jun

2018-01-01

To understand the depth variation of deformation beneath Cameroon, West Africa, we developed a new 3D model of S-wave isotropic velocity and azimuthal anisotropy from joint analysis of ambient seismic noise and earthquake surface wave dispersion. We found that the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) is well delineated by slow phase velocities in contrast with the neighboring Congo Craton, in agreement with previous studies. Apart from the Congo Craton and the Oubanguides Belt, the uppermost mantle revealed a relatively slow velocity indicating a thinned or thermally altered lithosphere. The direction of fast axis in the upper crust is mostly NE-SW, but trending approximately N-S around Mt. Oku and the southern CVL. The observed crustal azimuthal anisotropy is attributed to alignment of cracks and crustal deformation related to magmatic activities. A widespread zone of weak-to-zero azimuthal anisotropy in the mid-lower crust shows evidence for vertical mantle flow or isotropic mid-lower crust. In the uppermost mantle, the fast axis direction changed from NE-SW to NW-SE around Mt. Oku and northern Cameroon. This suggests a layered mechanism of deformation and revealed that the mantle lithosphere has been deformed. NE-SW fast azimuths are observed beneath the Congo Craton and are consistent with the absolute motion of the African plate, suggesting a mantle origin for the observed azimuthal anisotropy. Our tomographically derived fast directions are consistent with the local SKS splitting results in some locations and depths, enabling us to constrain the origin of the observed splitting. The different feature of azimuthal anisotropy in the upper crust and the uppermost mantle implies decoupling between deformation of crust and mantle in Cameroon.

Aerothermodynamic Design Sensitivities for a Reacting Gas Flow Solver on an Unstructured Mesh Using a Discrete Adjoint Formulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Kyle Bonner

An algorithm is described to efficiently compute aerothermodynamic design sensitivities using a decoupled variable set. In a conventional approach to computing design sensitivities for reacting flows, the species continuity equations are fully coupled to the conservation laws for momentum and energy. In this algorithm, the species continuity equations are solved separately from the mixture continuity, momentum, and total energy equations. This decoupling simplifies the implicit system, so that the flow solver can be made significantly more efficient, with very little penalty on overall scheme robustness. Most importantly, the computational cost of the point implicit relaxation is shown to scale linearly with the number of species for the decoupled system, whereas the fully coupled approach scales quadratically. Also, the decoupled method significantly reduces the cost in wall time and memory in comparison to the fully coupled approach. This decoupled approach for computing design sensitivities with the adjoint system is demonstrated for inviscid flow in chemical non-equilibrium around a re-entry vehicle with a retro-firing annular nozzle. The sensitivities of the surface temperature and mass flow rate through the nozzle plenum are computed with respect to plenum conditions and verified against sensitivities computed using a complex-variable finite-difference approach. The decoupled scheme significantly reduces the computational time and memory required to complete the optimization, making this an attractive method for high-fidelity design of hypersonic vehicles.

On the decoupling of relaxation modes in a molecular liquid caused by isothermal introduction of 2 nm structural inhomogeneities.

PubMed

Ueno, Kazuhide; Angell, C Austen

2011-12-08

To support a new interpretation of the origin of the dynamic heterogeneity observed pervasively in fragile liquids as they approach their glass transition temperatures T(g), we demonstrate that the introduction of ~2 nm structural inhomogeneities into a homogeneous glass former leads to a decoupling of diffusion from viscosity similar to that observed during the cooling of orthoterphenyl (OTP) below T(A,) where Arrhenius behavior is lost. Further, the decoupling effect grows stronger as temperature decreases (and viscosity increases). The liquid is cresol, and the ~2 nm inhomogeneities are cresol-soluble asymmetric derivatized tetrasiloxy-based (polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)) molecules. The decoupling is the phenomenon predicted by Onsager in discussing the approach to a liquid-liquid phase separation with decreasing temperature. In the present case the observations support the notion of a polyamorphic transition in fragile liquids that is hidden below the glass transition. A similar decoupling can be expected as a globular protein is dissolved in dilute aqueous solutions or in protic ionic liquids. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Optimal Operation of a Thermal Energy Storage Tank Using Linear Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Civit Sabate, Carles

In this thesis, an optimization procedure for minimizing the operating costs of a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) tank is presented. The facility in which the optimization is based is the combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) plant at the University of California, Irvine. TES tanks provide the ability of decoupling the demand of chilled water from its generation, over the course of a day, from the refrigeration and air-conditioning plants. They can be used to perform demand-side management, and optimization techniques can help to approach their optimal use. The proposed optimization approach provides a fast and reliable methodology of finding the optimal use of the TES tank to reduce energy costs and provides a tool for future implementation of optimal control laws on the system. Advantages of the proposed methodology are studied using simulation with historical data.

Force Balance at the Magnetopause Determined with MMS: Application to Flux Transfer Events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, C.; Russell, C. T.; Strangeway, R. J.; Petrinec, S. M.; Paterson, W. R.; Zhou, M.; Anderson, B. J.; Baumjohann, W.; Bromund, K. R.; Chutter, M.;

Ultrasonic unipolar pulse/echo instrument

DOEpatents

Hughes, M.J.; Hsu, D.K.; Thompson, D.O.; Wormley, S.J.

1993-04-06

An ultrasonic unipolar pulse/echo instrument uses active switches and a timing and drive circuitry to control electrical energy to a transducer, the discharging of the transducer, and the opening of an electrical pathway to the receiving circuitry for the returning echoes. The active switches utilize MOSFET devices along with decoupling circuitry to insure the preservation of the unipolar nature of the pulses, insure fast transition times, and maintain broad band width and time resolution. A housing contains the various circuitry and switches and allows connection to a power supply and a movable ultrasonic transducer. The circuitry maintains low impedance input to the transducer during transmitting cycles, and high impedance between the transducer and the receiving circuit during receive cycles to maintain the unipolar pulse shape. A unipolar pulse is valuable for nondestructive evaluation, a prime use for the present instrument.

Ultrasonic unipolar pulse/echo instrument

DOEpatents

Hughes, Michael S.; Hsu, David K.; Thompson, Donald O.; Wormley, Samuel J.

1993-01-01

An ultrasonic unipolar pulse/echo instrument uses active switches and a timing and drive circuitry to control electrical energy to a transducer, the discharging of the transducer, and the opening of an electrical pathway to the receiving circuitry for the returning echoes. The active switches utilize MOSFET devices along with decoupling circuitry to insure the preservation of the unipolar nature of the pulses, insure fast transition times, and maintain broad band width and time resolution. A housing contains the various circuitry and switches and allows connection to a power supply and a movable ultrasonic transducer. The circuitry maintains low impedance input to the transducer during transmitting cycles, and high impedance between the transducer and the receiving circuit during receive cycles to maintain the unipolar pulse shape. A unipolar pulse is valuable for nondestructive evaluation, a prime use for the present instrument.

Multithreaded implicitly dealiased convolutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, Malcolm; Bowman, John C.

2018-03-01

Implicit dealiasing is a method for computing in-place linear convolutions via fast Fourier transforms that decouples work memory from input data. It offers easier memory management and, for long one-dimensional input sequences, greater efficiency than conventional zero-padding. Furthermore, for convolutions of multidimensional data, the segregation of data and work buffers can be exploited to reduce memory usage and execution time significantly. This is accomplished by processing and discarding data as it is generated, allowing work memory to be reused, for greater data locality and performance. A multithreaded implementation of implicit dealiasing that accepts an arbitrary number of input and output vectors and a general multiplication operator is presented, along with an improved one-dimensional Hermitian convolution that avoids the loop dependency inherent in previous work. An alternate data format that can accommodate a Nyquist mode and enhance cache efficiency is also proposed.

Direct acceleration in intense laser fields used for bunch amplification of relativistic electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braenzel, J.; Andreev, A. A.; Ehrentraut, L.; Schnürer, M.

2017-05-01

A method, how electrons can be directly accelerated in intense laser fields, is investigated experimentally and discussed with numerical and analytical simulation. When ultrathin foil targets are exposed with peak laser intensities of 1x1020 W/cm2 , slow electrons ( keV kinetic energy), that are emitted from the ultrathin foil target along laser propagation direction, are post-accelerated in the transmitted laser field. They received significant higher kinetic energies (MeV), when this interaction was limited in duration and an enhanced number of fast electrons were detected. The decoupling of the light field from the electron interaction we realized with a second separator foil, blocking the transmitted laser light at a particular distance and allowing the fast electrons to pass. Variation of the propagation distance in the laser field results in different energy gains for the electrons. This finding is explained with electron acceleration in the electromagnetic field of a light pulse and confirms a concept being discussed for some time. In the experiments the effect manifests in an electron number amplification of about 3 times around a peak at 1 MeV electron energy. Measurements confirmed that the overall number in the whole bunch is enhanced to about 109 electrons covering kinetic energies between 0.5 to 5 MeV. The method holds promise for ultrashort electron bunch generation at MeV energies for direct application, e.g. ultra-fast electron diffraction, or for injection into post accelerator stages for different purposes.

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

Karr, Dale G.; Yu, Bingbin; Sirnivas, Senu

To create long-term solutions for offshore wind turbines in a variety of environmental conditions, CAE tools are needed to model the design-driving loads that interact with an offshore wind turbine system during operation. This report describes our efforts in augmenting existing CAE tools used for offshore wind turbine analysis with a new module that can provide simulation capabilities for ice loading on the system. This augmentation was accomplished by creating an ice-loading module coupled to FAST8, the CAE tool maintained by the NREL for simulating land-based and offshore wind turbine dynamics. The new module includes both static and dynamic icemore » loading that can be applied during a dynamic simulation of the response of an offshore wind turbine. The ice forces can be prescribed, or influenced by the structure’s compliant response, or by the dynamics of both the structure and the ice floe. The new module covers ice failure modes of spalling, buckling, crushing, splitting, and bending. The supporting structure of wind turbines can be modeled as a vertical or sloping form at the waterline. The Inward Battered Guide Structure (IBGS) foundation designed by Keystone Engineering for the Great Lakes was used to study the ice models coupled to FAST8. The IBGS foundation ice loading simulations in FAST8 were compared to the baseline simulation case without ice loading. The ice conditions reflecting those from Lake Huron at Port Huron and Lake Michigan at North Manitou were studied under near rated wind speed of 12 m/s for the NREL 5-MW reference turbine. Simulations were performed on ice loading models 1 through 4 and ice model 6 with their respective sub-models. The purpose of ice model 5 is to investigate ice loading on sloping structures such as ice-cones on a monopile and is not suitable for multi-membered jacketed structures like the IBGS foundation. The key response parameters from the simulations, shear forces and moments from the tower base and IBGS foundation base, were compared. Ice models 1 and 6 do not significantly affect the tower fore-aft shear and moment. However, ice model 2 (dynamic analyses), model 3 (random ice loading), and model 4 (multiple ice failure zone loading) show increased effect on the tower fore-aft shear and moment with significant effect from ice model 3.1. In general ice loading creates large reaction forces and moments at the base of the IBGS foundation; the largest occurred in model 1.1 (steady creep ice indentation loading) followed by model 3.1 (random creep ice indentation loading). In general the power production from the ice loading cases had little deviation from the baseline case without ice loading. For ultimate limit state (ULS), ice model 1.1 ice and 3.1 appear to be the ice most critical models to consider at an early stage of design. Ice model 4 is an important tool for assessing structural fatigue.« less

Proton decoupling and recoupling under double-nutation irradiation in solid-state NMR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, Kazuyuki; Wakisaka, Asato; Takegoshi, K.

2014-12-01

The effect of 1H decoupling in magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR is studied under radiofrequency irradiation causing simultaneous nutations around a pair of orthogonal axes. Double-nutation with an arbitrary pair of nutation frequencies is implemented through modulation of the amplitude, phase, and frequency of the transmitting pulses. Similarity and difference of double-nutation decoupling and two-pulse phase-modulation decoupling schemes [A. E. Bennett, C. M. Rienstra, M. Auger, K. V. Lakshmi, and R. G. Griffin, J. Chem. Phys. 103, 6951-6958 (1995) and I. Scholz, P. Hodgkinson, B. H. Meier, and M. Ernst, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 114510 (2009)] are discussed. The structure of recoupling bands caused by interference of the 1H spin nutation with sample spinning is studied by both experiments and numerical simulations.

Decoupling capabilities of split-loop resonator structure for 7 Tesla MRI surface array coils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurshkainen, A.; Kurdjumov, S.; Simovski, C.; Glybovski, S.; Melchakova, I.; van den Berg, C. A. T.; Raaijmakers, A.; Belov, P.

2017-09-01

In this work we studied electromagnetic properties of one-dimentional periodic structures composed of split-loop res-onators (SLRs) and investigated their capabilities in decoupling of two dipole antennas for full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Two different finite structures comprising a single-SLR and a double-SLR constitutive elements were studied. Numerical simulations of the structures were performed to evaluate their decoupling capabilities. As it was demonstrated two dipole antennas equipped with either a single or a double-SLR structure exhibit high isolation even for an electrically short distance between the dipoles. Double-SLR structure while dramatically improving isolation of the dipoles keeps the field created by each of the decoupled dipoles comparable with one of a single dipole inside the target area.

Supercritical Airfoil Technology Program Wake Experiments and Modeling for Fore- and Aft-Loaded Compressor Cascades.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

in the turbulent wake compared to the time in the laminar outer wake can be referred to as an intermit - tency factor. This intermittency effect...shown in Figure 33. This figure indicates that there is nearly no loading in the wake region. This pressure distribution was then used with very fast

Design and evaluation of novel fast forming pilocarpine-loaded ocular hydrogels for sustained pharmacological response

PubMed Central

Anumolu, SivaNaga S.; Singh, Yashveer; Gao, Dayuan; Stein, Stanley; Sinko, Patrick J.

2009-01-01

Fast forming hydrogels prepared by crosslinking a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based copolymer containing multiple thiol (SH) groups were evaluated for the controlled ocular delivery of pilocarpine and subsequent pupillary constriction. Physical properties of the hydrogels were characterized using UV-Vis spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), rheometry, and swelling kinetics. Pilocarpine loading efficiency and release properties were measured in simulated tear fluid. The hydrogel formulations exhibited high drug loading efficiency (~74%). Pilocarpine release was found to be biphasic with release half times of ~2 and 94 h, respectively, and 85–100% of the drug was released over 8-days. Pilocarpine-loaded (2% w/v) hydrogels were evaluated in a rabbit model and compared to a similar dose of drug in aqueous solution. The hydrogels were retained in the eye for the entire period of the study with no observed irritation. Pilocarpine-loaded hydrogels sustained pupillary constriction for 24 h after administration as compared to 3 h for the solution, an 8-fold increase in duration of action. A strong correlation between pilocarpine release and pupillary response was observed. In conclusion, the current studies demonstrate that in situ forming PEG hydrogels possess the viscoelastic, retention, and sustained delivery properties required for an efficient ocular drug delivery system. PMID:19341773

Fast response to fast-forwarding nature: instream large wood habitat restoration

Treesearch

Cheryl A. Hayhurst; William R. Short

2017-01-01

How quickly and in what way does a channel bed respond when large wood elements are introduced in a way that imitates natural wood loading processes (un-anchored or anchored by burial)? Using a design streamflow threshold for determining the size of key large wood elements, what changes in channel bed and habitat complexity occur after streamflow events above...

Development and Validation of Yoga Video Package and Its Effectiveness on Depression, Anxiety and Stress of School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selvi, B. Tamil; Thangarajathi, S.

2011-01-01

Teaching once was considered as a noble job but, within the last decade it has become an increasingly stressful profession for school teachers. Increased work load, insufficient salary package, fast changing curriculum, increase in the responsibilities of the students, modern fast mechanical life, conflicts with the colleagues and with higher…

Residual strength of thin panels with cracks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Madenci, Erdogan

1994-01-01

The previous design philosophies involving safe life, fail-safe and damage tolerance concepts become inadequate for assuring the safety of aging aircraft structures. For example, the failure mechanism for the Aloha Airline accident involved the coalescence of undetected small cracks at the rivet holes causing a section of the fuselage to peel open during flight. Therefore, the fuselage structure should be designed to have sufficient residual strength under worst case crack configurations and in-flight load conditions. Residual strength is interpreted as the maximum load carrying capacity prior to unstable crack growth. Internal pressure and bending moment constitute the two major components of the external loads on the fuselage section during flight. Although the stiffeners in the form of stringers, frames and tear straps sustain part of the external loads, the significant portion of the load is taken up by the skin. In the presence of a large crack in the skin, the crack lips bulge out with considerable yielding; thus, the geometric and material nonlinearities must be included in the analysis for predicting residual strength. Also, these nonlinearities do not permit the decoupling of in-plane and out-of-plane bending deformations. The failure criterion combining the concepts of absorbed specific energy and strain energy density addresses the aforementioned concerns. The critical absorbed specific energy (local toughness) for the material is determined from the global specimen response and deformation geometry based on the uniaxial tensile test data and detailed finite element modeling of the specimen response. The use of the local toughness and stress-strain response at the continuum level eliminates the size effect. With this critical parameter and stress-strain response, the finite element analysis of the component by using STAGS along with the application of this failure criterion provides the stable crack growth calculations for residual strength predictions.

Using grasping tasks to evaluate hand force coordination in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Mackenzie, Samuel J; Getchell, Nancy; Modlesky, Christopher M; Miller, Freeman; Jaric, Slobodan

2009-08-01

Mackenzie SJ, Getchell N, Modlesky CM, Miller F, Jaric S. Using grasping tasks to evaluate hand force coordination in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. To assess force coordination in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) using a device that allows for testing both unimanual and bimanual manipulation tasks performed under static and dynamic conditions. Nonequivalent groups design. University research laboratory for motor control. Six children with hemiplegic CP (age, mean +/- SD, 11.6+/-1.8 y) and 6 typically developing controls (11.6+/-1.6 y). Not applicable. Children performed simple lifting and force-matching static ramp tasks by way of both unimanual and bimanual pulling using a device that measures grip force (force acting perpendicularly at the digits-device contact area) and load force (tangential force). Main outcome measures were grip/load force ratios (grip force scaling) and correlation coefficients (force coupling). CP subjects showed significantly higher grip/load force ratios (P<.05) and slightly lower correlation coefficients than the control group, with more pronounced differences for most tasks when using their involved hand. For subjects with CP, switching from unimanual to bimanual conditions did not bring changes in scaling or coupling for the involved hand (P>.05). Compared with healthy children, the impaired hand function in the hemiplegic CP pediatric population could be reflected in excessive grip force that is also decoupled from ongoing changes in load force. Therefore, the bimanual grip load device used in this study could provide a sensitive measure of grip force coordination in CP, although nonmotor deficits should be taken into account when asking children to perform more complex tasks.

Modulation format identification enabled by the digital frequency-offset loading technique for hitless coherent transceiver.

PubMed

Fu, Songnian; Xu, Zuying; Lu, Jianing; Jiang, Hexun; Wu, Qiong; Hu, Zhouyi; Tang, Ming; Liu, Deming; Chan, Calvin Chun-Kit

2018-03-19

We propose a blind and fast modulation format identification (MFI) enabled by the digital frequency-offset (FO) loading technique for hitless coherent transceiver. Since modulation format information is encoded to the FO distribution during digital signal processing (DSP) at the transmitter side (Tx), we can use the fast Fourier transformation based FO estimation (FFT-FOE) method to obtain the FO distribution of individual data block after constant modulus algorithm (CMA) pre-equalization at the receiver side, in order to realize non-data-aided (NDA) and fast MFI. The obtained FO can be also used for subsequent FO compensation (FOC), without additional complexity. We numerically investigate and experimentally verify the proposed MFI with high accuracy and fast format switching among 28 Gbaud dual-polarization (DP)-4/8/16/64QAM, time domain hybrid-4/16QAM, and set partitioning (SP)-128QAM. In particular, the proposed MFI brings no performance degradation, in term of tolerance of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise, laser linewidth, and fiber nonlinearity. Finally, a hitless coherent transceiver enabled by the proposed MFI with switching-block of only 2048 symbols is demonstrated over 1500 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) transmission.

Increased delivery stride length places greater loads on the ankle joint in elite male cricket fast bowlers.

PubMed

Spratford, Wayne; Hicks, Amy

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect stride length has on ankle biomechanics of the leading leg with reference to the potential risk of injury in cricket fast bowlers. Ankle joint kinematic and kinetic data were collected from 51 male fast bowlers during the stance phase of the final delivery stride. The bowling cohort comprised national under-19, first class and international-level athletes. Bowlers were placed into either Short, Average or Long groups based on final stride length, allowing statistical differences to be measured. A multivariate analysis of variance with a Bonferroni post-hoc correction (α = 0.05) revealed significant differences between peak plantarflexion angles (Short-Long P = 0.005, Average and Long P = 0.04) and negative joint work (Average-Long P = 0.026). This study highlighted that during fast bowling the ankle joint of the leading leg experiences high forces under wide ranges of movement. As stride length increases, greater amounts of negative work and plantarflexion are experienced. These increases place greater loads on the ankle joint and move the foot into positions that make it more susceptible to injuries such as posterior impingement syndrome.

Options for decoupling economic growth from water use and water pollution: A report of the Water Working Group of the International Resource Panel Options for decoupling economic growth from water use and water pollution

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Global trends have pointed to a relative decoupling of water – that is, the rate of water resource use is increasing at a rate slower than that of economic growth. Despite this progress at the global level, it is projected that by 2030 there will be a 40% gap between water supply and water demand if...

Mica-dominated seismic properties of mid-crust beneath west Yunnan (China) and geodynamic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Tongbin; Ji, Shaocheng; Oya, Shoma; Michibayashi, Katsuyoshi; Wang, Qian

2016-05-01

Measurements of crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) and calculations of P- and S-wave velocities (Vp and Vs) and anisotropy were conducted on three quartz-mica schists and one felsic mylonite, which are representative of typical metamorphic rocks deformed in the middle crust beneath the southeastern Tibetan plateau. Results show that the schists have Vp anisotropy (AVp) ranging from 16.4% to 25.5% and maximum Vs anisotropy [AVs(max)] between 21.6% and 37.8%. The mylonite has lower AVp and AVs(max) but slightly higher foliation anisotropy, which are 13.2%, 18.5%, and 3.07%, respectively, due to the lower content and CPO strength of mica. With increasing mica content, the deformed rocks tend to form transverse isotropy (TI) with fast velocities in the foliation plane and slow velocities normal to the foliation. However, the presence of prismatic minerals (e.g., amphibole and sillimanite) forces the overall symmetry to deviate from TI. An increase in feldspar content reduces the bulk anisotropy caused by mica or quartz because the fast-axis of feldspar aligns parallel to the slow-axis of mica and/or quartz. The effect of quartz on seismic properties of mica-bearing rocks is complex, depending on its content and prevailing slip system. The greatest shear-wave splitting and fastest Vp both occur for propagation directions within the foliation plane, consistent with the fast Pms (S-wave converted from P-wave at the Moho) polarization directions in the west Yunnan where mica/amphibole-bearing rocks have developed pervasive subvertical foliation and subhorizontal lineation. The fast Pms directions are perpendicular to the approximately E-W orienting fast SKS (S-wave traversing the core as P-wave) directions, indicating a decoupling at the Moho interface between the crust and mantle beneath the region. The seismic data are inconsistent with the model of crustal channel flow as the latter should produce a subhorizontal foliation where vertically incident shear waves suffer little splitting.

Optimization-Based Calibration of FAST.Farm Parameters Against SOWFA: Preprint

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

Moreira, Paula D; Annoni, Jennifer; Jonkman, Jason

2018-01-04

FAST.Farm is a medium-delity wind farm modeling tool that can be used to assess power and loads contributions of wind turbines in a wind farm. The objective of this paper is to undertake a calibration procedure to set the user parameters of FAST.Farm to accurately represent results from large-eddy simulations. The results provide an in- depth analysis of the comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulations before and after calibration. The comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulation results are presented with respect to streamwise and radial velocity components as well as wake-meandering statistics (mean and standard deviation) in the lateral andmore » vertical directions under different atmospheric and turbine operating conditions.« less

Acoustic emission analysis of crack resistance and fracture behavior of 20GL steel having the gradient microstructure and strength

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikulin, S.; Nikitin, A.; Belov, V.; Rozhnov, A.; Turilina, V.; Anikeenko, V.; Khatkevich, V.

2017-07-01

The crack resistances as well as fracture behavior of 20GL steel quenched with a fast-moving water stream and having gradient microstructure and strength are analyzed. Crack resistance tests with quenched and normalized flat rectangular specimens having different cut lengths loaded by three-point bending with acoustic emission measurements have been performed. The critical J-integral has been used as the crack resistance parameter of the material. Quenching with a fast moving water stream leads to gradient (along a specimen wall thickness) strengthening of steel due to highly refined gradient microstructure formation of the troostomartensite type. Quenching with a fast-moving water stream increases crack resistance Jc , of 20GL steel by a factor of ∼ 1.5. The fracture accrues gradually with the load in the normalized specimens while the initiated crack is hindered in the variable ductility layer and further arrested in the more ductile core in the quenched specimens.

An intelligent load shedding scheme using neural networks and neuro-fuzzy.

PubMed

Haidar, Ahmed M A; Mohamed, Azah; Al-Dabbagh, Majid; Hussain, Aini; Masoum, Mohammad

2009-12-01

Load shedding is some of the essential requirement for maintaining security of modern power systems, particularly in competitive energy markets. This paper proposes an intelligent scheme for fast and accurate load shedding using neural networks for predicting the possible loss of load at the early stage and neuro-fuzzy for determining the amount of load shed in order to avoid a cascading outage. A large scale electrical power system has been considered to validate the performance of the proposed technique in determining the amount of load shed. The proposed techniques can provide tools for improving the reliability and continuity of power supply. This was confirmed by the results obtained in this research of which sample results are given in this paper.

Subduction zone decoupling/retreat modeling explains south Tibet (Xigaze) and other supra-subduction zone ophiolites and their UHP mineral phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, Jared P.; Beaumont, Christopher

2017-04-01

The plate tectonic setting in which proto-ophiolite 'oceanic' lithosphere is created remains controversial with a number of environments suggested. Recent opinions tend to coalesce around supra-subduction zone (SSZ) forearc extension, with a popular conceptual model in which the proto-ophiolite forms during foundering of oceanic lithosphere at the time of spontaneous or induced onset of subduction. This mechanism is favored in intra-oceanic settings where the subducting lithosphere is old and the upper plate is young and thin. We investigate an alternative mechanism; namely, decoupling of the subducting oceanic lithosphere in the forearc of an active continental margin, followed by subduction zone (trench) retreat and creation of a forearc oceanic rift basin, containing proto-ophiolite lithosphere, between the continental margin and the retreating subduction zone. A template of 2D numerical model experiments examines the trade-off between strength of viscous coupling in the lithospheric subduction channel and net slab pull of the subducting lithosphere. Three tectonic styles are observed: 1) C, continuous subduction without forearc decoupling; 2) R, forearc decoupling followed by rapid subduction zone retreat; 3) B, breakoff of subducting lithosphere followed by re-initiation of subduction and in some cases, forearc decoupling (B-R). In one case (BA-B-R; where BA denotes backarc) subduction zone retreat follows backarc rifting. Subduction zone decoupling is analyzed using frictional-plastic yield theory and the Stefan solution for the separation of plates containing a viscous fluid. The numerical model results are used to explain the formation of Xigaze group ophiolites, southern Tibet, which formed in the Lhasa terrane forearc, likely following earlier subduction and not necessarily during subduction initiation. Either there was normal coupled subduction before subduction zone decoupling, or precursor slab breakoff, subduction re-initiation and then decoupling. Rapid deep upper-mantle circulation in the models during subduction zone retreat can exhume and emplace material in the forearc proto-ophiolite from as deep as the mantle transition zone, thereby explaining diamonds and other 10-15 GPa UHP phases in Tibetan ophiolites.

Sensitivity enhancement for detection of hyperpolarized 13 C MRI probes with 1 H spin coupling introduced by enzymatic transformation in vivo.

PubMed

von Morze, Cornelius; Tropp, James; Chen, Albert P; Marco-Rius, Irene; Van Criekinge, Mark; Skloss, Timothy W; Mammoli, Daniele; Kurhanewicz, John; Vigneron, Daniel B; Ohliger, Michael A; Merritt, Matthew E

2018-07-01

Although 1 H spin coupling is generally avoided in probes for hyperpolarized (HP) 13 C MRI, enzymatic transformations of biological interest can introduce large 13 C- 1 H couplings in vivo. The purpose of this study was to develop and investigate the application of 1 H decoupling for enhancing the sensitivity for detection of affected HP 13 C metabolic products. A standalone 1 H decoupler system and custom concentric 13 C/ 1 H paddle coil setup were integrated with a clinical 3T MRI scanner for in vivo 13 C MR studies using HP [2- 13 C]dihydroxyacetone, a novel sensor of hepatic energy status. Major 13 C- 1 H coupling J CH  = ∼150 Hz) is introduced after adenosine triphosphate-dependent enzymatic transformation of HP [2- 13 C]dihydroxyacetone to [2- 13 C]glycerol-3-phosphate in vivo. Application of WALTZ-16 1 H decoupling for elimination of large 13 C- 1 H couplings was first tested in thermally polarized glycerol phantoms and then for in vivo HP MR studies in three rats, scanned both with and without decoupling. As configured, 1 H-decoupled 13 C MR of thermally polarized glycerol and the HP metabolic product [2- 13 C]glycerol-3-phosphate was achieved at forward power of approximately 15 W. High-quality 3-s dynamic in vivo HP 13 C MR scans were acquired with decoupling duty cycle of 5%. Application of 1 H decoupling resulted in sensitivity enhancement of 1.7-fold for detection of metabolic conversion of [2- 13 C]dihydroxyacetone to HP [2- 13 C]glycerol-3-phosphate in vivo. Application of 1 H decoupling provides significant sensitivity enhancement for detection of HP 13 C metabolic products with large 1 H spin couplings, and is therefore expected to be useful for preclinical and potentially clinical HP 13 C MR studies. Magn Reson Med 80:36-41, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

A Scalable Data Access Layer to Manage Structured Heterogeneous Biomedical Data.

PubMed

Delussu, Giovanni; Lianas, Luca; Frexia, Francesca; Zanetti, Gianluigi

2016-01-01

This work presents a scalable data access layer, called PyEHR, designed to support the implementation of data management systems for secondary use of structured heterogeneous biomedical and clinical data. PyEHR adopts the openEHR's formalisms to guarantee the decoupling of data descriptions from implementation details and exploits structure indexing to accelerate searches. Data persistence is guaranteed by a driver layer with a common driver interface. Interfaces for two NoSQL Database Management Systems are already implemented: MongoDB and Elasticsearch. We evaluated the scalability of PyEHR experimentally through two types of tests, called "Constant Load" and "Constant Number of Records", with queries of increasing complexity on synthetic datasets of ten million records each, containing very complex openEHR archetype structures, distributed on up to ten computing nodes.

A Specialized Multi-Transmit Head Coil for High Resolution fMRI of the Human Visual Cortex at 7T.

PubMed

Sengupta, Shubharthi; Roebroeck, Alard; Kemper, Valentin G; Poser, Benedikt A; Zimmermann, Jan; Goebel, Rainer; Adriany, Gregor

2016-01-01

To design, construct and validate radiofrequency (RF) transmit and receive phased array coils for high-resolution visual cortex imaging at 7 Tesla. A 4 channel transmit and 16 channel receive array was constructed on a conformal polycarbonate former. Transmit field efficiency and homogeneity were simulated and validated, along with the Specific Absorption Rate, using [Formula: see text] mapping techniques and electromagnetic simulations. Receiver signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), temporal SNR (tSNR) across EPI time series, g-factors for accelerated imaging and noise correlations were evaluated and compared with a commercial 32 channel whole head coil. The performance of the coil was further evaluated with human subjects through functional MRI (fMRI) studies at standard and submillimeter resolutions of upto 0.8mm isotropic. The transmit and receive sections were characterized using bench tests and showed good interelement decoupling, preamplifier decoupling and sample loading. SNR for the 16 channel coil was ∼ 1.5 times that of the commercial coil in the human occipital lobe, and showed better g-factor values for accelerated imaging. fMRI tests conducted showed better response to Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) activation, at resolutions of 1.2mm and 0.8mm isotropic. The 4 channel phased array transmit coil provides homogeneous excitation across the visual cortex, which, in combination with the dual row 16 channel receive array, makes for a valuable research tool for high resolution anatomical and functional imaging of the visual cortex at 7T.

Vesicle endocytosis requires dynamin-dependent GTP hydrolysis at a fast CNS synapse.

PubMed

Yamashita, Takayuki; Hige, Toshihide; Takahashi, Tomoyuki

2005-01-07

Molecular dependence of vesicular endocytosis was investigated with capacitance measurements at the calyx of Held terminal in brainstem slices. Intraterminal loading of botulinum toxin E revealed that the rapid capacitance transient implicated as "kiss-and-run" was unrelated to transmitter release. The release-related capacitance change decayed with an endocytotic time constant of 10 to 25 seconds, depending on the magnitude of exocytosis. Presynaptic loading of the nonhydrolyzable guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) analog GTPgS or dynamin-1 proline-rich domain peptide abolished endocytosis. These compounds had no immediate effect on exocytosis, but caused a use-dependent rundown of exocytosis. Thus, the guanosine triphosphatase dynamin-1 is indispensable for vesicle endocytosis at this fast central nervous system (CNS) synapse.

Easy-Going On-Spectrometer Optimisation of Phase Modulated Homonuclear Decoupling Sequences in Solid-State NMR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimminck, Dennis L. A. G.; Vasa, Suresh K.; Meerts, W. Leo; Kentgens, P. M.

2011-06-01

A global optimisation scheme for phase modulated proton homonuclear decoupling sequences in solid-state NMR is presented. Phase modulations, parameterised by DUMBO Fourier coefficients, were optimized using a Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategies algorithm. Our method, denoted EASY-GOING homonuclear decoupling, starts with featureless spectra and optimises proton-proton decoupling, during either proton or carbon signal detection. On the one hand, our solutions closely resemble (e)DUMBO for moderate sample spinning frequencies and medium radio-frequency (rf) field strengths. On the other hand, the EASY-GOING approach resulted in a superior solution, achieving significantly better resolved proton spectra at very high 680 kHz rf field strength. N. Hansen, and A. Ostermeier. Evol. Comput. 9 (2001) 159-195 B. Elena, G. de Paepe, L. Emsley. Chem. Phys. Lett. 398 (2004) 532-538

Proton decoupling and recoupling under double-nutation irradiation in solid-state NMR

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

Takeda, Kazuyuki, E-mail: takezo@kuchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Wakisaka, Asato; Takegoshi, K.

The effect of {sup 1}H decoupling in magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR is studied under radiofrequency irradiation causing simultaneous nutations around a pair of orthogonal axes. Double-nutation with an arbitrary pair of nutation frequencies is implemented through modulation of the amplitude, phase, and frequency of the transmitting pulses. Similarity and difference of double-nutation decoupling and two-pulse phase-modulation decoupling schemes [A. E. Bennett, C. M. Rienstra, M. Auger, K. V. Lakshmi, and R. G. Griffin, J. Chem. Phys. 103, 6951–6958 (1995) and I. Scholz, P. Hodgkinson, B. H. Meier, and M. Ernst, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 114510 (2009)] are discussed. The structuremore » of recoupling bands caused by interference of the {sup 1}H spin nutation with sample spinning is studied by both experiments and numerical simulations.« less

Time-varying sliding-coefficient-based decoupled terminal sliding-mode control for a class of fourth-order systems.

PubMed

Bayramoglu, Husnu; Komurcugil, Hasan

2014-07-01

A time-varying sliding-coefficient-based decoupled terminal sliding mode control strategy is presented for a class of fourth-order systems. First, the fourth-order system is decoupled into two second-order subsystems. The sliding surface of each subsystem was designed by utilizing time-varying coefficients. Then, the control target of one subsystem to another subsystem was embedded. Thereafter, a terminal sliding mode control method was utilized to make both subsystems converge to their equilibrium points in finite time. The simulation results on the inverted pendulum system demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits a considerable improvement in terms of a faster dynamic response and lower IAE and ITAE values as compared with the existing decoupled control methods. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal of slow-pulsing artifacts in in-phase 15N relaxation dispersion experiments using broadband 1H decoupling.

PubMed

Chatterjee, Soumya Deep; Ubbink, Marcellus; van Ingen, Hugo

2018-06-02

Understanding of the molecular mechanisms of protein function requires detailed insight into the conformational landscape accessible to the protein. Conformational changes can be crucial for biological processes, such as ligand binding, protein folding, and catalysis. NMR spectroscopy is exquisitely sensitive to such dynamic changes in protein conformations. In particular, Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) relaxation dispersion experiments are a powerful tool to investigate protein dynamics on a millisecond time scale. CPMG experiments that probe the chemical shift modulation of 15 N in-phase magnetization are particularly attractive, due to their high sensitivity. These experiments require high power 1 H decoupling during the CPMG period to keep the 15 N magnetization in-phase. Recently, an improved version of the in-phase 15 N-CPMG experiment was introduced, offering greater ease of use by employing a single 1 H decoupling power for all CPMG pulsing rates. In these experiments however, incomplete decoupling of off-resonance amide 1 H spins introduces an artefactual dispersion of relaxation rates, the so-called slow-pulsing artifact. Here, we analyze the slow-pulsing artifact in detail and demonstrate that it can be suppressed through the use of composite pulse decoupling (CPD). We report the performances of various CPD schemes and show that CPD decoupling based on the 90 x -240 y -90 x element results in high-quality dispersion curves free of artifacts, even for amides with high 1 H offset.

A novel fast mass transfer anaerobic inner loop fluidized bed biofilm reactor for PTA wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Chen, Yingwen; Zhao, Jinlong; Li, Kai; Xie, Shitao

In this paper, a fast mass transfer anaerobic inner loop fluidized bed biofilm reactor (ILFBBR) was developed to improve purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater treatment. The emphasis of this study was on the start-up mode of the anaerobic ILFBBR, the hydraulic loadings and the operation stability. The biological morphology of the anaerobic biofilm in the reactors was also analyzed. The anaerobic column could operate successfully for 46 days due to the pre-aerating process. The anaerobic column had the capacity to resist shock loadings and maintained a high stable chemical oxygen demand (COD) and terephthalic acid removal rates at a hydraulic retention time of 5-10 h, even under conditions of organic volumetric loadings as high as 28.8 kg COD·m(-3).d(-1). The scanning electron microscope analysis of the anaerobic carrier demonstrated that clusters of prokaryotes grew inside of pores and that the filaments generated by pre-aeration contributed to the anaerobic biofilm formation and stability.

A Domain Decomposition Parallelization of the Fast Marching Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrmann, M.

2003-01-01

In this paper, the first domain decomposition parallelization of the Fast Marching Method for level sets has been presented. Parallel speedup has been demonstrated in both the optimal and non-optimal domain decomposition case. The parallel performance of the proposed method is strongly dependent on load balancing separately the number of nodes on each side of the interface. A load imbalance of nodes on either side of the domain leads to an increase in communication and rollback operations. Furthermore, the amount of inter-domain communication can be reduced by aligning the inter-domain boundaries with the interface normal vectors. In the case of optimal load balancing and aligned inter-domain boundaries, the proposed parallel FMM algorithm is highly efficient, reaching efficiency factors of up to 0.98. Future work will focus on the extension of the proposed parallel algorithm to higher order accuracy. Also, to further enhance parallel performance, the coupling of the domain decomposition parallelization to the G(sub 0)-based parallelization will be investigated.

Microfluidic squeezing for intracellular antigen loading in polyclonal B-cells as cellular vaccines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee Szeto, Gregory; van Egeren, Debra; Worku, Hermoon; Sharei, Armon; Alejandro, Brian; Park, Clara; Frew, Kirubel; Brefo, Mavis; Mao, Shirley; Heimann, Megan; Langer, Robert; Jensen, Klavs; Irvine, Darrell J.

2015-05-01

B-cells are promising candidate autologous antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to prime antigen-specific T-cells both in vitro and in vivo. However to date, a significant barrier to utilizing B-cells as APCs is their low capacity for non-specific antigen uptake compared to “professional” APCs such as dendritic cells. Here we utilize a microfluidic device that employs many parallel channels to pass single cells through narrow constrictions in high throughput. This microscale “cell squeezing” process creates transient pores in the plasma membrane, enabling intracellular delivery of whole proteins from the surrounding medium into B-cells via mechano-poration. We demonstrate that both resting and activated B-cells process and present antigens delivered via mechano-poration exclusively to antigen-specific CD8+T-cells, and not CD4+T-cells. Squeezed B-cells primed and expanded large numbers of effector CD8+T-cells in vitro that produced effector cytokines critical to cytolytic function, including granzyme B and interferon-γ. Finally, antigen-loaded B-cells were also able to prime antigen-specific CD8+T-cells in vivo when adoptively transferred into mice. Altogether, these data demonstrate crucial proof-of-concept for mechano-poration as an enabling technology for B-cell antigen loading, priming of antigen-specific CD8+T-cells, and decoupling of antigen uptake from B-cell activation.

Photos for Estimating Residue Loadings Before and After Burning in Southern Appalachian Mixed Pine - Hardwood Clearcuts

Treesearch

Bradford M. Sanders; David H. van Lear

1988-01-01

Paired photographs show fuel conditions before and after burning in recently clearcut stands of mixed pine-hardwoods in the Southern Appalachians. Comparison with the photos permits fast assessment of fuel loading and probable burning success. Information with each photo includes measured weights, volumes, and other residue data, information about the timber stand and...

Automated Microscopy: Macro Language Controlling a Confocal Microscope and its External Illumination: Adaptation for Photosynthetic Organisms.

PubMed

Steinbach, Gábor; Kaňa, Radek

2016-04-01

Photosynthesis research employs several biophysical methods, including the detection of fluorescence. Even though fluorescence is a key method to detect photosynthetic efficiency, it has not been applied/adapted to single-cell confocal microscopy measurements to examine photosynthetic microorganisms. Experiments with photosynthetic cells may require automation to perform a large number of measurements with different parameters, especially concerning light conditions. However, commercial microscopes support custom protocols (through Time Controller offered by Olympus or Experiment Designer offered by Zeiss) that are often unable to provide special set-ups and connection to external devices (e.g., for irradiation). Our new system combining an Arduino microcontroller with the Cell⊕Finder software was developed for controlling Olympus FV1000 and FV1200 confocal microscopes and the attached hardware modules. Our software/hardware solution offers (1) a text file-based macro language to control the imaging functions of the microscope; (2) programmable control of several external hardware devices (light sources, thermal controllers, actuators) during imaging via the Arduino microcontroller; (3) the Cell⊕Finder software with ergonomic user environment, a fast selection method for the biologically important cells and precise positioning feature that reduces unwanted bleaching of the cells by the scanning laser. Cell⊕Finder can be downloaded from http://www.alga.cz/cellfinder. The system was applied to study changes in fluorescence intensity in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 cells under long-term illumination. Thus, we were able to describe the kinetics of phycobilisome decoupling. Microscopy data showed that phycobilisome decoupling appears slowly after long-term (>1 h) exposure to high light.

Decoupling peroxyacetyl nitrate from ozone in Chinese outflows observed at Gosan Climate Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jihyun; Lee, Meehye; Shang, Xiaona; Lee, Gangwoong; Emmons, Louisa K.

2017-09-01

We measured peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) and other reactive species such as O3, NO2, CO, and SO2 with aerosols including mass, organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) in PM2. 5 and K+ in PM1. 0 at Gosan Climate Observatory in Korea (33.17° N, 126.10° E) during 19 October-6 November 2010. PAN was determined through fast gas chromatography with luminol chemiluminescence detection at 425 nm every 2 min. The PAN mixing ratios ranged from 0.1 (detection limit) to 2.4 ppbv with a mean of 0.6 ppbv. For all measurements, PAN was unusually better correlated with PM2. 5 (Pearson correlation coefficient, γ = 0.79) than with O3 (γ = 0.67). In particular, the O3 level was highly elevated with SO2 at midnight, along with a typical midday peak when air was transported rapidly from the Beijing areas. The PAN enhancement was most noticeable during the occurrence of haze under stagnant conditions. In Chinese outflows slowly transported over the Yellow Sea, PAN gradually increased up to 2.4 ppbv at night, in excellent correlation with a concentration increase in PM2. 5 OC and EC, PM2. 5 mass, and PM1. 0 K+. The high K+ concentration and OC / EC ratio indicated that the air mass was impacted by biomass combustion. This study highlights PAN decoupling with O3 in Chinese outflows and suggests PAN as a useful indicator for diagnosing continental outflows and assessing their perturbation of regional air quality in northeast Asia.

Cognitive debiasing 1: origins of bias and theory of debiasing.

PubMed

Croskerry, Pat; Singhal, Geeta; Mamede, Sílvia

2013-10-01

Numerous studies have shown that diagnostic failure depends upon a variety of factors. Psychological factors are fundamental in influencing the cognitive performance of the decision maker. In this first of two papers, we discuss the basics of reasoning and the Dual Process Theory (DPT) of decision making. The general properties of the DPT model, as it applies to diagnostic reasoning, are reviewed. A variety of cognitive and affective biases are known to compromise the decision-making process. They mostly appear to originate in the fast intuitive processes of Type 1 that dominate (or drive) decision making. Type 1 processes work well most of the time but they may open the door for biases. Removing or at least mitigating these biases would appear to be an important goal. We will also review the origins of biases. The consensus is that there are two major sources: innate, hard-wired biases that developed in our evolutionary past, and acquired biases established in the course of development and within our working environments. Both are associated with abbreviated decision making in the form of heuristics. Other work suggests that ambient and contextual factors may create high risk situations that dispose decision makers to particular biases. Fatigue, sleep deprivation and cognitive overload appear to be important determinants. The theoretical basis of several approaches towards debiasing is then discussed. All share a common feature that involves a deliberate decoupling from Type 1 intuitive processing and moving to Type 2 analytical processing so that eventually unexamined intuitive judgments can be submitted to verification. This decoupling step appears to be the critical feature of cognitive and affective debiasing.

Insight into structural phase transitions from the decoupled anharmonic mode approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Donat J.; Passerone, Daniele

2016-08-01

We develop a formalism (decoupled anharmonic mode approximation, DAMA) that allows calculation of the vibrational free energy using density functional theory even for materials which exhibit negative curvature of the potential energy surface with respect to atomic displacements. We investigate vibrational modes beyond the harmonic approximation and approximate the potential energy surface with the superposition of the accurate potential along each normal mode. We show that the free energy can stabilize crystal structures at finite temperatures which appear dynamically unstable at T  =  0. The DAMA formalism is computationally fast because it avoids statistical sampling through molecular dynamics calculations, and is in principle completely ab initio. It is free of statistical uncertainties and independent of model parameters, but can give insight into the mechanism of a structural phase transition. We apply the formalism to the perovskite cryolite, and investigate the temperature-driven phase transition from the P21/n to the Immm space group. We calculate a phase transition temperature between 710 and 950 K, in fair agreement with the experimental value of 885 K. This can be related to the underestimation of the interaction of the vibrational states. We also calculate the main axes of the thermal ellipsoid and can explain the experimentally observed increase of its volume for the fluorine by 200-300% throughout the phase transition. Our calculations suggest the appearance of tunneling states in the high temperature phase. The convergence of the vibrational DOS and of the critical temperature with respect of reciprocal space sampling is investigated using the polarizable-ion model.

Insight into structural phase transitions from the decoupled anharmonic mode approximation.

PubMed

Adams, Donat J; Passerone, Daniele

2016-08-03

We develop a formalism (decoupled anharmonic mode approximation, DAMA) that allows calculation of the vibrational free energy using density functional theory even for materials which exhibit negative curvature of the potential energy surface with respect to atomic displacements. We investigate vibrational modes beyond the harmonic approximation and approximate the potential energy surface with the superposition of the accurate potential along each normal mode. We show that the free energy can stabilize crystal structures at finite temperatures which appear dynamically unstable at T  =  0. The DAMA formalism is computationally fast because it avoids statistical sampling through molecular dynamics calculations, and is in principle completely ab initio. It is free of statistical uncertainties and independent of model parameters, but can give insight into the mechanism of a structural phase transition. We apply the formalism to the perovskite cryolite, and investigate the temperature-driven phase transition from the P21/n to the Immm space group. We calculate a phase transition temperature between 710 and 950 K, in fair agreement with the experimental value of 885 K. This can be related to the underestimation of the interaction of the vibrational states. We also calculate the main axes of the thermal ellipsoid and can explain the experimentally observed increase of its volume for the fluorine by 200-300% throughout the phase transition. Our calculations suggest the appearance of tunneling states in the high temperature phase. The convergence of the vibrational DOS and of the critical temperature with respect of reciprocal space sampling is investigated using the polarizable-ion model.

Transcription factor assisted loading and enhancer dynamics dictate the hepatic fasting response.

PubMed

Goldstein, Ido; Baek, Songjoon; Presman, Diego M; Paakinaho, Ville; Swinstead, Erin E; Hager, Gordon L

2017-03-01

Fasting elicits transcriptional programs in hepatocytes leading to glucose and ketone production. This transcriptional program is regulated by many transcription factors (TFs). To understand how this complex network regulates the metabolic response to fasting, we aimed at isolating the enhancers and TFs dictating it. Measuring chromatin accessibility revealed that fasting massively reorganizes liver chromatin, exposing numerous fasting-induced enhancers. By utilizing computational methods in combination with dissecting enhancer features and TF cistromes, we implicated four key TFs regulating the fasting response: glucocorticoid receptor (GR), cAMP responsive element binding protein 1 (CREB1), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARA), and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (CEBPB). These TFs regulate fuel production by two distinctly operating modules, each controlling a separate metabolic pathway. The gluconeogenic module operates through assisted loading, whereby GR doubles the number of sites occupied by CREB1 as well as enhances CREB1 binding intensity and increases accessibility of CREB1 binding sites. Importantly, this GR-assisted CREB1 binding was enhancer-selective and did not affect all CREB1-bound enhancers. Single-molecule tracking revealed that GR increases the number and DNA residence time of a portion of chromatin-bound CREB1 molecules. These events collectively result in rapid synergistic gene expression and higher hepatic glucose production. Conversely, the ketogenic module operates via a GR-induced TF cascade, whereby PPARA levels are increased following GR activation, facilitating gradual enhancer maturation next to PPARA target genes and delayed ketogenic gene expression. Our findings reveal a complex network of enhancers and TFs that dynamically cooperate to restore homeostasis upon fasting. Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Mind wandering minimizes mind numbing: Reducing semantic-satiation effects through absorptive lapses of attention.

PubMed

Mooneyham, Benjamin W; Schooler, Jonathan W

2016-08-01

Mind wandering is associated with perceptual decoupling: the disengagement of attention from perception. This decoupling is deleterious to performance in many situations; however, we sought to determine whether it might occur in the service of performance in certain circumstances. In two studies, we examined the role of mind wandering in a test of "semantic satiation," a phenomenon in which the repeated presentation of a word reduces semantic priming for a subsequently presented semantic associate. We posited that the attentional and perceptual decoupling associated with mind wandering would reduce the amount of satiation in the semantic representations of repeatedly presented words, thus leading to a reduced semantic-satiation effect. Our results supported this hypothesis: Self-reported mind-wandering episodes (Study 1) and behavioral indices of decoupled attention (Study 2) were both predictive of maintained semantic priming in situations predicted to induce semantic satiation. Additionally, our results suggest that moderate inattention to repetitive stimuli is not sufficient to enable "dishabituation": the refreshment of cognitive performance that results from diverting attention away from the task at hand. Rather, full decoupling is necessary to reap the benefits of mind wandering and to minimize mind numbing.

Decoupled scheme based on the Hermite expansion to construct lattice Boltzmann models for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations with arbitrary specific heat ratio.

PubMed

Hu, Kainan; Zhang, Hongwu; Geng, Shaojuan

2016-10-01

A decoupled scheme based on the Hermite expansion to construct lattice Boltzmann models for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations with arbitrary specific heat ratio is proposed. The local equilibrium distribution function including the rotational velocity of particle is decoupled into two parts, i.e., the local equilibrium distribution function of the translational velocity of particle and that of the rotational velocity of particle. From these two local equilibrium functions, two lattice Boltzmann models are derived via the Hermite expansion, namely one is in relation to the translational velocity and the other is connected with the rotational velocity. Accordingly, the distribution function is also decoupled. After this, the evolution equation is decoupled into the evolution equation of the translational velocity and that of the rotational velocity. The two evolution equations evolve separately. The lattice Boltzmann models used in the scheme proposed by this work are constructed via the Hermite expansion, so it is easy to construct new schemes of higher-order accuracy. To validate the proposed scheme, a one-dimensional shock tube simulation is performed. The numerical results agree with the analytical solutions very well.

A New Hybrid BFOA-PSO Optimization Technique for Decoupling and Robust Control of Two-Coupled Distillation Column Process.

PubMed

Abdelkarim, Noha; Mohamed, Amr E; El-Garhy, Ahmed M; Dorrah, Hassen T

2016-01-01

The two-coupled distillation column process is a physically complicated system in many aspects. Specifically, the nested interrelationship between system inputs and outputs constitutes one of the significant challenges in system control design. Mostly, such a process is to be decoupled into several input/output pairings (loops), so that a single controller can be assigned for each loop. In the frame of this research, the Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC) forms the control structure for each decoupled loop. The paper's main objective is to develop a parameterization technique for decoupling and control schemes, which ensures robust control behavior. In this regard, the novel optimization technique Bacterial Swarm Optimization (BSO) is utilized for the minimization of summation of the integral time-weighted squared errors (ITSEs) for all control loops. This optimization technique constitutes a hybrid between two techniques, which are the Particle Swarm and Bacterial Foraging algorithms. According to the simulation results, this hybridized technique ensures low mathematical burdens and high decoupling and control accuracy. Moreover, the behavior analysis of the proposed BELBIC shows a remarkable improvement in the time domain behavior and robustness over the conventional PID controller.

Effect of Chain Rigidity on the Decoupling of Ion Motion from Segmental Relaxation in Polymerized Ionic Liquids: Ambient and Elevated Pressure Studies

DOE PAGES

Wojnarowska, Zaneta; Feng, Hongbo; Fu, Yao; ...

2017-08-21

Conductivity in polymer electrolytes has been generally discussed with the assumption that the segmental motions control charge transport. However, much less attention has been paid to the mechanism of ion conductivity where the motions of ions are less dependent (decoupled) on segmental dynamics. We present that this phenomenon is observed in ionic materials as they approach their glass transition temperature and becomes essential for design and development of highly conducting solid polymer electrolytes. In this paper, we study the effect of chain rigidity on the decoupling of ion transport from segmental motion in three polymerized ionic liquids (polyILs) containing themore » same cation–anion pair but differing in flexibility of the polymer backbones and side groups. Analysis of dielectric and rheology data reveals that decoupling is strong in vinyl-based rigid polymers while almost negligible in novel siloxane-based flexible polyILs. To explain this behavior, we investigated ion and chain dynamics at ambient and elevated pressure. Our results suggest that decoupling has a direct relationship to the frustration in chain packing and free volume. Finally, these conclusions are also supported by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations.« less

A New Hybrid BFOA-PSO Optimization Technique for Decoupling and Robust Control of Two-Coupled Distillation Column Process

PubMed Central

Mohamed, Amr E.; Dorrah, Hassen T.

2016-01-01

The two-coupled distillation column process is a physically complicated system in many aspects. Specifically, the nested interrelationship between system inputs and outputs constitutes one of the significant challenges in system control design. Mostly, such a process is to be decoupled into several input/output pairings (loops), so that a single controller can be assigned for each loop. In the frame of this research, the Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (BELBIC) forms the control structure for each decoupled loop. The paper's main objective is to develop a parameterization technique for decoupling and control schemes, which ensures robust control behavior. In this regard, the novel optimization technique Bacterial Swarm Optimization (BSO) is utilized for the minimization of summation of the integral time-weighted squared errors (ITSEs) for all control loops. This optimization technique constitutes a hybrid between two techniques, which are the Particle Swarm and Bacterial Foraging algorithms. According to the simulation results, this hybridized technique ensures low mathematical burdens and high decoupling and control accuracy. Moreover, the behavior analysis of the proposed BELBIC shows a remarkable improvement in the time domain behavior and robustness over the conventional PID controller. PMID:27807444

Effect of Chain Rigidity on the Decoupling of Ion Motion from Segmental Relaxation in Polymerized Ionic Liquids: Ambient and Elevated Pressure Studies

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

Wojnarowska, Zaneta; Feng, Hongbo; Fu, Yao

Conductivity in polymer electrolytes has been generally discussed with the assumption that the segmental motions control charge transport. However, much less attention has been paid to the mechanism of ion conductivity where the motions of ions are less dependent (decoupled) on segmental dynamics. We present that this phenomenon is observed in ionic materials as they approach their glass transition temperature and becomes essential for design and development of highly conducting solid polymer electrolytes. In this paper, we study the effect of chain rigidity on the decoupling of ion transport from segmental motion in three polymerized ionic liquids (polyILs) containing themore » same cation–anion pair but differing in flexibility of the polymer backbones and side groups. Analysis of dielectric and rheology data reveals that decoupling is strong in vinyl-based rigid polymers while almost negligible in novel siloxane-based flexible polyILs. To explain this behavior, we investigated ion and chain dynamics at ambient and elevated pressure. Our results suggest that decoupling has a direct relationship to the frustration in chain packing and free volume. Finally, these conclusions are also supported by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations.« less

Optimization of decoupling performance of underwater acoustic coating with cavities via equivalent fluid model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Lingzhi; Xiao, Yong; Wen, Jihong; Zhang, Hao; Wen, Xisen

2018-07-01

Acoustic coatings with periodically arranged internal cavities have been successfully applied in submarines for the purpose of decoupling water from vibration of underwater structures, and thus reducing underwater sound radiation. Previous publications on decoupling acoustic coatings with cavities are mainly focused on the case of coatings with specific shaped cavities, including cylindrical and conical cavities. To explore better decoupling performance, an optimal design of acoustic coating with complex shaped cavities is attempted in this paper. An equivalent fluid model is proposed to characterize coatings with general axisymmetrical cavities. By employing the equivalent fluid model, an analytical vibroacoustic model is further developed for the prediction of sound radiation from an infinite plate covered with an equivalent fluid layer (as a replacement of original coating) and immersed in water. Numerical examples are provided to verify the equivalent fluid model. Based on a combining use of the analytical vibroacoustic model and a differential evolution algorithm, optimal designs for acoustic coatings with cavities are conducted. Numerical results demonstrate that the decoupling performance of acoustic coating can be significantly improved by employing special axisymmetrical cavities as compared to traditional cylindrical cavities.

State policy change: Revenue decoupling in the electricity market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeil, Kytson L.

The study seeks to answer the question, why are states adopting revenue decoupling in the electricity market, by investigating the relationship between policy adoption and attributes of the electricity market, the structure of the state utility commissions, and the political climate of the state. The study examines the period 1978-2008. Two econometric models, the marginal risk set model and the conditional risk set model, are estimated to predict the influence of covariates on the probability of the state adopting revenue decoupling in the electricity market. The models are both variants of the Cox proportional hazard model and use different underlying assumptions about the nature of adoption of revenue decoupling and when the states are considered to be at risk of adoption. Results suggest that market attributes, such as the source of electricity generation in the state, state energy intensity, and the distribution of non-public and public utilities, significantly influence the adoption of the policy. Also, the method of selecting commissioners and the party affiliation of elected officials in the state are important factors. The study concludes by suggestions to improve the implementation and evaluation of revenue decoupling in the electricity markets.

Decoupled systems on trial: Eliminating bottlenecks to improve aquaponic processes.

PubMed

Monsees, Hendrik; Kloas, Werner; Wuertz, Sven

2017-01-01

In classical aquaponics (coupled aquaponic systems, 1-loop systems) the production of fish in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and plants in hydroponics are combined in a single loop, entailing systemic compromises on the optimal production parameters (e.g. pH). Recently presented decoupled aquaponics (2-loop systems) have been awarded for eliminating major bottlenecks. In a pilot study, production in an innovative decoupled aquaponic system was compared with a coupled system and, as a control, a conventional RAS, assessing growth parameters of fish (FCR, SGR) and plants over an experimental period of 5 months. Soluble nutrients (NO3--N, NO2--N, NH4+-N, PO43-, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42-, Cl2- and Fe2+), elemental composition of plants, fish and sludge (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, C), abiotic factors (temperature, pH, oxygen, and conductivity), fertilizer and water consumption were determined. Fruit yield was 36% higher in decoupled aquaponics and pH and fertilizer management was more effective, whereas fish production was comparable in both systems. The results of this pilot study clearly illustrate the main advantages of decoupled, two-loop aquaponics and demonstrate how bottlenecks commonly encountered in coupled aquaponics can be managed to promote application in aquaculture.

High-resolution proton NMR studies of intracellular metabolites in yeast using 13C decoupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sillerud, Laurel O.; Alger, Jeffry R.; Shulman, Robert G.

The resolution and specificity of 1H NMR in studies of yeast cellular metabolism were increased by feeding a 13C-labeled substrate and observing 1H difference spectra in the presence and absence of 13C decoupling fields. [2- 13C]Acetate was utilized as a respiratory substrate in an aerobic suspension of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The broad cellular background proton resonances are removed by the technique, leaving only signals from the protons of the substrate, or its metabolites, that are coupled to 13C. Spectra of the yeast suspension after acetate feeding show the disappearance of label from the acetate pool and the subsequent appearance of 13C in glutamate C 3 and C 4 and in aspartate C 3. These results are in accord with the known fluxes of metabolites. Selective single-frequency 13C decoupling was used to provide assignments for the difference signals. The limitations on single-frequency decoupling coming from finite decoupling fields are investigated. The technique shows a potential for application in a wide variety of systems where the resolution of the 13C spectrum may be combined with the sensitivity for proton detection to observe metabolites that have been previously unobservable.

Whole-Body Insulin Sensitivity Rather than Body-Mass-Index Determines Fasting and Post-Glucose-Load Growth Hormone Concentrations

PubMed Central

Anderwald, Christian-Heinz; Tura, Andrea; Gessl, Alois; Smajis, Sabina; Bieglmayer, Christian; Marculescu, Rodrig; Luger, Anton; Pacini, Giovanni; Krebs, Michael

2014-01-01

Background Obese, non-acromegalic persons show lower growth hormone (GH) concentrations at fasting and reduced GH nadir during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). However, this finding has never been studied with regard to whole-body insulin-sensitivity as a possible regulator. Methods In this retrospective analysis, non-acromegalic (NonACRO, n = 161) and acromegalic (ACRO, n = 35), non-diabetic subjects were subdivided into insulin-sensitive (IS) and –resistant (IR) groups according to the Clamp-like Index (CLIX)-threshold of 5 mg·kg−1·min−1 from the OGTT. Results Non-acromegalic IS (CLIX: 8.8±0.4 mg·kg−1·min−1) persons with similar age and sex distribution, but lower (p<0.001) body-mass-index (BMI = 25±0 kg/m2, 84% females, 56±1 years) had 59% and 70%, respectively, higher (p<0.03) fasting GH and OGTT GH area under the curve concentrations than IR (CLIX: 3.5±0.1 mg·kg−1·min−1, p<0.001) subjects (BMI = 29±1 kg/m2, 73% females, 58±1 years). When comparing on average overweight non-acromegalic IS and IR with similar anthropometry (IS: BMI: 27±0 kg/m2, 82% females, 58±2 years; IR: BMI: 27±0 kg/m2, 71% females, 60±1 years), but different CLIX (IS: 8.7±0.9 vs. IR: 3.8±0.1 mg·kg−1·min−1, p<0.001), the results remained almost the same. In addition, when adjusted for OGTT-mediated glucose rise, GH fall was less pronounced in IR. In contrast, in acromegalic subjects, no difference was found between IS and IR patients with regard to fasting and post-glucose-load GH concentrations. Conclusions Circulating GH concentrations at fasting and during the OGTT are lower in non-acromegalic insulin-resistant subjects. This study seems the first to demonstrate that insulin sensitivity rather than body-mass modulates fasting and post-glucose-load GH concentrations in non-diabetic non–acromegalic subjects. PMID:25517727

Towards a better understanding on how large wood is controlling longitudinal sediment (dis)connectivity in mountain streams - concepts and first results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuchardt, Anne; Pöppl, Ronald; Morche, David

2016-04-01

Large wood (LW) provides various ecological and morphological functions. Recent research has focused on habitat diversity and abundance, effects on channel planforms, pool formation, flow regimes and increased storage of organic matter as well as storage of fine sediment. While LW studies and sediment transport rates are the focus of numerous research questions, the influence of large channel blocking barriers (e.g. LW) and their impact on sediment trapping and decoupling transportation pathways is less studied. This project tries to diminish the obvious gap and deals with the modifications of the sediment connectivity by LW. To investigate the influence of large wood on sediment transporting processes and sediment connectivity, the spatial distribution and characterization of LW (>1 m in length and >10 cm in diameter) in channels is examined by field mapping and dGPS measurements. Channel hydraulic parameters are determined by field measurements of channel long profiles and cross sections. To quantify the direct effects of LW on discharge and bed load transport the flow velocity and bed load up- and downstream of LW is measured using an Ott-Nautilus and a portable Helley-Smith bed load sampler during different water stages. Sediment storages behind LWD accumulations will be monitored with dGPS. While accumulation of sediment indicates in-channel sediment storage and thus disconnection from downstream bed load transport, erosion of sediment evidences downstream sediment connectivity. First results will be presented from two study areas in mountain ranges in Germany (Wetterstein Mountain Range) and Austria (Bohemian Massif).

Impact of reduced anthropogenic emissions and century flood on the phosphorus stock, concentrations and loads in the Upper Danube

PubMed Central

Zoboli, Ottavia; Viglione, Alberto; Rechberger, Helmut; Zessner, Matthias

2015-01-01

Patterns of changes in the concentration of total and soluble reactive phosphorus (TP, SRP) and suspended sediments at different flow levels from 1991 to 2013 in the Austrian Danube are statistically analyzed and related to point and diffuse emissions, as well as to extreme hydrological events. Annual loads are calculated with three methods and their development in time is examined taking into consideration total emissions and hydrological conditions. The reduction of point discharges achieved during the 1990s was well translated into decreasing TP and SRP baseflow concentrations during the same period, but it did not induce any change in the concentrations at higher flow levels nor in the annual transport of TP loads. A sharp and long-lasting decline in TP concentration, affecting all flow levels, took place after a major flood in 2002. It was still visible during another major flood in 2013, which recorded lower TP concentrations than its predecessor. Such decline could not be linked to changes in point or diffuse emissions. This suggests that, as a result of the flood, the river system experienced a significant depletion of its in-stream phosphorus stock and a reduced mobilization of TP rich sediments afterwards. This hypothesis is corroborated by the decoupling of peak phosphorus loads from peak maximum discharges after 2002. These results are highly relevant for the design of monitoring schemes and for the correct interpretation of water quality data in terms of assessing the performance of environmental management measures. PMID:25747371

Multiple estimation channel decoupling and optimization method based on inverse system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Peng; Mu, Rongjun; Zhang, Xin; Deng, Yanpeng

2018-03-01

This paper addressed the intelligent autonomous navigation request of intelligent deformation missile, based on the intelligent deformation missile dynamics and kinematics modeling, navigation subsystem solution method and error modeling, and then focuses on the corresponding data fusion and decision fusion technology, decouples the sensitive channel of the filter input through the inverse system of design dynamics to reduce the influence of sudden change of the measurement information on the filter input. Then carrying out a series of simulation experiments, which verified the feasibility of the inverse system decoupling algorithm effectiveness.

Robust dynamical decoupling for quantum computing and quantum memory.

PubMed

Souza, Alexandre M; Alvarez, Gonzalo A; Suter, Dieter

2011-06-17

Dynamical decoupling (DD) is a popular technique for protecting qubits from the environment. However, unless special care is taken, experimental errors in the control pulses used in this technique can destroy the quantum information instead of preserving it. Here, we investigate techniques for making DD sequences robust against different types of experimental errors while retaining good decoupling efficiency in a fluctuating environment. We present experimental data from solid-state nuclear spin qubits and introduce a new DD sequence that is suitable for quantum computing and quantum memory.

On the design of decoupling controllers for advanced rotorcraft in the hover case

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fan, M. K. H.; Tits, A.; Barlow, J.; Tsing, N. K.; Tischler, M.; Takahashi, M.

1991-01-01

A methodology for design of helicopter control systems is proposed that can account for various types of concurrent specifications: stability, decoupling between longitudinal and lateral motions, handling qualities, and physical limitations of the swashplate motions. This is achieved by synergistic use of analytical techniques (Q-parameterization of all stabilizing controllers, transfer function interpolation) and advanced numerical optimization techniques. The methodology is used to design a controller for the UH-60 helicopter in hover. Good results are achieved for decoupling and handling quality specifications.

A mechanism for decoupling within the oceanic lithosphere revealed in the Troodos ophiolite

USGS Publications Warehouse

Agar, Susan M.; Klitgord, Kim D.

1995-01-01

Contrasting kinematic histories recorded in the sheeted dykes and underlying plutonic rocks of the Troodos ophiolite provide a new perspective on the mechanical evolution of oceanic spreading centres. The kinematic framework of the decoupling zone that partitions deformation between the sheeted dykes and plutonics contrasts with low-angle detachment models for slow-spreading ridges based on continental-rift analogues. A model for the generation of multiple, horizontal decoupling horizons, linked by planar normal faults, demonstrates new possibilities for the kinematic and rheological significance of seismic reflectors in oceanic lithosphere.

Supertrace formulae for nonlinearly realized supersymmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murli, Divyanshu; Yamada, Yusuke

2018-04-01

We derive the general supertrace formula for a system with N chiral superfields and one nilpotent chiral superfield in global and local supersymmetry. The nilpotent multiplet is realized by taking the scalar-decoupling limit of a chiral superfield breaking supersymmetry spontaneously. As we show, however, the modified formula is not simply related to the scalar-decoupling limit of the supertrace in linearly-realized supersymmetry. We also show that the supertrace formula reduces to that of a linearly realized supersymmetric theory with a decoupled sGoldstino if the Goldstino is the fermion in the nilpotent multiplet.

An apparatus for altering the mechanical load of the respiratory system.

PubMed

Younes, M; Bilan, D; Jung, D; Kroker, H

1987-06-01

We describe an apparatus for altering the mechanical load against which the respiratory muscles operate in humans. A closed system incorporates a rolling seal spirometer. The spirometer piston shaft is coupled to a fast-responding linear actuator that develops force in proportion to desired command signals. The command signal may be flow (resistive loading or unloading), volume (elastic loading or unloading), constant voltage (continuous positive or negative pressure), or any external function. Combinations of loads can be applied. Logic circuits permit application of the load at specific times during the respiratory cycle, and the magnitude of the loads is continuously adjustable. Maximum pressure output is +/- 20 cmH2O. The apparatus permits loading or unloading over a range of ventilation extending from resting levels to those observed during high levels of exercise (over 100 l/min). In response to a square-wave input, pressure rises exponentially with a time constant of 20 ms.

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

Doubrawa Moreira, Paula; Annoni, Jennifer; Jonkman, Jason

FAST.Farm is a medium-delity wind farm modeling tool that can be used to assess power and loads contributions of wind turbines in a wind farm. The objective of this paper is to undertake a calibration procedure to set the user parameters of FAST.Farm to accurately represent results from large-eddy simulations. The results provide an in- depth analysis of the comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulations before and after calibration. The comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulation results are presented with respect to streamwise and radial velocity components as well as wake-meandering statistics (mean and standard deviation) in the lateral andmore » vertical directions under different atmospheric and turbine operating conditions.« less

Li-air batteries: Decouple to stabilize

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ji-Jing; Zhang, Xin-Bo

2017-09-01

The utilization of porous carbon cathodes in lithium-air batteries is hindered by their severe decomposition during battery cycling. Now, dual redox mediators are shown to decouple the complex electrochemical reactions at the cathode, avoiding cathode passivation and decomposition.

Multi-faults decoupling on turbo-expander using differential-based ensemble empirical mode decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hongguang; Li, Ming; Li, Cheng; Li, Fucai; Meng, Guang

2017-09-01

This paper dedicates on the multi-faults decoupling of turbo-expander rotor system using Differential-based Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (DEEMD). DEEMD is an improved version of DEMD to resolve the imperfection of mode mixing. The nonlinear behaviors of the turbo-expander considering temperature gradient with crack, rub-impact and pedestal looseness faults are investigated respectively, so that the baseline for the multi-faults decoupling can be established. DEEMD is then utilized on the vibration signals of the rotor system with coupling faults acquired by numerical simulation, and the results indicate that DEEMD can successfully decouple the coupling faults, which is more efficient than EEMD. DEEMD is also applied on the vibration signal of the misalignment coupling with rub-impact fault obtained during the adjustment of the experimental system. The conclusion shows that DEEMD can decompose the practical multi-faults signal and the industrial prospect of DEEMD is verified as well.

Electronically decoupled stacking fault tetrahedra embedded in Au(111) films

PubMed Central

Schouteden, Koen; Amin-Ahmadi, Behnam; Li, Zhe; Muzychenko, Dmitry; Schryvers, Dominique; Van Haesendonck, Chris

2016-01-01

Stacking faults are known as defective structures in crystalline materials that typically lower the structural quality of the material. Here, we show that a particular type of defect, that is, stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs), exhibits pronounced quantized electronic behaviour, revealing a potential synthetic route to decoupled nanoparticles in metal films. We report on the electronic properties of SFTs that exist in Au(111) films, as evidenced by scanning tunnelling microscopy and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. We find that the SFTs reveal a remarkable decoupling from their metal surroundings, leading to pronounced energy level quantization effects within the SFTs. The electronic behaviour of the SFTs can be described well by the particle-in-a-box model. Our findings demonstrate that controlled preparation of SFTs may offer an alternative way to achieve well-decoupled nanoparticles of high crystalline quality in metal thin films without the need of thin insulating layers. PMID:28008910

Electronically decoupled stacking fault tetrahedra embedded in Au(111) films.

PubMed

Schouteden, Koen; Amin-Ahmadi, Behnam; Li, Zhe; Muzychenko, Dmitry; Schryvers, Dominique; Van Haesendonck, Chris

2016-12-23

Stacking faults are known as defective structures in crystalline materials that typically lower the structural quality of the material. Here, we show that a particular type of defect, that is, stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs), exhibits pronounced quantized electronic behaviour, revealing a potential synthetic route to decoupled nanoparticles in metal films. We report on the electronic properties of SFTs that exist in Au(111) films, as evidenced by scanning tunnelling microscopy and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. We find that the SFTs reveal a remarkable decoupling from their metal surroundings, leading to pronounced energy level quantization effects within the SFTs. The electronic behaviour of the SFTs can be described well by the particle-in-a-box model. Our findings demonstrate that controlled preparation of SFTs may offer an alternative way to achieve well-decoupled nanoparticles of high crystalline quality in metal thin films without the need of thin insulating layers.

Coupling and decoupling of the accelerating units for pulsed synchronous linear accelerator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yi; Liu, Yi; Ye, Mao; Zhang, Huang; Wang, Wei; Xia, Liansheng; Wang, Zhiwen; Yang, Chao; Shi, Jinshui; Zhang, Linwen; Deng, Jianjun

2017-12-01

A pulsed synchronous linear accelerator (PSLA), based on the solid-state pulse forming line, photoconductive semiconductor switch, and high gradient insulator technologies, is a novel linear accelerator. During the prototype PSLA commissioning, the energy gain of proton beams was found to be much lower than expected. In this paper, the degradation of the energy gain is explained by the circuit and cavity coupling effect of the accelerating units. The coupling effects of accelerating units are studied, and the circuit topologies of these two kinds of coupling effects are presented. Two methods utilizing inductance and membrane isolations, respectively, are proposed to reduce the circuit coupling effects. The effectiveness of the membrane isolation method is also supported by simulations. The decoupling efficiency of the metal drift tube is also researched. We carried out the experiments on circuit decoupling of the multiple accelerating cavity. The result shows that both circuit decoupling methods could increase the normalized voltage.

Optimally combining dynamical decoupling and quantum error correction.

PubMed

Paz-Silva, Gerardo A; Lidar, D A

2013-01-01

Quantum control and fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) are two of the cornerstones on which the hope of realizing a large-scale quantum computer is pinned, yet only preliminary steps have been taken towards formalizing the interplay between them. Here we explore this interplay using the powerful strategy of dynamical decoupling (DD), and show how it can be seamlessly and optimally integrated with FTQC. To this end we show how to find the optimal decoupling generator set (DGS) for various subspaces relevant to FTQC, and how to simultaneously decouple them. We focus on stabilizer codes, which represent the largest contribution to the size of the DGS, showing that the intuitive choice comprising the stabilizers and logical operators of the code is in fact optimal, i.e., minimizes a natural cost function associated with the length of DD sequences. Our work brings hybrid DD-FTQC schemes, and their potentially considerable advantages, closer to realization.

Optimally combining dynamical decoupling and quantum error correction

PubMed Central

Paz-Silva, Gerardo A.; Lidar, D. A.

2013-01-01

Quantum control and fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) are two of the cornerstones on which the hope of realizing a large-scale quantum computer is pinned, yet only preliminary steps have been taken towards formalizing the interplay between them. Here we explore this interplay using the powerful strategy of dynamical decoupling (DD), and show how it can be seamlessly and optimally integrated with FTQC. To this end we show how to find the optimal decoupling generator set (DGS) for various subspaces relevant to FTQC, and how to simultaneously decouple them. We focus on stabilizer codes, which represent the largest contribution to the size of the DGS, showing that the intuitive choice comprising the stabilizers and logical operators of the code is in fact optimal, i.e., minimizes a natural cost function associated with the length of DD sequences. Our work brings hybrid DD-FTQC schemes, and their potentially considerable advantages, closer to realization. PMID:23559088

Spinning Reserve from Responsive Load

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

Kueck, John D; Kirby, Brendan J; Laughner, T

2009-01-01

As power system costs rise and capacity is strained demand response can provide a significant system reliability benefit at a potentially attractive cost. The 162 room Music Road Hotel in Pigeon Forge Tennessee agreed to host a spinning reserve test. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) supplied real-time metering and monitoring expertise to record total hotel load during both normal operations and testing. Preliminary testing showed that hotel load can be curtailed by 22% to 37% depending on the outdoor temperature and the time of day. The load drop was very rapid, essentially as fast as the 2 second metering couldmore » detect.« less

Fatigue crack growth with single overload - Measurement and modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidson, D. L.; Hudak, S. J., Jr.; Dexter, R. J.

1987-01-01

This paper compares experiments with an analytical model of fatigue crack growth under variable amplitude. The stereoimaging technique was used to measure displacements near the tips of fatigue cracks undergoing simple variations in load amplitude-single overloads and overload/underload combinations. Measured displacements were used to compute strains, and stresses were determined from the strains. Local values of crack driving force (Delta-K effective) were determined using both locally measured opening loads and crack tip opening displacements. Experimental results were compared with simulations made for the same load variation conditions using Newman's FAST-2 model. Residual stresses caused by overloads, crack opening loads, and growth retardation periods were compared.

POSTPROCESSING MIXED FINITE ELEMENT METHODS FOR SOLVING CAHN-HILLIARD EQUATION: METHODS AND ERROR ANALYSIS

PubMed Central

Wang, Wansheng; Chen, Long; Zhou, Jie

2015-01-01

A postprocessing technique for mixed finite element methods for the Cahn-Hilliard equation is developed and analyzed. Once the mixed finite element approximations have been computed at a fixed time on the coarser mesh, the approximations are postprocessed by solving two decoupled Poisson equations in an enriched finite element space (either on a finer grid or a higher-order space) for which many fast Poisson solvers can be applied. The nonlinear iteration is only applied to a much smaller size problem and the computational cost using Newton and direct solvers is negligible compared with the cost of the linear problem. The analysis presented here shows that this technique remains the optimal rate of convergence for both the concentration and the chemical potential approximations. The corresponding error estimate obtained in our paper, especially the negative norm error estimates, are non-trivial and different with the existing results in the literatures. PMID:27110063

Light-induced depigmentation in planarians models the pathophysiology of acute porphyrias.

PubMed

Stubenhaus, Bradford M; Dustin, John P; Neverett, Emily R; Beaudry, Megan S; Nadeau, Leanna E; Burk-McCoy, Ethan; He, Xinwen; Pearson, Bret J; Pellettieri, Jason

2016-05-31

Porphyrias are disorders of heme metabolism frequently characterized by extreme photosensitivity. This symptom results from accumulation of porphyrins, tetrapyrrole intermediates in heme biosynthesis that generate reactive oxygen species when exposed to light, in the skin of affected individuals. Here we report that in addition to producing an ommochrome body pigment, the planarian flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea generates porphyrins in its subepithelial pigment cells under physiological conditions, and that this leads to pigment cell loss when animals are exposed to intense visible light. Remarkably, porphyrin biosynthesis and light-induced depigmentation are enhanced by starvation, recapitulating a common feature of some porphyrias - decreased nutrient intake precipitates an acute manifestation of the disease. Our results establish planarians as an experimentally tractable animal model for research into the pathophysiology of acute porphyrias, and potentially for the identification of novel pharmacological interventions capable of alleviating porphyrin-mediated photosensitivity or decoupling dieting and fasting from disease pathogenesis.

On the conditions of exponential stability in active disturbance rejection control based on singular perturbation analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, S.; Gao, Z.

2017-10-01

Stability of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is analysed in the presence of unknown, nonlinear, and time-varying dynamics. In the framework of singular perturbations, the closed-loop error dynamics are semi-decoupled into a relatively slow subsystem (the feedback loop) and a relatively fast subsystem (the extended state observer), respectively. It is shown, analytically and geometrically, that there exists a unique exponential stable solution if the size of the initial observer error is sufficiently small, i.e. in the same order of the inverse of the observer bandwidth. The process of developing the uniformly asymptotic solution of the system reveals the condition on the stability of the ADRC and the relationship between the rate of change in the total disturbance and the size of the estimation error. The differentiability of the total disturbance is the only assumption made.

Full-wave multiscale anisotropy tomography in Southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yu-Pin; Zhao, Li; Hung, Shu-Huei

2014-12-01

Understanding the spatial variation of anisotropy in the upper mantle is important for characterizing the lithospheric deformation and mantle flow dynamics. In this study, we apply a full-wave approach to image the upper-mantle anisotropy in Southern California using 5954 SKS splitting data. Three-dimensional sensitivity kernels combined with a wavelet-based model parameterization are adopted in a multiscale inversion. Spatial resolution lengths are estimated based on a statistical resolution matrix approach, showing a finest resolution length of ~25 km in regions with densely distributed stations. The anisotropic model displays structural fabric in relation to surface geologic features such as the Salton Trough, the Transverse Ranges, and the San Andreas Fault. The depth variation of anisotropy does not suggest a lithosphere-asthenosphere decoupling. At long wavelengths, the fast directions of anisotropy are aligned with the absolute plate motion inside the Pacific and North American plates.

Tearing mode dynamics and sawtooth oscillation in Hall-MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Zhiwei; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Sheng

2017-10-01

Tearing mode instability is one of the most important dynamic processes in space and laboratory plasmas. Hall effects, resulted from the decoupling of electron and ion motions, could cause the fast development and perturbation structure rotation of the tearing mode and become non-negligible. We independently developed high accuracy nonlinear MHD code (CLT) to study Hall effects on the dynamic evolution of tearing modes with Tokamak geometries. It is found that the rotation frequency of the mode in the electron diamagnetic direction is in a good agreement with analytical prediction. The linear growth rate increases with increase of the ion inertial length, which is contradictory to analytical solution in the slab geometry. We further find that the self-consistently generated rotation largely alters the dynamic behavior of the double tearing mode and the sawtooth oscillation. National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China under Grant No. 2013GB104004 and 2013GB111004.

Biredox ionic liquids with solid-like redox density in the liquid state for high-energy supercapacitors.

PubMed

Mourad, Eléonore; Coustan, Laura; Lannelongue, Pierre; Zigah, Dodzi; Mehdi, Ahmad; Vioux, André; Freunberger, Stefan A; Favier, Frédéric; Fontaine, Olivier

2017-04-01

Kinetics of electrochemical reactions are several orders of magnitude slower in solids than in liquids as a result of the much lower ion diffusivity. Yet, the solid state maximizes the density of redox species, which is at least two orders of magnitude lower in liquids because of solubility limitations. With regard to electrochemical energy storage devices, this leads to high-energy batteries with limited power and high-power supercapacitors with a well-known energy deficiency. For such devices the ideal system should endow the liquid state with a density of redox species close to the solid state. Here we report an approach based on biredox ionic liquids to achieve bulk-like redox density at liquid-like fast kinetics. The cation and anion of these biredox ionic liquids bear moieties that undergo very fast reversible redox reactions. As a first demonstration of their potential for high-capacity/high-rate charge storage, we used them in redox supercapacitors. These ionic liquids are able to decouple charge storage from an ion-accessible electrode surface, by storing significant charge in the pores of the electrodes, to minimize self-discharge and leakage current as a result of retaining the redox species in the pores, and to raise working voltage due to their wide electrochemical window.

H-BLAST: a fast protein sequence alignment toolkit on heterogeneous computers with GPUs.

PubMed

Ye, Weicai; Chen, Ying; Zhang, Yongdong; Xu, Yuesheng

2017-04-15

The sequence alignment is a fundamental problem in bioinformatics. BLAST is a routinely used tool for this purpose with over 118 000 citations in the past two decades. As the size of bio-sequence databases grows exponentially, the computational speed of alignment softwares must be improved. We develop the heterogeneous BLAST (H-BLAST), a fast parallel search tool for a heterogeneous computer that couples CPUs and GPUs, to accelerate BLASTX and BLASTP-basic tools of NCBI-BLAST. H-BLAST employs a locally decoupled seed-extension algorithm for better performance on GPUs, and offers a performance tuning mechanism for better efficiency among various CPUs and GPUs combinations. H-BLAST produces identical alignment results as NCBI-BLAST and its computational speed is much faster than that of NCBI-BLAST. Speedups achieved by H-BLAST over sequential NCBI-BLASTP (resp. NCBI-BLASTX) range mostly from 4 to 10 (resp. 5 to 7.2). With 2 CPU threads and 2 GPUs, H-BLAST can be faster than 16-threaded NCBI-BLASTX. Furthermore, H-BLAST is 1.5-4 times faster than GPU-BLAST. https://github.com/Yeyke/H-BLAST.git. yux06@syr.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Multigranular integrated services optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Oliver; Yin, Leping; Xu, Huan; Liao, Ming

2006-12-01

Based on all-optical switches without requiring fiber delay lines and optical-electrical-optical interfaces, the multigranular optical switching (MGOS) network integrates three transport services via unified core control to efficiently support bursty and stream traffic of subwavelength to multiwavelength bandwidth. Adaptive robust optical burst switching (AR-OBS) aggregates subwavelength burst traffic into asynchronous light-rate bursts, transported via slotted-time light paths established by fast two-way reservation with robust blocking recovery control. Multiwavelength optical switching (MW-OS) decomposes multiwavelength stream traffic into a group of timing-related light-rate streams, transported via a light-path group to meet end-to-end delay-variation requirements. Optical circuit switching (OCS) simply converts wavelength stream traffic from an electrical-rate into a light-rate stream. The MGOS network employs decoupled routing, wavelength, and time-slot assignment (RWTA) and novel group routing and wavelength assignment (GRWA) to select slotted-time light paths and light-path groups, respectively. The selected resources are reserved by the unified multigranular robust fast optical reservation protocol (MG-RFORP). Simulation results show that elastic traffic is efficiently supported via AR-OBS in terms of loss rate and wavelength utilization, while connection-oriented wavelength traffic is efficiently supported via wavelength-routed OCS in terms of connection blocking and wavelength utilization. The GRWA-tuning result for MW-OS is also shown.

Optically transmitted and inductively coupled electric reference to access in vivo concentrations for quantitative proton-decoupled ¹³C magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

PubMed

Chen, Xing; Pavan, Matteo; Heinzer-Schweizer, Susanne; Boesiger, Peter; Henning, Anke

2012-01-01

This report describes our efforts on quantification of tissue metabolite concentrations in mM by nuclear Overhauser enhanced and proton decoupled (13) C magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the Electric Reference To access In vivo Concentrations (ERETIC) method. Previous work showed that a calibrated synthetic magnetic resonance spectroscopy-like signal transmitted through an optical fiber and inductively coupled into a transmit/receive coil represents a reliable reference standard for in vivo (1) H magnetic resonance spectroscopy quantification on a clinical platform. In this work, we introduce a related implementation that enables simultaneous proton decoupling and ERETIC-based metabolite quantification and hence extends the applicability of the ERETIC method to nuclear Overhauser enhanced and proton decoupled in vivo (13) C magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In addition, ERETIC signal stability under the influence of simultaneous proton decoupling is investigated. The proposed quantification method was cross-validated against internal and external reference standards on human skeletal muscle. The ERETIC signal intensity stability was 100.65 ± 4.18% over 3 months including measurements with and without proton decoupling. Glycogen and unsaturated fatty acid concentrations measured with the ERETIC method were in excellent agreement with internal creatine and external phantom reference methods, showing a difference of 1.85 ± 1.21% for glycogen and 1.84 ± 1.00% for unsaturated fatty acid between ERETIC and creatine-based quantification, whereas the deviations between external reference and creatine-based quantification are 6.95 ± 9.52% and 3.19 ± 2.60%, respectively. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Circulating linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid and glucose metabolism: the Hoorn Study.

PubMed

Cabout, Mieke; Alssema, Marjan; Nijpels, Giel; Stehouwer, Coen D A; Zock, Peter L; Brouwer, Ingeborg A; Elshorbagy, Amany K; Refsum, Helga; Dekker, Jacqueline M

2017-09-01

Data on the relation between linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk are scarce and inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of serum LA and ALA with fasting and 2 h post-load plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). This study included 667 participants from third examination (2000) of the population-based Hoorn study in which individuals with glucose intolerance were overrepresented. Fatty acid profiles in serum total lipids were measured at baseline, in 2000. Diabetes risk markers were measured at baseline and follow-up in 2008. Linear regression models were used in cross-sectional and prospective analyses. In cross-sectional analyses (n = 667), serum LA was inversely associated with plasma glucose, both in fasting conditions (B = -0.024 [-0.045, -0.002]) and 2 h after glucose tolerance test (B = -0.099 [-0.158, -0.039]), but not with HbA1c (B = 0.000 [-0.014, 0.013]), after adjustment for relevant factors. In prospective analyses (n = 257), serum LA was not associated with fasting (B = 0.003 [-0.019, 0.025]) or post-load glucose (B = -0.026 [-0.100, 0.049]). Furthermore, no significant associations were found between serum ALA and glucose metabolism in cross-sectional or prospective analyses. In this study, serum LA was inversely associated with fasting and post-load glucose in cross-sectional, but not in prospective analyses. Further studies are needed to elucidate the exact role of serum LA and ALA levels and dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids in glucose metabolism.

Carrier characteristics influence the kinetics of passive drug loading into lipid nanoemulsions.

PubMed

Göke, Katrin; Bunjes, Heike

2018-05-01

Passive loading as a novel screening approach is a material-saving tool for the efficient selection of a suitable colloidal lipid carrier system for poorly water soluble drug candidates. This method comprises incubation of preformed carrier systems with drug powder and subsequent determination of the resulting drug load of the carrier particles after removal of excess drug. For reliable routine use and to obtain meaningful loading results, information on the kinetics of the process is required. Passive loading proceeds via a dissolution-diffusion-based mechanism, where drug surface area and drug water solubility are key parameters for fast passive loading. While the influence of the drug characteristics is mostly understood, the influence of the carrier characteristics remains unknown. The aim of this study was to examine how the lipid nanocarriers' characteristics, i.e. the type of lipid, the lipid content and the particle size, influence the kinetics of passive loading. Fenofibrate was used as model drug and the loading progress was analyzed by UV spectroscopy. The saturation solubility in the nanocarrier particles, i.e. the lipid type, did not influence the passive loading rate constant. Low lipid content in the nanocarrier and a small nanocarrier particle size both increased passive loading speed. Both variations increase the diffusivity of the nanocarrier particles, which is the primary cause for fast loading at these conditions: The quicker the carrier particles diffuse, the higher is the speed of passive loading. The influence of the diffusivity of the lipid nanocarriers and the effect of drug dissolution rate were included in an overall mechanistic model developed for similar processes (A. Balakrishnan, B.D. Rege, G.L. Amidon, J.E. Polli, Surfactant-mediated dissolution: contributions of solubility enhancement and relatively low micelle diffusivity, J. Pharm. Sci. 93 (2004) 2064-2075). The resulting mechanistic model gave a good estimate of the speed of passive loading in nanoemulsions. Whilst the drug's characteristics - apart from drug surface area - are basically fixed, the lipid nanocarriers can be customized to improve passive loading speed, e.g. by using small nanocarrier particles. The knowledge of the loading mechanism now allows the use of passive loading for the straightforward, material-saving selection of suitable lipid drug nanocarriers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimization of mass spectrometric parameters improve the identification performance of capillary zone electrophoresis for single-shot bottom-up proteomics analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhenbin; Dovichi, Norman J

2018-02-25

The effects of MS1 injection time, MS2 injection time, dynamic exclusion time, intensity threshold, and isolation width were investigated on the numbers of peptide and protein identifications for single-shot bottom-up proteomics analysis using CZE-MS/MS analysis of a Xenopus laevis tryptic digest. An electrokinetically pumped nanospray interface was used to couple a linear-polyacrylamide coated capillary to a Q Exactive HF mass spectrometer. A sensitive method that used a 1.4 Th isolation width, 60,000 MS2 resolution, 110 ms MS2 injection time, and a top 7 fragmentation produced the largest number of identifications when the CZE loading amount was less than 100 ng. A programmable autogain control method (pAGC) that used a 1.4 Th isolation width, 15,000 MS2 resolution, 110 ms MS2 injection time, and top 10 fragmentation produced the largest number of identifications for CZE loading amounts greater than 100 ng; 7218 unique peptides and 1653 protein groups were identified from 200 ng by using the pAGC method. The effect of mass spectrometer conditions on the performance of UPLC-MS/MS was also investigated. A fast method that used a 1.4 Th isolation width, 30,000 MS2 resolution, 45 ms MS2 injection time, and top 12 fragmentation produced the largest number of identifications for 200 ng UPLC loading amount (6025 unique peptides and 1501 protein groups). This is the first report where the identification number for CZE surpasses that of the UPLC at the 200 ng loading level. However, more peptides (11476) and protein groups (2378) were identified by using UPLC-MS/MS when the sample loading amount was increased to 2 μg with the fast method. To exploit the fast scan speed of the Q-Exactive HF mass spectrometer, higher sample loading amounts are required for single-shot bottom-up proteomics analysis using CZE-MS/MS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Disturbance decoupling, decentralized control and the Riccati equation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garzia, M. R.; Loparo, K. A.; Martin, C. F.

1981-01-01

The disturbance decoupling and optimal decentralized control problems are looked at using identical mathematical techniques. A statement of the problems and the development of their solution approach is presented. Preliminary results are given for the optimal decentralized control problem.

Maximized gust loads for a nonlinear airplane using matched filter theory and constrained optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scott, Robert C.; Pototzky, Anthony S.; Perry, Boyd, III

1991-01-01

Two matched filter theory based schemes are described and illustrated for obtaining maximized and time correlated gust loads for a nonlinear aircraft. The first scheme is computationally fast because it uses a simple 1-D search procedure to obtain its answers. The second scheme is computationally slow because it uses a more complex multi-dimensional search procedure to obtain its answers, but it consistently provides slightly higher maximum loads than the first scheme. Both schemes are illustrated with numerical examples involving a nonlinear control system.

Maximized gust loads for a nonlinear airplane using matched filter theory and constrained optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scott, Robert C.; Perry, Boyd, III; Pototzky, Anthony S.

1991-01-01

This paper describes and illustrates two matched-filter-theory based schemes for obtaining maximized and time-correlated gust-loads for a nonlinear airplane. The first scheme is computationally fast because it uses a simple one-dimensional search procedure to obtain its answers. The second scheme is computationally slow because it uses a more complex multidimensional search procedure to obtain its answers, but it consistently provides slightly higher maximum loads than the first scheme. Both schemes are illustrated with numerical examples involving a nonlinear control system.

Study on a new self-sensing magnetorheological elastomer bearing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Rui; Zhou, Mengjiao; Wang, Minglian; Yang, Ping-an

2018-06-01

The complexity of a semi-active vibration isolation system results in the difficulty of realizing its role on impact load effectively. Thus, a new self-sensing bearing based on modified anisotropic magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is proposed in this study. This self-sensing bearing was fabricated by dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes and carbonyl iron particles into polydimethylsiloxane matrix under a magnetic field. The working conditions of the bearing were analyzed and decoupled. An optimal structure size of the bearing was selected and used for setting up the experiment test system. The self-sensing characteristic of the MRE bearing under the multi-field coupling of load and magnetic fields was then investigated by this test system. Results showed that the resistance of the modified MRE, in which a preload was applied by the bearing, could change approximately 28%-56% under extrusion force, mechanical force, and external magnetic field. The vibration isolation performance was tested based on the self-sensing characteristic. The bearing had excellent mechanical properties, which could reduce at least 30% of vibration. Thus, the modified MRE of the magnetorheological elastomer bearing could be simultaneously used as an actuator and a sensor.

Analysis of the phase control of the ITER ICRH antenna array. Influence on the load resilience and radiated power spectrum

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

Messiaen, A., E-mail: a.messiaen@fz-juelich.de; Ongena, J.; Vervier, M.

2015-12-10

The paper analyses how the phasing of the ITER ICRH 24 strap array evolves from the power sources up to the strap currents of the antenna. The study of the phasing control and coherence through the feeding circuits with prematching and automatic matching and decoupling network is made by modeling starting from the TOPICA matrix of the antenna array for a low coupling plasma profile and for current drive phasing (worst case for mutual coupling effects). The main results of the analysis are: (i) the strap current amplitude is well controlled by the antinode V{sub max} amplitude of the feedingmore » lines, (ii) the best toroidal phasing control is done by the adjustment of the mean phase of V{sub max} of each poloidal straps column, (iii) with well adjusted system the largest strap current phasing error is ±20°, (iv) the effect on load resilience remains well below the maximum affordable VSWR of the generators, (v) the effect on the radiated power spectrum versus k{sub //} computed by means of the coupling code ANTITER II remains small for the considered cases.« less

Progress on ITER Diagnostic Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, David; Feder, Russ; Klabacha, Jonathan; Loesser, Doug; Messineo, Mike; Stratton, Brentley; Wood, Rick; Zhai, Yuhu; Andrew, Phillip; Barnsley, Robin; Bertschinger, Guenter; Debock, Maarten; Reichle, Roger; Udintsev, Victor; Vayakis, George; Watts, Christopher; Walsh, Michael

2013-10-01

On ITER, front-end components must operate reliably in a hostile environment. Many will be housed in massive port plugs, which also shield the machine from radiation. Multiple diagnostics reside in a single plug, presenting new challenges for developers. Front-end components must tolerate thermally-induced stresses, disruption-induced mechanical loads, stray ECH radiation, displacement damage, and degradation due to plasma-induced coatings. The impact of failures is amplified due to the difficulty in performing robotic maintenance on these large structures. Motivated by needs to minimize disruption loads on the plugs, standardize the handling of shield modules, and decouple the parallel efforts of the many parties, the packaging strategy for diagnostics has recently focused on the use of 3 vertical shield modules inserted from the plasma side into each equatorial plug structure. At the front of each is a detachable first wall element with customized apertures. Progress on US equatorial and upper plugs will be used as examples, including the layout of components in the interspace and port cell regions. Supported by PPPL under contract DE-AC02-09CH11466 and UT-Battelle, LLC under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. DOE.

Gear fatigue crack prognosis using embedded model, gear dynamic model and fracture mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, C. James; Lee, Hyungdae

2005-07-01

This paper presents a model-based method that predicts remaining useful life of a gear with a fatigue crack. The method consists of an embedded model to identify gear meshing stiffness from measured gear torsional vibration, an inverse method to estimate crack size from the estimated meshing stiffness; a gear dynamic model to simulate gear meshing dynamics and determine the dynamic load on the cracked tooth; and a fast crack propagation model to forecast the remaining useful life based on the estimated crack size and dynamic load. The fast crack propagation model was established to avoid repeated calculations of FEM and facilitate field deployment of the proposed method. Experimental studies were conducted to validate and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method for prognosis of a cracked gear.

Stress wave calculations in composite plates using the fast Fourier transform.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moon, F. C.

1973-01-01

The protection of composite turbine fan blades against impact forces has prompted the study of dynamic stresses in composites due to transient loads. The mathematical model treats the laminated plate as an equivalent anisotropic material. The use of Mindlin's approximate theory of crystal plates results in five two-dimensional stress waves. Three of the waves are flexural and two involve in-plane extensional strains. The initial value problem due to a transient distributed transverse force on the plate is solved using Laplace and Fourier transforms. A fast computer program for inverting the two-dimensional Fourier transform is used. Stress contours for various stresses and times after application of load are obtained for a graphite fiber-epoxy matrix composite plate. Results indicate that the points of maximum stress travel along the fiber directions.

Simple Fabrication of a Highly Sensitive and Fast Glucose Biosensor using Enzyme Immobilized in Mesocellular Carbon Foam

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

Lee, Dohoon; Lee, Jinwoo; Kim, Jungbae

2005-12-05

We fabricated a highly sensitive and fast glucose biosensor by simply immobilizing glucose oxidase in mesocellular carbon foam. Due to its unique structure, the MSU-F-C enabled high enzyme loading without serious mass transfer limitation, resulting in high catalytic efficiency. As a result, the glucose biosensor fabricated with MSU-F-C/GOx showed a high sensitivity and fast response. Given these results and the inherent electrical conductivity, we anticipate that MSU-F-C will make a useful matrix for enzyme immobilization in various biocatalytic and electrobiocatalytic applications.

On the anomaly of velocity-pressure decoupling in collocated mesh solutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Sang-Wook; Vanoverbeke, Thomas

1991-01-01

The use of various pressure correction algorithms originally developed for fully staggered meshes can yield a velocity-pressure decoupled solution for collocated meshes. The mechanism that causes velocity-pressure decoupling is identified. It is shown that the use of a partial differential equation for the incremental pressure eliminates such a mechanism and yields a velocity-pressure coupled solution. Example flows considered are a three dimensional lid-driven cavity flow and a laminar flow through a 90 deg bend square duct. Numerical results obtained using the collocated mesh are in good agreement with the measured data and other numerical results.

Protected quantum computing: interleaving gate operations with dynamical decoupling sequences.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingfu; Souza, Alexandre M; Brandao, Frederico Dias; Suter, Dieter

2014-02-07

Implementing precise operations on quantum systems is one of the biggest challenges for building quantum devices in a noisy environment. Dynamical decoupling attenuates the destructive effect of the environmental noise, but so far, it has been used primarily in the context of quantum memories. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a general scheme for combining dynamical decoupling with quantum logical gate operations using the example of an electron-spin qubit of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We achieve process fidelities >98% for gate times that are 2 orders of magnitude longer than the unprotected dephasing time T2.

Digital controller design: Analysis of the annular suspension pointing system. [analog controllers with feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuo, B. C.

1978-01-01

The analog controllers of the annular suspension pointing system are designed for control of the chi, phi sub 1, and phi sub 2 bandwidth dynamics through decoupling and pole placement. Since it is virtually impossible to find an equivalent bandwidth of the overall system and establish a general eigenvalue requirement for the system, the subsystem dynamics are decoupled through state feedback and the poles are placed simultaneously to realize the desired bandwidths for the three system components. Decoupling and pole placement are also used to design the closed-loop digital system through approximation.

Analytical Methods of Decoupling the Automotive Engine Torque Roll Axis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

JEONG, TAESEOK; SINGH, RAJENDRA

2000-06-01

This paper analytically examines the multi-dimensional mounting schemes of an automotive engine-gearbox system when excited by oscillating torques. In particular, the issue of torque roll axis decoupling is analyzed in significant detail since it is poorly understood. New dynamic decoupling axioms are presented an d compared with the conventional elastic axis mounting and focalization methods. A linear time-invariant system assumption is made in addition to a proportionally damped system. Only rigid-body modes of the powertrain are considered and the chassis elements are assumed to be rigid. Several simplified physical systems are considered and new closed-form solutions for symmetric and asymmetric engine-mounting systems are developed. These clearly explain the design concepts for the 4-point mounting scheme. Our analytical solutions match with the existing design formulations that are only applicable to symmetric geometries. Spectra for all six rigid-body motions are predicted using the alternate decoupling methods and the closed-form solutions are verified. Also, our method is validated by comparing modal solutions with prior experimental and analytical studies. Parametric design studies are carried out to illustrate the methodology. Chief contributions of this research include the development of new or refined analytical models and closed-form solutions along with improved design strategies for the torque roll axis decoupling.

Nonlinear Decoupling Control With ANFIS-Based Unmodeled Dynamics Compensation for a Class of Complex Industrial Processes.

PubMed

Zhang, Yajun; Chai, Tianyou; Wang, Hong; Wang, Dianhui; Chen, Xinkai

2018-06-01

Complex industrial processes are multivariable and generally exhibit strong coupling among their control loops with heavy nonlinear nature. These make it very difficult to obtain an accurate model. As a result, the conventional and data-driven control methods are difficult to apply. Using a twin-tank level control system as an example, a novel multivariable decoupling control algorithm with adaptive neural-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)-based unmodeled dynamics (UD) compensation is proposed in this paper for a class of complex industrial processes. At first, a nonlinear multivariable decoupling controller with UD compensation is introduced. Different from the existing methods, the decomposition estimation algorithm using ANFIS is employed to estimate the UD, and the desired estimating and decoupling control effects are achieved. Second, the proposed method does not require the complicated switching mechanism which has been commonly used in the literature. This significantly simplifies the obtained decoupling algorithm and its realization. Third, based on some new lemmas and theorems, the conditions on the stability and convergence of the closed-loop system are analyzed to show the uniform boundedness of all the variables. This is then followed by the summary on experimental tests on a heavily coupled nonlinear twin-tank system that demonstrates the effectiveness and the practicability of the proposed method.

Decoupling control of vehicle chassis system based on neural network inverse system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chunyan; Zhao, Wanzhong; Luan, Zhongkai; Gao, Qi; Deng, Ke

2018-06-01

Steering and suspension are two important subsystems affecting the handling stability and riding comfort of the chassis system. In order to avoid the interference and coupling of the control channels between active front steering (AFS) and active suspension subsystems (ASS), this paper presents a composite decoupling control method, which consists of a neural network inverse system and a robust controller. The neural network inverse system is composed of a static neural network with several integrators and state feedback of the original chassis system to approach the inverse system of the nonlinear systems. The existence of the inverse system for the chassis system is proved by the reversibility derivation of Interactor algorithm. The robust controller is based on the internal model control (IMC), which is designed to improve the robustness and anti-interference of the decoupled system by adding a pre-compensation controller to the pseudo linear system. The results of the simulation and vehicle test show that the proposed decoupling controller has excellent decoupling performance, which can transform the multivariable system into a number of single input and single output systems, and eliminate the mutual influence and interference. Furthermore, it has satisfactory tracking capability and robust performance, which can improve the comprehensive performance of the chassis system.

Decoupled systems on trial: Eliminating bottlenecks to improve aquaponic processes

PubMed Central

Kloas, Werner; Wuertz, Sven

2017-01-01

In classical aquaponics (coupled aquaponic systems, 1-loop systems) the production of fish in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and plants in hydroponics are combined in a single loop, entailing systemic compromises on the optimal production parameters (e.g. pH). Recently presented decoupled aquaponics (2-loop systems) have been awarded for eliminating major bottlenecks. In a pilot study, production in an innovative decoupled aquaponic system was compared with a coupled system and, as a control, a conventional RAS, assessing growth parameters of fish (FCR, SGR) and plants over an experimental period of 5 months. Soluble nutrients (NO3--N, NO2--N, NH4+-N, PO43-, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42-, Cl2- and Fe2+), elemental composition of plants, fish and sludge (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, C), abiotic factors (temperature, pH, oxygen, and conductivity), fertilizer and water consumption were determined. Fruit yield was 36% higher in decoupled aquaponics and pH and fertilizer management was more effective, whereas fish production was comparable in both systems. The results of this pilot study clearly illustrate the main advantages of decoupled, two-loop aquaponics and demonstrate how bottlenecks commonly encountered in coupled aquaponics can be managed to promote application in aquaculture. PMID:28957357

Minor Actinides-Loaded FBR Core Concept Suitable for the Introductory Period in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujimura, Koji; Sasahira, Akira; Yamashita, Junichi; Fukasawa, Tetsuo; Hoshino, Kuniyoshi

According to the Japan's Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy(1), a basic scenario for fast breeder reactors (FBRs) is that they will be introduced on a commercial basis starting around 2050 replacing light water reactors (LWRs). During the FBR introduction period, the Pu from LWR spent fuel is used for FBR startup. Howerver, the FBR core loaded with this Pu has a larger burnup reactivity due to its larger isotopic content of Pu-241 than a core loaded with Pu from an FBR multi-recycling core. The increased burnup reactivity may reduce the cycle length of an FBR. We investigated, an FBR transitional core concept to confront the issues of the FBR introductory period in Japan. Core specifications are based on the compact-type sodium-cooled mixed oxide (MOX)-fueled core designed from the Japanese FBR cycle feasibility studies, because lower Pu inventory should be better for the FBR introductory period in view of its flexibility for the required reprocessing amount of LWR spent fuel to start up FBRs. The reference specifications were selected as follows. Output of 1500MWe and average discharge fuel burnup of about 150GWd/t. Minor Actinides (MAs) recovered from LWR spent fuels which provide Pu to startup FBRs are loaded to the initial loading fuels and exchanged fuels during few cycles until equilibrium. We made the MA content of the initial loading fuel four kinds like 0%, 3%, 4%, 5%. The average of the initial loading fuel is assumed to be 3%, and that of the exchange fuel is set as 5%. This 5% maximum of the MA content is based on the irradiation results of the experimental fast reactor Joyo. We evaluated the core performances including burnup characteristics and the reactivity coefficient and confirmed that transitional core from initial loading until equilibrium cycle with loaded Pu from LWR spent fuel performs similary to an FBR multi-recycling core.

A novel approach to model the transient behavior of solid-oxide fuel cell stacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menon, Vikram; Janardhanan, Vinod M.; Tischer, Steffen; Deutschmann, Olaf

2012-09-01

This paper presents a novel approach to model the transient behavior of solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks in two and three dimensions. A hierarchical model is developed by decoupling the temperature of the solid phase from the fluid phase. The solution of the temperature field is considered as an elliptic problem, while each channel within the stack is modeled as a marching problem. This paper presents the numerical model and cluster algorithm for coupling between the solid phase and fluid phase. For demonstration purposes, results are presented for a stack operated on pre-reformed hydrocarbon fuel. Transient response to load changes is studied by introducing step changes in cell potential and current. Furthermore, the effect of boundary conditions and stack materials on response time and internal temperature distribution is investigated.

Molecular dynamics simulations of metallic friction and of its dependence on electric currents - development and first results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meintanis, Evangelos Anastasios

We have extended the HOLA molecular dynamics (MD) code to run slider-on-block friction experiments for Al and Cu. Both objects are allowed to evolve freely and show marked deformation despite the hardness difference. We recover realistic coefficients of friction and verify the importance of cold-welding and plastic deformations in dry sliding friction. Our first data also show a mechanism for decoupling between load and friction at high velocities. Such a mechanism can explain an increase in the coefficient of friction of metals with velocity. The study of the effects of currents on our system required the development of a suitable electrodynamic (ED) solver, as the disparity of MD and ED time scales threatened the efficiency of our code. Our first simulations combining ED and MD are presented.

Control of fast elbow movement: a study of electromyographic patterns during movements against unexpectedly decreased inertial load.

PubMed

Latash, M L

1994-01-01

Predictions of three models of single-joint motor control were compared with experimental observations of the changes in electromyographic (EMG) patterns during fast voluntary movements against an unexpectedly reduced inertial load. The subjects performed elbow flexions over 40 degrees "as fast as possible" in two series. During the first series, an approximately 40% decrease in inertia, simulated by a torque-motor, might occur unpredictably on half of the trials (unloaded trials). During the second series, all the trials were unloaded. The major findings are: (1) no differences in the antagonist burst latency in unexpectedly unloaded and unperturbed trials; (2) a decrease in the antagonist latency during expected unloadings; (3) a small, statistically non significant decrease in the first agonist burst EMG integral; and (4) a larger, statistically significant increase in the antagonist burst EMG integral in unexpectedly unloaded trials as compared to unperturbed trials. The data are in good correspondence with a version of the equilibrium-point hypothesis that assumes central programming of the beginning of the antagonist burst and incorporates the possibility of reflex-induced changes in EMG amplitudes.

Catalytic fast pyrolysis of durian rind using silica-alumina catalyst: Effects of pyrolysis parameters.

PubMed

Tan, Y L; Abdullah, A Z; Hameed, B H

2018-05-18

Silica-alumina catalyst was prepared and used in the catalytic fast pyrolysis of durian rind in a drop-type two-stage reactor. The effects of catalytic temperature (400 °C-600 °C) and catalyst-to-durian rind ratio (1:30-3:30) were evaluated. Bio-oil yield was increased with increased catalytic temperature due to considerable dehydration process, but it was reduced with high catalyst loading due to the overcracking of organics into light gases. Silica-alumina catalyst possessed good selectivity and the products changed according to the temperature. The major components in bio-oil were hydrocarbons, furan derivatives, and aromatic compounds at 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C, respectively. The hydrogen and carbon contents of bio-oil were reduced with high catalyst loading due to the overcracking of organics, and the deoxygenation process became unfavorable. The silica-alumina catalyst worked well in catalytic fast pyrolysis of durian rind, and the condition may be adjusted based on the desired products. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated assembly of microfluidic "lab-on-a-disc"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, M.; Müller, T.; Voebel, T.; Baum, C.; Glennon, T.; Mishra, R.; Kinahan, D.; King, D.; Ducrée, J.; Brecher, C.

2018-02-01

Point-of-care (POC) testing attracts more and more attention in the medical health sector because of their specific property to perform the diagnostic close to the patient. The fast diagnosis right at the hospital or the doctor's office improves the medical reaction time and the chances for a successful healing process. One of this POC test systems is a "Lab-on-a-Disc" (LoaD) which looks like a compact disc crisscrossed with microfluidic tubes and cavities. The fluid to be analysed is placed in the LoaD and an external device then rotates the LoaD. The cavities inside the LoaD and the centrifugal force ensure a clearly defined sequence of the analysis. Furthermore, we aim for an inexpensive manufacture of the medical product without neglecting its quality and functionality. Therefore, the Fraunhofer IPT works on an assembly cell to implement dissoluble films concisely into the disc. This dissoluble film demonstrates its successful usage as a gate for the fluid, which opens after a predefined moment in the cycle. Furthermore, we investigate to integrate a laser welding process into our gantry system and demonstrate its efficiency with the welding of polymer discs. This procedure is clinically safe because no further laser absorption material is needed in the sealing process, which might pollute the LoaD. Moreover, this process allows the alignment of several discs before the welding and therefore leads to precisely manufactured LoaDs in large quantities. All these methods together enable a fast, costefficient and reliable mass production to bring POC testing among the people.

Low-power lead-cooled fast reactor loaded with MOX-fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitdikov, E. R.; Terekhova, A. M.

2017-01-01

Fast reactor for the purpose of implementation of research, education of undergraduate and doctoral students in handling innovative fast reactors and training specialists for atomic research centers and nuclear power plants (BRUTs) was considered. Hard neutron spectrum achieved in the fast reactor with compact core and lead coolant. Possibility of prompt neutron runaway of the reactor is excluded due to the low reactivity margin which is less than the effective fraction of delayed neutrons. The possibility of using MOX fuel in the BRUTs reactor was examined. The effect of Keff growth connected with replacement of natural lead coolant to 208Pb coolant was evaluated. The calculations and reactor core model were performed using the Serpent Monte Carlo code.

Turbulence and Radiation in Stratocumulus-Topped Marine Boundary Layers: A Case Study from VOCALS-REx

DOE PAGES

Ghate, Virendra P.; Albrecht, Bruce A.; Miller, Mark A.; ...

2014-01-13

Observations made during a 24-h period as part of the Variability of the American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS) Ocean–Cloud–Atmosphere–Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) are analyzed to study the radiation and turbulence associated with the stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layer (BL). The first 14 h exhibited a well-mixed (coupled) BL with an average cloud-top radiative flux divergence of ~130 W m 22; the BL was decoupled during the last 10 h with negligible radiative flux divergence. The averaged radiative cooling very close to the cloud top was -9.04 K h -1 in coupled conditions and -3.85 K h -1 in decoupled conditions. Thismore » is the first study that combined data from a vertically pointing Doppler cloud radar and a Doppler lidar to yield the vertical velocity structure of the entire BL. The averaged vertical velocity variance and updraft mass flux during coupled conditions were higher than those during decoupled conditions at all levels by a factor of 2 or more. The vertical velocity skewness was negative in the entire BL during coupled conditions, whereas it was weakly positive in the lower third of the BL and negative above during decoupled conditions. A formulation of velocity scale is proposed that includes the effect of cloud-top radiative cooling in addition to the surface buoyancy flux. When scaled by the velocity scale, the vertical velocity variance and coherent downdrafts had similar magnitude during the coupled and decoupled conditions. Finally, the coherent updrafts that exhibited a constant profile in the entire BL during both the coupled and decoupled conditions scaled well with the convective velocity scale to a value of ~0.5.« less

Atomic-powered democracy: Policy against politics in the quest for American nuclear energy

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

Williams, R.W.

This dissertation focuses on the relationship of American nuclear energy to democracy. It examines whether the nuclear policy processes have furthered the legitimacy-government accountability and citizen participation-which the democratic institutes are based. Nuclear policy and its institutions have placed severe limitations on democratic practices. Contravened democracy is seen most clearly in the decoupling of policy from politics. Decoupling refers to the weakening of institutional linkages between citizens and government, and to the erosion of the norms that ground liberal democracy. Decoupling is manifested in policy centralization, procedural biases, technical rationality, and the spatial displacement of conflict. Decoupling has normative implications:more » While federal accountability was limited and citizen participation was shackled, other major groups enjoyed privileged access to policy making. The decoupling of nuclear policy from politics arose within the context of US liberal-democratic capitalism. The federal government pursued its own goals of defense and world leadership. Yet, it was not structurally autonomous from the hegemony of the political-economic context. Economically, the Atomic Energy Act did not permit federal agencies to directly invest in power plant construction, and did not authorize them to commercially generate electricity. Private industry was structurally placed to domesticate the atom. Politically, the liberal-democratic system hampered an unquestioning pursuit of atomic energy. Federal institutions have been forced to heed some of the anti-nuclear concerns. The pervasive influence of the US political economy on nuclear policy has come to transgress democracy. Nuclear power's growth faltered during the 1970s. The political and economic constraints on federal actions have limited the means available to revive a becalmed nuclear industry; this has exerted strong pressure on federal institutions to decouple policy from participation.« less

Idiopathic recurrent calcium urolithiasis (IRCU): an acid meal challenge uncovers inappropriate pH of postprandial, fasting and daily urine: a cross-sectional study of male patients providing insight into post- and pre-load urinary stone substances, crystallization risk, presence of stones, renal transport and systemic metabolic factors.

PubMed

Schwille, Paul O; Wipplinger, J

2008-07-28

In IRCU the possible role of urinary pH (U-pH) as risk factor of calcium (Ca) stones is poorly understood. To evaluate in IRCU the response to an oral acid load, focussing on post- and pre-load U-pH, other urinary, renal and extra-renal factors, and linkage with Ca stones. - 237 male patients, either Ca stone-free (SF) or -bearing (SB), but without overt signs of systemic metabolic acidosis underwent a standardized laboratory programme that included, besides collection of urine and blood, the intake of an oxalate-free acid test meal (proton content 120 mM). Established analytical methods were used. In 79 patients the post-meal load U-pH was < or = 5.30 (in healthy individuals accepted as the upper limit after the same proton load), but >5.30 in 158; in these two subsets the mean fasting pre-load U-pH was 5.84 and 6.37 (p <0.001), the mean U-pH in 24 h urine 5.70 and 6.03 (p <0.001), the mean score of stone formation activity 32 and 42 (p = 0.12), the SF/SB ratio 35/44 and 76/82 (not significant). However, when in pre-load urine undissociated uric acid concentration was low due to the high pH, the SF/SB ratio was 53/66 (p = 0.038), whereas isolated increase of U-pH with SF/SB ratio 54/65 (p = 0.059), urinary supersaturation with Ca phosphate (hydroxyapatite), Ca oxalate, uric acid, and isolated decrease of concentration of total protein, total uric acid and the crystallization inhibitors magnesium and citrate failed to affect significantly the frequency distribution of SF and SB patients. Pre-load U-pH was positively associated with urinary ratio sodium/proton excretion, renal reclaim of sodium and protein, negatively associated with body mass index, fasting insulinemia and uricemia, urinary protein concentration, renal reclaim of phosphate. In IRCU 1) inappropriately high U-pH combined with increase of proteinuria and alteration of renal-tubular transport are frequent; 2) disturbed interactions of renal proton generation with sodium handling, urinary physico-chemical and systemic metabolic factors may initiate the development of Ca-containing concretions, presumably Ca phosphate, at some yet unknown renal anatomic site.

Extremely fast increase in the organic loading rate during the co-digestion of rapeseed oil and sewage sludge in a CSTR--characterization of granules formed due to CaO addition to maintain process stability.

PubMed

Kasina, M; Kleyböcker, A; Michalik, M; Würdemann, H

2015-01-01

In a co-digestion system running with rapeseed oil and sewage sludge, an extremely fast increase in the organic loading rate was studied to develop a procedure to allow for flexible and demand-driven energy production. The over-acidification of the digestate was successfully prevented by calcium oxide dosage, which resulted in granule formation. Mineralogical analyses revealed that the granules were composed of insoluble salts of long chain fatty acids and calcium and had a porous structure. Long chain fatty acids and calcium formed the outer cover of granules and offered interfaces on the inside thereby enhancing the growth of biofilms. With granule size and age, the pore size increased and indicated degradation of granular interfaces. A stable biogas production up to the organic loading rate of 10.4 kg volatile solids m(-3) d(-1) was achieved although the hydrogen concentration was not favorable for propionic acid degradation. However, at higher organic loading rates, unbalanced granule formation and degradation were observed. Obviously, the adaption time for biofilm growth was too short to maintain the balance, thereby resulting in a low methane yield.

LPV control for the full region operation of a wind turbine integrated with synchronous generator.

PubMed

Cao, Guoyan; Grigoriadis, Karolos M; Nyanteh, Yaw D

2015-01-01

Wind turbine conversion systems require feedback control to achieve reliable wind turbine operation and stable current supply. A robust linear parameter varying (LPV) controller is proposed to reduce the structural loads and improve the power extraction of a horizontal axis wind turbine operating in both the partial load and the full load regions. The LPV model is derived from the wind turbine state space models extracted by FAST (fatigue, aerodynamics, structural, and turbulence) code linearization at different operating points. In order to assure a smooth transition between the two regions, appropriate frequency-dependent varying scaling parametric weighting functions are designed in the LPV control structure. The solution of a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) leads to the LPV controller. A synchronous generator model is connected with the closed LPV control loop for examining the electrical subsystem performance obtained by an inner speed control loop. Simulation results of a 1.5 MW horizontal axis wind turbine model on the FAST platform illustrates the benefit of the LPV control and demonstrates the advantages of this proposed LPV controller, when compared with a traditional gain scheduling PI control and prior LPV control configurations. Enhanced structural load mitigation, improved power extraction, and good current performance were obtained from the proposed LPV control.

LPV Control for the Full Region Operation of a Wind Turbine Integrated with Synchronous Generator

PubMed Central

Grigoriadis, Karolos M.; Nyanteh, Yaw D.

2015-01-01

Wind turbine conversion systems require feedback control to achieve reliable wind turbine operation and stable current supply. A robust linear parameter varying (LPV) controller is proposed to reduce the structural loads and improve the power extraction of a horizontal axis wind turbine operating in both the partial load and the full load regions. The LPV model is derived from the wind turbine state space models extracted by FAST (fatigue, aerodynamics, structural, and turbulence) code linearization at different operating points. In order to assure a smooth transition between the two regions, appropriate frequency-dependent varying scaling parametric weighting functions are designed in the LPV control structure. The solution of a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) leads to the LPV controller. A synchronous generator model is connected with the closed LPV control loop for examining the electrical subsystem performance obtained by an inner speed control loop. Simulation results of a 1.5 MW horizontal axis wind turbine model on the FAST platform illustrates the benefit of the LPV control and demonstrates the advantages of this proposed LPV controller, when compared with a traditional gain scheduling PI control and prior LPV control configurations. Enhanced structural load mitigation, improved power extraction, and good current performance were obtained from the proposed LPV control. PMID:25884036

Gadolinium-loaded Plastic Scintillators for Thermal Neutron Detection using Compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumazert, Jonathan; Coulon, Romain; Hamel, Matthieu; Carrel, Frédérick; Sguerra, Fabien; Normand, Stéphane; Méchin, Laurence; Bertrand, Guillaume H. V.

2016-06-01

Plastic scintillator loading with gadolinium-rich organometallic complexes shows a high potential for the deployment of efficient and cost-effective neutron detectors. Due to the low-energy photon and electron signature of thermal neutron capture by Gd-155 and Gd-157, alternative treatment to pulse-shape discrimination has to be proposed in order to display a count rate. This paper discloses the principle of a compensation method applied to a two-scintillator system: a detection scintillator interacts with photon and fast neutron radiation and is loaded with gadolinium organometallic compound to become a thermal neutron absorber, while a not-gadolinium loaded compensation scintillator solely interacts with the fast neutron and photon part of incident radiation. After the nonlinear smoothing of the counting signals, a hypothesis test determines whether the resulting count rate post-background response compensation falls into statistical fluctuations or provides a robust indication of neutron activity. Laboratory samples are tested under both photon and neutron irradiations, allowing the authors to investigate the performance of the overall detection system in terms of sensitivity and detection limits, especially with regards to a similar-active volume He-3 based commercial counter. The study reveals satisfactory figures of merit in terms of sensitivity and directs future investigation toward promising paths.

A Specialized Multi-Transmit Head Coil for High Resolution fMRI of the Human Visual Cortex at 7T

PubMed Central

Sengupta, Shubharthi; Roebroeck, Alard; Kemper, Valentin G.; Poser, Benedikt A.; Zimmermann, Jan; Goebel, Rainer; Adriany, Gregor

2016-01-01

Purpose To design, construct and validate radiofrequency (RF) transmit and receive phased array coils for high-resolution visual cortex imaging at 7 Tesla. Methods A 4 channel transmit and 16 channel receive array was constructed on a conformal polycarbonate former. Transmit field efficiency and homogeneity were simulated and validated, along with the Specific Absorption Rate, using B1+ mapping techniques and electromagnetic simulations. Receiver signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), temporal SNR (tSNR) across EPI time series, g-factors for accelerated imaging and noise correlations were evaluated and compared with a commercial 32 channel whole head coil. The performance of the coil was further evaluated with human subjects through functional MRI (fMRI) studies at standard and submillimeter resolutions of upto 0.8mm isotropic. Results The transmit and receive sections were characterized using bench tests and showed good interelement decoupling, preamplifier decoupling and sample loading. SNR for the 16 channel coil was ∼ 1.5 times that of the commercial coil in the human occipital lobe, and showed better g-factor values for accelerated imaging. fMRI tests conducted showed better response to Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) activation, at resolutions of 1.2mm and 0.8mm isotropic. Conclusion The 4 channel phased array transmit coil provides homogeneous excitation across the visual cortex, which, in combination with the dual row 16 channel receive array, makes for a valuable research tool for high resolution anatomical and functional imaging of the visual cortex at 7T. PMID:27911950

Tesaglitazar, a dual PPAR{alpha}/{gamma} agonist, ameliorates glucose and lipid intolerance in obese Zucker rats.

PubMed

Oakes, Nicholas D; Thalén, Pia; Hultstrand, Therese; Jacinto, Severina; Camejo, Germán; Wallin, Boel; Ljung, Bengt

2005-10-01

Insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, high circulating levels of free fatty acids (FFA), and postprandial hyperlipidemia are associated with the metabolic syndrome, which has been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We studied the metabolic responses to an oral glucose/triglyceride (TG) (1.7/2.0 g/kg lean body mass) load in three groups of conscious 7-h fasted Zucker rats: lean healthy controls, obese insulin-resistant/dyslipidemic controls, and obese rats treated with the dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha/gamma agonist, tesaglitazar, 3 mumol.kg(-1).day(-1) for 4 wk. Untreated obese Zucker rats displayed marked insulin resistance, as well as glucose and lipid intolerance in response to the glucose/TG load. The 2-h postload area under the curve values were greater for glucose (+19%), insulin (+849%), FFA (+53%), and TG (+413%) compared with untreated lean controls. Treatment with tesaglitazar lowered fasting plasma glucose, improved glucose tolerance, substantially reduced fasting and postload insulin levels, and markedly lowered fasting TG and improved lipid tolerance. Fasting FFA were not affected, but postprandial FFA suppression was restored to levels seen in lean controls. Mechanisms of tesaglitazar-induced lowering of plasma TG were studied separately using the Triton WR1339 method. In anesthetized, 5-h fasted, obese Zucker rats, tesaglitazar reduced hepatic TG secretion by 47%, increased plasma TG clearance by 490%, and reduced very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) apolipoprotein CIII content by 86%, compared with obese controls. In conclusion, the glucose/lipid tolerance test in obese Zucker rats appears to be a useful model of the metabolic syndrome that can be used to evaluate therapeutic effects on impaired postprandial glucose and lipid metabolism. The present work demonstrates that tesaglitazar ameliorates these abnormalities and enhances insulin sensitivity in this animal model.

Top-down, decoupled control of constitutive parameters in electromagnetic metamaterials with dielectric resonators of internal anisotropy.

PubMed

Koo, Sukmo; Mason, Daniel R; Kim, Yunjung; Park, Namkyoo

2017-02-10

A meta-atom platform providing decoupled tuning for the constitutive wave parameters remains as a challenging problem, since the proposition of Pendry. Here we propose an electromagnetic meta-atom design of internal anisotropy (ε r  ≠ ε θ ), as a pathway for decoupling of the effective- permittivity ε eff and permeability μ eff . Deriving effective parameters for anisotropic meta-atom from the first principles, and then subsequent inverse-solving the obtained decoupled solution for a target set of ε eff and μ eff , we also achieve an analytic, top-down determination for the internal structure of a meta-atom. To realize the anisotropy from isotropic materials, a particle of spatial permittivity modulation in r or θ direction is proposed. As an application example, a matched zero index dielectric meta-atom is demonstrated, to enable the super-funneling of a 50λ-wide flux through a sub-λ slit; unharnessing the flux collection limit dictated by the λ-zone.

Study of the choice of the decoupling layout for the ITER ICRH system

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

Vervier, M., E-mail: michel.vervier@rma.ac.be; Messiaen, A.; Ongena, J.

10 decouplers are used to neutralize the mutual coupling effects and to control the current amplitude of the 24 straps array of the ITER ICRH antenna in the case of current drive phasing. In the case of heating phasing only 4 decouplers are active and the array current control needs to act on the ratio between the power delivered by the 4 generators. This ratio is very sensitive to the precise adjustment of the antenna array phasing. The maximum total radiated power capability is then limited when the power of one generator reaches its maximum value. With the addition ofmore » four switches all 10 installed decouplers are made active and can act on all mutual coupling effects with equal source power from the 4 generators. With four more switches the current drive phasing could work with a reduced poloidal phasing resulting in a 35% increase of its coupling to the plasma.« less

Decoupling control of steering and driving system for in-wheel-motor-drive electric vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Han; Zhao, Wanzhong

2018-02-01

To improve the maneuverability and stability of in-wheel-motor-drive electric vehicle, a control strategy based on nonlinear decoupling control method is proposed in this paper, realizing the coordinated control of the steering and driving system. At first, the nonlinear models of the in-wheel-motor-drive electric vehicle and its sub-system are constructed. Then the inverse system decoupling theory is applied to decompose the nonlinear system into several independent subsystems, which makes it possible to realize the coordinated control of each subsystem. Next, the μ-Synthesis theory is applied to eliminate the influence of model uncertainty, improving the stability, robustness and tracking performance of in-wheel-motor-drive electric vehicle. Simulation and experiment results and numerical analyses, based on the electric vehicle actuated by in-wheel-motors, prove that the proposed control method is effective to accomplish the decoupling control of the steering and driving system in both simulation and real practice.

Top-down, decoupled control of constitutive parameters in electromagnetic metamaterials with dielectric resonators of internal anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koo, Sukmo; Mason, Daniel R.; Kim, Yunjung; Park, Namkyoo

2017-02-01

A meta-atom platform providing decoupled tuning for the constitutive wave parameters remains as a challenging problem, since the proposition of Pendry. Here we propose an electromagnetic meta-atom design of internal anisotropy (εr ≠ εθ), as a pathway for decoupling of the effective- permittivity εeff and permeability μeff. Deriving effective parameters for anisotropic meta-atom from the first principles, and then subsequent inverse-solving the obtained decoupled solution for a target set of εeff and μeff, we also achieve an analytic, top-down determination for the internal structure of a meta-atom. To realize the anisotropy from isotropic materials, a particle of spatial permittivity modulation in r or θ direction is proposed. As an application example, a matched zero index dielectric meta-atom is demonstrated, to enable the super-funneling of a 50λ-wide flux through a sub-λ slit; unharnessing the flux collection limit dictated by the λ-zone.

Sequential power-up circuit

DOEpatents

Kronberg, James W.

1992-01-01

A sequential power-up circuit for starting several electrical load elements in series to avoid excessive current surge, comprising a voltage ramp generator and a set of voltage comparators, each comparator having a different reference voltage and interfacing with a switch that is capable of turning on one of the load elements. As the voltage rises, it passes the reference voltages one at a time and causes the switch corresponding to that voltage to turn on its load element. The ramp is turned on and off by a single switch or by a logic-level electrical signal. The ramp rate for turning on the load element is relatively slow and the rate for turning the elements off is relatively fast. Optionally, the duration of each interval of time between the turning on of the load elements is programmable.

Scalable loading of a two-dimensional trapped-ion array

PubMed Central

Bruzewicz, Colin D.; McConnell, Robert; Chiaverini, John; Sage, Jeremy M.

2016-01-01

Two-dimensional arrays of trapped-ion qubits are attractive platforms for scalable quantum information processing. Sufficiently rapid reloading capable of sustaining a large array, however, remains a significant challenge. Here with the use of a continuous flux of pre-cooled neutral atoms from a remotely located source, we achieve fast loading of a single ion per site while maintaining long trap lifetimes and without disturbing the coherence of an ion quantum bit in an adjacent site. This demonstration satisfies all major criteria necessary for loading and reloading extensive two-dimensional arrays, as will be required for large-scale quantum information processing. Moreover, the already high loading rate can be increased by loading ions in parallel with only a concomitant increase in photo-ionization laser power and no need for additional atomic flux. PMID:27677357

The origin of decoupled carbonate and organic carbon isotope signatures in the early Cambrian (ca. 542-520 Ma) Yangtze platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Ganqing; Wang, Xinqiang; Shi, Xiaoying; Xiao, Shuhai; Zhang, Shihong; Dong, Jin

2012-02-01

The early Cambrian (ca. 542-520 Ma) strata in South China record two prominent negative carbonate carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) excursions of early Nemakit-Daldynian (N-D) and early Tommotian ages. Across each of these excursions, carbonate and organic carbon isotopes (δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg) are strongly decoupled. Regional correlation across a shelf-to-basin transect shows lateral heterogeneity of δ13Corg during the early-middle N-D but more homogenized δ13Corg values across the basin during the late N-D and Tommotian. The temporal and lateral variations in δ13Corg suggest that decoupled δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg across the N-D δ13Ccarb excursion were possibly caused by diagenetic alteration of organic matter and/or amplification of detrital organic carbon isotope signature in low-TOC carbonates. In contrast, decoupled δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg of the upper N-D and Tommotian were likely resulted from chemoautotrophic-methanotrophic biomass contribution to TOC in organic-rich black shale and carbonates. The decoupled δ13Ccarb-δ13Corg pattern from the lower N-D strata (ca. 542 Ma) shows striking similarities with those from the basal (ca. 635 Ma) and upper (ca. 551 Ma) Doushantuo Formation. In all three cases, decoupled δ13Ccarb-δ13Corg are seen in organic-poor carbonates (TOC ≤ 0.1‰) and coupled δ13Ccarb-δ13Corg occur in organic-rich black shale and carbonates at the end of the negative δ13Ccarb excursion. These similarities suggest that the shift from decoupled to coupled δ13Ccarb-δ13Corg has no causal link with the terminal oxidation of a large oceanic DOC reservoir. Given the pervasive anoxia/euxinia in Ediacaran-early Cambrian oceans, local DOC-rich environments may have been common, but a large oceanic DOC reservoir capable of buffering the δ13C of marine organic matter requires independent evidence.

Effects of stochastic noise on dynamical decoupling procedures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernád, J. Z.; Frydrych, H.

2014-06-01

Dynamical decoupling is an important tool to counter decoherence and dissipation effects in quantum systems originating from environmental interactions. It has been used successfully in many experiments; however, there is still a gap between fidelity improvements achieved in practice compared to theoretical predictions. We propose a model for imperfect dynamical decoupling based on a stochastic Ito differential equation which could explain the observed gap. We discuss the impact of our model on the time evolution of various quantum systems in finite- and infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. Analytical results are given for the limit of continuous control, whereas we present numerical simulations and upper bounds for the case of finite control.

Conditioned invariant subspaces, disturbance decoupling and solutions of rational matrix equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Z.; Sastry, S. S.

1986-01-01

Conditioned invariant subspaces are introduced both in terms of output injection and in terms of state estimation. Various properties of these subspaces are explored and the problem of disturbance decoupling by output injection (OIP) is defined. It is then shown that OIP is equivalent to the problem of disturbance decoupled estimation as introduced in Willems (1982) and Willems and Commault (1980). Both solvability conditions and a description of solutions for a class of rational matrix equations of the form X(s)M(s) = Q(s) on several ways are given in state-space form. Finally, the problem of output stabilization with respect to a disturbance is briefly addressed.

Manipulator control by exact linearization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kruetz, K.

1987-01-01

Comments on the application to rigid link manipulators of geometric control theory, resolved acceleration control, operational space control, and nonlinear decoupling theory are given, and the essential unity of these techniques for externally linearizing and decoupling end effector dynamics is discussed. Exploiting the fact that the mass matrix of a rigid link manipulator is positive definite, a consequence of rigid link manipulators belonging to the class of natural physical systems, it is shown that a necessary and sufficient condition for a locally externally linearizing and output decoupling feedback law to exist is that the end effector Jacobian matrix be nonsingular. Furthermore, this linearizing feedback is easy to produce.

Turbine Performance Optimization Task Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffin, Lisa W.; Turner, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Capability to optimize for turbine performance and accurately predict unsteady loads will allow for increased reliability, Isp, and thrust-to-weight. The development of a fast, accurate aerodynamic design, analysis, and optimization system is required.

Cognitive debiasing 1: origins of bias and theory of debiasing

PubMed Central

Croskerry, Pat; Singhal, Geeta; Mamede, Sílvia

2013-01-01

Numerous studies have shown that diagnostic failure depends upon a variety of factors. Psychological factors are fundamental in influencing the cognitive performance of the decision maker. In this first of two papers, we discuss the basics of reasoning and the Dual Process Theory (DPT) of decision making. The general properties of the DPT model, as it applies to diagnostic reasoning, are reviewed. A variety of cognitive and affective biases are known to compromise the decision-making process. They mostly appear to originate in the fast intuitive processes of Type 1 that dominate (or drive) decision making. Type 1 processes work well most of the time but they may open the door for biases. Removing or at least mitigating these biases would appear to be an important goal. We will also review the origins of biases. The consensus is that there are two major sources: innate, hard-wired biases that developed in our evolutionary past, and acquired biases established in the course of development and within our working environments. Both are associated with abbreviated decision making in the form of heuristics. Other work suggests that ambient and contextual factors may create high risk situations that dispose decision makers to particular biases. Fatigue, sleep deprivation and cognitive overload appear to be important determinants. The theoretical basis of several approaches towards debiasing is then discussed. All share a common feature that involves a deliberate decoupling from Type 1 intuitive processing and moving to Type 2 analytical processing so that eventually unexamined intuitive judgments can be submitted to verification. This decoupling step appears to be the critical feature of cognitive and affective debiasing. PMID:23882089

The Functional Role of the Triceps Surae Muscle during Human Locomotion

PubMed Central

Honeine, Jean-Louis; Schieppati, Marco; Gagey, Olivier; Do, Manh-Cuong

2013-01-01

Aim Despite numerous studies addressing the issue, it remains unclear whether the triceps surae muscle group generates forward propulsive force during gait, commonly identified as ‘push-off’. In order to challenge the push-off postulate, one must probe the effect of varying the propulsive force while annulling the effect of the progression velocity. This can be obtained by adding a load to the subject while maintaining the same progression velocity. Methods Ten healthy subjects initiated gait in both unloaded and loaded conditions (about 30% of body weight attached at abdominal level), for two walking velocities, spontaneous and fast. Ground reaction force and EMG activity of soleus and gastrocnemius medialis and lateralis muscles of the stance leg were recorded. Centre of mass velocity and position, centre of pressure position, and disequilibrium torque were calculated. Results At spontaneous velocity, adding the load increased disequilibrium torque and propulsive force. However, load had no effect on the vertical braking force or amplitude of triceps activity. At fast progression velocity, disequilibrium torque, vertical braking force and triceps EMG increased with respect to spontaneous velocity. Still, adding the load did not further increase braking force or EMG. Conclusions Triceps surae is not responsible for the generation of propulsive force but is merely supporting the body during walking and restraining it from falling. By controlling the disequilibrium torque, however, triceps can affect the propulsive force through the exchange of potential into kinetic energy. PMID:23341916

The ddY mouse: a model of postprandial hypertriglyceridemia in response to dietary fat

PubMed Central

Yamazaki, Tomomi; Kishimoto, Kyoko; Ezaki, Osamu

2012-01-01

Postprandial hyperlipidemia (lipemia) is a risk factor for atherosclerosis. However, mouse models of postprandial hyperlipidemia have not been reported. Here, we report that ddY mice display marked postprandial hypertriglyceridemia in response to dietary fat. In ddY mice, the fasting serum total triacylglyceride (TG) concentration was 134 mg/dl, which increased to 571 mg/dl after an intragastric safflower oil load (0.4 ml/mouse). In C57BL/6J mice, these concentrations were 57 and 106 mg/dl, respectively. By lipoprotein analysis, ddY mice showed increases in chylomicron- and VLDL-sized TG fractions (remnants and VLDL) after fat load. In C57BL/6J mice, post-heparin plasma LPL activity after fat load was increased 4.8-fold relative to fasting. However, in ddY mice, the increase of LPL activity after fat load was very small (1.2-fold) and not significant. High fat feeding for 10 weeks led to obesity in ddY mice. A difference in LPL amino acid composition between C57BL/6J and ddY mice was detected but was deemed unlikely to cause hypertriglyceridemia because hypertriglyceridemia was not evident in other strains harboring the ddY-type LPL sequence. These findings indicate that postprandial hypertriglyceridemia in ddY mice is induced by decreased LPL activity after fat load and is associated with obesity induced by a high-fat diet. PMID:22735545

Preoperative carbohydrate load and intraoperatively infused omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids positively impact nosocomial morbidity after coronary artery bypass grafting: a double-blind controlled randomized trial.

PubMed

Feguri, Gibran Roder; de Lima, Paulo Ruiz Lúcio; de Cerqueira Borges, Danilo; Toledo, Laura Ramos; Batista, Larissa Nadaf; E Silva, Thaís Carvalho; Segri, Neuber José; de Aguilar-Nascimento, José Eduardo

2017-04-20

A strategy of limited preoperative fasting, with carbohydrate (CHO) loading and intraoperative infusion of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA), has seldom been tried in cardiovascular surgery. Brief fasting, followed by CHO intake 2 h before anesthesia, may improve recovery from CABG procedures and lower perioperative vasoactive drug requirements. Infusion of ω-3 PUFA may reduce occurrences of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and shorten hospital stays. The aim of this study was to assess morbidity (especially POAF) in ICU patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)/cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in combination, if preoperative fasts are curtailed in favor of CHO loading, and ω-3 PUFA are infused intraoperatively. Fifty-seven patients undergoing CABG were randomly assigned to receive 12.5% maltodextrin (200 ml, 2 h before anesthesia), without infusing ω-3 PUFA (CHO, n = 14); water (200 ml, 2 h before anesthesia), without infusing ω-3 PUFA (controls, n = 14); 12.5% maltodextrin (200 ml, 2 h before anesthesia) plus intraoperative ω-3 PUFA (0.2 mcg/kg) (CHO + W3, n = 15); or water (200 ml, 2 h before anesthesia) plus intraoperative ω-3 PUFA (0.2 mcg/kg) (W3, n = 14). Perioperative clinical variables and mortality were analyzed, examining the incidence of POAF, as well as the need for inotropic vasoactive drugs during surgery and in ICU. Two deaths occurred (3.5%), but there were no instances of bronchoaspiration and mediastinitis. Neither ICU stays nor total postoperative stays differed by group (P > 0.05). Patients given preoperative CHO loads (CHO and CHO + W3 groups) experienced fewer instances of hospital infection (RR = 0.29, 95%CI 0.09-0.94; P = 0.023) and were less reliant on vasoactive amines during surgery (RR = 0.60, 95% CI 0.38-0.94; P = 0.020). Similarly, the number of patients requiring vasoactive drugs while recovering in ICU differed significantly by group (P = 0.008), showing benefits in patients given CHO loads. The overall incidence of POAF was 29.8% (17/57), differing significantly by group (P = 0.009). Groups given ω-3 PUFA (W3 and CHO + W3 groups) experienced significantly fewer instances of POAF (RR = 4.83, 95% CI 1.56-15.02; P = 0.001). Preoperative curtailment of fasting was safe in this cohort. When implemented in conjunction with CHO loading and infusion of ω-3 PUFA during surgery, expedited recovery from CABG with CPB was observed. NCT: 03017001.

[Effect of fasting-dietary therapy in patients with arterial hypertension and obesity].

PubMed

Murav'ev, S A; Okonechnikova, N S; Dmitrieva, O A; Makarova, G A

2010-01-01

35 patients with arterial hypertension and obesity against the background of fasting-diet therapy and after 1 and 6 months after treatment conducted daily monitoring of blood pressure, microalbuminuria and glomerular filtration rate, the study of color and contrast sensitivity of retinal eyes. Fasting-diet therapy within 11 days results in reliable reduced daily average AD and stabilization of load pressure indicators; reduction originally pathological microalbuminurii at 18%, increase in the number of patients with normal speed glomerular filtering 48%; improving of eyes function, these changes are saved within 1-6 months after treatment without the using of antihypertensive therapy.

Effect of re-feeding after starvation on biomechanical properties in rat small intestine.

PubMed

Dou, Y; Gregersen, S; Zhao, J; Zhuang, F; Gregersen, H

2001-10-01

Luminal nutrients are essential for maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the gut. Starvation induces pronounced structural and biomechanical remodelling in the rat small intestine. The present work was done to study the recovery process after resumption of food intake. Twenty-five Wistar rats were allocated to five groups. Four groups fasted for 7 days but had free access to water. One of these groups served as fasted controls and was killed at the end of the fast. The other three groups were re-fed for 2, 4 and 7 days before they were euthanised. The fifth group had free access to food during the whole study (fed controls). The intestinal no-load state, zero-stress state and the stress-strain relationship during distension were studied. The intestinal segments were cut transversely into a series of short ring-shaped segments to obtain the no-load state. Each ring was cut in the radial direction to obtain the zero-stress state. The rats regained the lost body weight (22%) by the 7th day of re-feeding. The lost duodenal mass (40%) and jejunal mass (25%) were regained by the 2nd day whereas the lost mass from ileum (18%) was regained by the 4th day. The fasting-induced morphometric changes were normalised by re-feeding on the 2nd day in the duodenum and jejunum, and on the 4th day in the ileum. The longitudinal stress-strain curves shifted to the right after fasting and shifted back within two days following re-feeding (P<0.05). The circumferential stress-strain curves in the fasted or re-fed rats changed in a similar though less pronounced way. Normal values were reached within 4-7 days for the circumferential direction. In conclusion, fasting-induced biomechanical and structural remodelling were normalised by re-feeding in a time- and location-dependent way.

Thermomechanical analysis of fast-burst reactors

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

Miller, J.D.

1994-08-01

Fast-burst reactors are designed to provide intense, short-duration pulses of neutrons. The fission reaction also produces extreme time-dependent heating of the nuclear fuel. An existing transient-dynamic finite element code was modified specifically to compute the time-dependent stresses and displacements due to thermal shock loads of reactors. Thermomechanical analysis was then applied to determine structural feasibility of various concepts for an EDNA-type reactor and to optimize the mechanical design of the new SPR III-M reactor.

Development of a Fast Valve for Disruption Mitigation and its Preliminary Application to EAST and HT-7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuang, Huidong; Zhang, Xiaodong

2013-08-01

In large tokamaks, disruption of high current plasma would damage plasma facing component surfaces (PFCs) or other inner components due to high heat load, electromagnetic force load and runaway electrons. It would also influence the subsequent plasma discharge due to production of impurities during disruptions. So the avoidance and mitigation of disruptions is essential for the next generation of tokamaks, such as ITER. Massive gas injection (MGI) is a promising method of disruption mitigation. A new fast valve has been developed successfully on EAST. The valve can be opened in 0.5 ms, and the duration of open state is largely dependent on the gas pressure and capacitor voltage. The throughput of the valve can be adjusted from 0 mbar·L to 700 mbar·L by changing the capacitor voltage and gas pressure. The response time and throughput of the fast valve can meet the requirement of disruption mitigation on EAST. In the last round campaign of EAST and HT-7 in 2010, the fast valve has operated successfully. He and Ar was used for the disruption mitigation on HT-7. By injecting the proper amount of gas, the current quench rate could be slowed down, and the impurities radiation would be greatly improved. In elongated plasmas of EAST discharges, the experimental data is opposite to that which is expected.

Differences in cardiovascular risk profile based on relationship between post-load plasma glucose and fasting plasma levels.

PubMed

Succurro, Elena; Marini, Maria Adelaide; Grembiale, Alessandro; Lugarà, Marina; Andreozzi, Francesco; Sciacqua, Angela; Hribal, Marta Letizia; Lauro, Renato; Perticone, Francesco; Sesti, Giorgio

2009-05-01

It has been shown that subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), whose plasma glucose (PG) levels do not return to their fasting PG level within 2 h during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (Group I), have a significantly higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes than NGT subjects whose 2-h glucose returns to, or drops below, the fasting level (Group I). However, it is still unsettled whether individuals in Group II have a more atherogenic profile than Group I subjects. To address this issue, we examined 266 non-diabetic offspring of type 2 diabetic patients, recruited in the context of EUGENE2 cross-sectional study. All subjects underwent an euglycaemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, cardiovascular risk factors and ultrasound measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were evaluated. Individuals in Group II exhibited significantly higher waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, 2-h post-load PG, hsC-reactive protein, interleukin-6, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IMT, and lower insulin sensitivity than subjects in Group I. Subjects with NGT, whose PG concentration does not return to their fasting PG level within 2 h during OGTT, have an atherogenic profile, suggesting that performing OGTT with measurement of PG every 30 min may be useful to assess the risk for cardiovascular disease in glucose-tolerant subjects.

Intermittent fasting promotes bacterial clearance and intestinal IgA production in Salmonella typhimurium-infected mice.

PubMed

Godínez-Victoria, M; Campos-Rodriguez, R; Rivera-Aguilar, V; Lara-Padilla, E; Pacheco-Yepez, J; Jarillo-Luna, R A; Drago-Serrano, M E

2014-05-01

The impact of intermittent fasting versus ad libitum feeding during Salmonella typhimurium infection was evaluated in terms of duodenum IgA levels, bacterial clearance and intestinal and extra-intestinal infection susceptibility. Mice that were intermittently fasted for 12 weeks or fed ad libitum were infected with S. typhimurium and assessed at 7 and 14 days post-infection. Next, we evaluated bacterial load in the faeces, Peyer's patches, spleen and liver by plate counting, as well as total and specific intestinal IgA and plasmatic corticosterone levels (by immunoenzymatic assay) and lamina propria IgA levels in plasma cells (by cytofluorometry). Polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, α- and J-chains, Pax-5 factor, pro-inflammatory cytokine (tumour necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ) and anti-inflammatory cytokine (transforming growth factor-β) mRNA levels were assessed in mucosal and liver samples (by real-time PCR). Compared with the infected ad libitum mice, the intermittently fasted infected animals had (1) lower intestinal and systemic bacterial loads; (2) higher SIgA and IgA plasma cell levels; (3) higher mRNA expression of most intestinal parameters; and (4) increased or decreased corticosterone levels on day 7 and 14 post-infection, respectively. No contribution of liver IgA was observed at the intestinal level. Apparently, the changes following metabolic stress induced by intermittent fasting during food deprivation days increased the resistance to S. typhimurium infection by triggering intestinal IgA production and presumably, pathogen elimination by phagocytic inflammatory cells. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of hindlimb unloading on neuromuscular development of neonatal rats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huckstorf, B. L.; Slocum, G. R.; Bain, J. L.; Reiser, P. M.; Sedlak, F. R.; Wong-Riley, M. T.; Riley, D. A.

2000-01-01

We hypothesized that hindlimb suspension unloading of 8-day-old neonatal rats would disrupt the normal development of muscle fiber types and the motor innervation of the antigravity (weightbearing) soleus muscles but not extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles. Five rats were suspended 4.5 h and returned 1.5 h to the dam for nursing on a 24 h cycle for 9 days. To control for isolation from the dam, the remaining five littermates were removed on the same schedule but not suspended. Another litter of 10 rats housed in the same room provided a vivarium control. Fibers were typed by myofibrillar ATPase histochemistry and immunostaining for embryonic, slow, fast IIA and fast IIB isomyosins. The percentage of multiple innervation and the complexity of singly-innervated motor terminal endings were assessed in silver/cholinesterase stained sections. Unique to the soleus, unloading accelerated production of fast IIA myosin, delayed expression of slow myosin and retarded increases in standardized muscle weight and fiber size. Loss of multiple innervation was not delayed. However, fewer than normal motor nerve endings achieved complexity. Suspended rats continued unloaded hindlimb movements. These findings suggest that motor neurons resolve multiple innervation through nerve impulse activity, whereas the postsynaptic element (muscle fiber) controls endplate size, which regulates motor terminal arborization. Unexpectedly, in the EDL of unloaded rats, transition from embryonic to fast myosin expression was retarded. Suspension-related foot drop, which stretches and chronically loads EDL, may have prevented fast fiber differentiation. These results demonstrate that neuromuscular development of both weightbearing and non-weightbearing muscles in rats is dependent upon and modulated by hindlimb loading.

Four dimensional X-ray imaging of deformation modes in organic-rich Green River Shale retorted under uniaxial compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobchenko, M.; Pluymakers, A.; Cordonnier, B.; Tairova, A.; Renard, F.

2017-12-01

Time-lapse imaging of fracture network development in organic-rich shales at elevated temperatures while kerogen is retorted allows characterizing the development of microfractures and the onset of primary migration. When the solid organic matter is transformed to hydrocarbons with lower molecular weight, the local pore-pressure increases and drives the propagation of hydro-fractures sub-parallel to the shale lamination. On the scale of samples of several mm size, these fractures can be described as mode I opening, where fracture walls dilate in the direction of minimal compression. However, so far experiments coupled to microtomography in situ imaging have been performed on samples where no load was imposed. Here, an external load was applied perpendicular to the sample laminations and we show that this stress state slows down, but does not stop, the propagation of fracture along bedding. Conversely, microfractures also propagate sub-perpendicular to the shale lamination, creating a percolating network in three dimensions. To monitor this process we have used a uniaxial compaction rig combined with in-situ heating from 50 to 500 deg C, while capturing three-dimensional X-ray microtomography scans at a voxel resolution of 2.2 μm; Data were acquired at beamline ID19 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. In total ten time-resolved experiments were performed at different vertical loading conditions, with and without lateral passive confinement and different heating rates. At high external load the sample fails by symmetric bulging, while at lower external load the reaction-induced fracture network develops with the presence of microfractures both sub-parallel and sub-perpendicular to the bedding direction. In addition, the variation of experimental conditions allows the decoupling of the effects of the hydrocarbon decomposition reaction on the deformation process from the influence of thermal stress heating on the weakening and failure mode of immature shale.

Transactive control of fast-acting demand response based on thermostatic loads in real-time retail electricity markets

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

Behboodi, Sahand; Chassin, David P.; Djilali, Ned

Coordinated operation of distributed thermostatic loads such as heat pumps and air conditioners can reduce energy costs and prevents grid congestion, while maintaining room temperatures in the comfort range set by consumers. This paper furthers efforts towards enabling thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) to participate in real-time retail electricity markets under a transactive control paradigm. An agent-based approach is used to develop an effective and low complexity demand response control scheme for TCLs. The proposed scheme adjusts aggregated thermostatic loads according to real-time grid conditions under both heating and cooling modes. Here, a case study is presented showing the method reducesmore » consumer electricity costs by over 10% compared to uncoordinated operation.« less

Transactive control of fast-acting demand response based on thermostatic loads in real-time retail electricity markets

DOE PAGES

Behboodi, Sahand; Chassin, David P.; Djilali, Ned; ...

2017-07-29

Coordinated operation of distributed thermostatic loads such as heat pumps and air conditioners can reduce energy costs and prevents grid congestion, while maintaining room temperatures in the comfort range set by consumers. This paper furthers efforts towards enabling thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) to participate in real-time retail electricity markets under a transactive control paradigm. An agent-based approach is used to develop an effective and low complexity demand response control scheme for TCLs. The proposed scheme adjusts aggregated thermostatic loads according to real-time grid conditions under both heating and cooling modes. Here, a case study is presented showing the method reducesmore » consumer electricity costs by over 10% compared to uncoordinated operation.« less

On lattice chiral gauge theories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maiani, L.; Rossi, G. C.; Testa, M.

1991-01-01

The Smit-Swift-Aoki formulation of a lattice chiral gauge theory is presented. In this formulation the Wilson and other non invariant terms in the action are made gauge invariant by the coupling with a nonlinear auxilary scalar field, omega. It is shown that omega decouples from the physical states only if appropriate parameters are tuned so as to satisfy a set of BRST identities. In addition, explicit ghost fields are necessary to ensure decoupling. These theories can give rise to the correct continuum limit. Similar considerations apply to schemes with mirror fermions. Simpler cases with a global chiral symmetry are discussed and it is shown that the theory becomes free at decoupling. Recent numerical simulations agree with those considerations.